Hola! Once again, enjoy the update. All the inspiration right now for some reason! Happy Anniversary, Gang!
Pass insights as you have them. And to the reviewers: Yes it is! I have fun thoughts for what to do with our creeping demon.
Lots of love to you!
~Yasha's Sis
Chapter 25:
Suppression
Thankfully, the portal chose to be gentle for once and let Yusuke out only a meter higher than the ground instead of the typical skyscraper height. Squinting at the abrupt change from purplish spooky darkness to the glaring light of day, Yusuke staggered only a little with the drop and let his gaze dart around the suspiciously familiar forest.
Huh. The old lady's house. Probably the best place to get healed up and debriefed without giving his Ma a heart attack if she's sober enough to understand the severity of their wounds. And if anyone knows anything about keeping creepy demon minds from attacking humans, it'd be the hag.
With that in mind, the Spirit Detective made the trek up Granny's staircase from hell with a single minded focus Kashi would have been exasperated by. Everyone else's voices were white noise as Yusuke focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Izumi needed help and Granny was the way to get it. Nothing else really mattered until they could get a second opinion.
Because Kurama's pissy description of 'demon influence' was not ok and fuck going with his impression if they could find a better one with the old hag.
Perhaps sensing Yusuke's building weariness, Kuwabara hovered in the shadow of his steps all the way up to the temple courtyard. The elder twin ignored him in favor of figuring out just how shallow a breath is possible to both spare his lungs and stay conscious. So, when the idiot reached out babbling something about taking Izumi off his back, Yusuke's just as surprised by his response as the rest of them.
The next thing he knew, Kuwabara was taking a tumble down the not so near staircase and everyone was staring at him.
"What happened now, idiot?"
Mahogany eyes blinked as Yusuke turned to stare at his devil of a sensei. The pink haired menace was scowling per usual.
When did she get here? Why is my leg extended? And fuck my ribs.
The clamor of hurts nearly made Yusuke's standing leg buckle as he tried to regain his balance.
Trying for unaffected, Yusuke grinned. "Hey, hag. You miss me?"
Someone at his back, probably Boton, sighed. Genkai, beautiful beast that she was, sucked her teeth and Yusuke was graced with one of her signature love taps in greeting.
Unsurprisingly, he went flying. The annoyed, "Quit straining yourself, Jackass.", was barely heard over the shriek of his sides.
Panic gripped him for a beat when Izumi slid from his back in the fall, but Kurama grabbed her before she kissed pavement.
"What the hell, Genkai?!"
All the times she bitched at me for not paying attention, she couldn't tell how fucked up I was?!
Or, a more reasonable corner of his mind suggested, she hit you because she knew exactly how far you pushed yourself.
Yeah. It was probably that.
Hiei ended up scraping him off the pavement, grumbling something to the old bitch that Yusuke hope went along the lines of 'Stop attacking the cripple, you salty whore'.
The old woman merely grunted, so it probably wasn't nearly as colorful. Yusuke felt cheated as the world grew dim and winked out.
The blackout lasted long enough to for him to wake to an eye full of ceiling. The ice of someone's healing energy was nice. It'd be better if he could recall them coming within proximity but that was a minor complaint. Spared from the less than pleasant agony of bones and squishy bits rubbing together, Yusuke gave a groan of pleasure obscene enough to make his nursemaid flush. The punk in him almost played it up until the cute nurse's ruby eyes and mint hair registered.
Let's not antagonize the pyro's kid sister.
"Ham," His crotchety sensei berated. "You ready to focus, dipshit?"
"All ears, grandma." Yusuke sucked in a deep breath and barely felt a twinge. "Nice job, princess. I'm feeling myself already." Hiei's sister- Shit, Izumi said her name. Uh, Yukina- gave him an admonishing look.
"Please, don't strain yourself, sir." Yukina's voice was sweet as a sudden chill shot through his body. "Izumi-chan would be very upset if you got hurt again." The abrupt paralysis that followed her cotton candy smile made Yusuke gulp.
Where does Izumi keep finding these scary women?
"Alright," Genkai began with a puff of her pipe. "Now that we've gotten past the bulk of the recap and the idiot's come to, how about you explain why that girl is passed out in my guest room, sealed hard enough to make my skin prickle?"
A lot of glances got sent around.
"Izumi appeared to be possessed when she returned from secreting Yukina here." Boton began with an anxious ringing of her hands. "I've never heard of a possession occurring on a human with such potent spiritual energy, let alone by a demon none of us were able to sense."
"Woah, woah, woah," Kuwabara barked out. "Who's to say Izumi was possessed by a demon!? She didn't feel like… evil or anything. Just, uhh, heavy. Like she usually does... but more."
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Great description. You should take up writing."
"Shut up, Urameshi!"
"Izumi's spirit energy has been changing ever since it awakened. Recently though, it has had the undertones of something more." Yusuke had to strain to tilt his head enough to view Kurama. "Have you not felt it?"
A 'hn' sounded from just outside Yusuke's vision. "It's why I thought she was being followed when I arrived at the mansion. I hadn't realized it drew from her spirit itself."
Yusuke scowled. "How bout we explain things for the slower kids in class? Felt what?"
A beat. He could practically feel Hiei and Kurama exchanging glances. "Izumi's spirit is different. Tainted, some would say. Do you remember the color, when we cornered her in her room?"
