Sorry this is a little late but the past week has been really busy with work, trying to get some sleep, visiting family, etc.
But I have a little spare time so here's another chapter :)
YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH
"Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation?" Shizuru asked her brother as they sat around the table for dinner one evening.
Kuwabara poked the pork on his plate with a frown and shook his head after a moment's hesitation.
"I mean, yes, I have thought of it," he corrected himself, "But I haven't really decided."
"Well, you better start getting your shit together and thinking about college," Shizuru said firmly, "We had an agreement, Kazuma."
"Actually, our agreement was that I stop fighting and finish high school," Kuwabara reminded her, "Don't worry, I won't just be a bum...but I just don't quite know where I'm gonna fit into the world yet. I can't imagine working in an office all my life or being a teacher."
"I thought you were interested in being a scientist?" Yukina piped up, remembering his fascination with the subject from a few years back.
Kuwabara rolled that around in his mind but then shook his head.
"No, I don't think so," he replied sullenly, "I like science but I don't think I'm smart enough to make it a career."
"You're incredibly smart, Kazuma!" Yukina defended him quickly, "Why do you always say such things?"
"She's right, little bro," Shizuru agreed, "You have to make a choice and stick to it, no matter what it is."
"I'll think about it, ok?" Kuwabara was tired of thinking about it, the thought that he didn't know where his future was headed made him a little sick to his stomach, "I'll figure it out."
The girls exchanged surprised looks at his dismissive tone and the dinner continued in silence.
Later that night, Yukina and Kuwabara sat in her room doing homework. Yukina was writing historic dates and events on note cards to use as flash cards, Kuwabara was intently reading a section of his textbook about Japan's economy.
"I really love learning about human history," Yukina spoke up, feeling stifled by the silence their intense studying was causing.
"I bet it's a lot different than demon history, huh?" Kuwabara said in reply, glad for a reason to look up from the page he'd been re-reading several times but not comprehending. His mind was full of questions about his future. What was he going to do for a job? Where would he go after graduation? Would he be able to find his own place and be a responsible adult? Would Yukina want to go with him? Would he follow a career path even if it meant leaving Yukina behind?
Yukina was saying something about demon history; the name of Yusuke's ancestor, Raizen, brought him back to the moment.
"Kazuma, I know you didn't hear a word I just said," she giggled, giving him a knowing look.
"Sorry, baby," Kuwabara sighed, "I just...really need to do what Shizuru said and start thinking about where I want to be in a few years."
"You will," Yukina assured him, "You are very determined and hardworking. I know you will figure this out."
Kuwabara nodded grimly, trying to believe her words.
"Maybe you need to think more about what you can do with the special abilities you have," Yukina offered, "You can do much more than a normal human."
YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH
The next morning, Kuwabara and Yukina walked to school together as usual, laughing and chatting as they went.
"It sure is hot out these last few days," Yukina complained, wiping beads of sweat off her face. She summoned a gust of icy wind to cool the air around them, if only for a brief moment until the stifling heat wisped it away.
"That's for sure," Kuwabara muttered, nudging the dry, burnt grass that protruded from the sidewalk crack with the toe of his shoe, "Reminds me of that week when Urimeshi was a ghost and they had all those fires in town."
Yukina was about to reply when Kuwabara's entire body went stiff and his head whipped to the left, his eyes squinted in intense focus. She knew that look...he was sensing something strongly.
"What is it?" she asked quietly, not wanting to distract him too much. He cocked his head slightly, like a dog listening to a far away sound and he took a deep whiff of the air. Yukina looked in the direction he was facing and she gasped when she saw the thick cloud of black smoke rolling over the rooftops several blocks away.
"Fire," he replied suddenly, his eyes shot open wide, "And someone is still inside the building!"
"Come on!" Yukina cried and they started running, Kuwabara easily taking the lead. He skidded around a corner and almost collided with the crowd of onlookers who were watching the engulfed building with morbid interest. Yukina caught up a moment later and he took her hand, pulling her with him as he pushed their way through the crowd.
Several firefighters were manning the hoses, but Kuwabara's focus went to the line of men holding onto a line that disappeared into the multi story building, he knew there were rescuers on the other end among the flames.
"Pull them out!" the fire chief demanded to the men on the line, "Everyone is accounted for."
"No, no, no," Yukina looked up to see Kuwabara muttering to himself, his eyes wide with horror, "No, someone is in there. I can sense them, their fear is so strong I can almost literally hear them calling for help!"
"You have to tell them!" Yukina insisted, pushing him forward encouragingly.
"How am I supposed to explain how I know?" Kuwabara worried, "They won't believe me!"
"You have to try!"
Kuwabara looked at her for a second and then nodded, he pushed one more crowd member aside and ran up to the fire chief.
"Sir, someone is still in there!" he informed the firefighter, "I know you think everyone is out, but there's someone in there."
"Who?"
"I...don't know...I just know he's in there," Kuwabara stated lamely.
"And how do you know?"
"I just...do, ok?" Kuwabara knew where this was going...he didn't believe him. "You have to believe me!"
