Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Healing Touch ❯ Confessions of a Forgotten Cousin ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho but I really wish I did. I own Rika and all original characters. Please review so I can know how people feel about it.

 

 

Kurama stared at the girl who was currently glowing blue. “Cousin?” The girl with the delectable rear was Yusuke's cousin? Kurama blinked and wondered where that particular thought had come from.

“You never mentioned you had a cousin Detective.” Hiei growled.

Yusuke shrugged in response. “You never asked.” He said simply.

Kurama turned to look at Kuwabara, who had a guilty look on his face. “You could've told us about this sooner Kuwabara and saved us the trouble.” He turned back to Yusuke. “What have you told her Yusuke? How much does she know?”

“Anything I know, she knows. I don't lie to her.” He answered truthfully.

“You idiot!” Hiei barked. “I'm going to kill you!” Hiei unsheathed his katana.

“Put that away!!' Rika yelled. They all turned to look at Rika as she stood with the small boy in her arms. Tears were streaming down her face but she seemed unaware of them. “Some monster took control of this little boy and all you can think about is yourselves!” she shrieked in rage.

“It's not like that Rika” Kuwabara said.

“Bullshit it's not!! Kuma, this boy lives down the road in a blue house with green shutters. Take him home please. If his parents ask what happened, just tell them he got in a fist fight. Meet us at our place after.” She handed the boy to Kuwabara who nodded and walked off. Yusuke started to say something but Rika wouldn't let him. “Not one word Yusuke, not one! First you bust down Mrs. Fujima's door, which I now have to pay for. Then you punch a child who had no control over his actions. All of which could've been avoided if you'd simply told Kurama and Hiei about me in the first place. And you!” she said turning to Hiei. “How dare you stand there and threaten my cousin when there are more important matters to deal with. Like who took control of that boy, and why they want to kill me. You can kick his ass later.” she said with a careless shrug. She took immense joy in the look of utter disbelief on Yusuke's face. That'll teach you, she thought smugly. “Now let's get out of the open and go home so we can talk.” Rika turned and walked off, leaving the others staring at her back.

“She is definitely related to you Detective” Hiei said after a moment. That girl's anger had been amusing.

“Don't look so happy. Rika hasn't even begun to vent. Just wait till we get back to my place.”

“Hey! Why are you still standing there? Move it!” Rika yelled. Yusuke groaned as they ran to catch up with her.

 

**Yusuke and Rika's apartment

Rika walked into the apartment behind Yusuke, with Hiei and Kurama following her. She automatically picked up the jacket Yusuke had tossed onto the couch and hung it on the coat rack, along with her own. Yusuke went and sat on the couch, apparently waiting for her to start yelling. Why hasn't she? he wondered. Kurama sat beside him and Hiei stood by the window. Determined not to lose her temper again, Rika walked into the kitchen and took out bread and deli meats.

“What are you-” Yusuke was interrupted by a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Kuwabara walked in.

“I took the kid home. He woke up and couldn't remember anything. His parents seemed worried but they don't expect anything. Parents are like that.” Kuwabara sighed and plopped himself into the armchair. “What kind of ass would take control of a little kid? It's just not honorable.”

Rika smiled, cut the sandwich she'd made in half and brought it to Kuwabara along with a soda. “We'll find the bastard Kuma, don't worry.” She smiled and kissed him on his cheek.

“Thanks for the sandwich, I'm starved.” Kuwabara grinned and began to chow down.

“How come he gets a sandwich?” Yusuke demanded angrily.

Rika threw him a withering glare. “Because he doesn't annoy me, unlike a certain asshole I'm unfortunately related to. Kurama, Hiei, would you like anything to eat?” she asked dismissing Yusuke.

“No thank you” Kurama replied, trying not to laugh at the bewildered expression on Yusuke's face. Hiei merely grunted.

“I don't see why you're mad at me” Yusuke grumbled “It's not like I beat the kid to death. And I'll pay to fix Mrs. Fujima's door if that'll make you happy.”

“You wouldn't have had to break it down if you had simply thought to call her house. The number is right by the house phone.” Rika pointed toward a notepad that sat by the phone on the counter.

Yusuke opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and kept quiet.

