A/N: Okay...I don't know how well this is going to come out, it was mostly just for practice. I wanted to try writing a story with a bunch of different writing styles, thus the multiple line-breaks.
Depending on whether I get any reviews, and on what they say, I may put one or two more chapters up. They will either be...
A. One to two alternate endings.
B. A chapter about what Hiei thought when Kuwabara 'fainted'.
C. A chapter about Koenma talking to Botan, discussing what Kuwabara just did.
D. I may or may not take request and turn this into a story of songfics.
Please let me know.
As the seasons change - Remember how I used to be...
Kazuma Kuwabara had never doubted that he would be the first on the team to die. He didn't let himself think about it much but soemtimes he just couldn't help but wonder how it would happen.
Kuwabara had thought up many different scenarios of his death, some were possible but others weren't. None of them had been like this though...
He hadn't seen the other Spirit Detectives in months, they had been training in the Demon World, when he was called to the Spirit World.
Koenma had told him that Hiei, Urameshi, and Kurama were already at the site of the mission and he'd just be joining them.
It had been a riot of some sort. There were thousands of demons everywhere. Vicious, blood-thirsty demons were everywhere and the only friendly face he could find was Hiei's. One friendly face floating in a sea of enemies.
Now I can't go on - I can't even start
I've got nothing left - Just a broken heart...
The two fought by each other, side-by-side, for the longest time. They were holding their own but that was it. No ground was gained, no ground was lost. And then it happened.
Kuwabara hadn't expected to die in that fight. He certaintly hadn't expected to die blocking an attack Hiei had missed. But it happened and there wasn't anything that Kuwabara could do to change that.
Kuwabara found that he suddenly couldn't hear or see anything. The screams of the demons went from ear shattering to a dull buzzing to nothing. Black dots slowly invaded his vision and slowly replaced the battle-field. He couldn't hear or see but he could feel.
He felt the anger, anguish, pain, fear and hate that was swimming in the Demon World's already tainted air.
He felt Hiei's red eyes burning a hole into his back. Even with out looking he could tell that they were filled with the unasked question 'why?'
He felt the burning pain shoot through his body. It started at his stomache, where the energy blast had hit him, and spread through the rest of his body.
He felt himself falling. The air rished around him, his legs shook and then buckled beneath him.
And then he couldn't feel anything.
I'm a soldier - wounded so I must give up the fight...
Kuwabara wasn't really sure what had happened...One moment he was out in Demon World fighting for his and Hiei's lives and the next he was in Koenma's office in the Spirit World.
The young prince was sitting behind his desk, a worried look on his face. "Kuwabara..." For once, Koenma seemed to be at a loss for words. His sentence just hung there, waiting for words that weren't coming.
As Kuwabara sat there, Koenma having tried twice more to start his sentence before giving up, the memories of the past few hours came back to him and he realized that he didn't hurt anymore. He wasn't tired either...
"I'm dead aren't I?" The words left his mouth almost before he had completely realized what they meant.
Koenma nodded slightly, his eyes refusing to leave a small nik in the corner of his desk. Kuwabara felt his heart, and stomache, drop. His head spun for a second before he found himself speaking without thinking about what he was saying once again. "Why am I here than?"
Kuwabara watched as Koenma's head shot up, a startled 'W-what?' ending the awkward silence that had been threatening to take place. "When people die you send Botan or one of your other reaper-girls out to bring in the spirits. They don't usually come to see you either. So...What's going on?" Kuwabara wasn't about to let Koenma keep secrets about his own death.
"Well Kuwabara", the prince sat up a little straighter as he spoke, "You have worked for Spirit World, of your own free will I might add, for several years now. During this time you have risked your own life and saved the human race repeatedly." Koenma paused and folded his hands on the desk in front of him. He leaned foreward slightly before continueing. "Because of this you are getting one favor. A wish so to speak."
There's nothing more for me - So lead me away...
