Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and all other related media are sole property of Togashi Yoshihiro, FUNimation Entertainment, VIZ media and all other parties with licensing right. I do not, nor will I ever, make money from these pathetic scribbles.

Heart to Heart

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Anamnesis

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One year ago, today.

It didn't really seem like that much time.

When she thought about it, she'd had to laugh; it was just like those singers said in the musical, Rent. She remembered going to see it as a foreign film with Kurama a few years ago. Of course, Yuusuke would never have come — she had asked him and he had said as much. Then, he had all but given his blessing for her to take Kurama, who, in his words, was the 'culturally-appreciative one,' instead. And so she had.

And now, in light of the day and despite what the passing of the year now behind her meant, she had to laugh again. Was it, like the song said, just a conglomeration of infinite moments? Could one really, truly measure it as no more than those five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes the song prattled about?

"I don't think it's that simple," she sighed, shaking her head at the notion. "I don't even think it could be," she added after a strained moment, reaffirming the thought when no answer came to the first of her sentiments.

Although it was mid-June the weather was unnaturally high for Tokyo standards. A look at the forecast this morning before she had wandered out confirmed a high of nearing twenty-five degrees, centigrade. With the rainy season in full swing and the high humidity that accompanied it, the heat was starting to border on stifling as midday wore on.

Though the air was thick she inhaled deeply, simply to appreciate the elastic stretch of her lungs and the feel of the hot air rushing through them. As she exhaled she tilted her head back, sending a spill of long-grown chestnut hair fluttering along her back as the stale breeze sifted through the heavy strands. The sun was hot on her face, almost uncomfortable, but she basked in it for a long moment, enjoying the warmth the rays washed over her skin.

Reveling in the fact that she could.

"How can I ever thank you for all you've given me?" she asked quietly, blinking the sun out of her eyes and starting to straighten herself up again. She gathered her hair up and ran it deftly through her fingers, fanning it over her shoulder again as she struggled with words to continue. "How can you know the beauty of a day like this — the sun hot on your face, the dry air crackling heavy in your lungs — before you know what it means to lose all of this? How can you know the significance of the sun's rise or set without knowing you might never rise to see another one?"

She stopped there for a moment, long enough to pull a small embroidered square of cloth from her pocket and dab at her damp eyes. Dry grass crunched underfoot as she began to walk then, a few deliberate steps, until she felt cool marble. She placed a steadying hand out to it, traced a finger over the smooth surface and wondered, "How can you know the road to happiness when you know nothing of the tragedy that was the journey?"

She sighed and shook her head, lowered herself to her knees, and stared at her demon head-on.

The smooth, glassy surface of the marble reflected the words back at her sharply with the suns rays bearing down on it, and at seeing the words for the first time — fine lines carved with a swift hand into the cool stone — she started to cry softly.

Urameshi Yuusuke
1987-2005
A Loving Son & Caring Friend
A Hero

The words, for the most part, weren't entirely true, she knew. Too often he had been abrasive and rude, belligerent and heedless of his mother. Too often he had been a hot-head and a sore loser, a foul-mouthed brat, around his friends. She knew this, but of course, none of it mattered now. These were the words chosen by all his loved ones to represent him for eternity; what harm could come from the kind words now, when they served as little more than a way for his loved ones to remember him as they chose? What did it matter that the words were mostly untrue, except for the last line?

Which, considering the faults in the line above, should make it a cruel overstatement. But of course, she knew otherwise. Because she had been the one to ask for the added inscription.

Because she knew, with every beat of her heart, that he was her Hero .

And she cried, knowing this, clutching her heart to her breast protectively as she curled into herself there before the sleek tombstone. She cried as she whispered, "Thank you..." And taking a moment to calm herself, curled there as she was, as the organ in her chest calmed itself out of the staccato her crying had coaxed it into, she added a quiet, "…for every beat of my heart."

Author's Ramblings: So, it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I'm still alive. RL just sort of got busy, and I got distracted and let the muse run away. Now though, however temporarily, she's returned, and so I give you this -- the pre-chapter to a plotbunny that's been hibernating for a loooooooong time. Can't say I'm as thrilled with this as I'd like - it's not as long, emotional, or subtle as I'd imagined it would be, but after so long out of the woodwork, I suppose that's just expected. Certain things that I felt could use some explaining to the readers are below, if you're interested. Otherwise, please leave your names at the door, honest opinions intact?

Blackrose

NOTES:

— RENT, the Musical, is the property of its respective owners — I only mention it because this pre-chapter, as it were, was inspired by the song "Seasons of Love" and if you know the song, I'm sure some of the dialogue will make some sense, contextually.

—I used Celsius because we are basically the only country that does not utilize the metric system and I figured to add a layer of authenticity to the story, because it takes place in Japan, I'd go by their standard of measurement. 25 degrees centigrade translates into roughly 77 degrees Fahrenheit, which is generally the hottest weather reported for typical June weather in Tokyo and its surrounding regions. Also, June is the month of the year associated with the 'rainy season,' hence why that's mentioned.

—The date I chose for Yuusuke's birth is based on the year that Funimation Entertainment received the license to publish/air the series in North America, which is the year 2001. Based on this, and knowing Yuusuke is 14 when we first meet him, I subtracted fourteen years from the air date and came up with 1987. The reason I chose the date I did, and not the original Japanese air-date was because that took place in the early 90s, and to subtract 14 years from any of those dates would put the story in a time-frame rather technologically and otherwise behind our current one (sometime in the 80s) which, given the nature of the story, I could not allow to happen and be content with it. Hope you understand.