Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Worthless Humans ❯ Trying to Atone for the Past ( Chapter 36 )

Images of the past flooded Nari's mind as she remained out cold from the overwhelming emotions that engulfed her in the hallway. Every painful cut and bruise she received hurt her once more as her body felt as though it was being torn brutally. She could see blood spilling upon the ground after every cracking of the whip she feared since she was fourteen. Her face contoured into discomfort there upon the sofa as she tried to rouse herself from the horrible dream she was having. Her fingers clutched into tight fists at every sound that echoed within her mind that reminded her of the horrors of Makai, Nari eventually shot up awake when something damp graced her feverish forehead.

 

Kurama jerked his hand away when Nari shot upright in surprise of the wet cloth he was placing upon her forehead. Sighing softly, he put away the dampened fabric he had within his hand so he could check on his former sex slave. “I am relieved to see you are okay.”

 

Nari looked to the young teenager beside her that had been by her side since she passed out. She panicked as she quickly moved to the farther end of the sofa with a fearful expression. “What are you doing here, Yoko Kurama!” She exclaimed in terror. “What do you want from me!”

 

“Nari, listen to me,” Kurama insisted gently as he remained where he was. He could tell she was awfully frightened and he didn't want to corner her, fearing what she would do. “I came here to apologize for my past actions.”

 

“Apologize?” Nari scoffed as she stayed scrunched up before the arm of the sofa she was upon. “This is some sort of cruel trick, isn't it? I thought you were dead! I was told you were dead!”

 

Thinking back on his death, Kurama hummed in thought at the incident. “I didn't die. I saved myself by sending part of my soul to a pregnant woman's unborn son here in Human World where I became her child.”

 

Nari shook her head wondering where this was heading. She dared not make a move in fear of angering the demon that used to brutally slash at her whenever she did something he didn't like. Her breath was quickening as she watched his every move closely.

 

Seeing her anxiety level rising, Kurama raised his hands to try and settle her as he continued, “Nari, just calm down. I am not going to hurt you.”

 

Words didn't convince her as she remained a safe distance away from the redhead.

 

“Anyways,” Kurama sighed, “I was reborn as Shuichi Minamino, the redheaded half human…who loves his mother more than any woman at this moment.”

 

Hearing an affectionate term in the demon's vocabulary made Nari bitter as she turned her eyes away from Kurama. She refused to believe a single word he spoke as she pushed herself daringly up from the sofa she was sitting upon. “Love? Since when do you even know the definition of such a word let alone have the nerve to say it in front of me?” Cupping the side of her forehead, she tried her best not to cry as she focused more on her rage than any other emotion. “Now? You want to do this NOW of all years to come to me and apologize?”

 

Kurama sighed softly in regret as he looked down at his folded hands within his lap. He knew he was in for it but he felt he owed it to her to listen more than ever.

 

“Yoko Kurama, you destroyed my humanity since I was fourteen years old,” Nari expressed as she pressed her hand to her chest. “I was only fourteen years old! You took the only purity I had and ripped it right from my body and just kept on ripping at me until—!” She paused as she ran her fingers through her layered blond hair. Her hands cupping her face to try and hide the pain in her eyes, she lowered her hands from her face to embrace her shaky form. “Look at me, Yoko Kurama! I want you to take a good look at what you have done!” Nari demanded through her quivering tone of sadness.

 

The ivy green eyes of the redhead gazed up at the frightened Nari with a shake of his head. “Nari, you are not the only one suffering through the pains of the past,” he expressed softly as he got to his feet to remain there before the sofa. “When I gained a heart and emotions that I had never felt before as the legendary bandit, you know the first emotion I felt? I felt regret, then sorrow, and then sadness especially when I dared think of my past in Makai.”

 

Nari still refused to believe such a thing as she raised her hands and threw them down as if to beat the words away from her. “I don't believe you,” she said softly as she turned her back to him.

 

“Nari, I understand I put you in pain and all I can say is I am sorry,” Kurama continued regardless. “I know that a measly word such as that cannot heal the many scars I put upon your body in my ruthless ruling in Makai, but it is the only thing I can say to you to try and help heal the pain I caused!” When Nari continued to shake her head at his words, not wishing to believe him, he reached hesitantly over towards her to try and show he meant it only to have her jerk away from him quickly.

