Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Barriers ❯ Memories ( Chapter 13 )

“Botan! Botan, wake up!” Shiki's voice was reaching a frantic pitch in her desperation. But still, her unmoving friend did not respond. So the girl set to the arduous task of making Botan as comfortable as possible. She had landed on one of her arms, and so Shiki moved to her other side, attempting to adjust her so that she might determine if it was broken.

 

It seemed, though, that her fears would be assuaged. Botan had taken a heavy blow to the back of the head, but it truthfully could have been much worse. The strike was actually quite precise; enough force had been used to completely incapacitate the ferry girl almost immediately, but there was no excess violence involved. Not the large one then…

 

Shiki's thoughts were interrupted when she became aware of a presence beside her. That has to be Hiei. She wondered if he was aware of how unsettling it was that he always moved so noiselessly. Kurama at least made sure to make some disturbance so she knew he was there. She looked up, and indeed, met glittering red eyes.

 

“Did you find him?”

 

“No.” He seemed almost about to say something else, then clamped his mouth shut and moved off a little ways. Shiki just shook her head. Hiei reminded her of her brother Ichirou, just a little bit. She could tell that his silence was due to concern that he would not voice. She claimed no great talent at reading people, but she had lived with Ichirou for fourteen years, and Hiei was just similar enough that she though she had a pretty good idea what he was thinking.

 

“Botan should wake up soon. I'm sure she'll be able to tell us everything. Perhaps Kurama or Kuwabara has found him by now.”

 

Hiei merely grunted in response, keeping his eyes leveled on the forest in the direction Kurama had gone. Had the occasion allowed such a thing, Shiki would have smiled and shook her head. Gruffness only went so far, and it was obvious he was concerned about the abducted Spirit Detective.

 

She heard a small sound below her, and looked down to see Botan stirring. The ferry girl's eyes fluttered open slowly, and Shiki knelt beside her.

 

“Botan, can you hear me?” she asked softly.

 

“W-water,” croaked her friend in response.

 

Shiki nodded. That seemed like a good sign. “Sure thing.” She looked up at Hiei. “I don't suppose you have any? I lost mine after we were attacked yesterday.”

 

The fire apparition rolled his eyes, but produced a vessel and tossed it to Shiki, who caught it deftly and smiled. “Thank you.”

 

Hiei was spared having to make a reply when Kurama emerged from the tree line, headed toward them with some degree of urgency. Hiei moved to meet him while Shiki helped the half-conscious Botan get some water down without choking on it.

 

Shiki spared them a glance. It didn't look too good. They were talking in low, hurried voices, but she could see Kurama close his eyes and shake his head slowly. She frowned. This didn't bode well.

 

She was about to open her mouth to speak when Kuwabara crashed into the clearing from her left. He caught her look.

 

“Nothin'. Is Botan okay?”

 

Shiki looked back down at her friend, who appeared to be slowly realizing where she was. “She will be.”

 

Kurama and Hiei approached as Botan was sitting up. “Where am I?” The blue-haired woman looked around, and realization passed across her face. “Oh no! Yusuke! They took Yusuke!” Her voice reached a desperate pitch.

 

“Shh,” Shiki soothed. “When did they come?”

 

“Nngh. Last night.” Botan blinked slowly a few times, taking in her surroundings. She pulled her knees to her chest and breathed deeply. Shiki waited patiently, but she could tell that Kuwabara wouldn't last much longer before he launched into a torrent of questions, so she preempted him more gently than he would have managed. “What did they say?”

 

“She said…” Botan paused, trying to wrench the memory from her still-fuzzy head. “She said that we had to trade you for Yusuke.” Her eyes grew wide, and she stammered, “I-I think she means to come back for you!”

 

Shiki's brow furrowed, she bit her lip and looked upward, meeting the eyes of each of the others in turn, coming to rest on an emerald-green pair. “What now?”

 

***

 

Izumi opened her eyes lazily and listened carefully to the surrounding forest. It appeared that, as she had expected, the group had not moved from where she had left the pink one last night. Good. This would make her next task easier, and she did hate expending too much effort. Hopefully they would just give in to Kurogami's demands and be done with it. There was really no point in resisting him. The one person who'd ever managed it had nothing to show for it but an unmarked grave.

 

With that morbid thought firmly in mind, she followed her ears to the clearing where the strange assortment of humans, demons, and part-breeds resided. They all stood to face her as she emerged from the cover of the forest. Apparently, they had been expecting her. The girl in the pink kimono appeared to have awoken, which explained that much.

 

Izumi casually tilted her head to the side as she observed them. They all repeatedly looked at the small blue-eyed girl. She seemed… familiar, that one, like a memory from a distant dream of some kind. Izumi let the thought go. She didn't hold much with dreams. Or memories, for that matter. The big, orange-haired one looked furious, the one who smelled like plants was largely expressionless, and the short one with the sword just looked guarded.

 

“Do you plan to resist?” She let herself drawl the words, just a little bit, so they knew she really didn't care much either way.

 

All pairs of eyes flashed to the girl-child again. They seemed to be… expecting something? Izumi followed their gazes and was struck again by that wave of familiarity. Her target was wearing a look of grim resolution that triggered many flashbacks in Izumi's own mind, which was perhaps why she was completely unprepared when the girl's stone activated, sending a wave of spirit energy into the air.

