Towa no Mirai: Elemental Gem Stones: #4-Shuunenbukai Ninja Kankeishi! Shitsumei no Kushiyè
- A Vengeful Ninja Relative! Kushiyè's Eyesight is Lost -
By: Reiko Aya (KitsuneMaya@koreanmail.com) and Towasei Norei (mokuro29802@aol.com)
Official Webpage: http://towa-no-mirai.tk [http://freewebs.com/mayamukuro]
Chunzhu's eyes slowly batted open as she awakened the next morning. She heard distant voices, and sat up from the futon she laid on.
As Kurama passed by the door of the room she was in, he peeked in and smiled. "Oh good, you're up." He walked inside. "How are you feeling?"
Chunzhu smiled. He was asking her that? The question seemed so foreign when asked to her. She gave her best smile. "I am fine..." She paused to look at how bandaged up she was. "Unless my injuries want to speak for themselves."
Hiei looked in. "Can we remove the ones on her arms?"
"Why would you want to do that?" Chunzhu asked, looking at him with her dark eyes.
He rolled up a sleeve to show his own bandages. "I just feel plagerized," he answered dully, pulling his sleeve back down.
"Oh..." Chunzhu wondered what was wrong with his arm, but she still didn't want to be guilty of 'plagiarism', so she began taking them off. With all of them removed, she was surprised to see her wounds were completely gone, without even a scar. How did that happen...? Someone here probably had healing powers.
Chunzhu set aside the red-brown stained strips aside and turned to Kurama. "Why does Hie-" She ceased in mid-sentence, thinking of it too rude of a question. "Where is my aoku?" She said instead. It was a little off topic, but it was a lot less ruder. She really did want to know where it was though.
"Don't worry. I'm fixing it for you. It was ripped and stained with blood. It should be finished soon."
The second surprise of the day. Did he actually say he'd fix it for her...? "Oh, good. Thanks." Chunzhu replied hastily, "But why would you-"
Kushiyè interrupted before she could finish. "G'day Zhu! Hang on, I'll get you something to eat and then you can go for a walk with us."
Kurama faced the door. "If you're not too tired, that is."
Chunzhu shook her head. "Of course not. See? I am up and ready now."
Kushiyè smiled. "Good. Maybe now you're finally becoming stronger."
Kurama left and called back to her. "I'll be getting you a fresh set of clothes then!"
"We'll be right back, Zhu," Kushiyè said before also leaving.
Hiei turned towards the window. "If anyone asks, I'll be waiting outside," he said to Chunzhu before jumping out.
"Alright..." Chunzhu muttered to herself. All these people around her...felta little warming or reassuring. It was strange, but perhaps she was beginning to get used to, and even like it.
* * * *
It was a scarce short time of peace in the Youkai Mori. The Reikai Tantei, Kushiyè, and Chunzhu were taking a pleasant stroll, relaxed, but still keeping a casual eye out for anything hostile that might be out there. As they passed through the heavy shadow of a large, old tree, a laugh of absolute evil broke the peace, although only demons with extremely sensitive hearing were able to hear the distant shout, and still tell it was different somehow. It was not only full of evil, but vengance and a thirst for power.
"Huh?" Kushiyè stopped immediately when she heard the laugh.
"What's wrong, Kushiyè?" Hiei asked with a questioning look upon his face.
"Nothing. I...just...thought...I heard something," Kushiyè answered, listening for it again.
"Well then, let's continue," Kurama insisted, "Shall we?"
"Right. Sorry."
Hiei gave her an encouraging look, "Don't be."
"Oi Kuwabara, check it out. Hiei's flirting with Kushiyè," Yusuke whispered to the blue-clad lug, mistaking his comment as an advancing remark.
"Are you serious?!" Kuwabara said loudly, and then smirked slyly, "Well, come to think of it, he is always trying to get close to her if you've noticed," he announced stupidly, adding emphasised observations like you would add wood to a fire. Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances and then started cracking up.
Hiei started getting annoyed with the laughter, "Okay guys, would you please shut u-"
"Look out, Hiei! Jump!" Kushiyè warned, allowing Hiei to leap away just as a set of daggers were lodged into a thick tree trunk.
"What the...?!" Hiei looked very surprised as another round of shuriken throwing knives were just chucked at him. Luckily, they narrowly missed him, and instead joined the other shuriken on the tree trunk.
The laughter heard before by Kushiyè rang out again, extremely closer this time and audible to everyone, "Damn. I missed the right target. Kushiyè, you were the one I was after." His deep voice hissed like that of a snake's.
"What? Why...me?" Kushiyè said, her sweet, Australian-accented articulation clashing with the demon's snake voice.
"Because you killed my brother."
"What? I didn't kill anybody!" Kushiyè argued.
"Oh, you mena you didn't kill Yousorai." His voice was now heavy with sarcastic belief.
"You...you mean Yousorai was your brother?"
"Yes, and now you die!!" He raised his arms above him, and light gathered itself into his open hands, "Hoshokonoako Ha!" he shouted, and the light shot straight at Kushiyè. She could only stay still in hsock while the bright light flashed towards her.
When it hit her, she simply fainted. No cuts, no blood, just falling down as if it were merely shock that had made her collapse.
"No Kushiyè!" Hiei yelled. He ran over to help her.
"Aiyaa, again?" Chunzhu commented, "Is she alright?" She seemed to be okay, "Inari-sama..." Her use of the prase 'My god...'. Chunzhu muttered to herself in Chinese, relatively calm.
The demon smiled at the chaos everyone else had created checking on her. "Now I bid you all sayonara." And he disappeared, not even leaving his name alone.
"Aiyaa, please Kushiyè. Wake up. Please awaken, for the love of Inari-sama and these people..." Chunzhu muttered to herself in Chinese. She was showing minimum worry, a confident smile on. Those others seemed to care a lot for the okami...but why? They had only just met, and she didn't owe them anything, right? So why care if she survived or not?
