Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Aoitsuki Yurai ❯ Order of Mysteries w/ A Side of Trouble ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Shinzui returns home after a few days and ends up eavesdropping on a conversation between her father and some scientists. She discovers some strange books in her father's home office and decides to sneak out with some of them. Distressed from one of the entries, Shinzui gets comfort the most unlikely person until somebody appears to cause trouble, but someone stops them... WHO?

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.29.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 194 | Status: Completed

Disclaimer: All Yu Yu Hakusho characters and stuff belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. All the original characters and stuff belong to me. 
 
A/N: Yay! ^_^ I finally got this finished! I'm so happy. This is a chapter packed full of action and discoveries! It's going to be great. In our last chapter, There was batty trouble, Botan came to visit, and Shinzui revealed that she had a memory problem. Plus Kouken got a work out ^_^ hehe. Enjoy this new chapter! bye! 
 
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       &a mp;nbsp; Nearly a week had passed when Shinzui was finally healed enough that Shiori allowed her to return home. After the girl thanked her several times, she left with Kouken and a small, plastic bag of clothing that Shiori had given her. Kurama had insisted on walking her home and Shinzui politely declined, but much to her protest, Shiori sent him along with her. The two silently walked along the path in the direction of Shinzui's house with Kouken trotting beside them. 
Finally, much to Kurama's surprise, it was Shinzui who broke the silence, "Thanks for all that you've done for me since I've been around here." She sighed, glancing at Kurama a bit. "I feel bad for getting you and your friends dragged into my problems..." She bit her lip and stared at the ground. "I really have to stop doing that to people I become friends with. It's becoming a bad habit." 
"What do you mean 'a bad habit'?" said Kurama, giving the girl a questioning look, "Has any of this happened before?" 
"The bat demon thing, no," replied Shinzui with a sigh, "Dragging the only person who's my friend into a horrible situation, yes. Well, in this case, it's not just one person." She let her breath out in another sigh and stopped, but also stopped Kurama beside her. Shinzui moved so she could see his face. "Look, you and your friends have helped me a lot this past week and I really appreciate it..." She trailed off a bit and then continued. "But I can't get people involved in my problems anymore... Last time I did that..." She immediately stopped and closed her eyes, clenching her fists. "I can't say what happened to them..." 
Kurama studied the girl's face as she opened her eyes and he continued the conversation. "Don't worry about it." He felt a strange sensation go through his body when Shinzui's bright blue eyes locked with his own. "My friends and I get in trouble all the time and we've managed to get through it without too many problems." He could still see the apologetic and pained look in Shinzui's eyes. "Your house shouldn't be too far now." He continued to walk and the startled girl hurried after him. 
       &a mp;nbsp; Kurama and Shinzui stayed silent as they walked down a path towards Shinzui's house, but Shinzui kept glancing at Kurama. When they walked past the brickwall, Kurama spied the large crater-like dent that Shinzui had left in the wall with her fist. She has a strong punch, mused Kurama, I should keep in mind not to get hit with one of them. He glanced at the girl beside him and saw her looking at her still bandaged hand. I forgot that those wounds are taking longer to heal. At least she can move it now, but I wonder why it didn't heal as fast as the other wounds did. 
"We're here." Shinzui's gloomy statement cut into Kurama's thoughts as they stopped in front of a door that had a few faint dents in it, "Thanks for walking me here, but now I have to face my father." She shuddered at the thought. "He isn't going to be too pleased with this." 
"Want some back up?" asked Kurama, "In case chairs fly again." 
"Hiei told you about that, too?!" exclaimed Shinzui, looking faintly annoyed and embarrassed, "Yeah... That was one of my dad's damn lackeys... I should go, maybe I can make up a good excuse." 
