YM: R&R! Uhmm... litle problem in chapter 1. The sword that yasha uses had to be changed into the Hitrayl, but well... doesn't really like me so I couldn't change it! X.x ENJOY AND R&R!!

Chapter Two: Key to the Spirit World!

My eyes slowly opened for what seemed like days later, and although my eyesight was blurred, I continued to look around. There were splotches of green and brown all around me, and I couldn't exactly make out to where my exact location was. I closed my eyes and counted to one hundred, then opened them and saw that my eyesight was much more clear. I had been moved into the east side Chitaka Forest, and I found myself lying just next to the Kohaku River.

I was guessing that the Chiyoku had moved me here shortly after I had fainted, and set me into a place were I wouldn't be bothered. My eyesight now slightly blurred from the rapid hit that Sho had inflected, I sat up warily, looked to my stomach and seeing that my once bleeding wounds were almost healed. Being half demon, the only advantage is being able to heal faster then any human would; the demonic blood is much help. I have the demonic way of regenerating and healing faster, yet I have the human way of feeling pain easily, which is why I am so grateful to being unconscious while this process was going on. See? Spite being made fun of and teased, a hanyou has its advantages.

I was flat on the ground, and I was that my hair was turned to its normal shade of ebony black, spread oddly on the ground in all directions and matted with blood. Thank goodness I didn't have do go though this enormous pain, for the attack from Sho was so harsh, that it had shoved Akai away; and Akai is known for not feeling pain. Being attacked my Sho was into much pain, and I was guessing that Akai wasn't able to handle it. Kiriya was back, and Akai was back into the dark corners of my mind; hopefully, for good.

The ground was stained with my own blood; now an eternal shade of crimson. I looked to the left of me and saw the Hitrayl that was laid in the pool, and the blade was sadly still ebony.

Although I was going through much pain, I was going to attempt to stand. I shifted my weight to my knees , then aiming to push up and stand. As soon as I was on my knees, I fell forward and struck the ground. I remembered the Hitrayl being there, and I thought that maybe I would use the sword as a cane, helplessly lifting me up so I would be able to walk with its support. So, I reached over and grasped the handle, and dug it into the ground maybe half an inch. I pushed myself to my knees once again and, while holding onto the handle of the sword, I didn't fall. I shot up to my feet, and pushed the blade of the sword another inch into the ground.

Suddenly, a bright light of ashen shone in my eyes and blinded me shortly before I clutched my eyes closed, still brightly seeing the light behind my eyelids. After the light disappeared and was dulled behind my eyelids, I slowly opened them. I looked around and saw that I was able to move freely, and that the pain was no longer there. Although, almost everything in this small room was black. Deep shades of ebony were on the stonewalls, and it seemed like I was under ground. Then I looked across from me and saw a small river; its dark waters looking thick and deep; as if it were a cold river of oil mining beneath the Blue Bar Bridge.

I was confused. I had absolutely no idea where I was, or how I had gotten here...

Wherever HERE was.

" Welcome to the Spirit World!" a young woman said, suddenly poofing out of nowhere. She was about my age; maybe twenty. She was levitating in the air upon what looked like a wooden oar. She had long light purple hair that was shortened from being pulled back in a high ponytail. She was beautiful! She had fair skin and beautiful aqua eyes that were deepened whenever she narrowed them. She wore a dark purple kimono with a light blue obe and red sash,

If I had ever seen the Easter Bunny in a human form, this –for sure- was it.

" The... Spirit World?" I said to her oddly, then remembered the encounter with the Chiyoku and the bright light, "Oh my gods! Did I die?!" I said to her quietly, hoping that this simply was a dream.

She laughed sweetly, "No, Kiriya. You are not dead. The Hitrayl had brought you here, is all!" she said to me kindly, "I will put you back on Earth when I am done with you."

I looked at her as my eyebrow twitched in pure confusion, "Done with me??" I said to her coldly, glaring and hoping that she didn't mean what I think she means.

