Kokoro No Kaitou : Once Lost, Now Found
Chapter 17
Thanks go out to Miyako14, for being a wonderful beta reader!!
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Kurama stared, and then opened his mouth, only to close it again.
She was…dead.
He looked over at Shishiwakamaru, who only moved a hand to touch the wound in his stomach - the price for his saving of Amaya.
He then returned his gaze towards Lamia. Her body burst into a fluffy of dust, and the doppelgangers did the same.
Shishi's sword clattered to the ground, having fulfilled its purpose.
Amaya let out the breath that she had been holding, and sat up again, her widened eyes turning to Shishiwakamaru.
"Th-thanks."
"Go Shishi." Naomi said jokingly. "If I didn't think it was disgusting, then I'd kiss you."
He rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Thanks."
Amaya stood and shakily ran a hand through her hair. "That was…"
He looked over at her. "Are you alright?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Despite the fact that I was almost just killed, I'm feeling pretty peachy."
"I'm just glad that this is over." Naomi said.
Amaya walked over to Shishiwakamaru, and placed her hand on his stomach. He winced, and she healed his wound.
He gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks."
Kurama felt a wave of jealousy, but reminded himself that Shishiwakamaru had said that he would give her up.
"At least this is over." Naomi said, putting a hand on her hip.
Amaya smiled. "Yeah."
The ground rumbled, and everyone struggled to keep their balance. The rumbling stopped, and Koori slowly floated up into a standing position, and her eyes opened. Red eyes, with darker red pupils.
"I spoke too soon." Naomi said, narrowing her eyes.
The goddess's red eyes suddenly turned gold, and she smirked.
"Simple. That was possibly the easiest take over that I've ever done." She said, looking at her hands.
"But you were dead." Naomi said.
"I was. But my soul had yet to leave. Thus, I was free to take over this body." She looked over at them and smirked. "And now I'm free to kill you all."
"I think not." The hanyou said, summoning her spirit sword.
Lamia frowned. "You would fight me, though I am now immortal?"
"Hell yeah." Naomi said, smirking.
Kurama got into a fighting position, and Amaya placed a hand on his arm. He gave her a quizzical look.
"What?"
Shishiwakamaru kept his gaze on Naomi, and said, "This is her battle, Kurama."
Amaya nodded. "This is her destiny." She said. She smiled slightly. "One which I foresaw the day she was born."
Naomi stepped up to the edge of the jewel, and Lamia's frown deepened. "You're serious?"
"What do you think?"
"Fine." The 'goddess' said, forming her won sword in her hand. "You'll fall quickly enough."
Kuwabara smirked at Hiei. "See, short stuff? Even goddesses and hot babes use spirit swords."
"Yes. I noticed that only women use them." He replied, not even looking at the orange-haired teen.
"Hey!!"
Naomi slowly started circling the goddess, eyeing her up. "You gonna hit me or what?"
Lamia narrowed her golden eyes at her.
"Can you even move? Do you have enough power to control that body?" She taunted.
Naomi stopped circling, and said, "Bet you didn't take that into account, did you? You can't move from that spot. It's too much for you."
"Shut up!" Lamia exclaimed. A burst of ki came up from the floor, and nearly hit Naomi, though she back flipped to avoid it.
"Guess you can fight, to an extent." She said, touching the light wound on her side.
She charged at Lamia, dodging all the ki thrown at her quite effectively. She then jumped into the air, and brought her blade down on Lamia, slicing her shoulder.
The goddess cried out and fell to her knees. She growled, and her eyes flashed. More ki flew at Naomi, cutting her on both cheeks and on her other side.
She's strong…if she had mobility, I'd be toast. Naomi thought, lightly touching the wound on her side. She smirked. Well, it's a bit more interesting this way.
White ki started erupting from the ground, and the hanyou started doing more back flips to avoid getting hit.
Kurama was definitely impressed with her agility. "She's fast…very fast."
"Keep it up, Naomi-chan!!" Midori called. "Just like we did in training!!"
The silver-haired girl stopped when she reached the wall, then smirked again.
