+ Chapter dedication: To Hacker of Souls for graciously taking the time to review. I wasn't really expecting anyone to read this at all, so your review (and e-mail) came as a pleasant surprise. I'm sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but I simply haven't checked on the story in a while, so I do apologize. This one is for you, so enjoy+
Trust
Rating: PG-13/R
Warnings: Vulgar intentions and only a little more torture and gore.
Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters.
Claimer: I created Fujikane Junior High, Miharu, Miharu's father, Vox, and all other unrecognized characters from my own mind. Any kind mimicry of other characters from any outside sources is entirely coincidental and accidental.
This is regular narration.
"This is talking."
'This is thinking.'
-- These are song
lyrics. Nothing is currently playing because the author could not
find a suitable song --
+ Chapter Two: Fear's Child +
Fujikane Junior High: The epitome of junior highs everywhere. It was a school reputed for its clean appearance, amazing teaching staff, and wonderfully respective alumni. It was a facility that took in disobedient, unruly children and manufactured them into the mature, well-rounded adults of the future. It was a dream and honor to just walk through the hallways and observe the learning process.
A boy slammed shut his rusting locker, grinning hungrily at a girl strutting down the hallway in a skirt much shorter than regulation. He made a low whistle. "Hey, baby, was your daddy an animal? 'Cause I can definitely see you on all fours!" The girl batted her mascara-laden eyes, giggling at the brown-eyed boy ogling her.
Yes, it was a dream working at Fujikane...the kind the dreamer would wake up screaming from, relieved that it wasn't real.
"All right you two, move along," said a stern male voice. The principal, Mr. Tenkai had just rounded the corner.
The girl giggled and blushed, quickly slipping into an adjacent hallway. The boy followed, watching her backside lustily. Mr. Tenkai watched them with a haggard sigh, then raised a hand to massage his temples.
'How much longer?' he wondered, taking a glance at his watch. 'Half an hour, dammit. I wish this day would just end already... .'
- - - -
Two stories and fifteen feet to the right was Ms. Senti's sixth grade science class. A thin, brown-haired woman stood front and center, striking a gentle but commanding pose. She was smiling.
"Now I'll take any questions about today's lesson," she announced. When no hands were raised, she made a noise of satisfaction to herself. "Okay then, now kindly stay seated while I'm taking attendance. You can talk softly amongst yourselves, but if it gets too loud I will revoke your free period tomorrow," she warned, then called out, "Seiki Tomoko."
"Here."
"Mamori Yuki."
"Here."
"Hideaki Sota."
"...Present!" he answered loudly, earning collective snickers from the room.
Ms. Senti just sighed, used to Sota's attention-grabbing antics, and checked him as present.
"Takeuchi Miharu."
No one answered.
Ms. Senti looked up at her class. "Miharu? Has anyone seen Miharu today?"
"Yes," Yuki spoke up. "She was in my third period class."
"Maybe she went home sick," someone suggested.
"Or maybe she's cutting!" Sota cried out, before adding with a smirk, "Oh no, I'm sorry. It must be her locker again."
Tomoko rolled her eyes, flipping a piece of her wavy brown hair over her shoulder. "Shut up, Sota. You think you're so funny. All the lockers at this dumb school are like that. And Miharu wouldn't cut class," she said, defending her friend.
"Settle down, please," Ms. Senti broke in, cutting off the brewing argument. She couldn't help but feel uneasy about Miharu's absence, however. 'This isn't like her. Even if her locker was jammed she would have been here by now,' she thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Sota, would you please go check the infirmary to see if Miharu's there or has gone home?"
Sota groaned, slouching in his chair. "Aw, miss! Why me?"
Ms. Senti closed her eyes, as if trying to restrain herself. "Just go, please." Her eyes opened again, still their honey brown. "And the rest of you, please turn to last night's homework on page..."
Sota sauntered out the door, sighing. He walked down the hallway, glancing distastefully at the peeling gray walls, before turning into the stairwell. He stopped in his tracks, uttering a cry of surprise when he saw the crumpled form of a girl sprawled at the bottom of the steps.
- - - -
'This waiting is torture,' thought Takeuchi Naota. He sat hunched over, leaning his elbows on his knees, focusing in and out of a curious brown stain on the worn carpet. This was the third time he had sat in this same waiting room, waiting on the edge of his seat for good news, bad news, any news.
On his previous visit he had hoped never to have to return...but here he nervously sat once again. And being here brought back all the memories he had worked so hard at concealing and eliminating...being here opened the flood-gates. His wife had passed away here.
Takeuchi Hitori had woken up to terrible chest pains one night. Miharu was only two months old at the time, but Naota's mother-in-law came over right away to watch her. Naota drove to the hospital at once, where his wife was whisked away by doctors.
The doctors reported to him early the next morning that his wife had not survived the night. Due to "complications" that had arisen when she had given birth to Miharu, there was a build-up of this here and a blockage of that there, but Naota had barely heard them through the crushing weight of his grief.
And now he was back in the same waiting room, waiting on pins and needles for any word on his daughter. The hospital had contacted him at his workplace, a factory where he was paid to move car parts. All he knew was that his daughter had been involved in an accident in school and was taken here.
