Disclaimer: Disclaimed. I have disclaimed for eighteen chapters. It's hard... -sigh- but, no, I don't own the Yu Yu show. Darn it.
THE STORY ISN'T OVER YET, PEOPLE!
So... yeah. That really wasn't what you'd call 'soon,' was it? Ha! It was longer than a month! I'm so horrible. I'm sorry. Really, I am. And this chapter is short. Well, that couldn't be helped, really, it just didn't want to go on any longer. Well, anyway. Here's the update! And, thank you;
Ilikeyaoi, Lady Akuma, Bluespark, Nyte Kit, Hoshiko Megami, kikira-san, YokoYoukai, Kitsune Kit, IwuvMyKenshyPoo, bishienoaibou, tenkage onna, Agent Dark Moose, Kari Ishikawa, RinsDarkMagician.
Thank you call so much! Oh, and Agent Dark Moose; I can't believe you stopped writing YYH. Ah, that kinda sucks!
WARNING:
1. This story will contain Shonen-Ai in later chapters (will be light), if you don't like it, don't read it. Though, it's really not that bad. You'll see, later.
2. Rated for reasons: Language and not so gory but bloody fight scenes in the following chapter!
You have been warned!
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CAPTURED
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( Chapter Eighteen - Rocks and Wounds )
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"Aw..." Yuusuke moaned, leaning against a wall, bringing a tired arm to wipe his sweaty brow, "This sucks. A lot. I don't feel like moving that mess. Heh... I don't even think I could. I'm beat."
Kuwabara gave the chimera on the ground, Kuronue, a quick glance and sighed looking at his other friend. The bat was still unconscious. The Tentai sighed, "It's your own fault, Urimeshi. You didn't have to blow all the rocks up and block the doorway, ya know!"
"Yes I did, so!" Yuusuke defended himself, "Did you want Keiko to die?"
"She's your girlfriend."
"... What about Koenma, Genkai, Botan... Shizuru?" Yuusuke winked at his companion, "Or what about Yukina, eh? Did you want them zombie dudes to kill her off?"
Kuwabara crossed his arms in front of his chest. "No zombies would kill Yukina-darling! I'd protect her with my life! More than you can say."
"I'd defend Keiko, too!"
"To the death...?"
"Do you doubt me? Of course, to the death!"
"Right."
"Shut up. Now—how do we get back down there to the others?"
Kuwabara squinted his eyes at the rocky blockade in front of them. It was still blocking the entrance to the lower levels of the hideout. Their rocky grey hue looked darker in the beaten house. There didn't seem to be a single space that the rock hadn't gotten to. He couldn't see through even a tiniest hole, down the stairs leading to the others.
"Well," He said, after a minute of rather pointless staring, "You did a pretty good job of blowin' up the rock-wall. I don't see how we're gonna get through that."
"Heh... Yeah, thanks. Though, that really isn't a good thing. Maybe it was a bit too good of a shot... I mean, I wanted to keep the bad guys out and all, but how do the good guys get back in?"
"Dunno. I'm not the strategist."
"And I am?"
"Guess we don't have one. I wonder how come we haven't died yet, then, on those stupid missions? Or even at the bar in that demon-human city over there!"
"Yeah. I betcha that Kuronue could figure this out... he played thief with that fox-boy. Too bad he's not awake when we really could use his help." Yuusuke said. "This sucks."
"D'ya think the others heard you blowin' up the wall?" Kuwabara asked, something working together in his brain.
"It was kinda loud... I mean, like a rock slide or something. I guess so, why?" Yuusuke said, glancing at his tall orange-haired friend, then back to the rocks in their way. "You got a plan or somethin', Kuwabara?" The question was asked somewhat cynically.
"Maybe... D'ya think that the others would come to see what had happened? Cause, I mean, I'm sure that Shizuru would want to know what the hell was goin' on up here, you know? And Koenma, too..."
"So... you think they're on the other side of the rocks?" Kuwabara nodded, Yuusuke continued, "...Yeah. I guess they might be. Think they can hear us or something?"
"I don't know. Prob'ly not. Rock's thick and there's pretty much no holes in this... uh, barrier... so if we were louder? Maybe you should shout."
"Why me? I'm the one with the hole in the stomach!"
"That's happened to you before, though. And it's not that big." Kuwabara pointed out.
