Author's Note: Anybody else notice we totally missed the one-year anniversary? I didn't either.
We're moving on to a at-least-every-two-week updating schedule...I hope. That's due to the fact that I promised I'd have this finished by the end of the school year--or at least all written out!
Now remember, guys...just because we all know that Toguro's got to be dead for them to be free doesn't mean everyone else does. The Freedom Slaves are for freedom and peace more than anything else; if there was a way for them to be free that didn't involve death I'm sure they'd take it.
Random Fact: The "n" key is one of the most commonly used keys on the keyboard. Guess that's why mine broke off.
Another Random Fact, Aimed Specifically At Naruto Fans: Happy one-day-late-birthday to Iruka-sensei! I'd say this is in honor of that, except that's kind of the wrong anime.
The Uber-Condensed Review Response Thank List Of Doom (TUBRRTLOD)--Use CTRL + F to find your name if you're in a hurry: Anica106, Hedi Dracona, Dragonflyr, Saria19 ((Darn those "factors!" In this case, there are a few preventing the "transfer energy idea" from working. First, if they're outside the House then they have to be wearing their bracelets. The bracelets limit energy use unless used for a purpose aiding Toguro. Escape obviously doesn't, so they wouldn't be able to do something like that. Their only hope for the transfer-energy plan is to get someone from the outside who doesn't have a bracelet to free them.)), Serenader, Crystal Koneko, The Thief Kuronue, Meyli, Bomb-O-Maniac ((O.O You really scare me sometimes!)), Bluespark, Naiei-no-Miko, Lachwen, Natalya((XD Welcome to the fic! I'm so glad you like it! don't be ashamed of being a Toguro-brothers-fan! The Younger Toguro's cool himself. ;) I don't mind telling you that Karasu's not dead...and he's certainly not 'restrained' like everyone else seems to think. Ramblers ahoy! XD)), kit-kit, Niana Kuonji, dreamingsilver ((XD! Did the plot bunny catch you or did you catch it? Actually, though, I don't want to burst your bubble/spoil anything...but I think your bunny has an evil twin that caught me a while ago. XD)), Kuranga108 ((are you a first-time reader? Hooray! I'm so glad you enjoy it!))
Thanks to all! First-time readers, be sure to reviewand say hello (and mention that you're new somehow!) and I'll be sure to say hi!
So Far: A year has changed the way Yusuke views his slavery; it seems as if no matter what he learns, there's always something worse around the corner. Toguro's death may be the only way out.
This Chapter: An old "friend" returns, and much is suspected.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Weakness
It was second nature to be able to draw up his energy, and Yusuke did it with ease, watching the shelf of silver for any reaction.
There—a glow of blue—he grabbed the glowing bracelet, slipped it on his wrist, and opened the door.
At first glance, Toguro's plantation was a beautiful place. And at second or even third, it still was. By then, the beauty was somewhat obscured by the sheer size of the place, and the number of buildings—buildings, buildings, buildings. The slaves' quarters were immense, tiny little huts crowded together in strict formation, the river that danced through the plantation reaching them last of all. Said river flowed down a slope, above which was where everything else happened—storage, production, and bondage.
Oh, and the Masters lived there, too.
It was, in brief, like a street. A wide, dirt road stretched from one end of the plateau to the other, the river running through it at varying points, so there were bridges arching over it. On the side leading to the slave quarters were trees, with the important business buildings (for storage, and production, to name a few) peeking cleverly out. On the other side (it was Yusuke's right, at the moment) were the fields, stretching for miles and miles, each field divided into rows, seperated by dirt and irrigation ditches. Healthy looking crops grew in each; when Toguro wasn't making profit off their powers, he needed another income source. Of course, if his income had a little help...well, that wasn't his problem.
And that was why Yusuke was out here.
The fields were nowhere as beautiful as their own little garden, in the back of their House—but then again, Yusuke thought everything about their house was great (except for the whole bondage bit). Behind him, it stood at the end of the road, surrounded by trees, grass, and other greenery. It stood in an oasis of shade, white walls staring at the world as they formed rooms, passageways, turrets. Glass windows caught the setting sun and smiled, grins of red, gold, and white. In the back, Yusuke knew, was their little garden, carefully tended by Kurama to display the prettiest plants and flowers. The backyard was small, but green with grass and trees, trees blocking the outside world so when you were there, it was as if you were in a secluded glade, all alone from everything. Yusuke liked it back there.
