She's a lover baby, and a fighter
Shoulda seen it coming when it got a little brighter
Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chapter One:: Arrival
She sprinted as fast as her muscular legs could possibly offer, and even then, it was still a challenge. Luck had fell short on her side when she realized she would have to run. Her brother's leisurely style of driving had finally managed to fail for the first time in over ten years. They had finally been stuck in a traffic jam, and she realized she would be late if they had decided to withstand the clog. She left all her luggage in the trunk, and slipped on a rugged pair of gym shoes before evacuating the vehicle. Her brother called after her for good luck as she hastily zipped up her black jacket, almost tripping on her baggy pants. That was how she ended up in the predicament in the first place.
Takune Hiromu had barely managed to enter the opposing college, hoping to catch her breath when she managed to make it into the gymnasium. Her coach had given her a scornful look as Takune dropped her bags along with her teammates. They were already warming up for their events.
"TK, you're late." She looked down in shame before preparing her hair for competition. After it had been tightly tucked into a suffocating bun, every fly away gelled to her scalp, she looked back to her coach.
"Sorry, Ti and I got stuck in traffic, I ended up running here." She admitted with a sheepish grin. Her coach rolled her chocolate hued eyes.
"Just get ready. We're on bars and floor first." Takune nodded, stripping herself of her black warm-ups, and revealing her slender body barely covered by the black, red and white leotard. She started up with the basics, working from handstands into standing fulls. The other girls were already sweating from anticipation, this competition was big. Tokyo University against University of Kyoto. Kyoto needed to win, and that couldn't be stressed enough. Not only that, the Olympics were coming around this year. This was also Takune's last chance to even make that roster, she was getting too old. With nervousness dripping down the back of her neck, she dipped her hands in the ghostly chalk before working on a practice bar. Just basic handstands would have to do for now.
"TK! You're up!" Alarm slapped her in the face until she finally realized what she was supposed to be doing. She breathed deep before lining up at a corner of the spring floor presented to the public. She placed her strong right foot behind her, her arms gracefully forming an elongated loop above her head.
"Takune Hiromu for University of Kyoto." Many claps erupted, now all she needed to was to wait. A boisterous sound of a hushed rock song played, the melody covered by an artist unbeknownst to her. She stepped to the side, reaching for a leap with her arms spread in front and behind her. The moment her right foot found the ground, her body crumbled, rolling in an alluring manner to her next destination. She sat in a table top manner before managing to place her hands on the ground, and lift her body up in a straddle handstand. Squeezing her belly to the core, she managed to pull her legs into a hollow position, and walk to the nearest corner.
Her legs flicked down one by one. As they met, she prepared herself for her first pass. In the middle, she forgot how to breathe. Her back handspring was clean and her whip layout had been high. Now, for the kill. Her petite frame launched too many feet for an average jump, she waited until her body had almost been parallel to the ground, before throwing her power into a twisting bullet. She managed to get around twice. Takune could hear her teammates screaming their heads off at her accomplishment, throwing her double full just in time for the big competition. With a bright smile on her face, she raised her arms up straight, sticking her ribs out to prove to the audience she completed her pass successfully. She took a small side step, her body no longer diagonal. Instead of her dancing, as she was supposed to after each pass, she rolled into a back somersault, pushing herself into a handstand. She smiled at herself before flicking her feet down, then pulling up into a layout step-out. Her teammates all grinned.
She was playing around.
After landing the transitional pass, she twirled around while standing on the balls of her feet, reaching for the ceiling. Takune put a sharp stop before going over the full turn, and pulled her body up again, her legs whipping into a toe-touch. The minute her feet touched the cushion, she repeated the motion while turning towards a different angle. Instead of landing on her feet, however, she landed in a push-up position, and got up in a graceful manner from that. She smiled when she had aligned herself with a new corner, and prepared herself for her next pass. She was hoping this one would really get attention. Taking two steps, she put all of her mite into a high jump, tucking her body to rotate forward. She didn't hesitate to put her hands on the ground to connect her round-off, and again for her backhand spring. This next part was absolutely tricky. She hollowed out her body until it had reached it's peak before pulling her knees to her chest to tuck them in and start her rotation. When the backside of her knees came in contact with her frail hands, she dropped her hip to twist around, landing in the same way she started. Her teammates screamed in shock.
