Ride like the Wind
Chapter 18
"Okay, repeat all that again…" Yusuke said to Murota.
"I heard 'Seven graves will be a good start.' Then his thoughts went to seven names- Doctor, Sniper, Seaman, Gourmet, Game Master, gatekeeper, Dark Angel," Murota explained. "I dunno what it means… I only heard about the tunnel to Demon World from you guys so I have nothing to do with this, honest! I don't even know what a Demon World is or what the hell a tunnel's doing getting people there!"
"Let's see that as a good thing," Koenma sighed. He crossed his arms and frowned at him in deep thought.
"Okay. You know where it came from? Who?" Yusuke asked.
"I dunno. I couldn't tell… But the guy sounded pissed as hell. What's going on?" Murota jumped to his feet, his hands balled into fists. "Is this some kinda joke or something?"
"Don't make me whack you. How the hell could it be a joke?"
Kuwabara shoved his hands in his pockets as he whispered thoughtfully. "Doctor, Sniper, Seaman, Gourmet, Game Master, Gatekeeper, Dark Angel…"
"So they gotta be nicknames. I'd be afraid of the person who named their kid Seaman. That kinda thing must be like child abuse or something!" Yusuke said.
"It's all piecing together. It takes more that just one psychic to open that tunnel so the seven must be the seven psychics. That one from before had to be Sniper. Now if that's his ability, then just imagine how the other six must be…" Kurama paused for a moment as if giving them time to think about it. "And Sensui. I think he might be one of the seven, too… I've dealt with him before. Supernatural powers, a sixth sense, and demon studies don't mix…" But why this? And why does Koenma always seem to cringe whenever we mention him?
"I'm serious. What's going on?" Murota growled. "Am I gonna hafta beat it outta you guys?"
Sayaka cocked her head at everyone, not understanding the situation. Now she began to wish she was taught English. Then she felt something crawling on her hand. What is that? I've never seen a bug like this before it's… What's it doing…? "Now I'm… Feeling a little sick…" She felt face first onto the ground.
"Huh? Sayaka? What happened?" Koenma shook her, but she was out cold. He looked around to find someone or something that would make her faint. "Crap… We gotta take her to Ayame while the two girls are out. Let's go."
Yusuke turned to Murota, who was still resisting the urge to beat the truth out of everyone. "Hey, man. Tell you what, we keep in touch. If you hear anything weird, come look for us. Hell you can keep track of me. Except at night. Don't listen to my thoughts at night 'cause that's my pri-"
"Yusuke!" Kurama called him as he swatted a bug that flew in his face.
"What? I'm trying to…" He was dragged away before he could finish.
On a rooftop, hidden to passers-by, were two figures watching the whole thing.
"That's the one there. You take him out," the first figure said. The other nodded. When Murota looked in their direction, the two disappeared.
---
"Fifty-four bottles of beer on the wall, fifty-four bottles of beer! Take on down, pass it around, fifty-three bottles of beer!" Jin sang as he floated in circles around Touya and Hiei. Now Hiei was beginning to regret taking Jin with him.
"So tell me, Jin. How did those bottles get on the wall in the first place?" Hiei growled.
Long silence. Jin stopped in the middle of his rotation and looked at the sky in thought. He waved his arms around as he answered Hiei, "…Maybe they're like Touya. Touya can stick to walls, too. Ninjas don't need gravity! They're rebels!"
"Damn straight they are," Touya replied with a look of pride on his face.
Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Whatever. It should take us probably two weeks to get to San Francisco from here."
"Two weeks! Kurama could be back from Japan by then! The exorcists might be back from Europe by then!" He waved his arms even faster.
"Jin's right, Hiei. (Jin cheered. "Yay! I finally said something smart!") You should wait if you even decide to go. I don't think it'd be pretty to see how that guy reacts to finding you gone after what you said to him. Though I'm pretty sure he's not that clingy," Touya added to Jin's argument.
"That's true… Wait a sec…. You dumb ass! You said you were going! Make up your goddamn mind!"
"I never said I was going. You told me to. I never even mentioned anything about going anywhere. I only said it was evidence of Kurama's innocence and that alone."
