At Least We Have Forever 37 - His Heart's Resolve

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters. I do own the plot, Riya and other OC's of this story, though. I only write for pleasure and fun—but a few reviews would surely pay off all my hard work on this one.

Warning: The characters might not be in their usual selves. In other words, possible OOC.

-x-x-

AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER—Chapter 37: His Heart's Resolve

The next three days, everything went well for Kurama and Riya as they talked to each other with no care about what was around them. And it was a completely good thing for the team who had just heard about Riya finally talking to Kurama after a week of not doing so. They didn't know Riya's reason for that but then it didn't matter now.

On the other hand, Kurama was undeniably happy that he could be able to talk and be close to Riya like this again even though they would only be considered as friends for now due to some circumstances.

The day after the tutoring session, however, someone spotted them and didn't like the blossoming closeness between the two for the second time. And because of that, a somewhat diabolical plan had been set to ruin that blossoming closeness. Unfortunately for Kurama and Riya, that plan would be set in motion later that day.

The day before their date.

It was lunch and the gang decided to eat their lunches under the tree near the soccer field. And much to their surprise, Yumi joined them. The blonde transformed to her taller form before she appeared to them.

"Yumi, why didn't you bring Hiei with you?" Yusuke asked when he looked around and didn't see the said three-eyed demon.

But she just shrugged and continued eating. Riya, on the other hand, knew that there was something wrong with Yumi that concerned Hiei though she decided not to ask her about it. But much to her surprise, Yumi talked to her telepathically.

He was letting me choose which to prioritize the most, Yumi started that made Riya frown a bit and looked at the blonde.

What do you mean by that?She asked.

He was forcing me to chose between my love for him and my father whom I have to fight in order to save. There's no way I could do that. It's so hard… Yumi answered desperately in her mind but remained stoic.

Riya sighed inwardly and continued eating. But why would he force you to choose between two of the most important to you?

He figured that I might be able to forget about him once I defeated my father and accepted the position of being the clan leader. And I guess he would just leave me without a word once he learned the true story of my birth.

You mean Hiei doesn't even know that part? And wait! How did he figure out that you love him?

Yumi sighed before looking at Riya. I broke down after the battle a week ago, saying that I got so scared of dying without even letting the person I love know that I love him. Hiei said that he was having the same fear when I almost got stabbed by one of the demons we fought. And of course, you know the rest. Confession here and there.

Is that so? So I guess Hiei also has his own set of fears.

Yumi chuckled upon hearing that in her mind from Riya.

Yusuke and the others got so busy talking with each other that they didn't have any idea about Yumi's predicament. It was a good thing that they didn't or else, all hell would break lose.

"Hey, guys. What are you going to do after school?" Keiko asked once they were all done eating.

"Arcade," Yusuke and Kuwabara answered in unison.

"Don't you two ever get bored of going to the arcade?" Yumi queried sarcastically.

"No," the two said in unison again.

Keiko rolled her eyes while Riya just chuckled.

"I have to head to the shop after school to deal wit some problems there," Ayako said.

"As for me, I have to practice for the recital two weeks from now besides practicing for the closing ceremony of the Rose Festival," Yukari answered.

"I will be cramming for the Quiz Bee that will happen a week from now," Akane said.

And with that, Keiko faced Soujiro. "What about you?"

"I still need to keep my team in shape for the upcoming match so I'll be busy practicing with them," the blue-haired Water Wielder answered. "By the way, why are you asking us this?"

Keiko scratched the back of her head and laughed. "Nothing much. But you see, I need help with my assignment in Literature and I'm not even good at poetry writing."

"Maybe I can help," Riya suddenly declared.

"Really?" Keiko exclaimed. Riya nodded.

"It's better that I do something else while waiting for Shuichi-kun to finish with his tutoring session with a ew student."

"Tutoring session?"

Kurama nodded and faced Riya sadly. "I don't really have much of a choice about that."

"Then I'll wait with her. Don't worry, she'll be fine with me," Keiko assured before smiling.

After that, the class continued. When it was over, they all headed to their respective tasks just as planned. Riya and Keiko headed to the library to do Keiko's Literature assignment. The two girls were having fun doing so without disturbing the other students there.

But since they were having fun, they didn't even notice one of Reina's friends, Eri, sitting not too far from the two girls with a cellphone in hand covered with a book.

