Solemn Lives- Part 1: Tidal Motions
-A Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfic.
By painin uranus
Chapter 3: Part 2- Information and Conformation
.:AN:.
Aha! I NOW KNOW why no one's reviewing! It's because I haven't added the Spirit Detectives in it yet, isn't it? Well, it was intended that way, though I probably hurt my start-off because of it... oh well. Anyways, this chapter as the whole deal from their POV, okay? So they ARE in the story, and they WILL be good and stuff, alright? Also, I guarentee that if you read this chapter properly, you'll have some questions at the end. I am aware of it, and I'm only going to say that you'll understand later on...
MUST READ INFO: Okay everyone, this chapter will be slightly confusing, but it WILL clarify any questions anyone had at during the last chapter. This took place about the same time Rise, Hiroshi and her family is signing her up for her new school because, as a matter of fact, she was expected by a certain Spirit World prince. And naturally, he called upon our favorite Detective to confirm that it indeed it was her. So, instead of having me explain everything, let's move on to the story…
He had been sitting there patiently for about half an hour and he was starting to worry slightly. The room was large, dark, empty and unnerving. All that it held was an ancient clock and a long table fit to seat nine people, yet he was the only one there. Of course, he was use to being alone. Although the past year or so he had been sided with a good many people, he preferred to be isolated from the group. That was his style and it would remain that way.
15 more minutes passed before the vast doors of the room split open what seemed to be a crack as two figures entered the room gallantly. One was large and bulky while the other was as tall as his waist. He stood and bowed respectfully to the small character as the larger one pulled out the seat courteously for it and pushed it back in place once it was settled.
"It's nice to see you again, Kurama."
"I suppose it has been quite some time. I hope you've been well, Koenma."
"Yes, well, it's been nice not being called a 'toddler' every day."
"Of course."
"Enough chat, I suppose. The reason I summoned you here is because we have a new case."
"That's good news. Not long ago Yusuke was complaining rather loudly about having no one to 'beat the shit' out of except Kuwabara."
"Yes, well... Anyways, this might be a complicated mission. More so than the Tournament, yet similar to the time when we rescued Yukina. Do you remember the Black Black Club?"
"It's hard to forget."
"Right… let's start with that. A new organization as been taking place in an underground facility. Well, that's not entirely accurate. It's complex is held above ground but beneath is where our goal is."
"What is our goal exactly?"
"I'll get to that later."
"How about the layout of the complex?"
"There's been no confirmation of any blue prints. Apparently, they have in their possession a device that can avoid being detected by the Spirit World."
"Then how have you managed to secure any information on this organization?"
"Good question. It's all because of a new apparition that has just recently been discovered by Spirit World Intel."
Koenma snapped his fingers and he was handed automatically a file folder that was being held by the form that had accompanied him into the room. It was quite thick considering the loud thump it made when it was dropped onto the table. Koenma flipped it open and started sliding papers and pictures across the table to Kurama.
"Her name is Rise Urata. She's 15 years old, a single child and is known to have a short temper. Plus, she's an orphan, so this may be a good thing..."
"What's her class?" Kurama asked as he examined a picture of her with immense scrutiny, deciding that he would ask what Koenma meant by his last comment later.
"As a matter of fact, she is a half demon. ½ water, ½ human. Not a bad combination considering."
"A water apparition," Kurama stated in subdued surprise as he read her bio quickly. "That's new. I don't think we've encountered one before."
"Well, there easily defeated due to their critical weakness of lightning. There's been a lot of those type of apparitions out there, these days."
"If they're no threat, then why bother with this one? And what does she have to do with the new association?" Kurama was still studying every picture slipped his way as he mentally stored them in his memory.
"I never said that she was no threat. As a matter of fact, she could give any one of you guys a run for your money."
This made Kurama look up in surprise. "Interesting," he muttered.
"As for the connection, her father had moved quite quickly."
Kurama stared at him with a critical gaze. "I hope you plan to elaborate."
