Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Codependency ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Codependency

Chapter Two

Hiei was a convict, and yet he still had to go to school. It boggled the mind, really. Kind of like how his math homework boggled the mind. He wondered why he should do his homework. There didn't seem like much reason to. He'd be stuck here either way, sooooooo…

He slammed his book shut, tossing it haphazardly to the floor. Annoyed sounds of pain came from across the room, but Hiei chose to ignore them.

"Didn't you hear me, shrimp?! I said watch where you're throwing your crap!" Kuwabara yelled, twitching.

"Idiot," Hiei grunted.

"Hey Hiei," Yuusuke muttered, from a corner of the room, "Didn't you have to see Minamino today?"

"Yeah," Hiei muttered nonchalantly, pretending as if he didn't care.

"You don't want to keep Minamino waiting," Yuusuke advised.

"…why?"

"You're on your way to finding out," Yuusuke said, gaze flicking pointedly to his wristwatch. "Three minutes `til your appointment."

"Really?" Hiei asked, in the way of someone who is slightly surprised but doesn't care in the slightest. He stood slowly, stretching. "I suppose I'd better be on my way then," Hiei said, walking as slowly as possible out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Yuusuke and Kuwabara heard Hiei running down the hall at top speed. They exchanged looks. Yuusuke burst out laughing.

"Hiei's just like you, Kuwabara-he's got it bad for Minamino, too."

Kuwabara swatted at Yuusuke. "Everybody's got it bad for Minamino except me. I must be the only one here who isn't gay. I'm so manly." Kuwabara flexed his biceps.

"Puh. Keep telling yourself that," Yuusuke muttered, and plopped down on his bunk.

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Hiei raced down the halls and to where he had been told to meet Shuuichi. He stood in front of the door a minute later. He banged on the door loudly with his fist.

It opened and Hiei was met by Shuuichi's sweet `let-me-psychoanalyze-you' smile. "Good afternoon, Hiei! I'm so glad you could make it."

Hiei shrugged. "It's not like there was anything else for me to do."

"I imagine it is rather boring, staying here all day… but don't worry, you'll get used to it! All the others did."

Hiei `hnn'ed.

"Here, have a seat," Shuuichi closed the door behind him, ushering Hiei onto the couch. Shuuichi sat gracefully on the armchair across from Hiei, grabbing his clipboard and a pen. He produced a pair of reading glasses from a pocket of his coat and slipped them on over his nose.

That was a new development. Hiei didn't mind the glasses… they were cute…sort of. In an odd, virginal sort of way. However, Hiei highly doubted that the extremely attractive Shuuichi was… well, you know. Hiei tried not to blush. He had no idea where his thoughts were coming from, but he was quite sure as to where they were leading him.

He pulled one of the throw pillows onto his lap, digging into it with his fingernails. Breathe, Hiei. Yes. Breathe.

"So, would you like to tell me something about yourself or should I start using the mind probe straight away?"

"…are you a Trekkie?" Hiei asked, confused.

"No. But I can do the Trekkie hand symbol. I taught myself how to. See!" Shuuichi held out his hand; there was a gap between the middle and ring fingers.

Hiei wasn't quite sure what to think. He sweat-dropped, wondering what he was supposed to do.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Am I making you nervous? I don't normally act like this, it's just that I ran out of healthy cereal this morning and I had to eat the kind with lots of sugar…" Shuuichi coughed, trying to regain some sense of professional dignity. "So, I'm Minamino Shuuichi and I'm twenty years old. I graduated from high school when I was sixteen and I just got my bachelor's last year. Now I'm in grad school and I part-time here."

"…"

"Oh, and I like gardening."

"Well, I… I'm Jaganshi Hiei. I'm sixteen, but everyone thinks I'm twelve."

"I didn't think you were twelve."

"Really?" Hiei asked. He became slightly happier than before.

"I figured you were ten," Shuuichi explained, grinning from ear to ear.

