Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Right Here Waiting For You ❯ Chapter 49 ( Chapter 49 )

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

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


“A tunnel? But how?” Yusuke asked, narrowing his eyes.


All of us tensed slightly, not at all liking where this discussion was going to go. If a tunnel could give ningens powers that they didn't originally have, then it was say to say -for obvious reasons- that none  of what Genkai had to say was going to be any good. My eyes narrowed as well as my fists clenched, remembering what Kido had said. He got his powers a month ago, and that's when I got that feeling. I wasn't sure if I should be happy that I was slightly aware of what was going on or if I should be feeling guilty for not telling anyone about this sooner. I mean they could have looked into this if I made sure not to sound stupid and we would all be prepared for this. However, I pushed the guilt away, there was nothing I could do about it now anyway.


“There is a boarder zone dividing our world and there's,” Genkai said with a frown on her lips. “Somehow, a giant preach is opening in that zone.”


Kurama lowered his head, eyebrows furrowing. “It is known as the Pseudo Space; tiny portals have been opened in it from time to time allowing youkai such as Hiei and myself to slip through. But they are rare and quickly close, trapping us,” he explained.


*Good thing I have my own portals...* I thought blankly.


Hiei's sudden scoff brought me back to reality, and we all turned to him. “You're wrong old hag, if there were a hole out of this vile world I would have taken it,” he snapped with a glare in his cold red eyes.


“Getting you to believe me would be a pain in the ass. I'll let you see if yourself.” Genkai said annoyed.


Again a tense silence fell over everyone, and Genkai didn't seem as if she was going to tell us any time soon which didn't help with the situation right now. Was it extremely close? Was it around the world? Why the hell was she not saying anything? God I hate it when people try to make this more tense than they should! The rest of my group, well besides Botan really, looked like they agreed with me. And I was relieved to see Yusuke clenched his fist in irritation. Finally someone decided to speak!


“Enough suspense! Where is it?” Yusuke asked annoyed.


“Mushiyori City,” Genkai answered.   


“What?! That close?” Yusuke asked, his eyes widening immediately. “That's like a sunday afternoon drive from here!”


Despite the situation I couldn't help but stare blankly. I thought we were IN Mushiyori City, but apparently not. Its not like I check which goddamn city we're in when we're in this world. However, considering how close this was happening I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Good because we didn't have to travel far and we knew where to go (well them, not me of course), or bad because they were so close that once we try to stop whoever is doing this they can easily get to our loved ones and make this shitty situation even worse than it probably is. Great, this day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Yeah didn't think so...


A sudden beeping noise filled the air, making us turn to Botan as she stared down at her brief case. “I guess that's Koenma,” she said with a surprised look on her face as she knelt down, opening the lid.


“Botan, is Yusuke with you? It's an emergency!” Koenma said once his face appeared on the screen.


We all gathered behind Botan, our eyes narrowing at the urgency that was in the Reikai Prince's tone. “We're all here, Koenma. Want to tell us about the boarder tunnel?” Genkai asked, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as well.


“Genkai!” Koenma's smiling face practically popped out of the screen. Or I think he did... “I forgot I brought you back to life!” he shouted with a laugh, making me sigh at him.


Genkai ignored that, her expression still serious and business like. “You're slow on the uptake this time. It seems whoever is doing this has used the typical 'lull after a tournament' to catch even you off guard. In the last month over thirty humans have come to me for help; suddenly finding themselves to have an assortment of supernatural powers. These two are prime examples.” She glanced over at Kido and Yana before turning back to Koenma. “The trains of the effected vary but they share one thing in common; they all come from Mushiyori City,” she explained.


Koenma groaned slightly, crossing his arms as sweat trickled down his temple. “I guess an itsy bitsy part of me is happy that the opening's influence hasn't stretched any farther yet. But that means we've already advanced into Stage 2!” he said vaguely, making my eyes narrow at the last prat. Stage 2...?


“Stage 2?” Yusuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance and confusion as well.  “What? What does that mean you moved to training pants?” he asked sarcastically.


*Go right for the low blows, huh Yusuke?* I thought blankly, although hiding a smirk. Take that Koenma.


“No, no it doesn't!” Koenma frowned ever so slightly, but quickly composed himself as he continued, “But I'm not sure how much of it I can reveal, it IS secret classified information from the highest echelon files in Reikai Intelligence.”


“Well how can I help you if I don't know anything?!” Yusuke practically shouted angrily.


I nodded, a frown tugging on my lips as annoyance grew inside of me, why the hell would he say something only not to tell us about it? “Yeah Koenma, don't you think that information would be useful if Ningenkai could be destroyed? I think having a world and a race annihilated would have more consequences than sharing 'classified' information,” I stated as I crossed my arms, knowing that I got him.


“You make an...interesting point,” Koenma commented slowly as he laced his fingers together.


I smirked. “Always do.”


