Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Beautiful Thing ❯ Chapter 10

Bronze Dagger ~ thanks! I'm glad you think that she's funny… I had been hoping that this fic got a few laughs here and there.

animeloverchick ~ ^^ oOoOoOoOoOoO! Something that happened to you, huh? lol that's cool. I'm happy that you could relate. Love and respect! *does happy dance* score!

Crazigurl who doesnt want to go back to school!!! >_ ~ hey, uh, your dude's missin' an eye, there, buddy. that could be a problem.

Phoxy22 ~ ^_^ well, I'm glad you like it! And if you've got the same attitude as Roxy, then I guess we have something in common.

KanolaGirl ~ *roars* groundage sucks! I think that I'm officially off of grounding, seeing as how I'm updating, but I can't be sure. *sighs* why was I grounded in the first place? twas because my parents and I are the least compatible things on earth. I had just gotten in a fight with my madre, and I heard my parents talking about me upstairs. so I went up, words were exchanged, I back sassed my mother, and told my father to shut up. >< he said it first! Well, long story short, I got grounded beyond belief. And my ma was also pissed cuz I skipped out on this orientation thing at my school, so that didn't help things any.

RabidFangirl101 ~ Eep! *panics* oh, jesus! That's gonna be a massive problem! I must have them bring it up or something…or have a conversation…or…*brings out paper bag and breathes*

Animehasmylife ~ ^_^ thank you so much for all of your amazing reviews! I love them all! I'm feeling mondo proud of my fic right about now.

Seara ~ Genkai kicks ass, man. Cool, ya got a favorite chapter! That's awesome… I hope that I get my writing style back soon. I was typing up chapter ten and the first sentence took me an entire day to think of -.- bummer.

Animefreak11 ~ lmao goldfish memory. You made a funny! Anyways, updates ahoy!

Anime_Addicted1 ~ -.- so yer sayin' that the chapters have been sucky. Way to be. Way to shatter my confidence. lol just playin', man. I know what you mean. Hehe and don't worry - I'm sure that I'll make fun of myself a whole LOT more in the near future… lol

AMK ~ One of my favorite characters on yu yu hakusho is Genkai. Dude, I would have kicked the shit out of Koenma if I were Roxy. Well, I gotta give Roxy some credit - she tried. ^_^ hmm… I think that Roxy still would be somewhat of a badass, seeing as how she's got assmunchers like Ame and Melissa in her life. Badass or not, I think that Roxy is growing on me. I like her character - she loves cartoon network. How can you hate somebody who loves cartoon network?

Kurama13 ~ I think I know what I'm going to do with Maya… but whether or not she's gonna kick the bucket I ain't gonna tell ya yet. ^_^ pure evil, I know.

Nenagh24 ~ *cracks knuckles* my story could get deleted? *bares teeth* like ta see `em try! Damn, that would suck if this fic got deleted. I think I'd cry! Well, first I'd be really angry, but then I'd cry! Don't worry - this fic gets deleted and I'll send my fair share of flames to the admin, too. lol thank you for the support! Ja

A/N: okay. so I sat on my floppy disk and broke a big-ass chunk out of the corner. I got a new floppy disk. And I broke that one, something about formatting it to another computer. I got yet ANOTHER floppy disk. And I accidentally formatted that one, too. >< *dammit!* I then glued the big-ass chunk back onto my original floppy disk, and it worked for a little bit. Now it's broken again. I got really upset when I found out that I broke my third floppy, and now I'm back to the second one (found out that it works), re-writing chapter ten all OVER AGAIN! *sigh* now I'm off in search of some better glue. Who knows? I just might sit on this next one, too.

Chapter Ten

The next morning, I was up and out the door on time for school. Why? Probably because I knew that Maya would have been here by now, booting me out of my apartment. Now, I can't assure you that I'll stay for the entire day, but it's the thought that counts, right?

You could imagine my surprise when I found myself still parked in my chair at three thirty. I shit you not - I haven't skipped one class today. Surely a sign of the apocalypse. Or a major guilt trip, whichever one comes first.

I was now sitting at my usual spot in the back of the public bus with my headphones on. I've got about two minutes before I get dropped off in front of my apartment building, and those two minutes gave me the time I needed to sort out the jumbled thoughts in my head.

