Same disclaimers and warnings apply. And hey, Kuronue's in this chapter! YAY!
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Gates to the Makai didn't just drop anyone where they wanted to be. Otherwise, things would have been a whole lot easier for Yukina. Especially where she wasn't a frequent traveler. Nothing looked familiar, and she couldn't just ask somebody for directions.
"Please tell me you know the way to Yomi's," she begged the silver youko.
Kurama gave her a look that clearly said, 'you have to be out of your mind.'
"Beg pardon, miss. Did I hear you said you needed directions to Yomi's fortress?" a very smooth and debonair voice asked. Yukina jumped clear out of her socks, whirling around. She couldn't see anybody there.
"Do you know how to get there?" she inquired, gripping the hilt of her katana.
A hazy form materialized in front of her, transparent, edges smoky and glowing. "Sure do. Used to ransack the place all the time. Pissed old Yomi off like you wouldn't believe."
Yukina rubbed her eyes. "You…you're a ghost!"
"What? I am? Really?" he cried sarcastically. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Yes, I'm a ghost. Ghost and aid to the needy. It's the suckiest sentence I've heard of, but hey, if it gets me on parole quicker, I'll do anything. So, what's your name and life story, kid?"
"My name is Yukina, Yukina of the Koorime. My twin brother and his friends were all turned into children, and Yomi has the antidote," she explained.
The apparition nodded. "Fun. And let me guess, that's your little dog Toto."
Kurama gave an indignant sniff, lips curled back in a rather non-threatening snarl.
"Oh no, he's actually a youko. His name is Kurama, he's my brother Hiei's friend…boyfriend…something like that."
"No shitting? That's the infamous Youko Kurama? A puppy?!" the ghost burst into peals of laughter. "The poor bastard! Suppose he deserved it, bet he really pissed somebody off. Aw damn, I've gone and confused you now. Name's Kuronue, I'm an old beau of your fox friend myself. Currently serving some time in the first level of Hell 'cause of that damn kitsune."
"But you'll help me?" Yukina asked hopefully.
Kuronue wiped away a ghostly tear. "Anything for a friend of old Youko's. That son-of-a-vixen saved my ass more times than I can count. C'mon, I'll lead you right through the front gates."
Well! Things certainly seemed to be looking up for Yukina! It's about damn time, ne?
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"…And then this one time, Kurama decided we needed to add this ruby necklace belonging to some demon countess to our collection. But of course, when Kurama thinks we need to steal something, he's going to steal it in the grandest of fashions. The bastard had me dangling upside down from an air vent while he held my feet, and here I am trying to unhook the necklace from the broad's throat right in the middle of a dinner party. He almost dropped me twice!"
Yukina listened in fascination. For a ghost serving time for petty larceny, Kuronue was interesting and fun. She'd never heard anything about Kurama's past, and from what the chimera was recanting, it was one wild past at that. Kurama, meanwhile, was sound asleep. Were he not in full kitsune form, and did not currently possess the attention span of a fruit fly, he would have been all over the chance to speak with his former partner and lover. Instead, he was happily snoozing in Yukina's arms.
"All right, lovely Miss Yukina, we're coming up to Yomi's big and intimidating fortress. Now usually this is where I'd bugger off and go help some other poor sap, but in this case I think I'm going to accompany you. Mostly because I never gave Kurama a proper what's what before I kicked it, you know, and he'll be ripshit if he misses me again," Kuronue informed her.
"I thank you very much for all that you've done for me. I appreciate it greatly."
"No trouble at all, Missy. Just put in a good word for me with your boss Koenma, I'd be much obliged. Savvy?"
Yukina nodded. Kurama chose that moment to wake up, yawning widely and making some adorable little squeak that would've had even Raizen going 'awww.'
They met with surprisingly little resistance getting through the front gates. Yukina wondered if they were intimidated by her Shinobi robes and her katana. She later discovered that they didn't give two shits about that. They were more intimidated by the ghost standing next to her, glaring ectoplasmic bloody murder. Although, she did rack up a few Brownie points for looking more like the sister of the fierce and downright scary Jaganshi Hiei, wielder of black fire and heir to Mukuro's lands.
