Tears of Time
Summary: For the last few years, Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kuwabara Kazuma, her twin brother (as she had figured out long before) Jaganshi Hiei, and their group of friends and family members. However, when going with Kazuma on a rather routine mission to stop a demon that appeared in the Human Realm uninvited, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...and now she's stuck in the past! But how does her knowledge of things to come change what is happening? How does she leave it the same? Only time will tell...
Disclaimer: I wish I owned YYH...but I don't. T.T It seems I'm speeding along with this, however; hopefully I can keep it up? And the plotlines will be different soon, don't worry; we just have to wait for Rando to pop up and screw things over for our little heroine to turn into the demon we know she is. :D
Fights and Interventions
Yukina found herself deeply amused by the reactions of her two once(current?)-friends when they realized they would be fighting the next round in the dark, although Kazuma's mention of "something from the forest or something" following them confirmed her suspicions. It seemed Rando was indeed the small man as she had thought, not that there was much she could do about it just yet. She was content to merely watch the fights for the moment.
During the introductions, however, she found herself at a loss. It was only when the others all fell silent that she blushed and decided to introduce herself.
"U-um, hello," she greeted softly. "My name is Yukina. I am a healer, working to better my skills, and I've been living with Master Genkai for some time now..."
"What, you live here!" shouted Kazuma, stunned. Yukina blushed deeper and ducked her head, unsure of what to say to that.
"She does," Genkai sharply cut in, making Yukina's head snap up to stare at the old woman, "not that it's any of your business. She's here to make sure whichever one of you punks I end up teaching doesn't fall apart before we get to the good parts."
The man known as Chin-Po frowned, as did Rando (who apparently went by Shorin), but the others seemed either to be masking their emotions or were completely unaffected.
"But that's beside the point." A moment later, eight arrows suddenly flew from nowhere and buried themselves in the ground in front of the remaining competitors. "Pick whichever arrow you think is pretty. That is how we'll chose our order."
The brutality of the first match obviously hit Kazuma hard, but for Yukina it was merely a bit sad to see humans killing other humans. Yet she had seen much worse through her time, so after a moment of silence on the man's behalf she moved on.
Botan's spirit energy appeared outside of the area shortly after, but while Kazuma chased after Yusuke when he left, Yukina remained behind. It was probably for the best, she decided when she heard Kazuma shout in surprise upon learning of Botan and noticed Shorin/Rando narrow his eyes just slightly, that she had or else Genkai likely would have stomped out there immediately.
As it was, Genkai waited until Yusuke explained Rando was there before walking outside and flicking a cigarette onto Kazuma's shoulder as he asked Botan a question, Yukina hovering behind her and giggling when he furiously blew at the spot it landed once he realized it was there.
"The next match is about to begin; If you are happy with disqualification, then stay where you are," Genkai dryly said. In an instant, Kazuma and Yusuke were running back inside, Genkai following. Botan noticeably paused when she spotted Yukina and frowned slightly.
"...you...you're a demon, aren't you?" the blue-haired Reaper asked lowly when the door was mostly closed. Yukina was silent for a few moments.
"I am what you see," she responded, "a young woman working alongside Genkai for the sake of what I believe is right. But yes, I suppose as a member of the Koorime, I would be called a demon." She paused, then smiled at Botan's wide-eyed look. "My name is Yukina. It's nice to meet you, Miss."
With a brief bow, and without waiting for Botan's introduction, she slipped inside to watch the next fight, Botan hesitating only a moment before walking in behind her.
As it was, Yukina probably could have stood to wait outside. It was Shorin/Rando versus Chin-Po, and she had no doubt as to who would win-and sure enough Shorin/Rando was the only one to emerge from the darkness, holding an injury Yukina's trained eye noticed was self-inflicted.
Musashi, the samurai, was to go against Kazuma next. Yukina smiled encouragingly at the redhead. "Good luck, Kazuma," she said. Kazuma visibly brightened and grinned, putting a fist to his chest.