A...Wish? That was it? He, a mere human, fought demons and workded himself to exhaustion for years and he got one stinkin' wish? Why didn't that seem fair?
At least he knew what to wish for. Kuwabara opened his mouth, fully intent on wishing himself back to life, when a thought hit him. He was a human. He fought demons for a living. It didn't matter how he looked at it. The cold, hard truth was that even if he wished himself back to life know, he was just going to die again.
Kuwabara let his mouth close, the demand dieing in his throat. There were so many other things he could wish for. Things that were a lot more important.
Or leave me laying here...
His older sister Shizuru who was struggling with paying the bills, finding a good vet for Eikichi and helping Kuwabara find a mechanic for his motorcycle that could fix damage caused by a demon.
His friend Sawamura who'd been forced to move to a new city because his father had not only been released from jail but had found his and his mothers address.
His pal Kirishima was going to a fancy college in America but didn't have enough money to get back home for his younger sisters fourth birthday.
Okubo's mom was in the hospital again so he was left to support his family on his own. The only difference was that she would need surgery this time, surgery that he would have to pay for.
Kurama, Hiei, and Urameshi, who would no doubt all carry a mis-placed guilt over his death.
Sound the bugle now - tell them I don't care
There's not a road I know - that leads to anywhere...
"I know what I'm gonna wish for Koenma." Kuwabara's voice held a seriousness that he almost never used. It held the heavy decision that he was about to make.
Koenma nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Wonderful. I will start the reviv-" He looked around his empty desk, spotted the small piece of paper he needed on the floor, and moved to grab it as he spoke.
Kuwabara let a small sigh escape as he shook his head. "I'm not wishing myself back to life Koenma." He watched the prince sputter for a few seconds but didn't give him a chance to speak. "I'm using my wish to make sure the people I care about get taken care of. All of them." His voice was stern but evidently not stern enough becaus ethe young ruler still saw fit to argue.
Koenma's eyes widened, the paper he was holding falling out of his hand and back onto the floor. "W-what do you mean?! You have to wish yourself back to life! You're only nineteen Kuwabara! You have your whole life ahead of you, don't just give up!"
With out a light - I fear that I will stumble in the dark.
Lay right down - decide not to go on...
Kuwabara's hands slammed down on the desk, the wood beneath them creaking from the force of the blow, successfully silencing the prince.
"You don't get it." Though Kuwabara'a face held an anger that seemed foreign and unknown to him, his voice was eerily calm. "I'm not giving up...There's just better things to use my wish for." He let his face soften slightly but his voice remained stoney
"You said it yourself Koenma, I'm just a nineteen year old human. I'm going to die anyway." Kuwabara lifted his hands from the desk and stuck them in his pockets. "Nothing's gonna change that fact Koenma. If I wish myself back to life...It'd be the same thing as wishing for a a piece of sushi. Pointless." His attempt at adding a bit of humor to the situation didn't lighten it up like he had hoped it would.
Koenma leaned back in his chair, a disgruntled look on his face. "A-are you sure Kuwabara? Once you make this wish...There's no going back, no third chances." He was certain that the orange-haired human would change his mind at the last second, absolutely certain of it.
Kuwabara closed his eyes, face taking on its usual expression. He knew that there wouldn't be a third chance, he hadn't been expecting this second chance. He also knew that his friends could benefit from this wish more than he could.
"I know Koenma. Just make sure that everyone gets taken care of, alright?" He didn't want to argue about this any longer, he just wanted Koenma to sign the paperwork so he would know that they would be taken care of.
Koenma nodded slightly as he bent to pick the paper back up. "If this is what you want Kuwabara...." He waited for the human to nod again before he continued, "I, the Prince of Spirit World, grant you your wish. I swear that your friends and family will be taken care of." As the final word left Koenma's mouth he stamped down on the paper and made it official.
