Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
Wow. Three plotlines at the same time; huzzah!
Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 20: Smile Bomb (Part 2)
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Minamino-Hatenaka residence...
Kurama blinked his jade-green eyes repeatedly, staring at the familiar person before him. "Kuronue? What are you doing here?" he asked in puzzlement.
Kurunue just smiled faintly and handed him a mirror. Kurama briefly glanced down at the reflective object and was startled to find nothing but a black void instead of his own features staring back at him.
The mirror broke as a streak of light played on the surface of the crack. From either side of the glass formed two images, one of Kurama's youko-kitsune form, and the other of his human form. Both wore a blank stare, seemingly lifeless. Further cracks began to surface, forming a web of shattered light across the mirror.
Soon, a beautiful aura of golden-green light shone upon the web-cracked glass, its pieces shattering, turning into a wondrous shower of glitters that played with the variegated luminescence like a flourish of rainbow pollen in the pale moonlight.
Slowly, surely, the glittering mass of brilliance dissolved like silvery mercury into the mirror's frame. The liquid reformed and showed a merged image unlike any Kurama had ever seen before. He had green eyes with a golden radiance; they were large and kind. The hair sported a silky-red mane with silver highlights on its strands; the face was that of a man with a silent strength and comforting presence as he stared back with a contented smile.
His eyes glinted as if to acknowledge Kurama's presence, even though he was just an apparition, and the aura surrounding him made him look more surreal than anything else.
Kurama's eyesight hazed as the vision changed again, this time looking as if it were a whirlpool of water cascading across the mirror's surface.
The third phantom was even more disconcerting than the previous one. It was an image of a faceless girl, naked, with bruises around her wrists and neck. She was shivering: cold, afraid, alone. She let out a silent scream as the bruises on her body began to bleed. Crimson tears of blood... and rubies! Deep red rubies that fell to the floor as she cried blood.
Again, Kurama's vision blurred, which made him lose sight of the mirror in his hand. As his sight eventually cleared, he saw the image of the girl on the reflective surface get slowly swallowed by the shadows around her. Soon, her face zoomed in, half of it covered in darkness while the other half covered in light. The darkness and light seemed to perfectly conceal her identity from the fox's confused gaze.
"I don't understand, Kuronue. What does this mean?" He looked up to find Kuronue slowly fading into the ether, his purple eyes merging into the unknowable blackness.
"Kuronue?" he called out, then looked at the mirror in his hand once again. His irises froze into place as the hazy picture began to clear, revealing the golden-green eyes of before, soon changing hue into a azure color; colored like the swirling haze from a paintbrush plunged into a glass of clear water. There was hopelessness in those eyes... eyes that reflected the same blank, marionette-like stare that Kurama's two images sported a while ago.
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"Okay, aside from reiki, youki, and jaki, we have other subtypes of ki as well, such as shouki, which is the poisonous and miasmic byproduct of pure, concentrated jaki, and kenki, which is the fighting spirit found in swordsmen like Himura Kenshin-san, the Guardian of the Demon Sword. Even the terms sakki, which pertains to murderous intent, and yuuki, which pertains to courage, have the word 'ki' attached to them.
"Meanwhile, touki refers to fighting spirit in general, which is just another subtype of energy that reiki, youki, and jaki all fall upon. Come to think of it, the demon known as Matuoka Suzuki uses different kinds of ki as well, so this is what he meant by 'spectrum'. Even blood has a type of ki in it called chiki, which is what your opponent, Rando, used to power up his Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu.
"Then it gets much more complicated. Across the world, we've heard of variations of the very same type of ki such as chakra or tantric energy that roots from the Hindu religion, which our Buddhist world has a lot of ties with. Traditionally, they originate from the seven primary access points and three hundred sixty-five other access points where you can harness the biophysical energy of prana, but for the purpose of simplification, chakra and prana both refer to the Hindi way of accessing spirit energy through your body.
"Even deities such as Koenma Daio or Amida Nyorai and shinigami like myself have our own variations of spirit energy, and they come in the form of reiatsu. We have warrior shinigami from another realm who even use this energy to develop their own offensive capabilities. They shouldn't be confused with the Reikai Tokubetsu Bouetai and their defensive, energy-sealing approach to spiritual combat.
"Basically, reiatsu is the purest and most divine form of spirit energy right next to Sensui Shinobu's angelic Sei Kou Ki power, because it's used by celestial entities and death gods alike. Oh, and I believe even Genkai-shihan was capable of using holy energy during her prime, which was also how she managed to collect a lifetime's worth of power into the Spirit Light Wave Gem that's currently inside you, Yusuke-kun! And don't even get me started with the complicated power of Nen, because we'll be here all day!"
Yusuke shook his head clear as Hinageshi enumerated the different kinds of ki in existence. He felt as if he were in school. His butt was already itching from his seat. If he could have his way, then he would've instead floated around the enormous room since everyone was, at that point, in spirit form anyway, but for some reason, gravity reasserted itself within the confines of the Spirit World. All the spirits that weren't in will-o'-the-wisp or hitodama mode were immediately forced to walk on their own two feet, which was a drag for any self-respecting ghost. Only the ferry-girls were allowed to still fly via oars.