“Okay everyone, here's how it shakes down,” Koenma began and we all grew serious, watching the young ruler on the screen. “There are four stages to such an apocalyptic breech: Stage 1; Youkai Energy thickens in Ningenkai, allowing youkai parasites to thrive. As the size of the breech increases we move to Stage 2 in which normal ningens find themselves blessed with unusual powers. Now Stage 3 is where things really heat up, Youkai Energy floods the streets and low class monsters spawn at will. They aren't smart or strong, but they are excessively violent. In the Fourth, and final, Stage the boarder tunnel breech achieves a stabilized diameter of over 2 kilometers; allowing total passage.”


“Total passage for who?” Botan asked confused.


“Yeah.” Yusuke nodded. “Just who do I have to fight?” he asked as well.


“With a tunnel that gigantic apparitions all the way through the C and B Classes will be able to pass between worlds in mass.”


“Classes?” Yusuke asked, eyebrows furrowing.


“Reikai ranks every youkai according to their power,” Koenma explained rather briefly. “I never told you this because there wasn't any point. But here's a nifty frame of reverence; all the youkai in the upper level B Class are the same strength as Toguro.”


“Toguro is just a B Class?” Yusuke asked in shock.


All of us widened our eyes at the sound of that. However, mine was also because of that bastard of an older brother I use to have. How tough had he been when I fought him? Was he a low B Class?  A middle? A high? Was he an A Class? Higher?! I didn't like the sound of a youkai being as strong or stronger than Kane at all, not to mention Toguro! A month after that damn Tournament, after those two fuckers died, we already will have hundreds of stronger youkai?! It's seems like no matter what we did we weren't ever going to get a break and I hated that. I hated fighting. I hated death. I hated anything that involved those things, but considering I have fought and I have killed I guess I brought myself into a world where it was unavoidable. Great. Just fucking great...


“Nearly killed us all and he's just a B Class?!” Yusuke shouted, knocking me out of my scared thoughts.


“Makai is an ancient land and it's depths are endless.” A screen behind Koenma appeared on the wall, showing a circular graph that looked like a long cylinder that had floors. “In truth there are vast parts of it's territory that Reikai has absolutely no control over,” he explained, ignoring Yusuke all together.


“Well I never knew that...” Botan mumbled, her eyes wide I surprise.


I frowned. “Me either...”


The circular graph in the screen behind Koenma began to go up, circular panels appearing then disappearing as they passed. “Think of Makai as a giant underground building; basement after basement stretching downward into an infinite void. Out of all that we only control half of the first basement,” he said as the first 'basement' appeared, half of the 'basement' colored in with red.


Yusuke frowned at the prince. “Then you're a pretty crappy ruler,” he stated in annoyance.


“It would be blood bathes and Armageddon if we tried to take it all at once,” Koenma stared at Yusuke seriously. “Are only choice has been to hold our ground and expand gradually over the centuries. We cannot wake the anger of A Class and S Class, or Super A Class youkai who live at the bottom. Not even my father and all his armies could defeat the S Class youkai,” he explained, and Yusuke's eyes widened once again at the news that didn't help our already bleak sounding mission.


“Oh, this sounds very fun,” I mumbled sarcastically.


Botan nodded, a deep frown tugging at her lips. “No kidding,” she mumbled.


Genkai stepped forward, bringing our attention to her. “Now Koenma, you and King Enma are not the idle type. If you knew of such a danger, surely you have taken precautions,” she said.


“Sure.” The screen behind Koenma changed once again, showing three circles that were red, yellow and blue, and green. Around the red was a golden band, and the screen changed to yellow, electric looking chain fence like design that curved and went off into the distance. “To seal off the Pseudo Space around Makai, Reikai has raised a powerful Kekkai Barrier,” he explained briefly once again.


Botan let out a sigh or relief, putting her hand to her heart. “Oh great! Barriers! And you've had us worrying over nothing!” The smile that was on her lips, however, dropped. “Hold on, so why are youkai still passing through?” she asked, now frowning.


“We had to make priorities and stop the A and S Class youkai above all else,” Koenma stated. “Even our resources are limited, the only way to make a barrier large enough was to spread the Energy into a net.”


“I see, like a filter,” Botan said in understanding.  


“Yes.” Koenma nodded. “While B Class youkai can squeeze through the larger A and S Class youkai are held at bay,” he explained.


“No!” Yusuke shouted, sweat trickling down his temple. “How could you sign off on a plan like that?! You intentionally made it so that hundreds of demons like Toguro could just prance on over here whenever they want?!”


Koenma frowned, his eyes solemn. “You have to imagine the alternative, Yusuke. If just one S Class youkai crossed into the living world continents and countries could be destroyed in seconds, wars could spread over the world, and the entire human race could become extinct in a matter of days,” he said, hoping that Yusuke would understand than not everything was as black and white as he wanted it to be.


My eyes widened in horror, my mouth agape. “Oh my god...”


“Could someone please just tell me what you're talking about?!” Kuwabara suddenly shouted angril.. “Geez, man! You know it's not my fault my powers aren't working right now and I can't hear what Koenma's saying! We're a team you know, and teams don't leave a pal in the dark! Just key me in the loop!”


