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

These Doubts

It was so vivid, that dream. Her memories of that time were so clear. It's been nearly 5,000 years since then yet... it felt like it had just occurred yesterday.

"Oi Klutz."

Something hard hit me on the side of my head. From the corner of my eye, I could see something rolling off beside me on the ground. I slowly turned to Shuichi, who was glaring at me. "Nani...?", I mumbled, slightly confused. He sighed in dismay and shook his head. "Good grief", he had said, "What exactly are you trying to do ?" I looked around the group for the thing he hand thrown at me. When I found it, I stared at it in disbelief. It was a remote. A REMOTE. I reached over and picked it up. "What if this thing killed me !?", I said as I quickly turned to him. Shuichi shrugged. "You didn't seem to have a reaction when it hit you anyways", he replied bitterly, "I expected you to catch it but..." I watched Shuichi walk over to the window and look out with a desolate expression. "But...?" I was taken by surprise when he suddenly looked over his shoulder with a cold gaze. His emerald colored eyes were narrowed and it looked like he really was going to kill me. I took a step back. "N..nani ?", I asked him cautiously.

"Are you okay ?", he asked me. Am I what ? "What is that supposed to mean ?", I asked slowly, "What do you mean by that ?" A pause. "You look sick", he replied sternly, "I didn't notice until this morning. You look paler than usual." "What do you mean by that ?", I repeated. Shuichi turned around and slowly began to walk towards me. At first, I was wondering about what priorities I had in the situation. Either to stay there and let him reach me, or to just slowly move away every time he got closer. I mean, what could go wrong with moving away from him ? Shuichi must've realized what I was going to do next because the next thing I knew, he was already right in front of me. Startled, I took a step back, only to trip on my own feet. "Wh..what're you doing !?", I reluctantly called out. Shuichi, who was looming over me by now, broke out into a faint smirk. "I don't know", he replied nonchalantly. "You tell me."

"What do you mean ?", I mumbled. Shuichi averted his gaze and looked towards the window. He was no longer smirking, but was indifferently staring out with a calm complexion on his face. "How many times did I call your name ?", he asked. "What ?" He didn't look my way. "I said, how many times did I call your name." I frowned. "Once", I assumed. Shuichi turned to me with a disappointed look on his face. "Wrong", he said bluntly. "I said it three times." For a few seconds, I stared at him before breaking out into a sheepish grin. I sighed and looked up at the white ceiling of the room. I was, after all, still on the ground. I hadn't bothered to stand up after I fell, no. So that's what he was doing. "Still confused ?", he asked after a while. I stood up and straightened up my clothing. "Guess not", I replied as I looked up at him. He frowned. "Good." I watched him walk towards the room. "You're not going to ask ?", I asked him. He shook his head before he disappeared into the hall. "I'll figure it out eventually", I heard him call out, "But right now, there are more important things to worry about." After I heard a door close, I knew that I was all alone again. I walked over to the balcony and looked out into the cloud covered sky of Makai. A few hours earlier, it had rained. Just like that time, 5,000 years ago.

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

"Are you beginning to have second thoughts ?"

There was a sympathetic smile on her face as she looked my way. I returned an uneasy smile. "In some ways", I mumbled softly, "I am." "I don't blame you", she replied dryly as she glanced down at the tea cup she was holding in her hand. I turned towards the window and frowned. "This is after all, a risky situation." "I'm afraid of taking risks for this scenario", I said with a sigh, "Especially since those people will be involved. I'm worried that they'll find out who you are. And when that happens, we'll be placed into a more difficult situation. On top of that, we also have to save them..." "Shiori", Asai's called out in a low voice. "Hmm ?" From the reflection on the window, I could see Asai's stern expression. She was looking my way. "Don't over think this", she said slowly, no longer showing any type of emotion on her face, "If you decide to second guess yourself now, you won't get anywhere. We'll just remain in stage one. And if that happens, you'll be bound to get caught by them. When that happens, it'll all be over." I looked down at my hands. "So then what ?", I asked. "What do you think we should do ?" I could hear her sigh. She wasn't as serious at this point, however she didn't show it. Like usual.

"First things first", she began to say, "You probably should explain this to Shuichi. In some ways, I pity that he doesn't know about what you're going to do. I'm sure that he wants you alive. You guys have a strange way of showing each other affection but surely, if you were to disappear and not come back, that'd leave a huge mark on his life." I frowned and turned to Asai, who was nonchalantly staring back at me. "Don't you agree ?", she asked. I didn't respond. "Afterwords, we'll wait a few days to finalize what we'll do. I actually have a friend that'll be helping us out on this operation this time, despite your words of not wanting to risk our names. When the set date finally arrives, we'll split." "And just how do you expect to do that ?", I asked. "From a few of my trusty sources, I have been told that Xeila and Ryou themselves have recently been spotted along the outskirts of the Old Ruins. Apparently it seems that they're looking for something valuable." I instantly thought about Seiji and Kaori. Asai must've noticed because she continued with a serious tone. "When we finally decide to begin our finalized plan and split, I want you to move along the Old Ruins, as if you were also looking for something. Somewhat like drawing them out. During that time, Shuichi, Yuuki, and I will head to the place where those two are being kept. Since I know that the Council isn't that careless with their motives, there'll probably be a high chance that either Eion or Sachi will be there. From there, we'll move accordingly." 

"But Asai", I mumbled, "You know as well as I do that the Council members aren't demons worth underestimating. Especially if you'll be seeing Eion or Sachi there. If I recall, those two are both observant and strategic with their plans. Not to mention, S Ranked. If they catch on, what do you plan to do from there ?" Asai smiled. I didn't know if it was supposed to be good or bad. "Then we'll go from there", she simply replied, "There are too many unpredictable things. If things turn for the worst, then our aim will be to live. But of course, failure isn't an option either. We'll just have to wait and see." A growing uneasiness. It wasn't a good feeling.

"All we can do for now is hope for the best and believe that we'll succeed."