"Thanks, Yukina, but a real fighter doesn't need luck!" he boasted.
"Then obviously you need all the luck you can get," Yusuke deadpanned. Kazuma glared at him.
"Hey, I'm a good fighter!"
Yusuke ignored that. "Look, just try not to get yourself killed."
"Of course not," scoffed Kazuma before a grin spread across his face and he pointed at Yusuke. "After all, I need to kick your ass before I die!"
With a final wave, Kazuma and the samurai disappeared into the darkness. Botan instantly began to worry.
"Don't you think he's a little...mismatched?" she asked the room at large.
"Don't worry," Yukina said reassuringly, smiling at the Grim Reaper when she visibly jumped in surprise, "I'm sure Kazuma will do fine. He has quite a lot of power, if he can manage to use it."
"If nothing else, he's got a lot of thickheaded determination," Yusuke added with a roll of his eyes. "And he's used to getting his head punched into the ground, so no worries about his endurance, either."
"Yusuke!" Botan said in a faintly horrified tone, glancing at Yukina (she obviously sensed that despite their "short" time knowing each other, Yukina had come to care for Kazuma at the least as a friend).
However, the Ice Maiden was too busy sensing spirit energy to notice, watching in her mind as the battle began. The fighting was one-sided thanks to Kazuma's sensitivity not being quite high enough to sense his opponent when said opponent made to hide his power, and eventually it became worse when the samurai drew a weapon that conducted his spirit energy. Yukina started to panic when the weapon began to repeatedly strike her love.
"Kazuma!" she shouted, hoping her voice carried. She sensed his power sputter, then sharply spike in time with another hit, watching in her mind as Kazuma barely recovered from the blow.
"Don't worry, Yukina," he said more to himself than to her, since he likely thought she couldn't hear him (even though she could thanks to her demon heritage). "I'm not going to let this punk beat me."
"You broke," the samurai said in a sharp voice, "my sword." There was a pause, and when he spoke next, he sounded slightly less uptight. "So you're not down yet? Then I shall have to make you stay down!"
Yukina was silent now, worry seeping away with Kazuma's assurances; she knew he would do anything and everything to keep his promise, especially if he considered her important. So when she sensed the samurai moving in, she kept her gaze steady, waiting for him to come out victorious.
A smile stretched across her face in relief when she saw Kazuma summon his Spirit Sword for the first time.
/I wish I had a camera,/ thought Yukina with a mental giggle, looking at the expression on his face. She listened contently to Genkai explaining his powers to Yusuke, who seemed to have been hit one too many times when she wasn't looking, while Yukina just continued to watch as Kazuma defeated his enemy and stared at his sword.
She then proceeded to sweatdrop when he said to the area at large, "How do I turn this off!"
"Oh, Kazuma," Yukina sighed before rushing to his side and softly coaching him through the process of retracting his spirit energy. Kazuma was a quick study (he always had been when he wanted to), and within a mere two minutes the two were walking back towards the main group, Yukina giggling as Kazuma heroically retold the tale of his fight (with a few extra bits of information, of course).
"If we're done," Genkai said, giving Yukina a pointed look that made her blush faintly, "winner: Kuwabara. Now if you will refrain from wasting my time," Yusuke shut his mouth against whatever comment he was going to make, "the next match is Kibano versus Dimwit."
"I think that's you," said Kazuma smugly to his rival/friend, holding his stomach lightly. Yukina ached to heal it, but Genkai had given her strict instructions not to heal them between the last few rounds, saying endurance was important for the training-which Yukina knew well enough.
Instead of taking offense like he would in the future, Yusuke just snorted in amusement. "Funny, I always thought my name was Yusuke," he said sarcastically before heading off with the man with the scars on his face. Yukina frowned, but trusted Yusuke in this fight (as much as it pained her to say it, Yusuke had a much higher winning streak than Kazuma, who won just as many battles as he lost before and during the Dark Tournament).
