Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Feigned Innocence ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

~Yusuke's POV~

"Uh… you're kidding, right?"

The glare Hiei shot me made it quite clear that he was definitely not kidding. Not that I had really thought that he was; Hiei wasn't the kidding type. I was just surprised.

"Hiei, Kurama has lots of stalkers. I'm pretty sure he's used to it."

The dark little half Koorime's expression never strayed from the sullen glare he usually wore as he said, "This one is different. I just want you to watch him."

My eyes widened a bit at that. "Him?" I asked, holding back laughter. This was priceless. Kurama was being stalked by a guy.

"Yes."

I was mildly surprised that Hiei didn't seem to think that was strange. He had never seemed to be the type to…

"Well?" Hiei demanded, distracting me from that interesting line of thought. He was still glaring at me from the other side of the park bench we were seated on. A few people walking by paused to stare at him (his gravity defying hair tended to attract attention), but he didn't seem to notice.

I sighed. "Kurama can take care of himself. It's like I said, he deals with stalkers all the time. What does he usually do?"

Hiei seemed to think about that for a moment, then replied calmly. "I've heard that back when he was a youko, he either slept with them or killed them."

I went straight into a coughing fit, which was really only a poor disguise for my hysterical laughter, and was vaguely aware that Hiei was becoming very annoyed, a dangerous sign. When my coughing subsided, I grinned at Hiei, my vision slightly blurry because my eyes were watering.

"Wow, I never knew Kurama was such a-"

"You'd better not finish that sentence."

I could practically feel Hiei's anger, so I decided to lay off. "Look, Hiei," I began, trying to be serious. "If you're so worried about Kurama, why don't you check out this stalker guy yourself?"

Hiei immediately stiffened at my words, and said, his voice harsh, "I am not worried."

I raised an eyebrow as I realized exactly what was going on. "You're not, huh?"

"No."

Grinning again, my curiosity getting the better of me, I said, "Do you like Kurama, Hiei?"

I expected a violent outburst, or the point of a katana at my throat, but Hiei merely stared at me. "He's my fighting partner and ally. So yes, if you must know, I-"

Obviously Hiei didn't understand what I'd meant, but I decided I had pushed him enough for one day. "Never mind. If it's bothering you that much, I'll check this guy out, okay?"

Hiei nodded, apparently satisfied, and stood from the park bench.

"So he goes to Kurama's school, right? What's his name?" I asked, leaning back and finally allowing myself to relax, now that Hiei was no longer sitting beside me. No matter how long I'd known the guy, he still made me kind of nervous. Of course, the constant death glares certainly didn't help put me at ease.

"Nekura."

Kuwabara's reaction to Kurama's male stalker wasn't quite as accepting as mine had been.

"That's gross, Urameshi."

I shrugged. "Whatever. Listen, Hiei wants us to check the guy out."

"The shrimp?" Kuwabara asked, looking just as surprised as I had, and actually looking up from the letter he had been writing to Yukina. "Why does he care?"

A smile was tugging at my lips, and I was dying to spill my theory to someone, but I doubted that Kuwabara would take it well, so I kept my mouth shut. "Who cares? Let's just get this done."

The next day, Kuwabara and I were waiting outside of Kurama's school at the end of the day. We had skipped out of our school at lunch, and had spent a few hours goofing off before hurrying to Kurama's school just in time for the last bell. We just had to make sure that Kurama didn't see us, and to look out for that Nekura guy. We'd gotten a description of him from one of his classmates.

I nudged Kuwabara as I spotted Kurama walking gracefully down the school steps, a flock of girls following close behind. Kuwabara snickered, but we stayed hidden behind a tree, trying to keep our reiki low enough that Kurama wouldn't sense it unless he was looking for it.

Kurama was long gone before we saw anyone that matched the description we'd been given. There were a few lingering students in the school yard, but for the most part, the place was deserted.

That's when we saw him. A tall, pale boy, with short, silky black hair. He was walking slowly down the school steps with the same feline-like grace that Kurama had. I couldn't see his eyes yet to see if they were a light blue color, but I knew this had to be the guy we were looking for. I could feel something strange coming from him, not quite reiki or youki, but something that… didn't belong. He felt wrong, somehow.

I nudged Kuwabara again and nodded toward the boy. Kuwabara nodded back, and we emerged from our hiding place, walking purposefully toward the stalker. He noticed us seconds after we'd abandoned the cover of the trees, and he stopped walking, waiting patiently for us to reach him. Somehow, he seemed to already know exactly what was going on.

Deciding that it would be best to try to do this the friendly way first, I said, "Hey, we need to talk to you!"

To me, friendly meant resisting the urge to beat this guy's face in.

I felt a shiver run down my spine as I was regarded coldly by icy blue eyes. "Yes?"

For some reason, I couldn't manage to speak. I had been swept by a wave of familiarity the moment I had been pinned by those eyes. I had never met this boy before in my life, and yet… I'd seen him somewhere.

Kuwabara seemed to realize that something was wrong with me, so he took up the task of intimidating Nekura.

"Listen pal, I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, and this is Yusuke Urameshi. We're big tough fighter guys, and we're gonna have to kick your ass if you don't leave Kurama alone!"

Nekura raised an eyebrow. "Kurama?" He addressed me, completely ignoring Kuwabara, much to the redhead's annoyance.

