Chapter Fifteen: Visions of Nightmares
The whistling of the wind rustled in the trees, casting an eerie sound across the darkened forest. The grass rustled in the wind, and the leaves bristled with each other, carrying their howl to nearby ears. The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the ground through the gaps in the leaves, but the trees only allowed enough light for the forest ground to be dimmed. And yet he walked through the darkness with power, with courage. He had come to know this forest well in the time he'd known the demon that chose to live here.
Yusuke walked deeper into the woods, his eyes scanning for Hiei. The demon was difficult to track, even more difficult to find. He kept his senses sharp and was cautious with every step, knowing that the demon was somewhere around, he needed only to find him. Suddenly, he thought he saw movement to his right, but it was too fast to see for sure. He whipped to the right, but there was only darkness there. At the last second, he heard something directly behind him.
Yusuke spun and raised his right arm just in time, just as Hiei's right fist connected to his forearm. Yusuke retaliated with a shot of his left, going for Hiei's face, but the demon darted to the left and jammed his right elbow against Yusuke's back, causing the Spirit Detective to stumble forward. Yusuke jammed his right foot back suddenly, catching Hiei off guard and striking directly to his chest, giving the human enough time to turn and slam his right fist against the side of Hiei's head.
Hiei took the blow directly, and his body was forced back by the impact, but he was far from beat. He lifted his right arm to block a second blow by Yusuke's left, then brought his own left up to catch Yusuke's right wrist on the third. Using Yusuke's momentum, he pulled the Spirit Detective forward and let go of the wrist, just in time to drive his elbow into Yusuke's stomach. What looked like one hit had actually been five, but his speed blurred the attack so much that it was difficult to make out.
Yusuke was forced back by the impact of the five blows, but managed to twist his right arm up once more to block Hiei's fist, driven by a lunge. Fist met arm once more, and the impact sent a shockwave rippling across the grass. Both fighters stood there, for a moment, their eyes steeled on one another, before Hiei leapt back from the failed attack. "You're getting faster," he noted.
"Yeah," Yusuke chuckled. "So are you."
"Why is Megumi here?" Hiei demanded, just before he went for another assault. His right fist meat Yusuke's, causing a second shockwave, just before his left slammed into Yusuke's stomach. However, just as Hiei's blow struck, Yusuke's own fist delivered its own to his face. Yusuke's shot had more power behind it, and Hiei stumbled back, moments before Yusuke slammed his fists two, three, four times into Hiei's chest. Hiei, reeling from the hits, managed to catch Yusuke's fist. However, in his own counterattack, Yusuke's free hand caught Hiei's free fist. The two fighters were caught in a momentary stalemate.
"I don't know," Yusuke responded. "You probably know more than I do, she didn't tell me anything except that she's replacing Botan." With those words, he twisted, pulling Hiei off his feet and using their stalemate to drive him directly into the tree on his right. This broke the stalemate and stunned Hiei just long enough for Yusuke to drive two more hits into his stomach.
Hiei brought both his arms up and used them to force Yusuke's out of the way, an instant before he jammed both fists straight into Yusuke's chest. This knocked the Spirit Detective back a bit, and gave Hiei some breathing room. He leapt straight up, taking a quick leap to get a position on one of the thicker tree branches. "She's your assistant, Detective. You should talk to Koenma. Get Botan back." He wanted Botan to be brought back. He didn't care why, he didn't care how. All he cared about was getting Megumi gone and getting Botan back.
Yusuke raised an eyebrow by Hiei's insistence. "What do you care? I thought you hated Botan." Hiei was taken by surprise, and the image flashed through his mind again. He saw her, once more, in that horrible palace, with her warm embrace wrapped around him and her tears falling from her face. And he heard her words again, heard her say those words that had affected him more than he was willing to admit. He hesitated, his thoughts moving to Botan, and it gave Yusuke the advantage he needed. Yusuke's fist drove straight up, propelled by his leap, and cracked against Hiei's right temple, bringing the both of them tumbling to the ground. "You're slipping," he joked, as he started to climb to his feet.
Hiei pulled himself off the ground, up into a sitting position. One knee came up to his chest, and he hung his arm over it. He had hesitated, a foolish mistake. He berated himself for this, in a real fight it would have cost him everything. "I need to be alone," he growled, and Yusuke took the hint.
"Alright," the Spirit Detective sighed. "Good fight, Hiei." With that, he started away, walking back for home. Their match had been short yet interesting. Why had Hiei hesitated like that, he wondered. It wasn't like Hiei to slip up like that. What had happened to him to affect him this strongly?
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"Botan?" It had been three days since Botan even left her room to eat, and Ayame had become worried. Koenma had even tried to personally coerce her to leave the room and eat, but from what Ayame had heard, that hadn't gone too well. Botan simply laid in bed, never moving, never eating, just laying there motionless. It had reached the point that Ayame had brought her a bowl of soup, hoping the smell would coerce her to, at the very least, eat something. But the girl wasn't even registering Ayame's attempts to wake her.
