Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Raiden Youkai no Noroi: Zasshu ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Will he be all right?” Hiei heard dimly through the haze of sleep, and immediately wished that the voice were silenced as his head throbbed with pain.

“He should be. Don't worry, it happened to me the first few times I was around her myself.” The sound of a shoji clattering reached Hiei's ears, and the voice was a bit clearer. “If you excuse me, I must attend to my sisters.”

“Hai. Arigato gozaimasu, Ichiro-san.” The voice then directed itself towards Hiei. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm fine,” the little youkai sullenly replied, not willing to admit that his head felt like it was being ripped in two. He sat up and felt around for the white band usually wrapped around his forehead and found that someone had pulled it down around his neck. Replacing it, he got up from the small cot on the floor to look at his surroundings.

It was a traditional Japanese style room, sparsely decorated and dimly lit. Hiei barely made out Kurama's form in the dusk. The acrid scent was even stronger here- they must have found the owners of the hot springs.

“Ichiro-san informed me that we are permitted to stay here until we find Rai. The village Botan told us about is on the other side of this mountain.” Closer than they had thought, but still farther than Botan's estimate. Kurama eyed his companion closely before opening his mouth to state the question that had plagued his mind since their arrival. “Why did you save her?”

Hiei simply gazed at the opposite wall of the room, avoiding the kitsune's eyes. He, too, had wondered at his rash decision. Why had he done something for a complete and total stranger? He couldn't remember what he had been thinking at the time, only her unanswered cries for help.

Kurama, sensing Hiei's reluctance to answer, quickly changed the subject. “This is an onsen ryokan for youkai. If you're feeling up to it later, there's a kashikiri I've been told we can use.” With that, Kurama turned and left, closing the shoji behind him and leaving Hiei to his own thoughts.

What had happened in those last few moments of consciousness? Those visions, what were they? The girl's memories, he knew, but then how had she been able to force them into his mind? It was impossible for her to have done such a thing unless...unless...

Hiei groaned inwardly and laid back down, his head pounding. This was too much to swallow at the moment. The next time he saw the girl, he'd have his answers. Not that he would search her out on his own, of course; he didn't find her that interesting. But their paths would undoubtedly cross during their stay here, and whether she wanted him to or not, he'd find out what he needed.

---

“Rai-chan...Rai, please wake up,” Midori sobbed, burying her face into her thin hands. This was all her fault. She had been the one to push Rai into the bath they were preparing for a guest- who had unfortunately been sent away- knowing full well of her friend's vulnerability to water. But she hadn't suspected, even for an instant, that someone would dare trespass upon her older brother's territory. And Rai...she'd been smiling, even playful for that moment, and they'd ended up making a game of splashing each other, paying no heed to anything around them. But now they had paid for that flash of frivolity, possibly even with Rai's life.

“Midori.” The young woman turned around sharply to see her brother standing in the doorway.

“Ichiro...Oniisan, I'm so sorry.”

“Please don't dwell on it, Omouto. It won't help anyone.” He sighed and knelt beside his sisters.

“The Hunter...you killed him, right?”

“No,” the youkai sighed heavily. “Another youkai did...his name is Hiei. I can't quite reason why, but he saved Rai, not me.”

Midori turned and stared at Ichiro. “This Hiei, he's not the one who was in service of Enma, is he?” Ichiro hesitated and nodded slowly. “B-but what if he's looking for Rai?”

“They are.”

“They!”

“Kurama is with him. I'm having them stay here.”

“What? But why?” Midori cried, her voice distorted by her harsh whisper.

“It will be easier to make sure that they don't find her if we keep them close to us. They're leaving as soon as Hiei-san recovers, anyway,” he reassured her.

“Was he hurt?”

“Yes, but not by the Hunter.” Ichiro cast a glance towards his unconscious sister. “Apparently Rai can force her memories into his mind as well, through his own Jagan.” His black-gloved hand went up to his own forehead, remembering all too well the pain he had experienced when he had first met Rai. “I don't know how this will affect our chances of her going undiscovered...” Hiei might try to find out more, and Ichiro wanted no male youkai getting close to his youngest sister, especially not one who was most likely hell-bent on dragging her back to Reikai. Rai was...delicate, if one were to use the word lightly. Of course, wiping out several villages worth of youkai would make one consider her powerful, but that power ran solely on her emotions, her hatred and contempt for those who had destroyed the life she could have led. But she was unstable, going through a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. 'Bipolar', Ichiro thought, 'isn't that what humans call it?' Her physical health itself was also extremely fragile, and Hiei aside, she didn't need the stress of any sort of relationship with a male.

“Oniisan, where were you?” Midori asked.