Let's just see if you could still hang out with Shuichi-kun after this, Miyuzaki-san, Eri thought with a crooked smiled on her face.

It was a good thing, two girls were ready to back Riya up just in case something happened.

-x-x-

Biology room…

Kurama went inside to start his tutoring session with a new student but his eyes suddenly narrowed when he saw a familiar girl who really get on his nerves. Reina just smiled but then he knew there was something sinister beneath that smile of hers.

"Oh, Minamino-kun! You finally came! I thought I'm gonna have to wait forever." And without words, Reina flung her arms around him.

He tried to let go but Reina wouldn't let him do so. And so, he was left with no choice but to push her away from him, which of course, surprised her.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

But Kurama only gave her a cold stare, just like the one he gave before. "If you're not here for tutoring, then I might as well take my leave."

Though that scared the hell out of her, she just laughed and sat on the chair.

"I was just messing around. Please? I really need some help with Science," she said.

Kurama raised an eyebrow since he didn't actually believe her for one second. But then he was left with no choice but to tutor her, no matter how much he disgusted her guts and manipulative attitude.

They spent minutes going over formulas, laws and principles, and Reina just listened. Kurama was observing her, though. He knew something was wrong but then he couldn't do anything. But he wouldn't allow to let his guard down.

"You know, I was just wondering why do you still hang out with that slut knowing she wouldn't even remember you?" Reina whispered into Kurama's ear, changing the topic and starting to annoy him.

"How did you know that?" he asked coldly, trying to ignore the insult she threw about Riya. "As far as I know, only a few people knew that information."

Reina sneered. "I have my sources. But now that she couldn't remember you, I guess it would be for the best if you will forget about her, too. You could have my help for that, if you want."

"Stop talking nonsense and don't you dare speak about her that way," Kurama said menacingly, his fist clenched and quivering but he was trying to remain cool.

But Reina smirked and took her phone. She then carefully pushed some buttons and sent a message without a fuss.

-x-x-

Library…

Eri was busy 'reading' when she felt her cellphone vibrate. She looked at the message sent by Reina before she sneered at she put her cellphone back into her pocket.

This is where it ends, Miyuzaki-san! It's showtime, she thought as she took a piece of paper from her bag and read it wherein Reina had forged the Science teacher's handwriting into three days ago. After reading it, she tood up and approached Riya.

"Miyuzaki-san, the Science teacher asked me to give this to you. Maybe you could head out to the Biology room and have Minamino-kun read that, as well," Eri said handing the paper to Riya. The girl took it and read it over before facing Eri.

"I'll go right ahead," Riya answered and stood up to leave. She didn't stop even when Keiko talked to her telepathically.

Riya-chan, are you sure you'll head out there alone? I have a bad feeling about that paper, Keiko said with worries.

I already figured out the trick behind this, Keiko-chan. So don't worry. They wanted me to play their game, then fine! Let's just say that I'll give them a taste of their own medicine,Riya responded.

I'm still worried. You want me to come along?

Sure. The more, the merrier, as they say.

Soon after, Keiko followed Riya while Yumi were just a little far from them. When Riya reread the writings on the paper she was holding, her eyes narrowed as her grip on the paper tightened, almost crumpling it.

What exactlt did Reina want for her to go to the Biology room?

-x-x-

"Maybe we should stop this tutoring shit and let's do something even more fun," Reina declared seductively as she put her hand on Kurama's, making him get up from his seat in order to get away and calm his nerves from all these pathetic stuffs. But Reina blocked off his exits, eager to let him stay with her.

"Don't make me do something you'll regret in the end, Reina," Kurama firmly warned, frustrated. "If you're not that interested in the session, then better let me through."

But those stern words didn't scare Reina this time. Instead, she cornered him and began touching his chest. Kurama silently gulped but still couldn't do anything to leave her. He couldn't afford to use his powers on her or else it would be trouble for the whole team.

But before he could even do anything, Reina moved closer and planted a kiss on his lips. At that same time, the door slid open and he saw Keiko and Riya stood there. Keiko was shocked while Riya's face, particularly her amethyst eyes, were devoid of any emotions. He immediately pushed Reina away and approached the nonchalant Riya before he saw her recovered.

