Chapter 95
When Botan had went into Kiyoko's room, she had nearly broken once she saw the injured and passed out Kiyoko laying on her bed, her back fully exposed with third degree burns.
"Oh good heavens, what happen to her?!" Botan exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "How did she get so horribly hurt like this?!"
"There's no time to explain," Kurama explained. "I've already treated her thorn wounds, but there's nothing I can do about her burns."
Botan nodded, went to Kiyoko's bedside, and started to heal her wounds the best she could.
"My healing powers are pretty basic so I'm only able to do so much," Botan stated. "But, her self healing should kick back in after I heal most of her wounds."
"That's fine," said Kurama. "All that matters is that she's well again."
"How did she end up like this?" asked Botan. "I've never seen her so badly wounded before."
"I don't know much, but Etsu called her for some help and she left to her aid," Kurama replied. "Awhile after she left, I received a message from Hiei as he had witnessed what was going on with his Jagan Eye and by the time I've arrived, one of Toguro's teammates had her in his clutches."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," said Botan. "Whichever one of his teammates did this to her I'll never forgive!"
"Karasu's not worthy of forgiveness and from what Kiyoko had told me, he had been obsessed with her for the longest time," said Kurama. "Apparently, he has recently targeted Etsu as well, and it's possible that he used her to get to Kiyoko."
"I wonder why she hasn't mentioned it to me," said Botan. "Then again, there are some things she doesn't tell Etsu and vice versa."
"Not everyone is comfortable to confide all of their problems with their loves ones," Kurama pointed out. "I just hope Kiyoko doesn't resent me for using my Rose Whip on her to get her out of Karasu's grasp and cause her more pain."
"You did what you had to, and I doubt Kiyoko would be resentful about it," said Botan. "She might be irritated by the fact that she was the one who needed saving, but she'll still be grateful for it."
Kurama smiled in response as he knew that Botan was right. While Botan continued to heal her the best she could, Kiyoko was floating inside of herself in a white void while wearing her fighting outfit.
"This is bullshit- I didn't take it into an account that Karasu would use Etsu against me!" Kiyoko exclaimed. "I should have been more prepared so I could've been able to help her fight him."
Kiyoko hugged her legs against her chest as she wondered if Etsu was alright since she unable to sense her at the moment. She became alarmed once she felt an electric current flow through her body as if it was trying to covert her entire being, suddenly hearing a familiar voice.
"You're not ready yet," said the voice. "You need more time to become what you're meant to be."
"What do you mean?" asked Kiyoko. "Who are you?"
A different voice let out a shrill laugh and mocked her in response, annoying Kiyoko.
"Shut up!" Kiyoko shouted. "If you're going to laugh at me, do it in my face!"
"Don't mind my friend, she's an acquired taste," said the voice. "Anyway, we've met before, but you and Etsu were quite rude last time so I chose this setting instead."
"Why can't you just tell me what you're talking about already?!" Kiyoko exclaimed. "All you're doing is leaving me with more questions than answers!"
"Where's the fun in that?" asked the voice. "It's more beneficial if you find out on your own."
Before Kiyoko could react, the voice continued.
"Take that vial that clown has given to you," the voice continued. "It'll make the process go a bit smoother."
"How do you know about that?" asked Kiyoko.
"You're just full of questions, aren't you?" the voice remarked. "Well, I'll give you one little hint: we share the same parent, but are just a couple hundred years apart. That's why I'm able to contact both you and Etsu like this."
"Say what?" asked Kiyoko, confused.
"I'm not going to tolerate anymore of your cluelessness!" the voice snapped. "It's time for you to-"
"Wake up!" a recognizable voice pleaded. "Please, you have to!"
Kiyoko had came to a moment later to see Botan and Kurama at her bedside, Kurama looking relieved and Botan in tears. She had started getting up, but ended up grunting in pain as she felt sore, Kurama rushing to her so she wouldn't push herself too hard.
"Be careful, Kiyoko- you're still healing from your wounds," said Kurama. "Lay down and rest for awhile before getting up."
