And another chapter crawls from the recesses of my mind. I have to say, I was really annoyed with this one since the next one will be the one filled with revelations... or, well, I think there will be. So you know, I decided to change around some things from my main idea. Therefore, if you check the first chapter you'll find that pairings have been changed to not include the OcxOC romance as well as taking out the KuramaxOC romance that was only going to be hinted at. Since I've decided to take out a major chunk of what I already had planned, some characters are not introduced. Maybe if I feel like it I'll do a miniseries for them or something... but probably not. Anyway, continue.
Disclaimer: OCs besides Atari are mine. Those characters cannon to Yu Yu Hakusho are not. It's simple. Remember it.
1) engawa- You see these in traditional Japanese houses and temples. I'm not an expert on them, but I know that they are outside, and from what I've seen usually wood. My best advice is to look them up on Google if you're confused.
2) shoji sliding door- Traditional Asian-style sliding door. Again, look it up on Google if you're confused.
The Dawn of Darkness
Chapter 4:
Training to Cheat Death
After a long, arduous hike up the stairs, Selene and Atari sat down on the top to catch their breath.
Selene spoke first while panting, "You... weren't kidding... about how far... it was."
Atari just nodded, as she was worse at endurance than her friend.
"Yeah," Yusuke replied, not even winded, "You get used to it, but the first week is a killer."
Atari gasped for breath while asking, "You mean we'll have to do that again?"
"Well," Kurama replied, "If you want to ever leave and come back, yes. And, it also depends on what Master Genkai has you both do if she ends up training you.
"I hope for their sake Grandma says no," Yusuke replied.
"Hmph," came a raspy voice from the temple that they had their backs to, "You really think I would want two more students after having to deal with you, dimwit?"
Turning around, everyone saw a short, old woman with faded pink hair looking at Yusuke with a scowl.
"You're Master Genkai, I assume, then," Selene said, standing up and doing a small bow for her, hands together as if for prayer.
"Yes," Genkai replied, then paused, looking at Atari, "Well, it's nice to have at least one person show me some respect."
Selene looked at Atari, seeing she wasn't paying the old woman any attention. After a moment, Selene kicked her in hopes of getting her up, maybe improving their chances of gaining her as a teacher. Selene couldn't help but feel anxious for a teacher. After years of not knowing her place in the world, she finally had a chance. Then again, maybe she was just over-thinking it.
Atari glared up at her friend, still having a hard time breathing. "Screw you," she said without emotion.
Selene sighed with her head in her hands. "This is just great," she mumbled.
"I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not taking on students anyway," Genkai informed them, "You can stay here for as long as you like, but I'm not about to train any more ungrateful dimwits."
Selene sighed again. "Well, thanks for the room anyway... That is, we are still getting a room, right?"
Genkai nodded. "Now come on. I'll show you where it is."
Everyone followed her, Selene trying desperately to remember where exactly they were going, in the vain hope of not getting lost. Vain, due to the fact that neither Selene nor Atari were too great with directions. Their chances weren't helped as Selene kept having her memorization interrupted by the arguing going on between Yusuke and Kuwabara.
When Selene and Atari arrived at their room, they found there wasn't too much to look at. There were white walls, two futons and a wardrobe, but it was a place to live. They both sat on a futon, silently claiming it as their own.
"Come on," Genkai told the boys, "let's let them get settled."
Atari plopped herself into a lying position on her futon, letting her head fall over the other side so she could look at Selene. The short girl just smiled from her still-sitting position.
"So," Atari began, "what's going to happen now?"
"Don't know," Selene replied quietly, "Genkai didn't agree to train us, so I guess they'll just have someone else do it."
"I was talking more about what's going to happen to our lives. I mean, we left our parents without a word and we're underage. Oh, and I almost forgot that when we left my house was half gone, and part of the basement blown away by Yusuke."
Selene sighed then responded, "Like I would know."
"I guess. Well, are we at least going to get our stuff back?"
Selene gave her friend a look that clearly said, "Why would I know?"
"Hey," came a voice from the door. The two girls turned to see that it was Yusuke. "Are you two done talking so we can figure out what's going to happen to you?"
"I think so," Selene responded, looking at Atari for confirmation.
"Yeah," Atari agreed.
Everyone was huddled around Yusuke, who currently had the communicator. Of course, the "everyone" happened to be Atari, Selene, and Kuwabara. Hiei didn't appear to be paying too much attention as he sat in a windowsill with his eyes closed, and Kurama was standing a little away so he could keep track of the conversation while still keeping his dignity by staying out of the huddle.
