.:AN:.
Aloha! Before we begin with the fourth chapter, I'd like to thank the reviewers from last chapter!
Death101- Fox Version: Yes. Yes it is...
Runelesca: Yes. Yes it was. I'm sorry. Unless I shouldn't be, then I'm...not. Thanks for reading, though!
IssueshaveI: Well, I hope it keeps you entertained over that long weekend of yours. =D Lucky you, I say! I wish I could have a break like that... le sigh... oh well, huh? I promise to finish this story! I always plan on finishing my stories...whether or not there's enough time in my lifeline to actually make it happen is another matter entirely. And it also makes it not my fault. Awesome, right?
EvilGenius Koji: Yeah, I realized that when I read over it again, so I changed a lot of it...I'm a bit special. Have to fear, no yaoi here! Simple Kuramax(girl)OC goodness. Peeps will have to get their yaoi fix elsewhere...
.fan: Thank you for reviewing! I will do my best!
PervyMonk: Yes! I got it pegged! Brownie points for me! And Kurama better be cooler (growls)... just kidding... maybe. Oh, yeah, I know Suichi's brain is a bit on the fritz...
Yoru Inu: Hey, I updated! Brownie points for that, too, right? (pause) Right?
xXDaRkNeSs RoSeInEsSxX: Yeah, he's a bit special... Suichi is. Not my Conscience. Well, Conscience is special too, but that's a different kind of special. Anyway, I fixed the last chapter so Suichi doesn't come off as...weird...as he did before... Thank you, and good luck with YOUR Conscience. (hands over mallet for protection)
Kuramafan-06: I know! I'm sorry for doing that! I definitely fixed that part in the chapter, I promise! Sorry! Don't kill...anyone! Of course I'll read your story, so no worries! Thanks for the song clipping, too, that's one of my favorites. =) Have you seen the Yu Yu Hakusho music video that goes along with that song? It's not too bad, I kinda like it. It's on Youtube. Anyway. Thanks for the review!
You all are awesome! Thanks for the support! Oh yeah! Everybody, let me hear a "Oh yeah"!
(crickets can be heard off in the distance)
Awww, c'mon! Give me an Oh Yeah, damn it!
(someone throws an empty beer can instead)
FINE!
Okay, here's the next chapter, thanks!
Conscience: But, I didn't get to say anything yet!
Payne: And that's a good thing, believe me… (starts whistling and skips off)
Conscience: (grumbles while following after)…You take the fun out of everything…
Chapter 4: A Taste of Home
Kurama's POV:
The night's dinner conversations were enjoyable, as well as an entertainment for myself. Shuichi's initial reaction to me was rather amusing, and had continued to be so throughout the meal. At first, our conversations were one-sided at best. I would ask Shuichi a question, he would stutter out a short answer, I'd wait for him to recover, and then I'd ask him another. Eventually he became more comfortable and began reciprocating with his own inquiries, though it took a while for them to be worded in a way that I understood. I forced myself not to laugh when his eyes danced between staring me down and looking everywhere else. Truthfully, the expressions his face made were terribly amusing. It was as if he was trying to solve a particularly complicated math problem and couldn't get the numbers to add up correctly.
"What is Meiou High like?" he'd finally asked me shortly after we sat down. He sounded desperate to make some sort of conversation on his own, perhaps tired of being interrogated while we waited for our drinks.
"It's a pleasant enough residence," I had replied, folding my hands neatly in my lap and crossing my legs patiently. "The teachers are very well educated and the students are as respectful as you can expect. Speaking of which, how is Sarayashki fairing these days? I have a couple acquaintances that attend there, but we usually have others things to discuss than school when we meet."
Suichi blinked at the redirection of his inquiry before ducking his head and answering, "It's…okay, I guess. There's nothing…really exciting to share. I…don't really care for it, though."
"Why is that?" I asked, feeling my interest piqued.
The boy huffed, and seemed to steel himself. "Well, the teachers are mean, always giving us more homework than we're able to do. And it's all boring." His tone gained a whine that reminded me greatly of a certain Spirit Detective.
"Perhaps you're looking at it the wrong way," I mused, remembering my own experience at the school. In fact, I had thought that a majority of the teachers were friendly enough, as long as you stayed on their good side.
Shuichi's gaze shifted away from the cloth he had been examining to revert back to mine, giving me a wary look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, what do you think homework is supposed to do for you?"
