Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and all the characters in the wonderful show do not belong to me but all original characters do.
Note: italics indicate thoughts.
Confinement
Chapter Four: Contempt
The energy she released was that of pure unadulterated hate. It was devastatingly powerful and completely out of control. The light-blue aura that surrounded her only grew brighter with every second. Her eyes were glowing white with power. She raised her hands and the earth shook, water shooting out from the ground like geysers. And the geysers were all situated around Kurama.
"Kurama!" Hiei cried out as the water separated the redhead from the rest of the team. He was ready to jump into the columns of water and save his fox but Yusuke stopped him. The fire demon glared at him with a look that promised death.
"Don't be stupid, Hiei!" Yusuke reasoned with the struggling demon, "Those geysers could easily break you. She's much more powerful than we thought."
"Are you telling me to just let Kurama die?"
"Of course not. I'm just saying there's a better way than just rushing in."
At the girl's command, the tops of the geysers began to arch inward. They were going to crush Kurama with their awesome force, and she was enjoying every moment of it. Finally, after two thousand years, justice will be exacted. She was so intent on destroying the man she trapped with her water that she failed to notice Hiei until it was too late.
The fire demon countered her geysers with his black flames. The two opposite elements clashed together, steam filling the cave. Hiei poured more of his youki into his flames, completely evaporating a column, leaving an opening. Kurama saw his chance and escaped from his prison. Only after the redhead was far enough from the geysers did Hiei stop his fire.
"No!" the girl screamed in fury, "I won't let you get away!"
The Reikai Tantei couldn't see the girl due to the steam in the air, but they felt her power growing. More columns erupted from the ground beneath them. They couldn't hope to fight her, so they ran. And they ran fast. When the steam cleared, they were well within the coverage of the trees.
Kuso! I can't believe I let him get away! Her hatred was unbounded. After all these years, after all the loneliness and pain, I can finally quench my thirst for vengeance. The vision of the redheaded young man flashed momentary in her mind, giving more fuel for her anger. And I will make him pay!
Her white figure gleamed with power but she let it die down. Her aura receded and with it so did the water. She calmed herself and looked around, searching for the object of her hate. When she could find no sign of him or the other three that he was with, she tried something else.
"You can't escape," she stated, her words resonating throughout the entire cave. She had learned long ago how to project her voice loudly and clearly. "You've entered my domain and there's no way you can get out alive. If you haven't already noticed, the entrances to the cave are no longer visible."
Hiding amongst the trees, the four members of the Reikai Tantei heard everything she said. Hiei risked discovery by climbing to the top of the trees and searching for the tunnel that they traveled through. He quickly came back down and shook his head. The search came back with nothing, confirming what the girl told them. They were trapped within enemy territory.
"So run and hide, little pests, run and hide." Her laughter filled the air. "But you can make it easier on yourselves if you just hand over that redhead peacefully. I might let the rest of you go if you just give me what I ask."
None out of the four of them answered her. Yusuke looked eager to fight, not even considering surrendering a friend to this psychotic girl. Kuwabara was determined to get out of the cave in one piece. Hiei was seething with repressed rage, wanting desperately to rip out the girl's throat. Kurama, however, displayed no outward expression, although inside, he was battling with confusion and fear.
"Who the hell are you anyway?"
The words were yelled before Kuwabara even realized that he had spoken out loud. He immediately covered his mouth with his hands but it was already too late; the damage was already done. She had heard and was coming towards them. They all waited for the inevitable attack from the angry girl.
But it never came.
"You may call me Shinju," she answered, "It's as good a name as any for you to call me." She was now twenty feet away from all of them, staring straight at Kurama, who was currently standing behind a very protective Hiei. "Now, will you hand him over or will I have to pry his corpse from your cold, dead bodies?"
Since they had already been discovered, Hiei released his anger. "Touch one hair on Kurama's head and I'll slash you to pieces," he snarled, glaring murderously at Shinju.
