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Jhewen: You bet this ain't the last one :p.
Cezarina: He kinda asked for it, it was needed for plot development but I feel so sorry for m.
Note
Happy new year! Hope y'all are doing fine and are having a blast. I'm currently suffering from my new years resolution but that's what I've bestowed upon myself. :') I'll also hear if I pass first semester in a few days, I'm so nervous I could cry, but instead I write.
English isn't my native language but I'm trying my best. Do tell me about reoccurring error's so I can implement and improve wherever needed. Tell me what you think or theorize in the comments, they always inspire me.
The host
"Shall I join you?" Keiko smiled softly as she placed the cleaned plates back into their respected cabinets.
"Nah, I guess I'll be fine on my own." Yusuke said as he zipped up his jacket. "Besides, I think it would be a little too much on Kurama if we were to arrive together. If he's really not feeling well, I guess less is more."
"You're right." Keiko confessed. "Do you need to bring anything?"
"Botan told me she had pre-made some food so I just have to heat it, right?" He asked.
"Yes but don't forget to stir it when you're heating it up and don't put the flame too high or you'll burn it." Keiko poked his chest as she spoke in a matter of factly manner.
"I know how to cook." Yusuke scoffed jokily. "I make the best noodles in town, remember?"
"After I give you the pre-measured ingredients yes." She laughed. "Are you taking the car?"
"Do you need it today?" He asked curiously. "I was thinking of taking the bus but if the car is available that might be a better option. Public transport is getting more and more crowded by the day and delays are unavoidable at this time of day." He said as he eyed the clock on the wall.
"I don't need it." Keiko shook her head, her hair swinging from side to side as she did. "Take the car, you never know."
"Yeah." Yusuke turned to snatch the keys from the side table.
"You really don't need me to join you?" Keiko pouted slightly.
"I'll be fine." Yusuke smiled as he opened the door, ready to go outside. "Besides, I have something to discuss with him when he's feeling up for a conversation." He closed the door after Keiko nodded at him in understanding.
Though living together, they only had one car to their disposal. They never felt the need to buy a second one as they would either travel together or one had to stay behind to look after the shop. Yusuke opened the door and looked up at his apartment, Keiko was waving goodbye as she always did whenever he left to go somewhere. He waved back at her and got into the car.
He drove through the city towards the apartment complexes. They were the latest project for high end living spaces and Yusuke remembered Kurama being so ecstatic about finally having a place for himself. He lived near the centrum where nightclubs and shops made the area popular with youngsters. Yusuke didn't envy him, maybe a little bit, but he enjoyed his life in the noodle shop in the quiet area of the city. Where he first had to keep track of time so as to not miss the last bus, he would now just crash on Kurama's couch whenever he went out till the crack of dawn. He was only allowed to sleep over during the weekends due to Kurama's work as he had to leave in the early morning.
Driving into the parking-lot, Yusuke parked his car and locked it before eying the huge building in front of him. Making his way into the building he was met with an unpleasant surprise as a note on the elevator door deemed it defective. He sighed, eying the stairwell with disgust as he slowly made his way upstairs, counting the levels as he climbed the stairs.
...
The clatter of metal hitting the floor was the only sound in the room after Yusuke pulled the door out of its hinges. The door hung loosely from what was still bolted into the wall but it was open, that was all that mattered. Yusuke stood there in silence, his eyes met Kurama's, fully dressed, clutching one hand to his chest with the other. He took a few steps into the room.
"Don't come near me." Kurama said firmly, taking a few involuntary steps back. "G-get out." He stammered as Yusuke kept advancing, forcing him further back.
Yusuke kept his eyes on the fox as he retreated, repeating his words over and over again. He stopped when Kurama dove towards the wall in-between the bathtub and the sink, pushing his back as tightly to the wall as he could. Yusuke silently dropped to his knees when he reached him.
"Don't touch me!" Kurama rolled up, his hands over his head. "I don't want to hurt you!"
