A/N: Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!
Yeah, I've totally been neglecting going back and inserting in word meanings in case anyone has been following that. And on occasion I'll forget to do them in recent chapters, ha.
Anyway, this is another one of those weekends that I will be gone, so there will only be "bare-bones" chapters-without author's notes or 'previously'-for the rest of the month.
Speaking of which, starting in February I will be switching to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule, so there will not be a new chapter up this coming Sunday as that is the first of the month.
I also just want to say that I've been waiting, like, sixty-three chapters for you to get to this point in the story! Tee hee. Personally, I feel that the story, the plot really, doesn't start to take off until after these next couple of chapters (granted, there is a TON of important things that happen within the last chapter and onto the next few), and from an outside-reader's perspective, I'm always concerned that someone will come along and be all 'omg this has such a slow start,' and then won't give the plot a chance to really get going. My thanks if you have enjoyed our roleplay so far and have stuck it out this long!
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Kurama and Hiei discuss how long Hiei has been gone-only thirteen days passed in Human World,
whereas Hiei has lived through seventy-seven with Shikiyoku in Demon World-and
Kurama asks Hiei to see if he could find Maneshi, who has apparently gone missing.
The gang has taken to meeting up together at the Kuwabaras' apartment,
and Jin and Rinku show up for one such meeting, having come through the portal Akari had been at the opening of,
informing everyone that the others of their friends are also among the demons who came through.
Apparently all any of them knows is that they are to 'take back what was once theirs.'
This leads to Genkai telling the others about the old legend of 'Sekaiju,'
that when the Kamis first created the world demons and humans lived alongside one another.
Meanwhile, Akari has taken up residence at Sensui's old apartment to attempt to 'get over' her scars.
~!**!~
It takes years, but Shikiyoku goes through the torture put upon her by Renai,
King of the Ninth Level and formerly a pure demon of desire like herself,
and she comes to learn the ways of pain, which frees herself and Hiei of their pact,
as she no longer needs someone to protect her.
However, once in 'pain form,' she will be stuck there unless she has a Consort to change her back.
Shikiyoku then seeks out the guild leader that she and Hiei once met in Demon World,
offering her services to him.
After years of working under the guild leader, she is found by Kyonshi,
the very demon who asked her to be his mate after her dance for the Northern Tribe.
While he does in fact merely ask now for her companionship,
it is also revealed that he feeds upon demonic energy,
and intends to do so with her should she join him.
~!**!~
A week or so after his return to Human World and Hiei finds his old clothes and the sword he stole
sitting on the counter in Toriko's house with a note that reads "With all my love, -S"
A few days before that and he felt the bond fading away from within him,
and he had not been for certain until that moment about whether or not she was still alive.
Three more weeks pass uneventfully in Human World...
Dragging feet lead to slumping shoulders, and slumping shoulders lead to a yawn, and eventually, Akari was exhausted all around.
Walking from Mushiori to Kaidan was a much longer trip back than it had been the other way around. And, quite frankly, Akari had decided some time ago that instead of walking to her home, she'd stop by Kuwabara's first. Get caught up and.. whatnot.
"You're stumbling."
"Am not." she grumbled down at the dog, hefting the duffel bag on her shoulder higher as she moved down the street, able to see Kuwabara's apartment now. And as her eyes set sight on the stairs she'd have to climb, she groaned.
I just want a dang nap. Is that so much to ask for?
"Maybe Loudmouth and his sister will let you sleep!"
"I'm just stopping by to get caught up. That's all." she responded as she dragged her heavy legs, picking them up slowly to ascend the steps. Again, she had to adjust her hold on the duffel bag that continued to slip down her shoulder again anyways.
She didn't even bother knocking on the door, as she could hear a few voices inside already talking. She merely turned the knob and pushed the door open, pausing only to kick her shoes off with a yawn and scuffle her way through the house, eventually finding herself on a very, very comfortable couch.
She opened her mouth to say something to Kuwabara, though her eyes closed as she got comfortable, and in the end, she said nothing. Instead, she simply rested her head back and went to sleep, a nap much more important at the moment than whatever she'd been about to say. *
The current talk had been of relocating to Genkai's lands for more intense training. Even Shizuru had to agree that she felt a fight coming on, despite the fact that Yusuke said he knew it in his bones that this wasn't over.
That could have just been his way of saying he really wanted a good fight.
It was almost December, and with no further word from Jin or the others, the group had gotten antsy.
Compound that with the female who had just walked in unannounced and taken up residence next to Kurama on the couch to fall asleep without so much as a by-your-leave, and it left the group staring at her, amazed at how quickly it appeared she could leave the waking world.
Shizuru just smiled at the sleeping girl.
"There's a mat set up in my room for her if anyone wants to carry her in there."
They all turned to stare at Kurama who only raised an eyebrow at them.
"It appears she's just fine where she landed."
Kuwabara gave him a look. "That's not very gentlemanly of you, Kurama."
"And waking her would be?" His expression had not changed.
In truth, he'd felt something stir inside him when the couch gave way to her weight as she plopped down next to him, and he hadn't had enough time to sort through his feelings on how she'd been gone for nearly three weeks only to return suddenly.
"As I was saying, there would be more than enough room for you all, and it would allow us to be within close proximity of one another when the time comes." Genkai picked up the conversation where it had left off.
"And you're certain you'll be able to feel when that is?" Kurama looked to Shizuru, who seemed to have gained even more of that same calm confidence she had always had.
She gave a nod, shifting the cigarette in her mouth over to the other side, "Getting to train for whatever...battle it is we're going to be in that I'm picking up is the most important thing right now."
"I'm not opposed to the suggestion, but I also no longer have to worry about attending the high school's classes either. I passed my exit exams about a month ago. I would only need make sure I was home in time to help my mother with the final preparations for the wedding."
Yusuke looked grim, "The school year doesn't end until March, and Keiko would kill me if I dropped out of middle school so close to the end."
