Okay, I'm back with the continuing adventures of Sui-chan. Before I start, I thought I'd let you know that after thinking about it I decided that if I'm going to write this in show style I might as well find some cool songs to use as opening and ending themes, ne? So, after a little poking around, I found two that I think will work. The opening song is called Youryuu Risui and the ending is Freedom. Both of these songs are sung by Ogata Megumi and I do not own the rights to either of them so there's my disclaimer for that. Anyway, if any of you want to hear these songs, just leave me your e-mail address in a review and I'll be glad to send them to you. But enough of this, ON WITH THE FIC!
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Last time on Yu Yu Hakusho: Kanzen na Maru…Suichi followed his strange classmate, Yanagi Omosa, home only to discover a dark secret. Since she was five, Yanagi has been controlled by a demon named Hiru so that her mother could have the perfect daughter. Yanagi's mother has also been forcing her to fight demons on a daily basis to improve her mysterious powers. Now, an A class demon has broken loose and freed the demons Yanagi's mother kept captive. Someone has to stop these demons before they destroy the city, but who?
Episode 3: The Truth Hurts
Ambulance parked outside Yanagi residence – 22 minutes after demon escape
Yanagi sat patently in the back of the ambulance while a paramedic wrapped her injured arm in bandages. Suichi sat next to her, watching. He hadn't said a word since he had uncloaked them. His mind was working furiously, trying to make sense out of this. Demons and powers and cloaking…it was all too much!
"Hatanaka-kun? You there?" he was brought back by a hand waving in front of his face. Turning he saw Yanagi's worried look and flashed her a fake smile.
"Yeah, I was just thinking," he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. She gave him a sympathetic look.
"I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but you're involved now. I'm afraid there's really no going back at this point, Hatanaka-kun," she sighed.
"What do you mean 'involved'?" he asked.
"You mean to say you honestly just want to turn you're back and pretend like none of that ever happened? Those demons are loose now and people are in danger, Hatanaka-kun," she exasperated.
"What does that have to do with me!" he cried. This was getting out of hand. He had wanted to help Yanagi and he had. That was it, the end. He had done what he wanted and now he just wanted to go home. The city wasn't his responsibility. Sure, it was unfortunate that those demons had been freed to reek whatever havoc they wanted, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"Hatanaka-kun," Yanagi sighed and shook her head before looking up at him again with a small smile. "You're way more powerful than you think. I've felt it since I first met you. You have the power; you just don't know how to use it. You've already proved your strength with that cloaking you did before!"
Suichi just stared and started to shake his head. "No, no I…"
"You should listen to her, she knows what she's talking about," a voice from the ambulance's opened doors made them both turn. Standing there was a tall youth that looked a few years older than the middle schoolers watching him. He had brown hair and brown eyes as well as a crimson headband and a bulbous blue pacifier between his teeth.
"And who are you?" Yanagi asked calmly. This stranger didn't feel like a threat, but he did feel powerful. She wondered who he was.
"Who I am isn't important," he said hastily. "Or it's not anymore anyway," he added offhandedly. She was about to ask what he meant when he interrupted her with a question of his own.
"Where'd the boy go?"
Startled, she turned and looked to see she was alone in the car. It took a minute before she figured out what had happened and started laughing.
"Baka," she gasped between bursts of laughter. A pressure on her arm alerted her to her friend's annoyance as an invisible fist gave her a weak punch. "Alright, alright," she forced herself to calm down but continued to smile widely at the spot next to her. "Don't panic, that's why you did it in the first place. Just take a deep breath and do what I told you before. To be seen you have to want to be seen."
Slowly, Hatanaka Suichi rematerialized looking shaken and a little unnerved. The stranger let out a low whistle, something that must have taken great talent to do around that pacifier.
"So…it really was a complete cloaking. I thought so the first time, but I was really too far away to tell…"
"W-what…?" Suichi gasped. He was beginning to hate this.
"Relax Hatanaka-kun," Yanagi comforted him, "you were just startled and cloaked yourself on reflex. You'll probably do that a lot until you learn how to control your powers. It's a pretty normal response for a rookie, don't worry about it."
'Don't worry about it,' Suichi thought sarcastically. 'You'll just disappear every once in a while and you won't be able stop it, but don't worry about it.'
