10 Years of Waiting
by Kurohi Tatsaki
Day 25a - First Battle
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.
Oh, and for some reason, I can't use a question mark and then an exclamation point, or two question marks and an exclaimation point, or one question mark and two exclamation points. I hope you readers can infer the marks where they go...
Within a market-like alleyway, a woman buys vegetables from the stand. Several boys riding bikes pass by at the first intersection, and Hinageshi runs into the alleyway, holding a book to her breast. She slows as she reaches the intersection, and Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke begin to catch up.
" Okay, turn at this corner, so North is behind you..." murmurs the female redhead, concentrating on not getting them all lost.
While the other redhead and Yusuke seem pensive, Kuwabara gives an irritated and clue-less expression toward the ferrywoman. "Where the hell is it?"
Hinageshi turns her head sharply and gives an irritated expression. "Chotto matte yo!"
An earthquake suddenly erupts, making all in its path tremble with the powerful waves. Shingles fly off roofs, scattering at the ground like crazy, and as Hinageshi clutches her book as if for dear life, the other three struggle to stay righted on their feet.
The tremors suddenly stop, and Kuwabara seems confused, and his voice proves it. "I-Is this an earthquake?"
The rumbling suddenly continues - though at a lesser caliber than before - and Kuwabara looks in that direction. "What's that?"
Yusuke and Kurama look up to where Kuwabara is looking, and Hinageshi seems just as agitated. "Are wa..." she utters.
They see a pink pillar of light jutting up from beyond the house and trees in front of them. The trees rustle with the power corruption, and the young ferrywoman's expression changes to almost distressed. "It's the elemental site representing Earth!"
"Nani!" retorts the adult street-punk.
In response to the one-year-younger one's innate reply, he encourages, "Yusuke, isogu!"
Yusuke nods slightly and they run into an area where they can see the site better. Leaves are being blown up into the air by the strange power. Hinageshi stands by Kuwabara while Kurama and Yusuke take up the front rows.
Kuwabara's face contorts into one of horror. "W-What's going on!"
The power stream seems to be creating a portal or opening in the middle of the mostly blue and cloudy sky. The winds suddenly pick up, pulling dust along the ground, and even rooted poles into the cement are no match for the energy as a goal-like object is suddenly pulled up and into the stream like what an F-5 tornado does to a home, but, fortunately, it doesn't pull in much else.
Yusuke shields his face some with his arm and his fist. "Itai kore wa...!"
Kurama seems shocked at such fearsome power. Energy of this magnitude... I can barely imagine what it could accomplish! Something grand in the enemies' eyes, but to us...?
"This is no good!"
Everyone looks at the ferrywoman. Kuwabara looks confused at the redhead's horrified expression. "What do you mean?" I know that it's powerful, but isn't it going to help us get access to the Reikai?
Hinageshi points at the pillar. Kuwabara follows where she means. "Look at that color." Kurama and Yusuke look up, too. "The elemental site has been destroyed. What is streaming out is not spiritual power... but the power of the Meikai!"
Yusuke, again, replies, "Nan da te!"
The others are shocked and Hinageshi seems a bit scared. The power continues to make winds all on its own, and Hinageshi clutches her book tighter. "Those demons are able to convert Reiki to Meikai power."
Kuwabara looks confused some more and then leans down a bit to the green-eyed one's level. "So, that Meikai power-"
Hinageshi gasps and stares down at her book with urgency. "If they steal the power from each of the elemental sites, then..."
Kuwabara prods, "Then...?"
Hinageshi snaps and retorts vehemently, "The Reikai will remain inaccessible!"
"Eeaaaaaaaa!"
Yusuke and Kurama look grave. Yusuke adds, "And there will be nothing we can do!"
Hinageshi nods and replies shakily, "U-un."
Trying to remove the girl's fears, he replies, "Iku zo! They may be ahead of us. We must protect the other sites!"
Happy that his wife will still be able to return home if he tries hard and succeeds with his missions, Kuwabara cries out, "Yossha!"
Coming up with a plan in a split second, the chocolate-eyed leader barks, "Let's split up!"
Kurama murmurs his assent.
By sunset, on a boat pulling a trailer, two people in cloaks coast across the lake's yellow-tinted surface.
Footsteps echo across the land. "I can't even repay Botan the kindness I owe her," laments the green-eyed ferrywoman.
The only one with her, Yusuke asks as he runs behind her, "Kindness?"
"I always made mistakes and caused a lot of problems for Botan. And now I can't-"
Having none of it, he replies and gets the girl's attention, "You're wrong. It's too early to give up!"
In a crossway, with three different directions, Hinageshi stops and consults her book while Yusuke comes to an abrupt halt in her personal space to her right. Against the gray wall, crates become a perch for a brown cat whose tail swishes lazily.
" Umm..." She suddenly points to the place behind her - a flight of stairs. Yusuke seems quizzical. "Oh, it's this way!" Yusuke then follows her finger with his big brown eyes. "Up these stairs!"
