Bonus Chapter: The Book of Invasions
The story begins with a piece of land, and island, a small fragment of heaven that somehow found its way to earth and was accidentally discovered by a small band of mortals.
"Whatcha reading onii-san?" A pair of big brown eyes suddenly stared up at Kurama from under the book that he was reading. This would have startled him, if not for the fact that he had already sensed his young companion's presence. Sadao Urameshi had yet to master the art of hiding his aura.
"Oh I'm so sorry, Kurama." Keiko Urameshi, the wife of Kurama's good friend Yusuke Urameshi, apologized as she scooped up the toddler. The poor young woman (bless her heart) not only had to take care of a husband who just refused to grow up, but now she had a pair of twin toddlers to chase after. "I can't tell who's worse; him or his father."
"It's alright, Keiko-chan." Kurama told her. "Perhaps this will entertain them until Yusuke gets back from Genkai's temple."
Keiko sighed, "Alright, sorry to be a bother. I'll be right back. Chiko, Sadao. You two be good!"
"Yesh mommy," The twins replied and sat down next to Kurama who suppressed a chuckle as he flipped open the old book.
Many many years ago, so far in fact that those who dared to call themselves "gods" can barely recall, the oceans began to rise. They rose so quickly that the ancient peoples believed that the titans were flooding the whole world.To escape this terrible fate they boarded their boats and placed their fates in the hand of their mother, the sea...
The tribe of Cessair were first.Father Patrick read as he waited in a small church. It didn't quite feel right reading a book on heretics, but somehow the occasion had drawn him to it.
Cessair, the granddaughter of Noah. Her father was denied a place on the ark, and so she told him to build an idol. They were lead to the island by her guardian daemon, Fintan, after sailing for seven years, but in the end the trip was in vain. Their numbers were too few to sustain themselves and all died in the great flood except for Fintan who survived by changing into salmon.
"Father Patrick?" A young man, Mitsuya, the leader of Amaya's former band poked his head in. "I-It's time. I-I..."
Amaya's "accident" had come as a shock to them all. Tears started to well up in the young man's eyes. The pressure of the grave atmosphere was getting to him. It had already been over a year since they gave her a proper burial. Her sudden death skyrocketed the band's name into complete fame, but it took some convincing from Father Patrick just to keep the band together in honor of her memory. They would visit her grave once a month as thanks. Father Patrick patted the young man on the back.
"Don't worry, she's in a better place than us." Father Patrick said suppressing the urge to add I hope. as an afterthought.
At least Macha was kind enough to give them something to bury. The corpse was beautifully preserved giving the girl an unearthly appearance, but it was not nearly as beautiful as the winged figure that bowed and kissed Father Patrick on the cheek before the she and Macha vanished back to where they had tengu then escorted the priest back down the mountain vowing to seal it off completely afterward. They were done with the dealings of men and mortals.
"How would you like to hear a very old story?" Father Patrick asked the young man and handed the book to him.
"All life was born from the sea," Koenma mused.
"Lord Koenma," His blue haired servant, Botan, asked curiously.
"I was just thinking." Koenma replied. "I'm surprised how quiet it's been since those two… no since they all left. It makes me wonder if there really is a new spirit world waiting to be born. The universe is a big place, Botan. It's our sacred duty to make sure that human souls don't become lost in the abyss."
"Will they… will the other kami come back?" Botan asked curiously. She wanted to ask where they all had gone, but it wasn't her place.
"Amaya promised that if humans ever needed them, they would return." Koenma replied. "But not until then. Please continue reading, Botan. It's so peaceful I might just finish this batch of paper work and catch up on my research."
"Yes, sir." Botan replied. "Fintan's story made it to Greece, where the sons and daughters of chaos ravaged the land."
Those that aided humans were named "daemons" and those that opposed humans were called, "demons". Partholón the son of a man and a daemon (something unthinkable in those times) killed his parents on the orders of the Titain-like beings that ruled them. He was a war spirit, but he rebelled against chaos and disorder and vowed to free himself from the old ways. Some of the Makhai (singular form being "Machê") followed him. Partholón lost an eye in the affair,
but Fintan's stories of an island of peace finally reached his ears...
Partholón set out with 1,000 followers,Mitsuya read as he waited for his train to arrive. It was cold and raining, making the platform feel even more crowded and uncomfortable. His spiky hair was beginning to droop as the gel was getting wet making him look more like a bum than a rock star. The book gave him a small sense of privacy and solitude.
But the island paradise had not been empty in the time since Fintan fled from it. The Fomorians, great giants and sons of the sea, no less than ugly demons (although some stories mention some Fomori as beautiful) claimed the island's shores. However, in a short three years Partholón and his followers managed to defeat the Fomori in the first battles ever to be fought there. It would not be the last.When Partholón arrived there were three lakes, nine rivers, and one plain on the island. He and his people cleared four more plains and seven more lakes. His people multiplied from 1,000 to 4,000 and then 9,000. But a mere 120 years after Partholón's own untimely death, all his people were slain in less than a week by plague.
