Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Right Here Waiting For You ❯ Chapter 45 ( Chapter 45 )

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

~*~*~*Story Start*~*~*~


The crowd roared with cheers, screams echoing across the stadium once the announcement had been made. It was surprising, considering when this Tournament began everyone wanted us dead. They wanted us to lose, but now it seems like we're their biggest idols. However, despite them showing their happiness for us that we won, I didn't feel relieved or ecstatic. I felt miserable to be completely honest, and by the look that was on Yusuke's face, I knew he felt the same way. How could we be happy? Two people who were important to us were taken in this damn Tournament, and although they didn't die in vain, it didn't make the pain go away. It never really would.


“That's right people!” Koto grinned into the microphone. “Don't kick your radios, the ningen verifiably clinched an upset!” she shouted, her loud voice blaring through the speakers over head, bringing me back to reality.


I bit my lip, my eyes lowering slightly, but I kept my eyes off Kuwabara's form. Just the knowledge that he was actually...it hurt more than I could say. “I can't believe it's really over,” I mumbled quietly, it seemed just like yesterday that we started training for this 'little' ordeal and now this was how it ended. It seemed surreal, and that's what I wanted it to be. I just want all of this to be a bad dream.


“Yes.” Kurama nodded. “Finally, the Toguros fall,” he stated softly.


Hiei let out an amused 'hmph'. “It's been quite a long run,” he agreed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.


“All I can think about is how much our little sapling has improved in this Tournament,” Koenma said with a playful mocking tone, looking at Yusuke before quickly adding, “That...and the whole saving my life thing.”


Our eyes fell on the black haired teen, his body shaking with exhaustion, but after fighting Toguro what could you honestly expect? He was covered in bruises, everywhere on his skin either being ripped or bleeding from the abuse that he had been dealt with not even a few minutes before. It was a surprise that he was even able to stand, let alone be conscious after all that. Yusuke's breathing was labored and shaky, and it looked like he was battling with himself just to keep his eyes open. However, he was losing when we saw his eyes close and his close and his body lean forward. Their smiles dropped, and our eyes widened at Yusuke's falling form, hoping that he was just tired as his body hit the ground.


“Yusuke!” I shouted, the boys and I running up to him as I ignored the sharp pain in my side.


Kurama dropped to his knees , grabbing ahold of Yusuke in the same fashion he did with Kuwabara, however this time Yusuke's eyes were open. “Easy does it, no sleeping just yet.” However, Yusuke just stared past us, not responding, making Kurama's eyes narrow. “Yusuke, snap out of it! You have your victory!” he shouted, hoping to get through to him, while I only frowned.


“Am I...?” Yusuke asked softly. “Am...I alive?”


I bit my lip, the burning sensation beginning to form behind my eyes again. *Oh, Yusuke...* I thought softly, my fist clenching at my sides.


Koenma, however, glared at him slightly in exasperation. “Of course! Do you see any halos on us? Everything is a-okay now!” he said, his tone matching his expression, and I couldn't help but flinch at his words. Everything was far from okay...


“But what about Kuwabara?” I asked, my voice cracking with emotion.


At the mention of his name, Yusuke lifted his eyes off the ground, his sad brown eyes landing on the red head's form as it laid a few feet before us. Pain and guilt instantly filled his eyes, and he quickly closed them tightly, as if that would wash away the image and what had already happened. He got out of Kurama's grip, leaning forward as his hands pressed against the ground, lowering his head in anger. I bit my trembling lip, feeling the tears fill my eyes and I knew the same thing was happening to Yusuke. The boys and I stared at him, their eyes solemn and mine showing the same pain he felt.


“No it's not. No it's not!” Yusuke said angrily, his hands clenched tightly against the dirt. “DAMMIT!”


His angered scream echoed through the stadium, causing the crowd to quiet considerably and my tears fell as I watched Yusuke break down in front of us. His body shook, his eyes opening and seemed to look past even the ground, as if he were watching the scene play in front of his eyes again. Just the mere thought of Kuwabara's death sent a sharp pain through my heart, making the tears run faster and I didn't bother to wipe them away.


“If I hadn't been such an irresponsible kid! If I didn't have concrete walls between  my own stupid emotions!” Yusuke clenched his fists harder, his knuckles turning white as tears built up in his eyes. “I had all the strength to say him. I was just too dumb to know how to reach it! The hell do I say to that, huh?!” he shouted as he looked down, his shoulders shaking visibly as tears fell, seeping into the dirt below.


Kurama frowned. “You say you learned,” he answered soberly.


Flashes of my parents faces came before my eyes, making them close tightly as I clenched my fists. *Is that all that can be said?* I couldn't help but wonder, remembering how I was too weak to help them.


“Shut up!” Yusuke shook harder, anger and sadness mixing. “What good does that do?! He's already dead! I can't say anything to him now! Is that so hard to get?!” His voice shook, and it took everything I had not to break down with him. “I'm just like everybody else with power! I don't do anything to help!” Yusuke slammed his fist onto the ground, lowering his head to the floor. “I'm sorry, Kuwabara! It's all my fault!” he shouted, hoping that his apology would somehow reach him.


I opened my eyes slowly as I tried to wipe my tears, watching him shake. “Yusuke--”


My mumbled word, however, hung in the air when I saw something move out of my peripheral vision. Something that was large, red, white and skin colored. My heart seemed to stop for a second as my body froze, my eyes widening considerably. However, I knew I wasn't the only one who saw what I did, as Kurama, Hiei and Koenma turned to it. I slowly turned, hoping to whatever was up there that when I turned whatever I saw would be there and I wasn't going crazy. That the impossible just happened and that the late ningen teen was still with us; body and soul.


When I turned, it seemed as if I forgot how to breath, my eyes wide, tear streaming eyes staring up at Kuwabara. His eyes were open, the wounds on his chest were closed and he had a smile on his lips as if he had been playing a joke. My mind was slow to process, and even right now I still didn't understand what had just happened.


Kuwabara grinned down at Yusuke, making two peace signs next to his head. “Ok I think you've done enough graveling for one day, though it is pretty entertaining!” Yusuke's head snapped up, his eyes streaming with tears as well and his expression matching mine, however he sweat dropped. “Reporting for duty! Captain Faker, thats me!” the red head shouted, his index fingers pointed at his cheeks, grinning.


Now it hit me. “HOLY SHIT! HE'S A ZOMBIE!” I screamed as I recoiled falling on my ass with a flinch, ignoring the three other boys when they sweat dropped down at me. ...Okay, maybe it didn't hit me...


