Chapter 20: The Path of the Fallen
Goblin City: a popular arcade game brought to life in the middle of that dark cave.
A heavy red door blocked their path, sealing off the walkway they needed to follow. The door, made of a cool, smooth metal that had no business in a natural cave formation, waited for them all with a bright yellow G marking its purpose. Yusuke recognized the door from a game he played not too long ago, and Gamemaster's young voice demanded that seven - and only seven - players could enter and play with the Goblin King. Yusuke and his friends, a group of five, would not be granted access, no matter how much Yusuke tried to bargain.
So, they were forced to walk aaalll the way back to the entrance of Demon's Door Cave, to pull their resources from their friends outside. Kurama's lantern plants brought a certain brightness to their journey back, but considering how many hours it took them just to get as far as Gamemaster's door, the fact that they had to redo all of that walking was incredibly frustrating. Especially when they knew how much of a time crunch they were on. But, at least Miwa was able to carry Navigator out of the cave and properly secure him outside.
They returned to Gamemaster's Territory with Kaito and Genkai in tow, while Yanagisawa and Botan remained outside to keep watch over Navigator. With their roster of seven players complete, the heavy red doors opened, and they learned the full splendor of Gamemaster's power. Inside, the rocky cavern was transformed to a metal chamber. A giant screen as tall as the chamber itself was set up on the back wall, and small podiums with buttons and joysticks awaited players. Off on the side, a large slot machine with colorful pictures, customized to Yusuke's group no less, stood next to a small throne fit for a child. There, the Gamemaster waited for them, dressed in his oversized yellow cloak modeled after the game's titular goblin, and he issued a challenge. Seven players, randomized challenges, and defeat the Goblin King, best of seven. Hiei and Miwa had never played the game before, so they were sidelined in favor of their friends with actual experience, only there to fulfill the game's script.
The first three opponents were minor goblin characters. Mitarai stepped up to play in a tennis competition. Interestingly, despite the podium consoles, once the game officially began, the Territory expanded beyond the giant screen to something closer to a virtual reality experience. It took a moment for Mitarai to get used to the shift in perspective and the personalized taunting from Gamemaster, but eventually, he was able to defeat the minor goblin. Genkai was up next in a flight shooter. She piloted a helicopter through the military forces of a sci-fi inspired city and destroy the city's central base, and she did it with such precision and speed that it was a real shame she wasn't up against Gamemaster himself. Yusuke was third in a game called King of the Mountain. It was essentially a fighting game, a fact that brought a smile to his face, and he had to defeat several minor goblins by punching a target on their chests, and true to Yusuke's personality, he easily defeated the goblins, including the final boss, with his signature cocky attitude.
With three victories for Yusuke's team, Gamemaster shed his yellow Goblin King cloak and joined the games himself. Gamemaster, a small boy no older than an elementary school child with brown spiky hair, strolled up to the console for the next game. The slot machine decided on a trivia competition, to which Kaito volunteered, adjusting his glasses confidently with one finger. But, Kurama warned Kaito that this challenge would be much more difficult than anything they ever experienced in the game. Gamemaster chose Goblin City for a reason, and his skills were no doubt far more advanced than the highest difficulty level the slot machine could ever produce.
The trivia game itself was pretty standard. A computer voice read the question, and the players would have to pick the correct answer out of four possibilities; three incorrect answers would end in a loss for the player. Gamemaster surprised them by allowing Kaito free reign on the first five questions, but Kaito answered them all flawlessly. He demonstrated his shockingly good memory by answering the questions before the computer even finished reading the first few words. Kaito had played the home version of Goblin City so often that he memorized the game's seventeen thousand questions and answers, allowing him to take his turn in mere seconds. He answered his first five questions without faltering once, and even Gamemaster seemed impressed. But...impressed wasn't the same as intimidated. Kaito's knowledge of the quiz's database and his speed at answering the questions did nothing to hinder the playful light from the child's eyes. Rather than someone who found a threatening opponent, Gamemaster looked like he finally found another player worth his time.
Kurama was right. The real game was just beginning. The sixth question was up next, and everyone watched Kaito carefully. Would Kaito's impressive answering speed be enough to defeat Gamemaster?
"Quiz Question Number Six."
"Ding-dong!"
Before the question could even be read, Gamemaster pressed the buzzer, smiling just as he always did. The four answers appeared on the screen. Or rather, the options A, B, C, and D appeared. The answers themselves were blank. Per the game's rules, pushing the buzzer before the question even began would keep the answers hidden.
But, Gamemaster knew the correct question and answer, without seeing a thing. Astoundingly, he memorized the algorithm that randomized the trivia game. By hearing only five questions, he knew exactly which track the game was on and every question that would come. Impossible to beat.
Hiei walked forward. "I'm going to turn this game off," he said calmly.