A thin black line was visible on Kurama's right hand, from the skin between his thumb and index finger to the middle of his hand. It looked like a big scratch but it smelled like a burn. Yusuke reached out, blocking out the warnings and grabbed Kurama's wrist, pulling his right hand out to have a better view. Kurama had silenced as Yusuke took his wrist, turning his hand to observe it had traveled the same distance on the palm of his hand. Kurama pulled his hand back when Yusuke was about to touch it.
"Don't touch it." He said harshly. "I don't know what it'll do."
"I know you told me to leave you alone for a while, but Botan asked me to check up on you." Yusuke looked him in the eyes, his hand still outstretched. "I was getting worried as you didn't reply to my call or my voicemail. If only I had just gone against your wish and.." He silenced, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Show me your hand."
"What? No." Kurama replied.
"That mark." Yusuke wiggled his fingers in the motion to show him to which Kurama hesitantly revealed his hand. "When did that appear?"
"Just now." Kurama swallowed thickly. "A few minutes if not seconds before you knocked on my door."
"How." Yusuke was wanting to ask him but it came out as a thought, were it spoken out loud.
"I was tending to my plants, but when I tapped into my spirit energy.." Kurama analyzed his hand with a puzzling look. "I felt a strange serge and my hand felt like it was on fire. That's when it appeared."
"The plants.." Yusuke left his sentence open so Kurama would finish it.
"They died." Kurama fought against the lump forming in his throat. "As if all of their life's energy was being sucked out. I- I got scared when you arrived, I don't know what it might do to a human."
"Has Botan or anyone else used their energy on you?" Yusuke asked hesitantly, still staring at Kurama's hand.
Kurama thought for a second before replying. "No."
As if a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders, Yusuke sighed a small sigh of relief. Deep down he knew that weight was the lightest of them all.
He didn't dare to look at Kurama as he stood and turned his back towards his friend, softly gripping the doorpost as he halted. "Have you eaten?" Yusuke said in an emotionless monotone voice as he felt his heart protest. It brutally and painfully banged against his ribcage, its vibrations present in his throat as he swallowed. He wanted to scream but knew that he shouldn't, he wished with all his might it was okay. He wanted to help and tell him it's going to be okay, but instead, all Yusuke could do was turn his back and act like it wasn't there.
He wanted to hit himself in the head when Kurama's reply came in a soft "No." The tremor in his voice made Yusuke cringe with guilt but he decided to walk out, he walked out of the bathroom towards the kitchen where Botan had stored some food.
Kurama lowered his gaze as Yusuke walked out. He stood and turned to the bathroom sink, his hair was slightly ruffled. Watching his reflection in the mirror for a view silent minutes before the sound of metal on metal snapped him out of his trance. Kurama opened the faucet and let the cool liquid run over his right hand, cooling the skin which felt like fire to him.
Pouring the soup in a bowl, Yusuke seemed to stare into space trying to decipher the best course of action. He didn't realize he overfilled the bowl, only realizing when the hot liquid dripped down on his foot. 'Shit' He murmured quickly to himself as he took a dish cloth to clean it up. Even as he cleaned, he kept zoning out, his mind wandering and walking different paths to find the one with the positive outcome.
Yusuke placed the bowl on the table. "You coming or not?" He said in the same stern voice. After a few seconds, Kurama emerged from the bathroom. Yusuke saw he had bandaged his right hand but turned away as soon as Kurama lifted his head. He didn't want Kurama to see his guilt, his anger, his confusion so he avoided looking at him all together.
He sat on the other side of the table and shoved the bowl towards Kurama. "Eat." He ordered.
"Yusuke I-"
"Eat." Yusuke interrupted, cutting him off. He monitored him from the corner of his eye and barely managed to stay calm when Kurama audibly grimaced, not being able to firmly hold the utensils so he switched the task to his left hand.
They sat quietly at the table, neither of them looking at each other until Kurama broke the silence. "I understand if you're mad at me."
"I'm not mad." Yusuke replied shortly, feeling Kurama's eyes burning in his side.
Kurama arched his brow. "You sound mad." He said quietly.
"But I'm not." Yusuke impatiently tapped his foot on the ground again.
Kurama emptied the bowl and ran his hand through his hair, hesitant to speak. "Then what is it?"
"Just thinking." Yusuke replied, still monitoring Kurama as he took his dish to the kitchen to clean up.
