File 13: Curtain closes: the End of the Shiseiju!

The door of destiny broke down under the weight of the zombies' insanity and bloodlust. But when they entered, their two victims were nowhere to be found. Then Iwamoto noticed the tip of Keiko's yellow scarf stuck inbetween the double doors of the locker. Imitating the teacher, the other people controlled by the Makai bugs took the brooms and mops leaning against the wall and repeatedly jabbed the locker with them, piercing and destroying it, intending to skewer Keiko and the other female.

Yusuke cried out her name, and no longer able to bear it, lowered his heard and began cry while the original Suzaku would laugh triumphantly. Now it was his turn to die. And under merciless amethyst eyes, the torture continued; the pain more excruciating than before, as six of his enemies kept electrocuting him with a continuous stream of electricity.

In the Reikai, George too was despairing. Despairing that no matter how strong his reiki, Yusuke would not be able to defeat Suzaku. In which case there would be no stopping the tremendous growth of the number of people infested by the Makai bugs and the earth would fall into complete chaos. The little prince was just as scared but would still react defensively to his subordinate's awful statements. Akari would do something before that happened. But then the ogre remarked that if Enma Daioh returned and the mission to eliminate the Shiseiju had failed, Koenma wouldn't get away with a mere hundred spankings. In fact, even ten thousands spanks would not suffice. The toddler was now seriously freaking out as he cared more about his bum than about the fate of the Human World.

"Akari, do something!" The little one pleaded.

Akari's annoyance and restlessness had grown over time. She had a bad feeling. And seeing that no matter how many plant people they beat, more kept coming, she decided to take harsh measures. She called her friends to stop fighting and come to her side if they didn't want to become collateral damage. She would end it in one attack. Kurama and Hiei reacted instantly but Kuwabara lagged a little. She didn't wait before unleashing her attack. A ring of fire surrounded the four 'invaders', singeing Kuwabara's heels, before tongues of fire suddenly detached themselves and swooped down on the Youshoku Ningens, instantly burning them to ashes. They merged into two great fiery snakes and went down very far into the tunnels, reducing every plant person to dust. The girl stopped her reiki and the fire disappeared.

"Let's go." She began to run, ignoring the impressed and concerned looks her friends were giving her... or their complaints that she should have done that sooner. But it couldn't be helped. She had expected her friends' power to be a little more... significant, but no. They entered the tower. They were running up the spiral staircase when they were face to face with more Youshoku Ningens. Kuwabara and Akari cursed before lunging at their enemies along with their precious demonic allies. When suddenly she felt an alarming change in Yusuke's ki and intervened the way she could to buy time and save her comrade in the same time.

Higher in the tower, Suzaku was still torturing Yusuke who was ineluctably falling into despair and darkness as tears were falling from his eyes. Until he heard Akari's voice in his head.

"Bonehead! What can you do if you give up after just this?!" She was scolding him as she had done so many times when she and her grand-ma were training him.

"But Keiko is..." The boy tried to reply, unable to finish his sentence.

"You big moronic fool! Keiko's in way better shape than you are!"

And indeed, when the detective looked up at the screen, he saw Keiko and Botan jumping in from the open window and knock the zombies down with their mops before making their escape through the broken door. Suzaku cursed his minions' worthlessness. There was nothing he hated more than when things didn't go as he had planned. This didn't only get Yusuke's spirits up but he became overconfident. He had forgotten that he was still at his enemy's mercy and that the demon had none. And the original Suzaku added his own lightning charge to the ones already racking the boy's body. And as the pain neared unbearability, Akari's voice echoed again in his mind.

"Blockhead! Why did you go and provoke him with that stupid smirk?! That's what you get for being a dimwit!"

"Stop saying that!" At that moment he really resented her mercilessness and her wide knowledge of synonyms for 'idiot'.

"What's wrong with calling a moron a moron? Idiot! Remember your training! Your training!" She ordered him.

