Author's Note: Sooo, my first story is up and running. Last chapter was a prologue, though I failed to mention it, my bad. This story is mainly based on the manga, though I would be lying if I said the anime didn't influence it at some level (namely the crapy ending). I was inspired by the AMV by Arigatominna, If you still believe, as well as the Kurama image opening for the show. Lastly, but certainly the most important, a HUGE thank you to Chaseha-Wing, demonic blood shed666, ladyasile and KyoHana for their reviews.
To KyoHana: Thank you so very much for your kind words and critique. I took your suggestion to heart, and am giving a lot more attention to my future updates. Reviews are what keep me writing, even if they criticize (constructively), so please keep them coming. It only takes a moment of your time!
/dances melancholy Kurama plushie in front of you/ You know you want to glomp him. So now that I'm done begging-on with the story.
This chapter sets the stage for the plot of this story, so there isn't much action. It might be good for a laugh at the end though, at least I think so xD Enjoy!
Chapter One:
Lunch with Yusuke
"Damn, my feet are killing me." Yusuke grumbles as he collapses into the booth, body sprawled out and arms over the back, like a restless cat. I take the seat across from him, slipping off my coat as the waitress places our menu's on the table, quickly fixing my eyes on the laminated words.
It has been another month now. The trials of wedding planning force me to count. With the makai bujutsukai resolved, Yusuke and Keiko have set the date, five months from now, on the seventh of January. Unsurprisingly, Kuwabara is to be his best man, but I seem to be entrusted with the duties typical of that roll. I don't mind; it keeps me busy, and I owe it to Yusuke to help where I can.
"I thought weddings were supposed to be happy, joyful and all that shit, not stressful."
"That is the ideal picture of it, anyway." I murmur, my eyes scanning the menu blindly. I lack an appetite these days, but do not mistake this for a suicidal mind. Ending my life thru malnutrition would be among other things, shameful. The simplicity of it is that depression has taken my taste buds hostage.
"We should just elope and be done with it."
"You will be glad you went through all the effort when it's over." I assure, laughing lightly, my eyes closing in happy crescents. Yusuke grumbles a reluctant agreement before placing his order with our exceptionally peppy waitress. I, too, name my order and she animatedly skips away, leaving me to mourn silently the loss of my menu. I have nothing to look down at now, and am forced to affix my gaze on Yusuke, whose eyes I have felt on me ever since we stopped at this dinner, waiting for me with their skeptical glaze.
"So how's Hiei?"
My lips part, but there is a stall before I reply, my voice inexplicably deciding to stick to my throat "Good, I presume." I pause, the waitress returning, and wrap my hands around the mug of coffee placed before me, letting it warm my skin. "Granted, it has been some time since our last visit, but I am certain he is doing well. Makai is where he is most at home, after all."
"Shizuru seems to think you two meet up pretty frequently,"
"As frequently as our schedules allow-"
"-which is funny, because Hiei seemed pretty damn confused as to how that was possible, since he hasn't set a foot out of makai in over a year."
My fingers twitch around the mug, lips frozen around an excuse I fumble to create, reflected to me by the murky liquid in my cup. I take in a silent breath, and close my eyes, conforming my lips to a solemn smile. "Just what are you driving at, Yusuke?" Wounds cannot heal when picked at.
I hear him shift in his seat, the plastic of the booths cushion scraping his jeans. For all his immaturity and brash impatience, I found long ago that Yusuke Urameshi is decidedly sharp. I wish, in situations like these, he had not such a keen eye. Masks are useless when your companion can see thru the mold.
"Come on Kurama, you know I'm not that dense. If you miss him so much, why don't you just go see him? With the barrier stretched, it shouldn't be a problem, even for someone as strong as Youko to get through."
"The barrier is not the problem, Yusuke." Even if the seal was still intact, preventing the higher class demons from seeping through, I would have found away. "I know very well that I can visit him in makai."
"Then go! What's stopping you?"
