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Chapter 17: Why They Need Me…And Everything Else

What happened back there? What on earth did they do to me?

I'm going insane. I need to know something soon before I completely lose it. I need to know how they're doing this and why. How did they make Yukina's eyes light up? How did they make the fire? What exactly is it they want me to steal? From who? Why? Why all of this elaborate getup? Why all of this confusion? Why all of this pain?

"SOMEONE GET DOWN HERE!" I yell suddenly. I don't hear any footsteps or anything. I scream it again with twice the volume.

"YUKINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Wait. Why am I yelling for her? She tried to kill me with her knives that looked like ice! I mean, they must have been knives, right?

There. Now I heard a nice big thump, like a certain blue-haired someone, in an overlarge pink kimono, falling out of her chair. I hear the sound of uneven footsteps coming closer and closer. That's her tripping. Finally, the door screeches open. Yukina's big purple eye peers in. "What's wrong with you?" She asks angrily, stepping in completely and tripping. "I thought you were getting attacked or something!"

"I am. In fact, I'm in the middle of an extreme mental breakdown. I don't know what's going on here, Yukina, but I have to know. I'm dying here, of knowledge deprivation. Constantly strapped to a table, unmoving—"

I'm astonished at just how relieved Yukina looks. She looks like Christmas came early. "You know, you have a great vocabulary for someone who never went to school."

"TV." I answer. What a strange thing to say.

"What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything."

I stare at her, and my eyes actually fill with tears. Stunned, I blink them away angrily. "I want to get out of here." I whisper. "I want my life back. I want you to let me go and…and never come near me again. I don't care what it takes. I want a restraining order. Let me go. P-please…" I sound pathetic and I know it. I really am breaking down.

Yukina sighs sympathetically, but she still looks somewhat happy. "I…can't do that."

"Why not?" I ask, and once again, I get dangerously close to crying. I deepen my voice to mask it. "What do you need me for? No one gives me straight answers. You just want to make me suffer. You don't n-need me to d-do a job! You…are just sick p-people!" Oh my god. I refuse to cry. I refuse. I will not break down in front of her. I won't.

"We didn't give you straight answers because you wouldn't accept them, Kara." She says quietly. "But now, I think it's about time someone told you. You've been kept in the dark for a very long time. You have every right to cry—"

"I'm not c-c-crying!"

"I didn't say you were. But you have every right to. Will you listen to what I have to say?"

"Is it any more of this demon crap?"

"Yes. Oh yes. Lots more of this demon crap. Because this is where we begin, Kara. This is why we need you. This is why you had that pain back in the tunnel. This is why your spirit energy encased my shards and made me burn."

I blink. "But…it was special effects…"

"It was not special effects!" She snaps. She sits down in one of the six armchairs. "Jeez, Kara, how can you explain away a spirit fire like that? You know it's real!"

"IT CAN'T BE REAL!" I say. "DEMON POWERS AREN'T REAL! DEMONS AREN'T REAL!"

"There's one sitting in front of you, with a whole lot of demon power up her sleeve." Yukina closes her eyes and turns her hand up so that the palm faces the ceiling. It begins to glow blue, and then, a small, icy fire erupts in the center of her palm. It's…so cold…how can there be such a thing as cold fire? It's exactly like the kind I know, only much more ominous.

My teeth start shattering. My mind is so fixed on that…that thing that I can't see anything else, even though it all remains unchanged. Yukina stands up, and walks towards me with that fire, ever closer. I shrink away from her. The temperature drops ever faster.

"If this is the only way to make you see…" she says sadly. She takes the final step toward me, flips her hand over, and grinds the fire into my forearm.

Almost instantly, my body starts to shake. It's…it's so cold… Even though it's only on the arm, I am completely freezing up inside…

Then, 3 seconds later, Yukina yelps and backs away from me with the fire, which promptly goes out in her hand. The room temperature majorly goes back up. I remain there, shivering.

Yukina sits back down as though nothing had happened. "The cold will wear off in a little bit, Kara. But do you see, now? I am an ice demon. That is my power. To conjure the cold fire and to heal with it."

"Spe-spe-spe-spe-special effect." Damn these chattering teeth!

"Oh really?" She asks. "I suggest you take a closer look at your arm."

I look at it, and see nothing. Only a tiny red mark to show for all that agony. But then, I see a circle, lined with my blood. Inside is a blood written message. Farnsuga.

