Content Warning: Near death of a main character via stabbing. Death of a side character via car accident.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Before
The clock ticking in the corner was the only noise in the room.
It was likely as old as its owner, if the worn wood was any indicator. It had sat in Genkai's study for as long as Hiei could remember,and had often been the only thing to break the silence, whether it be a heavy silence or a thoughtful one.
Now, it was at it again. Tick, tock, tick. Back and forth. Back and forth.
Nobuyuki didn't say a word. The boy sat in the chair across from Hiei's heavy glare, shoulders slumped, and hands clasped between his knees. His square-rimmed glasses had fallen down his nose again, and the boy kept having to push them up with a forefinger. He hadn't made eye contact with Hiei in - a quick glance at the clock told him twenty-five minutes. No, the boy continued to stare at the floor and grit his teeth.
Hiei realized he probably shouldn't be calling Nobuyuki a boy; that was the wrong term. He was as old as Ashley, or rather, he looked to be as old as Ashley, but even when Ashley had confidence, she held herself in a way that held presence. On the street, Nobuyuki wouldn't even get a passing glance, likely.
Hiei glanced at Kurama, who leaned against the doorway, arms and ankles crossed.
To anyone else, the fox might appear as relaxed or casual, but Hiei had known him for long enough to recognize the threads of tension weaving themselves through his body.
"Kuwabara won't be joining us," Genkai announced, walking through the doorway with Yusuke on her heels.
"Why not?" Hiei immediately asked.
"Just said he'll be late and to start without us. You can ask him, though, when he gets here." That was the last thing Hiei would do. "He said he'll wait until Ashley gets out of class and bring her up here at the same time. She will probably appreciate that."
She sent a withering glare in Hiei's direction. It wasn't his fault Ashley had wanted to stay in Sarayashiki. He'd asked her, but she wanted to teach her Friday class before joining them at Genkai's temple. Even though she'd seemed anxious when she said it, she'd asked to stay behind. Who was he to force her to join him at the temple? If she felt safe enough to stay, she should stay. Yukina said she'd check in on her, anyway.
"Anyway, should we get started." Genkai said it as a statement, instead of a question. Yusuke circled around one of her lounge chairs and collapsed into it.
"Will it - Will it hurt?" Nobuyuki stuttered, finally glancing up at Hiei through his bangs.
"Give us what we need and it won't," Hiei growled. On the one hand, he was grateful for Ashley coming back to him again, but on the other, who was this kid to toy with her and her life?
Nobuyuki visibly tried to relax, shifting back in the seat, and the Jagan focused in on his memories.
The sun was blinding and suffocating, that first day of Ouran High. Mother and Father had insisted he come to the school, even though it was two hours away from home. It was the furthest he'd ever been, except that one trip to Australia he'd taken with his grandparents two years ago. Everyone was new. The school was massive. The tie cut into his windpipe. He was already light-headed, so that didn't do anything that he didn't already feel, but it was like he couldn't catch his breath, no matter how hard he tried.
The girl in front of him had a smile plastered on her face, eyebrows raised, like she had just asked a question. Darn it - what was it? What had she asked? Now he had to ask her to repeat the question, and hope to god he caught it -
"That's okay, we'll figure it out!" A voice cut through his thoughts, cheery and bright, almost as bright as the sun itself. "We've got a map, so we'll get there!" A British accent reached his ears as a hand slipped around his elbow.
His savior guided him away from the senpai, and his mind allowed him to catch up with what he was doing. "Thanks. My brain just kind of blanked, I guess."
"Well, it's no problem at all," the girl replied, eyes sparkling in the sun. "But do you know where you're going? I haven't a clue, myself. If you know where you're going, would you mind showing me?"
Nobuyuki laughed awkwardly. Oh boy, now she needed his help. All he really wanted was to go crawl into a hole and be left alone. "I don't know where I'm going, sorry. It's all so new."
"Well maybe we could figure it out together? I'm Ashley. It's nice to make your acquaintance…?"
She trailed off, as if waiting for a reply.
Darn, what had she said? Wait, she'd said her name.
"Oh! Nobuyuki! My name is Nobuyuki!" he replied sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Well it's very nice to meet you, Nobuyuki! Should we go exploring?" Ashley was like a ball of light. Golden hair, blue eyes, and a ball of light.
They became fast friends, Ashley and Nobuyuki. Ashley's suite mate, Yasu, also eventually joined their clan. Yasu was the daughter of the demon ambassador to Japan - a bat demon. Her dress had to be specifically made to fit her wings, which folded behind her body most days. But there was no forgetting that Yasu was a demon. Two incisors didn't quite fit behind her lips and instead slipped down over her bottom lip. Her nose was wider than most and flat. Her pupils were narrower, almost like a cat's, and she was taller than them both by six inches at least. But she was quiet and unassuming, and even when the bullies in their class tipped a tray of food into Yasu's lap, she didn't retaliate.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Ashley had stormed into their faces. Yumi, Namiko, and Yoshito. Two girls and a boy who'd all gone to the same middle school over in Tokyo.
"She needs to go back to where she came from," Yoshito drawled. "She has no place here."
Nobuyuki had to restrain Ashley, and grab Yasu as she made to clean her dress, and usher them both out of the cafeteria. But from that moment on, the three were inseparable.
Yasu and Ashley became fast friends. Yasu was a skilled fighter, even as quiet as she was, and as it became clear that Ashley had psychic power, her skill grew as well. Ashley went to Yasu and asked her to show her a few moves. Anything to defend herself.
Their training weekends, turned into days, always meeting up after classes were out to spar. Nobuyuki always watched on the side. "If I break my glasses again my father will kill me!" He'd say and excuse himself. Instead, he'd watch his two best friends fight and laugh and train. Ashley was a quick learner, and before long she could at least hold her own against Yasu, even if Yasu always managed to beat her in the end.
Yasu even showed some of her power to Ashley as they trained. Ashley, while she had psychic tendencies, lacked any ability in turning them into physical attacks, and merely evaded Yasu when they trained with her demon energy. Evaded and used her environment to get whatever upper hand she could.
Before long, Nobuyuki began having feelings for Yasu. His heart would race whenever he saw her, his face would heat, and he would start to stutter in his nerves.
Ashley was quick to figure it out. "You should ask her out!" she finally cornered him one evening. Yasu had had to leave school to attend a state dinner with her parents, leaving Ashley and Nobuyuki studying alone in the library.
