Disclaimer: I do not own the anime, only Kaya. I am just messing with the characters.
Thank you for clicking on my story. Please enjoy.
As soon as I was through the portal I was running. I burst through Koenma's office doors, startling the spirit prince.
"Hello Kaya. What are you doing here? Weren't you with Yusuke?"
"Who are they Koenma? And why is that boy using HIS name?!"
I was in Koenma's face and he looked dead scared about it. My eyes must have been turning black, but I was to upset to care.
"Calm down Kaya, and I will explain."
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!?! Someone is using his name! That's his name! He's gone and someone's using his name!" I was shrieking by now. I vaguely noticed Koenma's paperwork flying around the room, as well as a couple of potted plants rise up and slam into the wall. Several ogres ran out of the room to avoid being hit.
Koenma stood on his desk in front of me. "Akari Calm Down!"
That got my attention. No one had used my real name in nearly six years, when I came to spirit world for the first time in this life.
"Thank you. That yelling could wake the dead! No pun intended."
"Har, har. Now explain." I felt a little light headed. That overuse of power and emotion couldn't have been a healthy thing to do.
He took a deep breath. "Ok, here's the run down. You already know about Gouki - you arrested him for me a couple of years ago. The short one with spiky black hair is Hiei, a fire demon. We don't know much about him, but he is said to be a real cut throat demon. Now the last one… I don't quite know how to explain this."
"Just say it, Koenma." I said through gritted teeth. I was right at the edge.
"The other thief is called Kurama. We know next to nothing about him. But to answer your previous questions, Youko Kurama's soul was never ferried. He is still alive. We believe his soul is in the red headed thief's body."
This was too much. I had spent sixteen years thinking he was dead. I saw how he would die, how nothing I could try would change that fact. And now someone chooses to tell me that my mate is actually alive?!
"Um… Kaya? Are you ok?"
'Why are there two Koenmas?' is the last thing I remember thinking.
"To think, now I have to watch over two detectives! And I thought you could take care of yourself Akari!" I heard a voice say. It sounded like…
"Botan?"
"Oh, your finally awake." I opened my eyes to see the blue haired grim reaper standing over me. Behind her I recognized my room. Someone must have brought me home.
"What happened?"
"You fainted while talking to Koenma. He said his news was a huge shock if it made even a demon faint. What did he tell you, anyway?"
Botan had been my good friend for centuries; ever since the first time I had gone to stay in spirit world. She had told me everything and I had told her everything, which she surprisingly kept a secret if I asked her to. So I guess she should know this, too. I had gone straight to her after I saw Youko really had been shot. She had held me while I cried.
"He told me my mate's soul is in a human's body. Our red headed thief to be exact."
"What?! Youko Kurama is still alive? How?" She looked shocked.
I really wasn't sure, but I could guess.
"Well, he was originally a spirit, so he probably hid in a human's body while he recovered." This wasn't unheard of. Demons just thought it was demeaning.
Botan sat for a minute contemplating the possibility. "Wow. I would have thought he was too proud to do that," she admitted.
"I would have thought that as well, but he would probably have wanted to live more. Remember, he has a lot of sins to repent for. I highly doubt he was prepared to face his final judgment. Now how about we go check on my brother while you fill me in on what happened to him and Gouki?" I really needed to calm down more before discussing this in depth. It would probably turn very emotional.
Turns out when we walked into his room, Yusuke was already awake, with mother dearest crying over him again. Fortunately, she stopped crying when she saw us, just to start fawning over Botan. Mom eventually left to make tea, leaving Botan to finally explain what had happened to Yusuke and what still needed to be done.
Our discussion was cut short by a familiar description on the news report mom was watching. It was a report about children in the area falling comatose.
"Sounds like Gouki's having lunch," Yusuke grumbled.
"In the past he's taken souls much more slowly, but with the Orb of Baast it's much easier. He can take all he wants." Even Botan sounded dejected. I suddenly thought of something disturbing.
"Botan? How long do those souls have?" She looked slightly confused.
"Uh… about a day, I believe."
Yusuke was quickly up and about to walk out the door.
"You can't go after him, you're not recovered yet." Botan caught on to what he was planning before I got to him.
Yusuke started to look upset. "I'm not sure how this works, but isn't it better to be dead than to lose your soul? You can't even become a ghost!" he gained a look of determination. "Plus, I haven't used my spirit gun today."
Botan pulled out an item from her pocket. "Here's your concentration ring, Yusuke. It will give your spirit gun a punch, but you'll be done for the day afterwards."