"Damn. I thought that a goddess would be stronger than this." She taunted.
She ducked when a blast of ki hit the area that her head had just occupied.
"I'm only beginning to fight." Lamia spat. "Unlike you mortals, I have unlimited ki supplies."
"Somehow, I don't think you know how to access those supplies." Naomi said.
The goddess's eyes started to glow silver, and she growled.
"Disrespectful wench! I'll make you regret those words."
This time, ki shot at her from below and from behind, and she could only avoid the one from below. She got hit squarely in the back, and went face first into the stone floor below, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut from the sheer pain.
Okay…I take it back. She's still very strong, despite the fact that she can't move.
Lamia smirked. "So weak and fragile."
Dawn got fed up. She hated being told to stay back and watch somebody else fight. She stepped forward and waved her hand, lighting Lamia's wound on fire.
The goddess screamed again.
"Dawn! This is our fight. Not yours." Naomi growled.
Dawn only snorted.
"I'll make sure there is no interference." Lamia growled, her eyes flashing again.
"Chikusho!!" Amaya exclaimed.
Kurama was surprised by her curse. "What?"
"Get down!!" She exclaimed, tackling him to the ground. Everyone else ducked, and just in time.
Lamia unleashed a wave of ki that was sent flying all across the room, blowing up several walls and nearly decapitating a certain orange-haired boy.
Naomi growled. "What are you trying to do?! Kill them?!"
"That's the idea." Lamia said, smirking.
Naomi growled again, and her eyes flashed gold.
"You…BITCH!!" She exclaimed. Wind whipped around her, and her eyes turned gold.
Kurama's eyes widened in realization. "Her…kitsune form…"
Amaya got off of him, and she blinked. "What? Kitsune form?"
"It shouldn't be much different from what she looks like now…just ears and a tail, most likely." He said.
Kurama was right.
Naomi got fox ears on top of her head, and a tail, both dark silver in . Her eyes remained gold.
"Will that…change anything?" Amaya asked.
"She'll be twice as powerful now. In her normal form, her powers are a little more on the healing side. But kitsune…she'll be definitely more on the power and fighting side." Kurama explained. He smirked. "She'll be more powerful than I could have ever hoped to be as Youko."
"S- ." Hiei said.
"That powerful?" Kano asked.
The kitsune and koorime nodded in unison.
The newly transformed Naomi dashed at Lamia, spirit sword drawn and crackling with silver electricity.
"You die now, bitch!!"
Lamia threw up a barrier, though when Naomi's sword clashed against it, she seemed to be struggling.
The others looked on anxiously.
The fate of the three worlds depended on whether or not the barrier broke…
And then, with a sound like shattering glass, the barrier dissolved and Naomi's reiken easily sliced through the possessed goddess.
She let out a blood-curdling scream, and her body burst into flames.
Naomi fell over onto her knees, panting. Her appearance returned to normal, and Chuu ran over to her.
"Ha! Great job, Naomi-kun." He said, grinning. "Ya alrigh'?"
She grinned back. "Yeah!"
She started to stand, only to fall back onto her knees.
"Just…tired."
"Understandable." Amaya said, kneeling down beside her daughter. She smiled. "You used a lot of energy to defeat the world's strongest goddess."
Naomi returned the gesture slightly, and her eyelids drooped. "Like I said…just tired."
She suddenly fell over, and Chuu caught her.
"Naomi-kun? Naomi-kun!" He exclaimed, shaking her shoulder slightly.
Amaya stood. "She only fainted, Chuu."
He nodded, and put her onto his back before rising.
"Well, let's go 'ome." He said.
Amaya…minna-san…
Everyone turned around, and saw Tsuki standing there.
For once, the child was all grins.
Thank you all so much! Without you… She just smiled instead.
She started to glow slightly, and Ayame, in her spirit form, appeared beside her.
Amaya smiled back. "You're going to heaven now, aren't you, Tsuki-chan?"
She grinned. I should hope so.
They exchanged their goodbyes, and the ferry girl led her away, to be judged by Koenma.
