Part Three
Chapter Twenty-Seven
This is supposed to be a fucking comedy.
Right Here
Someone was screaming. It was a low, angry, desperate, visceral sound. Kusuo didn't care who it was; his strength had given out the moment Homura had vanished. His numb, trembling legs went out at the knees, dropping him unceremoniously, and he'd fisted his fingers into the legs of his khakis. He couldn't think, couldn't move, he couldn't even breathe. Yuuta was gone, and it was his fault. He should have known something would happen, should have prepared for it, but the threat had been so distant, so abstract, so surreal. A large part of him hadn't believed there was a threat at all. But now, now…
Kusuo's lungs burned, and his vision blurred from lack of air and probably shock, and all throughout, that low scream continued.
Is that me?
"—uo-kun!"
Who was that? Small but strong hands took a firm grip on his shoulders and shook hard enough to rattle his vision.
"Kusuo-kun!"
Teruhashi?
"Kusuo!" A sharp sting whipped across his face, and the screaming stopped with a gasp. Teruhashi's face appeared from the vaguely colored blur the world had melded into, but even faintly smudged, she looked terrified. Her face was pallid, and dark bruises had begun forming beneath her eyes from worry. Her hair was a disheveled mess, and she had smears of blood on her arms, face, and across the chest of her dress. That shocked him more than the slap.
What the hell happened?!
"Teruhashi!" Kusuo grabbed her wrists and pulled her close to look her over. He didn't see any cuts or tears in her clothing. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Teruhashi blinked, bewildered. "N-nothing! I'm fine, I just…I'm so sorry I hit you, but…" Tears glazed her indigo eyes. "Y-you were screaming…"
"Forget it." Kusuo really couldn't have cared less as he looked her over again, determining for sure that the blood wasn't hers. That she was fine. Relief hit him hard, but with that relief came realization.
Yuuta…
"Fuck…"
"K-Kusuo-kun?"
"Fuck!" He clutched Teruhashi's hands, his head bowed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Kusuo!"
He ignored Teruhashi's scandalized tone and gritted his teeth. He lost Yuuta! He lost him! The boy was probably terrified and traumatized and calling for him as if Kusuo could actually do a damn thing to save him!
Save him? I don't even know how to find him!
"Kusuo-kun!" Teruhashi was shaking him. "Kusuo! Please don't make me slap you again." Her voice was raw and nasally from tears. "We have to get out of here before she comes back!"
…Comes back?
His head snapped up, and he stared at her with wide eyes. "She's coming back?"
"As soon as she realizes what happened, she will." Understanding flashed across Teruhashi's face, and she grasped his cheeks with both hands. "Yuu-chan is fine! You saved him."
Kusuo winced. Did she really believe in him so much that she couldn't fathom the fact that he'd failed so horrendously? Had she somehow missed Yuuta being disappeared by that insane, murderous schoolgirl?
Teruhashi tugged on his face, nearly pulling Kusuo off balance, and his eyes snapped toward hers on instinct.
"Yuu-chan is fine, Kusuo. But he won't be if we don't leave right now. No!" She cut him off before he could even open his mouth. "I'll explain later, but Brother needs a hospital and probably that little girl too; Matsuzaki-sensei's niece. Except he's not actually Matsuzaki-sensei, but…" She shook her head and took his hands, pulling him as hard as she could. "We need to go."
Unable to understand, comprehend, recognize, register what she was saying, Kusuo let Teruhashi pull him to his feet. His legs shook beneath him, nearly dragging them both back down when his knees gave out. Teruhashi grunted as she braced him up, then slipped under his arm and wrapped hers around his back to support him. Together, they ambled backstage, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous room, and Kusuo suddenly realized everyone must have made it outside while he was fighting. Strangely, no one else had arrived in the interim; no police, no curious onlookers, not even park security.
Vague memories of active shooter training nudged at Kusuo's brain. Was this even considered an active shooter situation anymore or was it a hostage situation? Or maybe both?
Yare, yare. I can't think.
He had never been so exhausted in his life.