Yusuke frowned. Violet flickering in his mind's eye as he thought back.
"Eh, yeah it was purple, kinda." Kuwabara answered with a thoughtful air. "Not as blue as it used to be."
"Exactly. Izumi's spirit energy was and always had been a deep blue." The fox answered softly. "Darker than Yusuke's cerulean shade, but an acceptable blue none the less. At some point, that color changed."
Changed?
"Think back. When was the last time her spirit energy colored blue?"
Yusuke's throat felt tight. Not since the City of Ghosts and Apparitions. Not since they left her to deal with the four Saint Beasts.
"She began behaving strangely after your last mission." Boton gasped. "I- I was unconscious for the final hurrah but… could something have happened once Izumi set the barrier and sought to draw the makai insects away?"
"What the hell does it matter that it's changed!?" Yusuke snapped, "We need to know who was messing with Izumi's head?"
Hiei's scowl was audible. "Think, Detective. If we can place the time of the change, we can narrow the possible suspects."
And Yusuke knew that. He did! It just smacked of failure that he left Izumi so she would be safe and now some asshole was using her body as a meat puppet. He didn't want to dwell on that. Not when he couldn't even see Izumi and make sure she was safe.
"But," The River Styx guide began haltingly. "There were no demons of significant status in the area. Koenma and his crews ensured it when they were cleaning up the mess Izumi made of the school."
"Maybe they didn't need to be close to mess with 'Zumi's head?" Kuwabara tried.
The ugly silence that followed the question made Yusuke gauge his Spirit energy so he could fight off the weak paralysis. He needed to see their faces. No silence like that followed with the whole truth. Because the whole truth, in times like this, was unspoken and he couldn't read the tells on his back and out the corner of his eye.
The fox's brows creased. "Possession," Yukina's hands trembled a bit at the rumbled on the word, "requires a connection between two parties. The level of control needed to overwhelm Izumi's will would require a physical presence or-" He bit off the sentence, fists tightening hard enough to creak in the silence.
Riddles. Always fucking riddles. "I don't know what that means, fox." Yusuke pushed out, flexing his hand.
"It means the tie would have to be strong enough to overcome physical space. Only one medium transcends that barrier." Yukina made a small noise of distress as the Spirit Detective fought and forced himself to sit upright. Yusuke spared the Ice apparition a half hearted wink as she let her healing energy fade and then swung his head to the fire demon.
"Just one?" Fucking Urameshi Odds.
"Yes. The connection was forged through blood."
Tension skyrocketed at that ominous pronouncement.
Kuwabara shuddered dramatically. "Blood! Like Vampires?"
"No you, moron. Like a ritual or ward to bind the owner of the blood to another's will."
Yusuke's brow furrowed. If that was the case, then it was nothing they were equipped to deal with. Whatever killed Tarukane… whatever used his sister's voice to make that smug ass chuckle, wasn't her. But, Izumi hadn't made it sound like wards could be that controlling. True possession was all about domination.
"If a ward scheme was used to accomplish this," Faded pink locks swung slowly in denial. "It would have shattered the moment you placed those seals upon her. Someone could have removed them once the connection severed, which happens near instantaneously." Genkai's hard gaze shifted over to the fox. "And yet you haven't."
Kurama held her gaze. "A precaution. I wished to speak to Koenma before taking the chance that there was something more going on."
"Yeah, where is that shrimp anyway?"
Kuwabara had a point, but mahogany eyes tracked Kurama narrowly. There was more to it than that. Yusuke could feel it in the too calm set to Kurama's face. He was keeping Izumi under because the fox wanted answers first, wanted to gather all the pieces before he took further action, and Yusuke wouldn't have minded it if hag's earlier description of said wards didn't ping his 'Hold on a minute, asshole' radar.
"Just what did you do to Izumi?"
"Nothing dangerous." He said, perfectly reasonable.
Yusuke learned to mistrust that tone.
*~ADMW~*
The first thing Izumi noticed upon waking was the terrible taste in her mouth. It's what she imagined chalk dusted socks to feel like as she ran her tongue along the back of her teeth.
The second, and probably more important concern, was her absolute lack of spirit energy.
Izumi shot up with a flail of limbs, mental hands grasping for something, anything, that resembled the furnace of her spirit. She traced along the well worn pathways of her body, hunting and pulling until she ran metaphorically face first into a dam plugging the flow of her energy. It was effective, if brutal in its efficiency.
Whoever made this, Izumi considered cynically, was an asshole.
It shunted everything but the barest hints of her spirit behind this barrier so she'd remain living unless she took any spiritual damage while it was applied. The lock on her soul left her fucking helpless should the normal catastrophes land while bound, but at least barring that, her body had enough connection to her soul to keep it from separating on its own.
How generous.
Izumi sought the edges of the ward in her mind's eye, lip curling as she saw the seams, and tore it to goddamned pieces.
The dam shattered and Izumi shivered as spirit energy rushed through her, spiraling and rejoicing in its freedom while it primed itself to attack.
Annoyed at the overeager response, Izumi smoothed the sharp edges of it's upset and soothed it into normal, purring anticipation. She was safe, she could sense that much in the not so distant energy signatures of her brother, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, Yukina and Genkai. The last two let her know where she was at least.