None of us really heard Kuwabara's shout of outrage, the information Koenma had just given us buzzing around in our heads. None of what the Reikai prince said was good, and I didn't even know what our options were at the moment. My body was beginning to shake, understanding dawning on me. I did NOT like how this was going, especially if there were hundreds of Toguro's and Kane's planning to run around in Ningenkai soon. We wouldn't be able to kill those no matter how hard we tried, Ningenkai could be destroyed despite our best efforts. And not to mention every could...


“Okay, now I'm worried,” Kuwabara spoke up again, the glare out of his eyes. “What's wrong guys?”


I frowned. *This is gonna be a long explanation...* I thought with a sigh.


~*~*~*~*~


Kuwabara, as all of you can imagine, didn't take the news that Koenma gave us that well at all.


“My life is just starting!” Kuwabara shouted with anime tears -or real tears?- in his eyes. “There's things I need to do! I need to marry a girl! Grow my first mustache! But now you're telling me that someone's makin' a big hole so that pretty soon a whole bunch of demons just like Toguro can start attacking us all at once?! And then there's the A and the S guys that not even Reikai can control?! Has hope truly left us?! Is this the end of everything?!”


“Get over it!” Genkai snapped, making Kuwabara instantly calm down at turn to her. “We'll talk about our plan in a minute, but I need to rescue Kaito first.”


Kuwabara rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, right the bookworm, I forgot about him,” he mumbled.


I grimaced. “Do you have to?” I asked in a whine.


“Yes,” Genkai replied as she began walking away, not even regarding me.


“But he's mean, Genkai! He called me an idiot!” I whined again with a pout, crossing my arms.


Genkai didn't even say anything.

…


“...HEY!”


~*~*~*~*~


We all stood above Kaito's petrified body, his soul still floating above his chest from before. I was still pouting, not at all looking forward to seeing that little prick back in the 'living'. He called me an idiot, he threatened to kill my friends, he tried to one-up Kurama, and he was just plain obnoxious! I say we should have had a majority vote to decide if that little bastard could get his soul back, but noo, Genkai just has to be mean to me all the time! ...Maybe I shouldn't have tried to attack her all those years ago, she probably would have listened to me if I didn't. Damn it me...


However, my annoyed thoughts were completely forgotten when I saw Genkai preform some movements before she let out a shout, thrusting her palm towards the soul just a second before it sunk back into Kaito's body. The color instantly came back to Kaito's body, causing the boy to slowly stir as he sat up, looking around at all of us. I scrunched my nose up at him, still sore from those times that I mentioned before. Damn little prick ass jerk...


“A full house,” Kaito observed bluntly. “I take it everything went just as you planned, Master Genkai.”


Kurama stepped forward, instantly gaining Kaito's attention“You played your part well; you lost but it was a stirring introduction,” he praised, although I had to roll my eyes at that, I think that Kurama was giving the little nerd too much credit for his goddamn Territory game.


Kaito scoffed at the compliment. “I wasn't playing along, I tried my hardest to defeat you. For once I wanted to see you lose, but I'll just have to wait a little longer,” he said with a glare in his beady eyes.


“Do you all see why I didn't want him back?” I asked, looking at all of them blankly.


Kaito turned his glare on me, obviously not amused with me. Good! “I should have just taken your soul when I had the chance, your voice is very annoying,” he insulted easily and smoothly, instantly making me stiffen and bristle with anger. I hate him so much!


“...I should kill you!” I growled with an irk mark on my temple.


Genkai glanced at me boredly. “Kira, shut up.”


I shot her a look back, opening my mouth to defend myself from her harsh words, “But-!”


Genkai only shot me a glare, making me falter.


“...Fine!” I shouted, crossing my arms once again as I pouted.


Yusuke couldn't help but laugh at my abuse before turning to Kaito, ignoring my look. “Nice thinking Brain Boy, you put your soul on the line because he's beaten you on some math quizzes? What if Grandma hadn't been here to save you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the 'genius'.


“Simple, he would have faded into nothing,” Genkai stated, quickly making Kuwabara and I tense up at the news that neither of us were aware of. “Kaito is a risk taker, that's why these three came to me for help. He removed his on soul and they didn't know how to put it back. A soul is fragile without a body or ghost to protect it. In one full day it would break apart.”


“And yet your curious mind could not but pose the question,” Kurama stated with a sigh.


“Real discovery takes risk, I had to know what would happen if I broke my own rule.” Kaito said as he stood up, looking at all us. “Let me introduce myself formally to the group, my name is Yu Kaito I have the power of Taboo.”


Kido followed his lead. “My name's Asato Kido, my power is Shadow,” he introduced.


Yana went next. “Mitsunari Yanagisawa, and I call my talent Copy.”


Genkai then walked in front of them, gaining our attention once again. “Like I told you they all live in Mushiyori City. It's been a full month since they developed their powers and there are many others like them,” she explained seriously, making me stop my pouting and narrow my eyes. Sounds about right...


“That's only a few weeks after the closing of the Dark Tournament,” Kurama said frowning.


“Yeah, and that was the beginning of Stage 2, right?” Yusuke asked, his eyes narrowing as well. “So that means that it was just days after I fought Toguro when this hole 'tunnel' business got started.”


