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

If It Fits

I stared at them blankly.

"Eh ?"

The one who looked like a gangster scratched his head as he tried to remember. "Oh yeah !", He said, "Now that I think about it ! That does sound awfully familiar." I could feel my blood drain. "I don't know if you remember, but you're that one girl who came out of nowhere and did a front flip over Taichi", the black headed one said. Of course I remembered. How could I forget something like that ? That day I lost my shoe. And the day I hoped I never bumped into them ever again. Well now.

I didn't have the energy to argue, so I apologized. They accepted. Even if they did look intimidating, they weren't scary at all. I shivered. I've seen scarier.

"What's your name ?", the tall one asked me. For some reason, the three of us were walking together like it were nothing. "Hanamura Shiori", I replied. He sighed and kinda grinned. "Kuwabara Kazuma", he said. He turned to his friend, hinting him to do the same. "Urameshi Yusuke", he said. 'Ura' ? I blinked and stared at him. Could this be the one Ciel was looking for ? I shook the thought off. No way. But it was possible. I didn't want to ask if they knew Ciel though. At least, not now. From there, we had on a conversation. Suddenly we're all friends. Strange people alright. But like Shuichi, they were also.. different.

Around halfway though our walk, Yusuke suddenly stopped. "Urameshi ?", Kuwabara asked as we stopped as well. Kuwabara and I were slightly behind him. He turned around and looked at me. "That reminds me", he said, "I think that Kurama was looking for you." I tilted my head. 'Kurama ?' Kuwabara must have realized by the look on my face and explained. "He's 5'7, red hair, green eyes", he said, pointing at his own hair and eyes, "He also has some kind of fetish with roses ?" Fetish with roses ? I looked at him wide eyed when I realized that he was referring to Shuichi. Ooooooooh. I didn't know his name was 'Kurama' ? Ah, that right, I was told to look for him, wasn't I.

"Why's that ?", I asked. Urameshi put his arms behind his head. "Your shoe", he replied, "When you jumped over Taichi that day, you dropped your shoe in front of us." I stared at him blankly. Ooooooooh, so that's what it's about. "It was kinda surprising too", he continued on, "After you dropped your shoe and ran off, Kurama immediately reacted. He said he knew you and that he'd return it to you." "I see", I mumbled. "Well actually, I'm looking for him right now." They looked at me and exchanged glances. "So you know Kurama then ?", Kuwabara asked. I didn't know how to reply to that. I somewhat nodded. "A friend of mine told me about it", I replied, "But to be completely honest, I didn't think I'd run into the ones I surprised a couple days back." Kuwabara and Urameshi grinned. "A friend told you ?", Urameshi asked, "Who was that 'friend' ?" Guess it's a perfect time to say huh ? "Ueda Ciel", I replied. I watched their expressions change. "You know Ciel ?", Kuwabara asked me. I nodded. "Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I have to ask her about something", mumbled Urameshi. He turned to me.

"Anyways, do you know where to find him ?", Urameshi asked me. I shook my head. "You see", they said, "If you go this way and take a turn........."

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

I find myself standing in front of a house like an idiot. I hesitated and started thinking about what excuses I could use to avoid going to his house. Within a couple minutes of thinking, I gave up and just started heading home. On a turn, I bumped into a lady with a bag full of apples. We both fell as the apples scattered. I quickly got up and helped her. "I'm so sorry about that", I apologized. I thought she was going to yell at me, but instead she didn't. "It's alright", she replied, a smile on her face, "I should have been watching as well." I took a deep breath and sighed. "Then at least let me help you pick those apples up ?"

"So your name is Hanamura Shiori ?", She asked. I nodded my head as I walked with her. "Why, we both have the same names then." I looked at her with surprise. "Hontou ?" She nodded. "My name is Minamino Shiori." For some reason, I lost my train of thought. Then she's his mother ? I realized too late though. I found myself standing right in front of his house again. As she opened the gates, I started to get a little... jumpy. "You're not coming in ?", She asked me. I shook my head slowly. "Are you sure ?", Minamino-san asked me again. Again I nodded. "I have to start heading back so.." "At least accept some of these apples then", she said, before wandering into the house. I was debating. I did however, hear her said "Tadaima !", Or "I'm home".

About a couple minutes or so later, she came out again with a smaller bag of apples. "Thank for helping me earlier", she said, that gentle smile on her face, "Please take care on your way home." I nodded. "Arigato Gozaimasu", I replied with a slight bow. Just as I was about to leave, I heard someone come out of the house and stare. I paused. GEH. "Oh Shuichi", she said to him, "What is it ?" I began walking away as slowly and quietly as possible when I heard him say my name. "Hanamura !" Of course, I had to stop. I turned around and smiled uneasily. "Oh, Minamino-san... hello."

"Shuichi, you know her ?", She asked him. He nodded. "She's my cleaning duty partner", he replied. Oh, is that so. I think he forgot to add in the word "former". "Well now", Minamino-San said as she clapped her hands together, "Why didn't you just say so ?" I stared. "Well if you can't stay, and you already know Shuichi, why not just let him walk you home ?", She suggested, "Its already getting quite late. It would be dangerous if a pretty girl like you were to be walking home alone." I watched her turn to Shuichi. "Its alright isn't it ?", She asked him. He nodded and smiled at her. I was taken by surprise. It was actually a rare, genuine smile. I tilted my head and watched as he went inside his house for something. It seems that even Shuichi could manage to pull off such an innocent looking smile. And so, after saying "good-bye" to Minamino-san, we were off.

"Who would have thought such a nice mother would have a son like you", I mumbled. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult ?", He asked. I shrugged. "Both if you want", I replied. He sighed. "That reminds me", I asked, "I was told that you needed me for something ?" His eyes somewhat lit up. "Not really", he muttered. When we got to a stop sign, I thought long and hard about what went on today.

I went on a goose chase and somewhat gave up, met Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma, met Minamino Shiori, noticed a genuine smile from Shuichi and then....

I felt myself being dragged. In front of me was Shuichi. His hand holding onto mine. "Baka, if you just stand around like that, we'll never get home", he said. I didn't think he realized, but he held my hand for almost half the walk. For just that short moment, I thought that he was actually nice.

And then I asked.

"Shuichi ?" 

"Hm ?"

"Do you happen to know where Cinderella's shoe is ?"

I noticed a faint smile on his face.

"Why yes", he said slowly, continuing to walk foreword without looking my way.

"I do."