Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ After the Apocalypse ❯ AtA ( Chapter 1 )

Warnings: Angst ahead, character death, and yaoi. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, or AFI. The lyrics from one of their songs are incorporated into the story but it's NOT A SONGFIC!!

On AFI: It is an awesome band, but their best cd by far is `Sing the Sorrow'. This fic is based off of the second part of song #12 on that cd. Listen to it if you can, it nearly made me cry the first time. And the second voice there sounds freakishly like Yusuke.

so please read, enjoy, and review.

After the Apocalypse

Three lone figures raced through desolate streets of the once crowded city, desperate for some remaining sign of life. Not even a bird flew by overhead in the ash-ridden sky, and no chirp of familiar crickets broke the echoing silence, which therefore was only shattered by their harsh breathing and the girl's dry sobs.

The older looking man, with carrot orange hair bleeding slowly into silver, stopped suddenly as though he had run into an invisible wall left through the devastation, and let out a sharp gasp. The boy who looked much younger, only twenty at most despite his equaling fifty-six years of life, paused as well, large brown eyes going to his friend.

“Hey, Kuwabara, what's up? You sense something?”

“Don't need to,” he replied in a tight voice turned gravely by age. “Look up there.”

A blue-green haired girl, looking youngest of them all though she outnumbered them both considerably in years, took a gasp and grasped Kuwabara's arm as her garnet eyes spotted what he referred to.

In the center of the city, down past two streets of rubble that had once represented grand and vast concrete buildings, was a giant crater going down about ten meters deep and almost a hundred times that in length, yet this was not what had made the man stop.

Because snaking through the destruction and still fallen ash were dozens of thick vines, fully blooming with deep red and pink roses. The only life in the city.

For a moment they simply stood and stared at the beauty in the middle of the destruction, before the younger man ran a hand through his jet-black hair, and murmured, “Kurama,” before breaking into a run towards the crater.

“O-oniisan . . .” The girl added and raced off after him. Kuwabara allowed tears to spring to his small black eyes before following, for he was the only one who allowed himself to think what they all knew.

The roses, besides them, were the only things producing life in the city.

Running took longer than it once had for the older man, and by the time he reached the source of the vines he could already feel the pain radiating off of his companions in violent waves. He prepared himself for the worst.

Two bodies lay in the remnants of a crumbled building. Hardly a large number compared to the thousands that had died in the chaos around them, but these alone had forced the black haired boy to his knees and produced a small fortune of crystal tear gems from the girl, which were now scattered at her feet.

One body was small, with hair normally charcoal black and now almost white, covered by the pale, raining ash. Eyes of perfect garnet to match his sister's were closed peacefully, and his body was covered in a black cloak like a blanket.

The second form lay on his chest in the rubble, right hand reaching out to clutch the fabric of the cloak tightly even in death. Crimson hair fell down his back and mixed with the blood on his once white tunic, and his visible cheek bore three jagged scratches on the side.

While Hiei looked like a sleeping child, Kurama seemed a war victim.

Which fit well, as that's exactly what he was.

“Gods, we're too late.”

The brown-eyed boy turned to glare at his friend.

“No shit, you just figured that out now? The whole frickin' city's been destroyed.”

The girl knelt next to the two bodies, and raised her eyes, murmuring softly,

“Yusuke, Kazuma, please don't fight . . . not right here.” The carrot-top nodded.

“Of course, Yukina.” She gave him a watery smile, before returning her gaze to the bodies. She closed her eyes for a moment in silent prayer, and then leaned in to give her big brother a shaky kiss on the forehead. Then, leaning over to do the same to Kurama, her eye caught on something, and she pulled back.

“Kazuma, what's that?” Kuwabara, who had thus far been watching the girl to avoid looking at the bodies of his fallen comrades, reluctantly turned his gaze to the kitsune's left arm where Yukina had pointed. It was bent up to nestle his head in it safely almost like a pillow, and in his hand was clutched a small leather-bound notebook. Reaching out and silently apologizing to his old friend for disturbing his rest, he gently pried the book free from his grasp. Briefly, he noted a small black pen resting on the ground right next to him.

Unable to look at the book he held it out to Yukina, who took it tentatively. She bit her lip softly as she opened the cover carefully, as though afraid a harsher movement would break the precious artifact. Beside her, Yusuke leaned over, eyes damp, to see what the fox's book contained.

“It's a journal.” He whispered after a moment, frightened to speak louder than that and disturb to lifeless demons. The girl nodded, her dark eyes skimming the first page quickly.

