God I went into such a writer's block! But then I had a dream about YYH and voila! I'm finally at the point where my story finally comes together, after so long! Yay! Hope you like this chapter!
Yusuke was in a slump after Kiyoshi killed Inugami. He holed himself up after the battle, but he shouldn't be in there for long. The three battles for Shuichi, Naota and Hiei were coming up. Kuwabara kept knocking on his room trying to get an answer but just like the other times, there was no response. Kuwabara sighed. 'Man, he must be really depressed, too bad Keiko isn't here, she'd be able to knock some sense into him.' Kuwabara thought. He tried again.
"Urameshi! You gotta come out of there! We found Chu and the other guys that were missing!" Kuwabara said while banging on the door. No answer. "Ch, fine! If you wanna be a whiny crybaby then be my guest! I'm gonna save the world since your sorry ass is feeling too depressed to get up!" Suddenly the door flew open and Kuwabara kissed the floor.
"Can't you leave me alone for just one second!" Yusuke shouted.
"You've been in your room since you finished the fight with Inugami! You can't blame me for being worried!" Kuwabara said after he got up.
"Heh, whatever." Yusuke said, going back to his bed.
"You know Urameshi they found Chu." Kuwabara started.
"I heard you." Yusuke said.
"He saw Kiyoshi gathering a bunch of demon energy from all the demons that has gone missing. He might use it in the fight against Kurama, doesn't that worry you?" Kuwabara said.
"I have a feeling he's not gonna use that against him." Yusuke said.
"Why not?" Kuwabara asked.
"Call it a gut feeling. I don't know how to explain it, like when I looked into his eyes, he seemed sad. I don't know why but he really felt sorry for killing Inugami." Yusuke said.
"Then why do you think he killed Yuu? He wasn't dying from some disease like him." Kuwabara explained.
"That's because Yuu was planning on a coup." Kuwabara and Yusuke looked toward the door and there was Satoru. "Yuu was planning on betraying us, that's why he had to go. What better way to kill him when he can't fight back."
"He was still your friend! You didn't have to kill him!" Kuwabara shouted.
"You really think talking to him would have achieved our desired outcome? Using his illusions, he could've easily persuaded our army to betray us as well." Satoru said.
"What army! You know most of them were in it by force thanks to Inugami." Kuwabara reasoned.
"You are correct, but no matter, army or no army you will not stop our objective." Satoru said.
"And you're the good guy that's gonna tell us right?" Yusuke said sarcastically.
"You all are ignorant to believe that the conquering of all three worlds is our objective. We have been giving you hints, helping you little by little and you still cannot see our true goal!" Satoru exclaimed. "You are all blind."
"What do you mean helping us!? You're building an army, you attacked us, and plain leading us on, what is your deal!?" Yusuke shouted.
"A revival, that is what we're aiming for, that is why you were all gathered, and why we need you all. A revival for death." Satoru said.
"Stop being so cryptic and actually give us an answer!" Yusuke said.
"...From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow. That is all I can say." Satoru said, before running down the hall and disappearing.
"What was that all about?" Kuwabara said.
"I don't know but we're both too stupid to figure out his message, we got to see Kurama about this."
00000
Naota fidgeted as she paced around her room. Her battle is coming soon and she felt unprepared, scared, wondering if she has the power to defeat her enemy. 'Why did this day had to come? I know I trained for this but still, I'm so afraid.' Naota thought. She finally sank onto her bed again.
"Where the hell is Yasu? Usually he'd be here at least giving me sarcastic remarks on how I might lose." Naota said out loud. "This isn't like him, losing in the prelims, not being here at all since this tournament started, and he didn't even give us any new information towards the generals or the revolutionaries. This is way strange."
'Why do I have a weird feeling in my gut about tomorrow? I wish Yasu was here with me.' Naota finally thought before going into a restless sleep. As she slept, Kuwabara and Yusuke went on the hunt for Kurama before finally find him in the empty stands.
"Finally! Kurama, geez you're one hard guy to find." Yusuke said.
"It's nice to see you out of your room Yusuke." Kurama said.
"Yeah, yeah I'm off my feet and ready to kick ass again, but that's beside the point. We met up with Satoru a little while ago." Yusuke said.
