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YYH
PJLMF
Chapter [02
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, no matter how much I want to. Of course if I did, a lot of things would have been different.
Loser: Just as I promised! A longer chapter. Hopefully I didn't make him cry to much…
Aniki: … Anywhoo, Loser would like to give a special mention (just as promised) to, Storymaster Caith, and Koluno 1986 for their wonderful reviews! Yay you!
Loser: I said you were supposed to be good, not sickeningly happy…
Aniki: What's the difference?
Loser: . …
Caith:!
Ani: -eyeballs-
Loser:!
Aniki: he's weirrdd.
Caith: rolls eyes whatever, Ani.
Chapter 2 Don't let me wake up.
1
Ani looked longingly at Kuwabara's outstretched hand, but made no move to reach for it. He wanted to run, far from here, far from him. But the urge to stay was stronger. He knew that Kuwabara wouldn't hurt him; he knew that Kuwabara was one of the trust worthiest person he could ever meet, but that still didn't stop him from flinching back when he came close and held his hand out to him. Kuwabara didn't waver, didn't move. He just stood there, patiently, before Ani Togoro mustered up the courage to reach out and tentively, so very carefully, place his hand into the larger, gentle hand, as he thought it would disappear at the slightest wind. But it didn't disappear. It closed around his own and he didn't wake up, not like the other times.
2
Aniki Togoro awoke wrapped in soft warmth. He opened his eyes just a crack, for a moment forgetting where he was. He saw leaves on the ground in front of him, as his eyes adjusted; he saw the flames of a small campfire. He got up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and realized…he was alone. He was in a clearing in the middle of the forest, and alone. It was still early spring, and a chill breeze sent an icy shiver up his spine. He wrapped the white jacket tighter around him and scooted closer to the fire. …Wait, …he didn't have a white jacket. It didn't have sleeves, but it had a high collar and was long enough to cover his whole length. It had a faint smell of musk, hair gel, and dry cat food. It was nice. The sky was a pale yellow with dawn, getting ready to become morning.
"Good morning."
Ani gasped and turned to where the voice had come. Kuwabara leaned against a tree that couldn't have been thicker than his fist, yet it held his weight.
"Kuwabara? You -" Aniki hesitated, then mumbled something under his breath.
Kuwabara pushed himself from the tree and walked towards Ani. He was careful to place his hand on Ani's shoulder nearest him, so he leaned next to him instead of looming over, and asked Aniki quietly to repeat what he had said.
"It… I-I." He stammered. He ducked his head and averted his eyes. He hated this, hated feeling like this. Everything was fine, he almost forgot. Almost. But he had to come and make him remember again. "Why?"
Kuwabara had the patience of a grandmother. "Why what?"
Aniki just couldn't stand it anymore. It was too much, Kuwabara was being too nice, there was something wrong, there had to be. 'There's no way, it can't be.' Aniki thought bitterly to himself as he shrunk into a little ball. 'It's not him, even if it was him, he wouldn't…I don't deserve it. I deserve to die, why can't I just die?' He sobbed, pulled his knees to his chest and sobbed.
Kuwabara, not really sure of what to do, pulled the shaking figure into his arms. He tried to sooth the little one by rubbing his back and petting his hair. But he said nothing; there was nothing he could say.
Aniki was trying to say something, but between the sobbing and his voice being muffled by Kuwabara's chest there was no understanding what it was, then "I'm sorry."
"No To-" He stopped himself. Ani didn't want to be called that anymore.
"I am sorry." Ani's sobbing had quieted, but his voice was weak and shaky. "I really am."
"That guy back there, who was he?" Kuwabara was still holding onto Ani, and Ani really appreciated it.
"He was my friend, …from before…" he trailed off.
"I understand, he told me. Not everything, but…"
"I don't understand. Why are you…?" Ani looked up into sleep-deprived eyes. All Kuwabara could see behind those once bright golden eyes was a hurting and brokenness that needed healing, but had no idea how to do so.
"I'm honor bound, you were a great adversary. You're still strong…" He paused a moment, "Look, T-"
"Just Ani, please."
"Ani. I don't know everything that happened to you, and you probably don't want to re-live it. But I have to find a way to help you to get back to you're old self."
"No!" Ani latched onto the redhead's neck. "No, I don't want to…be that again…I …can't.
"You misunderstood. I meant your strengths."
"Kuwabara." He said quietly, not really sure of what else to say.
"Lets get you to my house, and get you cleaned up. Okay?"
"No! No. Just… I'll be fine. I'm grateful that you'd taken me from there. I wasn't sure how much longer I could have stayed there." Ani's voice grew quiet again in remembrance. "You wouldn't believe how many people would want…" He pulled the too-big jacket tighter around him and realized that Kuwabara must be as cold as he was, if not colder with only his sleeveless undershirt, and would probably want his jacket back. "Uh, Kuwabara? Here." He said quietly, and started to pull the jacket from his shoulders to give back to the larger man. Yes, man. Grown so much from the gaggling teenaged-boy Ani used to know.
