File 40: Rise of the Meikai Gods

A heavy torrential rain was pouring down in the Reikai and lightning was tearing through the dark and ominous sky. Koenma was staring through the window. What the hell was going on? This amount of rain was not normal! Georges burst into the room. The Sanzu River was overflowing! The Ogres who had been desperately struggling to dyke it had been overcome and were fleeing back inside the palace. The huge door was closed and the river crashed against it in humongous waves. However, the level and pressure were still rising extremely rapidly and soon, the water smashed the gate. The onis were panicking in the office. Water had broken through the Gate of Judgement and there was a crack in the upper part of the Gate. Someone yelled to take the important files. The water, passing through every opening, kept rising and flooding the upper levels. The second and third ones had already been submerged. Georges begged Koenma to take refuge but the Prince still wouldn't budge from his chair. Suddenly, the toddler seemed to realize something...

"No... it can't be... Summon Botan immediately! I'll be in the Great Vault!" He ordered.

"But my Lord... now is not the time to-"

"Hurry up!"

"Yes!"

Flying on her oar, Botan was looking for her employer and calling him in the middle of this apocalyptic scenery before she heard his voice. She found him holding onto a pillar, barely hanging in against the sheer power of the flow. Exhausted, he let go and was washed away. Botan followed to save him. He fell down a short waterfall and into a tunnel and then another long waterfall. The ferry girl caught him and they landed atop a pillar. The prince gave her a glowing object.

"Anyhow, this cannot be allowed to fall into their hands! Hurry and take it to Yusuke! And tell Akari that if she can't stay out of it, she must be extra careful! I'm sure she already sensed the changes and things aren't looking too good for her but all the more reason not to act recklessly! She can't get caught! There is no other way to save the Spirit World! Do you understand?"

"Y-yes!" Botan nodded and took the precious object. Koenma told her to go. He had to stay here. The ferry girl obeyed. And soon after she had left, her master was washed away. Flying under the rain, watched with horror as the palace was completely submerged. She was hit by lightning and fell in the raging sea.

At Sarayashiki middle school, Keiko was angrily looking for Yusuke. Normally she'd be looking for Akari too but she had recently transferred to Meiou High. Indeed, upon her return from the Makai she should have immediately attended high school but because of her long blank her level had first to be ascertained which was why she had first been placed in a middle school. Kurama-san had supervised her and her studies and since he was the only one who could handle her it seemed perfectly logical that she would attend the same high school as him so it would be easier for him to keep supervising her and keep her under (relative) control. Well, not being able to see Akari as often as before saddened Keiko but it was also true that when she was there it forced her to babysit TWO delinquent kids, exponentially increasing her workload and stress level.

Meanwhile, Yusuke was lazing on the rooftop as usual and watching the swallows. He had been so bored since Akari had transfered, even though he had kept taunting her about how great it would be once she would be gone... and now he was getting hungry too. He was just thinking about getting up and grabbing a quick lunch and he felt droplets of water even though the sky was sunny. He looked up and saw Botan, but something was wrong! Her pink kimono was all tattered and she was in a really sorry state! She fell but he caught her.

"What happened?! Botan, talk to me! Hang in there! What happened to you?"

"The Reikai is... the Reikai, the Reikai is...!" She managed before her consciousness wavered again. Urameshi asked her about the Reikai. The girl clutched the front of his uniform. "Go the the Kasane Shrine... find Hinageshi... please, Yusuke..." And then, she passed out. With her in his arms, Yusuke ran to the door just when Keiko opened it. She was just as shocked to see Botan in that condition. Suddenly they heard a loud noise and saw dust flying and Akari jumped down from the highest part of the rooftop.

"Yo! I thought you'd be missing me so I escaped and came here!" The rei master raised her hand and greeted as if she was doing him a huge favour while speaking like it was nothing. However, the key word in her sentence was 'escaped'. And that was really just it, she was escaping. While she had been at Sarayashiki, she would escape from Keiko to go bother Kurama and taunt his fangirls at Meiou, and now she was at Meiou she was escaping from Kurama and the annoyingness of his fangirls to go bother Yusuke at Sarayashiki. Well, all that mattered was that she could do what she wanted. And she didn't want to study. She wanted to have fun.

