Chapter 43 - The Die is Cast

A/N: Just a reminder that this chapter is in Hitomi's POV. This is a first for this story and if I pull it off right, I hope you will all enjoy reading it. A bit of a backwards time skip in the beginning. Sorry if this causes any confusion.

. . .

The bright light of the tear in time I had created faded slowly. It illuminated the faces of everyone in the room in an eerie light. When it was gone I was greeted with silence.

I was weary. It took a lot of my energy to send someone, even myself, through a time portal. I just hoped that Kasumi made it there safely...and that Hiei kept his end of the bargain.

Kasumi's soulmate was a tricky beast indeed. But I would contemplate his odd behavior later. I didn't have much time before Koenma lost his battle against his father. I had men out for my blood and soon they would be here. I couldn't let anyone get caught up in the crossfire.

They were too important to the future. I had changed so much already...I couldn't allow anything else to happen.

"They're gone then?"

Keiko...that girl. I didn't like her. I didn't like the way she acted around Kasumi. I didn't like the way she had tried to take my place while I had been away. Kasumi did not need another sister. Kasumi did not need anyone.

She would soon learn that for herself.

She would face her hardest test yet. And come out a changed woman.

"Yes, they are gone," I answered Keiko.

"Now what?" asked Kazuma.

"Now you all go back home," said Takahiro. He shifted from beside me, rubbing at his temples.

I had taken too much.

But after feeling the power he held...I couldn't help but gorge myself just a bit.

He shot a hidden glare in my direction, as if he'd heard my thoughts. I blinked at him. It was always best to play dumb, though it didn't often work on him.

He knew what I was...who I was. He could see through everything.

"We can't just return home and pretend three of our friends aren't trapped in another time!"

Keiko again. Whining...grating. This wasn't who she was. Wasn't what she had been. Show your true colors girl…

I stepped around the now faded blood circle, careful not to scuff the marks and destroy it. It would take a bit of time for them to cross the timeline...and then faze through dimensions. If the circle was broken too soon they would be trapped.

"If you do not leave you will be arrested along side me," I said.

Keiko's eyes narrowed at me, her lips turning down into an angry frown. "I'm not going to run away."

I stared at her...and the Kuwabara sister Shizuru. She had stepped up beside Keiko, in full agreement, cracking her knuckles as if preparing to fight me on it. I wondered if Hiei's sister Yukina would agree with the girl as well, but she sat demurely and merely observed. I found this odd as well...that girl had a fire inside her too.

People made little sense to me.

"It would be foolish of you to remain here. Do as my uncle says," I said.

I fully planned to walk away when a hand at my arm stopped me. Although it was light and hesitant I still froze up like a statue. I dragged my eyes from the floor to stare at Kurama. The ultimate bane of my existence. The man I had grown to hate the years I'd spent in the future.

It was his fault…all of it.

Well...that wasn't a story for now. I had other things to deal with.

I moved just out of his reach and looked at him quizzically, "Can I help you?"

Just as I knew would happen after he touched me his eyes had turned calculating. I could see the wheels turning inside his mind, trying to discern something about me I didn't need anyone knowing just yet.

True to form, he pretended he had sensed nothing. "We cannot just allow you to be taken away. The crimes you committed were for the greater good."

"It won't do anyone any good if you are all in prison as well."

There wasn't much time left...any minute now, I thought.

And there it was. The sound of tennis shoe covered feet racing down the hall, the shouting of a woman - and then Botan burst through the door.

Out of breath and panting she tried to say, "Here, now, time to go!"

I heard Kazuma swear, his reiken bursting to life between his fingers. Kurama stood beside me defensively - why I had no idea. I was not his to protect. In fact, I needed no protection at all.

"I plan to go peacefully," I said.

The redhead turned to me in shock and I just held up a hand and smiled. "It is my fate."

Botan stood in the doorway looking between us and then her eyes shot to Keiko as the girl stepped forward.

"You can't just leave! Kasumi spent years searching for you!"

