Old Promises and New Beginnings

Old Promises and New Beginnings
Chapter Three: Remembering

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or SM.


Thanks Willow

cillaxox: This took a little longer to update due to some unexpected/unavoidable problems.

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Kuwabara couldn’t believe his eyes. “What are you doing here?!”

Makoto’s smile grew even bigger. “We came by to visit you. Aren't you happy to see us?”

“Happy isn’t exactly the word I’d use.”

“Kuwabara who is that at the door?” The voice was soft and sweet. A lovely young woman with dark brown hair and coffee eyes appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in oversize men’s tee shirt and a pair of blue cotton shirts. “Do you know these girls?”

“Yeah, these are the ones I was telling you about,” Kuwabara replied.

“Why don’t you invite them in?”

The carrot-top grimaced, but open the door wider and waited for the Makoto and Minako to come in. The girls exchanged glances; each was waiting to see what the other would do. Makoto picked up her suitcase and walked into the apartment. Minako not wanting to be left behind quickly shouldered her bag and followed.

Kuwabara plopped down in an armchair while the young lady sat down on the right side of the couch. She motioned for the two guests to make themselves at home. After they were seated next to her she said, “I’m Yukimura.” She pointed at the tall girl and said, “You must be Kino and that means you’re Aino.” She quickly jumped up and exclaimed, “Where are my manners! Would you care for something to drink?”

Minako cleared her throat. “Some water would be nice.”

Makoto said, “I’ll have a glass too. It was a long ride.”

“I’d imagine so,” Keiko said conversationally as she busied herself in the kitchenette.

Makoto leaned over and asked her friend in a hushed tone, “Is she the one he likes?”

“They’re awfully chummy,” the blonde commented.

“That’s because they’re friends.” The two girls jumped as another person made his presence known. They looked back and saw that Urameshi had entered the living room. The detective walked over to the young woman in the kitchenette and embraced her then placed a kiss on her neck. “Keiko is my girlfriend.”

Keiko elbowed Yusuke in the ribs. “Cut it out we have guests.”

“They ain’t our problem, they’re here to see Kuwabara so let him deal with them.”

“Don’t be so rude. Now go put some clothes on.” Yusuke, remembering he was only wearing a pair of boxers, went back to his bedroom to find a pair of pants and a shirt. Keiko set a glass of water in front of each of the girls and took the only available spot on the couch. “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s had one too many blows to the head.”

“This is really a surprise,” Kuwabara said after a few moments of tense silence. “I didn’t expect to see you two again.”

Makoto spoke in a playful manner, “Why not? You did propose after all.”

The young man appeared to age ten years at the appearance of his guests. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair in order to fill the silence that followed the brunette’s offhand remark. The light noise wasn’t enough so he finally spoke. “This is a really awkward situation.”

“Well it’s not exactly a walk in the park for us either,” the brunette spoke in an easygoing manner that belied her inner nervousness, “it’s not every day that we show up on some guy’s doorstep.”

“Then why did you come?” Kuwabara asked.

Makoto shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t like loose ends.”

The young man chuckled at her quick retort. “I guess I can understand that. It’s still weird though.” He spoke the last part slightly under his breath.

Minako spoke her first words since entering the apartment, “We can leave if you’re uncomfortable.”

“No we can’t,” her friend hissed.

“If he doesn’t want us here we can’t force him to make us stay.”


“It’s okay, I guess I don’t mind you two being here.” Kuwabara gave the pair a charming smile. “It’s not every day that I have two attractive ladies follow me home. Speaking of which, how did you find out where I live?”

Minako chuckled nervously, “I just kind of…well you know it’s actually a funny story…”

The blonde was saved by the timely reemergence of Yusuke. He sat down on the right arm of the couch next to his girlfriend. “So do you two chicks know each other? Are you friends or what?”

Makoto draped her arm around her friend’s slim shoulders and pulled her close. “We’re the best of buds.”

“Were you friends when you allegedly met Kuwabara?” Yusuke pressed.