Feeling the unease, Yusuke suddenly stood. "I have to go." He said as he dismissed himself and hastily made his way into the hallway, getting into his jacket. Footsteps followed him into the hallway as he slid into his shoes and laid his hand upon the doorknob.
"Please don't go."
Yusuke froze, his heart was threatening to break his ribs as guilt was about to take over his senses. 'I could've prevented this' He thought idly. 'If only I'd known sooner.. If only I hadn't coaxed him into using his spirit energy.'
He stood there for a moment, feeling the presence behind him tense. He didn't move.
"I'm scared too."
In an instant he turned around faster than he thought possible when the words reached his ears. Kurama had followed him into the hallway and stood a few feet away from him. Yusuke stared right at him.
Silence filled the apartment again as they stood frozen in time. Yusuke's hand was still on the doorknob while Kurama ran his fingers over the bandage on his right hand.
"Please." Kurama repeated after a while, his eyes darting to the ground and back to Yusuke, his inhales shaky. "I don't know what to do."
Yusuke opened his mouth but no sound came out, he was muted. He didn't know what to do either but his mind ran wild with potential solutions, most of them futile. He released the doorknob when the next best thing came to mind.
Kurama lowered his hands, letting them fall loosely at his side. "Please."
"Are you well enough to go outside?" Finally the words came out, the fear in them prominent as he finally broke the emotionless spell he had placed upon himself.
"I suppose.." Kurama shifted his eyes from his hand, towards the living-room and back to his hand again. "Yes."
"Great." Yusuke grabbed Kurama's coat and held it out towards him. "Let's get you to Genkai."
...
"So, no progress yet?" Yusuke arched his eyebrow at the old psychic.
"Not physically, no." Genkai replied. "We did find out about his family tree."
"Family tree?" Kuwabara scoffed.
"Yes, it seems his descendants have been actively searching as well." Hiei busted in.
"Great, so when they realize we have it.." Yusuke thought out loud.
"We'll probably be targeted." Genkai finished his sentence. "We don't know what they want from it yet but we can't take any changes."
"Nice, so now what?" Kuwabara started. "You really can't manifest it, Hiei?"
"I already told you that nothing we've tried has worked." Hiei scoffed silently at the situation. "I theorize my jagan and the Dragon are rejecting it, disabling me from testing it's capabilities." He hummed to himself.
"Have you already tried dropping your mental barrier?" Yusuke didn't acknowledge the death stare Hiei gave him as he spoke.
"Of course I have!" Hiei exclaimed agitated. "That's also how I required it. But somehow it's not cooperating."
Books littered the room as Hiei ran his tired eyes across the last few pages, he didn't understand. But he also didn't understand why he wasn't feeling it like he did back inside the cave. Closing the book, Hiei rubbed his eyes with his hands, dark bags visible underneath them.
Genkai sat on the other side, her arms folded together as she observed him.
"Found something?" She asked him.
"No." Hiei slammed his hand on the floor with a growl. "God damn it! Is this all Koenma has?"
"Unfortunately yes." Genkai replied. "He doesn't know any more than we do right now."
"So we only know about the remainder of his followers." Hiei sighed. "Great, we didn't even find out what caused that clan to disappear."
"What clan?" Genkai frowned.
"Koenma asked me if I could see the patch of forest near the mountain of Yami, he said a traveling clan had disappeared there." Hiei started. "But when I looked, that part of the forest was empty. When we were sent out to obtain Owaranai Yami, we crossed no living beings, there was no trace of this clan. Makes me question if there was even a clan to begin with."
Genkai absently lowered her head, closing her eyes. "Maybe it's time for us to think of other scenarios."
"What does thät mean?" Hiei spat as he threw the book towards the pile, missing it completely as it landed in the corner of the room.
"Maybe you failed." Genkai tutted.
Hiei shot her an angry stare. "I didn't fail." He scoffed. "I felt it creeping up my fucking spine, there was nothing left when I was done."
"If you say so." Genkai shrugged her shoulders. "How about you take an hour or two to calm down outside."
"As in meditate?" Hiei hated it when she would ask him to 'calm down'.