Perhaps once upon a time, the gargantuan and short-tempered Enma Daio was irritated of having souls float around his face like flies, so he decided one day that from then on, the rules of gravity were applicable in the Spirit World. Yusuke shook his head; even as an S-Class half-demon, he could never have the power to make an entire world bow down to his whims (without the use of wanton violence and superior firepower), so he had to admit that deities like Enma Daio were much more powerful in that regard, at least.
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, somewhere in Shinjuku's Skyscraper District...
Natsuki practically felt the thumps that reverberated on the floor. Then, the room was filled with brightness that blinded her. Darkness quickly returned as the door was closed, and yet again, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
"L-Likka-tan?" she probed, but she knew better. A scream began to build at the back of her throat.
"Where are you?" he whispered in Chinese.
"No," she whimpered, straining to break free of the bonds that suddenly appeared on her wrists, fastening her into place. 'Please. Not him.'
All of a sudden, heavy hands grabbed her, beating her cruelly. Her clothes were torn to shreds, her soul filled with despair. He grabbed her by the waist harshly, and she bit her lip to still her cry of pain, the coppery taste filling her mouth. She knew that he would enjoy it all the more if she released even a cry or just a sound.
Desperately, she tried to detach herself from the pain, for staying was to lose her sanity.
She looked down to the child curled into a fetal position from below her, feeling pity, crying for the pain she knew the girl experienced, knowing that this would not be the last time he would come. Every time he climaxed, she'd die a little more; she would do virtually anything to deaden the emotions that churned within her. Rage suffused her being as she glared hatefully at him, feeling helpless and hating the fear that he brought with him.
"Father. No...!"
"Too late. No one's here but us."
She resisted the pull to return to her body, knowing that the unbearable pain would once more be hers to experience.
Through the eyes of the youngster, she saw a flash of silver glinting in the dark, and unable to stop, she emitted a piercing scream of terror.
Natsuki's wild cat eyes snapped wide open with sapphire terror, beads of sweat rolling off her body.
"No," she sniveled, clawing out of the sheets that just a moment ago felt cool to the touch. They were now like silken bonds, trapping her with her own wretchedness. She wrapped her arms around her body, seemingly trying to ward off her fear.
"Not again." She stuffed her fist into her mouth, stifling the sobs, but the twin diamonds spilled down her cheeks regardless, unchecked.
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"I'll be as brief as I possibly can, Yusuke-kun, because Koenma-sama still wants me to run several other errands," Hinageshi self-consciously assured to the bored-looking and distracted Yusuke, rousing him from his unrelated chain of thought. "Please listen carefully to what I'm about to say, because this information concerns you as well."
"Fine, fine. Just get on with it. I want to get this done and over with as soon as possible myself." Yusuke waved off as he slouched on his chair, but he immediately straightened up after Keiko slapped his knee in admonition.
The chairs were actually Ayame's idea; she figured that it was going to be a long lecture, so the gothic-looking ferry-girl fetched some spare chairs for herself, Sayaka, Hinageshi, Yusuke, and Keiko, arranging the seats across Koenma's desk the best she could. Meanwhile, Koenma himself sat at his usual perch, his chubby little arms crossed while he listened to each of the speaker's designated spiels with narrowed, slanted, and fox-like eyes.
"You yourself have seen with your own eyes the power of jaki, Urameshi Yusuke-kun. It could destroy worlds, rebuild kingdoms, and resurrect comrades. Meikai's king, Yakumo, was so ambitious that he wanted to conquer both Enma Daio's Kakuri and Izanagi no Mikoto's Yomi, which would allow him to become the supreme ruler of the afterlife." By "Yomi" and "Kakuri", Hinageshi of course meant two of the seven great hells.
"The long and difficult power struggle that raged between Meikai and Reikai eventually led to the sealing of the Meikai's destructive energy into the Meikai Crystal, the execution of Yakumo and his devilish minions, and having Reikai help with the upkeep of Yomi, the spirits of dead demons, and so on. For all intents and purposes, Enma Daio became the undisputed ruler of the afterlife in every shape and form."
"Yeah, yeah; I've heard all about Izanami and Enma when I was just in grade school, Hinageshi. I've never heard of Yakumo or Meikai, though; they sound like they were things written by a seven year old by mixing 'Reikai' and 'Makai' together or something." Yusuke chuckled to himself despite the straight-faced reaction of everyone else in the room, which prompted him to choke down his laughter and ask, "Where exactly are you going with this report of yours anyway?"
The redhead unthinkingly adjusted her hakama. "Jaki is the energy used by the most corrupt and twisted beings known in the three worlds. If reiki is the life-giving power of the Spirit World and youki is the destructive force of the Demon World, jaki is the essence of decay, bad karma, and sin. Jaki is the power that Meikai used to have as the guardians of Yomi before they rebelled against Izanami no Mikoto and Enma Daio. Only a few beings ever had complete control over jaki like Yakumo did, and the Chojin is apparently one of them. The negative energy connection between Yakumo and the Chojin is undeniable."
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Minamino-Hatenaka residence...
Kurama was roused from his strange dream once he felt someone shaking him rather strongly. 'Someone's in my room?'
The gears in his head began to snap back into place as he assessed the situation. He resoundingly blinked as a familiar blue-haired divinity of death greeted him enthusiastically.