"That's not the point!" Yuusuke retorted, "I'm an injured person! You should save me from all strenuous work! A hole in the stomach is a damned hole in the stomach!"
"Strenuous work? Do you even know what that means? And how is yelling strenuous?"
"... Makes your voice go hoarse. And, ha ha ha. Very funny, Kuwabara."
"Urameshi...! Fine. But next time, you have to do it."
Yuusuke agreed—how many times would something like this happen? It couldn't be very likely.
Yes, and that was exactly Yuusuke's reasoning and point... not that Kuwabara realized it.
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"Well, then!" Botan said, sounding ever optimistic.
"Well, then." Koenma repeated, staring at the issue before him, "I'm going to have to fix this, aren't I?"
"Probably." Botan smiled, "Think you'll get in trouble?"
"No... but how are we going to get around all those rocks? Some of them are like boulders! They block off at least a meter or two of stairway—we can't get in contact with Yuusuke or the others this way."
"Can't go under it, can't go above it, obviously can't go through or around it, so you've got to..." Botan trailed off. Koenma gave her a light glare.
"Now's not the time for that, Botan." He said, taking a step forward to feel the many different sized rocks blocking their way, "So, Shizuru. You heard an explosion of some sort and came to investigate. What you found was this, and that was a while ago, correct?"
Kuwabara Shizuru nodded her brunette head, leaning against the wall.
"You could hear something going on in the house before that, too... But it's gone now." She added, shrugging.
"What was it?" Keiko asked, her hands clasped and pulled close to her chest, "Was Yuus... Were Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei... and the other two... okay...?"
Shizuru fixed her friend with one of her many stares, this one looked slightly exasperated, "I don't know," She answered.
"But..." Keiko sighed.
"It's okay..." Yukina murmured, "We're all worried about what's going on out there. I'm sure that they are fine."
"Yes. I guess so, but it's Yuusuke and Kuwabara with two legendary thieves!"
"Kazuma and Yuusuke can take care of themselves." Shizuru said, managing to make her voice sound completely calm and not at all worried.
"Shizuru's right." Genkai's voice, "They've both got damned thick skulls on their heads. And sitting here talking about them won't do anything. We have to get out of here... clear away those rocks."
"That's a wonderful idea, but how?" Koenma said, "We don't have anyone who can move these things!" He moved a finger, indicating some rather large looking boulders.
"Do you underestimate me, Koenma?" Genkai said, voice low.
"I..." Koenma faltered, looking over at the small, old woman. On the outside she was just so... old, but somehow rough at the same time. But, then again, this was Genkai. You never exactly knew with her. And, of course, she was female. To sum that gender up in one word, Koenma didn't have to look very far. The other people of the feminine variety in the group gave him perfect examples of this practically everyday.
Women were totally unpredictable. Genkai was most certainly not some moldy old man...
"No," Koenma replied, at last, "I don't underestimate you, Genkai. It's just that... You're... I mean, really, now... Never mind."
The old woman with the faded pink hair raised a brow, the corners of her frowning lips twitching, just ever so slightly.
"That's what I thought." She said, "I'm going to think. Don't talk to me. No questions, either." She said, casting Keiko a glance, and another to Koenma.
"Okay, then!" Botan piped up, "Now that we've got that covered—"
"Shizuru... Shizuru... Yukiiiina! Can you hear me?"
The volume of the words was severely cut... but it was no mistake to Shizuru as to who was calling her and the ice maiden's name. Besides, nobody else said it like 'Yukiiiina!' quite like her younger brother could.
"That'd be Kazuma," She announce to the group, though her voice didn't exactly sound thrilled or excited. Just... Shizuru-like. "I always knew that someday his annoying, loud voice would come to some use."
"Oh!" Botan, "Do you think he could here us if we shouted, too?"
"Don't start screaming." Genkai said, "I'm still thinking."
"Botan... Koenma... Genkai, Keiko... Can you here me over there? Are ya there? Answer me!"
"Kazuma-san... I wonder if Yuusuke-san is with him?" Yukina murmured, her crimson eyes staring fixedly at the rocky blockade, "I wonder if they're badly hurt... Should I get some supplies, Genkai-san?"
"No." Genkai said, "They'll live the walk down to the first-aid room. That's what they get for blowing up the wall."
Yukina nodded, and let a small sigh escape. Botan shook her head, smiling. Ever so typical was Genkai.
