The Day of Reckoning
Chapter One
The city wind captured long, pinkish red hair, twisting it and getting in the way of a young studious man. The hair was getting in his hair, frustrating him very little. All he did was push it aside without even the slightest movement of his green eyes. His whole focus was upon a book, which he had received as a gift from his stepfather for his birthday. At first, he thought it was just a silly book, but the plot had caught his undivided attention. He had reached the next chapter and was about to continue, but a woman called him.
"Shuichi!"
"Yes, mother?" The boy known as Shuichi called back.
"Could you come here for a moment?"
"Sure, I'll be right there."
Shuichi, also called Kurama, set down his book and didn't even sigh because of the interruption. There was no need to. He was actually glad she had interrupted because he had an engagement to attend to soon. First, he would see what his mother wanted.
Kurama left his room and went down the stairs into the living room. As he entered the room, he noticed his mother sitting in a chair. The look on her face caused him a little worry.
"What's wrong, mom?"
Shiori looked up at him and smiled. "Nothing, I just wanted to tell you something."
"What is it?" asked Kurama, relaxing a bit.
"Your step father and I are going out to dinner tonight. Will you and the kids be fine?"
Kurama smiled at her. "Don't worry, but you do remember I needed to go somewhere as well."
"Oh, that's right, but please come back soon. You know full well that Risa refuses to sleep at night without you."
Kurama smiled. "I know. You two enjoy yourselves. Everything here will be taken care of."
His mother watched him for a bit and nodded. She sighed. "I keep forgetting you're already to go off on your own."
Somehow that struck him harder in the heart than he thought it would.
"Mom..." he said, but just gave her a soft smile. "I'll always be here when you need me."
He looked at a clock above her. "I must leave now, mom. But enjoy your evening."
"Alright, be careful Shuichi."
Kurama nodded and walked out of the room and left his home. His whole posture released and he focused on what was ahead of him.
Keiko Ukimura was running late. She was very late in fact. It was late afternoon and she promised to meet her fiance at the beach about two hours ago. She was only eighteen, barely out of high school, but she found the right one.
She kept up with a standing jog as she waited for the pedestrian light to turn. As soon as the person appeared on the light, she zoomed across the street.
My car picked a great time to break down, she thought bitterly.
As she rounded the corner, she saw a familiar pair.
"Yukina! Kuwabara!" she called.
They turned. Keiko stopped in front of them with her hands on her knees, panting.
"Wow, Keiko, ever since Urameshi proposed, you've been a little..." Kuwabara paused to find the right words, "...daring with your choice of clothes."
That was Kuwabara for you. He never gave a proper greeting. Keiko put her hands on her hips and glared at the orange haried teen. She was going to the beach and decided to wear her jean shorts and a red tank top with her swimsuit underneath.
"Kuwabara," she started, "it's about a 100 degrees out here and I am not going to wear pants."
He scratched the back of his head with a goofy grin on his face. Yukina giggled.
"Where were you going? You seem to be in a rush," the ice apparition said.
"Well, I promised to meet Yusuke and Genkai's and then we were going to head over to her beach. Sadly, my car broke down and I'm running late," she said.
"We're heading over there too," said Kuwabara. "We can walk together."
The wind that had died down for a few hours picked up again. A hot wind was better than nothing. Kurama had just a little time left to get back home before his mother went out. He pushed away a low hanging tree branch as he took a shortcut through the safe part of the forest; not the one filled with demons. There was no time for pointless battles.
The red headed fox demon was making his way back home from Genkai's temple. He felt something amiss, but couldn't quite place his finger on it. Was he just too paranoid? Even Genkai and Hiei didn't sense anything wrong. Hiei just dismissed it as a low class demon who may have gotten through the Kekai barrier. Yusuke just scoffed at the matter, saying the new king wouldn't let any powerful demon get through. Genkai passed judgment slower than the others.
If anything out of the ordinary happens, that's when we'll worry. Until then, relax. Enjoy your second life and leave the worrying to the wrinkly fold." Those were her exact words.