The one that stood out the most was about Maya. I couldn't help but feel responsible for the position that she's in right now. Maybe if the two of us hadn't left on such a bad note, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. I mean, the last thing I did before she drove away was give her the finger. How heartless is that?

There's a place deep inside of me that says that she'll be just fine. But then there's the logical part of me that says nobody - human or demon - can survive being shot in the fucking lung.

I set aside the depressing images of Maya lying in that hospital bed and tried to think of something else. The only place that my mind led me was straight to thoughts about Urameshi. Wow, uncomfortable subject.

`How do you feel about the boy?' my inner voice asked me.

I almost groaned. `Please tell me I'm not gonna have a conversation with myself…' I thought. But in answer to the question that had been asked, I honestly had no idea. I didn't know what to think about Yusuke, and I didn't know what he thought about me.

`He's kissed you,' the voice pointed out.

`Yep.'

`You kissed him back,' my conscience said smugly.

I mentally shrugged. `He's a good kisser.' I cranked the volume on my cd player, trying to drown out my own thoughts. This was one conversation I didn't want to have.

`But he's saved your life!'

`Just doing his job.'

My conscience said nothing more, seeming to have given up. That empty silence in my head only left me to wonder about what I really did think of Yusuke. Yeah, reverse psychology sucks.

I'm pretty sure that I feel something for Urameshi. What exactly it is, I'm not too sure. I haven't completely warmed up to him and his friends yet, but I don't hate them, either.

I realized that ever since I started to hang out with Yusuke and his friends, I've started to become a better person. I haven't gotten expelled from Sarayashiki Senior High yet, I haven't gotten drunk in the past month, and there haven't been any major recent fist fights.

Every time I think of Yusuke, I get this warm feeling inside. My heart flutters, and I almost immediately blush. I hate to say it, but I think I -

The bus jerked to a stop in front of my building, and I nearly jumped right out of my seat. I blushed, hoisted my backpack up onto one shoulder, and got off.

As soon as my feet touched pavement, pictures of when me and Yusuke were together ran through my mind. I saw for myself the way I acted when I was around him. In each picture of us at the boardwalk, I was smiling and my eyes were shining up at him. I took note on the way that he acted when he was around me, too. Each time he looked at me, and in each smirk that crossed his features; there was a noticeable amount of warmth in his gaze.

Could it be? I wondered. Does Urameshi actually like me?

I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't notice until it was almost too late.

My building was going up in flames.

The only thing I could think of was Larry. That friggin' goldfish was trapped up there in my apartment, and there were only a few minutes before the whole place collapses. `Shit!' I cursed. Without batting an eye, I had tossed my backpack aside and shrugged out of my coat. I was off and running before anyone could blink.

`This is gonna be one hell of a trip,' I sprinted across the parking lot. `And that damn goldfish better be happy.'

I didn't even care that I'd never see my belongings again. All I cared about was not letting that stupid fish die. I have no use for anything up there except for the television. Oh god, I'm gonna miss the television.

I was just about to make my way into the inferno when a hand shot out and tightly grasped my wrist. I tried to yank my arm out of my captor's hand, but they were too strong for me.

I spun around to face whoever had grabbed me, and when I saw who it was, my heart gave a nervous flutter. "Yusuke, let me go," I pleaded with him, "This is important."

His eyes were guarded as they studied mine. My heard thudded so heavily in my chest, I was sure that he could hear it. "Red, I can't let you go up there." His voice was gentle, even though his eyes were pinning me in place.

"Yusuke, please," I tugged on my wrist, trying to free it from his hold.

"It's too dangerous," he countered, tightening his grip. "I won't let you." His movement was blurred when he blocked my punch; I barely even saw his arm come up. A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he said nothing.

I stared sadly at the burning building, trying not to cry. I jerked my arm back to swipe it over my eyes, where tears had formed. `Way to cry like a baby, Masuro.'

Larry had been through everything with me. There were times when he was my best friend in the whole world. He brightened my day every time I came home and saw him just swimming around. How could I just stand back and let him die? It was breaking my heart.

With a resounding crack, the doorway to the lobby caved in. My entrance was blocked.

I sniffed and tightly squeezed my eyes shut. Without thinking much about it, I turned and threw my arms around Yusuke, seeking comfort. I'd cry, right then and there, if I wasn't afraid that the guys would think I was a duffus.

