Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Ryuusei no Solitude ❯ Chapter 29

A friend of mine helped me thought of this story and I'm writing it for her! So if you want to kill me and give me death threats go ahead but I shall continue it nonetheless. I like the story line and the idea, plus I'm a sucker for AUs. So this is my AU and I hope you like it. Even if you don't I'm still continuing it.

Ryuusei no Solitude

By: Koritsune Dragonrider

Rating: PG-13

Warning: n/a

Disclaimer: I do not own nothing that is relate to the YuYu Hakusho series.

Summery: Kurama was never shot by the hunter, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Shizuru are demons, and Hiei never left the Koorime Island, because Hiei's a girl! Here is an AU with a lot of twist!

Pairings: Kurama/Hiei Yusuke/Keiko Yukina/Kuwabara

Chapter XXIX

Kurama walked down the street swiftly and cautiously. It had been a year since Hiei had been taken and so far he didn't have any leads, till a tip was handed to him by carrier raven that a slaver was in nearby town. As soon as Kurama received the letter he and his friend headed toward the town and went to take a look. Kuwabara and Shizuru did some reconnaissance and agreed that there was a slaver in the town. Hordes of slaves have been being rounded up and taken to a secret rendezvous point. Unfortunately, both couldn't find the location. Lucky for them, Kurama knew a person who could get him what he needed quickly.

Kurama twitched the hood of the cloak he was wearing back into place and walked into a tavern. This kind of tavern wasn't one he would normally come to. It was fancier then the one's downside of every town he'd been to, but that didn't stop him from knowing the right people there. One particular would know a way to get the information he needed fastest, and cheapest.

Kurama sat in the farthest corner of the room, away from prying eyes and where he could watch everything that happened in the tavern easily. All around him was smoke from cigars, cigarettes, and the nearby hearth, the smell of wine, beer, and all other alcoholic beverages known to the world, and laughing, roaring pedestrians and waitress as the drinks and entertainment was served. Kurama turned his eyes away from the dancing drunken girls on the tables and looked over at the bar tender. The guy was serving drinks as usual, but took a small glance at the back table, the table Kurama was sitting at, and returned to cleaning a glass.

“Here you go,” said a waitress. Kurama looked up at the girl. She would pass for a human, if not for the horn protruding from her forehead.

“I didn't order,” he said.

“On the house,” she said and set the wine glass down. Next to it she set a napkin and walked of. Kurama ignored the wine and opened the napkin. After reading the short message inside he took the wine glass and enjoyed his free wine.

It didn't take long for him to finish the wine. He did take his time on finishing it, good wine doesn't come cheap, and stood up. No one noticed his entrance or exit as he made his way through the tables and consumers toward the back room and opened the door. As soon as he closed the door and discard his cloak the door opened again and he went into an instinctive defense mode and reached into his hair before he registered that it was the bar tender.

“Cal, you scared me half to death,” said Kurama.

“Only I can scare you that much,” said the bar tender and clasped Kurama wrist.

“Used to,” said Kurama. “Now something else is scaring me.”

“Oh, then it must be worse then my entrances,” said Cal and chuckled. Kurama gave a small chuckle himself, more to relieve of the tension then the small, humorous joke.

“Seriously through,” said Cal after the short laugh session, “why are you here?”

“Well, for that, it requires a short story,” said Kurama as he sat down. He laced his fingers together and rested them on his knees, ready to get to the reason why he was there.

“Well, you know me,” said Cal, sitting down as well, “I love a good story.”

So Kurama began the story of how he met Hiei and everything that concerned the fire Koorime and how she was captured. He edited certain parts of the story, like how she was also a Jaganshi, hermaphrodite, and half Koorime. When he came to the part of when Hiei was taken, Cal asked a few questions, like how she was captured, who witnessed it, and if he had any suspensions on who could have taken Hiei. Kurama answered as truthful as he could.

“Well,” said Cal when Kurama was done, “seems you're in a deep pit fall.”

“Too deep,” said Kurama.

