Adult-FanFiction.org : YuYu Hakusho

A Little Laughter	By : UKImouto Category: Yuyu Hakusho > General Views: 2397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Good morning and welcome back! I am so amazed every time I
come here and see how many times this has been hit, even if it�s not been read,
or even reviewed. It makes me happy to know that people are interested at all.
^_^

Um�you guys recall how I said I was sort of afraid of Matsu
(that�s Matt in Japanese, but�^^;; )? Um�he kind of hit me the other night and
it really hurts�T__T So I wrote some more on this story to distract meself.
^^;;

Some notes�

Okay, between the little ~*~*~ is supposed to be italicized,
but sometimes this thing doesn�t like �em, so I put those there. ^^;; It�s a
separation of text to show that there is a difference there. These dreams are
NOT demon-induced, and therefore act like dreams still.

Thank you to Lonely Lust for reviewing first. ^_^ No
worries, cakes, school may be hell, but there�s always a light in the flames. You�ve
just gotta figure out how to enjoy going to school. XP Now there�s a challenge,
eh? Thanks to Esmee for bringing a smile to my face and two reviews at once.
^_^ And my friend Shawna, muy gracias for reading it. I think it�s really
helping me out. I hope a lot more people come to understand me after they�ve
read this story.

Disclaimer: Y�know, I�ve been writing YYH fan fics for three
years now. I didn�t own them then and I still don�t now. Why would that change
in the span of one chapter? O.o I don�t get this logic. At any rate�

Chapter 12: Our Secrets� Limitations

Shuichi led the way down
the stairs, me a few steps behind him. Shiori-san had wanted us home by five so
we could go out for okonomiyaki. I still had questions I wanted to ask after
all that had happened up in Genkai�s temple. But with all those other people
around, in particular Yusuke and Kuwabara, I just hadn�t felt it right. These
were more personal questions about Shuichi. I wanted to give him a chance not
to answer if he didn�t want to. I mean, I�d want the same courtesy given to me,
after all the times that I�d not been given it by Kamiya-san.
�Hey, Shuichi,� I asked
hesitantly. �Um�I wanted to ask you, are you and uh�Kurama, are you guys two
separate people?�
Shuichi glanced back over
his shoulder at me. �We are one in the same, I would say. At times, we have
separate conversations, because we do have a few things to talk about, however,
we are not two separate beings like Jirkle-san, Morana-san, and you are.�
I hadn�t really expected
such a concise, clear answer on something that personal, but I nodded anyway,
hiding my surprise. �And�since you have my pendant, you can talk to Jirk and
Morana for me, right?�
�They can hear you, and I
can hear them, yes,� Shuichi nodded, smiling. �Why don�t you walk beside me
instead of behind, Rei?�
I blinked a moment and
then slowly, almost hesitantly, walked down the few steps to be at his right
side. �Like this?�
�Haven�t you ever walked
beside someone before?�
�Um�no?�
Shuichi started down the
steps, but I hadn�t really been prepared to start moving, so I fell behind
again. Patiently, he paused as I caught up. He walked slower this time, and I
kept up with the way he walked.
�Is there any particular
reason why you want to be lonely, Rei?� Shuichi asked quietly, almost as if we
would be heard if he spoke at a normal level. I blinked at him, now walking a
little quicker to keep up.
�It�s not that I want to
be alone,� I said. �I just always thought that�s how�I should be.�
He paused. �No one should
be alone. Not even those who may deserve it.�
�What about the people in
prison?� I asked. �They get put in isolation all the time. It�s punishment for
crimes. Our own prison system here in Japan puts people in small, one-man cells
where you can�t even sit wrong.�
�Yes. I do not believe
that should be a punishment.�
I smiled sadly. �You sound
like my baby brother.�
�What happened to him?�
I glanced off up into the
trees. �Hiei-san is following us.�
Shuichi chuckled lowly. �I
think my friend does not trust you.�
�You think?�
�It�s never safe to say
anything for certain about Hiei,� Shuichi smiled. �He is as mysterious as you
are sometimes, though three times as good at hiding it.�
I fish-mouthed, unable to
think of something to say.
Shuichi called Hiei down
from the branches. The fire demon glared down at me, all two inches of his
height seniority. He grunted loudly.
�Kurama, be more careful
about how you twist words the others can�t hear.�
And then the demon was
gone, as quickly as he�d appeared. �Is he a ghost or something?�
�Hiei is quite fast, by
demon standards,� Shuichi said. His eyes were narrow, and I could see a delicate
hint of amber within them. �I believe he is upset that I broadened the targets
of Xanatos and Dirken to include him and the others.�
I nodded dully as we
continued down the steps again. �Um�about that. Why did you? I mean, they�re
really just after you, and sorta me, I guess.�
�Yusuke typically does not
enjoy the idea that someone is out to kill his friends,� Shuichi said, smirking
wryly. �Had I told him that the target was me, and solely me, he would do
everything in his power to make sure he protects me. It is in his character.�
I tried hard to picture
Yusuke as the overprotective sort and failed miserably. Shuichi chuckled at the
confused look that must have been on my face.
�Trust my judgment, Rei. I
am usually quite accurate.�
�You prefer being called
Kurama, don�t you,� I stated rather than asked. At his slightly amused eyes, I
continued. �Everyone else close to you does, except your family.�
�I suppose I do prefer
hearing my old name, considering it was the one I was born with initially,�
Shuichi said. �However, either name will do.�
�Your family doesn�t know,
do they?�

He was silent a moment. �No, they do not. Nor do I plan on telling them.�
�Why not?�
He merely smiled and continued walking down the stairs. The
silence was comfortable, and I could easily read on the air the reason for it.
I had finally reached the place where Shuichi did not want to speak of. At
least, not yet. I heard some kind of promise in his silent tone, the silence
beckoning me closer instead of pushing me away.
We climbed aboard the bus
again to go home, the silence still lingering like the same pleasant scent that
hovered around Shuichi. I hadn�t really ever taken the time to separate it out,
what he smelled like. People had scents, that I knew. Like before she died, my
grandma always smelled like strong lavender perfume and cookie dough. Sevon had
the scent of grass and fire to him, like the aloe plant and cucumber. Michael
had smelled like the ocean, and like wildflowers and strawberries.
But Shuichi�s scent had
been an odd combination of wet fur and flowers, like an open field and like the
waxy scent of the outside of a cactus. And yet when you sat close to him, like
when we were on the bus, he had the smell of the inside of the cactus, too. The
sweet scent of plant sugar.
But mostly, like roses.
I guess that�s why I
hadn�t liked him at first. He reminded me of everything I hated and loved, of
the prickly things that I used to keep everyone else at a distance. Yet he had
this attraction that made him popular with everyone. Made him smart. Made him
uniquely special, the way a particular rose looks like it bloomed so perfectly.
I was so lost in my
thoughts that I didn�t even realize when I crossed from the waking world into
the realm of dreams. The realm of true dreams, where things are not always what they seem and demons don�t run my
life any more.
~*~*~
I ran down Rabbit Road, smiling up into the bright
sunlight streaming through the tops of the yellow maple trees. Everything was
beautiful, like some storybook play-land built just for me. That�s always how I
felt when I was on Rabbit Road on the American Naval Base. It was a little road
behind all the hustle of the city, a little piece of simplicity. There were
always little usagi�rabbits�in the fields.
Up the dirt road ran another girl, her hair streaming red
behind him. A brunette was at his side, running so much faster and harder. It
was hard to see that the redhead�s face from this distance, but I made a
beeline for them anyway. I knew them.
�Michael! Sevon! The beach is just at the end of this
road!� I shouted, laughing. Even in my mind, though, I knew this was just one
of my memories, replaying itself in my dreams for me to see. Michael stopped to
breathe, both hands on his knees. He grinned up at me from below, though he was
nearly my height even though he was almost doubled over completely.
�Sevon gave me a breakneck run! I wouldn�t have been able
to keep up if he was going all-out, though!�
I laughed at him. �C�mon, Mike, don�t be so hard on
yourself. I�m sure you could run just as fast as Von if you put your mind to
it.�
Mike and Von shared a knowing glance, a smirk that I
hadn�t really caught that day, but now understood much better. �Mike�ll never
beat me, Kitten, he�s just too slow.�
Quite suddenly, the memory shifted. Instead of Michael, my
handsome, red-headed, eleven-year-old, apparently human best friend, Morana
stood in his place, saying exactly his words from that day.
�Yeah, Jirk�s right. Come now, we should be going if we�re
not going to be late coming home again.�

And Sevon, my brown-haired, twelve-year-old friend, was replaced by Jirkle. I
was my seventeen-year-old self, standing in the same place that, as a child,
had brought me much joy. Now, all it felt was a little odd, and mildly
disturbing. Seeing Jirkle�s bat-ear-winged, blue-haired self saying Sevon�s
words was enough to make anyone a little loopy for a moment or two.
The three of us laughed and talked all the way down to
Pier 12, a little lookout beach that I�d discovered behind the base. Just like
old times, except now I had a vampire demon and a fire/bat hanyou instead of my
very human friends.
Pier 12 was covered in yellowish sand, not quite clean and
not quite dirty. Bits and pieces of paper and the occasional rusty aluminum can
spread across the hot sand, along with mermaid�s purses and beached seaweed.
Fluffy clouds, gray with hints of white, foretold of rain later that afternoon.
The water was already a little choppy, but no one cared.
A couple of small children played in the tide, one running
after the receding waves, then racing them back, giggling at the lapping
puddles that soaked her feet. A watchful pair of elderly folks, probably their
grandparents, watched on. Down the beach a ways were some body-boarders, but
aside from those and a lone figure up amidst the dune grass, we had the beach
to ourselves.
I rolled up the legs on my pants and took off my socks and
shoes. Jirkle took off his shirt and we used it as a bag by tying up the
sleeves and using my ponytail holder to hold the neck hole closed. Morana
gingerly picked up seashells that still were in the tide, placing them
carefully inside Jirkle�s shirt so that he wouldn�t break the ones we�d put
there already. I ran off ahead and raced the tide, just like the small child
down the beach was. Jirkle and Morana laughed at me.
�What are you doing, Kitten?�
�Playing!� I shouted back, laughing as the wave �caught�
me. �I lost, though.�
�You can�t win against water, Rei, you�ll only get wet,�
Morana said, chuckling softly. She reached down and twirled a small cone shell
between her fingers. Jirkle suddenly stopped, glancing down into the swirling
sands of the water below us. He thrust the �bag� of shells into Morana�s hands
and started digging at the slurping sand. When he came up, he was holding the
biggest seashell I�d ever seen in my life.
�It�s a conch shell!� Morana whispered, gently brushing
her free hand over the lip of the shell. �Is there a conch inside?�
Jirkle flipped the shell over, exposing a deep pink
inside. There were no little creatures inside, just a bit of seawater still
there from when it had been picked up. Jirkle smiled happily and tucked the
shell under his arm. �Mine now. Finders, keepers. This ain�t Florida, y�know.�
�Yes�I bet that last hurricane threw it all the way out to
sea, then,� Morana said, smiling. I could see she was disappointed that she
hadn�t found it first, though. �You�re right. There are no laws here that
prevent you from picking up a conch.�
The hand on my shoulder makes me jump. I wasn�t expecting
it, because the memory had gone the same so far. It had always been like this.
After this, Michael would suggest we head home, and Sevon would agree. We�d go
our separate ways and then come together later that afternoon.
And then, I would get the shell Sevon had found, and
Michael would give me the pendant.
But the hand on my shoulder halted it. I glanced up, into
green eyes, green as the sunlit dune grass. Jirkle and Morana continued on as
if I hadn�t stopped, as if we were still going to head back down Rabbit Road
toward our houses. However, my interrupter had other plans.
�This is one of your memories, isn�t it, Rei.�
�How are you�how did you get here?�
�I am a kitsune. Should I leave?�
I watched Morana and Jirkle smiling and walking away, a
different me walking between them. �No. You�re fine.� I sighed. �Maybe it is
best that you see this memory. Maybe you�ll know why I�m so protective of
having them with me.�

He didn�t answer, but followed me as I followed the three. I followed the
familiar path of Rabbit Road, straight into Navy housing. It was where my
family had lived when we were still all together, all alive. I pointed at a
cherry tree as we passed it, the end of the yellow maples that lined Rabbit
Road.
�My first cat climbed that tree and we couldn�t get her
down for ages,� I said, smiling at the memory. �Sevon climbed up after her and
nearly fell out, but he got her down for me. And then she scratched his face
and ran off again.�
Shuichi laughed. �Is this cat still around?�
�Um�no�actually. She got run over by a car almost a few
hours later.�
Shuichi nodded, the sympathy evident in his face. �I�m
sorry, I didn�t know.�

I half-smiled. �That�s okay. Oh, look! That�s my house!� I grabbed Shuichi�s
hand, desperate to get off of that topic. I loved animals, but I hadn�t been
able to keep one for long because of my infamously bad luck. The house itself
wasn�t very spectacular. In fact, like any other military housing, it looked
exactly like all the other houses around it. Red brick and a single-car
driveway, filled with a blue caravan.
We followed Jirkle, Morana, and �me� into the house. The
living room was just as I�d remembered it. Thomas Kinkade paintings, bright
blue paint, and dark blue on just about everything else. Jirkle and Morana and
I sat at the kitchen table, completely decorated in French pink and
strawberries. My baby brother came in, grinning, his tiny fists grasped around
a toy airplane.
�That�s my little brother,� I whispered, smiling sadly.
�He was only seven when he�� I couldn�t bring myself to say it. Not looking on
that innocent little face, with those brilliant blue eyes and charming blond
hair, messy from a long day at play. Only five years old, he was the perfect
image of innocence.
My older, though still younger than me, brother came in then.
He was only a year younger than me, but already he had two or three inches over
me. He was a brunette, just like me, though he had our mother�s brown eyes. I�d
inherited our paternal grandmother�s moss-green eyes, though I had never really
looked at them myself to be sure it was true. I just saw the flash of green.
Matsu, though, had always been very different from both me
and David. He barely acknowledged the fact that we were in the kitchen, barely
a sullen nod toward us as he crossed it and stormed outside. He slammed the
door behind him.
�Who was that?�
�My last remaining relative,� I said, smiling sadly again.
�That was Matsu.�
Shuichi was silent.
�Don�t worry too much. He was just upset that day because
Mom wouldn�t let him go off with his friends.�
�Why not?�
I sighed, staring at the door. �It was my birthday.�
The entire area fast-forwarded to later that afternoon,
when Jirkle and Morana �returned� from their houses. My traditional birthday
party ensued, with everyone smiling at the rose-covered marble cake with
thirteen sparkling candles embedded in the white frosting. I blushed,
chagrined, as the �me� at the table snuck a bit of frosting before blowing out
all thirteen candles.
�Whacha wish for, Rei-chan?� David asked. �Huh? Huh?
Whacha wish for?�
�I� smiled. �I wish that I will always have my friends and
family at my side, because I love them all very much. Especially you,
David-kun.�
He grinned up at the girl that was me, and I saw Jirkle
and Morana�s tender, yet sad smiles. Why hadn�t I seen those smiles the day
this had really happened? So sad, so knowing�Knowing that my wish would not
come true. Shuichi�s hand on my shoulder was a surprise. But even more
surprising than that was that I welcomed the touch instead of pushing him away.
Jirkle handed me a small box. Inside was the enormous
seashell he�d found down on the beach, plus several CDs and a cat plushie. The
cat was black with a little white nose and sock-like white paws. I cuddled it,
holding the shell to my ear and the cat�s to hear the ocean splashing inside.
Morana gave me a very tiny box, but I knew better than to
be disappointed. I wasn�t when I opened it up and saw the beautiful blue stone
on a silver chain necklace. I dove into my friends� arms, hugging them both
tightly. �Thank you! Thank you so much!�
�Rei-chan, Rei-chan, lookie what I gots for you!� David
shouted, handing me another present. The dream unraveled there, and I followed
Shuichi out into the light. Out into the waking world.
~*~*~
�We�re home, Rei,� Shuichi
whispered. I was snuggled up against him, still waking, still bleary-eyed with
sleep. I sat up straight quickly, apologizing almost mutely. I clambered to my
feet and followed the redhead off the bus toward his house.
�I�m sorry, Shuichi,� I
murmured. �I didn�t mean to fall asleep against you.�

Shuichi smiled. �It�s all right. I didn�t mind. I apologize for going into your
dreams without your permission.�

I glanced off to the side. �I�I wanted you to see that memory. It�s�it�s
important to me. I loved that day.�
�May I ask why?�
I smiled over my shoulder,
the tears glinting in my eyes despite my efforts to hold them back. �That was
the day before Michael killed himself. I treasure that day, and I treasure the
gifts that they gave me then.�
Shuichi smiled back. �You
truly are a wonderful friend and person, Rei.�

I sighed and nodded. I mumbled under my breath. �I only wish you were right.�
I know he heard, but he
didn�t say anything. I was glad he didn�t. If he had contradicted me, I don�t
think I could have held back the tears any longer.
***
^__^ Yeeeah�I�m trying to make this go reeeeeally slow�like
how friends do become lovers after a while. But we�re finally seeing some
sexual tension. Or maybe it�s just more tension, I dunno. ^^;; LOL, as I�ve
never actually fallen in love, I can�t really say. I am very
romantically-oriented and I�ve watched relationships for a long time. I�m one
of those weirdos that goes to the movies to watch the people, not the movie. XD

Notes in a semi-cohesive order:

FIRST OFF! This one�s important, hence the capital letters.
Rabbit Road is a real place. It�s in Norfolk, Virginia, in the Norfolk Naval
Base, near Pier Twelve, which is just a half of a mile from the docks for most
of America�s naval fleet. That memory, for the most part, is completely true
and real. Except that I replaced Jirkle and Morana there for story purposes.
Rabbit Road is one of my favorite places in the world. The bunnies that came
there all the time were always adorable, and we brought them lots of carrots
and stuff when I still lived there. ^__^ The maples are beautiful, especially
in early fall as they�re turning yellow.