"The main function room should be right through these doors, unless Yomi's redone the place since the last time old Foxy an' me ransacked it. Man, did we have Gandara quaking in its boots. All you had to do was whisper 'Kuronue and Kurama' and demons would be heading for the hills," the transparent chimera laughed. They pushed the doors open, not bothering with formality and waiting to be announced and all of that useless junk.
Draped in a very boneless position across the Great Throne of Gandara happened to be not Yomi, but his personal Mini-Me Shura. The two black youkos, Nadiel and Lis, were lounging in a pair of comfy chairs nearby. They were throwing grapes at each other. Shura yawned, but perked up and sat up at the sight of his visitors.
"Well, this is interesting. What have we here?"
Nadiel squeaked. "Holy Inari, it's Kuronue! How's it been going, Kuro?"
"He's dead, you idiot, how do you think he's been?" Lis retorted. "Don't mind her, she got blitzed on Makai Ambrosia again last night."
Kuronue flashed a smile at the two former members of his gang. "Ladies…you still owe me quite a bit of swag, if I remember correctly. When I get reincarnated, I'm hunting you down and I'm getting what you owe me. Savvy?"
"Excuse me," Yukina said of Shura. "But we're here to see Yomi. It's very important."
The heir to the horny devil's turf shrugged absently. "Dad's not seeing anyone today. I'm in charge. So, state your name and business and hurry up on out of here. Fruits Basket is on in five."
The koorime girl set her small silver burden down, the fox staying close to her. The two black youkos took one look at him and started giggling behind their hands.
"My name is Yukina, of the Koorime; pupil of the psychic Genkai; twin sister of Jaganshi Hiei, Mukuro's heir; friend of the Judge Koenma's Reikai Tantei, the heir to Raizen's land Urameshi Yusuke," she listed. Genkai had taught her that when addressing a demon of great importance, it was vital that one listed as much stuff as they could about themselves. The more important a youkai sounded, the less their superior would try to kill them.
"Impressive lot, Yukina. Now, tell me what it is that's got you to come all this way."
Her hand closed around the hilt of her sword. "I would like you to give me the antidote for the age-reversal curse immediately, if you please."
"And if I don't?" Shura asked lazily. The girls were still giggling at Kurama, who was trying to look threatening. He'd puffed up his fur in an attempt to raise his hackles, but only succeeded in making himself look like a golden-eyed cotton ball.
Yukina drew her sword, the blade humming with a cold and glittering energy. Hiei said using ki with swords was inelegant, but the way her icy ki glowed along the fine edge of the blade would have changed his mind were he there to see it.
"Well, then, I suppose I'll have to take it by force. But I really don't want things to have to come to that, taking things by force is more of my brother's habit. Then again, you did cause harm to my friends…" her expression grew hostile, taking on a dour look seen more often on her twin's face. "…And I don't like it when people cause harm to my friends."
Nadiel and Lis visibly winced, the two vixens looking as if they'd seriously consider surrender.
"Nice try, but I'm afraid it's just not going to be enough. You see, Kurama and the rest of that brat Koenma's little detective team really offended my dad. And when Dad gets pissed, he tends to…lash out. It's going to take a while for him to calm down. So, I suggest you come back in a few months."
Kuronue's hollow eyes flashed threateningly, the spectral chimera lifting Gandara's heir clear off the throne with his ghostly powers of levitation…because ghosts can do that, y'know.
"I'm calling parley, boy. And my terms are simple. You give the koorime what she wants. I don't make your face a bloody mess using up my one token Sworn Vengeance…because I know it was your dad who sent those hunters out there. The ones who snared me in the ol' bamboo trap."
Shura glowered. "It's your own damn fault, you know. You shouldn't have taken Kurama from my dad."
"And here we go again," Lis sighed. "Everything happens to be Kurama's fault."
Nadiel agreed, popping another grape into her mouth. "Wonder if anything's ever going to be that Kuwabara guy's fault. Or Tantei Yusuke. That'd be cool, huh?"
Kuronue made Shura fly around the room in lazy circles, the chimera grinning madly. "Are we savvy yet, boy?"
"I'm not giving you anything! With the Reikai Tantei gone, we can invade Mukuro's place whenever we want! You're not ruining any more of our fun, no way, no how!"
All the while, Yukina was growing more and more furious. For now, fire youkai blood was thrumming in her veins. She briefly wondered if this was how Hiei felt. Kurama wisely chose this moment to duck and cover.