"Yeah, so only use it as a last resort. I don't want to take over your fight without my powers fully under control again."
"Got it," he yelled running out the door.
"You know what; I'm going make sure he doesn't mess this up. You and I will discuss your fox problems later."
"Fine, Botan. I'll come join you when he's done with Gouki."
She gave me a concerned look. "You're really not at top notch right now, huh?"
"I'll be fine. Go help the idiot," I said with a wave. Right after, she was gone.
'Now, what to do, what to do… I haven't screwed with anyone's sanity lately, I could do that. It doesn't take too much to mess with the human mind… it would be good to practice what I can use at the moment.'
I ended up at the park, taking a more serious train of thought than I had previously planned. I found an empty bench and folded my legs under me. I opened my palms to the sky and closed my eyes, letting my senses range out and take in everything, my mind opening to all the thoughts swirling around me. Those thoughts soon faded into the background, letting in all the possibilities of the future. No matter how many times I had done this over the years, each time still amazed me. The sudden rush of infinity that I saw in my mind… nothing could ever compare.
Soon all the sounds, smells, and feelings were gone; everything was concentrated in my mind. I let myself drift.
The small visions came first – the clear ones that showed someone's car stalling at the next light, a gust of wind opening a door letting a cat run out, Yusuke dumping half of his popcorn on Keiko in the middle of a movie – the ones that can easily change and had little effect on life as a whole. I slowly let my mind wander deeper. I was rarely able to get far past this point lately, but this time I encountered no obstructions.
Hazy pictures began to flow through my mind's eye. Vague outlines started to appear, indistinct sounds almost inaudible and not quite matching up with the outlines. I could nearly see one of the buildings that would be built at a new construction site come into focus when a small tug came to the back of my mind. I focused there instead.
The tug became more insistent the more I focused on it. It almost felt like the tugging wanted me to keep coming after it.
But I went to close. I was suddenly smacked out of my floating state and back into the quickly filling park. I blinked my eyes a couple times to make sure all of the black had faded from my irises and unfolded myself from the bench. That tugging… I needed to find a quiet spot were I could go after it.
The last remnants of my meditation showed a flash of Guoki transforming, Yusuke crouched down in pain. I left the park before taking off in the direction I saw Yusuke would be fighting in. I came up just as he fired his spirit gun inside Gouki, effectively getting rid of him and freeing the trapped souls.
"You know, I'm glad someone finally got rid of him. He's been nothing but trouble," I said walking over to help Botan get Yusuke up on two feet. "I was beginning to fear the worst when I saw Gouki would transform. Sorry I'm not a very fast demon, I would have tried to help."
"At least all of the souls are fine. I can't believe I almost lost my head to get back one item. I'm scared to think what two more will take."
"Well we can worry about that when the time comes. For right now, we should think about how to get you though a city full of people. I can't exactly levitate you home."
Awhile later…
"Yusuke, can't you just admit it would be easier to lean on my shoulder?" Botan asked.
My idiot brother was insisting on walking on his own, even though he was about to keel over.
"Right. Can't you just admit it would be embarrassing?"
The demon compass Botan had given him started to go off, cutting off whatever she had been about to say. I immediately started scanning minds in the crowd around us. Soon, the red head from the clearing, Kurama, walked though the crowd. The three of us watched him, though while the other two were weary, I was watching with speculation, wondering what he was after. I knew he wouldn't attack in a crowd, I had heard in his mind that he only wanted to talk.
He was quick to reassure us.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of fighting you. Nor do I intend to flea. In fact, I came to ask you a favor."
'Is he crazy?' I heard Yusuke think.
"Give me three days," Kurama said. "After that, I will gladly give you the Forlorn Hope."
And he just walked away. Yusuke finally accepted Botan's help with walking home, but I just stood there. He just walked by not even three feet from me and nothing. No recognition, acknowledgement, nothing.
I slowly turned and followed my brother home, eyes down, hands in my pockets, a lost puppy with its tail between its legs. Everything we'd been though, and he doesn't even know me from the crowd.
Botan and Yusuke were discussing the newest development in the case, punctuated occasionally by a shout of pain from Yusuke as Botan treated his wounds, while I just listened, hoping to make some sense out of what was happening. I was brought into full attention when Yusuke said he thought we should trust Kurama.
"What?! But his teammate tried to rip you apart!"
"I know, Botan. But when I walked in on them, he was leaving the agreement. His eyes, they looked more sad than evil."
"Really wish I knew more about this guy," Botan sighed regretfully. "We don't know anything for sure." She sneaked a glance at me. I knew what that glance meant.
Unless you would like to tell us something.
