At Least We Have Forever 36 - Smile, Once Again

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.

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AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER—Chapter 36: Smile, Once Again

Kurama's eyes widened at the sight of the only student who was there in that classroom that greeted him. It was indeed surprising to see Riya in there. When he looked around, he only realized it then that the class used Riya's Biology subject crisis as an excuse to have her close to him again.

Even before he and Riya became a couple, he already knew that her waterloo was Biology, that's why he was there to do the tutoring. He was her personal Biology tutor back then. But even though that subject was her waterloo, she had always shown interest in plants, most especially different species of flowers.

"You're… the only one here?" Kurama finally managed to say after recovering from surprise.

Riya nodded before putting down her pen and placing it on top of the papers she was writing on earlier.

"I told Ayako-chan to help me find someone who's excellent in Biology to tutor me. I never realized that you're the person she would ask to do it. I'm really sorry for the trouble," she said apologetically before laughing softly, catching Kurama off-guard but he didn't show it.

He then decided to slid the door close behind him before going towards his seat just in front of Riya and removed the space from the space between her table and his table to place it aside. He lifted his table and placed it adjacently to Riya's table before taking the chair he placed aside earlier and put to opposite to the girl. After that, he sat on his seat.

The girl just watched him do all that the whole time and she couldn't help but to smile faintly. Thankfully, Kurama didn't notice that.

"So… when will we start?" Kurama asked slightly hesitating but managed to hide it from Riya.

"Umm… will it be okay if we start after I had some lunch? You see… I haven't eaten yet," Riya said sheepishly as she scratched her temple. "If you want, you could join me since I guess you haven't had lunch yet, as well."

"You could tell?" he asked.

She nodded before putting the papers underneath her desk and taking out her lunch from her bag.

"You've been like that for a week now. Of course, I could tell," Riya answered that surprised him.

He never realized that Riya was observing him for a week now. But how come he didn't notice that? His thoughts were disrupted when the girl held out a small plastic bag with slices of pound cake in it to him. He looked at it for some seconds before he faced her.

"It's a pound cake I made last night and I thought I could share some with you," she said.

Reluctantly, Kurama took it from her and Riya took out another from her bag. He was surprised when he saw her put chopsticks on his side of the desk. But before he could even ask what was it for, it would appear that she read his mind and answered.

"Share with me?" she asked with a smile as she opened her lunch box to reveal delicious food that he knew Riya made herself.

And though it really came out surprising, Kurama decided to just go with the flow and take this chance to start over again. He nodded as an answer that earned him a sweet and happy smile from Riya. So the girl put the lunch box in the middle of the two joined tables and both of them started eating.

It was understandable, though, that an uncomfortable silnce surrounded them for a short while. Kurama would even glance hesitantly at the unmindful girl. But soon after, he was starting to feel comfortable talking to Riya even though she was the one who was starting topics to talk about.

It was like she knew he was still a little uneasy being near her. But at the very least, he was thankful that Riya was doing something to slowly remove the barrier that had been put up between them ever since he learned the sacrifice she had done for his sake.

The lunch was done and it was undeniable to Kurama that he had a good time. He was about to open the plastic bag where the sliced pound cake was placed when he noticed that their classmates hadn't arrived yet even though it would be time already for their next class.

"That's weird," Kurama mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Riya asked.

He faced her before speaking. "It would be time for our next class and yet our classmates aren't here."

"Didn't you hear? The next two classes after lunch will be free periods since it was cancelled because of the departmental meeting for the teachers. That's why I decided for us to have lunch first before the tutoring session," she explained while returning the empty lunch box inside her bag. "So I'll be in your care for the whole two hours."

Kurama was dumbfounded upon hearing that from her. But he managed to recover soon before Riya smiled as she faced him.

He opened the plastic bag and took out one slice of pound cake. But upon seeing the cake, he frowned a bit. The cake was a mixture of red, maroon, and pink in color. It has almost little to no scent when she secretly smelled it. So he just shrug off the though entering his mind with regards to that and decided to take a bite.

But he was stunned when he finally tasted it.

