Chrysanthemums

Yu Yu Hakusho is copyright The Original Author, Shogakukan and various others. In other words, NOT ME.

I never thought I would come to love chrysanthemums.

I lie here in the roots of this cypress pine tree, warm in the soft light of the sun, a breath away from sleep. It would never happen in the Makai, but I am here, all but unguarded. Ningenkai is truly a place of wonders.

When I first came here, I saw this world simply as an unexploited resource. So much here that I could use-!

I wiggle in deeper between the thick roots of the old tree. The little nook I'm burying myself in is dark, not sunwarmed as the other was. I do not care; it's not like I feel this 'cold' Urameshi and That Idiot complain about. It's tight and snug, almost like Kurama's arms around me.

I wonder if Kurama will understand, when I tell him that I love chrysanthemums? Would he understand? Or would he be hurt that I had not spoken so of his roses?

But roses are as youkai. They are uncomplicated and easy to understand. Not soft nor without defences, but easy to define: this is the scent and that is the thorn, of a rose. They're beautiful, but they are reasonable. Chrysanthemums are different.

Ningen are not as youkai. Here, in this their world, their strangely fascinating actions run rampant, and a reasonable youkai finds himself bewildered by their absurdity. Ningen create lovely long smooth roads one could run all day along - and then surface them with black rock that seems to yield but really doesn't, so that one may not use them for any length of time without a foot ache. So they then build noisy, self-propelling carriages to run along them.

They create cities without trees and then proclaim the beauty of the forest. They deplore something called 'fat' and then they sell the delicious cold food they call 'ice-cream', which is supposedly full of it.

A chrysanthemum is a beautiful flower only found in Ningenkai. Soft and light, it is the oddest bloom I've seen here. It's symmetrical, but its petals are ragged and odd-shaped. The colour can vary wildly, with differently-coloured petals even on the same flower, but the basic colour is the same for the whole plant.

Ningen even have a language for flowers. It's well-known among them that a rose is the flower of love. But the meaning of the chrysanthemum is also 'love'. I find it appropriate.

I can feel it, the warmth of ki, questing through the park. I can feel it touch me, pooling through my veins, matching my Fire for heat as only Kurama's ki can. I must have been here a while, if my mate is looking for me.

My throat itches and I would lift my hand to rub the wound, healing at the base of my throat, but I'm too snug here to bother. Kurama's teeth are sharper than a Ningen's. As they should be.

"There you are," his warm voice whispers over me. I crack my eyelids open a hair to see my mate, his hair a bloody halo about his face. He's perched on the thick root directly above me.

My mate... I still can't think why he chose me. He could have anyone, with his glorious form and beautiful face. He's always been so very beautiful, and I... well, I am not. I'm strong and skilful, but he surpasses me so very easily. I could have hated him, if I did not love him so.

But I did love him.

Why he came to desire me, I don't know. If it will last, I don't know. But I love him too much not to give what he asks, even as I know there will come a day when he will no longer ask. Just so long as that day is not today.

"Come up," he invites me softly. "It's lovely in the sun."

I shrug and stretch. Just because I would trade eternity for a day in his arms is no reason to let him know that. I climb up slowly and settle beside him, and my heart thrills as he wraps himself around me. He's shivering a little, so I let my heat radiate into him. He snuggles even closer.

There are a few children playing in the park. Kurama and I sit for a little, watching them.

"I love chrysanthemums," I say quietly.

"Chrysanthemums?" Kurama asks. There's a hurt tone in his voice.

"Hm," I agree. "You're rose and chrysanthemum. They're chrysanthemums."

"Oh," Kurama says, his voice soft. "I thought you hated Ningenkai."

I shake my head, watching the children. "Got used to the chrysanthemums."