Kuwabara gave the same sort of expression, "Sis and I have already talked about me testing out of the last few months. I know I can do it, and I...I want to go to high school, you know?" He peeked over at Yukina and turned a little red, "I'd need some time during the day to study if we were out there."
"There's nothing to say that you and dimwit both can't bring your materials with you. As long as you can pass those exit exams, they can't refuse you your graduation." Genkai replied.
Yusuke sighed, "It just means Keiko gets to be on my case about attendance again."
"It isn't like she won't understand." Yukina said quietly from where she sat next to Kuwabara on the floor.
"I guess that's true."
"As long as you've told her." Kuwabara added, glaring at him.
It was Yusuke's turn to turn a little pink around the ears. "I just...haven't gotten around to it, that's all." 3
No dreams. It was just the way Akari liked it, and quite frankly, she'd been having more sleep like this since… well, for about a week now, really. So, when she felt the darkness fading, turning into the feeling of artificial light against her eyelids, she shifted slightly, letting out a small huff of air at the prospect of leaving such a peaceful realm so quickly.
But, her internal clock seemed to tell her than an hour's worth of sleep was more than enough to recover from the trek she'd trudged from one district to the next. And, despite all efforts, her eyes opened anyway, as if commanded by an unseen force to do so, and she was staring up at a slightly familiar ceiling, blinking away the blur of sleep from her eyes.
She made a small sound as she shifted her head, testing the slight stiffness in her neck from the way she'd been resting her head against the cushion of the couch.
"Akari's awake." a small voice said, as if in warning, and the movement of Nabu by her feet was only indicated by the sound of his claws on the wood floor. "Don't be loud. She'll attack."
"Will not, Nabu." she grumbled in response, not surprised by the fact that the dog was talking to other people. She hadn't forgotten where she'd ended up, not even the slightest. *
"Sleeping beauty returns to the land of the waking!" Yusuke exclaimed with a grin, "Without a kiss and everything! So much for the fairy tale." 3
"Now you, Yusuke, I have no trouble attacking." she replied easily, shifting again so that her back was straight when she lifted her head, turning calm eyes onto the detective.
And then around the room at the many people. Many more that she remembered being here. Or, now that she thought of it, she hadn't looked at a single one of them when she'd stopped by.
"Also, you're the dumbest person alive. That is all." *
"Kuwabara, next time I ever say anything about missing Akari, punch me real hard in the face." Yusuke grinned as Kuwabara laughed, Genkai even shaking her head.
"It's good to know you're still around. We'll need all the help we can get." Kuwabara told her. 3
"Don't worry, I'll be honored to do that in Kuwabara's stead." Akari countered, lazily moving to cross one leg over the other, blinking once at Yusuke before giving a crooked grin of her own. "I still owe you, after all." And when Kuwabara spoke up, she raised a brow and turned to the larger male, smile gone. "Nice to know you thought I wouldn't come back. Love the faith." She paused, pushing the joking aside. "Whatcha got for me? What have I missed?" *
"Thankfully, not much." Shizuru spoke up, eyes glancing to the others in the room, "We were just talking about how we are probably going to all pack up and head out to Genkai's for training. I've got a hunch there's going to be one last showdown for all of us." 3
Akari nodded, glancing about the room when Shizuru's eyes wandered to each person. She took in each face. And, when she found Kurama next to her, she blinked.
"Still unsettling." she said casually, referring to his lack of energy before turning back to Kuwabara and the others. "Well, I'm up for it. I still have to drop by home first though. I haven't had the chance yet, as I'm sure you've noticed." She gestured vaguely to the bag that had fallen on the floor when she'd plopped down earlier, a slightly lopsided smile sneaking its way onto her features. "Glad to hear I haven't missed anything too crazy. I'd hate to miss the fun parts." *
"I wish Jin or Touya or somebody would be able to join us out there." Yusuke made a face.
Shizuru opened her mouth to say something, but paused and looked at Kurama.
The phone rang.
"It's your mother." She told him, standing up to answer, "She wants to know if you'd mind coming home early tonight to talk about the wedding."
"Tell her I'm on my way." Kurama got up and wove his way through those gathered on the floor, eyes only just alighting on Hiei before he slipped his feet into his shoes by the door and left.
"Meet up here tomorrow!" Shizuru called after him, "If you want to go out there with us!"
"I work," Kurama paused in the middle of the door, "And will have to until the end of the week. But I'll get out there as soon as I can." He closed the door gently behind him. 3
Akari waited until the room was silent before she gave a small sigh, unable to ignore the sound her stomach made. And without further prompting from her stomach, she decided to give in and pushed herself to stand. "Well, sorry to nap and run, but I've gotta get myself and Nabu something for dinner, and plenty other things I put off for two weeks. Thank you for catching me up, and not disturbing me." She gave a lazy wave to the room about her and picked up her duffel bag, ignoring anything anyone said as she slipped her shoes on and then slipped into the cold afternoon air, Nabu on her heels as she caught up with Kurama.
"So, your mother is getting married?" she asked casually, the conversation more of a spur-of-the-moment decision that she hadn't been able to keep from acting upon. She felt that he'd told her this before, but her two and a half weeks in Mushiori had her forgetting several things that hadn't been very pressing. *
Kurama nodded, "Towards the end of December. She's very happy. Which is all I could ask." He hesitated, "I encouraged her to move it sooner, she was going to wait until Spring. But what with...whatever Shizuru is picking up…" He trailed off. 3
Akari kept one hand on the strap of her duffel bag to keep in in place, the other hand finding her hoodie pocket almost lazily as she let her eyes follow the puff of white that her breath created on the cold air. She hadn't been paying attention to the cold, and realizing she could see her breath suddenly had her rather joyous, though her expression betrayed none of that.
"Well, I'm sure it will be a wonderful union." she commented lightly, saying nothing more since she wasn't entirely familiar with wedding rituals. *
Kurama chuckled, knowing that Akari likely didn't know what to say about the process.
