Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Winter Murders ❯ Aftershocks ( Chapter 11 )

Winter Murders

Flashes of their time together flashed before his eyes. When they met, their botched robbery, the betrayal, their partnership, their time as spirit detectives, the saint beasts, the dark tournament, and everything else they had been through raced past. He remembered the words said, the different stages they had gone through, the hard times, the good times, and even their new adventure that had been cut short. He had wanted to grow old with him. He had wanted to have children with him, he wasn't sure how they'd have kids, but that was a moot point. He had wanted to spend his life with him. He loved him. He had turned into his world and he hadn't noticed for a long time. Just when he had noticed his value, he was taken away. He was taken away by one whom he trusted, one whom he had considered a friend. He had been stabbed in the back, again. He didn't like getting stabbed in the back. Yusuke would pay for the heinous crime he had committed against two people who had thought he was a friend. Yusuke would pay.

~*~*

Kurama looked over his friend's body. Yusuke was lucky to be alive. Misery was a poisonous plant, and it was vicious. Some of the offshoots he had encountered could produce an illusion that would make the prey think the Misery was just a harmless daisy. Then it would bite through its victim's neck, effectively killing it. Yusuke was lucky. He was lucky Death saw it fit to save him. But to what purpose did she save him?

Yusuke had three broken ribs, his skin was torn and bleeding, he had a black eye, his clothes were torn, and currently he was un-wakeable. Every once and a while he would stir and groan, but other than that there was nothing. Kurama was worried about the mental state of his friend. He had heard what Death had said about the forest, but he didn't think it was the forest that was causing these illusions. He thought that it was her. Heck, she could have created the whole forest.

…

Hadn't some of the trees at Genkai's looked a bit fishy? And it had seemed a bit cooler there. Yes, he was sure it had been cooler when they had met to begin on this little "mission". It had been even cooler than it was in the bleak mid-winter. Something was going on. He had a feeling that she had planned everything out from the beginning. That nothing they did would surprise her, or alter her plans. He didn't trust her.

He looked over to Kuwa. He was just staring out into space. He hadn't said a word since he had had a revelation. He hadn't even shown any emotion during his fight with Yusuke. He frowned. What was wrong? Usually Kuwa was the most loud-mouthed of the group. Now he was a vegetable. Kurama was suspicious. Maybe Death had done something to him. He noticed the sheet of ice that covered his friend's mouth for the first time. Must be Death. What was she trying to keep him from saying? Maybe she didn't think that the rest of them suspected something. Maybe that was what she hadn't planned on, them finding out. Every plan has a fault, and that must be hers. She didn't have the mind to believe that they could see through her little charade.

Yusuke shifted again. Kurama looked back down at his friend. He couldn't do anything for the mental trouble Yusuke was having, but with the help of Genkai they could fix him and get on the move to find Hiei. He could sense the darsteeds on the edge of his awareness. It wouldn't be too hard to call them back. It would make travel that much easier.

"He looks horrible," he jumped at Genkai's voice. He must have zoned out or something if he hadn't heard or felt her approach.

"Misery will do that to a demon, he's lucky to be alive," Kurama responded. Death meandered over to a tree somewhere in the distance.

"It wasn't all the plant," Genkai said. Kurama gave her a weak smile.

"Youko is not the most pleasant person when pissed off," Kurama replied.

"Youko is also you," Genkai said as she began to heal Yusuke along with Kurama. "You are the same person, you share the same feelings."

"Yes, I guess that's true, but his feelings are much more intense," Kurama said, not wanting to attribute the fight to himself.

"You were also fighting Yusuke," Genkai said. She looked at Kurama; he was trying to ignore her. "You can't say that it wasn't you."

"…"

"Kurama," Genkai began. "I know you don't want this to be your fault, but there's something in the air here that intensifies emotions. It's not entirely your fault, yours or Youko's, there's something here amplifying the emotions that tear us apart."