"Omf!" Someone bumped into Mitsuya knocking him out of his book drawn trance.
"Watch where you're going!" The man who ran into him scolded. Mitsuya glared at the man before shoving the book into his bag to finish later, but as he boarded the train his bag was jostled about harshly. The book fell to ground with no one sparing it so much as a glance.
"But one man survived." Macha explained to her wide eyed audience. "Tuan, Partholón's nephew, though a series of animal transformations he survived the centuries until he was reborn in the 6th century and all he had seen he remembered. Thus Partholón's story was preserved."
The dragon girl and dream kami clapped. "Tell us another!"
"Something with love in it." The dream kami sighed.
"No, something funny!" the dragon protested.
Then all went quite as Battlesong whispered behind them, "Something tragic." A shiver ran down their spines and Macha looked at her daughter thoughtfully.
"Alright," Macha said with a slight smile on her lips.
Nearly thirty years after the death of the last of Partholon's followers, Nemed and his warriors ride across the coast of the Caspian Sea"Sir, there's a woman being attacked over there." One of the Nemedians points to a group a small ways up the coast while Nemed shields his eyes from the setting sun."No..." Another warrior says as they watch a moment. "It looks like a lone woman is attacking a group of pirates. These are dangerous parts. We should move on sir... Sir? Lord Nemed?" Before his warriors can gather their wits their leader is already riding ahead to join the fray.By the time he arrives at the shoreline the woman is the only one standing. Her black hair swirls around her face like a mist. She glares at the young man who approached her so boldly and points a spear at him."If you are not a sailor, friend," She says. "Then I have no use for you."Nemed looks over at the blue sea and the beautiful woman before him. "Why do you wish to cross the ocean?""I'm looking for my old man." The woman tells him. "He left for the seas long ago with 1,000 of my people and none have returned.""Your father?" Nemed asks surprised and then the woman realizes something and shakes her head."I forget the simplicity of mortals," She sighs. "I am Macha. Who might you be warrior?"He dismounts and takes her bloody hand in his. With his heart pounding Nemed looks the young woman in the eyes and says to her in a soft voice, "Macha, your hair is the most beautiful I've ever seen. It's like the night itself."Macha stares at him for a moment. Finally she says, "And your hair, sir warrior, is like the moonlight."And with that she punched him.
The kami children stared at Amaya expectantly. Amaya's trickster compainion raised her eyebrows signaling that the girl should continue. Finally after a moment of awkward silence she sighed.
"After Macha died," Amaya said picking up the story. "Nemed remarried. Artur was his first son to be born in the new land."
In his time Nemed cleared 12 more plains and four lakes and built two royal forts, but a mere 19 years after arriving, Nemed died of plegue with 3,000 of his people.
"That's a weird place to keep a book." Kuwabara said and picked the poor lost manuscript off the sidewalk and randomly flipped open to where the bookmark was. "Hmm..."
After the death of their leader, the Nemedians were oppressed by the Formori. Once a year they forced the Nemedians to give two-thirds of their children, wheat and milk as an offering.Two-hundred and seven years after Nemed's death the Nemedians revolted against their oppressors with 60,000 warriors lead by three champions. They managed to kill half of the Formori oppressors, but in the end only 36 Nemedian warriors escaped to the sea and the island was empty for two hundred years.
"What's that Kuwabara?" A gentle woman's voice asked curiously.
"Yukina!" Kuwabara exclaimed in delight nearly dropping the poor abused book again. "I found this laying on the ground."
"Maybe Kurama will know what to do with it." Yukina suggested as she looked the cover over. "It seems pretty old. Kurama and Yusuke are visiting the temple today."
"Yeah, Keiko told me." Kuwabara nodded and escorted his little lady friend back inside.
…
"When Macha returned to the island with my brothers and sisters, the children of Danu-" Amaya explained.
"Danu?" Red asked confused. The idea of spirit lineages was still hard for her to understand.
"By this time," Another kami told her, "The Titians and rulers of old had been over thrown and the pantheons rose up to serve both mortals and themselves."
"Indeed, indeed," Amaya grinned thinking back. She had always thought her own history was boring, but she then realized how close she had come to repeating it. "Nuada was our king at the time. Now, as I was saying-"
In the 200 year absence of the Nemedians a new people had come, the Fir Bolg. Former slaves of Greece they followed the trail of the Nemedians back to the island and settled.The Tuatha Dé Danann came from the north from four mythical cities, Falias, Gorias, Murias and Finias, where they acquired their occult skills and attributes. Yukina flipped the page in curiosity. Lead by their king, Nuada, they battled the native Fir Bolg for the land.During the battle Nuada lost an arm to the Fir Bolg champion, Sreng, and in the hopes of reconciling relations with the Fomorians a half Tuatha Dé Danann half Fomorian named Bres became the king.However, Bres made the Tuatha Dé Danann pay tribute to the Fomorians and work as slaves. He neglected his duties as a king. A poet of Tuatha Dé Danann, Cairbre, wrote a scathing poem against Bres which became the first satire in the land. Everything went wrong for Bres after that.The three greatest healers, Dian Cecht and his two children, fashioned a new arm for Nuada and Bres was removed for kingship.Furious, Bres went to his Forori relatives (including Balor of the Evil eye) and war resumed.
