Disclaimer: I don't own YYH—wish I did, but since I don't, whatever ideas I get go here and not into the actual anime...(sigh)...
Summary: Yusuke goes on one last training trip with Genkai to China after he gets back from Makai. What happens when he takes a hit to the head and ends up falling into an ordinary-looking pool that turns out to be more than what it looks like. Ranma Parody, please R&R!
Pairings: Yusuke/Keiko is the only clear thing for now. :D Or is it? ;;) Hehe—you'll have to find out! XP
Rating: T for language—just to be safe. :D
Author's Note: I'm so, so, so sorry for having this update out so late! Truth be told, I hit a writer's block in the plot for a few months parallel to a weekly truck-load of personal problems and schoolwork, so I hope you understand. I wondered if I should skip over to a certain scene then flesh it out, but I decided to build up to it instead, and it had me rewriting for quite a while. Despite that, this chapter's rather short and introspective, so I understand if you find it a bit dragging. Let me know what you think and do hang on, guys! ;P I promise something that will have your brows raising by next chapter, I promise. ;P And because my schedule's clearing up and the muses are being generous again, that update will be out much faster than the time it took to get out this one. ;P
Let me know what you think, okay? ;) Love you all! ;P
Chapter 3
Dealing With It
A crisp mountain breeze, not warmed by the kiss of the just-rising sun, rustled leaves as it moved over the land. Spring's hold on the land was almost completely gone now, save for a few instances such as these, when the air was clear and not heavy with moisture and heat. Among the creatures that the breeze kissed, bolstering them for the fiery golden haze, was a young girl who sat moodily staring into the depths of a chill blue pool.
It was not the first time that she could be found there—that very morning marked the fifteenth day of her moody meditation—and despite her unwelcoming aura, it appeared that the surrounding nature had grown accustomed to her. Unheeded, a grasshopper was munching an errant green blade that had gotten caught in her hair when she'd lain down, a bird pecked at the half-finished sandwich on her right, and a column of ants traipsed lightly over her toes on their way to the aforementioned discarded nutrition. Her eyes crossed irritably as a butterfly landed on her nose and she blew at it impatiently, waving her hand in a shooing motion when it merely flapped its wings but held firm.
"Bloody bug, get the fuck off my nose," she muttered, actually pinning two wings between her thumb and forefinger and prying the butterfly off her nose. Almost instantly, a burning sensation seared into the bridge and she realized that the damn thing had just sprayed her with its defensive toxin. Swearing and resisting the urge to crush it, she flung it as far away from herself as she could and dug into her pocket for her handkerchief. Getting to her knees, she moved over to the pool in front of her and, after giving it a scowl for good measure, dipped some of it in before rubbing the offending substance off her nose.
Oh yes. As Yusuke Urameshi saw things, it was shaping up to be a fine day.
First the kettle's bottom had given way three days ago and he had no means to prepare hot water. After three days of tolerating his own smell and tolerating the burn of scrubbing off grime with a dry cloth, he'd finally given in and washed in the cold water. Never mind that it was costly and washing in the cold water was a tedious affair, with all the long hair that came with getting splashed by it.
As a boy, it would've been a simple affair. Scrub scalp, rub locks vigorously, rinse. When he'd tried it after the inevitable transformation, he'd sworn for a full minute when his fingers had caught a snag and he'd nearly torn a dime-size part of his hair out by the roots. He'd been determined to cut it off until Genkai had come around and insisted on keeping it on, letting him in on the disconcerting fact that even if he shaved his head, the next time he would transform it would be the same length it was before the shaving. And Yusuke was not about to waste his time ridding himself of something that would be right there again the next time he took a bath. Since Genkai's training was getting harder he wasn't about to compromise cleanliness and the freshness that came with the bite of cold water.
Besides, the old hag actually had fun combing and styling the raven locks, and a part of him didn't want to deny her that pleasure.
Though that's the same fucking part that got me in this mess in the first place, he thought bitterly. If he'd have said no to Genkai from the start, he'd probably be home, wrapped up in Keiko's arms, with the assurance and confidence in his masculinity ensconced safely in his person.
Now he didn't even have that.
And Keiko...
His scowl deepened, twisting the beauty of his female face into something that was still attractive yet undeniably repulsive, as he recalled the conversation they'd had a few nights before.
"Why haven't you been calling me?" she asked quietly, her voice more hurt than angry.
"Keiko," he responded tensely, his skin still smarting from the scalding water he'd dumped on himself the instant Ling had come running with a phone call for him, "I've told you. We've been busy with training and this place isn't exactly on the communications map."
"It's a tourist spot, isn't it? And how come Genkai has the time to check up on Yukina at the temple, if you two are so busy? The phone can't be too far from where you two are lodged if Mr. Ling could get it to you in under five minutes."
"Ling runs fast," he covered lamely, cringing when her tone sharpened.
"Yusuke."
He sighed, rubbing a callused hand over his tired eyes. "Keiko," his voice softer and wearier than he'd have liked to let her hear, "it's been rough. You have no idea how many times these past few weeks I've wanted to come home."
