Well here I am, updating the YYH story for the first time in ages. Sorry it took so long, there's a lot of things that happened between the last update and now, but not really anything worth being a actual good excuse if I'm being honest. I'm just a terrible writer and horrible at keeping with updates and a proper schedule.
Anyway! Here we are, a new update, a little more information about Kurama and our favorite OC twin.
Not much to say about things other than to enjoy the story and I hope you review!
-I do NOT own YYH or it's characters
-I DO own my OC and some of the plot.
~*~Please Review~*~
The two weeks we stayed with our Grandmother was hardly boring. In fact Kurama and I were of the same mind that she was attempting to fill our time there with as many activities as possible to keep us from thinking about our Mother still in the hospital. Between visiting nearby parks, taking us to the local botanical garden and the nearby art museum, by the time we were allowed to call Mother before bed, our young selves were all but falling asleep standing up.
Most of the time when we were at Grandmother's, sleeping or otherwise, Kurama sat in silence, only speaking when the situation called for it. I knew what was happening, his thoughts were turned inward, focusing on all the thoughts he's had over the years about our Mother. I was hesitant to break his inner turmoil, choosing instead to keep to myself, practicing writing and and speech patterns as well as my English so I wouldn't get rusty from disuse.
By the time it came for us to return home where Mother already waited, Kurama came to some sort of conclusion, his eyes seeming sharper than I've ever seen before. Sitting beside him on the train ride back home, I nudged my shoulder against his to gain some attention. Despite my dislike for his possessive nature, I had grown so used to it I began to miss his constant presence. "Are you ready to go home, Shuichi?"
He looked over at me with a twitch to his lips, wanting to smile but unable to fully due so. "Of course, Mother will need help until she is at full health again." He reassured me, the complete absence of disdain in his voice making me grin wide. A flutter of relief filled my chest while we spoke. Finally, now I wouldn't have to worry about him dragging my weak body off to Demon world anymore. Small blessings for horrible situations.
Once the door opened to our home, we were greeted with the sight of our Mother standing there, arms spread wide with a familiar smile. "Mother!" Our twin cries of excitement mixed with a heavy dose of relief brought our a gentle laugh from her as we raced forward to wrap her in a group hug.
"Boys, be gentle." Grandmother scolded us lightly, no real conviction behind her words when she noticed how gentle we were already being as well as the truly happy smile Mother had on her face when her arms wrapped around us in return.
"We were so worried." Kurama murmured, hiding his face in her shirt. Mother rested a hand on on his head, pressing a kiss on his hair with a soft hum. "Are you Okay, Shuichi?" She asked softly, letting me move back so she could focus on her younger son who began to cry softly.
"I am fine, Mother." He replied quietly, rubbing at his eyes in frustration with one of his hands before looking up at her. "I am fine."
Closing her eyes, Mother pulled him close, letting him sniffle into her shirt quietly a moment then pulled back and coaxed him into looking back up at her again. "I love you, Shuichi." Hearing those simple words, Kurama's eyes grew wide at the simple, heartfelt statement. Once again, tears gathered at the corners of them, Mother smiled and gently reached up to brush the water from his cheeks. "I... Love you too, Mother."
I jumped in surprise when a hand suddenly rested on my shoulder, breaking me from the happy bubble building in my chest and drawing my attention away from the heartwarming scene over to Grandmother next to me. "Shall we find something to make for dinner?" She asked quietly, the silent suggestion to leave the other two alone hanging obviously in the air.
"Can we have Hot Pot?" I asked eagerly, mouth already watering at the thought of all the tasty things we could add to it. "With beef?" Following the older woman into the kitchen, I opened the cabinet under the sink and began tugging on the cooking pots before finding the one I wanted and set it on the counter for her as she pulled out a few things from the refrigerator.
"Of course, I thought much the same." She smiled softly at my excited expression and got to work, chopping some vegetables to be ready as she directed me in what to get for her.
Glancing out of the kitchen doorway, I spied Kurama sitting on the couch with Mother, both of them speaking quietly to each other. A small pang of disquiet only a child could feel at the thought of being left out of something echoed in my chest before I banished it with a shake of the head. Let him have this moment. I scolded myself quietly, turning away from them so I could help Grandmother with dinner. There would be more in the future for all of us to share.
