((Author's note: Hello, everyone. This is Laiqualante's and my (I know it isn't correct grammar, however, right now I don't know the correct form of 'me' to use, because my school is just strange like that in the fact that, you know, we don't learn any grammar here.) first fanfiction. It's taken us awhile to get it in enough shape to get the first chapter to the Internet, but after this it should be pretty much smooth sailing. This'll be changing around the timeline a bit, seeing as this is set after the Ankoku Bujutsukai, and the whole Sensui and Itsuki arc, but before the Makai Bujutsukai or Chapter Black. However, the only one it really, really pays much reference to is the Ankoku Bujutsukai and everything before that, so if you don't know what that is (The Dark Martial Arts Tournament thingummy) then you're kind of screwed. See, I know what I'm talking about. Sort of. I'll just leave you all alone now, with a warning: Please don't assume. Anything. And don't blame me for the consequences if you do. All right? Good. (
-Satubashi))
Disclaimer: We don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. We don't own Jin (curses), we don't own Touya (you know, things just aren't going well for us today), and we really don't own Bakken (okay, that's a bit heartening). Also, I don't own the phrase 'so it goes'. It belongs to...ehm, I don't remember, but someone else. All that we own at this point in time is the character of Kichiko, the most esteemed Fire Master (belonging to Laiqualante) and, of course, the plot. Anyway, now that that's out of the way...on to the fic!
coming up roses
Chapter One: so it goes.
Not that Jin claimed to be very sensible – just that, after the first case of mild frostbite that had occurred during late fall this year whilst on his daily fly over the temple, Touya and Kichiko both had barricaded him inside the large training room (it had the biggest fireplace), Kichiko threatening to 'flame those huge-ass pointy ears off' if he even dreamt about going outside again that season.
Ah, yes. Touya and Kichiko, the Ice and Fire Masters (respectively, of course) in what was left of Jin's sect. Since the somewhat embarrassing loss at the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Touya still referred to it as a 'debacle', and it was, what - years later? Although Jin knew that Touya had secretly enjoyed fighting someone as skilled as Kurama, just as Jin had dreamed of the fight with Yusuke weeks after he'd been defeated – it was as hard for Touya to find a match for his own excessive brain power as it was for Jin to find someone that he'd actually enjoy fighting), no one seemed to respect the organization of the Shinobi as a whole, and certainly not their sect. The courtyard of the old temple, once thronged with demons desperate enough to believe that a quick murder or two would solve their problems, was now silent save for the quiet fall of snowflakes that Jin could see from the window at his left.
Indeed, even Reisho and Bakken had given up upon the Shinobi Way – they'd left before Jin's case of frostbite, sometime in midsummer. They hadn't been back since, and, if Jin were really to be frank, he'd profess his enjoyment in the quiet peace without Bakken's nasty odor or Reisho's snappish (and, Jin thought, unreasonable) demands on everyone. Jin rolled his eyes, thinking of the multiple lectures he'd been on the receiving end of since his first day in Reisho's sect. Although, the quiet was bad in another sense – Jin was bored! Touya was good company, sometimes, but in winter all he seemed to want to do was either sit out on his balcony and meditate in his boxers (and while that was amusing, it was also 'too damn cold!' for Jin, as he'd expressed with extremely vivid language many a time) or run around in the snow. And even though Kichiko was someone that could share his misery in the winter, all she did was huddle in her room, wrapped in at least fifteen blankets and raising the temperature to exorbitant amounts that would scorch the tips of Jin's rather gargantuan ears if he even thought of setting a hair inside her room. So, during the winters he was stuck where he was now – alone in the training room and trying in vain to get either Touya or Kichiko to come out of theirs. Ah, well. At least he wasn't stuck with Bakken's whining.
Oh, and speaking of rooms –
Flump.
Jin sat up from the place he'd been musing, sprawled lazily (like some breed of very large cat) by the fireplace, his back straightening significantly as his ears twitched to try and catch any sort of echo from that elusive noise he was absolutely sure he'd just heard. Several minutes went by, but he was unwilling to write that off as another shower of snow from the temple roof just yet. Another short period of time passed, and Jin, with his amazingly short attention span, was almost ready to lie back down and continue thinking, when suddenly the noise repeated itself.
Flump.
