Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Junior ❯ The Mysterious Illness ( Chapter 3 )

Junior III

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

Yuusuke woke up. His futon was oddly cold, his room oddly quiet. Something wasn't right.

This his face heated up, red as a cherry. The dreams of Koenma last night had been... Gods, why had he dreamt of Koenma like that? True, the toddler prince, in teenage guise, was... And sure, he'd been adorable, vulnerable like that... Ahh... Had to be hormones.

Had to be.

Dreams of Koenma moaning his name in different positions and little quirks that were endearing flashed through his head, then were gone. They flowed through his fingers like sand. He couldn't grip them.

Then they finally blew away.

Sighing, Yuusuke sat up, naked, under his thin sheet and shivered. Damn... Judging from the mess of the futon, he must have had one hell of a wet dream last night...

Mildly disturbed, he got up, listening for his mother who had yet to come home, and looked around. No sign of the demi-god. Then he noticed the note.

It was a polite, if terse, thank you for his help. Then an explanation about having to get back to work. For some reason, he felt abandoned and a bit miffed. He'd wanted to see Koenma this morning..

Er... maybe he'd heard Yuusuke saying his name while he slept? That would scare anyone off.

Gods... the embarrassment... Shrugging to himself, he dumped his futon and sheets into the general vicinity of the hamper. (Did he have a hamper? Laundry just sort of went there and was done when he thought about it.) Next stop, the bathroom.

Then he stopped in front of the mirror. Stared.

Bruises the size and shape of fingers lined his biceps, and scabbed over half-moons, the shape and size of nails, dotted his back. Some scratches as well...

"What the hell happened last night?"

Those odd dreams about Koenma- there was no way they could be real. Right?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Koenma-sama, Junior Lord of the Reikai, was fucked up.

Really fucked up.

Or at least he thought so, as for the second week in a row, he had puked his guts out into a small basin in his apartment. For the past four weeks, he'd been tired, irritable (more so than usual) and sore all over. Then the vomiting had started.

Yet for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what was wrong. A kami didn't get sick like a human, and he'd been one for a long time. He could possibly get sick while in his teenage form, but still...

Shakily, he wiped his mouth with a towel. After the first three times, he'd gotten the idea to be prepared in the mornings when this happened. He also had been careful about hiding it. His father was already touchy about him staying in his 'mortal' teenage form.

The godling growled to himself, uncharacteristically temperamental. His Dad could shove it this time. It had been seven hundred years- he could grow up a bit.

"Koenma-sama?" asked a curious voice at his bedroom door. Botan.

He rinsed his mouth out quicky and wiped his face off. "Yes?"

"Are you okay sir? You're going to be late for work!"

"Its nothing!" he called, getting shakily to his feet. He didn't want to work. He was tired. The constant nausea he had to fight in the mornings meant that he felt crappy the rest of the day and rarely slept at all. Not that he had slept much before hand- he usually slept at his desk on his papers anyways.

His human blood meant that he did have to take some time for himself, so he wouldn't drop over from exhaustion. He wouldn't die- his Dad would throw a fit of that happened and he'd be reincarnated just so he could be spanked- but his body would be in such a wreck that he couldn't function. Sighing, he went to find his breakfast, usually skipped in favor of coffee- and opened the door to let Botan in.

This was one of the few times of the day that he and she could just talk. He and she ate together, usually breakfast even if it was nothing but that coffee, getting ready for the load of papers...

Botan walked in, chipper as always, kneeling next to the table with the food on it and pouring some of the brew. The strong smell of the dark liquid, made strong enough to peel paint, was usually the closest the young god would get to heaven in the morning- until he abruptly turned green and ran to bathroom, his basin, and started to throw up again.

"KOENMA-SAMA?" gasped the blue haired ferry girl, getting to her feet to rush over. "What's wrong Koenma-sama?"

"I'm, I'm fine Botan. Its nothing! Really!"

