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CHAPTER
t h r e e
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"IT'S a good thing it still fits."
"I've only been gone for fifty years, Genkai."
"So? That's majority of a human's lifespan."
Against her better control, Lan couldn't detain the smile from pulling her lips, one equally mingled with mirth and guilt as she shook her head.
Instead of wasting a reply, she let her fingers skim over the soft material of the clothe hugging her frame, lingering over the gentle cinch around her waist with a thoughtful hum. At her side, Genkai followed her movements with her gaze, the latter's very own method of checking whether the garment needed to be adjusted or—if need be as the years suggest—be thrown away. Thankfully enough, not a flaw was detected underneath the pinkette's precise inspection. If anything, the garment merely appeared to be worn compared to Lan's sustained appearance.
By the end of her roaming gaze, Genkai caught sight of the playful, accusing smile Lan was so teasingly sporting over her shoulder.
"You specifically tended to this one." The statement was direct, almost confident, if Genkai didn't know her well enough.
"You favored this one over the others."
The smile grew into a grin and Lan had to duck her chin to resist acting foolish before her friend, silently scolding herself for suddenly reverting to her callow self. Even for just a quick second.
Personally, as the flinch of her lips entails, Genkai would have none of that timid action. Fifty years ago, it had taken her months to shovel through Lan's obscured emotions and insecurity, barreling down wall after wall just to uproot the real gem behind the profound confusion. As a result, the latter became utterly and—at times—painfully honest towards the psychic.
But for once, after half a century of separation, Genkai would let this one slide until the demoness situated herself here better once more.
Three days had gone by smoothly and within those days, Genkai had assisted Lan into settling back into her old room, situated just a few ways down her own. She had been smug, inwardly chuckling to herself the second Lan had slid open the shoji doors. A disregarded room would have been a quiet abode for filth and dust, which was what the latter had been expecting judging by the way her nose wrinkled in preparation. Only, when the room was revealed before her, it wasn't coated in filth and mildew.
To Lan's astonishment, it was kept in quality condition throughout the years. Aside from being a little too weathered along with the small changes (such as the subtle shift of the knickknacks decorating the room so it wouldn't be too bare), Genkai had made sure to clean the room at least once in a week or two during the past five decades. It gave her something to do other than her profession, and she treasured the memories that resided in that room. It was all she had for years.
It was enough to make Lan question her luck for having such a friend like Genkai all over again.
Now, Genkai brought out all of her old clothes. Reasonably lacking, of course. The pinkette had been explaining about throwing the others away with a ready apology when Lan stopped her—reaching out to grasp one of the two qipaos she had preferred the most. As stated, the garment in question received thorough care. Genkai had specifically tended that qipao with utmost care. Yes, she had tended to all of Lan's soft material clothing, but the deep blue garment had been one of the latter's favored one out of all.
"I take it you have only recently taken this one out of the wash," Lan fingered one of the three frog buttons fastening the dress intact. "It's still a little cool."
"Yes, yes." Genkai waved a careless hand, turning to stride out of the nearly bare room. Nothing but a dresser and a measly futon decorated the room, after all, Lan rarely spends her time within the four walls. She was always up and wandering—whether it be patrolling around the thick forest or gallivanting around the crowded city hours from here. Genkai had long ago ceased to question her whereabouts there since the standard amount of time travel did not abide with the demoness' own method of roaming, and staying in one place often gave Lan the queasy feeling of being trapped. Thus, Genkai let her be.
She always comes back—and that's the beauty in it.
"Has your disciple finished his exercise?" Following the shorter female out of the room, Lan consciously tugged on the end of her black spandex shorts beneath her thigh-length qipao with a furrow of her brows. The fabric was flexible and comfortable enough to leave her room to move to her liking, but it's been a while since Lan had worn shorts. The bare feeling against cool air almost felt foreign after being accustomed to wearing pants for years.
"He still has half an hour to go," Genkai scoffed, leisurely taking her time to reach the training hall. "Last I heard from him, he said that he's dying. Reckon he might want to go before me too." A snort covered the laughter that threatened to erupt and Genkai shook her head, wondering how she had gotten a sluggard as a successor.
Aside from a tick on her jaw, Lan chose not to answer. Counting down the days of her friend isn't something she would like to do nor remind herself, even as a harmless joke. Seeing Genkai worn and aged frightened Lan enough that she had a difficult time trying not to hover around the pinkette for the past three days.
To rid of the thought, Lan decided to focus on the topic and ease Yusuke's torture—as he had put it. The boy mentioned that he had started training under the iron fist of Genkai for nearly a week before her arrival. His recess came in short minutes after one exercise after another and Lan knew just how grueling the pinkette could be if she so chooses it. Genkai was—is nothing but strict and thorough when it comes to sharpening the spirit energy, and if she wishes for Yusuke to inherit hers, then it came as no surprise that the latter would subject the young detective into the same strenuous training she had undergone just to polish her impeccable skills.