 

“No!” She exclaimed as she turned away from the persistent redhead. “Get away from me,” Nari begged softly once more as she shook there in the living room near the television that rested before her upon the floor.

 

Kurama wasn't sure what to say or do at this point as he brought his hand back to his side that he used to try and console Nari. Remembering about his old friend, Kuronue, he turned back to the formally abused slave. “As far as Kuronue was concerned, I never blamed you for his death,” Kurama continued as he looked down off to the side so as to find the courage to express his feelings he hoped to never bring out into the open. “In all honesty, I blamed myself more than I did you.”

 

Hearing of Kuronue, Nari turned to finally look at Kurama through her straight, blond hair. She never spoke of the bat demon in years though she was reminded of him through the necklace her son held around his neck. “How dare you do this to me now,” Nari scorned as she pointed at Kurama. “I finally find a time in my life where I am not thinking about Kuronue and you want to show up and start to play with my emotions and push my buttons?”

 

“I am not trying to hurt you, Nari,” Kurama insisted as he stayed put a few feet away from her. “All I can say is I am sorry for what I have done and I wish you would let me show that I am!”

 

“Listen to me, Yoko Kurama, and listen well,” Nari growled as she kept her furious sight set upon the demon. “There is nothing—NOTHING you can do to show me that you have changed! There is nothing that you can say to make me believe you are sorry for all you have done to me!” The feelings at that point were too much and Nari couldn't help but hide her face as she sat down upon the floor that was carpeted beneath her. Her palms caressing the tears she finally started to spill, Nari shook her head as her body jolted with heaping sobs.

 

Kurama watched as Nari made it down upon the floor before he boldly started making his way over to where she was sitting in her own misery that he helped egg out. Kneeling down next to her, he extended his arms this time and managed to embrace her in hopes of Nari not fighting the affection he was willing to show to her. His eyes closed to urge the crystalline tear to slip from the corners of his eyes. The single tear he unleashed curved down to the side of his face to hold onto his skin until it was weighed enough by guilt to drop down and dissipate upon Nari's makeup concealed neck.

 

Feeling the small dampness of the tear crash upon her neckline, Nari stopped sobbing for a moment to feel the area with her fingers wondering what it was seeing as she never expected the demon to ever cry. Looking over her shoulder at the redhead, she could only express equal sadness as she shook her head with her tears continuing to flow from her equally green eyes. “How could you do this to me? How could you show up now and express sadness for all you had done to me?” She demanded to know through her tears. “I am in my thirties, Yoko Kurama, and I look as young as my son…how could you curse me so and decide to now, of all times, apologize with the tears you shed for me now?”

 

Sighing through his nostrils, Kurama cupped the back of Nari's head to bring her close to his chest as he wished to hide the sadness he felt though it was difficult. “The reason Botan wanted you to move out so quickly was because of me showing up and eager to apologize for all I had done. She knew you weren't ready for me and I guess I didn't want you to slip away again without me being able to speak to you and Okuro once more. The guilt lately has been too much.”

 

Nari rested her cheek there on his shoulder as she looked at nothing in particular with a quivering inhale and exhale. “Yoko Kurama…it is going to take some time to let me get better towards this. You have no idea what you have done to me.”

 

“I don't expect it to be overnight, Nari,” Kurama explained. “I just want to work on healing the damage I have done.”

 

Nari didn't know what to say towards that. She was willing to try and mend what had been ripped from her but it was hard for her to even be hugging the demon who caused it all. Wiping the tears that had stained her face, she removed some of the makeup on her features to hide the scars that had been permanently placed there by the Rose Whip. Seeing the skin colored liquid cover on her hands, she felt tempted to hide her face but didn't this time as she slowly pulled her hand from her features. “Dammit,” she hissed softly as she excused herself from the demon's embrace. “I need to put my makeup back on.”

 

“Why?” Kurama felt need to ask as he stood to his feet with her slowly. “Are you planning on going somewhere?”

 

“No, it's not that,” Nari insisted with a sniffle as she moved some of her stringy hair behind her ear. “I just don't like to be up at all without makeup covering up the scars you gave me years ago.”

