Disclaimer: Don't own YYH, as usual, but I soon will! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Chapter 15: Still In Denial

Who are they? Who are they? Who are they? Who are they…?

I wake up. My god, I can't get away from that thought for even a minute. Who are they? My mind keeps echoing. I still have no idea. Part of me still thinks that this is some elaborate hoax set up by them so that they can have some fun with me, the disgraced thief. But another part is asking questions. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know which side to pick. It's either rhyme or reason. Imagination or what I know must happen.

And that Yukina…well, I guess I ought to thank her if she healed me. Not your average everyday demon would—

No. Not demon. Innocent little cretin. Innocent…

How can there be so much warmth in someone obviously so evil?

I really need to find out so much more. I think I'll ask her. For some reason, I find talking to her much easier than talking to Keeko. Also known as the Konnichiwa girl. What does that mean, anyway? It sounded like an Asian word, but I'm not sure. She definitely is. Almost all of them look it. Even that red-eyed creep Hiei. Except Yukina. She looks glacier-born. What is with all of the hair, anyway? Yusuke and Keeko and Shizuru are the only ones who look human. Kurama has unnaturally red hair, and Kuwabara has that neon orange mop, and Yukina has hair that'd make you faint. These people have no sense of reality. Whoever heard of an Asian with aqua hair and dark purple eyes?

Internally, I slap my brain. My god, you'd think I was racist. So what if they're Asian? It doesn't change the fact that they're all scumbags who would take advantage of a dying girl. I'm not one of those people who think all people of one race are the masters or whatever. Die, Hitler.

It occurs to me that I was dying. On that night, when I made my final escape attempt. How did I push on for so long? I mean, sure, it wasn't skipping through a field of flowers, (in fact, rather excruciating pain occurred), but there's no way that I could have gone on for so long. I'm no medic, but I should have fainted long before that.

Whew, guess I have really good stamina after all. Could that be linked to the reason that they want me so badly? Could that be linked to the reason that they're all psychotic maniacs who think that they're demons?

They…they can't be demons. I just don't care. I will not let them brainwash me into thinking that such things actually exist. It's just not possible. Never. Never in a million years. They are crazy. End of story.

I almost sound like I'm trying to convince myself.

But maybe I can make sense of their insanity. Somehow, they have found out about my talent for stealing, and they want to use that to their advantage. They want me to steal from "God". Who could that be? Some sort of billionaire? Bill Gates, maybe?

Actually, if it were Bill Gates, I'd do it. For the money and the extreme challenge.

I smile to myself. I have it all figured out. I'll do their stupid job, whatever that is. Then, they'll let their guard down, and I'll disappear under a new alias. I kind of like Violet. No, I'll become Chrystal. Chrystal Winters. Oh my god. What a pretty name. I'm going to have everyone start calling me Chris. Forget boring old Kara. Chris.

"Chris." I whisper to myself. "Chris. Chris. Chris."

"What?" Asks a small voice.

I practically faint, and open my eyes. When did I shut them? Yukina is back.

"How do you do that?" I ask, irritated. No one should be able to get past me with my skills at noticing things. "How do you just appear out of nowhere?"

"I don't. I walk. Who is this 'Chris' you're yelling about?"

God. Was I really talking that loudly? "Uh, a…a name I kind of want."

"It's nice. Chrystal Winters. What a gorgeous name. Plenty of crystalline ice." (A/N She would like it).

"That's what I love about it. But…" I stare in horror. I'm losing it. How did she know that was the name I wanted? I never said the whole thing out loud…right?

"But what?"

"N-nothing. Did…did I really say the whole name out loud? You know. Chrystal Winters?"

She shakes her head solemnly. "No. But I can read—"

"My mind." I finish sarcastically. "Honestly, I thought you were different from the others, but you really aren't. You're all the same. When will you eject yourself from this fantasy?"

"It's not a fantasy!" She says loudly. I suddenly notice that she lacks the strong accent that all the rest have. Maybe she is different from them.

"I don't know what it's going to take to get you to understand, but I'll make sure you do. No…" She calms down back to her normal scaredycat self. Was that pathetic outburst seriously her angry side? "I'm not going to do what Keiko did and play counselor. I know for a fact that it only angers you. Me too, actually. I'm just going to have you talk to me completely one-on-one. Tell me what you think of this all."

