Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Uprising ❯ Beginning of Hell ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

(Disclaimer:  I do not own Yami no Matsuei or Yu Yu Hakusho.)

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A few weeks passed without much incident.  Koenma had given them nothing to go on, so they had to do this on their own.

At Meiou Academy, the bells rang for the end of the class day.  “Please make your way home, and we’ll see you in the morning,” the PA system sounded.

Viola put her books into her bag.  “I can’t believe there’s so much homework,” she complained.

“You just want to spend time with Shuichi, don’t you?” Chloe teased, careful to use Kurama's human name in public.

Viola blushed.  “Well... h-he is rather cute,” she admitted.  “But we’re in the middle of a mission, and I can’t do that.”

Chloe shook her head.  “You’re no fun,” she pouted.

“Come on, we better go find him,” Viola said as the two left the classroom.

Within minutes, they headed down to the front gate of the school, where Kurama was waiting.

"Sorry we're late," Chloe said.  "Viola was daydreaming again."

"I was not!" Viola protested.

Kurama shook his head.  Girls and their silly conversations...  "Well, let's get going," he said.

The threesome walked off of the school grounds, the girls chatting about how they hadn't found anything in the investigation while Kurama stayed silent, keeping his guard up.

Then, he sensed it and stopped himself and the girls in their tracks.  The girls sensed it as well.  They walked into the alley and were cornered by three demons, two blue and one orange.  The orange one had a horn on his head.

“Don’t get into things you don’t understand,” one of the blue demons said.

The orange one smiled at the girls.  “Well, well... don’t they look good enough to eat?”

“I have dibs on the silver haired one...” The other blue demon said before they lunged at the trio.

The girls took a stance while Kurama simply and calmly pulled a rose out of his long crimson mane.  Kurama shook it out in front of them, creating a long, thorny whip.  As the demons advanced, Kurama skillfully snapped the whip and sliced the three demons across their shoulders.

Viola looked up at Kurama, unsure whether she should speak or not.

Chloe, though...  “That was so freaking cool!” she said.

Kurama calmly turned the whip back into a rose before he put it back into his hair.  “Are you two all right?” he asked them as he turned to face them.

Viola’s voice finally came back.  “Y-Yeah, we’re fine,” she answered, blushing gently.

“Better than fine,” Chloe said.  “That was freaking awesome!”

Viola sweatdropped, as did Kurama.

Kurama walked up to the slayed demons and looked at one of their blue necks.  “Take a look at this,” he said.

The girls walked over to where Kurama stood.  Amidst the blood from the demons, their bodies were sliced in half from their shoulders.

“There’s a tattoo of some sort on their necks,” Kurama said, pointing at one of the necks.

Viola looked at the other blue neck.  There was kanji for the word “Pride” on its neck.

Chloe took out her cell phone and snapped a picture of another of the demons, which had “Envy” tattooed on its orange neck.  “Oh, this is creepy.”

Kurama looked at the one he was next to.  “This one has ‘Sloth’ written on it,” he said.

“What could all that mean?” Viola asked as Chloe came by and snapped a picture of each of the demons’ necks.

“We should talk to Koenma,”Kurama answered.

“Pride, Envy, and Sloth all have to do with something,” Viola said, looking at Chloe’s cell phone.

Kurama looked at the girls.  “Let’s go.”  With that, the threesome made their way to Spirit World.  Something was NOT right.

Meanwhile, at Ukai Toriyama, Andrea felt a jolt in her head, making her drop her pen.

“Andrea?” Miyuki asked her.  She looked merely twenty with black hair and sweet looking brown eyes.  She wore a pink yukata with a crane pattern and a white tied belt around her waist.  “What’s wrong?”

Andrea blinked, reaching down to get her pen.  “Oh, it’s nothing,” she answered.  “I’m fine.”

“You had me worried,” Miyuki replied.  “You just looked like someone kicked you in the face.”

Andrea felt another jolt and this time it made her stand up.

“Andrea?”

Andrea looked at her coworker.  “Um, could you watch over my stuff here?” she asked.  “I need to get some air.”

“Yeah, sure,” Miyuki answered, sitting down in the chair.