It took a minute for Nobuyuki to piece together what Ashley was talking about, but when he did, his mouth dropped, his face turning red. "Whaaaaaaa?"
"SHHHHH!" Someone shushed them from two aisles over. Ashley only snickered. "I see the way you look at Yasu. You should totally ask her out!"
"I don't know…" Nobuyuki replied, not looking at her and focusing on his textbook intently.
"I see the way she looks at you, too, you know." Ashley hinted. It wasn't a school day so they were both dressed in their casuals: jeans, t-shirts, and for Ashley, a hoodie she'd stolen from her brother the last time she was home. They were in their second year.
Nobuyuki's cheeks only heated more. "What if it doesn't work out, though? I'd hate to ruin our friendship."
Ashley pondered this for a moment, then shrugged. "But what if you two fall madly in love and get married and love each other for the next fifty years? It wouldn't ruin anything, then."
"But I can't take that chance!" Nobuyuki hissed again, desperate for Ashley to see what he saw. The person from before shushed them again.
Ashley threw up her hands and whispered back, "Hey, it's your choice, I'm just pointing out the obvious."
Another year passed. Another year of classes and state dinners, and eating out, and sparring. Another year of Yasu being demanded to mature quickly so that she can marry well, and another year of Wright Technologies becoming a tech giant. Nobuyuki's parents were wealthy, but they had old money. Less pressure was on Nobuyuki to do well and be a role model for the community. That's what his older brothers were for. Thankfully for him, he could just skate through school, which for him meant A's and being part of a couple after school activities, but nothing too taxing. By the beginning of their third year, he'd realized he wanted to pursue mathematics at university. Ashley had decided on music, much to the frustration of her parents, and Yasu wanted to become a nurse. A home-care nurse.
"I always hear the best stories from the older humans," she would say with a smile. "They're fascinating." They were all disappointing their parents in one way or another.
But being third years also meant some extra time at Ouran. So when KRJ came into Nagoya, the three of them bought tickets and borrowed Yasu's father's car. Yasu drove, of course, and was overly careful: no eating in the car, no feet on the dash, definitely clean their shoes before they got in, and seat belts at all times.
The concert went late, though, and they had class the next day. It had started raining at some point during the concert, and they had to drive through the mountains in the rain at midnight. Yasu drove slow at first, but as the hours ticked by, her speed increased. All three knew their professors wouldn't be happy if they fell asleep in class the next day. Though, they could all feign being sick, if they had to.
Still, the stress was high. Halfway home, Yasu pulled off at a gas station to fill up and let the others stretch their legs. "Want me to drive?" Nobuyuki asked. Yasu looked worn, but she shook her head.
"No, if anything happens to the car, my father will kill me. I'll be okay, but thank you, Nobuyuki." She smiled one of her smiles that hid that anything was wrong. Nobuyuki could tell she was exhausted, though. They'd all been up since early for the concert, and now it was late at night. But they had to get back, so they piled back into the car, and started back on the mountain roads.
It was maybe another hour before the car took a turn, as it had taken many turns, but this time it hydroplaned. That moment when every person in the car knew that the tires had left the safety of the ground, and it skidded, hitting the road's railing, and launching itself off the road.
The memory faded, nothing left to it, and it instead brought the next memory behind it. Sounds of beeping surrounded him, and made their way into his conscious first. Something was tight and in the crook of his left arm. It felt like his lungs had an elephant sitting on them, each breath straining. Each breath humidified around his nose, which brought the sensation of elastic hugging the sides of his face. Nobuyuki's eyes fluttered open, and he took in the sight around him.
"Nobuyuki?" Ashley's voice reached him. He looked to the right, where she sat, and his right hand made to pull off the breathing mask he wore, but his right pointer finger had a blood oxygen meter on it.
In a moment, Ashley was next to him, pressing his chest back down to the hospital bed. "Don't move," she said, her voice thick. As she came into his view, he could also see that her head had bandages wrapped around it and cuts and scrapes up her arms and over her cheeks.
Nobuyuki pulled the breathing mask down anyway. "What happened?"
Tears wells in Ashley's eyes and she stilled, hands going slack against his chest. "Ashley?" Something occurred to him, then. "Where's Yasu?"
Something in Ashley broke, and she pulled a chair closer to his bed. In hushed tones, as tears rolled down her face, she told him that the car had indeed hydroplaned, a foggy memory, now, and had missed the turn. The car crashed into the forest. Ashley, who had been sitting in the front seat, had been the only one awake enough to place a call for help. She hadn't been able to wake Yasu.
The memory faded again, as Nobuyuki's heart broke. Another memory surfaced: days later they returned to school, two returning when three had left.
The school had given them a week off to grieve. Both had attended the funeral. After the service, as they left, Yasu's father had told them he was glad that his daughter known them both. Her father, however, hadn't realized they were watching when he took his anger and sadness out on the car with his bare hands.
Most of their classmates were grieving, too. Even though she'd been a demon, Yasu had known most of the school. Always going out of her way to make friends, especially with the kids who hadn't seemed to have any. Though not everyone was grieving, and in the library one day, Yumi, Namiko, and Yoshito were talking a little too loudly and Ashley and Nobuyuki heard them smearing Yasu's name and memory. Later that night, Ashley and Nobuyuki went to a hallway, deserted and away from everyone else. "Watch my body," Ashley had said as she sat on the floor, using the wall to lean against. She didn't say anything else, and Nobuyuki didn't ask.
It was like she went into a meditative state for twenty minute, but when she stirred, he asked, "What did you do?" She didn't reply right away, waking from her meditative state as if from a deep sleep, her body slow and sluggish.
She clenched her jaw. "They won't be bothering Yasu any longer."
And indeed they didn't. Yumi, Namiko, and Yoshito avoided Ashley like the plague from then on out. No mention of Yasu was ever heard to leave their lips again.
Ashley had always had talent in her psychic gifts, and she had astral-projected a time or two in the past to play pranks, but Nobuyuki had never seen her use her gifts for retaliation. For Yasu, however, she had in a heartbeat.
After Yasu's death, it was like something had clicked off in Ashley. She was quieter, more thoughtful, more intense in her training. She no longer had a sparring partner, but Nobuyuki would often find her facing off against a punching bag for hours and hours and hours. Her gifts grew as well, until one evening when they were hanging out in a common area and she showed him the sparks that flew from her fingers.
