Hope's Demise
A fanfic by Tsu_chanB
Summary:[Previously "In the Dawn of Twilight"]
What if your enemy wasn't so evil? What if your ally wasn't the innocent victim?
Nothing is as it seems when Kurama reluctantly befriends Genkai's old ward. Her hate of demons is obvious, and he's careful not to get too involved. But in the end he is forced to come to a difficult conclusion about the girl. And his action against her may cost him not only his good standing in Spirit World, but the trust of his friends as well.
A/N: Alright, now that I've gone through it once and actually know what I'm doing, I'm going back and reediting EVERYTHING. :) After the first two chapters you'll be able to see major changes in how the plot progresses. Characters will change, especially Mikomi and Keibi. Noburu's intentions will be more cohesive and Genkai will play a much larger role. I'm hoping to finish all the changes before December so I can start on the sequel. And if you haven't read the original, it's probably better. You don't have to worry about any of that stuff.
As a side note, before I forget, this takes place after the Dark Tournament and before the Chapter Black saga. Thanks for bearing with me, and happy reading!
1. Ghost
Shuichi had long ago mastered the art of feigned attentiveness. He tried to pay attention in class and be a good student but the teacher was monotone, the class was boring, and he already knew the subject inside-out. It was only the first class of the day and Shuichi felt his concentration easily slipping away. It was a miracle he lasted through an entire day of schooling at all.
Now that he thought about it, most of his classes ran the same way. Shuichi had read the textbooks at the beginning of the year and learned all the information he needed to know, a precaution against Spirit World assignments that took him away from school. So now there was nothing new to surprise him.
"Your homework assignment will be to complete essay questions one through five on page forty-two of your workbook," the teacher ordered. Shuichi reigned in his attention long enough to jot down the instructions.
The class stood in unison and bowed. "Thank you very much, sensei."
The teacher bowed in response and left the room. The class immediately erupted into sound. Students moved to stand next to their friends and left to the bathroom or water fountain down the hall, taking advantage of the fifteen minute break between classes.
Shuichi was one of the few who remained seated. He pulled a small book from his briefcase, continuing his reading on the effect of music on brain function and synaptic connectivity.
It wasn't long before the room quieted into order as students returned to their seats. The classroom door slammed open with the entrance of their calculus teacher. A student trailed behind him, one Shuichi didn't recognize as a member of the class. The demon's curiosity was soon piqued along with most of the rest of the class.
"Good morning class," the instructor greeted.
"Good morning Takehashi-sensei," the class chorused obediently.
"Before we begin today's lesson I'm going to introduce our newest exchange student," at this he motioned to the tall teenager beside him.
She bowed. "Pleased to meet you."
"This is Amaya Hirakawa, joining us from Kushiro," Takehashi continued. "Now, let's see . . . Ah, you can sit next to Minamino-san."
Shuichi raised his hand obediently to let her know who he was, though he doubted he needed to, considering the seat beside him was the only empty one left in the classroom.
Amaya smiled politely at him as she took her seat. Shuichi returned the courtesy and diverted his attention back to the teacher as the lesson began. He couldn't keep his mind from wandering for long, though. The review of ellipses was unnecessary to Shuichi and he soon found his thoughts trailing away as boredom took him over.
The hour long class passed slowly but surely. When the teacher left Shuichi decided to stretch his legs, standing at the window beside his desk. He had been planning on introducing himself to the new student Amaya seeing as they would be sitting next to each other for the rest of the year. But Tsuma who sat in front of her beat him to it, quickly whipping around in his seat the moment Takehashi finished his lecture. Shuichi found it hard not to listen to their conversation as he watched cars pass by on the other side of the school gate.
"So what brings you to Meioh, Amaya-san?"
"Well, my father works for a gaming distributor. He was promoted and moved to the corporation's main office here. I was just along for the ride," she said.
"Ah, well let me know if you need help getting around. It's a big city that's easy to get lost in," Tsuma said. Amaya nodded with a 'thank you.'
"So, do you have a lot of friends back home?" Tsuma asked after a minute of silence.
Amaya smiled. "Yes, of course I'll miss them all but it's fun to start a new adventure like this. I'll get to meet so many new people."
Tsuma continued his barrage of introductory questions. Shuichi returned to his seat after a few minutes and was promptly added to the conversation.
He and Amaya exchanged introductions and pleasantries before Tsuma recaptured the girl's attention. Shuichi didn't mind in the slightest, finding it much easier to remain in the background of the conversation until their next teacher arrived.
