Chapter 15 Countdown to the Apocalypse

"Tell us."

Kurama's voice was gentle but firm as he and the others stared at Mitarai sitting in an armchair in Urameshi's living room.

Mitarai nodded. "All right. Black Angel wants Kuwabara because he believes Kuwabara can cut through the kekai barrier. He wouldn't explain it, but he said he was reasonably certain that Kuwabara was the one we needed."

"No," Koenma breathed. "If that's true then…."

A and S class demons can cross into Living World, Touya thought grimly.

"Are we absolutely certain Kuwabara is the one?" Kurama asked.

Surprisingly, it was Koenma who answered, "I believe so. I know Sensui and he has always been meticulous. I don't think he would make a move unless he was almost certain of something."

"You're right," Mitarai said and everyone's attention turned back to him.

"So what will happen now that Sensui has Kuwabara?" Kurama asked.

"They'll take him to Demon's Door Cave, which is on the outskirts of Mushiyori City," Mitarai said. "That's where the tunnel is. Once there, they'll have Gourmet swallow him and assimilate his powers. Then once the tunnel is complete, they'll be able to slice through the kekai barrier."

Genkai looked at the three Psychics. "Do you guys know where Demon's Door Cave is?"

Kaito nodded. "Hold on, I'll draw you a map."

He procured a piece of paper and a pencil and squatted in front of the coffee table to draw. They were from Mushiyori City, Touya remembered. That was another thing that had led Genkai to believe that someone was digging a tunnel to Demon World—all the humans who had come to her with psychic powers had been from Mushiyori City. It was another piece of the puzzle that belatedly fell into place.

"Mitarai, is there anything else you can tell us?" Kurama asked. "For instance, how many of you there are and what their specific abilities may be?"

"There are…were seven of us," Mitarai said. "Black Angel, Doctor, Seaman, Gamemaster, Gourmet, Sniper, and Gatekeeper. Yusuke took care of Doctor and I was Seaman. Otherwise, there's not much I can tell you. Black Angel is the leader and Gatekeeper is the Psychic who is creating the tunnel. I'm sorry. I'm not much help. We all went by code names and no one knew anyone else's real names."

"That's all right," Kurama said soothingly. "You've given us quite a bit of information and it's certainly better than nothing."

"I'm finished," Kaito announced, standing up. Everyone crowded around him and peered at the incredibly detailed map he had drawn. "This is a map of our city. And yes, it is to scale. Out here is Demon's Door Cave, on the edge of the city."

"Yeah, that looks right," Mitarai said.

Kaito glanced up at him. "And you are…?"

"Don't worry, he's someone we can trust," Touya said.

Kaito shrugged. "The hardest part will be getting to Demon's Door Cave. The trains only run to here." He pointed to a point on the map. "There's still several kilometers of road before we get to the area where the cave is and then the cave itself is another kilometer or so away from the road."

"But it's doable?" Genkai asked.

"Oh yes," Mitarai said. "I have been there several times."

"Would you be willing to lead us there?" Genkai asked.

"Yes, of course," Mitarai said.

"And what about Yusuke?" Kurama asked.

"Don't worry about him," Genkai said. "He should be able to survive whatever they throw at him and stay on their trail so our paths will cross eventually. Now let's go. We don't have any time to waste. We're already in Stage 2 and I wager we have less time than we think before it's finished."

Koenma cleared his throat. "I'll meet you at Demon's Door Cave. There are some things I need to take care of in Spirit World. We need to plan for the very real possibility that Sensui can cut through the kekai barrier and that we may fail to stop him."

"Understood," Kurama said. "We will see you later."

"He looked grim," Genkai noted after Koenma had walked away.

"Yes," Kurama agreed. "I don't think I've ever seen him look so grim. He must not be optimistic about our chances."

How comforting, Touya thought dryly.

