Yeah, I have no excuse. I'd like to blame everything on school and work, but although they didn't help, it was really my fault. Therefore, I apologize, and to no one more than Zaidee. Thank you so much for your review! If you're still reading, I'd love to hear from you for this chapter, as well. I also thank the two people that still have me on their watch list, and, of course, Ookami (sashax13) has my infinite thanks. Well, no more delay.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Selene, Silare, and all other OCs outside of Atari. She's owned by one of my old friends.
1) In the original Japanese version of Yu Yu Hakusho, Kurama sounds like a girl, and, in fact, the voice actor is one.
2) In the manga and Japanese version of the anime, the name is Lord Enma, but in the American version of the anime, it's Lord Yama.
The Dawn of Darkness
Chapter 3:
Gender Confusion
After Selene's exclamation, an awkward silence engulfed the group. The girl took that time to evaluate the situation, as well as the weird people in front of her. There were three boys, and then the last one. Whether or not that person was a guy or a girl hadn't been decided yet. Well, when he/she talked Selene would hopefully know.
"Don't worry," said the person who Selene now decided was a girl(1), "We're not here to harm you. My name is Kurama."
With that she put out a hand to show that she wanted the two girls to come of their own freewill. It was then that Selene noticed that her voice was the same as the one who didn't want to destroy Atari's basement (though her request went unnoticed), and Selene thought, Maybe this "Kurama" can be trusted...
Selene was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost missed the names of the other strangers. Still, she managed to find out that the boy with slicked-back, black hair was Yusuke, the tall red-head (though it was closer to orange) with beady eyes was Kuwabara, and then the last-
Before Kurama was able to name the last one, Selene let out a yell saying, "Hey, you're the stalker."
The short boy sneered back at her. "A stalker would entail that I actually cared about you two," his glare deepened as he continued, "Honestly, I'm tired of having to look at your faces."
What he spoke contained so much venom that Selene visibly flinched. She definitely hadn't forgotten what she saw him do just a little bit ago, and she remembered what Atari said about him. Speaking of which, her normally spitfire friend was unusually quiet. Looking at her, Selene saw that Atari's entire body was stiff and her teeth were clenched. There was no doubt about it. Atari was just as scared as Selene.
"Hiei!" Kurama spoke in Japanese, this time with a bit of annoyance "This is not the time for this!"
"Stay out of this, fox," Hiei retorted, also in Japanese, "You're not the one who had to 'stalk' them."
"Hey!" Selene spoke up again, this time in Japanese. She didn't like how Hiei was treating the girl who was defending herself and Atari, and therefore thought she needed to say something. She saw that she got everyone's attention, probably because none of them knew she could speak Japanese before that moment (except for maybe Hiei), so she continued, "Don't push her around just because you're unhappy. She was just sticking up for us and I don't see any reason for you to treat her like crap just because you're a moody jerk."
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then, that moment turned into a few moments, and by that point, Selene was shifting back and forth, more than a little uncomfortable. Just when she thought no one was going to do anything, Yusuke and Kuwabara both looked at each other and burst out laughing. They even collapsed on the floor and begin pointing at Kurama. That, of course, drew Selene's attention to the girl, who was looking away in either embarrassment or annoyance, or perhaps it was a fair mixture of both.
She took a quick glance at Hiei, seeing that his death glare had finally disappeared, and had been replaced by a smirk. At least, she thought,something good might have come out of this.
Anyway, the two boys were still laughing, and it was starting to get on Selene's nerves. Really, what happened that was so funny? She decided to voice her thoughts, which just made them laugh harder.
"Hey, I was just sticking up for her!" she said, a glare starting to grace her features, "Can you tell me what exactly is so funny?"
Yusuke got off of the ground, still laughing, and went towards her. As he got to Selene's side, he put an arm around her, making her stiff up, but he didn't seem to notice. "Sorry to inform you of this," he said through his chuckling, "but Kurama is definitely a guy."
"I..." Selene started, but trailed off, not knowing what to say. She finally got some words together and said, in an almost pleading voice, "I'm so sorry, Kurama!"
He just sighed in response, though he still seemed a bit annoyed.
Selene remembered her usually loud friend, and she looked over to her, finding that she was glaring at Yusuke, who's arm was still around her. Atari angrily went up to him and kicked him in the back of the leg.
Yusuke in response jumped back, running into one of the walls, which, in turn, made him fall to the hard ground, as Atari's basement wasn't finished. "You bitch!" he exclaimed, aggravated.
Selene glared at him, saying in a threatening voice, "Don't you call my friend a bitch."
"She kicked me!"
"You," Atari defended, "were making Selene uncomfortable."