Shuichi took some time out of the conversation to look over the new girl. He admitted that she was attractive with a long slender frame and wavy ebony locks of hair. Her countenance was also pleasing in a seemingly permanent attitude of warm invitation; highly charismatic.
It didn't take long for the rest of the class to notice either. By the end of the week she was a heartthrob among the male population and many of the girls gathered at her desk between classes. And the attention Amaya gained didn't stop with their class. Friends from other classes learned of her charm and many days Amaya was whisked out to the school lawns for lunch so friends of her classmates could join their circle as well.
Shuichi managed to stay as far from the teenage dramatics as possible. He didn't really become involved until a particularly pleasant spring day drove him out from the confines of the classroom. He usually spent most lunch periods in the classroom with a book, but the fine weather of that Friday drew him out into the sun.
He was planning on finding a tree to sit under to continue reading when a classmate in a group of friends called on him. Shotatsu waved him over and Shuichi joined the circle. He pulled out his bento box and quietly began munching as conversation buzzed animatedly around him.
"What did you get on that pop quiz in micro?"
"83. I hadn't really read the whole chapter for that one."
"So Shuichi, what did you end up doing over spring break?" Shotatsu asked, pulling the demon's attention away from the people around him.
"A friend invited me to his beach house on the west coast," Shuichi answered vaguely. The Dark Tournament was not an experience he would be willing to share with his classmates.
"It was fun," he added. Shotatsu nodded and began a different conversation, leaving Shuichi to continue his eavesdropping.
"Hey! Goshe-sensei just doesn't know how to give us a break! I mean, it's not my fault I didn't have a piece of yellow paper to print my title page on. I think it would have been fine colored in."
"Yeah, Goshe's obsessive-compulsive or something. But, the class isn't too killer if you just say 'yes ma'am' and follow the directions exactly as she gives them."
"That witch just needs to have her tiny little world knocked around a bit."
A new voice cut into the conversation. "Ha! I could help you out there!"
"No!" half the group chorused.
"Sorry Tsuma, but, as good as your ideas are, you just can't help but get everyone caught."
Tsuma pouted and looked away.
"Tsuma-kun, I didn't know you were such a prankster," Amaya joked from beside him. The boy instantly brightened.
"He isn't," Shotatsu interrupted. "That's why he keeps getting caught. The boy couldn't lie to a teacher to save his life."
"I can! I lied about Ghost that one time last year. Don't you remember?" Tsuma defended.
Amaya frowned in confusion. "Ghost?"
Shotatsu burst into raucous laughter. "That was only because you were so scared you could barely think straight, let alone tell on her."
Kana, a girl from another class, turned her attention to Amaya. "I can't believe Tsuma-san hasn't told you yet. That's the best horror story the class has."
"Oh, oh!" Shotatsu waved his hand above his head as if he were still in class. "I want to tell the Ghost story."
"Go ahead," Tsuma shrugged. "But I'm gonna tell you guys what really happened last year so you don't think I'm some kind of chicken."
"Sure you're not," Kana rolled her eyes.
"Who is she?" Amaya asked.
"You've seen her," said Tsuma. "She sits on the end of your row, all the way to the right; short brown hair, really frail looking."
"Oh."
Shuichi placed his attention on Shotatsu. He never remembered hearing the story himself. Perhaps that had something to do with his escapades with the Spirit World, or his lack of normal social interaction.
"So, I've know this girl since grade school." Shotatsu began. "She was pretty normal, ya know. Good grades, happy family, a lot of friends. But then one day in third grade she came to school and wouldn't talk to anyone, she kept shaking too. Her friends tried for a week to get her to open her mouth, and the teachers finally told them to leave her alone or they would get a detention."
He looked over the enraptured group before continuing. "It turns out her parents had been murdered, right in front of her and her older brother. And not just shot in the head or something like that. No, they were shredded to pieces, dismembered."
Amaya shivered and gripped her arms. Several others made disgusted faces as well. Shotatsu continued. "Rumors started spreading around. Some people thought it was a serial killer, others said a wild animal somehow got into their house. But, three years later, the blame shifted to the daughter."
"Like I said, she still had her big brother around. The girl started talking again, ya know, regained her bearings and all that. Her brother took care of her too. Then, one day in her first year of junior high he disappeared; vanished without a trace. The police interviewed the sister, but they couldn't get anything out of her because she stopped talking again. They were suspicious of her, of course. She was the only one left alive in the family. But they didn't have any evidence."
