Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Symbols of Haven ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Yikes, this chapter came out nothing like I had expected it to…and much longer, too. I like it better that the first draft, though. It's a lot darker.

Warning: This is the chapter where the `disturbing images' bit comes in. You'll see why.

 

 

Symbols of Haven, Chapter 1

 

“I really fuckin' hate patrol duty.” Yuusuke muttered under his breath. The tall orange-haired man walking beside his grinned and punched Yuusuke in the shoulder.

“What, is Urameshi afraid of a few little oni?”

“Kuwabara, are you ever going to outgrow your stupidity?”

“Oi, since when do you talk like Hiei?”

The two young men grinned at each other briefly, then turned their minds back to the chore at hand.

They passed down dark, filthy alleys crowded between tall, abandoned buildings, slowing only to navigate the debris-strewn paths. After pausing to clear a battered dumpster out of their way, Kuwabara turned to his companion.

“So, Kurama and Hiei thought there may be demon activity in this area? I don't sense anything.”

“I don't either. If there were demons here, they're long gone by now. I guess even Hiei and Kurama can be wrong.”

“Where are they, anyway?”

“They should be patrolling on the other side of town.”

For a moment, the men traveled in silence, having nothing to say. As they turned down into another alley, this one layered in cold soot and ash from a long-dead fire in one of the buildings, Kuwabara found his eye drawn to a petite, grimy item that looked familiar to something he had seen in his sister's room years ago.

“Hey, Urameshi…Look at this…”

The tall, burly ningen bent down and picked up a small, soot-covered object. The diminutive toy was dwarfed by Kuwabara's large, rough hands as he brushed away some of the refuse off of the limp child's toy, exposing a tiny doll with jet black hair and once-white skin that was now yellowed. Yuusuke watched with an unexplainable feeling of trepidation as Kuwabara gently wiped more soot from the doll's face.

Inspecting the doll closely, Kuwabara noted aloud, “The clothes are faded and the seams are about to come apart…and some of these stains look like blood…this doll has either been here a long time, or it was so special to a child that they didn't want to give it up…” Kuwabara stopped, looking Yuusuke in the eyes.

“We don't have to look for the kid, do we?”

Yuusuke flinched and dropped his gaze to the well-loved toy in his friend's hands.

“Urameshi, let's just go back. There are no demons around here, and there's no way the kid is still alive. Let's go home before we find something we don't want to.”

As if to punctuate the human's statement, a cold wind howled down the secluded alley, blowing trash and soot in a whirlwind of sorrowful fury. Yuusuke's eyes went past Kuwabara to fix on a child's pink shoe that protruded from a lumpy bundle wrapped in blankets. Dried, long-congealed blood formed a dark red stain on the concrete beneath the bundle.

Kuwabara followed Yuusuke's shocked gaze and turned an unearthly shade of white when he saw the shoe. Yuusuke raised a hand to his face, pressing his fingers against his mouth to quell the sickness he could feel building up. He turned his back and wandered blindly back the way they had come, his eyes closed tightly. Kuwabara also shut his eyes and retreated back a step, breathing deeply to steady himself. He swallowed hard, and walked forward until he was close enough to the bundle to put the doll on top. He closed his eyes and bowed briefly in prayer, then gazed mournfully at the doll.

“I'm sorry we weren't there. So very sorry…”

He wiped quickly at his tears, refusing top let Yuusuke see him cry, then turned and followed his friend down the alley.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*

 

Kurama, followed closely by Hiei, entered the makeshift Rekai tantei encampment, swinging the former hospital's doors wide. Hinageshi looked up at the newcomers from her seat by a patient, a young blonde man who was bleeding heavily from a gaping wound in his chest and abdomen. Hinageshi jumped to her feet and ran to Kurama and Hiei, tearful and distraught.

“Kurama-san!” she gasped, “Please, do you have anything I can give him to stop the bleeding? Yukina-chan and the other healers haven't arrived yet, and none of the human doctors know what to do!”

Kurama frowned, the lines of concern creasing his brow. He knelt beside the young man and inspected the gash more closely, his frown deepening when he noticed thin streaks of a putrid yellow substance swirled within the wound. Hiei, who was hovering over Kurama's shoulder and peering at the injury, began speculating.

“Infection? Or Poison?”

“Poison, if this is what I think it is. Hinageshi, what was he attacked by?”

“No one knows. He ignored protocol and went on patrol by himself. His partner caught up with him just in time to chase a demon off of him. The guy said that it looked like a moving shadow was sucking this guy up through a straw.”

