Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and I'm going to assume that you don't either.
No note. Just go on down...
Agent Dark Moose I'm not that big of a Kuwa fan, but I don't mind him. He's funny... sometimes. Thank you!
Hoshiko Megami Ah, yes. Well, in this chapter Hiei doesn't do much of anything except talk. Wow, Hiei talks! Yeah.. thanks!
YokoYoukai Oh. Thanks for saying! Now Hiei's got an ever bigger problem! I'm glad this chapter was really, really liked. Thank you!
Bluespark Oh, I agree! Botan's an... interesting character to write. Thank you for reviewing, glad you 'luffed' it!
YamikiofAnime I don't blame you, I'm rather lazy too. Thank you for the review!
Ilikeyaoi You'll have to wait and see below! Thank you for reviewing.
Kooriya Yui Ah, a review from you too! Grammar quirks are my bad habit. I'm not the best proof-reader that there is, unfortunately. Anyways, I'm very glad that you enjoyed this story so far, and getting a couple of laughs is my goal... this can't be just a 'drama' fiction. Besides, the whole 'I laughed!' thing I keep receiving, well, it's a little too late to stop writing like that. People seem to enjoy it, however, so it stays. (I think that you, along with A.D.M., are a wonderful author. Keep up the good work youself.) (And, if any words are combined and they are not supposed to be, that would be QuickEdit's fault. It does that a lot, have you noticed? I seriously dislike it...)
WARNING:
1. This story will contain Shonen-Ai in later chapters (will be mild), if you don't like it, don't read it.
2. Rated for reasons: Language and future scenes (blood, etc.)!
You have been warned!
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CAPTURED
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The party, as Kurama had called it, was more of a festival than a "party." Not that this was a problem, seeing as a festival was bound to have more ningens out and about. The last encounter the two had with humans was a few hours ago. That was only a group of Koenma's measly 'defenses' checking the kekkai's barrier.
Killing them only delayed the news of the breach from reaching the demi-god of hell. Koenma was probably sweating over keeping this little issue secret. He wouldn't wanted Daddy Dearest to find out, would he? Youko and Kuronue snickered like children at the thought of Koenma getting spankings from Enma.
"When do you think would be the time to strike?" Kuronue asked the kitsune, who was watching the humans with mild interest.
"Whenever. It's highly likely that most of these ningens can't sense us. If there are any, then they're under Koenma's command. That means that they'll probably be searching near the kekkai for traces of our youki. No doubt Koenma knows we're here now. So, any youki-sensing ningens won't be around here.
"Learn this; some ningens possess the ability of spirit awareness. They can sense that youkai, or other beings with youki or reiki, are near. Most can't pin-point the beings exact location, but some who train on the ability can. You'll want to be careful around these types of humans. This enables them to infiltrate and take down youkai forces, especially if they have reiki too. Most of Koenma's Rekai Tentai have reiki, and a select few have a strong spirit awareness gift too." Youko Kurama lectured the chimera, still observing the humans with a small amount of amusement alight in his glittering golden eyes.
"But Koenma's Rekai Tentai are much to weak to take on either you or me. Right?" Kuronue asked, but he figured that he already knew the answer.
"Exactly. I don't know if any humans with reiki or spirit awareness are around for sure, however. We'll just have to push our luck. How's that sound?"
"Isn't that a risk?" Kuronue asked.
"Yes."
"Wonderful. I like a challenge."
"That's a good thing. Being a thief means lots of challenges."
"Tell me something I don't know." Kuronue muttered under his breath.
"Okay," Youko said thoughtfully, "Did you know that a bunch of Koenma's Rekai Tentai are coming this way?"
"And I thought you said there weren't any around here."
Youko pouted slightly. "Mou. I said I didn't know for sure. Well, they are here! Wanna have some fun?"
"Do we gotta choice?"
"Not really."
"Thought so." And so they went, after Koenma's top Japanese spirit detectives.
Now who do you think won the battle?
( Chapter Ten - Temporary Treaty )
"What was that for, onna!" Hiei demanded of Botan.