"Hey!"
"Hmmm?" he mumbled incoherently.
"Hello, Kurama-sama!" the person before him cheered cheerfully.
"Hello," he politely and automatically greeted, then swiftly sat up, his eyes sweeping past the open window that the intruder obviously used to get in. He made a move to close the window, but was stopped by Botan, who was regarding him with a thoughtful expression.
Kurama grew uneasy underneath her probing gaze. "Botan? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" he asked, his question simple-sounding, but his tone of voice gently insinuating, "Why here?" as well. He was curious as to why Botan first came to him, and not to Yusuke or Kuwabara; this sudden shift in her modus operandi made him feel like he was left out of the loop somehow.
"Koenma-sama wishes to see you now," Botan replied straightforwardly, almost curtly, summoning her oak oar and hurriedly sitting upon it. "Get on," she urged.
"I was planning on talking to him, but I wanted to do it later. The Demon Sword..." Kurama started, but Botan cut him off with an abrupt swing of her head; there was something panicked and wild in her movement.
There was an expectant pause as a visibly flustered Botan appeared to struggle with her choice of words. After a few more minutes of awkward contemplation, she revealed, "You can check out the Youtou Shinnoken later. It's... in good hands, and it's not about to go anywhere anytime soon. Right now, it's much more important for you see Koenma Daio." Her fierce, pinkish eyes implored Kurama to accept her invitation without any further questions.
Yielding to the ferry-girl's unsaid request for the time being, Kurama stood, his bed sheets slipping away, and moved towards her, but stopped after hearing her next words.
"Kurama, I know you're pretty and all, but do you have to admire yourself even at night?" she teased.
He froze, and swiftly looked at his hand, which, unconsciously, was clenching a broken hand mirror.
"Um, Kurama? Are you all right?"
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"So... Yakumo is the Chojin?" Yusuke ventured as he scratched his jaw ponderously. "That kind of makes sense. Hopefully, now that I've gained my ancestral powers and shit, then maybe I can finish him off twice as fast as before."
Keiko raised an eyebrow at that. "You can barely fight off that kabuki-looking demon, and Botan told me he's at least two levels below you. Don't be so arrogant." The brown-haired girl rolled her eyes towards Ayame before stopping altogether, realizing where she had seen the woman in the black kimono before.
'Oh no.' She managed to keep her shock to herself, in any case.
"No, you don't understand. We here in the Spirit World have good reason to believe that the resurrected Yakumo you finished off was a test dummy or guinea pig of a far more powerful entity," Hinageshi divulged, which made Keiko pinch the eye-rolling Yusuke on the cheek in order to keep him from retorting, "Well, that never happened before."
Hinageshi continued. "The reports that the Spirit World had gathered in between the Nether World's assault on the Human World and your eventual return to the earthly realm after wandering around the Demon World suggest that the Chojin resurrected Yakumo using the power of jaki, knowing full-well that Yakumo will use his newfound powers to revive his dark kingdom, wreak havoc across the Spirit World by making the River Styx overflow, and steal the largest repository of negative energy in existence. The Meikai Crystal is rumored to contain centuries-old bad karma that date all the way back to the creation of Japan care of Izanagi's Ame-no-Nuhoko."
'Huh. Good thing that ball of evil didn't wake up my demon blood or turned me into a silhouette on the pavement, or else the shit would've really hit the fan.' This time around, Hinageshi had Yusuke's complete and undivided attention.
"Wait a minute. I thought Yakumo was revived because of all the sins of the modern world or some shit, and not because yet another all-powerful being popped out of nowhere and decided to use that simpleminded bad guy like a puppet of sorts. The white-haired old man said so himself while he was kicking my ass with his retarded amount of pink explodey energy. Also, I made him blow up along with his crystal ball of evilness. I mean, you were there too when he was making his 'You're doomed! Mwahahaha!' speech, Hinageshi! You should know what I'm talking about!"
"Yusuke-kun, the point here is that Yakumo was duped and used in order to retrieve the Meikai Crystal, and he did just that with him none the wiser, which explains his boasts and claims. Granted, you and the other Reikai Tantei were there to apprehend him, but the Chojin still got what he wanted."
Hinageshi struggled to not let her ream of research notes scatter all over the floor. "The Chojin may have even absorbed the unleashed power of the shattered Meikai Crystal unto himself, which explains why he's been hard at work reviving Reikai's worst enemies ever."
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Shinjuku Yamabuki High School...
The two-year-old Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku Yamabuki High School wasn't only renowned for its westernized sensibilities when it came to not requiring its students to wear standard-issue uniforms; it was even more famous for its no-class credit system and Information Technology course. For a government-run high school, it was quite diverse when it came to the subjects it taught, and it even sported some of Japan's most state-of-the-art utilities and technologies.
The occidental-based way the school went about its academics suited Natsuki just fine, especially considering the fact that she had a couple of nightly extracurricular activities. Considering that she'd been getting more and more visits from "random" thugs only served as a confirmation to her that she was getting closer to her goal. She'd sooner or later get the answers she needed from the man that ruined her life.
