A Life of Our Own
Chapter three
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We don't pay heed to this enemy
We don't hear their cries of agony,
But when life is taken from us,
We yell at the Heavens for their unfairness.
And shake the 'peoples' fist of rage and JusticeXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Shadow!" Koenma commanded suddenly startling the four men before him.
"I'm here!" A feminine voice snapped. The owner of the voice appeared on Koenma's desk suddenly with her long legs crossed and mouth curved in a goofy grin. Long, dark-purple hair, a violet so dark it could be confused with black, was pulled up in a high ponytail; a mass of ebon-purple bangs fell over one of her piercing, ice blue eyes framed by half-rimmed oval glasses. She was clad in a long sleeve, purple, hooded sweatshirt, black jeans torn at the knees, and thick-heeled, tie-up boots; overall, she looked very American.
"Who's that?" Yuusuke asked cocking his head to the side and placing his black, full cover, motorcycle helmet on the floor.
"This is Shadow," Koenma said gesturing to his desk.
"Hey guys, nice to meet you- I'm the head assassin and senior guide round here- you must be the famous Reikai Tentai," the girl grinned and jumped off of the desk and bowed in a single fluid movement.
"Actually Yuusuke is the only real Spirit Detective here, we just assist him with difficult assignments," Kurama explained with a polite bow.
"Oh, makes sense I suppose. Anyways which one of you is Kuwabara?" She asked examining each member of the mismatch group closely. The taller carrot-topped man stepped forward.
"That's me."
"Awesome, I've got great news for you! You are now on vocational leave, thanks to Botan- she said something about wedding arrangements and how she needed to work with you." Shadow gave a congratulatory smile and gave man a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Er, thank you?"
"Meh, no problem," the Reikan laughed, obviously she was in good spirits. "Anyway, since you're not going to be working on this mission, you have the choice of staying or leaving."
"Wait a damn minute!" Yuusuke exclaimed suddenly causing the people closest to him, Kurama and Kuwabara, to jump in surprise. "His wedding is in three months, yet he still gets off. But Keiko is due to have our child this month and I still have to go on a mission?"
"Are you the one who has to sit in bed and give birth? No," Shadow said pointedly.
"But I want to be there with Keiko when she does give birth!"
"This mission won't take more than a few days."
"Then why does Kuwabara get off?"
"I don't know, ask Botan!" Yuusuke glared angrily but didn't continue the argument.
"Okay, now that that has been cleared up, here's the mission for you three…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"Yo, Kuwabara need a ride home?" Yuusuke asked as he pulled on his black helmet. Though the threatening storm clouds remained, it still hadn't rained, but by the sight of forked lightning, and the loud claps of thunder following each bolt it was obvious it would pour down soon.
"Why not walking doesn't seem like the smartest idea anyway," Kuwabara replied glancing up through the green leaves of the park's plant life and at the black sky.
"Cool. Kurama what about you, got a ride?"
"Would I even fit? A motorcycle is built for two, correct?" Kurama asked skeptically. Hiei was long gone, probably having left to find a nice, safe tree to wait out the storm in, not that a tree was that entirely safe.
"We can make room, 'sides it's not a far ride, but it is far enough for you to get completely soaked." There was another loud clap of thunder, one close enough to make Kurama's mind up for him.
"No harm in a little ride I suppose."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXRain poured down thickly thoroughly soaking the threesome as they hurriedly pushed past a group of chattering schoolgirls and into a local Western diner.
"Man, I'm soaked!" Yuusuke exclaimed dropping down heavily into an over stuffed booth. Kuwabara rolled his eyes as he sat down next to the raven-haired man, and Kurama only sighed as he too took a seat across from the other two boys.
"It seems we won't be able to go anywhere awhile, the storm doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon," Kurama said slowly as a waitress came up and asked if she could get them anything. They ordered a few drinks and waited in silence until she returned.
"So Kuwabara, what chya you gunna do while we're gone?" Yuusuke asked randomly taking a sip of his soda.
"Spend time with my darling Yukina, and try and put up with Botan," Kuwabara replied offhandedly. "You know, I don't see why he needed you three to retrieve this jerk, couldn't he have used someone else? Your mission seems so easy!"
"Koenma works in strange ways," Kurama replied looking out the front window and watched as rain beat mercilessly against it.
"No shit, his fucked up logic is really starting to piss me off." Yet strangely Yuusuke didn't sound angry at all—he just looked tired, almost older his young age of twenty-four. Kurama rolled his eyes at the raven-haired man's selected choice of colorful words. "Anyways, Kuwabara, I have a favor to ask of you.."
"Ask away, man."
"Could you watch after Keiko for me? I've noticed that a few demons have been finding their way from the Makai and they seem to be specifically targeting her."
"Sure thing. Yukina and I am going to be staying at Genkai's for the weekend so she can come along as well."
