|| A Bouquet of Red and White Roses || [Yu Yu Hakusho Fan-fic] {Edits}

Observations from the Scale of 10

On the 3rd day of cleaning duty with Shuichi, I noticed something that looked very off. He seemed very distracted and didn't seem to be paying close attention to the things around him. His fan girls question him as well, but he shrugged it off, saying that it was nothing. But when it got close to the time when we were walking home together, it was clear as day. That was the first flaw I noticed.

"Hanamura-san", Shuichi asked me when we started walking home together, "Where do you live ?" "Me ?", I asked, looking ahead at the road that was in front of us, "Not far... why do you ask ?" After I had asked that, that was when I actually looked up at him. I never realized this when we were cleaning, but Shuichi was a really tall person. (At least in my perspective, that is. I'm a really short person who easily gets mistaken as a middle school student). "Because it's too dangerous for you to be walking home alone at night", he replied nonchalantly, "So that's why I'm going to escort you there." For some reason, I found it weird that he had said that. It was only 7:30. And the only reason to why it was that late was because we stayed later than usual to stick around and see if any of the clubs needed any help. At the same time, I kind of found it reassuring. 

"Hehehe", I mumbled, somewhat chuckling, "Minamino-san, I see why people think highly of you". In the corner of my eye, I could see his face turn somewhat.... bitter. Hesitant. "Heh", he sighed as he looked up at the night sky, "Is that so ?" A breeze blew by as he said this, and then something strange happened. I, for some reason, bumped into his back by accident. I wasn't paying any attention to why. Looking up at him, I asked, "What is it ?" For some reason, he looked really... alert. I looked at the direction of where he was looking, which was right in front of us. And then I noticed that the aura around him also changed. The both of us weren't really that far from Meiou as well. 

Focusing my eyes on that certain area... was this person dressed in completely black. Well, there wasn't exactly just one person... maybe just two or three ? What made it stranger was that it looked like they were waiting for someone."Hanamura-san..", I heard Shuichi say to me as he looked down at me, still slightly keeping his gaze at those three people in front of us, "Are you... waiting for someone ?" The fact that he said that made me tilt my head. For the past 2 days, I've been walking home with him for about halfway, but it's only today that he asks such a strange thing. Then again, something like this was very odd. I can guess why he asked. So I decided to play a little game. 

 "What are you talking about ?", I asked while looking up at him, "Its just a few people over there." An uncertain look appeared on his face as if he were thinking about something very important. I moved past him and stood in front of him, my back towards those three 'people'. "Nee, Minamino-san", I asked in a concerned tone, "Do you have a fever of some sort ?" Trying to reach over, I placed the back of my hand on his forehead. I wanted to see what he would do next. The truth was that, those 'people' that were right behind me, weren't exactly 'human'. They were more like... demons in the appearance of a 'human'. It was situations that this that made me wonder. Since normal people couldn't tell a difference between a 'human' and a 'demon' in disguise, I found it surprising that he was being so cautious. I had a hint, but I needed to make sure. And if I was correct, then just who was this "Shuichi Minamino" ? 

"Hanamura-san", he said again with an uneasy tone as he locked eye contact with me, "Please... I'm alright." For a moment, there was this look on his face where he just wanted to do something but couldn't do it. He seemed to be holding back. I sighed softly and decided to continue."What do you mean ?", I said, making sure that I sounded lost, "Come on Minamino-san, they're not going to do anything. Lets go ?" I turned around and then began to walk away from him veeeeeeeery slowly. My back was towards him. "Wait ! Hanamura-san !", I heard him call out as he quickly followed after me. I could tell by how many steps he was taking. In front of me, those three smiled at me dangerously. I had felt this breeze right before something was about to hit me. So I used that as a signal to move. I stumbled and tripped over my own leg and fell forward. (I wonder if I surprised him). There was this gleam that I had seen when I was falling. What was about to hit me had missed as I fell on the ground with a 'thud'. From there, I waited for Shuichi's reaction. 

About three minutes after falling, I saw a shadow in front of me. I looked up to see him looking down at me. He reached his hand out to me, and I grabbed for it. For some reason, he was smiling very... ominously. When I looked past him, there was nothing. Standing up and brushing myself off, I looked at him as a cold breeze blew by us both. The three demons were no longer in sight, yet the scent of one of them still lingered. I took a deep breath and sighed.My guess had been correct. 

They were just like those 'people' that I dealt with a few nights back. They have the bodies of a human, but the heart of a 'demon'. There's no 'soul'. No 'life'. The source of all that 'disruption'.

"Hanamura-san, are you alright ?", I was asked by him. I looked down at my shoes and then shook my head. "Yes, I'm alright", I replied cheerfully. "I just tripped on my leg was all." That serious and stern look on his face disappeared as a relieved look appeared. "As long as you're okay", he replied. "Then everything's alright." I looked at the place where those three once were. "Oh ?", I asked, "Those people aren't there anymore ?" Shuichi looked in the same direction. "They must've left when you fell", he replied. "Is that so ?", I mumbled. But in truth, that's not what really happen.

Also lingering in the air, was the scent of metallic.

"Hanmura-san", I heard Shuichi call out. I shook my head and looked at him. "Yes ?", I replied. He was faintly smiling and held his hand out. He was already ahead of me. "Let's go", he said. I stared at him, and then grinned. "I'm coming !", I called as I followed after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'............'

I stood at the place where those three once stood and tried to grasp what had happen. They were there when I fell, but were gone when I stood up. I narrowed my eyes and stood at the spot where the scent of metallic was at its strongest. 

"Oh, what's this ?"

I looked up to see someone standing on the street light. A boy, who had a cocky looking smile on his face. He disappeared and then reappeared a few feet away from me. I recognized him, but I didn't know him. "Look's like someone beat me", he said, and put his hands away in his pockets. "Too bad." I turned to him, not even in the slightest mood.

"What're you doing in this area ?", I asked, "This area is prohibited to people like you." He raised an eyebrow. "Oh ?", he said, "But aren't you the same as I ? And if you're here, then aren't you going against that prohibition too ?" I smirked. "But i'm not", I replied nonchalantly, "I suggest that you leave this area." "And if I refuse ?", he said. I sighed and held an arm out as something slowly appeared in my hand. Once it was fully there, I swung it to my side and shifted my position. He grinned and also removed the thing that was on his back. He also shifted his position. 

"I have no time to be playing with a weakling like you", I said. "Heed my words."