Then from on high - somewhere in the distance
There's a voice that calls - rememver who you are
If you lose yourself - your courage soon will follow
So be strong tonight - remember who you are...
It was like a heavy weight had been lifted off of his chest only to be dropped back down from several stories up. His decision was made and he didn't regret it at all but it still hit him hard. Harder than anything had ever hit him.
He was dead.
He had saved Hiei.
He would never graduate collage.
He had given his friends and family a better chance.
He would never see Yukina again.
He had saved her brother.
He was dead.
'Wake up!' Kuwabara's eyes snapped open. 'You stupid human!' He looked around the room with wide eyes. There was no one there but Koenma and himself. 'I'm not lugging you around you stupid human!' There was no mistaking that voice. It was defiantly Hiei.
Koenma didn't seem to hear anything. He was still hunched over the 'wish-paper', scribbling his signature every few lines. 'I will let them trample you if you don't get yourself up!' There it was again, clearer this time.
Koenma still hadn't looked up, only...He was starting to get blurry. The whole room, and everything in it, was starting to blur together.
"No matter what happens now that promise is getting filled right?" Koenma looked up from the paper at Kuwabara's question, a slightly annoyed look on his face. "There's nothing that anyone can do to stop it now." He clearly wasn't happy about it.
The young prince frowned at Kuwabara for several seconds before realizing that something was wrong. "Kuwabara! W-what are you doing?!" The princes voice was shrill and high-pitched, he was clearly distressed.
Kuwabara could feel his Spirit Energy coming back to him, a cold blast that his body seemed to absorb. "I'm stronger than you think Koenma and...I'm not dead yet."
He watched in slight amusement as Koenma's mouth dropped open, his eyes widening. "Kuwabara! Wha-what?!" The prince threw himself forewards so that he was half laying on his desk.
The cold spread through his body like he was slowly dunking himself into a vat of ice-water. The room seemed to be nothing but a spinning mess of colors, molding and dripping together to form a twisted mosaic.
The swirling colors melded into a sea of blackness that seemed to envelope Kuwabara. As the blackness appeared the cold sensation, and everything else, seemed to disappear leaving nothing but a suffocating blackness.
You're a soldiar - fighting in a battle
To be free once more - that's worth fighting for...
The first thing that Kuwabara noticed, once his sight and his sense of feeling came back, was that he was laying in a crumpled heap behind some large rocks. The cold stones dug into his back and shoulders and the hard ground was almost as bad.
The second thing that he noticed was the pain shooting through his body. In some spots, like his hands and feet, it felt like he was being repeatedly stabbed with pins but the closer to his stomache, the worse the pain was.
Then he noticed that he could still hear the sounds of fighting and the loud, tell-tale 'swish' and 'skrank' of Hiei's sword nearby.
It was difficult and it was painful, very painful, but Kuwabara manage to pull himself up and back onto the battle field.
There were still hundreds of demons scattered against the charred hill and Hiei was still the only friendly face that he could see. The fire-demon must have heard him or smelled him or...Something, because as Kuwabara summoned his Spirit Sword the shorter demon turned around.
Even from the large distance between the two fighters, Kuwabara could see the shorter demons red-eyes widen as a look of surprise briefly crossed his face.
A slight nod was sent towards the small demon, a signal that he was alright, and the nod was returned. The moment it was Kuwabara launched himself back into the fight.
The pain was still there but it was pushed to the back of his mind, away from everything else. Kuwabara refused to let even a small trace of the pain cross his mind.
Yeah...
And Kuwabara was once more back-to-back with Hiei, the shorter demon still battleing like the fight had just started, and the knowledge that he was just a regular human weighed heavier on his mind than ever before.
But Kuwabara knew that when the next mission came around he'd go into the fight smiling, just like he had this time, because he was stronger than everyone took him to be. He didn't just fight to protect the human race, he fought to protect his friends. To him...That was worth dieing for.
That's worth fighting for.