Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Beautiful Thing ❯ Chapter 8

AMK ~ lol thanks so much! Dude. OC kicks ASS!!! I love that place! I stayed at the golden sands. You were right on the boardwalk?? That's amazing! I love the boardwalk so much… And dumsers is *the* place to get ice cream down there. In fact, ice cream is my favorite part of going to ocean city! ^_^ lol i watched some guys playing DDR. There's not a chance in hell that I could do that and be any good! It looks like a shitload of fun, though. *smacks forehead too* everybody is upset about Maya! I have half a mind to just not kill her off. Oh my goodness, thank you! I'll get the chappie out ASAP, then ^_~. You're right! Ocean city *rocks*!

Ichiko Ran ~ ahh! I'm sorry! But dude, I couldn't fit her into the story plot anywhere. i WAS actually going to pair her up with Kurama, but I decided against it. I don't want this story to look like I'm some retarded little kid writing my own stupid fan fiction with me and my friends as characters. Which we're not, by the way, lol. I hate those. The only thing roxy and I have in common is that we both love getting into fights and we both think that yusuke's a hottie ^_~. Sorry about Maya, man, but it has to be done!!

CraziTMNTfan ~ that's your favorite line in the entire story, isn't it?

Rocklover ~ here's the update! Not bad, eh? Got it out semi-early this time. Yeah, I was going to take your advice and move the review responses to the end of the chapter. It felt too funky, though! I just wasn't used to it, I guess.

Animehasmylife ~ yeah, it's a bummer about Maya. I felt terrible writing it! But it had to be done, you know? I didn't know what to do with her for the rest of the story! She didn't really fit in with the plot… lol well I made it up to you by getting a new chapter up …early. Somewhat.

Nenagh 24 ~ thanks, dude! I know what you mean about self-insertions by other authors, but I honestly didn't know if mine was any good. I'm still real nervous about having so many people read my fic. lol I've never really let anybody read my stuff!

Anime_addicted ~ I wasn't too happy with anything in that chapter. That one took me the longest to write up, and it didn't exactly flow. But apparently lots of people liked it anyway, lol!

Seara ~ hey seara!! Thanks for reviewing again ^____^ and thanks for offering me help with the fic! I'm looking forward to talking to you sometime. I've been trying to find some info on yusuke's demon form, but I can't find anything anywhere. That pic you sent me? oh jesus, he's hot! lol

Erika M ~ lol anybody says something bad about my story and I'LL kick their ass big time! Hehe, just playing. Flames will be used to make me smores. lol flames remind me of the time when I almost burnt down my house making toast. It *has* happened. The toast was on fire. Anyways, I'm so happy that you like my story! ^_^ keep reading!

Kurama13 ~ yeah Maya getting hurt is a major bummer. I don't even know what I'm going to put into the next chapter yet ~ but i hope it doesn't take as long as chapter seven did. That was brutal.

A/N: okay, so I couldn't do it. I was fully planning on trying to put all the review responses at the end of the chapter, but it was too confusing and I'm far too lazy. *sighs and counts the ridiculously large amount of people who don't Maya to bite the dust* oh, jesus. Okay. I guess I can switch some stuff around.

Chapter Eight

Public transportation is so overrated. This bus I'm on is as slow as death! I froze, mentally kicking myself. `Oh, Jesus. What a poor usage of words.'

The very thought of death right now makes me mad. Yeah, I should be pretty sad or something. Don't get me wrong - I'm concerned for Maya. But the fact is, she's got a shitload of healing powers. I have very little doubt that she won't make it through the night.

I'm wondering who shot her. Could it be the same people who killed my parents? `That's preposterous,' I told myself. `Why would they target Maya if they wanted to get me?' My eyes widened, and then I shook my head, trying to clear it. `I'm obviously thinking way too much of this.'

I began to worry more and more as I neared the hospital. I hoped Maya would be okay! `But the doctor said!' my conscience nagged at me. `She only has a few hours more. A gunshot wound to the lung is far too much for even Maya to handle.'

The bus stopped in front of the Trenton hospital twenty minutes later. As I stepped down onto the sidewalk, the wind whipped my hair about my face. I felt a strong sense of apprehension when I pushed open the double doors at the entrance and found myself in the lobby. Thoughts raced through my head a mile a minute.

