Author's Note: Hi everyone, and Happy New Year! Oh, I am so excited that it's 2006. So many things are going to change. Guess what? I finally got the Kurama/Karasu fight on DVD! My best friend and I stayed up until three in the morning watching all my YYH discs. It was great. All right, this is the last chapter, and then there will be an epilogue. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story. Let's wrap things up!
I'm listening to "Ceremony" by Joe Satriani. It goes great with this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Kurama dove forward, the blade of his dagger skimming Hiei's hair. In the back of his mind a nagging guilt had grown and refused to leave. He didn't even know this guy; what gave him the right to take his life? But the answer was simple.
His memory.
The fox demon smiled as Hiei flipped backwards, did a handspring, and landed on his feet, perfectly balanced. He had to admit that the fire demon had skill. Kurama feigned right, brought his left foot around, and launched a spin kick that caught Hiei under the chin. Hiei crashed to the ground, stunned. Kurama jumped back, breathing heavily.
"Get up," he demanded. "I refuse to kill an opponent when they're on the ground."
Hiei got shakily to his feet, shaking the last of the dizziness away. He leaped left and rolled, snatching up his forgotten katana, which lay by the dead doppelgangers. He waved it menacingly at Kurama, fire in his crimson eyes.
"I don't want to kill you," he explained, "but if you can't remember a cursed thing, maybe you're better off dead." He lunged forward, the katana slicing cleanly into Kurama's shoulder.
The fox demon bit down a cry of pain and stumbled away. Blood dripped freely from the rather large wound, running down his arm in rivulets that trickled off the ends of his fingertips. He bared his teeth, anger flashing on his face.
"Come kill me, then," he taunted, and threw the dagger at Hiei.
K'Ray studied Ren thoughtfully, waiting for her to make the first move. Surprisingly, she saw that the blond demon was looking at her reflection in the rapier's blade.
"You know, I'm much more beautiful than you," Ren observed. "I can make Matsuji a lot happier than you could. So that is why-" here she pointed the rapier at K'Ray, "-I will enjoy watching you die."
K'Ray rolled her eyes. "Shut up and get on with it then," she challenged. Get over here and touch me so I can kill you, she added silently to herself.
In response, Ren jumped forward, her movements fluid and graceful. The rapier's thin blade sliced by a hair's breadth from the Ryokun's throat. K'Ray took a step back, bringing up her dagger. It nicked Ren on the cheek, drawing a bright line of blood.
"Little witch!" Ren snarled, her elegant face becoming contorted with rage. "I'll strangle you!" She clasped a hand around K'Ray's throat, grinning with savagery.
"You're mistake," K'Ray gasped through her crushed windpipe. She released her energy, sending a fatal shockwave racing toward Ren's heart.
Her surprise was complete when the energy rebounded and pierced her.
Ren released her vicious hold, watching as the girl staggered back, blood running in a small stream from the corner of her mouth. "I know all your tricks, K'Ray," Ren said. "Lucky for me Matsuji can make wards that repel your special talent."
K'Ray glared at her, spinning both daggers in her hands. "You'll pay," she promised. Ren suddenly disappeared, teleporting directly behind the girl. K'Ray ducked just as the rapier went hissing above her head. Kicking at Ren's knees, K'Ray darted behind Matsuji's throne.
Their game of tag had officially begun.
Hiei jerked himself sideways, the dagger only biting into his side slightly. He yanked it out, narrowing his eyes at Kurama's smug expression.
"What are you so happy about?" he demanded. "You just threw away your only weapon."
"I don't need a weapon," Kurama replied smoothly. "I just need to knock you down."
Hiei frowned in confusion. What was the baka fox talking about?
His question was answered when Kurama hit him with a drop kick that sent him thudding to the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of him, and Hiei lay there, dazed.
Kurama was suddenly above him, pressing down on his chest with his knee to keep the fire demon pinned. He reclaimed the dagger from Hiei's limp hand, resting its sharp edge against his throat. Hiei swallowed; he felt the blade rasp against his skin. Kurama's blood fell on him, soaking his shirt.
"Please, Kurama," Hiei gritted as best he could, "try and remember something! Can't you recall anything about me or K'Ray or your mother? Anything?"
Hiei prayed for something, but there was no spark of recognition in Kurama's searing emerald eyes.
K'Ray slumped against the wall, her vision hazy. Ren had been better with her sword that she had originally thought; now the Ryokun was bleeding from a dozen cuts all over. They were superficial but extremely painful.
"See, my dear?" Ren sighed, "I told you I would kill you." She leveled her rapier at K'Ray's heart, seconds away from running her through.
"Oh yeah?" K'Ray snapped.
"You should have never underestimated me," Ren admonished gleefully.
She choked as K'Ray's dagger buried itself in her stomach.
"You should have never underestimated me, either," K'Ray stated. She watched as Ren staggered back and fell to her knees.
"B-But…how?"
"Easy. You were focused on stabbing me, not the fact that I have telekinesis. I always thought that controlling my weapons with my mind was a dirty way of fighting, so I never used it. But for you, I made an exception."
Ren gurgled something deep in her throat before falling over, dead. K'Ray jerked her dagger free, taking the time to look down at her brands.
"Where are you, Matsuji?" she hissed under her breath. "It's time I paid you back."
Kurama kept Hiei on the ground, but he made no move to slit the fire demon's throat. Hiei thought hopefully that he had remembered something, but instead Kurama looked to the entryway to the cave.
