Scribbled in Secret Chapter 19: Day 19: Dead or dying, a yu yu hakusho fanfic

NOTE: Thanks to rueedge for their suggestion! ("For an out of the box suggestion...Shiori, maybe? And Junko! I love Keiko's school friends.") I did Shiori in the prior prompt, and a few people also mentioned Junko/Keiko's school friends for other prompts, so I sort of combined things? IDK, you'll see!

Day 19: "Dead or dying"

The teacher cleared his throat before declaring, "Class. May I have your attention, please?"

All around Kurama, who had been sitting at his desk in silence, the other students fell quiet. The teacher scanned the room in a slow arc—paying extra attention, of course, to the two desks in the classroom that sat empty. Even before he spoke again, Kurama knew what he would say.

"You may have noticed that we're missing two of our students—namely Yukimura Keiko and Kaito Yuu," said Kurama's teacher. "Unfortunately, both of them have been hospitalized—"

Murmurs erupted, classmates chattering to each other at the shock of this unexpected news. The teacher cleared his throat and held up a hand until quiet fell once more.

"While I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars of their condition, I am told they appear to be suffering from the same illness," he said. "If any of you feel at all ill in the coming days, please tell a member of the school faculty immediately. We—"

More murmurs erupted, louder than before. "Is it the Mushiyori disease?" said a student at the back of the class (one whom Kurama did not bother to turn around to look at). "It is, isn't it?"

"Kaito's from there," said another student, "and—"

Someone gasped. "That's right, and his parents are doctors! They—"

"I am not at liberty to say!" their teacher said, all but yelling to be heard. "Again, if any of you feel at all ill, please tell a member of our faculty. We will be signing cards for Kaito and Yukimura after class." He turned to the blackboard and rapped his knuckles against its surface. "Now, for today's lesson—"

But no one could concentrate on lessons after hearing such dire news. All through class, Kurama felt eyes on the back of his neck, and his sharp ears picked up whispers his classmates were certain he could not hear: Minamino sits with Kaito and Yukimura at lunch; does he know something? Should we ask him? Or does he have the illness, too? Should we keep our distance, then?

Listening to those whispers made him feel… odd. He was accustomed to hearing others talk about him as if he couldn't here (he was popular and mysterious, after all), but eavesdropping on rumors had never felt quite this invasive. Nagging. Unsettling. It was the first time he'd ever minded hearing rumors about himself, in fact. Mostly because in this case it reminded him of—

—Kei's white face, glassy eyes unseeing, hands shaking before her frail human body followed suit, nearly dying in Kurama's arms before Kuwabara whisked her away like swept-up shards of broken china, waxen and shattered and sallow—

—of comforting Yusuke in the hospital, unable to help and desperate.

He did not linger after class. As soon as the lunch period began, he left the room at a brisk walk, unsurprised when no one followed him out of the room. It seemed he had a rather infectious reputation, which suited Kurama fine. He ate alone in the stairwell where he typically ate with Kei and Kaito, sitting on the windowsill to pick at his assembled bento. The spot overlooked the school's back lawn, here Kurama's favorite greenhouse glittered under the bright spring sun. Much the way Kei had snubbed her meal the day before, Kurama didn't have much taste for his food. He doubted it meant anything insidious however. He felt perfectly healthy. Healthy enough to offer to run errands for Kei's parents when they'd arrived at the hospital the prior evening; healthy enough to wonder if he should visit her in the hospital. But he'd called that morning, and her parents said she was not conscious yet. Perhaps he should bring dinner to the—

Below him, two figures crossed the lawn, heading for the greenhouse.

Kurama acted at once, stowing away his lunch and taking the stairs to the ground floor with lithe, light steps. He managed to reach the door and cross the yard to the greenhouse at the same time the figures turned back, heading back the way they'd come after finding the greenhouse dark and empty. They stopped when they saw Kurama coming, and one of them put a hand on her hip.

"There you are!" said Junko, not bothering to disguise the annoyance in her voice. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Have you, now?" Kurama's eyes travelled to the person standing just behind her, to whom he directed a curt nod. "Amagi."

Amagi—looking desperately helpless—mouthed an apology at him over Junko's shoulder. Junko herself was staring too intently at Kurama to notice.

"OK, Minamino," said Junko with a toss of her bleached auburn hair. "Fess up. What the hell happened to Keiko?" A beat. "And Kaito, too, of course."

Kurama repressed his desire to make a joke about Junko's afterthought concern for Kaito, but he refrained. "What makes you think I know?" was all he said.

Junko glared, an expression lined with razor teeth. "Because you're thick as thieves, that's why," she said, and if Kurama didn't know better, he would think she was making a pun at the expense of his past life much the way Kei might've, but there wasn't anything suggestive in Junko's tone. Without pause she continued on, saying, "You're always hanging out with the pair of them and you're all weird as hell, so if anyone knows anything, it's you."

Behind her, Amagi's features pinched into a look of shocked concern, panic and pain drawing a pale pall over her cheeks. Her eyes met Kurama's in an instant, searching for… was it comfort? He wasn't certain. Before he could truly measure the emotions in her gaze, Junko noticed the pair of them, throwing up her hands with an exasperated huff. She was sharp, for a typical human. Kurama rather admired that about her, even if he'd never admit as much aloud.