Ayame rest her hand on Botan's shoulder and gave her a nudge. "Botan, please get up. We're all worried about you...you need to eat something, please." Ayame was scared now, even moreso that Botan wasn't responding. "Botan, please...please get up." She stood there, silent, watching Botan for movement, some sign that she was still there...and as the seconds ticked by and she became more afraid, she began looking for some sign that she was still alive.
"Botan!" Ayame nudged her again, becoming more and more afraid. "Botan, please!" Tears started to streak down her face, and she nudged harder, as the terror began to grip her heart. What if Botan had just wasted away here? What if she'd–
Botan rolled over, murmuring, and Ayame felt the fear lifted. She chided herself mentally for overreacting, but after seeing how depressed Botan was of late, she wouldn't put it past her. Botan's eyes started to open, but when she saw Ayame, she closed them again. "I'm not hungry," she muttered. For the first night since it had happened, she had gotten a sleep that was free of the nightmares of Tsarakino that plagued her night after night. She had actually had a good dream for once, one of those Hiei dreams she had come to miss.
Ayame attempted a smile, trying to be strong for Botan. She cared about her friend and wanted to help her. "You need to eat, Botan. You're wasting away." Botan had lost far too much weight these past days, and Ayame could see it just in her face. Her body was starving, she needed to eat something or she'd turn into a skeleton. "I brought you some soup." She gestured to the bowl she had laid on Botan's bedstand.
Botan rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe the sleep from them. Her stomach rumbled for the umpteenth time, and she tried to ignore it. She didn't have the appetite for food right now, but she couldn't deny that she was starving. "Where is he?" she asked quietly. He was all that was on her mind now, the only positive thing that could drive away her terrors of Tsarakino. He was the only thing she cared about, the only thing she wanted right now. "I'll eat when he's here."
"Botan," Ayame pouted. She didn't know what she could say. Koenma's word was still in effect, he couldn't come here. But she didn't want to tell Botan that, or she was afraid Botan would never eat, and would simply waste away.
Botan sighed, eying her soup. She knew Hiei wasn't coming, knew she was alone in this place, but she wanted him to be here. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was frightened. She kept thinking he would come back for her, that he was going to grab her, and then she would be his and he would ravage her mind as he had the last time. The thought terrified her beyond words. She didn't know what to do.
Ayame lifted the soup bowl from the bedside table and sat slowly down on the bed next to Botan. Botan could see the concern in her eyes, and part of her felt guilty for frightening her friend like this. She sighed, knowing she had to do this. "Okay," Botan sighed. "Okay. Give me the soup." Ayame held it out and Botan took it tentatively into her withered hands, spooning the first couple bites into her mouth.
A brief smile crossed Ayame's lips. The problem was still there, still standing powerful, but she didn't know how to resolve it. But at least Botan wouldn't starve to death. "Thank you, Botan," she smiled and renewed her resolve to speak to Koenma about his ruling.
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"Keiko?" She heard the voice calling to her across the grassy field. The sun shone brilliantly in the sky, and there were rabbits and deer walking in the tall grass. Keiko was dressed in a beautiful white gown that went down over her feet. She'd been waiting here what felt like forever, waiting for him to show up, but finally, he had arrived.
She watched him run across the field, dressed in black. Yusuke had finally showed up, in his black tuxedo, and a smile ran across her face. She couldn't believe this was finally happening; she had been hoping for this day for so long. She was so excited, she couldn't even see the black storm clouds growing over the sky.
Yusuke ran across the field, lifting Keiko up into his arms and spinning her once, before pulling her tightly to him. His lips pressed against hers, lovingly embracing her in a soft, tender kiss, and she felt as though her whole world had just exploded into paradise. This was so beautiful...nothing could ruin this one, perfect day.
Rain began to fall slowly, dripping down over them. Yusuke grabbed Keiko's arm wordlessly, pulling her under a tree, where they'd be safe from the rain. Keiko ran with him, the grin never leaving her face. The water may be soaking her dress, but she was with him, and that made her happy nonetheless.
At least, until she heard the noise. It sounded like something bad, like a horrible hissing sound coming from the tree. "What was that?" she asked, her tone shifting straight to worried. "Yusuke, maybe we should–" and then she screamed. The tree was gone, replaced by a massive snake, with pitch black scales rippling down its body.
The creature gazed down at them, and Yusuke didn't move. Keiko pulled at his arm, trying to run, trying to get him to run, but he simply stood there, watching it. "It's so beautiful," he spoke words that she didn't understand. The snake turned its glowing, yellow eyes down to them and let out a roar, one so powerful that it shook the very air around them and cracked the ground beneath them.
And still, Yusuke didn't move. Keiko pulled on his arm one last time, before the snake came down, opening its maw wide. Keiko screamed, but to no avail, as the demon snake engulfed Yusuke with its mouth, snapping him up in one powerful bite, then gulping him down its throat. Keiko, horrified and terrified by what she had just witnessed, turned to try and run, but to no avail. It snapped her up with its second bite, and she felt herself being pulled down the creature's gullet.