There it was! Jin grinned toothily to himself for a moment, satisfied that the sound had not been conjured up by his imagination, because the whatever-it-was had significantly disturbed the winds around the temple, while shaking down several of Touya's large icicles at the same time. Ooh, was Touya going to be mad when he found out...Jin's thoughts settled on that rather amusing reaction, when, again, the noise was heard, this time in much closer proximity to the temple, and thereby to himself, than the other two had been.
Flump.
Jin's brow knit itself, mind now fully focused on the potential threat to his viewing of Touya's reaction to the 'icicle fiasco', as Jin had already named it in his head. He wondered for a moment about what in this part of Makai could have the force to disturb his winds to such a degree and waste a few icicles that Touya had been building for almost a month. Indeed, the story he'd gleaned from the breeze streaming through the top of the open window almost made him jump to the conclusion of a snow- muffled explosion, but the list of people he knew of that could control such a force without too much harm to their own person was very, very short...
knock. knock. knock.
Three sharply staccato sounds rang throughout the stifled air in the large temple. Jin was sure, by the intensity of the sounds, that it would summon both Kichiko and Touya downstairs from their rooms, but after the conclusion he'd drawn up Jin wasn't sure that any of them would like that situation –
knock. knock.
The knocks had grown farther apart, but, amazingly enough, they had managed to sound even more impatient that the previous, quicker sounds. Jin stood, summoning his wind powers, unsure of the sight that would greet him, but already knowing that both the Fire Master and the Ice Master had stirred from their beds already, alert little things that they were. He didn't want them facing the thing outside the door by themselves, if he had his guess right – never mind that they were fully trained Shinobi, capable of defending themselves from ninety-nine threats out of one hundred – if this was the one hundredth threat, as Jin was quite sure that it was.
On feet lacking their normal foot-covers (you really couldn't call them shoes, Jin mused, no matter how much you wanted to), Jin traversed the relatively small distance between the doors of the large training room, and the even larger doors that lead to the courtyard, buffering the inhabitants within from snow, heat storms, cold, and, right now, a barrage of knocks. Jin's hands raised to the ornamentally intricate scrolling, pulling the doors inwards. They opened, and in the split-second it took for his eyes to adjust to the glare from the light shining on the snow outside, he took in the sight of a very tall and very long-haired silhouette of a frighteningly familiar figure – Jin's guess had been correct.
"Well, then. What're you doin' 'ere? Thought you died back'n the tourney." He scowled, taking in the easily serviceable black pants and coat, and the distinctive collar of the maroon shirt that this particular demon had worn during the Ankoku Bujutsukai, along with the equally distinctive silver mask worn on its face. A pale hand irritatedly brushed back several strands of hair that didn't seem to want to stay in line like the rest of the inky- black river did. Violet eyes looked Jin up and down, taking in the fact that he'd definitely lost weight in the past few years due to lack of food that had consequently been due to lack of an assignment. The being also noted the absence of the two demons it was accustomed to seeing Jin with. Masking the disappointment it felt, the brunette ((A/n: Just so you know, the hair is black. I'm just accustomed to using 'brunette' for any shade that's darker than red, 'redhead' for....redheads, and 'blonde' for any shade lighter than red. Are we good? Good. -)) pressed on with the reason of its arrival.
"Well, Jin, I must confess that I'm hurt. It's just that we've known each other for so long and you don't even think to invite me inside! I'm so utterly devastated; I really do believe I might cry."
Jin's grip on the door tightened, as his temper threatened to get the better of him and slam the door into the arrogant crow demon's face. Knowing that such an action could (and would) conceivably get him, Touya, Kichiko, and the temple blasted to kingdom come (or, in the very least, to Reikai), he managed to restrain himself.
"I might not 'ave been clear enough...what...do yeh want...with us?"
The words came out sounding rather forced, despite all his efforts to be overly civil to the bomb-wielding demon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a physical repercussion upon either himself or his house. A small, self- effacing laugh escaped the crow demon, and from the crinkles at the edges of those violet eyes (Jin had once (in Ningenkai, of course) heard them referred to as crow's feet, but he was unsure if such a horrible pun would be appropriate, even if it was exclusively used inside Jin's head), the Wind Master was sure that that laugh had been directed at him.
"It's rather simple, really. Must I spell it out for you?" A distantly bored voice drawled almost lazily from behind the silver mask, the only thing keeping the immense power of this demon in check and under their own control. Without it...Jin surmised that many more people would be dead right now, himself almost certainly being one of them.
