File 11: The Hero who slayed the Dragon

In the Spirit Realm, the baby prince and his servant were rejoicing. Koenma repeated that he had known all along that Kuwabara was strong and that he would be the winner. Georges remarked happily that only two Beasts were left, but the brat complained about the lack of information, until he noticed the book under the ogre's arm. When asked about it, the latter replied that he had tried and searched again in the archives and found this book about the Shiseiju. The toddler yelled at him that he should have told him sooner, and snatched the book and flipped through the pages. His eargerness soon turned into annoyance when he realized that he was holding a recipe book. He summoned two other oni to take George away and punish him. Though he still read the recipe.

In the castle, the fivesome reached an empty round chamber. There were doors everywhere. Yusuke and Kazuma were surprised, Hiei more annoyed than anything. Kurama explained that only one door led to where they wanted to go, all the others would only led to death in the most horrible traps. Once they had chosen a path, they wouldn't be able to go back. The other humans were scared but for Akari it sounded like one of the funniest places. She would have loved to go if she had had the time.

"Are you mad? Why would you do that? You want to die?"

"Why you say... for fun of course. I'm kinda curious, and not as weak as you." She smirked.

"What!? Who are you calling weak?!"

"Weak AND stupid. Oh well..." She ignored them, going to the second door to the right.

"Hey! Wait! How do you know it's the right one?"

"What? You mean you don't sense anything?" The female rei user exclaimed, surprised.

"Aka-chan is right. Don't tell me you can't feel the strong youki coming from that door." Kuwabara agreed, using this chance to sound cool, accomplished and dependable before sweet and cute little Akari. To prove his point he went and opened the door first, as to shield the girl with his body if the Beast or any danger were right behind it, ready to tear her tender and fragile body to shreds. But he suddenly recoiled and fell on his butt.

"A- a rat!" He squealed fearfully. Akari sighed, he had just defeated one of the Four Saint Beasts and he was scared of a cute little rat? They went on.

"They've done well to locate that doorway." Suzaku commented, looking at his 'crystal ball'. "It seems they have people among them with strong spiritual sensitivity. They have chosen the shortest route, one without traps, and are heading to our location. Though indeed, only myself and Seiryuu remain."

"Be at ease, Suzaku-sama. After all, the previous two were only opening acts. I, Seiryuu, would ask that you watch as I kill them all." The dragon declared, standing up from his kneeling position and taking a few steps toward the glowing ball. "Let the two of us carry out our advance toward the Human World alone!" And with these words, Seiryuu went to meet the invaders. After he had left, Suzaku continued to watch the pink-haired human through the ball, until he saw her look up. He saw the intensity of her golden gaze; he saw the power within her small frame; he saw the defiance of her smirk. He felt them. Like she was right before him. A shiver of fear and excitement ran down his spine as he almost drowned in her bottomless golden orbs before she looked back at the ones in front of her. After a time the demon cupped his chin in a thouthful expression. He wanted her. Her wild power, her beauty, to break and bend her untameable spirit to his will...

"That girl... is interesting." He said with a little smirk of anticipation.

The quintet arrived before a heavy metal door, guarded by two acceptable dragon sculptures.

"Such an ostentatious door." Kuwabara scowled.

Dragon sculptures, they must have cost a fortune... Hiei thought. Just like the fox he had not lost his instincts as a thief. Akari wondered whether she should bring them back to her granny as a souvenir. They would have a really nice effect at her temple door.

"This must be Seiryuu's door." Kurama reasoned with a tense frown, "The reiki flowing out of there is even stronger than before." The door opened, seemingly on its own, and a chilly mist crept through and slightly cleared as they resolutely entered. The door shut with a loud bang.

"Suzaku-sama is greatly upset at your defiance! However, this is as far as your misconduct goes." The dragon's bodiless voice echoed. Yusuke was angry at the monster for belittling them and demanded that he showed up already. They didn't have time to play hide and seek. He obeyed. There was a burst of light and youki, the fog cleared, revealing Seiryuu, legs apart, his hands behind his back. His skin was blue, his fierce and narrow eyes yellow. His hair was black. He advised them in his haughty manner to leave now if they did not want to die. Advice which was not very well received. But then they heard a sound. The beast grumbled that an uninvited guest had come. It was coming from the hallway they had just exited. The heavy footfalls were drawing closer. And Byakko opened the door, he had survived but not unscathed, and begged Seiryuu to lend him some youki. But the dragon was not so nice.

"You fool! To come here in disgrace! We no longer have any expectations of you. On the contrary you're an eyesore!" And he froze Byakko and shattered his body with a kick before boasting. "You were unable to see anything, right? I..."

"... delivered a hundred freezing punches in an instant, didn't you?" The female finished for him, her voice deceptively calm and a steely glint in her eyes.

"Seiryu... why?" The decapitated head of Byakko still managed to say as a single tear rolled down his cheek. But there was no need for weeklings at Suzaku's side. Useless losers were nothing more than trash. The blue demon spat on the fallen tiger's face who died a second after. As Kurama was saying, they had absolutely no sense of fellowship. Their desire to rule, kill and eat was the only thing that was driving them.

