Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Invisible ❯ Under the Sakura Tree ( Chapter 3 )

Here is Chapter Three of Invisible. Please read and review!!

 

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters of the series. The only character I own in this story is Kasumi. I am doing this for my own pleasure, and not for any profitable gain, so please don't sue me!!!

 

Kasumi was sore the next morning, and was trying not to wince with each step that she took. Her father had simply been hung over this morning and not in the mood to even insult her, thankfully, as he headed of to work a half hour before she left the house. She was continually reminding herself to make sure she washed the couch covers first thing when she got home from school today.

She was also deeply relieved that his back hand last night had left only a small bruise at the back of her cheek, in front of her ear, so it was doubtful that anyone would notice it, or think much of it. But her shoulder ached where she had been slammed into the wall, and it hurt her to breathe. One hand gingerly touched her side and she winced noticably, and reminded herself to be careful not to brush up against anybody if she could help it at all.

She rushed through the halls quickly, making her way to the first class, which happened to be gym. She ducked into the girls locker room and grabbed her shirt and shorts from the locker and she quickly slipped into them.

She simply sat quietly as usual and listened to the instructions given by the teacher, noticing that a certain red haired boy, along with his two friends were watching her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't acknowledge them.

Kasumi went through the physical ed. class as well as she could, considering the fact that both her ribs and hip were hurting today, running laps and playing soccer. The moment class was over, she was in the change rooms once more and back into her uniform, on her way to the math class before any of the other girls could so much as blink.

She did her usual... she sat in the back corner of the classroom, immediately pulling a book out of her bag and started to read, ignoring everyone around her.

Then when the teacher came in, she would calmly put her book away and do the assigned work, and leave as quickly as possible when the bell rang.

This time, however, when the bell rang, she was surprised to see Suichi standing beside her desk. She blinked, realizing for the first time that the boy had seated himself close to her.

He smiled at her gently. "Are you ready for lunch?"

She blinked, and then nodded. "Yes."

"Then let's go. Yusuke and Kuwabara are going to be waiting for us."

The girl took in a deep breath and got to her feet, following the red haired heart throb out of the classroom. She made sure she trailed behind him, that she left a few feet between herself and him, so the other girls didn't get the wrong idea. The last thing she wanted was for all the girls in the school to be out for her head because they suspected a relationship between the two of them.

Not that she thought Suichi would ever have an interest in her like that. He was too popular, handsom, and sweet for him to have an interest in a girl as antisocial and uninteresting as her. Nobody had an interest in her. She was sure that this interaction was going to be passing... she gave it a week at most, before she was back to her regular solitude.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were waiting for them under the sakura tree and waved them over with smiles on their faces.

The toughest student at Sarayashiki High School smiled at her. "It's nice to see you came! Have a seat!"

She quickly and quietly sat beneath the tree with them, folding her legs beneath her and holding her knapsack on her lap. She started rummaging around in it, looking for her lunch. All she had today was a single apple and a juice box. She ate it wordlessly, half listening to what the boys were saying, and when she was finished, she put it in a plastic baggie from her knapsack and returned it to the bag.

Kuwabara blinked, looking at her. "Is that all you're going to eat?" he asked a little increduously.

She shrugged and nodded. "That's all I was able to bring with me for lunch."

Suichi smiled gently. "Well, I can't have that." He reached into his own lunch bag and handed her a sandwich. "Mother packed me two today, so you can have one."

Yusuke nodded, looking in his own lunch and tossing her a package of chocolate pudding. "For desert!"

Kuwabara nodded, handing her a container that had what looked like fruit salad in it. "I don't like this stuff, but most girls tend to. Sis packed it with my stuff before I left for school this morning. It's all yours."

She blinked in surprise, totally not expecting this. Then she gave the three of them a small thanking smile and a nod when she saw they were serious. "Thanks." She made a start on the salad, deciding to get it out of the way so Kuwabara could have his container back.

Yusuke smiled at her. "So, Kasumi... we don't know anything about you. What sort of things are you into?"

She blinked. "Into?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Into. You know... like music, TV shows... stuff like that."

She shrugged, taking a bite of the salad. "We don't have a stereo at home, so I can't listen to music, and I'm too busy to watch TV, so I don't know what kinds of shows there are to watch."

The three of them blinked and exchanged a few looks. "You... don't own a stereo? And you don't watch TV?" Kuwabara asked. "Well... what do you do in your free time?"

She almost snorted. The only time she HAD free time was at lunch at school. "I read," she said simply.

Yusuke blinked. "That's it? You read? Don't you ever go out and have fun? Like go to parties or stuff like that?"

She shook her head. "I don't have time for that sort of thing. And I don't have any friends shouses to go over to in the first place. I've never been to a party or any sort of a get together."

Kuwabara blinked. "Man... talk about deprived." Then he grinned. "What about the internet? What's your favorite site?"

She shrugged again. "No internet either. We don't own a computer."

Yusuke's jaw was half to the ground. "You mean all you do with your life is clean the house and read books???"

She nodded, finishing off the salad and handing the container back to Kuwabara who accepted it somewhat numbly. "Yeah, that's about it." The girl then let out a yawn, and winced slightly as a shooting pain ran up her side.

Suichi looked at her, noticing it immediately. "Are you all right?"

Kasumi nodded. "Another late night last night. I never went to bed until three in the morning. This is normal for me, so don't worry about it."

Suichi cast a glance at his two other companions and could tell from their expressions that they had seen the wince as well. However, now did not appear to be the best time to question her about it.

Instead, the red haired boy smiled at her gently. "So, you like to read? What sort of books interest you the most?"

She shrugged. "Mystery, horrors, fantasy... stuff like that," she said simply, turning now to the sandwich. She found it was tuna, one of her favorites. "I also like to read philosophical and historical books, such as Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and the Illiad by Homer."

Yusuke shook his head slowly. "I've... never heard of either of those last two..."

Suichi smiled. "They're actually quite interesting... although for the two of you, I suggest having a dictionary or thesaurus at hand if you read them. They both have quite complex writing styles and long words that you're probably not familiar with."

Kuwabara scowled slightly. "Sounds like too much work. I think I'll just stick with my comics." Then he brightened. "Hey, what's your favorite manga?"

She shook her head again. "I don't have any. I've never read one before, so I don't know."

Kuwabara gaped. "Nope! No way! That's it! I'm bringin' manga to school tomorrow an' you're gonna borrow them!"

She blinked, a little taken aback again. "Well... if you're sure you wouldn't mind... but it'll take me a while to read through them. I don't have much free time..."

He waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I ain't in no rush."

The girl opened the pudding now, and shivered in pleasure with the first spoonful of chocolate pudding. She couldn't remember the last time she'd tasted chocolate.

Suichi caught her expression and gave her a knowing smile. "Enjoying your lunch?" She nodded, a shy smile on her lips. "Yes. Very much so. Thank you."

Kuwabara blinked, and then looked at Yusuke. "Hey, how come Keiko doesn't come out here with us anymore?" He shrugged. "She volunteered to tutor one of the students in the school. That's usually what she spends her noon hours doing now a days." Then he grinned at Kasumi. "What are your grades like?"

She shrugged. "A's and B's." She finished off the chocolate pudding and put the empty holder in her backpack to discard properly later.

Suichi smiled. "And what are your plans for after graduation?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'll be moving, so I guess I'll just be getting a job and see what happens from there."

He blinked, looking at her. "What about post secondary?"

She shook her head. "I don't have near enough money for something like that. If I got a loan, I'd be in debt for the next ten years."

Kurama thought for a moment, but before he could inquire further, the girl looked at her watch and quickly packed up her things. "Class starts in ten minutes," she said quietly, getting to her feet. "Thank you for letting me eat with you." Then she was off, her head bowed as she walked swiftly away.

Yusuke and Kuwabara blinked slowly at her sudden exit. "That was... unexpected..."

Kuwabara nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I thought she would visit with us a little longer than that..."

Kurama looked after her retreating form. "I think she's uncomfortable interacting with others. I suspect she's not used to it."

Yusuke shrugged, and then got to his feet himself. "Well, what're ya gonna do? I guess there's always tomorrow, then. We should get going too, I guess."

Nodding, Kuwabara got to his feet and stretched the kinks out of his legs. "Yup. Just a few more hours of school, and then we're free."

Kurama frowned, thinking of the young woman that had just left them. At least we're free. But that girl still has a mountain of work to do at home. It hardly seems fair to her.

Well, it's not like there's much we can do about that, Youko said back to him. We've got plenty of time to get to know her better. Let's just follow her example and get ready for class.

Nodding, Suichi started off, Yusuke and Kuwabara right on his tail.

They went through the rest of school quickly and uneventfully, and none were very surprised when they saw Kasumi was the first to leave the classroom at the end of the day.

Suichi made a mental note to simply do as she did every day and bring his satchel with him from class to class along with all his books so he could keep up with her, knowing he wouldn't stand much of a chance catching up with her today. He had to go to his locker to pick up the rest of his homework.

Little did he know, however, that a certain koorime was going to do him a little favor.

 

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Kasumi quickly left the school and started for home, remembering that she had to clean the couch covers when she got there first thing. She had almost completely caught up on the laundry, so it wouldn't put her behind much in her regular housework, and her father would be happier when he got home. Or at least she HOPED he was going to be happier.

Her head was bowed as usual, her eyes lifting only briefly to make sure she didn't make an ass of herself by crashing into someone as she walked. She noticed a boy shorter than her own five foot three, out of school uniform on the sidewalk ahead of her as she was leaving the school property. He was dressed all in black and had gravity defying hair... black with a starburst of white up front. He wore a white headband around his head, and had his hands stuffed in his pockets.

She just walked past him, but only got a few steps past where he stood before he started to talk.

"You're Kasumi, aren't you?"

She froze and turned a little warily, not recognizing this boy at all, and having no clue how he knew her name.

"How... did you know that?"

The boy smirked. "Suichi, Yusuke and Kuwabara are friends of mine. They told me about you yesterday after school. I heard you saved Suichi from a mob of screaming fans."

She shook her head. "I didn't do anything. He just happened across me in the janitors closet. All I did was tell him he could stay."

"Hn. If you hadn't, he would have spent the next forty minutes being chased through the halls. Suichi's not the sort of person to invite himself." Then he blinked and looked back. "And speaking of the devil..."

Kasumi blinked herself and looked over his shoulders to see Suichi approaching with Yusuke and Kuwabara right on his heels. "Hiei! You showed up early!"

The boy shrugged. "Hn. I had nothing better to do. I was just talking to your new friend."

Suichi blinked, seeing Kasumi standing there, looking more than a little awkward. He gave her a gentle smile. "Kasumi, this is Hiei. He gets a home education and doesn't attend public school." It was a lie they had unanimously agreed to use if the question of who Hiei was was posed to them.

She just looked at the vertically challenged boy and gave him a small nod. Then she looked at the others. "I've got to get going."

"Same time tomorrow," Suichi said. "Under the sakura tree."

She blinked and cast a glance back. "Okay... if you're sure."

The three of them all nodded as one. "We're sure," Kuwabara said. "And I've gotta bring you those manga tomorrow."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, so you've gotta show up!"

She shrugged. "I guess... I'll see you tomorrow, then." She cast another look at the short darkly dressed boy. "It was nice meeting you, Hiei." Then she quickly turned and started off once more, not saying a word.

 

There ya go! Please R&R!! I wanna know what everyone thinks of my writing!!

Chapter four coming soon!!