"We both know that isn't possible." Already he felt her arms wrapping around him, her soft body pressing into his back as she peppered his shoulder with tender kisses. "But we can deal with it, can't we? It's why you should be calling me more often—we promised to maintain contact. I've written you three letters already with no response, and every other time I've called you've been exhausted or Ling and Genkai were unable to find you."
Technically, they were more than capable of locating him, but both of them seemed to understand that he wasn't ready to speak with Keiko yet. She wanted to speak to her fiancé—the boy she'd grown up yelling at, worrying over, and ultimately ended up planning her life with.
Yusuke couldn't speak to her when he wasn't sure if he was the same person.
Dying, becoming spirit detective, discovering his otherworldly lineage—none of those changes compared to realizing the restraint provided by a bra, the amount of effort it took to get one's hair neat, the irrational fits of temper he felt bubbling over petty details his easy-going attitude usually let slide, and as of that day, the horror of waking up with what Genkai dubbed as the "Red Tide."
He would never be the same.
"Is there something you need to tell me?" Keiko persisted when he remained silent. "Genkai told me that she learned a lot of new things when she went on her trip to that place. If you've learned anything, Yusuke, anything that might change what you feel about—"
"NO!" Yusuke exclaimed vehemently, the horror of what had really taken place on the tip of his tongue as the prospect of truly losing Keiko over this surfaced. Swallowing his panic and the impulse to drop the bomb, he put all of the days he'd spent pining and all of the nights he'd spent dreaming into his voice. "Keiko, I'm more in love with you than I can stand at this point. Things wouldn't be so hard for me if I didn't. Please, don't doubt me on that."
He felt like strangling himself when he heard her sniffle softly, but her reply calmed him somewhat.
"I won't. But it still bothers me that you won't talk about whatever's troubling you, Yusuke. I told you a long time ago that I could handle whatever quirks you had in store, and I've been true to my word, haven't I? You know I hate being kept in the dark."
Oh, trust me, you'll want to be kept in the dark about this. It's one quirk even I can't handle.
"This is different, Keiko. I can't explain now, and I doubt I'll ever be able to, but just know that I love you and I want nothing better than for you to be happy."
"I want nothing better than to be happy with you," she stressed with another little sniffle. "But all right—I won't bug you about it." She gave a shaky laugh. "Honestly, I don't even know why I'm so upset over a few letters and phone calls! You'll be back in three weeks anyway. My period always makes me so dramatic. I feel so ashamed now."
That makes two of us on both counts, his mind ground out grimly.
"Don't," he assured her lovingly. "I'm the idiot who's been letting things get to him, and it makes me feel great to be reminded that I have someone who loves me as much. Take care while I'm away, all right?"
He felt guilty but relieved that she didn't ask him to call her or reply to her letters. Instead she sent an audible smooch over to him and simply said, "Hurry home."
"If you're going to be here so early every damn day," came a voice that lost none of its strength despite the slight wheeze he caught, "you might as well train."
"Good morning, Genkai," he murmured, trying to keep the sullenness from his tone and failing miserably.
"Nothing's very good about it, judging from your expression," his mentor commented dryly as she walked up to him and immediately took a seat behind him, her small hands immediately moving to fix his hair.
"Mmmm."
Genkai sighed and shook her head, knowing full well what was bothering him. Had she been in his position, she would have been extremely disturbed as well. But Ling had told her about the phone call Yusuke had received from Keiko a few nights before and she'd expected him to be all right after that.
Apparently, she'd misjudged his powers of comprehension.
Or their conversation hadn't gone very well.
Either way, she knew it was about time she put her oar into her student's current affair, if only to offer him the enlightenment that would make the whole fiasco more bearable. Not only was he going more and more off center in terms of their training, his bond with Keiko was also suffering from his current confusion and insecurity.
"It isn't all that bad, you know," she began lightly. "You'll never look this good as a boy, believe me."
Yusuke's head turned slowly to regard her, brown eyes sparking with fury.
And sparkling with tears.
Talk about gender-confused, Genkai shook her head inwardly, seeing the disparity between what the male soul felt and what the female body felt like doing.
"All right, I'll be serious," she averred solemnly, though she knew that her initial statement was serious, though lightly delivered. The way his loose draw-string pants and ribbed tank clung to his curvy female figure surpassed many of the females Genkai had met in her lifetime. And his female face was certainly striking enough.
Especially now that he was listening to her expectantly, his eyes almost doe-like in their vulnerability, lashes moistened by unshed tears. There was a softness in his female face that she had rarely seen on his real one, and that very softness made his female face incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, it was the same beautifying vulnerability that Genkai had a problem with.
If it wouldn't kill him to hear it, I'd tell him I'm almost happy he fell into the pool—but only because of the body, she admitted to herself grumpily. It had always been one of her many lost dreams to have a daughter—though it would kill her to admit it.
"Like many problems in life, this will affect you only as much as you allow it to." There, that sounded perfectly clear. At least his face wasn't scrounging up in confusion, and that was a green light, wasn't it? "And despite what you may think, it's not in Keiko's hands as it is in yours."
