Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Between Death and Reality ❯ Slipping ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

 

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Chapter 7

 

Slipping

 

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The fox's blood-curdling cry of agony jolted Hiei's eyes open. He gasped. Kurama?! The fire demon silently cursed himself for straying from Kurama's neighborhood this night. He should have known that the longer the fox stayed awake, the more likely it would be for him to succumb to sleep. But, being the proud creature that he was, Kurama had become more and more irritated by Hiei's constant presence. And so, tonight, Hiei had decided to vent his worry about his vest friend in a scavenger hunt of sorts throughout the city and its surrounding areas for that spectral reading Koenma had kept bringing up.

 

But, late into the excursion, Hiei had grown weary and picked a tree to rest in. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep and the Jagan had picked up Kurama's agonized cry. Immediately focusing on the source of the scream, the Jagan had shown a pale, bleeding, and unconscious Kurama on his bed while his human mother spoke urgently over the telephone. Once more, Hiei cursed himself. Because Shiori had found Kurama first, Hiei could not go to check up on his friend. Instead, Hiei made a beeline for the next best thing.

 

Hiei felt he was wasting precious minutes as he sped toward Genkai's temple. That had been a cry of pain unlike Hiei had ever heard from the proud fox. Not even the bombs of Karasu had elicited such a chilling sound. Focusing on Kurama's energy, Hiei was frightened at how quickly it was fading. Filled with worry, the fire demon pushed on.

 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Hiei barged through the temple entrance. Much to his surprise, not only was Genkai awake, so was Yukina. Both women looked up at Hiei and blinked.

 

“Hiei?” Yukina asked tentatively.

 

“It's Kurama,” Genkai said softly, her eyes never leaving Hiei's face. The fire demon gave a short nod.

 

“He's dying,” he said before his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't meant for those words to pop out. In fact, they seemed new to Hiei as well. Yukina gasped and Genkai paled slightly, but remained calm.

 

“Where is he now?” the psychic asked. Hiei closed his eyes as the Jagan sought out the fox. Hiei opened his crimson orbs once more with a scowl.

 

“On the way to a human hospital with his human mother.” Genkai grimaced.

 

“That's bad.”

 

“Obviously,” Hiei snorted irritably. “What do we do about it?” Genkai frowned in thought. The fact that Hiei had come here and was civilly, for him, asking for help was not lost on her. It only went to show how concerned Hiei was for his best friend's life, though the fire demon would never admit it. Friends are just a crutch for the weak, he would say.

 

“Hiei, you should go tell Yusuke and Kuwabara what happened, but tell them to stay put for the time being. It would be suspicious if-”

 

“They knew what had happened so soon after it happened,” Hiei finished. Genkai nodded.

 

“Yukina, I want you to come with me. The doctor's won't know what to do with the injuries he may have; not before it's too late, anyway,” Genkai said, turning to the ice maiden. She nodded resolutely. Genkai turned back to Hiei.

 

“I'll know when,” the fire demon replied, Jagan glowing. She nodded and headed out the door. Yukina paused in following Genkai and turned to Hiei.

 

“Hiei, are you alright?” He blinked, taken aback by the question.

 

“What?”

 

“Kurama is your best friend, whether you'll admit it or not, and he's been in serious trouble lately. Please, be carefully,” Yukina said softly. “Kurama lives among humans.”

 

“I know,” he said, attempting to make his tone gentle. Yukina nodded and headed out the door.

 

“I don't want to see him hurt, either,” she said at the threshold.

 

“Right.”

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Kurama lives among humans. Yukina's words rang through Hiei's head as he sped to Yusuke's apartment. Yukina knew what kind of effect those words would have upon him and had chosen them carefully. She didn't want any innocent humans to duffer because of this incident. Hiei clenched his jaw. I hate humans, he grumbled irritably to himself as he landed on Yusuke's bedroom balcony. He opened the door and slipped inside. Yusuke lay sleeping on his bed, Hiei suppressed a growl at the Spirit Detective's lack of awareness of his surroundings. Grumbling irritably about his lack of luck, Hiei closed his eyes.

 

Detective, he snapped slightly impatiently. Yusuke merely grunted in his sleep and turned over. Hiei scowled.

 

Detective, he snapped again. Yusuke smacked his lips.

 

“No, I don't want a burger,” he muttered sleepily. “Give it to Kuwabara.” He groaned and continued to snore. Hiei's patience was running thin, even for him.

 

Yusuke, if you don't wake up this instant I will set my Dragon on you, and then Kurama will die. Yusuke's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright in bed. His eyes found Hiei standing at the end of his bed.

