A Month With Suichi Minamino
By Payne N. Uranus
.:AN:.
Alright, once again, here are the thank-yous to the reviewers for the last chapter!
Death101- Fox Version: Haha, I'm glad you think so! I thought it'd be a good idea...anyway. I appreciate the support and I hope you continue to read on!
(SillyMoose8): Yeah, I decided to delete that note, since I figured the surprise was important anyway. Good thing it didn't spoil it for you! Aww, you noticed that? Yeah, I figured I should comment on that, since I kinda share the same opinion. I can't say for sure if there'll be more chapters from Kurama's POV, but if the story calls for it, I shall try to do my best to make it an awesome read!
yokonyomi398: Aww, thank you so much for saying so. It took a lot of work. =) I appreciate you pointing out the errors. I've gone back and tried to catch them, but a lot just seem to slip through! No, it's not rude at all! I thank you for the offer, but I've managed to snag myself a beta already for the later chapters. If I feel these need a bit of a review, though, you'll be on my list! Thanks again!
KiyoshiXI: (Payne and Conscience hold hands and bow together) Glad you like our little skit things. =D
Payne N. Uranus: Well. I am rather special aren't I? (takes out a mallet and whacks past self on the head) Idiot! Get back to work!
Kuramafan-06: I don't blame you… Haha, I'm the same way! Oh, I've been really really really, busy, so I haven't had a chance to read your story/stories. I'm so sorry, but I'll get to them as soon as I can, 'kay? Sorry!
PervyMonk: Hahaha, Captain Underpants is awesome! Well… it's funny, at least. And, yes, I stole the line. Do I have to say "I Don't Own Captain Underpants References"? I hope not… that'd be stupid. I think it's obvious that I don't own them, 'cause if I did, I wouldn't be writing this on the internet, I'd be making it a TV show! Duh!
Yoru Inu: Well, I can't bear to make a fellow Kurama fan/writer suffer a moment longer! Read on, brother…sister…uh...person? And thank you for saying nice things, they make me smile all happy-like...
sandry stardiamond: (salutes) Glad you approve, I will do everything I can to up the quality even more!
The Demon Sisters: I make another! Brownie points for Payne!
Justyousee: I made another! Yay for Payne! And the characters are in character! Another Yay for Payne! And Payne will update soon! Yay for Payne! Say it with me now...
jadejr1212: Ack! No! Reviewer down, reviewer down! Why oh why, God, are you taking my reviewers! Oh wait, you just fainted. Nevermind! I'm sorry again for the confusion and stuff, but there is NO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP between Suichi and Kurama! I promise! I fixed it so that it'll be a bit more difficult to make that assumption! I swear! Glad you like my stuff, though. That makes me wanna squeal. =D
Kurama's number1 girl: I like the name… and I updated, so gimme pockey! (makes grabby hands)
Well, that fun. Wasn't that fun? I thought it was fun. However, as strange as it sounds right now, I'm not in the mood to be stupid, NOR AM I IN THE MOOD TO TOLERATE YOU, CONSCIENCE!
Conscience: Aw, but that takes the fun out of this crappy job… (sobs) WWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA….
Aw, boo frickity hoo…
Conscience: Wow, you are pissed… oh, man, this is gonna hurt… (starts to cower)
Oh, tear… (pretends to have a tear rolling down her cheek)
Conscience: (cries) I DON'T LIKE YOU ANYMORE! YOU'RE MEAN!
(runs over and starts pounding it mercilessly)
Conscience: OW! OWIEOWIE OW! OOOOWWWW! OOHO! OUCH! OUCHIE MOMMY! AAAAHAHAHA, OWIE!
(sighs happily) Great, now that that is done, on with the chapter!
Conscience: (groan) Call a medic...!
Wimp!
Chapter 5: Denial: It's Not Just A River
Mitsuyo's POV:
I can't believe this…
Why do I even bother? I've finally decided that, if ever in the whole history of science experiments dealing with strange human girls, and there was one that happened to escape the lab, I would be that human girl. I would be that strange science experiment gone wrong. Maybe I am an experiment gone wrong. It would explain a lot, and would give me something to blame my stupidity on something.
Want to know why?
Of course you don't, why would you? I'm gonna tell you anyways.
It's because of that stupid pencil incident!
Suichi tries to get your attention—the keyword being tried! You were too busy daydreaming about him and his stupid good looks and crap, and what happens? You act like a total freak! He asks you for a pencil, and what happens? You stumble around, asking him rude questions, all of which add up to you being a total freak! He thanks you for the pencil and gives it back afterwards, and what happens? You act like an even BIGGER moron by stuttering out gibberish that probably couldn't even be translated into an actual language! Once again, you act like a freak! You and he are both standing in the middle of loads of students, and what happens? As if he wasn't uncomfortable before! Idiot! YOU'RE A FREAK! A MAJORLY. UGLY. SCIENCE-EXPERIMENT-GONE-WRONG. FREAK!
