Hello, hello! It is I, the author of this story! Behold the glory that is a sequel to my first YYH fic intitled Kyouka Ankoku! For those of you who have read Kyouka Ankoku, welcome back! For those of you who haven't . . . welcome anyways! XD
So I bet you all must be wondering what to expect in this story? Well I shall tell you!
SUMMARY:
A year after the incident that took place in Kyouka Ankoku, Numata has reappeared! But there's something odd about her. Could it be that she's lost her memories? OO Oh my. That does seem rather troublesome. It's a bittersweet reunion for Hiei and world full of questions for the Reikai Tentais! Memories of the past will be returned, feelings revealed and a tragic destiny will be fulfilled. Hiei x OC; Kurama x Botan and Yusuke x Keiko in later chapters (maybe).
FANFIC KEY:
/---/ in Italics Character thinking to themself or communicating telepathically to another. If it is a telepathic communcation, I'll indicate it . . . somehow. oO;;
"---" and text in Italics A flashback or memory.
Blah blah okay. Enough with my rabble. ONWARD WITH THE FANFIC!
Brand New Tomorrow
Chapter One - Return of a Poor Soul
It was close to midnight when the Reikai Tentais were all gathered at their designated meeting spot. Kuawabara yawned tiredly as he stretched his arms toward the night sky. Drowsily he looked around at his fellow comrades as he scratched his chin. "So . . . why are we out here again?"
"Have you forgotten already?" Spoke Hiei, casting a glare in the direction of the red-haired ningen. He lept down from his perch in a nearby tree and landed directly in front of Kuwabara. "If so, then I guess my speculations about you were right. You DO have the memory span of Goldfish."
"What? You wanna run that by me again, shorty?" Kuwabara threatened as he raised a fist in the air, prepared to give the little koorime a beating.
"Kuwabara, stop." Kurama spoke up as he stepped between the ningen and koorime. He then turned to face Hiei, a stern look in his eyes. "You too, Hiei. We're here for a very important reason."
"Yeah, so both of you stop your bickering." Yusuke demanded, both of his hands on his hips. His short black hair was a mess, as he had just rolled out of bed. Well, more like after being kicked out of bed by Botan who had informed them of the case they were about to investigate. "I'd like to get this over as soon as possible so I can get to bed."
Yawning tiredly, Yusuke began to head forward into the thick forest foilage. Kurama followed soon after with Kuwabara right behind him. Hiei hung back for a moment, a displeased look on his face. Had Kurama not stopped them, Kuwabara would've been six feet under by now. Hiei just sighed at his ruined oppritunity to teach that ningen a lesson and disappeared into the forest to catch up with the others.
. . . Which didn't take long as Hiei soon found them in a matter of seconds. Quietly he walked beside Kurama, looking around the moonlit scenery.
"Botan said the high concentration of spiritual energy was around here somewhere . . . " Yusuke spoke as he walked ahead of everyone. He looked high and low, but only succeeded in finding and startling several wildlife creatures.
"Ain't nothing out here but trees and bushes!" Kuwabara shouted, kicking a bush he was standing in front of.
"Just keep looking. It shouldn't be hard to miss."
Peeking over a bush, Yusuke sighed, finding nothing but a startled rabbit. Hiei had long since begun leeping from tree to tree, trying to see if he could find anything from above. Kurama looked through several bushes himself, only to end up empty handed.
Kuwabara sighed as he headed over to a fallen tree stump. Tiredly, he sat down upon it and looked at Yusuke and Kurama. "I'm telling you guys, this search is POINTLESS. The only thing we're succeeding in finding are bunny rabbits and raccoons."
"Maybe if you would get off your butt and search, you might be able to find something." Hiei answered, standing on a tree branch a few feet away from the sitting Kuwabara.
"You better watch your mouth, shorty! Before my fists find it!" Kuwabara replied, waving a fist up at him.
"Man. Can't the two of you ever stop fighting?" Yusuke asked, as he faced his two quarelling comrades.
"Just as long as that lazy lug-head doesn't get in my way." Hiei spoke, leaping forward to another tree branch.
"Who you calling a 'lazy lug-head'!" Kuwabara shouted, his face destroted in anger and two fists waving wildly in the air.
Hiei just continued to leap from tree branch to tree branch, ignoring the shouts of a now upset Kuwabara. As much as he'd love to shut him up, they were currently on a mission . . . a mission that didn't seem to be going quiet well. He lept onto the branch of a willow tree and looking through the curtain like leaves of the tree, spotted the moon hanging high up in the sky. Quietly Hiei observed the moon as the wind rustled through the leaves.