"Well," Koenma spoke from the communicator, "That's disappointing, though not unexpected. I guess the only choice we have left is for Hiei to train you."
"What?" Selene yelled in exasperation.
Atari just looked a bit surprised.
"You do realize that he hates me," Selene continued, "and will likely kill me and claim it was just an accident."
"Hn," Hiei spoke from the corner, "It seems the child might have figured me out already."
"Although Hiei wasn't my first choice," Koenma replied, ignoring Hiei's comments, "I can honestly say we don't have too many choices at the present time. Everyone else here has school, so I doubt they have the time to train you."
"I think I could manage to suffer skipping school to see that these two girls aren't killed during training with Hiei," Yusuke spoke up, acting like it would be a huge sacrifice.
Koenma gave him a look. "You're going to school, Yusuke."
"Damnit!" Yusuke cursed under his breath.
"Anyway..." Koenma continued, ignoring Yusuke's complaints this time, "Hiei, you can start your training tomorrow morning."
The girls just looked at each other and sighed unhappily. They could tell their life was about to make an awful turn.
Selene sat on the edge of the engawa(1) outside, letting her feet dangle and graze the grass beneath. It was the eve before the full moon and she gazed up at it as she sighed, deep in thought. What was it, eleven at night? Selene just couldn't seem to remember.
"Having trouble with the time difference?" a quiet voice questioned from behind her.
Turning, Selene saw a blue-haired, red-eyed girl standing slightly behind her, also admiring the moon. Her eyes looked familiar, though Selene couldn't place why. Ignoring, her thoughts, and focusing instead on what the girl said, Selene laughed. "Oddly enough, not too much. I would likely want to be asleep if I were in America. What time is it there, ten in the morning?"
"I believe it's actually around noon there at the moment."
"Well, either way I'd still probably be asleep, or at least want to be asleep. I don't know why, but I've always preferred night to day, as far back as I can remember." Selene turned back to the night sky, paying close attention to the moon. "I've always felt some kind of connection with the night, especially the moon. I know that it's just a piece of rock, but something tells me it's actually more. I feel... I don't know. I guess I just feel like someone is watching over me. I never really feel alone when it's out." Selene turned back to her with a blush on her face. "I can't believe I just told you that. Not even Atari knows that about me."
She looked down at her and giggled. "That's alright. You've been under a lot of stress, I'm sure you just needed to talk to someone."
"Maybe, but I don't even know you. I shouldn't place my crazy thoughts on you; I'm sure you have your own problems to deal with."
"I do, but I don't mind making you feel better."
Selene smiled. "Well, thank you for that." She then paused and then asked, "You're Yukina, right? I heard some about you from Kuwabara."
She laughed, seemingly amused by the fact Selene wasn't even completely sure of her name. "Yes, that is correct. I believe you may want to go to sleep soon, though. Most likely Hiei will wake you up very early."
Selene groaned. "Even here no one will respect my sleep patterns. I mean, it's not like I can help it."
"Well, I guarantee you'll sleep well tomorrow."
Selene lied down and groaned again. "The problem is that you're probably going to be wrong. I'll just have to sleep during the day after 'training' or whatever."
Yukina giggled again before sitting next to her, and in turn Selene propped herself up on her elbows.
"So, you think Hiei's training will be pretty hard?" Selene asked after a few moments of silence.
Looking over, she saw that Yukina was looking at the night sky thoughtfully. "I suppose I can't really say for sure. Sorry."
"No need to apologize." Another moment of silence passed between them, before Selene spoke again. "Do you know Hiei very well?"
"Not really, but for some reason, I feel very close to him anyway."
Selene smiled. "Really? You have a crush on him or something?"
"A crush?"
Selene smile grew a bit at Yukina's naiveté. "You know, like him as more than a friend? In a romantic way."
Yukina's face got very red and Selene had to suppress a chuckle. "No, nothing like that."
"I suppose that's good," Selene responded, only partially managing to keep her laughter under control, "From what Kuwabara told me, I think he might be devastated if that were the case."
"Why would Kuwabara be devastated?"
"Um..." Selene paused, not exactly knowing how to answer her question. "I think that's not exactly my place to explain."
Yukina gave her a confused look, but nodded anyway.
Trying to get the conversation off of something that could get her into trouble, Selene changed subjects. "So, how do you feel about Hiei?"
Yukina paused, seemingly trying to piece together her words correctly. "I'm not completely sure. When I originally came to the human world, I was searching for my brother. Although I haven't found him, Hiei's protected me, watched over me, treated me much like a brother would. He even helped to rescue me from a man who held me prisoner."
Selene looked at the ice maiden and smiled. "Maybe you should tell him that sometime."
