Yu Yu Hakusho: New Dreams, Old Nightmares

Okay, Chapter 4. I started writing this right at the end of chapter 3 with the intention of it being one long chapter, but I decided to split it up.

Thanks to the few people that have reviewed, I am thankful for it!

A few more chapters before the action starts, hang in there!

New Dreams, Old Nightmares

Chapter Four: Off Work Early

"Have a good weekend, Shuuichi!" Noriko exclaimed as he undid the ties on his florist apron. "See you on Monday!"

"Thank you, Noriko-san. I'll make sure that order is taken care of, first thing when I get in."

"You better!"

He smiled as he placed the apron on a hook in the back of the locker. Filling the order wouldn't be that much of a problem. He would have to come in a little early, but he would be able to grow the flowers into their beautiful arrangements starting with just the seeds inside their little pots. Was it really a surprise that he didn't pick another line of work?

He really did enjoy this job.

Kurama straightened his outfit, which consisted of a simple long-sleeved white dress shirt, a pair of black slacks, and dress shoes. He always wore this outfit or something quite similar to it at work, giving off a professional air that made it hard not to admire the man when you were dealing with him.

Convinced he looked good as usual, he picked up his backpack and closed the locker. He gave a small wave to Noriko as he walked past the counter and out into the mall.

Immediately he was surrounded by a sea of people doing their midday Friday shopping. Most were there on their lunch break, taking advantages of the different restaurants in the food court. The mall had three floors, and the florist shop in which he worked was on the second level. The food court where he agreed to meet Yusuke was on the third level, in the middle of the mall where the main elevator was.

He slung his backpack over one shoulder and started towards the center of the mall. As an afterthought, he pulled out a cellphone from his pocket and opened it, coming to a stop. It was a Reikai communication device, identical in function to the pocket communicator Yusuke once had, but a little more practical. He had enough people mistaking him for a girl. He didn't need someone seeing him holding what looked like a pink makeup compact.

Kurama connected the device to Yusuke's as he started walking again. It was answered on the third ring.

"You're on the microphone, what's your beef?"

"Yusuke, it's me," Kurama said. "I'm sorry for being a few minutes late, but I had to finish up at work."

"Bring me a flower?" Yusuke asked with a laugh.

"I was saving that for later tonight, actually…" Kurama said. When there was no sound on the other end of the phone, he quickly added, "I was merely joking."

"Had you going there, didn't I?" the former tantei laughed right back.

"Hardly. Are we still meeting in front of the elevator?"

"Yeah, I'm there right now."

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in a few moments," Kurama said, closing the phone and placing it back in his pocket.

"Excuse me sir!" came a voice from a nearby kiosk in the middle. "Are you happy with your cellphone provider?"

Kurama turned towards the stocky man in the booth. "Yes, I am actually. Thank you for asking."

"Who's your provider? I bet we have better reception than they do!"

"I doubt it," he said, smiling inwardly.

"Well, then, I bet our rates will be a lot better than theirs! We have a promotion going on right now with a free phone and no setup fee!"

"And will you be willing to pay the cancellation fee to my current provider?" Kurama asked.

The salesman sweatdropped. "Umm, no, we can't do that…"

"Then I wish you good day," the redhead said, turning around and walking away before the man could say anything else. They certainly were pushy lately…

He strode through the families and groups of friends who were crowding around and finally made it to the center of the mall. The center was the one area where all three floors were open, providing large area about fifty feet across. There was a glass elevator on one side that emptied near the food court, with a few escalators flanking it on either side. With a brisk movement, he made his way to one of the escalators.

Yusuke spotted Kurama's hair from where he was on the third floor, and started to stroll over to where he would eventually emerge from the crowd. It wasn't like him to be late to anything, but he must have had good reason.

Kurama reached the top of the escalator, only to be greeted by a smiling Yusuke. "You know, that joke wasn't very funny, pal."

"I could say the same of yours," Kurama said. "Are we even now?"

"Yep, more than! Where would you like to go? Personally, I don't care…I haven't eaten yet today and the last thing I had was some rock-hard sandwich on the train with Keiko."

"Well, if you haven't satisfied your craving for a double cheeseburger yet, how about we go find a place that serves them?"

"Now we're talking!" Yusuke said with a big grin.

The two friends started to walk down to the food court. "What on today's agenda before we all go meet at Master Genkai's?" Kurama asked his friend as they stopped in front of the only hamburger joint in the court.