“No, we didn’t become friends until four years later,” Minako smiled up at her friend, “I guess you could say that we were fated to be friends.”

Yusuke was barely able to contain his laughter. “That’s got to be one of the cheesiest lines I ever heard. Fated to be friends, come on give me a break!”

For all of his superior senses the detective never saw the attack coming, but he certainly felt it. He clutched his left ear and screamed. Everybody except for the person delivering the blow winced as if they could feel his pain. “What was that for?”

Keiko didn’t appear to be the slightest bit apologetic for her actions. “I told you to be nice.”

“I will just, don’t do that again.” Yusuke gave his ear a final rub then left it alone for good.

The five of them managed to chat amiably for a while. Each of them was careful to avoid the taboo subject of why Makoto and Minako were there. Nobody wanted to be the one to open that Pandora’s box. However, some things are just inevitable.

“How did you two meet Kuwabara?” It was the question that everybody wanted to ask, but only Keiko had the nerve to do so. “You both claim that he proposed to you, but how do you know he’s really the guy. You both could be mistaken.”

“We wouldn’t lie about something like this,” Minako stated in an earnest voice.

“It would be nice if you had some kind of proof.”

“Will pictures do?” Makoto began unzipping her suitcase. “If you don’t believe me then take a look at these.” She stood up and handed the pictures to Kuwabara.

“This is me all right,” the young man replied glumly. He passed the pictures to Urameshi.

Interjecting his two cents Yusuke said, “I’d recognize that ugly mug anywhere.”

Before she could stop lips from moving Minako found herself saying, “He’s not ugly!”

Everybody in the room eyed the girl in surprise none of them had been expecting such an outburst, least of all Kuwabara. He found himself smiling at the blonde. “Thanks.”

Minako blushed brightly and mumbled, “You’re welcome.”

Kuwabara turned his attention back to the photos. He couldn’t argue with such incontrovertible evidence. The longer he stared at the black and white version of the brunette the more he began to remember. A barrage of images flooded his head. “We met at that new amusement park. Some jerks were picking on you and you were ready to take them all on. You got pissed when I scared them away. We hung out for a while then we took these pictures together. Didn’t I give you a hat?”

Makoto reached into her suitcase once again. She removed the green baseball cap and passed it to Kuwabara. He handled the hat carefully. “I can’t believe you still have this.” He leaned forward and placed it on the brunette’s head. “You still look cool in it.”

“I guess this means you remember me then.”

“It’s not that often I meet a girl as tough as you were.”

The strip of photos was circulated to everyone else in the living room. Yusuke, who had looked at them earlier, passed them to Keiko without a second glance. She eyed them for several moments before handing them to Minako. The blonde stiffened as she saw the last photo. The sight of Kuwabara kissing one of her closest friends was enough to make her skin crawl. She tossed the photos in Makoto’s general direction, not caring if she caught them. Touching the pictures had made her hand burn, whether the sensation was real or imagined she couldn’t say.

Minako didn’t like the way Kuwabara and Makoto were staring at each other. A sharp pang made her heart twinge, already jealousy was rearing its ugly head. She cleared her throat loudly. “It’s my turn, I have pictures too.” She opened her shoulder bag and immediately Artemis popped his head out. “I’m so sorry! I forgot all about you!”

She picked the cat up and cradled him in her lap. She looked at Keiko and asked the young woman to bring her some water. She set both the cat and the dish of water on the floor. Artemis lapped at the water and didn’t stop until it was all gone.

Minako asked in a worried voice, “Is it okay if he’s here?”

“It’s okay I have a cat too.” Kuwabara called for Eikichi. A few moments later a plump cat made its way into the living room. She sniffed at the new cat. It took a few minutes for her to decide she liked the new addition. The plump cat rubbed her body along Artemis and purred contentedly. The white cat tried to slip away, but a tiny sandaled foot kicked him back in place.

“What was I about to do?” Minako asked more to herself than anybody else.