They walked to the train station in silence. Touya had never taken a train before, although Genkai had made sure to explain how they worked in case he ever needed to use one. He liked it more than the bus, he decided, despite the constant rocking, and much more than the boat. The others chatted nervously about mundane things, but he took the opportunity to look out the window and watch the passing landscape. It passed at a surprisingly fast rate, but Touya wasn't bothered by that at all.

Well, this is certainly ground zero for the tunnel breach, Touya thought as they exited the station in Mushiyori City some time later.

Everywhere they looked were demon insects, parasites that fed on humans' energy.

"All right, now what?" Kido asked as they walked through the city.

"We find someone who's heading in the direction of Demon's Door Cave and hitch a ride with them," Genkai said. "If worse comes to worse, we walk. Let's split up into pairs and see if we can find anybody who's willing to give us a ride. We'll meet back at the train station in an hour."

Touya found himself paired with Mitarai, which he didn't really mind; he could tolerate him more than the other three Psychics whom Genkai had made sure to pair off with someone not familiar with Mushiyori City. He let Mitarai lead the way and didn't mind that they seemed to be aimlessly walking about instead of talking to anyone.

"Hey Touya?" Mitarai tentatively asked after silence had elapsed for a while.

"Yes?" Touya said.

"I'm…I'm sorry about…before. You know, stabbing you," Mitarai said. "I…I panicked and it was the only thing I could think of doing."

"It's all right. I forgive you," Touya said and he meant it.

"Really? You can forgive me so easily?" Mitarai asked. "After I hurt you? I betrayed and stabbed you?" his shoulders shook.

"Yes," Touya said. "Look, I've been alive for a long, long time, and something I've learned during that time is that it's much better to forgive someone and let go of your anger.

"Holding onto emotions like anger or bitterness…they eat away at you after a while and if you let them, they can consume not only you, but those you care about. I can see the same anger in you that I once had. I know there are people in your life that have hurt you, but if you continue to nurse a grudge against them, it will destroy you like it nearly did me. It won't be easy, but I know you can do it. You're stronger than you think, Mitarai, and you may surprise yourself with what you can do."

Mitarai smiled weakly. "You think so?"

"Yes," Touya said with a smile. "I'm positive."

Things seemed to ease up between them after that. Touya managed to get Mitarai to open up a bit more and even coaxed him to talk about his family.

"It's just me and my parents and my older sister—Maru," Mitarai said. "She's seventeen."

"What's it like having a sibling?" Touya wondered.

"It's all right, I guess." Mitarai shrugged. "We don't always get alone, but I guess that's part of having a sibling, right?"

"I wouldn't know," Touya said quietly. "I don't have any siblings."

"Oh, you're an only child?" Mitarai asked. "I'm sorry."

Touya shrugged. "It is what it is."

He doubted he would have a healthy relationship with any siblings anyway. Such was part of being an ice demon. Idly, he wondered how Yukina was doing. She had left during Touya's stay with Genkai to look for her brother. He had no doubt that Yukina could take care of herself; she looked fragile on the outside, but she was strong within.

They never talked to anyone, but that didn't matter because when they returned to the train station after an hour, Kurama announced that he had found a man willing to let them ride up to Demon's Door Cave in the back of his pickup truck.

It was not Touya's preferred way to travel. It was uncomfortable being crammed into the back with six other people and the ride was bumpy and twisty. He was very glad when they finally reached the small roadside park that would lead to Demon's Door Cave. They thanked the driver profusely for his kindness and he drove off with a wave.

They were just about to enter the roadside park when a voice called out, "Hey you guys! Wait up!"

They turned and saw Urameshi walking towards them with…

Is that really Hiei with him? Touya wondered.

It was. There was no mistaking it.

"You guys got here fast," Urameshi said. "Must not have run into traffic. Or had any traffic running after you."

What on earth does that mean? Touya wondered.

"Would you care to elaborate on your cryptic words?" Kurama asked.

"Oh, I just ran into some problems with Sniper. It's been taken care of," Urameshi said vaguely.

