Once again a huge shout out to Insane Rurounis...my only true reviewer!!! Thank you sooooooo much for you loyalty, my only fan!
Chapter 14: The Truth Emerges
Kurama gazed upon the beautiful figure sitting on the ledge of the roof of Meiou High. Her glistening white hair wafted gently in the breeze as the tranquil sound of tinkling bells could be heard from a silver anklet she wore. As the façade of Yumi Nakamura melted away, so too, did the uniform she wore. In its place she wore an all white ensemble consisting of a cold shoulder wrap/shirt and three quarter length, white, baggy pants (like the ones that Genkai wears) which were kind of sheer , and white slippers. The garnet and silver torque she wore, which he now recognized as the eye of Shin Ryuushi, also changed. It was now tighter on her neck and bigger; it also seemed to be...attached to her skin as several claw like appendages reached from the choker and melted off into her skin. The stone was now bigger, having taken up the whole front portion of her neck and the necklace, and was much more brilliant.
Kurama stared at her in awed silence, "What is it Kurama, you look as though you've seen a ghost," she said in a mocking tone.
"A ghost from my past you might say." He whispered. He never thought that he would see her, of all people, again. She was stunning, exactly as he remembered her; only the woman he envisioned in his dreams was no where near as beautiful as the one seated before him. "Shihiko, what are you doing here?"
"Enjoying the view. What does it look like I am doing?" she said, with her eyebrows slightly raised and her features carrying an innocent expression.
"Forever the joker aren't you," he said in a serious tone.
She smiled cynically, "Oh Kurama, Your problem is that you need to get more fun out of life." 1.)
"What are you and the other dragon keepers planning Shihiko? I know you're involved in their current plans, why else would you be in Ningenkai," he said, his patience waning.
"But, I already told you, I'm enjoying the scenery. I really love what the ningens have done with the place; very homey."
"Don't make me ask you again," he said in a deadly silent voice.
Upon hearing the hostility in his voice, Shihiko's cynical attitude faded into a stoic lethal look. "THAT is not the question that should be addressed here, now is it?" She stood up from the roof ledge and began to walk slowly towards him, "after all, with my sudden appearance and the revelation of the lovely tale of evil king Enma's after school projects being revealed to you, the pieces of our plan should become quite apparent, that is, if you apply that huge youko brain of yours to the mix... No, our plan is not what we should discuss. Instead let us talk about," she stopped her approach when she was only about three inches away from him, "why it is you abandoned me, Yoko."
Kurama felt his chest cavity constrict slightly at her words. "Shihiko, I-,"
"I know you had feelings for me. I felt it when we made love, I saw it in your eyes when you looked at me, and I heard it in your voice when you spoke to me... so why..." she felt the barrier she had erected around her heart weaken and begin to crumble.
Upon seeing the sorrow etch slowly into her features Kurama took her consolingly into his arms and held her tight, "please try to understand, I was not the man that you thought I was. I was heartless, and I didn't want to be tied down to anyone. I thought our joining would be an adventure, and...it was; but that was all it was and when you acquired the Shaii, that adventure as well as our own personal adventure ended. I'm sorry if I hurt you, that was the last thing I wanted to do," his hand slid almost wantonly down her back and entangled in her silky white hair.
His mind flashed back to the time they shared together. A time spent making love then talking throughout the night and fighting side by side. To be perfectly honest, he had missed her, and more importantly, he did have feelings for her. That was the real reason why he left. He was afraid that he was beginning to fall for her, and it, the feeling, was more than what he wanted in his life at that moment. It was more than what he was prepared for. The only way he knew how to deal with the situation and avoid being emotionally attached was by leaving her. He never thought that her mind would be set on him for so long though; he though that she would get over him in no time. It seemed as though he was wrong in that case.
He was brought out of his thoughts by her voice, "So you mean...you felt nothing; that you slept with me only to pass the time during our travels?!" She pulled away from him and stared into his eyes.
Kurama stared back at her, but said nothing. At his silent reply, Shihiko's eyes changed into a more golden color and the blush began to melt away. "Fine then. It seems as though you and I are enemies now. Enjoy spending time in the human world while it lasts, because soon, only the dragons will inhabit this land; and the humans will be the sustenance which will revive our domination over this world. Farewell Kurama."