 

Two of her companions took advantage of the disruption to surge forward, and Izumi could tell that their energy levels were much higher than she had planned for. Apparently the child was gaining some mastery over the tools at her disposal. Not the kind of power which Kurogami could command with the other, but still… Izumi swung her scythe in a swift arc before her, causing the small one to jump off to her right and the big one to stop short of her range. No longer facing a coherent attack, she focused on parrying the sword-thrust that came her way first. Forcing the fire apparition back was no easy task, as the main disadvantage of her weapon was that it telegraphed more than most, and he seemed to have gotten much faster than the last time she had fought him.

 

He relented in just enough time for Izumi to cross her arms in front of her to block a blow from a spirit sword. The big one grinned. “Not so tough now, are ya? You'd better just give Urameshi back, `cause there's no way we're gonna lose now!”

 

Izumi discharged some spirit energy, sending him flying backwards. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, he was most likely correct. While she may have been able to take one or even two of them at once, three at this level was just too…

 

Where's the third? She whipped around, coming face-to-face with what was surely the red-haired human from moments ago, but…

 

***

 

Youko caught the scythe deftly in one hand. “I suggest you surrender. It will make this considerably less painful.” He looked into the woman's flat, dead blue eyes and briefly wondered if she could even feel pain.

 

Everyone feels pain, a gentle voice admonished him.

 

Shuichi?

 

Yes. Odd, is it not? Normally, you cannot hear me when you are fully awake. And yet, here I am, seeing through your eyes.

 

Later. I'm busy now.

 

“Go ahead,” said the woman tonelessly. “Kill me. I surrender.” She sank down the shaft of her scythe to rest on her knees as one who waits for the executioner's axe.

 

Youko's brow creased slightly. “You seem awfully eager to die. I suppose it's your choice to make though.”

 

“Don't,” came a soft voice from his right. He turned, hand still gripping the scythe. “Please don't kill her.” Shiki stepped up to his side to look at the woman, across whose eyes flicked a look of recognition. “What can you tell me about Yusuke's location?”

 

Izumi shrugged. “He is being held at Kurogami's castle.”

 

Hiei, standing a few feet away, heard this and stared hard at the woman. “Kurogami?”

 

“Yes. My lord is the one and only Kurogami.” Instead of the pride or condescension that Youko would have expected, there was a tinge of bitterness to the woman's voice.

 

“You don't sound happy about that.” This was Shiki, who looked confused. I thought they were devoted to him?

 

The woman startled all present by letting out a short, harsh bark of laughter. “Should I be?”

 

Shiki frowned and stood, offering a hand to the woman, who looked at her with something akin to surprise. “There is more to your story than I would have thought.” She paused, and considered briefly, before casting a quick glance at each of her companions, wondering how they would react to her next question. “Will you come with us?”

 

Izumi's mouth twitched into an odd sort of disbelieving smile. “You expect me to betray my master?”

 

Youko arched an eyebrow and spoke up. “Do you not want to?” And, indeed, unless he was very much mistaken, a new spark had entered the woman's eyes.

 

Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe.”

 

“Then come with us. Take us to him, and help us defeat him.” Shiki's voice was gently urging, but firm.

 

Izumi shook her head. “You don't understand. I can't betray him. We are bound. I am compelled to obey him. Even if I took you there, I can give no guarantees that I won't attack you again.”

 

Youko was surprised (though he would never show it) to see Shiki smile genuinely at that statement. “No need to worry about that. We'll make sure you won't.”

 

***

 

Izumi found herself laughing again, disconcerting as she knew it probably was to present company. “You are most strange.” Just like her…

 

“Please.”

 

Izumi relinquished her hold on the scythe. “You could have killed me and you didn't. I guess that means my life is yours.” She shook her head. “I don't know that your friends like this idea though.” The big one looked confused, but Izumi could tell that he'd do what he was told. The one with the sword didn't look happy at all, but it was the silver one she was concerned about. He was, after all, the one holding her weapon, and his eyes held no trace of the mercy that was virtually pouring out of the girl. Under the girl's questioning gaze however, he merely shrugged and took a few steps backwards.

 

“I thank you,” Izumi said, turning back to the girl.

 

The girl smiled. “Don't mention it. I'm Shiki. That's Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama.” The fox demon's eyes flicked back to Shiki when she said his name, but the girl didn't appear to notice.

 

“Izumi.” She took the outstretched hand and stood. “I imagine I have a great deal of explaining to do.”

 

“You'd best wait until we leave here,” the fox observed. “Unless you want to get caught when they come looking for you…?”

 

Izumi smiled grimly. It seemed she had been given a golden opportunity, albeit one that may have ended up as more of a hindrance than a help. Still, this meant she could act centuries earlier than she had originally planned. No, I don't want them to find me. Not yet.

****

~Kiku's Corner~

 

Hello again, everyone! I think the plot's really going into overdrive right now, since the story is coming down the home stretch, so to speak. I'm guessing five more chapters, max.

 

Anyway, this chapter is for Alicecakes, whose kind words made my day. And of course to Beth, who both Beta'd and reviewed. You rock!

 

Thanks as always to the readers. The fact that the little number next to hits/views/whatever keeps ticking upward makes me happy inside.

 

~Kiku~