Chapter 2:
The tantei moved towards the light. As they moved towards the light seen as nothing but a blur, some not even that much, they knew the place was not as deserted as it seemed. Thousands of low level youkai and some B level ones were around them staring at the new comers. Most of them knew the group… the hated reikai tantei.
Yusuke smirked. Being the king of the streets almost all his life meant fighting most of the time. And as one of the reikai tantei and a king of Makai, it hadn't reduced at all. Instead it made the fights all the more interesting. Most of the youkai were dumb enough to underestimate them seeing them only as humans and come at them. Today, it was going to be one of those days.
The four reached the light. Slightly nodding, each of them separated taking a place around the light and waited for the action.
The youkai who doubted that something was wrong with the barrier and that it was connected to the light got the confirmation with the arrival of the defense team of reikai. The wait was over. The makai barrier's secret would be exposed and they would take their rightful places at the top of the three worlds.
Shadows rose around the light as different apparitions appeared. Hiei had his hand on the hilt of his sword. Kurama held a seed between his fore and middle finger ready to morph into his rose whip. Yusuke and Kuwabara gathered their reiki in their palms with anticipation of the thrill of the fight ahead of them. Within seconds, the first attack was launched by the youkai on Kuwabara.
Kuwabara released his spirit sword slashing the youkai near and far transforming its size rapidly. He was obviously targeted most seeing as he was the only complete ningen among the four though he was leagues above them.
Yusuke sent dozens of demons flying with just one fist. He was still the most powerful one in respect of brute strength and reiki. Most of his opponents were reduced to dust or beaten to a pulp. The heir of Raizen was not one to mess with.
Hiei being the swiftest sliced through anyone who came at him before they even realized what was happening. He didn't even bring the jagan eye out yet the opponents before him disappeared.
Kurama, still in the human guise, also finished off his opponents with his infamous rose whip. Bodies littered the ground around him. It was then that it happened…
The fight ended in no time. The youkai who finally realized that they were no match for the detectives ran for their lives
"Hiei" Yusuke called "You want the honours?" Hiei smirked and disappeared from his position. In seconds, all the youkai were down.
Yusuke and Kuwabara went to Kurama who had gone quiet all of a sudden. He was kneeling down running his fingers on the ground.
"Whadya find Kurama?"
"This black thing; it is ash."
"Ash?"
"Yes and it's no ordinary ash either. It's purified ash."
Hiei arrived at that moment. "Hn"
"Purified?"
"Yes, youkai purified by someone with holy powers."
"So… some priest or monk did something here?"Kuwabara asked.
"Yes, possible. But they are human. No one could have come here. It must be the work of the light. It was made by someone with spiritual powers years ago. Let me just check it."
"Yeah it makes sense!"
"Shut up idiot. Don't act as if you understand what is going on." Yusuke hit Kuwabara and this resulted in a mini brawl.
"Hn. Idiots."
Kurama smiled and ignored the two. "I think the barrier must be weakening because of age. Then the only way to repair it would be for someone with spiritual powers to supplement its power." He told Hiei.
Kurama took out a seed and planted it in the ground where he was. It was an underground plant that grew towards the light. It came out a little further away behind the outer layer of the light. A thin stem grew steadily and reached for the light. The moment it made contact with the light it turned into ash. But it didn't end with that. Like a spark of lightning it hit Kurama through the link of youki. He fell back on the ground violently but thankfully broke the link.
"AH!" Kurama shouted as fire coursed through his body. Hiei was next to him in a split second but he could not touch the kitsune. Yusuke could also not touch him as he also had demon blood. It was up to Kuwabara to save him. Kurama had lost consciousness as it was like touching a 20000V source. It was a miracle that he was unharmed unlike his plant.
Kuwabara carried him as Yusuke called Botan to immediately open a portal to the spirit world. Yusuke went along with Kuwabara leaving Hiei behind as the guard.
Kurama was rushed to the healers' in reikai. He laid absolutely still in Kuwabara's arms but he was surrounded by a blue lightning sizzling from time to time. His face was scrunched, eyebrows knitted close. He was in pain.
Botan led the three to large circular room, white and had a peculiar smell (maybe like reikai version of a hospital ward). Yusuke and Kuwabara had no time to react though as Kurama was pulled out of Kuwabara's arms and they were shoved out of the room.
"It's better you both stay here." Botan told them.
There was no door to the room and looked like the inside of an igloo, white all over. Botan quickly exchanged a few words with the six healers in the room and walked out of the room too. Kurama was placed in the centre of the room and the six took their places forming a hexagon. The one farthest from them began a chant made a seal, the others followed suit in sequence completing a spiritual circle. Soon, a barrier was erected around Kurama.
"They told me his youki was decreasing steeply. His vitals are fine but he is racing inside. They'll do all they can. Kurama is in the finest hands in the whole of reikai."
"What happens if his youki dies down completely?" Yusuke asked.
"I- I'm not sure. There are a lot of possibilities. He could become an ordinary human because his demon side was purified. He could become very… very weak, maybe even weaker than a normal human because of Youko's influence on most of his bodily functions. In- In the worst case… In the worst case, he could die. If the light is made by a miko, then it's like a poison to him. He is lucky though that he didn't come in direct contact with the light."
"That's horrible!" Kuwabara exclaimed thinking how it was impossible to be the team they were without Kurama.
"He can't die!" Yusuke exclaimed. Kurama had been his first friend after he became a spirit detective, the one who supported him through his entire journey. He would have died a hundred times if it wasn't for Kurama. He would have never saved this world. He couldn't-
Botan put a hand on Yusuke's shoulder knowing how horrible he must be for him. "We should hope for the best."
AN: How many of you want to kill me? :D
I guess I'm living up to my devilish name… but seriously I hadn't planned this. My hand just went on typing. My original chapter was such that he hadn't even seen the light (no pun intended). There was actually something about Shippo and Kurama in the last chapter, but I changed the plans since it seemed too soon. So yea, this was coming from the previous chapter itself…
Uh, one more thing… about the late update… I wasn't in town for the last two weeks. I was in my gran's place where the computer doesn't work and I couldn't go to a browsing centre either and we are also shifting houses, so I had a lot of work before that, have some more too. I just came home yesterday; this is the earliest I could update. I'm really sorry and I'll update faster from now on and will let you know in advance if there's anything.
DD