"I'll see you later, maybe," said Kurama, but he was surprised when Shinzui gave him a smile at the suggestion. 
"Yeah, maybe," she said, her eyes softening as she smiled more, "I'll be back at work in a few days, come and visit me. I usually work every day after school until seven or so." She pulled out a key and unlocked the door to open it. "Bye, Shuichi." 
"Bye, Shinzui," said Kurama, feeling a warm feeling rise in him when he saw her smile at him before closing the door. What am I thinking these days? he asked himself as he heard the lock click, My mind's getting off track, isn't it. He sighed and walked down the path, away from the house, but turned back to see a pair of bright blue eyes watching him from the shades. Chuckling as they widened and disappeared, Kurama disappeared behind the brickwall and walked home. 
"Nice boy, eh, Kouken?" murmured Shinzui, patting her dog on the head, but she turned red when a thought crossed her mind, "What am I thinking?! I can't get involved with anyone..." She looked at Kouken. "He'll get hurt if that happens... I don't want to see another person who likes me for just me get hurt." She suddenly shut up when she heard footsteps and quickly hid in the closet with Kouken as a few men passed her. Who are they? she thought, peering through the crack. 
       &a mp;nbsp; The men sat down in the chairs nearby and Shinzui recognized the one in front to be her father. The bodyguard next to her father she knew as Toraeru, but the other three men she didn't know. One had oily black hair down to his shoulders, but it seemed to be slicked down by some sort of gel. Another man had short, fluffy brown hair with grey starting on the sides and the last man was completely bald. 
"So, Shoushiko, have you considered our offer?" asked the black-haired man, his dark orange eyes narrowed at Shinzui's father. 
"Yes, I have, Gaidoku," said Shoushiko, looking at the men. 
"And what is your answer?" asked the brown-haired man, a strange glint in his dark brown eyes. 
"We'd like an answer today," said the bald man, gazing around with a pair of slate colored eyes.
"I know what you want, Baikin," muttered Shoushiko, glaring at the brown-haired man, "I'm afraid I can't allow it quite yet." Glare shot to the bald man. "Your tests will have to be held off for now, Yamai." 
"Dammit, Shoushiko!" shouted the bald man, Yamai, slamming his fist on the table, "We need your daughter for research purposes before she turns 17 and after that we can run the other tests." 
What?! thought Shinzui, her mouth dropping open, They want to research ME?! Why the hell would they want to do a thing like that?! 
"The research is very vital to the project," said Baikin, "If we don't complete this project, we'll never figure out how to make people like her. Remember what Toraeru saw her do in the park a week ago?" 
Oh my god, thought Shinzui, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp, He was there... Her eyes were on Toraeru. He saw me use that spirit energy against the demon! 
"We need that rose of her's as well," said Gaidoku, "It seems to defy the laws of science and nature. We're curious about it." 
"That, I can't help you with at all," said Shoushiko, "She won't let me near enough to take it and she won't let me even touch it." 
"If you don't act soon that damn seer's prediction will come true before we properly research it," said Yamai, looking disgruntled, "We know you have all those journals you kept since that girl's birth, plus the research we had." His eyes narrowed at Shoushiko. "We need those back." 
"Sorry, not until I'm finished," said Shoushiko shortly, "I'll get back to you on the project. Toraeru, please show these gentlemen to the door." 
"Yes, sir," said Toraeru, looking at the three men and gesturing to where the door was. 
       &a mp;nbsp; All three men got up in a huff and walked past the closet to leave the house. Once the door closed, Shoushiko sighed and left the room to shut himself in his room. Toraeru was the only one left, but Shinzui's breath caught in fear when she saw that his eyes were staring right in her direction. He walked closer to the closet, eyes fixed on the spot, but as Shinzui got ready to hit him just incase, he stopped. To her surprise he merely closed the closet door, muttering about Shoushiko always leaving doors open and walked off. With a sigh of relief, Shinzui opened the door and snuck to the front door to pretend she had just gotten back. 
