"Obligation and Duty"

Chapter 23

.oO{I own my peeps. And the story. Yep.}

#Vegeta stands there and glares.#

#Author raises eyebrow# Is it just me or are all the short, dark haired anime guys punks? #Author has another thought# and they all seem to be really hot too! ^v^ #Author laughs evilly as Hiei and Vegeta glare at her# Oh! Go read "It's Worth Life" by Cassalaine. It's a GW fic, and a VERY good one at that! #Author thumbs-up#

*****

Botan, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Rei got off a bus in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" Rei asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Yusuke said, giving her an agreeing glance. Botan rolled her eyes at the two, "We are going to Tarukane's compound."

"We know WHY we're here, we just don't know where here is," Yusuke pointed out.

Botan shrugged, "Doesn't matter, I guess."

Kuwabara turned and looked down at the forest. Without warning he started running to it.

"Hey! Kuwabara!" Yusuke called. He grabbed Rei by the arm and they ran off after him.

"Wait for me!" Botan squeaked. They soon caught up with Kuwabara and stopped to catch their breath.

"Damn.. This place is just damned," Yusuke was muttering. Rei was starting to agree with him. Botan had run ahead with her Spirit Compass and called, "Come on you guys! There's a path up here we could walk on!"

"More walking?" Yusuke groaned. Rei sighed, "Seems that way."

"Come on, Urameshi!" Kuwabara called as he ran past Botan. Rei and Yusuke stumbled up the hill to where she was.

"Seeing him like this makes me not want to tell him about the rest of the video..." Botan bit her lip.

"I know," Yusuke and Rei agreed at the same time.

.oO{'Yukina has a tie to your group already. She's Hiei's younger sister,' Koenma had said. Why did it have to be Hiei's sister?} Rei asked herself.

***

They walked about two more miles when Botan looked at the Spirit Compass.

"Yusuke," she barely got out before he answered, "I know. He's already here."

Before them stood a tall man dressed in a suit. Rei and the others could all tell he was really a demon in disguise though.

"Who are you?" Yusuke asked.

"That's exactly what I was going to ask you. This is private property," he answered. "Leave at once."

Kuwabara pleaded, "Don't be so strict."

"We're lost and in trouble," Yusuke added.

"Please let us stay at Mr. Tarukane's," Botan piped in. Rei stood there and watched their surroundings. She was getting a bad vibe and she could tell the guys were too.

"That's an impossible request," the guy pushed his sunglasses back up his nose.

"Don't be so cold, please," Kuwabara pleaded.

Yusuke scratched his head, "I agree with him. Tarukane is making a lot of money in mean ways, isn't he?"

"You seem to know too much for just lost children. I guess I have no choice," the guy said just before he transformed. He had green tentacles, a snout nose and what looked like a mouth in the middle of his chest.

"I will let you leave, but as dead bodies," he said just as his chest-mouth opened. "It is too late to turn back now. No human has been able to go back alive after seeing this figure."

"I wonder why," Rei muttered under her breath.

Kuwabara looked annoyed, "You bastard. You must be one of Tarukane's henchmen."

"You're right. He ordered me to kill anyone with out mercy who tried to steal his Yukina."

"Yukina is a demon. That means she's one of you," Yusuke said.

"Don't you feel anything knowing she is being treated cruelly by a human?" Kuwabara asked.

The guy didn't bother thinking, "No. Not at all."

"What?"

The guy laughed, "There are some humans who sell their entire beings to fulfill their evil desires, aren't there? This is the same thing. You would do the same if the money piled up in front of you."

"You must be joking! Don't lower us to your level," Yusuke was starting to get irritated, also. He didn't have to say anything to Kuwabara, because they both started powering up their attacks at the same time.

"I feel like puking by just looking at you," Kuwabara said.

"What?!" the guy exclaimed.

"Can't he hear?" Kuwabara turned to Yusuke.

"Maybe he sold his ears, too," Yusuke shrugged.

"You are just pathetic humans!" the guy said right before he lunged. "Bastards! Die!!"

Kuwabara jumped up to meet him in midair. He swiped his sword three times and landed safely. The guy started sliding into three pieces just as Yusuke powered up his Spirit Gun and shot.

After the guy disintegrated, Yusuke turned back to them, "Looks like this place is also hard to get through. Plus, since we're so far in the woods, we don't even have a mountain road to walk on."

Botan looked at the Spirit Compass again and said, "But we are going to right way. The compass is picking up a strong ice apparition."

"I can tell that without using any type of apparatus," Kuwabara said as he held up his pinky. "Look at this!"

Rei and Botan looked at each other and whispered, "Dirty finger..."

"I can see it very clearly. It is the red thread of my destiny that attatches to Yukina's little finger," Kuwabara moved his hand a little and said, "If we follow this red thread, it will lead us to her. Let's go!"

Kuwabara started walking off, leaving Rei, Yusuke and Botan behind.

"Well, I guess we follow," Rei shrugged.

***

They were still following Kuwabara, who was still following his pinky.

"I think he's flipped," Rei muttered to Yusuke. They had been walking side-by-side since they started following him.

"I agree," Yusuke whispered back. Just then they saw Kuwabara start walking off the path and into the bushes.

"Ahh... Kuwabara? This way," Botan called to him. She started walking down the path and Rei caught a glimmer of light. Just then Botan was pulled upwards and her backpack fell off.

"Botan!" Rei and Yusuke called at the same time.