"I am aware and I am sorry...but I must do this."

"You're not sorry at all," she snapped. "You have an agenda all your own and you plan to stick to it with no thought of your sister."

I glared at her, angry now. I don't think she realized how different I was from what Kasumi thought of me. I had no doubt my "sister" had told her stories...had filled her head with bits and pieces of what she should know about me.

But all of it was a lie.

"You know nothing about me." I stepped around Kurama and up to Keiko. I placed my hands at my hips and cocked my head to the side. "But I know everything about you."

"Excuse me?!"

"Yukimura Keiko. Twenty years old. Born January 31st, 1977. Business major with an English minor at Tokyo University." I paused, delighted in how wide eyed she'd gotten. "Your family owns Yukimura Diner. You are Yusuke's childhood friend. You met Kasumi while being mugged - "

"Enough!" She cut me off, slicing a hand through the space between us. "How could you possibly know all that?"

"I know most things about everyone here…" I said.

I could tell my answer infuriated her, because it wasn't really an answer at all so much as it was an avoidance of the question.

I could hear the stomping of booted feet through the open door. Botan backed away, joining Keiko and staring at me in worry.

I smiled at her. I didn't mind Botan.

But I needed to say one last thing. I pointed at Keiko. "You are not here to take my place. Kasumi does not need someone who will drag her down."

Her face morphed through a range of emotions - shock, anger, hurt. I didn't feel sorry for her. I knew better.

"I'm not dead weight!" she finally yelled.

"Prove it," I snapped. That was when Enma's men came dashing through the door.

They surrounded the room, blocking any exit. I had guns pointed at me from all sides. I held my hands up in surrender.

"I'm ready," I said. "They were not involved."

"We only want you," the apparent leader said.

"Please rethink this," Kurama hissed urgently.

I shook my head. No, this was supposed to happen...had to happen.

And so I allowed the group of men to place me in energy binding handcuffs and lead me through a portal to the Reikai.

. . .

Days later I sat on a thin bed chained to a cement wall. Warded bars kept me contained. I hadn't moved from this spot since being placed here. I hadn't eaten. I hadn't spoken to a soul.

Even now, the prince of the Reikai stood outside the bars trying to get some kind of reaction from me. I gave him nothing. It was best he was kept in the dark as well. It would make his efforts of overthrowing his father just a little easier.

"Hitomi-san," he whispered. "Psst, Hitomi-san."

It took most of my willpower not to roll my eyes. Why wouldn't he just go away.

Something flew by my face and clattered at my feet. My eyes flicked down. A candy bar…

Goddamn him.

I bent to pick it up and tore it open, snapping up a bite and sighing at the taste. I loved sweets. Kasumi had always baked when we were younger and I was shit at it.

"Will you talk to me know?" he said, voice hushed.

Not that it mattered. I was in an isolation cell. No other prisoners were kept here. But I knew we were being watched. There were cameras everywhere, but they only picked up noise if it was loud enough.

I still didn't look at him but I nodded, continuing to maul the chocolate bar.

"Why did you let them take you?"

"It was my fate," I replied.

I heard him sigh, "I know that...but if you knew what was going to happen why go?"

"I've confused the timeline enough."

He hummed in agreement. Koenma couldn't see the future or time travel like I could, but he knew things as well. Mostly they pertained to a person's life, past and present...and their inevitable death. It was the burden held only by the ruler of the judgement gate.

But I supposed the burden would only become harder to bare once he took his father's place.

"Why are you suddenly so worried about the timeline. What happens if you mess with it further?"

"You know," I said.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him sink to a crouch, his fingers wrapped around the cell bars. "I was afraid you'd say that."

I shrugged, tossing the empty candy bar wrapper across the cell. It landed in the corner, crumpled and sad. I felt like that wrapper right about now.

"My father can't kill you."

No, he couldn't. It would make Kasumi the automatic holder of the key to Purgatory. That was the last thing Enma wanted.

