Lone Wolf: Chapter 6 is here!
Hiei: (No comment)
Lone Wolf: Go away Hiei.
Hiei: Fine. I will. (Goes away)
Lone Wolf: From now until the next update, my pen name will be...(Drum roll)...LoneWolf and Touya!
Touya: Uh...hi...?
Minna: Hi Touya!


Chapter 6: Icy Explanations

Touya and Yukina finished eating after about fifteen minutes. Not wanting to be rude, Yukina didn't ask about the youkai Touya was trying to kill. Instead, she waited for the famous ice master to bring up the subject. After all, he did say he would explain after they ate.

Touya sighed, "You don't have to be so polite. If you wanted to, you could've asked again." Yukina gasped and looked up at Touya, surprised. It was as if he'd read her mind. "How...did you...?" Yukina trailed off. "By your actions. Your head was bowed, your eyes directed at the ground. You were wringing out your hands, unsure of what to do with them. You lips were partially parted, and combined with all of your other actions, indicated that you had something to say but were afraid to say it," Touya explained. "Oh..."

"I guess I should just get to the matter at hand and tell you the plain and simple truth." Yukina looked at him silently, urging him to go on. "The youkai from before, his name is Manako, also going by the alias of Murakai. The alias was of his own creation after he became the new ruler of Makai. His hair and eyes are both shades of purple, if you weren't able to see before, and because of that, many began calling him 'The Purple Demon.' Disliking the name greatly, he took 'murasaki' and 'youkai' and combined them to form Murakai. He reasoned that it sounded at least a little like his real name."

(A/N: Murasaki means purple.)

"This doesn't matter much, of course. Now that beast is in charge and he's letting all the demons who wish to, go wild. Any laws established by Enki are disregarded and ignored. Reikai tried to remove him but he has escaped them countless times. The 'good' youkai banded together and tried to overthrow him, and he also escaped our grasp. Yusuke has been given another assignment because of this even though he and the others have retired from being detectives," Touya continued. "So that was what their mission was..." Yukina mumbled.

"Evil. That's what he is. There are no other words to describe him. Most of us hate him; Yomi detests him. He would prefer to die than see him rule. 'A pathetic excuse for a ruler, that's what he is,' was what Yomi said when Manako's victory was announced. He and Mukuro joined forces and even with both of their powers combined wasn't enough." "How is that even...possible?" Yukina wondered.

"His speed. It increases his strength. He's ruthless, cunning. You can hide your aura completely, not make a single sound, sneak up behind him really fast. His awareness levels are too high; he'll sense you anyway. He wasn't this strong at the beginning of the tournament...he wasn't even masking his aura...something must've happened during the tournament."

A single word crossed Yukina's mind. Magic.

She shook her head roughly, "No...that's not possible either." "What's not?" Touya asked, stopping his explanation. "Is it possible...that he's a sorcerer?" "No..." Touya's eyes widened, "No...he's not the sorcerer...someone else in that tournament was...it all makes sense now! He was only noticed by the crowds after he faced her. They exchanged words during their fight that no one else could hear...that must've been when. Their match ended in a tie and both of them advanced, much to everyone's surprise. He was strong enough to beat her even then, but not strong enough to beat his next opponent, Jin. Their match was the day after and Manako somehow won." Yukina's eyes widened this time. "Thankfully, Jin wasn't badly wounded," Touya added, assuring her, "Just his spirit."

The ice master left out the part that Jin's left arm was broken and still not completely healed, despite the fact that he knew Yukina could probably mend it. If Yukina knew, she would want to go heal the wind master and it would be too dangerous to trek through Makai to get to Jin.

"It's all my fault. If Jin, Chu, Shishi, Rinku, Suzuka and I had taken care of him outside the arena when we had the chance, this never would have happened. We would be living in peace right now, not in this chaos. I could be helping you find your brother, and actually helping, not just saying I'll try to help, because right now, I don't think there's any way that I can. There's too much going on in this world. You should go back to Genkai while you still have the chance."

"We had the chance. We gave it up. We let him get stronger. Now Jin's arm is broken and we're down an excellent fighter. It's all my fault. I let him get away again," Touya began blaming himself for everything, even letting the fact about Jin's arm slip.

His arm's broken? HOW IS THAT NOT BADLY WOUNDED?

Yukina's mind was screaming.

He lied again.

