Ride like the Wind
Chapter 22
Kurama and Amanuma were equally matched, blood from their injuries dripping to the floor. Amanuma still had both of his knights, both rooks, one bishop, and three pawns left. Kurama still had his queen, both bishops, one knight, both rooks, and two pawns. They both eyed each other's kings, looking for the right strategy to follow to take it out.
"You guys, I think I got it now," Hiei said after long silence.
"The game? Man, you're slow," Yusuke replied.
"Not that, you imbecile. The reality part."
"Yeah. I see what you mean. You take some chess pieces and add some gunpowder and fire. There's exploding..."
"No. Even more wrong. It may sound stupid to say I figured this out just now but... The kings have to get killed for you to lose the game, right? I don't think it's just the king that blows up... This kid..."
Both of their kings are exposed! Mitarai gaped in his head. So it's either Amanuma or Kurama... Please, Kurama...
"Are you stupid or what?" Amanuma asked sarcastically as he pushed a bishop to the other side of the board. "This guy'll die if I win. So if you don't mind, I'll take you out til the tunnel's opened. The demons would get in the way of our fun."
"You stupid little brat! I should blow yours brains out!" Hiei growled, clenching his fist.
"So you want to kill people just to win?" Koenma asked.
"Sure, why not? Might as well jump on the bandwagon," Amanuma replied, crossing his arms at him. "And don't try and talk some sense into me. If people could come in and kill my family and justify it nicely and walk away without punishment, then I can, too."
"I'm sorry, but..." Kurama mumbled.
Amanuma had just enough time to turn around and see his king was killed by Kurama's rook before he fell. Then the ground began to shake.
"This must be his Territory going with... Augh!" Mitarai fell with the ground.
"Holy shit!" Yusuke screamed when he fell. He was barely caught by Koenma but the two fell together not long after.
Hiei ran to Kurama to catch him before he fell. Kurama looked up at him and left go. Hiei jumped after him...
"Ow," Yusuke grunted and sat up. He looked around and stared at Amanuma's dead body and then at Kurama.
"Onward," Kurama barked emotionlessly.
"R... Right!" Mitarai whimpered, now more nervous than before. "Just down more and we'll get there."
Yusuke felt the tension and turned to Hiei as they walked on. "You know Kurama better than I do. Does this happen often?"
"Use your brain, slayer. He's Youko Kurama. Do you think he'll feel bad about killing a kid?" Hiei replied. "Maybe now he feels the remorse of taking a life."
Yusuke stared ahead absentmindedly until he heard Kuwabara's scream of "URAMESHI!". They reached the end of the cave. Kuwabara...
"Ah, so Urameshi returns at last," Sensui said. "Just in time for the rising action. In just one hour, judgement will finally come over humans. How funny. A demon siding with the humans? Or is he only a pet?"
Pet my ass... Hiei growled in his head. Blow his brains out...
A heavy man with brown hair and shut eyes extended his fingers to swat the gun out of Hiei's hand. "Don't think that's very ethical, little man." He wrapped his fingers around Hiei and threw him to the other side of the cave.
Hiei jumped to his feet. "Asshole!" He turned to Kuwabara and Sayaka who were tied back-to-back with each other and pulled his sword out. "You guys, I'm getting you out of that."
"Are you going to kill us?!" Sayaka screamed.
"I dunno what you just said, but I'll assume it was something stupid." He sliced the ropes off.
Sensui noticed Kurama. "Ah! Shuichi! I remember you! That perfect son of Shiori's. Well, isn't this a strange turn of events? I've heard that your mother was going to be killed because you were accused of murdering me."
"I hear something about a bounty in there," the heavy man that was the psychic known as Gourmet added.
"A bounty? Do tell."
"Well..." Gourmet grabbed Kurama and dragged the redhead to him. "When everybody thought you were dead, Kurama-or Shuichi- was accused of being the murderer. He knew it wasn't him and refused to admit to doing a crime he really didn't do. So the accuser went and said he'll kill his mommy if he didn't. So the kid went to Mexico until the whole thing was forgotten. Of course, now that doesn't matter, does it, foxy? You're just pissed off Sensui used that Russian kid. And you're pretty embarrassed because as a thief you saw killing kids as the lowest thing you could do.
"You look tasty. I should eat you and your powers..." Gourmet grinned.
"So that's how you work, is it?" Kurama growled.
"Hold on. If he eats people to gain their powers then that's how he can read people's minds. I mean, I know he didn't pull that shit outta his ass." Yusuke paused. "But wait... If he can read minds... The only guy I know that can do that is..." Murota.
"Bingo. That wimp who wanted to be a boxer," Gourmet replied with pride.
"The perfect power for a glutton, don't you think?" a demon asked. He had long green hair that fell halfway down his back. His eyes were gold and full of wisdom. He looked to always be analyzing the world. He was pale is had a trace of muscle in him. He was the psychic known as Gatekeeper.
"Itsuki... But why?" Koenma gasped.
"He's standing..." Mitarai whispered.
"Don't see why not. He's got legs," Yusuke replied.
"No, he's always been in that canoe opening the tunnel!"
Itsuki rose an eyebrow at him. "The tunnel is working by itself. It wishes to grow on its own so I let it. I leave it to the force's hands now."
"Enough talk. Gourmet..." Sensui froze when he saw for a split second that Kurama had is Rose Whip wrapped around Gourmet's head.