Yusuke wasn't doing much better. “Hey! Why's the dead guy walking around?!” he shouted to Kurama in confusion as he pointed his finger wildly at Kuwabara.


“H-he's dead!” I shouted, turning to him as well. “We saw him!”


Kurama let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and as Yusuke and I looked at him I couldn't help but notice that he didn't seem shocked by this as we were. ...He knew?!, “Yes well...I tried to inform you two.”  He opened his eyes, glancing at Yusuke. “But you were too engrossed in your speech,” he said rather bluntly.


“The heart!” Yusuke and I got close to Kurama's face, making him move back with a sweat drop. “The finger poking!” we shouted together with confusion shining in our eyes.


“You're a moving public speaker, by the way,” Kurama said with a nervous smile, looking at Yusuke.


Yusuke and I only stared up at him, our tears still falling.


Kurama's eyes softened at the sight of our obvious confusion and former pain. “Look, he never died. When Kuwabara collapsed, I noticed that his pulse was still strong. However, Kuwabara didn't want me to tell you, saying that you needed the shock so you could beat Toguro. We all agreed and pretended that he died and...” Our expressions didn't change, making Kurama smile nervously again. “And that's basically how it went,” he said as he rubbed the back of his head.


“How does it feel to be out of the loopty-loop?” Kuwabara asked walking over to us with a smirk.


“All you guys were in on this?” Yusuke asked as he turned to all of us, and his eyes narrowed slightly when he looked at me. “Kira?” he asked nearly in a growl, as if he thought I was just part of this...crazy ass plan of theirs!


I shook my head, wiping my tears in annoyance. “NO! I pretty much  had another fucking emotional break down because of this goddamn thing!” I shouted, an irk mark pulsing on my temple.


“So just you guys?” Yusuke asked the others, accepting my answer. Which was true!


Koenma nodded. “Naturally. I know I'm not suppose to lie, but well...whatever,” he said, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.


Anger boiled inside me, and I glared at all of them. How the fuck could they do that?! I was semi-fucking-catatonic for crying because of that 'little' trick! Who knows how long it would have taken them to wake me up if I didn't get shocked out of it?! My right eye twitched and I clenched my fists tightly. I'm going to kill them! Yusuke, despite the confused tear strained face of his, I could see the beginnings of a glare working their way to his eyes. Good!


“And you jerks let us cry like babies?!” Yusuke shouted with an irk mark on his temple.


I nodded, shooting them all a glare. “Yeah! That was the worse kind of thing to do to anyone, especially Yusuke and I! You're all lucky that I'm not going to kick your asses, or none of you would be able to have children!” I shouted, my right eye twitching in anger, and not even the flinch that the boys gave could bring a smirk to my lips in this moment. ...Ha.


“Yusuke said it himself, it was his fault,” Hiei said/defended with a scoff, rolling his eyes at me. Ass.


Koenma nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I agree with Hiei, mostly so I don't feel guilty,” he said, which earned him a glare from yours truly, damn cowardly, asshole prince!


I heard Kuwabara laugh from behind me, apparently finding my and Yusuke's pain extremely funny. It was then that I noticed that since Kuwabara was the one that actually caused all of this to happen. An evil look passed through my eyes, making the four boys in front of me to move away from me slightly. Turning to Kuwabara, who was still laughing, I couldn't help but let a smirk fall on my lips. This will teach him to NEVER do that to any of us again.


“Kuwabara~!” I called in sing-song, making Kuwabara stop his laughter almost instantly.


When Kuwabara opened his eyes, he saw me walking towards him with a smile on my lips, and he couldn't help but feel scared. This wasn't the 'oh I'm so happy that you're alive!' smile, this was a 'you're fucking dead you asshole' smile. Before he could even begin to shout out for help, run away, or do anything to save his skin he was stopped by my fist landing in his gut. It wasn't a very strong punch, but it would hurt him enough to get my message across. Kuwabara stumbled back a step or two, holding his gut as his face contorted in slight pain, the air pushing out of lungs for a split second.



“Ow!” Kuwabara gasped, shooting me a glare. “What the heck Kira?!”


I didn't answer him right away, throwing my arms around him and giving him a tight hug that shocked him slightly. “Don't you ever do that again, Kuwabara. I don't want any of my friends dieing on me, okay?” I asked, the smirk off my lips, my tone serious this time. I don't want to go through that again...


“Got it,” Kuwabara said with a smile, nodding his head as he hugged me back.


However, the moment was stopped when I felt someone grab my shoulder and push me away from Kuwabara, making me stumble and wince, the wound in my side aching from the constant movement. “Hey, don't think I'm gonna let you off that easy! I'm kicking your ass, Kuwabara!” Yusuke shouted angrily.


Once Yusuke's angered shout reached my ears as I caught myself from falling, and I looked up seeing, sweat dropping at the seen that laid before me.  Yusuke slammed Kuwabara into the ground, comic clouds of dust appearing around them to only allow us to see some of the boys as Yusuke beat the shit out of the red haired ningen. I looked back seeing Kurama and Koenma sweat dropping with nervous smiles on their faces. However, I almost started to laugh when I saw Hiei's expression. I placed my hand in front of my lips, trying to stop the laughs from spilling from my lip. Hiei had the best 'what the fuck' face I have ever seen in my life! Oh, the one time I really wish I had a camera and I don't, dammit!


The expression, however, was short lived and calmed myself down as I walked over to the boys growing serious once again. I was still a bit sore about earlier. “So, care to explain why none of you thought to fill me in on your 'little' plan earlier?” I asked as I stopped before them, crossing my arms over my chest.


“I'm sorry Kira, we wanted to tell you.” Kurama gave me an apologetic look. “But you did, however, make the performance all the more real,” he said with a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his head.


My mouth dropped open in shock. “Kurama!”


Hiei sighed. “There's nothing you can do about it now, Onna,” he said, staring at me blankly.


“I can still be mad if I want to, dammit! That was a really terrible trick!” I shouted back in my defense.


Hiei rolled his eyes at me, but I ignored that for the time being. “If Yusuke could have reached his power on his own, the fake death wouldn't have been needed and you two wouldn't have looked like children,” he shot back smoothly, not missing a beat once again. Damn him...


I opened my mouth to retort, but closed it for a short second before mumbling, “Still...”


“Yusuke, teach him anymore and you'll actually kill him,” Koenma suddenly spoke up, turning to the black haired ningen as he held a very beaten up Kuwabara. “That's kind of against the point, isn't it?”


