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Jiana: If that one got you excited, I can't imagine how this one will make you feel.
Guest: Soon, dear reader, soon.
Cezarina: Neither can I! I hope you'll enjoy this one as we dive deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
Note
Yay! A new chapter before the new year!
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been reading this year. To a new and inventive year!
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.
Puzzle pieces
A cool breeze made its way through Botan's hair as she leaned against the railing of her balcony.
"You're not going to sleep?" Ayame said from behind her.
Botan gave a startled gasp before relaxing again at the sight of her friend. "No, I can't sleep." Botan shook her head as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
"Come sit with me." Ayame smiled and patted the untouched bedsheets. Botan sank down onto the mattress, grabbing the cup of tea off of the platter Ayama had brought with her. "What's bothering you so?" Ayame asked.
"He's sending them back." Botan murmured against her teacup. "The thing that's in the forest is apparently still there."
"They will figure it out, they work for spirit world, the elite." Ayame reassured her.
"I need to help them somehow." Botan frowned.
"How do you plan to do that?" Ayame asked her.
She looked down at the ripples forming in the liquid. "We need new artifacts."
Ayame's eyes widened as she swallowed a mouthful of the warm liquid. "Are you out of your mind?!" She whispered harshly. "You've already been kidnapped for knowing about that thing, you're not going to interfere and put yourself into more danger. Koenma is already keeping you on the backburner."
Botan chuckled. "They need someone to help them out behind the scenes, Koenma won't do anything to help them when shit hits the fan, you know that as much as I do."
"Yeah but…" Ayame halted.
"Koenma is keeping me here because I already know too much, if you let anything slide he'll hide you too." Botan smiled as Ayame tried to fish for words but drew blanks. "I'm trusting you to keep all of this to yourself."
"What about you and Kurama?" Ayame asked, slightly bending the conversation.
…
"Sir, someone's here to see you." The voice of a young woman rang through the speakers of his office phone.
"Bring 'em in." Kurama answered as he tightened his tie and straightened his blouse. His hair was tied back in a middle-low ponytail to reveal more of his face. He looked up as someone entered his office.
"I should've known it would be you." He smiled at her.
"Look at you." Botan beamed. "This is a way better position for you."
"Thank you." Kurama nodded and planted a kiss on her forehead. "What are you doing here? My shift is almost over."
"That's the point." Botan pulled his face back towards hers and pecked him gently on the lips. "I like the gesture but I prefer one of these."
"Noted." Kurama chuckled.
"I was in the neighborhood and thought it would be nice to pick you up, we can grab a bite on our way home." Botan sat down in one of his office chairs while Kurama resumed his spot behind his desk.
"That sounds like an excellent idea, I was thinking of ordering out anyway, don't feel like cooking." He scanned over the last few of his emails. "Tell me, what were you doing which caused you to be in the neighborhood?"
Botan leaned back in the chair. "I went shopping with Keiko."
"That explains the bags." Kurama eyed the couple of bags neatly placed in the corner of the office.
"We also grabbed something to eat, ofcourse she had to ask for my relationship status."
"Did you tell her?"
"No, not yet."
Kurama gave an approved humm and nodded, a sly smile on his lips.
"She said she's waiting for Yusuke's next move." Botan continued.
"His next move?" Kurama raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Remember when Yusuke asked her to marry him before going to demon world?"
"During the tournaments to determine the new demon world ruler? Yes."
"Well, she's waiting for him to come back on that."
"Can't she just start the conversation herself?"
"I suppose she could, but she's afraid he might cop out."
"He'd never." Kurama shook his head, eyed his watch and shut down his computer. "Let's take this conversation somewhere nice, shall we?"
"It would be a pleasure." Botan smiled as Kurama slid into his coat and took the bags from the office floor. They passed the woman from the front desk office, Kurama and the woman exchanged their 'good day' s but her attitude towards Botan turned to that of jealousy as Kurama presented his arm to her, she gleefully hooked her arm around his as they exited.
...
Kuwabara was awoken by Yusuke's snoring, he laid on the other bed with his arm over his face, the sheets partially kicked off of his tangled limbs. He sighed and sat up on his bed, wiping his eyes as his vision momentarily went black. The amount of sleep he had wasn't enough to boost his energy reservoir.