"It will." He paused, thinking about it and bringing a smile to his face as he did so before he let his eyes glance in her direction, "Did you find what you were looking for?" 3
Akari gave a small sound that said she acknowledged Kurama's words of the wedding, along with the chuckle she knew to be aimed at her. But, for a moment, she let the silence stretch on.
It was odd how comfortable she suddenly felt, as if before, she'd always been tense around him for reasons even she didn't understand.
So with his question, she only glanced at him for a brief moment before turning her eyes to her cloud of air again, her lips parted for the soul reason of creating the wonderful cloud. "I wasn't looking for anything. I knew where everything was." she responded mildly, eyes never leaving the area in front of her face. "Hagiri is on standby, but he's only… a just in case thing. A reassurance, really." She stopped there, unsure of what to say next, if anything. *
"I'm sure he would be welcome, though I am not entirely positive if he would truly wish to join us." Kurama thought about their upcoming training, amused at how she brushed aside his question. "And I'm glad you already knew where everything was. That must have made things easier." 3
Finally, Akari turned her eyes onto Kurama, a calm and level gaze staring at him unblinkingly for a moment. It's because of you, you ass. Don't act like you aren't aware. She made a sound of amusement and turned forward again, deciding against saying that.
"I'm hoping Hagiri won't be needed." she continued on, before giving a small sigh.
There was another pause before she decided to respond to his last words anyway. "Well, nothing comes easy with me, as I'm sure you already figured out." Her lips twitched and she blew out air, purposefully making a small cloud again. "But outside forces are always acting, I suppose." With that, she turned and altered her course, tossing a wave over her shoulder. "Have fun with your mother." *
Kurama said nothing in reply, though he watched her go as she separated and headed for her own home, the wheels turning in his mind and suddenly wishing for the first time in a long time that he could feel her presence, wondering what else besides the look in her eye had changed. 3
"Do you think he knows?"
"Mmm, 'bout what?"
"That he is such a big influence on you?"
Akari sighed, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She rolled her shoulders a bit, releasing the leftover tension from her nap in an instant as she moved towards the ramen stand she hadn't visited in… three weeks, just about. Maybe longer.
"I like him."
"...Me too." *
~!**!~
The winter months gave way into spring for those on Genkai's lands.
Both Kuwabara and Yusuke passed the exit exams for middle school. Kurama left for a week to help his mother with her wedding and to see the newlywed couple off for their honeymoon, but he returned faithfully to pick up where he'd left off.
Training continued almost constantly at the old psychic's house, each participant growing stronger under her patient tutelage as they wished, sometimes going off on their own to further themselves. Yukina patiently took care of those injured when her powers were required, though only when the injuries meant training would have to be postponed.
The others were impressed with Shizuru, who had long since mastered Reikibuki. Her versatility was unmatched, going so far as to having several forms her weapons could take and coming to be proficient in two or three of them. Yusuke's favorites were her spirit energy version of brass knuckles, but everyone knew he was biased.
It was one such night in March when Kurama went been off by himself, as he had taken to doing since they started training.
For the first time, he'd felt self-conscious about his lack of access to any energy, and he knew that he would not be able to at first keep up with the others, his reactions too slow even if his brain mostly maintained the same speed.
He had to get used to not only thinking through every step his enemy might use, but reacting to the first four or five of those steps seconds before he had been used to thinking as he lacked the hearing and the smell he had before so heavily relied upon. The lack of Youko's influence deeply disturbed him and he did not wish to be a burden to the others, so he would go off by himself, early in the morning, returning late in the night.
Kurama blinked the sweat from his eyes, the moonlight above only barely reaching down through the trees where he stood, deep within the dark forest that lay at the back of Genkai's lands.
He knew this was no time to be distracted by something so mundane as sweat.
A dark shadow skirted by his left, but he did not see it, did not feel it.
It did the same thing again, passing him on the right and only barely leaving a wind trail on Kurama's bare skin, stripped to the waist as he was.
Kurama moved forward several steps and turned, feeling the wind pass by the place he had just stood.
There was another reason why he wished to have no one else around.
A second low-level demon shot out of the nearby trees and Kurama only just managed to dodge, reaching up to block his face with his arms as he felt the angry swipe he accurately guessed would be coming gauging deeply into the palms of his hands.
He had acquired many new scars as he pushed himself.
Kurama lowered the block slightly, only to feel several more slashes across his back which made him ball his hands into fists as he refused to cry out in pain.
He reached up into his hair with his left hand as he took several strides forward again, making sure the seed was coated with the blood from his palm as he passed it to the right hand and feeling it pulse before extending into a whip out from his grasp which he used to lash out at the enemy who had cut at his back.
Another demon body-tackled him to the ground, and just before he hit the grass he had taken out the first demon with several well-aimed hits of his whip, turning at that point to block the mouth that had made for his head with his free arm and earning a solid bite of said mouth into his flesh, easily tearing through his skin.
The claws of the demon ripped into his bare chest even as he brought his right arm up and over with a snap to attempt to entangle the beast, two or three more such beasts joining the fray and starting to rip at Kurama's legs and face.
Without demonic strength, there was not much the human-Shuichi could do, but he felt the grass underneath his bloodied back erupt around him in his defense, cutting viciously through the beasts like so many blades and wrapping around Kurama as they did so in a green cocoon.
When the beastly demon on his chest finally stopped struggling, his head having been sliced off by the blades of grass, Kurama managed to throw the demon off of himself and lay there as he felt the blood of the others, dead now as well, seeping towards him.
Unable to stand, to so much as move what with his legs and torso and arms bleeding out on the forest floor, Kurama lay there staring up at the moonlight, his eyes finally shuddering closed as he felt his own blood leaking out from his body and creating flowers in the grass. 3
After being convinced by both Nabu and her own fighting thoughts on the matter, as the months passed Akari had taken to studying with Yusuke and Kuwabara during the day and training during the late night hours, usually with Genkai who occasionally left her either angry enough to walk away or tired enough to do nothing more than sleep where they'd been training.
But once she'd taken her leave for the exams and then returned, school out of the way entirely, she'd become a bit more centered around her own energy, her entire mind consumed with different abilities she knew that her own family had used, along with ones Genkai introduced.
