♪ A hand grenade with no pin

Fanfic: Living on a Prayer, Chrono x Rosette

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:18:35 GMT

Title: Living on a Prayer
Fandom: Chrono Crusade
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG-13/Teen for kissy stuff and small references to drug use.
Summary: She was the rebel and he was the runaway, both forgotten teens who had nothing, save each other and the sound of rock and roll. AU Chrono x Rosette, Oneshot
~
I've been in a huge CC mood lately. And I love all the characters, and the Chrono/Rosette relationship is so cute IMO, I admit it. I really don't know where this one-shot came from, I wrote it really late last night, but I do enjoy writing AU's. A bit of a decade swap, from the canon 1920's to the 1980's.

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“Rosette, please don’t drag me back in there…”

He plopped down on the steps with a sigh and waited for his hearing to return and drown out the pounding rock and roll from his mind. He was sure he felt the beginnings of a headache - the ringing in his ears didn’t help matters much.

The blond turned to her companion and gave him a devious smirk. Even in the shadows of midnight she could determine his mood with his tone of voice and movements She had wore him out already eh? “What, too much for you Chrono? And here I thought runaways were supposed to be tough.”

He rubbed his temples with a sweaty palm. “And I thought schoolgirls were supposed to be at home studying, not at a place like this.”

Rosette scoffed. “Come on, you just don’t know what fun is.” She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Live alittle! And besides, that Catholic school holds hoards of party girls, they act all innocent but they go crazy when no one's watching.”

An amused smile played on his lips. “You say that like you’re not including yourself.”

“Well, I’m not a crazy party girl.” she shrugged. “I’m not actually in there am I? I’m sitting out here with you since you're such a baby and the music hurts your ears.”

“No it doesn’t, and I like what they're playing, it’s just…I can’t stand it that loud. And half of them are drunk Rosette. And those weren’t cigarettes they were smoking either.”

She frowned in what Chrono took to be a confused silence, but said nothing.

“I know you want to rebel, but...there's no point in this. You're so much better than all that.”

The ground shook with the baselines of a distant guitar riff. Multi-colored light blazed through the windows of the house and told of the teen-decadence holed up inside. Chrono and Rosette were left out alone, like forgotten shadows moving on their own accord.

Rosette gazed at him from under thick lashes. Chrono was always at her side, her voice of reason. She could never understand why. His long hair – beautiful, she couldn't call it anything else, was tossed into a casual braid, not the typical rat's nest of a rocker. His clothes were dirty and torn, though she had washed them earlier(his home was the streets) and his face was ruddy and nicked with healing cuts. She never understood why he worried so much about her when he had his own problems to cope with.

She repaid him as best as she could; she snuck him into her bedroom at her foster parent's place, she gave him her lunch every day...

“You should go on home, Rosette.”

She smiled. “Don't you mean 'we?' I'm not letting you sleep in some nasty trashcan somewhere tonight.”

He flushed. “We're gonna get in trouble.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Trouble's what's what I'm looking for, remember?” she grinned.

He let out a defeated sigh, though a smile lingered on his cheeks.

Her foster parents could throw her out or give her back to the orphanage for all she cared. She would be moved to a different city in a faraway state but Chrono would follow. He had no commitments, no home to hold onto, just like her. She was practically a runaway, a runaway with a check hanging over her head for greedy 'parental guardians' to gorge on until they tired of her.

She placed a hand on his shoulder before he could stand. “Think about it.” she said. “Only a few more months before I turn eighteen and we can leave this behind, Chrono! And I can find my brother, and Azmaria too, and we can all go to New York together.”

He met her gaze and covered her hand with his own.

“But for right now....” she moved forward and pushed him down onto the steps. His face blushed beat red as he stumbled for words; Rosette was reminded of how young he looked, he was shorter than her, with a boyish face that was more cute than handsome.

His odd colored eyes were just as hesitant as her own, but they drilled a hole in the pit of her stomach, and she was happy she wore her lucky, tight, jeans for confidence tonight.

With one knee on each side of his waist, she dipped down and kissed him. His futile murmurings of surprise and embarrassment were ignored. Even if she wanted to run away from all her angst, even if the rough pavement dug into the skin of her knee, she kept herself pressed to him, like he was the drug she needed to survive, her own personal heroin.

She broke the contact and laughed at his dazed expression. Wisps of blond hair hung down and tickled the side of his face.

“Time's actually on our side now.” she said, wiping at the bright makeup around her eyes. “We can get an apartment there, I'll work, and you can even have clean clothes for once-”

“That doesn't matter so much, just as long as you're there. You're all I've got Rosette.”

10 drabbles: Hellsing, Pip x Seras

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:48:38 GMT

Put your IPod on shuffle. Write a drabble for the first ten songs that come up. ~~You must write the drabble in the amount of time the song runs for.~~ Lol I cheated on that part, which is why some of these are alittle longer than drabbles.

I did Hellsing, mostly Pip and Seras centered, and borderline mature due to language, violence, innuendo.

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Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes

Her life had never been easy. Pleasant memories were few and far between, buried under mountains of tragedies that only seemed to worsen, leaving her crushed under her own losses. The murder of her parents, the loneliness of being a traumatized child in an orphanage full of strangers, and finally the sudden end of it all, her death. And her rebirth.