"Come on, let's get her to Genkai's temple," Hiei said as he lifted her onto his back.
"Uh, Hiei, her kimono." Kurama saw it getting flipped up as she was hoisted up. "Perhaps Suishori should carry her," he suggested, ignoring the lazy 'I don't want to. I go through enough already.' look on Chunzhu's face.
"Are you calling me hentai?" Hiei inquired icily, making Kurama back away.
"No, but really..."
"Fine." Hiei dumped Kushiyè into Chunzhu's arms. "Hn. Gaylord," he muttered to Kurama. Chunzhu raised an eyebrow curiously, but stopped when Kurama glared at her.
"Wath it Hiei, don't get me angry," Kurama said in a treatening tone.
Hiei glared at him, "Stop arguing. Let's hurry before, you know..." It seemed that Hiei wanted to keep away from metnioning the frail subject of death.
Chunzhu cut in, Right, let us hurry." Her eyes shifted to meet Kurama's apologetically. She didn't mean to make any suspicions, but she couldn't help it. Would he be angry at her? She almost dropped Kushiyè just thinking about going through any more hate...
* * * *
"Well it's a good thing you got here in time, though I'm sorry I don't know her condition," Genkai explained. The group had reached her temple a while ago.
Yukina, who was looking after Kushiyè in the next room, walked in to announce, "Genkai, come now. It's Kushiyè!"
"Huh? What's wrong?" Hiei asked fussily.
"She's waking up," Yukina said.
* * * *
"Huh? Where am I? Zhu! Hiei! Kurama!" Kushiyè finally opened her eyes to see...black nothingness?
Yukina gasped, "Oh no."
"Hm? What is wrong?" Chunzhu looked around, confused.
Yukina pointed to Kushiyè's face, "Guys, take a look at her eyes. See? She's blind."
"What?!" everyone gapsed, sans Hiei. He was too shocked to even move.
"Will she be alright? Tell me," Chunzhu requested, a hint of worry for the younger okami showing.
"I-I don't know. Sorry Zhu, this could be temporary or permanant," Yukina said sadly.
"Oh..." Chunzhu clapsed her hands. "Does anybody have a possible reason why everyone is attacking Kushiyè?" She looked down at her folded hands. "What could she have done to make them hate her so much?"
Everyone thought for a minute, and then Genkai spoke up, "Maybe they're after you as well."
"That makes sense," Kurama agreed, "First, she was brainwashed in order to get the gem stones from you. Now, they've blinded her, but maybe not just for revenge. Is her eyesight any concern to you, Suishori?"
Chunzhu hesitated to answer before nodding, "I suppose she always has looked out for me. Especially in the Youkai Mori. She always had better eyesight than I did." She blinked her large dark eyes, reminiscing, "She actually did save my life a few times from demons."
"So perhaps they knew this, and blinded her in hopes of you getting killed," Kurama suggested.
"But that is unfair!" Chunzhu objected, "Why can they not just attack me directly, and not hurt anyone else? I mean, I want to be faced directly, not manipulated and toyed with."
Kushiyè banged the wall lightly to get everyone's attention, "Zhu, calm down. It's not like I died," she smiled, in hopes of cheering her up, "In fact, I can feel my other senses getting stronger."
Yusuke joined in, "And you can just leave all the visual stuff to the Reikai Tantei. Don't forget, we were hired to help."
Chunzhu nodded, "Great. One day, I will make sure to repay all of you greatly."
Kushiyè shook her head, "You shouldn't bother. After all, it's their job."
"Actually, it's forced labor, since you get paid if you have a job," Hiei said with a smirk.
All of a sudden, an evil, familiar laugh was heard, and the whole temple became silent. Their surroundings became pitch black as a figure appeared, his aura the only light.
"Who the hell are you?!" Hiei snapped as he ran in front of Kushiyè to make sure no harm would come to her.
"You've met me earlier. My name is Yousoyama, a chimi."
"Did you blind Kushiyè to get to me?" Chunzhu galled out straightforwardly.
"I'm sorry to say no. I have met other youkai interested in you, but all I want is Kushiyè," he laughed again as Chunzhu gasped.
"What?! But why her and not me?" she cried. Yousoyama stepped closer to Kushiyè, not answering.
Hiei ran to the chimi, who at thirteen feet, towered over him. "Stay away from her!" Hiei warned. Yousoyama knocked him against the wooden temple walls, and Hiei fell unconscious.
"Is it me, or has Hiei been knocked out a lot lately?" Yusuke said with a sweatdrop, quickly reverting back to the danget situation when he heard Kushiyè's cries of pain, and saw Yousoyama with his serpentine tail wrapped tightly around her neck.
"Stop!" Chunzhu cried, startling the demon out of letting her go, but continuing after a second, "I said stop now! She will die like that!" Chunzhu repeated, being too late. Kushiyè, like Hiei, fell motionless.
"Too wounded to stay awake for that. Hn, I must have hit her pretty hard with that light blast," Yousoyama laughed as he started to remove Kushiyè's headband, "Here is why we were after Kushiyè. Look Suishori, you'll remember."
Chunzhu walked over to Kushiyè and gasped, "What?! I never knew she had that! That is the prized triforce. It acts as a power focus for the Elemental Gem Stones. How did she get that?" she didn't believe Kushiyè had such a powerful item. She didn't want to believe it, either.
"She stole it from you so long ago, and I'm here to take it back. We let her off easy. She wanted to leave the alliance, so we let her go. We trusted her, but she took the triforce before she left."
"KUshiyè would not do that! You must have forced her into your group. Give it back now," Chunzhu demanded as he started to take the triforce out of Kushiyè's forehead. Although KUshiyè yelled in pain, it was difficult to remove. Chunzhu grabbed Yousoyama's wrist in an attempt to stop him, but he flung her against the wall, not even having the courtesy to hold back his strength.