She'd learned a lot during these months, and found that after a while, even the low-level demons outside of Genkai's temple were nothing more than pests, their blows doing nothing unless they were in huge groups and had some sort of ability that countered her own.
Though, she'd run into a few who were 'cousins' of the Aswang, their strikes including toxins. Needless to say, she'd found that she didn't appreciate the glower from Genkai as Yukina cleansed away the poisons from Akari's blood.
But as soon as she'd been able, she'd returned to the outside world and stayed well into the night at times, no matter what was suggested for her.
And it was one such night that Akari had found herself wandering through the trees, eyes wandering over the shadows in the area and toying with ideas, things she could put to use here. With the moon overhead as it was, there seemed to be a huge party of shadows dancing about, waiting for her to call on them and ask of their services.
At that moment, had Akari had her canine ears, they would have turned back to assess the sound of a screeching creature, and then lay on her head in annoyance as more sounds followed. Here she was, looking for one such group of demons, while another- likely Kurama, from the absence of energy- killed them all off.
So, she sighed and turned, going back the way she'd come before branching away from her first path and following the sound of fighting that, after a minute, died away, leaving only the smell of blood that wafted on the gentle breeze occasionally.
Just as she walked onto the scene, Akari became able to distinguish several different scents of several different creature's blood, all that overlapped and seemed to almost cover up the smell of Kurama's own blood that she could easily see now. She gave a small sigh and moved forward, finding herself unsurprised by the scene.
With steps that weren't meant to conceal her presence, she approached Kurama, and without even asking or announcing her presence verbally, she grabbed him by a portion of his torso that was not covered in cuts and blood, and lifted him from the forest floor, turning her back to him so when she stood, he was draped over her back, his arms over her shoulders.
She looked up, easily taking in the sight of a few demons running by her, a frown settling on her face. "Now I can find a group of demons? Just perfect." She turned and began moving towards the temple, very aware of both Kurama's injuries and the amount of bleed that she could feel soaking into the back of her shirt.
So instead of wasting her time, like she normally would have, she simply let her energy snake out around her, creating a dark, dangerous barrier around herself and Kurama before she took off, not even taking note of the demons that made attempts at attacks and were promptly consumed by the shadows in the area.
And before long, she was inside the temple and looking about for Yukina, pausing only briefly to inquire Genkai of the girl's whereabouts before turning and heading to the Ice Maiden's room. *
Kurama made no noise of protest when he felt himself lifted from the ground, eyes still closed. In truth, he was grateful for the assistance, if a bit displeased at not having recovered quickly enough to get back on his own two feet.
It wasn't the first time he would be returning barely conscious. Not since he had discovered Youko's demonic energy still flowed through his veins anyway. While he could not call upon said energy himself, all of it locked away from his direct contact, he found he could manipulate it after a fashion if his blood touched the flora first.
The day he had discovered it had been in a fight similar to the one that had just occurred and had left him out for at least four hours before he was able to rouse himself and return to Genkai's house. 3
Akari's energy, or the last of it that had surrounded herself and Kurama, tapered away as she approached Yukina's door, the quiet energy of the Koorime on the other side and already approaching the door. Without any prompting from Akari, Yukina's door slid open and revealed the calm gaze of the female, whose eyes widened when she saw Kurama.
"There's an extra mat on the other side of mine." she informed, and Akari didn't hesitate to move inside and maneuver around the blankets and such on the floor, before lowering Kurama down to the one Yukina had gestured to.
Instead of leaving as she normally would have, Akari moved to sit cross-legged on the floor near Kurama's head, reaching forward and poking him once with her index finger. "You're not gonna get very far if you keep this up." she grumbled at him with a sigh.
"Everyone is working so hard. I think they deserve a break soon."
Akari didn't reply to the girl who went to work as soon as she'd finished speaking. *
Kurama knew as soon as Akari had entered the Koorime's room, not just by the soft, gentle, cool clove smell of the maiden which even he could pick up, but by the absolute calm that simply by stepping over the threshold placed one within it. That feeling seemed to permeate the entire room, a calm cultivated by centuries of her kind that seeped into the very cracks of the building wherein she resided as well as the hearts of all those nearby.
He made no sound as he felt himself lowered to the ground, only opening his eyes just a touch once his head was laying flat, shifting them over just in time to see Akari lean forward to poke at him.
"Unfortunately, there's no other way to do it." Kurama replied into that same air of peacefulness that had overtaken him once they'd gotten inside. "My attempts thus far at storing my blood for later usage have been entirely unsuccessful." Something he hadn't revealed to anyone else up until that point, he realized. 3
Akari frowned slightly into the eyes that found her, realizing for the first time just how… human the redhead was at this point. Sure, she knew his body couldn't heal as well, but… that was only one of the many things that having Youko sealed away seemed to have caused. One of the many things that could easily lead to a situation that no one wanted to face.
And if he had to continue to do this to himself, even during the real fight… He was going to end up bleeding himself dry.
"Take a break tomorrow." she said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting back against the nearest wall. "I think you need it." *
"And fall further behind?" He replied with a small smile, "I think that would not be prudent at this juncture. I'm most certain I will already only be in the back for support, so whatever I can do now to increase my stamina will be that much more I can provide once the fighting begins."
He shifted around a little as he tried to get more comfortable on the mat as Yukina continued to work.
"Perhaps...perhaps I will endeavour to not go quite so far into the forest tomorrow, if that would ease your mind." 3
Akari's eyes slid closed. How did I know you were going to say that?
Verbally, she gave no reply to Kurama at all, because really, she felt there was nothing she could say to convince him otherwise. He'd do what he wanted, whether or not she had a say to it. And, really, who was she to tell him he couldn't better himself, even if the only way he seemed able to do so put him in this position?
"Just don't get yourself killed." she finally said, voice quiet and tone small. "Got me?" *
Kurama opened his eye further to regard Akari with a neutral expression, taking in her face, her hair which he realized had been pull up.
