Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Freedom ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

 

By the time that Ariana, Yusuke, and Hiei had finished their late lunch two thing were clear. The first was that Yusuke needed a good, long sparing session. It wouldn't be the solution to his problems but it would help him release some of his pent up frustration and anger. Bringing Hiei in to it would give similar benefits to the Koorime hybrid. The second was that browbeating Koenma into letting Yusuke and Hiei speak to Kuwabara would be a good idea but only if she managed to tire Yusuke enough that he would not try to beat the toddler-sized Reikei Prince to a bloody pulp.

 

Ariana quickly gathered the many empty dishes that covered the surface of the small table as she rose from her seat. If she did not at the very least put them in the dishwasher then she'd likely never ever hear the end of it from her twin.

 

“Anybody want to spar?” asked Ariana as she turned to face the room. Neither Yusuke nor Hiei answered. It was quite unexpected but she knew how to handle the situation.

 

“I can't believe that I'm hearing this, or rather not hearing anything from you two.” Said Ariana as she gave both Hiei and Yusuke a disapproving look. “How am I to teach the two of you anything at all, much less the really cool things like how to fly despite the fact that neither of you are wind elementals, if you won't even spar with me?”

 

“Flying?” asked Yusuke. “You've got to be kidding.”

 

“I'm being completely serious. Anyone and I really do mean anyone with enough ki or youki can learn how to do it.” Said Ariana. “By the time I'm done with the two of you, you'll be able to fly circles around Jin and show him how slow his flying method really is.”

 

“Not even the old hag can do that.” Said Yusuke, clearly referring to the psychic master Genkai who had given him his initial training in martial arts. “I'm in.”

 

“Hn.” Was Hiei's monosyllabic reply.

 

“Then let's get going. We're going to need more room then there is in the front room if we want to do this right.” Said Ariana.

 

She led them down several hallways and up many flights of stairs before they reached a room that seemed impossibly large, seeming to stretch out into the horizon and beyond.

 

The moment she faced him, Hiei made the first move and she blocked his attack with ease. That seemed to be all the invitation that Yusuke needed to turn it into a two on one spar with both him and Hiei teaming up against Ariana.

 

Hiei tried adding an element of fire to his attacks but Ariana kept the flames away by using her own energy as a shield that incidentally also deflected several rei gan attacks by Yusuke.

 

After seeing all of his attacks fail. Yusuke kicked his fighting up a few notches, allowing his demonic blood to take over, changing his form and making his power sky rocket. Ariana smiled as Hiei also tapped into more power, even if he did not switch to the alternate form that his jagan eye gave him. It was definantly a smart move because, despite the slight power-boost that the alternate form gave him, the many eyes that opened on his body were a distinct disadvantage in close quarters combat.

 

The new battle continued at that pace for a good half-hour until Hiei began to unravel the wards that held his Dragon in check. Ariana quickly appeared at Hiei's side, grabbing his arm to prevent him from continuing. Before speaking she reached behind her and grabbed the youki-charged fist that Yusuke was attempting to punch her with.

 

“We do not have enough time to wait for you to recover after your attack expires, Hiei.” Said Ariana. Hiei looked up at her, a defiant gleam in the depths of his blood-red eyes. Ariana smiled at him. It was good to see that his fighting spirit was alive and well. “Besides when we're done here I was considering browbeating Koenma into letting the two of you talk to Kuwabara and I do think you'll want to be awake for that.”

 

Hiei relented and when he tried to pull his arm out of her grip she let him, turning towards Yusuke so the Koorime hybrid could rewrap the wards he had partially removed.

 

Once Hiei rejoined the battle things continued for at least another hour and would likely have continued on beyond that but boredom began to take its toll on Ariana. It was something she found a way around rather quickly. The next time that Yusuke began to charge one of his attacks she quickly moved behind him and began tickling him, making the brown-eyed fighter quickly lose his concentration as he dissolved into laughter. Hiei attempted to take advantage of Ariana's concentration on Yusuke but was himself caught in the same situation when Ariana's left arm snaked out and grabbed him the instant he was close enough. Mere moments later, Hiei was also laughing.

 

About two minutes later Yusuke managed to speak despite his intense laughter.

 

“Please…stop.” Said Yusuke.

 

Ariana stopped but quickly wrapped an arm around both Yusuke and Hiei to support them while they caught their breath, but once that happened she turned them loose only to have Hiei turn around and glare at her. Yusuke didn't exactly look happy either.

 

“Boredom is both mother and father to battle strategies that your opponents will not only not see coming but also be completely surprised by.” Said Ariana as she grinned at them. “Beside tickling can be useful because the laughter prevents them from attacking you while making them short of breath and giving you time to catch your own.”

 

There was no change in the way that Yusuke and Hiei were looking at her so she continued.