"And you're weird too, Amagi," Junko said, tossing a scowl over her shoulder at her friend. "Don't think I don't notice. Everyone around here is weird but me and all of this secret-keeping is just—ugh!" She threw up her hands again, stomping past Kurama toward the school. "Why am I always the odd-one-out? I mean, really! Keiko is either dead or dying, and nobody can even look me in the eye, and—!"

Junko's voice carried on in her wake before the door shut behind her retreating back. She didn't bother waiting for an answer to her questions. She probably knew she'd be given none. Again, sharp girl. Kurama watched her go in silence, wondering if should at least throw her a bone of some kind. Perhaps offer to invite her if he went to visit—

Amagi cleared her throat. "I'm so sorry," she said, dipping an apologetic bow. "I tried to hold her off, but—"

"It's not your fault," Kurama said, waving one hand in quick dismissal. "And she isn't wrong, either."

"So you do know something? About Keiko?" Amagi asked, taking one eager step toward him. "Because—"

He shook his head. "No. I don't know much." He almost felt sorry for causing the look of pain that flashed across Amagi's face, but it couldn't be helped, and he did not allow himself to pity her. "I only know that she collapsed, and that she's still in the hospital."

"I see." Amagi's shoulders slumped, her dark head bowing under the weight of grief—grief Kurama read plainly in the lines writ round her mouth and the bend of her long neck. Bowing at him again, she said, "Well. If you hear anything…"

"Of course."

As he watched her go, following after her friend, Kurama wondered if Amagi truly believed that he did not know anything more than he was saying. But she was not the type to push, and for that, he felt grateful indeed. He had enough on his mind already—

—without adding nosey teenage humans to the mix.

Nosey human mothers, however, were a different story.

Shiori met Kurama at the door the moment he arrived home from school that day, bustling in from the kitchen so quickly she almost tripped as she came into the genkan. "Shuichi, Shuichi—you're home!" she said, grabbing his arm for support.

"Hello, Mother," he said, but it wasn't her erratic movements that made him frown and ask. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she blurted (an assertion Kurama doubted due to the sheen of sweat on her brow and the glint of worry in her eyes). Kurama felt even more alarmed when she grabbed his wrist and pressed a piece of paper against his palm. "Here. Take this and call Yukimura Keiko's parents right away."

"But what is—?"

"Kuwabara-san called me and told me what happened to Kei-chan." She gave the smallest of wails, anguish bright in her dark eyes. "Oh, Shuichi, why didn't you tell me? It's awful!"

"I didn't want to worry you, Mother." (And this was true, which meant Kurama would need to have a conversation with Kuwabara Sr. about this sometime very soon.) "And I have every faith that Kei will pull through, anyway." He held up the piece of paper. "But what is…?"

"Those are the names of the specialists who helped me when I was sick," Shiori said. "Kuwabara-san mentioned the hospital where she was taken, and as luck would have it, it's where I underwent treatment. Kei-san truly is a lucky girl, because these specialists are the best. Maybe one can help." A wry smile adorned her mouth, eyes once again full of anguish—tempered, this time, by hope. "Please give the names to her parents, Shuichi. If anyone can help, it's them."

"Thank you, Mother. This is very kind." He slipped the paper into his pocket. "I'm sure her parents will be happy to know to whom they can turn."

"That's my hope." Again she took his arm, fingers soft around the fabric of his jacket. "Oh, Shuichi. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." But he did not understand the way Shiori searched his face, dark eyes careful and observant as they catalogued his features. "Why do you ask?"

Shiori shook her head. "Because I'm worried about you, of course!"

Kurama stared at her in deadpan surprise. "Worried about…?"

"You've always been such a strong boy, Shuichi, but you're not invulnerable." She tutted, patting his arm with every word. "You can tell me if you're upset. Kei-san has always been such a wonderful friend to you—"

"—so I know you must be worried sick!"

"I am worried." The words slipped free on a whisper before he could check them, and while they shocked Shiori into wide-eyed silence, they startled Kurama even more. But he recovered quickly, forcing his lips to curve into a reassuring smile. "Thank you for your help, Mother. I'll call the Yukimuras right away."

To Kurama's immense surprise, he kept true to his word. Forcing himself not to think of the last glimpse he'd caught of Kei's grey and haggard face, he placed the call to the hospital, relaying the names his mother had compiled so that they could arrange their daughter's care.

He was not sure if he believed these specialists could help.

And yet, still he called the Yukimuras—because even Kurama, old as he was, was not sure what else he could do for Kei.

SO THERE WILL BE A FOLLOW-UP TO THIS CHAPTER. It'll be prompt #26, "something big."

Shiori AND Keiko's school friends for the price of one! Plus a callback to the Shiori/Kuwabara Sr. relationship. Ain't that fun?

Junko's inadvertent reference to thieves/Kurama's past life was NOT intended as anything suspicious. I wanted to include it because the moment showed that even when talking to Junko, Kurama was thinking about Kei.

The repeated bit about Kei's appearance during her collapse, BTW, is a snippet of description from chapter 02. Shows that Kurama is fixating a little.

MANY THANKS, y'all, FOR YOUR SUPPORT! So glad you're here for this prompt-challenge ride. Enormous gratitude for: xenocanaan, C S Stars, ladyofchaos, Kaiya Azure, cestlavie, tammywammy9, cezarina, LadyEllesmwere, buzzk97, lovedigitalhope and guests!