Rose? The cake was just sweet enough. In fact, it was really delicious. But the scent that trailed through upon tasting it… No doubt about it! The rose scent was natural, Kurama thought as he looked at the cake. It was like the scent was taking me back and making me remember that time… when Riya and I first met…

"So? What do you think of my rose cake?" Riya asked that startled him and disrupted the flow of his thoughts.

"Rose cake?"

Riya nodded and took a bite of the sliced cake on her hand. "I was thinking of roses when I made that. I used rose jam when I kneaded the batter and added a little rose water on it. After baking, I sokaed it with rose water solution to release the scent of roses upon tasting it."

Now he understood. "I see." And without knowing, Kurama smiled. He smiled after a week of not being able to do so because of the loneliness he was feeling.

"Thank goodness. I thought I'll never be able to see you smile like that at all," Riya said in obvious relief that made him face him. But then he was surprised to see a gentle smile on her face with a hint of relief, sadness and… guilt?

"Like what?" he asked.

"I thought I'll never be able to see you smile," she answered which actually surprised him. "You know, I was feeling guilty since I thought that how I acted a week ago in front of you had actually became the reason to use your smile."

Kurama was only staring at Riya intently since her words really surprised him. Hasn't he been smiling for a week now? He didn't know that at all, though he knew he had gotten a little aloof and cold these past few days. That was because he felt like he needed to shield himself from any more pain he was about to feel.

"Keiko-chan and Master Genkai told me a week ago about you. Though I was kind of wondering how did you end up to be my friend and my classmate when I couldn't even remember your name. So I guess that someone who was near the tree hit my head hard and I ended up having selective amnesia of some sort," Riya continued.

He, too, heard that Keiko decided to further alter the story to Riya though he wasn't at Genkai's house when it happened. Keiko also decided not to tell Riya about his real name but the girl know about him being a demon. The team discussed it to him and he just agreed to Yumi's suggestion that his relationship to Riya should be just as friends for now.

Though he had to admit, that decision tore his heart further to shreds but he never showed how painful it has been for him. No one has to know.

"And since I couldn't help feeling guilty for not being able to remember you as one of my friends, it made me avoid you somehow. I don't know… I guess it was foolish of me to think that way. I'm sorry."

Kurama could tell Riya was serious. And though it still gave a sting of pain in his heart, he thought that maybe this would be a time for them to start over again.

Back to square one, as they say.

And if that would be the reason for him to get close to her again, then he would do it. But this time, he has no plans of making her fall in love with him again. Only her heart could dictate to that. There was no way he would be able to control her heart for making her love him once more. He would probably leave it to fate's hand for now.

He sighed inwardly before he looked at her amethyst orbs intently once again.

"You know… We could start over again, if you like," Kurama said after thinking things over, breaking the silence between them.

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Riya.

"Let's put it this way. You couldn't remember me as your…" He stopped and slightly shook his head. "…as someone close to you. But we could still be close. We'll start over again, get to know each other. It might take a while to… umm… renew what we lost but…" But he couldn't continue what he wanted to say. So instead, he just smiled sheepishly and took a bit of the pound cake on his hand.

What he didn't expect, though, was to see Riya laugh as if she saw an amusing sight. And after that, she looked at him.

"You're right. But you see, it wasn't easy for me to get rid of the guilt that I had inside of me and it made me unable to talk to you or even look at you for a week now. If it wasn't for the request I made to Ayako-chan about finding me a Biology tutor, I wouldn't be able to build up my courage to talk to you like this," she said.

"I thought you didn't know I would be your tutor?" Kurama asked slightly confused.

"I don't. But I have to admit that I was planning to corner you here after I'm done with my Biology crisis or probably after the last period. Good thing it was only a plan since I am having doubts if I could actually do it. I must be crazy when I really did something like that."

This time, Kurama didn't only smile at Riya's remarks, he laughed as well.

The girl was happy to see him laughing. Riya didn't lie about feeling guilty for Kurama to lose the luster in those beautiful emerald eyes and not being able to smile—even laugh—for the past week. She didn't have any idea what came into her mind for her to make that rose cake last night but then she thought it didn't matter now. At least it helped her to finally open up her thoughts to Kurama.