"Well, I figured we go shopping for some stuff for me, run back to my place to drop it off, maybe dick around for a few hours. Keiko gets out at three, and I figure we'd all head over to grandma's house from there." He turned to the attendant behind the register. "Yeah, I'll have a double cheeseburger, a large fry, and a Pocari."

"I think that sounds reasonable. Does your mother know you're back yet?"

"Nah, she never showed up last night or this morning. Hey, what do you mean, you don't have a double cheeseburger?" Yusuke said, yelling at the employee.

"I'm sorry, sir, that's not on the menu."

"Who the hell doesn't have a double cheeseburger? Hey dumbass!" he yelled to the man behind the grill. "Just charge me for another one and put two slices of beef on it!"

"Sir," the first one said. "We can't do that."

"Why the hell not? Isn't there a button that looks like a beef patty or a cow somewhere on the register?"

"Because we can't sell the beef patties individually."

"Okay then, I'll buy another burger, and use that one to make a double cheeseburger!" Yusuke said, his fist shaking with how pissed off he was getting. Why couldn't this idiot understand? Probably couldn't figure out how to do it since there wasn't a picture on there.

"You'd still be left with the bun. We can't sell them without the buns because of inventory."

"Ah, for the love of…look, you got one of those low-carb burgers that's the current rage?" he said through clenched teeth. "The lettuce wrapped ones?"

"Y…yes…"

"Okay then. I want one of those, and one normal cheeseburger. I want the low-carb burger wrapped ­with the other burger. Now, did I say that slowly enough, or do I need to repeat myself?"

Kurama was trying very hard to hold in two things – laughter, and a sweatdrop.

The cook literally threw the meat on the grill, understanding perfectly what Yusuke meant, and what would happen if he didn't understand what Yusuke meant.

Yusuke started to turn back towards Kurama and speak when he heard the employee behind the counter talk again.

"Sir?"

"What?" Yusuke yelled, turning in frustration.

"We're out of Pocari."

"Well, I must say you handled that situation rather well," Kurama said. They were seated at one of the many tables, facing across from each other. Yusuke had just finished ripping open a packet of ketchup for his fries, and squeezed the contents onto the liner protecting the plastic tray.

"I swear, a guy would starve," Yusuke said as he grabbed his soda and took a long drink from the straw. "Hey, thanks for covering me back there, I owe you again."

Kurama leaned back and took a sip from his own soda. "Actually, you don't. I did as you requested with those rurimaru stones you gave me."

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke asked as he set down his drink.

"Yes. I was able to find a buyer for them." The rurimaru stones were the treasure of Raizen's nation, which had been dissolved at the start of the first Makai tournament. Yusuke had given a handful of them to Kurama to see if he could sell them to any interested parties. It would have done him no good to come back home with no money or capital behind him. "A jewelry maker demanded that I sell them to him, after seeing their brilliance and diamond like strength."

"How much did they go for?" Yusuke asked before he sank his teeth into his long awaited prize.

Kurama coughed and answered his friend's question in a low voice. "About a hundred thousand yen each."

Yusuke choked suddenly on his food, as the answer hit him. That was a lot of money. "You're kidding!" he exclaimed.

"No, I'm not. I managed to sell him all six of them, and that came out to just less than six hundred thousand. They would have fetched a higher price, if all of them were flawless without a name carved into them."

Yusuke had barely managed to swallow the bite he had almost sucked down into his lungs.

"I brought a small amount with me today to cover your expenses. The rest is safely stored at my house. I'll have to give it to you later," Kurama said with a small smile, enjoying the amazed look on his friend's face. "I would have given it to you earlier, but even with my abilities, I don't feel comfortable carrying that much money…"

"I had no idea!" Yusuke said. "Jeez, thanks Kurama. I don't know what I would do without you…"

"Just try not to spend it all in one place," the redhead said, closing his eyes and enjoying another sip.

"Oh, yeah…there's a couple of things I wanted to ask you about," Yusuke said, setting down the now half-eaten burger and using a napkin to wipe off his mouth.

"Hm?" Kurama asked.

"It's, well, about you," Yusuke started.

"Go on."

"Okay. I know all about your decision to leave your past behind. I know what happened during that fight with Shigure, and I have to ask you, directly. You've chosen the life you have now, as opposed to going back to Youko Kurama, right?"