She did more, flickering the lights around them, turned lights on and off, and even charged Nobuyuki's phone to full power in five seconds flat.
"I started noticing it after we got back," she said, looking at her hands as if intrigued by her own power. Nobuyuki didn't have to ask what she meant. After their accident, she meant.
And he'd noticed changes in himself, too. He'd never had any gifts or power as Ashley and Yasu had, but slowly, he realized that if he concentrated, he could turn time backwards.
On a different night, he brought it up to Ashley. "Oh, really?" she asked, eyes alight. "That's cool! Will you do it now?"
"I can, but you won't remember," he'd said. He'd turned time back twice now, and each time he told Ashley about it, but she always forgot. "Maybe we should write it down so that you know it actually happened?"
She'd taken her notebook she was holding and wrote a note to herself on the next day's page, certain she'd find it when she flipped to the page to take notes during history class.
"Turn us back a day, then. I want to try to do better on my biology test."
"I -I can't do more than a few minutes at most." Nobuyuki said. Ashley was thoughtful for a moment, before taking his hand. In an instant, warmth flowed into him where she touched him, filling him with power. It needed to leave. He'd never felt so much raw power in his life. Using that, he turned the day back, and when he saw her for lunch the next day, they took their food out to the courtyard.
"How'd you do on your test?" he asked.
"I think I bombed it, honestly," she griped. "Probably should have studied harder."
Nobuyuki used that to tell her, again, about his new power.
"It's in my notebook?" She asked. "A note to myself?"
He nodded. "Your history notebook."
She took it out and flipped to the page, but there was no note. Nobuyuki took the notebook from her hands and flipped through the entire thing.
The note she'd written to herself had disappeared. He stared, slack-jawed, at the empty pages. Ashley watched him. "I still believe you, though." He looked up at her. Her gaze softened. "I know you wouldn't lie about something like that.
"Maybe you're the only one who remembers because you're the one turning things back?" She asked, taking a bite of her apple. It was a kind thought, but Nobuyuki wondered if she didn't just feel sorry for him.
They got talking about other subjects, and her own power came up in conversation. "I've found a teacher, I think," she said, thoughtful. Rain clouds were gathering on the horizon. It had been almost a month since Yasu's death. "I'm going to go train with her over winter break."
"Where does she live?"
"Somewhere up in the mountains."
With a Look from Nobuyuki, Ashley sighed. "I'll be careful, I promise. I have no intention of dying anytime soon."
Winter break came and went. Ashley left quiet and grieving and returned confident and proud. She was a different person. When she showed him her power they no longer sat inside while she flickered the lights. Instead they drove to a clearing where she pulled the static electricity in the air to her and created a bolt of lightning so large she shattered a nearby tree.
Nobuyuki was proud of his friend, but still felt the pangs of jealousy in his chest.
The rest of the semester passed uneventfully. Ashley still trained. Before long they graduated and Ashley went back to England to study music at Oxford, while Nobuyuki stayed in Japan.
Of course, they spoke every week, filling each other in about their classes and new friends, and organizations they joined. It was decided six months after graudation and missing each other so much it hurt that Ashley would visit Nobuyuki during break the following summer. It would also allow her to visit her teacher, whom she hadn't seen for a year at that point. Her power had been increasing, as she told him about the new friends she'd made at Oxford, demons of course, who were willing to train with her so that she could increase her skill, Chiyo, and Michi. Chiyo was a water demon, and Michi was a strongarm. Chiyo was also studying music, and Michi was a political science major. Both part of an initiative to integrate more demons into the human population.
Another six months later and Ashley visited Nobuyuki in Tokyo. They had just about a week to see each other, and they wasted no time. One night, they decided to go to a music bar. It was a little place in downtown Tokyo where Ashley could play, along with others.
They spent a good several hours there, meeting other people who had come to play, eating, and playing some more. One was a demon who was a musician, Mako, who was up and coming and making a name for himself in the piano bars. His husband, Takeshi, watched him with kindness in his eyes and a watchful gaze for all that Mako made friends with.
Before midnight, Ashley and Nobuyuki decided it was time to head home. Rather than taking the stuffy trains, they walked, meandering down streets. Some were still lit with life, even at that time of night, while others were still and quiet.
It was down one of the quiet streets that they were approached by a group of kids. Maybe a few years younger than them, all looking like they were itching for a fight. And of course, they thought they might be able to make a nice dime off of Ashley and Nobuyuki. Who would possibly guess that a young blonde gaijin and a mousey kid with glasses would put up any sort of fight?
The kids jumped Ashley and Nobuyuki, and even though Ashley knew how to fight back, it was obvious very quickly that they were outmatched, until a shadow descended, and after a few punches, the kids ran off.
The shadow-man turned, catching the light of a nearby streetlight.
Hiei recognized himself immediately, even seeing himself through Nobuyuki's memories.
Memory-Hiei handed Ashley her purse back. "Thank you," she said, taking it and brushing a hand over the scrape on her cheek. Nobuyuki hung back, watching them. "I could have taken them, though." She said with a teasing smile.
Hiei, however, didn't look convinced, nor that he was enjoying her teasing. "Looked like it."
He started to go, but Ashley hollered down the street. "What's your name, stranger?"
Hiei stopped, his head turning marginally toward the sound of her voice behind her. Without a word, he disappeared, suddenly, and without warning. Vanishing in the night.
The memory changed again, and Genkai's temple took the street's place. It was different though. The heat of summer had descended on the place, and even though it was morning, it was sweltering hot.
"I'm not an inn, girl." Genkai's grousing caught Nobuyuki's attention, which snapped back to her after admiring the grounds. "Who's this?"
"He's my friend. You know, the one I told you about last time?" Genkai didn't look convinced. "He'll only be here for today," Ashley continued. "He'll go home tonight, but he wanted to see where I train."
Genkai rolled her eyes, and led her through the temple. "The detective and the others are here. Go say hello and we'll begin."
They were crossing the training grounds when Ashley came to an abrupt halt. "You again."
Memory-Hiei looked annoyed. "Not you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashley took the steps down to the training field, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Nobuyuki followed, not wanting to be left behind with the old lady who hated him. Hiei, of course, had his shirt off, sword in hand. The young man he'd been fighting came up behind him, swinging an arm over Hiei's shoulders.
"Hey, Hiei!" He crowed. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"She's not my friend, detective!" He spat.