Hiei, Kurama and I turned to look at the other three, and we all sweat dropped when we saw Kuwabara's face. It wasn't like what Suzuka's was back when Genkai beat the shit out of him, but this was a pretty close second. Blood was leaking from his nose, his face was swollen up like a balloon and he looked like he passed out somewhere during the beating. I couldn't help but feel slightly bad, having forgotten about the two of them for a short moment. I winced looking back at Kuwabara, really feeling bad now. ...Well, Kuwabara DID make Yusuke and I cry, and did send me into a semi-catatonic state, so I think he deserves this. ...Slightly! I'm not THAT mean! (*Coughs Awkwardly*)


Yusuke looked over at us before letting Kuwabara go, slamming onto the ground with a painful thud, making me sweat drop. But I stopped when Yusuke suddenly gasped, turning towards Toguro's corpse. “Wait a sec, that still doesn't explain why Toguro missed doofus boy's heart,” he pointed out, frowning.


“Oh yeah, I haven't thought about that.” Kuwabara stood up,looking completely recovered, adding quietly, “Doofus brain...”


All of us turned towards Toguro's body, and I shuddered slightly at the chalk white skin that now painted his once tan body. I was still on edge though, thinking that he would suddenly jump up and be completely healed like his elder brother. But I couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Why did Toguro let Kuwabara live? He didn't seem like the person who would just act with mercy and let Kuwabara live so Yusuke wouldn't be miserable. It just didn't seem to make sense.


Kuwabara frowned in confusion. “What with all the years Toguro's spent as a hired killer, you'd think he'd know where the heart was,” he mumbled, looking down at the corpse before us.


“He obviously knew, Kuwabara,” Hiei spoke up, a mocking smirk on his lips. “I'd say your defense level just rose dramatically and kept your heart from being pierced. Your stubbornness is even greater than your stupidity.”


I shook my head. “It's good to have everything back to normal,” I said with a laugh.


Kuwabara, however, didn't seem as he threw a glare down at Hiei. “That sure is a nasty way to give a complement!” he shouted angrily.


“I suggest an alternative; that Toguro didn't want Kuwabara to die.” We all turned to Kurama, now very confused. “He intended to miss from the start. I believe that the ultimate outcome of this fight is precisely what Toguro had been looking for,” he said with a thoughtful frown.


“So he threw the fight?” Kuwabara asked.


Kurama shook his head. “No. He wanted to be legitimately defeated by someone stronger,” he explained.


Kuwabara was still confused, and I didn't blame him. “But why?”


“Maybe he felt guilty for choosing strength over his friends, and ditching the one he cared about most,” Koenma suggested as he stared at Toguro's corpse.


“And who better to vanquish him than the apprentice of the woman he abandoned?” Kurama asked, bringing out attention back to him as he looked over at Yusuke. “He wanted you to prove him wrong; show him that your choice could prevail.”


Koenma shrugged. “Guess we'll never know for sure.”


At the sound of footsteps nearing us, I turned my head quickly to my left, my eyes narrowing when I saw a very familiar looking ningen gambler.Despite the lose that he received from Toguro dieing, he didn't seem concerned at all for the bet, considering he was going to die. It was unnerving to see someone, even a ningen, smile so calmly when they know that they're going to die. Just the thought of that put me on edge, and I stood stiffly, ignoring a gaze that fell on my form when they noticed my cautious stature. That goddamn ningen was holding us in here, those damn walls still around the stadium. And that thought, I got a very bad feeling, which didn't help me in the slightest. Great.


“May I put in my two cents?” Sakyo asked, making the others turn to him quickly.


I crossed my arms, my eyes set dangerously into a cold glare. “No, we don't really give a fuck what you think, now go away,” I spat heatedly, he was the man that helped Toguro get us here because of his money and connections, if it weren't for him we would't be here.


Sakyo, unfortunately, found that amusing, letting out a chuckle. The boys tensed up even more at the sound of that, while I just grew angrier.


“What are you laughing at, ningen?” I asked, growling.


Sakyo waved his hand dismissively, the amused look on his face still there. “Oh, it's nothing Miss Akira, you just reminded me so much of your brother that it surprised, that's all,” he said, not caring for all six glares that were directed at him.


I stood rigid, he just called me by my full name and compared me to that bastard.  However, Hiei held his arm out in front of me, his gaze cold. “What do you want?” he asked, his tone low and very deadly.


“Ah yes.” Sakyo smirked. “I think Kurama's right; about what he said about Toguro, that is,” he explained.


Yusuke narrowed his eyes. “What the hell?” he mumbled to himself quietly.


“I only knew him a couple of years, but thinking back the signs were in neon lights.” Sakyo let out a rueful smirk. “Toguro's poker face was famous. When he saw Yusuke barrel into Tarukane's Stronghold it was one of the few times I saw him lose a grin. I just thought he was anxious to kill you, but that's what I get for projecting my taste onto his. In the greatest moment facing the greatest opponent he was able to face a great end. Its the dream of every true competitor.” The gambler turned to our teenage prince. “Speaking of, Koenma it's time for us to settle our own great bet. I see my weak point was not knowing the truth of what Toguro was thinking, it's been a most enjoyable game,” he said, and I couldn't help but stare at him like he was crazy. I really believed he was.


“Bet's off,” Koenma refused bluntly. “You've lost your fortune, you're not threat to me now.”


“Such kind words, but wheres the thrill in gambling if you know you can get out of all of your bets?” Sakyo smirked wider, grabbing something out of his pocket. “Don't worry, I'll take care of it myself,” he said, holding up a remote control, making all of us tense up and our eyes widened. Oh no...


The ground below us gave a small rumble, slowly escalating into large tremors that made me stumble a bit but I caught my balance, and I threw another glare over at Sakyo as he kept that same fucking smirk on his lips. White cracks began to form over the walls off the stadium, debris falling from the remaining ceiling, and dust filled the air. The crowd was filled with bemused youkai and ningens, their murmurs lost beneath the rumbles. The boys and I were tensed up, our wide eyes locked onto Sakyo's form. He did NOT just do what I think he did!


“Stadium detonation now commencing in 15 minutes,” a computerized voice spoke.


He fucking did it...


Everyone seemed to freeze in the stadium at the sound of that monotonous statement, and all we could do was stare with our mouths hanging open in shock. However, we were pulled out of that when the voice came back once again. “Stadium detonation, 14 minutes,” it said, and that's when we all snapped out of our frozen states. Screams from the youkai filled the stadium as they began to scramble around in every direction they could, the walls beginning to crumble down around us.


