Chapter 8
NO! Nyoko struggled. She did not want to be tainted.
"Urameshi!" one of the thugs flinched at the glare Yusuke was giving out. Even the hair on the nape of Nyoko's neck stood up. Yusuke seemed to possess an aura that was suffocating the air around them.
Yusuke smirked. "Normally I'd give you bastards a warning but hell," his smirk turned into a frown, "I rather beat the SHIT out of you!"
'How can I have a flashback at a time like this?' Nyoko screamed as she felt his nails digging sharply into her arms. Oh, she would give anything to have Yusuke with her.
"Meow. . .how should I play with you?" smirked Katsuma, a fang poking out.
Nyoko let out a sigh. "Oh, sure. You're both right. He just wants me for my body."
"WHAT?!" Kuwabara boomed. "Let me at this guy."
Oh, if only Kuwabara were here as well. A thought suddenly dawned on her. KUWABARA! She smiled sweetly up at Katsuma.
"What?" the demonic expression turned into a look of utter confusion.
Suddenly there came the sound of a dull smack.
"FUCKING WHORE!"
'Thank you, Kuwabara, for your honor code.' Nyoko ran. She needed to find an exit. Who knows how long a demon stays in the fetal position after being kneed? 'Kami, I hope this doesn't make me flinch at cats.' She shivered, unable to get the image of that demonic face Mr. Katsuma had on. Her eyes widen.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?! Nyoko cried, holding her skirt down or rather up. Something had snaked around her ankle and yanked her upside down. Now she prayed that she wouldn't fall and crack open her skull. She looked and paled slightly. "Please let that be fake." On the ceiling was a giant mass of hair and a strand of it had wrapped around her ankle. She froze as she heard footsteps.
"It's not nice to kick a teacher in the balls, Miss Kokoro," Katsuma hissed, though his eyes held amusement at her situation.
"Yeah, well it's more wrong for a teacher to go after a student," Nyoko responded back. She needed to free herself. She needed time to think real fast. Perhaps she could distract Katsuma until another brilliant idea, taken from either Yusuke or Kuwabara, pops into her head. "First a tennis ball and now a hairball."
"And the hairball succeeded in capturing you. I made it myself," purred Katsuma. He began to swing Nyoko side to side like a kitten with a ball of yarn.
'EW!' Nyoko now felt like she had been scarred for life. Her skin began crawling. She wanted down. She wanted out. How in the world had she gotten herself into this mess? How in the world did demons noticed her?!
"Your smell. . .it's like a drug. Like catnip."
"Yeah, well. . .it's going to smell like puke soon if you keep batting me back and forth like a ball!" Nyoko yelled, hoping that his hearing was as sensitive like a cat's.
The demonic teacher didn't reply back to her comment. Instead he said, "It's nice to see your true self, Youko Kurama." He turned around so Nyoko swung freely behind him.
'Youko Kurama?' Nyoko was confused. Who was this Youko Kurama person? She arched her head to the side and her eyes widen.
"And Shuichi here will help us," Kuwabara added, grinning.
Too bad it wasn't Shuichi. Nyoko swallowed as she caught sight of the familiar silver-haired kitsune from her dream. A nagging feeling in the back of her mind wanted to tell her something. Something about the memory Hiei suppressed. 'Two demons. . .I wish I hadn't gone to school today.'
"Release her, Katsuma."
'Is he the demon that Ronin says that will help?' Nyoko wondered since he didn't like Katsuma. His tone was icy toward the teacher.
"Tsk, no respect. It's Mr. Katsuma to you," Katsuma stated. He looked at Nyoko, feigning a sad look upon his face. "Poor Nyoko, not able to remember the kitsune who snuck into her room to—"
"Shut up," Youko growled darkly.
Nyoko paled as the veil over her had been lifted by Katsuma's words. 'IT'S HIM!'
"Oh, come on, Youko," Katsuma rolled his eyes. "We're both demons. Why don't we share her body? I mean it was he who proposed this game and he's not even here." He meant the third demon. "Here, I'll let you taste her nectar first." His hand felt cold as he touched her cheek to stop her from swinging.
'This can't happening,' Nyoko noticed a smirk forming upon Youko's lips. She closed her eyes and swallowed. Perhaps this was not the demon that Ronin spoke of. Then where was the third one?
"Damn you."
Her eyes snapped open. A look of horror etched into her features as she saw that the hand that Katsuma once had on her cheek was gone. In fact, Katsuma was holding a stump. 'What the fuck just happened?'
"I don't like to share her with anyone else," Youko spoke. He held a thorny, green whip in his hand. "Nor do I like when someone else touches her." In his other hand, he tossed a seed up and down.
"I'll KILL you!" Katsuma charged.
"How can you if my plant devours you first," Youko tossed the seed toward Katsuma.
Nyoko closed her eyes to avoid watching what emerged from the seed. If she survives this, then she would have nightmares starring that plant. Too bad she couldn't cover her ears from the sounds of flesh tearing and screaming otherwise her skirt would fall. 'I hate you, Ronin or Kuronue or whatever the fuck your name is! I don't wanna die!'
"I would never want to hurt you, Nyoko." His voice wasn't cold anymore but rather gentle.
Nyoko opened her eyes to find herself staring into a pair of sorrowful amber orbs. She, still upside down, looked around, seeing no bloodshed. 'Ok. . .' Finally she looked back at Youko. Fear and confusion on her face.
"I'm sorry for how I acted," his voice held regret. "Please forgive me."
"How can I?" Nyoko said even though she knew that she was at his mercy. "You were going to rape me." Then she blinked, finding herself on her feet.
"I would rather die than do such a thing," Youko stated, looking off to the side. "I never meant to cause you any harm. . .I was just playing."