"Yoshi." He starts up again, running up the stairs with Hinageshi following closely behind him. "Isoge!"
At the top, Yusuke stops running and stops all of a sudden. Hinageshi looks up at him, confused. "Dou shita no?" She then sees what he's seeing, and gasps. "Everything is completely different!"
Buildings sit near telephone wires, and the main path has homes surrounding the sides. The duo cautiously walks forward, alert to any danger. Suddenly, another earthquake erupts along the ground, and Hinageshi quickly clings to Yusuke for support. Yusuke quickly wraps his arms about her upper back to help keep her steady as well as himself. A tall building suddenly crumbles to the ground, sending debris and dust near it. Clumps of debris fall from the destroyed building, and it caves in on itself. The shockwaves continue, and the duo slowly approaches the destroyed area.
Hinageshi comments while holding onto Yusuke's left biceps with one hand, "It crumbled just like that!"
Yusuke looks up as he senses Youki, and he gasps slightly as a demon erupts from the rubble, followed by two more. One perches on a tall piece of the building. One lizard-like demon signals the other two with a wave of its hand, and the monsters follow their leader. "Kh. Meikaichi."
Hinageshi clutches her book again. "They got here ahead of us again!"
Yusuke holds up his right fist near his shoulder in a slight gesture of perseverance. "We may still make it!" He starts running. Hinageshi quickly follows after a moment's hesitation.
"Matte yo!"
Even closer to the site, the rubble around them, they pause only momentarily before moving on into a dark parking area. There aren't any people in here, and silence rules this area for now. Yusuke and Hinageshi peek around a corner, and Yusuke makes a small noise before backing off slightly. The elemental site is illuminated by two cars' headlights. The site itself looks like a small alter or pond lantern.
The three demons from before approach the site without hesitation. One has a horn on its forehead and a shock of red hair. A burly one has light brown hair, green skin, and elfin ears, and a third has dark brown hair and a tan complexion with two horns sticking out backward from the sides of its head like ears. The first has minimal armor on its wrists and shoulders, and wears a short-sleeved cream tunic tied with a brown belt. The second wears cream pants tied with rope, a gray short-sleeved shirt, and no armor at all. The third wears a mint green short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans with a matching belt. The three of them have crosses on their foreheads.
"Look! That's the elemental site of Fire!" the ferrywoman whispers as she points to the area in statement.
"Nani!" He moves from his hiding place and runs at them. "Yamero!" He hops up and descends at them with great speed, his arms a bit over his head and his legs tucked up sort of close to his body. "Don't touch that!"
He lands between the three of them and the brown one leaps at him without delay. Yusuke quickly deck him in the face with his right fist and the green one takes its turn. Yusuke slides out of the way only to give the demon a head-butt to its chest with a slight growl. The one with the single horn hops up with a sword in its claws and descends with it raised over its head with a shrill cry. Yusuke looks up in shock and a slight gasp before crouching down slightly only to jump as the demon misses trying to cleave him in two, and delivers a hammer-blow with his clasped fists to the small of the demon's back - between the lower back and the butt. The demon falls to the ground and drops his sword with a cry only to suddenly become engulfed in flames. Yusuke lands on the ground, a satisfied smirk on his face. He sighs and blinks tiredly before turning to the Fire site. He approaches it.
" It's over, Hinageshi! What do we do now?" he asks, turning toward the girl's direction.
The cars' lights suddenly go out with a click, and the aged street punk is immediately on the defensive.
"Keh. What, more?"
An explosion rips through one of the left-side intersections, and Hinageshi screams. Another explosion rips near Yusuke's right, fairly close to him, but it doesn't hurt him. As soon as the dust begins, Yusuke dashes to the ferrywoman's rescue. "Hinageshi!"
Three to four rows down, an explosion occurs right next to him, sending him flying in the opposite direction and to the ground, and almost into a chain-link fence. Yusuke quickly gets up and continues running.
"Kuso!"
Hinageshi is suddenly lifted up into the air by an invisible force, and a small flicker of pink straightens out her body a bit. "My body is... No! Stop! What is this!"
The light swirls around her, making her immobile. Someone's boots are seen, and Hinageshi looks frightened. "Y-Yamete!"
The light fully controls her movements, and a white-haired man wearing a dark cloak stops before her. He raises his hand at her, making the knuckles crack all at once, and seems to be searching for something, making the girl whimper with pain. He lowers his hand.
"Chigau. This girl is not the one."
"Matte!"
Yusuke stops a few yards behind the Lord and Yakumo slowly turns his head to look at the boy through the corner of his eye. "It seems your friend is still here." He starts to move Hinageshi, making her scream.
Yusuke looks pissed and rushes at him. "Yamero, temee!"
Yakumo makes Hinageshi fly into Yusuke's arms, making him lose his balance and fall on his ass with a cry of surprise. Yakumo walks up to the duo with predatory slowness, smirking all the way.