"Well," Botan defended her actions hotly, "Usually when you see the Makai's most wanted thief, and when you work for Koenma, you're going to notify him immediately!"
"Do you even know what you got yourself into!" The Jaganshi spat.
"Yes, I do!" Botan crossed her arms, "He's probably working for Karasu! He's probably here sucking out all of your secrets and deceiving you all to trust him!" The ferry girl moved her eyes to the kitsune.
Must not fall for his tricks. Must not fall for his tricks...
"I do not work for Karasu." Youko Kurama said slowly, making sure each word was pronounced clearly, lest the ferry girl not understand his perfect Japanese. After all, he had been the first to go to Japan after Koenma's stupid kekkai barrier was placed. Don't you think he would understand the language?
"Oh yeah? And can you prove that?"
"Yes, I can!" Youko declared. He reached into the thin white shirt and pulled out a gem, it hung on a chain previously attached by Hiei himself.
The Jaganshi could be heard growling, and Youko shot him a glare. Along with that went a mental message;
Your fault we're in this mess, baka. You didn't have to take my rose, did you?
"And what's that?" Botan asked, eyeing the jewel suspiciously. "How's that prove anything? And what's your problem, Hiei?"
"This is his problem! Don't you know what this is, ferry girl?"
"No. And I have a name. Botan!"
"That's a tear gem. Hiroseki. Right, Youko...-san?" Yukina said, upon entering the room. She looked at the tear gem carefully, noting it had no cracks, faults, or any other such things. She also noted that it looked exactly like the one she had lost all those years ago, coming from the koorime island, in the sky. (1)
Youko turned his eyes to the ice maiden behind him. So did everyone else present in the room. Kuwabara had yet to come back up.
"Hai." Youko said nodding his silvery head, "I stole it from a shop, the jaganshi took it from me, he went to capture me for Karasu, he took my rose - I took his gem, and so here we are. Stuck here until Karasu gets over here himself to take me away to his damn castle somewhere else. Permanently, too. Unless he gets what he wants before my immortality dies."
Botan looked from the ice maiden to the kitsune to the jaganshi. She was utterly confused now.
Keiko was confused too, she was just smart enough to put the facts together. "So Hiei was sent to capture you? You're kind of stuck together because of that jewel and a rose... And Karasu's coming here for you?" She asked the fox.
Youko smiled a fanged grin at the human girl, "That's about it."
"Whoa - hold up, here." Yuusuke said, scratching the back of his head, "What exactly does Karasu want from you? Or did ya say? I wasn't really payin' attention until now."
Youko cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "He just wants me. Maybe because I escaped him from the first time he tried to kill me? Understand this; Karasu becomes obsessed with a lot of things. One of them being me. When Karasu becomes... obsessed with something, he likes to watch it die. By his own hands."
"You just cause a lot of issues, don't you? I get at least fifty sheets of paper work on you alone, per day. At least three fourths are complaints, you know, stealing, raping, all that stuff. The other twenty five percent are killings."
Youko looked proud of himself. "I try." He said, baring his fanged grin to their newest visitor, Koenma.
The demi-god of hell winced visibly as he became the focus of all Youko's senses. His heart rate piked up a bit, under the strong gaze of the golden orbs boring into his own brown ones. The fox was standing up straight and tall, his ears came to just below the ceiling of the hideout's 'home' section. His clothing was loose and hung lazily around his body, his tail protruded from his lower half. It was sweeping back and forth restlessly against the back of the fox's clothed legs. His ears flicked once or twice every minute or so, almost as if they had a mind of their own. His silvery main of hair was hanging down his back, however two locks of hair lay over each shoulder, and his bangs were low enough to cover his eyes if wet. His strong arms were crossed loosely across his chest, each finger on his hand had a claw extending from it. Koenma gulped down a breath of air. Somehow, being closer to the fox, made him all the more intimidating. The youko had a sense about him that seemed to make him superior to everyone else in the room. He probably was, too.