The familiar beeping of Botan's brief case suddenly met our ears, making all of us turn to it as it sat on a small table to our lefts. “Koenma's not wasting any time either,” Botan observed with a slight trouble look on her face, quickly going to the case and opening it, letting us see a certain prince's face.


“We've just finished calculating the growth rate on that tunnel guys. It's bad,” Koenma said immediately, and I paled at the sound of that. Oh no... “As is it will reach Stage 4 in three weeks.”


Yusuke's eyes widened in horror. “Only three weeks?!”


“Koenma you have to be wrong! Three weeks is not a enough time to stop this!” I shouted, now scared.


The prince, however, shook his head with a frown behind his blue pacifier. “I'm afraid that it's 100% correct, Kira,” he said solemnly, and his eyes told me the same thing. Damn it!


Yusuke didn't like that answer any better than I did. “There's gotta be something we can do! Can't you, like, close the hole back up?!” he added, sweat trickling down his temple once again, and I clenched my hands into fists out of sheer panic. This is NOT fucking good!


“The only way is to stop the tunnels creator,” Koenma stated, making Yusuke and I turn silent. “This isn't a normal hole, it's not physical yet. It's a distortion in space time, 1.3 kilometers wide. But once it hits 2 kilometers it stabilizes, changing from Energy Conduit to a physical space. You don't use a drill to make a hole like this, you use a psychic  nested at the Center Point.”


“So you know where the guy is, and if he's beat down we're all okay?” Yusuke asked, his eyes narrowing in determination. “Then I guess all I gotta do is turn his brain into mush!”


Genkai glared. “Not so fast, Yusuke.”


“You guys know that City, right?” Yusuke asked the three ningens, ignoring her. “So, then take me to that hole!”


Genkai narrowed her eyes slightly before she grabbed Yusuke's hand, flipping the black haired ningen upside down before he slammed back into the ground, Botan barely moving out of the way fast enough. “Damn it! What is this?! Be bitchy day?!” Yusuke shouted angrily as he glared at his teacher, holding the back of his head while I was trying to hold in my laughter. Good ol' Genkai!


“Here's a brilliant concept, try learning from your mistakes!!” Genkai yelled right back. “What I would give for a successor with a brain. You know how much trouble I went through planning this ordeal? The whole point of tonight was to teach you one thing: You cannot go into this without understanding your enemies powers. You will lose!”


Yusuke stood up, glaring down at her. “And you've gone deaf again! Koenma said we can't wait!” he snapped.


“If the Tunnel completes, we're doomed!” Kuwabara added, stepping forward.


“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod.


Genkai's narrowed, serious gaze didn't falter in the least. “That still allows us three weeks and three questions to answer: How many fighters in their group? Who is there leader? And whats the true nature of their powers? Without those answers attacking would be suicide,” she explained, making me gulp. Great.


“Koenma.” At the sound of Hiei's voice, my eyes instantly snapped to his form as he looked at Koenma on the screen. “If these fools are done, I have my own question: In what Class do you rank me?” he asked.


I frowned. *Here we go...* I thought once  I blocked my mind, not wanting him to get any angrier at me.


Kurama narrowed his eyes. “Hiei.”


“What?” Hiei asked with a glare as he glanced at him. “It's a fair question, if his Reikai lackeys are going to place a letter on me, then I deserve to know.”


“Oh, very well, Hiei, I'll tell you,” Koenma started with a sigh, knowing Hiei wouldn't let this drop unless he got his answer. “As I said the Toguro Brother's were considered an Upper B, and as of the end of the Dark Tournament you were ranked in the middle of B Class.”


Hiei glared dangerously. “Underestimate me even now?”


Koenma's frown deepened, not liking where this was going at all.“For the record when you fought Yusuke you only had an Upper D Class ranking, but in less than a year you jumped up nearly two full Classes quite an astounding feat to be sure. You have much to be proud of,” he said, obviously trying to calm Hiei's anger, but considering the glare that Hiei had in his eyes that wasn't really going to happen at the moment.


“You're a child, don't father me,” Hiei spat coldly.


We all watched as Hiei turned around, heading towards the door that slid open once he stepped in front of it. My eyes widened slightly, obviously knowing what he was doing. However, I tried to push the idea out of my mind, not liking the thought at all. The others, however, knew what he was doing as well considering the way their eyes narrowed at him.


I bit my lip. “Hiei? Where are you going?” I asked, hoping I was wrong.


Hiei sent a glare over his shoulder at me. “Shut up,” he snapped once again, making me flinch at the ice in his tone. I can't believe he's still mad...


Yusuke narrowed his eyes at Hiei's form. “Come on!”


Hiei's glare didn't lessen as he regarded Yusuke. “You already have your Fox, your Clown and your Hag; I'm a moot point,” he snapped, not my hurt look as he purposely left me out of his statement.


“You're just gonna walk away?!” Kuwabara shouted angrily.  


“This is your world to look after, not mine,” Hiei said coldly as he turned around fully. “I don't intend to hinder your cause, but I'm not going to help it either.”


“Coward!” Kuwabara growled. “Real men help when they're needed!”


“Save that idealism for your fairy tales,” Hiei scoffed as he walked out the door, it closing behind him.