"Easy Macha," Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann says to his 'cousin'. "We all know how you feel about the Fomori.""I know I feel about the Fomori too," Macha replies glaring daggers at Cian and his half Fomori son. "The feel of them as I ram my spear through their shriveled up little hearts. But you have a more...intimate understanding of them, don't you Cian?""Alright, that's enough." Another of their people breaks in and sparates the two."My lady," Lugh, Cian's son, says addressing Macha respectfully. It was him who eventually defeated Balor, but Macha wasn't pleased by it. She could have taken him too after he's been lazing about for a few centuries.Lugh bows to her slightly, "I know that battle is in your nature, but surely you know this as well as I-" He turns to direct the speech at everyone. "That which separates the Tuatha Dé Danann from the Fomori is as thin as paper. The great knowledge that you all have worked to hard to process separates you from men and demon alike.""Please," He pleads. "Trust me with your beloved wisdom and I shall not only be a great man among you, I shall be a great king to serve you."
…
And so Lugh, after defeating Balor of the evil eye, became king. He kept his promise and the Tuatha Dé Danann enjoyed one hundred and fifty years of unbroken rule. Finally they were pushed out of their beloved lands by the Milesians; men, mortal men. And the Tuatha Dé Danann were banished from the island paradise forever more.
Kurama closed the book and looked to see his audience's reaction. There was a moment of silence before the twins spoke up.
"That not right!" the little boy said accusingly. "They had fighters and magic and stuff! How could they lose?"
"Yeah!" The little girl agreed. "Magic can do anything! That story can't be true!"
"Well," Kurama replied. "I suspect, that over the years, all that knowledge... and magic, somehow got lost along the way."
At that moment a loud voice echoed through the house, "Heeey kids! Daddy's home!"
"Daddy!" The twins squealed and ran to smother Yusuke. Kurama chuckled.
"Sorry about that Kurama," Yusuke said with a kid in each arm. "Did Keiko go out to buy some grub?"
"Yes," Kurama nodded. He didn't really mind babysitting the duo. "She should be back any minute now."
Kurama held up the book in his hand. "I'll go on ahead. I need to return this before we start investigating that new case. How does it look by the way?"
"Cut and dry so far." Yusuke replied. "But who knows, we might get lucky."
"I'm so sorry sir," Mitsuya said for the hundredth time as the priest helped him retrace his steps. "I know I put the book in my bag, but it must have-"
"Fallen right there?" Father Patrick pointed to the book sitting on top of the grave. He walked over to pick it up and dusted off the cover.
They stood there quietly a moment realizing how unlikely the scenario really was.
"…You don't think...?" Mitsuya asked uneasily.
They stared at each other a moment before saying, "nah, couldn't be."
At that moment, a raven cried out from overhead startling them both. Father Patrick slowly put the book back on the tombstone. Then the two mortals turned around and gingerly walked away.
...
Bonus Story Two: Chika
It would not be unusual (I suppose) to see a priest in a cemetery, but this priest was a serious man and getting to be up there in the years. He was reaching that point of time when he started to question his true beliefs. Naturally, like most of the men in his profession, the priest had never married or had any children. He did, however, adopt a child once. A girl child who by now (if she had lived) would have been a beautiful woman. Yes, she surely would have been a real heart breaker, but that had not been the course of fate.
As he did once every month, the priest would go to the girl's grave an pay his respects. The manner in which he did this was almost like the other religions of the region, but the priest would never admit to following any such unchristian like ceremonies. Despite this he could not help but admit that it did no harm to pay his respects to the dead (no whom they might be "related" to).
As the priest stared down at the tombstone he noticed that there was something out of place. There was something new resting on the stone that could only have been placed there recently. He picked up the folded sheet of paper and looked at its contents.
It was a piece of sheet music. He did not know the song and the words were in a different language than those he was familiar with. The priest looked around to see who might have dropped the paper until he saw the shadow of a young lady walking away.
Her attire was most fashionable and appropriate for the spring season especially her large woven hat, but there was something odd about her. The priest could feel unearthly vibes coming up from the young lady's aura. In spite of himself the priest ran up to catch the young woman by the shoulder. The young lady was started by the sudden touch and as she turned to look at him, the priest could see that this person was not a stranger at all.
"Oh, it's you." The priest released the figure quickly as if he could barely stand to touch them. The beautiful figure's smile was stunning. She looked like a portrait of an oriental princess, but before she could move her colored lips to speak the priest muttered, "Chiyoko."
