I have nothing else to do right now. So I decided to start chapter eight of TCE.
Kurama: I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.
Nagem: Don't be silly!! I'd never kill my favorite fox!!
Kurama: You mean it?
Nagem: *crosses fingers behind her back* Of course!!
Oh, yeah, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or anything else that might pop up in this fic.
The scream that echoed through the minefield was terrifying. Indeed, Yusuke was glad of the speed he'd gained over the past few years, because Kuwabara misstepped as he heard the scream, setting off one of the many invisible bombs, and Yusuke ended up having to save the both of them. Hiei cursed the ningen for making such a racket, but stopped as he listened to the scream.
"Do you think that was Kurama?" Kuwabara asked shakily as the sound died down. Yusuke glared at him.
"Yes, I think that was Kurama, but I'm hoping that he's okay," Yusuke said.
"It doesn't sound like he is," Kuwabara said.
"I think you need to close your mouth," Hiei said, with a tone of annoyance in his voice. Yusuke nodded. Kuwabara shut his mouth. The trio ran on, hoping that their fox friend was all right.
"There!" Yusuke shouted after a few more minutes. "There! That has to be it!!"
"This is it," Hiei confirmed.
"Let's go save Kurama!!" Kuwabara added. After a few trick doors (that exploded, of course) and several traps (not unlike the bombs in the minefield) they were standing in front of four doors.
"This is obvious," Hiei said. "We have to pick a door and see if it's the correct one." Yusuke eyed the four doors.
"We should stay together," he deduced finally. The other two (Hiei needed a little prompting) nodded.
"So which door should we pick, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked.
"I don't know," Yusuke said. "Look for Kurama's energy." The three of them each went to a separate door. "Not through here," Yusuke said after a few moments.
"Not here either," Kuwabara said. "Hiei?"
"Hn," Hiei said, beginning to walk toward the last door.
"I'm going to take that as a no," Yusuke said, following. Nodding, Kuwabara did the same. The door opened with ease ("Good thing, too, cause I really don't wanna fight with a door," Kuwabara muttered.) and they were walking along a darkened hallway.
"Urameshi? Where are you?" Kuwabara demanded. "I can't see!"
"None of us can!!" Yusuke said. As he said this, the group entered a lighted room. There was Karasu, leaning over a table.
"You!" Hiei growled, but Karasu ignored them. Suddenly, the thing on the table moved, and a groan echoed throughout the room.
"Y-yusuke? Hiei?"
"KURAMA!!" Yusuke rushed toward the table, only to be blown away by Karasu. "Damn you! What kind of sick game are you playing here?!"
"I was just doing what should have happened a while ago," Karasu said, moving towards them. "Kurama should have died in that fight with me. I'm only fixing it." Yusuke growled. Hiei came up next to him.
"Get Kurama," Hiei growled. "I'll deal with this guy." He drew his katana and charged at Karasu. He dodged, but Hiei was already launching another attack. Kuwabara ran up to Yusuke.
"What's going on, Urameshi?" he asked. Yusuke began moving towards the table.
"Come on!" he hissed at Kuwabara. Kuwabara did not hesitate to follow. When they got to the table, they stopped for a moment to wonder how Kurama was still alive.
"Gross!!" Kuwabara mumbled.
"What did he do to you?" Yusuke whispered to the kitsune. Kurama opened green eyes and looked at them both.
"He . . . he," Kurama started.
"Went for your stomach," Kuwabara noted. Yusuke hit him on the head.
"And then my heart," Kurama mumbled. For the first time, their attention went to Kurama's chest, which was torn open. They could see his heart beating slowly through his ribs. (A/N: eeewie. I feel sick writing this. . . . this is really disgusting) With each pulse, more blood gushed through his chest. Yusuke grabbed Kurama's shoulders.
"Get his legs," he mumbled to Kuwabara. They could hear Hiei yelling and cursing in the background. "I hope Hiei's going to be okay."
"The shrimp can handle himself," Kuwabara half-heartedly offered.
"What's going on?" Kurama asked weakly.
"Nothing," Yusuke said. "Save your strength, Kurama, we're gonna save you." Kurama let out a groan as Kuwabara helped Yusuke get Kurama onto his back. When Kurama's torn-open chest hit Yusuke's strong back, the fox let out a pained howl. "Please Kurama, be quiet."
"I . . . " Kurama began and then trailed off.
"Come on, Kuwabara," Yusuke said, scared for his friend's health.
"Are we there yet?" Jorge was running in the forests of the Makai, with Botan riding behind him on her oar.
