Chapter 2 "You better not have lied!"

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Kuwabara stood in the room, his Spirit Sword flaring out. A demon stood in front of him.. His layered jaw length black hair was tipped white and a few stray strands fell into his cloudy grey eyes. He stood at 6 foot 5 with broad shoulders and a muscled body. A plumed, dog tail hung behind him and his angered snarl showed sharp canine teeth. His face was strongly structured with well-defined cheek bones. He hovered a few feet off the ground and huge gust of wind swirled around the room. Several sharp objects in the room were pointed straight at Kuwabara.

"I am not fond of killing, but if you don't let me take the girl, your death will be excruciating." He flipped a large hand and a pen stuck itself into Kuwabara's arm.

Kuwabara yelped in surprise and slight pain. "I don't know what you're deal is pal, but you'll have to go through me to get to her!" He didn't know whether the unconscious young girl was on the good side or not, but it was his job to protect her and he wasn't going to fail at that.

"You're not much of a threat. I can take you out in seconds." A forceful wind started to whirl around the room. It took up several of the larger objects, including the glass lamps at each corner of the room. The objects flung themselves at Kuwabara, giving him several large cuts and bruises to account for.

Kuwabara swung his Spirit Sword wildly at his attacker who lifted into the air a split second before the sword sliced at the spot he had been in. "Come back here and fight like a man!" Kuwabara hollered.

The stone chair at the foot of the bed zoomed upwards then straight down, aimed for Kuwabara's oddly shaped head.

Ryoko strode in then froze at the scene. "Yahan, stop!" The chair stilled its progress and so did the raging winds.

The tall demon stared at the young woman. "Ryoko?" He hovered several feet off the ground.

"Stop attacking the oaf over there. These people are on our side…sort of." At least, she hoped they were.

"What do you mean 'sort of'? How can you 'sort of' be on our side?"

Ryoko sighed. "Just listen!" she snapped.

His anger cooled and he shrugged. "Oh." He landed gracefully on the floor, and all the hovering objects fell, including the stone chair, right on Kuwabara's head. He hit the wood with a hollow thud.

"Who the hell is he!" Yusuke demanded.

Ryoko turned to him. "He is…the other of the two exceptions that Saya has toward demons, another of her protectors."

Yahan stepped toward his partner nimbly, wind rushing beneath his fee and causing him to barely touch the floor. "Who are these idiots?"

She shrugged. "Actually, I don't know."

"Wait…what! You just stopped me from saving you two and yet you don't know who they are! What the hell is wrong with this picture? Has your brain just decided to take some kind of vacation!" he huffed.

"Well I'm sorry for bothering! I should have let you kill the damn fool so you could have been shipped to a jail cell!" Her voice stayed calm and only slightly unsteady but her eyes flashed anger.

"May we interrupt?" Kurama stepped forward. "She trusted us for good reason…Yahan. It is Yahan, correct?" He bowed courteously. "I am Suichii Minamino, but everyone here calls me Kurama." He extended his arm to show the other two in the room. "The young man over there is Yusuke Urameshi and the elderly woman is head of this temple, Master Genkai."

Yahan stopped his shouting to take in the names. The Spirit Detective and Genkai? That was a load to take in.

"See, I know who they are." Ryoko remarked smugly.

"You didn't know 'till now," he rumbled.

"I think we have a mutual goal," Genkai told him, "and a mutual problem. Our companion is dying, and so is your charge, Saya. I have an idea of how to keep them alive, but it'd be risky and you'd all have to agree."

"What are you talking about, Grandma?" Yusuke demanded.

"If you'd keep quiet, I'd tell you! It has to do with their souls. From what you've told me, I've figured that the spell from the hearts blood causes the wearer's soul to disintegrate. Her inner strength and contact with Hiei caused the spell to weaken. So now, both their souls are fragmented."

"Fragmented?" Yahan's face was puzzled.

"Their souls have been torn into little bits and pieces. They've broken apart so much that they can't revive themselves as they are," Kurama answered.

"So what's your idea, old hag?"

