At the night of Keiko's semi-revival through the combined efforts of Yusuke, Kenshin, Botan, Kuwabara, Puu, and Genkai...
As Keiko's disembodied soul watched while Yusuke and the others put her comatose frame into the emergency ward of the nearest hospital, she did not cry. When she floated into her room, passing through the door like the ghost that she was, she drifted inside calmly, even as her own parents arrived frantically, crying and wailing at her miserable fate, demanding Yusuke to tell them what had happened to their precious daughter and blaming him and the rest of his companions for her current state.
She wished she could somehow comfort her parents and tell them that Yusuke and the others were not at fault for her predicament, but her hands were tied. She was a mere ghost now... they could not see her, even if they tried. Yusuke could not explain to them the details surrounding her mysterious ailment. The supernatural truth behind her condition was already too much to swallow by those who did know better, so how much more her unaware parents, then?
In any case, that evening, she went to the hospital bed where her body lay quietly, floating right inside it but not managing to actually enter and revive it from the inside like some sort of car or motorbike. All that time, she did not shed a single tear. She just lay there, staring up at the ceiling all night, defiantly not crying.
In the first few days, Keiko's parents refused Yusuke access to their daughter, but after the repeated cycle of him sneaking into his girlfriend's room then getting shooed away... plus his firm insistence to take responsibility for her situation by offering part of his ramen shop's profits to her hospitalization... the couple relented, realizing that "Good ol' Yu-chan" had nothing to do with Keiko's "accident".
Then, at the fourth night of Keiko's hospital stay, with Yusuke sleeping right beside her, her spirit suddenly confessed fears she'd been keeping inside her heart since the Shisejyu's assault. "Yusuke..." she squeaked; she hadn't spoken for so long that she was a bit surprised that she still had a voice to speak with.
"Hmmm?" Yusuke incoherently asked, smacking his lips and yawning in bleariness.
"What if I never get back to my body? What if my comatose body gives in and I have to move on? What then?"
In contrast to the Yusuke of a few years back... the one who died for the first time and was willing to let go of Keiko after he realized that he might never come back to his body for many, many years to come... this Yusuke answered, "Then I'll just follow you to the Spirit World and try my luck there. I don't know; maybe I'll ask them to turn me into a shinigami or whatever. I'll think of something, but don't you worry. I'll take care of you. While there's still a small chance that your body won't turn into a vegetable or your brain into soup, I'll take it. I wouldn't want your folks to worry about their daughter or anything."
Keiko smiled to herself, jibing, "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard. Use your head for once!" before she got up from her body and "leaned" right beside Yusuke, her spirit positioned in such a way that she wouldn't suddenly pass through him because of her intangibleness.
Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction by Chester Castañeda and Danyal Herder
Original Concept by Chad Yang
Well, what more can I say? I've always wanted to experiment on making a fanfic simulate the differences between an anime adaptation from the manga version. Lo and behold, here we are.
Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 19: Smile Bomb (Part 1)
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in Shinjuku...
Walking down the street, the dark-clothed, svelte-shaped, and short-haired female with a long metal cane slipped beneath the moonlit night that shone clear and bright with the promise of tomorrow yet was submerged by the bleak shadows of hopelessness and despair.
She strode alone at a glistening street that overlooked the vast metropolis while fickle gale winds and light squalls scrabbled at her and her flimsy vest. The panoply of bejeweled lights engulfed the skyline before her in soundless confirmation of unreachable dreams. Moreover, the prison that presently held her was far sturdier than mere steel, for it was wrought with trauma and muffled screams.
Shinjuku, the Electric City of Light and Darkness, served as a case study of the disparities and contrasts that defined all plains of existence and all realms of reality. No other place in Japan embodied purity and contamination, elegance and seediness, affluence and poverty, influence and helplessness, generosity and greed, heaven and hell, and good and evil better than this particular Tokyo ward did.
Freedom had seldom experienced greater stock in all of history than at that particular moment: the Berlin Wall had fallen just four years previous, Czechoslovakia had ceased to exist at the start of the year, the President of America and the President of the Russian Federation signed the Second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Japan's economy had gained significant momentum, and global affairs in general appeared to be going in the right direction. Everyone was looking forward to the impending new millennium and viewed it as yet another period of bountiful intemperance.
However, this false sense of liberty is causing society to become selfish, shallow, and totally enslaved to their hedonistic agenda. All and sundry felt so free with their debauchery and reckless abandon that they were soon imprisoned by their capricious little whims, especially those who'd become accustomed to the last decade's culture of materialism and capitalism.
The girl's cynical ruminations made her yearn for a bygone period... three lifetimes ago and certainly way before her time... when people still valued the morals of honor, self-respect, loyalty, and commitment. She felt as though she were born in the wrong era altogether.
She trudged onward, trekking through the puddles of rippling rainwater towards her apartment beside Shinjuku's Skyscraper District that would serve as her temporary abode until circumstances deemed it fit for her to move. At this distance from the heart of the city... the Shinjuku Station... the bustle of cars and people died down for the evening, leaving the quiet behind as a guardian until the next day, when they would return.
