Hiya! New story, this is. An experiment of sorts, I hope I get far with this. Lol. You must know Final Fantasy 8, and a quite a bit of the history of Final Fantasy 7 ... like Mako, Lifestream and all that.
Timeline : Two years after FF8 the game, where Squall is still commander, and about 5000 years after YYH. Assuming FF7 takes place 3000 years after YYH.
This chapter however, takes place seventy years after the end of YYH.
No romance, btw, except the occasional SquallRinoa.
Prologue : Final Fantasy : Awakening Demons
The funeral was about to begin.
"Yusuke, my condolences..." said a soft voice, one he knew belonged to his former boss. He knelt down in front of the grave and said a silent prayer.
"Least she was happy," said Yusuke, smiling fondly at the memories, before turning to look at the man beside him. Then he turned around to face the rest of the group. There was Koenma, who took time off to come, and Yusuke really appreciated that, but he wasn't about to let him know that. Botan and Yukina were there too, crying silently; Keiko had been a very good friend. Shizuru, Kuwabara, and even Hiei came.
Yusuke raised an eyebrow. That was saying something for Hiei, especially since he kidnapped her once.
"Thanks for coming, Hiei," said Yusuke, chuckling even when Hiei glared at him before striding forward to say a few words to the deceased.
"Hn. Onna, thank you for hitting Yusuke all those times and saving me the trouble," said Hiei, before closing his eyes in silence, then dodging a playful punch from Yusuke.
Keiko was eighty four years old when she died. Yusuke was of the same age, but he didn't look a day over twenty five. Watching her age and grow weaker day by day was painful… but Yusuke felt a little bit of relief now that her suffering had ended.
The rest of them gathered round, paying their last respects. Koenma clapped a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. Kuwabara was wondering why his best friend wasn't feeling any sadness... and he began to fear for himself, and for his dear Yukina who still looked the same as ever, if only taller. He himself was eighty four as well ... his time would soon come. He squeezed his wife's hand tightly.
"I wanted to go pick her up," said Botan, wiping her tears, "But I didn't have the heart to do it," she sobbed again, and Yusuke surprised everyone by hugging her and telling her it's alright. Then he looked around.
"Where's Kurama?"
"Here. I brought him," said Hiei gruffly.
Something soft nudged his pants, and he whirled around to look. A silver fox with seven tails (1) stood there, peering up into Yusuke's face. Then it strutted over to the grave, bowed its head down, and flowers bloomed around the grave. Yusuke grinned. After his mother and stepfather had died, he disappeared back to Makai, working with Yomi, but reverting back to his Youko form.
"Arigatou, Kurama," he said, petting the soft fur. "Can't you show yourself as Youko or something?"
I can't, Yusuke. You know I cannot retain a human form now. I must be go back to Makai, but I need to stop by Mukuro's place first, Kurama's voice echoed in everyone's head. With a final goodbye, Kurama leapt onto Hiei's shoulders.
"Yukina," said Hiei. "When... when that time comes... call for me. I will bring you back to Makai."
There was shocked silence as Kuwabara's head drooped, determined not to let anyone see his sorrowful state. Yukina, choking back tears, nodded and gave her brother a hug. She giggled a bit as Kurama nuzzled against her cheek, and a small smile played on Hiei's lips. He nodded curtly to everyone else after that, and then turned to Yusuke.
"You do not want to return to Makai?"
"I will. I wanna stay a little longer though."
"Be warned," said Koenma. "Something's not right with Makai lately. I will still keep in touch with all of you. You may no longer be Reikai Tantei... but I don't want to see anything bad happen to you. And Kurama, don't you dare start stealing again!"
Kurama stuck out his tongue at Koenma, and then hid in the safety of Hiei's warm cloak.
They all nodded. Soon, one by one, they dispersed, knowing that they'd meet again for the next funeral. Yusuke was the last one to leave.
"Bye, Keiko..." he said softly, before walking off into the sunset, flanked by Hiei with the fox on his shoulders.
Twenty years later, Yusuke couldn't take it anymore. Loneliness was too much; it overpowered his love for Keiko. How does one face thousands of years to come without a loved one? No, Yusuke couldn't, wouldn't do that. Hiei and Kurama still stuck by him, loyalty and trust and friendship and all that, but it hurt too much. Even Kuwabara was gone, and Yukina was now staying with her brother in Alaric.
