Tori: (pokes Saria in the cheek) Wakey wakey!
Saria: I want bacey...
SA: (growls angrily and throws a pillow at Tori)
Zas: We just frickin moved to Cleveland! We should get to sleep in.
Saria: (turns over to fall back to sleep)
Tori: (drags the blanket off of Saria) Write while your creative juices for this story are still flowing!
Genkai focused on the energies surrounding her, trying with all her might to discern the various energies.
It was dawn in Ningenkai and she and Toguro were at Mount Fuji, the last place they could think of that served as the Old Gateway between the Heavens and Earth.
All other possible points in Ningenkai had not yielded results with Genkai not feeling even a trace of Yusuke's energy. They had come to Mount Fuji just to rule out one possibility, death. If Yusuke had died here in Ningenkai, her energy would linger for a while at the peak of Mount Fuji.
The immense energy was taking time to process though, Genkai had already been at it for two days. With this being the off-season for tourists of the mountain, she and Toguro were not interrupted during those days.
Both could clearly feel Hiei's presence at the base of the mountain.
Finally, as the sun rose fully and signalled the third day Genkai was certain. There was a trace of Yusuke's energy here.
She rose silently and found she couldn't even look at Toguro in that moment though she knew he was looking to her hopefully since his abilities didn't allow for him to participate in the psychic portion of the search.
"Let's go home."
Genkai heard Toguro stand behind her and begin to trek after her.
"Is that it then?" Toguro demanded.
Tears stung at Genkai's eyes but she held them back. "A trace of her energy is here."
"Just a trace? That could just be an echo. If her soul has passed it would all be here!"
"You dimwit! Can't you understand?" Now the tears couldn't be held back. "Yusuke's energy would only be here if a death occurred, at least the destruction of her body! And odds are her soul was consumed."
Toguro was silent and still as he watched the woman he loved begin to walk away before his legs began to shake then gave out beneath him. His teeth sank into his tongue as he prayed to wake, to find Genkai still sitting on the mountain. But wake he didn't and slowly the truth sank in; Yusuke was gone for good.
Genkai stopped several hundred feet ahead of him and looked back, tears aparent in her eyes.
They had both wanted to find Yusuke. They were both disappointed. They both felt some form of responsibility.
It wasn't right in Toguro's mind for Genkai to feel responsible and that revelation also made him consider his own state of mind. He blamed himself but was that right?
Running from this wasn't going to make it go away though. Ningenkai needed a defender and he had got in between Yusuke and the job she had accepted. Perhaps his penance this time would be in continuing that work, defending the people that his students and Yusuke had promised to protect.
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Yusuke was beginning to feel like some sort of ball or baton based upon the way she was passed around. Kirin had handed her off to a demon whose name she had never caught who passed her to someone else who had done the same thing.
At some point after the fifth hand off she had stopped resisting and just followed whoever she was passed to due to how tired she was. It was late and she had been asleep for crying out loud!
Shigure appeared about an hour later after the umpteenth hand off (she had stopped counting after the teens) and she was handed off to him.
"Have you been assigned living quarters yet?" the swordsman asked as he led her down a hall that Yusuke felt she must have been down at least twice before.
"Wouldn't be out here following a nameless idiot if I had been," Yusuke grumbled.
"You'll stay with me for tonight but tomorrow I'm certain you'll be moved into the dorms."
Yusuke groaned at the thought but followed Shigure up several levels where the doors seemed a bit more spread out. The swordsman stopped before one door and opened it to reveal a small apartment that included a living area, a kitchen, and a door to what Yusuke guessed was a bedroom.
Paying no mind to any of the other furniture, Yusuke headed straight for the couch and fell on it in relief. She didn't care to look for a blanket or pillow and Shigure seemed to be of a similar mindset as he headed through the other door in the room.
Shuffling fabric could be heard and Yusuke supposed that he had found a bed. Deep breathing came several minutes later and the girl drifted off herself.
Several hours later frenzied knocking woke Yusuke again and she sat up from the couch only for Shigure to exit the bedroom and pass her in route to the door.
"Sorry to disturb you sir, but the hanyou that was brought with you seems to have slipped away."
"How did that happen?" Shigure asked with an amused tone as he kept the door at such an angle to keep Yusuke out of sight.
