10 Years of Waiting
by Kurohi Tatsaki
Day 23 - Guide To the Worlds
Disclaimer - I don't own YYH; am not making money off this; am not Yoshihiro Togashi. Kurohi, Yamiryuinu, Shirokoori, & all the other original characters *I* & Kohaku Frost come up with are property of Beware of Mage & Tsuki Ryu Productions. Use our characters without permission & we will be pissed.
I know, I know. I took the chapter name from the movie. Just so you all know, I'm going to be doing this. Also, sorry it took so long! My other zip drive was shot in the pasture & I couldn't touch this fic until I got my new one! Also, this chapter came slowly because I hadn't gotten the chance to transcribe the Poltergeist Report Movie further. It takes a long time!
/quotes in speech/
DemonLady1 - Here's the update! Enjoy!
Kage Kitsune - Here's next one!
Demon Child 666 - Here's more of the story!
Night Fox Hiten - Here's something without evil ketchup to sink your teeth into!
--------------------------------
Yusuke moved his dark head just in time as his partner's fist flew where his gelled head had been. He grabbed the intruding fist and decked his partner in the jaw, sending him skidding back a few feet.
The carrot-top rubbed the new injury tenderly with one hand before standing up straight. The lumbering man dashed toward his opponent with anger and a cry, bringing his arm back to start another flurry of punches.
The ex-delinquent almost effortlessly blocked the blows with his arms, grabbed the man's fists, and flung him over his head with a grunt. The man landed with a loud noise as his body hit the mat.
"C'mon, Kuwabara, I know you can do better than that," drawled the descendant of the currently deceased Raizen. "After all, if my memory serves me correctly, *I* died twice in the span of two years, not you!"
The man sat up and rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, well, as much as I hate to admit it, you're higher-up on the power ranks."
The large brown-eyed man snorted. "So?" He was getting tired of beating Kuwabara so easily all the time. He also hated his infrequent excuses as to WHY he couldn't beat Yusuke. It sometimes got boring, but what else could you expect from a "C" Class human?
Kazuma blinked and stopped his shoulder-rolling. "/So/ what?"
"That's never stopped you before. You're always rarin' to kick my ass," replied the boyish-man with a friendly smirk. "Though, you never get close."
Kuwabara pulled back a fist and lunged at his friend, who was preparing with his own punch. "That's mean, but you're right! Come on--"
Something beeped in Kuwabara's bag, distracting the big guy.
Yusuke's fist connected with Kazuma's face. "Orleeaaaahhh!" cried Kuwabara as he was flung across the air and landed on his back on the mat. He quickly regained his footing to keep from falling on the mat again. "Yaro!! That was cheap!!"
The beeping continued and he gulped, shutting off the buzzing noise in his bag. "I was supposed to meet Yukina-chan back at home! Ja ne, Urameshi!!" He got his bag and fled the room.
Yusuke blinked, shrugged, and got his pack, slinging it over one shoulder. He left the training room he built himself, locking the door behind him. He walked down stairs that were similar to the ones near Genkai's temple.
He heard a rustling of leaves above him and looked up. He smiled and greeted, "Hey, Baldak. How's it hangin'?"
The gray demon landed beside him. His long white hair was disheveled and soaked with rain. "Something doesn't look good with Kurohi and Kurohi's friend."
The man blinked. He knew Kurohi - that much was perfectly clear - but this person called: "Kurohi's friend"? "Kurohi's friend? Dare desu ka?"
Baldak took off somewhere, leathery wings urgently hitting the air. Yusuke followed the demon to some odd area in the forest. When Baldak landed, Yusuke got a good look at what Baldak meant.
Blue, brown, and white spikes of hair met his gaze before he saw the figure. The blue hair draped against the boy's shoulders and the other- colored spikes drooped, completely saturated with water. The boy was panting with fatigue and one blue eye cracked open at him. "Yu-Yusuke..." He turned his head to look at something else. "O-...o-tasuke kanojo..."
Urameshi approached him and looked to where the boy indicated.
The woman had lighter blue hair out of its usual ponytail. Her pink kimono was tattered and charred. She was unconscious.
"B-Botan!" He said, kneeling before the woman. He turned his head to the boy. "Oi, Kurohi, doushita no e Botan?!"
"Inazuma. Reikai ga... Reikai ga..."
Yusuke walked over and picked up the oar rider of the Reikai into both arms. He knelt down in front of the tired boy and asked, "The Reikai is what?"
Kurohi's eyes narrowed and glazed. He wanted to sleep for a long time. "U- Umi..." His eyes closed as he fell into slumber.
"W-We..." mumbled Botan. Had she been awake at some time? "...must go to Kasane Shrine and find.. Hinageshi."
Yusuke blinked down at her. "Nan da te?!
"P-Please, Yusuke." Unconsciousness gripped her again, and she was out like a light.
"Botan!" The man turned back the way he came and jogged down the stairs. He knew Kurohi would be fine on his own. He was a tough Tsuki Ryu, after all. After some time, someone in a skirt came his way. The man slowed to a halt, and he realized who that woman was. "Keiko!"
"Botan-san, doushita no?!" she cried, peering sadly at her friend's unconscious form.
Yusuke's face frowned. "I don't know what's going on. Something about 'ocean'..."
"Botan-san..."
The man's eyes opened slightly from their frown. The rest of his face remained equally grave. "Keiko, would you hurry and take Botan to Genkai- baasan's temple?"
His wife nodded and accepted the burden.
Yusuke turned back where he had come. Limping down the stairs, came a drowsy Kurohi. The boy rubbed one eye and yawned.
The brown-eyed one gave him a curious stare. [I thought he was unconscious!]