The Big House ahead of him was just as spectacular, if not more so. Bigger, wider, the back faced him, flowerbeds neat and orderly (that was the difference, he thought—they were too orderly. Their garden was could be called "chaos", but at least it looked realistic). The front faced the paved, open road, on which anyone not from this plantation would have to come to meet with Toguro. But that wasn't where Yusuke was going.
At least, that wasn't were he was supposed to go, but seeing as his energy senses told him Kurama was there, that was where he went.
Sure enough, as he neared the Big House, he saw Kurama, sitting in a tree, green eyes vacant, and unseeing. Yusuke had to call his name three times to get a response.
"What are you doing up there?" he asked, once Kurama'd blinked back to reality and smiled down at him.
"Nothing in particular," Kurama replied, "Is there something you need?"
"Yeah; it's time for dinner."
"Be right down." The red-head sped down the tree with ease; Yusuke wasn't worried he'd slip. He knew enough about Kurama's ability now to know the tree wouldn't let him fall.
"Man, I'm jealous of you!" Yusuke said, hooking his hands behind his head as Kurama walked up to him.
"Me? Why?"
"You don't have to train with Grandma for a whole week!" He stuck out his tongue. "Or do any chores or anything! It's not fair!"
"I did win," Kurama reminded him.
"But you had a whole week to plan it out! That's not fair to the rest of us..."
"You sound like Botan."
"Shut up, Plant-boy."
"…Yusuke?" Kurama asked, after they'd gone a few steps, "Can I ask you something?"
"Hm?" Yusuke hadn't been paying the strictest of attention. "Yeah, sure."
"This is going to sound a little strange, but—do you hear anything?"
"Hear anything?" He turned away from the colored clouds to his friend, who was not looking at him, Yusuke noted. "Like...what, exactly?"
"Voices."
"Voices? You mean, besides us?"
"Yes, voices, coming from that way." Kurama gestured behind them, towards Toguro's residence.
"Um—" Yusuke stopped and listened hard. After a minute or two, he shrugged and turned back to meet Kurama's gaze. "I don't hear anything. Why?"
"Oh—no reason. Let's go; we're late enough as it is." He started walking again, but Yusuke wasn't convinced. Something in Kurama's eyes—in the way he'd quickly looked away when Yusuke hadn't heard anything, told him that there was a reason Kurama had asked.
And for the first time in at least a couple months, Yusuke had a sinking feeling something was wrong.
..:--:..
Twenty minutes later, he was certain of it.
The Freedom Slaves, whenever possible, ate their meals together, like one big, happy, if sometimes loud family. Tonight was a rather subdued meal; no Training today, but it had been "clean the hallways" day, so everyone was pretty much tired from scrubbing down wooden floors.
Tiredness was forgotten as Kurama asked them the same question he'd asked Yusuke.
"Voices?" Koenma put his fork down on his plate (he was in teenage form—he usually was, these days).
"Why?" Botan asked, blinking in confusion.
"Because every time I pass Toguro's mansion," Kurama explained, eyes flickering from person to person, "I hear voices, coming from inside. It's a fairly recent development; last week I couldn't hear them at all."
His eyes weren't the only ones moving, Yusuke noticed, as Koenma, Genkai and Jorge exchanged a look.
"What do they say?" Koenma asked, cautiously.
"They say..." Kurama's brow furrowed as he struggled to remember. "It's mostly complaints, I think—no, that's not the word. There's a lot of crying—statements—it's really bad for them...there isn't enough light, or water to go around...they're crowded together in a tiny space, so there's not much room..." He paused, trying to gather his thoughts. All eyes were on him. "It's all jumbled, so many voices crying together—the only clear thing I can make out is, 'Let us out. Let us out of this place.' " He swallowed.
" 'We want to go home.' "
Yusuke noticed the looks around the table; mostly confusion, concern, but the look that passed between Koenma and Genkai wasn't either. His bad feeling skyrocketed.
"I'd like to help them." Kurama blinked, seeming to come back in focus with the world. "I don't know how, yet—but if Toguro's keeping them locked up, shouldn't we—"
"No." The focus at the table snapped to Koenma, who was frowning. "You're not to go near Toguro's anymore—none of you are. Stay away from there; don't even think about going inside! If there is anything going on, we'll find out about it—but none of you should worry yourselves over it."
"What!" Jin had been stunned speechless at the words "not to", but he seemed to have recovered, "Why not!"
"That's outrageous!" Botan shrieked, "What if there really is something going on in there? Are we just going to sit here and let it happen?"