Everything went black, and there was darkness everywhere. And then she felt a strange energy around her, a strange oneness starting to grow with her, some kind of presence growing inside her, fusing with her own. The demon snake melted around her, and soon there was only Keiko, laying softly on the ground. Her dress was gone, consumed by the demon, but so was the demon. Naked, embarrassed, she started to climb to her feet, but was stopped by the sight of Yusuke. He stood in front of her, dressed in his green version of his school uniform, with his gun finger aimed straight at her, and his left hand bracing his wrist. A strange blue energy was glowing in his fingertip.
"Foul demon," Yusuke snarled, and Keiko felt fear welling up inside her again. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Yusuke's words. "SPIRIT GUN!" A powerful blast of blue energy was propelled from Yusuke's fingertip, and before Keiko knew what had happened, she was consumed by it, torn apart by the savage energy, feeling the pressure and the power hit her everywhere, consuming and destroying her body. She knew before she even hit the ground that she was dead.
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Keiko thrashed in her bed, ravaged by some horrible nightmare. Kuwabara pressed his hand to her shoulder, nudging her carefully and trying to wake her. "Keiko, wake up!" He grabbed both her shoulders with his hands, trying to hold her still. "Come on, it's just a nightmare, wake up. It can't hurt you, it–" and then he saw it. More felt than saw, something here, something entwined around her, holding her in its powerful embrace.
This was something that he had never felt before. His first thought was Tsarakino, but no, this felt entirely different. This was something worse, something that struck to the very center of his being. It felt evil, pure and untainted, the most evil energy he had ever felt in his life. The feeling invaded his senses, assaulted his sixth sense, feeling, smelling, tasting like pure, concentrated evil.
And then he saw it, fading into view. A black, gaseous creature enveloping her. A snake wrapped around her body, invisible to the eye, invisible to senses, and invisible to the touch. It was as though it didn't actually exist within this dimension, but he could feel it strongly enough that a visible version began to manifest before him. Whatever it was, he needed to think fast, he needed to get Keiko away from this thing.
He shook her one last time, hard enough to jar her back awake. Her eyes opened, confused, with tears running down them from the horrible nightmare. "Come on, we have to get you out of here," he whispered. "Something's here and it wants you." Before she even had time to react, Kuwabara had picked her up in his arms and pushed the door to her room open. He eased his way down the hall silently, to avoid waking her parents, and made it out the front door before he took off sprinting. He could feel that thing behind him, chasing them, chasing Keiko, but he was determined to get away from it.
Keiko sobbed in Kuwabara's arms, trying to come to her senses. She knew it had to be some horrible nightmare, knew it wasn't real, but it had felt so real. She had felt Yusuke's Spirit Gun kill her, and it made her afraid.
Kuwabara hurdled a bike rack and ran down the street, but he could feel the evil presence gaining on him. Buildings passed on either side, but still he ran, refusing to let that thing take Keiko back. He was going to protect her, any way he could. He had promised Yusuke that nothing would happen to her and that was a promise he would keep, no matter what the cost.
Turning into a side alley, Kuwabara raced down to the other end. But no matter how many winding turns he made, the evil presence continued to gain on him, kept coming faster and faster. It wanted Keiko, and it wanted her bad. Finally, he ran straight into a park, racing across the wooden bridge before coming to a stop. This devilish presence was too close, he knew he couldn't outrun it. But he would die before he'd give it Keiko. He would do anything to keep her safe. He had promised as much to Yusuke, and his word as a man demanded it. Laying her down by one of the trees, he made the only choice left to him: he turned to face what could be his oncoming demise.
Turning to face the oncoming evil, he held his hands out in front of him, wrapping them around an imagined hilt. "Spirit Sword!" he called out, and a burst of orange energy rose from his hands, illuminating the park around him. The energy rose up about three feet, glowing intensely and lashing about, untamed. This was his soul's energy, the manifestation of his spirit energy. This technique had guided him through many battles, and he only hoped it would guide him through this one. "Alright, snake demon, it's time to show you what happens when you mess with Kuwabara!"
Keiko curled up beside the tree, terrified. She didn't know what was going on, and had only just managed to pull herself fully back into the waking world. She saw Kuwabara standing powerfully in front of her, protecting her, and she was frightened. The demon world had invaded her home life now, and it scared her.
Kuwabara felt the presence growing closed, felt it slow down as it approached. "Come on, snake. Lemme see what you got!" The snake stopped just before Kuwabara, opening its maw wide and hissing loudly at him. It was small, only four inches in diameter, but it was at least seven feet long. It levitated in midair, its glowing, yellow eyes glinting at Kuwabara. Seeing it hesitate, Kuwabara made the first move, thrusting his Spirit Sword straight into it. The creature, however, dissipated before his blow ever connected, the gas fading into the air and vanishing. With it went its evil presence, and Kuwabara was now alone in the park with Keiko.
Keiko was terrified. She hadn't seen the snake, she didn't know what was going on. "What happened?" her voice shook as she asked, her fear clearly evident. "Did...did that guy come back?"
"I don't know," Kuwabara admitted. "I honestly don't know."
