Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Suicide ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter Nine
Yuusuke woke slowly, his brow furrowing as he heard sheets rustling. He opened his eyes, cringing slightly at the sunlight, and glanced at Hiei, who was moving in his sleep, caught in a dream. A nightmare? The human watched his charge for a few moments, then flushed deeply as a moaned name reached his ears. Definitely not a nightmare . . . He burrowed back under the covers, forcing down a childish giggle.

His amusement died away as he realized the implications. Hiei was dreaming about Kurama . . . And, considering the current circumstances, he probably wasn't going to wake up very happy. So would it be better if he woke the fire demon? He cringed at the idea. It would probably be best to let Hiei wake up on his own and pretend he hadn't heard anything. He lay quietly, wishing he could just go back to sleep, but sleep was definitely going to be impossible after this.

He peeked out from under the covers just in time to see Hiei sit up with a startled gasp, then closed his eyes, listening silently. After a short while, he heard Hiei slide off the bed and open the closet. The fire demon's footsteps receded, and Yuusuke realized that he'd left the room. He waited for a minute, then had to choke down another inappropriate giggle as he heard the shower turn on, his mind supplying commentary about the probable temperature of the water.

When he'd recovered, Yuusuke sat up and stretched, figuring that he might as well have breakfast ready when Hiei got out of the shower. There was a good chance that his charge was going to be in a nasty mood, and it would probably be better to greet it bearing gifts. The human sighed softly as he got up and headed for the kitchen to start cooking, noting on the way that Atsuko still had not returned from her drinking binge.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for Hiei. The demon had a lot of issues going on at once. He had tried to kill himself, for reasons that Yuusuke did not yet know, and his attempt was thwarted, and now he was being forced to live as a human with a fake background that had ended up hurting Atsuko--which obviously had Hiei feeling guilty. The most painful of the issues he was wrestling with, Yuusuke assumed, had to be his obvious feelings for Kurama--feelings that hadn't disappeared with the rejection and the post-rejection anger.

He yawned as he opened the refrigerator, grinning at the gift that Shizuru had sent home with them the night before--eggs, orange juice, and a bit of butter. That would make a decent breakfast. He momentarily wondered how Hiei would want his eggs, then shook his head. Hiei probably wouldn't know; who knew if he'd had eggs before? Yuusuke decided on fried eggs, since those were his favorite.

By the time Hiei came into the kitchen, the meal was nearly done and the table was set. "Good morning, Hiei. Go ahead and sit down. Did you want butter and jelly on your toast?"

"Hn."

Yuusuke smiled, his back turned to Hiei so the fire demon couldn't see it. "Butter and jelly it is. We're having fried eggs. Is that okay with you?" This time there was no response. "Good." He turned and put two pieces of toast on each of their plates, then turned back to the stove and checked the eggs. He quickly transferred them to a third plate as he realized that they were done and turned off the burner, then served himself and Hiei.

Hiei stared at his plate. "What is this?" It was the first sentence he'd deigned to speak since he'd entered the kitchen.

"Eggs. I told you that was what we were having." Hiei made a face. "You don't have to eat, but we're going shopping today, and I don't have enough money to stop at a restaurant, so you might want to."

The fire demon stared at him. "Again?"

Yuusuke took a bite of his egg, savoring the taste before answering. "Yeah. This time for groceries. Shizuru sent this home with us. When it's gone, there's nothing else. You don't have to worry; Kurama's not coming." He winced as he realized what he'd said, glancing at Hiei cautiously.

Hiei didn't react. "I know you eavesdropped on the conversation at the store."

The human winced. "I didn't mean to . . ." He watched as Hiei rolled his eyes and took a bite of his egg. "Hiei . . . Why did you say anything if you knew I was there?"

Hiei shrugged. "Kurama didn't listen to make sure no one was around. You'd heard what he said, and you'd have annoyed me until you found out if I hadn't continued the conversation."

"Does Kurama know that I know?"

"I doubt it," Hiei snorted. "He's so concerned with his damned reputation . . . He would have tried to keep me quiet and he'd have made up an excuse." The fire demon didn't look up from his eggs. "Besides, it's not like it matters that you found out. Any information you use against me goes toward my goal, so why should I care?"