My eyes widened. “Hiei!” I shouted, stepping forward.


Kuwabara glared even harder, despite Hiei not behind here any longer, or even near this house for that matter. “Well I'm not gonna shed any tears, Hiei! In fact I'm happy your gone! He's the same selfish punk he was from the start!” he shouted, his fists clenching tightly out of anger.


“You're wrong,” I mumbled as I looked down, copying his action.


“Yeah, he's the same,” Yusuke said in agreement, making me smile slightly knowing that I'm not alone.  “He'll come and rescue us at the end when we need him the most.”


Kurama, however, frowned in doubt, which made me frown once again. “It's hard to predict what he'll do, humanities destruction was Hiei's former dream. These new developments leave him much to consider,” he stated, making sure we knew not to get our hopes up. I would have taken his advise if it had still been back in Maze Castle, but not now.


I shook my head despite that. “He still won't do it,” I mumbled with a small smile. I know he won't...


“I knew I shouldn't have said that...” Hearing Koenma's groan of exasperation caused us to turn back to him as he let out a sigh, turning back to all of us. “Anyway, I only have one more thing to say before I go. Kira.” The prince's gaze locked on mine and I rose an eyebrow at him, Hiei momentarily forgotten from my mind. “I want you to come back to my palace tonight, your wound needs to be treated as I've heard that you've been sneaking off to train for the past month,” he said with a narrowed gaze, and I rolled my eyes.


I groaned back. “Not this again, please!” I whined, a pout on my lips.


Koenma's glare didn't lessen, making me pout even more. Great. “Kira, stop acting like a child, your wound is serious,” he snapped ever so slightly, patience wearing thin.


I rolled my eyes in annoyance, not caring for the prince's anger right now. "Then why don't you just heal me or something? Surely the Prince of Reikai has healers somewhere in that damn palace, right?" I asked a bit sarcastically, crossing my arms.


"Kira, if I we could do that don't you think I would have by now?" Koenma asked back, sighing deeply.


"What's stopping you then?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.


Koenma gave me an annoyed look, but I ignored it. "You can't always heal every wound so easily, especially not yours. Kane," he ignored the cold glare that I directed at him as I went rigid, "shredded your tissues and damaged your muscles severely. It's best for it to close on its own. If we were to try and heal it now and one tissue or muscle isn't properly healed you can cause a dangerous infection that we won't be able to detect until it's too late. You could die," he explained seriously, and I swallowed thickly.


"Then what do you suggest I do?" I asked as I clenched my fists. "Just lay around while these guys could get hurt? No."


Botan frowned at me. "I know you don't like this, Kira, but it's for your own good."


I only scoffed under my breath.


"You're not going to listen, will you?" Koenma asked with a sigh.


I set my lips into a thin, firm line. "No."


Kurama narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "Koenma, you're really not going to let her go fight in her condition, are you?" he asked, a dangerous tone filling his words.


I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll just sneak out again if he says no," I said stubbornly.


"Kira!" Botan, Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted.


Kurama only glared harder.


I ignored them.


"Kira, I'll make a deal with you." Hearing Koenma say that, my attention immediately went to him. "If you rest for  a week, and I check your wound to see that it's healing nicely, then I'll let you go fight," he explained.


I rose my eyebrow. "Just a week? Nothing longer?" I asked, eyes narrowing.


"Nothing longer," Koenma confirmed.


Botan shook her head, slightly speechless. "Lord Koenma, you can't be serious! She's seriously injured, one week isn't going to help in the least!" she shouted.


"Fine," I said with a nod. "I'll rest for a week."


Koenma nodded as well, ignoring the numerous glares he got. "Once we're done here, then you are to come back here immediately. And if I find that you sneak out even once during that week, I will personally hold you in one of my prisons. Understand?" he asked, eyes narrowing seriously.


"Crystal," I said with a smile, holding up the 'okay' sign.


The prince let out a sigh of relief. “Good, now I'll be seeing you shortly,” he reminded before the screen went black once again.


I let out a sigh once he left, my shoulders sagging slightly as I knew that I wasn't getting off so easily once I reach his palace, especially not from those damn nurses. However, Koenma was the least of my concern considering I felt four narrowed gazes practically burning the back of my head. I bit my lip, feeling guilty for ignoring their kindness, but I wasn't going to let them go through this death trap of a mission alone. There was NO way in Hell that was ever going to happen.


“What?” I asked, although I knew what they were glaring at me for. It wasn't that hard to figure out.


Kuwabara was the first one to drop the subject. For the time being. “So...what now?” he asked as he looked down at Genkai.


Genkai looked at each of us, or well the others because obviously I wasn't going with them now. “We move into the City at sunrise and begin scouting. These three will go with us, they could be of some use,” she said as she looked at the three behind her.


“You guys game for that?” Yusuke asked once his burning gaze left my form.


Yana rose an eyebrow. “What do you think? It's our hometown man, we're not gonna watch it turn into some demon parade,” he said as he stared at Yusuke blankly.  