Satisfied that Suichi was alright, or as alright as someone in his position could be right now, Yanagi turned back to the stranger.
"Who you are may not be important, but can we at least get a name? And maybe a reason why you were around to see Hatanaka-kun cloak himself the first time?" she asked.
The stranger smiled. "You can call me Koenma, and I wasn't stalking you or anything. I felt a sudden burst of youki and came to investigate, that's all."
"Youki?" Suichi asked. Vaguely he wondered if he even wanted to know.
"Youki is demon energy," Yanagi explained. "Humans, ningens, have our own energy called reiki and demons, youkai, have youki." Suichi just nodded. He wasn't sure he really understood but wasn't in a hurry to go into more detail. What she had just said was confusing enough without her trying to explain it further.
Suddenly, there was a crackle over the radio at the front of the vehicle. Suichi, startled, blinked out of existence again, only to reappear a moment later.
"Good," Yanagi smiled, "you're getting the hang of it."
"Yeah…good," Suichi muttered. He didn't see what was so good about it.
"All units…" the static muffled message began to sound from the radio "…all units…please respond…severely wounded civilians…all unit—AHHHH!" The message was cut short by a sudden scream. Yanagi shot up and grabbed the radio.
"Hey! Hey…uh…ambulance guy! Come in! What happened? What's going on? HEY!"
"Hey kid! Get away from that!" one of the paramedics banged on the passenger side window and Yanagi promptly dropped the radio and jumped out the back of the ambulance, pulling a slightly dazed Suichi with her.
"Damn it…" Yanagi muttered once she and Suichi were on the road with Koenma. "Those youkai have got to be stopped, tonight! Before they do too much damage."
"I agree," Koenma nodded. Yanagi looked up at him and then sighed.
"Look, I want to help and I can take some of the weaker demons…but…thing is…" she shook her head and then, clenching her fists, she looked up and met Koenma's gaze. "If you were watching then you know about the demon that was controlling me, right?" When Koenma nodded, she continued. "Hiru didn't solely control me, he boosted my power too. With him I could take on strong B class demons, but without him…I…I'm barely a low C class."
Koenma smiled and there was a knowing glint in his eye. "Don't worry about it," he assured her, "I've already asked in a favor from an old friend. He should be able to help us with the stronger ones. He was on his way to town anyway. He likes to come back every once in a while, you know, keep up appearances and stuff." Yanagi still looked skeptical, but nodded.
"What about me? I…I don't really want to fight these things…" Suichi piped quietly.
"Of course not," Yanagi smiled at him, throwing her good arm over his shoulder. "We don't expect you to fight, you're powers are still too new for that and quite frankly that sorry excuse for a punch you gave me earlier wouldn't even be felt by these youkai. But you better come with us anyway, that way we can ensure your safety." Suichi gulped nervously. As much as he wanted to go home, he didn't really want to be left alone either.
Koenma smiled and then looked up as both he and Yanagi caught a rather unique energy signature, one that was familiar to one and impressive to the other.
"Wow," Yanagi breathed, "I sure hope that's the friend you were talking about. I'd hate to have to fight him."
"I feel the same way," Koenma answered, feeling especially grateful that this particular friend who had started as an enemy hadn't stayed that way. 'Gee, a few months in the Makai does wonders for power levels, doesn't it?' he thought, rather impressed, as he began to lead his companions towards the source of the power he and the girl had felt.
"Yanagi-chan?" Suichi started as he hesitantly followed.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Yanagi cried as she turned to face him. He cowered slightly and she sighed. "What is it, Hatanaka-kun?"
"If I can't call you 'Yanagi-chan' then don't call me 'Hatanaka-kun'," Suichi cried. He actually didn't really care, he just felt like he needed to yell at someone about something just to let off some steam.
Yanagi smiled. "Alright then, what do you want me to call you?"
"Suichi," Suichi answered, "just plain Suichi."
"Alright 'just plain Suichi', what do you want?" Yanagi teased.
"What about your mother?" Suichi asked. He hadn't seen her or the doctor since before the metal building was destroyed.
"She's dead, that damned doctor is too," Yanagi said carelessly. Suichi's eyes went wide. Yanagi's mother was dead and she acted like she didn't care at all.