 

“Hiei? What did you say about Kurama?” he asked, startled.

 

“He had another dream, but he's far too injured to heal himself with his depleted energy.”

 

“You mean, he's…”

 

“Dying,” Hiei finished grimly.

 

“What the hell, why are we just standing here then?” Yusuke exclaimed, jumping out of bed. “There has to be something we can do!”

 

“The only thing you're going to do is contact Kuwabara,” Hiei said sternly.

 

“What?” Yusuke demanded angrily. He was not the type of person to sit around when a friend's life was in danger.

 

“Kurama's mother found him. By now, they are headed to a human hospital.” Hiei's voice made his distaste for the human version known. “However, no one else would have known. If you go busting in, there will be questions. Questions we don't need right now.”

 

“But he's…” Yusuke argued.

 

“You'll put him in a tight spot if he wakes up if you go barging in.”

 

“No ifs, Hiei. Kurama can't die. He's too strong,” Yusuke growled at the fire demon.

 

I wish I could be so hopeful, Hiei thought to himself. “Call Kuwabara,” he said instead. “Genkai and Yukina are on their way to the hospital right now.” Yusuke paused as he was picking up the phone.

 

“What happened to questions?” he asked, frowning.

 

“Genkai is more than capable of answering those types of questions,” Hiei returned coolly. “Now call the fool.” Yusuke grumbled as dialed the Kuwabara's phone number.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Shiori sat at her son's side as the ambulance sped toward the hospital. His skin was pale and clammy and he seemed to have innumerable wounds of mysterious origin. The paramedics spoke in hushed hurried tones as they attempted to tend to the wounds. Shiori held her son's hand and watched his labored, uneven breathing. Despite bandaging the wounds, Shiori could tell her son was still losing a lot of blood. Too much blood.

 

“Is he going to be alright?” Shiori asked one of the paramedics who had stopped rushing about the moving vehicle. He wiped his forehead and looked at the worried mother.

 

“We're not sure,” he replied after a moment. Shiori blanched.

 

“But there has to be something…” she pleaded.

 

“We're doing all we can at the moment, but he's losing a lot of blood,” the paramedic said. “There's only so much we can do on an ambulance. But even so…”

 

“What?”

 

“You have no idea where he got these wounds?” he asked. Shiori shook her head.

 

“No. He had fallen asleep about an hour before I heard him… I heard him scream,” she replied shakily.

 

“And you're sure he was asleep?”

 

“Yes.” She paused, deciding it would be back to hold back any information from the paramedics. “I gave him sleeping pills because he hasn't been sleeping well. His regular doctor prescribed them.” She looked up fearfully at the paramedic. “Those couldn't have caused this, could they?”

 

“We can't rule anything out, but…”

 

“But?” Shiori's voice was fearful.

 

“The wounds on his back look like they came from a whip,” the paramedic replied. “And the one to his chest looked like a blade.”

 

“But that doesn't make any sense!”

 

“Well, whatever the case may be, the wounds are real.”

 

“Please, he's my only son!” Shiori pleaded tearfully. The thought of losing her Suuichi was too painful to bear.

 

“We're doing our best,” the paramedic replied, turning back to the boy's pale form. He checked the heart monitor and frowned. He leaned over Kurama's chest and listened to the heartbeat for a minute before poking his partner. His partner turned around and he pointed to the monitor. He frowned as well.

 

“Does Suuichi have a heat condition?” he second paramedic asked. Shiori frowned.

 

“No, why?”

 

“Because,” the fire paramedic replied, “his heart is beating in an unusual pattern.”

 

“But, his injury…?” Shiori trailed off.

 

“This is something else,” the second man said.

 

“His doctor said he had something like a heart murmur when he was younger. It's never seemed to bother him, though he hasn't been to a doctor in a long time to have it checked,” Shiori said softly, unsure of herself.

 

“I don't think this is a murmur,” the first said.

 

“I have no idea what it is… It doesn't even seem… human,” the second added. Shiori looked back and forth from one paramedic to the other, unsure of what to say to such an outrageous accusation.

 

“Is he alright?” she asked finally. The ambulance stopped and the paramedics opened the door and helped Shiori out.

 

“He's in good hands,” the first said with a forced smile before helping wheel the unconscious boy into the hospital where the doctors were waiting.

 

Suuichi! Shiori thought tearfully. I can't lose you!

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

It was dark where Kurama was. He felt disconnected from everything, as if he was floating; though there was nothing to float above. It was pitch black. Kurama tried to move his body but found he had none. There was no pain, no feeling, nothing. He was there, but only just. He could feel his connection to the blackness slipping.