A one and half tucked twist.
That was new.
She smiled preparing herself for her final pass. What else could she possibly throw to impress this crowd, her team, and the judges? The answer lay within her specialty. She let out a breath before a smile spread across her face like a wildfire. She ran three steps forward and thrust as much power as she could muster into pulling her body up, it laid completely board flat while airborne. as it lay straight, she pulled her arms to her chest to execute a tight full twist. It was all or nothing now. After gaining the necessary power from her round-off backhand spring, she used her powerful legs to propel her body up much more than necessary. Her body lay flat as she readied herself to perform a double full. It was quick and almost a complete blur, but that wasn't what had caught everyone's attention. It was the double tuck that had been connected to the same stunt with no pause or break in between. With an elegant smile, she landed almost the same way she started. Her right leg standing strong fully behind the rest of her body, and her arms up in victory.
The worst was over for now, but would resume when it was her turn to take her place on bars. While the opponent from Tokyo was on bars, she smiled as the judges now announced her score average.
9.1.
Takune smiled triumphantly before taking the towel wrapped around her neck to wipe her face.
The competition had been just as eventful as her floor routine, and much to Tokyo's dismay, Kyoto had been proclaimed the winners of the competition. TK ended up winning the gold medal for beam, which was to be expected. Her routines on the balance beam were phenomenal, and were incomparable. She had almost taken home the silver for the floor routine. Even if it wasn't first, silver was much prettier.
"Not that that wasn't entertaining or anything, but why exactly did you make us watch that Koenma?" The young prince sighed at his former detective's ignorance. Even in ten years, he still had no respect for the prince. The others had been wondering the same question.
"She possesses an item that needs to be retrieved. She will be staying in a hotel for a couple of days to recuperate from the recent competition before she can head home to Kyoto. I suggest you try to retrieve the item before then." Kurama raised an eyebrow.
"That's understandable, but why did you need all four of us?" Koenma looked solemnly at his folded hands.
"I don't like that look…" Kuwabara muttered, neither did the others. All except Hiei. As usual, he just looked disinterested with the current events.
"She comes down from a long line of guardians. These guardians diluted their blood by mating with humans, and continued to do so until their original blood had been almost drained completely. The most recent turn-outs of the family, are Takune and Tikai Hiromu." Kuwabara let out a confused notion.
"Guardian? Like, a demon guardian?" Koenma shook his head with his eyes closed.
"More like a psychic. Her spiritual awareness isn't as sharp as it should be, but her father has no intentions of teaching his children what they should be taught." Koenma paused before motioning for them to all look at the projector screen. Kurama gasped slightly.
"The Refugees Mark," He murmured longingly. "I thought it was only a rumor." Everyone in the room turned to stare at him curiously, even Hiei. He still stared at the mystical jewel, reaching a hand towards the projector. "I spent millennia looking for this fabled stone. They say those who come across it are protected from any form of evil boding." Koenma nodded.
"That's why the guardians were entrusted this stone after its' forging." He let out a cough to re-gather the attention of the now disbanded Rekai Tantei. "The problem is, the guardian who currently possesses is unable to do so because she's unaware of her powers."
"Wait, you mean Takune?" Hiei scoffed.
"Who else, idiot?" Kuwabara shot colorful words to the fire demon, although he continued to stare into oblivion. Koenma growled before slamming his hands on the desk.
"This is no time for arguing!" The much taller man that had towered over Hiei had stopped, a pout still on his face as he paid full attention to the child. "If the Mark even touches tainted hands, the three worlds could be destroyed!" Yusuke rolled his eyes before stuffing his hands in his pocket.
