Categories > Anime/Manga > Yu Yu Hakusho
The Real Meaning of Christmas
0 reviewsHiei hates Christmas, and everyone wants to know why. Will it be Yusuke, Kurama, or Yukina to finally help him overcome this feud with the holiday?
0Unrated
The Real Meaning of Christmas
It was two days before Christmas.[1] In Japan, the stores were open all night, and the human people ran around all day, busy. There was nobody just sitting anymore.
Of course, it could have been the weather; it wasn’t snowing yet. The temperature was freezing outside, but it hadn’t snowed. Kurama and Kuwabara agreed that it was the strangest weather yet.
Botan had a ridiculous theory going about how the weather was waiting for Christmas before snowing, and the newspaper kept calling it global warming.[2] Hiei didn’t understand, much less care.
Hiei had been in a strangely cruel mood lately. With no missions afoot, the gang was hanging out a lot, and Hiei had become more moody and dark. Nobody said anything; they knew not to. But everyone also knew something was off. Again, maybe the horrible weather had something to do with it.
With the holiday closing in, the humans were crazy. Hiei didn’t see what all the fuss was about. But the humans didn’t agree.
*
The ground was riddled with fake snow downtown. The Kuwabaras, Yusuke and Keiko had banned together for a shopping spree, figuring they were better off in numbers.
“What are you getting Hiei, Yusuke?” Kuwabara asked. He, Yusuke, Keiko and Shizuru were shopping for presents. He shrugged, uninterested.
“I didn’t know what to get Hiei either,” Keiko said, peering in a shop at a huge teddy bear. Yusuke grinned.
“What are you getting me?” He asked. Keiko smiled.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out," she giggled.
“What are you getting Hiei, little bro?” Asked Shizuru. He shrugged.
“Nothing,” he said. They were a bit surprised.
“Why?” Yusuke asked.
“He ‘forgot’ my birthday, remember?” Kuwabara answered. Shizuru chuckled.
“So did I,” she murmured, but luckily no one heard.
“C’mon Kuwabara, get him something! The poor guy has no family,” Yusuke yelled. Kuwabara sighed.
“Fine.”
“What are you getting Yusuke for Christmas, Hiei?” Asked Kurama. He and Hiei were walking through town, looking around, against Hiei’s will, might I add.
“I’m getting him the same thing I’m getting everyone else. Nothing,” Hiei spat.
Kurama gave him a look and sighed, though he had known far in advance that Hiei would be bitter this time of year, not only because of the cold weather and how much it reminded him of a certain floating island.
“If I pay for it, will you get everybody something?” Kurama asked. Hiei thought about it for a second.
“Why should I?” He asked.
“Because, it’s the holiday season. They will get you gifts, and if you do not then you'll be in debt. What effect does it have on you anyway?” Kurama retorted. Hiei thought again, and finally flitted off. Kurama waited, but Hiei was back in a flash with a bag full of stuff.
“Bay Watch: The Movie, a bag of chocolate kisses...a rubber chicken?” Kurama said as he named off the gifts.[3] Hiei rolled his eyes, and grabbed the chicken by the neck and violently shook it.
Kurama gasped because he thought he’d break it, but the chicken was gobbling so loud, Hiei didn’t hear. It shrieked and gobbled and crowed until Hiei stopped shaking it. Kurama chuckled.
“A gift certificate for JC Penny’s; a Grow a Boyfriend?” Kurama raised an eyebrow, wondering who he had gotten that for.
“Shizuru,” Hiei told him. Kurama chuckled again.
“And last...” Kurama said quietly, and lifted up the most beautiful necklace he’d ever seen. It had a silver chain, with ruby-red pearls. Hiei was glaring at him, but his satisfaction was evident.
“Yukina,” he murmured. Kurama smiled and place it in its little box carefully. Apparently Hiei knew their friends better than he had first anticipated.
“Now—oh, you forgot Kuwabara,” Kurama told him. Hiei rolled his eyes, went into the nearest store and came out with a rather gaudy picture frame.
“There, happy?” Hiei asked. He could tell that Kurama wasn’t.
“Fox, do you really think I’d leave yours in the bag for you to see?” Hiei said, and shoved all the presents in the bag, while Kurama smiled.
