Chapter 9

At the hospital everyone was still waiting for any kind of news from Sam. The last time she phoned

them she said that her father found nothing yet, and it had been about an hour ago. Then Marija' s

mobile started to ring. There was Sam's home number. She rushed away in another area where mobiles were allowed. When she came back she was looking even more worried than before.

Y: " what did she tell you?"

M: " it was her mother. She said that they found out there is a family of S-class demons that have the kind of spells needed to do this"

Y: " well, that's already something!"

M: " she said that Sam went to look for him or whoever it was"

Ku: " but who can be so stupid to stay here?"

M: " her mother told me that Sam looked strange and that she said she had the impression that he was still here waiting for her!"

Yu: " she…she went to fight an S-class demon alone?"

Ke: " where did she go?"

M: " she didn't know. But maybe she went at the power station. The other demon was there."

Y: " I'm going there as well maybe she needs help."

M: " another thing. Do it fast! I don't know if Kurama can resist any longer like this. When you kill

him the spell will loose its affect."

Y: " it's better if we call Hiei!"

Ku: " how?"

A sudden displacement of air announced Hiei's arrival.

H: " I'm here."

Y: " we are going then! I hope we're not too late."

IN THE MEANTIME….

Marija was right, Sam was heading towards the power station. Apparently there was no one. Then she heard noises behind her. A tall man appeared from behind the bushes. He was quite handsome with short brown hair and eyes. His ki was not different from that of a common ningen.

S: " go away! It's not safe here!"

Man: " really? "

S: " it's better if you leave, now"

Man: " well, you're right….."

Man: " this place is not safe………"

S: " good! you got that now go!"

Man: " especially for you!"

His ki rose, the ningen clothes he was wearing like melted away, leaving behind ones that were usually wore by demons. His eyes turned silver and his hair black.

S: " who are you?"

Man: " my name is Yoruki."

S: " what do you want?"

Yoruki: " well, just to ask you something."

S: " what?"

Yoruki: " is that fox demon already dead or not?"

He started laughing. Anger spread all over her body.

S: " YOU DID THIS! BASTARD!"

Yoruki: " well, yes"

Her anger kept rising, higher and higher till…..

S: " what's happening?"

She felt her body change. Her short brown hair was growing longer and was changing slowly to black. She grew slimmer and slightly taller. Her nails grew longer as well. Even her ears started to change a bit. Her clothes were still black but she had no mask, her top was now strap-less and her trousers skinny. Yoruki looked at her stunned, she wasn't bad before but now she was breath taking. Ice blue eyes looked at his silver ones.

S: " what the hell happened! If you did this I will…."

Yoruki: " no, no, no I did nothing to you! It's just your demoniac form!"

S: " my demoniac form? But it can't be I'm not….."

He started laughing

Yoruki: " no, this is too funny you don't know?"

She materialised her sword and pinned the demon against a near by tree.

S: " what should I know? Tell me or I'll cut your head off!"

Yoruki: " tell me what good will that do! I can't talk with my head off!"

He was irritating. He just kept mocking her but he was right!

S: " well you're right"

She moved the sword away from his neck and placed it next to his right arm.

S: " but without an arm you can still talk !"

Yoruki: " you don't give up eh?"

S: " never"

Yoruki: " well, if you will leave all my body in one piece, I can tell you"

The sword disappeared and she started backing away from him but he stopped her.

Yoruki: " if you want to stay like this I don't mind."

S: A FLIRTING DEMON! THAT'S SOMETHING I HAVEN'T SEEN YET

S: " let me go! Because I can find what happened to me from someone else, I don't need you!"

Yoruki: " a simple no, would have been fine as well you know!"

S: " so?"

Yoruki: " it's quite ridiculous you don't know, you're the daughter of one of the rulers of the Makai,

Yomi."

S: " WHAT? "

She didn't want to push the subject, there were more important thing at the moment.

Yoruki: " surprised?"

S: " what are you here for, as an information centre?"

Yoruki: " actually no, that's just overtime. My job is to make you follow me"

S: " where?"

Yoruki: " well, that's for me to know and for you to find out"

S: " you are starting to get on my nerves you know?"

Yoruki: " look, I don't want to hurt you so just come with me without resistance, ok?"

S: " cure Kurama first!"

Yoruki: " is he that important to you?"