"Been there, done that." He muttered before turning to leave his former boss' office, the Rekai Tantei following suit. Koenma lowered his head until it was resting on his desk. He grumbled soundlessly to himself before putting his hands on his head.
"Get it as soon as possible."
After sliding in her keycard to her hotel room, Takune dropped her bags by the door, hearing a soft thump as they met the ground. Ti raised his thick eyebrows.
"Do enough shopping?" She let out a light hearted laugh before grabbing a pillow to throw at him. He returned the gesture after she decided to lay on her own full sized bed, the plush pillow hitting her in the stomach. The siblings stopped short of their banter when Takune realized she was still bored. She'd already done some souvenir shopping, what else could she possibly do? Huffing as she pushed herself off the hotel bed, she slumped her way towards the window. She grinned from ear to ear. A park!
"Ti, did you bring my guitar?" She didn't take her eyes away from the beautiful landscape. It looked almost surreal.
"Yeah, it's by our luggage." The look on her face was of unmistakable joy. Her brother really did know her well. With new found happiness, she walked over to their pile of luggage before grabbing her hefty black guitar bag and strapping it to her back.
"I'll be at the park across the street!" She announced, dashing out of her hotel room. Tikai shook his head at his younger sister's attitude toward boredom. Despite the fact that she was 24, she was still a child. Takune's muscled legs pushed her body to dodge traffic from the busy street, her guitar slightly thumping against her back. The park was almost horrifically clichéd, with the sun shining bright and the birds chirping happily in the trees. The water fountain glistened in the sunshine, the edge was a perfect spot to play. Unzipping the delicate case, Takune revealed her prized possession, an average sized acoustic guitar, the body colored black and fading to blue towards the sound hole. This was second to her electric guitar, which she favored more. The guitar sat perfectly on her lap as she pulled out a medium sized pick, fitting it comfortably between her fingers. She began to strum soft chords, the soothing melody enough to aide any ear. She hummed softly, hoping not to disturb her smooth fingers as they swept across the strings. The passing by spectators were mesmerized by the woman, almost as if she had drowned herself in her music. To herself, she probably did.
"How the hell are we supposed to find this girl?" Yusuke whined as the former Rekai Tantei searched high and low around Tokyo for their subject. "She could be in any hotel in Tokyo!" Kuwabara had agreed with his Jr. High rival, and deemed this mission impossible. Kurama let out a slight sweat drop.
"Now now, it's not impossible," He reasoned. "Think about this logically." The two teenagers had turned to face the semi-sheepish redhead, allowing him to explain. "She just competed at Tokyo University. Since she was able to run a distance there, she must be staying somewhere nearby." Yusuke and Kuwabara just looked at each other, before glaring at Kurama's emerald eyes.
"Shut up." They both spat simultaneously. Kurama rubbed his neck with his free hand, Hiei smirked at the discomfort the fox was currently suffering. That caused the former rivals to look at him.
"You got somethin' to say shrimp?" Kuwabara's attempt at being intimidating had failed, Hiei was impervious. His smirk thickened into a half smile, as a close a smile Hiei could muster.
"In fact I do." His ruby gaze had locked onto Yusuke, making the Mazaku raise a brow. "Are you idiots forgetting about the Jagan?"
Silence.
"Actually…yeah we did." Yusuke admitted. Hiei didn't really use the Jagan all too much while he was in the Ningenkai, only to watch over Yukina in secret. The smaller fire demon closed his eyes in annoyance. Well, he wasn't so small anymore. Granted, he was still the shortest of the group, but he had an exponential growth spurt. The others had been graced to be over 6 feet tall, while Hiei was approximately 5"10. How the former midget had grown almost a full foot, it was unknown. Without a second word, Hiei had jumped to the nearest tree, confining himself within the shadows. He pulled at his white bandana, allowing the Jagan to open itself to the world. He faintly remembered what the girl had looked like, but not down to the last detail.