"Yes. I'll be joining you outside shortly." Genkai stood to exit the room but turned around to face him once more. "We have to come to terms that you might have failed, meaning you haven't absorbed it at all." With that, she left, leaving Hiei alone.
'Yeah sure, I didn't fail, who does she think I am?!' Hiei huffed as he dragged himself outside and sat on the stone floor, watching the sunset as he rested his hands upon his knees. He took a deep breath to prepare when the shoji slid open.
"Can't you leave me alone for one fucking minute?" Hiei balled his fists upon his knees as he squeezed his eyes close.
"Sadly, I can not." Genkai answered as she closed the shoji and sat on the bench against the patio. "You might have forgotten that you're staying here until we've figured this out. I can't have you running now, can I?"
"Tsk, just watch me." Hiei murmured.
"I already am." Genkai shook her head slightly.
Hiei meditated, a trick he had learned from the fox and was encouraged by the old hag. He'd sit in silence, wait for his mind to stop wandering and dive into the archives of his mind. Running across all the actions he had taken that weekend to find a flaw in his strategy, but found none. He tried to reach into the back of his mind, searching for the source of Yami in an attempt to coax it to the front.
It took too long, he was losing concentration and the unsynchronized sounds of sipped tea didn't help him in any way. He had spent days trying to manifest something, anything, desperately tapping deeper and deeper into his spirit energy as his patience dwindled. Until the fibers of his calmness snapped.
He had viciously punched trees, driving them to the ground as Genkai watched the downwards spiral of progress. The countless books and scanned words were merging into a big blob of repetitive knowledge which circled around in his head like a tornado. The unstoppable train of thought, red lines ending in dead ends as he tried to tie two and two together. It made him restless, driven to train harder, try harder. It had to work, but it didn't work at all.
Now he meditated, silently. Ignoring the smell of camomile and the sound of porcelain, he meditated.
A familiar energy signature approached the temple and Hiei sighed slightly under his breath. 'What'd he want now.' He turned his head towards the entrance, expecting Yusuke to barge into the temple in his over the top manner, requesting, no, ordering attention for something he'd find more important.
Hiei raised his eyebrow as another energy signature came into view. 'The fox?' Hiei relaxed and stood from his position in the courtyard. Something felt wrong but Hiei couldn't place it, a feeling of dread flooded his senses and he braced himself, balling his fists at his sides as he awaited their arrival. He expected to hear them talk, but all he could hear were their silent footsteps upon the temple's stairs.
His gaze followed Genkai as she turned and walked back into the temple without saying a word.
He felt the plant manipulator was walking behind significantly and Yusuke's energy halted multiple times to wait for him to catch up. The stairs were as ruthless as ever. During his stay at the temple, Hiei was prohibited from leaving. As much as he hated company, he had actually wanted to talk to the fox and ask him for advice.
Kurama had helped him succeed in the demon world, he knew what to do, he could stay calm in the presence of lingering evil and Hiei needed him once more. He needed him to read the books, to make the connection and tell him what the next best course of action would be. How he could summon and control the unknown thing he accepted into his mind when he dropped his barriers. There was no doubt Kurama would know what to do, Hiei was sure of it. He loosened his hands and inhaled deeply before continuing his wait.
Yusuke was the first to appear at the top, he looked behind him, down the stairs and extended his hand. Hiei frowned as his gesture was rejected by the fox who swiftly appeared a few seconds after Yusuke did.
"Hiei." Yusuke was tense, Hiei heard it in his voice.
"Yusuke." Hiei replied with equal emotion.
"Where's Genkai?" Yusuke asked.
Hiei eyed Kurama with curiosity, his eyes obscured by his bangs as his head hung low, his right hand pressed into his pocket. From what Hiei could see, he concluded he was here to ask her for help. 'Are you okay?' Hiei tried communicating telepathically but was met with a dead end. Kurama had closed off all telepathic and spiritual connection. He tried again only to receive silence again.
"I'm looking for Genkai." Yusuke repeated when Hiei didn't reply to the first time he asked.
