Displacement
OreWaTensai: Hey! Listen, I'm sorry if my OC Yanagisawa suddenly acted weird the last chapter… anyway everything will be explained in this last chapter so I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Eleven- Every End a Beginning
The next day after Mukuro had moved out of the Gandara fortress, she immediately resumed her duties. She called a staff meeting, inquiring about the recent events that had transpired the whole month that she had been gone. She acted as if she had never visited Gandara.
Of course Hiei was still at Mukuro's side, as her chief advisor and friend. Frankly, Hiei was baffled at Mukuro's actions. He thought that Mukuro had actually developed feelings for Yomi but now… now she was acting like she had never spent any time with Yomi at all. She refused to mention anything about him, refused to talk about him much less think about him.
That day, Kurama also decided to leave. He would return to the human world.
"Well goodbye then." Said Kurama after Hiei had escorted him up to the boundaries of Mukuro's realm.
"Are you sure you want to leave?" said Hiei.
"I'm sorry. I'd love to stay but… I've been on vacation for far too long. If I stay here any longer, I'd become lazy." Kurama smiled and picked up his luggage.
Hiei simply watched him when he turned around to leave. Kurama had already stepped forward a few times when he suddenly stopped again.
"Hiei?" he said.
"What is it?"
"I really regret that Yomi and Mukuro didn't get along. I thought they looked good together."
Hiei's gaze dropped to the floor. "Yes, I guess so…"
"Well," said Kurama, lightening up again, "If they don't get along, I hope you and Mukuro get along!"
Then Kurama began to walk away. It took a few minutes before the real meaning of that sentence sank into Hiei.
"What the hell do you mean!" he shouted after Kurama.
Kurama laughed and waved his hand in a final goodbye.
"Sayonara, Hiei-san!" he called.
Hiei watched him disappear into the distance, before he headed back into Mukuro's fortress. He heaved a great sigh.
-=-=-=-=-
Mukuro stopped writing when she heard somebody enter her room. It was Hiei.
"Oh, Hiei, it's you." She said, with a wan smile.
"Yeah, who else." said Hiei plopping down on a chair. "What are you doing?"
"Writing a letter." Said Mukuro, she noted a few more words and finally folded the paper.
"A love letter?" said Hiei, so seriously that you didn't know whether he was joking or not.
"Really, what has gotten into you Hiei?" said Mukuro with a grin, "It's a letter of apology. Seems there has been a misunderstanding among the leaders I appointed to rule when I was away."
"Tell me about it." said Hiei.
"Do you mind if I don't mention names? Well, you see one of them thought that another was lording it over the others and they got into a fight. I investigated and it turns out that both were at fault." Mukuro leaned back on her chair.
"Stupid of them, really." Said Hiei, standing up, "Sorry but I think I have to leave. I've got to patrol in five minutes."
"Alright, happy patrolling." said Mukuro softly.
When Hiei had left, Mukuro thought the misunderstanding between her generals over in her head. Really, they were already so old yet they could do such childish things. The thought made Mukuro smile.
"People can really be petty. Don't you think so, Yomi?" she said unconsciously.
Mukuro looked around the room.
"Yomi…?"
It was only then that she realized that she wasn't in Gandara anymore. She narrowed her eyes, evidently annoyed at her unconscious calling of Yomi's name. Could she had become so used to discussing things with Yomi that she didn't realize that she wasn't with him anymore? Yet, in spite of feeling a surge of annoyance, the emptiness of her room made her feel lonely. She couldn't deny the fact that she had enjoyed the stay with Yomi. She even admitted that she wished to talk with him again. She sighed and laid her head on the desk. She bowed her head and glared at the desk.
Just then, somebody knocked at her door.
"Who is it?" she called.
"Madam you have a visitor." said the maidservant.
Mukuro's heart raced… could it be him? No, that would be silly.
"Alright, let the visitor in." Mukuro stood up, feeling a bit nervous.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the visitor. But the visitor was not who she had expected to come a few seconds ago.
"You?!" Mukuro exclaimed.
"Yes, it's me." said Yanagisawa simply, and then she entered the room.
"Wha-what brings you here?" asked Mukuro.
Yanagisawa pointed to Mukuro's bed. "Mind if I sit there?"
"Sure…" replied Mukuro, "Yanagisawa, why are you here?"
"You don't know?" said Yanagisawa.
"No." said Mukuro, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course it's about Lord Yomi."
Mukuro's face suddenly became sullen. "Oh. What about him?"
"Well in reality I wanted to say: back off bitch." Said Yanagisawa twirling a lock of hair in her hand. It seemed that Mukuro's presence made her even bitchier than she usually was.
"How sweet." Commented Mukuro sarcastically.
"But then," continued Yanagisawa, ignoring Mukuro's remark, "I thought that… I thought that I could never stand a chance against one of the leaders of Makai, because if you and Yomi were married then it would be a good opportunity for Lord Yomi to expand his territory."
