Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Freedom ❯ Chapter Thirteen ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter Thirteen

 

George, Koenma's chief ogre, was waiting for them when they reached the small room with the eager, tri-horned demon. Ariana threw the keys at him before he could open his mouth to ask for them. She had known that he would here be waiting for the keys and he had known that she would know.

 

“Thank you, Ariana-sama.” Said George, but he couldn't seem to look her in the eye while he said it. It seemed that even George, Koenma's ever-faithful servant, was ashamed of all that had happened and was still happening. He seemed to gather himself together before he addressed Yusuke and Hiei. Yusuke-sama, Hiei-sama, I am deeply sorry that I could not prevent Koenma-sama from acting as he did. I should have noticed his plans before he put them into play and stopped him.” George bowed deeply, nearly prostrating himself as he sought the forgiveness of the two men who had once worked for and sacrificed so much for his boss.

 

“Stop that now, you damnable weakling.” Said Hiei as he sneered to show his contempt for the display of weakness.

 

George looked up at Hiei for a split-second before running out of the room.

 

Ariana shut the door to the dungeon, its locking mechanism was automatic, and went out the other door into the hallways of the Reikei palace. They had a few more things to do before they could call it a day and go to bed. This day seemed to be getting longer and longer and the more they accomplished they more they seemed to have left to do.

 

The first of those things, though she had yet to so much as hint at it, was a trip to the armory to get Hiei a new katana if he found one that he liked. If all of the weapons in the armory were barely good enough to not have been thrown away by the people who had created them, as experience told her they would be, then Hiei would just have to wait. It was a good bet that several days would pass before there would be time to go to his favorite weapon's store or pick up a back-up that he had stashed somewhere.

 

This time Hiei did not realize what their destination was until they reached it and she opened the door and walked in. There were two large ogres guarding that door, but neither said a word when Ariana barged in. It was either a very intelligent act or one motivated by fear and terror but because an `intelligent ogre' was considered an oxymoron the first was far more likely then the second.

 

Hiei's eyes had immediately gone to the katana on the far side of the room, but he did not approach them.

 

“Go on, look at them, Hiei. If you find a katana you like consider it yours. If you don't then I'll see what I can do later.” Said Ariana.

Hiei looked the katana over carefully, passing over the vast majority of them without even touching them. Even the few that he did pick up were put back after a matter of seconds. The last one that he picked up seemed to hold up to Hiei's scrutiny rather well, but after a few experimental movements the blade fell away from the hilt, landing on the stone floor with a loud clanking sound. It had been the best of the lot and even it had fallen short of Hiei's standards.

 

“There's nothing but garbage here.” Said Hiei as he scowled at the broken katana.

 

“I'd expected as much, but my knowledge of such things is all but nonexistent so I couldn't be sure.” Said Ariana.

 

Hiei let the sword hilt fall from his hand as he turned toward Ariana. He was done here. Any katana that had not been checked by him would remain unchecked, because there would be no hidden gems to find in this room where garbage passed for weapons.

 

The walk to Ariana's apartment from the armory was the shortest they had taken that day and, not for the first time, Ariana felt like cursing the layout of the Reikei palace. Some days it seemed that there was not a single room whose location made sense.

 

Ariana hesitated at her door. Something was off. Someone she did not know had come and gone while they had been absent and whoever that person was they were quite powerful. She worried about what she could have done if that person had still been there, but put that worry aside. There was no sense in worrying over something that had not happened.

 

Inside the front room it was quite easy to see what their unexpected guest had left behind. There were two boxes on the couch, one was much larger then the other. On top of the larger box was an envelope and her name was written on it in her father's familiar handwriting. Ariana picked up the envelope, ignoring the scent of food coming from the larger box. Whatever it was that her father had deemed important enough to write down was certainly more important then her stomach. She quickly tore the envelope open so she could read it contents.

 

Ariana

The small box is filled with capsule boxes. They expand with the push of a button and hold far more then their current size would indicate. When one is full simply push the same button a second time and they will resume their current size and weight. I don't want o hear any complaints that you had to leave something behind. If you have not already figured out the contents of the larger box then you are no Saiyan. You had better be ready to go at eight. The Onna is already planning festivities, after the many times that I told her not to, and she and Kakarot's harpy of a wife will both be in a really bad mood if their plans are delayed. I do not want to sleep on the couch and you will be even more unhappy then I if that comes to pass.

Your Father

Vegeta

 

The part about the women nearly had Ariana laughing, but she did not. Who were these women to have such control over her father? She put the letter aside. She would meet these women tomorrow and then she would make sure that she learned why they felt that they could assume such liberties.

