Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Grief ❯ A Smile not Forgotten ( Chapter 18 )

Eighteen

A Smile Not Forgotten

 

 

 

No one knew how they did it, but the trio appeared from thin air just a little ways away from Genkai's temple. Kurama and Hiei were the first to sense their energies and went rushing out towards them. They found Touya unconscious with the pair draped over his back, the Ice Master trying to carry them both back to the temple. He had passed out from his injuries while trying to carry the pair back. The fox and Jaganshi hurried them back to Genkai and Yusuke where they could be healed.

 

Two days later, Touya had been the first to awaken, and he told everyone the events that had transpired in Demon World and how he had escaped death. It was a wild story to wrap one's mind around, but those at the temple finally accepted it, waiting for Sho and Jin's to awake.

 

>>>>>

 

It was early morning. Dew painted the grass and trees, giving everything a crystal-like shine. Birds chirped happily, fluttering around the temple in their innocent way.

 

Sho awoke, her eyes opening halfway. Shodi waited in her mind, still trying to convince the demoness that her decision was stupid. But Sho merely smiled, reminding her half-spirit of their promise.

 

But…you've found happiness here! I can't let you ruin that for my sake.

 

No…I would not find happiness if I knew I had left you to your own misery while basking in my own false joy. We'll go…soon. I will say my goodbye.

 

Shodi quickly wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye, murmuring a soft, Thank you…

 

Sho sat up, wincing at the aches in her not-fully healed wounds and stiff joints. Her eyes wandered over her empty room, filling it with the kindness she had found here. She smiled a soft smile that just barely reached her eyes.

 

She left her room, padding silently down the hallway towards where she could sense him sleeping.

 

>>>>>>

 

Yusuke sighed, grumbling curses as he brought a tray of food to where Sho was still slumbering.

 

He slid open the door and peered inside—only to discover that she was gone! He dropped the tray, heedless of the breaking plates against the floor as he rushed down the hall to find the missing demoness. Kurama stopped him a little ways away from Jin's door, appearing as if from nowhere to halt the young Spirit Detective's search.

 

“Sho's missing!” he panted. “Do you know where she is?”

 

“Yes…but you should not disturb them. They are saying goodbye.”

 

“Wait…she's leaving?! But why?”

 

Kurama shrugged. “I don't know, but leave them—“

 

Yusuke shoved past the fox-gone-human and rushed over to Jin's door. He swung it open and opened his mouth to speak, only to lose his voice.

 

Sho leaned over Jin, her lips pressed against his in a gentle kiss. Their bodies were outlined in the faint red light of Sho's power. Yusuke stepped back, feeling suddenly ashamed, and quietly closed the door.

 

There were some things he would never understand. And this was one of them.

 

“Yusuke!”

 

Startled, he looked over to where Keiko stood by the long flight of stairs leading up to the temple. She panted slightly from the effort, but smiled at him.

 

“Come on! You promised!” she yelled.

 

Yusuke smiled softly, looking over his shoulder once, and then rushing to his own beloved.

 

>>>>>>

 

“Wh-where am I?”

 

Jin looked around, floating in a plane of shadows. Everything around him was the same, ink-like blackness, showing no way out.

 

But then a light, a red light, appeared before him, and shaped itself into the form of a woman. The woman's hair fell in a gentle brown wave down her back; her ears slanted. Crimson eyes shone through it all, a soft smile showing fanged teeth.

 

“Sho?” he ventured. She nodded, and he smiled.

 

“I'm sorry…” she whispered, her smile saddening.

 

“Fer what?” he asked, suddenly dreading.

 

“I have caused you so much pain. I even stole your heart and never returned my own…”

 

“What are ye talkin' about? Kojiatsu is dead now. We can finally—“

 

“Don't say it,” she interrupted, looking away. “Because it's not true. Kojiatsu may be dead…but that does not mean that we can… No. I am a marionette, my love. I am no longer mortal. This flesh…it should not exist.”

 

Jin felt his heart aching. “Please don' say these words,” he murmured. “This…this is all a dream! We'll wake up and everythin' will be fine!”

 

“I'm afraid this is far from a dream… This is the truth. When you open your eyes, I will be gone.”

 

“But…why? Why can' ye…jes accept me? Why can' we be happy?”

 

“I have one last promise to keep before I can finally rest… Rest…oh, my heart aches at that word. Can't you see, my love? I have been longing for this one thing… I am dead, Jin. This fake body cannot change that.”

 

Tears were falling down his cheeks by now, his heart bleeding.

 

“Our time together was stolen… It cannot be brought back. But please…please live. Stand by that young Detective. He is in turmoil, too. There are many things about himself he has yet to learn. Please, don't cry for me. Let me go on in peace…”

 

She had moved up right in front of him, wrapping her arms around his incorporeal body.

 

“If you can live…if you can smile…then I will be able to rest in peace.”

 

>>>>>

 

His eyes fluttered open, looking up into emptiness. His heart felt so empty. Jin already knew that she was gone. Tears rolled down his face, blurring his vision.

 

But then he noticed that his lips felt warm. He touched them, and could taste Sho's kiss. He smiled sadly, sitting up as something akin to hope—and yet far from it—began to fill his aching heart.

 

He would move on…no matter what. It was all he could do.