Old Promises and New Beginnings

Old Promises and New Beginnings
Chapter Four: Rivals


Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, SM or any of the characters involved in this story.

Thanks again Willow.


‘…’= Kurama's thoughts
{…}= Youko’s thoughts

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As promised Kuwabara arrived at Minako and Makoto’s hotel at 1pm, actually, he was there at 12:45pm, but it didn’t matter, because the girls were already outside waiting for him. He was struck by how beautiful they both were. Makoto had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing a tight-fitting white tee-shirt, a pair of dark green cotton pants and sneakers. Minako’s long blonde hair was worn loose and she was dressed in a pink cami-shirt, khaki shorts and a pair of pink flip-flops. He was glad he was also dressed casually in a blue tee-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

The girls broke into huge smiles when they saw him step out of the taxi. He waved at the pair as he walked over to them. “You two look great.”

Makoto told him, “Thanks, so do you.” She was surprised to see the cab driving away. “Where’s the taxi going?”

“We’re going to walk. It’ll be more fun to show you around that way.”

They began walking down the street. Kuwabara addressed the two lovely ladies at his right and left sides. “What would you two like to do today?”

“As long as we’re together anything will be fun,” Makoto said as she looped her arm through Kuwabara's arm.

Minako saw what happened and did the same. “I don’t care either.”

Kuwabara found himself laughing at the girls’ indecisiveness. “How about I take you to the movies?”

Minako frowned. “That’s boring.”

Makoto added, “We could have stayed in Tokyo and gone to the movies.”

Kuwabara asked them, “Then what do you want to do?”

The tall brunette thought hard for a moment and was struck with sudden inspiration. “How about you introduce us to Yukina?”

Minako hissed, “Have you lost your mind Makoto?! We don’t want to meet her!” The blonde looked behind Kuwabara's and whispered fiercely, “She’s the enemy!”

Makoto also began whispering behind Kuwabara's back. “That’s why we should meet her. We need to learn all we can about her.”

The blonde was still confused and asked, “But why?”

“So we can make sure that they never get together and then we’ll each have a fifty-fifty chance of having Kuwabara.”

“That’s doesn’t sound like a good plan. It sounds like you just came up with it.”

Makoto grinned broadly. “That’s because I did.”

Kuwabara looked over his shoulder and told the girls, “Just so you know, I can hear you talking.”

Makoto told him, “Then you know we want to meet Yukina.”

Minako tugged on the boy’s arm. “Hurry up and take us to where she is.”

There was no way Kuwabara could refuse them. “Okay we’ll go, but first let’s have lunch. There’s a really good restaurant nearby.”


~*~*~*~* ~*~


Minako groaned in pain. Both of her legs felt like lead weights. She stopped in her tracks, doubling over with her hands on her knees. “If I had known we’d be walking this much I would have gone to the movies instead.”

Kuwabara looked back and gave the girl a comforting smile. “We’re almost there. There’s only one more set of stairs to go.”

That wasn’t good enough for the blonde. She was sure if she took one more step it would definitely be her last. She looked ahead of her. Makoto and Kuwabara appeared to be at ease as they took step after step. Her gaze lingered on the carrot-top, especially his shoulders, his broad, muscular shoulders. “Kuwabara you’re big and strong, how about you carry me the rest of the way.”

When Makoto saw that the young man was actually considering it she stepped between him and her friend. She told the blonde, “He said we’re almost there so tough it out.”

“You’re no fun,” Minako pouted.

The brunette ignored the other girl and chose to address Kuwabara instead, “You want to race to the top?”

“What about Minako?”

“While we race she’ll have a chance to catch her breath.” Makoto prepared herself to take off. “Come on, we’ll go on the count of three. One. Two. Three!”

The pair raced up the last set of stairs. In the beginning they each took two steps at time, but when they saw that they were evenly matched they began taking three. They were about ten steps away from the top when it became clear there would be no apparent winner unless one of them acted quickly. When Makoto placed her foot down again she pushed off with all her might, launching herself into the air. She tucked her body into a ball and rolled through the air. She landed at the top of the stairs in a crouch. She turned around and faced an amazed Kuwabara.

“How did you do that?”

The tall brunette flashed a victory sign. “That’s just a little something I picked up.”

“I’ve never seen anybody do that before. “Well I have, but they were all special people.”

“Then I guess that must mean I’m special too.”

Minako trudge her way up the last of the steps. She glared at Makoto and grumbled, “Showoff.” The blonde peaked around Kuwabara's solid frame. “There’s somebody waving at you.”

Makoto was quick to look also. In the distance she saw a tall slender figure with flowing red hair waving in the distance. While the object of her affection trotted over to the person, Minako and she hung back to discuss this new development.

Minako asked, “Do you think that’s Yukina?”

“I’m not to sure, but from this distance she looks a little too manly to be a she, if you know what I mean.”