"I met with Matsuzaki-sensei when I tried to pull Brother off the stage. He's not dead, but he's bleeding badly, and he looks so pale, and I was so scared." Her voice broke a little as she spoke, but she kept on talking like she hadn't even noticed. "And of course he's so much stronger than me that he was able to pick Brother up and carry him backstage. He had me put pressure on the bullet wound so it would stop bleeding, but the bullet got stuck inside so he'll probably n-need s-s-surgery."
Kusuo really didn't care about Teruhashi Makoto, but he was too tired to say so, and there was some distant part of his brain that told him that saying anything to that effect would be a terrible idea anyway. Instead, he grunted a vague assent. Maybe he could use Makoto as an excuse to shake Teruhashi off and stumble back onstage. If Akemi Homura was going to return, Kusuo would be damned if he wasn't there to meet her. He would get Yuuta back if it killed him—
"Aniki!" A small, human bullet slammed into Kusuo's stomach and knocked him and Teruhashi both off balance. Too exhausted to brace himself, never mind Teruhashi, all three collapsed to the backstage floor.
"Ow, ow, ow," Teruhashi said, pushing herself up and rubbing her elbow. "Are you okay Kusuo?" She frowned. "Yuu-chan, you're not supposed to jump at people. We've told you that."
"Sorry!" Yuuta said, his voice muffled in Kusuo's stomach. "I didn't mean to!"
Kusuo was numb. He had literally no thoughts. How could he have thoughts? Everything he'd thought over his entire life had been entirely wrong in one way or the other. Kusuo wasn't randomly a psychic; there really was an explanation for that. Kusuo hadn't been the most powerful being on Earth; not even close. His powers weren't a horrible burden; they'd actually been saving him and his friends. Teruhashi wasn't an empty-calorie pretty girl; she was a real, complex person. Yuuta wasn't spirited away; he was right here.
He's right here? Kusuo started and looked down at the boy's green hair. How?
"Where's my brother and the twins, Yuu-chan?"
"They went back there." Yuuta extracted himself from Kusuo just enough to point further backstage toward what looked like a line of dressing rooms. "Yuuko-chan said she's gotta call her daddy."
"Well, don't you all look like shit."
The voice sent a shock through Kusuo from head to toe, and he jolted upright as that shock sharpened to an instinctual panic. Something heavy, oppressively so, had filled the stage as if it were an aquarium suddenly filled to the brim with freezing water. Kusuo wrapped Teruhashi and Yuuta into his arms and twisted as best he could to shield them as he glared up at this new enemy.
Urameshi Yusuke stood motionless a meter away dressed in a pair of jeans, white sneakers, and a red tank top. Black marks, almost like tribal tattoos, decorated his shoulders, collarbone, and forearms as wisps of energy wafted off his bare skin like evaporating blood. A minute tremor went through Kusuo's whole body as he stared up at the man. Gone was his congenial attitude and schoolboy grin. This was a man possessed by something dark. Something evil.
This man was a demon.
"Yuuko told me you saved her and Rei," Urameshi said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Looks like you're not completely worthless." He looked Kusuo over with a critical eye before looking away again with a scoff. "Not like I have any room to talk. That Amamiya punk caught me off guard; I didn't realize I'd gotten so rusty these last few years. Good thing the Demon World Tournament is coming up soon."
Kusuo said nothing; he couldn't even if he tried. The air was so stifling, he could barely breathe, and going by the light, choking gags from Teruhashi and Yuuta, he wasn't the only one. He cut a glare at Urameshi and rubbed a hand over Yuuta's chest to try and stimulate his lungs. Urameshi blinked down at them.
"Oh, right." The red energy radiating from him died down, taking the tattoos and suffocating atmosphere with it. Teruhashi gasped and fell forward, clutching the chest of her bloodied dress with both hands.
"Sorry about that, kiddies. But there's no time to catch your breath. We need to get the hell out of here and regroup. This whole circus has gotten way out of hand."
"Yusuke, you jerk! Look what you did to that poor girl!"
He turned at the woman's voice, his teeth gritted. "Damn it, Keiko! I told you to stay with the twins!"