"Koenma-koi woke me up. Said I'd better get off my lazy ass and follow you." He yawned widely. "I'm sooo tired from flying here. Becoming a dragon saps a lot out of you..." He widely yawned again, showing pointy fangs. He still had bits and chunks of blue hair flowing most elegantly from his scalp, and half a headgear accented some, the ends protruding past his skull. Part of his tail was "missing", but it didn't look at all like an injury. His tail simply looked... shorter.
Yusuke nodded. "We have to get Kuwabara," he stated, waiting for the other boy to walk alongside him.
The youkai yawned. "So call him on the cell," he retorted lazily, walking alongside the delinquent.
The man snorted. "I left that at home. It had to recharge since I left it off the hook for a week nonstop - the battery died."
Kurohi's form shifted and his blue hair disappeared, making Yusuke slightly confused as to what kind of transformation that had been. A moment later, wings appeared for his arms and his body shifted into that of a gray dragon. "Let's go. Hop on..." He paused to pant. "I can't hold this form for too long or else I could fall into a reallllllllllly long sleep. /Reallllllllllly long sleep/ equals a sleep that'll last months - longer than we can afford. "
Yusuke complied, climbing upon the dragon's back. The gray wings fluttered and beat against the air with force, allowing them to ascend into the bright blue sky.
****
Kuwabara dashed alongside his best friend. He had finally been convinced of the situation when Kurohi had passed out in his living room. Yukina then had used her powers to awaken the lad with a full charge of energy, but he somehow passed out again in her arms, mumbling nonstop about how he was "gonna fuck Koenma-koi senseless when he got back".
Without telling anyone, Yukina had taken the sleep-talking Kurohi to Genkai's Temple, having to bear just HOW many times and HOW many ways he would fuck Koenma along the way. Her husband was unaware that she had decided to go to Genkai's Temple.
"Oi, Urameshi! So, what is soooo important at Kasane Shrine so that it would interrupt my time with Yukina-chan?!!" he demanded as he ran beside him.
"I don't know," clipped Yusuke. It seemed there was no time! No time for explanations. No time for anything. Just run and complete the objective. Hopefully, they weren't too late.
"You don't know?!" Kuwabara grabbed his friend by the front of his green shirt. "You didn't find out any details?" He was steaming, yet in the back of his mind, this was how Yusuke ALWAYS was - act now, think later. Even after ten years, he hadn't changed.
Yusuke swatted the oaf's hand away and crossed his arms against his chest. "Teh! There was no time for that!" He would have understood more if some TIME remained to spare!
The carrot top put his hands near his hips before making a gesture in the air. "You're not any use at all. I would have found out everything from start to--"
A girl's scream cut his sentence short. Yusuke, with a shout of, "Over there!" suddenly shoved Kuwabara against the nearby wall, where the scream originated. He jumped up his back, then to his head, and vaulted over the high wall, resulting with many stuttering complaints from Kuwabara.
After a second more of gibberish, Kuwabara's fist clenched and he settled for, "Koera!!" (You bastard!)
~~~~~~
A red-haired woman fled down the stairs from some demons appearing just near her. "What do you want?"
The demons begin pursuit at the shrine.
The woman yelped, "Get away from me!"
One demon in pursuit destroys a statue to his right with a kick, but he was aiming for the green-eyed gal. It stood behind her and to her right. The demon transformed to a grayish demon form and lunged at her. The redhead continued to run but screeched to a halt as an eagle-like demon blocked her path. It immediately attacked with a double-edged sword clutched in its right hand. The gal dodged to her right and kept running. The demons pursuit and more demons gave chase. A rock-like demon threw a pointed, stone-like part of its body at the short woman and it landed just in front of her, breaking the stone ground, but she saw it just as it landed and placed her hands onto the top of it and vaulted over in one movement. She ran down the stairs and not too long after, a demon made a grab for her, but misses.
A dark-haired man leapt up the stairs in one vault with a cry and kicked one demon in the face. While still airborne, he kicked the other in the face as well. When he landed, he had turned to the side.
In fright, the woman ran behind a well-like adornment on her temple grounds. Who was this man? Certainly, he was cute, but she had noticed a flicker of gold on his finger - a ring. [He's married...]
Yusuke jumped backward as a demon lunged for him. Frowning, he leaped up into the air and delivered a punch to a demon, drawing a good deal of blood, then he turned around and kicked it in the chest and the jaw with one kick, causing even more of the violet-tinged life-fluid to spill. It spattered just along his kick and his body dodged the fluid as if it were poison. Yusuke then brought back his left fist, glowing with blue spirit energy, and cried, throwing his fist forward, "Shotto Gan!" The raining Reiki blasted the demons in his path to both oblivion and pieces.
The woman peeked out from her hiding place. A mummified demon with one red eye suddenly landed before her and straightened up. He grabbed her neck and lifted her up into the air. Weakly, and with a soft cry, she tried to pry his hand away from her neck. A demon went flying nearby and the mummified demon turned around, Hinageshi's neck still in his grasp.
Kuwabara leapt toward the mummified demon, left fist drawn back for a punch. He hit the mummified demon into multiple parts, thus freeing a now screaming red-haired lady. She landed on the ground on her back. Kuwabara knelt before her and grabbed her shoulders for her own comfort. "Don't worry," he uttered, trying to calm her.
The woman's green eyes widened and she screamed and fled as two demons appeared behind the carrot-top. Kuwabara turned around with a, "Sh'ni!" and rolled away from the swords and their joined blows. He rose to his feet and pulled his right arm aside, palm out. "Rei Keeeeeeeeen!" He pulls back his arm, Spirit Sword in tow, and sliced through one of the one-eyed demons. He then cut through the demons, two at a time until there was only one to a row and column.
Yusuke brought back his arm and punched another demon in the face, dealing great damage to the strange-feeling skin and bone. The demon's face split, sending blood everywhere.
Kuwabara cut through one demon in half vertically and another horizontally in a second blow.
Yusuke blocked one of the demon's blows with his left arm and delivered a punch to the demon's chest with his right.
