InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimatum ❯ Chapter 20

Ultimatum

Chapter 20

Boxing King

 

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Keiko huddled in on herself. The action didn't help, the pain was still there. She shuddered, trying not to cry. Crying wasn't going to help her. It might give her some momentary satisfaction and release, but the pain it later guaranteed would never be worth it. Naraku always got a kick out her crying, and whenever he saw her leak just one tear, he would do all he could to make it last.

 

He always knew, too. He always knew when she cried. It wasn't like it was after the fact, red eyes and a splotchy face, he always knew while she was in the middle of sobbing. She had long since figured that the evil man had some sort of device in the room to watch her. He was a perv first, an evil guy second; and like all pervs he liked to watch his victims.

 

Keiko didn't bother to glance around her to confirm the existence of the bugs crawling around the room. The demon had a huge spider tattoo on his back, and since he wasn't mortal, the mark most likely stood for something. It didn't take a genius to make the connection between his tattoo and the bugs. He could probably watch through a spider or something.

 

She briefly entertained the notion of Naraku having a little room littered with screens of various bugs before dismissing it, him sitting a chair drinking coffee and observing all the unknowing victims. The entire idea was too technical for the demon himself, not to mention the Makai. Besides, he'd probably drink something a bit more viscous than coffee.

 

Keiko had long since figured she was in the Makai - Yusuke and the others would have come for her already had she been in the mortal realm. The Makai was a bit more difficult for everyone involved.

 

Keiko hunched farther in on herself. She had found that if she hid herself as much as she could from the prying eyes of the supposed bug-spies, she didn't feel so invaded. Going to the bathroom was a real test.

 

Why hadn't they come for her yet? It was a thought that refused to leave her. All before, through the many mishaps that she had encountered through Yusuke's work, she had never really gone through anything like this. Sure, there had been that incident with Hiei, but there had never really been any lasting pain, any agony. And she had never been kept from home for so long.

 

Were they even coming for her? Did they care? Was the price of Naraku too high? Could they not find a way around it?

 

Keiko had too many questions without answers. As much as she would have liked to not think of any of it, there wasn't much else to do here. She could probably go on a bug squishing rampage, but she didn't want to go through the pain again. The first time she had squished a bug, she hadn't thought about it, hadn't thought about eradicating the thing from her presence. It hadn't taken her more than a second to think about it.

 

For some reason, Naraku had hated it. Told her she shouldn't treat creatures as expendable. He beat her senseless for that one bug. He repeated the performance for everyone after that. Was he worried she would find the spy? Or was she killing of potential hardware?

 

Another series of unanswerable questions.

 

Her arm twinged, and she glanced down at it. She had to look away.

 

The dead skin sloughed off whenever she moved. She had long since lost movement in her arm, almost up to her shoulder. It was like severe frostbite, except there was no remedy for her here. She could tell that. Her entire side tingled with what felt like burnt nerve endings. While she could feel nothing in her arm directly, the pain was still there in the rest of her body.

 

While she couldn't directly face her arm, Keiko had already become resigned to having lost it. Prosthetics weren't out of the picture. While unpleasing to look at, they provided her a limb where she would have none. Besides, vanity shouldn't matter to her in the face of her life. Should she keep her life, that is.

 

Keiko decided to think about her life, like most people do in the face of likely death.

 

Had it all been worth it? School wasn't over, but would certainly be necessary. And it wasn't like she hated school. All was well with her family, she loved them and they loved her. She didn't even have any lasting feuds that should be remedied before death.

 

The only consideration she had left was Yusuke. What would her life have been like without Yusuke? Perhaps the easiest question to answer, she wouldn't be here. She would have never had any life-threatening times in her life. She wouldn't be hassled as head of the class, as his friend, as a potential girlfriend. She wouldn't have had any strange looks from people. Her life would have been easier. But better? Yusuke was one of her best friends. Certainly her best guy friend. They had shared a lot of good times since they were little. He had protected her during some bad moments. He had always been there. Under normal circumstances, she would be saying something she couldn't imagine her life without him - he was that much a part of her life.

 

But… she couldn't forget that association with him had gotten her in this situation. Was he worth that, this, her arm?

 

Keiko glanced down, letting her eyes shy away to the room, crawling with bugs, ready to incite torture.

 

Was he worth this? Did he even care enough to come get her?

 

Keiko closed her eyes and hunched a bit more.

 

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Kurama leaned over a prone form in a deserted hallway, inwardly cursing. Hiei's body had stubbornly remained resistant to any poking and prodding he had performed. The man hadn't even twitched when he had dragged the body out of the shadows.

 

With a grunt he straightened up. He dug in a pocket quickly, bringing out his communicator. He flipped it open to look at Koenma's anxious face. “I've found him. He's outside the vault.” He paused at the unspoken question. “Unconscious.” He viciously snapped the communicator closed, trying to stop the rush of force that accompanied the action.

 

Their plan had backfired. Somehow, just like throughout this entire idiotic plan, they had overlooked a vital clue. Hiei was connected to Kagome. How stupid were they to think that sucking out her mind wouldn't affect his?