 

Kurama watched as Nari started to head down the hall to get to the bathroom that was on the right. As he looked about the apartment there from the living room, he began to think on the many different plants he had within his possession. He gazed upon the walls to look at the pictures that were resting there before remembering something he often used upon himself whenever he got deep cuts from adversaries. “Nari, I think I may have something that can slowly heal your scars.”

 

Pulling from the bathroom door, Nari looked down at Kurama with uncertainty written on her expression as she shook her head gradually. “I don't think so, Yoko Kurama…I am sorry, but I am not going to trust you that quickly.”

 

“Please, just call me Kurama,” he insisted as he walked over towards the coffee Nari left behind. “And when you're around my mother or anyone from my school, please call me Shuichi.” Reaching into his red hair, he pulled a few of his plants from it as he arranged them to find the right seeds to use so Nari's scars could gradually heal.

 

“Why do you have three different names?” Nari managed to ask moments later as she continued working on her makeup in the bathroom.

 

“Because I work for Spirit World and that is the name people know me as,” Kurama explained as he eventually found the items he needed. Crushing up the parts of the plants he would use and grinding them into her coffee silently, he kept looking over his shoulder to see if Nari was coming. “How about a cream I could give you to help you with the many scars you have?”

 

“If it's coming from you,” Nari called from the bathroom, “I still say no.”

 

Kurama couldn't blame her as he finished what he was doing with her coffee just in time to see the young, abused blond coming from the bathroom once more. “I am sorry, I guess I expect way too much after all we talked about.”

 

Sitting back down at the table, Nari took her coffee and started drinking it once more with a slight nod. As her fingertips tapped against the mug's sides, she looked up at Kurama with words that threatened to explode from her mouth. Swallowing them from time to time, Nari eventually couldn't take it as she looked up at the fox demon. “If you want to know more, you can sit down. Besides, it is going to be awhile before Okuro comes home and he needs to know about this…seeing as you neglected him as your son back when you were old enough to be his father.”

 

Kurama took the seat he was within previously. “Another decision I regret,” he replied seriously. “While he may be wild, he is still someone at this moment that I would be proud to call my son.”

 

Bringing the coffee cup slowly down from her lips, she shook her head at him. “No, that is something you need to tell him and not me, Kurama. I wasn't the one who dumped him and ridiculed him because of his blood. You were the one who made him into what he is to this day and you need to apologize for it. It took awhile to get some of that hate out of him.”

 

“I will when he comes home,” Kurama promised as he looked down at the table in shame.

 

Both of them were silent for a while as they wondered what to say to the other. Nari's fingers tapped upon the cup within her hands once more. “Would you like something to drink, Kurama?” She asked submissively as ever.

 

“I would like that,” Kurama answered. “Just water for the moment, please.” The demon watched from the table as Nari did just that without hesitation. He could tell she was still slightly brainwashed into believing she was his slave. It pained him as he remained there at the table, waiting patiently for his drink. This is going to take just as long as it did for Yoko Kurama to break her.

 

 

 

 

The conversation between the two went on for a few hours. It was hard for Nari to recall the events that happened to her after she escaped Makai. She went from a horrible low to a steady crawl towards the light, but right now she was still crawling towards the only light she could see. Finishing off her coffee, she looked over her shoulder at the clock there upon the wall to see it was almost time for Okuro to come home.

 

“Well,” Nari began as she checked her watch as well, “it looks like Okuro will be here soon with detention over. I hope you're ready for his claws to come out.” Grabbing onto her drink that she had finished, she took Kurama's as well seeing that he was done. “Okuro has despised Yoko Kurama since the day he was born so he tells me or, rather, told me.”

 

Kurama merely shrugged, “I figured that. He told me what he thought of his father and what he thought of Kuronue who actually stepped up as his dad.”

 

Hearing that Okuro spoke of Kuronue made Nari pause after she put up the glasses that had been used previously. “Really? I never heard Okuro speak a word of Kuronue in years,” she admitted while heading back towards the table. “I honestly believed after awhile that he had forgotten about Kuronue.”

 

“I am sure your son hides thing from you because he fears what bringing them up may do,” Kurama explained. “He's a lot smarter than you give him credit for.”

 

“I have no doubt in my mind that he is a clever boy,” Nari expressed as she cleaned up the table with a wet rag. “After all, his father was the cleverest and conniving demon in Makai.”

