Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters. Just OCs.
Tsukiko was sitting in bed holding her knees to her chest. Her eyes wandered outside as trees blew in the wind. After the ferry girl, Botan, had shown up to take the demon back to Spirit World, the others brought Tsukiko and Eiko to Genkai's temple. Eiko had protested saying that Tsukiko had been through enough for the day. They all had, and they should regroup the next day. Unfortunately, the guys wouldn't budge on the issue. They wanted the girl to explain what happened.
Well, they couldn't truly get their wish, for Tsukiko hadn't even known what changed in her powers. She was never able to just order someone around, not that she wanted to, anyway. To be honest, talking with their master hadn't made her feel any better. When they had explained Tsukiko's power, she seemed to nod along as if she knew more about it. When Kurama had asked her why the power had allowed Tsukiko to use her words instead of singing, she didn't have the best answer.
"Beats the hell out of me."
Tsukiko cringed, but kept quiet on the matter. She was still trying to mentally figure out what had happened and she was exhausted. Eiko seemed to realize her friend was stuck in her head and tried to give her a piece of chocolate. Tsukiko took it, smiling at her friend, but she was still deliberating and put the snack in her jacket pocket.
"Come on, grandma," Yusuke complained. "You have to have some idea as to what happened."
The old woman simply sighed and said, "I have only heard rumors of a power like you described, but it was never through singing. It makes sense that Tsukiko can dissect words and tone, for that is where the power lies. I'm surprised you hadn't figured out you could command demons sooner."
"But…it never happened before," Tsukiko once again iterated. "I've only ever controlled demons through song. I've tried using my own voice before, but it never worked."
"Which implies that your power is growing," Kurama concluded stoically. His hand then moved to rub his chin as he pondered the implications. His attention shifted to the old psychic. "Master Genkai, what can you tell us about those rumors? Is this as far as the power can go or is there more of which we need to be aware?"
"That's completely dependent on the girl," Genkai stated as she took out a cigarette and lighter for a smoke. "She uses this power without realizing and she lacks control. Eventually, the power will become too much for her, and it could lead to full brainwashing of demons and humans."
"W-What?"
Tsukiko was never one to be terrified of anything, especially not of herself, but knowing that she could one day control anyone, even by accident, frightened her. If she couldn't get control of her power, she could one day manipulate even Eiko. No, she couldn't let that happen. To prevent such an incident, Tsukiko agreed to train with Genkai.
She and Eiko ended up staying the night, but Tsukiko couldn't sleep one bit. She stared up at her ceiling, willing herself to sleep. Wouldn't it be nice if she could control herself instead of everyone else?
Eiko was lying outside on the grass staring up at the starry sky. Releasing a shaky breath, she sat up. "Hn. What are you doing out here, human?"
The girl froze and turned her head to regard the fire demon. "Couldn't sleep. Insomnia. You?"
"Nothing." That was all he said.
Eiko didn't know how she felt about any of this. Surely, she was worried about her friend. A huge bomb had been dropped on her, and now Tsukiko held a huge weight on her shoulders. The girl wish she could do more for her friend, but unfortunately she was going to have to figure it out for herself. No doubt she would drive herself batty constantly thinking about it. Eiko wouldn't be surprised if someone needed to drag her out of bed in the morning. Hopefully, Tsukiko would talk to her about whatever it was that she was feeling.
"We're in a lot of trouble, aren't we?" Eiko sighed into the wind. Hiei sat down beside her, also looking up at the sky.
"Depends."
Her eyes narrowed at the demon. "One word answers aren't answers."
"They are," Hiei countered. "You just don't like them. They aren't what you want to hear."
"How do you know what I want to hear?" Eiko scoffed.
"Believe me," Hiei said, his bandanna covering a flash. "I know. You want answers. We want answers. We don't have answers. There's nothing I can offer you that will settle your mind."
"Whatever," Eiko said, sitting up and huffing, crossing her arms. "Anyway…who would even want her power?"
"Anyone," Hiei remarked. Eiko was about to scold him again. "Many demons would kill to get the power to control another. The fact that there are demons who are willing to give up your friend to another means that there's someone out there with influence. Kurama and I are trying to determine who would benefit the most from your friend's power. So far, we haven't come up with anything."
"Meanwhile, my friend is still at risk," Eiko deadpanned. "Look, we can't spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulder. We need to know."
Hiei sat up and glared at the girl. "So do we. You don't understand how our world works, not that I would expect you to. It would be a detriment to all of us, for someone to use that girl to take control of demonkind. Not every demon wants the destruction of this world."