Yusuke's eyes widened. "Oh? And how? You see a power strip somewhere?"
"Please, don't try anything reckless," Mitarai said. "We're inside Amanuma's Territory, so every action we're allowed to take is dictated by the rules he's set, and he could punish us for doing it wrong."
"Hiei..." Miwa warned, "This could be the same mistake as back at that house…"
Hiei stared at her, and for second, Miwa wanted to recoil. She fully expected him to call her out on her own recklessness, to challenge that this wasn't any different from her own strategy against Kaito's Territory. But he didn't. He just stared at her until finally drawing his sword. "Then at least I'll know I tried."
Miwa let out a small sigh, but the water stream was already coiling around her arm. Kurama had warned they may have to find another way out of this Territory if they couldn't win the game. Hiei and Miwa were no match in a video game battle. They weren't gamers. They were fighters. This was as good an attempt as any to be useful here.
With one powerful slice, Hiei split the Master Quiz screen in half, and Miwa's stream wrapped around the slot machine, crushing it like a snake does its prey. A small explosion from the machines filled the room with smoke, and the room shook from the force of the blasts. It appeared to be successful, but once the smoke cleared, the Master Quiz jingle broke through the silence, and the functioning screen and slot stood just as strong as before. Not a single scratch. The damage from Hiei and Miwa's attacks had disappeared completely, as if nothing ever happened. Gamemaster didn't even flinch.
Kaito had lost; there was no way around it.
Kurama was next, and the game was Three Seven.
{00}
Kurama learned something very important from Kaito's loss: Gamemaster's Territory followed Goblin City's script to the tiniest detail; including the mechanics for player death. Kaito wasn't punished for losing the Master Quiz game. The game's script never dictated it to be so. They could play, and lose forever as long as they never quit the game. But, following that logic, if Gamemaster were to lose, the script wouldn't allow him that same fate. A game's final boss never gets a Continue.
Kurama knew that fact, and he used it to his full advantage with just one simple sentence.
"You'll die if you lose."
Defeating the Goblin King meant his death. The game's script guaranteed it, and the rules of the game are the rules of the Territory.
Gamemaster, an 11-year-old human child named Tsukihito Amanuma, lost all of the bravado he showed against Kaito. That confident, arrogant little boy who mastered a randomizing algorithm completely disappeared. As they played, the number blocks dropped with increasing speed, and he missed many easy Sevens with his small, shaking hands. There was no way out. The Territory couldn't be dissolved once a game was in play, and Kurama didn't have time to play forever.
He would have to kill this little boy.
Miwa watched from the sidelines, staring at Kurama's back. He focused only on the screen, never looking over to the panicked child at his side. Unmoving, determined, working only to defeat Gamemaster and continue forward with his heart completely closed off.
"Hey." Hiei pulled himself away from his spot against the wall and stood beside Miwa, watching Kurama carefully. "Are you okay with him doing this?"
Miwa shook her head. She had watched Kurama play this game in the arcade from time to time, but she never played herself. "But, what else can I do? This isn't the kind of fight I could win..." Miwa hated to admit something like that to Hiei, but it was the honest truth, a blatant show of the real difference between her and Kurama. Hiei and Miwa proved it earlier: brute force would not defeat this Territory, and that was the most Miwa had to offer here.
Hiei didn't say anything else.
This was all part of Sensui's plan. Just like Navigator, Gamemaster was there to slow them down. To force them to make a tough decision. Kill the child and move on? Or spare his life but doom the world? Miwa clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She had taken on many burdens for Kurama's sake in the time she has known him. She already carried the moral burden of failing to save a human child, and she struggled with it as a demon. But Kurama, who also experienced a human life, would take a much heavier burden than her, and Miwa would gladly take on the burden herself if it meant sparing him from that pain. But...she couldn't take this one, no matter how much she wanted to.
"You know what Sensui's going to do. I can't say you aren't responsible for your fate." Kurama didn't believe in mercy. Gamemaster made his choice for the path he would take.
"But I didn't mean for this stuff to really happen!"
The blocks piled higher and higher, and Amanuma abandoned the panel buttons to clutch at the control stick with both hands. Each misplaced block made him shake even more. His frantic, desperate voice repeating "I don't want to die," grew louder each time. Miwa, a full-blooded demon, couldn't imagine what it must be like for a human child to grapple with impending death like this. Demons weren't the same. Death and blood were much more common in their world; more a longstanding rival than a distant foe. But humans...humans don't live as long as demons, so they delay their thoughts of an inevitable end as long as they can, as if instinctively trying to enjoy the shorter time they have until they meet Death, their distant foe. Even Genkai had said young people are too stupid to believe they would die. But Death is the same for all, human or demon. Death will take you when your time has come, no matter who you are. But even Miwa, a demon who had only briefly touched the human lifestyle, thought Amanuma grappling with this indisputable fact was...heartbreaking to watch.