Yuusuke scowled at that. How could Hiei think that he would ever betray him? "Well, if we're in the business of being completely honest, I wasn't asleep this morning when you had your dream," he snapped, then cringed inwardly. Stupid!

Hiei's fork fell from his hand, clattering on the plate. "What?" The word was clipped, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

He continued hesitantly. "I woke up when you were having your dream. You were a bit . . . noisy." Hiei's face reddened slightly. "You called Kurama's name."

Hiei scowled and looked away. "So? What are you going to do? Tell him?"

Yuusuke glared, angered by the implications of the question. "No." He drained the orange juice from his glass and got up to refill it. "Everyone has wet dreams. They're normal." He filled his glass and put the orange juice back in the refrigerator. "So who was uke, anyway?"

He turned around just in time for his face to meet part of Hiei's breakfast up close and personal. The fire demon fled the room. Yuusuke swore, wincing as bits of egg burned his face. Stupid! Can you possibly screw anything else up?! He grabbed a paper towel from the counter and wiped egg yolk from his face, then headed after Hiei, cursing his own idiocy the entire way. He couldn't believe that he'd let something like that slip, angry or not.

Hiei was curled up under the blankets on his bed when Yuusuke entered the bedroom. "Hiei . . .?" There was no response. "Hiei, I'm sorry . . ."

"Leave me the hell alone."

Yuusuke sighed, pressing on and hoping that, for once, he wasn't screwing up. "I shouldn't have said that. I wasn't thinking. I just . . . wish you'd trust me."

Hiei sat up and glared at him. "Trust you? When you keep saying things like that?" Yuusuke flinched. "Not only are you forcing me into this, you're also twisting the fucking knife. So why should I trust you?" The fire demon lay back down, presenting the human with his back.

"I know," Yuusuke said softly, "that I keep screwing up. I'm trying not to. But . . . It's like you're trying to start things."

His charge answered without turning around. "Like you expect anything else? You're forcing me into something that I don't want! How the hell do you expect me to act?! Complacent?"

"No," Yuusuke frowned. "I want you to be happy . . ." He winced as he realized how lame that sounded, despite the fact that it was the truth.

The fire demon turned around and looked at him, his eyes hollow. "Then you should have let me die." Hiei turned back toward the wall.

"You know I couldn't do that, Hiei," he whispered. He continued when Hiei didn't reply. "I'm not doing this for Koenma. You may think that I am, and that I don't really care, but I'm not and I do. I would've tried to help you anyway if Koenma didn't give a shit--even if it meant giving up on the Ningenkai and going to Makai. Koenma just makes things a little easier." The human paused for a second. "But I would have done it without him. Without the wards, or the barrier, or the binding. This isn't about him or his stupid problems--it's about you."

There was a long silence before Hiei responded. "Don't pretend I'm anything but a burden."

"You're not a burden, Hiei! If anything, you're a blessing! Did you know that Koenma's giving me money for food now that you're staying here? Otherwise, I'd be starving. And at least now Mom's drinking for a reason. It might help to knock some sense into her. And Kuwabara is going to be trying harder in school, if I know him, for your sake. And Kurama-"

"I don't want to hear about it!" Hiei interrupted, turning to glare at him. The glare was quickly replaced by a tired look. "I don't want to hear about him, Yuusuke. Things are hard enough, having to see him constantly . . . without having to hear about him."

Yuusuke stared at him. "Hiei . . ." His heart went out to his friend, and he wished there were something he could do to alleviate his pain.

Hiei lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I trusted him, Yuusuke . . ." A bitter smile twisted his lips. "I thought that he was acting honestly--that he really did . . ." He trailed off and shook his head. "And he wasn't. I ignored every warning. I should have been careful, suspicious--something!" He closed his eyes. "I'm a fool."

Yuusuke risked sitting on the edge of Hiei's bed. "Hiei . . . I honestly thought that you two were a couple. You weren't the only one being fooled." He sighed as he remembered his findings about their 'trusted' friend. Hiei had the right to know what was going on. "And we're still being fooled, evidently. I know you may not want to hear this, but I think you should know . . . Hiei, Kurama's playing snitch to Koenma."

Hiei's eyes widened and he gaped at Yuusuke. "What?"

"He told Koenma that I was stressed. Remember the phone call Friday, when we made plans to go shopping? And I was annoyed?" Hiei nodded. "He told Koenma. Koenma thought I was going to quit." Yuusuke scowled. "Before, I was going ask Kurama for advice, but . . ."

