Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Suicide ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter Eight
Yuusuke sighed in relief as they left the shoe store, which was their last stop. He had been surprised to see that Hiei's feet were extremely small--only size five--and it had taken a long time to find two pairs of black shoes that would fit them. Despite that, it was only six o'clock, even though it felt like they'd been shopping forever. "Yokata! [1]" The teen was bogged down by quite a few bags, but at least the worst part was over. They could go home. Then realization hit him. Oh, crap . . . He didn't want to subject Hiei to the train again, and the bags were going to be hell on public transportation anyway. "Hey, Kurama? How much money is left?"

The redhead blinked. "About ten thousand yen [2]." He grinned, his green eyes flashing mischievously. "I convinced Koenma to give me a bit more than was necessary." Hiei smirked slightly and Yuusuke snickered. "Why?"

"Do you think it's enough for a taxi? I don't think we'll be able to lug these back on the train." Yuusuke noticed that Hiei's face grew a bit paler at the mention of the train, but Kurama, fortunately, wasn't paying attention. I'm not going to put him through that again . . . I'd better have that chat with Koenma tonight too. "Besides, it'd be faster, and I have a few things to take care of."

Kurama grinned. "That's a good idea. We'll have more than enough. My house is on the way, so I'll come with." The youko looked out into traffic. "We just need to hail one."

It took about ten minutes to hail a free taxi, and then there was a bit of a problem with seating because Hiei obviously didn't want to sit next to Kurama. Yuusuke ended up sitting in the middle, and they finally started on their way home. Fortunately, Hiei wasn't as bothered by the taxi ride as he had been by the train ride, despite the fact that the three of them were crammed in the back seat. The trip to Kurama's house took about twenty minutes, and the redhead gave Yuusuke the money for the rest of the trip when he stepped out. The teen waited for him to get to his door before specifying an address.

Hiei glanced at him curiously. "That's not your address. Where are we going?"

Yuusuke blinked. He hadn't realized that Hiei had memorized his address. I keep underestimating him . . . "Kuwabara's. I need to do something, so you'll have to stay there for about an hour." Hiei made a face, but said nothing. The rest of the trip to Kuwabara's house was spent in silence.

Shizuru looked surprised when they showed up at the door carrying the bags. Then she grinned. "C'mon in. I'll get the baka." She let them in and took their bags from them, setting them down just past the genkan while Yuusuke and Hiei removed their shoes, setting them neatly in front of the small step that led to the rest of the house.

Kuwabara came bounding down the stairs. "Urameshi, Hiei, what're you doing here?"

Yuusuke raised his eyebrows and pointed at the bags. "We just got done shopping. I need to run a quick errand. Can Hiei stay here for about an hour?"

The larger boy scratched the back of his head. "Eh . . . Sure, if it's okay with oneechan [3]."

Shizuru rapped the side of her brother's head sharply. "Yup. It's hollow." Kuwabara shrieked in outrage, and she spoke over him. "Of course it's okay with me. Hiei's better company than this idiot any day of the week--quieter, anyway."

"'Neechan, that's mean!"

"Live with it."

Kuwabara scowled. Yuusuke glanced at Hiei to see that the fire demon actually looked amused, showing a real, if slight, smile for the first time since the whole fiasco had begun. The carrot-top interrupted his thoughts, his face still fixed in a pout. "We can play video games while you're gone or something."

Yuusuke grinned. "Thanks, Kuwabara. I'll be back soon." He stepped back into the genkan and slipped his shoes back on, then let himself out. "Ja!"

It was only after Yuusuke was a block away from Kuwabara's house that he wondered how he was going to get to the Reikai. He frowned, then put his hand in his pocket, hoping the little compact case was in there. The teen sighed in relief as his fingers found it, and he pulled it out, opening it.

Botan's face appeared after several seconds, looking confused. "Oh, Yuusuke! You're not on a mission. Is there a problem?"

"I need to talk to Koenma--in person. Could you take me to the Reikai?"

Botan bit her lip. "I guess I could. I'll be there in a few minutes. Find some sort of cover so no one gets suspicious."

"Right." He flipped the compact closed. I can get things taken care of with Koenma and everything will run smoothly. After this, it's just school, and that's nothing! He pointedly ignored the part of his mind that was laughing at his optimism and set out to find some sort of cover to meet Botan.

Koenma looked up from his paperwork as Yuusuke entered his office, shooting the teen a concerned look. "Don't tell me you're quitting. Please don't tell me that."

Quitting . . .? You mean we can do that? Yuusuke blinked. "Er . . . as tempting as that suggestion is, no." He paused, but couldn't resist adding, "Not yet, anyway . . ."

Koenma paled, his expression going from concern to near-panic faster than Yuusuke would have thought was possible. "Not . . . yet?" the demi-god whimpered.

Yuusuke rolled his eyes. "It was a joke. Seriously, though, I need a favor from you . . ."

"Oh." Relief passed over Koenma's face and Yuusuke frowned curiously. "What was it you wanted?"

"Instead of the futons, I want Western-style beds."

It was the demi-god's turn to frown. "Why?"

