TheHeartsPath: Well what do you know? The 21st chapter has finally appeared! Guess that means my story is finally of legal age now eh? LOL Please read and review! Hope you like the chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters. They are owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. I own only Ayla, her family, and any other characters that do not show up in the series.
"Talking" Thoughts ~Telepathy or mind-reading~
Chapter 21: Soul-mates?
Genkai's POV
"What the hell just happened?!" Yusuke yelled.
"I would like to know that myself. I've never seen anything quite like that before." Kurama calmly said.
I watched my unconscious granddaughter hold Hiei's hand and heal him with her spirit energy. As far as I knew to heal while in such a state was impossible. Then again, it should also be impossible for Ayla to be descended from the first druids. Given the fact that they were wiped out.
So how is it that she is able to heal Hiei while unconscious like this? The boys and Yukina have told me about how her training has been coming along. Her skills as a fighter are improving at a good pace. However her healing skills are improving even faster. Which is probably due to her druid heritage. According to Kurama they did usually prefer healing to fighting.
My gaze shifted from the two laying on the bed to the other side of the room. Where Kuwabara was sitting a few feet from the foot of the bed, on the floor with a distraught Kira in his lap. Yukina was sitting right beside them, gently petting Kira's head. The two of them were trying to calm her down and comfort her. She was shaking badly while crying her eyes out. It was quite obvious from her reactions and words to what had been happening to Ayla and Hiei, that her empathy allowed her to sense something that the rest of us couldn't.
I walked over to them and sat down in a spot where Kira could see me without having to turn her head. "Kira, how did you know that they needed to be next to each other? And what was the thing you were sensing?" I asked.
Kira sniffled and brushed her tears away, only for more to replace them seconds later. She started to reply, but because of crying so hard, she began having hiccups. Kuwabara gently rubbed her back, while Yukina used some of her healing powers to help settle her body down.
It took several minutes, but once she was calm enough to stop hiccuping she answered, "I'm not sure how to explain it Grandma Genkai. But there's something connecting them. Separating them was hurting IT, so it was hurting them too."
"Who's connected? And am I seeing things or is Hiei laying in the same bed as Ayla...and holding hands with her?" asked a familiar male voice.
We all looked towards the door of Ayla's bedroom to see both Koenma and Botan standing there. Koenma was in his teenage form, looking completely flabbergasted at the two on the bed. Meanwhile Botan appeared to be fighting laughter at her boss's facial expression, which was reminiscent of a fish trying to breathe out of water and failing. His mouth was opening and closing repeatedly with no sound coming out, yet still managing to keep that damn pacifier of his from falling out.
"About damn time you got here pacifier breath!" Yusuke growled out angrily, "Care to explain how the hell so many demons managed to not only get into the Ningenkai, but attack two of our people! Or how the fuck they were able to keep Kurama from knowing they were hiding their power!"
Hearing Yusuke's anger filled voice helped Koenma to snap out of his shock. Though it seemed to take him a minute to recall exactly what it was that Yusuke had said. Koenma sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I actually came here to talk about what happened earlier. And what didn't happen after I ordered something done."
Kurama placed a hand on the dimwit's shoulder just as he was about to yell at Koenma again. Yusuke turned to glare at him until he saw the look in the red head's eyes. There was a large amount of worry and caution in those emerald orbs.
"Something has transpired that has confirmed our worst fear hasn't it Koenma?" the former thief calmly asked.
That one question caused everyone who was awake to tense up and focus solely on the prince of the Reikai.
Koenma nodded, again running his hand through his hair. "I had ordered for an investigation squad to go to the clearing where the attack took place. To try and find any clues on the bodies about how the demons managed to get there and why. Unfortunately, Captain Otake told them that my father forbid them from following my order. He also told them that it wasn't important or necessary to investigate it in any way. Father had apparently already sent out a cleanup squad and they had taken care of the clearing."
Complete and total silence ensued after hearing what Koenma said. Which to say the least, was an unusual occurrence considering certain members of our group. A few minutes later the silence was broken.
