Chapter Two
Flames and Spirit
It took Yusuke an hour to drive from his rundown apartment to the beautiful forest that surrounded Genkai's temple. It was the middle of the night and a cool breeze was in the air as Yusuke stepped out of his vehicle and began walking the familiar path towards his old training grounds.
Memories both good and bad flooded Yusuke's mind as he walked, hands buried in his coat pockets. His fight with Rando, the two sessions of training with Genkai, his leaving and return from Demon World, and finally the funeral for his beloved teacher…
Eight months after Yusuke's return to the Human World, Genkai had passed on to Spirit World. At first, Yusuke thought that only his old crew would be there: Keiko, Kuwabara and his sister, Yukina, Kurama, Boton, and Koenma, but to his surprise Chu, Jin and the rest of his friends from the Dark Tournament had showed up. Even Hiei had been there, although he never actually made his appearance known.
Following Genkai's wishes, they all tried their best not to show remorse for the old woman's death, but that proved to be harder than anticipated. Still, after her eulogy (given by Yusuke himself) they threw a large party. Everyone, except Hiei, partook. The only one who could even stand afterwards was Chu, but that wasn't exactly fair to the rest of them…
Yusuke finally made it to the long stairway that lead up to Genkai's old home and started running. The strong spiritual energy of this place made him feel right at home, even with his demonic blood coursing heavily through his veins.
It took a couple minutes, but Yusuke made it to the top where he was a little surprised to be greeted by Yukina, Hiei's sister. She had been living with Genkai until the very end and, not having anywhere else to go, she continued living here, taking care of the grounds.
"Hello, Yusuke," Yukina said with her usual smile.
"Hey Yukina. I'm surprised you're still up," said Yusuke, slipping his hands back in his pockets.
"I've been up all night. I couldn't sleep very well," she admitted, "and then Hiei came by."
"Yeah," said Yusuke, rubbing the back of his neck, "where is he?"
Yusuke always felt a little nervous talking about Hiei in front of Yukina. As far as he knew, she still didn't know that they were brother and sister. In fact, only she and Kuwabara were still ignorant of that fact. Hiei wanted it that way, so Yusuke respected his wishes…with a couple of minor jabs at Hiei's expense, of course.
"He's waiting for you in the temple. You know the way, yes?"
Yusuke nodded with a smirk. "I've been there once or twice."
"Of course," said Yukina with a smile. "Shall I bring you two some tea?"
"No thanks. Why don't you get back inside? It's cold out…err, never mind."
The ice maiden laughed, "I will. Try not to kill each other," and Yukina walked back to the main building, leaving Yusuke alone. He smiled and lit up another cigarette, something he did by habit when near Genkai's grave, and walked the couple hundred yards to the temple.
The door was open and Yusuke could see a light coming from within. He tossed off his shoes as he walked inside.
The black haired demon was sitting in his usual black robes in front of the candle Yusuke assumed he had lit. His white bandana was strapped around his forehead, covering the Jagan Eye that had been implanted there.
"Hey there, Hiei. Always nice to get a visit from my favorite three-eyed demon," said Yusuke, grabbing one of Genkai's old ashtrays and butting out his cigarette while walking over to Hiei.
"Hmph," replied Hiei, concentrating on Yusuke. His red eyes never left his, which sent a chill down Yusuke's spine.
"What's your problem?" asked Yusuke, feeling a tinge of annoyance.
"I'll assume you know that the Ka-kai Barrier has been put back into place by Enkii," said Hiei bluntly.
Yusuke frowned and nodded, "Yeah, I did. Koenma told me. So how're you here, Hiei? If that barrier is anything like the old one, I know you're too powerful to fit through it."
The old Ka-kai Barrier would only allow demons of B-Class and under to slip through. Hiei was far beyond that, even before it was originally taken down.
"I have special permission from Enkii and the other councilmen."
"I take it one of those councilmen is Mukuro, am I right?" Yusuke asked with a sheepish grin, causing Hiei to glare.
Mukuro and Hiei, last Yusuke had checked, were a couple. A very strange, very unique couple, but still…a couple.
"This has nothing to do with her, detective," replied Hiei harshly, standing up. Yusuke spotted his trademark katana strapped to his side.
"Okay, okay," said Yusuke, throwing up his hands in defense. The smile was still on his lips, "Didn't mean to offend."
"Your world is in danger, detective. I've come to warn you."
Yusuke felt his fists clench. Another warning. "I swear to God, Hiei, if that's all you're going to say I'm going to kick your ass."
Hiei continued to look at Yusuke, no fear in the demon's eyes, "Is that so?"
Yusuke grit his teeth. "Yeah…it is."
Hiei smirked, "Then prove it, Ex-detective Yusuke Urameshi."
Red demonic energy began to appear around Hiei's body, causing Yusuke to take a step back. The energy manifested quickly, and soon the entire temple was soaked in its aura.
"This will be the third time we've fought," said Hiei, still smiling, "Last time I called it a draw. Let's see how you fair this time."