Natsuki's files, news clippings, photographs, and research concerning nationwide crime still awaited her. The modus operandi of one particular killer really stood out to her. 'However, first thing's first.' Even though quite a few students in the newly established school had already quit before graduation, she had no intention of treading the same path as they did.
It was tough juggling her student life with her other life, but as long as she could pass her tests, manage her time, and make something out of herself, then that was already a measure of revenge against her... inner demons. She would never give the monster in her dreams the satisfaction of letting his slimy influence take her to the brink of despair. 'But I still want to know why...'
There was one problem, though. There was no way in hell Natsuki would ever go to the library with the insane chimpanzee beside her. Likka could make a zoo in the middle of an earthquake sound quiet. The only way the cane-wielding, short-haired tomboy could get enough peace of mind to study was by doing it at home, in between her other hobbies.
"Tsuki-chan? Are you okay?" a short, jade-eyed young woman sporting greenish-black tresses, a single braided pigtail that reached all the way to her back, and a blue school uniform inquired. "You kind of look out of sorts."
Natsuki offered a wan smile to her friend before she moved away and hastily wiped the bits of rheum crust on her reddened, tired eyes. The sandman had struck again, but she sure wished that he struck later rather than sooner. If possible, she also hoped that he'd never strike ever again, considering what she had to deal with on a nightly basis.
Her nightmares had recurred a lot less regularly for the past three years thanks to her own self-sufficiency, but for some reason, they'd now reappeared in more regular bursts and even became stronger and clearer than ever before. She had a really sickening feeling about this disgusting development, but she reckoned that since she was able to survive against such circumstances before, she should do so again. 'On the other hand, it's easier said than done.'
On the other hand, Natsuki would never allow her inopportune fate to befall anyone. She clutched her metal cane tightly, its lightweight construction belying its durability when it came to protecting herself from all sorts of bogeymen at night. 'I've escaped my bogeyman long ago... so why am I trying to look for it again? Am I mad? Do I want revenge or catharsis? Sometimes, I don't seem to know what I want.'
Noticing her jumpy, bouncier-than-a-ball classmate's expectant glare as she herself shambled across campus with overhanging arms, Natsuki reassured, "I'm perfectly fine, Likka-tan." She blinked after getting a real good look at the lively girl before her. "But what about you? Why are you wearing a uniform?"
Likka looked at Natsuki as though the sleep-deprived student just said something adorably idiotic. "We're in school, silly."
It was now Natsuki's turn to give Likka the same look. "We don't have a school uniform at Shinjuku Yamabuki, you weirdo!"
Likka wagged her finger and clucked her tongue. "No, the rules here state that we can wear whatever we want. Since we're at school, I decided to wear a school uniform."
Natsuki felt the onset of a migraine rush forth her cranium as she grunted at the utter inanity of the conversation.
"Your incoherent whines will not make my logic invalid," Likka teased as she tossed her braid around like a whip, shook her head in defiance of Natsuki's vexation, and parodied her best-friend-in-the-whole-entire-world's speech pattern in one fell swoop.
"Your own logic invalidates itself," Natsuki rejoined, somewhat glad that she could forget that episode she'd just suffered through last night by hanging out with a complete lunatic.
Theirs wasn't exactly a unique story: a typical loner who tolerated having a sprightly-to-the-point-of-annoyance female that appeared to be one teacup short of a set to orbit around her because, by goodness, the girl meant well.
If anything, it was trite to the point of being a statistic, although it had the added twist of Natsuki being a half-Chinese foreigner that no self-respecting, naturally xenophobic Japanese person could relate to and Likka being... Likka. It was hard to explain their situation, and the only way people could appreciate where the young foreign national was coming from was to walk a mile on her shoes.
Natsuki wondered what it was that drew Likka to her so closely. As she pondered that point, a vertical drain pipe blindsided her from out of nowhere.
"And people call me absentminded! Jeez!" Likka pulled the dizzied, beet-red Natsuki up and handed her a handkerchief. "You're worse than Uncle Jiji when it comes to having your head up in the clouds! You should take some time staying down on earth with the rest of us mortals before flying up to dreamland again, Tsuki-chan!"
"Stop calling me that," Natsuki murmured as she rubbed her nose, contemplating if absentmindedness was contagious.
Likka bit her lip. "That's what Uncle Jiji says too."
If only the ground could swallow her whole. Natsuki could feel the stares of her fellow students all around her; more than usual, at least. To Likka, she asked, "Where'd you get that skimpy uniform anyway? I hope you didn't order a custom-made outfit from Kabukicho; I wouldn't want you to get molested in the middle of a train or anything."
"Oh, stop being such a prude! This is my junior high school uniform. It's amazing how it still fits! I think this getup suits me quite well. The boys certainly loved it, although the girls, as usual, hates the fact that I'm still the same size I was when I was fourteen! To tell you the truth, I always look good in dark blue, for some reason," Likka observed as she spun around to admire herself from front to back, her pigtail almost hitting Natsuki's eye.
In Natsuki's point of view, her loopy friend's pirouette made her appear like a puppy chasing her tail.
"Don't give me that look, Tsuki-chan! You couldn't possibly argue that my special outfit today is worse than my special outfit a year ago!" Likka contended defensively.