"But Koenma-sama-" she looked suspicious, frowning at him.

Koenma frantically tried to think of a plausible explanation even though he had none.

"I- er- I have the flu. Yes! That's it! The flu!"

"Koenma-sama?" she looked puzzled now. "Can you get the flu?"

"Um... why not? I spent some time around Yuusuke in my teenage form and the Ningenkai is full of germs..." The only other explanation, from a vague memory of when he was Zoutou and his mother had expected another child, before miscarrying, floated up- but that was silly.

"Then shouldn't you see a healer?"

"Its no big deal! I'll be fine, just wait a while and it'll go away," he waved her off.

"If you're sure," Botan finally said, dubiously, head tilted to the side. Her magenta eyes seemed to be trying to poke some hole in his story.

"I'm sure- now lets get some work done!"

Koenma escorted Botan over to the breakfast table, trying to look calm and collected, but now that the idea had taken root, he couldn't get rid of it.

What if?

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Botan, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Yuusuke asked, looking at Botan who was acting anything but her usual perky self. She, Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Kurama were sitting in the Ramen shop, slurping up their favorite noodles... while Kuwabara would sneak tidbits to Hoshi-chan, his new kitten, who was sitting in his lap.

"Its nothing," she said, not looking at him, eyes clearly lost in thought.

"Its something. Yuusuke is correct- you are being unusually quiet," Kurama pointed out calmly, as he usually did.

Keiko, ever concerned, put her hand on her friend's arm. "Whatever it is, you can tell us."

"Its just that... Koenma-sama's been acting so strangely lately. First walking off the job... He seemed fine for a few weeks after that, then I found him throwing up just from the smell of coffee. He told me he thought he had the flu. Then he started sleeping all the time, even in the middle of the day! It scared poor George to death! He'll suddenly go from hyper to bawling about the smallest things! Then he was running to the bathroom every hour on the hour! He won't tell me what's going on and I'm so worried," she nearly whimpered, turning away from them.

"How long has this been going on?"

"It started about four months ago!" Botan wrung her hands. "Almost immediately after... you remember..."

"Zoutou's been acting weird that long and you hadn't told us?" Yuusuke frowned at her, hands tightening on his bowl of ramen.

The others looked at Yuusuke, confused.

"He told you his birth name?" Botan gaped.

"Yeah, on his death-day thing. Was really pissy about it too. I get the feeling he doesn't like "Koenma" much," Yuusuke shrugged it off.

"He won't go see a healer, and refuses to go into his toddler form. Its like he can't!"

"Urameshi- who's Zoutou?" Kuwabara interrupted, stroking his cat- who looked as confused as everyone else.

"That's Koenma. He told it to me when we had to look for him, long story. Why hasn't anyone done anything?" Yuusuke crossed his arms now, looking serious. He'd not seen Zoutou since, not even for a mission. He'd always sent orders through Botan.

"He won't let anyone close enough to him!" she burst out, nearly hysterical with worry. Keiko put an arm around her shoulders, gently rocking her friend.

All of the Urameshi-gumi looked at each other, frowning. This behavior was completely unlike the Reikai lord.

"Maybe we should get Yukina and pay a visit?" Kurama carefully suggested, looking at Yuusuke. The leader of the Tentai nodded, and they started to get up.

Kuwabara watched the rest of the team for a few minutes, snuggling the cat, and said softly to it.

"I'll get some cold water, I want to look into this too- and you need some hot."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Koenma had tried to ignore what had gone on for the past several months.

The nausea, the sleepiness, the mood swings... Until the little bulge had shown up under his once flat navel. Then he'd gone into a full blown panic.

Once he had gotten past the disbelief, he'd done some research during his badly needed sleeping hours, and found out that, yes... A Kami could get pregnant. He supposed this extended to half kami's with full kami workloads... or something. However it had been possible, it had happened.