Urameshi was standing upside down, only supported by his reiki-active index finger, on a pointed stake. Genkai and Akari were on either side of him. Genkai was sitting lotus-style, the tip of her right foot turned downward, supporting her weight with her reiki. But Akari was standing upside down exactly twenty five centimetres above the stake. She was controlling her reiki so it would gather at the top of her head before coming down on the stake in a thread-like beam of highly concentrated reiki. If she stopped the flow, she'd be impaled. Her eyes were closed, her hair in a loose bun held by two hair pins. And what more, her legs were pedalling and her outstretched arms were lifting barbells. She looked relaxed enough but Yusuke could barely begin to understand the amount of concentration and precision needed for such an exercise. Still, she made it look so easy that he couldn't help but feel some strong urges to kill her from time to time. After hours like this he was sweating and shaking from the effort. The old one was talking down to him like Akari had done just now and the young one would agree in a nice, calm condescending tone. The boy was sure he was going to die, as soon as his reiki had dried up. And they didn't seem to care. They were saying that it was only when they were nearing their limits that people could become stronger. The real battle began when you thought it was about to end.

"To be precise, you have to last till the moment before you die." Genkai would explain.

"A training like this equips you for battles stretching beyond what you are able to bear." Akari's eyebrows knit a little, as if recollecting something painful. She was speaking in experience. "Well, there are similar trainings for sports, just more safety-conscious."

"But the basic outline is the same. And that is to concentrate! Concentration is the only way to break your self-set limits of the heart!" Then the granny had had this annoying superior condescending grin that always made you want to punch her and provoked him saying that only those with loose will would croak and beg for mercy; and that if it went on, he was going to die before he'd even feel it. Akari had added that she had not even once begged for mercy although she had been years younger than him when she had been put through this for the first time. But this training had changed her priorities. Before killing that person, the prime reason she had to undergo these hardships, she first had to defeat that grand-ma and wipe that smirk off her face and make her acknowledge her.

Darn, what have I done to deserve this? The boy had wondered. To what the pink-haired girl would have replied that it was simply because he had been too stupid to see it coming and because he was too weak to afford to let that chance to become stronger pass him by. He was full of injuries from his fight with Randou? His summer vacation was gone? So what? With that pitiful level he had no time to lose.

And then he had not been able to stand it anymore. He had the reiki burst through his finger, used the recoil to jump and regain his balance. Genkai had just stared and scolded him. If he had this much strength left it meant that he had not been serious in his training. Yusuke had yelled at her and tried to fire a reigun. But the grandma had added that if he fired a reigun in this state he would surely die. And looking at her face you could have sworn that she found the situation very amusing. She had called Akari. Akari had sighed and also made her reiki burst forth so she'd be propelled skyward and, once she was high enough, dropped a kick on Yusuke heavy enough to make him bounce on the floor and land farther away, out cold. The boy had barely seen the kick coming. And while the young girl had landed in the exact same position, Genkai was giving her recommendations to the detective. Although, since he was still unconscious, one could say that he was sleep-learning. A highly effective method as he still remembered what she was saying.

"If you just concentrate your idle thoughts into anger, you can bring forth your dormant power like you did just now. The more earnestly you concentrate your mind, the stronger that power becomes. Got that? Concentrate! Concentrate your strength, concentrate your thoughts, your emotions, your willpower! Concentrate!"

My thoughts... concentrate my willpower... make my heart as one...

"The time is now." Suzaku said as he was about to deliver the death blow.

I'm not gonna die like this!

And feeling that the boy was back to normal, Katsuyama's presence left his mind and retreated back into her own.

Damned if I lose! He thought again, his ki gathering into his clenched fists. His emotions. When he had seen his mother crying his death, the battles of his friends against Seiryuu, Genbu, Byakko, Randou, when Hiei had proved his loyalty by killing the eye demon and pulling the lever. His emotions. When Akari alone had managed raise the Gate of Betrayal, when she had healed them all, and hugged Kurama and Hiei, the look in her eyes when she had slapped him and told him to concentrate, to keep focused. His emotions. His heart. When Keiko had kissed him, saving his life, bringing him back into the world of the Living. Botan who was doing her best to protect Keiko in his stead. Keiko's tears. He owed them all his life. It no longer belonged to him alone. For their sake, he could not afford to die, not that easily!

Damned if I lose!

"Suzaku, I'm going to defeat you!" And as the finishing blow was going to hit him, there was a huge explosion of reiki and the Suzakus were blown away.

