DISCLAIMER: I do not own FoR or any of its characters. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
BABY YOU'RE MINE
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 7
Tokiya and Fuuko went back to the kitchen and were greeted by the usual rowdy scene. Recca, Domon and Kondo (despite his lack of functional digestive system) were begging Yanagi to feed them some more. Yanagi, on the other hand, kept swatting their hands away from Tokiya and Fuuko's food with a ladle. The squabble stopped once they realized that the two had returned.
"Oh my, they didn't eat anything?" Yanagi exclaimed. Unbeknownst to all, Kondo had snuck past Fuuko and grabbed the tray of untouched food from Tokiya. He did nothing to stop the kitsune but Recca wasn't as forgiving.
"Oi! Oi! Come back with that food, baka, or I'll turn you into a pile of ash," Recca yelled as he chased after Kondo to the other room. Domon, taking advantage of the chaos, inched towards the table. But he misjudged Yanagi's alertness so all he got was a tall bump rising from his Mohawk due to a hard swat of the now bent ladle.
"Itai!"
"Serves you right," Fuuko muttered as she sat by the table.
"How are they doing?" Yanagi asked.
"They're asleep. At least that's one less worry," she answered back, trying hard to ignore Domon's wail but it seemed it was only getting louder. "What the heck is your problem, baka?!"
Domon sniffed as a river of tears fell from his eyes. "Our Kaoru and Ganko are both so grown-up now...sleeping together. Lucky guy! Ne, Fuuko-chan, do you remember those memorable times when we slept to—"
"URUSEI, HENTAI! AND DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME CHAN!"
"ITAI!!!" Another bump rose behind the first one making him look like something that escaped from Jurassic Park. He moved away from Fuuko but tripped on Tokiya's leg that was oh-so-conveniently blocking his path. He was about to collide with the backdoor but unfortunately for him Kurei opened it from the outside.
So what's a flame caster to do when a gorilla's about to collide with him in a rather queer way?
"Oi, Oniichan, Okaasan. Okaeri." Recca came back to the kitchen, chewing on a chicken bone. He stepped over a charred, horned Domon to assist his brother and mother with the various scrolls they were carrying.
"So did you find something," Fuuko eagerly asked. Kagerou and Kurei had been away all these time researching about a madougu that they could use against Tsukiho. She couldn't help but feel hopeful with all of those texts they brought home.
"Maybe, maybe not." The older flame caster sat opposite her and assumed his usual cross-legged position.
"Stop baiting us, Kurei. We don't have much time. That jerk is getting bolder in his moves. Do you have something or not?"
"We're still not sure, Fuuko-chan," Kagerou answered calmly. "There's no point in raising your hopes only to have them crashing down."
"We only found one madougu that could possibly serve our purpose." He grabbed a scroll and unrolled it on the unoccupied portion of the kitchen table. Tokiya, Recca, Fuuko and Yanagi perched to read the ancient text. Domon was still twitching on the floor.
"Spirit ball?" They all read in unison.
"Hai. It's a psychic device that is capable of sucking in souls."
"I haven't seen this device before but I have heard of it," Kagerou added. "It literally sucks the life out of a person in order to give its wielder additional strength and power."
"It is such an evil device that most texts say that the Hokage had it destroyed even before Nobunaga's invasion." It was Kurei's turn to talk.
"You mean the only madougu that could save Ganko might not even be existent anymore?!" Fuuko cried out indignantly. Tokiya had to push her back down on her seat and rubbed her shoulder to help her calm down.
"Is that true, 'kaasan?"
"I'm not sure, Recca, but as far as I know none of the madougu were destroyed before Hokage was disbanded."
"Then we're at a dead end," Tokiya muttered.
"Not entirely," Kagerou hesitated for a minute. She wasn't sure if she should divulge any of Hokage's secrets. It's not as if she didn't trust these kids but if words reach the ears of evil people, people with the likes of Koran Mori, then chaos would surely break.
