"You can stop this, Kukiko-chan…"
Her eyes burst open inside a black limousine, and she was laid out over three seats of the car's couch, her head positioned to look in the direction of the driver. She tried to get up, but something prevented her.
She looked down her body, seeing her legs with the green skirt and her black leggings with the green and blue star on the right leg and her favorite green flats…all tied down to the seats. There was a tear in her skirt…how did that get there? Looking left and right, her arms were tied down as well- she could only move her head slightly upward, and that shot pain through her neck. Her Tokidoki purse was still there, the strap intertwined between her fingers.
Damn. How did she get in this situation? Let's see…she left class with Arisu, told her she didn't feel up to the photo booths at the mall, went home and changed out of her uniform…what happened after that?
Lit-up yellow balls…
Falling…
Running
That was it. It had been four o'clock when she was at home. The clock in the limo said 8:00. So she had no idea what happened in the past four hours?
It was official: Kukiko Urameshi had the worst memory of all time.
The car suddenly came to a screeching halt, and a man she hadn't even noticed sitting near her began to untie her, letting each part of her body go bit by bit. She kept a firm grip on her purse, knowing the valuables inside. "Gee…" she said. "Thanks for the ride. It was pleasurable being tied down to the seats of a limousine."
Holding Kukiko's body, the man opened the limo door, revealing one of the several bridges across the river. The edge of the bridge, to be exact. "You don't have to thank me," he said, and he tossed her out.
"Hey! You didn't even give me a soda!"
She was tumbling through the air, half worrying the fall would rip her skin off, or she'd be peeled by the iron bars looming ever-so-close to her body. Slipping the purse strap over her shoulder, she reached out…and grabbed the side of the bridge.
Oh, sweet mercy. The limo was driving away. It was starting to rain. Hard.
Reaching down, she undid the rainbow zipper of the purse, carefully pulling out her P-Pod. She dialed home quickly, putting the all-purpose gadget to her ear.
"Urameshi residence, leave a message at the beep!"
Thanks, Mom, she thought, dialing Ryou's college room. "Hello?"
"Ryou, is that you?" Kukiko practically breathed into the receiver.
"No, but he's right next to me."
"Well, get him on the phone!"
She heard the shuffling of hands. "How's my green-headed sister today?" Ryou asked.
Kukiko clenched her teeth. "Hanging from the side of a bridge,"
"What are you talking about, Kukiko?"
"Exactly what I said- I am holding on for dear life on the side of a freaking bridge and I need you to come and-"
"Are you trying to commit suicide?"
"Ryou, you have the intelligence of a rock! I hope you flunk out!" Sometimes wishing she had something to slam the phone on to, Kukiko sufficed for pressing the end-call button.
She called the Kuwabaras. No answer.
Minaminos. No answer.
Arisu's P-Pod. Turned off.
Yuri's P-Pod. Also turned off.
Her own mother's P-Pod? Off.
Kukiko went through her address book, finding that she didn't have Takai Kuwabara's number in there, and obviously little Keitaro didn't have an P-Pod. Of course, not that a ten-year-old could pull her off the side of a bridge anyway.
Kukiko looked out to the other bridges, then at the sky. The sun was setting, but it was so cloudy one could hardly tell. She pocketed her P-Pod in her purse. "Hey Enma, how about a lifeline?" No rain drops, no thunder. "No?" She had to face it- she wasn't getting out of this one. "Oh, SHIT!"
"As I said," she heard someone say, louder than all of the cars and the buzz of Tokyo. "The Urameshi girl is still alive. I just heard her yell a very naughty word."
"She must be holding on to the bridge," said another, this man sounding just like the one in the limo. Oh, no. Oh, crap. Kukiko was really dead now. "You have to shock her."
"Indeed."
Kukiko watched blindly as a dark bolt of thunder trailed down the iron, finding her and sending a horrendous sensation throughout her body, causing her to scream. It levitated her through the air, over the water, though everyone still went about their merry way, not even looking in her direction through the windows of their cars. It was the feeling of having your body drained of all energy, all blood, all filling, while being severed bit by bit into a million pieces. This couldn't be real lightning, but what was it?
Before she closed her red-brown eyes and fell unconscious yet again, she heard someone scream, "Let her go!"
…and then everything went black.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
He waited outside the stadium with his baseball cap still on, but he'd changed into a pair of jeans and a white shirt with some English joke on it. He pulled his aviator sunglasses out of his pocket and carefully placed them on (He didn't need them, but they were brand new and he wanted to show them off), looking around the street. A few paparazzi photographers were on one side, taking pictures of him. It would be in the next magazine- "Celebrities wait for their rides in the pouring rain too!"
On the other side, a few cute schoolgirls were staring at him in awe. "Sugiyama-sama! Sugiyama-sama!" They chanted in their high-pitched voices.
He lowered his sunglasses, allowing his blue-green eyes into full view. "Yes, ladies?"
"We love you, Sugiyama-sama!" They screamed. Cameras flashed from all sides of the street.
"I love you too, ladies," he said, giving his best pretty-boy smile. It worked- they covered their mouths and ran away like the excited little fangirls they were. He loved them for it, though.