Nothing particularly strange had happened that night, the only out of place thing which had spurred Kuwabara to consciousness was the fact that Kurama had roamed the halls towards the courtyard. The pulsating noises coming from the barrier surrounding him indicated he'd tried to either get out or weaken it to the point where he could get out one night.
For now, Kurama, Genkai and Yukina were already up and back into their research. Kuwabara made his way over to the study group with a stifled yawn.
"Good morning Kuwabara." Yukina smiled. "What would you like for breakfast?"
"Morning princess!" He squealed. "Anything you make will be a feast for me."
"Can you turn it down for once?" Yusuke had woken and was stumbling blindly through the hallway as he rubbed his eyes with a stifled yawn.
"Look who's talking, I'm not breaking the sound barrier with snoring." Kuwabara clapped back.
"Well at least I slept." Yusuke grumbled.
"Loud and clear." Kuwabara shook his head and took a seat at the table. "We had quite the marathon yesterday." He faced Kurama who was nose deep in a book.
"We did." Kurama began, not looking up from his activity. "Slept well?"
"No, not really." Kuwabara laughed sheepishly. "The barrier was making some weird ass sounds."
At this, Kurama dropped his book and faced Kuwabara with a look of utter shock. "Wait, you went out of your room?!"
"No! No I didn't." Kuwabara held his hands up in defence. "I just listened, what happens out there anyway?"
"Though I tried raising the barrier as soon as possible, some demons still know of this location. We've had some uninvited guests over the past few days." Genkai said.
"So you're trying to tell me that there were demons inside the barrier when we were asleep?!" Yusuke's jaw hit the floor.
"Yes but I eliminated them for you so you could continue your beauty-sleep, you need it." A smaller form entered the room.
"Well look who the cat dragged back in, Hiei." Kuwabara crossed his arms as he sat at the table, muttering a small "Thanks princess." As Yukina placed his breakfast in front of him.
"I'm here to help." Hiei said.
"Oh yeah? Where were you these last couple of days?" Yusuke sneared.
"The Makai." Hiei responded softly.
"Of course you were in the Makai, where else would you be?" Kuwabara said as he took another bite.
Hiei was about to reply but Kurama cut them off quickly. "Hiei." He said as he softly shook his head.
There was no room for silence as Yusuke's phone rang in his pocket. He sighed dramatically, expecting it to be Keiko but hummed as he saw Botan's name pop up on his phone screen. He saw Kurama glance at him questionly and decided to take the call outside. Everyone watched him leave the room to take the call.
"Botan." Yusuke answered.
"Koenma is requesting you all back to his office." Botan's voice reached his ears.
"Shit." He bit his lip. "It's not gone, is it?"
"No it's not."
"Damnit."
"Is Kurama there?"
Yusuke's features softened. "He's inside."
"Ah." Botan seemed to hesitate for a moment. "How is he?"
"I don't know." Yusuke said sincerely. "We're still figuring things out but for now I guess he's doing okay. Tell Koenma we'll be over in a few minutes."
"I will... Oh, Yusuke."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"Anytime." Yusuke said before he hung up and made his way back inside. All eyes were on him when he entered thus he decided to not keep the awkward silence. "We gotta go back."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a multitude of reactions and emotions filled the room. Kuwabara sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair with his face to the ceiling. Hiei scoffed softly as if he already knew. Yukina's hand rose to cover her mouth, eyes wide and fearful. Genkai turned silently towards Kurama who had lowered his eyes to his hands as he picked at a loose scab.
It wasn't long before they were all at the edge of the barrier, clothed and ready to return to where it all happened.
"Kurama.." Genkai started but she didn't have to finish her sentence.
"I'll do what I must." Kurama nodded.
Genkai nodded back then raised her voice so the others could hear her clearly. "Listen up." She waited until everyone had turned their attention towards her before continuing. "If something goes wrong." She looked at Yusuke. "If anything goes wrong. Run. Do not fight or confront. Just run."
…
"So let me repeat." Yusuke rubbed his eyes with his hand while the other was on the armrest of his chair. "It got 'snatched up' by other demons?!"