But nothing had tainted his effect on her. The man who had suffered just as she had suffered. He never talked of it, but anyone could sense it. The life of a mercenary could not end in happiness, yet he moved through this insanity without hesitation.

So many ghosts lurked behind her own eyes. She wished she was strong, like him. She wanted to hold herself together.

Tonight she could try. It could be her last chance. As she ran through the howling gunfire she tried to keep a brave face despite the fear that boiled in her veins.

Disturbed – Meaning of Life

She was drowning in a flood of violent urges that she fought to suppress.

Kill it.

She choked on a sea of red, the color washing away the blue and gold of her nature and drenching her in a sea of crimson. It was like waving a red flag in front of the razored horns of a bull.

Intregra screamed at the top of her lungs for her to stop. Stop it Seras, this is an order! Can't you hear me?!

She couldn't see anything outside the faces of the ghouls as she toar through them and left their bodies strewn across the floor like broken dolls. She sliced her tongue on her own fledgling teeth.

Feed on it.

The tears poured down her face as her human side cried out in vain.

Heart – What About Love

The girl was so skittish and defensive. He had met some shy women before always won them over in the end; no challenge, but this one was different. She was difficult. She seemed to be immune to his advances.

He'd even pulled out his undefeated trump card of whispering sweet nothings to her in French; that always worked with girls, but she only gave him a funny look and said 'Captain Bernadette, um, I don't speak French.'

She was an enigma, truly.

So he just came out with it.

He caught her on break on night after shooting practice and approached her as nonchalantly as possible. He always went out of his way to speak with her, to ask and know how she was doing, if she wanted to escape from this dull place as much as he did. He couldn't believe how enthralled he was with Mignonette.

And he couldn't believe how apathetic she was to the subject of romantic affection with anyone. She didn't care in the slightest.

“Miss Seras, sorry if I gave you the wrong impression of me, I've been rude to you. But I would like get to know you better. How about getting out of this dusty place with me, sometime? I can show you better company than what you're used to.”

After a moment she smiled at him. Out of politeness maybe, but it was still there. Still a good sign.

“I'd like that.”

Jesse's Girl – Rick Springfield

A few members of the Wild Geese peered at the sight of their usually rough Captain happily speaking to the doe-eyed vampire girl. She wore a bright smile on her face, and though Captain Bernadette was a womanizer, he seemed just as drawn into her presence as she was his.

He gazed into her face without drooling over her bosom. The men were amazed. The girl's yellow tight uniform was a formidable distraction and they would fail show such restraint, had they been in his position. The clothing stuck to her figure, her stomach, her lean shoulders. That short skirt rose dangerously up her thighs.

The Geese looked on in envy.

“Well, damn.” One of the men grumbled, pulling himself out of a daze. “What a women. Why does that lucky bastard get all the good ones?”

Listen To Your Heart – Roxette

She rarely trusted men. Boys were bad, she had found that out from an early age when they had taunted her at the orphanage, pulled on her hair. As teenagers they tried to take advantage of her, hit on her in rude ways and with obscene comments.

But she found herself gradually leaning on Captain Bernadette more and more. She accepted work-related advice from him, she enjoyed talking to him, and she expressed her worries to him because no one else bothered to listen. She wanted him to listen, and he always did. It frightened her.

They sat on the grass outside the Hellsing mansion while he smoked a cigarette; a rare moment when they were alone. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Her mind warned her that his was a mistake. But she couldn't force herself to stop this, and she was tired of always running from her feelings, anyway.

Don't You Forget About Me – Simple Minds

“I think I'm finally winning you over, miss Seras.” Pip bantered, creeping closer to her, the tip of his braid tickling her arm.

She blushed. “I think you're delusional.”

“But I'm you're favorite person here in this crazy place, am I not? You tell me all your troubles, and I tell you mine. Don't forget!”

Seras just laughed, and insulted or not, he laughed with her.

Keep Rollin Remix – Limp Bizkit

The sound of gunshots echoed through the hot summer night and mixed with the twisted cries of monsters. The hoard of ghouls bared mouthfuls of dull knives and snapped their jowls like bulldogs at the passing mercenaries.

Pip reloaded his gun and pulled the trigger. He blew a hole through one rotting chest, blasted another rotting head, and kept running, his band of men firing randomly behind him in a panic.

“Fuck! Captain these things won't stay down!”

Pip ground his teeth. “You hit them in a vital spot!”

They were nearly overpowered by a drooling mob of ghouls. “Merde! Girl! Where are you?!”

Wild Geese and ghouls alike whirled around at the sudden crescendo of screaming; the sound of bruising flesh on flesh adding to the chaos.

Seras charged out of the sea of ghouls like a raging animal, sending bodies flying out of her way.

“You alright? Is everybody alright?” She yelled, a circle of torn skin crushed under the heel of her boots.

Most of the ghouls had been cut down in a matter of seconds.

Pip whistled. “Mon Dieu.”

Skid Row – Slave to the Grind

Sometime he wondered just why in the hell he was a mercenary. What pushed him to be as stupid as the rest of his family?

This life was slowly grinding away at his sanity and at his body; it had already snatched part of his sight. An enemies bullet could come for the rest at any second. Time constricted it's hand around his throat in revenge for all the lives he had slaughtered for money. He would pay his dues. His heart hammered in his chest and sheering adrenaline pounded through his blood. The overwhelming sounds of war; machine guns and wailing bombs busted his eardrums.