He watched as his limo pulled up, the driver rolling down the window. "Mr. Sugiyama, I saw you flirting again,"
He opened the door. "I can't help myself,"
"I'm surprised you keep your pants on- you know, ticket scalping didn't happen in Japan until you happened to Japan," The car began to drive away.
Opening the small refrigerator in the back of the car, he felt around and finally pulled out a root beer. "Now that was cruel. And another thing- does anyone get referred to by their first name anymore?"
"So, you want me to call you Rinku?"
He pulled a yo-yo from his pocket, whipping it around and sipping his soda. "I'd love it,"
There was a long pause after this dialogue, only halted by Rinku turning on the stereo and looking around for the mix MP3 group that was his "rookie present". Finding it, he sat back down again, suddenly feeling something.
Energy…he recognized it. It was one of those rebellious crooks, the ones that had the Reikai Tantei. But they hardly ever showed themselves…so what was the deal? Why were they in Tokyo, in plain sight?
He felt a third…faint, decreasing like a sipped Sprite…it felt a little bit like Yusuke, but it couldn't be, Yusuke was stronger than that.
Of course, his daughter, Kukiko…wait. The Tantei had agreed not to raise their children to be fighters, or anything but almost-normal human kids. If Kukiko was with the crook, she would without a doubt lose her life. And if the rumor was true, that Kukiko had really been inside The Building…
"Go to the third bridge and stop the car."
"What?" The driver asked.
"Just do it. And speed. I'll pay for any charges."
"Do you want to end up like Princess Di, Rinku Sugiyama?"
"Who?"
"Never mind." Suddenly, the car jerked and became several miles per hour faster, Rinku instinctively holding on to his cap. A few minutes later, the driver made a sloppy stop next to the bridge, saying, "We're here, but I don't see anything fishy."
"That's because most people can't." He bolted out, slamming the door behind him. Kukiko's screaming was louder than the crowds at his ball games. "Let her go!" He screamed, realizing he sounded like a total freak. He had to pay Urameshi back…
"Ah, Rinku Sugiyama, fancy seeing you here." Masato the rebel-leader hollered. Kukiko had fallen unconscious, but they were still shocking her. "And what is your interest in Miss Urameshi? Your own selfish desires? Perhaps that fateful accident five years ago?"
Rinku's blood boiled. He sent out all of his yo-yos (Except the ones on his feet), trying to break through the shielded lightning. It wasn't working. "She can't even defend herself from you!"
"Exactly. And with her dead, it'll stay that way. We can't risk anything."
That was it. He kicked off one of his tennis shoes, sending four more of his little toys over to Masato's pawn. He fell quickly, the shield breaking as a response. The other yo-yos caught Kukiko, wrapping themselves around the teenage girl and bringing her over to Rinku. Masato didn't have a car- Rinku could get away. Thrusting Kukiko in the limo before him, he slammed the door again. "Drive! Drive!"
Bewildered, the driver turned the engine back on and drove off. "What was that?"
Rinku looked down, realizing he hadn't retrieved his shoe. Nike would get him another one, no sweat. "Nothing you need to tell anyone about," He laid Kukiko out on the couch. "And I mean anyone. Not even your pets."
"Affirmative, Rinku."
He reached into Kukiko's purse, pulling out her P-Pod. He looked at the dialing history, seeing she'd called several people in the past few minutes. Arisu Kuwabara, Yuri Minamino, her house, her brother, Arisu's house, Yuri's house, her mother…only one picked up, and that was Ryou. They must have left for the temple without Kukiko.
The demon pulled out his P-Pod, dialing the temple line. After Genkai's death, they'd decided to add a land-pod to the temple. Keiko picked up. "Hello?"
"Keiko?"
"Rinku?" She asked. "What do you need?"
He laughed. "Been looking for your daughter?"
"Well, Yukina said she could bring- Hi Yukina! Where's Kukiko? What? But I thought-"
"Obviously, Kukiko's not there, because she's next to me in my limo."
"What? What happened, Rinku?"
"I'm not quite sure. I felt Masato's-the guy behind the rebellion-energy, plus a slave and Kukiko. When I got there, they were shocking her-"
"They were WHAT?"
"It's okay. She's fine, just knocked out. I can bring her to the temple if you like."
"How did you know I was here?"
Rinku smiled mischievously. "I rooted through her P-Pod's dialing history. In the past twenty minutes, she's called almost everyone she knows. Obviously she knew she was in trouble. I'm going to look at the other sections of the Pod for other clues to where she's been. But…it's obviously time to explain you-know-what to the girls, before someone tries to get Arisu or Yuri."
"That's what we're doing. If it weren't for you, though, we'd have been too late. Do you have a way of looking out for me, Rinku? First the tournament, and now this?"
The last time he'd seen Yusuke flashed through his mind. Not always…"I can assure you it's all coincidence,"
"She dyed her hair, you know. Green…the exact same color as Yusuke's old jumpsuit. She doesn't realize it, though. When she and Arisu and Yuri go out they look like a bowl of rainbow sherbet."
Parent rambling…"I'll see you in a few hours,"
"Right. Bye."