Genkai motioned her head towards Death. Kurama nodded in agreement. He nodded over to Kuwa who had found an interesting blade of grass to inspect. Genkai nodded back.

"Even so, you were also feeling what Youko fought for," Genkai told him. Kurama nodded weakly.

"I know, I just can't believe I did something so rash," he told her.

"As I said before," Genkai whispered. "It's not entirely your fault."

"How is he?" Death asked. Kurama jumped, he hadn't noticed her approach. He turned and ended up face-to-face with her. He witheringly smiled at her. She beamed at him.

"He's fine physically, but he won't wake up," Genkai said. Death raised an eyebrow. "We just have to wait for him to awaken."

Genkai shrugged and got up. Kurama followed suit.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me up tomorrow morning," Genkai said and headed off in Kuwa's direction. Kurama nodded in understanding.

"I am also going to sleep, there's nothing we can do," he told Death. Her grin faltered.

"Alright," she said. Kurama went off to the tree he had sat against before the fight and promptly fell asleep. Death sighed and walked up to the nearest stalk of Misery. It instantly came unfrozen. Death smiled. The plant charged at her. She pulled out her sword and prepared to take down the "beast".

~*~*

Someone flinched. They heard another scream. One guard looked at another. There were only two of them tonight. They didn't like that they had gotten the short end of the stick. The Jaganshi had cracked after the fight and had been in a fit of rage since. One of the guards on duty in the shift before them had gone in to see what was going on… he never came back. They had looked through the window into the chamber though. They had seen the anguished fire brat disembowel him. The other guard on that shift had found it nifty to see the blood splatter. He had kept ranting about the different shades of red. The two guards shuddered. He had gone to the mental ward for drug treatment. They knew the prisoner was to blame.

A hoarse cry sounded. One of the guards looked in the window. The prisoner had collapsed in the middle of the floor. He was howling that name again. Every guard that had had duty guarding him since the breakdown hated that name. The guard growled.

"Shut up in there!" he cried. The prisoner looked at him. He slowly, unnaturally, rose from the ground. The guard flinched. The prisoner made his way to the window. He seemed to shrink as he approached, though the guard knew they could see his upper half when he would stand in front of it. Suddenly the prisoner's hair appeared. The guard started. Then the heavily warded Jagan. And then his eyes. The guard drew in a sharp, scared breath and jumped away from the window. Those eyes held no sanity.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you," the prisoner said calmly. His eyes followed the guard as he backed up to the wall across the hall. "I might just come and get you. Beware ye demons, I'm on the prowl."

"Quit your yapping," the other guard snapped. He closed his eyes and pulled his hat over his eyes.

The prisoner looked at the other guard, but then gazed back at the first.

"I'll get out, you know. No four walls can hold me. I will get out, and I will hunt you down. I will find you. I will personally kill you. Slowly, mind you. Never kill fast, unless you're in a hurry. Slower is better. First I'll take your tongue out. I'll pull it out of your mouth and sever it at the back of your throat. Then I'll pull out your hair, painfully slowly, hair by hair by hair, until there is no more. Then I'll take a piece of your ear. You'll still be able to hear, but it will hurt. I will slit your arms on my way to your fingers. Then I'll cut your fingers off, one piece of finger at a time, piece by piece, bit by bit, until there is no more. Then to your toes. Toes by toe they'll go. I'll enjoy seeing you suffer. Then to your… well you might not have one. But if you do, you know what I'm talking about. When I get there I will do it like a meat slicer. All the while you will feel and see and hear the pain. You will be tortured. It will kill you, not the blood loss, but the pain," the prisoner said in a dispassionate voice. The guard screamed and ran down the hall. The prisoner stood and smirked.

~*~*

Yusuke looked about himself. This was different from all the times he had been sucked into one of Death's little mind games. This was older, more powerful, and more deadly. Yusuke shuddered, he didn't like the way things were going.