"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!"
The blocks reached the top of the screen, and the game was over. Amanuma's body fell to the ground and lay motionless.
Kurama never even looked at him.
The Territory collapsed around them, but much more violently than any Territory they had seen. The Goblin City structure in the cave fell piece by piece as red electricity crackled around them, kicking up smoke and dust with loud bangs that echoed down the cave in both directions, no doubt far enough for Sensui to hear they defeated another one of his pawns. When the dust settled, the only thing remaining was a tiny game console sitting innocently on the ground next to Amanuma's body. Kurama stood, unmoved through the entire collapse, with his back turned to his friends. They all watched him, waiting for him to make a move, but none came. Not the slightest twitch.
Yusuke moved first, reaching his hand out gently. "Kurama, don't blame yourself."
The look on his face was all it took to make Yusuke step back. "I have no regrets, Yusuke."
Kurama walked without another word.
"...I don't know what to do," Yusuke said, almost to himself. "I've never seen him like this."
If Miwa were to be honest, neither did she.
Genkai and Kaito returned to the cave entrance, carrying Amanuma's body. Yusuke, Hiei, Miwa, and Mitarai silently followed after Kurama before he was completely alone. They continued down the narrow cave path, and most of their spoken words were just Mitarai's directions. Kurama continued to lay down his lantern plants, but he never uttered a word, nor did he ever make eye contact with them.
"Hey, Miwa, Hiei…" Yusuke said quietly, "You've known him a lot longer than I have. You're not worried about Kurama at all?
"You think that's the first child Kurama has killed in his day?" Hiei asked, smiling wryly.
Yusuke frowned. "Yeah, but unlike some demons, his view on that has changed."
Miwa clenched her fists again. Yusuke was right, and that change made all the difference. Her chest felt even heavier; the weight of what Kurama did made it hard for her to breathe. She could sense his turmoil, but she didn't know if he was feeling regret or anger. Nor could she tell whom his feelings were directed to; Sensui or himself. Kurama always knew how to read Miwa like a book, but he never let her figure out how to read the darker emotions he felt from time to time. He never let her that close, like it was the one thing he never wanted to share with her. Even now, Miwa had no idea what to do or say to help him. She felt pathetic...and useless.
"Just...let him come to terms with it, Yusuke," Miwa finally said. "I think that's all we can do right now."
He'll come back from this...He always does. If he doesn't, he'll destroy himself with guilt...
Yusuke's expression hardened and he turned his attention back to the cave. "Alright. Sensui's gonna pay for what he's made us do."
The rest of their trip was mostly silent, the only sounds coming from their feet. After what felt like an eternity, Mitarai stopped them all, warning that Sensui's lair was just up ahead. The smell of the Demon World, both familiar and repulsive, was stronger than ever, and the taste was strong on Miwa's tongue. The dark cave had slowly gotten brighter, as if there were a strong light source up ahead. In the silence, they could hear a quiet rustle of indistinguishable noise that almost sounded manufactured. But, above that manufactured sound was the dull growl of countless demons, impatiently waiting for the tunnel to be completed. Using the dampness of the cave, Miwa scoped out the path ahead. She sensed the same lake from before, two figures waiting near the lake's edge, and...a large object floating in the middle of the lake, with two people sitting on top.
"Four people," Miwa whispered. "Kuwabara is on a boat...with someone else."
Yusuke nodded. "Let's go."
They entered the cavern where Sensui was waiting. It was much larger than any cavern they had come across thus far, both in size and height. The pristine lake at the center was undisturbed except for the boat, where a bound and gagged Kuwabara sat, eyes wide at his friends' arrival and a human man at his side. Right above him was the tunnel; a giant, dark hole. Hundreds of demon faces pressed against an invisible wall, desperately trying to reach through spacetime for tasty human flesh. Sensui sat on a black couch, his back towards Yusuke and his friends, watching some action movie on an elaborate home theater setup powered by a battery. Standing off on the side was undoubtedly the demon Itsuki.
Mitarai's whole body shook. "...How is Mr. Itsuki standing up?"
"He does have legs," Yusuke answered.
"But every time I've seen him since I was first brought to the cave, he's been sitting in that boat, creating the tunnel…"
To answer, Itsuki calmly looked back. "The portal is alive now. It's out of my control," he said. "When the time is right, it will manifest on its own. Even if I wished to, I couldn't stop it."
The lower class demons pressing against the incomplete tunnel's mouth managed to break their hands through the fabric of spacetime, hungering for Kuwabara's human flesh just within their reach. But, even Sensui seemed disgusted by their mindless instincts driven only by hunger. One small blast of his energy disintegrated the hoard of lesser demons clamoring for Kuwabara.
"Killing humans can't be that horrific to you, Yusuke. You would've killed the Doctor if Genkai hadn't been there, and Kurama killed a human child."