He fell to the pressure of past generations. Now he had to face the consequences. He was a slave to the dirt and grime of a mercenaries life. No shame, no dignity.

Slide it in – Whitesnake

“I'm gonna slide it in
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I ain't never gonna stop!”

Seras covered her face, mortified. She was blushing a bright cherry red color, she was sure of it, she could feel the heat rising off her cheeks. “Bernadette! Shut up! Shut up!”

She practically jogged down the hallway with Pip right on her heels, happily drumming away at his guitar. “But Seras, it is my love song to you!”

“That is not a love song!!"

She wished she could muster the guts to just shove him away, but with that damn singing -

“Sir Intergraaa!”

Walter gave them a strange look and casually stepped out of the way.

“Maaaster! Anybody please help me!”

“I'm gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it, in baby!”

Accidentally in Love – Counting Crows

He shoved the bouquet at her in a rough matter; admittedly not as graceful and smooth as he had planned. But at least he finally mustered up the courage to do it.

Seras turned a surprised expression to him. “..What?”

After a moment she accepted the sunflowers with an uncertain grin. “Thank you...but um, what are they for?”

Gaining the attention of those blue eyes made his stomach erupt in flip-flops. He shocked himself with his own anxiety; he had repeated this gesture dozens of times with a variety of women – but that girl made him feel like an awkward teenager again. As if his sappy musings and daydreams of her weren't humiliating enough. Maybe it was some sort of vampiric spell.

He shrugged. “They don't have to be for anything. They're just for you." He heard his own tone soften. "You deserve some sunlight Mignonette.”

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Like whoa, crossover

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:32:57 GMT

This is one of the most amusing videos I've seen in awhile, lol. And I forgot that Inuyasha and Ranma's seiyuu is the same person. (I still love those two series. I'm still an Inuyasha girl at heart though. ♥)

Also I found this really old but really good one-shot manga series called Fire Tripper. It's definitely a prototype to Inuyasha, but it's interesting enough to stand on it's own. (Even if you don't like Inuyasha you may like this.) It has some surprising twists. This site explains the plot better than I can. Read it here too if you want.

50 scenes - Sacrifice

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:01:21 GMT

Title: By The River
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Characters: Keiko, mentions of Yusuke.
Genre: Angst
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #49 - Sacrifice
Word Count: 362
Rating: PG
Summary: She was alone, full of unexpressed emotions and left throwing rocks at a river like some forgotten child. She hated to be left behind.
Warnings: None.

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A lone figure of a girl stood atop a sloping embankment. The sun sank down behind her shoulders, behind the suburban backdrop, leaving the sky a careless splash of orange and red; colors of sunset, familiar colors of the girl's childhood. Soft nostalgia wavered behind her brown eyes.

Keiko stared down at the modest river before her, the vibrant shades of the water doing nothing to change her pensive expression. Her body stood rigid against the emotional chains that pulled her towards the embankment, refusing to move even as certain memories flashed through her vision and threatened her with tears.

She remained rooted to the spot for a while, seeming to resent the peaceful scenery until at last she slid down the hill, the grass prickling her ankles.

She had seen this backdrop in her dreams many times the past few weeks, and so avoided this place like a cursed zone. The final reality of it slapped her in the face and stung her in the chest; right where she kept the memories of that stupid boy. The atmosphere would have been beautiful, had he not tainted it with such a bittersweet tone that she couldn't shake still. She had been left behind.

He reasoned with her before he said his last sayonara and before he walked out into the night like a fleeting shadow. In the end Keiko could do nothing but send meaningful glances at his back. He didn't turn around once. He never kept his promise to light up shady circumstances when she fumbled around in the dark. She hadn't understood anything.

Yusuke couldn't take her with him anymore. She couldn't help him anymore, he had to find his purpose on his own. It wasn't his fault. She knew that. He had no choice but to make her his sacrifice.

Keiko picked up a rock and hurled it at the river.

She did this repeatedly until an frustrated cry flew from her lips.

"Yusuke you jerk! Is that all there is to this? Well I don't need you then, you jerk! I don't need you!"

She imagined his reflection grinning at her from the waters surface.

She shattered the image with the biggest rock she could find.

10 themes: Bang

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:51:22 GMT

Title: Belle Morte
Character/Pairing/Group: PipxSeras
Word Count: 594
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: "Say Policegirl, if one bangs a vampire...does that make them a necrophiliac?"
Warning(s): Cursing, violence, innuendo

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Confident footsteps of boots on wood flooring directed his attention away from the dusty nightmare of the surrounding room. Pip turned and looked over their owner, a curvaceous blond girl whose hips swaggered when she walked, like the movements of some great feline.

The dull moonlight shined on her yellow silhouette and pale skin. She fit in with the whispering shadows that curled around the room like a living thing, and her natural comfort in darkness both alarmed and enthralled him; she could slink through the pitch black night just as freely as if it were a sunny afternoon. It was wrong. He knew no breathing human possessed that ability.

Hot summer air drifted through the aging house and glassless windows. The girl appeared at his side, unnatural and scentless as always, without perfume or the musk of sweat.