“It seems that Kurama started this after the crisis began. It describes what happened to the city.”

Her gaze turned to the demons and then back to the book.

“I think . . . we need to read it.”

Yusuke nodded, reaching out to brush the bangs away from the redhead's closed eyes.

“We need to know how all of this happened. How they died . . .”

“It all happened so fast.” Kuwabara agreed. “No one even knows if it was a stray missile or a comet or what.” Yukina caught his eye and nodded resolutely. Taking a small breath she began to read out in a shaking voice from the first page, slowly with her limited knowledge of the written Japanese.

“We held hands on the last night on earth. Our mouths filled with dust, we kissed in the fields and under trees, screaming like dogs bleeding dark into the leaves.” Yusuke looked away, muddy brown eyes filling with a bitterness as well as sorrow, but Yukina took no notice and continued, voice growing stronger. “It was empty on the edge of town but we knew everyone floated along the bottom of the river.

“So we walked through the waste where the road curved into the sea, and shattered seasons lay, and the bitter smell of burning was on you like a disease. In our cancer of passion you said, `death is a midnight runner' . . .”

Kurama's Journal

Tears filled my eyes at the comment, and I held onto you more tightly, desperately, as I looked out into the rubble created from our city in a single flash of annoyance from the powerful S-class demon.

I cannot help but think that this is all our fault, yours and mine, my love. Had Koenma not agreed to break that single hole in his Kakai barrier to allow us to travel between the human and demon worlds this never could have happened. None of these people had done anything to warrant the horrible deaths inflicted on them, worse than the most horrible of ningen bombs.

The entire city was shattered like an image in a broken mirror, and every one of its inhabitants (the ones who had not immediately died) had raced to the oceans and lakes in attempts to stop the burning of their melting skin. Of course it was to no avail, and their mutilated corpses could be seen floating on the water's surface like plastic dolls that were placed in the summer sun for far too long. I almost wretched to look at them.

If not for your protective shield of ki we would be floating in the rivers with the rest.

For a moment you allowed me just to hold onto you like a lifeline, before leaning up to kiss me gently and then pull away. You actually walked up to the water to observe the extremity of the damage to a nearby corpse.

So calm, so cold, my love. Figure out the power of this S-class and then go to kill it. Unfortunately, I think by the damage of the city we could tell that we were already beaten. Though you yourself may possess S-class power as well I didn't think there was a way we could best someone who could destroy a city this large on a whim.

It is times like those then I wish my Yoko form hadn't faded as my human body slowly aged. There was a time when I was even able to change between the human and demon bodies on a whim, but too many years passed without me choosing a body to stay in and the choice was taken from my hands. My ningen form may still look twenty-five, but it was at the price of my Yoko essence.

Most times I'm more than happy with my ningen form, but at this, a time of war, I almost think I should have gone back to my previous form permanently. As it is I might be able to survive against our adversary long enough to hurt its foot as it absentmindedly crushes me.

Such is the difference between A and S class power.

It is as though you heard my hopeless thoughts, and perhaps you did, because you turned from the river and moved back to me, your body smelling of the ningen's burning flesh as you reached out to cup my cheek.

“Don't worry, fox. You won't need to face this thing at all. I'll destroy it before it gets a chance to touch you.”

You sounded so sure that even amidst this devastation I almost believed the words. My lip trembled and, smiling, I nodded and pulled you into a kiss.

If you wanted to believe that we had a chance I'd play along.

After all, that may very well have been the last night on earth.

After The Apocalypse

Yukina let out a stifled sob and stopped reading, shaking her head.

“I'm sorry, I can't. Please, someone else read it.”

The two boys caught each other's eyes, and slowly Yusuke nodded. More than anything he wanted to see the fox's last words, his final thoughts, and the thoughts of the one that had killed him . . . no matter how much it hurt him in the process.

Slowly, he took the notebook from Yukina's shaking hands, and steadied his own. Then he stood, closed his eyes briefly, before opening them once more and reading the second entry.

“The sky had come crashing down like the news of an intimate suicide. we picked up the shards and formed them into shapes of stars that wore like an antique wedding dress. The echoes of the past broke the hearts of the unborn as the ferris wheel silently slowed to a stop. The few insects skittered away in hopes of a better pastime.

“I kissed you at the apex of the maelstrom, and asked if you would accompany me in a quick fall. But you made me realize that my ticket wasn't good for two.” Yukina choked back a cry at his final words.

“I rode alone.”