/Except when he pokes at Genkai's patience,/ she added mentally when the Detective once more made fun of his future(past?) master's age. Luckily he went on to the fight soon enough.
There was a brief touch of panic when the demon noticed the muscle-enhancing technique the scarred man used, then again when Yusuke fell to the ground, but she managed to refrain from reacting as she had with Kuwabara. Yukina wasn't quite sure what she should have said when Genkai's smoking habit was what saved Yusuke in the end, thanks to the bit of light it produced.
"It isn't cheating to use your own energy," she put in when Kazuma expressed the thought that his sword and Yusuke's gun was technically cheating. "It's not as if you brought a real gun into the fight. And those daggers didn't count as cheating, and killing your opponent is almost encouraged, so why should a sword and a blast of reiki be discouraged?"
"I guess..." muttered Kazuma, looking slightly unnerved when Yukina carelessly spoke of death and weaponry. She pretended not to notice as the fight was moved outside, making their way through the forest behind the outer temple this time. She also pretended not to notice Yusuke and Botan discussing Rando so nonchalantly, and deciding it was Kazemaru the ninja (hint: it wasn't).
"Here we are," Genkai said when they reached their new battlegrounds, with dead trees and marshland all around. The energy here was even darker than Yukina remembered from her time, stifling even. "This is the sight of an ancient battle; the army was overcome by madness. Thousands of soldiers attacked their own men...spirits wander this land restlessly, for eternity."
It was at this point Kazuma lost his composure, and Yukina's heart broke. He gripped his head and stumbled back, making a low moaning sound, and said with agony in his voice, "I'm seeing things...things I never wanted to see! It's horrible here!"
"Shhh, Kazuma," Yukina quietly soothed, reaching over and laying a hand on his shoulder. She saw the way his tense shoulders loosened as their energies combined, hers gently soothing his and pushing back the foreign kind as well. "It's all right. These spirits are in pain, but they will not harm the living as long as the living do not harm them. And perhaps fighting the battles they could not will put their souls at ease, or at least some of them."
Kazuma quieted, and after giving Yukina a cursory glance, Genkai continued:
"Energy overflows here as a result," she said. "It is perhaps the best place to use spirit energy, and thus the best place to have our final rounds."
"Thank you, Yukina," Kazuma awkwardly said when Yusuke and the ninja had gotten into position. Yukina herself smiled reassuringly.
"You're welcome," she told him. "I'm just glad you're okay."
Kazuma blushed, but otherwise didn't react as the next battle began.
More than once, Yukina had to refrain from making noises of shock when Yusuke was being pounded into the ground, although she also had to refrain from giggling when the ninja got a cut on his cheek and Yusuke looked weirdly at it before glancing at her. But the battle quickly resumed after that moment with homing exploding shuriken of all things and Yukina was once more on her toes.
Then Yusuke lead them straight towards herself and Kazuma, and she let out a low shriek, covering her eyes and preparing her powers in case they did hit. She felt a large form in front of her protectively-the scent revealed it to be Kazuma-
"You're gunna have to take this from here, Kuwabara," Yusuke said from just over her protector's shoulders. Slowly, Yukina opened her eyes only to blink at Kazuma's back, then when she ducked around him she saw Yusuke giving a stupid grin and running in a different direction. The direction of the ninja.
"Oh, no," Yukina moaned, only to freeze when Yusuke simply disappeared.
Then she sweatdropped when she realized where he was, even as the others stared in confusion and slight panic.
"Dumb luck wins again..."
Next to her, Genkai snorted in amusement as Botan and Kazuma rushed forward, stopping just in front of the mud-lake. Rando/Shorin just stared with narrowed eyes at the spot where Kazuma was fishing out his friend.
"Let's go congratulate the dimwit for making it to the finals," the only human of the trio said dryly. After doing that, something Botan said as the group observed the fallen ninja hit Yukina hard.
Shorin/Rando was fighting next.
Against Kazuma.
She had a bad feeling something horrible was going to happen.