"Those who abandon their allies and disrespect any fighter who fought fair and square to the best of their ability... those are trash." The Katsuyama corrected, the flames of hell dancing in her eyes. "You, shall I destroy you? My patience is running thin." She pondered. She was looking at Seiryuu like at garbage crawling with maggots and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't clean it now. But she crashed against Kurama's chest just as she took off. He had had barely enough time to jump in front of her and catch her in a constraining embrace. He only held her tighter as she turned her frightening and yet interrogating eyes to meet his.

"This is not your fight. Please watch us until the end." The fox asked as a favor. Hiei had also stopped Yusuke. This time, it was his turn to fight.

Hiei stepped forward and took off his cloak, throwing it so it would cover Byakko's head. From him that was a sign of great respect.

"Hiei..." Akari whispered, slightly surprised. The dragon laughed derisively.

"So you're my first opponent." Seiryu continued with the same tone as before, "And what do you think you're doing? Don't tell me you're being moved by foolish emotions as well. With your atrocious ways, aren't you the same as we are?"

Hiei merely glared at him. But it was just a glare... and in such a situation... It was true that Akari had noticed that the little demon had begun to change but this... And seeing this Hiei, she felt confusingly that something had begun to change in her too.

"This is the first time I'm seeing Hiei like this." Kurama remarked. He had loosened a little his grip on the girl and now only his left arm was still (tightly) wrapped around her slim waist. "Didn't he use to do what Seiryu did just now? Yet his irritation at Seiryu's deeds is very clear." His hold on Akari tightened ever so slightly but his eyes remained fixed on his red eyed friend. "Hiei is feeling confused about it himself but... He's now full of an unprecedented amount of furious battle energy. This is something just as clear."

Both fighters took their stance. The tempature in the room suddenly dropped; a chilling wind was blowing. Seiryu had released his youki, but the jagan master was not affected. The dragon directed his youki at the swordsman who cut it in two. The ice cold gusts destroyed part of the wall on either side of the four watchers.

"Give me your life!" The huge demon suddenly yelled, lunging. Hiei easily dodged. As the blue youkai remarked, speed was his forte. Again and again, the dragon attacked, and again and again, the red eyed apparition evaded, always careful not to place his comrades in danger. Although when it was a close call, Akari was always there to protect them. And thanks to her, no cold could reach them. Her warm reiki was shielding them. And in her warmth they could unconsciously feel her caring for them, her still smoldering anger at Seiryuu and her passion for fights. Hiei was toying with his opponent. She was the only one who had noticed. Apart from the sphere Akari had placed around the observers, the room was quickly getting covered with a sheet of ice each time Seiryu missed his opponent while trying to hit him with his mato toryu ken, the strike that had frozen Byakko. However, one couldn't always run, and at last, Hiei's left leg was frozen too. The dragon bragged, but the short demon paid no real heed. Time for the last strike. Their youki increased in intensity and they lunged at each other. In a flash it was over.

Hiei had escaped unscathed. Seiryu cursed, next time, the little fellow won't be so lucky. His enemy merely chuckled as the ice covering his leg shattered to a shimmering dust. This level of power wouldn't work on him. There wasn't going to be a 'next time'. And on these words Seiryu litteraly fell to pieces in fountains of blood.

"Wh-when did he start chopping? I couldn't see anything at all!" Kuwabara's jaw fell to the ground. Due to the Katsuyama's reiki, the ice in the room melted.

"So fast!" Yusuke commented, impressed. Akari smiled sweetly and went to hug the winner.

"You cut him sixteen times, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Yusuke had lost track by half that amount. Everyone was amazed. Kurama had only seen the first stroke and before Kazuma realized anything, Seiryu was already in bits.

"Geez, you're so darn good. If we fight each other seriously again, you might just defeat me!" The Reikai Tantei admitted, embarrassed.

"Who knows." Hiei replied, closing his eyes, gently removing Akari's arms from his neck and walking away. Yusuke and Kuwabara had been expecting him to reply something like 'of course'... but no. Kurama smiled.

"Ever since he came here, he's been changing. He's gradually being influenced by you two." He put a hand on the girl's shoulder. Although in the fox's mind, the term 'attracted to' might have been closer to mark. Yusuke and Akari smiled, watching Hiei redressing himself in his cloak.

In the highest chamber of the castle, Suzaku shattered the crystal ball in which he had been spying on his 'guests'.

"A bunch of fools! Now that it has come to this, I shall destroy you myself." He clenched his fist. He was enraged. Then, a bird flew in and landed on the windowsill. It was green, with two little green horns on its head, mocking red eyes, and blue wavy hair.

"Suzaku-sama! Suzaku-sama!" The bird called in a very girly voice.

"It's you, Murg."

"Judging from your bearing, it seems the other three have lost, haven't they?" Murg smirked in that affectedly coy and half sardonic manner, the tip of her right wing hiding her beak.

"Mind your business. What have you found out for me?" Suzaku asked, coldly.