Pip didn't bother to conceal his stares. It had been ages since he stood in the presence of a beautiful woman. Besides, his shoulders ached and his eyelids threatened to cover his vision; it was too late at night for formalities. He exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke. "Any sign of the vampire, miss Victoria?"

Seras fumbled with the collar on her uniform. "No, Captain Bernadette, but..it's definitely here. There's that bad feeling in the air."

His gaze trailed down to the large AK-47 in her hand. "Oui, it's creepy here, but nothing beats a creepy atmosphere like a good, loaded gun." He held up his own weapon, another AK-47, the same as hers. "We should be fine. If only we could find the fucking thing."

She bit her lip and peered around the room, those blue eyes straining to see any hint of movement in the shadows. He wondered if she could see into every nook and crack in the walls, if vampiric vision surpassed humanity as it did in every other aspect.

Seras clutched the gun to her chest, seeking comfort in it's cold metal and deadly purpose.

Pip crushed a short cigarette underfoot only to pull another one from his pocket. "Say Policegirl, if one bangs a vampire...does that make them a necrophiliac?"

She jerked her head around and stared at him. "W-what?"

Pip shrugged, leaning against the wall. He wondered if she even understood his implications. Probably not. A rough grin spread across his face. "I guess it doesn't since vampires are up walking around like the rest of us. It's only a thought, though. "

Her lips drew downwards in a firm line, suspicion hanging on her features. She studied him, like a cat eying a hungry dog. "Well I don't know...Captain. What does that have to do with anything?"

He crept closer to her. "Just wanted to know what you think." A heavy French accent flowed from his lips as he stood over her, his wide shoulders towering over her smaller figure. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and run his his hands down the outline of her body. "You have opinions, don't you miss Seras?" he bantered.

Pip took a step forward. She took a step back.

He stopped.

Her countenance changed to that of fear, her wide eyes sheltered behind wisps of blond hair. The gun trembled in her hands.

He instantly sobered. "Hey...sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. My apologies."

Seras turned a chilled shoulder to him and glared. "Let me remind you that I'm nothing but an animated corpse, Captain." she sneered, her voice oddly bitter. "And necrophilia is illegal."

The grin vanished from his face.

He moved his cigarette to the side of his lips, unable to think of a proper response. He said nothing for the rest of the evening.

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50 scenes: kiss

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:04:57 GMT

Title: The Unromantics
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Characters: Yusuke, Keiko
Genre: General/Romance
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #41 - Kiss
Word Count: 1090
Rating: PG
Summary: She would call the atmosphere romantic, had it been anyone but them. But Yusuke was always too dense and she was always too irritated to deal with it.
Warnings: Minor cursing

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She refused to give into his irritated whining, and no amount of 'sorry's' would change her mind. He owed her. There was no way he could talk his way out of it. Besides Keiko wasn’t an idiot; she knew Yusuke apologized only so she'd let him run off to a fight or to a Pachinko parlor in some dark corner of Tokyo.

That punk ditched her at the movies last week. He left her standing in front of the cinema, alone, hurt, and puzzled among flocks of teenagers who leered at her in pity. Yusuke forgot her. For the third time in about two months.

So she tried again. Keiko chose the movie, partly because she didn’t want to sit through another martial arts film and partly because she wanted revenge.

Not the brightest idea she ever had. He expressed his loud distaste of the foreign romance movie, make gagging sounds whenever someone kissed, and nearly got the both of them thrown out of the place.

Disasters aside, they walked together, Yusuke complaining but present at her side.

They weren’t going anywhere specific, they followed the road ahead of them, the night kept at bay by glittering city lights and the soft sound of rain. Keiko tried to stay away from shady neighborhoods, but potential threats avoided Yusuke altogether and so the city stretched out to them like an endless path. She would call the atmosphere romantic, had it been anyone but them. Anyone but them; Keiko fought to keep a smile on her face while Yusuke continued to scowl, oblivious to the mood of their surroundings.

His frown deepened and he kicked a pebble near his shoe. “I didn’t understand what the hell they were saying!”

Keiko turned and gave him a sharp glare. His foul mood was contagious, and what she wanted to be a fun evening had been squashed by his antics. “Did you read the subtitles?”

“I don’t like to read.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know, it's too much effort for you read the subtitles.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered!” he scoffed, tossing his head back in a cocky gesture. His damp hair wilted over his forehead as the gel surrendered to the rain. “It was absolute crap. ‘I love you’ this and ‘I love you’ that and people smacking their faces together.”

“How do you know? You didn’t read the subtitles!”

Keiko’s short hair clung to her neck and her skirt clung to her legs, and she was becoming very, very irritated. “It wasn’t that bad anyway!”

“You need a life Keiko, if you think that shit was good.” he shrugged. “But whatever. I don't know how you could even hear it over all those squealing girls. You were the only female there that acted halfway sane, and that's sayin something."

"Gee, thanks." she grumbled.

"I can't believe women think guys act like that." He held his hands together, dramatically looking up towards the sky. His voice jumped a notch and he spoke in bad, clumsy English: “Oh Susy I loooove you!”

She paused and sent him a baffled look, her eyebrows disappearing behind her brown bangs. She wondered if that was an attempt to make her laugh; or if he had really lost his mind. Keiko cracked a smile despite herself. “Idiot.”