Andrea nodded her head before she went to the front of the restaurant and putting on her geta sandals.  She felt something get closer.  A demon?  Andrea thought.  No… I have to keep it away from here.  She stepped out of the restaurant and looked around, her sapphire eyes open and on alert.  “It’s close,” she said to herself as she walked towards a private area of the land near the restaurant.  She pulled one of her fans out from under the back of her tied belt and fanned herself, appearing to passersby that it was simply warm outside.

“Nice weather today, isn’t it?” Andrea asked one woman.

The woman nodded.  “Yes,” she answered.  “I could do without the heat myself.”

Andrea smiled.  “All right, you have a good day,” she said.

“You, too,” the woman said and left with a few of her friends from work.

Andrea plastered the smile on her face as she watched them leave.  Once they were out of sight, her expression turned serious.  A demon attacking near her workplace… if she didn’t stop it soon, she’d risk being discovered at work.  And she couldn’t have anyone, much less Tsuzuki, know where she worked.  And what would be worse than that?  Innocent deaths on her conscience.

Once she knew no one would see her, the tips of her fan glowed with her Spirit Energy.  “All right, “Andrea said, standing nearly an acre away from the restaurant’s rooms themselves.  “I don’t have time for games.”

A demon, this one almost as dark as bark of a Japanese maple tree, stood in front of her, smiling almost like the Cheshire Cat.  “Mmmm… a little girl like you all by yourself…”

Andrea stood her ground, holding her fan tighter in her hand.  “You’re getting on my nerves,” she said.  “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone here.”

The demon laughed, a tattoo of “Wrath” in kanji written on his neck.  “You’re in no position to give orders, little girl,” he said, walking closer to her.

The look in her sapphire eyes blazed at the second “little girl” remark.  “No… but do you know what I’m in a position to do?” she asked.  Andrea had done this sort of thing for years, and not much scared her anymore.

The demon didn’t have much time to react, since Andrea had already slashed at his chest with one of her bladed fans.  “You little bitch!” he growled before he ran for her.

Andrea jumped over him and slammed the now-closed fan into his neck, causing the demon to fall to the ground.  Andrea’s breath hitched in her throat as she pulled out the fan before she tilted her head and looked at the side of his neck.  “Wrath?” she asked, pulling out her fans.  “What is going on here?”  She was thankful that her yukata was a dark blue and that there wasn’t any damage on it.  Then there would have been problems.  “Better get back to work.  I’ll deal with Koenma later.”  With that, she left the area and headed back to the restaurant.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka, in the meantime, were walking down a road, sensing a demonic presence that, by now, had disappeared.  The blond looked at his partner, who had stopped at a restaurant.  “Tsuzuki, you already ate this morning,” he said.

“I know,” Tsuzuki answered.  “But it smells so good…”

Hisoka smacked his forehead with his palm.  Typical Tsuzuki… food over a case.  He felt himself being dragged along like a puppy on a leash.  Except this time the puppy was dragging Hisoka instead of the other way around.

Hisoka blinked as they reached the main room of the restaurant.  There was a girl working there at the reservation table, wearing a dark blue yukata and her long hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“Hello,” Miyuki said to the pair, bowing.  She was nowhere near the girl Hisoka had been looking at. This one wore a pink yukata with large flowers on it. “Welcome to Ukai Toriyama.”

While the older Guardian was mentally thinking of his supposed menu, Hisoka shook his head at him.  “Do you know of a young woman about this tall?” he asked Miyuki, gesturing with his hand.  “With blue eyes?”

“Oh, you must mean Andrea,” Miyuki said, smiling.  “Yes, she’s here.  I’ll get her, just wait here a second.”

Tsuzuki blinked at hearing Andrea’s name.  “She works here?” he asked.

Before Hisoka could answer…

“No, I come here to look good for men so they can ask me out.  What do you think?” Andrea asked from the doorway.

The pair looked at the auburn-haired girl as she stepped down and slipped on a pair of geta sandals.  Andrea wasn’t too thrilled with anyone showing up to her work, obviously.  “How did you know where I worked?” she asked, looking up at them.

“We were just in the neighborhood,” Tsuzuki said, halfway paying attention, halfway stunned from the change in attire.  Andrea was never known for wearing anything so traditional.

