I blinked and stared at the ceiling. It was quiet; I could barely hear the roar from the city streets. I sat up slowly as I looked around and realized I was in my bedroom. The small lamp on my bedside table was on with a note next to it. The window was open and the breeze pushed the curtains into the room spookily. I moaned as I realized I had a head ache and started crawling out of bed. I lived in a two story condo, my first floor being the fifth floor of the building and my second floor was the sixth. I inherited the condo from my father after my mother died. My father took my sister and vanished, leaving everything in his name to me. I've been living in this three bedroom condo my whole life, but these last three years has been just me. The place always gave me the creeps when I was alone. I felt even more alone and scared than ever before though. Someone in my family is after me! Who is it?! I started walking down the stairs when I met a pair of crimson eyes glaring at me. I screamed. Obviously.
The eyes stepped out of the darkness into the light coming in from the rest of the city. It was a short, young man with spiked black hair. He wore a black cloak that covered his entire body and had a white scarf-ish thing around his neck. "Who are you?" I asked petrified. This day couldn't get any better, could it?
"Hn," he almost sounded amused. "By your reaction, I assume you didn't read the note Kurama left for you."
Damn, really? What a prick.
"Are you the guy who's been stalking me?" I blurted out, feeling the same intensity as I did when I was alone in the shop or walking through the streets.
"Hn," he grunted again. "I thought they already told you my purpose in this mission."
Oh, he's supposed to be protecting me, that's right. "What are you doing in my house?"
He didn't answer, it almost seemed like he rolled his eyes as he turned to look out the window. Am I supposed to just let him be in here? I don't know this guy! And he creeps me out even more than Kurama does! I looked around the dark condo again. I can only assume this means there's no point in hiding anymore… or this situation is about to get worse. I thought to myself as I got a glass of water from the kitchen. Before I went up the stairs I turned and gave him another look over, "I guess, uhh… thank you?"
"Hn," he didn't even blink. 'Hn' must be his favorite phrase.
I definitely rolled my eyes and started up the stairs. I was exhausted from the day and I could barely make it up the stairs. I was trying to keep from panting by the time I reached the top. I took a moment on the last step as something seemed to strike me like lightning. All of a sudden I felt like I was frozen, the chills of cold engulfing me. My breath started to quicken then stopped all together. I was terrified and I had no idea why. I turned and looked at my bedroom doorway and saw my little sister, she was about twelve now. She was dressed in an odd, white dress that flowed in the wind from the window. "Rini?" That was the nickname I gave her just a few months before our mother died, I called her that because she reminded me so much of a little girl from a show that had just been debuted on TV at the time.
"No, daddy! Wait!" she cried frantically, tears rolling down her face.
It felt like daggers of ice were being driven into every inch of my body when she spoke, "What?" I breathed, confused. Dad's here?
She let out a cry and ran to my window, "No! Rini, wait!" I dropped the glass of water and ran after her but stopped in my tracks, her eyes paralyzing me when she turned to look me directly in the eyes.
"He's coming," she whispered and let two tears roll down her face before she leaned back and dropped out of the window.
I felt my heart explode and shoot fire into my veins, "RINI!" I jumped to the window trying to grab her before she could fall into the busy street six stories down.
"Ayumi!" I heard a rash voice yell behind me and pull me back through the window and close it. I could barely see straight, I was trying to find by breath, taking in huge gulps of air, but none of it seemed to be entering my lungs at all. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I couldn't think as I tried to hold back tears. Before I knew it I was bolting out of my home and down the stairs. "Wait!" I heard the voice call again.
I threw myself through the door at the bottom of the stair well and ran straight into someone, stopping the momentum I had no control over. "Ayumi," the man I ran into held my shoulders while the momentum in my body tried to pry me away from him and into the busy street. "What's wrong?" That calm stern voice seemed familiar but I felt like it was coming from far away. I wasn't struggling to get away from his grip anymore. I was just frantically looking into the street. No stopped, bent in cars. No blood or guts on the pavement. The people moving around us didn't seem to care, they moved as if the person holding me and I weren't even there. My sister, or what was left of her, was nowhere to be found. I gasped for air that refused to enter my lungs and looked up slowly to see who had stopped me as I felt Hiei's eyes penetrating my back once again. Kurama looked worriedly down at me. "What happened?" he asked in a calm and caring voice, much different than the Kurama from earlier that day.
I felt my body go dumb and I no longer hand the energy to hold my head up. I tried to answer him but I couldn't speak. I felt my body give in against his, my face flat against his warm chest and the world fell silent and my sight went black.
"So, the one after the family members is Ayumi's father?" I heard Kurama's voice traveling up the stairs and into my room.
"Yes," A girl's voice. "He's on the move now; Koenma thinks this is the turning point in his goal to becoming the Oracle. He's moving at fast speeds towards another family member in Italy."
"That's not good," Kurama replied dimly.
"What happened here?" the girl asked worriedly.