"It would seem that not only does King Yama know about Ayla, but was also behind the attack today. There is no other reason for him to forbid others from following Koenma's orders. Not to mention having the clearing taken care of, therefore getting rid of any possible evidence to his part." said Kurama.
Kuwabara spoke up with a confusion in evident in his voice. "But why would he use demons to go after Ayla? I mean, wouldn't having the SDF go after her have been easier? Cause last I knew, most demons don't even like the thought of working with the Reikai."
"Easier yes, but also more obvious that he is after her. By using demons to attack instead of the SDF it gives the appearance that someone else is out to get Ayla." I explained. It worried me a great deal that it hadn't even been a month since everything started and already my granddaughter had been attacked like this.
"I agree. Though one must wonder why he would go to such lengths to hide his involvement. Only to turn around and make it so obvious by forbidding others from following Koenma's orders. Not to mention having the clearing dealt with so swiftly." Kurama mused aloud.
Yusuke crossed his arms and frowned. "What if the bastard has gone senile? That would explain his actions better wouldn't it? If the guy's off his rocker, he won't be thinking straight and will make mistakes like that right?"
When the hell did the dimwit start actually using that brain of his? I wasn't sure which worried me more. King Yama trying to kill my granddaughter, or Yusuke actually being smart for once.
Both Koenma and Botan paled, shaken at the questions Yusuke had presented. An equally shaken Kurama quietly spoke, "If King Yama really has lost his mind, then things are worse than we originally thought. Much worse."
The king of Reikai, insane? The words 'much worse' don't even begin to describe the situation we're in. Only one phrase comes close to doing so. We're in deep shit.
Koenma's POV
If Father really has gone insane then all three of the worlds are in trouble. We'll need to inform Enki about the possibility. Shit! That means informing him about Ayla as well! Yeah, that ought to go over real well with Genkai and the guys. I mentally groaned at the mere idea of bringing that up. I need to think about something else for a few minutes. At least until we can think of our next move where Ayla's safety is concerned.
Moving my gaze around the room, I tried to come up with something else to think about. For a moment my eyes rested on the young girl that was sitting in Kuwabara's lap. Her face is familiar. Ah yes, she's the youngest of Genkai's grandchildren. If I remember correctly her name is Kira. She was the one that had spoke about someone being connected. Exactly what she meant by that I had no idea.
After having looked everywhere in the room, but at the bed where Hiei and Ayla lay, I settled my gaze there. It was quite the odd sight to see. Yet at the same time, it felt as if it was an indescribably natural sight. The two of them laying side by side, and holding hands. With Ayla somehow using her spirit energy to heal Hiei while asleep.
Now that's definitely not a normal occurrence. There's only one way that I know of which allows a person to heal another like this while they are unconscious. And that was only when the two people that were involved are s-...
I couldn't help my body suddenly stiffening, nor my eyes widening in reaction to my train of thought. While I had yet to personally see how Ayla and Hiei acted with each other, I still knew from what others had told me. Mostly from Kurama of course.
All of the different pieces of information that I had on the way they interacted swiftly began coming together. It was almost as if I could literally hear the clicking of the different puzzle pieces being put together to make the bigger picture.
The way Ayla wholeheartedly trusted Hiei, not even a day after they met.
The way Hiei quickly became extremely protective of Ayla.
The ways they spoke, bantered, and argued with one another.
The ways they looked at, moved around, and touched each other.
And now this most current interaction of theirs. This unconscious healing that Ayla was performing on Hiei.
Each and every one of those different things, big and small, pointed to Hiei and Ayla being one thing. Something that was considered to be truly precious and cherished, in not only the Reikai, but in the Makai as well. Something that most humans in the Ningenkai believed to be nothing more than a mere myth.
Soul-mates!
This was definitely an unexpected, though not unpleasant development! For someone to find their soul-mate is an extremely rare occurrence! To also bond with their soul-mate is even rarer! Even in all the seven centuries that I have been alive there have been only six records of soul-mates finding each other and bonding in that time frame!