Eiko deadpanned. "Oh please. You derogatorily call us human. You'd probably be the first person who'd want this world destroyed."
Hiei rolled his eyes before he closed them. "I did. I don't anymore."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"You can believe what you want. I don't care."
"Whatever," Eiko grunted before looking back to the temple. "So…what will that training entail?"
Hiei laid back on the grass and shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing good for your friend." He eyed the other girl up and down, grimacing. "You could use some training yourself. For whatever reason, you've thrown yourself into this just as much as your friend has. You're at risk."
Eiko groaned and fell back again. "I know. To be honest, though, I wouldn't even know what to do. I'm clumsy and don't really like fighting all that much."
Hiei's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent. But, then he smirked viciously, and the human sitting beside him was completely unaware of what he had planned for her.
The next morning yielded many other challenges, the first being to get Tsukiko out of bed. Eiko had tried talking with the girl through the door, but surprisingly she didn't answer. The girl was worried about how overwhelmed her friend must have felt. After all, it's not every day one learned their abilities could eventually enslave demons and humans. Tsukiko needed time to process it all before this whole training mess started.
Unfortunately, these strangers didn't agree.
"She needs time!" Eiko argued for her friend, glaring at the redheaded fox demon.
"Time is something we do not have," Kurama explained, his voice dark. "We will do our part to figure out what exactly is going on; however, she needs to train to get control of her abilities. We don't need them being used against us because she can't control them."
Yusuke looked over to the human girl and could empathize. He remembered back in the day when he and Kuwabara had run into each other at Genkai's crazy tournament. Kuwabara had only been there to get his powers turned down, though once he knew what Yusuke was up against he never tried. Instead, he trained on his own and with Kurama and Hiei before the tournament to be better attuned to his own abilities. Kuwabara, unlike the girl they were dealing with now, had always been creeped out by his powers, but he used them to help his friend fight demons during his missions. Tsukiko had had these abilities, but when had she discovered them? She didn't seem bothered by them one bit until the thought of being able to brainwash anyone happened. She used her powers for self-defense and preservation. She never fought, and now their fight had become hers indirectly.
"Hey, let me go talk to her," Yusuke suggested. Kurama regarded the former spirit detective with an uncertain gaze. "If anyone knows where they're coming from, it's me."
Kurama sighed, but he motioned to the room where Tsukiko was, surrendering this duty to Yusuke. Eiko looked over to the half-demon skeptically, but she didn't think he could do any more harm to her friend. And she was definitely right about that.
Instead, Yusuke knocked on the door, but when he received no answer, he just barged in like he owned the place. "Come on, sleepyhead. Up and at 'em. You've got training with grandma, and I will be thoroughly amused by that."
Tsukiko was already awake, just sitting up in bed as her attention shifted to Yusuke. Her eyes revealed boredom, but it was clearly just a front. "You know, I believe you mean that, but your tone…I'm not a dog. You sound like those owners that excitedly ask their pet if they want to go for a ride before they take them to the vet."
"Heh, didn't notice," Yusuke chuckled. "So, what's the deal? Why aren't you out of bed yet?"
Tsukiko looked away making Yusuke frown. "I don't want my power to grow. If I train, it'll just happen faster, and I don't want that kind of power. It was fine when it was just the demons coming after me, but having power over my friends? I can't let that happen."
"Take it from someone who knows," Yusuke started, "but it's going to happen anyway whether you want it to or not. I mean, heck, I thought I was a human my entire life, and then the second time I died, I ended up being part demon. I'd been fighting demons since I became spirit detective. Sure, I had some demon friends, but I never planned on becoming one. To be honest, when I first returned to society after the transformation, I didn't know what to do. I had this big internal debate on whether or not I should stay in Human World or go to Demon World. Probably one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make second only to whether or not I wanted to come back to life the first time."
The girl's muscles relaxed when she heard this. "And you went?"
Yusuke nodded. "I needed to know…needed to find myself and learn what these abilities could really do. I needed to know I could control my own power, that I wouldn't cause pain to the people I cared about."
Tsukiko released a small chuckle. "We really aren't too different," she stated. "I guess it couldn't hurt to see what Genkai wants me to do. Besides, I don't really like having a pity party."
"That's the spirit," Yusuke cheered, "though, you better be ready. Grandma isn't going to go easy on you even if you are new to this."
"Thanks for the warning," Tsukiko acknowledged, "but I think I've got this."
The girl finally left the bed, moving to get her clothes to get dressed while Yusuke left the room and crossed his arms. The door closed behind him, and he looked back fondly, grinning impishly. "Famous last words."