With that, she began to walk away, but was forestalled by Kurama's iron grip around her upper arm. She turned around to find Kurama's cold eyes lancing her, "Believe me Shihiko," he spoke in a deadly low tone, "if you do anything to cause harm to the human race," he brought her closer to his body and grabbed her chin with his other hand, "then rest assured, you will die by my hand...and I will be merciless," her eyes narrowed into glittering golden slits at his threat.
No one ever speaks that way to HER...EVER, "I'll have it no other way fox," she hissed. She released a blaze of white fire around her upper arm, forcing Kurama to let go of her. Soon her entire body became engulfed in white flames and she disappeared.
Kurama was left on the roof alone. He opened and closed his hand, trying to relieve it of the pain that her fire had caused. As he stood there his mind was racing, trying to contemplate what Shihiko's plan could be. He knew that it involved the use of the Eye of Shin Ryuushi, but how the eye was to be used was unknown to him. He would have to consult with Koenma and the others to find out.
Somewhere in the forests of Japan
"Ran!" Shihiko stormed through the dense wooded area until she got to a clearing, "Ran! Where are you, you bitch?!" Shihiko looked around the clearing for the little fiery headed dragon keeper. She heard a yawn come from above and to the right of her. She looked up and, low and behold, there was Ran, lounging on a tree limb on the outskirts of the clearing.
"You rang, my lady?" she said lazily, raising both of her arms behind her head to serve as a cushion against the tree.
"How is it that you can so thoroughly manage to piss me off in one gesture?" she asked irked at Ran's laziness.
She smirked, satisfied at pissing Shihiko off "A gift I suppose...why are you here?"
"The time has come for this plan to be put into action; I am through with observing this abominable race. Contact Ise and tell her to meet me at 'the site' so that we can commence the operation tonight at 7:00 pm."
Ran looked down cheekily at Shihiko, her crimson and gold eyes twinkling in amusement, "So, you finally decided to move forward with the plan hmm? It's about time," Ran jumped down from the tree and landed right in front of Shihiko. She was wearing the same red and black ensemble she wore earlier that morning. "So, what may I ask prompted you to go forward with the plan so hastily? I mean, you looked as if you were having so much fun toying with that little red head, Suuichi. Did something happen between you two?" She said teasingly.
Shihiko looked stonily at her, "Just find Ise," she said and then proceeded to walk away.
"Aye aye, Capitan," she said in a low voice.
Koenma's office Reikai: 6:30 pm
Koenma stared at the ensemble gathered before him. Kurama and Kuwabara were standing next to each other; Kurama enlightening Kuwabara about how Yumi and Shihiko were one and the same person, for the fourth time. Hiei was standing in a dark corner staring off into space; and Yusuke was...well...doing the same thing as Hiei, surprisingly. It was obvious that he was taking the news of Reikai being corrupt hard. They all, with the exception of Hiei, had tried to engage in conversation with him since Koenma broke the news to him, but it had been to no avail. The only thing any of them could do was wait until, his feelings of betrayal subsided.
Koenma stood, "So Kurama, what exactly do you know about this Shihiko woman? What is she capable of?"
"Well, she is a white dragon keeper. Her powers have been increased do to the fact that she evoked the power of the phoenix race about a century ago by wielding the Shaii. I can't really tell you how much power she gained nor can I tell you about the types of powers she has, except for the fact that she is a priestess or a mystic of some sort; she can create and manipulate white flames, and more importantly, she is the wielder of the Eye of Shin Ryuushi."
Koenma slumped down into his chair, his face paling considerably, "The eye? That means that she can evoke the powers of Shin Ryuushi!"
"Yes, she told me, long ago, that that was the main purpose of the white dragon, to evoke Shin Ryuushi,"
"So who is this Shin Ryuushi?" asked Kuwabara.
Koenma scowled and looked down, "He is their God, the first and most powerful dragon who ever existed. It is said that he would one day come back to restore power to the dragon race."