"Well, what do we have here? I do believe that you're walking through our territory." Turning her head, the young woman spared the thug who emerged from the stark-black shadows of Kabukicho... Japan's biggest and most untamed red light district that flanked Shinjuku Station at all four directions... a careless glance before directing her attention back to the way she was traveling.
"And everyone knows that you need to pay to go through here; isn't that right, Nagasu?" a second hulking man queried, stepping out from behind his companion, followed shortly by the other half-dozen grimy ruffians who made up the group.
Moving her gaze to the darkness beyond them, she remained silent; barely seeming to breathe, let alone move in response to the implied threat.
This action just infuriated the man, who stepped closer to her. "Hey, pay attention when I'm talking to you! Otherwise, you'll end up hurting bad, and that would make our day... but it won't be as fun for you, though," he barked at her. His friends cackled in response, finding ill humor in his words.
In a soft voice that carried across the distance between them, she directed her words at the austere ether. "So now you send others to stand in my way in order to hide yourself. Do you fear what I represent, or are you following orders again from those who would call themselves your masters?"
The howls of the gang and the ravings of their apparent leader were her only answers. "So be it. Let this lay upon your head, for it won't be on mine."
A few seconds later, all was silent once more. The rumble of thunder was heard in the distance.
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
Yusuke, Kenshin, Botan, and Keiko gathered together for the first time since the incident in order to meet with Koenma regarding their next course of action. They'd just arrived at the Hall of Judgment, currently awaiting an audience with the Lord of the Dead.
"Really? You did all that while Kenshin and I were fighting a whole gauntlet of baddies? You're pulling my leg," Yusuke told Botan with boggled eyes and an indescribable face as she related to them her harrowing journey through the River Styx and the Purgatorial Sector in order to save Keiko's life and memories.
"Actually, I was the one who was fighting the gauntlet of baddies, Yusuke-dono," Kenshin couldn't help but correct, much to Yusuke's consternation and the two girls' amusement.
"Shut up! Rando was one-hundred-and-one enemies in one, so... shut up, you braggart!" Yusuke sputtered at the surprisingly sarcastic Kenshin because he was a lot more accustomed to the swordsman's meeker personality. He then turned his attention towards his girlfriend and mocked, "Can you back Botan's bizarre story up, 'Jenny'?" referring to the name Keiko called herself while under the influence of the lotus blossoms' amnesiac effects.
Keiko nonchalantly took advantage of her ghostly constitution, grabbed hold of Yusuke's spine... or whatever its astral body equivalent was... and yanked it hard. "Don't call me that, Eugene."
Botan did a chuckling sigh, dismayed by the fact that the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge would eventually unlock her hidden memories sooner or later. Then again, since its effects were only temporary on a soul who had undergone many years' worth of karmic purification within the Elysian Fields, she better decide quickly whether or not she wanted to know the truth behind her past life.
At any rate, the quartet unceremoniously reached the hallway leading directly to Koenma Daio's spacious office a minute later. Botan took note that the waiting couches outside the double doors were a fairly recent addition.
'Looks like Koenma-sama has become busier than ever before,' Botan reflected to herself. Ever since Enma Daio's son decided to adopt the New York Stock Exchange paradigm when it came to ferrying souls through Reikai's multitude of levels in the late eighteenth century, he seldom ever needed waiting couches or lines to do his job. Indeed, out of all the celestial beings inhabiting Heaven, he was the most traveled and informed god of them all... or at least next to Susanoo, he was.
Unnoticed by the foursome because they mostly focused their attention on the unfamiliar couches, a split-second flash of bright light silhouetted the crevices of the twin doors before fading away into obscurity.
"You two lovebirds should be the first ones to go," Botan insisted to a glaring, red-faced Yusuke and an uncharacteristically quiet Keiko as she gently ushered Kenshin towards one of the couches. "Kenshin's dilemma with the Demon Sword and my problem with the voices in my head can wait for the time being. You two have far more pressing concerns to attend to. Besides, Koenma-sama himself said that he wanted to see you two first. Go on right ahead."
"Well, you heard the blue-haired lady, Keiko. Let's get going," Yusuke called out to his subdued significant other as he opened the humongous double doors and boldly walked through them.
"Ah! Yusuke, you dummy! Wait...!" Keiko protested in one breath, unsure of what was to come after the doors behind her were shut.
The pair quickly found themselves in a square room with a high roof (since this office was originally designed for Enma Daio's use) as well as sparsely decorated yet brightly colored walls, ceilings, pillars, and floor. A slightly winded Koenma nodded at the duo.
"Ah, Yusuke. Yukimura-san. I've been expecting you two. Please, take a seat and make yourselves comfortable. I was just having a meeting with two other spirits who are connected to this Chojin case, and I've recently sent them back to the Human World. We have much to discuss, but I'll have to ask for your patience for the time being, because I still need the help of several of my shinigami to... Yusuke, what are you doing down there?"
Yusuke prostrated himself in front of the miniature god of death, genuflecting as he entreated, "I won't dare ask you to break the laws of your kingdom just to revive Keiko, even as a favor. But please tell me right now if it's too late for her to come around or not. Tell me if there's something I could do to help her wake up or if there's nothing that can be done at all."