Here was the spirit fox he had been tracking for ages, right there in front of him. What was going to stop him from getting the fox under his custody, finally? Koenma swept his eyes over the rest of the room. All their gazes were on either him or the fox, who was still holding the hiroseki from his fingers. It glinted in the light, almost beckoning him to come nearer.
That was why Koenma wouldn't be able to get the fox. The jewel, and whatever rose Youko possessed that was so important, were binding the two youkai, Hiei and Youko Kurama, together. If Youko went to jail, Hiei would go with him to get the jewel. The jail cell Koenma had for the youko was custom made to keep in Youko, but no one else. If Hiei went with the fox, he could easily blow the cell up. It was too bad that he didn't have a cell for both the jaganshi and the spirit fox, Hiei owed Rekai a couple hundred years in prison too.
Koenma was really in a fix now. Not only was Youko standing there, right in front of him, but Karasu was coming after him. The crow was gaining quite a title in the Makai, he would no doubt pulverize the hideout he had constructed for his top Rekai Tentai within a day or two.
What else what there for him to do? He could always offer a... temporary agreement with the kitsune. That would enable them to fight together against the more important matter at the moment. A peace agreement of sorts. Afterwards, when - if - they defeated Karasu, what would happen then? Would Youko still go to prison? Would beating the crow and helping the Rekai Tentai be enough to cover up all his bad deeds? No doubt after all this was over the fox would go back to his normal ways... but it seemed to Koenma that the fox wasn't all that the rumors made him out to be.
Oh, yes sure the kitsune did kill a lot of youkai... but there were always plenty more than needed in the Makai. The spirit fox did have a long list of humans that he had killed during his 'vacation' in the Ningenkai, quite a few of those ningens were from the festival on Youko and Kuronue's first stay in the human world. Did that make him truly evil, though? In a sense, yes, the fox was 'evil,' but Koenma, just like Hiei (not that he knew he was agreeing the with jaganshi,) had the feeling that the kitsune was more playful than evil. More curious than ruthless. Of course the fox did kill, rape, steal, do all of those things, Koenma had the papers on him doing them... but something about meeting the fox in person was different then knowing the fox through rumors.
Of course Koenma hadn't been in the company of Youko Kurama long enough to form his own opinions based on facts, but that didn't matter. No matter all the rumors and all the facts, they all had one thing in common. The youko was cunning, he was curious, and he was powerful. Much more powerful than himself, Kuwabara, hell, Koenma bet that the kitsune was more powerful than Yuusuke. It would be Youko as the victor if Yuusuke and the kitsune fought, no matter how close the odds were. The kitsune was a thousand years plus old (not to mention a most wanted youkai, people!), Yuusuke was only a measly sixteen human years. (2) The odds probably weren't even near close at all!
All the more reason for the temporary peace agreement, right? Koenma asked himself.
"What are you thinking about, Koenma, sir?" Botan piped up, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence.
"Well," Koenma scratched the back of his neck. He was glad that he was in his teenaged looking humanoid form, it would make him seem much more serious. Who ever took a baby, or a toddler, seriously? Look at Yuusuke disobeying him all the time! He was much more persuasive in the older looking form, and persuading the Youko Kurama was going to take a lot of work. "I was thinking on the possibilities of a temporary peace agreement with Youko Kurama."
"What?" Yuusuke asked dumbly. Koenma sighed, wasn't 'peace agreement' more understandable than the word 'treaty?' Well, one never knew when Yuusuke was involved.
"A treaty." Keiko told her boyfriend, "You know... something that gets a person, or more, to cooperate with others?" She added after Yuusuke looked at her with a clueless expression on his face.
"Oh... Okay then. Why?" The detective asked. All eyes turned to Koenma once more. The demi-god started to perspire under all those penetrating gazes.
"Yes, Koenma, sir, why would you sign a temporary treaty with moi?" A/N: Youko knows French too. n..n Smart fox! Youko asked, mocking Koenma's title.
