Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wandering Souls ❯ Skeletons in the Closet ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

When Kurama comes to visits Kuwabara, they end up talking about several topics:
The trouble the team is having getting along.
What is bothering Shizuru?
Where are their parents?
What happened in their childhood?

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Mystery / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.21.2004 | Updated On: 02.24.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 248 | Status: Work In Progress

Some may find this chapter boring, but it's necessary for some character development. If you snooze through it, you'll miss not only Kurama & Kuwabara talk about how's he's treated, but also find out what's bothering Shizuru. I will reveal why Michiro is so important to Kuwabara.
On the the story~~~

Wandering Souls Ch 7 Skeletons in the Closet
It was shortly after six a.m. when Kazuma finally walked into his home. The first sight to greet him was his sister, asleep at the dining table. A quick look reveals the five empty cans of beer and a pile of shredded paper. A frown set over his features as he regarded his sister, 'Shizuru is not like Atsuko, she doesn't binge drink. Sis usually only has one or two drinks. She's a fast healer like me, this isn't going to give her a real hangover. She'll just sleep in late. But still—she must be emotionally upset for this...' He bent down to pick her up. As he carried his sleeping sister to the stairs he noticed there was a visitor in the living room. “Kurama, how long have you been here?”
Quietly getting up from the borrowed computer, Kurama followed his teammate upstairs. “I've been here waiting for you for over two hours, Kuwabara-kun” Both were quiet as Kuwabara put his sister in her bed. They walked into Kuwabara's room in silence. Both were playing some sort of mind games, they did so often. Kurama knew that Kuwabara wanted to ask why Kurama had been waiting for him. On the other hand Kurama wanted to ask where Kuwabara was all this time. Curiosity, how it can lead to some interesting games. These two have done this type of waiting game before, to see who will finally ask something first. And with each game, it seems that Kurama learns a little more respect for the younger Kuwabara. 'I do think that Kuwabara is a good ally, but I have caught myself unintentionally insulting him sometimes. It seems to be a catch there that I need to clear. I know he has potential but do I need to think him as weak since he's a human? Unlike Yusuke, he has no demon blood in his veins. That was confirmed after the battle with Sensui and Yusuke's revival.' The sound of running water brought Kurama out his musings, as a sweat drop formed, he noticed that he was still standing at the window and Kuwabara must have went to shower.
In his bathroom, Kuwabara stood under the hot mist, allowing his hair to fall out of it's normal hold as he set the shampoo bottle down. 'Kurama can stand there a bit longer, after all, he's already waited for two hours. Unlike the other times, I've got something else on my mind to keep it occupied and I'm not in the mood. I don't need his puzzles right now nor will I be 'itching to know' as usually happens when he plays these games.' Kuwabara thought to himself as he lathered up a bar of soap and began to wash off.
Thirty minutes later, he finally walked into his bedroom where Kurama sat at his desk. “I thought it was girls that took long showers.” Kurama nodded knowingly as Kuwabara responded that he had a long night.
Raising an eyebrow, Kuwabara regarded his guest with a leery gaze. “I take it that you followed me last night as well as Hiei, right?” With a heavy sigh Kuwabara pulled the towel off his shoulders and tossed it to a corner. With a wave of his hand to the shelf, Kuwabara decided to be a good host. “Would you like some tea, sake, beer or whiskey? I may even have some rum down in the kitchen.”
“Tea, please.” Kurama took a sideways glance as his teammate, this was the first time he ever seen Kuwabara's hair down, out of that duck-bill, Elvis pouf, or whatever they call that ridiculous American retro 50's hairstyle. 'I never realized that's only slightly curly, more wavy than curls. And it actually reaches his shoulders...' Kurama thanked his host as Kuwabara handed him a cup of tea and sat the teapot on the desk. “As matter of fact; yes ,I did follow you last night.”
