Yin-Yang

Chapter Eight: Pride and Recklessness

"He's dead..." Yukina's voice was soft as she reminisced, sitting comfortably in a sidesaddle-like fashion in the windowsill of her powder blue room. She stared out in the distance, crimson eyes particularly focused on some snow-capped mountains in the distance. "I killed him..."

"Your brother would have been proud, Yuki." Kurama commented softly, almost inaudibly, from his position on the girl's bed. He looked up from the sky blue carpet and into his teammate's eyes. Emerald met crimson in a meaningful stare as the red-head continued, "I'm proud of you as well. Almost too proud to say..." He rose, ruffling his red-trimmed-gold shirt, and walked toward the girl, a fire in his eyes that Yukina could not explain; she was not sure she wanted to explain it, truth be told.

"Umm...What are you doing?" A breeze wafted into the room, brushing against the ice demon's white kimono. Her blue obi moved as she rose from her seat. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurama could see the dozen or so knives concealed underneath the garment.

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the tense air. The two demons nearly broke their necks in their haste to look away from each other, which they managed to do with difficulty. Hiei stood in the doorway, crimson eyes glowing dangerously.

"Dinner." He growled darkly, glaring in particular at Kurama, much to Yukina's relief; she was not by any means prepared to meet that glare! The pair nodded mutely and sighed inwardly as the cloaked demon turned to leave.

They had relaxed for not even a minute when Hiei again spoke, this time from the hall, in a cold tone, "And fetch Kai, if you will. I don't feel like intruding upon her silence. Sometimes, I find silence, isolation if I had a choice, to be quite comforting. Relationships are especially troublesome. Don't you agree...Kurama?" Said demon nodded heatedly, and then proceeded to follow his friend out the door, leaving Yukina to her lonesome.

Great. Just perfect, Yukina thought, going to get Kai out of her room, which had served as the reclusive girl's primary place of residence for the two days following Tarukane's defeat. I'm the one who has to get the freakin' recluse, while Kurama goes and eats! Unfair! At the very thought of his name, Yukina's mind's eye drifted back to the look which burned in his emerald irises like a large, consuming bonfire. What was that all about? Does he love me or something? Yukina nearly laughed out loud at the mention of 'love.' Please! My own mom didn't even love me, much less anyone else! Excepting that human buffoon, of course...

"Yukina, are you okay? You look worried." Kai inquired from the demon's doorway, leaning against the frame, slightly rumpling her clothing.

Yukina bit back a shocked gasp; Kai's usual attire (a dirty coat, long skirt, long-sleeved t-shirt, all black) had been replaced. The black-and-white haired teenager now wore a stylish denim vest with rivets as its lining over a long-sleeved collared-and-cuffed white shirt. The shirt's edges loosely covered the button of a pair of black jeans that were fraying in many places, especially near the ankles, for whatever reason. In lieu of the dirty converse she usual sported, Kai was shod in lace-up black combat boots.

"You look...different." Realized she might sound rude, Yukina added, "Umm... A good different?" Kai smiled shyly, shaking her head. Her long hair framed her pale face, highlighting her eerie pupil-less blood red eyes.

"I appreciate it, but please don't lie. I just tired of the same outfit. Besides, it was kind of beginning to smell." A blush rose on her pale face, contrasting against her blue stripes.

Yukina smiled. "S'okay. Anyway, it's dinner, so we might as well go and eat. What could've possibly possessed Genkai to actually make her own food?"

"My grandmother is a very perplexing person."

"I guess so." As she exited with Kai, Yukina spotted a slight spot on the girl's blouse, around her forearm. "Hey, you, um, get hurt or something? There's blood on your shirt." Kai seemed to panic for a moment, but then calmed, smiling.

"I'm such a klutz. I smacked into my dresser! Can you believe that? My dresser." Yukina laughed a little, still ill at ease, but shrugged away her doubts as the two entered the kitchen.


After dinner, Kai as usual retreated back to her room, leaving the other three demons with cleaning detail. They grumbled amongst themselves, until finally it was decided who would do what: Kurama on stacking, Yukina washing, and Hiei drying. All in all, these were not difficult, when powers were employed, but it was the principle of the matter that irked the tentai.

"I wonder whatever happened to Yusuke..." Yukina wondered aloud as she covered the dishes with a thin layer of ice.

"I don't know." Hiei held a tiny flame in-between his forefinger and thumb, using it to melt the ice, thus creating water. However, it was clear that his mind was somewhere else.

"I suspect he's been enjoying his time off. After all, it is summer." Kurama leaned against the now-clean counters, thanks to his skill in doing chores after years of helping his mother.

"Hn."

"Hiei! You broke the dish!"


"This sucks!" Yusuke screamed, kicking a can in the street as hard as he could; it flew through the air and smashed directly into Shizuru's rear window, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"You're paying for that, you know!" Kuwabara's sister yelled out her apartment window, indicating her smashed window. Yusuke grumbled incoherently.

"Y'know, Urameshi, you could calm down, at least a little. It's not the end of the world...I think..." Kuwabara tried in vain to calm his friend as the two sat on the sidewalk's edge, just outside the tall boy's apartment complex.

"Shut up, Kuwabara." Just as Kuwabara began to get mad, the two boys heard something that ensnared their attentions.

A quiet, seductive song rang through the night, sounding strangely alluring.

'Come to us/And you will see

That you and I were meant to be

Time now has passed

I may move fast

But I don't make a sound.'

Kuwabara began to stagger vaguely toward the sound, as did Yusuke, but both were stopped by Shizuru's firm grip on their collars.

"I always knew you were and idiot, baby brother, but Yusuke too? I had expected more out of you." The two shot her confused glances, and she sighed. "Come in now."

Once safely inside, windows and doors closed and locked, Shizuru entered the small kitchen as the two former tentai sat down.

"What's up, sis? What was that weird music?" Holding a cup of coffee, Shizuru joined the boys.

"It's not right. Look out the window." The boys obeyed, and saw an odd and disturbing sight: boys as young as seven, if not younger, to men who looked to be on their deathbed walked single file in the street, looking rather like zombies. Yusuke scratched his slicked-back hair.

"What's it mean? It's obviously not good..." He rubbed his chin in contemplation, and then snapped his fingers in epiphany. "Remember when Suzaku's bugs infected the teachers!" Both the elder and younger Kuwabara nodded. "It's like that, right Shizuru? They're under someone's control."

"Right on. It's the music. I called a few neighbors, and they can't hear it, so it must be demonic. It might be reckless, but..." She put her hand on both her brother's and Yusuke's shoulder. Her dark eyes met Yusuke's as she added, "I think it's time to be a vigilante, don't you?" Yusuke smirked.

"Hell yes!"

A/N: Sorry for the long absence. Really, I am. I don't like a lot of the chapters I've written for this story, but this is one of the few I do like. Please enjoy it, and, as always, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH