Ride like the Wind
Chapter 23
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kuwabara screamed. Suddenly open opened his eyes. "Oh hey. We're floating."
"Save us from more of your deafening screams. You sound like a monkey that got his balls caught in a fired pistol," Hiei growled.
"Shut it, half pint! How's that work out anyway?!"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" Smug look.
"Forget I asked." He looked around. "Where are we anyway?"
"I think I've seen this thing before. I think there were quite a few in Demon World… But looking at all this crap that's floating around, I'm guessing that it feeds of human garbage. Bastard took us to another dimension of some sort."
"It's called pseudo-space, Hiei. Call him Ura-otoko. That's his name," Itsuki answered simply once he appeared.
"He's not going to eat us will he?" Mitarai gasped.
"I doubt he does feed on anything."
"Why'd you put us in here?!" Kuwabara growled.
"You don't have to yell, Kuwabara. We're only two feet apart."
He grumbled something under his breath. "Why the hell did you put us here?"
"It's just fairer for the demon slayers to fight alone without any outside interference. One against one is easier to keep track of… That is, if the priest doesn't know how to help Urameshi out. Also, I think Youko Kurama needs some time to think."
"Well, damn! So if Sensui's a demon slayer, why the hell did you last so long by his side?" Hiei asked.
"Well, I never thought someone who murdered a trial from Chicago down to Mexico was much better than my decision to stay with Shinobu," Itsuki replied, crossing his arms.
"Would you just shut the hell up and answer me."
He stared at Hiei with amusement then in deep thought. "He met me fifteen years ago. I saw him for the first time a year before. I felt a strong attraction to Shinobu at that first sight. Soon I started following him more and more after that. It was almost like a moth to a flame. But then he saw me and almost killed me…"
Flashback
Itsuki ran as quickly as he could manage from Sensui. Then he stepped into a puddle and slipped, falling on his face. Just as he got back on his face, Sensui had hit him with a ball of energy knocking him back face-flat into the mud. The demon rolled onto his back.
"And now your fate has come, stalker," Sensui said. "I can tell you thought I wouldn't notice your energy by the look on your face."
So he did notice! Itsuki gasped in his head. He looked up into his soon-to-be killer's eyes. Those eyes! They were such a dark and perfect shade of blue with a touch of innocence. It seemed like he was actually looking at him with sympathy.
Just as Sensui was about to seal his fate, Itsuki stabbed him with a poison dart.
Sensui screamed in pain and clutched his injured shoulder. "Freaking poi… son… darts…" He passed out.
Itsuki watched in horror as he got back onto his feet. What am I going to do now? I can't let him die…
He heard a voice in the bushes. "I hear something weird! I hope it's a raccoon so I can take it home!"
Out of the bushes emerged Koenma with rain soaked hair. He sighed with disappointment. "I was hoping for a raccoon…" He eyed the two. "But this'll work just as well."
---
Sensui woke up in bed. He looked around, unfamiliar with his surroundings. "Where am I? Am I dead?"
"'Course not," Koenma answered a smile on his face. He gave the demon slayer a cup of tea.
"I was stabbed by a poison dart. I should be dead but I'm not."
"I guess the people in heaven hate you and sent you back."
He glared at the priest demanding a real explanation. He knew he should have been dead but… He remembered the demon he pursued… Did it have something to do with him?
"I found you on accident. I heard something in the bushes and I thought it was a raccoon so I can take it home and keep it as a pet. But it was only you. Actually, if it weren't for that noise, I would have found you dead if the demon allowed it."
"Demon? Huh?"
"I saw you and a demon standing over you. Either someone beat the hell out of his back or you went after him. I guess he didn't want you do die. I heard him sloshing around in the mud."
The stalker? Why would he…?
"Yeah. I got some stuff from him. Apparently, he's a runaway from the Cherokee nation. When Georgia pushed him off his home, he knew there was more to come for him so he came here in New Jersey."
"Demons can be Native Americans?"
"Don't see why not. That's like saying a Mexican can't be Canadian."
"They can't."
"If you say so. Anyway, the demon's still here. You should thank Itsuki. But if you curse him out, be easy on him because he just got out of a fight with the Jersey Devil."
"The what?!"
Itsuki poked his head through the door curiously. Then he walked in slowly, hesitation in each step.
Sensui noticed the bandages on Itsuki's back. "So I try to kill you and you save him."