"So it's a deal then?" Kurama started after regaining his composure after laughing.

"Yup!" she happily answered.

After all that talk, the two happily finished eating their cakes before proceeding with the tutoring session. Of course, they would have two hours for the whole session since two of their classes were cancelled. The rest of Class 2-C decided to head out somewhere else in order not to disturb their favorite couple during the session. It was what they called 'quality time' for those two.

The class arrived in the classroom just right after the session was done and Kurama knew it was done intentionally but he decided to let it go. Besides, if it wasn't for them, he wouldn't have Riya all to himself for the whole two hours and a half. The last period went well as Riya and Kurama got the highest scores for their pop quiz, as expected.

After that afternoon's last period, Miss Ryuuzaki asked Riya to help her check some papers and rewrite the entire class list. Kurama headed to a club meeting along with Kaitou but before he finally went out of the classroom, Riya called him that made him face her.

"After this, will it be okay if we walk home together? I mean, just the two of us… without Yusuke and the others tagging along," she inquired with a shy smile.

At first, Kurama didn't know how to react to that. But then Kaitou nudged him secretly and smiled. So he faced Riya and nodded as an answer that made the said maiden happy. The two guys then proceeded to go to the meeting.

"You know, I was surprised when I heard from Yusuke how your mission turned out. And to think Miyuzaki-san's memories would be altered like that… How are you doing now that you two are starting over again?" Kaitou started as they walked to go to the meeting venue.

Kurama sighed at that. "A lot has happened and I don't know how I managed to bear it all to myself until now. But I guess I should just stick with us being friends for now and start over again. It might take some time but I'll be patient enough to wait."

The bespectacled guy smiled and nodded. "Patience is a virtue, as they say. But without Miyuzaki's powers as a deity, do you really think you could survive the battle by the next full moon?"

"I don't know, Kaitou," the red head answered dejectedly and truthfully. "And I doubt Riya would be able to remember anything about the battle at all. But it's better this way. She wouldn't be involved in the mission anymore so she'll be safe."

"If you put it that way, then I might as well agree with you. Let's just hope it wouldn't be too late to stop those demon shinobi from taking control of the three realms and steal the Legendary Weapons from the wielders."

"You're right."

More than an hour had passed before their respective activities were done and Kurama immediately rushed to go to the classroom. When he arrived, he saw Riya already standing outside the classroom. Upon looking up, the girl smiled at him before approaching him.

"I thought it would take you forever to finish with the club meeting," she said jokingly as she stopped in front of him. "Did it go well?"

"Yeah, it did. Though there were some issues wherein we didn't agree, it went well in the end. Shall we go?"

Riya nodded and both of them started walking together away from the classroom. Along the way, they talked about a lot of things—all about getting to know each other but Kurama decided to lessen the information he was giving to her so that she wouldn't be involved in any danger. It wasn't a secret to the maiden that he friends were wielders though she has no idea what they were or how did that happen. The wielders said that it happened without her knowledge in order for her not to endanger Riya with the battle. Keiko still resumed her training with Yumi and Master Genkai for the whole week after school, using Ayako's teleportation ability to go to the old lady's land with ease and in shorter time.

While they were crossing the bridge, Riya unconsciously looked to the horizon as the sun turned orange and now beginning to set. But by doing that, she was struck with a sense of familiarity that made her stop walking and face the sun in a daze. Kurama noticed this and felt worried.

"Riya, what's wrong?" he asked as he also looked at the sunset. But that only made him remember something.

The bridge where they were standing at was the exact same bridge where he and Riya had their first real conversation that made them close.

"This place…" she started murmuring. "Why does this place—this particular event—felt so familiar as if I've been with you like this? Like we've been together like this before?" And then she faced Kurama. "Shuichi-kun, had we ever been to this place like this together before?"

He didn't know how to answer her.

