Disclaimer: I don't own the YYH characters, but I do reserve the rights to Takashi Ashitare. She's my little mystic.

A/N: kaasan (mother; otousan (father)

Of Mystics and Youkai

Chapter 5

Camping

The group found a place to camp for the night and settled down to eat. Hiei gets the fire going while Kurama, Kuwabara, Yusuke and Ashitare find seats around the inviting flames. Kuwabara yawns and looks over to Yusuke, "So tell me again why we think we're headed in the right direction?"

"Koenma said whoever has the Suspension Orb would need some pretty powerful interference to mask its signature once filled. So assuming the orb's just about full, it would need to be kept as close to the center of the mountain as possible. So we need to climb up to the level of the center, then navigate that level looking for our creep with the Orb."

"And tell me again why we keep bringing him?" Hiei came to sit next to Kurama, his eyes throwing daggers at the redheaded ningen.

"Listen shrimp! My mind's still swirling after Koenma's little transporter trick. Somebody should get those guys a compass. So back off before I let you know how it feels!"

Kurama places a hand on Hiei's leg to indicate for the youkai to let it drop. He was in no mood to hear the two bickering.

"Kuwabara, do you want me to help calm it down?" Ashitare crosses over and sits next to the tall redhead. She places her hands on his temples, ignoring his slight flinch. She starts to speak in a soft whisper, staring straight into Kuwabara's eyes. "Now I want you to look into my eyes Kuwabara. Breathe deep. And keep looking into my eyes."

"Ashitare?"

"Yes?"

"You have very….pretty…eyes…"

Ashitare only smiles. As she keeps telling Kuwabara to look into her eyes, his lids start to feel heavy, and he eventually slumps right over onto the mystic. Ashitare's face turns crimson as the giant ningen passes out on her, his head buried in her chest. "Uh, guys? Some help please?"

Yusuke walks over and pulls Kuwabara off Ashitare and places him flat on the ground. "What did you do to him?"

"Without getting technical, I hypnotized him into a deep sleep."

She smiles sweetly up at Yusuke. He watches her go over and sit back on the other side of the fire where she begins to eat the fruit they picked along the way. He still found his mind preoccupied with thoughts about this mystic. According to Hiei, she's an excellent swordsman and has a mastery over the ancient Majiks. She is apparently a contradiction to her people. Mystics mastered Majik. They would never degrade themselves to hand-to-hand combat. But for some reason, this one did. He recalled how shocked he was to hear that she had trained under Tagashi Masamoto, until his untimely death, and now managed to at least maintain her skills by training with Hiei. Impressive. And no doubt lethal. Yusuke's wandering mind is interrupted by Kuwabara's loud snoring.

"What in all the gods' names is that noise?"

Kurama chuckles at the fire demon's irritation. Apparently Kuwabara could irritate Hiei even in his sleep. "Kuwabara's snoring."

"Half the Ningenkai will know where we are if he keeps that up! Let me smother him."

Kurama grabs Hiei and pulls him into his lap, snaking his arms around his waist. He braces for the inevitable elbow in the ribs for the open display of affection, but Hiei gives into the youko and growls in frustration. "Well, I'm not sleeping here." And with that, Hiei disappears in an instant. The only evidence of his motion is a few strands of Kurama's hair playing wistfully in the air.

Kurama sighs as he gets up, following his youkai into the woods, "I guess we'll see you in the morning."

"Where are you going?"

Kurama doesn't bother to turn around. He disappears into the darkness of the trees, "That was my pillow!"

Yusuke looks back at Ashitare and smiles, slightly embarrassed. "Guess it's just you, me and Kuwabara's snoring."

Ashitare smiles as she reaches for another apple to eat, "I can make it stop."

"Really?"

Ashitare closes her eyes and mumbles a few words. She places a finger over her mouth and Yusuke can hear a faint "sshhhhhh" noise coming from her lips. It's almost like he can see the sound traveling across the fire, and enter Kuwabara's mouth. He stares wide-eyed as the offending noise stops. He looks over at Ashitare who is already biting into the apple. "Why didn't you stop Hiei and tell him you could do that?"