He shrugged his shoulders and replied with, "I dunno, make us smarter I guess…"
"In a way," I drawled a bit, then stated in a friendly tone, "Homework is more along the lines of practice. Homework prepares you for tests that may be approaching, helping you to understand what will be included in them. Being assigned more homework than usual means that they are trying to help you as best as they can without giving you the answers directly. The better you do on tests, the more you'll be able to succeed in life."
Silence accompanied my speech, and Suichi continued to watch me.
"You sound like a nerd," he deadpanned, cocking his head slightly to the side with a slight frown.
The comment caught me off-guard, and couldn't help but chuckle at his remark. "You think so?" I asked, humor tinting my tone as my eyes shone with laughter.
"Well, yeah!" he said, scooting his chair closer to the table as he stared at me, his voice hinting that it was an obvious answer. "I mean, who looks at homework as a good thing?"
"I suppose you being a young student would naturally think that," I replied thoughtfully while also tilting my head. I hadn't intended for my comment to come off as insulting, but apparently Shuichi had taken it as such.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked indignantly, brow furrowed.
"There is nothing to upset yourself over, Suichi," I assured him calmly, unaffected by the distaste that had suddenly entered his pitch. "I am merely stating that your outlook towards education is normal. My friends that I mentioned earlier think along the same lines as you concerning this matter. I meant no disrespect."
Shuichi was staring at me again, but not with the same intensity he had been before. It seemed that our conversation had helped him relax somewhat. The boy was turning out to be quite an interesting character.
"Thank you for your patience this evening, here are the waters you ordered. So, what can I get for you tonight?"
Looking up, I realized that our waitress had finally showed up, placing each filled glass in front of us in turn. I noted with a small smile that she seemed young, in her late 30's maybe. Actually, she reminded me greatly of Atsuko, Yusuke's mother, with her dark brown hair and toffee brown eyes, which seemed to smile all on their own.
"Thank you," I acknowledged politely, situating my own drink in front of me with a kind smile. Turning my head towards my side, I said, "Would you like to order first, Mother?"
"Thank you, Suichi," she replied with appreciation. She picked up her menu, using her middle finger to find her selection. "I think we'll just start off with appetizers, first. I believe an order of sushi and sashimi mix and an order of edamame would do, don't you?"
"Sounds perfect," I agreed as my stomach growled quietly. Kazuya voiced his own appreciation for the choice and Shuichi just shrugged quietly in his seat.
The waitresses scribbled down the orders while saying, "And what would you like for a meal, then? We'll bring your dishes out later on when you're finished."
"Ah, yes, I'd like an order of your steak, prepared teppanyaki style with tempura shrimp, please. I'd like green tea with it, as well. What would you like, dear?" she asked, inclining her head at Shuichi's father.
"Oh, right," the man stuttered after sipping hisown water, obviously distracted by its arrival. He turned to his own menu, like Mother, and searched for his decided order as well. "Yes, I'll take the same, with extra wasabi added to mine, please. And I'd also like green tea for me."
"Okay, sir. And what would you like, hon?" she asked, turning to Shuichi while brushing a strand of brown hair away from her face. He fidgeted awkwardly with the menu under the pressure. Having been so distracted with our conversation, I hadn't seen him once look at the menu that was placed neatly before him.
"Um…" Shuichi mumbled, as if stalling for time. He flipped through with a shy yet bored expression on his face, his eyes skimming for something appetizing. I noticed that he kept going back and forth through the pages, not really seeing the selection for the panic that was beginning to show on his face.
Seeing that he was having trouble, I offered kindly, "Why don't you have the bento box? It has Teriyaki beef and rice, and a garden salad with the sesame ginger dressing. I hear it's one of the best dishes they have to serve."
"Oh, yeah," Shuichi said with a sigh of relief. Turning to look at the waitress, he told her, "I'll have what he said!"
"Good choice," the waitress commented while she wrote the order down. She looked up at me and smiled. "You have excellent contacts, Sir, if you managed to find out about that one."
"I have my resources," I replied with a gentle smile, turning back to my own menu.
Clearly amused, she turned her full attention to me and asked, "So, what would Mr. Meal Master like to have for dinner this evening?"
"I would like to try your scallops," I answered automatically. "With the truffle sauce, if you don't mind. Also, I'd prefer it if you could hold the wasabae, this time? I'm afraid that I don't enjoy it all that much on my meals."
"No problem, sir. And what would you like to drink?"
I handed her the menu with a calm smile. "Water will be suitable for now."
"Very well," she replied, obviously pleased.
"Thank you very much." She walked off with that smile still on her face as she left to place the orders.
I sighed quietly before looking out of the corner of my eye at Shuichi. Seeing his stunned face made me ask, "Is there something you'd like to say?"
