Part Three


Chapter Thirty-Four

Pandemonium.


Kokomi's Territory

Urameshi jumped onto the table to reach his friend while everyone else shouted questions and orders and just general hysterical non-sense. Kusuo pressed Yuuta's face against his side, shielding him from the splashes of blood puddling on the table and contaminating the food. Beside him, Kokomi whimpered, but she rallied spectacularly by jumping onto the table.

She opened her territory.

The difference was stark. Kokomi was naturally beautiful, even with her territory closed, but feeling her territory open was powerful enough to stagger even Kusuo. She flared the intensity, glowing like a lighthouse on a stormy coastline. The room went instantly silent as scrambling, screaming bodies froze in place to stare at Kokomi's luminescent form.

"Calm down," Kokomi said with a gentle smile, her territory so intense, those caught in it couldn't even breathe. "Kuwabara-san is obviously very injured, and you screaming at him won't help."

Silence followed her pronouncement. No one moved a muscle until her territory wavered, and Kokomi wavered with it. Kusuo felt the downward drop of her psychic energy—almost as if her blood-sugar had plummeted—and was on his feet with his arms open in time to catch her as she listed backward in the most beautiful faint Kusuo had ever witnessed.

Her territory was still open, and maxed out as it was, it was leeching power from her like water through sieve.

"Shit! Kokomi!" Kusuo shook her. If she didn't wake up long enough to close her territory, she would drain her energy dry! "Kokomi!"

"Aniki!" Yuuta wailed, tears pouring down his chubby cheeks. "Is she dead? Is Ane-chan dead? Anikiii!"

"She's not dead, Yuuta!" You're not allowed to die, dammit!

"Saiki-san," Natsuko's soft voice at his elbow made Kusuo jump. He hadn't sensed her coming. She grabbed his sleeve and tugged him around. Her right hand was held out and glowing with a brilliant gold energy. "Let me."

She pressed her glowing palm against Kokomi's forehead, and the oppressive pressure vanished as Natsuko slammed Kokomi's territory closed. A collective gasp went through the room as those not immune—and even they, if Kusuo's own experience was anything to go by—coughed and wheezed as they regained control of their lungs.

Out of everyone, Urameshi and Koenma were the only one who seemed entirely unaffected. Koenma had a pale amber glow around his body as he knelt on the table by Urameshi, whose whole body was now covered in black tribal tattoos that ran from his forehead and down his shirt all the way to the backs of his hands and the tops of his feet. He was also glowing a faint red as the two men worked first-aid on Kuwabara and the blue-haired man he had dragged through the portal with him.

"Shit! Botan! Yukina!" Urameshi called, waving them onto the table with one bloody hand. "He's hemorrhaging!"

The two women leapt into action, Yukina's pale, fragile expression shifting to something hard and determined.

"Natsuko; Nadeshiko," she said, and her daughter and recovering niece snapped to attention, Nadeshiko with a weak cough. "We need Kurama-san. Now."

Natsuko moved away from Kusuo and Kokomi and held out her hand to Yamato. The two grasped hands and closed their eyes—though the action was redundant in Natsuko's case.

"Saiki-san," Keiko said from behind Kusuo's shoulder. He jumped at her unexpected voice and jerked around to face her. She had the youngest children gathered around her—the long-haired Urameshi twin, Yuuko, and Yukina's son Yukito were both sobbing and clutching hands. Reiko, the short-haired twin, had a wobbly lip, but she wasn't crying as she held Yuuta's left hand tightly in her right.

Kusuo nodded at Keiko—it was obvious what she was planning to say—and lifted Kokomi into his arms.

"Hairo," Kusuo called. Of all this friends, Hairo was the only one mostly unaffected by Kokomi's Pretty Girl Strike™.

"Yeah, Kusuo?"

Kusuo jerked his chin toward the chaos on the table as Botan and Yukina worked to save Kuwabara's life. "Keep me posted on that. I need to take care of this."

"Th-this?!" Toritsuka screeched, his eyes still slightly glazed as he rubbed a line of drool from his lips with the back of his fist. "Don't call the beauteously angelic Teruhashi-sama something so crass as 'this,' you bastard!"

"Shut up, moron." Kusuo shifted his grip on Kokomi and strode from the makeshift dining room with Keiko herding distraught children behind him.