"Suishori!" Kurama ran to check on Chunzhu.
"No, Kushiyè..." Chunzhu whispered under her breath, trying to get up and ignore the pain that seared up and down her back.
Yosuoyama laughed and disappeared holding Kushiyè, finding himself unable to remove the triforce.
Just before he left, Hiei woke up and saw them disappear. "Kushiyè! Damn you, Yousoyama. You'll pay. I'll kill you. I swear I will!" Hiei slammed the ground with his hand in a tihgt fist.
"No, Kushiyè..." Chunzhu repeated quietly. How could Kushiyè do something that made her seem so weak? There wasn't an excuse for allowing herself to be kidnapped! "She cannot die."
"Don't worry, she won't. I will not allow it. NO one will lay a hand on Kushiyè while I'm around, so don't start to cry," Hiei encouraged with somewhat of a smile.
"Who will fight him though?" Chunzhu questioned, "He seems too strong for any of us to beat."
"I will. he took..."
"Your...friend?" Chunzhu tried to finish for him.
He nodded, too lost in his own thoughts to remark that he didn't need friends. "I'll destroy him!" he declared as everyone sweatdropped.
"Uh, Hiei, she's our friend as well," Kurama said.
"Get this straight: the chimi is mine!" Hiei announced as everyone threw down their heads and sweatdropped again.
"You think he was paying attention?" Yusuke asked.
Kuwabara and Kurama shook their heads, "Nope."
Chunzhu turned to Hiei and bowed her head graciously, "Thank you, Hiei-san!" she said happily, which apparently surprised him, because he just stood there, wide eyed and speechless. Chunzhu was this happy becauseshe sensed an Elemental Gem Stone with him. Finding it would bring her antoher step closer to recovering what she had lost. It was absolutely wonderful having others willing to help, even if they cared more for Kushiyè than the gem stones.
"We must save Kushiyè. Zhu, you should stay here," Yusuke ordered.
Chunzhu shook her head, "No. I am coming."
"That makes no sense," Kurama said, shaking his head. Apparently he had been thinking something through.
"What does not?" Chunzhu asked, tilting her head.
"I've heard of the triforce. It was coveted by many, demons and humans alike, but there was a requirement that only a pure-hearted royal prince could handle it," Kurama explained.
Chunzhu thought about this for a second, "Oh, right...but if Kushiyè is not a prince, how can she possess the triforce?" she paused, "Actually, she is not even a boy...Nothing makes sense anymore..."
Kuwabara smiled, "That's nothing to get upset about. Nothing ever makes sense for me."
Everyone waited for Hiei to comment on Kuwabara's statement. Nothing. He didn't even blink.
Yusuke leaned over and looked at Hiei, "Oi, Hiei! Are you still alive?"
Hiei turned to everyone as Yusuke backed away saying, "Yep, I guess you are."
"Surely one of you know where Yousoyama is," Hiei said, looking around. Nobody answered. They didn't know. Actually, not even Kuwabara could merely sense him.
Watching from the window was a girl in a light blue kimono. She was listening intently with her pointed ears as she played with a long lock of golden hair. Her sapphire eyes were filled with indesicion of whether she should help them or not. After a moment of deciding, she quickly took out a piece of scrap paper and a pen from her kimono and wrote on it:
I know where Yousoyama is. Meet me at noon tommorrow, the Autumn Equinox, at Hanesaki Botanical Gardens.
-Yurinoki
"My new name..." she said to herself while carefully writing the kanji, having just recieved it. She slipped it through the doors to the temple, and quickly flew away on her oar.
"Hn?" Hiei heard the paper go through the door and flutter to the ground. He went over, picked it up, and read it, "Well, this si lucky," he said to himself after reading it.
"What is?" Chunzhu asked as everyone crowded over.
Hiei handed the paper to Chunzhu, who then passed it on to another person, and on it went in this order until everyone had seen it.
"Should we trust this one?" Hiei wondered.
Chunzhu nodded, "We do not have a choice. I doubt anyone else we know would be willing to take us to Yousoyama."
* * * *
The next day, Chunzhu could hardly sit through school. "Ku-, ano...Shuuichi?" she whispered during Literature class, almost forgetting what to call him at school, "Should we sneak out of school at noon? I do not think we should be late."
Kurama shook his head in denial, seeing through her trick of getting out of school early, "They'll probably wait for us."
Chunzhu looked out the window. The cherry blossoms were in their full autumn bloom, and the wind outside made the leaves of the other trees fall, creating a snowstorm-like effect. "But we should go. It is such a nice day," she begged quietly.
"Cheer up. I have good news. Your aoku is repaired. I'll give it to you later, once I get it out of my locker," Kurama said.
Chunzhu's expression brightened immediately. "Oh! Thank you! I did not think anybody could bother...it was such a mess! How talented! How generous!" she cried rapidly and estatically.
She stopped immediately when she saw the sensei glaring at her and her classmates snickering.
"Please settle down, Miss Chou," she sighed, writing something down in an official-looking book on her desk, then continuing her lesson.
She looked down, still smiling, "As you know, I love that outfit very much. I was told my mother made it before she died," she whispered. He answered with a nod. Chunzhu was still fazed with surprise. Someone had actually done something for her...a favor, she believed it was called.
* * * *
Yurinoki was waiting impatiently, perched on a tree branch in Hanesaki Botanical Gardens. She looked at the clock embedded in the vine-covered brick tower in the center of the gardens. 3:30. She sighed, "They're late." Maybe they didn't take her advice...
"Saa, (Well,) we're here! We're here!"
Yurinoki looked down and saw Chunzhu along with the Reikai Tantei, all looking around in search of her.
She floated down from the tree, "Pleased to see you again."
Chunzhu turned and smiled, "There you are!"
Kurama eyed her closely, "You seem oddly familiar."
"And what did you mean by 'again'?" Hiei asked, leaning against a tree, arms folded.