Kurama's features darkened for a second, lost in memory. "Yes, that's true."

"What does that do for all the times you've spent in Makai with myself and the others? And I know you said you wanted to enter the tournament again coming up. Don't take this the wrong way, but I guess I'm curious. How does all this stuff fit in to your life and your thinking now?" Yusuke asked, looking directly into his eyes.

Kurama broke the eye contact, staring at the cup in his hands. He didn't answer for a while, until Yusuke broke the silence. "If you don't want to answer, that's okay. I'm sorry if I said anything that was out of line…"

"No, it's not that, I assure you. I was just wondering the best way to answer that question myself…" he said. It was another minute before he finally answered.

"Yusuke, when I was Youko Kurama, I was relentless. I was everything an A-class yokai was supposed to be. There's a reason why my old name was still spoken of in Makai, and why I was called legendary. It was for all the wrong reasons, I realize that now.

"Hiei sometimes insists that he wishes I was the way I used to be. We both went from A-class apparitions to barely having the strength of a D-class."

"What?" Yusuke asked. "I know you once were, but Hiei used to be an A-class?"

Kurama nodded. "Don't tell Hiei I said this, but his jagan eye is not natural."

"So three-eyes was only born with two?"

"Yes. He went to Shigure to ask him to implant the jagan in his forehead, so he would be able to locate the Makai ice village of Koorime, where he came from, and also to find a few other things that were precious to him, like Yukina, his sister."

"Wow, I had no idea…"

"Hiei was frustrated because he had the strength of an A-class and wasn't able to find the village or the other things he desired. The operation drained so much of his yoki that he went back down to D-class levels."

Yusuke was taken aback. "The fact that Hiei would go through something like that just to find his sister…"

"Yes, it speaks volumes about his character…but more to the point of your question. For the longest time, both of us desired to get back to our former power. After all the time spent with you, and all of our cases, we finally acquired it when we faced off against Sensui. Hiei was back to his previous strength, and I was as well."

"Wait a minute, when I saw you in Makai, you were transformed!"

"I took on Youko's power and his appearance, but I still retained my ningen personality. It happens when my yoki builds up to a certain point; my body changes back into that of my former self. If I am pushed even further, I lose my ningen side."

"I thought that's what you wanted."

"It was, for the longest time. But, as I learned the ways of this world, and the love my mother had for me…I gained a sense of morality that I never had when I was Youko. I started to realize just how horrible I had been in my previous life: the lives I took, the acts I committed. I am…ashamed, Yusuke," Kurama finished, with his hair covering his eyes.

"I didn't mean to open up an old wound, Kurama…"

"I'm not finished with the answer yet, that was only part of it. As I grew, and realized these things, I started to feel an unbearable guilt…I felt that my life as a ningen was the manifestation of fate, a way for me pay penance for my moral abhorrence." He gave a small smile. "You were the one that changed that, Yusuke."

"I did?" Yusuke said, completely enthralled by Kurama's explanation.

He nodded. "When we first met, and I was going to give my life to save my mother's…it was also going to be my way of doing something worthwhile to alleviate my sins. If I had given my life, then I would perhaps in some way make up a fraction of them…foolish reasoning, I know. But when I saw your selflessness and neither one of us was taken in exchange for Shiori's life, it made me realize that as long as I tried to live my life as a good person, as long as I acted in an honorable manner…then it was possible to love and live this new life without a sense of guilt."

He stared off into the sea of people walking around, each in their own little world. "This is who I am now, Yusuke. I am Kurama, but I am no longer Youko. I've changed. I've retained all the knowledge, all the tactics, and everything else that made me into that legendary kitsune. At times, I'm even as ruthless as he is, when I need to be…you remember in the cave, when I killed Amanuma?"

How could Yusuke forget? He had never seen his friend so torn up before.

"Yusuke, as Youko, I committed acts that were far beyond that. Were I Youko, I would have killed him in an instant. I would have had no regrets, and no remorse. Were there another way to save him, I probably would have taken his life anyway, merely for being an obstacle," he continued. "Can you understand why I don't want that life anymore? I enjoy Makai, I enjoyed the tournament, and I'm sure I will enjoy the next one, but Ningenkai is my home now. I refused to continue battling Shigure as Youko for that reason. My life does consist of both this one and echoes of my former, but I am me, Yusuke. I transformed willingly, and then ceased the transformation, once again of my own free will. I did it to prove to myself that this is the way I really wanted to be, and that Youko no longer controlled me."