"So she went back to school and everything quieted down. Aside from the rumors, that is. There was one about her family being in a satanic cult, or that she was cursed. There was also one about the Yakuza. There are a lot of really wacko stories about it too, ya know, aliens and spirits and stuff."
"There might be some truth in it, because the friends that she did have when her brother disappeared started getting weird injuries. One guy's leg broke in his sleep. A girl had a tree fall on her while she was out running one morning and was in the hospital for a while after that. Another girl came home one day and her room was on fire: only her room. The rest of the house was untouched, at first anyway. The whole house ended up coming down. The police pegged it as arson. All these people were her friends. Needless to say, they stopped hanging around Ghost after that and the rest soon followed."
"Kinda suspicious, right? But we don't know if all of this is completely true. I can tell you what I know about it, though. That girl hasn't opened her mouth in four years. She never talks to anyone, which is cool with the other students because no one wants to talk to her, in case they might get killed or something for it. The teachers don't even call on her in class, as if they know better. The nickname came up beginning of last year when we got into Meioh. Some smart ass called her that when he was complaining that she wouldn't talk to him. Also, by that time none of the students remembered her real name, and Ghost seemed fitting when someone wanted to tell her story to freak a new student out. Adds some mystery to it, ya know."
Shotatsu smirked. "But knowing her real name makes the story even weirder, in a very ironic sense."
Amaya, who had been completely captured by the story, cleared her throat and whispered, "What's her name?"
"Mikomi."
A silence settled as the end of Shotatsu's tale sunk in. Finally Tsuma shivered and rubbed his arms.
"That last part always gets me," he said.
"So what's your story Little Chicken?" Shotatsu gloated teasingly.
Tsuma glared. "I'm not a chicken." He addressed the group. "You all know how Meioh requires either a group or partner project every year, right? Well, last year I was partnered with Ghost on a history assignment. It would have been cool if it wasn't for what Hisao-sensei said. He called me up at the end of class after giving out the names for the groups."
"He warned me to let him know if I had any problems with my partner and gave me his cell phone number just in case. That was what freaked me out. I mean, what teacher gives his personal information to a student? There's got to be a pretty good reason for it. I figure she must have scared him too if he was willing to do that much."
"Anyway, we had two weeks to work on the thing so I figured I could wait a little bit before trying to talk to her about it. The next day was Sunday and I had a piano lesson that afternoon."
He looked around the group again. "Get this: Ghost showed up in the middle of my lesson. My instructor hates to be interrupted, so he was a little mad when he opened the door and there was a girl standing there who wouldn't answer any of his questions. She just waltzed past him, dropped the completely finished project on my stand and left. Everything was there. She had done a written report and added a power point with videos to it too. All in one night."
"So my question to you is: how the hell did she know I was in a piano lesson right then? And how did she know where it was? That's what I call freaky. I turned it in the next week so it wouldn't seem suspicious and lied to Hisao-sensei when he asked if we worked together on it."
Tsuma turned to Shotatsu as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. "So I'm no chicken. I think anyone would be weirded out by something like that."
The group stood and dispersed. Shotatsu waved Tsuma off. "Point taken. The girl's a creep."
Shuichi joined the majority of the group back to their class. Shotatsu's story about their classmate was interesting to say the least. If the boy wasn't exaggerating, Shuichi would have reason to believe that the girl's experience had something to do with the supernatural. He wondered at how he had never noticed her, even though they had been in the same class for over a year. Then again, it seemed her intent was to remain unseen.
"What'd you think, Shuichi-san?" Amaya attempted to add him to the conversation. "About Shotatsu's story?"
Shuichi smiled pleasantly. "A fun campfire tale, to be sure. I don't find it anything to be taken too seriously. I doubt anyone could go without speaking for that amount of time. What was your impression?"
"Oh, it's horrible that no one would want to talk to her after all that she's been through. I thought maybe I would try to be her friend. She probably needs one," Amaya said.
"You may want to be careful with that idea. Going by what Shotatsu said, friendlessness was her goal to begin with," Shuichi said, amused at her compassion. The students returned to their seats.
Heading to his chair, Shuichi spared a glance down his row to the opposite end. Sure enough the girl was there, brown haired as Tsuma described and very thin, haggard even. She was also extremely pale, dark shadows easily standing out beneath her dull green eyes. The girl remained bent over a book on her desk. She didn't even look up when the teacher entered the classroom.
Midway through the lecture Shuichi glanced at Ghost again, surprised to see her eyes still glued to her book. The demon turned his gaze to the instructor. The woman didn't seem to notice at first, but Shuichi caught her sending an annoyed glare toward the back of the room. So she noticed, but didn't do anything about it. Was she also afraid of the girl's reputation? How had he not seen these strange happenings before?