"Oh, I'll tell you. It's a freaking crapload of sh—" I break off, and wait for her to stop me. She does nothing.

She actually smiles. "You can say it. And Kazuma—no, Kuwabara said you lacked emotion. It's all buried under you. I respect that you hate us. I hate us."

"Do you really." I say, as a statement rather than a question.

"I hate how we think we're invincible. I hate how we were never prepared for anything of this great magnitude. I hate our arrogance."

"I hate you all for those exact same reasons." I say.

She laughs like the tinkling of a bell. "I'm sure you do. But, there's one aspect of this that's been troubling me. Your story of that final night, when Hiei and Kuwabara chased you. You said that you floated in a white pillar of light and Hiei could not touch you within it."

"It was a hallucination." I say coldly. Why did I even mention that? They'll add it to their fantasy!

But somehow, deep down, I trust Yukina, if only a little bit.

"Somehow, I doubt that." She says. "I'm not asking you to believe me, just to tell me what has happened. I am an expert in spiritual healing, Kara, so please, tell me what happened when you were in this glowing pillar."

I sigh. I guess it can't hurt to tell her, and I have no energy left to be sarcastic. In fact, my memories are all becoming slightly confused. "Hiei—no, Kuwabara waved his light sword at me, and then Hiei threw a sword at my head and I was really, really wounded. Then came the burst of pain. It was all consuming, like fire inside of me, and every now and then, it would relent, but I grew so weak after each one…and I think Hiei was the one doing it. Eventually, Hiei would have killed me with the pain or with a sword, and as soon as I knew I was dying, I…"

"You what?"

"I felt really desperate. And the came another attack of pain. I was dying, Yukina. Then, the light came down and covered me. No more pain. I felt in complete bliss. I felt so real, so painless, so…everything that's good in life."

Yukina nods. "Thank you for telling me. But, did your wounds heal or anything?"

I screw up my face in an effort to remember. "No! Light can't heal anyone! But I did feel great when the light finally stopped, and I can't remember if it was still really painful or not…"

I open my closed eyes. Yukina looks very excited. "So it was a healing light…tell me. Did it…sing at all?"

"Sing?"

"Like, you felt a very nice voice in your head, singing?"

"Maybe. I really don't remember much. It's been so long."

"I see. Well, Sakara Azhura, you certainly are a special one. Now, you've done your part. Would you like to rant to me?"

"You know what? I don't. I want to eat."

"Eat?" She looks confused. "Oh, right, humans like food. What shall I get you?"

"Anything. Honestly, did you guys feed me anything at all when I was asleep? I am not going back to anorexia."

"I'll be right back!" She says, over-cheerily. She runs outside in that ridiculous pink kimono, tripping all the way. She shuts the door loudly behind her.

ARGH!

I can't believe they didn't even feed me! Did they expect I'd live off the light in this room?

I AM NOT A PLANT.

Nor am I any more a plant demon, if I want to play by their rules.

I try to rattle off the shackles again, but they stay put. I wonder what she'll bring. Maybe a cheeseburger?

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Yukina's POV:

I open the door hesitantly. Four people stare at me expectantly.

"I found out some things." I say, as I race into, not the cafeteria, but into our meeting room. It's basically a little wooden box with a table and electricity. Pathetic for the renegade spirit patrol.

"Are you serious?" Says Kuwabara, the one who is madly in love with me and thinks I feel the same way. Not.

I push him aside. "Where's Yusuke? He has to hear this."

"He had to go into intensive care again." Says Shizuru. "It's the pain. You should look him over soon. Maybe your power can do some good. This time, it's the left arm. Only one more leg left before he's a vegetable. First the neck, then the head, then the other limbs…"

"Hush." Moans Kurama. He looks pretty pale.

Keiko isn't there. I guess she's with Yusuke. Hiei just sits in the corner by himself.

I shake my head. Yusuke'll be fine. He always is, with or without my help. "Well, I've figured out that the pain that is killing Yusuke is the same one that plagued Kara."

"Really? How?" Asks Shizuru. "Couldn't it just be a demon disease you gave her or something?"

"No. Be serious. She described the exact same complaints; only the pain was in her whole body. Koenma—"

"Don't talk to me about him." Grumbles Kazuma, cracking his knuckles. It's a very annoying habit of his. "That little asshole is gonna get a serious spanking when I'm through with him…"

"So, both of them have been attacked by Koenma. Do any of you know what this means?" I ask.