 

Kurama squatted next to Hiei as he waited for everyone else to arrive. He rubbed his hands over h is face tiredly. What the hell were they going to do now? They were certainly in a situation. A soul had never been removed without killing the body. His thoughts flittered to a very alive Kagome. He glanced down at Hiei as his chest rose and fell along with steady breathing. Okay. A soul had never been successfully returned to the host. He glanced down at Hiei once more. That one sure as hell better be false, too.

 

And what had happened to Kagome? Had her mind been removed?

 

Kurama finally just sat, leaning against the wall, as his ankles became sore. If they tried to put Hiei's mind back, and if hers had really been removed, would hers go back as well?

 

Could they risk giving her to Naraku? It wasn't like they had a lot of time to decide - he had given them a deadline of one day.

 

Kurama finally just gave up on thinking. He would wait for everyone else to come to him.

 

The first to come skidding down the hallway was Koenma. The man would know the fastest way to the vault. His eyes lit on Hiei as he skidded to a stop. Yusuke and Kuwabara were swift seconds.

 

“Well?” gasped out Yusuke, hunched over from running. Kurama shook his head.

 

“Shit.”

 

Kuwabara looked around hopelessly. “What do we do?”

 

“I think, Kuwabara, that what can we do is a more appropriate question.”

 

“And?”

 

Kurama directed his gaze towards Koenma. “You know the most about the process, Koenma. What do you think happened here?”

 

Koenma seemed to shrink slightly as all eyes turned towards him.

 

“Well…” he drawled out, “as far back as our records go, we have no successful attempt at reinstating a soul…”

 

Kurama practically wanted to choke the prince in front of him. “And just how far back do your records go, Koenma?” he ground out between clenched teeth.

 

Koenma looked down as he scuffed his toe along a line in the floor. “Oh… about 450 years or so.”

 

“Christ, that's nothing in demon years, Koenma,” snarled Yusuke.

 

Koenma's eyes brightened as he grew angry. “I think I know that better than you, Yusuke. We've researched the topic, okay! There have been other incidences where we have considered wiping the mind, the soul as it were, as punishment. We had to be sure we knew enough of the process to use it. We could find no one alive who could even remember the process being performed, let alone one that used it. As far as we know, no one knows shit, okay! We've questioned the older, more advanced demons, but they are all pretty much keeping their mouths shut. I'm sure they are lying, but as long as they can't perform it themselves, what does it matter?”

 

Kurama looked intently at Koenma. “Do you know of any that had an inkling of the process that we could talk to?”

 

Koenma miserably shook his head. “There were a few likely suspects that we considered at the time, but they've all died in the interim. There could be others, of course, but none that we suspected. It was rather a rare art during its height.”

 

Kuwabara glanced up. “Have you actually used this on someone before?”

 

Koenma shifted once more. “Once. The demon died when we sucked out his mind. We were hoping that we could suck out his mind, examine it, get what we wanted, and then put it back. At the time, the device to look at his memories seemed like a futile effort. So, we sucked out his mind. Turns out that the mind is the soul. It makes sense, if you think about it, since memories really aren't a “function” of the brain. His body died without the soul, and despite all of our efforts, we couldn't put the two together. “

 

Yusuke took a step towards Koenma. “You mean to tell me we performed an experimental process on Kagome, which you were pretty sure she would just die of, when we needed her alive to trade for Keiko?”

 

Koenma took a step back. “Well, she seemed to be rather resistant to certain other things… certain things that made me think she might survive it being taken out. And, and her connection to Hiei might have kept her alive.” He backed up another step while looking down the hallway for a nearby ogre.

 

Kurama jerked to his feet. “You deliberately put Hiei at jeopardy without even asking?”

 

“Well, he kept denying it, so I figured it might just work better if he knew nothing about it…” Koenma backed into the wall.

 

“We could have kept an eye on him, you idiot! Why didn't you bother to bring him close by so we could make sure we weren't doing anything to him?”

 

“I forgot, okay! I forgot about him while watching to see what would happen to Kagome!”

 

Yusuke threateningly raised his fist. “You know, Koenma, it's a good idea to keep the people on your side in the loop.” He slammed his fist into the wall next to Koenma head. “A really good idea.”

 

Yusuke suddenly jerked away turning. He ran his hands through his hair. “This has to be the stupidest plan ever. How could we have thought this would work? It's not like we didn't tell him what we were going to do anyways. Right to the damn spider!”

 

Kurama turned towards the ranting detective. “Why hasn't Naraku done something? Why didn't he try to stop us? Threaten to kill Keiko? Stop the trade? He knew. So why not do something about it?”

 

Everyone looked at him.

 

“Jesus, he hasn't raised a single objection,” muttered Yusuke.

 

“He has to know,” declared Kuwabara. “He has to.”

 

“Which means,” continued Kurama, “he's planning this. We are playing into his hand. Somehow, we are doing what he wants.”

 

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