In a little cafe the priest treated his guest to some tea. Chiyoko's smile enchanted everyone who gazed at him. Onlookers only saw a beautiful young woman in spring attire like something that came straight out of a movie, but Father Patrick knew better. Still he doubted that anyone would believe that the slender figure sitting before him was not only male, but a fearsome tengu in disguise. Chiyoko pulled several somethings out of his small purse and looked at them with a gleeful expression.
Father Patrick perked up alert, "What are those?"
"Oh," Chiyoko replied somewhat embarrassed. "These are the business cards of talent agencies that try to pick me up." The tengu grinned. "I collect them whenever I visit human realm."
"I see..." Father Patrick was more than willing to change the subject at that point. "Was it you who left the music piece on Amaya's grave then?"
"Indeed." Chiyoko nodded. "I stumbled upon it while we were doing some spring cleaning. It's a folk song that we used like a lullaby on little Amaya-chan." The tengu chuckled. "She absolutely refused to fall asleep until she had heard it."
Father Patrick covered a fleeting smile with his hand. "That's right, I do remember her having sleeping problems when she first came to stay with me. I wish I had known all it took was a song."
"It didn't work all the time though," Chiyoko confessed. "Some days she just couldn't sleep no matter what we did and finally Aki would just pick her up and hold her (it was soooooo cute!) and then the two of them would just sit quietly to watch the moon. Ah good times."
There was a moment of silence as the two of them thought back in time and the mood between them softened.
"I wonder how much of it is the soul." Chiyoko said quietly.
"What?" Father Patrick was drawn out of his trance.
"Oh, sorry I was just thinking." Chiyoko waved his hands embarrassed. "You know, modern science is amazing! It shows how greatly DNA affects our personality and all, but I wonder how much weight the soul has."
"You see," Chiyoko turned serious. "A soul needs a body or a ghost to store its energy or else it dissipates. So when the body dies and the ghost moves on, what happens?" Chiyoko added quietly. "The answer: nobody knows."
The tengu looked down at his hands.
"It's not a simple matter of just changing your outward appearance," Chiyoko explained. "Humans can get plastic surgery, put on makeup and new clothes, but they still are the same person inside."
"But your saying," Father Patrick guessed. "That reincarnation is different."
"Those little ticks and habits that people developed over time like smiling at a stranger whenever you meet their eye or the quirks that let us pick our friends out of a crowd," Chiyoko whispered. "Everything you are, everything you ever were, everything is just gone." The tengu muttered and pondered. "Truly, how much of us is left when we are stripped down to the soul?"
"That's something I don't think we're meant to know." Father Patrick replied before finishing his tea.
Meanwhile, outside the cafe a small figure scans the crowd in irritation. Her short brown hair was slightly messy and her clothing screamed "delinquent". As such, the rest of the citizenry gave the girl a respectful distance as she chased her quarry down the street. Ahead of her a young woman with long black hair was walking quickly trying to lose the kid that was tailing her.
"Come on, onee-san." The girl said excitedly. "Just show me how you did that, please? I mean that was awesome!"
The kid swung her fists as she narrated, "Beating up five muggers at once."
The older girl paused in mid-step and clenched her fist as the girl continued rambling. "And the leader was all like, 'hey doll, you got some change?' and then you reply, 'Yeah, I can break a five'. I mean who does that?"
The young woman spun around to deal with the little annoyance head on. She looked directly into the younger girl's brown eyes with her odd colored green ones. "Get lost, brat."
"My name's not 'brat'," The girl retorted scornfully, "It's Chika. Chika Urameshi."
"Well, no bueno chica," The young woman replied and then she spun back around to keep walking. "I'm not the type that randomly goes and beats up people."
"It's Chika, not 'chica'." Chika Urameshi corrected unsure what 'no bueno' meant. "And I'm not a brat, I'm all of fourteen years old!"
"Uh huh." The young woman kept moving, but no matter how many backtracks and evasive maneuvers she made Chika was right on her heels. Finally the older girl stopped at the entrance of a refurbished warehouse and shooed the little girl away one more time. "Look, I have to go to work now. It's long past little brats' bed times."
"You're late, Yèyu." The bouncer at the door said in a cross tone. He was kind of skinny for a bouncer, but no less imposing.
"Yeah, sue me." The young woman snapped back and glanced behind her at Chika. "I got sidetracked."
The bouncer looked down at Yèyu's 'guest', "You know we don't allow kids here."
"What the hell am I supposed to do then? Huh?" Yèyu asked irritated.
"What's the hold up?" Asked a pleasantly musical voice. A woman with her hair dyed bright red dressed in an elegant matching red velvet slim dress popped her head out the door. "Ah, Yèyu! My bread winner has arrived. Come in, come in! You can escort the girl home later."
The red clad woman was none other than the owner of the fine establishment. She kicked Yèyu on her way to the dressing room and escorted Chika to a bar seat where she would be out of the way.