She didn't have something significant about herself. Stomach length black hair, cobalt blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin wasn't exactly prominent. What else had Hiei noticed that would help them find her? She didn't have any significant clothing, and he couldn't sense her ki since he wasn't even sure what hers felt like. Wait, her piercings! Although she hadn't been wearing her jewelry, it was almost impossible for the fire demon's pristine vision to miss the holes that delved in her ears. Three going up the right lobe of her ears, two on the left. She had two other ones, but he was unsure of their names, considering they were placed on unusual areas of her ears. After a thorough scan of Tokyo, he hopped off the tree and back to the team.
"She's in a park, sitting on a fountain with something in her hands." Everyone turned to stare at him in wonder. He had taken longer than he normally would have, but it had been slightly more difficult considering he wasn't accustomed to her ki. Without another word, Yusuke lead them to the nearest park, noticing the crowd gathered around the water fountain.
"Hey Urameshi!" His orange haired companion pointed ahead. "Over there!" His towering figure had managed to point out her deep black locks above anyone else. He hair was neatly tucked behind her right ear, revealing four earrings as Hiei had seen before. The smile on her face was infallible as she strummed her midnight acoustic guitar. The four of them pushed their way to the front of the crowd, finally taking in the girls appearance and signature ki. There was a faint glow around her, bathing her body in a soft blue. The men stared in awe. Her eyes were closed as her fingers were splayed along the wooden instrument.
"Takune Hiromu?" She looked up at the former Spirit Detective with question glistening in her cerulean eyes. His demeanor was harsh and slightly cold, but his eyes were warm and inviting.
"Yes, who are you?" As her fingers stopped, the crowd began to disperse, much to the Rekai Tantei's luck. TK placed her guitar back in its' case and returned her pick to its respected pouch before giving her undivided attention to the men before her.
"We'll tell you later, but first," He snatched her wrist, his large hand enveloping her small hand. "You're coming with us." Anger flared inside of her. Who the hell did they think they were!? With a sharp growl, she took her wrist back before taking her strong hand and slapping him across the face. She was angry beyond belief. You don't just walk up to someone and demand you come with them! The tallest of the group had begun to guffaw at the sudden strike
"She's like Keiko!" He claimed making her raise a tweezed eyebrow. The redhead of the group looked at Takune with all the gentleness he had to offer.
"Excuse them Takune," He started, offering his hand for her to shake. She took it with hesitance. "My name is Kurama. The one you struck was Yusuke." TK nodded once in understanding, too bad she really didn't care.
"I'm Kazuma Kuwabara!" The tall, and loud, one shouted. "But you can just call me Kuwabara." The shortest of the group, shrouded in black, simply scoffed.
"She should just call you 'Buffoon'." The raven haired girl bit her lip to pass off her small giggles. Kurama continued introductions while the buffoon continued to yell at the much shorter man.
"That's Hiei." She nodded to Kurama before lifting her guitar on her back for it to rest securely.
"And as you all know, I'm Takune Hiromu. But I must bid you all a good day." Her sarcastic tone boiled Yusuke's blood to an unbearable temperature. He could always just grab her and get Botan to open a portal and have them leave. But no, he decided to be chivalrous today and allow her to come with them as long as she didn't argue with them. What a load that turned out to be. With a growl, his hands enveloped her built shoulders, pressing his fingers into her skin like sand.
"Listen you!" He shouted in her face, making her eyes widen in surprise. "You're going to stop being a bitch and you're coming with us!" Her sapphire orbs darted around the park, why was no one coming to her rescue? Did everyone else sense the ominous foreboding, or was it just her? The redhead placed a hand on his friends' shoulder, making Yusuke stare up at Kurama. He was silently asking to allow him to try. With a disgusted grunt, Yusuke let go and stood alongside Kuwabara and Hiei.
