Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Cry For Me ❯ Chapter I: Desperation ( Chapter 1 )

Cry for Me - Chapter I: Desperation

 

Disclaimer: I forgot to put this last chapter...oops - I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

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`Quiet!' I chided myself. `I think the reverend is about to say something you might want to listen to.' I looked up to the platform. There stood the reverend, dressed in his robes. He closed the book he was reading from.

 

“Since we have no record of existing family members,” he said in a dull tone, “would one of the close friends please step up to close the casket?” He looked at us expectantly. I started to stand up. I knew no one else would be willing to do it, although I wasn't very willing either. I definitely knew Hiei wouldn't be willing.

 

But I was wrong. Hiei stood up faster than I could blink. He pushed my hand away from his face and started walking towards the platform. I followed behind him. Again, Yusuke looked at me quizzically.

 

“Just in case,” I whispered to him. He nodded understandingly.

 

When we reached the platform where the reverend stood, Hiei reluctantly looked down into the casket. I peered down as well, against my will.

 

She looked like she was sleeping. Her crystal eyes were closed. She looked so peaceful lying there, in the cloth-lined coffin. This thought caused a fresh batch of tears to roll down my cheeks. I looked at her ghostly-white pale skin. Hiei gingerly reached down to touch her light blue hair. One of his tears fell of his face and onto her sky kimono. He gently smoothed the wrinkles in her clothes.

 

“Yukina...” he whispered as he slowly closed the casket lid. The lonely klunk it made echoed throughout the room. Hiei leaned on the coffin, and instead of bursting into flames like I thought he would do...he burst into tears.

 

After a couple seconds, I carefully lifted him up like a small child. He leaned his head against my shirt to muffle the sound of him crying. I carried him down the steps of the platform and down the alleyway. As I passed Yusuke, I motioned with my head for him to follow us. He grabbed the back of Kuwabara's collar and started to drag him behind us. The redhead was still mimicking a waterfall.

 

When our procession reached the end of the aisle, Yusuke kicked open the door. We walked down the concrete steps and to the sidewalk. I laid the weeping Hiei in the passenger seat of my mother's teal Nissan Quest as Kuwabara and Yusuke climbed in the back. Before I sat down in the driver's seat, I took one last look at the sign on the Church window that read, “Honor the dead with silence, for there is a funeral today.” I buckled Hiei and myself, placed the key into the ignition, then turned it.

 

It was very difficult to drive with the tears in my eyes, the wailing Kuwabara in the back seat, and the impossible at my right. I made a mental note to thank Yusuke profoundly for being so quiet. I had to travel very slowly to avoid being in an accident, but that didn't present a problem to other drivers. It was rush hour, after all.

 

After an hour of doing what should have taken less than half that amount of time, I decided to take a break. I pulled into the CVS Pharmacy parking lot. Yusuke agreed to watch the two others while I went into the store.

 

I walked down the many aisles reciting a mental shopping list. `Toothpaste, Head & Shoulders, milk, Ben & Jerry's for comfort, and tissues...lots and lots of tissues.' At the checkout line, the cashier looked suspiciously at the two dozen boxes of Kleenex I bought. She also noticed the tears coming out of my eyes.

 

“I heard there was a funeral today,” she commented sadly. “Where you a part of it?” I nodded slowly. “Ah, I figured that's why you were so down. If you don't mind me asking, friend or family?”

 

“A very close friend,” I answered. The cashier looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled comfortingly.

 

“I'll tell you what,” she said. “Just to try and make you feel a little bit better, go ahead and take some of those lollipops. No charge.”

 

“That was very kind of you to offer, but no thank you,” I replied.

 

“All right,” she said. “Suit yourself.”

 

After I got back to the car, I put the materials I bought in the trunk except for a few boxes of tissues. When I climbed back in, I handed them to the still-crying Kuwabara. I noticed that Hiei was also still crying, but he wasn't making any noise doing so. I started up the engine again.

 

“Where is Kuwabara's house?” I asked Yusuke. I had forgotten where it was.

