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Disclaimer: I do not own YYH. Thank you and enjoy.
CHAPTER TWO – NEW MISSION
The door crashed to the ground as Catalyn leaped to her feet in shock. Footsteps sounded outside, and two shadows entered through the doorway.
"Catalyn," her sensei whispered. "Get your mask. Go!"
Obediently she stealthily hurried up the stairs and into the safe sanctuary of her room. On her dresser, next to the picture of her parents, lay a black mask that covered the upper half of her face but left small slits for her eyes. She put in on, making sure it was tight, and crept back down the stairs.
Her sensei stood as tall as he could get with his back stiff, and across from him at the other end of the room stood two familiar faces: Yusuke and Kuwabara, the Sarayashiki boys she had helped out in the street brawl! She stifled a gasp and hid behind the staircase so as not to be seen. But she still had a good view of the scene before her.
"What are you boys doing, breaking into the humble home of an elderly man like myself?" her sensei asked them, making good use of his wavering old voice.
Yusuke didn't seem bothered at all. "Listen, old man," he sneered. "We're here for a girl called Junsei Muzai. Tell us where she is."
Catalyn stifled yet another gasp. They were after her! But why?
"I'm afraid you are mistaken," her sensei answered smoothly. "There is no Junsei Muzai here."
"Guess we found the wrong place," Kuwabara said stupidly, and her heart leaped over mountains.
But Yusuke frowned. "You're lying, aren't you?" he said. "Because her schoolbag's right here in this corner. I recognize it. And I can sense a demonic aura in here."
Catalyn covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from crying out. I should have moved it! she moaned to herself. And I should have tried to hide my aura!
But Yusuke didn't stop there. Triumphantly he said, "I'm Yusuke Urameshi, Spirit World detective, and I'm here to arrest her, and you too if you don't cooperate!"
Catalyn racked her brain for ideas in a panic. They would even try to arrest her sensei? But he'd done nothing wrong! But maybe she'd be able to fight them off. Yes, that was a good plan. She was sure she could beat them. She leapt out from her hiding spot.
"Get back, stupid girl!" her sensei yelled angrily. "I told you to stay hidden!" With his hand, he sent a blast of aura, hitting her squarely in the stomach and pushing her into the wall, hard. She stared at him weakly, gasping from the pain in her back. Why was he hurting her with hisreiki techniques? (+)
"A cat girl?" Kuwabara exclaims. "Junsei Muzai is a cat girl?"
"Junsei?" her sensei asked, laughing. There was no trace of weakness in his voice now. "No, she's just another of my captives. Like Junsei is. Or should I say, WAS."
"Was?" Both boys asked.
What is he thinking? Catalyn wondered. What is he trying to do?
"That's right, was," her sensei said with a sharp laugh. "But no more. She wasn't up to the challenge of being my slave, so I killed her! And I was about to kill this slave of mine as well, but I can't have you reporting me to Spirit World, so I'll just have to kill you boys too!"
"NO!" she cried. She knew what he was planning on doing. She knew he was making this all up to try to save her, but it would only get him in trouble. She couldn't stand the thought of it. "You can't do this! I won't let you!"
She had been trying to tell him, "I won't let you sacrifice yourself for my sake!" but he merely gave her a cold stare (and a slight wink), and said, "And you have the strength to stop me? I think not!"
The boys, however, thought she was saying, "I won't let you kill these boys," which was completely untrue. She could hear Kuwabara muttering to Yusuke, "We have to save her. I can't let a cat – or a pretty girl – especially not a mix of both – get hurt."
Looking into her sensei's cold eyes that showed no signs of familiarity, Catalyn sensed defeat. He was really going to follow through with this. Tears stung her eyes for the second time that day, but Yusuke and Kuwabara mistook them for tears of pain and fear, not love for her sensei. They charged for him, but he dodged. Kuwabara created an aura sword and tried to slash him, but he dodged again. This time Yusuke fired a spirit gun, and it collided with him, causing Catalyn to scream – and created an explosion. When it cleared, her sensei was gone.
She gave a shuddering gasp. He's gone! He really did it! No!
Then Kuwabara was next to her, clasping one of her hands. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned. She made a face. His breath stank. Then she slapped him. "Yeow!" he yelled in pain, staggering away.
She struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall for support. Her back was killing her.
"So, who are you?" Yusuke asks her.
She couldn't use the name Junsei with these boys anymore. She had to use her replacement name. "I'm Catalyn," she said dully.
"Suits you," Kuwabara said. "It's pretty, you're pretty, and you're a cat."
"I wasn't always!" she burst out accidentally.
"Huh?"
She sighed, realizing that she'd have to tell them her story. "A year and a half ago, on my fourteenth birthday, my pet cat revealed herself to be a demon. She demonified me that day, and gave me fire powers as well. But I hate being this way. I was trying to find her to get her to make me normal again, but..." Then she started making things up. "But I met that man, and I've been his prisoner ever since."
"Oh, you poor thing," Kuwabara said. He took her once again by the hand. "But never fear, Catalyn. These ears only make you even more gorgeous!" Catalyn slapped him harder this time, the force of it sending him flying across the room.
"Hey, I thinkI can finda way to find that furball of yours," Yusuke said. "After all, I am the Spirit World detective."
She thought about this. Yes…she could trust them. They probably even knew King Enma Jr, someone who would definitely be able to help. "Are you sure?" she asked him.
He nodded fervently. "Oh yeah! And we can even get Kurama and Hiei to help…" He kept going, but she didn't care for whoever Kurama and Hiei were. She was too busy pondering over the matter.