S: " YES!"

Yoruki: " oh ok then! Come with me and I'll cure that fox"

S: " who assures me I can trust you?"

Yoruki: " well, see it from this point of view, if you do as I say you have 50 that he will be ok, if not there is no chance that he can survive"

S: " ok, then "

He opened the portal from no where.

Yoruki: " ladies first!"

She gave him a kind of I-don't-even-think-about-it look.

Yoruki: " ok"

He entered the portal and she followed. When they arrived they found themselves in front of a very big castle.

Yoruki: " well, you can say home sweet home, no?"

S: " shut up, if you don't have anything intelligent to say"

Yoruki: " umm, sympathetic the girl"

She followed him into a very big empty room, which had windows all around it, and another door on the opposite side.

S: " we arrived?"

Yoruki: " yep"

S: " cure Kurama"

Yoruki: " you're not the type that can be distracted easily "

S: " no. come on keep your promise."

Yoruki: " ok, what's the time?"

She found that question quite strange, but she answered.

S: " it's quarter past eleven."

Yoruki: " well, actually it stopped working 10 minutes ago"

S: " WHAT? So you… you.. creep "

Yoruki: " well, it's not as bad as I thought"

S: if I just stayed home! 10 minutes! I had to wait 10 minutes more

Yoruki: " my job is now complete, but before…"

He looked at her.

Yoruki: " I wouldn't say no to a goodnight kiss"

He moved closer.

S: " oh, no. don't even think about it. Stay away from me!"

She backed away from him. He kept moving forward. At last there was the wall behind her so she

was trapped. He placed his left hand on the wall next to her. When he was millimetres away from her, she materialised her sword and stuck it into his ribs.

Yoruki: " ouch! That hurts! But if you hoped to kill me like this your wrong, when I take this out I'll be as go…."

He tried to touch the sword but red hot pain burst through his fingers.

Yoruki: " what the…"

S: " that's a sword used by demon slayers, demons can't touch it"

Yoruki: " but you're half demon"

S: " isn't that great? That sword will burn you and in a few minutes time you'll be ashes. "

Yoruki: " ahhh"

S: " oh I forgot to tell you this, it's very painful"

Yoruki: " you can't do this"

S: " of course I can"

She ran towards the door opposite. But then she remembered something, she didn't know the place

and so had no idea where to go. She stopped to think a bit. Yoruki' s screams and shouts of pain filled her ears. She walked some more, his voice seemed to get higher and higher with every step she took. She closed her ears, she couldn't stand this anymore. He wasn't that bad after all, did he deserve it? After all he only tried to kiss her. Thoughts like this filled her mind, she couldn't go away and leave him dying. If he dies she will never forgive herself for it. These were the problems of having a ningen heart.

S: why I just can't do the same thing I did to that electrical demon? I am not angry that much

with him. He didn't do anything terrible! Oh I'm going back

She ran back to the room where Yoruki was. He was on the floor, a part of his abdomen was already red. He also had difficulty in breathing. She walked up to him and extracted the sword, then she took a small bottle with a healing potion and made him drink it.

Yoruki: " I knew you wouldn't let me die."

S: " I just wanted my sword back"

Yoruki: " really? So why did you heal me?"

S: " I don't know myself! Don't ask me"

Yoruki: " oh really?"

S: " now it's better if you go before I change my mind"

Yoruki: " without that sword you wouldn't stand a chance against me! You know that don't you?"

S: " oh really! Well I have it so now bye, bye!"

Yoruki: "ok, ok… I'm going… "

S: " great idea! You're still here? What are you waiting for?"

Yoruki: " don't cry too much, ok?"

S: " as if"

He started to leave.

Yoruki: " oh by the way… thanks…I own you my life"

S: " don't worry much about that as I was going to kill you, remember?"

Yoruki: " that's true! But not many people would have come back."

She gave him a small smile.

Yoruki: " bye then."

He vanished.

There was total silence all over the castle broken only by her fast breathing, caused by the run. The whole room was like filled with you ki, even though she couldn't make out if it was a good or a bad one it was definitely a very powerful one. She suddenly remembered what Yoruki said:

" you're the daughter of one of the rulers of the Makai, Yomi."