“You said you have pictures too,” Yusuke reminded her.

Minako took the photos out of her bag and handed them to Kuwabara. He smiled at the younger versions of the blonde girl and himself. “You were lost and you wanted me to help you find your teacher.”

“That’s right!”

“It took all afternoon, but I finally did. Do you still have that bear?”

“I sure do.”

Minako opened her suitcase and removed the tan bear. It was missing an eye, the ribbon around its next was a frayed, and one of its seams had bust, which had been repaired with purple thread. If one was to over look those few changes they could still see the teddy bear it used to be.

Kuwabara held the bear in one hand and photos in the other. He looked back and forth between the pictures and Minako. “I miss the red ribbon. It looked really cute.”

“Do you really remember me?” the girl asked hopefully.

“Of course I do. I promised you I would.”

The blonde’s whole face lit up. “That’s right you did promise.”

Always one to ruin a special moment Yusuke said, “If you remember meeting the girls then I guess that means you remember proposing to them too.”

Kuwabara turned red with embarrassment. “I do.”

Nosier than any neighborhood busybody the detective asked, “What do you plan on doing about that?” The carrot-top began to stutter, but before he could answer another question was fired at him. “Are you going to marry them both? That’s illegal. So what are you going to do?”

“Calm down Urameshi,” Makoto spoke in a lazy, relaxed voice, “You’re more worried about this than we are. Last time I checked this doesn’t involve you, it’s not like you proposed.”

Yusuke puffed his chest to try covering his bruised ego, he was used to giving insults not receiving them. “I may not be engaged to you, but I am paying half the rent for this apartment. I also paid for that couch which your ass is so comfortably sitting on.”

“You paid for this couch? No wonder it’s so lumpy. I bet you bought the cheapest one you could find. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found it on the side of the road.”

Makoto pulled her hat down low over eyes effectively blocking out the detective as he told her about the thrift shop he bought the couch at. Underneath the brim of her hat she glanced at Kuwabara. His blue eyes sparkled with amusement as he shook his head at his friend’s antics. An attractive smile made the corners of his lips curl and she found herself mirroring his smile.

Minako knew if she didn’t stop the petty squabble between Makoto and Yusuke the brunette wouldn’t undoubtedly try her best to escalate the situation. “We should be leaving.”

Kuwabara leaned forward in his chair. A disappointed look replaced his earlier smile. “You’re leaving already? You just got here.”

“We’ll be here for three weeks, there is no need for us to wear out our welcome on the first night.” Minako grabbed Makoto by her wrist and pulled on it. “Let’s go.”

The brunette allowed herself to be pulled from the couch by her friend. “She’s right, we still need to find a hotel.”

Yusuke rushed over to the front door and opened it for the girls. “Good luck with that.” He looked directly at Makoto as he said, “I hope you two can find a hotel, I would hate to find you guys on the side of the road.”

Kuwabara cast a worried glance at the clock. “It’s too late for you two to go searching for a hotel. Why don’t you just stay here for the night?”

Yusuke slammed the front door closed and yelled, “You can’t just offer to let some strangers stay in my apartment without asking me!”

“You may pay one half of the rent, but I pay the other half. If I say they can stay then they can stay. Besides they’re not strangers…” Kuwabara hesitated before saying, “they’re my fiancées.”

“They could be thieves trying to rob us blind!”

“Like you have anything worth stealing Yusuke,” Keiko snickered. “I think it’s a good idea too.”

“Then it’s settled.” The carrot-top moved from his seat and picked up the girls’ luggage. “You two can stay in my room and I’ll sleep on the couch. You can worry about finding a hotel tomorrow.”

After he settled Makoto and Minako in his room Kuwabara returned to the living room where Yusuke and Keiko were waiting for him. He saw the way his friends were eyeing him and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

Keiko spoke first. “Do you really mean to marry those girls? You don’t even know them.”

“I just got caught up in the moment.”

Yusuke told his friend, “You proposed to them eight years ago, they’d have to be nuts to expect you to still marry them.”