Even Natsuki had to admit that the raven-haired cuckoo's statement was true; Likka could never top the stunt she pulled during their freshman year, where she wore a full-on ninja costume that looked more like Meiji-era pajamas than actual shinobi gear. "Bringing your collection of knives to school was a nice touch."
"They're called kunai, my fine Chinese friend! That stunt was my defining moment, and I honestly believe that I'm the first person in our school to really test the limits of our lack of a dress code. Forget those delinquent losers wearing Yankee hairstyles and leather jackets; I was the one who really lived on the edge!" Likka preened... for some reason.
"I'm just amazed that you weren't suspended. And that it happened a few more times afterward," Natsuki informed; she considered scouting for avenues of escape, but she needed to talk about something serious with Likka, and she had no choice but to sift through the stupidity before getting something worthwhile and profound from the madcap misfit.
Granted, Natsuki's friendship with such a complete nut was questionable, but to her, it was a matter of convenience. She knew that the outrageous female was a total loony from the get go, but at the very least she'd be comparatively viewed by others as less of a freak by having Likka around. However, there were also times when she thought that people viewed her as more of a freak because of their supposed companionship.
Meanwhile, the ever-clueless moron demonstrated that no piece of scenery would ever be left uneaten while she was around as she worked herself up to an endless storm of catastrophic melodrama. "Alas, because of how well the ninja outfit went, my wearing of an actual school uniform to commemorate my crowning glory turned out to be nothing more than a pale imitation of my awesomeness. I really should have reserved the best for last. Maybe during graduation. Such a shame."
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"Why haven't we heard of this Chojin character before?" To everyone's surprise, it was actually Keiko who asked that question, her personal interest over the identity of this overlord that caused her to become comatose significantly piqued. "You say that he uses energy made from sin and bad karma, but how is he able to harness that power exactly? More importantly, what made him decide to strike now of all times? What spurred him into action?"
"That's actually an interesting story, Keiko-chan. You see, the issue with the Legend of the Chojin is that no one is sure who the Chojin is supposed to be. It could've been Yakumo for all we know, or Sensui Shinobu if he only hadn't gotten a terminal illness, or Yusuke's ancestral mazoku father if he hadn't stopped eating humans. Any being powerful enough to rule any of the three worlds could be potential candidates for this title, so Enki could be considered the Chojin as well.
"There are even reports of a Chojin-like creature existing during the Sengoku era, and he was formed by combining countless demons into the body of one human. Killing this demon was rumored to be near impossible, but he was eventually defeated by a band of unknown adventurers composed of a half-demon like Yusuke-kun, a priestess, a monk, a demon slayer, and some other tagalongs."
"Are you sure you're not confusing the 'Journey to the West' legend with this Chojin legend of yours, Hinageshi?" a doubtful Yusuke queried, but the excited-to-the-point-of-tittering ferry-girl was mostly unaffected by the half-demon's disbelief.
"Well, the bottom line here is that the Legend of the Chojin is comparable to Tibetan Buddhism's search for the Dalai Lama, Judaism's search for the Messiah, or Shinto Buddhism's search for Susanoo's descendants. You shouldn't expect anything less from an entity that's destined to unite the three worlds of Reikai, Makai, and Ningenkai together! He comes out every three thousand years, and he's long overdue for a comeback by about several years already!"
"Is his appearance a good thing or a bad thing, though? I mean, the Chojin basically uses energy made out of evil, right?" Keiko inquired as she struggled to understand the motivations and modus operandi of Yusuke's new enemy; a formidable task for a sixteen year old, to be sure.
"Is the Chojin supposed to be an anomaly of nature that's going to destroy all of creation because of the wrongness of his being? Or are the worlds he's supposed to unite corrupted, and he's only doing his job to restore the balance of the cosmos or something?"
"Good and evil are concepts humans use to sometimes describe things they couldn't understand, Yukimura-san," Koenma abruptly spoke, which caught everyone else by surprise. "We have no choice but to call 'jaki' evil energy because of the limitations of human language and your understanding of the metaphysical. A more appropriate description of jaki would be a force of death and ruin... notions that aren't inherently evil the way humans view evil. They just are."
Koenma hunched forward and put his small hands on the edge of his oversized desk. "The Chojin's existence entails no principles, no moral dilemmas, and no dichotomy of good and evil. He is described through mindless concepts that are unknowable, inhuman, and neutral. He just exists, and we're preventing his rise to power because we are what we are as well. We want to avoid whatever it is that the combining of all three worlds entails, because more likely than not, it will involve the complete annihilation of everything we know and love to make way for a brand new world that's free from the ties of the past."
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"Lord Koenma! Kurama is finally here!" Botan proudly announced.
"Kurama! You're the first person I wanted to see ever since this Chojin debacle started getting really serious! Welcome back to Reikai! How was your trip to Makai?" Koenma greeted, bowing repeatedly and shaking Kurama's hand as if the boyish ruler were greeting a fellow deity or long-lost relative.
"It was none too eventful, but considering that this is the Demon World we're talking about, we should consider it a blessing in disguise," Kurama joked as he waited for Koenma to take his seat. At the back of his mind, he wondered if his dream a while ago was a vision of things to come; a premonition of what he had to deal with in the future in order to maintain the status quo that he, Hiei, and Yusuke worked hard to achieve. Sure, Raizen's friends contributed immensely in bringing back an era of peace and harmony between the Demon World and Human World (to say the least), but Urameshi's group helped establish it nonetheless.