I made my way over to the front desk and knocked loudly - not to mention rudely - on the secretary's workspace. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with something bordering contempt.

"Can I help you, miss?" she asked tightly, but politely.

I leaned back and crossed my arms. A scowl worked its way onto my face as I looked away from the lady behind the desk. "Yeah. Maya Callahan. I need a room number."

She turned towards her computer, not looking at me anymore. "Are you family?"

"Sister," I lied. The woman glanced at me suspiciously, but typed something into the computer.

"Room 512." When she looked up, I was already gone.

I walked quickly down the hall, but as soon as I was sure that I was out of sight, I sprinted for the stairs. There wasn't a chance in hell that I was gonna wait for an elevator.

I burst through the door at the fifth floor and found myself in a large hallway. Studying the room numbers as I hurried past them, I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the hospital environment.

Everything was white. The walls, the floors, the uniforms… and the entire place reeked of death and decay. My heightened awareness alerted me to the sickness in the air, and the fact that people have died here. And are dying, right this very second. Believe me, the food isn't the only unsettling thing about this place.

I paused at room 512 with one hand on the wooden door. Absently, I traced over the golden numbers printed beside the entrance and wondered what I'd find inside the room.

Not bothering to knock, I turned the knob and stepped inside. The lights were out, making the area seem unnatural. I ventured deeper into the room, where I saw the outline of something I assumed was the bed.

"My?" I asked softly, almost afraid to speak.

"Rox?" I didn't respond, which she took as an affirmative. "Turn on the light, will ya?" Her voice was hoarse, like she hasn't used it in a while. She sounded tired, something that my best friend never looks or sounds anything like. Maya's always perfect, how could something so terrible happen to her?

`I don't know if I want to,' I told myself, but obediently moved closer to the bedside and felt around for the lamp.

A moment or two later, the room was flooded with light.

"Oh, Maya," I whispered when I finally made eye contact. She looked terrible, and the IV's that were stuck into her arms didn't help her appearance any. Her once perfect blonde hair was slightly disheveled, and her wonderful emerald eyes had lost their sparkle.

"How do I look," she joked, managing a weak smile.

I sat down next to her and smoothed a couple strands of hair off of her forehead. "You look like a chick that was just pegged by a dude with a gun," I replied honestly.

Maya took a deep breath, and let it all out with a big whoosh. "I know." She suddenly looked very exhausted as shadows danced their way across her troubled face.

"You're going to be okay, right?" I worried at my bottom lip. "I mean, those dudes said that you were only gonna live for a few hours, My."

"Liars," she coughed. She didn't sound very convincing.

I took her hand in mine, hoping that I could give her some small amount of comfort. "Who shot you, Maya?"

She turned her head away from me and faced the wall. "I didn't see `im."

There was an awkward pause in the conversation and I got up so I could pace the length of the room. "You're not gonna die on me, are you?" I sounded harsher than I felt. In reality, I was steeling myself for when I got the news that she couldn't heal herself.

Maya faced me and smiled, and I caught a glimpse of her old self shining through the pain. "Don't worry about it," she said quietly.

I hadn't even returned the smile to her before her eyes drooped shut and a monitor in the corner of the room started to go on the fritz. The happy expression fell from my face almost immediately, and I took a cautious step forward. "My?"

A large number of people in white uniforms rushed into the room moments later. They were all busy yelling things to each other, and I couldn't make out a word that they said.

A man ushered me out of room 512, and before he could shut the door in my face, I asked him desperately, "What's going on?"

He hesitated before answering. "She's fallen unconscious. This could be critical to her condition. The possibility that we'll lose her is even higher now that she's out cold."

I stood rooted to my spot five minutes later. Behind the now shut door, I could still hear the sounds of commotion.

~

It had started to rain. I watched sullenly out of the taxi window as the city of New Jersey moved quickly past me.

"See ya later, Carlos," I muttered to the middle-aged taxi driver when he pulled to a stop in front of my apartment.

He tipped his cap to me, and slowly drove off. I sighed heavily and made my way inside to wait for an elevator.

I had just started to feel a little lonely standing all by myself, when my four favorite people joined me in the lobby. Kuwabara, Hiei, and Shuuichi held back and let Yusuke come over to greet me.

For a while, no words were spoken. But when we stepped inside the elevator after it "dinged", he took my hand in his.