". . . ." Nyoko didn't know how to respond. 'He's telling the truth. . . .I have to believe him.' "I forgive you." Then she noticed something about him. His hands were clenched quite tightly so that his claws dug into his palms by his side.
"One more thing," Yusuke said, "you are NOT allowed to check out Nyoko's womanly body."
"You—"
Youko suddenly growled. "Nyoko, get out fast. Don't hesitate to leave this building."
"Wha—"
"Go!" he snapped at her.
'Rude!' Nyoko turned and ran. She located the entrance and began unlocking the doors. 'I wonder if he had located the other demon.' She pushed open the doors and grinned at the sight of the setting sun. Wait. . .setting?! Her parents are going to kill her! Yet it shouldn't matter, seeing what had just happened to her.
"NYOKO!"
"Yusuke?! Kuwabara?!" She saw the two punks running toward her. Suddenly Nyoko felt someone clasped a hand over her throat. She looked to see Kai. "Kai?"
"Bastard, let her go! She's left the building!" yelled Yusuke.
Nyoko couldn't break free. She couldn't breathe. Spots danced before her eyes. His grip on her was strong. 'Kai's the third demon!' She watched in disbelief as Yusuke's entire fist was glowing.
"You can't shot me, Spirit Detective," laughed Kai. "Nyoko belongs to me."
"You're a cheater, using Nyoko as a shield!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Let her go and fight like a man!"
Nyoko felt weak.
"Try and find her in Makai, fools!"
Nyoko closed her eyes. Her last thought was 'So many bright colors. . .'
Nyoko woke up, shivering. 'Where am I?' There was the smell of blood and decay heavy in the air.
"You're lucky that he's become quite busy ever since he came through the portal with you," spoke a familiar voice. "Who would have thought that the teacher wasn't the master behind it all. . ."
"Takara!" Nyoko was glad to see the lightening apparition. Her eyes widen.
Takara smiled sadly. "Too bad, we're both unlucky to be in a dungeon with me tied with talismans." She sighed, leaning against the wall. "Yup, he must think you weak if he didn't tie you up or anything."
"But—"
"No. If you touch these talismans, you'll get burnt." Takara suddenly laughed. It was a laughter that made Nyoko sad. "Hiei's right. He's always been right. I am nothing but a weakling."
"How did this happen?" Nyoko questioned.
"I decided to go into Makai to locate, you know, the evil bad guy's lair," Takara spoke in such a cheery tone that Nyoko flinched. "Apparently I was being followed and then captured as if I was never the hunter but the hunted." She sighed, "Then about an hour later, I'm talking to you."
"Takara, Yusuke and Kuwabara aren't normal, are they?" Nyoko needed to know the truth.
"No, they're not," Takara looked up toward the ceiling. She then was silent for a while. "Ok, he's still occupied with fighting him. . ." she muttered to herself, not knowing that Nyoko could hear her. "We have time. I guess I'm the lucky one to tell you about the connection between Yusuke, Kuwabara, and the others, you now know or once knew, with the three worlds of Ningenkai, Reikai, and Makai. . ."
"Wow. . ." Nyoko blinked after Takara finished telling her about what had happened over the course of two years such as the Dark and Makai Tournaments. "Once again, another too much information moment."
". . .I'm going to tell you Kurama's story just so you'll be prepared," Takara spoke. "Heh. . .Youko would probably hurt me but he'll thank me since you'll be given time to think."
"Ok. . ."
"Youko Kurama was a spirit fox who gained the powers of a demon over the centuries. He enjoyed breaking codes and seals as well as stealing. That is how he became infamously known throughout Makai as the King of Thieves. . . ."
'Hang on. . .wasn't Ronin an infamous thief as well?' Nyoko didn't want to interrupt Takara yet.
". . . .In time, he came across a powerful bounty hunter. Badly injured, he assumed soul form, escaping into Ningenkai. Too weak to shift into human form or possess a body, he entered an embryo before it acquired a proper soul. . . ."
'I wonder. . .if Ronin had done the same thing .'
". . . .Now Kurama had ten years to live as a human before his powers returned to him. Of course somehow he didn't leave. You'll have to thank his human mother for teaching the cold thief love. So he remains in your world, living as a normal male human." Takara looked at Nyoko. As if knowing her thoughts, she replied," Kuronue was Youko Kurama's partner who died in one of their greatest and most dangerous heists. Unlike Youko, Kuronue tricked Koenma into giving him a short time in death and having him reborn with his memories intact."
"I hear a 'but' in there," Nyoko said.
"Yes. . ." Takara nodded. "In case you haven't noticed but Ronin hardly changes into his demonic form. He only does so if it is absolutely necessary. For example, he has no scars from that fire incident a couple years back. It's not due to hospitals but rather changing and healing in his demon form." She looked at Nyoko. "Unlike Youko now, Kuronue has a time limit."
"Heh. . .enough about me."
"Ronin!" Nyoko turned to see Ronin outside the cell bars.
"Don't just stand there," Takara scowled at him. "Free us."
"After Nyoko knows the human name Kurama goes by," Ronin held a huge smirk. "She should know just so she wouldn't freak when she sees him."
Takara sighed, looking down and then at Nyoko. "Nyoko, Kurama is . . . .Shuichi Minamino. . ."
"Great," Ronin closed his eyes. "She faints."
"I did not faint. . ." Nyoko spoke, keeping her eyes closed. "I-I just need to think."
"Don't worry, Nyoko," Ronin spoke. "We still have time. From what my demon senses are picking up, Youko is killing Kai's ass!"
"Too bad Kai's not the one you should be worried about. . ."
Nyoko's eyes snapped open to see Katsuma standing over Ronin who was tangled up in a giant hairball.