“So that’s a guy?”

“It must be, look how flat that chest is.”

“The long hair is a little deceiving.”

“That’s why I don’t date guys with hair longer than me.” Makoto hushed her friend. “Quiet they’re coming back.”

Kuwabara smiled at his fiancées. “Kino, Aino, this is my friend Kur- I mean Shuuichi.”

Kurama stepped forward and flashed his most charming smile. “Both of you are even lovelier than Kuwabara led me to believe. I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. I wish I had a beautiful fiancée too.” He teased, “Would one of you would consider marrying me?”

Minako latched onto Kuwabara's left arm. “Forget it pal, I’m spoken for.”

Makoto linked arms with the carrot-top’s right one. “The same goes for me.”

The fox began to walk away. “I know where I’m not wanted. I’ll see you later Kazuma.” He eyed the two girls flanking his friend’s sides; particularly the leggy brunette. “Hopefully I’ll see more of you two also.” He gave them a wink then said a final good-bye.

“That guy has no shame.” Makoto looked over her shoulder to make sure the bold young man was leaving for good. “He needs to learn how to take no for an answer. If we said we’re not interested then we’re not interested.”

Kuwabara found himself laughing at the girl’s temper. “Come on Yukina’s quarters are this way.”

Kurama paused at the steps and watched the happy trio walk away. He was entranced by the confidence that Makoto exuded, that and the way her hips swayed. She may be betrothed to his friend, but that didn’t stop the fox from briefly fantasizing about her.

{I like the blonde one. She smells sweet.}

‘Sweet? What does that mean exactly?’

{That I wouldn’t mind tasting her.}

‘Again I ask, what does that mean?’

{It means I want her.}

‘You don’t have a chance in hell with her. Besides, I think the brunette is far more attractive.’

{She’s all right I suppose.}

‘Only all right?’

{She’ll do in a pinch.}

‘You’re terrible.’

{No I’m horny. You may like living as a monk, but I do not.}

‘A month without a woman is not living like a monk.’

{It is for me.}

‘It doesn’t matter, because they both want Kazuma.’

{They do for the moment, but women can be fickle creatures.}

‘There you go being mysterious again.’

Kurama took one last look at the brunette. He smiled as he thought about Youko’s words. If there was a chance he could catch Makoto’s interest he wasn’t above taking it. He was sure that Kuwabara wouldn’t mind, after all he had another fiancée.


~*~*~*~*~*~


“You guys wait here and I’ll see if she’s busy.”

The two girls waited outside for Kuwabara to return. “Did you see that?” the taller one asked.

Minako nodded her head slowly. “I did.”

“He went in without knocking. They must be very close.”

“Very close indeed,” the blonde agreed sadly.

Makoto refused to let it get her down, “But there’s still hope! That weird girl with the blue hair said they’re only friends. We can still make him fall for one of us.”

Minako looked over at her friend. She hated to burst her bubble, but it had to be done. “Which one of us will that be?”

“Let’s not worry about that right now. For now we’ll stick to the plan and concentrate on making sure him and Yukina stay apart.”

The front door opened. Kuwabara came out and told them, “Yukina said that it’s okay.”

Upon entering the small house Minako caught a chill. “It’s freezing in here! She must really like the AC.”

Kuwabara chuckled nervously. “Something like that.” He led the way towards the sitting room where Yukina was waiting. He instantly broke into a big grin simply at the sight of her. She looked lovely dressed in a red sundress. For moment he forgot that he had two more girls standing behind him. He would have certainly forgotten them if Makoto hadn’t cleared her throat. He motioned to the girls. “Yukina I’d like to introduce Kino and Aino.”

Yukina smiled cheerfully at her guests. “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you like some tea?”

Minako shook her head no. “That’s ok; we don’t want to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble at all. I’ll be right back.” She motioned to a low table and invited them to seat themselves. Each of her visitors picked a spot to kneel at. Once they were settled she disappeared behind a sliding door. Her guests could hear the noise she made as she prepared the tea.

“She seems nice…” The blonde jumped as she felt a sharp poke to her ribs. She looked at Makoto and saw the girl mouthing, ‘She’s the enemy.’ She quickly mended her statement, “I guess she seems nice, but you never know.”

Kuwabara, missing the backhanded insult, quickly agreed with the girl. “She’s the nicest girl I know. She’s sweet, pretty, patient…”

Kuwabara’s two fiancées grimaced as he listed Yukina’s other attributes. He didn’t stop his prattling until the ice maiden remerged carrying a tray with a white tea kettle decorated with pink blossoms surrounded by four matching cups. She radiated kindness and sincerity as she said, “I hope you like it.”

