Doubt
Random Beginning Notes: Started to read H.P. Lovecraft's works. It's weird. I can understand him for the most part (He loves using big words. Can you say purple prose?) And he is pretty creepy. He's worse than Mr. King, I'll tell you that. You know, if you know what he's trying to tell you. But he's a huge influence on the big names in horror. In fact, King himself even mentioned him as an inspiration. And Poe, too.
Chapter 17 The EYES
"You know, Yusuke, it's been a while since we went out together like this. At least now, since everything's pretty much back to normal," Keiko said, shuddering at the memory of the Maze Castle incident. After a slight pause, she added, "I hope so anyway. Since you still haven't told me a thing. And I'm pretty sure I earned the right after that weird Russian guy broke in to the classroom that day."
"Uh... Yeah. Have I gone missing at any point? Okay, then quit nagging. And since we're at it, tell me... Why is it that we're going clothes shopping... For you? Can't you bug one of your emo friends to go with you?" Yusuke protested. He stepped out of sight behind some clothes racks which contained mainly P coats. "People are thinking I'm a pervert. Let's get a move on."
She rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Yusuke. They're not emo. They just happen to like punk rock. Big difference. Do you see me walking around in black twenty-four-seven?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Emos, punk rockers, goths, and frickin vampire kids. They all look the same and act the same. You're the only normal one in that group, you know that?"
"With you included, then I give you a pretty positive yes."
"You... Then, take your mom shopping with you. I don't wanna see what you're buying... Unless you're going to a more interesting section..." He jerked a thumb towards the lingerie section, chuckling.
She glared at him and then turned back to the shelf. "I think it's a perfect chance for quality time. We can catch up on everything we missed out on. I mean, you don't tell me anything anymore. Not like we used to."
"Cause we're not five years old and we're not married."
And Yusuke was completely ignored. "Hey, do you think this pink one or this orange one looks better? Or this one with WWF? I love pandas... But I'd hate to walk away from that cute floral pattern on that one..." She held them up next to her face. "Which one do you think looks best on me?"
"I think I'll go with option E- none of the above. What, don't look at me like that. First of all, I don't care what you pick because I just wanna get out of here. Second, I'm not a girl so I can't be all, 'OMG, that one over there totally complements your eyes.' And third... Who are you trying to impress anyway?"
"Why're you sounding so mad about that last one? Didn't you say how we're not even going out either?" Keiko added sarcastically, "You know, if you're a good boy, then I'll take you out for ice cream."
"I'm making sure you keep that promise. There's a Coldstone on the way home."
"Whatever." She stared out in the distance and focused on something. She even squinted as if it were that foreign to her. "That guy... I feel like I've seen him somewhere but where...?" She shrugged after thinking it over, took the three shirts she was choosing between and turned back to Yusuke. "Let's find you some shirts. They're on sale right now, I think."
Yusuke cocked a brow. "What, you just wanna get in on the sale?"
"No. Half of your shirts are torn up. You come to school with your clothes looking okay one day but you come home looking chewed up the next. (You don't know how right you are, actually.) I know you pick fights with everybody, but this is ridiculous. I'm surprised your mom doesn't say anything to you." It was silent. "So that Reeve lady's been working you really hard, huh? If that's how it is..."
"Reeve?"
"That blonde lady. I think she was Irish... Was she blonde? I don't know the different shades that well. I do remember she was from this place with Lovecraft in the name. It's where you work, right?"
"Kind of. Not really. I know a couple of guys from there, but we pretty much work together and... What's your problem?" Yusuke looked over his shoulder to see what Keiko was staring at. There was a tall man, standing behind them in mirror.
Keiko shoved the shirts into Yusuke's arms and stepped up to the mirror, but she didn't go around it to see who it was. In an effort to hide the shaking of her voice, she quickly said to the man, "Hey. Excuse me, sir? Is there something we can help you with? If... If you don't then I'd really appreciate it if you would stop staring at us." The tall man turned around and ran away, leaving Keiko there rubbing her arms to hide how shaky they were.
"Don't go after him if you're scared. If you told me he was there, I would have flattened him out in no time," Yusuke finally said. "Has this jack ass been following you around a lot lately?"