The Rei Ken cut both a demon and a statue diagonally in two with one stroke. His left hand came up behind his head and he uttered, "Ataa. Didn't mean to do that..." He then looked down and noticed the forehead of the demon that he just killed. It had a glowing red cross on it and it suddenly disappeared as if it was never there. Kuwabara put away his Rei Ken while transfixed with that mark that he saw. What was that mark? What did it mean?
Yusuke approached the woman with Kuwabara in tow. "Daijoubu ka?"
The woman stuttered instantly, "H-Hai!" She came out from behind the well- like statue on her Temple grounds. "You two are investigators from the Reikai, aren't you?" she asked.
With a slight start, the black-haired male with big brown eyes asked in return, "And you are...?"
"My name is Hinageshi. I am a guide of the Reikai," she replied.
**********
A huge forest surrounds a temple. A waterfall flows to the temple's right, at times looking rather inviting. The sun shone low in the sky.
Indeed, this is Genkai's Temple.
"Botan!" cried the ferry-woman as she saw her friend. Botan looked like she has a fever. She breathed raggedly and she wore a wet washcloth on her forehead. She slept uneasily in a futon.
"What is this? What could have...?!" started the red-haired oar rider.
Keiko then entered the room with a basin of cool water. She slid open the door as she entered, and solemnly closed it when she was fully inside. The cloth was re-wetted, placed back on Botan's forehead, and Keiko gently moved Botan's blue bangs out of her face. Botan turned her head and Keiko's kind effort was almost for naught.
Yusuke looked up from Botan's face and fixed his gaze at Genkai. "How is Botan's condition?"
Genkai, sitting cross-legged, replied somberly, "It's in the balance. Something serious must have happened to the Reikai. We won't really know what happened until little Kurohi wakes up from his slumber or if someone presents some useful information." She lowered her head a little, eyes shut. Yusuke straightened up and looked to his right as someone began to slide open the door.
The quiet intruder had long, spiked red hair darkened by the shadows. Its green jacket protected it from the cool, and its blue turtleneck sweater helped further. Its white slacks were an amazing contrast, telling anyone who cared to look that the wearer did not necessarily wish to go completely undetected at this current time.
"Kurama!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
Kurama slid the door closed. "The Reikai... was gone," was all he said, looking completely baffled.
Kuwabara barely managed to stutter a, "Nani?!" Everyone's mouths went agape - save Genkai's - and their eyes became wide.
**********
A huge statue adorned the back of the room everyone sat in. Everyone is seated on the ground and Kurama continues, "Actually, that is not accurate. I should say it was covered by water."
"That helps explain what Kurohi told me."
Kurama turned his green gaze to his friend. "What did he tell you?"
"He said the word... /Ocean/..." answered Yusuke. "He said, /Lightening. The Reikai is... The Reikai is... Ocean.../."
"Demo, dou shite?" asked the red-haired, dark-eyed oaf. "Why would the Reikai be covered by water, like an ocean?"
Yusuke sat up and folded his arms across his chest as Kurama replied, "Some immeasurably strong power must have gained control."
Kuwabara murmured, "No way..."
"What could have the power to do that?" asked Genkai, folding her arms across her bosom.
"When I was there," began the red-haired beauty. "some phantoms wearing the pattern of a cross on the foreheads" - Genkai chose this time to look at him. - "were looking for something."
Hinageshi gasped and said, "It must have been the Meikai!"
Genkai frowned. Yusuke looked at Hinageshi. "Meikai...?"
Hinageshi: "Un." She nods. "Those phantoms were demons controlled by the Meikai," she stated, bringing a fist that looks like half a cross in front of her right eye. "Their symbol is that cross." She lowered her hand and seemed to be looking just barely past the oaf who sat next to her.
Kuwabara, looking at her, leaned closer to her. "Hold it. What is this /Meikai/? As far as I know, there are just the Ningenkai," He began to tick them off on his fingers. "the Reikai, and the Makai." He, eyes crossed, looked up in confusion. Where did this fourth world come from? What was it like? Why wasn't he ever told about it?
Hinageshi brought out a book from her haori and began to rapidly flip the pages. "Eh, here it is. To begin with, above the Ningenkai lies the Reikai. The two of them are in balance," she explained.
On what looks like a scroll in the book, a blue-skinned, green-haired demon stands near some red flames. It has red eyes and looks like it just executed an attack or a command. It looks no different than any youkai.
"Well, humans who have died do go to the Reikai," inputted the oaf.
"And the Meikai was originally above and in balance with the Makai," finished the woman. "So, you could call that the Meikai is the Makai's Reikai just as the Reikai is the Ningenkai's Meikai."
Kuwabara blinked in confusion and looked further at the pages. The demon had many minions all bent on attacking someone.
"Then, several thousand years ago, the Meikai began war with the Reikai in order to gain possession of the Ningenkai."
Kuwabara stared further. The creature was fighting Enma-daiou. Enma blocks the flaming attack with his left hand while preparing to strike with his right. Many against one.
"Exactly how we were able to defeat him is unknown but Enma-daiou did finally destroy the Meikai and banish their King Yakumo and his men to the darkness of space." She closed her book as she finished speaking.
Yusuke braced his upper body up by placing his right hand on his knee. He didn't seem weak, but maybe he was a little drowsy. Who knew with the guy? He usually hid his weaknesses, but on the other hand, his emotions could be read like an open book. "So, how did the Meikai come back into existence?" He looked to Genkai.
"If the Meikai is responsible for this disturbance," Genkai picked up her teacup and saucer. "it could become a very dangerous situation." She sipped her tea a little noisily for a moment and finished, "We cannot repel them alone."
A soft breeze came into the room and blew against Yusuke, Kurama's, Kuwabara's and Hinageshi's hair. Their minds were lost in thought and they did not pay mind to this act of nature.