Kurama's Journal

As the sun rose we turned our backs resolutely to the final dawn, and headed into the ruins of the city I'd for fifty-eight years called my home. Within the demon who had caused such destruction still dwelled, we could feel his energy radiating out like a beacon for us to follow.

And like moths to the deadly and alluring flame, follow we did.

Children's bikes lay half-melted in the streets, and the gardens and front lawns were completely incinerated so that all that was left were desolate and empty dirt. If this were someone's first view of the city they'd have thought it built on a desert.

You know that times are bad when you begin to become grateful that the demon decided only to test his power by massacring one city's inhabitants. By the ease of the destruction it could have clearly done more. Yet it seemed that our prey did have a twisted sense of humor, for our hunt led us to the remains of an amusement park.

It's one that I spent much time at as a child, riding on the carousel with Shiori, and later taking Shuuichi on the weekends. He always enjoyed the rickety ferris wheel best. It seems that all of his complaining that despite how it looked it was perfectly safe was justified, for out of the entire park it is one of the few things still standing, the metal seats blowing softly in the wind.

I clutched your arm more tightly. You looked at me and gave me a rare smile, and then you left my side forever.

In the center of the park, sitting casually at the base of the wheel I'd ridden a hundred times, was the creature that had ended all the joy of this park forever.

It seemed to be waiting for something, and as you stepped forward it grinned through a mouth of jagged yellow teeth and stood.

Yes, it seemed that it had been awaiting someone to challenge it.

You flared your ki, and I flinched, closing my eyes. Had your yoki filled this city, Hiei, this demons would have covered the whole of the Makai. Your normally overwhelmingly impressive energy was overshadowed to look like a burning candle next to the sun.

You knew that and yet you didn't pause.

“I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone worth battling in this world,” the creature hissed, and shook his leathery head condescendingly. “And I guess not if you're all these ningen could send.”

His eyes traveled away from Hiei to rest on me, and I cringed at the remorseless yellow eyes.

“What's this supposed to be? A prize? It is rather pretty, for a half-breed ningen.”

Your ki flared again, more violently, and I caught a glint of amusement on the monster's eyes. He was trying to goad you into attacking blindly, Hiei, why did you let a single crude joke towards me be the cause of your death?

Without further wait you attacked, not heeding my cry to stop. If you thought up a plan there's a chance you could have won, but he had angered you too much with the destruction of my city and the thought of me in his captivity.

I drew my whip to do what I could to help, but a quick look from you stopped me in my tracks.

I'd have died in an instant had I attacked, we both knew that without a doubt. Yet I still wish I'd chosen that fate rather than heeding your pleading gaze and letting you fight alone.

It was all to protect me, and your dragon wounded it enough to make it retreat, but not before it struck you down in a blow that caused you to fall instantly.

Tears raced down my cheeks like a river as I ran to you, knowing even as I did that it was too late to help. Your chest held a wound too big for even the long gone Genkai to mend, and the life in your eyes was ebbing even as I knelt by your side and called your name frantically.

Your unfocused gaze fell on my, and you reached out blindly for my right hand, where the bands that proclaimed our undying love lay. The two rings touched like a kiss of the gemstones, and you shook your head softly, murmuring perhaps the first apology you've ever spoken.

It only made me cry harder, for I knew it would thus be your last.

And then your eyes left me to stare up at the sky, fingers still laced with mine, and you said,

“The cinders are falling like snow.”

ATA

Yusuke's eyes drifted away from the page, and he dropped the book, falling to his knees. Reaching out, he slowly pulled Kurama's grip free of the cloak and cupped it in his for a moment, before reaching down and grabbing Hiei's right wrist, placing them both together once more. The silver rings brushed against each other with a soft clink.

Carefully he threaded the fingers together as described, and then fell back to sit cross-legged, just staring blankly at the entwined fingers.

Without a word, Kuwabara took up the book and found his place.

“You said, `the cinders are falling like snow.'

“There is poetry in despair, and we sang with unrivaled beauty, bitter elegies of savagery and elegance. Of blue and gray. Strange, we ran down desperate streets and carved our names and carved our names in the flesh of the city.

“The sun had stagnated somewhere beyond the rim of the horizon, and the darkness is a mystery of curves and lines. Still, we lay under the emptiness and drifted slowly outward.”

Kurama's Journal

I lay for hours by your side, until every tear I could possibly cry had fallen and my insides felt as dry as the desert this city had become. You rest on, unaware of my sorrows, and seeming as carefree as a child deep in slumber.

“If you slumber, Hiei, please wake. I don't think I can face this nightmare alone.”