Could she really be Yomi' s daughter? After all she couldn't trust Yoruki at all. Did he lie to her? Well she was about to find out. A sudden figure stepped out from the shadows of the room making her heart skip a beat. He had arrived without her noticing his position. His appearance resembled a lot that of a ningen, he was quite short, his long white hair arriving up to his waist, cold, purple eyes stared at her expression less. He looked old and weak.

Takashi: " so finally we meet again"

Sam: " Again? I never met you before! Who are you?"

Takashi: " well… I'm not surprised at all, after all you were only a baby at that time"

Sam: " a baby? When….. that doesn't matter. Who are you?"

Takashi: " my name is Takashi and I used to take care of you before you were sent away"

Sam: " sent away? What do you mean? What happened?"

Takashi: " ohh…but we are not allowed to speak about it! Master Yomi would be really upset"

Sam: " you work for Yomi! what did he do to me? Speak or you'll be killed!"

Takashi: " killed! No, no miss.. please. I will tell you as much as I know about this story.

About 13 years ago now when master Yomi and his wife Noriko, a ningen with great mental powers, still lived together, a child was born. A beautiful baby girl destined to greatness in this world, to rule and fight for this place. Your mother though had other plans in mind. It was commonly know that she hated violence and therefore wanted her child to live a quite life in the Ningenkai. There were long and angry discussions between both parents. But the woman finally gave up, leaving her only daughter to follow the tracks of her father. As time passed the child grew stronger, and her father started to worry. What if Noriko manages to change the child's mind and make her go against him? The woman was therefore locked in the dungeons of the castle. But not a long time passed that she escaped taking the child with her in the Ningenkai. Master Yomi' s anger exploded and gave orders that his daughter must be brought back and his wife killed. The second task was done but by that time the child disappeared and was never found again."

As his story came to a close she realised tears were flowing down her cheek.

S: is this really what happened? No, it could be a lie! I have to stop trusting everybody, damn!

Takashi: " This is all I know about that story."

S: " what makes you think I believe you?"

Takashi: " Your tears. And after all, is there anybody else you can trust? I don't think asking Yomi would be a good idea, he will never admit his crime!"

S: " I'm still trying, where is he?"

Takashi: " remember he killed your mother to bring you back to him but didn't manage it. Do you really think he will be such a fool to let you go now?"

S: " …I…I"

Takashi: " I don't think so! But if you come with me, I will take you to him. And I will help you revenge your poor mother!"

S: " I don't …know"

Takashi: " What? He was ruthless with her! And now you don't know what to do? Your mother has no importance for you? Don't you want to kill the monster that killed her?"

Voice: " well, then she should kill you"

They both looked at the direction the voice was coming from. Yomi was sitting on the throne.

Takashi: " Yomi!"

Yomi: " surprised?"

S: " are…you… Yomi?"

He sort of ' looked at her ' he directed his face in her chi's direction to be precise. After all he was blind.

Yomi: " I see you're back, finally"

S: " how do you know who am I?"

Yomi: " I just know it. I'm your father after all."

Takashi: " Father! You still dare to call yourself her father after what you did to your wife?"

Yomi: " Takashi, I always knew you'd betray me. I know very well you are ambitious but trying to bring my own daughter against me is something I never expected."

Takashi: " I am just telling her the truth the rest depends on her. But I'm sure she'll see you for the bastard you really are."

S: " STOP IT! SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!"

Takashi: " oh come he's here you can kill him now! I'm sure that the we can beat him together! Remember your mother."

She looked at Yomi and then back to Takashi. She couldn't trust any of them. Yomi was her father, yes, but almost thirteen years passed from the last time she saw him and he was accused of being guilty of her mother's death. And Takashi well, she doesn't know him but still he could be saying the truth, he was extremely convincing. There was just one thing bothering her, his eyes, once Kurama had told her that the eyes are the windows to one's soul but his eyes were blank almost as if he was unable to feel any kind of emotion. Yomi was blind and that didn't help at all.

S: what's the truth? Who can I trust!

She closed her eyes unable to take this any longer. Then, somehow, her you-chi grew higher as if her mind had no more control on her body. A ray of white light hit Yomi and he was like paralysed for a split of a second. Something that looked like a barrier swirled around him.

Takashi: " Yesss! Kill him!"