She returned the smile. "Maybe I will."
"You have any suggestions for me? I believe I'm on his bad side."
"It's hard to say. I wouldn't try too hard to make him like you. You should just act like you usually act. He's a telepath, so putting up a façade wouldn't probably work anyway."
Selene blinked. Dang. I hope he didn't ever hear anything I didn't want him to.
After a moment more of staring at the stars, Yukina yawned. "I suppose I better go to bed soon."
"Go ahead," Selene replied casually, "I don't mind."
They looked at each other and smiled.
"Well, goodnight, Selene," Yukina spoke gently, getting up to go inside.
Selene smiled and waved. "Night, Yukina."
After she heard the shoji sliding door(2) close she leaned back and closed her eyes. I guess I should try to go to bed soon, as well.
"Out of curiosity, isn't this a bit mismatched?" Selene asked uncertainly, "I mean, it is us two against you."
"Hn," Hiei replied stoically, "I'll be fine."
"Yeah, but it wasn't you I was worried about! Even with both of us, don't you have the upper hand in this?"
"Of course I do," Hiei spoke, his obvious annoyance dripping in his voice, "Don't think I like this any more than you."
"Before we start, what is this supposed to be accomplishing?" Atari asked, looking at the katana in her hand.
Selene was also looking at hers, trying to figure out how to use it. Neither Atari nor Selene knew too much about self-defense or weaponry. Atari was the only one who'd get into fights at their school, and she was only decent at it because of her instincts about things.
"You know," Selene spoke up, continuing Atari's previous question, "besides getting me killed."
"Hn," Hiei responded, earning a glare from both girls.
Suddenly, Hiei disappeared from in front of them.
"Oh, I am so dead!" Selene exclaimed from her pitiful fighting stance.
"Back-to-back," Atari said looking at her.
Selene nodded in response. Sure it wouldn't likely help too much, but it's better than nothing.
"Now what?" Selene asked after their backs were touching as they looked around to try and find Hiei.
"Try to hit anything that moves?" Atari replied, though more as a question then anything, "Why do I have to come up with all the steps to this plan?"
Selene just shrugged, knowing Atari would feel the action. In truth, Selene was really just trying to focus on the mysterious, disappearing boy who still hadn't reappeared. It had been about a minute and Selene's knuckles were already turning white. She really wished she knew if he really could turn invisible or if he was just hiding. No one had explained too much about his powers.
"You know Hiei, I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure Koenma won't be happy when he knows you just left your charges in the middle of a training session," Genkai spoke, but still with a bit of amusement in her voice, "How long are you going to keep them there?"
"Hn. The child shouldn't have left me to train them if he didn't want this to happen."
Genkai sighed and got up off of the mat she was sitting on.
One of Hiei's eyes opened and looked at her. "What are you doing?"
"Going to get your students, unless you want to stop screwing around."
"So then you will train them?"
"No, Hiei. I just felt they should know that their teacher isn't coming back."
Both of Hiei's eyes opened as he looked out of the tinted window, seeing the two girls standing back-to-back below. "They know nothing of fighting. There is nothing to work with."
Genkai turned to look at him and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. "Perhaps if you decided to look, you would see it. There is power, but it is deep inside. Atari's is not as hidden. I believe that you will have problems with Selene, though."
"I'm doubt Selene even has any powers."
Genkai rose an eyebrow then sighed looking down at the girls. "Maybe not," she said, taking another drag, "But then again, I feel something deep within her: something wild- something feral."
Hiei looked back to her, a curious gaze lining his face.
"Of course," she said, turning her gaze to Hiei, "I could be wrong."
Then, just as quickly as his gaze met hers, it left to look down at the two girls.
"Hn."
Whatever you do, Selene, don't put your guard down, or Hiei will kill you, Selene kept telling herself.
It wasn't long before she felt the shoulders of her friend sag a bit. "Are you sure he didn't just leave?" Atari grumbled.
"I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't ask that question if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Because you've seen horror movies. Lines like that are right before someone dies."
Although she couldn't see Atari, Selene knew that her friend was rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, well I'm about ready to go, death or no death. This is incredibly boring."
Right as she said that, a black blur came from nowhere and attacked Selene, forcing her to the ground. Her sword skidded a few feet away from her. Hiei stood over her with a glare.
"Dang it, why did you attack me and not her?" Selene growled out.
"Because your stance was so terrible a novice would be ashamed."
Selene glared at him.
"Well, maybe if I was given some direction I wouldn't have that problem!" she yelled with her hands clenched.