Koenma ignored the comment. "A while ago, 16 years to be precise, Richard Urata, or Rikku as he used to be called, met a woman and had a child with her. But, as it turned out, he didn't know about the child for they had broken up nine months previous. And, the woman was actually a apparition. A feline apparition."
Kurama remained silent, thinking quietly as his ears soaked up the information.
"The father of the child met another woman. As it turned out, it was another apparition. This time, it was a water apparition. And they stayed together for they were apparently deeply in love. They had a child, but unfortunately the woman did not survive the birth."
"The father kept the child, never knowing that he had had a offspring with an apparition nor held a ½ demon in his hands," Kurama finished quietly. "So, this case probably has something to do with the girl's connection with the father's first child."
Koenma sighed in depression. "Why do I even bother trying to keep you in the dark? Yes, it is."
"Care to explain."
"First off, I'm gonna tell you about the organization so that you can actually grasp the idea."
"I'm all ears."
"As clichéd as it sounds, the organization call's itself 'D.O.O.M'."
"I suppose it stands for something more significant."
"Demon Offspring Obliteration Management."
"Clever."
"Yes, very. Their intention of the organization is to, shall we say, steal a demon that has escaped or has been released to the human world, use it for what it was good for, then kill it and take another."
"Don't tell me."
"Right. They stole the feline apparition and her child."
"That was 16 years ago, correct?"
"Yes."
"So that means that the child should still be alive."
"Yes."
"And is about 16 years old currently."
"Yes."
"And the mother should also be alive."
"No."
"What do you mean, 'no'? The mother couldn't have been more than 200 at the most when she first gave birth to the child. Add 16 years to that and she's still old enough to live a full human life."
"You misunderstand me, Kurama. They use the apparitions for what their worth, then they kill them! They won't keep a demon around for 16 years, expecting that it's use will stay good. Their information on demons goes only so far, not to mention the abuse the demons receive."
"Explain."
"They push them to their limit. Sometimes they get carried away and almost kill them. Kurama, they can cause limbs to be immobile, powers to disappear all because of their insufferable antics. And they kill them like it's their fault. Not to mention the fact that most of those demons were innocent. They had done nothing wrong and were being mutated and decapitated because of the organization's disgusting sense of humor."
"Who is their leader?"
"We don't know."
"What about the apparitions that have been caught?"
"The ½ demon is the only one that we can identify."
"The mother is no longer alive, correct?"
"No."
"Koenma, you do know how to confuse, not to mention irritate, those that you rule over."
"I guess I should've explained more ornately. The mother's execution is to take place any time now. If we want to save her, then we must act quickly."
"Time is of the essence."
"Exactly."
"Should I leave to inform Yusuke? We must leave as soon as possible to stop this idiocy."
"No. First, I want you to notify this ½ demon. The water apparition. She deserves to know."
"Of course. But exactly how do you suppose we tell her?"
"Try to think of something subtle."
"I figured as much." Kurama stood up as he scooted his chair back. Stacking the papers in front of him, he returned them to the folder in from of Koenma before walking towards the door.
"Wait!" Koenma yelled hurriedly, his voice echoing around the immense room. Before Kurama could turn around, the toddler was in front of him, holding out the folder containing all the information gathered on the ½ demon.
"You might need this. Just to give you an edge when convincing the girl. After all, she has lived her whole life believing she was a normal human being."
Kurama smiled slightly, taking the folder. "Of course."
At The Kuwabara Residence…
"Well, this doesn't seem too hard," Yusuke said arrogantly. "I mean, we beat the shit out of the Toguro brothers, how hard can this be?"
Kurama had gotten back from his meeting with Koenma and had just gotten done explaining everything to the group that was crowded in Kuwabara's apartment that he shared with his sister. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting down at the table, grinning at each other as they shared different ideas on how they were going to pound the boss of the company, Botan, Kayko, Genkai and Yukina were sitting on the couch across from Kurama drinking tea, Hiei was leaning against the far side wall, his head cocked to the side so that he could hear without moving closer, and Kuwabara's sister was in the kitchen making a snack for the frequent guests.
