Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Radical Dreamers ❯ Home Stay ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: Home Stay

Serith stood from Erev’s former resting place on the clearing floor. He snarled ruthlessly, resisting the feelings of vertigo that came as he moved too quickly for Erev’s weakened body. Even with the extra energy his demonic powers afforded his host’s body, Serith felt the pull of fatigue on his mind. He began to move anyway, intending to return to Hiei’s warehouse hideout.

Serith cursed Erev’s lack of control. He had seen what she did to Goki and knew that her powers manifested under stress in one large burst. The results were spectacular, but the excess use of energy left nothing in reserve and made the situation more difficult for him.

The trip back to the warehouses took twice as long as usual. Serith was forced to walk at a normal pace rather than run like he normally did. The fatigue brought out his impatience and Serith was soon in a foul mood.

Hiei seemed to ignore Serith’s obvious frustration when the two finally met.

“I didn’t think you would be one to run from a human,” Hiei sneered. “Especially one who issued so blatant a challenge.”

“Shut up,” Serith snarled in return, leaning back against the roof of the warehouse they were perched on. He smirked. “In fact, you have no right to speak on the matter since you seemed to have disappeared the second time I came around. Did the human scare you off?”

Hiei scoffed. “It wouldn’t have taken all of us to kill that boy. My presence wasn’t necessary. Goki should have been enough.”

“He wasn’t. Goki’s dead.”

“So Koenma’s lackey is actually worth something?”

“No,” Serith shook his head. “The boy was defeated. It was this girl; his sister. She regained control at seeing her brother’s distress. Naturally her spirit energy was enhanced by mine.”

Hiei nodded. “That’s why you’re so weak now. Hmph. Worthless. You can’t even keep that girl under control.”

“It doesn’t matter. Now that I have the Tear of Hate this body will be mine permanently.” Serith pulled the small gem from Erev’s pocket, watching the moonlight roll over the obsidian tint.

Hiei said nothing. Serith didn’t want to admit that he had no idea as to how the Tear worked. He could lock Erev away in the back of her own mind; he could gain full control and never be concerned with her nagging again. He only needed to find the code word to unlock the power of the stone.

Serith considered going to Kurama. The fox was old enough and seemed to know a great deal about rare and valuable objects.

He decided against it. Kurama had grown too fond of his host. There was no certainty that he would give the code to Serith rather than Erev. He would have to find another way to unlock the item’s secret, and quickly.

ooo
“Yusuke!”

He was being called. He recognized the voice, it was one he hadn’t heard in at least a month. But everything was still black. What was he supposed to do?

Then the memories came back: his assignment, the meeting in the forest, his fight, and loss.

Yusuke sat up suddenly, thinking he was still on the forest floor and remembering his last thoughts. Erev had come rushing in. Yusuke hoped he wasn’t too late to help her.

But light shone in from his right as he sat on the familiar cushions of his bed. Yusuke blinked in surprise.

“Huh?” he spoke into the silence. “I’m . . . back home.”

Hearing his voice, Atsuko peeked her head into the room. “Yusuke! You’re awake!”

She walked over to the bed and slapped her still confused son over the head. “You numbskull! You came home a total mess. Did you pick a fight with a pro wrestler or something?” She suddenly burst into tears. “You just got back from the dead, stop making me worry so much!”

“Okay, okay! Stop crying, sheesh.” Yusuke furrowed his brow. “It would’ve been worse. Except for . . . .”

He quickly jumped out of bed and ran out into the living room. “Erev?”

“How are you feeling?” A voice asked behind him. Yusuke whipped around, slightly disappointed to see Botan standing by his bedroom door.

“Botan! What happened? Where’s Erev? I know I saw her before I passed out.”

Botan smiled grimly. “The good news is that Goki was defeated and you now have one of the three Dark Treasures you have to retrieve in seven days.”

“Yeah? Well that’s cheery,” Yusuke said sarcastically. “And what’s the bad news?”

“Erev didn’t come. She’s being possessed by a demonic spirit and escaped his control long enough to help you win your fight with Goki. She went back under possession after we left.” The smile dropped from Botan’s lips.

Yusuke’s fisted hands shook as he fumed in silence for several moments. The image of Erev’s face flashed in front of his eyes, malice and deceit etched into her features. That thing was not his sister. Yusuke had waited long enough to get this close to having her back. He wasn’t about to let some demon stop him.

“How do I get her back, Botan? What can we do?” he finally asked.

Botan bit her lip. “The Dark Treasures weren’t the only things missing in the Underworld Vault. We can only assume that whoever is controlling Erev was with those demons, and he took something as well.”

“It’s called the Tear of Hate,” she continued. “And it separates souls that have been merged together.”

Yusuke’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

“It means that, if this spirit is planning on using that item, there’s nothing we can do to remove him from Erev. Her soul has been connected to the spirit, so we can’t forcibly un-connect them. And the Tear of Hate doesn’t really separate the joined souls either, it only creates a barrier between them and sets up one as more dominant than the other. The dominant soul dictates whether the lesser soul attached to it is allowed control of their body through the Tear. If that spirit knows how to use the Tear, we’re already too late to do anything. The spirit would be in control and only let Erev out when he wanted to.”

Yusuke bristled. “And if he doesn’t know how to use it?”

“I do.” Botan tapped her forehead. “We can give the power to Erev instead.”

“Then we have to find her.” Yusuke nodded gravely. Botan returned the gesture.