"Akari! Perfect timing!" The boy exclaimed.

"Eh?" She had not expected that reaction. She had hoped for something more like 'What the hell are you doing here?!' and had already prepared a whole dialogue in her head... but that was only until she saw the spirit guide in Urameshi's arms, and the state she was in... "Botan! Yusuke, did she say anything?!"

"Something happened to the Reikai... but I don't know what. She told me to find Hinageshi at the Kasane Shrine."

"Okay, take Kuwabara and do that. You Keiko, quickly grab your stuff and say something to the teacher. I'll be waiting for you at the gate. We're going to granny's." Akari ordered. The two nodded and left while she took Botan and leapt again.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were running through the streets. The tallest delinquent asked what was at Kasane Shrine but the other had no idea. Kazuma grabbed the front of his friend's uniform and got angry at him for not having found out any detail. The Reikai Tantei slapped his hands away and retorted that there had been no time for that. Kuwabara called him useless. Had it been him he would have found out everything... but before he could finish his sentence, they heard a girl's scream. They ran in the direction.

Inside the shrine, a really small girl of childlike appearance with short and vibrant red-orange hair and green eyes was running away from men. She was wearing a traditional Shinto priestess outfit. The men transformed into monsters. They tried to kill her but she managed to dodge them and ran down the stairs. They almost caught her before Urameshi lept and punched the closest one, knocking him out, or maybe even killing him. He evaded a second and punched him away too before kneeing a third one in the guts and kicking it. He then got most of the others with his shotgun. However, the little miko who had hidden herself was caught by another monster. It was strangling her when Kuwabara sliced its arm with his reiken. She fell down. He knelt at her side as she sat up.

"Rest assured." He said like a (stupid) hero. But the girl screamed and ran away again when she saw what was behind him... the two demons about to impale him on their blades. He dodged them, summoned his reiken again and quickly dispatched them along with a few others. And he also slashed through a stone lantern in the same time as a monster. In the same time, Yusuke finished punching through the rest of them. It was over in an instant. The little one came out of hiding.

"You two are investigators sent by the Spirit World, right? I am Hinageshi, guide of the Spirit World."

"Botan! What is this?! What could have..." Hinageshi exclaimed, horrified. She, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Genkai were sitting at Botan's side. The blue haired girl had been laid upon a futon and she kept moaning in great pain. She was soaked in sweat. Keiko came in with a bowl of cold water where she dipped the now warm towel she wrung and placed back on the ferry girl's forehead. Urameshi asked about her condition.

"It's in balance. Something truly serious must have happened in the Reikai." Genkai answered. Kurama and Akari entered.

"The Reikai was gone." The young man said, shocking the others. Indeed, after she had dropped Keiko and Botan off at her grandma's, she had returned to Kurama and told him about what had happened and together they had gone to check the situation in the Spirit Realm. They decided to let the sick rest and changed place for their important discussion.

"Actually, this is not accurate. It was covered by water." Akari corrected the fox. The group was sitting in a circle in a spacious room dimly lit by two lanterns.

"B-but why?!" Kuwabara asked.

"Some immeasurably strong power must have gained control." Kurama surmised.

"Don't fret too much. From what I could sense, everyone there is still fine. But it seems like the whole place has been sealed off." Katsuyama added with a faintly reassuring note. Genkai wondered what could possess such immense power. It didn't bode well for the human world.

"When we were there, we noticed some youkais wearing the pattern of a cross on their foreheads looking for something." The kitsune remarked. Hinageshi deduced it must have been the work of the Meikai. Those youkais were meikaiki, demons controlled by the Netherworld. That cross was their symbol. Kuwabara asked about the Netherworld. He knew the human world, the demon world, the spirit world... The ferry girl told them that just like the Spirit World lied above the Human World and the two were in balance since human souls went to the Reikai, the Netherworld was above and in balance with the Demon world. But several thousands years ago, the Meikai started a war with the Reikai in order to gain possession of the Ningenkai. Exactly how they were able to defeat them was unknown but Emperor Enma did finally destroy the Meikai and banish their king Yakumo and his men to the darkness of space.