You never heeded my pleas, and finally, when your hair had turned as white as the cinders you'd last spoken of, I stood and turned away.

Your battle with the demon left a mark in the Ningenkai that will exist for years to come, my love. What had once been level ground holding shattered memories of my childhood was now an unrecognizable crater a kilometer wide and over ten meters deep. At first it seemed that nothing remained, the Ferris wheel had been devoured by your dragon in it's wild rage, and the stands and booths were long since gone.

As though to spite me, however, a single blackened carousel horse still remained in the ash white earth. Perhaps it was even the same one I had so childishly insisted on riding every time we went on the ride. My favorite, a gorgeous snow-white stallion with charcoal black mane.

Twice I almost turned back as I left, to gaze at your resting form once more. Yet I resisted the desire, knowing that if I did I would lose all will to leave and return to your side until the world's very ending.

The time would come for us to rest together, my love, but not before I did what I could to stop this new menace from doing other cities, and to other lovers, what it had so carelessly done here and to us.

Briefly as I walked my thoughts turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara, who long years ago had fought by our side to avert more than one apocalypse. Perhaps off in their new towns, with their new families and new lives, they were hearing of the destruction right now on the television. Perhaps their eyes were just now going wide with shock as the broadcaster announced the obliteration of the city they had once called home. Perhaps they were already on their way to help.

I did not dwell on those thoughts for too long. If they did come then it would be too late.

Only I remained in this city, and I was going to my death.

The sun seemed to have abandoned me along with my hope, yet the moon and stars refused to show themselves through the smoke and dust that fill the sky.

Perhaps last night truly was the final one on this earth.

The thought held an eerie comfort to it as I trudged on towards my wounded foe. I had no qualms about attacking an injured demon like this. My hurt went far deeper than any you could have caused it, though I do hope your sword and dragon did enough damage for me not to be crushed in a heartbeat.

It indeed seemed so, for after several minutes of walking I found the demon crouching in the remains of what had once been an old warehouse. Maybe it was even your own, through the crumbled pillars and walls I can no longer tell anything apart.

The demon's wounds must indeed have been extensive, for it was too busy tending to them to be aware of my approach.

And that's the only explanation I can find for my narrow victory, for in every other aspect: speed, strength, and spirit energy my foe clearly had the advantage. If your spirit energy could saturate the city, Hiei, you know mine would perhaps be enough to fill an apartment building.

Yet I had him surprised, and I had my grief to empower me. I used my single advantage to the best of my ability.

It seemed that my best was good enough.

Vines riddled the once lifeless streets and were burned away quickly by the demon's power. Once I planted a death seed into one of the wounds you'd given him, though, even he could do nothing against my victory.

I didn't even notice my own deadly injury until he fell still and silent. Perhaps I should then have chosen to stay where I was and allowed myself to heal. Perhaps the wounds I bore on their own weren't quite mortal, but being the sole survivor of this city had never been an appealing idea in my mind, and if I were to die, Hiei, we'd always promised it would be side by side. Only together would I be able to rest, my love, side by side as we have always been.

So I stumbled away from the fallen demon and back to where you waited impatiently for my return.

Too much blood had been lost, too much yoki drained. Were my determination to be with you not so strong I've no doubt I'd have fallen long before, but even on my hands and knees I continued to crawl toward your distant form. Nothing mattered, my love, but reaching you through this ruin. Finally, after centuries of crawling I made it past all of the twisted I-beams and the lone carousel horse to rest by your side.

Even as I write out these words that I know you can never read I find myself drifting away from my paper and pen, falling and flying closer to you. My vision blurs until I cannot read out my own words, and soon, I know, I'll have to stop.

With all of the experiences I've had with death one would think I'd be a bit less terrified of what lies after Spirit World. What kind of hell will I have to endure for my countless crimes as Yoko? Will paradise await me for what I managed to do here, on this night that is not a night?

But I do know one thing that awaits me off in that unknown, Hiei, for we've agreed that we would reunite on the other side. Because of that knowledge the unknown that awaits me is a bit less terrifying. We triumphed here, my love, despite the odds laid against us.

ATA

The elder man closed his eyes briefly as he choked out the last line.

“And somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation scratched into the earth like a message.”

Slowly, the book was closed, and lain back into its rightful place in Kurama's hand. Not a word was spoken, for, really, what was there left to say?

And as in the distance the first tentative police helicopters began to approach the scene of destruction from the nearby city of Mushiori, the three living souls left among the rubble stood above their ash covered saviors, and cried.

Finis