Kurama stopped to his tracks upon seeing that. Riya showed off a small smile to him before passing by him and went to the table as she placed the paper that Eri gave to her on it.

"You really know how to do this kind of stuff, huh? Doing everything just to have what you want," Riya said nonchalantly.

"As long as it would make me have what I want," Reina retorted with a sneer and then she approached Kurama as she tried to flung her arms around him but he backed away slightly.

Kurama stayed near the door beside Keiko.

"But you know, going as far as forging a teacher's handwriting could lead you to prison. I believe—" Riya paused and suddenly she smirked that took Reina aback. "—you almost went there when you forged your own father's signature three years ago in one of the cheques just for you to pay your debts to a friend."

Reina was obviously shocked in horror when she heard that from Riya. Keiko and Kurama just frowned upon hearing that as they exchanged glances to each other.

"H-how did you…?" Reina couldn't continue. She was just standing there as she began to quiver.

"Oh, that? Just like you, I also have my sources… only the more reliable ones than the sources you have for you to discover my memory loss," Riya answered confidently. "But I guess that doesn't matter. It only proves that no matter what you do to force yourself to Shuichi-kun, he would never look at you the same way he looked at the woman he loves," she continued seriously with a softened expression.

Kurama, on the other hand, was surprised to hear that from Riya.

But those words only enraged Reina even further and made her do something. She took a large flask that was placed on the table and charged towards Riya with the flask raised. Riya instinctively closed her eyes and it wasn't long before she heard the flask crashed onto something, causing it to shatter. But much to her confusion, it didn't hit her arm which was raised earlier to protect herself.

With that, she decided to open her eyes only to be surprised to see Kurama in front of her. His arm was raised to block himself from the hit. When she looked at Reina, she saw her looking wide eyed at Kurama.

"Why? Why do you still protect her even though she couldn't remember who you were to her at all?" Reina frustatingly asked. But the red head only gave her a grave look enough to scare her.

Riya looked at Kurama with worries and slight confusion because she, too, wanted to ask him the same question.

"Unfortunately… that doesn't concern you at all," Kurama answered icily. "If you do something like this to Riya again, I'll do something that will make you regret you met me."

No words came out from Reina even after she hurriedly left the room. Silence surrounded the three student left after that.

"O… kay… That turned quite… unexpected," Keiko started, breaking the silence. Along with that, she faced Riya. "But how did you figure out that part of Reina's past? I don't remember you having done some research anything similar."

But the only answer they got from the said girl was a sigh before Riya faced Kurama and looked at his right arm, causing her eyes to open wide at the sight of it bleeding profusely.

"Oh, no! We need to get this treated right away," she said in slight panic as she held his bleeding arm. "Please remove your coat."

Kurama hesitantly complied. He also rolled the right sleeve of his shirt for Riya to have a better access on his wound. His wound still had shards of broken glass intact and Riya removed it one by one. She then beckoned Keiko to take the first aid kid in one of the cabinets and gave it to her. It took several minutes for her to stop the bleeding and treat it to avoid infection from getting inside. After that, she bandaged it. All the while, none of them had spoken anything at all even when Keiko started picking up the shards on the floor and threw it to the trash bin.

When it was done, Kurama looked at Riya. "Thank you… for doing this," he said gratefully, breaking the long and tensed silence surrounding them.

"I should be the one saying 'thank you' since you shielded me from Reina. And I'm sorry. Because of me, you got injured," Riya responded in an apologetic tone.

"This is nothing," Kurama said with a smile.

"Sheesh! I really hate it when I'm watching you two like this," Keiko suddenly commented after throwing off the last shard and dusted off her hands. The two were startled upon hearing that and they just burst out a short laugh.

After all that, the three decided to go home together. But while the two girls were talking, Kurama was having a telepathic conversation with Yumi with regards to what happened a while back.

Yumi, how does Riya managed to have information about Reina's past without even doing research of some sort? He asked as he looked outside the window while walking on the hallway.

Did she touch something that was originally held by that girl Reina? Anything at all?

Kurama frowned at the question but then he tried to recall bits of details from the incident a while back. Now that I think about it, Riya was holding a paper when she entered the room. And she did mention something about forging the teacher's handwriting. It must have been the paper. But how does answer my question?