"He had this weird cryptic message, saying that he doesn't want to conquer all three worlds, that he has another goal." Kuwabara explained.
"That is odd, considering that all of their actions towards us say otherwise." Kurama said.
"Yea! But this was his message, 'From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow,'" Yusuke said.
"Interesting." Kurama said, trying to figure out this message.
"He also got mad at us saying weird stuff how he's actually been helping us and that we're all stupid that we can't figure out his actual goal." Kuwabara said.
"Helping?" Kurama said.
"Yea, weird huh? I don't get this guy at all." Kuwabara said.
"Huh, you're telling me. I can't figure him out either, but I do have a feeling that this guy is telling the truth." Yusuke said.
"What!? After all he and his teammates did, you still believe him!" Kuwabara shouted.
"I know! Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should trust him." Yusuke said.
"Heh, you've been around demons too long Urameshi, it's making you doubt your human side." Kuwabara said.
"What!" Yusuke started to give Kuwabara his usual Urameshi beat down when Naota interrupted them. She had bags under her eyes and gave out a really big yawn.
"Geez Naota, you died or something?" Yusuke said, giving Kuwabara a last punch.
"No, I tried sleeping but I failed, I can't stop worrying." Naota said.
"Is it about your fight tomorrow?" Yusuke asked.
"Technically, it's later today but no. Actually, It's about Yasu. Haven't you noticed that he hasn't been around since this tournament has started? And didn't you complain Yusuke that he hasn't given us any new information even though he's been with the revolutionaries for over a year? I don't know, it's giving me a weird feeling in my stomach." Naota explained, hugging herself for feeling afraid.
"Maybe he's just busy or something, you never know." Kuwabara said.
"Maybe..." Naota reasoned.
"You shouldn't worry about him, he's fine." Shuichi said. Naota pursed her lips, something was telling her that something was wrong.
"So you have any idea what the saying means?" Kuwabara asked.
"Unfortunately I don't have any ideas, the vagueness of the message does not give me any foundation to ultimately decode it. I'm sorry Kuwabara." Shuichi said.
"What message?" Naota asked.
"A message from Satoru, he met with Kuwabara and Yusuke. He talked about very odd things, such as helping us and the fact that this army and taking over Spirit world is not their true objective." Shuichi explained.
"What's the message?" Naota asked.
"''From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow'" Shuichi repeated.
"Blue to golden? Found anew, tomorrow...?" Naota pondered over what the message truly meant. 'Blue to golden? Blue...blue...what's blue? Truthfully the only thing that blue reminds me are the blue eyes of Yasu...wait...missing member!' Naota eyes widen at the result and she gasped.
"What? What is it?" Yusuke asked, noticing her reaction.
"Yasu..." Naota whispered.
"Yea we already told you he's probably ok, sheesh, you worry too much." Yusuke said.
"No, it's Yasu! A missing member found anew! Yasu hasn't been around us since we started this tournament He's only been here and there but has never stayed for long." Naota deduced.
"So? What's that got to do with anything? If he's a traitor then that's probably it." Yusuke said and Naota's faced dropped.
"Hey, hey, look I didn't mean to make you sad. He's just, you know?" Yusuke gave a weak laugh. "He just looks weird, that pale skin, black hair and blue eyes-" Yusuke stopped and thought about something. 'Blue to golden...why does that sound familiar?' Yusuke thought.
he found his eyes changing from blue to golden again.
Yusuke gritted his teeth and yelled.
"Woah! What's gotten into you?" Kuwabara said.
"Kiyoshi, when I first met him his eyes changed. They were blue and they changed to gold...You don't think..." Yusuke started.
"Kiyoshi is Yasu." Shuichi finished. All of them felt their spirits wavered, but Naota felt her heart sank.
"...No, that can't be true..." Naota whispered.
"It makes sense. As soon as Kiyoshi appeared, Yasu has disappeared from our contact altogether and although Yasu has been undercover for more than a year, he has not divulged any new information. But why? What is his goal?" Shuichi wondered.
"A revival, that's what he said." Kuwabara said.
"We already know he wants to revive Akuma, that's why we're all here." Yusuke said.
"No, if he wanted to revive Akuma, he would have kidnapped us or like Chu explained, drained our energy to use it..." Shuichi wondered.
