Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Tears ❯ Chapter 1

It's so cold...

The snow drifted slowly onto the cold, hard ground, covering the dead world with a blanket of coldness. It was like the heavens were trying to hide the harshness of the world. It didn't fool anyone though, we all know what lies under those minute crystals. We all know that when the scorching sun dominates the sky again, this temporary cover will melt away and reveal our sins once again. It's not like we even need to hide it under something like the snow anyways; as time passed us by, we learned how to turn a blind eye to all our flaws until we all walked down a well trodden path blindly. Isn't that how we live anyway? Simply putting one foot in front of the other until there is no more path for us to walk down. Then we simply fall into nothingness. Nothingness? Now that I think about it, Life is nothing but nothingness, at least for me. So, if life is nothingness, then why do I cling onto life so desperately?

The snow crunches loudly under my heavy shoes. I looked around, but the streets looks pretty much deserted. I'm not really surprised; what kind of a person would stay out in the snow when they have nice, warm homes to be in? Well, at least what sane person; you'd have be to at least neurotic to leave a large nice home where you're pampered to your heart's delight, having no desire denied. You'd have to be like me to leave all that. God, I can imagine them just yelling at me for feeling the good life, that I'm so damn lucky to be in that position, that there are more deserving people than I who have to break their backs just to put food on the table. Let those idiots take it; all of that luxury isn't worth the price, nothing is worth that price.

Finally, I find a park where I can rest. The glow of the lamplight offers little comfort, but it's the most comfort I had in a long while. How long? I'd lost track of all means of time, I don't think it even means anything to me anymore. Brushing off some of the snow on the bench, I lie down, my tired legs curled up at my chest and my arms wrapped around myself to try to keep warm. I should have brought warmer clothes; it was late summer when I left, who knew I'd be wandering this long? A strand of my long blue hair falls across my face, with tiny flakes of snow clinging to it. I imagine I'm quite the sight right now, a teenage, blue haired girl lying on a park bench in the middle of the snow dressed in fall clothes. Big, black sneakers dangled off the side of the bench while my legs were encased in tight dark capris under a beige skirt with high slits on both sides. A big, rocking belt hung loosely on my hips and a thin quarter sleeve shirt clinging thinly on my build. At least that extra tank top over the quarter sleeve shirt and that long scarf I grabbed at the last second is providing some degree of warmth.

I picked up my bag, that I had dropped earlier by my feet, and used it as a pillow while I looked up at the dark, velvet sky. By now, a handsome stranger should be walking by, who the hell knows why, and notice poor little old me. He'll be tall, kind hearted man, around my age, wearing a heavy, thick jacket. He'll smile at me and offer me his warm jacket. I'd give one of those innocent smiles while looking up at him with large, sad eyes. He'd fall in love with me immediately and I with him. He'd take me home and we'd live together, deeply in a love that never fades with time, only grows. We'd have a cute family, strong boys who like him and delicate girls who look like me, and our house would always be happy. My gaze flickered from the sky to park around. No sign of life anywhere; well, besides me. I let out a scornful scoff, though there was no one to hear me, and rolled over to my side. Stupid idiot, those kind of things only happen in the minds of idle children. The same idiots who write those romance stories; everyone knows that this world, there's nothing but pain; greed; anger; sadness; and, most importantly, hate. No matter how much they want to deny it, the world reeks of it; I'm just not bullshitting about its existence.

I closed my eyes; the world is sickening me, trying to look beautiful with its fallen snow and glowing lights. I try to hide away from it all in the dark nightmare that is my mind. I feel detached from everything except the memories of my own life that swirl around me in my mind's eye. I can catch brief glimpse of the moments that passed through my life. Some I didn't know I remembered and some I wished I didn't. In the midst of it all, I can hear a little twinkling music in the background. A piano, a flute, a music box? I can't tell, but does it matter? I don't think I care; all I know is that it's slowly rocking me away into sleep.

Yusuke woke up to the bright light that now filled his small room. Groaning, he tried to fall back into sleep, but his mind was too wake to let him dive into his dream again. After trying to fall asleep for about five minutes, Yusuke kicked off the covers angrily and trudged downstairs while cursing the light under his breath. Though it was already winter, Yusuke's pajamas consisted of loose, cotton slacks and a thin black wife beater. Downstairs, Yusuke sleepily opened the door to retrieve the morning newspaper and shivered as the sharp winter air bit into his bare flesh. His icy cold feet walked gingerly on the wooden floor and walked over to the kitchen, trying to scrounge up a decent breakfast. With his mom away visiting a distant relative, Yusuke was left to his own devices. Thank God for Keiko, or he would've starved to death about five hours after his mother left.

Yusuke opened the rice cooker and found about two bowls worth of rice left inside, cold and a little hard. Rolling his eyes, he slammed the cooker close and opened his refrigerator only to find that there was nothing to eat, at least nothing suitable for his mood. A little irritated, Yusuke slumped into a chair and began reading the newspaper. Usually, Yusuke would throw away the boring, political pages and go straight for the funnies, laughing his ass off at stories intended for a younger audience. But the past few days, Yusuke had been following closely with the current news, reading about any freakish incident. Yusuke no longer took an active part as a spirit detective, though he had been called for a few minor duties; still, Yusuke felt like something big was going to happen, though he could not explain nor say what the hell was going to happen.

