Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Winter's end ❯ Merciful Hana ( Chapter 8 )

Happy 4th of July! Here's an update to brighten the mood even more! =)

 

Disclaimer: I guess I can add to this now. I own any OC that you never heard of before reading this story. Should be clear enough, hehe.

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Chapter 8: Merciful Hana

 

“Are you sure you should be up?” asked an extremely worried Shuichi as Ray put on her sweater.

 

“Yeah, I feel fine. Really.” she assured him, boring her eyes into his to make her point. Kurama gave up and raised both hands.

 

“Ok, whatever.” he inclined his head then looked back up and saw her struggle to put on a jacket. “Wait, where are you going?” he inquired while helping her.

 

Ray smiled and had to cough softly to stop herself from chuckling. He was such a worry wart. “I just need to go take a walk...” she smiled slightly.

 

“Well you're not going anywhere by yourself. Look what happened last time.” he reprimanded her like a father. Kurama looked up after he had put on his jacket and immediately felt sorry for what he had just said. “Aah—I didn't... I mean... I'm mad at myself, not at you.” he tried to make that sad expression go away.

 

Ray didn't look like she was about to cry, but her gaze was so distant and detached from anything it made her look like a stranded angel among pitiful humans. With one blink though, it was gone and a smile spread on her lips. “Yeah, you're right. Silly me.” she said while making a funny face by looking up at the ceiling from the corner of her eyes.

 

“Ray—”

 

“Let's just go... Ok?” she tried to smile but didn't quite succeed this time. Kurama nodded and held the door open for her, since she was, after all, walking with crutches.

 

~*~

Bzzz. Bzzz. “Hello?” answered Shuichi, not quite sure who would be calling him this early in the morning. “Oh... hi Kimori. ... Huh? ... Oh. Well no, we needed—a change of scenery. ... Yeah... Can you make up an excuse for us? ... Yeah. No no, that's good. ... Uh huh. Thanks. Bye.”

 

“Well, Kimori just saved us from certain detention and being grounded.” sighed Kurama, shoving his cell phone back in his pocket. “But are you sure you want to come back here? I mean... It might not be the best—”

 

“No. I need to know something.” whispered Ray, walking slowly in the snow with her crutches.

 

The forest was still and silent as crystal. “Do you want me to carry you?” asked Kurama, glancing at the friend next to him. Ray just shook her head.

 

“No... I have to remember where it was...” she whispered, looking around with each new step.

 

“What exactly are you looking for?”

 

“... When I woke up... after falling... I heard a voice and—” she stopped and smiled. It sounded crazy. Like the ghost of a little girl would really show up and try to save her. Puh-lease.

 

“I saw a little girl, humming and dancing in the snow.” continued Kurama, looking straight ahead to purposely not see Ray's shocked expression. He wanted to assure her she hadn't gone insane or hit her head too hard when she fell.

 

“You... you did?” Kurama turned his head to face her and nodded.

 

“It's thanks to her I was able to find that cave... If it weren't for her, we'd both be dead.”

 

“But you don't... believe in spirits, do you?” asked Ray, casting one quick glance at the red haired male, acting as if she didn't know what to believe when truly, she firmly believed in spirits that watched over others.

 

Kurama had to stop himself from smiling and instead, shrugged. “You never know what's real or what's not. Myths are always based on some kind of reality right?” he gave her a warm smile and stopped. “There's the cave.” he pointed, trying to change the subject yet wondering how she'd react if she knew about his past life.

 

Ray stopped next to Shuichi, “Hai, this is it...” she murmured, then made her way up there with Kurama's help. Strangely enough, the surroundings looked too familiar. Yet she knew she shouldn't recognize this because, well, there was the minor detail of her being unconscious.

 

Setting foot inside the cave, Ray looked to her right and a torn image of Yukio screaming his head off flashed in front of her eyes. Her expression must have changed because Kurama asked her if she was alright.

 

“I'm—fine... I just don't... understand...” she whispered to herself and walked closer to where the dream indicated Yukio had dragged her.

 

“Understand what?” slightly frowned Kurama. He was really confused. Now she knew, and now she didn't.

 

“This—” she pointed to where Kurama had been kicked, “Or this.” she pointed to a part of the cave where the mysterious beast that scared the crap out of Yukio had appeared from. “I know I shouldn't recognize anything, bu—but I do! It scares me! H-how can I know when I wasn't even awake?” she grabbed her head in between both hands, her crutches clattering on the ground, and scooted back until her back hit the wall.

 

Kurama blinked but walked closer to her and encircled her shoulders in his arms, bringing her into a comforting embrace. “Shh... it's alright.” he cooed softly, “Maybe... your subconscious heard everything that was happening and your brain associated an image with it. Or—”

 

“No... No! I know every single detail!” she looked up into his eyes, her own wide in fear. “Where you were lying, bleeding, how your body was resting... How I was lying there.” she pointed to another spot.

 

Tightening his embrace, Kurama tried to think of anything else that could have triggered such a retention of information. Nothing came to mind though, unless... Licking his cold lips, he exhaled once and put a thumb under Ray's chin, making her look up at him one more time.

 

“This—might sound crazy... But frankly, it's the only thing that would make sense, if it actually does.” he tried not to confuse himself. “But... what if, everything you saw—wasn't from your point of view, but from someone else's?”

 

Ray frowned in confusion, “Someone... else's? But no one was there besides you and Yukio! And I haven't—seen... Yukio since...” she trailed off.

