Chapter 20
On what was supposed to be a night of fun, Kurama and Kiyoni had just received some terrible news: Keiko has just been attacked and is now in the hospital for treatment. News of Keiko's misfortune concerns Kurama greatly while at the same time frightens Kiyoni. "How is she doing," Kurama asks Yusuke via speakerphone. "She's…you're gonna have to get here to see. I could really use your help if you got the time," Yusuke answers. "We're on our way," Kurama hangs up. "Hold on, 'we'? What do you mean 'we'," Kiyoni interrogates. "I mean, we're going to go see Keiko. Is that a problem," Kurama questions. "Problem major," she exclaims, "After what we just went through, there's no way I'm staying out here another minute. Take me home, Shuuichi!"
"I don't see what the problem is. I thought she was a friend of yours as well."
"She's more of a friend to you than me. It's too dangerous out here. I wanna go home!"
"But…"
"Shuuichi, please. I'll apologize to Keiko later. Can you please take me home?" Her eyes begin to water and her body trembles in fear. As Kurama hears his friend's pleas, he notices something familiar. The look in her eyes and the way she's clutching her stuffed toy is exactly how she looked the first night they met, eleven years ago. This time, her look of terror is worse. Not even he can shake her out of it. Understanding all of that, Kurama says, "Alright, I'll take you home. I think we've been out here long enough anyway." Kiyoni lunges at him, burying her face in his chest, "Thank you." The two head back to Mushiyori.
Inside the vampire nest of Mushiyori, Alena, Hotaru, and Daisuke all return to their master with good news. "The three of you look like you have something worth my time. Tell me," commands the leader. The three vampires all kneel before their ruler with Alena in the center, Daisuke to her right, and Hotaru to her left. "My lord, Hotaru and I believe we have found a link to the one," Alena states.
"Oh? Who is it," the leader asks. "This Keiko girl, it seems she is familiar with both the Urameshi boy and the one we're looking for," she answers. "Interesting," the leader looks at Daisuke, "And what about you?" "Ha! I found the one," says a confident Daisuke, "She was with some red head at a carnival just outside of town." Alena and Hotaru are shocked by Daisuke's news. "And why didn't you capture her, then," asks the leader. "That red head got to me before I could get a chance to. He used some grass to stop me," Daisuke replies.
As he speaks, Hotaru thinks back to Keiko's memories and comes across the meeting between Yusuke and Kurama. "That red head, his name wouldn't happen to be Kurama would it," she wonders. "I don't know," Daisuke answers, "Why?" "Call me crazy but, I think he's the closest link to the one. He's willing to defend her," she responds. The leader belts out an evil laugh, "Oh, this is perfect!"
"Master," Alena observes. "The three of you go find the others and inform them of your news," the leader goes on, "Daisuke, Hotaru, I want the two to gather your comrades and come up with a plan for the daytime hours." "You mean you want us to find her during the day," Daisuke confirms. "Yes. If she doesn't present herself during that time. She'll have no choice but to come out at night," the leader affirms. "Yes, sir," the three vampires all reply in unison before departing. When they do, the leader hums a sinister laugh, "So, it seems you have found your champion. I wonder how he would fair once he finds out who you are."
As if second nature, Kurama manages to walk Kiyoni home. Given their earlier confrontation with Daisuke and word of Keiko's attack still fresh in his mind, Kurama feels the need to keep an eye on Kiyoni for as long as possible. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital with me," he verifies. "Yes, I'm sure. I'll just get in the way once I'm there," Kiyoni continues, "You go ahead and go. Besides, I don't want my parents to worry about me since I didn't tell them that I was going out tonight. Please give my regards to Keiko for me."
As she walks away, Kurama catches her arm. "I'll be fine, Suu'chi. You should go," she insists. Still determined to keep her close, Kurama pulls her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her, "Given what's happened, I refuse to let you go." This new feeling of security makes Kiyoni want to surrender to him completely. In her mind, she agrees with the spirit fox. She also doesn't want Kurama to let her go nor leave her side. However, she says, "Suu'chi, please. Go on. Your friends need you."