The boy only laughed, black hair gleaming in the sun. "Oh, defensive! Hey, I'm sorry about my friend, here. I'm Yusuke."
"Ashley," she introduced herself, ignoring the scathing glare from Hiei. "And this is Nobuyuki. It's nice to meet you," she said to Yusuke, "And to finally get your name," she said, turning back to Hiei with a pleased smile.
"You must be grandma's newest student?" Yusuke asked, finally straightening and looking over Ashley's shoulder. She turned as well. Genkai watched them from the porch.
"Yeah. She's trained me a few times," Ashley replied.
"You must be good if she took you under her wing."
Ashley shrugged. "Define 'good'."
Hiei scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't last a second in a real fight."
Ashley's head cocked to the side, her attention shifting back to him. "You're on."
"What?"
"Ladies and gents, I think he just challenged me!" It was Ashley's turn to crow as Yusuke dissolved into laughter and Hiei sputtered in his confusion.
Finally finding his words, he spat, "You wouldn't last three seconds."
"So you wouldn't be a "real fight," then?" She interjected. Ashley stepped closer, grinning, eyes alight. "Try me," she challenged with a cocky smile, and stepped away again. As she headed back up the steps to the porch, she turned once, calling back to Hiei. "Meet me here at sunset?"
"We are not-"
"It's a date!"
Yusuke was still howling as Nobuyuki tripped over himself to get away from the glowering Hiei and follow Ashley back up the stairs.
Nobuyuki didn't get to see their fight against each other. He left Genkai's temple that afternoon, heading back home. Ashley would spend three days there and then return so that they could see each other once more before she headed back to England.
After three days she returned and when Nobuyuki asked about the fight, she only smiled, pleased with herself in some way that she wouldn't name, and changed the subject.
As the next year passed, Nobuyuki and Ashley continued their weekly phone chats. Two months after her summer visit to Japan, the topic of Hiei came up again, somehow.
Ashley was quiet on the other end. "I…" she trailed off. "I think I like him, Nobuyuki."
"You're not still talking to him, are you?" He asked. "He's an asshole!"
She was silent for a beat. "Well, maybe to you…"
"And he's not to you?"
"He's funny when he tries to be an ass." What was his friend even saying? "He means well. He's coming to visit me in two weeks."
Nobuyuki was stunned to silence.
"Hiei." Nobuyuki said to clarify. "The man without a shirt who was so against fighting you?"
"The very same."
Nobuyuki paused, searching his mind for anything to respond with. But how was he supposed to respond to that. His best friend was falling for the prick!
But what could he say? "Does he treat you right?"
"We're just friends." She replied. "But yes."
"But you just said you like him."
"Uh-huh." She waited for him to catch on. And he did. It was the same that had happened with him and Yasu, really.
"Are you going to tell him?"
She mused. "Maybe eventually."
And that was the end of that conversation. Eventually it shifted to the proposition of Nobuyuki studying abroad to Oxford next year.
"Oh, come on! I've studied in Japan. It's only right that you should come here, too!"
And with that it was decided that Nobuyuki would apply for the study abroad program.
Nobuyuki never learned the finer details of Hiei's visit with Ashley, but after he left she started the student-led organization, Coexist. Hate attacks against demons had been on the rise. It plastered the news, and Ashley said she wanted to fight it, at least in her small bubble at Oxford. She was the founding member, along with Chiyo and Michi, but by the end of their sophomore year the group had grown to over one hundred humans and demons. They wanted peace between humans and demons, and put on educational events to educate humans about demons and vice versa. Every time Nobuyuki talked to her that year it sounded like the group had grown, or she and Hiei were getting together to see each other.
It was like she had an entire life apart from him.
He tried not to be jealous, but envy ate at him. They used to be joined at the hip, him and Ashley and Yasu. But Yasu was dead, and Ashley was half a world away. The only thing to quell his tears at night was the promise that he would be part of her world again soon.
And he was. Their junior year came and he went to Oxford, joining the mathematics program. He joined Coexist and attended rallies and held study sessions with Ashley and her friends. Soon, he made friends, too. The kids on the debate team, his classmates, even other demons in Coexist. Hiei came by every so often, usually whisking Ashley away for a weekend and leaving her breathless when he returned her. Sometimes he hung around, but he was always silent.
As the months wore on, he started staying around more and more often. When Nobuyuki asked Ashley about it, she replied, "I've asked him to. Chiyo was saying how much he intimidates her, and I'd like for us all to be friends, if possible."
And and the months passed and they saw Hiei more, more and more rallies against demons started popping up. But none more concerning to Ashley as HAD, Humans Against Demons, a group sprouting out of Cambridge.
"Michi went over to Cambridge last weekend," Ashley began. She'd called everyone over to her apartment. It was originally supposed to be a study session, but it had dissolved into discussing how they could support Coexist's message elsewhere. The topic of conversation had started taking over most of their conversations as of late. "He learned who HAD's leader is: Isla Thompson. And they're planning a rally on the thirty-first."
"You want to go, don't you?" Nobuyuki asked, hoping to cut off her proposition before it ever took root in her mind.
"We should be there!" Ashley nearly shouted. Chiyo, Michi, Ashley, Nobuyuki, and Hiei were all crammed into Ashley's tiny living room. "We can't let them do this! Demons attend Cambridge, too. They deserve a safe place to learn."
Chiyo was already shaking her head. "It's a bad idea, Ashley. Any number of things could go wrong, but it could turn dangerous. If they're this agitated that they'd hold a rally, we should just let the authorities handle it." She caught Nobuyuki's eye from across the coffee table. They often tried to talk Ashley down from the crazier ideas.
"We can't just stand by and let her spread her intolerance," Michi shot back.
The conversation went back and forth for several minutes until it was decided that they would drive over the night of the rally, along with anyone else from Coexist who wanted to go, and fight back against HAD. The rally would be in a week. Plenty of time to make signs and gather more people to go with them.
The day-of, it was decided Nobuyuki would join Ashley and Hiei at Ashley's apartment and then they'd take Ashley's car and drive with the others over to Cambridge.
"-Look, I'll be safe, okay?" Ashley's voice drifted to Nobuyuki as he slipped into her apartment. He met eyes with Hiei, who looked half asleep, knee cocked up and leaning against the wall of her living room. "You don't need to worry so much."