"Nah, you keep it for now. I'm fine, I have a bit more insulation." And patted his stomach with a toothy grin. This makes Ani feel… well; he didn't really know how to describe it. It was a good feeling. A comforting feeling that the 'Man', never lost his boyish innocence.
Kuwabara offered his hand, and this time Aniki took it without hesitation.
3
Aniki awoke to a strange sound, and a comfortable weight on his chest. He slowly opened his eyes, and gave a yelp of surprise. The cat gave one of her own and jumped to the floor, irritated that her comfy bed had disturbed her slumber. And if Ani didn't feel foolish enough, his host nearly flung the door off of it's hinges to see what was the matter.
"What?" Kuwabara, after being so used to being on the field, expected the worst. "What is it, what happened?"
Aniki meekly pointed to the calico kitty, who took this opportunity to make her leave through the open door.
"Oh, jeeze." Kuwabara gave a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I don't know how Nyuu got in here with the door closed." He leaned on the doorframe. It was at this time the Aniki realized the room that he was in. It was small with white walls, the bed to big for the room as it was, but a desk and lamp had somehow gotten shoved in here as well. The floor was cluttered with discarded cloths and empty take-out boxes. For some reason the mess gave a comfortable lived-in feeling, but still.
"I took your room." Aniki finally spoke.
"Don't worry about it," Kuwabara said, "For now, are you hungry, thirsty, or in need of a bath?"
"I, uh-" he hesitated.
"Then we remedy all three then! Come on, bath first, or do you prefer a shower?"
"Sh-shower please." Aniki reluctantly got out of the warm bed, his shirt missing, but his pants still on. Thankful for that, he followed Kuwabara down the hall to the bathroom. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he didn't realize Kuwabara had stopped until he bumped into him.
"Sorry." Kuwabara said. "Here, towels, and a robe." He reached up and took the shampoo down from the high shelf for common courtesy and handed it to Aniki.
"Thank you." Aniki gratefully took them and set it all on the counter as Kuwabara started the water. "Kuwabara? I –"
"I know, I know. You can do this yourself." He interrupted, "But are you really going to complain about this?" he looked inquisitively over his shoulder at Aniki, who shook his head no. "Good, I'll be in the kitchen, and when you finish here, there'll be food waiting there for you. He turned and gave Aniki what looked like a genuine smile and left him alone, closing the door behind him.
Aniki sighed, everything was happening so fast, he found himself pinching his arm to see if he'd wake up. It hurt, so he was decidedly awake. Was it just two days ago, that he was working like a slave for little more then a place to sleep and (very) little food? Now he had... Why was this man, whom he had actually tried to kill, (not once but twice!) being so nice to him? Letting come into his home?
4
The hot water felt good on his back as Aniki leaned his head back into the pelting shower. The shampoo smelled sweet. He forced himself to relax, though he couldn't help himself, listening for …he didn't know what. Even thought he knew Kuwabara would never do something such as attacking someone like this. He just wasn't like that.
"How do you know that for sure?" his inner voice argued.
"I just do. That's Kuwabara! His honor code is unwavering, you know that!" he scolded himself. He felt terribly guilty just for thinking that. Yet the voice wouldn't shut up.
"That was when he was young, people change. And always for the worst. You know this."
"No. No way. He isn't. He isn't. HE'S NOT LIKE THAT!"
He sighed and shut the water off. Pushing the plain white shower curtain aside, He gasped.
"Mrow." The cat sat in the middle of the walkway. Her calico fur smooth against her small frame, and tail twitching from side to side.
"Nyuu?" he said, reaching for a towel, "How did you get in here?"
"Mrow!" she turned and jumped up on the counter top. "Mrow." She said once again, as she sat and watched him with those piercing yellow cat eyes.
Aniki dried himself off and wrapped the robe around him. Nyuu purred and reached a paw out toward him. Taking this as a sign saying "I want pets and attention!" Aniki reached out to pet her. Nyuu on the other hand had other plans. She jumped to his shoulder and draped herself around the back of his neck, purring madly.
"Pretty kitty." He scratched the side of her neck that she stretched out for the aforementioned purpose. "You don't know what you're doing."
Nyuu lazily drew out her tail in J shapes down his side. Aniki smiled for the first time in what felt like years and opened the door. He could really understand why Kuwabara liked cats so much. The air felt cool against his exposed skin, the steam billowing it's way into the hall. He turned and made his way into the kitchen/dinning room.
5
Kuwabara stood in front of the counter mixing batter for pancakes. He sensed Aniki enter the room and turned to greet him. He almost dropped his bowl.
"Ahh! Nyuu, get off of him!"
Nyuu calmly turned her head and mewed with a look in her eyes that seemed to say, "What the hell's you're problem?"