His moods affected his power. In deep bouts of depression and loneliness, he would go into a trance-like state, and disappear from his kingdom, and attack every living thing he saw. Kurama and Hiei nearly lost their lives trying to control and subdue the former detective, and for that he felt beyond guilty.
"I have the power to destroy Makai. I've become too strong, and I can't control it. What am I gonna do?"
Mukuro cleared her throat.
"You have many years ahead of you. I suggest you do this... before you wipe out all of Makai. Learn to control it. Meditation would be the best way. Your soul is not calm..."
"Meditate?"
"Yes. Once you have found peace with yourself, this should not take very long, it will be safe for you... and all of us again," said Kurama, agreeing with Mukuro.
"But he will be vulnerable," said Yomi, having heard Mukuro's opinion. "He will need a safe place to do this, and meditation could take very long, or very short... it depends on you."
"Yomi's right. Who will save your ass, detective?" said Hiei, snorting.
"You and Kurama, of course," said Yusuke, winking at them. "I like the idea. I don't have to worry about any other shit."
"If he wants to be safe, nobody must know of his disappearance. We will create a special place for you as soon as possible, so do try not to go on any killing rampage."
"Agreed!"
"We will protect you by all means, Yusuke," said Kurama, getting up to depart with Yomi, smiling at him. Yusuke grimaced, the two of them hadn't recovered completely from the injuries he had inflicted on them.
It was decided that Makai was not safe enough for Yusuke to meditate in peace, and so with assistance from Koenma, Yusuke returned once again to Ningenkai to begin his meditation, reinforced by wards from Hiei and Kurama and even Yukina, to ensure that no one would disturb him.
Yusuke promised to return to Makai once he was done.
Hundreds of years passed... In Makai, he was pronounced dead. The war between Makai and Reikai resumed... and Enma-Daioh released his wrath upon the youkai race, exterminating all of them except for Kurama, Yukina and Hiei who managed to escape to the Ningenkai once more with Koenma and Botan's help.
Makai was no more.
Communication with Reikai was lost after that, and no news came from Botan or Koenma.
Yusuke was still deep in meditation. Kurama and Hiei guarded him and Yukina with their lives. And after far too long, the two demons lost hope for their comrade, and laid him to rest instead of a sitting position, but leaving the wards intact and starting the rumour and the legend of the unknown king that lay in it. Naturally, all who tried to go in came to unfortunate deaths.
And two thousand years later, Kurama and Hiei survived, with only each other for comfort, not daring to show their faces in fear of the Enma-Daioh who was still ever watchful, and ventured out only when needed.
The world had changed... the tectonic plates had shifted, causing continents to form and break up, until the landscape had totally changed. They had no idea of what was going on outside, and they feared for their lives when a great rumbling shook the entire planet (2).
Until one fateful day Botan came to find them and tell them it was safe again, and Enma was no longer suspicious of any remaining youkai, but they would still have to lie low, especially Kurama. So they ventured out, testing the waters ... and left Yusuke unguarded certain that no danger would come to him as there were no more enemies left. They went their separate ways, eager to be free again, though occasionally meeting up again to check on their former leader.
It was around this time the Deep Sea Research Center was built, and excavating began in search of what lay beneath there. Something glowing had been reported; it was an eerie glow and one that spouted mysteries... Kurama had gotten himself there and eventually found the source of the glowing... a white and black orb that fit snugly into his palm. He stole away with it, but in doing so invoked the wrath of the Planet, who destroyed the Research Center and remained there for years until a man named Squall Leonheart and his comrades defeated it.
No one except Kurama knew of the existence of those orbs, and he stashed the two in his own den, and it sat there safely while he searched for information on it.
Only once did he take it out. He showed it to Hiei, who merely snorted and flitted off after casually mocking him.
The Planet, however, knew...
(1) - Kurama's gotten stronger, that's why. Lol.
(2) - Meteor hits Midgar around this time.
I'm sure you all know by now where Yusuke is. Lol. If it doesn't make sense, well hey, it's fanfiction XD