Koenma folded his hands together as he assessed the party in front of him. "Indeed."
"How." Kuwabara budded in. "And by multiple demons?! How are we going to find them? I don't think they will be giving their share to us willingly."
"That's when you do it by force." Koenma said. "And I don't think there will be many. My bet is they have already started weeding each other out. You will need to come up with a strategy to fight them and kill as little of them as possible."
"Can't we just wait for them to completely annihilate each other? Then we just come in and beat the winner of their own little battle royal!" Yusuke lifted his shoulders and gave a smug smile. "We'll only fight one and have everything in one go."
"We can't fight a top class demon with that amount of power." Hiei said.
"I can't fight that." Kurama corrected. "I don't even know what it can do or what will happen when I fight with it."
Koenma nodded approvingly. "Just as Kurama says, our understanding of this thing is still fairly unknown. They've weeded each other out enough and it is time for you all to step in."
"I can fight them too." Hiei turned towards Kurama.
"Just find a way to collect all the pieces of this puzzle." Koenma opened a portal for them to enter. "I can take you close to your first target. If you don't find him immediately, don't worry because he will definitely find you."
Kuwabara cautiously got out of the portal after Hiei, setting foot into demon world soil. The same rotting smell assaulting his nose. The rest followed soon after. He looked around the seemingly normal looking forest. "So the guy is somewhere around here, huh?"
"That's what babyface said." Yusuke patted his back and started walking. "He shouldn't be close so I'd say we get this over and done with as soon as possible."
They walked for a while when Kurama stopped suddenly. Kuwabara turned. "You good?"
Kurama raised his hand and pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. Yusuke and Hiei had both stopped as they heard Kuwabara speak but kept their mouths shut at Kurama's sign. Silence hung over them, dead silence. Where once the trees croaked, leafs crackling as the wind passed through them, there was now silence.
In a flash, Kurama charged at Kuwabara and threw him and himself out of the way before a tall but slim figure came crashing down, it's claws firmly in the ground where Kuwabara once stood. Yusuke and Hiei took a few steps forward to stand in-between them.
"What is that thing?!" Kuwabara exclaimed as he recovered from the sudden tackle.
"It's a Kamaitachi." Hiei said as he unsheathed his sword.
"Oh, hello fine gentlemen. I was just looking at your prey over there and I'm not going to lie, it made my mouth water." The demon smirked as it pulled its claws out of the loosened soil, its facial features twitching every so often.
"Hey I'm not their prey!" Kuwabara yelled.
"We know you are not here for the human." Hiei hissed.
The demon cooed delightfully. "Well I thought why not boost up my power and catch myself a snack in the meantime?" An uneasy smile on its face as its body hunched forward, wide eyed.
Yusuke grimached. "This one's out of his mind."
"That's what it does to demons of his class." Kurama added. "Do not try to reason with it, it will be futile."
Hiei turned his head and saw Kurama had moved to stand next to him. "I'm the one you'll be fighting." Hiei said in a stern voice, ignoring warning looks from Kurama as he did so.
"Very well then." The demon cracked its neck in preparation.
"Hiei, no." Kurama said. "It didn't latch on to you because the dragon was protecting you. It will continue to do so but you have to realize they will be after me, I will have to extract the energy out of them." Kurama said calmly.
Without acknowledging his words, Hiei charged towards the demon.
The sound of metal against metal echoed through the forest, Yusuke and Kuwabara looked on as Hiei swermed around the demon, it's claws strong enough to block his sword.
"Come on." Hiei spat. "Use it. What are you waiting for?!"
"You dare challenge me, little man?" The demon straightened his back. "Fine, I'll accept your request."
"This is bad." Kurama muttered under his breath.
"How is this bad? We let Hiei handle the Kamaitachi and we'll just sit back and watch. If it does power up, we won't be able to touch it without getting affected anyway." Yusuke lifted his shoulders.
Kurama shook his head. "If Hiei keeps challenging it like this, it'll be harder for me to do what we're here for." He looked around for any usable things but ended up reaching into his hair, recovering a small seed.
"What are you planning to do with that?" Kuwabara asked, his eyes on the small seeds between Kurama's fingers.