"Almost!!" Botan yelled. Jorge nodded and picked up the pace.
"Are you sure that they're gonna need us?"
"Yusuke hasn't contacted us on the communicator yet, so I think-and Koenma agrees with me-that we need to see if they're all right," Botan yelled. "Especially since we know that Karasu has Kurama kidnapped."
"I still don't see why you needed to bring me along!" Jorge yelled.
"For protection!" Botan yelled. She was justified when Jorge ran headlong into a demon, mowing him down with only a "Sorry! I'm in a rush!" She giggled when he did it again two seconds later.
"Where do you think Yusuke is?" Jorge asked. They were answered a few moments later.
"SPIRIT GUN!!!"
"Urameshi! Be careful!!" Jorge and Botan stared as Kuwabara tumbled into the path they had been traveling on. "Hey! What'd you do that for?"
"Sorry," Yusuke said as he emerged with an unconscious Kurama on his back. "Hey, Kurama, you doing okay back there?"
"He's not gonna answer you, Yusuke," Botan said. Yusuke jumped.
"When did you guys get here?" he asked.
"We came after you didn't call us and tell us that you knew Karasu had Kurama," Botan said. "How could you be so careless?"
"The communicator was broken," Yusuke said. "Otherwise I would have called you." Botan scowled, not sure she should buy the excuse.
"How is he?" she asked, motioning to Kurama, returning attention one what really mattered at the moment.
"Not good," Yusuke said.
"How bad?" Yusuke grimaced and gently set Kurama down on the forest floor. "Oh . . . " Botan said as she saw the extent of his wounds. "Karasu?"
"Yep," Yusuke said. "You . . . you can heal him, can't you?"
"I don't know Yusuke, but I'll try," Botan answered and knelt down over the kitsune. "You three," she said, motioning to Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Jorge, "Please stand guard for me while I do this." They nodded and made a circle around her.
"He's . . . you're not telling me the truth, baka," Hiei said. He growled as Botan applied a bandage to one of the many wounds he had received from Karasu. "I can take care of my wounds myself."
"By licking them?" Botan countered. "That's disgusting."
"Hn," Hiei said. He bared his fangs at Botan as she cleaned another wound. Botan shrank back a little bit but kept at her task. "What about Kurama? You're not telling me the truth." The ferry girl threw up her hands in frustration.
"I am! Really!" Botan said. As she said this, tears glistened in her eyes. "I took him to the Spirit World myself! You think I would lie about something like that?"
"You . . . did?" Hiei's eyes grew wide. "That means . . . dammit! Kurama doesn't die from one blow!!"
"It was more than one blow, Hiei," Yusuke said from the doorway. He kept his head down, and Kuwabara's yells still echoed from the next room over. They were at Yusuke's house, three days after Kurama's attempted rescue. Despite Botan's efforts, the kitsune had passed away quietly two days afterward. Botan had come back from her trip to the Spirit World with him the night before. Hiei had arrived that morning, announcing that Karasu was dead and demanding to see Kurama. So they had to break the news to him. "Karasu must have started from his feet and blown up every body part going up to his neck." Hiei froze, and looked down at the floor.
"Hn, baka kitsune," Hiei said. "I always knew he'd get himself blown up one of these days." Botan then did something that she had once sworn she would never do. She slapped Hiei hard across the face. Hiei was too stunned by this to react. Even Yusuke stared at Botan's uncharacteristic response to Hiei's words. "Wha-what was that for?" Hiei finally managed to spit out.
"Don't talk like that!" Botan all but yelled. "He was your friend, but you're too blockheaded to admit that! And you know you care about his death . . . you're . . . you're just too . . . too stupid to find the courage to care about it!" With that, she gave Hiei another smack and stormed out of the room.
"That was . . . unusual," Yusuke said, staring off in Botan's direction. "I didn't know she could do that!" Hiei was too stunned by Botan's words to reply.
"Neither did I, Urameshi," Kuwabara said, poking his head into the room. "I guess that girl gets pissed off after all."
"All of us deal with death in different ways, Kuwabara," Hiei said after a few moments.
"Everyone's acting off today!" Yusuke yelled and stormed out of the room. Kuwabara stared after him, and then, with a shrug, followed. Hiei walked over and peered out the window.
"I only stated the truth," he said.
Okay, I seem to like two things in my fics so far, one, the slap-I can't count the number of times that I've made someone slap someone else. Two, Kurama dying. I'm strange. But this is not the end (at least I think it's not)
Kurama's ghost: I told you I was gonna die.
Nagem: Heheheheheheheheh. Please review and feel free to yell at me.