"Takune," She looked passively to Kurama. "We need you to come with us, for your safety. Is that alright?" TK smiled, her whitened teeth glistening in the setting sun. She nodded her head, her smile still abroad.
"Alright then. And for the record Kurama, you can call me TK." Kurama turned his moth upward into a silent smile. So not all of them were bad. The men had allowed her to drop off her guitar in her hotel room, thankfully Tikai had been sleeping like the peaceful big that he was. Despite the fact that they were ushering her to leave, she managed to find some blank paper and a pen to leave a note for her elder.
Tikai,
Girls night out with some of the other teammates that stayed here.
I'll be back later,
Drop a line if you need me!
TK
Takune wasn't sure where they were going, but wherever the location was, it was at least pleasant to a degree. She managed to see the good side of Yusuke, and apologized for her rude behavior; she didn't trust strangers all that well. Kurama had various civilized conversations that Yusuke and Kuwabara would join in on. She learned that Hiei was just a very anti-social person, and decided she didn't really need to talk to him anyway. Those that she did converse with seemed to be very interested with her earlier events taking place at Tokyo University. It almost felt like an interview.
"Were you nervous while you were out there doing your flippy thingies?" She laughed light heartedly at Kuwabara's way of phrasing his question. In her much less verbal answer, she nodded her head before adding,
"It's always nerve wracking before performing. But when the music starts, it all just fades into oblivion." Everyone fell silent, if they weren't already, at her statement. It really didn't just seem that easy. "Are we almost there?" Yusuke turned to look at her from his towering height. He was well over a foot taller than her, his height escalading to 6"9. From the look of it, TK was only 5"7.
"Yeah, we're here." He looked to the even taller, although not by much, Kuwabara. "Open up, buddy." He mumbled colorful words under his breath in response as he pulled out a key, entering his lone apartment. Yusuke nodded to all of them as they gathered in the living room. From his pants pocket, he pulled what appeared to be a compact mirror and clicked it open.
"Hey Botan, get a portal!" A higher pitched voice screamed nonsense of how insensitive Yusuke was, and other things of that nature until he finally clasped the compact shut. "Crazy woman." He muttered. A black portal opened right in front of them, making TK more than a little skeptical about taking a step inside. Kurama chuckled at her reaction.
"It's alright," He offered her a hand, open and waiting for hers to be placed inside of it. "Let's go." Hesitantly, she placed her trembling hand in it, the warmth of his enveloping her own.
"I think that thing distorted my head." Kurama and the others chuckled, while Hiei grunted.
"If it hurts that much, then you shouldn't be here." He snapped, Takune's eyebrow arched. If she could recall correctly before the head distortion, she hadn't ask to come here. Oh well, whatever his problem was, it was his problem, not hers. When we dawned across large doors with a brand looked like two E's back to back. Yusuke busted right through with no intentions of knocking.
"Alright diaper brain, we got her." He announced. They arrived upon a desk, with a baby furiously stamping a large stack of papers. TK wanted to laugh at the sight, if he didn't look so darn frustrated. For a fleeting moment, the infant looked up, his large brown eyes welled with concern.
"Thank you very much Yusuke," He even disregarded the fact that Yusuke called him 'Diaper Brain'. "You may all leave now." Without another word, they filed out of the office, and left her face to face with this toddler. His tiny hands were clasped together, his chocolate brown eyes were drowned in a mixed emotion that she couldn't differentiate. He cleared his throat, making her cerulean eyes lock with his.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Takune Hiromu." She sucked in a small breath at the sound of her name, curiosity wandering freely in her psyche. "I have very important business to discuss with you, regarding you, your family, and your history." She wanted to raise her hand, feeling like she was back in elementary school.
"If I may ask," TK knew when to be polite, and now was definitely the time. "Why can't the others be in here? I'd feel much more comfortable-"
"I can call them back in here, but after we discuss something only between us."
