Hi everybody! One thing before I start. Does anyone know anything about what goes on at a traditional Japanese wedding? I need to know for the last chapter. If anyone knows, please let me know via e-mail or review or whatever. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. ON WITH THE FIC!!!
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Late that night, after Kairi and Sazume had gone to sleep, another midnight meeting took place at Genkai's temple.
"So, what do we do now? Hunt Nightmare down or what?" Yusuke asked.
"Well...not exactly," Botan replied uneasily.
"Why the hell not? We know where their base is and everything, lets just go get rid of them," Yusuke said.
"Correction, we KNEW where their base was," Botan sighed.
"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.
"Well, when we went back to have a look at Nightmare's base, all traces that they had been there were gone. We don't know where they are now. We've even been locked out of their network somehow. The only files we still have are ones that we had the foresight to save separately, which isn't much more then Kairi and Sazume's data," Botan explained.
"So then, what do we do now?" Yusuke asked.
"Wait for them to show up again. It's all we can do," Koenma replied.
Yusuke thumped his fist on the floor and stood up. "Damn it Koenma! I already went through this with you! I am officially retiring at the end of the month, you understand that?! You're not going to put me on anymore wild goose chases!"
"Relax Yusuke," Koenma said, apparently not phased by the soon-to-be former spirit detective's outburst. "I'm well aware of your plans. In fact, I already have someone in mind to take your place."
"Really? Who?" Yusuke asked, blinking in surprise at the unexpected answer he had received. Koenma had been going on for weeks about how hard it was to find a replacement for Yusuke. Who could he have found so suddenly like this?
"You'll see. Just be patient," Koenma said with a smirk. Yusuke got the feeling that Koenma was hinting something to him, but he didn't know what. He glanced back at Kuwabara and Kurama, but they shook their heads. Hiei, who had taken his usual place in the corner, didn't give Yusuke any indication that he was even listening to the conversation, so Yusuke simply ignored him.
"Exactly how patient are we talking here?" Yusuke asked, turning back to Koenma.
"Actually, I think you'll all get the opportunity to meet our new spirit detective tomorrow," Koenma said, still giving Yusuke that annoying grin that clearly said 'I know something you don't know!'
"Tomorrow? What do mean?" Kuwabara asked.
"Sorry, you'll just have to wait to find out," Koenma said, folding his arms and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"I hate it when he does that," Yusuke muttered as he sat back down.
"Botan, do you know what he was talking about?" Kurama asked the blue-haired grim reaper who had summoned her oar and was preparing to leave as well.
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell. You have to wait and see!" she called through a fit of giggles as she took off into the night.
"Genkai?" Yusuke asked, turning to the old woman who had also stood up to go.
"I don't know anymore then you, and neither does anyone else. So stop asking questions and go do something useful," Genkai said as she slid the door opened.
"But it's the middle of the night," Yusuke protested.
"Then sleep for all I care. Just be quiet about it," Genkai grunted as she stepped onto the temple's porch and shut the door behind her. The four left in the room exchanged glances.
-()-()-()
The next morning, Kairi felt almost herself again. She still didn't know why her hands had been bandaged, but they felt less soar then yesterday, so she removed the bandages. Her fingertips were red and slightly swollen, but there didn't appear to be anything else wrong with them.
Aside from the fact that she now had a cat's ears, eyes, and tail, Kairi had noticed other differences that had occurred since the fusion. Her hearing was much better and she could even generate something she liked to call a sound-map. Basically, it was like a bat's echo vision. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, the world around her begin to form in the darkness of her mind. Outlines of plants and building painted before her eyes in silver lines that allowed her to see just as well as if her eyes were opened. She had no doubt that it would be useful later.
As she wondered around the temple, stretching her stiff muscles, she caught sight of Akira sitting in a tree.
"Hey!" she called up.
"What do you want?" the wolf fusion asked, glaring down at her.
"I wanted to ask you some things," Kairi said.
Akira sighed. "Like what?"
"Well, first off, do I have demon attacks and stuff like Kurama and the others now?" Kairi asked.
Akira sighed again as if she was talking to a very annoying child. "Yes, but you have to find them out for yourself. You should learn them threw experience, most of them on instinct. Your demon side already knows attacks and strategies, it's just a matter of you growing powerful enough to unlock them."
"Oh...can I ask you another question?"
"You just did," Akira muttered, turning her gaze from Kairi to the sky.
"I mean a personal question," Kairi explained.
"Depends on the question," Akira retorted.