He doesn't need to know. Hiei deserves some privacy. Yuusuke shook his head. "I can't say exactly. It doesn't matter. Just trust me, please. You know I'm pretty good at judging things. The beds are important. And I'd prefer if they were there tonight by the time I take Hiei back to the apartment." He paused slightly, his frown deepening as Koenma considered, looking like he was going to say no. "Besides, I'm doing this, and you kinda owe me for that." I feel like such a jerk, saying that . . . The truth was, Yuusuke would've done it anyway, finding some way to integrate Hiei into the Ningenkai without Koenma's help if he'd had to. The demi-god just made things easier, giving Yuusuke the opportunity to make the transition much more comfortable for Hiei.

Koenma glared at Yuusuke for a long moment before giving in. "All right. You'll get the beds--tonight too, even if it's pushing it." The toddler glanced around. "Where is Hiei, anyway?"

He just noticed that Hiei's not here? Geez, and he's my boss . . . "I left him with Kuwabara. Kurama and I just finished shopping for his clothes." He paused. "Why did you think I was going to quit?"

Koenma stiffened, looking much like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, then sighed. "I spoke to Kurama yesterday, and he informed me that you sounded stressed--like Hiei was giving you a hard time."

So he's keeping tabs on me . . .? Using Kurama? Yuusuke kept his face neutral. I'm glad I found this out before I actually discussed anything with Kurama. "I was, but it's not anything I can't handle. Fact is, he's my friend. I'm not going to quit just because things get a bit difficult." He momentarily considered saying something snarky about how Koenma should ask his informant about his--evidently--former relationship with Hiei, but quickly decided against it. He wasn't going to cause any more trouble than already existed, and he certainly wasn't going to risk letting either Hiei or Kurama know that he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I could use some money," he said instead.

Koenma scowled. "Why? You bought him all the clothing he needs, right?"

"Yeah. But we have no food at the apartment, and my mom's not going to do anything about that. I didn't care before--I could steal what I needed. But I'd rather not have to do that with Hiei around. It'd be way too much stealing and nothing I was able to steal was very nutritious." Yuusuke flinched as Koenma turned a disapproving glare on him. "Well, what was I supposed to do? Starve?" His boss continued to scrutinize him, and he fought the urge to squirm.

Finally, Koenma sighed. "I do owe you. I've never paid any of you for your hard work." He touched a button on his desk. "George, come in here." The godling sat back down in his chair as George rushed in. "I'll be opening a debit account for you at a bank near your apartment on Monday. I'll give you enough money for meals until then."

Yuusuke blinked. Wow. "What should I say if my mom gets suspicious?"

"It's money from a charity group for taking in an orphan. Make sure to let her know that the money will stop if she spends it on alcohol."

"Er . . . That works. Thanks, Koenma."

Koenma smiled slightly. "I'll do what I can and trust you to take care of Hiei's needs. I know I don't need to know everything that's going on, but I will be watching that account. If I see anything weird--like you possibly spending frivolously--I will require an explanation. This money isn't for cigarettes or pornos [4]."

Yuusuke winced. There was the payback for the comment about quitting. "That's fair, but you need to understand that while I'll answer truthfully, I'm also going to leave Hiei as much privacy as possible."

His boss frowned, but nodded. "That's all I can expect." The demi-god stood. "George, get Yuusuke enough money for food tomorrow and breakfast Monday. Give him quite a bit extra, just in case." The oni scampered from the room. "You said that Hiei is with the Kuwabaras right now?" Yuusuke nodded. "I'll give you enough money to order food for everyone when you get back there."

Yuusuke nodded. "Thanks, Koenma."

George rushed back in with a handful of money, dumping it on the one empty part of his boss's desk. "Here, Koenma-sama. Is this enough?"

The infant nodded. "Thank you. Go ahead and take it, Yuusuke. Botan will take you back to the Ningenkai. Good luck."

Yuusuke smiled slightly as he thanked Koenma and left. He was going to need that luck, and he knew it.

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[1] Yokata basically means "It was good" but is also used for "Thank goodness" from what I've seen.

[2] Ten thousand yen is approximately $100. It would probably cost about that much because, according to my sources, taxis cost about $6 just for the first 1.25 miles in Tokyo.

[3] Oneechan is older sister.

[4] In the manga, Yuusuke smokes, shoplifts, and reads dirty magazines. They softened his character for the anime, but he's really not a great person at the beginning of the manga.

This is taking longer than I thought it would. I might skip ahead to the first day of school with Yuusuke maybe alluding to things that happen over the rest of the weekend. I don't think anything really important is going to happen, so it's no big deal. Oh, nope. That won't work. *sigh*

A lot of people have asked about this fic and my others. My life has gotten significantly busier. I'm running the fanfiction contest (www.angelfire.com/anime4/grapesnlemons/), judging another fanfiction contest for a different fandom, dealing with a ton of problems school-wise, and working at a job that is no longer as fun as it used to be. Therefore, things are going to update very slowly.

If anyone is interested in getting emailed updates on this and my other fanfiction, email rosethorneupdate-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to be automatically subscribed to my update ML.

Many thanks go to Tora for being my test subje- er . . . beta reader for this chapter. She also helped me with the flow and a bit of the humorous content. She's the goddess of beta-reading. ^__^

And, yes, I know this is awfully short. I am incapable of writing long chapters for some reason . . .