He grinned. “Nobody I know would say anything like that. And that one chick in the movie died didn’t she? Or came back? And then that guy said something like, ‘oh my love you look so lovely!!’ which was a complete lie because that girl was ugly as hell."

"No she wasn't!" Keiko slapped him lightly on the shoulder, laughing. "She was pretty!"

"She was ugly. She was a dyed blond with a big mole on her face. That doesn't do anything for me, y'know."

"Uh no, I don't know." she said idly, wary on where the conversation was headed. "Yusuke do I have to argue with you on everything?"

The rain picked up and sent droplets flying down to the pavement. Keiko held out a hand to catch them. A multi-colored array of light glittered across the street, reflected in the shallow pools of rainwater. Tall buildings reached for the night sky and formed a bright backdrop while clouds hid the moon.

Yusuke didn't flinch even as the water pelted him in the shoulder and soaked through his green uniform. He smiled, looking very unlike his usual self with his dark hair hanging naturally over his face. "Hey you wouldn't argue with me so much if I was like those stupid movies guys, I bet."

"Oh really? I don't think so."

"Lemme prove it then!"

Keiko let out a startled squeak as Yusuke pulled her to him and swung an arm around her back. Her stomach seemed to leap up into her throat, unsure and surprised at their sudden proximity. She fumbled for words. "..What're you doing?"

"Nothing." he said. She wrapped her arms around his neck in surprise when he leaned forward and dipped her down towards the pavement, her hair falling behind her shoulders. His bangs tickled her nose. "It's so much fun to mess with you!" he chucked.

"Yusuke, you'd better not be pulling some trick!" she chewed her lip. "I don't know what you're up to."

He grinned like the mischievous delinquent he was, sometimes cocky, sometimes unhappy, but always fearless. Keiko peered straight into this gaze. His eyes were that deep chocolate color, with light brown specks dotting the center like tiny pebbles. That same never ending intensity burned behind them, the familiarity of those eyes recalling old summertime memories from her childhood. She couldn't help but grin. His good moods were contagious too.

"Quit goofing around Yusuke."

She leaned foreword and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Those brown eyes widened a couple fractions and she noticed his look of panic.

She pulled back only to see him gazing at her with a baffled expression, the lights shining across the angles of his smooth cheeks and wide shoulders. Raindrops shined in her own hair like a blaze of tiny stars. Yusuke still held her gracefully against him, her hands still around his neck, their faces parted by a painful distance.

The tone of the atmosphere finally dawned on them and a wave of uneasiness swept through the air. A bright red blush erupted on Keiko's cheeks.

Yusuke had only one reaction.

He dropped her.

She landed on her behind, the street water running up her legs. "Hey! What'd you do that for?"

He regained his senses and helped her up. "Aha, sorry..I um...you okay?"

She smiled, trying to dissipate the awkwardness of the situation. "I'm fine."

Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "So I guess..I'll walk you home?"

She laughed. "Yeah. I'd like that."

50 Scenes: Overdrive

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:54:58 GMT

Title: Distractions
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Characters: Yusuke, Keiko
Genre: General
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #29 - Overdrive
Word Count: 598
Rating: PG
Summary: She was working diligently on her studies like any responsible student would do; that is, until that delinquent had to show up and throw her concentration out the window.
Warnings: Minor cursing and innuendo.

She had an exam tomorrow.

Of course she had studied ahead of time, going straight home after school to prepare for the test that loomed over the horizon like her own personal doomsday. The fate of her academic success dangled in the fickle hands of luck, and she hoped her keen intelligence would pull her through in the end.

So she studied and studied and studied.

Keiko stared down at the book, refusing to daydream even as her eyesight smeared the black text into one big blur.

Okay. Maybe a break wouldn’t hurt.

Keiko let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair, idly twisting the yellow knot on her uniform. She never minded extra bookwork and she studied often, but really, all this at once was exhausting.

She slid up from her seat and winced at the ache in her shoulders. Sunlight and blue sky peeked into her window and beckoned her to come outside and forget the stress of some silly test.

Unfortunately she couldn’t shrug it off so easily. Her high grades hadn’t earned themselves.

Keiko walked downstairs, determined to get a drink of water and nothing else. Deep as she was in goal overdrive mode, she knew her time limit and refused to become distracted.

But fate just wasn’t on her side today.

Yusuke Urameshi stood at the bottom of the staircase, scruffy as always with his bruised face and slicked black hair. His lips inched upwards into a devious grin when she met his gaze.

“Don’t you have anything better to do then lock yourself up and read those stupid textbooks?” he said. “You’re gonna pass the test, you always do, damn.”

She scowled at his mocking tone. “Don’t you have anything better to do then harass me?” she fussed. “What’re you doing here anyway?”

“Oh that’s not harassment.” His smirk grew. “Harassment is more like-”

“If you grope me I swear….” she crossed her arms. “I’m not in the mood for your crap today.”

“You’re never in the mood for anything.” He rolled his eyes then proceeded to stick his tongue out at her, something he hadn’t done in ages. “Except for schoool, like the teacher’s pet you are!”

“Better than a delinquent!”

He scoffed. “Whatever you say. Delinquents have more fun.”