Izumi hissed as she opened her eyes and frowned at her surroundings. How the hell did I get here?
A quick flex her spirit would read the boys. The last she remembered was the boys in the middle of some knockdown, drag out fight and Izumi was too fucking far away to help-
Her energy not only slammed against a secondary barrier that she hadn't noticed, it rebounded, whiplashing back into the center of Izumi's chest with a jolt that made her gag in pain.
What the hell?
Moving rapidly from annoyed to concerned, Izumi loosed a tendril of lilac and stretched it until it brushed against the second ward. Now that she was paying attention, she honed in on the source as her spirit was rebuffed yet again. With a scowl, Izumi fished her hands under the heavy blankets someone threw her under and froze when she revealed the familiar crackle of paper.
Someone placed a Spirit Suppression seal on her. A twin tiered counter-ward matrix that fucking hurt. Why would they do that? Because it had to have been one of her friends. Had to, otherwise, her spirit would have burned the fucker who tried this alive. But why would her friends seal her? Especially with one that felt like getting tazed after a horse-kick to the solar plexus.
Yusuke wouldn't do this. She could tell from the energy that lingered in the activation that it wasn't her brother, but it was familiar.
Kuwabara? No. The moment it was activated, he would have known how much it hurt if he was connected to the warding. Which left someone a lot more practical, a little less compassionate.
Genkai, Hiei, or Kurama.
Seeing as her favorite pink haired hermit was decidedly not going to leave Yukina alone after the show Izumi put on, it left one of her demon friends.
I remember running on the roof towards Yusuke. Who would have been fast enough to-
Izumi jerked, fists clenching as she remembered seeing the boys' pain... of feeling a clawing desperation.
And the laughter.
Shoulders drooping, Izumi stared blankly at her empty palms. She'd lost control. She lost control and he stepped in. Shit. She didn't even know that was possible. How was it possible?! Why couldn't she remember what happened?
A shaky inhale left her. She must have done something to warrant this. They wouldn't have bound her, temporarily thank fuck, if she hadn't scared the ever loving shit out of them, or tried to attack.
God. I hope it's the first one.
If she hurt someone else with her weakness…
Izumi shook her head harshly. Control had been earned. It was part of the reason why she left in the first place and she should have known her first reintegration with the others would spur a… regression. Regardless, she was a bit more rested and fully in her right mind now. Whatever happened, she wasn't going to get answers locked here and tucked away in a corner.
The teen pursed her lips as she considered the ward pressed to her chest.
If she broke this one, it'd alert whoever activated the wards and probably scare the shit out of them if they thought something was still wrong with her. At the same time, it chaffed to be collared. She wasn't an attack dog; she didn't need to be muzzled.
If that were true you wouldn't have been in this position, girly.
Izumi gave that thought it's due consideration before giving it the finger.
Knowing her family, they'd send in someone familiar should she not fully be in control. Everyone wouldn't come crashing in. She could bet on that at least.
That said… Izumi wasn't sure who she wanted to talk to.
Yusuke was sure to be livid. She crossed a number of lines by leaving a note with Ma. Running round, blacked out with a violent ghost behind the wheel, would just be another fuck up to compare. The aftermath of his fury was sure to be a hoot.
Kazuma, on the other hand, would worry instead of rage. He'd also be far too aware of the taint to her spirit if he got enough time to really examine it and she'd avoided him for this exact reason. (Enough of her was worth shying away from. She didn't need Kazuma adding her very soul to the list).
Genkai would be judge-y. She's always judge-y when you don't do what she told you to and being out of touch with her spirit enough to not notice some jackass capable of taking the reigns was sure to just tickle the crochety old hermit.
She didn't even want to get started on Kurama-
The brunette sighed. No matter his feelings, the bitching from the former Thief Lord would be awful. She hadn't gone into specifics on how bad her mental guest was and that omission would rankle in the worst way. You can't plan for the eventuality of one of your soldiers getting turned against you if you didn't know it was possible in the first place. It didn't matter that she didn't know her body could get hijacked. Izumi should have detailed all the symptoms and her every concern so he could build contingencies. Keeping all her issues to her self, when her capabilities were in question, would be really fucking inexcusable to him. That she hadn't told Koenma either...
Honestly, Hiei would be the preferred guest if she got a choice. All he'd do is call her a dumbass and attempt some enthusiastic dismemberment.
Brightening, Izumi tried a mental prob to discreetly gain his attention and sucked her teeth at the backlash.
"Yeah, no. This is coming off." She wasn't going to nurse a headache just to appease whatever worries they had. She was fine.
Decided, Izumi grasped the edge of the paper and it tore off with a satisfying riiiiip.
The response from outside the room was a little alarming.
Kurama froze for an instant before the fox demon was beelining towards her location, Hiei instep with Yusuke not far behind. Genkai's spirit snapped hard enough to set Izumi's teeth on edge and the teen had to wonder what she shouted out as well because Yusuke skidded to a stop. His spirit burned azure in its frustration and Izumi couldn't help smiling as Yusuke's image stomped back to the rag tag circle and sulked.
Cautious, Hiei and Kurama flitted to either side of Izumi's door, youki primed and grim.
Time to disabuse them of the notion that I'm not myself.
"Hey, don't treat me like I'm rabid! Get in here."