"Matsuji! Now!" he called. A small leather bag came soaring from the entrance, where Matsuji had been fighting. Hiei saw K'Ray sprint after Matsuji's shadowy figure, both of them heading for the waterfall.
"I don't know what these are," the fox explained, "but Matsuji said they would help, and I believe him."
The fox opened the bag, spilling out two large, round gems. One was an onyx and one was an opal.
Soul gems.
Hiei nearly fainted with pain when a mighty tugging ripped at his chest. He dimly realized that one of those gems was calling for his soul. Calling upon the Jagan, the fire demon managed to hold on by a thread. But he was seconds away from dying, and he knew it.
"K-Kur…ama…"
But Kurama wasn't listening. He was staring down at the gems, eyes wide.
"So many questions!" Matsuji chided mockingly. "You will serve me because I will promise you your memory if you do as I say. And I will say…to take your friend's souls…"
Matsuji took two soul gems from his pocket, an onyx one for Hiei and an opal for K'Ray…
"If it's any comfort, you won't know who you're killing…"
The familiar light came back into Kurama's eyes. He threw himself off of Hiei, sending the soul gems skidding across the floor.
The tugging slowly faded as the distance between Hiei and the gem increased. He jumped up and ran to Kurama, who was unconscious.
"Kurama, Kurama!" he snapped, shaking the kitsune. "Wake up!"
Kurama's eyes fluttered open. He lay there for a moment before bursting into speech.
"Oh Inari Hiei I am so sorry! The dreams were too much and I almost killed Yukina so I ran and I found K'Ray but Matsuji tricked me and took away my memory and-"
"Will you shut up, Fox? You always talked too much."
Kurama and Hiei stared at each other for a moment before erupting in laughter.
"Really, I am so sorry," Kurama said. "He tricked me."
"I know," Hiei replied. "It wasn't your fault, and I'm the one who's sorry for betraying you."
"Thank you, Hiei."
"Hn. Now come on, we have to kill Matsuji. If he lives, I really will blame you."
Kurama stood up shakily, grimacing at the pain in his wounded arm. "Come with me," he directed, "I have an idea."
K'Ray met Matsuji at the shores of the waterfall. Behind her was the tunnel that led back to the throne room. She stood directly in front of it, cutting off any chance of escape.
"Let's end it," she growled. She deftly drew her daggers, the soft light playing across the blades. Matsuji sighed ruefully.
"I do wish things had worked out differently between us," he lamented. "We would have had a happy life together."
"Really? Because I like the way things turned out just fine."
K'Ray ran at Matsuji, left-hand dagger leading. The demon sidestepped easily, causing the Ryokun to stumble past. She quickly recovered, spinning around just as her foot splashed into the water.
"Pray tell, how does it feel to fight me alone?" Matsuji asked. "How does it feel to know the one you love is completely under my control?"
K'Ray bared her teeth but didn't answer.
"You've always been an outcast, haven't you? Your own family shunned you, simply because you didn't accept their bloodthirsty ways. What was it like when your own mother publicly announced that you were no longer welcome in her home?"
A single tear slid down the girl's cheek. It made her furious to hear Matsuji idly evaluate her past like it was some half-baked screenplay. She charged at him again, her movements dictated by her anger now. Matsuji avoided her even more easily, continuing with his verbal assault.
"How old were you when that happened? Eight, I would guess? Your own family turned you onto the streets. You lived as a beggar and a thief for three years, every night walking in front of your parents' home in hopes that they would take you back. And when Yoko Kurama came and slaughtered your village, you still shed tears over the people who abandoned you. Pathetic, I think."
"Shut up!" K'Ray shouted. She punched at him with the hilt of her dagger. Matsuji grabbed her by the wrist, twisting painfully. He brought her to her knees, snatching one of her daggers and laying its edge against her throat.
"I'll enjoy watching you bleed to death," he whispered. "That doppelganger was a poor substitute."
Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock, then in outrage. He uttered a garbled cry before stumbling back, towards the water. K'Ray looked at him in confusion before something on the ground caught her eyes.
It was a large, glittering bloodstone.
Kurama and Hiei stood at the tunnel's mouth, the fox with a small, if pained, smile on his face. All three watched silently as Matsuji's soul, a white orb shot with black, was pulled from his chest and into the bloodstone.
His suddenly limp body fell backwards into the pool, sinking out of sight to forever lie under the waterfall's pounding force.
K'Ray stood up, swaying slightly. Finally, it was all over. She turned and met Kurama's beautiful emerald gaze with her own serene violet one. A second later, she was running to him.
Kurama caught K'Ray up in a fierce embrace. He spun her around and kissed her deeply.
Hiei mouth jerked in a smile as he watched his friends. He was happy that they were together again. Giving them privacy, he walked over to where the now smoky bloodstone lay. He picked up the soul gem, placing it securely in his pocket. When they got back, they would turn Matsuji's soul over to Koenma for final judgment.
"Well, Hiei, are you ready to go home?" K'Ray asked. She held Kurama's hand in hers while the fox had his other arm wrapped comfortably around her waist.
Hiei nodded, telepathically telling Botan to summon them a portal.
"Let's go."
The End
Author's Note: Well, did you all like it? I really hope so. There will be an epilogue after this, so you all will know how things turned out. Please review! That would be a great ending to this story! I already have the idea for my next one, so expect that up in a few weeks. Thanks for all your support! Until the epilogue!