Disclaimer:I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Togashi Yoshiro does. I just hope he
doesn't mind me horribly extorting his characters for my own twisted uses.
***
Aiko groaned and laid a hand on her forehead. "It hurts...." she moaned.
"I should think so. Even.......regurgitated......Yuusuke's ki is fairly strong."
"Kurama, I have a God-damned avalanche in my forehead. Stop using big words." The kitsune smiled gently at her and turned to face Hiei.
"Hiei, when Aruma fights--" He was cut off as Hiei waved a hand.
"I know. Just get over here and heal these two. Botan's breath is getting shallower." After checking the poultice around the bloody gash on the ferry girl's forehead, Kurama slipped a small seed into her open mouth. A minute later, her eyes fluttered open.
"N-nani des ka?" Kurama touched her shoulder.
"Don't try to move. You've been badly hurt."
"No shit." Hiei and Kurama shared a look. Botan cursing?
"Just how hard did you get hit?"
"Shut up, Kurama." Smiling, the kitsune glanced at Yuusuke. He had sustained the most damage next to Aiko, probably from protecting Botan. They didn't know it, but he had been awake the night before. Yuusuke had most likely dismissed his muttered "Finally" as sleeptalking.
If he had only brought his tape recorder......no, he couldn't do that to Keiko. She was too easily hurt. Kami only knew how easily hurt she was. She was Yuusuke's damsel in distress, which wasn't nessecarily a bad thing.
It was the fact that she was CONSTANTLY in distress.
***
Aruma stood outside the door of the Tantei's cell, eyes closed and arms crossed. He was back. After all this time, all the hell she had gone through, he was back. That damned youko, back to throw her life into limbo. She opened her eyes to stare at the door. Anata had ordered her to go back in there and bring them to the tournament. She didn't want to. She didn't think she could face him. She had promised him, on his deathbed, that she would follow him anywhere. But she hadn't been able to. She had stayed here. Like a coward. He'd never take a coward back into his arms. But orders were orders. Damn that shadowed son of a bitch and his one-track mind......he knew her status. That's why he had made her his lackey. As a point of humility. Angry, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. She still had her pride. He could never take that from her.
Not as long as she could remember........
***
Koenma's eyes widened. "My word....." he whispered. "I had no idea....."
"Me either," Kuwabara breathed. "She's hot." Koenma threw a Pop-Tart at the back of his head.
"You ass! That's the ruler of the Makai!" Brushing strawberry goop out of his hair, Kuwabara turned.
"I thought Raizen and Yomi and Mukuro were the rulers of the Makai." Koenma sighed.
"Poor fool," he muttered. "Aruma was the overall ruler, the Queen. She left her throne; nobody knows why. But she gave Mukuro her power and her throne. Yomi and Raizen stole most of that from her, thus initiating the three rulers of the Makai." Kuwabara blinked.
"But how'd that Anata dude make her his slave if she was Queen?"
"She wasn't Queen anymore, stupid. She gave Mukuro her throne, remember?"
"Oh yeeeeeah! Hey, don't throw any more Pop-Tarts at me. I'll never get this stuff out." Koenma mushroom sighed.
"Why me?"
***
Aruma pushed the door open to see Hiei wrapping a bandage around Aiko's arm and Kurama helping Yuusuke sit up. "Are you ready?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to leave.
"If I may," Kurama asked, making her spine stiffen, "Who will the first warrior be?" She closed her eyes. Dammit, he wanted to fight her!
"I will." She replied without turning. "Now come. Master Anata requires your presence." Catching the sneer as she said "Master", Hiei allowed a small smirk to cross his face before lifting Aiko in his arms.
"Put me down, Hiei." She ordered in a whisper. "I won't let him see me weakened." Nodding, the koorime gently set her on her feet. "Thank you." She took a step and nearly collasped as her knees buckled. Hiei caught her, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"My Ryka...." She shook her head, lips pursed.
"No, Hiei." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Hiei, let me go." With a small shake of his head, Hiei helped her upright and tried to steady her with his ki as she limped down the hallway behind Aruma. Kurama was fighting first. He'd go next, then Yuusuke. She needed time to recover, but you'd never know it with the way she was acting. He'd chain her to the wall if he had to, but she WOULD rest. Damn, but she was stubborn.
Uh, Kettle? This is Pot. You're black.
***
As they entered the room above the arena, Aruma turned to face them, lips pulled into a tight line. "Each one of you, injured or not, must fight one of Master Anata's warriors. Every one of you. Even the weakling with the oar." Botan's face flushed in anger as she set Yuusuke down from his shaky perch on the oar.
