Chapter 3: Suspicious Behavior
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Yu Yu or Hiei, although I wish I did . I DO own all characters that I have created, so don't use them. Cheers!
Recap: How to put this... In short, Anko just had her ass handed to her on a plate after Darc attacked her. She used a selfdamaging attack in hopes of killing him and freeing herself. Now, she sits dying against the wall after Shane, aka Skye, was dragged away after making a promise to come back for her. Will she really survive and see the young hybrid again?
...ooo...
Anko drifted off into unconciousness, certain she would never wake up again. I'm sorry you won't be able to come back for me, Shane. were her parting thoughts as she let go.
"How long is this damn hallway?" Yusuke grumbled as he and the others ran down the hall. "Geez... We've been running for like an hour now."
"Actually, we been running for only a few minutes, Yusuke." Kurama corrected, lightening the mood.
"Whatever. I'm going to so beat the hell out of the girl when I get ahold of her..." Yusuke said, continuing down the hallway.
"..." Hiei remained silent as he went along with them. He could have easily gone ahead of them, but something wasn't right. He had sensed several people ahead of them, and now he only sensed one.
He had felt a tremendous expulsion of energy, then an abrupt decrease of it. It meant that either whatever had created the energy had left, or that they had died suddenly.
"Whoa..." Yusuke said as he stopped suddenly. The hall was even worse then the fighting pit in terms of obvious conflict. Huge depressions in the wall and floor showed where Anko had body-slammed Darc, and singe marks were all that was left of the blood that had burned there only minutes ago.
Anko was sitting against the wall, head thrown back with her hands to her side, one forming a fist like she was holding something.
Blood was still dripping from her arm where she had been cut by Hiei's katana, the only sound that could be heard as it splashed against the stony floor.
"What...?" Kuwabara mumbled as he took a step forward. Her abdomen was a red ruin of claw marks, making it hard to tell if she was even breathing.
"It looks like she got into another... fight." Yusuke said carefully. He looked into pen that was across from where she was sitting and found more evidence of another recent altercation in the form of deep gouges in stone aswell as still burning, black flames.
Kurama took a cautious step forward and kneeled down next to her, leaning over her to try and hear her breathing or heart beat.
"Hn. There's no chance that onna is still alive." Hiei said in his usual monotonic voice. "She was already wounded when we got here."
Kurama blinked and kept listening, ignoring Hiei. "She's still alive." He said after a moment.
"What?" Hiei asked, a subtle edge of surprise in his voice. "..."
"She's still breathing." Kurama repeated, carefully taking her wrist and trying to find her pulse. It was fast and weak as her body tried to compensate for the blood loss she had suffered, when it reality it was worsening the situation.
"Who'd a thought that such a scrawny little chick like her would be able to take so much damage." Kuwabara said as he leaned down to look at her face. "She's even shorter than the shrimp."
"Indeed. It's odd though; most hybrids are taller, and their height in this shape is proportional to their height as dragons. She can't be taller than six or seven feet." Kurama replied, taking off the jacket of his school uniform.
"What are you doing, Kurama?" Hiei asked quietly. It was pointless to ask since he already knew what the fox was going to do.
"If we bring her back with us, there's a chance that she'll survive this ordeal." Kurama responded, wrapping Anko up in his jacket. "She showed remarkable intelligence, mercy, and compassion when she blinded us in the main area. She could have easily killed us without a secondary thought. Maybe that means she's not as terrible as we first assumed."
"You're not honestly thinking about bringing her before Koenma to face judgement, are you?" Hiei continued. "Merciful or no, she's a half dragon. The best she could get would be life imprisonment."
"Maybe not." Yusuke interjected, walking back into the hallway. "You two stole some of the most guarded artifacts in spirit world and got off with probation. Maybe she'll get lucky and that'll happen to her too."
"Hn." Hiei grumbled darkly. Maybe they were right. She had had an oppertunity to kill his allies, but she instead went to help another of her kind. Maybe he hadn't given her enough credit.
"Kuwabara, could you hold her while I summon a portal?" Kurama asked as he lifted Anko up, wrapped in his school jacket.
"Uh... yeah, sure thing Kurama." Kuwabara mumbled as he took Anko easily. She was very light so it wasn't a real problem.
Her fist was still tightly clenched as Kuwabara looked down at her. He didn't get the same feeling he had earlier when he looked at her. Now, all he felt was pity.