 

“Ok. I made all of that up as I said it, but it was still really funny to me.” Said Ariana. That seemed to mollify Yusuke a bit but if anything Hiei was glaring at her even harder.

 

Ariana took a step towards Hiei; closing the distance and forcing him to tilt his head back so he could continue glaring at her. She kissed him, watching as the anger in his crimson eyes changed to surprise and his lips began to move against hers. It was pleasant, but the taste of his lips was addictive and she wanted, needed more. Pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around him was a start but she had a better idea.

 

Slowly, she ran her tongue across Hiei's bottom lip silently asking for more and receiving it when he opened his mouth for her. She explored his mouth thoroughly, finding the taste of him to be every bit as wonderful on the inside as it was on the outside and loving the way that his tongue moved against hers. When it was over she still wanted more, but she could wait because she knew that there would be a next time.

 

Yusuke was staring at them with a confused look in his brown eyes, though more at Ariana then Hiei and she was oh so tempted to ask him if he wanted a kiss too. To her, the taste of his skin was every bit as wonderful as Hiei's, but were she knew that Hiei would be at the very least a semi-willing participant she knew that such an act would just make Yusuke panic and that would be no fun at all.

 

The temptation to sigh was great but Ariana ignored it as kissed the top of Hiei's head and turned him loose.

 

“I guess it's time for some Koenma-bashing.” Said Ariana. “If we're lucky we'll get the double satisfaction of not only causing him great annoyance but also delay his work so he'll have to work overtime so he won't suffer his father's wrath.”

 

Yusuke seemed to perk up at the idea of getting some revenge on Koenma for his current situation but said nothing. She hadn't really expected a reply from Hiei and was not surprised when the Koorime hybrid kept his silence.

 

The path to Koenma's office was longer then the walk to the room that they had spared in and they ended up going down even more flights of stairs then they had gone up.

 

The multi-colored ogres in the gigantic room outside Koenma's office were as busy as ever. Some shouted out their demands for this or that piece of paperwork, while others bemoaned the increased paperwork they would have to fill out because someone had died ahead of schedule, and even more griped and bitched about the way the schedule showed a marked increase in the number of deaths they would have to process in the coming week. To the uninformed it looked like chaos but that was deceptive because despite appearances it was one of the most well ordered places in all three realms.

 

Despite their level of industry the ogres quickly moved out of the way as Ariana led Yusuke and Hiei through the maze created by the thousands upon thousands of desks that filled the room. Several of the ogres mumbled complaints, but the words were unintelligible or in Makai languages so old that not even Youko Kurama had ever heard them spoken or even mentioned as dead languages.

 

They had almost reached the door when one of the ogres, far more bold then any of the others, made a comment about how Koenma did not meet with gay people and how he sent those people to limbo where they belonged. Barely a heartbeat later Hiei had that ogres neck firmly in his grip, squeezing so tightly that his knuckles turned white and it was a miracle that the ogres neck had not been broken.

 

The nearby ogres began the call for Ariana to save their colleague and soon it seemed as though there was not a single ogre who had not joined in. Ariana ignored their call, watching the intense anger in Hiei's crimson eyes as he punched his victim, a neon pink ogre, in the gut. A dark blue ogre attempted to intervene on behalf of the neon pink ogre but Ariana quickly blocked him off and threw him across the room with what had to seem, to the watching ogres, as excessive force.

 

Silence began to spread with as much speed as the call to save the neon pink ogre who had acted in such a stupid manner. They knew well the consequences of incurring her wrath or of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was even mildly annoyed with any of them or anyone else. Most of them quickly went back to their work, giving the are were things were happening a wide-berth as they went about their duties for that shift.

 

The neon pink ogre was trying to make Hiei loosen his one-handed grip but his pathetic attempts failed time and time again and with each one his eyes seemed to bulge out from his eye sockets more and more. Hiei ended it with one last punch to the trapped ogres stomach and released him then smirked as he watched the ogre fall to the ground, struggling for the air that had been denied him while Hiei had strangled him.

 

When the neon pink ogre finally began to struggle to his feet some time later, Yusuke and Hiei exchanged a look, Hiei shrugging his shoulders ever so slightly as though he were responding to something in Yusuke's look.

 

Once the neon pink ogre was back on his feet, Yusuke walked over to him and in quick succession gave him a vicious punch to the gut, exactly where Hiei had landed his own blows, and an equally vicious kick to the groin causing the neon pick ogre to fall back to the ground in even more distress then Hiei had left him in. The pain-filled scream that was heard when the neon pink ogre once again caught his breath had Yusuke grinning and increased the satisfaction that could be seen in Hiei's smirk.

 

“Done? I think he's learned his lesson rather thoroughly and, while I'd usually not be in such a hurry, we really do have better things to do with our time then to kick his ass for his homophobic remarks.” Said Ariana even as she grinned at the effects of both Hiei's and Yusuke's actions.