His lips twitched as he tried not to smile.
"Mm. I'll...try." 3
"Ha ha. Very funny." she responded in the same tone as before, eyelids sliding open to allow her to stare at him with an even gaze. "But I mean it. Because I hope you know I'd personally hunt you down in Spirit World and kick your ass all the way back." *
Kurama let out a pained chuckle and his eyes squeezed shut as the mirth shook his body just a little.
"Well, it's a good thing Genkai believes there won't be a Spirit World much longer should we fail. I won't have to worry about it, that being the case." 3
"Are you doubting my abilities?" she countered, lips suddenly twitching. "You don't know me very well then, I'm afraid." Her eyes turned to Yukina, who seemed to be smiling at their banter despite the concentration she dedicated to her handiwork. *
"Oh? You're claiming to be able to pierce the beyond, then? To understand what even Spirit World has no control over? Bold." Eyes still closed, he allowed himself the smile that threatened to take over his features anyway. 3
"You never know. Something new could happen." she responded with her nose lifting in the air slightly. She went quiet again, slowly lowering her chin to watch Yukina's hands and the power that glowed as those hands passed over cuts and gashes, gently encouraging them to heal and pull together in the middle.
This sucks. *
"How are Yusuke and Kuwabara faring?" Kurama asked suddenly, eyes coming open again to look over at Akari.
He knew she'd be training with them and not only Genkai. 3
Akari shrugged nonchalantly at Kurama's answer. "They've learned that they don't like shadows anymore." Her voice wavered with an unissued laugh at the thought, but she became serious again. "Kuwabara's energy is starting to feel similar to when Sensui needed use of him again. I know he hasn't harnessed it yet, because there's been no reason for it, but he also seems to be fighting it… though not without his direct notice." She frowned as she voiced this observation; she hadn't told anyone else about her thoughts on the matter, mainly because she figured the only ones who could feel the difference were the ones who knew how to either help or squash that ability. "And Yusuke still fights without thinking about his opponent. I've wished more than once that you would give him that lesson, because he doesn't seem to take me very seriously." *
Kurama gave another wry chuckle, "Yusuke tends to win his battles with more luck than skill or anything else. Though he is a force to be reckoned with, either way.
"And I had hoped seeing how much his sister has caught up with him might spur Kuwabara further. She's likely going to pass him soon, if she has not already, and I wonder how that will make him feel." 3
"Well, he's definitely putting in the effort to get a kick forward, it's simply that his Jigen Tō isn't a stable energy yet. He's trying, obviously, he just doesn't know how to call on it yet. And, quite frankly, I don't know how to push him hard enough to need it without trapping him inside another dimension and leaving him there." She gave another shrug. "Which, of course, would mean I'd have to call on Uraotoga." She shifted her weight, uncrossing her legs before they fell asleep. "You should see when they fight each other. It turns from training to a complete brawl." *
"I'm sure Yusuke makes it a point to 'win' every time." Kurama replied mildly, "I'm also sure their days of training with Genkai give much more fruitful results." 3
Akari gave a hum of affirmation as she took to looking down at Kurama again, "I'm sure everyone has better results when with Genkai rather than on their own." She considered her own moments with the older woman, suddenly remembering something else she could request of later, when she was alone with the woman again. "How much longer do you think we have before the fight brews?" *
"There's really no way to tell. All we have to go on is Shizuru, who has started to say 'soon' instead of 'closer.' Her own training has become even more focused of late, which may be the best sign out of anything." Kurama let out a little sigh. 3
Akari gave a small nod, but otherwise said nothing to the redhead. She continued to stare at him, her thoughts churning over several different things at once, none of them even remotely on the same subject as another, each one swirling around and around her mind in a dance that never seemed to end.
And after a bit, Yukina sat back and looked up at Akari before offering a small smile to Kurama. "I'm glad you got here sooner this time, Kurama." She looked up at Akari again and offered the same smile. "You're both working hard, so if there's anything I can do, please, don't hesitate to ask." *
Kurama began to sit up, giving Yukina grateful smile and knowing that he and the Koorime had more than their fair share of encounters within the past few months where the avatar had known he would be unable to function for a few days and found the prospect unacceptable, enlisting her help to at least close his wounds so he could continue.
"And you, Yukina, are working just as hard as the rest of us. Don't you forget to give yourself a rest once in a while." 3
"Of course," Yukina replied, her head tilting with the wide smile she showed Kurama. Akari shifted around, leaning away from the wall and pushing herself to stand after a moment, reaching a hand down to offer Kurama a hand up.
"Just so you know, I wanted that group of demons." she finally said, giving the redhead a small look of jealousy. "Thief." *
Kurama took the hand, but aspired to an air of loftiness at her words while he stood up.
"You do realize you're speaking to what is the avatar for the most infamous kitsune in all of Demon World?" He didn't even look twice at her, sashaying past her and out Yukina's bedroom, only turning his head slightly with his nose lifted in the air to give a haughty sniff as he came to the threshold of her door, "You should feel honored to have had your prey stolen from you by me. Or at least honored that I didn't take anything else." He arched an eyebrow, gave a smirk, and finished exiting the room. 3
Akari huffed at Kurama, crossed her arms at him, then stuck her tongue out just a little. "Honored, my backside. You should be glad I didn't interfere sooner." She kept her brows raised at his last words, and before he got too far, she followed after him. "And what do you mean by that, sir?" she inquired, tone incredulous. "It isn't like you'd get far anyway. Not in that state." *
"I would get just as far as you would let me." Kurama shot right back, his own tone never changing as he kept moving for the exit of the house and his face maintaining that same self-satisfied expression. 3
"I can assure you that it wouldn't be very far." she repeated, hands sliding into the pockets of the jacket she wore lazily. She wasn't sure why she still wore it. Perhaps it was just a habit now. *
"Mm." Kurama intoned noncommittally, "I don't think you can accurately assure me of anything since I haven't actually tried. Even you wouldn't stand long against the wiles of a fox demon." 3
Akari rolled her eyes, catching on likely a little late, but… better late than never, right?