"Your updates in regards to the Chojin were useful. We're still far and away from getting an actual breakthrough on this newest threat to the safety of all three worlds, but at least we aren't getting blindsided like in the Meikai incident. In fact, thanks to you, I was able to figure out that the Chojin wanted to get a hold of the Demon Sword," Koenma blurted out in one breath before pausing, darting his eyes from left to right, and coughing once.
Kurama narrowed his eyes, noticing the Spirit World leader's slip of the tongue and subsequent realization of the fact. However, the redhead decided to let the mistake slide, because he was cynical enough to realize even beforehand that Koenma was going to hide quite a bit of information for the sake of the "greater good" and some such.
Then again, Kurama was kind of wondering what it was that he uncovered about the Chojin that led Koenma to conclude that the Demon Sword was specifically targeted by the Overfiend. To be true, there was a distinct possibility that the prized Youtou Shinnoken of Reikai had deep, historical connections with this power-hungry overlord. He then decided that he needed to investigate this issue a lot more thoroughly in the future.
"So why have you called me here? Do you want me to elaborate on the reports I've given you? Oh, if you want to know where exactly Hiei had gone, I've heard that he's been demon hunting all the way to Alaska for some reason," Kurama disclosed as he regarded Koenma's troubled expression with the patience of a predator stalking his prey, taking note of every last muscle twitch and skin crease. It was a silly thing for him to think, what with the youthful-looking deity being the ruler of the afterlife and all, but that was nonetheless how he felt.
"I'll probably deal with Hiei later. We... have a lot to take care of in the meantime, and we need to be better prepared for what's to come, unlike when we confronted Sensui. Granted, the Reikai still did a great job preparing you four considering that it was a short-notice mission and Sensui's plans were ten years in the making, but one can never be too prepared."
Koenma barked an uneasy laugh before snapping his fingers and summoning, "Botan, come here. I want you to discuss something with Kurama."
"You called, Lord Koenma?" Botan sweetly spoke while she inwardly resisted the urge to ask her boss for the umpteenth time how she ended up housing the spirit of a stuck-up, overacting, bitchy, kendo-obsessed, Kenshin fanatic who was too immature to have a relationship with the former hitokiri.
'Who are you calling kendo-obsessed, you pastel-fixated excuse for a shinigami! And what are shinigami anyway? Back in my day, you guys didn't even exist! You're an invention of the modern world! An urban legend that everybody thought was always there since time immemorial, but wasn't really!' Kaoru Kamiya immediately responded to Botan's mental slander from within the ferry-girl's own consciousness.
'I wish you didn't exist! The only reason I haven't started chewing on lotus blossoms to erase you from my mind is because of your connection with Kenshin. Oh, that and I actually love my memories of being a shinigami and working with Yusuke and the others, thank you very much.'
'Speaking of that Yusuke person, what is up with you and him anyway? Were you two an item? Or has the fact that he's already taken somehow made you feel resentful against seeing couples with the same special bond that Kenshin and I share?'
Botan resisted the urge to gag. 'First off, don't spy on my memories during your free time, missy! Secondly, you and Kenshin have the bond of two kindergarten kids smitten by puppy love, so spare me! Thirdly, yuck! I don't think of Yusuke that way, even though that pervert has already inquired about my vital statistics from behind Keiko's back! We're just friends!'
'U-huh. Oh, and before you go acting all righteous, I couldn't help but notice all the stolen glances you've given of Kurama and his...'
"Arrrgh! You're making me look bad in front of Kurama and Koenma-sama, you chipmunk-voiced harridan!"
Kurama could only watch as Botan seemingly argued with herself like a madwoman who was having a psychotic episode. The true tragedy of this circumstance was the fact that the redhead was unaware that anything was amiss with Botan because of the way she usually behaved. 'She now has voices in her head? That's new,' he blandly noted.
Koenma bemoaned Botan's predicament; it must have been tough dealing with the ghost of Kenshin's dead lover within her head. "Have you gotten Kurama up-to-speed on what happened a week ago at Genkai's temple? How about you, Kurama? What was the last message you've obtained from us at Reikai?"
"Well, I think you mentioned something about Yusuke finally getting the Demon Sword, but somehow awakening its guardian and some such. Furthermore, you also informed me that the artifact reacts to different people in different ways," Kurama supplied, and Botan added, "I haven't told him anything about the attacks yet, Koenma-sama. You kind of had me in a hurry to get Kurama here."
"Fair enough." The toddler clenched his hands together behind him and slowly paced across his office. "Botan, tell Kurama what had happened following your visit to Genkai's temple, particularly the attack involving the Shisejyu and Rando."
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Shinjuku Yamabuki High School...
Natsuki was so used to the onset of headaches she got from merely being within earshot of the mind-numbing, mentally challenging, and intelligence-sapping presence of Likka that she wouldn't be surprised if her brain had already suffered a hemorrhage of sorts. Nevertheless, she had hung out with the pigtailed loon long enough to know exactly how to shut her up.