Yusuke stared at his friend. That speech had taken a lot out of him. "That's the first time I've ever heard this, Kurama…I guess I found my reasons, but I had no idea so much went into yours…"

Kurama smiled to let his friend know that everything was okay. "Well, I am over as thousand years your superior, Yusuke. I tend to think more than you, after all." he said with a small chuckle.

"Can you still transform?"

He nodded. "My transformation does not happen to increase my strength. It happens because my strength increases."

"You lost me."

"I have the yoki of a B-class apparition in my body as of now but I am capable on drawing much more strength. A ningen body can't seem to be able to withstand the stress of reaching higher levels, so when I push my yoki past B-class levels, my body automatically transforms into my yokai form to contain and wield the additional power. The only time I would willingly transform was when I needed that strength to achieve a goal, or to protect my own life. I imagine that it will happen again if we are faced with another situation that puts our lives in jeapordy."

"Do you think a situation like that could come up?" Yusuke asked, finally starting to eat again.

"I don't know, honestly. I really have no need to become stronger than I am now. I can protect what is important to me, and I have no ambitions of becoming the next king of Makai." He laughed. "Up until the confrontation with Sensui, Kuwabara and myself were on pretty even terms."

"You're kidding. That idiot was as strong as you?"

"Kuwabara did and still does command a tremendous amount of reiki but I believe Reikai standards would rank him as a C-class. It's not just the amount of reiki he possesses, but his ability to control it and his decisiveness in using it. I simply channel it to different areas than he does. But, to his credit, there were many times when he surprised us all," he finished, smiling.

"True enough…and, thanks. Thanks for telling me."

"I think I am more grateful for you listening. This is the first time I've told anyone about this to this extent. I touched on it with Kuwabara at my mother's wedding but not like this."

"I wish I could have made it. It seems she's really happy."

"Yes, and I'm happy for her. Adjusting to having two new members of the family has been an interesting challenge but a welcome one," Kurama said.

"You never discussed this with Hiei at all?"

"No, because Hiei wouldn't understand. For the longest time, he always did think my new attitude towards life was foolish, that I would put others in front of my own ambitions. At the time, he had no priorities to protect like I did. He now has Yukina and Mukuro to provide him an anchor, finally."

"He's grown a little softer, but that seems to be the only growing he's done lately."

"I agree as well, just don't let him hear that," Kurama laughed. "Hiei couldn't understand why after both of us had finally acquired the power we were seeking to regain, how I would be able to be content with being a simple ningen, but he respected my decision. It will simply take some more time for him to understand it."

"Yeah, he's starting to. He's living with Mukuro now and I have a strong feeling that when he said he would cover my back when I was fighting Sensui, it was the first time he had ever done something like that."

"For as long as I've known him, yes, it was. Are you still hungry? We could go for another round but you might not want to spoil your appetite for the party tonight," Kurama said, noticing that Yusuke had finished his food while they were talking.

"I think I'm good. I just need to go shopping now and get some clothes that fit."

"Shall we be off, then?"

"Yeah…oh, there was that second question."

"I forgot, my apologies."

"Kurama…knowing what I now do, how do you want me to refer to you? Do you prefer that I still call you Kurama, or would you like me to call you Shuuichi?"

Kurama was taken aback at the gesture of kindness. Yusuke wanted to respect his friend's wishes.

This is the reason I choose to live this life.

"Kurama is fine, Yusuke," he said with a laugh. "But only in our collective circle, I would ask. Everyone else knows me as Shuuichi."

Yusuke smiled. "Great. So I guess I should just think of it as a nickname?"

"Exactly."

"I'm glad. That's something I've wanted to ask you for a while, I just could never bring myself around to."

"No worries," he said, as both of them stood up. Yusuke gathered their empty cups and his food wrappers, walking over to the trashcan to dump the tray. Kurama followed alongside him.

"Where would you like to shop first?"

"Well, I gotta get the essentials first. Underwear, socks, et cetera. Hey, why did you call me?" he asked, placing the now empty tray in a rack above the trashcan. "Couldn't you just sense where I was?"

"I don't resort to using that tactic to spy on my friends very often. I'm sure you and Keiko enjoyed the privacy," he said way too innocently to be serious, sticking his hands in his pockets as they headed away from the court and towards the far end of the mall.

