Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Codependency ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Codependency

Chapter Three

Hiei sat in class, not paying any attention. Nobody else was paying attention either. You know, when in Rome…

He sighed. He had been so busy thinking dirty thoughts about Shuuichi that he'd forgotten all about Yukina for the past two days. That was bad. His sister was dying and all he could think about was some temperamental, moody, gorgeous shrink. See! There it was again!

Hiei buried his head in his arms. He felt so bad… he was thinking more about some pretty boy he'd met only a few days ago than his twin sister. "Yukina…" he mumbled, sighing.

"Urameshi, you think he's having a wet dream about some chick named Yukina?" Kuwabara `whispered', loudly enough for all the people who were awake to hear it. Thankfully, only about a fourth of the class was awake.

"Hm?" Yuusuke murmured sleepily, raising his face from his textbook long enough to stare, confused, at Kuwabara. Then his head fell back onto the pages of his book.

"Jeez, I can't even say mean things about the shrimp-nobody's awake to hear them," Kuwabara muttered indignantly.

"I can hear them," Hiei said, glaring.

"Ehh! Hiei, you're awake!" Kuwabara squeaked in surprise. "I didn't know you were awake!"

Hiei debated whether he should say, `You don't know many things' or `Obviously, I am', while Kuwabara contented himself by gaping openly at his new discovery.

"So, do you know the answer to number three?"

"Yes."

"Well… tell me!"

"…No."

"Whyyyyyy not?" Kuwabara whined.

"Because you're an idiot."

"That's not nice, shrimp!"

"Quiet back there, you two!" the teacher called.

"At least we're awake," Hiei muttered.

The teacher coughed and continued his droning.

Hiei sighed and rolled his eyes. "Here you go," he mumbled, pushing his paper toward Kuwabara.

"…Wow! Thanks, shrimp!"

"Don't get used to it," Hiei growled. He had, despite popular opinion, usually been a fairly decent student-and now that he didn't have a job, there was little else to do besides school work.

Later that day they were supposed to be having visitors. Hiei didn't expect anyone to come for him, considering all the people he knew on the outside either hated him or were dying, but apparently he had to suffer through it anyway. So at the moment most people were either sleeping or counting the time until their family visited. He had gathered from the others that having parents visit was a good thing-they gave food and candy and sometimes even snuck in illegal drugs. With those things, you could get almost anything off the juvie black market. Not that it really mattered to Hiei.

So, later that day Hiei was following Yuusuke and Kuwabara around. Well, not really following them around-just going the same place they went right after they went there. Yes. There was a difference. Either way, they ended up in a large room with tables. Lots of tables. Hiei decided to go sit in a corner by himself, watching as Kuwabara was beat up by a family member-presumably his older sister. Hiei chuckled.

Yuusuke, meanwhile, was sitting by himself as well. He stared at the wall, as if he was trying to bore holes in it with his eyes. It didn't seem like an angry stare, though-it was just intense.

"Hiei! Oh, I'm so sorry!" a voice called. Hiei's gaze snapped upward and his heart took a leap at the voice. Thin arms were thrown around his shoulders; he felt his body being pulled into another's.

"…Yukina? I… I didn't expect you to come…" he whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder.

She pulled back, taking the seat across from him. "Well, I… I missed your trial because I was sick that day… I feel really bad, Hiei. You did it for me…" She stared at the floor, refusing to meet Hiei's gaze.

"It's not your fault, Yukina. You didn't force me to do it; I did it of my own free will. Of course, I still wish I hadn't gotten caught…" He gave her a smile. "But I'm more worried about you. How have you been?"

"Well, I… I was well enough to go to school the other day. I had a ton of work to make up… if I miss much more school I'll be held back…" Yukina folded her hands in her lap. "Meanwhile, the whole school is talking about you. They think it's great that you almost got the better of Sakyo-san. He's very embarrassed about the whole thing…"

"I would imagine…"

"Anyway…" A tense silence followed, with both thinking of what to say next. "Mom is getting worse… I'm worried about her; I think she's going to die soon…" Yukina stared down at her hands; there were little teardrops on them.