Ichiro avoided his sister's gaze and instead stared at the ground. “I...I'll tell you later. In private.”

“ Will Rai-chan wake up?” she whispered.

Ichiro nodded. “She just needs to sleep for now. If everything goes well, she'll be ready.” He reached over and pushed a lock of black hair away from Rai's forehead. Midori hadn't noticed the similarities between her brother and his sister until now, as she looked upon both of their exhausted faces. Both were pale, thin creatures, with gray eyes and small, fragile features that stole away what dazzling beauty they could have possessed but instead graced them with an ethereal aura which few could appreciate. Now, however, their white skin was gaunt and darkened with fatigue. Midori figured she was in the same condition. Ever since Rai had entered their lives, the once-peaceful onsen had become a center of a revolution, a prophecy that they had no control over. The gods gave them no choice in the matter.

---

If they had to describe the village they had been sent to, their choice of words may have ranged from primitive to destitute to downright filthy. The women and men toiled endlessly in dusty fields unyielding of anything remotely edible while their young children ran amok, completely naked. The older children faired no better as they scurried around attempting to round up the toddlers, dressed in little more than threadbare potato sacks resembling the ones the adults wore. Had they known how far that the once-proud citizens had fallen, they would have felt nothing but pity. The only evidence that the village had been anything more was the eerie remains of a castle visible in the distance.

Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma stood on the road that lead into the desolate cluster of huts wondering what information they could possibly uncover here. There had to be a reason for Koenma to send them here first, but why? Yusuke sighed heavily at his luck, or rather, the lack thereof. He finally had a Saturday off and the last thing he wanted to do was question hicks about some terrorist youkai girl that they probably had no idea even existed. But Kuwabara began to stride towards the first hut determinedly, leaving Yusuke no choice but to follow.

The taller boy knocked politely on the door while his sullen companion, hands jammed deep in his pockets, nearly kicked it in. “Would you stop?” Kuwabara hissed. “We need to get answers from these people and you're gonna scare `em off.” Yusuke glared at him and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by the opening of the door.

“Waddaya want?” a voice demanded, and they both looked to the threshold. A boy, who looked to be about ten or so, glowered at them through two close-set golden eyes, as if the detectives had interrupted something direly important. His hair stuck up in small black tufts, snot ran from his nose and his dark skin was red where the scratchy fabric of his clothing had chaffed him. “Well?” he directed again, swatting away a stray fly.

“We, uh...” Kuwabara started, caught off guard by the blatant disrespect from a kid seven years his junior. A blood vessel in Yusuke's temple began to throb and his hands curled themselves into fists. Normally the both of them would teach brats like this one a lesson but they were under direct order not to harm a single one of the raiden youkai. The only two exceptions would be if they were attacked first, or if the youkai happened to be Rai. “Do you know anything about a lighting demon named Rai?”

“No. She live here a long time ago er sum'in'? `Cuz if she did, Bruxa and Strega migh' know `er.”

“Take us to them,” Yusuke commanded.

“Gimme sum'in' and I might.”

Something inside Yusuke snapped. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the fact that instead of the relaxing weekend he had anticipated he was out in some backward hick-town in the Makai interviewing bratty raiden youkai. Maybe it was the simple fact that his patience was already thin from the crap he had to put up with at home. But he refused to take verbal abuse from a ten-year-old. Picking up the small, underfed child by his shirt, snarling, “You will take us to them now.”

“Urameshi!” Kuwabara began to protest as the bravado faded from the little rai youkai's face.

“Anschlag! Alaric!” a feminine voice behind them called out. Yusuke and Kuwabara both turned to look as a young woman came running up to them, motioning wildly for Yusuke to release the boy.

“Hexe! Helfen Sie mir!” the boy cried to the woman.

“Dämonen! Put my brother down!” the woman said as she drew closer. A terrifying snarl took residence on her visage, twisting and distorting her features. Slowly and gently, Yusuke lowered the youkai to the ground, and the child immediately took refuge behind his sister's legs. “What the hell do you think you were doing?” she screamed at the two teenage boys.

Before Yusuke could even open his mouth to argue with her, the boy tugged at his sister's skirt and said hesitantly, “Hexe... Es war meine Störung.”

“Was?” The girl and her brother began to exchange words rapidly, none of which Kuwabara nor Yusuke could understand, ending with the boy saying, “Ich entschuldige mich, Schwester.”

“Don't apologize to me! Say it to them.” The boy muttered and complained, but did as his sister told him before dashing back into the hut.

“Hello,” the woman said, “I am Hexe, and the little boy is my brother, Alaric. Please forgive our rudeness.”

