The Apple Tree

"K'so!"

While the expletive wasn't directed at anyone in particular, just saying it out loud somehow made Yoji feel a little better. But only a little. He continued to mutter and mumble every curse he could think of under his breath while he filled one of the baskets Kurama had made with the apples he was picking from 'their' tree.

Property lines weren't necessarily written in stone in the Makai. It was just understood that when a demon staked out a certain area, everything in that area belonged to him. In particular, a small grove of apple trees near the family's tree house qualified as 'theirs.' It was Yoji's job to fill the basket once a week. This week's chore, however, had been somewhat delayed by events that unfolded a few hours earlier in the Makai Market. The first-born child of Kurama and Hiei was so embroiled in his anger that he didn't hear his youko father approach.

"Is it true?" Kurama asked, trying to hide his own anger. Yoji kept his back to the youko and pretended not to hear, even though he had been startled by the sound of his father's voice. Kurama waited a beat, then asked again, this time the anger coming through in the tone.

"I said, is it true? Have you been fighting in the Market today?" The tall kitsune walked up to his son, took him by the shoulders, and turned him around. Yoji glared at Kurama through slitted amber-red eyes, one with a noticeable bruise forming around the side and a small cut on the cheek bone. The youko held the smaller demon's chin to inspect the injury, but Yoji pulled away sharply, while he clenched his fists.

"So what if I have," he replied, brushing some of the blue starburst hair away from his eyes. The accidental contact made him wince.

Kurama folded his arms and scowled down at his son. "I heard you beat the snot out of the Vegetable Vendor's son. And this isn't the first time you and he have gotten into fights. What the hell is this all about?" The youko stared into Yoji's eyes, waiting for an explanation. Yoji looked away, shaking his head.

"He pissed me off, that's all," the 15-year old demon child grumbled. "He...said things that I didn't like, so I decked him. Besides, he started it. He had it coming." Yoji bent down to pick up a ripe apple and winced again at the sudden change in pressure against his eye.

"Let me see your eye," Kurama said softly, reaching more gently this time to touch his wounded child's face. Yoji tilted his cheek in his father's direction, without making eye contact. The youko turned the child's chin to the left, then right. Seeing that the wound was superficial, he sighed, shaking his head.

"You'll live, but you'll want some aloe on it to heal up the scar," Kurama said flatly, reaching back into his silver mane.

"No, don't," Yoji said, quickly grabbing Kurama's wrist, stopping him from pulling a seed. "I don't want you to...fix it."

The kitsune looked at his son's face, still not fully understanding what must have happened to cause his otherwise obedient son to lose control. "What happened today, Yo-chan? You know Hiei and I don't like this nonsense. How can we trade with that vendor if you keep picking fights with his son? What was this about?" Yoji tossed the apple he was holding to the ground and sighed. He walked slowly over to the base of the apple tree and sat down with a grunt. Kurama followed and sat down next to him, all the while watching Yoji's face.

"You know we don't like you taking advantage of your abilities, Yo-chan," Kurama said, trying to pull information out of the child who most was like his life-partner. Yoji tended to bottle up emotions just like Hiei did, though he let them spill out a little more often than the Koorime. "You have powers other demon kids don't have, and it makes you stronger. You know you inherited this from both of us."

"Yeah, well maybe that's not all I inherited," Yoji mumbled. Kurama squinted. "What do you mean?" he asked softly.

"It's just that, well...it's just...it's...oh, man," Yoji tried to explain, but the words he wanted to say weren't coming out. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Kurama sensed Yoji's extreme discomfort, so he reached out and gently touched his son's knee.

"Just start at the beginning and tell me what happened today."

Yoji took a deep breath, looking up at the beautiful cloudless blue sky. He watched a hawk float effortlessly on a warm air foil while he tried to gather his thoughts that would explain his actions.

"There's this girl, touchan," Yoji began. "I think you know her father. He's the Apple Vendor." Kurama tilted his head and frowned, then remembered.

"Oh, I know who she is. Her name's...Suzume, I think."

"Hai, it's Suzume. And their booth is next to the vegetable stalls." Yoji swallowed, becoming uncomfortable with his legs crossed. He wiggled and stretched them forward, then leaned against the tree for support. He picked at a string on his trousers as he continued.

"Suzume and me...well...we kinda'...we kinda' like each other, and I think Nomi...you know, the vegetable vendor's stupid son...well, I know he likes her, too. He's always bothering us and saying mean things."