"Damnit, guys...! Are you there? See... we've got some wounded people over here!" The calls were sadly faint... but they could pick out the words fine anyway. Like Shizuru said, Kuwabara's loud voice did have it's uses.
"Wounded people!" Keiko gasped, "I hope it's not too serious. I hope Yuusuke's alive this time." She shot Koenma a nasty glance.
"I think I'll go down to the first-aid room, anyway." Yukina said, turning to head back down the stairs, "To get everything ready... Is this okay?" Her question was directed at Genkai.
"Go," Genkai said, "And if you here any loud noises within, say, three to five minutes... Don't worry. We'll be down soon after that."
Yukina didn't question her elderly friends' words, and hurried down the passageway, disappearing into the shadows of the underground hideout.
"Loud noises." Koenma repeated, his eyes narrowed and he looked toward the older woman, "What kind of 'loud noises' are you talking about? You're not going to blow up more rocks, are you?"
"Shut up and move, if you don't want to get ripped from limb to limb in this process." Ever blunt.
"But—!"
"Move it, Koenma!" Genkai barked.
Koenma gave a light sniff at being ordered around—he was the Prince of Rekai, for crying out loud!—and moved to stand slightly behind the old human woman.
Genkai looked at Keiko, Shizuru having already subtly maneuvered her way farther down the fall, stopping when she was a few feet behind the older psychic.
"You, too," Genkai said.
Keiko's worried brown eyes swept across the woman's face, then hurried to join Shizuru by the wall, Botan on the older Kuwabara's other side.
"Okay, then." The psychic continued, "you might want to cover your ears... either that or your face." The others not-so-wisely chose to protect their faces instead of their ears. "Good. Now, try not to scream... it only adds to the noise."
Without telling anyone what she was doing, Genkai focused the energy in her body. She might have been an 'old hag,' but she was an 'old hag' who knew how to blow away some puny old rocks. She almost thought about yelling over to Yuusuke and Kuwabara to watch out... but decided against it. They would probably deserve it later on.
Muttering "Rei Gan" under her breath, Genkai released the energy that had gathered around the tip of her index finger, creating a light blue glow of reiki.
The energy shot forward, coming into contact with the rocks mere milliseconds after being released from the psychic's hold. Bits and pieces of rock flew in every direction, some coming back towards Genkai and the others, but most of the chucks flying in the direction the reiki was heading; straight toward Yuusuke and Kuwabara.
The force of the two, rock and energy, meeting was enough to push Genkai backwards, sending both her and the other four tumbling down the narrow stairwell. The noise was like a deafening boom, Keiko reached to cover her ears, a high scream mixing in with the sound of rubble moving, disintegrating, breaking up and apart. Botan let out a strange wild yelp. Genkai, Koenma, and Shizuru kept their jaws clenched, and finally dared to open their eyes a bit to see what had become of the blockade opposing them.
It had been nearly completely blown away.
Pieces of rock still hugged the wall, but the Rei Gan had created a small passageway between the opposing sides of rock-wall. A thin, hazy bout of muddy colored smoke began drifting toward the house part of the hideout, and from there wherever there was a way to get out into the open; under the sky where the wind would carry it away.
"Damn," The first to speak was Shizuru, "You didn't have to scream so loud." She told Keiko, then turned to Genkai, "And you could have warned us, you know. I'd rather have covered my ears. That was loud."
"Yes..." Koenma agreed, getting up from his uncomfortable spot on the stairs, dusting himself off in various places, "It would be nice to have a warning next time."
Keiko looked sheepishly toward Shizuru, "Sorry," She said, "But like you said... it was loud. I... couldn't help myself."
"Obviously," Shizuru drawled, pushing herself to a standing position. Keiko and Genkai followed suit.
"You're living," The oldest human among them muttered, "And did you have any other, better ideas?"
"I suppose we didn't." Koenma sighed, "Though now there'll be less for me to take care of when I get back to Rekai."
"Oh... dear. That was rather uncomfortable, though, you have to admit." Botan piped up, brushing a few bits of gravel off of her now dirty pink kimono, "At least those nasty rocks are gone! Now... to find Yuusuke and Kuwabara!"
"Yes!" Keiko agreed, hurrying towards the house.
"No..." a cough, "need to..." another cough.