The glimmer of amusement she was hoping to inspire didn't even flicker.
The shoji slid open with a whisper of motion and Hiei entered first, Jagan glowing beneath his warded headband.
Onna.
The relief in hearing Hiei and not her normal resident made something in her chest loosen. She didn't even care to consider the absence.
It's me, Sparky. I'm fine. I promise.
He stared at her for a long breath, ruby gaze narrowed. Then, "What idiot removes an active ward matrix without knowing its purpose or ensuring the one who activated it was not within easy reach to dispatch?"
Izumi rolled her eye and crossed her legs before scooting to face the door. Now she knew it wasn't Hiei who placed her under lock and key. He would have felt (then subsequently been annoyed) when Izumi broke the ward as carelessly as she did. "Kurama put it on me. Plus, I can read the bindings of the second ward. I'm not an idiot." She flushed a little as she remembered she did remove the first one without question. Scowling lightly, Izumi balanced her arm on her knee. "I'd like to see how you react to waking up cut off from your youki. It's unsettling as hell."
Mahogany eyes darted up as Hiei continued into the room, positioning himself in such a way as to make it so she had to turn her head to watch either of them.
They still don't trust it's me. Not fully.
Kurama's emerald gaze, glowing from the shadowed hall, made Izumi pout. Deliberately giving Hiei her open side, she shifted her seat to face Kurama fully. "What happened? I know I must have freaked you out if I ended up bound in such a shitty manner."
The flicker of emotion was expected but only because she was looking for it. Not quite guilty, but plenty upset. Kurama carefully closed the door behind him, gaze scrutinizing Izumi with an intensity she did not appreciate as he said, "What is the last thing you remember?"
The professional, detached tone the fox used to address the question also rankled but Izumi fought to ignore it. This was serious. Her hurt feeling could come up later.
"Running," She said promptly. "I had just got back from dropping Yukina off at Genkai's. The portal's exit was shit so I ended up on the roof of Yukina's tower." Izumi paused as she considered the best way to explain what happened next. "I felt the boys with Toguro." Her right hand unconsciously gripped her left triceps in a loose hold. "They… they were hurting. I could see their spirits ache. I was so far away and I just remember wishing-"
YUSUKE!
"I wanted to be faster. Desperately." Izumi clenched her jaw briefly. "I guess he gave me my wish."
She allowed herself another moment for self pity before straightening her back and meeting Kurama's eye. "What happened?"
Kurama leaned against the wall left of the door and considered her. "You were possessed. The lapse in control and strong focus of intent gave the demon the necessary foothold to override your consciousness."
With that, Bitchy Kurama had arrived. The lack of inflection was almost worse than outright condemnation.
Izumi watched him wearily. "Hiei."
Ruby eyes spared Kurama a sharp glance but he answered her. "You killed Tarukane and attempted to obliterate the Toguro remains."
Izumi grimaced. She promised Yukina she wouldn't kill anyone.
It should probably alarm her that the fat bastard's death didn't register on her 'what the fuck scale'. To be fair, three weeks in his home was enough to engender a pretty healthy indifference to lardass's demise. Still, she should have had a choice. It pissed Izumi off that she was a tool to his destruction outside of her own control.
The younger twin swallowed the bile that wanted to crawl up her throat as she thought of how messy his death would have been. If the daily detailed oaths of pain muttered by her usual guest was any indication to the level of carnage, Izumi was a little glad she couldn't remember. Ashamed at the appreciation, but appreciative none the less.
"Thanks." She said, because Kurama knew what she was asking for and decided to be a dick about it.
"Why did you go?"
Izumi blinked, lifting her head to watch her red headed best friend because that was the most emotion she heard from him all conversation. She couldn't place it.
"Go where?"
He hissed, back pulling off the wall with a roll of motion and Izumi squashed the desire to lean away when he stepped forward. "You did not tell us the depth of its influence. You knew you could lapse, yet you said nothing to Koenma. How could you endanger innocents when you lack the control necessary to spare your own friends?"
Izumi bristled even knowing the argument ahead of time. "I wanted to hurt Keiko." She sneered, unafraid to voice the truth with Yusuke out of earshot. "Not for long, not even much, but I wanted to. He fed off that desire and amplified it. I understood what happened the moment it did and I left, because there are moments when I'd like nothing more than to shove my foot up your ass and dance a jig." Izumi felt her teeth bare and reigned her temper in with a snort. "My feelings for each of you are strong, too strong, and I needed to be around people I didn't know so that I could focus my responses." Another breath. "I learned my limits where those that mattered wouldn't be hurt and Yukina was a fucking godsend because she couldn't make me mad even when she tried."
"You didn't know that." Kurama pointed out ruthlessly. "You left on a hunch, Izumi. Anything could have happened."
"I wasn't going to leave her there!" Izumi snapped back, spirit energy rippling in a tight circle around her. "Bitch at me all you like but I made the right choice with only assholes and petty criminals to bear the brunt of my learning. Yukina was more important and I do it again, with or without your permission."
Kurama had no idea what shit she went through to have had so thin a grasp of her control in the first place. He could shut up.
Emerald eyes flashed. "Clearly you need minding when you act with a recklessness that far surpassed your brother. You say only petty criminals paid the price, but do you know the truth in that? Who's to say you didn't lash out at the first thing to tease your ire? You've been nothing more than a child since Genkai's tournament."
