Well, here be chapter 8 ^_^ I actually had this done a while ago, but I wanted to space things out. But here it be. And I hope no one was confused by the summary change.. I apologise if you were.
And I own nothing of Yu Yu Hakusho...just my own character ^_^ and thank you to AlyssaRose369 for beta-ing EVERYTHING!
Last time:
"If this eye opens all the way, Keiko will become a demon."
"And not a very smart one either," added Hiei with a smirk. "And I see you have a very capable companion with you. But how long will she be able to hold up while neutralizing the girl? I can feel her power draining rapidly."
Tay shivered as she surveyed the scene in front of her. Hiei and Yusuke were having a stare down while Botan was sweating from the effort of keeping Keiko's third eye closed. To Tay it felt as if the temperature in the warehouse had dropped several degrees.
"He's right. I don't think I'll be able to hold this up much longer," Botan said through gritted teeth.
Tay lowered herself down to the floor, sat against a crate and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Y-Y-Yusuke…h-h-hurry …u-u-p," she chattered.
Yusuke spared a glance toward her and then Botan before giving all his focus to Hiei. "The antidote is between the blade and hilt of this sword," Hiei said, showing off the grotesque blade. "She won't survive unless she takes it. And it seems like your other friend doesn't have much time either. But you'll never be able to snatch it from me," he gloated.
Before Hiei could comprehend what was happening, Yusuke was in his face, throwing a punch that knocked him across the warehouse. "You matched my speed," Hiei exclaimed in disbelief. "You're a completely different person than before."
"You're beyond redemption," said Yusuke, his face without emotion. "I'll tear you to shreds."
Hiei wiped blood off his face from the last blow. "I see. You're the type whose power increases when his friends are in danger. I hate your kind of human the most."
Hiei stood up. "You were careless to not grab the sword when you had the chance. You won't get that chance again; I'll make sure of it." He showed off the sword that he claimed Yusuke wouldn't retrieve. "That girl's third eye is opening and there is no way to stop the demonizing. And whatever's wrong with the shivering girl, she's not gonna make it much longer."
"Are you done with your crap yet?" interjected Yusuke.
For a moment, Hiei was left speechless. Then, when he realized he had been insulted, he exclaimed, "Don't look down on me! Try and follow my speed!" Then, Hiei started making blurs around Yusuke, as fast as he was going. As Yusuke tried to keep up with him, Hiei suddenly called from behind him, "Here!"
The two made eye contact as Hiei dove toward Yusuke for the kill. With yet another well place punch, Hiei was sent flying. "Is jumping around all you do, ya little jerk?" asked Yusuke. As Hiei grunted on the ground, Yusuke continued. "You're just a little bug without your eye. I've got no time to waste on you!"
Hiei pushed himself off the ground. With a shake of his head he said, "I can't believe I've been forced to transform by a mere human." He tore off his coat and exclaimed, "You will fear me!" With a flex of his muscles, Hiei revealed his true demon form. Through her shivering, Tay saw Hiei transform from the short, human looking demon to a green form with eyes covering his whole body. A glow seemed to be coming from his entire body, and to Tay, the temperature dropped yet again. This time, she was actually seeing her breath.
With Hiei's transformation, Botan struggled even more to control Keiko's growing third eye. The energy coming of the two of them created a bright glow that caught even Yusuke's attention.
"What's going on over there?" exclaimed Yusuke.
Hiei chuckled darkly. "Soon your girlfriend will be a demon and your assistant will be dead. The other girl seems like she's going turn into an ice block."
"Keiko! Botan! Tay!" exclaimed Yusuke, worry laced in his voice.
"Now," said Hiei with a clench of his fists "is not the time to be worrying about others." Hiei used his speed and caught Yusuke by surprise as he punched him in the face. Tay could hardly keep up as Hiei repeatedly punched Yusuke, forcing him back until he used his powers to bind Yusuke with some kind of energy rope.
"With my Jagan curse, you won't be able to escape." Tay watched as Yusuke hung limply in the energy bands. While he was strung up, Hiei took the opportunity to beat on Yusuke, as though paying him back for all the surprise punches. Suddenly, he stopped, like he had decided Yusuke had received enough pay back.
"Now do you understand the difference in our powers?" Hiei questioned the beaten boy as he walked back to grab the sword. "Though, for a human, your powers aren't half bad. To show my respect, I'll give you a clean death." Here, Hiei raised the sword, poised to strike. "Now die!" he exclaimed as he ran forward to kill Yusuke.
Yusuke closed his eye, prepared for the sword to make contact. He kept his eyes shut even when it didn't slice through his body.
"K-k-kur-r-rama!" Tay tried to yell to Yusuke through her chattering teeth. Though, it seemed he got the message when he looked up to see the red head with a sword running through his stomach.
"Kurama? What is the meaning of this?" demanded Hiei. To answer, Kurama ran his hand down the sword and threw the blood from the resulting injury at Hiei's third eye. "Gah! My eye," cried Hiei, backing away from Kurama and leaving the sword in his stomach.
The energy bands binding Yusuke suddenly disappeared. "I'm free!" he said with surprise. Then, realizing he had an injured friend beside him, he stood up and turned toward Kurama.
"Hiei's true power lies in the Jagan on his forehead. The others are merely decorations and distractions." Kurama met Yusuke's eyes with a purpose. "I've come to repay my debt. I'm only alive because of you." Kurama smiled at Yusuke. "You finish Hiei before his Jagan recovers. I'll do what I can to keep the girl from transforming." Kurama did his best to stand up with his injury.
"Careful Kurama," said Yusuke.
"Don't worry about me. I'm a demon remember." With a final smile toward Yusuke, Kurama limped toward Keiko and Botan.
