Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters. I do own Riya and other OC's of this story, though.
Warning: The characters might not be in their usual selves.
AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER
CHAPTER 6
Being With You
Riya faced Shuichi with a serious expression etched on her face. Indeed, she was surprised to hear him somehow plead for her to talk to him. And she knew it was unlikely him at all judging from what she had observed since the day she transferred at Hanasakura Academy. But that's not what surprised her so much.
When she faced Shuichi, she felt her heart constrict and melt at the same time when she saw him actually pleading to her… with the use of his eyes. Seriously, he knew how to do that. It was unexpected for her to see that. And somehow, that made her heart agree to his pleading.
"Sure. But… can we talk someplace else? I'm not really comfortable here whenever I talk to you," she said in a soft and gentle tone.
She saw him showed a smile after he heaved a sigh of relief. She couldn't help but to smile, as well due to that gesture. He was like a kid at some point but she couldn't pinpoint what part of him was almost child-like.
In any case, they left the classroom together. They were greeted by Miss Ryuuzaki along the way and from what she could see in the teacher's eyes, there's a teasing glint on them. Though she knew what it actually meant, she chose to let it be. Misunderstanding will probably clear up soon. Besides, it's a teacher. And from what she had observed, Miss Ryuuzaki wasn't a type of person who would spread some unnecessary rumors.
When they finally got out of the building, Shuichi broke the deafening silence between them.
"I'm sorry I asked you something foolish," he said, without looking at her. "I guess I'm starting to hate those people who treated you differently. It won't make you feel better, I somehow knew that. But I really want to talk to you, to clear up some things with you."
All she could so at the moment was to smile and then she sighed.
"Why are you saying this to me?"
"I just… want to say it," he simply answered. And then he faced her. "I heard from one of our schoolmates that you were asked to become the soccer team's manager. And they also said that you accepted it."
"Yeah, I did. Somehow, it made me realize that not all people in our school are the same as Kirisawa-san and the others. In a way, the guys from the soccer team treated me the same way you treat me since day one. And I started to like them for it."
"That's good," he said, sincerity evident in his voice. "At least you managed to make some friends. I could only hope I could make you my friend and vice versa," he continued in a soft and hopeful tone.
Silence filled the air once again. Both of them continued to walk until they've reached a bridge. And then they stopped midway before turning to the side and watched the sun set on the horizon. Even Shuichi was amazed at the breathtaking view in front of them. She smiled as she looked at it.
It was years ago since the last time she felt calm like she has no care about what's going to happen tomorrow. Looking at the lovely and amazingly beautiful sunset with a person whom she wanted to avoid yet insistent on coming near her—it was something beyond what she had expected. It's really making her feel calm—something she hasn't felt whenever she was with a guy.
"Why are you so insistent on coming to me and talking to me even though I told you not to unless it's project-related?" she couldn't help asking without looking at him. Her eyes were focused on watching the slowly setting sun.
It took a while for Shuichi to answer the question. But still, she patiently waited for his answer. It's something he has to think over to convince her of his true intentions.
"Will you believe me if I said that—" he paused. "—that I wanted to be near you in order for me to protect you?"
She frowned and then she looked at him. "P-protect me? From what?"
"From… everything that might hurt you in any way. I want to protect you and shield you from the pain that they could possibly inflict on you."
Riya was utterly shocked when she heard that kind of answer from him. But seconds later, her face turned solemn and once again faced the horizon where the setting sun was.
"For a long time, I've been suffering already from so much pain. So there's no reason for you to do that for me. I guess I could say I was already immune to that. There's no way you could protect me from something I've been feeling for a long time," she stated in a serious tone.
Shuichi's face turned serious, as well. "I know it's a little bit unbelievable but it's true. There's something that drives me to do that for you. You might be getting immune from that but I won't let you bear it all alone. For some reasons, it pains me to see you sad most of the time. You're still having a hard time showing them your real smile. You're just too hurt to show it to them."
The two of them fell silent after that. Silence filled the air for some seconds before she burst out a chuckle that definitely surprised Shuichi.
She tried to stop chuckling before facing him. This time, she showed a faint smile—one that was different from what she had shown to him before.
"You're one extraordinary person, you know that? Since when did you become a psychologist?"
"I don't need to become a psychologist to know what you're actually feeling inside of you. At first, it's hard to know that. You were already avoiding people long before they come near you." Then he stared at her seriously. "That's what I thought at first. I have to admit that I was hurt when you did that. But since I don't really know the reason, I just let it pass. It took me a while to accept some possible reasons why you chose to isolate yourself from the rest while doing your job. But I couldn't just ignore the fact that I could never do something to shield you from our classmates' words against you. Somehow, I could feel you're getting hurt because of it and yet, you chose to hide it so that no one would know. I couldn't ignore that, Riya. I chose to be close to you since day one even though you're pushing me away from you."
Shuichi's words struck her to her heart. It was an overwhelming feeling that she had inside her heart at that moment knowing that someone actually doesn't want her to feel pain. Even though she tried pushing him away, he's still going to do what he wanted to do. And what's even more overwhelming was the fact that his eyes were full of sincerity as he stated those words.
She couldn't deny the fact that she's happy because of that.
"Thank you…" she sincerely said after moments of silence. "I never thought you would actually care for me that much even though I just met you six days ago. I even asked you to stay away from me and yet, here you are in front of me saying what you wanted to say." But then her face showed glint of sadness that Shuichi managed to see. "Still, I couldn't just force myself to be close to somebody. I still need o prepare myself. I hope you won't mind that."
He smiled after that. "I won't mind… if you promise not to make me stay away from you again. That's all I'm asking from you."
That's when she smiled and then she nodded as an answer. And for some reason, that made her happy.
They parted ways after they watched the sunset and left the bridge. But even if the sun had set that day, she could feel that she was about to welcome a brand new dawn different from many dawns she had welcomed before. It's because this time, a new tomorrow awaited her… along with her new friendship with Shuichi.
Kurama went home feeling somewhat elated but it's not a mystery to him. It was just a short time that he and Riya talked but the feeling it left inside of him was so different he couldn't even name it and yet, he's accepting it. That small talk somehow brought out something in him that was quite different and unexpected.
It's something… that he had never felt all his life. From being a spirit fox to being a human, he couldn't deny that he hadn't felt something quite mysterious and different. And through all that, he couldn't deny the fact that he was attracted to Riya since… day one.
No… Probably not just day one. There was this certain fact that he has ignored these past few days since he had somehow forgotten about it. But there's no way that he could simply connect it like that even thought it's just a feeling—an intuitive guess. He couldn't simply rely on that.
Probably, he'll soon find out the answers that he wanted to know. Right now, he'll just do what he and Yumi had agreed on.
And he'll definitely do it no matter what it takes.
But unknown to him, someone had already found out that certain fact he had ignored. And all that was left was the day of the revelation.
Or so Hiei and Koenma thought.
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