Yuuta clung to Kusuo's pants with the hand not holding Reiko's, still sobbing softly but with no way to wipe his tears. They reached Kusuo's set of rooms first, and Keiko hurried forward to open the door since Kusuo had his hands full. She looked between Kusuo and Yuuta with an expression of saddened compassion.

"Would you like me to watch over Yuuta-kun, Saiki-san?"

Instead of answer her, Kusuo shifted Kokomi to a more comfortable position in his arms and looked down at Yuuta with a quirked eyebrow. "Yuuta, do you want to stay with me and Kokomi or go with your friends and Keiko-san?"

"Y-you and Ane-chan, Aniki," Yuuta said. He sniffled and looked back at Reiko, patting her hand. "Thank's Rei-Rei. I'm gonna stay here."

Reiko nodded and rubbed at her reddened eyes with one hand, still clinging to Yuuta with the others. "Ani-san is super brave, Yuu-chan. He'll protect you."

Yuuta's smile was shaky but sincere. "Yeah."

Forcing down the blush scorching his ears, Kusuo turned abruptly to lay Kokomi on their shared futon. Fortunately, she always folded it down before heading in for dinner, so he didn't have to worry about wrestling it open with Kokomi in his arms.

"Call if you need anything, Saiki-san," Keiko said. He glanced back at her and nodded his thanks. She sent him an encouraging smile before herding the children back into the hall and sliding the bedroom door closed.

Kusuo's shoulders slumped with a sigh. Kokomi's intensified territory had left him with a pounding headache, and he rubbed at his forehead with his fingers even as he tucked her in with his other hand. Yuuta, thank goodness, seemed unaffected by Teruhashi's display. It seemed that even if everyone else was drawn in—however much or little—children were still entirely immune.

Kneeling by the futon, Yuuta clutched Kokomi's hand, his face pale, with an expression of fearful hope. Kusuo had to detach Yuuta's grip twice as he changed Kokomi out of her miko robes and into a sleeping yukata. Yuuta didn't protest, but each time he took her hand back, he held onto it even tighter.

"Yuuta," Kusuo said, dropping a hand on the boy's bare head. "Kokomi will be fine."

Yuuta nodded vaguely, but he didn't look away from Kokomi's sleeping face or loosen his grip on her hand. Kusuo sighed but let the boy alone for the time being. Standing up from his aching knees, Kusuo pulled off his shirt to change into his own sleeping clothes.

What happens now? Kusuo wondered as he crossed to the corner sink to wash his sweaty face. It was good that Kuwabara was back—they would need as many available fighters as possible—but what did Akemi Homura mean when she said she had 'found them'? Yamato and Natsuko had insisted since the first day that the temple was untraceable from the outside, and even if it was somehow found, there were wards surrounding the entire compound that would keep anyone not expressly invited inside firmly on the outside.

But Akemi Homura didn't seem frustrated or angry when she spoke. If anything, her pronouncement that Yuuta wait for her sounded sincere. Firm. Knowing.

We're out of time, Kusuo thought, gritting his teeth as he scrubbed at his face with both hands. The cold water was a shock against his skin, but he relished it. There wouldn't be any sleep for him tonight.

"Aniki?"

Kusuo turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry his face. Scrubbing the water from his forehead he turned to Yuuta, head tilted in question, and said, "Yeah?"

"That…that mean lady is the one who took mommy and daddy away, isn't she?" Yuuta didn't look up as he spoke, keeping his focus entirely on Kokomi. "She's the reason they're dead."

A sharp pang lanced through Kusuo's heart, but he couldn't lie. Not about this. "Yes, Yuuta. She's the one responsible."

Kusuo expected the boy to start crying again, but he didn't. He just nodded once—as if he'd expected that all along—and clutched Kokomi's hand tighter.

"Is she gonna make you and Ane-chan disappear too, Aniki?"

"No," Kusuo said, his voice sharp and firm as he tossed his wet towel into the hamper beside the sink. He crossed to the bed and knelt beside Yuuta, resting a hand atop his messy green hair. "Kokomi and I aren't going anywhere. And we won't let you go anywhere either."

The fear and trust in Yuuta's eyes was so intense and deep as he looked up, that Kusuo almost wished the boy would cry. At least the tears would vail Yuuta's raw pain.