“Let's cut to the chase, Kurama.” Kuwabara claimed, all business-like as he sat down. The game went on long enough, it was proof that he Kuwabara was tired when he decided that he didn't care if he asked first. “It's been a long night and I am in no mood for games right now. Nor do I want any condescending remarks either.” At Kurama's questioning look, Kuwabara went on. “And I quote 'It seems that he's not healing quite as fast as normal because he is foolishlyputting all his energies into this run', end quote.” At Kurama's wide eyes, Kuwabara narrowed his own in irritation. “Yes, I did hear you! That is just one instance. It's been more than a few times you have called me a child, a youth that still has a lot to learn. As well as other remarks that are actually putdowns.”
“I meant no offense, Kuwabara-kun. It is true that you are young and have much to learn.” Kurama could tell that Kuwabara was offended by the words. It was the tone the tall human was using. It was not his normal high pitched squeal Kuwabara likes to do to annoy people, but the low and cold tone he used to confront Yusuke about Genkai's death at the Dark Tournament. However, it was time they 'cleared the air', sort to speak. The undercurrents of discord within the team have been building for some time, and now it has finally reached a point where it is undermining the coherence of the team. If they are still to function as a unit, they need to continue to work together. The current inner-team hostilities are preventing that. Kurama saw that during the last mission that took them into Makai, so the problem has existed before Kuwabara's friends were murdered. It is past time they found out what the problem was and worked it out.
“It's quite interesting the way you personally can insult a person, Kurama, and can make it sound not so bad—until you think of what the words mean. Truth is, they are all different ways to say grow up, that I'm 'immature'.” Kuwabara stated calmly as he took a swig of his whiskey. “Think about it. You say that 'I' personally have a lot to learn but fail to make any similar remark about Urameshi. You do know that Urameshi and I are the about the same age, only several months difference between us. But you never say that he needs to 'grow up'. Urameshi and I are not so different. Urameshi acts just as immature as I do. So I ask questions a lot, How else am I suppose to learn? Do you want me to do what Urameshi does? Pretend that I know what's going on, thereby not asking and never finding out the truth?" All these facts have bothered him for some time but no one would say there was a problem. However, now that Kurama seems to be willing to listen, Kuwabara intends to voice his opinion. At least, Kurama has always seemed the reasonable one of the group. Whether that is true---well, we'll find out after this discussion. "Hiei is even worse! He keeps saying I'm weaker than him, that I do not compete with him...”
Kurama decided to interrupt at this point, he knew this was a sore spot with Kuwabara. All the times that Kuwabara argued with Hiei and said he was stronger—Kurama knew that Kuwabara was only trying to salvage his teenage ego. Kurama is aware that it was at the teenage years that the youth start to form their image of self-worth. Hiei's badgering would damage any fragile ego or even a strong one if exposed to those insults too long. “Hiei is a lot older than he looks...”
“Exactly!” Kuwabara's exclamation was emphasized by his slamming his glass down. “So why does he have to compare me to himself as he is now? Think about it Kurama, why compare yourself to a fifteen year old if you're four hundred years old? Would he compare an baby's stumbling walk to an adult's graceful walk? It makes more sense to compare the infant's progress to how far along he was at the same age. Is it because I reached A class at age fifteen when he didn't reach it until he was over three hundred that Hiei is so--snide--to me? And yes, I do know that how old Hiei is. Did you forget already that I several ways to gather information that normal humans and even demons do not have? Either from dreams, insightful visions or gossiping ghosts, they are all methods I have used before.”
'Actually, I did forget about that. Kuwabara's ability to surprise me, an ancient fox spirit, is one thing I find amusing and like about him.' Kurama thought to himself as he put his empty teacup down and faced Kuwabara. “I cannot speak for Hiei. I do not know what he thinks. However I do apologize for the times I unwittingly insulted you. That was not my intent. I will try to watch that in the future. I have thought about you and the nature of our friendship and the team. I do think of you as a friend Kuwabara-kun. And I am amused by the—antics--that are played out between you and Yusuke.” Kurama was quick to elaborate at Kuwabara's untrusting glare. “It's you that get the best of Yusuke when it comes to the jokes or pranks. As a kistune, that is what amuses me. Kistunes do love fun and pranks. I remember the time that Hiei and I brought Yusuke and you back here to your home. After Yusuke awoke you kept him on edge, you told him everything that happened after he beaten Suzaku except that Keiko was all right. I laughed along with you at his reactions.”