"Still, you-"
"Oh, and you might have been able to distract Selene from the fact that you're all breaking and entering, but you haven't fooled me."
Selene looked at her friend, shocked. Dangit! I really did forget, she thought, angry with herself for her stupidity.
"Moron," came a voice from the back corner.
Selene turned her head to see the glowering eyes of Hiei right on her. What is his problem?
His eyes just narrowed.
"Hiei!" Kurama hissed, "enough!"
Atari cleared her throat. "People, if you would listen!"
For some reason, everyone really did get quiet.
"You all might be trying to act nice (well, except for Hiei) but that doesn't mean we'll trust you. Something doesn't feel right about you guys, and I don't know why we should trust that you want us for anything better than the ones who attacked us already. Therefore, if Selene agrees with me, we're leaving!"
Everyone looked at Selene expectantly.
"Like I've told you before, Atari," she replied after a moment of awkward silence, "I know better than to not trust your 'feelings.'"
"Then it's settled!"
"You seem to think we're asking," Hiei said grumpily from his corner.
"Hey, shrimp!" Kuwabara exclaimed, but seeing both Selene and Hiei looking at him he clarified, "I'm talking to the one who's acting like a total jerk! I guess you haven't noticed, but we actually are asking. Koenma didn't say anything about using force. We shouldn't be having them hating us already. It usually takes at least until they get to know Urameshi before that happens."
"Hey!" Yusuke yelled from where he was standing.
"In any case," Kurama jumped in, ignoring the insulted spirit detective, "the only one who really wants to use force is you, Hiei."
"Hn," Hiei responded, "I'm going to get out of this place and at least go back to Japan, or even better, Makai. You two stand in my way, and I'll make your lives a living hell."
Both girls looked at each other and silently agreed that his threat was likely not an empty one. Still, they didn't think they could just go with four strangers. Neither of them were that trusting. Even so, getting the already pissed off Hiei any angrier didn't seem like a good option either. So, they were left at an impasse, staring at each other having a silent conversation that could only be pulled off by two girls who have spent way too much time together.
They came to the same conclusion. How they knew that they both came to that conclusion was one of the mysteries of women, but in any case, they were going to run for it.
"Hey," Yusuke brought their attention from their silent scheming to what he was saying, "Listen. I think it's kind of obvious that if we really wanted you guys to come with us at all costs, we would have let Hiei knock you guys out already."
Both Atari and Selene look at each other for a second before they hear him start to speak again.
"All we know is that there are some people out there who want you for some reason. Now, if I know demons, it is probably something to do with eating your flesh to dominate the world or some crap. Anyway, the point is that all of us are really tired of this mission already and if you could just come with the obvious good guys, then we could all meet pacifier-breath and figure out what's going on."
"Demons?" Atari asked hesitantly, voice shaking a bit.
"Wait, you don't even know what's going on?" Selene questioned, then, after a moment of silence she figured out what Atari said. Her eyes widened and she backed away a few steps.
Kurama decided it was time that he once again intervened in the conversation, so he told the girls, "Yes, for both questions. Now, Yusuke was right. We really are trying to help you."
Everyone was silent for a moment before Selene spoke.
"Fine," Selene said, combing a hand through her hair, a tired expression adorned on her face, "I'll go, if only to figure out the truth of all of this."
Atari glared at everyone in the room, paying special attention to her so-called "friend." "I still think this is a bad idea, but if I don't go, I know that Selene will get in all kinds of trouble. So, I'm begrudgingly in."
Selene just stuck her tongue out in response.
"So," Kurama spoke, "I suppose it's settled."
"Okay, Koenma," Yusuke spoke into what looked like a compact mirror, "now you've gotta tell us what the hell's going on here."
Instead of a verbal response, the two girls' eyes widened as they saw what looked like a miniature black hole appear in Atari's basement.
"Oh, no," Selene protested, "You are not getting me to go through that!"
Atari sighed. Everyone was walking through the giant hallway that Atari and Selene couldn't help thinking looked like a throat. Still, Selene managed to stay unafraid as all of her emotions were stuck on loathing for her long-time friend.
"You were the one who wanted to go, you don't have to make a thing out of this," Atari said, trying to quell Selene's anger. Unfortunately, her plan was failing miserably. Selene just sent her a nasty glare in response. "It really wasn't that bad..."
"You pushed me!" Selene snapped back.
"Oh, come on. You weren't going to go in any other way. Besides, I didn't want to explain to my parents why there was a giant black hole in the middle of the basement, or even worse: why there were four boys down there with us in an unsupervised house."
Selene stuck out her tongue in response.
Luckily for Atari, the fight was soon forgotten once they got through the giant doors and into... a giant office with ogres running around?