Yet she kept her mouth shut, only wishing him luck once more and thanking him, which earned her one of Kazuma's brightest grins and a thumbs-up. Yusuke tried to talk him out of it, but Kazuma was having none of that; he proclaimed he was going to fight no matter what Shorin was, and refused to back down.
"This fight's for you, Yukina," he gushed afterward, apparently back in the constantly love-struck mode Yukina was used to. She just smiled at him, silently preying to the gods (and Koenma and a couple of high-ranking demons, just to make sure) that he would be alright.
And he was, at the start. He managed to land some solid punches on Shorin/Rando, who seemed unused to physical combat, or at least physical combat in his current form. Yukina was slightly worried when Shorin/Rando brought out fireballs, but breathed a sigh of relief when Kazuma just batted at them with his Spirit Sword and made a stupid baseball joke.
But when Shorin/Rando began chanting, Yukina's already cold body became even colder.
"Kazuma, get out of there!" she shouted, taking a step forward only for Genkai to gently grab her elbow. Yukina turned just in time to see the elder woman shake her head, once, then pull her back into place.
Kazuma seemed unnerved by her shout, however, and a moment later charged. But it was too late; Shorin/Rando finished the chant just before he would be hit, and Kazuma seemed to simply disappear. But Yukina knew he hadn't disappeared. But he wasn't visible where her senses said he would be. But he had to be there. But how? But, but, but...
Then Shorin/Rando stomped the ground a few times, and Yukina let loose a moan of emotional pain. Kazuma was picked up by Shorin/Rando, then, revealing him to be barely the size of her whole hand; he struggled in Shorin's grip as the demon cooed at him.
"You're not an insect," Shorin/Rando said in a sickly sweet voice, apparently answering a question Kazuma had asked while Yukina was preoccupied. "You're still human...just a tiny and fragile one." Then Shorin/Rando began to squeeze. "Sooo...does this hurt?"
"Stop!" Yukina shouted before she could stop herself, shaking her head rapidly as she teared up. "Kazuma! Please, forfeit! He'll...he'll kill you!"
"Listen to her, Kuwabara!" Yusuke agreed.
Shorin/Rando glanced over with a twisted smile. "Oh, but that can't be allowed to happen," he said in that sweet-as-death voice. "I have to make use of this power a little more."
"Stop it!" Yukina shouted again, feeling helplessness overcome her as Shorin/Rando began to squeeze. She was ignored, and something popped, making Kazuma scream. Yukina felt a single tear begin to slip from her eye and she hysterically shouted again: "STOOOOOOP!"
The tear fell, and as it fell, it morphed.
Botan was the first to notice the jewel that clinked to the ground.
"Yukina," she said quietly, starting to reach over. She stopped short when ice began to flick out from Yukina's form, slithering onto her hand with sharp pain. A hiss escaped the Grim Reaper as she jerked back and cradled her hand, gaining Yusuke's attention.
"What the-" he began, eyes wide. Yukina ignored them all, too busy watching Shorin/Rando continue to torture her Kazuma, feeling her power respond to her pain and desire to save him, feeling the air around her cool and the grass freeze and the wind blow around her...
"Let him go!" Yukina screamed loud enough for her voice to crack, lunging forward to protect her Kazuma. Her demon side ensured she missed Kazuma as she tackled Shorin/Rando to the ground just as he was preparing to snap Kazuma's arm, and a swift grab allowed her to gently catch him before he hit the ground even as she hissed angrily.
"Don't you dare," she said in a deadly voice, the cold beginning to creep along Shorin/Rando's chest where she knelt on it, "dare touch him."
The realization that she was holding Kazuma was what snapped Yukina out of her blind demonic rage, at which point in time she blinked rapidly, then let out a little cry of surprise. Jumping off of the other demon and stumbling back, Yukina stared, wide-eyed, at the Kazuma staring back in her hand, looking stunned. She...oh, gods, she had forgotten...Kazuma didn't know she was a demon; he didn't know what she was; no one else knew, except Genkai, who didn't count...