Kurama summoned the portal back to spirit world and motioned to everyone to step through. Kuwabara was the first, followed by Yusuke.
"You disapprove of bringing her back with us, don't you?" Kurama asked Hiei.
"Hn. Is it that obvious, Fox?" Hiei answered coldly.
"It couldn't hurt. If Koenma decides she's unfit to live, she'll be executed before she can even wake up."
"Hn." Hiei said tonelessly. He blinked once at Kurama before stepping through the portal.
...ooo Later, With Anko ooo...
Anko blinked awake, alittle stunned that she was waking up at all. She sat up and looked around, trying to figure out if it had all been a dream or if she was genuinely free from her hell of a life.
The room was a pristine white color, and alittle smaller than her pen back at the arena. But this place was definately more comfortable. She even had a bed instead of a small pile of straw like she was used to.
She blushed slightly when she realized she had been changed, and was now wearing some white clothing instead of the grubby rags she had been in before. Anko was now wearing loose fitting white pants and a tighter, short sleeve top.
All of her old wounds were healed, with only a few light pink marks to remind her that they had ever been there.
Have I been unconcious long enough to heal on my own, or is this western magic? Anko thought as she reached up and touched her shoulder, sliding her hand under her shirt. Her fingers ran over scars that Hideki's wounds had left behind, a sign of deep wounds being heal rapidly. I thought so...
Anko jerked lightly when she heard someone knocking on the door before slowly pushing it open. Her face went from confused to blank as she watched the one called Kurama from earlier smile at her in a reassuring way.
"Are you hungry?" He asked kindly as he opened the door wider, revealing a small plate of food in his hand.
Anko glanced at the food, then at his face. "Is it poisoned?" She asked, her face perfectly blank. She didn't know what to expect, seeing as how they had been seriously considering killing her. Why should she trust them?
Kurama chuckled slightly, trying to relax her as she stared at him. "No, it's not poisoned." He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, moving closer to the bed where Anko was sitting. "I just thought you may have been hungry. You've been sleeping for about two days now..."
Anko watched him apprehensively. He looked truthful enough, but still...
He sat down on the edge of the bed, close while at the same time not invading her personal space. "Here." He said and handed her the food, still smiling.
Hesitantly, she took the food. It was something that didn't need a utensil to be eaten, and it wasn't too hot either. "Thanks..." She mumbled as she took the food. Now that she thought about it, she was alittle hungry.
"What's your name?" Kurama asked as he watched her eat. She was doing so slowly, almost like she wasn't sure if she was hungry.
"Anko, of the Twilight." She answered quietly.
"Twilight?" He asked, trying to make her more comfortable with conversation.
"My dragon name." Anko said cautiously, no longer eating. She had eaten very little.
"What does it mean?"
"It's a representation of my sire's breed. He was a light and darkness combination. So, he was Twilight."
Kurama nodded in understanding. "Either way, you have a nice name."
"Hn." Anko mumbled back. She touched the golden brand on her cheek softly, staying silent.
"What's going to happen to me now?" Anko asked carefully after a minute of uncomfortable silence.
Kurama looked at her for a full minute, his face blank as he thought about what he should tell her. "You're going to be interviewed by the ruler of spirit world and two others, to see if you can live normally among humans."
"And if I can't?" Anko persisted, her voice unusually quiet. Even for her.
"Then you'll spend the remainder of your life in a prison located in spirit world, where you can be watched and contained."
"Tch, no one can contain me. Only subjugate me into another hell like existence that I wouldn't care to live anyway." Anko replied, leaning back after setting the food down.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Anko." Kurama said gently, still watching her. "But there is still a chance that that won't happen."
"Hn." Anko muttered. "And there is a chance that it still will. From what I heard from you and those other guys, my kind is despised. No, we're hated."
"..." Kurama looked away again, before reaching into his pocket. He had nearly forgotten that he still had the deep black stone that had been clenched so tightly in her hand. "This is yours, correct?" He asked, handing the stone to her.
She looked at it for a moment before reaching out and taking the stone. "Thanks." Anko said, staring down at it. She sighed to herself, wondering why she was even there.
Kurama gave a kind smile, trying to be reassuring. "Everything will work itself out. You'll see."
She looked up at him and nodded. "If you say so."
...ooo...
