Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Save Me ❯ A Timid Soul ( Chapter 2 )

Here's Chapter 2!! Please tell me what you think!!

 

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho... just Kiarra.

 

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Kiarra was beyond terrified. She had no idea what had just happened or why, but she knew that somehow she had just managed to completely destroy about twenty city blocks of residential homes and kill Kami knew how many people. Including Ryo, the most recent person who had decided to take her in and get her out of the hell hole orphanage.

She sighed inwardly. Out of one hell hole and into another. Story of her life.

Her entire body felt like it was on fire, her stomach and chest tight. It almost felt as if her insides were being twisted and sliced open, but she shoved the pain from her mind for now. The only thing she could think was 'I have to get away from here... I have to go where I can't hurt anybody else.'

Her entire body was trembling with strain and her vision blurred as tears welled in her eyes once more. She had killed! She didn't know how or why, but she had killed. What the hell was going on?

What was happening to her?

Her legs almost went out from beneath her and she stumbled, quickly shifting her body weight in midstride so she slammed into the wall of a building at her side instead of falling flat on her face. She wanted nothing more than to rest for a few minutes, but no. She couldn't afford to rest. She had to keep going.

She pushed away from the side of the building and took a few more steps before a sharp pain exploded in her stomach and chest. She cried out in pain, coughing and she saw that she had coughed up blood. She started trembling once more, trying to decide what she should do. She didn't have much choice but to rest, she knew.

Kiarra took several quick shaky steps toward an alleyway and ducked inside, leaning against the wall as she took in lungfuls of air, her chest burning with each breath she took. Her legs went out from beneath her and she let herself slide down against the wall and sat on the concrete ground, trying to stop her trembling and to will the pain inside her to go away. To top everything off, she felt an oncoming headache.

Just a few minutes, she told herself. She'd just rest for a few minutes and then she'd keep going.

“Miss!”

Kiarra looked up with a start, only about thirty seconds had passed since she had sat down. At the mouth of the alley were four figures. She barely had a chance to take them in at all before she was scrambling to her feet in a panic. She didn't want to be around others! It was too dangerous. She didn't know what had triggered that weird power earlier and she didn't want to experience it again.

“Please! Just stay away from me!” She said quickly, turning and racing into the alley, forcing her shaky legs to move as quickly as they could.

“Kiarra!! Wait!!” The same voice rang out. The woman stopped in shock and whirled, her eyes widening slightly.

“How did you know my...?”

Before she could finish asking her question, a horrific burning pain shot straight through her stomach and she bowled over, her eyes going huge in pain as she coughed up more blood. Her legs went out from beneath her again and she lurched forward.

She felt someone's arms wrap around her, stopping her descent. She looked up, tears streaming from her eyes once more as she saw a very handsom young man with long red hair looking at her in deep concern. He held her close to him, his arms wrapped securely around her.

“Itai... Onegai.... help... me....” She managed to get out before her world went black.

 

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Kurama looked at the young woman who was now unconscious in his arms.

Hiei came forward. “Well, that was easy.”

The fox demon shook his head. “Not quite. We have to get her to Otherworld as quickly as possible so I can treat her in the medical wing. Her body is completely burned out from the power she utilized and if we don't do something soon, she'll die.” He scooped her up into his arms and watched as Yusuke pulled a mirror out of his pocket and started to contact Botan.

The somewhat frazzled and hectic looking Botan popped up seconds later. “Just a quick trip, one, two! Then you're on your own again, guys! Let's do this!”

Before they could even think of a response, Botan had the portal opened and was ushering them all through it, obviously not having any patience with her work load being so high today. Before Yusuke could give a word of thanks to her when they reached the palace, she was gone already, returning to her reaper duties on earth.

When he took a moment to look around himself, he saw that she had had the semblance of mind to transport them straight to Koenma himself. The toddler blinked in surprise, seeing their arrival and then rushed up to Kurama who was holding the limp form in his arms.

“Is she all right? What happened?”

The fox demon shook his head. “She was more burned out than even you anticipated, Koenma. I have to get her to the medical ward right now and tend to her injuries.” He looked at Hiei who was standing off to the side, his arms stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. “Hiei, I could use your help. Your third eye might be useful. I'm sure Yusuke and Kuwabara can handle giving the report to Koenma.”

Shrugging, the fire apparation followed Kurama out of the room and toward the medical wing.

Yusuke glowered after them for a moment before letting out a sigh and turning to Koenma. Then he started his report.