 

Is this dying? he wondered. Then it really isn't so bad.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Botan flew as fast as her oar would take her to Kuwabara's, for that was where the other three Tantei had gathered. However, her thoughts were not on her destination. She could feel Kurama's life slipping away moment by moment.

 

Please Kurama, hold on, she pleaded silently. This isn't your time. Not yet. Hold on.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

As he felt himself slipping, Kurama heard a plea, as if from a distance. Please Kurama, hold on, it said. This isn't your time. Not yet, it continued. Hold on.

 

There was feeling behind these words. There were… tears. This person wanted him to hold on.

 

It's not… my time? The feeling behind the words struck something within the barely existent fox. I'll hold on, he resolved. I'll hold on.

 

But this was easier said than done. Kurama suddenly felt weak, as if all his reserves had been depleted. It seemed obvious that it would be easier to let go and move on. There was no pain in that. There would be pain if he held on. It would be hard. He hesitated, but the voice came back stronger, the care and concern evident. Hold on!

 

Bracing his nonexistent, weakened self, Kurama tried to hold on. The voice wanted… no, needed him to.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Botan reached Kuwabara' front door and knocked, mind still distracted. A moment later, Shizuru answered the door, her face lines with worry as well. She didn't look surprised to see the ferry girl. She merely nodded and opened the door wide enough to let Botan enter. The ferry girl entered and after removing her shoes, made her way to the living room where everyone had gathered. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked up and blinked a moment, as if taking in Botan's presence. Their faces were also grim.

 

But the most telling of the three Tantei was Hiei. The normally stoic fire demon's mouth was pressed into a thin line; his muscles were rigidly tensed. The fire demon was practically broadcasting his worry about his best friend to the world. But at this point, Botan was caught in her own worry, though, she supposed, if anyone could understand her worry, it would be Hiei; while she could feel Kurama's life fading, Hiei would be able to see it with the Jagan.

 

“You heard,” Yusuke said listlessly. Botan shook her head.

 

“No.” Everyone's head turned to face her. “I felt it.”

 

“You felt it?” Yusuke asked with a frown, an expression that currently seemed to be creasing his normally care-free features. She nodded.

 

“As the Grim Reaper, I can feel when strong souls are dying. And since I have a connection with all of you, I could feel when…” She trailed off. Yusuke mutely nodded in understanding.

 

“And right now?” Shizuru asked. Botan sighed tearfully.

 

“He's slipping away.”

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Shiori sat alone in the waiting room as the doctors tended to her son. It had been an hour since the ambulance had arrived and she had been getting a steady stream of doctors and nurses coming to tell her there had been no progress. No one seemed to be able to come up with a plausible explanation for the source of Suuichi's wounds, and that disturbed Shiori. She knew her son lived something of a second life; he would disappear for days at a time and return like nothing had happened, but with wounds he tried to hide. Though she had no idea what kind of separate life her son lived, she had to wonder if it was related to this incident.

 

She sighed and hugged her arms around herself. She couldn't help but remember that the last time she had been in a hospital, she had been the patient; the patient with the bleak outlook and Suuichi had been the one worrying over her. But she had recovered. She still wasn't sure how it had happened, though the doctor had attributed it to her strong will to live. Shiori, on the other hand, wasn't so sure that had been what had saved her. It had been more like a miracle than anything. With some unknown certainty backing her, Shiori had been sure that Suuichi had been at the center of that miracle. Pulling back her sleeves to study the scars on her arms, she let out a dry sob. She was supposed to be protecting her son, not the other way around.

 

Pushing her sleeves back down, Shiori silently prayed for another miracle.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Realizing how much time it had taken to get to the hospital from her temple (though it had been faster than taking a car), Genkai, followed by Yukina, strode into the medical building. Stopping at the desk, Genkai waited for the receptionist to finish her phone call.

 

“May I help you?”

 

“Suuichi Minamino,” Genkai said simply. The receptionist frowned as he went through her records. It didn't take long.

 

“Minamino… he's in surgery right now, in the IC… but he was just brought in an hour ago and his mother is here. How could you have possibly have known…?”

 

“Don't ask stupid questions,” Genkai snapped. She turned to Yukina. “Let's go.” The ice maiden, though more tired than Genkai after the sprint to the city, nodded determinedly.

 

“Wait, you can't…!” But the psychic and koorime had already left. The two walked to the intensive care unit and immediately found the room Kurama was in. The smell of blood was potent. Genkai pushed open the door to hear the doctors' conversation as they attempted to work on the unconscious hybrid.