He was being awfully cheeky. Keiko wondered if he had just won a fight with some rowdy thug. That was usually the case when he came around all beat up and cheerful, like a big bad allycat who had defended his turf.

Yusuke crossed his arms, mimicking Keiko’s body posture. Her curious look gave him the urge to fidget; her thoughts were obviously on him and he had no idea what she was thinking. It made him slightly uncomfortable. Not that he’d ever let her know that, though.

Her expression switched to one of concern. “Do you need some help? Your face is bleeding.” She had bought a brand new first aid kit for one reason: Yusuke. He never admitted his injuries, but she could always drag him upstairs and clean up his cuts and bruises whether he liked it or not.

He rolled his eyes again. “I’m fine, mother.”

“Shut up!” she snapped. After a moment she added: “And I wouldn’t be your mother for all the world, by the way. The mere thought of living with you gives me a headache.”

He made a twisted face. “I wouldn’t wanna live with you either, that’s pretty gross. But…” he smirked, a devilish glint in his eyes. “Maybe then I could get under that skirt of yours!”

“THAT’S IT!”

Keiko let out a frustrated shriek.

And Yusuke ran for his life, laughing as flying objects whizzed past his head.

Keiko forgot all about the exam.

10 themes table

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:47:14 GMT

PipxSeras claim for 10_themes

01.	Bang	02.	Cry
03.	Whisper	04.	Purr
05.	Whimper	06.	Shout
07.	Crash	08.	Shriek
09.	Laugh	10.	Plead

Fanfic: Resolutions (Hellsing)

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:57:20 GMT

I haven't done any Hellsing fics for a while. Shame on me! I love this series to death and it's so much fun to write for. ~~And Pip Bernadette is still sexy as hell. XD~~

I was watching the fourth OVA the other day, which was what really inspired this random one-shot. I'm anxiously awaiting the 6 OVA, OMFG.

I'm sorry if there are any mistakes in this, I've re-edited and re-edited but I'm still bound to miss something because I don't have a beta at the moment. The ending is also abit dramatic but I tried to stay true to the manga in all it's craziness.

Title Resolutions
Fandom Hellsing (Manga & OVA)
Genre Drama/Romance
Rating R/M for violence and language
Summary In this life, love something and you are destined to lose it. They were proof of that until they broke the rules. PipxSeras // One-shot

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xxx
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“You can’t mean that bastard left us here? Captain you’ve got to be bloody joking- we don’t have orders, do we have orders?! Jesus Christ what the hell are we supposed to do-”

Pip Bernadette spun around and sent a heated glare down to his trembling subordinate. “Shut up! I can’t fucking think, be quiet.”

His heavy French accent slurred his words together to the point where his speech became difficult to understand. Caught in the thick, confusing feeling of pre-battle anxiety, his native language reared it’s head and hindered his English.

His raggedy band of mercenaries watched him with tense expressions. They looked like a group of lost sheep praying for their shepherd to save them from slaughter. One of them spoke again. “Where is Sir Integra?”

Pip turned away from them, his long brown braid curling down his back. “I don’t know.”

“And Alucard?”

“Not here either.”

A sense of dread filled the air. The men had not wanted to ask questions, but for the sake of their lives they had to know. Unfortunately those were not the answers they needed to hear. The Wild Geese were skilled fighters who charged into exploding minefields and hostile jungles without an ounce of hesitation, yet Pip's words reduced them to cowards. He confirmed their worst fears, their worst nightmares, and they sank back into a pit of despair.

They said nothing.

“Get out.” Pip said suddenly. “Please” he added. “I’ll let you all know our method of attack and defense soon. The enemy shouldn’t be coming for a while, I’m guessing, but I don’t know for sure so prepare yourselves. And I’m not just talking about weapons either. Remember what we’re up against. Muster up any ounce of bravery you dogs can find, because you will need it.”

And with that grim declaration hanging heavily over their shoulders the men trickled out of the room, mumbling quietly amongst themselves.

Pip stared up at the burning red moon as brooding shadows danced behind his left eye, the patch hiding the other from sight. Streaks of moonlight shined into the large window and threw lines of pure light onto the floor. Everything else remained seeped in darkness. The spacious room concealed too many imaginary evils that hid back and watched him, waiting.

The sky was littered with gray clouds that concealed earth from the stars and the angels. Only that moon lingered behind, a heavenly body the color of hells fire.

Pip took in deep drag of his cigarette. “Mignonette, are you still here with me?”

“Of course.”

He glanced behind him to see her ghostly outline resting in the darkness, on the very edge of light but just out of reach of it. That ridiculously huge gun lay at her feet like a faithful guard dog.

“You alright?” she asked in that dainty, British voice of hers. It sounded so out of place. “You don’t look so good.”

He faced her with a tired, empty smile on his face. “Don’t underestimate me girl. I am fine. I’m only frustrated. I’m on my last pack of cigarettes.”

She nodded, not sure if that was the truth but accepting it anyway. “Uh sorry. I don‘t have any to lend you, though. I don‘t smoke. ”

“I know that dummy.“ he said. “And why are you all the way over there?“ He gestured for her to move closer. “Come stand by me in the light. I feel like I’m talking to myself. I know you can see me but I can’t see you.”