"Oliver?" Nobuyuki mouthed to Hiei who merely nodded. Ashley was absorbed in whatever her brother was saying, phone pressed to her ear and pacing the room. She shot Nobuyuki a quick wave and grin before whatever Oliver said on the line caught her attention again. She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over what looked like a long-sleeved t-shirt. A beanie slouched low against her loose waves. Really, she looked like a rebel rather than a supporter; her clothes were mostly dark, save for the shirt under her jacket. Hiei was no better, clad in his usual black and white scarf. Nobuyuki at least had had the forethought to wear something lighter in color. It would likely help to identify their group if they had chosen a color to wear, but that thought hadn't occurred to him until it was too late.
"Yeah I know it's your job to worry about me, but you do enough of that for the both of us." Ashley paused, listening. "That can't stop me, though, you know? There's about to be a huge rally at Cambridge. Cambridge, Oliver. Your alma mater. I can't just stand by and watch it happen. But I'll be safe." She glanced at Hiei. "Yes, I'll stay with Hiei, but you know I can defend myself, too." A moment later, Ashley's face lit up. "Hi Charlie! You two behave yourselves, okay? I'll call you when I get home tonight. Love you, Oll."
Ashley hung up and turned back to face her boys. "Oliver warning you not to go?" Nobuyuki asked. He'd sat gingerly on Ashley's couch as she'd talked, careful not to get too close to Hiei.
"For good reason, too," Hiei replied, finally speaking. His gaze never left Ashley. "He's had a vision."
That caught Nobuyuki's attention, but before he could speak Ashley chirped, indignant, "A feeling! A feeling isn't a vision!"
"If Oliver says we shouldn't go, I'd want to listen to him," Nobuyuki said, but neither of the others were paying attention to him. Nobuyuki had gotten to know Ashley's family over the years, and even though Oliver didn't have electricity like Ashley, or an ability to communicate with the spirits as Sophia did, he was always exactly right when it came to his premonitions, even if they did only manifest themselves as feelings.
Ashley and Hiei glared daggers at each other. If Nobuyuki didn't know better he'd think they were having an internal war within the Jagan, but the third eye wasn't glowing. No, they were communicating by mere Look alone.
"Look," Ashley finally said, turning to Nobuyuki as Hiei scoffed and turned away. Ashley was about to get her way. "Oliver isn't really talented, just useful. If he says he's got a bad feeling, I'm going to listen to him, but that's all we can really do. We'll be safe and keep our wits about us, but we can't put our lives on hold because he's got a feeling."
Even Hiei knew he wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing with her, so they left, piling into Ashley's car. Michi and Chiyo took another car, along with more members, and there was even a third car, all headed to Cambridge University.
The rally was easy to find, especially with Thompson on a megaphone. It was more of a march through campus than a rally, as Michi originally reported, and the students were angry, carrying signs and shouting something in a chant. They were almost too hard to make out. Something about being human.
Ashley led their little group toward the rally, like a spearpoint, or the tip of an arrow. She looked like an angry goddess, having to reprimand her children. The rest of the group flanked her on either side. Looking around, Nobuyuki realized that Hiei had disappeared, likely leaving this little activity to Ashley but keeping watch in case things got out of hand.
She bee-lined toward Thompson, who pulled away from the main rally to meet her in the middle. Long dark hair was pulled back, brown eyes glaring Ashley down. She stood maybe an inch or two above Ashley, but Ashley didn't falter. Still yelling into her megaphone, it was easier to understand her from ten feet away. "Keep Humanity Human! Keep Humanity Human!" Over and over and over. The march behind her came to a halt, all chanting the same thing. Nobuyuki glanced at Michi and Chiyo, as well as the other demons who had come with them. They all looked a little nervous in front of the rally before them. And Nobuyuki didn't blame them. The people in the march all looked like they were ready for a fight. All they needed was a push.
"And what will you do," Ashley began yelling back, her voice nearly drowned by the megaphone and the chanting, but she soldiered ahead. "Will you harm your brothers and sisters? They are people too! All looking for a better life!
"How do you hold so much hatred and fear in your heart?" One of the other humans they had brought with them, Anthony, jumped in, a few feet down their row, shouting defenses back at the rally. Another human jumped in, shouting back, maybe fifteen feet away.
Nobuyuki looked to Ashley, who held out her hand to him. He took it, as did Michi on his other side. One by one they joined hands, blocking the rally from going any further.
But the rally seemed to swell on the other side. Humans pushed, surging forward, threatening Coexist's chain, but no one touched them. It was a threat only, meant to make them nervous. Isla moved in front of Ashley, pacing in front of her like a lion before a kill.
She turned to her rally-mates behind her, and shouted louder, if it was possible, directing them like a conductor.
"Why are you so adamantly defending them?" Isla turned back to Ashley, megaphone forgotten as the rally chanted behind her. Nobuyuki only heard because he was next to Ashley, who stared Isla down, sparks igniting behind her eyes. "Have you taken one as your mate? I've heard they mate like animals. You're as low as they are. They are nothing! Trash that's taking our resources, taking our jobs! You can join them in hell!"
Isla pushed Ashley, making her fall backwards, the chain of their hands breaking.
The rally surged in front of them, all shoving forward as one unit until Nobuyuki fell as well, his glasses skewering. Somewhere to his left he heard Michi's roar for him, but students were everywhere. He tried pushing himself up, but someone else pushed him back down.
Chaos. Absolute chaos. He finally rolled to his stomach and lifted him self up with his palms, crawling away from the crowd, or where it seemed like the crowd was gathered. Shouts filled his ears, screams. The shrill blast of police whistles cut through the chaos like a beacon in the night. "Ashley!" He called, but his voice was barely audible even to him. "Ashley!" Pushing his glasses up his nose, Nobuyuki reached the edge, and got to his feet, looking around him.
Police had descended on the scene, pulling students apart and forcing them away from each other. "Ashley!" He yelled again, and a flash of blonde caught his attention to his right. Blonde hair disappearing around a corner.
He followed, sprinting after her. "Ashley!" He called again, willing his feet faster and faster, pounding against the pavement.
As he rounded the corner, however, it took him a moment to take in the sight in front of him. Ashley and Isla stood close, almost hugging, but Isla's mouth dropped in shock and Ashley had frozen. "Ashley!" Nobuyuki yelled again, even though she was in hearing distance of him now.