"A long time ago, when the kekkai barrier between the human and demon world was still not in effect, I met a human priestess and she touched my heart. Although she was enamored with someone else, I still stayed by her side. When the three worlds war happened she lived but her side lost. She wanted to make his dream come true, and in order to do that she had to live past her years. So as she gave birth to their child, I split her soul into two. One I would take care of and the other would be passed down through her bloodline. Naota is part of her bloodline, the last one."
Shuichi finally realized who he wanted to revive and looked at the crestfallen face of Naota. He realized that she was taking this betrayal hard, she was practically raised by Yasu, to face his betrayal hurt her immensely. So instead of revealing Yasu's true plan, he instead kept it to himself. 'No, I will face Yasu myself.' Shuichi thought.
"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Naota. I think we should let this matter rest, the battles are later today and we should at least get some rest before." Shuichi said.
"Yea, all this thinking is making my head hurt." Yusuke said, crossing his arms behind his head. He started to walk back to his room. Kuwabara complaining right behind him on not being able to sleep because of this. Shuichi looked tenderly to Naota and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Yasu will have an explanation for everything, right now you need your rest." Shuichi said. Naota looked at him for a second before sulking off to her room as well.
'Yasu, you will give me the answers for the questions I have, or so be it I will end your life without a second thought. It all begins, in battle.' Shuichi thought.
0000
"And without further a due let the semi finals begin! Today we have an exciting 3 matches, Hiei vs Tanya, Kurama vs Kiyoshi and finally Naota vs Satoru. Mind you all three of these battle will begin simultaneously so make sure to keep track of the fights!" Koto explained from her podium.
Chu watches on as the fighters went to their places. He couldn't shake off a nagging feeling that something wasn't right, but of what he couldn't place it.
"There you are Chu, I thought you'd be out here watching the fights." Touya said, walking up beside him.
"You know you're supposed to be resting now Touya." Chu said.
"I can't sleep, not when I know Naota is out there. Do you think she'll be able to fight?" Touya.
"Fight she will, win? Even I'm not sure." Chu said. "But I don't think any of these fights will end."
"What do you mean?" Touya said.
"I've got a sinking feeling in my stomach, something is not right." Chu said.
"You feel it too huh Chu?" Yusuke said.
"Hey! Urameshi! Haven't seen your face in a long time!" Chu said, wrapping his arm around Yusuke and rubbing his fist in his hair.
"Get off of me!" Yusuke laughed. "But seriously, you feel like something bad is coming right?"
"Yea, this feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me something is gonna happen." Chu elaborated.
"Glad to see I'm not the only one. Let's just hope nothing will happen." Yusuke said.
On the platform, Hiei gave a lazy stare at Tanya, her slitted eyes regarding him with caution.
"I don't know what your organization are planning, but whatever it is, know that I will kill you all for trying to assassinate Mukuro." Hiei said.
"Of course. If I could, I would take responsibility but unfortunately, things will not end the way you want them to Hiei." Tanya said.
"You are a fool to be leashed down to a leader that's not even stronger than you. Surprised? From the look in your eyes I suppose you are. You'd think I wouldn't notice? You are the dragon princess, the last of a rare species of demons. Why do you follow these extremists when you yourself can lead." Hiei asked.
"When the one you love asks you for a favor, do you not help them? That is all the reason I will give for my decisions."
'For when the time comes, this battle will end, quickly.' Tanya thought.
On the platform on their right side Satoru and Naota circle each other. Naota stared at him warily, wondering if she is strong enough to battle him. Satoru stopped and looked at her so dearly that it took her back. His hands reached behind his head and he took off the mask. If he was a normal human, Naota would have found him attractive.
"What's your deal? Why unmask yourself now?" Naota asked.
"Because I'm going to need power, and this restricts it." Satoru said, tossing his mask away. 'I am ready Kiyoshi, things will end.'
Finally on the third platform, Shuichi and Kiyoshi stand in a clearing, surround by the trees. Kiyoshi looked at Shuichi expectantly and Shuichi sighed.
"I know who you are, Yasu." Shuichi finally said. Kiyoshi chuckled.
"I knew you would figure it out. I'm surprised you didn't come to this conclusion sooner." Kiyoshi said.