"So how did the Meikai come back into existence?" Yusuke questioned. Akari remained quiet. The more Hinageshi talked, the more she remembered having heard all of that before, a long, long time ago... from Koenma. Because she had gotten used to that thing, she had forgotten. But recently, it had started acting up again, causing her to suffer growing fits of pain. It was like the rejection symptoms of her grandmother's Spirit Wave Orb but at a slightly lesser level, just enough for her to maintain a front before everyone. At least for now. But with the recent events how long would she be able to keep it up? That was also why she'd try to escape from Kurama more often. He was too perceptive.

"If the Netherworld is responsible for this disturbance, it could become a very dangerous situation." Genkai gave her opinion. "I don't think we can repel them alone."

An ominous wind was blowing. Outside, Hiei, perched on a high branch, was peering into the compound and listening. He had just concluded that this state of affairs had nothing to do with him and was about to turn heels when he heard something that he felt very concerned about...

"What?! Yukina-san is here?!" Kuwabara exclaimed as he burst through the doors, scaring Keiko, and ran left, screaming his beloved's name. Keiko yelled at him that Yukina-chan was the other way, with Botan. And so he dashed the other way, still screaming happily. "Yukina-san, it has been a long time! How've you been?" He paused and pointed and talked strangely. But before her sad and worried face, his high spirits faltered. The koorime apologised and wiped her moist red eyes. Even though she was glad to see him, because of Botan's state, she couldn't truly rejoice. Why did something like this happen? "Yukina-san, an unhappy face doesn't suit you. I, Kuwabara Kazuma, swear on my pride as a man that I shall resolve everything! So we can all smile again soon..."

The Yukionna smiled faintly, reassured, and the man took her hand in both of his. He uttered her name again and turned beet red. The ice maiden noted the rise in his temperature and asked if he was alright. He said it was the power of love and giggled like the idiot he was. She smiled again. As usual, she could not understand him. Keiko returned and told him he was in the say. Hiei landed behind a stone lantern and said her name too.

"What do you think? How about telling Yukina soon that you're her brother?" Kurama suggested.

"I don't need your advice."

"Hiei, you saw the condition of the reikai too. This is no ordinary event."

"Humph, how would I know?"

"So you're afraid of facing the guys who did this. You should just admit it instead of trying to make it sound like indifference." Akari teased. Hiei smirked, grabbed her blouson with one hand and pulled her to him. Their faces were so close... so close they almost touched... far too close for comfort... she could feel his breath, the intensity of his seething red eyes... and her heart instantly going wild. She was close to blanking out.

"Akari, if you think you know my feelings, think again." And he left. The girl couldn't move or say anything. He had changed. Not long ago, he would have been rattled and fallen for her taunt, but now he was the one unsettling her. Putting aside a few exceptions, she was used to being the one in control, especially here in the Ningenkai. So when she suffered a reversal of situation, it agitated her. She was fine when it came to fights and the like but not at all when it concerned relationships with others. And Kurama knew by experience it was the surest way to focus her thoughts and attention on you, to lure her in your grasp. If you added to that how Hiei behaved with her during the latest stages of the tournament, and notably the finals and how Akari responded to that, it was normal for the fox to feel disquiet too. They didn't know, but Hiei had taken a decision. He couldn't just give up on her without a fight. The kitsune tightly hugged Akari from behind.

"Kurama..." She whispered, slightly surprised. He nuzzled her neck before turning her around to face him. His right hand on her cheek, his left arm around her waist, he smiled at her.

"It'll be fine." He reassured her before kissing her. A light kiss at first but it soon deepened and grew more passionate and possessive as he licked her lips and added his tongue and the young woman responded in kind.

Some time later, Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama, Akari, Genkai and Hinageshi had returned to the same room as earlier and were discussing what to do from now on. They had to transmit power to the spirit world. In the human world, there were places called Reikimon or Spirit Gates, elemental sites which naturally collected spiritual energy which acted as storage tanks. There were five of these sites representing Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Spirit. If they were all unsealed, the amassed spiritual power would be sent to the reikai. And Hinageshi knew where these gates were!

