Disclaimer: I don't one YYH. I hate saying this.

Chapter 19: The Plan

As the last of the gas dissipates into thin air, the rest of the people run back in. Keiko is the first, and she runs to Yusuke's side. The rest follow, also running, but Yukina, who appears to have woken up in her absence, slips on the many rose petals littering the floor. Nobody notices. They're all too preoccupied with Yusuke.

She pulls herself shakily to her feet, she follows the others. I decide to do the same, only to find that I can't get through.

"This looks bad." Says Shizuru worriedly. "Keiko, get a grip…"

"Let her cry." Says Kurama angrily. "She has good reason to."

"What's the matter with him?" Asks Kuwabara, stupid as usual.

"Excuse me, let the medic through!" Says Yukina with a little quaver in her small voice. They part to let her through. From what I can see, she puts her hands on his chest like she did before and puts in some of her power again. Finally, she stops making him glow blue, and tries again. And again. And again.

"Yukina, just what happened?" Asks Kuwabara.

Yukina sighs and shakes her head.

Why does that innocent motion fill me with dread?

I walk closer. Peering above Yukina, I see Yusuke laying there, as though asleep. I reach over her head and put my hand over his mouth. I feel…no breath.

"He's dead, isn't he?" I say flatly.

"SHHHHHH!" Hisses practically everyone, and, with a shock, I see why. Konnichiwa Girl officially loses it in Japanese, which I have crudely translated about what her words probably mean.

"HE CAN'T BE DEAD! HE CAN'T BE! AND NOW…NOW HE JUST KICKS IT? HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? Oh, Shizuru…" She cries into Shizuru's shirt even harder, laying her hand on Yusuke's dead shoulder.

Kurama sighs, and gives Yukina a coded look. Yukina stands and ushers everyone out, but actually leaves me there with Yukina. I can hear Keiko half-screaming down the hall. When they are finally far out of range (38 seconds later), and the door slams shut behind them, Kurama instructs me to sit down next to him. I do.

"I hate you." I say bluntly, not caring about what he thinks.

"I know. But I really don't care. You are going to pay attention now."

"No, I'm not."

"Kara…there are reasons why only you can know what I'm about to tell you. Pay attention or I'll give you a seed to make you listen."

I have nothing on him. He wields all the power. What choice do I have? I already know he'll do it if he has to. I wait for him to talk grudgingly. He takes a deep breath, and begins. "Kara, I want to thank you for trying to help Yusuke. I saw it all from the window. But despite your power, humans have many limitations."

"I know it didn't work, okay?"

"It was your effort that counted. It means a lot to me that you cared enough about him to try to save his life."

"Bleah."

"No. Kara, it's much more than bleah."

"How so, Hair? He's still a mushroom."

She stares at me. "Kuwabara didn't tell you Yusuke's story either, did he?"

"Nope."

"About the car, yes. Back when Yusuke was a fourteen-year-old delinquent, forging along a very bad path that only the worst of us take, he decided to save a child that went after a ball that rolled into the street. A car was headed for him, and Yusuke took the blow for the boy, shoving the child out of the way. The impact killed Yusuke instantly."

"If you say so…" I can believe this. I will! It's no stranger than anything else.

"Well, since Koenma, back when he was on our side, didn't foresee Yusuke's death for such a noble cause, given his less-than-admirable history, there was no place in heaven or hell for Yusuke to go. So, he was given the option to come back to life. Yusuke ran around a bit with Botan, the spirit guide, and was eventually returned to life with the help of a spirit egg. Don't ask what that is. So, that was how Yusuke died and was reborn."

The reality hits me. "So, Yusuke isn't gone! He'll just get his spirit back to life!"

He looks at me. "How I wish that were true."

I shake my head. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, he was given only given a second chance by the unity of Botan and Koenma. But now that Botan is dead, and Koenma has turned, he will be given no second chance."

"So…without Koenma or probably Enma, he really is gone." I stare at the lifeless boy just lying there before my eyes and feel a strange sense of loss. I only ever met him once, and although he was a clearly pain-ridden adult, I could see a spark of mischief in his eyes. No wonder he was a delinquent.

"I fear he is truly gone."

I stare at him some more.

"I only told you this rather than the rest of them because you are the only one who needs to know. Because his death concerns you."

"Why? I barely said two words to him."

"Because Koenma will come after you next." He says solemnly. "He tried to kill you with pain. He did the same to Yusuke. He failed both times. So, he took out Yusuke's only life support, and thus, Yusuke. You will be next. Now our leader is down. True, I will be the new leader now, but I am not Yusuke."

"How did he get to Yusuke's oxygen tank?"

"We don't know. This fortress was supposed to be guarded from him. It wasn't. Somehow, his power got into the building itself."

"Why didn't he finish me, too?"

"He probably tried for Yusuke first."

