Rude Awakenings part 1/?
Jan. 21st, 2007 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
onemuseleftTitle: Rude Awakenings
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Warnings: None so far. Minor spoilers for the end of the series, I suppose.
Prologue can be found here.
When Kuwabara woke up again he was in his own bedroom, but it took him a minute to realize it with his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He dragged in a few deep breaths, as deep as he could with his face buried in the pillow and tried to settle the nausea in his stomach.
He was cold – more than could be explained by the chilly temperature in the room – and he felt sluggish and disconnected. He licked his lips and rolled onto his back, cracking his eyes to stare at the ceiling. His reiki was gone.
That wasn't completely inexplicable. A big fight or a near-fatal injury could drain his spiritual energy. Of course, he didn't remember either of those things happening recently which made things a little more suspicious.
A quick scan of the room showed that it was the same as always; bed in the corner, Nascar poster on the wall, junk everywhere else. He rubbed a hand over his face and grimaced at the taste in his mouth. The sheets were damp and he kicked them off, shivering a little as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed. The carpet beneath his feet was a reassuring contrast to the memory of cold stone and he wriggled his toes as he padded across the carpet, snagging his robe off the back of the door as he went.
The hall clock told him it was still too early to be awake on a weekend – especially a weekend during spring vacation when he was supposed to be relaxing. Kuwabara made a face at the clock and wondered why crazy demon stuff could never happen during geometry.
Shizuru's door was open and her room was empty. Kuwabara found her in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a cigarette burned down to ash in one hand.
"Morning, sis," he greeted her. "Out of curiosity, did I almost die last night and totally forget about it?"
"It wouldn't surprise me at all," she told him. She stared at the cigarette and flicked it across the table, into the sink. "Something dangerous was out last night."
Biting his tongue was the only way he could keep himself from making a snide comment about her nighttime habits. It was never wise to pick on Shizuru when she had neither caffeine nor nicotine in her blood. "Coffee?"
She gestured toward the counter where the coffee maker was dark and empty.
"Thanks," he said.
"I'm not your mother," she retorted. "Make it yourself."
"What's this dangerous thing you're talking about?" he asked. He caught himself trying to scan the area for demonic energy and cursed under his breath. Without reiki, he was painfully unaware of his surroundings. His sixth sense would give him a slight edge, but not much of one. Especially since he couldn't control it.
"I don't know," Shizuru said. "Why do you think you nearly died last night?"
He decided the coffee was too much effort to go to – adrenaline had already gotten him awake that morning anyway. "No spiritual energy," he said. "Last night, everything's fine – assuming last night was, in fact, Saturday?"
She nodded.
Unease slid through his shoulders, making him tense. "I had a weird dream, too," he said slowly. "But I don't know how it could be connected."
"A premonition?" Shizuru asked. She didn't have premonitions, not the way he did. Shizuru just knew things. If the world was going to end, Shizuru would look up from her coffee knowing the date and time and probably the location. It was like her mind was a computer and someone had just uploaded the information. It was all facts and numbers for her.
Kuwabara had premonitions. Dreams that felt more like memories. He'd see what was happening, live through encounters or conversations that hadn't happened yet. The problem with that was it was damned hard to make sense of things out of context.
Like the dream he'd had last night. It could mean anything, and while it certainly seemed to indicate there was some badness looming in his future, he had no way of knowing what or when.
"Yeah, I think so," he finally said. "It seemed like more than a dream."
She had gotten another cigarette from somewhere – Kuwabara hadn't seen her reach for it, but it wouldn't surprise him at all if she'd pulled it out of thin air – and was flipping it over her fingers. "I think something very bad has happened, Kazu."
"I think you're right." Kuwabara tapped his fingers on the table. "Can I have a cigarette?"
"Get your own."
"The world could be ending and you're denying your own brother a cigarette?"
"Yes." She flipped the cigarette over her fingers and it vanished from sight.
He quirked an eyebrow. "Sleight of hand, sis?"
"New super-power," she countered.
"Teaching yourself magic tricks off the internet," he shot back. "So what now?"
Shizuru shrugged. "The usual, I suppose. I do my thing, you do yours."
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the tension in his shoulders. "I don't suppose you'd consider trading off this time? I'll stay at home and make snide commentary to Keiko and Yukina, and you can go try to wrangle Urameshi into a feasible game plan. Yeah?"
His sister laughed and reached across the table to ruffle his hair. "No," she said. "Get dressed. The whole world's falling apart and doesn't know it yet."