 

Quickly changing the subject, Kurama interjected again. “Think back for a moment, we both saw that little girl, right?” Ray nodded. “Well... what if she had anything to do with it?”

 

Ray stared into Kurama's green eyes, her mouth slightly open in hope that he was right.

 

Sudden footsteps from outside made both of them jump, especially when someone pointed a flashlight inside the slightly dark cave. “Hey! No one's allowed in here. This area's off limits—” The person stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was in there.

 

“Oh... it's you two.”

 

Kurama sighed in relief. It was one of the guys from the rescue team. The one that he remembered. The one with the black hair, Kiyoshi. “What are you doing here?” he asked them, walking over to make sure they were okay.

 

“We uh—just...” but Kurama didn't really know what to say. If this was off limits, who knows what kind of trouble they were in now. Forget detentions, they could probably be arrested!

 

“We came to see if we could see a friend.” cut in Ray, staring into the guy's dark brown eyes.

 

Kiyoshi turned off his flashlight and uneasily glanced sideways once. “A... friend?”

 

Ray nodded, “Yes... She saved our lives.” she replied softly.

 

“She?” Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed yet he tried not to let them widen in surprise.

 

“Yes... A little girl in a white dress.” answered Ray.

 

“Hana...” breathed out the older teen, covering his mouth as if to take back the word that slipped from his mouth.

 

Kurama and Ray glanced at each other. “You—know her?” inquired Kurama. If he knew her, then that meant she wasn't a spirit after all and they could properly thank her!

 

Kiyoshi sighed softly before nodding once, “She was my little sister...”

 

Ray's heart sank. Was. “So, she's no longer part of this world...” she sighed sadly.

 

Kurama shook his head, “No, she is. Her spirit remains.” Kiyoshi looked up, a small smile on his lips.

 

“Yes... She died when she was seven. We were visiting Mount Fuji, like you, when she got lost and...” A ball of constricted emotion shot right up to his throat, preventing him from speaking for the moment.

 

“The rescue teams were too late.” softly finished Kurama, looking down sadly.

 

Kiyoshi simply nodded once and swallowed his heart again. “I'm sorry... Every time I tell someone, I—”

 

“It's alright.” smiled Ray, “I understand.” she looked at him in the eyes, trying to prevent herself from crying.

 

“Is that why you're part of the rescue team now? Because of what happened to Hana?” Once more, Kiyoshi nodded.

 

“With her help, we find lost people and are able to save lives... She was always so sweet...” He could no longer keep it in, with a sob, the tears that had threatened to leak out earlier now freely raced down his cheeks.

 

“And she remains sweet and helpful even in death.” smiled Kurama, “Hana, I know you're out there... I just want to say thank you. You saved our lives.” he said, looking to the forest from the entrance of the cave.

 

High up on a branch, sat a little white figure, legs dangling over a branch with both hands holding onto it. A giant smile was plastered on her face, and the tears Kiyoshi shed resembled beautiful white rose petals.

 

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As for the names: Kiyoshi means “quiet,” and Hana means “flower, blossom; graceful, merciful.”

 

That's that, I wrote this the same I finished chapter 7! I couldn't believe it myself, it was like... almost 1 in the morning. >.> But my creativity is so much better than during the day! ^^;; Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews greatly appreciated, as always. =)

 

Yumi_Kuro: ^^ Why thank you! Welcome aboard, new fanfic—um, reviewer/lover is in order. =) Thanks for reviewing!

 

inuyuyu_15: Yay for catching up! I like your new spelling of “happeh” :P It's very um... Ray-ish. ^^; It's not much more of a surprise, but at least pretend you forgot parts of it. 'K? xP

 

duckichan87: Haha, you reason like I do... When I watch 24 and we think somebody's dead, I'm like "Noo, no that can't be. She's on the cover of the next disc" or something. :P Thanks for reviewing! ^^

 

Meep_4ever: Stick girl eh? *hails* << >> Should be good enough! ^^ How was the "next update?" xP

 

midnight fox: I ask for nothing but love and unrequited love! ... Wait— << >> Um... Ignore that last statement! *updates before anger suffocates me* Eee!

 

Missy: o.o Uh oh... the unstickable girl!! ... Did I say unstickable? I meant unstoppable xP That was no cliffie now, was it? >.>

 

kuramagurl: Well lying while knowing it's good for saving yourself is good as long as there's a distinct difference between enjoying lying about everything... And we all Kurama's too smart. ;) As for Yukio... well, the next chapter should answer your question a bit more. ^^ >.> Quality > quantity. =P

 

missy: So you submitted two reviews? Or is there a difference in the missy with a capital M? *is confused* ?_?

 

Kurama_s_Girl_911: ^.^ Cute is good. Hehe. I wish guys like that existed too *sighs* But then again, tis why I write fanfictions... >.> To make your dreams a reality! ... That's such a sucky slogan ^^;;; Haha, anyway, thanks for reviewing! =3

 

Leh Star: *nod nod* It's called ego, or in his case, inflated head and ankles. ^^;; As for those fangirls, they should just... um, "accidentally" all die in a car crash because they saw... Yukio being raped or something... >_> *cough* Excuse the randomness. :P

 

XshootingStarX: *nod* I see your point. Let's just hope I keep on writing (even though the chapters are short). I need creativity... and time. ^^; Thanks for reviewing! =D