"This…is a club?" Chika asked as she looked around the large vibrant space. There were multicolored lights filling up one enormous dance floor. The warehouse had been remolded with all the trimmings and necessities for the huge crowd of patrons of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicity.
"That's right," The red lady said. "Mizu-shobaiis used as a term for nightlife industries, but the origin is 'water trade'." She explained to her young guest. "Water is a necessity, so I like to think that in this place I, too, can sell necessities (music and drinks) to those that need it. …It also has another meaning, but you don't need to know about that yet."
"And her name is…Yèyu?" Chika asked meaning the young woman she had followed. She watched a new band take the stage and the patrons shuffled to the dance floor or the bar.
"Hmmm," The red lady hummed as if deciding on how to answer. "That's not her real name. You see around here there's this cute little legend… or more like a ghost story. Ah, here's our star."
Yèyu in question returned to the bar dressed in a long black jacket that both ran down to the back of her knees, but also had a slit down the middle that exposed her midriff and chain decorated pants. Her makeup job was rushed, but it didn't matter under the light of the multicolored lamps and with her hair put up she almost looked like a completely different person. The most striking thing, however, was the large white cross embroidered on the back of her jacket under the characters that spelled out Night Rain.
"Oh!" Chika remembered the name from her "uncle" Kuwabara's CD collection.
"That's right" Yèyu struck a pose. "The legend says that any band that slaps the name Night Rainacross their backs can win any music contest."
Chika frowned, "That's a silly story."
"Ha!" Yèyu snorted. "Shows what you know." Yèyu bragged that ever since she had won the jacket in an auction, it didn't matter if it was a bar or a large scale contest, her group hasn't been beaten.
"I use this little gem to bring business to my club" the red lady explained as she played with Yuye's hair. "Every day groups compete with each other for the chance to battle it out with my little superstar here. The winner gets a money pot that's been built up over the week."
"But soon I'll have enough money to pay you back what I owe you." Yèyu threatened. "Then I get to keep the jacket. That's all I really want."
"Geeze," Chika shook her head disappointed. "Is it that much of a good luck charm?"
"See for yourself," Yèyu slapped the bar as the first contenders took to the stage.
Chika was impressed, in spite of herself. The groups that preformed were no slouches, but she found it hard to believe that the stubborn Yèyu had any musical talent.
The club owner explained that in the finals the groups were graded by several factors; the number of people who entered and exited the club during the performance, the number of drinks sold, and the number of dancers on the floor. Lastly the group that got the most praise from the patrons got the most points.
"This group's pretty good." Chika tapped her foot to the techno group with a male lead singer. "I'd buy this if it were on a CD."
"Don't place your vote just yet." The owner warned as the audience gave a standing ovation. "She's about to take the stage."
"Thanks for walking me home, I guess." Chika was still mesmerized by the musical talent she had just witnessed, but somehow she was still disappointed. She couldn't understand why such a skilled street fighter would choose such a rocky life in the music business.
"What about you?" Yèyu asked her companion. She was still wearing her 'battle gear' (meaning the Night Rain jacket). "Why's a girl like you so hell bent on fighting?"
"Because I'm going to make my own legend." Chika declared. "My dad may be just fine running a noodle stand at night while my mom works at my grandparents' restaurant, but that's just too boring. I want to be somebody!"
Her expression suddenly saddened. Chika kicked a rock as she said, "My parents want me to focus on school like my brother, but I'm just not cut out to be student."
"Tough break," Yèyu replied realizing that Chika didn't know her dad had decent street credit of his own. The word was he still did some detective work on the side. The hypocrite must have kept it a secret from his own kids. "I don't like fighting unless I have to. Find some other way to relieve your stress."
"I'm not stressed!" Chika snapped.
"Well that's good to hear." said an evenly toned voice from behind them startling Chika. She whipped around on guard and stopped half way.
"Kurama Onii-san! Uncle Kuwabara!" She was both embarrassed and shocked to see them outside her house so close to dawn.
"Hey hey!" Kuwabara protested as he patted the girl on the shoulder. "Why is it 'Kurama onii-san'? He's older than I am!" Kurama covered a grin.
"Anyway Chika-chan, what are you doing out so early?" Kuwabara asked his best friend's daughter. "If you've been out all night or something then Keiko is going to freak out." Then he added in a mutter. "And we all don't wanna see that."
"Hey, I can take care of myself!" Chika slapped his hand away. "Besides I was with this onee-chan... Hey where did she go?"
"Who?" Kurama asked glanced around cautiously. "There wasn't anyone else here. Kuwabara?"
"Yeah, I'm not picking up on anything." Kuwabara said quietly and shrugged. "So it wasn't a ghost."
They paused and exchanged glances. It was worrisome when you couldn't sense a being's aura as they knew all too well.
"What is it?" Chika asked as she picked up on their distress.