Lilac froze and Izumi's chest went cold. He's goading you. She knew he was, but she couldn't smother the hurt such a harsh statement spawned. Don't treat me like a child when it's convenient, Kurama. You don't get to do that.
"Evil," She began blankly, "is burning a healing spirit over and over and over again until she cried for money, knowing she can't fight back." Hiei tensed beside her but the teen only cared for Kurama's condensation. "Evil," Izumi continued with flat eyes and a curled fist, "is leaving someone to be tortured because its inconvenient. I've killed peaceful demons for less when I was learning under Kuroko. Don't think you can guilt me into feeling anything close to regret for my practicality." The still energy hung in the air for a long moment before spinning rapidly into a whirlwind that faded out from one exhale to the next. "Unless you can tell me why I have a connection with a demon I've never met: Fuck off, Shuichi."
The fox spirit's eyes narrowed.
She held his gaze, heart hard and face stony.
Kurama left without another word.
A whole minute passed before Izumi loosed a sigh that rattled as it exited her chest. "You got something to add?"
Hiei snorted. "You seem so sure you've never met this demon."
Of course I do. Barring three, every demon I've met before I started hearing voices, I've killed. If I didn't, Kuroko-obaa would have brutalized me instead.
That wasn't worth saying though. They sat in silence for a time, Izumi unwillingly tracking the motes of light that made up the family she chose until Hiei's voice pulled her from the growing sense.
"You know why he did this."
The line of her shoulders bunched at the unwelcome addition. "Doesn't mean I appreciate his doubts."
Because that was a test. Her control was in question, so Kurama, ever practical, would be the one to ensure its strength. He took the hard jobs because he knew the others would more than likely balk at the task.
She hated that about him.
"Why didn't you?"
A hum answered her. "He prefers to bear the weight of his decisions alone." Izumi sent him an annoyed glance, which prompted, "Had he kept better track of your whereabouts, you would never have been sent on your own. Whatever trials he suspects you've faced in that human's lair could have been avoided."
"I don't need protecting!"
Ruby eyes merely watched her.
Angry and frustrated, Izumi threw herself backwards on the bedding. "I don't need protecting." She said again, but it smacked of petulance and Izumi hated Kurama for that too.
It probably stung as much as it did because there were moments when she had felt overwhelmed. Tired and hunted, with nightmares sucking the bulk of her sleep away. She'd had to sleep in snatches during the day in hidden rooms and small spaces because of all Tarukane's stupid fucking tests. Yukina's cage was rarely used and only when she knew it wouldn't make the girl uncomfortable having a human huddled in the corner for a nap, guised as shared meditation time.
"Did everything get taken care of?" Izumi asked. The sudden wave of exhaustion just thinking about the shit she had to deal with playing mercenary for a fucking sadist made her ache.
"The fox made sure of it," was his answer and Izumi flinched despite herself.
Ever practical.
"I'll tell him thanks." Once I no longer wanted to punch his pretty face in.
She could practically feel Hiei roll his eyes. It was almost enough to make her smile.
"Hiei," A grunt. "Do you know how this happened?"
She didn't have to go into what it was. She was grateful Hiei didn't make her either.
"We weren't sure the extent until the full possession occurred, but we had an idea, however unlikely." Izumi rolled onto her stomach and favored Hiei with a furrowed brow. Possession? It required a connection didn't it? She didn't even know who the guy lurking in her head was. Besides, the level of control her particular ghosty used, required something more than a simple person to person link.
Izumi felt her skin pebble in unease.
How would any demon have established a connection of the strength capable of controlling not just her body but her energy as well?
"Hiei?" Izumi questioned.
He frowned at her, for whatever reason, and tilted his head back against the wall. "When a demon has a connection to a human soul, it hints at bondage through blood. The strength of this bond allows them influence, no matter how brief a time, over the human's spirit. But," Hiei said voice oddly rough, "bonds forged through blood forcibly taken from a human host would sever with the ward scheme Kurama used." Ruby eyes drifted down and held her gaze.
"You feel him still, do you not?"
The Spirit Detective barely took a moment to consider the edge of her conscious where her unwanted guest usually sat. He was absent, that was obvious, but in the same way a person's vision stayed dark until you opened your eyelids. You know it's there if you take that last action.
"He's not here now."
But he could be later. Was implied loudly in the silence.
Hiei's responding expression was… strange. "Kurama feared as much. It means the blood was given willingly. It's difficult to imagine since I know you, at least, are not stupid enough to hand your lifeblood to a demon who just so happens to ask nicely."
The cryptic nature, the lack of a straight forward answer from Hiei of all people, didn't bode well. "Then how did it happen?"
"We don't know."
Lovely.
"Is this permanent?" Izumi questioned finally, fingers digging into the tatami flooring.
There was silence and, throughout it, Hiei's gaze carded over her features almost searchingly.
"We don't know."
All she could do was nod to that pleasant revelation. Freak out later, Izumi. She should probably be used to grim diagnosis. It was practically the Urameshi birthright.
Sighing, Izumi pushed herself into a plank position and then tucked her knees close to kneel. "Has the toddler been informed?"
"Apparently."
