Chapter Five: The Mystery of Tomorrow

This had been a particularly bad day for Shizuru Kuwabara, as she found herself struggling to get some sleep and rest up for the next. The 17-year-old older sister to Kozuma Kuwabara was still having difficulty coming down from the Dark Tournament. She had light brown hair, that came down to her shoulders, and at 5'8", she was the tallest of the girls she knew. Her attitude was never one to take lightly, and it tended to frighten even the boys at times. She had a quiet, reserved, and almost uncaring personality, that made it all the more frightening when she got angry. She had not been a competitor in the tournament, but her baby brother had, and as much as she refused to admit it, she did care about him. He could have been killed, and almost had been several times, but that's not what really had her going.

During the tournament, she had met a man named Sakyo. Perhaps not the most handsome man she'd ever met, but there was something about him that had enticed her interest. However, there were no doves for Shizuru, for she had found herself interested in the wrong man. Sakyo had been the manager for Team Toguro, the amazing team that her brother's team had found themselves facing in the final round. Although Shizuru didn't know the history between the two teams, there was definitely bad blood in the air during the matches. She had never seen her brother fight as ferociously as he did during his match with the disgusting elder Toguro brother, who had possessed the ability to move around pieces of his body anywhere else on his body at will, giving him a sort of gelatinous body structure and making him nearly invulnerable.

But the central point of her pain was the final match. The two managers for the team, the Sakyo she had come to admire and Team Urameshi's manager, a strange man who sucked on a pacifier, by the name of Koenma, had struck an agreement. They had both needed to stand in for a fifth member on their teams, but because neither of them had any fighting ability, them fighting the final match would be a major disappointment. So instead, they wagered it on a fight between the two team captains, Yusuke Urameshi, her little brother's friend, and the hulking brute that was the younger Toguro brother. The wager was their lives.

"You stupid jerk..." Shizuru muttered as she turned over in her bed, struggling with herself to keep the tears from coming. She would not cry, she was certain of that. She didn't need to cry. But her mind kept racing back to that fateful time, after the match was finished. Koenma had refused to take Sakyo's life, but Sakyo was not without his honor. He had made a wager, and he was going to live up to it. He set the entire stadium to self-destruct, burying himself and his dreams with it. Shizuru had tried to get to him, tried to make him come, but Koenma had taken her out of the stadium before it could collapse. This wasn't like in the movies, where the building falls apart and then the man comes walking out of the dust. She had seen a large piece of granite fall from the ceiling, crushing Sakyo beneath it. She had watched him die, and Botan had confirmed his demise afterwards.

Though she still refused to show any emotion to her brother or the rest of his friends, she often found her thoughts tracing back to Sakyo. She wanted to see him again, wanted him to be okay, but she knew that he never would be. And part of her felt cold inside every time she thought about him, every time she remembered that horrible tournament. The days had passed by slowly since then, and every day was harder than the last. She didn't know if she had the strength to carry on.

There came a pounding in her head, and she cursed. That was something she definitely didn't need. She had already had...oh, wait. Slowly, she sat up from her bed, as she realized the pounding was actually coming from the front door. Dammit, it's 9 o'clock at night, who the hell comes calling at this godforsaken hour? Slipping on a black bathrobe with a light gold rim around the edges, Shizuru made her way out of her room and to the front door. Whoever this was had better have a good excuse for disturbing her, or there would be pain. Lots and lots of pain.

The locks clicked open, and the door slid just a few inches, to let Shizuru see who it was. And part of her was not surprised to find one of Kuwabara's idiot friends, the red-haired Kurama, standing on the other side. Of course, that's who comes calling at this hour. People with no lives. "What do you want?" Shizuru brusquely shoved the question at him, before she saw what lay in his arms. A young girl, probably around Keiko's age, with dark, black hair that streamed down to her shoulders, lay unconscious in his arms. "And what is that, and why are you bringing it here?"

"There is no time to explain," Kurama urged. "We need to speak to Kuwabara, and we need to use the phone. Please, it's an emergency. I would not have come so late at night if it were not." He had an awful lot of needs for a late-night caller, but she had to admit, he at least had courtesy with them.

Reluctantly, Shizuru pulled the door open to allow Kurama to bring the girl inside. Although she couldn't help but wonder at his choice of words. "We?"

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"Aw, yeah! High score! Beat that, chumps!" Kuwabara gloated at the screen on his computer, as his beloved kitten sat nestled in his lap. He had just dominated the high score of Rock-em Sock-em, some random game he had found on the internet. He was the great Kuwabara, and nothing could–

"So this is what you do in your spare time. I think I miss not knowing." That voice sent a chill down his spine, that dark, emotionless voice. Kuwabara jumped from his seat, snatching his kitten up protectively to keep it away from the demon. Sitting there, in the window frame of his open bedroom window, was Hiei.

