Koori no Kokoro

By: Minuiko

A/N: Comeback after 3 years? Maybe, maybe not. I wonder if anyone reads YYH fanfics anymore. I wonder why I'm updating when it's finals week. It's my way of practicing how to write real stories, I suppose.

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Chapter Two

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Reikai

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Yuzaki awoke to the sound of water dripping from the cracks in the ceiling. The first thing she noticed when she tried to move was that she had rusted iron manacles chaining her hands and feet to the ground. It was freezing in the room; it seemed they were being considerate of her heritage.

She moved to a sitting position and immediately winced as she saw white and her head felt like it were getting pummeled by a Class A demon. She stretched out some of the kinks in her spine and surveyed her surroundings. The cell was boring, made of slabs of cracked gray stone. There were no windows, only a single steel door with a slit in it, probably for sliding food in.

A sharp noise in the front of the room alerted her to her situation. Stupid, stupid! she thought. How could she get caught on her first attempt? Her most important mission?

The door screeched open and three people came in, two she didn't know and the other someone whose face she'd studied intently in the Makai ever since she accepted her mission. Youko Kurama's reputed death came as a huge shock to her, and she thought she'd moved on until rumors of him resurfaced at the time of the Dark Tournament. She began her mission anew.

The chains rattled as she stood and squared her shoulders, breathing through her nose. She calmed herself; she wasn't going to lunge for him when she didn't even have her sword and he had two friends with him. She resigned herself for the torture she knew would come. It was the way they dealt with renegade demons like her.

"You're a member of the Akari family?" a small toddler in blue asked, holding up her treasure sword with her family name inscribed finely at the base of the blade. "Or did you steal this?"

"It's mine," she bit out, furious that he would even think that, but then again, most demons had no scruples about stealing. Youko Kurama had made a living off it, she thought bitterly.

"Now tell me something I don't know," Yuzaki said. "Like why a demon traitor like him," she jerked her head at the redhead, "is allied with the Reiki. He's committed more offenses than King Enma has oni."

One of the boys started angrily. "Kurama's a good guy—"

"Quiet, Yuusuke," the toddler said, raising his hand at the disgruntled black-haired boy. He turned to Yuzaki. "Kurama's had his share of trouble, though only one true offense against Reiki," the baby admitted. "We let him off last year on good behavior and he's been working for us for a while now."

"So are you this lenient with all traitors or is that reserved for the especially pretty ones?"

Kurama stood before her and it took great effort not to spit in his face. She had her pride, but showing insolence when she was in this position, unable to even defend herself, was plain stupid.

He looked at her with clear, cold eyes. She stared back, not willing to be the first to look away. She expected him to interrogate her. Hit her. What she didn't expect was for him to unlock her shackles and produce a small jar of ointment from his sleeve.

"That must hurt," he murmured, indicating her bruised wrist. There was a small smile on his face, and Yuzaki thought him a sadist. Was he enjoying this? "If you can promise not to try and assassinate me again, I can treat that."

"Don't touch me," she said, shrinking away from his hand. This was a trick to get her off her guard. What was that phrase again? "It's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar." He was trying to trap her, get her to feel comfortable enough to talk. She'd rather suffer the bruising than be healed by him. In the back of her mind she realized with faint humiliation that the reason he could afford to do this was because he didn't even consider her a threat.

"As you wish," he said, pocketing the ointment and folding his sleeves.

As he moved, she detected the faint fragrance of roses and wanted to be sick. It was wrong for such a nice smell to belong to the demon that murdered her parents. It was partly in reaction to such a contradiction that she said without thinking, "What, you're not gonna—torture me? Trap my youki? Crush my skull in? Have your years in Ningenkai made you soft?"

"Hey, pacifier-freak, she's really ticking me off," the black-haired boy growled.

"You'll just have to deal with it, Yuusuke," Koenma said, turning back to Yuzaki. "Trapping your youki… that's a good idea, actually. All those demons must be after you because they can sense your youki, so if we suppress it and you lay low for awhile, hopefully they'll give up and go back to Makai. Or we could just offer you up as bait and let them kill you. Which sounds better to you?"

"I'd rather be dead than at his mercy," Yuzaki said, tilting her head at Kurama.

