Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Beautiful Thing ❯ Chapter 9

KanolaGirl ~ lol well, here you go! Here's the update. Thank you for reviewing! I'm so happy that I got 51 reviews. I think im gonna cry ^^ I can't believe that so many people like this fic.

Nenagh 24 ~ aw! thank you so much, lol. though I'm afraid that I'm getting a little out of character for the guys. yusuke/roxy moments are my favorite things to write, ^^

Anime_Addicted ~ yeah! Deal with the crappy chapters! lol j/k yeah in chapter nine the beginning and middle were semi-okay. The ending just got kind of… "blech". And don't deny it!!

Twilight Myst ~ thanks! ^^ those tattoos were kinda weird… I think it might be a little confusing on how Koenma explains it, though. I hope not! ^_^;;

AMK ~ yeah something's wrong with mediaminer for me, too. I can't read any reviews or updates. I wonder whats going on… ^_^;; okay, okay! im sorry! it doesn't suck that bad!

Animefreak11 ~ O.O I don't recall when I said that I'd put people in here… haha I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try to think of somewhere I can put ya. Thanks for reviewing! Reviews make me happy! ^_^

Prettypinkprincess ~ no. o.O not a chance. And there's no way I'm gonna tell you the ending of this story!! ^^ you're gonna have to find out the hard way, just like everybody else. You can't get any special benefits.

Animehasmylife ~ hey, come to think of it, you've reviewed on practically every chapter as well! Thank you for the support - you have no idea what your reviews mean to me.

Kurama13 ~ I did leave it at somewhat of a cliffhanger, didn't I. lol cliffhangers are fun for me. not so much fun for you, I suppose. haha don't worry. Everything will be cleared up in this chapter, I think.

Seara ~ yeah, looking back on it now, chapter eight doesn't suck as much as I said it did. It's okay. lol I had a lot of fun writing those yusuke/roxy moments! I didn't know if they'd be too … offensive for the readers? They shouldn't be, they're pretty much kept under control. I'm glad you liked them! I hope that there's more to come.

A/N: i got flipping GROUNDED. what teenager gets grounded anymore, i mean honestly? >< im super pissed that i had to wait to put this up. >< but my ma let me on her sn to get this up here. I was ready to post this only 3 or 4 days after chapter 8!

Chapter Nine

Koenma dropped his head into his hands and when he spoke, his words were muffled. "It's my fault that those tattoos showed up in the first place."

I stood up and approached his desk. "So what're they there for?"

He glanced up at me and sighed. "They are the result of an experiment that I ran on you a couple of years ago."

My eye twitched. "Experiment?" I raised my voice angrily. "What kind of experiment are we talking about?"

"Roxy, just calm down," Koenma tried to reason with me, holding up his hands in a pleading gesture.

"I will not calm down! Answer the damn question!" I stomped my foot, and immediately felt like an angry little kid.

Looking resigned, he leaned back in his chair and slumped his shoulders. "Even as a child, the amount of Spirit energy that you possessed was immense. It fascinated me, since humans have a relatively low amount of energy in their auras. Most don't even have any," Koenma glanced down at the floor. "So when I got the idea to create the ultimate spirit detective, naturally, you were my best choice."

I had half a mind to stick another cherry bomb in his office. What a jerk! "So what'd you do, screw around with my DNA?" I felt no need to be pleasant.

Koenma winced. "Or something like that." My eyes widened. Jesus! I had been kidding! "I took the DNA of my finest spirit detectives," he began, "and I inserted those four DNA samples into your genetic make up."

Nobody moved. My mind was reeling with the information I had just been given.

`Why would he do that?' I thought furiously.

"There's more," Koenma continued.

"You little prick," I snarled before launching myself at him.

There were surprised grunts from the back of the room, a few colorful words from Yusuke, and then I was caught by both him and Kurama before I could beat the shit out of Koenma.

Yusuke slid a possessive arm around my waist, shooting Kurama a look that clearly said, "back off". Not wanting to interfere, the red head moved back to stand with Hiei and Kuwabara, and Yusuke gently tugged me back down with him and into my original seat across from Koenma.

I felt a little weird sitting on Urameshi's lap in front of everybody, but I eventually relaxed enough to lean back against his well-built form.

The toddler cleared his throat and stated, "The experiment was a success. Your DNA reacted remarkably well to the DNA that had been interwoven with it." Koenma hopped off his chair and began to pace. "I kept a close eye on you for several years after the test was completed, and I noticed that you began to develop some skills that were similar to the detectives'."

I threw a quick look towards Hiei, Kuwabara, and Kurama. Then I tilted my head back a little bit so I could peek at Yusuke. He looked down at me the same time I looked up, and we found ourselves nose to nose. Urameshi smirked.

I flushed with embarrassment, and suddenly felt a tiny bit flustered. Quickly whipping my head back around to stare at Koenma, I felt my posture tense up as I became more aware of how well I fit together with Yusuke.

Koenma was giving me and Yusuke a strange look. Almost like he knew what was going on.