Kaito nodded at his friends words. “Yes, we've already been given our powers. The way I see it we can either help out the humans or the demons, and to tell you the truth I prefer my own kind,” he admitted truthfully, and right now I couldn't blame him for thinking that about my race. We can be horrible.


“Same goes for me, I'm not letting anybody take my turf,” Kido said with a determined glare.


“Nice. Now the next job for all of you is to get what sleep you can and for Kira to get better.” Genkai glanced at me and I let out a guilty sigh at the mention of my name. Good going me for not helping out your friends. “In the morning we'll divide into two teams so we can cover more territory. Until we know more no-one goes home and no-one leaves the group besides Kira, goodnight,” she said as she walked out of the room, the other three following her out before the doors shut behind them.


*There's nothing good about tonight,* I couldn't help but think bitterly.


Kuwabara's eyes widened, letting out a surprised noise that broke me from my thoughts. . “We're all sleeping in this freaky house?! But I didn't take my special pillow!” He suddenly stopped, turning to Botan with a sheepish smile. “Um, Botan? Would you pet my hair until I fell asleep?” he asked, ignoring me as I stared at him with my mouth open in shock. Woah there!


Botan obviously didn't take it the right way either. “Yukina wouldn't appreciate that!” she shouted, slapping Kuwabara across the face.


“Ow!” Kuwabara shouted, holding his burning cheek. “I meant in a mom kind of way!”


I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the at the small laugh pass my lips at the scene before me, but that quickly went away. Everyone needed to get as much sleep as they could before they went out tomorrow, and me being around when I wasn't needed wouldn't help them get to sleep.  I looked back at where Hiei had disappeared, suppressing a sigh as I remembered what had transpired.. It still hurt that he wouldn't even talk to me besides those two words. A frown tugged at me lips, knowing that they all were still very angry at me for lying about my wound. I knew it was a bad thing and I knew how bad my wound was, but they were more important to me than my health so I didn't really think much of it. I can understand how they don't like that, but its the way I think and there wasn't much I could do about it. I just wanted them to forgive me already, but that was asking too much. Maybe...they'll forgive me once I get back. I hope.


"I guess I should go,"  I said with a sigh.


No one said anything.


Oh no.


I turned towards the silence, seeing many of them shooting me looks that made me flinch. Yep, now all of them were pissed off at me and even more so than they were before. Great. I swallowed thickly, not liking the looks in the least. However, I guess from their point of view I was seemingly acting out of stubbornness for myself, while I was actually doing this for them. I wasn't going to just lay down in a sick bed while one of them could die or get captured or whatever! They were my family, I loved them and I was NOT going to let another family of mine be taken from me. I won't let that happen again. I felt a burning sensation began to appear behind my eyes, and I was so glad that Genkai, Kido, Yana and Kaito were now in the other room, leaving the boys, Botan and I alone. Guilt was welling up inside of me, and I hated it for making them worry.


“Guys...?” I asked hesitantly.


Yusuke sent me a not so nice look himself. “If you haven't noticed, we're sort of pissed at you, Kira,” he said with a frown on his lip, and I tried to swallow down the dull pain that was beginning to appear in my throat, that one you feel before you start to tear up.


“I know, I deserve it,” I said looking down at my feet.


“No, you deserve a lot more!” Hearing Botan say something like that, it was safe to say that I was surprised and now very guilty. “I mean how can you be so irresponsible Kira?! Do you want your wound to be infected?! We're all so worried about you but all your doing is making yourself worse! That's not fair to us and it's certainly not fair to you!” she shouted angrily, although there was more concern than anger.


Kuwabara decided to join in on this as well. “You have to tell us this stuff Kira, what if those punks were actually enemies and they found about it? You could have been hurt!” he added with a frown.


“And you lied to our faces,” Kurama said coolly, and I flinched once again, not wanting him to be angry with me, but that's obviously what he was. “It seems like you don't trust us, Kira,  and that's not fair to us either. I never thought I'd be disappointed in you, but you seemed to prove me wrong.”


I bit my lip as it began to tremble. “I'm really sorry,” I whispered out, my breath hitching slightly.


Most of the narrowed gazes that were on my form began to soften, seeing the guilt that stained my face clearly. However, they weren't going to cave just because of an apology, something like that couldn't make them feel better. They would forgive me eventually, but having me lie to their faces hurt each of them as they said before, and I would have to prove to them that I was really sorry. It was as they say, actions speak louder than words. But when they heard my small shutterings of breath as I tried to keep myself calm and not break down, their anger was VERY slowly beginning to simmer down. My bottom lip was trembling enough for them to see, and my eyes were beginning to become glossy; a redness appearing on the whites of my eyes. They didn't expect that to be the response from me, and as they looked at me they couldn't help but think of a small child that was being yelled at for the first time by their parents.


“Kira...?” Kuwabara mumbled, eyes wide.


“I'm really, really sorry.” I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to keep the tears from building, but that didn't do anything but make it worse. “I know I'm acting like an idiot and I know I should care more about my health, but I can't sit around and do nothing. I just can't,” I said, my voice beginning to waver.


Kurama, however, wasn't going to baby me anymore. “Why?” he asked, eyes narrowing.