"Hn," Hiei grunted before continuing, "I was trying to see what you knew on your own, but I found that there was nothing. If you really are a demon, you're the weakest I've ever seen."
"Hey, don't call Selene weak!" Atari yelled quite angrily, "You-"
"No, stop," Selene commanded her friend, eyes narrowing on Hiei.
Atari got quiet immediately, noticing Selene's body language showing she was getting angry.
"Listen, Hiei," Selene once again commanded, making Hiei's eyes narrow. "You're right, I am weak. Guess what? I can't change that just because you want me to. If you want it to change you're going to have to help me get better, it won't just come on its own. If you want to keep treating me like crap, then fine, I'm leaving. I don't need you to waste both of our time. So what are we going to do?"
Selene saw Atari biting her bottom lip in worry. Understandably so, as well, since neither Atari nor Selene knew how Hiei would react.
Hiei looked at Selene for a moment, she guessed he might be sizing her up. She just returned a stoic gaze, holding her ground. "Get up and get into a fighting stance."
Selene bit back a groan. So, he's not going to change, she thought. Still, she did as she said, though not very well since she didn't know any fighting stances.
Hiei walked up to her as she braced herself for whatever he was going to do. Still, she did not see what he did coming. As she stood there, he kicked one of her feet, not hard enough to hurt too much, but enough that he spread her legs apart more.
"Your stance needs to be wider," he commanded, then added, "and you need to get lower." As he spoke, he pushed her down to get her more in a crouch. His eyes then flickered back to Atari, who was staring shocked at the whole thing. "You should be doing the same as her."
Atari quickly complied, not wanting to push her luck.
Selene was, to say the least, surprised. It seemed that she might have broken some ground with him.
A man with yellow-blonde hair spiking downwards walked down a long, seemingly empty corridor, when suddenly, a figure dropped in front of him, graceful as a wild cat.
He had long, midnight-black hair and a gorgeous face that seemed carved out of porcelain. It was adorned with two piercing sapphire eyes and lips sculpted into an unpleasant sneer. On either side of his head could be found elegant ears with a point at the end. They twitched every now an again, as if picking up something far off in the distance. He was the same man as the one that attacked the Spirit World with Silare.
"What are you doing here, Raidon?" came his melodic voice. "My lady is upset with your current failure, and disrupting her at the moment is not advised."
The blonde, Raidon, looked at the other man with a bit of distain. "That wasn't my fault. I was not given any knowledge to the Reikai Tantei being there." His look got more ferocious as he continued, "A few members of my family have been killed and more captured because of your lack of foresight."
The black-haired male sighed and responded, his voice sounding a bit forlorn, "It's doubtful she will consider that an adequate excuse. I believe the only option you have is to try again."
"Try again? What do you think I am, suicidal?"
"I believe it would be far worse, however, if you let my lady catch you around here while she is in such a foul mood from your failure."
"So what is it you want me to do?"
"What I just told you."
"I'm sorry, I just assumed that you might have a little more extensive of a plan than 'try again.' You treat it so casually. We're not dealing with some powerless children anymore, we're talking about the Spirit Detectives."
"When, Raidon, did you become so weak?" a voice came from behind the black-haired man. Walking out of the shadows, the figure revealed herself to be Silare.
The black-haired man bowed respectively before backing away a bit, showing her authority. "My lady."
She smiled to him in response before turning her attention to Raidon, where her smile turned into a sneer. "Wasn't it you who took out the entire clan of Tenma Psychics, or was I misinformed?"
Raidon said nothing in return.
"My Lady," the black-haired man spoke up from behind Silare. She turned to face him as he continued. "Perhaps we should lend him some assistance. It is true that his clan took out the Tenma Psychics, but his numbers have decreased since then, and the Reikai Tantei are quite powerful. This is a partnership, we should give what we can to help."
Silare smiled to him. "Of course, Mâran. As always, you are right."
"Thank you, my Lady."
"We will send some of our fighters to help you, Raidon. Soon the girls will be in our possession. You can do what you wish with Atari, but remember: Evendiel is mine."
Alright, I have some not so great news. The news is that I'm going to ask for reviews. I did say I wouldn't because I'm not the normal writer who's out to boost her own ego. The thing is I just really don't know if anyone cares about it. I know that Ookami can't read it too often as she is busy, but that honestly is taking out most of my inspiration. I do want to continue writing, and even if no one reviews or even reads it, I'll still be adding them. The thing is I won't feel like anyone cares if the next one comes out, let alone when, so the process will likely be very slow. I'm not trying to pressure you into reviewing or anything, but if you get a chance, I'd like to know if anyone is reading.
Thanks!
LectaElf