"To bind them; to perform a spell that ties their souls together so that they each have a piece of each other's essence. The spell gives each of them enough of a soul to gain consciousness." Genkai's expression was grim. "But, they could die from the incantation."

"I won't let you do some freakish spell that'll kill 'er!" Yahan growled.

Ryoko placed a hand on his shoulder. Kurama noticed the contact involuntarily. "It's our only chance to save her, Yahan. If we don't do it, she'll die anyways."

Yahan's lip curled back in a snarl, but he shrugged. "Fine…"

Genkai extracted something out of her pocket, a clear glass ball shown in the light. "I'll need you all to place your energy in here, so I can use it for the spell."

They all walked by, touching the glass sphere lightly. It glowed faintly at each touch, Yahan was the last to exit. "Just a warning old lady, if anything happens to her, you won't wake up tomorrow."

"Don't be so confident punk," Genkai said harshly. She glanced down at Kuwabara on the floor. "HEY! dimwit, Kurama! GET THIS IDIOT OUT OF HERE!"

"You know I don't trust you right?" Yahan stood behind Kurama and Yusuke. "I wouldn't trust you if you saints. Don't get near those girls." His tone was deadly.

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "Just don't get in my way." He stomped off. Kurama didn't even register his threat.

Yahan, leave them alone, Ryoko's annoyed voice entered his mind.

"What do you plan to do about the Makoto's?" Ryoko asked Kurama.

I saw what he did to you Ryoko, and I have a right to pound his pretty boy ass into the ground.

"We were sent to bring the Makoto's into custody for trial." Kurama wasn't aware of the silent exchange between the two protectors.

'I' do it to people all the time. I'll settle the score between him and myself within time.

"But you're letting us leave once Saya's conscious again, right? We have no business in this, and I don't feel like becoming some hero."

I can't let anyone play with my little sister.

"We don't expect anything from you," Kurama replied in a tight voice

Just because I'm your younger sister doesn't mean you have to protect me, I'm not a helpless little child.

"That's just the way we'd prefer it."

Just trying to look after you.

"Well in that case, don't expect any help from us in the future," Kurama replied coolly.

I have my own punishment in mind for him. Ryoko closed off the mental connection.

"Wasn't planning on it," was Ryoko's smart reply.

Kurama exited without another word.

"Remember, I don't know you," Ryoko told Yahan. "You just happen to work with me, and I have no relatives at all."

Yahan nodded reluctantly, "As always."

Genkai stepped out of the room, looking exhausted, "It's done."

They all appeared at once in the door. "So…did it work, Grandma?" Yusuke asked.

"It better have," Yahan growled.

"Yes, but…" Genkai started.

"But what?" Ryoko asked in an alarmed tone.

"There are a few side effects that I forgot to mention." Genkai told them off-handedly.

"OH! You forgot did you?" A threatening wind wrapped around her small frame.

"It's nothing dangerous," Kurama commented.

"So you knew about it too?" Yahan turned his head and glared.

"Dimwits, shut up and listen!" Genkai commanded. "Kurama's right. None of these side effects are fatal. Their bond will cause them to act oddly. Their personalities will mix together, so that each of them will act a bit like the other. And…they won't be able to stay away from each other."

Yusuke's eyes widened. "Wow, you're gonna have a hell of a moody master from now on," Yusuke told Ryoko and Yahan.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoko inquired, hands itching to grab the daggers up her sleeves.

"Trust me, you'll see what I mean when they wake up" Yusuke grinned mischievously.

"I trust you as much as I trust a kitsune and we all know how they live to lie." Ryoko stated coolly. Yusuke stifled a chuckle, and Kurama looked away with an unreadable expression upon his face.

"Look stop your bickering, they are about to wake up soon and then you'll be in for a great surprise." With that, Genkai left.

"What the hell is she hiding?" Ryoko asked.

"I'm going to check on them," Kurama and Yahan said in unison. Yahan glared daggers at the red head.

When they left, Yusuke took a seat by Ryoko. "So who is he…and why were you talking in secrets?"