"How do you know Hiei? I have the felling that you guys have a...past together," Kairi said hesitantly, afraid that she would make Akira mad. Akira was silent for a long time, and Kairi began to suspect that she wouldn't answer at all. But then Akira let out a sigh and said simply, "We're old friends." Kairi wasn't sure if she would continue, but she did.
"As you know, I was the first survivor of the Demonic Fusion. I was only four at the time, but I unlocked my powers right away. It wasn't more then a week after the fusion that I generated a tornado and destroyed the building I was being kept in. I spent a few days in the city after that, but they were always in fear. Constantly hiding in shadows, afraid of what people might do if they saw me, what with my tail and all.
"Eventually, I stumbled upon a portal to the demon world. It had been opened by some lower class demon who had either not had the power or the decency to close it. I stepped through without hesitation, not able to imagine how that world could be any worse then the constant terror I lived in while I was in this one. I won't lie to you, the demon world is a harsh, unforgiving place. I'm more then lucky to have survived, being as weak as I was then.
"I spent many years there without increasing my powers anymore. They weren't impressive, but they were enough to let me survive the encounters I had with other demons. For the most part, those encounters were few. I made it a rule to steer clear of demons, especially groups of them. I wasn't ignorant of my power and I knew my limits, and I was careful not to exceed them.
"Then, one night, I caught the sounds of a nearby battle. I didn't take part in it, didn't even watch, but I waited until it ended. I already said that the demon world is harsh, and it's no secret that many things can be taken from the fallen bodies of those killed in battle. To be honest, such a thing doesn't even earn a second thought there, it's just how one survives. Knowing this, I went to the site of the battle the next morning. The small clearing of trees where the fight had taken place was littered with bodies. There were so many that it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. But then one of them moved.
"To be brutally honest, I had every intention of killing the demon that had moved, fearing that if I didn't, he would kill me. But as I took a better look at him, I couldn't do it. I felt...pity for him having been so badly wounded. I had never felt that before, and I gave in to the emotion, bringing the demon back with me to my campsite."
"It was Hiei, wasn't it," Kairi interrupted then.
Akira nodded, still staring at the clouds above her. "Yes, it was Hiei. I bandaged his wounds as best I could. I made sure to keep the fire going all the time so he wouldn't be cold and I gave him soup now and then to keep him alive. I'm still not sure why I did that all for him, but I did. After a few days, he opened his eyes. He didn't say much, except to ask my name and what had happened, all of which I answered, to the extent of my knowledge. There was silence between us most of the time. He ate the food I gave him and allowed me to change the dressings on his wounds now and then, but we didn't talk or interact in any other way.
"In about a week, his strength returned and he left to get his own food and whatever else he wanted to do. I fully expected that that would be the last I would see of him, but it wasn't. He always came back. I don't know why, I don't think he even knows, but he always did. Then we began to talk, and even to become friends." Akira paused, sighing as she glanced down at the black glove on her right arm, the glove that became a black sword at her command.
"He gave me this sword you know," she said quietly. "He said that if I wasn't strong enough to unlock the other powers I had gained from the fusion, then I should at least have a sword to protect myself with. We used to train against each other. At first he'd always win, but then I began to end it in draws, and even win myself at times." Akira stopped again, a wistful look in her eyes.
"What happened?" Kairi asked.
"We went our separate ways," Akira said, the wistful look evaporating. "He had his priorities and I had mine," then she laughed. "I never thought I'd see him again. The only reason I even came to this world was because I hear that Nightmare's demons were about. I always have time to hunt one of them down."
Kairi smiled, and lowered her gaze to the grass swaying in the morning breeze around her feet.
-()-()-()
Sazume had woken up early and sat on the steps leading to Genkai's temple, watching Kairi and Akira talk. She still couldn't believe how different her sister was. A few short days again, Kairi would never have tried to hold a conversation with anyone other than with Sazume or Kuwabara. But now...she was like a different person. She was happy and energetic and, above all, friendly. Sazume wondered if this was the person Kairi was supposed to be, the person she would have been if she hadn't witnessed their mother's tragic death.
As she pondered this, she glanced down the steps to see someone at the bottom. It was a boy about her age. As he began to climb, she had the strange feeling that she had seen him before. He had dark hair and dark eyes and seemed slightly embarrassed to be here. As he got closer, Sazume was finally able to place him. He was Shuichi, Kurama's younger step-brother. What was he doing here? Just as she was thinking this, and wondering how in the world having two boys named Shuichi in the same house didn't get confusing, he called to her.
"Sazume! What are you doing here?" he asked as he reached the top of the steps, slightly out of breath.
