Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wandering Souls ❯ Grief and Honor ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Wandering Souls ch2 Grief
***Peeks out behind shield*** Okay, I did a little bit of research on street gangs. Some of the stuff I will add to the story will be from the research and some will be a hefty dose of imagination. One fact I discovered on an actual Japanese news site= the street gangs really do use swords! In several articles about the Bosozuko said they fought with knives, swords and baseball bats. Bosozuko are teen biker gangs, called the speed tribes, the actual translation is said to be violently running tribe.
On to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~
Birds flew out the trees in a panic as Kuwabara Shizuru and Yukimura Keiko ran through the shrine grounds. Their sudden appearance startled the diminutive Koorime from her contemplation and drew the attention of Genkai. Keiko was the one to speak up while Shizuru looked about. “Yukina-chan, where’s Kuwabara? It’s really important that we find him!”
The frightened tone of Keiko’s voice made Yukina start to worry. “I have not seen Kazuma-san since he left on the mission. What’s wrong?” She drew a clenched fist to her chest. She may not understand what Kazuma means by this ‘power of love’, however she is very fond of him.
The thoughts of both girls were interrupted once Shizuru stepped between them, staring off to wilds that surround the shrine. “My little brother is here, I can feel it … He’s out there, in the Cursed Forest. Damn it all, he already knows.”
“And just what does he know and why would it get you, of all people, in a near panic? I’ve known you, Shizuru, since your brother was in diapers. It’s been a long time since anything would ruffle you this badly.” Genkai had silently slipped up to the elder Kuwabara’s side. As the breeze blew through her hair, she stared off into the forest in the same direction as Shizuru. “Hmm, his energy’s is chaotic right now and growing to a…”
The seasoned psychic next words were lost as the most dismal howl arose from the cursed woods. The tormented cry cut into one’s souls, leaving a person with the sense of loss and dread, a need for revenge and a thirst for blood. Even the primitive demons that lived in the woods were affected by the young empathic human’s tormented cry, causing them to run away.
Gasp “That’s Kazuma-san!” In a panic,Yukina tried to run to the woods but was stopped by both brunettes. Turning to face Keiko, she grabbed her arm. “Why did you stop me? Please tell me, what’s wrong!”
A strong hand on her shoulder calmed Yukina some. “Easy there, Yukina, let my little brother have some time to blow off some steam. I guess he found out from Koenma, or more likely he had a premonition or vision, and Koenma confirmed it.” With a sigh, Shizuru lit up a cigarette. “You see, Kazu’s three human friends were ruthlessly killed earlier today in an ambush by rival gangs. We were hoping to make sure that he heard the news from a friend. Those damned gang members are swarming the city, waiting to find Kazuma in hopes of breaking the new to him.” Puffing on a cancer stick, Shizuru thought of what her brother’s reaction to the news will be. “They hope that if they tell him first that they can see him break down. It’s more likely that Kazu will break them in half.”
“So that’s what happened.” Taking a puff off her own cigarette, Genkai noted several energy signatures near the younger Kuwabara. “Well, the other three are there with him. If that’s a good thing, I don’t know yet.”
Perplexed, Keiko regarded the aged Reiki Master. Tilting her head to the side, she decided to voice her confusion. “Why wouldn’t it be a good thing? They are his friends too. Yusuke is his best friend, so how can it be bad for them to be with him?”
“You should remember that they often taunt Kuwabara for being human. Hiei is not the only one that says he’s weak. Remember back when his powers were latent and the Seven were threatening us? When Kuwabara left the safety of the group to go to a concert, Yusuke, the dimwit that he is, went to the arcade instead of looking for Kuwabara like I assumed he would have.” Genkai paused for moment, shaking her head at the foolhardiness. Not only at Kuwabara’s but at Yusuke’s stupidity as well. “I had no doubts that evening that Yusuke was looking for Kuwabara instead of playing games. But no, I was wrong. I had to spell it out to the dimwit that Kuwabara’s powers were going through a change and he was the one in the greatest danger.”
Ignoring Keiko’s protests, Genkai went on with her recent insights. “Yusuke does care for Kuwabara but I am beginning to wonder about the nature of it. I’ve noticed that it’s protective at times, like a friend; then other times it’s like an obligation, as if it’s part of a job. Before, the team was defined by having two demons and two humans, but since Yusuke’s revival and learning that he’s a descendent of a S-class youkai, it’s now three demons and one human. I’ve noticed that they are worse than before on their insults and so-called jokes. Even Yusuke is harsher towards him. I don’t know if they realize how much they are discriminating against him. I have spent time talking to Kuwabara, he comes here often to have someone to talk to.”