She giggled, "Yes. I brought you here simply for you to learn the Code of Masuka so you can create a bodyguard. Trust me, Kiriya. You'll need it."

" Whoa, hold on now! Who are you and how the heck do you know my name? What code, and CREATE a person!?" I said to her oddly, confused my every single thing the weird person on a stick had just said.

She sighed, "Why, I am Masuka of the River Styx! I know your name simply because I know the names of everyone on your planet called Earth. In your culture, I am called the Grim Reaper, I believe. Anyway, the thing is, I know when you die, how you die, where you die, and why you die. I have made a special code to where you can create a person- don't ask how or why- as a guardian or protector."

The Grim Reaper!? Oh, please! This definitely was a dream.

I sighed –why not go along with it?, "Okay, so I need an accomplice. How do I make this "bodyguard" of mine?" I said to her, agreeing to the freakish-Easter Bunny-human-formed-freak-of-nature. I sat down and calmly sheathed my Hitrayl and waited for her answer; intrigued to what it would be.

" Alrighty! I need you to tell me what you want him to look like, his personality, give him three weapons, and I shall do the rest of you." She said to me, then closed her eyes.

I looked at her; she was a nutcase, "Right...."

She nodded at me, eyes still closed.

" Well, I guess I'll get started. I would like for him to have short brown hair spiked over the left side of his face. Forest green eyes, just like my brother Kyou's. I would like for him to have an emerald green male yukata, and white male hakama. His personality will be kind a protective, understanding, but sweet, honest, tender, gentle and make him be intelligent and have a laid back sense of humor. I want his weapons to be a Japanese katana with an emerald on the hilt of it and a woven black handle, a few poison daggers such as mine, and the last weapon I will leave as a total surprise that I will soon find out myself." I said to Masuka, with a concentrated voice as I pictured him myself.

" Alright. Got it. Now we need a name." She said in a deadpan voice.

" A name? Gods... how about Yuki? Yuki Tohima?" I said to her.

" Yuki Tohima, huh? What a wonderful name...it means Burning Snow, yes?" she asked me curiously.

" Yeah yeah, sure. Just get this guy "created" so I can back on Earth and explain my loss to Lord Kuroi." I murmured.

Silence.

Her eyes were closed, and yet she looked determined. After a while, she slowly opened her eyes and looked over at me.

" B-I-N-G-O!! All is done, Kiriya Mitsokiri! Yuki Tohima now has another copy! He is just above your body on Earth. I did let him know a little about you, so I figured that would help you out a little bit. Now, close your eyes and prepare to meet this dream guy of yours!" she said to my happily and gave me a wink, "Goodbye for now, Kiriya!" and with that she clapped and suddenly "poofed" away once again.

Another flash shone in my eyes, and when I opened them back up for the second time, I was back on earth. I was laying down once again on the ground, and I looked to the side to see Yuki, squatted perfectly beside me, looking at me deeply with his forest green eyes; the exact copy of Kyou's. His eyes put me in one of those staring trances; I hate those. I wanted to greet him, but my eyes were frozen onto his and I wanted to scream, and sing all at once. I wasn't able to say a word to the poor guy! He looked exactly how I imagined him, his brown hair spiked perfectly over his handsome face.

He shook his head as if he were upset, and yet he was smiling at me.

" Zuie jie awkishawn, Kiriya .... Rnae kuyaso." He said to me, smiling larger as I sat up in surprise.

( You chose the life of destruction, Kiriya. I am disappointed.)

" You know the Kyaku Clan's Language!!" I said to him in sheer surprise.

Was that all I could say to him? -.-'

He then smiled at my reaction, and laughed shortly. He wrapped his strong arm around my waist gently, as he slowly helped me to my feet. He then took the Hitrayl –its blade still black and maliced by the blood- and sheathed it in the obe of my kimono for me, careful not to touch my wound. His arm then linked around my shoulder kindly, and he let me lean on him for support to walk.

