Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Give In ❯ One-Shot

Author's notes: The third part in my series on the team's childhoods, following Yusuke and Kuwabara's first day of school. This one is for Kurama. YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi/Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, and so on.

Warnings: None.

Give In
A Yu Yu Hakusho Memory Fic by Kitsuneko

Shuuichi stood under the short roof overhanging the front of his school. The weather had turned sour during the school day and a cold rain poured down. The occasional gust of wind forced the rain to fall sideways, invading his small sanctuary. It flipped his short red hair up in tufts and he vainly tried to smooth it down.

He had been waiting, in the cold, for twenty minutes. The other children had already gone home with fussing mothers and Shuuichi was left alone. He had not brought a jacket, against his mother's advice, which had died out in the face of his cool disinterest.Beyond the edge of the wall enclosing the courtyard, the click of a woman running in heels drifted in the hushing rain. Shiori rushed around the corner, umbrella bobbing over her head, and bounded up the steps. Apologies were already dripping from her lips.

"Shuuichi, I'm so sorry. The roof gave way at work and it was just a disaster area. Have you been waiting long?" She knew he had and that he would lie to her.

"No, mother, not long. I was fine."

"But, musuko, you didn't have your jacket. You must be frozen!"

"I like the rain. But I didn't want to play in it, because walking home wet isn't good."

"Hm, no, it isn't." She hesitated to say this. He was already so serious, so practical, that she desperately wanted to him to be silly and childish and even get a cold because of it. She wanted him to forget all the things he seemed to know beforehand about life. She wanted him to never learn them at all, if she could make that happen. She would gladly keep him forever in her care that way, if he would, could, really be her child.

"Are you ready to go now?" Shuuichi nodded and she took his hand in hers, their wet fingers sliding against each other. At the last step, he slipped, the concrete wet and muddy, and he fell forward, his hands slapping the cold ground. Shiori cried out and gathered him up, their umbrella dropping, forgotten, behind her.

"Shuuichi, are you okay? Let me see your hands."

"No, mother. I'm fine." He closed his small hands into loose fists, hiding the scratches on his palms. So she picked him up, tucking him against her side, and grabbed her umbrella, holding it over the two of them. As they walked, Shuuichi rested his head against her shoulder, relaxing.

When they got home, Shiori took her son into the bathroom to wash off his hands. She slid gentle fingertips over the scratches as the warm water ran over both pairs of hands and did not look at his face. This was how everything was for them. They lied, constantly, because Shuuichi wanted to protect his mother and because Shiori wanted to find her son. He claimed he was fine; she took care of him anyway. He feigned disinterest in their activities together; she spent all her time with him anyway. It was a battle, between them, both waiting to see who would give in first.

Shiori pressed down the bandage and kissed her son's palm lovingly. And as she stood up, he leaned forward and placed the ghost of a kiss on her cheek. She hesitated, then smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling up in joy. She wanted to cry. But that was not the right reaction, though she knew he would understand it anyway. So she just smiled more and walked out of the room with him.

For the first time, he had given in.