"Are you, um, finished?" I asked, somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Hardly," the toddler replied, sitting back down behind his desk.

"Well, I got a few questions." I began to stand up, but I was roughly pulled back down by the guy behind me. After fighting against Urameshi for several moments, and to no avail, I just gave up and slouched back down. I slapped Yusuke's arms when they went around my waist, but all he did was laugh and capture my small hands in his larger ones.

"Why is duffus's name on my hip?" I pretended not to notice our hands that were currently sitting in my lap. I inwardly smiled at how the two of us must look to everybody in the room.

Is anyone else but me noticing the major attitude change that's taken place? I mean, god! A couple of days ago I wanted to choke, kill, and then bury these guys in someone's back yard. Now… well, now I don't really care. Yusuke's saved my life, and I honestly don't believe that any of the guys want to hurt me.

Koenma smiled. "It appears that your dominant traits are from Yusuke." He suddenly frowned. "But what happened is, those traits somehow bonded the two of you together."

"Whoa. Let me get this straight," I pursed my lips. "You stole samples of their DNA," I jerked my thumb in the direction of 3 of the detectives. "You messed up mine, screwed up my life, turned me into some kind of freak, and bonded me to a complete stranger?"

"It seemed like such a good idea at the time," the toddler grimaced.

I rolled my eyes, and Urameshi untangled one of his hands from mine. "Aw, come on Red, it can't be that bad being bonded to me." Almost absently, he traced over the kanji at my hip just like Kurama had done in my kitchen. Only with Urameshi doing it, it felt …different, you could say.

"You can't tell me that you actually want to be bon - " my words were cut off as a sudden gasp escaped my lips. My eyes drooped shut, and Yusuke paused in the rhythmic outlining of his name.

"Red?" he asked from somewhere close to my ear.

As if someone else had taken over my mind, I pressed closer to him and so that no one else but him could hear, mumbled, "Don't stop."

I could tell that I took him by surprise, but I didn't care. Chancing a peek at my hip, I was shocked at what I found.

The words were glowing a pale blue, and they were also thrumming so intensely, it did tickle this time.

Only when a throat was cleared from somewhere on the other side of the office, did I remember that there was still people around us. Little by little, I became aware of my surroundings again.

For the umpteenth time that day, my cheeks reddened. Wow, I was getting really tired of being humiliated. "I'm sorry," I apologized, not looking anyone in the eyes, "I don't know what came over me."

When Koenma spoke, there was a gentle smile in his voice. "I do."

Urameshi moved into a more comfortable position beneath me. "I didn't mind," he said, smirking.

Fuming, I looked back and glared at him. When he wiggled his eyebrows at me, I popped quickly out of his lap and over towards the other detectives.

"Pervert," I said loudly, hiding behind Kuwabara.

Everybody chuckled except for Urameshi, who leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands behind his head, and smiled lazily at me.

"Now Roxy, there's no need for you to be embarrassed," Koenma said. "Sometimes that tattoo will have a mind of its own."

Instinctively, I yanked my shirt back down to cover the letters. I glared at the floor and folded my arms across my chest.

The toddler returned to his fold-out table and pressed a few buttons that I didn't notice before. Static appeared on the large television across the room, and Koenma jabbed another key.

"If you'd all look at the screen, please." He said.

You can imagine my surprise when my own face showed up on the monitor. I recognized the photo almost immediately - it was from about a year ago, when I had been chilling at the arcade with Maya.

I arched an eyebrow. "You stalking me, Koenma?"

He ignored my comment, and zoomed in on my face. "I want you to see something."

"Whatever, make it quick." I looked around for a clock. "I'm missing my cartoons."

Koenma ignored that one, too, and continued on like he hadn't even heard me. "The resemblances between you and my detectives are uncanny," he said thoughtfully. "I've never really taken the time to analyze those similarities, but we can do that right now."

"Oh god," I muttered. Actually, I was very intrigued by what Koenma was telling me. But out of this whole predicament, what I didn't understand was why the guys weren't mad that Koenma took their DNA. I'd be pretty pissed if I were in their shoes.

"Take your hair coloration, for example. Even I've noticed that you've got a shade of Kurama's hair color in there."

Self-consciously, I reached up and took the ends of my hair between two fingers. I didn't bother to look, because somewhere inside I knew that he was right. `Damn it,' I cursed.

"And your eyes," Koenma pointed out. "There's some brown from Yusuke, and a little bit of red from Hiei. That makes one interesting color," he said lightly. "It looks like you've got most of your height from Hiei," he cut his eyes to the demon. "No offense, Hiei."

"Hn."

"Personality wise…" Koenma tilted his head to the side and looked like he was thinking real hard. "You're definitely most like Yusuke. General disrespect for rules, for people enforcing those rules, and for…well, me."

Hunh. He pretty much summed up my whole personality right there. "You're pretty good at this."

He deadpanned. "I try."

"Can I go home yet?"

"Actually, I was hoping that you would do something for me."