"What happened?" asked Kiyoko. "Is Etsu okay?"
"Yukina is healing Etsu so she'll be just fine," Botan replied. "Kurama just saved you from-"
"Karasu," Kiyoko interrupted, remembering what happened. "He tricked us!"
Before continuing to rant, Kiyoko noticed that she was missing her tank top as she only had on her bra and jeans and put on one of her shirts that Kurama had handed to her.
"That bastard had taken advantage of my concern for Etsu!" Kiyoko ranted. "I should have known that he would pull a dirty trick like that!"
Botan was about to comfort Kiyoko until she continued.
"Etsu tried to get him away from me despite the fact that her leg was badly injured," Kiyoko continued. "She was about to attack him until Bui suddenly appeared and knocked her away with his axe. What's worse is that I couldn't do anything but watch before passing out."
"You shouldn't blame yourself, Kiyoko," said Botan. "What matters is that you and Etsu are okay."
"She right," Kurama agreed. "You just leave Karasu to me."
"You still want me to help you train for tomorrow?" asked Kiyoko.
"I think it would be best if you let me train by myself," Kurama replied. "I'll need to come up with my own strategy for this fight."
Kiyoko was crushed by Kurama's reply but pretended that it didn't bother her.
"Okay, if that's what you want, go for it," said Kiyoko, getting up. "I'm gonna go to Etsu's room to see how she's doing."
"Don't be angry, Kiyoko," said Botan. "Kurama probably just doesn't want any distractions."
"I'm not angry," Kiyoko lied. "If he doesn't think that training with someone he had to save from a homicidal maniac is the best idea, then that's his choice!"
Both Botan and Kurama cringed as Kiyoko had slammed the door behind her.
"She's mad," Kurama concluded. "She reeks of anger."
"It doesn't help that she inherited her hot-hotheadedness from King Yama," Botan remarked. "I mean, Koenma may be hot-headed at times, but he's not that bad."
"I think I need to clear things up with her," said Kurama. "What I told her obviously came out wrong."
Botan and Kurama left to follow Kiyoko a moment later, but Botan had to stay and chat with Keiko, Shizuru, and Kuwabara since Kiyoko had passed by them in a bad mood.
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When Yukina had went into Etsu's room with Hiei she gasped in horror as she saw that Etsu was riddled with bruises, deep flesh wounds, and a bad leg injury. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that she had a scar on her face and that her ribs were broken in several places. Without wasting anymore time, she started to heal her while shedding tears.
"She's hurt so terribly bad," Yukina cried. "Who would do such a thing to her?"
"Being a fighter comes with many risks," Hiei explained. "Etsu doing her best fighting against an opponent whose powers she didn't understand, but not even she could have predicted being surprise attacked by an interloper in the heat of battle."
"I wonder if it's because of me," said Yukina, taking Hiei off guard. "I was so insistent to ask her to help me search for my brother that I didn't think of the problems it might cause her."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Hiei. "What happened had nothing to do with the other."
Yukina nodded as she continued to heal Etsu. Just as Kiyoko did while in the process of being healed, Etsu was also floating inside of herself in a white void wearing her fighting outfit.
"What happened? And where am I?" Etsu asked herself. "More importantly, where's Kiyoko?!"
Etsu looked around her surroundings frantically looking for Kiyoko and became alarmed when she couldn't find her. She was about to call out to Kiyoko until she felt an electric current flow through her body as if it was trying to covert her entire being.
"That's weird," said Etsu. "What's going on?"
A familiar voice had suddenly replied to her question.
"Your body is trying to become what you're meant to be," the voice replied. "But you're not ready yet and need more time."
"I don't understand," said Etsu. "What do you mean exactly?"
The voice laughed in amusement, but seemed annoyed at the same time.
"You won't learn anything if I told you instead of having you to find out for yourself," the voice remarked. "And you seem to be lacking in manners by not asking me who you're talking to."
"Maybe I don't care who you are!" Etsu snapped. "I just want to know where Kiyoko is!"