Yusuke glared. "We had to. It was for the greater good."
"And what if every human was bad?"
"...I don't deal in what-ifs."
Sensui smiled and revealed his next move. He called upon the man sitting in the boat with Kuwabara to join the party. The last of the human psychics they would have to fight: Gourmet. Sensui ordered them to kill Gourmet in exchange for Kuwabara's safe return. Once again, Sensui was forcing them to make a moral choice, and this guy didn't seem to mind being a part of that plan. It was a disturbing contrast to Amanuma's childish naivete that made Miwa shiver. Gourmet was tall with large lips and broad shoulders. A normal human would feel intimidated fighting someone with his stature, even if they didn't know about his powers.
"Don't trust Sensui's word," Kurama whispered. "We'll make a push for Kuwabara the first chance we get. In the meantime, just play along."
Miwa caught Yusuke smile, perhaps feeling better that Kurama was talking to them again. But, Miwa had a different interpretation. Some of Kurama's usual calm seemed to have returned, but Miwa could still sense something turbulent in his aura. The look in his eyes didn't look like the eyes she had grown accustomed to these past few years. Those eyes that softened when Shuichi Minamino learned a human son's love for his mother. This...looked more like the eyes of Youko Kurama.
"...Kuwabara's floating on water," Miwa added. "I can get him out if everyone covers me."
She took a deep breath, tasting the smell of rotten flesh and blood from the Demon World air. Something about that air, that heavy miasma, was changing the cavern. With every breath, Miwa could feel what she could only call "primal instincts" stirring within her. An old, forgotten bloodlust. The Demon World air has a deadly effect on normal humans, but perhaps...it was also having an effect on Kurama, Miwa, and maybe even Hiei, who had been separated from its presence for so long.
"Touching, Seaman," said Gourmet. "You want to save Kuwabara so very badly because he saved you. But at the same time, you're terrified of letting Sensui find out how much your new buddy means to you, aren't you?"
Mitarai gasped. "What?"
"You're scared Sensui will kill him to punish you for being a traitor."
Mitarai clenched his teeth, but he didn't deny any of it.
Gourmet continued, grinning devilishly. "But you've got a juicer one, don't you Kurama? You're a lot more torn up from killing Gamemaster than Yusuke believes. And your snake friend. Boy, she sure is worried about you, but you don't think you deserve even that," he said, eyeing Kurama up and down. "Not only are you riddled with guilt, you're embarrassed! Youko Kurama would never be so weak." His grin widened. "Not the Youko Kurama that she so loyally tracked down."
Kurama's eyes narrowed.
Miwa's breath hitched in her throat. How could Gourmet possibly know those things? Miwa's feelings were probably obvious, but...how would Gourmet know how Kurama felt about Gamemaster? He could be lying, unless…
"Murota…" Yusuke said, horrified.
"Bin~go! That old flimsy? Haven't you wondered where he's been since the hospital let him out?"
Gourmet, the Psychic with the ability to absorb powers by eating someone whole. Mitarai warned them Sensui would use this ability to access Kuwabara's Dimension Sword, but they hadn't counted on him gaining the powers of another Psychic. Murota, the mind-reading psychic Yusuke met before they confronted Doctor, was the only one who could have given Gourmet this ability. Gourmet ate him whole…
"Eating my teammate? That's on my ass-kick list," Yusuke grunted, stepping forward to fight.
Kurama held him back. "I'll take this one, Yusuke. And don't argue. I am not in the mood."
"...Whatever you say."
Kurama stood against Gourmet, face to face with a mind reader. Yusuke managed to defeat Murata easily, but that was due to Murota's ignorance of Yusuke's power. Gourmet would not be so simple. Still, Kurama pulled his rose from his hair and closed his eyes.
Gourmet lost his head in mere seconds.
Faster than Gourmet could ever react, Kurama's Rose Whip wrapped tightly around Gourmet's mouth, and the top of his head tore cleanly off with one firm tug. His body stumbled backwards, dark blood spurting out from the wound, and crashed to the ground, falling still after one last twitch of his fingers.
"Rely on impulse and even your thoughts won't betray you," Kurama said. "Now come out, Toguro."
Yusuke gasped, but Sensui seemed pleased.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Kurama asked, glaring down at the body. "I could smell your stench since we entered the cave."
Gourmet's body shook with a familiar shill laughter. Without even a brain, the body easily stood up. A mess of gray hair pushed its way out through Gourmet's neck, squeezing through gruesome sounds of blood and flesh being unnaturally pushed aside, and revealing the pale, sinister face of Elder Toguro.
"Good, Kurama. It seems your powers have improved even in your human form. Though, the red hair isn't nearly as pretty as the silver."