Hiei stared up at the moon as it hung in the sky over head. He couldn't get rid of Anko's image as she sat against the wall, dying.
I would gladly suffer the loss of my left arm, suffer any pain, just to stay alive and watch over them. Protect them. Her last words kept ringing through his thoughts, and he was growing more and more annoyed.
"She was just a baka hybrid." He growled to himself. "She couldn't possibly know what she was talking about."
"Who are you trying to convince?" A familiar voice called up from the ground, below the tree that Hiei was sitting in.
"I'm not in the mood right now, Kurama." Hiei hissed, glaring down at the red-haired kitsune.
"Her interview is tomorrow."
"Hn. What do I care?" Hiei said darkly, moving farther into the shadows of the tree.
"If you didn't respect her atleast on some level, you would never have let her down the hallway like you did. I saw the blood, Hiei. She was dying and you could have easily stopped her and finished her off." Kurama persisted.
"Hn. Maybe because I didn't respect her I let her go."
"You and I both know that your pride and your honor wouldn't have let you do that."
"Hn."
...ooo...
Anko couldn't stop dreaming about Shane, and the look of hurt in his eyes as he was dragged away.
She always woke up growling after these dreams. Always.
Anko touched the darkness stone dangling around her neck, an image of Shane flashing through her mind as she remembered giving him the light stone.
The symbolisim of giving him the light stone, and her the dark, was not lost on her in the least. She was guilt ridden and lost in her own darkness, while he was still untouched by evil. Atleast for a few more years.
Maybe thats why she felt so protective of him.
Anko sat up and let go of the stone around her neck. Kurama had given her a chain to attach it to, since she seemed so attached to it herself. He had really been trying hard to make her comfortable and at ease.
But to be honest, how could someone be at ease when the interview that would determine the rest of their lives was fast approaching?
She leaned forward slightly, feeling the burning sensation most hybrids got when they didn't shift for a while. It was normal, occuring in hybrids that had to heal crippling injuries. At most, they were kept out of the ring for about a week, and they described it as the worst feeling.
To shift at all required energy, and when a hybrid was injured naturally all energy went to recovering. A shift while so badly wounded would also be dangerous, so hybrids were often drugged to keep them from committing suicide via shifting while almost fatally wounded.
Anko had only been seriously injured once, in a fight versus Darc, and that had been enough to make her never want to experience it again. It started out as a numb kind of pain, but escalated into agonized burning. Thats where she got the idea for her suicide attack.
Then again... Anko thought bitterly, it's not suicide if I don't die.
The burning subsided after a minute, and Anko could finally look up without pain shooting through her back. It had been proven by some of the sicker sponsors that happened to be scientists that the pain was a result of the build of the hybridized energy the participants produced.
Not quite demon energy, not quite human spirit energy, but a mix of the two. It didn't combine well in the bodies of humans, and it caused the burning sensation many experienced.
Anko heard someone walking into the room, and she actually expected Kurama. Instead, she was greeted by a woman with sky blue hair and pink eyes, wearing a nearly hot pink kimono.
"Who the hell are you?" Anko asked alittle defensively. She had been so used to Kurama walking through the door that it had startled her to have such a break in routine.
"Now, is that really how you should speak to your escort?" The woman asked in a cheery tone.
"Where I come from, yes." Anko answered truthfully. She didn't add the part about her frequently burning her escorts with the flames of darkness.
"Oh, really! It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything!"
"Wouldn't be the first time I've been lied to." Anko retorted.
The woman gave her a kind smile. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you here, I just need to escort you to see Koenma."
"And I'll ask again, who are you? Who's this... Koenma?"
"How rude of me. My name's Botan!" She said happily, still smiling. "And Lord Koenma is the ruler of Spirit World, under his father King Yama."
"Hn." Anko murmured after a moment. "Anko."
"Excuse me?" Botan asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"My name is Anko." She reponded, standing. "Ok, Botan. Let's get this walk over and done with."
"Great!" Botan exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She pushed open the door and walked through it, leading Anko along.
Anko glanced at the entourage of soft-looking orges that were following them. Hn. Like they think I'll be stopped by a bunch of paper-pushing flabbys that more than likely have never seen real fighting in their entire lives.
Anko glared at them, each flinching slightly as she turned that red eye on them. That was the first thing anyone noticed about her besides the gold brand on her cheek.
