Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Barriers ❯ Last Resort ( Chapter 9 )

I, Kurokiku, do not and have never own(ed) YuYu Hakusho or any of the characters that appear therein. I do, however, own this plot, the villains, Shiki, and her family.

 

This chapter is for MorriganFearn, concrit writer and artist extraordinaire.

 

Botan watched the exchange with an increasing amount of apprehension. It wasn't as though she distrusted Youko, exactly, but… he was rather unpredictable. And he seemed to be very intent on getting an answer.

 

Shiki on the other hand looked about as blank as an unmarked sheet of paper, though she was also a similar color. Botan couldn't blame her. Kurama's fox demon side was attractive, certainly, but also extremely intimidating. Frankly, she wasn't so sure the two were that far removed.

 

Since Shiki had confessed she had no idea how she had affected the switch, Youko had been barraging her with questions for the last few minutes as the group tended their injuries. Even more surprising than the fact that Youko had appeared was that he had done so uninjured; usually he retained the same wounds as Kurama did.

 

“Did anything change just before it happened?” He pressed. Well, maybe pressed wasn't the best word for it really. He didn't change his tone at all, but neither did he remove the silken venom that seemed to permeate it at all times.

 

Shiki took her time pondering the answer. When it appeared that his patience in waiting for it was waning fast, she spoke quietly.

 

“Yes. I decided I was okay with the idea of dying for my friends, and then I felt something grow warm in here.” She gestured to the left side of her chest. “It was near my heart, but it was a physical warmth.”

 

Youko paused, then continued. “Shuichi says that's where the stone is. Is that true?”

 

Shiki looked bewildered. “Yes. You can hear him? Kurama's still in there?” Her voice had an obvious note of relief to it, which didn't serve to improve Youko's mood from where Botan stood. Still, she supposed it was only natural; the girl hadn't known about Kurama's transformation like the rest of them did. She may very well have thought Kurama dead.

 

“Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt or whatever, but I think we oughta be figuring out how we got beat so badly and leave the rest for later.” A strain of irritation had seeped into his voice.

 

Kuwabara nodded empathetically. “Yeah, man. What I wanna know is why they didn't kill us. I think they coulda.” All trace of bravado was gone from the high-schooler's tone; he seemed rather downcast. Not that Botan was feeling all that cheery herself.

 

“That's because this was obviously a test, you fool,” Hiei snapped. Despite his words, the fire apparition's eyes flashed from one direction to another, vigilantly awaiting another strike. Well, he's on edge, isn't he? Botan thought. Not that she didn't understand it; the fight had left them all a bit shaken.

 

“Hiei is correct. My guess is that they wished to determine whether this girl would be able to use the other stone. They will probably be off to report to their master now.” Clearly, Youko was dissatisfied with this outcome, though the frustration manifested in a further reduction of volume rather then the increase which was so characteristic of Yusuke or Kuwabara.

 

Silence ensued. Youko was staring at Shiki like he was trying to figure something out. For her part, Shiki was doing her best to ignore the scrutiny, busying herself with checking that Kuwabara's bandages were going to stay in place. Botan chewed her lip, and, deciding she couldn't stand it any longer, broke the silence.

 

“I don't suppose we know who their boss is, do we?”

 

******

 

Kaito stood before the ornate gilded altar and bowed deeply. His greeting was returned by a disembodied voice.

 

“Well?”

 

“Your initial hypothesis was correct, my lord. It would seem as though the girl is the traitor's descendant. She is able to use the second stone.” Kaito felt Hiroto shift uncomfortably next to him. The large blond demon was new to their cause; he had yet to grow accustomed to not seeing the person who spoke to them. Kaito and his twin Izumi, on the other hand, had been at this business for well over a hundred years. The water apparition doubted that the fool would be thickheaded enough to abandon their cause at this point. Even if he did, it wasn't as though he couldn't be dealt with. Still, it was as the lord said: the more good help they could find, the better.

 

“Bring her to me. I want to see if she will make a better choice than her ancestors. And if she does not, I want the pleasure of taking my revenge in person.” The voice was infused with a raw bitterness that Kaito knew well.

 

Izumi spoke. “Master, I cannot see this task taking more than one of us. They are weak, and taking the girl should not be too difficult. She does not yet have full control over the stone. Its effects are likely to be temporary and feeble. Let me go alone. The others should stay here to assist you.”

 

“Very well. Do not fail me, Izumi.”

 

“Of course not, my lord.” The woman bowed again, and departed.

 

“Kaito, are these opponents truly that weak?” the voice asked.

 

Kaito thought for a moment, then replied slowly. “They are strong by the standards of their era, my lord, but none of them could stand against the ancients. Our kind has lost the strength born of constant warfare. Diplomacy has made them soft.”

