Solitary Mask
Chibi Tsuki
A/N: Sorry about that late update but I had to finish an assignment and my GW chapters before I was allowed to start on this one. Well, read on!
Chapter 6
Portal to Makai
Kurama glanced around, smelling a familiar scent of gardenias. He was wondering where he had smelt it before. He couldn't forget the fresh smelling scent of the gardenias which he had often smelt around one particular person; Mikazuki. Glancing around determinedly, Kurama was unable find the girl he was searching for, instead he noticed another familiar person, Mikazuki's friend. But there were more important matters at hand and so he gave his full attention to his friends as they discussed the possibilities.
~*~*~*~
Once they had their short five-minute break, customers began piling into the cafeteria, forcing Emi and Mikazuki to continue their work. "Mika," Emi uttered, shoving a tray of drinks into her hands, "this is for your friend's table." She gave her a friendly wink before she was hurried off to serve others. I guess this is where I make my appearance. Walking towards their table with a friendly smile on her face, she cautiously placed the drinks on the table. Genkai was staring at her with a strange, suspicious look on her face as if she was trying to find out something.
Kurama glanced at the hand placing down his drink and scanned upwards, following the arm to the person whom he had instantly recognized. "Hey Mikazuki," he smiled cheerily, startling his friends with his sudden words.
"Hey Shuichi," the light-haired teenager greeted, with the same degree of cheerfulness. "It's a nice surprise to see you here." Then she chuckled innocently. "You'd think I'd notice your red hair. Well it's best that I get back to work. It's nice seeing you and your friends here." Quickly she left, giving Kurama's friends a rather strange impression of her.
"Is she your friend Kurama?" Botan enquired after gulping down some of her milkshake.
"From school," he replied casually. "Mikazuki Tsukishiro. She was rather strange at first but she's loosened up a lot since then."
"What do you mean by strange?" Genkai asked nonchalantly as if she were not exactly that interested.
"She kept her emotions concealed and never really expressed herself to anyone at all. The entire school left her alone." He paused before saying, "Well let's get back to more important matters." Kurama didn't want to dwell on it any further, knowing that it rather disrespectful to talk about someone behind their back.
~*~*~*~
Most of the customers had already left after a hearty meal and Mikazuki was nearly ready to leave, her backpack flung onto her back and her hand gently gripping her mask. That was about everything she had to bring, once last mental check and then she left. On her way home, she passed the news agency and bought a newspaper which she purchased nightly. The worker there always remembered her because she visited that place often with her mask on and tonight was one of those nights. Mikazuki dropped the coins into his hand and walked out again, clutching the newspaper in one hand. She could see the main heading of tonight's newspaper, mentioning something about a three-eyed alien being sighted. Chuckling softly to herself she smiled and continued the rest of her way home.
The dark night was rather lonely and chilling but she was used to that so it didn't matter all that much. Her footsteps echoed in the darkness of the night as she walked. Just as she was about to turn the corner into her own street, she predicted what was about to happen. A creature leapt from the bushes, charging at her with swift speed but missed her as she moved at the last second. She smirked and crouched on the footpath, patting the creature. "You missed again Song," she laughed softly while stroking the fluffy grey-white fur. "What, have you got news?" The creature continuously wagged its tail and followed Mikazuki into her home. Once she made sure that the door was locked and the curtains firmly shut, she settled down at the couch with a cup of warm tea in her hand while her companion lay on the couch with its head on her lap. Lights had made the creature identifiable; revealing a strong slender wolf with a grey and white coloured coat. Tan patches brightened the she-wolf's coat, making her much more attractive to the human eye. Mikazuki didn't care about her companions' fur colours; to her they were beautiful especially at heart. She hated how the human population stereotyped wolves to be evil creatures that attacked humans and killed babies. They never did that, they only defended themselves from humans. There was also something else she could never understand, why humans thought themselves as superiors to the animal kingdom when they were just the same in status; animals of the world.
Song growled softly, successfully catching Mikazuki's attention once again before relaying her thoughts into the youkai's mind through telepathy. A sign of glee appeared on Mikazuki's face as she continued to scratch the wolf gently behind the ears. This is excellent Song. Perhaps we'll have a chance after all there's half a year until we have to be there. Merely yawning in agreement, the creature dozed off on her friend's comfortable lap.