Yumi sighed audibly before answering. Riya actually possesses an unstable ability of psychometry and retrocognition that first activated when she was six.

Unstable? In what way?

Every time she touches something that was originally held or created by someone, she could see their past related to that particular thing she touched. But from my observations, she could only use that when a friend or a family is facing a sort of predicament with the involved person. That means it's not exactly sure when the ability will activate.

Will that ability cost her something?

Until now, I don't know. But she rarely uses that ability since she couldn't control it that well, besides the fact that she couldn't guess when will it activate. Tell me, why did you ask that?

I was just curious since I haven't see or heard Riya possessing psychometry.

I see. But I must say, there was one instance when her retrocognition or postcognitive ability would actually let someone have a look at a certain part of her past. A past that she wanted you to see.

Kurama was about to say something to that when he and Keiko suddenly felt dark energy inside the school grounds that made them stop. Before they knew it, the entire school building was immediately covered with blankets of ultraviolet black waves probably cast by the enemy.

The question was: who was the enemy doing this?

"This is bad. We're stuck in a pocket dimension," Keiko said as she grit her teeth and clenched her fist.

"Keiko-chan! Kurama! Riya!" Yumi called out before approaching from out of nowhere. "A demon shinobi did this. One that is of higher rank."

"I should've known," Keiko commented. "But with just the two of us, we can't dispel this dimension not unless someone would actually destroy the caster from the outside."

"No. The demon shinobi that cast this pocket dimension is inside," Yukari said as she appeared to them upon opening the door of one room of that floor. "And from what I can tell, he's going to attack us here for him to destroy Riya-senpai in her weakened form."

With that said, the three wielders faced their mistress who became worried and slightly scared in which Kurama sensed. In turn, he approached the said maiden and embraced her out of the blue.

"I won't let them hurt you, Riya. I promise. Not while I'm around," he whispered gently that made Riya somewhat calm. Riya let out an agreeing sound and nodded once as she buried her face to his chest.

The wielders smiled at that sight but then their senses were alerted when they felt an approaching enemy fast. But instead of the enemy itself, what greeted them was a pretty powerful blast of dark power that made all of them unable to firmly stand on ground and slammed them to the wall pretty hard. Kurama carried Riya beforehand so he was most likely the one who took the hit for her. The wielders and Kurama struggled to stand up after that, which they managed to do so.

"Are you alright?" Riya asked worriedly. Yumi smiled and nodded to ease her mistress' worries.

"That sick bastard!" Yukari said in seething teeth because of anger.

"Kurama, take Riya out of here. We'll be the one to deal with the enemy," Yumi ordered before materializing the Scarlet Blade of Flame on her hands.

It was later followed by Yukari and Keiko materializing the Harquebus of Sound and Spear of the Sky respectively onto their hands. And without a word, Kurama took Riya's hand and they left the place in a hurry.

"What about them?" Riya queried referring to the wielders geared up to face the enemy.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Right now, it's you I should protect from those demon bastards and prevent them from going after you," Kurama answered without looking at her.

"But why?"

That question made Kurama stop running and looked at Riya. The girl had a serious look on her face.

"Why what?"

"Why are you protecting me this much? Am I that important to you, Shuichi-kun?" she asked that caught him off guard.

He avoided her stares and looked down before answering. "Of course, you're important to me. You're my… friend…" he said, the last word spoken almost in a pained whisper and tore his heart in two. No matter how much he denied it, it was still painful knowing that he could only treat her that way. "It doesn't matter how much you are important to me. As long as I protect you with all I've got and continue living in return, then that's all that matters. No matter what, I'll come back alive… to live and protect you all the way through."

A part of Riya was truly touched at Kurama's determination to ensure her safety, yet another bit of her was shocked to know that he would go such length to remain alive just to protect her.

But what exactly was her connection to Kurama for him to make such resolve? Was she really just a friend to him before? No. She knew she wasn't simply like that to Kurama.

But before Riya could even voice out her concern, Kurama felt another dark energy approaching from their right. And when they saw a dark beam fast approaching, Riya cast a large white barrier before it collided with the beam. But since she was in her weakened state, she couldn't continue holding on and eventually the barrier shattered before it hit her to the side. She was sent flying but Kuram caught her and both of them were slammed hard to the wall.

