Solemn Lives- Part 2: Conversion Diversion

-A Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfic.

By painin uranus

Chapter 1: Capturing The Bad Ass

.:AN:.

It's a tough life, losing your father and, if not physically, your mother, getting beaten and bruised and having no one care, and having your best friend, who was the only one able to comfort you, die by the hands of your mother. Not everyone has a cold heart like Hiei, and even if you did, it would still be difficult. I'm glad you decided to continue reading my stories, for they are not the best that are out there, even if I hoped they were. Be free to ask any questions if the story is unclear to you- I will answer them at the beginning and at the end of the chapter, and my sincerest apologies that I did not make the story clear enough the first time. Also, I would like to inform you that the chapters in Keniji's story will include a flashback of Keniji's past as well as the story's plot. Now, on with the new chapter:

Sunlight flitted through the open window. Birds sang their cherry songs. The wind blew the flower's refreshing aroma across a stone face. A typical beautiful summer's day-

Except it took place in a concrete cell.

A pair of green eyes slowly opened, glazed over as if looking into something far beyond the concrete wall that was as plain as ever. The eyes belonged to a teenaged boy of the age 16. His green eyes were slightly covered by his mouse brown hair.

Keniji Hakkai wasn't a very muscular boy, but he wasn't all that skinny, either. He had some form to his upper body, as was clearly shown through his ripped up jeans and green Tiger's baseball jersey. His body was badly scarred with whip-markings as well as dagger cuts, puncture wounds and who knew what else.

Sitting on a simple metal chair, he stared at the wall, ignoring the inviting fragrances of freedom. He knew what was coming and he didn't dare get too relaxed. It was the same routine everyday…

Just like always, the doors leading to his cell unlocked noisily. Naturally, there was more than one protective system or he wouldn't have wasted any time busting out. The window was high up, higher than he could jump in any of his reachable forms and the doors were protected with all sorts of firepower, ranging from lasers to spirit shields that drain energy.

A tall, trimmed, seemingly human man came through the door, flanked by two sidemen. The two men that accompanied him dressed themselves in heavily padded clothes, but the apparently harmless human wore a simple T-shirt that stretched over his chest muscles and simple denim jeans that were loose-fitting and light- hardly enough to protect him from sharp winds, let alone a caged demon. But, he was also holding his trusty, pointy, wooden stick.

Before they unlocked the last door leading to his cell, Keniji's eyes glowed briefly, shinning yellow as a light wind rippled throughout the solitary confinement. Hiding him from sight for a few seconds, it was gone as soon as it came. But, sitting in place of Keniji's simple body was-

Someone totally different.

The boy that took his place had roughed-up black and dark brown hair, yellow eyes, and wore a forest green unbuttoned T-shirt with a white undershirt and black cargo pants over his lean and powerful form. He had a headband that held Indian symbols and figures that kept his hair out of his eyes, as well as identical bands on each wrist.

"So… still haven't given in, yet? I'm impressed," the man complimented calmly, not at all disturbed by the boy's transformation. "Usually, a normal demon would have been broken-in a couple weeks ago. Well done." The man paused as the Tiger Keniji bared his fangs and gave a angry growl, and his expression changing to one of subdued frustration. "However, you are trying my patience. If you would just change your prideful ways, this would be less painful for you and for me."

"It's worth the pain to see your frustration eat away at your enthusiasm, sir," T. Keniji mocked, his voice rich and strong, not the least bit afraid to tell the man how he felt about him.

The man let out a strangled curse, fighting to maintain his cool composure. He fidgeted with his shirt, straightening it unnecessarily, trying to calm his irritation.

"As I thought, it's nothing short of what I expected… Very well. Yoshiro, Mori, chain him- you know the drill," he sighed, waving his hand offhandedly.

Before the man could even blink, let alone turn around, T. Keniji was out of his chair and darting towards the man, his fingernails quickly transforming into claws with a flash of light. He took a wild swipe at him, barely missing his face before he was yanked back by the two henchmen. He let out a primal roar as he hands tried desperately to strike any part of the man's body.

"I've hated you ever since I was eight! I've always tried to give you as much trouble as I could! What makes you think that I'll be a "good boy" and do as you say now?"

The man lowered his body so that his gaze was level with T. Keniji's, his eyes burning as they continued to stare at each other hatefully. After a long heated pause, the man answered slowly, every word coated in confidence and mocked fury.

"Because, Keniji… I have you… and your mother. You two are mine. All mine. My property to do with you what I wish." Another snarl of anger and hatred from Keniji made the man smile evilly. "Take him to the gym. And see if you can get him to transform into his Grizzly form- his Tiger form is strong enough, but we're not looking for fights, we need to intimidate, and he is too skinny in that."

"How should we do that, sir?" the one Yoshiro asked.

The man smirked. "Use your imagination. Now, go."

