Chapter Two: Bad News
Yusuke Urameshi leaned against a stonewall that bordered his school, Sarayashiki Public Junior High. Keiko was chatting with some friends. Sighing, Yusuke wished she would hurry up; he wanted to hurry up and get this date over with. He liked Keiko and all but he just didn't find dating to be his thing.
"Urameshi!" came the annoying voice Yusuke knew all too well.
"What do you want now, Kuwabara?" Yusuke grumbled as he tilted his head skyward.
Two other figures approached along with Kuwabara. Hiei was glancing around at all the humans with his usual scowl. Kurama was rather pale and his green eyes looked very tired. Kuwabara was wearing his school uniform and so was Kurama but Hiei was wearing a black T-shirt, leather jacket, with jeans torn at the knees. "We think something's gone wrong… in Spirit World I mean…" Kurama said in a weaker tone than usual.
Yusuke noticed how ill Kurama was looking. "Are you okay, Kurama? You don't look so good."
Kurama waved his hand and closed his eyes as if to brush the topic aside. "Just a little under the weather, but I'll be okay."
Hiei shifted his gaze to Yusuke. "We've been told that a violent demon has recently stolen something very important from King Enma's treasury. No one's told us quite what it is. Must be a high ranking top secret I guess." Hiei explained, bored.
Yusuke shrugged his shoulders. "Another robbery mission? No sweat." He looked up at the sky again and it somehow seemed darker. The world itself seemed to be silenced and far away.
Kurama brought Yusuke out of his thoughts. "I found out more than Hiei did about this treasure. It is supposedly to have the power to end all life, as we know it. But how it does so is still a mystery. When in the wrong hands, it'll bring about the destruction of us all."
A cold wind blew and Kuwabara shivered. "I have a bad feeling about this." Kuwabara muttered.
"Yusuke?" Keiko tugged on Yusuke's arm. "Come on Yusuke, I'm getting hungry."
Yusuke promptly removed Keiko from his arm. "I have to do a mission so we'll have to cancel our date." He turned away from Keiko and was starting to walk with the others in the opposite direction when he was violently pulled back by his collar.
"I see what you're trying to do! You keep running off on our dates! You never care about how I feel anymore!" Keiko shouted.
Worried that attention would be drawn to them and not wanting to start a conflict, Kurama spoke up. "Go ahead Yusuke. We should be able to hold our own against this demon. Don't worry about us."
Sighing, Yusuke went in the opposite direction with Keiko. "Damn kitsune." He muttered sarcastically.
Kuwabara looked really worried and he was getting the tickle feeling all down his spine. The three of them started walking around, looking for any hints as to where the demon could be. The demon was definitely hiding in the human world. "I'm serious, you guys. I have a very bad feeling about this."
Hiei was in a very bitter mood today for god knows why. "Oh look, the fool can walk and talk at the same time. You must be using all of your concentration to do so." He sneered.
A vein pulsated in Kuwabara's temple. "What's wrong with you, Hiei?!" Smirking, Kuwabara continued. "You must be PMSing or something."
Angrily, Hiei drew his sword and several people screamed and ran for cover. The sharp end of the blade was pressed against Kuwabara's throat with just enough force to cut him slightly and the crimson blood trailed down the blade. "Say that again, Human!" Hiei spat.
Groaning, Kurama held his head in his hands and said quietly. "Please stop, you two."
Hiei stopped immediately and had a look of sympathy on his face. "Sorry, koibito." He sheathed his sword again and gave Kuwabara the meanest look he could muster.
Meanwhile in an alleyway, the shadow demon was watching every move that Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara were making. Shaid laughed. "The fools! They won't find me." A black orb was held in the demon's hands. "They won't even realize what I'm doing. Not until it's too late." The menacing crimson eyes of the demon gazed upon Kurama and its cold laugh continued.
A chill ran up and down Kuwabara's spine, making him shudder unwillingly. "That demon is nearby, you guys!"
Kurama and Hiei turned around abruptly. "Where?!" They asked in unison. Kuwabara pointed to the alleyway. All three of them ran in that direction. The shadow demon saw them coming, but he hadn't expected it. The hooded silhouette dived into the shadows in the alleyway and vanished. Kurama sighed and Hiei kicked a nearby dumpster in frustration. "We've underestimated this demon." Kurama mused.
Kuwabara walked out of the alleyway and leaned against the brick building next to him. The store across the street from where Kuwabara was standing had several TVs in the store window. A news reporter was on each of the televisions. "Today's main story is about the sudden outbreak of the flu. Doctors say it's very unusual for there to be cases of the flu this time of year. These cases are also very dangerous. Seven people have died already in this area from it. We warn everyone to be careful and see a doctor to get a vaccination the first chance you get. With other news, in the main fisheries there have been reports of large amounts of fish just dying. Scientists are trying to solve this phenomenon. There is a possibility that these two incidences are connected somehow." Kuwabara spun back around to the others.
"Did you hear that?" Kuwabara demanded.
Hiei gave Kuwabara a blank stare. "How could we not, you buffoon?"
Kurama started coughing uncontrollably and when he regained himself he spoke quietly. "This is worse than we thought. We should go visit Koenma himself." The other two agreed simultaneously.
A woman shrieked in horror, catching the attention of the trio. Several people on the sidewalk scattered, some even tripping over other in their panic to get out of the way of a single person kneeling on the ground. Pushing their way through the crowd, Kuwabara was the first to see what had caused such a panic. The person kneeling on the sidewalk was gagging and blood spewed from their mouth, covering the sidewalk. A couple of people shouted for someone to get help while other's screamed about the news report. The ill person stopped their gagging for the moment and turned in circles, great fear in their eyes. They crawled forward and grabbed at Kuwabara's shirt, looking up at him with small, beady, fearful eyes.
"Help me! I'm begging you! Don't let me die like this!!!" His body gave a violent lurch as he crumpled back onto the ground whimpering and coughing. More blood splattered the sidewalk and quite a few women gave more screams and turned away from the pitiful man. Kuwabara was shocked, what could he do?!
The man started writhing on the ground when doctors pushed their way through the crowd to him. They tried to hold him down forcefully which made the man fight against them even more. His outstretched hand raised shakily up to the sky.
"He's going into shock!"
"Hold him down! So we can give him a shot to calm him down!"
All Kuwabara could now see with his eyes was the crowd of doctors and the man's outstretched hand. The hand was shaking violently and gave a sudden spasm, falling limp to the ground.
"It's too late… he's gone…" one of the doctors stated somberly.
"Come Kuwabara… we should hurry." Kurama tapped the stunned Kuwabara on the shoulder.
Nodding, Kuwabara weaved through the crowd again and stared down at the place where the dying man had clenched his shirt begging him for his help… yet he could do nothing…
Hiei looked back at the growing crowd of frightened people. "Sad…"
"Innocent people shouldn't have to go through such pain." Kurama muttered solemnly. "But this is a matter we should discuss with Koenma."
TO BE CONTINUED
Next chapter, they visit Koenma and things get even worse.