Chapter 19:
Previously:
"WE'RE HERE!" A blur of red, white, and tan appeared, knocking down Yumiko before attacking Yusuke.
"I'm very sorry about him Genkai-san." A gentle hand helped up Yumiko in the aftermath. "I'll try to restrain him next time."
Genkai grunted. "Make up with Sato before you go to me. Send her out when you're done." The master disappeared, to leave Touya standing there in the kitchen of people staring at him.
He twitched. 'How did she manage to get me on the spot like this…?'
-(Ningenkai)-
"Can I talk to you? Somewhere private?"
She nodded. "I want to say something to you too." Tugging on his arm to lead him to a hallway, she closed the door behind them.
"I really don't know how to start this, but- look, I'm sorry." She slid to the floor, leaning her back against the wall, wrapping her arms around her knees in a hug. "I was being stupid and… just an inflexible asshole." She lowered her head to her knees. "They really are dead."
He sighed, sliding down to sit next to her against the wall. "I shouldn't have pushed you. I went too far." He chuckled, draping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm just as obstinate as you sometimes."
She nodded, leaning against him, blinking away some tears. "What… was Hiroshi like…?" He glanced down at her in surprise. "Did… he like you?"
Tipping his head back, the ice demon drifted into thought for a minute. "He was a bit cocky… but overall, he had an honor code that he followed no matter what the circumstances."
"Did he mention me?"
"…No…"
She smiled weakly, wiping her eyes on her shirt. "I didn't do anything special to make him bring it up."
"Suigyoku (1), don't worry yourself about it." He caught her eye. "You are worth too much among the living. Don't have your thoughts dwell among the deceased."
Yumiko grinned. "I'll keep that in mind." The two just sat there for several minutes, holding each other, until Touya slid his arm from around her. Shifting, he helped her up.
"You have to go train."
She grunted. "I might as well get it over with." She exited the hallway, followed by the shinobi. Going down the stairs, she met up with Genkai on the grounds.
"We're doing a new lesson today."
"New form of torture?"
"Not quite." Genkai tossed Yumiko her swords. She caught them clumsily by the sheath. "Combine your spirit energy with your swords. Guard." Genkai disappeared.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Yumiko fumbled with the sheaths, holding the swords in her hand, katana in the right, wakazashi in the left. Her arm sagged- extremely heavy swords plus person without muscles equals no good.
Genkai knocked her over with a well aimed kick to the gut. "Defense Sato."
She struggled up. Throwing the katana to the side (it was much too heavy), she sheathed her wakazashi. 'I watch way too much anime, but what the hell.' Settling into a neutral position, from which she could attack or defend, she waited for Genkai, who had disappeared again.
Catching a small blur, she quickly slid the sword out of its sheath, cutting towards where the blur would appear. Her blade was stopped short of her target, a hand gripping the blade tightly
"Mere weapons won't help you as much. Combine them Sato."
"Shut up! I do what I want!"
"Stubborn as always." Genkai disappeared again.
Growling, she copied her stance before, sheathing the sword. Calming herself, she gripped her scabbard with one hand, her handle of the wakazashi with the right hand. Feeling something behind her, she turned and slashed. Following through instantly with her black sheath, now glowing white, she made contact with Genkai's leg.
The master smirked. "Let's try something like that again, and get better results." She disappeared.
But not before Yumiko noticed the very slight limp the diminutive master now sported. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her sword, to transfusion it with her ability. It started to glow, like the sheath had before, and she settled into the same stance, but not sheathing it.
"Spirit gun!"
She turned, seeing an enormous ball of light speeding towards her. How the hell could she dodge? 'D---, this is going to hurt.'
Bracing herself for impact, she lifted the sword above her head. Bringing it down to slam the ground, a wall of her energy moved towards the shot gun. To her, looking through her energy turned all the colors their opposites; the verdant greened turned to a dull crimson, the blue sky some form of dull orange. The attack was weakened considerably, but still hit her, knocking her back several feet, but that was all. Yumiko's wall of energy continued on, into the woods. Genkai would have been hit as well, had she not moved out of the way. Before it died out, the leaves of the trees gained a sickly yellow color, and she heard several animals make screeching sounds.