While the creature lay asleep, Mikazuki picked up the newspaper she had left on the table and read the headline once again and then she recognised the familiarity between the 'alien' drawn on the front page to a famous youkai. The youkai they had labelled 'The Forbidden Child'. She laughed softly to herself and read the articles concerning the sighting of Hiei, revealing a lot more comedy than actual relevant information. Placing the paper on the table, she leaned back against the couch, thinking about her companions. Without them she definitely would not be spending her time here learning and educating herself but instead searching for the path that would hopefully lead her right back to Makai.
~*~*~*~
Now that it was finally the weekend and her last lesson on Saturday had ended around lunch meant that they were free for the rest of the weekend. Song had decided to stay inside the house since she had slept throughout the night until midday and no body really wanted to see a wolf since they were all so afraid of such 'dangerous' creatures. The pair were waiting for night to come. "So Shuichi is Youko Kurama," Mikazuki muttered to herself thoughtfully. "He's been appearing in my dreams so often, maybe I'll encounter him sometime in Makai."
Darkening, the sky became dotted with stars, along with the moon; their brightness illuminating the night sky. Mikazuki shut the door gently behind her, locking it with her stiffened fingers. Although the night atmosphere was chilly and the wind brought coldness through the sky, the silver-haired girl only wore a T-shirt, long denim jeans and a blue spray jacket to keep off the cold. She only brought with her a pair of keys and a single wolf. They started walking down the street path, trying to avoid as many people as possible. Song had decided to walk through bushes instead even though it was much rougher, she had thought it to be much safer. "Mikazuki, where're you going this late at night?" Kurama's voice yelled from out of nowhere. Stopping at her tracks, Mikazuki turned around and glanced at the familiar figure and smiled casually.
"I'm going to the shopping markets, are you heading home?" Mikazuki asked as sweetly as possible. Kurama smiled and nodded. "It's best that I go or else the shops may close, bye." Mikazuki quickly hurried off, turning around to wave at Kurama one last time before she turned the corner.
That was a close one, wasn't it Song? The wolf replied telepathically, 'Very. Is he the one they call Kurama?' Uh-huh. Very powerful too. Let's get going or the others will have to wait much longer. Rapidly darkening within minutes, the youkai and her wolf sped up until they were at Song's limit. When it was finally dark enough, Mikazuki transformed and raced beside her wolf sister, their tough paws crashing against the cement. There wasn't much further to go until they reached the forest, the woods of their hiding. Scrambling through shrubbery and splashing in small streams, they finally reached their destination. Song was rather exhausted in comparison to Mikazuki. Several others greeted her happily, their nuzzles coming into contact and their tails waving madly. Once that was done, they eventually got into business and the wolves led her to a large swamp, a layer of murky green plants, floating on top and a deep area of mud coating the swamp's edges. 'Under that layer of mud is the portal to the other world,' the alpha male of the pack explained to Mikazuki through the same method as Song did. The youkai allowed the conversation to be heard throughout the pack, thanking her pack gratefully. I'm going to see what's beyond that portal, you needn't follow me in case of danger. Nervously, the wolves felt that it was a must to help one of their own in any situation.
'We are a pack, we live as a pack and we work as a pack. Let us go together,' another wolf suggested, his eyes focussed on the swamp. He was eager to see what was on the other side, the place Mikazuki had often described.
No, Mikazuki sent to their minds in a firm tone. It shocked them slightly for her to use such strong mental emotions on them but it was necessary to reassure them or else she would end up with eleven wolves and four pups in Makai and they would need some protection from the beasts there. When at last they had agreed to her going alone, she wagged her tail reassuringly at them before plunging into the dense liquid.
~*~*~*~
She could feel the thick dried mud clinging to her fur uncomfortably. Her eyes opened to see the brilliant moon beaming at her, its brightness competing with the Makai moon. Lifting her paw, she swiped at her muzzle, trying to free her eyes of the thick mud that obscured her vision. It wasn't exactly safe to be there in a pool of mud like she was at the moment, especially since the Forbidden Child became the guardian of the gates. Slowly standing up, she looked around, searching for a lake or stream to wash off her extra coating. Shimmering water caught her attention as she leapt frantically towards the water and plunged into it, the refreshing water brushing against the dried mud particles. It was working and with her ability to control water, she was able to clean herself in no time. After washing herself, she crawled out of the pond and shook herself of the water while absorbing some of the water into her body since shaking couldn't dry her coat entirely. Her metal chest plate seemingly was water resistant as it didn't rust in the water. Feeling refreshed, she trotted back to the place she had first been. Beside where she first lay was a dark muddy pool, no bigger than the pond she had washed herself in. This must be where I came through from. She tried desperately to recognise the place around her, but it had been many years since she had actually been there. Instead she transformed back into her human body and surveyed the area; a great area of nothing. Well there were trees and few bushes but that was about it.
