Within Darkness We Find Love
Chapter 4: Innocence
A/N: First, thank you all! Many of you have given this story a lot of attention with reviews and such, so thank you for that! Second, it's odd that so many people actually do like the story. I don't know why, but it means a great deal to me. Third… There's no third… Other than to let you know that this is NOT the end, no matter how the ending might sound like. Special thanks to my beta Brokenshardsofmyheart99!
Give me a shot to remember
And you can take all the pain away from me
The night seemed to bring out the unexpected side in people. As they had walked, Kurama and his two friends had seen everything from their teachers participating in illegal activities to people not helping those in need. Whenever he saw something like that, Kurama looked at his two friends. From the way they acted, it didn't seem as if they had seen anything new. Deciding that perhaps he shouldn't interfere with how the night worked, Kurama tried to block out every thing he saw. They had a mission to accomplish at the moment, and he knew that it was impossible to save all the people in the world whenever they were in danger.
Not having been far from the mansion, they had reached it in mere minutes. They stood staring at the impressive structure for some time before going in. However, rather than going over the fence like he had done, Yusuke managed to get it open for them to go in through. "The front or the back? It is likely that whoever is abusing the boy already knows about us, or myself at least," Kurama whispered to them. Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded in agreement.
"Either way, buddy, we'll be in for one hell of a time," Yusuke whispered back, grin on his face. Before deciding on an entrance, Yusuke took out a picture of Keiko and kissed it. When he and Kuwabara looked at him, with what he was sure were puzzling faces, Yusuke shrugged. "It's for… Never mind, you two wouldn't understand since you don't have girlfriends," he hissed at them, sounding more like a cat.
Kuwabara grunted. "For your information, Urameshi, I'm trying to concentrate more on my studies. Unlike you, I care about my marks!" he hissed louder. He and Yusuke soon engaged in a glaring match. Shaking his head, Kurama decided to break their petty fight up.
"We need to move," he said to them. Soon, both teens began to try to curb their laughter. Kurama was unsure of what was so laughable until he remembered his last word. "You two need to mature more. Not everything I say is sexual innuendo," he whispered, almost hissing too.
The raven-haired teen managed to control himself. "Yeah, well… Okay, I'll get serious!" he almost shouted. Grateful for that, Kurama nodded. "So we go through the rear," Yusuke said, winking at Kuwabara. It wasn't long before the two began laughing again before calming down once more.
During their laughter, Kurama wondered if he had made the right decision in coming back with Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Let's go," he muttered.
The trio got out from the bush they had been using as a hiding spot and began to run to the back of the mansion. To Kurama it felt like the second time around was more treacherous than the first. Then again, after being thrown out a window, it made sense. The mansion was not safe at all, and the people within it were a mystery. With each step they took, they dug themselves deeper into their graves. Yusuke was the first to reach the back doors. He looked inside and then back at them. After he waved at them to come, Kurama and Kuwabara made their way to him.
They communicated with gestures rather than words as they explored the first floor. Kurama noticed that everything was still the same. There was not a single thing that had gotten placed elsewhere. Even the paranoia was the same to him. Seeing that there was no one there, he gestured at the other two to head upstairs. With caution the group headed up the stairs and stopped when they had reached the top. Kuwabara looked at him, and he knew what he had to do. Being the single one that had been there, Kurama was going to lead them into the same hallway and same room he had been in before.
Accepting his role, he took the first step that lead down the hallway, looked back at his friends who nodded at him, and began to walk forward. With each step he took, his heart beat began to race more. What made him rather uneasy was how he had made it to the same room where he had seen the boy so fast and without any obstacles. Part of him had been expecting the same things that almost every single horror genre movie had. Or perhaps, like any horror movie, they would meet the psychotic killer once they opened the door.
Taking in a deep breath, he looked at his friends. They walked closer to him and placed themselves on his left and right side. Feeling safer, Kurama grasped the door knob, turned it, and opened the door. When the door opened all the way, he noticed that the room looked so unlike before. Rather than being somewhat unkempt, everything was thrown all over the room, almost as if a great force of nature had done it. One detail that made him almost gag was all the blood that looked as if it had been sprayed on the ceiling and walls on purpose.
The hands on his shoulders took him by surprise. "Take it easy, Kurama," Yusuke said to him from behind. If it wasn't for the trembling in Yusuke's hand, he might have done so. "This… What happened?" Kurama shook his head at his friend's question.
He noticed that Kuwabara no longer had his hand on his should when he saw him on the other side of the room, removing debris that Kurama had not noticed from the floor. Confused by his friend's actions, he turned to face Yusuke. The raven-haired teen shrugged and walked over to Kuwabara. Not wanting to be single one to not help, Kurama went too. "What are you doing, Kuwabara?" he whispered, voice quaking.