Kuwabara cradled his kitten to his chest with one hand, while he pointed the other at Hiei. "You...you...go away! I don't...you shouldn't be here! What are you doing here!" His finger shook lightly, but he kept his firm stance. He would never admit it, but he was afraid of Hiei, after seeing what he could do on their first mission together. He knew Hiei's incredible speed, and after seeing Hiei fuse with the Black Dragon Hellfire at the tournament, he was afraid. But this was something he kept deep inside, and would never allow to come to light.

Hiei turned his head to look out the window, to take his eyes off the disgusting sight that was the human Kuwabara. "Wondering why I let you people drag me into this shit." he answered, before the door came open and Kurama hurried into the room, followed reluctantly by Shizuru.

Kuwabara breathed a sigh of relief when Kurama entered the room. He did not want to be alone with Hiei, oh hell no. He didn't want to be anywhere near Hiei, but at least having Kurama around would better the odds. But his relief faded when he saw the unconscious girl in Kurama's arms, and he couldn't help but ask. "Um...who's that?"

Kurama answered quickly, and to the point. "Her name is Kimiko Natsuyaki. She's a girl at my school. She came after me tonight, called herself Yoshi Tsarakino."

That name sent a chill down Kuwabara's spine. He remembered Tsarakino from this afternoon, but...he hadn't been this girl. That was strange. "I...um...I met a Yoshi Tsarakino too...I mean, it wasn't this girl, but I did meet this weird guy calling himself Tsarakino."

Kurama laid the girl down to rest on Kuwabara's bed, making sure her head had a soft resting place on the pillow before turning his attention back to Kuwabara. "We need you to call Yusuke. There is something very serious going on, and–"

As if on cue, the phone rang. Everyone's eyes turned to the phone, and a feeling of dread washed over Kuwabara. Things were about to get ugly, he knew it. Slowly, his hand reached for the phone, and he lifted it from the base and set it against his ear. "Hello?"

There was a moment of tense silence, before Kuwabara turned his attention up to the others. "It's Urameshi...he thinks we should get the group together..."

Once Urameshi and Botan had arrived at Kuwabara's house, the meeting began. Hiei stuck to his perch on the windowsill, absently staring out away from the horrible house he loathed. Kuwabara sat backwards on his chair, resting his head on his arms, which sat on the back of the chair. Yusuke had taken the floor, it's where he felt most comfortable, and he sat cross-legged there while Kurama took a seat on the bed, beside the unconscious Kimiko. Botan stood by the wall, a potentially dangerous distance from Hiei. She knew he would not appreciate her proximity to his windowsill perch, but she wanted to gauge his reaction. At least, that's what she told herself. What she told neither herself nor anyone else was that she had stifled a shrill pleasure giggle when she found out Kurama had located Hiei.

Kurama had been the first to relate his experience to the others. He told them about the strange way his mother had been acting, and about the mystery appearance of Kimiko. After Hiei had rendered her unconscious, he had gone back to check on his mother, despite Hiei's protests that it was a waste of time. She had been doing well, and seemed better now. That eerie feeling was gone from her, and she even mentioned that she thought she'd been acting peculiar earlier.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were next, to relate the story of their afternoon encounter with Yoshi Tsarakino. Whatever was going on, there was no doubt that it concerned this strange man, especially after the revelation Kurama gave. Yoshi Tsarakino had called himself a part of something known as the Tomorrow. This was not the first time Kurama had heard of the Tomorrow. This was not even the first time today.

"Okay, let's go over this again," Yusuke spoke with a leader's voice. "Make sure we haven't missed anything."

Botan took a deep breath, then turned her attention to the rest of the group. Her eyes had been wandering towards Hiei, though she wasn't certain she could explain just why, but now, it was business time. "Okay, here we go. We've received word of a demon by the name of Fjerin that has recently become more active in Makai. His people have made numerous destructive attacks on Reikai, especially on the buildings that surround the palace. He seems to be waging an open war against us, for the purpose of taking control of Reikai away from King Yama, and he has an unlimited number of bodies to wage his war, because of his power.

Fjerin has the power to hypnotize and manipulate the minds of others. Specifically, he seems to be able to...um..."manipulate the spirit energy that already exists within the body of another individual", as the report put it. When under his control, the pupils of a person's eyes turn red, which signifies that they are one of his servants now. He has used this power to establish himself a cult following, which he calls the Vision of Tomorrow, or Tomorrow for short. Their goal seems to be to unite all of Reikai, Makai, and Ningenkai...um...the human world...under one master, and that master would be..."

Yusuke nodded his head. "Fjerin."

"Bingo," Botan uttered her trademark word.

Kuwabara raised his question next. "So, this girl laying here and that guy we saw...those people were being mind controlled by Fjerin, right?"

Botan sent a doubtful look towards the unconscious Kimiko. "Actually...I don't believe so. From the reports, Fjerin looks down on humans as weak, unproductive creatures. He sees them as inferior and would never allow a human to enter the Tomorrow. Whatever this Yoshi Tsarakino outbreak is, it's not Fjerin."