Then there was the weird elation that had come with it- he was having Ketsui's child. He understood now why the women from his village as a child would go nuts over a newly expectant mother- to keep her from freaking out and to get the home and family ready.

Then came the dread.

Yuusuke would find out. He would NOT be happy, especially since he didn't really remember what had happened. Zoutou had no real claim to Yuusuke. Had he full access to Ketsui's memories, perhaps...

What about his FATHER?

The thought had made him tremble. Unconsciously he reached down to stroke the small rounding bump, trying not to hyperventilate. Thankfully the enormous stacks of paperwork hid him better than the loose robes that he'd donned that day. No one really cared how steady his hands were as he pounded the damned stamp...

"Hey, Gramps!"

Jerking with surprise, and dumping over yet another stack of forms, Koenma found himself looking at the entire Reikai Tentai, save Kuwabara, and some extras.

Hiei glared at Koenma, while Kurama looked curious but impassive, while Yuusuke looked... genuinely concerned. The others...

"Yukina-san? What are you doing here?" he blinked, then frowned, suspecting the reason for their visit. "Botan?" he hissed.

The ferry girl wilted under his glare. "I'm sorry, Koenma-sama! But you've been acting so strangely for so long and I got worried and they asked so I told them and they decided to bring Yukina and her apprentice to make sure you are okay so will you PLEASE let her look you over? I'm so worried about you!"

Koenma and the others looked at her during this outburst, sweat dropping.

"I- I'm fine. I don't need a healer. I told you that before."

"But KOENMA!"

"Please, Zoutou?" Yuusuke cut in, softly. "We're all worried."

"Its nothing!" he kept protesting.

"If its nothing... walk over and pick up that crap you knocked off your desk," Hiei said, red eyes narrowing at the demi-god.

Koenma didn't answer, just frowned and sucked a little more on his pacifier. Walking... more like waddling, ever since he'd started to show his balance had gone straight to hell, he swiftly reached over to grab what he'd dropped.

Swiftly, Hiei had pulled the ward off his Jagan and took a quick look at Koenma, sputtering at what he found.

"Oh, shit," Zoutou whispered, realizing he'd been had.

Then a great gong sounded- announcing the arrival of Enma Daioh- senior lord of the Reikai.

"KOENMA! COME TO MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!"

"Oh shit again."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Urameshi team had been ushered out of the Palace after the return of the Great Lord, citing that one does not dress down a superior in front of his juniors.

"His ki felt weird," said Kasumi, Yukina's apprentice, who was fidgeting nervously with her kimono. "Like..."

"Like he had someone else there with him," Yukina finished, patting her apprentice on the shoulder. "You are learning very quickly Kasu-chan."

"Hm," Hiei grunted, looking distant. "I saw him with my Jagan... I can understand why he would want to keep this quiet. What he's doing, as far as I know, is not illegal... But his father is NOT going to be happy about it. Especially since a demon was involved."

Hiei was quickly surrounded as the throng tried to ask him questions all at once.

However, being quiet was quickly put moot as Yuusuke grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shook him. Then Yuusuke was bopped on the head by Kasumi, who was in turn pulled back by both Keiko and Yukina.

"If you would be QUIET!" Hiei snarled, arching his back like a cat.

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Now," he smirked at the girls. "What do these symptoms sound like? Vomiting, sleepiness, mood swings?"

It was Keiko who answered. "Sounds like he's-" her eyes bulge and she slapped a hand over her mouth. "Hiei- are you SERIOUS?"

The little fire/ice demon nodded, smiling faintly.

"Hey hey HEY!" Yuusuke yelled at the top of his lungs. "For the rest of us who didn't ace every class- what are you talking about?"

"Koenma-sama is pregnant."

Massive face fault from all those present...

~*~*~*~*~*~

The waiting was driving everyone crazy.

The girls had gotten together, Kasumi included, and had tried to think of various things to get the baby even though they didn't know Enma's decision. It was a girl thing.