I don't like him!
I don't like him!
I hate him!
Hate is such a strong word, but it describes my feelings for him perfectly! If I had a picture of him, then I would paste it to my bedroom wall, and throw every sharp object in existence at it! Or a blow-up punching doll thing! With his face on it! I'd just pummel it over and over and over! Argh!
He makes me act like a complete moron!
He makes me melt with just one smile!
He makes me stutter with one greeting!
He makes me want to hug him and kiss him and hit him all at the same time!
You're an idiot for thinking that he may ever have feelings for you! I tell myself angrily. You're a fool An idiot! A nincompoop! You're so stupid, it's almost scary!
That's it. I don't like him anymore. It won't be too hard to stop liking him, right? I mean, just look at the guy -- swarmed every day by half the school population. Trying to act all smooth and modest, when he's probably thinking he's the biggest thing since white bread. I bet he dyes his hair! Yeah, I bet every part of that guy is artificially manipulated or something! Fake teeth -- or maybe those whitening strips! And color-contacts, that would explain the weird feelings I always get when I look at him, right? I bet he takes acting lessons! Just to make everything seem absolutely enthralling! Yeah!
Well you know what?
I hate his smile!
I hate his laugh!
I hate his hair!
I hate his eyes!
I hate his voice!
I hate his perfect gentleman act!
I HATE SUICHI MINAMINO!
…I wonder what he's doing now…
This is going to be more difficult than I first thought.
~`*`~
Kurama's POV:
After our dinner was finished, we stayed to chat a little longer. I discovered that Suichi had a crush on a schoolmate of his by the name of Aya Kumi. She sounded quite intriguing from the way she was described, but it may have been because of Suichi's enthusiasm when I touched on the subject.
"How did you meet her?" I asked him with genuine interest.
"We were partnered up during science class," he replied, a tinge of red staining his cheeks.
"And did you two work well together? Or did you just stare at her while she did the whole assignment?" I teased with a small tilt of my head.
"Hey, I did a little work!" he replied, looking annoyed. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. He reminded me greatly of Yusuke…
Speaking of which.
It was about time for our nightly conference call. Since he hadn't had a big case in a while, we kept contact while we split the minor demon assignments between the four of us. My turn was due sooner or later.
Sitting up in my chair, I turned to Mother, and told her, "As much as I would like to stay, I'm afraid I have something at home that needs my attention."
"Yes, of course, you still have homework to do, don't you?" I merely nodded in agreement. "Very well…" She turned back to her date. "I'm sorry, dear, but my Suichi and I need to head back home." She and I stood up together, and I grabbed her coat for her to put on.
"It's alright, I understand," he replied, standing up as well. Suichi also got up, stumbling slightly.
"Aw, but we were having fun!" he whined with disappointment.
Smiling gently at him, I responded with, "Yes, it was quite enjoyable talking with you, Suichi. But, I must get home before it gets too late. Besides, I already told you that I will see you again whenever you'd like to do something together."
"Oh, yeah, that's right!" he exclaimed, suddenly becoming happy once more. I couldn't help but laugh at the mood-change.
Walking outside, we stood there, unwilling to say good-bye. It was completely understandable -- I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen my mother enjoy herself so fully. Or when I had, even. But duty called. I decided that if I was ever going to get home in time, I would have to be the one to make the first move.
I stuck my hand out to Suichi's father, and told him with a smile, "It was nice being able to stay for the whole meal this time, sir."
He shook it firmly, replying with, "Yes, it was. I'm glad to see that you and… Little Suichi got along fine tonight. It was a pleasure seeing you again."
"Likewise." I turned to Suichi and put my hand out to him as well, just like I had when we first were introduced. "I look forward to seeing you again as well, Suichi."
Unlike last time, he took it without hesitation, and used it to pull me into a quick hug. I was slightly shocked, but I smiled and gave him a squeeze before pulling back. "So do I, Minamino," he muttered with a smile.
I faced Mother just in time to see her kiss Suichi's father on the cheek, saying her goodbye to him as well.
When she pulled away, I cleared my throat, saying, "Are you ready to go, Mother?"
"Yes," she responded, blushing slightly.
I couldn't help it—I laughed. It was strange seeing Mother look so agitated over a date with a man that she had been seeing for quite some time. She reminded me of my classmates back at school the way she was so jumpy and flustered. Her date quirked an eyebrow in my direction, and Suichi was snickered as well, almost like he didn't understand my amusement, but wanted to laugh anyways.
"I'm sorry," I said hastily, fighting down my laughter. "It's about time we left. I look forward to seeing you both again sometime soon."
"Yes, we do too," Suichi replied enthusiastically. "Go on! We know you're stalling, so don't bother trying to put off homework and junk. Dad already caught me doing that and got all angry and such."