"What the hell was that?" Yuusuke shouted, pushing rocks off of his bruising body. His wound, he couldn't remember if there were more... had begun to bleed again after he and Kuwabara had been blown backwards into wooden wall that had been behind them. Needless to say, with the force of both Yuusuke and Kuwabara hitting it, the wall had broken quite nicely. You can be sure that when Koenma saw that, he gave Yuusuke and Kuwabara a groan and a bit of a lecture, too. Involved some screaming, Botan would recall.
"Yuusuke!" Keiko cried out, completely happy and relieved, "You're alive!"
"Yeah... ain't that somethin' amazin'?"
"So... smokey..." Kuwabara choked out, having breathed in quite a bit of the dusty smoke-like substance still lingering in the air.
"And so is Kazuma. Wonderful." Shizuru said, saying that she was relieved in her own little way.
"You could sound more grateful, ya know! We totally saved your butts!" Before Shizuru could retort with some clever remark, Kuwabara did a quick intake of who was standing around them.
Botan, Koenma, Genkai, Keiko, Shizuru... Where was his dearest Yukina-darling? And that was exactly his next concern.
"Where's Yukina?"
"Down there," Genkai pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "Getting everything ready for you lazy asses."
"Lazy!" Yuusuke shouted, indignantly, "What the hell? We're the ones who did all the work... almost! Did you want zombie-dudes to come and kill you all?"
"Zombie-dudes?" Koenma said, brow furrowing, "Oh... Oh! So that's why there'd been recent complaints..." He trailed off to his own thoughts, Botan nodding furiously at his sudden realization at whatever.
"Yes, yes," She agreed, "I'll leave to go tell Hinageshi and Ayame as soon as this is all taken care of. I bet you Karasu still has the souls! Everything will be back in order sooner or later!"
"Rekai's never in order." Koenma said. No one could tell if he was playing, being sarcastic, or stating a rather grim fact.
"Anyway..." Kuwabara said, turning to dig through rocks. Now that he knew his Yukina-dearest was okay, he was free to worry about other things. People... er, demons, I mean. "We might be alive an' all... But I dunno if he still is."
"Kuronue." Koenma stated, peering over Kuwabara's shoulder to look at the battered crow.
"He seems a bit beat up... I hope he doesn't die..." Botan stopped her sentence. Koenma gave her a look with a raised brow, "Well... I mean, I know that they're wanted really badly and all in Rekai... but... I mean, they're not so bad in person. Well... at least not to us." She finished. It was clear as to whom she was talking about; Kuronue and Youko.
"We know what you mean, Botan." Shizuru said, poking Kuwabara, "So... how about we go make sure he isn't dead? And keep these two from dying from whatever strange wounds they have that we haven't seen yet."
"Yes!" Keiko said, pulling Yuusuke to his feet, "Quit complaining, Yuusuke. Yukina can heal you quickly enough. That walk's not that far."
"It is so." Yuusuke said, stubbornly.
"Yeah!" Kuwabara agreed, standing up. He bent over and picked up the crow again, hoisting him on his back to carry him piggy-back style. "We're injured persons, here!"
"Get over it." Genkai said.
"Shut up, you old hag!"
Things seemed to be going okay. They made it so Yukina, who healed the bruises, but wrapped up and more serious wounds. She still had to help heal Kuronue, again, who wasn't exactly doing so well.
"What about Hiei?" Botan said, abruptly, washing away dirt from a reopened wound on Kuronue's arm, "And Youko? Where are they?"
The others gave her a look. Truth be told, they had forgotten about the Jaganshi and the youko. And Karasu.
So, it's safe to say they when heard someone say,
"Right here... you idiots..."
And then promptly collapse afterwards... everyone went into a state of flurry and shock.
I mean, really, our two favorite characters—Youko and Hiei—had just suddenly appeared, and passed out, on the floor in the first aid room. Genkai's sigh went unnoticed as collective gasps spread about, and people started moving to tend to everyone properly.
Things where never boring with Yuusuke and the others. Well, they wouldn't be... as long as they didn't die, first.
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Um, no. I'm sorry. The story is still not over yet. Hahaha, I have two more chapters to put you through! Then it'll be over. It's sad, actually... this is my most successful story yet—and it's sort of funny, since my characters are a bit on the OOC side. Ah, can't make everyone happy, can we? Update again soon... enough!
As long as you review!