Speaking of guys, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara stood off to the side, watching the exchange between me and Urameshi. Hiei, as usual, looked rather indifferent about the whole ordeal. Kurama had a sympathetic look in his emerald eyes, and Kuwabara was looking at me with confusion. He was looking something like "Dude, it's a fish".

"I want my goldfish," I almost wailed.

A surprised Yusuke slowly returned my hug and gently rubbed my back. "Uh, hey… didn't mean to make you cry," he muttered.

"I'm not crying," I spoke into his chest. And it probably would have been convincing if my voice hadn't cracked on the last word.

"Aw, shit," I heard him mumble.

After a few moments, Kuwabara's voice broke me out of my emotional breakdown. "Hey, Hiei, where'd you get the fish?"

My head snapped up, and I stared at Hiei from around Urameshi's shoulder. "Hiei?" I asked. My eyes were drawn to Larry, who was swimming around in his bowl at Hiei's feet.

"One can't help but get sick of your incessant whining," was all he offered by means of an explanation. He avoided my eyes, opting to instead glare at the pavement.

I couldn't believe it. He saved my fish. Hiei. The heartless asshole who attacked me when we first met.

"T…thank you so much."

The fire apparition let out a small "oof" when I ran right into him and hugged him tightly. `All that worrying for nothing,' I thought happily.

~

Yusuke had taken us all back to his apartment, the whole time telling us that we could stay as long as his mom wasn't there.

He took us to a part of downtown Trenton that I recognized almost immediately. Turns out that his place is just down the street from the arcade, and I've passed by it every time I skipped school.

Urameshi led the four of us into an apartment complex and up to the second floor. At the end of the hallway, a door was ajar, and that's the one that Yusuke peeked in to. After making sure that no one was home, he kicked the door open all the way.

Following closely behind the spirit detective, I looked around at the messy apartment. There were clothes and dishes strewn about the living room, and in the kitchen, there were dishes sitting on the counter-top, waiting to be washed.

"Well, this is it," Yusuke said, with a tinge of bitterness. "Looks like mom hasn't really been up to cleaning this dump." He kicked an empty pizza box that was nearby.

Hiei made his way over to the windowsill and perched himself there, while Kurama and Kuwabara sat down on the couch.

"I like it," I said, as brightly as I could. And no joke - I really did like the apartment. The whole place just kind of felt like…I don't know. Yusuke.

I dropped down onto the couch, in between the two guys. I nabbed the remote from Kuwabara and changed the channel to Cartoon Network. Gotta love Cartoon Network. After a minute or so of just watching commercials, Yusuke marched over to Kazuma and shoved him away from me and off the couch. With Kuwabara gone, Urameshi dropped into the empty spot at my left. When he slid a possessive arm around my waist and pulled me to his side, I just rolled my eyes. `Guys,' I thought with a mental shrug.

Yusuke leaned down and whispered in my ear. "If you have nowhere else to go, you're gonna stay here with me, got it?"

I briefly considered taking my motorcycle and staying at Maya's condo until this whole "trying to ruin my life and kill me" thing blows over, but I decided against it. Besides, staying at Urameshi's place was bound to be interesting.

I nodded, but Yusuke still hovered near my ear. My heartbeat began to speed up. Was he going to kiss me? In front of his friends?

Just when I was about to turn my head and kiss him first because he was taking so damn long, he sat back up. I released the breath that I didn't know I had been holding, and felt a little relieved. A little disappointed, too. I had mixed feelings towards Yusuke, but right here and now, I felt something that I've never felt for another guy before.

I didn't know what it was, but I decided to go with it. I spared a glance at Larry, whose bowl was sitting on the kitchen table. With a content sigh, I relaxed against Urameshi.

End Chapter.

A/N: *dodges the objects being thrown at her* *nervous chuckle* heh heh. Long time no see, eh, guys? *winces* yeah. Sorry for the wait! Really sorry! I broke another floppy disk or two, and I've been really busy with school and swim practice and meets and stuff.

Oh, and by the way - A Beautiful Thing is going to be over in another two or three chapters. I'm working on a new story called "Heart of a Thief". It'll be an OC/Kurama pairing… think I should do it? Well, until next time…Ja ne.

-babi blu.