"I appreciate the advice," I chuckled out. "I know that you have school tomorrow, Suichi. Try to keep in mind what I told you before, okay?"
"Heh, heh…okay…"
Turning our backs to them, I couldn't help but throw one more "Goodbye" over my shoulder. I almost wished that I hadn't needed to leave at all, but that was ridiculous. The night had to end at some point. Mother and I slowly made our way to our car, seeming an ambiable silence between us as we reflected on the night. It was only when we had pulled out of the parkinglot and were safely on the road that the quiet was broken.
"So? What do you think?" Mother asked, hope and excitement filling her eyes completely.
"I thought they were both quite enjoyable," I answered with a soft smile. Honestly, it almost was like she was the child in the car. Ironically, she could be considered the child, if she were compared to me in my previous life, but perhaps that would be an unfair comparison.
She stared at me for a relatively long time, scrutinizing me so greatly that I had no choice but to let her investigation instead of trying to get her to look back at the road. Her dark eyes bored into mine, making me fear the worst when her eyes held no emotion except unyielding fortitude.
"Mother?" I asked softly with confusion, forcing her to blink out of her revere.
She smiled sadly, saying, "You don't care for him, do you?"
I blinked in alarm. How could she possibly have gotten that idea? "I do, Mother," I insisted with as much conviction as I could. "He obviously makes you happy, and I could see that he felt the same for you as well. He's a admirable man, I can see no reason for me not to feel any dislike for him."
"But you do."
"You've got the wrong idea, Mother. I assure you full-heartedly, I find the man as suitable for you as possible. You are both quite lucky to have met each other. I can tell that you truly love him, and if you do, then I don't see why I can't."
She gazed at me once more, as if looking for any hint of deceit.
She found none—of that I am sure.
~`*`~
When Mother and I arrived at the house, I made my way directly to the telephone machine. Mother had recently purchased for me a cellphone for me to use, but it was upstairs charging. Plus, I hadn't exactly given Yusuke the number yet. It was unfortunate, since using the land line requires the others and I to disguise our discussions so that Mother couldn't possibly understand what we were talking about.
I saw that there was one missed call—it was from Yusuke.
Worried, I quickly pushed the inbox button, but he had not left a message for me… however, he had called about five minutes before we arrived.
Telling Mother that I had a quick phone call to make, I alerted her that I would be up for a little bit, and to not wait for me. She agreed with easy persistence from my end, obviously tired out from the whole night's ordeal. I had to hide a smile as she lazily climbed the stairs, once again resembling a small child, as if she'd stayed up past her curfew.
I called Yusuke, praying that for whatever reason he called, it wasn't as serious as I was making it out to be.
"Yeah, what do ya want?" An irritated voice of our favorite juvenile delinquent came over the receiver, and I sighed quietly in relief. It didn't seem like the world was being taken over my power-hungry apparitions tonight, I thought to myself. We can all rest easy.
"Am I interrupting something, Yusuke?" I asked with a small smile. He was either working up late on some homework assignments forced upon him by Keiko… or he's taking some pills so that he doesn't go into such a deep slumber that we can't even wake him up for school tomorrow.
"Nothing except for the rantings of one stupid crazy lady…" he muttered sleepily, yawning at the end.
"Let me take a guess: Keiko is making you complete your missed homework, correct?" I inquired, biting back the urge to chuckle at my friend's predicament.
"Why must there be so much?" Yusuke whined loudly, earning himself a considerably resounding slap to the head by the only person other than our little group who didn't fear hitting him.
"Quit complaining, Yusuke," I could hear Keiko scolding in the background. "It's your own fault that you're doing all of this work. I mean, these assignments date back to beginning of last month! You're lucky that I was free tonight to help you out with this…"
"Stupid homework…" Yusuke muttered again. There was a slight meaningful pause, and I suddenly wished that I had not interrupted Yusuke's work time. "Hey, Kurama? I don't suppose you'd "help" me with these papers, would you? After all, I happen to have some great contacts that could get you a lady friend in no time…" His voice was full of hope, though it was tainted with the sly tone that could only be pulled off by the juvenile detective…
"You forget, Yusuke," I reminded him calmly. "I am literally hunted by a considerable percentage of my school every day during and after educational hours. If it were a female companion that I wished for, I'd have little difficulty finding one. But, putting that fact aside, this is indeed your work that you yourself need to complete alone. Just be thankful that you have Keiko there to assist you."
"I'll be thankful when she stops talking my ear off, Fox boy."
"Considering you're now probably hiding in the bathroom, I'll bet your rather thankful right now, Yusuke."
"I… hey, how did you know I was in the bathroom?"
"You are incredibly predicable. And so is Keiko. I believe she is going to burst through the door right"—A loud bang echoed over the phone, followed by quite a lot of screams of pain and yells of anger.