 

“I can't get this bleeding to stop!”

 

“I can't even reach the wound on his chest. If it's not treated soon, the boy will die.”

 

“Do we have those blood tests back yet?”

 

“No, they're still being done.”

 

“Damn, then we don't know what the mother gave him!”

 

Yukina looked at Genkai at this. The psychic frowned in return. Then, taking a breath in preparation, Genkai spoke up.

 

“Unless you want to kill the boy, I suggest you let us take over.” The doctors all paused and looked to the two women.

 

“You can't be here, ma'am,” one said. “This is a restricted…”

 

“Oh shut it. This is a special case that you are not prepared to treat. We are,” Genkai snapped.

 

“And just who are you?” another doctor demanded.

 

“Genkai,” she replied. Several doctors gasped, dropping instruments.

 

“The Genkai? No!”

 

“Yes, now let me heal this boy.”

 

“But how did you-”

 

“Suuichi is a good friend of mine,” Genkai replied. “We psychics have mental connections to those we care about. Through that, I found out about his injuries. However, his body is special and requires help that only we can give so I suggest you step aside and me and my assistant through or he will die.” Immediately the doctors stepped aside. Genkai made her way to Kurama's side, followed by Yukina. She gasped inwardly at the sight of his pale, still form and the psychic probed the wounds on the fox's body. Yukina watched on in worried silence.

 

Opening her eyes, Genkai turned to Yukina. “The wound on his chest missed his heart,” Yukina sighed in relief, “but only just barely.”

 

“And?” Yukina asked, noting that the amount of blood the fox had lost could not have come from the chest alone.

 

“His back,” Genkai replied. “Wounds that, eerily enough, resemble whip marks.” Yukina gasped.

 

“But how?” Genkai frowned at Kurama's pale, still form.

 

“It seems those dreams of his are much more serious than I had anticipated. But right now, we need to keep him alive.” Yukina nodded her agreement. The two healers placed themselves on opposite sides of Kurama and began to focus their energy on healing the red-head's wounds.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

None of them had been able to sleep. The Kuwabara's living room had been a silently tense room since about 4:00 that morning. Any half-hearted attempt at conversation had quickly died and the anxiousness that had permeated the room had returned.

 

“We can go over,” Hiei said suddenly around 10:00 that morning. Everyone's heads snapped to look at the fire demon.

 

“Is he alright?” Yusuke asked.

 

“He's been stabilized,” Hiei replied. A collective sigh of relief sounded through the room.

 

“Then what are we waiting for!” Kuwabara said, jumping to his feet.

 

“Let's go,” Yusuke agreed.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Shiori walked into the room to where Suuichi had been moved after six agonizing hours of waiting. She had been told around 6:00 that the doctor's had turned over the care of her son to two healers. She had been upset to hear that the doctors had done such a rash thing so quickly, but when they had explained who the healers were, she had felt slightly better. And now that her son had been stabilized, she could afford to wonder how the legendary Genkai was connected to her son. Perhaps, she wondered idly, Genkai was related to that second life that Suuichi lived.

 

Entering the room, Shiori took in Suuichi's still, pale form on the bed. His chest had been bandaged. Scanning the rest if the room, she saw two women, one elderly who was standing, and one young who was sitting. The younger one stood when she saw Shiori. Shiori hesitantly made her way over to her son's bedside. His face was still ghostly pale, but his breathing was coming more easily now. She sighed in relief and brushed a strand of red hair from his face. She watched her son for a few moments before turning to the other two in the room.

 

“You must be Genkai,” she said to the elderly woman.

 

“I am.”

 

“You save my son,” Shiori said. “I don't know how I can thank you.”

 

“Don't thank us yet,” Genkai replied.

 

“What?”

 

“He's not out of the woods yet.”

 

“But…”

 

“He's lost a lot of blood and the wounds refuse to close completely,” the younger woman replied. Shiori turned to her.

 

“This is Yukina,” Genkai introduced. Yukina bowed slightly to Shiori. Shiori returned the gesture. “She helped me greatly in healing Suuichi.”

 

“Thank you,” Shiori repeated.

 

“As we've said, he's not out of the woods yet. It all depends on him right now,” Genkai replied.

 

“Will he be okay?” Shiori asked worriedly. “He looks better.”

 

“But not completely. Only time will tell. But for now, he's stabilized,” Genkai explained.

 

“I…” Shiori began.

 

“You should really get some rest,” Yukina cut in softly. “You've been here for a long time. He'll be alright if you go and get a few hours of sleep.”