"Well, I must admit," she suddenly began, tone turning sultry, "I do touch myself when I think of you." She paused, eyes finding the back of his head. "Granted, it's usually my fingers rubbing my temples, because your presence creates the worst headaches. It's rather trying, really." *
"Ha!" Kurama barked out a single, amused laugh, "The she-demon likes to play with twisted words, does she?" Kurama didn't stop walking, "I'm sure I could teach you a few things about being twisted." He tossed her a glance over his shoulder, turning so he could face her, going on a couple more steps backwards towards the door, "But in any case," he reached forward as if to brush her cheek with his fingers, "Progress is progress."
He stopped short of the door being flung open, turning to catch it as Yusuke stomped inside.
The dark-haired youth barely gave Kurama a glance, taking in the wicked scars across the avatar's bare skin and raising his eyebrows.
"Nice." He commented as he passed by, realizing that he'd never seen the other without a shirt, for good reason considering how many marks the fox had on his skin, but finding himself unsurprised that there were marks. He knew the kinds of fights Kurama got into and out of. 3
The twitch of Akari's lips was hard to fight, and after a moment of fighting the smirk, her lips ended up tilting up anyway, a crooked smile adding to the gleam in her eye of complete and utter amusement. Quite frankly, she wasn't sure what had made her think of it, but… Oh well.
"Glad you approve, though I didn't say it for the approval," she replied easily, arms crossed over her chest again as she eyed the hand that outstretched to her.
And then Yusuke was passing by, giving a single word comment to Kurama that Akari rolled her eyes at. *
~!**!~
It was not two days later that Genkai suddenly stopped in the middle of her lesson and Yusuke faltered in his steps, taken aback by the sudden severeness of her expression that was aimed just a little to the right and above his shoulder.
He followed her gaze and realized it led back to her home, then looked over at Kuwabara to see his red-haired friend have the same odd tilt of his head.
The pair took off towards the dojo without a word and Yusuke said nothing, sensing the heaviness of the air around them and running after despite his not realizing what had been the cause for their abrupt dispersal.
The three of them burst through the doors to see Shizuru sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, her eyes closed and her brows strained together.
Yukina looked up at them as they came in, standing over the human female with concern.
Shizuru's brown hair was a mess, falling out of the ponytail she obviously put it in before she had started, her feet bare and her skin glistening with sweat leftover from the moves she had been walking through, quite obviously having likely dropped into her current position directly out of her technique.
"What is it?" Yusuke asked desperately.
"It's time." Genkai replied, Kuwabara nodding absently, a far-away look in his own eyes.
"Something's happening." Shizuru said, her voice strained, "It's not here, not Human World. Not yet. But something." Her knuckles were white where she clutched at her ankles, the hardened muscles in her bare arms tense.
Kurama came in the other side of the dojo-Hiei trailing behind him-his upper body bare save for white bandages which he had obviously just finished changing that went from over his right shoulder down across his front to his waist, which had a few passes of bandages wrapping around his hips.
As he came closer, Yukina immediately turned to tend to him and he didn't protest.
"I know you said not to bother," She said patiently, reaching up to put her hands near his chest where she remembered seeing his wounds, "But you'll need all your strength." Her hands began glowing and he did not flinch away. 3
~!**!~
Darkness surrounded Akari, who merely sat within the odd space that she seemed to drift through, her eyes closed and hair moving with an unseen breeze. She took in a deep breath and let her eyelids slide open, her lips curling into a smile. She'd finally perfected the technique that was more often than not a rare specialty move among her kind, and even more so to those who were of mixed blood.
It only took two whole days and nights without sleep, some rest, and a few more hours of vigorous attempts at it before she'd been able to fall into the realm that consisted of nothing more than darkness and cold nothingness.
She slid her eyes closed again and willed herself to be released from her own energy, and after a few more minutes, she felt the chill of darkness dissipate and her feet touch the soft soil of Human World. She dug her toes into the grass before she opened her eyes, a smile dancing in her irises but not touching her lips in the least as she began moving to the form ahead of her, her prey.
She could take it by surprise if-
Akari paused mid-step and glanced behind herself, suddenly feeling each and every energy of the people on the grounds of the temple moving in the same, single location. Her own gut churned and her core leapt, and instead of turning back to the demon she'd been hunting, her body turned and followed the other energies towards the center of this property, leaving the lower-level demon unaware of the threat that had been on his heels.
She was easily able to foresee and avoid any and all obstacles, and within no more than a minute and a half, she was moving inside the temple, hands pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail that fell well down her back, almost brushing the hem of the white button-down shirt that was worn over the yellow halter underneath.
She was in time to hear both the end of Shizuru's words to whoever was listening and Yukina's words to Kurama. So… it's time…
She glanced about the room, waiting for… something to happen. *
The utter silence in the room did nothing for the level of intensity that seemed to spike higher the longer the silence went on.
Shizuru's expression did not change, until a few moments had passed. Then, her eyes flew open.
Just to her left, a portal to Spirit World tore open in the middle of the dojo and the sounds of battle filled the room. Clashing steel. Cries of pain and others of triumph.
The view was difficult to make out, the portal widening suddenly until it stood taller than Shizuru-who had scrambled to her feet by that time-and at least three times as wide.
An older looking Koenma positioned himself half-in and half-out of the opening, his eyes carrying a hunted look that did not truly acknowledge everyone there, instead motioning frantically that they should come through and then disappearing back onto the other side.
Shizuru made no hesitation to barge into the portal, the others following quickly after.
Within Spirit World they found that the portal had opened them into the main offices, the castle, just inside the foyer which had demons pouring in from the entrance, met with resistance from the various denizens who made this their home.
While the smell of blood and sweat filled the air, there was no death, the demons making a point of simply knocking their opponents out as soon as they were able, leaving otherwise untouched bodies strewn about the floor.
In the lead, Shizuru took off after Koenma who started yelling over the din as he moved through both friend and foe, towards a deeper part of the castle.