"Probably nothing." Kurama replied without looking at her. "But please don't wonder around at night."
Chika's face turned bright red. "I'm not a little kid!" She knocked both of them out of the way before running into her house.
"Welcome back sis," Sadao Urameshi greeted his twin sister as she ran though the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm back." She slammed the door to her room.
"Chika? Chika is that you?" Keiko called out to her daughter. "Where have you been young lady?"
"Would everyone please just leave me alone?" Chika shouted and closed her eyes.
"Sorry, I'm not exactly a morning person." Yèyu said as she picked her teeth. Chika had managed to track down her elusive chaperone and demanded to know why Yèyu had bailed the moment she was needed the most.
Chika looked at her with a frown, "You're not a yokai are you?"
"Do I look like a yokai?" Yèyu asked dryly and tossed the last of her midnight snack in a trashcan. "I'm still not teaching you how to fight."
"Then how did you learn?" Chika demanded.
"Self-taught." Yèyu declared as she pointed a thumb at her chest. "Like a told you, I only fight when I have to."
Chika shook her head. "Why are you still wearing that awful black jacket?"
"Because by the end of the week, it's gonna be officially mine." Yèyu grinned and she kept smiling as the six shadows slowly drew in around her. "That is if these persistent punks don't beat it out of me."
"Well, lookie here." said the same nameless lackey that had tried to assault Yèyu the previous night.
"I see you brought an extra man." Yèyu commented without looking directly at them. "Is that all you could scrounge up?"
"Ha!" The leader was bandaged up as well, but despite this he pointed at Yèyu aggressively. "We know that jacket you're wearing is worth a lot of money, so why don't you save us the trouble and just hand it over?"
"Uh, no." Yèyu didn't even have to think about her answer. She turned to Chika. "Alright, one martial arts class coming right up. Lesson one: mano e mano battles are stupid. If you're gonna fight do it right." She shook out her fists and stared the guys down, "And this is how I roll."
Several minutes later after Chika was almost completely winded, the six losers were on the ground with all manner of horrible bodily injury and bones bent like balloon animals. Chika leaned over to catch her breath while Yèyu dusted off her prized garment.
"What's...-gasp-... so special...about...-wheeze-... that jacket... -cough-... anyway?" Chika tried to ask.
Yèyu laughed at the little girl. She herself wasn't tired, but her tiny friend certainly was.
"Aside from a street value of 4 million yen?" Yèyu asked with a shrug.
"F-four..." Chika gaped at the black leather garment.
"That's right." Yèyu said smugly. "So I have to make sure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
"Or you could just return it to its proper owner." Commented a male voice evenly. This was the second time that week Chika hadn't felt someone's presence before they could sneak up on her. The list of people who could do that were very limited and at the very top was her father.
Chika looked up at her dad nervously. His expression was cool and reasonable. After all he had been a rebellious teen in his youth too, but Chika could tell by his aura that he was not happy with her at all.
"D-Dad! What are you doing here?" Chika asked and took a half step back. Yèyu glared at the dark haired man and she dropped to a guarded stance.
"So we meet again, detective." Yèyu growled. "I thought you'd given up."
"Unlikely," Kurama replied as he too made his entrance. "When we heard that another 'ivory cross' was roaming the streets, there was no other choice but to see for ourselves. That relic you're wearing is a very dangerous toy."
"Chika get over here." Yusuke ordered his defiant offspring.
"B-but dad, why? I-I..." She looked all around at the adults confused.
"You might want to listen to your dad on this one kid." Yèyu said as her aura started to glow bright red. "It's about to get nasty."
"Wah!" Chika was pushed back as Yèyu increased her spirit pressure. She was stunned, it wasn't reiki or yoki, but Chiki didn't know of any other kind of energy. The power alone was making her head spin.
"Because there isn't any other kind of ki on earth." Yèyu said picking up the thoughts of the little mortal girl. "These sons of britches and their masters banished them from earth over ten years ago."
"Another escaped ghost?" Yusuke sighed. "Koenma's getting sloppy. Good thing Kuwabara's 'prize' was being able to sense these kinds of ki too."
"It's not only that." Kurama analyzed Yèyu's jacket intently. "It seems she's using the relic to boost her powers."
Kurama called out to Yèyu, "So, tell us, what kind of lower-shugojin are you?"
"As if I'd tell you." Yèyu's energy exploded around the mortals dropping them to their knees. Yusuke blocked Chika from getting hit by the blast as Kurama set up a barrier using a relic of his own. No sense in wasting his own energy on such a small fry.
"S-stop it!" Chika shouted fanatically. Yèyu powered down a little as the two men turned their attention to the girl.
"Okay, nobody is doing anythinguntil I get some answers." Chika glared at the three combatants making them retreat slightly.
"So she has some of Keiko in her after all." Kurama chuckled under his breath.
"Chika, sweety." Yusuke said tying to soothe his daughter. "Daddy's a little busy with work now. Can't this wait until afterwards?"