His head shot up as he crawled towards Koenma on all fours. "Because I'll do anything, anything in my power to bring her back to normal, even to the point of giving up my own worthless, twice-resurrected life. Otherwise, tell me right now if reviving her is a pipe dream, because I just can't... I don't want her or her family to suffer for any longer than they have to."
"Yusuke," Keiko whispered, unused to seeing her childhood friend humiliate himself like that.
Koenma let out a deep, forlorn sigh before stating, "Have a seat. This may take a while. Yukimura Keiko's case is not yet at a critical, point-of-no-return stage, but rescuing her is not going to be easy either. I want you to hear everything that Ayame, Hinageshi, and Sayaka have to say about this matter before making your decision."
Keiko blinked, recognizing none of those girls' names. However, Yusuke himself remembered all three of the shinigami... or all two shinigami and one shinigami-in-training, at the very least. "Ayame? Hinageshi? Sayaka? What do they have...?"
Yusuke didn't have to get up, because Keiko herself put him back on his feet by grabbing hold of the spiritual version of his body's clothes and hauling him up in the air. "Who are those girls, Yusuke?"
"It's not what you think, you green-eyed harpy!" Yusuke protested.
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, somewhere in the Demon World...
The realm of Makai held countless strongholds and castles built for individuals who commanded enough power to warrant their own living space. The most notable home was that of the current ruler, Enki, where all the official business of the demonic territory was done.
Still, if one were to wander about the land for just a few hours, several more could be found, giving demons and their legions a base to train and pursue whatever their agendas happened to be. Because they so often held such powerful creatures, they were rarely disturbed by thuggish or thieving minor youkai, and could be left unguarded.
Such was the case with one of the many bases just a few hours away from Enki's home. It was a magnificent residence, capable of housing hundreds of demons comfortably. It was set aside from the streets of everyday activity with its own field of dozens of acres used as training grounds. The building itself was constructed of a white compound that contrasted with the dreary sky that permanently drifted above it.
A fire roared through one of the rooms on the top floor, which stood three stories above ground level. Inside, a demon with eternally closed eyes but six constantly twitching ears sat in a luxurious red chair, his head facing the ceiling and his mind locked in deep meditation. He was alone in the room, but the wind could still be heard sharply across the windows. Nothing had disturbed the being for hours, and nothing ever did until a miniscule sound above him caught his attention. He stood up and used his fantastic auditory abilities to trace where the sound came from. After a few seconds of listening, he threw his head down and chortled.
"You may come out now, Mukuro. I can tell that it's you," he declared with a manly, booming voice that belied his soft, effeminate features.
A flash of red light flared in front of him, then a woman with the right side of her face wrapped in bandages emerged from it. In the place of her right eye was a jade orb that was wired to an apparatus that hung all the way below her neck. Taking a seat on a chair across the table from the six-eared demon, she brushed a bit of dust off of her sleeve. "It took you over three seconds to realize that it was me, Yomi. I hope you haven't gotten complacent in these few months of peace," she appraised.
Yomi snorted. "Nonsense; I'm just not used to people running around on the roof of my home. Forgive me for this... complacency, as you put it," he finished sarcastically. "Now, why have you requested an audience with me?"
Mukuro exhaled languidly. "All right, there's no point in beating around the bush. After all, I'm sure you know that I wouldn't ask to speak with you if it weren't important." She shrugged, unsure if Yomi would be able to notice her minute body movements. "Hiei's been doing an excellent job of patrolling our lands and finding those that should not be in Makai. However, he's also come across some bits of information here and there that could prove interesting if not addressed."
"Oh?" Yomi asked, leaning back on his chair and folding his left leg over his right. "What makes this information special? You know that I've got agents working for me as well, and they're always bringing me news, but most of it are worthless. What makes Hiei's findings unique?"
"It's nothing earth-shattering; at least, not yet. But he has encountered a fair number of demons... five or six, if I'm not mistaken... that all tell the same story of some being attempting to cross over worlds and take over Reikai, then Ningenkai. If it were just one or two wretches claiming to work for this spirit or some such, Hiei wouldn't have brought it to my attention."
Yomi shook his head. "So? If that's all you have, than you've wasted my time. Even if you think this is worth noting, you should discuss it with Koenma Daio, or even..." his small smile disappeared into a look of disgust, "our Lord, Enki."
"Don't say such infuriating things," Mukuro snapped. "We both know that Enki won that tournament purely on the luck of the draw. He could never have beaten me if I hadn't just fought Hiei and Natsume, or you after just fighting Urameshi. As such, I refuse to acknowledge him as the Lord of Makai, and I suggest you do the same."
"Your jealousy over the outcome of the match is amusing, I must admit." Yomi's grin resumed. "But still, you are correct that we are the most powerful beings in the three worlds. Koenma Daio is little more than a figurehead, especially since his father had been overthrown and exiled. Also, because the Human World has no true ruler, that leaves just the two of us." He stood up. "Does this mean that you think this tale of a multi-dimensional, power-hungry madman is so great that you assume we should fight? If that's the case, my dear, than it is you and not I who has grown complacent in this era."