"They've breached our forces! There are more inside!" His cape whipped wildly about his feet as he took off at a dead run.
Shizuru dual-wielded a pair of slim swords, bright green energy humming from her hands as katanas, with enough accuracy to fend off those who tried to take down the Prince, knocking them aside and even going so far as to change the weapons into a bo staff in mid-swing to slam the longer Reikibuki into a group that advanced on him, scattering them away, but spilling no blood herself.
The noise of the next room was confined to smaller brawls, but Koenma made no appearance to stop and assist, charging down the long hallway until turning right, the lights above them flickering inconsistently as if the very foundations of the palace were being disrupted.
He had seen what he took to be the main attacking force of the demons break through his people, but had been in the middle of attempting to open the portal and unable to assist.
He did not know what they were after, and the sparing of the people of Spirit World confused him, but he could feel his father in this direction, knew they had taken him somehow, and kept right on running down the corridor, taking turns and stairs that even he might have gotten lost in had he not been so desperate.
Koenma stopped only briefly to pull back the gigantic doors that led into one of the main office areas and went in head-first, stopping short with a skid when at least a thousand demons turned from the door at the other end of the hallway and started advancing on the newcomers, the intruders.
Shizuru lightly danced around Koenma and rushed forward, bo staff still in hand, "I'll make a path!"
"Don't kill them!" Koenma pleaded, unsure of what made him say so.
Shizuru turned to throw him a grin over her shoulder, keeping the lit cigarette clutched firmly inbetween her teeth, "What am I, new at this?"
She let out a chuckle and then her face closed with concentration, the bo staff growing longer as she dove head-first into the fray and started to clear the way for Koenma who had taken off just behind her. 3
Akari hadn't had time to think after the portal to Spirit World had appeared. She'd simply… followed as asked of her, eyes roaming as her ears stayed trained on the group that moved through the chaos that was… surprisingly… clean. No last breaths, no cries that tapered off into hollowed nothingness.
And with Shizuru in the front line, keeping demons away, Akari herself had only had to bat away a single demon who'd slipped by and made a grab at her. She'd merely done as she saw the rest doing and went for a pressure point, not even pausing in her run to follow after the group she trailed after.
She'd chosen to be at the end, for a very particular reason. From where she was, she could see anything and everything, and with the amount of shadows ahead of her, she'd have more fighting ability from her standpoint, should she need it.
But, it didn't seem she'd need it. Not at the moment, anyway, because for one, Shizuru had it under control. Two, their lives didn't seem threatened, aside from the panic that Koenma seemed to be consumed with that could mean otherwise.
She had her own thoughts on that, but for now, decided that Koenma was the main objective, the main person to protect, if there was even a remote possibility that Foko wanted anything to do with the prince.
So, when the group skidded to a stop one by one in a room filled with more demons than she could count, she did step up, fingers flexing and eyes gaging the nearest enemies while Shizuru seemed to simply plow through them.
Akari moved forward to lend a hand, slipping between the people she'd been originally trailing after and using her own energy to completely consume demons in her own shadows, dropping them into another realm for the time being when she thought they were either too close to the group or Shizuru. *
As they sprinted their way towards the other doors, the group spread out around Koenma, keeping him in their midst and fighting back the demons who attempted to prevent them from continuing forward, the demons succeeding in slowing their progress when their numbers thickened around the circle of defenders.
With no threat of their lives being actually taken, it was easy to turn fist or sword aside, only fear of being overwhelmed an immediate concern.
When they reached the doors, it became a fight to get them open as the sheer number of demons who kept coming tried to push them back, making sure they were position so that the doors could not be pulled inward as they were meant to do.
Genkai slipped inside the circle next to Koenma who was up against the door, Kuwabara and Yusuke who had been on either side of her stepping over to cover where she had stood.
The old psychic began muttering under her breath, weaving her hands in a pattern in front of her body which seemed to enrage the demons around them who desperately tried to break through the protection the others maintained.
"Kiai Cannon!"
With the final words of the spell, a massive, if invisible, wave of spirit energy erupted from the old woman's body and blasted back those that were attempting to break through and keeping them from getting the doors open.
As soon as he saw they were free for the moment to move on, Koenma grabbed for one of the doors, Kurama reaching out to get the handle of the other and they pulled the doors apart so that everyone could slip through before the demons recovered, following their comrades inside and pulling the doors shut behind them.
Kurama pulled a small blade out of his pocket and without pause slashed open a palm, reaching the now-bleeding hand into his hair and then smearing the palm across the door just above the handles on this side, vines bursting out from underneath his hand and moving to entangle the handles together, as well as extending outwards until they covered a good portion of the doors as well.
He wasn't sure at first why no one had moved until he lifted his gaze and saw that King Enma himself was on his knees, doubled over with what was obviously pain on his face, kneeling in the direction the group now faced.
Not forty feet from Enma, to the King's right, was a familiar sight: a silver-haired fox demon who had also at some point crumpled to the floor, wearing a similar expression as the royalty next to him.
And inbetween them, standing in the middle of a short flight of stairs was a woman. A female demon whose wickedly fierce beauty cut across the room as she viewed the newcomers. Her aura was powerful, the very room filled with her presence so that it eclipsed that attention which Enma normally would have demanded.
The air was heavy with her energy, not visible with the eyes, but felt with the skin, with the soul.
Shizuru collapsed almost instantly to the ground, Kuwabara following after. Even Genkai dropped to one knee, and both Yusuke and Koenma wore strained expression as they all felt their energy within them rebelling and leaving them with the sensation that their very veins coursed with excruciating pain.
If one managed to see beyond wonderfully terrible figure of the female demon, there were two others at the top of the stairs on the platform, one with red hair, one with blue-Gashiru and Gekijou-who had their hands joined together across what might have been a table or a chest, their eyes closed. After a moment, after getting past the savage gaze and oppressive aura of the female demon, one could hear the twins' voices on the air, speaking unintelligible words to a ritual that obviously involved whatever was between them as it glowed with power while they spoke to weave the enchantment.