"He's been working very hard," Lan commented, easing forward to walk beside the shorter female and not behind. "His efforts appear to very fruitful already, with the rate you're subjecting him to."
"Explain." Genkai hummed. Lan never failed to be precise. A quintessential habit with her preternatural senses. Genkai knew that and intended to make use of it.
If there was anyone who could detect even the slightest of improvement or difference, Lan would be that individual.
Nodding, Lan proceeded to describe what she had gathered from her observation during the past three days. She was always lingering around the corner whenever Genkai would train with Yusuke, an old habit she picked up from her first stay in the temple. Afterwards, her keen eyes would absorb every trickle of sweat, narrow over the smallest strain of muscles along with the gradual surge of their spirit energy. Admiring and analyzing the control and balance, that was what she did—dissecting the elegance of the flow with her sight and judging the smooth transaction to generate a powerful attack. In Yusuke, there was no elegance nor smoothness. It was all rough and callous—bright, determined and fierce that it burned beneath his skin in attention, waiting to be used in full potential.
That had immediately garnered Lan's interest.
If this was a detective who felt no obligations to right every wrong, then what spurs him on?
Lan nodded to herself. "In a span of three days, I've seen his stance improve. He used to be quite sloppy in his movements during the first day I've been here. So I might say, it was quite a surprise to see him learn and adjust in the duration of his training the following day, and he does not even realize it. His energy seems to flow smoother now that he subconsciously knows how to distribute his weight—lighter on his feet, as well. He's an excellent learner for a human."
She hummed the offhanded compliment of her own, to which Genkai harrumphed at, urging a grin from the demoness.
"He's already showing remarkable results from what I could see. And it has only been a week since he started training under you, according to him, and I've only started observing for three days. That itself is an unusual feat to accomplish."
Considering this, Genkai kept the swelling of pride to herself upon hearing the positive progress of her pupil, though she let the weight rest warmly in her chest. 'He might not be as hopeless as I've thought.'
"Anything else?"
"When you were training to concentrate his spirit energy," Lan continued, referring back to the dawn after her arrival—just hours after her conversation with Genkai on the roof of the temple—when the pinkette had woken up Yusuke to train him once more on concentrating his spirit energy on a spike and using nothing but the tip of his calloused forefinger while upside-down. "His energy was all over the place, making his weight imbalanced, therefore resulting in his stance to be too wobbly to remain in position for supposedly twelve hours." Frowning at the memory, Lan could still picture how his energy dangerously flared and flickered, at times dwindling to such a ridiculously small ball of blue that it was a miracle he held himself up still.
Genkai nodded, recalling that moment in her own memory as well, though she was—as she always is during their training—besides the brat doing the exact same exercise with him. Smoother, easier, and undoubtedly more adept than he was; meant to show the delinquent how it is done, even if he habitually called her a showoff.
"However," Lan added, tone shifting onto a positive lilt. "Yesterday, his control improved. His energy wasn't as unstable as it was during his first hours and he managed to lessen the cracking of his energy all throughout the remaining time. Though his weight was still a little bit imbalanced, he was finally able to find a middle ground. Yusuke's only concern was maintaining it. The boy can hold a good position for an hour or two on average before losing it again, but he's able to right himself after around thirty minutes or so. An improvement like that shows that he is getting better in controlling his energy."
Unbeknownst to her, a gleam of admiration hovered in her eyes, settling a small smile on her person. Lan was truly impressed, despite her caution. Here was a young human, barely at the apex of his lifespan and yet he's able to handle and better himself through Genkai's rigorous training in a short amount of time. Adjusting and adapting, Lan was not blind to see such potential as his.
Yusuke was quick. She would dare even call him a genius—if he was aware of his own actions.
"Since then," Lan continued. "The flow of his spirit energy all throughout his body is gradually getting smoother. However, I recommend teaching him how to properly conserve his strength. He has a tendency to waste them precariously, especially during bouts of anger."
Beside her, Genkai arched her brows partly in appreciation and partly in amazement, her chest only becoming heavier with pride despite the added criticism at the end. She had seen something extraordinary in Urameshi Yusuke during her tournament and the boy has kept on surprising her since the very beginning. Crude, rash and perhaps accompanied by luck as he was, it was simply puzzling to see something with a background like that.
Yusuke simply doesn't back down from a challenge and as his teacher, Genkai is proud to train someone as rough as he into a person who could be the best version of himself.
Genkai closed her eyes, savoring the pride of a mentor after curbing that feeling for so long . . . She had almost forgotten what it meant to be one since Kairen.
