“Let’s Fly as the Birds Do…” Chapter Eleven

7/17/01

By: Hikari

E-mail: [email protected]

Site: http://www.geocities.com/hikari_nanase/

Notes: Music theme to chapter: “Prediction” from Angel Sanctuary.

 

~*~*~*~

 

            …I don’t know why I’m so angry inside…

 

            …I don’t know why I’m so sad…

 

            If only I could understand what I’m feeling…

 

            … Before I go completely mad…

 

~*~*~*~

 

            At the inquiry, the redhead slammed both fists against the table. His teacher could not help jolting in disbelief, as she had never seen Shuiichi lose his temper before. Her long lashes beated against each other vigorously, as if her eyes had been blinded with a streak of amazing light. Kurama, on the other hand, tried to keep his minor outburst from exploding to a more hazardous magnitude.

 

            “Is this what it’s about? To confirm the obvious?”

 

            “…I take it you ARE then…”Honoka responded coolly. With independence, her palms folded themselves over her lap as one leg crossed over the other. “Don’t take it the wrong way, Shuiichi, I was just curious…”

 

            “Why? Does it matter…?” That bit of hurt in his voice was almost indistinguishable, but it didn’t escape the older’s sharp senses.

 

            “Not really… I simply wanted to know. Calm yourself. It’s not a major concern…You still consider yourself a person, don’t you?”

 

            “…Yes…” His eyelids lowered. “But apparently, the others don’t think so…”

 

            “Your peers, you mean…”

 

            “Adults as well…”

 

            “Oh, yes… I’ve noticed.” A sour taste invaded her tongue; she swallowed thickly and shuddered at the thought of Yatori coming close to her. “Well, there’s only one thing you can do in such a situation…”

            “What’s that?”

 

            Honoka smiled. “Be who your are, not what other people shape you to be…”

 

*****

 

“Did you get the letter?”

 

            Kuwabara held the folded sheet of paper in the air and flapped at it brusquely. “Yeah… I still can’t believe it.”

 

            His friend sighed and leaned against the fence on the school’s rooftop. Looking up at the relatively few clouds, he sighed again, but more deeply this time. It was another day of unbearable heat. A few nimbuses here and there to shield out the sun would have been nice, but naturally, what one desires is never present. The air was thick and undrinkable to the lungs. Yusuke even undid some of the buttons on his uniform.

 

 “Me too. It makes me a little queasy now. I mean, we’ve known those two for a while.”

 

            “And Kurama… I knew he was… You know… a little…”

 

            Yusuke glared at him because of his evident hinting. His face appeared more so intimidating because perspiration swathed his skin, and the glint of the sun intensified his glower.   “Not really.” He opposed. “He can kick ass like one scary bastard sometimes… I’d say he’s even worse than Hiei- of all people… So if you’re referring to ‘fruity’, I’d take it back.”

 

            Conceding to that note, carrot top thought again to rephrase his words. In truth, he honestly didn’t know what to say.

 

            “Well, in Hiei’s case, I guess it’s even more surprising.” Kazuma massaged his throat. “I get a pretty sticky feeling thinking about it. They’re our friends- no question, but their relationship was never that obvious to me…”

 

            “I agree… But knowing the way those two are, I guess them treating their… er… personal lives with discretion is something we shouldn’t be too shocked about.” The young man began kicking at the metal fence, the wires of it vibrating and clanging as a result. The taller, on the other hand, cracked his knuckles before stretching his arms behind his head.

           

“So what was in the other letter?” He asked, yawning due to having hardly any real interest on that topic.

 

            “You mean the one from Koenma?” Yusuke shrugged. “Well, as strange as it might sound, the letter was about those guys…”

 

            The carrot top’s eyes widened. “You mean to tell me that Koenma got the chain letter too?!”

 

            Out of nowhere, Yusuke’s foot came slamming down on Kuwabara’s head- his shoe heel grinding down on the poor boy’s scalp.

 

            “BAKA! He’s Guardian of Ningenkai, Prince of the Underworld, and Judge of the Afterlife! He’s got connections with everyone’s lives, you moron! Use your head!”

 

            Once hard footing left his cranium, Kuwabara patted his hair sorrowfully- feeling a bump quickly develop on his skull. “Okay then, if you put it THAT way… What did the letter say?”

 

            “Yes, Yusuke…” A new voice chimed in. “What DID the letter say?”

 

            Gasps broke out their mouths, and their heads soon shot up to the cubicle surrounding the roof stairs and door. There, standing calmly on top, was ‘speaking of the devil himself.’ Hiei’s eyes narrowed gravely, and one could easily make-out his balled fists from within his hidden pockets.  As if on cue, the wind threw a gust of warm air against the fire demon’s cloak- the very material stipulating for straightforward attention with its own noise.

 

            “How long… were you standing there?”

 

            Crimson eyes landed on the contemptible fool. “Long enough, apparently.”

 

            He turned back to Yusuke- great expectation befalling every fiber of his being. “Well…” Hiei’s voice prompted. “Answer my question- what was in the letter?”

 

            “The one from Koenma?”

 

            His scowl magnified.