"Nothing much but a strange word, right?" She asks. "Well, look at this." She raises her hand to me.

I only see a black singe mark at first. But then, I focus on the picture, and I see that her hand has indeed been blackened. Her entire palm was burned. But in the center of that is a circle red with blood, exactly the same as mine. Written inside that circle is Muyusan.

"Muyusan means evil in Japanese." She says. "Farnsuga means good; a positive force. To a demon, you are an angel."

I start to breathe very fast.

"This is what happens when a demon touches you. Both of you get a marking, but only one of you, the good, comes away untouched. That's you, Kara. If you are still skeptical, look at the leg where Kurama whipped you that night."

I sit there motionless. I knew it! I knew it!

"Kara. Kara?"

"Kurama is Mr. Hair after all…" I'm shocked. Yukina tries to say something.

Then, I lose my mind altogether. "KURAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I scream.

This time, a figure sidles right into the room. It appears he was eavesdropping the whole time. "What is it, Kara?"

"YOU BEAT ME—YOU BROKE MY LEG—AND YOU BLAME ME FOR ACTING OUT? AND NOT BEHAVING AND NOW ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO STARVE ME IF MY BEHAVIOR DOESN'T IMPROVE AND WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE ME, HUH? I HAVE EVERY RIGHT NOT TO BEHAVE! I HATE YOU, MR. HAIR! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT DOESN'T DESERVE THE HAM SANDWICH!"

"Who is Mr. Hair?"

"YOU! YOU, YOU IMBECILE! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO BROKE MY LEG WITH THE WHIP THAT CAUGHT FIRE! AND SHE'S TRYING TO SAY THAT IT WAS MY FAULT THE BLOODY THING BURNED YOU! YEAH, WELL, THAT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE! LOOK, THERE'S NO MARK ON MY LEG!" I role up the navy robe on the side of my left leg. "SEE? NOTH—"

I look at the leg. There's a horizontal white scar where the whip hit. In the center if that is a slight scar of a circle. And in that circle—

Farnsuga.

I blink and rub my eyes. I look at it again. Farnsuga.

Kurama pushes his bangs out of his eyes, and sits down next to Yukina. They wait for me to talk.

"Mr. Hair." I sneer, trying to sound disdainful. "Don't deny it any longer."

"I am the one who whipped you." He concedes. "But why are you calling me—" Yukina whispers something in his ear and fingers his tangled red hair between her long fingers in front of him. His eyes widen. "My hair isn't that long!" He says indignantly. "And it's there for a reason!"

My eyes are wavering in and out of focus. I hate Kurama. How dare he do that to me?

But still, what are they saying? That I made the fire?

Then, I go into pathetic Kara breakdown mode again. "I hate you all." I blubber, still somehow staying above sobbing.

Yukina sighs. "At least now you know the truth. Will you listen to why it's truth?"

I stare at them, very afraid all of a sudden. I can't explain it. I don't want to know the truth. I want my normal life.

"Let me explain everything." Says Kurama.

"Yukina can." I say angrily. I already promised myself I'd listen to them, but I like Yukina more than him.

"Okay. And please don't interrupt. This is what all started it. The battle between the demon world and the spirit world over the human world."

"What?" This already sounds like baloney.

"Don't interrupt! Listen to me. There are three worlds. One is the human world. This dwells on earth, and is the only one with living beings. You are a living being from that human realm. Then, there is the spirit world. Consists of both heaven and hell, and thus, spirits. Ruled by King Enma, technically. The demon world is the last, and the most deadly, and has entirely evil beings. This is where Kurama, Hiei, numerous others, and myself originated, and we are proof that evil can change. Now, the human world is oblivious to the other two, being obsessed with technical objects, but the spirit and demon realms are constantly at war over who gets control over the human world. You follow so far? They are fighting over it because the only way to get out of the spirit or demon world is to acquire a living human body, a vessel. This is what Kurama did. He entered an unborn human child and is now a demon in a human body. Hiei and I are still pure demon. This is reincarnation, to live again. The spirit world has prevailed so far in this territorial conflict. Be thankful that this is so. This is an unending war. Now, sometimes, demons like Kurama, Hiei, and myself escape from the demon world and help the spirit world. Evil changing to good. We have never known a spirit to turn on the spirit world, thus, good changing to evil, though. But that was broken after Koenma."