Kurama felt his cheeks warm a little, the corners of his mouth just starting to smile. "So you were defending her honor?"

"No," Yoji blushed, his voice very soft. "I was defending mine." He looked up at his father's confused expression.

"I don't think I understand, Yo-chan." Golden eyes followed as Yoji rose, shoved his hands into his pockets, and kicked one of the rotten apples that had been on the ground too long. The first-born paced back and forth in front of his father.

"This afternoon I met Suzume in the Market. We were just gonna' walk around a little bit together. It wasn't like a date or anything..." Yoji picked up a bruised apple and gave it a toss towards the lake. "Anyway, we were passing Nomi's parents' stall when Nomi made a stupid comment. I ignored it, touchan, I really did. And then we went around to her booth. We were just...doin' stuff." Kurama listened intently, his ears twitching constantly. "Well, uhm, we were sitting there - totally minding our own business - when Nomi comes up and says something, and shoves me really hard in the shoulder. So I shoved him back. And then he punched me, and so...I guess I punched him back harder, 'cause his nose started to gush, and he started to cry, and then his parents came out and yelled, and then Suzume's parents started to yell...and the whole thing turned into a mess."

"What were you and Suzume doing that got Nomi so upset?" Kurama asked, as he wrapped his arms around his knees and remained sitting on the ground.

Yoji took another deep breath. "We were...kissing." Kurama snorted, covered his mouth with his fingers, then moved his hand like he meant to wipe his mouth instead of cover a smile.

"Okay, I can understand that," the youko nodded. "But what did Nomi say that got you so upset."

Yoji chewed on his lip, looked down, and began toeing the ground. When he looked back up toward the distance, Kurama noticed there were tears in his son's eyes.

"Nomi said..." Yoji voice trembled as he cleared his throat. "Nomi said that he couldn't understand why Suzume would want to kiss someone who's gonna' grow up gay anyway." Kurama's eyebrows rose, and he felt his chest and neck suddenly flush. He closed his eyes in an effort to calm himself.

"Gomen, touchan," Yoji whispered, as a tear escaped his eye. "I didn't want to tell you that he said that, and that's why I punched him so hard." Yoji's chin began to quiver as he bit his lip to try and stop his tears. He roughly wiped his nose with a sniff.

The youko looked sadly up at his son, knowing that there was more to the story. Yoji was standing close enough for Kurama to reach out and tug at his pant leg. "What else is there, Yo-chan? Tell me everything." Yoji sat back down next to his father and wiped his sore eye with a soft 'ouch.'

"It's just...I don't know...I don't know what I'm feeling, touchan. I mean, I really like Suzume. And I don't think that just because Nomi says...that...you and Hiei...that just because you guys are...you know..." Yoji moaned as he looked up at the sky again, new tears rolling down his cheeks. He closed his eyes, his breath hitched as he inhaled through his nose.

Kurama felt his heart ache as he watched his son reveal feelings he obviously had been keeping to himself for a very long time. Now that Yoji was getting older, he noticed they stopped talking about every little thing. The young demon had become more quiet and kept to himself more often, just like Hiei. He was growing up and didn't need as much parenting as before, but he still needed to talk to someone when it mattered. Kurama thought he and Hiei were always available, but maybe some subjects just would never come up naturally...not until they were forced, like today. And this was the one conversation the youko was waiting for, though secretly fearing. After taking a deep breath, Kurama looked around, searching for the words that would be remembered, perhaps for a lifetime. The youko looked up at the apple tree, then smiled.

"Yoji," Kurama said gently, "this may sound really strange to you, and let me get through it before you say anything, but...life is kind of like this apple tree." The sniffling demon looked up at the tree, then back to his father, wiping his eyes. "The tree is the parent. The apples are the children. The tree sends its branches out as far as it can reach, and the apples cling to the branches for as long as they can. Then, when the time is just right, the apples know when to fall because they've ripened. They've grown up and are ready to leave the comfort of the branch.

"Some apples have already made the transition from being part of the tree to being on their own." Kurama picked up one of the perfectly formed pieces of fruit and held it before him. "Some apples want to be picked right off the branch; they're ready to go but they just need a little more encouragement. Some apples are lucky enough to get picked up right when they fall. Other apples hang around in the shade of the tree a little too long, though, and they start to rot and then no one wants to pick them up. But Yoji," Kurama leaned forward, taking his son's hands into his. "All the apples grow into whatever size and shape and color they were meant to be. Look here," he reached behind Yoji, picking up a small apple. "This one is smaller than that one over there. And maybe that one is rounder and juicer than this one. They've all come from the same tree, but they're not all the same. They may not even grow into a tree that looks exactly like this one."

