Wow, each chapter is getting longer. Anyways, here's Kei! One of my favorites. Poor Kuwa. He's not famous ):
And also- CLIFFHANGER! I love abusing that man, I really do.
Also sorry in advance for my shit Japanese phrasing.
Kei - Attack
After school, Azami headed out to the gates to wait for Kuwabara. He was finishing some paperwork, so she'd gone ahead to fill Shae in. the wolf was there by the gates, and hopped to her feet when Azami approached.
"Hey, Shae. We aren't going straight home today."
The wolf looked at her oddly, then trotted behind a bush and stood up in her human form, ears and tail hidden.
"What? Why?"
"You'll ever believe this. I went into class today, and Kuwabara-sensei was talking to his friend, this guy named Yusuke-"
"YUSUKE? As in, legendary descendant of Raizen former Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi?"
Azami glared at her friend. "Yes. That one. And thanks for telling me about him, Shae."
"I didn't know your teacher knew him! Really! The only famous friends of his are Hiei, Mukuro's aide and the fox spirit Kurama."
"Ouch, so I'm not famous?"
The two girls jumped as Kuwabara walked up behind them. Shae blushed.
"Uh...yeah, sorry. At least, I haven't heard of you. Probably-"
"'Cause I'm human, yeah. I get that a lot. It's okay." He looked at Azami. "We should get going. Genkai's a little far."
Shae gasped. "THE Genkai? Azami, why are we going to her temple? You know who she is?"
Azami raised an eyebrow. "Some badass lady? Yusuke's teacher, now mine?"
"Yeah, she's really- wait, WHAT?"
Azami laughed at her friend's expression. "Yeah. I'm the new Spirit Detective. Surprise!"
"Holy shit. Seriously?" Shae looked over to Kuwabara for confirmation. He nodded, smiling.
"Yeah. We're taking her to meet Genkai and the others now. Want to come?"
Shae nodded vigorously. "Oh, hell, yes! ….Wait, we?"
"Hey! Kuwabara! Sorry I'm late; Keiko dragged me on errands all afternoon."
Yusuke jogged up to them, and Shae blinked in shock.
"Wow, Urameshi, she's really got you whipped."
"And you're the same way for Yukina, so shut up."
Yusuke turned to Azami, leaving Kuwabara to glare at the back of his head.
"Hey, newbie. You ready to go?"
"Yeah. Oh, this is my friend Shae."
Shae waved a little and squeaked out a 'hi'. Yusuke laughed and patted her on the head.
"Nice to meet you, too. Alright, then, Kuwabara, where's your clunker?"
Kuwabara swatted at Yusuke as he led them to his car, a beat-up old SUV. "My baby is not a clunker. She's just moody."
"Suuuure. And Hiei's gonna be your new best friend."
"Piss off."
The four piled into the car, and they headed off to Genkai's temple.
An hour or two of listening to Yusuke and Kuwabara bicker later, they arrived at the forest where the temple was. Yusuke led them up the trail to the stairs.
"Here we are, Grandma Genkai's Temple of Hell."
Azami frowned. "What?"
"Ignore Urameshi. Genkai's a pretty tough teacher, but she's alright."
"She can also hear you JUST FINE, boys."
The four looked up to see Genkai on the stairs, her arms crossed over her chest. Yusuke grinned.
"Hey, you old bat. Not dead yet?"
"Obviously not, dimwit. Seems you're still just as childish."
Yusuke gave her the finger, but she ignored it and looked over to Azami. "You're the new Detective, huh? Don't look like much, but your Reiki's fairly strong. I think you'll do alright. Now come on. Koenma and your new assistant are waiting."
Azami blinked in surprise at the old master's bluntness, but followed her up the stairs, the other three trailing behind.
As they reached the temple, Azami couldn't help but gasp. The temple grounds were sprawling, and the buildings were old, and beautiful. Genkai nodded.
"Takes a lot to keep this place tidy. Good thing Kurama left those nutjobs from the Tournament here to help."
Azami didn't ask. As she looked around, she heard someone call out to them.
"Yusuke! Did you find someone?"
Yusuke waved to someone out of her line of sight. "Yeah, Koenma. I found one."
Azami turned to watch the two newcomers approach the group. The one in front- tall, brown-haired, and with a pacifier in his mouth- Azami assumed was Koenma. The other man drew her attention a bit longer.
He noticed her watching him and waved cheerily, grinning at her. She waved back.
When they reached the group, Koenma introduced himself and greeted her with relief.
"Thank goodness Yusuke found someone. I hate having to deal with Father when he's pissy. And believe me, he was getting pretty pissy."