"How dare you speak to him like that!" a shrill voice exclaimed.
"Your equally rude sister is fine, but I've separated you both in this setting for this very reason!" the voice snapped, ignoring the shrill voice with him. "You've seem to have less manners that I first though and talking to you both together makes it even worse than talking to you seperately!"
"Spare me the lecture about manners," Etsu remarked. "Kiyoko and I had enough of it at Spirit World grade school forever ago in the "perfect little princess" course!"
"I'm getting the impression that you think this is a joke," the voice assumed. "And if you really think that, you're highly mistaken."
"More along the lines of how this is some crazy dream about reflection or some shit," said Etsu. "Like how we were born into Spirit World royalty and went against the norm which led us to be outcasts or something."
"Contrary to your belief that this is a dream, I assure you that it's not," said the voice. "Neither are you and Kiyoko completely Spirit World royalty. That's why you both stand out from Spirit World."
What the voice told her had gotten her undivided attention.
"What do you mean about that?" asked Etsu.
"There's only so much that I can tell you," the voice replied. "For one thing, take that vial the buffoon clown has given to you and it'll make the process go a bit smoother."
"And how do you know about that?" asked Etsu.
"I can't give you all the answers to your questionnaire," the voice remarked. "But I will tell you that we share the same parent, but are a couple of hundred years apart and that's why I'm able to contact you like this."
Before she got the chance to say anything else, Etsu felt a sensation on her face as if someone was stroking her following by hearing a recognizable voice.
"She's starting to rouse," said the voice. "She's going to be okay- I'm so glad!"
Etsu came to and realized that it was Yukina stroking her face in order to heal the scar she received from Karasu. She attempted to get up, but Yukina had convinced her to lay back down.
"You must lay back down and get some rest," said Yukina. "You were in terrible condition, but you'll be okay now."
"Thank you, Yukina, I appreciate it," said Etsu. "Is Kiyoko okay?"
"Botan's healing her," Yukina replied. "So she should be okay."
"That's good to hear," said Etsu, suddenly placing an arm over her eyes. "I feel like I was hit with a semi-truck or something. I can't even recall what happened."
"It doesn't matter," said Hiei. "The only thing that does is that you and Kiyoko are not dead."
Before Etsu could comment on Hiei's attitude, she noticed that he was livid, but not towards her by any means. He looked like he wanted to- no- needed to kill someone expendable, but ended up leaving on his way to do some hardcore training for the finals before he said something that he didn't mean and regret it.
"Will he be okay?" asked Yukina.
"Yeah, he'll be fine after he blows off some steam," Etsu replied. "I just hope he doesn't overdo it while training, but he most likely will anyway."
Yukina was silent for only a moment, debating whether or not to bring it up.
"Etsu- Kazuma told me about what happened to you yesterday," said Yukina. "He told me that they were twins- I'm so sorry for your loss."
Being reminded about her miscarriage had made Etsu feel as if her heart was ripped out and stomped on repeatedly. Yukina had regretted bringing it up as she had noticed the pained expression on Etsu's face and apologized, feeling like a fool.
"I'm so sorry, Etsu- I was foolish to mention it," Yukina apologized. "You're obviously still grieving and it was insensitive of me to bring it up."
"No, it's okay, Yukina- you don't need to apologize," Etsu reassured. "You just caught me off guard, but I do appreciate your concern."
'It's Kuwabara who needs to apologize,' thought Etsu. 'He had no business blabbing his mouth off about it!'
"I feel bad- you don't have to pass along my hiruseki stone to my brother," said Yukina. "Not when you've went through so much recently."
"Are you sure?" asked Etsu. "It's not a problem at all."
"Yes, I'm sure- I don't want to burden you," Yukina replied. "Especially when you're going through a hard time right now."
Getting out of bed, Etsu took Yukina's hiruseki stone necklace out of her suitcase along with the pouch of hiruseki stones she cried out the evening before the semi-finals. She then went to Yukina and handed her the necklace and the pouch of gems, but became confused when she only took the necklace.