"K-k-kur-r-rama!" called Tay. The fox demon turned toward the voice. What he saw was the shivering form the usually strong girl. A look of surprise crossed the usually stoic face of the boy.
"Tay? What are you doing here?" inquired the injured Kurama.
"N-n-not now. T-t-take me t-to Bot-tan." The overly cold girl tried to pull herself up from her position against the crates, but her shivering forced her back on the ground. Kurama gave her a curious look before slowly making his way to her. He pulled her up and slung her arm over his shoulders. The two of them slowly walked to where Botan was losing her battle against Keiko's third eye.
When Botan heard footsteps, she spared a glance toward the noise. What she saw took her by surprise. There was the red-haired thief, with one arm on his stomach wound and the other around the waist of the shivering Tay. Tay, who was shivering so hard she had difficulty walking, had her left arm slung over Kurama's shoulders and her right arm hugged tight to her own stomach trying to keep herself warm.
"Tay, you're going to have to sit now," said Kurama, gently placing Tay against a crate. He shuffled over to Keiko and Botan and gently crouched down beside the pair. He put his hand beside Botan's and began mimicking Botan's energies until he matched what she was trying to do.
Botan, knowing Keiko was in good hands, collapsed against the nearest crate with a huff. "That was hard work." She glanced at Kurama, noticing the amount of energy he was using to keep the eye closed had lessoned. Kurama made eye contact with Botan, and then motioned his head in the direction of the shaking girl.
"I s-s-saw that K-k-kuram-ma. Exp-p-plain lat-t-ter. Sav-ve K-k-keik-k-ko now!" The spirit guide and the injured demon looked at the freezing girl. The chattering of Tay's teeth increased her stutter but she still got her point across. Botan and Kurama glanced at each other before Kurama brought all his attention back on Keiko.
With the lack of conversation between the three of them, the fighting and banter between Yusuke and Hiei could be heard.
"I'll send you on your way!" exclaimed what sounded to be the short demon. That was shortly followed by a shout from Yusuke.
"I'm going to send you on your way!" exclaimed Yusuke. After hearing that, the three heard a shot of some sort and the banter turned from insults by both parties, to gloating on Hiei's part. Suddenly, the shattering of glass could be heard.
"GAH!" came over the crates a shout and then the sound of knees slamming to the ground. "What the?" There was a pause. "The dark mirror?"
"Well that would explain the shattered glass," said Botan.
"You must have calculated exactly how I would dodge that when you shot," came Hiei's voice.
"It's called watching your opponent," replied Yusuke's voice. Then there was a thud. 'More than likely Hiei falling,' thought Tay.
A few minutes later Yusuke came around the corner with the sword in hand. He placed it carefully next to Botan, who then pulled out the antidote. Kurama removed his hand and Botan quickly dropped some of the liquid into Keiko's mouth. They all quietly watched as the third eye closed itself and disappeared fully from Keiko's face.
Botan, Yusuke and Kurama all sighed in relief. "Hey, Kurama thanks for your help back there. Are you alright, man?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I missed the vital organs at least." Kurama gave a light chuckle before rethinking because of his wound.
"You're unbelievable Yusuke. Why didn't you tell me the Spirit Gun could bounce off mirrors like that? How'd you come up with that strategy?" questioned Botan.
Yusuke gave his goofy grin. "I didn't know 'till about 10 minutes ago. And that wasn't any strategy. We call it 'dumb luck'." His grin got bigger as he continued to explain. "I knew I wouldn't be able to hit him because of his speed, so I figured hitting him from behind would be the only way to do it." At this point, Botan looked thoroughly confused.
"I first thought about it when I saw the Dark Mirror, and I thought that the Spirit Gun might reflect like light. So I figured 'Why not?'" he finished with a shrug.
Botan looked infuriated. "You risked our lives on a might? What would you have done if hadn't reflected?"
Yusuke thought for a moment before plainly replying, "Get chopped into pieces, I guess."
The confused look crossed Botan's face yet again as Kurama chortled. "All this time we've been thinking you are a brilliant strategist. Turns out you're just a lucky fool."
Now it was Yusuke's turn to sport the confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean exactly what I said," replied Kurama with an amused look.
"Hooray, Yusuke's an idiot," interrupted Tay. Her stuttering had all but stopped but her shivering hadn't halted and her teeth were still chattering. "Would somebody lik-ke to explain why I'm freezing my butt off over here?"
Kurama and Botan shared a knowing look. "Yusuke, why don't we take Keiko home? We certainly don't want her waking up here." Yusuke nodded as he picked up Keiko and headed out of the warehouse. When he reached to door, he turned back to Kurama and Tay.
"Take care of her Kurama. Otherwise I'm gonna beat your ass." Yusuke smirked and walked out.
Kurama shook his head at Yusuke's threat and faced back to Tay. The girl was still shivering. Kurama pulled a bag out of pocket and took out some powder. "Sorry about this Tay."
"K-kurama, what are yo-" She was interrupted as he blew the powder into her face. As soon as she inhaled, all she saw was black.
Kurama did his best to pick up the sleeping girl. As he stood up, his injury gave a twinge but otherwise he had no problems. He left the warehouse with Tay in his arms. Kurama left the dock and made his way to the nearest park. When they arrived, he placed Tay down on a bench and pulled out his communicator.
"Kurama, this is a surprise. What do you need?" asked the toddler on the screen. "And why is there a girl sleeping on the bench behind you?"
Kurama narrowed his eyes at his baby-faced boss. "Koenma, I need a portal. We need to talk."
XD So THAR SHE BLOWS! If there was any confusions, that is ok. I will be explained for the most within the next couple of chapters :) thanks for reading!