Unable to help himself, Kusuo reached out and wrapped his arms around Yuuta, drawing the boy against his bare chest. Yuuta didn't hesitate to fling his arms around Kusuo's neck, burying his face there as he regulated his quickening breaths. Kusuo rubbed soothing circles against the boy's back and pressed a kiss to his hair. Despite spending the whole day playing with his friends, Yuuta still smelled clean and fresh and just the slightest bit like Kokomi, who had probably spent who knows how long cuddling the boy on her lap as they played hand-games on the engawa.

It was something the pair did regularly back home when Yuuta came over for dinner—something that became more and more common as Iridatsu Kouta and his wife, Hitomi, took the extra time to become reacquainted. Their marriage had never been what Kusuo would term troubled, but they weren't anywhere close to the lovey-dovey couple his parents were—Had been. In the time since Yuuta's birth, they had simply drifted apart as Hitomi was busy running the house and Kouta progressively busier with work. That was the main reason the two had decided to take a cruise that summer—so they would have more time to get back to being a couple and not just two people who happened to share a house and a child.

And now they're dead. Kusuo clutched Yuuta tighter, his brow furrowing over his closed eyes as he tried to erase the mental images playing in his head. He wasn't psychic anymore, but he'd been psychic long enough to know what happened to the human body when it was flash heated to thousands of degrees Celsius.

Kokomi groaned, and Kusuo loosened his grip on Yuuta to look down. Her face scrunched up lightly before she opened her large, indigo eyes and slowly blinked. She took a moment to orient herself before her eyes lighted on Kusuo and Yuuta. She smiled gently and pushed slowly into a sitting position, though even that slight movement was enough to make her wince. Kusuo released Yuuta with one arm to slide it behind Kokomi's back to prop her up.

"Easy," Kusuo said, positioning himself partially behind her so she could slump against his shoulder. He still had Yuuta against his other side, but the boy quickly shifted to give his Ane-chan plenty of room. "You drained your energy back there almost completely. It will be a while before you've generated enough to move around normally."

Closing her eyes with a huff, Kokomi pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "That was so stupid of me. I'm already pathetic enough without overusing the one thing about me that isn't useless."

"Stop that." Kusuo jostled her lightly with his shoulder until she squinted up at his annoyed glare. "You're not useless."

"Are you okay, Ane-chan?" Yuuta asked, shifting on Kusuo's lap so he could take Kokomi's face into both of his pudgy little hands. She managed a small smile for him.

"I'm fine, Yuu-chan. Just tired, is all."

Yuuta frowned and leaned down to press his forehead against hers, checking her temperature the way Kokomi always did for him. Kusuo cracked a small smile at the please blush on Kokomi's cheeks as Yuuta hummed.

"You don't feel hot, so I guess that's okay." He looked up a Kusuo, still frowning. "She'll be okay, right Aniki?"

"Aa." Kusuo ruffled Yuuta's hair. "She'll be just fine."

There was a knock on the door frame, and Kusuo jolted at the unexpected intrusion. Yuuta stiffened in his arms and clutched at Kokomi with frantic fingers.

"Aniki—"

"It's fine, Yuuta." Kusuo slid the boy off his lap and brushed Kokomi's bangs out of her eyes. "I'll be right back."

She nodded, folding Yuuta into her weakened embrace as Kusuo stood and crossed to the door. He pooled spirit energy into his fingertip, though he knew such a precaution was likely unnecessary. Still, better to be safe than sorry. He slid the door open.

"Yo, Kusuo," Hairo said, smiling as he lifted a hand in greeting. Kusuo released the energy building for a spirit gun and stepped back, letting Hairo into the room.

The exuberant class rep hesitated only a second before accepting the invitation without a word. He grinned at Kokomi and waved.

"Hey, Teruhashi. Glad to see you're up. How are you feeling?"

"Just tired, Hairo-kun," she said, smiling. "What happened after I passed out?"

Hairo crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I came here to discuss." He glanced at Kusuo and continued, "Apparently, Yamato-san and Natsuko-san were able to combine their powers to locate and call Kurama-sensei. After that, Natsuko-san opened a gate for him and pulled him into the compound. He helped Urameshi-san and Koenma-sama move Kuwabara-sensei and Yanagisawa-san to one of the back rooms to recover."