"Oh...um...my sister is here visiting a friend," Sazume said. It wasn't a complete lie, although she wasn't entirely sure that she would call Akira a friend. At least, not yet anyway.
"How about you?" she asked the boy who now stood in front of her.
"Oh, well...that is...I was just..." he fumbled with his words as he scratched his head and looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed about something.
"What?" Sazume asked.
"Well...promise you won't tell anyone?" he said finally, lowering his voice.
"Uh...sure," Sazume said, slightly unsure if she should have said that. She already had so many secrets to keep, about the fusion and Kurama's true identity. She wasn't sure if she should be hiding anything else.
"I came to talk to Master Genkai," he said finally in almost a whisper.
"Why is that a secret?" Sazume asked.
"It's not that. It's what I came to talk to her about," he said, still looking nervous to be telling anyone this.
"What did you come to talk to her about?" Sazume said politely, trying not to push him if he didn't want to tell her.
"Well, lately, I've been getting...weird feelings," he said quietly.
"Like what?" Sazume asked, but she already knew the answer. Kuwabara had explained all about the 'tickle feeling' and she was almost positive that Shuichi was talking about almost the same thing. But if he had a high spirit awareness like Kuwabara, then what else could he do?
"Well, like you," he said in answer to her question.
"Me?" Sazume said, trying not to sound to panicked.
"Yeah. You don't feel the same as the last time I saw you. I can't explain it. You just seem...different," he said.
"Yes, perhaps it is time you knew the whole story," a gruff voice said behind them, making them both jump. They turned to see Genkai standing there calmly, with her hands folded behind her back.
"What do you mean the 'whole story?'" Shuichi asked.
"Now wait a minute," Sazume said nervously, standing up. One thing Kurama had made very clear to her was that she was not to tell his family ANYTHING about ANY of the things she had learned in the past few days, especially his past.
"If his spirit awareness has grown strong enough to distinguish between you and a regular human, that it is only a matter of time before he notices Kurama's differences as well," Genkai answered, guessing what Sazume had been thinking.
"Now, if you'll fallow me, I'll explain everything over some tea," Genkai said in a sweet, but demanding tone. Shuichi looked from the old woman to Sazume before following her, obviously more confused then when he arrived. Sazume stared after them for a moment, before shaking her head and hurrying after them.
"Kurama is going to kill me," she muttered to herself as she followed the old woman who was leading her dazed classmate into the temple.
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Late that night, after Kairi and Sazume had gone to sleep, another midnight meeting took place at Genkai's temple.
"So, what do we do now? Hunt Nightmare down or what?" Yusuke asked.
"Well...not exactly," Botan replied uneasily.
"Why the hell not? We know where their base is and everything, lets just go get rid of them," Yusuke said.
"Correction, we KNEW where their base was," Botan sighed.
"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.
"Well, when we went back to have a look at Nightmare's base, all traces that they had been there were gone. We don't know where they are now. We've even been locked out of their network somehow. The only files we still have are ones that we had the foresight to save separately, which isn't much more then Kairi and Sazume's data," Botan explained.
"So then, what do we do now?" Yusuke asked.
"Wait for them to show up again. It's all we can do," Koenma replied.
Yusuke thumped his fist on the floor and stood up. "Damn it Koenma! I already went through this with you! I am officially retiring at the end of the month, you understand that?! You're not going to put me on anymore wild goose chases!"
"Relax Yusuke," Koenma said, apparently not phased by the soon-to-be former spirit detective's outburst. "I'm well aware of your plans. In fact, I already have someone in mind to take your place."
"Really? Who?" Yusuke asked, blinking in surprise at the unexpected answer he had received. Koenma had been going on for weeks about how hard it was to find a replacement for Yusuke. Who could he have found so suddenly like this?
"You'll see. Just be patient," Koenma said with a smirk. Yusuke got the feeling that Koenma was hinting something to him, but he didn't know what. He glanced back at Kuwabara and Kurama, but they shook their heads. Hiei, who had taken his usual place in the corner, didn't give Yusuke any indication that he was even listening to the conversation, so Yusuke simply ignored him.
"Exactly how patient are we talking here?" Yusuke asked, turning back to Koenma.
"Actually, I think you'll all get the opportunity to meet our new spirit detective tomorrow," Koenma said, still giving Yusuke that annoying grin that clearly said 'I know something you don't know!'
"Tomorrow? What do mean?" Kuwabara asked.
"Sorry, you'll just have to wait to find out," Koenma said, folding his arms and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"I hate it when he does that," Yusuke muttered as he sat back down.