"I heard about your friend," he sounded like he didn't really know what to say.

I looked down at the floor. "Yeah?"

"I'm, uh, sorry," he said.

I looked up at him and shot him a smile. "She'll be okay," I murmured, not knowing if I was reassuring Urameshi or myself. I think he would have bought it if my smile hadn't wavered a second after I made my statement.

When he saw two tears run down my cheeks, he gently pulled me into a hug and wrapped his arms around my waist.

I couldn't help but feel protected in the circle of his embrace. I felt safer than I've felt in ages, and it made my fears disappear for just a while. My arms twined around his neck, and I wished that he could take all my worries away for good.

I took several calming breaths and tried not to cry. He pulled me a little closer, as if he knew what I was thinking. And that's the way we stood for several moments. My head on his chest, his chin on my head.

"Thanks, Yusuke," I whispered. That, I realized, was the first time I had ever used his first name rather than his last.

"No problem, Red." I could feel the vibrations from his speaking on my cheek.

I pulled my head back to look at his face, and suddenly wished that I hadn't. His eyes captivated me, held me in place. Emotions that I couldn't identify could be seen swirling around in his mesmerizing orbs. I gasped slightly with the intensity of his gaze.

Keeping his eyes focused on mine, he closed the couple of inches between us. `There's no one to interrupt us this time,' I thought, somewhat dazed. The feeling of his lips on mine was almost too much. A soft whimper escaped my mouth, and I could feel the curve of his lips as he smiled.

I brought one hand up to mess up the gel from his hair, and the other one I had gripping his strong bicep.

He, on the other hand, had brought one arm up to press me more fully against his chest. His left hand had wandered dangerously close to my ass, but I didn't have the strength or the resolve to pull away and smack him.

From somewhere far away I heard the elevator go "ping" as the doors slid open. There were a couple gasps of surprise from the three elderly people waiting to get in, and I blushed.

My hand still in Urameshi's hair, I turned my head and mumbled, "Hi, Mrs. Stevens."

"Good heavens, Roxanne!" the three women chuckled.

I grabbed Yusuke's arm and led him out of the elevator. "You pick the worst moments," I muttered as I fumbled with my keys. My hands were a little shaky, and even though I tried not to notice it, the kanji on my hip fiercely vibrated. It almost tickled.

Yusuke scowled. "Don't blame all of this on me."

I was still having trouble with getting the key into the lock. "Well I'm gonna blame this all on you, because -"

Yusuke took a step closer, and my breathing hitched. "Because why?" his voice came out husky.

"Because I said so," I said, breathlessly. Urameshi leaned in and placed his hands on either side of my head. My heartbeat sped up as the keys dropped to the floor.

"Yusuke?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he was only an inch or two away by now.

"This isn't really the time or place…" The protest died on my lips when he dipped his head down and pressed a soft kiss to my neck. "Oh, jesus," I murmured. Of their own volition, my arms came up and went around his neck for the second time today.

After arching my back to another one of those well-placed kisses, my senses slowly returned when I heard keys jingling.

With my brain still foggy and my eyes clouded over, I slid my gaze over to the direction that the noise was coming from.

Shuuichi stood a couple feet away with a knowing smile and holding the keys to my apartment. Hiei managed to look fairly indifferent about the whole thing, but Kuwabara was grinning so wide I thought his face was gonna crack.

"What are you looking at," Yusuke and I snapped at the same time.

"Gimme my keys, Kurama," I held my hand out to him.

He didn't look surprised. "Ah, so you know." The keys were dropped into my palm.

I unlocked the door and let them all inside. Kurama took a seat on the couch, Hiei stood in a corner of the room, looking like he hated us all, and Kuwabara made his way to the kitchen singing, "Roxy and Urameshi, sitting in a tree…" Of course, Urameshi went after him and socked him in the eye.

I was still blushing a little bit about the whole situation, but asked the guys, "You want something to drink?"

Kuwabara was busy raiding my fridge, and Yusuke was right next to him, yelling about something. Hiei didn't answer, and Kurama responded with a polite, "That would be nice. Do you need a hand?"

"Naw, I think I got it," I replied as I entered the kitchen. I opened a cupboard door and reached up to get one of my better glasses from the top shelf. I felt my t-shirt rise up a little bit, but I didn't pay any attention to it.