"No... He hasn't. But since we came to the mall, he's been following us. I could... I could just feel him there. You know how you feel someone's presence when they're behind you? It's like that. Except it was more intense... Everywhere we went, he was right there... It's just really creepy. You aren't involved in a gang or anything like that, are you?" Keiko turned around and looked at him, feeling more relaxed at the sight of him.
"Gang? Hell no. Might be some demon looking for a fight or something. Don't worry about it. The next time he comes I'll flatten him. Remember that."
Keiko laughed nervously. "I think I'm more afraid of you than I am of him."
"Okay, so let's just get out of here and forget him, and then, we'll get ice cream."
"...And cake."
"Aw, I didn't know I meant that much to you."
"No. It's for Ms. Reeve. I thought she seemed nice. She scared me a little, but she was still nice. I never got to thank her for what she did so I think I'll make her a cake." Yusuke looked a little like a deflated balloon, mostly because he was already tasting chocolate cake. "We'll do that after we run over and get you some shirts."
"And ice cream!"
"Ugh, and ice cream."
"Or we can get the best of both worlds and get an ice cream cake. I'll taste test for you."
"BUT...! It's less special if I don't make it myself."
"One ice cream cake, and then we get her an..."
"Yusuke." Awkward silence. "...What kind of cake do you think she likes?"
"Maple syrup." He received a blank look. "Okay, you don't get it. How about German chocolate? Since she loves Hiei so much..." Even though he's just Russian.
"Who...? And German chocolate cake isn't German. It was made in Texas. I saw it on the Food Network. Just go and grab yourself some shirts and meet me at the line. It's kind of long right now."
Yusuke returned to Keiko with five shirts just as she was walking to the counter. She was shivering again, and he knew what it was. Just when he was about to take matters into his own hands, Keiko tugged at his arm to tell him that they could leave. As soon as they got in the car, Keiko clutched the steering wheel and said under her breath, "He was standing behind us. How creepy can you get? Standing right behind us..."
"You should have let me handle it that time," Yusuke replied.
"But... Which one of us is he after...? Really." She looked at Yusuke. He held his breath until they drove away.
-.-.-
And the question was answered. The next few days, Yusuke started to catch glimpses of the man when he was going to school and when he was coming home. Every time he turned to see who it was, the man always disappeared from sight. (Gotta hand it to him. Bastard's fast.) Yusuke knew despite what Keiko and Kuwabara told him that the school security and the police would not help at all. He didn't want to risk having someone else with him until he knew who it was if he could help it.
"No seriously. What's going on with this weirdo following you?" Kuwabara asked after insisting that Yusuke go to the authorities for the twentieth time.
"I really don't know, but I wish I did. It's really annoying," Yusuke replied. "You ever get a good look at him, though? I've been trying but I got nothing."
"Nope. As soon as someone notices this guy, he takes off and goes. All I can say is that it's a huge guy. And Okubo swears up and down that he looks just like the Govenator."
"He looks like the... What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Hey, if you think it's a demon, maybe we could stop off and see Mukuro about that. At that Lovecraft place. She was a cop so she should know what to do."
"Why don't I just go to the cops then? I already said no to that in case you forgot."
"No. Seriously. I've been getting weird vibes off him... It's familiar..."
"What kind of familiar?"
"What, there's different kinds now? Look, I got something to take care of so it'll be killing to birds with one stone if we do."
"Okay, fine, but don't make a huge deal out of it."
Kuwabara practically screamed like a girl who just shook hands with Edward Cullen (Or Jacob Black if she's on that team) and floated away to cloud nine. Then Yusuke smacked himself on the forehead when he realized just what business Kuwabara had to take care of.
And here I was thinking he was serious.
-.-.-
They went straight to the station as soon as school was out. Just before Yusuke could get Kuwabara to restrain himself, he rushed to Hiei, practically hopping up and down in excitement.
"What the hell do you want, Kuwabara?" Hiei asked, not looking up from the file cabinet in which he was arranging files by the position of the tabs on the folders. Actually, he was really more tempted to act like he didn't know him, but there's only so much you could do in such a situation.
"Oh, hey, you remembered my name!" Apparently Kuwabara was willing to put aside any dislike he had for the man just for this moment.