"Uh..." Selene started, only to trail off. There were no words for the scene she was seeing.
Kurama looked back and smiled at the two girls who had stopped walking. "We'll have time to explain all of this later. Right now we should focus on going to see Koenma."
The two girls were silent, but nonetheless followed Kurama and the other three boys.
Selene fidgeted while walking. "So," she began, but her voice wavered a bit, "This Koenma guy, what does he do?"
Kurama smiled down at her before directing his attention to where he was walking. "He's the ruler of Reikai."
Selene blinked a couple of times, "But doesn't mythology say that that's Lord Enma(2)?"
"Yes, but although he is the actual ruler, his son, Koenma, is the one who does much of the work."
Selene kept biting her lip, looking down. Atari, on the other hand just rolled her eyes.
"Whatever," Atari said, "let's just get there already..."
She trailed off since, as she was speaking, they came up to two large doors. Without any pause, Yusuke opened them to reveal a highly decorated room, with nothing inside but a desk and a large chair.
Selene's feelings of anxiousness turned to confusion. "Uh, where's Lord Koenma?"
A cough was heard in the room, and it took a moment for Selene and Atari to realize where it was coming from. Looking down, they saw a little toddler with a binkey in his mouth.
"And, what's with the kid?" Atari said, a grimace on her face. She was always uncomfortable with small children.
"I'm Koenma!" he said, and noted from his tone of voice, more than a little aggravated.
"Atari," Selene warned, "don't."
Her look went even sourer as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, but this has to be some sort of sick joke."
He sighed, "I think I might have preferred your disposition when I saw you last time.
Selene, who was trying to not laugh at her friend earlier, had her amused face suddenly turn serious. "What do you mean, 'last time?'"
"I mean, that this is not the first time you've been to Spirit World."
Selene blinked.
Yusuke took this opportunity to pipe up, "Speaking of which, why are we here? I mean, I haven't met you here since I was dead."
Selene was going to ask another question when Atari kicked her. Looking over, Selene saw Atari mouth, "Drop it," while shaking her head.
"Well, Yusuke," Koenma replied, knocking both Selene and Atari out of their silent conversation and having their attention diverted to him, "As the two girls have been here before, I was actually hoping that seeing some of the things here might trigger some of their memories."
Selene looked around before saying, "I definitely would remember some place like this. Are you sure you got the right girls?"
"Yes. Both you and Atari appeared here about ten years ago, your memories already wiped clean."
"What?" Atari exclaimed.
"We don't know much of what happened to you, as you had no memories of any event before coming to Reikai. Selene, you told me that you were seeking shelter in the human world, though you didn't know why it was so urgent. All you knew was that Atari told you before her own memories were wiped that you needed to hide in the human world, or else you'd be killed. I tried looking you up in records, but you weren't there. We even tried to recover your memories, but you both had so many barriers around them it would be impossible without serious brain damage.
"Anyway, the point is that you two are the girls."
Selene was looking at the ground, face scrunched, when she suddenly spoke up, "But... why are you coming to us now? If you were going to bring us back anyway, then why didn't you just keep us here?"
"We couldn't keep you here, plainly, because this place really isn't that well adept to taking care of two little girls. As to 'why now?' it is true that the plan always had you both coming here soon before your memories resurfaced. You see, even the best of psychics can't really delete memories, but they cover them up. Usually, the person ends up regaining the memories in some way, most often in the form of a dream. It's impossible to keep memories away from a person forever. The barriers should start cracking soon."
"So, that's why you brought us." Atari mumbled to herself.
"Wait," Yusuke interjected, "if that was the case, why did you send Hiei to protect them?"
"Hn," Hiei spat, "I was beginning to wonder the same thing."
"Well, there was another reason I decided to bring you here now as opposed to later. A woman came in seeking two girls that, if I am correct, are the both of you. I knew I couldn't give you to her. She proved herself to be like the rest of her kind: ruthless when trying to get what she wants. She couldn't have wanted you for anything good, especially since we believe you are most likely demons."
"Wait, so is this mysterious woman a demon or a human?" Kuwabara asked, looking a bit confused, though, Selene and Atari were happy he asked that question, as the both of them weren't keeping up too well either.
"Actually, she is neither."
"Oh, hell no!" Yusuke shouted, "Now, you cannot tell me there are other creatures I have to destroy!"
"Luckily for you, Yusuke, her kind usually prefers to stay out of our affairs. In fact, they usually stay in their own dimension. I can't think of a single reason Silare would need two demon girls."
"Um," Selene interrupted, body tense, "you keep saying we're demons. What do you mean? Are we evil, or what?"