Genkai paused as the sound of crashing trees reached the women. “Hn, by the sounds of things, I will have a new meadow in the forest pretty soon.”
~~Meanwhile in the Cursed Forest.~~~

“HAAAAAARRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Deep in the forest, a young man stood on his knees, fists clenched and shoulders thrown back, his head facing the night sky as he let a roar of rage and anguish rip through his being.
All present was struck by the strength of the empathic wave that emanated from the tall human. “Shit, what was that?” Yusuke turned to face his teammates, he still had trouble gauging the new power level that Kuwabara has shown since his reikan had returned.
Before anyone could answer him, a sudden crash brought their attention back to Kuwabara. All three present gaped as Kuwabara began to punch at the trees. He would punch repeatedly at a tree until it broke in two. In less than thirty minutes, thirteen trees had fallen thanks to Kuwabara’s rage. The sound of trees being smashed mingled with the agonized screams that he still gave.
“He’s more a fool than I thought if he lets this despair affect him like this, causing him to loose it. He should know that in our line of work that it’s best to always to be in control. That was the first thing I tried to teach him during the training leading up to the Dark Tournament.” Hiei scoffed, as he watched the human vent his rage on the trees. With a great amount of will, he stopped himself from covering his ears as Yusuke and Kurama had done.
The golden eyes of an angry kistune turned to regard the fire demon. “I do not agree with you there, Hiei. Kuwabara-kun has every right to voice his loss this night.” With a blink of Kurama's eyes, they returned to the vivid green and the white streaks faded back to the scarlet red hair. “These howls, they’re too familiar to my tastes. I know the torment that he’s suffering from.” Haunting memories of a raid gone wrong and the fatal bamboo trap that was sprung came to the surface of his memories.
Curious, Yusuke only slightly turned to face his teammate. “How is that, Kurama?”
A gruesome scene played in the mists of memories. A darkly handsome figure with leathery bat wings stood with multiple bamboo spears sticking out of his form. The hollow poles allowed blood to flow out freely as he cried for his friend to forget him and save himself. Kurama shook his head in an attempt to banish the nightmare. “The night that Kuronue died, I cried out with same type of howls as Kuwabara-kun does now. It’s the same howl of the loss of dear friends. A loss that will not go unpunished, just as I hunted the ones that caused Kuronue’s death, until I caused their ruin. I am not surprised by Kuwabara-kun’s decision for revenge.”
“I still can’t believe that the toddler gave him the file!”
~~Flashback~~
With closed eyes, Kuwabara took a deep breath to collect himself. Squaring his shoulders, he looked at the prince of the Reikai in the eye. In the cold, low tone that was last heard as Kuwabara confronted Yusuke about Genkai's death, he now addressed the reikai prince.“Koenma-sama, when we first met face to face, you stated that you owed me a favor. I wish to collect now. I want to know… I want a copy of the details of my friends death. No! More than that. I want to know all the facts surrounding their deaths. ”
After a tense moment of silence, Koenma spoke. “It’s true, I did say that I owed you a favor. Jorge, make a copy of the files for Kuwabara.” As Jorge scurried away, Koenma turned to Kuwabara. “What you do with the information is your own decision, but I will remind you that I will be watching.”
Snapping out of his stupor, Yusuke turned to his friend. “What’s going on here Kuwabara? Do you mean that Okubo and the others are …dead?” Since his first revival, Yusuke has learned more about Kuwabara and his followers. Yusuke actually admired the loyalty that the four gang members had to each other. It was the first time in his life that he saw true honor and loyalty. It was the time that Yusuke found out that Kuwabara was not a simple street thug as he formerly believed. “How did that happen? Botan, did you bring them to Reikai yet?”
A tearful Botan tried to answer but a sob was all she got out. Kuwabara spoke up to answer Yusuke. “They were ambushed by the Aka Doragon and Supaida no Yoru. I saw a glimpse of that during our mission.” Sending a cold glare to the other three, he went on. "You remember, the so-called daydream you accused me of having? Well now you see it wasn't a fucking daydream!"
“What! That’s impossible, the Dragons and Spiders are rivals and hate each other.” Yusuke sputtered out in surprise. “Why would they work together?” He wondered on the subtle differences of the gangs now they were no longer in junior high.
Yusuke and Kuwabara had somehow gotten out of junior high and went on to high school, although not the same school. Yusuke went to Nakogakaori High; many of graduates from Sarayashiki Jr. High went there. Much to everyone’s surprise, Kuwabara and his three-man posse were accepted into Gai Technical Collage High School Annex. After the Sara Jr. High teacher Akashi blackmailed Kuwabara and his posse, saying they had to get over 50% on a test, they all kept up their studies. Evidently, Kuwabara had studied so much that he brought up his grades enough to be accepted into the prestigious high school. Gai Annex is located not far from the river Sticks, its boundaries extend on either side of it.
