The Shotgun Approach

Chapter 9: Weak of Heart

A/N: I feel like this is a good time to introduce Yusuke's POV. Wish me luck xD

. . .

"Am I crazy for even trying?"

"I'm not one for giving up...but Ettie has been pretty clear on what she wants."

I sighed, that wasn't the answer I was hoping to hear from Kuwabara. Last I knew he was a hopeless romantic. I figured he'd tell me that I wasn't trying hard enough. But considering what happened with Yukina...

Yeah, maybe I was stupid for asking for his advice.

So I turned to Kurama instead. "What about you fox-boy? You wanna throw in your two cents?"

Kurama was at his kitchen sink washing dishes like the domestic bastard he was these days, but he gave me his full attention, drying his hands on a towel that hung from the handle on his oven.

"I think Kazuma is right. You can't force someone to feel a certain way."

My hands delved into my hair, agitated and frustrated. When I slammed them back on the table I was sure it stood in every direction. "That isn't what I wanted to hear!"

"Well, you asked for our opinion, Urameshi, not for us to lie to you."

"I really think she likes me though," my voice was bordering on whiny. But Ettie was driving me crazy, in more ways than one.

"You have bigger things to worry about than some woman," his voice was biting, as if the entire conversation highly offended him.

"No one asked you, hamsterlegs!" snapped Kuwabara, who turned in his seat to toss Hiei the stink eye.

Although 'hamsterlegs' was no longer a fitting insult, considering Hiei was just as tall as I was now.

"And the advice of some inexperienced virgin is so groundbreaking."

It was Kurama that dragged a struggling Kuwabara back to his chair when he shot up to pick a fight with the shorter man. And as per usual, Hiei didn't even open his eyes, let alone uncross his arms in an attempt to defend himself. He stayed leaning against the wall in the back of Kurama's kitchen, closest to the window, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Some things never changed.

But his shoulders were tense and his jaw was tight. He didn't like where the conversation had turned.

"What's your problem with Ettie anyway?" I asked, a vain hope that I would actually get an answer out of him this time.

When he cracked open a single eye to regard me with a hard stare I felt my breath hitch. Weird. But not something I wasn't used to. Hiei had a strange effect on people, myself included. I just didn't let it get to me like everyone else seemed to.

"She's a nuisance," was what he chose to give as an excuse this time.

I opened my mouth to argue, maybe even drag out a real answer from him for once, but Kurama shook his head. It was subtle, a warning for me to give up before I'd begun. But when was I one to listen to people's dumbass advice?

"If she's such a pain in the ass why do you hang around her all the time?"

Both his eyes snapped open this time. And I grinned in triumph.

"One could ask you the same question, fool."

I just laughed. Was he not paying attention for the past few months. "I like her, idiot."

"Why don't you fuck her and then tell me if your obsession holds true."

I felt anger coil in my stomach, but on the outside I just let my lips curl up into a grin that probably did a good job at looking sinister. "I think you're avoiding answering the question, Hiei."

"And I think you should use the head on your shoulders more often instead of the one between your legs."

That did it. I was up and out of my seat before anyone had a chance to react. And in a blink I had my hand fisted in Hiei's shirt. Eye to eye now, his glare was all the more intense and it sent a thrill zinging across my skin.

"You pickin' a fight?" I growled, leaning in close so I was right up in his face.

"I believe Hiei only wishes for you to think a little more clearly," said Kurama.

Always the referee these days now that Botan and Keiko weren't around. The thought of Keiko made something inside my chest clench and I was once again thankful my human heart stopped beating all those years ago.

"Well," I rumbled, drawing out the word, "I think Hiei should back the hell off. I'm a grown ass man."

"And a king," Hiei growled in return, baring his teeth. "You shouldn't so callously toss aside your status."

I let him go and he didn't so much as stumble. Tch.

"Don't remind me," I said. "Didn't realize this gig would be such a pain in my ass."

I plopped back into my chair with a huff and it was with a smug sense of satisfaction I noticed Hiei straightening his clothes. He looked good dressed as a human. It was a habit I was glad stuck around after years of him hating the entire human race.

"What did Koenma tell you yesterday, Urameshi?"

The conversation fell away from Ettie, albeit not the most lighthearted of subjects, but far better than this. This was the whole reason I'd gotten them all together today.