 

“I don't know…” Shiori began.

 

“If anything changes, we'll call,” Genkai said. “You won't be doing him any good by exhausting yourself.”

 

“I suppose you're right. I am tired…” she said as a wave of exhaustion overcame her. “I've just been so worried,” she sighed.

 

“We'll call, I promise,” Genkai said. Shiori nodded. She looked down at her son again, hesitant to leave his side.

 

“I do have a question, though.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“How did you meet my son?” Genkai's eye twitched slightly.

 

“Through a mutual friend,” she replied.

 

“I see.” She paused, watching her son. Suuichi looked pale and sickly. “He's so still,” she whispered. “I don't know, something seems off.”

 

“It's up to him now,” Yukina repeated. “There's really nothing you can do.”

 

“Get a few hours of sleep,” Genkai said, leading Shiori to the door. “Suuichi isn't the only one who should be worried about his health.”

 

“All right. Thank you.”

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Shizuru, and Botan walked into the hospital. Hiei had chosen to stay outside and away from all the `disgusting humans.' Naturally, he would find a conveniently placed window and see everything that went on. Genkai stood in the reception area; she waited for the group to reach her.

 

“Come on,” she said, beckoning them to follow her. They remained silent as they made their way deeper into the hospital. They exchanged glances as the noise of the hospital. They exchanged anxious glances as the noise of the hospital became an ominous quiet. Finally, they stopped in front of a closed door. The name on the outside read, “Minamino.” Genkai opened the door and let the four walk in ahead of her. Four gasps were heard slightly behind one another as they saw the pale form on the bed.

 

Botan immediately rushed to the bedside. Yusuke and the others followed, surrounding the bed. Genkai closed the door behind her and made her way to stand next to Yukina, giving the others room.

 

“Kurama…” Yusuke whispered in shock. He had not been expecting to see his friend so pale and vulnerable.

 

“He's so pale,” Shizuru added.

 

“And weak,” Kuwabara supplemented.

 

“And still,” Botan finished. Her normally smiling face had gone pale at the sight of the red-head. His skin seemed especially pale against his fiery red locks. His breathing was coming very slowly; his chest was barely rising and falling. The group watched the still form of their friend for several moments, the many monitors he was hooked up to making the only sounds in the room. Finally, Yusuke turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Yukina looked startled. Genkai turned and followed the boy into the hallway.

 

Yusuke was sitting on the floor, back against the wall and head between his knees. Genkai kneeled in front of her pupil.

 

“Yusuke…”

 

“I… I wasn't ready for that,” he whispered.

 

“I doubt any of us were,” his mentor replied.

 

“He was so pale. So still. I… I've never seen him so vulnerable. It just doesn't seem right.”

 

“No. It doesn't.” Yusuke looked up at his teacher, tears in the corners of his eyes.

 

“He's always been the strong one; the calm one. He's always been there when there's trouble. But now, he's the one in trouble. I just can't take it.”

 

“I'm sorry, Yusuke. But there's nothing you can do right now. It's all up to Kurama now,” Genkai said softly.

 

“Will he make it?” Yusuke asked.

 

“I don't know,” Genkai replied honestly.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Gradually, Kurama felt his surroundings solidify. He felt himself touch the ground as the darkness began to recede. Kurama blinked. He had a body again. The weakness that had afflicted him receded slightly. Looking around, he took in his surroundings. He stood in the meadow, a forest rising up in the background. What? Where am I?

 

“Don't you recognize it?” Kurama turned slowly at the sound of that coldly familiar voice. Karasu stood across from him, a smile playing at his lips.

 

“Should I?” Kurama replied coldly.

 

“I would think so. It is your mind, after all,” Karasu replied.

 

“My… mind?” For once, Kurama was startled into speechlessness.

 

“Yes. This is your mind. But for you to get out and return to your body, you have to defeat me. A task which you seem unable to complete,” Karasu replied, a smirk emerging on his face.

 

“To return to my body, all I have to do is kill you? Fair enough,” Kurama said.

 

“That's all, my kitsune,” Karasu crooned.

 

“And if I can't kill you?”

 

“Your mind, and all else, will become mine.”

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Author's Note: It took a little longer than I was planning to get this out, so I apologize. Most of it turned out well, though I feel a little iffy with the Genkai/Shiori scene. It seemed too much like Genkai was trying to kick Shiori out, and while it was convenient to get Shiori out of the room for the Tantei, she was more concerned about Shiori's health, honestly. And that's about all I have to say. Leave me a review and I'll be working on the next chapter.