"Hiei said she woke up and discovered him then got a glass of water. She was heading back to bed when he heard her talking to someone named Rini. When Ayumi started yelling at Rini, Hiei decided it was time to step in and found Ayumi half way out her bedroom window in hysterics. I was on my way to check in on her when she burst throw a door into the street. She was still in hysterics and then passed out in my arms," Kurama informed the girl slowly.
"Oh my god! What happened, Kurama?" the girl begged with more worry in her voice.
"I assume Rini was her little sister, Rin. She must have had the power of telepathy and committed suicide to send Ayumi a message which materialized into a full on hallucination to Ayumi when the power started absorbing into her," Kurama explained his theory.
I felt tears roll slowly down my face and into my hair as I listened staring up at the ceiling, once again. My father… he's the one coming after us… Rini… I heard the muffled moans of sobbing in the back of my throat as the tears started streaming. I heard footsteps on the stairs and shut my eyes and rolled to face the window that was closed now. What the hell do I do?
"Ms. Ayumi?" I heard the girl's voice call gently into my room.
I sat up, my eyes still shut, trying to stop the tears from flowing. I could feel the salt burning my skin and start dripping down my face again, building up at the bottom of my chin. "Yes," I replied through silent sobs.
She came in and sat down next to me, putting a hand around my shoulders, "My name is Botan. I'm a guide to the Spirit World. I also help Yusuke and the others on their missions."
I tried wiping the tears away from my face as they started to splatter off my chin and onto my forearms, "I'm sorry," I wiped away more tears. "It's just…"
She pulled out a cloth and handed it to me, "It's ok. I understand this must be really hard for you. But we are all here to protect you; I just wanted you to know that."
"Thank you," I muttered after I finished drying my face. "How am I supposed to deal with this?" I asked, not meaning to and looked at her.
She gave me a warm smile. Her hair was bright blue and pulled back into a pony tail. "If you trust us to protect you, the rest will be a lot easier to take in over time. We can also help you with developing the psychic abilities and teach you how to use them to protect yourself. That's what we're all here for."
I just stared at her for a moment then she let out a little giggle, "Of course, we made the mistake of letting chance pick who lead the mission."
"What?" I looked at her in confusion.
She giggled a little again, "Unfortunately, men aren't the smartest when it comes to common sense."
I laughed, which surprised me into silence. Botan's pocket started ringing and she pulled out what looked like a compact mirror. A toddler with "Jr." stamped on his forehead was looking at us from inside the mirror. What the fuck?
"Botan, I need to see you in my office right now!" He panicked.
Botan nodded and shut the compact mirror, "Sorry, I have to cut our girl-to-girl talk short, something must have happened." She waved and went over to the window and opened it. A long wooden oar appeared in her hand and she jumped up and sat on it, now hovering a few feet off the floor. "Kurama is downstairs. Tell him I told him to take you to Genkai's temple A.S.A.P. I'll see you soon!" Then she was gone. You've got to be kidding me…
I threw off my work clothes, which consisted of black slacks and a purple silk button down blouse, and threw new clothes on. I picked out a pair of old, ripped jeans and a black tank top. I ripped a black hoodie off of its hanger and started down the stairs.
Kurama looked at me with a curious face, "How are you feeling?"
I stopped and looked at him for a moment, "How do you think I'm feeling?"
He tried to hide a smile and stood up, "I think it's about time we head out," He said trying not to sound too serious. I didn't really feel like replying so instead I just went for the door. He followed me silently into the hall and I locked the door behind him. "Yusuke and Kuwabara are already at the temple," he offered to ease my mind. "Hiei will be following us as back up," he added in a calming tone. Thanks, now I feel like the god damn president.
"Ok," I replied softly, looking around slowly to take in the blank walls of the hallway. He turned and started heading for the exit. I followed him silently out into the streets. I was hard not to stop and look around. I could feel Hiei's eyes fixated on me, I think I was starting to get used to this feeling. It burned a little between my shoulder blades but now that I knew what the feeling was, it didn't seem to bother me as much. We walked for a while, I wasn't sure where I was going but I knew one thing for sure: I didn't want to be alone and this guy is supposed to protect me. So I followed him obediently. We were soon walking down a deserted path with an overhang that was designed to keep people dry from the rain. I kind of wish it was raining. It was very dark on this path; there wasn't a street lamp in sight but the lights from the city dimly lit the area like moonlight.
'Do you know which ones you have?' Kurama's question from way earlier that evening popped into my head. I looked up at his back. His hair swayed just the slightest to his footsteps. His posture was perfect. He was wearing jeans and a dark green windbreaker jacket that made the color of his hair pop. "Hey, Kurama?" I heard my voice escape my lips weakly.
He slowed down a little bit and turned his head back towards me with a gentle smile, "Yes, Ayumi?"
He waited for me to be by his side before he continued at the regular pace, "What were those powers again?"
His smile faded a little, "Immortality, eternal youth, visions of the future, touch of the past, sight of the present, barriers, projection of energy, telepathy, and the common sixth sense," his 'matter of fact' tone was gone and replaced with a gentle one.