BTW. David got me a book that year. It�s title: Animorphs,
The Visitor. That book became the roadway to my enjoying reading and writing,
and hence this story now. I actually had very much disliked reading prior to
that birthday gift. Ya�ll have my baby bro, Kitsu, to thank! XD If he hadn�t
given me that book nearly seven years ago, I wouldn�t be writing this tonight.

*Okonomiyaki: This is similar to pizza, but it�s on a
pancake. There�s Tokyo style and Kyoto style. I think the main difference is
that one encases the other ingredients while the other is more similar to the
western style of �topping� it. Some common ingredients: squid, fish, chicken,
oranges, pineapples, and some other very odd things.

*The �Personal Questions� Rei asked: Notice that most of the
questions that Rei asked are not what we would really see as �personal�. That
comes from me. I used to be sooo quiet, to the point where I thought it was
rude even to open my mouth if I wasn�t directly asked a question. Rei is sort
of in that stage that I was when I first started getting friends again. Is this
question too personal to ask, should I keep my mouth shut? Yeah�I was really
wonky there for a while. ^^;;

*The Walking behind/beside part: Yes, I used to be exactly
like this. I can�t recall if I�ve actually made it clear or not, but for the
duration of the first part of this story, for the most part, Rei should have
been following people, not walking with them. I was always very
uncomfortable walking beside people, and all but terrified of walking in front
of them. I really don�t understand this, but my theory is this: I felt I was
�beneath� other people, therefore should not have the privilege of walking
beside them or in front of them. I used to call myself the Monster Child.

*Lonely Conversation: Shuichi asks Rei why she wants to be
lonely. He wasn�t far off, actually, considering. Back in those days, I really had
just wanted to be left alone. Interaction with people meant being hurt. And
pain was not something I enjoyed.

*Why Hiei is �Upset�: Kurama specifically stated last
chapter that the targets of Xanatos and Dirken were the entire Urameshi team,
not just himself and possibly Rei. By doing that, he included Hiei. I don�t
believe that Hiei would like becoming a target in other people�s minds. I also
don�t think that Hiei would like me very much, and here�s why: I�m too much
like him. It�s odd to think of it that way, but do recall: We initially hate
our own quirks and problems and issues, and usually, unconsciously, we tend to
not like people who have similar quirks, issues, and problems. I say I�m like
Hiei because I tend to bottle up my emotions, I grunt sometimes to answer
questions, and I have this thing for blood that simply won�t go away. Of
course, it�s usually my own�^^;; Eheh, and usually not enough to hurt me.

*Kurama�s Reasons, as he states them: Kurama�s reasons to
broaden the targets from himself are actually how I think Kurama would do this.
I thought like Kurama: he�s out to help others, especially what few close
friends he has. Yusuke, being Yusuke, is often overprotective of his friends.
If the demons target, to Yusuke�s mind, is Kurama, I think Yusuke would suggest
all kinds of crazy things in order to protect the kitsune. And possibly, Kurama
may believe that these crazy protections would actually hinder the
investigation.

*The Scents Thing: The reason I went into all those smells
is because I really do smell all that. ^^;; My strongest sense really is my
snout (and it better be, it�s so big =P). I recall people by their smell, if
it�s relatively distinct and I get close enough to them on a regular basis.
Sometimes I don�t even look at their face. I can recognize my baby bro by his
very strong aftershave that he�s taken up using because he�s almost a teenager
and �should wear that kind of stuff now�. Matt smells like hair dye and
conditioner constantly, because he�s always dying his hair. He also smells very
much like cigarette smoke. >< Mom smells like metal and dust and
water�rightfully so, because she�s always cleaning everything and her
wheelchair is what gives her the metallic smell. ^^;

*How Kurama Smells: Obviously, I can�t jump into YYH and
smell everybody. Not only would I look completely odd and crazy (as if I�m not
already), it�s utterly impossible unless someone invents a dimension hopper.
So, I used my imagination. I say wet fur because I actually just like that
smell. ^^;;. And have you ever smelled a cactus that�s been cut open? Heavenly!
^^;; Yes, I shall back away from this topic now.
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A Little Laughter