"And what would that be?"
"Confidentiality regarding The Refugees Mark." TK raised her eyebrows in utter confusion. What the hell was 'The Refugees Mark'? It sounded like a historical factor, almost like a scar caused to give freedom to slaves or something. Yet…it sounded morbidly interesting.
"What's that?" She voiced to Koenma, who actually seemed to have patience with this girl. His tiny fingers pushed the button to a remote, mechanical whirring sounded from behind her. Her azurite gaze locked with the projector screen, finally taking in the familiar onyx gem. It glinted from the light, refracting the rainbow and colors in between that were unbeknownst to her.
"Do you recognize this gem?" He inquired, his patience not faltering. Without answering, she began to take off all seven of her earrings, each of them slightly resembling the onyx gem before her. Koenma's eyes glittered at the fabled stone. The original Refugees Mark, said to be the size of a standard adult eyeball was splayed across his desk, broken into different sized fragments. The stone had become accents to this girls jewelry? If it weren't such a legend, it would have been humorous.
"My dad made me all of these earrings after I got all of them pierced." Takune pointed to her own ear, Koenma took in all of the holes. Had her father anticipated it to be this way? Or had he just found it as a good hiding spot for them? Koenma nodded before guiding all the jewelry together, a sudden ki arising. So that was her fathers idea.
"No wonder nobody's been able to find this…" He murmured longingly, the energy engrossing him with marvel. "When they're divided and not touching, their ki is almost undetectable." TK was unsure of what to make of this. Her earrings had their own energy? Since when did they have their own lives? Koenma's eyes snapped to her ocean gaze, making alarm surge in her veins, he commanded she put them back in. One by one she put them in, starting with her five lobe earrings, then her helix, and finally her tragus. The infant in front of her cringed as he could hear slight crunching noises from the cartilage holes. He cleared his voice.
"You can all come back in now!" The boys from earlier filed in, all lining up around Koenma's desk. To their eyes, nothing had changed at all. Takune's shady blue eyes were still glistening and Koenma still looked slightly troubled. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what to do with the girl. He was aware that the Mark was detectable, although it was very faint. TK hadn't had any sort of training or knowledge of her ancestors, of her guardians. Koenma hadn't bothered sugarcoating anything, and dropped the ball immediately.
"The Marks' fairytale is quite a renowned one, although many of the recent inhabitants have long forgotten it. It started with a demon who mated a human psychic that became a target because of that deed." Most of the room had fallen silent, Kuwabara and Yusuke stopped their breathing. "In turn, the demon sought after a substance much stronger than diamond. It took him many years to finally mine the raw material, and search after an enchantress to give the stone the power it has today." Takune took the moment to fiddle with her earrings, the refracted rainbow catching the various eyes of the Rekai Tantei.
"He gave this stone to her to protect her while he was away, but the night the demon returned, the stone had ended up mutilating him because it felt it's demonic energy. The woman had spiraled into deep depression after her child was born. Despite the demon ki the child had, the stone felt the purity in it and excepted it. Shortly after, the mother died. This child was the very first guardian born. After that, the first guardian mated with a human to dilute their demonic blood. The current guardians have almost nil demon blood." Koenma's eyes locked somberly with Takune's.
"Those guardians, are Tikai and Takune Hiromu."
Author Note: It's been a really long time since I wrote a YYH fic, forgive me if it's horrid. And for some clarity, Takune's name is pronounce Taku-nay. and Tikai's nickname is Ty, just spelt differently. If you aren't sure what a Helix or a Tragus piercing is, a Helix is a standard cartilage piercing at the upper part of the ear. And a Tragus is that little flap attached to your head. My apologies if you don't understand 'Gymnastics Lingo'. It's not a major feature, but it does give the character some background. If the characters are too OOC for your liking, too bad.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, or any other publicly recognizable characters, places, objects, etc. I do, however, own the plot, Takune and Tikai, and The Refugees Mark.