“This stadium will be turned into ruins, taking me and my ambitions along for the ride,” Sakyo informed.


Kuwabara glared. “How can you do this?!”


“You should concentrate on your own life, Kuwabara,” Sakyo said turning his blue gaze onto the red head before he turned around, heading towards the darkened corridor behind him.


“Where are you going?” Koenma asked in confusion, but go not reply.


“Stadium detonation, 13 minutes,” the computerized voice reminded us, and I paled considerably.


I turned to the boys, finding them still not doing anything to get us out of here! I mean, we don't even have the girls with us! “Goddammit, why are we standing around here?! We are going to DIE!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation at them. Geez, and they think I'm slow!


“O-oh yeah!” Kuwabara said, his eyes widening.


Kurama's eyes narrowed, turning to us. “We have to find the girls, lets just hope they haven't moved,” he said, his tone concerned as he let his jade-hued eyes roam around the scrambling crowd of youkai.


I looked around, trying to find four girls, two having blue and mint green hair. To my great surprise and relief, I saw them sitting where I had seen them before. However, they weren't preoccupied with what was happening around them, but at Keiko who was slumped to her knees on the ground, the other two girls trying to wake her up. I wasn't sure where Shizuru was, but knowing her for as long as I have, I knew that she was going to be all right. Or so I hoped.


“There over there!” I called over the sounds of screams and falling debris, pointing to my right.


There eyes snapped to where I was pointing, and their expression wasn't relieved, which made me curious. I turned, and my eyes widened when I saw a large chunk of ceiling fall dangerously close to where the three girls were. I let out a sigh of relief, but despite them not being hurt, there was no telling what else could fall near them, or worse on them.


“Keiko!” Yusuke shouted as he stepped forward.


Koenma suddenly turned to the black haired Detective. “Yusuke, can you help the girls?” he asked, causing us to look at him, and I was surprised to see his eyes narrowed.


“Yeah, naturally.” Yusuke rose an eyebrow. “What are you gonna do?” he asked.


“I still have a little business to settle with Sakyo.” Koenma frowned seriously, and when Yusuke nodded the prince turned around to run, but not without saying, “Don't get killed.”


Yusuke turned to all of us. “You heard the man, lets go!”


“Right,” Kuwabara grunted.


Yusuke started to walk forward, but a wave of dizziness hit him, making him sway dangerously before Kurama caught him. “Perhaps you should let me help you,” Kurama suggested with a frown, while Kuwabara and I let out breaths, slightly startled a moment before.  Damn reckless boy...


The black haired Detective looked up at Kurama gratefully before turning to Toguro. “See you around, Toguro,” he mumbled to the corpse with a small smile.


We all headed towards the stands, but because of all the youkai running around it was making it a bit hard for us to make it through the sea of scrambling apparitions. Because of my weakened state and very wounded -and now bleeding- side, it was making this a bit difficult for me to not get thrown around like a piece of paper. Every time a shove would come at me, I would stumble and I would wince at the pain from my wound. However, a certain little fire youkai noticed my plight and made a path , and when I gave him a smile in thanks he just rolled his eyes at me. When he turned his back, however, I stuck my tongue out at him but followed anyway, and somehow we made it up to Kuwabara, Kurama and Yusuke who weren't having a better time.


“Whats up with these demons going the wrong way?! Its like wading through a pool of giant trout!” Kuwabara glared all around him, but his eyes widened when he spotted the girls, or at least one in particular. “Yukina's in trouble! Hold on!  Your loyal samurai in shining armor is coming my loving sweet-pea!” he shouted with determination.


With that said, Kuwabara barreled through the crowd of youkai like they were nothing. A cloud of dust appearing behind him as he left many confused, dazed and knocked out youkai behind him. My eyes were wide, a sweat drop going down the back of my head at the scene before me. I could tell that the boys beside me were doing the same thing, considering they weren't moving despite how we only had less than eight minutes left to get out of this damn stadium. However, I couldn't help but think that was a bit cute and not to mention convenient.


“Why'd Toguro miss?” Hiei asked, his eyes slightly wide.


I glared over at Hiei, smacking his arm. “That's mean! I bet even you were a bit sad that Kuwabara seemingly died before you figured it out!” I shouted, an irk mark pulsing on my temple. Asshole!


Hiei only scoffed.


“Well,” Kurama spoke up nervously, seeing my darkening expression. “We might as well follow his path.”


Yusuke and Kurama went forward, with Hiei and I following, said fire youkai reluctantly following as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Ignoring him we quickly -as we could- made our way half way up the stairs. I, however, scowled at each youkai that slammed past us, biting my lip at the pain and I was so close to making my lip bleed as well. Damn fucking lower-class youkai, do they really need to push so hard?! However, my thoughts were stopped when I saw Kuwabara come into view, now standing near the girls, that big goofy grin on his face.


“Hey Yukina!” Kuwabara shouted, waving. “I'm here to rescue you! We can go home whenever you want!”


Yukina got up, her red eyes filled with worry. “Kazuma! Something's really wrong with Keiko! She's not responding to anything! We can't get her to move!” she shouted over the rumbling as she walked forward.


Kuwabara suddenly stopped smiling, and I grew concerned at that, it only growing when his eyes widened. My eyes snapped over to Yukina's form, and I saw cracks eating away at wall beside her. The wall began to crumble heading towards the girl, and she turned, her eyes widened with fear. I quickly ran up the stairs, not caring for the pain that it was putting me through, and if I was more aware I would have noticed that Hiei was no longer beside or behind me. When I made it up to the stairs, I saw the wall crash onto the ground, a large cloud of dust springing into the air, not letting Kuwabara or I see what had happened to the sweet little ice apparition.


“Yukina!” Kuwabara shouted, his tone filled with worry as he ran towards the smoke.


I quickly followed after him. *Shit!* I thought nervously.


When Kuwabara and I made it to the crumbled remains of the wall, we both saw a sight that made Kuwabara let out a gasp of surprise and made me smile in relief, a hand going to my rapidly beating 'heart'.  Hiei was crouched on his right knee, one arm wrapped around Yukina's shoulder as she half-laid on the ground. Both out of harms way, not a scratch on either of them. Yukina had her eyes closed tight, waiting for the pain, but when she didn't feel it she tentatively opened her eyes. She slowly looked up, her eyes widening slightly when she saw Hiei as her savior once again.