"Necromancy isn't their goal."

"That doesn't explain the oddity back in spirit world with the man we captured," said Kurama.

"It's not necromancy according to Koenma and they have no need for the bodies. None have gone missing and when they performed an autopsy on the guy we caught..."

I shook my head, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. I wished Ettie was here so she could explain it better. When I called her to fill her in she'd understood it so well and explained it in terms I could understand. But she was working and couldn't be a part of the meeting today.

Probably for the best, I thought, eyeing Hiei's sour face.

"So, what did they find?"

"I'm getting there Kuwabara, jeez." I scowled at him and then cleared my throat. "Koenma said the body processes were being...controlled. But not the brain."

"Sounds like a zombie to me."

"Even a zombie, in it's base form, has some brain activity. Otherwise it would not feel the constant need to eat."

"Zombies aren't fucking real guys, so who cares!"

"I don't know, that time with Suzaku...everyone in Sarayashiki was basically a zombie."

"No—goddamn it Kuwabara! They were possessed by bugs! Big difference!"

Then I slapped a hand to my face. Why were we arguing over something so stupid?

"Anyway...what else was Koenma able to tell you?" asked Kurama.

"That whoever is doing this has some serious medical knowledge on both human and demon biology. And according to the diaper king, those types are few and far between."

Hiei released a cold laugh from across the room, lips turned up into a sardonic smirk. "Isn't that interesting," he said.

"If you so much as suggest that it's Ettie I might just kill you," I snapped.

His grudge against her was growing stale fast. He went from tenuously respecting her to despising her again overnight. I figured it had to do with my little escapade to the club that one time...but now I wasn't so sure.

Hiei wasn't an irrational guy. He got mad, sure. He could be a real asshole sometimes. But he wasn't one to lie or put on a production. He knew something was up, but wasn't sharing with the rest of the kids.

"She's going to betray you, detective. Being blind to it won't save you."

"Do you really believe that, Hiei?" asked Kuwabara.

"I believe she's lying. That the drugs she takes are not just to numb her suffering but also to numb her brain from intruders. It's impossible to read her mind."

"That isn't enough evidence to suggest she's going to double cross us."

"It's enough to be wary, however," said Kurama, "and I'm inclined to trust Hiei's judgment."

I sighed, conceding. "I know she isn't who she says she is. I'm not that blind or stupid. But I really don't think she's a threat, not once have I gotten that vibe off her."

"Of course you haven't!" Hiei snapped. "She wants you to trust her, to become close, so you'll confide in her. Do not be so naive, detective."

"I think I liked it better a few years back when you didn't talk so goddamn much."

Hiei rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to spew some comeback I was sure would fire me up, but I stopped him before so much as a syllable escaped. "What do you feel when you're around her?"

Hiei was drawn up short, eyes flickering around the room, unable to look at me anymore. He could try to refute it all he wanted, but over the last so many months he was slowly growing closer to Ettie. For better or worse, Hiei was welcoming another into his fold, even if he didn't notice it. Even if he fought it at every turn.

When he didn't reply I pushed him further, "What do you feel, Hiei?"

I didn't expect him to be honest, so when he started quite literally spitting out every emotion he'd ever felt around Ettie, I sat there stunned.

"Confusion, anger, distrust; camaraderie..." He ticked each one off, as if checking off a grocery list. "Respect, shame, contempt, surprise; calm..."

He trailed off, realizing we were all staring at him with open mouths.

Kurama cleared his throat. "Um, well...some of those are...quite contradictory, but I do not think that's what Yusuke meant."

"It's like you love to hate her," said Kuwabara, chuckling.

"Shit," I breathed, stunned. Hiei fucking liked her. He didn't trust her, but he fucking liked her in some twisted sort of way.

"You asked what I felt around her, that is my reply. I am still unconvinced she's anything other than an enemy."

"You're so full of shit!" I pointed at the pager he kept clipped to his belt all the time now. "Why are you carrying that around then, huh?"

"It's to keep an eye on her movements."

"Riiight."

I could tell he was getting more pissed by the second, his energy flashing in discord within his aura. Both Kuwabara and Kurama had twin looks of exasperation. But it didn't stop me from putting the nail in my own coffin.

"Maybe the one who should stop thinking with their dick is you."

