A/N: This is probably the longest I've ever gone before updating a story. All I can say is, I'm so sorry! This fic was the last on my priority list, and for that I am ashamed. It's hard for me to write this type of fiction, so it got put on the back burner. Thank you, those of you who stayed with me! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Honest. I own… nothing? Yeah, that's it… nothing. Be warned, there's more violence in the chapters to come, hence my PG-13 rating. This fic WILL deserve it, I promise.
Chapter Three: Consequences
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Botan walked down the hallway in King Yama's palace slowly, as if in a total daze. She could scarcely believe what she herself had just heard firsthand from the girl's soul she had ferried across the river Styx. He couldn't have…He, - H-he wouldn't have! I… But, there MUST be a mistake! Her thoughts plagued her mind, swarming in a whirlwind, promising her no peace. After running into three busy onis, and finally colliding with the fourth, it seemed the blue haired 'grim reaper' had at last come out of her trance. Picking herself up off of the floor, she shook her head to clear it of the jumbled mess of thoughts. She let out a resigned sigh. Once she had helped clean the papers that the oni had dropped off the floor, she made her way towards Koenma's office. No matter how much it shocked her, no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, no matter how hard it was going to be, she knew exactly what she had to do.
Taking a deep breath to regain her nerve and composure, Botan opened the door leading to the office of the ruler of Spirit World. Inside, Koenma was working at his desk as usual, several onis bustling about, bringing paperwork to and from the office. Without even looking at her boss, Botan slowly entered the room and stayed silent, inwardly hoping that she could stall the inevitable while he didn't notice that she was there. Unfortunately for Botan, however, Koenma enjoyed any excuse to pause in his duties, and immediately looked up and stopped when he noticed her walk in.
"Ah! Yo, Botan, what's up?" he asked, looking quite grateful for a distraction from his daily monotony. He soon looked a bit suspicious as he spotted the nervous look on her face, and the way she avoided looking directly at him as she came closer. "…What is it?"
Botan came to stand beside Koenma's desk, and a couple of onis took one look at her expression, and left the room quickly. She sighed, and took another deep breath before finally meeting his gaze as she began to speak. "Well, Koenma, sir…" she paused, even after all of her rehearsal and attempts at preparation, she still had to force herself to say the words. "We have a bit of a situation here…" her voice trailed off as she still couldn't quite get it out.
Koenma waited a few moments, expecting her to continue, before speaking up. "And that would be…" he let the question hang, slightly impatiently waiting for her to finish. He completely ignored the onis trying to get him to sign this or stamp that document.
The rattled ferry girl decided to just blurt it out and get it over with. She looked Koenma straight in the eye and said quickly, "Kurama murdered a human girl today!"
Koenma blinked at her, and then burst into laughter. Through chuckles, with actual tears in his eyes, he said, "Ha! Good one, Botan… Next you'll try to tell me that Yuusuke made the distinguished honor roll!" he continued chuckling, not noticing Botan's serious face.
"B-but, Koenma, sir… Kurama really did kill a human girl today," she repeated, coming closer to the desk. "She told me herself."
"What?!" Koenma roared, papers flying off the desk in his surprised outburst. The onis who had still been in the room suddenly decided that it was in their best interest to vacate the toddler's office. At the end of the ensuing shuffle, only Botan and Koenma were left in the now quiet room. Finally calming down enough to speak, Koenma gathered himself and stood on the desk, looking at Botan eye-to-eye. "You're telling me that Kurama killed someone… TODAY?" although he wasn't yelling, the force of Koenma's voice was enough to make Botan take a small step backwards, away from the desk.
Botan nodded wordlessly, not sure what to say; she knew that no words she could form would squelch the stunning veracity of the situation.
Koenma sat down on his desktop with a small thump. He thought seriously for several moments, while his assistant waited in patient silence for him to digest the information. When he spoke again, it was much quieter; and Botan found herself stepping forward once again just to hear him clearly. "We have to get Yuusuke… to bring him in," he said, staring at the floor. "I was afraid this day would come; though I thought for sure it would be Hiei we'd be forced to arrest, not Kurama." He looked up at the ferry girl, who was spacing a bit. "Botan, wake up!" he practically yelled. "Go and get Yuusuke… NOW!!"
"Y-yes, Koenma, sir," she responded, quickly leaving the room and heading off to the human world to tell Yuusuke he had to arrest Kurama. Botan willed herself not to cry. Sometimes she regretted her job's difficult duties; but this moment more than took the cake.
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"Shu-Shuiichi…"
Kurama looked up, startled slightly out of his reverie. He turned to find the source of the voice that spoke his name with such a quiet anguish. There his mother stood, looking from him to the pale, lifeless girl and back again. The boy said nothing as he watched Shiori's expressions.
A chill ran up the woman's back as she saw her son's cold, calm stare, his eyes appearing to glow a little golden as the gaze seemed to pierce right through her. So it is true then… she thought, sighing slightly in resignation to her long-hidden fears. Closing her eyes briefly to collect herself, she looked up at him, and spoke in a soft, tentative voice, "Youko?"