Hiei's bitter smile returned. "He can't be trusted . . ."

"No, he can't be. But . . ." Yuusuke grinned evilly. "His meddling did do something." The fire demon raised a curious eyebrow. "It got these beds, and it got us the money for groceries. I used what Koenma thought to guilt-trip him into it."

Hiei snorted. "You'd have made a good thief." His eyes fixed on the open window.

Yuusuke grinned. "Thanks." He became serious after a beat, noticing how looking out the window had made the fire demon relax. That reminds me . . . "Hiei, I was wondering . . ."

"Hm?"

"You're claustrophobic, aren't you?" The fire demon flinched and refused to look at him. "Hiei . . .?"

"Is it that obvious?" Hiei asked softly.

Yuusuke frowned. "Not really. The train ride kind of gave it away . . ."

"Oh." Hiei went silent and kept his eyes riveted on the window.

Yuusuke waited for him to say something--anything!--else, fidgeting as the seconds passed. He was just about to say something when Hiei spoke again.

"Is that why you asked Koenma for the beds?" The fire demon still didn't look at him.

He nodded, then realized that Hiei couldn't see him. "Yes. It's also why your bed is by the window." Yuusuke resisted the urge to bite his nails as he waited impatiently for the fire demon's reply.

The human repressed a sigh of relief when Hiei finally responded. "You know . . . You're the first person who's ever figured it out on their own. Even Kurama-" Hiei broke off, his jaw clenching. "Everything always comes back to him . . . Why?"

Yuusuke ventured an answer, despite the fact that the question was obviously rhetorical. "You love him."

Hiei laughed shortly--bitterly--at that. "I don't know what love is," he said mockingly.

The tone of the fire demon's voice startled Yuusuke. Who is he mocking? Me, or . . . His eyes widened. "He said that?" Hiei nodded, his eyes closing. "He's so full of shit, Hiei. If he can't see the truth, he's blind--either by choice or through his own stupidity."

"It doesn't matter," Hiei whispered harshly.

Yuusuke winced. "I'm sorry, Hiei . . ."

"Don't bother. It's not your fault. It's mine."

"It's not yours, Hiei." The fire demon didn't respond. Yuusuke glanced at the clock. It was pushing on afternoon, and he wanted to get the shopping done earlier than later. "Hiei . . . we have to get going."

"I don't want to go anywhere."

Yuusuke bit his lip. "If I leave you here, you'll be knocked out because you'll be out of range of the barrier . . ."

"Oblivion sounds nice right now."

Yuusuke winced. Oblivion and death . . . "If that's what you want . . ."

Hiei just lay there, his eyes closed. "It is."

"Fine." Yuusuke sighed. He really didn't feel like battling Hiei right now. It would be less energy to just give him what he wanted. After all, it was just a little thing--not like he was asking for Yuusuke to kill him. "I need to take a shower to get this egg out of my hair. I'll check back on you before I leave, okay?"

"Hn." The fire demon turned over, presenting Yuusuke with his back and effectively ending the conversation.

Yuusuke stood and pulled the covers over Hiei, who didn't react, then gathered his clothing and left the room.

Yuusuke sighed as he towel-dried his now egg-free hair. He had wanted to relax in the bath for a while, but he definitely needed to get the shopping out of the way. He glanced at his hair gel, then shrugged. People tended not to recognize him without his hair gel, and he was sure that would be better when he was trying to shop--especially with his reputation for shoplifting. He ran a comb through his hair, then sighed and left the bathroom.

He blinked as he saw Hiei on the living room couch, fully dressed. The fire demon looked somewhat paler than usual. "I thought you were going to sleep?"

Hiei shrugged. "I changed my mind."

"So you're coming shopping with me?" Hiei shrugged again. Yuusuke took that as a yes. "Let's get going then." He padded to the genkan and pulled his shoes from the geta-bako, then slipped them on. Hiei did the same. "Why'd you change your mind?"

"None of your business."

Yuusuke sighed and opened the door, waiting for Hiei to leave the apartment before locking the door behind him. I guess our little heart-to heart is over . . . "I figure we'll go to a place nearby. If they'll even let me in, that is."