Visions… I guess that one's a given. The sixth sense explains Hiei's stare against my back… Rini… I felt tears starting to form under my eye lids. I shook my head a little and dug my nails into the palm of my hand trying to get the physical pain to cancel out the emotional pain. Rini had telepathy, I think.
'That's correct,' a voice replied to me inside my head. I froze in my place and gasped. 'Hn.'
Oh, you're a jerk!
Kurama turned and looked at me with a worried face. "I have three of them that I know of," I offered. He frowned. "Sorry, Hiei was talking to me in my head. I got scared for a second until he made his trade mark grunt."
Kurama's response was a light laugh and then he seemed to let out a breath he had been holding in. "He likes to do that at inconvenient times."
I let a small smile crack onto my face for a moment but it was gone when I realized it had been there. We began walking again. "My guess is that they are telepathy, the sixth sense, and visions," I answered his question from hours before.
He didn't reply but his face showed that he was thinking intently on what I had just said. After a few more minutes I grew weary of the eerie silence, "Kurama?" I asked for his attention again.
"Yes?" He didn't slow down or look at me this time but his voice portrayed a feeling of comfort. Why does he seem so different now compared to earlier in the shop?
"Um…" There I go with those 'ums' again, "will you talk to me?"
He looked down at me with a questioning face, "What would you like to talk about?"
I thought about this for a second, the sound of our shoes echoing around us, "The things I wanted to know more about… like the Spirit World and Demon world," I replied after a moment. He told me all about the three worlds the rest of the way to the train station. He bought two tickets and I followed him to the platform. There was no one around. I had no idea what time it was, I just knew it was really late.
The train arrived shortly after we sat down on a bench, like it was planned or something. I followed him on board and sat across from him in a window seat. I watched out the window from the time we sat down till the time the train was in full motion well past the platform and out into the dark world. Trees were a blur and every so often I'd see the blur of car lights. There was no one else in the cabin. One of my other questions from earlier popped into my head. I tried desperately to find the courage to ask it in hopes that it would distract me from the trauma caused by the hallucination of my sister. "How are you a demon?"
He looked from the window over to me. He looked like he didn't want to answer but his motionless face gave into a gentle, warm expression that was missing a smile. "I was born as Yoko Kurama, a fox demon with the ability to manipulate plants. Twenty-one years ago I was attacked by a bounty hunter from the Spirit World. He almost killed me but I used the last of my energy to hide out in an embryo that hadn't acquired a soul yet. I was reborn as Shiori Minamino's son. I retained my memories and abilities when I was ten years old."
You possessed an unborn baby?! I blinked at him in disbelief. When I realized my mouth was hanging slightly open I tried to close it but ended up saying my next thought out loud, "What did you do after that?"
He laughed behind his hand. I assume he was laughing at my expression. I probably look like I have Down Syndrome right now… He removed his hand from his face, "My original plan was to return to the Demon World when my abilities returned but I had grown attached to my mother and didn't want to leave her." I really wish I had the courage to tell you that you sound like a creep.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. You sure seem like you want to talk about this a lot less than explanations of this hidden universe you threw me in to. My excuse remains to be because I wanted to avoid the silence. "How did you get this… job?"
His smile almost turned sharp as he thought to himself, "When my mother fell ill a few years ago I teamed up with Hiei and another demon to steal an enchanted mirror called the Forlorn Hope. It would grant any wish I wanted in return for my life. I wanted to give my life for my mother's. I was about to go through with it when Yusuke stepped in and offered his life for mine and the mirror granted my wish taking half of each of our lives as payment for Yusuke's selfless act. I felt indebted to him… so here I am." He gave me a warm smile obviously trying to make it sound as if it weren't as big of a deal as it sounded. He really just said of that, didn't he?
"Are you serious?" I asked abruptly after a moment of silence. Oops. I really didn't mean to say that out loud!
He looked like he was mildly entertained with me at this point, "Yes." His voice sounded serious but was broken my silent chuckles of laughter.
"Ok," I looked around the empty cabin for a minute before turning back to him, "What was it like before you became Ms. Shiori's son?"
His face dimmed slightly but his voice stayed light, "What's with the interrogation? Do I get to ask any questions?" he teased.
Way to change the subject, I deadpanned inwardly to myself. "I…" damn you. "I've recently developed a fear of silence… and no."
He tried to look hurt as a shadow was casted over his face. We both looked up to see Hiei standing in the isle in front of us. "Hiei," Kurama started.
"Ayumi's father reached the border of Italy an hour ago," he recited coldly. "I was told to tell you immediately."
Kurama replied with a change of facial expression. He looked like a gargoyle again. Hiei took this as a decent response and disappeared before my eyes.
"How does he do that?" I asked after a moment of being shocked.
Kurama turned back to me, "Sometimes I wonder the same thing. I'm convinced he can teleport."
A/N: So "Rini" from Sailor Moon. I thought it was cool cause Togashi is married to the Sailor Moon lady XD Maybe I'm just an uber dork. My little sis really does remind me of Rini though -.-
Thank you DemonMiko Jenna for the review! You like how I did that, don't you? XD
And you! Reading this right now. Review or I'll embarrass you too! I know you're reading this. I can see you.