There was a faint shuffling sound as she moved her gun to the side and stood up. He could even hear the ruffle of her skirt against her thighs as she sauntered over to him without protest. She eyed him with the usual curiosity and keen observance, forever waiting on orders. “What’s our plan Captain?” she murmured.

He sighed. “I’ve asked you before to call me Pip or Bernadette, but you won’t, will you?”

“You don’t call me Seras.”

He chuckled. “Ah well…Mignonette suits you better.”

She frowned, wrinkling her nose slightly. “But anyway…do I need to fetch more guns, bullets? I’m not perfectly sure of what’s going on but I know I need to be ready. What‘s my position? I mean-”

He held a hand up to quiet her. “No you don’t need to get anything else, the Geese are working on that and just wait a minute. Don’t get yourself worked up.”

Seras’s shoulders quivered ever so slightly and her blue eyes were wide with emotion; mostly fear, not yet terror but still enough to set off the bell of alarm in her head. She gripped her hands over and over again out of nervousness, wearing her heart on her sleeve.

A thought occurred to him. “You haven’t seen much battle, have you?”

She peered down at the ground as untold secrets lurked in her gaze. “I’ve seen…things, more than most people, but I'm probably not as experienced as you. I’m not naïve though, if that’s what you mean.”

Oh, yes she was. She couldn’t be the most innocent thing on two legs but she was definitely naïve.

He hated to crush any sliver of surviving hope hiding in those big blues, childlike and sad as they were. Her white blond hair held the newness of a summer afternoon, not newly spilt blood.

Pip chewed on the end of his cigarette. “Is there anything you love?”

She sent him a baffled look. “What?”

He nearly dismissed his words but thought better of it. “Do you love something? Surely you do.”

“Y-yeah I…guess.” she answered without a moment of consideration. “Why?”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, ignoring her grumpy expression at the touch. “Then do yourself a favor and forget about it, throw it out the window. It will do you no good in the end.”

She had a look of disbelief. “And why should I do that?”

“It makes the hurt worse, it makes it so much more to bear that you can’t stand it anymore. We live in enough madness, we don’t need the madness and the sorrows of the mind on top of it. Some of the Geese still hang onto things. Joe has a sister that he is close to, but I doubt he will ever see her again. Tom has a wife but will he ever come home to her? Probably not. A bullet will get him just like it gets all of us. We live and fight and that’s all we do. Adding anything else makes it complicated.”

His tone drifted away, like he’d forgotten where he was.

Seras glowered. “You’re wrong. I’m sure thinking of them makes it easier, not harder. You’re just saying that because you’re a mercenary.”

Pip almost flinched. Almost. Mercenaries fought solely for money with no other purpose, a wasted life that took others down with it. That continued to be an old sore, even if the scab of time had built a shield around it long ago. “Trust me. Before you fight say your goodbyes to idealism and God and whatever else you may care for.”

“Is that what you do?” she grumbled, crossing her arms. “Or is there anything you do love?”

“That’s personal, Mignonette.”

He enjoyed seeing her puff up like a flustered little bird. “Well you’re always trying to be personal with me!” she said.

“I hope you’re aware that I’m not heartless. I’m not like everyone else you are familiar with, I do love things.” he laughed. “So I really can’t say that I follow my own advice eh?”

Seras studied him for a moment, biting her lip. What did he meant by that exactly?

But before she could reply one of the Geese came crashing into the room. He immediately ran over to Pip, a look of distress on his rounded face. “Captain, an urgent message from Sir Integra! The enemy is making it’s way here at an alarming rate and our orders are ‘to stay and protect headquarters at all cost!”

xxxxx
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He was right.

A stinging blindness overcame her vision. She couldn’t see. Her reality became draped with darkness but she could still feel the pain and smell the lurid stench of so much meat and blood. Her nose was broken and her arm was gone. The lacerations on her back bled profusely though she was helpless to stop it, and her body screamed at her to make a decision; either survive or die. Either choice meant suffering.

Seras wouldn't be able to see his face one last time. He talked to her in a soothing voice despite the blood that choked him. He called her mon amour and told her to live, get up and live girl because you can’t die here.

She ached to see him just once more. Her vampiric senses told her where he was, but she was unable to picture his face; his angular jaw or his blue-green eye, the light fading from it all too quickly. Even the ability to watch his life end had been ripped away from her.

She wanted to comfort him but she only sobbed and screamed as he wilted away like a dying candle.

Their faces were dirty, covered in sweat. Pip’s mouth was bruised and bleeding and Seras’ eyes poured out a torrent of red.

He was right in the end. She had no choice but to say goodbye. The mere thought of it tore her insides apart just as her enemy's scythe had done with her body. But she refused to be hacked to pieces and thrown into oblivion like this, despite how tired she felt and how easy it would be to simply fall down and sleep forever.

Seras rejected that notion. She held onto all she knew even as Pip lay dead in her arms.

He had been wrong. She would not save her mind by forgetting him. She would not give him up to God or to the devil or to obscurity. She would cling to his soul and let it fuel her vengeance until every last bastard that did this perished in a sea of gore.

There was no wiping her memory clean of him. Their memories fused together as his blood ran down her lips and mixed with her own.

Pip failed to follow his own advice and so would she.

50 scenes table

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:48:59 GMT

For 50scenes.
The ~~expected~~ Yusuke/Keiko pairing. When will the muse for this end?