But even so, Akari was not appeased. She had managed to make him hold out for now but the fact that he was at a huge disadvantage still hadn't changed. Hell! You could even say that his battery was almost completely depleted! If he couldn't kill Suzaku in one shot it would be all over for him! And in that case she HAD to be there, to give him time to recuperate, even just a few minutes, even just a few seconds! So he wouldn't die, because he had to be the one to defeat Suzaku, or he could never advance. She had no time to lose with that plant trash!

"Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara! I'm going ahead, hurry up and join us as soon as you can!" The girl told them, jumping on a plant person's head and disappearing out of their sight, without even giving them enough time to respond, and leaving only a trail of knocked over Youshoku Ningens behind her.

For, although even the young detective's helpers had been able to feel the explosion of energy from their own fighting place within the tower, it had lacked power to defeat the seven enemies. The two who had been holding Yusuke were down but all the other five had were scratches. So be it; the five jumped, summoning their lightning weapons for another Ankoku Raijin Ha but they had too little energy left after the torturing and the boy took the opportunity to release a shotgun. The human collapsed, not even having enough strength left to stand, and had to crawl toward the flute.

Worried about Keiko and Botan, he looked at the screen. They were still running away from their pursuers. He had to hurry. But his body was too weak to move like he wanted it to. And then Murg pushed the instrument further away and landed between it and Yusuke who aimed at her, threatening to turn her into yakitori servings. The bird tried to challenge him, saying he didn't have any power left but ended up flying away in fright before the boy's apparent confidence.

He was just centimetres away from the demonic object when someone stepped on his hand. He cried in pain and looked up to see Suzaku. He had been the only one to have not reveived a fatal wound. True, the destructive power had been impressive but it had lacked accuracy. He also knew that if Yusuke had a drop of power left he would haved used it to destroy both Murg and the flute together. The demon was injured but still quite capable of fighting, and as he was going to kick the boy away he instinctively raised his arms in a 'X' shape to block a tornado kick from the left. Looking up to see who had dared interrupt him, he was instantly caught in a golden glare, but he had no time to daze or be surprised as the tremendous force pushing him backward suddenly increased and he was sent flying into the wall far behind him. A second later, having barely recovered from his crash, he opened his eyes and saw a fist coming right at him and jumped sideways to dodge it. The punch cut his cheek and blasted a crater in the wall. Inbetween the bits and pieces of stone being blown away, her pink hair caught in the wind, the girl turned to face him, her golden eyes sharp and bright. He did several back flips to land as far away as possible. He had not expected her to have such power or such speed left. She had healed these guys, she had lifted the Gate of Betrayal, released that fire attack burning down his Youshoku Ningens, and now...

"Yusuke, concentrate on destroying the flute and resting. I'll play with this guy until you feel strong enough to give him the finishing blow."

"Murg, protect the flute!" Suzaku ordered the bird, not taking his eyes off Akari. He could not afford to give her any opening. "Play with me you say? Let this brat give me the finishing blow?" He glared at the girl, his cold and cruel purple eyes narrowed down to slits, annoyed at being underestimated so much.

"Yes, play with you. Because killing you and destroying that whistle is not my mission; and I'm not the type to make any unnecessary effort. However, I can't let you kill him either. You'll make a good stepping stone for Yusuke. So until he restores his strength I'll be your opponent. You should feel honored." The pink haired human smirked, a daring gleam in her eyes.

"Don't provoke me so much or you'll regret it, woman." The demon glared at her. That girl infuriated him and yet he had never felt so challenged.

"Say what you will if it makes you feel better. But shouldn't you heal yourself first? I've come all this way, don't let it go to waste."

He feared her, and he hated it and loved it at the same time. Suddenly he laughed and pointed at the girl.

"That's it! I'm going to break you and make you mine! You will pay for having defied me!" The demon extracted the youki from his fallen selves and absorbed it, healing all his injuries. And deprived of their substance, the soulless bodies disappeared. With her at his side conquering the three worlds would be easy. Although human, this female had both beauty and power. And she was the grand-daughter of Master Genkai, THE human every demon wished to kill. He had to have her, his queen, his trophy, he had to defeat her, tame her, mark her as his, so that everyone would know that he – Suzaku – had triumphed over Katsuyama Akari, the human Elemental Maiden, and granddaughter of Master Genkai!

