-1GYAHH. I just noticed some inconsistency with my other fic, this one's prequel. Shoot. I made Kuronue the crown prince in this one, but that would make him already alive during Youko's time . . . meaning if all or most of the Elves were killed in that huge battle, (Kuronue would've been there, being the responsible warrior prince he is) then how the hell would Kuronue have met Youko? Darn. -.-; okaye. How can I fix this?
In the hours following the kiss Kurama couldn't remember a time during his life on Earth when his heart had been so free of burden. He'd even driven around aimlessly, with the radio blaring, too ecstatic to think or even remember where he was going. But the happiness was as fleeting as the attention span of a hamster, and as soon as he arrived at his house all his worries came crashing back down on him.
"God, what have I done?" Kurama moaned, remembering the kiss. He'd been nothing short of elated a few hours ago, but as always, grim reality set in just when his happiness was at its peak. "Do I want to get Mirakuru killed or what?" Questioning his sanity, Kurama climbed in his bed and tried to sleep. He lay there for a full hour, and when he finally did sleep, his dreams or rather, nightmares, were full of bone chilling screams. He woke in a cold sweat several times from the ever more gruesome horrors that filled his subconscious thoughts. Each time he awoke, he shuddered, then realized he was in his bed, trembling.
Outside in the trees, a rustling sound woke Kurama from his fitful sleep. When he looked down he saw nothing but the slight swaying of leaves in the wind, but with the night he'd been having he decided not to take chances. Silent and moving as stealthily as a fox he summoned his Rose Whip. He tensed as he heard it again. Breathing slowly and telling himself to relax, he vaulted the windowsill and landed lightly on the ground. He caught a flash of movement of the of the corner of his eye. The muscles in his arm tightened as he swung the whip with a grim preciseness.
"Nyah aaahh!" Botan yelped, jumping out of the bushes. She had seen the Rose Whip coming and dove for cover.
Kurama was forced to do an awkward pirouette to keep from slicing her into perfect halves. "Botan!" He exclaimed in utter shock. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He gasped, taking deep breaths as his heartbeat slowed back to a normal rate.
"I surrender! Don't kill me!" an unceasingly peppy voice yelped with just a touch of sarcasm. A leaf-covered Botan crawled out from underneath a bush. She propped up her chin with her elbows and gave him a wide grin. "Glad to see me?"
"What're you doing here! And why didn't you just fly up to my bedroom window?" Kurama stared at her, bewildered.
"I did, and almost died. You attacked me in your sleep!" Botan replied indignantly, placing one hand on her hip and pointing an accusing finger at Kurama.
Kurama chuckled sheepishly as Botan recounted her oh-so-valiant effort to get up to the window:
She had ridden her oar up to his window, doing merry circles and spirals in the frosty night air. The first nights of autumn always made her feel energized. Cyan blue ponytail bouncing, she tapped on the window pane. Kurama mumbled something incoherently and rolled over, wrapped in his blankets. Botan commenced to wage war with the window. After an exhausting struggle to get it open, she called out softly, "Kurama! Kurama! It's me, Botan!" Kurama then rolled over again, reached out one arm, and blasted Botan with a gust of wind. She tumbled off her oar and landed in the bushes, resulting in the crash that woke Kurama.
"Well, anyway, one of our targets has appeared in the abandoned Senjouku building. Yusuke and Kuwabara are already there." Botan explained, "and I think Hiei is too, though you can never tell with him." She added as an afterthought. The mission briefing done, Botan then summoned her oar, which appeared with a slight pwip, and hovered a few feet above Kurama's head. "I'm going back to Reikai. Koenma will meet you back here when the battle is finished."
Wishing against all odds that this had nothing to do with Kuronue, Kurama started toward his car, then decided against it. Stealth would give him a definite advantage. Not to mention he could probably run faster than the car could go.
"SHOT GUN!"
"Spirit Sword!"
The two charged their opponent, who was wearing a dark cloak, and carrying a large curved sword. The silhouette simply grinned malevolently and threw off his cloak, revealing a glowing white countenance and pearly snow white robes. The specter drew a large half circle in the air, leaving a glowing white trail. He brought his finger back, forming an arrow, which he fitted into the bow. "Crescent Moon Arrow!" The arrow dissipated Yusuke's shot gun blast as though it was mere mist, and shot straight through his arm, pinning it to the wall.
"URAMESHIIII!" Kuwabara screamed, his voice laced with concerned fury. Muttering curses under his breath, he charged the ivory wraith.
Yusuke clenched his teeth against the pain, trying to ignore the blood trailing down his wrist. He raised his left hand for another shot gun blast. Ignoring Kuwabara, the ghostly apparition let fly another arrow at Yusuke, pinning his other arm to the wall. Then he turned his sight to Kuwabara, and using a single arrow, pinned both his hands to the wall.
"Fist of the Mortal Flame!" Out of nowhere Hiei leapt and slammed his fist against his opponent's face. He stumbled back, then regained his footing and transformed his bow and arrows into a sword. Using the newly formed sword, he launched a furious attack that even Hiei couldn't avoid. Hiei was thrown against the building, and crashed through the first and second walls. The third wall crumbled and caved in on top of him. He emerged from the rubble, shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Hiei, swearing viciously, drew his sword, and merged with it the dark fires of hell.
It seemed the two were evenly matched, all that was seen of them were two blurs, one black and one white. At first Hiei had the upper hand, but then the luminous shadow slowly backed him into a corner, and was about to kill him when Kurama appeared at the scene.