 

Kurama said not a word as the door to the apartment soon opened to reveal a weary Okuro. As the young adult closed the door behind him, he showed that he was more than surprised to witness Kurama there within his house. Kurama wasn't sure what to say though he laughed nervously at his son's expression.

 

“So this is where you ran off to,” Okuro grumbled as he dropped his bag near the door. “I went to your house, expecting you to be there seeing as you were absent and your mom directed me to my own home.”

 

“Okuro, pick up your bag and move it from the door,” Nari ordered from where she was standing within the kitchen as she hunted for something to make for dinner.

 

The young demon did as he was instructed before turning his attention back to his tutor. “So what the hell are you doing at my house when there was school today?”

 

Nari quickly intervened as she waved her son away from Kurama's face. “Son, why don't you go and get started on your homework? Shuichi will be in there in a moment to help you through it and explain why he is here.” She could see her son was hesitant to move as he probably senses her fear and anxiety, but she was quick to wave him onward regardless. “Go on,” Nari insisted quietly.

 

Okuro moaned in displeasure at being ordered from the scene but he listened to his mother and headed down the hall to get to his bedroom on the left.

 

Kurama and Nari both eyed one another wondering how they could tell him the truth. Nari knew it wouldn't be easy seeing as Okuro felt the same way about the past as she did though he held a lot more anger towards it. “You are going to have to tell him,” Nari was sure to whisper as she looked to the redhead across the table. “I am not going to be there to hold your hand through the trouble you caused for him.”

 

Excusing himself from the table, Kurama headed towards the hallway. “I don't expect you to and I wouldn't want you to,” he admitted as he made it down the hallway to the boy's bedroom door. “This is one of the burdens I have to carry on my own all the way to the end.” His knuckles rapped upon the wooden door in front of him before Kurama bothered opening it to let himself on into Okuro's dark room. “Okuro, is it okay if I speak to you for a minute?”

 

“About homework?” He wondered as he got to his bed to sit upon it hunched over. “Yeah, yeah, I have it all out and ready so I can get this crap over with.”

 

Kurama sat down next to Okuro as he shook his head after closing the math book that his son had opened. “It's not about the homework right now and your mother knows it is not about the homework.”

 

Hearing the seriousness in Kurama's tone almost paralyzed Okuro as he looked at his friend with a bit of worry. “What is wrong? Something is wrong, I know it! I smelt it on my mom when I—I mean—God dammit,” he hissed, cupping his forehead in his hand.

 

“Okuro, you don't have to explain,” Kurama said as he pressed his hands against his own chest. “Because I am just like you and sense the same things you do.”

 

Bringing his head up from his palm, Okuro looked up at Kurama confused and yet worried at the same time. He slightly moved from beside the friend he had since he moved to Japan. There was something about him now that seemed much different than before that made Okuro nervous.

 

“Okuro, I am a half demon as well,” Kurama came right out to say with his human heart beating wildly within his chest. “The reason I am half of a demon is—because I am the reincarnation of your lousy birth father.”

 

Okuro didn't want to believe that what he was gathering from Kurama's words were true as he steadily got to his feet from his bed. “What—are you talking about, Shuichi?”

 

“Okuro, please sit down,” Kurama slightly begged as he reached for the boy's wrist only to miss it as Okuro was quick to pull it away from his grasp. Seeing that the boy was growing upset by the moment, he raised his hands to try and explain. “I am—or rather, used to be, Yoko Kurama…the silver fox that you remember beating and raping your mother.”

 

“You bastard!” Okuro screamed angrily as he charged at Kurama to grab onto his neck in attempts to choke him once the redhead's back hit the floor. His fingers still wrapped tightly about the skin of the fox demon's neck, he narrowed his eyes angrily at the teenager beneath him. “How dare you show your face now! What are you doing here! Have you come here to torture my mother some more!”

 

Kurama gagged as his esophagus was being attacked by the outraged Okuro. His hands gripped onto the wrists of the other half demon as he tried to lessen the pain being dealt to his throat. “Okuro—stop! I am not here to hurt you or your mother! I came here to apologize,” Kurama stressed as he tried to get Okuro away from him without hurting the young demon. The plants that the demon could control listened to their master as the vines crept up his arms from his sleeve to embrace about Okuro's upper arms and neck to make him release the tight hold he had on Kurama.