**********
The sky had grown dark and the moon decided to take the sun's place in lighting the world. Someone stood upon a treetop. The wind blew, moving the boy's long and hair and the branches around him. The wind fluttered his cloak and the boy stares at the temple. He looks almost thoughtful, as, most likely, he heard the whole conversation. He IS a strong youkai, after all.
[Meikai ga...] He blinks as he thinks this. [In any case, it has nothing to do with me.] He frowned, turned, and leapt. His body, during the leap, is given a golden light as he passed in front of the bluish-white moon. He landed silently on a tree branch and leapt again in one motion. He landed on this new branch, his cloak ruffling at the contact. He smoothly straightened up and turned his head. He gasped softly, and at the temple...
"Eaaaa? Yukina-chan is here?" asked said woman's husband eagerly. The main doors swung open abruptly. Keiko seemed a little surprised at the suddenness, but not at all by his behavior. With a twirl, Kuwabara ran to his right. "Yukina-chaaaaaaaaaan!"
In a small case of jitters, Keiko stuttered, "Uh, she's with Botan-san."
Practically skipping with joy and with a weird, happy sound, he ran the other way. It sounds like, "Atadadaaaaa!" Happily, he slide open the doors to the proper room. "Hello, Yukina-chan! How've you been?" He points at her, but he means no harm, of course.
The Koorime sadly looks up at him. She had been trying to heal Botan, but it seemed she had not been successful. Kuwabara's eyes looked concerned for his wife.
"Yukina-chan..."
Eyes watering, Yukina replies, "Kazuma-chan..." She looked away. "Gomen ne... I'm really glad to see you, but..."
"I-Iya..."
"Botan-san, demo doshita?" His wife's face is lowered. It seemed she wanted to cry.
Kuwabara looked down at her, standing up pretty tall, nonetheless.
"An unhappy face like that doesn't suit you, Yukina-chan." Yukina looks up at him with a little confusion in her big red eyes.
"Bravely", Kuwabara continues, "I, Kuwabara Kazuma shall resolve everything!" He bowed toward her. "Soon we will be smiling happily again." He chuckled, then Yukina did the same. Kuwabara grasped her small hands into his own--
"Yukina-chan!"
--His face turned beat red and steamed.
"Da-Daijoubu desu ka? Your temperature's going up and up."
Kuwabara's voice has changed in a weird way. "That is the power of love."
Yukina gasps, as she sometimes still had to get used to this. Ningen were kinda weird. Kuwabara begins chuckling.
[He is so hard to understand.] Her eyes water.
Keiko approached and stood near the doorway. "You're in the way, Kuwabara."
Kuwabara put a hand against the back of his head, laughing nervously.
Hiei landed near the bank of a pond not too far from the three. He looked a little hurt. Hurt that, yet again, he hadn't been there for his sister. "Yukina..."
As Kurama begins to speak, Hiei's eyes travel quickly to where the fox is. He looks ticked off. "Why don't you go to Yukina? Or maybe check up on your student?"
Hiei's body relaxes slightly. It's only his lover, after all. "I don't need your advice right now."
The shadows remove themselves from Kurama's form. His white slacks stand out among a green jacket over a blue turtleneck. He slowly straightens up from leaning against a wooden pole attached to the temple. "Hiei..." He slowly approached his dark lover and embraced him from behind, his arms wrapping around his itoshii's slim waist. He uttered, "This is no ordinary event. Even your student was affected. Even more so, unless this is cleared up, he will be without a lover as well." Kurama's green eyes slid shut. "And if it ever were you, I would be devastated"
Hiei replied instantly with a, "Hmph." He slowly turns his head to the fox. "That's never really happened to me before. Shiru ka." He paused and touched Kurama's hands. "I'm going to check up on Kurohi."
"Let's go together, then. Whatever's important to you is important to me." He released his dark and light-haired lover. Hiei entered through the open door, Kurama in tow, and knelt next to his sleeping student.
"Yukina," began Hiei. His younger sister turned her head to him.
"Onisan, nan desu ka?" she replied, turning her attention to her older brother as Keiko took her shift over Botan.
"How long has he been asleep."
"Ever since earlier today," she uttered, tucking a wayward strand of turquoise hair behind her ear. "He exerted a great deal of effort just to get Botan-san over into the Ningenkai. He passed out twice - both times at my house. The first time because his energy was gone, the second time after I gave him a Reiki boost, but it didn't work. How strange..."
"...Otousan..." mumbled the boy, frowning in his sleep.
Hiei blinked at his student. "As far as I know, he doesn't have a living father. He even told me that he never met his dad."
"We know how *that* sounds familiar, ne, Hiei?" asked the red-eyed woman.
Kurohi turned on his side in his futon, knees drawn halfway up his body. He grit his teeth. His hair shifted to dark blue and his skin grew deathly pale, acquiring a pale blue tinge. His tail stopped twitching, and armor appeared on his body. With a soft gasp, his blue-violet eyes opened up. He slid out of the futon and stared at his body and his armor. "I'm... this again... This form..."
He lacked a tail. Sleek, dragon-scale-like armor perched on his chest and head. He wore a Chinese-like wardrobe underneath the silver armor. He blinked. "But... why now? I could almost swear that I had lost access to this form... Is it because of what Koenma said - my father... LIVES?!" He paused. "It must be. Majari IS alive. He said so. He wouldn't lie to me." He stood up and strode out of the temple.
End Day 23
--------------------------------
otasuke = help
kanojo = her
doushita no = what happened?
e = to
inazuma = lightning
Reikai ga = The Spirit World is
Nan da te?! = What?!
Ataa = Oops.
Demo doushita = But why is Botan...?
Shiru ka. = How would I know?