That brought him sharply out of his revere, though that didn't wipe the awed expression from his face. "Um, no," he stammered. "It's just..." His eyes darted in the direction the waitress had went, then came back, only to look away again. "Are you always able to do that?"
"Do what?" I asked, folding my hands in my lap again and bowing my head slightly.
"Do what?" he echoed with disbelief, and when I turned my gaze upward again, I noticed that Shuichi was smiling at me for the first time that evening. "Do that! What you just did, with the smooth talking, and the—the charming thing! You practically hypnotized her!"
I was almost pleased that I had managed to impress Suichi so much that he started acting normally, but then he started laughing.
"I'll take that as a compliment," I sighed with mild exasperation, sitting back in my seat.
"Do you always have girls swooning over you?" he asked with an ever broadening smirk.
I look away, hoping not to encourage him with my response. "It's been known to happen."
To my exasperation, his grin turned even more pointed. "So I was right. You can hypnotize anyone simply by saying pretty words and looking good?"
"I suppose that is one way to assess the reaction," I replied slowly after a considerable amount of thought.
"Why? How smart are you?" he asked, his eyebrows quirking as he tilted his head to the side in wonder.
"I've managed to maintain the highest test scores of the school, and I've been known to raise the GPA of the school by quite a margin." I made sure that I left out any hint of conceit that may have entered my voice.
Shuichi regarded me with confusion. "What do you do in your free time?" The silent "Do you even have any?" was written in the frown on his face.
But this was not a subject I really wanted to dally in.
"Many things."
"Like what?" he pressed.
This time, I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is this one of your games?"
"What game?"
"I believe it is called "20 Questions" or something of that sort."
"No, it's just my curiosity, no biggie." He shrugged to drive the point home, looking a little contrite after realizing how intent his inquisition had become. I didn't want to see him slip back into that shy shell of his again, so I relented.
"Very well." I offered with a soft look. "Ah, I sometimes read books, take a walk in the park, get together with my friends…tend to my garden..."
"You garden?" Shuichi sounded quite appalled at the thought.
"Is there a problem with that?" I asked, pretending to be confused.
"Uh… no, not at all, it's just, uh… gardening? I mean… gardening! Why gardening?"
I gave a blithe smile, "Why not?"
That made him pause, mouth-open without words to battle my question. The boy then shifted his gaze away with what could almost be described as a pout. "I dunno, it just seems kinda… girly, I guess."
"Girly?" By the way he seemed to be struggling with his words, I knew that he was stating not what he thought, but what his friends probably thought.
"Yeah, girly!" Shuichi declared with seriousness. "I mean, isn't that what girls are supposed to do?"
"There are many things that are apply to both genders, Suichi," I explained once more. "Sports, such as basketball and soccer, are co-ed activities, are they not? Not one interest is solely marked for only men or women. I happen to find that gardening holds a certain satisfaction for me, just as video games may hold a certain satisfaction for you." My tone managed to gain an almost preaching quality to it, but Suichi didn't seem to mind since he had reverted back to regarding me with a quiet, open look on his face.
"I never thought of it like that…" he stated after a moment's silence.
"You mustn't jump to conclusions, though I can hardly blame you for such a deduction."
"Look, Minamino… wait, you don't mind if I call you that, right?" His gaze was one of panic and embarrassment, if the red coloring his cheeks was any suggestion to go by.
I smiled warmly at him, trying to calm him down so that he wouldn't get so worked up over meaningless things. After all, he was finally starting to relax around me, and I found myself acting as I would around Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, or any of the others. "Minamino works well enough, Suichi, I don't mind at all."
He sighed with a small grin of his own, then went back to saying, "Anyways, I was just… well, if you're so smart, and your friends think just like me, then… how does that work?"
I couldn't help but chuckle softly at his confusion. "I'm not as obsessed with education as you seem to think I am, Shuichi. A student does need time off from such responsibilities. My friends and I share… other obligations that have allowed us to befriend each other through different circumstances."
Shuichi straightened himself in his chair, possibly forgetting about the attention we had received not too long before. "Oh, right, I remember you and Dad mentioning something about your job… what do you do exactly?"
This made me pause, for I knew I couldn't tell him that I tracked down and killed demons that had escape through portals linking the Human World to the Demon World, nor could I tell him that I assisted the Spirit Detective of Spirit World in completing countless assignments that may need my expertise. I knew that if I told him the truth, he would either not believe me, or he would but Koenma would have him forget the whole thing.
But, I didn't have a decent lie that could explain why I had to miss lunch with my mother and her love interest with urgency in my departure. I really should I have thought about this sooner.
