Story Title: Binding Contracts
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.
Author's Notes: This is the first story in a series of OC stories that contain my Yuki Miyamoto. Depending on readers' reception of her, I'll continue the series. If she's hated, then I won't because I won't waste time on both our parts if everyone thinks Yuki should die. And other thing, typically I set my fanfics after the series, but this is set after the Dark Tournament. Very well, shall we begin? Enjoy.
Chapter One: Unfortunate Meetings
Yusuke covered his mouth with his hand over his yawn. He was very tired from last night. For once, he actually studied. Sure it was for half an hour and only in between the commercial breaks, but a book was actually laid out in front of him for once. Afterwards to celebrate, he spent the night watching an all-night monster movie fest and didn't wake up in time for school. Oh well, sacrifices were made.
He noticed a stain on his baggy red T-shirt and glared at it as if his anger could fade it out. It didn't. The young man zipped up his jean jacket instead. Another yawn issued from his mouth.
"Hey Urameshi," said a voice in a fake, sexy voice. Yusuke jumped and turned around. It was Kuwabara grinning with Kurama behind him suppressing a laugh. "Fooled you, didn't I?"
"Heh, you should go into phone sex" Yusuke roared in laughter as Kuwabara silently glared, and Kurama tried desperately to wash the thought from his mind. By standing in the middle of the busy city street, they blocked the human traffic, so the three began walking together. They thought, why not? They lived together, fought together, and almost died together, so a little quality time wouldn't kill them.
A young man stood on the rooftop of the building, removed his dark sunglasses, and focused the high-powered binoculars. When the bustling streets came into view, he shot an amused grin and revealed his pointed, jagged teeth.
"Target in sight," he announced in a crackling voice. His cousin, crouched down beside him like a frog, repeated the message to another relative on a hand-held communicator. They were only junior high students, but while their classmates were fretting over their high school entrance exams, they had bigger plans. Riches, fame, authority, they would have it all.
"Honorable Akira, shall I give the order to your sister, Setsuna?" he asked to his cousin with a polite and formal title. It was mandatory—he was the leader of their clan after all.
"No, Junzo," he grabbed and shook his cousin by his short maroon-dyed hair. "You shut up and wait for my commands." Junzo winced and rubbed his scalp.
"Of course, Honorable Akira," he grumbled.
Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama weren't sure what they wanted to do. Not really hungry, every movie playing was horrible, and their wallets were kind of thin anyway, so they walked, mostly in silence. A cold autumn wind forced them to cling to the insides of their jackets. As they were walking down, a group of noisy girls were walking up. Well, it wasn't fair to say they all were noisy. It was really just one girl, the leader of the group apparently. She kept flipping back her long dark brown curls and spoke very loud so that everyone around her could hear their conversation. The girl was surrounded by four other girls. Three of them eagerly listened, praised the lead girl for her genius, and often repeated what she said back. The fourth girl walked to the left of the leader and did not add to the conversation. As the five girls passed, Kuwabara accidently stepped on the lead girl's foot.
She shrieked loudly and stopped,"You idiot! That hurt." The three girls behind her looked on with shocked and horrid expressions on their faces. The fourth girl did not react. The eight of them completely blocked the street and forced annoyed people to walk around them.
"Whoa. I'm sorry," Kuwabara awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry? Your clumsy clown feet could have broken mine," her face was turning red and people were turning their heads to watch.
"You should have been watching where you were going," Yusuke said in a low angry tone.
"Nah, Urameshi. It's all my fault," Kuwabara replied.
"Ha!" Ayumi pointed into Kuwabara's face," The fool confesses to the crime!"
The quiet girl raised her almond-shaped dark blue eyes from the ground," Please Miss Ayumi, you're making a scene…" Her voice was soft and soothing, but it had little effect on the girl's temper.
"Shut up, Yuki," her glare and tone forced Yuki to stare back down.
She bowed forward to Kuwabara and her long black hair fell forward as well. "Forgive Miss Ayumi for her behavior. She is usually not—"Ayumi jabbed her in the side to quiet her.
"Whatever. You're not worth wasting my time anyway," she raised her nose high into the air. "Come on girls." As they walked by, the three girls raised their noses in a similar fashion. Yuki still stood in front of them. She bowed slightly lower than before and then ran around the side and to her place to the left of Ayumi.
"I have no idea what just happened here," Kuwabara said and scratched his cheek.
"Ah, the wonders of PMS," he had to agree with Urameshi there.
The wind ruffled his long jacket and threw his short sandy brown hair into his beady dark eyes. Watching the target through the binoculars, he extended one arm and gave the signal. Junzo relayed the message to Setsuna, who in turn released the beast from the woven basket. It began as a small two-headed green snake. But as Setsuna poured her spirit energy into it, the snake grew into a colossal monster. Slithering from the alley, immediately people screamed and fled at first sight. Racing up the street, cars swerved to dodge it while some drivers exited their vehicles and allowed it to crush their possessions. The boys heard the uproar and saw the serpent with its two heads make its way quickly up the streets. It seemed to be after someone.
