The Fate We Have Chosen
Chapter 2
half-a-recess
To say it wasn't long before the rest of… well everyone… heard the news of the siblings would be a drastic understatement. In fact, in only hours the information had somehow leaked into the ears of their friends, and Hiei had a sneaking suspicion that Botan was the one to blame despite not having seen her in the general vicinity during the incident. All of this aside, Yusuke had made his way loudly into the temple proclaiming that he had organized a birthday party for them both. Although Yukina tried to explain to Yusuke that their birthday had already come and gone, he would hear none of it as he continued to wildly toss bright unfurling streamers over the temple rafters. Soon afterwards, Kurama showed up with a cake closely followed by everyone else bearing party favors and refreshments. Disregarding Hiei's constant eye twitch, the party was pleasant and full of laughter that lasted long into the night and early morning with more than a few of them stumbling a little on their way out.
That was an incident they would all remember in many a bittersweet reverie in years to come…
The morning of Yukina's wedding to Kazuma Kuwabara began in bright spirits mere months after the sibling's reunion. The men lazed in Kurama's apartment, determined not to get dressed until they knew they had to. Though "lazed" may not be the correct term for Kuwabara, who was constantly getting up to look inside the fridge without taking anything. None of them had seen Hiei yet that day, though the fire demon had promised to be there. Hiei had refused vehemently to "give Yukina away" having misunderstood the whole explanation of the term and its traditional meaning to humans (whose traditions Hiei held very little respect for in the first place).
Every once in a while, when Yusuke would tell Kuwabara to chill, he would reply with something like, "What if she says no?"
At this point Yusuke would answer, "She already said yes to you, doofus!"
Kurama would then roll his eyes and turn another page in the heavy book he was reading. It was not until ten o'clock in the morning that the phone rang.
000
There were giggles from behind the door where Yukina lay sleeping peacefully. She smiled in blissful ignorance as the door slid open revealing Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan's peeking heads. They did a poor job of stifling their laughter behind their mischievous hands as they crept up next to the bed, each carrying a small confetti-cracker. They perched beside her, glancing at each other for the signal.
"Rise and shine!" They cried, exploding the crackers with loud pops allowing confetti to rain everywhere.
Nothing.
They all peered down to Yukina who still slept soundly.
"Either she's one heavy sleeper, or we got her more drunk last night than we knew," Shizuru said thoughtfully, tossing her cracker shell carelessly over her shoulder.
"Yukina, wake up!" Keiko coaxed, shaking her lightly before pulling her hand back. "She's cold as ice!" she gasped, rubbing her hand.
"Of course she is," Shizuru replied. "She's an ice maiden."
"Yukina?" Botan called, pulling back one of her eyelids, which was dilated and unreactive.
She frowned and let the lid slide shut. Yukina was certainly breathing, so she wasn't dead at least. They knew something was definitely wrong, though they were unsure of what to do about it just yet. Who do you call to doctor a demon? Botan, still searching for something to do, bent close to hear Yukina's heart.
Two hands, cold as ice, clamped on either side of her head. No matter how she tried to pull away, they held fast. Shizuru gasped and Keiko yelped as they both sprang forward to restrain the small, but strong ice demon. Yukina's eyes snapped open though they gazed at the ceiling lifelessly, and her mouth gaped to suck in a raspy gasp. By now Keiko and Shizuru were screaming Yukina's name as they wrestled with her unrelenting hands while Botan cried out from the icy pressure on her head. Just when the struggle had reached its climax and Yukina was gasping to near convulsion, the girl fell limp against the futon as if she had fallen asleep again.
Botan, shaking and sobbing, clung to Keiko who stared at Yukina fearfully. Shizuru tentatively reached a hand toward the Koorime, but pulled back as if burned.
"What is it?" asked Keiko.
Shizuru glared at Yukina as if she could see something the others could not, and replied, "Something very dark."
000
It was Kurama who answered the phone. Kuwabara had truly been closest, but he had been so startled that he tripped and fell on top of Yusuke, starting a near-brawling argument.
Kurama heard the girls all speaking in panicked voices across the line.
"Yukina—"
"And then she wouldn't wake up!"
"We tried to stop her—"
"You have to come immediately!
"We just wanted to surprise her!"
"—like she was possessed!"
"Kurama!"
"What do we do?"
"Help!"
"Kurama!"
"ENOUGH!" Kurama shouted in a loud voice no one had thought one so graceful could produce. Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped their roughhousing immediately, and sobbing was heard from the other line. "We will be there shortly," Kurama said quietly, and hung up.
"Get your clothes on," he said to the others.
"What's going on?" Kuwabara asked.
"Hurry!" snapped Kurama, who was already dressing rapidly not caring if he was mixing clothes from yesterday.