A gentle shaking of my shoulder drug me from a light sleep, eyes blinking blearily up at my brother where he stood beside my bed, fox print pajamas I had insisted Mother buying him for our last birthday lit by the streetlamp outside our window. "Kurama?" Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and studied the demon as he climbed into bed beside me, tugging the blanket up to cover his legs when he got comfortable. "What is it?"
"I had a dream Mother was bleeding." He admitted after a few moments of silence, eyes down on his hands where they picked at my blanket fitfully. "I went to check on her and she was asleep."
"So... Naturally you wake me up." I murmured, rubbing at my eye again before reaching over to wrap an arm around his shoulders so he could lean against me. "Nightmares are horrible. Trust me I know." Looking head, I stared blankly at the wall in front of us as I recalled the nightmares I had for nearly a year after our birth about falling from inconceivable heights towards an unforgiving ground below. "Mother is fine, I promise. She won't have any problems for a long time." I add, looking back over at my twin with a light smile.
He nodded quietly, still not looking up from the blanket before relaxing some and leaning against me with a quiet sigh. "I'm too weak to protect her." He finally muttered reluctantly. "I couldn't do anything, I froze and watched her bleed on the floor. If it wasn't for you-"
"She would have been just fine, Kurama." I rested my cheek on the top of his head as I held him close. "She was fine from the story, and you would have kicked into action on your own."
"But-"
"Kurama, I know this. trust me." I cut him off firmly, once again feeling a squirm of disquiet in my stomach at the words I was saying. Did I truly not matter here? Was my part in this story so minimal I will have absolutely no impact? Nothing? "Mother is fine now, we are home and we start school in a couple of weeks." Grimacing at the thought of being surrounded by children again, I tugged Kurama so he would lay down next to me and covered the both of us with a blanket. "Get some sleep, Mother promised to make cinnamon rolls in the morning." I sighed into his red hair and closed my eyes, trying to shake off the depressing thoughts that had been plaguing me since we returned.
Without a word, Kurama turned and rested his forehead against my shoulder, hand gripping onto the sleeve of my pajamas as he slowly relaxed and fell asleep, slow, even breaths puffing against my arm indicating he had passed out quickly, leaving me to my thoughts despite how much I tried to shake them. It had never really occurred to me before now, but in all honesty, I really didn't matter to the scheme of things in terms of the story. Without me, our Mother would have survived, Kurama would have saved her and he would have gained affection for her on his own without my help.
Not to mention the entire story line, the dark tournament, the whole Sensui case... What I could remember of it anyway, all of it went fine without me because I shouldn't even be here. So what was my point? Why was I here? There is no real reason for any of this on my part, so what could I possibly do to help? Frowning to myself, I hid my face in the pillow and bit back the tears that wanted to spill over.
Was I really so unimportant?
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, Kurama was practically glued to our Mother's side, helping her in the kitchen, helping clean up. Keeping her company while she sat and watched her TV shows. Even the crummy dramas that we both hated with a passion. I, on the other hand, spent my time studying. Not schoolwork, born and raised American, I truly followed that heritage and spent my summer doing what I enjoyed.
No, I studied science, more specifically, the science of energy. How it effected the world around us and even our bodies. Spirit energy was much in the same, just harder to get control over. Flipping the page of my book, I flicked my gaze over the diagram on the top of it before dropping it down to the words below curiously. The faint electrical current in the human body was what kept every cell together was what interested me the most.
Leaning back in my chair, I held up my hand and studied it, focusing as much as I could on the sense of touch in each of my fingers, in the palm of my hand. Nerves lighting up with electricity to alert my brain of a sensation so I know how to react. Wiggling each finger curiously, I tried to grasp the current of energy I knew was running through them and scowled when I couldn't.
"What are you doing?" Kurama's voice shook me out of my concentration, head lifting up so I could glance over to where he stood in the doorway with a curious expression on his face. Dropping my hand down, I stood up, closing the book in the process and turned back to him with a wry smile. "Nothing important, just reading."