Though now it will be seven records of course. I can't believe these two are soul-mates Well I can since I've met other soul-mate pairs before, but that's not the point! Hiei and Ayla? Never saw that one coming! No sir! This will actually make it easier to get not only Enki, but Yomi and Mukuro, to help with training and protecting Ayla.
I crossed my arms and looked at the ceiling while I continued to think. The first thing that would have to be done before anything else would be telling everyone here about this new discovery...Make that the second thing actually. Since I just remembered that I should use the technique that confirms whether a soul-mate bond is in fact real or not.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the absurdity of the idea of what I'm seeing between Ayla and Hiei not being a real soul-mate bond. There were too many factors for it to ever be anything else.
As I walked over to the bed, I uncrossed my arms and began to quietly chant the technique's incantation. Once next to the bed I began slowly raising my voice and make the few necessary hand signs that the technique required to work. My spirit energy gathered around my hands, causing them to glow a shimmering dark teal color.
Not even a minute later the incantation was finished and the gathered energy left my hands to wrap around the pair on the bed. A couple of moments later the energy changed color to a mixture of three different colors. Those were crimson, a medium sage green, and a bright amber brown. Hiei and Ayla's respective eye colors.
'The eyes are the window to the soul.' How true that phrase really is.
And connecting those colors altogether was the color that I was watching for and expecting to see. A color that doesn't really have a name, for it was two colors at once, and yet it was neither of them. A sparkling golden-silver or silverish-gold. The one color that signifies that their souls are connected in the strongest and most precious of bonds in existence. The soul-mate bond.
The color that represented the soul-mate bond wasn't shining as brightly as it could though. At the moment it was nothing more than a slight shimmer. Not surprising in the least since it would not become a full and bright glow until the bond was completely formed.
Releasing the technique caused all the colors to fade out of sight. It also resulted in me having a small dizzy spell since I was suddenly no longer using such a complex technique. It was the only known way of truly and completely confirming the existence of a soul-mate bond in any of the three worlds.
"Mind telling me what the hell you were doing just now to my granddaughter and Hiei?" Genkai growled.
Turning my head towards the foot of the bed I couldn't help but swallow in fear. The glare Genkai was giving me at this very moment was scarier than all of the glares I've ever seen her give before put together. Even the ones that weren't directed at myself.
On second thought, I really should have mentioned what I was going to do BEFORE I did it...Oops.
Kurama's POV
I have lived for over three millennia and this is the first time I have ever seen proof of a soul-mate bond. Even if the bond has not completely finished forming yet. Which is more than likely a good thing since I highly doubt Genkai would be happy if they had gone that far in their...Is relationship even the right word for what Hiei and Ayla have?
"He caused no harm to either of them, if that is what you are worrying about Genkai. What Koenma just did was perform an ancient technique that reveals whether or not a certain kind of bond is either forming or completely formed between two people." I quickly explained.
She turned her glare to me right after the word 'bond' left my mouth. "If I find out that this bond you are talking about was forced on my granddaughter..."
"NO!" both myself and Koenma shouted. It greatly surprised those in the room that I had not just raised my voice, but actually shouted. Yusuke and Kuwabara were both looking at me as if I had suddenly grown several more heads.
Feeling my face heat up slightly I spoke, "Forgive me for shouting like that. But you must understand, this kind of bond can never be forced. It is such a rare bond that I myself, who has lived for over three thousand years, has never actually seen evidence of one."
"Indeed, such a bond is extremely rare." Koenma said, "The bond that Hiei and Ayla have will only be the seventh record of it occurring in the last seven centuries. The only reason I know about those is because I've met the bonded pairs when they've come to Reikai after dying."
No one said anything for a minute or two after that. Though there were quite a few looks exchanged as the others wondered what kind of bond could possibly be that rare.
"Wait a second!" Kuwabara suddenly exclaimed, "That's what Kira sensed! She said that something was connecting them! Somehow Kira must be able to feel this bond that Kurama and Koenma are talking about!"