"Step over here and say that, bitch." she muttered, glaring at the wall. "I'll show you weakling."
If Aruma heard, she gave no notice. Face set in stone, she surveyed the Tantei. "Will the first fighter please follow me to the arena. The rest of you must stay here to keep you from interferring with the fights."
"Did she just call me a cheater?" Yuusuke demanded, struggling to stand. Botan pulled him back down, whispering for him to rest. Kurama, with that easy grace that only he possessed, moved in front of her.
"I will be the first fighter." Aruma's light brown eyes flashed fire as she turned to go down the stairs.
"Very well. I hope you are a gracious loser."
"Of course." She placed herself at one end of the arena, watching as the kitsune posistioned himself at the other. "Shall we begin?"
"Only if you are ready to die." She launched herself at him, drawing one of her twin swords. Kurama merely removed one hand from his pocket and grabbed her wrist.
"Did you really expect that to work?" he asked with calm arrogance. Now furious, Aruma drew her other sword and stabbed towards his waist, only to have that blow blocked as well. "You've stolen my sword technique. I believe that warrants a counter attack." With a quick twist, the black- haired warrior's arms were behind her back, the blades clattering to the stone floor, useless. He pulled her to him to whisper in her ear. "I can take you out of here," he breathed, making her go still. She remebered those words, from so long ago........
"All you have to do is trust me."
~~~~THE FLASHBACK~~~~
Aruma slipped into bed, waiting for the door to close. When it did, she leapt up, throwing the covers back. He was coming tonight. She could feel it. Quickly pulling her hair into a bun, she wrapped a robe around her lithe frame. There was no telling when--
"Why cover up?" She spun, a grin on her usually stoic face. Kurama stood there, golden eyes glistening in a streak of moonlight. "It'll only delay the inevitable." Aruma stepped forward, eager to feel those muscular arms around her again. It was unheard of, a Queen loving a common theif. But it was true. Nothing could change that fact. The youko bent, catching Aruma's lips in his own. "My neko," he whispered against her neck, exciting the cat spirit within her. She smiled as he led her to the bed, her eyes already shifting to the lavender hues of the youko.
Hours later, she lay with her head on his shoulder, breathing in the delicious scent of roses that surrounded him. "It's almost dawn," she whispered. "You'd better go."
"When will I be able to watch the sun rise with you, my neko?" he asked, drawing his hand through her ebony locks. "You are Queen. Can't you change the rules?" The neko sighed, knowing as well as he did that he knew the answer.
"Kitsune, we've been over and over this. To change such a long-standing law could very well cost me my throne." He cupped her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.
"Then give up your throne. Make someone else Queen and come with me, away from these damned laws and rules and ever-watching eyes. I can take you out of here. All you have to do is trust me.We can regain your power together, and rule side by side." She cast her eyes downwards, considering the option. She could give that girl Mukuro her throne. She would rule wisely. Maybe it was time another family took the throne. Did she really want to carry on a legacy of deceit and tyranny? Or start a new legacy? With Kurama? She looked back up at him as the first rays of dawn crossed his face, giving his skin a golden glow.
"Come back in three days. I'll be ready then." A smile crossed the kitsune's face. He kissed his neko one last time and climbed out of bed, wrapping the tunic once more around his body.
"I love you, my neko."
"I love you, my kitsune." The door opened just as he slipped out the window, still smiling.
"Lady, who are you talking to?"
"I must have been muttering in my sleep again, Mitsu. Hand me my robe, will you?"
And so she gave up her power, slipping away in the night with the kitsune theif. Together, they became the greatest force in the Makai, and the secret of her love was released. It didn't matter anymore, now that she was no longer Queen. Not long after their escape, they were married. It was quite possibly the shortest ceremony in Makai history, as Mukuro's forces raided the area as soon as they were spotted.
They stayed on the run constantly, until that fateful day when the fox's arrogance would get the better of him. The wound was deep, and despite all his power, his skill, his love, he was dying. Aruma tried to make him comfortable on the rocky ground, raising her ki around the area to keep the hunters away. "Kitsune," she whispered.
"Aruma." His voice was hoarse. "I'll place my spirit into a human child. I'll wait for you in the Ningenkai. Follow me." She nodded. No tears would fall from her eyes. Youkai didn't cry. That was a weakness, not a strength.
"I'll follow you anywhere. I swear it."
"I love you.....my neko...."
"I love you, my kitsune. I'll find you."