*
The next night, Christmas Eve, everyone gathered at Kurama’s house. There was a big dinner, candles, lots of laughing and a little underage drinking. Everyone was having fun. Kurama’s house was decked out in red and green décor, and the air was foggy.
Hiei, however, sat alone in front of the fire. He had hardly spoken all night. Everyone felt that it was odd, but no one mentioned it. At eleven, Hiei stared out the window while the others played a game.
Hiei saw the first snowflake fall outside. He quickly flitted out the door and caught it in his hand. It melted slowly. Soon, the sky was filled with snowflakes, and a heavy snow began falling. Inside, no one noticed that Hiei had left.
“Has anyone seen Hiei? We’re going to open presents,” Keiko said. They all shrugged.
“C’mon, let’s look for him,” Yusuke said. The group began searching the house.
Outside, Hiei sat on the roof, watching the snow fall. He closed his eyes and let the snow fall onto his face. His body heat quickly melted them, and more fell. Hiei heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Yukina behind him.[4] He was slightly surprised, as he had been expecting the fox, not Yukina. Before he could say anything, she came and sat next to him upon the roof.
“It’s finally snowing. I’ve been waiting for it to snow. Kazuma wished for me to stay until it snowed. It reminds me of home,” she said. He looked at the ground. “You like the snow too, don’t you?” She asked. Hiei nodded, not chancing a glance at her. Yukina smiled at him.
“You remind me of someone I used to know a long time ago, back when I lived on Koorime Island. This someone was taken from me at a very young age. I miss him a lot, but it still feels like he’s with me somehow,” Yukina said. Hiei still didn’t move. His insides were torn up and around.
“Go back to the island. It’s where you belong,” Hiei told her. Yukina gasped slightly.
“You know about Koorime?” She asked.[5] He nodded, somewhat nervous. What if she found out?
“Then, I guess you’re like my brother,” she said, smiling. Even though she meant it indirectly, as far as he knew, Hiei still felt nervous at the comment.
“Brother?” He asked, anxious. She smiled. He could only stare.
The two of them thought up there for a long, long time until finally, Yukina stood up and sighed. “I should go in. Hiei, I just want you to remember: We all care for you very much. I and all those people in there are here for you,” she said, and went back down to the party.
He sat alone for a while, watching the snow fall, until he heard someone come up behind him again. He saw that it was Yusuke, who came over and stood next to him.
“Hey.” Was his greeting. Hiei didn’t say anything. “They’re waiting for you down there, Hiei. We all are,” he said. Hiei still didn’t move.
"Why can't you just give in for once? Act like you've got a heart?" Hiei still did not answer, partly because he felt that he didn't have one at all.
“The snow’s pretty, huh? I bet it reminds you of Koorime,” Yusuke went on, knowing full well that Hiei was listening. “Yukina doesn’t look too happy. She looks lonely. Kind of like someone else I know. Why don’t you tell her, Hiei? It'd be good for both of you, to have someone, I mean,” Yusuke pressed on, trying to get answers. Yusuke sat down, waiting for Hiei to reply.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell her,” he said, his voice stern. He was tired of talking about this, especially with the Detective.
“I know how that feels. He’s out there, I know it,” Yusuke said, still staring out on the rooftops, his eyes out of focus. Hiei raised an eyebrow, watching Yusuke until he answered.
“My dad,” he said.[6] There word ‘dad’ had stuck in his throat, and it felt strange to say it. Hiei’s eyes got a little wider. He’d forgotten that Yusuke never knew his father. “He’s probably a drunk, or a hobo. He probably lives off his pride and he probably didn’t even love my mom. But…I still miss him,” Yusuke said, his eyes still out of focus.
Hiei remembered all of the pain and suffering he’d been through as a child, all of the sadness, hatred and loneliness he’d had for so long. He’d wanted something to hold on to, but in the end he never let himself do it. He’d been afraid of losing someone again. Perhaps that had been his greatest weakness all along.
Yusuke stood up. “Well, we’d better go in,” he said quietly. Hiei stood up as well, though for a moment Yusuke hadn't thought he would. The two went down to the living room where everyone was waiting eagerly. There were nine piles of presents, each one about as big as the other. Hiei’s eyes widened.
“We took the liberty of separating the presents while we waited,” Botan said cheerfully. She pointed to a big stack in the corner. “Those are yours, Hiei,” she said, smiling. His eyes widened even more. He slowly walked over to them.