"Hold on a second, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, but Hiei had already made his move; a swift, powerful jab to Yusuke's stomach. The blow caused Yusuke's body to go soaring out of the temple and onto the grassy area in front. He quickly got up and unleashed his own blue, spiritual energy. Hiei had appeared at the entrance of the temple. He had thrown off his robes, revealing his tightly bandaged right arm.
"If that attack was enough to catch you off guard, you will be no match for the coming battle," said Hiei, holding his ground.
"I…" but Yusuke had nothing to say. Hiei was right. He hadn't fought once since his battles in the Demon World Tournament, let alone train.
"Is this the power that defeated Toguro and Sensui?" asked Hiei, walking slowly down the stairs of the temple. "Is this the power that caused a revolution in Demon World?"
"Shut up!" roared Yusuke and exploded with spiritual energy. "I don't want to hear it!"
Yusuke dashed towards Hiei and threw a right punch, but the demon merely held up his left hand and caught the fist. Glaring, Yusuke swung his body around and delivered a powerful kick into the side of Hiei's head, forcing the demon to fly into the air. He was only stunned for a moment before collecting himself and landing on the roof of the temple.
"Pathetic," commented Hiei.
Yusuke jumped twenty feet into the air and started throwing punch after punch at Hiei, who was blocking all of them with relative ease.
"This obviously isn't working, Yusuke," said Hiei nonchalantly as he blocked Yusuke's fiftieth punch. "Why not whip out that pea-shooter of yours? Or do you not remember how to use it?"
"Don't tell me how to kick someone's ass, Hiei!" yelled Yusuke, jumping back to the opposite end of the temple's roof. "I have plenty of experience doing that!"
Yusuke held up his right hand and extended his index finger. A warm glow started resonating from it, and soon enough a ball of glowing blue energy appeared at the tip.
"I will do it, Hiei!" warned Yusuke, taking aim.
"Try me," replied Hiei, a red flame appearing around his left arm.
"Spirit Gun!"
The spiritual bullet blasted out of Yusuke's finger and shot straight at Hiei. The three-eyed demon quickly raised his flaming hand and pressed against the bullet. The strong spiritual power began pushing Hiei back, but he was holding his own.
"You have become weak!" yelled Hiei over the roar of the blast. "I doubt this attack would be enough to take out even Toguro!"
"Then try this on for size!"
Hiei looked up to find Yusuke falling above him. He had jumped up right after unleashing the attack, while Hiei was distracted with blocking. His left hand was gripping his right wrist, and his index finger was still pointing out, another blue orb blazing around his hand.
"Spirit Gun!"
The blast engulfed Hiei and Yusuke's first attack, causing Hiei to fall into the collapsing temple's roof. Yusuke landed on what was left of the rooftop, but even where he landed was unstable, and quickly fell into the dark temple.
Debris filled the air and caused Yusuke to cough a few times. Moonlight was started to seep in, and Yusuke looked to where Hiei had fallen. At first, Yusuke couldn't see past the fallen rubble, but then he felt a familiar presence coming from the other side of the temple.
A black flame was starting to grow, and after a few seconds, Hiei had emerged with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame beginning to whip around his now naked right arm, Hiei's most deadly attack. The bandages were flying away from him.
"It ends now," said Hiei in a low voice, walking over the fallen roof and towards Yusuke, who was stepping back.
"Dammit, Hiei…" mumbled Yusuke. He had two shots of his Spirit Gun left. He could feel it. In his battle against Yomi, one of the three old kings of Demon World, Yusuke had shot off countless shots to try and take him down, but that was then and this was now. He had also had his demonic energy back then, but he hadn't awoken that since that day.
"While you've been sitting on your ass these last few years, I've been training;" said Hiei, still walking towards Yusuke, "training with Mukuro to further hone my skills. You should have remained in Demon World, Yusuke. You're wasting away here, living life like a normal human."
"I like it here," said Yusuke, trying to remain calm. He couldn't read Hiei at all. His eyes were bloodthirsty. It looked as though he really wanted to kill Yusuke, and with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, that possibility seemed all too real.
"Whether you like it here or not, I don't really care. Your happiness is of no concern of mine…or the coming threat."
"What threat, Hiei?" yelled Yusuke, swinging his arm. "Koenma told me to be on my guard, and then I get this crazy dream from Raizen who also warned me! I'm tired of being warned! I want to know what is coming and how do I stop it?"
Hiei had stopped at the mentioning of Raizen, "What else did Raizen tell you?"
Yusuke frowned, "It was just a stupid dream, Hiei. Nothing more."
"It's obviously more if you mentioned it to me right before I kill you," replied Hiei, his tone way-too-serious for comfort. "Now what did he say?"
A bead of sweat trickled down Yusuke's forehead, "He said to awaken my Ma-zaku blood…and then I'd know what I needed to do."
"Is that all?" asked Hiei, staring.
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"Yes!"
"Fine. Give Genkai my regards."
And Hiei thrust his right arm towards Yusuke, unleashing the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at him. Yusuke could barely even throw up his arms and unleash every last ounce of spiritual energy he had to try and defend the attack, but the fiery of the dragon was far more than Yusuke had ever imagined, and he felt himself begin to lose consciousness…