“So, what do you need my help with all this?”

Kurama leaned forward a bit, resting his hands under his chin, his eyes downcast. “I want you to send Noriko and find the rendezvous of the slavers.”

“You want WHAT?!” Cal half shrieked. Kurama gave a quick glance at the door, but saw nobody coming through.

“You heard,” said Kurama.

“You're crazy,” said Cal, now keeping his vocal levels to a minimum. “You want me to risk one of my best spies to infiltrate the slaver's haven and find out who took your woman from you.”

“I'll pay you twice what I regularly pay,” said Kurama, mentally wincing at the “woman” bit of Cal's argument.

“Oh, that just makes things so much better,” ranted Cal. “Why don't you just throw in the crown jewels of King Enki why don't you!”

“I, as a matter of fact, included those with the double payment,” said Kurama. “Unless you want a down payment?”

“Two grand up front,” said Cal. “And you include those jewels.”

Kurama mentally sneered as he pulled out his purse and gave it to the bartender/spy. Working with Cal was always easier then with his crew, but then he didn't have to pay his crew, just give them their fair share.

After he paid Cal, Kurama put back on his cloak and walked out. He had no further business with Cal or anyone else in the town so he left. Lifting the hood high enough to cover his face he walked out of the bar and down the street.

Walking down the dirt street he spotted two children huddled together beside one of the buildings, shivering from the cold. It was late winter and anyone who had a home stocked themselves on supplies to last the cold weather, but it looked like these two didn't have a home, or food for a few days. Kurama suddenly felt a wave of pity for the two children. As he was growing up Kurama had gotten whatever he wanted immediately, he didn't have the luxury of knowing what it was like to be poor. But he remembered one time when he snuck out of the palace where he was born and raised. His softened when he remembered that day.

He was only a hundred, barely the height of a human ten year old, and he was rebellious. He wanted to know the people outside the palace, see if they had the same nice stuff he did. He snuck out in the crack of dawn, when all the workings of the palace were just starting and the shift were changing. He walked out of the palace and among the streets on the people his father protected. He learned they didn't have the things he did. They lied and stole left and right, nothing was honest. He made the mistake of making a gang of demons mad and they chased him through the woods around the town. It was only till he was almost outside the Valley and his caretaker found him that the nightmare began.

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He was running trying to out run the demons behind him. He was no more then ten years old and made a mistake by leaving his caretaker. Now he was trying to get away from a group of demons that wanted his fur.

One on the demons threw a met at him and he tried to dodge it but tripped and fell. The net fell on him and he struggled to get it off, but it wouldn't. He was laid down! He looked up and saw the ugly demons leering down at him and reached down to grab him. He screamed in his high childish voice.

"Leaf Blade!" yelled a vice and Kurama looked up to see a kitsune with black and white hair leap from the brush and strike the demons with a Leaf Blade, the roots wrapped around his arm to sustain it longer.

"Tanuki," squealed Kurama in joy as he beheld his caretaker. He screamed again when a demon picked him up and started to carry him away.

"Tanuki!"

Tanuki grew a bamboo spear and threw it. Kurama's ears rang at the whistling sound it mad as it flew and squealed when it landed with a thud in the demon's back, right next to his head.

Tanuki walked up to Kurama and set him out of the net.

"You're in big trouble, littl'un," he said and Kurama whimpered. "Let's go home."

They started back toward Kitsune Valley when it happened. The next few seconds were a blur to Kurama as he heard a shot and Tanuki's body covering him.

"TAAAAANOOOOKAI!!!!"

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Kurama jerked himself away from the memory and looked back at the kids huddled in the cramped alleyway. They were scared, cold, and most likely thirsty and hungry. He knew what the first two were like, but the last wasn't something he knew a lot about at first. He learned through experience that money didn't last forever, and he wasn't smart enough to save it. It was a young band of thieves that taught him his how to steal and soon he had became a legend in the whole Makai. When he looked at those children, he now understood why he felt pity for them. He had so many things they didn't, and it wasn't right that he paid them no heed.