"Kurama… Is that what his name is?" Her blue eyes never left the redhead's face.
"Oi, what do you want him for?" Yusuke called out to her, "What has he ever done to you?"
Shinju's expression momentarily darkened. More than you can possibly imagine. She quickly regained her composure. "Why don't you ask your dear friend here?" Her look turned into a poisonous glare.
Kurama didn't know how to react. He was dumbfounded. His mind was whirling with questions but he never voiced any of them. This girl, this Shinju…she looks identical to the girl from my dream. Memories of the visions he received last night danced inside his head. But that girl had died. I saw it. Not even the most powerful demon could have survived such an assault. And this girl is very much alive…right? He looked at Shinju who was still staring intensely at him. Her eyes betrayed nothing, not even a clue as to why she hated him so. Kurama was completely lost.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Yusuke absolutely hated cryptic messages and this one was as cryptic as they come.
The girl smirked at the redhead's face, which was marred with turmoil. If you're still alive by the end of this, I just might tell you. She stepped closer towards her target, the smirk never wavering. "Say your prayers, Kurama."
Shinju's form began to glow again, brighter than before. An unnatural wind blew fiercely as droplets of water started to collect above her head. The water formed into a long sword, which immediately began to crystallize. She raised her arms up and the sword floated into her hands, solid and intact. Shinju grasped the sword by the hilt and aimed the point at Kurama.
Hiei had had enough. Nobody threatened his fox and lived to see another day. He didn't care if she was the goddess of the universe; she was not getting away with it. The fire demon unsheathed his own sword and raised it to counter hers. "You'll have to get through me first, bitch," he growled.
"My my," Shinju said tauntingly, "a tad protective, aren't we?"
Hiei didn't bother to answer; he simply attacked. Their swords met in a loud clash, metal upon crystal. The fire demon had expected the blow to shatter Shinju's seemingly fragile weapon, but instead his attack was brought to a complete halt and was then repelled back towards himself. The girl was no amateur at swordplay. Her moves were fluid like the element she controlled. Hiei could barely dodge all of her attacks.
"Kurama, get the hell out of here," he yelled as he narrowly missed a slash across the chest, "I'm gonna introduce her to a certain pet of mine."
Kurama knew not to argue with him. Hiei did not like to use his dragon unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Be careful, Hiei," he said before turning and putting as much distance between the two combatants as possible. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed closely behind, giving Hiei free reign to unleash his deadly weapon.
Shinju noticed the sudden retreat. "You won't get away from me!"
She was about to chase after the fleeing figures but a sudden surge of power stopped her in her tracks. The air started to grow hotter around her. Shinju noticed that Hiei was no longer holding his katana but was instead unraveling the bandages on his right arm. Smoke was rising from his body.
Before she could realize what was happening, the dragon was released from its bindings. She never even heard Hiei cry out "Jaoh Ensatsu Kokuryuuha" as the serpentine creature flew towards her at an incredible speed. Shinju immediately called upon her element to negate his attack. It worked to some extent but she did not come out of it unscathed. The Kokuryuuha had dissipated after combining with the large amount of water she conjured, but Shinju was now breathing quite heavily with numerous cuts covering her body.
She stopped my dragon? Hiei was now a little bit afraid, although his outward appearance radiated nothing but calmness.
"Congratulations, little one," Shinju said in a slightly praising tone, "You've managed to injure me. No one's done that for two millennia." She licked a bleeding cut on the back of her right hand. "But the next time we meet, it will be your blood that flows. Yours and that pretty redhead's."
Then she disappeared.
"I'm gonna have Koenma's hide for this!" Yusuke was grumbling and yelling at the top of his lungs. "This was supposed to be simple mission: go in, capture the Siren, get out. Simple!" He took out his frustration on a poor, defenseless pine tree.