“You go first, Hiei!” Botan said. His eyes still wide, he took the top present off of the pile and read the tag, which informed him that it was from Yusuke. Still amazed, he opened it. It was a box. He smirked and opened the box, and saw a new, high-quality sheath for his katana.
Hiei didn’t quite know what to say. “Thank you,” He mumbled as quietly as possible, fumbling over the unnatural words. He set it down on the table, and opened the next present, from Kurama.
Inside the box and under the wrapping was a brand new sharp katana. He smirked and slid the sword easily into the sheath.
“We had them custom made for you, Hiei. Merry Christmas,” Kurama said, smiling.
*
That night was one of the best nights Hiei had ever had, and simultaneously one of the worst because he was horribly uncomfortable receiving presents from these people whom he hardly even considered to be acquainted with.
Everyone loved the presents he had gotten them, which included a rare rose plant for Kurama. Yukina put her necklace on immediately after she got it, and smiled. It looked very pretty with her eyes. They all had said “thank you” with such gusto and shine in their eyes, and Hiei felt strangely at peace at hearing that.
But the best part was what Hiei had gotten. Besides the sheath and sword, he had gotten a silver belt from Botan, a new black cape from Koenma, a white headband with black flames on it from Shizuru, a crystal dragon from Keiko (which he had no idea what he was going to do with,) a new pair of boots from Kuwabara, and a necklace from Yukina.
It was a tear-gem in a silver chain. “I know it looks foolish, but I want you to have it,” she said shyly. He smiled openly to her so that no one else could see and slipped it on, feeling as though he might be able to understand what it felt like to belong.
[1] The Japanese do celebrate Christmas, but it's a more romantic holiday, and has no religious affiliation.
[2] Okay, global warming isn't going to stop snow in Japan in the next few years, but it's still a major problem for us and it's going to be until we do something about it, damn it.
[3] I don't think they ever made a Baywatch movie, did they?
[4] I know how Hiei got on the roof, but how the hell did Yukina get up there?
[5] We're going to assume that this fic takes place before the Three Kings arc.
[6] Obviously, I am not talking about Raizen. Both the manga and anime make it clear that Yusuke's actual father is human, and that Raizen is his ancestral father, so I don't want to hear any crap about it.
It was two days before Christmas.[1] In Japan, the stores were open all night, and the human people ran around all day, busy. There was nobody just sitting anymore.
Of course, it could have been the weather; it wasn’t snowing yet. The temperature was freezing outside, but it hadn’t snowed. Kurama and Kuwabara agreed that it was the strangest weather yet.
Botan had a ridiculous theory going about how the weather was waiting for Christmas before snowing, and the newspaper kept calling it global warming.[2] Hiei didn’t understand, much less care.
Hiei had been in a strangely cruel mood lately. With no missions afoot, the gang was hanging out a lot, and Hiei had become more moody and dark. Nobody said anything; they knew not to. But everyone also knew something was off. Again, maybe the horrible weather had something to do with it.
With the holiday closing in, the humans were crazy. Hiei didn’t see what all the fuss was about. But the humans didn’t agree.
*
The ground was riddled with fake snow downtown. The Kuwabaras, Yusuke and Keiko had banned together for a shopping spree, figuring they were better off in numbers.
“What are you getting Hiei, Yusuke?” Kuwabara asked. He, Yusuke, Keiko and Shizuru were shopping for presents. He shrugged, uninterested.
“I didn’t know what to get Hiei either,” Keiko said, peering in a shop at a huge teddy bear. Yusuke grinned.
“What are you getting me?” He asked. Keiko smiled.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out," she giggled.
“What are you getting Hiei, little bro?” Asked Shizuru. He shrugged.
“Nothing,” he said. They were a bit surprised.
“Why?” Yusuke asked.
“He ‘forgot’ my birthday, remember?” Kuwabara answered. Shizuru chuckled.
“So did I,” she murmured, but luckily no one heard.
“C’mon Kuwabara, get him something! The poor guy has no family,” Yusuke yelled. Kuwabara sighed.
“Fine.”
“What are you getting Yusuke for Christmas, Hiei?” Asked Kurama. He and Hiei were walking through town, looking around, against Hiei’s will, might I add.