A space-slicing hand of Mukuro slammed on the table. "Stop putting words in my mouth," she snarled. "How I would've loved to battle you in the finals of the Makai Tournament..." Her voice trailed off for a second before continuing again. "Regardless, I have no intention of having the two of us become personally involved. However, with both of our second-in-commands being very close to Reikai and its current state of affairs..."
"You want me to summon Kurama and have him work with Hiei for the time being to investigate the matter further," Yomi finished. "I truly don't see why we should even bother; doubtless, Koenma probably enlisted Yusuke, but..." He hesitated for a moment. "Very well. In the interest of full disclosure, Kurama has already done a bit of research on this subject. I gather that Hiei or Koenma told him about it earlier."
Mukuro raised her only eyebrow. "Did he tell you anything of notability?"
"Not much more than what I already know." Yomi shook his head. "But I must tell you, Mukuro, that I don't wish to become directly involved in this... ordeal, whatever comes out of it. Not only would it be terribly annoying to deal with... tracking down some whelp upstart... but I also have no intention of making it appear that we're the police force of Makai, Ningenkai, and Reikai." He took a small cup of tea off of the table and sipped it. "Do you concur, Mukuro?"
"Yes." The woman nodded. "It'll be much easier to send Kurama and Hiei covertly to Koenma and say that they'll be helping him. Kurama probably won't even need to be convinced by you. He's got so many connections in all three worlds, I can't imagine him disregarding the request."
Yomi laughed. "I don't know how you deal with your subordinates, Mukuro, but my men take orders from me. If I order Kurama to take this matter into his own hands, he'll do so." He lowered his head. "And while we're on that subject... Attack."
In a second, Mukuro saw an opening in the adjacent wall turn sideways, and a long green object fly towards her. Acting on pure instinct, she jumped onto the table and slashed into the air, snapping the projectile in two. It fell on the ground, not moving. Mukuro jumped back down onto the floor to examine it. When she realized what it was, she guffawed.
"Still trying to entrap me, Yomi?" she queried. "The feud is supposed to be over, mind you."
Yomi cackled as well. "Yes, yes, but I cannot resist meeting with you without being sure you aren't on your toes. After all, we've tried killing each other countless times in the past." He turned towards the wall, leaving Mukuro to sit down again. "Kurama! Please come in here."
With the section in the wall still open, a medium-built man with green eyes and incredibly long, red hair gingerly stepped inside, bowing to both Yomi and Mukuro. "Forgive me for the attack, Mukuro, but Yomi-sama insisted," he apologized, allowing his lips to curve upwards.
"Not at all." Mukuro smiled. "It almost comforts me to know that Yomi hasn't changed, even in these times. But now, back to the matter at hand." She noticed the section of the wall close as she spoke. "You've no doubt heard everything we've discussed, yes?"
Kurama bobbed his head. "Yes. And you were also correct to note that I would have taken part of the investigation even if my Lord Yomi hadn't ordered me to do so." He inhaled. "I've spent too much time in Makai lately. I would like to immerse myself in human culture again."
"One thing Mukuro and I can always agree on, Kurama, is that neither of us can ever understand your fascination with those creatures." Yomi harrumphed in consternation.
"Do you think you'll be able to find Hiei, Kurama?" Mukuro questioned. "I'm quite lenient with his assignments, so he could honestly be anywhere in Makai or Ningenkai right now. If you need help, I'll be happy to provide it to you."
Kurama waved Mukuro's proposal off. "I know Hiei well enough to be able to guess where he is. But I thank you for the offer nonetheless." He bowed. "If you would be so kind, I would like to have a private word with Yomi-sama."
"Of course." Mukuro stood up. "I have other things to tend to, anyway. It was good to see you again, Kurama." She bowed and turned towards Yomi. "As for you, my eternal rival, it's never too long until our paths cross again, but I bid you farewell all the same." She bowed once more.
Yomi bowed himself. "And I you, Mukuro." A flash of the same red light surrounded Mukuro, and in an instant, she was gone.
Kurama picked up a piece of paper that had fallen from the table and set it back on neatly. "It was good to see Mukuro again. Hiei speaks often of her, but I can never find the time to keep in touch with her on a regular basis," he mused, more to himself than to Yomi.
"You needn't worry. Mukuro and I have spent centuries upon centuries dueling. By now, we no doubt know every last quirk of each other. So what did you want to ask me? Did you think Mukuro knew more than she was telling me? I certainly think she did."
"You are far too quick to judge, Yomi. No, I wanted to ask you how personally involved you plan to get in this matter. Unless absolutely necessary, I'd advise against it. Other demons could look upon you trouncing a new firebrand as a sign of weakness, and I... "
The half-demon was interrupted by Yomi's laughter. "You needn't tell me these things, Kurama. You should know me better than that. I have absolutely no intention of getting any more involved than by sending you out to work with Hiei. If it doesn't explicitly involve the Demon World, then I couldn't possibly care less. I'm sure Mukuro feels the same way; she's just a bit more cautious than I." He lowered his head. "In any event, what are your plans?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Kurama admitted. "Of course, the most obvious concern is to track down Hiei, but I also sent a note to Koenma about a week ago. If his servants work with any efficiency, he should have it by now. There's also Yusuke to worry about. I'll be busy for a while."