The two walked towards the training hall with Lan still feeding Genkai's ears about her pupil's steady yet remarkable progress and Genkai remained silent with pride. Proud of the words of improvement of Yusuke's: how his breathing had unknowingly altered to help steady the course of his reiki—incidentally boosting his power with his only problem on how to duly unleash and conserve it. Then there was the beginning of fluidity in his motions that has begun to show itself little by little. . .
Yusuke was simply progressing at a wonderful pace. Unnoticed—but with Lan, it was easy to see.
The sound of Yusuke's pained grunts could be heard as they reached the training hall, paired with the usual throw of swears only a sailor could rival.
Mildly entertained, Lan stepped forward to slide open the shoji door, letting Genkai enter first before herself.
"It's about damn time!" Yusuke scowled through gritted teeth at the cracking energy beneath his finger, doing yet another exercise on concentrating his spirit energy once more. "I've been here since dawn, you crazy old hag! What kind of person wakes another person at three am!?"
Yusuke chose that moment to lift his head an inch with apparent difficulty, brown eyes arranged in a glare that could send most people cowering behind their trembling limbs. His sleep was stolen, damn it!
Heaven knows just how much he had been deprived of that luxury.
Whatever words of insults he had itching his throat died when his eyes caught sight of the pale flesh of Lan's bare thighs.
Now, as a young adolescent child in his boyhood, Yusuke couldn't, despite his—little—efforts, stop the blood from rushing to his head as he openly gawked, the manic rage completely replaced by a fury red blush.
Genkai didn't resist the kick to his spine to save him from falling on the spike. Face first.
☯
"In my defense, it's a first for me."
Arching one disbelieving brow, Lan peeked beneath thick lashes at the sulking detective, hands pausing for a moment from its task.
"Of course."
The simple response flared another rush of blood to Yusuke's face.
"You don't believe me!" Embarrassed, Yusuke narrowed his eyes with a wobble of his lips, trying to meet her blank blues as quick hands continued to wrap the bandage around and over his sore shoulder.
When Lan paused once to rest her passive gaze on his glare, he faltered.
"The only girl I know is Keiko, okay? And no one's going anywhere with her. Not with that attitude. . . And I've never really seen a girl wear something so short before so you just caught me off guard, is all." Grumbling incoherently, Yusuke dropped his gaze as shame flushed his cheeks anew, finally falling silent when Lan remained uncommunicative. A second later, she resumed her task.
Genkai's kick was painful, to say the least. Though thanks to nearly a week-long training under her (has it really only been a week? He swore it felt longer), Yusuke knew her strength wasn't really in it. The purpose was to push him out of the way as the energy protecting him from the spike thinned into nothing in one mere second, leaving him unprotected in his loss of concentration. If the old hag hadn't intervened, he would've been missing an eye. Though the instinctual move went a little forceful since Yusuke went rolling haphazardly onto the wooden floor, knocking his strained shoulder rather painfully before the wall stopped his ungraceful tumble.
Then forty-five minutes later, Lan had already finished rubbing soothing cream all over his throbbing shoulder, right after deliberately checking if it wasn't dislocated or if it had received any problematic damage whilst the pinkette went to prepare their dinner.
'The ghoul didn't even scold me or anything. Just laughed shit at my face,' Yusuke thought with a frown, his mind replaying the sound of Genkai's booming laughter when he fell in a mess of limbs on the floor after his glorious tumble.
'Heck, even China Girl couldn't resist a grin.'
Pursing his lips to hinder the irritated scoff from escaping past his lips, the detective chose to direct his attention at the woman tending his shoulder, softly releasing a relieved sigh as the throbbing faded under her care.
Fortunately, she wasn't angered at his embarrassing show of gawking earlier, though she was far from amused. Yusuke was being truthful when he said he meant no disrespect, but it was also true when he mentioned being caught off guard to see that much skin exposed from a woman (his sneak attacks on his childhood friend does not count). He was fourteen! That was reasonable enough.
Hopefully.
Admittedly, he fully expected a reaction similar to Keiko's from Lan—all shouts and yells with raining punches, but he was relieved that he only received a slight glare.
If anything, Lan's reaction simply supported more of Yusuke's initial impression of her.
Nonchalantly emotional.
For the past three days, Yusuke had warmed up towards the strange demoness, finding some odd comfort from her seemingly indifferent care tinged with a twisted humor of sorts. The hag had told him about Lan during their bouts of training whenever the latter was not there lingering in some corner. However, the information given was always limited. Still, Genkai had spoken highly of Lan in her own way, so Yusuke gathered that the latter was, at the very least, a decent person.
His interactions with her came rarely though, and often occur in the early mornings. He would be up cooking breakfast—as the hag would drag him down and insist it to be part of his training—and sooner or later, Lan would stalk silently into the room to make her tea. She never initiated to talk, and Yusuke figured that she's shying away from him for a reason he's not aware. With Genkai, Lan held herself in a lax manner, comfortable and serene with a ghost of a smirk that matched the senile old lady's. It was an uncanny sight to witness, truly.
