Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Addicted To You ❯ Parenting Class ( Chapter 9 )

The end of class was almost celebrated as a national holiday. Students filed out of class, yelling, whooping and laughing. Yang and Kuwabara followed the trend, leaving Kurama to gather his books alone in the empty classroom. When the redhead finally entered the hallway he was shoved and shuffled about in the sea of passing students. "It's like rushhour on the interstate." He mumbled to himself.

Arriving at his parenting class after literally clrawling up five flights of crowded stairwells, Kurama flopped into his seat and opened his notes once more. His pencil from biology class had been reduced to a rediculously tiny stub due to the endless overhead notes and Kurama threw it in the trash, pulling out a pen instead.

"Okay!" The pretty, middle-aged teacher exclaimed cheerily from the front of the class. Her loos-fitting office skirt and vest of deep navy blue gave Mrs. Peony an air of sophistication that clashed with her personaity in every way. "Parenting class has officially started! Everyone in their seats!"

Kurama smiled to himself, there were some pretty odd teachers in this highschool, but Mrs. Peony was his favorite. She was so...bubbly. Everything that came out of her mouth was positive and over-emphasized. Even her three inches of jet black hair (she'd shaved her once waist-length hair at a fundraiser for the homeless a month earlier) seemed to stand on end with excitement.

"I have something extra special for you to do today!" Her hazel eyes sparkled. The class grew quiet and Kurama grew sceptical. Last time she said that they ended up making fudge brownies in the school kitchen. When one student asked what brownies had to do with her class, Mrs. Peony took away the treats and told the class to blame it on him. Angry, the questioning student's peers yelled at him until the teacher gave back the brownies. "Did you get the answer to your question?" She asked him later.

"Uhh...Don't tick off your peers by asking questions?" Answered the bewildered student.

"No, silly! Brownies equal happy children. If you want to be a good parent, you've got to know how to make brownies! Silly boy!" She had scolded, as though everyone should know this all important fact of child rearing.

Kurama hoped they were going to create some calorie-saturated, non-nutritious, sugar-based foods this period, and like the rest of class, he waited eagerly for her to finish.

"Who wants to go outside and play?"

Kurama and the rest of the eleventh graders sweatdropped and fell sideways out of their seats.

"Oh, comon guys! I think we all deserve a little fun after such a long day. Don't you?"

"Miss?" One students asked, slowly recovering from the shock of the rediculous question.

"Hai?"

"You DO realize what grade we're in, right?"

"Oh don't be silly," she scolded with a wink, "I'm thirty-two and I still enjoy going outdoors to act like a kid. Eveyone head outside!" And with a wave of her freckled arm, everyone got up off the floor realizing she was indeed serious.

It was as they were heading back DOWN the five flights of stairs that they ran into a stray student who was wandering the halls looking lost, a schedual in his hand. The class simply passed him by. Mrs. Peony spotted Hiei and stopped him. "Do you not have a class to be attending sweetie?" She asked him, tossing an arm over his shoulder and backtracking in the direction he was heading. Kurama passed them but turned to look over his shoulder as he walked. What was Hiei doing in the halls? He was about to stop and ask, when he overheard them talking.

"I'm looking for it, actually," Hiei told his teacher, "Mrs. Peenee's class?"

"Pee-OH-nee, hun. That would be me! Welcome to my class. You're lucky I caught you down here, you would have had a long walk upstairs and back. We're headed outside today."

Hiei followed her out into the courtyard where the rest of the class was either wrestling in the grass or sunbathing.

"HEY EVERYONE!" Mrs. Peony called out once they were close enough, "We've got a new student today! Treat him nice! Hang out and have fun." She slapped an already embarassed Hiei on the butt and ran to join the sunbathing girls on the grass of the feild.

Hiei froze where he was, momentarily stunned by his new teacher's blunt assult on his rear. His ruby irises shifted to their corners as he glanced around to see who else has witnessed the incident. The guys were all staring at him; their wrestling matches had stopped and Hiei felt his face grow hot. He had once again landed himself in the spotlight.

Damnit, stop looking at me... He growled to them in his mind.

Ducking his head and crossing his arms. Hiei made his way towards the large cherry tree a few yards away. Trees didn't stare, and they never judged you or drowned you in stupidity....

Reaching the thick-trunked tree, he sat beneath it.

"Got a thing for trees?"

Hiei stopped, mid squat, recognizing the voice. "Yeah, what of it?"

Kurama stood in front of Hiei, who leaned back against the cherry tree slightly annoyed by the interruption. His long shadow cast over him, allowing Hiei to stop squinting due to the bright midday sun.

"Just making conversation. So, where you from?"

Hiei stared at the way-too-friendly boy's shoes and pulled at the grass with restless fingers. "I'd rather not say."

Kurama's eyelids lowered as he watched Hiei pull at the grass. "Well, what made you move to Tokyo?"

Hiei stopped plucking. An angry grimace came across his stunningly dark features as though the question uncovered an ugly memory and he cleched his fists at his side. "Family problems." His voice was almost a whisper. Kurama decided to change the subject; it was clear the other didn't want to talk about moving.

"What do you think of the school so far?" He asked, diving his hands into his pockets and kicking at a patch of dirt with his shoe. Hiei gazed out into the feild at the other students then at the building itself. He shrugged, "They're all the same."

"All the same? How many schools have you gone to, exactly?"

Hiei forced out a sad laugh. "Too many. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why are you giving me the third degree? Shouldn't you be over there frolicking with your classmates?" Hiei tilted his head out of Kurama's shadow and blinked cutely when the sun hit his eyes. Kurama noted this and quickly turned to look at the others in the field. "I'm not into wrestling. I prefer to fight standing up. Besides, I wanted to talk to you."

The other looked up at him with a sceptical look, "Hn. Why?"

Kurama shifted his weight from one leg to the other, feeling somewhat put on the spot. "You look like someone with a story to tell. I'm willing to hear it if you're willing to tell it to me."

"I'll talk when there's something worth saying."

They stared into eachother's eyes for a moment. Feirce red irises bore into uncertain green ones. Kurama coughed and tore his gaze away. Hiei was a very guarded individual, that was for sure. Kurama felt himself grow more intrigued each minute he spent with him. Hiei had built himself a wall around which he locked his true self; that much was clear. And if there was one thing Kurama loved, it was to pick locks. The proposition of figuring out the combonation to this unique being's complex personality was thrilling and Kurama struggled to focus his thoughts on the present. "What made you want to take a parenting class, Hiei?"

Hiei watched as the red head sat down in front of him. What was with this guy? Why was he being so bloody nice? Didn't he notice he was being given the cold shoulder? It always worked before....

"I didn't get to choose my courses. Yoshima did."

Kurama blinked, "Who?"

"My guardian. Well, the guy currently responsible for me. He's very orthodox. Doesn't believe in personal choice, but is a big believer of destiny and fate, that sort of thing."

"Ah. And Yoshima-san believes you're destined to be a parent?"

"I guess so. It's stupid, He choses my courses but doesn't give a shit what my marks are in them...." Hiei's voice trailed off and he ripped up a tuft of grass, root and all. he glanced down at his hand, realizing what he'd done. "Oops."

Kurama smiled encouragingly, "Parenting class- THIS parenting class- won't be difficult. Don't worry about it, you'll do fine."

"Hn."

They sat in silence. Kurama moved from in front of Hiei to beside him and together they watched the other students on the field for the remainder of class.

TBC...