Elder Toguro explained the horrific truth of what happened. He managed to survive his younger brother kicking him out of the Dark Tournament stadium, where Sensui eventually found him. That was how Sensui knew so much about Yusuke and his friends. Sensui tricked Gourmet into eating Elder Toguro, making him believe he would gain the regenerative powers. But really, Elder Toguro was looking for a new body. Gourmet couldn't handle what he had eaten, and eventually, Elder Toguro took control, like a cockroach that persistently survives, and he gained a new body and more powers than ever before. Not even piercing his heart or brain would kill him now.
Kurama was tired of listening to him. "You've survived for far too long." He circled around, never taking his eyes off Elder Toguro. "And now it ends."
Elder Toguro gleefully accepted the challenge, declaring that he would absorb Kurama's power next. Without even flinching, Kurama raised his hands, and a white smoke sprayed out from his sleeves.
"Let me guess, he brought roach spray?" Yusuke said.
Hiei rolled his eyes. "No, you fool, it's a smoke screen. One of his older tricks."
The smoke surrounded Kurama and Elder Toguro, creating a large cloud and quickly obstructing them from anyone's view.
"Well, it looks like it's working," Yusuke said.
"But, how will we know if he needs help?" Mitarai asked.
Miwa stared at the cloud, knowing it wasn't ordinary smoke. "Kurama won't need help," Miwa said carefully. Even against a mind reader, Kurama would win.
The smokescreen muffled the voices from inside, but she could hear Elder Toguro's crazed screams of glee and victory. He was using his mind-reading abilities to track down his opponent's location in the smoke, but the gleeful screams quickly turned to anger, insanity...and pain. Then, Kurama himself emerged from the smoke, completely unharmed, while Elder Toguro's screams continued without pause.
The smoke dispersed, and Elder Toguro was trapped in the clutches of a dark, tall plant with a sorrowful face looming over Elder Toguro's body, with its branches and vines latched onto his body and under his skin. It was the Sinning Tree, a parasitic plant that feeds the host illusions of wickedness until it dies. Kurama planted the seed when he decapitated Gourmet and used his smokescreen to feed the hallucinations and allow the tree to grow. But, since Elder Toguro's regenerative powers made him unable to die, the Sinning Tree would feed on him forever, and Toguro would never escape the wicked hallucinations he sees.
"You will suffer for eternity here. Torn between your hate, and your agony. And so be it. Rogues like you deserve to be dead..."
More vines wrapped around Elder Toguro's body, muffling his screams until they were barely heard, like it wanted to take him out of existence, or keep the screams for itself. Either way, they wouldn't have to deal with Elder Toguro ever again, so the next step was to get Kuwabara back.
Except, he wasn't in the boat.
Somehow, without anybody seeing it, Kuwabara moved from the boat to the other end of the cavern, still tied up and everything.
They rushed over, and Kurama freed Kuwabara from his gag while Miwa started to cut apart his bindings. "How did you get over here?" Kurama asked.
"I don't know, really," Kuwabara said, hoarse and out of breath, like he had just gone for a run. "One minute I was sittin' in the boat, the next thing I was all mixed around. Dizzy. Soon as I got my wits together, I was here."
Kurama narrowed his eyes. "Did you see something?"
"...Look, Kurama."
Hiei spotted something across the lake. A long, dark shadow slid down the cavern wall, across the lake, and right towards them. But, there was nothing in the tunnel that could be casting the shadow in the first place.
"Yeah, maybe something like that!"
The shadow silently slid across the ground, right under them, and took an oddly human-like silhouette. An orange mouth appeared beneath their feet, and teal blue eyes opened, giving the shadow creature a face. It opened its mouth, and they plummeted inside, swallowed completely whole, except for Yusuke, who was spit out to be alone with Sensui. The others experienced what Kuwabara did earlier, mixed around and dizzy while tumbling through a dark abyss, struggling to keep their minds focused. When the strange sensation passed, they opened their eyes, and they were no longer inside the cavern. They floated in the abyss, surrounded by all sorts of junk and debris, ranging from old street signs, human bones, and decrepit buildings, looking like the remnants of an apocalypse. The air felt heavy in this place, with a stale, dirty odor that permeated their senses. They were devoured back there, now trapped in the bowels of...something.
"I'd say it's a Dark Soul," Hiei said, glancing at their surroundings.
"Dark Soul? What's that?" asked Mitarai.
"An old apparition," Hiei answered. "It lives beneath the surface of the earth, collecting human trash."
Miwa looked around. "It didn't collect Yusuke…"
"We were not swallowed by chance," Kurama said. "Someone else must be controlling this creature."
"Creature?" came a voice, and Itsuki appeared before them. "Please, call him Ura-Otoko. That's his proper name."