"Rose Whip!" Kurama lashed out, and wrapped his whip around the figure's neck, meaning to suffocate it. Throughout all this, the specter's face had never shown any expression, but when its eyes found Kurama, its lips curled into a slow smile of recognition.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the wraith grabbed the whip and used it to slam Kurama against the ground.
"DAAMMIIT!" Yusuke roared. Fed up with struggling to free himself, he blasted the whole wall with reiki. It crumbled, and dislodged the arrows imprisoning him and Kuwabara. Reeling with pain, the world seemed to swim before his eyes. He fell to his knees, but forced himself to get up. Kuwabara did the same. They glanced at each other before setting off at a stumbling run to where they could hear the sounds of a raging battle.
Hiei meanwhile, stabbed the silhouette with his sword, but he barely flinched. The sword had cracked on impact with his glowing white skin. The ghastly sorcerer frowned, and sneered: "Such weak opponents. Is this what Koenma is relying on?" With his peripheral vision he saw Yusuke and Kuwabara stagger into the building. Yusuke aimed a feeble shotgun blast at the apparition. "Pitiful." He smirked mockingly as he turned it away with a flick of his wrist. Then he raised his hands and let loose a powerful energy blast that sent all four of his opponents flying.
Hiei righted himself practically in midflight, and was the only one to land on his feet. Using one hand to balance himself, he skidded on the musty floor, stirring up clouds of dust until he came to a stop. "Damn!" He roared. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the figure escaping. On impulse, Hiei grabbed one of the sword fragments and hurled like shuriken it at the glowing white figure. The sword fragment did nothing to harm him, but it cut his belt, knocking something that appeared to be a gleaming white gem onto the floor.
"What the hell was that thing?" Yusuke growled, trying to staunch the blood still flowing freely from his hands.
"I'm not sure. Let's get to my house, I can heal your hands quite easily." Kurama replied soothingly, examining Yusuke's and Kuwabara's wounds.
Hiei meanwhile, had walked over to the fallen object and was turning it over in his hands.
The vial of Mermaid's Tears, he realized with some surprise.
"Hey shrimpy!" Kuwabara yelled. "You coming with us or what?"
Hiei rolled his eyes and walked over to Kuwabara and the rest of them.
"Hiei, why'd you throw that piece of sword back there?" Yusuke asked, trying to move his fingers, but failing miserably. Kurama had bandaged them with a special plant leaf, and now it was all but impossible to move his hands. Even worse, it looked like he was wearing fuzzy lime green mittens. Kuwabara's wounds were less severe, all he needed was some salve . . . that stung like the flames of hell.
"Maybe you need to get your eyes checked. It would take an idiot to miss the pearly glowing thing hanging on his belt."
"Aww, is someone a Mr. Sourpants because he lost the fight? Maybe he needs a hug. . ."
Yusuke started toward Hiei, but Hiei shot him a look that froze Yusuke on the spot.
"Shut up Yusuke. At least I'm not the one wearing fuzzy green mittens," Hiei retorted.
"They're bandages! And answer my question! Why the hell did you have a hissy fit and throw the damned piece of sword!" Yusuke yelled frantically.
Hiei cocked an eyebrow. "I'd have told you already if you didn't keep interrupting."
Too pissed for words, Yusuke sprang at Hiei. Fortunately, Kurama and Kuwabara had been anticipating this, and leapt up as well, shoving Yusuke back on his seat. Throughout all this, Hiei hadn't moved an inch, or even acknowledged Yusuke.
"Look." Hiei pulled the Tears out from his pocket, and shoved it in front of the other's noses.
"Indeed. That is the Vial of Mermaid's Tears." Koenma said, popping up behind Yusuke.
"GAH!" Yusuke popped up like a rocket and hit the ceiling with a crash, then fell back down with a jarring thump.
"Beautiful, Yusuke. Anyway, George finally came up with some information about our villains. That glowing white guy was the reincarnation of an Elven prince. You see, back when King Enma defeated the Netherworld there was another band of heroes fighting for our side. They were the elves, people who kept peace on the Earth. It was thought that they were all massacred during that Great War, but evidently, the royal family found enough power to make sure that they and some of their people would be reincarnated. The princess, heiress to the throne, is living somewhere here. She is characterized by captivating sapphire blue eyes. Not just average blue eyes, but mysterious eyes that seem to hold an ocean of secrets. Sound familiar?"
"That sounds like the girl you took to the dance. What's her name again? Mira. . .I don't remember. But it was a Mira-something, right?" Kuwabara asked, cocking his head and cursing himself for being so hopeless at names.
"Mirakuru. . ." Kurama murmured, lost in thought.
"Right. You guys obviously know her. Anyway, your mission has another angle now. You must protect her at all costs. That glowing elf and his demon partner wish to revive all the elves and lead them in a war against the human world and spirit worlds, believing that they were responsible for the death of Kuronue, the crown prince. They plan to assassinate the princess, so that no one could challenge their authority, and to give the elves another reason to wage war on the people they once protected." Koenma stood, and was about to step into the portal that would take him back to Reikai.
Hiei stood as well, and tossed the Mermaid's Tears at Kurama before leaping through the window.
Kurama caught it deftly and turned it over in his hands, studying it. He turned to Koenma and said, "That's Hiei's way of saying, 'Hey, you forgot this.'"
Koenma reached out to take the Mermaid's Tears, then stopped. He shook his head and replied, "I have a feeling that before this is over you're going to need that way more than me."