The sweet sting of flesh hitting flesh made me grin. He put me on my ass, hand wrapped in the collar of my shirt, arm pulled back to hit me again. It'd been too long and I wanted this a little too much.

I saw Kuwabara come hovering behind Hiei and before he could get hurt cast him a look that quickly had him backing away. This was my fight, damn it.

"Wanna take this outside?" I asked, licking the blood from the corner of my lips.

But something in Hiei's face changed. He extricated his hand from my shirt, movements controlled and careful. His eyes dipped closed, briefly, and then he released an almost inaudible breath.

"Do as you please, detective. But do not come crying to me when the world falls down around you."

And then he was gone, through the window. What a melodramatic dick.

. . .

December 2003—two weeks later.

This got harder every day, I decided. It was like torture. Torture because I had to wade through bodies, my enhanced senses seeing and smelling and hearing everything in the aftermath of another bombing. Each day I was king came with another hardship.

And slowly the people began to hate me, wishing to go back to the old ways, when killing humans was legal. That many would have rather remained in demon world because they'd lost family and friends and lovers.

I couldn't blame them.

I was a fuck up. I couldn't pretend I was anything other than total shit at this job. No preparation from Hokushin or the other monks helped. All those talks with Yomi and Mukuro hadn't either.

I was so far up shitcreek without a paddle that I might as well drown myself in shit lake.

Ettie was beside me, cataloging and tagging the bodies, taking photos of any identifying marks for when they were eventually transported to a hospital's morgue. She would show family and friends the photos in hopes that she could put a name to every single body her and Hiei and her team had dragged from the wreckage.

Snow was already starting to coat their cooling flesh, as if blanketing out the ugly burns and missing limbs.

It was too bright for something so gruesome.

And seeing Ettie with so much blood on her hands made my stomach churn. She was too pretty, too kind. Not once did the thought cross my mind that she could be associated with these bombings. Hiei must be off his rocker.

"There were no survivors this time..." Her shoulders shook, voice catching and words thick. Pain. Pain etched into every essence of her being.

Her job had quickly gone from saving lives to collecting bodies from the collapsed building. The few demons who'd survived long enough for her and the other crews to drag them from the debris didn't make it through the triage stage.

They all looked so desolate. And I felt it too, staring at that stretch of bodies. Line after line. Tag after tag. Soon they'd be zipped up into black bags and transported away.

This needed to end...

A hand came up to rest on my shoulder, the squeeze gentle. "I have to go along for the transport. I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

Ettie. Those eyes that stared up at me kept entranced for a moment too long. And then I was reaching out and closing my palm over her hand, squeezing. She drew it away, as I expected. "I'll see you later," I said.

I would meet up with her at her place after I did a little more investigating of my own.

I picked my way over to Hiei, who was dressed as an EMT, and even though he'd been doing this for months it still made me want to laugh. I couldn't deny that the little bastard had gotten good at it though. A testament to how much time he'd been spending with Ettie.

"You goin' with her?" I asked him.

Hiei's gaze flicked up from the body he was looking at and then over to where Ettie was helping load up the countless black bags. His eyes narrowed and then he growled out a, "No."

"I'm going over to her place later. Want to come with?"

"Why the hell would I want to do that?"

I shrugged, using a finger to scratch at my cheek. "Dunno, thought maybe if you got to know her outside of all this you'd change your mind about her."

He snorted and if he hadn't dipped his head again I was sure I would have seen him roll his eyes. "Concentrate on the mission, Yusuke. You have plenty of time to bed women later."

"That's...not all I want her for."

He drew in a sharp breath and stood to his full height. The wide eyed look he was giving me was kind of endearing...and I was a little triumphant I'd caused it.

"Listen...Keiko moving to America tore me up, even if we both agreed it was for the best. I haven't even considered anyone else since and that was almost a year ago now."

And I'd had ample opportunity. Since becoming king I'd been sent so many propositions I began throwing them out. The women bold enough to do it in person were all shot down. I wasn't interested in a rebound. Still wasn't.

Ettie was a different story.

"You should give this more thought," said Hiei.

"Now you're sounding like Kurama."

He said no more, but the way his eyes smoldered left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

. . .

I tipped the chair back until it was standing on two legs, feet perched on Ettie's table. I had a cold beer in my hand and soft music filtered in from the stereo in the other room.

Ettie was sitting across from me, high as a kite and in the process of sketching something I couldn't quite pin down. It was full of shadows, dark and depressive.