Akari's smirk widened. It was a feral smirk. He thought he would be able to handle her? Somehow, it was beginning to get on her nerves. Holding back, not killing this guy right now. But it was necessary, for Yusuke, and for her to have a worthy rival who would always push her higher. Herself had already spent a great deal of energy notably in the Gate of Betrayal and when she was healing the guys. However, given Yusuke's personality she had no choice but to use a dangerous strategy, and trust him with her life. She cast a derisive look at his laying form before focusing back on Suzaku. Now was not the time to get distracted!

She spread her slender arms, her reiki spreading around her like a net, and suddenly, a flock of sharp reiki-hardened ice shards flew straight at the demon, which jumped high in the air to dodge the attack. But he had been slow, and he had parried the projectiles aimed at his vital spots, he had not escaped unscathed, and many bloody gashes were now covering him. But Akari had expected it and was already in front of him, her left hand grabbed his neck, her right one ready to pierce his belly. He managed to grab her right wrist while he sent a high voltage shock coursing through her petite body, forcing her to let go and kick him to get away. She landed and fell down on one knee, panting a little. Now this had been surprising. Such an agonizing sensation.

"And that was only a glimpse of what I can put you through. You've already wasted a great deal of energy, you can't beat me in your state." Suzaku boasted. "Now apologise and I won't make you suffer too much. And then kill Urameshi Yusuke and the two demon traitors to prove me your loyalty! It shouldn't be too hard since you once abandoned everything in search for strength. You just have to do it again." He taunted. Akari stood up, controlling her swaying, and chuckled derisively. "What's so funny?" He asked angrily and suspiciously.

"Despite all the research you did, you seem to have some grave misunderstandings about me. I'm an extremely selfish person. You're right, as you imply, I couldn't protect those I cherished the most so now I do everything I can to protect those around me. But that's only because I don't want the past to repeat itself. Back then I threw away everything I didn't need, my friends who could never understand me, help me, or accompany me, my humane feelings, my chances of a proper life, a future... everything in order to obtain power. I wanted the power to choose. To take and to protect what I wanted, and no longer have anything one-sidedly taken away from me. I chose the path of bloodshed. And I don't regret it. Sacrifices are necessary to accomplish one's goal after all. And that's why I can prioritize my goal over people's lives. For my goal, I could even let those guys die. But there's only one person who can make me do that. You... don't have that ability." The granddaughter of Genkai, one of the five great Masters of the whole Human World stood straight, tall, proud, strong, and she sneered like she was watching an insect struggling in a jar.

Besides, if it's those guys, they will surely make me stronger still. They will... give me strength.

Suzaku started shaking. He no longer knew whether it was from sheer, absolute terror or wrath or both. He... the great Suzaku... was inferior to her? Even though she should be in such a weak condition, why was he feeling like this? How come?! This made no sense. And yet, there was no denying it. That wasn't how things were supposed to happen! He hadn't expected that little human girl to have such strong mental fortitude. He couldn't find any opening...

"You... don't have that ability." The youkai gritted his teeth. She was... not even looking at him. She didn't consider him at all. That was... beyond infuriating.

"That's why, unfortunately for you, I'm still not planning on killing anyone, not even you. You got so confident just because you landed a blow on me? Fine. I'll let you do it. Try your chance. Give me your best shot. Unleash it, your strongest attack! I won't budge from this spot, and I won't use my powers. I'll face it head on and survive it! And then, I will send it right back at you!" The young girl challenged the demon.

"It seems like you really want to make me mad. Fine. That wish of yours, I'll grant it! I'll make you regret not having surrendered and begged when you could!"

The pink haired human watched intently as Suzaku positioned himself, raised his youki and duplicated himself, until there were seven of him; carefully analysing every second of the process. Ankoku Yorojin. That was quite the high level technique. She watched as the seven demons jumped, as they summoned lightning from the hole in the ceiling and formed bows and arrows out of the current and hardened them with their youki, she watched as they aimed at her, and released the deadly projectiles. She braced herself mentally; she relaxed her muscles. But it did not do much to lessen the excruciating pain raking through even the tiniest nerves of her body. Even if it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like her body was literally being split open and shattered in a thousand pieces. The female collapsed.

