Saga 7: Demons, ghosts, & goddesses
Ch.3. Death, ye may not take disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Yu Hakusho characters except Shido, Jugo,
Lenos
// = thought speak

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Yusuke shouted as the demon bull swiftly drew the knife across the woman's throat, blood spurting out in a small thin spray. The woman seemed surprised for a moment, her eyes reflecting nothing; simply clouded. Then, she slumped forward in the youkai's fist, all signs of life gone from her slender body. "YOU BASTARD!!!!" Yusuke screamed at the top of his lungs, eyes ablaze with fury. The blue Spirit Energy that had been surrounding his tense body suddenly exploded in a brilliant flash, causing everything to go white for a moment.

Within the next second, Yusuke had changed into his longhaired demon form. He stood silently for a moment, his eyes focused on the ground, the power growing within him. When he did look up, he emitted a black Spirit Energy that surrounded his body like a curling smoke. Jugo chuckled. 'This might get interesting after all...' he thought and opened his mouth.

Without warning, a stream of fire erupted from his jaws, heading straight for Yusuke in a spiral. The bull smirked. The kid hadn't even bothered to dodge. 'He must either be stupid or he just realizes he's no match for my true form...' He grinned at the thought. Unexpectedly, the fire that had aimed right for Yusuke abruptly bounced off him in thin streams, causing Jugo's fiery coal eyes to widen in shock. Suddenly, the furious teenager looked up, his normally chestnut eyes mirrored sheer rage, his usually casual smile replaced with an angry mouth fill of sharp teeth. "You've...gone...too...far...THIS...TIME YOUKAI!!!" Yusuke roared, his voice deeper and more threatening.

Before the demon could even blink, Yusuke powered up, black Energy swirling around him in a violent tornado; and aimed both his index fingers at the minotaur. "DOUBLE SHOTGUN!!!" he shouted, his dark Energy exploding in two black lasers, which hit the demon dead on. The creature actually fell back from the attack, stunned that so much power could come from such a puny ningen.

Yusuke's anger lessened slightly as the beast he had aimed to slay was knocked back by his strikes. 'Please...be alive...' he thought to himself as he started forward towards the woman, who was somehow still in the demon's paw. Just as Yusuke approached, the demon jumped back up, his chest smoldering and generally looking pissed. "I see you want more..." Yusuke growled. "SHUT UP!" the youkai snarled, his mouth shaping into an ugly sneer. "YOU KNOW, WHEN I CUT HER LOVELY THROAT, SHE ACTUALLY DID NOT DIE!" Yusuke felt his heart lighten slightly. She didn't perish after all! The creature continued. "I WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO LET HER LIVE, BUT NOW THAT YOU HAVE ATTACKED ME, I'LL KILL HER AND YOU!!!" Jugo bellowed, and grasped the knife that flew out of his hand and prepared to strike the woman right in her heart. "OH NO YOU DON'T!!!" Yusuke screamed. "HAHAHA!!! YOU'RE TOO LATE, KID!!" the demon roared and started to plunge the weapon right into her chest. 'NO! I WON'T LET HER DIE! NOT AGAIN!!' he thought with fury.

Suddenly, the blade was yanked out of the demon's hand by a familiar thorny whip. Yusuke and Jugo looked up just in time to see the redheaded kitsune high up in a tree, flip the knife into his palm. "Nice save, Kurama!!!" Yusuke shouted, unaware that he was actually back to normal. Kurama smiled in turn, and then jumped down from the tree with graceful ease. He raised an eyebrow at Kuwabara's slumped body, which Yusuke answered by pointing to the demon and shouted, "Its that ass-hole's doing!!" The fox nodded, then both the boys turned to face the youkai who seemed baffled about what to do next. A sly smile then crept across his face, making Yusuke shift uncomfortably in the dirt. "WELL, YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN ALL MY WEAPONS, HOWEVER, I DO HAVE ONE LEFT. MY HAND!!!" the demon hollered and then threw the girl with extreme force, hoping the impact of a tree would kill her.

Kurama and Yusuke both raced as fast as their legs could carry them, trying to keep the woman from being hurled into a tree and it probably smashing her skull. But, they couldn't get to him in time. Jugo was just too fast, and they probably had a slim chance of catching Shido before she collided into a hard spot.

However, they didn't have rush too much, because the demon's pitch was stopped when his hand was sliced off in a flash by a thin sword. Kurama, having more energy, was able to exert the extra amount of speed at the last minute, and caught the young woman right before she hit a thick redwood. He groaned as he sat up, and looked over to the demon, hearing the beast screaming in pain from his severed hand. Kurama also heard a groan and looked at Kuwabara, who was getting help to stand from Yusuke. 'Well, only one other member has a sword like that...' he thought with a small smile. He focused his gaze back at the youkai, and sure enough, there stood Hiei, giving off an evil smirk while the monster growled more with pain than fury.