"A Koorime," breathed Shorin/Rando in surprise, yet with a hint of glee in his tone. Yukina's gaze snapped up and she narrowed her eyes on the rising demon. "Well, that explains much-I thought I sensed demon energy flowing through you, but it was so well-hidden, I thought it might have been someone else, or just strong spirit energy...but no, you're a Koorime, one of the famed Ice Maidens!"
Slowly, Yukina began to back up, cradling Kazuma's body gently in one hand as the other clenched at her chest. She knew what demons and well-informed humans alike thought about Koorime, and more specifically their ability to make tear gems.
"Tell me, Koorime." Shorin/Rando took a step forward as Yukina took a step back, bringing Kazuma a bit closer to her body. "Why did you leave your village? I thought your kind thought themselves above others, merely because of those Hiruseki gems you cry. Did you shed one for this human when you saw him injured; is that why you flew into such a rage, because you want to kill him yourself for making you do that?"
"N-no!" Yukina cried out, horrified at the thought. "I...I'd never..."
"But Hiruseki are so precious," he nearly purred. "Why else would you want a human back so badly? Oh, or perhaps you want to eat him, I once heard Koorime enjoy the taste of human flesh..."
The thought made Yukina ill, and her skin paled even more than usual. She was reminded of demons she'd met in the past, those who tried to eat her friends and even Kazuma at some points. "No! That's not-not true!"
Shorin/Rando moved to say more, but before he could, Yusuke was suddenly standing in front of Yukina and the small Kazuma protectively. She could sense the anger coming off of him even though he was facing the demon instead.
"Yukina, take Kuwabara and get out of here," he said in a low tone. "This is my fight now."
"Yu...Yusuke..." muttered Yukina, unsure how to react. Yusuke glanced over his shoulder and gave her a strained smile.
"You've done nothing but help us since we arrived. Besides, Kuwabara owes you his life. Wouldn't do to let someone else take it before he could cash in."
Yukina stared for a long moment before giving a slight, sad smile and nodding, still cradling the small Kazuma close as she backed away. She soon found herself standing next to a clearly concerned Botan and a pissed Genkai.
"Yusuke versus Shorin!" Genkai shouted as Yukina carefully knelt on the ground, lying the small body of Kazuma before her as tears once more welled in her eyes. Botan knelt next to her and both examined the unconscious form of the redhead.
"He must have passed out shortly after you retrieved him," Botan softly said, examining the small being closely. "But...how do we get him back to normal size?"
"We beat this jackass until he does it," snarled Yusuke, cracking his knuckles. Shorin/Rando smirked darkly.
"Not to worry, I'll return him to normal," the diminutive demon said before carefully closing his eyes and beginning to chant. No one dared interrupt for fear that something worse would happen, then all too soon the spell took effect, bringing Kazuma back to his normal size-but there was definitely something wrong.
Again, Yukina teared up, this time upon seeing Kazuma's twisted form.
"His ribcage looks horrible," Botan said, a hand to her mouth as if to hold back bile. "And his arm...it looks...twisted."
"Oh, Kazuma," Yukina whispered, reaching out and gently touching his cheek. She had seen the Kazuma she had been married to in worse states, but he had been older, more experienced...to see this Kazuma she now lived alongside, this young one who had just awoken his power, this teenage boy pulled into a world he was not supposed to be in...
"That's it," Yusuke hissed, glaring at Shorin/Rando with even more hatred than before (if it were possible). "You're going down!"
"Your power level is rising," Shorin/Rando noted with twisted amusement. "Well, then, at least this will be interesting."
"If you're done," snapped Genkai, clearly on-edge to start out with, "the final battle will begin. Now!"
"We need to heal him," Botan said, voice shaking slightly, "if...if we can."
"I can," Yukina said with quiet determination. "I will. Kazuma needs me...I...I have to do it."