Kurama sighed. The forest thinned out enough so he could easily run. That was when the 'out of the ordinary' happened. That was when the worry took over his mind and heart.
A scream filled the air, followed by another scream drowned out by loud cursing. He ran toward the source. His heart was pounding out of his chest and his mind was racing with worry. He knew who those yells belonged to, and if anything happened to them, he would be devastated.
A body was on the ground.
"No, it can't be..." Kurama began.
It was Keiko. Her head had been knocked against a tree and the wound was bleeding profusely.
He looked up. Kuwabara had his Spirit Sword drawn with a look full of anger and worry. He was staring down a demoness with such loathing and contempt that even Hiei would be proud of.
The demoness had short, icey blue hair. Even her skin almost matched the shade of her hair. Her narrow eyes danced with glee. This stranger may be a woman, but that didn't stop Kuwabara from wanting to fight. Kurama could tell he had given up his honor code for the moment. What did stop Kuwabara was the fact that she held Yukina with a dagger to the her neck.
The sight of the ice maiden in such a situation made Kurama's blood boil. He reached in behind his neck and pulled out a red rose. In a flash, it transformed into a thorny green whip.
The demoness didn't even know what happened. She lost her grip on Yukina and Kurama grabbed her. In a blind fury, the demoness let out a furious ice attack of flying icicles. Kuwabara, being the honorable man he is, stood in between Kurama and Yukina and the attack with his arms spread out.
The icicles pierced him. He looked back and said, "Get Yukina and Keiko outta here. I'll tale care of the witch."
"Kazuma, no!" yelled Yukina.
He gave her a thumbs up accompanied by one of his famous goofy grins. Kurama gave him a pained nod. There was no other choice. He grabbed Yukina and ran towards Keiko.
Kuwabara tried to summon his sword, but couldn't. The demoness smirked.
"Those icicles had a very specific target. They cut off your supply of Spirit Energy. There were not intended for your vital organs as you had thought," she explained.
Kuwabara fell on his kness. "I'm just a normal human now..."
"If it makes you feel any better, it'll be wear off in about five hours. You'll be dead by then."
Another attack came his way, and he was powerless. Her next target would be Kurama.
"Rose Whip!"
She screamed in pain. The air around her turned cold. A blue glow surrounded her. Ice spears erupted from the ground. Kurama jumped out of th way, but the only place to land was near her.
The freezing air around her was a trap, a clever trap. The demoness knew magic as well. As soon as Kurama inhaled the air, he became immobile. She took this as her chance to inflict some real damage. He hit the fox demon with attack after attack until he was drenched in his own blood.
"Stop this now!" yelled Yukina, coming out from behind a tree. Kurama fell to the ground.
The demoness skulked toward her. Yukina showed no fear, just worry for her fallen comrades.
"Leave her alone," said Kuwabara, struggling to stand.
The demoness groaned. "I'll just have to take you both. Yoji won't like this," she muttered.
She glanced at the red head on the ground. He had lost too much blood. There was no chance of survival. The human girl was as good as dead, too. She threw a strange powder into the air and a portal appeared. She grabbed Kuwabara and Yukina and they exited through the portal.
Kurama opened his eyes. He was still at the battle site, but he saw no trace of Kuwabara or Yukina. He stood up too fast. More blood came out of his wounds. He clutched his side in search of Keiko. He found her exactly where he had left her.
His vision was blurry. He had lost too much blood. The only thing keeping him alive was his demon side: Youko Kurama. He slung Keiko's arm around his shoulders and began dragging her toward the temple. He only hoped someone found them before more demons showed up from the scent of his blood.
He staggered through the forest, collapsing at times. He never gave up. If he couldn't save two of his friends, the least he could do was save one. Then his sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing.
Kurama rocked on his feet. He took a step forward and fell. He glanced up at the red sky overhead and thought what a nice place to die...
A/N: I've had to repost this chapter like twice. Sorry for any inconvience this caused.