"I'll.....wait.....forever.....if I.....must......" The baritone voice faded, and Aruma watched as his spirit rose above his now-lifeless body to the Ningenkai. Then she stood and threw her fist at the nearest boulder. It shattered.
The hunters would watch for hours as Aruma destroyed everything in sight, except for Kurama's body. Destruction is the only way to ease a youko's pain. And even then, it never truly fades. It's always there, eating away at your soul until you too fade from this realm.
And still it burns.
~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~
The neko winced as Kurama pulled her still closer. "I never followed you," she whispered. "I was a coward. I deserve to stay here."
"How can you say that?" he hissed. "You deserve so much more than this! I have your ring," he said, his voice growing just a bit louder. "It fell right in front of me, as if from the sky." Her eyes were wide.
"I--I lost it in a raid," she whispered. "I commanded the Theives after your death."
"I know," he replied. "Now let me knock you unconsious so I can take you out of here, back to the Ningenkai with me. We can still fufill our dreams....." Aruma thought for a split second before coming to the only reasonable answer.
"Okay. Just hurry."
***
Akimi: Yay! I didn't think that flashback would be any good, but it was.
Tien-Su: Modest much?
Akimi: Yes I am! Reviewer recognition!
Tien-Su:You have no new reviews.
Akimi: OH YEAH! Look, I know I only posted Chapter 4 four days ago, but that's still rediculous. SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED! And I know that wasn't the best chapter I've ever written, BUT SOMEBODY COULD HAVE REVIEWED AND SAID SO ANYWAY. Please review. It's my motivation. Please please please?
Tien-Su: Maybe if you didn't put the fights in there.....
Akimi: Oh, shut up. I have a good reason. See, my on-line "little sister", Rei-chan, said I messed up the fic by putting the tournament fights in there. But when I origonally wasted over 70 sheets of paper by writing this fic, I was trying to make it like an episode of YYH. And, in every plot arc, there is a tournament-style fight. So, in trying to make it like the show, I put the fights in there. Don't worry, it won't be TOO cliche.
Tien-Su: **cough**
Akimi: Shut up. Preview!
Chapter Six:
We get a little glimpse of the future, and Hiei goes mega-OOC as Aiko begins her fight.
Akimi: Okay, so that sucked. Deal with it.
Tien-Su: See you then!
Akimi: Ja!
***
Aiko groaned and laid a hand on her forehead. "It hurts...." she moaned.
"I should think so. Even.......regurgitated......Yuusuke's ki is fairly strong."
"Kurama, I have a God-damned avalanche in my forehead. Stop using big words." The kitsune smiled gently at her and turned to face Hiei.
"Hiei, when Aruma fights--" He was cut off as Hiei waved a hand.
"I know. Just get over here and heal these two. Botan's breath is getting shallower." After checking the poultice around the bloody gash on the ferry girl's forehead, Kurama slipped a small seed into her open mouth. A minute later, her eyes fluttered open.
"N-nani des ka?" Kurama touched her shoulder.
"Don't try to move. You've been badly hurt."
"No shit." Hiei and Kurama shared a look. Botan cursing?
"Just how hard did you get hit?"
"Shut up, Kurama." Smiling, the kitsune glanced at Yuusuke. He had sustained the most damage next to Aiko, probably from protecting Botan. They didn't know it, but he had been awake the night before. Yuusuke had most likely dismissed his muttered "Finally" as sleeptalking.
If he had only brought his tape recorder......no, he couldn't do that to Keiko. She was too easily hurt. Kami only knew how easily hurt she was. She was Yuusuke's damsel in distress, which wasn't nessecarily a bad thing.
It was the fact that she was CONSTANTLY in distress.
***
Aruma stood outside the door of the Tantei's cell, eyes closed and arms crossed. He was back. After all this time, all the hell she had gone through, he was back. That damned youko, back to throw her life into limbo. She opened her eyes to stare at the door. Anata had ordered her to go back in there and bring them to the tournament. She didn't want to. She didn't think she could face him. She had promised him, on his deathbed, that she would follow him anywhere. But she hadn't been able to. She had stayed here. Like a coward. He'd never take a coward back into his arms. But orders were orders. Damn that shadowed son of a bitch and his one-track mind......he knew her status. That's why he had made her his lackey. As a point of humility. Angry, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. She still had her pride. He could never take that from her.
Not as long as she could remember........
***
Koenma's eyes widened. "My word....." he whispered. "I had no idea....."
"Me either," Kuwabara breathed. "She's hot." Koenma threw a Pop-Tart at the back of his head.