"General Kirin handed her off to a dorm officer who was supposed to assign her but he handed her off to another officer who handed her off to another then another then another. At some point she was handed off to someone who was off duty and she disappeared! We believe she might have jumped off."
"Jumped off? Has anyone looked?"
"There's no trace of her!"
"Really? That's strange, isn't it Yusuke?" At that point Shigure swung the door open fully and revealed where Yusuke was seated on the couch.
The messenger had dark green skin and looked not unlike a fish out of water, an image that was reinforced by the guy's fish impression when he saw Yusuke grinning at him from the couch. He blinked for a moment before groaning and straightening.
"I'll report that it was with you," the messenger stated and received a face full of a couch cushion.
"I'm a girl, not an 'it' you asshole!" Yusuke shouted as she attempted to jump at the door. Her intent to teach the guy a lesson was derailed as Shigure grabbed her mid-lunge and shut the door.
"She's A-class so you might want to run now," Shigure called through the door and both heard the patter of feet as the guy ran.
Shigure listened for a moment then released Yusuke from his hold then headed to the kitchen nook and began to poke through the cabinets.
"Should have let me kick his ass!" Yusuke informed Shigure as she turned away from the door.
The demon didn't even spare her a glance. "And what would that do?"
"Make him think better than call me an 'it'!"
Shigure laughed loudly. "You're a hanyou child. Most are going to dismiss you until you can prove yourself to be worth something. And A-class power, though impressive to most, won't cut it here." The other then approached the door again. "And we have no food here, so we'll need to find some."
Yusuke's stomach replied as the man opened the door and she followed him into the hall, walking beside him in the hall.
"So I need to get stronger to get everyone to stop calling me 'hanyou' or 'it' and use my name?" she asked incredulously as they walked down the hall.
"So it would seem," Shigure admitted as they headed down a ramp then a staircase to the lower levels.
The halls in the living area had relatively little traffic to them but the lower levels had a fair amount and Yusuke found that many of them seemed either equal or greater than her in terms of strength. That paired with her small body made keeping up with Shigure rather difficult so she had to give up walking next to him and settle for his wake. Even there though she got bumped and banged into and some of it didn't seem accidental and her temper began to rise.
Shigure asked an officer where they could get some food and was given directions to a distribution area. It surprised Yusuke that that was what it was called, a 'distribution area' and not eatery or cantina or cafeteria.
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Kirin had been a general for a long time, 250 years in fact as Lord Mukuro's right hand man. During that time he had seen a few hanyous enter the army. He didn't mind so long as they were able fighters. One thing about this particular hanyou bothered him; how quickly Lord Mukuro had been to accept the child. No, not accept, this had been a conscription. Lord Mukuro though viewed as a tyrant by many had rarely ever forced candidates into his army and the few he did always turned out to be very strong.
The point was that the few hanyous he'd encountered had gone through rigorous training and testing before being accepted and this one had been taken with minutes of being encountered.
When they had lost track of the child during the night his Lord had been severely displeased. The news he brought now should help waylay his temper.
"Lord Mukuro, the hanyou has been found. Shigure appears to have taken custody of her last night."
"Hmm... So rather than being assigned to a dorm as she should have been, he found her wandering the halls."
Kirin was silent as he awaited his lord's ruling.
"How many was she handed off to before this happened?"
"23 officers my lord."
A sound of dry amusement came from Mukuro. "So, 23 officers and they weren't able to either complete a simple task or keep track of a child for several minutes until they had the opportunity to do so."
Lord Mukuro turned his visible eye to the horizon then before asking one question that really threw Kirin for a loop. "What would be her name by the way?"
Lord Mukuro never asked the name of his warriors except for the exceptional ones or those that showed promise. And he had never learned the names of the hanyous that had been in his command previously.
"We haven't found out that one's name yet. But if Lord Mukuro would allow it, may I ask why the interest in that hanyou?"
His lord seemed to think for a moment before replying. "There is a war coming and every S-class or potential S-class fighter could make the difference. You never know when another might rise with ruling class power."
"Ruling class? As in a potential king? A hanyou?"
"Mazoku are renowned for being strong. Have you ever encountered Raizen?"
Kirin remained silent so that his king would continue though he did make a note to test the species of the kid later.
