The day has finally come where Yusuke and his friends can finally leave Hanging Neck Island. The girls were walking around the beach area of the island while the boys were finishing their packing. Knowing that there was no need for him to stick around, Koenma and George went back home.
"All righty!" Yusuke swung his bag over his shoulder as he and his friends were standing around their room for the last time. "Ready?"
"Yep." Kuwabara pushed himself off of the couch.
Yusuke looked out through the window and stared at the ocean. Yusuke sighed to himself before saying, "Come to think of it, we didn't even have the time to just stare out at the sea."
"Somehow, it feels like we've been fighting for a whole year, huh?" Kuwabara commented while scratching the side of his face.
"It has been long." Kurama agreed.
Silence filled the room as Yusuke continued to stare out the window. They may have won the tournament and rescued their vampire friend, but leaving without Genkai left a bitter taste in their mouth.
Yusuke snapped out of his trance when Puu flew up to the window. "Whoa! This guy's okay, and all…" Yusuke opening the window and pulled Puu inside, who was squirming to get out of his hand. Puu even nipped on his fingers a couple of times which didn't have any effect on him. "When this guy took on Genkai's face, it sure startled me! Are you some kind of phone to the Spirit Realm? Say, Puu, call up the old bag again for me, would you? Okay? Come on, let's have her! Puu, help me out here!"
"It's probably…" Yusuke turned towards Kurama who said, "…no longer possible."
"No longer possible?"
"The Spirit Realm is like a way station between life and death."
"Then people who are dead don't go to the Spirit Realm?" Yusuke asked.
"They do go there, yes, but the Spirit Realm is a relay point on the way to death. It's only as far as the Spirit Realm that you could even barely manage to communicate with this world. However, you can't stay in the Spirit Realm for very long." Kurama explained as Yusuke released Puu and stared out at the ocean again, showing his back towards his friends. "From there, everyone starts on a different journey. That is what death is. And Genkai has already left…" Kurama trailed off before closing his eyes.
"That so?" Yusuke said.
"She's departed on her journey to death, huh?" Kuwabara concluded.
"Oh well, then." Yusuke turned himself around and said, "We can't do anything about what's already done. People ought to live while looking forward. Right?" Yusuke walked past his friends and let out a laugh that was obviously forced. "All right! Starting tomorrow, we get back to goofing around! To hell with it!" Yusuke walked out the room and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, what about school?! You won't be able to pass!" Kuwabara shouted through the closed door.
"Sheesh. The strain he is under was so obvious, I'm embarrassed just watching him." Hiei stated before Puu flew away to follow Yusuke.
"I'd better check on Raye to see if she's ready." Kurama stated before walking out of the room and made his way towards the room where the Toguro Team were staying. He knocked on the door and waited for Raye to give him permission, only to hear nothing but silence. "Raye?" Kurama called out as he knocked on the door again and received no response.
He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it and, to his surprise, the door was unlocked. He opened the door and looked inside to see Raye nowhere in sight. He checked on the other rooms and couldn't find her anywhere. He also couldn't help but notice a burning smell entering his nose.
"Where is she?" He wondered before he noticed a piece of paper sitting on the table. He picked it up and can see that it was a note that read,
Yusuke and friends,
If you're checking up on me and noticed that I'm not here, please don't worry.
I just need to take care of a couple of things first before we leave.
I'll meet you at the port before the ship arrives.
P.S. If you smell something burnt, don't worry about it. I just got rid of the one thing I never want to see again as long as I live.
Raye
Out of curiosity, Kurama placed the note down and followed the burning smell which led him to a room with the door barely cracked opened with a faint trail of smoke coming out. He grabbed the doorknob and opened it fully to see a burned room with the smell of burnt wood and a distinct smell of burned metal. He couldn't tell what was previously in the room until his eyes landed on the ground and noticed something burnt and curled up. He kneeled down and carefully picked up the burnt object before uncurling it. His eyes widen when he realized that he was holding a burnt whip. He can guess what the room used to be as a specific memory of Raye and Sakyou flashed in his mind. He could only imagine what else goes on in this room.
He dropped the whip and stood up straight before pulling out his red rose from his hair. "Rose Whip." He transformed his rose to his whip before lashing at everything that was in the room in fury with his teeth clutching. He continued lashing until almost everything in the room was nothing but burnt pieces scattered around and the burnt walls had various sizes of his lashes.
