A few days later it is time for Yusuke's funeral. The day is quiet. Maybe they were all frozen in shock or maybe most of them thought it would be rude to speak ill of him in front of the girl he saved.
Aki hobbles through the halls not sure what to think. Her mind keeps racing through what happened. How he didn't hesitate to save her.
That night everyone goes to the Urameshi apartment. Aki passes by a bowling Keiko as she heads in with her sister. Unknown to them Yusuke is there with a sky blue haired reaper.
"Please… please tell me this is a bad joke." Aki begins crying. "You can even call me Carrots all you want. So please…" She tries to wipe away her endless tears as Shizuna holds her close.
"Kazuma stop. This is a place of moarning." Some teens mutter as they try to hold him back.
"I'm not leaving until he comes out to face me!" Kazuma forces his way in with most of his friends trying to pull him back. "Come on punk. Come out. If… if you're not here then who am I gonna fight? Who…?" He throws a punch at the photo stopping short as he begins to cry himself.
"Come on. Let's go." They shove him out.
"We should get going too. It's not good for you to be on that foot too long." Shizuna stands with Aki's crutches.
"But…" Aki glances where Kazuma was.
"Those guys will keep him safe. And you need your rest." Shizuna offers her a hand.
"Kay." Aki reluctantly stands.
"Did you see those boys?" Mr. Iwamoto scuffs.
"Just some punks Urameshi hung out with." Mr. Akashi sneers. "Now if only they would die to." He sighs.
"Now, now. One of them is our star kendo's brother." Mr. Iwamoto snickers. "Still I wonder if Urameshi was trying to for her down an ally when he was hit?" He strokes his chin.
"Or steal her wallet." Mr. Akashi snickers.
"Shut up!" Aki shouts behind them. "Yusuke saved me to save me! Nothing more! You two are the worst! You're the ones that should vanish!" She yells furiously at them.
'Aki…' Yusuke stares amazed.
"That's enough." Principle Takenaka gently places his hand on her shoulder.
"Takenaka… I…" Aki glances to the ground, a bit cooler headed.
"It's okay. Go home and get some rest." Principle Takenaka smiles gently at her.
"Right." Aki heads for the car with Shizuna.
"Can you believe her?" Mr. Akashi huffs.
"I can actually." Principle Takenaka turns to the two of them sternly. "I'm going to assume all of that talk was due to you being drunk and insist you two leave to sleep it off." He points to the exit filled with anger.
"Y-yes sir." They slink away.
After that night much happened. Aki goes to pay her last respects only to find Yusuke has a warmth to his skin and a slight pals. Not much but it's there. With Keiko running over to say Yusuke said he was coming back after some test the three of them decided to keep this to themselves. At least for now.
Something else has changed as well. Mr. Iwamoto and Akashi treat Aki differently now. They are more cold and strict to her. The way she sees it they're just proving her point and ignores their behavior.
"What happened to you guys?!" Aki shouts as Kazuma and his friends come home all banged up.
"Just a small fight." Kazuma rubs the back of his head with a laugh.
'This is ridiculous.' Aki sighs as she finishes treating their wounds.
The next morning Kazuma and his group are called into the teachers' office. As Aki drops off papers she here's what Mr. Akashi had to say. She was tempted to yell since she had heard what happened and they were heroes in her eyes.
Threatening to take away Okubo's job, Aki was ready to punch the rat face. But Kazuma makes a deal with him that they won't fight for one week.
"Are we really going to be okay guys?" Okubo glances at his friends. "I didn't tell them this but my mom is sick and can't work. I'm not kidding guys, my family could really starve." He stares at the ground really nervous.
"We can do it! Just go home early and no punching." Kazuma turns to them with a thumbs up.
"If you guys need you can always stop by." Aki smiles warmly at them.
"Thanks Aki." The guys flush a bit with a head rub.
"I have practice now. Get home safe boys." Aki runs off to the kendo dojo.
"B-bye!" They wave smiling happily.
'So cute.' The guys think on cloud nine.
'Oh boy.' Kazuma sighs with a small smile as he heads off.
That same night Kazuma comes home even more beaten up. Aki treats him not sure to be happy he didn't punch back or cry. The next morning rat face, aka Mr. Akashi, tells them they all must score a fifty or higher on the exams in just a few days.
"He at least looks like he's studying." Kirishima peeks into the class room with the other two the next day.
"Yeah but if he studies too hard he might pop." Sawamura sighs heavily.
"Will he really be okay?" Okubo seems nervous.
"I think he'll be okay with my notes to help." Aki stands by the door holding three more note books.
"Oh Aki." They stand up straight a bit fidgety.
"What are those?" Sawamura points to the books.
"For you guys, I made notes for the key things the teachers' referenced in class." Aki hands them the books.
"Our angel." They tear up hugging her.
"If you're not gonna study then get out of here!" Kazuma yells from his seat.
The next few days Kazuma tries to study while dealing with gangster guys coming to beat him up. What's worse is that he's taking it for his own guys as well.
"Hey Kazu, do you ever think you and Yusuke would have been friends if things were different?" Aki places a snack down on his desk the night before the test.
"What makes you ask that?" Kazuma seems confused as he leans back in his chair.
"I don't know. I just always had this feeling you guys would get along if you weren't battling for territory." Aki taps the tray to her lips as she thinks about them.
'Also he's been living in our house with… Botan? For a few days now.' Aki side glances at Kazuma's bed where Yusuke and the blue haired girl ghost are floating.
"I guess. But I can't think about that now." Kazuma snacks on a sandwich.
"Study hard." Aki closes the door behind her.
The next morning the two of them walk to school together. Aki was nervous someone might try to pick a fight if he was alone. Luckily they make it to school with no incident, though one girl seemed to have beaten up some guys yet has no memory of it.
After the tests are done Aki had to run to practice. She promised to get the news from Principle Takenaka afterwards.
"They all scored fifty or higher." Principle Takenaka tells the small gaggle.
"For real?!" The guys, aside from Kazuma, cheer amazed.
"I'm so proud of you guys." Aki group hugs them.
"I am as well boys." Principle Takenaka nods with a smile.
Spotting Kazuma from the window they run out to tell him. He seemed a bit surprised but happy all the same.
"Okay! Burger stakes at our house! For you guys too." Aki announces.
"Really?" All of their eyes twinkle with delight.
"Of course you studied hard too." Aki nods with a small laugh.
"We'll help with the shopping then. Yeah we owe you for the notes." They crowd around her happily.
"Thanks man." Kazuma turns to the orange sky where Yusuke and Botan are floating.
"Kazu! If you don't hurry we'll leave you behind!" Aki shouts through cuffed hands.
"Wait up!" Kazuma runs to catch up.