"Shoplifting days catching up with you?" Hiei's voice held a note of sarcasm.

Yuusuke ignored it and headed for the stairwell. "Yes. I didn't really have a choice, you know . . ."

"Sure. Stealing pornos was for necessity. I can see how those are needed to survive." The sarcasm was very evident this time.

The human stopped and glared at Hiei. "It's not necessary that you come with, Hiei. If you'd rather stay at the apartment and be unconscious until I get back, that's fine with me." The fire demon flinched. "No. I'll come."

Yuusuke began walking down the hall again. "Then quit it. I'm trying to be nice to you. I'm trying to make things as comfortable as possible for you. You know I can't let you die or kill you, so why can't you just quit being an asshole?"

There was a long pause before Hiei answered. "Because that's what I am."

Yuusuke couldn't think of a reply.

Yuusuke scowled and kicked a rock, frustrated. They'd been going from store to store for hours, and had been turned away at each one. No one was willing to trust him in their stores. He couldn't blame them, though, with his shoplifting record.

His only relief was that Hiei hadn't taunted him about it. Yet, he reminded himself, he hasn't said anything snide YET. If things kept the way they were going, they'd never get groceries for the night, and he definitely wouldn't be able to get groceries anywhere with the debit card.

"There's another store." Yuusuke nearly jumped at the sound of Hiei's voice. The fire demon hadn't spoken since they had left the apartment complex.

"We'll try it, but I bet we'll be turned away again." He headed toward the shop with Hiei, glancing at the sign as they approached--Genchiro no Kanbutsuya [1]. It was probably the last store in the area that hadn't turned them away. It was also one of the tiniest stores in the area.

The store owner glared at them when they entered the store, but made no move to force them to leave. Yuusuke sighed in relief and grabbed a basket, leading the way through the aisles. Hiei followed behind him in silence. He winced at the high prices, wishing that he had the option of shopping around. But he didn't, so he kept his mouth shut and shoved nutritious-looking items into the basket, asking Hiei questions every so often that the fire demon answered in a language of shrugs. Yuusuke eventually gave up on getting his charge's input and ignored him.

The teen grabbed a gallon of milk from the cooler and went to check out. The store owner didn't begin ringing them up, and Yuusuke blinked at him. "Sir . . .?"

The man scowled at them. "I want to see money before I start ringing you up."

Yuusuke sighed and pulled out the money that Koenma had given him. "It's enough. Would you please ring us up?"

The man rolled his eyes, managing to convey that having money and actually paying were two different things and implying that Yuusuke wasn't going to pay. Yuusuke scowled at him and the store owner shrugged and began ringing up the groceries anyway.

They had finished paying and were about to leave when the police arrived. "What the-"

The store owner rushed forward. "Thank goodness you came so quickly! Not only did he take groceries, but he also robbed me!"

Yuusuke stared. "No, I didn't! I paid!" He pulled out the money that they had left. "This is just the change from what we bought.

The man smirked at him. "You're a liar and now you've been caught."

Hiei glared. "Perhaps you forgot that you gave us a receipt?" He held up the piece of paper.

"You made me ring you up! To open the drawer!"

The shorter officer frowned. "I'm not sure what's going on here . . . But you are known for shoplifting, Urameshi Yuusuke."

Yuusuke's eyes widened. "But I didn't! Count down the cash register, and you'll see that I'm telling you the truth!"

The store owner scowled indignantly. "Are you accusing me of lying?! Why would I lie?"

"Because we just paid 70,000 yen [2] for overpriced groceries because no one else would let us shop in their stores." Hiei scowled. "And since you have no customers because you try to cheat them, you're going to try to get your goods back and keep the money that we bought them with using the bad reputation that Yuusuke is trying to get rid of."

"If you're not lying, you'll have no problem with the officer counting your drawer down," Yuusuke added, surprised that Hiei had spoken up.

"This is ridiculous!" the man yelled. "Why should my time be wasted because of you punks?!"

"Sir, unless you present evidence that they stole from you, the receipt and the fact that the amount on the receipt matches the amount in his pocket show his innocen-"

The taller officer interrupted his partner. "I agree with the store owner. This is a waste of his time. We'll arrest these two and leave."

"Taki! We can't do that! We-"

The tall officer glared at his partner. "We will arrest them. It's not our job to prove or disprove anything." He walked toward Yuusuke. "Put the bags down."

