#rosage

After a busy week like the one I’ve had (and will continue to have until the week’s actually over), there’s really only one thing I want to do: sleep. However, in lieu of that, I wanted to find some fic that wasn’t overly long, since I doubted I would have been able to devote that much time to it, and something to help me wind down. I’m still not quite sure if I achieved the latter, but the nostalgic little piece of writing I ended up finding more than made up for any stress it happened to cause me.

One of my not-at-all-guilty pleasures is Yu Yu Hakusho. It remains, to this day, one of two anime series I’ve actually bought the entirety of, and the only series over fifty episodes that I would have no qualms about sitting down and marathoning at the drop of a hat. As most fans have come to accept, the final season wasn’t exactly stellar; however, it still gave us a satisfying ending where everyone was happy and easing into their new lives. Rosage’s Behind the Mirror, in that same vein, gives readers a glimpse into life after the series. But instead of focusing on the main four, it gives focus to a character who really deserved it: Yukina.

Watchers actually met Yukina in the first season of the show. From there, she became an easily forgettable side-character who was more “Hiei’s sister” or “Kuwabara’s’ crush” than an actual character of her own, only showing up to lament how she didn’t know who or where her brother was or to cheer on the other characters, and not much else. When the crew first meets her, Yukina is a captive of a terrible human, Tarukane, who tortures her as each tear she produces turns into a valuable gem (as is the way of all ice maidens). Not much is said about this after they free her, but that’s where Behind the Mirror really shines--Yukina gets a chance to cope with the trauma in her life and is not forced to deal with it alone.

Rose stood there for a minute, teeth grinding as she stared at Sage, weighing the pros and cons of actually talking to him. Pro: Pax would get off her ass about making up with her family. Con: Her fammily would expect forgiveness she wasn't ready to give. Pro: Maybe they'd leave her the fuck alone if she talked. Con: Maybe they wouldn't stop bugging her if she talked... Even as the cons list started to stack higher and higher, Pax's quiet plea to just listen to her brother struck through Rose's mental list-building.

"Fine." She said quietly, looking to Pax. "Just give us a couple minutes, okay? Go on to whatever game. I'll catch up with you in a bit." Rose pressed a quick kiss to Pax's cheek before letting go of his hand and waving as he wandered off. As soon as he was out of sight, she turned back to her brother with ice in her eyes, arms crossing over her chest.