"Yeah," Kuwabara sighed. "I'll definitely want to have my pants on for this."
****
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Warnings: None so far. Minor spoilers for the end of the series, I suppose.
Prologue can be found here.
When Kuwabara woke up again he was in his own bedroom, but it took him a minute to realize it with his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He dragged in a few deep breaths, as deep as he could with his face buried in the pillow and tried to settle the nausea in his stomach.
He was cold – more than could be explained by the chilly temperature in the room – and he felt sluggish and disconnected. He licked his lips and rolled onto his back, cracking his eyes to stare at the ceiling. His reiki was gone.
That wasn't completely inexplicable. A big fight or a near-fatal injury could drain his spiritual energy. Of course, he didn't remember either of those things happening recently which made things a little more suspicious.
A quick scan of the room showed that it was the same as always; bed in the corner, Nascar poster on the wall, junk everywhere else. He rubbed a hand over his face and grimaced at the taste in his mouth. The sheets were damp and he kicked them off, shivering a little as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed. The carpet beneath his feet was a reassuring contrast to the memory of cold stone and he wriggled his toes as he padded across the carpet, snagging his robe off the back of the door as he went.
The hall clock told him it was still too early to be awake on a weekend – especially a weekend during spring vacation when he was supposed to be relaxing. Kuwabara made a face at the clock and wondered why crazy demon stuff could never happen during geometry.
Shizuru's door was open and her room was empty. Kuwabara found her in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a cigarette burned down to ash in one hand.
"Morning, sis," he greeted her. "Out of curiosity, did I almost die last night and totally forget about it?"
"It wouldn't surprise me at all," she told him. She stared at the cigarette and flicked it across the table, into the sink. "Something dangerous was out last night."
Biting his tongue was the only way he could keep himself from making a snide comment about her nighttime habits. It was never wise to pick on Shizuru when she had neither caffeine nor nicotine in her blood. "Coffee?"
She gestured toward the counter where the coffee maker was dark and empty.
"Thanks," he said.
"I'm not your mother," she retorted. "Make it yourself."
"What's this dangerous thing you're talking about?" he asked. He caught himself trying to scan the area for demonic energy and cursed under his breath. Without reiki, he was painfully unaware of his surroundings. His sixth sense would give him a slight edge, but not much of one. Especially since he couldn't control it.
"I don't know," Shizuru said. "Why do you think you nearly died last night?"
He decided the coffee was too much effort to go to – adrenaline had already gotten him awake that morning anyway. "No spiritual energy," he said. "Last night, everything's fine – assuming last night was, in fact, Saturday?"
She nodded.
Unease slid through his shoulders, making him tense. "I had a weird dream, too," he said slowly. "But I don't know how it could be connected."
"A premonition?" Shizuru asked. She didn't have premonitions, not the way he did. Shizuru just knew things. If the world was going to end, Shizuru would look up from her coffee knowing the date and time and probably the location. It was like her mind was a computer and someone had just uploaded the information. It was all facts and numbers for her.
Kuwabara had premonitions. Dreams that felt more like memories. He'd see what was happening, live through encounters or conversations that hadn't happened yet. The problem with that was it was damned hard to make sense of things out of context.
Like the dream he'd had last night. It could mean anything, and while it certainly seemed to indicate there was some badness looming in his future, he had no way of knowing what or when.
"Yeah, I think so," he finally said. "It seemed like more than a dream."
She had gotten another cigarette from somewhere – Kuwabara hadn't seen her reach for it, but it wouldn't surprise him at all if she'd pulled it out of thin air – and was flipping it over her fingers. "I think something very bad has happened, Kazu."
"I think you're right." Kuwabara tapped his fingers on the table. "Can I have a cigarette?"
"Get your own."
"The world could be ending and you're denying your own brother a cigarette?"
"Yes." She flipped the cigarette over her fingers and it vanished from sight.
He quirked an eyebrow. "Sleight of hand, sis?"
"New super-power," she countered.
"Teaching yourself magic tricks off the internet," he shot back. "So what now?"
Shizuru shrugged. "The usual, I suppose. I do my thing, you do yours."
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the tension in his shoulders. "I don't suppose you'd consider trading off this time? I'll stay at home and make snide commentary to Keiko and Yukina, and you can go try to wrangle Urameshi into a feasible game plan. Yeah?"
His sister laughed and reached across the table to ruffle his hair. "No," she said. "Get dressed. The whole world's falling apart and doesn't know it yet."
"Yeah," Kuwabara sighed. "I'll definitely want to have my pants on for this."
****