"What is it, 'kaasan?"
The pleading look on her son's face did her in. He truly cared for the young ones even if he would rather be caught dead than say it out loud. "There is something my master told me but you must promise that this knowledge wouldn't leave this room."
Everybody nodded then looked at Kurei in unison. "Yare yare, don't look at me like that. I have no desire getting involved in illegal activities anymore, not those concerning any madougu that is. You have Uruha's word that the secret would stay safe."
"Very well. I remember my master telling me that all forbidden arts of the Hokage were confiscated and stored in a cave somewhere near the village. No one was allowed in there except for the okashira and the elders."
"So you think the Spirit Ball is hidden there?" Kurei, as usual, was the first to react.
"That's my guess. If not then it must have been destroyed or worse."
"We'll start there. We'll worry about its other possible whereabouts if we won't find it in the forbidden cave. Raiha!"
Suddenly the raijin wielder appeared from the shadows at the other side of the room, mindful not to step on the rousing Domon. It was a common occurrence, he or any other remaining member of Uruha popping out of nowhere to do their master's bidding. But still that didn't stop Recca and the others to sweatdrop and feel a bit unnerved.
"Yes, Kurei-sama," Raiha bowed low to the other guy.
"You heard what Kagerou-san said. Gather the others and search for the madougu," Kurei ordered then tossed him a scroll that has a sketch of the psychic device. "Don't take anything else. And be wary of traps. No doubt that the place will be filled with them."
"Yes, Kurei-sama." He took a step backwards and merged with the shadows again, causing the others to sweatdrop some more. How he did that was beyond them, not that they wanted to know anyways.
"Even if we do get the psychic device, there are still some obstacles," Kurei spoke up again. "One is we don't know how it works. It might take more than just Tsukiho's soul but ours as well assuming that it hasn't been used for centuries. Its thirst may be too strong. Another problem is that we don't know if it will work with a wandering soul. Most of the texts describe that the Spirit Ball works by stealing the soul from a live body."
"I see what you mean," Tokiya piped in. "Tsukiho's body had long since festered. Not to mention that we can't tell if he's around, not unless he makes his presence known. By the time we could use the madougu it may already be too late."
"Well since he's after Ganko then isn't it logical to let her have the Spirit Ball so that she'd be ready when he attacks?" Fuuko said.
"It may be logical but is it wise," Recca followed. "She may not be able to handle such a powerful and dangerous device. I'm pretty sure that she would need physical and mental strength in order to handle it."
Not about to be left out from the conversation, Yanagi decided to do what she does best—cheer everybody up. "Ne, minna-san, don't be too pessimistic. At least we're going somewhere. We'll handle the obstacles as they come. In the meantime, how about some strawberry shortcake...EEP!!!"
At the mention of food, Domon grabbed the nearest thing that could support his rise. Unfortunately for him (again) that 'nearest thing' was Yanagi's tush.
Poor Domon. It seemed like he would need to get to a veterinarian quick. Or maybe he should just report Recca and the others to the local animal rights group. After all, gorillas were endangered species.
~Scene Change~
Tsukiho stood across the street and watched the house in disgust. After his little fun with the girl, he left to calm his anger. When he got back to her classroom she was no longer there. He had glided from one part of her school to another, trying to catch her aura but it wasn't there. Next he went to the apartment she shared with her sister but much to his irritation neither she nor the pathetic excuse for a puppet was there.
Where could she be?
He had always been a patient man even when he was still alive. Evil but, nevertheless, patient. He could have just killed the girl in that alley once he realized where she placed the Kata Kugutsu but unfortunately she used it on a canine doll of all things. He abhorred dogs of any kind. And she paired the madougu with another device, making it much stronger.
He had to retreat that afternoon, telling himself that it wasn't because of his fear of dogs that made him do so. He wanted to think of a nice strategy to retrieve the devices so he decided to play with her in the meantime.