“Then I'm right. It was a sub-species of gaki that attacked him, except instead of drinking blood or ki, this kind liquefies its victim's internal organs. They are usually very weak and avoid leaving their cave homes alone, so this one was stupid, crazy, or unafraid. In any case, it's a good thing this guy's partner got there when he did. There wasn't enough venom injected to kill this guy outright, but he still may not survive because of the blood loss. I can't give him anything to stop the bleeding because the venom prevents clotting and there is no cure for it, but I can give him something for the pain and to help him sleep.”

He reached into a pouch of seeds that he had taken to wearing and pulled out two small white seeds. He focused his ki into the glossy seeds, commanding them to grow into mature plants with dark green foliage, and handed the plants to Hinageshi.

“Extract the juices from the roots, then through the rest of the plant away. It's toxic. Boil the juices until they turn clear, then get him to drink all of it.”

Hiei tapped the kitsune's shoulder impatiently. As he did so, a distracted and harassed looking Botan bounded out of the stair well, sending the metal door crashing into the wall. Kurama stared briefly at the ferry girl, who was painstakingly working her way toward them through a maze of stretchers on the floor, then turned to face his smaller friend.

“What is it, Hiei?”

The fire demon shrugged.

“I just wanted to warn you that the ditz was coming.”

Kurama smiled and turned to gaze at the blue haired woman who had finally joined them.

“Kurama, Hiei, have you seen Yuusuke and Kuwabara?” she inquired, her face tense and her voice nervous. Kurama and Hiei exchanged glances.

“What happened?” Kurama asked, uncertain if he wanted an explanation. Botan looked confused for a moment before realization struck her. Laughing obnoxiously, a sound that sounded strange in a room full of wounded humans, she waved away Kurama's and Hiei's concerns with a pale hand.

“No, no, it's nothing like that, silly! Koenma has a new mission for his old team! With a few new members of course, but you'll see what I mean when we get to Koenma's office! Oh, I mean his Ningenkai `Base of Operations'. He's set up for business right here in this building! We'll have to go up a few flights of stairs, but that's no big…”

Kurama forestalled Botan's long-winded monologue with a raised hand.

“Why don't we just go?”

“Right! Hinageshi, when you see Yuusuke and Kuwabara, tell them to come upstairs for their new mission!”

Hinageshi looked up from her station beside the ailing blonde man.

“Yeah, sure. I will.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*

 

Still feeling strangely subdued after their encounter in the alley, Kuwabara and Yuusuke had barely stepped into the hospital-turned-base before Hinageshi had ordered them upstairs. The two young men trooped up several flights of stairs and then walked down a narrow white corridor before arriving at Koenma's Ningenkai office.

The youthful Prince of the Dead was in his teenaged form, and he was lounging in a cushioned grey rolling chair while glaring fretfully at the other occupants of his office. Botan had led Kurama and Hiei into the office and then left, cheerily talking about her need to return to her ferry girl duties. Also in his office was a dark haired human youth, whom the tantei did not know and who was leaning against the wall with a scowl painted on his face.

“It's about time that you two decided to show up.” Koenma snapped irritably. “Come in and sit down, we have a lot to go over. First off, this young man here,” he pointed to the stranger “is a member of the American tantei. His name is J and he will be joining you on this mission.” J nodded his head in a form of greeting. Koenma then introduced the other tantei members to J, pointing to them each in turn. “J, this is Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama. Now that we all know each other, we can get down to business.”

He reached into his desk and pulled out a thick stack of files.

“As you are most likely aware, the ranks of the Rekai Tantei have become…depleted. I have pulled every living former Tantei back into service, and transferred eligible candidates out of other Spirit World occupations. I even considered reviving dead fighters, but I think that had better be an absolute last resort. Even I can't mess with the laws of life and death too far.”

Kurama nodded knowingly, his thoughtful eyes closed. J, Yuusuke and Hiei were glaring at Koenma, and Kuwabara was fidgeting impatiently. Koenma rolled his eyes and continued.

“Still, the Ningenkai is being destroyed by demons that are slipping through the boundaries. I had some of my ogres run through and narrow down the files of a few hundred prospective youkai and hanyous, and then I went through the remaining files and personally selected a fairly large group of human sympathizers and convicted criminals that can work off their sentences as Tantei.

I need the five of you to track down and recruit these demons and half-breeds any way possible. For the criminals, I would suggest offering the same deal I offered Kurama and Hiei. Work for the Rekai, and the sentence will be lighter. The human sympathizers should be fairly easy to enlist, but finding them will be very difficult.

