Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Yukina's Twin ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

"Of course I am . . . but neither of you will be," he replies, pulling a blade of grass out of his hand and turning it into a sword.

"Kurama, what are you doing? Go-" she stops as she sees the malice in Kurama's eyes. "Y-you're not the real Kurama, are you?" she whispers.

"Ooh, how smart of you to figure it out," he pauses, preparing to attack. "But that won't save you!" He jumps at her, aiming for her heart. Sakura dodges to the side, but not enough and was cut on her side. Kurama pulls the sword out of the wall with ease as Sakura summons her ice spear, only to find that it would not appear in her hands.

"What the-? Why won't it appear?" she exclaims, surprised.

"Haha, you've fallen into my trap. That was no healing herb. It's a plant that's poisonous to anyone who uses reiki and seals in the powers of those who use youki. Isn't it a handy little plant?" he explains with a chuckle. He punches Sakura towards the wall and kicks her in the small of her back just before she hits it. She falls forward, unconscious. "Well, that was easy. One less for me to deal with; now, let's see how the remaining three are . . ."

Meanwhile . . .

"Where's Kurama?" Kuwabara asks as they enter the room. His question goes unanswered as they find that they have entered a strange room. There are various cylindrical containers containing bodies of various people, all of which were attached to tubes of some sort and were being drained of something. "What is this?"

"It's a laboratory," a voice replies from the doorway.

Hiei whirls around and sees the person. "Resshin!"

"You know this guy?" Yuusuke asks, surprised.

"He was one of the bounty hunters after me when I was younger. I thought I'd killed him when I fought him and managed to get him to fall off of a cliff, but that was three hundred years ago. I should have known better than to assume that he died," Hiei explains, glaring at Resshin the entire time. Just then, Kurama runs through the door.

"Kurama, good timing! Now, help me defeat these three!" Resshin orders.

"What the-? Kurama?! No way . . . it can't be! There's no way he would betray us," Kuwabara exclaims, shocked.

"D-don't be fooled," a female says from the door. "I-it's not him." It was Sakura.

"Damn! I thought that'd get rid of you . . . I guess I was wrong!" Kurama shouts, summoning vines from the floor. They wrap around Sakura's arms and legs, causing her to scream in pain as her wounds open up again, dripping blood on the floor.

"Kurama, I'm leaving you here to take care of these four! I'll be waiting for you in the control room!" Resshin shouts as he disappears.

"Understood, master," Kurama replies. He turns around to face Hiei, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara. "Now, let's see what you weaklings are made of." Meanwhile, Sakura starts gasping and gagging for air as one of the vines slowly tighten around her throat.

"Rengokushyo!" Hiei shouts, pissed off and jagan wide open. His punch burns straight through the vines, stopping just short of burning Sakura. Yuusuke catches her before she hits the ground and props her against the door.

"Hiei, what are you doing?! It's Kurama, isn't it?" Kuwabara asks, confused.

"Resshin told me that it was Kurama who told him that Yukina has relations with me. That was why she was kidnapped," Hiei replies, hoping he did not say too much about his real relationship with Yukina.

"But Hiei, if this is a fake Kurama, then where's the real one?" Kuwabara asks, getting into a defensive position.

Hiei looks down towards the ground. Okay, let's play this out . . . see what he does as long as he thinks I've been fooled. "It doesn't matter. I've been fooled for the past seven years. I thought he was my friend, but it seems that I was wrong. Not only that, he has also fooled Nadeshiko as well. I cannot forgive him for this. This offense against me is punishable only by one thing . . ." Hiei looks up, eyes wide open and jagan glowing. "DEATH!" He charges towards Kurama at top speed while taking out his sword and throwing off his cloak at the same time. Kurama manages to dodge off to Hiei's right, attempting to kick Hiei once he was out of the sword's striking range. Hiei sees this and jumps up and prepares to land with both hands on his sword in an attempt to cut Kurama in half. Kurama leaps backward out of reach and stares down at Hiei as he lands. Yuusuke and Kuwabara only stare wide-eyed at the events, unsure as to attack or stop Hiei from attacking.

Elsewhere within the building . . .