Genkai watched it die away before turning to Yumiko. "Not bad Sato."
Yumiko smirked, lying on the ground, momentarily weakened after her first directed use of energy. "Not as useless as I seem, huh?"
"If you had used more power, you could have destroyed my shotgun completely."
"I know." She got up. "I know what went wrong back there."
"Do you?"
Yumiko grinned. "I'm sure you want to put me through that again, don't you?"
"Hm." Genkai disappeared. Yumiko got into a defensive stance, hands glowing, her sword showing veins of it as well.
'This better work. Or else I'm going to start to disbelieve that there's a person who cares.'
"Spirit Wave!" A wave of spirit energy erupted from Genkai.
"HOLY F---!" Dropping the sword, she closed her eyes, holding her arms in front of her face. The attack slammed into her, pushing her back into a tree, her breath catching in her throat. The harsh wind freed her hair, snapping the tie, dust filling the air. Coughing, she glared at Genkai.
"What the hell did I ever do to you to make you want to kill me!" She got up stalking over to the other woman.
"You respond well under pressure," responded the master.
She twitched, a stress mark showing. "And what if I hadn't managed to do that!"
"You said you knew what went wrong- if so, you should have been prepared for anything."
"D--- it! Why are you so overconfident that I could manage to do that!"
"If you remember, you were cocky just a few moments ago too."
"I wasn't putting your life on the line-!"
"You're going to have to learn soon Sato. Catch up on what you missed out on for the past 14 years of your life."
She glared ferociously. "I don't think you quite know me Genkai- so don't act like it. You may be informed about my past and my family, their doings, but you don't know me. I'm different from them."
"Then prove it."
Making a punching movement at Genkai, dull-colored energy made contact with her abdomen, knocking the master back ten feet or so. "Your wisecrack comments aren't really helping, sensei." Exhausted, she limped away. "I thought you were going to help me be a better fighter, when you're really just prying me open." Stopping on the way to gather her swords, she made her way to the forest.
Genkai watched her go, her face stoic. Turning, she went back into the temple silently.
-(Ningenkai)-
"B----!" Yumiko slammed the sword into the ground again, the sound of the soil giving way to the metal weapon refreshed her almost. 'I hate her guts.' Growling, deciding she was getting nowhere, she picked up the swords, lugging them over her shoulder.
Finding a small pond, she decided to clean the swords. 'I'm lucky I didn't have to go too far in to do this.' Unsheathing her katana, partly submerging the blade under the water, she took a bunch of pine needles, brushing it clean. Tapping the covering, dislodging some dirt, she slid it in, the water drops sliding off it. She leaned it against a nearby tree. Then, changing her mind, she settled it in the dirt near her crouching form.
"Good choice."
Jumping, she almost fell into the water with a small scream. A strong hand grabbed her, Yumiko dangling over the water. Glancing up, she caught sight of a crimson head, and she almost sighed in relief. He took her arm, guiding her back to the bank.
"You leave a weapon out of sight it could easily be taken."
She growled. "I think I've had enough lessons from Genkai, Kurama."
He settled back, leaning against a tree. "How so?"
She took her wakazashi, cleaning it the same way she had the katana. "Stupid seniors- think they know everything."
"They are much wiser than the young in some ways."
"Not when they don't know when to shut up." She scrubbed a little bit harder, breaking the stem. Picking up another from the ground, she resumed at a gentler pace.
"Perhaps you just wanted to cut the conversation earlier than wanted."
"Meh." She glared at the brown dirt coming off in clouds. "I think the conversation kind of died when she launched a Spirit Wave up my ass."
"Spirit Wave?" A slight look of surprise came over his face. "Are you hurt?"
"Hell lot of bruises. And mentally traumatized for life."
"Well, you respond well under pressure."