Yusuke helped Kuwabara hobble over to where the kitsune was and then went off to massacre the demon some more. Kuwabara groaned as he turned his head towards Shido and asked in a quiet voice, "How is she?" Kurama gently turned her on her back and inspected her body. They both gasped when they saw the open cut on her throat, her neck completely covered in blood, also staining her gi. Although Kuwabara wasn't exactly a doctor, he knew he should stop the blood flow and quickly ripped a piece of his shirt to wrap it around her neck, but Kurama stopped him. "Wait!" Kuwabara looked at the redhead like he was nuts. "What are you stopping me for?! If we don't stop the blood, if she's not dead already, she'll die from blood loss!!" he said, getting very upset. Kurama looked down at the incapacitated woman and replied, "I know. But if you try to move her neck, it could only make things worse. All we can do is try to soak up the blood with it. I wonder if there is a charasaka plant around here..." (A/N: No such plant!) Kuwabara grunted in protest, but placed his torn clothing carefully on her throat, hoping desperately that she was still alive. "Is she..." in response, Kurama took her pale wrist and held two fingers against it. He was quiet for a moment, then replied flatly "No." Kuwabara sighed in relief. "However," the demon fox continued, "If we do not get her treatment, she will." Kuwabara groaned as he heard he was gonna have to play beat the clock.

With some painful effort, he sat up and said quietly, "I'll get her to a doctor. Just leave it to me." Kurama shook his head, his emerald eyes deep in thought. "No. You're too wounded to go anywhere. I will take her, but there are no hospitals around here where I can get her some medical attention. Perhaps..." he trailed off but then an idea struck him. "Why not take her to Master Genkai? She would more than likely be able to heal her." Kuwabara groaned again as he rubbed his bruised ribs, and then pulled his thumb into an up motion, and grinned goofily. "Well, you're more of the doctor than I am, so I guess it's up to you..." Kurama gave a small smile in return, then said "You're making a good decision. You are too hurt to do any traveling and would not get there fast enough. I promise, once I get her to Genkai's temple, I will come back for you, if the others haven't defeated the demon yet." the Kazuma nodded, then breathed a heavy sigh. Kurama gently lifted the woman, tucking his arms under her knees and back. A quick thought suddenly hit him. "Kuwabara..." the orange-haired boy looked up at him. Kurama smiled. "Since I'm going to be moving anyway, you might as well wrap that cloth around her neck." Kuwabara smirked, then grabbed the torn shirt piece as Kurama knelt down with Shido, and tied it gently around her neck. Amazingly, this actually caused her to stir slightly, making both the boys jump. She had moved very little, but enough to be seen. Kurama then gently picked her up again and said, "I'll get you to Genkai's as well." His teammate grinned, then replied "Ah, don't worry 'bout it. I got much worse off in the days when Urameshi and I were rivals. Speaking of which..." both turned to look at Yusuke who was trying to distract Jugo away from Hiei, who was obviously waiting for the opportune time to decapitate the bull.

Kurama trotted over to Yusuke, but kept about a ten-foot distance, then shouted, "Yusuke! The girl needs medical attention, so I'm taking her to Genkai! She'll be able to help! Once I get her there, I'll come back and aid you in this fight!" Yusuke responded, while dodging the demon's furious blows at the same time. "OK KURAMA! GO-AGH! TO THE FOSSIL'S -WHOA! HOUSE AND GET HER -NYAH! TO STAY THERE! YOU SHOULDN'T -YIKES! COME BACK! STAY WITH HER!" he managed to holler out. Kurama nodded and shouted back, "ALRIGHT! BUT I'M GOING TO COME BACK TO HELP YOU! THIS IS MY ASSIGNMENT TOO, YOU KNOW!" Yusuke managed to smirk and then wink before the beast took another wild swing while roaring in frustration. The redhead then turned on his heel and jogged off.

Yusuke then turned back to Jugo, who was now missing his tail, thanks to Hiei, and spitting fireballs at both, as an attack and out of anger. Hiei then took this chance to communicate with his comrade. 'Urameshi. I know you can hear me. Distract the demon, and I'll try to get either behind or above him. Don't screw this up, or we're both done.' Yusuke groaned. 'Jeez. How many people are gonna talk to me in my head?' he thought to himself. The fiery bull suddenly swung his clawed hand, almost catching him off guard, but Yusuke rolled away just in time and fired another shot at the youkai's foot, causing him to lose his balance slightly. Yusuke shot a quick glance at Hiei, who was already sprinting straight behind the demon. Yusuke saw the demon catch a glimpse of Hiei out of the corner of his orange eye, and knew he had to keep him busy. 'Now or never...' he thought, and headed straight for the demon.

Whew! That was a LONG chapter to write! Oof! I'm so tired. Oh, I know what you're probably thinking. 'Oh man, not another Kurama bishi fan girl story!' Don't worry. Although my OC and Kurama may like each other, they're both too shy to approach each other! Well, please R&R. I'll start on Ch. 4 ASAP!