Yomi scowled. "That's fine, but I must ask you something. So far, you and Mukuro have confirmed what my allies and contacts have discovered, but information from the enemy itself has been very limited, restricted only to the lowest on the chain of command. Are you really sure this threat is warranted based on such little information?"
"Forgive me, Yomi, but you don't know all the particulars behind this, and I wouldn't dare bore you with every last detail that I do know about. We can just leave it at me thinking that this is indeed a credible threat. As for the lack of informants, all that means is that our enemy is very mysterious, and extremely methodical. He's likely planned every event that's happened so far."
Yomi cogitated for a moment. "Fine. You have your orders then, my second-in-command," he announced in a bit of mock formality. "Find Hiei and eliminate the threat."
Kurama giggled. "I shall do my best, Lord Yomi. Or should I say, 'partner'?" he asked as he exited the room. Yomi considered answering back, but left it at that and sat back down on his chair, content to resume his deep contemplation.
One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, somewhere in Shinjuku's Skyscraper District...
Cold: so cold, the nights these past few months. If it weren't for the low humidity, there would've been snow as well, but for now, the coldness and rain themselves were bad enough. Then again, the girl with the metal cane had no one to blame but herself for the shivering frostiness she presently felt at the moment.
The inclement weather had picked up a lot of momentum since she last encountered those thugs back in Kabukicho, and one false step on her part could send her slipping into the growing ponds of sludge and muck surrounding her. Nevertheless, she obliviously waited outside the iron gate of her compound as the security guard slid its lock back and opened it up.
She strolled down a stark hallway into a waiting elevator as the fury of the storm outside faded into muffled rumblings, broken only by her faintly echoing footfalls. The doors closed, and the guard leveled a flat stare at her as he offered her a towel. "Ever heard of an umbrella, Natsuki-san? They keep the rain from soaking you better than a heavy metal cane ever could, y'know."
Natsuki... the cane-wielding, rain-soaked girl... leaned against the wall as she accepted the older man's gift and dried herself off the best she could, her eyes half-closed. "But you can beat up people with a cane better. I think it's a good tradeoff. Besides, I didn't expect the rain to come down like that."
"...I don't want to know." The guard cleared his throat as he pushed the button on the elevator at the end of the hallway for Natsuki's sake. "Anyway, Likka-san has been waiting for you for almost half an hour."
Natsuki nodded her thanks to the security guard and went inside the elevator as soon as its doors opened. "So I'm supposed to be a good girl and be on time for my interrogation, huh?" She smirked wryly as the middle-aged man grunted.
"She went out for a while to get something to eat. She should be back shortly." The guard raised an eyebrow. "And what's your excuse?"
The elevator doors slid open before Natsuki could come up with a witty retort, so she instead opted to go on her merry way. At the fourteenth floor of the building, she came upon yet another deserted hallway, this one in a nauseating pastel blue. At the end of it, Natsuki entered her comparatively Spartan apartment with no further ceremony.
She was half-glad that the inhabitants of her floor had already turned in for the night. She had enough of their conspiratorial whispers, accusing stares, and insinuative gestures that seemed to reproach, "Ah, there she goes again: our ice princess. Well, nobody around here is really sure of who she is. She comes through this part of town every few nights, always running like the demons of hell are hot on her heels, although I've never seen anyone else around her, to be truthful. We stay inside whenever she's around, just in case."
Natsuki shivered as she pushed aside her paranoia and watched the rain pound against the window. "Likka-tan sure picked a bad day to visit; still, it's nice to see her again." She yawned wearily as she made her way towards her bedroom, shedding off her soaking clothes on the way. She yawned and stretched as she picked up a robe and went to have a shower.
Every night she meditated briefly; a helpful act that kept the nightmares at bay. 'But I'm too tired. I probably don't need it.'
And tonight, the velvet darkness just appeared so inviting. Fatigue overwhelmed her, and her eyes slowly drifted shut as she fell upon the silken sheets while the wind howled like a terrified woman... one that seemed to beat upon the shutters of Natsuki's balcony door, pleading for entrance.
One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, somewhere within Tokyo City...
Kurama nodded curtly to the two saluting Bouetai as he gingerly exited the whirling vortex that connected the Human World to the Demon World, his trademark crimson Meiou High School uniform flapping amidst its unseen winds. The pair of Spirit World Police Officers then proceeded to fulfill their final task of sealing the dimensional entryway while the kitsune sauntered towards the egress of the Irima Cave.
The eighteen-year-old had a lot in his mind... his letters to Koenma, his orders from his partner Yomi to find Hiei and eliminate the supposed threat of the so-called Chojin, and the safety of his adoptive family. But for the most part, the disturbing things he had discovered during his visit to the Demon World took precedence over all those matters.