Started: 8/16/03 9:21AM
Finished: 12/17/03 5:36PM
DAMN, it took me so long! _ Sorry 'bout that, y'all!
by Kurohi Tatsaki
Day 23 - Guide To the Worlds
Disclaimer - I don't own YYH; am not making money off this; am not Yoshihiro Togashi. Kurohi, Yamiryuinu, Shirokoori, & all the other original characters *I* & Kohaku Frost come up with are property of Beware of Mage & Tsuki Ryu Productions. Use our characters without permission & we will be pissed.
I know, I know. I took the chapter name from the movie. Just so you all know, I'm going to be doing this. Also, sorry it took so long! My other zip drive was shot in the pasture & I couldn't touch this fic until I got my new one! Also, this chapter came slowly because I hadn't gotten the chance to transcribe the Poltergeist Report Movie further. It takes a long time!
/quotes in speech/
DemonLady1 - Here's the update! Enjoy!
Kage Kitsune - Here's next one!
Demon Child 666 - Here's more of the story!
Night Fox Hiten - Here's something without evil ketchup to sink your teeth into!
--------------------------------
Yusuke moved his dark head just in time as his partner's fist flew where his gelled head had been. He grabbed the intruding fist and decked his partner in the jaw, sending him skidding back a few feet.
The carrot-top rubbed the new injury tenderly with one hand before standing up straight. The lumbering man dashed toward his opponent with anger and a cry, bringing his arm back to start another flurry of punches.
The ex-delinquent almost effortlessly blocked the blows with his arms, grabbed the man's fists, and flung him over his head with a grunt. The man landed with a loud noise as his body hit the mat.
"C'mon, Kuwabara, I know you can do better than that," drawled the descendant of the currently deceased Raizen. "After all, if my memory serves me correctly, *I* died twice in the span of two years, not you!"
The man sat up and rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, well, as much as I hate to admit it, you're higher-up on the power ranks."
The large brown-eyed man snorted. "So?" He was getting tired of beating Kuwabara so easily all the time. He also hated his infrequent excuses as to WHY he couldn't beat Yusuke. It sometimes got boring, but what else could you expect from a "C" Class human?
Kazuma blinked and stopped his shoulder-rolling. "/So/ what?"
"That's never stopped you before. You're always rarin' to kick my ass," replied the boyish-man with a friendly smirk. "Though, you never get close."
Kuwabara pulled back a fist and lunged at his friend, who was preparing with his own punch. "That's mean, but you're right! Come on--"
Something beeped in Kuwabara's bag, distracting the big guy.
Yusuke's fist connected with Kazuma's face. "Orleeaaaahhh!" cried Kuwabara as he was flung across the air and landed on his back on the mat. He quickly regained his footing to keep from falling on the mat again. "Yaro!! That was cheap!!"
The beeping continued and he gulped, shutting off the buzzing noise in his bag. "I was supposed to meet Yukina-chan back at home! Ja ne, Urameshi!!" He got his bag and fled the room.
Yusuke blinked, shrugged, and got his pack, slinging it over one shoulder. He left the training room he built himself, locking the door behind him. He walked down stairs that were similar to the ones near Genkai's temple.
He heard a rustling of leaves above him and looked up. He smiled and greeted, "Hey, Baldak. How's it hangin'?"
The gray demon landed beside him. His long white hair was disheveled and soaked with rain. "Something doesn't look good with Kurohi and Kurohi's friend."
The man blinked. He knew Kurohi - that much was perfectly clear - but this person called: "Kurohi's friend"? "Kurohi's friend? Dare desu ka?"
Baldak took off somewhere, leathery wings urgently hitting the air. Yusuke followed the demon to some odd area in the forest. When Baldak landed, Yusuke got a good look at what Baldak meant.
Blue, brown, and white spikes of hair met his gaze before he saw the figure. The blue hair draped against the boy's shoulders and the other- colored spikes drooped, completely saturated with water. The boy was panting with fatigue and one blue eye cracked open at him. "Yu-Yusuke..." He turned his head to look at something else. "O-...o-tasuke kanojo..."
Urameshi approached him and looked to where the boy indicated.
The woman had lighter blue hair out of its usual ponytail. Her pink kimono was tattered and charred. She was unconscious.
"B-Botan!" He said, kneeling before the woman. He turned his head to the boy. "Oi, Kurohi, doushita no e Botan?!"
"Inazuma. Reikai ga... Reikai ga..."
Yusuke walked over and picked up the oar rider of the Reikai into both arms. He knelt down in front of the tired boy and asked, "The Reikai is what?"
Kurohi's eyes narrowed and glazed. He wanted to sleep for a long time. "U- Umi..." His eyes closed as he fell into slumber.
"W-We..." mumbled Botan. Had she been awake at some time? "...must go to Kasane Shrine and find.. Hinageshi."
Yusuke blinked down at her. "Nan da te?!
"P-Please, Yusuke." Unconsciousness gripped her again, and she was out like a light.
"Botan!" The man turned back the way he came and jogged down the stairs. He knew Kurohi would be fine on his own. He was a tough Tsuki Ryu, after all. After some time, someone in a skirt came his way. The man slowed to a halt, and he realized who that woman was. "Keiko!"
"Botan-san, doushita no?!" she cried, peering sadly at her friend's unconscious form.
Yusuke's face frowned. "I don't know what's going on. Something about 'ocean'..."
"Botan-san..."
The man's eyes opened slightly from their frown. The rest of his face remained equally grave. "Keiko, would you hurry and take Botan to Genkai- baasan's temple?"
His wife nodded and accepted the burden.
Yusuke turned back where he had come. Limping down the stairs, came a drowsy Kurohi. The boy rubbed one eye and yawned.
The brown-eyed one gave him a curious stare. [I thought he was unconscious!]