She growled, slicing her hand by accident. "You're the second godd---ed person who said that!" She grabbed the sheath, tapping it to loosen the dirt, and slid the wakazashi in. Placing it next to the katana, she washed her hand out, hissing and muttering under her breath.
"Let me see."
"No," she stated point blank. "I don't want to show you."
The kistune sighed. "What wrong could happen?"
"You'll put some kind of stingy and smelly plant on it."
Gently grabbing her hand, the redhead examined it. It was shallow, on the back of her hand, but a larger than usual amount of blood welled up from the cut. Some gold melted into the green. 'Her blood…'
"Youko, not now." "It doesn't look bad," he managed.
She made a noise, looking away indifferently. "It's nothing."
"Shuiichi, I just want to taste-"
"You can't. Yumiko-"
"-Won't mind. Now let me take control." On the last word, the kitsune pushed the other out of the way. Silver threaded through his hair, intertwining with crimson, his silhouette growing slightly in stature. His eyes went gold completely, and two ears popped out on the top of his head.
A growl, and a slight tickling feeling, alerted Yumiko that something had changed. Glancing back, she looked surprisingly at the kistune. "Youko, what…?"
"Your blood-" he looked up "It's very sweet."
She sweat-dropped. "Th-thank you?"
He smirked. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Uh…"
He continued to lick and suck at her cut, eventually the blood stopped flowing. His hand, which had been gripped around her forearm to keep her still, trailed upwards, touching her face. Making her face turn upwards, he kissed her gently.
Still half-shocked, it was a couple of moments before she returned his affection, giving him a kiss as well. Smiling, he slipped his tongue in, gently breaking her in. Yumiko was obviously unused to such a sensation- she hadn't ever kissed anyone on the lips before.
Breaking away, she stared up at him in awe. He chuckled, a rich amused sound.
"I could teach you many things, little one." The Youko kissed her again.
"But not tonight." A few moments later, and in his place sat the redheaded human Kurama.
"I'm so sorry Sato-san." He bowed his head in apology. "I- I'll make sure it won't happen again."
"Shuiichi…"
He left. Staring at the place she had just sat, she sighed. Falling to the side in exasperation, she entered the chilly water. She ignored the feeling, sliding into thought.
'Must I corner you to get an answer out of you?'
'Your counterpart's affections are quite clear.'
'But you?'
'What do you think inside your head…?'
'I want to know.'
Gasping, she lifted her head above the water. "I'm in." Immersing herself in water again, she sighed. 'I'll play by your rules for now. This game- I'll win. I'll get an answer out of you; I won't be toyed with, not again.'
-(Reikai)-
"She's progressing." Genkai stood stiffly in front of Koenma's desk. "She launched attacks at me."
He nodded, sliding a tape into the VCR. Yumiko showed up on screen, a play by play of what happened. "It's not good enough."
"She's finally got past a stage though. But her attacks are showy- they take up too much power; it's not a sensible thing if she wants to go up against Rando."
"Humph." He looked closer. "I see what you mean. It's all raw energy. Powerful, but undirected." Genkai nodded in agreement. "Can you manage it?"
She snorted. "Do I look that old?"
"You only have a little more than a week left. Plan quickly."
"The brat can suck it up."
Koenma sighed. "She doesn't act it, but she's stronger than she looks. It's just-"
"Her emotions- she possesses absolutely no control whatsoever over them."
"Yes. Unlike most of her family."
"All of the Sato Clan are can't control their emotions. The ones that you've met just show their arrogance and overconfidence better than their anger. Yumiko displays all openly for the worlds to see."
"I see your point…" The childish ruler looked at the elder seriously, sucking on his chew toy.
"Any more leads on Rando's whereabouts?"
Koenma sighed. "He probably won't reveal himself yet- too soon. But he'll show us eventually. Meanwhile, we'll keep searching. Watch out for Yumiko until then. She's the key to it all."
: End Chapter
(1) suigyoku- emerald/jade
Insaneningen14: haha! One more chapter till a round 20! Yeah, whatever. FIVE REVIEWS. Or else. Youuuusaaakaaaasssss otherwise