Yuusuke dropped the bags and allowed the officer to pat him down and handcuff him. He frowned as the officer turned to Hiei, who backed away. "He's not involved! Let him alone!"

The officer smirked at him. "He certainly isn't an innocent bystander if he's involved with you." He reached for Hiei. The fire demon stayed out of his reach, his eyes wide. "So you're resisting arrest, eh?"

Yuusuke frowned. This wasn't right. They hadn't done anything wrong. And Hiei didn't like to be touched . . .

The bells on the door jingled, and Yuusuke's eyes widened as he saw Kurama standing there. The fox met his eyes. "What is going on?"

"They're arresting us, Ku- er . . . Shuuichi. The store owner accused us of stealing money, and they won't count down his cash register to prove it." Yuusuke nearly grinned as he saw the annoyance that Kurama was feeling. He settled back to watch what played out.

Kurama glared at the officer who had been advancing on Hiei. "You do realize that you are falsely arresting these two if you don't check out all the facts, don't you?" His voice was dangerous. "I want your names. I will be reporting this incident."

The shorter officer frowned. "I'm Uchiro Youji, and he's Wasari Taki." He turned toward the store owner, who had been about to open the cash register. "Good, you're ready to count that drawer down." He walked over there. "Let's see it."

The store owner blanched. "But . . ."

Kurama turned toward Wasari. "You need to take these handcuffs off Yuusuke. He has not been formally arrested yet."

Uchiro continued to speak to the store owner. "There is no reason for you to be reluctant if you are honest." His voice was slightly mocking.

As his partner scolded the store owner, Wasari unhandcuffed Yuusuke, glaring at Kurama. "If he turns out to be guilty . . ."

The store owner flinched under Officer Uchiro's gaze. "All right . . ." he whispered, defeated. "I lied. They paid."

Kurama smirked. "He's not. I told you."

Wasari's eyes widened. "What? But he . . ."

His partner grinned at him. "He lied. It was as the little one said." Hiei scowled. Uchiro turned back to the store owner. "You just wasted our time. You could be arrested for this."

Yuusuke shook his head. "I don't want to be bothered. I do want a new gallon of milk. This one's been sitting out for twenty minutes, and I don't want to risk it."

The store owner nodded, defeated. "Go get one. I'll throw that one out." Yuusuke did.

Uchiro sighed and glared at the store owner. "This really was a waste of our time." He glanced at Yuusuke. "Are you trying to reform?"

Yuusuke nodded, and gestured toward Hiei. "I have a cousin to take care of. I can't be stealing and acting like an idiot."

Wasari rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

Uchiro glared at him. "Taki, quit it." He shot Yuusuke an apologetic look. "He's too cynical for his own good. We'll spread the word that you're giving up stealing so things are easier for you, but you'd better stick to it."

"I will. You have my word on that."

"We'll see," Wasari retorted. He left the store. Uchiro shrugged and followed him.

Yuusuke gathered the groceries that he'd been forced to drop and headed out the door. "Why are you here, Kurama?"

Kurama smiled. "I keep track of everyone, usually. You two were wandering around and I wondered why."

Hiei scowled. "It's none of your damned business."

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "If I hadn't been curious, you two would have been arrested."

"Thanks, Kurama. We'd better get home now." Yuusuke gave Hiei a meaningful look. "Let's go." Kurama frowned, but didn't follow them, thankfully. "Hiei, I know you're upset with him, but he did help us back there," Yuusuke whispered when they were out of the fox's hearing range.

"He's just watching us so he can report to Koenma."

Yuusuke sighed. "Yeah, but if he hadn't stepped in, you'd have been patted down and shoved in handcuffs and we both would have been thrown in jail." He glanced at Hiei. "And I know you don't like to be touched . . ."

"Mind your own business, Yuusuke."

Yuusuke sighed and shifted the bags in his arms. It was going to be a long week.

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[1] Genchiro's Grocery Store.

[2] The equivilent of about $65 or so American dollars. And Yuusuke really didn't buy much. Very, very expensive . . .