Rinku picked up Kukiko's P-Pod again, searching her documents. Nothing but school projects and old inside jokes she wanted to remember. He looked at the reminders: "Go to Yuri's to model clothes…go to Yuri's to fit for modified uniform…meet Arisu at concert…mall trip on Friday…"…this was interesting.
"Dark brown, looks like a corporate building, in the middle of dark-wood forest, next to small gang-ridden city in the middle of nowhere…heavily guarded, get training…follow the firefly lights to cell…"
What was this? A cell in a heavily-guarded place…could she be talking about The Building? Was that where she had been?
"Drive to the nearest train station, and tell the manager I'm away on family business. Don't specify. Tell him to give the fans my biggest apologies, and…I don't know, give them something nice for every day I'm gone."
"As you wish."
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Kukiko woke up again, seeing familiar surroundings…another limousine. Jerking her leg, she realized that she could move, and quickly sat up. There was music, music that she could tolerate, music that she quite possibly liked, playing.
"Another limousine?" She asked. "Are you going to throw me off a bridge too?" She looked over, eyes widening. Her mood changed instantly. "Oh. I don't know what's worse- being thrown off a bridge and attacked or staying in a car with an overpaid pretty boy."
Rinku Sugiyama sipped his drink, rolling his eyes in a rather immature fashion. "Considering said 'overpaid pretty boy' is not going to kill you, I think that fate is better."
"Your manner of speaking amuses me- you must not be a complete dumbass after all."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me."
"Of course there are- I'm the only girl in Tokyo who isn't online all day researching your favorite color."
"You know…you remind me of someone."
"Do I? Who, exactly?"
He smirked. "Your father…except smarter. Probably comes from your mother's side."
Kukiko didn't like being compared to her father. In fact, she hated it (Almost as much as she hated him), and Rinku obvious knew that, because he was laughing. "I'm flattered," she snapped.
"Soda?"
Kukiko didn't want to admit it, but she was dying of thirst. "Whad'ya got?"
"Lemon-lime, orange, root beer, lots of that, Jolt, I've got whiskey, but it's not mine and it's really gross anyway, various energy drinks, Coke-"
"I'll take Coke." She crawled over to the fridge and pulled out a can, noticing the stereo. She began flipping through it. "Red Hot Chili Peppers, like that, U2, that's good, The Beatles, always a classic, Queen, very, very good, Arctic Monkeys…you don't listen to much modern music, do you, Sugiyama?" He didn't answer. "What's this…Lollipop Six?"
"Skip that."
"The Jolly Devil…that's modern. So's Metal Goldfish. Wow, Sugiyama…I hate to say it, but you're actually not that tasteless."
"I'm glad I have your approval." Sarcasm dripped from his voice.
There was a pause as Kukiko picked up her P-Pod.
"Wait a minute…you touched it," Kukiko said, examining the gadget.
Rinku pulled out a yo-yo. "I did not,"
"When I put it away, it was on its phone setting. Now it's on its reminder setting. Explain that, Sugiyama,"
"Innocent,"
"Hey, wait a minute…I don't remember writing this. Did you write it?"
"The one about the corporate building?" She nodded. "Nope, you're the one with the blood on your hands for that one,"
"So you did write one…" Kukiko went through her reminders. "No, you didn't, unless you're lying about the corporate building one, but you probably aren't. It looks like something Arisu did when I wasn't looking to freak me out."
"So you don't completely hate me?"
"Well, you're still an overpaid, cocky, pretty boy, but if I really had to, I could tolerate being around you."
"That's good to know," Rinku said, opening the door of the car to reveal a train station. "We've got a long ride."
Kukiko's jaw dropped. "On second thought…I hate you."
Katie's Note: And so, the questions begin…I know some things you guys are going to ask me, if anyone reads this at all, so let me clarify…
Q: How long has it been since YYH?
A: 22 years. Long time, no? That means that it's 2016, hence Kukiko calling the Arctic Monkeys "old".
Q: What are P-Pods and L-Pods?
A: As I said, this is 2016, so I had to make some stuff up. They are all-purpose machines shaped like those Sony Ericsson walkman cell phones. They are computers (Hence Kukiko's documents), telephones, reminders, and music players.P-Pods are portable, L-Pods are like land lines.
Q: Who are the parents?
A: Yusuke and Keiko. Kuwabara and Yukina. Kurama and Botan. Hiei and Mukuro. Get over it if you don't like it- Mukuro was originally Hiei's love interest, and I suck at making OCs. I mentioned all of the children in this chapter, except for Hiei's.
Q: What's up with Rinku? Shouldn't he be, like, 30? You made him a teen idol!
A: I made this up. This isn't verified by Togashi-sama, but for this particular piece, Rinku doesn't age like normal people, due to his species, I suppose. Rather, he spends more time in each phase of life than we do. So, right now he's in the puberty phase, but he'll be there longer than the normal human teenager. He looks about 19, by the way, and how and why he's a baseball player is to come later.
I may just leave the world hanging right here. I don't know. I think the piece is nice by itself. I might write some other mysterious oneshots based around this storyline. Particularly because I like Yuri Minamino. She's too cute. I had to make her cute.
Ciao!