Minako barely listened as the others carried on a conversation while drinking their tea. She only half heard the questions that Makoto was firing at Yukina. She was too busy quietly observing her and Kuwabara. When they addressed one another they were full of smiles and kind words. It was obvious that they were both good friends, but beyond that she couldn’t sense much more. As she watched Kuwabara she was surprised to see that he too had a red ribbon on his left index finger. But what really surprised her was the intensity with which it was glowing, that and the string that hung from the small bow and where the string led to. It led directly to Yukina. The funny thing about it was that it wasn’t attached to her in any way. The red string only rested next to her foot, inches away from making an actual connection. Her gaze fell upon her own laced finger. Her string led towards Kuwabara, but it also fell short of bonding with him. She felt for certain the unconnected strings were both a blessing and a burden.

“Is the tea not to your liking Ms. Aino?” Yukina questioned in a concerned voice.

Minako quickly regained her composure. “Yes, it’s perfect.” Her eyes took a quick survey of the room. Everything was in its place and the room was really tidy. Even the owner of the home was perfect. Yukina was polite, caring and pretty. The blonde mumbled, “Everything is perfect,” then took a sip of her now tepid tea. She willed herself to take an interest in the conversation, but she was just too distracted by her red ribbon.

‘I can see the red strands of love that bind people. I know when everyone is in love, everyone except for me. Do I really love Kuwabara? How can I love him when I only met him once? Does he love me? Could he love me?’

Her mind swirled with unanswerable questions. What? How? Why? And if so, when?

‘Kuwabara, what does he mean to Yukina? She doesn’t have any strings that connect her to him. I can tell she cares for him, but it doesn’t seem like she really loves him. What does it all mean?’

The girl’s thoughts continued to race and they would have continued racing had she not heard, “Minako!”

“What?!” the young blonde asked with annoyance.

“Why are you so spacey?” Makoto didn’t give her friend time to answer. “I’ve been trying to tell you we’re leaving.”

“Oh.” Minako gave her best smile, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go. Kuwabara you still have a lot to show us.”

Kuwabara chuckled at the girl’s enthusiasm. “We have plenty of time to see the sites. There’s no sense in trying to do it all at one time.” He stood up and held his hands out to his fiancées. Each girl took one of his strong hands and rose to their feet.

The engaged trio were saying their good-byes to their hostess when a light knocking sounded at the front door. Yukina walked to the door and when she opened it a spiky-haired fellow with red eyes was on the other side. The ice maiden greeted him cheerfully, “Hello Hiei.” She led him back to the sitting room where her other guests were.

Makoto nudged Kuwabara’s side and asked, “Who is that?”

The new arrival introduced his self. “I am Hiei. Who are you?”

The brunette was surprised that a little guy like him had such a deep voice. Of course she was bold enough to actually voice this. Kuwabara tried to cover up the insult by introducing his company. “Hiei, these are my friends: Aino and Kino, they’re visiting me from Tokyo.”

“If they’re visiting you why are they here?”

“Because I’m introducing them to my friends, which Yukina just so happens to be.” The carrot-top added grudgingly, “I guess you qualify as that too.”

“Lucky me.” Hiei next addressed the two girls. “So you’re friends of Kuwabara, you must be very understanding to put up with him.”

Minako told him, “Technically, we’re more than just friends. We’re engaged.”

In all the time that Kuwabara had known Hiei, he had never heard him laugh. He had heard him snicker, scoff and growl, but never actually laugh. That was until now. “What’s so funny shrimp?”

“I never thought you would find a female desperate enough to marry you, let alone two. What are they, blind?”

“I wish I was then I wouldn’t have to look at you,” Makoto grumbled.

Hiei frowned at the brunette. “I heard that.”

“Like I care.”

Kuwabara stepped forward and intervened. He knew how Hiei would react and didn’t want to expose Makoto to the demon’s temper. He blocked her from his friend’s line of sight. “We were just leaving.” He placed a hand on each of the girl’s shoulders and guided them out of the room. He gave one final look back at Yukina. “It was good to see you again.”

“I always enjoy your visits Kazuma. You must bring your fiancées back again.”

The carrot-top took on a worried expression. “Are you mad at me?”

The ice maiden was clearly confused. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because I proposed to another girl,” he caught his blunder and said, “Because I proposed to two other girls.”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m very happy for you.”

Kuwabara sighed dejectedly. He didn’t have time to talk about the situation as much as he wanted to. “I have to go, they’re waiting for me.” He left Yukina’s house and found Makoto and Minako already outside. He forgot about the ice maiden’s response the minute he saw the two girls. At least they showed an interest in him and wanted to be with him and that wasn’t too bad.

“Hiei seems-” Minako began.

“Like a jerk,” Makoto quickly finished.

Kuwabara laughed loudly. “You pretty much summed him up.”

Makoto remembered how Hiei had acted when he first met them. “He seemed really interested in Yukina. Is there something going on between them?”