"Well, screw you then! So we're just gonna sit on our asses all day and over in Japan we don't know what the hell is going on!" Silence.
"You know, no one made you stay. If you wanted to go, you could've just gone. If it's Kurama you're worried about, we could find a way to get to Japan. I mean, it's all about finding Sensui and the psychics. You could help 'em. You could search through Japan in a few minutes. I knew your speed would come in handy one day."
"Who said anything about getting worried? I know I'm bi and all, but god!"
Hiei bi? Yeah, he can just keep telling himself that… "I fail to see how your sexual orientation has to do with anything."
"Hey, I'm making a point here! I'm not gonna go and be clingy on him! That's even worse than him on me! It's not worry that makes me like I am. We're sitting here doin' nothing and I dunno about you guys, but I'm just so goddamn bored! I thought it'd be nice without him being such a goddamn girl…"
"And that has to do with you being bi how…?"
"I know the answer!" Jin waved his hand in the air. "Butt sex!"
Touya choked on air. "Jin! What the hell! First of all what's that have to do with anything?"
"Well…"
"You know what? Don't answer me… You know what...? Just... Just forget the whole thing. Can't believe you. And you're supposed to be the innocent one…"
"But I like that word… Bu-"
"Jin, don't say that word again or I'll smack you!" Hiei growled.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It… It's just gross!"
"…Butt…"
Hiei whacked him with his sword. The two had five minutes to forget the whole thing before Jin was on his feet again, also willing to forget the whole thing.
"You don't need to get jittery! I can fly you there in a jiffy!" Jin waved his arms around. "You only weight two pounds anyway…"
"And Touya? Are you gonna leave him here?" Hiei was still irritated about what happened not long ago. ("Don't drag me into your crap," Touya growled.)
"He can come, too! Ninjas are supposed to be light!"
"And how do you think you'll take us without someone getting scared and shooting us?"
"…Aw, shucks! You're no fun, Hi-ei!"
"Damn right, I ain't."
"Both of you!" Touya held his arms up in the air. "Okay, before we find out more of Jin's colorful vocabulary, I just want you guys to know that I just wanted Kurama to be proven innocent. Okay? We all get it. Nothing about going to America. We're cool. You have his innocence in your pocket now. Wait for him to come back then give it to him."
"Yeah…" Hiei rolled his eyes.
"Okay. But there's something wrong with this picture isn't there. You don't wanna be the one to tell him he's innocent, do you? You've gotten attached to him, haven't you? He… He has too, hasn't he? He loves you, doesn't he?"
"If he does, it's one-sided. He's a fifteen year old boy. Got that? Boy. I just turned twenty-six. Won't work at all. We just met. You gotta let these things work slowly."
"You idiot…"
---
"This is strange, especially for Sayaka-sama…" Ayame said as she watched Koenma laid the princess to rest.
"You mean she's never been sick before!" Yusuke cried with what sounded like outrage. "Goddamn! Here I am getting sick with a cold at least once a year!"
"Well, I'd have to believe so if she's in the palace all the time…"
"It's… So… Cold…" the princess was heard mumbling under her breath.
"Okay… But last time I checked colds don't give people green skin," Kuwabara said.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kurama asked.
"Huh?"
"I think it's Doctor."
"How? You see anyone run up to her or anything?"
"No. Think about it, Kuwabara. What do doctors diagnose and cure?"
"Cure? Sicknesses."
"What's wrong with Sayaka?"
"She got sick."
"Put them together and…"
"Doctor. I get it now… But still. How's that supposed to help this Sensui guy? I mean, we could fight with a cold, too. It would make us feel like crap, but we can do with it."
"That's what makes it scary. What if we have a certain amount of time before she dies? What if that's how it helps Sensui?"
"That's cool, fox-boy, but what're you getting at? I get the whole thing about it killing us but how'd he infect Sayaka?" Yusuke asked. "Nothing touched her."
"When we left Murota, I saw a weird bug. I know this is a foreign country but I'm pretty sure things won't look that weird he-" Kurama fainted.
"What the…?"
Kuwabara stood over the redhead. "Huh? There's a little bug thing injecting something into him! Now he's getting away!"