A smirking man with tanned skin, white hair, and cruel purple eyes with a long black cape walked in an alley. His feral grin broadened and he raised his strong arm towards the sky.

"Come, my servants." He released his energy, causing a huge explosion that blasted everything in a 50 meters radius. Three red lights appeared in the dark sky and joined him atop a building.

"Yakumo-sama, your three demon gods have arrived."

"Our strategy has entered its second stage. Make the power of the Reikimon ours. Go!"

"Yes, lord!" And the three demon gods dispersed.

In a peaceful and sunny area of the city, Hinageshi's group was looking for one of the Spirit Gates but had trouble with the map. Akari had decided to stay home. She said it was to protect the girls. In fact she hadn't been feeling well for days but very recently, it had considerably worsened. But she knew what it was, and what she had to do. Suddenly, the ground shook. However, it wasn't an earthquake as Kazuma initially believed. They looked up and saw a pillar of light rising from the inside of a shrine just a dozen meters away. It was the elemental site reprensenting Earth! They entered the compound. A really strong wind pressure was pushing them back. The pillar was disappearing into a dimensional portal in the sky.

"This is no good!" The spirit guide exclaimed, horrified. "Look at that color! The elemental site has been destroyed! What is streaming out is not spiritual power, but the power of the Netherworld! Those demons are able to convert spiritual power to netherworld power... if they steal the power of each spirit gate then... the Reikai will remain inaccessible! And there will be nothing we can do." She explained dreadfully. They had to hurry, those guys may be ahead of us, but they had to protect the remaining gates! They split up.

Hinageshi went with Yusuke. She was scared that at this rate, she could not repay Botan for her kindness. Since she was a klutz, she had always caused Botan a lot of trouble. Urameshi told her it was too early to give up. They climbed up stairs and looked around. The city was completely different from the map. They walked a little and the ground shook again. A ruined building collapsed completely. And they saw meikaiki coming out of the rubble and leaving. They had gotten ahead again. But Yusuke was not of the same opinion. Maybe they could still make it! He seemed awfully frustrated and eager to fight. They ran to the ruins and entered the underground parking lot. They saw a tiny shrine against a wall being approached by demons bearing the sign of the cross. Hinageshi recognised the shrine as the reiki gate representing Fire. Yusuke dashed and quickly dispatched those youkais. As he thought it was over, he asked the ferry girl what they should do. It was not over though.

There was an explosion, and another. He ran to where he had left Hinageshi but a car exploded just next to him, blowing him away. He cursed. Hinageshi's body started levitating against her will and energy surrounded her. She looked in pain. The man with tanned skin and white hair appeared, his gloved hand stretched towards her.

"No, this woman is not the one." He lowered his arm and turned to Yusuke who arrived behind him. So she had an ally here. Without touching her, simply with his energy, he sent the Spirit Guide crash into the boy who fell on his butt. The little one recovered and quickly went to hide behind a pillar at a distance. Urameshi lunged at the scumbag who effortlessly sidestepped and retaliated with a knee in the teen's guts that sent Yusuke flying and crashing into a car through its windscreen. "Looks like you're not a normal human. You must be a tool of the Spirit World" The man guessed as Yusuke was raising himself. Indeed, a normal person would have died from that blow, but although he had definitely suffered, Yusuke was also definitely still alive. He broke the door and came out of the car.

"You bastard... who the hell are you?!"

"I am Yakumo, King of the Netherworld."

"Here we go, Yakumo! Reigun!" The detective challenged before firing. However, his shot dissipated harmlessly against an energy barrier, to his great shock.

"So your power's only at this level. Get lost!" From his palm, Yakumo sent an energy field that engulfed Yusuke and electrocuted him. The boy collapsed, passed out. Hinageshi rushed to him while the Meikai King walked to the shrine, the reikimon of fire, and destroyed it. A pillar of netherworld energy rose to the sky. Urameshi recovered and sat up but it was too late. Yakumo walked towards them, smirked, and vanished. The teen punched the ground and cursed his own powerlessness.