He walked up to them and knelt in front of them. The older of the two, a small girl who looked no more then a seven year old human, held the younger, a boy, tight against her body. The girl gave him a fierce look, one that said to not get any nearer to them then he already was, but Kurama ignored it. The girl still has a lot to learn if she thinks cold stares would scare someone like him away.

“Here,” said Kurama handing her a pouch full of money. “You need this. Take care of him.”

The girl accepted the money and looked up at Kurama with wide surprise, and curious eyes. Obviously no one has ever paid her or boy any act of kindness and for him to surprised her. Kurama felt no need to linger any longer with the two street orphans so left them where they were. Walking outside the town he went off the path and into the forest where he walked for several more yards before coming to a campfire and several large tents. Kuwabara was tending the fire while Keiko and Shizuru were cooking a meal for the group and Yusuke was on a lookout. Kurama gave Yusuke a small wave to tell the Toushin to keep watch.

“How'd it go,” asked Keiko as she added spice to a stew.

“My informant's going to get one of his employees into the slaver's haven and check it out for us,” said Kurama. “It could take a while.”

“How long is a while,” asked Kuwabara. He put some more firewood to the fire.

“Couple days, weeks maybe,” said Kurama. He sat down beside the three and stared into the fire. Keiko, Shizuru and Kuwabara gave small glances to themselves. They knew that out of the year that they had been searching for Hiei it was hardest on Kurama. The search had taken its toll on the silver fox demon and Kurama had to keep a cool head in front of the four but they could hear him at night, screaming in the distance and the trees groaning from the kicks and punches they've received from the kitsune. They couldn't do anything to calm Kurama down so they just left him alone, knowing the venting he took out on the plants was better then on Yusuke or Kuwabara.

“Weeks,” exclaimed Keiko. “Isn't that pushing it?”

“They have to make sure they got the information and that the spy got out safely,” said Kurama.

“Waited a year and now we have to wait a few weeks,” grumbled Yusuke.

“You have to learn patience,” said Kurama.

“Yusuke hasn't a patient cell in his body,” said Keiko.

“I do too,” said Yusuke. “Just haven't used it lately.”

“Obviously,” said Shizuru. “Dinner's ready.”

Over the next few weeks they stayed mostly in the campsite and only left to grab supplies or a small drink at the bar. Cal kept Kurama informed about the whereabouts of the slavers rendezvous, but so far his spies picked up nothing. Kurama was now getting impatient and it was now becoming public around the small group of friends. He snapped at Keiko for offering to hold his supper one night since he had looked like he was having a bad day, which he apologized later for, and he spent hours looking over reports and hunting down rumors. Nothing the rest of them did could calm him down. Finally, after a month of waiting for more information, information came.

“Kurama!” yelled Yusuke, running inside the cave. “A carrier raven's come in. It's from Cal.”

Kurama took the raven from the Toushin and took the letter that was attached to its leg. After reading the short message he rolled it back up and threw it in the fire.

“What's it say,” asked Keiko.

“They got something,” he told them and everyone got ready to break camp.

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Kurama arrived at Cal's tavern and was given a drink on the house shortly after. He waited till the tavern was a little more crowded then it was when he walked in to head to the back and meet up with Cal.

“What's you got?” asked Kurama as soon as he walked

“Noriko turned up a guy bragging about a good pay he gets for a lord off the border of Mukuro's domain,” said Cal. “Guy also said he'd make big time. Going to try to be the next High Lord, like he could.”

“Who's the lord?” asked Kurama.

“We don't know,” said Cal.

“Do you at least know who the slaver is?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“His name is Hajime. He's a back alley slaver, not really up front, but the slavers know of him, just won't rat on him.”

“Well, they haven't met me and my crew. Where's the rendezvous?”

“You're going to love this. Remember that chapel to the River God down on 49th street that seriously needs funds and gets it from anonymous sources?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“Guess what the sources are?”

Kurama paused for a second. “Seriously?”