But she didn't turn. She didn't turn to him at all. Her hands hovered at her torso, around Isla's, who stepped away and yanked away a small blade, covered in -
Ashley dropped to her knees as Isla dropped the blade she had been holding. The blade that had entered Ashley. The world ground to a halt. The screaming and whistle blasts just around the corner narrowed into nothing. Silence reigned, except for the ringing that grew in his ears. Ashley collapsed to the ground just as Nobuyuki heard her name again. In an instant, he was at her side, rolling her over.
A wind blew through the alley, and as Nobuyuki looked up over his shoulder, Hiei was already there, his blade drawn and sticking through the other side of Isla. She fell to the ground next to Ashley, but she was ignored as Hiei turned to Ashley and Nobuyuki, and he dropped to his knees, hands useless on either side of her.
Nobuyuki did the only thing he knew to do, pressing his hands to Ashley's torso. He could feel the hole in her body, leaking blood into the world. Warm blood, and taking the warmth from her body, even as he pressed.
She cried out in pain as he did, but soon the cries lessened. "Are you a healer?" Nobuyuki yelled at Hiei, who looked like the world had just been ripped from him.
He looked as helpless as Nobuyuki felt. Glancing down at Ashley, he could see the light beginning to leave her eyes as she turned to look at Hiei. Small movements to look at him, trying to find him. She opened her lips, as if the say something, but the words hovered there, unspoken, as her lips quivered in effort.
"Turn it back," Hiei said, nearly inaudible. When Nobuyuki hesitated, Hiei bellowed, "Turn it back!"
"I -I can't!" Nobuyuki shot back, much less strong than Hiei. "I've only ever been able to turn back minutes. I can't do anything else without her help!"
As he watched her face grow slack, the paleness of death descending over her, an idea formed. He didn't have enough time to think it through, or check to see if she was even still alive. "Push your energy into her." He shouted at Hiei, moving so that he was positioned over her body, on either side of her wound. It was now Hiei's turn to hesitate. "Do it, Hiei!" Ashley had always been able to transfer her energy to Nobuyuki, so would that allow her to act like a wire to pass Hiei's energy to him?
Hiei shifted so that he was pressing his hands into her shoulders. Nobuyuki felt it immediately, the growing warmth into Ashley's body as Hiei's demonic energy flowed into her, and from her, into Nobuyuki. She'd lost so much blood. There was no other way. He could only pray it would work and that they were in time.
But Hiei forced so much energy into her so quickly, it was like the full force of a damn breaking, it was all Nobuyuki could do not to rip his hands away from Ashley in pain. Instead he concentrated. Concentrated on turning it back. He'd always pictured himself turning back the hands of a clock in his mind - his way to access his gift - and this time was no different, but as he pictured the hands of the clock turning back, they sped away from him.
Without warning, everything blurred together, colors melding together as the alleyway disappeared, going backwards. Lights twinkled, passing him like shooting stars passing through the night. At the sudden lightness of his hands, he looked down. Ashley had disappeared, as had Hiei. All that remained was the concrete bricks below Nobuyuki's shoes. Standing, awe struck him. It was beautiful, the way the world moved as he forced time backwards. He watched as students came and went past they alley, rushing backwards as if pulled by an invisible string. Turning his head, the scenery changed, and he was looking at Ouran, half a world away. Glimmering architecture of the main entrance hall gleamed under the sun as the it rose and set and rose and set.
He was separate from the world. The world was blurred and turned back, whereas his body was solid. It was as if he was watching himself in a slow-motion video.
He had never had this power. The power to turn the world back not minutes or days, but years. Because that's what it was. As he saw students walking backwards and the sun rising and setting and rising and setting, he moved from Cambridge, to Oxford, to the University of Tokyo, to Ouran. It was the scenery around him changing; he didn't even need to move.
Even if he'd tried to stop it, a part of him didn't want to. It was beautiful and surreal, though a part of him knew he should stop it. But he had to save Ashley.
Ashley.
Turning, Nobuyuki saw that he was no longer surrounded by anything he recognized, but rather in front of a house. Two stories tall, steps led up to the small porch and a red door. The rosebushes in front of the steps were small and blooming. Neon color of new growth sprouted from everywhere on the tree in front of the house. Three bronze numbers were nailed to the porch next to the front door: 703.
The houses around the house were blurred, still, but no people moved between them. It was as if time had slowed down. The house itself was solid, just as he was, and the people who stood on the porch were also solid. Ashley stood there with a woman dressed in a burgundy dress, and she was smiling. He watched her interact with the person, and her smile faded before she wrapped the person in an embrace.
Nobuyuki didn't have to close the distance between them because Ashley bounded down the porch's steps and approached him.
"Is it time?" She asked, though he wasn't sure how she knew that it was time.
"It is," he found himself saying, and took her hand. She squeezed his once, and squared her shoulders. After a brief nod to the person still watching them on the porch of the house, they set out, passing through the picket fence that surrounded the house, as easily as if they were passing through air.
On the other side, they were in an unfamiliar hallway. It was a house, with light fixtures every few feet along the walls. The sound of soft voices and the clink of glass could be heard from somewhere below them.
"I'll find you again," Nobuyuki said, suddenly finding cotton lodged in his throat. Ashley's hand, which he still had in his, was beginning to disappear. It was as if he couldn't quite hold onto her like he had before.
Ashley turned to him, nearly transparent, but before she could speak her body faded away, like a ghost.
Tears, as much as he wanted to clamp them down, burst forth. Loss flooded him, even if he knew that Ashley was alive, his best friend was gone for the time being. He would just have to meet her again. Get to know her again. Begin their friendship all over again.
"Now, enough hiding," a voice caught his attention. It drifted from the room just to his right. "Come on back down and play for us all so I can sing to these wankers at the top of my lungs and make their ears bleed!"
Oliver?
"Oh, please, Oll. Don't embarrass me!"
Ashley?
Nobuyuki stepped closer, and could just barely see through the cracked door. Ashley embraced Oliver on the other side, and he was saying, "-Just up the road a ways. Maybe you could come visit me?-" He kept talking, saying something about going to Cambridge, but the words disappeared. Nobuyuki was staring at Ashley. His best friend. She was young, her face still round with youth and her hair straight in the way that told him she still didn't know how to style it.
The Ashley in front of him was just barely older than when he had met her so many years ago in the courtyard of Ouran.