He breathed heavily as his bangs covered his angered eyes. "As long as you're by my side, Raye…" He lifted his head to reveal his emerald green eyes changed to golden eyes. "I won't let anything or anyone hurt you ever again."
Standing at the cliff that overlooks the ocean was Raye as the wind gently blew her long flowing hair. Soon after she got back to her room, she changed out of the outfit she wore during the finals. She is now wearing a black tank top with an opened cream coat, a pair of cargo pants and a red belt with a golden buckle and a pair of opened toed black strappy heels. She brought her right hand up and gently brushed her fingers against her cross necklace. "Cain…if you're watching over me…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes and clutched her hand over her cross. "If only I was stronger back then, I could've saved you. Then maybe…maybe all those innocent people wouldn't have gotten killed."
"Don't blame yourself over what happened." A voice said from behind her. Raye opened her eyes and looked over her shoulders to see Bui standing before her. He had some bandages on his face, but overall, he was wearing his same clothes he wore under his armor.
"Bui." Raye didn't say anything else as Bui walked forward and stood beside her before they both looked out at the ocean. "Can you believe it, Bui? We're finally free."
"Yes, I never thought this day has finally come. To be honest, I was expecting to wake up and found out that this is all just a dream. To think that a mere human, a child, was able to kill Toguro where neither one of us could do it." Bui stated.
"I know what you mean." Raye released her grip on her cross and let her hand drop to the side. "So, what do you plan to do now?"
"I plan to return a certain of the Demon Realm and give him a proper burial." Raye turned her head towards Bui who pulled out a jar of some kind out of nowhere. "Is that…?"
"Remains of what become of Karasu. I burned the plant until it reduced to ashes. I figured that this would only be fair since he's no longer with us." Bui turned towards Raye and said, "I also had a feeling that you'd want to say something to him." He held the jar towards her and said, "Here."
Raye gently grabbed the jar and stared at the jar that contains her deceased friend, at least she assumed that they were friends. "Karasu, I'm sorry that you had to gain your freedom this way, but…" She let out a small smile as her eyes were filled with sadness while staring at the jar. "I'm glad that you're no longer hurting anymore. Thank you for everything." She brought the jar up to her face and kissed it before resting her forehead against it. "Good night, my beautiful bomber."
She held the jar towards Bui who reached for it and rested his hands over it, but didn't take it. Instead, he clasped his hands over hers as they both held the jar with care.
"Do you remember when the three of us first met? When you and Karasu found me at that state?" Raye asked without taking her eyes off their hands.
"How could I not?"
The first time they met Raye was when they both returned from a job they were each assigned that, of course, involved killing. As they walked down a hallway, they heard a muffling sound coming from one of the closed doors.
Both of the demons were curious as to what was creating that sound. At first, they assumed one of the other low-class demons were using that particular room for a 'special' training that they do on the side, should they come across females that they believe have the potential to be sold as slaves.
"Well, sounds like someone is having fun with training." Karasu said.
"I thought Sakyou told them to not use that room anymore since we're no longer doing that." Bui stated.
"Well then, now I'm curious." Karasu said before walking towards the door and opened it before he and Bui walked in to reveal a dungeon-like room with Sakyou standing by a bright light shining down on a woman they've never seen before. That woman was Raye who was naked and bound with black duct tape on her arms, wrists, around her breasts and legs along with duct tape covering her mouth.
Both Karasu and Bui were awestruck by her beauty and also surprised at her state.
"Welcome back." Younger Toguro greeted as Elder Toguro chuckled while watching a female demon dressed in a very reveal black leather outfit walked towards Raye with a lit red candle held in her hand. The demon tipped the candle over Raye and watched as the wax was dripping on Raye's body, causing her to scream from the heat but her screams were muffled due to the tape.
"Who is this?" Karasu asked out of curiosity.
"This would be our newest member of Team Toguro." Sakyou said before puffing out a smoke from his cigarette and watched the female demon forcing Raye's legs open and dripped more hot candle wax on top of her womanhood, causing her to scream some more.
"This woman?" Bui asked.
"Don't let her appearance fool you. She's more than what she appears to be." Sakyou stated before turning his attention towards the female demon and ordered, "You have my permission to do as you please with her."
Without stopping the candle from dripping, the female demon snapped her head towards Sakyou with widen eyes. "Master, what did you say?" She asked, making sure she heard him right.
"You decide on the torture menu." Sakyou simply said.
The female demon moved the candle away from Raye, who closed her eyes in relief, and stared at Sakyou. "Master."
