"Yusuke?" whispered a familiar voice into a slightly deafened ear. "Yusuke, are you all right?"
"Hey Urameshi! Wake up man!"
The next thing Yusuke knew he was being violently shaken where he lay.
"Wha...whaaat?" He whined, rolling over. "I don't want to go to school today mom, tell 'em I'm sick."
Kurama chuckled lightly.
"Well it seems he's uninjured," he stated, a smile dancing across his features. "Though conscious and ready is another question entirely."
"Yeah well, I'll get him up." Kuwabara grinned malevolently. Before Kurama could object, he slapped Yusuke hard across the back of the head. Immediately the young man lying on the ground rolled over and sat up, looking quite angry.
"All right, who's the jerk who woke me up?" he demanded. Kurama smiled innocently but said nothing. A second later Yusuke's gaze turned to Kuwabara, who was grinning widely. "Damn it Kuwabara, why'd you have to go and do that? I was having such a nice dream, too."
"We haven't got time for sweet dreams Urameshi. We've got a job to do."
"Oh, right," Yusuke sighed and stood up, looking left and right, then up and down. "Well, we're not dead. So that's a plus."
"Yeah, but where are we?"
"We're still on Earth," Kurama began. "We know that much. And we should still be in Japan as well. The time period is just different."
"How do you figure that?" Yusuke asked with a very blank expression on his face.
"Remember what Botan said?"
"Oh yeah," Yusuke grinned. "So we're still where we were, only a few years later. Hey, I wonder what old me looks like." He laughed.
"We're a bit too far into the future to find anything out about that," Kurama stated. "By the feel of things, and the smell, I'd say we're a good one hundred years ahead of our present time."
"One hundred years!?" Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled simultaneously.
"Botan didn't say we were going that far ahead," Yusuke frowned.
"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed. "We're practically in a foreign country now, even if it is home. Or was. Who knows what's happened to everything by now?"
"Indeed," Kurama stated gently. "We had best stay on guard."
"Right." Yusuke nodded.
At that, they started off. Kuwabara and Kurama walked side by side with Yusuke taking up the rear. Luckily for all of them they'd fallen into a forest, where their awkward arrival would not have been noticed, nor their presence accounted for.
The walk was mostly silent. None of the companions found much reason to speak, even the usually loquacious Kuwabara. The only sound that resounded throughout the forest was their footsteps, along with the occasional snapping of a twig that Kuwabara would carelessly step on. After a while it became a game for Yusuke, and just for the sheer amusement of it, and to keep his sanity in check from the silence and worry, Kurama joined in as well.
Snap.
"Twenty one." Yusuke would echo back.
Snap.
"Twenty two." Kurama would respond.
And so on. The game continued until at last they reached the end of the forest, and came across a civilization unlike anything they had ever expected of the future.
"Nothing's changed." Yusuke whispered in amazement. "Nothing at all."
"Well that's disappointing." Kuwabara sighed.
"Well, if you think about it, the human race has advanced considerably. Due to diminishing resources and the inability to expand the population, it's really not surprising that they haven't advanced much."
With a blank expression on his face, Kuwabara leaned over Yusuke's shoulder.
"What did he just say?"
Yusuke shrugged.
"Who knows. We'd better get moving before someone realizes that we're not from around here."
Kuwabara and Kurama both nodded. They had to look as inconspicuous as possible where they were at now. One wrong move and they might be in big trouble.
"So, where do you think we start?" asked Kuwabara. "Should we ask around?"
"Oh, that's a cheery survey," Yusuke criticized. "'Excuse me, do you know of any demon collectors around here?'"
"Well it's something." Kuwabara grumbled.
"Yes well, lets just look around first and see what we're dealing with.," suggested Kurama. "After that we can determine what needs to be done."
"Think we may have any possible allies in this?" Kuwabara asked the fox demon.
"It's hard to say," answered Kurama. "But for now it would be safe to assume that no one here is an ally."
Yusuke nodded. With a few glances around, the trio started off at a brisk pace. Until a lighthearted voice called out to them.
"You boys aren't from around here, are you?" Yusuke and the others froze, each in turn aiming their gaze in the direction the voice came from. A young girl of about sixteen approached them casually. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of a black jacket. One white line ran down each sleeve, and a hood lined with gray hung limply behind her. She had cropped blonde hair and tri tone eyes that ranged from a deep blue, a forest green, and a soft gray.
"Um, no." Kuwabara answered, taken off by this young girl. She was a shade taller than five feet, and was traveling alone. The funny thing about her was that she did not seem to fear them. In fact, she was quite eager about their arrival. This set them all off, and for a moment Yusuke was afraid that they had been expected. Kurama nudged him gently in the side and whispered in his ear.
"She doesn't carry the scent of a human."
Yusuke frowned and took a closer look at the girl from behind Kuwabara. She had spirit energy emanating from her! Bright orange energy that had no aim or direct control. Whatever she was, she hadn't been it for very long.
"Um, would you mind telling us your name?" Kurama chimed in with an charming, innocent grin.
"My name?" she asked. "I don't exactly have one," her answer confused the trio, but Kurama pressed harder.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners. I suppose it would be appropriate to introduce myself first. I am Kurama, and these are my friends, Kuwabara and Yusuke."
The young woman eyed them for a few seconds longer, as though considering these names and weight the possible truths against lies.
"I'm Kigeko." She answered.
