Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Codependency ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Codependency

Chapter Six

Shuuichi slid the door open, peering cautiously inside. "All right, the coast is clear," he whispered to himself, sliding the door shut and locking it behind him. He wandered to his old room, taking his clothes from the chest of drawers. He piled them into his suitcase and closed the lid, moving on to the bathroom.

"Hello," came the cheerful voice from behind him.

Shuuichi spun around. "Karasu?"

The man smiled, walking forward. "Need any help?"

"No, I'm fine," Shuuichi answered. "I…didn't think you'd be here."

"Well, I figured you'd come by today. I wanted to say goodbye, so I took off work."

A look of discomfort crossed over Shuuichi's face.

"If it bothers you that much, I'll leave."

"No, it's all right," Shuuichi murmured, shaking his head distractedly. "I just didn't know you knew my break-up habits so well…"

Karasu grinned. "Youko tipped me off. We went to undergrad school together, remember?"

"Ah! Yes," Shuuichi answered as he opened the bathroom door, venturing inside. He took his shampoo and towels.

"What brand of shampoo is it again?" Karasu asked. Shuuichi showed him the bottle. "Oh! Right! I'll have to remember that now that I can't take it from you anymore…"

"I always knew you were stealing my shampoo…"

"I couldn't help myself."

"Riiiiiight."

"Really!" Karasu said, leaning against the counter. "You going to take your kitchen utensils with you, too?"

"Of course."

"What about your… spatula?" Karasu asked, in a sneaky voice.

"I'm taking that too."

"Whyyyyy? I liked the spatula!" Karasu whined.

"Buy your own. Kami knows you have plenty of money," Shuuichi muttered, dragging his bag to the kitchen. Karasu followed him.

"Speaking of which… I'll give you money if you need it. You know that, right?"

Shuuichi shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"But if you're not, Shuu-chan… if you start having trouble… well, you know where to find me."

Shuuichi smiled. "All right." He zipped up his suitcase. "Well, I guess this is goodbye…"

"Yeah," Karasu mumbled, looking away. "I'm sorry it couldn't work out… I'm sorry for being so evil, too…"

Shuuichi gave him a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. "That's all right; it would have ended anyway. I mean, we're both smiling while we're breaking up, aren't we?"

Karasu laughed softly. "I suppose it was never meant to work out, then?"

"Probably not."

"So we'll part and never speak again?"

"Well, I hope we speak again. I mean, you were quite nice when we were just friends."

"Shuuichi, everything changes once you've dated someone."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Don't be so old-fashioned."

"What? It's a fact of life!"

"Don't be a frump; sex is a fact of life."

"No, it's a requirement…"

"I'm leaving now."

"Oh, all right. Well, goodbye and have a nice life!" Karasu called merrily as Shuuichi walked toward the door.

"Hmm… I'll call you when I'm ready to."

"K."

"Ja, then," Shuuichi said, walking out the door; he never looked back.

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"Still lovesick?" Yuusuke chirped at breakfast.

"No."

"Really, now? What did you do that cured it, then?" Yuusuke asked, eyes glittering dangerously.

"…I kissed Shuuichi," Hiei muttered, poking at his scrambled eggs.

"What?! YOU KISSED MINAMINO?!" Yuusuke yelled, jumping up.

"Shh, everyone doesn't need to know!" Hiei shrieked, yanking Yuusuke back in his seat.

"But you kissed him! You kissed him!" Yuusuke was gaping at him, eyes wide and fish-like.

"Well, it's not like he enjoyed it."

"Are you a really bad kisser or something?"

"I dunno. It was just… bad timing." Yuusuke looked utterly perplexed; Hiei sighed and continued. "I didn't mean to kiss him… it just sorta happened."

"Was your libido just uncontrollable?"

Hiei glared. "It was nothing like that."

"Really, now?"

"He was crying."

"Crying because you kissed him? Jeez, Hiei… it must've been pretty bad… what, have you never kissed anyone before?!"

"That's beside the point!"

"No it isn't… ha ha! That means you just had your first kiss! Ha ha!"

"Shut up," Hiei growled. "It's not a good thing."

"What, were you saving yourself for someone even more special than Shuuichi Minamino?"

"Yuusuke, you are even more of an idiot than Kuwabara."

"I heard my name…" Kuwabara, who had been sitting next to the two of them the whole time, said.

"I didn't hear your name," Hiei said. "And neither did Yuusuke."

"He's right, I didn't hear anything."

"But you said my name! I know you did!" Kuwabara said pleadingly.

"I didn't say your name," Hiei said evasively. "You must be schizophrenic."

