Edited: 3/22/2018
Chapter 4: Brief Freedom
Toguro let his ab muscles expel the spirit sword for his stomach, watching the sword as he lay on his back disappear into thin air. As he was doing that, he could hear and sense his brother revert back to his human form, letting the form of the sword shape it took on disappear. They both stood from their positions as Sakyo's face flashed on one of the several screens, possessing the screen furthest to the left.
"Excellent performance Toguros', you even had me fooled," Sakyo informed them, that ever present smirk on his face.
"We have excellent hearing. Once we heard the boy's plans, it was easy for us to play along. Though I was afraid I would kill them both before I could fake a believable loss to them," Toguro stated, the group of three ignoring the hysterical laughter from the human that the brothers had been 'working' for.
"Ani, please go fetch Azure and prepare for us to leave," Toguro commanded, wanting her to be fetched as soon as possible so they could be on their way. "I hope you don't mind me letting that girl go, there was no sense in making her die," he stated as he returned to his talk with his employer. "Who knows, maybe you'd want to profit on her tears someday."
"That's fine. The girl is of no consequence of mine now, not when I can think of all the money our plan will be making for me."
"We are so glad that our employer is pleased. Now, my brother and I would like to ask for a little favor. Please give us an opportunity to fight those boys again. This time seriously."
"But of course, Toguro. They will be two of the most anticipated guests to the Dark Martial Arts Tournament," Sakyo commented, the small smirk on his face lifting a little more.
Toguro shook his head, a slight smirk on his own face.
"I should have known all along that extruding Takani's fortune was just part of the plan. You wanted to see the competition."
"Your very keen. So, what do you think of their powers?"
"That Yusuke Urameshi is very intriguing. He lacks the fighting experience, but could be a dangerous weapon."
"The competition is in two months, so you better make sure that he is ready. Oh, and take care of the mess upstairs before you leave."
"I will do so, no need to worry on that."
Toguro and Sakyo turned to the sound of the doors slamming wide open.
"Toguro!" Ani called as he stormed into the large room. "Those boys must have taken Azure, she's nowhere in the castle!"
Toguro swore, throwing a punch at the wall.
"How dare they take what is mine?!" He shouted, punching the wall several times before he turned back to his employer. "I request a few days to deal with some personal issues, Sakyo."
The human man stared at his demon for hire before giving a small nod of his head. He did not understand this demon's obsession with the demoness.
"Take care of your business, then get in touch with me. I will await your call," with that said, Sakyo flashed out of the call and left the brothers'.
Toguro took a deep breath, his thoughts in turmoil. His last interaction with Azure had been a disaster. There hadn't been a scene like that between the two of them since the first 5 years of her being in his possession. Those first years had been disastrous, he honestly hadn't expected having her that long, but along the way, he could not go without her. He was taken from his thoughts as Ani shook his shoulder, reminding him of the work he had to do before going to fetch Azure. He took another deep breath before lifting his gaze to the laughing man in the conference room. He felt no remorse in ridding the world of such a man.
Kurama couldn't believe it, he had never thought he would have his sister back. He had lost hope long ago that she would be found, had even thought that she had been killed quite some time ago. As he looked down at her form, he noticed that very little of her had changed, not that that was any surprise with their demon powers. Fifty years ago had been a big change in their lives.
Azure had disappeared, their father had been driven into a mountainous rage and uncontrollable, and he had started his career as a thief. He had gone too far, pissed off too many people and eventually ended up having to take on the body of a human. Kurama was taken out of his thoughts as he heard his sister release a groan of discomfort and quickly rushed to her side to sit beside her.
The first thing she felt was the ache in her head and how heavy her limbs were as she tried to lift them. She groaned at the feel and she slowly opened her eyes. It took a moment for her blurry vision to disappear and focus. All she could do was stare up at the deep green eyes staring down at her with concern.
"It's you," she whispered, slowly lifting her arm up to touch his face.
She released a small sob as she sat up and wrapped her arms around her brother, holding him tight to her.
"It's really you, I know it's you. I don't know how, but I know it's you," she cried, unable to let him go, unable to let him slip from her grasp in fear that he would disappear.
