Yusuke ran as fast as he could down the dark hallways and out into the streets. He looked up at the sky- the full moon was rising, meaning there wasn't much time left. He had to find Hiei and Kuwabara before the moon rose much higher or it was the end of the line for me and quite possibly for Kurama as well.
"No!" I pleaded. "Batosei, please leave him alone!" Back on the table, my wrists and ankles shackled once again, I had no choice but to watch Hitukeri Batosei and his legion of vampires torture Kurama in the way they had tortured me. "Please, just let him go!" Kurama looked like he was barely alive- with the cuts he had and the beatings he'd taken, it wasn't surprising. Then, he looked up at me and smiled... if I didn't know better, I would say he acting tough just to impress me. Suddenly, Batosei snapped his fingers and the hoards of vampires backed off. This had to be too good to be true. Suddenly, a window in the ceiling above me opened and some light from the full moon shown down on me. Yeah, it was too good to be true.
"Hiei! Kuwabara! Botan!" Yusuke had finally spotted his friends and rushed over to them as quickly as he possibly could. They looked at him like he was crazy, until Hiei noticed that Kurama wasn't with him.
"Where's Kurama?" he asked in his normal tone of voice. Yusuke shook his head.
"Batosei," he replied. "He's got them both." Hiei looked calm, just as he always did, but wasn't fooling anyone. Kurama was the closest thing Hiei had to a best friend and everyone knew it. Everyone also knew that no matter what was said, Hiei did care about Kurama. And he wasn't about to let him be eaten by a bunch of mangy vampire... and while he was at it, he might as well save me too.
This was it- time was up. The full moon was high in the sky and shining right on me. Batosei was standing next to me in his demon form, a book in his hands, preparing to perform the ritual. From what I understood, he's read this little scripture that would send my spirit out of my body and replace it with Tsuki's. After that had been done, I would technically be dead, but my body would still be living- Tsuki would be a full blooded human. So, after her spirit had been placed in my body, Batosei would simply bite her neck and the ritual was over.
As Hitukeri Batosei began to recite his little chant, I looked over at Kurama, who had taken my place in the chains on the wall. After I was gone, he would most likely become Tsuki's main course, unless Yusuke and everyone got to him first.
"Kurama?" I called softly. He had been staring down at the ground in defeat- he had come here to save me and, as far as he was concerned, he had failed. But when he heard my voice, a bit of hope seemed to fill him and he looked up at me.
"Kaira?" he asked in reply. A small smile curled my lips as a single tear cascaded down my cheek. There was something important I wanted to say... but never got the chance.
Suddenly, I let out a painful scream. Batosei had finished his spell and my spirit was being sucked out of me. If you couldn't tell by my screams, it hurt like hell. Imagine this: you just walked across a shag carpeted floor in your socks and touch something with your hand- a doorknob, a piece of silverware or even another person- and you receive a small shock. Take that shock and make the voltage limitless. That's how I felt... then seconds later, I felt nothing at all.
"No!" yelled Kurama. "Kaira!" My body was then taken over by Tsuki's spirit, which had been hovering overhead, looking like a black cloud. It floated down and went into my open mouth, causing Batosei to let out an evil laugh as he bent down over my neck.
"With this bite," he said. "I bring you back, my beloved." Kurama watched in horror, trying to get himself free in the process, but to no avail. Batosei was closing in on my neck...
Suddenly, he froze. Then he stood up and turned toward Kurama- the point of a stake was sticking out through his chest, right in the area where his heart would be. Batosei then turned towards the door way: Hiei was standing there, a grin- a smug one, but still a grin- on his face and his arms crossed in front of him.
"Sorry, Batosei," he said. "But if anyone's gonna kill that girl, it's gonna be me." The vampire just glared at him. Seconds later, he dropped to the ground as his skin pealed away, followed by his muscles and bones. In a matter of minutes, he was gone. After he had left, Batosei's followers charged towards Hiei, who simply stepped towards the side, revealing Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan. As the team of guys started in on the vampires, Botan rushed over to Kurama and freed him from the wall.
"Kurama," she said. "Are you...?" He said nothing, but staggered over to the table where my body lay dormant.
"Kaira?" he asked. "Kaira, please wake up." He began to brush some hair out of my face when my hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. Seconds later, my other hand grabbed him by his throat.
"Don't touch me."
Kurama was aghast- it was my voice, but it was spliced with an evil growl. Tsuki had taken over and proved that by throwing Kurama across the room. Botan backed away quickly, afraid that she would be next, but Tsuki merely walked over to Kurama and grabbed him by the neck again.