 

The food turned out to be a large variety of Chinese foods in paper cartons. Beneath the food were enough plastic bowls and chopsticks for everyone present. Ariana made sure that both Yusuke and Hiei had what they wanted before she filled her own bowl because no species that she had encountered could hold a candle to a Saiyan when it came to speed in eating. The last piece of food was an egg roll that Hiei and Yusuke were silently fighting over. One would reach for it with their chopsticks while the other would use their own chopsticks to block. Ariana was tempted to solve the argument by eating it herself, but decided not to. She grabbed the egg roll, tore it in half, and then gave one half to each of the two warring parties.

 

Packing was easy with the help of the capsule shaped objects that turned to enormous boxes at the push of a button. She had her walk-in closet emptied into one of those boxes in less then half an hour. She had folded nothing and had not removed a single piece of clothing from its hanger, merely removing them from the rod and throwing them in the box. She would deal with wrinkles later but only if they became a problem. The dresser had taken even less time then the closet; dumping the drawers into the box was quite the time saver. She had already set aside clothes for that night and the next day.

 

The rest of the stuff she wanted to take took even less time then the dresser. She thought about unplugging the alarm clock, but though better of it. She could pack it in the mourning after it woke her up. If she set it for six she would have plenty of time and there would be no risk of sleeping in.

 

When the packing was done she turned her attention to the bed and its bloodstained covers. It was true that the stain was small, but that was no excuse for being lazy enough to not changing them. She pulled the covers off the bed and threw them in a corner on the far side of the room and was happy to see that the blood had not stained the sheets. She brought in new covers she had taken from the small closet off of the front room and wasted no time using them to make the bed.

 

Ariana sat on the newly made bed with the feeling that she had forgotten something important. Something that should have been on her mind all day, but she had not a clue what that something was.

Yusuke and Hiei were standing against the wall, chances were it was so they wouldn't get trampled while she had been moving around and packing everything. Looking at them, or rather looking at Yusuke, was enough to remind her of what she had forgotten. No one knew what the effects of being in a different dimension then one's spirit beast was or even if there were any effects at all. Leaving Puu in this dimension could have no effect at all on Yusuke, but the chances that it would have an effect, most likely a bad one, were too real to be ignored. But was there time for a trip to the Ningenkai?

 

A glance at the clock answered that question. Even after all that had happened since breakfast it was only almost six o'clock. They wouldn't have much time for visiting, but in a case like this something had to be better then nothing and the next chance might not come for several weeks or months.

 

“Anybody up for a trip to the Ningenkai?” asked Ariana.

 

“After everything we've done today I can't believe that you're still coming up with new stuff.” Said Yusuke.

 

“We have a limited amount of time to do everything we need to do therefore it must be crammed into today. Besides, I highly doubt that you want to go to another dimension without Puu or without saying goodbye to any of your friends or your mother.” Said Ariana.

 

“Keiko's going to slap me for disappearing and I don't feel like being her punching bag.” Said Yusuke.

 

“The answer is easy. You need to learn to duck.” Said Ariana.

 

“That's easier said then done.” Said Yusuke.

 

“Only because you're too used to letting her hit you. If it were anyone else with the same power level you'd see it coming a mile a way and either duck or use it as a chance to launch n attack of your own.” Said Ariana. “And what about you, Hiei? Anywhere that you need to or want to go while we're in the Ningenkai?”

 

“The Fox keeps a spare katana for me at his place.” Said Hiei.

 

“Ok. That puts up to three places we need to go. Genkai's temple, wherever the heck Keiko is, and Kurama's place. Is there anywhere else that needs to be added to the list?” asked Ariana.

 

“I should apologize to Shizuru.” Said Yusuke.

“You mean you want her to beat you up for her little brother's death.” Said Ariana. “That is not going to happen. I don't care if she's grieving, I am not going to let her to beat you up just because you feel like you deserve it.”

 

“Why would you care if she did?” asked Yusuke.

 

“I don't know what the hell my sister told you that it means, but in my mind the fact that you are mine means that you are mine to protect and to keep safe even if it means protecting you from myself or yourself.” Said Ariana.

 

“But why?” asked Yusuke.

 

Ariana was tempted to give up on getting him to understand what she was telling him, but she was far too stubborn to give in to that temptation.

 

“Because I do.” Said Ariana. “If you want a better reason then that then I can't give it you because that reason does not exist.” That shut Yusuke up. One of these days someone was going to have to convince him to stop feeling so guilty for something that he could not have prevented, because at the rate he was going sooner or later he'd get himself killed. And he would do it despite the best efforts of both herself and Hiei. Yusuke was just too stubborn to give in on his need to suffer some penalty because of the way in which Kuwabara had died without quite a bit of time and one hell of a fight.