Hiei looked down at his younger sister's face, and I could see the distance appear in his eyes once again, making me frown at him. I knew some kind of harsh words were going to slip their way past his lips, so I just waited. I knew it didn't really matter to me if he decided to not get close to his sister, but the promise that he made me -well it was something like a promise-, I thought that he meant it. Lowering my gaze slightly, I missed the quick glance from the fire youkai before me, a small frown on his lips as well.


“...You should be more careful,” Hiei mumbled hesitantly to Yukina, looking off to the side.


Yukina looked a bit shocked at his words before smiling up at him. “Thank you very much, Hiei,” she said gratefully, her matching red eyes warm.


My had snapped up at the sound of his gentler words, and I smiled brightly at Hiei's back, unlike the red haired ningen next to me. Kuwabara glared at Hiei, his fists clenched tightly in front of him, and I could practically feel the jealousy radiating off of him in waves, which I ignored. Watching as the two got up, I had to hide the squeals that wanted to  escape. That was way too cute! xD In the future I have to get that to happen more often to help Yukina figure out who Hiei! And I must have pictures! Pictures would be amazing! Now how to go about doing that without causing any harm to Yukina...? I, however, stopped my goofy smiling when I saw Hiei's narrowed eyes fall on my form as if he knew what I was thinking. And considering this is Hiei I'm talking about, I'm pretty sure he did. ...Shit.


“This isn't a good place for a party guys,” Yusuke's joking voice said from behind us, causing Kuwabara, Hiei, Yukina and I to turn towards him and Kurama. I frowned slightly, looking over at Keiko's still form that eerily reminding myself of what I probably looked twenty minutes before.


“Yusuke!” Botan called urgently. “Keiko's not well!”


Yusuke's eyes widened at the sound of that. “What?!” he shouted as he pushed himself off of Kurama, stumbling forward before kneeling down next to Keiko, his eyes softening.


“Post traumatic stress, and like everything else she excels at it,” Botan informed with a worried frown.


I grimaced at the name of that disorder, knowing that I have it as well. “Trust me on this, going into a catatonic state like she has is going to be a real bitch to get her out of.” The others turned to me, Yusuke's eyes telling me to explain. “One thing that got me to wake up was a shock, but considering she didn't get shocked by everything falling around her you should probably talk to her. If you do that, she should come back,” I explained walking over to them.


{You've done this before?} Hiei's voice asked.


I glanced at him, slowly nodding. *Yeah, didn't you notice me doing the exact same thing when Kuwabara was 'killed'?* Hiei was quiet, making my right eye twitch in annoyance. *Tch. And you call me an idiot, Baka Otoko,* I mocked with a roll of my eyes.


An irk mark appeared on Hiei's temple, and a sudden sharp pain went through my head.


I winced at what felt like a terrible migraine. *OW! What the hell did you do?!* I shouted, throwing him a glare as I held my pounding head. If that was a mental smack upside the head I'm going to kill him!


Hiei said nothing, but I saw a smirk on his lips. Asshole! I'm going to kill him!


However, my thoughts were pulled back to the others when I saw Yusuke stare at Keiko with a worried, gentle expression. “Hey, Keiko,” he whispered, taking my advice and we all watched -well besides Hiei- with a concerned gaze in our eyes. But Keiko gave no response at all, although if Yusuke kept it up she was go-


“Did you hear me?!” Yusuke grabbed the front of her shirt, shaking her slightly. “I said hey it's Yusuke! We can go home now!” he said louder this time, his eyes narrowing.


Keiko still did nothing.


“Well so much for that!” Yusuke got in Keiko's face now. “Listen! I'm sorry, but we don't have anymore time to talk!” To my complete shock Yusuke started to smack Keiko hard, leaving my mouth to drop open. “Snap out of it will ya?! A thousand tons of rock is about to fall on our heads! And I'm sure you already know this, but that's a lot! Come on Keiko! Wake up!” he shouted loudly, an irk mark appearing.


During the abuse none of us had seen Keiko slowly clench her fist before it was too late for us to warn Yusuke. “Yusuke! How dare you, you jerk?!” she shouted, snapping out her once catatonic state.


Keiko's left hand rose, and in a fluid motion, it connected painfully against Yusuke's face. A glazed over look instantly came to his eyes as his head slammed into the concrete floor, an out-of-it smile appearing on his lips. Botan and I shared the same expression, our hands rising to our lips as we flinched at the sound that had echoed loudly off the crumbling walls around us. However, I recovered a lot faster than the blue haired Grim Reaper/Pilot of the River Styx, and crossed my arms over my chest. Serves the jerk right, I know he wanted her to wake up and all, but smacking her across the face and screaming at her is NOT the way to go about doing that!


“...Or hit her, that works, too.” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him.


Keiko breathed heavily, but when she noticed what was happening around her, her eyes widened with confusion as she straightened up. “H-Huh? W-whats go-going on here? I-I...?” she trailed off, let out a shocked -but muffled- shriek when she saw Yusuke's unconscious body on the ground before her.


Kuwabara poked Yusuke. “I think he's dead,” he said, paling.


However, we all grew serious when we remembered how much time had passed and we were no where near getting out of this damn place. Once Yusuke got his barrings back we all raced down one of the many corridors, red lights flashing all around us as the alarm began to go off. I gritted my teeth, my side aching and burning with pain, starting to feel blood starting to slip down from underneath the now soaked bandages. I could feel myself starting to get a bit lightheaded, but ignored it as much as I could, biting the inside of my cheek as if that would distract myself from the bigger wound. Pff. Sure, all right.


“Stadium detonation, 3 minutes,” the computer voice called.


“Hey, where's my sister?” Kuwabara asked from in-front of me turning to Yukina, for once serious.


Yukina frowned, looking up at the taller ningen, pulling me out of my thoughts and back into reality. Great, just what I need. “I'm not sure really, we were so busy with Keiko I didn't see her slip away, sorry,” she apologized, and I almost 'awed' at her, she's so sweet and adorable!


“Hey don't worry, she'll take care of herself.” Kuwabara turned his attention to the front, as did I, and our eyes narrowed at the stopped youkai forms in front of us. “What's the hold up?! Clear a path fans! Kuwabara coming through!” The youkai did as instructed, clearing a path for us and we ran past them, only to stop a large hole that was covered by parts of the falling ceiling. “Uh oh, I don't like this.” Kuwabara turned around, looking at Yusuke. “What now?” he asked.