" Yes, Kiriya." He spoke to me beautifully, with such smoothness and practically no emotion, "After all, I was taught by the best- Kyou himself. Of course, it was not easy. The Kyaku Clan's language was much more complicated then I ever would have thought."

" Wha... what do you mean, Yuki?" I asked him sadly, "My brother, Kyou... I killed him."

His expression slowly faded into sadness and he spoke with more of a melancholy tone, "while I was being 'created' in the Spirit World, I saw your brother, Kyou. He taught me your language so we would be able to speak in secrecy." He said to me sadly, as he knew I was upset about him mentioning Kyou.

"Really?" I asked him curiously, my voice then drifting into a depressed tome, "He... did not speak of me, did he Yuki?"

He turned his head to me and looked at me sadly, suddenly stopping in our tracks, "He said he was sorry."

I looked back at him in pure confusion, "for what, might I ask?" I asked him sadly, tilting my head slightly to the side.

He looked down at the ground sadly and I knew that what he was about to tell me wasn't something I would laugh about, "He said that he was sorry for causing you to hate him and your family so much, to bring out Akai and let you kill everyone. He said... that he wanted me to tell you... that he ... failed you as a brother... and as a best friend."

Kyou... I'm sorry, too.

I set my head down and began to cry, remembering all of the times that Kyou had stood up for me, all of the times he cared for me in the times when the others would shove and injure me. I remembered... when he told me he could never hate me, and that he cherished me more than anyone else in the Kyaku Clan.

Sadly, that same day, I promised Kyou that I would never betray him, and that he was the only person I could actually lean on... I told him that I loved him, too.

That was the first time I have ever heard those words being said to me; those simple three words that make normal humans want to go crazy with happiness. I heard those words from my humble brother, and I had made the promise of love back to him as well. I would have never shoved the thought out of my mind if Akai weren't awakened. None of this would have ever happened, and all this pain I feel would be disappearing. Surely, I will never say those words again. Love only causes pain, and pain only causes loneliness.

I wiped frantically at me tears, hoping that Yuki wouldn't have seen them and have worried about me and my sudden burst of tears. It had been a while since I have cried, at least a few years. All of this was bottled up inside me, and now I have finally let it free. I just hope that Yuki doesn't think I'm some kind of madman.

Suddenly, he lifted my head up to his suddenly, and wiped a fresh tear off of the path on my tear-stained cheek. His eyes were bright and happy, and for an odd second, I thought I saw a tear on his face as well. He moved closer to me and kissed my forehead sweetly, and I jumped of the sudden forwardness. "Please, Kiriya... do not cry. The last thing I want to see is you in pain." He said to me deeply, smiling at me with his beautiful shining smile.

Now. Had. Nothing. To. Say. To. Him.

I said nothing in embarrassment, and looked away as I knew I was blushing. He linked his arm back around my shoulder and began to walk out of the forest, leading me into the small village of Sientaku.

" Where to now?" he asked me kindly, gripping my shoulder firmly when I almost fell dumbly onto the wet ground; it had rained.

" To Blue Bar. I must tell Ame Kuroi about my loss to Sh-- ... the Chiyoku." I said to him and then added, "About the time we get there, my wounds should be healed."

" I see..." he replied to he in a deadpan voice, leading me across the small stone bridge in front of Blue Bar, as the haunting memory of Sho blocking the moonlight replayed in my head.

He sighed worriedly, "Kuroi will not be pleased with this, Kiriya. It has been days since you have fought the Chiyoku, and you are not Akai as you promised him. Please, do be careful." He said to me cautiously.

" Of course, Yuki-kun." I said to him kindly, slipping out of his grasp politely, and walked through the door.

My wounds were perfectly healed now, and I was ready to take on whatever Kuroi was stupidly willing to throw at me... even if it were death.