The imbalance of power in the Demon World and its threat against the Human World, the attempt to interconnect the worlds, and the revival of a once-dead kingdom: each and every one of these seemingly separate incidents were all interrelated.
The Meikai incident and the Black Chapter episode were also somewhat interconnected. The members of the Black Book Club... dregs of society who bathed in the blood of demons... were worshippers of the Lord of the Nether World, Yakumo. Sakyo, who gave Sensui the idea of opening the gates that separated the Demon World from the Human World in the first place, was also a worshipper of the Meikai Leader.
Yakumo had long believed himself to be the chosen savior of all the three worlds; to him, he was the Chojin, the Legendary Superman destined to unite and rule over all of Makai, Ningenkai, and Reikai with powers beyond that of even the Legendary S-Levels themselves. He'd be in the theoretical Class-X... the celestial class... possessing the unlimited powers of a god, a demiurge, a creator, and a destroyer rolled into one. Yakumo was the catalyst of all the aforementioned events, but he was fortunately not the true Chojin, as evidenced by his eventual defeat.
Subsequently, an unknown malefactor was now making his presence felt across the three different plains of existence, taking upon himself the monumental task of fulfilling the supposed Legend of the Overfiend. He currently had but one simple intention: to conquer Heaven, Hell, and Earth with his Army of Undead. From there, all the rest of his ambitious objectives would follow.
Meikai was still alive, and its new ruler was the scoundrel just mentioned. He had somehow stolen Yakumo's negative energy after the Meikai Ruler's defeat and was now continuing his predecessor's original plan to invade the three worlds. Many in the Demon World believe that this new menace really was the true Chojin.
Kurama suppressed a shiver in his spine once he finally made it back to civilization, swimming across a sea of faceless humanity with unremitting resolve. His eyes were obscured by his bangs and his feelings were unreadable to everyone but himself.
The thought of having negative energy... "jaki", as Yakumo had called it... concentrated into a single sentient being was truly mind-boggling to the kitsune avatar. A person wielding such destructive force would have to become the devil himself; bereft of all human compassion and feelings to the point where, to him, moral quandaries had lost all meaning, and the complexities of life contain simple, sadistic answers. He'd have to become a veritable "Living Sin" of sorts.
But the true horror of jaki lay not on the beholder but on the fact that it fed on negative, self-destructive emotions and evil intentions with a vampire's fervor: it was the only type of spirit energy that gained more strength as the suffering of its designated... preferably innocent... victim increased. It was the embodiment of Anti-Karma, where misdeeds and crimes against another would not be punished, but instead rewarded with potent, unlimited power.
'Note to self: Any further elucidations and clarifications must be done in person, I believe. I have to talk to Koenma himself about this Chojin business one of these days. But first thing's first...' Kurama mused as he made his way into the nearest train station after a brisk, fifteen-minute walk on the people-congested road. He knew his priorities; he had to investigate the supposed Demon Sword himself to fully understand its nature and its role in what may become a three-world war, Lord Inari forbid.
However, talking to Koenma remained Kurama's second-highest priority; although he assured Yomi that Mukuro hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on, the half-youko was quite certain that Koenma Daio knew more than he let on.
The teenager's exhaustive reflections quickly evaporated as he made his way into the ticket booth of the train station. 'It's about time I got home and had a nice, long rest. My head is about to burst with all these thoughts.' Later on, he silently rode his designated train as he attempted to stop himself from thinking about anything else other than getting home to his adoptive mother and stepfamily.
To Kurama's eyes, the people before him moved with the frenetic pace of a bee swarm, the clouds above transformed into living puffs of nebulous white smoke blown away by nonexistent hurricane winds, the shadows gradually swallowed the cosmopolitan jungle, and the sky slickly dimmed as their part of the world shied away from the setting sun. His shoulders slumped as he closed his eyes, and he didn't dare move a muscle until the PA system blared his stop. He mutely exited the station, his body striding on automatic pilot but his pulse quickening as he neared his human domicile one step at a time.
After Kurama arrived at the Minamino-Hatenaka residence, he felt everything around him grind to a halt: the churning clouds, the winds of time, the blinking of the artificial lights at the onset of twilight, and even the rotation of the earth slowed to a snail's crawl.
He took a whiff of the familiar aroma of his dwelling for eighteen years, espying the cherry blossom tree he used to play with as a boy, remembering the occasional visits that his junior high sweetheart, Maya Kitajima, gave him, and treasuring the more recent memories he had of his foster father and his namesake brother, Shuichi Hatenaka.
He took out his keys and opened the door. Even though none of his family had arrived to welcome him back, he savored the ambiance of the empty house before him regardless. The slightly ruffled pillows on the living room couch; the crackling static of the television screen; the off-center slippers of his mother, stepfather, and stepbrother; the empty shoe racks; the faint smell of detergent and dishwashing soap; and the freshly bustled table set his mind at ease and made him savor his not-so-lonely alone time. 'Ah, I just missed them. I wanted to surprise them by coming home early, but it looks like the joke is on me.'
Kurama went straight to the refrigerator and opened the top bin. As he suspected, the freezer contained no food. 'They must have run out of supplies and went to the supermarket as a family to buy groceries. They probably ate out as well. I guess it couldn't be helped, then.'