She shrugged, "He would have left anyway, using some other excuse. They may be more open about their relationship, but Hiei still likes his privacy."

"Hn."

Ashitare bursts out laughing, pointing a finger at Yusuke, "You sound exactly like Hiei!" She proceeds to poorly imitate the youkai's deep voice, repeating his trademark 'Hn'. "Oh, that's fantastic. Can you do Kurama next?"

"Uh, well,…Kurama? That's tough. Let me see…"

Yusuke gets up and forages through the bushes until he finds some plants. He starts making lewd gestures at Ashitare, plants in hand. His voice becomes high, feminine, a truly poor imitation of the kitsune, "I am the great Yoko Kurama. And if you don't behave, I'll tangle my vines around you and…."

Yusuke stops mid sentence, his face starting to blush. Everybody knows what a playful youko would do if he snared you, but he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to say it to Ashitare.

"And…?" She was smiling broadly at him, enjoying the sight of the toushin with tree branches draped over him, making a complete fool of himself.

"And then I'll…I'll tickle you into submission!"

Yusuke lunges for the mystic who lets out a squeal before she is assaulted by Yusuke's fingers on her ribs. The tickling lasts a few moments before Yusuke suddenly realizes where his hands are, and he feels the heat rising to his face. He pulls away from Ashitare and sits back with a happy sigh.

Ashitare sits up, her laughing slowly dying down, her breathing becoming normal, "Ahhh….you're funny Yusuke."

Yusuke starts detangling the branches and tosses them aside. "Thanks. I wish Genkai shared your appreciation. I don't know how many times that old hag has rained on my parade."

"Parade?"

"Oh, sorry. It's a Ningenkai saying. She spoils my fun. But I guess that's her job."

"You really care for her, don't you?"

Yusuke smiles down at ground, "Yeah. She's my Sensei. But she's also family." He looks over at Ashitare, "What about you? Did you and Tagashi argue a lot?" He watches as her smile fades and she looks over to the fire. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject. I know how painful it is to lose your mentor. Genkai died several years ago and I remember the pain and the feeling of being so helpless."

"It's ok." She looks back to Yusuke, "No, we didn't argue. He was a stern teacher, but a gentle man. I loved him like an otousan. I learned so much more from him than just how to handle my katana. I learned about life and how things should really be. I miss him very much. Even after all these years."

Yusuke watches a single tear slide down her cheek and Ashitare quickly swipes it away and offers a weak smile.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. You're very lucky to have Genkai in your life."

Yusuke scoffs and rolls his eyes, "So she keeps telling me."

Silence hung in the air for awhile and Yusuke shifted his position so he was sitting next to Ashitare against the tree. Now what? Yusuke looks over at the mystic who is staring into the flames, obviously captivated by something. Hope I didn't bring up any bad memories…Yusuke decides to wait for her to say something. Anything he would say now would probably just sound stupid.

For all his battle experience, training and "life lessons", he still had a hard time figuring out women. Keiko was a perfect example. One minute sweet, the next bashing him over the head with a frying pan. He shakes his head at the memories. We made the right choice Keiko. I could never make you happy. Yusuke looks over at the transfixed Ashitare. He may not know a lot about her, but he knew he liked her. She was carefree and funny. She even laughed at my lousy Kurama impersonation! But he could see the darkness behind her genial façade. She's like Hiei in reverse. He's grumpy and hard on the outside, but has proven he's a softy on the inside. Ashitare shows a soft side to the world, but has something dark within her she doesn't want seen.

Yusuke feels his stomach tie in knots at the thought of what she could possibly be hiding. There was no question that he could trust her. It wasn't just his instinct he was relying on. Hiei and Kurama obviously trusted her and despite what he said, Koenma's and Botan's opinions counted as well. Yusuke notices Ashitare starting to move. Her head slides right down onto his shoulder. He looks over and realizes she is asleep. How in the four worlds did she do that? Oh well, might as well join her…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vision

Hiei hated leaving his kitsune's warm embrace, but he needed to find Ashitare. The sun would be up shortly and they had an appointment. He gently maneuvers out of Kurama's grasp and quickly dresses. Just as he grabs his katana, he hears Kurama's drowsy voice. "You're leaving me here defenseless and naked to go on a date with her, aren't you?"

