Disclaimer – "Yu Yu Hakusho" and all known related characters do not belong to me. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.
"What Goes Around . . . "
by DragonDancer5150
Chapter 20 - Conviction
"Bokuma must be taken alive. Death would be far too easy an escape. He must be made to answer for his crimes, against those humans . . . and against us."
8 8 8
"The game was simple . . . There's a monster down there which will find you and bring you back here."
"And according to the warden, that monster is actually Bokuma."
8 8 8
"Kuwabara, Yusuke, forgive me but I'm afraid that Hiei is right. Please, try to understand - what lies beyond is dangerous in ways neither of you have ever experienced . . . and I would prefer that you never do."
"We're a team and teams stick together."
"If you guys are in trouble, you're not gonna face it alone. Heh, we won't let ya! Deal?"
"Yes, deal. Thank you - both of you."
8 8 8
"I take it you've done this kinda thing before, haven't you?"
"I have done many things in my time. Come, let us continue on."
Hn. Yes, you have. And yet, you sound almost . . . remorseful . . .
8 8 8
"I'm fine . . . We're here for Bokuma. That is the only thing that matters right now."
"Trial by combat . . . He must fight just as I must."
"Well, of all the stupid . . . Not alone, you're not!"
8 8 8
"As Hiei explained, Bokuma enjoys toying with his prey before returning them to the Pit. This whole cave system is nothing but a playground for him. He thinks nothing of injuring or ensnaring his toys along the way."
Odd that I was never made aware of this . . . playground of yours, Bokuma.
8 8 8
"We must all be more cautious of anything we encounter down here. Absolutely nothing is to be trusted."
Interesting. He did not turn on the human for his thoughtless incompetence that nearly killed him. There was a time the fox would have eviscerated the buffoon himself. Surprising that the assassin does not do so for him.
8 8 8
"Dammit, Kurama! KURAMA!"
"Kurama! . . . Damn it!"
"Hiei, talk to me.""No, Urameshi! We can't get all split up. What if Bokuma finds Kurama before we do?"
"Argue all you two want. I'm going after Kurama."
Even more interesting. Rather than stay to the path he knows, the assassin will risk himself so for the thief? I would not have expected that.
8 8 8
"Your pride or your freedom, Hiei."
"Damn you, fox."
Ah - so even you will listen to him, will you? He is probably the sole person you will heed. The fox can be quite persuasive.
8 8 8
"Fair enough. I will go take a look - "
"Oh, no, you don't, fox-boy! Not with that weakened shoulder of yours. I'll go."
8 8 8
"AARRRGGGHHHH! Stupid bridge! Stupid traps! STUPID MAZE!"
Heh . . . Our vaulted Spirit Detective - still a human child prone to fits of tantrum. Poor thing.
8 8 8
"Is everyone all right?"
"Depends on your definition . . . Prepare yourselves."
8 8 8
"Kurama - !"
"No! Stay where you are!"
Foolish thief! What are you doing?
"Rose Whip Thorn Wheel!"
Hm, a great expenditure of Yoki, that. What will you do when you must face Bokuma?
8 8 8
"Kurama!"
"Urameshi, look out!"
"Did it get you?"
"Yeah, it did. Hey, where are Hiei and Kurama?"
They worry more for each other than themselves. I can understand the humans looking out for each other . . . but for the youkai as well? And even the assassin has shown signs of concern for his human companions.
8 8 8
"We must find Bokuma soon. His traps are picking us apart, I'm afraid."
"They're meant to."
They are something I had not counted on. Perhaps . . .
8 8 8
Batsukuno sat back in his plush chair, digging the heels of his hands into his tired eyes to clear them. The image on the surface of his polished desk wavered along with his concentration. He had been maintaining the scrying screen for over three hours and the strain was beginning to catch up with him, even as powerful as he was. He smirked at himself. I do not lack for Yoki but perhaps I have allowed myself to . . . fall out of shape somewhat.
A knock at the door brought the chief admin's attention back to the present. "Who is it?"
An oni attendant respectfully pushed the door partway open and bowed. "Forgive the intrusion, sire, but Lord Koenma wishes to see you."
Batsukuno sighed and gestured for the little ruler to be allowed in. He considered canceling the screen, then thought better of it. No doubt Lord Koenma was concerned about his pets and would want to know how they were faring.
As predicted, Koenma dove straight to the point. "Any news on Kurama or Hiei?" he queried anxiously as he toddled into the room, followed by Jorju.
"Your humans caught up to them shortly after they left. The four of them are still trying to find my warden. It's quite a game he has been playing with them thus far."
"How do you - ?" Koenma began but a familiar voice cut him off.