"Apparently that question has already been answered. You see, Jin, I merely wish to speak with -"
Jin paled, and he almost slammed the door in the black-haired demon's face right then, not even bothering to wait for an explanation – again, he was restrained, but this time by the paralysis of panic, not the sense to keep the courtesy that they'd both so long discarded. Oh, by Enma, let's not start this again! He thought wildly, and his eyes were a clear mirror to his current state of alarm-bordering-on-mania. Don't say 'Touya', don't say 'Touya', please, don't say it...
"– Kichiko." At the final voicing of the request Jin promptly commenced to facevault, taking almost three minutes from the conversation to try and comprehend what, exactly, the crow demon had just imparted to him...and found that he could not, simply staring up and rubbing his head where a bump was already beginning to form. "You...you want to talk wi' who, now?" Jin stuttered, blinking rapidly and shaking his head as though trying to clear any water, specks of lint, or any other imagined obstructions out of his superlative ears, sure that, for the first time, his hearing had certainly mistaken him.
"To be honest, Jin, I've never counted you amongst the utterly brilliant, but I'd thought you'd be a good deal quicker than all that. You know, Kichiko? Fire Master in your sect? Pink hair? Really bad temper, oh, and standing right behind you?"
Jin winced, cringing as he turned around to see Kichiko, the Fire Master's eyes literally giving off sparks as she quietly regarded the crow demon. To a passive observer she was very calm, but both Jin and his 'visitor' could see that she was about to explode, most likely at the first person that tipped her off. The last person to walk down the large staircase that lead upstairs and to the rooms was Touya – (still missing his undershirt and vest from his daily snow-sitting, Jin mused, but, thankfully, giving off a semblance of being dressed by wearing his distinctively oversized pants) who shuddered as the brunette's lips pursed themselves into a leer behind the silver mask at the ice demon's lack of dress.
"What in the hells do you want, ya psychotic bitch?" Kichiko growled, snapping her fingers in front of the tall woman's face to bring her attention back to the smaller fire demon, distracting her from her goal long enough to have Jin hustle Touya into the next room.
Riyo smiled, her purple eyes twinkling merrily as she watched the hustle and bustle around the house, turning to Kichiko to give an answer. "I've been watching the activities of your sect for quite some time now, Kichiko – and it's safe to say that there hasn't been much, except for one instance in midsummer when two of your members happened to...disappear?"
Kichiko's scowl darkened as she glared at Riyo. "What did you do to Bakken and Reisho?"
The crow demon rolled her eyes. "Honestly. Why is every bad thing in the world my fault? Bui does some of it too, you know." At the advent of the fire master's glare getting significantly more intense, she continued. "By the time I found them they were already dead. Demon mugging outside of Alaric. There's a strong gang on the outskirts of Mukuro's territory, and I doubt that Reisho and Bakken were up to it by themselves, powerful as they are." She paused for a moment, glancing around at the severely diminished opulence of the room.
"However, we need to get back to my original point because I can't profess to the time window on this proposition being very large. I have found -" Another pause, gauging the reaction of the two Shinobi to the beginning of her idea. "- an instance in which I would need the legendary stealth of the Shinobi. Since you three would be excellent for the job I have in mind, I was wondering if you could proffer any assistance to my person. Of course, the pay would be quite handsome, seeing as this job will be very dangerous. I've done this once before – the people I was with died."
"Why didn't they take you down with 'em? Could've saved us a heck of a lot of trouble." Jin muttered discontentedly, folding his arms across his chest in a way that was distinctly reminiscent of a sulking child.
"Because, my dear Jin, as you already know...I am quite persistent when it comes to what I want." At the glaringly obvious allusion, both Jin and Kichiko bristled, trying to glare the crow demon down – and if looks could kill there'd have been one fried corpse to deal with. "Now. Would you care to hear any further, or should I go to another sect with my idea?"
Kichiko's teeth gritted, as her eyes narrowed and she sighed. "As much as I hate to do this...come in. We'll listen to your nancy little plan."
"Yes. That's what I've been waiting to hear."
((A/n: Didn't I tell you not to assume? ;-) Oh, by the way, the character of Riyo belongs to me. And that's pretty much it for now. See you next chapter! –Satubashi))