"If you don't give me that antidote this very minute, I'll freeze off your privates and throw them into the nearest abyss!" she screamed. Kuronue was shocked enough to drop the young demon straight to the floor.
It was at this point that Yomi came stumbling through the door, hastily tying a bathrobe on. He wore the look of a very powerful demon who'd just been interrupted whilst in the middle of doing rather naughty things to his playmate of choice.
"What in the name of the Ten Circles of Hell is going on out here?" he thundered.
Yukina was on full rant mode now, and there was no stopping the hell-for-leather koorime.
"I demand that the Reikai Tantei are all turned back to normal, and I want it done NOW! I will not be pushed over any longer!"
Yomi stared (well, sort of, considering the blighter's blind) at the irate young woman in amazement. He'd heard plenty from Mukuro about this girl, Yukina, Hiei's soft-spoken, sweet, endearing little twin. If she could go postal after one day of watching the infant Urameshi Team, he didn't want to know what she'd be like if he left the boys as they were. The potion was set to naturally wear off after forty-eight hours if the antidote wasn't administered.
"All right, calm down, young lady. I'll have the elixir brought to you immediately. And as for you, Kuronue…" the great horned youkai said.
He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just here for the tour. My pillaging days ended some time ago."
Nadiel and Lis, who'd run clear out of the room at breakneck speed to avoid Yukina's wrath, returned with a small stoppered bottle.
"Just sprinkle a bit of that on the Tantei and they'll return to their appropriate ages."
Yukina wrenched the stopper off, tipping the dark blue bottle until a few milky drops of liquid spilled over the lip and onto the silver youko kit's tiny nose. He yelped, form changing rather suddenly. It was like watching one of those time-elapsed science movies of a plant growing, only in super fast-forward. Youko Kurama sat on the floor, slightly cross-eyed, very confused.
"Somebody care to explain how I got to Gandara so suddenly?" he moaned, wishing the floor would stop writhing so much.
Kuronue was in hysterics, laughing until his sides practically split. "Foxy, the look on your face! Bwahahaha! Better than the time you fell in that cesspool trying to outrun those Falair demons!"
The silver youko whipped around. "Kuronue?!"
"In the…well, you know. Wish I could stay and chat, but they're expecting me back real soon, and if I don't get back on time, then it's another ten years to my sentence. I go on parole in the near future, might even get reincarnated into something decent. Maybe if I'm real lucky I'll end up ningen and come visit you."
"Please don't go," he whispered, eyes wide and glassy.
The chimera shook his head. "Gotta. But leastways we got to see each other and have our proper goodbyes, this time, eh? Besides, you've got that little fire brat to look after you now, you don't need me mucking things up. And you might want to watch out for this little lass, she's got a bit of his temper in her. I'll be seeing you, Kurama."
"Goodbye, Kuronue."
"Hey, no goodbyes. Goodbyes are for morons who end up in the lower levels of the old Pit. I'll be back before you even know it. Love you forever, you damn kitsune."
Kurama managed a smile. "Love you past that, you idiotic chimera."
"Thank you for everything, Kuronue. And I'll keep my promise, koorime's honor!" Yukina added, back to her old sweet self now that one of the four were back to normal.
He gave her a smart little salute. "I'll be holding you to it, Yukina. You take good care of that brother of yours, and you make sure this fox here stays out of trouble."
And with that, he was gone, disappearing without any sign that he was even there at all.
"And now, for you lot," the youko drawled, examining his claws. "Rest assured, I will get the vengeance I so rightly deserve for being so humiliated. But I'll let you sit and stew in your own terror for a while, not knowing exactly when I'll strike. So I'll leave you with this tender little thought: no matter where you go, there is no hiding from Youko Kurama. You will suffer."
Nadiel and Lis wailed, bolting from the room in black blurs. Shura turned a slightly greenish color, and even Yomi looked a bit apprehensive.
The silver kitsune then turned his attention to the much calmer koorime girl, flashing her a brilliant grin. "Thank you, Yukina-chan. Let's head home, all right?"
She nodded. "Sounds like an excellent plan to me, Kurama-san. I can't imagine what trouble the others are causing for those poor boys."
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TO BE CONTINUED…