And then, all hell broke loose.
The building started to shake and shudder.
"Damn!!" Dawn exclaimed. "The place is collapsing! We need to get out."
Jin grinned. "All we gotta do is have Urameshi blow a few 'oles in tha walls, an' we'll be all set!!"
Yusuke smirked. "You got it."
He turned and aimed his reigun at the wall, and started gathering as much energy as possible - he wanted one clear shot that would break through all of the walls.
Amaya stopped and looked back at the place that Lamia had fallen. She slowly walked to the spot, and kneeled down. She picked up her necklace, and smiled slightly.
She ran her fingers over the surface.
"This…it's caused so much trouble…" She whispered.
"Amaya, get down!!"
She let out a cry of surprise when Kurama suddenly tackled her to the ground, saving her from getting squashed by a piece of the ceiling that had been coming right at her.
She smiled. "Th-thanks."
He got off of her and helped her up as well. He smiled back.
"You're always getting into trouble." He said jokingly. "I have to save you."
Yusuke shot the reigun, and it shot clear through to the outside.
"Let's go, everybody!!"
They all started running through the newly made tunnel, dodging falling rubble.
The wall before the exit started crumbling, and Yusuke's eyes widened.
"Shit! We aren't gonna make it!"
"Yes we are!" Amaya called back.
And sure enough, as soon as the last person was on the outside, the tunnel collapsed. Everyone made it up to the top of the hill, then flopped down onto the ground. Everyone was completely exhausted, and they watched the castle crumble in silence.
"It's finally over." Amaya said, smiling.
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They decided to camp there for the night, just because everyone was too tired to make the trip to either the Shinobi village or to Reikai.
Kano and Midori built a fire, and everyone sat in silence around it.
It was already way past midnight, so most of them fell asleep almost instantly. That is, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Touya, Shishiwakamaru, Jin, Amaya, Midori, Chuu and Naomi were already asleep.
Chuu and Naomi were side by side, sleeping on the ground, the former's arm around the latter's waist. Kano and Midori were in the same position, though the reincarnated bat demon had one had propping his head up as he lazily watched the dancing flames.
Kurama was leaning against a tree, his tennyo leaning against him, deep asleep. He absentmindedly stroked her hair, which was the reason that she had fallen asleep so quickly.
Hiei and Dawn were side by side, sitting against a tree and watching the fire as well.
"What a day, huh?" Kano said.
Kurama stopped his rhythmic stroking and sighed. "You can say that again."
The two were silent again, and Kurama resumed caressing the sleeping tennyo's hair.
Dawn sighed, and drew her knees to her chest. "Hiei?"
"What?"
"Are…" She stopped and shook her head. She looked over at him, and held out her hand. "Friends?"
He eyed her hand warily, then met her gaze. He thought about it for a second…
Friends. Dawn was…despite the fact that they hadn't talked much, and had gotten off to a rocky start, he could say that they were friends.
"Friends." He said. He drew the line when it came to physical contact.
She rolled her eyes, but then smiled. "Right."
Kurama sighed, and decided that he should really get some sleep. He gently moved Amaya off of him, and she opened her eyes slightly. He smiled apologetically, and laid down on the ground, pulling her towards him.
"Sorry. I was trying to lay down so that I could sleep."
She nodded, and put her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.
"Ai shiteru." She said sleepily.
He smiled, and wrapped his arms around her waist as well.
"I love you too."
The rest of them fell asleep shortly after, with minds at ease with the defeat of Lamia.
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The next morning, they all woke up, and went to Reikai, where they hoped to get some breakfast for themselves. An anxious Yukina met them when they arrived.
"Kazuma-san! Minna-san!" She exclaimed, running over to them. Well, as fast as one could in a kimono.
Kuwabara grinned. "Hey, baby. I told ya I'd save the day."
She smiled. "Hai!"
"How is my mother?" Kurama asked.
Yukina blinked, then smiled. "Shiori-san is fine. Just…"
"Shuichi…?"
He looked past the petite ice maiden and saw Shiori standing in the doorway.