“Hehe I remember that one. His reactions are too easy to predict though.” A sheepish smile flittered over Kuwabara's face as he thought of what has been said. “Well, it does sound as if that was some sort of an apology –so okay, apology accepted.” A silence filled the air that stretched for a time. Both were unsure of what to say next. A purring caught both of their attentions. Eikichi rubbed against Kurama's leg but avoided his hand as he attempted to pet the cat. Kuwabara chuckled as the lithe little beast nimbly jumped up on the desk to purr in Kurama's face. "So, what really brought you here Kurama, that you waited for two hours for?"
"We just talked about one of the things." At Kuwabara's urging, Kurama elaborated. "One thing I wanted to talk about was the hostilities that are affecting our ability to work together..."
"You can speak for yourself, Kurama. But Hiei and Urameshi are the main ones that are underestimating me . You may try more to not insult me but those two are a different case. I don't know if it is just that Urameshi sometimes forgets there's a fine line between jokes and insults or if he intentionally says the hateful things." Kuwabara caught the slight raising of Kurama's eyebrow, that small gesture that indicates either interest or disagreement. " You think that some of the things he said isn't hateful? You weren't right behind me the time he said that I'm like an ugly singer, only good for backup. Now that's not a joke, it seems hateful to me! He insulted my looks and my ability to fight." Another silence stretched as both watched the sun rise. "You said that was just one of the things you wanted to talk about?"
"I don't mean to pry but..." Kurama paused, knowing what he wanted to know was a personal matter of the Kuwabara family. However, as Kuwabara pointed out to Yusuke when they faced off against Kido, they really don't know much about Kuwabara personally. His personality, yes they know that somewhat, but what of his family, his history?
"You're a fox and curiosity is a characteristic of a fox. It just tweaks you that you have to ask to find out something to a puzzle." Kuwabara smirked as Kurama gave a small smile, the only clue that Kuwabara is correct. "Just ask already."
"We met a little over a year and a half ago, but I still know little about you Kuwabara-kun. I know that you have honor, which is rare among the youth of today. You love cats and pretty girls. However, I have only seen you flirt with two ladies, Yukina and Botan. You are dedicated to always getting stronger, not just in your spirit power, but physically and mentally as well." Kurama hid a smile as Kuwabara yawned and propped up his head with a hand as he listed the most obvious of Kuwabara's traits, until he reached the last part. Kurama pretended to ignore events as a surprised Kuwabara lost his balance in shock and his head slid out of said hand. "Yusuke once pointed out that you got a 7% on a science test and Botan was quick to say that the very next test in science you got a 53%. Of course, Yusuke said he helped you study for the entire week." Kurama could see the indignity in Kuwabara's face so he rushed to say his next sentence. "HoweverKiekosaysthatYusukehasnevergottenanythingover20%onanyofhistests." (translation= However, Kieko says that Yusuke has never gotten anything over 20% on any of his tests.)
Kurama had to pause as Kuwabara doubled over with laughter. "Haah ha ha! That's too rich! Urameshi is always calling me stupid but I raised my scores. And Urameshi doesn't have one that's over 20! Ha ha!" It took a few moments for Kuwabara to get his laughter under control. The irony was just too sweet. "Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. And to set thing straight, Urameshi didn't help me the entire week. It was the night before the test, he did pull through and help me to study. He was still in his ghost form and I finally fell asleep after pulling all-nighters, studying all week. He entered my dreams and helped me study while I was dreaming. Okay, we got off topic there. So Kurama, what were you wanting to ask? You said something about not meaning to pry but you don't really knowing me that well. Like I said, ask away."