Slowly escaping his grip, Kiyoni makes her way to the door. By the time he releases her, Kurama is left holding her hand. "If you get into any trouble, you know how to reach me," he says. "I know. I have you on speed dial," she replies with a smile knowing fully well that it's bad timing to make jokes. Kurama lets go of her hand and watches as she makes her way home. Once she's out of his sight, he heads for the hospital.
Upon stepping through the door of her apartment, Kiyoni places her things down on the floor and removes her shoes. She takes a quick glance of her parents lying asleep on the floor from the spell she casted before leaving. "I probably have some explaining to do tomorrow morning," she thinks to herself. After gathering her things, including her magic spheres, she makes her way to her room.
Behind her closed door, she collapses on her bed to reflect on tonight's activities. Clutching only her stuffed animal, she starts to cry, "Stupid Kiyoni. You got so excited about going out that you completely forgot to fully prepare yourself. What were you thinking?" She goes on, "And now Keiko's in the hospital because of you. How many more victims are going to fall before you step up?" She sits up for a moment to wipe away her tears, one of which falls onto her pendant, making it glow. "Oh, great. Now this thing wants to say something. I never wanted you in the first place, you know," she says, "Now that you're glowing, I can't get rid of you even if I tried." After wiping her face, she looks at her toy and sighs, "I guess there's no turning back now. It's time I bit the bullet and stand up for myself. No more running away and no more hiding. Especially for Keiko's sake."
Kurama arrives at Yurimoto hospital with the utmost concern upon reaching the receptionist desk. "Excuse me. I was told a friend of mine had just arrived here. Could you tell me where I can find a Ms. Keiko Yukimura," he asks. "Sure, one moment," the receptionist replies. As she looks for the name, Yusuke answers the question for her, "Hey, you made it!" "Yusuke, how is she," Kurama implores. "Follow me," Yusuke leads Kurama to Keiko's room.
Inside the room, Keiko lies asleep under the watchful eye of her parents. Botan, Kuwabara, and Shizuru sit in the hallway observing their friend. Shizuru is the first to notice the pair, "Hey, look who's here." "Shizuru, good to see you," greets Kurama. "Oh, Kurama. I'm so glad you're here," Botan states. "Keiko is just as much of a friend to me than to any of you. It would be shameful if I didn't show my support," he says before looking through the window.
Looking at Yusuke, he asks, "What happened? How is she?" Calm but upset, Yusuke answers, "Doctors say that she was attacked by two vampires." "Two? Aw, man. I hope it wasn't the same two as last time," Kuwabara mentions. "Did they say how much blood she lost," Kurama questions. Yusuke looks downward, "…two liters." Everyone is shocked. "Two liters?! That's half of the normal amount," Kurama exclaims.
"I know. Doctors had to put her under a coma just to avoid going into shock. She was already like that when the ambulance arrived. I got the call after her parents did." Yusuke looks through the window again before looking at Kurama, "So, where's Kiyoni?"
"At home. She insisted that I take her there just to be safe."
"Oh, what she's too good to show some support now? Is that it?"
Kurama gets a little annoyed, "Not now, Yusuke. We had our own share of trouble tonight."
"What does that mean?"
Kurama turns to face everyone, "We…encountered one of them…a vampire." Everyone gasps in awe.
"Are you serious?!" Yusuke asks.
Kurama nods his head, "The target was Kiyoni herself. I managed to thwart him."
"This vampire. Do you think you can remember what he looked like," Kuwabara interrogates sounding more like a detective than Yusuke.
"Hm. Tall, about six feet. Blonde hair, with an attitude similar to yours, Yusuke."
"Daisuke," Yusuke and Kuwabara reply in unison.
"Huh? Daisuke," Kurama wonders.
"Allow me to fill you in on what you missed out on," Botan interjects, "We managed to find out all of the vampires' names except for one."
"Is that so? Well, who are they?"
"Alena, Hotaru, Jaya, Tatsuo, Yoshiaki, Ryoko, Utsue, and Daisuke. I say it that way due to their master/servant relationships."
"Meaning?"
"Alena, Jaya, Yoshiaki, and Utsue are the more powerful vampires along with their leader. The others are just underlings. Strong, but underlings nonetheless."
"I see. So it's those five that we have to worry about the most."
"Okay, this vampire stuff is way too much for me. I'm going inside," Shizuru declares.