"You're half-human, aren't you?" Under the pale moonlight, Hiei looked down at the young girl he had just saved from a rather ruthless bunch of demons. When she nodded to his question, he just frowned in a displeased manner. "This is no place for the likes of you. You don't belong here. I should've let them kill you."
"I was just trying to get away. I'm sorry to have gotten you involved." Apologetically the young girl bowed her head low before Hiei. She was kneeling on the ground, bruised up slightly with scratch marks on her arms. She raised her head, her crimson eyes locking directly with his. "My name is Numata. Thank you for saving me from those demons."
Hiei shook his head, chasing the memory away. It had been a long time since that incident occured . . . so why was he remembering it know? Realizing he had wasted precious time by just standing there, he quickly lept forward, continuing his search of this infamous high concentration of spiritual energy they had been sent to find.
"My name is Numata. Thank you for saving me."
/Numata . . . / Hiei thought to himself, remembering the event that took place almost a year ago. They had just succeeded in killing Akujin, but at the cost of Numata's life and were now trapped in a crumbling world. But they were saved by Numata who showed them a way back to their own world. As they entered the portal one by one, Numata just stood there watching, the world around her being swallowed by darkness . . . and the last thing Hiei ever saw of Numata was her falling into the darkness, shedding tears of sorrow and loneliness.
Hiei lept off the last try branch and found himself standing in a clearing. The moon was directly above the clearing, pale beams of light showering down everywhere. Cautiously Hiei walked forward but as his foot touched the ground, something happened. A heavy concentration of spiritual energy surged out from the ground and pushed against him. Digging his feet into the ground to stay standing, he removed his sword from its scabbard and sliced at the spiritual energy pushing against. For a moment, a gap was opened, but was quickly sealed up again as more spiritual energy pushed Hiei away.
"Looks like I finally found what we were looking for." Hiei answered as smirk on his face. He pushed against the spiritual energy with his own, and began to hack away at it.
The other Reikai Tentais had been busily searching through the forest, when they suddenly sensed it. Looking toward the direction Hiei had last been seen heading toward, they noticed the forest beginning to become distorted. Trees began to bend and the wildlife that once inhabited that section of forest suddenly came running out and darted past the stunned Reikai Tentais.
"This concentration of spiritual energy . . . its so thick . . . " Kurama replied, as his put an arm over his face. He squinted his eyes, detecting the presences of a second concentration of spiritual energy. "I sense Hiei. He must be trying to deal with whatever it is that's causing this."
"I don't think I want to know who it is causing this . . . " Kuwabara hesistantly spoke, as a large sweat drop ran down the side of his face.
"Come on. Hiei might need our help." Yusuke replied as he rushed forward, not waiting for an answer from the other two.
Kurama followed soon after Yusuke, despite Kuwabara's remark of the both of them being 'crazy fools rushing head on to their deaths'. In silence Kuwabara stood alone, the strong concentration endlessly pushing against him. Finally he let out a fustrated growl as he too followed Yusuke and Kurama to the source.
Hiei furiously slashed at the spiritual energy, but never once felt it decrease in its intensity. He lept back, avoiding a ball of energy that had been flung at him. The ground was trembling as the uncontolable spiritual energy lashed about, trying to flatten the fast moving koorime. Pushing off the ground, Hiei charged forward with his sword before him, slicing open a path that lead to center core of all this energy. If he could get there, he could find out who or what was the cause of all this.
But just as Hiei was about to approach the center, he was suddenly hit by a heavy wall of energy. He tried to keep his footing, but soon found himself thrown back. He skid several yards back, but drove the blade of his sword into the ground to prevent him from moving any further. Growling in fustration, he looked up to see the spiritual energy being pulled back toward the center of the clearing.
"Hiei! Are you all right?" Yusuke called as he, Kurama and Kuwabara suddenly appeared at the other end of the clearing.
"Be careful. It's doing something strange." Hiei warned the other Reikai Tentais, causing them to stop in their tracks.
All the energy gathered in to the center of the clearing and shot up toward the moon in the form of a bright column of light. Just as quickly as the column of light had formed, a faint outline of person appeared. It floated in the center of column becoming more and more solid with each passing second. Soon, the body of female being stood within the center of the light column. She floated there with her eyes closed before they suddenly shot open and flashed crimson red.
" . . . It can't be . . . " Hiei whispered in shock as his eyes connected with those of the strange female before him.
