I Cry On No One's Shoulder
by Arisa

Chapter Seven: Broken Masks

In Kurama's case, he had tailored a mask to keep others safe from the truth. He had never considered what he would do when someone pealed away that mask, and saw what history, and who he really was underneath that mask.

Shuuichi was released from the hospital a week ago, and now had an at-home nurse, and his room was transformed to an equivalent of a hospital room. The moods at the home varied from sadness to contempt, no real joy was visible, as if it was a crime to be happy with something good that happened to you.

A bell rang in a noisy classroom, where teenagers were slinging rubber bands and throwing paper balls at random people, resulting in either the person throwing it back, or ignoring it, which happened rarely.

Kurama's eyes went to slits as the fourth wad of paper landed on his desk where he had a thick book open, and was reading it. He sighed and took it off of his book and placed it on top of the slowly forming pile of wadded up paper.

"He never throws it back… No matter how many times a day we throw paper at him…" Kurama heard a blond-haired boy commenting to one of his friends.

"Yea, I know. He's never lost his cool with anyone all of these years…" The blond-haired boy commented back to his friend.

As the class heard high heels come in contact with the floor, almost everyone made a mad dash to their desk before the teacher came into the classroom.

Kurama placed his bookmark inside the book, closed it, and placed it under his seat just as his teacher placed her purse and gigantic coffee cup on her desk then sat down. "Good morning, class," she said happily.

"That would be an oxymoron…" A boy grumbled sleepily from behind Kurama.

"Now, class," the blackish-blue-haired, medium height in black dress pants and a red silk t-shirt started as she pushed up her black framed glasses. "Today you are going to start researching for a lecture that you are going to deliver to the class. I am going to be passing out a packet explaining what topics you can choose from, and how I would like the speech to be produced. If you have any questions, after I pass out the packets, please ask me." She stated as she got out of her black leather chair and passed papers to the students who sat in the front rows.

A dirty-blond haired, hazel-eyed girl raised her hand just as she got her packet. "Genji-san?"

"Yes, Anzai?" the teacher asked girl. "What is your question?"

"Do we have to do this?"

The teacher smiled kindly, for the student was a kind-hearted girl, but just a tad lazy. "If you would rather write a 20-page report and have a visual about human reproduction, you could do that instead."

The girl called Anzai turned slightly pink and shook her head. Her friend who was sitting beside her laughed softly. "Sarissa, you should know better then to ask that type of thing by now."

"Please kindly shut your mouth, Mikaa," Sarissa asked politely.

"Now class, I gave you choices in what you can write your report based on, you cannot write it on anything else. Please be sure that all of your sources are reliable and that you give them proper credit," Mrs. Genji advised as she walked back to her seat. "Please take the time I give you in class and put it to good use. I have found all of these topics on the web, with enough to write a decent report."

Kurama had opened his packet and looked at the listing of topics. There was many, but only one he was interested in, the possibility of life on Venus. (A/N: Yup, that is right, Venus! ^_^)

With that, the teacher left the class to their own devices. Only a few scurried over to the computers, but the rest either started writing about what they already knew on paper, started goofing off, or… went over to ask Kurama which topic he thought was the easiest to research.

"Hey, uhhh… Minamino? What would you say is the easiest?" A short black-haired boy asked.

"It all depends on your interests," Kurama answered heartlessly as he started writing down all the things he knew about the planet Venus. He then glanced up at all the people who had gathered around him, and he promptly pulled out a green binder from underneath his desk and placed the paper inside it. Kurama then pulled out a different assignment randomly and acted like he was working on it, then all of his classmates who had gathered around him, left.

Kurama sighed tiredly and shook his head. He then opened the binder again and took out the sheet of paper and resumed to jotting down facts that he remembered.

"Kurama? You there?" Yusuke asked from where he was leaning on Kurama's white bedroom wall and looking at Kurama's presently not-all-there face composer.

"What’s wrong, red? You don’t seem there," Kuwabara observed from his seat on the floor where he had all of his schoolbooks around him. It was a warm and sunny Saturday and Yusuke and Kuwabara came over to Kurama's house for help with their exam that was next Monday.