Neither Oliver nor Ashley seemed to notice Nobuyuki at first.
Oliver led the way out of the room, Ashley following him. Nobuyuki stepped back. Even if they didn't notice him, they would likely notice if they ran into something solid. He didn't make a sound, but hovered next to them as they shut the door behind them.
"You coming?" Oliver waited for her halfway down the hallway. Ashley had stopped in front of Nobuyuki, staring through him.
Nobuyuki's stomach dropped. Of course she could feel him. Even before her psychic powers developed she had always had the sense.
But she turned away after a moment. "Yeah! Just thought I saw something!"
Oliver laughed as the memory began to fade. "Is this house haunted, too?"
The memory faded away, bringing Hiei back to Genkai's study.
It had been one thing for Sophia to tell him that time had gone backwards, and to see Ashley's file to prove it, and another to actually see her death. Feel her life slipping from between his hands and not be able to do a damn thing about it.
Nobuyuki didn't look any more confident than he had before the session.
"Do you all remember that day several years ago? People went missing. Thousands of people. It was all over the news for months. It was worse than those planes disappearing. Thousands of people just… vanishing… overnight."
He said it like it was an observation and less like a question.
Still, Kurama answered. He hadn't moved from his spot by the door. "Those were the people who had died previously, am I correct? Even time cannot bring back Life."
Nobuyuki nodded. "I thought I was going to get to see Yasu again. Protect her from her own death. I knew what was going to happen, after all, I thought I could-" His voice broke off, and he took a moment to compose himself. "But you're right. Everyone who had died previously disappeared, because how could I bring them back? I couldn't."
Tears welled in his eyes behind his glasses, but the firm set of his clenched jaw and steel gaze told Hiei that they weren't about to deal with a sniffling boy, thank the three worlds.
"But why is it so different?" Yusuke asked, brow furrowed and his elbows resting against his knees. "I mean really, though. Before she was this incredible psychic, even before her reishi developed. But now she's just now coming into her psychic reishi."
"It's free will," Nobuyuki said, quietly. That caught all of their attention, once more. "Free will rules. Even if I send time back and you're in the same situation you were originally, you might make a different decision based on how you feel that day. Or maybe someone else makes a different decision that affects your decision."
"That makes zero sense." Yusuke griped. Hiei was even confused. Kurama and Genkai looked like they were the only ones who actually got it.
Still, Nobuyuki explained further, "Say someone is at a coffee shop drinking coffee. Someone else decides they need to get up to get another drink, but they trip on a chair leg. They stumble into the person drinking coffee. Maybe that's how the two meet. How they eventually get married. Time goes backward. Maybe the person who was originally drinking coffee decides they want a cold drink that day. They can sit at the same table, or maybe they want to be closer to a window that day. So they sit closer to the front of the store. The person who originally stumbled into them might be running late that day. So they're hurrying and not paying attention. As they cross the street, someone might hit them if they're not paying attention. Or maybe the drivers are paying attention and they dodge the person trying to get to the coffee shop. But if the person makes it to the coffee shop, there's no way to know if they will meet their beloved. Does that make sense? Everyone has their own ability to choose each and every day. Nothing is sure."
"But Ashley and Hiei found each other in both time lines." Yusuke interjected. The frustration behind it all was evident in his voice. Some of it made sense, sure, other bits didn't. Hiei felt the heat rising in his cheeks and pushed the emotion away, keeping his face impassive.
Nobuyuki looked like a lost puppy. He shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know. I don't know how or why that would work. Or if there's even an explanation."
Sophia had made it clear she would not divulge in the memories that were locked in Hiei's mind. But it nagged at him anyway. Surely there was a way to unlock those. Maybe there was something in them that could help them find the Legion. Some clue that no one might have otherwise picked up on.
Just from Nobuyuki's memories, he could assume that the Legion had not existed previously. Maybe they would have come up later from the hatred that existed in the world, but it did not seem that they did, even when Ashley and Nobuyuki were in college.
Genkai's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Has she shown any talent in the energy transfer gift she had before?" Genkai asked, directing her question to Hiei.
"I've tested her. Only until recently did she start showing any promise to even having that ability. But Sophia made a good point when Kuwabara and I saw her." He'd told them in the debrief before, after he and the oaf had come back from the House, so they all knew what Sophia had said. Ashley's willful ignorance likely had kept any of her psychic abilities from fleshing out in this time line.
"And Sophia had made it clear that we needed to find Nobuyuki in order to stop Ashley's death, correct?" Kurama asked. He likely already knew the answer, but Hiei voiced it anyway.
"She said that if we didn't find the man responsible for the time manipulation, Ashley would die before next winter-"
His voice cut off, mangled as another memory floated to the surface.
It had only been a fortnight ago, but with Ashley's kidnapping, Hiei had only told them the important bits that Mukuro had shared about Navia.
He hadn't thought to share with them about the crazy old bat who took care of pools of water and what she had said. But now, the memory of what she had told him, floated to the surface, and in the midst of what Sophia had said and where they were, it seemed more important than ever.
He told them the story of finding Amma in that little clearing, the pools of water, how he couldn't hear any sound even though the village had been within hearing distance, and he repeated to them what she had said: "You are one of the four most tied to the Event. Your future will not be easy. The girls are at the center, and they will have the hardest time. One already is. But you must find her and the other. Time is relative, and so is death. There are many ways to die."
There was a beat of silence, but Yusuke was the first to break it, "What the hell does that even mean?"
Kurama had raised a hand to his chin, deep in thought. "One of the four tied to the Event. I would assume that the Event is the time-turn, if she's referencing that. I feel that we can assume Amma was giving us our first warning, and Sophia was giving us the second. Sophia had said that she knew Amma, correct? Is it possible that Sophia and Amma are colluding?"
"I'm guessing Sophia will do whatever she can to save her sister," Yusuke replied, leaning back in his chair. "So let's say that the "Event" is actually the time-turn. She said that Hiei was one of the four. Obviously Nobuyuki is one of the four, so we have two. And Ashley is the third. I mean, Nobuyuki wouldn't have ever tried to even turn it back so far if she hadn't been about to die. But the fourth?"
The word was so quiet, Hiei wondered if he'd heard wrong, but the others' attention turned to Nobuyuki at the same time.
"A little louder?" Yusuke asked.
Nobuyuki looked up at all of them, as if he hadn't realized he'd spoken loud enough for anyone else to hear. His eyes were wide behind his glasses. "Isla. Isla Thompson. The- the other girl."