Andrea held a hand to her face.  Oh, boy… he sure was as tenacious as Hisoka had warned her.  “All right,” she said.  “I’ll find us a room to talk in.”

Mia and Miyuki looked at the trio walking off.

“Wow… I didn’t know Andrea had two boyfriends…” Mia said quietly.

“Ooooh, the taller one is so cute,” Miyuki answered.

“I’d like to take the blond one off her hands for her,” Mia whispered.

“Mia, you already have a boyfriend.”

“Well… what’s another harmless crush?” Mia said while Miyuki practically dragged her back inside the restaurant.

The duo followed Andrea down a path, walking over a bridge with brightly colored fish in the water below.  Hisoka walked and looked around.  It looked rather nice and peaceful; it was somewhere that almost didn’t suit Andrea at all.  The Japanese maples were beautiful, the leaves almost as green as his eyes.  Tsuzuki, though… was impressed.  It looked almost like out of a history book.  So much nature and the water wheel made him think of the days of old… now he wanted to stay here.

“All right, guys,” Andrea said, leading them inside the room before shutting the door.  The trio took off their shoes and stepped up before they sat at the table, the Guardians on one side and Andrea on the other.  “What is this about?  Really?”

“Nothing gets past you, does it, Andrea?” Tsuzuki asked her.

“When you’ve been at this a long time, you know it’s more than a simple social call,” Andrea answered, crossing her arms against her chest.

Hisoka sat up straight, his arms crossed over his chest.  “It’s not,” he answered.  “It’s about that demon you tended to.”

“How did you know that?” Andrea asked him.

“Your hair’s slightly disheveled, Andrea,” Hisoka answered, watching Andrea blink at him.  “With your likely line of work, your hair wouldn’t be messed up to that point.”

“So, you’re a mind reader,” Andrea said, fixing her ponytail.

“Empath,” Hisoka replied.

Andrea shrugged.  “Close enough.”  She looked at the Guardians intently.  “About that… I saw a tattoo on its neck.  ‘Wrath’ in kanji, to be exact.”

“Wrath?  Could that be from a gang of demons?” Tsuzuki asked her.

“Hell if I know,” Andrea answered.  “I’d go to Spirit World and ask that toddler, but I can’t leave here for another hour or so.”

“We’ll go if he needs to see us before you get off work,” Hisoka offered.

“What if she gets off early?” Tsuzuki asked.

“Not likely,” Andrea answered.  “And I don’t exactly get off whenever I want to for demon ass-kicking.”  She looked at the two Guardians.  “So, what are you two going to do in the meantime?”

“We could stay here,” Tsuzuki answered.

“You just ate three hours ago!” Hisoka protested, glaring at his partner.

Andrea shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.  “For an hour?  Seriously?”

“You know he won’t leave here,” Hisoka said, looking at the now puppy-looking Guardian beside him, who was now looking at the menu.  “He told me he doesn’t like you walking home alone.”

“Well, here’s an idea:  you can stick around and Tsuzuki can go if Koenma needs to talk to anyone,” Andrea said.  “That way, I’m not alone here, and if something happens here before Tsuzuki can get back, you can warn me.”

Tsuzuki’s puppy-like whining stopped her.

“I’ll go,” Hisoka volunteered.   “Just be warned that he’ll probably run up a high bill while I’m gone.”

“He does, I’m not paying,” Andrea answered.  “I’ll do the ordering.  That way, I’ll use my discount.”

“Sounds good,” Hisoka answered, looking at Tsuzuki’s puppy tail wagging happily.  It sure didn’t take much to keep him at bay; that was for sure.  “I’ll let you know what I’ve found out.”  With that, Hisoka teleported out of the room, leaving Andrea alone with the puppified Guardian.

“I got to head back to work,” Andrea said.  “Just try not to cause any trouble for an hour.”

“I won’t,” Tsuzuki answered.

I’ve heard that before, Andrea thought to herself as she stood up from the table.  “Right,” she said aloud as she moved to the door.  “I’ll be back in about an hour.  Don’t start anything stupid.”

“You have my word.”

“Good to know,” Andrea answered before she opened the door.

“Andrea?”

Andrea looked back at Tsuzuki, who had now looked like normal.  “Yeah?”

