Only You
by Misty
Chapter
2
Seiko shifted her feet
nervously. Mr. Hatanaka and his stepson, Minamino Shuichi, were silent. She felt
so unsure of herself. The day didn’t start out so well for her. She misplaced
her shoes, discovered two buttons were missing from her blouse, and she also
ended up late for the interview. She glanced at the two men. Did she bomb the
interview, or what?
Finally,
Mr. Hatanaka stirred. He stood up. “Well, Ms. Nakajima…” he began. “We
talked about this, and well…” He looked at his stepson.
Seiko
sighed sadly. She must have failed in the interview.
Minamino
Shuichi stood up. His green eyes twinkled in amusement, and he said, “Ms.
Nakajima, you’re hired!”
“What?!”
Seiko exclaimed.
“Well,
we were very impressed with your interview,” Mr. Minamino said, smiling.
“Oh,
wow, thanks!” Seiko shouted in excitement. She suddenly remembered her
manners, and quieted down. “Domo arigato,” she just said to the two men.
Mr.
Hatanaka smiled. “Well, we expect to see you next week.”
=============================
Naomi
prepared to attack. She threw him a small fireball, but Kurama was able to dodge
it, and only a few strands of his long silver hair was singed. The fireball made
a small hole in the wall.
Kurama
then produced a sword from a plant, and lunged at her. Naomi jumped out of the
way, but she noticed a slight pain in her hand. She realized that he had managed
to scratch her fifth finger.
She
prepared her own fire blade as well. She was about to attack him, when she
noticed a shadow in the doorway. Kurama also stopped. He must have noticed it
too.
Suddenly
they heard a number of people shouting outside. Guards! she thought in
alarm. They were discovered!
One
attacked her with a sword, but she blocked it with her own fire blade. She
noticed that Kurama and Kuronue were also kept busy by other guards.
She
was able to defeat the guard that attacked her, and was about to kill some more,
when she suddenly heard a cry of agony behind her.
She
turned around. A guard froze in the act of stabbing her, and sank down to the
ground, dead, and with Kurama’s sword still sticking out of his chest.
“He
was about to attack you,” the silver-haired youko said, grinning at her. “I
can’t let you die yet. We still have a battle to finish.”
Naomi
stared incredulously at him.
And
she did have to admit, she was grateful, too. She owed him her life.
Seiko
smiled to herself. She had been working in her office for a week now, and she
was getting along quite well; better than she expected. Her officemates were
pretty nice to her as well. What a great day!
She
grabbed some papers from her desk, and walked over to a tall woman with short,
dark brown hair, working on a table near her.
“Miyuki-san,”
she said. “Here are the papers you needed.”
Miyuki
got the papers and looked them over. “Good work,” she said. “Give them to
Mr. Minamino.”
“Thanks,”
she said, and walked over to the desk where Minamino Shuichi was busy working.
“Um,
excuse me, Minamino-san,” she said. “Miyuki-san told me to give these to
you.”
Kurama
looked up, and smiled. He took the papers from her hand, and looked them over.
“Good work,” he said. “Now I know we weren’t mistaken in hiring you.”
Seiko
smiled in embarrassment. “Why thank you, Minamino-san…”
Kurama
laughed. “Why, we’re just the same age, aren’t we?” he said. “Don’t
be so formal with me. Just call me Shuichi, or just plain Minamino, or
something…”
“Just
call me Seiko, then,” Seiko put in. She turned to leave, but then she knocked
over some papers on Kurama’s desk, and they fell to the floor.
Both of
them kneeled to pick up the papers, and they bumped their heads. They sat there,
laughing, and Kurama picked up some of the papers. Seiko handed him the rest of
them.
“Thank
you,” was Kurama’s reply, and placed the papers on his desk. He gave her a
smile.
Seiko
stared at him. That smile…it seemed so familiar. She knew she had seen that
before…but when?
Kurama
looked up at her, and she looked away, deep in thought.
“I
hope you’re all right,” Kurama said. “Sorry I bumped into you.”
“No,
I’m fine,” Seiko said, rubbing her head. “It was my fault, too. My head
does throb a little, but I don’t care.” She smiled confidently at him.
It was
Kurama’s turn to place her in silent scrutiny. Her smile seemed so familiar to
him, and he knew that he had known someone with that exact same smile before.
But who?
Seiko
smiled again at him, and left.
……………………….
It was late in the
afternoon. People everywhere sighed in relief, for the long day was finished.
The working hours were over, at long last. Other people, who were working
overtime, were still bent over their work.
A
certain dark figure sat on top of a tall, gray building. She smiled, and anyone
who would have seen her smile would have chills down their spine, for it was a
wicked one.
She
watched as a certain woman with long green hair came out of the building. Beside
her walked a young man with long, red hair. Both were laughing.
The
mysterious woman on top of the building cackled softly. She smoothed her black
hair with her hand, and her ruby-red eyes gleamed in her satisfaction.
The
coffee shop was just the perfect place to chat, and relax. That was why Kurama
and Seiko decided to go there for a nice, quiet conversation.
“I’m
very close to my mother,” Kurama said, sipping a little of the coffee he
ordered. “And I’m getting along quite well with my new family. You see, my
mother remarried, and now I have a stepfather, Mr. Hatanaka, and a stepbrother,
Shuichi…”
“Shuichi?”
Seiko laughed. “What a confusing time you must have! How do you know which
Shuichi they’re calling is which?”