Yusuke gets up, growling, "You really did it now." He rushes at Yakumo and aims a punch, but Yakumo's inhuman speed allows the demon to dodge without effort. "Kono yarou"! Yusuke overbalances and stumbles to a halt before quickly turning around again. "Kuso!"
Yakumo suddenly twists and his knee comes into contact with Yusuke's stomach, making the boy fly into the car in his path, through the hood, engine, and into the front seats with a crash. The collision shatters the glass and dust spews from all the openings. Yusuke gets up a bit with strain, but it is enough to make the demon lord thoughtful. "Hn. You are not a normal human, are you? You must be a tool of the Reikai."
Yusuke lunges at the closed door three times in hesitant succession before bursting through it and shattering the glass as the door flies off its hinges. Yusuke quickly stumbles to his feet, clutching his stomach, and uses the battered car's hood to hoist himself upright again. A few scratches mar his face, and he seems really hurt. "Temee, nani mon da!" he demands. He stays upright without support, merely clutching his stomach.
Yakumo's eyes widen formidably and he smirks. "Meikai no o, Yakumo da."
Finally capable of moving on her own, Hinageshi peeks from around the corner. "Yakumo..." she whispers. Her eyes widen with recognition. "aitsu ga!"
Yusuke walks up to the man. "Iku ze Yakumo!" He points his right hand like a gun and steadies it with his other hand. A bluish glow envelops his hand. "Rei Gan!"He fires a cannon-like beam from his fingertip, but a red barrier protects the Meikai king. "Aah! It didn't get through!" DAMMIT!
Yakumo merely looks pissed off. "Your spiritual power is nothing." He raises his right hand, making the hand make a cracking noise. "Get out of here!" He opens his hand as it is engulfed in a pink glow, and a wave rushes over all in its path. Yusuke tries to block the power from his face with his left forearm as he turns his face away, but he quickly decides to press forward. The energy restricts his movement painfully, making him rear up as he clutches himself with a shout. The energy crackles around him and makes him collapse to his knees and face-first to the cement, unconscious, as Yakumo walks away.
After the ferrywoman is certain of Yakumo's wide distance between them, Hinageshi runs to Yusuke's side and pulls his head into her lap. "Yusuke! Daijoubu!"
Yakumo approaches the Fire site and raises his hand. A white-pink glow is emitted from his hand before jutting out in a pink stream, obliterating the site in an explosion with minimal effort. Pink energy erupts from the site, and Hinageshi shakes her fallen comrade once.
"Yusuke!" She looks at Yakumo with confusion. "Yakumo, king of the Meikai... But why is he...?"
Yakumo gives a small burst of energy to stir up the pillar, and then lowers his hand. The pillar erupts like a tornado from the parking center, sending debris flying, before swirling up into its pillar form, turning bright red before turning pink with a flash of gold. Yakumo watches the display of power for a moment before turning his head to his victims. Languidly, he turns around the rest of the way and approaches them, as if to finish the two off.
Yusuke has awoken and sits up, mentally ready to fight again if need be, his teeth bared. Hinageshi holds onto his shoulders from behind him. As Yakumo's shadow covers them, Yusuke suddenly looks away, clenching his teeth and eyes shut, and Hinageshi hides from the demon beyond the muscular form. Yakumo approaches a few more steps before smirking and disappearing into thin air.
Hinageshi looks at the aged street-punk concernedly. The man's body shakes and his fist clenches as he slams his fist into the cement, breaking it. "K-K'so!"
Waves crash against each other, and light streams down to the surface before being reflected right back upward again, and the rays of light are few and far-between, due to the dark clouds overhead. Yakumo stands atop a tall rock, his cloak billowing in the wind. A vicious wave crashes up against his rock, getting his clothing, but somehow not soaking it.
"The power sphere..." he murmurs, his voice echoing powerfully through the sky. "source of our energy... Plundered in the past by the Reikai..."
Another wave crashes upward, veiling his face, and he's still dry. His short hair flutters in his face, near piercing gold eyes. "Once it has been returned, our hopes will finally be realized. The leaders of the Reikai must have hidden it well. They would not let it be protected by such small fry. Doko da?"
And in the Reikai the tower of Enma is enveloped in dark pink light, and underwater.
"Doko ni kakushita?"
End Day 25 Afternoon
Started: 7/13/04 11:51AM Finished: 7/14/04 12:45AM
Chotto matte yo! Hold on a minute!
Are wa... It's...
Yusuke, isogu! Let's hurry, Yusuke!
Itai kore wa...! What the...!
Nan da te! What!
Yoshi. Okay.
Isoge! Hurry up!
Meikaichi. Netherworld demons.
Yamero! (in this case) Hold it!
Chigau. No.
Yamero, temee! Stop, you!
Kono yarou! You bastard!
Temee, nani mon da! Who are you!
Meikai no o, Yakumo da. I am Yakumo, king of the Meikai.
Yakumo aitsu ga! It's Yakumo!
Iku ze Yakumo! Here we go, Yakumo!
Doko da? Where is it?
Doko ni kakushita? Where did they hide it?