"No it can't!" Chika snapped. "Stop treating me like a little kid!"
"You tell them girly." Yèyu cheered as her aura danced around them. The red aura was beginning to affect Chika's mental state and the girl hadn't built up the kind of resistance needed to combat such a creature.
"Daddy, I want to learn how to fight, but you never teach me. And-!" She wrapped her arms around Kurama's waist. "I'm in love with Kurama onii-san and I want to marry him!"
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"Chika, sweety." A vein was popping out of Yusuke's forehead. "I understand you feelings and you can marry Kurama-"
"Really?" Chika was shocked and her dad nodded. Kurama didn't move sensing what was coming next.
"Over my dead body!" Yusuke declared. "No offence Kurama, but I don't Makai's second most notorious thief as a son-in-law." Kuwabara, although it wasn't official, already has THE most notorious thief as a brother-in-law."
"None taken." Kurama sighed as the whirling gears in his head were beginning to ache. "But we still have a bigger problem on our hands."
"Stalling for time?" Yusuke guessed as his focus returned to their real opponent. "Why?"
"Probably because she goes back into ghost form in daylight." Kuwabara theorized. Kuwabara took of his glasses to get a better read on the specter. "My guess is she's a song spirit of some sort, like our old friend. They have a similar aura."
"Who knew our prizes from the last tournament would come in so handy." Yusuke grinned as he pointed a glowing finger at Yèyu. "If you guys can get me a clear shot then I can-"
"The hell you will!" The red aura around Yèyu burst into flames threatening to burn them all. "I'm not going back! I'm not going back!"
"Why can't people ever stay dead?" Yusuke whined as he tried to aim at Yeyu's heart. If he could hit it with his spirit gun, then it would send the ghost girl back to the beyond. That was Yusuke's "prize".
"Like you're one to talk, Urameshi." Kuwabara muttered.
"But I mean, come on. It can't be that bad." Yusuke replied with a frown.
"Stupid, stupid mortals." Yeyu growled. Her eyes were turning red and her power was building. "You have no idea what it's like for us! We aren't like you. We can't move on!"
The bright red aura around her grew into a column with her rage. "We wait forever for the end of time waiting to be reborn and yet we never will. We are forgotten!"
Reikai wasn't made of one dimension, like earth, but many countless gateways and paths. Each a piece was either heaven or hell depending purely on the strength of the souls that resided there.
"I got it!" Yusuke saw his shot and took it, but the jacket glowed and reflected his attack back.
"Kurama!" Chika cried as he shoved her out of the line of fire and took on most of the blast himself.
"You okay man?" Yusuke swept up Chika while Kuwabara ran to check on their fallen comrade.
"I'm fine." Kurama replied quietly, although he found it too painful to stand up right away. Luckily the attack didn't work as well on living souls. "I think we're getting to be too old for this."
"Speak for yourself pal." Yusuke snorted and picked up his daughter with one arm. He only had one shot like that left and using it seemed too risky.
"Uh, guys?" Kuwabara interrupted and pointed to glow in the east. "If we don't wrap this up quick, then the crazy ghost lady is going to get away again."
Sure enough with the sun rising Yeyu's form was becoming more and more transparent. Soon she would be able to vanish into the daylight. But just when it looked like she was going to fly up and make her escape, her very own jacket started to glow in a bright blue light. The ghostly figure fell to the ground with a shriek.
"What? What is this?" She tried to rip off the garment, but without success. Suddenly a beam of light appeared overhead and a loud booming whistle filled the air as another apparition descended to earth.
The glowing apparition hovered above them drawing all eyes upward in awe. Kurama relaxed slightly, he had seen a similar being summoned before many years ago. However, unlike his first encounter, this glowing specter lacked animosity and gazed at the mortals calmly.
The glowing blue form looked down at Yèyu in disapproval and crossed her (at least the subtle glowing curves and wispy hair made of energy made the figure appear female) arms over her chest.
"What are you so angry about?" Yèyu asked the apparition defensively. "I didn't steal your name or anything. Think of it as gaining followers for you." There was a moment of silence as she listened to unspoken words. "Well that sounds like a personal problem doesn't it?"
"What is that?" Chika asked nervously as she hugged her father's shoulder.
"That," Yusuke replied. "Is a kami. This is what the people of Rekai look like then they don't have a physical from."
"And how would you know about that?" Chika gave her father a look.
"I'm a very good detective." Yusuke replied. He calmed down now that the duex es machina had arrived and looked at his daughter sternly. "And we are going to have a very long chat when we get home young lady."
Kurama stood as being floated down and rested gently in the grip of in his outstretched hands. As soon as he stroked the glowing figure's face he could feel his minor injuries healing.
"I thought it was you," Kurama said softly. "Is your arm healing well? It's probably not a good idea to be traveling to earth in your condition."
It was then that Chika noticed that one of the apparition's limbs was slightly dimmer than the others. A scowl crossed her face as she watched the intimate exchange.