"Look, kid, we cleared the building," the chief insisted, obviously not having any of Kuwabara's statement, "I am responsible for the safety of my firefighters first of all. That fire is getting way too out of hand and I am pulling them out. No one is left in there so get back behind the line and let us do our job."
Kuwabara wanted to argue, but another wave of desperation flooded his mind and he grimaced from the sensation of utter fear. He could tell that the energy was weakening and there wasn't much time left. Another desperate scream for help pierced his senses and his clenched his fists in determination and he ran...ran straight into the burning building. He heard a few alarmed yells and felt a few hands brushing on his arm as they attempted to grab him, but he was determined.
The smoke hit his lungs like a brick and he coughed violently for a moment before he remembered what they always told them in safety classes when he was little, stay low and go under the smoke. Nodding to himself, Kuwabara dropped to the floor and began Army crawling towards the direction the sensations were coming from.
He felt the heat from the flames rolling over his skin and he focused his spirit energy on making a protective barrier between him and the flames, saving as much energy as he could in case he truly needed it.
"Hey!" he yelled as loud as he could in the heavy air, his lungs felt like they were full even thought he was under the smoke now, "I'm comin' for you! Make some noise!"
Nothing. The only sounds were the crackling and roar of the flames. Closing his eyes, Kuwabara focused on sensing the person's energy. It was faint, scarily faint, time was running out but he was very close now to the location.
Turning to the right, Kuwabara came to a large hole in the floor of a bathroom. He carefully went to the edge and looked over, his heart leapt with relief when he did. There was a man, he looked around late forties in age, huddled in a bathtub that still contained some water. Kuwabara figured he'd crawled in the water when he became trapped, hoping the rescuers would find him, but the floor had caved in and his head had collided with the porcelain lip of the tub and knocked him out cold. No wonder they hadn't seen him or heard his calls for help...his pleas were all subconscious.
"How do I get down to him?" Kuwabara wondered, but he knew it made no difference, he had to go. He turned to let his legs into the hole first and dropped down to the floor beneath next to the tub. Thankfully, the smoke was thinner down here, but he felt sick to his stomach when he looked up and saw the ceiling two floors above starting to crumble, chunks of hot wood were dropping down around him. Without a second thought, Kuwabara pulled the man up and put his arm around him to hold him up.
Now...how to get out?
"Think, Kuwabara, think!" he begged himself, his eyes flitted around to take in the scene and search for a potential escape. "Ok...ok...let's try this. Spirit sword!"
Summoning his trusty sword, he took hold of it by the blade and shoved the hilt under the man's shirt, making sure the material was tented over the end sort of like a flagpole. He stabbed the blade into the floor and gauged the distance.
"Sword, get long," he whispered, trying to control the ascent. He sighed in relief when the sword elongated, lifting the man by his shirt up to the opening above, bending with Kuwabara's will and gently dropping him on the floor at the top. "Perfect!"
Kuwabara grabbed the hilt when it shrunk back down and let it lift him up as well. He crouched next to the man and gathered a lot of energy to form a protective bubble around them and started towards the way he'd come.
"Oh no!" the way was blocked, the ceiling had caved by the doorway. Desperately, he looked around for an alternate exit. There! A window in the next room that led out the side of the building! Grunting with the combined effort of breathing through smoke, carrying the man and focusing his spirit energy in a way he wasn't used to, he made his way towards the light.
"Almost there, man, you're gonna be alright!" he encouraged the unconscious man at his side with his mind.
Finally, the window was in front of them. It felt to Kuwabara like he'd been in the building for days, years...time had no meaning in the middle of an adrenaline haze. The glass was already broken from the window so Kuwabara kicked the frame and made the opening complete then he removed his shirt to lay over the window sill to protect them from the shards of the shattered panes, he then lifted the man over the window sill and out onto the grass. Kuwabara grimaced at the thump of the man hitting the ground limply, but he couldn't have done it much more gracefully than that so he simply pulled himself through the window and dropped down to the ground.
"There! Oh my god, there's two people over here! They just came out the window!"
Kuwabara felt a sense of relief flood over him and he felt his legs begin to shake as the adrenaline wore off, suddenly his lungs ached beyond belief and he felt light headed...last thing he saw was Yukina's frightened face as she came around the corner of the building, then everything went black.
YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH
Offensively bright lights flooded Kuwabara's vision as his eyes fluttered open and he immediately squinted them closed again with a groan, and then that groan made him want to cry because his throat felt like he'd swallowed razorblades and his chest felt as if it was going to burst open.
"Kazuma!" Yukina's voice made all his pain disappear for moment as it was overpowered by his excitement to hear her there with him. He forced his eyes open against the pain of the lights above him. He turned his head to the right and smiled when he saw his angel of a woman sitting next to his bed in a large green chair. He opened his mouth to ask where he was but her hand shot out and covered his mouth forcefully. "Don't speak. You breathed in a lot of smoke and you have a lot of burns. Oh, my...your eyes are really red too."
Kuwabara closed his mouth and tried to figure out what was going on. It all flooded back to him in a split second. Right...he was in a hospital.
"We can talk this way," Kuwabara heard Yukina's voice clearly in his head and he saw her face in his mind. "That way you can close your eyes and not have to speak. I can feel how bad you're hurting."