The others told him not to go to places which would remind him of his real relationship with Riya. But he couldn't help it if he went to this bridge since this was a part of the route to his house. He looked at her eyes—her pleading amethyst eyes that expressed her desire to know the answer to her question. And he has this feeling that he must not fail her.

But what would he say? With this situation, he has no choice but to slightly tweak the truth. In short, he has to lie… no matter how much it would hurt him.

"No," he answered painfully, though Riya didn't know that. And she didn't have to know.

Though Riya smiled, the girl still has her doubts with his answer. She could feel that it was not the true answer she was looking for; her heart told her so. But whatever was the red head's reason for not telling her the "truth" to her question, she needed to at least respect that.

After all, what they were doing right now appeared to be all too sudden since both of them weren't actually speaking, let alone look at each other, for one full week after she said that she didn't remember him at all. She knew she had hurt him back then, and the pain she inflicted to him was still evident in those emerald eyes of his.

Putting their thoughts at the back of their minds for now, both of them proceeded to walk together. They continued to talk about stuffs Riya could think of wherein he could still keep up with her line of thoughts. More often, they would talk about issues where his opinions were actually required.

When they reached the apartment building, it was time for the two to take their leave.

"I'll be going now. Thanks for accompanying me till here, Shuichi-kun," Riya said with a smile and gave a small bow.

Kurama returned the gesture. "Be careful, okay? See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." And then she gave a quick peack to his cheek that caught the red head surprised and unable to absorb what had just happened. Riya just giggled and hurriedly went upstairs.

She reached her apartment and went inside as quickly as she could before leaning her back to the door, closing it. Without knowing, she dropped her bag on the floor and touched her cheeks. She could feel the heat rushing to it as it intensified.

Why in the world did I do something like that? She thought, still blushing as her heart was pounding at an erratic rate. But then, the same sense of familiarity rushed through her that stiffened her once again. She didn't know why she was feeling that way.

It was as if all of these had happened to her and hat fox demon before. Did it?

She shook her head rashly and took a deep breath before heading out to the balcony of her room.

As for Kurama, he was still in mild shock even after Riya left. And when he finally came to his senses, a smile carved on his face before unconsciously touching the cheek kissed by the said maiden. Before he knew it, he was looking up to the balcony on Riya's room.

Soon after, he saw her came out and looked at him when she finally spotted him. The girl smiled and waved at him. He just slightly waved at her and he was about to turn around to leave when a voice spoke to him mentally which slightly surprised him.

Be careful on your way home, Skuichi-kun, Riya said that made Kurama look up again.

He smiled before answering the same way. I will. Thank you. But before I leave, can I ask you something?

Riya frowned a bit at that. Sure. About what?

Will it be okay if I ask you to accompany me somewhere this Saturday?

Like on a date? Riya commented before giggling mentally.

Sort of. Only a little bit different and yet special. So… would you like to go out with me? he asked in a hopeful tone.

Riya pondered onto it for a while, and Kurama was anxious to know her answer.

Alright. Just… don't tell Yusuke about this, she said.

I'll make sure they wouldn't figure it out.

Both of them exchanged smiles and waved at each other before Kurama took a turn to leave and go home. After she made sure that he was gone, she hurriedly went inside her room and started screaming, dancing, and jumping in excitement. It was a good thing her room was soundproofed as her request before she transferred there. Soon after, she lied down as she caught her breath for a few minutes or so before looking up at the ceiling.

"This is the start…" she murmured before placing her hand on top of her closed eyes. But then I wonder. Why Yusuke and the others wouldn't let me know Shuichi-kun's real name? They're keeping it a secret from me even though I already know he's a fox demon. What's the big deal if I could just call him Kurama? Would it trigger something?

There were a lot of questions inside her mind but then she chose to put it aside for now.

What mattered most was that he and Kurama would be able to start over again. She knew he was a part of her life. She just couldn't figure out who he was to her before. But this date would be something that would allow her to discover more about Kurama and their 'friendship' of some sort.

Perhaps it would.

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Can you please tell me what you think about this story and this chapter? I need inspiration to write, that's why I want to know it through your reviews. Please? :)