Hiei and Kurama had taken to sparring in the hall in a desperate attempt to relieve the nagging nerves everyone had... While Yuusuke just sat feeling stricken.

Yuusuke wasn't stupid. Babies needed two parents... even if in this case it was two fathers... and they had already pinned down when the weirdness had started. Those dreams, waking up with Koenma gone- the marks of someone obviously having enjoyed themselves on his body- he flushed.

So, he and Koenma had fucked. Koenma had screwed with his memories, because even then he had trouble trying to find them... Now, he was mad.

Then he felt hollow- like, like betrayal. He wanted to know why Koenma had taken those memories. He wanted to know why he'd made love to the Reikai Prince in the first place. Trying to think back... Well, okay, what had happened?

He'd found Koenma in the park looking like last weeks punching dummy and drinking like a fish.

They'd gone to his place after Koenma'd passed out.

Then Zoutou had proceeded to tell him about what happened... Mentioning some guy... What had his name been? Then they'd gotten very drunk, both of them. Then they'd fallen asleep.

Dreams were all that came after that. Bizarre, disjointed, fragments of a whole he couldn't see.

This pissed him off.

"I hope," someone said softly, voice shaking," that Enma doesn't hurt the baby."

"Huh?" echoed across the hallway.

"What do you mean Botan?" Yuusuke felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

"I mean that... well, before Koenma was born, it was rumored that while he would never kill someone once they had been born, the reason that Enma didn't have more children running around was because he would kill them in the womb," the ferry girl shook for a moment.

"You also told us that Enma might kill us because Koenma walked out of the job, too," Kasumi pointed out. "I mean... he's supposed to be a good guy, right? Why would he kill..." She faltered.

"They're only rumors, but it is strange, isn't it, that Koenma is an only child? Especially since he's a bastard? Why weren't there more?" she sniffled faintly. Everyone looked scared.

"He's a god, not a demon," Kurama said softly. "He can't kill a human, but before its born..?"

Yuusuke's heart smacked against his rib cage- he wasn't angry at Zoutou now, but worried about their child. THEIR child.

He was going to be a father.

Thump

"Yuusuke?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Zoutou stared up at the massive form of his father, trying not to throw up from nerves and leftover morning sickness. He always had this effect on him. Imposing, towering, the Elder God had so much power that it made demons, even the Makai god Yakumo fear. He never showed true affection to his son- Koenma knew he'd been a mistake. Sure, he'd spank him if he was bad, but that was as close as they would ever come to being a 'father and son'.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I," he shuddered, putting a hand over his middle. "Please don't hurt the baby."

Enma raised an eyebrow. "That's it? You go off... and get screwed, and knocked up... by a DEMON... and you don't want me to hurt this child? Its an abomination! By all rights I should destroy it immediately!"

"N-NO!"

Enma glared at his son. "Who is the father?"

"I-I w-won't t-tell y-you."

"WON'T TELL ME?"

"I won't let you hurt him or the baby," Zoutou squeaked breathlessly, backing into a wall. He felt his knees want to knock together- he wanted to run so badly he shook. He couldn't though. There was no where to go.

"You realize you can't stop me," the Elder God threatened.

"Only if you want to kill me first."

Enma hissed between his teeth, rubbing his massive chin. Koenma had proved his worth as a worker, frequently. Without him, Enma would have to handle all of the small stuff himself- something he would hate to do again.

"You will go to the Ningenkai until this abomination of yours is born," Enma finally proclaimed, growling. "I don't want to ever see this thing of yours. Now give me that damned pacifier and get out of my sight!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Yuusuke groggily woke up as the doors to Koenma's office opened, they watched with surprise as Koenma stumbled out, without his pacifier, biting his lip and falling against one of the walls to slide down onto his bum. Everyone in the hall rushed over- surrounding the young immortal and starting to chatter madly.