Chunzhu also looked carefully at her, "Hm..." she looked down in thought. As a strong gust of wind blew, it all came back to her, "Yousokaze!" she exclaimed in recognition.
Yousokaze, or Yurinoki held up her hand to Chunzhu's face, "My name is now Yurinoki, ferrygirl for Reikai."
"So Koenma gave you a job? I thought you were dead," Yusuke said.
"I am," said Yurinoki bluntly, "But that's how I got this job."
"Oh! Congradulations!" Chunzhu complimented, bowing her head a little.
Yurinoki's eyes widened, "Aren't you mad? I injured you-"
Hiei interrupted her, "It's nice you have an occupation, but...you said you knew where Yousoyama was."
"Right, I did," Yurinoki nodded, "I forgot about that for a minute, sorry." She walked around, stopped, and knelt down in a blank area of grass, "I wanted to meet at Hanesaki for a reason," she said as she put her hand against the ground. A whirlwin appeared, which she turned into a portal, "This is the only way to get to Yousoyama," she explained.
"Well let's not just stand around!" Kuwabara prepared to jump in.
Yurinoki stuck out her arm in front of him. "If you jump, you will end up so high in the atmosphere the fall would kill you."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Yusuke asked.
Yurinoki made her oar appear, "Well, get on," she said.
Everyone sweatdropped.
"That oar is awfully small," Chunzhu stated.
Yurinoki shrugged, "Squish in."
And so, eventually, they all crowded onto the oar in this order- Yurinoki at the head, then Chunzhu, Kurama, Hiei, and finally, Yusuke and Kuwabara, hanging onto the very tip.
"Here we go!" she exclaimed, and they all managed to get through the quickly closing portal.
They came out of the portal to be greeted with an amazing aerial view of a mountain range.
Kushiyè, don't worry. We'll save you. Hiei thought.
"Where the hell is Yousoyama?" Kuwabara made a tight fist with his free hand, ready to punch anything that agitated him.
"Don't worry, we're almost there. See the tallest mountain? That's Yousoyama's hideaway." Yurinoki pointed to the greatest rock formation at the center of everything.
Hiei, growing impatient and worried, stupidly jumped of, hundreds of meters from the ground.
"Baka! You'll die from that distance!!!" Yurinoki called after him.
While Yurinoki, Kuwabara, and Yusuke worried about the fire demon, Kurama sat there with a smile. "Don't wory about him. He'll be fine." Everybody stared at him with huge eyes.
"what do you mean? Any one of us would die from that fall. Why would he not?" Chunzhu asked, a little confused.
"Listen, Hiei should die from that, but the anger burning inside his soul will keep him alive. I mean, if you take away his," Kurama coughed the word 'love', "that would definitely get him enraged." Kurama explained.
"You are truly optimistic, aren't you?" Yusuke aquired a nauseous look, "...and disguisting."
* * * *
"Yousoyama! Get out here!" Hiei ordered.
******************
BONUS
******************
Here's a little added bonus. It's a little about the names in Towa no Mirai. ^^
Chou Chunzhu -- Forlorn Spring Pearl
Suishori -- Holy Crystal, more or less. The 'ri' suffix is used at the end of religious words (Ikari-Anger of god; Hikari-Holy Light; Akari-Light of god, power of god; Inori-prayer; etc.) Also, any kitsune with 'ri' at the end of its name is more than likely a celestial kitsune/guardian kitsune.
Towashi Kushiyé -- Everlasting Princess of Death. 'Ku' is I think Chinese pinyin that refers to royalty. I'm not sure what the 'yé' is for... It could be a Chinese end suffix, but there could be something else to it.
Yurinoki -- Tulip Tree. Note: I noticed all ferrygirls in YuYu Hakusho have names refering to flowers, so I decided to give her one too. ^^
Botan -- Peony; Boatman
Kuwabara Kazuma -- Mulberry Field Peace and Truth
Yukimura Keiko -- Snow Village Firefly Child
Daiou Koenma -- Great King Little Enma
Urameshi Yusuke -- Bay Rice Ghost Helper
Jaganshi Hiei -- Evil Eye Master Flying Shadow
Youko Kurama -- Demon Kept Horse
Minamino Suuichi -- Southern Field Excellence First
Genkai -- Grandma; Old Woman
Yukina -- Snow Greens
Now for a real quick pronunciation thing:
A hyphen indicates that you say each syllable seperately, but when two syllables are stuck together, say them together. If you don't understand what I mean, nevermind. ^^;
Chou Chunzhu - Choh Chahn Joo (When saying the zh- and ch- parts, bend your tongue backward. It feels awkward at first, but that's how it's done ^^;)
Suishori - Soo-ee-sho-lee/ree
Towashi Kushiyé - Toh-wah-shee Koo-shy-ee (pronouncing it in Japanese would be more like Koo-shee-yeh)
Yurinoki - Yoolee/ree-noh-kee
Botan - Boh-tahn
Kuwabara Kazuma - Koo-wah-bah-lah/rah Kah-zoo-mah
Yukimura Keiko - Yoo-kee-moo-lah/rah Kay-koh
Daiou Koenma - Dye-oh Koh-ehn-mah
Urameshi Yusuke - Oo-lah/rah-meh-shee Yoo-soo-kay (Not Yoo-lah/rah-meh-shee)
Jaganshi Hiei - Jah-gahn-shee Hee-ay
Youko Kurama - Yoh-koh Koo-lah/rah-mah
Minamino Suuichi - Mee-nah-mee-noh Soo-ee-chee
Genkai - Gehn-kah-ee
Yukina - Yoo-kee-nah
Another note, when saying the 'i' vowel in Japanese, although I wrote it as 'ee' it isn't as..umm..hard as that really. Think of every vowel sound as having a tiny 'h' behind it. 'Ee' sounds alot like 'Ih'
If you wanna know how to pronounce other names I forgot to list, email us about it..We'll be happy to explain anything you don't fully understand :)
- A Vengeful Ninja Relative! Kushiyè's Eyesight is Lost -
By: Reiko Aya (KitsuneMaya@koreanmail.com) and Towasei Norei (mokuro29802@aol.com)
Official Webpage: http://towa-no-mirai.tk [http://freewebs.com/mayamukuro]
Chunzhu's eyes slowly batted open as she awakened the next morning. She heard distant voices, and sat up from the futon she laid on.
