In the name of hell, who are you?-
"Who Are You?"-Black Sabbath

An End to Bliss

Chapter XIII

"Blimey, now I'm really glad Urameshi didn't have this kind of power when I fought him in the Dark Tournament."

"Sometimes I wonder if Raizen's influence isn't coming to the surface?" said Kurama. "First against the Spirit Defense Force, now against Baldok."

However, Kuwabara and Hiei had a different reaction to what they had witnessed.

"Not too bad, Detective," smirked Hiei.

"Yeah," added Kuwabara. "Baldok won't be harming anybody else again."

Kurama gasped. "I can understand Hiei's reaction, but yours surprises me, Kuwabara."

"Why're you surprised, man? Urameshi did the same think I would've done. That monster was a threat to my kid and anybody else's kid. And when you're a threat like that you deserve to be dead."

"Wise answer," responded Hiei. "I must confess that perhaps you've gained some wisdom over the last couple of years, Kuwabara. Perhaps now I can rest easier over the fate of my niece or nephew…Besides that fool," added Hiei, while he pointed to Baldok's corpse, "was violating the Demon World Law."

"Yeah, that's true," replied Chu. "Not that he would've known the Law anyway."

"Doesn't matter, it must be enforced."

"Well," began Kurama, "I'm overwhelmed."

"By what?" asked Yusuke.

"By the fact that Hiei and Kuwabara actually agree on something…But, I've to confess that I agree with it as well. That could've been my mother or girlfriend on the line."

"Yeah, I see that, mate."

"Well, since we're all in agreement, can we continue?" replied Yusuke.

Yusuke and his companions exited the old forest, but on their departure, Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped for a moment to observe an old tree.

"Why're you stopping?" asked Hiei.

"Just remembering," replied Yusuke.

"Yeah…the last time we saw this tree was after Urameshi and I finished Genkai's test of making it out of the old forest."

"That's nice," responded Hiei, "but I'd prefer if we kept moving."

"Not one for reminiscing; are you, mate?"

"No, Chu, I'm not!" responded an agitated Hiei, while he walked away.

"What the hell's his problem?" asked Chu.

"Hiei doesn't like reminiscing about his past," replied Kurama. "He didn't exactly live the best of lives…But for the last few years, things've looked up for him. You simply just accidentally struck a raw nerve."

"Will you quit blabbering, Kurama?" responded Hiei. "We've got a menace to stop."

"All right then. Where do we go from here, Yusuke?"

"Well…if Elder Toguro's here he could be hiding in that place where Kuwabara and I fought all those guys in the dark."

"Oh, you mean that smaller temple?" replied Kuwabara.

"Right. When we approach that building why don't you use your spirit awareness to see if you sense anything?"

"Okay, will do."

When Yusuke and his party arrived at Genkai's smaller temple, Yusuke turned to Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Okay guys, do you sense anything?"

"…No," replied Kurama.

"Yeah, same here…But Urameshi?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought of something."

"What's that?"

"Well, I was wondering…what if one of those guys we battled in Genkai's tournament's Elder Toguro's benefactor?"

"…I doubt it."

"What makes you say that?"

"None of those guys ever had any contact with the elder Toguro."

"Well, neither did Rando, but you didn't rule him out."

"Yeah, but Rando would've known who the elder Toguro was, none of those guys would've…At any rate, we should go to our next destination."

"And where's that, Urameshi?" asked Chu.

"To the place where Kuwabara and I fought in the semi-finals and finals of the Genkai Tournament."

As Yusuke and his companions walked towards the grassy meadow and small pond—where the finals of the Genkai Tournament took place—Kurama informed the members of his party to stop.

"What's wrong?" asked Yusuke.

"I can feel spirit energy of some kind…You feel it too don't you, Kuwabara?"

"…Yeah."

"Of course he can feel it," a masculine-foreign voice replied. "I'm doing everything I can to make my presence known."

Yusuke and his party attempted to locate the owner of the voice, but within a short time Yusuke decided to stop his own search and demand that the voice's owner show himself.