"Botan, do you know what he was talking about?" Kurama asked the blue-haired grim reaper who had summoned her oar and was preparing to leave as well.
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell. You have to wait and see!" she called through a fit of giggles as she took off into the night.
"Genkai?" Yusuke asked, turning to the old woman who had also stood up to go.
"I don't know anymore then you, and neither does anyone else. So stop asking questions and go do something useful," Genkai said as she slid the door opened.
"But it's the middle of the night," Yusuke protested.
"Then sleep for all I care. Just be quiet about it," Genkai grunted as she stepped onto the temple's porch and shut the door behind her. The four left in the room exchanged glances.
-()-()-()
The next morning, Kairi felt almost herself again. She still didn't know why her hands had been bandaged, but they felt less soar then yesterday, so she removed the bandages. Her fingertips were red and slightly swollen, but there didn't appear to be anything else wrong with them.
Aside from the fact that she now had a cat's ears, eyes, and tail, Kairi had noticed other differences that had occurred since the fusion. Her hearing was much better and she could even generate something she liked to call a sound-map. Basically, it was like a bat's echo vision. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, the world around her begin to form in the darkness of her mind. Outlines of plants and building painted before her eyes in silver lines that allowed her to see just as well as if her eyes were opened. She had no doubt that it would be useful later.
As she wondered around the temple, stretching her stiff muscles, she caught sight of Akira sitting in a tree.
"Hey!" she called up.
"What do you want?" the wolf fusion asked, glaring down at her.
"I wanted to ask you some things," Kairi said.
Akira sighed. "Like what?"
"Well, first off, do I have demon attacks and stuff like Kurama and the others now?" Kairi asked.
Akira sighed again as if she was talking to a very annoying child. "Yes, but you have to find them out for yourself. You should learn them threw experience, most of them on instinct. Your demon side already knows attacks and strategies, it's just a matter of you growing powerful enough to unlock them."
"Oh...can I ask you another question?"
"You just did," Akira muttered, turning her gaze from Kairi to the sky.
"I mean a personal question," Kairi explained.
"Depends on the question," Akira retorted.
"How do you know Hiei? I have the felling that you guys have a...past together," Kairi said hesitantly, afraid that she would make Akira mad. Akira was silent for a long time, and Kairi began to suspect that she wouldn't answer at all. But then Akira let out a sigh and said simply, "We're old friends." Kairi wasn't sure if she would continue, but she did.
"As you know, I was the first survivor of the Demonic Fusion. I was only four at the time, but I unlocked my powers right away. It wasn't more then a week after the fusion that I generated a tornado and destroyed the building I was being kept in. I spent a few days in the city after that, but they were always in fear. Constantly hiding in shadows, afraid of what people might do if they saw me, what with my tail and all.
"Eventually, I stumbled upon a portal to the demon world. It had been opened by some lower class demon who had either not had the power or the decency to close it. I stepped through without hesitation, not able to imagine how that world could be any worse then the constant terror I lived in while I was in this one. I won't lie to you, the demon world is a harsh, unforgiving place. I'm more then lucky to have survived, being as weak as I was then.
"I spent many years there without increasing my powers anymore. They weren't impressive, but they were enough to let me survive the encounters I had with other demons. For the most part, those encounters were few. I made it a rule to steer clear of demons, especially groups of them. I wasn't ignorant of my power and I knew my limits, and I was careful not to exceed them.
"Then, one night, I caught the sounds of a nearby battle. I didn't take part in it, didn't even watch, but I waited until it ended. I already said that the demon world is harsh, and it's no secret that many things can be taken from the fallen bodies of those killed in battle. To be honest, such a thing doesn't even earn a second thought there, it's just how one survives. Knowing this, I went to the site of the battle the next morning. The small clearing of trees where the fight had taken place was littered with bodies. There were so many that it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. But then one of them moved.
"To be brutally honest, I had every intention of killing the demon that had moved, fearing that if I didn't, he would kill me. But as I took a better look at him, I couldn't do it. I felt...pity for him having been so badly wounded. I had never felt that before, and I gave in to the emotion, bringing the demon back with me to my campsite."
"It was Hiei, wasn't it," Kairi interrupted then.
Akira nodded, still staring at the clouds above her. "Yes, it was Hiei. I bandaged his wounds as best I could. I made sure to keep the fire going all the time so he wouldn't be cold and I gave him soup now and then to keep him alive. I'm still not sure why I did that all for him, but I did. After a few days, he opened his eyes. He didn't say much, except to ask my name and what had happened, all of which I answered, to the extent of my knowledge. There was silence between us most of the time. He ate the food I gave him and allowed me to change the dressings on his wounds now and then, but we didn't talk or interact in any other way.