Yusuke cracked his knuckles and ran into the street, "Come on. Come and get me." He was quickly followed into the street by Kuwabara and Kurama. They were ready to fight. As the snake loomed closer, it raised its body and whipped its tail forward. The boys were flung to the side into a building as the beast sped past.
"It wasn't after us," Kurama said as they held their aching heads. All three mutually were afraid for who the snake was really after.
The snake was feet away from its real target. A short plain girl tapped her friend on the shoulder. Ayumi turned and froze in fear. Three of the girls ran screaming and abandoned Ayumi. Only Yuki remained. Good, having the others present would only complicate matters. She stood with her arms outstretched in front of Ayumi to shield her. The snake whipped its tail forward as it had before and Yuki jumped to dodge it. A smirk was on her face. This would be over quickly. But before she could even tap into her spirit energy, the giant snake had grabbed a screaming Ayumi in one of its mouths and was racing away.
Yuki was ready to chase after it, but before she could move, Kuwabara grabbed her and slightly lifted her from the ground, "You're not going anywhere."
She writhed and fought to break his grasp, "Let go of me! I have to protect Miss Ayumi! Let go!"
"Kuwabara, we don't have time," Kurama reminded him. He released her and the second he did, she was running after the snake. The four of them were running now.
Yusuke ran backwards in front of her," This is a monster, little girl. You know, real fangs and real danger? Don't get in our way."
Kurama flanked her side and added with a smile, "Go back. We'll take care of this."
Yuki glared at them and ran around Yusuke. Increasing her speed, she was soon out of their reach. Yusuke had watched her. She looked like she was flying.
Ayumi kicked and punched the snake's head and demanded that it release her now. Then she looked down, saw how high she was in the air, and begged the snake to keep her. The beast's mouth was warm and soft and its spit soaked her brand new, expensive clothes. She groaned in disgust at the feel of it against her flesh. What a way to start a weekend…
"Whoever owns you is going to pay for my dry cleaning," she said to the snake, which like all snakes did not have ears.
"Miss Ayumi!" Yuki shouted and raced ahead of the snake. As she slid to stop herself, she formed ball of wind between her positioned hands. Throwing it into the snake's second head, Yuki drew its full attention. Ready for its tail whip, Yuki leapt over it and formed three ice daggers in the spaces between her fingers. Only one remained in the snake's flesh and that one was hardly a fatal penetration. Yuki lightly bit her lip. This was more difficult than she thought it would be.
"What are you waiting for?" Ayumi screamed. "Save me already! Do your job!"
The young girl looked up at her and, in that moment, barely dodged the snake's tail. She was trying her best with what she had. Stupidly, she wasted a fair amount of her spirit energy gliding faster than those boys could run. She was at less than best and only because she wanted to get here first. Her own fault, of course. The tail whipped forward again. Yuki dodged it as before but forgot one detail, the second head. As she leapt over the thick, scaly green tail, its open mouth grabbed her around her stomach like Ayumi. A glare that read, "Way to go, stupid," was on the young girl's face, but Yuki couldn't dare look at her. She failed. That was punishment enough.
By that time, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama had arrived, and the city street they were on was completely vacant. Yusuke wasn't surprised to see the girl dangling from the snake. He warned her. Now they just had more work to do. There was one shred of good luck here—the snake didn't have any more mouths to feed.
While Yusuke kept the snake's attention from the front, Kuwabara held on to its thrashing tail and gave Kurama enough time to run up its back and sling his rose whip around its neck. Meanwhile, Yuki had an idea. Forming an ice dagger, she plunged it into the snake's left eye. It writhed in pain and released a low roar. Digging his heels and throwing all his weight into his pull, Kuwabara just couldn't keep hold of it. With the thorns deeply embedded and secured in its throat, Kurama jumped off from its back and pulled the snake down with his rose whip. Kuwabara ran to the side of it and leapt onto the junction where the heads met and severed both with his spirit sword. It hissed, released a foul last breath, and died. The dark blood from its wounds oozed and stank vilely. As Kuwabara and Kurama pried the mouths apart and released the girls, Yusuke cleared away the remains with his spirit gun.
"Oh, I'm sorry about earlier," Ayumi chuckled bubbly and grabbed onto Kurama. He tried jerking his arm from her grasp but discovered his arm wasn't moving anywhere. "Thank you so greatly for saving my life. You're all so very helpful." Her tone and expression dramatically changed when she looked at Yuki," Unlike some people…"
Yuki was breathing hard and her back was bleeding where the snake's smaller teeth had ripped the surface of her flesh. Her shoulders were slumped and she was feeling weak. They needed to leave soon or the illusion she cast upon herself would fade and expose her demon form.
"Miss, are you all right?" Kuwabara asked.
"Yes…I'm…I'm just…hungry," he was surprised by her answer. Hungry? That was an odd way of speaking.