He stared as if taking these words in. "Your eyes scared me. I thought the world would flood if you died even if you had no murderous intent…"
The demon slayer raised an eyebrow. "I guess I owe you for saving me then…"
"You still do that?! You're supposed to give up on that when you turn ten, if that!" Koenma laughed.
"Shut up! It's good karma to help someone in need. Besides that, you're a priest. You should be advocating that kind of thing."
"Not from a fifteen year old boy!"
Sensui turned back to Itsuki. "Just tell me what you need me to do for you and get it over with."
Hesitation. "Anything…?"
"Sure… As long as it doesn't require my virginity…."
"Well… Could I travel with you then? I don't want to get caught and sent to Indian Territory. Even they don't like me…"
"So… You ran away because you didn't want to worry about having no place to come home. I don't get the logic in that but…"
"So it's settled! You two are partners! Hug!" Koenma yelled.
"We just met. I don't hug people I just met," Sensui growled. "Besides that, it's… It's gay!"
"Happy? Very much so!" He ran out. "Have fun!"
"…He has a lot of force in him…" Itsuki mumbled.
"If that's what you want to call it…" Sensui sighed.
"…We won't stay here long, will we?"
"No, why?"
"Something scary attacked me… I heard someone call it the Jersey Devil…"
End Flashback.
"That was how it began and this… This is how it will end." Itsuki finished his speech.
"I don't care! I'm getting out of this dang thing! And if you don't let me out, I'll bang my way out!" Kuwabara began to bang his fists against the wall.
"What a waste of energy…"
"He's right, Kuwabara. This is just like my seaman. So the only way to get out is…" Mitarai paused. That was just a fluke, too…
---
While this was happening, Yusuke was getting ready to take on Sensui.
Let's see how you used those ten years, Shinobu. Hopefully Yusuke will know what to expect… Koenma thought. In that half hour… Is that even enough…?
"So I have half an hour to beat your face in, huh? Sounds like lots of fun. I'll make this one quick for you…" Yusuke got ready to fire the Spirit Gun.
"You realize I could easily dodge your Sprit Gun? All I have to do is simply step to the side or just pop it with my own energy," Sensui mocked him.
"Shut up!"
"How about we take a twist?" A ball of energy appeared in Sensui's hand.
"That's as bad as you say my Spirit Gun is."
"Hardly…" Suddenly that ball became at least fifty more. "Splinter Resshuuken!"
Oh crap! Can't dodge 'em all! Yusuke was hit. "Damn it!"
"Shinobu!" Koenma body-slammed his old friend, barely able to knock him into the lake. "Just because I'm a priest doesn't mean I can't fight… Even if it will mess up my back in anther hundred to three hundred years."
Sensui leapt out of the lake and kicked a ball of energy at the priest who blocked the shot with a barrier.
"I thought you knew better, Shinobu. I still have this after all," He held up his pacifier.
"So that thing did have some importance."
"You know what, Koenma? Back off! I'm kicking his ass! What the hell is that thing anyway? I mean how the hell can it create barriers and stuff?!" Yusuke growled.
"It's called the Maffuken. It holds all my power and it's what keeps the barrier between the Human World and Demon World. That's where your plan is flawed, Shinobu! The only demons that would make it through are the weaker ones!" Koenma said.
"Your brain's flawed! Who would tell their enemy that?!"
"But it should have been figured out a long time ago. What kind of person would have a pacifier at my age? I'm seven hundred years old, mind you. And with that in mind, you would think you would sense energy from me. So I really have almost all my power in this…"
"Oh, that's even better!" Sarcasm.
"Splinter Resshuuken!" Sensui's voice broke in.
Koenma was caught off guard by Sensui's sudden attack. When he was hit, the Maffuken was thrown in the air for Sensui to catch.
"I'll be taking that," Sensui said with a smug smile. "So this needs to be destroyed and then my plan can continue…"
"Hey!" Yusuke kicked Sensui in the head. "Forgot about me?"
"Hardly. Splinter Resshuuken!"
"Shotgun!" Yusuke hit the older man at the same time he was hit. The pacifier was thrown into the air during the hit.
"Gotcha!" Yusuke grabbed it before he fell into the lake.
"Yusuke!" Koenma helped him out. "You're okay, right?" When the demon slayer nodded, Koenma added, "Good. Quick, give me the Maffuken so we can finish this!"
"Don't think so. I started this fight so I'll end it alone." He put it in his pocket.
"You stupid…" He tried to take it from Yusuke but Yusuke elbowed him between the eyes, knocking the priest unconscious.