But with him?
Her whole demeanor shifts.
Yusuke knew he was far from being the sharpest needle in the haystack, but he was not blind as to how she strived to interact with him as little as possible.
He would have none of that.
Say it was curiosity or his usual stubborn recklessness, but Yusuke leaned towards her with an open warmth. People often cower at the sight of him and never gave him a chance. Now Lan, for some reason, felt threatened, but at least she was trying to be civil and accepting. She listened to him talk during the mornings and that was a good change in his life. Unlike the hag, his mother, the diaper-ruling kid, and Keiko, Yusuke rarely had a second to butt in his voice. But he was free to dump his rants to Lan.
That was somewhat okay in his books.
And to be completely honest, Yusuke did find her alluringly attractive. Anyone could be snared with her strange beauty; her hair long and thick in soft lilac with her skin pale yet healthy underneath the sun. Lan was also taller than most girls he's met before, perhaps just an inch or two shorter than him—maybe matching Botan's height. Not to mention, her face was cutely small; oddly naive, with a small button nose and full lips.
But it was probably her eyes that were captivating the most. Wide and expressive—openly glassy that it gave a sheen of fragility, yet sharpens with the scariest hint of a warning. A dangerous ocean.
Lan was beautiful. The scary kind of beauty, he gathered.
"Staring is never nice."
"I wasn't staring." Without meaning to, Yusuke denied her statement. Though his fingers twitched with the wanton desire to maul himself.
She smirked, frankly shocking Yusuke because that was the first (almost) smile he had gotten from her.
"Of course you weren't. Silly me." Finishing the task, Lan patted his now bandaged shoulder with a satisfied nod, leaning back on her cushion to let him stretch.
"There's nothing much to look at, really." Wrinkling his nose, Yusuke feigned irritation, biting back the smile at the sudden warmth she held towards him.
Lan had to laugh, eyes crinkling just as his mask fell to leave a smug grin in place.
His worry was unnecessary, at the most. Lan honestly didn't mind (perhaps a little). It was innocent—harmless, purely a reaction at seeing something uncommon. Males of his race often undergo through this phase, she'd learned. Demons were no different.
Besides, she'd heard him talk listlessly during the mornings—snippets about his day-to-day life before he became the appointed Spirit Detective.
During those times, Lan let him attempt to build a form of kinship towards her. He surprised her for being so open, so she stayed and listened despite her better judgment. She recalled him mentioning bouts of tender complaints about his own mother, spout irritated amusement about another boy named Kuwabara—Genkai seem to know this boy too when she asked the pinkette—and utter affectionate rants about a girl named Keiko.
Out of the three, the name of that girl seemed to stir emotion within the brash detective the most, if the subtle shift in his voice did not say otherwise.
"I'm sure no one will compare to her." Lan paused, a solemn smile easing her laughter.
The fresh grin from Yusuke's face followed by the telltale burst of warmth that settled in his stomach. He was so sure that Lan could practically hear the sudden thudding of his erratic heart. Yet, along with it, a dark cloud muddled his thoughts and hope, and he responded with the way he usually does.
"Yeah, sure. Think all you like, there's nothing there." He scoffed, rubbing a finger under his nose just to avoid the demoness' gaze.
There was, in truth. Yusuke's relationship with Keiko had always been open. Not until lately, that is. But what he meant was neither of them had ever bothered to hide anything from each other. Sure, there were words that went unsaid but, their actions and behavior towards the other spoke highly enough. Yusuke was more than certain that his childhood friend would reciprocate. . . whatever this is, since they've been threading past the line of friendship nowadays. Yet, in the end, they would always cower back on safer grounds.
He's fourteen.
They're fourteen.
All the possibilities are open to them.
They haven't carved out their futures yet.
It was just. . . given that they'll have each other in the end.
But even then, Keiko can still alter it. That possibility was enough to sprout a tiny seed of doubt in the pit of Yusuke's mind.
"But you speak so fondly of her," Lan tilted her head. "Not a lot, but enough for me to understand."
Unaware of his inner musings, Lan didn't fully understand, causing her brows to knit in thought. Her memories replayed all the loving moments she had witnessed between Genkai and Toguro, along with random glimpses she saw of intimate human couples in the five decades of her meandering. In each flicker of her memory, Lan could identify the same wistful look they shared that Yusuke now harbors.
So what's the difference that the boy tries to deny it?
Yusuke snorted. "I never said anything special about Keiko."
There it was. The slight difference at the mere mention of that name. A demon is gifted with keener senses than all humans, but Lan had far surpassed the standard senses of most demons. Even more, she was trained to notice the unnoticeable. To her, the slight crack of his voice at the mention of the name along with the quick, almost non-existing twitch of his eyes was startlingly and utterly clear before her sight.
A weakness.