As Kurama passed by the door of the room she was in, he peeked in and smiled. "Oh good, you're up." He walked inside. "How are you feeling?"
Chunzhu smiled. He was asking her that? The question seemed so foreign when asked to her. She gave her best smile. "I am fine..." She paused to look at how bandaged up she was. "Unless my injuries want to speak for themselves."
Hiei looked in. "Can we remove the ones on her arms?"
"Why would you want to do that?" Chunzhu asked, looking at him with her dark eyes.
He rolled up a sleeve to show his own bandages. "I just feel plagerized," he answered dully, pulling his sleeve back down.
"Oh..." Chunzhu wondered what was wrong with his arm, but she still didn't want to be guilty of 'plagiarism', so she began taking them off. With all of them removed, she was surprised to see her wounds were completely gone, without even a scar. How did that happen...? Someone here probably had healing powers.
Chunzhu set aside the red-brown stained strips aside and turned to Kurama. "Why does Hie-" She ceased in mid-sentence, thinking of it too rude of a question. "Where is my aoku?" She said instead. It was a little off topic, but it was a lot less ruder. She really did want to know where it was though.
"Don't worry. I'm fixing it for you. It was ripped and stained with blood. It should be finished soon."
The second surprise of the day. Did he actually say he'd fix it for her...? "Oh, good. Thanks." Chunzhu replied hastily, "But why would you-"
Kushiyè interrupted before she could finish. "G'day Zhu! Hang on, I'll get you something to eat and then you can go for a walk with us."
Kurama faced the door. "If you're not too tired, that is."
Chunzhu shook her head. "Of course not. See? I am up and ready now."
Kushiyè smiled. "Good. Maybe now you're finally becoming stronger."
Kurama left and called back to her. "I'll be getting you a fresh set of clothes then!"
"We'll be right back, Zhu," Kushiyè said before also leaving.
Hiei turned towards the window. "If anyone asks, I'll be waiting outside," he said to Chunzhu before jumping out.
"Alright..." Chunzhu muttered to herself. All these people around her...felta little warming or reassuring. It was strange, but perhaps she was beginning to get used to, and even like it.
* * * *
It was a scarce short time of peace in the Youkai Mori. The Reikai Tantei, Kushiyè, and Chunzhu were taking a pleasant stroll, relaxed, but still keeping a casual eye out for anything hostile that might be out there. As they passed through the heavy shadow of a large, old tree, a laugh of absolute evil broke the peace, although only demons with extremely sensitive hearing were able to hear the distant shout, and still tell it was different somehow. It was not only full of evil, but vengance and a thirst for power.
"Huh?" Kushiyè stopped immediately when she heard the laugh.
"What's wrong, Kushiyè?" Hiei asked with a questioning look upon his face.
"Nothing. I...just...thought...I heard something," Kushiyè answered, listening for it again.
"Well then, let's continue," Kurama insisted, "Shall we?"
"Right. Sorry."
Hiei gave her an encouraging look, "Don't be."
"Oi Kuwabara, check it out. Hiei's flirting with Kushiyè," Yusuke whispered to the blue-clad lug, mistaking his comment as an advancing remark.
"Are you serious?!" Kuwabara said loudly, and then smirked slyly, "Well, come to think of it, he is always trying to get close to her if you've noticed," he announced stupidly, adding emphasised observations like you would add wood to a fire. Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances and then started cracking up.
Hiei started getting annoyed with the laughter, "Okay guys, would you please shut u-"
"Look out, Hiei! Jump!" Kushiyè warned, allowing Hiei to leap away just as a set of daggers were lodged into a thick tree trunk.
"What the...?!" Hiei looked very surprised as another round of shuriken throwing knives were just chucked at him. Luckily, they narrowly missed him, and instead joined the other shuriken on the tree trunk.
The laughter heard before by Kushiyè rang out again, extremely closer this time and audible to everyone, "Damn. I missed the right target. Kushiyè, you were the one I was after." His deep voice hissed like that of a snake's.
"What? Why...me?" Kushiyè said, her sweet, Australian-accented articulation clashing with the demon's snake voice.
"Because you killed my brother."
"What? I didn't kill anybody!" Kushiyè argued.
"Oh, you mena you didn't kill Yousorai." His voice was now heavy with sarcastic belief.
"You...you mean Yousorai was your brother?"
"Yes, and now you die!!" He raised his arms above him, and light gathered itself into his open hands, "Hoshokonoako Ha!" he shouted, and the light shot straight at Kushiyè. She could only stay still in hsock while the bright light flashed towards her.
When it hit her, she simply fainted. No cuts, no blood, just falling down as if it were merely shock that had made her collapse.
"No Kushiyè!" Hiei yelled. He ran over to help her.
"Aiyaa, again?" Chunzhu commented, "Is she alright?" She seemed to be okay, "Inari-sama..." Her use of the prase 'My god...'. Chunzhu muttered to herself in Chinese, relatively calm.
The demon smiled at the chaos everyone else had created checking on her. "Now I bid you all sayonara." And he disappeared, not even leaving his name alone.
"Aiyaa, please Kushiyè. Wake up. Please awaken, for the love of Inari-sama and these people..." Chunzhu muttered to herself in Chinese. She was showing minimum worry, a confident smile on. Those others seemed to care a lot for the okami...but why? They had only just met, and she didn't owe them anything, right? So why care if she survived or not?