"No…" Hiei gasped, covering his mouth. He swallowed the lump in his throat with difficulty before continuing. "But Yukina… no… that can't happen!"

"I'm sorry, Hiei… she just keeps getting sicker and sicker. She hasn't left her bedroom for a week… she scarcely leaves her bed… I cook for the two of us when I can, but I'm sick most of the time too…"

"Damn," Hiei ground out through clenched teeth. "This wasn't supposed to happen…" He rested his head on the table weakly. "I'm sorry, Yukina… so sorry…"

"It's not your fault, Hiei…"

"Yes it is! I'm supposed to be taking care of you and mother, but instead I'm here! Stuck in this stupid place…"

"Hiei… you care too much… stop worrying, you can't do anything about this… the situation is beyond anyone's control," Yukina murmured, threading her fingers through Hiei's hair soothingly.

"It shouldn't be! It's not fair that you and mother are going to die! What did the two of you ever do to deserve to die?!"

Yukina's lips turned up in a sweet, sad smile. "That's just the way the world works, Hiei. Life has never been fair-some people have everything and others have nothing. But don't think our family was one of those who got nothing, Hiei. We have a lot to be thankful for. We have each other and we have all our memories… we can't rightly ask for anything else, can we?"

"Yes we can! Everybody else does and you know that, Yukina! So many people don't have to worry about the things we have to worry about… the gods must hate us…"

"Don't say that, Hiei… it's not true."

"How can you be so calm and accepting, Yukina? You're… you're dying…"

"What makes you think that?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"You… you will…"

"We'll all die in the end, Hiei. We go when it's our time to, all right? Now, don't be so sad," she said, patting the top of his head. "You've done enough. Now I'm going to do all that I can to make everything right." She placed a hand on the table, pushing herself into a standing position. "I'd better be leaving now… I told mother I'd be back in time to cook her some supper…"

Hiei stood as well, glancing around the room for a moment before hugging Yukina once more. "I love you," he whispered so that he was sure no one else heard it.

"I love you too, Hiei…" she replied, before pulling away and walking out the door. He stared after her, feeling a wave of guilt hit him. Yukina was dying, and yet she was so much nicer a person than he was… she was always so sweet and loving…

"Are you OK?" came a voice from beside Hiei's ear; he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Shuuichi…" he mumbled, still staring at the door.

"I assume she was your sister…"

Hiei nodded. "She's dying," he whispered sadly.

"You okay?" Shuuichi asked, sounding strained and tired. Hiei spun around to face the redhead.

"I'm fine," he said quickly, although his voice was a little shaky. "What's wrong?"

Shuuichi gave him a weary smile. "There's nothing wrong. Just had a long night."

"With your… boyfriend?" Hiei asked.

Shuuichi let out a dry laugh. "I'm sure he wishes…"

Hiei gave an internal sigh of relief. "Hn. Well, I guess I'll see you again soon, ne?"

"Oh? Yes, you will. I do suppose I should talk to the others as well…" He wandered off to talk to Kuwabara's family.

Hiei stared after him. Shuuichi was still beautiful, but… there was something different about him. His eyes weren't quite as shiny as they usually were…and he seemed to have lost some of his alluring charm. Hiei couldn't help but think that something really was wrong-he didn't know the shrink at all, but he could just tell.

He `hn'ned. He had problems of his own to deal with.

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"Hiei, who was that hot chick you were talking to earlier? I thought you said you weren't interested in women!"

"…that was my sister, you moron," Hiei answered, glaring at Kuwabara.

"Wow…" Kuwabara murmured, little hearts floating around his eyes. "Well, it's obvious who won the genetic lottery in your family…"

"Shut up."

"But she's hot! And pretty!"

"…and she's dying."

"Dying?! Hot chicks can't die! Isn't that right, Urameshi?!"

"Shut up, idiot," Yuusuke warned as he watched Hiei. The boy's fists were clenched in anger, misty red eyes boring holes into the wall. "So…she was the reason you wanted all that money?"