Itsuki finally revealed his true self: a Yaminate, a demon with six arms that move independently of its master, and one of the rare few demons with the ability to move between dimensions. He claimed that the only reason he had them swallowed by the Ura-Otoko was to protect the fight between the detectives. Keep distractions out of the way, stop the extras from arguing among themselves, and make sure the battle would see its proper end. He said Yusuke and Sensui both deserved that kind of fight.
"Tch, that guy doesn't deserve buck," Kuwabara scoffed. "You tell me one good feature that traitor has. One decent thing that makes you follow his end-of-the-world crusade."
"...He has everything," Itsuki said, smiling gently. "Sensui can be violent, courageous, spiritually pure, and even fragile. He can be a graceful spokesman with charisma to bring anyone to his side." He looked up, as if recalling fond memories. "Indeed, I have been drawn to his aura like a moth to the flame since the very first moment that we met."
Itsuki described it as finding Sensui in the darkness, forging a path of light, and Itsuki followed him in secret, admiring the powerful hunter that killed apparitions with his black and white perceptions. He even killed other demons that wanted Sensui dead, but once Sensui discovered him, he made to kill Itsuki just like any other demon. However, with his last words, Itsuki only asked to be allowed to live one more day and see the final episode of his favorite TV show, and miraculously he made Sensui laugh. That one trivial request showed another side to demons previously unknown to the ruthless assassin. A side that seemed almost...human. Good. So, Sensui let him live, even beyond the final episode, and the paths they walked slowly converged into one. From then on, Itsuki followed along in Sensui's shadow, helping the hunter achieve his goals.
Miwa let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Certain parts of Itsuki's story resonated with her, almost familiar, in a way, even if the details didn't match up. She lived through something similar, after all.
Itsuki and Sensui meeting opened up both of their worlds. Sensui came to learn another side of demons, that not all of them were bad. And Itsuki learned the powerful hunter he so admired could also be warm, compassionate, and pure. The attraction Itsuki felt was undeniable, and he always wished that Sensui would become his lover. But, even if he cared for Sensui, Itsuki wanted to see through Sensui's self-destructive path. The damned cannot be saved. The purity Itsuki saw in Sensui was already stained black, and that black will inevitably spread, wiping out all traces of that purity. It was the only way to prove the purity was ever real. After all, someone with a tainted soul would never be so completely corrupted as someone who started absolutely pure. Like a drop of black ink on a fine sheet of white paper, Itsuki wanted to see that darkness overtake the purity in its entirety, with no other darkness to impede it.
And even if the black, tainted path Sensui chose would kill everyone, Itsuki believed they all deserved it.
"Miwa, I think you are the only one who could understand this feeling," Itsuki said, still smiling gently. "I follow Sensui just as you follow Kurama, and wouldn't you do anything to ensure his wishes are granted?"
Miwa clenched her fists and frowned. "Don't lump me in with you," she said. "I wouldn't allow him to go down a path of self-destruction."
"Is that so?" Itsuki said, raising an eyebrow in almost a teasing way. "You came awfully close to crossing that line, didn't you? That time you broke into King Yama's vault…"
Miwa hissed through her teeth as a water stream coiled around her arm. "You say anything more, and I won't hesitate to kill you."
Itsuki chuckled, "You will do what you must, I suppose, but whether I live or die, the battle will not be affected. My Ura-Otoko will make sure of that. You see, I'm the only one who can control him."
Miwa's hiss didn't stop, but she begrudgingly lowered her arm. They were trapped, once again, all according to Sensui's plan. Separated from Yusuke.
"I'm afraid these surroundings are making us stir-crazy," said Itsuki, and behind him, the floating debris cleared away. "Let's have a better view."
The Ura-Otoko's eyes opened, letting them see back into the cavern. Yusuke and Sensui were alone, locked in a staredown. They had less than thirty minutes until the tunnel would be complete, and by Itsuki's own admission, it was forming with a life of its own now, and completion was inevitable. But at the gates of the apocalypse, the Spirit Detectives of past and present would begin their second battle.
And here, one of them would have to fall.
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Shinobu Sensui was no ordinary man. In fact, he wasn't one man, but seven. The multitude of traumas Sensui experienced throughout his life split his mind into multiple personalities. The Shinobu Sensui they have been dealing with since they first learned of the tunnel was actually a personality named Minoru, the charismatic orator. Yusuke only learned about the multiple personalities because his battle against Minoru drew out the most violent personality: Kazuya, a sadistic, foul-mouthed man with the ability to form a gun on his wrist with his Spirit Energy. His gun put a bullet through Yusuke's stomach, and seemingly just for fun, he shot Yusuke's arms and legs. Kazuya was about to deliver the final blow through Yusuke's skull, but Koenma's timely arrival stopped him.
The Prince of Spirit World had one last card to stop the impending apocalypse: his pacifier. More formally known as the Mafuukan, his pacifier had enough spirit power to seal the tunnel and imprison Sensui in its barrier net forever. He offered Sensui a choice: stop his plan to open the tunnel, or be sealed under the Mafuukan's power forever. Sensui didn't take the deal, but neither did Yusuke let Koenma follow through on his threat.