Suddenly, she noticed a giant worm-like creature coming at her in great speed. It wasn't impossible for it to be a creature but at the rate it was going, it seemed to be a transport of some sort rather than a giant bug. She thought back to the newspaper article from the night before and then at the possibility of it being Hiei's transportation. Never had she witnessed the fire youkai do his job so it was safer to assume what she had suspected than otherwise. Summoning her strength, she transformed into a different body; her youkai body. This was another transformation that differed from her wolf form and her human form. It suited her fighting much better than her human form would since it was physically stronger and could endure more blows than the others. Long silver-white pointed wolf-ears sprouted in place of her human ears as a wolf-like tail appeared, connecting to her tailbone. Even her clothes changed. She was wearing a black sleeveless top, with a strong silver chest plate over it, a large leaf-shaped metal that protruded out from the armour at the shoulder to protect it. It was curved and rose upwards slightly from the connection between it and the armour and pointed sharply at the end. There was only one of them and it covered her left shoulder. Her hands and lower arms had been covered with tough animal skin, leather straps winding around her arms to keep the skin in place. They ended just above her wrists, allowing her fingers more flexibility as the skins merely hung around her knuckles, with stripped edges. Her shorts ended just below her knees, with a long strip of cloth winding around her waist to avoid her shorts from falling off. As for her shoes, she wore sneakers and socks, something which had amused her at that moment.
The thing was approaching in lightening speed, barely halting in front of her. On the top of the machine were two figures; a short youkai with relatively high youki, just like the youkai next to him. Mikazuki looked up at the one she assumed to be the Forbidden Child, her blue eyes laughing in amusement. Next to him was another famous youkai, Mukuro. She knew her limited strength and quickly darted away before they had thought of their next step. Mikazuki definitely didn't want to be beaten up for no reason, especially not by one of Makai's strongest pair.
~*~*~*~
Hiei looked at the figure standing motionlessly before him. Although his emotions didn't show it, he was pondering. He had sworn that there was a human within Makai. Even his radars had detected the presence of humans, perhaps they were just simply malfunctioning. It had happened several times before and he had often ended up finding Urameshi. Perhaps using these machines to detect human blood just wasn't enough, make them detect ki instead, it would be much more efficient that way. "Half demons," Hiei muttered to no one in particular and continued his search for humans while Mukuro retreated to her own room.
~*~*~*~
Kurama pressed the doorbell continuously, and again there was no reply from within. Where is she? He had been coming to her home since Monday afternoon to see whether how she was going. Mikazuki hadn't attended school since Monday through to Thursday and he was getting worried. At first he had assumed that she had possibly gone out to see a doctor those few days before but now he was positive it wasn't that. Summoning his youki, Kurama picked the lock easily and walked in cautiously. He closed the door behind him, placed his bag on the floor and took off his shoes. There were few shoes in Mikazuki's house, only two pairs; a pair of school shoes and boots. Striding into the kitchen, he noticed the more homely look of her home. Albeit there weren't more items there, it just seemed warm anyway. "Mikazuki?" he asked and raised an eyebrow to the silence. Curiosity once again got the better of him as he walked further down the corridor and turned to find her bedroom. It was spotless as he had guessed but there was something strange about it. The room didn't seem like a girl's at all, there was no mirror, no posters, not even a single soft toy. Instead there were just a small pile of books concerning her school work on her desk, a plain bed and a wardrobe in her room, nothing else except for the clock by the windowsill. Like a gentleman, he walked out of the room, leaving the room untouched. It was rather disrespectable to search through a girl's room even if there were no one to witness it.
Without any luck he walked to the kitchen, prepared to go searching for her personally outside until the doorbell rang. He had considered opening the door, but then others would suspect him of breaking into the house and so he merely walked to the window and glanced outside. The headmaster? Why is he here? He looks nervous. He waited for a while longer before the man left slightly in relief. Was Mikazuki that frightening? I might as well leave. Just as he started heading to the door, the flashing red light caught his eye. The telephone had missed calls, several in fact. Picking the phone up, he pressed a button and listened to the message, it was from Emi asking where Mikazuki was. The other messages from her were alike. Then there were others as well; from the headmaster asking for… Mikazuki's mother? Of course no one replied him and so he had decided for a personal visit to her home but no one was at home. Questions filled his mind, tumbling in all at once. Mikazuki never mentioned her parents, does that mean she's an orphan? Where does her supporting money come from? Is that why she works at a cafeteria every night? Then where can she be? It was confusing, very confusing in fact.