"Oh, shut up. Just because we're married doesn't mean you own me." The woman was shorter than Urameshi by a good 15-cm with long chestnut hair and warm brown eyes the same shade as the twins'. She knelt in front of Kusuo, who still had his arms around Yuuta and Teruhashi. Yuuta had recovered remarkably quickly from Urameshi's oppressive aura, but Teruhashi was still choking and coughing between ragged gasps.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" The woman—Urameshi Keiko?—reached for Teruhashi, but Kusuo jerked her back. Keiko blinked at him, surprised, before a soft smile tugged at her lips. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt her. I have medicine to help her breathe."
Keiko held out a jar of some sort of paste with a strong menthol scent. "Yusuke forgets that normal people aren't able to handle him at even half strength anymore. This will help her, I promise."
Kusuo hesitated but shifted his arm from around Teruhashi's shoulders to around her waist, giving Keiko access to her patient. Keiko quirked an amused eyebrow but didn't say anything as she reached for Teruhashi and started unbuttoning her dress. Blushing, Kusuo looked down at Yuuta, still unable to believe the boy was there.
"Did you contact Kuwabara?" Keiko asked as she dug into the jar, and the menthol smell intensified. She smeared the concoction on Teruhashi's bra-covered chest, and Kusuo had to jerk his eyes away again when he realized he was watching.
"And Botan," Yusuke said. "He'll pop into Reikai to grab her first so she can deal with the girl's brother."
A golden light cut through the air with the sound of a Star Wars lightsaber. Kusuo jumped at the noise before relaxing; it was the same noise Natsuko's naginata had made.
The air split, revealing what looked like a corporate office on steroids—the place was huge—before Kuwabara's tall, broad frame filled the space. He stepped through and reached back for the woman behind him. She slipped her pale, delicate hand into his larger calloused one and stepped onto the stage. The second she was free, the glowing fissure closed and both Kuwabara and the girl's silhouettes lighted properly. Kuwabara looked the same except for his clothes—jeans and a black t-shirt—but the girl was unexpected. She had cotton-candy blue hair and amethyst eyes that seemed to shine with their own inner light.
"Hello, Yusuke, Keiko." The blunette girl, who didn't look much older than Kusuo himself, saluted the Urameshi's. "Where's the patient?"
Keiko pointed further backstage. "With the twins. Do what you can, but we're all heading back to the temple as soon as I'm done here."
"Right." With a two fingered salute, the blunette disappeared down the hall to peek her head through the door of each room until she found the one Makoto was in. As in, she literally stuck her head through the doors. Kusuo gaped. He would never get used to the utter weirdness that had invaded his supposed-to-be ordinary life.
"Looks like you got your ass handed to you, Saiki," Kuwabara said as he stepped up beside Kusuo and looked down on the huddled trio. Kusuo glared at the man and shifted just enough to take Teruhashi's mostly naked chest out of the old punk's line of sight. Kuwabara snorted.
"As if, kid. I've got my darling Yukina. I would never dishonor her, and especially not over a little girl."
Kusuo scowled at the 'little girl' comment only because Teruhashi was older than him. By just ten days, but still. If Teruhashi was considered a little girl by these people, then did they also see him as a 'little boy'?
But then, considering how spectacularly he had failed today, did he really have the right to complain?
"There you go, sweetie," Keiko said as she sat back on her heels and capped the cream jar. Teruhashi was certainly breathing easier now, and she sighed with relief as she buttoned up her dress.
"Thank you, but…um…" Teruhashi looked around, her wary eyes falling on Urameshi and Kuwabara. "Who exactly are you people?"
Oh, right. She's never met them.
"The name's Kuwabara Kazuma, little lady." Kuwabara grinned and jerked a thumb at his face. "I'm Natsuko's father."
Teruhashi blinked, and Kusuo didn't need telepathy to read her thoughts. And neither, apparently, did Kuwabara. The older man shrugged, unperturbed by Teruhashi's unspoken incredulity.
"Natsu may get her coloring from me, but she's her mother's daughter through and through."
Teruhashi blushed. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you think…that is…You're a handsome man, but she's just so…"
Kuwabara threw his head back and laughed. "You hear that Urameshi? I'm a handsome man!"
Urameshi snorted. "Well, there's no accounting for taste."
"Oh, knock it off you two." Keiko stood and brushed off her burgundy pants. "My name is Urameshi Keiko, and that idiot over there is my husband Yusuke. I'm sorry again for the pain he caused you. He never learned to think before he acts."