"Yanagi, doesn't it make you sad that your mother is dead?" he asked quietly, eyeing Koenma's back. He didn't really want the stranger to hear this conversation, he still wasn't sure he trusted him.
"Suichi, the woman who made me kill everyday since I was three and turned me into a living zombie is dead. Somehow I think I'll get over it," she threw over her shoulder as she continued to follow Koenma. "Besides, it's not like I'm an orphan now or anything," she added. "My grandmother on my dad's side lives just on the other side of town, I won't even have to change schools or anything. In fact, she's been fighting my mother for custody over me for years. She has some powers too you know, all my dad's family does." Suichi was silent, trying to digest this information. Every time he asked a question he was met with more strange and confusion information. Maybe he should just keep silent for the rest of the night.
The powerful youki signature Yanagi had felt before suddenly flared up again and she broke into a sprint to cover the final blocks to it, Koenma and Suichi close behind. This youkai who was Koenma's friend was so powerful, and yet at the same time his energy signature wasn't rough like most other high class youkai. This being's energy felt soothing and calm, so unlike the usual violent and almost painful signatures she was used to feeling from youkai this strong.
Rounding the corner, she stopped at the sight that met her eyes. A tall and slender humanoid youkai was fighting a group of lower level demons. Fighting wasn't really even the word for it, the humanoid moved so gracefully, it was more like a dance. He had a long whip that looked like some type of plant and his emerald eyes shone in the dimming light of dusk, his long red mane swaying behind him with every move.
"That's him?" Yanagi breathed incredulously.
Koenma smiled as he came up behind her. "Yup, that's him."
Suichi, who had been a few yards behind the others, finally trotted onto the scene and nearly fainted, blinking out of existence once more. When he came back, he was white as a sheet.
"Suichi?" Yanagi asked. What was wrong with him? He had been scared when he had seen the other youkai before, but he still hadn't acted quite like this. Besides, he didn't seem as scared as he was surprised and shocked.
"O-oniisan?" Suichi squeaked. The tall redhead, having finished off the last of the youkai he had been fighting, turned, his eyes widening at the sight of his little brother.
"Oniisan!" both Koenma and Yanagi turned to look at Suichi.
"He's you're brother?" Yanagi cried, looking between the young human boy and the red haired demon.
"Of course! That's why you look so familiar! I knew I'd seen you somewhere before," Koenma said, hitting his head.
"Wait, wait a minute!" Yanagi shouted. "Why didn't you tell me your brother was a youkai!"
"He's not a youkai!" Suichi shouted back. He could live with Yanagi and her crazy life and powers and he could put up with his own uncontrollable cloaking, but he would not believe that his stepbrother was a demon!
"Suichi…" the red haired demon took a step forward. Suichi's eyes sprang to him, the shimmering black dots pleading with him.
"She's wrong," Suichi said in almost a whisper, eyes locked on his stepbrother. "Tell her she's wrong. You're not a demon. TELL HER!" The group was silent for a minute. It was clear that Suichi was on the verge on a nervous brake down. This had all just been too much too fast.
"Suichi…" Yanagi started quietly, he didn't look at her. She felt kind of hurt. Here he had followed her home and put himself in danger to try and save her from things he hadn't even known about or believed in at the time, and now he wouldn't even look at her. She sighed and tried again.
"Suichi, do you remember what I said before about reiki and youki?" She waited and when he didn't answer continued. "Well, they don't mix. Suichi, humans have reiki and demons have youki, there's no if's an's or but's about it. Sui…he has youki."
"You're wrong!" he barked at her. If she had been the one with the cloaking power she would have disappeared in fright. She hadn't thought sweet, gentle, soft spoken Suichi could act like this.
"Kurama," Koenma intervened before anyone got hurt. Suichi had no idea of what he was capable of and neither did Koenma, but the former Reikai ruler did know that he didn't want to find out. There was just no telling what the youth might do if pushed far enough, and therefore it was probably best to break up the fight now before it went any farther.
Kurama sighed. He wasn't sure what was going on or what Suichi had been through but he could tell it hadn't been good. Koenma hadn't said much when he had contacted him not more than fifteen minutes ago. The only information he would give was just that there was trouble and he needed Kurama's help. Kurama had been on his way home for a few days anyway, so he had agreed. He had to come home every once in a while, to stay updated on his school work and keep his mother from worrying. To be honest, he liked to come back. The Ningenkai had been his home for over a decade and a half and he rather liked it there, once he had learned to give it a chance.