“No, no, no, it’s nothing like that!” Kuwabara went on to explained, “Hiei and Yukina are brother and sister.”

“I don’t believe it!” Minako was shocked, “They don’t look alike and their personalities are so different, they’re total opposites.”

“Believe me it’s true. You just can’t say that you know they’re related.”

“Why not?” Makoto questioned.

“It’s a secret.”

The brunette wasn’t satisfied with that justification. “Then how come you know?”

“It’s the kind of secret that everyone knows, but doesn’t talk about. Yukina, Yusuke, Keiko, Shuuichi and I all know, but Hiei is sensitive about it so we don’t mention it.”

Makoto said, “So besides being a jerk, he also has family issues.”

“Hiei is a complicated…” Kuwabara barely managed to stop himself from saying ‘demon.’ “Hiei is a complicated person, but he does have his good moments.”

Minako asked, “Why are we talking about him? We should be talking about where we’re going next.”

Kuwabara suggested, “We could always go to the movies.”

Minako looked down at the numerous steps she would soon be descending. “Air conditioning, cushy seats and popcorn, sounds good to me.”

The tall carrot-top smiled at his fiancées. “Then it’s a double date. Let’s go ladies.”


~*~*~*~*~*


After the movie they went to dinner. Then after that they took a stroll through the park and stopped for ice cream. All three of them took a cab back to the hotel. When they arrived at the hotel the two girls invited Kuwabara in, but he declined, because he had to go to work the next morning. He bid the two of them good night then closed the cab door and left. When Minako and Makoto got back to their hotel room it was a little after nine, Artemis greeted them and was full of questions. While Makoto was in the bathroom preparing for bed Minako filled the guardian cat in on the day. The girls settled down in their beds for the night. Artemis was curled up at the end of the bed, sleeping soundly next to Minako’s feet.

“Are you asleep yet Mina?”

“Not yet, what’s up?”

Makoto asked, “Is it just me or did Hiei and Yukina seem a little different?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like they weren’t human.”

Minako rolled over on her side to face Makoto in the dark. “Now that you mentioned I was getting a weird vibe from them.” She shuddered as if a cold finger was tracing her spine. “This whole town feels weird.”

“I know what you mean. The minute I got off the train I knew something was up. I just don’t know what it is.”

Minako agreed, “I get the feeling that there is more than meets the eye.”

“There’s a weird energy in the air. It’s not really evil, but it’s pretty close to it.”

“Do you think Kuwabara knows anything about it?”

Makoto exclaimed, “No way!”

The two girls quieted for awhile and the only thing that could be heard was Artemis’s soft snoring. “Minako.”

“Yes?”

“Today was fun, but I think it would be a good idea if we went on single dates with Kuwabara from now on.” Makoto waited for an answer. When she didn’t get one she became a little worried. “Is that okay with you?”

Minako was relieved that the lights were off so her friend couldn’t see her smiling. “I think that’s a good idea. Who gets to go out with him first?”

“We’ll worry about that tomorrow. We can flip a coin or something.”

“Good idea.” The blonde yawned loudly. It felt like tiny weights were hanging from her eyelids they were so heavy, she was just about to drift off when her friend began talking again.

“Minako you’re my friend and I love you, but I hope I get to go out with Kuwabara first.”

Minako was now glad that the darkness hid the determined look on her face. If she wanted to figure out her feelings for Kuwabara she would have to spend some alone time with him. “So do I.”

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cillaxox: It’s kind of hard to write Minako’s personality. I think normally she would be very flirtatious, but right now she’s having a lot of mixed emotions about Kuwabara. I’m trying to find some middle ground in between and not have her too flirtatious or too reserved. What I just wrote may seem like it contradicts the part in the story where Minako asked Kuwabara to carry her. I don’t think it does, because when you’re really tired and don’t walk anymore chances are you would say something crazy like that. At least that’s what I do, but that’s another story. My point is: Once she’s comfortable she’ll loosen up more, which will be sooner rather than later since individual dates will begin shortly.

I really like Makoto (she’s my favorite) so I have more fun writing her. I want to make her bold and confident, because that’s how she comes across a lot of times. I know during the series she always, became nervous around a really cute guy, but I think that’s something she would outgrow as she became older. But then again that’s just my opinion.

As for Kurama, I hope I didn’t make him come off as being a jerk, because he’s not supposed to be. I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot, but he’s not going to try tricking her or anything else like that.

And about Youko, I don’t know whether he talks to Shuuichi or whether he’s dormant and I don’t particularly care, because in this story he will a bit vocal. Call it writer’s choice or whatever, but that’s the way it will be. Hopefully no one will be confused or think that I’m totally screwing his character up.

The part about the 'weird energy in the air' comes from the end of the series where they said that barrier separating the human and demon worlds was taken down. I just wanted to throw that bit in; it'll probably come up again in later chapters.