"But now I'm right where Yusuke was. If he wants me, he can have me."

"We don't know. The only way that I can speculate that this could have happened was the open door. Yukina says that you two ran into the room but the door was unlocked. He probably unlocked the door and substituted the oxygen with the poison."

"What poison was it?"

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that it was powerful enough to kill Yusuke, and that it could strike again. If my theory is correct, the only reason you aren't dying is because of your power, and maybe because the door is now shut, not letting the power get in."

"But all the times the door was open…"

"It is a theory. It does to have to be true."

"You'd better believe it. If Koenma wanted me, he could have had me by now. Plain and simple."

He huffs loudly. "Well then, we can agree to disagree, right?"

"Whatever."

Kurama shrugs and pulls out that mirror again. He speaks into it, "Kuwabara" and Shizuru's face pops up. That's very cool. Is this some kind of communication system?

"Meet in the box." He says clearly.

I don't even have an urge to mock him. I'm too sad about what just happened.

Kurama stands up and motions for me to follow him. He admits me through the tall door first. "I need to make sure the door is shut properly." He says, so matter-of-factly that I want to punch him.

He points me down the hall. "We're going to meet and talk this over."

I sigh, and take one last look at Yusuke. His convulsions have finally stopped.

Why did this happen to him?

I allow myself to be ushered, but I don't let Kurama touch me. So, finally, he gets in front of me, and walks really faster. His speedwalk is a lot faster than Yukina's. It's hard just trying to keep up. Honestly, girls would be jealous of how this guy looks. He looks so unbelievably feminine, with those long legs, long hair (even if it is a tangled mess), and lovely, girly face. He even has a girly power! Roses! Honestly, there's not way he can be a demon. Demons don't look like pretty girls that got a sex change who wield flower power!

Finally, Kurama ambles off towards the left side and opens a plain little white door. I follow him into it.

Upon entrance, I can really see why it's called a box. It's very cramped and has cardboard walls. Everyone else is already assembled in here. Yukina motions for me to sit next to her. I do, and Kurama sits opposite me.

As soon as that happens, Kurama speaks. "Everyone, our worst fears have been confirmed. Yusuke is dead."

I hear another freaky sob/shriek from Guess-Who.

"In light of this circumstance, I am the new leader, and I'm to decide what's best for us. I think that this is nobody's fault. Koenma used his powers to substitute in a demon poison, which killed him. Yukina and Kara, you did a good job, but you were too late when you got there. Two breaths of that concentrated chemical by a mortal without Shakra kills them slowly. If you had gotten it off before you did, he would have died anyway. Thank you for what you did for him, though. Yukina, you made it painless. But, this was no accident. Koenma killed Yusuke."

Yukina blinks very quickly, probably for tears.

"But, no matter, it's only a matter of time before we befall the same fate as Yusuke. Or at least, the humans among us." He nods to Kuwabara, Shizuru, and Keiko. "And the rest of us can be destroyed just as quickly. This place is no longer safe. Koenma knows where we're hiding."

"Where exactly is here?" I ask. I've been wondering that for a while.

"Southwestern New Jersey, of course."

Whoa. Wasn't expecting that one. I thought we'd moved to Arizona or something.

"We have to move out of here. We can't risk another death of another key official. Soon it will be me, and Kara, and everyone else. We are the only thing stopping the human world being ridden amok with demons. If we fall, so does all of earth."

"How are we supposed to do that if we can't even go outside?" Asks Kuwabara.

"Underground." He says. "Kara, do you remember where we kept you before you escaped and we moved here?"

"Yeah, but how far could we have moved, really? Still in SW NJ, right where Alken is."

"We didn't really move. We moved to a different facility."

"Meaning…?"

"The place where you were kept initially and where we are now are part of the same underground base."

"Then why…" begins Kuwabara, "did we need a bus if we're all connected?"

I have no idea what they're talking about. Oh yeah…when they caught me in the tunnel, didn't Kurama leap down and say that he's found a bus?

"It was hypothetical, Kuwabara. You'll notice that we didn't actually take a bus. It was so that if Koenma was following us, he would look to the Alken bus system for us. You do recall that we took another tunnel to a different, bigger, more guarded base?"

"No. Which base was this again?"

"The one we're in."

(The sound of blowing air). "Really?"

Hiei speaks, one of the rare things he does. "Hn. Kitsune, do you really think Koenma would have fallen for that?"

"What's a kitsune?"

"A fox demon. Hiei, we didn't have anything better than that at the time. You weren't sporting any ideas."

"That was because you made me wait in that cellar for two days to make sure that I could hold her down. And you brought her in unconscious. It was a complete waste of my valuable time."

"What valuable time? Did you dance with any men, Hiei?"

Hiei gives me a very good death glare with those tiny crimson eyes, and goes back to his pitiful conversation. "Kurama, if Koenma had wanted you, he could have just taken you."