Yusuke snorted. "When isn't he?"
The older members of the group started joking amongst themselves, leaving Azami, Shae, and the other newcomer to look at each other a little awkwardly. The newcomer was the first to break the silence.
"So you're the new Spirit Detective? Cuter than I thought you'd be."
Azami blinked at him, flushing a little. "What?"
"Nothing." He grinned at her again and held out his hand. "I'm the guy that's gonna help you out. Call me Kei."
She couldn't help but smile back. His grin was infectious. "Azami. Nice to meet you, Kei." They shook hands.
Shae frowned at him. "Hey, but you're human. How are you gonna help her when I don't even sense a little Reiki coming from you?"
Azami looked over at Kei again. It was true. He didn't really have any Reiki. In fact, if it weren't for his eyes, which were a deep purple, she wouldn't have thought he was anything special at all.
He smiled. "Ah, that. Well, you see, it's kind of like this." He rolled up the sleeves of his jacket.
On both of his arms was an intricate tattoo that went from wrist to elbow. It looked almost painted on, and on the outside of each arm was some kind of symbol that Azami couldn't make out.
Shae seemed to know what it was, though, and looked shocked. "A Keisō seal! But…that means…"
Kei nodded. "Yeah. I'm actually a demon."
Azami gasped. "Really? But you…"
He nodded. "That's what this seal does. It completely seals off your demonic aspect, and all of your Youki. Pretty much turns you into a human. Sucks to be me, huh?"
Azami frowned. "Yeah…I'm sorry, it must be hard…"
Kei laughed good-naturedly and patted her head. "Aw, how sweet, you're worried about me already. But don't; being stuck as a human sucks ass, yeah, but the guys that're causing the trouble are the ones that did this to me. So, not too worried about being this way for much longer."
He glanced over at Koenma. "Here's hoping pacifier-breath keeps his end of the deal…" he mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, it doesn't matter."
Azami nodded, and turned to talk to Shae. A thought struck her, though, and she looked over at Yusuke.
"Hey, Yusuke, who's Kurama?"
Yusuke and Kuwabara both looked upset all of a sudden. Koenma answered for them.
"Kurama's a friend of ours, a fox spirit inhabiting a human body. He was part of the original team, though he hasn't kept in touch recently."
Yusuke huffed. "Yeah, he wants to keep up his human charade 24/7, so he really doesn't talk to his old friends anymore."
Azami frowned. "But…why does he want to do that?"
"He wants to separate himself from who he was as a demon," Koenma explained, "so he eventually decided that meant he had to separate himself from his whole identity as Kurama."
"Oh…"
Kei interrupted. "I told you, though, Koenma. The guys that are coming want all of Team Urameshi. You'd better go drag his furry ass back here before they go after him. I mean, he's the weak link right now…"
Kurama put his briefcase down in front of his apartment door, and fished in his pocket for his keys. He had been distracted at work all day- even his stepfather had noticed. So, he had come home early, deciding almost immediately to call Yusuke.
As soon as he stepped inside his apartment, though, he knew something was wrong. He left his briefcase at the doorstep and quietly closed the door behind him, reaching for the rose in his hair only to realize he no longer kept it there.
Letting out a quiet, uncharacteristic curse, he silently made his way to his bedroom, where he knew he kept several potted plants on his desk and windowsill.
He never made it that far. As he edged past the kitchen, a noise behind him made him turn and dodge, and a dagger buried itself in the wall where his head had been, taking a few strands of hair with it.
Despite his lack of a weapon, Kurama dropped into a fighting stance, watching the intruders appear out of the shadows. The one who had thrown the knife was tall and extremely thin, with a white streak in his black hair and hollow eyes of dull gold. Behind him was a small girl dressed as a miko with aquamarine hair, and fins sticking out of either side of her head. In one hand she held a flute, and she raised it to her lips again.
With the first notes, the man summoned more knives and rushed at Kurama, who caught him by the wrist and flipped him deftly over his shoulder. The man rolled over the countertop and sprang to his feet again, throwing a handful of knives at the fox spirit. As Kurama tried to dodge, he crashed into the wall of the narrow hallway, and the knives found their mark. With a cry, he dropped to one knee, hands over the spreading patches of crimson on his chest and shoulder.
The girl stopped her song and smiled. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once, you were a name to be feared, spreading your cutthroat reputation throughout the Makai. Now you're nothing more than a human, weak and fragile. And so you will die."
As Kurama's vision grew dark, he saw the man approaching him, summoning a long, thin sword. Before she began to play, the girl spoke one last time.
"Good night, Youko Kurama."
