Disclaimer: KB doesn't own Yu Yu Hakusho. She does, however, own Todd, and a great deal of the plot. Or at least she thinks she owns the plot, if you know otherwise please tell her.
Summary: When all hell breaks loose and the Tantei can't handle it, they might just have to turn old foes into new allies. But will they be able to give them a second chance? Shonen ai in later chapters: Sensui/Itsuki.
Written: 7-12-04
"A Chance of Oblivion"
Prologue
By: Kuroi Bara no Twilight
...............
A strong wind that carried the scent of the Makai rippled the surface of the river. A heavy black fog hung over the normally calm waters, hiding the sky from view. The Youki levels in the area had skyrocketed just before the strange fog had appeared. Soft shrieks of pain and eerie moans were heard within the depths of the mist.
Short black bangs whipped around her face as Ayame fought to keep her oar steady against the powerful winds. She looked down in uncertainty at the foreboding mist covering the Styx River and surrounding areas of the Reikai. This new development worried her; the Reikai wasn't subjected to natural forces, such as weather, like the other three worlds were. She heard a whimper from behind her on the oar and spared a glance to the spirit she was escorting. The spirit was a teenage boy named Todd, about the age Yusuke was when he became Reikai Tantei, who had died when his motorcycle had flipped into the side of a building. Todd was an American punk with a love for living on the edge; he had never feared dying, in fact he had never feared anything at all. Now, as he looked down at the darkness that overran the land, his blue eyes shone with fear; this felt like what he imagined Hell as being like.
Ayame turned her eyes back towards the Reikai palace and focused on fighting the winds; she had to get the boy to the safety of the afterlife before something bad happened. Then, she would report what she'd seen to Koenma.
...............
Two miles to the north, where the Reikai Mountains began their long climb into the clouds above, the fog was denser and covered the ground, and a good deal of the mountain, completely. The soft shrieks had progressed into full-fledged screams of agony. A strong wind stirred the mist and revealed ancient double doors that had been carved into the mountainside. The doors in question were the same large, Chinese shape that was found in the doors on the Reikai Palace, and had been painted red with blood. White, blood-stained slips of paper, that were easily recognized as wards, covered the crack between the two doors. The wards were obviously there to prevent demons from entering, or from exiting.
Another gust of wind blew mist across the doors, allowing only glimpses of the double-giants as they began to shake, and the sounds of a struggle came from inside the mountain. Whips cracked and the metal clang of dueling swords drifted through the doors. A loud scream was cut short as the Youkai doing the screaming slammed into one of the doors, making it jolt and crack open. A blood covered arm, attached to the newly dead Youkai who had guarded those doors for two thousand years, fell out into the mist causing the dense fog to scatter.
The fog rolled around the doors and entered the mountain as the two doors opened completely and two glowing eyes shone out through the mist.
...............
Koenma was frustrated, more frustrated than he'd ever been. Not even during World War II had his mood been this low, and let me tell you that you wouldn't want to be in the same dimension as the Reikai prince with all the paperwork that event had caused. For some strange reason the normal paperwork had been doubled in that day alone and he didn't have time for his ferry girls to be playing pranks on him. Glaring at the two ferry girls in front of him, he began sorting papers and thinking up cleaver, ok maybe not so cleaver, ways of ignoring them. Maybe he could shove them off on George, or maybe he could pretend he didn't hear them (cotton balls were very good for this one), or perhaps.....
"Koenma-sama?"
He twitched. The two girls had given him similar stories about a strange fog outside, but there wasn't a window in his office so if he wanted to double-check them he'd have to move. Originally, only Hinageshi had come to him so of course he hadn't believed her; she was young and not known for being completely reliable. Now Ayame had come with the exact same story; she was very serious in her work and not known for making jokes or crazy stories. Now he had no choice but to listen to them.
Ayame noted the vein popping up in the toddlers forehead; she couldn't really blame him for not believing them, she wouldn't believe it either if she hadn't seen the black mist with her own eyes and felt it's demonic aura. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hinageshi fidget; the young red head was well-known for messing up even the smallest jobs, and even after helping the Tantei defeat the lord of the Nether-world she was still looked down upon.
Finally, Koenma straightened his papers and rose from his seat with a loud, exasperated sigh. He motioned for them to lead the way and followed them out the door. From the way he acted everyone knew that he thought this wasn't worth his time; but on the inside he was praying that they had just been joking, he knew what black fog like that meant.
The three immortals stopped outside of two, large, normal looking doors. Walking forward Koenma flung open one of the doors and walked out onto a balcony that normally overlooked the Styx River. His heart fell as he looked out over the evergrowing demonic mist. With his brown eyes wide in terror he turned to the two ferry girls."Hinageshi. Find Yusuke, the others as well, have them go to Genkai's temple to wait for orders." She nodded and summoned her oar, but Koenma stopped her before she could take off. "One more thing, both of you." He looked them both in the eyes and made sure he had their undivided attention before he continued, "Do not let my father get wind of this."
"The world may come to an end very soon, Ayame, and I'm not so sure Yusuke and the team can handle this one. At least not on their own."
She started, if he wasn't confident that the young Makai lord could handle things than why keep the situation a secret from Enma-sama? Did it mean that Koenma planned on using measures his father would not approve of? She couldn't think of any other reason.....
"Koenma-sama?"
He sighed, "I was hoping I would never see the day, Ayame." Koenma turned back to face her, with the most serious expression she'd ever seen etched onto his face. He was already beginning the transformation into his teenage form for the trip to the Ningenkai, to meet the Tantei. When he was finished he turned back to the balcony, and in his new, deeper voice answered her unspoken question.
"The Gates of Hell have been opened."
...............
BetaReaders needed!!! All you need is an understanding of Yu Yu Hakusho, and better spelling and grammar skills than I have. If interested please go to my bio for the link... or email me.
KB- For a prologue its lenght isn't that bad.....
Saceria- Not bad at all..... since it is you we're talking about.
KB- Hey...........
Soffia- She's just kidding KB.
KB- -tunes out her muses- I noticed an utter lack of fics that have to do with Itsuki and Sensui, and most of the ones that are about them are one-shots. So I decided to add a fic with a plot to that small pile of Sensui/Itsuki fics.
Soffia- KB did find a good Sensui/Itsuki fic-with-a-plot called "Faux Pas" by BondageInc. It's very good so go read it.
KB- For anyone who has been following my fanfics there is a reason I haven't been updating. My writing program was messed up, still is but for now I'm making do with Wordpad. It doesn't have spellcheck so I'm sitting here with the online dictionary opened on my desktop.
Saceria- Please RR, help motivate KB to move this crap from her head into her notebook.
Soffia- Saceria!!
Saceria- -feigns innocence- Nani??