"Ah, I know that much about you. But I don't much else. When is your birthday? What are your main hobbies? When you become involved in street gangs? How did you become a gang leader at such a young age? Why is it that we only seen Shizuru as part of your family? What happened to your parents? When did you first meet Genkai?" They were such little things, but Kurama didn't know any of that about his teammate. He could tell that the Kuwabara siblings knew Genkai before the spirit detective business. He wasn't sure about Kazuma, but Botan told him that Shizuru herself said that she's known Genkai for a long time. Come to think of it, Yusuke mentioned that the younger Kuwabara knew of Genkai before the two youths participated in Genkai's tournament. Kurama thought that Kuwabara would be annoyed by the questions, however soft laughter met his ears, not protests.
"Heh heh, about time one you guys got around to ask me some of those things. I was wondering long long it would take." Looking out the window, Kuwabara watched as city began to awaken. Turning to face his guest, Kuwabara could feel the intense cuoristiy emanating from Kurama. "Is that all you want to know? Tell me Kurama, what is the biggest question that you have? Since we are being open here, now is the time to ask." Pausing for a moment, Kuwabara gave a grin. "After all, you had over a year and a half to think about some questions and puzzling things about me."
It's true over the time that Kuwabara has known the others, he never once has mentioned his parents to Kurama. Kuwabara has only mentioned Shizuru as family, no others. Only recently did the others really pay attention to Kuwabara’s human gang. Kurama didn't realize that there were more than the three that that followed Kuwabara until this gang war started. Before, Yusuke wasn't aware of how big the Menboku Yaiba is. It's still unclear how many are in the gang. There were about twenty-seven at the wherehouse base when they went to after Kuwabara got the news of his friends deaths , but Kurama doubted that was all of them. There had to be some on guard and some out scouting the town after the attack. "Very well, one thing I want to know is why Shizuru has reacted badly to the arrival of this new ghost that came with Okubo, Sawamura and Kirishima's ghosts. She mentioned that he was the one that saved you when you were born. Shizuru said it was her fault for both, that you had to be saved at all and that your mother died." There, he asked what has truly perplexed him for the last hour. After Shizuru let that slip, she would say nothing else. Kurama had asked if he could use their computer while he waited for her brother and she nodded her head okay.
For the next hour, Kurama had attempted to find anything on the internet, hospital records, police records, anything pertaining to the siblings. He had found that Kuwabara is a popular name, there are several doctors and professors with the same family name. 'I wonder if it's Japan's version of the American family name, Smith?' One thing he could verify that one of the historical aspects of the family. As Kuwabara Kazuma once boasted, the Kuwabara’s do indeed descend from a line of nobles, which include samurai. But there was nothing to be found on the internet about what happened to the siblings or their parents. Nothing to back up any of the rumors that abound on the streets. For one, was it true that Kuwabara was actually raised within the gang?
Kuwabara closed his eyes at Kurama’s question. Of course Kurama would find the biggest one. "Heh, of all the questions to ask, that one..." With a deep breath Kuwabara opened his eyes to stare ahead at Kurama. "It's ironic Kurama, that one question can answer many of your other ones. You may as well get comfortable and go to the little boy's room before I start, this is long and complicated story."
After Kurama assured him that he was fine, Kuwabara started his condensed tale. "It was known that I would be too large for a vaginal birth, my mother was as slim as sis is, with narrow hips. At seventh month of pregnancy, the doctors knew that my head was too large for the birth canal, a caesarian would have to be done once I reached full term. My father was never in the picture, mom got pregnant at some party by a westerner. So when Yusuke calls me a bastard, he is actually right. It was Shizuru's job to watch out for any distress mom may have had and call for help. At thirteen, Shizuru got tired of being cooped up all the time, so one night she snuck out to spend some time with an older guy that mom didn't approve of. It was a few hours later when Mom went into premature labor. They say that an electrical storm moved in, that the lightening was so bad that several houses in the neighborhood were struck, that is what shut down all the power lines and the phones. The night I was born went into the records books as the worse electrical storm in Japan's written history." Kuwabara paused, although Michiro and Genkai told him the tale, it still seemed to cut his heart out every time the tale is told. "As I said, I was too big to a normal birth. Mom needed help, and Shizuru wasn't there. When Shizuru finally returned home, she found our mother had collapsed a few feet from the front door,her body was already cold."