Botan remained silent, merely watching as Yukina took a deep, steadying breath, then began to carefully heal his ribs with a gentle flow of energy. They were twisted, indeed, cracked in some places; a few more minutes and he could have had his ribs cave in completely and worse. As it was, it took Yukina minutely healing each crack, then making sure the stretched muscles were healed before she could even think about moving on.
By that point Rando was revealing himself, rising out of the ground in his true form. Yukina ignored him even as Botan moved to Genkai's side, too busy trying to heal Kazuma as much as she could. The damage was even worse than it looked; he had a few bruised organs, including his kidneys, which could be damning.
But midway through healing his kidneys, Kazuma suddenly moved, startling Yukina badly enough to gasp. He didn't do more than mumble, however, "Are you...ready to fight yet, Ura-meshi? 'Cause...I'll be ready...soon as you are...he hurt..."
Then he fell silent, earning blinks from all three females in the area.
"Even when losing consciousness, that boy has a one-track mind," Genkai dryly observed.
"He always has, when it matters to him," Yukina quietly agreed. Botan gave her an odd look, but didn't comment even as Genkai snorted and turned back to the fight, wherein Yusuke was repeatedly punching Rando to no effect.
Yukina went back to her healing without another word, listening as Rando mocked Yusuke and decided which attack he would use next. Apparently some sort of binding attack, judging by the name and what she could sense.
"...Yukina..." Kazuma said without warning, hurt echoing through his voice. The Ice Maiden paused only a moment before continuing her treatment, moving on to his arm with its cracked bone and torn muscles.
Yusuke's cries of pain hit Yukina hard as she healed, but she was unable to pull away from her patient/friend/not-husband until Botan begged Genkai to stop the fight. As she moved, Yukina knew what the verbal answer would be, as well as the one hidden within Genkai's mind.
"I won't," the old master said wearily. "Whoever wins this fight is the one I shall teach; it would be wrong to interfere with the selection." She sighed quietly. "I'm getting old, now; my powers have to be carried forward, even if they have to stay in the hands of a demon for a short while."
Startled, Yukina glanced towards Genkai from her spot on Kazuma's other side (which allowed her a better view of the fight). The word choice didn't escape her; the hands of a demon, she had said, not the wicked, not the dangerous, just a demon. Did that mean Genkai was honestly thinking Yukina deserved to know such a technique, if worse came to worse? Or was she just reading too much into it?
Yusuke was being dragged to the mud-lake by this point, Yukina noted even as she began to heal Kazuma's more superficial wounds, and soon was tied upside-down to a branch overhanging the lake.
"So how are you feeling now?" Rando taunted with a dark laugh. Yusuke glared hard at the redheaded demon.
"Why the hell do you keep asking?" the Spirit Detective demanded to know. "I'm hanging upsi'-down in a tree staring at your ugly face, you bastard; how the hell do you think!"
Yukina couldn't help the small smile that resulted from Yusuke's normal, brash tactic of insulting his opponent. The sarcasm was a nice touch.
Rando seemed to smirk, but otherwise didn't respond, already chanting again; Yukina flinched and found herself preparing her ice powers already to protect those before her. She would not allow a non-fighter to even think about the chances of being hit if she were there.
The water began churning then, and Yukina could sense the Makai Fish-or Hate Fish, as Rando proceeded to call them-being summoned. She relaxed only a fraction (Makai Fish were not violent unless they were hungry), then almost instantly tensed again at Rando's show of just how hungry his new summons were.
"As you can see, they're rather feisty; I'm willing to bet that was the first meal they've had in quite a while," Rando said in a near-purr. "And that demon was able to fight back! Imagine what will happen if someone unable to defend himself falls in...but enough about that." Rando's smirk returned wider than before. "I want to try out this new technique I just learned...the Spirit Gun."
Yusuke looked like he had been slapped in the face and Botan's eyes went wide, but Genkai and Yukina were less than impressed. Both had, in their own ways, seen much enhanced versions of that technique, and to think Rando merely realized the ability to concentrate and fire energy as a projectile...well, he had probably had the power before and was now merely molding it into a form that could intimidate Yusuke.