"…Now," I finished with a wince. I was fairly certian that Yusuke dropped the phone during this time because Keiko's voice swept through the silence that accompanied her arrival.
"I'm sorry, Kurama, but Yusuke needs a little nap right now," she said, her voice slightly out of breath. "Guess he'll have to do his homework tomorrow."
"You didn't happen to hit him over the head with the toilet plunger, now did you?" I asked evenly.
"How did you know?" she inquired with more than a little surprise.
"Lucky guess," I answered dryly. "Tell Yusuke that I will see him tomorrow, Keiko. Also, apologize for me for not making our scheduled meeting tonight."
"No problem, Kurama. Actually, I heard him say something about Hiei coming by tonight to pick you up for some errand or something. Anyway, goodnight!"
I nodded thoughtfully at the information. "Thank you, Keiko. Have a pleasant evening."
The connection broke, and I set the phone down calmly, my eyes narrowed and stern. It was rare that Koenma didn't have us running around small, insignificant demons at night, but it had been a while since we last had a break. Even so, I wasn't sure whether or not I should be glad or worried over that simple fact…
I climbed the stairs, and bid Mother goodnight before retreating to my room, feigning slumber for a couple minutes as I waited for Mother's soft, even snores that signaled she was indeed asleep.
Not long afterwards, a dark shadow flitted over my window. I wasn't worried—Hiei always came by at the same time. I opened the window as silently as I could, slipping my body out of the gap the space in between allowed. Hiei nodded to me as soon as I was completely out of my room, and I nodded back in return. On cue, Hiei started to run to the forest, with me following swiftly behind him.
Just because Koenma didn't issue a mission didn't mean that we couldn't do some work on our own time. I was feeling restless anyways.
~`*`~
Mitsuyo's POV:
I was lying in my bed, listening to the thumps and cries of my brother and father as they wrestled around the house, blandly staring up at my ceiling while attempting to count all of the nooks and crannies of its plaster surface. The rough-housing going on below was starting to grate, but I was too busy to get up and turn on my radio to drown it out.
Too busy being deep in thought, musing over absolutely nothing.
Or trying to.
Why did he have to plague my mind every waking moment? And even then, he doesn't leave me alone. My dreams are filled with his godly image, his intoxicatingly sweet voice. To think that just a few hours ago, I was with him, and he was talking to me, and we even touched for a brief moment… it was poison. Ugh. Before I met him, I was a decently sane person. But now…
He won't leave me be.
Every time I arrive at school, I turn into another one of his drooling fan girls. I tried to fool myself, telling myself silently that I wasn't that head-over-heels for him—sometimes I would go so far as to say I wasn't even head-over-heels at all… but that was before I mentally listed all of the things that I loved about him, and started writing his name all over a loose leaf of paper that had been in front of me, adding hearts here and there…
I think I lost it, that damned piece of paper.
But I sure hope not.
If he, or someone else, found it…
That wouldn't go over all-that well.
I hope I didn't put my name on it, too.
That would cause even more trouble… Unless I put my real name on it? That wouldn't be so bad, though people would probably be confused, since no one goes by Mitsuyo Kajima at our school.
Oh well.
The yells and shrieks of fake fear finally tore me away from my thoughts, and I got out of bed, stomped over to my door, ripped it open, and shouted, "Can you two please stop screaming like immature banshees and just SHUT UP FOR FIVE MINUTES AT THE LEAST?"
"NO!" Hiroshi hollered back happily, squealing in amusement as Dad probably started tickling him again.
Growling in frustration, I slammed my door to emphasize my irritation, and threw myself back onto my bed, grabbing my pillow and forcefully covering my face with it. I breathed deeply, over and over, trying to calm myself down.
When I think about Suichi, which is all too often, I get annoyed easily, even by the littlest things. No matter what I do, he manages to pop up unexpectedly in my mind, and I loose thought of what I was doing at the time. Last time that happened, I was playing catch with my dad as we threw a football back and forth. He had thrown it just as a dude with red hair walked by, and my mind had immediately thought Suichi was walking by. I froze, and the ball...well...
Let's just say that blood is very messy, and when its pouring out of a broken nose, it's very difficult to stay conscious.
Isn't that just peachy? My mind is permanently glued on Suichi.
And I think I like it.
Want to know why?
… I don't know the reason why.
For now, though…
I'll just let my mind wander.
.:AN:.
Whoo! It's about time I updated, huh? Well, I felt like I should give ya all a treat, since… guess what?
MY BIRTHDAY, THAT'S WHAT! It was my birthday recently. I got to eat cake. And other things. How cool is that? Yeah, that's right. It's cool.
Right, well, thanks for reading! Review on your way out to read other stories that are way better than mine! Before you ask, no I'm not bitter. Just so very, very, very aware. (blinks owlishly)