"I'd have to agree. But going back to the girl…" Kurama's question trailed off as he looked at the Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Genkai.
"How are you four going to tell her that she's a demon?" Genkai demanded.
"What's wrong with telling it to her straight? 'Hey, you're Rise Urata, right? Good, just wanted to tell ya that you're a ½ demon and we were wondering if you wanted to help us save your ½ sister who was captured by a damned club run by an asshole who kills demons like you for fun. You don't have to if you don't want to, but we just thought that we'd ask.' Yeah, I think that'd work just fine."
"Urameshi, you can't just tell her outright that she's a ½ demon, besides she wouldn't believe you anyway…" Kuwabara uttered the last part of the sentence quietly as he looked accusingly at Yusuke out of the corner of his eye.
"The buffoon's right Detective," came the cold reply from Hiei. He stepped away from the wall and walked towards the group until his face was revealed from the shadows.
Kuwabara's faced turned into a mad expression that only showed when Hiei insulted him as he yelled loudly, "Why you little punk! I'm gonna- wait did you just say I'm right?" His face quickly turned from angry to an stunned appearance before he held his head high and stated arrogantly, "Aha! Finally, Shorty's admitted that I am not as featherbrained as he presumed I was and that I am smarter than him!"
Hiei simply glared disapprovingly at him and continued as if he hadn't heard him, "She won't believe you. She'll need some convincing if she's gonna except the fact that she is what she is and there'll be no way of changing it. I suggest that we give her some actual proof, not pieces of paper with pictures and writing on them. Anyone could've gathered that information for all she'll know."
"I agree," Kurama replied calmly before standing up. "Why don't we confirm that she is what Koenma believes that she is before we do anything rash? After all, Spirit World Intelligence has been wrong before and this is no exception." He turned to Yusuke. "She's enlisting at your school no doubt, right?"
Yusuke shrugged before replying, "Yeah, I believe so."
"Good. You and Kuwabara will get to know her there while Hiei and I observe her from afar starting next week. Try to learn some useful information about her, like what she does in her free time, where she goes-"
"Where she lives," Hiei cut in.
"Exactly. We'll keep in touch. Now, I suggest we get some rest. We'll go over finer details in the morning."
At Sarayashki Jr. High…
"Aki! What are you doing?"
Yusuke's head shot up as he heard the name.
All this just to avoid wearing a skirt? Genius… heh, heh, heh…
"Uh… what ever do you mean, Mrs. Koizumi?" Aki asked innocently.
Mrs. Koizumi tapped her foot impatiently. "You know exactly what I mean, Mr. Urata. Why are you not in Gym?"
Yusuke sighed quietly. The old 'sneak-out-of-Gym-class' ploy. How did 'Mr. Urata' plan to escape capture?
. "I, uh, was just getting a drink," 'he' replied abrasively. "My throat's been hurting considerably ever since this morning, and I decided drinking cold water would be soothing to the esophagus."
Yusuke blinked.
Very clever…Yusuke heard Mrs. Koizumi stutter, "Uh… right. Carry on, then. I expect not to see you when I make my round again." He grinned as he heard her turn around and walked away.
Yusuke could tell that 'Aki' was grinning as 'he' continued 'his' walk. 'He' was too caught up in the moment that 'he' didn't even notice him laying against the wall as 'he' walked past. Yusuke had to fight the urge to laugh out loud and blow the whole thing.
Once 'he' had turned the corner and was out of sight, he sighed in relief, motioning for Hiei to drop down from where he was perched.
"Okay, Hiei. I've got an idea. Tell Kuwabara to meet me on the roof of the school. Also tell Kurama to keep watching her until we enter the building."
Hiei 'hn'ed and nodded in response.
"Thanks, Hiei. I'll see ya later."
Without a word, Hiei flitted out of sight, but Yusuke knew that he was doing what he was told to. He waited for a minute before following the direction 'Aki' had gone.