"You aren't supposed to use your spirit energy." Yusuke added.
Deep in thought, Kurama closed his eyes. "I just need one weapon." He said softly. The rumbling sound of flowing energy coming from the Kamaitachi stirred Kurama out of his trance. With one sharp swing and a muffled groan, the seed turned into his signature rose whip.
The smell of burned skin directed the demon's attention off of Hiei and onto the remaining three. "Do not worry, half-breed. I will dispose of your body myself after I've taken what's mine." It said as it licked its lips.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Hiei spat from the other side of the field.
"I'm doing what we are supposed to be doing." Kurama said. "Ready when you are."
The demon laughed. "I've been ready for days, red. I've been waiting for you."
Not soon after, the demon attacked, running as he chuckled amusingly. Kurama also advanced forward only to direct the upcoming flood away from Yusuke and Kuwabara. The demon tapped into the cursed energy as it lashed out to Kurama. Using his rosewhip, he dodged, winding the vine around the creature's hand. He jumped up onto its back, taking the wrapped hand with him as he looped the whip around its neck and pulled it tight.
The Kamaitachi gurgled as Kurama placed his free hand between its shoulder blades, initiating the extraction of energy.
"You got him now!" Yusuke pumped one fist up in the air as he saw the demon struggle. Kurama had directed the demon's hand over its other arm, enabling it to reach up.
As soon as the demon heard the chants, it held its breath and snapped its head forward, throwing Kurama off balance. With the restraints loosened, it reached up and took a hold of Kurama's leg, swinging him off of its back and onto the grass with speed.
Kurama recovered quickly as the demon attacked again, its claws digging holes into the soil as he dodged them. Seeing one small window he managed to get back up to his feet.
A small but steady stream of energy came from the demon as it decided to give itself a boost. Its eyes were focused on Kurama while its mouth was curved in a malicious smile. Then, it disappeared. Kurama stayed silent, his ears perked but unable to catch any sounds.
"I can help you." The damned voice rang inside his head again.
"I don't need your help." Kurama murmured under his breath.
He felt Hiei's eyes burn into his side as he overheard Yusuke's "Who's he talking to?"
As if hit by thunder, the demon reappeared, slamming Kurama into one of the trees surrounding them.
"I can help you." It repeated. Kurama sighed, he knew he couldn't beat a demon without using his spirit energy. "It'll only be a little bit." It continued.
The Kamaitachi laughed. "Lost your spark, red?"
"I've only just started." Kurama replied.
From the other side, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei were merely spectators as Kurama blocked the demon's next attack with such force it would be impossible to not have contained some sort of energy.
"Is that..." Kuwabara inhaled sharply.
"He tapped into it." Hiei tutted, his tone dispicing and bitter. Disappointment clearly audible.
They swung at each other back and forth until the demon managed to claw Kurama's shoulder, drawing blood. Stepping backwards, Kurama leaned against a tree as he challenged the demon to attack again. It did.
"He better have a fucking plan." Yusuke paced in small circles around Kuwabara.
"Clearly he does, stop vulturing, you're making me dizzy." Kuwabara kept following him with his eyes.
Kurama dodged just as the demon was about to hit him again, its claws digging into the tree instead. "Lost your spark?" Kurama grinned as the demon struggled to free itself from the bark, not sensing the vines climbing up its figure. It was immobilized.
"How?!" The demon growled as it realized the upcoming defeat.
A loft smile graced his face as he laid his hand on the demon's chest. "There's spirit energy in my blood, though I can't control it myself, I was lucky enough you moved to the right place at the right time."
The Kamaitachi looked down to see some blades of grass under his feet, a thin coating of red on their tips. Directing back to the tree he saw a smear of blood on the bark but not where his hand connected with the tree.
"It was on your hands too." Kurama began the extraction again. "I will not kill you, that's not why I'm here."
"Why are you here?" The demon asked calmly, getting drowsy from the declining level of energy.
"I'm here to collect what's… Mine." He said as he broke the connection, the extraction was complete. The demon crumpled to the ground as the vines and tree bark loosened their restraints. The energy in them, fading.
"Is it safe?" Kuwabara yelled. Kurama nodded in return and Kuwabara was about to approach him when Yusuke held him back.