"It's...not your fault. You couldn't have known. No one did except Manako himself. Stop blaming yourself," Yukina said as she walked over to Touya as he was sitting across from her. She sat down and put her hand on his shoulder as she said these soothing words, trying to catch his eye.

Touya finally turned his head, his icy blue orbs threatening to overflow with a certain salty liquid. His pride served as the dam, preventing his tears from rushing out.

He keeps to himself...too much. He never confides in anyone and now he can't take it anymore. Yet, here he is, still trying to withstand even more.

Touya curled his right hand into a fist, still trying. Yukina moved her hand down from his shoulder and placed it over his fist. "It's okay to cry sometimes. Crying doesn't show weakness. Emotions aren't weakness. Don't hide behind that mask. Everyone makes mistakes," she told him. The ice maiden gave his hand a light squeeze. It was then that the tears were let loose.

The two of them sat there, Touya crying into Yukina's shoulder, Yukina trying to console him. "The less you hide, the safer you'll feel."

During the Anoku Bujutsukai, we wanted light. We lost to Team Urameshi but we still got what we wanted. Now that light is about to be destroyed. Koenma put me in charge of the six of us. We were to gather all of our allies and destroy Manako. We still are. Jin mentioned something about Manako having a bad wind about him during the tournament despite the fact that we were all stronger than he at the time. I dismissed the thought almost instantly, not even thinking about it. Naze? This one word keeps entering my mind.

Why didn't I give Jin's words any second thought? Why did Jin ask me anyway? I wasn't in charge yet then. Why was I put in charge in the first place? Why is he so strong? Why can't we beat him

Oh, that's right. Because of that witch...

Although Touya said none of this aloud, Yukina felt as if she understood him.

The pressure...

"Why was I put in charge...?" the ice master mumbled. "They all...have faith in you. They respect you. Your mind is always in the right place," Yukina told him. Her hand remained on top of his.

Why would they have faith in me? Why would they respect me? My mind is rarely ever in the right place...just look at me...If I had listened to Jin, Manako would be dead and Jin would've never broken his arm. I'm pathetic.

Touya's tears had finally run out and he soon fell asleep.

Her hand is so cold...her heart, so warm...

--

"We'll be meeting up with Touya and the others," Kurama said to the rest of the group. "Why?" Yusuke asked, bored. "They know the full situation."

--

"Chu!" "Urameshi!" The two connected fists and began laughing. Hiei sweat dropped. "Where're the other...three? Kurama said that there are six of you. So I'm assuming the missing ones are Jin, Touya, and Rinku. Where is Jin? Not trying to be conceited or anything but usually he'd be thrilled to see us," Yusuke said. "Poor guy's a bit down in the dumps. As fer the other two, they're out scoutin'. They should be back soon. Their three days are just 'bout up."

Hiei folded his arms, annoyed at the lack of action.

A drunk, a clown, and a bat. Joy.

Shishi sat by the entrance of yet another cave...daydreaming.

Make that a daydreaming bat.

Suzuka went inside the cave to get Jin; Yusuke might be able to cheer the wind master up.

"Oi...Urameshi," Jin said weakly as he came out of the cave with Suzuka. Yusuke ignored the greeting, "You're arm. What happened to your arm?" Jin looked down at the cast, "Well it's obviously broken, ain't it?" Hiei raised an eyebrow.

He can fly. There's no way someone could break his arm. I doubt it was an accident.

"Who broke it?" Hiei asked simply. Everyone turned to look at the fire demon. "It was that purple bastard," Jin answered. "Alright. Now I'm pissed. Where is he? I'll show him," Yusuke was angry. "So I'm guessing all those things Kurama said we're true. That guy being able to take one of Jin's arms out of commission, he really must be something," Kuwabara said. Kurama walked over to Jin and took a look at the broken arm. He shook his head, "My herbs wouldn't be able to do much. Neither would Botan's Spirit Healing." "Hey, what about Yukina's healing abilities?" Kuwabara asked, "I felt great after she healed the wounds I got from Rishou." "Perhaps, but she's currently in Ningenkai." "Oh yeah."

--

Touya woke up, only to notice that Yukina was no longer by his side. She was sitting by the mouth of the cave, looking at the falling snow. A small smile crossed the youkai's face.

She was right. Crying can really be good sometimes.

