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

Feigned Smiles

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kaori's eyes locked on me. "Nee, Juuji", she said as she looked over at him, "Do you really think that this girl is the one that we're looking for ?" Juuji, who was looking out the window, glanced over his shoulder. "I presume", was all he said as I stood by the door. Unlike usual, his voice was flat and dull. It wasn't as lively as it usually was.

"Say, Guardian-san", Kaori called over from the bed, "How did you get those wounds ? It must be hard to move in those bandages." "Trust me", I mumbled as I glanced down at my arm, "It's much harder to look at you than it is to move." "Hey !" When I looked up, I noticed Juuji walking over to me. There was still that nonchalantly and cold expression on his face. He took my hand and held it in his. "Nee Guardian-san", he said in a low voice, "..Who did this to you ?" Kaori sighed in dismay and sat up on the side of the bed. "Here we go again", I heard her say as she placed a hand on the back of her neck. "Juuji, I question your taste in.. people. I wonder how you find her interesting." I glanced at Juuji, who seemed to discard Kaori's words. From the way he was looking at my hand, I assumed that he was still waiting for an answer. "If you're wondering about what happened to me", I said as I tilted my head to the side, "I allowed myself to mess around too much. I wasn't paying attention.." "You lie", he said as he cut me off. The both of us locked gazes. A look of dismay flickered in his amber colored eyes. "You were fighting with Seiji... weren't you ?" My eyes widened. Juuji averted his gaze and looked back at the window. By now, his eyes were covered by his bangs. I couldn't see his amber eyes anymore. "It's true, isn't it.. Guardian-san ?"

"Seriously ?", Kaori called out from the other side of the room, "You really fought with Seiji ?" My eyes remained on Juuji's hand, which was still holding onto mine. "You must be some kind of idiot or something to go and fight against him", she said with a unconcerned tone, "I'm surprised that he didn't kill you. Seiji's pretty strong you know. I wonder why he let you live." "I should be asking the same thing", I replied. For some reason, Juuji stiffened up. I could feel his grip tighten around my hand. I brought my other hand up to my neck and touched the bandages. "You see, Kaori", I mumbled as I pointed out the wound on my neck, "I was trying to get him to do it. But in the end, he didn't." "Did you even manage to touch him ?", she asked. I shrugged, slightly tilting my head to the side. "I can't seem to recall", I said with a sigh, "I'm still recovering from all the blood that I lost a few days ago so I'm still somewhat out of it." "If that's the case, then don't you think that it'd be dangerous to be in here if you're that weak ?" I shrugged again. "Maybe, maybe not", I mumbled. Kaori laughed as she took a seat at the table they had in their room. "What a fool", she had said.

I glanced at Juuji, who for some reason, remained quiet. "Nee, Juuji", I said as I tilted my head to the side, "Why are you so quiet now ? ..Are you angry at me ?" "Oh please", Kaori said as she put her head down on the table, "It's more like infuriated..." "What do you mean ?", I asked. "She means nothing", Juuji interjected. There was a pulled smile on his face. "She's just.. sleepy is all." From the corner of my eye, I could she Kaori peering over at us. She seemed to smirk before turning away. "Poor you", I heard her say, "You don't even seem to know what you've gotten yourself into." I slightly narrowed my gaze. "Or perhaps you're just that oblivious..." I chuckled. "You're one to talk", I said. "Allowing yourself to get caught.. or perhaps you were just.. obvious ?" "Oh shut up", she snapped. "Why're you still in here ?" I slowly pulled my hand away from Juuji's and went over to stand by the window. I leaned on the wall and watched as the leaves rustled with the breeze. "In a few days...", I mumbled softly. I plan to let you both go. "What ?" When I looked back at them, I smiled. "Nothing really", I said as I slowly made my way over to the door. "I was just.. thinking about something."

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Is this really what you want to do ?

For some time now, I've thought about that question. My plan to release them wasn't new anymore. It was old news now. About two days before I encountered Seiji, I brought up the idea to Sara and Azalin. I wasn't surprised to see Sara object. 

"What do you plan to do after releasing them ?", she had asked with an uneasy expression on her face. "How do you plan on monitoring them after they're gone ? Isn't our purpose to find out what their original aim is ?" "But the real question is", I replied, "What exactly do we hope to accomplish if we continue to keep them locked up ? We haven't gotten any lead at all. All we've been doing is going around in circles." "But still !", Sara snapped, as she paced back and fourth in front of me. "Ugh, this.. everything is getting too complicated..!" "Hanamura-san", Azalin said from the table, "What do you hope to accomplish by releasing them ? Once we release them, it'll be difficult for us to trace their movement." "Not necessarily", I mumbled, and took something out of my pocket. "I actually took care of that when they both arrived to this place. I tagged them with something that can only be removed by me." Sara eyed the thing that I had in my hand. "What is that ?", she asked. "Bracelets...?" I nodded my head and handed one to her. I turned to Azalin and gave her the other one. "The purpose of these are to protect you. As long as you have this, you'll automatically be protected by the barrier of these beads." "But how will this be helpful ?", Azalin asked as she put it on her wrist. "You'll see a slight glow", I replied. "The moment it starts to glow, you'll know that either Seiji, Kaori, or Juuji will be nearby." "Just how exactly did you manage to do something like this ?", Sara asked. I smiled. "That's a secret", I replied, "For now, we just have to focus on closing the gate and finding Tsukiya. And from there, we'll just see how things decide to go."

Part of me wanted to believe that the plan would work. However part of me doubted it. When I explained that to them there was only one thing that I happened to leave out. It was on purpose too.

Somewhere along the way, in order to seal away the fountain, I was going to lure them back into the fountain. How, I don't know. Even now, I question myself.