This was his fight, and he intended to finish it without relying on Koenma's last resort.
Yusuke stole the Mafuukan and demanded the strongest of Sensui's personalities came out. Kazuya wasn't the strongest, and neither was Minoru. Yusuke had sensed it a long time ago; somewhere deep within Sensui was a suppressed power beyond anything they had seen. That was the guy they needed to defeat for this all to end.
The main personality: Shinobu. Soft-spoken. Gentle. Perhaps every bit of the "good" traits Itsuki claimed Sensui possessed. But also the man who decided all human beings deserved to die, and the one with power beyond what any of them could ever hope to defeat. A human being who somehow obtained Sacred Energy, a strength on par with the S-Class demons that Spirit World feared. So powerful that the cave around them couldn't sustain its might, despite Sensui holding himself back, and the cavern walls crumbled around them as literal earthquakes shook the ground. The world itself couldn't contain the power of Shinbu Sensui, but perhaps the Demon World could.
Yusuke had no chance to win here, and he knew it. The only way to win, the only chance they could cling to, would be for him to inspire the necessary strength in someone else. One of the Spirit Detectives was doomed to fall in this cave. If Yusuke had to choose that path, letting himself fall to inspire the strength they needed to win the day, then so be it. After all, it worked before. He beat Toguro this way.
"I know I'm close...to the world's best strategy for kicking ass."
And...dying was easy. Yusuke knew that better than anyone.
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How has it come to this…?
"Hey, what are you waiting for, head case?" Yusuke grinned. That cheeky, cocky-as-hell smile.
Sensui hesitated, but they all knew the result was inevitable. Inevitable, and unstoppable, as long as they were trapped in the Ura-Otoko.
Miwa felt her whole body tremble. How did it come to this? They survived hell countless times. Yusuke always managed to pull through, no matter how high the odds were stacked against him. He would pull some crazy solution out of his ass that always worked in the end, like a superhero. A creator of miracles. But here, in the face of an enemy he couldn't defeat, Yusuke Urameshi, the Spirit Detective of Earth, planned to die, just to motivate them all to powers they've never seen.
I don't want it to end like this…
When did it start? When did Yusuke become such an important existence for them all? When they first met, Miwa just wanted him to help her stop Kurama from killing himself with the Forlorn Hope. He was an idiot kid with barely any Spirit Power that somehow got tasked with tracking down the four thieves that topped Spirit World's wanted list. An idiot kid that they were just stuck with...but, he was a good idiot kid. Good enough to convince Kurama and Miwa to betray Hiei. Maybe...it started from the third time they met; Maze Castle. That moment when Yusuke went on alone, while the others remained behind to defeat the Cultivated Humans. He smiled down at them from the high window and gave them a thumbs up. Miwa remembered that smile as clearly as if she were looking at it now. That smile made her want to believe in him. To have faith in him. That cocky kid...he could do anything. That smile made her believe that.
But here...here, he couldn't win. He would pass the torch to them instead, but Miwa didn't want that.
Miwa remembered the look on his face when Yusuke thought Toguro had killed Kuwabara. The absolute horror. Pain. Despair. She also remembered the power it brought out in him. But, when she saw that look on his face, she knew she never wanted to see it on anyone ever again. Not on her, and not on any of her friends. She didn't want this. She didn't want it to go this way. They were supposed to come here and kick Sensui's ass, just like they always do, but...they were in over their heads this time. Sensui would kill them all, with ease, unless they let Yusuke's plan run its course. But even so…
I don't want Yusuke to die…!
For a brief moment, Miwa wondered what she would have done if Toguro had called on her to be killed for motivation instead of Kuwabara. Would she have stepped up as bravely as Kuwabara did? Eyes wide, chest out, and ready to die because it was the only thing to do? Would she have done the same? Maybe. Her life was sworn to Kurama, only to be spent if it were to save his. Maybe even offering her life to power up Yusuke could be an extension of her oath. Toguro was going to kill them all anyway.
But...that wasn't it. That wasn't why she would have stepped forward.
She would have done it for Yusuke. Just for his sake.
If that cocky-as-hell smile that made her believe in miracles could continue on… Miwa would have gladly died if it meant Yusuke would live.
Gladly.
Her core flared, unleashing its burning pain through her whole body. Unstable energy coursed through her system, making her limbs go numb, giving her a horrible, pulsating headache. It was unlike any of the pain she felt from it before, worse than what she felt when she nearly got erased. But...she didn't care. It was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. There was only one thing that mattered to her. To them all.
"Lover Boy!" Hiei shouted, unsheathing his sword and removing his cloak. "Release us now and you can keep your ability to breed." Dark energy crackled around his bandaged right arm. "If we're going to die, let us die in war. Against Sensui."