“I don’t think they expect that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Keiko asked. “I think the three of you need to sit down tomorrow and have a serious talk about this. They’re going to be here for three weeks, you don’t want to send out mixed signals and get their hopes up.”

Kuwabara nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll talk to them.”

Yusuke leaned close to his roommate; he had a most somber expression on his face. “More importantly,” he began, “who do you think is prettier Kino or Aino?”

The carrot-top began to blush and stammered, “I-I-I…”

“You have to admit they’re both really hot.”

The detective’s girlfriend pulled on his ear and led him towards his bedroom. “That’s enough out of you Yusuke. Time for bed.”

“I was just asking an innocent question!”

Kuwabara fell into a troubled sleep on the couch. Images of two brides chasing and beating him with bouquets haunted his dreams. A couple of times he rolled off the couch onto the floor from tossing and turning. After the third time, around 3am, he decided it would be safer to sleep on the floor and abandon the couch all together.

He didn’t stir again until the next morning when he heard someone chewing loudly above him. The shower of crumbs that was falling on his face finally woke him up for good. “We have plates in the cabinets jackass,” he mumbled in a hoarse voice that was thick from sleep.

“It’s my week to wash dishes and I’m trying to cut down on the workload,” Yusuke's replied.

The quietness of the apartment snuck up on Kuwabara. “Where is everybody?”

Yusuke spoke around a mouth full of food, “Keiko left for work, I’m here and you’re on the couch, everybody is accounted for.”

“I meant Aino and Kino, where are they?”

“I don’t know, they left before Keiko did and that was almost two hours ago.”

“And they didn’t even say good-bye to me?! Why didn’t they wake me up?”

“They tried to, but waking you up is like trying to raise the dead. They were yelling so loud that they woke up Keiko and me. I finally had to tell them to shut up. Who knows how long they would have kept trying if I hadn’t stopped them.”

“I wished they had stuck around a little longer.”

“Don’t cry,” Yusuke half comforted, half teased, “they left you a note. They also bought you some Danishes, but I ate most of them.” He passed the taller man a piece of paper stained with blue and red smudges. “Here you go.”

Kuwabara snatched the note away from his friend. He blinked away the final traces of sleep from his eyes and read it.

Hey Sleepyhead,

Thank you for letting us spend the night. We’re off to find a hotel now. We’ll give you a call once we’re settled. Urameshi didn’t want to give us your phone number, but Yukimura was nice enough to. We bought you some breakfast; we didn’t know which kind you liked so we bought a variety.

Kino & Aino

Kuwabara laughed at the short message. It was obvious where ‘I’ had been scratched out and replaced with ‘we’. He was rereading the note when the telephone rang. “Hello?”

“Is this Kuwabara?”

He recognized the lilting voice on the other end as Minako’s. “I was just thinking about you.”

“I’ve always had good timing,” she joked.

“Did you find a hotel yet?”

“We did. It’s pretty nice too. You’ll have to come visit us here.”

“I would like that…after all you two are my fiancées.” The only thing Kuwabara heard was an unnerving silence. “Are you still there?”

“…I’m here.”

“How would you and Kino like to spend the afternoon with me?”

Hushed whispering filtered over the phone. He assumed that the two girls where discussing it.

“We would like that.”

“I’ll meet you two at 1pm. We can go to lunch then I can show you around town some.”

“That sounds really nice.”

“It’s great!” he heard Makoto yell in the background.

Kuwabara chuckled softly. “I’ll see you then.”

He hung up the phone and sat down heavily on the couch. Yusuke who had heard the entire conversation asked, “Are you really serious about marrying them?”

“A marriage proposal is a promise and I don’t break my word, no matter what.”

The detective shrugged his shoulders then plopped down next to his friend. “Two pretty fiancées that bring you breakfast, some guys have all the luck.”

Kuwabara reached into the white bakery bag on the table and pulled out the last pastry. “Yeah, some luck,” he stated glumly before biting into it.