"Come on, let's get her to Genkai's temple," Hiei said as he lifted her onto his back.
"Uh, Hiei, her kimono." Kurama saw it getting flipped up as she was hoisted up. "Perhaps Suishori should carry her," he suggested, ignoring the lazy 'I don't want to. I go through enough already.' look on Chunzhu's face.
"Are you calling me hentai?" Hiei inquired icily, making Kurama back away.
"No, but really..."
"Fine." Hiei dumped Kushiyè into Chunzhu's arms. "Hn. Gaylord," he muttered to Kurama. Chunzhu raised an eyebrow curiously, but stopped when Kurama glared at her.
"Wath it Hiei, don't get me angry," Kurama said in a treatening tone.
Hiei glared at him, "Stop arguing. Let's hurry before, you know..." It seemed that Hiei wanted to keep away from metnioning the frail subject of death.
Chunzhu cut in, Right, let us hurry." Her eyes shifted to meet Kurama's apologetically. She didn't mean to make any suspicions, but she couldn't help it. Would he be angry at her? She almost dropped Kushiyè just thinking about going through any more hate...
* * * *
"Well it's a good thing you got here in time, though I'm sorry I don't know her condition," Genkai explained. The group had reached her temple a while ago.
Yukina, who was looking after Kushiyè in the next room, walked in to announce, "Genkai, come now. It's Kushiyè!"
"Huh? What's wrong?" Hiei asked fussily.
"She's waking up," Yukina said.
* * * *
"Huh? Where am I? Zhu! Hiei! Kurama!" Kushiyè finally opened her eyes to see...black nothingness?
Yukina gasped, "Oh no."
"Hm? What is wrong?" Chunzhu looked around, confused.
Yukina pointed to Kushiyè's face, "Guys, take a look at her eyes. See? She's blind."
"What?!" everyone gapsed, sans Hiei. He was too shocked to even move.
"Will she be alright? Tell me," Chunzhu requested, a hint of worry for the younger okami showing.
"I-I don't know. Sorry Zhu, this could be temporary or permanant," Yukina said sadly.
"Oh..." Chunzhu clapsed her hands. "Does anybody have a possible reason why everyone is attacking Kushiyè?" She looked down at her folded hands. "What could she have done to make them hate her so much?"
Everyone thought for a minute, and then Genkai spoke up, "Maybe they're after you as well."
"That makes sense," Kurama agreed, "First, she was brainwashed in order to get the gem stones from you. Now, they've blinded her, but maybe not just for revenge. Is her eyesight any concern to you, Suishori?"
Chunzhu hesitated to answer before nodding, "I suppose she always has looked out for me. Especially in the Youkai Mori. She always had better eyesight than I did." She blinked her large dark eyes, reminiscing, "She actually did save my life a few times from demons."
"So perhaps they knew this, and blinded her in hopes of you getting killed," Kurama suggested.
"But that is unfair!" Chunzhu objected, "Why can they not just attack me directly, and not hurt anyone else? I mean, I want to be faced directly, not manipulated and toyed with."
Kushiyè banged the wall lightly to get everyone's attention, "Zhu, calm down. It's not like I died," she smiled, in hopes of cheering her up, "In fact, I can feel my other senses getting stronger."
Yusuke joined in, "And you can just leave all the visual stuff to the Reikai Tantei. Don't forget, we were hired to help."
Chunzhu nodded, "Great. One day, I will make sure to repay all of you greatly."
Kushiyè shook her head, "You shouldn't bother. After all, it's their job."
"Actually, it's forced labor, since you get paid if you have a job," Hiei said with a smirk.
All of a sudden, an evil, familiar laugh was heard, and the whole temple became silent. Their surroundings became pitch black as a figure appeared, his aura the only light.
"Who the hell are you?!" Hiei snapped as he ran in front of Kushiyè to make sure no harm would come to her.
"You've met me earlier. My name is Yousoyama, a chimi."
"Did you blind Kushiyè to get to me?" Chunzhu galled out straightforwardly.
"I'm sorry to say no. I have met other youkai interested in you, but all I want is Kushiyè," he laughed again as Chunzhu gasped.
"What?! But why her and not me?" she cried. Yousoyama stepped closer to Kushiyè, not answering.
Hiei ran to the chimi, who at thirteen feet, towered over him. "Stay away from her!" Hiei warned. Yousoyama knocked him against the wooden temple walls, and Hiei fell unconscious.
"Is it me, or has Hiei been knocked out a lot lately?" Yusuke said with a sweatdrop, quickly reverting back to the danget situation when he heard Kushiyè's cries of pain, and saw Yousoyama with his serpentine tail wrapped tightly around her neck.
"Stop!" Chunzhu cried, startling the demon out of letting her go, but continuing after a second, "I said stop now! She will die like that!" Chunzhu repeated, being too late. Kushiyè, like Hiei, fell motionless.
"Too wounded to stay awake for that. Hn, I must have hit her pretty hard with that light blast," Yousoyama laughed as he started to remove Kushiyè's headband, "Here is why we were after Kushiyè. Look Suishori, you'll remember."
Chunzhu walked over to Kushiyè and gasped, "What?! I never knew she had that! That is the prized triforce. It acts as a power focus for the Elemental Gem Stones. How did she get that?" she didn't believe Kushiyè had such a powerful item. She didn't want to believe it, either.
"She stole it from you so long ago, and I'm here to take it back. We let her off easy. She wanted to leave the alliance, so we let her go. We trusted her, but she took the triforce before she left."
"KUshiyè would not do that! You must have forced her into your group. Give it back now," Chunzhu demanded as he started to take the triforce out of Kushiyè's forehead. Although KUshiyè yelled in pain, it was difficult to remove. Chunzhu grabbed Yousoyama's wrist in an attempt to stop him, but he flung her against the wall, not even having the courtesy to hold back his strength.
"Suishori!" Kurama ran to check on Chunzhu.