He finally shrugged it all off as inconsequential. Surely Koenma would have sent them after this girl if she posed any real threat. Shuichi concluded that most of the story was over-exaggeration, a tale created by the students for entertainment. The likelihood of everything being true was pretty low.
Then again, Koenma didn't know of all the supernatural happenings in the human world. There were always new threats and unusual human and demon relationships to be uncovered. Maybe this was one of those cases. From what the story said, that girl has been involved with demons, or at least ghosts, for many years. Shouldn't that have popped up on Spirit World radar? And, if not, what kept it hidden?
Shuichi glanced at Ghost again. Maybe this was something worth looking into.
The rest of the school day passed as slowly as usual until Amaya turned to him at the end of the last class.
"Okay, wish me luck," she said. Without letting him respond she left her seat and walked to the other end of the room. Amaya stopped by the silent brunette.
"Excuse me," Amaya addressed her.
The girl looked up as the students who could see the interaction fell quiet in surprise. Ghost's dull eyes stared blankly at Amaya, waiting for her to continue.
The taller girl cleared her throat nervously. "My name's Amaya. I've noticed how you always sit here by yourself and was wondering if you might want to sit with me and my friends at lunch tomorrow."
Shuichi saw the sitting girl's knuckles turn white as her grip tightened on her book. He noticed an expression he couldn't place flash through her eyes briefly before they returned to blank objectivity.
Amaya shifted slightly in the silence as Ghost continued to stare at her. Very suddenly she stood, slammed her book shut, and grabbed her briefcase as she walked out through the back door behind her desk. Amaya frowned and moved back to her desk.
Tsuma laughed nervously. "Maybe your forward attitude scared her off."
"I guess she really just doesn't want to be friends," Amaya shrugged sadly. "But I think I want to try again."
Guided by curiosity, Shuichi also left for the day. He hoped to follow the silent girl at least out of the school building. He wanted to see if this would be worth the effort, if he should bother contacting Koenma over this odd human girl.
He caught up to her when she stopped to change into her street shoes. Shuichi did likewise, containing his curiosity until she left the shoe lockers. He finally looked up and followed, keeping a safe distance behind. She exited school grounds and turned left, moving in the opposite direction he would take to go home.
Shuichi walked leisurely behind her, even as the distance between them grew. She walked quite a bit faster than him. He watched closely as her shoulders tensed. She had noticed him. Ghost turned her head, looking behind her. She glared as their eyes connected. Shuichi kept up his innocent façade, even as she stopped to wait for him.
Shuichi halted before her, one hand in his pocket as the other gripped his briefcase. He waited patiently for her to speak. The tension produced when someone watched and waited for speech made even the most devoted mute beg for conversation. He knew she would not last long. The question was, what would she say when she did open her mouth?
"After all this time," the girl's voice was soft and mellow, something he wasn't expecting. She cleared her throat. "I was beginning to think you weren't one of them. I guess I was wrong."
He scrutinized her as he thought her statement over. He was confused, to say the least. 'One of them' as in the classmates who delighted in mocking her solitude? Or did she perhaps mean something more along the lines of the supernatural? He knew he could be jumping to conclusions, but was she talking about demons? Did she know that he was a demon?
"What are you referring to?" he asked.
She glared back. "I won't play your game, demon. Just know that you should give up now. You will fail like the others. Go back where you came from."
Shuichi watched with narrowed eyes as she turned her back on him and left. So she did know. He had so many new questions. For now, though, his secret seemed safe. From what she said, Ghost had known for a while. There was nothing else he could do about it except report his findings to Koenma and see if that yielded any results.
He turned around and walked back towards his own home. Shiori would already be waiting for him. Shuichi supposed his new investigation could wait until he completed his duties at home and took care of his school assignments. He was under no pressure and he felt there was plenty of time to look into the matter.
The faint wisps of a demonic presence began to awaken at the edges of his senses. Shuichi tensed and concentrated on the unfamiliar aura. It grew stronger as he moved forward.
He could see the man after a few more minutes of walking, leaning against a light pole beneath a row of silent houses. No doubt waiting for Shuichi. It took the fox a few moments, but memories from his past life reminded him of who the blonde demon was. His guard rose immediately.
The teenager stopped several feet away; a safe distance. He stared the demon down.
The man looked at him, blood colored eyes amused. "Youko Kurama, I presume?"