"Suichi," the redhead sighed again. His little stepbrother looked like he was about to cry. He really must have been through a lot to be acting this way. Then again, he had never really considered how Suichi would act when he told him the truth, mostly just because Kurama had never planed to tell him at all. If worst came to worst, he could always just make Suichi forget, like he had done to Maya.
"It's the truth, Suichi. I am a demon," Kurama said quietly. Suichi started to back up, shaking his head.
"But…but you…I mean you were always so…you can't be! You just can't be!" Suichi felt sick. Everything he thought he knew about the world had suddenly been thrown back in his face. Demons were real and his brother was one of them! How had that happened! "H-how…" he stuttered weakly. He hadn't really meant to say it out loud, but now that he had, he wanted an answer.
"That's a long story," Koenma cut in, "and incase you forgot we have other problems. Demons-destroying-the-city type problems."
"I hate to say it, but Mr. Sensitive here has got a point," Yanagi cut in, eying Suichi wearily, watching for another screaming fit. Suichi's eyes drifted to her before he closed them in a long, tired sigh.
"This is ridiculous," he shook his head, "just completely and utterly ridiculous."
Yanagi laughed. It seemed that Suichi had finally gotten a hold of himself. She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, welcome to the Real World, kid." Suichi glanced at her before sighing again. Then he turned his gaze back to his brother, who was still watching him.
"Well…" Suichi started taking a step towards his stepbrother, "Yanagi's a C class, whatever the hell that means, I keep disappearing or cloaking or whatever, and I don't even know what his story is but I'm sure it's just as weird," he finished, jerking a thumb in Koenma's direction. "So, I guess being a demon pretty much makes you normal around here."
Kurama smiled as Koenma clapped his hands, rubbing the palms together. "Alright, now that that's taken care of, do you mind if we stop some of the other demons while there's still a city left to save?"
Koenma started off, heading towards an area a few blocks away where all of them but Suichi could feel a large concentration of youki.
"So," Suichi said as they walked, "he called you Kurama, right? Is that your real name?"
Kurama nodded. "Yes, but you can still call me Shuichi if you like."
"Wait," Yanagi cut in, "your bro's name is Shuichi too?" They both nodded. "And you think my life is confusing!" she cried. They both laughed as she shook her head.
"Suichi," Kurama turned to his brother, "I don't think you've introduced your friend."
Suichi opened his mouth to answer, but Yanagi cut him off. "We'll tell you who I am, if you explain who the hell he is," she whispered, nodding towards Koenma. Kurama just laughed.
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Not much action in that chappy, but it was more of an explanatory filler type one. We'll get some action going in the next chapter, I promise. Hope you enjoyed it and don't forget about those songs. I could use feedback on whether or not you guys like them.
Interview with a Demon
Hatanaka Suichi
Hatanaka Suichi is shown very little in the series, and when he is shown he's being controlled by a demon, so that pretty much left his overall personality up to my discretion. I wanted to make him seem average and normal, but to have his own quirks too. What I ended up with was a kind and friendly if slightly naïve boy who cares deeply for his friends and is always willing to help people. The cloaking was kind of a spur of the moment idea that the more I thought about it the more I liked it considering the potential it had to add to his personality, such as the disappearing whenever he's scared. As for his other powers…well, you'll just have to wait and see. He's creates very strong bonds with the people he is around and you will see that as the group grows he's really the focal point that holds it all together. I think you'll all really enjoy watching his character grow and become stronger, I know I will.
Teaser for next episode
It's me, Suichi again. Things just keep getting weirder and weirder. Every time I think things have reached the strangeness peak and couldn't possibly be stranger, they surprise me again. Okay, so my brother is actually a demon fox named Kurama, I can deal with that. But if that's true than where has he really been all this time? Suddenly his excuses are starting to sound a little farfetched. Anyway, Yanagi's been talking about her powers for a while and now she might finally get the chance to use them. What exactly is her power anyway? And, wait a minute, is that Hiru? Find out next time on Yu Yu Hakusho: Kanzen na Maru. When all things come full circle, who will enter the pattern and will they be strong enough to keep the balance?