"I hadn't made my presence known before I attacked Kara. Anytime before that, he couldn't have known my location."

"Don't underestimate a mad god."

"I wasn't."

"Well, if he'd wanted you, he could have got you."

"I know, I know! I took a chance, all right?"

"Leaders can't take chances. Leaders must work in full operation. We can't do this again, Kurama. You'll have to take more hits for the team."

"I KNOW! Gods, Hiei! I know that I'm the leader and I was careless that day."

"And cranky, too." Says Kuwabara in an undertone.

"I was just stressed! So was Yusuke! So was everyone! Who wouldn't be, trying to catch someone who could kill you by simply touching you!" Kurama points at me. "We didn't know if she could use her full power yet! She could have killed me—"

"Kurama, that's enough." Says Yukina in a confident voice, startling everyone. "You were careless that day, and we are trying to alert you to that before it happens again. Things are going to be much different with Yusuke gone."

"They certainly will." Agrees Kurama. "I'll try to fill his shoes for us. First, we need to get out of here without Koenma noticing. Then, into the spirit world to make contact with Genkai. Possibly she can help us with step three. Getting Kara into the demon world."

I blink. Put that way, it seems a whole lot scarier. "What? No one's even coming with me?"

"No, of course not! Kurama will come with you. He's a pretty good thief himself, although useless without the Shakra ability."

My eye starts to twitch. "I will not work with Mr. Hair. I won't. He whipped me and I'll—"

"Hate him forever for that." Finishes Yukina.

"Stop sticking words in my mouth! I won't work with Kurama!"

"Look, we'll deal with this grudge match later." Says Kurama. "For now, we just need to get to the nearest spirit portal."

Seeing my blank look, Yukina says, "There are many portals between the worlds. We need to find closest one to get into the spirit world so we can talk to Genkai."

"Why not just use the mirror-phone thing?"

"Oh, a communication mirror? No. It's useless if you're in a completely separate realm from the person you're trying to reach."

"So it's impossible." I say flatly. "We can't go outside because we'll die, but we need to do that to get to this Genkai girl, and so there's no way we can win."

"Maybe not." Says Hiei. "The hardest part will be to locate one. I could probably find one quickly."

"Not quick enough to stop Koenma's God powers. Nothing is faster than God powers, not even you."

"Well, possibly, I could drag the whole team along. Our shields combined should be enough to defend against the power for the few seconds I'd need." Says Hiei thoughtfully.

"No. First we'd need to open the damn thing. After it's opened, it takes several hours to work properly. We'd have to turn it on, run back, then so many hours later, run to it and through. We'd be exposing ourselves two separate times. Koenma won't be merciful if he finds us."

"Is there any way to speed up a portal's opening?"

"Not that I know off." Says Yukina. "I'm sorry Kurama, but—"

"Hiei, do you know where one is right now?" I ask. I might have an idea.

"Yes. There's the one right under the New Jersey Center Bank. In the basement. We don't know why it formed there. Although it's the closest, it's the hardest to penetrate, what with all the security. We were considering the one in the country area of Southern Pennsylvania."

I grin. "Do we have to open the portal or can someone else open it for us?"

"Well, we do. No one else on earth knows about our organization. Not even my mother, Shenai Minamino."

"Demons have mothers? You know what, don't answer that. Is there any way that we could get Genkai to open the portal from the other side?"

"If we had some way to communicate with her, yes. But that's the object here. We can't communicate with her yet."

"Is there some way that we could upgrade the communication mirror?"

"It'd take a while. I guess you'd want it to pass between worlds?"

"Does Koenma ever sleep?"

"I don't know." Says an aggravated Hiei.

"Just listen to my plan. Just imagine that Koenma sleeps for like, one hour a day. We tell Genkai to open the portal for that hour. I get us into the New Jersey Center Bank. And then voila—we get to the Spirit World."

"We still have no way of contacting Genkai." Says Hiei bluntly. "Or anyone else in the spirit world, for that matter."

Yukina pipes up, "You know what? He does take naps. He's still a baby God. Four years wouldn't have made a difference."

"When does he take those naps?"

"I have no idea."

"Would it be at night?"

"Kara, believe me when I say I'm not his nanny."

Kurama holds up a hand as we all start to babble. "You know, Kara might have something there. I really just need to work out the kinks. This meeting is adjourned." Then, he adds, "We move out tonight. Everyone, get your things."

"Are you mad, demon?" Says Hiei, jumping to his tiny feet.

"Maybe, maybe not. But all I can say is that you're welcome to stay if you want to be next. Come on. We'll move out along passageway 13."

"What do we do with Yusuke?" I ask.

He turns to me solemnly. "He's not coming back to life. Leave the body here."

I think I just got my first bad omen. Leaving a dead man. And 13 is a very unlucky number.

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A/N: Review please! I want to know what you think of this!