 

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Once he reached the medical ward, Kurama wasted no time. He had Kiarra down on a bed and was checking her over carefully, being as respectful as he could be under the circumstances.

He nodded. “She has internal bleeding. She must be in excruciating pain. It's a wonder she was able to run as far as she did. The poor thing must have been petrified.” He looked at Hiei. “It will take some energy to heal the internal injuries, and there are also some old scars on her that have not been treated properly... curteosy of some of her former families, no doubt. There is a chance she could wake up and if she does, she might panic. I need you to be ready to activate your third eye if you feel the situation calls for it and keep her calm. I'm sure the last thing anyone wants is for her power to activate while she's here in the palace.”

Hiei shrugged noncommittally and made his telltale “hn”. That was enough for Kurama as he quickly proceeded to heal her as quickly and carefully as he could.

About a half hour into his treatments, the young woman let out a pained moan and started fidgeting on the bed. Then her eyes snapped open in alarm and, upon seeing the two strange men, she immediately panicked.

Kurama quickly held her firmly down, not hard enough to hurt her, but not wanting her to inadvertadly harm herself. “Miss! You must calm down! You're injured and...”

“Let go of me!! Where am I?! Who are you?! What do you want with me?”

Hiei felt her power beginning to rise slightly and quickly stepped closer to her, his expression turning stern... which was terrifying even to those who considered him a friend.

“CALM DOWN OR YOUR POWER WILL ACTIVATE AGAIN!!!!” He said, his voice echoing slightly though the medical wing.

His words and tone had the desired effect, much to his and Kurama's relief. The woman had stiffened immediately, and her eyes went huge hearing this. He felt the rising power come to a screeching halt as a combination of shock and terrified resistance rose a mental wall against it.

Kurama sighed in relief, and then looked down at her. “All right... listen to me, Miss. You're not in danger here. No one is going to hurt you. I need you to take a few deep breaths and keep yourself calm. I know you're afraid right now, and that is perfectly understandable considering everything that you've been through, but as long as you keep your emotions in check for now, you will be all right. I have to heal your injuries and once I have done that we can explain things to you, all right?” He finished his narrative by giving her one of his gentle smiles that had been known to send women reeling.

The woman looked up at him for a few long seconds before she gave him a shaky nod and took in several deep shaky breaths, trying to keep herself from having a panic attack due to the strange and terrifying situation she found herself in now.

When she had sufficiently calmed down, the red haired man continued healing her. When she saw him gently press his hand against her stomach, and saw his hand start to GLOW, she quickly shut her eyes and forced herself to calm down once more when she felt the whispers of panic returning once more. Whatever he was doing to her, it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it made the burning sensation in her midsection go away. A moment later, he gave her a sincere advanced apology before setting his hand upon her chest, trying to be as respectful as he could be under the present circumstances and he repeated the procedure. The burning she had felt in her lungs also dissipated and vanished.

He then checked her over again, very careful to remain respectful as his circumstances would allow, healing up old scars and injuries that had not been treated properly in the past and bringing her to as great a health as he could. Hiei turned his gaze in another direction when the fox demon worked on the more sensitive areas, his expression showing total lack of interest, but knowing it would bother her greatly if he stood there with his eyes right on her as the red haired man worked.

After an additional half hour, the man healing her straightened himself and placed her clothes back in their proper positions. Then he gave her a gentle smile. “You're completely healed now. You'll just be tired for a while because of all the spirit energy you unleashed. You'll be fine in just a day or so, though.”

She gave a small nod, looking a little uncertain as he gently helped her to sit up. She was relieved to feel no shooting pains going through her system, and even her oncoming headache had vanished. The only thing she could complain about now was fatigue. And confusion.

She couldn't help but look at them both with a measure of awe and wariness. She had no idea how this man had healed her, or what else he was capable of, and she was even more in the dark about his vertically challenged companion with the unnerving red eyes. So far they had both been completely respectful towards her, but after the life she had lead up until now, trust was NOT her strong point. It was her experience that when people showed kindness toward her, they often wanted something in return.

“Who are you?” She asked, her voice calmer than the first time. “And where am I?”

The red haired man gave her a small nod. “I am called Kurama, and my friend is Hiei. This may come as a shock to you, but... you're not in your world anymore. You're in a place known as the Spirit World, or Rekai.”

Kiarra felt a shiver race down her spine. “And... why... was I brought here?”

Hiei's arms were across his chest as he looked at her. “Before we tell you THAT we should tell you a few more things to help you to better understand. First of all, there are three seperate worlds... the human world, which you're from... the Spirit World, which you are now in, and the Demon World... which is the world that Kurama and myself are from.”