Yukina turned around, "You're awake." She smiled. "Did the sun set yet?" he asked. "I don't think so. It's still quite bright out." Touya strapped on his bag containing his belongings; Yukina looked at him quizzically. "We're meeting up with the others now. Don't forget anything. We won't be coming back here soon," Touya told her, stepping out of the cave. Yukina picked up her knapsack and put it on under her cloak, following Touya. He turned around and raised his arms. Ice began to form and soon blocked the entire entrance of the cave.

"He won't be in this area anytime soon either."

Touya began to run, "Try to keep up." He made a path of ice and began to skate down it, enjoying the cold wind hitting his face. Yukina tried the same and after slipping a few times, got the hang of it. The snow continued falling.

--

"Hey guys? What's that over there?" Kuwabara asked pointing to something to the north. "I can't say..." Kurama mumbled. Jin's ears perked, "It's got ta be Touya...but he's with someone." "Well one's back. Where's Rinku? It's getting late," Chu wondered, "Poor little guy. We should've sent Shishi instead. Look at him. He's still sitting there daydreaming."

When the two figures finally came into view, everyone saw that Jin had been right; it was Touya. Hiei's eyes widened. Kuwabara jumped for joy, "Yukina!" "Oh! Hello, Kazuma," the ice maiden smiled warmly. Kuwabara looked down at her clothes, "Why do you look like that runt?"

What is she doing here?

Yusuke ran over to her and grabbed her arm, dragging her toward Jin before she could answer Kuwabara, "Okay. Heal his arm or something so he'll start being himself again." "S-Sure..." Yukina stammered and began mending the arm.

Kurama and Hiei sweat dropped. "I wonder what would happen if we told Keiko that Yusuke was cheating on her," Kurama said, directing the question more to Kuwabara than to Hiei. "The human would kill him," Hiei replied, smirking, "Pathetic. He can kill S-class demons but he can't even take on that girl." "Yusuke's cheating on Keiko?" Kazuma asked confused. "It was a joke, Kuwabara," Kurama told him. "Oh."

--

Yukina finally finished healing Jin's arm. Almost instantly, the wind master's ears were wiggling and he was bouncing with joy, whizzing past everyone, enjoying the wind hitting his face. His smile returned as did Yusuke's. They really were two of a kind.

"He's really late..." Chu mumbled, worried about the yo-yo user.

"So any luck finding him?" Suzuka asked Touya. "He got away again," the ice master answered angrily. "We'll get him next time."

"Chu!" The drunken fist user turned his head, only to see Rinku limping toward the group with a bloody gash on his left leg. Chu rushed over to help. Returning to the rest of the group, he told Yukina, "Sorry there but you'll be having one more patient today." Yukina nodded in acknowledgment and tended to the wound.

"Real good that you brought her," Jin said, referring to Yukina. "She was attacked by another one of Manako's little groups. Of course the bastard just stayed to the side and watched them be killed. There were a little more than a dozen; she killed all except one, excluding him. Had she not dropped her sword, she would've killed them all," Touya told his friend. (A/N: Gosh. He's in a really talkative mood today. Hehe.) Hiei smirked; he was eavesdropping. She really was a quick learner. "Her aura level isn't much, but with a little more training, she'd be a really good fighter." "Hiei taught her, didn't he?" Jin asked, looking in the fire demon's direction. "Most likely," Touya smiled a small smile.

At least he's doing something right. (A/N: Helping Yukina.)

"So what happened, Rinku?" Chu asked, concerned. "It was that stupid purple demon." "He's really getting everyone, isn't he?" Suzuka said. "Yeah."

"We should meet up with Enki's group soon. Mukuro and Yomi, too, and Raizen's followers. We need all the help we can get."


Lone Wolf: Just a little over five pages. I made Touya talk too much didn't I?
Touya: Yes. You made me talk too much.
Lone Wolf: Oh well. Someone had to explain everything to Yukina. Ooh. I made you a bad demon, lying to innocent Yukina like that. Hiei would have your head if he knew.
Touya: There's no way that you'd kill me off in this story and you know it.
Lone Wolf: How do you know? I might. (Evil smile)
Touya: (No comment)
Lone Wolf: I need to get Jin in here next time. He's more social able. Anyways, review or flame please. Your comments are very encouraging. See how long this chapter is compared to the others? Another update in a couple of weeks. Trying to get as many in as possible.