Shocked, Kurama interrupted, he wanted to clarify a few things. "But if she couldn't give birth to you and she was dead when Shizuru returned--how did you survive?"
"It seems that one lucky thing did happen that summer night, the leader of the Menboku Yaiba, Akima Michiro was passing by on the street. He had some psychic ability and noticed that there was some spirit energies in great distress within my house. So he went to investigate. He noticed that the house was too quiet for the amount of spiritual disturbance happening. He sent a mental call to a old friend of his, Genkai, and then barged in. The first thing he noticed was Shizuru's hysterical screaming, something should have but didn't hear from the outside. He then noticed that there was still some energies coming from my dead mother's belly, from me. Realizing that my powers were still helping me cling to life, he pulled out a knife and cut me out, therefor saving my life. That was when Genkai arrived. She noticed that someone put a silencing spell over the house, no one would hear what was happening within from the outside. Between that and the thunder is why none of the neighbors heard my mother's cries for help. We never found out who casted that spell either." Kuwabara took a drink of a soda, his nerves are always too raw after telling this story to drink anything stronger. "Michiro kept a watch on me and my sis, treating us like his own, even though he was only 21 when I was--when I came into the world. He gave us our first lessons in how to control our psychic powers. He was the reason I joined the Menboku Yaiba, he literally raised me after all. It's only natural that I would spend time with the gang, that he would teach me what it means to be a leader. That man was nothing less than a father figure to us. For my sis, it was a bitter sweet deal. On one hand, she had a man that acted as a father,although he was only 9 years older then her. On the other hand, she was constantly reminded why he was in our lives to begin with. Michiro watched over us for eleven years. "
Kuwabara was quiet for a few minutes, remembering the times that he spent with Michiro, the good and the bad. Kurama did not was to interrupt the stillness that has descended on the house. Finally Kuwabara looked up to stare straight into Kurama's eyes. "Whenever anyone would try to be a smart ass and asked what accident was I in that made me so ugly, I was able to ignore them for one reason. I knew they were being rude, they didn't know that I was actually in an accident. It happened when I was eleven. I was in the passenger side as Michiro was driving one day. A car we recognized that belonged to the Supaida no Yoru rammed us from behind as we went down a hill. It didn't take Michiro long to realize that he couldn't control the speed the car picked up as we went down the hill was because his brakes were cut. We were rammed another time, that made us veer into an alley, which was a dead end. Well it turned into a dead end literally for Michiro. That crash killed him and disfigured me."
A short time later, Hiei jumped down from the roof of a neighboring house to join Kurama as he walked home. "Interesting tale, now we know why Kuwabara was so affected by Genkai's death that time. "
"Yes, I always wondered why Kuwabara reacted so strongly. All we knew of his interactions with Genkai happened during her tournament for a successor and at the Dark Tournament. We had no idea that Genkai was involved with the Kuwabara siblings before then." Kurama stopped at the same park me met up with Hiei earlier. "Did you overhear the entire conversation, Hiei? What do you think of what was said of the team's inner struggles?"