I rolled my eyes and decided that I'd better handle things before Kuwabara screwed everything up. "He means Suuichi. We're-"

"Friends of his," Nekura finished for me, his eyes growing colder. "I know."

My eyes narrowed, and I regarded him suspiciously. "How?"

Nekura didn't answer, but kept his eyes locked with mine. I felt like they were burning a hole through me, but I didn't look away. He tilted his head a bit and smiled, and I heard Kuwabara gasp and take a step back. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't dare look away from Nekura.

Finally, the boy said, "I don't want you to have anything to do with Suuichi anymore. He's mine." His eyes were losing their clarity as a maniacal gleam came into them, and that demented smile was still on his face.

At those words, I forgot all of the warning signals Nekura had triggered in my mind, and I laughed. I couldn't help it. This guy was really a nutcase.

Kuwabara punched me lightly in the shoulder and said, "Come on, Urameshi, can we hit him, now? He's asking for it."

I stopped laughing and turned to look at Kuwabara. "Yeah, sure, what the hell. I tried to be nice, but…"

I didn't get to finish my sentence. When I turned again to look at Nekura, he was gone.

"What the…?" I started.

Kuwabara looked left and right, then spun around in all directions, as if Nekura might pop out at any moment. "Where'd he go?"

I shook my head, not even bothering to search the deserted schoolyard. We wouldn't find him. "I think Hiei was right. There's something weird about that guy."

Kuwabara became very serious all of a sudden and said, "When he smiled, it wasn't him."

"What?"

"When he smiled, it wasn't him I saw standing there anymore. It was that creepy guy from the tournament."

"What guy?"

"Karasu."

~Kurama's POV~

I was beginning to regret having told Hiei about my encounter with Nekura. He'd been acting strangely ever since.

The only reason I'd told him was because I'd still been angry about the whole thing, and I'd felt like I needed to get it out before I did something I would regret. Like killing the little bastard.

So I told Hiei everything. All of it, from beginning to end. He'd sat calmly on my windowsill, his expression never changing throughout my story. And when I'd finished, he'd passively told me to forget about it, that I was being stupid, and that if it bothered me that much, I should tell someone who actually cared.

But I'd been able to feel his rage. He could act as calm as he wanted, but I could feel how angry it made him. I just didn't know why it made him angry.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. I was, once again, sitting at my desk, attempting to concentrate on my homework. Hiei always seemed to distract me at the most inopportune times, even when he wasn't nearby. I tried to focus on schoolwork again, but the thought of school only brought up the uncomfortable issue with Nekura.

Ever since my encounter in the woods with Nekura, I'd been purposefully avoiding him at school, not that I'd ever had much to do with him. But I knew that if I so much as looked at him now, I'd… well, I wasn't sure what I'd do, but it wouldn't be good. For some reason, Nekura brought out a side of me that hadn't been out in a long time. A side that I very much needed to keep hidden, at least while I was still in this world.

After a few hours of homework, I finally gave up and went to bed, dreading the nightmares that I knew were inevitable. I had them every night, now.

I woke to a warm, comforting hand on my cheek. I was only half awake, but I smiled, leaning into Hiei's touch. I wasn't awake enough yet to consider the fact that Hiei would never touch me in such a way. He avoided most forms of physical contact, except those involving violence.

My eyes were still closed, and I said, "Mmm… was I screaming again, Hiei?"

The hand jerked instantly away from my face, and I blinked open my eyes, suddenly realizing that something was wrong.

My vision was blurry for a moment, but through the darkness I was able to make out Nekura's pale face, and I blinked again to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I wasn't.

I started to scramble up out of the bed, but Nekura put a hand on my shoulder and held me down. I froze instantly at his touch. Something was wrong with me. I should have been able to easily push him away, I was far stronger than any human. So why couldn't I move?

Nekura had been kneeling beside the bed when I first awoke, but now he stood. I watched him with wide eyes, still unable to muster up a single protest as he climbed onto the bed and swung his leg onto the other side of my body, so that he was straddling my stomach, staring down into my face.

"Is that who you want?" he asked, fury obvious in his voice. "Your little Hiei? Why him? I'm right here."

I could feel my breathing speeding up, a natural reaction to the fear that was pounding through my body. I tried to speak, but couldn't. It was just like last time, in that hallway.

What? No. That had been Karasu. This was like in the woods.

Nekura was speaking again, and I focused on what he was saying while still trying to get my body to move.

"You didn't want me, but that's okay. When you have no one left, then you'll want me. I'll be all you have… all you want…"

He was leaning down, closer to my face, his hands still on my shoulders. I knew what he was about to do, but my body still refused to work until the instant that I felt his lips brush against mine. At that simple touch, my body jerked into motion, and the next thing I knew he was flying across the room. He hit the wall hard and slid to the ground. I didn't remember hitting him. I'd done it in a blind rage.

He didn't get up. I stared at him for a long time, but was jerked from my daze when I heard a gentle knock on my door, followed by my mother's voice.

"Suuichi? Are you all right? I heard a loud noise."

"I'm fine, mother," I called, glancing at the door and hoping that she would not feel the need to come in. "I just… I was getting up for a glass of water and I tripped."

There was a pause, but she seemed to accept that. "Okay, just be more careful. I'm going back to bed."

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked back toward where Nekura had fallen, seriously considering just tossing him out the window.

But he was gone.