I walked into the bar and took one step, and I knew that Yuki was right behind me. I managed to dodge a few sake' bottles being thrown at me, along with shot glasses and beer cans. Apparently, there was a fistfight, and everyone and everything was going mad. I had to cover my ears from the ear-piercing rock music, as if it were making my eardrums bleed, and then explode. A few curse words were thrown at me and I recognized the drunkard's face as one of Ame Kuroi's "friends". I simply kept walking, clutching my ears. I wanted to scream over all of the music, cussing, fighting, and yelling but no one would be able to hear me anyway, even if I used my highest-pitched scream.

I stumbled past the wooden bar, and made it to my next obstacle; the dance floor. I stumbled through the group of people, dancing up on each other and some were singing the lyrics to the unnoticed song. I rammed through most of the crowd, and then a dancing pervert groped me on the behind, and I turned to slap him, but saw that he had disappeared amongst the other dunked partiers and couples.

I finally made it passed the crazy obstacle course, and I was now facing Lord Ame Kuroi's door. I sighed happily and was relived to be facing it, knowing that there was a back door to his room, only opening from the inside.

I turned around and saw that Yuki had made it thorough the course as well, and his green eyes put me in another staring trance; man I hate those! He stood behind me and talked in my ear, just to the tone to where I could hear, his lips brushing against my ear as he spoke, " Be careful, but do not worry. When things get tough, I'll step in. I am here." He said to me, and I turned my head around and smiled at him, then faced the door and slowly opened it.

Ame Kuroi was standing in the middle of the room, facing me with his arms crossed and a feared glare in his eyes.

He had been waiting for this.

Yuki slipped off into the corner, so that he wouldn't be spotted directly when I walked inside, feet away from Kuroi after I closed the door and removed my hands from my ears.

" Lord Kuroi-"I started, and then was interrupted rudely from him.

" Kiriya! How dare you show your face to me after loosing the fight with the Chiyoku?! Even worse than loosing to him, you come back to tell me your loss with Kiriya instead of Akai! I had trusted you to never let Kiriya out ever again!" he shrieked at me, as I saw anger in him for the first time in my life.

" Yes my lord..." I said to him, kneeling down to my knees as I lowered my head facing him.

" Do not call me your "lord" any longer. You are no longer within the service of Kuroi Ame. Kiriya... you have disgraced me!" he scolded, "Why did you not kill Sho with the Hitrayl?"

" Excuse me, sir." Yuki said, slipping out of the corner as he began to walk over to him, "But it seems to me that you have disgraced yourself. First, when she falls in love for the first time, you order her to kill him. And when she refuses just once as a mere ten year old, you kill her father, driving Saikuru away to leave her forever... I'm sorry to interrupt this conversation, but Kiriya may have failed you just once, but you have failed to pass as a human being."

Kuroi glared at Yuki, "And who is this, Kiriya? The reason why you did not kill the Chiyoku?"

" No, sir. This is Yuki Tohima, he is loyal to me... an actual friend, sir." I said to him, trying to hold back my anger from just being fired, and of course, I was bad at hiding my anger.

Why else would I have Akai?!

" Very clever form of speech for a man that cannot even control his own woman." Kuroi said with a twisted smile, then turned his head to me slowly, "And where is this friend of yours from?" he asked me curiously, his deep and dark voice getting oddly suspicious.

I hope he believes this...

" Yuki is from the S—"I started then was- once again- interrupted.

"- Small town in Kyoto, Japan." Yuki finished, covering up what I was about to answer.

Would Kuroi have believed me if I told him that Yuki was a creation I made in the Spirit World? I think not. So, let's go with what Yuki said.

" Yes, sir. That is where Yuki is from. He came to visit me, and now he is planning to travel with me." I said to him, my voice getting deeper after every word.

Kuroi whipped his head around at me and slowly, but profoundly, walked over to my position in the room. He bent down next to me; and I was terrified of him for the first time; what was he going to do to me!? He raised his bandaged wrapped left hand and grabbed my jaw fiercely, his middle finger gripping the right side, his thumb gripping the other. He used the right side of his wrist to jab into my neck harshly, blocking my air as he lifted my head to meet his eyes, " Lesson one: do not call your enemy 'sir or ma'm.' You should never be soft and kindhearted to those that hate you down to the core of their heart." He said to me coldly, gripping my jaw harder, as it felt as if it were about to shatter.

