Somewhere on Autumn Woods Drive

By Rikku Minouke

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH

Chapter twenty-four

Changing my diet was harder than I expected, luckily Kurama was always looking over my shoulder. I'd never felt comfortable with people watching me eat, but that had to quickly change. There was no more sneaking a strip of beef jerky or going out and eating a pint of ice cream when I was upset. Instead he'd hand me a pack of dried pineapple. I knew it was for the best, but I missed my old ways sometimes.

"How'd things go with Yusuke after I left?" I asked Kurama as we sat at a table in a small Chinese restaurant in Minnetonka. Even at lunch time, this authentic hole in the wall was deserted. But it really did have the best food.

"You mean: did he attack me again?" Kurama smirked at me and I said a slight darkening at his lip. Honestly, I was surprised it was only that bad. I've seen Yusuke's effect on people and it was always brutal. "No, he was very calm once you left for work." I was silent, taking a sip of my ice water. Watching the colorful fish in the aquarium, I felt like there was definitely more to the story. "You know, Yusuke puts himself in the position of your older brother."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, looking back at him.

"Besides coming over to beat me up," Kurama said with one raise eyebrow. "He feels the need to protect you. It was in between the lines of our conversation. Yusuke's not going to let anything happen to you and he's going to keep this up until he feels someone else is there to take care of you."

"Yeah? So now that you are around, he is just gonna back off?" I asked and tried not to look like I needed an answer desperately.

He paused momentarily before answering, drawing out the suspense, "We'll see."

What the hell does that even mean!

The waiter walked up then with our food. He nodded several times as we thanked him before he turned and left. Looking down at my plate, I realized how hungry I was and couldn't stop from picking up a big fork full. The tangerine wafted into my nose from the utensil making my mouth water instantly.

"Has Yusuke always been like that?" Kurama asked when I started chewing the delicious beef.

Nodding, I swallowed my bite. "Yeah, it intensified in high school though. My dad kicked me out my senior year a lot and Yusuke let me live with him and his mom. Freshmen year in college, he kicked me out right after I came home for Christmas break. So I spent the holidays with Yusuke's family. It wasn't until after New Year's that my dad told me my mom had been in the hospital because one of her kidneys failed. I remember him getting so mad that I wasn't there for my mom. But how could I when he wouldn't let me in the house."

"Yusuke's mom just let you stay there? Why didn't you stay with one of the girls?" Kurama asked while he took a bit of his breaded shrimp.

I shrugged and looked down at my plate. "It's weird, but I didn't want to impose on them. I didn't want to make Keiko worry so much when she had her dad's restaurant to help out with and her mom's health. Yusuke had, for the most part, always just been Keiko's crazy boyfriend. After that, he became my family. I can't even tell you how many times that guy has helped me move."

"How did you pick Yusuke, of all people, to move in with?" Kurama asked, taking a scoop of rice from the bowl in the middle.

I laughed at that. "Ya know, I don't think I really picked Yusuke. It's weird, but I feel like he was the one who picked me."

"Can you elaborate a bit more?" I watched Kurama eat for a moment before responding.

"My dad had just kicked me out and I was on my way to see Keiko, but I couldn't do it," I admitted to him. "I had my POS station wagon packed with a bag full of clothes and my school bag. And…" I shrugged nonchalantly. "And I sat at the park in Keiko's neighborhood in Chaska, on one of the swings. I remember it starting to sprinkle and not caring. Where was I going to go? I was better off spending the night in the park, sleeping in a tube than attempting to go back home."

"Why did your dad kick you out?"

I played with the peppers and mini corn cobs on my plate while I thought about my answer. "Because I looked at him weird?" I shrugged. "College was because I was dating someone younger than me and I didn't understand that while with me they weren't going to go anywhere in life. By the way, Shishi, ended up cheating on me several times before finding himself in the art of music." I couldn't stop the eye roll and the heated tone that came when I talked about him. "We didn't last long, but our break up was what led me into the arms of the baby daddy." I paused to collect my thoughts again. "I don't know about my dad though. He was on a few medications at the time that really messed with him. So, anything could set him off. My clothes, my make-up, the people I talk to, not responding with Sir, coming home to late. You name it, I was probably kicked out for it at some point. Leaving my shoes by the front door instead of putting them in the closet."

"I'm sure Keiko would have let you stay with them," Kurama's eyebrows were pinched together while he spoke.

"Yeah, I believe she would have," I nodded. "But I didn't want to put that on them. And that is when Yusuke showed up." I laughed to myself at the memory. I had been watching my feet kick at the wood chips when his voice had broken through my mental self-pity rant. "He was pretty chill about the situation actually. At the time we were mere acquaintances."

"So you agreed to stay with a guy you barely knew, over asking your best friend?" Kurama tilted his head as he thought about that.

"Yeah, pretty much," I laughed. "But he seriously played it off like we were supposed to meet there and asked if I wanted to play Halo with him that night. He reached out his hand and pulled me off the swing and told me I could drive to his place. I ended up staying for the next week with him. His mom was pretty cool about it too. In exchange for me staying there, I did chores and I cooked meals."

"You make it sound like you were there a lot," Kurama pointed out.

"Enough to make him my big brother," that made Kurama chuckle and I took another bite of my food.

"Where did he find you in Keiko's neighborhood? I don't remember seeing a park," Kurama asked and took a drink while I chewed.

"Somewhere on Autumn Woods Drive."