Cal nods. “In exchange for a haven for the slavers. Sells run in the basement.”

“Smart. No one would suspect a chapel.”

“Problem is no one but slavers can get in there. If you're not a slaver, dead as a ghoul.”

“So, we have to get a spy in to get him?” asked Kurama.

“Yeah. Good luck with that.”

“They have a password?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Cause we're going to catch him.”

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She walked up to the chapel and opened the door. Every emotion was washed from her face as she walked up the aisles of the water god's temple and looked around.

The chapel was magnificent. Every wall she looked at was painted with vibrant colors of oceans and fish. The pillars were sculpted into the greatest fish in the sea. She saw the tiger shark and great white of Ningenkai, and the humpback wall. Makai piranhas were sculpted as well and blood fish were painted on the pillar stands. But what amazed her most was when she looked down at the floor and there was a pond under s thick piece of glass or marble. She only knew it wasn't breaking under her.

“Can I help you,” asked a voice behind her and she turned around to find a pastor standing right behind her.

“The way to the haven is hidden below the waters of O-Wata-Tsu-Mi,” she said. The pastor's smile was replaced with concern as he finished the password.

“If one can pay tribute to the hospitality of its host,” said the pastor. Shizuru pulled out a purse heavy with coins and handed them to the friar.

“Follow me,” said the friar and led her to the far corner of the room. He reached behind the alter and turned a switch which made the alter move and stairs leading downward were hidden under it. She walked down the stairs as the alter was placed back to its original position. Walking into the slavers haven she mingled with the rest of the slavers.

Shizuru walked into the crowd of men and few women that were walking around freely. Looking around the slavers haven she felt disgusted at what she saw. Men, women, and children demons chained and shackled to walks, posts, or each other wherever she looked.

It didn't take her long to find the slaver she wanted. The demon looked exactly like Kurama described him. A pudgy demon with barely any hair. The hair that he did have was black with two horns out of both of his temples. His red skin clashed with his clothes, which was mostly just pants and a vest. Shizuru almost had second thoughts over this assignment, but she walked over to the demon and his crew.

“I'm looking for Hajime,” she said.

“Why?” asked a demon from the group.

“I want to join his caravan.”

“Why should I recruit you,” asked Hajime. “How did you find this place?”

“My father was a slaver,” said Shizuru, picking up the story that they worked out. “I want to continue his work. And who better then the best slaver alive?”

“Who's you're father?” asked Hajime.

“The slaver, Raijuta.” The group fell silent as the name absorbed into their heads. Rando was the best slaver and martial artist in the Makai and it seemed only best to pick him, since he was dead anyway.

“Raijuta?” gasped Hajime. “The greatest slaver ever?”

“You catch on fast,” said Shizuru.

“Do you have anything I could use for this team,” asked Hajime.

“I've got more balls then the so called men around you,” said Shizuru. She knew that what she said had gotten the demons mad, which was what she intended.

“What did you say?” growled one demon.

“You heard me, peas for brains.”

“We should kill you right now,” growled another.

“Give me what you've got,” smirked Shizuru. “Oh, that's right, you've got nothing!”

The demons growled and attacked her together. There were five of them so she could easily take them down. She ducked under the first two and they ran past her. She kicked them in the back of the knees and they went down. Kicking them in the head they collapsed and last consciousness. Another held up a pipe for a club and tried to bash her head in. she caught it on the swing and punched him super fast in the gut and once in the head. One threw a few throwing stars at her and she blocked them with the pipe. Throwing the pipe at the demon it hit him in the head and he went down. She turned to the last demon and he took out a machete. Shizuru flecked her claws and charged at him. The demon swung the machete at her but she ducked and swiped at his gut, ducked down and kicked his legs from under him. All was done in less then a minute.

“Well,” she said looking at Hajime.

“You're in,” said the slver. “What's your name?”

“Shizuru.”

TBC

-Proclaimed King at the end of the Makai Tournament

Sorry it's late but I lost my internet for a while. I've been finding ways to keep busy and this is one of them.