I looked back out at the almost full moon and felt sadness fall upon me. How many times had we come to human world together for one of his steals and then stayed a little longer for a night under the full moon? I could almost imagine that he was sitting behind me again, gently holding me against his front.
Little did I know he was actually standing on the next roof top watching us, wondering why a certain girl was so familiar…
Once the day of our meeting with Kurama arrived, Botan left us near the address we were given and went to spirit world to get more information on the Forlorn Hope.
Yusuke and I arrived at the address given, a hospital, and followed Kurama inside. He brought us up to a room with a middle aged woman inside. Yusuke gave me a side long glance as if to say 'what the heck'.
She was beautiful, but appeared very ill. She slowly sat up to greet us. "It's been such a long time since you've brought friends."
Kurama immediately reached to help her. "It's aright mother, you don't have to sit up."
I watched in shock. Was that really my Kurama? He was being so gentle - not at all like what I remember him being most of the time. Yusuke had a silly little grin on – I could tell he was surprised as well. And wait… Mother???
Kurama tried to get her to eat something, reminding her of her need for nutrients.
"Of course. It's just so hard to remember all these things, Shuichi."
"Well try to remember. I need you to get better."
'What in the world?! Shuichi? Who is that? His name's Kurama.' I felt my eye twitch. A glance at Yusuke's thoughts showed the same thing. He just couldn't hide the shock from showing on his face.
Kurama… er, Shuichi, excused us from his mother (who I was quickly growing attached to - she just seemed so sweet) shortly after, and led us up to the roof of the hospital to explain.
'This oughta be good…'
"Shuichi is the name I've taken in my human form. That woman is my mother… sort of."
He went on to explain how this had happened. Although I already knew some of the story, I wanted to know what exactly happened after I thought he had been killed. And as odd as the situation was, every part of me was absolutely blissful knowing that my mate was alive and safe. Not to mention handsome as all get out. That is, until I heard what he said next.
He was going to use the Forlorn Hope to save his mother's life.
And I had spent enough time with him in his prime to pay attention to what some treasures can do. He would have to give up his life for this. And I would lose him again.
A nurse came up and found us. Kurama's mother had gotten worse. And as much as I would like to have him back in my life, I couldn't stand to see his mother like that. She seemed too innocent, and far too much like my own mother had been so long ago.
I could feel the pain going though both mother and son's minds.
Kurama summoned the spirit of the mirror and made his wish.
"Hey!" Yusuke shouted. "Will you just hold on a second?! Maybe there's another way we can do this!"
"No. There isn't."
The words were so final. As soon as the mirror started to draw out Kurama's life energy, I couldn't help it. I had to watch as he appeared to die the first time; I wouldn't watch as he actually died. I ran to him and put my hand over his.
"What are you doing?!"
"Yeah, Kaya. What do you think you're doing?! You're the smart one! This isn't smart!"
"Shut up Yusuke!"
"It's my wish. Why are you doing this? You barely even know who I am."
I looked over at the confused green eyes. He still didn't know it was me. "And since when did I ever do something that made sense around you? I watched the hunter go after you, Youko. There was nothing I could do to help. This time I can. Besides, now you have a mother to live for who loves you."
Recognition came into his eyes. "Akari? Is that you?"
I smiled over at him. "Please watch over your mother as she gets better."
The energy from the mirror burst out around us. I saw Kurama's small smile for a second before seeing nothing.
I opened my eyes to see Botan and Yusuke leaning over me.
"Hey, I'm still alive." They looked at me like I had three heads.
"Well no duh you're alive. Now would you like to explain WHAT THE HELL YOU WERE THINKING?!"
I ignored my brother's outburst. "Guess that didn't make a whole lota sense what I just did. I didn't want to lose him but then I would be gone. Speaking of which, where'd he go?" I looked all around but he wasn't there.
"He went to check on his mother. The mirror decided not to take a life because you were both willing to give up your lives for another."
"Thanks Botan. And here Yusuke. You now have the Forlorn Hope. Go knock yourself out. Literally." I tossed him the mirror as Botan and I laughed at the look on his face.
"The Spirit Detectives strike again! And to think I doubted your brother, the Great Yusuke. I thought he would screw this up for everyone."
I laughed. "Since when did he screw up with me around?"
"You know, I like 'the Great Urameshi' more…"
"We'll negotiate it later. Let's go check on Kurama and his mom, and then go check on our own mother."
"Planning to make a move on him Kaya?" Botan asked with a sly look.
I smiled with a wink. "Not yet. I need to plan. You know how hard it is to catch a fox."