He sounds agitated, confused, but I will not open eyes to see the distress on his face. Yusuke has become a good friend to me; he knows my masks well, just as Kuronue had. At times, it disarms me, but I have lingered to long with love unrequited to be swayed. "My life is here now Yusuke. I have no intention to return to makai for a long while. Besides," I lower my eyes, the tenor of my voice going with it, watching as the images in my mind appear in the ceramic lined waters in the oval of my hand "Hiei, clearly made his choice."
I raise the mug to my mouth, and just as the steam tickles my lips, laughter pricks boorishly at my ears. I part my eyes in a glare as Yusuke tries to hold back his cries, only making the next burst loader, and by the time our food is delivered, there are tears building at the corners of his eyes. Somewhere in the mix of his laughter and cackling breaths, I gather the words "can't" "believe" and "Mukuro". It is the last word that urges me to grab my coat and move to my feet.
"-Wait! Wait, Kurama, I'm sorry-just-sit down man, let me explain."
My eyes are on his hand, which in the course of his choked speech, latched onto my arm-and reluctantly, I sit. Yusuke release me, gnashing his teeth, and my eyes narrow to slits.
"I'm sorry I laughed at you, but…you're crazy!"
Ah, yes, I am seeing the humor clearly now.
Yusuke rolls his eyes, and leans closer, his elbows on the table on either side of his plate "The fact is Mukuro doesn't hold a candle to you. It's just so damn funny that you're so jealous of a woman with half a face!"
"Hiei isn't strung along by vanity." I protest, with a bit more venom than intended "Regardless of her appearance," and besides the mutilation, I will admit Mukuro to be a rather striking woman "it is her connection with Hiei which keeps him at her side."
"Bullshit."
Yusuke's eyes are so intense, I find myself looking at empty booth at our right instead of their mahogany glow, the sure conviction in them amplified by his words making my stomach knot. How can he have such faith…
"You can't tell me that you and Hiei don't have that same connection. I've seen it; you'd have to be blind or stupid not to notice."
"I can say the same for Mukuro."
"Will you stop with that for a moment? Remember when you fought three rounds against the shinobi? Hiei was so angry watching you get smacked about, he broke thru a supposedly indestructible barrier to get to your side! Shit, I fucking died in front of him and he didn't get that upset."
My cheeks flush. I would like to blame it on the cold, but the dinner is well heated and coffee to warm me, besides. During that fight, I had felt Hiei's youki foaming like bubbling magma. I blacked out just as it was to explode. Such memories are hopes I had been tied to in Hiei's absence, but with his last visit, the strings were cut. Still, Yusuke persists, his food forgotten. He must care if he puts food to a second place for me.
"Besides Kurama, you got three things going for you that Mukuro ain't; Looks, chemistry, and a dick."
The coffee in my mouth cuts into my lungs as I sputter, and I quickly bring my hand to my mouth to cover a hacking cough, my face brighter than ever. Did Yusuke just say…?
"If I may, Yusuke," I begin, dabbing my lips with a napkin "what makes you so certain of his sexuality that you felt the need to throw that into your equation?"
Yusuke smiled.
"When he takes his cloak of, he always made sure you had a good view." My face matches my hair, at this point, and with a groan a hide my blushing continence behind an outstretched palm. Only Yusuke.
"It's like he's stripping for you."
"Yusuke," I pled, my eyes peeking out between split fingers beseechingly "this is not helping…You knew he had not left makai?" I ask, my hand falling from my face at the thought, Yusuke's whole biases for an argument replaying in my mind.
Hiei seemed pretty damn confused as to how that was possible, since he hasn't set a foot out of makai in over a year.
"Well I couldn't wait around and hope for him to drop by; the wedding would be over by then."
"The…wedding…?" I question, my voice giving a twitch.
"Uh-huh. Hiei's groom number three, which reminds me…" the leer in his eyes makes me fidgeted, and with the words proceeding, I understand why.
"As your first assignment, you are to deliver his tux to him, in makai."