She sighed and turned back, following Botan silently. Atleast there was an upside; no one was dragging her.
Botan smiled back at her every once in a while, but otherwise nothing happened on the long walk from her room to Koenma's office.
"We're here!" Botan said happily, still smiling. Anko was pretty much ready to vomit from all this cheeriness. It wasn't like she got a regular dose of happy people, and it made her uncomfortable to be right next to one.
Anko looked up at the massive, yellow doors with the large, unique door handles. It was as large as a dinner plate, made entirely of bronze or some other golden type metal. It was molded so that it resembled a demon's face, with a cut separating the two halves so the doors could open.
"This 'Lord Koenma' must be pretty damn big to need these massive doors..." Anko said to herself, noting the heighth and width of the doors.
Botan chuckled, covering her mouth abruptly to try and mask the sound. "You'll see soon enough."
Anko turned and looked at her quizically, arching a brow in confusion. "...Hn?"
"You sound just like Hiei!" Botan said with more chuckling as she pushed open the doors.
"Whatever." Anko said darkly, running a hand over where his katana had cut into her arm. The area was still alittle sensitive, but it had healed. Didn't keep her from remembering the demon that had cut her, though.
The moment she remembered his red eyes, she started getting that burning sensation again. She knew what was causing it too; the darkness portion of her dragon blood. Subconciously, it knew that somehow that midget of a demon could free it from all of Anko's careful control and finally do what it liked without her forcing it to do what she wanted.
"Let's hurry and get this over with." Anko muttered darkly as she walked past Botan, trying to hide the fact that her red eye was flaring up in color.
Oh, yeah. It definately wanted out.
Anko didn't bother looking up at the person behind the desk as she sat down in the chair, positioned directly infront of Koenma's desk.
"Ah hem. As I'm sure you already know, this hearing is to determine your suitability to exist peacefully in the human world." A young, but knowledgable voice, said with authority. "You are a hybrid, correct Anko?"
"Well, duh. You guys found me at a fight ring didn't you?" Anko looked up, wondering who the hell it was that had stated the obvious. She stopped when she realized it was a toddler, wearing a big blue hat with the word Jr. "You're the great Lord Koenma?"
Koenma sighed and settled into his chair, looking like he was preparing for something. "Alright, get it over with."
"Get what over with?" Anko questioned. She had only been thrown off by his appearance, but now that the shock was over with she was fine.
"Now that you know I'm a baby, you're going to start commenting just like Yusuke and Kuwabara do..."
"Actually," Anko said with a hint of irritation, "I just want to know what's going to happen to me. Whether you're a kid or not is not my concern. As long as you have sound enough judgement, it doesn't bother me how old you are."
Koenma stared at her with surprise for a brief instant, before blinking. "Excellent. And I can assure you that my judgement is indeed quite sound."
Koenma's thoughts: Yes! She isn't making fun of me because I look like a toddler!
"Peachy." Anko said, settling back into her own chair. "So, what's going to happen?"
"Well... first, we need to check your eligibility for the human world. You are a human hybrid, correct?"
Anko nodded in a bored sort of way. "Yep. Fifty percent human, fifty percent dragon. Standard issue fighting hybrid, at your disposal."
...oooHuman World, A Day Later ooo...
Yusuke Urameshi was scowling as his unofficial girlfriend dragged him off for another pointless day of school. ((A/N: Yesh... You can tell how much I love school huh?))
"I don't see why I have to go to school Keiko!" Yusuke growled as she dragged him along by his ear. They recieved their usual 'Are They Ok?' looks, and Yusuke dished out his usual, 'Say anything and I'll hurt you badly.' look to them all.
All of the on looking students shuddered and quickly turned away, afraid of what Yusuke would do once he got away from his 'keeper'.
"You need to get an education if you want to make it in life, so stop complaining!" She snapped back, dragging him into the building. "Besides, we're supposed to get a new student today."
She finally let go of Yusuke's ear, heading over to her seat. "What do you mean, 'we're supposeed to get a new student'? If that were true, the damn teacher would make a big deal out of it like he usually does whenever something like that happens!" Yusuke said, following her over to her seat.
"I heard the dean of students talking about it yesterday while I was doing work for the student council. It was really last minute, and I heard the student transferring has never been to school before."
Yusuke smirked and cocked his eyebrow. "Wow, Keiko. You were eavesdropping? I must be rubbing off on you!"
