Torn In Two

A/N: I have not decided on a pairing yet but will be either Kagome/Hiei or Kagome/Yusuke. Another pairing will be Keiko/Yomi. Any reviews are welcome, and any tips, this is my first attempt at fanfiction.


*Prologue*


“Yusuke, you’ve only been back for a week. Can’t you at least spend some time with me?” asked Keiko.


Yusuke sat on his couch holding the phone away from his ear. She had already yelled for over an hour. He knew what he had to do. He had been gone for three years and in that time he had changed. He had also done a lot of thinking. He was a demon and Keiko was human. What kind of life could they possibly have? Plus, in those three years he really didn’t think about Keiko like that. ‘Yeah, I told her that I loved her and that we could get married when I returned. But it would be like marrying my mother. Someone who wants to always tell me what I should do. I don’t want that.’ He knew he had to tell her. “Ok. I’ll meet you at the café in an hour.”


“I guess that will have to do. I love you Yusuke.”


“Yep.” was all he said as he hung up the phone. He was heading to take a shower when a knock came at the door. He opened the door to see Kurama and Hiei standing there. “Hey guys. What’s up?” he motioned for them to come inside. Kurama took a seat on the couch and Hiei was his usual self and remained standing.


“Yusuke, something is happening. We don’t know all the details so Koenma will be here any minute to explain.” Kurama said. In truth they didn’t know much. He’d been enjoying a luncheon with his human mother when Botan had decided to appear and let him know his attendance was required. It had to be important if the toddler would send for them so quickly after returning.


“Hn.” was all that came from Hiei. He wasn’t pleased about the summons. So much for the nap he’d been about to have. He’d found the perfect tree in which to rest. This better be important enough to drag his ass all the way back to the Ningenkai. That pathetic cryptic message didn’t explain a damn thing. Koenma best explain himself or there would be hell to pay. With a popping sound, Koenma appeared next to Kurama on the couch. A dramatic entrance as always.


“Alright guys. Let’s get down to business. First thing you must know is that you three are the only ones who will be working on this assignment. Kuwabara can not help with this one.” Koenma was pleased that all three had come without much persuasion. Time was of the essence in this instance. He couldn’t afford to waste time on convincing them to help. Though it might take a few extra minutes to get Hiei to agree.


“That’s alright. He and Yukina are moving into their new apartment anyway.” Yusuke replied and glanced over at Hiei. He saw the fire in the crimson eyes. Hiei wasn’t fond of his sister being with the big headed fool but he knew that Kuwabara wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Their old teammate wasn’t that bright in most cases but he loved Yukina and they were happy together. Something he couldn’t say for himself.


“Second, you will be heading to the demon world and I don’t know how long it will take. It could take years to get this mission complete.” Koenma informed them of the possible length first. No need to go into the details if the time frame wouldn’t suit with any of them. If one of them wasn’t willing to invest the time then best to know from the start. He didn’t want to hash out the information for no reason. He knew that Yusuke had just come back to Keiko and had plans to get married. Kurama might not want to leave his human family for that long and Hiei just might not want to waste his time.


Yusuke looked down at his hands contemplating what Koenma had just said. He hadn’t gone into details yet but the mission would take some time. Which meant Keiko would have to be waiting on him again and he’d just gotten back. He could tell Keonma that he wouldn’t do it but he knew he’d want to. He’d always enjoyed working for the toddler even if he often complained about the mission. It had given his life a certain purpose. She wouldn’t wait for him, he knew this. What was sad he really didn’t want her to. ‘Shit. I’m going to have to tell Kieko to move on. She isn’t going to like this.’


“As you know, Enki won the tournament and was declared ruler of the demon world. Well, some of the demons are rebelling. They are trying to assassinate him and take over. It is up to you three to put an end to that. You will join up with Yomi on the other side. Meet me in my office in three hours. That should give you, Kurama and Yusuke, time to settle things here before you leave.” Koenma gave them the gist of things. They’d get the specifics later when they met up with the former king. Right now he had a few things yet to do. His father had been outraged of the idea of a tournament to decide who controls the demon world. Once Enki had one and declared no mischief in the human world Enma had been pleased. Now Enma wanted to stop this attempt to show that Enki had the backing of the Reikai as well. With all that said he disappeared.


“Why would demons attack Enki? He won the tournament fair and square.” Yusuke asked in a hushed tone. He should have known things were too good to be true. Figures, the demons had a leader and still there were those that wanted to fuck with the order of things. He was now demon but he did have a sense of dignity and honor. Hell even Hiei had his own honor code.


“ I don’t know but if they are foolish enough to attack him then they are brave enough to invade the human world if they succeed. I need to go say goodbye to my mother. See you in three hours.” He had to go. To stop things now before the fight erupted into the human world. His family was here, he had to do what he could for their sake. Plus, it had to be bad if Yomi was interfering. Yomi was cold in most cases but the man did hold a fondness for the Makai. The former thief had to be worried that this would somehow damage their very existence. Kurama got up and headed for the door. As soon as he opened it all they saw was a blur and noticed that Hiei had left.


“Later man,” Yusuke looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that he had ten minutes to be at the café. Hell it took him at least twenty minutes to get there. Either way he was going to be late now, might as well go after he’d had his shower. She’d be pissed but he’d show up smelling nice. He got ready and left the house twenty minutes later.