"Koenma-koi woke me up. Said I'd better get off my lazy ass and follow you." He yawned widely. "I'm sooo tired from flying here. Becoming a dragon saps a lot out of you..." He widely yawned again, showing pointy fangs. He still had bits and chunks of blue hair flowing most elegantly from his scalp, and half a headgear accented some, the ends protruding past his skull. Part of his tail was "missing", but it didn't look at all like an injury. His tail simply looked... shorter.
Yusuke nodded. "We have to get Kuwabara," he stated, waiting for the other boy to walk alongside him.
The youkai yawned. "So call him on the cell," he retorted lazily, walking alongside the delinquent.
The man snorted. "I left that at home. It had to recharge since I left it off the hook for a week nonstop - the battery died."
Kurohi's form shifted and his blue hair disappeared, making Yusuke slightly confused as to what kind of transformation that had been. A moment later, wings appeared for his arms and his body shifted into that of a gray dragon. "Let's go. Hop on..." He paused to pant. "I can't hold this form for too long or else I could fall into a reallllllllllly long sleep. /Reallllllllllly long sleep/ equals a sleep that'll last months - longer than we can afford. "
Yusuke complied, climbing upon the dragon's back. The gray wings fluttered and beat against the air with force, allowing them to ascend into the bright blue sky.
****
Kuwabara dashed alongside his best friend. He had finally been convinced of the situation when Kurohi had passed out in his living room. Yukina then had used her powers to awaken the lad with a full charge of energy, but he somehow passed out again in her arms, mumbling nonstop about how he was "gonna fuck Koenma-koi senseless when he got back".
Without telling anyone, Yukina had taken the sleep-talking Kurohi to Genkai's Temple, having to bear just HOW many times and HOW many ways he would fuck Koenma along the way. Her husband was unaware that she had decided to go to Genkai's Temple.
"Oi, Urameshi! So, what is soooo important at Kasane Shrine so that it would interrupt my time with Yukina-chan?!!" he demanded as he ran beside him.
"I don't know," clipped Yusuke. It seemed there was no time! No time for explanations. No time for anything. Just run and complete the objective. Hopefully, they weren't too late.
"You don't know?!" Kuwabara grabbed his friend by the front of his green shirt. "You didn't find out any details?" He was steaming, yet in the back of his mind, this was how Yusuke ALWAYS was - act now, think later. Even after ten years, he hadn't changed.
Yusuke swatted the oaf's hand away and crossed his arms against his chest. "Teh! There was no time for that!" He would have understood more if some TIME remained to spare!
The carrot top put his hands near his hips before making a gesture in the air. "You're not any use at all. I would have found out everything from start to--"
A girl's scream cut his sentence short. Yusuke, with a shout of, "Over there!" suddenly shoved Kuwabara against the nearby wall, where the scream originated. He jumped up his back, then to his head, and vaulted over the high wall, resulting with many stuttering complaints from Kuwabara.
After a second more of gibberish, Kuwabara's fist clenched and he settled for, "Koera!!" (You bastard!)
~~~~~~
A red-haired woman fled down the stairs from some demons appearing just near her. "What do you want?"
The demons begin pursuit at the shrine.
The woman yelped, "Get away from me!"
One demon in pursuit destroys a statue to his right with a kick, but he was aiming for the green-eyed gal. It stood behind her and to her right. The demon transformed to a grayish demon form and lunged at her. The redhead continued to run but screeched to a halt as an eagle-like demon blocked her path. It immediately attacked with a double-edged sword clutched in its right hand. The gal dodged to her right and kept running. The demons pursuit and more demons gave chase. A rock-like demon threw a pointed, stone-like part of its body at the short woman and it landed just in front of her, breaking the stone ground, but she saw it just as it landed and placed her hands onto the top of it and vaulted over in one movement. She ran down the stairs and not too long after, a demon made a grab for her, but misses.
A dark-haired man leapt up the stairs in one vault with a cry and kicked one demon in the face. While still airborne, he kicked the other in the face as well. When he landed, he had turned to the side.
In fright, the woman ran behind a well-like adornment on her temple grounds. Who was this man? Certainly, he was cute, but she had noticed a flicker of gold on his finger - a ring. [He's married...]
Yusuke jumped backward as a demon lunged for him. Frowning, he leaped up into the air and delivered a punch to a demon, drawing a good deal of blood, then he turned around and kicked it in the chest and the jaw with one kick, causing even more of the violet-tinged life-fluid to spill. It spattered just along his kick and his body dodged the fluid as if it were poison. Yusuke then brought back his left fist, glowing with blue spirit energy, and cried, throwing his fist forward, "Shotto Gan!" The raining Reiki blasted the demons in his path to both oblivion and pieces.
The woman peeked out from her hiding place. A mummified demon with one red eye suddenly landed before her and straightened up. He grabbed her neck and lifted her up into the air. Weakly, and with a soft cry, she tried to pry his hand away from her neck. A demon went flying nearby and the mummified demon turned around, Hinageshi's neck still in his grasp.
Kuwabara leapt toward the mummified demon, left fist drawn back for a punch. He hit the mummified demon into multiple parts, thus freeing a now screaming red-haired lady. She landed on the ground on her back. Kuwabara knelt before her and grabbed her shoulders for her own comfort. "Don't worry," he uttered, trying to calm her.
The woman's green eyes widened and she screamed and fled as two demons appeared behind the carrot-top. Kuwabara turned around with a, "Sh'ni!" and rolled away from the swords and their joined blows. He rose to his feet and pulled his right arm aside, palm out. "Rei Keeeeeeeeen!" He pulls back his arm, Spirit Sword in tow, and sliced through one of the one-eyed demons. He then cut through the demons, two at a time until there was only one to a row and column.
Yusuke brought back his arm and punched another demon in the face, dealing great damage to the strange-feeling skin and bone. The demon's face split, sending blood everywhere.
Kuwabara cut through one demon in half vertically and another horizontally in a second blow.
Yusuke blocked one of the demon's blows with his left arm and delivered a punch to the demon's chest with his right.