Hiei wondered suddenly why all the gorgeous ones were either psychopaths or irritating to the extreme. As far as Hiei had seen, Shuuichi fit into the latter category. Of course, Shuuichi was irritating in an extremely cute and sexy way, but…

Yukina! YUKINA! THINK ABOUT YUKINA, YOU TESTOSTERONE-COMPELLED IDIOT!

"…is something wrong, Hiei?" Shuuichi asked, peering at him with those emerald eyes… pretty green eyes… Hiei forced himself to look at his shoes.

"It's nothing," Hiei gulped. He was fairly sure that Shuuichi knew he was lying, but he was also fairly sure that he wouldn't press him about it. Shuuichi began scribbling something down onto the notepad attached to his clipboard.

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "What are you writing?"

"Writing? I'm not writing. See? I'm going to play boxes while you stare at me for the rest of the time." Shuuichi showed him the paper filled with evenly spaced dots.

"You're the most childish and incompetent shrink I've ever seen," Hiei deadpanned.

"How many shrinks have you seen?"

"Err… none except you."

"Ah, I see. Would you like to play?"

"Sure," Hiei mumbled. Shuuichi handed him a pen and he marked a line going from one dot to the next. "I still think you're the most incompetent shrink in history."

Shuuichi shrugged, marking his own line parallel to Hiei's. "At least all my patients like me." Hiei scratched down a line randomly. "Well, all of them except you."

"I don't dislike you. You're much better company than my idiot roommates, at least."

"Yuusuke and Kazuma?" Shuuichi asked.

Hiei looked up. "How'd you know?"

Shuuichi smiled. "I figured people like them would annoy you… a lot. Oh, and it said so on the information that Koenma-that's the guy who runs this place, you know-gave me."

"…what else did the `information' say?"

"Hmm… let's see," Shuuichi retrieved a packet of papers from underneath his clipboard, peering at it. "Your name is Hiei… you're four foot ten without your hair… oh, and you stole money from Sakyo-san."

"…and now you're going to ask me why, ne?"

Shuuichi shook his head. "You wouldn't tell me, would you?"

Hiei gave him a fanged grin. "Most likely not."

"And so I won't ask," Shuuichi concluded. He then turned back to the dot-covered paper. "Are you bored with boxes or shall we continue?"

Hiei `hnn'ed, scratching a line down. He stared at Shuuichi, letting his mind wander. His thoughts drifted out of the realm of what he was supposed to be doing, instead deciding to take a vacation in Shuuichi-land. He and Shuuichi could be together somehow… and Shuuichi would cook him Ramen while wearing a pink apron… and possibly nothing else. He tried to imagine this undoubtedly lovely sight, but found that all he could picture Shuuichi in was that white lab coat… and nothing else. Well, nothing else except for the sneakers, which refused to go away even in his vivid fantasy life with Shuuichi…

Then, the phone rang. Hiei found himself ripped from his fantasy, which was probably a good thing, seeing as how it was best if he didn't imagine his shrink like that…

"Oh, please excuse me, it's probably something important," Shuuichi mumbled getting up from his seat and going over to answer the phone. He glanced down at their game of boxes; Shuuichi was beating him magnificently, although that could be because Hiei hadn't been paying any attention whatsoever… yes.

"Moshi moshi…" Shuuichi said brightly into the receiver. His bright smile quickly faded into a glare. "What have I told you about calling while I'm having appointments?"

Shuuichi drummed his fingers on his desk. "You're exactly right! I said not to do it!" Shuuichi sighed, exasperated. "Yes, I know you love me… oh, don't worry about it, I'll cook. I know you must be busy with work, considering… yes, I'll be just fine."

Hiei stared at Shuuichi, interested. The shrink was either talking to a family member, a lover, or a metrosexual housemate…

"Love you too. Ja," Shuuichi mumbled, placing the phone back on its cradle. He turned to Hiei. "Sorry about that; my boyfriend is rather… solicitous."

"…you're gay?" Hiei asked, disguising both the hope in his voice because of this new development and the disappointment due to the fact that Shuuichi was already attached.