Kurama blinked. He then took a step toward her, eyes narrowing. "How did you know?" he asked, voice as even as ever. His calculating mind ran over and over any times that Shiori could have possibly suspected her son's unique origins, but all he was sure he had carefully hidden from her. How, then, he wondered, could she have known what I am? He awaited her answer.
Shiori sat down on his chair, and, seeing the slightly confused look on her son's face, beckoned him to sit down as well. She waited to speak until he had taken a seat on the end of his bed… on which still lay Kira's body, rapidly losing its warmth. After taking a deep breath, she began in a soft voice, "I suppose I owe you some explaining," when he only nodded, she continued. "When I was just a few months pregnant, with you, Shuiichi, I felt a presence enter my womb," she said, a reflective look on her face.
Kurama's eyes widened slightly. "You could tell?" he asked her in a hushed tone. His expression clearly showed that this possibility had never occurred to him.
Shiori nodded. "Every day I was pregnant," she continued. "I felt not only the growth of my baby, but the development of an energy within me, as well." She closed her eyes briefly before saying any more, as if this memory alone was a commanding force. "The energy… was very powerful," again she paused, this time opening her eyes and locking them with those of her son. "…And also full of pain, and malice," she finished, a look of fear momentarily crossing her features before she shook her head to clear the thoughts. "With every growth of my child, I could feel the presence getting more powerful, more clear. As if it were gaining strength just as the baby it had a hold of was gaining life. So, you see, I've always known on some level. I just didn't know WHEN it would surface…" she looked down, "when the presence would emerge, and my sweet son would disappear." With that, a single tear ran down her cheek, unable to be held back against the weight of discovering her son's 'true' self.
Kurama got up from the bed and knelt beside the woman who had taken care of him for the past 16 years. With her face still aimed at the floor instead of him, he gently wiped away the tear that she had shed. He let her collect herself a bit more before speaking to her with a soft voice and gentle tone. "Your son will not disappear, Shiori. Your son is me… the child that you raised is a part of me," he said quietly, pausing a moment before continuing, "You're my 'kaasan." He looked at her, the expression on his face reassuring that he did care about her as more than just another human. And underneath that message, the implication that she need not worry; she was safe from the malevolence of his spirit that she had sensed so long. He would not kill her as well.
Shiori looked up then, holding his gaze as she digested all that he had just told her. After a moment, she smiled softly at him. She thought to herself how much of a contradiction he was; there he was before her, filled with malice enough to kill, yet still somehow capable of love and a gentle gaze. This is my son, she said to herself, trying to see the truth in her own statement. The boy she had raised, the son she loved, so much the same, and yet so different.
A sudden thought came to her. "S-Shuiichi, people will find out!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the nearly forgotten form of Kira on the bed. "She has family… people will know that… that you…"
"That I killed her," he said calmly, finishing the statement that she seemed incapable of completing. He watched her features to see her reaction to the words.
Shiori silently nodded once more, swallowing around the sudden lump that appeared in her throat. Her son had killed someone. He was a murderer. Or was it the spirit inside him alone that had done it? She looked her son in the eyes, seeming to search for the core of innocence that she hoped was there. But as she tried to find it, she realized that there was no innocence in his eyes, only the honest confession and admittance of guilt. So that was that. It was done; and her sweet little boy had killed a girl, with not even a twinge of remorse. After a few more moments of quiet contemplation, Shiori came back to her senses. "We, we have to hide her… so no one can find out," her expression hardened a bit into one of resignation as she continued, "…I'll help you. Whatever needs to be done, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
Kurama searched her eyes to make sure she meant what she had said, and once satisfied that she had, he nodded. "Alright," he said, gently helping her to her feet, as she was still a bit shaky with shock. "Let's take care of this, then." He walked towards the bed.
"I know just what to do."
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Water ran in steady rivulets off of Yuusuke Urameshi's shoulders as he made his way across town. Though the sun had been set for several hours now, it seemed to get drastically darker in the past few minutes that he had been walking. And the rain that had started out light had now turned to a cloud-bursting downpour. A fitting setting, Yuusuke grimly admired. Only rain could bring out the mood that bad been set on him that night. Even now, as he was on his way to apprehend the fox, he could barely believe that Kurama had truly done what Botan had said he had. How could this happen? Over the time they'd known each other, he and Kurama had become good friends. "I don't keep friendships with murderers…" he muttered out loud to the empty night around him. He knew no one was around to hear him but the rain, which gave him no comfort as it permeated his clothes and soaked his skin. It wasn't a cold night, but the possible confrontation ahead of him sent a chill up Yuusuke's spine.
He checked his watch. He tried to judge how long it had taken him since he'd spoken with Botan and received his order, and quickened his pace in hopes that he wouldn't miss his window of opportunity. This might have been his only chance of bringing Kurama in without a struggle. Though the Spirit Detective had to admit, he had no idea exactly what he was up against, or what type of situation he was so hurriedly walking into. Yet he sped on, pushing logic out of his mind so that he could focus on what had to be done.