 

Feeling the plants creep up his arms startled the half demon as he jerked back quickly from Kurama's throat to try and get them off. As Okuro fell backwards on his rear, the hat he wore flew off of his head to reveal his coal black fox ears he had since birth. Shaking his hands furiously to try and get the creepy, crawly feeling off of him, he rubbed his arms while looking at Kurama with his ears pinned flat against his head to show his anger that was still there. “You and your stupid plants! A reason I haven't been able to handle plants since birth!”

 

Coughing, Kurama grabbed onto his throat gently to try and ease the pain that was there thanks to Okuro's attack. “Well, you can control the same thing seeing as you came from my bloodline,” he explained with a wheezing sound. “Goodness, you certainly can strangle somebody.”

 

“Well, all these years I was saving it for you,” Okuro spat angrily as he ran his fingers through his stringy hair. “So what are you doing here? Why have you come back to taunt my mother again?”

 

“Okuro, I am not here to hurt you or your mother anymore than I already have as Yoko Kurama,” Kurama expressed once he regained his breath. “I came here to apologize and atone for what I have done to you and your mother.”

 

“Please,” Okuro jeered, “there is not enough words in the dictionary that you can put together that will atone for what you've done.” His arms crossed upon his chest, he walked over to the vanity within his room to look at his dragon candleholders so he could light the candles within them. “Do you have any idea what you did to my mother?”

 

“I have an idea,” Kurama answered as he sat down upon the side of the bed, realizing he had better keep a close eye on the half demon within his sight.

 

“No you don't!” He snapped as he looked over his shoulder at his tutor while lighting the candles within his bedroom. “You weren't the one that had to watch her crumble every day. You weren't the one who had to reassure her that the legendary bandit wasn't coming to kill her when you were only seven fucking years old!” Okuro growled as his tone got louder and louder upon every word he spoke. Turning around to face Kurama once he had the nerve, Okuro gripped onto the sides of the wooden vanity behind him so he wouldn't attack the legendary bandit again. “You weren't the one who had to watch your mother go further down hill and be the one to try and pick up after her when you were only a kid! You had a cushy ride through life, Shuichi Minamino. I didn't and it is the one reason I don't want to graduate to leave my mom here alone without me!”

 

Kurama felt a bit bad about the life he was given when he was nothing but a heartless demon back in the day. Thinking on his son's words, he nodded at him before gazing at the carpet beneath them since he hadn't the nerve to look Okuro in the eyes just yet. “To tell you the truth, Okuro, I didn't think I deserved a wonderful mother like the one I have. She, however, was the first one to break the evil and deadly Yoko Kurama and all she had to do was protect me from the dangers that were within the house.”

 

“My mother showed you compassion on some occasions and you never took it,” Okuro hissed as he flattened his ears once more.

 

“She didn't get marked up for my well being,” Kurama explained. “But I know, if I had treated her differently, she would do so without question. I know she would have done it for Kuronue if the dangers in Makai weren't so overwhelming for a mere human.” Pushing himself up from the bed he was upon, he outstretched his arm towards his exasperated son. “May I see the necklace?”

 

Okuro's hands wandered onto the necklace he often hid within his school shirt as he hesitantly removed it from his neck. “You better not try anything stupid, buddy,” he hissed bitterly as he handed over the necklace. “I treasure that thing seeing as that demon was my only father I ever knew.”

 

“I understand,” Kurama whispered as he took the necklace from the mixed fox demon to look at the item. A smile eventually crept across his face as he massaged the gentle surface of the necklace he held within his palm. “It was the one thing Kuronue refused to remove. Sensui told me that it was because of this very item that his fate was sealed and he threw it back to me.” Sighing at the remembrance of that time, he shook his head. “Please don't tell your mother that. She will blame herself for Kuronue's death.”

 

Okuro looked at Kurama confused as he pointed at the demon across the room. “But you told my mom that Kuronue was already gone when you got there and that was all you found of him. You never told her that part, even when you blamed her.”