Yusuke placed his hand behind his head and laughed nervously. "I swear, nothing happened! We slept, that's all. She changed and went to school from my house this morning."

"If you say so," Kurama replied, enjoying the rise he was getting out of Yusuke.

"Excuse me sir, are you happy with your curren-"

"Piss off, lardass," Yusuke said as they passed the kiosk Kurama made his way by earlier. That ended that quickly.

"Does she know you plan on entering the next tournament?"

"Not exactly…I haven't told her yet," Yusuke said before walking into one of the stores on his left, with Kurama in tow.

"I think it would be wise to tell her soon, it's going to be in a few months. You'll want to get all of your training in before then."

"I don't think she'd handle it too well," Yusuke said, making his way to the back of the store. "Do these look nice?" he said, grabbing a blue shirt off the rack and holding it in front of him to get Kurama's opinion.

"Not your color, I'm afraid. So, your decision has already been made about participating next time?"

"Jin, Chu, and Link would kick my ass if I didn't. And they'd kick my ass if I did, come to think of it…but yeah, I've made up my mind about it for a while now. How about this one?"

"Better, but not quite there. Tell me, why the delay? Why didn't you say something to Keiko last night?"

"Well I mean, I come back, and then wham! I'd have to go off again for a couple of months to do my training. I mean, if you were Keiko, after that speech I overheard on the beach, how would you react?"

"May I ask you a rather serious question this time, Yusuke?" Kurama asked, causing his friend to pause while he had three shirts in his hand, and look at him.

"Are you afraid of going through with the promise you made to her?"

Yusuke was shocked and answered in a very quiet voice. "How did you know about that?"

"She told me about it, at my mother's wedding. She vented for a while, and she did it at me because she knew I had been going back and forth to Makai and that I had seen you a few times. She slapped me one time, did you know that?"

"What?" Yusuke asked, surprised. "She did?"

"Yes. She was accusing me of covering for you, and that I knew something she didn't. She hated me when I wouldn't say anything after she told me of the promise you had made to her. She was so angry she slapped me. It left a red mark on my cheek for two days."

"Oh my God, I don't know what to say," Yusuke said, still in shock that Keiko would do such a thing to her friend.

"She cares a great deal for you, Yusuke. Kuwabara and I have tried to console her as best as we could, but she was always slightly fed up with me, even if she did understand that I was respecting your wishes. I think she still might resent me a little bit. Try this one," he said, plucking a dark red shirt from a rack next to Yusuke.

"Red doesn't look good on all of us, you know."

"Contrary to what you may think, I'm not biased," Kurama said.

"Okay, I'll try it on…Kurama, it's just…argh. It's so damned frustrating."

"Picking a shirt?"

Yusuke made his way to the jeans shelves and looked for his size before continuing.

"No, Keiko…I love her Kurama, you know I do. But I also love what I do in Makai. I'm really looking forward to entering this next tournament to see how good I am. What size jeans did you get me?"

"If the pair you're wearing is one of the ones I bought you, then the measurement would match these here," Kurama said, pointing at the corresponding shelf. "Are you having second thoughts about your promise?"

"Kurama, I do want to marry her, but I'm not even seventeen yet, and neither is she. I didn't come back here because of a promise," he said, grabbing three different colors of jeans from the shelf. "Say, while we're at it, where'd you get that outfit? It does look really sharp and I guess I can't dress like a barbarian all the time."

"Looks like you've finally grown up. I got these clothes at a shop across from here. We can go there next if you like. What exactly do you mean when you say you didn't come back because of a promise?"

"Kurama, when I told her that I would come back in three years and we would get married, I said it because I didn't want to lose her."

"So you weren't sincere in your proposal?"

"No, I was, but I…jeez, give a guy a break…I'm back because I want to see her and I want to be with her, but I guess I want to know if she's happy I'm back because of that stupid promise I made, or if she's so happy because she expects things to be perfect."

"I certainly see your dilemma. But I don't believe I can help you with that, Yusuke. Have you thought about discussing all this with Keiko?"

"I'll have to…can you grab me some socks and other unmentionables while I see if these fit?"

"I'd rather you pick out your own underwear."

"Fine, fine. I'll be out in a few minutes."

Yusuke disappeared into one of the dressing rooms. Kurama took the opportunity to walk around the store, looking at some of the items there. Perhaps there was something his mother or Shuichi would like…

"Excuse me, sir, can I help you?" a young woman asked, gaining his attention.