"Then that must be their plan. To resurrect Shin Ryuushi and take back Ningenkai. Hn, impressive," said Hiei.
"Yes. But in order for them to resurrect him, the wielder of the Eye must gain an enormous amount of energy. This is the only way this Shihiko could sustain the overwhelming power of summoning Shin. However, the question remains as to how or where they will get this large amount of energy," said Koenma. (A/N: Can you all guess where the power will come from?).
Kurama's mind suddenly flashed back to his argument with Shihiko earlier in the day.
= Flashback =
Shihiko's eyes flared like embers. "Fine then. It seems as though you and I are enemies now. Enjoy spending time in the human world while it lasts, because soon, only the dragons will inhabit this land; and the humans will be the sustenance which will revive our domination over this world. Farewell Kurama."
= End Flashback =
"...The humans will be the sustenance which will revive our domination over this world..." Kurama said out loud. Everyone turned to face him. He remained silent, pondering the meaning of her words, oblivious to the others' staring. "The humans! Of course! That is where they will get the energy from. The Eye of Shin Ryuushi drains the hidden energy force, or the small amount of ryuuki, from the humans, empowering Shihiko for the resurrection," everyone stared at Kurama in askance.
"So, you got all of that from that one statement," said Yusuke cynically.
"It's been evident ever since Yumi or Shihiko arrived in Ningenkai; we just were oblivious to it. For example at our first meeting at Kiate's, everyone in the café, with the exception of Yumi and me, were all unusually exhausted. She must've been draining everyone in the café of their energy. It came to a point where all of the patrons and the staff were nearly dead on their feet. I must admit that even I have become quite weary in her presence at times."
"But that doesn't make sense, why wouldn't she just drain everyone immediately? Why go through all of the trouble with attacking the carnival and Hiei? Why all of the twists and turns?" asked Koenma.
Kurama put his right hand up to his chin and began to contemplate the reasons for this, "perhaps the eye has its limitations as well. Maybe she can't absorb that much energy at one time or maybe she needs time to prepare the eye for the absorption, who knows.
"But, if there is, in fact, a limitation for the eye, that would explain all of the battles that have ensued between us: The attack on the carnival, the fights with Cheng and Jun Pei, Hiei's encounter with Kai and Jun Pei's 'supposed' death. Perhaps each of these events have been tools to divert our attention away from the most important factor; Shihiko stealing the energy from every human within the vicinity!"
"Kurama, I think you're on to something," said Koenma.
"Wait a minute; Yumi's been here for a while right? So how much energy does she need in order to bring that Shin guy back anyways? Shouldn't she have enough be now?"
"Well that depends Kuwabara. If she had a lot of contact with humans, which I suspect she has, then she should be able to revive Shin Ryuushi any day now."
"Koenma!!!"
"Koenma sir!!!"
The two mingled voices of Botan and George yelling reverberated throughout the Reikai palace hallways. The two bounded into Koenma's office, unceremoniously, nearly toppling over one another.
"Oh look here come the two pains in my ass," Koenma said under his breath. The two finally made there way to Koenma's desk trying to catch their breath before they spoke, "Botan, can you explain to me why you two have bomb -rushed your way in here?"
"Sir... the dragon keepers... have launched another... attack. They've pillowed all of... Japan in a devastating blizzard. The cold is so severe that people are beginning to freeze to death!"
"WHAT! Ogre! Put it on screen pronto!!" said Koenma. The blue, tiger striped underwear clad ogre rushed to Koenma's deluxe projection screen and turned the channel to the streets of Ningenkai. The scene before the Tentei was horrible. Homes and buildings were halfway covered in snow; some parts of human bodies could be seen, frozen and emerging slightly from the white plague.
"This is horrible," said Botan.
"How could they do this, the monsters!" said Kuwabara.
By this time Yusuke had removed himself from the corner to stare at the abomination presented before him, "Keiko...mom,"
"...mother..." Kurama had whispered softly.
"Hey, what the heck is that?" asked Kuwabara. He pointed to the top of screen where a conglomeration of whitish, golden light surrounded by blue could be seen floating up to the sky, where it hovered ominously. The lights grew in number and lit up the entire sky.