In the Reikai, the storm had ceased and sunlight was filtering through the clouds but the world was now an endless sea with a few sharp rocks, vestiges of tall peaks, emerging here and there. Yakumo was standing on one.

"The Power Sphere, source of our energy... plundered in the past by the Spirit World... once it has been returned, our hopes will finally be realized. The leaders of the Spirit World must think they have hidden it well... but they would not let it be protected by such small fry. Where is it? Where did you hide it?"

Kuwabara ran up a dirt causeway to a round island in the middle of a large pond. A small shrine was inside what looked like an earth igloo. That was the Elemental Site of Soul. But as he was motivating himself, he heard the water gurgle. He walked to the edge. From the bubbles rose a column of water. He recoiled in fright and surprise but when he looked better, all he could see was his reflection. He waved, tried to leave, returned, but when he made a face, his reflection snorted at him.

"Fools are amusing."

Kazuma jumped back and demanded to know who it was. But what broke the water mirror was not his reflection but a demon, or more certainly, a Meikai deity. His appearance was rather effeminate with light blue skin, long beautiful light blue hair in a low ponytail, a blue/green skin-tight suit with a skirt-like bottom attached to his belt. He also wore bony pieces of armor on his shoulder, chest, belt, boots, headpiece, and left wrist and arm circlet. And he looked very arrogant. He introduced himself as Majari, one of the three demon gods of the Netherworld and announced that he shall destroy this elemental site.

"What did you say?! You think I'll let you do that?!" The human barked.

"I shall kill anyone in my way." The Meikai God warned. In response Kuwabara summoned his reiken. Majari found it interesting and summoned a reiken too, to his enemy's surprise. "Let me show you what I'm known for. I can mirror my opponent. I have completely copied your skills and your ideas." He said proudly. "You have no chance at victory."

"Say that after we've fought!" Kuwabara lunged. The blades of energy clashed. And indeed, for this fight at least, Majari's style was very similar to Kazuma's. But soon, thanks to his superior physical abilities, the demon landed a good blow on his opponent's left shoulder. Kuwabara held his wound, swearing. Blood was trickling down his hand and arm.

Hiei was standing at the top of a tall building. From this viewpoint, he could basically survey the whole city. His evil eye was also in a full view. He turned and with it saw what he had been looking for. He jumped down. But suddenly, a demon of youthful appearance with red hair, red eyes, a black cape and a sickle broke a window and attacked him. Hiei dodged but he was attacked from behind by another demon with the very same appearance, only with blue/green hair and eyes. Twins. The master of the Jagan landed on an extremely narrow window sill. He looked up to see the red head swooping down on him. He jumped away to avoid him and then contorted to dodge his brother. The fight continued on the road, causing a series of grave accidents as the vehicules tried to avoid them. Fed up with their belittling attitude, Hiei unsheathed his sword and retaliated. He soon bisected the red haired one but his brother took advantage of that moment to stab him from behind. He had only stabbed an afterimage though, and was unable to react in time to Hiei's slash which killed him. However, the same thing happened to him when a tall and bald demon appeared all of his sudden behind him. An eye opened on his forehead and the energy deployed propelled Hiei against a building where he crashed before falling into the river. The new demon chuckled evilly. He had light green skin, and a bone-like headpiece covered his left eye and ears. But in place of his natural left eye, he had a large red one encased in the headpiece, and also a large Jagan on his forehead. He was Yakumo's right hand man, Raigo.

Kurama was kneeling before a small dragon statue enshrined in a shelter of concrete blocks. He released his energy which resonated with the statue. All right. Now he had to go see how the others are doing and then quickly return to Akari. He was really worried. When she thought he wasn't looking, she would show expression of intense pain. And still she'd pretend to be perfectly fine before others. And he hadn't been able to get her to talk to him. Could her condition have something to do with the Meikai? But then, in the mist, a form was approaching. That was Kaiki, the third Demon God. And he had read into Kurama's memories. He transformed into a rather tall and handsome bat demon, dressed in black, with long black hair in a high ponytail and a hat. The mist thickened. The fox felt at last his presence and asked who it was.

"'Who are you?' I can't believe you'd say that to your old partner."