Kurama opened his eyes after that and looked at Riya on his arms. Surprise fueled his rage at the sight of the girl now unconscious and her left shoulder bleeding. A few seconds after, Riya slowly opened her eyes ams and smiled weakly to Kurama before he stood up and took out his Rose Whip. But since they couldn't guess where the enemy lies, they had not anticipated the second blast attack. Kurama struck the attack that only divided it and attacked them continuously. He then shielded Riya from it using his own body, not minding of the invicible projectiles injuring him intensively.

"Shuichi-kun, please stop! You don't have to shield me from this. I can destroy it for you!" Riya yelled as she stood up and approached Kurama.

After the attack dissipated, Kurama collapsed to his knees as he breathed heavily before facing the worried Riya.

"Didn't I tell you? I'll protect you no matter what," Kurama said with determination and his eyes narrowed facing the direction where the attack came from.

Kurama tried standing up despite his injuries with the help of Riya. Both of them sensed another incoming attack. That was when she summoned several white energy spheres and upon her command, Riya fired them from her position. The spheres of the energy barrage jetted towards the unknown target and eventually hit several projectiles with ease that was coming out front.

But anothere blast much more powerful than the preceeding ones collided with Riya's shots and destroyed them. And before they could evade, Kurama was sent flying and slammed on the wall pretty hard once more. Riya, on the other hand, suddenly emanated a white light as soon as the blast struck her, thus allowing her to be shielded from it.

Though unknown to her, that light engulfed the entire building and removed the waves of dark energy that trapped them in that pocket dimension. After that, the light died away and Riya dropped to her knees panting heavily before standing up and approached the unconscious Kurama. She scanned him, only to become extremely worried for him because of his wounds continuously bleeding. She then cradled his body on her arms.

That was when then three wielders arrived and saw her cradling Kurama.

"I guess he was slammed quite hard," Riya murmured as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, Shuichi-kun."

"It's not your fault, Riya-chan."

The four girls were startled at the voice so they looked around and they were surprised to see Miss Ryuuzaki coming towards them.

"But he was the one who kept on shielding me from those attacks. He was protecting me intensively and he doesn't care if he got injured because of that," Riya explained in slight frustration and worry.

"But he was only slammed to the wall. How come he's still unconscious? He should have been awake by now," Yukari commented and faced Yumi. The blonde just shrugged because she, too, found it quite unusual.

"That's because his consciousness was thrown off from his body to another dimension," Miss Ryuuzaki stated that confused and at the same time, surprised the four girls.

"Thrown off… to another dimension?"

"So in short, his mind is traveling somewhere?"

"Sort of. In any case, we need to put him to bed and wait until he wakes up," the teacher suggested.

The others nodded. With the help of Soujiro who had just arived from practice, they put Kurama to the bed in the clinic. Riya remained by the fox demon's side the entire time while holding his hand.

"You'll be alright, Shuichi-kun. You can't leave me behind," Riya murmured as she continued to look at the red head who was still unconscious. It was later followed with her hand gripping his tightly as a way to let him know she was there.

-x-x-

Kurama slowly opened his eyes and what greeted his sight was the dark blue sky with thick clouds looming. He found it weird since he remembered that he was at school defending Riya from the attack. But the moment the blast struck him, he felt himself being abruptly drifted off somewhere. After that, he lost consciousness.

He tried sitting up but was surprised at the sight that greeted him. The whole area was covered with blankets of white snow though he immediately realized that it wasn't a barren field. In fact, the place seemed so… familiar. He knew he had been to this place before but he couldn't remember where and when.

He scanned himself and found that he was still wearig his uniform and he was holding his whip.

"What is this place? And why does it feel like I've been here before?" he wondered to himself before deciding to walk away from that spot. All he had to do was to follow where the road in front of his would lead.

But before Kurama could even move a few feet away from the spot where he lied, he saw a figure approaching him. Based on the silhouette, he could tell that it was a woman wearing a long flowing dress.

His grip on his whip tightened as the figure continued to approach. And because the view was covered in mist, he couldn't make it out as to who it was. But all of a sudden, his eyes widened when both the view and the approaching figure started to become clear, causing him to drop his whip to the ground.

When the figure stopped a few feet in front of him, all he did was to utter the name of that figure who turned out to be someone he knew very well.