“You look really pretty in that.”

Andrea blinked before she nodded her head.  “Thanks,” she answered before she walked out of the room and closed the door.  She moved her back to the door and took a deep breath before she headed back to the main building.

Meanwhile, at Spirit World, Hisoka met up with Kurama and the other two girls.  Koenma, in his baby form, sat in his chair.

“Hisoka?”  Chloe asked.  “Where’s Andrea?”

“She’s working right now; Andrea can’t get away at the moment,” he answered, his hands in his jeans pockets.  “She told me to tell her what’s going on for her.”

“Just as well,” Koenma answered them from his chair.  He pressed a button, the screen showing the kanji on one side and the pictures taken by Viola on the other side.  “They encountered a trio of demons earlier today.”

“We’re fine,” Viola added.

Hisoka nodded.  Like he needed to be told that.  He already knew.  “And these were on their necks?” he asked.

“Yes,” Koenma answered.  “There’s Pride, Envy, and Sloth on their necks.”

“Andrea encountered one herself called Wrath.”

Kurama blinked hearing Andrea’s name.  A demon at her workplace?  “Was she harmed?” he asked him.

“No, Andrea’s fine,” Hisoka answered.  He noticed that Kurama had bristled at the mention of her name and blinked.  Kurama’s emotions about Andrea were complex, to say the least; whether he cared for her as a friend or as something more, he couldn’t figure out.  Something obviously had happened between them.  What, he didn’t know.  Yet.

“So, there’s Wrath, Sloth, Envy, and Pride,” Chloe said.  “Think it’s a gang or something?”

“I don’t know,” Koenma answered.  “I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

Meanwhile, at Ukai Toriyama, Tsuzuki heard the door open.  “Andrea, you’re off already?” he asked as he looked up from the chicken skewer he had in his hand.  In front of him at the door was not Andrea.  It was Tatsumi.  And the secretary was not a happy one.

“Already spending over your limit again?” Tatsumi asked him.

“No, no… Andrea ordered it.”

Tatsumi pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, silently praying to the Gods that he didn’t convince Andrea to spend HER money on him now.  “So… this Andrea, she’s the one you are staying with?”

Tsuzuki nodded.

“And you’re eating instead of working?”

“Well, I can’t leave her here by herself, Tatsumi,” Tsuzuki answered.  “A demon was spotted here.”

“Andrea handled it on her own,” Tatsumi answered.  “She can take care of herself.”  He looked at his former partner.  “Tsuzuki, I know you worry about her, but you can’t simply interfere with her life like this.”

“I’m not interfering,” he answered.  “Hisoka and I were in the neighborhood and we wanted to see if Andrea was all right.”

Tatsumi would have answered, if he didn’t hear footsteps heading to the room.

“Tsuzuki?  You better have been behaving in there…”  The door slid open, and Andrea blinked at the pair.  The other male in the room, Andrea hadn’t seen before.  He had glasses over his deep blue eyes and unlike Tsuzuki, this guy looked put together.

“U-Um, Andrea, this is Tatsumi…” Tsuzuki said from the table.

Tatsumi looked at the aforementioned girl in the room.  She looked like a teenager, no more than seventeen, her auburn hair up in a ponytail with a pair of jeans and a three-quarter sleeve smock top.  In all aspects, she looked like a teenager on break from school.  He silently hoped that Tsuzuki would keep his hands to himself.  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, bowing to her.

Andrea bowed at him in response.  “Same here,” she answered before both straightened back to their full heights.

“I was his partner before he partnered with Kurosaki,” Tatsumi said.

“Partner?” Andrea asked, raising an eyebrow.  “You mean sexually or…”

Both Tsuzuki and Tatsumi looked at each other, their faces paling from the rather sudden question.  How a seventeen year old knew about something so adult, neither of them wanted to know.

“No no!  Nothing like that!  Really!” Tsuzuki answered, his face now red from embarrassment.  He waved his hands in front of him.

“Geez, sorry I asked,” Andrea said, raising her eyebrow at the pair.  So much more she’d have to learn…

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(Sorry for the long wait.  I had exams to deal with.  I’ll try to write more as I’m off for almost two weeks until the start of Fall Semester.  Thanks for reading and being patient with me.)