Koenma snatched the object out of the air. "Here's our culprit."
"Well, damn! A bug! And what're we gonna do about that now? We can't go around Kyoto snatching those things! For all we know, there's probably already people dying." Yusuke growled. "Why is everything so… Arrrg…"
"AIEE!" Someone screamed outside the door.
"Perfect timing, too! Goddamn Sniper…" Yusuke ran out, getting ready to fire his Spirit Gun before he got out. And this time I won't be too late…
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara ran out after him. Why you gotta be so damn hardheaded today?
Sniper stared at the demon slayer and looked around as if he were looking for someone. He smiled and disappeared just after Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun.
"Damn him!" Just before Yusuke could take off running, a hand was on his shoulder.
"I've heard you've had some troubles…" a calm German-accented voice said.
Yusuke turned around to see the owner of the voice. He was a twenty-seven year old man with mud brown hair that he had combed to the side. He had eyes the same color as his hair that had the look of complexity in them. He was also about two feet taller than Yusuke. At first glance, you would say he looked calm but once you look at him a little longer, you would say he looked mischievous.
"I'm Doctor Kamiya. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I can cure this disease I've heard you speak of." He bowed.
Kuwabara stood between the two, noticing that Sniper had left at the same time Dr. Kamiya had come. Either this guy was getting in Sniper's way or they're together… "I dunno… How'd you hear about her disease?"
"Ah, right. I was walking down the street when I saw a little girl collapse. I continued on and heard you screaming about her being sick. So I decided out of the goodness of my heart to help you all." He added on a smile. "And because it's out of the kindness of my heart, I'll treat her with no cost."
"I'm still not sure…"
"Well…" He walked into Ayame's house.
"Whatta bastard. He just invites himself in," Yusuke grumbled.
---
"WHAT! SAYAKA GOT SICK! AND TELL ME HOW THIS MESS HAPPENED!" Katsumi howled when she came to the house.
"I don't know, Katsumi-san! I'm sorry! Forgive me! I'm sorry!" Eri bowed at her feet almost breaking into tears.
"Don't take it out on her," Kuwabara growled. "Give her a break. She couldn't control it. It's actually more our fault for not noticing her getting infected in the first place." Wait… Am I listening to myself? "But it ain't no normal disease, I tell you what."
Suddenly the door to the room next door was opened. "Pardon the interruption. I heard yelling and I thought there was someone else coming in with an odd disease. It appears I was far from the truth. I do ask you to keep the noise down. It's hard to concentrate when there's so much noise going on."
"You mean she might… Die!" Katsumi practically started having a seizure at that.
"Possibly, but I assure you there is a low chance of that happening. Just enjoy a cup of tea and I'll be done soon."
"Hold on," Koenma grabbed Kamiya's shoulder. "There's something on your sleeve. Is that blood?"
He looked at his sleeve with shock, a look of "Oh shit, I've on caught" in his eyes. He laughed it off. "Ah, that. It seems I've gotten some medication on my sleeve. It's hard to get off. I hate it when that happens."
"How about I give you a bit of help in there, then? I could afford to get something on my clothes. People never seem too care how I look anyway."
"Hey, I'll pitch in, too. So now you got two people to help. Koenma could keep on eye on that and I could help with the supplies and all that," Yusuke added. "Doctors need their nurses, too."
"No!" Kamiya's voice went stern. "I mean… I'm fine. Thank you for the offer, though. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. There was a girl supervising the whole thing."
"I see. So tell me, where're your supplies?"
"In my pocket. Why do you ask?"
"I dunno. You look pretty empty handed to me."
Koenma lunged for the door and swung it open to reveal Ayame laying on the floor in a bloody mess. "Oh shit! Ayame!"
"Eek! Where's Shuichi and Sayaka-sama! Are they dead!" Eri whimpered. Katsumi howled and fainted.