"Kuronue..." Kurama whispered, obviously agitated.

"Or do you mean to say you've forgotten your terrible past? Youko... Kurama." Kuronue was swinging his red pendant back and forth, like a pendulum used for hypnosis.

"You are still alive?!"

"Remember that day when we snuck into that palace in the Demon World..." He started, his voice dripping with venom.

That day... they had escaped out of the castle and into a bamboo forest. Hundreds of guards had chased them. Then the chain of Kuronue's pendant had broken, like it had been cut. Against Kurama's will and advice, he had returned to get it back as it was so precious to him he'd even risk his life for it. And that had killed him. To Kurama's horror, a number of sharply cut bamboo sticks had pierced through the bat demon whose blood had flowed out the hollow sticks, making him bleed to death.

"Kuronue!"

"Traitor!"

Kurama's green eyes widened in shock as the demon before him, his old partner and close friend, accused him of having deliberately cut his pendant to trap him and sacrifice him so he alone could escape. With a horrified expression, the fox denied him. That was ridiculous. But still, he sounded hesitant. Even if his deeper feelings were telling him he could have never done that. Then, what were those memories of him running away with a cruel smirk?

"How dare you say that after trying to kill me?" The black-haired youkai spat.

"What are you talking about? That day, I... To save you, I..." Kurama stammered pleadingly before holding his head as if in pain. Kuronue insisted, more viciously, more spitefully. Kurama had trapped him and left him to die so he could save himself! And on these words, he threw his weapon, a little scythe attached to a string. While the fox would have easily evaded something like that under normal circumstances, he was so disturbed this time that he barely made it. The blade deeply cut his side. When he raised himself, it was to see that Kuronue had closed in... and to see him slice the dragon in two. Another pillar of energy rose to the sky. The bat demon laughed cruelly as he vanished, leaving Kurama on his knees, holding his wound.

"This isn't like you at all. To be overcome by emotions like this and let your personal feelings get in the way of your mission... especially one as crucial as this..." A female voice commented.

"Akari! What are you doing here?!"

"I couldn't sit still after all so I came. I thought you guys could need a healer too. I only arrived at the end but I believe I saw enough to guess the essential. He was really important to you, right? Or you wouldn't be so agitated. Or even if you were, you still would have done what you had to and you wouldn't have let yourself get injured so easily."

"That's..." The young man trailed off, still unsure as he remembered being called a traitor. Akari sighed, helped him up, and started healing him."

"Kurama, I don't know much about how you were before but I don't think a person's true nature really changes. I believe in you. For those who are truly important to you, you would sacrifice even your life. You might have been (and still be) merciless and manipulative towards many people, but you've always drawn a line with those you hold dear. That's why even if you were unable to save your friend I don't think it could be helped. But you still feel guilty, and that guilt raise doubts. That's the opening the enemy is taking advantage of. But don't forget: the enemy is not Kuronue, but one of the three Meikai Gods, and beyond that, it is yourself. That's why I'd like you to believe in yourself, and in me, and the choices I make. I believe in you." She said firmly and yet softly, tenderly, as she leant against his chest. He leant further against her, tightened his grip on her shoulders and squeezed her hand that hovered over his wounded side, healing him. She was trembling.

"It appears we have opened the other sites." Majari noted as he looked back to see the pillars of light soaring one after the other. Kuwabara cursed... and barely avoided the enemy's slash due to his inattention. The duel continued. Soon, Yusuke and Hinageshi arrived. The boy wanted to help but the spirit guide stopped him and told him to look more carefully. They had the same weapons. That certainly meant that this demon could mirror his opponent's techniques. She recognised him as Majari, one of the three demon deities. So he shouldn't try to help, or he would steal his techniques too! However, Kazuma was having a hard time. He was disarmed and knocked over with an injured shoulder. He sat up, holding his wound. Kurama and Akari too arrived at the location, just to see Majari closing in on his friend, and about to finish him off. But the human was more resourceful and durable than he appeared to be...