A stocky man of average build in a white lab jacket strode into the room. With his light brown hair and pale skin, Naota knew he was American. "Mr. Takeuchi?" Naota nodded. "Please come with me."
Naota rose, following the man into an elevator. The doctor turned to Miharu's father. "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Dr. Morgan. Your daughter was brought in approximately an hour and a half ago from her school. She was found at the bottom of some stairs, so we assume she had fallen down them. She has suffered serious trauma to the head; her right leg is fractured in two places and several of her ribs are either bruised or broken. She's been in a coma since before she was brought here. Here we are."
While Dr. Morgan had been briefing Mr. Takeuchi on his daughter's condition, the elevator had reached the fourth floor. It was all Naota could do to follow the doctor around twisting hallways all lit by the same monotonous, white buzz of the florescent bulbs overhead. They stopped at the door labeled by a small plaque next to it as "416a" in white letters. "She's in here. Do you want to see her?"
"Yes," the answer jumped from Naota's throat, a choked sound. The doctor nodded, opening the door for the father, but did not go inside himself.
The florescent lights seemed to bleed light down upon the room Takeuchi Naota stepped into. The first thing he noticed were the many machines connected to his daughter. A steady, dull "beep" counted her heartbeats as an IV dripped into her arm; other gray pieces of machinery were cluttered around her bed's side, recording who-knows-what.
He edged slowly toward the figure in the bed, color gone from his face. He removed his faded, blue factory hat from his head and clutched it in his left hand. With the other he gripped the back of a chair that had weaved its way through the wires and machines to sit, lonely, at the hospital bed's side. He finally brought himself to look at his daughter.
Her once lively, excited brown eyes were shut off from the world by her eye lids, leaving her to look asleep...so peaceful. The only clues to show that she was at Death's door were her unusually pale complexion and, of course, the eternally beeping machines.
A sound came from his throat. "Mi-Miharu... ." He didn't elaborate, instead bringing himself to the other side of the chair and sitting heavily. 'My daughter...my only daughter,' he thought numbly, taking in the damage done to her. Small bruises on her arm matched one large bruise on the cheek facing him. A brace encased her neck and wrapped around her right leg was a cast.
But still she slept so peacefully, it seemed. Naota couldn't help but wonder, did she know what was happening around her? Could she still hear, smell, feel? Or was she in a dream world, unaware of her current predicament?
Where was she?
- - - -
"Ow! Wanna watch what you're doin', Botan? Aaah! That stings!" Yusuke cried, pulling out of the blue-haired deity's grasp. He sat with her at the Kuwabara's kitchen table. The deity was examining the scratch given to him by Takeuchi Miharu, the strange girl they had met on the street.
Botan rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a baby, Yusuke. It's just peroxide. Now give me your hand back."
"You're such a sissy, Urameshi," chuckled Kuwabara, entering the room with a water bottle in his hand.
Yusuke pouted, but held out his hand again. Miharu's nails had gouged through three or four layers of skin, and the bleeding had only recently stopped. While Botan dabbed a cotton ball drenched in peroxide over the wound, Yusuke grit his teeth against the sting.
In the silence, Kuwabara asked, "D'you think that girl was with...what's-his-name, Hiroyuki?"
"Hiroyoshi, " corrected Botan. "And she very well could be."
It had all started about half a year from the Dark Tournament's end. Kurama had caught the first spy, a teenage boy, who had been inconspicuously following the group. Not even a month later, another spy, a teenage girl, was burned to a crisp by Hiei. After those first two incidents, the Tantei went to Koenma for information on who was sending the spies and what they wanted, only to find he had none to offer.
The next couple of months were frustrating. Paranoia made everyone jumpy. Koenma constantly reminded them to be patient, but to be on the lookout. They had all scared their share of unsuspecting humans before catching the next spy in the act. Unfortunately, the spy (this time a younger girl) was quick, and evaded them. They never saw that one again.
It was four months before they caught the next spy, a young teenage boy. They had gotten fleeting glimpses of him at Genkai's temple, Sarayashiki Junior High, and even once at Kurama's school before finally cornering him and bringing him to Genkai's for interrogation.
The boy, named Hojo, didn't offer much information, but gave the name Hiroyoshi as the demon sending all the spies. He also mentioned an unnamed castle, but no one was sure whether he was referring to Hiroyoshi's hideout or his original home. The boy refused to eat anything during his stay, however; it wasn't long before he had starved himself to death.
During the next four months, three spies were discovered and defeated, but they learned nothing new of their opponent. It had been one and a half years since the Dark Tournament. They were caught in a stalemate against an almost invisible opponent.
"She wasn't with him," Yusuke said suddenly.
"What makes you say that?" Botan asked, opening a box of bandages for Yusuke's hand.
Yusuke shrugged. "She was too scared. And confused. Remember? She thought we were in Osaka."
"Maybe she was just pretending, to throw us off or somethin'," Kuwabara offered.
Yusuke shook his head. "She tried to apologize after scratching me," he pointed out.