The Rei Ken cut both a demon and a statue diagonally in two with one stroke. His left hand came up behind his head and he uttered, "Ataa. Didn't mean to do that..." He then looked down and noticed the forehead of the demon that he just killed. It had a glowing red cross on it and it suddenly disappeared as if it was never there. Kuwabara put away his Rei Ken while transfixed with that mark that he saw. What was that mark? What did it mean?
Yusuke approached the woman with Kuwabara in tow. "Daijoubu ka?"
The woman stuttered instantly, "H-Hai!" She came out from behind the well- like statue on her Temple grounds. "You two are investigators from the Reikai, aren't you?" she asked.
With a slight start, the black-haired male with big brown eyes asked in return, "And you are...?"
"My name is Hinageshi. I am a guide of the Reikai," she replied.
**********
A huge forest surrounds a temple. A waterfall flows to the temple's right, at times looking rather inviting. The sun shone low in the sky.
Indeed, this is Genkai's Temple.
"Botan!" cried the ferry-woman as she saw her friend. Botan looked like she has a fever. She breathed raggedly and she wore a wet washcloth on her forehead. She slept uneasily in a futon.
"What is this? What could have...?!" started the red-haired oar rider.
Keiko then entered the room with a basin of cool water. She slid open the door as she entered, and solemnly closed it when she was fully inside. The cloth was re-wetted, placed back on Botan's forehead, and Keiko gently moved Botan's blue bangs out of her face. Botan turned her head and Keiko's kind effort was almost for naught.
Yusuke looked up from Botan's face and fixed his gaze at Genkai. "How is Botan's condition?"
Genkai, sitting cross-legged, replied somberly, "It's in the balance. Something serious must have happened to the Reikai. We won't really know what happened until little Kurohi wakes up from his slumber or if someone presents some useful information." She lowered her head a little, eyes shut. Yusuke straightened up and looked to his right as someone began to slide open the door.
The quiet intruder had long, spiked red hair darkened by the shadows. Its green jacket protected it from the cool, and its blue turtleneck sweater helped further. Its white slacks were an amazing contrast, telling anyone who cared to look that the wearer did not necessarily wish to go completely undetected at this current time.
"Kurama!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
Kurama slid the door closed. "The Reikai... was gone," was all he said, looking completely baffled.
Kuwabara barely managed to stutter a, "Nani?!" Everyone's mouths went agape - save Genkai's - and their eyes became wide.
**********
A huge statue adorned the back of the room everyone sat in. Everyone is seated on the ground and Kurama continues, "Actually, that is not accurate. I should say it was covered by water."
"That helps explain what Kurohi told me."
Kurama turned his green gaze to his friend. "What did he tell you?"
"He said the word... /Ocean/..." answered Yusuke. "He said, /Lightening. The Reikai is... The Reikai is... Ocean.../."
"Demo, dou shite?" asked the red-haired, dark-eyed oaf. "Why would the Reikai be covered by water, like an ocean?"
Yusuke sat up and folded his arms across his chest as Kurama replied, "Some immeasurably strong power must have gained control."
Kuwabara murmured, "No way..."
"What could have the power to do that?" asked Genkai, folding her arms across her bosom.
"When I was there," began the red-haired beauty. "some phantoms wearing the pattern of a cross on the foreheads" - Genkai chose this time to look at him. - "were looking for something."
Hinageshi gasped and said, "It must have been the Meikai!"
Genkai frowned. Yusuke looked at Hinageshi. "Meikai...?"
Hinageshi: "Un." She nods. "Those phantoms were demons controlled by the Meikai," she stated, bringing a fist that looks like half a cross in front of her right eye. "Their symbol is that cross." She lowered her hand and seemed to be looking just barely past the oaf who sat next to her.
Kuwabara, looking at her, leaned closer to her. "Hold it. What is this /Meikai/? As far as I know, there are just the Ningenkai," He began to tick them off on his fingers. "the Reikai, and the Makai." He, eyes crossed, looked up in confusion. Where did this fourth world come from? What was it like? Why wasn't he ever told about it?
Hinageshi brought out a book from her haori and began to rapidly flip the pages. "Eh, here it is. To begin with, above the Ningenkai lies the Reikai. The two of them are in balance," she explained.
On what looks like a scroll in the book, a blue-skinned, green-haired demon stands near some red flames. It has red eyes and looks like it just executed an attack or a command. It looks no different than any youkai.
"Well, humans who have died do go to the Reikai," inputted the oaf.
"And the Meikai was originally above and in balance with the Makai," finished the woman. "So, you could call that the Meikai is the Makai's Reikai just as the Reikai is the Ningenkai's Meikai."
Kuwabara blinked in confusion and looked further at the pages. The demon had many minions all bent on attacking someone.
"Then, several thousand years ago, the Meikai began war with the Reikai in order to gain possession of the Ningenkai."
Kuwabara stared further. The creature was fighting Enma-daiou. Enma blocks the flaming attack with his left hand while preparing to strike with his right. Many against one.
"Exactly how we were able to defeat him is unknown but Enma-daiou did finally destroy the Meikai and banish their King Yakumo and his men to the darkness of space." She closed her book as she finished speaking.
Yusuke braced his upper body up by placing his right hand on his knee. He didn't seem weak, but maybe he was a little drowsy. Who knew with the guy? He usually hid his weaknesses, but on the other hand, his emotions could be read like an open book. "So, how did the Meikai come back into existence?" He looked to Genkai.
"If the Meikai is responsible for this disturbance," Genkai picked up her teacup and saucer. "it could become a very dangerous situation." She sipped her tea a little noisily for a moment and finished, "We cannot repel them alone."
A soft breeze came into the room and blew against Yusuke, Kurama's, Kuwabara's and Hinageshi's hair. Their minds were lost in thought and they did not pay mind to this act of nature.