"Karasu is after you, we are after you. You are a loner, caught in the middle. Karasu is gaining quite a title here in the Makai, as I'm sure you already know, so we need to get rid of him as a threat as soon as possible, and since he's coming to us, why not now? You, being the most experienced here in battle and with Karasu, would be a good companion in this fight. Hence the idea for the treaty."
"And what would happen afterwards?" Inquired Youko, staring idly outside, through the window, as if contemplating the idea.
"We would set you free, as in you won't go to prison, and we, Rekai, would start all over in our hunt for you after 'misplacing' all possible leads to where you are. Do you have a deal? I take it that you are not fond of Karasu... so destroying him would be in all our best interests, ne?"
"Possibly..."
"Do you agree to these terms? They are fair, are they not? Would these same guidelines apply to Kuronue... where ever he is?"
Yukina was under the impression that the tension in the room had hiked up about twenty notches. All because of the mention of Kuronue? She sighed mentally, she didn't like fights, and she didn't like tension. However, Koenma did have a point. Wasn't Youko famous along with Kuronue? Weren't they notorious, especially when together? Where was the chimera who worked along side with the kitsune?
"Kuronue," Youko said, tone cold, "Will not matter in the battle. If he is present during the fight, leave him to me."
"Is that... a yes?" Koenma asked, almost timidly.
"Whatever." Youko threw the word over his shoulder, and walked out of the room.
"Okay then." Yuusuke said, clapping his hands in front of him, "That was cheery!"
Keiko glared at her boyfriend. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated, Yuusuke."
"But Keiko!"
"No buts, Yuusuke. Go do something useful, like telling Kuwabara about the upcoming battle?"
"I will!" Yukina said as an excuse to get out of the room, this really wasn't her place of expertise after all, was it? Nope!
"Well," Botan said after Yukina exited the room to hunt down Kuwabara, "What was that all about?"
"Karasu." Hiei said, before disappearing from the room.
"But weren't we talking about Kuronue?" She asked, confused.
"I think there's more to this then it seems." Koenma said thoughtfully. "I wonder when we're going to find out?"
"The fight, most likely." Keiko said, turning to follow Yukina back to underneath the 'house.'
The fight. Yuusuke sighed, didn't he ever get a vacation? He was sure that he deserved one by now. Don't you think so?
Oh, poor Yuusuke. He, as well as the rest of the Rekai Tentai and company, just got themselves into a much bigger mess than they had anticipated.
What fun!
Note the sarcasm.
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(1) - Let's just say that Yukina lost the jewel while coming from the Koorime Island, even though that isn't how it happened in the anime/manga. Okay? Remember, this is an AU, people!
(2) - Here Youko is stronger than Yuusuke, because, for one, he's never "died" and was never weakend, as in no human body. Two, Yuusuke is sixteen, Youko is much older than that, who do you think is going to be stronger? Besides, yes even now in the "present" of the story, Youko is still very much in his prime, as you would call it. I figure it would take a long time for demons to age, seeing as their time passes along slower/faster than that of a humans, correct? Besides, Yuusuke never really fought Kurama in a fight before, who's to say Yuusuke would win? I, this is my personal opinion, think Kurama would have won, seeing as he has hundreds of years of experience, and a quick/smart brain on his side. Didn't Hiei even once say he was only partners with Kurama so he would never have to fight him? Eh, either that or my memory it seriously failing me...
Well, was that enjoyable? It wasn't a time-filler, just a leading-to-real-action chapter. Oh, and I need some feedback on a question/suggestion for the story. Should (when) I enter Jin and Touya into the fiction? I mentioned their names in chapter eight (I think) and I'd like to know what you think. Personally, I've never written them before, I don't know how the story would turn out if I had to write those two characters. They might also be severely OOC, since I'm not the biggest of their fans. This could possibly ruin their parts/dialogue, since I have no clue how to write them. So, in with Jin and Touya or out with them? Of course your decision isn't the final one, I'll be making the overall choice, but feedback is always nice! Anyways, please review and tell me what you think...
Eve