"Ya know, I've seen you stick your foot in your mouth enough times but this takes the cake!"
"Huh? Y-yusuke!" Koenma looked around as though expecting his bad-mouthing Spirit Detective to jump out of a cabinet.
"Aw, shut up, Urameshi, an' help me get this stupid thing off."
Batsukuno chuckled at Koenma's dumbfounded expression and pointed at the top of his desk. Koenma leaped up to the desk's surface, startled to see his Spirit Detectives - and the terrible shape they were in. Hiei's left hand was in his pocket, the shoulder lower than was normal. Kurama favored a leg as he supported Kuwabara, who was grunting while Yusuke tried unsuccessfully to pull a bronze pot from his foot with only one hand, the other arm - his Spirit Gun arm - limp and swollen, blood trickling from a bite wound just above the elbow. They were all soaking wet and covered in greenish-black gore, their clothes - what was left - sporting numerous tears and punctures. "At the rate they are going," Batsukuno mused, "they will be lucky to find Bokuma at all before falling more permanently to one of his amusements."
8 8 8 8 8
Koenma started to retort but stopped at the look in Batsukuno's eye. The youkai watched the group on his screen with a hint of a frown. From him, that was enough for Koenma. The little ruler was well familiar with Batsukuno's mind games, meaning one thing and acting another. For once, Koenma felt he was seeing a real expression from the cunning chief administrator. He decided to keep his peace for a moment, to see if Batsukuno would grace him with his thoughts.
His patience was rewarded. Batsukuno watched a moment longer - "Woah, woah, ow, hey, stop!" - then turned to his guest. "Your humans are quite remarkable, really - their immaturity notwithstanding. They have chosen to stand by the sides of their youkai companions regardless of the consequences. You know that they do themselves no good to involve themselves in this. Bokuma may . . . harm them deeply."
He understood too well what he meant. Bokuma may kill the humans - but that could never be proven. The word of two convicted youkai would not hold and this type of scrying screen was not considered proper evidence, even though witnessed by the Chief Administrator of Justice and the Prince of Spirit Realm themselves. If Bokuma won the combat, the humans' deaths would be on the already-convicted youkais' heads for certain.
"Yusuke and Kuwabara can hold their own," Koenma returned quietly, watching the chief admin out of the corner of his eye, "and they know, as I do, that Kurama and Hiei are worth it."
Batsukuno shot a look at Koenma but did not respond right away. Returning his attention to the screen, he sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers together over his chest, his tone slightly incredulous. "Yes, that does seem to be their opinion."
"You think they are wrong?"
"I think they may be misguided."
"No, you don't."
8 8 8 8 8
At that, Batsukuno did begin a back answer but found, to his surprise, that Koenma was right. He had been watching for over three hours, waiting for one or the other of the youkai to show his true merit, his dark side, listening for the words that would damn him for certain. Instead, the chief admin had been audience to a small group of companions who genuinely cared and looked out for one another. He had tested the assassin's loyalty once and had been surprised. The thief had trusted him and that trust had turned out to hold true not only for the thief but the two humans as well, assassin's behavior towards them baffling the chief admin. The thief, too, had proven on several occasions his trust and alliance with his human companions. Batsukuno wondered if he should not have been so surprised when Kurama defied him to try to warn off the humans, knowing that he would be punished. The chief admin had never had to employ his agony attack more than once even on a youkai opponent, yet the bigger brute of a human somehow found it in himself to rise and at least attempt to continue fighting for the youkais' sakes. That kind of strength only stemmed from the deepest of conviction but what, Batsukuno asked himself, had the two felon youkai done to elicit such a response - and from a human, no less? Whatever it was, that conviction had driven both humans to follow their youkai companions into unknown peril without hesitation and, at every corner since then, with every hardship that should have driven the little fellowship apart, if anything the four were more unified. Not one of them, youkai or human, had turned on the others. It did not even seem to cross their minds. Human and youkai - there was no rift, no difference, only a powerful solidarity among four companions facing a common enemy.
Koenma's soft words broke into the chief admin's thoughts. "It is possible for youkai and humans to operate as one, Batsukuno. There is not always the segregation and racism you believe."
Batsukuno resisted the reflex to shake his head. Such had never been his experience. "Perhaps - but how will they react when they face Bokuma? . . . If they can reach him." Leaning forward, he brought the screen back into sharp focus just as the floor of the small chamber slid out from under the little group, plunging the four into a swift current. "We shall see what we shall see, Lord Koenma."
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Koenma turned back to the screen as well, crossing his fingers behind his back, a frown of deep concern for his detectives creasing his brow.
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