Keiko blushed suddenly, realizing what she had done. "N-no I wasn't! I was.. I was just near by!"
Yusuke smirked even more. "Yea, yea..."
Their teacher walked in and instantly glared at Yusuke. It was a well known fact that most of the teaching staff at the Jr. High hated him to no end, and that he hated them right back.
"Take your seats, everyone." The teacher growled, getting behind his desk. That translated into: Sit your ass down Urameshi before I send you to the principal.
"Whatever." Yusuke said just as coldly as he made his way slowly to his seat. This statement translated into: Bite me, because I could give a damn.
After Yusuke grudginly sat down in his seat, the teacher cleared his throat. "I'm pleased to say that today, another student will be joining us here in the class room. Please, welcome Anko Kurosaki and be sure to make her feel welcome here in this room." That last bit was directed to one student in particular that deemed it necessary to give his teacher the one-finger salute.
Three guesses who that was.
"Come in, Miss Anko. We're waiting for you." The teacher said turning towards the door.
The class held their breath as they waited to see who would come walking through that door. After a second, a pretty, short girl came striding in. Her hair length was indiscernable because it was up in a bun, and only her left side was visible as she walked in.
There was collective gasping among the male students, aswell as grumbling among the female students as she walked in. She stopped after reaching the desk and turned towards the students, not even bothering to smile or show any semblance of emotion on her face.
This time, the entire class murmured in surprise when they saw the brand on her right cheek, aswell as her mix-matched gold and red eyes.
"Are those contacts?" One girl whispered to her friend.
"What about that tattoo on her face! That must have hurt alot!" Another said, loud enough to carry across the room. Anko seemed unphased by all of this, until Yusuke stood up and shouted, "What the HELL are you doing here!"
Anko looked back at him and blinked, before shrugging and answering, "Do I know you?"
Yusuke looked at her with surprise for a moment, before his teacher started to reach for certain papers...
"No, I guess you don't." He muttered darkly as he sat down, crossing his arms across his chest as he glared at her. Anko didn't really even give him a second glance as she looked to the teacher and asked where her seat was.
"Over there, by Miss Yukimura. Keiko, could you please raise your hand?" The teacher asked, already begining the lesson. Keiko readily raised her hand, guiding Anko to her new place.
"Thank you." Anko said quietly, but still within earshot of Yusuke. He scowled harder, knowing something was up.
The day went by slowly, and both Yusuke and Anko were grateful when lunch finally rolled around.
"You're allowed to either stay in the class room to eat, or you can go outside as long as you're back in your seat by the time lunch is over." Keiko said helpfully, taking out her own lunch. "Did you bring something for today?"
Anko shook her head. Once to the left, then once to the right. "I don't really eat." Keiko smiled slightly. "Well, if you get alittle hungry, you can have some of mine ok?"
"Not necessary." Anko said, taking out the book the class had to read and catching up.
"You're right, but I'll still share." Keiko said, still smiling. It was making Yusuke want to wretch right then and there. Keiko could be so sweet and friendly sometimes.
Anko looked at her curiously before going back to the book. Almost the moment she started reading, a ringing sound emanated from her backpack.
She blinked, like she was annoyed, before setting the book down and reaching into her bag. She read the caller ID on the cell phone's face and frowned, mumbling, "I need to take this." as she walked out into the hall.
Oh, no you don't. Who'd be calling you anyway? Yusuke thought suspiciously as he followed Anko out into the hall. She walked behind a corner and stopped, making Yusuke do the same.
"What?" She asked harshly. For a second there, Yusuke thought she was talking to him when he realized it was actually the phone. "Now? I'm..." She sighed darkly. "Ok, ok. I understand sir. I'll try to get back on time to finish school. Don't be angry if I can't."
She clicked the phone off and slid it into the pocket of her skirt, before walking out of the building with anger and with purpose.
"Thinking of ditching on your first day?" Yusuke said to himself as he watched her walk off. "I'll figure out what you're up too. Now's my chance to put this detective title to good use!"
Without much of a second thought, Yusuke went back into the building to go and find Kuwabara.
...ooo End Chapter 3 ooo...
A/N: Nope... She didn't die! I'm glad you guys were concerned though. Thank you for supporting this fic with your reviews! Also, please tell me if there are any mistakes in here so I can go back and fix them.