"I remember everyone's name whether I want to or not. What do you want? And don't make me ask you again before I smack you on the side of the head."
Kuwabara grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "Teach me German or Russian or whatever it is you speak. Teach meee..." He started shaking Hiei until he got a punch in the gut.
...Goddammit, and I know both. "What for?"
Once he recovered, Kuwabara grabbed Hiei by the shoulders again and said, "So I can speak to Yukina."
"Hell no. And don't touch me. Your hands smell disgusting. I bet you don't even wash your hands."
"Well fine, if you won't teach me then I'll just sit here and sing until you crack!"
"I'm not scared of you just because you're twice my size. I've snapped the joints of people like you easily. They teach us Sambo in basic training."
"None of that meant anything to me. So I'm even less scared of you. I got a shoebox with your name on it if you decide to try and fight me."
"No amount of singing will make me submit to your will. Now fuck off."
Oh, there's a challenge. Kuwabara got in his face, and with a flourish, he began in no tune whatsoever. "So I'm sitting here all alone wondering/ why this jerk Hiei won't teach me his language/ Yeah, he's that jerk in front of me wearing black/ Why the heck is he wearing black/ cause it'll start getting warmer/ and it could be a hundred degrees but he'd still be dressing like it's below zero/ and I kind of know because I've seen him before..." He started banging in the file cabinet. "And then I ask him a favor/ And he's all like NO/ NO/ NO!/ And he's looking..." He stopped and turned around to see Mukuro standing behind him, looking more than slightly amused.
"What'd you stop for...?" she asked. "You know how dull my job is? Moments like these are worth being in danger of working for minimum wage."
"She's lying. We'll never go on minimum wage," Hiei said. He finally realized something and shoved Kuwabara to Mukuro. "Ask her about it. She speaks it good."
"Hiei, you mean well. And if this is about Yukina, which I suspect that it is, you don't really need to learn Russian. She speaks decent enough English. If you really want to learn and teach her more English, then you can find her... Somewhere. She hasn't turned up since I helped her find a job..."
"That's wonderful." Hearts, flowers, sunshine, teddy bears.
"I'll ask her about it... Just don't do that again."
Deflated balloon. "Oh yeah, and Urameshi wanted to ask you something..."
"Sure... Shove it all on me..." Yusuke sighed irritably. "I really didn't wanna mention anything about it to you. There's some guy walking around stalking me."
"You can't just go to the police? That sounds like a normal human issue," Mukuro replied nonchalantly.
"Well, about that... I have this really bad feeling about it cause I keep thinking... You remember that thing I showed you in the paper?"
"The one about Tarukane? There's another issue you have about that?"
"About what?" Hiei asked as he filled up Mukuro's mug. "And pour your own damn coffee. I'm not your servant."
"As long as you're a commie, you are. You know I don't mean it." She ran a hand through her hair and finally decided to be completely frank with him. "He was killed shortly after you left. All of you, assuming you left at different times."
"Good. Asshole deserved to die. Actually even that's too good for him."
"Don't talk like that. That's why they think you're a criminal." She turned back to Yusuke. "So how does this connect to the stalker?"
"Well, I left out something. See there were these guys called the Toguro brothers, and we killed them. Or we're pretty sure we did. But that report only mentioned one body and that had to be Tarukane. So I don't know what happened to the other two. I doubt he'd have the body moved... Unless it was just one brother..." Yusuke shook his head. No, it had to be...
She twisted around to Kuwabara whose face clearly read "News to me" and turned back to Yusuke. "Why didn't you say anything about that? Especially if it's the Toguros."
Kurama appeared. "I heard Toguros. You don't mean...?"
"Goddammit! Why does everyone know about them but me?" Yusuke growled.
"...You never asked," Hiei replied.
"Yeah, sure. 'Hey, could you tell me about the Toguros because I'm probably going to need that in the future.' It doesn't work like that. Seriously, who are they?"
"Well, they're kind of shady, actually. They were huge in- what was it- the late fifties, early sixties? I don't know much, but they're powerful demons. I don't believe that you could have killed them. It must have been a set up," Kurama explained. "But for what... Who knows. Was there anyone there that could have tried anything to that extent?" Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged looks and shook their heads. "I really don't like the sound of this at all."