What's happening? All I remember is being hit in the back of my head by some hard object and then everything going black. Why am I so weak and- what's this? I'm floating, no, suspended in water? What is going on here? A pair of emerald green eyes surveys the area. A laboratory? But how did I get here? In any case, it doesn't matter. I sense four, no, five powers nearby. The big one is definitely Yuusuke, and the weakest is probably Kuwabara-kun, but what about the three in the middle? Hiei, Sakura, and Nadeshiko? But that doesn't make sense. One of them is foreign, yet familiar . . . who is it? Who? Just then, the world starts to spin again, and then everything goes black as he falls unconscious again.

Back to the fight . . .

"Hiei, stop it! It's Kurama, isn't it? Maybe he's under a hypnotic spell of some sort," Yuusuke suggests, totally unsure of what to do. By now, Kurama had taken out his rose whip and was using it on Hiei.

"Yuusuke, as much as I hate to say it, we're animé characters, and, as such, if any of us are under hypnosis, our pupils naturally disappear. If you look carefully enough, you'll see that this Kurama still has his pupils. Therefore, it must be a fake," Hiei explains. Besides, the real Kurama would not have hurt a single hair on Sakura's head . . . this must be a fake. Kurama . . . I'm sorry for not believing in you sooner . . .

"How does he know these things?" Kuwabara asks, nudging Yuusuke, who simply ignores him.

"But what if it's a spell that keeps the victim's pupils intact?" asks Yuusuke.

"If there was one, I would've already heard and used it. After all, I'm the one with the jagan. I would've used such a spell already. It would make killing my enemies with one of their own friends much easier," Hiei replies, dodging another one of Kurama's attacks with the rose whip.

"You know, if you don't stop moving like a good little youkai, I'll have to make you," Kurama threatens maliciously.

"As if. Catch me, if you can," Hiei taunts. The threats . . . it's definitely not the real one . . . he wouldn't be so irritated, so frustrated. The real Kurama would have thought of a strategy to use against me by now.

"I will!" Kurama replies, summoning vines all around Hiei.

"Nice try!" Hiei shouts as he shoots off several fireballs at the vines. They were all destroyed.

"S***! I'll still kill you!" Kurama shouts as he starts to chant something.

"Oh no you don't!" Hiei shouts as he runs up to Kurama. "Rengokushyo!" His attack hits Kurama fully in the stomach as a Makai Mimosa sprouts from the ground. Kurama goes down onto his knees as Hiei starts to hop around the plant's leafy jaws.

"Urameshi, I think we better get out of the way; it's the same plant that Kurama used in the fighting tournament to eat Karasu!" Kuwabara exclaims as Hiei runs back and forth, slicing off the plant and then dashing out of range.

"No, wait a minute. I think Hiei was right about Kurama. The last time he summoned it, he was in his youko form. Think about it, if it was the real Kurama fighting us, he would've transformed and then used the plant," Yuusuke reasons.

"I see, and since Hiei is distracting the plant, it's our chance to attack him!" Kuwabara concludes. "Reiken!" He runs forward towards Kurama, sword in attack position. Yuusuke follows with a reigun ready to be fired at any time. Kurama flicks the whip at Kuwabara, but misses as the whip transforms back into a rose stem. He flings the useless stem aside and rushes at Kuwabara, attacking him. However, he did not realize that they had also caught the plant's attention and that it was now sending one of its toothy branches at them. Yuusuke and Kuwabara see it before it reaches them and start to run away from Kurama as the branch attacks him. The remaining branches start to wrap around Kurama, forming a ball. Yuusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara could only stare in shock as his death scream rings throughout the lab.

"So we got rid of the clone, that's great, but where's the real Kurama?" Kuwabara asks, turning away from the horrid scene. Suddenly, Sakura limps back through the doorway with Botan. Puu had put up a shield that protected both girls from the plant.

"Yuusuke, we must hurry; the fake Kurama gave Botan a poison, and I know he knows the cure to it," she says as she collapses onto the floor with an extremely pale Botan.

"Sakura!" Yuusuke shouts as he runs towards her and Botan. Yuusuke lifts up Sakura's head. "Are you alright?"

"I will be, once we find Kurama," she whispers, falling unconsciousness in Yuusuke's arms.

"I will go find him," Hiei replies in his normal voice. He disappears.