Kieko was sitting at a table tapping her fingers on a plate when Yusuke came to sit down. While walking there he thought of everything that he was going to say to her. He just hoped that none of it came out wrong. Hell who was he kidding, it would come out wrong and he’d get his ass kicked in the process. He wasn’t good at this shit. He’d never dumped a girl before.


“ You’re late. Leave it to you to keep me waiting. Why do I even bother?” Kieko looked at the damp hair and hastily thrown on clothes. Couldn’t he have waited to take a shower? He had plenty of time before hand to do so. She should really be angry at the treatment. Once or twice wouldn’t be a bad thing but this was Yusuke. He never showed up for anything on time, not since they were kids. She wasn’t wanting to be a prude about it but just once she wanted to feel as if she mattered.


“You’re right.” he replied. She shouldn’t bother with him. It’d be one thing if they were meant to be together. Or if they were in love with each other. Could he have gone years without seeing her if he were in love? He didn’t think so. Raizen had died loving a woman so much. Giving up his way of life, of survival, due to love for a woman. Yet, Yusuke realized he didn’t feel that kind of love for Keiko. He hadn’t thought twice about leaving the first time around and he was ready to do it again.


“Huh?” What was he talking about? Of course she’d bother, she loved him. Keiko shifted in her seat getting a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a feeling things were about to take a drastic turn. Yusuke had that serious look on his face again. She almost dreaded that one look. Was he about to try and make her feel guilty or apologize for being late?


“Kieko we need to talk. While I was gone I’ve done a lot of thinking. We have been best friends for so long. And I know that before I left I said we could get married when I returned. But the truth is, it would be hard to have the perfect life if you are married to a demon. You’ll age different than I will. I can’t sit by and watch the ones I care for get old and leave me. Plus, being who I am, Koenma will have lots for me to do. I will constantly be going away and for who knows how long. I can’t do that to you Kieko. You deserve better.” That sounded good. He hoped that she would buy it so he wouldn’t have to confess that he wasn’t in love with her.


She got up and moved from across the table to sit next to him. She placed her hand on his cheek. “Yusuke, I don’t care about any of that. I don’t want a perfect life. I know that you will be doing your assignments and I don’t care. You do all that to keep everybody safe so I don’t mind. And as far as the aging thing, if I grow old at least I will be with you. Then when I die, I can die happy.”


‘Shit! She isn’t making this easy. Plan A is definitely a loser. Ok, ok. Time to go to Plan B. I know I’m going to get slapped.’ He grabbed her hand off of his cheek and held it in his. “Kieko, I know it doesn’t sound that bad, but the truth is.....I.....I don’t love you. Not in the way that I should. It’ll never work between us.”


She pulled her hand free of his grip. He couldn’t be doing this to her! Not when she’d waited so long on the belief they meant something to each other. Years wasted on that one promise of trying to have a life together. She’d waited for him like he’d asked and this is how he repays her. “What? But you said that you did. You said that we would get married.” The tears stung her eyes, forming a large lump in her throat.


“Kieko please. Try to understand what I am saying. I do love you. Just not in the way for us to live together as a married couple. I’m not in love with you but I do care about you. And I know that once I’m gone you will realize that you are better off without me.” Yusuke prayed that she did realize this. He didn’t want to lose her friendship, her support. It was hard enough to end what could have been a more in depth relationship.


“Gone. You’re leaving?” Keiko was stunned to hear that he was leaving so soon after returning. He hadn’t had time to enjoy a break. Why would he be leaving again so soon? Was it to get away from her? Or had he in truth met someone else while away and was scared to tell her? Kuwabara had said that Enma didn’t like Yusuke and so Yusuke wouldn’t be working for them anymore. Had something changed that?


“Yeah, in two hours. I don’t know how long I will be gone either. That is why I am telling you to move on with your life.” He had no right to ask her to wait again. Not when her time was limited due to being a human while he had centuries to go before he even began to age. It wasn’t fair to her. She deserved to be happy and he knew she would never find it with him. Things had to end now before it was too late to repair what friendship they could still maintain.


Kieko sat there for a minute, tears steaming down her face. Yusuke reached up to touch her face and she slapped his hand away. She didn’t want to listen to him. He should have been honest from the beginning. “Don’t touch me. I waited for you! I waited all that time for you to come back only to have you tell me to move on with my life. Then you try to give me some bullshit excuses instead of being a man. You should have just admitted that you’ve been wasting my time. Instead of throwing lies at me. You should have figured out how you felt before making false promises. You may not love me, well that’s a good damn thing because right about now what I’m feeling for you is far from it.” She stood up and grabbed her glass of ice water. Yusuke jumped when she poured it on his head. Then she turned and ran out of the café.


He grabbed a napkin off the table and wiped his face. “Well that went well,” he said to himself. He got up and headed for the door. That could have gone better, now Keiko was beyond pissed at him. Her anger he could handle but her hating him hurt. As he was walked out he bumped his shoulder into someone. His breath came in a quick gasp by the impact of her aura. He turned to look at her but all he could see was her back. Long raven wavy hair swayed as the girl continued on her way. He decided to ignore it and continue home. He needed to pack his clothes and head to Koenma’s office. He just hoped that Kieko would forgive him by the time he got back.

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