This scene most certainly would have satisfied Chiyoko's earlier musings. The apparition was mostly formless and had no defining features that would distinguish itself from others of its kind and with no body it had no physical memories, but despite this the figure knew of pain. It was painful for it to even be in the mortal world. It also knew the pain of others and a select few others knew of hers. When someone who of her pain and they themselves were saddened by it, this made her sad. So in essence when stripped to the bare soul all that was left was-
"Give it up kid," Yèyu muttered with one elbow resting on her transparent knee. "You lost today's battle, but don't worry you've got another hundred years to put up a good fight."
"What do you mean?" Chika asked puzzled.
"Because that's when our kind will be needed again!" Yèyu snapped. "But I'm not going to wait for the world to be screwed ten times over, I'm gonna-!"
Yèyu stopped talking as the glowing figure loomed over her.
"Ah heh, heh." Yèyu didn't turn around and began sweating. "I mean, I'm going to go with this nice lady escort back to heaven as we spend 100 years praying for health and happiness of all mortals."
The glowing figure nodded and the two began levitating upwards. She waved to the Uremeshi crew and they waved back as the kami and ghost vanished leaving only a smoldering black leather jacket behind. Yusuke picked it up and shook his head.
"Like I said," Yusuke flung the jacket over his shoulder to indicate the case was closed. "Doesn't anybody just stay dead anymore?"
"Sooo, when can I marry Kurama onii-san?" Chika asked presently.
"Again, over my dead body." Yusuke replied. "But if you keep getting into trouble like this, then that might be sooner than you think."
"Let's not tempt fate, Yusuke." Kurama cautioned his friend.
"I don't care if my rival is a kami!" Chika declared. "I'm going to fight on."
"Wrong." Yusuke scolded. "You're now grounded until you're thirty and we are having a very, very long talk when we get home, little princess."
"By the way Yusuke," Kurama asked after a moment. "What do you mean I'm only the 'second' most notorious thief in Makai?"
And as such the great heroes lived out their days in peace (mostly) as the heavens watched patently waiting for their time to come around once again.
...
Bonus Chapter: The Leader of the Band
"Yo."
Kurama turned to see a very famous face. Mitsuya Inoue, the leader of the famous band "Night Rain" and a filthy rich young man. The celebrity put his sunglasses back on in a futile attempt not be noticed by the masses. The band had been out of the limelight for a while, but that didn't mean some of the fans wouldn't spot him in a heartbeat.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Kurama asked cautiously. Mitsuya was human, but he was probably a low level psycic aswell considering what his alma mater was.
"Just wanted to meet the legend in person," Mitsuya replied. "Would you like some coffee? My treat."
Kurama was more curious than anything and couldn't find a suitable excuse to refuse. He wanted to know what the younger man meant by "legend". Luckily it seemed Mitsuya was in the mood to talk. He talked about his band's success. In the earliest of days, Amaya had been the star, but had to be cut from the band for "health reasons". Her sudden disappearance and/or death skyrocketed the band into fame making the remaining members filthy rich and able to take their artistic talents anywhere they wanted. What they really wanted, however, had always been the return of their dear friend back.
"The world of music lost a rare song bird." Mitsuya sighed. "I just wanted to see for whom the nightingale sang." He looked at Kurama meaning fully. "She was right. You look damn good in a suit. No wonder I lost."
"I don't thing we really lost anything." Kurama corrected. "She lived her life as she pleased."
"That she did." Mitsuya paused to consider something. "You know, there was one album… a final set of songs that she did that were never released. The fansites have been swarming with rumors about them."
"I never took a personal interest in music."
"ha," Mitsuya mocked. "A likely excuse. The reason we never released them was because they were too good, if you can believe such a thing was possible." Mitsuya took off his glasses so he could get the smudges off them. "There was something spooky about them, like they were meant for a higher plain of existence."
"And you're giving them to me." Kurama had guessed what had brought Mitsuya to him after all these years.
"Yeah." Mitsuya nodded. "I think… no, you'll see if you listen. Just don't do it today." He set the disks on the table and stood up. "Someday, a few years from now when you're ready. These were Amaya's true feelings. You know her favorite phrase-"
"Peace and love cannot exist in the world." Kurama finished for him.
"Yeah." Mitsuya rolled his eyes. "She shot me down with that phrase a hundred times. I guess she just wasn't meant for the likes of us mortals."
"Probably not." Kurama nodded although he only halfway agreed. He put the disks in his pocket and headed home to where his family was waiting. He had lived a very long time and right now peace was what he wanted most. However, as the wheels of time and fate turned and the days were reborn from the nights and the seasons shifted and reincarnated into another- One could not accurately say what the future might hold. Kurama knew that whatever Amaya's message was, it was for a future self that he had not yet become. And so the heaven's held their breath and waited for man and yokai to make that promised great leap into tomorrow where love was surely waiting.