A warning/test shot just past Yusuke's face later (creating one of those infamous facial cuts Yukina was so familiar with), Rando gave a dark laugh.
"That look...clearly, you have surrendered to your fear!" he cried in delight. "My favorite part of the kill.
"Increased power is surely wonderful," he went on, pointing his finger in Yusuke's direction again, "but it's the sight of the prey's fear that makes me hunt. You've shown me that fear...and now you may die."
Then a blast of youki later, Yusuke was falling, a sharp cry of surprise escaping him as he fell head-first towards the Makai Fish below. Yukina and Botan both tensed visibly, eyes going wide in horror, but the Ice Maiden was distracted from that horror when she sensed Kazuma's very spirit...move.
"Kazuma...?" Yukina began to say before sharply cutting herself off, watching silently as Kazuma's soul slowly began to slip out of his mouth. Yet Yukina had seen death many times, and this was not the same way a soul left a body during death; this was more of a willing separation...and as Yusuke hit the water and Kazuma's spirit shot off after him, she was able to see why it was willing at all.
The rest of the battle spiraled from there thanks to Yusuke's intuition and dumb luck working against Rando's arrogance and...well, arrogance. Soon Rando's chant backfired and, due to the force of gravity working against him, was knocked unconscious and able to be sent to Spirit World jail.
"How's Kuwabara doing?" asked Yusuke when the group had calmed down, locking eyes with Yukina from his spot now sitting next to Kazuma's body. The Koorime quickly adverted her gaze.
"He'll recover," she quietly told the Spirit Detective. "Physically, at least. And I sense no major struggle from his energy, so it should recover fully soon enough."
"What about you?"
Visibly jolting, Yukina turned wide eyes on Yusuke. "I'm sorry?"
"How are you doing?" Yusuke repeated, leaning back on his arms with a wince. "Don't play stupid, either; it was obvious how upset you were earlier."
"I think you play stupid enough for everyone here, Dimwit," Genkai said with a scowl. Yusuke glared, but otherwise didn't react as Yukina let out a soft giggle. She gave a soft smile when the others' attentions were back on her.
"Thank you for caring, Yusuke," she kindly said (and would have bowed, but she was still on her knees next to Kazuma). "But I'm fine. Simply...worried."
"About Kuwabara?" snorted Yusuke with a roll of his eyes. "Don't be, he'll be fine. He's gotten into worse shit than this."
Yukina silently agreed, thinking more of the future than the past, but otherwise didn't respond.
"I'm going to take Rando back now," Botan announced, holding the moaning but mostly-unconscious demon in her hand. "Koenma should have his cell ready in Spirit World Jail."
"You should take Kuwabara, too," said Genkai, glancing at the unconscious teen still lying in tattered clothes before she and Yukina.
"Hey, I thought he was going to be fine!" Yusuke shouted. Genkai rolled her eyes.
"Not to Spirit World, Dimwit, to his house. He'll be fine, like Yukina already said, but since you can't take him..."
Yusuke visibly relaxed and gave a brief grin. "Right, I need to rest up for my prize!" Genkai began to nod in approval, but abruptly stopped when Yusuke shouted the end of his sentence, pumping a fist in the air. "First-row tickets to Tokyo Dome!"
"What? You still remember?" Botan asked with a blink of surprise. Yukina tried to stifle her giggle, but Genkai apparently noticed, sighing loudly herself and rolling her eyes.
"I can take Kazuma home," Yukina quietly told Genkai as the battle of words began. Genkai didn't question how, or why; she merely nodded, focused on the conversation/shouting match before her, then jumping in.
As Yukina carefully lifted her once-husband in her arms, revealing strength her small form should not have, she giggled again as Yusuke received horrible news.
The sound of him falling to the ground in a faint, then Botan laughing at his distress followed the Koorime as she left the area into the forest, finally feeling confident enough to ready herself for the next chapter in her new life.