"As much as I hate to think of this ragtag band as a team-- I admit we are one and the current struggles do affect how we work together." Slipping into a quiet contemplation, Hiei thought of his decision to return to the Ningenkai. After they defeated Sensui in the Makai, he could have stayed there. Wasn't that what he wanted? To return home and no longer be trapped on this mud ball? However, when Koenma said that they had to make a decision quickly because the Spirit Realm Defense Team were closing the dimensional door, Hiei did not take any time to decide. He did not hesitate to go with the others as they left Makai and returned to Ningenkai. "I will think of what was said." He didn't need to say that he was referring to to working as a team and if he was unfair to Kuwabara or not. "There was one thing you forgot to ask Kurama. "Why does nearly everyone call him by his family name? Even those three humans never called him by his personal name. What is his name? I heard Shizuru call him Kazu, but I don't think that's his real name. At the Dark Tournament, they listed him only by Kuwabara, no other name to go with the family name." "You can ask Yukina what his personal name is, I'm sure she knows it." A small grin appeared on Kurama's face as Hiei stumbled for moment at the mention of his sister. With eyes skyward, Kurama went on as if the scene never happened. "Dealing with both siblings at the same time can get confusing. I mean we call the sister by her name but the younger brother by the family name. I've resorted to sometimes thinking about them as Elder Kuwabara and Younger Kuwabara."
After Kurama got up to leave the park, he turned to face his fellow demon. "Hiei, if you don't want to ask Yukina what Kuwabara's name is then--you can always ask me. Kazu is a nickname that only Shizuru calls him, his name is Kazuma."

```~~TBC~~``` --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- AN= ARRGGG, I love the file system on my new comp, but the spellcheck + thesaurus are annoying! My last spellcheck memorized the words I added, such as Kuwabara. This current one only does so for the current page it seems. I go to a new page and it says that Kuwabara is wrong! It doesn't even have leery in it dictionary, but the word exists, I fond it in my paper dictionary, it means to be wary. I Another annoying thing is that it 'shadows' my typing. That is, I start to type a word, such as type, as soon as I get to the 'typ' in, then '-ing' appears in a shadow box. All I would have to do is hit enter and it adds the shadowed words. Sounds neat, right? But what if I don't want typing, but wanted typed? That and for many words it does that to. In typing this paragraph, that shadow bow has pooped up over twenty times! Nineteen times it was for the wrong word! Quite annoying, I want to turn it off! But I can't figure out how. well i think I got it to cut sown on how often it comes up.
ACK! Speaking of coming up, my very large cat, is demanding attention. DO you know how hard it is to ignore a 25 pound cat that is over 40 inches long? Especially when he starts to throw a paw up to the arm. Thank goddess that Alacer knows how to keep his claws in!
About clan Kuwabara, I once saw a picture online of the ancient house (or was it a shrine) of Kuwabara, and it mentioned that there were samurai in the clan.
About Yusuke's scores= I did that on purpose. Most people seem too quick to judge Kuwabara's intelligence. In the events of "The Promise" (that's what's it called in the English graphic novel, I think in the anime it's called "A Man's Promise ") Yusuke laughs at Kuwabara saying that he got a 7% on the last science test. Yusuke reveals he got a 12% in science. I think everyone conveniently forgets that, along with that Kuwabara raised his score (in one week) to 53%. We never hear Yusuke's test scores improving. Also, it's Kuwabara that ends up graduating from High School (Kurama's old high school!) and going to college. Though they never name the college, I read once that he went to the same one as Kieko. Since Yusuke went to the Makai, he never did finish high school. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- This excerpt is from the graphic novel, vol. 1. ch.7, The Promise!= pg166 - 167 Yusuke= (laughing) Oh my god, Kuwabara. Even I did better than that!
Botan= Oh? What score did you get?
Yusuke= heh heh, 12%! ( he said that proudly) AH-HEM-- Science tests are mainly multiple choice, so it's my best subject. It's amazing what I achieve through intuition. (It's amazing he can achieve anything through intuition, he stunk at Genkai's test that measured it, he got three right out of fifteen!)
Botan, thinking to herself= I won't ask how you score in your other subjects. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
As you can see, I was generous to to say Yusuke got 20% on something! It was the science test he took after the time he helped Kuwabara study. Actually, it was only one night that Yusuke helped Kuwabara study, while he was sleeping, not the entire week. So Yusuke was stretched it a bit when he was talking to Kurama. LOL