The Aka Doragon teens went to Jomeimaeni (Jomei) High, which is on the north side off the river while the Supaida no Yoru went to school at Shodayarinji (Shoda) High, which is south to the river Sticks. Both of them are on the east side of Gai’s territory.
Glaring at Yusuke, Kuwabara continued. “I think that they hate me more than each other. So they teamed up to ambush my gang, the Menboku Yaiba, killing three of the senior members who so happened to be my best friends.” Turning to Botan, Kuwabara took her into his embrace, whispering softly to her. “Botan, I know there’s more to it. There’s also something else that’s bothering you. What is it?”
Wiping a few tears away, Botan hid her face in his chest. “I’ve come to see Okubo, Sawamura and Kirishima as friends as well. Perhaps not as close as you guys. I would say as close as Genkai was during the Dark Tournament.” The guys winced as they remember how torn up Botan was over Genkai's first death. “That just makes it harder to accept that I failed my duty as a ferry girl to them…. They refused to come to the afterlife, deciding to stay as restless souls in the living realm. I’m so sorry Kuwabara!”
“That’s okay Botan, I don’t have any hard feelings for you. I’m assuming they didn’t come because of me.” Kuwabara could barely tell that Botan shook her head in a affirmative manner.
“Yes, they said they needed to stay for you. That you have had enough trouble with ghosts and it was time that there were some friendly ghosts hanging around you.” Botan sniffed as she turned to face Yusuke. “They figured out that when Yusuke was a ghost, that he hung around you some and it kept some of the ghosts from pestering you. That and they would join the other few ghosts from the Menboku Yaiba.”
“Wait a minute… Did you say they knew I was a ghost?” Yusuke turned to ask Botan. “They don’t have Kuwabara’s spirit awareness. How in the hell did they know that?”
“They used logic.” Kuwabara spoke up to clear up Yusuke’s confusion. “They figured out that it was during the time that everyone thought you were dead, and later believed it was a coma. Of course, he coma was a lie to cover your revival from being really dead. Well, they knew that sometimes, a spirit can separate from the body in sleep, a form of astral projection. They thought that was what happened to you, that your soul separated from your body while it was in a coma. So, while you were ghost-like, you came around me some. They were lead to believe that due to the fact that since before your death we were bitter rivals and after your revival it changed to the shock of everyone to friendly rivals.” Kuwabara gave a bitter grin. “They were right. The process to the conclusion may be wrong, but the final conclusion was right.”
As Jorge came in with the copies of the files, Kuwabara stepped away from everyone to take them. As he walked towards the door, Yusuke stopped him.
“What are you planning? You can’t go ballistic!” Despite how he would often act, Yusuke did have his moments where friendship outweighed his arrogance. Fear gripped him as he recalled how fiercely protective Kuwabara is of all his friends. “I know that you will do everything possible to protect your friends, whether it’s us on a mission or your three man posse. I know that you would do everything to avenge them as well!”
Memories of how Kuwabara would act to save the tentai flooded the minds of all present. Yusuke remembered when Kuwabara jumped over a lava pit to throw a mighty punch that sent a ten foot tall Byakko into the lava.
The time that the dishonest teacher blackmailed Kuwabara came to Botan. Akashi demanded that Kuwabara couldn’t fight for an entire week or Okubo would loose his job, which meant his family would starve. Since he refused to run away like some coward, Kuwabara went through the week being beaten up by rivals but refusing to hit back.
In Kurama’s mind, the scene replayed as Kuwabara stood to face Risho despite his injuries. He recalled how Kuwabara contacted him telepathically before turning to his opponent and claiming that if he could drag Risho into death with him, then the match would be a stalemate and his teammates would have another chance to survive.
It was the encounter with Sensui that Hiei remembered. When they were trapped by Itsuki, it was Kuwabara’s determination that freed them as he summoned his newest spirit sword. It was the Jigen Tou that made Kuwabara finally reach low A class. When Yusuke died yet again and the others fought against Sensui with all they had. Hiei and Kurama both changed to be stronger. Kurama had turned into his original form, reaching upper A class, in order to fight Sensui who’s power was in the S class. Kuwabara refused to back down, although he knew he was far weaker than the others.