"I take it that you haven't. That child has his same aura, holds herself in the same way. And remember Raizen's idiot crusade to end demons feeding on humans? I believe we've stumbled on one of his reasons."
Kirin felt his breath catch at the reasoning. It was preposterous! Insane! And it made sense. Raizen stopped feeding on humans and pushed for everyone to stop so suddenly. But Raizen had not been to Ningenkai for hundreds of years and that child was far too young to have been sired during his last visit! But if it was somehow true...
The daughter of Raizen could change the course of the war VERY easily for them once Raizen was out of the way. Wave her in front of Raizen's supporters and Yomi could forget any recruitment plans since the Generals would be standing outside of Mukuro's door in a day.
Lord Mukuro truly was devious if he had already figured this out and made plans. The war would be theirs' so long as that kid was properly trained.
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"Ah-choo!" Yusuke's sneeze didn't carry very far in the noisy cafeteria. That was what it was to her. Screw the fact everyone else called it a 'distribution area'; everyone went through a line to get food then ate at a series of long tables with bench seating. It was a cafeteria!
As for the food, Yusuke had had worse. It tasted slightly industrial and looked like stuff that was made in bulk but considering the number of apparitions just in the cafeteria right now that was quite likely.
Shigure had been directed into a different line than her and had a tray of food that looked a lot more appetizing. It was obvious that those regarded as higher level got better food and Yusuke hadn't even seen where she was going to be expected to sleep yet.
There were some searching looks and several of the demons sneered at her but for the most part she was left in peace for the meal.
The first problem began after breakfast when she tried to follow Shigure to the training room. An officer approached as they entered the training room with a message: Yusuke was to report to an A-class training group.
Separated from Shigure, the halls proved to be much more treacherous as Yusuke attempted to follow the directions to the training room. Everyone seemed to be in a rush and intent to get where they were going no matter who they had to run over. More than once she wondered if perhaps she was just going to a room and getting there was the training.
Running down a flight of stairs two at a time, Yusuke finally arrived on the floor she had been directed to and turned right. This floor saw less traffic and almost everyone seemed to be carrying a weapon of some sort so they moved more carefully. Finally reaching the door that was described, Yusuke grasped the handle and shoved it open to find the training room was a large, dark space, a number of fighters of different demonic species looked to be running through a series of drills.
A drill sergeant was standing to the side of the group and when he saw her in the doorway was quick to grab her arm and drag her in.
"Back row," he ordered as he shoved her towards the group. "Drills and stretches are almost finished."
Feeling not unlike she had the few times she had actually gone to PE back in school, Yusuke joined the back line and went through the motions of stretching. It seemed a bit ridiculous at first but as her body warmed up she began to feel a bit better and found she was anticipating this.
"Alright, break into three groups!" the drill sergeant shouted. "Front row is group one, second row will be group two, third row is the final group."
Yusuke felt her eyebrows rise as she glanced at the rows and realized that rows one and two had at least ten each whereas her row had five including herself. Excitement shot through her body.
"Last group standing will be the winners! No rules!" the drill sergeant shouted and Yusuke again felt the jolt of excitement.
She didn't hesitate as the groups broke rank and fists were raised, just kicked forward and smashed her fist against the hip of the guy in front of her. A yell rang through the air but it was only one of many as chaos ruled the room.
'Wonder how they keep the groups straight,' Yusuke wondered as she dodged a kick from one guy and jumped to avoid a punch from another. Twisting, she landed a hard kick on yet another opponent before a fist caught her midsection and shoved her even further into the crowd.
Elbowing what she guessed was a woman, she pushed off another and dove at another demon who she kicked in the chin.
A stray fist caught her yet again and she found herself bouncing against the floor. Someone tripped over her body before she could get up though and for a second Yusuke found herself stuck until an unintentional energy blast freed her.
Seeing an immediate problem with this situation in that she couldn't defend from so many angles, Yusuke did something she was not used to doing: put some distance between herself and her opponents.
It proved easy to get out of the crowd, just a simple jump and a kick off from another's head. It surprised her how close minded many of these guys were as far as fighters went. They only seemed to see what was in front of them. She wondered how they would react to an attack from above...
Well, that one guy had stated no rules and you only lived once!
"Shotgun!" Yusuke yelled and her attack rained down on the seriously surprised looking crowd. A number of them were hit hard by the attack and didn't get up though she was certain they were alive still.