"No, Kushiyè..." Chunzhu whispered under her breath, trying to get up and ignore the pain that seared up and down her back.
Yosuoyama laughed and disappeared holding Kushiyè, finding himself unable to remove the triforce.
Just before he left, Hiei woke up and saw them disappear. "Kushiyè! Damn you, Yousoyama. You'll pay. I'll kill you. I swear I will!" Hiei slammed the ground with his hand in a tihgt fist.
"No, Kushiyè..." Chunzhu repeated quietly. How could Kushiyè do something that made her seem so weak? There wasn't an excuse for allowing herself to be kidnapped! "She cannot die."
"Don't worry, she won't. I will not allow it. NO one will lay a hand on Kushiyè while I'm around, so don't start to cry," Hiei encouraged with somewhat of a smile.
"Who will fight him though?" Chunzhu questioned, "He seems too strong for any of us to beat."
"I will. he took..."
"Your...friend?" Chunzhu tried to finish for him.
He nodded, too lost in his own thoughts to remark that he didn't need friends. "I'll destroy him!" he declared as everyone sweatdropped.
"Uh, Hiei, she's our friend as well," Kurama said.
"Get this straight: the chimi is mine!" Hiei announced as everyone threw down their heads and sweatdropped again.
"You think he was paying attention?" Yusuke asked.
Kuwabara and Kurama shook their heads, "Nope."
Chunzhu turned to Hiei and bowed her head graciously, "Thank you, Hiei-san!" she said happily, which apparently surprised him, because he just stood there, wide eyed and speechless. Chunzhu was this happy becauseshe sensed an Elemental Gem Stone with him. Finding it would bring her antoher step closer to recovering what she had lost. It was absolutely wonderful having others willing to help, even if they cared more for Kushiyè than the gem stones.
"We must save Kushiyè. Zhu, you should stay here," Yusuke ordered.
Chunzhu shook her head, "No. I am coming."
"That makes no sense," Kurama said, shaking his head. Apparently he had been thinking something through.
"What does not?" Chunzhu asked, tilting her head.
"I've heard of the triforce. It was coveted by many, demons and humans alike, but there was a requirement that only a pure-hearted royal prince could handle it," Kurama explained.
Chunzhu thought about this for a second, "Oh, right...but if Kushiyè is not a prince, how can she possess the triforce?" she paused, "Actually, she is not even a boy...Nothing makes sense anymore..."
Kuwabara smiled, "That's nothing to get upset about. Nothing ever makes sense for me."
Everyone waited for Hiei to comment on Kuwabara's statement. Nothing. He didn't even blink.
Yusuke leaned over and looked at Hiei, "Oi, Hiei! Are you still alive?"
Hiei turned to everyone as Yusuke backed away saying, "Yep, I guess you are."
"Surely one of you know where Yousoyama is," Hiei said, looking around. Nobody answered. They didn't know. Actually, not even Kuwabara could merely sense him.
Watching from the window was a girl in a light blue kimono. She was listening intently with her pointed ears as she played with a long lock of golden hair. Her sapphire eyes were filled with indesicion of whether she should help them or not. After a moment of deciding, she quickly took out a piece of scrap paper and a pen from her kimono and wrote on it:
I know where Yousoyama is. Meet me at noon tommorrow, the Autumn Equinox, at Hanesaki Botanical Gardens.
-Yurinoki
"My new name..." she said to herself while carefully writing the kanji, having just recieved it. She slipped it through the doors to the temple, and quickly flew away on her oar.
"Hn?" Hiei heard the paper go through the door and flutter to the ground. He went over, picked it up, and read it, "Well, this si lucky," he said to himself after reading it.
"What is?" Chunzhu asked as everyone crowded over.
Hiei handed the paper to Chunzhu, who then passed it on to another person, and on it went in this order until everyone had seen it.
"Should we trust this one?" Hiei wondered.
Chunzhu nodded, "We do not have a choice. I doubt anyone else we know would be willing to take us to Yousoyama."
* * * *
The next day, Chunzhu could hardly sit through school. "Ku-, ano...Shuuichi?" she whispered during Literature class, almost forgetting what to call him at school, "Should we sneak out of school at noon? I do not think we should be late."
Kurama shook his head in denial, seeing through her trick of getting out of school early, "They'll probably wait for us."
Chunzhu looked out the window. The cherry blossoms were in their full autumn bloom, and the wind outside made the leaves of the other trees fall, creating a snowstorm-like effect. "But we should go. It is such a nice day," she begged quietly.
"Cheer up. I have good news. Your aoku is repaired. I'll give it to you later, once I get it out of my locker," Kurama said.
Chunzhu's expression brightened immediately. "Oh! Thank you! I did not think anybody could bother...it was such a mess! How talented! How generous!" she cried rapidly and estatically.
She stopped immediately when she saw the sensei glaring at her and her classmates snickering.
"Please settle down, Miss Chou," she sighed, writing something down in an official-looking book on her desk, then continuing her lesson.
She looked down, still smiling, "As you know, I love that outfit very much. I was told my mother made it before she died," she whispered. He answered with a nod. Chunzhu was still fazed with surprise. Someone had actually done something for her...a favor, she believed it was called.
* * * *
Yurinoki was waiting impatiently, perched on a tree branch in Hanesaki Botanical Gardens. She looked at the clock embedded in the vine-covered brick tower in the center of the gardens. 3:30. She sighed, "They're late." Maybe they didn't take her advice...
"Saa, (Well,) we're here! We're here!"
Yurinoki looked down and saw Chunzhu along with the Reikai Tantei, all looking around in search of her.
She floated down from the tree, "Pleased to see you again."
Chunzhu turned and smiled, "There you are!"
Kurama eyed her closely, "You seem oddly familiar."
"And what did you mean by 'again'?" Hiei asked, leaning against a tree, arms folded.