"I…" I paused, unable to think of a good enough cover story that could save me from relaying the truth to the young boy. "I… deal with tutoring."
That's the best I could come up with…?
I was losing my touch.
That was apparent enough when Shuichi stared at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Tutoring," he repeated, skepticism clearly etched out in his tone.
"Well, that is what I do most of the time," I continued smoothly. "Others, I simply apply for various part-time jobs that may or may not need my assistance."
"Oh!" Shuichi exclaimed with realization. "I remember Dad telling me that you help out your mom with the money stuff, is that what you mean?"
"Yes," I replied hesitantly. "I do make sure that we have enough currency to deal with finances and such, though sometimes it is unnecessary. When that is the case, I simply do it to pass time, gain a little more pocket money for supplies and items that I may wish for."
Much better, Kurama… maybe you're not so rusty after all…
"That makes sense, I guess," Shuichi agreed, nodding his head with a relaxed smile on his face.
I smile in return, thankful that he wasn't as nervous when in my presence as he was at the start of the dinner.
"Oh, Minamino… I-I was wondering…"
"What is it?" I asked him.
"It's nothing, really, but…" His eyes drifted from mine, as if he were trying to look anywhere but at my own.
"Shuichi?"
"I was just thinking that maybe we could get together again sometime," he answered quickly. "Y'know, so that we don't only get to see each other every time our parents decide that they want to bring us along on their dates…"
I stared at him in amazement, unable to think of anything to say. This happened to be the first time that I was asked by another person that wasn't the usual Spirit Detective gang to do something that didn't involve school work or dating. I couldn't say why it caught me so off-guard, but for some reason the request was something my brain could not decipher quickly enough.
Unfortunately, Shuichi took my silence the wrong way, and started to frown.
"I figured as much…"he mumbled to himself, "I guess I can understand, not wanting to hang out and stuff…"
"I'm sorry, Shuichi," I quickly apologized, sounding as sincere as I felt. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I wasn't interested. It's quite the opposite, actually—I'd like to spend some quality time with you. You are a nice young man, and you know that you and I may end up being related to each other." I gave a small wiry smile, "Whether we like it or not."
That certainly brightened the boy's face. "Really?" he asked me, his excitement flooding into his voice. "You don't mind?"
"Why would I mind?" I replied with a teasing tone.
"Nice!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air eagerly.
The rest of dinner consisted of he and I throwing out ideas about what we could do without our parents there to guide us. When our food finally arrived, the four of us shared our dishes, exclaiming over whose was better, and sharing stories about meals that had gone wrong. I saw how Shuichi and Mother interacted, how he seemed to already accept her as a mother figure. He didn't fight it when she insisted on wiping his mouth with her napkin, and he didn't hesitate to share nearly every fact about his life with her. I got the chance to truly get to know Kazuya, unlike the last time I had met with him, and found him to be a wonderful man who was strong in his beliefs and had plenty of respect towards my mother, which was a very important detail. The whole time was filled with laughter and family bonding that was so alien to me, but nevertheless enjoyable. More than enjoyable. It was…familial.
And I discovered that it may not be a bad thing at all for Mother to marry once more.
.:AN:.
Oh, yeah, I am GOOD! 'Cause guess what? I KNOW WHAT THIS STORY IS GOING TO BE ABOUT! See, I just started off with Mitsuyo, the school girl/boy. Then I decided that I wanted Kurama's POV on the whole matter. Then, I wanted an admiring Suichi in the story! And it just kept adding on, and now I have a story with an actual plot!
Conscience: Action! Laughs! Romance (just kidding—NOT!)!
Hey, there! For once, I'm not unhappy to see you!
Conscience: HAHA! This story sucks, I'm going to go entertain another author that actually deserves my attention…!
Okay, scratch my last comment… I'm never not unhappy to see you…
Conscience: o.O um…okaaaay… hey you! That's right, you that's looking for the "next chapter" button! Read and Review, got it? So that this lazy bum can get off that fat ass and write…and save me from torture… (shudders)
Leave them alone, Conscience! They won't listen to you anyways, I've already warned them about the insanely rude things you say!
Conscience: If I don't listen to you, and they don't listen to me, what makes you think that they listen to you?
(can't think of anything to say in response)
Conscience: AHA! I win!
Shut up, idiot. Gods, just read and review, exit out, go back and read another story, I just want this thing to stop talking… so I can torture him…heheheheheheheheh…
Conscience: (gulps loudly) Um…help?
(smiles evilly) Ja matta...