~*~*~*~
Mikazuki had much trouble finding her way out of Makai, encountering many demons challenging her for a fight. She had accepted, knowing that it would only be smart to start her training now, not a day before when she was needed. But afterwards, she had been rather exhausted. The C and D class youkais proved to be little challenge but the B class youkai were piling in for fights. Walking with difficulty, she headed towards a small visible lake and let herself physically drop into it. By coming into contact with water, she could regain her strength but she'd have to spend a while in there before she could regain her full strength. Time… she has lost all sense of time. Truthfully she was too tired to count the days she had spent in Makai, but she knew it was well past the weekend, which meant that she had missed quite a few days of school already. Emi was expecting her to help out at the cafeteria too! Scrambling out of the water with little youkai refilled, she hurried off in search of that portal she had come from. Her legs were trembling hopelessly under her and she could feel herself ready to collapse any time, but nevertheless she moved on. Luckily the sun had already disappeared into horizon and the moon had taken its place. The moon meant that she could use its energy instead of her own as it reflected water energy off its surface. That was the advantage of having water elemental for one's youki, it meant that they could use the moon to support them since it controlled water tides. But if the moon's rays didn't touch her, she wasn't able to use its energy.
Finally after a several hours of endless running, she managed to find the pool of mud. Without second thoughts, she leapt in and appeared back in the Ningenkai. Like she had suspected, the wolves had gone to their den and she was glad that they had. There was something wrong, she could feel it. Bringing her hand up, she brushed the filth off her hair and her furry ears. "That's what…" she murmured to herself. "I don't think I have the energy to change back into my human form though." She sent a thankful smile to the moon as she stood up on her feet and started running out the forest; back home.
~*~*~*~
Mikazuki left her home early the next morning, feeling extremely exhausted. She barely managed to escape Makai alive and now she was going to school. The sun was already climbing up the sky, much to her dismay. Painfully walking up the stairs to the lockers, she grabbed the rails for support. So much of her energy had been drained that she could barely think to herself. Instead, her mind was rather blank. Looking at her timetable, she read 'physical education', which meant sport. Could she skip that? The teachers didn't allow them to play sport when they didn't bring their uniform and this was more or less the case. She made her way back down the stairs again and headed for the gym. Empty and quiet, she leaned her back against the wall and sat down, falling asleep immediately.
"Tsukishiro Mikazuki, Tsukishiro," her name was being called continuously as she opened her eyes, feeling not much better than before. The teacher repeated her name, waking her fully. "You didn't bring your uniform did you?"
Shaking her head sleepily, she fell back against the wall and slept again. If Mikazuki wasn't such a strange character, the students would've laughed but the fact that the mask reminded them of her personality shut them up. The lesson had ended quickly but the girl was still asleep, leaving the teacher to wake her up reluctantly. Slowly, the girl stood up and walked out of the gym to her next lesson; Maths. Being last to arrive at the class, she walked in and seated herself at her usual seat, not knowing every pair of eyes on her. Again she had slept through class and was barely to wake up when the bell rang. I need youki… Recess had been extended today because of a staff meeting which meant that she a longer period of time to sleep through. Surprisingly she had been able to jump up onto her favourite tree and started sleeping again.
"Mikazuki? Mikazuki? Wake up," Kurama murmured as he tried hopelessly to wake her up. But when he shook her, he realised that something wrong, she had gone unconscious altogether. He brought his fingers and placed it across her wrist, feeling her slow moving pulse. "She has lack of ki… strange…" Nevertheless, he closed his right hand and opened it again, revealing seeds. "This should do it." Pulling off her mask, he dropped them into her mouth. She slowly woke up and nearly yelled when she saw Kurama, but her low energy restricted her. Kurama's seeds had given her the full power of a human being, but not 'her' full power which meant that she still had a great energy loss. The red-haired bishounen didn't know this nor did she intend to tell him.
"Thanks Shuichi," she muttered and put her mask back on before releasing her tightened face back to her weary self.
~*~*~*~
A/N: This one's much longer than the others ones, just for you my dear readers. I hope you don't mind the lateness but I have been trying to get over my writer's block and I've finally managed to. Does anyone here like Mukuro and Hiei as a pair? I'm considering whether I should make them a couple or not because I don't really mind about those two. Please tell me what you think. Bais! Chibi Tsuki