The room stilled, like all the air had been sucked out.
Yusuke broke it first. "Isn't that-?"
"Yes." Kurama cut him off, his voice chilled. Nobuyuki looked between them, confused.
Kurama took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it out slowly, glancing back to Hiei, who seemed to have turned to stone. Turning his attention back to Nobuyuki, Kurama spoke, "Isla was Ashley's best friend in this time. She died about a month ago. She was caught in the Heathrow attack."
A chill slipped down Hiei's spine, hearing it spoken aloud.
The girls are at the center, and they will have the hardest time. One already is. But you must find her and the other. Time is relative, and so is death.
"Amma said something else, too," Hiei began, wondering if he should even voice his thoughts. What would they accomplish? But a fog had descended in his brain; it felt like he couldn't think straight. He needed to voice them and see what Kurama could figure out. Kurama could help him. He repeated what she'd said about Death.
"We never found her body," Yusuke mused, finishing Hiei's thought. A note of hopefulness filled his statement.
"We never found her body," Kurama replied, "because she was in the terminal section that collapsed and later exploded. Few bodies were found in that terminal."
"But Amma said that after Isla died. I went to Demon World after Heathrow." Hiei had rarely been one to grasp at straws, but in that moment, fear gripped him. Four closest to the Event. They had to find the four. They had three. They had had Isla at one point, and she'd left, only to die. The warning in Amma's tone had been evident. They had to find her.
Genkai had been silent up until that point, but it was then that she spoke from her desk. "She's dead, Hiei. It's time to come up with Plan B."
They spent the next three hours discussing possibilities and strategies, and got Nobuyuki's take on things to come. The red lines and news clippings and writing on his bedroom wall had been possible time lines that he had charted, trying to follow his best friend through the years from half a world away.
It was creepy, and almost stalker-ish, and Hiei was not a fan in any way, but he couldn't deny that Nobuyuki's knowledge of time and how it worked as well as what had already passed was helpful. He was extremely useful, though he didn't want the kid getting anywhere near Ashley any time soon.
Genkai was finally the one to call off their planning session after little had been accomplished. It was hard to formulate a plan when no one knew exactly how Ashley would die in the coming year. They needed to save her, yes, but how? That was another story. Even Nobuyuki was at a loss. Though Sophia had been clear that they needed to find him to save Ashley, the why behind that eluded them.
Kurama walked with Hiei back to the kitchen, Yusuke parting ways outside Genkai's study. Genkai, however, went to go find Kuwabara and fill him in, taking Nobuyuki with her. They had stayed in the study for long enough that Kuwabara was likely somewhere on the grounds by then, which meant Ashley and Yukina were somewhere as well.
Kurama didn't try to talk to him as they walked, which was fine, really. His mind was still reeling from it all. When they finally reached the kitchen, they could hear voices on the other side.
Yukina sat at one end of the table, and Ashley sat across from her. They chatted like old friends, and when Ashley saw the boys walk through the door, her face lit up, her gaze finding Hiei's immediately.
"Are you guys done? Did you get any good information?"
The way she asked it, Nobuyuki's memories surfaced, the time that he met her the first time. She had been a light in his life, and now, at the kitchen table she was still a light.
A light who had nearly died.
The memory of Nobuyuki's memory flooded back, chilling him where he stood. Seeing the blade pull from her torso, blood splattering, feeling her blood leaking out of her as Nobuyuki tried to put pressure on the knife wound. But blood kept pooling. Watching the light fade from her eyes as she looked from Nobuyuki to Hiei who had fallen to his knees next to her. Beneath Nobuyuki's hands, her body grew cold, even though her blood was still warm.
The memory faded, leaving him standing in the kitchen.
"Hiei?" She asked, from the table. Even Yukina had turned to him in her chair.
In that moment, he wanted to run. Find a tree somewhere and shout into the void. Destroy something. Anything. He needed to get these memories out of his mind. These memories he never thought he would have to see. The room's walls felt like they were pressing down on him, suffocating him. He needed to get out of there.
But Ashley was still staring at him. Her light. He would not allow her to die a second time. She deserved more.
Taking a shaky breath, Hiei cleared his head, and the walls stopped shrinking. Without a word, he moved, walking around the table to take a seat next to Ashley.
"We got a lot of information," he replied, sitting so that he wasn't leaning back in the chair, but leaning forward, one hand on her thigh beneath the table.
Her surprise was gift enough.
- End of Chapter Twenty-Nine -
I AM ALIVE AND MOVED. Happy 2019!
I am so sorry to have been away for so long; my absence was not planned to be that long at all, but after moving I was faced with several issues with the new place. All are taken care of now, but there for awhile things were a little crazy.
So a little about what's going on in this chapter. We finally get an explanation of Oliver's power. I never wanted to make Oliver too powerful. I always wanted to reserve that spot for his sisters. Instead I drew from my own experiences for his gifts. I have always had feelings whenever something negative was about to happen. I can't explain it, and even if I did most people wouldn't believe me, and honestly I don't blame them. It's fucking weird. There was one time that I remember in clear detail that for about eighteen months leading up to the event, I knew that someone was going to die. I knew that they would have just had a birthday, and it would be before their 18th birthday. I knew it would be before Christmas, and I knew that it would be someone close to me. It would render me in tears, this feeling, this dread. Family thought I was being dramatic, others threatened to make me stop watching anime because they thought it was stemming from "that negative influence." I wondered if my mind wasn't just making things up.
Well, on November 27 of 2007 a friend of mine died. She had turned 17 the month before. It was sudden, and it was jarring. My high school brought in counselors for weeks after the accident because so many of us were destroyed over her death. After that I began ignoring any feelings of the sort and brushed them off as one thing or another. That time in my life is also where my inspiration for Ashley's willful ignorance comes from.
Anyway, we're now at a point where I feel comfortable sharing tidbits like this with you all without the worry about giving too much away. I'll share pieces from time to time.
Thank you to Lestatsgirl15, OdinsReaper, Goose, musicnutftw, Tsarashi, Wistfulsin, and a guest for your AMAZING REVIEWS. Holy hell, they have kept my spirits lifted in these months since I last updated.
I do not own, in any way, the characters, places, or ideas of the Yu Yu Hakusho universe created by Yoshihiro Togashi. I only own my own characters and plot.