"Other than the fact that Koenma hates her?"

"Exactly. And who else has he attacked?"

"Yusuke. Only, less so."

"So that means that Koenma considers Kara as great a threat or greater than that of Yusuke's." Says Kurama slowly. "Of course. We could have found her so long ago if we just followed that trail…of who exactly he was attacking. We thought they were simply random killings of thieves…but they were all thieves with a huge amount of anti-demonic energy."

Shizuru says, "Then…that means that Kara really is the one we need. And Koenma knows it. He's taking out our leader and…our secret weapon. It really is her."

"Thank God we have her protected as of right now. We really need to do the same for Yusuke." Says Kurama.

"He was the stupid moron. He stepped outside, thinking he could handle whatever Koenma threw at him. He can't." Says Hiei, startling everyone. "He'll never learn. Not even he can beat a God gone evil."

"Then what's the point of Kara?" Asks Shizuru. "I've been kept—we've all been kept way in the dark about this whole operation. Sure, the girl has got that rare power inside so that demons can't touch her, but that's nowhere near enough to beat Koenma. He's not even a demon."

"I've deduced that she's just to get that "item" that Yusuke keeps talking about. It's so annoying how he thinks we don't need to know. When did he become so smart? But anyway, Kara's not even supposed to be seen, let alone fight. As Yusuke once put it, 'she fights like a barnacle with a brain tumor.' We only need her stealth. That was why he chose her. She really is our only hope in the first steps to take Koenma down," says Kurama. "If she were to be made useless, the operation would be useless."

"Kurama, aren't you a great thief yourself?" I ask. "Couldn't you just do it? I really don't want to keep Kara here for too long if it turns out we don't need her out of the blue. Memory modifications are really tricky."

"As a demon, I was a great thief. Good days, they were. But not in this body. It's all I can do to access my plant power as it is. Sure, I probably will assist her. Even the best can learn from others. But I can't do it alone. Fifteen years as a human is a very long time for a demon."

"So, if Kara doesn't get into the spirit world, the whole thing's shot." Says Kuwabara.

"That is indeed what I just said, ape."

Kuwabara shuts up. Honestly. I wish I knew why he always freezes up at the mention of King Kong. It must be something really stupid, too.

"But if we even get her to the Spirit World without getting caught…it'll be a miracle," says Kurama. "Pure, dumb luck. She doesn't even believe us."

"Yeah, and she's still in denial!" I say. I sit down in a chair next to Kazuma, tripping yet again over my stupid kimono. I hate wearing this thing! "Most of the time people break and accept such a thing pretty soon after it happens, but not her! I have no idea what to do anymore! We've tried almost everything. Hiei, she still thinks your demon transformation was a magic trick. What I'd give for her anger stage already…"

"Yeah. The first step is to make her believe and possibly accept us. How to do that…" Mutters Shizuru.

"She's refused everything." Says Hiei thoughtfully. "I've never met a human that could blow off a demon transformation like mine. I mean, how would we make the fire…?"

Shizuru smiles, and so do I. We suddenly know how we can work this. Shizuru beats me to it. "That's exactly right. She doesn't believe any of us. She still thinks that we're crackpot lunatics with a psychotic fixation on her stealing abilities. But suppose we forced some power out of her. How'd she blow it off then? We know that she's capable. She healed herself with that light back in the tunnel. If we can somehow get her to do something like that again…"

"…Then we could finally make her believe in us, and have her willing to help us." Says Kurama. "That actually might work."

"That's a very good idea. She'll never be able to deny the existence of the Spirit Patrol once she realizes that she's exactly the same as us." Says Hiei.

That's wonderful praise coming from my brother.

I stand up and trip again, but this time, I catch myself in time. "I'd better go get Kara her sandwich. You guys start brainstorming ways to squeeze it out." As I walk out the door, I grab the keys to Kara's cell shackles. "But I think I have just the thing."

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A/N Please review! You've all been so great already! And fan, don't worry, I'm not going to discontinue it. Does everyone like the way it's going?

And don't bug me about why Koenma is evil. I'll explain later! Confusion is the whole point of this fanfic! And I know not everything was explained here. Like, exactly what Kara can do. Well, I gave you about half of it here. Demons cannot touch her without going into extreme pain. Why that is?

I'll go into that later, during the Knowledge Revolution! Hey, I might make that into a chapter title…