Part Ten: Realizations and Harsh Revelations
The minute Kuwabara returns home, he calls Koenma. A knot forms in the pit of his stomach and he doesn't know why. Nervous and twitching, he waits for someone to pick up. No one does. Kuwabara becomes suspicious when there is no answer. Surely one of the ogres should have taken the call. 'Unless Koenma knows that you are calling and doesn't want to answer,' a voice in the back of his mind comments. Highly disturbed by this thought, he hangs up the phone and waits a few minutes to try again. There was no need to jump to conclusions. Again, the same thing happens and he becomes agitated and frustrated. Something isn't adding up and he desperately hopes it's not because Koenma has something to do with the disappearance of Ani.
The phone rings and Kuwabara picks it up. "Hello?" he asks.
"Did you reach him?" Karasu inquires.
"No, no one picked up. I tried twice."
"That is odd."
"Yes. Normally one of the ogres will pick up. I don't like this, Karasu."
"Why don't you try and see if Kurama will try to call Koenma. Maybe no one is there."
"What if he gets someone?"
"Then we'll know who's responsible for having Ani won't we?"
"You think it's him, don't you?"
"Yes."
"I hope for not only our sake, but Ani's as well, that you are wrong."
"You fear me being right, don't you?"
"More then I can say."
"Call Kurama and see. Whatever you find out, call me back. Oto is beginning to panic."
"I will." Kuwabara hears Karasu hang up and sighs before hanging it up for a few seconds and then picking it back up. He dials Kurama's number and then waits.
"Hello, Minamino residence," Kurama says.
"Kurama, could you do a favor for me?" he asks.
"What do you need, Kuwabara?"
"I need you to call Koenma just to see if anyone picks up."
"Why?"
"I don't want to say right now. Please, just do this for me?"
"Okay, it's an odd request but I'll do it. Hang on."
Hearing Kurama click over is the hardest thing he's ever had to do. He has no idea how he's going to deal with things if Kurama actually gets someone. 'Please click back over and say no one picked up, please,' he thinks. "Kuwabara?" Kurama asks.
"Yeah, I'm still here. So?"
"Other then having to come up with an excuse as to why I was calling, nothing is strange."
"So someone picked up?"
"Yes…were you not expecting them to?"
"No."
"Is there something going on?"
"I can't answer that right now, Kurama. Thank you for checking." He hangs up before Kurama can respond. Putting the phone down, he finds himself becoming extremely panicked. If Koenma was behind this then there was little either he or Karasu can do. True to his word, however, Kuwabara calls the violet-eyed demon back.
"Did he get anyone?" Karasu asks.
"Yes."
"Then Koenma's the one responsible."
"That doesn't make any sense, Karasu! Why would Koenma want Ani kidnapped?"
"I think the bigger question isn't why he would want him kidnapped but why, if he knows Ani is pregnant, would he use chloroform as a way to knock him out? That could have seriously harmful affects on his child."
"You don't think he's trying to kill the child do you?"
"I think we've found the reason that those other four died before their children were born. Someone doesn't want a child born from two males. Why?"
"We can figure that out AFTER we find Ani."
"True enough."
"I just wish I knew where to start."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ani wakes up rather disoriented and confused. His golden eyes blink open and he finds himself lying on the cold ground of a barren cell. Wincing, he slowly sits up. Looking around, he wonders why he is in this sort of predicament and then the truth reveals itself. He had been outside by the pond trying to relax and these two demons had come out from the woods and using chloroform, had subdued him. His hand instinctively goes to his stomach and he hopes that his child is unharmed. He couldn't bear the thought of having his child die because he hadn't been able to protect them. He slowly sits up and pulls his knees close. Why would someone take the time to kidnap him? What good did they hope to accomplish by this?
Footsteps approach the cell and he watches the hallway warily wondering if one of his captors had decided to make an appearance. "Oh, you're awake. For awhile we thought you'd had an averse reaction to the chloroform," a strange demon comments from outside his cell.
"What do you want from me?" Ani demands trying to sound calmer then he felt. The demon smiles unpleasantly.
"They merely want you to die," he answers seemingly indifferent about the whole situation.
"Who's they?"
"King Yama and his son," the demon answers. Now Ani is really confused.
"Koenma and his father want me dead? Why?"
"Because you pose too much of a threat…well, your child anyway," a familiar voice comments. Ani watches as Koenma walks into view.
"How does my child pose a threat to you?"
"It is well known that a child conceived by two males is exceptionally powerful and with your background…well, I don't want to chance your child ending up as a criminal. It's best to end it here and now."
"You killed the other four for the same reason?"
"Yes. They were rather dangerous and had a penchant for causing trouble. Their children would probably have been the same way. I regret to reveal that most of their deaths were caused by other demons I hired to help. A good example is Kuronue. He was a demon thief and partner to Yoko. They were the Makai's most feared partners in crime. However, Kuronue never told Yoko that he had become pregnant with the fox-demon's child. When I found out, I hatched a plot that in the end killed off Kuronue before Yoko ever realized he would have had children."
Ani is sickened by this story. "You have no right to judge the children for their parents. Isn't the fact that this child is Kuwabara's also enough make you reconsider?" Ani pulls at any straw that he can possibly find to protect his unborn child though he knows he has little success.
"Kuwabara's turning into a demon. I have no way of knowing how he'll end up after his transformation is complete."
Ani gets a little angry at that statement. "Surely you know Kuwabara better then that! Even I know that no matter the circumstances, Kazuma would NEVER change his honor code! Even if he IS turning into a demon, nothing will change."
"I don't have a one hundred percent guarantee of that, do I? I am not about to stake the fate of all the worlds unless I know for certain that this child will NOT end up trying to destroy everything we hold dear."
Ani grits his teeth and swallows the angry words just waiting to burst out. He cannot believe that Koenma would be this heartless. He should know better then to just casually make this sort of decision. This was the life of an innocent whose only crime was being born of his blood. "You can't do this, Koenma. Somehow, my brother will find out and you WILL be stopped!"
"You put too much faith in your sibling. Do you honestly think he cares? I bet he believes that you should get rid of that child. I don't think he wants you to keep it."
"My brother will accept my decision and be fine with it!"
"You don't sound so sure of yourself."
"I am sure!"
"Are you really?"
"I don't have to explain myself to someone like you! My brother will come and you WILL be sorry you ever attempted this!" Koenma just laughs at him and Ani begins to feel the first wave of panic flood him. What if the prince was right? What if Oto wasn't going to try to find him? What if he truly was being abandoned? He has no answers for his questions and that makes him even more upset.
"You think about what I've told you, Ani. The next time I come here will be to watch you die," Koenma tells him in a falsely pleasant tone before the prince turns and saunters off down the hallway. Ani just sits there looking a cross between shocked and upset. He doesn't know what to do and is in a strange place with no one he really knows. Once again, his hormones swing wildly out of control and he begins to cry.
"Please, please don't leave me here," he whispers pulling his knees tightly to his chest and pressing his forehead to his knees, "Please, someone come save me."