"Kaasan." He said.
She walked over to him, and smiled. "Hello, Shuichi."
"Kaasan, how are you feeling? I mean, you were pretty out of it, and-"
"Shuichi, your friend Yukina explained everything to me. About your…life." She said.
Kurama paled, and looked at Yukina. She gave a bow.
"Gomen nasai, Kurama-san, but I was told to."
He looked back at his mother. "Are you…angry with me?"
She smiled again. "Heavens no, Shuichi, dear. I'm more…surprised. And relieved."
"Relieved?" He asked.
"I had been worried about you for a while. The fact that you were always doing odd hours for random jobs, and just general lack of interest in anything when you came home. You should have told me sooner." She said. She looked past him. "Which one of these is Amaya?"
Amaya stepped forward, and smiled slightly. "I am."
Shiori smiled, then looked back at her son. "She's very beautiful."
Amaya blushed. "Th-thank you."
Naomi blinked, and leaned over to Chuu. She whispered, "Is that his mom?"
"Yeah."
"So she's…my grandma, then?"
"Not quite, sheila. Because Kurama isn't technically yer father. It's more like…well, his demon form is yer father." He said.
"Oh."
Koenma came into the room, practically grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, you not only fulfilled your mission - stopping the bugs - but you also saved the three worlds from certain destruction."
"How are the humans in Ningenkai?" Amaya asked, remembering the condition of that world.
"A few casualties, unfortunately, but they were blamed on an unknown virus. No one who was infected and survived remembers what happened." He replied. "I suppose that that's a good thing."
"Next time you're going to send a relative of mine to Makai, you'd better warn me first. Because otherwise," Naomi cracked her knuckles. "you'll pay dearly."
The Reikai Prince gulped, and smiled nervously. "R-Right!! Well, I'll let you all go back to your homes now."
He quickly scampered off, and Naomi just smirked.
"Chicken."
"I guess…that we all have choices now." Amaya said.
"Choices?" Her daughter repeated.
"Whether you go back to Makai, or stay in Ningenkai." Dawn said.
"Oh…"
Kurama smiled. He hoped that Amaya and Naomi would stay in Ningenkai with him. They could be like a family, and they would be happy…
Amaya smiled slightly. "I know where I want to stay."
Author's Notes : Well, that was the final chapter. And also, it was a cliffhanger. Because I'm evil that way. Remember - !'d like 200 reviews by the end, and then you'll get a treat.
[sniffles] I'm so sad! But the epilogue kicks ass. It's hilarious - but you won't know until I post it.
MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!
However, if you want me to make another story, then you'll have to give me some ideas. Because this is supposed to be the end - but if enough people want it, and I get enough ideas to make into a full story, then I'll do it. But don't give any suggestions until the ends of the next chapter - because the story will have to go basically along with what happens in the next chapter.
I'm going to be writing a Hiei / OC, Yu Yu Hakusho / Inu-Yasha X-over story, and I should be posting it soon. Um.... and there should be a story about Shuichi turning into Youko permamently...and basically, just keep cheking my profile page for all of my fics!!
miyako14 : You're the best!! This chapter is dedicated to you!!
Mah : Thanks.
blackfire : Here you go!!
Sun Priestess : LuckyKoorime thought that up over lunch. That's what SHE thinks about Kurama, LOL.
FieryKitsune : I'm glad that you refrained from the death threats. LOL.
Suzaku no miko : MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAA!!!!! cough Sorry.
Story Weaver1 : She's ALIVE!!! MWAHAHAHA - wait, that's what we wanted. LOL.
Dew-Drop Viper : The epilogue will make up for it.
Chibi Lady : Thanks you so much! I worked all through my day of being sick to finish Midori's pic.
Psychocatgal : LOL. I know, I'm evil.
Katie E. : Clinging to my feet....it works. LOL.
ShadowBlue : That's a really cool name...are you sure you've reviewed before? I don't recognize the name....
Dark Vixen Nisha : Amaya's fine! Yay! Let's all clap our hands!!