"In about a week, his strength returned and he left to get his own food and whatever else he wanted to do. I fully expected that that would be the last I would see of him, but it wasn't. He always came back. I don't know why, I don't think he even knows, but he always did. Then we began to talk, and even to become friends." Akira paused, sighing as she glanced down at the black glove on her right arm, the glove that became a black sword at her command.
"He gave me this sword you know," she said quietly. "He said that if I wasn't strong enough to unlock the other powers I had gained from the fusion, then I should at least have a sword to protect myself with. We used to train against each other. At first he'd always win, but then I began to end it in draws, and even win myself at times." Akira stopped again, a wistful look in her eyes.
"What happened?" Kairi asked.
"We went our separate ways," Akira said, the wistful look evaporating. "He had his priorities and I had mine," then she laughed. "I never thought I'd see him again. The only reason I even came to this world was because I hear that Nightmare's demons were about. I always have time to hunt one of them down."
Kairi smiled, and lowered her gaze to the grass swaying in the morning breeze around her feet.
-()-()-()
Sazume had woken up early and sat on the steps leading to Genkai's temple, watching Kairi and Akira talk. She still couldn't believe how different her sister was. A few short days again, Kairi would never have tried to hold a conversation with anyone other than with Sazume or Kuwabara. But now...she was like a different person. She was happy and energetic and, above all, friendly. Sazume wondered if this was the person Kairi was supposed to be, the person she would have been if she hadn't witnessed their mother's tragic death.
As she pondered this, she glanced down the steps to see someone at the bottom. It was a boy about her age. As he began to climb, she had the strange feeling that she had seen him before. He had dark hair and dark eyes and seemed slightly embarrassed to be here. As he got closer, Sazume was finally able to place him. He was Shuichi, Kurama's younger step-brother. What was he doing here? Just as she was thinking this, and wondering how in the world having two boys named Shuichi in the same house didn't get confusing, he called to her.
"Sazume! What are you doing here?" he asked as he reached the top of the steps, slightly out of breath.
"Oh...um...my sister is here visiting a friend," Sazume said. It wasn't a complete lie, although she wasn't entirely sure that she would call Akira a friend. At least, not yet anyway.
"How about you?" she asked the boy who now stood in front of her.
"Oh, well...that is...I was just..." he fumbled with his words as he scratched his head and looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed about something.
"What?" Sazume asked.
"Well...promise you won't tell anyone?" he said finally, lowering his voice.
"Uh...sure," Sazume said, slightly unsure if she should have said that. She already had so many secrets to keep, about the fusion and Kurama's true identity. She wasn't sure if she should be hiding anything else.
"I came to talk to Master Genkai," he said finally in almost a whisper.
"Why is that a secret?" Sazume asked.
"It's not that. It's what I came to talk to her about," he said, still looking nervous to be telling anyone this.
"What did you come to talk to her about?" Sazume said politely, trying not to push him if he didn't want to tell her.
"Well, lately, I've been getting...weird feelings," he said quietly.
"Like what?" Sazume asked, but she already knew the answer. Kuwabara had explained all about the 'tickle feeling' and she was almost positive that Shuichi was talking about almost the same thing. But if he had a high spirit awareness like Kuwabara, then what else could he do?
"Well, like you," he said in answer to her question.
"Me?" Sazume said, trying not to sound to panicked.
"Yeah. You don't feel the same as the last time I saw you. I can't explain it. You just seem...different," he said.
"Yes, perhaps it is time you knew the whole story," a gruff voice said behind them, making them both jump. They turned to see Genkai standing there calmly, with her hands folded behind her back.
"What do you mean the 'whole story?'" Shuichi asked.
"Now wait a minute," Sazume said nervously, standing up. One thing Kurama had made very clear to her was that she was not to tell his family ANYTHING about ANY of the things she had learned in the past few days, especially his past.
"If his spirit awareness has grown strong enough to distinguish between you and a regular human, that it is only a matter of time before he notices Kurama's differences as well," Genkai answered, guessing what Sazume had been thinking.
"Now, if you'll fallow me, I'll explain everything over some tea," Genkai said in a sweet, but demanding tone. Shuichi looked from the old woman to Sazume before following her, obviously more confused then when he arrived. Sazume stared after them for a moment, before shaking her head and hurrying after them.
"Kurama is going to kill me," she muttered to herself as she followed the old woman who was leading her dazed classmate into the temple.