"You ass! That's the ruler of the Makai!" Brushing strawberry goop out of his hair, Kuwabara turned.
"I thought Raizen and Yomi and Mukuro were the rulers of the Makai." Koenma sighed.
"Poor fool," he muttered. "Aruma was the overall ruler, the Queen. She left her throne; nobody knows why. But she gave Mukuro her power and her throne. Yomi and Raizen stole most of that from her, thus initiating the three rulers of the Makai." Kuwabara blinked.
"But how'd that Anata dude make her his slave if she was Queen?"
"She wasn't Queen anymore, stupid. She gave Mukuro her throne, remember?"
"Oh yeeeeeah! Hey, don't throw any more Pop-Tarts at me. I'll never get this stuff out." Koenma mushroom sighed.
"Why me?"
***
Aruma pushed the door open to see Hiei wrapping a bandage around Aiko's arm and Kurama helping Yuusuke sit up. "Are you ready?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to leave.
"If I may," Kurama asked, making her spine stiffen, "Who will the first warrior be?" She closed her eyes. Dammit, he wanted to fight her!
"I will." She replied without turning. "Now come. Master Anata requires your presence." Catching the sneer as she said "Master", Hiei allowed a small smirk to cross his face before lifting Aiko in his arms.
"Put me down, Hiei." She ordered in a whisper. "I won't let him see me weakened." Nodding, the koorime gently set her on her feet. "Thank you." She took a step and nearly collasped as her knees buckled. Hiei caught her, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"My Ryka...." She shook her head, lips pursed.
"No, Hiei." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Hiei, let me go." With a small shake of his head, Hiei helped her upright and tried to steady her with his ki as she limped down the hallway behind Aruma. Kurama was fighting first. He'd go next, then Yuusuke. She needed time to recover, but you'd never know it with the way she was acting. He'd chain her to the wall if he had to, but she WOULD rest. Damn, but she was stubborn.
Uh, Kettle? This is Pot. You're black.
***
As they entered the room above the arena, Aruma turned to face them, lips pulled into a tight line. "Each one of you, injured or not, must fight one of Master Anata's warriors. Every one of you. Even the weakling with the oar." Botan's face flushed in anger as she set Yuusuke down from his shaky perch on the oar.
"Step over here and say that, bitch." she muttered, glaring at the wall. "I'll show you weakling."
If Aruma heard, she gave no notice. Face set in stone, she surveyed the Tantei. "Will the first fighter please follow me to the arena. The rest of you must stay here to keep you from interferring with the fights."
"Did she just call me a cheater?" Yuusuke demanded, struggling to stand. Botan pulled him back down, whispering for him to rest. Kurama, with that easy grace that only he possessed, moved in front of her.
"I will be the first fighter." Aruma's light brown eyes flashed fire as she turned to go down the stairs.
"Very well. I hope you are a gracious loser."
"Of course." She placed herself at one end of the arena, watching as the kitsune posistioned himself at the other. "Shall we begin?"
"Only if you are ready to die." She launched herself at him, drawing one of her twin swords. Kurama merely removed one hand from his pocket and grabbed her wrist.
"Did you really expect that to work?" he asked with calm arrogance. Now furious, Aruma drew her other sword and stabbed towards his waist, only to have that blow blocked as well. "You've stolen my sword technique. I believe that warrants a counter attack." With a quick twist, the black- haired warrior's arms were behind her back, the blades clattering to the stone floor, useless. He pulled her to him to whisper in her ear. "I can take you out of here," he breathed, making her go still. She remebered those words, from so long ago........
"All you have to do is trust me."
~~~~THE FLASHBACK~~~~
Aruma slipped into bed, waiting for the door to close. When it did, she leapt up, throwing the covers back. He was coming tonight. She could feel it. Quickly pulling her hair into a bun, she wrapped a robe around her lithe frame. There was no telling when--
"Why cover up?" She spun, a grin on her usually stoic face. Kurama stood there, golden eyes glistening in a streak of moonlight. "It'll only delay the inevitable." Aruma stepped forward, eager to feel those muscular arms around her again. It was unheard of, a Queen loving a common theif. But it was true. Nothing could change that fact. The youko bent, catching Aruma's lips in his own. "My neko," he whispered against her neck, exciting the cat spirit within her. She smiled as he led her to the bed, her eyes already shifting to the lavender hues of the youko.
Hours later, she lay with her head on his shoulder, breathing in the delicious scent of roses that surrounded him. "It's almost dawn," she whispered. "You'd better go."