"They vanished?" Kamiya turned around. "Well, that's strange. I don't see any reason why they would do such a thing…"
"Give up the act, Kamiya! Or should I say Doctor?" Yusuke growled at him about to fire the Spirit Gun. "Let's make it simple. You give up and tell us what's going on here with the tunnel to Demon World and I'll let you go free just as long as you don't continue your crap. Or we could do it the hard way and I blow your brains out. Tell me, then. What's your power and who's your leader? Is it Gatekeeper? Game Master? Sniper? Does he happen to be anyone by the name Shinobu Sensui?"
"You have me figured out. Brilliant yet so naive. My power? Haven't you already guessed? I can make diseases and infect them with my friends floating around. I can also save people who would die during a surgery. I can feel no pain. Heh heh heh… You know humanity is a disease? We are ruled by greed. We always take and never give back. We take until there's nothing left. We are going to make the world repay their deeds! It's the worldwide reformation! Be happy, Urameshi! As we speak, some of us are already cleansing the world with new powers!" Kamiya laughed manically.
"That's fine and lovely. But I ain't letting you kill people. Not all of us are bad, y'know…" Kuwabara replied as he got his Spirit Sword ready for a battle.
"They always say that." He held up his right hand. "There's also a scalpel in a travel safe pack. I do have my supplies, Urameshi… In my hand!" He turned around to stop Koenma who was coming at him with a knife, stabbing him through the stomach.
"You're gonna regret doing that in front of me!" Kuwabara charged at him but Kamiya stopped him with a stab in the shoulder.
Kamiya stepped back enough to summon more bug. "Go!"
Yusuke fired another Spirit Gun at all the bugs that came after him. He got some of the ones after Kuwabara with little success. Soon, everyone in the room was infected.
"A one on one showdown… I kill you. I'll kill you if any one of these guys dies." He clenched his fist.
"Stop trying to keep my reformation from happening…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box that had some small bottles in it. "How about this? We don't kill. These bottles are the cure. You can have them if you don't kill me."
Yusuke stared at it for a moment and reached for the bottles when Murota broke into the room.
"Don't do it! I heard his thoughts and followed him here! That's not the cure at all! It's just red whine! He was gonna give it to you and then kill you!"
"Why you…" Kamiya was about to go for him with his scalpel when something grabbed him by the ankles. He squealed with surprise and then Yusuke fired another Sprit Gun bullet that blew him out the open door.
"And that better've knocked him cold!" Yusuke grumbled.
"I think you did more'n that…" Murota gasped.
"…Wow. Crazy timing. I owe you one."
"No. I came here because I wanted to see if I can get what the hell was goin' on. But that didn't work. I'm off."
Yusuke frowned. "Bastard. I wonder what it…" Just before he finished his sentence, he saw Kurama and Sayaka lying in a pile on the floor reaching around to find where they were because blood was in their eyes.
"..Was that grabbed his ankles…?"
---
"It's moving fast, Shinobu. It feels like it has a life of its own."
"How long 'til we get to play with the demons, Itsuki?"
"Don't rush stuff, kid. You need to lay off the sugar."
"I could go for some sugar right about now."
"Game master is making me wonder, Mr. Sensui… How much longer "
"Two days. I feel two days is perfect."
"As of tomorrow, Shinobu. As of tomorrow."
End chapter 18
Okay, it felt kinda rushed, but it's one of those chapters. You'll understand….
Anyone who helped me with that Mukuro thing, thanks a bunch, you rock. Anyone who actually told me they weren't sure, you rule, too. Anyone who knew but didn't review, you're cool, too. Anyone who doesn't give a rip… Kudos to you, too. I guess. And I guess I better say this before we move on. I couldn't update on my regular schedule because the computer wouldn't upload the freaking chapter. Once again, nothing's certain on how I update for the time being.
Uh… Lemme mention something before I go. I know someone's gonna ask me about this later. (I'm predicting in the form of a flame, but my intuition sucks.) Why is everyone here Christian? Or as someone might put it "QUIT CONVERTING THEM TO YOUR RELIGON!" First of all, I have no religion so you can't bash me about my religion. Secondly, it's because in Mexico that was (and still is, I'm pretty sure) the biggest religion. No not everyone's Christian. There are a few people that're Jewish… Whatever. I don't think anyone gives a rip either way. Religion never plays a big role in here anyway.
On that note review please!