"What's a Koenma?"

"He's the son of God/Enma. It means 'little Enma.' Sort of like the Jesus of Christianity. When King Enma embarked on a journey to gather intelligence on the demon world's movements, Koenma was left in charge of the spirit world. No one minded. He'd done it all before. Well, several years ago, 4 to be exact, when we were all about 14—"

"Hang on. I thought you were all already 14."

"We just said that in the hopes that you would be more comfortable if you thought we were the same age as you. Really, we are all in the range of 17-21."

"That's another lie you told me. May you all go to hell. Excuse me. May you all go to the icky half of the Spirit World."

Kurama shakes his head while Yukina continues. "Koenma, one day, went on an expedition with Botan—she was a weird perky Spirit Guide who rode an oar, and was also his devoted servant—to find an item that was said to be very powerful and would help us keep down the demon world."

"Whoa. Botan was a 'spirit guide'?"

"Yes. She helped lost souls to the afterlife. Anyway, they searched for months and months, and then, they finally found it and brought it back. It seemed that with this item, we could finally crush the demon world, eliminate all resistance, and have complete access to the human world, to continue our spirit reincarnation and prevent demon reincarnation once and for all."

I blink. Somehow, I understood all that, even though she is definitely not a storyteller.

"But then Koenma turned on us. We don't know why. He killed Botan and took this item away. He now works for the demon realm, constantly chasing us down. Once his allies the Spirit Detectives, we are now the RSP—the Renegade Spirit Patrol. Koenma leads the demons, fighting his own father, King Enma. Now, with no leader, the spirit world is crumbling, no matter what we do. Because King Enma is fighting day by endless day in a far off realm and Koenma is a traitor to the cause, our own Benedict Arnold, we left an old woman named Genkai in charge of it. But despite her reliability, she can't do it. She is only human, not a goddess. She has enough on her plate trying to protect us all from Koenma. But again, she can't do it all. So, we decided that the only way to do it was to take back the item, and possibly our leader too. The item has given them such an amazing edge…although Genkai keeps sending in reinforcements to the demon realm, we're getting killed. With that item on our side, we will pull it off and crush the demon realm."

"What is this item—"

"Shut up. So, we decided to invoke the best thieves in the land. Our very own Kurama and others. But they were all unsuccessful. Kurama was the only survivor out of the demon/spirit team of 200 we sent there to take back the item. They were all destroyed by the hordes of demons there. Kurama is a hugely powerful fox demon thief, but not even he could do it."

"Yeah. He was too busy stalking me!"

"We'll get to you in a minute. So, we figured that the only way to pull it off was to get a thief who was somehow immune to the attacks of these demons. No spirit alive can do this. This is why the Gods allied with the spirits eons ago. Spirits are unbelievably weaker than their enemies the demons and the gods took pity. Anyway, with the spirits and demons out, we looked to the humans. We learned that there were a precious few gifted with the Shakra, a very rare power in one in a million humans. Shakra is an angelic force that repels demons. Kara, demons cannot touch you without feeling extreme pain."

Kurama picks up. "This was why you get the markings when you are touched by a demon. My whip caught fire even though it was raining because it was a Shakra fire. When the demon whip touched you, you got the marking and your power punished the demon whip. When Yukina threw the ice at you, she caught on fire and you got the marking in every cut."

I look down at myself. I do see very, very tiny circles on each of my leg and arm slits that undoubtedly say Farnsuga.

"When Yukina tried to light you on fire, she touched you, and failed in catching you on fire because she already was on fire."

"I knew you hated me." I hiss at Yukina.

"I don't hate you! This was to prove it all to you! I knew it wouldn't hurt you!"

Kurama talks again. "But not all humans are thieves. In fact, the vast majority aren't. They are not experienced enough, anyway, to do what we are asking them to do. There were only three in the world that had such an ability and were great thieves. One was the Irish burglar Cedric O'Mayo, or something. Koenma killed him even before we set our sights on the Shakra people. The next was the Zairian burglar Sensiah Morisha. Koenma got to her before we did, and you can guess the result. Our last hope was you. The American/Japanese thief Sakara Azhura."

How did they fond out about my Japanese heritage through my mom's side?

"How did you find me?" I ask.

"Genkai once asked you to steal a heavily guarded painting for her. We knew about your power then, but not about your skill.