Hiei smiles to himself and takes off towards the campsite. The day Kurama was defenseless was the day the Makai sky turned pink. He finds the campsite peaceful and quiet. He looks over to see Kuwabara still snoring. Silently! Must have been the kijo. Speaking of which, where is she? His scan reaches the other side of the fire and finds the two youkai together under the tree, heads touching as they lean into each other. They seem content, at ease. That simply won't do. Hiei walks over and starts to draw his katana, a slight menace to his features. He has it raised above his head when Ashitare's eyes open and her hand immediately goes up to deflect the impending blow, protected by a Majik shield.

His blow blocked, Hiei jumps back a few feet and waits. Ashitare slowly stands up, stretches and yawns. She fixes Hiei with one of her best mocking smiles. "I heard you when you snaked yourself out of Kurama's grasp you elephant."

Hiei's eyes widen and he snorts. "You were lucky kijo."

Off Hiei went, disappearing in an instant. Damn it! Why did she have to chase him first thing in the morning? And then Hiei's words came into her head. "An enemy doesn't care if you're sleeping, feeling sad, or don't feel like fighting. You must always be ready."

He's right, of course. But before sunrise! Ashitare caught up with Hiei quickly enough. He is already in position and solemn, katana in hand. Ashitare moves into position next to him, lets out a deep breath and closes her eyes. And so it begins. Their morning routine. Whenever Ashitare spends months training with Hiei, or simply goes to visit, they have their early morning appointment. Kurama calls it their "date".

They both move in unison, eyes closed. Graceful, controlled and in tune with everything around them. They both enjoy the physical aspect of the exercise and it helps clear the mind. Ashitare tries to concentrate on the exercise, but her mind won't get the picture of the beautiful woman out of her head. She had gotten used to seeing the woman in her dreams every now and again. The apparition would call out to her in a soft, loving voice. But no matter how fast Ashitare ran, she couldn't reach her. She would never be able to feel her kaasan's embrace again….But last night's vision was the clearest it had ever been. The woman wasn't blurry, she was clear. She seemed almost real to Ashitare. And she realized her kaasan wasn't calling to her, she was trying to…what? Warn her? Ashitare couldn't make out most of the words, but the feeling her kaasan was projecting was that of ….concern? What were the words she heard? " Tried to protect"…..and something that sounded like 'katana'. And the last words she remembered hearing were "..he is evil".

Hiei stopped his movement mid-turn as he felt Ashitare's ki rise dramatically. She was standing still, body tense. He can see her eyes moving rapidly behind her eyelids. He isn't sure if it's wise to wake her, or let her come out of the vision naturally. He decides on the latter. The vision passes quickly enough and suddenly Ashitare's eyes fly open, tears streaming down her cheeks, yelling…

"No kaasan, don't go!"

She reaches out blindly and grabs Hiei by the shoulders. When her hands make contact she is brought back into reality. She just stares at the big, unblinking red eyes, trying to regain control of her breathing. And for his part, Hiei waits calmly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"H-Hiei?"

"What happened? You looked like you were having a vision."

"My kaasan. She came to me. She was so real. I've had visions of her before, but never so clear. She was scared Hiei. She was trying to warn me."

"Hn. I hate to say it, but I think we may need the noodle head for this one. C'mon."

Hiei puts his arm around Ashitare's shoulders and they walk back to camp. What they find makes even the imperturbable Hiei laugh out loud. There was Kuwabara, red-faced and screaming at the top of his lungs. Only there was no sound coming out because of Ashitare's spell. Staying out of arm's reach was Yusuke, taunting his best friend, laughing so hard he looked like he might be in pain. And poor Kurama was stuck in the middle of them, doing a poor job of refereeing. When the sound of Hiei's laughter was heard, eight pairs of shocked eyes were on him. The only sound is his laughter. Kurama and Ashitare have heard Hiei laugh before, but they were still shocked he did it in front of Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Kurama throws his hands up in defeat and goes to sit on the log, "Oh thank Inari!"