"Ahh! My poor mind…" Kuwabara mumbled.

Hiei covered his mouth to keep from laughing. It was a mean trick… gwa ha ha! He turned back to Yuusuke. "Meanwhile, I doubt Shuuichi will ever want to see me again."

"Aww, poor Hiei," Yuusuke murmured, patting him `soothingly' on the back. "Don't be so sad, they'll probably make you do group therapy with Yomi now… and although he's really ugly, it's really great to make fun of him…" Yuusuke grinned.

"So I suppose you do group therapy with him?"

"Of course. You start out with Shuuichi, and after a while you go to Yomi… the government's way of saving money. Hire a student and a group therapist…"

"How long have you been here?"

"A year and a half."

"What'd you do?"

"Beat up a teacher."

"Really?"

"…Assaulted a police officer."

"Ne?"

"…robbed a bank…"

"What?!"

Yuusuke grinned. "OK, so maybe not that last one… I just beat a couple people up really badly. Broke their ribs… legs… arms… there was lots of blood."

Hiei inched away.

"Hey, it's nothing!" Yuusuke said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I was just really mad, you know."

"You're a psycho, aren't you?"

Yuusuke shrugged. "Maybe. Besides, we're supposed to be talking about you, not me. After all, your kisses make Minamino cry."

Hiei glared venomously at Yuusuke; the other boy just smiled brightly. "Such a moron…" Hiei muttered, exasperated.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

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There was a knock at the door. Hiei stared at it, trying to use his Uber-Spiffy X-Ray Visionâ"¢ to see who it was. There was more knocking, and sadly, Hiei's superhuman powers still weren't working. He got up and opened the door.

"Shuuichi?!" he asked, shocked. He gaped up at the redhead for a moment before recovering. "I… erm… didn't expect you'd come to see me after yesterday…" A Bad Thought suddenly entered Hiei's mind. No, not a perverted Bad Thought, but a Bad Thought like `maybe Shuuichi is here to see Yuusuke or Kuwabara and I've just made even more of a fool of myself' or maybe an `OH KAMI, HE'S COME HERE TO BEAT ME UP AND STEAL MY SHOES!' thought. Hiei's now-frightened eyes studied Shuuichi's face intently. He was prepared to run away as fast as he could if the redhead showed even the slightest sign of anger. Thankfully, though, Shuuichi didn't seem the least bit cross-in fact, Shuuichi looked better than Hiei had ever seen him. He was… smiling brightly… ooh!

"Hello, Hiei. I need to talk to you about what happened yesterday…" Shuuichi trailed off, flashing Hiei a brilliant, beautiful smile. Hiei could almost feel himself melting into a puddle of Shuuichi-induced goo. No! He must be strong! "Would you… walk with me?"

Oh. Hiei had figured out Shuuichi's plan! He would lure him away from the witnesses… and then he would attack him viciously with a Sharpie and give him a poisoned lollipop and dump his body in a cornfield! He would end up like Johnny Depp's ex-wife in Secret Window! Noooooooo!

Then again, Hiei couldn't refuse Shuuichi… not when he was smiling like that… it seemed like a real smile, too… his traitorous feet walked toward Shuuichi. "Sure," Hiei's Benedict Arnold-esque mouth whispered. And pretty soon Hiei found himself unwillingly following wherever Shuuichi was leading him…

Shuuichi plopped down in the grass; Hiei took a spot next to him, staring around them. They were next to the basketball court, where several boys were beating each other up while randomly throwing a ball around. Hiei glanced at the redhead, who was absent-mindedly pulling tufts of grass from the ground and examining them. Hiei decided not to ask.

Shuuichi gave Hiei a sideways glance, letting the grasses drop through his fingers and to the ground. "About yesterday… I'm sorry I was so weird. I don't do that often, I've just been having a tough time lately… and I'm sorry if I freaked you out or anything."

Was Shuuichi going to avoid the subject of the kiss completely? Or was he trying to suggest that the reason Hiei kissed him was because of something Shuuichi had done? If so, then… that was just messed up. "I didn't kiss you because I was freaked out, if that's what you're getting at."

"Oh," Shuuichi murmured, sounding a little surprised. "Why, then?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Like I said yesterday, because I love you."

"How can you love me when you barely know me?"

"Because Yuusuke says so."

"You're listening to Yuusuke now?"

"No."

"Oh. I'm glad," Shuuichi said, relieved.

"But really… Shuuichi, I'm happy when you're happy and it hurts me when you're sad. What else could it be?"

"Friendship?"

"You said it yourself; I don't know you that well. Feelings like that only develop from very close friendships…"

"But you can't love me. You just can't."