After taking care to check that all of the household appliances were properly turned off, Kurama went straight to his room at the second floor, changed into something more comfortable, lay on his bed, and stared at the off-white ceiling with fluttering, tired eyes.
His surroundings blurred into darkness before long... or at least what could be passed for darkness by merely closing one's eyes, because he'd long ago experienced gloom beyond what his shut eyelids could ever offer. Out of habit, he took stock of his situation even in his half-asleep condition, idly observing that his skin felt clammier than the underside of his tongue and his body had the subtle mobility of a suit of armor. It might take a few hours before he could even lift a finger, much less stand on his own two feet, but he fully expected this eventuality.
He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he struggled to get into a more relaxed position. However, his mind had other ideas. Lots of ideas, in fact... like wondering if he were suffering from multidimensional jetlag even though no jets were involved in his jumping to and fro the different plains of reality. Plus, the forever stormy Demon World had no measures of time based on the rotation or revolution of the world.
Then, much to the chagrin of his demonic alter ego, Kurama's thought processes started to become a lot more desultory than normal... or at least what constituted as normal for a millennia-old being... with some of them resembling actual human thought instead of his youko self's systematic schemes. Humans didn't think in complete sentences or ideas; instead, they thought in fragments of loosely interconnected memories and buried knowledge.
To wit, Kurama went from thinking about jetlag and its impossible association with multidimensional travel to Kuwabara's Dimension Sword that could cut through space, which was also the natural ability of Mukuro, which then reminded him of Mukuro's agent, Hiei, and his black-and-white bushy hair that looked like it was on fire, to remembering how much it hurt to be bombed by a homicidal stalker with stringy black hair and a face mask, which made him glad that he could create demonic mimosa plants that could murder people, which in turn had him wonder if he could develop killer triffids like the ones he saw in a old movie once, which then took him back to a time when he used to watch movies with his childhood sweetheart Maya while ignoring the "pink elephant" fact that they were on a date yet claiming they were together "as best friends", and so on.
The youko inside Shuichi Minamino's body wanted to tear the human's brain out from his eye sockets and eat it raw with a dash of coriander just to make the inane, nonsensical procession of redundant notions stop once and for all. To the silver-haired fox demon's mortification, the preposterous, stream-of-consciousness gobbledygook continued long after Shuichi's self-awareness ceased and his rapid-eye movement sleep began.
Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...
After a few more moments, the three shinigami that Koenma summoned to commence his meeting with Yusuke and Keiko arrived. Among the trio, the black-garbed Ayame was the most familiar ferry-girl to Keiko because she'd seen her numerous times with Botan during Shinobu Sensui's reign of terror and the Makai Tournament after it, followed by the somewhat familiar Hinageshi, whom she had espied a couple of times at Genkai's temple during the Nether World's attempts at conquering both the Human World and the Spirit World.
She couldn't, for the life of her, tell who the little shinigami girl of about ten to twelve years of age was, though. That was the reason why her interest was piqued as soon as the young lass moved in front of her, smiled, bowed, and reached for her hand. "It's nice to finally meet Yusuke-niichan's girlfriend! I knew I made the correct choice when I approved of your relationship with him!"
Keiko brushed her short hair back... the hairstyle that even Yusuke admitted to suit her best... and shook the little girl's hand with a crooked smile and eyebrows that formed a steeple-like shape. "I-It's nice to meet you to, um..."
"I'm Sayaka! I'm sure big brother has told you everything about me by now!" Sayaka beamed with closed eyes and a contented expression. Behind the little girl, Yusuke conspiratorially mimed to Keiko, 'Humor Sayaka for now! Please!' with an apologetic chopping motion using his left hand and a tug on an imaginary noose over his neck using his right hand. A throbbing vein subsequently popped up on the sixteen-year-old ghost girl's forehead with a subtle squelch.
Koenma cleared his throat. "That's Sayaka. She used to be an earthbound spirit with tremendous spiritual power who almost caused the death of a boy she liked, but with the help of Yusuke and Botan, her abilities are now being used for far more charitable purposes. In fact, Yusuke did such a good job in converting her bad karma into good karma that she didn't even need to go through the Purgatorial Sector for spiritual cleansing. She'll also be the one to bring you two back to Ningenkai later on because I'll be talking to both Botan and Kenshin after this meeting."
"Actually, before we got here, we four chatted about Botan's little misadventure in the afterlife as she rescued Keiko from becoming an amnesiac ghost zombie." Yusuke rubbed his nose while pointedly ignoring the piggyback-riding Sayaka behind him and the glowering Keiko at his side. "Hey, wait. What about my mission in guarding the Demon Sword? Aren't I the one who's supposed to help Kenshin keep it safe and stuff?"
Koenma opened his usually shut eyes and stared at the inquisitive boy with clear and sharp brown irises. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Yusuke, but I'm reassigning that responsibility to Botan for the time being. You should tell her that as soon as we're finished with this meeting. Because of what happened in your recent fight with Rando, you might just compromise that particular assignment as well."