And a strength.
"Words are nothing but the surface of what feelings truly define." She was speaking with the knowledge of watching Genkai and Toguro work and move together day after day and night after night. When they spar, it was tense—a challenge of all challenges, where both lose themselves in their passion. When they talk, it was with the utmost respect and admiration they held for each other. And when they fight, it was because of their care and pride, but neither was willing to lose the other.
At first, Lan failed to understand those meanings—failed to understand compassion. It was only after watching and learning the world for fifty years did she began to see, began to realize. Now, she can put those into words, define every emotion she felt—deep or shallow.
Because she can understand them now too.
"Perhaps, you should confront it rather than set it aside." Lan continued with a frown, still not fully understanding as to why the detective does not acknowledge it if this human girl is important to him. "Chaos in the mind can disturb the heart, which can corrupt a person's spirit." 'Like Toguro,' her eyes grew cold. "Situation differs, but anyone can remain true to their path should they recognize what's important to them."
Yusuke had no reply to that, neither could he deny it. So he left it just as that, mauling the words of a demon he barely knows for the feelings he barely even realizes.
☯
"Again!"
Staggering onto weak feet, Yusuke wiped the trickle of blood oozing out of his split lip, ignorant towards the pulsing pain as he glared into peevish brown eyes boring into his own. Gritting his teeth, the detective brought both his palms up and faced the aged pinkette once more, pressing the heels of his palms together as he readied himself on setting up another defense.
"Bring it, grandma."
They were practicing out in the yard this time, soaking beneath the generous heat of the glowing sun and the occasional whispers of the lazy wind. Then perched on her heels on the edge of the roof, Lan watched, her hair twisted into a thick braid done by Genkai to lessen the intensity of the heat—a quick offer to pull the demoness into observing another round of their training once more.
Genkai didn't have to do that in Lan's opinion. She had easily settled into being reduced as the duo's neutral referee and observer during their training for almost two weeks now. It wasn't forced. In fact, Lan finds it hard to tear her eyes away whenever the two would collide during their daily training, glad to be a witness once more to Genkai's prowess as well as amazed to see Yusuke grow more in control of his energy each day. The latter would sometimes call out to her amidst his training to ask for the hour; or if he was just exercising, he'd strike up conversations with her just to pass time.
Admittedly to herself, the fact that Genkai's disciple had yet to disappoint neither her nor Genkai was intriguing. Yusuke was simply improving in an admirable pace as someone of Genkai's successor and the Reikai Tantei should be.
"Don't get cocky now." Genkai drawled. "Stand straight, you look like you're about to soil yourself."
"Funny how my shit sort of reminds me of you. Want to know why?"
But on the other hand, Lan knew she should be concerned. The stubborn resolve she once had to remain distant and a stranger towards the detective was slowly crumbling into a fondness she couldn't deny.
As the days passed, the conversations between them grew more often—stretching into comfortable humor and teasing on the other's expense. Yusuke was far from the expected reputation a Reikai Tantei should hold and every single childish antic he threw made Lan smile. He knew humor, and who was she to deny good humor.
Such as now.
"I'll have to do you a favor and cut out your tongue, you dumbass." Genkai scoffed.
"Just ask her," jabbing a shaky thumb over his shoulder, Yusuke gestured at Lan. "She'll side with me."
As an added trait, Yusuke was also very stubborn. Adamant to be a friend to her. And as the weeks passed, Lan let him wiggle his way into her daily life.
Lan bit back an exasperated huff. "Don't dawdle, Yusuke."
He frowned. "Killjoy."
When Lan first began dealing with her confusion at the anomaly that is Urameshi Yusuke days ago, Genkai would slowly walk herself out of the room to leave them alone. A prompt that Yusuke took as a time to slowly ease Lan out of her hesitant shell. Then with just about a few words, they'll be off talking about who knows what until they would either be debating fighting manners and techniques, or Yusuke would relate to her little snippets of his life as an example whenever she was confused about a human custom they happened to mention during their conversations.
"You're used to it."
Either way, each interaction with him had Lan's personal mission to remain distant crumble. Soon, hope wedged its way in her heart—a repeat to what she felt when Genkai and Toguro had become her allies. Surely, remaining distant would cause more suspicion, wouldn't it? In any case, Yusuke doesn't seem to be the kind to abandon reason when arresting a criminal.
He was just a boy, he knew nothing.
But perhaps, the biggest influence in blooming their budding friendship was the strict order of Genkai in applying Lan's assistance in Yusuke's training a week ago.
x
"It is too dangerous, Genkai." Lan argued vehemently that evening, the subject in question already snoring his night away after another hectic day.
"He needs it. You can help him more!" Genkai fired back. "I didn't say you have to do something drastic nor fight him aggressively! You're far too advanced even without your youki. All I ask is for you two to spar. Push him! Make a better fighter out of him!"