".. She's gone back inside the temple." Hiei said. Kurama immediately headed towards the entrance, quickly followed by Yusuke. Hiei decided to follow, staying a couple of meters behind.
Yusuke sped up and passed Kurama before they reached the temple, he opened the shoji, having it clatter against the wooden doorpost as he slid it open. "Genkai!" Yusuke blasted through the temple as he made his way into the building, Kurama following closely.
The psychic emerged from one of the rooms, her face blank as she stared at her former student. "No need to yell." She said calmly, walking back to her seat. "I already felt your presence, I would be lying if I say I didn't expect it."
"We have a slight problem." Yusuke stepped into the room and allowed Kurama to pass him at the entrance.
"Sit." She ordered, Kurama didn't complain, he knelt down on the opposite side.
Genkai arched her brow. "Show me."
"Please don't touch it." Kurama said softly.
"I won't." Genkai moved her hands behind her back, supporting the sincerity of her words. Kurama took his hand out of his pocket and pried at the bandage, undoing it slowly. Hiei stood in the door opening, reluctant to interfere, supervising Kurama's movements like a hawk.
The bandage was loose, bundled upon the table in a small, loosely rolled manner. Hiei swallowed at the mark but Yusuke's eyes seemed to have widened. The mark was like that of a scratch, covering two thirds of his hand. Kurama audibly shivered upon seeing it himself.
"Flat on the table please." She requested. Kurama nodded and placed his hand, palm down, upon the table.
Genkai took a deep breath before leaning forward over the table, her hands clasped behind her back. "What is this?" She asked him, she knew he didn't have a clue what it was but she needed him to start thinking back to last weekend. "How did this happen?"
"I don't-" Kurama silenced, the gears in his mind turning as Genkai forced him to think. "I wanted to use my spirit energy to feed my plants.. That's when it appeared.."
"Think back to what happened." Genkai coaxed him. She had a suspicion on what it was but she needed him to figure it out as well.
"We went to the mountain of Yami to search for the source of power which disintegrated an entire patch of forest, I used my energy to.." Kurama halted to think but quickly continued. "I used my energy to find the affected area. The first time everything seemed normal but when I did it again closer to the source it felt like I was being pulled into something, it was as if it was also looking for me." Kurama's eyes widened. "It wasn't just me looking for it, it was also looking for me."
Genkai hummed underneath her breath as she sat back down.
"I did lose contact with Hiei when he was in the cave but that's about it. That was the only odd thing I've noticed." Kurama ran his thumb over the mark. "On our way here, Yusuke informed me about its divarication. He said it's transferred by either consuming it or manifesting your energy into it." He balled his right hand. "I manifested my energy in the affected area.."
With one swift motion, Genkai reached over the table and took Kurama's hand into her's, pulling it towards her.
"No don't t-"
"Stop your whining." She said harshly. "It'll be fine if none of us use our energy, so if I don't use my energy on you and you don't use it on me, we'll be fine."
Kurama was still suspicious but allowed her to take and turn his hand as she pleases. Genkai ran her finger across the mark, holding her finger still on the outer part of the mark. "It's expanding." She said silently. Kurama nodded silently as his worried eyes met her's.
Yusuke had taken out his phone and sent one short message to Kuwabara as Genkai spoke with Kurama.
"Are you finished with classes?"
It only took a few minutes for Kuwabara to reply. "Yeah I just finished, why? Wanna meet at the arcade?"
"The temple, now."
"Why? Did something happen?" Kuwabara replied back fast.
"Just come as soon as you can."
Kuwabara was on his way and it wouldn't take him long to arrive as his university was on the same side of the city.
Hiei on the other hand couldn't take his eyes off of the strange mark which had appeared on Kurama's hand. Looking at his own right arm he remembered the marks of the dragon which decorated it before he consumed and completely absorbed it, seeing the resemblance in the two.
"Does it hurt?" Genkai asked to which Kurama shook his head.
"It just feels like it's burning but it doesn't particularly hurt." Kurama gave her a forced smile. "It only hurt when it appeared, since then it has just been a burning feeling."
Genkai released his hand and stood from her position, ordering Kurama to stay seated as she retreated into a different room only to reappear with what looked like a simple houseplant. She set it on the table in front of Kurama who eyed it with concern.