“We can use this.” She pulled out a small compass. “The Demonic Aura-Meter. It’s one of your detective items. It should be able to track down the spirit inside Erev. I estimate that at your current capability it will only have a range of about 500 meters.”

Yusuke took the watch and put it on. He flipped the switch on its side and waited. The dial wavered a little. He slapped the compass. “What’s wrong with this thing? Is it even on?”

Botan shook her head. “She’s too far away. We’ll have to start out the old fashioned way: on foot.”

Yusuke snarled and ran out of the house in an impatient frenzy.

‘Erev, I’m coming.’

ooo
Yusuke looked at his compass for the fifth time in ten minutes. He looked back over the crowded shopping plaza, lit with lamps and the silver light of the moon.

His patience had worn out hours ago. Yusuke started walking again, not really sure where to go. He had a long day of fruitless searching behind him and no clear options ahead of him. He growled and checked the compass again.

It started beeping. Yusuke startled and stared at the little dial. 500 meters exactly. Northwest.

He took off running, jostling the people in his path. The distance closed. 400. 300. It had to be her.

100 meters.

Yusuke stopped, panting, and looked around. People shopping blocked his view. He looked for Erev’s long black hair, but found bright red instead.

The compass hadn’t found his sister; it led him to one of his opponents. The demon saw him and approached. Yusuke stiffened.

‘Maybe he won’t attack in the middle of a crowd . . .’ Yusuke thought.

The demon stood in front of him and waited a moment before speaking. “No need to bristle like that. I’m not here to fight . . . or run.”

“In fact, I need a favor,” he continued.

Yusuke furrowed his brow, confused. “Favor?”

He nodded. “Give me three days. Then I’ll return it.”

Yusuke wasn’t sure what to do. He hadn’t been expecting this kind of meeting.

“Uh . . . sure,” the detective finally said with a shrug.

“I guess,” he added under his breath.

The demon smiled lightly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. He held it out and Yusuke took it.

“What’s this?”

“A location that may be of interest to you,” the demon answered enigmatically. He stepped around Yusuke and disappeared into the crowd.

Yusuke looked at the address. He didn’t recognize it, except that it was on the south side of town. He shrugged and shoved it in his pocket. It was time to go home and report to Botan.

ooo
“He’s a criminal,” Botan responded to Yusuke’s account of his encounter with Kurama. “It’s got to be a trick. I mean, the full moon is in three days. That’s when Kurama’s treasure, the Mirror of Darkness, is at its most potent. Whoever looks in that mirror will see his or her deepest desire revealed. The mirror will then grant that desire, if something is offered in return, though we don’t know what that is.”

She held up a finger. “I’ll bet that’s what Kurama aims to find out in the next three days.”

Yusuke sat silently on his bed during Botan’s speech, thinking. “Why did he come to me, then? Unless he wanted me to stop him.”

“Ah . . . good question.” Botan looked puzzled.

Yusuke turned to the window. “Talking to him, I got this feeling that he’s not all that evil.”

“You can’t mean that!” Botan exploded. “His friend nearly killed you.”

Yusuke turned back to her. “Look, I didn’t tell you before but he and his friends weren’t exactly getting along. Kurama wanted out of whatever pact they had. I didn’t find out why. Something could have happened to change his mind, something important. Maybe it’s just me, but what I saw in his eyes made me believe him.”

They were silent for a long moment.

“Yusuke!” Atsuko chimed. “Dinner’s ready. Botan, you’re welcome to join us.”

Yusuke threw up his hands. “Ma, we’re having a serious discussion here.”

She glared back. “So serious you can’t share it with your mother?”

Yusuke rolled his eyes as his mother sidled up next to him. “This new friend of yours is quite pretty, y’know. If you’re two-timing Keiko . . .”

“Feh! I’m not two-timing anybody!” The detective said. He blinked and suddenly remembered something.

“Hey, Botan.” Yusuke turned back to his partner. He pulled the sheet of paper from his pocket. “Kurama gave me this. Do you know where it is?”

Botan took it and looked at the address. “I think that’s a shipping yard. There are a bunch of warehouses down there. What’s it supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” Yusuke shrugged. “But I want to check it out, tonight.”

Botan nodded her agreement.

ooo
“Alright, here we are,” Yusuke observed as he and Botan stood by the line of warehouses. “What now?”

“I don’t know. We don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Botan sighed. “Maybe this is their hideout.”

Yusuke nodded and switched on his compass. It beeped immediately and pointed to the warehouse labeled ‘No. 3.’ The two shared a glance.

“Well,” Botan said. “It’s either Hiei or Erev. . . . Or both. Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Nope.” Yusuke dashed off toward the warehouse. He flung open the door and looked around. It looked deserted.

“Well done, detective.”

Yusuke looked to his left where a dark figure leaned against a stack of crates. Red eyes shone like two perfectly placed drops of blood.

“Yes. Welcome to our humble abode.”

The detective’s head whipped around. The voice came from his right this time, female . . . almost. His sister, no, the demon, stepped out of the shadows. Yusuke noticed something different.

Erev never wore jewelry, yet a single black stone hung from one earlobe. The Tear of Hate, he assumed. Yusuke glowered. Did that mean he was too late?

Yusuke backed up until he could see both of them and bumped into another body. He glanced behind him, where Botan stood at the entrance of the building. He heard her swallow nervously.

The two demons approached and Yusuke took another step back. He was going to have to fight, but he knew he couldn’t take both of them at once. He was backed into a corner with no easy way out.

‘Shit.’