"Let's play a game, Likka-tan," Natsuki declared with a smile that, while not over-the-top, conveyed malice even better than a top hat and pencil thin mustache ever could.
Likka's skin bleached itself white in terror. "Oh no. Not that. Anything but that, Tsuki-chan!"
"Uh-uh. You've hurt my brain with your stupid statements, and I deserve the opportunity to... do the very same," Natsuki reasoned before frowning and accusing, "See what you did? Look at how much you've degraded my vocabulary! It took me a long time to learn Japanese and not sound like a fresh-off-the-boat foreigner, so I don't appreciate the effortless way you rot my brain, you naughty girl!"
"Oh, have a heart, Tsuki-chaaaaan!" Likka all but groveled at that point, even though she had half a mind to sock her androgynous amigo right on the eye for accusing her of brain-rotting high jinx.
"I have no heart," Natsuki answered her half-minded comrade before proceeding with her most potent anti-Likka weapon. "Let's say you've just heard that there's a room of buried treasure right here in Shinjuku Yamabuki. It has all three treasures of Ancient Japan, plus a mountain of gold bullions to spare. You want to be sure that the school has treasure, so you asked me to make sure. I replied, 'On this school, there's treasure, only if I'm an honest woman.' So should you go and find the treasure or not?"
Likka's thousand-yard stare lasted for a good two seconds. "What kind of a question is that? It's an either-or question. I couldn't tell. If you're not honest, then I shouldn't look for treasure. If you're honest, then I should look for treasure. Is this a trick question? A better question would be if you really are a woman. I've had my doubts."
Natsuki laughed the way those stereotypical rich Japanese heiresses laughed... just like a female Santa Claus. Of course, at the back of her mind, she surmised that Likka was conceivably infecting her with inanity, hence her strange reaction. "No, you silly goose. With that one statement, I've assured you that the school really does have treasure regardless if I'm honest or not."
It was now Likka's turn to have her head throb and ache because of Natsuki's words, which for her meant that she looked really, really constipated. "What? No. If you're not honest, then there's no treasure. If you are honest, there's treasure. You can't get any simpler than that. Don't change the rules!"
"If I'm not honest, then what I said about the treasure only being there when I'm honest is a lie, so obviously even though I'm lying, the treasure is there. If I'm honest, then the treasure is still here. Regardless of the outcome, there's definitely treasure here!" Natsuki explained with a toothy grin that verged on looking cannibalistic.
After a minute of Likka gawking at Natsuki and Natsuki lightly humming the theme tune of a certain Western game show to further tease her compatriot, the pigtailed girl threw her hands up and surrendered. "You win. Whatever. Just thinking about that brain teaser of yours is making my head shrink faster than a, well, Amazonian shrunken head."
Likka smirked. "You've passed my test of resilience and managed to sink my battleship of mindless fun yet again with your logic bombs of doom. Nevertheless, there's only one reason why you've hung out with me for more than fifteen minutes after we met; you want to know more about Uncle Jiji's latest cases, don't you?"
The girl with the pageboy cut nodded eagerly, the expectant sparkle in her eye belying an unquenchable thirst for vengeance and justice. "So tell me, how is Daiji-sempai's investigation of the Kanji Killer coming along? Whatever happened to the one survivor of the assault you mentioned to me last week?"
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
"Thank you for that briefing on the nature of jaki, Meikai, and the Chojin, Hinageshi. You are dismissed. You may go ahead and complete your other assignment," Koenma stated, which prompted Hinageshi to get up and make her leave then and there. Outside the office, she greeted Botan and the Demon Sword Guardian before climbing on her oar and heading back to the dream realm. She made a mental footnote to connect the Gandhara Shop's transdimensional entrance to the Harajuku district while traversing time and space.
"So we've confirmed that this Chojin guy is a force of nature and he's using his storage of jaki to remodel the three worlds or something equally horrible. Or, for all we know, his coming," Yusuke snickered, "is a naturally occurring event that's supposed to happen because the world sucks and people are dicks who deserve to die. Hell, he may even turn everything into heaven. Well, fine. What now?"
"For one thing, the Overfiend may have collected all the shattered shards of the Meikai Crystal after you first destroyed it along with Yakumo, which is the reason why he only came to power just recently," Koenma supposed while Yusuke chuckled once more. "For another thing, jaki was the reason why Yukimura Keiko-san was put into a comatose state in the first place. Isn't that right, Yukimura-san?" That killed Yusuke's laughter.
"Y-Yes. It was that dragon man who did it." Keiko absently combed her fingers through her hair and ironed out the creases on her outfit, her body cringing as all eyes focused on her.
"Yusuke and the others fought that dragon guy and some other monsters once before when Botan and I were being chased by my hypnotized teachers; I know that because Botan told me so. I'm not sure why he targeted me to get to Yusuke when it was Hiei that finished him off, and my memory was a blur during the time he used me to power that technique of his that looked like Hiei's signature move."
"Wait, Seiryu used you as some sort of energy source?" Yusuke exclaimed as he stood up from his chair and slammed his hands on Koenma's desk. "I don't get it. How could he do that? I heard that Yakumo got his neon pink energy balls from the evilness of humans, so what 'evil' did Seiryu get out of you?"