Yusuke flinched and recoiled at Koenma's words, which Sayaka took as her cue to float away from her distraught big brother. The gravity of the situation had again reasserted itself in the course of the conversation. "It's about that stupid Kugai technique that Rando infected me with, isn't it?"
Koenma nodded slowly with a downtrodden stare at the floor, his lips constricting around his magical pacifier as he mulled over Yusuke's remaining options. "You need to ask for Genkai's diagnosis concerning the long-term effects of that martial arts technique on your body and soul as soon as possible, because she's a true expert when it comes to such matters. I don't want to give you any half-baked information about the World of Suffering, so it's always best to consult with a specialist first and foremost. Besides, I believe that reviving Keiko will keep your hands full for quite a while, at the very least."
"So it's possible?" Keiko queried, then covered her mouth, surprised at her behavior and for interjecting herself into a conversation that she initially didn't feel like participating in; she possessed sufficient commonsense to understand that someone couldn't go back to life... or in her case, wake up from a deep coma... just because he wanted it bad enough and it was for the sake of a loved one. Not even if he had connections with the Lord of the Dead himself.
She excused herself for her brashness, but she couldn't help but venture, "It's not yet too late for me? I can still get well? I can still wake up from my coma? I can still see my family again and live a normal life after this nightmare? My loved ones won't have to go through a protracted, agonizing torture that might never end? I won't have to suffer any brain damage or residual effects from the coma after I'm awake?"
She bit her thumb once she realized that she'd said too much. "I mean, I'm sorry for getting ahead of myself. Whether or not I wake up healthy isn't any of your concern, Mister Koenma, but the mere chance that I can recover from this is... I have no words! Thank you for helping us out once again! We owe you so much already for resurrecting Yusuke and Genkai-baasan multiple times! Thank you so very much!"
Despite knowing that he'd hate himself later for acting so impolitely, Koenma looked away from Keiko's bright-eyed and eager face, his toddler arms clasped behind his back as he took his sweet time to return to the chair behind his desk. Each one of his footfalls reverberated across the room for an excruciatingly awkward eternity.
In the end, Koenma opted to ignore Keiko's optimistic outburst, choosing rudeness over sadistic frankness this time around to handle the unfortunate circumstances. He then awakened all five of his guests from their troubling and self-conscious reverie by beckoning, "Hinageshi, let's start the meeting with you first. Tell us the differences between jaki, reiki, youki, and other types of spiritual energy."
Her trembling hands clasped at her abdomen in pseudo-prayer, Hinageshi's eyes darted back and forth the blank-faced Koenma, the pale-faced Keiko, and the red-faced Yusuke as the teenaged boy prepared to sock Reikai's childlike emperor around like an authoritarian father who was teaching his insolent son the value of respect.
The rose-haired shinigami sporting an untamable cowlick and shrine maiden clothes tried her best to speak out, but couldn't because her frightened voice took hold of her uvula and never let go. In spite of everything, Keiko somehow recovered just in time to firmly hold her irate boyfriend back and shake her head at him in disapproval.
However, Yusuke could not be stopped from slamming his balled-up fist at Koenma's table with a hard, sawdust-filled crunch that nearly snapped the wooden furniture in two. The gesture caused Sayaka to hide behind Ayame's kimono, while the wincing Hinageshi wished that Yusuke's blow contained enough force to make the floor split in two and swallow her whole.
"Yusuke, please! We've had enough of this nonsense. Don't forget that Koenma Daio is doing everything he can to help us out as well as save the Human World from harm, so we should let that issue drop for now and listen to what his shinigami has to say," Keiko stated with a steady, unwavering voice that belied her trembling lips as she ultimately let the shaking, hyperventilating Yusuke go. "Okay, Hinageshi-chan. Please continue."
After resisting the urge to faint or vomit ectoplasm, ichor, or whatever it was that death gods regurgitate, Hinageshi took out her entire ream of notes from her evidently padded clothes and detailed their contents to all those present. "The fundamental types of ki that every spirit detective is familiar with is reiki and youki. They're classified quite plainly. Reiki is used by gifted humans and the agents of Reikai, while youki is used by the more powerful youkai inhabitants of Makai."
The girl flipped through a sheet. "They're basically the different types of the same life-giving energy that keeps the mortal realm in perfect harmony. Even Sensui Shinobu's Sei Kou Ki, which is believed to be an evolved version of youki and reiki, is still the same type of energy. It is the universal life force that can be tapped into by any sufficiently skilled or talented entity and used in a multitude of beneficial or destructive ways... but you already know all of this, I'm guessing. Sorry about that. Let me skip a couple of pages, then."
To be Continued...
Next: Who is Natsuki?
Parts of this chapter are credited to the following individuals: Danyal Herder for the Mukuro-Yomi scenes, Amanda Nable for parts of the original "Mirror of Light and Darkness" teaser, and Eric James for parts of his unfinished "Shadows of the Night" fic. Also, the "Complexities of life contain simple, sadistic answers" paraphrase was taken from the ever-hilarious 8-Bit Theater by Brian Clevinger. Many thanks, guys.
May kailangan pa ba akong sabihin?
Abdiel