**********
The sky had grown dark and the moon decided to take the sun's place in lighting the world. Someone stood upon a treetop. The wind blew, moving the boy's long and hair and the branches around him. The wind fluttered his cloak and the boy stares at the temple. He looks almost thoughtful, as, most likely, he heard the whole conversation. He IS a strong youkai, after all.
[Meikai ga...] He blinks as he thinks this. [In any case, it has nothing to do with me.] He frowned, turned, and leapt. His body, during the leap, is given a golden light as he passed in front of the bluish-white moon. He landed silently on a tree branch and leapt again in one motion. He landed on this new branch, his cloak ruffling at the contact. He smoothly straightened up and turned his head. He gasped softly, and at the temple...
"Eaaaa? Yukina-chan is here?" asked said woman's husband eagerly. The main doors swung open abruptly. Keiko seemed a little surprised at the suddenness, but not at all by his behavior. With a twirl, Kuwabara ran to his right. "Yukina-chaaaaaaaaaan!"
In a small case of jitters, Keiko stuttered, "Uh, she's with Botan-san."
Practically skipping with joy and with a weird, happy sound, he ran the other way. It sounds like, "Atadadaaaaa!" Happily, he slide open the doors to the proper room. "Hello, Yukina-chan! How've you been?" He points at her, but he means no harm, of course.
The Koorime sadly looks up at him. She had been trying to heal Botan, but it seemed she had not been successful. Kuwabara's eyes looked concerned for his wife.
"Yukina-chan..."
Eyes watering, Yukina replies, "Kazuma-chan..." She looked away. "Gomen ne... I'm really glad to see you, but..."
"I-Iya..."
"Botan-san, demo doshita?" His wife's face is lowered. It seemed she wanted to cry.
Kuwabara looked down at her, standing up pretty tall, nonetheless.
"An unhappy face like that doesn't suit you, Yukina-chan." Yukina looks up at him with a little confusion in her big red eyes.
"Bravely", Kuwabara continues, "I, Kuwabara Kazuma shall resolve everything!" He bowed toward her. "Soon we will be smiling happily again." He chuckled, then Yukina did the same. Kuwabara grasped her small hands into his own--
"Yukina-chan!"
--His face turned beat red and steamed.
"Da-Daijoubu desu ka? Your temperature's going up and up."
Kuwabara's voice has changed in a weird way. "That is the power of love."
Yukina gasps, as she sometimes still had to get used to this. Ningen were kinda weird. Kuwabara begins chuckling.
[He is so hard to understand.] Her eyes water.
Keiko approached and stood near the doorway. "You're in the way, Kuwabara."
Kuwabara put a hand against the back of his head, laughing nervously.
Hiei landed near the bank of a pond not too far from the three. He looked a little hurt. Hurt that, yet again, he hadn't been there for his sister. "Yukina..."
As Kurama begins to speak, Hiei's eyes travel quickly to where the fox is. He looks ticked off. "Why don't you go to Yukina? Or maybe check up on your student?"
Hiei's body relaxes slightly. It's only his lover, after all. "I don't need your advice right now."
The shadows remove themselves from Kurama's form. His white slacks stand out among a green jacket over a blue turtleneck. He slowly straightens up from leaning against a wooden pole attached to the temple. "Hiei..." He slowly approached his dark lover and embraced him from behind, his arms wrapping around his itoshii's slim waist. He uttered, "This is no ordinary event. Even your student was affected. Even more so, unless this is cleared up, he will be without a lover as well." Kurama's green eyes slid shut. "And if it ever were you, I would be devastated"
Hiei replied instantly with a, "Hmph." He slowly turns his head to the fox. "That's never really happened to me before. Shiru ka." He paused and touched Kurama's hands. "I'm going to check up on Kurohi."
"Let's go together, then. Whatever's important to you is important to me." He released his dark and light-haired lover. Hiei entered through the open door, Kurama in tow, and knelt next to his sleeping student.
"Yukina," began Hiei. His younger sister turned her head to him.
"Onisan, nan desu ka?" she replied, turning her attention to her older brother as Keiko took her shift over Botan.
"How long has he been asleep."
"Ever since earlier today," she uttered, tucking a wayward strand of turquoise hair behind her ear. "He exerted a great deal of effort just to get Botan-san over into the Ningenkai. He passed out twice - both times at my house. The first time because his energy was gone, the second time after I gave him a Reiki boost, but it didn't work. How strange..."
"...Otousan..." mumbled the boy, frowning in his sleep.
Hiei blinked at his student. "As far as I know, he doesn't have a living father. He even told me that he never met his dad."
"We know how *that* sounds familiar, ne, Hiei?" asked the red-eyed woman.
Kurohi turned on his side in his futon, knees drawn halfway up his body. He grit his teeth. His hair shifted to dark blue and his skin grew deathly pale, acquiring a pale blue tinge. His tail stopped twitching, and armor appeared on his body. With a soft gasp, his blue-violet eyes opened up. He slid out of the futon and stared at his body and his armor. "I'm... this again... This form..."
He lacked a tail. Sleek, dragon-scale-like armor perched on his chest and head. He wore a Chinese-like wardrobe underneath the silver armor. He blinked. "But... why now? I could almost swear that I had lost access to this form... Is it because of what Koenma said - my father... LIVES?!" He paused. "It must be. Majari IS alive. He said so. He wouldn't lie to me." He stood up and strode out of the temple.
End Day 23
--------------------------------
otasuke = help
kanojo = her
doushita no = what happened?
e = to
inazuma = lightning
Reikai ga = The Spirit World is
Nan da te?! = What?!
Ataa = Oops.
Demo doushita = But why is Botan...?
Shiru ka. = How would I know?
Started: 8/16/03 9:21AM
Finished: 12/17/03 5:36PM
DAMN, it took me so long! _ Sorry 'bout that, y'all!