"Why didn't you heal me?" Kuwabara responded.
"There were so many humans," Yukina replied, "They all demanded you go to a hospital.I didn't know how to explain my healing to them."
"Good point," Kuwabara admitted, "This really hurts."
He heard Yukina shift in her chair and his skin twitched slightly as her hand connected to the bare skin of his chest.
"I will call for the human healer. He said you will need medicine for the pain when you woke up." she informed him, giving him a few gentle pats before walking off somewhere.
Kuwabara laid there in silence, not daring to move and make the pain flare up again. He heard footsteps and felt a hand on his forearm, heard the doctor inform him he was giving him some sort of pain medicine in his IV and then he began to fade from reality once again when it started working.
When he woke up again, it was night time and the room was lit with dim lights, the harsh overheads lights were off. Sighing, Kuwabara opened his sore eyes and took a good look around, he looked to the bed on his right and was shocked to see someone familiar laying in it. The man he'd rescued. And the man turned his head to meet his gaze.
"About time you woke back up," the man croaked, his throat had obviously been affected that same way Kuwabara's had from the sound of it. "You've been knocked out ever since that cute little green haired girl left three days ago."
"Three days?" Kuwabara realized he could actually speak now and he blinked to find his eyes less sore and his vision much improved. "I've been sleeping for three days?"
"That's what happens when you nearly kill yourself to save an idiot trapped in a bathtub," the man chuckled grimly, "Seriously, kid, what the heck were you thinking?"
Kuwabara considered what he should tell him. Would the man believe the truth?
"I know what happened," the man interrupted his thoughts, "It was like I saw the whole thing in an out of body experience. You...what are you?"
"I'm just a human," Kuwabara replied truthfully, "I'm...wait...what did you see?"
"You had a glowing dome over you to keep the flames off," the man said confidently, "And there was a golden spear thing that you used to lift me out. And you were speaking to me...but not using your voice."
"And you believe that?"
"I know what I saw. I watched you carry me out of that building."
"You must have some psychic abilities of your own," Kuwabara mused out loud, "That's what I am. I'm a psychic and that golden thing was a sword made from my spirit energy."
"Spirit energy?" the man was very interested.
"Man, I can't believe you aren't freaking out," Kuwabara said, curious about the man's calm demeanor.
"I did at first when I woke up and saw you here," the man admitted, "But that girl told me I had actually seen what I thought I did. She told me to ask you about it when you woke up."
"It's a long story," Kuwabara admitted, feeling odd about talking so nonchalantly about this stuff.
"We have several days left together," the man shrugged, "My name is Ryuu."
"Kazuma. I'd shake your hand but mine is kind of burnt."
Ryuu laughed and then coughed a few times. Kuwabara explained humans with spiritual energy to him and then moved on to the Spirit World...last of all came the Demon World and the now open barrier between their worlds.
"So...demons are everywhere?" Ryuu asked, wide eyed, "Like anyone could be a monster walking around town?"
Kuwabara winced at the word monster.
"Technically, yes," he admitted, "Demons have the potential to be monsters. But...my three best friends are demons. Well, two demons and a half demon."
"Really?" Ryuu asked in awe, "And they don't eat you?"
"Only specific kinds of demons eat humans," Kuwabara corrected him, "The majority of them are...pretty normal."
"Are your friends going to visit?" Ryuu asked, "I'd really like to meet a demon and see for myself."
"You already met one," Kuwabara informed him with a grin, "My girl, the one with the sea foam colored hair, she's a demon. An ice apparition."
"Her?!" Ryuu looked shocked, "She was so sweet and kind! Demons are like that?"
"Not all of them," Kuwabara admitted, "The majority of them are pretty standoffish and grim. Or very wise and calculating. Did a tall guy with bright red hair or a really short guy with spiky black hair, or a punk with a sarcastic attitude come by?"
"Two of them. The red head and the snarky one."
"The red head is a demon. The snarky one is half demon."
"Wow...that is crazy! They were both so normal."
Kuwabara smiled, but he was starting to feel sleepy again.
"Hey, Kazuma," Ryuu's voice was quiet and thoughtful, "I really want to thank you for doing what you did. I'd be dead right now if not for you. If a psychic hadn't been walking by...well..."
"Hey, man, it was no problem," Kuwabara assured him, "I live by a strict code. I could never walk by and let someone die."
"You'd make a really good firefighter, Kazuma."
The words sunk into Kuwabara's brain like a death plant sewn in an open wound. It stuck fast...and started to develop quickly. A firefighter...part of a fire and rescue team...a job that would allow him to use his abilities to help people. A job that his skills would be perfect for. Between his spirit awareness and his physical strength, it was the perfect career choice!
He couldn't wait to tell Shizuru and Yukina...he'd just found what he wanted to do after high school. Smiling happily, Kuwabara let his eyes flutter closed and he was soon fast asleep with images of saving lives filling his dreams.
YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH YYH
This was an odd chapter. I got to thinking of what Kuwabara would do with his life since the others had plans and responsibilities...and this seemed perfect! What do you all think?
Review :D