Kuwabara sighed. "I wish you hadn't scared her off, Urameshi. Even if she wasn't with Hiroyoshi, we could've helped her."
"What was I supposed to do? The little snot just up and scratched me!"
"You shouldn't have yelled at her, Yusuke. She was scared and confused," Botan chided.
"What d'you know? You weren't even there," Yusuke grumbled.
Botan ignored him. "All done!" she sang, releasing Yusuke's now bandaged hand.
The teen mumbled a thanks, then stood. "I'm off to the arcade. You coming, Kuwabara?"
- - - -
Vox knew exactly when the girl had gone unconscious, being the master of torture that he was. But that didn't make him stop. The only sound he could hear was his own blood pounding in his ears, quickened because of his activity; the only smell lingering in the air was that of bloodshed; the only thing he could see was the red marked body of the young girl he had been ordered to torture. No, those things didn't stop him...they only enticed him further.
"Then die you will!" It was a promise Vox intended to see carried out. He left the girl's body and went to the bedside table, gazing at the assorted weapons amassed there.
A sharp rap at the door caught his attention. Eyes flashing a murderous red, Vox muttered a few choice curses under his breath and made his way to the door.
"What? Oh, hello, Hiroyoshi," Vox said, tone changing from annoyance to business when he realized who it was. Hiroyoshi was a couple inches taller than Vox and his hair was a dark brown, but they shared the same harsh gray eyes.
"Vox," Hiroyoshi said, nodding in greeting. He pushed past Vox and stood by Miharu's unconscious form. He turned and gave Vox a hard look. "You got carried away again," he reprimanded.
"You know how I get..." he said, laughing and wringing his hands together from nervousness. "For being so young, she had such a fire --"
Hiroyoshi interrupted Vox. "This will be enough. I need her now."
"But Hiroyoshi," Vox almost whined. "She needs more breaking in. She's not ready."
"She has to be," the taller man said. Then he asked, "Has she shown any signs of power?"
"Fortunately, no," Vox said with a sigh. The last spy had unexpectedly tapped into her unknown wind powers. Vox's personal torture chamber had taken a hard hit from that, which was why he was currently operating in the windowless spare room.
Hiroyoshi swore under his breath. "Are you positive?"
"Yes. She did go unconscious for no apparent reason when I brought her here, but it could have been shock or stress."
"Possibly astral projection," Hiroyoshi noted, stroking his chin in thought. "I'll ask her about it when she's healed. How much damage?"
"Since you came so early it's not much. Bruises. A couple broken ribs. Welts. Burns. And, my favorite, psychological trauma," Vox stated, giving a disturbing smile.
"Nothing my healers can't handle."
There was a pause. "Why do you need her now?" Vox asked finally.
Hiroyoshi glanced at him, then moved his eyes to Miharu. "This one won't be just another spy, little brother."
Vox's eyebrows went up. "You mean..."
Hiroyoshi nodded. "It's time for our revenge. She'll be training with me, and if she can astral project, it will give us good accessibility to their headquarters."
Vox rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Then don't delay - take her."
Hiroyoshi stooped down as if to collect the girl in his arms, but then stopped and turned around, as if remembering something. "One more thing, Vox."
"Yes, Hiroyoshi?"
A ninja star whizzed through the air, thrown by an expert. It caught its target in the throat. "Dead men tell no secrets," Hiroyoshi said simply. Ignoring his brother's gagging sounds of death, Hiroyoshi collected the unconscious girl in his arms, and walked out the door.
+ End Chapter Two +
-evil smirk- Hello readers.
This chapter was a short one. I originally had more at the end, with Miharu waking up and such, but I decided to leave that as the beginning for Chapter 3; it would have been too long, even for me. Some may have noticed, I couldn't find a song for this chapter. The point of view changed so often and the moods were so different; it could not be done.
It took so long to write, also. I'm not worried about time, though; I'm writing this completely at my leisure. This fic is my own private one, my little get-away when I can't think of anything to write for other fics. It's very relieving...
I find it so difficult to find suitable names for the characters I see in my head. Any idea where to find Japanese names? Or just words that could pass as names? I'll take anything, I'm getting kind of desperate. Currently, I'm snagging names from some of the mangas and animes I've read/seen. Examples: 'Naota' from FLCL, 'Hojo' from Inu-Yasha, and 'Hideaki' from Kare Kano.
Speaking of names...does 'Hiroyoshi' sound familiar to anyone? I thought of the name of the manga-ka who created Yu Yu Hakusho, Yoshihiro Togashi, and soon Yoshihiro became Hiroyoshi. 'Vox' means 'cry' in Latin, or at least something related to that. I called him that because making people cry (mostly in pain) is what he does best. I got 'Miharu' from some Megeme Japanese Name Generator thing on-line, and it's supposed to mean 'clear sky' or something like that shrug.
Most of the questions from last chapter haven't been answered yet, and some new ones have popped up. Like: Where is Miharu, really? Is she in the hospital bed in her own, native world, or with Vox and Hiroyoshi? What will next chapter bring? You'll just have to wait to find out... And again, I make no promises as to when that will be, for the third chapter is not complete yet. Until then...