"Okay," said. "I'll give you three months. I'll work with you guys till then, but after that, I'm on my own again."
Yusuke shook her hand. "Deal," he said. "Now come on, let's go and meet Koenma. We've got a portal waiting outside."
Catalyn took one last look at her home for the past year and a half, and turned away. Then she followed Yusuke and Kuwabara into the portal, officially entering Koenma's office.
And there he sat at his desk, in the form of a little toddler with a pacifier. Yusuke and Kuwabara filled him in on the details, and he observed her thoughtfully. "Catalyn, was it?" he said. She nodded. "Well, I don't have any records of a demon cat around here, but I will do all I can to help you out."
"Thank you, Koenma sir," she said gratefully.
Yusuke muttered under his breath, "No need to be respectful to that little toddler." She grinned.
Just then, Botan the Grim Reaper burst through the doors, frantic. "Koenma sir, there's been a break-in from demon city! A demon has entered Yusuke's hometown, looking for demons to challenge it! And it's killing everything else in its path!"
"Okay, Botan, that's enough," Koenma said. "Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Catalyn, I'm sending you three to get rid of the demon. I'll send for Kurama and Hiei to help you."
Catalyn stared at Koenma. "Why me? This isn't part of the deal I made with Yusuke –"
"You said you'd work with him, but you never fully specified that point," Koenma pointed out.
Catalyn glared angrily, sensing defeat. Then she followed Yusuke and Kuwabara through another portal.
-In the human world-
Catalyn leaned against a tree near a playground near the two rival schools with Yusuke and Kuwabara, quite unwillingly. But a deal was a deal, and she couldn't do anything about it.
Then Kuwabara exclaimed, "Two demons, coming this way."
Immediately she tensed into her fighting stance. Neither Kuwabara nor Yusuke moved. Two human-looking boys emerged. One had long red hair and green eyes, with a peaceful look to him. The other was very short, with spiky black hair and red eyes. He wore a headband that kept some bangs back. He was frowning. They both had powerful demonic auras. She was just about to charge when Yusuke walked over to them, saying, "I was wondering if you two were ever going to show up!" Startled, she looked from the strangers to Yusuke. Yusuke said, "Oh, yeah, Catalyn, this is Kurama and Hiei." He clapped a hand on the runt's shoulder, who slapped it away.
"Nice to meet you," Kurama said politely. Hiei frowned at her. She frowned back, trying to stare him down. He muttered something inaudible, but she knew it was an insult.
"Say it louder," she snapped. Hiei merely glared. "Why, you –" She was about to charge him when in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of her, a katana pointed at her throat. She flinched but kept up her glare.
"Talking back to me will be your death wish," he said menacingly.
She was about to use her specialty kick on him when Kurama said, "Okay Hiei, that's enough." Hiei and Catalyn glared at each other one last time, and he sheathed his katana and walked away.
"Well," Yusuke said in a falsely cheery voice. "Shall we split up, then?"
"As long as I'm not with the runt," she objected immediately.
"Fine," Yusuke said. "Hiei and Kurama will go together and Catalyn can come with us."
"Yeah," Kuwabara joined in. "We can get to know each other and –"
Catalyn twirled her foot around, kicking him hard in the stomach. "In your dreams, baka (+)," she muttered. "I think I'll walk by myself." And so she did.
Five minutes later, she was still walking through the woods with no luck at finding the demon. As she walked, she began singing to herself.
"What a lovely voice. I wonder if your scream is as beautiful."
Whirling around, Catalyn saw a vampire demon facing her with a sly smile. He was dressed all in black with long fangs and a cape with a red inside. Before she could say or do anything, strings of blood flowed from the cape and surrounded her like ropes. She gave a cry of disgust and tried to wipe herself clean.
"Hello there, sweet little kitty demon," the vampire demon simpered with a smile. It's a pleasure to meet you." She glared. Hurt, he said, "What, you aren't happy to meet me?"
Catalyn struggled to push the ropes of blood off, but they were hard as steel, holding her tight, pressing her arms to her sides. "That depends on whether or not you're going to kill me."
"I'd like to kill you for your powers, but right now I want something else," the demon said. "I'd much rather you sing for me."
"No," she answered flatly. "Not in a million years. Besides, you'll never get my powers from me."
"I've already started," he said with a grin. With that, an army of bats flew out from his cape and latched themselves onto her skin, hungrily sucking up the blood ropes. Their claws dug into her, causing her to bleed, and the bats started to focus on sucking up her blood. "These bats feed solely on a demon's blood, sucking on their powers, which I in turn get from them. And once all your blood is gone, it's bye-bye for you. Unless of course, you decide to sing for me."
It was an easy choice to make, she realized as she felt herself almost immediately getting dizzy. It was either life or death. "Fine, I'll sing for you," she muttered, and instantly the bats flew back under the cape. Shaken from losing blood, but still strong, she closed her eyes and began to sing. It was easily her best performance ever. Every note she hit dead on. But with her eyes closed, she failed to notice the tiny beads of light flowing from the blood strings all over her neck and under. Then, in the middle of the song, she felt the immense lack of energy. She opened her eyes, and saw the vampire demon, now mere inches away from her. Everything turned to a dark haze, and too late she realized what had happened. She pitched forward, still singing as the world went blank.
(+) Catalyn's sensei is well trained in reiki arts, and has taught her some of these as well as the martial arts.
(+) Baka is Japanese for idiot, fool, moron, simpleton, and any other word with the same meaning.