I would face trial...if only for Enma to make a show of abiding by the Reikai's laws. And then he would sentence me to life imprisonment. It was exactly what he'd hoped would happen. He figured he'd gain total control over the key that way.

"It doesn't matter if he does. As long as he waits until I return Kasumi to our time."

"He won't kill you."

I went back to pretending I was a statue then. My conversation with him was done. He would only ask more questions that I had no right to answer. Koenma might be a demigod but even he wasn't privy to certain aspects of the future.

"Hitomi-san," he hissed. I ignored him. I heard him huff and then rise from his crouch. The sound of his soft footsteps as he left my cell's pod was the last sound I heard for days.

I sat in silence, awake, aware. The rush of my blood and sound of my breath my only companions.

I hadn't slept in a very long time.

But as they say - I can sleep when I'm dead.

. . .

I'd been placed in heavy chains, manacles around my wrists and ankles. They dragged behind me, clattering against the marble floor beneath my feet. I was escorted by two guards from the SDF. Enma would take no chances with me.

I was just lucky Ren had defected...in the original timeline he stayed with the SDF. He didn't fall in love with Kasumi and he would have been my downfall.

Of course...though I had changed that course of events, he had still messed up royally. Coming between those two...and in that way…

I could not place all the blame on him, however. Kasumi was just as much at fault. My counterpart lacked control. It had been an irritation of mine as we had grown older. She was fire...and well, I was ice I suppose, if you could use such bland terms for what we were.

Lost in my thoughts, I did not notice that my steps had slowed. I was smacked in the back with the butt of a rifle. I stumbled forward but regained my footing...and dignity. I would not bow to them...I would not quake in fear. This was my fate. This was the choice I had made.

My two guards led me to a set of monstrous double doors. They were wood and red and so tall I could only just see where they ended. Massive chains were used to open and close them.

One of the guards called out that they had arrived and so began the process of wedging them open inch by inch. When it moved just enough for us to fit through, they shoved me forward.

I did not stumble this time, even though the chains beneath my feet wrapped around my ankles. I kicked them out of my way, held my head high, and stepped forward.

I had entered into Enma's throne room. Today it would be used to hold my trial. The balconies and lower levels were littered with people, ogres, and spiritual beings alike. The two guards and I stood before a set of stairs. Those stairs led to a raised dais which would put me just below the king of the Reikai's throne.

I always forgot how unnervingly large he was in real life.

I did not understand why he was bothering with this farce. Even now, there were forces amassed to overthrow him. They all must have some clue by now…

"Step forward Morimoto Hitomi," his voice boomed. It shook the floor and stirred up a foul wind in the air.

With my arms still shackled behind my back and manacles wrapped around my ankles, I shuffled up the stairs. I did not acknowledge anyone's presence but Enma's. I knew who was hidden amongst the crowd...and why they had come.

An ogre scuttled forward once I had reached the dais. He stood at Enma's massive feet and unfurled a scroll. He cleared his throat and began. "Morimoto Hitomi, born December 2nd 1977. Her crimes are as follows - "

He proceeded to list off every horrible thing I had done in the name of justice - starting with the slaying of Kasumi's father's brother. I did not understand why Enma kept up these pretenses...he was well aware of who I was. What I was.

"You are facing trial today for crimes of treason. Tampering with the space time continuum is punishable by death." The clerk finished, rolling back up the scroll and moving back to his seat.

"How do you plea?" asked the king.

"I think you and I both know there is no point to this circus," I said instead.

His anger could be felt throughout the room. Enma was a god, albeit a corrupt one, and he could kill everyone here without batting an eye.

But I was not afraid. I had seen what would happen here. And I was ready for it.

"If you refuse to answer you will be given an automatic life sentence in Reikai's most guarded prison."

"So be it," I said.

"Get her out of my sight!" He sliced a hand through the air. It caused my hair to blow around my face and blur my vision.

Those same two guards that had escorted me here raced up the stairs to retrieve me. Two things happened then.

First, a loud shout rose up from amongst the crowd in the balconies. A call to arms.