Kurama blinked quickly and smiled weakly then turned back to his work that he presently had on his computer screen. "I’m sorry, my mind seems to be drifting a lot…"

"Look," Yusuke started, "it won't be worth it. You will end up dieing, and your brother also. It won't be worth even trying, I don’t feel like killing you."

"Oh, no, I am not thinking about that. It is just that, as a person gets closer and closer to death, they become more keen to spirits and non-human like things," Kurama stated quietly, making a gesture to keep his friends' voice levels down.

"You mean that you think that your brother will discover the things that go on in your life?" Yusuke ventured.

"Not only that, but who I was," Kurama corrected.

"But how would he know that?" Kuwabara (A/N: You don’t know how hard it is not to pick on him…) asked.

"I have been making up ‘fantasy’ stories when he is sick, telling about a silver haired kitsune and his adventures, and how he fell from his lofty place."

"Why can’t you take care of him like you did with Maya?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama had a small smile, remembering the girl that stepped into his life, and then quickly out, for her own safety. "Things are different, she is still alive, and my stepbrother won't be… soon."

"Yea, well, what’s the difference?" Kuwabara asked closing one of his books that were at his right side.

Kurama turned his computer chair to face Kuwabara and started explaining, "You see, when I used what I used on Maya, the Pollen of Forgetfulness, she was not harboring on the thin line of life and death, like my brother. This means, he really does not care what is going on, or results of something, so his spirit, literally is more headstrong now, where Maya's was not. True, the powder will cause him amnesia of any current events, but he will start to wonder things again soon after that. It will be an ongoing process till he dies. The catch is that the doctors will start noticing the change in his memory."

"Lose/lose situation," Yusuke slumped down on the door and onto the ground.

Kurama turned back to his computer and started pulling up web pages that contained facts about the planets' atmosphere and such.

"So there is nothing that we can do to help?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama's head turned to the door when he heard the doorknob turn. Shiori walked inside as Yusuke's eyes turned panicked, wondering the extent of what Kurama's mother overheard.

"Help with what?" Shiori asked kindly. "Is there anything I can do?"

Kurama smiled. "We were just talking about a school project that I am working on. I have to find facts to support the hypothesis that there currently is or was life on Venus." Kurama partly lied.

"But I thought they were over here to study?" Shiori asked.

"Yea, we are, but we are just taking a break," Kuwabara answered.

"Oh, is there anything I can get you? Are you hungry? Would you boys like to have lunch now?

"If you don’t mind…" Yusuke left the sentence hanging.

"No, of course not. Shuuichi rarely has any of his friends over," Shiori said happily.

As the three young men were walking down the hall that led to the stairs, Kuwabara and Yusuke stopped by Shuuichi's partly closed door.

Kurama noted their absence behind him, so he turned around and joined his friends that were looking through the gap in the door and doorframe. "You can go in, he likes to see new faces once in a while."

"Oh…" And with that, Yusuke opened the door and stepped into Shuuichi's mostly dark room.

"Even the atmosphere is sickly…" Kuwabara observed to himself as he took a step into Kurama's stepbrother's room.

"Nice observation, Caption Obvious," Yusuke commented.

"Shut up, Urameshi."

"Huh?" A drowsy voice came from a pile of bedcovers.

Kurama walked over to where the bed was and stood next to the IV stand. "These are two of my friends, Yusuke and Kuwabara. They have been concerned with how you are fairing for quite a while," Kurama said gently.

"Oh, hi," Shuuichi weakly spoke as he slowly sat up. "I am really tired from this medication right now, I am sorry…" He sadly smiled, as if he was acknowledging the burden he was carrying on his shoulders.

"Oh! No! Don’t say you are sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for," Yusuke reprimanded lightly.

Shuuichi smiled as best as he could muster, which pained the three boys hearts. "Well, why don’t we just leave him be?" Kuwabara ventured.

"Wait…" Shuuichi asked as Yusuke and Kuwabara started to turn around.

"Yea?" Yusuke asked. "What’s wrong?"

Kurama took a step back from his stepbrother's bed, he could feel his brother's mind racing, trying to decide something.

Yusuke and Kuwabara both glanced at each other, for they also felt the same thing Kurama did.

"You guys don’t seem that… well… Normal." Shuuichi said seriously.