Everyone in the room watched as Sakyou watched towards Raye and, using his foot, pushed her to lay on her stomach before saying, "I want to show them just how much she can handle." He held his hand towards the female demon, requesting for the candle which she has given to him. He held the candle over Raye and let a few drops of wax drop on her backside, causing her scream.
Karasu and Bui had a front view of Raye's face to see her eyes were showing that she was in pain as she tried to crawl away from Sakyou as best as she could, only for Sakyou to hold her down with his foot. They watched Raye closed her eyes as blood red tears were forming at the corner of her eyes, which piqued their curiosity even more.
The female demon quickly kneeled down on one knee and exclaimed, "Thank you very much, Master!"
Sakyou smirked as he blew out the lit candle and tossed it to the side, completely forgetting about it, before walking towards a couch leaning against the wall and sat down. "Sit back and enjoy the show, gentlemen."
The female demon practically ripped off the duct tape on Raye's mouth, causing her to scream in pain. "Go slow!" She pleaded as the female demon was ripping off the rest of the duct tape, but the demon didn't listen and held the crinkled tape in her hands.
"Stubborn!" The female demon shouted in anger.
"Please, I beg you! Please let me go!" Raye attempted to crawl away, but the female demon grabbed a handful of Raye's long hair and pulled it, causing her to grunt in pain and stop her on her tracks.
"You're still spewing out this nonsense! You think a whole week of this was enough! You spoiled pig!" The female demon shouted before pulling out a whip and lashed at Raye, who screamed in pain.
The men watched as the female demon was doing everything that was brutal to Raye: whipping her with anything she can get her hands on, piercing her body with various sharp objects, using clasps on the sensitive parts of her body and more that caused Raye's screams to echo through the room.
While Sakyou and Elder Toguro were enjoying the show, Karasu and Bui were not though they didn't know it on their faces. Younger Toguro's facial expression was neutral, so it was hard to determine if he's enjoying the show or not. For some reason, both Karasu and Bui didn't like what was happening to her as marks from the whips were forming around her body, mostly on her back, backside and breasts, and some of the marks has blood slowly streaming down on her body.
They also noticed that Raye grew silent as the female demon continued to whip Raye's back with blood coming out from each lash. Her facial expression showed a clear sign that she was mentally and physically exhausted. However, she lasted much longer than most of the girls before her.
Raye was dropped on the floor and was dowsed with a bucket of freezing cold water before she coughed and was breathing heavily. The female demon stood over her with a cat o'nine tails in her hand and this one was her absolute favorite because it was custom-made where each end of the tail has small hooks like shapes of bird talons, and it causes more than just deadly scratches.
Before the female demon could even use it on Raye, Sakyou finally spoke, "That's enough." His words angered the female demon as she snapped her head towards him with an harden glare.
"Why, Master?!" The female demon turned back towards Raye, who showed her back to everyone and was silent. "I have to give this pig much more pain!" The female demon stomped towards Raye and grabbed her by the back of her head with her left hand and held the cat o'nine tails in the air, ready to strike until she was struck on her face, causing her to drop the cat o'nine tails and release her grip on Raye's head.
The female demon flew a good distance away from Raye and landed roughly on the floor. She held her throbbing face and looked up to see the Toguro brothers standing over her, causing her body to shake in fear.
"That's enough for now." Everyone turned to Sakyou who stand over Raye and said, "The event is tomorrow. Your toy leaves more than bruises." He dropped what of left of his cigarette on the ground and stomped on it, extinguishing the small flame. "I will not allow any permanent damages to her."
"But Master…" The female demon glared at Raye in rage and she shouted, "Why do you always do this?! You always stop just as it was about to get good!"
Sakyou either ignored her or didn't have an answer to the demon's question as he kneeled down to Raye's ear and said, "You look a little thirsty. I'd be surprised if you were with how much blood you've lost." He placed a hand under her chin and turned her head towards the female demon who looked confused. "You can have your fill with her."
"W-What?!" What was the demon was able to say before Raye charged towards her and, after dodging around the Toguro brothers, latched her fangs on her neck, causing her to scream in pain as blood was pouring out of her neck while Raye was drinking her blood. The demon attempted to push Raye away from her, but she couldn't due to Raye's strength. It also didn't help that her attempts were also causing her blood to pour out even more until she stopped completely and her body went completely limp.
Once her thirst was quench, Raye removed her fangs from the demon's neck and watched as the now deceased demon's body fell backwards on the floor. Raye slowly stood up on her feet and turned around to reveal her front was covered in blood from her mouth trailing down on her breasts and her eyes changed to her vampire red eyes.