"If you can't figure that out yourself, then you're not worth the time it would take to explain," Hiei muttered, standing abruptly. He stalked from the room.

"…damn. Now I feel sorry for the shrimp. Not only is he a midget, but his hot sister is dying," Kuwabara said.

"Well gee, why don't you fix it then?" Yuusuke grunted.

"…?"

Yuusuke rolled his eyes. "You're rich, stupid. Pocket change ain't a problem for you. Figure it out."

Thirty minutes later, Kuwabara exclaimed, "I get it, Urameshi! I GET IT! …hey, where'd he go?"

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Hiei sat against a random wall, knees pulled up to his chest. There were no tears on his face, but his shoulders shook and there was a lump stuck in his throat. People had passed by him, but he was ignored for the most part. He wasn't paying any heed to the other delinquents wandering the halls anyway. He was surprised when he heard a loud, unfamiliar voice right next to him.

"Oi!"

His gaze snapped upward, to see a red-haired, blue-eyed teen standing near him. Next to him was a short boy with blue hair and green bangs.

"What's wrong with you?" the redhead asked, cocking his head to the side.

Hiei didn't answer.

"Oh, c'mon! Turn that frown upside down!"

"…you're probably scaring him, Jin," the other boy said quietly.

"Nonsense, Touya!" Jin exclaimed in his Irish-sounding voice. "I'll wiggle my ears if you smile!" he said to Hiei.

Hiei stood and began walking away.

"Wait up, kid!" Jin yelled, running after him.

"I told you so," Touya whispered, sitting down where Hiei had been moments before. "This is a nice wall…"

Meanwhile, Hiei was running away from Jin, who was still hot on his trail. He wasn't used to someone being able to catch up with him, and the fact that Jin was on his heels was slightly confusing. However, he ignored that-if he couldn't outrun Jin, he'd have to find a place to hide.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he yelled, rocketing down the halls.

"Get back here, kid! I wanna see you smiiiiiiiile!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Hiei yelled again, but this time it was because he was about to run into someone. "Oww… this happens too often…" He mumbled, staring up at Shuuichi. "Hello." He had smacked into Shuuichi's arms and torso and probably would have knocked him over if Shuuichi hadn't been about a foot taller than him.

"Oh, hello Hiei. Fancy seeing you here…" Shuuichi mumbled, rubbing his probably bruised arms.

"Sorry about that," Hiei said, noticing Shuuichi's gesture. "I was… running away from this… red-haired person…" He tried to catch his breath.

"Oh, Jin, you mean? He's still chasing you, see?" Shuuichi said, pointing at the approaching red blur. "I like Jin. He's… interesting."

Jin skidded to a stop in front of the two. "Oh, hello, Shuuichi. Now, I am not going to leave you alone until you smile!" He yelled to Hiei, even though he was only about five inches away from the boy.

Hiei covered his ears to prevent further hearing damage.

"You know, Jin… if you really wanted him to smile, you could…" Shuuichi stepped toward Jin, whispering something in his ear. Hiei watched with interest, tilting his head to the side. He cautiously lowered his hands from his ears.

The two seemed rather occupied with planning Hiei's doom. The boy wisely inched away. After they didn't seem to notice, he took off running, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"…hey, he's gone!" Jin yelled, suddenly noticing the lack of Hiei.

"Are you going to chase him?"

"No, I don't suppose so. I can always make him smile later. And anyway, I have to keep my buddy Touya out of trouble," he said, nodding to the side. "…huh? WHERE'S TOUYA? TOUYAAAAA!"

Shuuichi grinned as Jin ran away. "Maybe this day is taking a turn for the better…"

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"And then this red-head was chasing me!" Hiei yelled.

"Shuuichi was chasing you?!" Yuusuke asked, in a tone that indicated he'd like it if Shuuichi chased him.

"No! I think his name was… Tin-tin… or… Shin…or…"

"Jin?" Yuusuke supplied.

"Yep, that was it!" Hiei said. "What, do you know him?"

"He's my half-brother."

"Ah. That would explain it."

"Eh?"

"…you're both so damn annoying."

"Don't say bad things about my brother."