~Do not worry little one~ , a voiceless voice said. Yusuke looked about him. He saw no one. ~I normally play the mind games that she has played on you, but you have suffered enough and I wish to help you. I will show you her plan.~

Yusuke blinked as he appeared in a blood covered room. There were bits and pieces of some odd demon all over the place. The remnants of a crystal ball were scattered over the floor. A singularly large piece was covered in blood and leaning against the far wall. Yusuke heard a deep, maniacal, and not all sane laugh. He turned and saw a very crazed Hiei. He was laughing to himself as he turned from the door. Yusuke blinked and shook his head.

~Your friend here is no longer sane, at the moment. He is crazed by the grief of losing the one thing he lives for. He has been tricked into believing that his lover is dead. She planned this out. He has been plagued with grief. It consumes him. He is not in his right mind~, it said. Yusuke stared open mouthed at Hiei. ~Her plan is to take all of you here and separate you into three groups. She will take his lover one way, the old woman will go another, and the other boy and you will go to him. He thinks you killed his love. He will kill you. That demon that you see all over the place was an s-class. As you can see, your friend is heavily warded. He also can tear apart one's mind by the words he says.~

Yusuke shook his head again as he ended up in a laboratory. It had three huge glass tube things in it. They were filled with water. The rest of the room looked like a modernized and more ecliptic version of Dr. Frankenstein's lab. Yusuke was amazed by all the blinking lights, and tubes, and everything.

~This is where she will take the lover and the old woman. You and the other two will have perished. He would kill you, and then your friend would gain enormous power by being possessed by her and destroy him. Then he would be powerless as a troop of guards would converge on him and eradicate him.~ Yusuke had nothing to say, no motion to make. He stood, dumfounded. ~This is the private laboratory of the demon Xania. He is also not in his right mind.~

The man of pure white came in dragging a young girl. She was screeching and kicking, but it was to no avail. She had long brown hair, an oval shaped face, green eyes, and an athlete's body. She wore a white evening gown. Xania picked her up, flipped her on her back and tied her to an operating table.

"This won't hurt a bit once I get the drugs in your system," he said. Yusuke rubbed his ears; the man's voice hurt his ears. The girl screamed. Xania pushed a five inch needle into her back.

~She will stand back and let him do the work. He will have his new "creatures", ASH as he calls them, kill the old woman. Then he will take his revenge on the one who stole his sanity.~

"One who stole his sanity?" Yusuke asked, finally coming out of his stupor, but his eyes remained on Xania.

~Yes, the lover.~

Yusuke blinked and shook his head. He felt dizzy. Kurama?

"How did his sanity get stolen?"

Yusuke blinked and shook his head. He felt dizzy. Kurama?

"How did his sanity get stolen?" Yusuke asked. The voice laughed, sort of.

~Xania, at one point in time, was Yomi's lover. Xania loved Yomi, almost like the friend who loves the lover. They were lovers for a long time. But one day Yomi came across a silver youko. He was instantly attracted, so beautiful was the youko. Xania had been with him on that fateful day. The youko got out of thieving charges in exchange for becoming part of Yomi's life, as a courtier. Xania was always jealous of the youko, but Yomi never faltered in his love for Xania. So for the time being, Xania didn't care. But soon the youko was manipulating Yomi so he could do what he wanted. Soon after he was seducing him to keep him from noticing that he was stealing from him. It was exciting to the youko. Xania soon found himself outside of Yomi's bedroom listening to what they were doing. Yomi kicked him out of his palace, but still loved him in his own way. So he built this castle for Xania and technically gave him part of his territory, since none come up here. Xania lost all sanity when he lost Yomi. And since he did lose the one he loved, to someone who eventually betrayed and blinded the object of his love, he set out for revenge. He's always been after that silver youko. Youko Kurama.~

Yusuke fell to his knees on the ground. The area around him went black.