She wasn't the only one who had decided to put some distance between herself and the main mob. A number of other fighters were just outside of the group and using their position to keep their opponents in a form of order. Flipping over, Yusuke landed lightly on her feet right in time to realize she had the attention of most of the mob who seemed ready to step on each other to get at her this time.
The mob fell over itself in pursuit then dissolved back into a fighting mess and Yusuke glared at the group. Her shotgun could get their attention again but not get this finished. The spirit gun was only effective on one or two opponents at a time. That left one particular move.
Entering the stance she had practiced so many times before, Yusuke began to weave her spirit energy in the pattern that Genkai had ingrained into her through so many hours of practice. It took several moments but moments later her energy was exploding. And there was a strange problem. Her energy was always blue in color but today there were decidedly red streaks in it. It didn't feel inherently wrong though, it was her energy and it was begging to be used!
"Spirit Wave!"
Several of the fighters jumped away from the main group but most affected the 'deer-in-the-headlights' look and stared in frozen shock at the attack as it washed over them.
As the attack faded and the slow idiots came back into view, it was immediately obvious that these opponents were on a different level than ones she had ever previously fought. The group had been cut by about one-third with another third looking off kilter and not quite together. The last third looked rough for wear but able to continue.
For a moment it seemed she was going to be mobbed by everyone and then the door opened.
All of those who were still standing and capable came to immediate attention as Kirin entered the room. The officer offered a salute.
"General Kirin! What are you doing here sir?"
The General waved away the officer and his eyes did a quick scan of the room before zeroing in on Yusuke.
For a moment Yusuke felt nervous at the attention before pushing it back as Kirin approached her.
"You will follow me," he ordered in a voice that indicated he was used to people obeying. It annoyed Yusuke though and she felt her eye twitch in response.
If anything, her annoyance amused Kirin before he turned and headed back to the door. Yusuke waited for a moment before deciding to follow.
The officer caught her eye right before she got to the door though and it almost seemed like he mouthed "Good luck" to her. Well, maybe not everyone here was a complete dick.
There was no need to tail Kirin in the halls, the flow of people parted before him like he was Moses and Yusuke was thankful that for once she didn't have worry about being bumped or tripped.
One thing Yusuke noticed about the route that was strange though was the lack of windows. From what she could tell, the fortress of Mukuro was built into a giant bug but only seemed to be carved into the shell of the creature. Everywhere she had gone thus far had been along the outside of the shell and thus had windows. Kirin had led the way to the stairs and they descended several floors before he turned into a hall and then took a turn that headed deeper into the creature.
"You are not to come here unless specifically told to do so," Kirin informed her firmly. "This training area is restricted but if we deem your potential adequate it may become your regular place to train."
"Why's it restricted?"
For privacy." Kirin almost sounded giddy about that and Yusuke suddenly felt very nervous.
'He's not a pedophile, he's not a pedophile,' became her mental mantra at that moment. It didn't calm her though when they reached the end of the hall and the general opened a large set of doors into a humungous room then pushed her through.
Yusuke was immediately on guard as the doors were shut by Kirin who then continued to walk further into the room. After a moment of hesitation, the girl followed.
The training room was disturbing to say the least. She couldn't make out any walls aside from the one behind her and that particular wall as well as the floor were both moist. There were also structures in the room that looked not unlike pillar except gummy, almost pliant looking. It almost seemed like they were in the bowels of the giant insect which was a rather disturbing thought.
"This training room is immense and should not be used for longer than 3-4 hours at a time. I would suggest that you not try to destroy any other structures."
"Like I'd want to touch them," Yusuke murmured as she crinkled her nose and stepped around a puddle of what she was beginning to suspect was stomach juice.
She suspected that the damn general was amused by her antics right then though she couldn't tell for certain due to him having his back to her and the helmet didn't help.
"Stay in here longer than the suggested time and you might find yourself suffering a rather... humiliating fate. Once out, stay out for at least an hour."
Yusuke grunted in acknowledgement as Kirin passed a particularly large formation and when she rounded it as well she found that there were two more demons who were quite likely fighters as well. She didn't know either of them.
"That the midget?" one of the men asked and Yusuke felt her eyes narrow in reflex. "Weird fer ya ta want us ta train a lil hanyou."