"Yusuke! Rei!!" she called back. They saw a giant web and Botan's hands and feet were stuck fast with the sticky string. Botan looked over her shoulder, "What is that?" The light seemed to move and show a giant spider!

Botan screamed just as the spider started talking.

"I've been waiting for you," he said.

"A spider came after an octopus. Let Botan go," Yusuke said. The spider looked over at Botan, who was still hanging upside down.

"I will soon... She will be my food after I kill you. I know it is useless, but if you want to rescue this woman, fight against me..." he said, just before he was interupted by Kuwabara.

Kuwabara powered up his Spirit Sword and hit the web, "I will not forgive any guy who prevents me from reaching Yukina." Kuwabara sliced the web up and Yusuke grabbed Botan just in time before she hit the ground. The spider guy fell to the ground also, but landed it.

"Are you two really human?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," Kuwabara answered him.

"Damn!"

Yusuke started powering up what looked like his shot gun, but instead was a really powerful punch. "Sorry if I make this quick."

The spider jumped and Yusuke punched him right in the abdomen. That killed it and it fell backwards on the ground; twitching.

"Disgusting," Rei stuck out her tongue.

"You did it!" Botan jumped for joy.

Yusuke scratched the back of his head, "He was weak."

"Let's make camp for the night. It's getting dark," Rei suggested. They all agreed and soon they had a nice fire burning. Rei rested her head behind her hands as she listened to the other three talk. .oO{Well, he's finally caught up,} she though as she felt Hiei somewhere close.

Rei peeked up at a tree and saw his familiar form, "Goodnight you guys," she said to the others before she closed her eyes to sleep.

-----

She saw Hiei. Tied up with some odd pink stuff. Or was it really pink? She couldn't quite tell. It looked like a memory. He didn't have his Jagan. Someone stood over him.

'I will ask you again. You haven't changed your mind, have you? It involves pain far stronger than you can imagine to put a Jagan on your body. You will groan, scream, writhe and suffer between life and death,' the guy said and snorted, 'I wonder what makes you do this.'

Hiei answered his usual "hn", 'Stop talking. Do it immediately.'

Chuckling, the guy said, 'Then let's begin. You don't need to put up with the pain. If you feel pain, it's ok to scream.'

She saw a claw shaped object start twirling above him and start to come down just as she woke up.

-----

"That was certainly interesting," Rei mumbled to herself. Yusuke and Botan were already awake and Botan said, "Mornin' Rei. It's getting bright, isn't it?"

"We should get going," Yusuke said. Kuwabara sat up and yawned. Rei thought he might have seen Hiei when he looked toward the tree, but Hiei quickly got out of sight. They stood up and started walking. They walked almost a half a mile before they were jumped by some goons.

Six of them to be exact. Kuwabara and Yusuke had no problem defeating them, though.

"Piece of cake," Kuwabara said.

"Even though there's a lot of them, that doesn't mean they'll win," Yusuke added. Botan looked at the Spirit Compass again and ran up to them, "The place where Yukina is is close."

"All right. Let's go!" Kuwabara pulled out a headband and tied it on his head. It read: Yukina, My Life.

Rei, Botan and Yusuke's jaws dropped. Botan pointed to it and asked, "When did you make that thing?"

Kuwabara looked unfazed, "It shows how spirited I am!"

He didn't have much longer to explain because more goons came running up the hill. One of them said, "You are too bold!" As another jumped towards them.

"How annoying! Those who try to thwart my love..." Kuwabara started saying as he powered up his sword and ran toward them, "Shall be cut by me and die!"

He cut down more than half before Yusuke said, "I think I should keep up with him," and started running towards the guys.

He powered up his Shot Gun and hit two of them right in the face. He then ran up to a very large guy who powered up to become even larger. Jumping, Yusuke landed more than 5 shot guns in his face.

"Since he was big, he wasn't hard to miss," Yusuke said as he landed back on the ground.

They started walking again and reached a clearing.

"This must be it," Kuwabara said.

Botan checked her Spirit Compass again and said, "Yes, I'm sure of it. Yukina is here."

Kuwabara yelled, "Wait for me! I will rescue you!" and started to walk off. Yusuke would've followed it Botan hadn't grabbed his shoulder.

"There are three evil presences far stronger than those of the demons we've just beat," she said, and she pulled out her oar. "Rei and I will go scouting."

Rei and Botan hopped onto the oar and Yusuke said, "Be careful!"

Botan and Rei flew over the house and Botan gasped, "Such a big house!"

"I know! I wonder what it looks like inside?" Rei answered just as the heard a big explosion. The shock wave of it hit and threw Rei off, but she luckily grabbed hold of the oar.

"Hold on Rei!" Botan said as she flew toward the fire. The fire spewed at them and Botan did a barrel roll. They saw Yusuke and Kuwabara come out of the fire totally unharmed though, but then they noticed a blue shield around them. Rei had managed to get back on the stick and they both called out, "Yusuke!"

He gave them a thumbs up as they landed beside him. With a nod, they all start for the door. They opened it and someone stepped out in their way.

"The gang of demons, the three devils, first devil: Miyuki," the purple haired lady said. She was dressed in a red chinese dress with a white shirt under it, but yet Rei still couldn't help but wonder if this was really a guy. "I will be your opponent," Miyuki said.

They didn't answer. They all seemed flabberghasted. Rei hoped that wouldn't last for long.