Green eyes narrowed slightly, flicking over to the book then back up to my face with a trace of suspicion in them. "Mother wants to go to the store." He finally said, gesturing back down the hallway in the direction she must be in. "She said we can pick what to eat for dinner." He added when I didn't move from my spot, walking a few steps closer and coming to a stop in front of me.
"Hmm." I hummed appreciatively, sliding over a bit and picking up the book from behind my back, keeping it safely tucked away from his sharp gaze as I backed my way towards the closet. "I'll be down in a minute then. Let me just get dressed." I gestured to my pajama-clad bottoms and bare feet. I rarely dressed unless we planned on going outside, normally opting to stay in my sleeping clothes much to Kruama's and Mother's chagrin. "I'll meet you both downstairs in a moment."
"Of course..." He murmured, eyeing me for a moment longer then turned to leave my room, pausing in the doorway. "I thought perhaps this week we can try to work with your energy if you want. Late at night of course." He said, glancing back at me with a knowing look in his eyes.
Despite my initial flare of excitement, I frowned at him and let my arm drop to my side, book still clutched tightly in it's hand. "I really dread to think of what it will be like trying to hide anything from you when we're older." I deadpanned, earning a toothy grin from the demon before he vanished down the hallway, feet padding softly down the stairs away from our room. Once sure he was out of sight completely, I allowed myself a small victory dance as I tossed the book onto my bed and began digging some proper clothing out to go to the store.
"You know, I really should have known better than to think you were actually going to teach me anything about energy right off the bat." I groaned, staring across at my twin, legs crossed in a comfortable fashion and hands resting lightly on my knees.
"You should have." Kurama agreed easily, studying me as I shifted around until I was comfortable before continuing. "However meditation is truly important to learning to control one's energy. Please pay attention." I stopped fidgeting and sighed, focusing on what he had to say. "Hold out your hands, palms up." He motioned with his own, showing me what he wanted then placing his hands on top of mine, palms down. "Close your eyes and just focus on our hands."
Obeying with a small frown, I tried to focus where his hands touched mine, warmer against my own skin where they rested. "Feel the warmth, how they shift." He continued once I did as he asked, his voice even and confidant. "From what you have been reading, you know there is a small electrical charge in each body, one that controls our movements and keeps each cell active." Nodding my head, I scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to pay attention.
"Now imagine, beside this electrical charge, is a secondary source of energy, flowing at the same speed and pulse, nearly completely unidentifiable next to it. That, is your spirit energy, feeding every inch of your body to keep your soul strong." His hands tensed for a moment before relaxing, the warmth they normally radiated seeming to grow hotter as he did. "It keeps you alive when you are in deadly situations, it helps you stay healthy and most importantly, can be used as a weapon to fend off attackers." As he spoke, the warmth of his hands slowly shifted, seeming to settle on my skin and wrap gently around my wrists, winding up my arms and settling there, twitching lightly against my skin.
"This is my energy, memorize how it feels different in comparison to normal energy." He instructed, letting me scrutinize the feeling of his energy as it twisted against my skin lightly, a slight playful touch to it that reflected it's owner.
"It tastes like sherbet." I muttered idly when he finally withdrew and let me open my eyes, a small frown still tugging at my lips.
"Sherbet?" Kurama raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of what I said when I shrugged. "That... You tasted it?"
"I uh..." Running a hand through my hair, I blew out a frustrated sigh and shrugged my shoulders again. "It's hard to explain. Like orange sherbet, sorta like how mangoes taste round." I tried to explain helplessly, it had been something I noticed early on in life but was unable to truly explain whenever he asked me. Some things tasted... Like well, shapes or sounds. Not a lot of things, just some, mangoes for instance, I realized quite quickly I didn't like them. When he asked me why, the only word that popped in my head to explain it was 'round'.
"I think it's because it's such a big part of you. So your emotions bleed into it." I suggested, looking up from the floor and rested my chin on my hand thoughtfully. His thoughtful expression returned before he nodded in agreement. "I mean, it's not like I can help it, some wires got crossed in my head somewhere along the way, now things taste when they should feel."