"Oh yes! I have found something most interesting! Please, look at the situation in the ningenkai, now. You can say this would be Urameshi Yusuke's fatal weakness." The two approached a huge oval mirror with a heavily ornamented frame. The image wavered to then show a young girl with shoulder-length brown hair blown away by the breeze, worried brown eyes, and a blue uniform. "This is Yukimura Keiko, Urameshi Yusuke's classmate."

"His girlfriend?"

"Something similar! Just a little more childish. She's also a very good friend of Katsuyama Akari." Murg giggled with a heavy undertone.

"And about this Akari?" Suzaku's voice sounded a little more curious and interested.

"For that girl, it's in the same time more complicated and more simple."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Years ago, her parents were killed and she abandonned her friends of the time to dedicate herself completely to becoming stronger. After a few years training with Master Genkai, her grand-mother and the only living relative she has left, she departed for the Makai and only came back recently. But despite her power and she's still a soft hearted human girl. Guilt must be gnawing at her heart. She has been unable to protect the ones she loved most and now she puts her life on the line to save those she can. She has been cut by the shadow sword to save Keiko Yukimura and another human child from Hiei."

"And yet she has obviously not become a demon..." Suzaku said, sounding more and more interested. If it came to Akari, it didn't matter who was to be targeted, she would risk her life to protect that person. Such incomprehensible behavior.

"Very well! I shall order the worms to concentrate on that school. Spill the fresh blood of that young girl to open the melodious prelude to the massacre! I shall teach them how foolish it is to go against me... I shall let them see the brutal death of that female!"

While lightning bolts were tearing the Makai sky apart, in the Ningenkai Botan was being chased by people controlled by the bugs and communicating in the same time with her little boss, Koenma. The people who were infested could no longer be kept at bay or controlled and were gathering together. She sounded desperate. Koenma, worried about his employee, ordered her to come back but then the ferrygirl tripped and fell. She was alright for now but surrounded with no way to escape. She managed to go a little further on all fours but now she litterally had her back against the wall. The zombie-like men were closing in. Scared to death but still determined to fight to the last, Botan shut her eyes and swung her baseball bat recklessly, with all her might. Suddenly, they hesitated, stopped and left, as if called somewhere else, to wreck havoc and destruction where they were more needed, more useful, called by their master in a way only they could comprehend.

Botan slowly stood up and looked. Ahead of her, only a few blocks away, was Sarayashiki Middle School. Following her instinct, she went after the zombies. She had a bad feeling about it. She was worried about Keiko.

Most students had already left the school, but as class representative and member of the student council, Keiko still had work to do, so she needed to stay and finish it. Iwamoto-sensei told her to go home and study for the tests (The semestrials would soon begin). She had the ability to make it to the top ten. The girl replied politely that she would go once her work in the student council room would be finished. The man then asked what had happened to Urameshi, he had been skipping for several days again. Same for Katsuyama. But Yukimura didn't know anything about that. Her tone was kind of angry too. After all, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Akari had left her waiting at the cinema without telling anything. Of course she resented it. The failure of a proper teacher appeared quite pleased. He advised her to cut her ties with Urameshi; that was what was best for her. He didn't say another word about Katsuyama. That girl was like Urameshi, always skipping or sleeping. Always making fun of the teachers. Always acting smart with him, always playing with words, always smiling, always condescendingly telling him off when he was only doing his job and taking care of the trash in the school. Who did she think she was?! She was just another violent brat. Yet something about her was scaring him and he hated her all the more. But even so she had the best grades in the school. She had to be hiding something!

Keiko agreed politely to what he said but when Iwamoto turned to leave she stuck out her tongue at him. She had never been that docile a girl. However, because of her lack of spirit awareness, she failed to see the makai bug that was on her teacher's shoulder crawling up his neck and into his ear.

A few moments later, Keiko was in the Student Council Room. She had just sorted out the materials that needed to be reviewed when the door slid open. The schoolgirl turned her head. It was Iwamoto-sensei again. She asked him if there were something else he wanted to say or ask. But something about him had changed: his eyes were bloodshot and thirsting for blood, his skin a more ashen colour, his mouth foaming, his teeth gritted together.

"Didn't I tell you to hurry home and study?!" He yelled savagely.

"Sen... sei." She stammered. She was trying to remain calm but fear was getting the best of her. The teacher raised his fist, veins clearly visible, he clenched it so tightly that his nails pierced the skin of his palm and blood oozed out. Keiko slowly stepped back. Suddenly the man lunged at her and tried to punch her, she screamed but managed to dodge him and escape. And while she was running away she could still hear the loud and completely crazed laugh of the newly created zombie.

"Disobedient students should die! No, they MUST die, Yukimura!" It was howling, raising its bloodied fist.

Keiko raced out of the building but could go no further. A group of zombies was blocking the front gate, and Iwamoto was coming from behind. She fled to her right, always so girlishly, swinging her arms across her body, thus increasing the air resistance and slowing her down. Anyhow, being the brainy one, Keiko had noticed that those people were not normal. But suddenly someone clamped their hand on her mouth and drew her in a flash into the bushes with them. Another enemy?!