"There's someone underneath this. It's isn't must stuff, but it's heavy!" Kuwabara replied. Both he and Yusuke kept their mouths shut when they noticed a hand trying to remove all the debris from underneath it. It didn't take long for them to get done with most of it. However, one large piece of wood that reminded Kurama of a bookcase in his living room, remained. It was Yusuke who suggested that he and Kuwabara would try to remove it, but if they couldn't, then Kurama was to get who ever was underneath it and pull them out to safety.
During the first attempt, Kurama noticed the redness that both teens held in their faces. They hadn't been able to lift it up at all, but had given their best try. Yet, as expected, the two didn't give up and kept trying. Seeing how strong and tenacious they were, he felt a surge of motivation. "Yusuke, Kuwabara… Let me help you both," he pleaded. Whether it was his plea, their exhaustion, or something else, Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded. Kurama nodded at them before positioning himself in the front, with the other two on either side. It amazed him how they didn't even bother with counting to three aloud, but still managed to lift it up at the same time. Almost like magic, they managed to lift up the last piece of debris from the floor. The single problem was that no one came out from underneath it.
"Damn it! Get the hell out from there!" Yusuke shouted, struggling with the heaviness. The other teen didn't say anything aimed at the person underneath, but did swear out several words. "Hurry!" the raven-haired teen shouted again. When they received no response, Yusuke growled. "That's it! Kurama get in there and pull the idiot out! Kuwabara and I can hold this up, but you've got to be fast about it!"
He didn't need to be told again. "Thank you," he said to them before letting go. Not pausing to see how the two were, Kurama lowered himself to the ground and looked. It was the same boy from before, he noticed. It seemed that the boy noticed too since his eyes widened a little. Kurama knew that there wasn't much time before Yusuke and Kuwabara would let go, so he needed to act fast. "Do you remember me?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as he could. From above them, he heard Yusuke swear. The boy nodded, but did nothing else. "I brought two friends with me this time… Please, allow us to help you." Just as before, the boy's ruby eyes seemed to have shimmer when he had mentioned help. "If you wish, we could just help you out from underneath here and then leave you alone." Kurama kept searching the boy's eyes to see if they would go back to be being lifeless. Rather than that action, the boy began to crawl to him, lowing himself closer the floor at times. The actions shocked Kurama, but not as much as when they boy got out from there and threw himself at his arms. Reacting as fast as possible, Kurama embraced him and jumped before his two friends could no longer hold on.
The house shook when the bookcase, or at least Kurama decided that's what it had been, fell to the floor. Clouds of dust rose up, making them all cough. He had heard Yusuke shout something, but he couldn't tell what it was. After pulling himself back to his feet, as well as the boy, he felt a hand grasp his arm. Whatever Yusuke had shouted was made clear to him when the hand began pulling him out of the room. Not wanting to leave the boy behind, Kurama held on to him. As they ran down the stairs, he could feel the boy's fingers dig into his arm and back. It would've caused him to feel pain, but surviving rather than being buried under ruble seemed to matter more at the moment.
Kurama didn't know if any of them was sure of how they had found their way out of the mansion through the front. Yet they had ran out from the front doors and out of the gates in the front yard too. When they had passed through the front gates, he felt the boy's nails embed further into skin. There was no way of knowing if it was out of sorrow or relief, but he made sure to remember. When they had reached the park once again, where they had had their first talk about the particular mansion, they stopped running and caught their breaths. It had been Yusuke who had escorted them out of the mansion, and it had been Kuwabara who had grasped his arm. Trying to not pass out from all of the exercise, Kurama sat down on a bench. They boy was still holding on to him, with is head on Kurama's chest.
It felt odd to have anyone that close to him. Even his two best friends knew better than to hold him like that, but Kurama didn't feel as uneasy as he thought he would've felt. Having the boy like that felt just like when held his younger brother after he had had a nightmare. "You're safe now," he whispered to the boy, petting his hair. There was no cringing from the boy, which was remarkable since he had always thought the boy would push him away or at least shudder.
"He's safe, but… Damn it, Kurama, I hope we don't get in trouble for destroying a mansion!" Kuwabara shouted. It seemed Yusuke agreed with the worried light red-haired teen since he had his head in his hands and wasn't looking up.
Shaking his head, he opened his mouth. "Not if we keep quiet about it." That caused his two friends to look at him with startled eyes. "I admit that it was a perilous and imprudent idea to go, but we saved someone from there… That's far more significant than destroying property," he elaborated. "And it is something that we will never do again."
Yusuke laughed. "Kuwabara, we're definitely a bad influence on him!"
"No kidding," Kuwabara said, trying to curb his laughter but failing.
For a moment everything seemed as if I would have a cheerful ending. The type that some horror movies had at the end. Yet Kurama knew that there was far more they would have to face. "Morning is approaching," he said to the now composed teens. On his chest, he felt the boy's head move. When he looked down, he saw the crimson eyes gaze beyond him and to the sky. The one thing Kurama was not looking forward to was explaining to his parents how they had acquired another mouth to feed. When the sun at last was visible, he felt a shiver go through his body. When the boy pulled himself to closer to his body, Kurama was almost tempted to think that they had both felt the same sensation.