Her eyes went a little wider. “You two are... demons?”

Kurama smiled at her. “Not to worry. Not all demons are evil. Hiei and I work to protect the human and Spirit world from demons that would do it harm. We are forbidden from killing humans.”

Hiei nodded. “That's right. The Spirit World is sort of an intermediary between the other two worlds... Human and Demon. If there is trouble in either world, we are sent to investigate and take care of the problem. Our employer is called Koenma, who is the son of King Enma, the ruler of Spirit World.”

Kurama continued on with the narrative from there. “Today, while we were walking down the street, we felt a surge of energy and witnessed an enormous surge of power destroy a portion of Tokyo. At first we and our friends thought the city was under attack and we were ready to take down the enemy, who ever it might be. But before we reached the scene of the incident, Koenma's assistant, a reaper by the name of Botan, dragged us here to meet with Koenma. That is when we were told about what had happened...” He hesitated. “Koenma had gathered a great deal of information about you, and even replayed the scene that had occurred... the incident that lead up to the release of your spirit energy. And once he had cleared up what was going on and assured us that the city was NOT under attack, he sent us back to earth to locate you and bring you up here.”

She stiffened slightly. “I.... didn't mean for it to happen...” she said in a small voice.

Kurama blinked and then realized that his choice of words had implied that she would have to face some form of punishment. He quickly shook his head.

“Oh, you're not in any sort of trouble, Kiarra. Quite the contrary, we were told to bring you here so we could help you.” He looked at her, his expression gone a little serious. “You see... on extremely rare occassions, humans are born with a huge amount of Spirit Energy within them. That's the energy that you unleashed in your enraged state. Most humans have only enough to let them live with little to spare, or perhaps enough to give them a sixth sense. Others have enough to allow them to train and become powerful fighters. But YOU...” He gave her a slightly sympathetic smile. “You were one of the very rare humans born with an incredibly high amount of spirit energy within you. Because of your... less than favorable circumstances and experiences in life, you instinctually suppressed your anger and frustration. The very emotions that are most likely to reveal spirit energy in the uninitiated. And when your present guardian was mistreating you, your anger finally came to a head and unleashed the power that was bottled within you. And now that it has been unleashed for the first time, lesser emotional states could cause it to unleash again, which is why Hiei and I were trying to keep you calm as I healed you.”

Hiei nodded and looked at her. “It's not your fault that the power unleashed itself like that. You don't need punishment. You need help. And THAT'S why we were told to bring you here. Without instruction on how to control your spirit energy, you may wind up causing more devastation, despite your peaceful intentions.”

She seemed both deeply relieved and slightly apprehensive hearing this. She had no idea what sort of 'instruction' she would be given or what to expect.

Kurama smiled at her. “I think that's enough talk for now. Now that you are awake and feeling well, I think it is time for you to meet our employer, Koenma, as well as our fellow Spirit Detectives, Yusuke and Kuwabara.”

She blinked and looked at them. “Are they demons too?”

Hiei snorted as Kurama shook his head. “Yusuke is half demon, and Kuwabara is a full blooded human with a very acute sixth sense and a fair amount of spirit energy within him.”

She shrugged and then nodded, trying to shove aside the sudden nervousness she felt creeping up in the pit of her stomach. She was about to meet the prince of an entire world. She had no idea what he was like or what she was going to say once she saw him.

Kurama seemed to notice her nervousness and gave her another of his patented smiles. “You have nothing to be afraid of, Kiarra. Koenma can be a little blunt, but he has a great love for humans and sympathizes greatly with your situation. Although I should warn you, his appearance may take you by surprise.”

They were walking down the corridor now, having left the medical wing. She looked up at him. “Why? He's not scary is he?”

She blinked when she heard Hiei snort, this time holding back a sudden laugh.

Kurama chuckled a little himself. “No. Quite the opposite, really. He has the body of a toddler. He only appears to be around one human year old.”

She blinked and stared at him. “You're... kidding...”

He shook his head. “Although, if he's feeling generous, he may take on his adult form, but even in that state, he uses a pacifier. However, he is hundreds of years old and has a great deal of knowledge. He runs the Spirit World when his father is absent, and he takes his duties very seriously.”

Kurama felt relief when he saw the girl trying to suppress a smile. “I'll try to keep my reaction under control, but I can't make any promises.”

He had to smile at her response, and had a distinct feeling he knew exactly what her reaction was going to be.