"Look, dude. I'm sorry for what I did and said to Kiyoni. I mean, I'm a spirit detective so that means I have to question my hunches. Like I said before, I could really use your help on this one. Hiei is already on board thanks to his beef with Yoshiaki," Yusuke extends a hand, "Truce?" Kurama looks at Yusuke's hand before looking at Kuwabara, "And what about you?" "Yeah, I'm sorry too. Let's settle this like men," Kuwabara extends his hand. Kurama takes a moment to think things through, "Kiyoni is the one whom you should apologize to. However, as far as the parts pertaining to me are concerned, I forgive you both. I want to do away with these vampires as much as you do." He shakes their hands, the truce is made.
Their moment of bonding is interrupted by Botan's sniffling. "And what the hell is wrong with you," Yusuke asks. "Oh, don't mind me," Botan sniffles some more, "I just get real emotional when I see moments like this."
The next day, Keiko receives a surprise visitor. In the hallway of the hospital, her parents are greeted by a new friend. "Excuse me, is this the room where I can find Keiko Yukimura," Kiyoni asks approaching with a friendly smile and wearing a taffy pink T-shirt, dark denim jeans, and white sneakers. In her hands is a bouquet of flowers and small bag of items. "Why, yes it is. And you are," asks Keiko's dad. "Oh, my name is Kiyoni Ikeda. It's a pleasure to meet you," she takes a bow, "Yusuke introduced us recently and I wanted to see how she's doing." "Oh, Kiyoni, it's nice to meet you," states Keiko's mom, "She's mentioned you a few times. You're welcome to see her if you like." "Thank you very much," Kiyoni takes another bow and enters the room.
Inside, Keiko is still under a coma until she's medically cleared to go home. Kiyoni finds a chair next to the bed, puts down her things, and observes her new friend. "Oh, Keiko. I don't know if you can hear me but, I'm so sorry," she goes on, "It's my fault you're here. I was so hoping they wouldn't get to you or anyone I know for that matter." She reaches inside her bag and takes out a gift for Keiko, a pencil-shaped amethyst crystal on a string. She places the necklace around Keiko's neck, "Amethysts are best suited for keeping bad energy away. These vampires are definitely full of it." She then takes out her homemade perfume, "I made this concoction to also keep those bloodsuckers away. A few spritzes of this and you'll be fully protected." She sprays some of the perfume on Keiko's wrists and around the room. "There. That should do it," Kiyoni announces.
She puts the bottle away and observes Keiko one last time, "Seeing you like this makes me realize that I need to stand up and fight those vampires. I hope when all is said and done, you and I can become good friends. I'm so sorry, Keiko." She places the flowers next to Keiko's bed and leaves. Back in the hallway, Kiyoni bows again towards Keiko's parents and leaves. Along the way, some thoughts run through her mind, "Damn you. You had to have planned this just to get to me. Well, now you have my attention. Come and find me, you bastard. It'll make things easier for me to kick your ass."
Elsewhere, the vampire underlings gather to discuss plans for the future. Daisuke and Hotaru informed Ryoko and Tatsuo of their adventures from the night before. "Aw, man. I thought I would be the one to find the girl," Tatsuo says, "Lucky bastard." "You said she was with a guy with red hair," Ryoko asks, "Is he, like, her boyfriend or something?" "Beats me," Daisuke responds, "He has a thing for grass judging by the way he attacked me."
"So how do we go about this," Hotaru inquires. Tatsuo rubs his chin, "Hm. Based on what you said about this Kurama guy, I think I know what school he goes to." "Really, you do," Ryoko's eyes widen. "Yeah. I nibbled on a couple of girls from that school. If I can find them again, I can get them to spill on either the guy or the girl," Tatsuo states. "Well, that's it then," Ryoko announces, "Tatsuo will look for them while we go look for Urameshi." "Who the hell made you queen," Daisuke asks. "Well, I am the class president. It's, like, in my nature to be a leader," Ryoko informs. "Not when it comes to Yoshiaki," Hotaru mumbles. "What was that," Ryoko gives Hotaru a sharp eye. "Nothing," Hotaru goes into defense mode. "Enough chit-chat. Let's go," Tatsuo declares and the underlings leave. A new week of school is set to begin, promising to be the most eventful one yet. It's only a matter of time until the final showdown comes to fruition.