And so, T. Keniji was literally dragged out of the cell, too blinded by his fury to notice the cattle prod that appeared in Mori's hands. But, the sudden fire burning at his side quickly made him aware.

Growling and crying out in pain, he finally collapsed and allowed himself to be hauled away by the two men…

.:Flashback:.

When Keniji awoke, he had to blink a couple times to make sense of the blurry shapes. The pain in his side told him he was still on the hard, rocky ground. He smirked to himself- it meant they hadn't found him, and that he was safe… for the moment.

After stretching a bit, hee tried to stand, but his legs were too weak, and his stomach grumbled violently. He fell back onto his butt, hugging his stomach fiercely before deciding that he would find a restaurant close by to grab a quick bite before continuing on. He gave into a grim smile when he remembered grabbing his mother's wad of cash she had left on her desk- it was probably somebody else's money. But, the little boy that had once been a goodie-two-shoes had been replaced by a desperate-for-escape one, so he no longer cared about right and wrong.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, he managed to get back onto his feet and headed away…

Lunch was like the rare drink of water from a man stranded in a desert— it was refreshing and satisfying— for about five seconds. He automatically regretted spending all of his money on a simple treat instead of rationing it.

After an hour of walking uphill, he decided to give his body another rest stop since, even for an 8-year old, he was in great shape. At that point, his mind flitted back to when he had held Aki in his arms… the strange yet calming feeling that had overcome both him and his tiger companion. He had to find a stream, he had a feeling that he wasn't himself. He wasn't wearing the same clothes he had remembered putting on, but, then again, he hadn't paid attention to what he had been dressing himself in since his first physical beating. He was wearing black cargo pants and a forest green unbuttoned T-shirt with a white undershirt. Scratching his wrist, he noticed an Indian band on both of them. He could feel one situated around his head, too.

Noticing a near-by stream, he crawled over to it and took a glance at his reflection… then took another glance. He didn't have his chestnut green eyes anymore… they were yellow. And his hair… it was darker than his mouse brown, and held a sheen of roughed up black bits. His reflection didn't resemble an 8-year old boy, it looked like a teenager of around 16… twice his age… that's why his meal cost so much.

Keniji fell abruptly on his butt again, his legs splayed apart and his arms hung limply at his side. What was wrong with him…? Why was he different than he was when he fell asleep?

'Maybe I slept longer than a few hours… naw ,'he thought with a harsh laugh.' No, I'm still a little boy. I'm still 8, I'm still living with my mom…' Soon, he started to drift back into his depressed state. 'My mom still loves me… my dad's still alive… Aki is still here with me… I'm just in my backyard, not running away from home… I'm still loved… my life is still happy… I'm still loved…'

Keniji sat that for a while, totally forgetting about his reflection, his hunger, pulling his legs up against his now well-formed chest and rocked back and forth, sobbing quietly.

Out of nowhere, a figure burst out of the brush, holding nothing but a pointy wooden stick. It was that man. Keniji automatically scooted back hastily, trying to put as much distance he could between him and his worst nightmare.

"Why can't you just let me go?" he practically cried, his voice breaking as his voice turned into a squeal. "I don't want to go through that anymore! I want you to leave me alone! I won't do anything to you, sir, I'll be good! Please, sir!"

All the man did was smile. And it wasn't a friendly one. It was a smile of triumph.

"Finally… after all this time, you decided to show yourself to me…" he voice rumbled lowly, as if afraid that someone might overhear him.

"What do you mean?" Keniji moaned. "Showed you what?"

The man moved quickly, so fast that Keniji could barely track his movements, and even that was a stretch. The man grabbed him by his upper arm roughly, and dragged him back to the edge of the stream. Forcing him to look into the water, he said ruthlessly, "Do you see that, boy? Does that look like you? Don't you know what you look like anymore?"

"I know, sir," Keniji whimpered. "I know it's not me, sir, don't hit me, I'll fix it somehow, I promise, I'll be back to the way I was before, just don't hit me."

"Shut up, you stupid, sniveling fool! I don't want your normal, pathetic, self. In fact, I want you to change… oh, yes, do I ever want you to change…"

"W-What do you mean, sir?" he asked, hesitantly.

"You are not who you think you are, boy," he said gravely, yet there was a hint of excitement in his voice. "You possess a rare mutant gene- a demon gene. It flows through your ungrateful veins that so few possess. You have the power to transform into animals, or a human that has control over their powers. Right now, you are in your 'Tiger' form, which you acquired while holding that stupid tiger that night"— a small angry roar interrupted him. It came from Keniji.

'Tiger' Keniji was up on his feet, glaring daggers at the man with the pointy wooden stick. "Don't say that about him," he seethed out slowly, pointing his long fingernail-ed finger at him accusingly.

"Oh?" the man asked, acting surprised and innocent. "But why not?"