Oh, and I sent word to Suzuki from the Dark Tournament. He will inform the group of demons he is with that I would be greatly in their debt if they were to join me.”

Seeing that Yuusuke was about to ask a question, Koenma held up a hand.

“Easy Yuusuke, I'm getting there. Jin and Touya contacted me two days ago and said that they are willing to fight for us. Actually, I think it's more of a case that Jin wants to help, and he's dragging Touya along. They are already on their way here, and they will be staying at Genkai's until the others arrive. You'll get to see your excitable red-haired friend again, Yuusuke. Does that answer your question?”

Yuusuke's grin was his only answer.

“Jin and Touya will be picking up one of the recruits on their way here, mostly because we want to get the guy before Mukuro kills him.”

Hiei's crimson eyes fastened menacingly on Koenma.

“He pissed Mukuro off. No big deal. Anyway, Yuusuke, J, and Kurama, you three will be going after a small band of thieves, led by a hanyou woman named Jodi Miyoshi. The Rekai has had dealings with her in the past. Nothing major, just relocation orders when she was a child. But you may want to be careful; she hates everyone that has anything to do with the Rekai. She blames us for her problems. Still, Miyoshi should be smart enough to come without a fight. Offer her the same deal I offered you, Kurama. Serve in the Rekai Tantei and it'll be a shorter sentence than what she'll get in Spirit Jail. If she asks what her crimes are, tell her we have twelve counts of theft on her.”

Kurama raised an eyebrow as Koenma handed most of the files to him, and the god found himself biting back a laugh.

“She may be the leader of a band of thieves, but she's nowhere near your level of expertise.” Koenma grinned mischievously. “Not to mention we've had a Rekai Intelligence worker infiltrate her band. Which reminds me, you'll need to bring in as many of the band members as you can. You can ask George for the band's location and head out. In the meantime, you may want to look through that yourself. There are more details on Miyoshi and her band in there. Be careful of the one named Kiona. He's a kitsune, too, but he's a former mercenary and he's very loyal to Miyoshi. He may cause trouble.”

Kurama nodded and began to flip through the files, his emerald eyes memorizing each page while Yuusuke and J hovered over him. Koenma turned to Hiei and handed most of the remaining files to the smaller fire demon.

“These are the recorded crimes of a wolf youkai named Joseph. You won't be offering him quite the same deal as the others, though. You see, the Rekai wants to hire him. He's a mercenary, and he'll probably work for us like he has in the past. You may be able to find him at The Head Hunter's Inn, since that's where he spends most of his time between his jobs. When you find him, tell him that we are willing to pay double the usual fee, and that he will also be receiving free training from professional fighters. Name people he will know, like Genkai and Yuusuke, maybe Youko Kurama. Also, while you're there, ask around to see if there are any other demons willing to work for the Rekai. I doubt there will be many. You may want to get started now, because the innkeepers don't let any one in after daybreak.”

Hiei nodded curtly and walk out of the office without glancing at the files. Koenma handed the remaining file to Kuwabara.

“You will be doing something slightly different than the others. The person I want you to find is a former Rekai tantei. His name is Keith, and he retired from the European tantei a year ago. We always thought he'd be one of the first detectives to return to service when the disaster struck, but he disappeared the day he retired. We believe he is somewhere along the boundary between the human and youkai territories in Europe. I'm sorry, but we can't tell you any more.”

Kuwabara opened the file, looked at the picture of the red-headed Keith, then passed the file back to Koenma. Kuwabara smiled at his employer.

“I just needed to know what the guy looked like.”

The detective walked out of the office without another word.

Koenma leaned back, looking very satisfied now that he had gotten something done. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief, relishing the brief pause from paperwork. Then his eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, sending papers flying across his desk.

“What are you three still doing here!?” A muscle in Koenma's cheek twitched when his tirade was met by three blank stares “Get out there and find those demons!”

 

 

A/N: Well, that was fun. I actually have something resembling humor in this chapter.

[1] Yes, Kuwabara prayed. I don't care what religion, if any, you wish to pick for him to be.

[2] A gaki is basically a vampire from the Makai, but I made up this sub-species, pretty much on the spur of the moment.

[3] The inn is also something I made up, but it's been in the works for a while because the innkeepers are going to play a role in the plot. Don't bug me for details, because I won't give them. You'll just have to keep reading^^.

I'll get the next chapter typed up eventually. Don't worry, I actually have an idea on what it's going to be about.