Kusuo quirked an eyebrow. "Yanagisawa?"

"Ah, right." Hairo put his hands on either side of his head and lifted them, as if taking off a helmet—Or miming a ridiculous, broom-styled haircut. "He's the blue-haired guy Kuwabara-sensei brought back. You know, that one psychic from the videos who can change his appearance."

"Aa," Kusuo said, remembering the only two moments (so far) that Yana-san had used his powers. First, to impersonate Kuwabara during Urameshi's fake kidnapping at Genkai's command, and second, to take the form of an ill nurse during Urameshi's fight with Doctor during the Chapter Black Arc.

Is it even okay to think of Urameshi's actual life in terms of 'arcs'? Kusuo wondered, but he quickly put that thought aside to consider later. Or not at all. He wasn't picky.

"Anyway," Hairo dropped his hands, a worried glint in his eye, "Botan-san, Yukina-san, and Kurama-sensei have Kuwabara-sensei and Yanagisawa-san stable and awake, so Urameshi-sensei sent me to find you. Apparently, Kuwabara-sensei learned some stuff about Dark Reunion while he was held captive. He wants to tell the five of us first."

Kusuo knew right off that 'the five of us' meaning him, Hairo, Shun, Kuboyasu, and Nendou, but Kokomi seemed to have missed that fact because she was already throwing off the futon's summer duvet.

"Kokomi," Kusuo said, crossing the room to press a hand down on her shoulder. "This is between us Reborn. You stay here with Yuuta. I'll fill you in when I get back."

A mutinous expression settled on Kokomi's face, but fortunately, she was too tired to really argue. Huffing a sigh, she nodded and settled back onto the futon. Kusuo cast a glance over his shoulder at Hairo.

"I want someone in here with her while I'm gone."

Hairo nodded. "I figured as much. I grabbed Yumehara and Mera on my way over. They went to change first, but they should be here—"

Another knock on the door, but this time, it slid open before Kusuo could answer.

"Hey, guys!" Chiyo said, one hand raised in enthusiastic greeting. "I'm—uwaaa!"

She spun around, her hands over her face as she blushed so hotly, Kusuo could imagine steam puffing from her ears.

"Kusuo-kun!" She said, her shoulders hunched as she covered her face. "You—you're—Sh-shirt!"

Kusuo looked down. Sure enough, he'd forgotten to finish dressing for bed.

"Ah. Sorry, Chiyo-san." He looked around for the shirt he'd discarded. Kokomi held it up to him with a teasing grin, and he nodded to her in thanks before pulling it over his head. "It's safe now."

Chiyo peeked between her fingers first before letting out a huge sigh of relief and dropping her hands all together. "Thank goodness!" She shot Kokomi a frown and said, "How come you're fine, Kokomi?"

Kokomi shrugged. "This is hardly the first time I've seen Kusuo without his shirt."

Confusion flitted across Chiyo's face before Mera leaned over to whisper something in the girl's ear. Chiyo's expression didn't change, but the alternating pale-red wave that washed over her face was something to behold.

"I…I see…" Chiyo said, though what exactly she 'saw' would have to remain a mystery for a while longer. Kusuo had some place to be.

"Are you two okay with keeping an eye on Kokomi for me?" Kusuo asked. "I shouldn't be too long."

"Of course!" Mera flashed a thumbs-up at him, her glasses glinting as she grinned. "I've had plenty of good food today, too, so I'm all powered up, just in case!"

"Aa." Kusuo sincerely hoped 'just in case' would remain exactly that, but it was a relief to know she was at full power anyway. "I'll be back then."

Kokomi lifted Yuuta's hand to wave for him, the boy indulging her by not fighting back.

"We'll be waiting," she said.

Kusuo stared at her a moment longer, taking in her disheveled hair and bleary eyes, Yuuta's tired tears and weary smile. Evening sunlight—gray and dim—fell over the pair as the over-cast sky obscured the full silver moon. Everything about this moment was so utterly domestic it made Kusuo ache for his psychic powers back so he could take a mental picture and hold onto it forever.

"Aa," he said at last before turning around and following Hairo from the room before he lost his will to leave at all.