Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I do own the idea that cats guard time. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4: Makai
…Bri…
I felt like I'd been shot in the head. My heart was obviously still not beating. I tried to take in a breath, and slowly, painfully, it came. Another and another, each breath just as painful as the last. Tsuki…My own mother had shoved me into a portal. Like I'd expected anything less? Where was I?
I felt warm breath caressing my cheeks. Very alien, foul smelling breath, at that. What had this guy eaten, a skunk with an umbrella-decorated glass of pure rotten eggs?
"She's dead, the wench. Probably bowled over by the energy," muttered a voice. A foot collided gently with my stomach. I let out a groan. "Or maybe not. Hey, human girl. Get the hell outta here."
Groggily, I opened my eyes and stared up into the face of a demon. I knew it was a demon because it was either a demon or an alien. And I was definitely gonna go with demon because aliens would be way too weird at the moment. He had a huge nose, red, while the rest of him was this deep blue color. It kind of blurred over when I blinked at him, but I could see him clearly after a minute or two. Two stubby horns stuck out of his head, but other than that, he looked like a fat humanoid.
"Where am I?" I managed to say.
"Youko Kurama's territory," he said. "You better go before he finds you. I'm going. See ya later, human girl."
Suddenly, he was beheaded and dead. Not even a startled cry had escaped him. All I'd seen was a flash of white, black, and red. I climbed shakily onto my knees and stared up at the weapon's owner. In his hands was the same whip that Kurama had shown me only a couple of hours ago. I stared at him, unsure. Kurama would never have killed someone without a reason. But there he was, in his past form, in a white kimono-style outfit. What was that thing called, anyway?
"You, human," he growled. "What are you doing here?"
"I dunno, and why are you talking like that, Kurama?" I asked, blinking at him. He blinked back, and then his golden eyes narrowed to slits. The black and red whip returned back into a rose and he placed it in his hair carefully. Why? He'd said only hours ago that he didn't want to remember all the people he'd killed with it. I glanced at the fallen demon, whose black blood now stained the grass.
Then I stared at the grass. It wasn't normal Earth grass, but Makai grass! Where was I, really?
"Human, how do you know my name?" he snapped. I'd never heard that tone of voice from Kurama. It frightened me. Why was he…?
"Kurama, why are you acting like this? Did Yusuke put you up to this? If he did, I'm going to—"
"Answer me, wench!" He slapped me, the sting of it no less shocking than the fact. I hit the ground, a cry flying from my lips. He hit me! Kurama hit me! I glared up at him. My cheek stung, but not as much as my dead heart.
"Why the hell'd you—"
He scowled and lifted his arm again. I saw stars, and then, black.
…
…
…
… Youko Kurama…
I had no idea why this wench was being so openly stupid, but I had heard enough of her back-talking mouth. I pulled out my rose again and prepared to slay her. Woman or not, she wasn't worth my time. She was tiny and a human at that. It did peak my interest just a bit to know how she'd ended up in the Makai and survived the energy waves.
A scent caught my nose. Cat demon. I sniffed her skin, the blood that was brilliantly beginning to tint her strange-looking clothes. She was part cat demon. Not enough to smell like one right off. Probably the daughter of a halfling and a human. I snarled, indignant that my lands had been tread upon by such vermin.
"Hey, Youko, what've you got…Ooh, another one," Kuronue grinned, a dark light in his violet eyes. "Why d'you have your rose out? It's a female!"
"She seems to think she knows me," I growled. "Deluded vermin. Quarter cat."
"Hmm…a quarter cat demon who thinks she knows who the infamous Youko Kurama is?" Kuronue laughed. "Awesome! Let's take her back to the hideout."
I stared at my bat demon friend, a scowl playing at my lips. "I don't think I'd term it in those particular words. She is three-quarters human."
"Your point? We've had some humans. They're pretty decent in bed if you treat 'em right."
"Correction," I said. "You've had some humans. Fine. She's your problem now."
Kuronue shrugged and picked up the human girl in his arms. The blood in her side was beginning to staunch itself. She took deep, even breaths, as though she were merely sleeping. I scowled and followed my idiot partner back to the hideout.
We passed by the stream and the female weaklings that we had found that worked for us. Most of them were demon, but there were some half demons among them. They had all been born to human females, all of whom had died. Therefore, their fathers brought them back here, to be abominations among the elite.
The elite that I, finally, had achieved. I was, at last, considered an upper B level being. I would obtain the A level soon enough, I hoped. Kuronue was slightly weaker than I, but not by much. He was a little bit strange, for a bat demon.