“Get out of the way, I'll bust through,” Yusuke said as he slowly pulled his arm away from Kurama, but the pain on his face made me frown as he stumbled, Kurama catching him once again.


Kurama frowned. “Yusuke, you know you don't have strength left,” he reminded seriously.


Yusuke turned to him, his narrowed from the pain. “Well neither do you, so whats our choice?” he asked.


I frowned, my body wracked with fear. None of us had enough strength to blast through this, not even wit our combined Spirit Energy. I looked around at the others, their faces contorted by panic as well, which didn't help me feel any better. Shit! If I knew that this was going to happen then I would have tried to actually save some of my Spirit Energy when I was fighting Kane! Now we're all going to die for nothing! What a great fucking way to end a Tournament! When I do die, I'm going to find Sakyo's spirit and beat the ever loving shit out of him for doing this to us, the motherfucking bastard!


“Stadium detonation, 2 minutes,” the computer voice warned.


I glared heatedly at the invisible speakers in the hallway. “Oh, fuck you! We KNOW!” I shouted angrily.


“What can we do?!” Botan shouted worriedly, causing me to turn to her, seeing her usually cheerful pink eyes now shining with fear. “We don't have time to find a new exit!”


“Dammit,” Yusuke growled lowly.


My frown deepened as well, but before we could freak out even more than we were now, we heard the sound of a drill coming towards us. Our eyes snapped towards the fallen rocks that laid before us, seeing cracks begin to appear before it exploded. We all stared in surprise when we saw Chu, Rinku, Toya and Jin standing before us through the dust. The previous dread that filled me instantly disappeared when I saw them, and another relieved smile appeared on my lips. The others did the same as well, or Hiei stopped being so tense at least. But whatever! We weren't going to die! :D


“How goes it, mate?” Chu asked, smirking down at Yusuke.


Yusuke let out a surprised/shocked laugh pass through his lips. “A lot better now, I guess!” he said smiling.


“Then don't stand there like a bludger, lets go!” Chu smirked wider at the response, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. “We can't let our champion team get hurt now!” he reminded.


Jin grinned at us with that smile of his. “Right he is! When the Tourney next around comes flying we'll have to face you ourselves and we'll have new muscles on us and woo whee you'll go zipping and we'll be the champions of that one!” he shouted excitedly, making me blink in shock. Uh? What?!


Yusuke, however, wasn't deterred. “Right, whatever he said!” he said, giving them a thumbs up.


We all ran forward -with me secretly groaning on the inside-, but we stopped shortly after when we heard the familiar call of our favorite little penguin Spirit Beast that we all know and love. We turned as Keiko did, and said cute little blue penguin landed in her arms, causing the brown haired girl to smile warmly down at the bird. As much as that was adorable and everything, we were now running on less than a minute of time, which wasn't very good. At all.


“Hey, there you are.” Keiko cooed. “You're gonna come live with me, aren't you?”


Puu smiled up at her. “Puu!”


Botan was obviously thinking the same thing, stepping towards the ningen girl. “Uh, Keiko? The stadium!” she reminded as calmly and politely as she possibly could in this situation.


“Right!” Keiko said, running over to us.


With Keiko back with us, we were finally able to run once again. The pain escalated as I had to pump my legs faster and harder than I had to before, knowing that at any second this damn place could explode and/or collapse onto us. I was having a ver hard time to keeping up with the others, my breathing becoming labored as my vision began to swim, the lightheaded feeling coming back full force now. I was now half stumbling and half running, which giving the rocky ground and horrible situation was probably the worst thing that could happen to me.


And the ground did exactly what I feared.


My foot clumsily hit a rock that was 'conveniently' placed in front of me, and just for an added 'bonus' it was with my left leg, connected to my left side, which was horribly wounded. Tripping forward I slammed onto the wrong side, and the pain hitting me hard. I tried to get up as quickly as I could, but that only caused a mouthful of blood to fly pass my lips, sending me into a coughing fit as the blood made my throat raw. Trying to push through the pain I got to my knees, I looked behind me to see many youkai running dangerously close to me, and that I was still dangerously close to the stadium.


“Great, it looks like Kane really did take me with him in the end...” I growled lowly.


However, before I could accept my fate, strong arms suddenly appeared underneath my back and legs. I was lifted into the air, and on instinct I wrapped my arms around their neck, burying my face into their chest as I closed my eyes tightly. I was happy thought, the person who was carrying me at a very surprisingly fast speed, had held me the right way, letting my right side press against them. If only I knew who it wa-


{Baka Onna.}


The sound of that familiar, annoyed voice made my eyes snap open and look upwards. Hiei's annoyed eyes met my surprised ones, and I was desperately hoping that he wasn't seeing the blush that painted my cheeks at this moment. However, remembering that he had once again called me an idiot, the embarrassment that I felt was instantly forgotten and I stuck my tongue out at him, ignoring him as he rolled his eyes at my behavior. But I stopped my annoyed thoughts when I swear I saw something flash in his eyes. It looked like-


“5! 4! 3! 2! 1!” the computer voice counted.


I quickly looked away from Hiei's eyes, looking over his shoulder and sighed in relief, seeing that we were now a safe distance away from the crumbling stadium. Feeling Hiei slow down to a stop, I turned and saw us stop beside the others, minus Shizuru, Koenma and George of course. Hiei, surprising me greatly, slowly set me down on my feet as he took his arm out from under my legs, but kept his other arm securely around my back. Biting my lip as I blushed scarlet, I ignored the butterflies that danced in my stomach as I turned my eyes back to the stadium.


The walls exploded as red and yellow flames burst out from under them and through the already made holes from our last battle. Everyone was quiet around us, the only sound that filled the air were the crumbling of the once tall walls, or eyes wincing at the bright yellow light that it gave off. However, the group and I watched the collapsing stadium with concern when we still saw that Shizuru, Koenma and George weren't here with us. But a second later, relief flooded our systems when we saw said three figures run out from the dark clouds of smoke, and thankfully all looking completely unharmed. I let out a sigh for the thousandth time today, relaxing against Hiei who tensed up ever so sightly before doing the same.


“Yeah! With the action hero exit!” Kuwabara shouted with a wide grin, punching his fist into the air.


The three made it to us, and quickly turned as well, all of us watching in silence as the last of the stadium fell and the bright yellow light dimmed down into nothing. All that was left were the lingering black clouds of smoke that lifted high into the air, thankfully not blocking the setting sun that washed over our faces. Now, as we stared at the empty space, it seemed to hit us. With the stadium gone, Toguro, Elder Toguro, Sakyo and the rest of the Committee dead, we were actually free. No one could make us come back, because there was no Tournament to come back to. My friends weren't threatened anymore, and neither were their families. That alone made a smile come back to my lips.