"...Could it be?" whispered Koenma.
"The ryuuki and reiki from the dead humans...they're collecting them,"
"Hn, I think they've made their move, Jr." said Hiei.
"Koenma," said Kurama, "about how long can the humans in the city last with the conditions like this?"
Koenma's face turned grim, "Not more that three hours I'm afraid. After that, not many humans will be left,"
"THAT'S IT KOENMA!!! WHERE ARE THEY?!" hollered Yusuke. He walked over to Koenma's new desk and slammed his fist into it. Koenma sighed in relief when this one didn't shatter into a million pieces. "You wanted us to fight for you, so now I'm do'in it! Now give me the stupid location so I can go and kick her scaly ass back to Makai!!!"
Koenma fumbled with the controller to his television to pinpoint the location of the one causing the snow storm. His screen brought up a map with three, very bright white and golden spots in one area which was separate from the conglomeration of energy from the humans. "They are on a promontory bluff, about fifty miles outside of Kyoto. Botan! Set up a portal to that area on the double!"
"Yes sir!"
The tentei followed Botan out of Koenma's office, leaving the ancient toddler hoping that they make it on time and save Ningenkai.
= Fifty miles outside of Kyoto =
Three lonely figures stood on a promontory bluff looking up at the beautiful night sky. However, something was not quite right with the scenery. The sky, instead of it being a star filled, dark sapphire, contained the unusual hues of blazing white and golden masses of energy which lit up the night like the fourth of July.
Shihiko, Ran along with another figure were the causes of this phenomenon. Ran breathed in the cool night air and sighed, "Ah, there's nothing like stealing human souls under a moonlit, energy filled sky, right Ise?"
The third figure, whose back was facing Ran and Shihiko, nodded, "Indeed, I was just thinking the same thing," said the woman in an ethereal voice. She turned around, to meet the eyes of the other two, ice blue with striking gold flecks, met Blush with golden flecks and crimson with golden flecks, "What a coincidence." She said. The woman was strikingly beautiful. She had knee length pale blue hair and very pale skin which was almost bluish in color. She wore a white kimono that flared slightly in the back, like a mermaid tail and on top of her forehead was a symbol written in dark blue ink, which, in the dragon language, translated to, ice lily. Her eyes were accentuated with the same blue ink which adorned her forehead; and in comparison to the others present, she was extremely tall, almost 6 ft.
Shihiko smiled softly at the two's antics, "Just remember keep it going. The more souls released, the more powerful our Lord will become."
"Great, well it looks like we haven't missed the party guys," a male voice range through the air causing the three women to look back in surprise. There, behind them stood the Reikai Tentei, poised and ready to do battle.
=Shihiko's P.O.V. =
As she turned around, she knew what she was going to see, Kurama and the rest of Koenma's lackies coming to rain on their parade. She almost smiled as she saw Kurama decked out in a white Gi, so similar to the one he wore as Yoko (A/N: Kurama changed after school before he went to Koenma's palace). His eyes were cold and lethal, the green of his irises stained mercilessly by the gold fury of the youko beneath. Yet, there was something yielding in his eye, something that clearly spoke that he didn't want to hurt her. Upon reading his look she couldn't help the tiniest of smiles that escaped her. Her eyes wandered to the other members of his group, she had already met Yusuke, Botan and Kuwabara; Yusuke, looking like he wanted to smash in her face with his fist, Kuwabara, looking as confused as ever and Botan, trying to glare menacingly at her, but failing miserably; present only to take up space. 'My god humans are so easy to read' she thought. The fourth member of the group was about the same size as Ran, only about a few inches taller, for the top of Ran's head came up to the base of her neck, and this stranger, clad in black, came up to her mid cheek, minus his hair. He was very handsome, his emotionless face giving nothing of himself away, but his eyes, a blazing crimson, burned with a wild fury. 'He is obviously here to kill someone.' She mused.
=Normal P.O.V. =
"So Kurama, you finally made it. I was waiting for you, you know. I was waiting to feel your 'merciless' assault." Her eyes shifted to Yusuke, "My Yusuke, is anything wrong, you look so flustered," Yusuke's eyes turned a different color, darker and more malicious.