"Neh."

"Kuwabara was looking for you earlier… I suppose he'll eventually wander back here…"

"Hn. He probably wouldn't be able to find his way back here."

"He's slightly smarter than that."

"Why was he looking for me, anyway?" Hiei asked.

"Oh, I dunno," Yuusuke shrugged. "He probably just thought of a half-decent insult and wanted to run and yell at you before he forgot it…"

"No matter how convincing you might sound to yourself, I know you're lying," Hiei said, giving Yuusuke a sideways glance.

"…how'd you know?" Yuusuke asked, surprised that Hiei had seen through his lie. He had thought it was brilliant, but apparently…

"Firstly, that idiot couldn't think of a half-decent insult to save his life."

Hiei was about to continue, but was interrupted by the sliding open of the door. "You pudding-headed short person!" Kuwabara yelled.

"I rest my case," Hiei said.

Kuwabara ignored the comment. "I've been looking all over for you!" He plopped down on his bed angrily. "Where have you been?"

Hiei refused to answer. The embarrassment of being chased around the compound by a crazy boy was still a little too fresh to be waving around flyers about it.

"Whatever." Kuwabara muttered. His tone suddenly became serious. "I… wanted to talk to you about your sister…"

Hiei's face went completely blank. "Go on…"

"She's dying, so I wanted to help… my family is loaded, so I thought I'd pay her medical bills."

Hiei stared at Kuwabara. The choice was obvious… sure, it would mean accepting help from someone he disliked to the extreme, but… that didn't matter as long as Yukina survived.

"Why are you even asking me? Do you think I'd refuse?"

"…no; actually, I already transferred a check to the hospital. I just figured it would be better if you told Yukina that she was getting an operation-I mean, rather than… my butler or my door-answering man or the guy who fixed my fruit cocktails…"

"…fruit cocktails?" Yuusuke asked.

"Well, gee, is there anything about this that isn't final?"

"…the hospital's menu probably isn't finalized yet," Kuwabara said thoughtfully.

Silence reigned for a moment. However, Silence, like most other tyrants, was overthrown by some random guy wearing a fez.

"…thanks," Hiei muttered grudgingly. "I… I'd hug you or something sappy like that, except that it would probably cause me to… blow chunks. Oh, and the readers would probably throw things. You know, more than they do normally."

"Yeah, you're welcome."

"Oh, and I hope you don't think that just because you're doing this, I'm going to let you go out with my sister," Hiei said warningly, "Because I'm not."

"Whatever you say, shorty."

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That night at supper, Hiei couldn't help but smile. To preserve at least a smidgeon of his image, it was only a small upturning of his lips, but it was nevertheless a smile.

Yukina would live… and he'd be out of jail in six months… Yukina had been right earlier. Maybe things weren't as bad as he had thought they were… maybe everything would be all right…

"He's smiling, Touya! See, he's smiling!" Jin exclaimed, hurrying over to Hiei. Hiei sighed, exasperated. "Oh, and look! I told you I'd wiggle my ears if you smiled, and you did, so I am!"

"Stop wiggling your ears, Jin. You'll scare people," Touya hissed.

"You like my wiggle, don't you?" Jin asked, teary-eyed.

Touya rolled his eyes. "Of course I do."

"YES! LOVE ME FOR THE WIGGLE!" Jin shouted, dancing around and wiggling his ears emphatically.

Hiei sweat-dropped, edging away.

"Hmm… seems as if your life is improving, ne?"

"…certainly looks like it."

Finished 10/03/04

Beta-ed by the voices in my head

AN: Wow… sorry for the long wait. I've had a ton of school stuff for the past two weeks… had mid-term type things last week… but I'm off next week, so maybe I can get a jump on writing. Yesh.

Oh, and `Love me for the wiggle' belongs to Shiggy-chan, AKA my cousin `Gure. Yellow roses to `Gure, despite the fact that she won't read my stories… grrrrr.

Must post, must post! I would've had MillenniumDreamer beta it, except she hasn't replied yet and I figure you readers are angry and stuff… mou. So I post. Yesh.