And second, Lord Koenma had more supporters than I had originally thought.

Chaos ensued. Three quarters of the crowd that had gathered to witness my joke of a trial surrounded Enma's only remaining loyals. And then the prince stepped forward to confront his father...Amano Ren at his side.

"This corruption ends today father. I will not let you imprison Hitomi-san."

"What is the meaning of this, Koenma?!"

"I, as well as many of the citizens here, believe you are no longer fit to rule the Reikai."

Enma climbed to his feet, his body so massive that you could not even make out his face. I thought he meant to crush Koenma, to stomp out his son like he was nothing but an insect.

"Morimoto-san." I whirled around to find a woman standing behind me. I did not recognize her. Did not care to know her. "Please, come this way."

I shook my head no and then held out my wrists. "Unlock these." I could see she had taken out the guards. I knew she must hold the key to my shackles.

She hesitated and I shook the chains at her, "Now."

She did as she was told but grabbed my hand, as if to drag me away. My power freed I allowed some of it to seep from my fingertips. She let me go immediately. The aura I exuded was nothing like Kasumi's, nothing like the people who were and would mold and shape her. But it was old and new and vibrant and different all the same. The woman was right to be fearful.

"Koenma!"

The ground shook in the king's rage. The people not involved in the uprising were pushing their way out of the throne room. Not many had remained to defend their king...and they had been subdued easily.

"Hitomi-san!" an urgent voice hissed. My mouth turned into a thin line.

The woman from before had come back with reinforcements. "Kurama," I said.

He stared up at me from the stairs leading to the dais, eyebrows raised towards his hairline. I supposed he hadn't expected me to be as cold as I was.

But many things had changed while I was away. Learning of my true self was part of it.

"We are here to take you back home," he explained, holding out a hand.

I flicked my eyes to that palm that tried to seem inviting and then turned my back on him. That place wasn't my home.

I stepped up to Amano Ren...and placed a hand on his elbow.

He turned shocked eyes to me but I did not explain. I pushed my power into his body, into his blood, into his soul…

He gasped and I pointed up at Enma. "Do it," I said.

"You dare defy me?! I will have your heads!"

I smiled up at the king. With pure viciousness I said, "Perhaps you should have thought it through before playing such a dangerous game."

King Enma had done so much more than twist and betray and hide how demons really were. He'd spent centuries torturing and destroying and ruining the lives of so many, human and demon alike.

And then there was the overthrowing of the old gods - gods such as Chronos. He'd gained his throne through trickery and back handedness. It was disgraceful.

Koenma, honest and smart and worthy. He would make a much better ruler. Which is why I stood behind him now...even though he would soon take my fate into his hands. It would be difficult...but he must do what was prophesied.

I could trust him to do what was needed.

"Do it now Ren!" Koenma screamed. His father's massive hand was reaching down, down, down...intending to crush his son.

Amano Ren, using the power I was still pushing into his veins, shot out Threads of Fate. Enma was frozen to the spot, unable to move. Ren's face was grave, broken, hollow. He knew what would happen next. He had known for sometime now.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything you did for her," I said.

He didn't look at me. But I watched a single tear fall from his eyes and stain his cheek. Even with my gift…

Amano Ren would die today.

He would sacrifice his body for the greater good. He would put a true king on the throne. He would protect Kasumi and everyone she loved. He would help save the three worlds today. This final act would absolve him of all his sins.

With a great yell he pushed his soul into his threads. In return he took and took and took from the king. Enma was on his knees, his power draining. But Ren...Ren couldn't hold something like that in. It would explode from within...it would chip away at his own soul and overpower it. Ren would cease to be.

And Enma's exorbitant power would be let free. It would return to the nether...where it rightfully belonged. And with it new life would be born.

The die was cast on Ren's life. But his soul would be greeted by eternal peace. He wouldn't be reborn...he would return to the atmosphere as well...and live on forever in that way.

No more pain. No more suffering.

"Tell her…" his breaths were pants now. His legs were shaking. "Tell her...tell her I love her. One last time."