Kirin waved away the comment. "You should be familiar with the schedule you received."
The other harrumphed loudly as he gave Yusuke a faintly dirty look while the first shrugged.
"Pretty much covered all open hours fer this place."
"Then don't waste time, begin."
Kirin's order caused both of the other apparitions to enter fighting stances and the first charged.
Yusuke could barely follow the first with her eyes due to his speed and as such was barely able to raise a defence against the first blow. Though she was successful in redirecting the blow it still felt like a sack of rocks was bouncing off her arm.
Her counter punch smacked off of the demon's chest and seemed to have little to no effect on the other though her fist felt like she had punched a concrete wall back when she had no powers.
Jumping back proved ineffective due to the speed of the other and she caught a hard fist to the stomach as she attempted to kick at her opponent's elbow. The kick barely grazed him though and she was sent flying back to skid through several puddles before she managed to plant her feet into the spongy floor and launch herself back at the fighter.
So much of her focus had been required during the brief exchange that she forgot about the second fighter until a flash caught her attention. The attack was yellow in color and Yusuke's senses already told her to not even attempt to block it.
Leaping high, Yusuke managed to clear the blast and found herself face-to-face with her first opponent yet again. In a desperate bid to ensure she wouldn't be knocked away as easily as last time, she sent her energy into her fist and swung hard.
The other merely took advantage of her limited reach at that moment and pulled his head back so that her punch swept past him but her leg was longer and somehow she managed to use her momentum to bring it up into a kick which did land.
The fighter was only pushed back a bit but his surprise was evident and grew when he focused on her and found the kid was aiming a single finger at him that had a glowing point of energy at the end of it.
Yusuke pulled the trigger in her mind and fired her favorite attack, certain that the other wouldn't escape in that moment.
The bullet rocketed the short distance toward the demon who shifted into a defensive position also and used his arm to block the attack. Yusuke watched in mute fascination as her attack connected with the limb and didn't explode the way she was used to it doing. Instead the other grunted, growled, and managed to redirect the attack so that it went flying off into the darkness. His arm was unblemished.
"Wow, get a bit more power into that and you might actually cause a bit of pain rather than numbness."
The mocking had Yusuke seeing red, so much so that she completely missed the flash of the next energy attack as it rushed toward her. The attack exploded against her side in a surprise flash and sent her tumbling as pain rocketed through her body. There was a large burn now on her side due to the fact she hadn't been onguard.
Her main opponent stood back a bit and seemed to think her done for now and Yusuke's anger rose even further.
"Well, this weak thing lasted longer than I thought it would. Want us t-"
If Yusuke had been seeing red earlier, she was blazing now and launched herself at the asshole who dared to call her weak. He managed to catch her fist, easily at that and turned to her with the obvious intent of a sarcastic or scathing remark but the moment he saw her face it died on his lips.
Taking the presented opening, Yusuke slammed a right hook across the jaw of the other fighter while her other caught the front of his tunic to keep him in place as she brought her punching hand back for another blow.
A shout came from below and more energy blasts came flying but for the most part they had little to no effect against Yusuke's rage. Instead the faint burns they caused fueled her and her fist plowed into the face, chest, stomach, and arms of her captive with all the more fury before she tossed him to the ground to free both of her hands so she could beat him more effectively.
Energy splashing across her shoulder brought her attention to the other fighter as he launched a rapid series of blasts.
Firing her shotgun brought a jolt of pleasure through her though it looked even more red in color than it had earlier. The various bolts of energy clashed against some of the blasts though most of the opposing energy shots made it through.
Defense was probably the best idea for right now but Yusuke wasn't thinking straight. She charged forward in complete offensive and dodged a few of the blasts but two connected and for a moment Yusuke smelled her flesh burning.
This particular opponent obviously specialized in energy manipulation because he was able to raise a shield as Yusuke charged but it proved to be rather weak. It slowed her punches when she tried to penetrate it but reinforcing her fists with energy still allowed her to keep a good amount of power.
"Fury Palm!" the man shouted as he trust his hand forward and a blast of energy forced Yusuke away.
Flipping over Yusuke used her other opponent, who was just climbing to his feet, as a springboard as she charged her Spirit Gun again.
The bullet splashed over the shield but the explosion was enough to knock her opponent back a bit and Yusuke charged forward full tilt.