At that point, Lan whirled around with a growl churning deep in her chest. "Then you do it! As his mentor, you should do it yourself." A shaky sigh fell from her lips, swallowing the anger because she could not bear to release it on someone dear to her. Not even an ounce.
"All it takes is one mistake, Genkai. One."
"This is as much it is for you as it is for him."
x
Lan remembered herself glaring. A panting mess who's torn between wanting to be a friend and tearing herself away. She was labeled—a ticking danger waiting to happen. But when Genkai seemed to have sobered, her eyes seeing the tortured soul within her friend despite the clear anger the latter showed in her glare, she mulled it over.
It took Lan three days later to finally agree. Begrudgingly, reluctantly, with fear coiling her limbs stiff. The mantra that it was to help him and no more rang loudly in her head.
He's a Spirit Detective and she's a wanted criminal.
At the moment, Lan rid of her past musings by narrowing her eyes. Bringing herself back into the present just in time to observe Genkai prepare herself to deliver yet another powerful shot of her reikohadou aimed towards Yusuke's awaiting palms. The task was simple enough to follow. The latter merely has to lessen the impact of the blow with his own palms cushioned by his own spirit energy. A simple yet effective defensive move, at most.
But Genkai never said it was easy.
"Steady yourself, Yusuke." Shifting her feet, Genkai pushed out yet another blast of her outrageous energy from the palms of her hands.
Yusuke locked his knees. "Oh, shi—"
The impact huffed a powerful gust of wind and it held, blowing Genkai and Lan's hair wildly in ribbons of cherry and lilac. In her haste, Lan's hand shot out of instinct to shield the mark on her forehead. Yet even through the prickle of panic, she still pushed to watch, enrapt at the current massive collision compared to the previous ones. She frowned as she Yusuke's hands shook at the violent contact—the skin of his outstretched palms turning scarlet with the burn despite the sheen of his own energy supposedly meant to protect.
He was gradually improving, but the strength and control still weren't enough against Genkai's.
When his knees buckled, Lan pursed her lips in concern without even knowing, intent on drinking in every bit of detail she could see from above. The energy acting as his shield wavered when Genkai's reikohadou attempted to swallow it whole.
Teeth grinding tight against each other to muffle the scream of exertion tearing his throat, Yusuke pushed on.
Lan lowered her head. She knew it wouldn't last.
True enough, the scream Yusuke was swallowing back finally tore free—ripping out of his throat as Genkai's energy burned his open palms and the colliding parties of reiki finally explode, raging a fiercer gust of wind throughout the yard that made the nearest trees bow.
Lan couldn't stop the way her mouth parted in awe.
Yusuke sagged, defeated—tension draining out of strained muscles as he released his hold of his energy protecting himself. He didn't stop himself as he fell on his knees, panting and sweating, just barely holding onto the thread of consciousness.
Head bowed with a tousled mess of raven locks, the detective licked his quivering, bottom lip, wincing at the salty tang of his sweat.
"D-Damn it, grandma. . . You were that offended?"
'Typical,' distracted, Lan eyed the burnt barks of the bent trees, a tiny smile gradually cracking her indifferent façade.
'He did it.'
Softly, as if carried by the wind, a rare compliment was said. "Very good."
Yusuke's head shot up, swallowing the twinge of pain that came with the movement as he stared unabashedly at Genkai, shocked and smugly pleased at the way her gaze took at his tired self with approval. A gaze that often meant he had notched himself another achievement. He'd only seen it once when he won the tournament.
Without fail, Genkai continued. "You managed to withstand against an attack like that, long enough to let it dwindle into nothing. Though you're hardly unscathed." She paused, eyeing the trembling of his hands. The skin was somewhat scorched from the heat of the energy. Her energy.
Firmly, Genkai turned after her analysis, moving to take a step to walk back to her temple. But then, as an afterthought, she added, "Rest for a day. Reciprocate for all the energy you spent for the past few days."
Lan couldn't resist the low chuckle when Yusuke pumped his fist in the air with a silent scream of joy, repeatedly bowing his head and thanking the gods in an exaggerated reaction to Genkai's generosity.
"After that," Genkai spoke again, ending Yusuke's charades with a simple, narrowed glance over her shoulder. "You will train and spar again with Lan. You'll do so for four days since your previous one greatly improved your stamina and reserved energy." Turning around once more to hide her sardonic grin, Genkai silently made her way back inside with one last punch in the gut.
"Let's see if you can hold it without collapsing this time."
When Genkai was gone, Lan gently dropped from her spot above, tentatively approaching the strangely silent detective from behind. Genkai's orders rang loud and clear in her head, planting an inkling of fear at the thought of sparring the detective again. But this time, she was unprepared for the burst of excitement fighting the trepidation.