Her hair fell across her face, the tiny braids adorned with little beads today. It took more willpower than I wanted to admit not to get up and brush it off her skin.

Fuck, my heart was weak...

I let the chair clatter back to the floor, draining my beer for courage. She paid me no mind, so comfortable in my presence now that it was almost criminal. She didn't hear when I set the bottle down or when pushed my chair back or rose to saunter my way around the table.

I stood in front of her, staring at the back of her bowed head, fists clenched at my sides so I didn't make the mistake of touching her. At least not yet.

"Ettie..."

She held up a finger, telling me to wait. But I was done waiting. Had been for awhile now.

I grabbed her hand fast as a lightning strike. I ripped her up from her chair, not caring when her sketch book went tumbling to the floor, the pencils and charcoal rolling away. A dark, deep desire loomed in the back of my mind and I couldn't ignore it anymore; couldn't keep playing this game.

Glassy eyes stared up at me held within a face so passive I almost changed my mind.

How can you look so calm? How, when I am suffering here beside you, can you look at me that way?

"What are you doing?" she asked.

I wanted to break that careful calm she held onto so strongly. Shatter it to pieces and toss them into the sea of emotion I could feel sparking within my core.

I'd had some time to come to terms with my more demonic instincts. Often times I could rule over them with the memory of being human. But what I wanted from Ettie was rooted deep, deep within that basis. And I knew it as well as she did.

"I'm going to kiss you now, Ettie. And you're gonna fuckin' let me."

I took some satisfaction at the sight of her eyes going wide before I dipped in, pulling her close, flush against me so I could feel the heat of her. And she just fucking melted. No resistance. No protests. She opened up to me like she'd been waiting for this just as long as I was.

The kiss turned violent, a give and take that took my breath away. I had her pressed back into the table, lifting her up, wrapping her legs around my hips. I buried a hand in her hair, fingers getting tangled in the braids, and pressed the other up beneath her shirt, needing to feel that bare skin.

It was like I dumped a bucket of cold water over her.

She jerked away from me, freezing half the table in the process in a solid block of ice. The punch she swung at me was half-assed and I blocked it easily enough.

In the aftermath she sat on the table, chest heaving and eyes wild, hair a mess.

I wanted to fucking kiss her again.

Why the hell was it like this? Why couldn't I control how I felt about her? I had so much other shit on my plate and the only thing I could think about was her.

"Don't ever do that again," she growled.

"You liked it," I said, words biting because her reaction was not what I'd been hoping for.

"Get out," she said, pointing towards the door.

She didn't have to tell me twice. With one final hard angry stare in her direction, I grabbed my coat from the back of my chair and fled.

I ran all the way back to my apartment, heat coursing through my veins for more than one reason. And oh how I hated myself just then. How I wanted to go bash someone's face in and then drink until I couldn't remember how stupid I was.

It was dumb blind luck that Hiei was waiting outside my door. Lucky for me, unlucky for him.

"Fight me fucker," was the first thing I said.

"Did you have a spat with your little lover?"

I hit him so hard in the face I felt his nose crack beneath the blow. All bets were off after that. Hiei tackled me in midair, throwing me off the railing and down into the street below the building. I felt his blood drip on my face with each hit he landed on me, turning me black and blue with his bare hands alone.

A crowd gathered to watch the brawl. And I gave as good as I got.

It didn't end until we were both tangled together in a broken and bloody mess. Hiei's hands wrapped in my shirt and shaking me as if that would knock any sense into my convoluted brain.

"You goddamned idiot," he snarled and shook me again.

I grappled with him, dragging him into an embrace that I didn't realize I needed and Hiei wanted nothing to do with, but minus a little weak struggling, allowed it to happen. I hid my face in that stupid black cloak he was wearing again and squeezed just a little harder than necessary, feeling his shoulders tense up until he was stiff as a board.

"I fucked up," I whined into his shirt.

And he just sighed, dragging a hand through my blood flecked hair until he had enough to grip. He pulled my head back and looked down at me with cold eyes. "What else is new."

The laughter was both a release and a comfort.

The fight over and done with, the crowd gathered around scattered, the sound of sirens in the background. We clambered to our feet and I brushed myself off even though it was pointless.

"Should probably skedaddle before the cops get here."