A chuckle slipped from him at my frustrated movements, watching me flap my hands a bit. "Synesthesia." He said once I calmed down, earning a confused look from me. "It's a rare condition in humans where senses can be perceived as something different. Tasting food as shapes or emotions as food, for instance."
"O-oh..." I ran my tongue over my teeth with a small frown in thought, on the one hand it was good to have a name for whatever it was that happened, on the other, if Mother found out that would mean trips to the doctor that I would much rather avoid in the future. With school starting soon, the last thing I need is to have her pull me out for appointments when all they would say is to let it be.
"Mother doesn't know." Kurama interrupted my thoughts, reminding me of the faint connection we still had. It had been fairly easy to ignore, much to my relief, but it didn't stop us from feeling strong emotions and, every now and again, we would pick up on vague trains of thought. "But..." He added, making my head snap over to look at him sharply, the chagrined look on his face telling me everything before he said another word. "It would be best to have a doctor study it. We have no idea how it could affect your use of Spirit Energy in the future. For all we know, it could cause problems."
I hesitated, unsure of what to say, because on one hand, I dreaded the idea of a doctor poking and prodding at my brain to see what was wrong. Something that really couldn't be fixed, especially not in this day and age. But on the other hand... He was right, for all we knew, my ability to taste the emotional range of one's Spirit Energy could put me in a tight spot, making it impossible to use for some reason or another.
"Can it wait until we're settled into the school year before letting her know?" Falling on my back, I stared up at the ceiling fan turning lowly overhead. "I really don't want to fall behind at the beginning of school. I know how bad they are here in Japan." Turning my head to look over at Kurama, I grimaced lightly at the idea of how much work students have to do in this country in comparison to the ones in America.
"Fine." He finally agreed, moving to sit more comfortably beside me. "Sit up, I want you to try finding your own energy now." Coaxing me into a sitting position again, he put his hands over top mine and tried to guide me into finding my own unique flavor of energy.
To say it was a failure would be an understatement. I couldn't touch it, not even the slightest flicker, I could feel it there, flowing in me, but no matter how much coaxing, focus or frustrated attempts I took. It stayed stubbornly in place without the slightest flicker of movement. Exhausting myself, I passed out on the floor, body aching from the strain I wasn't used to putting on my body.
I woke up the next morning on my bed, tucked in with my favorite blanket wrapped snugly around me. Kurama nowhere to be seen, but considering how bright it was, safe bet would be he was downstairs with Mother making breakfast for the day.
Rolling over, I stifled a groan of pain when my head throbbed at the movement, hands reaching up to clutch either side of it as I ducked back under my blanket in an attempt to escape the quite suddenly too-bright sun. What the actual hell? I never suffered from migraines before, why now?
'Probably because of the training last night, dumbass.' I thought with a sigh and squeezed my eyes shut against the sounds of footsteps drawing closer to the room. "I wouldn't call you dumb, Shohei." Kruama's voice burst through the quiet of my room, making me wince. "Just stubborn." He added softer, settling down on the bed beside me, one hand holding a packet of medicine, the other a cup of water. "I told Mother you weren't feeling well and she gave me this to have you take."
Sitting up slowly, I winced at the dull pounding in my head and reached for the packet, tearing it open and dumping the bitter powder on my tongue then washed it down with a swallow of water with a grimace. "That stuff tastes awful."
"Well, you are meant to mix it with water before taking it." He hummed, glancing over the directions printed on the packet then glanced up at me still sticking my tongue out in distaste. "Why you fail to remember that every time you have to take it, I will never know."
"Because it's easier than waiting for it to dissolve." I muttered, closing my eyes and resting my head in my hands to wait for the medicine to take effect. "Besides, drinking it is way worse for some reason, tastes like blue."
"And blue is bad?" He asked with a curious expression, eyebrow raised, watching me nod my head slowly. "Of course it is." Standing up, he stretched his arms over his head and let out a breath. "Once you can, Mother and I made breakfast. And then she is going to take us to the school to be signed up and to take a tour."
"Alright, just... Give me a minute or two. I'll be alright in a bit." He mumbled, tucking my head back under the cover and tried to relax until the throbbing in my head quit. Today promised to be a truly long day.