Disclaimer: It should be obvious I didn't create Yu Yu Hakusho; these things are stupid.
Chapter III: A Matter of Not Losing Heart
"Botan?" he called to her, starring to the skies above.
"Yes Yusuke?" She sat next to him, leaning against the wall.
"Nothing," he sighed.
"You're scared aren't you? You can tell me-" she tried, only to stop due to the expression on his face.
"Y'know somethin'? I am," His head fell back, eyes shutting.
"That's a very brave thing of you to say," She snuggled up next to him.
"I simply do not understand their relationship," I suspired, crossing my arms.
"Mm? It should be obvious at this point," Murugu intervened.
"Do explain."
"Love for him is no different than a candle. Keiko was his flame, and a strong wind extinguished her, therefrom allowing a new spark to carry in and relight the wick," Her tone swayed me, soothing my ignorance.
"In love with a ferry girl? My, my." I sat atop the grass, likely appearing aloof to my surroundings.
Stepping over an alter of my construction, I placed a lock of Byakko's fur on the centerfold. Reaching to the cosmos, I allowed lightning to strike my fingertips. My demonic energy molded the shape of the static, forcing it to align with two large veins in my forearm. A brief chant and the plasma fired into the lock. Much like Murugu's own revival, the white tiger took form through solid lineation. Words of malice and snarls of anger, nothing of value to me. Repeating the process, Seriyu and Genbu resurrected, baring no pleasant formalities.
Shrugging them all with a minuscule—but sound—exposition, I left them to train; their haughtiness shattered, leaving the formidable hubris each of them so heavily carried to die. Training would do them well—intensively with one another of course.
"Why do you choose to isolate yourself from them?" she questioned, her conscious fading.
"I cannot come to respect such demons anymore," I closed my eyes.
"You believe their ways to be primitive now," she stated, as if reading my mind.
Scooting closer, I wrapped my cloak around her. The night's breeze was beginning to frost her skin, as well as visualize our breaths. Cutting off the howling wind I whispered, "You and I are different, can't you see? We have evolved past their ways, and in the process found something they would never come to understand. Only the fear of domination and power keeps their alliance, nothing more."
"Do you understand it?" She snuggled into me.
"I am only just beginning," I inverted my lips to moisten them.
"How do I make you feel?" Her voice softened into nix.
"Different," I chortled quietly.
After a moment of silence she replied in almost a slur, "Oh."
"Come now, you should know that difference is far more than I let on," I protested, rubbing her shoulder.
"Then why let on at all?" Her tone slouched.
"If you're truly bothered by my gaiety, then I apologize," I said, kissing her cheek.
"I bring you merriment," she stated as her cheeks began to flush.
"Is something wrong?" I coddled her.
"The feeling of knowing you care—that I make you happy—makes my heart flutter." She nuzzled herself against me.
Rain drizzled and then poured. Several steel platelets shielded our bodies from the winds that blew in delayed intervals. Warmth circulated around us through our demonic auras, thereby melding together—dancing in subatomic bliss. Thunder softly exploded in the distance—a quaint reminder of home, lulling Murugu to sleep.
Vulnerability etched itself across her face; she was in my possession. It was thereof that in reality itself, I was instilled with the responsibility of looking over my dearest; ensuring her survival, as her life was in my hands, hands that had never ere striven to protect another. One fumble of my fingers and she would be gone. Fragility. Fragility that's comparable to a magnificently thin layer of glass. Any single person held the ability to shatter her, taking her away from my hands, but only if, only if... they were able to rip me away from my responsibility of protecting thy fair maiden. No, that unclothed no possibility whatsoever of occurring. A demon with the intention of harming her hath only one fate; the fate of incineration—its flesh burning as mangled screams of faint vocals exasperate from its throat. No individual would come to lay theirs hands upon Murugu, and I would make sure of that through my own training. That was my reason for power, that was Yusuke's reason for power, that was the unbeknownst shared compassion between demons and humans.
For a moment my thoughts bounced back to reality, listening in on Yusuke's conversation. In the pouring rain he still stood with her, seemingly callous to the environment about him.
"I don't want you to get sick." Her voice echoed.