"Yes!" Genkai snapped, "It concerns you in no way—think of it this way, even if we did know what was going on, how could we stop it? None of the rest of us have heard these voices—" Kurama stiffened.
"You haven't?"
"No," said Genkai firmly, but the rest of her words wee lost to Yusuke as he watched Kurama's reaction. The boy was now staring at the table, hand to his forehead, facial expression not one that made Yusuke feel any better.
He wished he knew what Kurama was thinking.
"You probably just imagined it," Touya said quietly, also not missing what was going on, "Don't worry, Kurama, I'm sure it's nothing."
"But I didn't imagine it," Kurama whispered, so quietly that Yusuke had to strain to hear. "I know I didn't."
Yusuke wasn't so sure.
..:--:..
There is a darker side in everyone; the side where all mischief and bad behavior comes from. The side that tells us to be nasty little boys and girls, to eat that extra chocolate bar, to pour the soda over our sibling's head, to not do our chores today, to not obey our parents. Everybody has a bad side; for some people it is easier to control.
But somehow, someway, there will come a time when the bad shall break through.
And sometimes that's okay, because there are reasons behind it. Take Yusuke, for example— take all the younger Freedom Slaves for example! They didn't stay away from Toguro's because a) they had to pass there on a daily basis, b) Koenma told them to, or c) they just couldn't, for one reason or another.
That was it, Kurama decided, a reason for a reason for disobeying. It made perfect sense, really—if no one else could hear the voices, then it was up to him to solve this problem. It was up to him to go in there, find the source of those voices, and...well, he'd figure that out when he got there.
He sat in a tree, the same tree Yusuke had found him in earlier that day. It was well after dark now—probably past midnight. The moon was up, hanging just shy of a full circle in the clear, starry sky. Not clear for long, though; he could see clouds gathering on the horizon. It would probably rain tomorrow, if not later tonight. No matter—he wouldn't be out then. He was just waiting for the last light to click out—and then he'd be in.
:Wise: reflected a voice in his head, :Very wise. I take it you've learned something from me, then: Kurama didn't reply. Living with Yoko for a year had been highly educational, both in skills and personal knowledge such as when to humor him, and when not to. This was a "not to" situation, and so Kurama ignored him.
(Of course, this particular situation of two-in-one-body did make it rather challenging for him, especially when Hiei decided it was time for a little Training with his "all-powerful-mind-reading pimple," as Yusuke put it so well, but they'd managed to work around that.)
After all, it wasn't as if Yoko could be thrown out. That would likely kill both of them, and besides...Yoko had his own reasons for revenge.
The last light flickered off, leaving the house in total darkness. Kurama quickly ended his train of thought, slipping out of the tree and over towards the door.
:Be careful: Yoko cautioned, as Kurama slowly eased it open, :Just because all the lights are off doesn't mean they're all asleep. Someone could wake up at any moment, at the slightest noise, and that's not what we want.:
:Of course: Kurama agreed absently, already inside the house and moving quietly throgh the hall, up the stairs, down the corridor, listening for the voices. Following the voices.
"Help us," they cried, quietly at first but growing louder with every step, "Help us, let us out of here—too dark too dry too crowded let us out please help please LET US OUT!"
And there he was, standing in the hallway of the fourth floor, standing where no slave had ever stood before, hand slipping off the doorknob, staring at a cold, dark room where the cries were coming from.
As his eyes adjusted more, he felt Yoko start in shock. He might have been saying something, but Kurama didn't hear him as his knees hit the floor, hands fumbling for the doorframe, clutching it desperately once he found it, unseeing eyes locked on the dirt-covered floor.
"No," he whispered, shivers caressing his spine as the inhabitants of the room reached out to him, "No—I don't want this—"
:This is my fault: Yoko interjected quietly. Sorrowfully. Guilty. :I never thought...I should have warned you—:
"No—" Kurama couldn't hear him, he wouldn't—this couldn't be, why him? Why did he have to—
Something touched his knee, and he looked up. Into the room—
"You can hear us?"
—the tiny, dark, cold room—
"You can...save us?"
—the tiny, dark room crowded with plants. Big ones, little ones, flowers, vines, all weak, all dying. All reaching out to him, on his knees in the doorway...he could feel them all.
All their pain...their tortured, dying existences...it hurt—
:You'll get used to it: Yoko said, uneasily, :I never thought so much of me would carry over to you, or I'd've--:
"No!" He clung tighter to the doorframe as the horrors of his new ability sunk in. If it hurt so much in here, so close to only these poor, dying plants, then what about...winter...? When everything would be dead—?