Yusuke's brows contracted at that, and the expected, "What do you mean?" was duly blurted out.
"You think that because of what happened you've changed fundamentally—and perhaps in terms of your viewpoint and body, you have. I have only to look at you now to see you're physically different, and I know that now you'll never call girls whiny about their periods ever again. But you know what I didn't expect to see in you?" Her gaze turned laser as she gave him a critical head-to-toe, focusing on his eyes and boring her glare into them. "I didn't expect to see you this weak, and stupid enough to make yourself this weak."
Predictably, Yusuke's hackles raised at that, his tone indignant and stung as he turned to face her fully.
"Well excuse me if this body isn't as strong as my real one! Whose fault is it that I'm this way in the first place, huh?"
"You silly girl—guy—you're missing the point!" Genkai snapped, giving her student a well-deserved smack on the head. "You should have been on guard that day to begin with, and I wasn't even referring to your body! I was referring to you—the person in that shell who's allowing this to affect him so much that his performance is suffering so that the accident is for nothing—this whole training trip is for nothing, because you're not progressing anyway! And to make it worse, I can't even send you home early because you're avoiding Keiko!"
"What the hell do you expect me to do, tell her what happened?" he barked furiously. "It would ruin everything!"
"Why?" his mentor inquired incisively. "Because she wouldn't want to marry you anymore?"
"Exactly!" Yusuke spat. "Don't tell me being afraid of something like that makes me weak! I know you're a cold old hag, but you should understand what being rejected by someone you love feels like!"
"No, it doesn't make you weak," Genkai admitted, her eyes darkening at Yusuke's lash at her rather lonely life, "it just makes you unbelievably stupid."
"Oh yeah? How exactly?"
"When you got a pair of breasts, did they make Keiko's any less appealing?"
"What!"
"I'm asking," Genkai clarified calmly, "if your becoming a woman has changed your feelings for Keiko."
"Of course not! And if you go telling anyone otherwise—"
"Oh, shut up and answer me this then—if your feelings haven't changed after this incident, what makes you think Keiko's will?"
Yusuke opened his pretty mouth then closed it, his eyes darkening in contemplation though his brows remained furrowed in uncertainty.
"I...it's different," he argued feebly.
"How is it different?" Genkai persevered, smiling to herself when she saw a glimmer of hope enter his eyes as realization finally began to sink in. "It's not like your situation leaves you forever in a woman's body, and even when you're in it your feelings remain true to Keiko. You haven't begun lusting over other men, have you?"
"God, no!"
"So then what's the problem? Keiko loves you more than any other person in this world—she's accepted everything about you down to your immaturity, occasional stupidity, and demon lineage. What makes you think she won't accept this little inconvenience?"
Yusuke gave her a bland stare. "I think it's more than a 'little' inconvenience."
"So did your being spirit detective and heir to Raizen, but did Keiko reject you over those issues?"
"No," Yusuke answered in a tiny voice. "But—"
"But you still refuse to understand what so incredibly, mind-numbingly simple, Yusuke." Genkai stood up and gave him her most penetrating look. "You made Keiko wait for you while you dealt with the problems your identity have presented you. She's taken that painful experience, as well as accepted and loved you more than as a man, but as a person. Think carefully. Are you going to let her wait any more damn years while you deal with your idiotically-supplemented insecurities?"
Yusuke's mouth tightened into a thin line, but despite the aggressiveness of his expression, she saw the light that was now shining brightly in the depths of his expressive eyes. Thoroughly pleased with herself and looking forward to a more fulfilling few weeks of training, she resisted the urge to punch him again when he sniffed loudly and stubbornly stated, "Fine. But I'm still not going to tell Keiko yet."
Further Author's Notes: Crossing my fingers and hoping I don't get deleted for this. To my lovely reviewers!
Curry: I'm so glad you think so! ;P I just wondered how I would react to finding myself with a penis and thought, Ugh, it would be awful! ;P Haha! So glad you appreciated that. ;P
Master Lumine: Thanks—I did get an update out, finally. Keiko's reaction is about another chapter away, I think, but I promise something as entertaining by next update. ;P Please stay tuned and thank you again! ;P
AlexChance: In the interest of improving my writing, what sentences would you rephrase? ;P I know I write really, really long ones sometimes, and my grammar goes off now and then, so please point them out. ;P And thank you, thank you, thank you! ;P
Hopeless Wanderer: Bwa-ha-ha—you get to see one of those who'll be hooked by him come next chapter! ;P Not really hooked—it would be too weird, but just stay tuned, okay? ;P Thank you so much! ;P
Kenshin-Battosai: Thanks so much! ;P I've read your fic—it's on my favorites, if you've noticed. ;P
Thunderstorm101: Here it is, darling! ;P Long overdue, but here nonetheless! ;P And I like you, muchly! ;P Thank you for reviewing! ;P
SatanStoleMyThrone: Thank you very, very much! ;P I'm glad you didn't finalize your opinion of it and gave it a shot—it means a lot to me. ;P
angel61991: Thanks so much, darling! ;P Here's the update. ;P