 

            “Can’t tell you…” He replied. “It’s confidential- between me, Kuwabara, and the little brat.”

 

            Hiei stared at him skeptically. In point of fact, however, Yusuke was being completely sincere. Strict orders straight from Reikai- no words regarding the note may leave either of the recipients mouths lest they be punished with the torture of swallowing one thousand burning needles of Hell. It said so- written in golden ink.

 

            “Hn. I’ll take your word for it.”

 

            “Huh?” That was unexpected. Yusuke even found himself compelled to trip over his shoes and land on his rear. He squinted at the sharp pain to his tailbone, but he was sure that that pain was much better in contrast to the fire demon’s swift sword.

 

                “I believe you.” He repeated- this time affecting the taller by making his jaw hit the concrete tiles of the roof. “However,” Hiei continued. “I’m only concluding you are telling the truth because I was unable to read the encryption of the message… It makes sense that the message was not meant for Kurama or me because otherwise I would have been able to break the letter’s seal… But as it is, I couldn’t.”

 

                “Ah-hahahahaha!” Running his fingers through his messy bangs, Yusuke relaxed as he was now in the clear of any sort of trouble. “Oh man… You really know how to scare people!”

 

The size of his mouth annoyed the blazing hells out of the hovering demon, and he thus silenced the village idiot by jumping from his roost and bashing Yusuke’s head into the ground. He then unsheathed his katana- holding it at his favorite line of cut: the throat.

 

            “You pray for death too much… I’m not finished.”

 

            “Oi! Take it easy! He was just messing around…”

 

            He turned quickly to Kuwabara, while he still had Yusuke pinned by the shoulders, and shot blades from his keen eyes. “Listen to me… I hate being kept from secrets, and a secret is what Kurama has.”

 

            Tough hands inevitably found their way around the collar of Urameshi’s green uniform. The boy wasn’t completely afraid, however. Hiei knew how to use threat, but in all instances, he would never go to the extremes if there was someone reliable involved- in this case, Yusuke himself.

 

            “Just a little over a day ago, Kurama broke down in his bedroom. That’s not normal- Kurama never cries. In a situation that he would- I’d imagine that he would be rendered helpless of any sort of control…Additionally, he’s the one having the erratic mood swings instead of me…”

 

            He jerked Yusuke closer to him.

 

            “I also remember, him asking me if you looked strangely at me the day I delivered the second letter. I don’t know how to compute any of this, but from what I have just recently heard- things are pointing in a direction I would much rather not speak of…”

 

            He jerked even harder, and set the other in tow to his feet- never letting go of his shirt.

 

            “I want that other letter.”

 

            Urameshi glanced at Kuwabara- his chestnut eyes inferring carrot top to hand over the folded paper. Kazuma immediately obeyed- walking towards the two in conflict and taking the rumpled up e-mail from his pocket. Hiei snatched the paper, and opened up the note in blinding speed. As his eyes befell the printout, they widened to some extent, but then composed themselves.

 

            “From where and when did you receive this?”

 

            “Just yesterday…” Kuwabara replied. “Yusuke got his on Saturday.”

 

            “You received one too?” His voice uttered in incredulity.

 

            “And everyone else on the recipient list. It’s a chain letter… For every recipient, there’s probably an equal number of people on the list who also received the letter…”

 

            Counting the names, the demon’s eyes automatically sparked with burning red. “There are twenty-four names on this list… For every one person, another twenty-four got this letter… You mean to tell me that the number of people who obtained this picture is exponential?!”

 

            “Expo-wha?”

                 

                Hiei threw Yusuke to the ground. “Exponential- you fool… Two makes four, four makes sixteen, sixteen makes two hundred fifty-six! The only person who doesn’t seem to know is… Masaka… It’s Wednesday today…”

 

            “Yeah? So?” The one on the floor rubbed his poor ass. Damn, it was really being kicked today.

 

            “I don’t have time for this!” As quickly as he had arrived, the demon sprinted for the edge of the school’s building, jumped, and disappeared into flying shadows.

 

*****

           

            Shiori took the sheets and spread off her bed and dumped them into a large hamper to be dry-cleaned. It was almost ritualistic. Mondays were for the bathrooms; Tuesdays were for the garden, which Shuiichi enjoyed taking care of; Wednesdays were for bedrooms. As she pulled her heavy load along with her, she opened the door to her son’s habitually clean room. Shiori smiled to herself- very satisfied. Everything was always in its place. Books in the shelf at the corner of the room. Clothes ironed and hung in perfect condition in the closet. A spotless bathroom. An empty trashcan. Everything was so… spotless. So clean…

 

            Going to the corner of the bed, she lifted the comforter and pulled until the mattress was revealed. Leisurely, she folded up the blanket and placed it with the rest of the sheets to be laundered. When she went back to the corner of the bed, her eyes fell upon something very foreign. A stain. A bloodstain- smeared across the white sheets.

 

            The windowpane then opened, and out of haste, Hiei tripped on the sill and landed hard on the floor. Shiori looked at him oddly, then on the blood.

 

            “Hiei…” She tried to say calmly. “Go downstairs immediately, and stay in the guest room. Do not come out until I permit you.”