:Pull yourself together: Yoko snapped, and Kurama felt a mental slap. :It only hurts so much now because you're new to the ability! It'll dull, with time, but for now just go outside! Get away from here—there are lots of greener, living things outside—you'll feel better, trust me--:
"I don't want this!" A tear dropped to the floor; a single tear, hard-fought to escape. "You've already made me different from everybody else, I don't need this to—"
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," said another voice, eerily close behind him, "True, none of the others are as different as you...but none of them are as special."
And something exploded...
..:--:..
He ran, one foot touching down for a mere second before he pushed off, leaping for the next tree. Again he landed and again he was off, moving through the trees so swiftly and silently it was as if he was never there.
Eventually he came to a stop, landing gracefully before a cliff-embedded cave.
"Successful?" came a voice, black hair blowing in the breeze as the speaker emerged fom the cave.
"See for yourself." He detached the bag from where it hung at his belt, letting it hit the ground. His partner grinned at the satisfying jingle of coins and other valuables.
"Excellent. I thought for a while you'd been caught."
A shrug. "Stealing from Toguro isn't as easy as it used to be."
"You're cutting it close, Yoko." The other man frowned, powerful wings twitching in annoyance as he folded his arms aross his chest. "Someday you'll get caught, and then where will you be?"
"Escaping," came the smug response. Yoko reached a hand up to scratch a cat-like ear half-hidden behind his silvery hair. "And you'll be helping me." He laughed and slung an arm about his friend's shoulders. "Relax, Kuronue! I've been doing this for years, and nothing's happened yet. Besides, we're a team! It's not like I'm doing this alone!"
"Which is exactly why I'm going with you next time, you idiot."
Yoko blinked. "Tonight, then. Before Toguro gets too organized and expectant."
"Tonight," Kuronue agreed, and as he bent down to pick up the bag of stolen goods, Yusuke woke up.
He lay in bed for a while, listening to the rain. Was that what had woken him? The change in weather? He wanted to get back to that dream. Tonight he'd finally learned the names of those two thieves: Yoko and Kuronue. Odd dreams, really; he'd been having them for a couple nights now. He didn't mind, actually. It was like...like he was right there, watching it happen.
Like this had all happened before, and was more than just a dream.
But try as he might, he couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe a drink of water would help. He pushed the lone blanket aside and rolled out of bed. He knew the way to the kitchen—a year in this place had helped him greatly. He was completely, one-hundred percent sure of where he was going anywhere inside the building (except for some of the secret passageways, but those didn't count), and around the plantation, too.
Yusuke Urameshi had begun to feel like he belonged.
He found he wasn't the only one up at this hour. Touya and Hiei were there as well, having a quiet discussion that dwindled off as Touya greeted him.
"Couldn't sleep, Yusuke?"
"Nah." Yusuke took a glass out of the cupboard. "Woke up and couldn't go back. You?"
"Same."
"Couldn't sleep at all." Hiei took a sip out of his mug.
Yusuke blinked. "You should get Kurama to make you a—what's the word—a sleep-drink-thing! What with all his plants I'm sure he's got something."
"Sleeping," Hiei said indifferently. "Didn't want to disturb him." Touya coughed politely.
"Speaking of Kurama, what did you think about—er—dinner earlier last night?"
It took Yusuke a second to figure out that since it was past midnight, "dinner earlier last night" meant "the last meal we ate." It took him another second to decipher the meaning of Touya's sentence.
"It worried me," he said, at last.
Hiei nodded his agreement, but was much less subtle as he expressed his opinion. "Voices that none of us can hear? When you combine that and the fact I haven't felt even the smallestof thoughts from his mind in months, I think we have a real cause for concern."
"What!" Yusuke exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'the smallest of thoughts'?"
"It's an interesting effect," Hiei not-so-patiently explained. "When the human mind gets extremely—emotional, shall we say, they practically shout their thoughts to anyone who can hear them. The Jagan, for example. Unless I specifically block it out, it has an amazing ability to pick up those 'distress thoughts,' as well as other minor ones. But in the past few months, I haven't picked up so much as one distress thought from Kurama's mind.
"Not one."
"Maybe he wasn't had any strong emotions?" Yusuke suggested, after a moment's thought.
Hiei shook his head. "In a whole year?"
"But you said—"
"I was being general. The last time I picked up any thoughts of Kurama's was shortly after the...Karasu mission at Suzaku's."