The first time they sparred was, at the very least, interesting. Intriguing. Wherein Lan found herself enjoying every second of it, to her shock. A pleasant shock. She'd never crossed paths with a fighter such as him before. Yusuke had clearly underestimated her, as she had clearly underestimated his will to fight.
At the very least, it was entertaining.
Staring at the back of Yusuke's head, Lan let the excitement feed her bloodstream.
"The day after tomorrow. Be ready at dawn," she grinned when those chocolate eyes glared at her over his shoulder, a pout on his lips to show his exhaustion. "I'll be looking forward until then."
"Yay me."
☯
Beneath the gaze of the moon, curious brown eyes flittered to and fro between the two figures conversing by the veranda, their voices nothing but a caressed whisper in the wind. Yusuke was tempted to step closer but contented himself to remain in the shadows, even though he's very much aware that the two knew of his presence. He couldn't hear them anyways, but he wondered just enough to stay.
This has been happening ever since Lan had arrived, and Yusuke often wanted to ask what's going on with this strange custom. Another week has passed by after another spar with her (and some more), and he was almost confident to say that he's making a progress in easing her out of her shell. But whether or not it was enough to ask about their strange tradition every night, he doubted.
So he watched again.
Just as soon as his thoughts piled up as one, the taller of the two vanished out of sight—a purplish blur before she was gone. Again, he wondered where she went. This happens every night, or almost every night. But more than that, he wanted to ask why she has to go and leave her supposedly—only—friend behind.
After she was gone, the lone figure turned to his direction. Her own chocolate gaze beckoning. He wasn't nervous, there was no sign of the rigid command present now. So he abided. This time, without complaints.
Yusuke paused when he reached Genkai's side, looking down on how the psychic sat completely lax by the edge of the veranda after a day's worth of training. For a moment, neither resorted to words, opting to dwell in silence as they contemplated the arrival of tomorrow would bring.
Funny how anticlimactic it felt. At least, for the detective it was. His summer plans were always written ahead of him—mundane games at the arcade just to kill some time; get on petty fights with the punks around his neighbors with a guaranteed win every time; look after his frivolous mother; annoy Keiko just because he had nothing else to do after that.
Yusuke thought of it, once, that perhaps his death and rebirth—of a sort—granted this subconscious wish of his. The thirst for adrenaline. A thrill. A danger to thrum his bored blood that craved for adrenaline.
But what for?
"What are you thinking, dimwit?" Genkai's sudden query cut through his thoughts. "I should applaud you for your effort to think for once, but I admit it doesn't suit you."
Irritation settled at her sarcasm, yet the detective didn't bother. It didn't feel like now was the right time to initiate a banter. A pointless banter, but it was how their banters go. For weeks, he had gotten used to the old woman's silver tongue that he had accepted it as normal as breathing would go.
But by tomorrow, he'll leave. Finally. After a whole month of stay, he'll finally go home. Not in permanent, even when he was still gulping down the relief of freedom to end to his torture (temporary, but Yusuke really did not want to think about that now). But, admittedly, having Genkai's nagging voice absent starting tomorrow would be. . .
Odd.
"Just thinking about my freedom tomorrow. I'm finally gonna be relieved of your presence. Awesome." His cheer came in monotone, matching the blank expression on his face perfectly.
"My sentiments exactly," Genkai replied, a smirk crossing her features. A fond one.
A rare, fond one.
The next second, Yusuke took the spot beside the pinkette, plopping ungracefully on his bottom with his legs dangling over the edge and toes tickling the trimmed grass. He sighed—a sigh that carried away all the tension and stress knotted within during all those weeks of training. Soon, a grin stretched and ached his cheeks anew, a giddy feeling settling at the thought of no schedule planned the next day—
"You still have one spar left at dawn."
—Or so he thought.
'And here I thought we actually achieved peace for once.'
"Why?" Yusuke grumbled.
"Consider it as a parting gift. And for you to anticipate something special the next time we continue your training."
"Like that'll happen."
"You'll never know. You might actually want to train."
"As if."
At the boy's scoff, Genkai chuckled, thin arms crossing gently over her chest. She didn't answer. Not for the lack of response, but simply because—like how he felt.
The quiet was calming in a strange way and she opted to prolong it. There never was a muted second ever since Yusuke came barging into her old life, a loud fool as her disciple. A quiet time with Yusuke was unheard of. Ludicrous even. Each moment spent with his presence was a whirlwind of noise.
Finally having a minute of silence was strangely satisfying. Especially from the boy.
But it didn't mean that he could hold it for long.
"Where does she go?"
Blinking owlishly at the spontaneous question, all Genkai could do was to peel her gaze away from the moon and plant it on the profile of her disciple. His eyebrows were pinched in a thoughtful scowl, coupled with a pondering frown.
He shook his head. "No, wait, let me rephrase that. I mean, I know that she wanders about the forest or around the city but," Yusuke paused, wary of the line he was threading. "Why?"