Zoutou didn't even look at them, his eyes unfocused as he bit his lip. Yuusuke noticed he'd curled up on himself, much like when he'd been when they'd found him in the park, only this time his hands were cradled protectively around his waist. His breath was coming in shuddering gasps, close to hyperventilating and his face was shiny with sweat.

"Koenma-sama?" Botan finally asked, reaching out to touch his face. The immortal's eyes snapped to her face, his breath wheezing, eyes dilating to the point that he looked like he had black holes in his face.

"He's in shock!" Yukina yelped, seeing what was going on and grabbing Kasumi to help her.

"Do whatever the hell you want with him," said a massive, echoing voice, and they all turned to see Enma stand in the door, scowling. "Until that thing is born, its not my concern."

"Lets get him to Genkai's," Yuusuke ordered, and leaned over to pick up the pregnant god. They all filed away, quickly, while Enma stared at their backs. Turning, Yuusuke snarled back, and nearly spat at him, but he couldn't. Not if they wanted to help Koenma.

Gods, Yuusuke thought. What was he going to do now?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Genkai had taken the news of a pregnant god in her home rather well.

This is to say she laughed so hard she gave herself the hiccups, saying that after all the weirdness lately, what was a little more, and then had them tuck Koenma into a futon in a spare room. Yuusuke had been staring at Koenma the whole time- Kurama and Hiei had noticed this, Yukina and Kasumi too busy to fusing over the pregnant one to pay attention, Keiko was off comforting Botan, and Genkai had stopped laughing long enough to drink some tea, also noticing Yuusuke's pointed attention.

Night had fallen quickly, everyone turning in, except for Yuusuke who had stayed on the veranda next to Koenma's room while he slept. He'd been chain smoking most of the time.

"So... the child is yours," said an old, cantankerous voice, and Yuusuke sensed his master's ki approach him. Yuusuke didn't turn to look at her.

"I don't remember it. Both of us were so drunk at the time... My dad ran off. I never met the guy."

"Are you afraid you'll do the same?"

"I don't know. I mean... is this my fault? I have no idea how to be a father... I never thought I liked men before either. I am so damned confused..."

The door slid open behind them, and an old, tired voice piped up. "This is my fault, Yuusuke. I... never knew this could happen at all. I'm not certain you would want to remember, either."

Yuusuke's head whipped around to glare at the god, who even now was posed with his arms over his middle. "Why the fuck would I NOT want to remember?"

"You weren't yourself at the time."

"Not my- didn't I ask first?" Yuusuke was shocked.

"N-no! Not that at all! You... just," he put his hands over his face. "How the hell do I explain this?"

"From the beginning?" Genkai said dryly.

"How about you give me my memories first?" Yuusuke growled. "That would clear things up right there."

Koenma glared back at him, gold eyes pinning his soul. "On your head be it," he snapped, and gestured. Yuusuke looked like he was about to spit something back, when his eyes widened. Then rolled up into his head as a shudder went through him. Falling forward with a cry, he braced himself on all fours, then turned to look at Koenma with... something indescribable.

"You aren't responsible Yuusuke," Koenma said softly, sitting down beside him. Yuusuke looked afraid.

"He never stopped loving you, you know," he finally said, breathing hard, then getting to his feet. "Even after all this time and losing his memories. I- I need time to think."

"Its okay, Yuusuke. If you don't want to have anything to do with me."

"ZOUTOU!" he cried, appalled. "HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT?"

"You and Ketsui have the same soul... but you aren't the same person. Its not fair to you to be burdened with the memories of a past life. No one needs that."

"However, being involved with you is my decision," Yuusuke growled, then realized what he said. "I need to go for a walk."

"Take all the time you need, Yuusuke," Zoutou whispered, as Yuusuke walked away. "Take all the time you need."

Before leaving, the raven haired Reikai Tentai turned to look at the young god- sitting in blue robes, silly JR on his forehead... with a soft curve around his middle.

"I'll be back," he promised, and walked away.

To be continued!