"Kigeko," Kurama repeated with a grin. "What a lovely name. Could you tell us about this place? You see, we're new here and really have no idea where we're going."
"Yeah, that's obvious." Kigeko stated. Her sarcasm and charisma matched the level of someone they knew well. "You don't exactly want to be going in the direction you were heading."
"Why not?" Asked Kuwabara. At that question, Kigeko frowned deep and stepped back.
"You really aren't from around here, are you?"
This was making Yusuke very angry. Whoever or whatever she was, she was stalling, and they needed information fast. Breaking past both Kurama and Kuwabara, he reached the young woman and grabbed the collar of her jacket, lifting her high off the ground.
"Listen, we don't have time for crap! Whatever you are, you're not human! And I think part of you knows that we're not either. What's going on here? Or am I going to have to break your neck to find out?"
Kurama choked on his words, knowing very well that this was not the way to approach a complete stranger, especially one of this person's stamina. Kuwabara merely frowned on Yusuke's actions, thinking it very low to be picking on a young girl. Even though he too sensed her power, he would never willingly lay a harmful hand on her.
"Oh, I see what you are now." Kigeko stated with a smile. Yusuke watched her face contort into that grin, and the further on. Fangs sprouted where her canines had been, and the tri tone eyes suddenly became a possessed fiery red. The blonde hair curled out at the ends giving the effect of horns, and her ears changed from rounded human ears to pointed, almost elf like ears.
Both of her hands wrapped themselves around Yusuke's wrists and squeezed with terrible power. The fingers were long and thin, containing claw-like nails that could undoubtedly pierce human flesh with ease. She didn't grow any taller, but it was clear that her anger and her strength were closely related.
Lifting her feet, she kicked Yusuke twice. One with each foot. One blow was aimed for his diaphragm, and the other for a more sensitive region down south. Both blows were unexpected and sent Yusuke to the ground, but he was able to recover quickly.
"All right, now you've pissed me off." Yusuke gritted his teeth. Throwing his green school uniform shirt aside, he prepared himself to shoot off one round from his spirit gun. But a steady hand from Kurama stopped him.
"Wait!" he encouraged.
"Forget that!" Yusuke snarled, and with a wicked snarl he unleashed the first wave of his spirit gun. The blow hit Kigeko square in the chest and sent her flying into a nearby shop's wall. The smoke cleared to reveal her buried under a pile of rubble, unmoving.
"Yusuke!" Kurama scolded.
"It's not like I killed her," the young man objected, blowing off the tip of his finger as though it were a real gun. Then, shoving both hands into his pockets, he started walking off. Until;
"URAMESHI LOOK OUT!"
Yusuke turned to find the red eyed demon flying back at him.
"WHA-?" He cried out as her claws slashed across his face, leaving deep and bleeding incisions. "How did you get up from that so quickly!?"
Kigeko, so called, landed on all fours a few feet away, her nails digging into the side of the concrete and leaving deep incisions there as well. Yusuke counted himself lucky to have been able to dodge at all, and prepared himself for a next clawing lest he desire lose his nose and eyes.
"I may not be a fully evolved demon," she hissed. "But I'm stronger than one for sure."
"I don't understand!" Kuwabara whispered, but as he turned to speak to Kurama he found himself alone. The red headed youkai had placed himself protectively in front of the kneeling Yusuke with his rose whip at the ready.
"We do not wish to hurt you!" he cried out, "We need your help. We have lost a friend to a demon hunter and must get him back. Please, if you help us, we can help you!"
"HELP ME?" The girl shrieked. "I NEED NO HELP! I CAN MASTER MY POWERS ON MY OWN!"
Kurama frowned, and with a flick of his wrist he slashed across the girl's face, leaving a deep gash. She hissed as the weak venom from the thorns stung the wound.
"What are you doing?" Yusuke grunted behind him. "You said her anger powered her strength! You're only succeeding in pissing her off more!"
"Yes, but there's a downside to having your anger be your main source of power." Kurama responded, slashing at her again and again with the whip.
"Yeah?"
"If a person gets angry enough, eventually their rage will blind them. I'm hoping that this will work with her as well, though she has learned to focus her anger quite well. If you can tell, the shape and direction of her spirit energy has changed drastically within these last few minutes of experiencing conflict."
At hearing this, Yusuke poked his head out from behind Kurama and observed. The wave emanations had changed incredibly since when Yusuke last studied them. He was slightly impressed, and at the same time stunned at this. This girl was once human! He could tell by the vague rounded curves of the waves, but judging by how she could take this energy and morph it into an actual physical transformation told Yusuke and the others that she was, in truth, a demon. How was this possible for a human to become a demon? The only case in which he could recall such a situation was with the Toguro brothers, but their transformation had been unnatural. This change within Kigeko had been natural. Somehow her nature had changed.
What natural force could cause this?
"I don't understand." Yusuke whispered.
"Nor do I," answered Kurama.
Kigeko merely stared them down, her red eyes flaring in rage. For the first time in her life she could test her skills. And against someone worthy. These men, whoever they were, were not human. If she managed to kill them, then it wouldn't matter. A demon could kill another demon without consequences, but she knew better than to target a living human.
"This is going to be good," she laughed, then launched her next attack.
Author's Note: Dun dun duuuuuun!!! Lol, well how's it so far? Hope this didn't get too....oh I dunno....well I hope you liked it!