Kurama was the next to speak. "But it still has something to do with the Tomorrow. Kimiko said she was one of the Tomorrow, which means that even if it's not Fjerin, there is probably someone in his ranks that doesn't hold such high standards of membership."

Hiei snorted. "Which makes sense if you don't see humans as a weak, inferior people. Groups like this are tightly-knit. The leader's approval would be needed before anyone, human, demon, or spirit, were brought into their fold. Especially if bringing them into their fold meant the leader, Fjerin, had to manipulate their spirit energy. And even then, exactly how much spirit energy would he have to work with in a girl like Kimiko here?"

Botan turned a doubtful head to the unconscious girl. "He doesn't need much...but Hiei has a point. And I don't think all of the Tomorrow are going around calling themselves Yoshi Tsarakino."

Yusuke cursed beneath his breath. "Why is it that every time we get an answer about anything, it stops being an answer and just turns into more questions?"

"Because you boys suck at figuring out which questions to ask," Shizuru muttered. She was standing against the wall, by the door. She'd been quiet for most of the meeting, because this really wasn't her thing. She was only here because she was waiting for them to leave, so she could get back to her rest.

Ignoring the bait, Kuwabara looked back at the girl. "She doesn't feel like a demon to me, though. And she definitely doesn't feel like Tsarakino. The guy we saw this afternoon has two spirits inside him. This girl, though, I don't feel anything weird or creepy about her. A little bit of residue, but nothing else."

"Residue?" Yusuke questioned.

"Yeah," Kuwabara nodded, "Like there was something there before, but it's gone now."

"If she is normal," Kurama pondered aloud, "Then perhaps when she wakes up, she can help us determine what's happening. After we find out what she knows, I can use some of my dream flower pollen to put her back to sleep. The pollen will keep her from remembering any of this."

"Knock her out and drug her up," Shizuru barbed. "You sure have a way with women."

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Elsewhere, deep in the heart of Makai, in the central chambers of a citadel of stone and iron, a demon sat powerfully on a throne of gold and diamond. Flags of red, with a black emblem etched upon them of a sun halfway across the horizon, though whether it was going down or coming up could not be ascertained, were emblazoned all down the long hall before him. The creature was humanoid in shape, with blue flesh that ran across his rippling muscles. His black tiger-striped arms ended in sharp, vicious claws that had scratched the gold of his throne in moments of rage. Long, red hair flowed down from his head, coming down to about his waist, and a red beard/moustache combo accentuated his powerful jawline. His terrifying, blood red eyes were terrifying for his poor captive to look into.

She lay on the hard stone, a mere ten feet from the throne, on the right side. Strong iron chains bound her wrists and ankles together, and her neck was attached on a steel leash to a thick iron spike embedded in the stone. A prisoner of the enemy, she was powerless to fight back. She had been missing from her home for three days now, and she had been sober the entire time. She had no doubt her son had no idea she was even gone, and that thought filled her with dread. What if no one ever found her in this miserable place?

"Rise, my child," the creature spoke to a man kneeling down on the red carpet before his throne, and the man did as commanded, rising to his feet. The man wasn't really a man, though. He had strange blue skin running all over his body, and a horn coming out of his forehead. He also had golden eyes, but as he stood, his eyes flooded over with red replacing the gold. He bowed his head to his master, and disappeared out the door with four...men or creatures, she couldn't tell...

Enveloped in brown, hooded robes. Each had held a candle during the ceremony, and now that it was finished, they took their leave.

The monster stood, taking a few steps from his throne. "It's almost time," he laughed as he turned his attention back to the woman. "Wouldn't you agree, Atsuko? You've been a wonderful sport about this whole thing. I know you're concerned about your son, but don't worry, I assure you that you will see him again. After I destroy little Yusuke, I'll let you keep the head." He laughed at his own sick humor.

The woman opened her mouth to curse at the creature, but then she felt it. The devil was returning, the horrible, horrible thing. She didn't know which was worse, the creature before her, or the devil that was here once again to rape her mind and violate her soul. She fought it as she felt it moving inside her, felt its fingers around her mind. She wouldn't let it take her this time, she wouldn't let it...it had taken her before but this time she just would not let it! She could fight it...she could fight it...she could...

"No..." she struggled, but it was no use. He was stronger than her, he always was, and no matter how she fought him, he broke her just like he did every time before. Atsuko Urameshi lost her freedom, as she was forced back into the corner of her own mind, and this thing took her. An eerie green glow emanated from her eyes as it ripped control from her, and then she was his once more. She couldn't move her body, she could barely even move a finger. She could only remain helpless and watch as he moved her body, as he moved her lips, as he used her to plan her own son's death.

The demon smiled at the green glow, seeing Atsuko broken again. He opened his arms warmly and greeted his old friend. "Welcome back, Yoshi."