This fic is officially a TWT--Timeline? What Timeline?--fic. I realized that there's no way to place it in the timeline, so . . . Eheh. ^^;

I'm really sorry that it took so long to get this next chapter out. I just finished a semester from hell, complete with a Satan's-minion professor. It also took me a while to decide how to start the chapter, and then a while for me to get the guts to actually use the first part of the chapter that's there. ^^; I was kinda iffy on whether I should use it or not. Then there was me getting sick . . . Yeah. Bad several months.

Rudely demanding that I update is not going to make things go any faster. I update when I can, really. If I haven't updated in a while, it's because I'm busy. Anyone who reads my LiveJournal knows. (Of course, since I now have my LJ friends-only . . .)

In any case . . . I've gotten a lot of reviews for this. The first one I should reply to is the Yuusuke-Yusuke ones. I don't really feel like explaining the hiragana system to you. If you look it up on the internet, Yuusuke's name in hiragana is done Yu-u-su-ke (I have the manga, so I've seen it). Some people drop the extra u, which is there to indicate an extended vowel, when they write it in romanji (aka, English letters based on the sounds), but I choose not to. It's correct either way. In addition, the suke part is often pronounced without the u. It happens a lot, especially with su. Take suki, which means like. It's usually pronounced ski. However, the proper romanization is either Yusuke or Yuusuke. Not Yuske or Yuuske.

The manga can be seen in Shonen Jump USA, which is in most anime/comic book stores. If you want it in the original Japanese, Ebay sometimes has copies on it. I have all 19 volumes in Japanese, which I bought from someone on Ebay. I also get the Shonen Jump manga, which includes Yu-Gi-Ou, DragonBallZ, Sand Land, One Piece, Naruto, and Yu Yu Hakusho. All of them are very good, though Shonen Jump tends to have more YGO and DBZ in each issue than the others combined. The manga is actually significantly different from the anime (Hiei's past is VERY different, for example).

As for FUNimation and Cartoon Network, many of the people who were originally fans of YYH before FUNimation bought the rights are EXTREMELY angry. Did you know that they promised to leave the theme music alone to appease us? And that they lied, obviously. I remember the release, when we all crowed victory over something. It's the reason that I will never buy a FUNimation version of YYH, ever. That was the requirement we set forth in order for us to buy the FUNimation-released version. And them changing George's name to "Ogre" is utterly ridiculous. The only good things FUNi did with YYH was make Jin Irish and Chuu Australian.

As for the problems understanding the Japanese, I'm actually trying to cut down on the Japanese because I tend to use what's called "fangirl Japanese". Try this online Japanese-English-Japanese dictionary: poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/jedi-inon. It's really good, and it should be a big help. I try to put many of the terms in the author's notes.

Um . . . As for the person who was disgusted by the idea of Hiei liking Kurama . . . This is going to be a Yuusuke/Hiei shonen ai fic. As in Yuusuke and Hiei falling in love, maybe implied sex, and the like. If you don't like that kind of thing, you probably shouldn't read any more of this fic.

Loading problems: Type in Microsoft Word, and when you save it, make sure to save it as an HTML. There's a drop down menu in the save box that you can change to do that. It usually works if you do that. I haven't tried it in a while. I use raw HTML coding, and even that sometimes decides to mess up since some of the site changed.

And I know how this is going to end already. Pleas and demands will go nowhere. It's just going to be a long haul to get to the ending. ^^; Please don't make demands of me plot-line wise. It kind of makes me cringe.

I've also gotten several people telling me that Hiei, Kurama, Yuusuke, etc, are not gay. My response is DUH! They're bi. :P Just kidding. Actually, my response to that is very complicated. My view: Hiei/Kurama for release for a while. No real relationship. Just sex. Brief Hiei/Yuusuke. Slight relationship with them. Then Hiei/Mukuro. Relationship, there. I could go more in depth, but I want this to stay rated R. Agree or disagree, this is my thought. It's based on talks with other authors and with my Firebaby. Let's just say that having an opposite-gender significant other doesn't necessarily make one straight.

And to the college guys in Arizona who read this: That really was my beta-reader. XD Small world, isn't it? I was actually very flattered to hear about it. Thanks for reading/caring. ^^

Whew. Long author's note. Sorry. Lots of things happened, obviously. Things have been unbelievably busy, and work decided that I wasn't going to get door at all this semester, or there would have been some writing out.

Yes, I've written most of this in my LJ, but most of you don't read it, so here we are.

Thanks again to Tora for catching several mistakes.