Ryoko settled the cloak back on to her shoulders, "I told you who he is." She leaned on the window and the breeze tickled through her obsidian locks.

Yusuke wasn't fooled. "I've been around Kurama and Hiei for a long time and I know how to spot when their speaking in their minds. You and Yahan are no different. Besides, have you noticed that he's a dog demon, and you are a cat? How often does that happen?"

Ryoko tensed under her cloak. Maybe he was smart enough to figure out who she really was, and the things she had done. "You have no-"

"I mean you guys do hate each other don't ya? You're a cat, he's a dog. You're supposed to fight. So what, did she force ya to work together?" Yusuke questioned.

The cat almost wanted to laugh. She had actually thought that he had figured it out! But he was too dimwitted for that. "Sure Yusuke, we hate each other."

"So why do it? Why not just leave her and let that dog partner of yours to take care of the mess?"

She swung around and some of her hidden daggers flashed in the light. "It's not about who my partner is, or how much I like him. It's about trying to keep one of the few still decent people in this world alive. I do it because she deservers my help. I don't abandon anyone."

"Right answer."

"What?"

Yusuke grinned dumbly, "If you said you wanted to leave her, then I would have kicked you and Yahan out, but I still might since he's such a jerk." The greasy haired boy eyed the closed door. "You said you didn't want to be a hero. No one really does. I sure as hell don't, but look at me now."

"So you made me say that idiotic speech for nothing?" Her eyes were cold. Without notice, she left the room.

"Oh, hey," he yelled, "Don't get mad! It's not like I acted how Kurama did earlier! Or should I call you my dear and give you a kiss?" A dagger planted itself an inch from his foot.

"I told you not to mess with her," Yahan told him threateningly as he stepped out of the other room. "She's got a past that you don't want to know about, Spirit Detective" He said the last words in disgust. "And she can probably snap you in two." Yahan's eyes grew distracted and a smirk appeared on his face.

"What'd she say?" Yusuke asked.

"Huh?"

"Like I told your partner, I know that look on you face. She said something in your head," Yusuke said. He tapped a finger on his temple.

Yahan shrugged with a wider smirk. "She said she'd rather make you her dart board; 10 points for the nose, 20 for the eyes, and 30 for the emptiness where your brain is supposed to be."

Ryoko opened the door to the room with the invalids, forgetting that someone might still be there. She gazed down at the still bodies on the large bed. Saya and Hiei lay side by side. Saya's dark, choppy hair spread fan-like across the pillow, and her short legs were tangled up in the sheet and the pair of other legs beside her. One cinnamon arm was thrown across Hiei's torso. Ryoko had heard that everyone looked peaceful in their sleep, but Saya proved that fact wrong. Her face was drawn with pain, and there were worry creases at the corners of her eyes.

The look on Saya's face threw Ryoko into a recent memory.

Ryoko frowned with concern. "We can't do this…You're a part of this family, whether you like it or not. I don't want you getting murdered by your own blood."

Saya yanked her coat on. "Doesn't matter, I can't stick around here and be apart of their scheme, they murdered Suki. She was just a bystander. And she was the only link out of here that I had."

"You've seen them murder before, why is it different now?"

"It's different now because she was my friend. Would you expect me not to care if they had murdered you or Yahan?"

Ryoko grabbed her pair of daggers. "I wouldn't expect you to become suicidal. You do know trying to escape is suicide, right?"

Saya paused and looked away, unable to hold her gaze. "It wouldn't matter if you and Yahan were to be taken from me."

Ryoko sighed. "I can't believe I am agreeing with this. If you die, I'll come back and kill you myself."

Saya made eye contact. Her determined violet eyes met Ryoko's flashing silver ones. "Don't be such a worry wart, I swear I won't die."

Ryoko's memory faded. "I thought you said you weren't going to die on me…" she murmured. "You better not have lied!"

This is the next installment it was mostly a filler between the real action and a place where we could explain things. Review if you're happy, or honk, which ever you prefer.

Review responses will come next chapter. Next chapter will come when we get a satisfactory amount of reviews