I turned to look at Hiei then, the skin around his eyes already turning black from the broken nose he was in the process of setting. With a sickening crack, he straightened it without so much as flinching.

"Go for a drink?" I asked afterwards.

He hummed his agreement and the two of us took off running, away from the chaos we'd caused. I forgot about it soon after. Wasn't my problem now.

We ended up at our usual haunt, scaring away the group of scrubs sitting in the booth we'd claimed years ago. I sunk into the seat, grateful, and took a breath. The bar tender brought us our drinks without even having to ask, knowing exactly what we liked.

It took two before I was ready to talk. Much to Hiei's annoyance.

"I kissed her," I said, folding my arms on the table and resting my head in them.

"Idiot," Hiei mumbled over the lip of his glass.

"Yeah, yeah...I know."

We sat and drank for awhile, the silence comfortable. It was always that way with Hiei. You always knew he was there and his presence was reassuring, but there was no pressure to talk or spill about your feelings. Unlike Kuwabara who would have grilled me for the next hour for all the gory details.

"Oi, Urameshi!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear...

Kuwabara came marching over to our table, Kurama behind him looking as if the poor guy had been harassed into coming. He was still dressed in his suit and tie from the office, meaning Kuwabara hadn't even given him a chance to change.

He loosened it with a tired breath and slipped into the booth beside Hiei.

I waved the bartender over, calling for another round of drinks as Kuwabara settled into berating me, because there could only be one reason why he'd gone through the trouble of coming to find me here.

"She called you, huh?"

"She wanted to make sure you didn't go off and do something stupid! And what happens? You two obviously got into a fight!" he waved his hand haphazardly in mine and Hiei's direction, pointing at the blood and bruises we were still covered in.

"So what?"

"So what?! So what, he says, why I oughta..."

Kuwabara plopped down beside me, downing the beer that was placed in front of him in two gulps easy. He slammed the empty glass back onto the table and then whacked me in the back of the head.

"Hey! What gives?!"

"You are not acting in a manner that is befitting of a king."

"Oh, come on, you too Kurama? I'm king over a bunch of demons, not some hoity toity country."

"Be that as it may, you need to set an example for the demons that have come through the barrier to better their lives here. Getting into street brawls is counterproductive."

"Tch, you guys are a bunch of pansies now."

"Speak for yourself," said Hiei.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh right, Mr. EMT over here thinks he's such a badass."

Hiei looked as if he were about to argue and I leaned forward in my seat because—oh, this should be good—but the insistent buzzing of Kuwabara's phone completely ruined it.

He smiled apologetically and reached into his pocket, flipping it open and putting it to his ear. "Kuwabara Kazuma, here."

He listened hard, cupping his hand over the earpiece to drown out some of the noise around us. The look on his face was beginning to worry me...

"W-wait, slow down, Ettie! I can't hear you!"

This had me sitting up straighter, a healthy spike of unfounded fear skittering down my spine. "It's Ettie?! What's going on, Kuwabara?!"

But Kuwabara just holds up a hand, telling me to wait. He listened for a while longer and then cursed, clapping his cell closed with enough force to almost break it. "I couldn't make out what the hell she was trying to say but she's in trouble!"

"Are you certain?" asked Kurama.

"Pretty damn sure."

Kuwabara slapped down enough bills to pay for all of our drinks before grabbing his coat and heading for the door. I was right behind him, a simmering anger clouding the worry and confusion I was feeling. What the hell was going on?

"What did you hear, Kuwabara?"

The look he shot me was grave—eyes steely and hard, a front for what he really felt. Fear. Unadulterated fear. Whatever he'd heard was the definition of bad.

It was with this single look that I realized how rooted Ettie had so suddenly become within our group. And how easily that could end.

"We have to find her," I said.

It was with only a little surprise that I found Hiei already on it, Jagan open and searching, scanning for her energy.

When it closed and he told us her approximate location, I cracked my knuckles and windmilled my arms, stretching the muscles. "Lets go fuck up someone's night, boys."

. . .

A/N: So this is my first time writing anything from Yusuke's POV like this. I'm hoping that I pulled it off okay, but reassure me, would you guys? Was it bad? Was I spot on? Could it use some improvement? And what the heck is going on with Ettie now? And YUSUKE KISSED HER OMG! Sorry for the cliffhanger though xD