"Yes, yes Azure, it is me," he whispered, gently holding his sister in his arms. "I am so sorry, so sorry."
"Why? Why are you sorry?" Azure asked in confusion, pulling slightly back from Kurama.
She kept her arms around him, not willing to let him out of her arms yet as she stared up at him. She was so surprised to see a tear roll down his cheek. Her brother was not one to show such strong emotions.
"I didn't protect you. You were taken, and I couldn't find you, I couldn't save you…"
Azure looked down, backing further away from him, but still close to his side. She hugged herself for a moment, staring down at her lap.
"I don't blame you, you couldn't find me," she whispered, "I was locked away, hidden, so that you wouldn't find me. Youko, I missed you so much."
The two embraced again, basking in happiness at being together again. It was quite a few minutes later when the sound of a loud cough interrupted them and they turned to the side of the room, seeing a few boys and a girl standing of to the side.
"Youko?" Azure questioned, her eyes fixed on the new people and her voice coming out in a nervous questioning tone to her brother.
"Azure, these are my friends. This is Hiei, he is a fire demon and Kuwabara. The brown haired punk looking boy is the Spirit Detective Yusuke. And beside him is the reaper Boton," Kurama stated as he introduced each friend.
"Spirit Detective? What is a Spirit Detective?" She asked in confusion.
Kurama chuckled, shaking his head as he grasped one of Azure's hands in his.
"I forgot that you were gone when Spirit World started appointing Spirit Detectives. He's a human with great Spiritual power and he helps protect humans from the demons that threaten to harm them. Kuwabara is a human that helps Yusuke and he has his own Spirit energy and is sensitive to the power around him."
Azure nodded in understanding, turning to look at Kurama. She stared at him, taking in his features. So different from what she knew of him and catching the scent of a half human.
"You're so different, but I know it's you. I can feel it, even as you smell like a half- breed."
"It's a long story and I will tell it to you later. Now, are you sure that you are alright?" He asked, noticing her pale color.
"I'm fine; it's just the baby making me ill."
Azure felt Kurama stiffen beside her as his eyes filled with anger and the boys in the room released shocked and angered gasps.
"I knew it," he whispered, anger leaking into his voice as it rose. "That bastard touched you!"
Kurama was surprised to see Azure roll her eyes at him.
"Of course, he touched me! How did you not get that in anything I said before?!" She yelled, before her eyes filled with tears and she hugged him. "He was never, never satisfied," she cried, "He wanted me all the time. There was hardly ever a time when he let me wander from his side. He won't let me go, Youko. He will find me; he won't let me go…"
"I will do all that I can to keep him from you, to protect you. I don't want to lose you, not when I finally found you."
"You won't be able to keep him from me, Youko. He will come for me and you can't stop him, he is too strong."
Kurama knew what she said was true, the Toguro would come for her. If Azure said he would, then he would, and there was no stopping him. He had kept his sister for fifty years, demons like that just don't let others leave.
"I will do everything I can, Azure. I will die before I see him take you from me again…"
Toguro and Ani return to their manor in a secluded forest, somewhere just out of Tokyo. Toguro was pleasantly surprised to have one of his servants inform him that his friend and confident, Karasu, was already awaiting their return and that he was waiting in the dining room for them. The brothers head that way, wanting to find out what the demon had found on the group that had taken Azure and where she would be located.
Karasu was sitting down in the left-hand chair by the head of the table, a glass of wine in his hands. The demons nodded to one another, Toguro taking his seat at the head of the table and Ani sitting to his right. There were several folders in front of Karasu and Toguro smirked, pleased. He knew then that Karasu was able to get the information he needed.
"What did you find?"
Karasu took a small sip from his wine glass, before slowly lowering the glass with a smirk on his face, hidden behind his mask of course, but the lines around his eyes clearly let Toguro know that he was smiling in some way. He was use to reading Karasu's body language by now. Karasu opened the first folder and took out the top photo, passing it to Toguro.