I didn't know how to but it into words, so I just shook my head  slowly, trying to keep the tears at bay. “I just can't do it,” I repeated as my voice cracked slightly.


“You just don't want to miss  out on the action, huh?” Yusuke asked with a glare in his eyes.


“That's not it!” I shouted almost immediately.


Yusuke opened his mouth to retort, but him and everyone else looked floored when they saw the tears stream down my face. My eyes shone with anger, hurt and a plead, my lip trembling violently now. My body was shaking ever so slightly, and they all instantly fell silent. How could they think so lowly of me? Have I ever voiced a desire to go into battle just because I didn't want to 'miss out on the action'? Did they really think I was like that? That hurt more than any wound that could appear on my body, and it hurt even more than the wound that was on my side. It hurt even more than pretty much anything that's ever happened to me, probably even the second most. Behind my parents, obviously.


“I couldn't give a shit about fighting!” I glared heatedly at them, making them flinch this time. “I fucking HATE fighting! I never wanted to fight in the first place, so don't ever say that I'm doing this because of a selfish reason like that!” I shouted angrily, but the hurt was easy to see.


I looked down at the floor, my fists clenching down at my sides as they shook. The tears dripped onto the tiled floor below and the others stayed silent, not knowing what to say.


However, I knew. “Do any of you know what its like to watch your father be murdered in front of you? When you were only a child? When you were so young that death wasn't even a word that you should know?” I didn't look up, but I obviously knew that none of them had to deal with that kind loneliness in their life. “Do you know what it feels like to watch someone so important to you die right in front of you while you just sat there? Watching as your older brother, someone that you looked up to, take away your parents?” I asked all of this suddenly, barely concealed sobs beginning to bubble towards the surface.


They didn't answer, like expected.


“Do any of you know what its like BURY your parents? To drag their cold bo-” I stopped, shivering at the memory, closing my eyes tightly. “Their cold bodies by yourself? To dig their graves? Make crosses with their names on them? “To have their blood on your hands?” I asked looking up at them with hurt eyes.


Kurama frowned deeply, even he never heard that about my past, and the visual he got wasn't pleasant.


Botan blinked back tears, hands rising to her lips. “Oh, God...” she whispered.


“No, I'm not done!” I shook my head, I didn't want pity or anyone to say sorry. Thats not where I was going with this. “Al-All-!” I grimaced, hearing my voice beginning to crack with emotion. “...All of you, EVERY single one of you, are my family now,” I whimpered as the anger left my eyes as well.


Again, there was silence.


I wiped the tears away furiously, now going into the point I was trying to make, calming my breathing. “I don't ever, EVER, want to go through that again.  I can't just sit back and watch! Not now! Not again! I'm not trying to act like I'm cocky, or selfish, or anything like that! I...I just....I can't...” I stopped, placing my arm over my eyes as the tears kept going, hoping to make them stop, but they still fell. “I don't...want to lose anymore people I love. ...I don't want to be alone anymore!  I was so, so scared in the Dark Tournament, having Kane threaten everyone...threaten to take my family from me again.” I stopped, taking in a shaky breath, not hearing someone approach me. “So...so please, please, don't make me sit back again... Plea-”


My pleading was instantly stopped, someone pulling me protectively into their chest, making my body stiffen in shock at the unexpected action. I slowly lowered my arm from my eyes, instantly seeing a familiar pink uniformed shirt staring at me as my tears began to drench the fabric. Kurama. Having him hold me...was this what a brother felt like? Was this safety something only a brother could bring? My lip began to tremble once again, my arms falling limply to my side as my body felt exhausted; physically, mentally and emotionally. However, I was still so worked up that I wasn't able to relax into his comforting, brotherly gesture. My breathing was still shaky, making my body shutter and he only held me closer, as if that would coax me into calming down. But right now, I had to admit that I wasn't sure if that would really happen.


“It's all right, Kira.” Kurama, as he knelt in front of me, petted my short hair comfortingly. “It seems we're also at fault ourselves,” he admitted, his tone finally gentle like I was use to.


Yusuke let out a sigh, kneeling down as well. “Yeah, looks like we're not the only ones that need to worry about ourselves more often, huh?” I turned my head slightly, allowing him to see my face still covered in tears, making him send me an apologetic smile. “Sorry Kira, I still need to learn to get that foot out of my mouth,” he said trying to coax a small smile out of me, and it almost worked. All he got was a twitch.


Botan followed Yusuke's example. “Oh Sweetie...” The frown that formed on her lips told me that she felt the same. “I guess we were just...excited because of what happened today and we were a little too angry at you. But please, don't keep something like that from us, we get worried you know,” she reminded gently.


I sniffed. “B-but-”


“Kira.” Kuwabara placed his hand on my head, ruffling my hair. “Even if you don't tell us we're gonna be worried about you no matter what. Everyone needs to be worried about sometimes, right?” he asked.