 

Kurama could only shrug as he handed the necklace back to Okuro with a sigh. “What can I say other than the fact I blamed myself for not getting you both out of there sooner.” His hands slipped into his pockets of his outfit as he watched his son put the necklace back around his neck. “Okuro, all I can say is what I said to your mother, and that is that I am so sorry for all I have done to you both. I wish I could take back the things I said and did but it is not that easy to go back in time and erase the scars of the past we all bare now. I am sorry I lacked the heart that I can feel with now. If I had it then, know that I would have not done all the things I have done.”

 

Okuro sighed as he looked off to the side as if not wanting to believe either the words Kurama was speaking like his mother before him.

 

“But there is one thing I do not regret,” Kurama expressed softly, “and that is having you alive at this moment thanks to Kuronue's stand.”

 

The coal black ears of the mixed fox demon stood upright at the words given to him before he bothered looking Kurama's way. He never thought he would hear such a thing from the very man that damned him so long ago. Blinking a few times in bewilderment, he raised his brows at his once friend. “What did you say?”

 

“A part of me was proud that day you were a born but I refused to admit it,” Kurama elaborated. “I am glad that Kuronue stood up to take care of you when I was unable to.” Laughing a bit at himself, he outstretched his arms before releasing them to his sides. “And I obviously still am with me being younger than you.”

 

Okuro's palm met with his forehead as he expressed a swear word under his breath. “Kurama, what the hell am I going to do then? My mom cannot handle this world any better than she could Makai! She freaks when she has to deal with a new face and she has severe panic attacks that I fear are going to kill her one day!”

 

“What do you want me to do, Okuro?” Kurama asked somberly.

 

“Just tell my mom that this isn't what she wants!” Okuro insisted. “She has convinced herself that this is the life she wants to lead but she is miserable every day of her life; especially without somebody close by to help her with what she is going through. I am about to graduate if I do well on all my work this semester and I will be forced to leave her here…alone.”

 

Kurama cupped his chin in thought as he listened to Okuro's pleading words. “Are you sure she will be fine anywhere else?”

 

“Do you honestly think she will be fine here?” Okuro wondered as he was persistent to have his mother live somewhere else. “Kurama, she may not look it thanks to your injection years ago, but she is tired and she is a lot older than she appears. Even if she is only thirty-five, those years down in hell really destroyed her and made her grow up a lot faster than anyone would care to. The same can be said for me. We just want to retire now…we just want to go somewhere where we won't be bothered.”

 

Kurama was quiet for a moment as he continued to think on the situation silently to himself. “How about I talk to Botan and Koenma? The only places on earth you can truly send your mother as well as yourself are either up in Spirit World or back down to Makai,” Kurama motioned as he explained. “Now, I know Makai isn't an option, so I will see what Koenma will say about Nari going back up in Spirit World to remain. I am sure he won't mind seeing as it was his intention from the beginning to keep her up there, I wager.”

 

“That is all I want for her,” Okuro exhaled with a bit of relief. “She cannot stand it down here. She has fooled herself into believing this is what she wants and it isn't.”

 

Kurama waved his hands gently to simmer down the upset Okuro. “Alright, alright, I will go and talk to them as soon as I can. The answer you will get will probably come tonight.” Heading for the door, he was stopped by his son when Okuro's hand met with his shoulder. “What is it?” He asked once he gazed at the young mix-breed.

 

“If you can get my mother to move from Human World to somewhere where she won't be a nervous wreck the rest of her life, maybe then I will feel some sort of acceptance of your apology,” Okuro explained. “But you better not just disappear from my life when I have you right where I want you, Yoko Kurama. You are not just going to spout apologizes and leave us both again, right? You have an obligation to be with us with Kuronue gone.”

 

A soft smile crept across his face as Kurama shook his wild red hair out of his face. “Okuro, that was never my intention. My intention was to make up for all I have done and that involves a lot of time with you both.” Looking over at the floor where the schoolbooks were left, he chuckled for a moment with a shrug. “I am sorry, but I cannot help you with your homework right now. I have to go and talk to the Spirit World leader. I will try and be back in time to do so.”

 

Without another word, Kurama left the room and headed past Nari to let himself out to do such a thing in hopes of at least redeeming himself.

 

 

 

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Nari remained at home that night as she flipped through the television channels that were paid for. Not many held anything interesting as she eventually found herself turning off the TV to look over at her son who was working on his schoolwork there in the living room as well in front of the sofa. Tossing the remote on the opposite side of the sofa, Nari reached down to shake her son gently.