The time that Younger Toguro appeared to have killed Kuwabara played in Koenma’s mind. Kuwabara was not as hurt as badly as everyone feared but played dead so the shock could bring Yusuke to a much needed fighting edge in order to win against Toguro. Kuwabara brought everyone out of their moment of musing by turning to Yusuke. “You’re afraid I’m going to do something stupid that will get me in trouble here in the spirit realm, aren’t ya?” When no one denied this, he went on. “Remember that the Reikai judges all humans, not just some of a select group. There are people whose religions are as diverse as Buddhism, Shinto and Taoist; there are even some Christians and Muslims here in Japan. Every city does not have the same set of rules, nor does every religion or culture. It makes judging them very complex. I’m assuming that one major factor in judging a person is whether they follow the laws of their religion and culture?” With that question, Kuwabara looked at the Prince of Reikai.
At this Koenma nodded his head. Despite the grim atmosphere, Koenma found some small amusement that it was Kuwabara that grasped the complexity of judging a soul. But then the boy did grow up with a strong awareness.
“Speaking of culture, there are also sub-cultures.” Kuwabara tucked the file under his injured arm as he pointed towards Yusuke. “You're a thug, you should know how the streets work. Street gangs have their own sub-culture. What are the laws of the concrete jungle? What are the responsibilities of a gang leader?”
Yusuke’s shoulders slumped as he realized what sort of corner Kuwabara was backed into. “A gang leader is to protect and lead the gang. In this case, when a dishonorable raid happens, a gang leader is expected to find out who are responsible and get revenge.” Yusuke replied in even tone.
“I do not know much about street gangs so can you explain what qualifies as ‘dishonorable?’” Kurama spoke the question that nearly everyone else besides the two thugs wanted to ask.
As the only street fighters, Yusuke and Kuwabara gave a grimace at the question. “Most people think that any street gang member has no honor. But that’s not true. The honor codes are different for each gang but every gang has a set of honor codes that they follow. Some people may not agree with them but it’s a code that rules their actions.” Kuwabara tried to clarify it for them. “But there is a core set of codes that is shared in the streets. In a street fight, it is dishonorable for two gangs to ambush one gang. One on one gang fighting is okay. And it would be okay if two gangs teamed up to fight another set of two gangs.”
“Hn, so it is seen as if they are weak if two separate gangs team up to fight one single gang.” Hiei leaned back against the wall, thinking of how these ‘street gangs’ were like the thieves gangs back in the Makai. “What if the single gang was bigger than them? How is that dealt with honorably?”
Shrugging, Yusuke answered casually. “That’s simple, instead of joining forces as two gangs, they merge into one gang. Then it’s an honorable fight.”
“But they didn’t merge so it’s dishonorable. And Kuwabara must now seek reparation for his friends murder or he will breaking one of the core rules that govern this sub-culture, correct?” Kurama’s question was answered by both Yusuke and Koenma nodding their heads.
With a smirk and a wave of the hand, Hiei pointed out what Yusuke feared. “Then that means that Kuwabara has to kill the humans responsible. Am I correct? Even Yusuke wouldn’t kill a human when he should have at the hospital.”
“Urameshi was a fool during that encounter.” Kuwabara still held firmly that the doctor was too great a threat to be allowed to live. Although Genkai blocked his talent, someone could always undo that psychic block. “Most likely, Yusuke can’t kill a human now since he has demon blood awakened within him. King Enma threw a fit before when it was revealed that Urameshi was descended from a youkai, he would hit the roof if Urameshi killed a human. But yes, Hiei, by the core set of codes, I’m honor-bound to kill the ones that killed my friends. What the spirit realm will be watching is how I do that. I cannot act like a madman or kill them in their sleep. I will have to avenge them with my honor intact.”
~~End Flashback.~~
“Hn, I for one, will like to see how he gets started.” Hiei smiled, he knew that Kuwabara had his own style of an honor code and wondered how he fitted killing into it. After all, as part of the team, he has killed many demons. However, two of his teammates are demons and he has professed his love for Yukina, an ice demon. It makes one wonder how the human reconciles the facts.
“While we wait out Kuwabara’s grieving, how about we read what has upset him so greatly.” With a swish of paper, Hiei and Yusuke turned to see Kurama going through the file that documented the murders of Okubo, Sawamura and Kirishima.
TBC
"So they teamed up to ambush my gang, the Menboku Yaiba, killing three of the senior members who so happened to be my best friends.” - There's a good reason why I don't have Kuwabara or the files calling his friends as aniki. Aniki is used by gangs for senior members, but Kuwabara is the gang leader, therefor he wouldn’t identify them as senior members to himself. Nor would the files of Reikai call them by slang terms of gang talk.
One mistake I've noticed that I've done as many others have done in using reikai when I should use reiki. The same goes for youkai and youki. Reiki/youki are the energies, while Reikai is the Spirit World or it's inhabitants and youkai are the apparitions, otherwise called demons.