What she hadn't counted on was Kirin intercepting with an attack of his own and Yusuke couldn't weather it. The strange energy attack hit like a freight train and she went sailing across the room, her rage draining faster than her flight and by the time she impacted anything she was mostly just reeling from the pain of her burns.
She impacted with the floor and skidded farther and faster than she ever remembered having done before. She could barely see but she could make out someone running after her still skidding form and then they were beside her. The kick was too fast to avoid and she wasn't even able to slow down her skid before the kick caught her midsection and launched her into yet another direction.
This time when her flight ended her back had impacted a wall but a new pain tore through her. Yusuke had experienced bruised bones and broken quite a few in others and if she were to guess what broken ribs felt like, what she was experiencing now would either be close or dead-on. But there was something else that was wrong and rolling her eyes down, Yusuke stared in horror at what looked to be the broken end of a handle that protruded from her mid-stomach area.
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It had surprised him when the child had a leap in power. The markings that appeared on her face had thrown even him a bit off. Hanyous rarely had the ability to disguise marks!
When she downed Saji and turned her attack on Hyd he chose to interfere since having both demons down would be inconvenient even though she was unlikely to kill or seriously injure them. Both Saji and Hyd were extremely low level S-Class and the kid's power jump put her in upper A-class bordering on S.
Kirin cursed under his breath as Saji kicked the kid who was doubtlessly down after his attack. It turned into a blue streak when he saw the damage.
The kid herself seemed to be in shock as well but wasn't doing anything stupid yet that could further the damage. The markings were fading rapidly.
Glancing behind the kid, Kirin grasped the wood of the handle of the spear behind the kid and jerked it out of the 'wall', careful to support the body so the kid wouldn't be jostled too much.
Saji stood behind him, gaping stupidly at his stupid mistake. Kirin passed the kid to him as Hyd finally joined them.
"Get her to the medical center," he ordered. "Have them fix her up and run a species check."
Saji nodded before turning heel and running for the door.
Both he and Hyd followed at a more sedate pace. There was no actual risk of the kid dying but training for today was definitely over. Not once did Hyd speak or ask a question which was one of the reasons he and Saji were chosen. Both knew how to keep their mouths shut and discretion was a requirement for this particular project.
Several aids approached with messages and reports during his trek. He listened to several of the messages, sent replies when necessary and assigned missions for others, one of them being the cleaning out of old weapons from the training room he had just left.
His arrival to the infirmary was punctuated with the yells of a kid who was no longer in shock and didn't want to be drugged. Saji was holding her down as one of the doctors attempted to inject her with a sedative so she could be put into one of the recovery tanks. It would be a short dip but the procedure was to sedate all who were placed into the tanks due to panic having happened in previous cases.
"Shit, quit it kid!" the doctor snarled when one particular twist allowed her to kick his arm.
"Then tell me what the hell that is!"
"Just something to help you relax!"
"Not good enough of an explanation!"
"They need to put you in the healing tank," Kirin explained, his voice causing all three to stop. "The common procedure is to sedate everyone to prevent accidents."
The kid stared at him for a moment then shook her head. "I don't know what a fucking healing tank even is!"
Kirin's response to that was to approach the table and grab the kid's arm to pin down for the doctor. The kid swore a blue streak, cursing them and calling into question the sexual preferences of their various mothers, fathers, and grandparents while the doctor took the opportunity to administer the injection. He also took a swab from the kid's mouth as she continued to swear at them.
The spear handle had already been removed was the first thing Kirin noted when the doctor stepped away to ready the tank and set the swab into the machine that would run the analysis. The burns hadn't been treated yet but there was no need for that with her going into the tank.
The hanyou glared at them all during this but seemed accepting if a little resentful. Already the fast acting sedative was causing her to blink more slowly.
"I don't believe I ever got your name," Kirin stated as the doctor came back with the obvious intent of prepping the girl now that she was going under.
The child groaned and rolled her eyes to stare at the other wall but Kirin was insistent and stepped back into her line of sight.
"Your name?"
At this point the infuriating child was mere moments away from sleeping and didn't seem to register his voice. A quick squeeze to her arm brought her back to partial consciousness.
"Your name!" Kirin demanded in a slow, loud voice.