“Now Kurama, could you please tell me what's going on?” Rika handed a napkin to Kuwabara so he could clean the mustard off his face and sat on the arm of his chair.

Kurama noted how comfortable Kuwabara and Rika were, sitting close together, their easy camaraderie. It made him a little envious of Kuwabara, having Rika that close. He still remembered how it felt to have her beneath him. What am I thinking? He wondered. He related what Koenma had told them about the new demon on the rise who was searching for Rika. Anything to get his mind off her warm petite body.

“I can't imagine what a demon would want with me.” Rika mused

“Your healing powers would be my guess” Kurama told her. “How long have you possessed that ability?”

Rika considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “Hard to say. I can't remember a time when I didn't have them. I've had to heal that idiot whenever he decided to act like fool and get in fights” she said , looking pointedly at Yusuke.

Yusuke bristled in anger.” You've had to heal Kuwabara way more than me with all the ass kicking I've done to him over the years!” he shouted.

Kuwabara stood up so quickly he made Rika lose her balance and fall to the floor. “You wanna bet Urameshi? Let's go, right now!”

Yusuke got up and the two stood in the middle of the room like to dogs fighting for territory. “Fine by me. It's not like that mug of your could get uglier!”

Kuwabara was about to throw the first punch when cold water splashed them both. They sputtered and shivered from the water and turned to see Rika holding an empty bowl that she'd grabbed from the pantry. She did not look at all happy.

“Don't. You. Dare.” She was very careful to keep her voice calm and even, not wanting to yell. If she did, then the neighbors might complain, which would then force her to punch them in the face. As pleasing as it would be to let her anger out, she did not need to be arrested just now. “Give me. Your shirts.” Yusuke and Kuwabara took off their soaking wet shirts and handed them to her very obligingly. They both knew it was very unwise to get on her bad side right at this moment. “Sit. Down.” They both sat. Rika went into Yusuke's room and grabbed to dry shirts, pausing to hang the wet ones near the window to dry. She walked back into the living room and tossed the boys the dry shirts. She then sat down on the arm of the chair and looked at Kurama, who had a very amused look on his face. “You were about to say something?”

Kurama had watched the whole exchange and had learned much from it. Unlike Yusuke, Rika seemed to prefer keeping her anger on a leash. And apparently both Yusuke and Kuwabara preferred not to set off her temper. He wondered what would happen if she ever did set it loose. “I was going to say that your healing abilities are extremely advanced for one so young. But then again with Yusuke and Kuwabara you've had plenty of practice”

That made Rika smile. “Yes, plenty of practice. But I love the knuckleheads anyway. “ She grinned and hugged Kuwabara around the shoulders.

Hiei grimaced. “ As touching as this is, I think the demon searching for you warrants our immediate attention.”

Rika nodded. “Sorry, you're right. But where do we start? Koenma has no idea about who this demon might be”

“ Wait a minute. What do you mean `we'? There is no `we'. You're not getting involved in this.” Yusuke told her.

“Since when exactly do you tell me what to do?”Rika asked him, a steely edge to her voice. Kuwabara looked up at her nervously, recognizing her tone. Urameshi was just about to get creamed.

“Since I'm older” he replied stubbornly.

“A half an hour does not give you any authority you jackass” Rika was clenching her fists so tight her knuckles were white.

Yusuke was just about to retort when there was a tapping on the window. Botan was outside on her oar, gesturing for them to go up to the roof. Still seething, Rika led the way to the roof. That idiot. How dare he presume to order her about? How did he expect to find this demon without her when she was the one the demon wanted?

“ Oh good , you've found the girl. Hello I'm Botan” Botan smiled kindly but Rika was too pissed off to return it as she normally would have.

“ Hello Botan, it's very good to see you again.” Kurama could feel the rage seeping off of Rika. So this is why Kuwabara seemed so nervous. “ This is Rika, Yusuke's cousin”

Botan blinked in confusion. “Cousin? What cousin? I'm the one who handled Yusuke's case when he died. There was no mention of a cousin in his files. “ She laughed nervously. “ This is incredibly embarrassing.”