"I was just looking today, while I wait for my friend," Kurama said with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, well let me know if there's anything I can get you!"

He nodded, and the employee went on her way.

"Damn, Kurama, you were right, this does look good," he heard Yusuke exclaim from the dressing room. Apparently, he ended up liking the blood-red shirt after all.

"Are you almost finished? It's getting late and we don't have much time left to shop before we need to catch the train."

"Yeah, these'll work." Yusuke emerged with half a dozen shirts and a few jeans. Making a beeline for the nearby counter next to the dressing room, he set them down. "I'll be back in a sec, I need to get a few more things," he said, without glancing in Kurama's direction.

Kurama wandered idly through the racks while Yusuke headed for the intimates section. He saw a red silk shirt mixed in with the blue ones, and it perked his interest. With raised eyebrows, he pulled it out and was amazed by what he saw.

It was similar to a Hawaiian shirt in its design, but instead of lei flowers, it was covered in beautiful roses over a web of green vines. There was a large bloom on the back of the shirt when he turned it around. It was breathtaking, and what do you know, he had a thing for roses.

He chuckled, looked at the size tag, and then frowned. "Miss?" he called out, looking up and spotting the woman who tried to help him earlier. She looked around, seeing who was calling for help, smiled, and walked over.

"Yes?" she said in a cheery voice.

"Do you have this shirt in a medium? I really like the design."

"I think it would look awesome on you! Let me run into the back and check!" she said, taking the shirt and speeding off out of sight, somewhere in the direction of the stockroom.

Kurama stayed by the register. Maybe I'll wear that shirt at the party tonight, if she has it.

Yusuke arrived a few minutes later, a few packages of boxers under one arm, and a mixture of undershirts and socks in the other. "I think we're set," he said, putting them down with the rest of the clothing he had picked out.

"Are you ready?" The man behind the register asked.

"Not exactly," Kurama replied, craning his head towards the back, looking for the girl who was helping him around Yusuke's confused face. And there she was, coming back, holding the shirt.

"Found it!" she said, holding the right size up triumphantly. "You asked for a medium, right?"

"Thank you, that will be perfect," Kurama affirmed as he held the shirt up, giving her a smile that could have melted ice.

"N…no problem," she said, blushing before going off to find another one to help.

Yusuke was trying not to laugh. "Something funny?" Kurama asked.

"I don't know, either the fact that I'm not surprised you picked out that shirt or the way you just made that girl's week," he answered, finally laughing.

"Well, consider this shirt payment for running your errands," Kurama smirked, placing it on the counter.

He paid for the items quickly, and armed with three bags, they left the store. Not much conversation happened while they went to the store across the mall, leaving with another bag with a formal outfit for Yusuke and a new shirt for Kurama.

"We should make it in time," Yusuke said, pulling out his own phone, and prepared to dial Keiko's number as the two of them headed towards the front of the mall where the train station was located.

"Oh, shit, I forgot the stuff under the sink is as hard as a rock," Yusuke said as he slapped his forehead, coming to a stop.

"What did you forget?"

"I need hair gel."

Authors Notes: Okay, some parts of this require explanation. A lot was changed in the last saga from the original Japanese to the dubbed version, and I am going off the original, as noted here.

In the dub, Yukina was an ice apparition from Reikai. This is not true. She is a demon from the Makai village of Koorime. Koorime is the name of the village, and not the name of a character. Of course this land isn't in Reikai – Hiei didn't have the ability or the permission to travel to Reikai when he was searching for Yukina.

Yusuke says he would come back in three years to marry Keiko. My memory is fuzzy right now, since I don't own the entire Makai saga, but in the dub, Yusuke trained for a year before Raizen passed on, then returned two years after that. I don't think this was the case in the original version, because Yusuke is 14 at the start of the series, and 16 at the end of it, according to the manga. Unless he died the day after his 14th birthday, and the series ended a day before his 17th, I don't see how the timing was possible on this. I'm having Yusuke come back after being gone for two years.

Also, once again, a big thanks to the people who have reviewed. This chapter took a while to get done and ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I seem to enjoy dialogue right now. A little spoiler for the party – Yusuke confronts Keiko about the next tournament, and to say she doesn't take it well is a big understatement.

TTFN! I'll try to get the next chapter banged out as soon as I can.

Kusanagi