“'S okay,” Kuwabara and Yusuke muttered back. Up close, one could tell that Hexe was different from the rest of the villagers. She kept herself clean, and everything from her brown skin to the simple linen dress she wore gleamed in the sun. The only things that betrayed her heritage as a demon were the three talon-like scars that traced their way across her face, and the claws on her hands. Her eyes, like her Alaric's, were golden, but far more honest looking than her brother's were.

“My brother said that you wished to see Bruxa and Strega, korrekt?” They nodded. “Then follow me.

---

On the outskirts of the village, in a small, one-room cottage filled with smoke, two women sat side by side, each caught up in their own meditation. Only one sentence broke the silence: “Bruxa...stanno venendo.”

`Eu v os também, Strega... eu v os também...'

---

I've translated the words that I thought you might need to know to understand the plot. Those that were obvious through context clues (as well as the last two sentences for literary purposes) I have left untranslated:

Shoji- In traditional Japanese homes, a sliding door made of rice paper and wood.
Hai- Yes
Arigato gozaimasu- Thank you
Kitsune- Fox
Onsen ryokan- Hot spring hotel
Kashikiri- Private bath. Many onsen are open baths for anyone to use, but there are some closed ones for those who wish to bathe alone.
-chan- An affectionate ending used for girls (of course, it's more complicated than this, but I won't go into that much detail)
Oniisan- Older brother
Omouto- Little sister. Throughout Zasshu, you'll see Ichiro refer to Midori, the elder sister, as omouto and Rai as imouto. The `o' in the beginning simply shows respect, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Ichiro respects Midori more than he does Rai- it's simply an easy way to differentiate who he's speaking to.
Saturday off- Not so much a word as it is a little reference to the fact that Japanese middle school and high school students attend classes six days a week. I can barely stand five...
Bruxa, Strega and Hexe- Portuguese, Italian and German for witch, respectively
Anschlag- German for stop
Helfen Sie mir- Also German, means `help me'.
Dämonen- Even more German, `demon'.
Es war meine Störung- The fight was my fault.

AN: I wanted to clear this up right now rather than try and find some way to explain it in the story itself- Rai and Midori are in no way related. They are both Ichiro's half-sisters, but Midori shares a mother with him while Rai shares a father instead. Not all that difficult to comprehend.

While I remember to say this, I encourage you all to ask questions about what's going on. Another flaw I have as a writer is assuming that the readers know what I do (which you don't), which tends to make my writing erratic and confusing, and I'd like to fix that.

I also promised to do character sketches for my OCs for a friend of mine. In this chapter I'll do Ichiro, Midori and Rai. Eventually I plan to put up short ones for Hexe, Alaric, Bruxa and Strega.

I think that's all...

Ja ne!

ChaosMage

NAME: Ichiro (Name meaning- First son)
AGE: 28
SPECIES: Dog demon (Inu youkai)
GENDER: Male
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Grey
Other: Pale skin, slender, tall
PERSONALITY/OTHER: Stoic and aloof, Ichiro runs an onsen resort with the mind of a businessman. Though respectful and hospitable to everyone, the only two people he has ever shown true kindness to are his sisters, Midori and Rai. He was quite attached to his father when he was young and still seems shaken by his death, refusing to hear any mention of it.

NAME: Midori (Name meaning- Green)
AGE: 18
SPECIES: Water/Dog Demon (Mizu/Inu youkai)
GENDER: Female
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Hair Color: Blue
Eye Color: Green
Other: Tall, lithe, yet powerfully built
PERSONALITY/OTHER: Midori is the polar opposite of Ichiro, magnanimous to a fault. It was her idea to convert Ichiro's parent's vast estate into an onsen, and she herself works as a hostess for it. Midori was also the one who convinced her older brother to take in Rai, and although the events that have passed since the young girl's arrival have disturbed her, Midori (or Mii-chan, as Rai calls her) still loves the lightning demon with all of her heart. True to her own father's legacy, Midori is a hydromancer, a water magician who specializes in illusion, as you will see later on.

NAME: Inoue Shinrai/Rai (Name meaning: Inoue Shinrai is the name she was known by in Ningenkai)
AGE: 16
SPECIES: Lightning/Dog Demon (Rai/Inu youkai)
GENDER: Female
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Gray
Other:Extremely pale, skinny (unhealthy), and short compared to her brother
PERSONALITY/OTHER: Before her foster mother's death, Rai had no memory of her past. After the horrific events that led her to her brother's home in the Makai, she began showing symptoms of bipolar disorder with traces of schizophrenia. A rather disturbed individual, Rai is nevertheless, still a person, and is by nature a silent observer, thinking herself to be unfit for social interaction. She's very lonely most of the time, and for this reason clings to her brother in an almost obsessive way, seeing him as her only connection to a world outside of her delusions.