Chunzhu also looked carefully at her, "Hm..." she looked down in thought. As a strong gust of wind blew, it all came back to her, "Yousokaze!" she exclaimed in recognition.
Yousokaze, or Yurinoki held up her hand to Chunzhu's face, "My name is now Yurinoki, ferrygirl for Reikai."
"So Koenma gave you a job? I thought you were dead," Yusuke said.
"I am," said Yurinoki bluntly, "But that's how I got this job."
"Oh! Congradulations!" Chunzhu complimented, bowing her head a little.
Yurinoki's eyes widened, "Aren't you mad? I injured you-"
Hiei interrupted her, "It's nice you have an occupation, but...you said you knew where Yousoyama was."
"Right, I did," Yurinoki nodded, "I forgot about that for a minute, sorry." She walked around, stopped, and knelt down in a blank area of grass, "I wanted to meet at Hanesaki for a reason," she said as she put her hand against the ground. A whirlwin appeared, which she turned into a portal, "This is the only way to get to Yousoyama," she explained.
"Well let's not just stand around!" Kuwabara prepared to jump in.
Yurinoki stuck out her arm in front of him. "If you jump, you will end up so high in the atmosphere the fall would kill you."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Yusuke asked.
Yurinoki made her oar appear, "Well, get on," she said.
Everyone sweatdropped.
"That oar is awfully small," Chunzhu stated.
Yurinoki shrugged, "Squish in."
And so, eventually, they all crowded onto the oar in this order- Yurinoki at the head, then Chunzhu, Kurama, Hiei, and finally, Yusuke and Kuwabara, hanging onto the very tip.
"Here we go!" she exclaimed, and they all managed to get through the quickly closing portal.
They came out of the portal to be greeted with an amazing aerial view of a mountain range.
Kushiyè, don't worry. We'll save you. Hiei thought.
"Where the hell is Yousoyama?" Kuwabara made a tight fist with his free hand, ready to punch anything that agitated him.
"Don't worry, we're almost there. See the tallest mountain? That's Yousoyama's hideaway." Yurinoki pointed to the greatest rock formation at the center of everything.
Hiei, growing impatient and worried, stupidly jumped of, hundreds of meters from the ground.
"Baka! You'll die from that distance!!!" Yurinoki called after him.
While Yurinoki, Kuwabara, and Yusuke worried about the fire demon, Kurama sat there with a smile. "Don't wory about him. He'll be fine." Everybody stared at him with huge eyes.
"what do you mean? Any one of us would die from that fall. Why would he not?" Chunzhu asked, a little confused.
"Listen, Hiei should die from that, but the anger burning inside his soul will keep him alive. I mean, if you take away his," Kurama coughed the word 'love', "that would definitely get him enraged." Kurama explained.
"You are truly optimistic, aren't you?" Yusuke aquired a nauseous look, "...and disguisting."
* * * *
"Yousoyama! Get out here!" Hiei ordered.
******************
BONUS
******************
Here's a little added bonus. It's a little about the names in Towa no Mirai. ^^
Chou Chunzhu -- Forlorn Spring Pearl
Suishori -- Holy Crystal, more or less. The 'ri' suffix is used at the end of religious words (Ikari-Anger of god; Hikari-Holy Light; Akari-Light of god, power of god; Inori-prayer; etc.) Also, any kitsune with 'ri' at the end of its name is more than likely a celestial kitsune/guardian kitsune.
Towashi Kushiyé -- Everlasting Princess of Death. 'Ku' is I think Chinese pinyin that refers to royalty. I'm not sure what the 'yé' is for... It could be a Chinese end suffix, but there could be something else to it.
Yurinoki -- Tulip Tree. Note: I noticed all ferrygirls in YuYu Hakusho have names refering to flowers, so I decided to give her one too. ^^
Botan -- Peony; Boatman
Kuwabara Kazuma -- Mulberry Field Peace and Truth
Yukimura Keiko -- Snow Village Firefly Child
Daiou Koenma -- Great King Little Enma
Urameshi Yusuke -- Bay Rice Ghost Helper
Jaganshi Hiei -- Evil Eye Master Flying Shadow
Youko Kurama -- Demon Kept Horse
Minamino Suuichi -- Southern Field Excellence First
Genkai -- Grandma; Old Woman
Yukina -- Snow Greens
Now for a real quick pronunciation thing:
A hyphen indicates that you say each syllable seperately, but when two syllables are stuck together, say them together. If you don't understand what I mean, nevermind. ^^;
Chou Chunzhu - Choh Chahn Joo (When saying the zh- and ch- parts, bend your tongue backward. It feels awkward at first, but that's how it's done ^^;)
Suishori - Soo-ee-sho-lee/ree
Towashi Kushiyé - Toh-wah-shee Koo-shy-ee (pronouncing it in Japanese would be more like Koo-shee-yeh)
Yurinoki - Yoolee/ree-noh-kee
Botan - Boh-tahn
Kuwabara Kazuma - Koo-wah-bah-lah/rah Kah-zoo-mah
Yukimura Keiko - Yoo-kee-moo-lah/rah Kay-koh
Daiou Koenma - Dye-oh Koh-ehn-mah
Urameshi Yusuke - Oo-lah/rah-meh-shee Yoo-soo-kay (Not Yoo-lah/rah-meh-shee)
Jaganshi Hiei - Jah-gahn-shee Hee-ay
Youko Kurama - Yoh-koh Koo-lah/rah-mah
Minamino Suuichi - Mee-nah-mee-noh Soo-ee-chee
Genkai - Gehn-kah-ee
Yukina - Yoo-kee-nah
Another note, when saying the 'i' vowel in Japanese, although I wrote it as 'ee' it isn't as..umm..hard as that really. Think of every vowel sound as having a tiny 'h' behind it. 'Ee' sounds alot like 'Ih'
If you wanna know how to pronounce other names I forgot to list, email us about it..We'll be happy to explain anything you don't fully understand :)