I still frowned, but I finally gave in when I looked at all of them as I stepped a bit out of Kurama's arms, seeing their small smiles. The guilt still racked my body like no-one could ever believe would be possible, and just hearing them so those words made me feel even worse. But they were right, we all were at fault this time. I gave them all a small smile back, a few tears still falling down my cheeks, but they were starting to become relieved ones more than sad like they were before. And after I was done calming myself down, my tears now dry I was heading back to Reikai to await my 'fun' stay at Koenma's palace. I waved my hand in front of me, wisps of shadows slowly forming into an oval doorway of black appearing in front of me. Sending them all a smile and wave I walked towards the Portal, not looking forward to this week at all.


However, as I was about to step into the boundaries of my portal I still couldn't help but wish that Hiei had been here for that. Sure I would have felt stupid for crying in front of him, but he deserved to hear that I cared about him as well. A frown tugged on my lips, remembering how he hardly even acknowledged me not that long ago, and I didn't like him being mad at me. I knew I deserved it and all, but that still didn't make me feel any better. I guess all I can really do is hope that he'll be back to his normal self when I come back a week from now. I really hope he does...


“Kira,” Kurama suddenly called, making me stop.


I blinked , coming back to reality as I turned around, raising an eyebrow at him. “Hmm?”


A smirk came to the red haired kitsune's lips and I swore my insides froze at the sight of something like that evil bringing smirk.  “Don't worry about Hiei being mad at you, he'll come around. He was just worried about you, is all,” he said in an 'innocent' tone, and I blushed heavily. Oh no...


“H-huh?!” I asked nervously, my voice wavering.


Botan smirked as well. “Oh yes, you could just tell by the look on his face when he knew you were still hurt. I've never seen him worried before,” she added a bit sadistically for my liking. I'm going to kill them...


“Shut up!” I shouted with an irk mark on my temple, my blush now covering my entire face.


Yusuke let out a laugh, throwing his head back and I glared at him for finding this funny. “Did you honestly think we wouldn't notice? It was probably the most obvious thing I've ever seen! You practically jump at every chance you get to start an 'argument' with him to get his attention!” he shouted in laughter.


My right eye twitched. “If you so much as THINK a word of this, I'll make you a women!” I hissed.


Yusuke paled considerably.


“I'm very surprised though.” We all turned to Kurama, and I awaited something horrible. “Kira does tend to wear her heart on her sleeve, its a wonder that Hiei hasn't figured it out yet,” he said as he had a 'thoughtful' expression on his face, and I blushed even harder. Damn it! Why?!


“Kurama!” I shouted in a whine.


They, however, ignored me. “Maybe he's clueless,” Botan guessed, now seriously thinking about this.


“Or he's probably playing hard to get!” Kuwabara suggested, laughing.


Yusuke shook his head, not caring for the dangerous glare I was giving him. So help me I will shove my foot  into his--! “Nah, if Hiei knew he'd probably jump her or something,” he mumbled, and my cheeks felt hot.


*Oh god, why are they talking about this?!* I thought with anime tears streaming down my face.


Botan shot him an annoyed look. “That's horrible, Yusuke.”


Yusuke just shrugged.


“How do you guys even know Hiei likes me in any way!?” I shouted with an irk mark, now annoyed and VERY embarrassed, thank you!


The four smirked, oh this is going to be fun. “Well for starters Hiei DOES speak a LOT more when you're around, and he mostly talks to you,” Botan started out giving me a kittenish grin, although I saw right through that easily. She wanted to smirk so badly. I knew she did.


I opened my mouth, but I was cut off before a syllable could leave my lips.


“Also, he's held you a good few times if I remember correctly,” Kurama added 'innocently' as well.


I just blushed. Again.


Yusuke smirked wickedly, he was enjoying this. Sick bastard. “I seem to recall a time where Hiei got pretty pissed when you were threatened. Remember that Bui thing with his gauntlets? That really pissed him off! And he was even worried about you too, like the time where Hisoka did that weird mind shit on you. He wouldn't stop looking over at you, it was so cute~~!” he teased both playfully and mockingly. I will kill HIM!


Kuwabara grinned widely, although he wasn't trying to hide that he was enjoying my torment like Botan and Kurama were. I'll get them back... “Shorty's also gets pretty jealous when you're around other guys, Kira!”  he pointed out, remembering the times with Yoko Kurama, Koenma; hell probably far back as Jin and Toya.


*Pff! Lies! There are perfectly logical reasons why he acted like he did!* I thought annoyed.


Not wanting to get my hopes up and suffer any more embarrassment at the hands of my asshole teammates, I shot them all a glare that told them to sleep with two eyes open. However all they did was just laugh and snicker at my expense, which only made my cheeks flush even heavier than I thought would be demonly possible without me passing out from the constant rising of my blood. I needed to leave before Genkai and the others walk in to find all of them knocked out with broken bones (well not broken bones...fractures maybe). That will teach them to NEVER tease me about something so personal! I will GET THEM ALL back for this later! I swear it!


“I HATE YOU ALL!” I shouted, stomping into the Portal of Shadows, my face putting a tomato to shame.


They just laughed.


~*~*~*~*~*~


Oh, what a great way to end this chapter. XD I hope you all liked this and I made it in time for Christmas! It's 12:04 AM right now as I write this, and I hope you all have/had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and any other holiday this winter! I'll see you all later! Bye!
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