He had been walking a few minutes before he heard a male voice shouting and a low, quiet intonation responding calmly floating out of a nook in the school wall. He automatically knew that this was where he had asked those idiotic punks to 'guard the water fountain'. In truth, he had hoped that 'Aki' would arrive in time for 'him' to be 'saved' by himself.
He heard his cue as one of the punks say, "STOP INSULTING ME!" Quickly entering the nook, he showed up just in time to grab the idiot's fist to prevent it from connecting with 'Aki's' face.
"OH MY GOD! I'M SORRY MR. URAMESHI, BUT SHE WOULDN'T LISTEN TO US AND THEN SHE STARTED TO INSULT US AND WE KEPT WARNING HER BUT-!" Automatically his ears were overwhelmed by the punks screeching, and his hands flew up to his head in a frail attempt to protect his ears from the idiot's shrieking.
"SHUT UP!" he yelled loudly, futilely trying to guard his sensitive hearing, clasping his ears in pain.
Seeing 'Aki' glance at him, he quickly remembered his prepared speech that he made-up in advance. Gathering all the laughter he had contained since the beginning of the day, he started to speak in a preppy tone.
"Look, buddy, I just asked you to make sure no one came by the fountain because I didn't want the janitor to mess with it. See, no offense guys, but the tough look's all ya got, nothin' else." Yusuke turned to look at the wall and started muttering, "I mean, it must be the only water fountain in the whole school that hasn't exploded in my face. I swear, th' old man must have a valve in his office that controls the water pressure…" and he drifted off, getting caught up in the moment, and started to mutter incoherently about spy cameras, the FBI, his mother, and Kayko… and it would've gone on if he hadn't heard the blond punk speak up.
"Oh… sorry, Mr. Urameshi…"
Yusuke turned around and smiled widely, which visibly nerved the two boys up pretty well.
"It's okay, guys, I'll even let it slide if you don't do it again. I mean, you almost punched a nerd's face in!" Yusuke decided to poke a little fun at 'Aki' and started to snicker gleefully.
"Uh… thank you, Mr. Urameshi…?"
It unnerved him a little that he provoked so much fear into the kids at school, but he ignored it and continued with his little banter.
"C'mon, guys, I won't hit you, I swear! CAN'T YOU TELL WHEN A GUY IS JOKING?" he yelled, though not angrily. If anything, his voice developed a tipsy tone as his smile grew.
Figuring that he had played enough with the group he took the time to examine 'Aki' up and down. He could tell that 'he' didn't like it every much, but he ignored her as well. Finally he concluded that this was the 'guy' they were looking for and spoke up.
"Now you look like a newbie. Come with me and I'll show you around."
He saw as 'his' frame became hesitant, but 'he' joined him anyway even though 'he' did not drop 'his' guard even momentarily.
"What's your name?" he asked 'him' causally, though his eyes were focused ahead of them. He had calmed down after allowing his giddiness to escape him.
"What's yours?" 'he' retorted. Obviously, 'he' still didn't trust him enough. Yusuke decided to play around.
"I asked first." It was a sly remark, but he couldn't help it.
'Aki' sighed in irritation. "Fine It's Ri- I mean, it's Aki. Aki Urata. Now, what's yours?"
Yet another fact confirmed…
"I am The Great Yusuke Urameshi."
Yusuke was surprised when he heard 'him' laughing quietly. Just when he was about to ask, 'he' responded with, "What kind of name is 'The Great Yusuke Urameshi'?"
Now he was getting irritated. People didn't usually laugh when they heard his name, though he didn't see why anyone would.
"Well, what kind of name is Aki Urata?"
"I dunno. That's not my name…" 'he' muttered. Yusuke looked at 'him' funny.
Well… that was unexpected… but yet another verity proven!
Still, Yusuke didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he decided that he would pretend that he didn't hear it at all, and it would've been true had he been a normal human being.
Suddenly he asked out of the blue, "You really do like mind games, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just stating the obvious," he responded with a shrug. "It's what I do."