"Because," T. Keniji growled, "he deserves better than anything you have to say, whether it be an insult or the highest compliment."

"And if I were to say something bad about the… rotten piece of flesh that now resembles your deceased, pitiful excuse of a friend…?"

T. Keniji barely allowed the man to finish his sentence before attempting to pounce upon him, baring his long, canine teeth with his fingernails, which seemed to magically transform into claws, outstretched and unsheathed.

But, he hardly got within range of the man before he was suddenly stopped in mid-air, unable to move. The man smirked wickedly, and stepped closer to the suspended T. Keniji, twirling his stick like a baton.

He let out a harsh laugh, and said in a slow, taunting voice, "Nice try, Keniji, but I'm afraid you'll have to be quicker than that. See, I have more power than you can ever imagine. So much power, in fact, that I could kill you right now, and you wouldn't be able to see it coming, let alone protect yourself. Here- I'll show you what I mean."

And with a flick of his wrist, Keniji went flying into the nearest tree, which happened to have a particularly thick trunk, and hit his head hard against the jagged bark. He fell limply to the ground, but at the last second, flipped himself back onto his feet before hitting the solid flooring of the forest. Quickly regaining his composure, he tried to attack the man again, and was once more unsuccessful, for another flick of the wrist and he was in the water, being held under by an invisible force.

He was quickly running out of oxygen, and having a fresh breath of air seemed to be a good idea right then. But, he couldn't do it… the man was in charge. Right when T. Keniji was about to take a deep lung full of water, the man pulled his sputtering, soaked body out with nonexistent strings, hanging him threateningly over the water's edge once more. T. Keniji shook his head, ridding himself of the extra water that was lodged in his ears and hair, still spitting out his mouthful of water.

"Do you now realize how far out of your league you are, boy?" the man whispered in his ear after he leaned close enough. T. Keniji could feel his hot breath on his cheek and shivered in disgust.

T. Keniji could only stare past him in shock, held in the air like a cat holding its cub. Finally, he gathered enough nerve and fear to ask, "Who- Who are you…?"

The man smiled arrogantly. "I am Junichiro Koizumi… and I am now… your master."

.:AN:.

Oh, how I enjoy writing these angsty humor fics! I feel so happy. Anyways, that's the end of this chapter. Turn in next time to learn more about Keniji's past as well as his first day of school way back when... on:

Solemn Lives- Part 2: Conversion Diversions by painin uranus!

Here's a Sneak Peak at what's to come in the next chapter of Solemn Lives- Part 2: Conversion Diversions…

"W… what happened?" he asked. Then, he gasped. His voice- it was deep, like a rumbling growl on its own. He ran his hands over his body, but then remembered why he got mad. His uncertain look turned to one of pure vehemence. He shot his bulky hand out, grabbed the man, and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt, dragging him closer to him.

"You killed my father? You crummy piece of shit, I ought to rip out your entrails and strangle you!" He started to shake with wrath.

"Ah… here we go," Junichiro said calmly. He slowly pulled out what looked like a collar, but it was decorated with silver, Goth-like spikes.

"Sorry, but that's one thing I'll have to pass on. Thanks, though, it was very thoughtful of you," he replied sarcastically.

"Too bad," Junichiro replied, and before G. Keniji could prevent it, the collar locked itself around his neck. It was slightly tight and extremely uncomfortable. G. Keniji tried to yank it off, but it stayed put. He tried harder, but he only ended up hurting the back of his neck.

"Keep trying, boy, but you won't be able to remove it!" Junichi laughed wickedly. "It's connected with my own Spirit Energy- meaning that I can control you as long as you have it on, just like it was my own body. Watch." So G. Keniji watched in horror as he saw Junichiro raise his hand in front of his face, and his own did the same. Junichiro twiddled his fingers; G. Keniji twiddled his fingers.

Noticing G. Keniji's troubled expression, Junichiro smirked broadly. "Enough talk," he said with emphasis. "Go ahead and take him to his new cell, guards. Don't worry, he won't be as much of a problem this time around." The guards laughed evilly.

G. Keniji wanted to spit on their ugly faces, give them as much difficulty as he could, but he couldn't get his body to cooperate. It was like his life was a really bad TV show- he could to nothing but sit back and watch in disgust.

"Put him back and bring forth the feline demon and her child. I'm tired of not having this boy fight back."

His eyes cracked open as he saw another pair of guards drag in an angry women and a crying child, not much older than he was. His heart pained him as he saw the scars on the duo's arms and their backs, which were clearly seen through the torn rags they were forced to wear.

Unable to resist the urge to slip away from consciousness, T. Keniji curled up once more into a ball, letting his eyes drift shut, with small tears falling onto the cold concrete floor and dreams of freedom flying through his head.

Until Next Time…

On Solemn Lives- Part 2: Conversion Diversions by painin uranus!