Disclaimer: YYH is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. If I were him I would be creating more manga, not writing fanfiction.
A/N:
Many apologies for not getting this out sooner. Now that I've gotten back into the swing of things at school, I think I can manage this story and school at the same time. And Parent's Weekend is coming up...but that's also the PSATs, so there may or may not be an update. We'll see.
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Betrayal
A peaceful night at the Urameshi apartement. Atsuko was "out"--meaning she was at some party or another. Yusuke was asleep, snoring in his bed. His dreams wandered.
A vision of a father he never, nor would ever have; a set where he emerged victorious from a battle with other high school punks; a dream of Keiko and himself when they were younger. Then came the nightmares. Feeling the pain of Genkai's Spirit Wave; watching his mentor die; watching his teammates fight the terrors that were Team Toguro; his fight with the younger brother. A black shape slipped in through the window, silently, treading softer than a cat upon the wooden floors.
Asha watched as Yusuke tossed on his futon. Her silver eyes glinted in the pale light of the full moon. She looked weary...older than one would suppose she really was. For a moment, she saw Yusuke as a little boy; a childhood wasted in the streets fighting. Then it was gone, and he needed to be awakened.
One month after their midnight conversation, Asha had an idea as how to go about finishing her target. The demon was going to die, whether Koenma willed it or no. There was no law saying a human could not kill a demon.
"Yusuke," she whispered. The detective tensed. "Yusuke," the shinobi spoke louder this time.
Yusuke sat up quickly, jumping to his feet, entangling himself in his sheets as he did so. Asha laughed quietly.
"What are you doing here Asha?"
"Koenma wants us to go to Reikai."
"Now? In the middle of the night? I was having a good dream!"
"Of course you were, Yusuke." He paused, confused.
"You've been watching me!"
"Only for a total of thirty seconds, idiot. I'm not a stalker."
"That's up for debate..."
"Shut up and let's go."
"Where's Botan?"
"She isn't bringing us," the shinobi said. "I'm taking you to a portal."
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"Dude...what is this place?"
"It's a swamp. Can't you tell?"
"And the portal is here?"
"Here abouts, yes."
"Why? It's not very easy to get to."
"That's the entire point. Humans can't access it easily, if at all. That's why the swamp is here. To dissuade any mortal from coming this way. And any idiot who tries is bound to get lost in here long before they get anywhere near the portal."
"You seem so sure."
"It's been here for a long time. I've used it to get in and out of Ningenkai."
"So why didn't Koenma notice?"
"It was decommissioned. It was supposed to be closed—and all records say it has been—but I killed the person who was going to seal the portal. He never got the chance." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Apparently Sensui used it for one of his missions a long time ago."
Yusuke looked a bit nervous. "You killed a guy for this portal?"
"I needed an undetectable in and out. This was it. I did what I had to. You understand."
"Uh...sure...So how come Junior is using this now?"
"Because it's here and a new one need not be open. More convenient."
"Ah."
"Okay. We're here."
In front of the Asha and Yusuke was a swirling mass of purple and pink and black. Just looking at it could make anyone sway with dizziness.
"It's an older model, but effective. Just walk through and think about Koenma's office. It'll get you there."
"Uh..."
"Just go, will you?" Asha snapped. "I don't have a lifetime, you know."
"Are you sure it's sa--aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Perfectly." Asha smirked and jumped in after him.
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"You didn't have to push me in, shinobi. And how do you manage to land so gracefully? I'd swear you were a kitsune if I didn't know any better."
"Years of practice, Yusuke-chan. Years of the bloody thing."
"Don't call me 'chan'."
"I'll call you whatever I so please."
"Does anyone mind telling me why you two are in my office at this time of the night?" interrupted a very put-out Reikai ruler, in mid-stamp.
"Oh, yes. That."
And Asha pulled a fast one on Yusuke. Before he knew what had happened, Asha had him on his knees in a head lock with her right arm, her left holding his left arm behind his back, bent upwards toward his neck. He looked at Koenma with incredulous eyes.
"Asha..." he choked.
Koenma was speechless as he stared at the dangerous assassin. Her eyes glinted fiercely. His mouth opened and closed, opened and closed. No sound would come.
"Let us get straight to the point, 'Junior'. You know what I want. I want my target dead."
"You know that can't happen, Asha. Please, let Yusuke go." Koenma's eyes flicked from Asha's steely gaze, to Yusuke's terrified one, back to Asha. He resisted the urge to glance around the room.
"Rule number one, Koenma: never plead for your life, or someone else's. Your captor will only kill who you ask them not to. Luckily for you, however, I am no average assassin. Otherwise you and your tantei would be dead, and so would my target."
"I can't let you kill him."
"Yusuke? Or the demon? Those are your choices. I want to finish my job, Koenma. And you will let me, or so help me I'll kill Yusuke."
The Detective blinked in surprise, his eyes wide with fear. He felt Asha's nails again. He hadn't forgotten the last time they had met. But then, under the moonlight, Asha had seemed so fragile. Now he knew that she was very, very dangerous. She was so passionate about this assignment. He had seen such passion before: in Hiei, in Kurama, in Kuwabara even, and himself. They had all had personal grudges that pushed them to the limit of their strength and beyond, for their revenge.
Suddenly, it dawned upon him.
"Koenma, let her do it."
"But, Yusuke, you don't understand--"
"She holds a grudge. This mission wasn't assigned to her. She wants revenge."
Her nails cut into the skin at the base of his ear. "Do it, Koenma!" he shouted. "She gave this duty to herself. Let her have her revenge, dammit! This person can't be that important to the scheme of things!"
"He's not, Koenma. You know this. He's a petty thief and a thug. He deserves to die! For what he did to others; for what he did to my best friend! For what he did to me!" Asha was shouting now. Her voice rose and Yusuke could almost hear the panic in it. She needed this revenge. It had been driving her mad. 'Who knows for how long,' thought Yusuke.
"But, but...your human! And he has a crime ring we'd need to take out with him. It's too big a job for you alone."
"Then bring in people who can do stealth missions. He is going to die."
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A/N:
This isn't the greatest update, I know. But I haven't had time. I've had trouble with math, and art has been nasty too. It's the teacher, not the class or the people in it. This guy is an architect, not an artist. He's like "architecture this" and "architecture that" and it drives me insane.
Anyway. I have the story outlined till the end I think. At least for the next few chapters. We're a few away from the middle of the story. You may be able to expect an update on Monday...who knows how long it'll be though, and that's only if all my homework is done and my dad doesn't want to do anything...oh, and if I finish studying for my physics test...
Read and review please and make my week, which has sucked thus far...