"Oh, indeed!" Mukuro rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"BUT then, I learned about the human girl. Then, I tried to become as alike as I possibly could to the human… So that Lord Yomi would like me…" Yanagisawa lowered her tawny eyes.
"Let me guess, you failed?" said Mukuro triumphantly.
"So what if I did?" Yanagisawa shot back.
"At your age you should already know that pretending to be someone else to impress others is simply foolish. Or perhaps your mind has not matured over the years?"
"Excuse me! I am four hundred and twenty-one years old!" Yanagisawa slowly rose from her seat.
Mukuro let out a short bitter laugh. "Your age cannot even compare with mine!"
"Age doesn't matter anyway! What do you know if Lord Yomi prefers young women?"
"And what if he likes women with wisdom from years of experience?!" said Mukuro, raising her voice.
Yanagisawa lowered her head for a while as Mukuro stewed with fury. Then, as mysteriously as she had suddenly become quiet, Yanagisawa smiled.
"Gotcha." She said simply.
"… gotcha? … Just what the heck do you mean?" said Mukuro, her anger flaring up again.
"Gotcha. So you do like Yomi." Said Yanagisawa, cocking an eyebrow.
Mukuro was dumbfounded. "WHAT?!"
"You said that what if Lord Yomi likes women like me…"
"I said nothing of the sort!" Mukuro interrupted.
"Well, you said something to that effect." said Yanagisawa, brushing aside Mukuro's interpolation. "Anyway, don't you have plans?"
"Plans for what?" said Mukuro impatiently.
"Oh please, don't play stupid with me Lady Mukuro." said Yanagisawa sardonically. "Plans to reconcile with Lord Yomi. Or are you really that stupid not to understand me?"
Mukuro glared at her for a long while, her whole body shaking with tension.
"No, I am sorry I have no plans for reconciliation." She said quietly.
"Then I will just go and steal him away." said Yanagisawa, tossing her hair.
"Well I don't care." Mukuro turned away and walked to the window, "I don't care what happens to me and Yomi… scratch that, I don't care what happens to Yomi."
"Ahhh," said Yanagisawa, nodding in apprehension, "You don't care what happens to Yomi but you care about what happens with YOU and YOMI."
"You're twisting my words!"
Yanagisawa gave a fake grin. "Whatever you say, Lady Mukuro."
"Lady Yanagisawa, may I ask you to leave?" Mukuro rubbed her finger pads onto her aching temples. "You are disrupting my daily work."
"Alright then. I would only be too glad to leave." said Yanagisawa, standing up and walking ever so slowly towards the door. She looked back at Mukuro with a smirk.
"IF you are so glad to leave, then please don't take your sweet time going out the door!" exclaimed Mukuro.
"Fine, fine, fine don't get so messed up!" said Yanagisawa, scurrying towards the door.
Mukuro looked out the window and inhaled the fresh air in relief as she heard the door close behind her. Finally, Yanagisawa was out of her hair. But then, as though everybody was out to torture her that day, another set of knuckles were now knocking at the door. Mukuro groaned and looked up at the ceiling. This was a very annoying day.
"Come in." said Mukuro softly.
The door opened and in came a strange looking person clad in traveling attire. He seemed to be carrying something in his arms. He was wearing a hooded cloak, and the hood was covering almost the whole of his face. The stranger smiled.
"Good morning…" said Mukuro wearily, "May I know who you are?"
"Madame, I am but a mere messenger." said the man in a raspy voice, bowing low.
"Please!" said Mukuro.
"No, lady, I must insist on the proper decorum."
Mukuro looked at him and sighed. Why was everybody being so persistent?
"Alright. Rise, messenger." said Mukuro.
"Thank you, lady." the messenger replied.
"What have you brought?"
"Lady, this is a gift from Lord Yomi." The messenger presented something wrapped in a silvery cloth. He held the object out to Mukuro. "He sends his warm greetings."
"What in the world…" Mukuro said to herself.
Mukuro took the round-shaped thing and slowly unraveled it. Mukuro revealed a strange looking sphere, transparent yet there was something flickering in the middle. It was a memory sphere. Her eyes widened in realization.
Mukuro clapped a hand to her mouth and turned away from the messenger. Tears started to pour down her cheeks.
"Messenger, you may leave." She said in a cracked voice.
Mukuro heard the door close behind her.
She then hurried to the window and enveloped the memory sphere in her arms. She suddenly felt a knot in her chest. Feelings of sorrow and loneliness washed over her in painful waves. She could not help but sob.
"Oh Yomi… Yomi you idiot… why did you do this… why did you erase the human girl's memory…. Why… why…" she said softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
A gust of wind fanned her face and dried the remaining tears on her face. Mukuro sighed and wiped her face with a handkerchief. It was too late to do anything now. She had forever destroyed the relations between Yomi and her. She suddenly regretted ever getting angry at Yomi. After all, the real reason why she had wanted to confront him was because she was jealous of the human. She was jealous of the fact that Yomi had chosen to bestow his affections upon a human, instead of herself. Mukuro smiled a bittersweet smile and placed the sphere on her desk.