"Perhaps the trauma of seeing your girlfriend suffering from the consequences of your line of work have gotten to you. Have you forgotten what Keiko was going through while you were in the middle of your match with Rando?" Koenma calmly asked as he herded Yusuke to the correct conclusion.
"Of course I haven't forgotten! I can feel her pain even while Rando and I were kicking each other's asses, and let me tell you, her pain was way worse than mine!" Yusuke replied before putting two and two together and stating, "Hinageshi said something about jaki being a negative force."
"Correct. And I told you just now that jaki and the Chojin aren't necessarily evil. They're forces of nature. Jaki doesn't only feed off evil intent, it also becomes more potent when mixed with the suffering of the innocent, hence Keiko's current state," Koenma elucidated in the plainest words he could think of so that Yusuke could understand completely his upcoming decision in regards to Keiko's situation.
"Just as you've used your willpower to access and transform the jaki of the Meikai Crystal into pure reiki and youki that you and your fellow spirit detectives used to defeat Yakumo, so too can the Chojin's minions use the suffering of others to transform the ebbing life force of a soul in pain into the darkest of jaki. It goes both ways. That was what Hinageshi was trying to tell you earlier. That's how the yin and yang of ki works in our three worlds."
The Prince of the Spirit World halted his impassioned spiel and let his multiple grains of truth and wisdom sink into the consciousnesses of both Keiko and Yusuke. To the half-demon's credit, he automatically held his significant other's hand in support of her predicament. They at least now had a rough idea of what they were up against. "Speaking of crystals and balls, I'm kind of worried about your own health, Yusuke."
"My prostate is perfectly fine... I think. What are you talking about?" Yusuke informed too much, as evidenced by Keiko's blushing, face-palmed features.
"I'm talking about Genkai's Spirit Light Wave Gem inside you. In order for you to become as powerful as you are now, you had to go through inhuman amounts of training, unreasonable amounts of punishment, and unbelievable amounts of life-or-death situations in a very short period of time. About six to seven months tops, and that's before you transformed into a leader-class youkai through force-activated atavism. In fact, I have an inkling feeling that it was all your experiences that allowed you to access your mazoku self in the first place. The gem had a lot to do with your power surge into mountain-breaking levels of excellence."
"I'm fine. Really. I feel very healthy. I'm the picture of good health," Yusuke reassured as he put his knee on the cushion of his seat and posed in cheesecake body builder fashion.
"The picture of hair gel abuse, maybe," Keiko remarked before pondering, "It's funny how your hair stays gelled even when you're in spirit form. Huh."
"Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that you were beaten by a Toguro-level opponent even though you're already way past Sensui level. At this time, you could conceivably beat Enki, Yomi, or Mukuro if you were willing to go all out like you did with Suzaku, wherein you used up your spirit energy and life energy to defeat him." Koenma exhaled.
"Yes, you were careless, but this Chojin-resurrected Rando learned a thing or two from his dark lord. He used your surplus of spirit energy against you. He manipulated the fact that you get stronger as you become more aggravated or saddened by the situation by deploying a technique Buddhist monks used to better achieve enlightenment. He thought out-of-the-box in order to defeat an opponent many times more powerful than he was. Even though he's the enemy, you have to give him credit for his creativity."
Yusuke petulantly harrumphed. "That's just great. Fucking beautiful. You're praising the enemy, and it just happened to be mister plagiarism. If you like him so much, why don't you marry him?" He then stuck his tongue out and pulled his lower eyelid with his finger.
"Yusuke, stop murdering the language; plagiarism doesn't mean what you think it means!"
"You better talk to Genkai about this so-called Kugai, because the mere idea of you... the most powerful living being allowed to walk the mortal realm... having no control over your powers is giving me the heebie jeebies."
"I told you, I'm fine, Koenma. I-I've gotten this Kugai thing under control. You don't have to worry about a thing," Yusuke guaranteed, his face flushed and his smile crooked.
"The problem is that it's still there. Go to Genkai. I can't order you to go because you're now working as a freelance spirit detective, but as a friend, I'm begging you to go. Please. It's for your own good."
"..."
Having managed to quiet down the rambunctious demon spawn that was Raizen's descendant while still getting his point across, Koenma resumed his interrupted spiel. "The battle at Genkai's temple has set a dangerous precedent. Although you were able to win against almost impossible odds, your victory came at a great cost. This is probably the first time you've ever experienced a Pyrrhic victory such as this."
Yusuke leaned towards Keiko as asked none-to-subtly, "Hey, egghead. What's a Pyrrhic victory?"
"It's a victory that's hollow and costly, blockhead," Keiko lovingly retorted to Yusuke, whose intellect was rivaled only by garden tools. "It's named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus after he suffered great losses before winning in the end."
It was at that moment that Koenma ordered, "Ayame, it's time for you to tell everyone about what happened to Yukimura Keiko-san after she briefly expired and ended up in the River Styx."
To be Continued...
Next: Who is the Kanji Killer?
If it isn't obvious by now, let me clarify that the Chojin legend has been taken straight out of the infamous Urotsukidoji franchise. I hope this fic doesn't turn as dark and twisted as that series. It will definitely not turn perverted, though, because I won't be able to post this story if that ever happens.
May kailangan pa ba akong sabihin?
Abdiel