"Kuwabara! Watch your back!" I leapt over the tall, muscle-bound carrot top to slash apart two demons who were coming up behind him. My chisakatana flashed through the air like lightning, sparks of electricity running up and down the blades.
Our mission was yet again an infiltration. But, not a human world one. This time in the demon world, in a sanctuary city for demonic refugees. From what the Spirit World had managed to gather, serious humanity-harming trouble was brewing in this city. Our job was simply to wipe out the entire town's inhabitants. When Botan had come to debrief us on the details of the assignment, she had informed us that the Spirit World had been looking for an excuse to clean out this city, and that they were ecstatic to finally have an acceptable reason. So thusly, we were dispatched.
"Thanks," Kuwabara called, not losing a beat as we whirled, back to back, slicing up demons left and right. The city was huge, and although the demons here weren't very strong, there were so many of them! And they were vicious, thirsting for blood. Particularly my blood. For some reason, whether it be human or demon, a female's blood was always tastier than a male's.
It was because of this that the boys seemed to be centered around me. I don't know if this was completely intentional or not. It might not have been, considering how the demons flocked to me and the only way to get near one was to get near me. I don't know. And I didn't have time to contemplate it. This was my first life or death battle where I actually knew what I was doing. I was slightly frightened, a little tired, and the numerous scratches I had received were throbbing annoyingly. I loved it.
A slash here, a parry there. This was almost like a well-practiced dance, just automatically responding to our 'partner's' (a.k.a. our enemies) movements. This was a thrill I had never experienced before.
And so, apparently, were my weapons. One nick from my electrified short swords was enough to send the weak demons into electrocuted convulsions. Usually I or one of the boys finished them off quick and with relish while they were in this helpless state.
Finally, after four hours of constant carnage, the sanctuary city was littered with bodies and there was no movement or aura except our own. We took a moment to sit on a low wall and rest.
All five of us were exhausted. There was a limit on even the amazingly long-lasting stamina of a demon. We were all also covered in minor lacerations and, not to mention, drenched in our victims' blood.
"You okay there, Mouse?" Kuwabara had a slightly annoying habit of calling me by my hacker nickname. Kinda like how he always called Yusuke 'Urameshi.' Except not.
"Huh. You look a lot worse than I do, sir." He actually did. That human dolt was worse at defending himself than an amateur like I was. And he had been at these kinds of things for a heck of a lot longer than I had. Kind of said, but then again, he relied on brawn and toughness while I was far more inclined towards speed and agility. Usually, avoiding one's opponent's attacks was a better defense than simply trying to be macho enough to just take the punishment.
"You're still badly injured, no matter what you may think." Suddenly, Kurama was there, carefully examining some of my more serious wounds. "They may not be dangerous by themselves, but they can add up to some impressive damage. Be ready for some medical attention when we get home."
Grumbling, I followed the others through a Koenma-made portal back to the human world.
(^^) ( ^^ ) (^^)
Back at home, Kurama kept to his promise and I was stripped down to my skivvies and being slathered with botanical ointment. After most of my skin was covered with small strips of bandage, I watched Hiei receive the same treatment as me. When he was done, we both stayed in the room as Kurama began to undress.
My heart thudded uncomfortably in my chest. I don't think I'd ever seen him with so little clothing before. Come to think of it, I hadn't really ever seen Kurama injured before, with the exception of he rock wound from the raid on the mansion.
"Hey," I said, as a sudden thought occurred to me, "how are you planning to reach the cuts on your back?"
Kurama shrugged. "Haven't thought that out yet. Don't worry, I'll improvise.
"Sheesh," I responded, reaching over to grab the salve and bandages out of his slightly surprised grasp. "You can't do everything yourself, you know." I gestured to a spot on the bed in front of me.
Hiei politely excused himself from the room, muttering something about dinner. I glared at his back as he left, for his attempt at setting Kurama and I up. Although I couldn't see it, I could tell he was smirking in that mischievous way of his.
I sighed, and set about my task. With cold, trembling fingers, I lightly applied Kurama's special, homemade salve to the wounds on his back. It looked like he had gotten on the bad side of a nasty rose bush. Most of the cuts had been cause by the demons' claws, however.
I was quick and very gentle in my work. My speed and unwillingness to touch his body too much was caused by a myriad of emotions, ranging from awkwardness to a worry that he might not like me touching him.
"You're very good at this," Kurama commented when I was almost done.
I laughed softly. "I guess it just comes a little naturally for me." I had always been good at stuff like this.
He chuckled. "Maybe I could use you as an assistant."
"I'll consider it." I pressed the last bandage on his back with a little harder pressure, signifying that I was done. Kurama understood the gesture and stood to begin dressing in clean clothes. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down.
"You ready?" Hiei asked, as he suddenly popped back into the room.
I nodded, instantaneously depressed. It was time for my weekly visit to Tomosuke.
(^^) ( ^^ ) (^^)
Tomosuke. These weekly visits were torture for me. It's not that I didn't like seeing my brother…It's just that seeing him, looking so small and fragile in that huge hospital bed, hurt me. Yet…I knew I wouldn't trade the visits for anything. I needed to see my brother, just like I needed to breathe air, or drink blood.
I came for a short visit every Sunday. Usually Kurama or Hiei came with me, but every once in a while, Kuwabara and his sister Shizuru, or Yusuke and his girlfriend Keiko, or even the psychotically cheery Botan would accompany me instead. I didn't really mind whose company I got, however.