The paper ran as the following:

Rare, Large Diamond Mysteriously Disappears From a Private Collection
Mysterious thief broke into Abtahi Mansion, stole diamond and injured numerous guards last night

By Tomoyo Nawasugo

Tokyo- Franticinvestigators flood the Abtahi Mansion, searching for various clues and interrogating many servants while the medical unit tend to the guards, injured while on duty. Late into the long hours of last night, a mysterious thief broke into the mansion and took off with a rare and valuable diamond, though nothing else seems to be missing.

Yusuke skimmed down the boring, elaborated details of the story and plucked various bits of information as his quick eyes scanned through the article.

The diamond was a newly acquired item in the Abtahi collection of rare artifacts.

Unusually large and lustrous, the diamond is said to be easily worth about 3.5 millions dollars, although almost nothing is known about the diamond's history.

Late at night, the thief broke into the house, managed to elude all the high-tech alarms installed in the mansion, steal the diamond from its alarm triggered safe, and leave without leaving a trace, save for the mass of injured guards on duty

Though there was the no serious damages, the elusion of both alarm and police left the victim and law enforcers deeply troubled.

Further investigation show that the theft was done in a very similar style as the famous Osamu thief, who stole many valuable jewels and other artifacts . Osamu, her name possibly chosen to mock the law enforcement department, was never caught, though she eventually stopped dealing in her trade forty years ago. But, Osamu was ruled out as the thief must have been very young to manage to execute the theft. Also, instead of Osamu's usually calling card, burning her signature at the scene of the crime, a solid ice figure was left in the safe, shaped into the signature reading "Nanashi".

"Nanashi?" Yusuke mused aloud. He had to smile; it was a very good name for a thief, the meaning fitting quite well the persona of a thief. Thoroughly amused by the exploits of now famous Nanashi, Yusuke folded the newspaper and climbed up the stairs into his room. In there, he rummaged through the drawers, searching for a pair of scissors. Pulling them out, Yusuke proceeded to clip out the article and slipped it into a red folder. In there was little odds and ends of bits of paper, quirky things that Yusuke felt worth saving for later musings. Glancing at the clock, Yusuke decided to dress and meet up with his friends later.

(\../)
(^.^)
(''')(''') Wiz no Usagi!

In the bright sunlight, the fallen snow gleamed even whiter, almost blinding Yusuke. Leaning against a table outside a restaurant, he waited patiently for his friends, though his patience was wearing a little thin from looking like an outcast standing by himself. The owner of the restaurant kept coming out of the store, glancing at Yusuke when he thought the teenager wasn't looking. Yusuke sighed, knowing why he kept coming out; dressed in loose jeans with a spike studded belt and a gray T-shirt slightly wrinkled that he had found lying somewhere on the floor didn't help his image much. His punker converse shoes kicked a pebble as he was debating whether he should leave or just stay to piss the hell out of the owner when he heard a loud shout.

"Urameshi! Long time no see."

There he was, the loud, the obnoxious, comical Kuwabara in all his glory. Also in baggy jeans, Kuwabara wore a loose shirt under a thin navy jacket. The tall teenage boy sauntered over to Yusuke and immediately grappled him into a tight headlock.

"Damn, boy, where the hell have you been all winter vacation? Did you sleep all day?"

"Let me go!" Yusuke wriggled out of Kuwabara's grasp and scowled fiercely, "It's not like I had anything better to do. There's nothing going on to keep me busy these days."

"Wah! Did you not hear the news? The wildfire, the political instability, the mysterious thief? The world is ALIVE!"

Kuwabara started to dance a little gay dance as Yusuke turned slightly away so that it wouldn't appear as if he knew the dancing idiot. When it seemed like Yusuke could bear no more of Kuwabara's embarrassing dance, he heard a loud noise and then loud quarreling.

"WHAT THE HELL!?!"

"Tch, you look like a bigger idiot dancing like that; I couldn't help but to smack you."

"Watch it, shorty, or I'll kick your little tiny ass around the whole place."

"Heh. Those who talk big only give out empty threats. When you have the courage to actually carry them out, I'll at least pretend to be afraid."

Yusuke smirked at the last comment; there was only one guy who would say such a thing; he turned around and, lo and behold, there was Hiei rolling his eyes apathetically as Kuwabara flew into another hissy fit. Yusuke was taken back a little at the sight of Hiei; Hiei had ditched the flowing black robe that stood out so much in human society. He wore dark jeans, not as baggy as Kuwabara's gangster jeans though, and a sleek black jacket. His silver chain glistened brightly against his dark colored shirt, though Yusuke could not make out the pendant.

"Hiei, what's with the change of clothes? You usually don't care what the other humans think of your usual clothes."

" Kurama picked these out for me. Trust me, if I had any say in it, I wouldn't even be here."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at this, "Since when did you become Kurama's little Bitch? Did he whip your ass in the bedroom?"

Yusuke had to duck to evade an answering punch. "Good God, Yusuke! You're a sick, little horny mo-"

"Hiei!"

Both males turned to the sound of the voice and found Botan, Keiko, and Kurama standing in uncomfortably. Obviously, they had heard the conversation which brought the blush into the girls' faces. They stared wide eyed while Kurama suddenly became very interested in his shoes.

He cleared his throat and said, "Sorry we took so long. Botan practically had to beg to get the day off."

"Why?"

"Oh, various reasons. The Spirit World has a lot on their hands now, especially with the robbery."

"The robbery? Weird, there was a robbery here in the human world too. By some new thief called Nanashi."

"Nanashi? Damn, it made the human news already?"

"Wait, you're telling me that the Nanashi robbery has something to do with the Spirit World?"