"Well, now that we're all together again, shall we continue on to Demon's Door Cave?" Kurama said.

"Oh, you mean we're done sitting on our assess waiting patiently?" Urameshi said.

"Put a sock in it you impulsive twit. The tunnel opens soon. Your sarcasm won't close it any faster!" Genkai snapped.

"While it is imperative for us to get Kuwabara back before the tunnel is complete, we should still exert caution," Kurama said.

"Agreed," Genkai said. "We'll send a small scouting party ahead to see what things are like. Mitarai, you'll lead the group, since you said you have been here before."

Mitarai nodded. "I will be able to lead you through the maze of tunnels."

"Good," Genkai said. "Yusuke, you, Kurama, and Hiei will go with him."

"And why the hell should we trust him?" Hiei demanded, glaring at Mitarai.

"I…I know how this looks," Mitarai said. "But I really am truly sorry for what I did and I want to atone for my sins."

Hiei snorted, but Urameshi gave Mitarai a long look. "I trust you," he said.

Mitarai smiled weakly. "Thank you."

As he, Urameshi, Kurama, and Hiei walked off, Touya heard Urameshi say, "So Kurama, did you ever figure out why Sensui wants Kuwabara so badly?"

"Touya, could I have a quick word?" Genkai said.

"Uh yeah, sure," Touya said, surprised.

Genkai led him out of earshot of the others and regarded him seriously. "How are you feeling, Touya?"

"Oh um…all right I guess," Touya said, taken aback by Genkai's sudden gentle tone.

"Does your chest hurt at all?" Genkai asked.

"No, not at all. It's not even sore like the last time I was stabbed in the chest during the Dark Tournament," Touya said.

"That's good," Genkai said. "That means it's healing well. You should still be careful, though."

Touya nodded. "I will, Master."

He was relieved that she didn't bring up his pregnancy because he honestly hadn't thought about it at all. All thought of it had gone out the window with this new crisis looming and he still didn't know what to do about it.

After about an hour, Mitarai, Urameshi, Kurama, and Hiei came back and Touya knew something was wrong.

"Master Genkai, I'm afraid we've run into a complication," Kurama said. "It appears that in order to progress, we have seven people, no more, no less."

Genkai frowned. "I see. Well, I suppose we have no choice but to comply. Kaito, Yana, you'll come with me and the others. Kido, I want you to stay here and guard Touya."

"All right," Kido said.

Touya was surprised that he was taking his orders so well; out of the three of them, he had had the most trouble submitting to Genkai's authority. And yet as the others headed back into Demon's Door Cave, he merely sat on a nearby boulder with a sigh.

"Is everything all right?" Touya asked.

"Yeah, fine," Kido said. "It's just—"

Touya would never know what was on Kido's mind because his eyes widened and blood spurted from his mouth. A few moments later, a knife appeared through his chest and he toppled to the ground, dead. By the time Touya realized what had happened, someone had grabbed him from behind.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" he yelled, struggling.

"You're a feisty one, aintchu?" a voice chuckled in his ear. "You oughta think twice before you put up a fight. You see, there are a lot more of us than there are of you and fighting might end very badly for you, if you know what I mean."

Touya sagged in his captor's arms. They were right, of course. Trying to fight was pointless, especially when he saw how many others there were. All of them were massive demons of varying types, demons he had no chance of resisting. He allowed them to bind his wrists and walk him towards Demon's Door Cave. He glanced at Kido's body as he walked away and he had to fight back tears.

I'm so sorry, Kido, Touya thought. All of this is my fault.

Then, they were in the cave, heading for whatever nefarious purpose the demons had in store for him.

.o.O.o.

Author's Note: I just want to warn you guys that there may not be a whole lot of updates in the upcoming months. I'm getting ready to release a book and I'm not entirely sure how much time it's going to suck up, especially since I'm starting a new job as well. I do have enough done that I can at least post one chapter next month and one chapter the following month, but that may be all I do. I apologize heartily in advance and beg for your patience.