"Don't know how many times I've wanted to do that…" Yusuke muttered. "Okay, Sensui. Let's finish this!"
---
"He knows he can't take him alone…" Hiei mumbled.
"If only there was a way to get out…" Kuwabara growled.
"There is a way to get out. I have to let you go or you could escape if you could cut through a dimension," Itsuki replied.
"If we kill him, I get the first hit," Hiei growled.
"It's ten minutes until midnight! I heard something about midnight from Katsumi! What happens?!" Sayaka asked, her voice shaking.
"…We'll all die if no one does anything. That's what happens," Kurama answered her in Japanese.
"So I'm gonna assume you're talking about the Tunnel. Well, we have it all in the hands of Yusuke. And… Chances are if he goes alone, we'll fail…" Hiei said.
"Hiei, shut up! He'll make it! I know he will!" Kuwabara growled.
"But have you considered Shinobu's purposes?" Itsuki asked.
'What're you babbling about now?"
"Death. He wants everyone to die. ("Gee, ya think so?" Kuwabara grumbled.) But maybe Shinobu really has a purer reason. Death is the departure to heaven or hell so they say. Koenma always told Shinobu that our time here is a temporary hell and when we die, we go straight to heaven. Perhaps Shinobu's reason is to take us all to heaven. He is the purest of them all…"
"I'd hardly think that's the reason," Kurama replied.
"Be patient. In tens minutes or when Urameshi and the priest are killed I will release you…" Itsuki turned away from him.
Hurry, Yusuke! Kurama thought.
---
"If you keep blocking my shots with that, you'll use out all its power and would have no energy left to hold the barrier up," Sensui mocked Yusuke. "Splinter Resshuuken!"
Yusuke blocked the shot. He's right… Damn it. Why does he have to be right now? "Shotgun!"
Koenma sat up. He wobbled as he got to his feet, rubbing his forehead. "Damn it, Yusuke. That's why I told you not to keep it! You don't know what to do with it and I still need some energy to keep the barrier up!"
"Well, that's too bad! This guy's gonna get his ass beat!"
Stupid!
Sensui caught them off guard. "Splinter Resshuuken!"
"Oh shit!" Koenma jumped into the lake.
"Screw this! Shotgun!" The two demon slayers hit each other at the same time. That was when things started to get weird…
There was a gunshot heard. Yusuke turned around to find the person who fired the shot but stopped when he saw blood rise to the surface of the lake. That could only mean…
"Koenma!" Yusuke was stopped when another gunshot was heard. Yusuke saw it came from Sensui! His arm! It's got a gun instead of a hand! Oh god… I think I'm gonna puke…
"Heh heh heh… Don't worry, kid. I ain't like that wussy Minoru whop talks for five hours and kills too fast. I'm gonna be nice to ya and give ya time to leave blood. Same goes for that moron Koenma depending on where I got him…. Heh heh…" Sensui laughed.
"Sen… sui?"
He fired. "Sensui ain't here, bitch! Name's Kazuya! Get it right!"
---
"He has multiple personalities, too?' Kurama gasped.
"Don't tell me this gets weirder!" Kuwabara whined.
"Of course he does. Shinobu doesn't kill humans. Kazuya of course if a different story. I hope Urameshi's said his prayers…" Itsuki mumbled.
End chapter 23
Notes:
1. What was pseudo space again?- Okay, not all of us remember so, reminder! It's the space between Human World and Demon World.
2 .Jersey Devil-a creature said to be in Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. Often described as a bipedal creature with hooves. Most stories of its origins relate to a woman who didn't want to keep her son or was cursed or something of the sort. The most well known one is the woman throwing her son into the river because he was ugly. That river is said to have a rock that sucks air to it so if you swim near it, you get sucked away. At this time it was blamed for livestock killings and strange tracks. For more info look into it at wikipedia.
3. Splinter Resshuukenb-I don't know if that's the right word. I'm going by the English version here so bear with me. Help me if it's wrong.
4. Gun hand- Last time I checked, this wasn't possible in this time period, but sources for 1849 stuff are hard to find…
It's so cold… Next chapter's the last of the chapter Black series. Next I get you a bit of fan service. (Very tiny bit…) Then we go into people's pasts. And psycho Yomi. Because I have no clue what I was thinking when I made him like that… Anyway hope you enjoy.
One last thing. I wrote a one shot called One more Time to Kill the Pain. Read it if you think it sounds cool… Yeah.
Review please!