"Hello?" she said, looking around the rooms, "Anyone home?" 
Toraeru poked his head out from the living room. "Shinzui." His look of surprise made him less intimidating than he usually was. "Where have you been? Your father's been very worried." 
"Oh, I bet he has," was the sarcastic comment that came from Shinzui, "He even wasted all his time looking for me the past week." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Like hell he's been worried. I've been gone for a week and not one of his lackeys appeared around the neighborhood I was in." 
"Maybe they didn't look there," said Toraeru, raising an eyebrow, "I see you've brought the mutt in with you." 
"He's not a mutt!" snapped Shinzui, glaring at the man as Kouken growled fiercely, but he merely smiled a strange smile. 
       &a mp;nbsp; Shinzui walked past him with Kouken right next to her and started up the stairs to her room. Toraeru watched her go with an amused look on his face, but there was a fiery glint in his eyes as Shinzui walked up the stairs. When she saw Toraeru disappear into the living room, Shinzui quickly checked on her father to find that he was fast asleep in his bed. She quietly snuck over to the door that lead to Shoushiko's office and tried the knob. 
"Damn... Locked," muttered Shinzui, searching her hair and finally extracting a bobbie pin, "Good." She started to pick to lock and opened the door. "Bingo." 
       &a mp;nbsp; Shinzui shut the door silently behind her and turned on a light to see a pile of journals and files on the desk. She sat down at the desk, grabbed the first book and began to read it. Her eyes widened as they flew over the pages, reading about all the observations her father kept about her as she grew up. Nothing very striking caught her eye until she came to a page that held a strange passage of words. 
"What the..." she hissed, reading it. " 'On the 17th year, in the light of the blue moon, your daughter will reveal her true self. A soul will return to their former self and regain control of the body. Her power will transform an animal into a man and summon up demons from the darkest depths of the Makai world.' This was said by the seer that I met in a shop. This worries me. She also said 'Your daughter will be put through many trials of life, but with the help of some unusual people, she will succeed.' I don't understand this at all." Shinzui stared at the page in horror. "Oh my god..." She read more of the books and was shocked about how everything progressed through them. When she read through one of the books, she stopped and stared at the entry. "My daughter continuously disappears these days. When ever I ask her about it, she says it's her new job that keeps her away. A few times the girl has returned with injuries that seem to have a strange origin, but she won't answer my questions. I want to tell her how worried I am and mean it, but... The experiment restricts me from doing so." 
       &a mp;nbsp; Shinzui froze when she heard the sound of a door close and footsteps walking towards the room. Quickly, she stacked the books like they were and looked around for an escape. She muttered something to Kouken and steered him to the closet to hide him. Once he was out of sight in the closet, Shinzui opened the window and climbed out. She heard the door open just as she managed to get out and hung out awkwardly of sight under the part of the window that jutted out. 
"Hmm... I must've left the window open," she heard her father say as the window was shut and she breathed a sigh of relief while ignoring the throbbing pain in her hand. 
"That was close," she muttered, swinging herself a bit and letting go to grab the branch of a nearby tree. The weak branch gave way from the sudden weight and Shinzui toppled to the ground with a crash. "Ow." 
       &a mp;nbsp; Realizing that her father would've heard that, Shinzui ran behind the house, still holding the branch. She discarded the branch before scouting out the best way to get back in the house and found it in the form of a tree extending near her window. A smile curved her lips as she climbed up the tree next to her window and tried to open it. Yes, she thought as the window slid open, I knew keeping it unlocked would come in handy all these times I snuck out or was kicked out.She climbed inside and collapsed on to her bed with a sigh, falling asleep regardless of the sun shining into her room. 
 