Kuwabara narrowed his eyes. “So, it's over now,” he spoke, breaking the thick silence.


“Yeah, it finally is,” Yusuke said with a small smile.


Those words seemed to lift the heaviness that once filled my chest, a light feeling filling me. “Thank god,” I whispered, closing my eyes, wanting so badly to fall asleep but I forced myself awake. I came with the boys when this Tournament started, and I'll be awake with them when it ends.


Botan's unexpected scream/growl, however, made me jump awake, and I ignored Hiei's snicker. Jerk.


“What's wrong, Botan?” Kuwabara asked worriedly.


All of us turned to her as well, seeing her narrowed eyes. “The prizes for winning the Tournament! You were each suppose to get whatever you wanted! We didn't even get a souvenir mug!” Botan complained, completely outraged apparently.


Kuwabara slumped his shoulders. “Aw! I was gonna get famous!” he whined .


“What a crock,” Botan mumbled with a frown.


“It doesn't matter,” “Those bastards up in the Tournament Committee, they couldn't have given us what we wanted anyway.


“And what did we want again?” Botan asked, but a second later gasped.


All of us looked down, pain filling our eyes as one face entered our mind. I held Hiei tighter at the thought of her, but a sad smile fell on my lips. “It's done! We finished it Genkai!” Yusuke shouted as he stepped forward looking up at the sky, making all of us do the same.


Yeah, we finished it.


~*~*~*The Next Day*~*~*~


After the fight we all went back to the hotel, because with the Tournament done, there was no where else we could really go to. I was wrapped in bandages once again, thanks to my wounds being so severe, normal healing would be able to cut it unless I wanted infected insides, which I really didn't want. We all went to bed early that day, thinking that by the next morning we would feel refreshed. That didn't happen. Going home just reminded us of how we would be returning instead of with Genkai. And as much as we tried to hide it, we knew each other was hurting, yes even Hiei seemed down as well. All of us now stood inside of the living room, our bags all packed and ready to go.


Yusuke frowned, turning away from the window, his eyes falling on us. “That's all the quiet staring I can handle, lets get out of here, okay?” he asked, his tone tired and lacking life, much like ours it seems.


“Right,” Kuwabara grunted, straightening up.


“After all this time, it's gonna feel weird not fearing for my life,” Yusuke stated with a dry laugh.


“Don't sweat it Urameshi,” Kuwabara with a half-hearted grin, scratching his temple. “I can beat ya up at school everyday if that makes you feel better.”


Kurama chuckled softly, but I believed that it was a bit fake. “Yusuke is right, normal life for us all will seem...pale for a while,” he said after a pause, trying to find the right word, and I couldn't help but feel the same way. Despite how scared I was during the Tournament, the excitement was fun. When we were together that is.


“No kidding,” I mumbled quietly.


“Puu!”


All of us turned to the window, seeing the little blue penguin Spirit Beast flapping outside of our hotel window. “Hey, there you are.” Puu called again. “All right, Puu, I didn't think you'd ever come back after Genkai started talking through you.” Yusuke stared down at him, ignoring his fidgeting. “You're kind of like a telephone to the other side, aren't you?” he asked, a small bit of hope in his eyes.


I frowned at that. *Yusuke...* I thought sadly.


“Well? What are you waiting for operator, patch me into grandma.” Puu only whined once again as Yusuke started to turn him over. “Come on! Which side's your receiver? What? What you'll do it for her but not for me? You're my Spirit Animal, you know!” he said, giving Puu a fake glare.


“Stop it...Yusuke,” Kurama spoke up quietly. “It's not possible anymore.


Yusuke stopped, looking over at Kurama with a raise eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked.


“The Reikai Genkai spoke from was the land between the Living and the Dead,” Kurama informed the black haired Spirit Detective solemnly.


Kuwabara was confused. “But I thought that humans went to Spirit World when they die.”


I nodded mutely.


“Yes for a short time,” Kurama said as Yusuke let Puu go, the Spirit Beast landing on the couch behind him, and if I wasn't in such a sad mood I would have smiled. “But it's merely a junction from which their real journey begins.”


“Oh,” Kuwabara and I mumbled together.


“In truth Reikai is a complex system of many separate worlds.” Kurama looked up, eyes half-lidded. “And with the Lands of the Dead, there is no communication.” Kurama turned to Yusuke, only to find the young Spirit Detective looking out the window once again. “Genkai's was a priority case, her placement should have been quick. Listen to me Yusuke, its time we said our goodbyes to her, for real,” he said with a deep frown on his lips.


Yusuke's shoulders tensed. “It's so dumb,” he said angrily.


“We just gotta let her go,” Kuwabara stated.


“Fine!” Yusuke shouted with a fake smile, making me jump slightly. “You heard Fox Boy, there's nothing we can do for the old hag if she's already limp! Just got to keep on  truckin', yes sir! I'm gonna go outside and make myself a nice big, shiny first place medal, sit in the sun and have a stupendous friggin' day, dammit!” he said as opened the door and walking out.


“Well, all right, Urameshi! Would you make me a medal, too?” Kuwabara called, somehow believing him.


Hiei let out a scoff, looking at where Yusuke had been only a few seconds before. “He's so neck deep in repression even I feel sorry for him,” he said as he watched Puu fly out the door, heading after Yusuke


I only frowned sadly, turning my gaze towards the floor.


~*~*~*~


After Yusuke had walked out, we all followed him down to the lobby, sitting at one of the tables with cups of coffee placed in front of us. We've been here, waiting for the girls to finish their packing as they had been praying by Genkai's grave near the beach just in front of the hotel. The time for the boat to come was drawing closer, and the girls haven't finished their packing, making Kuwabara antsy while the rest of us just waited patiently as we could.


“Geez, what's taking these girls so long?” Kuwabara groaned for the hundredth time. “Where gonna get left!”


“Not everyone packs just one set of clothes,” Kurama informed with a smirk.


Kuwabara rolled his eyes, not listening to Kurama's reasonable statement. “It's just like family vacation, my dumb sister's always making us late. Probably plucking her mustache-”


“Should I tell them about your Fluffy Doll?” Shizuru asked as she  popped up behind Kuwabara.