"Yusuke." The answer was quiet and slightly slurred but understandable and Kirin almost laughed at the very human but gender inappropriate name.
Both he and Saji left as the doctor descended upon the now pliant child.
"You'll have your results for the species test in an hour," the doctor called after Kirin.
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Nine days had passed since Yusuke had run off from Raizen's castle. Jin, Touya, Shishiwakamaru, Chu, Rinku, and Suzuka had been running about now for eight days in mad pursuit of any lead they could find.
More than once they had encountered Hokushin or Seitei as they followed up on the report of a girl with pink hair. Each proved to either be a rumor or dead end but they did get an update on Yusuke's new size dilemma.
It was at the end of the eighth day that they returned to the town they had camped near right before starting this crazy hunt to follow up with an animal herder that reported encountering a little girl who was alone.
"Maybe that girl will be here," Suzuka said to Rinku to get the kid to cheer up.
Rinku perked up immediately as the others groaned or rolled their eyes. "Really? You think she might be here?"
"This is where I met her. Right there in that shop in fact!" Suzuka jovially pointed out the shop with a grandiose gesture. "The owner was trying to gouge me on those components that ended up being too big and we were in an argument when..."
Suzuka froze comically, his jaw dropped as he seemed to think of something.
Rinku of course noticed. "What happened? Is that when you spilled the oil on her hair?"
"THE HAIR!" Suzuka screamed in horror and surprised all of them as he ran to the door of the shop and kicked it open. When they all made it to the door, Suzuka had the shop owner by the front of his shirt.
"I don't know!" the shop keeper shouted angrily at the blond but Suzuka wasn't having that.
"Listen you! I've been unable to properly bathe for over a week! I'm behind in my research and moisturizing regimen! My nails are rough! Now tell me what you remember about the little girl who was here the same time as me nine days ago!"
The shop keeper seemed to think for a moment, his brows furrowed before his eyes lightened. "Oh yes, the kid you dumped oil on!"
"What color was her hair!"
"Pink!"
"FUCK!" Suzuka shouted as realization hit. He had probably disguised Jin's little sister himself!
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Mukuro didn't even glance at Kirin when he entered, merely kept her eye focused out on the passing landscape.
"The child's name is Yusuke," he reported. "There was a... surge in her power in the extreme training area. Almost S-class."
"Then why are you up here?"
"Because there was an accident involving her getting skewered on a discarded spear. I'm having the room thoroughly cleaned out to ensure there is no repeat."
Mukuro barely held back a dry chuckle. Most would think if the kid died or was maimed then it was just her fault. She knew better. You couldn't anticipate a child surviving if they were attacked by a stronger opponent who intended to kill them. It was why you were supposed to watch and protect them. And this particular child had too much potential to lose on accident.
Thinking on that though brought a new thought to her.
"I'm certain she is a Mazoku but I assume you've had that confirmed?"
Kirin tensed slightly as though considering something. "I had the test done as she was being put into a tank. The results should be ready now. I'll call fo-"
"I'll go myself. There is something else I want confirmed."
"Confirmed?" Kirin asked but his question was ignored as Mukuro stepped out into the hall.
Neither spoke as they walked through the corridors, all the soldiers, aids, and various others bowing to their lord as she passed.
To ensure no one guessed what she was doing Mukuro made it a point to check various training rooms as she did every so often, ordering repairs or clean ups for certain areas, then she saw to the armory and yelled at some of the workers when she found they had stacked several types of explosives next to one another.
Finally she made her way to the infirmary where all the doctors and conscious patients tried their best to come to attention. One of the orderlies accidently dropped several flasks in his haste to come to attention.
"Clean that up!" Mukuro barked angrily as her eyes roved over the various tanks, checking for cracks and general wear-and-tear. Keeping up the robotic portions of her own body gave her a good eye and knowledge for these sorts of things.
It annoyed her to find that two of the tanks were in fact needing to be replaced and a third one needed to have the glass replaced.
Kirin's attention was locked on a single bed that held a small form and she watched as he pulled aside what she assumed was the attending doctor and took him to one of the private rooms. She joined them moments later.
"The results," Kirin said, cutting straight to the point once she was present.
The doctor nodded and moved to what Mukuro was pleased to see was an analysis machine which would make her next request much easier. He glanced at the results that were just coming out and she could see his mixture of wonder and shock.