“ Apparently I'm something that belongs to Yusuke that he chooses to ignore for long periods of time until it becomes convenient for me to exist in his little world.” Rika snapped, her eyes flashing.

“ It's not like that! I have responsibilities now. I've got demons to kill!” he yelled at Rika.

Oh, the nerve of the ass. “ Yes, the brave little boy playing Spirit Detective”

“ How does she know about Yusuke being Spirit Detective?” Botan asked Kurama. Rika and Yusuke had long since begun ignoring them, too involved in their argument.

“ Yusuke's been telling her everything. Not to mention that she's been friends with Kuwabara since childhood. She has incredible healing powers. That may be the reason this mystery demon is after her.”

“ I don't have time to be babysitting you while we search for this demon!” Yusuke yelled at her.

Kuwabara physically cringed when he heard Yusuke say that. “She is so gonna kill Urameshi.”

“As annoying as he is I believe that the Detective can handle a teenage human girl” Hiei said dismissively.

Kuwabara shook his head. They had no clue. “You'll see.”

“Babysitting?” Rika whispered in disbelief. How dare he? He had no clue what she was capable of. “So I'm just supposed to sit back and let my big cousin Yusuke take care of everything huh? I'm supposed to be this helpless female. You asshole!” Rika launched herself at Yusuke, punching him the face. She pinned him to the ground with her legs, and punched him in the face repeatedly, all the while yelling at him. “You stupid jerk! You bastard!” Kurama watched in wonderment as Yusuke tried to gain the upper hand but found that Rika was stronger than she'd once been. She had him firmly pinned to the ground as she proceeded to beat the crap out of him. Kurama was amazed that a girl so small could manage to hold Yusuke down so easily.

Finally Kuwabara came to his senses and managed to pull her off of Yusuke after two tries. “Chill out Rika!” he yelled.

 

“ What the hell is wrong with you Rika? Where did you learn that hold? When did you get so strong.” Yusuke stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth. His jaw was extremely sore from all of Rika's punches.

“ Did you think I sat around on my ass all this time ? When you died I had to take care of everything. The funeral arrangements, your mother, Keiko. Then when we figured out you weren't dead, I had to find us a new place to live, I had to work to pay doctor's bills, and to pay for all the bills your mother made in her grief. Then you magically came back. Even then I still had to take of the house bills and your mother.” She had stopped fighting Kuwabara but he still didn't let go of her. “Then you go off to fight the Saint Beasts and guess who's left to deal with the hordes of freaking huge mosquitoes and zombie people? I had to lock Aunt Atsuko in a closet, and then I had to go to the school and help Keiko escape from the zombies who were out to kill her and me. I'm not as helpless as you seem to think.”

Yusuke was amazed. In all of this time he hadn't once considered how the bills got paid or who had taken care of his mother. “ That still doesn't explain how you got so strong.”

Rika smiled. “ Remember all of those hiking trips I would take up in the mountains every other weekend?”

Yusuke nodded “ Yea, those started when you were 12”

“ I wasn't hiking. I was going to see Genkai for training. I met her on one of her rare trips to town in the market. She sensed my spirit energy and told me to come to her home for training. Being a naive and trusting child I went without question. I've been training with her for two years now.”

The others were shocked. Yusuke most of all. He had told her everything about his adventures as a Spirit Detective. How could she have kept this from him. “ Why didn't you tell me?”

“ Back then you had no clue about demons and Spirit World. I didn't want to freak you out.” She answered.

“ You're a hypocrite!” he accused angrily.

“ No I'm not. I told Genkai all about you. She know everything about you, Aunt Atsuko, Keiko, Kuwabara, everything. While your friends had no clue about me. Botan didn't even know I existed and she's the freaking Grim Reaper!”

They were silent for a few moments as everyone absorbed Rika's confession. Finally Hiei broke the silence in true Hiei fashion. “This gets us no closer to solving this case.” He said bluntly.

Botan nodded in agreement. “Hiei's right. It's time to go. Koenma wants to see Rika.” She pulled out her compact and opened a portal to Spirit World.

Kuwabara finally let go of Rika. She turned and hugged him.” Thanks Kuma”

“ Anytime. Now let's go see the toddler.” Rika nodded and went into the portal, refusing to look at Yusuke.