Kuwabara literally jumped high into the air out of fear, and I watched as Kurama got up out of his seat, only to have Kuwabara land in it a second later. “Wow, how did you know that would happen, Kurama?” I asked looking up at him with wide eyes.


“A lucky guess,” Kurama said smiling slightly at me.  


Kuwabara laughed nervously, seeing the look on Shizuru's face. “O-oh! U-uh! Hi, Sis! Enough family stories I was just telling 'em how pretty you are!” he said/lied, holding up his hands in defense if she attacked.


“You're a moron,” Shizuru said with a glare.


The other three girls came up behind her, all smiling apologetically. “Sorry we're late,” they chimed.


Yusuke stared blankly. “Oh look, the tone death sirens,” he mumbled.


Shizuru threw her blue bag at Kuwabara. “Catch.”


Kuwabara frantically grabbed the bag and Shizuru's purse, and his eyes bulged slightly out of his head. “Hey! Why do I have to carry all your stuff?!” he asked with a whine in his voice, and I couldn't help but smile slightly, poor Kuwabara he's even bullied at home. ...Wait, that's not funny. ...Oh well.


“Of course you don't have to,” Shizuru said with a sly smile as she looked down at Yukina. “But Yukina's drawn to guys who are nice to their sisters.”


Kuwabara quickly got up, smiling widely. “Okay, I am!” he shouted, making me sweat drop.


Yukina smiled sweetly at Kuwabara, making me smile as well. “Thank you Kazuma, that's very sweet.”


“This too!” Botan chirped happily, holding up her bag.


“No way, Botan!” Kuwabara shook his head as he stared at the blue haired Ferry girl with wide eyes. “You're not my sister!” he shouted, his face paling, and considering we all knew where this was going all of the girls were going to give them their bags. Poor Kuwabara.


“Yes, but Yukina's socks are in here,” Botan countered cheekily, making Kuwabara hang his head.


I heard Puu's little squeals, and saw Yusuke grabbing his Spirit Beast by the head and handed him over to Keiko “You don't mind having Puu duty, right?” Keiko shook her head with a smile. “Thanks, no-one's gonna take the champ serious if he's holdin' a blue teddy bear with a beak,” Yusuke said as he walked away, a frown on his lips.


Puu whined angrily, and Keiko hugged him close. “Oh, we know you're cute Puu, he's just being a jerk,” she said with a sad frown on her lips, her eyes downcast.


After our little detour we all walked out of the hotel, giving them back their key and checking out before heading towards the port. Our walk was quiet, no one daring to say anything mostly because of the atmosphere that hung around all of us. Despite the girls seeming happy earlier, that didn't meant they weren't feeling the same thing as we were.


Yusuke was that someone. “You know, I'm actually gonna miss this stupid place,” he said with a frown on his lips, almost spitting the word 'stupid'.


“Feels like we've been here for years, “Kuwabara agreed.


Botan frowned, her arms around herself. “Loosing someone can do that-”


“Ixnay on the enkaiGay!” Kuwabara slapped a hand over Botan's mouth, muffling her words. “It took us all morning just to get Urameshi out of his room!” he said, glancing nervously at Yusuke, and I just sighed.


“Okay! Okay!” Botan shouted from under his hand.


The sound of the ship's horn, however,  made the two stop and looking at the large ship preparing to dock. I frowned at the look of the ship, remembering it as the same one that we came on, the one that Genkai came on with us. I bit my lip, silently scolding myself. Reminding myself that she died every two seconds wasn't going to make this any easier, so just stop it me!


“Oh, looky here! Our ship's arrived! Isn't that happy?” Kuwabara grinned nervously, brining me back to reality.


I let out a sigh, my shoulders slumping, not even in the mood to really give a completely proper sarcastic comment. “Subtle, Kuwabara, real subtle,” I mumbled quietly, knowing Hiei at least heard me.


Said fire youkai rolled his eyes at Kuwabara. “You say that as if you expected him to think, Onna,” he said as he glanced at me from my right, and I couldn't help but smile slightly at that, even if it was mean. Leave it to Hiei to get a real smile out of me on a day like this.


“True,” I answered, not noticing him smirk slightly.


I turned back to Yusuke when I saw a smile form on his lips, staring at the boat as it prepared to dock. “Back to skipping detentions,” he said with a bit of humor, but I knew he was serious.


“And video games!” Kuwabara grinned.


Kurama smiled softly. “My ningen mother,” he said gently.


“Various crimes,” Hiei added bluntly.


I let out a small laugh at that before I turned to the others with a smile. “Hanging out with all you guys,” I said with warm look, and I was happy to get most of them back.


Yusuke turned to us, punching his fist into the air. “All right, let's go home!” he shouted.


Yusuke, Keiko, Botan and I punched our fists into the air and cheered with much enthusiasm as we could. Going back to our normal lives will be hard and we'll never get over Genkai's death completely, but living on the past won't do us any good, right? So we'll just have to live our lives, and haver her live on through us.


“Excuse me if I'm a little insulted!”


We all froze, our hands lowering at the sound of that very familiar voice.


“Hold on a sec...” Yusuke whispered, turning around.


I did as well, and when I saw a pink haired figure, my heart stopped. “Holy shit...”


Genkai smirked at our shocked faces. “You're just gonna leave the old fossil behind?” she asked rhetorically, her hands behind her back.


“Genkai! I don't believe it!” Botan shouted as she ran towards the old woman.


“Sh-she's really alive!” Kuwabara grinned, following her.


All of us minus Yusuke crowed around Genkai, smiling brightly and laughing with relief, well not really Hiei but whatever. “You must have rubbed off on me, Dimwit, I died like you.” Genkai looked at Yusuke. “Half-assed,” she said with a mocking smirk.


“Genkai...” Yusuke breathed before he broke into a wide grin as well. “Genkai! Come here you beautiful hag!” he shouted as he followed our example.


The next thing we knew, we were all on on the boat heading home. But this time, things were different, things were brighter and things were happier. Everyone was coming home, no-one was going to be left behind. The Dark Tournament was over, and no one had been sacrificed to this damn corrupted massacre the youkai and ningen gamblers called a fight. As I stared out towards the sea, a care-free smile fell on my lips. I was free from everything now, I didn't have to fear seeing Kane anymore, I didn't have to fear having any of my friends killed. I could live my life the way I wanted to now. I had people in my life that I loved, and now I could be with them and I didn't have to fear losing them.


However, I didn't know that someone in the near future might be able to change all of that.


~*~*~*~

Ending it here! I hope you liked it! Now on to the Chapter Black Saga! Bye!
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