Shuuichi twirled a lock of hair between his fingers, as if considering it. "I suppose so. I usually think of myself as more bisexual than anything, though. Why? Does that bother you?"

Hiei shrugged, looking away. "Eh. The fact that a shrink who pretends to treat me has an alternate lifestyle doesn't affect me."

"Well, if it makes you uncomfortable…"

"It doesn't make me near as uncomfortable as that lab coat does," Hiei said, staring pointedly at Shuuichi's white coat.

Shuuichi gasped. "A breakthrough! You're afraid of lab coats!"

"No…I'm not."

"Hn. Well, then. I'm wasting my time here, aren't I?" Shuuichi asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Possibly."

"Then maybe we should just say goodbye for now," Shuuichi said formally, standing up. He tugged Hiei from his seat, leading him to the door. "I'll see you next week. Have a good day."

Jeez. Mood swings, much? Hiei scoffed mentally; his psychologist needed therapy more than he did. Hiei stepped outside. "Oh, and by the way," he murmured, looking up at Shuuichi, "I did it for my sister." Then he walked back to his room.

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All right, so Hiei hadn't really gained any ground on the field of Making-Shuuichi-Like-Me. Actually, he might have lost ground. Meanwhile, Shuuichi still knew next to nothing about Hiei. So they were even. And besides, just one of Hiei's new fantasies could make up for anything Shuuichi might uncover about him. And Hiei had several new fantasies…

He grinned despite himself. Now, that was a way to relieve stress.

"You sure seem happy," Yuusuke observed. "Did Minamino treat you nice?"

"…possibly," Hiei murmured, letting the happy grin fade.

"Did you play paper battleships?"

"No."

"Boxes?"

"Yes."

"Heh heh. Minamino likes playing boxes."

"So?"

"He must like you…"

"Firstly, Yuusuke, I have no interest in Minamino whatsoever," Hiei lied through his teeth. "Secondly, Minamino has a boyfriend."

"You know about that already? Jeez… I thought I could have some fun playing with your mind, but apparently you've researched him fully…"

"I haven't `researched' him at all. His boyfriend called while we were playing boxes."

"Do you think he likes his boyfriend?" Kuwabara asked.

"I don't care enough to think about it," Hiei muttered, "Because unlike you, I'm not gay."

"Hiei…"

"What?!" he hissed angrily.

"You're a pathological liar, aren't you?"

"Idiot," Hiei growled.

"Ha ha! Hiei has a crush on Minamino!"

"So does everybody else. Idiot."

"Kami-sama, he admitted it!"

"Puh." Hiei collapsed on his bed.

"…you're not dead, are you?" Yuusuke asked, poking Hiei. Hiei didn't respond.

"Yay! He's dead, he's dead!" Kuwabara yelled, dancing around and throwing confetti.

Hiei glared.

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Shuuichi stared at the answering machine.

"I didn't listen to it earlier, but I saved it for you," Karasu told him, wrapping arms around Shuuichi's waist. "I'll delete it if you want me to."

"No, that's all right," Shuuichi mumbled, sighing heavily. "I might as well listen to what she has to say…"

"But why, Shuuichi? It always makes you so sad to hear from her…" Karasu asked, concern leaking into his voice.

"If she makes the effort to contact me, then I might as well listen."

"You don't have an obligation to her, you know. You're your own person," Karasu whispered.

Shuuichi shrugged Karasu off, staring pointedly at him. "Could you leave while I listen?"

"Fine. I'll finish washing the dishes," Karasu huffed, heading toward the kitchen.

Shuuichi plopped down on the couch and pressed the little button. The mechanical voice croaked out something about a message and he pressed the appropriate number.

"Hey, Shuuichi," came the voice from the speaker. It was warm and maternal, telling of freshly baked cookies, happy children, and good times. Oh, how it lied. "How are you? I pray you're doing well. I know it's been a long time since we've talked, but I'd really like for us to have a relationship again. I've been getting help for the past year and I think I'm finally healed. I've been completely clean for the past six months and I'm getting better every day."

Shuuichi sank down in his seat, clutching at the armrests. He swallowed the large lump in his throat, staring at the sofa cushions.