Her appearance surprised and/or amazed both Karasu and Bui. Never in their wildest dreams they would ever encounter a vampire. They were even more amazed that all of the lash marks were disappearing completely, leaving her body completely flawless.
"Your endurance and abilities met my expectations." Sakyou said with a smirk.
"At the time, I never knew that you were in the same situation as Karasu and myself. But I had no idea that Sakyou wanted more than just your abilities. Every time either one of us returns, all we could hear were cries when he…" Bui couldn't finish his train of thought as he angered him for not doing anything at that time.
"I know. You and Karasu were looking out for yourselves. Anyone would be pissed at that; I could never be mad at the both of you." Raye looked up at Bui and added, "Afterall, you and Karasu help me escaped the first time. I'm just sorry that it was wasted."
"You'd knew?" Bui asked with his eyes widen in surprise.
"It was pretty obvious that the lock to my door was destroyed by a bomb and that some of the guards outside were killed after being cut in half." Raye's grip tighten a bit before releasing her hands completely from him. "For that, I thank both you and Karasu for giving me a chance to be free. Even it was for a short while."
"I'd wish you the best from here on out, Bui." Raye bowed her head towards Bui before turning around and walked away. "Just so you know, Karasu fell in love with you." His words stopped Raye in her tracks.
"He told me in confidence that he had feelings for you the longer you were with us. He didn't want to pursue it though…since he felt that maybe there was someone else that was better for you. A person who'd help you move one with your husband's death." Bui walked away from the cliff and walked past Raye until they stood side by side with each other. "I assume that you've already found that someone. Now it's up to you to pursue it." Bui said before walking away, leaving Raye alone in her thoughts.
'I always knew you and Karasu were more than just mercenaries.' Raye thought to herself as she looked up and smiled at Bui's form walking away. "You two were only ever softies when it was just the three of us."
"The 3:10 non-stop launch will be the last passenger liner leaving Hanging Neck Island today. Passengers, please take special care not to be late in boarding." An announcement echoed through the hotel lobby as the remaining guests were checking out.
"Cripes! What are all the girls up to?!" Kuwabara complained as he and his friends were sitting at a table while waiting for the girls.
"They have to get themselves all fixed up." Kurama said in a joking matter.
"There shouldn't be anyone who has to pack on their makeup that heavily, right? Aside from my sister, I mean." Kuwabara stated, not noticing a figure standing behind him.
"Did I hear you say something about me?" Kuwabara jumped when he turned to see Shizuru standing behind him with her arms crossed and glaring down at him with the other girls surrounded the table with shopping bags.
"No, no, no! I was just saying my sister is always so pretty!" Kuwabara pleaded.
"Why, you!" Shizuru shouted in anger.
"Thanks for waiting!" Botan, Yukina and Keiko greeted.
"You guys are so slow!" Kuwabara complained.
"My goodness, Kuwabara. I see you're still complaining more so than usual." Everyone turned to see Raye walking towards everyone.
"Raye!" Everyone greeted.
"Where have you been?" Yusuke wondered.
"Sorry, I was just saying goodbye to a couple of friends of mine." Raye said.
"What friends?" Kuwabara asked.
"Stop butting in on her business, Kazuma!" Shizuru ordered before punching him on top of his head.
"Hey, I remember you." Keiko said, grabbing Raye's attention. "I saw you when you came to our school."
"Hmm…" Raye tried to recall what Keiko was talking about until she remembered technically meeting her when she brought a video to Kuwabara and Yusuke regarding Yukina. "Oh, right. I'm sorry that you had to come and be exposed like this. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me." Raye said with a smile that caused Keiko's cheeks to turn red.
"O-Oh, no! P-Please, don't worry about it." Keiko stuttered.
"Hey, Raye! Don't go using your charm on Keiko!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"Sorry, it just comes naturally." Raye turned her attention to Yukina and said, "It's good to see you again, Yukina."
"It's good to see you as well, Miss Raye. I still can't thank you enough for rescuing me." Yukina said with a smile and bowing.
"Please, it's no trouble at all." Raye turned towards Shizuru and Keiko and greeted, "Please allow me to properly introduce myself, my name is Raye Mochizuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Shizuru, Kazuma's older sister. Also, thanks for the save back then." Shizuru greeted.
"By the way, Raye, where's your friend Tsuki?" Kuwabara asked.