Five minutes later . . .

"Yuusuke, he's not in here," Hiei says as he walks back in front of the group.

"Are you sure?" Kuwabara asks, surprised.

"Yes," came the curt reply. Just then, Sakura tries to get up, but fails and ends up landing in Yuusuke's arms.

"I-it doesn't matter . . . we . . . we have to find him . . . or Nadeshiko . . . they . . . they know the cure," she whispers as she falls unconscious, yet again.

"Sakura!" Yuusuke exclaims as she falls unconscious. He puts his other hand over her mouth. "At least she's still hanging in there. C'mon, we've got to find the real Kurama, fast!"

"Urameshi! There's a door over there!" Kuwabara shouts, pointing to the far side of the lab.

"Kuwabara, could you carry Botan?" Yuusuke asks as he picks up Sakura in a bride-over-the-threshold manner. "We can't just leave them behind to get attacked." He turns to walk towards the door and turns to Puu. "Good job, Puu. Once we start fighting in the other room, protect the girls as best as you can."

"Puu!" it replies. It flies after the three of them.

Several minutes later . . .

"Hiei, can you check how long this hallway is?" Yuusuke asks, struggling to carry Sakura. "Sakura's getting really heavy, and I'm really tired."

Hiei pulls off the bandanna of his jagan in reply. The soft neon green glow could be seen in the darkened corridor. "We're almost at the end. You should leave the girls here. There are youkai in the room we're about to enter."

"Understood," Yuusuke replies, setting Sakura down about three feet away from the doorway. Kuwabara does the same. "Puu, watch over them for me."

"Puu," it replies as Yuusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara run out into the room. It was another laboratory, just like the one they had just exited.

"Another laboratory?!" Yuusuke exclaims.

"Hmph! They're hiding in the capsules!" Hiei exclaims as a youkai breaks out of the water capsule and attacks. Hiei whisks out his katana and slices them into pieces, spraying blood all over the place. Numerous others jump out, following the example of the first.

"Reiken!" Kuwabara shouts. He slices and dices the youkai as Hiei does the same and Yuusuke fights them one on one.

"Yuusuke, I think they're being drained of youki," Hiei says as they reach the door at the other end of the room. "All of the youkai in here are slowly dying."

"Kuwabara, let's get the girls and keep on going," Yuusuke says as he starts back to the other end. As they started to turn back, a huge explosion rocks the room, sending dust everywhere. It was followed by a massive increase of youki from someone.

"Urameshi, let's go!" Kuwabara shouts, running. Yuusuke and Hiei were way ahead of him. As they get there, they see a huge cloud of dust and a blond haired man. "Urameshi, is-isn't that Karasu?"

"Yes, but who was he fighting against?" Yuusuke replies.

"Hahaha . . . that was too easy," Karasu says to the cloud, snickering.

"Oh, don't be so confident!" a female voice replies from the dust. "You've forgotten something . . . Nadeshiko-chan is Kurama-san's daughter. And she won't be so easily defeated!"

"Like father like daughter . . ." Karasu muses. "This will be fun."

"You wish, you sick b******!" she replies. "Rose Whip!"

"Your father tried that the last time we fought . . . but he lost," Karasu replies.

"Oh? Then why are you just a weak clone?" she counters. "Enough talk. Let's finish this fight."

"I agree . . ." Karasu starts as numerous explosions suddenly surrounded the youko. "That should take care of her."

"Wrong again," the youko replies from within the cloud. Suddenly, a handful of blades of grass shoots outward from the dust towards Karasu. He dodges to the side, but the grass follows him. After dodging a couple more times, he gives up and throws a bomb at them.

"Nice move, but not good enough!" Karasu shouts, summoning millions of Trace Eye bombs. They all surround the youko.

"Hmph . . . and I suppose this is supposed to scare me?" she replies. Just then, two metal claws thrust through the floor and clamped onto her legs. She looks down at her legs, shocked.

~To be continued ~

Kurama no Miko2003: Yeah, so I haven't updated in a while. And yes, I know I'm being mean, leaving a cliffie for the end of this chapter. I'll try to update next week if I can. :P If I remember, that is. And yes, reviews improve memory. Care to leave one?