Ashitare runs over to the silent Kuwabara, "Oh my gosh! Kuwabara! I thought I would be here when you woke up. Oh! Please forgive me! Please?" Ashitare rushes over to the silent human and runs her fingers across his lips.

"What the hell did you do that for! Huh?"

the apologetic mystic offers up a sheepish smile, "You were snoring and nobody could sleep."

"Nani!" Kuwabara looks around at his comrades and all are shaking their heads in the affirmative. They at least look sorry thought Kuwabara. All except the shrimp. "Well, next time leave me a note or something, will ya?"

Ashitare smiled and offered a bow, "Hai, Kuwabara. I promise. I'm really sorry."

"I hate to interrupt, but we need your help. Ashitare had a vision. We need to see if you can sense anything residual from the experience."

"Uh, ok. I'll try." Kuwabara places his hands on Ashitare's shoulders and closes his eyes. After a few moments of intense concentration, Kuwabara finds what he is looking for. "I see a fortress. No guards. Definitely giving off a bad vibe. Wait! There's a woman. She's running away. Ok, she went into a room, but no. She's not there. Where-? I see nothing but a sword. The sword is…different. I wonder…" There's a bright blinding light, and Kuwabara receives a painful shock, "Ow! What the hell!" Kuwabara jumps back holding his hand as if it had been bit. He looks at Ashitare, but she looks as confused as he does.

"What happened?" Kurama goes over to inspect Kuwabara's hand, making sure it doesn't require any medical attention.

"I tried to touch the sword. It…it attacked me. I saw a blinding light and then I got shocked."

"I didn't do it! I swear!"

"No you didn't. The sword did. It was, I don't know, maybe protecting itself?"

"Tell us what else you experienced."

"Pretty much what I said. The fortress I saw was definitely not a place to go. Bad stuff. I saw a woman, apparently running from someone, didn't see anybody though. She looked scared. The next thing I knew I was in the fortress somewhere, following her and she ran into a room. When I ran in right after her, there was nothing in the room except the sword."

"What did the sword look like? You said it seemed 'different'."

"It looked like a regular enough sword. It felt different. It was radiating energy or something. It almost felt…alive. I know that sounds weird, but that's the best way I can explain it."

"You said you tried to pick it up?"

Kuwabara turned back to Kurama. He was becoming dizzy turning from Hiei to Kurama, trying to answer their questions. "I reached out for it and just as I touched it, everything went white and I felt a shock to my hand."

Everyone turns to Ashitare.

"I don't know. I never saw a fortress or a sword. My kaasan mentioned a sword, but that's all I caught. But she was definitely trying to warn me. That I'm certain of."

"Well, it doesn't seem like we've got a lot to go on right now and we need to get going." Yusuke goes over to Ashitare and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll help you figure this out. But right now, we've got a mission."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wandering

They traveled all day, through forests, up hillsides, over rivers. Kurama was enjoying being back in the Ningenkai. He feels a slight tug at his heart recalling memories of his kaasan and his childhood. As if reading his mind, Hiei reaches for Kurama's hand and gives it a quick squeeze before flitting away again into the distance to catch up to Ashitare. With a small smile on his face and a warm feeling in his heart, Kurama heads up the next hill. Following behind were Kuwabara and Yusuke. They seemed pretty intent on whatever they were discussing so Kurama decided not to interrupt.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh yes I am Urameshi. Things are different now. I have a family. I'm not getting any younger. I can't keep this up."

Yusuke sighs heavily, "Well, I can't say I'm happy about it, but I guess I understand. I mean, I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Yukina you're not coming home."

The two friends walked along in silence for awhile. "So. You never quite answered my question from earlier. How are things going?"

Yusuke just shrugs, "Like I said, things are fine. Raizen and I are handling the territory, no major uprisings. We're actually thinking of expanding."