"I don't think they're naturals either..." Mukuro said but she failed to explain further. "And he's right. Details are shady. They just suddenly turn up raising hell... I think I know who they are, but it's just a hunch, really."
Botan came in, practically breaking down the door. "Reed-er, Reeve! Lord Koenma just got this note about the Dark Tournament!" Several people dropped what they were doing and glued their eyes on the paper in Botan's hand. "I just got here and I didn't really look at it but..."
"It'll be from when to when?"
"March sixteen to the twenty third. Uh... Yeah..." She glanced at the paper. "You'll be there?"
"No. I have to meet with all the others that week. I wouldn't want to anyway. Do I look like the kind of person that would be interested in such things?"
"Okay... Anyone here going...?"
"So what do you all think, eh?" Mukuro asked turning to the larger audience. "You think you've been clean this year? Or last year, eh?" Half the station was filled with a collective yes. "There you have it. Full house of our people. You can bet you'll see plenty of the others from around the country there, too. If that's any reason you're interested at all."
"Oh, it's a year? No wonder it's been so calm."
"If you say so." She turned around to answer the phone. Yusuke noticed Hiei groan and follow her into her office.
"So everything's A-Okay with you boys?" Botan asked Yusuke and Kuwabara.
"Yeah... Sure... Only if you've been laying off the pixie sticks," Yusuke replied. At that moment Hiei walked out grumbling about starting to trace calls and Mukuro stumbled over to the cabinet to get coffee, insisting that it helps migraines.
Kurama decided to break the sudden silence. "What brought you to the Toguros...? I mean what made you think of them? You didn't even seem sure that you were feeling their energies from what it sounded like."
"Stalker. He felt too familiar."
"I could take a picture of the guy if you want," Hiei said, causing the others to jump at his sudden appearance.
"You should have him do it. Zamyatin's pictures are really good," Kirin said as he posted the note on the bulletin board. He stepped off to the side, indicating the others do the same to avoid being trampled on by the stampede of potential Dark Tournament attendees.
"Do I have to pay you because I have no money," Yusuke quickly said.
"Your money's no good. Just pay me back in favors," Hiei replied.
"What, are you the Godfather?"
"He looks at his paycheck and thinks, 'Wow this'll get me a lot of food!' He actually argued with Santiago, the one before me, because he didn't want to be paid," Mukuro replied, finally deciding to take a seat. "He's a hard core communist. He doesn't look or act like it, but he really is."
"Good man, I guess...? I think you need a..." Yusuke was interrupted.
"She won't take shit so don't bother. And you know what else? I think your capitalism's not welcome here," Hiei growled, being perfectly honest, or so it seemed.
"Your socialism isn't allowed here either, Zamyatin," Mukuro replied. "I fought wars to contain your ideas. I voted for Truman."
"I'm not a socialist."
"Soviet communism is a socialistic monster."
"When will they get it right?"
"You people play around too much, shit!" a woman growled.
"This is getting weird," Botan said.
"You said it," Kuwabara said.
/And there was none.
Notes:
1. Mukuro's accent sounds a bit Irish. The farther east you go in Canada, the more Irish the people sound. It's a lot like this in Newfoundland. No, seriously. Also, the Canadian "eh" can be used to incorporate everyone in to a conversation. I saw it on an article. (What? A fanficcer doing research? What is this nonsense? I've also researched Russian "mat" which is a vulgar variation of the Russian language, and supposedly it's banned in said country. Like emo. Look it up.) Did I also mention that Mukuro's a French Canadian? Cause she is. No one in this fanfic is what you think they are, apparently.
2. Little did Yusuke know was that Hiei really was half German. ...But it is not why Mukuro loves him. Nor does she have any romantic interest in him.
3. Yeah, I just made a Twilight reference despite my dislike for it. (Expects angry reviews.)
4. Sambo is a Russian martial art. The strategy is going for the joints. And that's a damn good one. Just about every country has some type of martial art, you know.
5. ...Yukina works in Wal Mart. And no one knows... Yet.
6. Soviet Communism isn't real communism. It's advanced socialism. And I know. Four years of IB, man. Four years!
Much love, JC.