Hiei sounded less than pleased about that, though Izumi couldn't figure why. The toddler wasn't good for much but he was the oldest of the group with knowledge without petitioning King Yama and Izumi had no intentions of meeting him with anything less than five escape routes.
Speaking of...
Yellow energy flecked with orange registered on the edges of Izumi's sense and she didn't need Yusuke's spirit energy to crackle in anger to guess who the new arrival was.
"Well," Izumi shook herself as she rose to stand. "Let's see what the prince has to say about my prospects."
"We don't know how or why this demon has a connection with you but it should have been severed after the measures Kurama took. Know that we're looking into it and will notify you as soon as we've discovered anything concrete. That said," The stupid brat floated closer and jabbed his finger into Izumi's face. "Until we know more, it might be safer to go with a more immediate solution."
Izumi stared at her clenched fist and let the shouting of the others in the room wash over her.
"Lord Koenma, you can't be serious!"
"Perfectly, Boton. Soul Containment is the only option we've found so far. My Father recommends it even-"
"You can't just take her Spirit Energy. It's part of who she is!"
"There are dire consequences for severing one's connection to their spirit energy, Koenma. Many do not survive the separation and you're advising to take that step as a precaution!?"
"I never said it was the ideal solution, but it will stop whatever influences are lingering in the fastest way possible."
"At risk of her life, fool. Are your lackies so inept that they only search for the most perilous recourse?"
Permanent Soul Containment. Izumi had never heard of such a thing. The seal would cripple her spirit energy to the point where it was practically gone. Sould weren't meant to be manipulated in such a way. The only reason she wouldn't die instantly from the act, was that whatever wasn't deleted got forced into barrier around her soul for the rest of her life. It sounded wrong in so many ways. She couldn't imagine living without the furnace of her spirit energy tucked close, free to move and curl as her emotions changed. It'd been years since she recognized it within herself, but it had always been there.
Living without it, if she lived through it at all, didn't sound pleasant in the slightest.
"Spirit World's eagerness to risk the lives of one of their few Detectives concerns me."
"Now, now Kurama. Don't look at me like that. Izumi's life matters to me as much as anyone's. This isn't a decision we ask lightly."
"Are you asking? Because you came pretty prepared with a show and tell for how these containment seals work."
A hand landed on Izumi's shoulder, tugging her into the argument roughly. Blinking to focus, Izumi took in the hostile arch of Kuwabara's back, Hiei's thinly veiled youki, Genkai's moue of disgust, and the too still stance of the former Thief. She had to stop herself from flinching at the inferno of Spirit energy barely contained in her brother's body and his fingers dug into the meat of her shoulder as if to restrain himself.
Yusuke.
"If anyone so much as points one of those shitty strips of paper at my sister," A harsh gust of cerulean silenced the sudden squawking of the Prince. "I will turn them into a greasy smear on Granny's floor."
"You'll be eating dirt if you so much as scratch my newly replaced floorboards." Genkai grumbled, fishing out a cigarette with deceptively calm hands. She knew, as well as Izumi, that Yusuke isn't joking in the slightest.
"Must you always make threats, Yusuke?" Koenma complained crossing his arms to match his legs, clearly not taking Yusuke seriously. "No one is going to force anything on your sister as long as the problem gets handled. I'm just telling you your options."
"That's NOT an option!" The snarl marring Yusuke's face was vicious and Izumi, for a moment, was hit with an irrational swell of love. Her dumbass brother would damn everything to hell on her behalf.
"I'll think about it."
Yusuke's hand spasmed on her shoulder as the entire room swung to stare at her in disbelief.
"What?" Izumi asked the little twerp with a crooked smirk. "Don't think I can be rational about the position I'm in?"
"Well, now that you mention it…"
"Izumi-chan!"
"Onna."
"Izumi! You can't mean-"
Izumi ignored them, hand covering Yusuke's to give it a brief squeeze and remind him to ease the fuck up. "I know more than anyone the destruction my power can have when unchecked. If that seal is the only option to prevent becoming a timebomb, I'll do it."
She felt Yusuke's body shudder and then she was jerked off balanced and twisted to face him. Yusuke planted both hands on her shoulders and shook. "Izumi, don't you DARE-"
"Shut up!" She snapped, curling her toes for purchase and bracing against his weight. "You go deaf? I said if it was the only option. I sure as shit ain't gonna throw my life away to be convenient for that asshat Yama. I said I'd think about it, and I will."
The look of hurt shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did.
Not wanting to dissuade the brat on her resolve, Izumi slanted her gaze back to the Prince of the Spirit World. "Was that all you came here to add, babyface?"
"Er… I suppose. There were some follow up questions I had about your choice in destroying Tarukane's strong hold."
"Acually," Kurama interrupted with a pleasant smile. "There were questions I had in regards to how the Tarukane operation was conducted."
Koenma gulped. Izumi took that as her cue.
Her body shifted so that Yusuke's hands slide off her shoulders. Grabbing her idiot brother by the collar, she hauled him out of the room with a smile, "Yusuke and I need a talk. We'll be back later."
Hiei spared her a glance. Only Genkai verbally acknowledged their departure. Kurama and, surprisingly, Kuwabara hung united in terrorizing the ever-loving hell out of Koenma.