"You already know what I'm going to ask of you, don't you?" Genkai said firmly, turning the plant so its leafs faced Kurama. "Make it bloom."
"I can't.." Kurama hesitated. "I don't want to."
"You want to know what's wrong with you, right? So do I." Genkai took a few steps back. "But we can't figure it out by just looking at it. Make it bloom." She repeated.
Kurama reached his hands towards the plant but snapped his head towards the entrance as the shoji opened and closed once again. A new set of footsteps approached as a rough voice traveled through the hall into the room.
"Yusuke!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Why did I have to come here in a hurry?"
Yusuke pressed his index finger against his lips to silence Kuwabara, which didn't work. It only made him more curious.
"Why? What's going on?" Kuwabara reached Yusuke and dropped his bag.
"Ssh, be quiet you fool." Yusuke hissed softly.
Kuwabara squinted his eyes in confusion until Yusuke motioned towards Kurama inside the room. Kuwabara's eyes met Kurama's for a brief moment before Genkai pulled Kurama back to the matter at hand.
"Make it bloom." She ordered.
Kuwabara stood behind Hiei, towering over him as their height difference didn't impact his field of vision. The three of them watched how Kurama hesitated, like he did back inside the forest. Genkai was pushing him and Hiei felt Kurama's resistance to her command. However, he knew that Kurama had no choice but to demonstrate it if they ever wanted to figure this out.
He held his breath as Kurama relaxed, ready to unleash his spirit energy into the potted flora in front of him. However, when he did, the defenseless and innocent life inside the pot began to dwindle. Hiei was torn from his observation as Kurama yelped, the sound silent but loud enough for his ears. He had retreated his hands and clutched his right against his chest, holding his breath as he waited for the burning to subside.
A burned smell reached Hiei's nostrils and he wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant smell.
"Hey something's on fire!" Kuwabara panicked as he looked around unknowingly.
Genkai had beaten him to it, quickly retrieving a bowl big enough to submerge a hand in water. Kurama didn't hesitate as she cautiously placed it next to him, taking a few steps back as Kurama placed his hand inside the water.
"It's burning the hairs and flesh on your hand." She grimaced.
"I already knew that." Kurama spat, the pain affecting his patience. He took a moment to breathe before pulling his hand out of the water, taking a shaky breath as he analyzed the two new additional marks which had appeared on either side of the first one. One above it, gracing his knuckles with an ugly line, some parts thicker in width than the rest. The one underneath it was larger, just above his wrist. Kurama rolled up his sleeve to see if there were any more, sighing as there weren't any other ones.
The marks were blackened as if they were burned to a crisp. Kurama was slightly shaking as he submerged his hand one more time.
"Hey.." Kuwabara muttered in disbelief. "Hey hold up. What the fuck is going on." He kept his voice low.
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Yusuke whispered back.
"The dragon.." Hiei spoke. ".. It looks kind of similar to the dragon. It feels kind of similar." Hiei absently placed his left hand on his upper arm, where the dragon once laced his skin, crawling down to his hand, covered by bandages as he trained to control it.
"Similar?" Yusuke questioned.
Genkai looked at Kurama's hand from a distance, biting her bottom lip. "Has anyone used their spirit energy on you?"
"Yusuke already asked that and the answer is still no." Kurama bit through gritted teeth.
"Good." She replied, approaching the table with caution.
"I think your 'small problem' isn't as small as we thought." Genkai spoke as she laid a careful finger on the plant, it crumbled underneath her touch. She turned towards Hiei who had already taken a few steps into the room. "It seems our 'worst case scenario' thought has come true, but worse."
Hiei's eyes widened. "No, that can't be. I absorbed it, I felt it." He stepped into the room. "We did everything right, they weren't even in the area.."
Taking a few more steps back, Genkai looked down upon Kurama with empathy as he kept his hand submerged under water. He looked tired, his physique shaken as his brain processed the information. Turning back to Hiei, Genkai shook her head. "It seems it had decided against your plan, Hiei. It settled in the wrong host."
Oh no, Hiei's not happy at all.
See you in the next chapter!