I nodded, though he couldn't see. I would tell her as my final thank you to him.

"Koenma!" His father beseeched him one final time.

It mattered not...the die had been cast.

With one final pull Ren ripped the threads from Enma's body. The king had turned white...as if now made of ash. He fell to the side, his great body taking out the balconies and crushing the stone pillars holding up the ceiling beneath him. The ceiling began to tremble. The ground shook as if a massive earthquake had just rocked the entire building.

"Come! We must run, this place is about to collapse!" Koenma grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Ren. I allowed it, keeping pace behind him as he ran. Kurama was not far behind.

A crowd gathered behind us, running for the exit as well...but giving their new ruler a head start.

But through that crowd, on that raised dais, I saw Amano Ren fall to his knees as if in slow motion. His arms rested at his sides, his face turned up towards the crumbling ceiling.

And like the tick of a time bomb a light began to pulsate from within him. It was bright and golden and pure...so much different than the being it had been stolen from.

He contained it just long enough to allow Koenma and his supporters to flee for safety.

And then Amano Ren exploded like a dying sun, taking the entire building with him.

And he knew no more pain…

. . .

Koenma and Kurama took me out of the Reikai, though Koenma returned soon after. He'd wanted to make sure I was safe. For now, I needed to be alive. That was important. But it was now low on his list of responsibilities. He had a kingdom to raise from the ashes.

He left my safety in the hands of the youko. I tried not to cringe. I needed to be nice to him, if I wanted him on my side. I had a feeling he already knew what I was...or had at least a notion. Perhaps he was not certain on the exact details. The man was far too smart.

"If I could, I would like to return to Takahiro's compound, please."

Kurama paused in his walking to turn and look at me. "It's already been decided that you will be staying at Master Genkai's."

I blinked. Then blinked again. He meant to confine me then?

"I would rather not. Thank you anyway." I walked passed him, intent to go my own way.

He grabbed me before I made it even two steps up the street. Old, shrewd green eyes bored into me. I looked up at him, the picture of innocence, and waited for him to give me a command I would not obey.

"Kasumi spent years looking for you. But I have a feeling you didn't want to be found."

I cocked my head and shook his hand off. "Of course I didn't."

"Why?"

"I think you already know."

"It would be better if I heard the truth from you instead of making assumptions."

"It would be a waste of breath," I said.

He shifted, chin tilting a little higher. His eyes narrowed. There was a wariness there. He knew. He knew but wanted to deny it. I couldn't blame him, I'd denied it at first too.

"All I ask is that you do not tell Kasumi or Hiei."

"I can understand Kasumi-san...but why Hiei?"

"The future depends just as much on him as it does her." I moved around Kurama. I would go to the temple, if only to defuse this situation. "He's an important chess piece."

I could feel the glare he shot at my back for using such a term. But it mattered not. I simply told the truth.

Once he took me to the temple I would teleport out of there. I would bide my time until I would have to summon Kasumi back. And when that happened…

I would run again. I would run until I was needed. There was no point in her growing attached to me again. It was best to distance myself from her...from this life.

After all…it had all just been one big beautifully terrible dream.

And all dreams must someday come to an end.

. . .

A/N: I have several things to touch on. First of all, I'm sure you all noticed how strange Hitomi actually is. There will be one more chapter in her POV that will explain things further. And to all of you that thought her and Kurama would end up together LOL. And now the biggest elephant - Ren's death. So many of you hated him and thought he was the bad guy the entire time. Did he have his moments when he as a real prick? Yes. But he was human. And he loved Kasumi against all odds. His death has been planned since the beginning. And it was heartbreaking for me to write because I loved Ren. His obsession with action figures, his love of music, the fact that even though it was to watch over Kas he was really a great cop. He stood in the way of her and Hiei, but he wasn't just there for a love triangle or to add drama to the story. I had a plan for him and I'll be sad to see him go. Anyway, back to Kas next chapter! Thanks for reading!