000
Within an hour's time, they were gathered around Yukina's resting place, Kurama attempting to rouse her or decipher the cause of her sleep without actually touching her. He finally leaned back and shook his head. She appeared to be in good physical health for the moment with exception to her inability to wake and her previous episode of spasms that the girls had described. Kuwabara was pale and silent behind him.
"This sickness is beyond what I can see or sense," Kurama admitted, watching Yukina warily. "I could test her for poison, but touching her could result in a reaction like earlier—only this time it could be fatal."
"I don't think it's poison," said Shizuru quietly, hugging herself as if she were cold. "I sense a dark presence within her, though I cannot see it."
Kurama stared at her intently for a moment before running a hand over his eyes. "I don't think we have another choice, but…"
Yusuke nodded grimly. "Hiei's Jagan."
"I'll find him," Kurama decided, standing.
"No need," Hiei's voice came from the doorway, making them turn. They hadn't even noticed him arrive. His face was calm and stone-like, betraying the turmoil within him. He approached Yukina and stood over her, closing his eyes and lifting the ward from his Jagan. The purple iris glared down at the sleeping maiden with its penetrating stare. Hiei's brow furrowed, though his eyes remained closed as he kneeled as if to get a closer look. For several minutes, he remained this way until he finally opened his eyes and stood.
There was a long pause in which no one spoke until Kuwabara finally broke the silence. "So?"
Hiei was still staring at Yukina inquiringly as if he were struggling to retrieve the answer. "Something dark," he finally replied.
"Yeah, Shizuru told us," Yusuke said. "Any ideas what it might be?"
"I have several ideas of what it might be, detective," Hiei snapped turning to face them with eyes blazing.
"What did you see?" Kurama asked quietly.
Hiei turned his gaze to the fox. "Something. Dark." He said again through gritted teeth. "The Jagan cannot penetrate the darkness surrounding her."
"If I know more about its nature, perhaps I can use a remedy to postpone—" Kurama began.
"Unless you can postpone a curse," Hiei growled. "This reeks of Koorime magic."
"None of us could use magic to undo the spell?" Kuwabara asked hollowly from the corner. He was glistening in a thin sheet of sweat.
"It would take a very powerful warlock to reverse the spell, if it could be done at all!" Hiei snarled.
"How much time do we have?" Yusuke asked calmly.
Hiei paused, taken aback at the sudden reasonable attitude the detective had taken in the presence of everyone's distress.
"I am unsure," Hiei replied, turning expressionless again. "I cannot See it. I had expected it much sooner in the first place."
Yusuke hummed to himself and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling. "We had better get started, then. Kurama, where do we find a witch or warlock?"
Kurama thought aloud, "Only the Koorime and a select few who live reclusively in the outer wilderness of the Makai exist. I know none of them personally, much less how to reach them."
"Alright, let's pack our things," Yusuke ordered, leaving to get a spare pack from a closet.
"But we don't know where we're going," said Kuwabara, shakily following Yusuke to the kitchen to retrieve food items.
"Not yet, we don't," Yusuke said. "But Yukina is losing time. I suggest we head toward that big ol' floating iceberg first off."
"It may be full of witches, but they will not help us," Kurama warned.
"Maybe they won't, but there's bound to be more magic-users hiding around somewhere," Yusuke replied.
"What makes you think—" Kuwabara began, but Kurama cut him off.
"That is actually a very good point," Kurama agreed. "Just as in chemistry where like dissolves like, so too does magic attract magic users."
"When was the last time you saw a warlock?" Kuwabara asked.
"Not for an age," Kurama said with a smile, though it had a grim light to it. The smile spurred no confidence in Kuwabara.
They gathered their supplies quickly and met back on the front porch where Hiei was already waiting. The girls still huddled in a group, distressed by the news.
"We'll be back when we have someone who can save Yukina," Kuwabara told them, attempting to put on a brave face.
"Good luck holding down the fort," Yusuke said with a thumbs-up, at which they smiled wetly.
"I'll do what I can for her until you get back," Botan said comfortingly, though she could feel the tug of death nearby.
Kuwabara nodded stiffly, and they dashed into the tree line.
As they ran, Kuwabara allowed branches and thorns to lash at his body creating cuts and welts. This was not an act of clumsiness, however. He relished in the stings in attempts to break some of his pain he felt for his Yukina. The maiden had lain, though not in any apparent pain, in the grasp of such a dark energy. This morning he woke to think he would be married to her, but before noon had even come around, she may be ripped suddenly from him. He wanted nothing more than to run to complete exhaustion, to scream in rage and desperation to the heavens, pulling at his hair. He wanted nothing more than to die in her place so that she might live.
He set his face into a resolved grimace as he urged his legs to carry him faster even as they burst through the portal and he was slammed with powerful miasmic air. Kuwabara knew that breaking down would not save his Yukina. And he would save her, or he would die trying.
000
Sorry this chapter isn't all that long. I have just recently come upon the time to do what I want with this story! I have other chapters I am editing currently...
R&R - or don't ;_;