They
both laughed. Seiko felt so happy. She felt strangely comfortable with Minamino
Shuichi, even though they just met each other. It was as if they had already met
before…
“I’m
not that close to my parents,” Seiko said, after their hearty laugh. “But I
love them both, of course. Anyway, I’m really close to my elder sister, Michiko.”
Kurama
smiled, then suddenly spotted a familiar face in the next table.
“Botan!”
he exclaimed, and the cute blue-haired ferry girl started in surprise.
“Oh,
hi!” she said cheerfully, coming over to their table. “Koenma-sama gave me a
day-off, and I decided to go here, because Keiko once told me the coffee here
was delicious. Boy, was she right!”
“Yes,”
Kurama agreed. “Oh, I forgot to introduce you two. Anyway, Botan, this is my
friend, Nakajima Seiko. And Seiko…” A mischievous smile appeared on his
lips.
“This
is my friend, Mrs. Botan Daiou,” he said teasingly.
Botan
pulled Kurama away from the table. “Just what do you mean by that, Kurama?!”
she whispered angrily.
“Aw,
come on,” Kurama said with a smile. “Aren’t you going to be Koenma’s
wife soon?” He knew, just as everyone else did, that those two had been dating
already, although oddly enough, the two still wouldn’t admit it.
“STOP
TEASING ME!!!” Botan yelled, that many people turned to look at her.
“But
it’s the truth,” Kurama whispered. “You do have to admit you two look cute
together…”
“Why
you--” Botan started to say, then she got a brilliant idea. I’ll get you
for this, Kurama!!! She pulled Seiko towards the red-haired youko. “Wow, I
didn’t know Seiko-san was your girlfriend, Kurama-kun! That’s great news!
Wait ‘til the others hear this…”
Kurama
reddened slightly. “Hey! I never said anything like that!”
“Well,
you two looked like you were having a date…”
“We
weren’t, Botan-san!” Seiko protested, blushing a little.
“We
were just having coffee together,” Kurama added.
Botan
shook her head. “Man, you two are in a state of denial!”
“But
we’re not—“
“They
do look good together, don’t they?” a voice said, laughing.
Botan
whirled around, and said, “Shizuru! What are you doing here?”
Shizuru
was there, along with her brother Kuwabara, and Yukina was there too.
Kurama,
glad for the change of topic, introduced Seiko to the three, and they all found
a larger table so they could all sit together.
“This
is such a nice coincidence,” Kuwabara said. “This is almost like a reunion,
except that Yusuke and Keiko aren’t here.”
"Yeah,
I wonder how they’re doing now, though?” Botan asked.
“Ha,
knowing Keiko,” Shizuru said. “She’s probably shouting at Yusuke now.”
Shizuru
didn’t know how right she actually was.
“YUSUKE!!!”
a voice called out in the Urameshi residence. A young man with short, tousled,
black hair answered the call.
“What
is it, Keiko?” Yusuke said in annoyance.
“Could
you please get me a few things from the grocery store?” a young woman with
shoulder length dark brown hair replied, handing Yusuke a piece of paper.
Yusuke
got the shopping list, and his eyes widened, bewildered. “These are a FEW
things?” he cried out in dismay.
Keiko
glared at him. “Why? Do you have any complaints?”
She
looked as if she was ready to slap Yusuke, so he just sweatdropped. “Okay,
okay, Keiko-sama,” he grumbled. Ever since they had gotten married, it had
always been Yusuke do that, Yusuke do this…honestly, if he just didn’t love
Keiko so much maybe he would have—
“What
did you say?!” Keiko demanded sternly. Yusuke ran out of the house.
Seiko walked along the streets, heading for home. It was already quite dark, but the path in which she walked in was well lighted, although it was quite deserted.
She
smiled softly, remembering the nice time she had, chatting with Botan, Shizuru,
Kuwabara, Yukina, and of course, Minamino Shuichi. It felt good, being with a
group of people, just enjoying herself, for it had been quite a long time since
she ever had gone out with friends at all.
Someone
suddenly spoke behind her, interrupting her thoughts.
“Long
time no see, eh?”
Seiko
turned around in surprise. “Who’s there?”
A small
gasp escaped her. A woman with short, black hair, and dark, sinister red eyes
stood before her. Her own fingernails, as black as the night, were very, very
long, and probably just as sharp. Her black dress topped off the look, and Seiko
felt a chill up her spine.
“Mishina…
you’re still alive?” she whispered.
“I
can’t say it’s good to see you again,” Mishina said. “I thought I had
taken care of you already. But it doesn’t matter. You will soon be dead,
anyway.”
“You
can’t kill me that easily,” Seiko said coldly. She moved into a fighting
stance, and prepared to fight.
“Oh?”
Mishina said mockingly. “I give you one last chance. If you will join me now,
I will spare you.”
“Ha!”
Seiko laughed. “I’d rather die than do that.”
“Whatever
you say,” Mishina said, smiling cruelly. “But don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”
Suddenly,
a figure leaped behind Seiko, and moved in to hit her. She was able to avoid his
punch, but he tackled her anyway.
Seiko
noticed the long horns growing from his head. His face was hideous and oni-like,
and Seiko could see that he hasn’t changed at all. “Oi,Genei, you’re still
alive even after living with that woman for so long? That’s not an easy task,
you know!” She grinned, although she struggled to free herself from his strong
grip.
“Kill
her, Genei!” Mishina ordered.
Genei
raised his sword, and he was going to bring it down to Seiko’s neck.