Why indeed.
A look of understanding softened the pinkette's face and she released a soft scoff at the boy's question. Genkai really couldn't blame him, and as she moved her gaze back to the moon, she thought bck on the weeks they've spent together.
Lan had become a curiosity for the detective during his stay.
A similar situation back in the days with her and Toguro's pupils. Genkai remembered how Lan would always keep her distance from her pupils, exchanging little to no words with anyone other than the duo. Sticking by the background was always the demoness' play, yet she never really can blend within the background. Her aura was one reason. Add in her allure, she was the epitome of an addicting mystery.
So yes, Genkai can understand the detective's interest. But for him, it goes on more than that.
Lan was already a friend in Yusuke's eyes. Behind his curiosity was a simple concern—the need to offer support in the only way he knows he can. The thought alone warmed Genkai greatly, being the very witness between the two's development. It was amusing to observe them, smirking when the boy would initiate conversations and Lan would be drawn by his the warmth in his eyes and the glow of his smile. There may be a rift caused by his occupation, yet the more time they spend with each other's company the more his title became nothing more than meaningless words.
Genkai respected his reasons for asking. Thus, she would divulge what she could.
"Let me ask you first, Yusuke, if you were—say, a little bird who was once free. But out of the blue, someone locked you in a cage, how would you feel?"
"Trapped." Yusuke wrinkled his nose.
He? A bird? Laughable.
"How about when you're allowed to leave from time to time, then? You're allowed to be out of that cage, not to fly but to walk among the dogs. How would you feel?"
'What?' Wide-eyed, Yusuke stared at his mentor as if she has grown another head. "What are you talking abou—"
"Just answer the question."
Yusuke swallowed whatever insult he had ready, giving the psychic a conceding glare as he contemplated his answer.
"Well," he inhaled, mulling over the bizarre concept as serious as he could be. "It'd be. . . weird, I guess. I'm not a dog, but then again, I can't exactly get out of the cage. Can I just bash my way out?"
"That's out of the question."
"Ah. Any other choice then?"
"None."
Yusuke groaned in exasperation, a hand raking his hair in frustration. "Then what do I do? I really don't get the point."
"Exactly."
He froze, dumbfounded. "What?"
Genkai turned her gaze away from the moon to meet his own, an unknown weight holding him in place that suddenly made his throat run dry.
"How would you feel, Yusuke?"
This time, he had the answer. "Confused. And trapped, still."
She smiled. Lack of any warmth or feelings. Yusuke cocked his head with a scowl, wondering what made the pinkette seem so. . . filled with unknown anger.
"Now, answer me this. What if you got used to the treatment, enough so that you consider it as normal?"
Yusuke hummed in thought. "I don't really get it. I mean, if it was normal, then I shouldn't really care but at the same time. . . I'd be unwilling?" He shook his head. "That doesn't really make a sense."
"I know." Genkai smirked at the detective's incredulous stare. But she let him think over his thoughts. Let him hammer down every angle on what to say even if puzzling over a matter wasn't his cup of tea. And when she saw the resurging light glint in those eyes, she knew he found his answer.
Taking in his silence, Genkai continued. "Yusuke, when a bird has forgotten how to fly, they are not themselves. Now, when you finally have the chance to learn how to be who you are, would you take it? Knowing you don't even know how to fly? Would you fall blindly?"
His answer came naturally. "Better than not."
Genkai's lit up at his answer, thoroughly satisfied even though he had no idea about what they just talked about.
But her smile? Yusuke noted how the simple action actually lessened the age on her face. It was startling, but it suited her.
'She needs to smile more.'
Oblivious to his inner musings, Genkai continued once more.
"It is not my place to tell,"—she ignored his frown with a quiet chuckle under her breath—"but remember, Yusuke. Sometimes, it's hard to remain in an enclosed space after being trapped once. Give her time." Pausing, Genkai removed the long sigh that has been building up in her chest, smirking when the detective subconsciously mimicked the action through his nose.
Then with a fond smile, Genkai finished her piece. "Lan is seeing the world for the first time. That's where she was during all these years. Just because she's back and settled here doesn't mean she won't wander from time to time. And this?" She gestured at the vast temple. "This is her nest. Her home, so I know she'll always return."
Dropping his gaze to his hands, Yusuke digested his teacher's words, repeating them in his mind to muse on. In a way, he can understand. She asked him something that's analogical—he assumed—to Lan's history.
"I see." Yusuke muttered and he dropped the subject, already knowing that Genkai wouldn't spill anymore. But he did learn something. Genkai's odd question probably was for her to weigh his answers, and for him to give an inkling of relation to Lan's life.
However, it also raised a few questions of his own. But this time, he was determined for the person herself to answer them.
☯
:)
Chapter soundtrack: "U Can Do It" by Domino