Anathema of the Night
Okay, so I finally finished typing chappie number one! Hope you like. It's pretty short, fast paced, and not nearly as good as it was when it was in my head, but please read and review anyway. It is greatly appreciated!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Chapter I: A Perfect Bad Day Remedy
"I don't know what I did wrong! Everything was fine until I tried to be a gentleman!"
"What exactly happened?"
"I was trying to be nice by telling her she had a nice rack, and she got all huffy, so I told her not to get all bitchy. Then she starts yelling, dumps her drink on me, and storms off!"
"So you are saying it was the same old song and dance."
A male youth sighed, running his hand through his dark hair. "Yeah. I guess so." He paused, and then let out an exasperated yell, balling his fists as he did so. "Argh! Why do girls have to be so freakin' difficult?" He continued to rant, more to himself rather than the boy with long, fiery hair walking parallel to him.
The two teens were in the least popular region of the city. The region of the city that was inhabited by the questionable. Gangs festered in every alley way, hookers hung in every corner, and the penny-less hid within their cardboard shelters, only surfacing to beg. The streets were littered with bits of paper. The crunch of glass could be heard under the pressure one's foot. The smell of filth and decay laced the air. The only light came from the neon signs of the various bars and brothels. Despite all the possible danger of this side of town, the boys feared it not.
As a good friend does, the red head listened intently and shared his opinion only when the other stopped for a breath. He saw an opportunity to speak arise; choosing his words carefully, he spoke. "Yusuke, I don't think that was the right kind of…compliment Kieko was looking for."
"So you're saying I should have told her she was flat as a day old soda? Kurama, that's just stupid," Yusuke said flatly.
Kurama laughed lightly. "You misunderstood me. I meant that I think she was hoping to hear something a little more romantic."
"Why can't girls just be more like guys? We don't care about romance," Yusuke said, placing a mocking tone on the last word.
"Well, I suppose if women were more like men, we would all be gay."
"You're not my type."
Kurama laughed again, shaking his head at his friend's style of thinking. "Still, are you planning on apologizing to Kieko?"
Yusuke scowled a bit. He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking up at the night sky noticing that the moon was nowhere in sight. "I don't know. I guess. Or maybe I should just break it off. In the past month it seems that all that Kieko and I have done is argued." His mind wandered back to a particular nasty fight taking place in the previous week; the result being a sobbing Kieko and a drugged up Yusuke.
Kurama watched his friend delve into thought; he remained silent, choosing to glance at the graffitied walls beside him rather than interrupt Yususke's concentration. After several moments, Kurama finally saw Yusuke's harsh expression soften and opened his mouth to speak calm words of comfort and wisdom as was his custom to do. Before he could form any sound however, a woman's shattering scream pierced the night's silence. Both boys' heads snapped up at the alarm of the shriek, their eyes ser with instinctive determination to help the source of the call. They ser off at a run, the thrashing noises of a scuffle growing louder until the volume grew to full blast as they reached the destination they sought. As Yusuke and Kurama stood at eth mouth of a littered alley, they could just barely distinguish five darkened figures.
A teenage girl was trying her best to ward off four, rather strange looking creatures. The four things were all identical; serpent-like fingers were attached to the ends of elongated, somewhat crooked arms. Their hunched bodies were set on legs that were just as crooked as their arms; their feet were slightly over-sized and curled ever so faintly at the toe. Their heads were humanoid in shape, but had a wispy 'horn' on each side and a crest of unknown origin gleamed silver on the centre of their foreheads. The four sets of intense red eyes were kept on their prey as they succeeded in restraining her from movement; their fangs glinted mischievously as they broke out in wicked, high-pitched laughter. Besides the glow of silver and red, the monsters were pitch-black, blending in quite well with the shadows of the alley.
"Hey!" Yusuke yelled as on of the shadow demons forcefully gripped its quarry around the neck. She gave a stifled choke, shutting her eyes as tight as possible in an attempt to block out the pain of her constricted windpipe. Two more held each of her arms; the fourth stood behind the girl, its left hand clamped firmly around her mouth while it entangled its right in her long hair. All of them turned at the sound of Yusuke's commanding voice, shooting annoyed glares at the human who dared to interrupt their little 'game.' "What the hell are you doing here?" he continued, "you obviously don't belong here, so go back to…wherever! Unless you prefer to get you asses kicked by your's truly." He raised his fists; beside him Kurama also took a defensive position. Yusuke's eyebrows furrowed. First, he got into an argument with his girlfriend, now he had to deal with demons wrecking havoc in the human world. This was turning out to be a lovely day.
The demon attempting to choke the girl was apparently the leader of the group for when he made garbled noises that had a authoritative tone attached, two of his comrades launched themselves at the Spirit Detective and Kitsune, snarling incoherently as the did so.
Yusuke lunged forward as well, intending to take on the monster head on. Strategy was never really his thing. He threw his right arm into the hardest punch he could muster, but instead of colliding with his opponent, he merely phased through it. He stumbled, barely managing to regain his balance. He turned quickly, not wanting to risk having his back exposed for too long. He was beginning to realize that maybe a strategy wouldn't be such a bad thing now and then. The least he could know was what exactly they were up against.
Kurama, on the other hand, was fairing fairly well by avoiding his opponent's attacks. He dodged flawlessly, his body moving fluidly, his fiery hair trailing gracefully behind. His rival snarled, utterly frustrated that he could not catch the graceful fox. He attempted one last lunge which ended in his demise due to the infamous Rose Whip that painfully ripped him in half. The creature gave a shrill shriek as its two halves dissipated in mid air. The one fighting Yusuke, who was never aware of the fate that had fallen upon his partner, also disappeared as the rose death hit him. Kurama stood up straight, his weapon rolled up in his hand. He brushed back a strand of stray hair. "Well Yusuke, they obviously can't be defeated by mere physical strength. I'll let your Spirit Gun do the rest of the work."
The two remaining demons growled, clenching their claws around the girl whose eyes were wide. Whether it was from terror or amazement was unknown. The beasts violently threw the girl down. The only noise that escaped came not from her breath, but from the crack of her skull as she hit the pavement; she lay unconscious, her limbs sprawled out in a way that made her body look almost sacrificial.
Yusuke smirked somewhat as he raised his arm, his hand pointed as if it were a gun. Beating down random demons who took teenage girls hostage in dark alley ways on a Saturday night was a great way to relieve the stress caused by earlier events.
"Eat this, mother fuckers!"
A brilliant blue light shot out of his index finger; it was his signature move, the Spirit Gun. The night creepers never had a chance as Yusuke's released spirit energy tore a hole through their middles.
After the area became shady again, Kurama knelt down beside the girl. "She'll be okay, but we should probably get her out of this vicinity. Those demons were not just targeting her for the fun of it."
Yusuke, playing the hero, easily picked the girl up in his arms. He looked up, sinister gray clouds blanketed the night sky; rain began to fall, ever so slightly. "Kuwabara's house is closest." By the time the two boys and girl had started down the street, the rain was pelting down, leaving all three of their skin red from the sting of the water's contact.
High above the recent scene, a tall, slender figure of the male gender stood on a rooftop over looking the alley. His dark silhouette was almost invisible against the gloomy night sky. Before the rain had even started, he was gone.