"Oh, she already left. She needed to take care of some important matters." Raye answered.
"Here!" Shizuru tossed her shopping bag and purse at Kazuma, who caught both in his arms.
"You're telling me to carry all this?" Kuwabara asked before Shizuru tossed more stuff towards him.
"Of course! Yukina, have him carry yours, too." Shizuru suggested.
Kuwabara jumped out of his chair and exclaimed, "Yeah! Glady!"
"Thank you very much!" Yukina said with a smile.
Botan held out her bags towards Kuwabara and exclaimed, "Here!"
"Now look, why should I take yours?!"
"You're carrying everything else, so why not?"
"Puu~" Raye looked up to see Puu flying above her. "Oh, my." She reached up towards Puu as he landed in her hands. "I remember you. But where on earth did you come from?"
"He's my spirit animal." Yusuke stated, waiting to see how she reacted.
"He's yours?" Raye moved Puu around to get a full look at his appearance before saying, "You sure? He's way too cute to be yours."
"Shut up!" Yusuke shouted before grabbing Puu from her hands and gave him to Keiko. "You carry this guy." Keiko nodded her head. "If the champion of a Dark Tournament were to be seen carrying that, he'd be made a laughingstock." Yusuke said before walking away.
Yusuke and the other were now standing around the port, waiting for the ship to take them home and away from Hanging Neck Island; hopefully, they don't have to return to the island any time soon.
"Finally, we can say goodbye to this island." Yusuke stated.
"It sure has been a while, huh?" Kuwabara wondered.
"And so much has happened…" Botan said before her mouth was suddenly covered by Raye's hair and was dragged from behind to stand by Raye.
"Can't you read the room? You can't mention anything that will remind everyone of Genkai." Raye whispered.
"Sorry, sorry!" Botan muffled through Raye's hair before she was released.
"Raye, where are your bags?" Raye turned towards Kurama, who said, "I'd be more than happy to carry some of them for you."
"Oh, I never had bags to begin with. Anything that was in the room I was staying, I'm leaving behind." Raye brushed her hand against her necklace and said, "As long as I have this, I'm fine." She smiled at Kurama and said, "But I appreciate your kindness."
A bullhorn was heard through the area which was a sign for one thing: their ride home.
"It's here, it's here! The ship!" Kuwabara exclaimed in excitement as everyone looked out to see the ship slowly making its way towards the port.
"All right, let's go!" Yusuke announced.
"Shall we go, then?" Kuwabara added.
"Let's get going." Kurama said.
"Yeah, right now." Hiei added.
"We return in triumph!" Yusuke shouted with Botan, Kuwabara and Keiko cheering.
"Hey, hey! How coldhearted you guys are!" A raspy voice shouted from behind. Everyone turned around and was surprised at what they saw. Standing before them was Genkai, alive and well. "Are you planning on leaving an old woman behind?"
"Master Genkai!" Botan cried out as she charged towards Genkai at full speed with everyone but Yusuke following after. "Thank goodness!"
"Don't go digging people's graves without them asking." Genkai looked at Yusuke and shouted, "Bonehead!"
"Granny…!" Yusuke muttered before charging towards the group and shouted, "Granny!"
Genkai turned her attention to Raye and said, "So you're the vampire Yusuke wouldn't stop crying about?"
"What?" Raye asked with a tilted head.
"Granny! Stop talking crap!" Yusuke shouted.
Raye bowed her head towards Genkai and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Master Genkai." She stood up straight and said, "I hope you don't hold it against me for what happened to you."
"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it." Genkai held out a hand towards Raye and said, "I'm looking forward to getting to know you a bit more than the bonehead's words."
Raye smiled and clasped her hand on Genkai's, "Likewise."
Once the ship arrived, everyone boarded and the ship sailed away. Everyone watched as Hanging Neck Island was getting smaller as they sailed. The only person who was wasn't watching was Raye as she stood on the other side of the boat with her arms resting on the rails.
"Something on your mind?" Raye looked over her shoulders to see Kurama walking towards her and stood beside her.
"A lot actually, but that can wait." Raye looked out at the ocean and smiled. "Right now, I want to enjoy my permanent freedom for as long as I live."
Kurama smiled down at her before facing the ocean and said, "That's good to hear."
Finally done with the Dark Tournament Saga! Before I start the Chapter Black Saga, I'm torn between doing my own Saga first then the Poltergeist Report movie. And for my Saga, how many chapters/episodes you think I should do. Let me know what you readers think/want.