When they walked into the throne room, the first thing they saw was Yusuke and Kuwabara standing in front of the throne. Kurama cleared his throat meaningfully, and they both turned, revealing the form seated on the throne.

Yusuke and Kuwabara smiled in relief, seeing the girl walking about, not noticing her wide eyes were on the small form on the throne. “Hey! You're walking around now! Thank God, we were getting worried.” The two of them raced forward. “Hi! I'm Yusuke Urameshi, and this is Kazuma Kuwabara. It's a pleasure to meet you!”

She blinked. “Um...” was all she managed to get out, her eyes still on the throne and turning a light shade of red.

The boys blinked and turned, seeing Koenma was now hovering in the air, his wide eyes blinking as he looked at Kiarra. The pacifier was still placed firmly in his mouth as he regarded her.

“Oh, right! Sorry, this is the Prince of Rekai, Koenma. He's the one who we work for. I hope Kurama and Hiei brought you up to date...” Yusuke said, scratching his head. Kurama nodded in his direction.

Koenma nodded to Kiarra. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Kiarra. I do hope you are recovered from your experience?”

Kurama looked at Koenma. “She is. I took care of her injuries. The only thing she needs now is some rest to take care of her fatigue.”

Kiarra was barely able to keep from bursting loose. “Kawaaaiiiii!!!!” She said, her eyes shining and her face turning bright red as she looked at Koenma.

The fox demon chuckled. He had been correct about her reaction.

Yusuke and Kuwabara both blinked in unison and started laughing. I've gotta see how Koenma handle's THIS one! they both thought.

Hiei allowed a small smirk to come to his face as he saw the prince blink in surprise at her reaction. Most people tended to laugh and he had probably been prepared to defend his status. He had probably never been referred to as cute before.

The girl's eyes continued to shine. “I'm sorry! I can't help it! I know your hundreds of years old like Kurama told me, but you look like a floating, talking baby and that rates a ten for cuteness!! I find it absolutely adorable!”

Koenma blinked a few more times and sighed inwardly. They'll never let me forget THIS... he thought to himself. But at the same time, he just couldn't get angry at the girl. It was the first time a human had seen him without outright laughing or making stupid jokes. Besides, it was kind of flattering to have her referring to him as 'cute.'

He cleared his throat. “I suppose I can live with this reaction. At least it's better than Yusuke's initial reaction upon his meeting me.”

Kurama continued to chuckle lightly, then he composed himself. “Koenma. Have you devised a plan of action to help Kiarra with her dilemma?”

At this change of topic, Kiarra's expression immediately turned to a downcast one, but she kept her ears open to what was being said.

He nodded. “I have contacted Genkai. She is the best qualified to help in this matter. She has agreed to nothing yet, unfortunately. She said the only way she will train Kiarra is if she passes her test like the rest of the applicants.”

Yusuke looked at him in shock. “WHAT?! But, Koenma... Kuwabara and I BOTH took that test and we were nearly killed! She doesn't have any fighting experience!”

He nodded. “I understand that, Yusuke. But you know Genkai well enough to understand her reasons. She will not make exceptions simply due to unfortunate circumstances surrounding a single potential student. That would mean she would have to make special exceptions to more people and it would be viewed as unfair to the other applicants who seek out her tutelage.”

She looked up a little uncertainly. “Um... who's Genkai?”

Yusuke smiled. “She's the Reiki Master. A human who used to be a demon slayer in her younger days. Now she takes on the occassional student to help them reach their full potential. But in order for you to be selected as a student, you have to pass a rigorous test that includes some fights. She's a bit of a hard ass, but she definitely knows her stuff.”

Koenma looked at her. “Tomorrow, Genkai will have her door open for new applicants. I must warn you that Yusuke is right... the test has the potential to be dangerous and has been deadly in the past. But Genkai is the one who is best qualified to help you learn to control your abilities. Are you up for it?”

She took in a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. I want to get things under control before I hurt anyone else.”

Koenma nodded. “All right, then. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei will be there with you to watch the proceedings as you undergo the ordeal. They will take you to Genkai's temple in the morning, so you should get to sleep now so your energy is as good as it can be tomorrow.”

She nodded a little numbly, almost positive that sleep wasn't going to be happening for her tonight. Not after the hellish day that she'd had.

Kurama placed a hand on Kiarra's shoulder and smiled at her gently. “I have many different plants at my command. I will give you something that will give you a deep and dreamless sleep tonight.”

She sighed in relief and nodded. The fox demon gently lead her out of the throne room and toward the guest rooms.

 

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Chapter three coming soon! Please R&R!!