Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Trembling Roses ❯ Unexpected ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five

By the middle of the afternoon, Shippo had decided that exhaustion was a luxury.

As he stumbled into his room and fell limply across the bed, he knew that what he was currently experiencing left exhaustion far behind but stopped somewhere just short of actual death.

Honestly, Shippo was pretty sure that if he'd tried to undress himself before laying down he would have shot straight over that mercurial boundary from the effort.

His tail hung forlornly over the side of the bed in agreement.

'I will never question sensei again.' His brain throbbed dully after the tired thought and told him that thinking too much was seriously tipping the life-or-death scales.

Every single thing on him hurt, including his hair. Something that before today he would have scoffed as an impossibility. Blinking was rapidly becoming a monumental task so he simply closed his eyes and vowed never to open them again. After a minute, the vow turned quietly into much needed sleep.

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After gathering the remains of the second dandelion, Youko took it and buried it quietly in a distant corner of the courtyard. He had expected a few rough patches in today's training but things had gone beyond even his abilities to forecast disaster.

"Make it grow, feed it and change it. Not blow the poor thing to smithereens after sucking the life from it."

Indeed, all that compromised the remains of the flower were a shriveled leaf and desiccated roots.

Even though he had been present during the small explosion, Youko still couldn't decipher exactly how his student had accomplished such an arbitrary execution of the orders given.

"I sensed Shippo building up his youki and directing it at the plant. Everything he was doing was correct. The dandelion should have transformed much like mine did, although smaller of course."

Rich dark soil colored his alabaster fingers a dusky brown as he smoothed out the impromptu grave. "But it withered like it was being roasted in the desert. I can't even begin to imagine what made it explode. Shippo shouldn't have had enough energy for something like that."

His quiet musings were interrupter by a visitor.

The subtle tremor in the air informed him that he was no longer alone. Never looking up from his task, he addressed the uninvited figure.

"What is it now Yusuke?"

"Nothing much Kurama, just wondering how the 'lesson' went." His tone swung back and forth between convivial curiosity and barely hinted mockery. "I am still allowed to ask aren't I?"

Shippo might see his teacher as a fount of limitless power but Youko knew his own strengths much better. Right now he was operating on reserves that were themselves running dangerously low. When he'd felt the impending blast, the fox youkai had used every ounce of ki he had to contain the unexpected detonation of the flower, erecting a barrier that had protected his student as well as himself.

Youko had neither the energy nor the patience to deal with the other man right now.

"It went well enough all things considered. I won't be assigning Shippo to gardening duties for quite some time and that is about all you need to know." That heavy fatigue was clearly audible in his voice. "Don't you have a class to teach or something?"

"My students are fine Kurama." Cool and low, Yusuke's voice carried nothing but his usual unwavering certainty in his own abilities. "When I show them a lesson they pick it up immediately. There are no questions, no back talk and no mistakes."

Fine hairs on statuary ears bristled invisibly.

"I'm glad to hear that you're accomplishing so much with your charges Urameshi." Harder than the gold they mimicked, Youko's eyes narrowed only marginally.

"Since you seem to be doing so well, I'm certain that you could do twice as well with the addition of another class to your apparently open schedule." While delivering his missive, the tip of that marvelously gleaming tail swished back and forth in irritation as Youko got to his feet.

When one knee gave out and threatened to pitch him headlong into the dirt, two unnaturally strong arms shot out to catch him. Before he could back away, the hands shifted so that the support became an embrace.

If Youko's presence unnerved his pupil then in all fairness Yusuke's nearness had a similar effect on the master himself, but for different reasons. He found himself growing uncomfortable beneath the scrutiny as Yusuke pinned him with an unreadable look. Rather than fight the hold, Youko dug into those tapped reserves and found the previously missing patience.

"Let go Urameshi."

Bloodless lips curled up into a condescending smile.

"Watch out Kurama, I think you're slipping." The softly whispered words found their mark with deadly accuracy.

Shoving the boy aside, the kitsune turned on his heel and left without another word.

Yusuke's smile grew wider.

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Once safely hidden in the confines of his room, Youko gave into to the frustrations that had been plaguing him all day by pulling out the Rose Whip and tearing into dust a large block of stone that he kept for just that purpose. Feeling satisfied but even weaker than before, he turned his thoughts back to the dual causes of that irrational display.

Namely Yusuke and Shippo.

Falling across his bed in much the same manner as his pupil, Youko draped one arm over his eyes and tried to quiet the tremors that jumped just beneath his skin as he closed his eyes.

Contemplating a slender face dominated by watchful eyes and framed with unruly jet-black hair, Youko frowned softly.

Yusuke was a monster of his own making and he knew that already.

The dark eyes in his mind lightened to an inquisitive blue-green while the hair lengthened to reddish-gold cascades.

However Shippo was becoming something of a fixation as well.

Uttering a curse that would have made Hiei applaud its creativity, Youko rolled onto his side and drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: (sits in her room sharpening stakes and waiting)

I am going to kill Youko Kurama.

I have things that I have to finish and I do not have time for this cryptic story arc!!

Give me a clue you friggin' fox!!!