He was almost there.
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With the rain now heavily beating against his form, Kurama stood back from finishing his task. He had long since let his mother return home, after convincing her that he would be alright if left by himself in the park. He held out his hands, palms directed towards the sky, allowing the water to rinse them clean of the dirt and mud that clung to his skin after burying Kira's body. He watched as the last stains were washed away, leaving him clear of visible evidence, as if he were clear of blame as well.
No matter, he thought, a bemused smile playing on his lips, what's done is done, no sense mourning it. Not that he'd minded the fact that he was guilty; he knew what he had done. No one had forced him to do it, and despite the force inside him guiding him, ultimately he knew he made his own decisions. Human life though he may have, he'd been fully aware of himself since his days inside the woman's womb.
So much incongruity lived inside of him. In some ways, he was both Shuiichi and Youko, two minds sharing one vessel of body and soul. In other ways, he was neither persona; forced to forge his own path, a unique path in the world that only he could traverse. And he had done so, with a modicum of success enough that he'd been able to horde away some small measure of peace throughout his years in the human world. He had even begun to be content with the life that he had created, satisfied with the choices he had made. That is, until he was reminded of what still remained locked up inside of him. That day he was forced to revert to the visage of Youko Kurama, he became fully aware for the first time in this life how much he truly was missing. It had all come flooding back; not that he has lost any memory of what he was, but years confined to a human body and soul had dulled his senses enough for him not to have thought about his past in the same manner. In those moments he had as his true self, he had felt an immense sense of freedom. It was almost as if he had been reborn, given a fresh start at being his old self each time. Nothing he'd ever experienced had felt like that; nothing come close to comparing. Most of all, it was a feeling that he longed to experience again, and soon.
Ignoring the downpour around him, Kurama reached into his pocket and fingered the contents held there. The smooth exterior of the glass felt soothing to his fingers after working too long in the hard soil to dig the shallow grave. Enjoying the lingering feeling of the texture of the glass, he considered allowing it to bring him his freedom once more, if only for the temporary tranquility that it brought to his mind. Peace. He removed the bottle from his pocket, gazing at it in his dreary solitude. The Fruit of the Previous Life. Such a gift he had been given, yet such a curse of brevity in its very blessing. Disregarding the quiet night around once again, he continues to stare into the fluid he held, toying with the possibilities inside his calculating mind. So wrapped up was he in his own silent contemplation, he did not even hear the sound of footfalls on the saturated leaves that strewed the ground behind him. The figure that had appeared stood in his spot for some time, in fact, before he broke the silence in the air to catch the redhead's attention.
"Kurama," Yuusuke spoke the boy's name softly, yet with an underlying tone of authority, just enough to establish control of any proceeding conversation. Thunder rolled in the distance, the storm turning even darker, as he waited for his friend to turn around and acknowledge his presence.
Without turning, however, Kurama responded in his smooth voice, tone perfectly calm, as it always was, "Hello, Yuusuke, I should have expected you'd be coming." He made no other motion to acknowledge the Spirit Detective, and just stood where he was, holding the small vial of freedom in his right hand, thumb gently caressing its sides, now slippery from the raindrops that were falling more heavily now. His left arm hung down at his side, hand and fingers relaxed; he showed no signs of surprise or aggression towards Yuusuke.
Yuusuke waited, unsure exactly what to say or do. He had been confronted with this situation many times, though never had he been forced to arrest a friend. But friendship aside, he knew that he was doing the right thing. Kurama had killed a girl. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, how much he wanted to blame it on the stupid Dark Tournament messing with the boy's head, the fact still remained that it happened. Now here he was, standing in the rain, waiting to take Kurama to Spirit World for judgment on his actions. Standing there, he noticed for the first time the mound of fresh soil that had been amassed in front of them. Despite the flowers that grew over it, Yuusuke's stomach turned, as he knew it was the grave of the girl Kurama had killed. He was familiar with death; but someone he cared about, a close friend had caused this death. He wasn't able to simply ignore it. So that's it then, he thought, with a gaining measure of resolution. He held up his hand, supported by his other around the wrist, water running off it towards the already sopping ground as he directed his index finger at his friend's back. This time, his voice was much more firm as he spoke, "Kurama, turn around." And again he waited for the redhead to turn and face him.
Hearing the tone in which Yuusuke spoke, Kurama decided to look at him, if only out of curiosity. Turning his entire body to face the Spirit Detective, he found himself looking directly at the index finger used to shoot his infamous spirit gun. Other than a slight blink of his eyes, Kurama gave his friend no satisfaction by showing a reaction to the threat. Sounding calmly amused, he flicked green eyes back and forth between Yuusuke's face and the finger now pointing at his chest, and asked, "Is that for me?"
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A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Am I evil? I'll
try to get the next chapter up soon, guys, be patient!
Thanks to James, my great borrowed evil muse! ^__^
And to Pierce, who made me end it here... mwahahaha
REVIEW!