"Expanding? You mean, start a war for more territory?"

"Not exactly. Raizen won't tell me all the details yet, but he's been dealing with Mukuro. I think he's playing the barter and trade game with her. She concedes some land in exchange for….something. I don't know what could make Mukuro concede anything, but Raizen seems to think he's got something she wants."

"Scary thought."

"Tell me about it."

"Ok, so you've told me how work is going. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You tell me. Do you have anyone in your life, or are you still whoring around?"

Yusuke stops dead in his tracks and whirls on Kuwabara. He grabs the red-head's shoulders and shoves a finger in his face. "I was not whoring around!" Yusuke's face turns red as Kurama looks back at the uproar, a smile on his face. Yusuke lowers his voice, "I was not whoring around. I only slept with one of those girls a couple times. I go there to hang out with Raizen and relieve a bit of tension. It's not my fault he feels the need to sleep with anything that flashes him a smile. And I do mean anything." He shudders with disgust and starts to continue up the path.

"Well, you're still not going to meet any nice girls hanging out with Raizen. Don't you want a family Urameshi?"

"Who are you? My kaasan? I already have a family. You, Yukina and the kids, Genkai, Kurama and Hiei, Botan, Koenma and I guess even Raizen to a certain extent."

"Aren't you lonely? Don't you want somebody to come home to, that will take care of you?"

A shadow passed over Yusuke's face and he shoved his hands in his pockets, "I had that, remember? It didn't exactly work out."

"You and Keiko were young, and you just weren't meant to be. You had one bad experience. Grow up Urameshi. It makes me sad to think you may never have someone that makes you as happy as Yukina makes me."

Yusuke stops in his tracks and he watches Kuwabara disappear over the hill, a scowl covering his face. Where did all this come from? Since when did the big guy go soft? Is that what happens when you get married? You get boring? If he wants to quit, fine. But don't drag me out with you. I like my life. I'm a young, free youkai who can go where I want, when I want, with nothing and nobody to hold me back. Yusuke's face softens a bit, as he suddenly wonders, that's a good thing, right? He continues up the hill and over, following behind his friends, his mind turning Kuwabara's words over and over again. "Aren't you lonely?" He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost walked right into his friend. "Wha-? Hey. Why did we stop?"

Yusuke looks in the direction of his friends and finally sees the reason for the holdup. His eyes follow across an expansive valley, and back up the mountain on the other side. There, nestled within its craggy face, was a castle. "Well, we found what we're looking for."

The group starts down the hill, continuing on their journey towards the castle.

Kuwabara's face pales as he remains in place, staring at the dark castle. "Uh, guys?" Nobody hears him. Yusuke calls back to him, but he doesn't hear him. He is just staring at the castle.

Yusuke walks back to fetch his friend. "Oi, stop daydreaming! Let's go!" Yusuke grabs his arm, but Kuwabara won't budge. Suddenly, Yusuke notices the scared look on Kuwabara's face. "Kuwabara, what's going on?"

Kuwabara turned his worried gaze to his friend. "Remember Ashitare's vision?" He looks back at the castle, "That's the fortress."

Yusuke looks back over the valley at the fortress, a feeling a dread beginning in the pit of his stomach. "Are you sure?"

"Uh huh. This isn't good Urameshi."

Hiei suddenly materializes at Kuwabara's side, a smirk on his face. "What's wrong carrot top? Stub your toe?" Kuwabara just looks at Hiei. When he gets no response, Hiei realizes something is wrong, and he raises his voice to make sure he gets an answer this time. "What's going on?"

"That's the fortress Kuwabara saw in Ashitare's vision."

Hiei looks over at the mountain stronghold. Kurama and Ashitare backtrack to join the group.

"What's the hold up guys?"

"That's the fortress from Ashitare's vision." Yusuke looks over at the mystic who suddenly lost all color in her face.

Ashitare moves behind Hiei as she turns to look at the fortress. She always feels safe with him, and for some reason, she feels she is going to need protecting.

To be continued…..