"Don't you want these back?" asked Etsu.
"I only need my necklace," Yukina replied. "It's sacred... just like the one you're wearing."
"I kinda figured that," Etsu confessed. "But what am I supposed to do with these gems if you don't want them."
"You can keep them," Yukina replied. "You may need them someday."
Etsu didn't know what to say as she just nodded in response and reluctantly placed the pouch of hiruseki stones back into her suitcase.
'I don't know what I'd need them for,' thought Etsu. 'Guess I'll figure it out later.'
Yukina was about to tell Etsu that she needed to lay back down so she could rest until there was a knocking on the bedroom door. She went to answer the door to discover that it was a worried Kiyoko and let her in, closing the door afterwards. Without saying anything, the sisters looked at each other and went to hug each other as tears welled up in their eyes, grateful that the other was okay.
'They're so close,' thought Yukina. 'I wonder if my brother and I would have been that close if we had grown up together?'
When they let go of each other, the sisters had noticed Yukina's longing expression and felt bad for her as they couldn't imagine being separated at birth. They were about to reassure her that her brother was thinking about her until there was knocking at the door following by Kurama's voice as he came into the room. Kurama was about to apologize to Kiyoko until he saw that Etsu was well again, addressing her a moment later.
"I'm relieved to see that you're better again, Etsu," said Kurama. "Yukina had healed you well."
"Thank you," said Etsu.
Kurama smiled in response and went to Kiyoko a moment later.
"Kiyoko, I'm sorry- I had no intention to offend you," Kurama apologized. "I would still have very much liked to train with you regardless of what happened today."
Etsu and Yukina didn't exactly know what was going on, but they decided to not say anything as Kurama continued.
"What I meant to say was that I need spend my time training by becoming in tune with myself again," Kurama explained. "That's why I decided to train by myself."
"I understand- thanks for telling me," said Kiyoko, suddenly feeling irritated. "You could've said so in the first place then I wouldn't have gotten the wrong idea."
Kurama chuckled.
"Yes, I should have," Kurama agreed.
'I guess this means that Kurama had unintentionally pissed her off,' thought Etsu. 'At least Kurama knows how to smooth it over.'
Kiyoko looked at Etsu to notice that she was smirking at her and Kurama.
"What?" asked Kiyoko.
"Nothing," Etsu replied.
"Shouldn't you two get some rest?" asked Yukina.
"She does have a point," Kurama agreed. "You both went through a near death experience today."
"That may be so, but Etsu and I went through plenty of those," said Kiyoko.
"Yeah, and we had no luxury to rest," Etsu added.
"How can we afford to stay on top if we rest after that?" asked Kiyoko.
"No matter how much we'd like to sit back and relax, it's simply not possible," said Etsu. "Especially since the finals are tomorrow."
Kiyoko nodded in agreement. Kurama and Yukina didn't know how to respond as they knew that the sisters also had a point. However, they did agree to go into the living room since Kurama had informed them that Shizuru and Keiko was waiting with Botan and Kuwabara.
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Keiko (holding Puu), Kuwabara, and Shizuru were grateful and relieved when Botan told them that she healed most of Kiyoko's wounds and that she was alright, Keiko speaking up a moment later.
"I hope Yukina's able to heal Etsu," said Keiko. "I mean, she ought to, right?"
"Well duh, Keiko! My Yukina's healing powers are the best and will fix her up in no time!" Kuwabara gushed. "But Hiei could've stuck around instead of angrily leaving looking like he wanted to kill something. You woulda though since he and Etsu are a thing that he'd stay by her side and all."
"Maybe he left because Yukina already healed her, and I don't blame him for being pissed off," said Shizuru. "Something really must've went down if Etsu wasn't able to defend herself and Hiei most likely left so he wouldn't say anything to her that he didn't mean."
"Yeah, like Hiei's the type of guy who wouldn't say anything that he didn't mean," Kuwabara remarked. "He says some nasty stuff about me and you're saying that he'd avoid saying something he probably doesn't mean to Etsu?"