"Hey, you guys," the blunette called as she stuck her head and shoulders through the closed door of the room Makoto and the twins were holed up in. "I've stopped the bleeding and started treating him for shock, but the bullet is lodged in his collar bone. We need to get him to Kurama-kun before an infection sets in."
"Well," Kuwabara said, rolling his shoulders and popping his knuckles. "I guess that's my cue."
"Hold off a minute." Yusuke waved a stalling hand and jogged for the back room. "I'll grab the kids and that guy."
"Here." Keiko offered Teruhashi a hand up, and she took it after a quick glance at Kusuo. He nodded faintly. Despite everything that had happened, he felt he could trust these people. At least for now.
"Aniki?" Yuuta tugged on Kusuo's collar, his eyes still a bit teary. "Are we going home now?"
"Soon, Yuuta," Kusuo returned. "We have to make a stop first. I'll call your parents when we get there."
Seemingly pacified, Yuuta nodded and snuggled into Kusuo's chest. Kusuo didn't hesitate to cradle the boy close with both hands, and it seemed Teruhashi felt similarly because she stepped close and rubbed a hand over the boy's small back. Her eyes caught Kusuo's over Yuuta's head, and she offered him a shaky smile.
"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."
"Yeah."
Teruhashi's left hand rose to cover Kusuo's as her right continued to rub soothing circles across Yuuta's back. "Thank you, Kusuo-kun. You saved him. You saved everyone."
Kusuo scowled and jerked his hand away. "I didn't save anyone. That bitch was toying with me the whole time."
"Stop that." Teruhashi popped Kusuo's shoulder just hard enough to sting. "You did everything you could, Kusuo-kun. Don't even try to tell me you didn't. And even if Yuuta had been taken—which he wasn't—I don't doubt for a second you would do everything in your power to get him back."
Frowning, Kusuo looked down at her. How could she have so much faith in him? And why? He'd spent the last six years lying to her, keeping her at arm's length and beyond, playing with her heart and head, and yet she still believed him to be the very best of men. There was not even a hint of doubt in her expression, her body language, her tone of voice. She honestly believed everything she said, and Kusuo couldn't for the life of him understand why.
"You called me Kusuo before."
Teruhashi met his gaze squarely, challengingly. "You called me Kokomi before."
Kusuo's eyebrows shot up. Did I really?
"If you kids are done flirting," Kuwabara said, startling the two apart as they turned to face him, "we're all set over here."
"Yare, yare," Kusuo said before motioning Teruhashi toward the gathering at the center of the backstage. "Stay close, Teruhashi. You don't want to get caught halfway through the portal when it closes."
Teruhashi blinked. "What?"
A gold energy sword ignited in Kuwabara's fist, humming and buzzing as he lifted it for a diagonal slash.
"SAIKI KUSUO!" The shriek echoed through the entire amphitheater and chilled Kusuo down to his bones.
"Well, shit," Urameshi said. "Time's up, kiddies."
Kuwabara slashed the air and opened a hole in space directly to the temple compound. "Everyone through!"
Urameshi ushered his daughters and wife through first before following quickly with Makoto draped across his back. Kusuo nudged Teruhashi forward with his elbow, but she barely shifted as she stared at the hole in the air with shock and a bit of terror. She clearly hadn't seen the portal Kuwabara had arrived through, or at least hadn't registered what exactly it was.
"No dawdling, dear," the blunette said as she grabbed Teruhashi's hand and dragged her through the hole. "We really don't want to get caught up on this side. That girl may be small, but Koenma-sama says she not someone to take lightly."
"You next, Saiki," Kuwabara said, but Kusuo was already stepping through the portal.
A loud crack echoed across the stage, and Kusuo braced himself around Yuuta, praying the bullet wouldn't go straight through him and into the child. But no pain came. Instead, Kuwabara grunted and shoved Kusuo hard from behind.
"Get out of here, you idiot!"
Kusuo tripped on the golden gash and tumbled through. He hit the paved courtyard hard and rolled to protect Yuuta from the shock of the fall. Coming to a stop on his back, Kusuo turned onto his side just in time to see the portal collapse into a thin black line before disappearing entirely.
Leaving Kuwabara on the other side with Akemi Homura.