Murg was already congratulating her master. Suzaku was just as certain of his own victory and was approaching the fallen female warrior when he saw her move. His eyes widened. Yusuke had at least protected himself; but that girl... she had taken all five arrows directly, and she was still getting up?! And what was that smirk for? What did she think she was doing?! This stance... she couldn't possibly... The demon remarked with horror.

And yet it was possible.

"Don't look so scared: I won't duplicate myself like you did. Only one of me is enough. However, I have to thank you for having shown me that technique." Akari said with sadistic irony. Her left arm raised toward the sky, she sent a thread of reiki and summoned the lightning. She gathered a ball in her hand. "Ankoku Raijin-ken, was it?" Again, the energy was coursing through her body. But this time it was completely different than before. She was controlling it by controlling the flow of reiki. "Have you ever been victim of your own technique?" The rei master questioned, enjoying how her opponent would do his best to control his fear of her. She disappeared from his view; and a second later all Suzaku were thrown backward, a sharp pain searing through their bodies. Still confused and not fully understanding what had happened, the demons tried to stand up.

"Well, if you hadn't tried to invade my world, you wouldn't be losing so gruesomely against a little human girl, now would you? If only you had stayed still you could have continued to play the little tyrant for awhile. I hope that you are aware I'm purposefully letting you live." Akari taunted again. Her main objective was to stall time. And for that, nothing better than talking. Suzaku insulted her and threatened her again. But the human was paying no heed. She was watching Keiko and Botan on the screen. They were still on the run. These two really made a great pair. Yusuke had managed to stand up and, stumbling, was still desperately trying to get to the whistle. He could not afford to rest, saving Botan and Keiko came first. Of course he had been worried when he had seen Akari fall. No matter how strong she was, it was suicide to let that guy land such a direct hit on her! What was she trying to do?! It was dangerous! What would happen if she collapsed?!

However, she should not even have looked away. For with her expression, Suzaku had remembered what Murg had said about her. Katsuyama Akari's weakness: her concern for others. No matter what she'd say, she'd definitely use her own body to protect Urameshi. If he concentrated his attacks on him, while still saving his energy he had more chances to kill the boy and defeat the girl in the same time.

"You're going to regret your arrogance." The demon said, focusing the female's attention back on him. The seven jumped, once again preparing to launch another wave of lightning arrows. They released their attack. Akari noticed with horror that they were not aimed at her but at Yusuke behind her! If he got hit now he'd be killed on the spot! Faster than lightning, she kicked the boy away to safety; this extra second when they collided was all that was required for Suzaku's plan to work. Her speed had already started dropping.

"Akari!" Yusuke cried his friend's name.

The girl had taken the blow in Urameshi's place. The full impact of it. Yusuke could only watch helplessly as pain was again searing through her small and delicate frame, contorting her beautiful features. True, she was more resilient than any female and human Suzaku had met; but there was a limit to what a human body could endure. And with the continuous depletion of her energy, with all the stunts she had been pulling, she had at last passed her limit! Katsuyama Akari was down! With Urameshi as good as dead already and the two others who would not stand a chance against him; he had removed the last obstacle between him and the conquest of the Human World! The demon let out an almost psychotic laugh.

However, there was something both Suzaku and Yusuke. In a normal fight, she would have carefully avoided being hit like that again, she would have deployed a shield to deflect the shots. That was something she could easily do even while extremely low on energy. And she would have stolen his spectral energy and made it hers. And yet, she had chosen not to.

"Bastard!" The boy yelled at the Beast. "Don't you dare-"

"Dare what?" Suzaku cut him off. "You're not in any position to tell me what to do." He approached the unconscious body of the young human girl and knelt down. "Well, don't worry, I'm not going to kill her." He turned her around and raised her torso, before softly brushing aside the hair from her face. He placed his other arm under her knees and picked her from the ground, carrying the delicate sleeping form to the wall where he lowered her to the ground in a sitting position.