 

“Just take a right at the next street,” he explained. “It's the third house on the left.”

 

“Thank you, Yusuke.” As directed, I took a right and stopped on the left side of the street at the third house. Yusuke and I managed to drag Kuwabara with his tissue boxes up the front steps and to the door. Shizuru came when we rang the doorbell.

 

“Thanks for bringing him home, guys,” she told us.

 

“No problem,” I replied. Kuwabara stood up and gave his sister a hug. I handed her a bag full of Kleenex boxes and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. She gave us another thanks and we exchanged good-byes. I heard her say comforting words to Kuwabara as we walked away.

 

Dropping Yusuke off at his house was pretty much the same. Thanks by Atsuko, give some tissues and ice cream, exchange good-byes, leave. But Hiei was another matter. I decided it was best that I let him stay over at my house until he was ready to leave. When I asked if he was okay with it, he didn't reply. I took it as a yes.

 

My mother was to be out of town for the next week, so I had the house to myself - that is, Hiei and myself. I made the two of us some macaroni and cheese for dinner, while giving myself a mental note to go grocery shopping soon. I practically had to force the food down Hiei's throat in order to make him eat it. This he was not too happy about. He did seem to like the macaroni, though.

 

As I was washing the dishes, I heard a knock on the door. I went to open it and discovered it was Botan. For once she was anything but her bouncy and hyper self. She came by to wish us well, especially Hiei. She did, after all, know that Yukina had been Hiei's sister.

 

Had been. It feels so painful to say those words instead of `was.' If none of this had ever happened, it would be `She did, after all, know that Yukina was Hiei's sister.' But no, it has to be `Yukina had been Hiei's sister.'

 

“Kurama? Are you okay?” Botan asked, bringing me out of my daydreaming.

 

“Oh, yeah, I guess,” I answered unsurely. “What were you saying?”

 

“I was asking if you think Hiei is going to be okay.” I looked over to the fire koorime lying on the couch. He seemed to be staring off into space. He was still crying quite a lot. A wave of sympathy hit me like a tsunami.

 

“I sure hope he's going to be,” I replied after a minute. I turned back to Botan. “Would you like to come in?”

 

“Sure. Thank you.” She walked in and sat on the unoccupied love seat. I closed the front door.

 

“We have some leftover macaroni and cheese in the fridge if you're hungry,” I told her while walking to the kitchen.

 

“No thank you,” she replied. I took three glasses out of the cabinet and placed them on a tray. I opened up the refrigerator door and looked inside.

 

“Would you rather have milk or wine?” I called back to Botan.

 

“Wine, please,” Botan answered. I pulled the glass bottle out of the refrigerator. After opening it, I carried it and the tray with the glasses into the living area. I placed the tray on the coffee table. I poured the wine into the cups and handed one to Botan. I took a second one to Hiei. I told him to take it, but he ignored me. After a few minutes of arguing with him, I ended up pouring the wine in his mouth myself.

 

Apparently, he liked the taste. He yanked the glass out of my hand. He gulped down the drink in one swipe, then handed back the empty glass. I filled it up again and handed it back. This time, Hiei took his time in drinking it. I took the third glass I had brought out. I slowly sipped at the purple liquid.

 

“Isn't there a way Koenma can bring her back?” I asked Botan, sitting next to her.

 

“I'm afraid not,” she answered sadly. “He has already resurrected the maximum limit of people this year.”

 

“I see.” I took another sip of the wine. I had really hoped Koenma could bring her back. That way, we could have forgotten all about this incident and live like nothing had ever happened. I sighed in frustration.

 

A few minutes later, Botan had to leave. We exchanged our good-byes, then I closed the door behind her. I noticed that Hiei had fallen asleep on the couch. I sighed in relief when I picked him up and he didn't wake up. I carried him up to my bedroom. I laid him on my bed and pulled the quilt around him, although I didn't expect him to need it. He was a fire apparition after all.

 

For myself, I laid out a sleeping bag on the floor. It was better than nothing. I stole a pillow from off the bed to use. I lied down and tried desperately to get some sleep.