"I have been...preoccupied." Shuichi said.
"Depressed more like it, how was it? Rejecting Naota? Oh don't put that face on Shuichi, it's easy to see how your choice is breaking both you and her." Kiyoshi said.
"I don't think that's the reason why we are talking. So, this is the result of all your planning. A revival,but it's not Akuma, it's the one you love." Shuichi said.
"Yes...I would have revived her earlier, but then you had to get in the way. If it wasn't for you, I would have succeeded." Kiyoshi said.
"But why? Why go through all this trouble for her? Why wait so many years to revive her?" Shuichi said.
"Because I am under a Blood Oath. I cannot break the vow I made to her. A long time ago she made me promise to resurrect her, I am only following my master's orders." Yasu said.
"That is not what you said to me a few years back, you wanted to see her or has that changed?" Shuichi said. Yasu opened his mouth but shut it again. He looked sad, his face fell and he let out a heavy sigh.
"Truthfully, yes things have changed. I have mixed feelings about my master now. Things...are not what they used to be." Yasu explained.
"Then why the deception? Why tell us about Akuma? About the location? Why raise this army?" Shuichi asked.
"Because whether I like it or not my master will resurrect Akuma, that's why we need to be prepared, why I gathered you all here, so you can defeat him. This army is a sham, I needed to be recognized as a threat so you all will do everything in your power to stop it. If not, then there will be no one to defeat Akuma. This is all I could have done." Kiyoshi explained. "But I am still under oath."
Satoru leaped towards Naota, raising his hand to touch her face.
"I have no choice."
They disappeared from their platform.
"She must live."
Naota landed roughly on her face. She coughed and spit out the little dirt that made her way into her mouth. She found herself surrounded by trees. She got up and dusted herself off and tried to clear her face from dirt. 'Where am I?' Naota thought. 'Where the hell is Satoru?' She started to walk aimlessly, hoping to find at least a path.
Shuichi clenched his fist, understanding that a blood oath cannot be broken or else it will cause the user's death. Even so, Shuichi wished there was some other way. It was then that Satoru leaped into the clearing, standing beside Kiyoshi.
"What is this?" Shuichi wondered.
"Do not worry, we will not attack you together. I needed him in order to complete my plan. Haven't you wondered Kurama how I brought all of this together? How I was able to bring the army together and still be with Naota?" Kiyoshi asked.
"No, I have not wondered." Shuichi said.
"There was too much to accomplish, so I had to split my own soul." Kiyoshi said. At that moment Satoru's figure shined and dissolved into half a sphere, glowing radiantly. Kiyoshi took that half and absorbed it into his chest. Shuichi felt an enormous pressure coming from Kiyoshi.
"So...this is your true power?" Shuichi said, flinching underneath it.
"Yes, even more so since this is my original body. I am now complete. You feel paralyzed, don't you Shuichi? You can't even move. Now is the time, this must end." Kiyoshi said. He peeled off his gloves and raised his hand. He bathed it in his energy and started towards Shuichi. He couldn't move, whether it was from his energy or something completely different, he was rooted to the spot.
Naota heard voices and started her way towards them.
And so.
She felt an enormous pressure of energy and started to run towards it.
Kiyoshi charged.
She moved past the shrubs and saw Kiyoshi running towards Shuichi.
And embedded his hand in Shuichi's chest. It was a swift kill, almost painless as well. Shuichi couldn't feel anything. As he fell, he looked over and his eyes widened.
'Naota.' Shuichi mouthed. The life in her eyes disappeared as his eyes closed in the welcoming embrace of death. His body hit the floor hard, Kiyoshi's hand covered with blood. He looked at her with his golden eyes and waited.
Naota felt darkness over her eyes, and felt the fairy cover them.
'Such sadness covers your heart, your love has died. You do not want to face this world anymore.'
Naota felt herself receding into her embrace.
'I have a way, come inside where no one will take your memories of him. Embrace the darkness, and I will live this life in your stead.'
And so Naota shut her eyes to the cold, hard truth.
And let herself sink into the dark recess of her mind.
And so Shuichi has fallen, but what of Naota? And who is this fairy that is now awakening? Will her revival bring Akuma and total destruction? But what of Yusuke and his friends? Find out next time on Someone I can Love!