 

“It's time to go to bed,” she said softly over the rain that was pounding against their windows. “I will wait here for Botan to return with a message from Koenma if such a thing will be delivered tonight as you said.”

 

Closing his books he had out before him, he gathered them up before sitting down next to his mother. “I may trust the creep as far as an anvil can jump, mom, but there is still part of me that believes he would be doing this for us, and I guess a part of me wants to believe…he really meant the words he said.”

 

Nari looked over at her son with a laugh she suppressed with her lips tightly pressed together that made her body shake with the laughter she had contained. “You are so damn gullible, son.” Reaching over, she moved some of his white, blond hair out of his face with another brief smile she was willing to share for him. “But that is only because I am as well. I am glad if anything, you came out right. Out of all the hell that went on in Makai, you were the light in my life down in the darkness.”

 

“Mom…you were always so sappy. It is one thing I am glad I never inherited from you,” Okuro joked causing them both to laugh quietly within the densely lit room.

 

The laughter over for her, Nari leaned over to kiss her son on his cheek before pushing her hand against his back. “Alright, smart butt, off to bed with you. I will wait here for Botan.”

 

“Alright,” he grunted as he hefted himself off of the sofa he was sitting upon. “Goodnight, ma, and I love you. Please, please consider the offer to move from Botan.”

 

Nari raised her hand slightly as if to stop Okuro from begging. “I will think about it, son. Just go to bed. It is not certain what we will do just yet.” Watching her son as he headed for the hallway, she smiled for a moment. “I love you too, son. Sleep well tonight.”

 

Hearing the door close later on, Nari waited in the living room nervously for Botan to arrive. Keeping herself warm in the blanket that was often draped over the leather sofa, she walked over towards the windows to look out at the city that was about her, covered in rain and darkness. The very look of it made her tremble in anxiousness. Even after living in the world for fifteen years, she still had a difficult time accepting the people she often was around; especially if they were male given the abuse she was dealt. A part of her knew that her son was right in believing living somewhere else would be best for her, but another part conflicted with that and wanted to try and regain her humanity there on Human World.

 

As Nari remained there at the windows before her, they began to rattle slightly. Keeping her sight fixed on the darkness about her, she spied through the night the messenger girl heading for her windows to relay a message from Koenma. Nari worked on the latch that kept them shut, her hands pressing against the glass so she could open them for the flighty Grim Reaper.

 

Botan wasted no time to enter the apartment window that was opened for her. Once she entered the room, she made her ore disappear before turning to Nari with a thoughtful expression. “I heard what Kurama did and said…though the boy did it against my word. I guess I cannot blame him,” she responded with a gentle exhale of air. “As for your situation—tell me, Nari, do you want to be up in Spirit World?”

 

Nari shook her head in thought as she looked down the darkened hallway where her son left. “It is my son's idea. He believes that I will be better in Spirit World.” Pausing for a moment she fidgeted with the tassels on the blanket. “And I guess a part of me believes it would be best too…”

 

“Just so you know, Nari, it isn't a problem that you come stay with us in Spirit World. There is plenty of room for you up there,” Botan assured her quickly so Nari wouldn't change her mind. She and Koenma were both desperate to have them move somewhere other than Human World given their special case. “If you ever get bored and need something to do, you can be another of Koenma's messenger girls.”

 

“I don't know, Botan,” Nari whispered as she thought about what she would be gaining and giving up. “It's—it's hard to even think of living at a certain point. I wish I could do it for Okuro and him alone, but it is hard to go on when the one you love died trying to protect you.” Her fingers ran through her stringy hair during her next pause in words. “The only main reason I stayed alive was not only for Okuro's life but to get revenge for Kuronue's death…I apologize. I am selfish, I know.”

 

Botan tapped her fingers against one another as she thought on Nari's words. She knew of whom she spoke of seeing as the demon's name was on top of everyone's mind when he was held prisoner in Spirit World until finally released. Botan knew she wasn't supposed to tell Nari or Kurama of Kuronue but she began to wonder if that would be such a bad thing now with what Nari expressed to her. Placing her hand on the distraught woman's shoulder, Botan hesitated in speaking but did on the sake of being a hopeless romantic. “Nari, I have something to tell you…”