Of course. The lady had dark pink hair. She was with them!

"Why didn't this Koenma person kill me like the other two?"

"It wasn't like he hadn't tried…numerous times." Kurama sighs. "We're pretty sure that your dad just wandering in was no accident."

My eyes widen. I'd completely forgotten that I'd killed my own father with my own doorknob. I bite my lip so hard that I cut it. I get the metallic taste of blood.

Yukina starts talking again. "Your father was all the way down in North Carolina one minute, and with you the next. We checked this to make sure that it was foul play. Koenma must have transported him to your house. Koenma knew he was a drunken executioner, and he played that to his advantage. He tried to kill you with your own parent, assuming that you wouldn't fight back. Koenma has a sick mind."

"B-but he was wrong." I say, again feeling the urge to bawl like a little kid. "I-I did kill him. I'm a murderer."

Kurama nods gravely. "You may be, but you still did what was right. You put him out of his misery. People like that don't deserve to live."

"But he was still my father!" I burst out. "He was all I had left! And I—I just killed him…" I put my face in my hands.

"You did what was right." He says again. "You exercised your only option. You cannot be blamed for that."

I cast around desperately for a change of subject. "What do you mean, numerous times? How else did this Koenma try to kill me?"

"When you were in your cell, you recall that the lights suddenly brightened as though trying to melt you?"

"How could I forget?"

"That was him, or at least, one of his electrical demon minions."

Hiei and Kuwabara were going to say electrical demon! Where the hell did they come up with electrician?

"He found out where you were. After that, Hiei gave you a new shield to guard you from demons, which was always in effect while you were in the cage. But after you ran for the second time, Koenma, watching for you, hit you with major attacks of the nervous system."

"Yeah, I was pretty damn nervous."

"No. As in, nerves. His demon minion gave you those pain attacks. The demon could do it because even though you have the Shakra, he wasn't touching you directly. But you saved yourself. You used your power. You completely prevented him from reaching you, and you healed yourself. The pillar of light. That was your power. The angelic energy that doesn't permit evil forces through it, particularly that of demons. It was like a netting guarding you. But, if Koenma himself had tried to attack you, I think you would have been killed. He is not a demon. He's a god."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, while I soak up all of this. They seem content to stop. I'm not. In case they're getting an idea about stopping, I say quickly, "I can pretty much infer that I'm the one to steal this 'item' that Botan and Koenma found. What is it?"

"We don't know. Koenma's certainly not talking. Only Botan knew, and she is long dead, poor thing."

"Well, if Koenma could have kicked my ass if he wanted to, how am I supposed to beat this God?"

"You aren't. You need to slip past him and retrieve the item without being seen. We don't plan to confront him. We just hope that without the weapon, he will either come to his senses or be considerably weakened."

"Ah. So I don't have to fight him."

"If you don't fail."

That doesn't sound good. "And if I fail?"

"You almost certainly die a painful death, the Spirit World crumbles, and demons get reincarnated in humans so that the human world destroys itself, and it just becomes an extension of the demon realm."

"Ouch."

"This is a very real, serious problem, Kara. Everything you needed to know is right here in front of you. We omit nothing. Whether or not you'll deem it true and assist us is another story. You can save the human world or you can stay stuck in your fantasy. We are not the ones in a fantasy, Kara. It's you. Decide whether you'll believe us or stay in denial, thinking that it will all go away. It won't. You are truly our only hope. We won't let you go so easily."

Yukina nods. "Kara, please, we're not pressuring you. Do what you think is right for all. I'll go get you another ham sandwich. You've been very good this whole session."

The two leave together. I am left staring behind their retreating backs.

It can't be true.

And yet…

It is.

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A/N: Finally. She believes. It's a miracle! Yeah, Botan's dead, and Genkai's pretending to be a ruler. Yukina, Shizuru, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Kurama, and Hiei are all in this place. Koenma is a traitor, and Enma is out there somewhere. Did I leave out any characters? I mean, besides the bad guys, like Touya, Jin, etc. Review please! Oh, and soccerchic91588, yes, most people portray Yukina as being a dimwit that's only good for healing. I wanted to stop that. That's why I made her one of the main characters. Do you know that there's almost no Yukina-based fanfics? There should be more! She's unselfish and must be somewhat smart, if at all. Thank you for reviewing!