 

“Hmm…” Kaito could not help but think that if his master currently had a face, he would be frowning. “Most troubling.”

 

“Indeed, my lord.”

 

*****

 

Kurama gritted his teeth and jumped away from the scythe. He'd somehow regained control of his body about an hour ago, and then the woman named Izumi had attacked them again. The fact that their opponents were able to teleport certainly made it harder to plan against them. At least there was only one this time.

 

Not that it was doing them much good. It seemed that in this case, their numbers were working to their detriment. They couldn't seem to get out of each others' way fast enough. The woman, for her part, was fighting like a demon possessed.

 

“Damnit! What the Hell is with these people?” Kurama heard Yusuke stumble, clutching his left side. Despite his efforts, blood seeped through his fingers.

 

“Kurama.” Hiei arched an eyebrow, waiting. Yusuke caught the exchange and looked sidelong at both of them.

 

Before the latter could respond, the woman interrupted.

 

“You know, this would be much easier if you simply gave me the girl,” she suggested flatly, giving no indication as to which option she would prefer. Without bothering to give them a chance to respond, she swung her scythe in an impressive arc before her, sending them all jumping backward.

 

Kurama sighed inwardly. This was not going well. Perhaps there was nothing else for it after all. He had come up with a contingency plan before the woman had attacked, and told Hiei and Yusuke about it. The fewer people that knew the better. Now it looked like he might have to enact it after all.

 

No, he would most certainly have to. He couldn't help but suppress a frown as Shiki stepped back into the woman's range, staff at the ready.

 

“You'll just take me then? And leave everyone else alone?” The girl was far too altruistic for her own good. It was to the point where if he didn't have firsthand knowledge of her academic abilities, he might have thought her of little more than average human intelligence. There was, after all, no reason to believe the woman would keep her promise. Why agree to a plan that was surely going to work against you?

 

The woman let her weapon come to rest beside her, and looked at Shiki with a barely-registered curiosity. “Of course.”

 

Hiei shot another look at his friend, this one considerably more pointed.

 

“Fine.” At this signal, Yusuke leapt forward, and with considerable apology (for him), literally tossed Shiki's small person out of the scythe-woman's range. At the same moment, Hiei moved in to cover Yusuke's back against the attack that would surely follow. The scrape of steel-on-steel met Kurama's ears as he neatly caught Shiki before she hit the ground and then took to the trees.

 

Kuwabara, to his credit, caught on pretty quickly. He stepped in to fill Yusuke's position.

 

“Urameshi! Get Botan the Hell outta here! I'll stay with the shrimp!”

 

Yusuke considered arguing, but clamped his mouth shut and grabbed the confused ferry girl's forearm. “Botan, can you fly us out of here?”

 

“Er… sure. Should we follow Kurama and Shiki?”

 

“No. Go that way.” Yusuke pointed northeast, about ninety degrees from the direction their friends had taken.

 

“Umm… okay.” Botan decided to fly first, and ask questions later.

 

*****

 

Hiei saw them fly off and grimaced. That left him and the idiot to deal with this fool woman. Not that he expected she would hang around long. Their plan actually hinged on that fact, or at least the version of the plan where everyone survived.

 

The woman's eyes had narrowed almost imperceptibly when Yusuke had first run forward; now they were practically slits.

 

“You're lucky I don't have time for this,” she said darkly.

 

“You're not goin' anywhere!” Kuwabara moved to block off the direction Kurama and Shiki had taken. At least he has the basic idea. Hiei admitted grudgingly.

 

Hiei wasn't a fan of the plan. Still, it was honestly their only option at this point. Kurama had suggested that the enemy's teleportation ability was likely to be problematic if they remained in one large group, since that meant slower going. The most expedient solution was to split up. This meant that at least one person would have to stay and delay the enemy for as long as possible. Luckily, they had sent the woman, who seemed to have no real interest in battle. The big guy would have been the worst, even though he was probably the weakest. He would have hung around just to see them suffer. Hopefully, Hiei and Kuwabara would be able to buy enough time for the others to disappear.

 

The woman did not respond to Kuwabara's assertion, but merely vanished.

 

***************************************************************** *

Kiku's Corner!

 

Wow, so it's taken like twice my usual time to get this business out to you guys, eh? Well, I my defense, I did have bronchitis this week (still have, actually). So I'm miserable, but you should be happy!

 

So this chapter was fun, and I'm really looking forward to writing the next one. Please review.

 

Thanks to MorriganFearn, SlyVixen706,everyone who favorited, and of course, my ever-faithful beta Beth.

 

Oh, and we will soon have art! Waa! MF has agreed to draw Shiki, so when she does, I will post up a link. She is a great artist, so it will undoubtedly be amazing.