But in the months that I'd been living with Hiei and Kurama Tomosuke had not shown the slightest indication that he would wake up. I was terrified that he might not ever come out of his coma, but everyone assured me that comas usually took longer than a matter of months to recover from. Well, forgive me for worrying about my brother.
Hiei was very patient when it came to me visiting my brother. They all were. I didn't understand why any of my friends were going out of their way to make me happy like this. I didn't deserve it. I could do nothing in return for them. That bothered me.
Hiei and I walked into the hospital, looking, in our current, bandage-covered state, like we needed to be here more than the people in the waiting room. The receptionist recognized us, however, and just gave us her usual smile as a sign that we could continue on our way.
Tomosuke was the same as usual. Unresponsive. I pulled up a chair to the side of his bed and ran my fingers through his black hair; the complete opposite of my own. Just like every other time. Hiei stood a few feet away as usual, in a place where he could give me a bit of privacy, yet still keep a watchful eyes on me. Just the same, old thing.
Except then something happened that wasn't the usual. The door opened, and in stepped Kuwabara, followed by a pretty girl with aqua-blue hair, wearing a sky-blue kimono. She was very delicately lovely, with a small, slender figure. She emitted a emotional aura of extreme innocence. And another thing. She was definitely not human.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiei tense up. The change wasn't obvious, but still very noticeable. At least to me. Kuwabara and the girl seemed oblivious to the fact.
"Hey!" Kuwabara said cheerfully, waving. "I thought I'd find you here. Look! Yukina came to visit!"
Yukina?! THE Yukina?! Hiei's sister?! Come to think of it, they were both of delicate and small frame (even though Hiei was several inches taller than her, and just a couple taller than me, he was still quite short for a man). Hut those vibrant red eyes were definitely the most similar characteristic. Hiei had told me that out of our group of friends, Kuwabara and Yukina were the only ones that didn't know that Yukina was Hiei's sister. After seeing all the similarities, especially those eyes, it puzzled me as to how they could not have figured that out. Maybe I was just being too harsh on them.
"Yukina," Kuwabara was saying, "this is the girl I told you about, Ayako Sasara. She likes to be called Aya."
Yukina bowed gracefully to me. "It's wonderful to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine, miss," I responded, also bowing politely.
"Oh!" Yukina said in that sweet voice of hers, "You don't have to call me 'miss.' My name is just fine."
I opened my mouth to explain my annoying little habit, but before I could, Hiei, who had been standing by my side aloof and tense, finally spoke up.
"It's just something she does. A habit. Or you could call it a speech impediment, if you like." He elegantly dodged as I attempted to nudge him in the side with my elbow.
"I did bring Yukina here for a reason, though," Kuwabara said, seemingly wanting to bring himself back into the conversation. "She's a healer. I thought she might be able to do something for Tomosuke."
My slow-beating, demonic heart nearly stopped. She…Could heal him?! I took an anxious stop towards her. "Really?!"
The lovely ice maiden giggled. "I can try. I don't know for sure."
She approached Tomosuke, and positioned her hands to where they were hovering over his body. A silver-blue light began to emanate from her hands. Hiei move to the door and closed it, standing by it as a guard to make sure no one came in.
Yukina stayed in that position for several minutes. I was worried that whatever she was doing wasn't actually working. But then…
A rumbling reverberated in the room. Almost like an earthquake, except that this felt wrong. I didn't like it at all. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up…
"What's going on?" Kuwabara asked warily, looking around.
"Oh!" Yukina exclaimed, withdrawing her hands in shock. I understood the reason. Somehow, building up inside my baby brother, was a massive amount of demon energy. So much, that this flimsy human dimension couldn't handle it. That's what was causing the rumbling. But it had to be too much for Tomosuke's body to contain as well.
All those thoughts happened over the space of about a second. The rumbling sharply increased so that it was almost hard to stand up, and I could hear nothing else. I instinctively knew what was going to happen next. I reached out and grabbed Yukina, who was still right next to Tomosuke, around the waist and pulled her back. I pushed her a little roughly against the wall. She might end p with a bruise or two later because of that, if we survived this…I shielded her with my own body, and not a second too soon…
The awful, ominous rumbling gave way to an all-out explosion. Somehow, above all the noise, I heard Yukina scream, and went limp in my arms as were we both assaulted with power. My body exploded in agony, both inside and outside. The pain made me gasp, and I felt my body go numb as I went into shock. My knees gave out, and I sank to the ground, slumping over Yukina's unconscious form. There was another explosion…Aftershock, I suppose it could be called…Except it was worse than the first. This one was completely physical…The room shook and it was blown apart…I felt dirt and sawdust or something…Raining down on us…
I tried to stay awake and alert for as long as I could. But I could feel the…Darkness creeping into the edges of my mind…So I made an effort to take…In the scene around me while I could.
The hospital room was…Completely destroyed, from about five three feet off the ground up. It was lucky the hospital was only one floor tall…Or we would be covered in rubbish right now. There…Was no major debris in the room. as the explosion had…Blown all of it outwards, away from us…
I could hear…Screams, all around…Kuwabara already lay…Face-down by the window…Or…Should I say, where the window…Used to be…And like Yukina, he was…Unconscious. Hiei…was still at the…Door, awake and on his knees…Struggling to stand up…His…Body quivered before he finally…Collapsed and…Lost consciousness as well…The bed was…Empty…
The…Whole scene…Was hazy to me…But that was…Caused by the...Dust…From the…Ruined building…Or…Was it…My…Mental haziness…It was becoming…Very…Hard…To stay…Awake… Finally…I stopped fighting, and gave in to the blackness.