The waitress was back to refill their drinks, and to check if they were ready to order—they weren't but she didn't seem to care for she was too busy trying desperately not to swoon over the table's occupants.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"Yukina-chan, Keiko-chan! Isn't this great? We'll get to spend the whole weekend together!" Botan chirped excitedly dancing in between the other, calmer females who only smiled sweetly and nodded. Kuwabara stood off to the size letting the girls talk, but so far, it seemed only Botan was and she seemed on high speed mode, so no one could get a single reply in.
"You seem very high spirited Botan-chan, may I ask why?" Yukina, as polite as ever had been smiling the whole walk from Keiko's apartment to Genkai's shrine, but she hadn't said a word.
"Well other than getting to spend time with you, I'm just so excited over the upcoming events! I mean Keiko's going to have a baby, and you're getting married so soon!"
"Genkai-sempai we're here," Keiko called out as she pushed herself up off the last step of the giant stairway leading to the secluded shrine. She was panting slightly, her newfound bulk weighing her down, and causing her ankles to swell, which made it hard to walk up the stairs. Kuwabara had helped her of course, and for that she was very grateful towards him.
Kuwabara suddenly tensed and motioned for the others to stop.
"Something's not right here, I feel an ominous chill in the air," he said in low towns.
"Oh that's silly, you probably just feel the temperature dropping, it is the end of autumn you know," Botan said nervously as she felt the definite nibble of dread at her stomach.
"No, something's wrong. You three stay here I'm going to check the temple out." Kuwabara ran off leaving the three by themselves.
"Genkai! Genkai! You here?" he called pulling open the paper doors quickly and sprinting inside almost lightning fast. He ran down hallway after hallway pulling open door after door, each action growing more and more frantic as his search was so far fruitless. Finally he came to the last guest room, and the sight before him nearly made him cry out in sorrow. The old, dusty-pink haired lady lay lifelessly in a pool of her own blood, the whole wall at the opposite end of the room was no long there and debris and ruble lay everywhere.
Tears began to well up at the corner of the carrot-tops eyes and he bent down to gently pick up the woman that had served as almost a grandmother-like figure to him, and all the others. As he stood up, holding Genkai's body bridal style, he heard a shriek from the front of the old shrine that made his blood run cold.
"YUKINA!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"Man this sucks!" Yuusuke mumbled angrily as he, Kurama and Hiei continued their fruitless search for their charge. "Isn't this a job for that Shadow-chick?"
"I agree with the detective, this is pointless," Hiei growled glaring at nothing in particular.
"No matter how pointless this is, we still have to do it," Kurama pointed out almost begrudgingly. He ran a hand through he silky red hair with a sigh, but stopped short of both actions when he saw Botan zooming towards them on her oar.
"Yuusuke! Kurama! Hiei!" She cried out nearly falling off her oar in a desperate attempt to grab their attention, stop, and stem her tears in one move.
"What's wrong?" Yuusuke asked, dread already clouding his mind.
"Genkai... and Keiko… Kuwabara tried to, Genkai gone!" that was all she could get out before breaking down completely. Their eyes widened and Hiei and Yuusuke were gone in a mad rush to get to Genkai's temple. Kurama gently picked up the still sobbing spirit guide and sprinted off in the same direction of the other two.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"KEIKO!" Yuusuke bellowed as he sprinted up the staircase, Hiei right beside him his face a mask of schooled calm. But that mask broke as they both reached the top and took in the sight before them. The once beautiful and ancient piece of land was completely destroyed, the temple literally shattered, and the ground torn and bloodstained. The bodies of Genkai, Keiko and Yukina lay lifeless, but strangely peaceful with their eyes closed and mouth shut in a relaxed line.
Only two figures stood locked in a fatal embrace, of physical and spiritual swords. There was a flurry of movement as each figure pushed away from each other drawing their swords free of the other's chest. A moment of tense silence followed before they both collapsed to ground almost at exactly the same time.
"NOO! KUWABARA!" Yuusuke cried running over to the sprawled out form of his best friend. Hiei could be seen with his katana unsheathed standing above the demon responsible for the carnage so brutally dealt, and with one smooth movement slit his throat insuring that he never would stand again.
"Urameshi…" Kuwabara croaked. "I'm sorry I couldn't… save Keiko, and Hiei I'm sorry… I couldn't save your sister and… my love Yukina. Please… forgive me. Good… bye…" his voice trailed off and he smiled sadly at the two forms crouched beside him before closing his eyes one last time and completely fading away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXMeh, I told you something would happen in this chapter! And I guess a lot of something did happen… I said that I killed so many people off at one time, and so soon in the story, but if I didn't it would correspond with its sister fic 'To Meet Again'. I'm sad though, that I didn't put a huge amount of effort into this chapter, but I guess that is what happens when it is three in the morning, and your brain is slightly muddled…
Well anyways, I would like to thank my reviewers- all of you being my beloved regulars, from both this story and the sister fic.
KyoHana, kit-kit, and SnakeDude100
I would especially like to thank KyoHana for your words of support and right out praise. Your reviews always make me smile-, as does everyone else's- but you seem to put just a little bit more thought and feeling into yours, and for that I am grateful. Until next timeCatie-brie