What he didn't count on was that he became obsessed with the girl. His desire to have her for himself was overwhelming. The spunky girl was his possession as well as the madougu in her care. She was his to play with and he did not want her to be preoccupied by thoughts of someone else.
Imagine his ire when he found out that his little Ganko was harboring a secret crush on that monkey boy. So secret, in fact, that he was fairly sure that the girl herself didn't realize her affection. That was what almost made him kill her. Cold fury running through his veins where his blood used to flow though he didn't let any of the jealousy display in his attack.
Ganko is mine and no one else is going to have her.
If given a chance he would have guarded what's his night and day. But he couldn't. Just because he was dead didn't mean that he couldn't perish. He could feel himself weakening. The energy left in his soul was fast diminishing due to his wandering. He had to rest so as to conserve that energy that supported his existence. He was capable of 'haunting' for an hour, two at most. It was not enough time to torment his Ganko, least of all steal the madougu from her.
He needed a body…and fast! His energy would not be able to support him much longer—probably a week at most. Even less so now since he used a considerable amount of strength trying to find the girl's whereabouts.
After an hour of searching he sensed her aura in this large house. He did not know who owned the place but he was pretty sure that the owner was one of her old friends.
That was another problem. She was constantly around these people nowadays. Having tapped in her memory at every opportunity he could, he knew that these people were powerful ninjas. Hokage ninjas headed by not just one but two flame casters. Though they could not touch him since he was a ghost, he knew that it would not hold them back. They protect their own and Ganko was definitely regarded as one of their kind.
Nevertheless, they would not stop me from getting the girl and the devices. Time to visit Ganko…
He floated across the street, ignoring the cars and the people that passed through his translucent body. At first, it had irritated him but as time passed he realized the advantage of being nothing more than air to live humans. One was being able to walk in a room full of noisy idiots without being detected. He gave these people a sneer before leaving to follow the girl's aura.
Once he reached outside her room, he peeked in by passing his head through the door. What he saw made him growl quietly in fury. He quickly went in and stood there, transfixed by anger. The monkey boy was half on the girl's bed, an arm thrown possessively around her waist.
Nobody touches my Ganko! Nobody!
He glided across the room and stood in front of the boy's sleeping form. He began to reach out in order to insert his hand through his skull. He could manipulate dreams this way and he was planning on giving him a nice beating and scare. His hand touched his forehead and was about to go through but was stopped when the door suddenly opened.
Hanging onto the turned knob was the stuffed kitsune. Tsukiho straightened mostly because of fright. Sure the fox was just a fluffy doll but it was capable of transforming into a live one. He watched warily as the doll dropped on its stubby feet and stared suspiciously around the room.
He can sense me!
Tsukiho started to back away but accidentally dropped his gaze back on the boy. Anger and possessiveness instantly overrode fear. He will pay for trying to steal my Ganko.
Before he could change his mind, he quickly went to the kitsune who was still trying to find out what was amiss. Closing his eyes from such an ugly sight, Tsukiho bent down and hugged the doll. Within a second, he disappeared into the doll's body. He would rather possess any other puppet but the kitsune would have to do. Another second later, Kondo's black button eyes flashed white signaling the ghost's total control of his body.
It has begun. Soon, Ganko, you will give me what I want. You will be mine, count on it.
To be continued…
BISHLOV'S NOTES:
Lame chapter, ne? Gasp! IT'S THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER WRITER'S BLOCK!!!
I know I had been in hiatus for I can't remember since when but I can't help it. So very sorry!!! I just simply don't know what to do with this. Well, I have a very rough idea on how to go about but I won't make any promises when I'd be able to post another chapter. Perhaps some of you could inspire me *hint hint*.
Anyways, if you want to receive email notifications when I had the next chappie up then please leave your email addy and I'll add you to my mailing list. If you had been receiving notices but want me to stop bugging you then kindly tell me so (and leave your addy so I could delete it from the list).
Until next time then (hopefully soon…keep your fingers crossed)!!!