"Even if this is the end, I'll never let you have it!" He smirked as he slammed his hand on the ground. Imitating what Toguro-ani had done, he made his energy travel underground and then shoot up. The demon god was a second too late to dodge and his right arm was deeply gashed. He acknowledged Kuwabara's persistence, though he wasn't going to be defeated by something like that either. He then asked if he didn't have any more tricks as he wouldn't be careless anymore. "Fool! I just developed a new killing technique!" He started releasing more and more reiki. He obviously intended to unleash everything he had at once.

Of course, Majari mimicked him. They fired their energy waves at each other. The flows collided. Certain of his victory, the demon god called his opponent a pitiful bastard. But then Kuwabara laughed at his enemy for having fallen into his trap. Now they were both completely empty! Majari tried to make a reiken but it was useless. Kuwabara lunged and punched him hard, knocking him away. Indeed, Kazuma had developed an extremely sturdy body thanks to Urameshi using him as a punching bag for so long. But that wasn't all...

"I have something I'm proud of too! In a true contest of guts, I have never been beaten!" He boasted and with a nice uppercut, he sent Majari far, far, far away in a rather comical way. He had won... and utterly spent himself. He slumped down. His friends ran to him, worried. Akari started healing him too. Everyone had been surprised to see her. He told them to hurry and take care of the seal. They started running to the shrine when suddenly they heard Hiei warning Yusuke and yelling at him to jump out just as the little fire demon tackled Hinageshi, saving her (and Yusuke) from a beam that destroyed the shrine. It had been a long range and yet powerful attack. Kurama, who had been on the other side, was fine. But now, the final site had been taken over by the Meikai. Hiei stood back up, clicked his tongue and removed the cloth covering his third eye. He glared in the direction, at Yakumo, whom he had seen with his Jagan. The last column rose to the sky. A flow seemed to link together the 5 dimensional gates. The energy released was truly incredible. And then, a kekkai linking the 5 elemental sites formed. And they were all expulsed.

"With this, the basis for the restoration of the Meikai is complete." Yakumo declared. His right hand man, Raigo, appeared behind with an important piece of information to report... "Are you sure about it?"

"Yes, the Sphere of power has been divided in two. There is another woman from the Reikai. One half is inside her. The other half is hidden in the soul of a human female. I also saw signs that it has been in her possession for years..."

"To think there would be a human capable of curbing its power for so long... but now, it must be devouring her from within..." Yakumo smirked cruelly. "I have waited many years for this, the moment the Netherworld will be restored on new territory." And indeed, although she could put up a front before everyone, the truth was she felt enough pain to writhe and claw at the ground and howl. And there were times when she did just that. It had gotten to the point when if left alone, she'd unleash all her power and destroy everything. She no longer cared about appearances. She needed a presence at her side, someone whose loss would be worst for her than anything. It was only natural then that she'd seek refuge to Kurama who had always given her strength when hers was failing, who had always stilled her regardless of what state she was in.

The group woke up on a river shore and stood up. They were alive and fine, but far, very far from the Reikimon. Hiei clicked his tongue. When Kuwabara faltered, Hinageshi and Yusuke tried to help him but he shoved them away and recovered on his own. He didn't feel worthy enough to accept their sympathy now.

The next day, after going around observing things outside the kekkai, Hiei went over to Kuwabara's room where he, Kurama and Hinageshi were already waiting. The little spirit guide was flipping through old books and doing research while Kazuma was wondering why the city wasn't in an uproar. The fox explained it was the power of the Netherworld. Nobody was noticing things they normally would. Akari, after treating the two injured, had decided to return home to give the latest news. Yusuke was with her since he wanted to check on Botan. And the two were with Keiko who had come back to get a change of clothes so this time she could stay at the temple as long as needed to take care of Botan. And now, since his report was done, Hiei was leaving too. He was tired of sitting around and as no one seemed to have a good plan, he intended to solve things on his own. Kazuma shrugged with a sigh. It was not like this guy had started being uncooperative just now after all.

At the foot of the stairs leading up to Genkai's temple... Yakumo and Raigo were standing. The king burned the sacred rope tied to two pine trees on each side of the stone stairs. They started climbing up. And as soon as they did, the sphere inside Botan reacted, releasing tremendous energy and the ferry girl's moans of pain redoubled. Genkai instantly felt the evil presence of the intruders and went to meet them.