"Unfortunately, until you tell us why they're after you, you don't get a say. So, why are they after you?"

It was such a simple reason, but she'd be damned before she relented. She just glowered at the three before Koenma sighed, his fingers on his forehead. "Alright, youki-suppression it is," he said. "We'll send someone for you later."

-

"Wait, wait, so my assignment is to defend her? She tried to kill Kurama!"

"The key word here is 'tried,' Yuusuke," Koenma said. "I'm certain Kurama can take care of himself, and besides, we can't leave her alone until we discover why these demons are after her."

"Why don't we beat it out of her then," Yuusuke said.

"Yuusuke, I don't know if you know this, but—"

"What, hitting girls is wrong? Are you turning into Kuwabara?"

"— but the Akari family used to be extremely valuable to Reikai in the past. They were one of the few demon families that helped us keep the smaller demons under control."

"So the family's good. That doesn't make the girl any less deserving of a good punch in the face."

"Yuusuke, her family's dead," Koenma said, turning to look the spirit detective in the eye. "Because of Kurama."

-

"I say you kill her," Hiei said, perched comfortably against Kurama's apartment window. He had long since established that spot as his, and popped up from time to time. "She's going to stab you in the back sooner or later."

"There's no question she wants me dead," Kurama mused. "But she seems more like the type to go for a direct strike rather than a back attack. Besides, you know me. I'm cautious enough for the both of us."

Hiei snorted. "Living in Ningenkai has made you soft, fox."

Funny, the girl said the same thing, Kurama thought. Hiei crossed and uncrossed his ankles, disgruntled. "I'm not going to look after your skin."

"I wouldn't ask that of you," Kurama said, smiling serenely. "You have your own things to do, your own secrets to keep."

Hiei eyed him suspiciously. "You didn't tell Yukina—"

"Of course not," Kurama said, sitting at his desk now and folding his hands together on his crossed legs. "But you can't expect to keep her in the dark forever. She already thinks of you as a brother."

"You know why I can't tell her."

"What if she figures it out? Will you tell her she's wrong, then?"

"Worry about yourself, fox," Hiei snapped, standing up and opening the window. He gave Kurama a once-over before he dashed away into the night. Kurama sighed. They wanted him to drive them tomorrow. He really wondered what was going through Koenma's head that he'd ask this.

-

"I won't live with him!"

"I won't live with her!"

Koenma smiled at Yuzaki and Yuusuke, who were both in the back seat of the car but sitting as far as possible from each other. "Would you rather keep her under Kuwabara's watch then? Or maybe Kurama's? And here I thought you were so worried for him."

Yuzaki was frustrated. These people were going to drive her insane, and she still didn't have her sword back. She was even worse off than before she came here, because now she didn't even have her youki to defend herself, at least not until that old hag took the spirit cuffs off of her. It was too hot in this car, too hot in this town. It was stifling.

"Maybe you can introduce her to Yukina, they're both ice demons, right?"

Yuzaki's head snapped up. She said sharply, "Yukina of the Koorime?"

"You know her?"

"No. I've heard of her. The Koorime are supposed to be absolutely ruthless, and this one was stupid enough to get caught by a human."

She wasn't trying to be vindictive, but the heat was making her snappy. She had nothing against the Koorime, or Yukina.

Yuusuke growled. "I can't put up with this shit."

Kurama gave them a cursory glance back from the driver's seat. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Hiei would never approve."

"I am not going to live with this bitch!" Yuusuke said. "Besides, Keiko would kill me!"

"What do you propose then?" Koenma said.

"Why can't you keep her in Reikai?"

"Because she hasn't done anything wrong yet," Koenma said.

"She tried to kill Kurama!"

"Kurama is a full-blooded demon who can take care of himself," Koenma reminded Yuusuke. "We don't interfere with affairs between two demons. Reikai only steps in if demons are affecting Ningenkai."

Talking. They were talking too much. It was making her head spin.

"How convenient," Yuusuke said, throwing up his hands. Yuzaki wanted him to shut up already, she was going to throw up. "Look, I don't know what we're doing with her, but she's not living with me, and that's final."

"Your assignment…"

Yuzaki fainted.

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~Tsuzuku~

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