Hiei sighed. "I can't help the way I feel, Shuuichi. Just like you can't help the way you feel about your mother… and Karasu… and everybody else."

Shuuichi sighed. "You're right. I can't blame you for feeling that way and if I tried to make your feelings out to be something else, I'd just be mocking you."

"Wow, Shuuichi! Your psychology skills are improving!"

Shuuichi giggled softly. "I'm glad you think so, Hiei." He smiled. "In that case, would you like to keep seeing me once a week?"

Hiei shrugged. "I won't be coming for the therapy. It'll be because I want to see you, to talk to you."

"That's all right," Shuuichi mumbled, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"What happened to make you so happy?"

"Karasu and I officially broke up this morning."

"And that makes you really, really happy?"

"Well, I dunno… I'm glad it's over and I'm glad Karasu doesn't hate me… all the others hated me after we broke up. And, well… it's just great to have the weight off my shoulders. I mean, I yelled at my mommy and I dumped Karasu and… I talked to you! So I'm just happy!"

"It's nice to see you happy for a change."

"Yeah, well you came at a bad time. I'm not usually as depressed and angsty as I've been lately."

Hiei felt a big, idiotic smile wash over his face. Even if his love for Shuuichi might fade in time… he was indescribably happy now. And sometimes, the present is all that matters.

"So, Shuuichi… how do you feel about me?" Hiei asked. He wouldn't fear Shuuichi's answer. The truth was the truth and he'd deal with it.

"Hiei, you… you're a sweet kid," Shuuichi murmured, ruffling his hair.

"Just a kid?"

"I think so," Shuuichi mumbled, sounding apologetic.

"Well, that's OK, then. I can deal with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Hiei answered. His eyes widened in shock when Shuuichi slipped warm arms around him.

"Thanks, Hiei. You're the greatest."

Hiei glowed. Shuuichi pulled back. "Sooo, what are you going to do when you get out of here?" he asked conversationally.

"Well, I'm going to take care of my sister and my mother… and finish high school… and go to college. And then I'm going to come here and TAKE YOUR JOB! BWA HA HA HA HA!"

Shuuichi sweat-dropped. "I hope I'm not working here when you're in college, Hiei. I mean, I'll be almost twenty-five… and still working for the government… eww."

"…we have a big age gap, don't we?" Hiei asked.

"Four years."

"Jeez! Our relationship could never work out anyway."

"I don't see why not. Karasu was forty-seven and we had a pretty good relationship for at least a year…"

Hiei hyperventilated. "WHAT?!"

Shuuichi giggled, patting Hiei on the back playfully. "I'm kidding, silly. Karasu is only twenty-three. Jeez, my dad is probably forty-seven…"

"You are evil…" Hiei said, gasping. "I mean, it's bad enough that I'm in love with a gold digger, but… oh, Kami-sama… I was beginning to think you were like those chicks on soap operas!"

"You're so silly!"

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"So, how'd it go with Shuuichi?"

"Well, he's happy."

"That's good. Did you kiss him again?"

"No."

"Then that must be why he's happy."

Hiei glared venomously at Yuusuke, tossing a pillow at his head. Yuusuke ducked and it hit Kuwabara instead. "Ow! Don't start throwing stuff again!"

"But anyway, what was he saying?"

"He's OK with my feelings, but he just thinks of me as a little kid."

"So he rejected you?"

"I guess so."

"You upset about it?" Yuusuke asked, concerned.

Hiei shook his head. "It was more than I had hoped for, actually. He said I could keep going to see him… and then he said mean things and I hyperventilated."

"Oh. Wow. Well, it sounds like the two of you had fun, at least…"

"Oh, hey, shrimp!" Kuwabara said, as if suddenly remembering something.

"What?"

"Your sister had her operation today!"

"What? Already? …wow. So, do you know how it went?"

"Well, Shizuru said she's fine."

Hiei smiled. "I'm glad."

"So, can I go out with her when she's better? Huh, can I?"

Hiei glared. "It's up to her, you idiot."

"You mean you're not against it?" Kuwabara asked happily.

"Oh, I'm against it. But really, it isn't my decision."

"Yay! Thank you, Hiei!"

"Hug me and you die."

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. As soon as I get out of here, I'm hugging your sister! Hell yeah!"

Yuusuke wisely bashed him over the head with a large, blunt object. Kuwabara was unconscious for several hours.

"Thanks, Yuusuke."

Yuusuke grinned. "It's nothing, really."

Finished on 10/24/04

Beta-ed by nobody because I'm behind as it is… -_-;; Must post quickly!

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