Besides that, there were other demons in the room, some who appeared unaffected by the power of the female demon, others who were dropped to the floor in pain, but all of them staring transfixed at her.
She raised a hand towards Koenma, "And so the child comes." Her tone echoed almost frighteningly across the room, intense but also magnificent, "Is it he who wishes to strike the final blow?"
"Let him go." Somehow, Koenma's voice seemed just as strong as hers, gathering himself up so that he might soon take a step forward.
"To what end? He will not leave this room alive." Her frankness of tone and ease with which she spoke of the King's death seemed in stark contrast to the pronouncement she just made. "Surely you know what a pathetic worm he has become. If there was a time when he was worthy of the station, I know not of it."
Koenma did not this time reply. He...he knew of his father's actions of late, had discovered the awful things he had been carrying on about in secret. But...but he was blood. Kin. His very own father. He could not sit back and do nothing, no matter who deemed the King unworthy. Right?
Taking a small step, shifting her feet towards him, the demon across the room raised a single perfect eyebrow and lowered her hand.
"If you do not advance with the intent to take your father's life, you will advance no further, I can assure you of this."
Koenma said nothing, meeting the demon eye-for-eye, the look on his face one of utter determination as he finally managed to force his feet to take steps in her direction.
Kurama took three steps forward, reaching out as if to stop the teen-prince, but the female demon's eyes flashed and Koenma doubled over in pain, stopped in his tracks.
The avatar blinked, then turned his face up to her.
She seemed for the first time to falter in her surety as she gazed into Kurama's eyes, and he lowered his hand from Koenma, waiting a beat, and then took another deliberate step forward.
Her eyes narrowed when he dared keep coming, and suddenly the fake Youko was on his feet and in front of Kurama, clutching at true avatar's throat with claws that pierced Kurama's skin, making him bleed.
The two stared into one another's eyes and within the false Youko Kurama saw confusion and pain, as if simply standing there hurt him desperately.
"Free this one of his energy block." The she-demon seethed at someone out of sight, on the other side of King Enma, but maintained her eye-contact with Kurama, "I wish to see him writhing upon the floor."
"You...promised me...what I desire above all else." The pained response came from somewhere on the other side of Enma, but there was no mistaking the timbre of the voice unseen.
"And you betrayed me for my own kin, my own children." She bit back, turning her head to look at the blonde-haired, purple-eyed demon who had gotten to his feet somehow and moved into view, still doubled over and clutching both hands across his stomach.
Her eyes softened only a trifle when she glanced at the pair still chanting behind her. "My own flesh and blood." Her words came softer this time.
When she snapped her head back to regard Otento, her eyes grew colder than before if possible.
"Because...you could not break her..." Otento seemed to find the thought funny, lifting his torso just enough that he could peer at her through his white-blonde hair that covered his face. "I only did...what was needed."
Otento let out a strangled cry and dropped to his knees, a single demon stepping up to stand next to him.
Terepo.
The presence of this demon seemed to make the female shift in place and she left Otento alone for the moment, tossing her gaze out over the other ones near the door and giving Kurama a look that would have made a lesser man quail.
"If I...will not have what was promised me." Otento began to stand up, straining as he did so and lifting his hands towards her, "Then you...shall not have what you desire."
Several things happened at once.
The female demon whipped her head back towards him and threw her hand out at him, her expression all of a sudden desperate, "KILL HIM!"
The aura of the room dropped its oppression completely as the demon of pain felt her core becoming locked away and Koenma began to run towards his father, the others taking longer to recover and only beginning to have their minds returned to them. The fake Youko let go of Kurama and disappeared to reappear next to Otento, Otento throwing an arm over the fox's shoulders as Youko helped him stay on his feet. Terepo stepped up underneath Otento's other arm.
Otento turned towards the twins and made the same gesture as before with his hand. The chanting faltered, caught in their throats as an energy that had started buzzing around them began to crackle strangely.
There was a flash of light over the body of Enma, who had started to stir, and then the King slumped over, dead on the ground.
At the sound of the chanting faltering, the she-demon's body flung around to face the twins with a frantic cry of, "NO!" as their hands released one another and they jerked about and let out cries of pain.
Knowing that they were lost, feeling the oppression of Otento's blockage of her energy, the demon let loose a banshee-like scream and practically flew across the stairs at Otento and the other two, brandishing a jagged knife and managing to plunge it into Otento's chest at which he let out another echo of pain into the air.
The fake Youko succeeded with his free hand in parrying her thrust just enough that it missed Otento's heart, the other demon, Terepo, making the four of them disappear in another flash of light just as the fake Youko's form began to melt away to reveal his true body.
Kurama felt his energy roar into his veins and he threw forward a hand, plants exploding from his palm as he tried to stop the other four from leaving, he himself having started to run at them as soon as the fake Youko released him.
A strange shimmering, incandescent envelopment of power burst from where the twins stood, consuming them completely as it moved outwards and through the entire palace, through the entirety of Spirit World and beyond, carrying with it the final shrieks of the two who died to unleash it.
And then...it was exceedingly quiet. 3
So, I'll freely admit that the idea for Shizuru mastering Reikibuki comes from an awesome picture on DeviantArt showing her with a couple of different ideas for the types of weapons she might wield. CM and I agreed that we wished she had gotten to be a fighter in the anime, given that the ratio of male to female fighters is pitiful, and so that kind of culminates in the bit I write about Shizuru protecting Koenma, after which CM said something about Akari not really having to do much because Shizuru got her shining moment, ha!
The idea for Human, Demon, and Spirit World being one world at first actually originates in the crossfic idea that Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho take place in the same universe, with the 'future Japan' of Inuyasha being one in which the three worlds have been separated, as they are in YYH.
As for Enma actually being a bad guy, that is taken directly from the manga! Most of the story-related things revolving around King Enma and how he was actually in cahoots with demons-like the Three Kings-and afraid of the more powerful ones, as well as the fact that he did steal demons from their homes and plop them in Human World, are things that we tried to remain true to here in our RP.
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star