"Listen Dragon bitch! Call off your stinkin' attack before I pound my fist into your freakin' pie hole!!!" he yelled.
Shihiko smiled secretly recalling her previous musing about Yusuke looking as if he wanted to pound in someone's face. Her gaze fell of the one she assumed was the Jaganshi, Hiei. "So, you must be Hiei, the wielder of the black dragon. I must admit that I am impressed with your accomplishments. It is not a common thing for someone not possessing draconic blood to master such a technique. No wonder Kai is so enamored with you."
"Hn, I don't care whether she's enamored with me or not, I'm more interested in jamming my sword down her throat and sending her to hell. But, as for you, if you are so impressed with my abilities, I wouldn't mind giving you a private demonstration of my powers," he said suggestively, pulling his sword from out of his cloak and unsheathing it.
She smiled at him, "perhaps...another time. That is, if you're not dead the next time I see you. However, now I must leave you,"
"What's your rush buttercup? We're just getting started here." Said Yusuke, "and hey, what's the deal with your tiny friend over there. Yo red! You just gonna stand there or are you gonna come and get the beat down of your life!"
Ran felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to prickle. The crimson in her eyes melted away into a smoldering gold, "insect!" she hissed, "you should be careful what you ask for ignorant ningen," she materialized a blazing red and golden ball of fire in her hands, the heat from it melting the snow around them for a couple of feet, "you might receive more than you bargained for," her eyes were almost fully gold now and were glowing. A state in which no one would want to get Ran, or any dragon for that matter, in.
"Urameshi, what about my honor code, we can't fight a girl," said Kuwabara in a panic.
"Then stand on the sidelines and cover you stupid eyes!" he retorted.
"I'm sorry to intrude upon this scintillating conversation, but neither Ran nor lady Shihiko will be your opponents today. I'm afraid that pleasure is reserved for me," Ise sang. Her beautiful voice making Kuwabara and Yusuke stop in their tirade.
The beautiful woman glided towards them, and stood before the quintet. My lady, you may leave now, I'll handle this nuisance on yours, lord Kairen and LORD Shin Ryuushi's behalf."
Shihiko looked towards Kurama once again. His eyes never left her throughout this encounter. She felt his gaze burning into her throughout the conversation. She turned around and prepared to leave, "Sayonara Yoko," she said, turning her back to him.
Before she could leave, she heard his voice ring through the air, "Shihiko!" he launched himself towards her preparing to attack her, when suddenly a wall of ice came in front of him. He screeched to a halt before he collided with the shimmering ice.
Suddenly in a blur of black, Hiei came from behind Kurama and sliced through the ice wall a couple of times, his blade heated by his ki. When he was done. The wall collapsed in a pile of slush making a cloud of snow rise from the fallen remnants of the wall.
The Tentei waited for the snow cloud to disappear, expecting to find the dragon trio still there, however, they were only greeted by the beautiful visage of Ise. An ominous wind, which they could only assume came from her, wafted the locks of her ice blue hair and white kimono. Her face remained passive, holding only a Mona Lisa smile, which only cast her in a more mysterious light. "Please forgive me for the serious ass whopping I'm about to give you," she said as she bowed. She stretched out her hands and closed her eyes. Soon her hands became surrounded by a white aura which stretched between her hands and beyond. When the light began to dissipate a silver staff with intricate designs of fighting dragons lay gently in her hands. She lowered herself in a fighting stance, getting ready to attack.
"Bring it!" said Yusuke.
Ok, that's chapter 14. hope you guys like it. I disregarded homework in order to finish it so enjoy!!!
Anyways, were getting close to the end of this saga!!! Aren't you all excited, I know I am, because the next saga is freakin cool!!!
Oh well the next chapter is the battle between Ise and the tentei, and it's called fly to Kyoto. Will try to update soon, Tchao!!!
my fav. Line from silence of the lambs. Hannibal says it to Clarice before he escapes from his prison. I recommend any and all of the Hannibal books or movies!
Also I updated my bio page so check it out when you have the chance!