"Not necessarily," Koenma replied, and Selene's body relaxed a bit, "Actually, Hiei's a demon, and Kurama is, in a way, also a demon."
"I'm not sure if I should be reassured or not..."
Koenma sighed and decided to ignore her statement. "Anyway, the two of you will be staying with the psychic Genkai. She should be able to help you both retrieve your memories, and, if she's feeling particularly generous, I might be able to convince her to train you."
"Yeah right," Yusuke interrupted, "Generosity would be making sure the old bat doesn't have another torture session cleverly disguised as 'training.' Trust me," he said, turning to Selene and Atari, "you'll be a lot happier if you have a different teacher than Grandma."
"Grandma?" Atari questioned quietly to herself.
"Thanks for reassuring them, Yusuke," said Koenma sarcastically through grit teeth.
"Atari," Selene whispered to her friend, "you know the time I said our lives needed a little more adventure? I think I wish I could take that back."
"You and me both," she responded, "I just wish you didn't have to drag me along with you."
Selene stuck out her tongue in retaliation.
Koenma coughed, interrupting the girls' argument to get them back on track. "Anyway," he said, "Botan will be able to show you to where the portal is that should land you close to Genkai's compound."
"Yeah, right," Yusuke mumbled angrily under his breath.
"Huh?" Atari questions.
"You'll get what I mean when you go through the portal."
"Not another one," Selene mumbled to herself as they left the office. After a moment, a preppy looking blue-haired girl came around the corner.
From the corner of Selene's eye, she saw her friend grimace. Selene just sighed. Atari really needs to stop judging people right when she meets them, she thought.
"Hi," the girl said, "my name is Botan. You might see me around as I help the detectives from time to time."
"Oh, great," Atari mumbled under her breath and pushed her aside before she figured out she had no idea where she was going. "Um," Atari mumbled as she turned around, showing she had red cheeks, "Where's the portal?"
No one seemed to have an answer except Botan.
"Koenma called me to show you where it is," she said, and although she still had her happy voice, she looked a little down from Atari's rudeness. Still, she smiled and continued, "Follow me!"
As they followed her, Selene caught up to the blue-haired girl. "Sorry about Atari," Selene said, looking ashamed, "She tends to act that way towards people she doesn't know."
Botan smiled. "That's fine!"
Selene sighed and fell back with the rest of them. At least one person might not hate us, she thought happily.
When Botan finally stopped, it was in front of a mostly empty room. The only thing in it was a black swirling portal, that Selene looked at warily.
"Well," Selene spoke, looking at Atari, "you go first."
Atari sighed. "Are you still mad about me pushing you?"
"No, but I can't say I trust you at the moment."
"Will one of you move?" Yusuke asked, annoyed.
They ignored him and kept arguing.
Suddenly, Selene felt a push from behind her as she fell through the darkness... then landing on the hard ground. Unfortunately, Atari came right after, and not prepared for it fell on top of the smaller girl. Then came Yusuke and Kuwabara, who also managed to land on her. The only two who managed to land gracefully were Kurama and Hiei.
Luckily, Selene was small enough that she managed to squeeze out, where she saw the dogpile, as well as an amused-looking Kurama and a smug Hiei.
"Okay," Selene spoke angrily, "Who pushed me?"
Hiei's smirk got a bit wider.
"Don't tell me," Selene said to him, "it was you."
"Hn," he responded, and Selene was able to hear the smugness in his voice, "I'm surprised you were actually able to figure it out.
She sighed angrily, crossed her arms, and sulked, only mumbling a low "jerk" in response.
Once everyone was untangled from each other, Yusuke looked towards a temple and sighed, saying, "I hate always being right."
Hiei looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Detective, you're rarely right, and whenever you are it's usually more luck than actual skill."
"Well," Selene interjected, "that means he has good instincts, right?"
Everyone looked at her in surprise.
"What? I've managed to have almost everyone here hate me within our first meeting. I want at least one person to protect me when the psycho woman comes to kill me. By the way, what were you right about?"
Yusuke pointed to the direction of the temple, which happened to also be up the largest set of stairs the two girls had ever seen. "Close to the temple, my ass!" he exclaimed unhappily.
I know, not as long as my previous chapter, buuuut I got some annoying explanation out of the way. I think some fun stuff will happen next chapter, so hopefully you have that to look forward to. Sadly, this is the first chapter I wrote swearing. I know most people probably didn't notice, but I don't actually cuss. Oh well, with Yusuke, it's unavoidable.
Anyway... I thank you again, Zaidee. I hope you're still reading, even after all this time! I'm glad you're interested.
I'll see you all next chapter!
LectaElf