"And that's—not normal?" Yusuke swallowed. "Couldn't he—couldn't he just have learned to shield his mind from you, maybe? (Yusuke was attempting this himself with very limited success. He had a suspicion Hiei knew what he was up to, though, which Yusuke thought was the reason it wasn't working.)
Hiei laughed. "You over-estimate Kurama. It may seem like he's reading your mind at times, but that's only because he's very, very good at reading emotions and body language. His psychic abilities are, frankly, not that good."
"He's right," Touya agreed, "Kurama isn't strong enough to block anyone out of his mind, much less Hiei."
"Okay, genuises, what would you suggest is wrong?" One year still hadn't cured Yusuke of the tendency to insult people.
Touya thought for a moment. "An outside source, perhaps?"
Yusuke opened his mouth to ask what the hell he meant when there was a commotion from a bit further down the hallway, and all of them felt the power flux as something entered the house.
"Kurama!" It was a three-second sprint from kitchen to foyer, not even long enough for the rain-dripping redhead to remove his bracelet. "What are you doing up!"
Kurama turned, dull green eyes not even seeming to see them before his knees gave out for the second time that night. Yusuke caught him as he collapsed, silver bracelet slipping off Kurama's wrist to clatter onto the floor.
"He killed them," Kurama whispered. Touya bent to pick up the bracelet and stopped as a warm droplet hit his hand. "He killed them all."
"Killed them? Who killed them!"
"Every single one," Kurama cried, and his shoulders shook under Yusuke's hands. It didn't take a genius to realize that Kurama was crying. "Every single one!"
"Who killed who?" Hiei said again, more forcefully. "Tell us!"
Yusuke gasped. "Kurama, your arm--!"
"Move over." Touya had already formed a blade of ice and was carefully cutting away the fabric of Kurama's sleeve. One long slice, and it fell to the ground, stained red with blood.
"NO!" Kurama pulled away sharply as Touya's hands gently fingered the edge of the wound. Hiei caught his shoulders.
"You got the wound from Karasu, didn't you?" he demanded, red eyes staring into green ones, which looked away. "You snuck out to Toguro's and ran into Karasu!"
Kurama didn't answer.
"He could have killed you!" Yusuke could not believe that Kurama would be so stupid as to go looking for Karasu in the middle of the night with his powers locked away by a band of silver, and said so.
"It wasn't as if I had a choice!" Kurama retorted. He winced as Touya carefully cleaned the wound, but didn't pull away. "None of you could hear the voices, so what was I supposed to do? Sit here and let them die!"
"You were supposed to let Genkai and Koenma handle it!"
"They couldn't hear the voices either!"
"It doesn't matter," Touya cut in, improvising a bandage out of Kurama's shirt sleeve. "What did you find, Kurama?"
Silence fell in the entryway.
"Plants," came the reluctant, whispered answer. "Many sick, dying plants, crowded together in a room with no light, and no water for them to drink. I could feel them." He shuddered. "Every single one."
Hiei was the first to get it. "Karasu killed them all, didn't he."
"Kurama—" Yusuke was at a loss for words. Now it all made sense—why Kurama was the only one who could hear those voices. If they were plants, and he'd been able to sense and hear all of them—then to have them all be killed right before his eyes—"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry." Embarassed, Kurama pulled away to finish the bandage himself. "It was my own stupid fault. Don't rub it in," he added, under his breath.
Yusuke heard him. "Rub it in? What makes you think we'd rub in the fact that there's nothing you can do about it while the stupid bracelets exist! We know that, you know that, Karasu knows that—"
"Yusuke," Touya hissed through gritted teeth. "You're rubbing it in."
But it was too late—the damage had been done.
"Don't you think I know that!" Kurama half-shouted. "Don't you think I know that there's no way I'll ever be able to kill him as long as we're slaves? I KNOW THAT! I don't need a reminder of it every single day, but does anybody seem to realize that? NO! I hear it from Yoko, I hear it from you, every single place I turn there's some reminder of my greatest weakness! Don't you think I know about it by now? Don't you think I have enough sense to DEAL WITH IT MYSELF!"
And he leapt to his feet and fled down the hallway, leaving three stunned friends behind.
Yusuke started after him, but stopped at a rather loud noise from upstairs. Somebody had woken up.
"Perhaps we should apologize to him in the morning," Touya said, voice quiet in the stillness.
"Yeah," Yusuke agreed, absently. "Hey, Hiei?"
"Hn?"
"Did you...anything?"
"Anything what?"
"From his mind?"
"Ah." The Jagan lit up, and somehow Yusuke knew the answer before it was spoken.
"No."