"That ain't somethin' I'm too worried about," he said with a sniffle.
"And why's that?" she asked him, her voice barely managing through the downpour.
"Because I know that whatever happens to me, I'll always be in good hands with you, Botan." His words came as an astonishment, likely awe-striking her considering the hardly audible sounds emitting from her vocals.
"Sometimes it's really hard containing all the joy you bring me, really it is," she verbalized something of a laugh.
"Yeah, about that..." His voice sulked, fading away at the final syllable.
"What? What is it?" Her voice heightened.
"Look, I don't want to hurt Keiko or anything," he said, his sounds noticeably lower in volume than afore.
"I understand; I knew it was too good to be true," she stated, her tone simmering with apathy and perhaps regret.
"Let me finish. I think it'd be best if we let everyone know. About us."
"You mean, you'd be willing to sacrifice your relationship with Keiko, and perhaps even the respect of your- our friends, just for me?" she inquired, the tempo in her prose racing.
"Yeah, of course," he said, pausing for a moment. "Botan, you make me feel a way I can't really explain. Not even Keiko's been able to make me act this way," he informed her, coughing.
"Could you try and do your best please?" she spoke below the pounding of raindrops.
"Well... it's like this feeling I get in the pit of my stomach; it's like butterflies." He began. "But when I see your face, there's an overwhelming desire to..." his voice parted away.
"Desire to do what, Yusuke?" Her timbre beginning to clog.
"To kiss you," he whispered under the rain.
That's all there was to it. Their conversation ended, and it wasn't long until their auras dissipated into the darkness. Humans may have many shared emotions with demons, but their selfish inconsistencies prove to be a fatal flaw So many demons repress any such mutual characteristics, as I had, perchance in fear to the nonuniformities. Then there was the ferry girl. She wooed him, of all possible mates. A human dating Death, how inconceivable. Bedlam was sure to break out the moment the news got out. How would she handle it? Was she guilty of the same defects as humans? If not, he chose wisely in his selection. If so, I severely overestimated the boy.
Days became weeks, weeks became months, and thenceforth judgment day was at hand. Gloomy clouds rumbled overhead, as if holding some form of consciousness and precognition to the events ahead. Thousands of demons gathered from all directions, with the strongest checking into a hotel for registered participants. In just a day they would know, they would all know, they would fall to their knees and beg for mercy.
Early in the morning I signed our names to the registration comity, leaving the majority of the day to either lounge or indulge upon espionage. For very obvious reasons neither Byakko nor Genbu were able to reside within the hotel, leaving Murugu, Seriyu and I to scope out the competition. However, that was not to say Genbu could not serve a purpose. Given his ability to traverse through solid rock, gathering intelligence about the tournament's proprietors would be a task well within his qualifications. Each of the demons in the lobby glared at every opportunity, and I could not be sure on the exact reason why, but fear was definitely a motivator. Regardless, their unease was too apparent. Fear or confusion, both grasped whereon mayhap hold equal plausibility. Inly through their disgruntled faces, not one appeared to be of Yusuke or his camaraderie. Running late to hither, or dead already; howbeit odds would likely reside on the former.
"Suzaku, I really don't like the way these cretins are staring at me," Murugu whispered into my ear.
"Hmph. They're all scum, nigh the foulest fodder of Demon World's pits." I reassured her.
"Hey! Who're you calling scum!?" a child screeched to us.
Kicking my heel back to the wall, I shifted my weight away to the centerfold space, approaching the boy. "Have you any manners, child?" I loomed over him, yielding not to the deafening silence that had blanketed the room.
"Rinku," a blond haired demon called from across the area, "Don't bother with him, we have more important matters to attend to."
"Eh, I guess so," the child sighed, running off towards the lobby's front doors.
"Petty trash," Seriyu spoke from under his breath, hands behind his back as he eyed out the blond demon.
"Look Zeru! Another team just showed up!" the boy shouted, pointing at a group approaching the building.
"Well it's about time, I was beginning to think we weren't going to meet the infamous Spirit Detective after all." He uncrossed his arms, turning to the door.
"This time, I will not underestimate that traitorous toadstool Hiei." Seriyu followed in suit, everyone eagerly awaiting their entry.