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       &a mp;nbsp; The sun was setting when Shinzui woke up to the sounds of doors slamming shut. Curious, she got up, opened her door, and peeked out of it. She heard her father and Toraeru talking downstairs about something and then there was a clinking of china. Her father appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a tray of food and Shinzui quickly turned on her light before going to lay down again. Just as she lay her head down, a knock sounded on her door, and she rolled over. 
"What?" she asked, glaring at her father as he came in. 
"I though you'd be hungry," said Shoushiko, setting the tray on her desk. A tone in his voice made Shinzui sit up and stare at him in surprise. His eyes showed real concern, but when Toraeru came up behind up, his expression changed to try and hide it, "You need to eat." 
"Um... Thanks, dad," said Shinzui, staring at her father as he left. He was... Genuinely concerned..., she thought in surprise, Maybe there's more to my father than I thought. She felt eyes gazing at her and looked up to see Toraeru standing there. She set her jaw and gave him a hard look. "Hello, Toraeru. Lovely sunset isn't it?" she had said nonchalantly, but there was a sharpness in her tone. 
Without a glance at the sunset he replied, "Yes, it is lovely." The strange look in his eyes made Shinzui shiver as she stood up and went over to her food. "Enjoy your meal, Shinzui." He disappeared down the hall as Shinzui started to eat. 
"Damn, that guy gives me the creeps," muttered Shinzui as she ate her meal, "He's always watching me with the strangest looks. It's like he's trying to look into my very soul." 
       &a mp;nbsp; Shinzui finished her meal within the hour and looked outside to see the light growing dimmer. This would be the perfect time to sneak out with some of those books, she thought with a small smile. Grabbing a backpack by her desk, she searched the hall with her eyes for any sign of Toraeru or her father and found none. After putting a few small things into her backpack, Shinzui snuck to the office, picked the lock, and went inside. 
"Shhh, Kouken, you go to the back door and sit there until I come to get you," she whispered to her dog, letting him out the door. 
       &a mp;nbsp; Quickly, yet carefully, she grabbed a couple random books from the stack and stuffed them into her backpack. Closing the zippers, she slung it over her shoulders and quietly locked her father's office door. Shinzui opened the window and slipped out of it, dropping to the ground with a soft landing. She silently crept to the back door, peeked inside to make sure that no one was there, and let Kouken out. Once through those stages, she crept off to the park with her dog, grinning at the successful escape from the house. 
"That went well," she said quietly to Kouken as the found a nice place to sit under a tree, "Time to read these books." 
       &a mp;nbsp; Shinzui pulled the two books out and looked at the covers, realizing that one was from the year of her birth. She quickly opened it up and started reading every word of the beginning. Now I can find out why my dad hates me, she thought, her eyes scanning all the words, taking in every sentence, I can also find out the strange happenings of my birth and my mother's death. Her eyes stopped on one particular part of the entry that was describing a few things. 
"Oh my god..." she said softly, staring at the words, "It... It really is my fault that she died... She... She died because I was born... I always thought she got sick and died." Her eyes drank in the rest of the entry and she froze again. "My father agreed to a project about me... These scientists approached him because of my unnatural birth..." She read the rest of the book, absorbing all that was written in them and muttered bitterly. "Dammit, everything's my fault, isn't it." She felt something wet on her hand and realized that she was crying. "So, it's not the first time someone's died because of me... My mother died, too." 
"What's all this about someone dying?" asked a voice behind Shinzui, who leapt up into a fighting position, but her eyes fell on a familiar black-haired demon. 
"Hiei?" she said in surprise, "What are you doing here?" 
"What are you doing out this late and alone?" he shot back at her, "Last time you did that a bat demon attacked you." 
"Hey, I can't get time to myself at home," muttered Shinzui, plopping back down under the tree, "Toraeru's always watching me like a hawk." 
"What's this I heard about someone dying?" he asked again, fixing her with a steady gaze. 
Shinzui stared at her lap, tears burning at the corners of her eyes, "My mother died because of me... as did someone else. The other person helped me with my problems, but... because he got involved... He died... All because of me and my damn problems." 
"Stop blaming everything on yourself," said Hiei, "He got himself involved and died. Things happen. Forget it." 
"You don't get it!" cried Shinzui, looking up at him with tears running down her cheeks again, "I can't forget! It's all my fault that Tenma killed him! All because he tried to help me get out of my situation!" 
"What about these books?" asked Hiei, figuring that he should change the subject before asking what happened to the guy. 
"They're records and journals my father kept about me since I was born," replied Shinzui, glancing at the books, "They're all I really have to help me remember things." 
Hiei took the other book that Shinzui hadn't looked at and read through a bit, "Prophecy." He said, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "Your father went and saw a seer?" 
"Well, he met the seer in a shop," answered Shinzui, sighing, "I have no idea what that damn thing means. It's too cryptic for me to really understand, but it kind of scares me that all this has happened." 
"In this book your father seems to care about you," stated Hiei after he read some more, "Do you know anything about this project." 