Enemy?

I scowled at his amusing reply, and I slapped his face hard with my left hand, and tore his hand off my jaw with the other. I stood up as he did, and glared daggers at him, trying hard to keep Akai from slipping out and slashing him on his neck.

"Did you just call me your enemy? If you were my enemy, Kuroi, then why are you waiting your rancid breath on me by lecturing, when you could be attacking me with your sword instead? Tell me why you would hesitate to attack your opponent if you were their enemy!?" I snapped back at the black-wrapped-mummy-freak-of-nature-that-lies-as-much-as-he-breathes-dude-that-killed-my-father-and-then- ... well, you get the idea.

He smiled back at me mockingly, "Simply to the fact that I do not wish to humiliate you in front of your lover," He said then naively put a finger on his chin and sarcastically laughed, "Oh! Excuse me! 'Loyal friend'! "He said to me, taunting me to the point to where I wasn't able to take it anymore. I had been teased my whole life, and I didn't need any of this tormented crap from him!

My blood boiled.

I closed my eyes in anger, and opened them to show a bright shade of red burning in my eyes. My ebony black hair quickly turned a flaming crimson, and the same strange aura flew around me in a flash. I unsheathed the Hitrayl to show its true power; the midnight-colored blade.

Yuki stepped beside me as I he noticed that it was now Akai that was facing Kuroi, not Kiriya, "Unlike the twisted minded such as yourself, normal people have friends. Of course, you wouldn't know a thing about this, would you?" Yuki said to Kuroi coldly as his eyes changed to an ice-blue color, and his pupil got much smaller.

" Wow, you are very forward and inconsiderate when it comes to sincerity. You need to learn some manners!" Kuroi said back to Yuki, in a surprised and a slightly raised tone.

I scowled at this, "Yuki-kun is honest, loyal, caring and very considerate! You'll be lucky if your even half the man that he is!" I screamed at Kuroi then added, "Maybe you should be the one to learn manners." I said to him coldly, and then watched Yuki unsheathe his sword; "I challenge you to a battle right here, right now!" I said to him.

Kuroi was enjoying this.

Kuroi flashed one of this most evil, but confident smiles at the two of us, "So its one of those student vs. teacher fights, yes? As we all know, there is no way you have a chance of winning. Even if you do have me outnumbered, I know all of Akai's attacks and how to block them. You can never win, Akai." He said to the both of us, unsheathing his sword from his belt.

" Kuroi, you have never taught or showed me anything but false love. You may have raised me, but the sad thing is you don't know a thing about my life. Now that I have seen you like this –at your worse, I will not hesitate to strike you down." I said to him, then put a serious glare on my face, "As you know, I kill those who are dishonest to me."

" You lie," he said to me coldly," You killed those that I told you to. You were nothing more than a puppet to get what I want, and a person like you can be easily replaced. You mean nothing to me."

I laughed for a few seconds then calmed down and looked at his and Yuki's puzzled face, "If I meant nothing to you, then why did you kiss me as if you were in love?"

He paused and then chuckled; "I kissed you for pleasure and nothing more. A lonely man like me needs pleasure too, you know!"

" You need not pleasure, but help." Yuki said, and I could tell that he was upset to the fact that Kuroi kissed me. How you ask? I had to pull his arm back from punching him. That's how.

I walked over to Kuroi and pressed against him, "You said you need pleasure, right?" I said to him, as I ran my fingers through his hair with one hand, and rested my head on his chest.

Yuki looked over at me as if I was a nutcase, but I knew what was I doing. I was testing him. What? You don't think that I actually ENJOY running my hands through my enemy's hair, do you?!