"You're a moron, baby bro," said Shizuru. "Some tough guys are usually softies."
Kuwabara was about to scoff until Botan agreed with Shizuru.
"Hiei may be many things, but I don't think he's capable of mistreating Etsu," said Botan. "She's the happiest I've ever seen in a relationship and he's so serene when she's near. It probably doesn't take her much to cheer him up if he's in one of his anti-social moods."
"When isn't Hiei anti-social?" Kuwabara remarked. "I bet he's only with Etsu because she's pretty and all or else he wouldn't have given her a chance."
Kuwabara suddenly felt as if he was being glared at as Botan, Keiko, Puu, and Shizuru looked sheepishly behind him.
"She's right behind me, isn't she?" asked Kuwabara.
Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru nodded as Etsu stood behind Kuwabara with her arms crossed while glaring at him. Kiyoko, Kurama, and Yukina were standing with Etsu, but didn't bother butting in as they knew that it wasn't their place to do so.
"Contrary to what you believe, Kuwabara, Hiei's neither cold nor shallow," Etsu scolded. "Having grown up in Spirit World, I understand why he feels contempt towards the place."
"But you and Kiyoko are from Spirit World," Kuwabara pointed out. "How can you excuse that since you're from there?"
"Probably because Kiyoko and I never fit in there in the first place!" Etsu snapped. "And don't you ever- EVER imply that the reason Hiei's with me is because of my looks again! He values me more than that and knows that I'm more than just a pretty face!"
"Sorry," was the only thing Kuwabara could say as he pouted while twiddling his fingers.
"You've better be glad that Etsu only gave you a scolding, Kuwabara," said Kiyoko. "When really pissed off, she'd do a whole lot worse than that, but she's most likely disappointed in you than anything."
"But I didn't mean it," Kuwabara pouted. "I was just mouthing off."
"You really shouldn't be mouthing off, Kuwabara," Keiko lectured. "You made Etsu pretty upset."
"Honestly, Etsu, part of me wished that you gave him an ass beating," Shizuru confessed. "Considering that Kazuma has a habit of not thinking before he speaks."
"I said that I was sorry," Kuwabara snapped. "Geez, what else do you want?!"
"I think the scolding had fit Kuwabara's punishment," said Kurama. "Besides, I doubt Etsu's that mad at him. As Kiyoko suggested, most likely just disappointed."
"Yes, just disappointed," Etsu confessed. "Yusuke was the one who managed to piss me off today and I ended up kicking his ass, too."
Hearing this had sparked Kuwabara's curiosity and he was about to ask Etsu where Yusuke was until Kurama changed the subject regarding training.
"Kuwabara, I believe we should get back to training," said Kurama. "We need to be ready for tomorrow's finals."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Kuwabara agreed. "The finals won't win themselves."
"Before I forget," started Kurama, taking out Kiyoko's communication mirror. "Here's your communication mirror back."
When Kurama was about to give Kiyoko back her communication mirror, she placed both her hands on his occupied hand.
"Don't worry about it, Kurama," said Kiyoko. "You can hold on to it."
Kurama smiled in response as Kiyoko continued.
"Don't hurt yourself training, okay?" said Kiyoko.
"I'll be sure to be careful, my sweet," Kurama reassured.
Seeing Kiyoko and Kurama's exchange, Kuwabara had went to Yukina and placed her hand into his as he declared his love.
"As long as we have the power of our love, I'll be sure to train the rest of today's daylight and all night if have to," Kuwabara declared. "Then I'll be sure to win my fight in tomorrow's finals like a real man so we can be together."
Clueless and not knowing how to react, Yukina smiled and replied, "I'll be sure to cheer you on tomorrow."
Kuwabara laughed giddily as he blushed from Yukina's response. The sisters looked at each other and rolled their eyes at the fact that he was oblivious of her cluelessness. Once Kurama and Kuwabara left, Shizuru suggested to the sisters that she should go ahead and fix their hair and the sisters agreed.