Urameshi and Kuwabara had been arguing back and forth, but suddenly there was complete silence throughout the apartment.

I felt the tension in the air, and slowly shut my cupboard so that I could turn and face my bodyguards.

Urameshi stalked over to where I stood and glared at me. "What the hell was that?"

I feigned innocence and tried to move past him. "What are you talking about?"

Yusuke crossed his arms and wouldn't let me by. "That tattoo," he glowered. "What did it say?"

I frowned. "What tattoo?"

Before I could blink, he had shot forward, wrapped an arm around my waist, and tugged the hem of my shirt up. I "meeped", and tried to twist out of his grasp.

"Lemme go!" I shouted. Urameshi froze when he read his name.

"What is this," he scowled.

I scowled back. "What's it look like, dumbass?"

Oh, boy, he looked mad. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" he yelled.

I struggled in vice-like grip. "Because I didn't feel like it!"

"When did you get it done?"

"I didn't put it there!" I snapped.

Yusuke loosened his hold on me, and my movements stilled. "You didn't?"

When I shook my head, Kurama stepped forward and raised his concerned eyes to mine. "May I?"

When Urameshi let me go, I shrugged. "Go for it," I said. For several minutes no words were spoken. Kurama traced the lettering at my hip several times before standing up and sighing.

"I'm afraid that this does not bode well," he said softly. "Do you have any other markings that we should worry about?"

I laughed nervously and raised both of my eyebrows. Averting my eyes, I pulled up the pants leg of my jeans and revealed the blood red rose on my ankle. Kurama's eyes widened. When I moved to the arm of my black t-shirt and showed him the sword, Kuwabara grunted and muttered, "Hey!" I then tugged down the neckline of my shirt to expose only the head of the black dragon on my chest. I took note on how Hiei started at the sight of the dragon. Last but not least, I pulled up my shirt at the back and showed everyone the pair of boxing gloves. Yusuke muttered, "What's the big idea?"

I looked down at my feet. "I suppose this is gonna be a problem, hunh?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Kurama replied.

~

They took me to Koenma. What assholes.

The five of us were waiting inside of the toddler's office, after being assured by some big blue dude that Koenma would be here in a second.

I let my gaze wander around the spacious room, and laughed out loud when I saw the makeshift desk where his old one used to be.

A loud grating sound alerted me to Koenma's arrival. My head swung around just in time to see Koenma and two of his personal guards push open the giant doors and bustle into his office.

"Stupid baby," I muttered as I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. I knew Koenma's gaze was focused on me, so I kept my eyes trained on the floor.

"Roxy Masuro," he greeted. "Long time no see. Last time I heard from you, you had left me a rather unpleasant gift in my rather expensive desk."

I smiled. "Yeah, but you're doing just fine with your fold-out table."

"That is not the point!" Koenma exploded.

I chuckled, and Kurama stood up from his seat near the doors. "Koenma," he said. "There is something that I must bring to your attention."

I groaned when he came over to pull up the leg of my jeans. `Not again,' I thought. I stood up and jerked out of Kurama's reach when he went to show Koenma another tattoo, and I quickly flashed the other three designs. When I turned sideways and to present the kanji, Koenma nearly choked.

"This one bothers me the most," Kurama said thoughtfully, and I sat back down.

"Maya said its energy schematic changed the day I met Urameshi," I mumbled, already bored.

Koenma sighed and sat down in his chair. "There is something that I must tell you, Roxy."

Noticing the change in his demeanor, I became serious as well and narrowed my eyes a bit. "Spit it out."

The toddler eyed me warily from behind his desk. "I doubt you are going to like the news that I'm about to give you."

I sat up in my chair, but still kept my arms folded. Lifting up my chin in a defiant gesture, I frowned. "Your problem, not mine."

Koenma paused, as if thinking of a way to best phrase what he had to say. Finally, he dropped his head into his hands and when he spoke, his words were muffled. "It's my fault that those tattoos showed up."

End Chapter.

A/N: oh boy, another crappy chapter. I give up. I quit! *throws self onto the ground and pouts*

My favorite part in here is the line, "yeah, but you're doing just fine with your fold-out table." I thought it was hilarious.

…39 reviews. Holy cow, man! Thank you so much, you guys! You kick ass! Ja ne.

-babi blu.