"The child is a Mazoku," he confirmed. "Strange considering how protective of their own that tribe is."
"Just as you expected Lord Mukuro," Kirin said quietly.
Mukuro though remained silent to make it seem as though she were thinking of something.
"Destroy those results and run a demonic paternity test."
"Yes my Lord!" the doctor replied as he turned to the machine and tapped several keys, deleting the results as well as programing the test.
The demonic paternity/maternity test was an ingenious test that had been created to determine the parentage of hanyous. The reason for it was to help settle custody disputes in most cases. No matter how many human generations passed, if a child was born a hanyou then the demon ancestor was considered the rightful parent.
Mukuro had accumulated the DNA from every S-class into their database during her many years through their energy. It wasn't widely known but every demon's DNA was carried in their energy. It was one of the reasons that demons couldn't pass their power on to apprentices like humans could.
"This could take a while my lord. Once the results are in I-"
A chime from the machine shocked the doctor but drew a grin of satisfaction that went unseen from Mukuro. The database was programmed to start comparisons with the three kings then worked down to less powerful demons. The first DNA on to be compared was always the same: Raizen.
"Impossible..." the doctor whispered and Mukuro's attention was had. She knew that the doctor shouldn't know the line-up for DNA comparisons which meant one thing.
"A spy!"
Kirin reacted immediately to his lord's unspoken command and raised a hand then blasted the spy's head clean off.
Stepping around the corpse, Mukuro stared at the results with smug satisfaction. Raizen's little daughter was in a bed in her medical center and quite likely didn't know it. In turn the child didn't seem to know who she was.
Raising her connected fists, she brought them down onto the machine with a spike of energy. The miniature blast destroyed the results as well as the machine.
"You were correct my lord."
Kirin's admission was also praise but Mukuro didn't let it affect her.
"You have Raizen's child at your command. What do you plan to do?"
"You shall continue to oversee her training," Mukuro replied, certain that the noise of the doctor being killed and the machine destroyed had granted them a moment of privacy. "The moment she surpasses you it is to be reported to me. Make sure she never fights except in the bowel training room where her energy won't be sensed."
No one would ever see the smirk she wore at that moment. Once Raizen breathed his last breath she would use this child to bring his army to her. Hokushin was utterly loyal to his king and once gone would likely be willing to do about anything to keep the kingdom together. And once the war was complete he could have the kid. The total collapse of both Raizen's and Yomi's kingdoms would create utter chaos which was not something she found fault in but some of her warriors might get aspirations of power or cause some of the other upper S-class to try to carve out their own territory.
The worst that could come from this was the ire of a demon who knew better than to try to challenge her. In turn she might also find a possible sparring partner for the future.
"One other thing my lord. Scouts have reported a distortion forming above the Forest of Fools."
"Those happen from time to time."
"This one has lasted longer than normal though and is growing in size."
Mukuro filed the information away for later consideration as she turned towards the door.
"Remove the corpse of this spy and replace the machine," she ordered as she stepped back into the mostly deserted main infirmary then allowed her robotic eye to focus on the child's bed.
Shigure was present now, the only being capable of walking that was still in the infirmary though there was a doctor and an orderly hovering just outside of the door. He had been checking on the little Mazoku until she entered the room and now stood at attention. But what Mukuro was focusing on was the child, still fast asleep in the infirmary bed. Her hair was loss right now and Mukuro found her eye drawn to the roots which looked wrong to her, they didn't look dark let alone black! Looks like the child would resemble her father to a greater degree once her hair grew out.
zzzzzzzzzz
Shigure watched his king leave the infirmary and immediately the rush of activity picked up again as patients and doctors returned and orderlies rushed to follow Lord Mukuro's commands and removed the body as well as the destroyed machine.
He had not intended to listen in on what had been said between his king and the general but it couldn't be helped since it was what his chest plate was designed to do, one of the reasons it connected to his ears.
His suspicions about Yusuke had all been confirmed.
Her story had proven very interesting thus far and it seemed like it was going to get even more so.
Initially he had just let her stay since he could tell she was holding a lot of her story back and he wanted to hear it. Then he had come to realize she might not know her own entire story. He had tried to delay joining Mukuro in hopes of hearing it but that had not worked out.
And now he had a decision to make: remain loyal to his king or send a message to Raizen.