"May this soul rest and find the right path." Kurama whispered as he sliced Gourmet's head off. He added coldly. "Now show yourself, Toguro."
Hiei's eyes widened. "Impossible! He's..."
"I thought Hiei turned him into a flapjack!" Kuwabara gasped.
A cackle echoed from the headless body. Then the head of the elder Toguro appeared. "Oh! I've been found out! You're the only one to guess right! So it turns out you're Youko Kurama in disguise! There's something else no one could have guessed. But I personally think Youko Kurama was much prettier."
"You still live yet your brother died. The Dragon of the Darkness Flame devoured you but you still... How?"
"You're wrong! Were you sure? Did you check?"
"It had enough power to kill you. You say you can move your organs at will but that still would have gotten your whole body. Once again, how?"
"So you really don't know? That mut didn't know what he was doing! I was stronger than you thought I was! Now I have even more power! Since Sensui happened to find me on the shores of Japan, I've gotten even more powerful!"
"Like the cockroach. Now we just need the stone to crush you. But am I right in thinking you can't die now?"
"Correct! I'm invincible! With this glutton's powers, I'll just have to eat you and your powers!"
"Hold on, you bastard!" Hiei growled. "First tell me how the hell you got into the ocean and then tell me how the hell you didn't get eaten all the way. All I want is the simple version. I don't want a whole goddamn novel."
"First of all, I managed to get out of that mansion with what little I had. I kept going to the west until I went in the ocean. I went with the current until I was in Japan. Secondly, I overpowered the ogre! Now here I am. Back to business," Toguro finished his explanation. "Huh? What are you doing?"
Kurama was creating a fog. Now your punishment. Judgment day, Toguro.
"I know this one, Shinobu. Quite useful for a thief," Itsuki commented.
"I don't believe I remember this one. It's not common among fox demons is it?" Sensui asked.
"Most prefer transformations. The second most popular choice is illusions. This is a smokescreen. That's how he got away from most of his pursuers."
"Hm. Touguro has underestimated his opponents other times from what he's told me. Perhaps this could get interesting?"
Youko Kurama is not someone to toy with. Foolish, Toguro. Just like the one before him... Itsuki thought.
Where is he? No wait... I can hear his thoughts... Toguro thought and listened for Kurama.
Stay behind him... Keep my distance... Do it while he's still not looking!
"Die!" Toguro stabbed Kurama through the heart. "If only you hadn't thought this wouldn't have happened, you stupid fox!"
Kurama stared at him. "You thought that would kill me?"
"What?! You bastard!" He kept slashing Kurama but the fox wouldn't die. "Why won't you die?!"
Kurama stepped out of the smoke without a scratch. "Toguro, you were foolish to think that not being able to die was an advantage. Like the woman who ate the mermaid's flesh, you too will regret your inability to die. Your soul has been judged."
"Wait, if that's you here? Then who the hell is Toguro beating the hell out of?" Yusuke asked.
The smoke cleared. Just then Koenma felt like he was going to puke. "Kurama... What the hell is that thing...?"
Kurama glared at Toguro who was being swallowed by a purple plant. "The sinning tree. It casts an illusion on the target and they stay that way until they die. In this case, Toguro will stay in this hellish illusion forever. Eternal damnation."
He turned to Sensui. "And now you die. And I'll make sure it won't be faked."
"Kurama..." Hiei growled.
"So you do chose to he the murderer?" Sensui smirked. "If you do kill me, there would be no way to prove you innocent. And you really will be a runaway from the law."
"Equal punishment..." Kurama growled his voice going colder and his eyes dotting with gold.
Yusuke stared. Oh hell...
Koenma mumbled under his breath, "Don't do it, Kurama."
"Kurama!" Hiei cried. He threw a rock at the fox. "I thought the reason you came to Mexico was because you wanted to prove you were innocent somehow and to stop the bounty hunters from killing your old lady! If you kill Sensui now, then all you've worked for until now becomes a huge pile of shit because in the end you really do kill him! Do you want all that to go down the drain?! You're here to stop this bastard, not kill him."
Kurama threw a rose that stabbed through Hiei's right shoulder.
"Damn it..." Hiei growled and pulled the rose out of his shoulder.
"Kurama, if you don't listen to Hiei, listen to me!" Kuwabara cried, not caring if Kurama would try to kill him too. "Did you notice that me, Hiei, Sayaka, and you are standing on something weird?"
Kurama looked down to see a giant shadow with a face staring back him/
"Wait...! I know that thing! Kurama, everybody! Get off it!" Before Mitarai could get anyone off, they were all swallowed by the shadow...
"Time to go..." Itsuki disappeared.
"What..." Yusuke mumbled.
"So half an hour left..." Sensui said.
End chapter 22
Notes:
1. Pet my ass- Don't take it the wrong way. It's like saying, "Pleasant my ass..." Someone's going to think I meant it like he wants someone to touch him there, watch... Actually it cracked me up... Shutting up!
I watched the chapter Black saga to check how accurate I was compared to the real anime. The biggest change I made was Koenma's role. He came in later but in here he was there the whole time... I'll comment more later... But one big thing is that I don't spell Shinobu Shinobi. Sensui is NOT a ninja! They just don't mix.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my last extra update. I'll be back to update on my weekly schedule. Break is over.
Review please!