"When will I be able to watch the sun rise with you, my neko?" he asked, drawing his hand through her ebony locks. "You are Queen. Can't you change the rules?" The neko sighed, knowing as well as he did that he knew the answer.
"Kitsune, we've been over and over this. To change such a long-standing law could very well cost me my throne." He cupped her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.
"Then give up your throne. Make someone else Queen and come with me, away from these damned laws and rules and ever-watching eyes. I can take you out of here. All you have to do is trust me.We can regain your power together, and rule side by side." She cast her eyes downwards, considering the option. She could give that girl Mukuro her throne. She would rule wisely. Maybe it was time another family took the throne. Did she really want to carry on a legacy of deceit and tyranny? Or start a new legacy? With Kurama? She looked back up at him as the first rays of dawn crossed his face, giving his skin a golden glow.
"Come back in three days. I'll be ready then." A smile crossed the kitsune's face. He kissed his neko one last time and climbed out of bed, wrapping the tunic once more around his body.
"I love you, my neko."
"I love you, my kitsune." The door opened just as he slipped out the window, still smiling.
"Lady, who are you talking to?"
"I must have been muttering in my sleep again, Mitsu. Hand me my robe, will you?"
And so she gave up her power, slipping away in the night with the kitsune theif. Together, they became the greatest force in the Makai, and the secret of her love was released. It didn't matter anymore, now that she was no longer Queen. Not long after their escape, they were married. It was quite possibly the shortest ceremony in Makai history, as Mukuro's forces raided the area as soon as they were spotted.
They stayed on the run constantly, until that fateful day when the fox's arrogance would get the better of him. The wound was deep, and despite all his power, his skill, his love, he was dying. Aruma tried to make him comfortable on the rocky ground, raising her ki around the area to keep the hunters away. "Kitsune," she whispered.
"Aruma." His voice was hoarse. "I'll place my spirit into a human child. I'll wait for you in the Ningenkai. Follow me." She nodded. No tears would fall from her eyes. Youkai didn't cry. That was a weakness, not a strength.
"I'll follow you anywhere. I swear it."
"I love you.....my neko...."
"I love you, my kitsune. I'll find you."
"I'll.....wait.....forever.....if I.....must......" The baritone voice faded, and Aruma watched as his spirit rose above his now-lifeless body to the Ningenkai. Then she stood and threw her fist at the nearest boulder. It shattered.
The hunters would watch for hours as Aruma destroyed everything in sight, except for Kurama's body. Destruction is the only way to ease a youko's pain. And even then, it never truly fades. It's always there, eating away at your soul until you too fade from this realm.
And still it burns.
~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~
The neko winced as Kurama pulled her still closer. "I never followed you," she whispered. "I was a coward. I deserve to stay here."
"How can you say that?" he hissed. "You deserve so much more than this! I have your ring," he said, his voice growing just a bit louder. "It fell right in front of me, as if from the sky." Her eyes were wide.
"I--I lost it in a raid," she whispered. "I commanded the Theives after your death."
"I know," he replied. "Now let me knock you unconsious so I can take you out of here, back to the Ningenkai with me. We can still fufill our dreams....." Aruma thought for a split second before coming to the only reasonable answer.
"Okay. Just hurry."
***
Akimi: Yay! I didn't think that flashback would be any good, but it was.
Tien-Su: Modest much?
Akimi: Yes I am! Reviewer recognition!
Tien-Su:You have no new reviews.
Akimi: OH YEAH! Look, I know I only posted Chapter 4 four days ago, but that's still rediculous. SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED! And I know that wasn't the best chapter I've ever written, BUT SOMEBODY COULD HAVE REVIEWED AND SAID SO ANYWAY. Please review. It's my motivation. Please please please?
Tien-Su: Maybe if you didn't put the fights in there.....
Akimi: Oh, shut up. I have a good reason. See, my on-line "little sister", Rei-chan, said I messed up the fic by putting the tournament fights in there. But when I origonally wasted over 70 sheets of paper by writing this fic, I was trying to make it like an episode of YYH. And, in every plot arc, there is a tournament-style fight. So, in trying to make it like the show, I put the fights in there. Don't worry, it won't be TOO cliche.
Tien-Su: **cough**
Akimi: Shut up. Preview!
Chapter Six:
We get a little glimpse of the future, and Hiei goes mega-OOC as Aiko begins her fight.
Akimi: Okay, so that sucked. Deal with it.
Tien-Su: See you then!
Akimi: Ja!