"Wait here." He said as he passed him and made his way over to the fallen demon. A quick pulse check told him the demon was still alive, just unconscious. He turned towards Kurama. "You weren't supposed to use any spirit energy, yet here you are, going against Genkai's word." He said in a hushed tone as to not let the conversation leak to anyone else.
"She hasn't mentioned anything about me using my spirit energy." Kurama replied. "I did what I had to do."
"Bullshit, last time I checked you weren't supposed to use anything. She especially told me you aren't allowed to." Yusuke whispered harshly.
"That was before she trapped me inside the temple." Kurama mimicked his tone.
Yusuke shook his head softly. "That trick with the spirit energy inside your blood was a good shot. Where have I seen that before?"
"During the dark tournament when I fought against Touya, I couldn't use my spirit energy because it was locked away. The seed of the death-plant did as I predicted when I planted it into my own bloodstream. This trick can work both ways." Kurama squeezed his shoulder.
Yusuke huffed as he saw Kuwabara approaching. "Just… Don't pull shit like this again, okay?" He said under breath before raising his tone as Kuwabara got too close. "We should get that covered up."
"Did you do it?" Kuwabara said as he joined their little circle. "I've never seen you fight like that."
Kurama nodded. "Yes, it has been done." Ignoring the remarks about his fighting.
"Is it still alive?" Kuwabara asked as he eyed the unconscious demon cautiously.
"It is." Yusuke answered. "Hiei, Kurama, do any of you have a lair around this area? I guess our best option is to find shelter before it gets dark." He looked up at the tree where Hiei had occupied one of the branches. He looked down on them with a scowl as he shook his head.
Kurama gave a small chuckle to his friend up in the tree. "I do, we'll be able to make it there before the dark comes."
…
The lair was the size of a studio apartment, Hiei had lit a small fire to keep everyone warm while the years of build-up energy kept them safe from any trespassers. Kuwabara was sleeping like he hadn't done so in years as Yusuke returned from his midnight stroll.
He couldn't sleep. It wasn't the fact that they were in demon world, it was the fact that they were sleeping in the same space as Kurama. Though he was on the other side of the space, he still felt some unease.
The sitting form of Hiei was lightly illuminated by the fire, his legs crossed as he clutched his katana.
"You're not going to sleep?" Yusuke whispered as to not wake Kuwabara or Kurama. Hiei only looked at him before he locked his eyes on Kurama's form again. This was all Yusuke needed to know. Hiei was staying awake to monitor the only thing close to a threat.
Yusuke shook his head at the idea.
"You should sleep." Hiei spoke suddenly.
"I could say the same about you." Yusuke said as he settled down next to Kuwabara.
Hiei gave a small hmph before resuming his silent observation.
…
"So how do we approach the next one?" Kuwabara sighed as they followed a shallow river.
Yusuke chuckled. "If we ever find the 'next one' that is."
"Koenma said our next target is roaming around this area. We shall find it soon." Kurama said as he paced in front of the group.
"Hang on for one hot second!" Yusuke stopped abruptly. "If we're going into another battle, we should have a plan." He waited for the rest to join him before continuing. "You should be the one to think of strategies first for fuck sakes." He said as he pointed his finger towards Kurama.
Kurama raised his shoulders. "I've actually been pondering a battle strategy, but we should try it out first."
"As long as you don't pull any freaky shit…" Yusuke added.
"Listen." Kurama began. "You can all fight them."
"Na-ah, and get infected? No fucking way." Kuwabara scoffed.
"I can extract the owaranai yami out of everyone and everything." Kurama looked at Kuwabara. "Though extracting small quantities is the easiest and safest for now. Genkai and I have found out that the energy is limited, see it as a shared system."
"How?" Yusuke asked.
Kurama took a few rocks from the river bed. "Imagine these as the energy reserve. Let's say a demon has about ten rocks, whenever an attack hits, it passes a rock to the target." Kurama handed a rock to Kuwabara. "Now you have one while the enemy remains with nine. I can easily extract small amounts, this way, the demon will become exhausted enough to handle."
"I get it, I guess." Kuwabara muttered. "So whenever I get hit, I inherit some of the energy but the demon loses some?"