As Izumi rounded the corner, the lack of sputtering for the manhandling made the knot of guilt grow into a weight the longer Yusuke didn't say a thing. Reaching her normal bedroom at the temple- not that step away from a prison cell they crammed her into before- Izumi tossed her brother into her room and slid the door shut behind her.
"Ok, dumbass. Let's go over how you-"
Thump.
Mahogany eyes widened in surprise as she was suddenly engulfed in her brother's warmth. Izumi froze at the unexpected heat, mind blanking over the abruptness.
"If anyone's the dumbass, sis, it's you." Yusuke's voice was uncomfortably subdued. "Tell me some brilliant idea is hidden in the brain of yours because, I'm not going with the alternative."
"You saw what happened, Yusuke."
He sighed. "Seeing that thing use you as a meat puppet is gonna to give me nightmares."
Izumi huffed a laugh, arms encircling her brother's back. She sank into the hug with a sigh. "I am terrifying. I know."
An abortive squeeze. "Would you really seal yourself?" He asked after turning his face to rest on the crown of her head.
"If it kept you safe."
"Even if you'd die?!"
Green fabric bunched as her hand clenched in a fist. "Yusuke-"
"Yeah. I know, stupid question." He interrupted, bitterly. "Fuck, Izumi."
"You're a damned hypocrite." Izumi muttered fondly. "I told you a wasn't going to roll over and die."
He laughed, weak though it was. "Better not. I'd drag your ass back from the Spirit world and smash your face in."
"If anyone has a record of dying without the other's permission, it sure as hell isn't me. That particular person even had the nerve to try and let himself get taken to Spirit World when he had an alternative."
"I said I was sorry about that!"
"I'm the only one with rights to smashing sibling faces in." Izumi finished, pretending he didn't say anything.
She felt his grin as he switched his hold and tried to give her a noogie. "Screw that. You're the delicate flower. Seems like I'm the one who's always gotta carry your ass outta danger."
"Bullshit!"
The scuffle that erupted was quiet but fierce. Izumi used her greater flexibility to plant her knee on Yusuke's head while her arm was half in a lock and beamed as she made him eat tatami. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that!"
Ten minutes later, Izumi lay on her temporary bed, clawing for freedom and trying not to wheeze as Yusuke sat on her back.
"Tell me you have an idea, Izumi. I know wanting you to stay out of danger is pointless, since you follow me anyway, but I still do."
The quiet statements made her stop squirming. Izumi let her head plop back on the bedding and stared blankly at the room to her right, eyes falling on the familiar duffle bag carefully placed in the corner by her dresser. She had a few ideas, but they all revolved around talking to her unwanted guest and she couldn't see that going over well with the masses. "You can't always be there, Yusuke."
"Tch. I know that. Don't you think I know that by now?" Yusuke's voice nearly ended in a shout. He took a breath. "I fight so hard because I want to keep you safe. I yell at you to stay behind because if feels like the further you are from me, the less likely you'd be to get hurt." The springs whined as he punched the mattress by her head. "It's not logical. It's not even true. You got more fucked up when I was in another fucking dimension, but I wasn't in any position to do anything about it." She sunk a little deeper into the mattress as he took a deeper breath. "And I know… I know you hate being left behind."
"You gonna get to the point or keep trying to suffocate me with your fat ass? Mmmph!"
Yusuke kept rubbing her face into the mattress for another handful of seconds before letting up and rolling off her. Gasping for breath, Izumi kicked him off the bed hard enough to dent the wall.
"Ow! Damn, if you keep that up the hag is gonna torture both of us!"
"She's training you dumbass, not torturing you!"
"I don't see you volunteering for lessons," Was his petulant reply as he lugged himself off the floor.
"She's not my Master." Yusuke stuck his tongue out at her. "Idiot."
Sobering, her brother made his way back to the bed and jumped up to land crosslegged at the foot. "You know what I'm saying, Izumi. I'm the big brother. I'm supposed to protect you."
"We protect each other." Izumi interrupted with a gimlet glare. Yusuke made a face and amended.
"Sure whatever. Two musketeers, forever and always-"
"There's three musketeers, Yusuke."
"Shut the hell up and let me finish!" Glaring, her brother waited as if to make sure the last smartass remark was voiced. Warm brown eyes softened. "Izumi. Just, promise me you'll tell me before you do anything like that again."
"Anything like what?" She asked belligerently. "You have to be more specific, brother."
"Like running off on your own when you're coming apart at the seams!" He shouted back with a thrown arm for emphasis. "I make stupid decisions, I know I do, but you're not me, Izumi! You're better than me, always have been. You don't get reckless and you don't ignore help. Urameshi Izumi finds the way when my tried and true punch-it-til-it-stops doesn't work. Why are you trying so hard to be my twin in this when you never bothered to do things any way but your own before!?"
Shocked, the younger twin could only pull herself into a seated position and stare at the headboard, back facing her brother. "Is that what you think?"
Izumi ran over her argument that she gave to her Kurama and almost repeated it because something about that accusation stung, but she stopped herself. What she said then wasn't the full truth either. "All I've ever done is follow you, Yusuke. Even when you're being an idiot, I stay by your side. We're more than just family, but that's what you're supposed to do for the people you love." She considered the dreamcatcher, carved into the hardwood of the headboard. "I swore when we were kids that I'd take the fights you couldn't handle. That I would make the choices you shouldn't have to make because for all your hard talk, you're a soft hearted sap when anyone tugs on your heartstrings. It's the trait I love most about you." Tilting her head back, Izumi let her gaze slide to her brother. "I didn't leave because I thought I would harm one of you with my spirit energy, Yusuke."