I couldn't believe it. After everything that he just put me through, he wants me to DO something for him? "No. I wanna go watch Samurai Jack."

Koenma gave me the puppy dog eyes.

"Damn."

~

Less than twenty minutes later, Koenma introduced me to some old fart named Genkai and told me that she was going to help me out with my powers.

"Yeah, well, what if I don't want your fuggin' help?" I had asked.

"Deal with it, dumbass," was Genkai's reply.

Secretly, I liked her right off the bat. Throughout my life, I haven't met many people who would actually stand up to me. Genkai kinda seems like a chick who's not gonna take any shit.

Currently the hag and I were sitting in a windowless room along with the spirit detectives. For about a half an hour she had put me through rigorous training with Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama. They all found out that I could sense things almost as well as Kuwabara could, that I could swordfight, but nowhere near as well as Hiei, and that I could coax small plants into doing what I wanted them to do. Of course, I already knew that I could do all of these things, and I was fairly impressed when the boys demonstrated what they could do. They're pretty good - It's a little easier to believe now that those four won the dark tournament. I didn't believe `em at first!

I have yet to train with Yusuke. To tell the truth, I'm a little nervous. I'm afraid that there'll be another episode of that tattoo thing - that's something that I never want to happen again. How embarrassing!

Urameshi's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Come on, Red."

`I don't think he even knows my real name,' I thought offhandedly, then stood up from my spot on the floor and brushed off my jeans.

Genkai remained seated. "Dimwit," she called. Both Yusuke and I looked back at her, and she smirked. "Yusuke," she corrected herself. "I want you to spar with Roxy. Let's see what she's got."

"Yeah whatever, grandma," Yusuke grinned.

And so we sparred. For two fucking hours. Life is shit.

I dodged a punch from Urameshi, and his fist narrowly missed my face. "Hey, watch it, buddy," I ground out before throwing a punch at his jaw. When I felt my fist connect, my eyes widened.

Yusuke scowled, his eye twitching. "You don't have to kill me to win, you know!"

I covered my mouth with both hands before I could start laughing. "Aw, Yusuke, I'm sorry," I giggled.

He rubbed the side of his face and glared at me.

"Come on, don't give me the silent treatment," I teased him when he refused to talk to me. I laughed when he went and sat on the other side of the room, his back facing me.

"Quit pouting, dimwit," Genkai sounded irritated.

Yusuke said nothing and didn't move, except to turn and glare at me.

"Oh, what a baby," I marched right over to where Urameshi was sitting. I waited until he turned to look at me, and then I hooked an arm around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. When he did nothing but "humph" and turn his head away, I went, "Aw."

I lightly swept my lips over the bruise that was beginning to form on his jaw, and then pulled back and slowly traced his lips with my fingertips. "Are you still mad at me?" I asked him. Yusuke looked at me out of the corner of his eye and muttered a no.

I offered a small smile. "I'm sorry I hit you," I said.

"No you're not," he snapped.

I giggled. "Oh, give me a break, it didn't hurt."

He stood up. "So what? You still hit me. You weren't supposed to fuckin' hit me!"

"I said I was sorry," I raised my voice a little bit, along with both of my eyebrows. I stood up so that we were facing each other.

"I don't care!"

"You don't gotta yell at me, Urameshi!"

"I'll yell at you if I feel like it!"

"Damn it, Yusuke!"

And the fight escalated until Yusuke muttered, "Ow."

Everybody sweatdropped, and Yusuke turned to them and said, "She stomped on my damn foot."

I frowned. "Are you okay?"

"What the hell did you do that for?" he asked.

"I told ya not ta yell at me, Urame - "

"Jesus, you weigh as much as a water buffalo!"

I gasped, and then tackled Urameshi. The two of us landed on the floor, yelling insults at each other and trying to land a punch to the other one. Well, I was trying just a little harder than Urameshi was.

"Don't be an asshole!" I yelled, and then found myself pinned in between Yusuke and the ground.

"Say Uncle."

"Never!" I struggled beneath him, and found out that he wouldn't budge. "Jeez, Urameshi, and you say I weigh as much as a water buffalo."

He kissed me quickly and walked away, leaving me dazed and confused and flat on my back. What the hell just happened? I asked myself. This guy has gotta stop kissing me.

"That's enough for today, Masuro."

"Thank god."

~

The guys dropped me off at the lobby of my apartment, and I took the elevator up to my room. Almost immediately, I collapsed onto the couch and found the TV remote.

All alone, I tried not to think about Maya. `She told me not to worry about it. She said she'd be fine.' I switched the channel to cartoon network and sighed.

"And Maya never breaks a promise," I told myself.

End Chapter.

A/N: All right. Here we go. Everything towards the end kind of sucked some ass, but…what're ya gonna do, right? *looks at KanolaGirl* not EVERYTHING sucked, mind you. Heh heh heh... I hope I get ungrounded soon, i wanna get chapter ten out. Ja ne!

-babi blu.