"Well, by all means she should be dead already. But since she isn't, killing her would be such a waste. I will turn her into a demon, and with her at my side, not only the Ningenkai but also the Makai and Reikai will kneel before me. My victory shall be complete, and everyone who dares challenge me will be mercilessly crushed by her." The demon cupped her chin, and slightly tilting her head backward, he pressed his lips against hers, as an opening to the new future he had gained by capturing her. That beauty, that strength, that indomitable spirit... that woman really roused a man's desire to subdue. Yusuke was mad with rage, his blood was boiling, he was going to lunge at Suzaku.

They suddenly heard Keiko crying out Botan's name. The spirit guide had just been hit on the side of her head by a metal bar. Bleeding, she merely had the time to tell her to run and escape before she too sank into darkness. No matter how much Keiko would call her, it was no use.

"It seems the end will be reached soon on this side too." The shiseiju commented, smirking, as his bug-controlled minions told the girls that watchers were everywhere outside. This time, no trick would do; they could not possibly escape on their own. Again, Suzaku summoned lightning from the sky. And yet, despite all his fury, Yusuke could barely stand on his own feet and was about to be blown away just by the wind pressure. He stood firm however, and used his very last drop of reiki to protect himself, lessening the impact of five arrows. And two were deflected. The demon could not believe that two of his blasts had strayed away. But then he noticed a crack in his left red antenna. His head turned sharply toward the still unconscious human against the wall. And he remembered. When Katsuyama had used his own attack against him, that must have been when... His antennas, the secret allowing him to control his lightning attacks, protected by a shell harder than diamond... that woman had cracked them?! His amethyst eyes narrowed in anger. She was gonna pay all the damage that she'd done... But first he had to kill Urameshi, who was getting up. That guy was also a tough one. But his destiny ended there.

"Urameshi, even supposing I cannot control my lightning waves that well, this will still be enough power to bury you! You have no energy left, but by chance, you will die at the same time your girlfriend!" Suzaku yelled, preparing to deliver the last blow to the detective.

Yusuke was completely desperate. Suzaku was right, he had absolutely no energy left, Akari was down, she would be turned into a demon at the mercy of that guy, and they would be killed, Kurama, Hiei, Botan, his mother, Keiko... and Keiko... Keiko...

"Yusuke!" He heard her voice beg. Turning to the mirror he saw her, curled up over Botan's unconscious body in a last hopeless attempt to protect her from being stabbed and mauled, her eyes tight shut, terrified. He saw her tears of fear and despair gathering at the corner of her eyes. He saw Iwamoto raising his arm, ready to kill. But the boy was not over yet. He had used up all his reiki, but he still had power left: he had not used up all his energy! Yusuke lost it. Something snapped within him, like a dyke had cracked and shattered, and he was suddenly engulfed by a power stronger than ever before. The demon realized that this human was burning up his very own life force. He was ready to die in order to defeat him. And it was that female in the Human World who had put that stupid idea in his head. A tinge of fear and panick was tainting his confidence.

The detective lunged at his enemies, his right fist surrounded by his energy. The seven Suzaku jumped, and unleashed their strongest attack. The detective faced it head on, broke through, and as Iwamoto's blow fell and Keiko cried out his name at the top of her voice, he released his most powerful shot gun, in front of Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara who had just entered the room. The attacks collided and clashed. There was a huge explosion, hurling the fighters backwards. Both Murg and the Flute were disintegrated. But the beams of life energy passed and pierced through all the seven Suzaku. Yusuke's last thoughts were for Keiko, hoping that she had survived, before darkness overcame him.

"If my lightning wave had been complete, I would not have taken this much damage. However you did splendidly Yusuke Urameshi." The last survivor of the seven Suzaku acknowledged, struggling to stand up once more. "Katsuyama Akari... well, I could feel satisfied." He trailed off with a little smile, remembering their battle, these feelings she had sparked in him, the taste of her lips. "Is this the power of the bond between you...?" He pondered, exhaling his last breath, and falling back down, his beautiful amethyst eyes now lifeless orbs. Yusuke had won. But at which price?


Author's note: please don't kill me :]