Kurama brandished his Rose Whip. "Kuwabara, Hiei, Miwa, and myself will join Yusuke in five-on-one combat, using every tactic we have." His tone dropped as he turned to face their captor. "We've gone far past the stage of fighting for our honor."
"...I don't care if Yusuke gets mad. I'm not letting him face Sensui alone." Two water streams coiled around Miwa's arms, rearing their heads high like a snake ready to strike. "None of us want to be left out of this fight."
"Yeah, I'm ready," Kuwabara said, stepping forward.
Kurama held up his whip. "We just need Itsuki to let us out of this creature. Perhaps torture would suffice."
Miwa grinned, her fangs in full view. "Oh please, let me do it. Even Yaminates have water in their system..."
Itsuki wasn't intimidated at all. "You'll still fail. Five times zero power is still zero power."
He wouldn't let them go, even if he believed they would fail in a five-on-one fight. But, with their combined strength, they just might be able to escape. Escape with their lives, holding off the first wave of demons with everything they have. And then, they would come back stronger to defeat Sensui as a team. After all, Hiei, Kurama, and Miwa were already close to achieving A-class status.
A low hiss rattled in Miwa's throat. They really did think of everything. Never before had Miwa been so under prepared for a mission, and the thought infuriated her. Her fingernails dug into the skin of her palm, drawing blood from the old wounds for the first time since the tournament.
Then, Mitarai hesitantly stepped forward with one idea. Kuwabara's newly awakened power, the Dimension Sword, the very power Sensui wanted to use to cut down the Kekkai Barrier, was their only option here. The sword could cut across two dimensions, and it could cut them out of the Ura-Otoko.
Or it would have, if Kuwabara knew how to control that power at will.
Yusuke grinned again. "You're done, pal. It's just a matter of heart beats."
Sensui never really responded to him. All they could do was watch as Sensui continuously beat up Yusuke. His painful groans echoed throughout the cavern, and just as clearly to the Ura-Otoko. Just one wall. One dimensional wall keeping everyone out of that cave. Any other wall, they could have just blasted right through it. But this...they could never do it, not with all their powers combined, unless Kuwabara could summon his Dimension Sword. No different from the demons trying to get through Sensui's tunnel.
"Why now? Why?" Kuwabara groaned, falling to his knees. "It doesn't fit the rules! I get this power right when we need it. But then I can't reach it. How can that be right?!" Tears began falling down his cheeks. "I'm supposed to get strong from seeing him hurt. Reach new levels! It's the part where I power up and save the day! We've survived too much! Learned to much to end this way!"
But it wasn't that kind of story. Not anymore. Not when Sensui planned everything down to the very last detail, foreseeing every step that they would take in their haste to close the tunnel. Sensui was not Toguro. They didn't have months to prepare for this fight, and they didn't have the luxury of faking a death just to bring out the strength for a good fight. If they didn't have the power to measure up to Sensui's impossible strength, right then and now, then someone, or all of them, was going to die.
"No! What the hell could be the reason for this?!"
A warm, yellow light glowed from Kuwabara's hands. A power different from his Spirit Sword was about to come forth.
Sensui's Sacred Energy flared up. "Well, Yusuke. I hope you've found your peace."
The Dimension Sword, a yellow, sharply-formed blade formed in Kuwabara's hands. Its shimmering yellow light looked nothing like the erratic orange energy of his Spirit Sword. From the energy alone, they could all sense just how powerful it was. Kuwabara raised the sword high above his head. Itsuki moved to get in his way, but it didn't work. The Dimension Sword striked, slicing across two dimensions, creating an escape from the Ura-Otoko's head, and Yusuke's friends joined the fight. They landed in the lake, only seconds remaining, just as Sensui was preparing his final blow.
"Urameshi! Get out of the way!"
Yusuke turned to look at them, and they saw that familiar smile…
...until Sensui pierced his heart.
Notes: A lot is covered in this chapter (despite it being shorter than previous chapters), but finally Miwa has found someone else she is willing to die for. This isn't to say that she wouldn't do the same for Hiei or Kuwabara either, and she probably would, even at this point. But as much as I would have loved for Miwa to have this realization with Hiei first, Yusuke is the main protagonist that centers the group. Plus, Hiei doesn't often put himself in situations that would have Miwa make this sort of choice.
On a completely separate note, I was reading the reviews again for some motivation (This chapter was surprisingly hard to write, so thank you for your support!), and I'm amused and happy that people are wondering if Miwa will end up with Hiei or Kurama. I purposefully left the final pairing out of the story summary because her choice in the end is part of her character arc, and I don't want it to play out like a "traditional" love triangle. I think Kurama's side of this supposed triangle is obvious by now, but Hiei's moments with her are definitely more subtle, so I hope they aren't going unseen.