“I’m getting him the same thing I’m getting everyone else. Nothing,” Hiei spat.
Kurama gave him a look and sighed, though he had known far in advance that Hiei would be bitter this time of year, not only because of the cold weather and how much it reminded him of a certain floating island.
“If I pay for it, will you get everybody something?” Kurama asked. Hiei thought about it for a second.
“Why should I?” He asked.
“Because, it’s the holiday season. They will get you gifts, and if you do not then you'll be in debt. What effect does it have on you anyway?” Kurama retorted. Hiei thought again, and finally flitted off. Kurama waited, but Hiei was back in a flash with a bag full of stuff.
“Bay Watch: The Movie, a bag of chocolate kisses...a rubber chicken?” Kurama said as he named off the gifts.[3] Hiei rolled his eyes, and grabbed the chicken by the neck and violently shook it.
Kurama gasped because he thought he’d break it, but the chicken was gobbling so loud, Hiei didn’t hear. It shrieked and gobbled and crowed until Hiei stopped shaking it. Kurama chuckled.
“A gift certificate for JC Penny’s; a Grow a Boyfriend?” Kurama raised an eyebrow, wondering who he had gotten that for.
“Shizuru,” Hiei told him. Kurama chuckled again.
“And last...” Kurama said quietly, and lifted up the most beautiful necklace he’d ever seen. It had a silver chain, with ruby-red pearls. Hiei was glaring at him, but his satisfaction was evident.
“Yukina,” he murmured. Kurama smiled and place it in its little box carefully. Apparently Hiei knew their friends better than he had first anticipated.
“Now—oh, you forgot Kuwabara,” Kurama told him. Hiei rolled his eyes, went into the nearest store and came out with a rather gaudy picture frame.
“There, happy?” Hiei asked. He could tell that Kurama wasn’t.
“Fox, do you really think I’d leave yours in the bag for you to see?” Hiei said, and shoved all the presents in the bag, while Kurama smiled.
*
The next night, Christmas Eve, everyone gathered at Kurama’s house. There was a big dinner, candles, lots of laughing and a little underage drinking. Everyone was having fun. Kurama’s house was decked out in red and green décor, and the air was foggy.
Hiei, however, sat alone in front of the fire. He had hardly spoken all night. Everyone felt that it was odd, but no one mentioned it. At eleven, Hiei stared out the window while the others played a game.
Hiei saw the first snowflake fall outside. He quickly flitted out the door and caught it in his hand. It melted slowly. Soon, the sky was filled with snowflakes, and a heavy snow began falling. Inside, no one noticed that Hiei had left.
“Has anyone seen Hiei? We’re going to open presents,” Keiko said. They all shrugged.
“C’mon, let’s look for him,” Yusuke said. The group began searching the house.
Outside, Hiei sat on the roof, watching the snow fall. He closed his eyes and let the snow fall onto his face. His body heat quickly melted them, and more fell. Hiei heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Yukina behind him.[4] He was slightly surprised, as he had been expecting the fox, not Yukina. Before he could say anything, she came and sat next to him upon the roof.
“It’s finally snowing. I’ve been waiting for it to snow. Kazuma wished for me to stay until it snowed. It reminds me of home,” she said. He looked at the ground. “You like the snow too, don’t you?” She asked. Hiei nodded, not chancing a glance at her. Yukina smiled at him.
“You remind me of someone I used to know a long time ago, back when I lived on Koorime Island. This someone was taken from me at a very young age. I miss him a lot, but it still feels like he’s with me somehow,” Yukina said. Hiei still didn’t move. His insides were torn up and around.
“Go back to the island. It’s where you belong,” Hiei told her. Yukina gasped slightly.
“You know about Koorime?” She asked.[5] He nodded, somewhat nervous. What if she found out?
“Then, I guess you’re like my brother,” she said, smiling. Even though she meant it indirectly, as far as he knew, Hiei still felt nervous at the comment.
“Brother?” He asked, anxious. She smiled. He could only stare.
The two of them thought up there for a long, long time until finally, Yukina stood up and sighed. “I should go in. Hiei, I just want you to remember: We all care for you very much. I and all those people in there are here for you,” she said, and went back down to the party.
He sat alone for a while, watching the snow fall, until he heard someone come up behind him again. He saw that it was Yusuke, who came over and stood next to him.