"Very well."

From the shadows emerged the voice's owner. It belonged to a man in his early thirties, dressed in a red martial arts uniform, with a shaved head, and a swastika tattooed on his forehead.

Yusuke and Kuwabara gasped.

"Bet you never thought you'd see me again?"

Then Yusuke smirked. "Oh hey, it's that guy that I beat in the semi-finals of Genkai's Tournament. By the way, what was your name again?"

The man glared. "The name's Kazemaru, and how dare you insult me like that!"

"Well…I did beat you."

"Your victory was nothing but a fluke!"

"Yeah, I agree…Back then I was just so scrawny, but I've changed a lot in these last eight years…But I take it that you're Elder Toguro's benefactor?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Well, I'll be damned, Kuwabara, it looks like you predicted correctly."

"Yeah, I guess I did. But I'm curious to know why Kazemaru's helping Elder Toguro?"

"Hmph!" began Hiei, "I don't give a damn why he's helping Elder Toguro. The only thing I care about is kicking his ass because he helped him."

"There'll be plenty of time for that later, Hiei," responded the voice of the elder Toguro, as he emerged from the shadows. "Why don't you let Kazemaru explain why he decided to help me? I'm sure you'll find it interesting."

"For once I agree with Elder Toguro," said Kurama.

"I think I'd like to hear it as well," replied Yusuke.

"Same with me," responded Kuwabara.

"I'm all ears, mate."

"…Fine!" finished Hiei with a glare.

"…I was the best fighter in all of Japan—no, the world! When I learned through some of my contacts that the famous psychic, Genkai wanted to pass on her power to an apprentice I leapt at the opportunity. I knew that Genkai could make me stronger, and I wanted to become stronger…But then I lost…I lost to a boy who was at least ten years younger than me! Granted, it was a fluke, but it was still a loss, and I wasn't able to inherit Genkai's power. And because I couldn't inherit her power, I spent many months in depression; but then I decided that I'd simply train my body hard so that one day I could find this Yusuke Urameshi boy who stole my moment of glory and strike him down.

When I was finally able to learn of Yusuke's whereabouts, I did enough research on him to find out he was a detective of Spirit World, and that's when I learned about the Toguro brothers and the ex-spirit detective, Shinobu Sensui. I entered the cave where Yusuke had battled Sensui and saw the elder Toguro in the arms of some tree. I freed him, and well…the rest you can say is history."

For a moment everyone in Yusuke's party stared at Kazemaru until Yusuke started to chuckle.

"The hell's so funny!"

"You…you are."

"What do you mean by that!"

"Simple, you're a loser."

"What!"

"Yeah, I mean come on Nazi boy! You spent eight years of your life obsessed with me. Didn't you ever think once about trying to find a good job, or finding a girlfriend, or getting married, or something like that?"

"How dare you talk to me like that!"

Yusuke laughed, and the rest of his party joined him in laughter.

"I must admit that I'm actually happy all of you wanted to hear this man talk, because he's show me just how much of a fool he is," said Hiei.

"I think you need to learn how to enjoy life more, mate."

"This is almost as sad as when Suzuki wanted to try world domination," replied Kurama.

"I gave up my obsession with trying to beat Urameshi a long time ago."

At this point Kazemaru became furious. "That's it! I'm going to take each one of you down!"

"Please," began the elder Toguro, "wait one moment."

"Huh?"

"Kazemaru?"

"Yes, Lord Toguro?"

"There's something that I must do first before you fight."

"What, my Lord?"

The elder Toguro morphed his hand into a drill and pierced it into Kazemaru's chest cavity.

Blood poured from Kazemaru's mouth, as Elder Toguro pierced one of Kazemaru's vitals.

"I appreciate everything that you've done for me, Kazemaru…"

The elder Toguro removed his blood stained drill shaped hand from Kazemaru's chest and morphed it back into its original form.

Kazemaru's body fell limp.

"…But you didn't have a prayer of defeating anyone from Yusuke and his friends, and your presence here would've been nothing but a burden to me…I hope that you understand."