"Uh, she's okay Kuwabara." Aniki reached to scratch her neck again. "Aren't you?"
"Oh wow, how'd you do that? Nyuu usually so wonderful with strangers." Kuwabara said.
"What do you mean?" Aniki inquired.
"Well," Kuwabara started, "The first, and last, time she met with Yusuke, she clawed her way up his leg and bit him on the thigh. And it wasn't the outside of the thigh either.
Aniki was shocked, "This sweet little kitty?"
"That sweet little kitty is the meanest cat you'll ever see, if you get on her bad side anyway." He chuckled and returned to his pancakes while Aniki sat at the table. Nyuu jumped from Aniki's shoulders to the table, not settling for anything less than all of his attention.
"That cat has never been so affectionate with anyone like that before." Kuwabara continued. He made like he was going to say something else, but returned to the pancakes instead, pouring them into the hot griddle.
The smell was so good, Aniki's mouth started to water. He hadn't had a real meal in a while.
6
Nyuu refused to let Aniki eat anything until she inspected every single bite before he put it into his mouth.
"Nyuu let him eat. I made the pancakes, okay!" Kuwabara stuffed his own mouth full of pancake and syrup to prove his point. Nyuu just ignored him and turned to Aniki, rubbing her face against his hand.
"You're worse than my room mother was, Nyuu." Aniki smiled and scratched behind her ears.
"Room mother?" Kuwabara asked before he could stop himself.
Aniki looked down at his plate that was nearly empty. "A senior woman was placed in all of the rooms where the new girls were placed, to protect them from the… harsher customers.
"Oh," he said, immediately sorry he had asked. "I didn't mean to –"
"No. " Aniki interrupted, "It's okay. I know you're curious. Room Mother Xu-Xu (Zu-Zu) was very nice to me. She played card games with me, and she gave me this. He felt around his neck, but the locket she had given him was gone. His eyes widened, looking like he was about to cry. How could he have lost it? Why didn't he notice its absence earlier? How could he have been so careless about it? Nyuu jumped into his lap to comfort him.
"Oh! You mean that locket?" Kuwabara said quickly, "The chain broke, but don't worry. I've found another one for it, though it's a little long." He reached into his pants pocket and drew the little thing from its hiding place. The little silver heart twisted and turned catching the light (and Nyuu's attention) as he went to give it to Aniki. Nyuu, as curious as a feline could be, batted at the shiny object, accidentally putting her paw into the syrup. Disheveled at the sticky-ness, she jumped down and proceeded to clean her paw ostentatiously ignoring the other two.
Aniki reached for that little heart shaped locket like a child who's favorite Mr. Stuffy had just been found. He clutched it to his chest and whispered a small thank you before clasping it around his neck.
"It's pretty." Kuwabara said.
"Yes," Aniki responded quietly. "It's empty though. Mother Xu-Xu said that perhaps I'd hold someone special in it one day. She liked to dream for her charges."
"Well, maybe I'll get you a picture of Nyuu, hmm?" Said cat had finished her hygiene routine and had started rubbing her side along Aniki's legs.
"I got you some cloths when you were asleep." Kuwabara got up and rounded the table, putting his hand on Aniki's shoulder. "You can go ahead and pour us some milk while I go and get them, okay?"
Aniki nodded as Kuwabara left the room. "Well, Nyuu? Where are the glasses?" he asked as a joke.
"Mrow!" she exclaimed as she jumped onto the countertop and pawed at the cabinet closest to the refrigerator.
"Thank you Nyuu. You're such a smart kitty." He hugged her and scratched behind her ears. It was a bit high so he had to climb atop the counter to reach. Once he had acquired his glasses, he set them on the counter and swung his legs down and landed none to gracefully on his rump. He could have sworn he heard the cat snigger. Which was quite impossible since cats couldn't laugh, or even snicker, let alone snigger. Aniki shook his head to clear it, and turned to get the milk from the refrigerator. As he walked, Nyuu zigzagged through his legs playfully. Aniki couldn't help but giggle just a little bit at the playful little thing. So innocent. "Nyuu, your going to make me trip, silly cat."
"Mrrrow!" She purred.
"Let me guess, you want some milk too?"
For her answer she looked up at him and licked her chops, meaning, "Yes, I would like some milk. Thank you."
Aniki laughed to himself, for the first time in a long time he really laughed. To think that all it took for him to be able to smile again was the naïve antics of a little kitty cat. He looked down at her with a sadness in his smile, "You know, Nyuu? I really hope this isn't another dream. If it is, I don't want to wake up this time."
End
A/N
Loser: You know, it seems Aniki 'awakens' a lot… yet he never really seems to go to sleeps . ; I know. It's my own fault. Anyway .
Ani: Loser would like to thank you all for reading, and gives Metaphorical cookies and pocket pets to all!
Loser: Don't ask about the pocket pets o.o
 loser-by-choice · Mon Mar 21, 2011 @ 03:56am · 0 Comments |
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