Izumi smiled, but it sat wrong her on face. "I left because I knew I would."
"What?" The absolute incomprehension on his face should have been funny. Instead, it hurt so much Izumi had to look away.
"Whoever took up residence in the dark corners of my mind appreciates violence, thrives in it. Picking a fight with any of you would have been easy and I didn't understand this… connection well enough to risk letting my emotions fly around you. Hurting Keiko was easy, Yusuke. It didn't even feel like a choice. Why wouldn't I show this weak, arrogant, child how dangerous I was? Why wouldn't I let her know what she was asking for when she wished to help? Everyone I love sits close to my heart and because of that," Izumi sighed. "because of that, he would have had more than enough avenues to prod at my weaknesses with you all paying the price for my failures."
The bed dipped as Izumi shifted to swing her legs over the side, still not looking at Yusuke. "Hurting any of you again was unacceptable." She said shortly. "So, I left. Sent a note so you'd know I was alive and I wrongly thought Kurama or Hiei would have been given the full picture to fill you in." She slanted her eyes to the right. "That at least, I can apologize for. I'm sorry I worried you, Yusuke, but in this instance, the help I needed wouldn't have come from any of you."
"Izumi…"
Her lips twisted. "A lot of people died in the three weeks I was gone. Most of them demons, I'm told that's better somehow, but enough of them were just as human as you and I. My presence in Tarukane's employ wasn't exactly inconspicuous and they thought they could pick off the easy one." Izumi looked at her hand and frowned at its tremble. She was so tired. "You know, I beat my sleep all time low of 10 hours while I was gone? Every time I'm reminded, I can't dredge up the emotion to be anything but pissed someone other than me made sure that bastard was dead-"
A hand grasped her wrist and Izumi yelped as she was jerked roughly back into her brother's embrace. "Fucking hell, Izumi. If you needed to cry you should have just said something."
Izumi's mind ground to a halt.
What?! Out of all that, that's what this moron thinks I'm trying to say?
"Don't get pissy with me," Yusuke grumbled as her brain stalled. "You always get melodramatic when you've been putting on the tough girl act for too long. Just cry already. I won't tell Kurama you're using me as a hanky."
"Fuck you, jackass." Izumi reared back, or tried to at least. The previously gentle hold turned to steel when she fought to move out of it. "I do not need to cry it out."
"Yeah, yeah, big brother's a misogynistic asswipe. Girls don't have to cry while men can bawl their eyes out and still be manly. Spare me your equal opportunity schtick and start tearing up already."
The scream of frustration Izumi loosed to that was probably hilarious. Her usual horror at her immaturity couldn't top the shock of her traitorous body letting it break into a choked sound.
"Last time, you got like this after Kashi died." She heard him say with a carelessness that made her want to hit him. "You'd been having nightmares again, different than the train for once, and you wouldn't say anything about it. You were pissy with me regularly but that didn't really register until you snapped at Kuwabara. Big Idiot looked like you kicked his cat. That you hadn't even realized how much you hurt him let me know your head was more fucked than normal-"
"Let me GO!"
"So," the bastard continued matter-of-factly as if Izumi wasn't writhing in his grasp like a wild animal, "I knocked your lights out, tied you up with your hello kiddy jump rope and held you until you stopped cursing me and let it out."
"LET. ME. GO!" Each shout was punctuated by increasing pressure into his inner thigh. She couldn't even punch him like this.
That at least earned a grunt but she'd never beat Yusuke once he got a good enough hold on her. "Kurama's the only reason you didn't shatter apart once you woke your spirit energy, and we found you pretty quick after I died so it's been a while since I've had to do this. Glad I'm not rusty."
"I will rip your arms off a-and beat you with them if you don't-" Another choke, wetter this time. "Let me go!"
"Sure thing, 'Zumi." Yusuke assured, holding her just as tight as the first time he ever did this to her. "I'll still love you, mauled and all."
"I hate- I f-fucking hate y-you. I don't need to- to-"
His grip lessened as Izumi's voice broke and a keen took out the last bit of intelligible words. "Course you don't need to. This is me just being the lovable asshole that I am. Feel free to fry me for it once you've remembered you can."
Prick. Izumi thought viciously, sobbing into her brother's chest like she was 11 without a grandfather. Like she was 6 after Atsuko forgot their names she was so trashed. Like she was 2 in the wake of her eighth straight night of train terrors, afraid and confused and in so much pain she didn't know how to show it.
"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I'd make it up to you for the Saint Beast fiasco, but I guess I have a lot make up to you either way." He gave a brief squeeze. "I've been a shitty brother recently."
She should have shook her head to that. Yusuke was the best brother, murderous protective tendencies and all. He doubted so much of himself but this, at least, he had no faults.
Yusuke held her through the collapse of her composure with only snarky comments for additional comfort and as much as she hated him for forcing it, she couldn't think of dealing with this without him anymore.
Izumi made sure his jacket got covered in ample snot and tears for his assholery regardless.
*~ADMW~*
(A/N): Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
Next Chapter: Introductions!
~Yasha's Sis