"Who are you?!" She demanded.

"Shall I?" The Jagan user suggested.

"Don't bother." His master replied, walking ahead.

"This is my temple! You cannot enter without permission and do as you wish!" The elderly attacked... and barely evaded Yakumo's last second energy blast by jumping above him. She turned around in mid-air. That man was strong! He turned around and scoffed and once more shot his energy at her but she was able to repel it, much to Raigo's surprise. The woman landed but the king of the Netherworld was no longer interested in her. He had detected and pinpointed the location of what he was looking for. Genkai ran to block his path and having anticipated her action, Yakumo fired. The old woman was unable to block this time and was blasted all the way to the back of the room where she crashed against the cupboards and fell down, unconscious. Paralyzed with fear, Yukina looked as the men entered the moon. The white-haired one stretched out his hands towards Botan who seemed to be hurting even more.

"So it was actually true." He smiled.

"Stay away!" The Ice Maiden begged. Raigo's Jagan appeared and his telekinetic powers hurled her backwards into the wall. She collapsed too. Botan's body levitated.

"Half the Power Sphere is inside this girl's body."

Suddenly, Akari's body was so raked with pain she fell on her knees, clutching her chest and abdomen. It was so painful she could hardly breathe. Her friends worriedly asked her what was wrong but she paid no heed and glared straight ahead, at the flight of stairs. She cursed and dashed, her anger fueling her and overcoming the pain. Yusuke followed her after telling Keiko not to move. They stopped dead when they passed the temple door, when they saw what had happened to Yukina, to Genkai, and what was happening to Botan.

"Oh my, and the other half is right there. You saved us the trouble of looking for you." He smirked at Akari who wasn't looking very good to say the least, before turning to Yusuke. "And what is it... you again? You can't stand the fact that I beat you? Like a whipped dog..."

"What did you say?!" Urameshi barked, but just then, Keiko arrived wanting to know what was going on. She was knocked over and down the stairs by a gust of wind caused by the pressure of Yakumo's power. The boy cried her name. She was out cold.

"Learn your place!" The king yelled, suddenly appearing before Yusuke and heavily punching him in the guts. He was sent crashing into the wooden stairs of the entrance. "Now that the bug has gone, let's-" But before he could finish, he was the one thrown flying by Akari's punch. What more, during that time, Raigo had taken Botan and was carrying her over his shoulder.

"Isn't that enough? You hurt my grandma, you hurt my friends, you want to destroy my world…" She looked awfully calm but it was the calm preceding the storm. Her eyes were shadowed by her bangs and a strange smile was playing on her lips. She slowly raised her head and her eyes, narrowed to slits, were then shining murderously and she had stopped smiling. "Bastard…. DON'T JOKE AROUND!" she released a huge wave of ki and attacked head on. She was beyond furious, but while she could somehow land nice hits, it still took all she had to evade him because of the sharp, agonizing pain slowing her and dulling her other senses and reflexes. And each time she'd touch him she'd flinch and the thing inside her would pulsate, her half-sphere was attracted to Yakumo's power, its true master. Of course he noticed it, and he too, felt the power of the meikai gyoku within her. However, this fight could last for a long time. She was very resistant and unexpectedly cautious and quick to escape despite her anger. But he was in a hurry. Well, against this type, there was one sure-fire method... he sent a blast of power to kill Yusuke, yet again, she protected him, annihilated the attack with one of her own reigun but then it was too late. Yakumo was behind her. He immobilized her and knocked her out with a potent energy-powered punch in her guts.

"You fought well, but now it's over. You will hand me the last of the sphere." The King of the Netherworld claimed. And in a half-conscious state, Yusuke had watched everything helplessly. A single punch had been enough to put him out of action and yet, Akari... and now again, still unable to move, he could only watch that man take Akari away, one arm under her back. "I, Yakumo, have retrieved the Power Sphere of the Netherworld along with these women. The moment of the Netherworld's restoration has arrived. This is the source of our power!" His triumphant and evil laugh echoed as he disappeared with his subordinate, Akari, and Botan.