"Exactly." Kurama confirmed.
"And by letting you extract it from me and Urameshi, you can steal the energy without fighting." Kuwabara nodded.
"You got it." Kurama returned the gesture.
"But how do we know this is going to work?" Yusuke said skeptically.
"That is something I don't know yet." Kurama said. "We'll have to see. Of course Hiei can fight them without any major consequences but I've been told to only kill when there's no other option."
"As long as you know I'm fighting." Hiei scoffed. "If we want to find our target before dark, we have to move. We've been wandering around aimlessly for hours, I suggest we split up."
"No." Kurama stopped him. "We can't take them by ourselves, you have nothing to transfer the energy to when you kill it." He told Hiei. "And if both of you get exposed to an amount you can't handle…" He halted for a second as he eyed Yusuke and Kuwabara.
"Then what?" Yusuke said coldly. "Think we can't handle it?"
For a couple of seconds, the rushing wind was the only audible sound amongst the group. Kuwabara could feel the tension build between Yusuke and Kurama as their staring contest continued. "We should get going." Kuwabara sighed, turning all eyes towards him. "Like Hiei said, we should finish this before dark so I suggest we continue on with Kurama's plan."
"And then what? We're screwed if it doesn't work." Yusuke spat.
"Then at least we tried." Kuwabara explained. "I'm glad enough we have a fucking plan to begin with."
"Fair enough." Yusuke scratched the back of his neck. "We'll try it, but you better come up with something better just in case it doesn't work."
Kurama just nodded in acknowledgement and followed as Hiei led them further down the stream.
It was only when the sun began to set, Hiei stopped them with a harsh shush. He caught the sound of a struggle. "In the tree." He whispered. "Now."
All four of them leapt up into the assigned tree and watched a scene unfold just behind the bushes where they were walking.
An Ogre stood with his back towards them, the still struggling body of another ogre at his feet while he held a large bat made of stone. He dropped the red covered bat to the floor as he lowered to his knees.
Yusuke thought back to their encounter with the succubi, how a once living creature's life got sucked away, leaving just the shell. A soulless vessel. The scene he saw there was the same as this one. The Ogre placed his hand upon the other creature's chest, stealing life and light as it became still.
"I know you're there." It said, still kneeling at its former comrade's body. "I know why you're here, it's the same reason why I'm here. Sadly for you, I got here sooner."
Yusuke was about to speak but halted when Kurama covered his mouth.
From the other side of the brush, another demon emerged. "That will just make it easier for me." The second demon said.
It wasn't long before the two began their struggle. The humanoid demon was smaller and faster than the ogre, granting it immediate advantages over the battle. It was short-lived however as the humanoid demon tapped into his portion of yami.
With two ogres dead, the humanoid demon extracted the energy, nearly doubling its own. It was about to leave when it suddenly stopped and turned. Kuwabara swallowed thickly as it neared the tree they occupied. He felt a droplet of sweat run across his face, he was too late to catch it as it fell all the way down right in front of the demon.
"I already suspected I had an audience." it said as it looked up, eying Yusuke and Kuwabara directly. The tree started shaking before they could reply and before they knew it, the tree was falling to the ground. There was no opportunity to jump as the branches prevented a quick escape, when Yusuke saw one, he leapt for it. He yelped as he wasn't fast enough, resulting in the tree scraping the skin on his left leg.
The demon did nothing but stand near the stump of the fallen tree. Hiei looked around to make sure everyone was out before turning towards the demon, sword in hand. "How did you manage to do that so quickly?" He said through his clenched teeth.
"Didn't you know you can do things like this?" It showed his hand. "I can destroy everything I touch as long as I charge some yami into it."
"Well, someone did his fucking homework." Yusuke straightened himself as Kuwabara helped him up.
"Tell me." The demon started. "How much of it do you possess, little man?" It said as it taunted Hiei.
Hiei's eyes widened for a second at his remark but the gears in his mind told him to go with it. "As much as you think I do."
"What the fuck are you doing, Hiei!" Kuwabara exclaimed but a quick jab on his side from Yusuke told him enough. Kurama had managed to hide himself behind one of the trees, the demon believed they were with three.