"Calm down, Yusuke," Kuwabara said rationally, which was a change in behavior, "We've got bigger things to worry about than Koenma. Like what's the deal between that girl and Kurama." The human turned his attention to the redhead, who was sitting on a small boulder with his elbows propped up on his knees.
Kurama rubbed his face with is hands and looked at them all. "I told you," he said, "I've never met her before. Not in my years as a youko and certainly not in my human years."
"Come clean, Kurama," Yusuke probed, "There was some recognition when you first saw her. Who is she?"
"Look, I swear I've never met her!" Kurama sighed in fatigue. No one said a word but they continued to stare at the weary fox. "And I was only surprised because she resembled the girl from my dream."
"What dream?" Hiei inquired, trying hard to fight off the fatigue that followed the release of the dragon.
Kurama knew that since he started it, he might as well finish it. He told them all about the bizarre nightmare he had the night before. He told them about the meeting between the lovers, the beautiful lake, the conversation they had, and the bloody murder that took place. He described both their features and clothes but he skipped the vivid details when it came to the killing. After he finished his tale, Kurama felt mentally exhausted.
"So are you saying that the girl from you dream was Shinju?"
"She couldn't have been, Yusuke," Kurama answered while shaking his head, "The girl in my dream died, and unless Shinju is a ghost, there's no way for the two of them to be the same person."
"They sure sound similar," Kuwabara noted, "The eyes, the hair, the attitude."
"And she did say she'd be back," Yusuke added, "Maybe she managed to cheat death or something."
"One thing's for sure," Kurama said in a serious tone, "We're no longer dealing with a Siren."
"Why do you say that?"
It was a bit irksome that Yusuke and Kuwabara knew nothing about mythological monsters and demons. "No Siren, no matter how powerful, could do what she did." Hiei was fed up with their lack of knowledge and decided to educate them. "Sirens have no direct power over the element of water but Shinju manipulated it as if it was an extension of her body. She is definitely not a Siren."
"Then what exactly is she?" Kuwabara asked, a bit annoyed that Hiei showed him up.
Obviously Kurama was expected to have the answer because everyone looked his way. "I don't know. I haven't even a guess as to what she is or why she's after me. This is all getting very complicated."
"Yeah, well, we don't have much time to figure it all out before she attacks again."
Two thousand years, Shinju thought as she swam around underneath the surface of the water, cleansing her wounds and then healing them. I've been confined and isolated in this place for two thousand years. But soon, I'll be free.
The girl had long discarded her ruined white cloak on the shore. She was now simply clad in a white halter top and skirt. Shinju dove towards the depths of the lake and allowed herself to sink deeper and deeper as she admired the scenery.
Bones of her victims littered the lake bottom. They seemed to gleam from the streams of sunlight through the water. Not an inch of the lake floor was left uncovered. Her most recent prey, the body of young San-wei, was not yet reduced to the state of the others. Pink flesh still clung to the white bones but they were slowly rotting away, pieces of his body falling apart and drifting in the water.
Shinju continued to swim over the graveyard and stopped only when she reached a rock the size of a small room. The rock was carved out and hollow, allowing enough room to comfortably house the girl. She despised caves so much yet she lived in a makeshift cave within a cave. It was quite ironic but it couldn't be helped; Shinju felt more at home in the water.
Oh how I miss home. She reminisced about everything she'd lost. My parents, my brothers and sisters, I miss them all. I wonder how they'll react when they see me again. A smile of amusement appeared on her face as she imagined their faces.
The girl settled herself into her makeshift bed of water plants. Shinju yawned and stretched, working some kinks out of her weary body. Stress will kill me someday, she joked, laughing slightly. Then she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off into a deep sleep, with thoughts of home on her mind. It was the first peaceful slumber she's had in two thousand years.
Shinju means 'pearl', by the way. And I found something amusing when I was searching for names and stuff online. Apparently 'kuwabarakuwabara' means 'oh, my God!'. I thought it was funny. Please review!