Yomi opened his eyes slowly. Her power was unimaginable, she managed to cure Yomi after all this time. His eyes were ice blue exactly like hers but they were not cold or cruel like she had imagined, they were gentle, caring, they looked sincere. But still she couldn't decide just on that simple thing. Then a voice from behind her spoke. She knew that voice very well indeed.

K: " Sam."

She jerked her head round. Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Marija and unbelievingly Yoruki were there. Kurama was supported by Yusuke and Kuwabara he was still very weak. She ran over to him.

S: " Kurama what are you doing here? You're still too weak!"

He smiled weakly.

K: " don't worry about that! Yoruki has something to tell you"

S: " what?"

Yoruki: " Sam, Yomi has nothing to do with your mother's death! She escaped from here because she sensed that Takashi was a danger for you! And-"

Takashi: " stop speaking this lie, you can't prove anything!"

Yoruki: " Sam please, I was there! I remember everything! He wanted to kidnap her so that when you grew older he could threaten you to kill Yomi! but she preferred to die then to do that"

Takashi: " how can you believe him! After all he did this spell to that fox demon! He nearly killed him! Yomi is the real murderer here, it' him you have to KILL!"

S: " SHUT UP! I don't believe you Takashi. No, not anymore. Not now!"

Takashi: " STUPID! YOU COULD HAVE LIVED TO RULE WITH ME ONCE YOMI WAS DEAD! BUT NOW YOU'LL DIE EXECTALY LIKE YOUR FOOLISH MOTHER!"

He started laughing, a cold, cruel, insane laugh. Then he concentrated his chi and attacked. Everyone avoided his attack but got separated. Kurama and Sam on one side, Yusuke and Kuwabara were on the other side, Hiei with Marija in his arms and Yoruki were next to Yomi. Takashi concentrated all his you-chi in one powerful ball and decided on attacking the most weak group, Kurama and Sam, after all he was injured badly and the girl had not mastered her powers yet.

There was no chance on avoiding the ball, it was too fast, Sam pushed Kurama away and tried to defend herself with her sword. But it was too strong, the sword was destroyed to pieces and Sam was smashed against the wall, taking the full blast of the huge chi-ball. A blinding light prevented the others to see what was going on and when finally it was over Sam was lying motion less on the floor

K: " NNNNNOOOOOOOO!"

Kurama rushed over to her. He placed her head gently on his lap. She was badly hurt. Her right arm

was broken, left burnt. Both her legs were full of deep cuts, scars and they were partially burnt. Her clothes were thorn and her face was scratched all over. Her you-ki was very low, she was dying. The others were all around them and even Yomi was dead worried about her. He came over and checked her pulse while Marija used her powers to prevent her from dying.

Yomi: " we have to take her to the regeneration tank.!"

M: " yes, and do it fast I'm not going to resist for long!"

Takashi's cruel laughter could be heard.

Takashi: " oh, so sorry. I could have killed her directly but seeing her die slowly is more entertaining, don't you think?"

K: " YOU BASTARD! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"

Yomi: " how dare you do this to my daughter? It has all been your fault from the very beginning and it will finally end with your death."

Kurama gathered all his you-chi and changed the red rose in his hand into his rose-whip. Yusuke was ready with his ray-gun. Kuwabara materialised his sword. And if necessary Hiei was ready to strike with his most powerful weapon, kokuryah. Even Yoruki was ready to fight.

Kurama placed her gently on the floor taking off his shirt and placing it on her to keep her warm.

K: " say your prayers Takashi cause you won't be living any longer than this!"

Takashi: " I'm terrified!"

Yomi: " you should be!"

The battle started. Takashi proved himself stronger than expected but still not enough to beat them all. Kurama' s plants surrounded the floor, the walls, doors, windows leaving no way out. Yusuke and Yoruki were about to attack when……

Yomi: " leave him to me. I want to kill the bastard that destroyed my family."

The final duel started. Their attacks were equally strong and fast at first but later on Yomi' s skills and experience were far better than his. Knowing that he was about to be beaten Takashi used his last, most powerful weapon, self destruction.

Takashi: I can never win but at least I'll bring them to hell with me!

The explosion took place. Kurama shielded Sam from the attack while Hiei hugged Marija shielding her as well. Yomi summoned a barrier. The palace was partially destroyed and even though they had the barrier all of them got hurt, though not too badly.

M: " Thanks"

Hiei blushed furiously. Marija smiled contentedly to herself