~Xania will finally get his revenge and then she will kill him. She was sent here by Yomi. Yomi wants Xania gone. He no longer loves the possessive, insane, creature that he called his own at one point in time. He too searches for the illusive youko, but Death has her own agenda within both of their plans. Yomi told her to save the youko, but Xania wants him dead. All she cares about is death. This is why she is aptly named. ~

"But how are we supposed to beat her at her own game? How are we going to foil her perfect plan?" Yusuke cried out.

~She doesn't think you will figure it out. That is your strength. You will be able to beat her by avoiding the things she has planned.~

"But what about Hiei?! I can't avoid him?" Yusuke cried.

~Bring the old woman with you. There will be no way to take his love. Take her and she will know what to do.~

"How can I repay you?" Yusuke asked.

~Kill her.~

~*~*

Kurama felt something poke him in the side. He rolled over, muttering something under his breath. The poking continued. He swatted at the offending hand.

"Kurama," someone hissed.

"Go back to sleep Hiei," Kurama murmured.

"Wake up Kurama! It's Yusuke!" Yusuke whispered. Kurama sat bolt up. His head connected with Yusuke's.

"Ow," Yusuke said. Kurama looked at him sheepishly.

"Sorry," he muttered. Yusuke waved it off.

"There's something I have to tell you," Yusuke said.

~*~*

"Are we there yet?" Yusuke asked Death. Death flinched.

"No," she replied.

"Are we there yet?" Yusuke asked. Death flinched, again.

"No," she said once again.

"Are we…"

"For the fortieth time, NO!!!"

Yusuke snickered. He looked at Kuwa. Genkai had gotten Death's ice sheet/ward off of him the other day. He was back to normal, but was playing along.

"Hey Kurama," Yusuke began.

"If you're going to ask me are we there yet the answer is…" Kurama began to say.

"Yes," Death interrupted. Yusuke looked at the opening to the cave. It didn't look so scary. Then again, he remembered what he saw last night and thought better of that thought.

"It will be advantageous if we split up into three groups," Death said. "They have three parts to a hive. The main body and two offshoots. We're not sure where he is, so we'll go both ways. I'll go with Kurama to the main body and we'll eradicate the beasties there. Genkai you go up the middle and search for Hiei. Yusuke and Kuwa, you go to the right offshoot and look."

"I'll go with you," Yusuke said. "It would make more sense to have Kurama go looking for Hiei since they are lovers."

"But I need his help in the center. He is a powerful fighter. Much more powerful then you apparently," Death returned.

"But Kurama is the one who'll be able to sense Hiei's ki best. They have a special bond," Yusuke argued. Death shook her head.

"They have some cells on the way to the main body, we'll search them."

"But the odds are that he won't be in one of those. Kurama needs to be where the best chances for finding Hiei are. He's the one who wanted to find Hiei in the first place, it only seems logical that he go in search of him."

"There is no arguing that will change my mind or the plan, my word is final."

"I say we vote, this is a democracy, not a dictatorship."

"I am the only one who knows anything about what we're doing."

"Actually," Kurama said. Yusuke had done beautifully, leading Death right into their trap. "If I recall, they hive only in these three lines. The entrance is the only place they join."

Death stared at him. They had her.

"Then what do you propose?" she asked. Kurama smiled inwardly.

"I will go with Kuwa down the right tunnel, Yusuke will go with you, and Genkai will still go down the middle."

"I don't like it," Death muttered.

"It makes more sense than your plan does," Genkai said, adding her two-sense. Death just ignored her.

"Come on Yusuke," she said and headed down the left tunnel. Yusuke ran after her, turning to give them a thumbs-up. Genkai headed with Kuwa and the two of them started down the right tunnel. Kurama stood at the mouth of the cave for a moment before following them in.

Notes: The italics for the voice probably didn't work, so I added some other stuff. I hope it wasn't confusing. I'm happy to have updated so soon. I hope y'all like this chapter. I think it's a bit deep. I like it though. Nothing ever turns out the way you plan it and this chapter is no different. I like what I added. Let me know what you think!