A/N: Oh yay, we're finally reaching the climax. That doesn't mean this is ending anytime soon though (I hope you're not disappointed xD), especially since character relationships have barely started to develop. I hope you guys approve of that, and you'll keep reading & enjoying!


Chiryo

Chapter 12

"Hey, Urameshi."

Yusuke looked up from his contemplation of the benefits of cheeseburgers over hamburgers and glanced at Kuwabara. "What's up?"

Kuwabara was frowning at the floor, his spirit lamp flickering as he thought. "You know that demon child that Botan told us got kidnapped?"

After taking a brief second to pretend to think about the question, Yusuke replied, "No."

Throwing his partner an irritated glance, Kuwabara said, "The demon girl who had really rich parents or something and poisonous blood?"

This time, Yusuke didn't even bother to pretend. "Nope."

"Were you even listening to her?"

"Nope!" Yusuke rolled his shoulders and put his hands behind his head. "What's it matter? We're not here to get her back, so who cares?"

"I thought you liked kids!"

Shrugging, Yusuke replied, "Sure, but one, she's poisonous demon, and two, she's kidnapped by the most powerful demon in the world. Would rather not mess with that guy."

Irritated, Kuwabara snapped back, "Just help me remember her name." He went back to mulling over the problem. I'm pretty sure that it began with an 's'. What was it? S -

"Something that begins with an 's'," Yusuke said abruptly, completely breaking off Kuwabara's train of thought.

"I know that!" Kuwabara growled, just barely resisting the urge to hit Kuwabara on the head. "I need more information than that!" He ground his teeth. "It was something really…" He waved his hand, and the light flickered briefly. "Pretty."

Yusuke shrugged again. "Why do you care so much? I mean, we can't help her." He rolled his shoulders and stretched. "If you gotta think about helping a kid, why don't you think about the triplets?" He looked back briefly. "I wonder if they found Yashi yet."

Something twanged in Kuwabara's memory. He stopped. Yusuke had walked three meters past him, before he realized that Kuwabara had stopped moving. He turned around. "Yo, dip wad, what the heck?" And then, in an almost concerned voice, "You alright?"

Kuwabara managed to ignore the insult. He was thinking. "Yashi…" He looked at Yusuke. "Do you remember the names of the other two?"

"Uh…" Yusuke thought for a minute. "Meha, I think. And Suzu."

"Yashi, Meha, Suzu…" Kuwabara thought about it briefly. The names sounded so familiar, but what – besides being the triplets' names – were they from? "Suzu, Yashi, Meha." So close, but that didn't sound right either. "Meha, Suzu, Yashi."

I think he's snapped… Yusuke thought, but he decided to wait a bit longer before attempting to wake Kuwabara up.

Kuwabara was still muttering to himself, recombining the names in different orders, searching for something. "Suzu, Meha, Yashi." His eyes widened. That sounded very familiar. "Suzu Meha Yashi," He said again, smoothing out the words as much as possible. "Suzumehayashi," And then, "Suzume Hayashi."

"Pretty name. Are you good now?" Yusuke asked.

"That's her name."

"Who's? The demon child?"

"Yeah. Suzume Hayashi!" Kuwabara looked at Yusuke directly now. "Those triplets! They're Suzume Hayashi!"

"Oh shit," Yusuke groaned. "Do we have to rescue them now too?"


.


Kurama glanced over at Riko, who was watching Hiei fight with an intense stare. "Are you enjoying the fight?" He asked, his voice soft as velvet.

"No. Yes. I don't really care about the fight," She was absently tugging on a strand of her own hair. "I hoping he's going to get rather badly hurt after he wins, like you, so I can heal him, and make him grateful to me."

Glancing at Hiei, who was easily dodging the other demon's attacks, Kurama hid a smile. "I'm afraid you're probably going to be disappointed. Even if he was hurt, Hiei wouldn't want to be healed."

"That's why I say 'badly hurt'," Riko replied instantly. Her eyes never left Hiei, and she scowled as he skidded lightly out of the way. She glanced at him. "By the way, how does your arm feel?"

Carefully, Kurama flexed the arm that the poison had seeped through. There was a very faint scar where the skin of the white demon had attached to him, but it was barely noticeable. "It feels fine. You do neat work."

Riko smiled and turned back to watch Hiei.

His opponent was an aged demon with white hair and deep wrinkles around his brilliant eyes. They were the only thing about him that didn't look middle-aged, still dark and blue and very intense. He fought with concentrated demon power that shot from his eyes, turning them briefly black for the duration of the laser beam.

It was a weapon that was pretty useless against Hiei, since lasers could only travel in a straight line, and all Hiei had to do to dodge was take a single step to either side, which he had been doing for the past few moments.

He seemed to be getting bored with the game though, as his hand was straying to the hilt of his sword.

The other demon – who had identified himself as Bozin at the beginning of the match – seemed to be getting weary of the game as well, but in a different sense. His breathing was becoming labored and his lasers less powerful.

Shaking his head, Kurama thought to himself, Three hundred years ago, Bozin was one of the most legendary demon representatives ever. He could explode a demon he didn't like just by looking at him. He looked around at the dull gold walls, a perfect cage built in a world set apart from both demons and humans. I suppose the Twisted Prison has been taking its toll.

It was something that he had heard from Botan and Koenma when he'd gone in privately to meet with them on the mission. But it was something he was only seeing now. All the demons in the Twisted Prison, from Oliandra on, were those had committed the most atrocious crimes possible and had been sent to another world as punishment.

The Twisted Prison was designed to suck power from the prisoners inside of it, and he could see the effects of that in every demon they'd faced. All were so weak compared to what they had been. All the demons here would have been of the highest grade once upon a time. And now, they had been reduced to this.

King Enma really does not take kindly to those who go against his rule, Kurama thought. And Koenma hadn't been any kinder, upholding the dimensional prison that his father had created long ago.

Bozin's next attack seemed to hit Hiei right in the stomach, until the afterimage faded and Hiei appeared above Bozin, slashing straight down.

Bozin fell to the ground, head cut open, and slowly, the life faded from his eyes.

"Darn," Kurama heard Riko mutter under her breath. He smiled lightly and then walked over to Hiei who was flicking blood from his sword. He felt Riko follow behind him, a bit grumpy.

"Well done, Hiei," Kurama said, keeping his voice a bit carefree. "Though you might have taken him out faster."

Hiei snorted. "I thought he was going to show some other skill." He looked at the dead body in mild disgust. "Unfortunately, he was just a disappointment." He turned away and began to walk towards the door to the hall.

As he did so, a wave of something struck him in the head. He stopped, then called back, "Kurama."

Eyebrows raised, Kurama walked forward and then stopped as well as the wave struck him as well. His eyes widened and then he smiled. "It seems that we have finally made it. I believe that's the power of Raja we're feeling."

Riko too stepped forward and then stopped. Her eyes widened. A cold wind seemed to be blasting at her. Cuts opened up on her arms and legs, tiny things, but each with the pain of being split open. She flinched and stepped back.

Both demons turned around to look at her.

Kurama stepped towards her, eyes narrowed in concern. "Riko, are you alright?"

Gingerly, Riko took another step forward. The same effect ensued, but this time, Riko kept walking, sucking in her breath and resisting the pain. While she could create a light barrier to stop the effects, it would be unlikely to have complete blockage unless she put a lot of her power into it – something that she couldn't afford.

Grimly, she took another step forward.

"Let's go."

End of Chapter 12


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