"I got a new job a few weeks ago and it's going well. I'll be out of rehab soon and I'd like to see you sometime. I know you're probably angry at me and I don't blame you if you are. But I want to be a good mother to you. That's all I've ever wanted; I've just messed up a little along the way. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you, Shuuichi. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I pray you'll give me a call or write me a letter. You know where to contact me if you want to. Love you forever!"

Shuuichi wiped away at the tears pricking in his eyes. Every single damn time his mother tried calling him or writing him a letter, it made him cry. He was getting better-at least he didn't sob until he was sick anymore-but it was still pretty bad. The average twenty year-old didn't start wailing whenever his mother decided to contact him.

Of course, they didn't have the relationship of a normal mother and son. He used `mother' in the loosest sense-she was where he had come from, but that was about it. She was hardly ever there when he was a kid, alternating between getting drunk in bars and going to alcoholics anonymous meetings. Shuuichi had been forced to take care of himself at an early age. His mother's food stamps and welfare checks paid for their necessities, but Shuuichi had to do everything else.

His mother was wonderful when she was sober. She was the sweetest, most loving, most completely suffocating woman in the world. She hugged him constantly and was more affectionate than a puppy. It was sickening, really. She always tried to make up for the times she wasn't there by being with him constantly when she was.

Shuuichi hated it. Going from being completely alone to being absolutely suffocated didn't lead to Shuuichi being a very happy or mentally stable individual. He was used to the chaos of living with an alcoholic and drug addict. Normal life just wouldn't be right.

Shuuichi was never happy… his mother's addiction was always holding him back. He couldn't get into any good schools because they couldn't afford the tuition, couldn't go on the interesting field trips, couldn't pay for the things he needed…

But Shuuichi supposed he couldn't blame his mother. She'd had a bad childhood herself and the death of her husband, Shuuichi's father, had sent her completely over the edge.

She just drank and drank… ignoring the fact that the alcohol didn't do a damn thing to alleviate the pain.

No. It wouldn't do to dwell on his past. That would only make him depressed. He fought down the tears building inside him and stood shakily. He wandered to the kitchen, where Karasu had almost finished unloading the dishwasher. He picked up a bowl from the rack and placed it on the shelf.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shuuichi mumbled, putting a plate in its place.

"Tissue?" Karasu asked, holding up a box of Kleenex.

Shuuichi smiled. "Thanks," he said, taking one and blowing his nose. "Sorry about earlier. I was rude."

Karasu shrugged. "So you're hormonal. So what."

"I don't have the right to be mean to you just because my mother upsets me."

"Pfft."

"Fine, don't forgive me," Shuuichi said, sounding hurt.

"Oh, I forgive you," Karasu mumbled, closing the door to the dishwasher. "I love you…"

"Yeah, ditto. So, what do you want to do?"

"Emm… have sex?"

Shuuichi rolled his eyes. "Really."

"I wasn't kidding!"

"Doofus," Shuuichi muttered, flicking him between the eyes.

"Hey!" Karasu said indignantly.

"I'm going to take a shower. You… may do things that do not involve the bathroom. Are we clear?"

"Nope, not at all," Karasu said, eyes shining.

"Whatever. I'll lock the door." Shuuichi closed the door, locking it just as he said he would. Alone, his defenses immediately crashed and a little tear trickled down his face. "Damn… I don't know why the hell it hurts so much, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurts," he muttered as he stepped into the shower, feeling the hot water rolling down his back.

He relaxed slightly. Hot water always did make him feel better.

Finished 9/18/04

Beta-ed by Millennium Dreamer

AN: I fear I'm moving too fast. That wasn't supposed to happen for a while… oh well. Sorry the chappy is late. Mou. I tried, but school happened. Oh, and I'm also sorry that the chapter sucks… pfft. I don't like it at all. But it only took you five minutes to read it, so it's not that much of a waste, ne? mouuu… I'm sorrrrrry! *cries*

Meanwhile, you gave me lots of nice reviews! Please continue the trend!