niceskirts | Ruby City Inbox

...His teachers.

His TEACHERS were the ones saying those things.

At a fourteen-year-old boy's wake.

I would've imagined that lack of decency and compassion from fellow students, perhaps, but not from grown adults.

Some of the students were, too, but...yeah.

That's why I said Yusuke would have rebelled if his bosses were treating him the way his teachers do. Most of the faculty don't deal fairly with him at all. Mr. Takenaka's one of the exceptions, and I'd guess he's one of the reasons Yusuke even shows up to class every now and then.

Actually, I guess that applies to Kuwabara and his friends, too. There are a couple teachers who have it out for all of them, to protect the school's "image" or whatever.

...The human capacity for meaningless cruelty never fails to astound me.

I doubt his superior with Spirit World is quite so...overt as those teachers. I've met him a few times before — he oversaw my parole hearing, for example. And yet...all too often, Spirit World looks the other way when heinous things happen to demons, because by virtue of existing, demons simply "deserve it".

Given what you've said, I suppose Yusuke must sympathize with that.

...Granted, most of my experience with demons so far hasn't been very nice. Present company excluded. =) But that kind of attitude still seems wrong to me.

What are demons normally like, when they're not at tournaments?

...You, ah. Do you recall anything of your first time meeting Hiei? Was it at the Dark Tournament, or somewhere else?

To be perfectly honest, Keiko, many demons do deserve the suspicion and fear people accord them — not because they're demons, but because our priorities tend to be highly self-centered, arising out of a culture where strength determines status. But in that way, demons are often simplistic, even predictable; humanity is far more varied and complex in its nuances.

Huh? No, I don't think I met Hiei before the tournament. And even then, it's not like he and I ever had any reason to talk...I got the impression he's not very friendly.

Why do you ask?

As for demons - I guess I understand that. But even at the tournament, there seemed to be so many different kinds of demons...Yusuke made friends with a lot of the guys he fought, actually.

Oh, shoot, I wasn't supposed to tell you more about the tournament! Sorry!

Ah. I'm sorry, I must have been mistaken.

[W H O O P S right then moving right along]

In any case, it's hardly a surprise to hear that, "spoilers" or not. It's difficult not to like Yusuke, frankly, when he bares his soul — and he always seems to do that when he fights.

Moreover, fighting is something that makes sense to him. It's not about enjoyment, exactly, so much as just...it's familiar. It's a way of understanding another person. So if he did end up crossing paths with another fighter like him in that arena, I can see where they might form a connection in that way.

[It takes her a while to even begin to respond.]

Yeah. It's...not something I can understand myself, how fighting is a way of understanding someone else. But after watching him like that...I can understand how it might work for him.

Did you fight Yusuke? ...Is that how the rest of the story goes?

Actually, no. I've never fought Yusuke in battle. No, I...well. Let me go through it step by step, and that'll make it more straightforward.

The crime I committed was a theft. The object I stole was very powerful and very dangerous, because it possesses the ability to grant its user's heart's desire — a single wish. I stole it in an attempt to save my human mother's life.

I didn't ask Yusuke for leniency or mercy. All I asked was for enough time to use that object for its intended purpose, and then I would surrender myself. What he didn't realize is that there is a price attached to the use of that object. In exchange for their wish, the user sacrifices his life.

That was my plan. Preserving my human mother's life at the expense of my own. It was my own choice; I was perfectly willing to go through with it.

Yusuke refused to let me, once he realized what using that object would mean. He told me, "it doesn't make sense for you to save your mother just so she can spend the rest of her life mourning the death of her son. I've seen that once before...and I don't want to see it again."

That's why. How could he not win my loyalty after something like that?

[That's Yusuke, that's Yusuke all over, and Keiko was just talking about Atsuko and she didn't even think--oh, Yusuke. How much of all that did he see? She never asked him about his time while he was... while he wasn't around. Hadn't it been some kind of coma? A miracle not to look in the mouth?

If he'd seen that, of course he wouldn't let Kurama... But. Oh.]

Did...you find another way to help your mom?

It wasn't precisely "another" way, no. Just a miracle.

The object...respected Yusuke's intentions, I suppose you could say. It granted my wish without claiming the price for it.

So yes, she's all right now, which I think is the question you were really asking, isn't it?

[Phew.]

Yeah. I guess I was pretty obvious, huh? :)

I'm glad your mom is okay. And that you and Yusuke are, too.

I'm really happy he has friends like you, now.

I've made a lot of mistakes in recent history, my handling of the business with the Forlorn Hope among them. So believe me when I say I'm immensely grateful to have the opportunity to work to try to be better than I've been. And to have Yusuke as a friend while I do.

...

And you as well, I hope. Yusuke isn't the only one here willing to fight on your behalf, I hope you realize.

You boys and your fighting. I know you like it, but for the rest of our sakes, I hope it doesn't ever come to that!

Really, though, thank you. You've done so much for me...So if there's ever anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to call on me as a friend, okay?

I'll remember that, believe me.

I know life here isn't easy, Keiko. But I hope you can find ways of being happy here, even so.

You too, Kurama. I think with all of us putting our heads together, we'll figure something out.

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