"Hiei, he is suggested to be around 250 years old and is a fire demon. He committed a crime against Spirit World, stealing a Reikai artifact. Yusuke defeated him and as punishment, Hiei is serving the Spirit World and is a fighter with Yusuke, thus becoming one member in the Spirit Team. He is expected to join the team for the tournament. There is very little information in his background, even his age is just an estimate."
Karasu handed the folder over to Toguro to browse through, before opening the next file, longer then Hiei's.
"Kazuma Kuwabara, 15 years old, barely passing school. He has an older sister that takes care of him, their parents have passed away. He picked fights with Yusuke all the time, losing all the time. He has a cat that he is very protective of. He went against Yusuke to become Genkai's apprentice, of course losing to him, but it awoke his spirit energy. He can sense spirit energy from a mile away and now can pin point the energy down to certain individuals. He is another member of Yusuke's team."
Toguro looked up from the pile of paperwork he was browsing as Karasu went silent. His friend sat, staring at the next file in front of him.
"Karasu?"
He glanced up, locking violet eyes with Toguro's shades. Karasu couldn't help but smirk at Toguro as he opened the next folder. He handed a picture of a red haired, green eyed human boy to Toguro.
"It took some digging, but not as much as it should have. But this boy, who goes by the name of Shuichi Minamino, who appears human, is actually a demon trapped in a human body. He trapped himself in a human womb as he was injured and is now trapped in that form. Surprisingly, he is someone we all know," Karasu stated, then passing another picture to Toguro and taking great pleasure in the way his eyes widened. "Youko Kurama, our dear Azure's older brother. Of course, you know all about him, so I don't need to go into information on him. But, his human counterpart…. He was taking part in the stolen Reikai artifacts with Hiei and is also now forced into service of the Spirit World. He has a human mother that he has unfortunately become fond of, probably from lack of a mother as growing up. He is 17 in his human years and in his first year at Tokyo University."
Toguro sighed, rubbing a large hand across his temple. This information sure complicated things. Azure was reunited wit her brother, whom was quite powerful in his own rights. He didn't know how he would fair against the demon.
"It would also be good to mention that with Youko being trapped in the human body, he doesn't have as much access to his power as he had before," Karasu decided to share, knowing the thoughts running through his friend's head. "His power is incredibly weakened in his human state. He would be no match against us."
"Good, anything else?"
"Just the information on Yusuke Urameshi. He is 15 years old, dropping out of school basically. He has a mother whom drinks constantly, his father's identity and whereabouts are unknown. He was involved in a car accident, 'died' and came back with Spirit awareness. Prince Koenma then appointed him as his Spirit Detective. Shortly afterwards, he became Genkai's apprentice."
Toguro nodded, aware of much of that information.
"Do you have Azure's location?"
Karasu smirked, handing over the information.
"Of course, I do; I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't. I just had to wait till the end to inform you. She is staying at Yusuke's residence at the moment. I do have something I want from you though."
Toguro took the information from Karasu, noting the address and the map that Karasu included. Toguro nodded his head.
"My friend, ask your favor and I will do what I can."
"I want Youko."
Toguro stared, surprised at Karasu's request. He didn't back down from his gaze and stared unflinching at him until Toguro slowly nodded as he looked at the pictures of the human form Youko was in and the picture of Youko in demon form.
"He is your type, is he not? Hmm, very well. We will acquire him as well. Even though he is weaker in his human form; we will also have to suppress his powers. I will not take the risk of losing Azure again. I will have to see if the same suppressant I have for Azure will work for the boy or if I have to get a different one for him."
Karasu nodded, relieved that Toguro had agreed. He has been alone for quite some time and he was ready for some company and a challenge. If Youko was anything like his sister, he knew that the man would challenge and entertain him greatly. He had been attracted to the human boy when first seeing his picture and then learning he was Youko Kurama…. He became so excited, he wants him and Toguro had granted his desire. Karasu smiled beneath his metal mask, thinking of all the plans he had to make before he could bring Youko here. He knew that he had to do it quickly, Toguro wanted to get Azure in just a couple days. He had so much to do and then Youko would be his….