"I shall kill you now," she said evilly. "Just the way you killed my love." Kurama stared into her eyes, waiting for the end to come. Suddenly, Tsuki let go of Kurama's neck and the boy dropped to the floor. He was confused- she was ready to kill him. Why stop? That's when he heard a voice.
"First of all, he didn't kill Batosei. Second- if you want him, you're gonna have to get through me." Kurama could believe who he was hearing… and seeing- it was me. Well, sort of.
"How can you be alive?!" yelled Tsuki. "I'm in your body!" I let out a chuckle as I combed my fingers through my hair.
"You may have my body," I said. "But you don't have my spirit." I patted my chest. "And here it is, one hundred pure, ready to whip your ass." I charged at her giving her everything I had, which was, needless to say, a lot. I was now pure spirit energy- my power was limitless. Tsuki, on the other hand, was merely a human… a human in my body, which still sported a broken arm. I was gonna hurt like hell when I was finished, but it would be worth it.
By this time, Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara had finished off what was left of Batosei's followers and were now watching me beat up myself… well, it's not like their jobs ever really made a lot of sense anyway.
"Yusuke!" I yelled as I drove my fist into Tsuki's stomach. "Get that damn book!" I was talking about the one Batosei had used to bring back Tsuki- if that took my spirit out of my body, maybe it could put my spirit back.
"Got it, Kay!" Yusuke said as he ran towards the book. He picked it up off the ground and started to read. One problem- the writing was in some sort of demonic language. "Hiei! Get over here and read this!"
"Keh," said Hiei, shaking his head. "I'm coming." Yusuke had expected Hiei to tell him to fuck off or something. There was no love lost between Hiei and I, that was certain... then again, even Hiei had a heart, no matter how small. Still, he didn't exactly rush right over to Yusuke.
Meanwhile, Botan was trying to keep Kurama from getting up and hurting himself even more. He kept trying to get off the ground and get over to help me- Botan couldn't convince him that I was doing fine on my own, even though I was visibly creaming Tsuki.
"I am sick..." Punch to the stomach. "Of wasting..." Spinning heal kick to the side of the head. "My time..." Another punch to the stomach. "On you!" I gave her a final uppercut that sent her flying across the room, before summoning my Spirit Bow. Kurama looked at me in shock.
"No Kaira!" he yelled. "If you fire your Spirit Bow the way you are, there won't be any of you left!" Botan knew he was right- I was pure spirit energy at this point in time and because of my anger, firing my Spirit Bow would use up most of, if not all, of that energy. But I didn't hear them in time.
"Spirit Bow, multiply!" This was a trick that I rarely used- instead of one arrow forming, I got five... and I fired all of them at Tsuki. It seemed that the Spirit Arrows were linked to me: as they flew towards Tsuki, I slowly unraveled- it was as if I was a piece of cloth and someone was pulling on a loose string.
"Kaira!" I looked over at Kurama, who was leaning on Botan, his jaw hanging open in fear. I gave him a soft smile as I slowly disappeared.
"I love you, Kurama," I said. "And no matter what happens, I always will." Kurama was speechless- he knew what he wanted to say, but his mouth refused to form the words and not for a lack of trying. The next thing he knew, I was gone, but I managed to say one last thing: "I know, Kurama. I know."
"There!" said Hiei. "I read it- her spirit should be back in her body by now." Yusuke didn't say anything, prompting Hiei to give him an annoyed look. "Well, I wasn't expecting at 21 gun salute, but a simple thank you would be nice." Yusuke shook his head.
"If she's gonna be all right," he said. "Then why does Kurama look so sad?" Hiei looked over at Kurama- he was sitting on the ground with my body resting in his arms. I looked like hell, even more so since the Spirit Arrow attack. Kurama brushed my hair out of my face, hoping my arm would shoot up and grab his once again. No such luck.
"Kaira," he whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you... and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to say the one thing I really wanted you to hear. I love you too, Kaira Urameshi." He leaned in towards my face. "And I always will." With that, he gave me a kiss, one that was long and passionate. When the kiss had ended, a tear rolled down Kurama's cheek and landed on my own. But what really surprised Kurama was that I reacted to it- when the drop hit my cheek, I flinched. My eyes closed tighter, but just for a moment. After that, they slowly opened and I looked up at the red haired boy who had me in his arms. I smiled.
"Hey there." Kurama let out a gasp.
"Kaira!" he stuttered. "You... you're..." I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled his face back towards me.
"Shut up and kiss me."
***Hey everyone, Kaira here! Yeah, so I survived- disappointed? Anyway, that's the end of this case, but do not lose hope! This is "The Kaira Files," remember? There's gonna be more cases, I guarantee it... but not until I recover from my own Spirit Arrow attack. So stay tuned for the new cases, next time on Yu-Yu Hakusho!***