"Guess I'll find out soon enough." The demon grinned as it invited Hiei to attack. "The first move is your's."
In a flash, Hiei's sword clashed with that of the demon. They were stuck in a tug of war as the scraping of metal against metal echoed through the open area of the woods. Yusuke saw his change and advanced. He clenched his teeth as his leg ached but he kept going, they had to finish this as soon as possible.
Yusuke's fist was about to hit the demon's jaw when it pushed back with a blast of energy, sending both Yusuke and Hiei flying towards the trees. As soon as Yusuke landed, he got back up and charged again, Kuwabara following him this time.
"You're a feisty bunch." The demon said as it powered up for another attack. It managed to catch Yusuke mid air, taking his wrist while the other hand grabbed hold of Yusuke's shirt. It slammed Yusuke to the ground in one swift motion before tapping into yami. Kuwabara's eyes widened as he realized the fight was taking a literal dark turn.
Summoning his spirit sword, he managed to hook the demon off of Yusuke and catapulted him across the field. Reality set in a few seconds later as the queasy but somewhat familiar feeling returned, he had been infected. He charged again without hesitation and jumped up, intending to hit the demon from above. The air was forced out of his lungs as the demon's fist connected with Kuwabara's ribs, creating distance once again as Kuwabara landed near the tree where he knew Kurama was hiding.
Hiei took over and distracted the demon as Kuwabara slid behind the tree, finding Kurama had observed them from a distance.
Kurama placed his hand on Kuwabara's chest as the transfer started. Unlike last time, Kurama managed to stop in time, only taking a fraction of Kuwabara's own energy. "Thank you." He said softly.
"We can't fight him." Kuwabara shook his head. "We can barely land a hit."
"I know." Kurama nodded to Kuwabara's distaste. "Like I said, whether you hit him or not, you'll inherit some of the dark energy he possesses, no matter if you hit him or he hits you." Kurama laid his hand on Kuwabara's shoulder. "Yusuke doesn't want me to fight, Kuwabara, this is the only way I can think of."
When Kuwabara returned, Yusuke was struggling to stand while Hiei was held up by his neck. The demon threw Hiei down with an angry growl. "Tell me, which one of you has it?!" It sneered.
Yusuke merely laughed from his crouched position. A few specks of red covered his lips as he coughed softly. "That's none of your business."
The demon saw red as he kicked Yusuke hard against his ribcage, causing him to roll over with a pained groan. It turned towards Kuwabara with a look of disdain. Kuwabara felt his body stiffen as the demon approached him.
"Or is it you?" It said softly as its hand found itself upon Kuwabara's neck, checking his energy flow. The demon's features contorted sourly as he found nothing. "You're all wasting my time." It spat as it threw Kuwabara against one of the trees.
Kuwabara hadn't had the time to react when a blade embedded itself into his abdomen, pinning him to the tree.
"I'll just take your energy to compensate for the amount I've lost fighting the likes of you." It sneered as it lifted his hand to Kuwabara's face.
Kuwabara closed his eyes but opened them again as he felt no touch or change in energy level. Opening his eyes once more, he was frozen to see Kurama had taken a hold of the demon's wrist.
"That'll be enough, I recommend you keep your grimey fingers to yourself." Kurama said, a dangerous scowl on his face. "Buzz off before I break them one by one."
The demon did as Kurama said and retreated his sword, allowing Kuwabara to slide down to the ground, stunned. "So It's you, I knew we were missing someone." It said as Kurama walked over to Yusuke, who was still on the ground. He knelt down next to the struggling detective and placed his hand upon his skin, extracted the small amount the demon had bestowed upon him with.
A hand found itself on Kurama's sleeve, pulling him down towards Yusuke. "Don't you dare." Yusuke said through his teeth. "Don't you fucking dare." He repeated.
Yusuke's eyes met Kurama's, without a single word, Kurama broke free from Yusuke's grip, rising to his feet as he turned towards the demon.
"But my patience isn't limitless.." Kurama discarded the piece of cloth wrapped around his shoulder, freeing his arm from the restrictions. "Those who are made can be unmade."
Hehe... I'll return in the new year with the new chapter, for now I want to wish you all merry Christmas and a happy new year!