"Well, I know the scientists want to study me right now before the prophecy thing comes true," replied Shinzui, looking a bit worried, "But... My father defended me. It's like he... really does care..." 
"Perhaps he does," muttered Hiei absentmindedly as he poured over the book with a look of interest in his eyes, "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Ku..." He quickly stopped, I almost forgot that she doesn't know his real name is Kurama, he thought, covering up the mistake, "Shuichi told me about what you were saying to him. Don't worry about dragging us into danger. We've been through stuff like that before." He ignored Shinzui's look of surprise and continued. "So, what about that boy who was killed trying to help you?" 
"He got in the way," said a harsh voice that caused Shinzui's back to stiffen and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. 
"T... Tenma..." she whispered, starting at the boy as he sauntered over to the area, "How... How did you know I was here?" 
"I just knew," replied Tenma, smirking at her, but his smirk turned into a glare when his eyes fell on Hiei, "So, you now hang out with midgets?" 
"Shut up, baka ningen," growled Hiei, glaring back at him with his crimson eyes, "Just leave and you won't get hurt." 
"I don't plan on leaving until I get back what's mine," said Tenma, his eyes narrowing at Shinzui, "Like her for instance." 
Shinzui stood up, planting her feet firmly on the ground with her fists clenched tightly, yet she winced at the pain in her hand. Her voice shook as she spoke, "T... Tenma, I am not yours." She was shaking in fright, but her eyes were a fierce, electric blue color. "You don't own me!" 
Tenma's eyes flashed dangerously and he started towards Shinzui, "You dare to stand up to me again?" He reached towards her, but something hit him hard in the stomach, causing him to stagger backwards. "What the hell? You damn midget!" He glared at Hiei, who was standing in front of Shinzui, prepared to fight. 
       &a mp;nbsp; The two boys ran at each other, but much to Hiei's surprise, Tenma kept up with him fairly well. He saw a glint of silver before he felt something rip through the flesh of his side and his arm and with a groan he staggered slightly. Hiei reached for his katana as Tenma rounded on him to attack again and the two boys started to fight with their blades. Shinzui watched in horror as the fight continued, unaware of the rest of Tenma's gang sneaking up on her. 
       &a mp;nbsp; When she felt strong hands wrap tightly around her arms, Shinzui let out a shriek of surprise that stole most of Hiei's attention. Distracted from his fight with Tenma, Hiei went after the boys around Shinzui, but he felt a faint wind as the other boy's blade went past his face, leaving a cut across his cheek. Already bleeding from his side and his arm, Hiei turned to glare at Tenma as he felt fresh blood drip down his face from the cut. 
Dammit, he grumbled in his mind, How is this ningen keeping up with me?! He scanned Tenma with his Jagan eye and to his amazement, sensed spirit energy radiating from the boy. What the?! He's using spirit energy to increase his speed! How?! I never sensed it until now! His shock was knocked out of him with Tenma hit him hard in the head with the hilt of his blade and Hiei fell backwards, very dazed from the blow. 
"Rude, aren't you," said a voice from the shadows, causing Tenma to stop as he advanced towards Shinzui. A shadow darted from behind a tree, smashing an object into each of the boys around Shinzui, causing them to retreat to Tenma. 
"Who the hell are you?!" exclaimed Tenma, looking very angry. 
"Your worst nightmare," growled the voice, as a pair of strange colored eyes glared at him from the darkness. 
       &a mp;nbsp; Tenma's gang ran off in terror after this comment, but Tenma stayed behind to defend himself incase the shadow attacked and to show that he wasn't giving up. Seeing that Hiei and Shinzui's attention was on the shadow and the shadow's eyes had fallen on Hiei, a look of surprise in them, Tenma went after Shinzui. She yelped as his hand grabbed the wrist of her still injured hand and twisted her arm behind her back. She felt something sharp cut into her arm and realized that he had grabbed her with the hand that held his knife. 
"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" snickered the shadow, glaring at Tenma, "Grabbing her arm with the hand occupied by your knife." 
"This hurts in more ways than one," gasped Shinzui in pain, her eye twitching, "First it's my injured hand, second the knife, and third the arm being twisted. Dammit! Let go!" She yelped as Tenma gave her arm a hard tug, making her feel like it was going to break. 
"That's it, asshole!" yelled the shadow, darting out, "Die!" 
       &a mp;nbsp; Something wooden slammed into Tenma's head, dazing him so badly, he let go and staggered back. The attacker had disappeared into the shadows again and Tenma was half blinded as blood ran down the left side of his face from a large gash on his forehead. When he saw Hiei get up with fire blazing in his eyes, Tenma knew he was beaten and muttered something while making a strange gesture. A strong wind picked up and Tenma disappeared into the shadows, leaving no trace but a few drops of blood on the ground. 
"That was interesting," grumbled Hiei, looking at the shadows, "Who are you?" His eyes were narrowed at the spot where a pair was gazing back at him. 
"Don't worry, kid," said the shadow, stepping into the light, "I'm a friend." 
"No way?!" exclaimed Shinzui, staring at the shadow, "It's you!" 
 
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WHOO! Wasn't that fun... Yes... I really am leaving you on that cliff hanger ^_^ Sorry I couldn't resist it! *laughs nervously* Please don't hate me. You'll like the next chapter. 
 
SNEAK PEEK!: 
 
** We found out who this mysterious shadow is.Yay. 
 
** Old friends catch up on old times. 
 
** Shinzui finds herself in a situation involving an alley, cars, and... skeevy scientists? 
 
Spark some interest? Find out on the next chapter of Aoitsuki Yurai! 
 
 
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