Yoji looked around the ground where they were sitting, noticing that the apples were indeed different from one another. He looked back up into his father's beautiful golden eyes. "Yo-chan, Hiei and I love each other more than I can put into words for you to possibly understand. We didn't know we would fall in love, though. When we were your age, we didn't know who we would choose to spend the rest of our lives with, just like you. When we found each other, we knew then that this was what we both wanted. The fact that we're both males didn't matter.

"We're lucky to be living in the Makai, because in the Ningenkai humans don't approve of our being married. At least here, there are so few creatures who even care, that Hiei and I have been able to have an incredible life with you and your brothers and sister. I think Nomi was trying to make you doubt yourself, ne? Just because Hiei and I chose each other, and are both males doesn't mean you have to find a male to live with.

"Yoji, you have to listen to what your body, your head, and your heart tell you. I mean, right now in your life, your body is going through big changes. Physical and emotional. Gods, when I was your age, living in the Ningenkai..." Kurama rolled his eyes with a broad smile. Yoji smiled back.

"Nani?" he asked his father, trying to imagine him as a teenager.

"Oh," the youko leaned back on his hands, "just that when I was a teenager in the Ningenkai I had all sorts of feelings running around through my body. And I can't really remember what I was like as a teenaged youko, but I'm sure I was a terror." Kurama decided perhaps it was best not to share his innumerable sexual conquests of several genders and species just at this moment. He needed to focus on the issue that had disturbed his son so much that he had resorted to violence. The kitsune sat back up and leaned his forehead against Yoji's.

"You will make the right choice, my little apple, and it will be right for you. And know in your heart that Hiei and I will love you for whatever decision you make."

Yoji inhaled deeply, his nostrils filling with the smells of the sweet apples and his youko father's wonderful scent. "Hai, touchan. Arigatou. I didn't know how to talk to you about this, and...I didn't want you to think I was a wimp."

"Wimp? You? You're one of the toughest guys I know in the Makai. Gods, you and Hiei practically ooze testosterone!" Yoji chuckled. "That's why you want to have a butch scar on your face, ne?"

Yoji's hand shot up to his sore cheekbone. "Oh, hai. I thought it would look cool. And maybe let Nomi know I wasn't gonna' take anymore of his shit." Kurama looked at the child's face once more, with a resigned expression. "Well, at least let me put something on it to keep it clean, anyway."

They smiled at one another, knowing that their conversation had benefited them both. Perhaps in the future they would be able to talk about it more, without hesitation.

"Now, tell me," Kurama said, standing up and brushing himself off. He offered his hand to his son, who was lifted effortlessly to his feet. "Suzume. She's kinda' kawaii?"

"Hai."

"And she's a good kisser?" Yoji blushed.

"H-hai. Actually....." the embarrassed youngster looked at the ground again.

"Nani?"

"Actually, she said I was a good kisser."

"Well, of course you are. You inherited some of my best qualities," Kurama winked, bending to pick up the basket of apples. "You know, this relationship might work to our advantage."

"How so, touchan?" Yoji picked up some more apples, adding them to their cache.

"Well, if you stay on Suzume's parents good side, we can get an even better deal on these apples."

"Touchan!" Yoji growled, rolling his eyes. Kurama playfully punched his child in the shoulder, and Yoji shook his head with a smile. They each took hold of the side handles and lifted the heavy basket that overflowed with apples.

"Humans really don't approve of you guys?" Yoji asked, glancing at his father.

"Hai," Kurama confirmed. "And you'd be surprised at what other stuff they're prejudiced about. Humans pick on each other for having different skin color, and even about their weight."

"Gods, humans are stupid," Yoji intelligently observed.

Kurama chuckled, as they headed toward their home. "That's what Hiei says all the time."

The End
Copyright 1998 Julie Farel

Yu Yu Hakusho is the property of Togashi Yoshihiro, Jump Comics, and Studio Pierrot. The characters Yoji, Suzume, and Nomi were created by Julie.

I dedicate this story to my friend, Steve, who's children will hopefully, someday, come to understand what they've missed.