Ayumi rolled her eyes and spoke in an annoyed tone," Come on. Let's feed you." Grabbing Yuki by the arm, they walked up the city street. Ayumi turned and waved back. Then, she started running and dragged Yuki along beside her.
"Bah!" Akira threw the binoculars across the rooftop. The young man grabbed Junzo by collar of his shirt, "Who are they? Huh? Who do they think they are?"
"I-I don't know, Honorable Akira. Do you wish that Setsuna and I find out?" Junzo stuttered.
His cousin shot him a look that answered his question. Junzo scrambled away, all the while looking over his shoulder at Akira. Leaning against the railing, he was in deep thought. What went wrong? His plan was full-proof. Or was it? Obviously, he did not and could not factor such variables into his predictions. Those young men were a threat, a threat to the rise of the Ataramichi family. Akira had factored Yuki and had long studied her and her powers. With all the limits on her abilities, she was not a threat. But these guys, they were not like Yuki. They did not seem to have limits. Or perhaps they did and merely had fewer limitations than Yuki, Akira wondered. Hmm, he would just have to wait and see.
A few days passed, the news was bombarded with stories of giant snakes living underground, all caused by young owners dropping their pets into the sewers or flushing them alive down toilets. To make sense out of chaos, the news reporters told lies, lies to soothe their fears and to give reason to that which could not be explained. Yusuke shrugged his shoulders. What did he know? Maybe it was the truth, and that's how it really happened. Or maybe there was an even better story resting right underneath his nose…speaking of which, he felt a sneeze coming on.
"Achoo!" Yusuke covered his nose. He sneezed again.
Keiko raised an eyebrow, "Someone is talking bad about you." Yusuke raised an eyebrow. Oh yea, that old tale. One sneeze meant good rumors. Two meant bad, and three meant you were just sick. Yusuke laughed. Who would be talking bad about him? Oh wait…a lot of people.
"If that was true, I'd be sneezing all the time," Yusuke and Kuwabara both laughed.
They were returning from school. Nothing really happened, and for once Yusuke or Kuwabara didn't have to stay after class to clean the school as punishment. Hmm, Keiko guessed the Dark Tournament really changed him, both of them. After seeing all that, the blood, the demons, the frayed emotions, and Genkai's passing (and subsequent rebirth), the boys grew up. Pausing and smiling at the end of her thought…just a little.
Three young men in dark school uniforms were walking in front of them. By the look of their uniforms, it was a private school. They stopped in front of them and would not budge. One was slightly taller than Yusuke with short sandy brown hair and wore sunglasses. He was throwing and catching a pair of dice in his right hand. The boy to his left was hunched over and would not keep his eyes off Keiko. The third was as tall as Kuwabara and had wild blonde hair. He wrapped and then unwrapped a scarf around his hands over and over.
"Hello, Yusuke Urameshi. And you, Kazuma Kuwabara," the middle boy said with a grin.
"Funny, I don't remember meeting three losers lately," Yusuke said. Both boys raised their guard. Neither boy was amused by their laughter and smiles.
The middle boy put the dice in his pocket and made a wide gesture with his arms,"Oh forgive my manners. My name is Akira Ataramichi and these are my cousins, Junzo and Ken. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He finished his introduction with his fakest smile.
"Fine. We're acquainted. Let's go," Kuwabara tired to walk around Ken.
The young man grabbed his shoulder and forced him to stand back in line. "Not so fast, Kazuma," it angered him that Akira was referring to him by his first name. "There's a little something, just a bit of business, that needs to be addressed and taken care of before I can let you go. We understand? Good."
Akira cleared his throat, "You two boys…and that other one, Kurama, I think his name was—"
"Yes, Honorable Akira, you are correct," Junzo interrupted.
The boy paused and then smacked his cousin on the back of the head," As I was saying, you three just happened to have accidently saved, Ayumi Miyamoto, the head of the Miyamoto clan…plus you also killed one of our snake familiars, neither of which I am too happy about."
"I'm sorry we hurt your feelings," Yusuke said flatly, obviously not meaning what he said.
Akira coughed," Yes, well, to make matters worse, there has been a recent…how shall I delicately put this…disagreement between our families."
"Like what?" Kuwabara asked.
The young man waved his hand in a dismissive gesture," That's not important. It just that I and the entire Ataramichi family want Ayumi and her family…dead, so if you could, please stay away from the Miyamoto family. Or else."
Yusuke and Kuwabara asked at the same time, "What?"
Akira snapped his fingers, and Ken threw the scarf on Keiko. Instantly, while still in the air, it morphed into a snake and landed on her chest. Screaming and frozen, Keiko begged to take it off. Yusuke grabbed its tail while Kuwabara had its head and flung it into the street. Once again, it was a scarf.
The boys clenched their hands into fists and focused their eyes into hateful stares. But the three boys were already gone. A playing card lay at their feet. It was the Ace of Spades, and underneath the spade was a single word in thick red ink.
Death.
–end Chapter One