“Hey.” Was his greeting. Hiei didn’t say anything. “They’re waiting for you down there, Hiei. We all are,” he said. Hiei still didn’t move.
"Why can't you just give in for once? Act like you've got a heart?" Hiei still did not answer, partly because he felt that he didn't have one at all.
“The snow’s pretty, huh? I bet it reminds you of Koorime,” Yusuke went on, knowing full well that Hiei was listening. “Yukina doesn’t look too happy. She looks lonely. Kind of like someone else I know. Why don’t you tell her, Hiei? It'd be good for both of you, to have someone, I mean,” Yusuke pressed on, trying to get answers. Yusuke sat down, waiting for Hiei to reply.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell her,” he said, his voice stern. He was tired of talking about this, especially with the Detective.
“I know how that feels. He’s out there, I know it,” Yusuke said, still staring out on the rooftops, his eyes out of focus. Hiei raised an eyebrow, watching Yusuke until he answered.
“My dad,” he said.[6] There word ‘dad’ had stuck in his throat, and it felt strange to say it. Hiei’s eyes got a little wider. He’d forgotten that Yusuke never knew his father. “He’s probably a drunk, or a hobo. He probably lives off his pride and he probably didn’t even love my mom. But…I still miss him,” Yusuke said, his eyes still out of focus.
Hiei remembered all of the pain and suffering he’d been through as a child, all of the sadness, hatred and loneliness he’d had for so long. He’d wanted something to hold on to, but in the end he never let himself do it. He’d been afraid of losing someone again. Perhaps that had been his greatest weakness all along.
Yusuke stood up. “Well, we’d better go in,” he said quietly. Hiei stood up as well, though for a moment Yusuke hadn't thought he would. The two went down to the living room where everyone was waiting eagerly. There were nine piles of presents, each one about as big as the other. Hiei’s eyes widened.
“We took the liberty of separating the presents while we waited,” Botan said cheerfully. She pointed to a big stack in the corner. “Those are yours, Hiei,” she said, smiling. His eyes widened even more. He slowly walked over to them.
“You go first, Hiei!” Botan said. His eyes still wide, he took the top present off of the pile and read the tag, which informed him that it was from Yusuke. Still amazed, he opened it. It was a box. He smirked and opened the box, and saw a new, high-quality sheath for his katana.
Hiei didn’t quite know what to say. “Thank you,” He mumbled as quietly as possible, fumbling over the unnatural words. He set it down on the table, and opened the next present, from Kurama.
Inside the box and under the wrapping was a brand new sharp katana. He smirked and slid the sword easily into the sheath.
“We had them custom made for you, Hiei. Merry Christmas,” Kurama said, smiling.
*
That night was one of the best nights Hiei had ever had, and simultaneously one of the worst because he was horribly uncomfortable receiving presents from these people whom he hardly even considered to be acquainted with.
Everyone loved the presents he had gotten them, which included a rare rose plant for Kurama. Yukina put her necklace on immediately after she got it, and smiled. It looked very pretty with her eyes. They all had said “thank you” with such gusto and shine in their eyes, and Hiei felt strangely at peace at hearing that.
But the best part was what Hiei had gotten. Besides the sheath and sword, he had gotten a silver belt from Botan, a new black cape from Koenma, a white headband with black flames on it from Shizuru, a crystal dragon from Keiko (which he had no idea what he was going to do with,) a new pair of boots from Kuwabara, and a necklace from Yukina.
It was a tear-gem in a silver chain. “I know it looks foolish, but I want you to have it,” she said shyly. He smiled openly to her so that no one else could see and slipped it on, feeling as though he might be able to understand what it felt like to belong.
[1] The Japanese do celebrate Christmas, but it's a more romantic holiday, and has no religious affiliation.
[2] Okay, global warming isn't going to stop snow in Japan in the next few years, but it's still a major problem for us and it's going to be until we do something about it, damn it.
[3] I don't think they ever made a Baywatch movie, did they?
[4] I know how Hiei got on the roof, but how the hell did Yukina get up there?
[5] We're going to assume that this fic takes place before the Three Kings arc.
[6] Obviously, I am not talking about Raizen. Both the manga and anime make it clear that Yusuke's actual father is human, and that Raizen is his ancestral father, so I don't want to hear any crap about it.
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