"Really." 'Aki' looked uninterested in the fact.
For some unknown reason, Yusuke decided that he wanted to start bragging.
"Yeah. I also kick a lot of ass."
"I'm sure you do." This time, 'Aki' seemed skeptical.
As much as Yusuke wanted to prove to 'him' that he did 'kick ass', Yusuke dodged the obvious insult and asked another question of his own.
"Do you fight?"
"I don't brawl. It's never worth it."
"Really." Yusuke mentally stored that bit of information before he resumed his silent stature.
As they continued to walk towards the building, though 'Aki' didn't know it, he saw 'him' peek a glance behind 'him'. He guessed that 'he' sensed Kurama who had started following them a while back. Being a reincarnated spirit thief, sneaking was easy for him, so the chances of him being caught by 'Aki's' wandering eyes were slim-to-none. Yusuke almost laughed when he saw 'his' doubtful expression, but held it in as he continued to pretend that he didn't notice anything. Besides, the whole ordeal was an distraction to get 'Aki' into the building, and they were now, in the building going up the flight of stairs leading to the rooftop.
Yusuke noted that Kurama had stopped following them a few moments back, and had jumped to his perch on the roof where he could observe their target unnoticed. Quickly, the two opened the door to the rooftop, joining another fellow member out in the open range.
"Hey, Urameshi!" Kuwabara greeted in his usual scruffy voice as he grinned stupidly and waved madly, as if he thought they wouldn't be able to see him if he just stood there.
Yusuke, once again, ignored the silent snickering coming from 'Aki' and addressed Kuwabara quietly.
"Good, Hiei gave you the message. Listen Kuwabara, I'd like for you to meet… Aki Urata. He's new here and I thought maybe you and I could show him around the place. Y'know, a little-one-on-one, mono-a-mono talk…?" It was really hard for him to disregard the bubbling laughter forming in the back of his throat and he noticed that Kuwabara was also fighting the same hindrance.
"And what are you laughing at, you big lug?"
At first, Yusuke thought that 'he' was talking to him, but then he noticed that her death glare was focused on Kuwabara with her teeth set in a fierce scowl, her fists stiffly at her side and her feet on tiptoe.
Yusuke looked meaningfully at Kuwabara before he heard a voice in his head. It was Kurama's.
I guess she heard you, Kuwabara… Kurama started to laugh quietly in his head in amusement.
What is it, Kurama? Yusuke asked in irritation.
No need to get annoyed, Yusuke. Hiei and I have discussed it and we think you should wait to tell her. It's not like we won't get another chance. But first, Hiei would like to give her something to keep her occupied for a while. Be prepared as our new friend receives it…
Wait! What's 'he' gonna get? Kuwabara's question was left unanswered as Kurama's presence left their minds, leaving them feeling very empty…
Yusuke waited for a moment before stealing a glance at 'Aki'. He saw Kuwabara do the same thing. They watched as 'Aki's' brow started to wrinkle in concentration. Suddenly, their sixth sense was overwhelmed with a unusual power. It wasn't Kurama's, it wasn't either or theirs, it wasn't Hiei's-
It was 'Aki's'.
It was coming from 'his' hands, as it emitted blue wisps of energy. Such strong energy, Yusuke was starting to think of 'Aki' as a threat. Not much of one, but still enough to make him loose his breath. 'Aki' seemed to notice the power coming from her hands as well, for 'he' jerked in surprise and instantly let go of whatever 'he' was holding on to. 'His' eyes shot up to meet theirs for a few seconds before 'he' hurriedly spoke.
"I'm sorry, it was lovely meeting you guys, but I'm afraid I must be off, I'm mussing my class and I'd like to avoid getting into further trouble." And with that, 'he' turned around, yanked the door open and sped out of sight.
The two were silent before looking at each other in confusion. After a moment, Kuwabara asked again, "What'd she get?"
Yusuke sighed and sunk to the ground.
"Freaked out," he answered in a monotone.