Kuroi looked down at me with a surprised look flashing in his eyes, and I saw that he was slightly blushing. His heart was now racing quickly, and he looked down at me with lust and want in his eyes. He leaned in near me and kissed me softly, then after a while slipped his tongue in and made it a bit more passionate. He pulled me even closer to him, his arms around my waist. I could see Yuki staring wide-eyed at what was going on, and when I parted our lips, and he laughed.

If there were anything I learned from the Chiyoku, it would be to strike your enemy when they least expect it. I had done the same thing to Ame Kuroi, the Hitrayl now stuck through his rib cage completely; trust me- that burned like hell.

I laughed as I took the sword out, and remembered the small black beam that had struck through him.

" Your pathetic." I whispered in his ear, stepping back a few steps after taking the Hitrayl out of his side, and smiled as he clutched his stomach.

He mumbled a few curses while I walked next to a very angry and jealous Yuki.

Now without words, Kuroi flung at me. He completely avoided Yuki and aimed all of his attacks on me. He was moving at about the speed of Sho was, to where I could barely see him moving. He laughed while he struck me, ripping bits and pieces of my kimono, and I bled very little. His speed was vastly increasing, and it seemed as if he were invisible as he ran in a perfect circle around us. His once small attacks were getting much more affective, longer and deeper with every stroke. The pain was increasing just as much as his speed was, and I was starting to loose my poise in my fighting stance, and I was slowly getting closer and closer to crumpling onto the floor. I slowly fell forward, my eyes seeing the floor getting closer and closer, nothing but blood on the wooden floor. I closed my eyes just before I struck the ground, but then I was caught by Yuki, and he stood my up against him, his arm wrapped around the front of my waist ask my back pressed against his chest.

He raised his beautiful emerald-studded blade into the air, and I was surprised to see that he struck him in Kuroi's left shoulder; his sword-wielding arm and his weak point. He had struck him perfectly through the shoulder bone, where the scar wasn't completely healed from the fire a few years ago.

Yuki pulled out the blade, and Kuroi fell face first onto the floor. The attack that Yuki had done on his shoulder had made a sickening noise, as if a rock were bit in half.

His attack had struck him where it hurts not his shoulder... but his pride.

Yuki smiled and just stood there holding me with one arm, and the other arm was now sheathing his sword back into the belt of his hakama. I looked over at him, turning my face to the side, and saw that his normal side was back, his shining emerald eyes returning, and the ice blue eyes slowly faded away.

He lifted my into his arms, one hand and arm under my neck, and the other at the backside of my leg, right under my kneecaps. I felt limp in his arms as he carried me, as if I were a helpless doll in the hands of a young child.

He left Kuroi there, stepping over him as he kicked the backdoor open and walked out, then rammed his back against it to keep it shut.

" Are you alright, Kiriya?" he said to me kindly, as I saw that my black hair had returned.

" I'm fine." I murmured to him innocently, "But of course, I could be better."

He chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll find us a place to stay for the night, then I will tend to your wounds."

I looked up at him and smiled, "I have only had you here with me for one day, and you already have done too much for me." I said to him kindly, felling odd that I had blushed when I said it to him.

He looked down at me for a second, then looked forward once again as I saw that he had blushed as well, "It has only been one day with you, and I have already found my future."

He finally found a small inn that was vacant, and it reminded me of an old dojo I had remembered seeing many years ago.

We finally got settled in our room, and after tending to my wounds and getting my dressed in a navy kimono with a silver obe, he laid down beside me on the futon in the small room. I knew that he was not going to sleep soundly until he knew that I was all right, and sleeping perfectly myself.

" Things should be different now. Yuki reminds me a lot of my first love, Saikuru Satara. He is a wonderful guy, after all... I am truly glad that Yuki is now my close friend. Then again he could be more than a friend..." I thought to myself, and then giggled out loud at the thought of Yuki and I were to be together.

" Is something amusing you, Kiriya?" he asked with a smiled.

" You... just...you."