The light column flickered, before it receeded back into the ground and disappeared. The strange female that had appeared in the center of the column of light touched down on the ground, her long orange hair flaring out in the wind. She stood there croggly for a minute or two before collasping weakily to her knees. Tiredly she knelt there as the Reikai Tentais began to approach her.
Hiei however made it to her first. His sword still drawn, he looked down at the girl, his eyes narrowing. /It can't be possible . . . /
"You mean to tell me this chick was the cause of all the spirutal energy?" Kuwabara asked, glancing at Kurama and Yusuke.
"It appears so . . . " Kurama answered, watching Hiei stand before the girl.
"Tell me who you are." Hiei spoke, his eyes narrowing a little more. Slowly she raised her head and looked up at him. Once again their eyes locked and Hiei stepped back. This girl that had just suddenly appeared before them . . . this girl was-- ". . . Numata?"
The girl looked up at Hiei, her eyes full of confusion. But she remained slient as she closed her eyes and collasped. Dropping his sword, Hiei caught her before she hit the ground. As the other Reikai Tentais rushed over, Hiei looked down at the girl he had caught in his arms confused.
/Numata . . . /
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". . . Numata?"
Her eyes slowly opened once again and she found herself staring up at a twirling ceiling fan. She looked down at her body, to find herself wearing an unfamiliar pair of pink pajamas. Her hands soflty ran across the unfamiliar sheets she was currently nestled beneath, and felt her head resting upon an unfamiliar soft pillow. She began to try and sit up, but paused when she heard the door slide open. Startled, she found herself staring into the eyes of girl with short brown hair.
"Numata, you're awake! I'm so glad." Keiko sighed in relief as she walked into the room, carrying a tray with food. She set it down on the nightstand as she sat in the chair placed next to the bed. She then smiled happily. "You've been out for almost two days now since Yusuke and the others brought you here."
Numata just looked around the room in silent confusion.
"Are you hungry? I had my mom make you some breakfast." Keiko replied as she pointed to the food she had brought in.
"Thank you." Numata replied softly. She turned to the food, but instead of eating it, she just stared at it.
"Is something wrong, Numata?" Keiko asked, concerned with the expression on her face.
"I appreciate your kindness but . . . " Numata answered, looking at Keiko. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
Keiko just sat there, her eyes wide in shock.
"You're saying she doesn't remember anything?" It was three in the afternoon when Yusuke and the others arrived at Keiko's home to check up on Numata.
"No, nothing at all." Keiko answered, a sad look in her eyes. "She doesn't remember any of us, how she got here or her past. The only thing she knows is her name."
"That doesn't help us much. It just makes things more complicated." Yusuke replied as he sat in one of the empty booths, his arms folded across his chest. "What I want to know is how she survived. We did after all . . . kill her in that battle with Akujin . . . "
"Yes, that's true . . . " Kurama replied as he leaned up against the counter thinking. "And with her memory gone, who knows how long it will take until we learn that answer."
"What does it matter how she got here?" Everyone turned to the once silent koorime that stood adjacent from their group. He looked up at them, the same old scowl on his face. "We have more important things to concern ourselves with then figure out why and how Numata got here."
"But don't you want to know why she's here and what happened to her?" Keiko asked, a worried look on her face.
"I could care less." Hiei replied as he walked out the door, not once looking back at them.
"That Hiei. Sometimes I think his social skills will never improve." Botan replied, standing beside Kurama in casual clothes. She folded her arms and pouted. "How can he not care about Numata losing her memories? Didn't they use to know each other?"
"Indeed." Kurama replied as he looked out the glass doors of the restaurant and at the lone figure of Hiei standing outside by himself. "But I think that despite what he said, he's just as desperate as us to find out how Numata got here and why her memory is gone."
Outside and away from everyone, Hiei stood on the sidewalk with his back toward the restaurant. Quietly he stared up at the sky, watching as the clouds passed over head. His hands rolled into tight fists as his eyes narrowed.
"Please . . . won't you tell me your name?" Numata asked, following behind Hiei. "I would very much like to know the name of the one that saved me . . . "
" . . . it's Hiei." Hiei replied, keeping his back to her.
Numata smiled. "Thank you, Hiei . . . "
/Have you truly forgotten everything, Numata/ Hiei thought to himself, watching as the sun was blocked out by the clouds.
Okay okay! So that was Chapter 01 of Brand New Tomorrow! To me it seems that it ended on an odd note. Oo; Sorry about that. Anyways, please leave a comment? Pretty please? I love comments! As well as Oreo cookies. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you in Chapter 02! Love and Peace.