"Hey you're right! But how come she was able to sense it and the rest of us couldn't?" Yusuke asked.
"We can figure that out at a later time. Right now I just want to know one thing. What kind of bond is it that Ayla and Hiei have?" Genkai said looking back and forth between Koenma and I.
Koenma glanced at me, before sighing and focusing on Genkai. "The two of them have a soul-mate bond. Although at this point it is not fully formed."
"Whoa, hold up! Soul-mate bond? Are...are you serious? Something like that...is actually real?" Yusuke stuttered in shock.
"Yes Yusuke, a soul-mate bond is very much real. Such a bond is considered truly precious and cherished in both the Reikai and Makai. Meaning we can get help from not only Enki, but from Yomi and Mukuro as well. They'll both want to help protect and train Ayla." I told him.
Yusuke blinked while he processed what I said. "Well that makes things easier doesn't it? Since we're gonna have to make sure that bastard Yama doesn't have Ayla killed, we can use all the help we can get." He smirked, "I'll get in contact with Hokushin, see if he can find Yomi and his kid Shura. Last I heard they were somewhere in Tourin."
I nodded, "That is what I heard as well. I will work on contacting Jin, Touya, Chu, Rinku, Shishiwakamaru, and Suzuki. As all of them are still living in Gandara. Contacting Mukuro will need to be done as well."
"Don't worry about it. I'll ask Hokushin to get either Seitei or Touou to go and talk to Mukuro. And have the other get in touch with Enki." Yusuke looks at Koenma when he starts to talk. "Look we need you in Reikai to keep an eye on your old man. If you come to Makai you can't do that."
"Urameshi's right. You can help us more being there than if you were somewhere else." Kuwabara agreed. "The more you're in Reikai, the higher your chances of knowing when he'll be coming after us. That way you can send Botan to relay anything you might find out."
Botan shook her head in bewilderment. "Since when do you two think so far ahead about stuff like this?" The question was one that the rest of us were thinking as well.
Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other, then back at the rest of us and shrugged.
"Since now I guess." said Yusuke. Turning back to Kuwabara he frowned, "Sorry 'bout this buddy, but it might be..."
"Better if I stay here? No problem Urameshi. I'll keep an eye on things here." Kuwabara looked down at Kira, who was actually sitting between him and Yukina at this point. "Ayla would probably have a fit if someone wasn't here to keep an eye on her family. I'll be able to take Kira home and bring her back to the temple whenever she's going to train."
It would appear that both Yusuke and Kuwabara have been doing some growing up. And it is because of Kira. They've both come to think of her as the baby sister neither of them had. I smiled, remembering who I had overheard them talking about how Kira had gotten to the both of them. Yusuke actually cut back on his cursing when Kira was around.
Genkai snorted, "She would definitely have a fit alright." She took a few moments to look at the two boys, before turning back to Koenma. "You mentioned that their bond isn't fully formed. Why is that exactly?"
Koenma stiffened and paled considerably. He looked at me, his eyes practically begging me to explain in his place.
Seeing his reaction and who he was looking at, she shifted her attention to me. She didn't say anything, not that she needed to. Her raised eyebrow was enough. 'Spill it!' was what it almost seemed to scream.
I glared at Koenma for choosing this moment to be a coward. I hate you so much right now Koenma... Clearing my throat I looked back at Genkai. "The reason their bond isn't fully formed is because they haven't...fulfilled the last requirement to complete their soul-mate bond." I could feel myself blushing at the words I was about to say, "In other words, they haven't had sex yet."
"WHAT?!" yelled two voices. One male and one female. Coming from the direction of the bed.
Everyone's heads quickly turned towards the bed. Hiei and Ayla were both sitting up, and blushing enough to rival a couple of tomatoes. The glare Hiei was directing at me had me cringing.
Of course they decide that now is the perfect time to wake up...This is one conversation I am most definitely not looking forward to...I just had to be the one they heard it from instead of Koenma...Damn you Koenma. Damn you.