Only then did she notice that she was not yet alone in her room. From the corner of her eye, she saw the messenger still standing at the door.
"Messenger I will forgive your impudence this time. Now go and let your lips be sealed about this matter." said Mukuro angrily.
"Of course." said the messenger in a voice that Mukuro knew all too well.
"Who—" started Mukuro as she turned to face the man behind her. She gasped in total shock when she saw him.
The so-called messenger was no longer clad in traveling attire instead he was now wearing only his original clothes. Mukuro stepped back several times in disbelief. Standing in front of her now was the Lord Yomi himself, ruler of Gandara, master of his fortress.
"Mukuro…" he said in that deep yet well-modulated voice.
"You... you…" said Mukuro staring at him, completely bewildered.
"Yes, it is I." said Yomi, with a genuine smile.
"How… why… when…" was all Mukuro could say.
Yomi looked at her in amusement. Frankly, Mukuro was overreacting.
"I suppose this means you and I are back on good terms now." He said.
"Yes, yes of course." said Mukuro, finally finding her voice and her common sense.
"That… is wonderful." said Yomi, now positively beaming.
Mukuro just stared at him, obviously debating whether this was only a dream contrived by her subconscious. Well this was not a dream. And it's a good thing it wasn't, right?
"I suppose…" said Yomi, approaching her, "I suppose it is time for my state visit to your domain… don't you agree, dear Mukuro?" "Yes… I believe so…" said Mukuro, smiling happily. "I believe so, Yomi…"
"Yes indeed…" said Yomi, covering Mukuro's smiling lips with his own.
As all happy endings go, the hero and heroine end up together. After all it wouldn't be a happy ending if that didn't happen, would it? So let me just end with the usual words which bring smiles, tears and everything else…
And they lived happily ever after…
Since all stories must someday end, so must this one end as well.
Epilogue
Hiei bristled irritably in his seat. Apparently he was not comfortable with his attire. After all who would be comfy wearing all-white long-sleeved formal attire? In his annoyance, Hiei stood up from his seat and walked around the beautiful garden. The garden was bedecked with white, red and all sorts of gorgeous flowers. The ceremony was going to be held in a garden, which was resplendent in its beauty.
Hiei was about to disappear behind a flower-laden bush when a familiar figure took his arm into hers.
"Hiei! So glad to see you again!" said Yanagisawa loudly.
"Can't say the same." Replied Hiei in a monotone.
Yanagisawa steered Hiei back to the seats.
"So, how's life?" asked Yanagisawa.
"Fine. Like it always was."
"How's your love life?" said Yanagisawa almost suggestively.
"None. And I want to keep it that way."
Yanagisawa laughed and released Hiei from her grip. Just then, Kurama had arrived carrying a huge bouquet of red roses in his arms. Yanagisawa ran to meet him.
"Kurama!" she exclaimed, as if she and Kurama were miles away from each other.
"Lady Yanagisawa! How delightful to see you again!" said Kurama politely.
"My, Kurama, you have grown even more handsome."
"Please don't flatter me, Lady." Said Kurama with a chuckle.
"It's been so long!"
"Not that long, I presume. It's been only three months or so."
"Even so!" said Yanagisawa cheerfully.
Kurama looked dashing in his white tuxedo. Well actually he looked dashing in any attire for that matter. Then, another guest arrived. Apparently he was the guest everybody had been waiting for so that the ceremony could begin. It was Yusuke of course.
Shura appeared out of nowhere soon after Yusuke had arrived and started bantering with Yusuke, Kurama, Yanagisawa and practically everybody else.
"Shura! Hello there, come over here!" said Yanagisawa.
"Hello!" Shura piped up.
"Say, what do you feel about Mukuro being your mother?" asked Yusuke suddenly.
"Fine I guess. Though I never really needed a mother I guess it's better to have one." Said Shura.
"Of course it is, Shura." Said Kurama. "I daresay you'll enjoy having a mother."
"I will?" asked Shura, perplexed.
"Sure!" replied Kurama.
"Can I fight with her all I want? How about sparring?" said Shura.
The whole company laughed in unison.
After a great deal of laughing and reminiscing and Yusuke blatantly expressing his shock over what was going to happen in a few minutes, the band began to play. The guests were all obliged to stand up to welcome the bride and groom.
It was spring in Makai, and everything was sparkling, shining and blooming. But the flowers could not compare to the bride who was the brightest thing in the world that day. The groom had an ever happy smile plastered on his face the whole time. Everybody was happy that the two had finally joined in marital bliss. Of course there were some arguments but as they say, nothing can stand in the way of two star-crossed lovers.
Yomi and Mukuro. The Lord and Lady of Gandara and the territory which was once only Mukuro's. The rulers of the two powerful kingdoms in the Makai. The father and mother of a feisty little kid named Shura.
-=-=-=-=-
OreWaTensai: YEY!!! My very first complete fanfic! So what did you think? Was it alright? Was it long enough for you? I hope so! Please give me long reviews, so I can know if I did the last chapter alright. Well, here's to a completed fanfic!!!