For one thing, his pendant, which he never left anywhere for any amount of time. I don't know where he'd gotten it, other than he said it was a gift from a woman. Whatever woman she was, I wanted to find her and drag her back to Kuronue. If it hadn't been for that one woman, he wouldn't be so strange.
"Hey, Youko," Kuronue said, his head resting on the part human's chest. "She doesn't have a heartbeat. Did you kill her?"
"She's still breathing," I shrugged. "Didn't hit her hard enough to kill her."
Yet.
Kuronue glared at me. "Then why isn't her heart beating? Humans have a heartbeat."
"How should I know?" I shrugged, my arms crossed leisurely across my chest. "It's not my fault. She was hurt like that before I ever got to her. I only slapped her twice."
Although, I added silently. If you hadn't come along, she would be dead.
Kuronue sighed as we reached the threshold of our hideout, a rosebush in the center of a burned field. No one but the two of us could enter it without permission. Almost as soon as I had pricked my finger on the venom-less rosebush, the human girl began to stir. I waited patiently for Kuronue to dive into the hole that led to our hideout before following him soon after.
"Well, we know she isn't dead," Kuronue shrugged. "But why the hell isn't her heart beating?"
I grunted in answer.
The human stared up at Kuronue, blinking her eyes at him. She looked confused. Why wouldn't she be? She was staring at a bat demon.
"That can't be right…" she said, quietly. "You should be dead."
Kuronue grinned. "I'm not dead yet, human. What's your name?"
She paused for a minute. "Neko. But you can't be alive. You've been dead for twenty years, if I'm right. You're Kuroune. Kurama's always so sad about you. I must be dreaming." She blinked slowly, her eyes roaming beyond Kuronue's face. "Where am I now?"
"Our hideout," I said. "Keep your mouth shut, wench."
Her eyes narrowed at me, fury behind them. "Who the hell are you to tell me to be quiet? I am supposed to be your girlfriend! And why are you in your other form!"
Kuronue blinked at me. "You know, she's got an attitude for a delusional human."
She turned her glare on him. "I'm not delusional!" She slapped at her own face. "Wake up, girl, Kurama's going to get worried about you if you keep having these bizzaro dreams about him and his dead partner!"
Kuronue set her on one of the numerous sleep pillows that were strewn about the hideout, mostly for sitting on rather than sleeping. He started to pull at her shirt. Most likely to look at her cut. She grabbed his wrists and pulled her shirt back down.
"Hands staying off," she growled. "Kurama territory only."
"If you still think this is a dream, you're highly mistaken, wench," I said. "I don't know who your lover is, but I am not he."
It was almost as if I'd physically slapped her. I felt her power, what feeble energy she had, begin to flare. Just a little. She looked up into my eyes and stared at me for the longest time. Then she looked at Kuronue.
"Okay, fine, whatever," she said. "I'm going back to sleep and when I wake up, I'd better be in my Kurama's arms." She laid back on the sleep pillow and fell, to my surprise, fast asleep. Did she really think she was safe?
Kuronue looked just as shocked as I felt, though I showed nothing on my face.
"I think the deluded broad actually believes that she's dreaming," he said, poking at her with one of his wings. She swatted at it, mumbling my name under her breath.
"This is going to get interesting," I sighed and sank onto another pillow.
…
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The part about cats guarding time is mine, though it was inspired in part by this obscure fantasy novel I read like two years ago. Catswold Portal was its name and I can't remember the author. In the book, the Catswold, a group of people that could turn into cats, guarded a portal into an underground world where magic exists. It was an interesting idea, but the writing wasn't all that great…
SilverDragon: I actually don't know much about Monty Python. My Environmental Biology class happened to be on the day I was writing that chapter, and I played it through almost exactly the same. I have seen the herring part, though, which I find endlessly amusing. Now you know when she is!
Saori: I wanted the Snowball nickname to go around because I thought it was funny. Just like "Fluffy" for Sesshomaru. I like sharing nicknames and I like "borrowing" them. I, in fact, borrowed a new nickname for Kurama for my newest story, Roadside. I will be uploading that soon, if you wish to find out what the nick is!
Suntiger: Um…I made up the part about cats guarding time. I just thought of it one day while I was playing with my cat, Cleopatra. She just seems to act like the Cleopatra of the Nile, and I decided that maybe she was the reincarnation of the real Cleopatra. I thought, oh, Cleo must guard time! And it led to this sequel…I find inspiration in the FUNKIEST places…And please update Varia's story soon!
Kuramafan: No problem, updating the next chapter on SATURDAY.
Hey, and if ya'll want to use the "Snowball" nick for Hiei, be my guests. I thought it was hilarious, and I wanted to share it with everybody.