Well at least I'll get my writing practice~

001.	Needles.	002.	Cold.	003.	Embryo.	004.	Paper.	005.	Chemical.
006.	Birthmark.	007.	Gasoline.	008.	Avarice.	009.	Guarded.	010.	Writer's Choice.
011.	Effulgent.	012.	Mist.	013.	Friction.	014.	Passenger.	015.	Stop.
016.	Nocturnal.	017.	Decadence.	018.	Lotus.	060.	Use me.	020.	Writer's Choice.
021.	Subliminal.	022.	Turquoise.	023.	Radical.	024.	Androgyny.	025.	View.
026.	Here.	027.	Dying.	028.	Lullaby.	029.	Overdrive	030.	Writer's Choice.
031.	Response.	032.	Withdraw.	033.	Note.	034.	Idea.	035.	Abyss.
036.	Fever.	037.	Insomnia.	038.	Raw.	039.	Apple.	040.	Writer's Choice.
041.	Kiss.	042.	No Return.	043.	Masked.	051.	Glitter.	045.	Paranoid.
046.	Medication.	047.	Special.	048.	Saturnine.	049.	Sacrifice.	050.	Writer's Choice.

Fanfic: Tangled

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:34:27 GMT

Title Tangled
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Genre Angst/Romance
Rating T/PG-13 for cursing and implied stuff
Summary She waited for him afterschool, though she didn't understand why. She was furious at him. And she would not be consoled. // Yu/Kei one-shot

This was an attempt to drabble. xD But it's definitely not a drabble. I started writing and it sort of went in it's own direction. =/

I think this was created because I was listening to this this. But WTF I'm a rock person I don't know why I was anyway. ;P

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Keiko stood alone under an oak tree, her brown eyes vacant and peering forward at nothing.

The last echo of the last school bell rang through the air, sending any lingering students home. But she remained rooted to the spot, uninterested as if she had stepped out of time.

She dug her fingernails into the handle of her briefcase when a slouching, black haired teen came wandering in her direction.

Keiko suppressed the urge to march over and scream at him right then and there. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, counted to ten, anything to keep herself calm. No use making things worse, the situation was irrational enough without giving into her blazing impulses. She glowered down at her simple mary-jane shoes.

She felt his eyes on her, but he remained silent.

"You just left." her voice trembled. "You never told me.You..ran away from me."

He bit his lip, hands shoved down into his pockets, gaze directed away from her. Again he said nothing.

Keiko jerked her head up and fixed him with a wounded, angry stare. So many thoughts ran panicked circles in her head, but she let the words she feared fly out of her mouth. "Do you regret yesterday?"

Yusuke flinched. "C'mon Keiko, you don't get it...I don't...I mean.."

She wanted to walk away. Turn her head and leave, pushing him into her past and behind her memories. Cut all ties that wound them to one another. It would definitely free her of the relationship that had went too far and could now explode into a million shards of hazardous consequences.

Keiko went to take a step back, but his deep, longing look kept her from doing so. "I-I hate you." she murmured.

A brief expression of hurt crossed his face. He didn't bother to fight with her. This had risen far above their usual petty arguments. "Keiko..."

Her eyes were slightly red and glazed over with tears. "Just go away okay? Can you please just go?"

Yusuke let out a frustrated scoff. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him in one swift movement. Her face was shoved into his shoulder, her short hair brushing against his green school uniform. She dropped her briefcase in surprise.

But his hands weren't so foreign to her and she quickly rose over the shock.

"Let go." She snapped.

He tightened his grip in response.

"You drive me fucking crazy Keiko."

"Then let go!"

She tried to tear herself from his hold but failed, getting only far enough to move her head back and glare into his face. "I thought I did something wrong you know? You don't stay with someone and then ditch them in the morning, leaving me stuck trying to make sense of it because it happened so fast. You got what you wanted and left. That's using someone. YOU DON'T DO THAT."

He released her. Guilt passed through his brown eyes and he looked away.

"At least don't with me..." she said. "Just because you were feeling..or you felt, whatever was going on with you, doesn't mean you can use me."

He bristled. He held his arms out in an open, pleading posture, trying to reason with her. "That's not what happened! Dammit you won't let me finish, you're blowing this all out of proportion. Let me talk-"

"No. I don't want to do this anymore."

Something like fear flashed through his eyes. He raised a hand only to let it fall away at his sides.

A defeated silence hung in the air, thick and uncomfortable. Apparently Yusuke had nothing more to say. Keiko couldn't hold back the moisture that streamed down her cheeks like rain.

The sound of shoes on gravel caught her attention. She glanced up to see his sharp brown eyes mere inches away from her face.

He kissed her before she had the chance to react.

Keiko knew very well what he was doing. She was well aware of his intentions when he brought her front closer to his own, wrapping his arms around her waist in a protective manner. Part of her screamed and jerked at every fiber of her logic, telling her to please stop, but her emotions tuned it out like a whisper on a thunderstorm. He kissed her until she lost the will to fight with him.

She should have never said any of those words, for all the good they had done. It was no use. She was wound all around Yusuke with no hope of escape.

xxx
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Lol dramatic much? It sounds like a soap opera. I don't know if I like it or not because it seems a tad ooc. idk.

I'll update my other stuff soon, promise.

Fic Update

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:53:40 GMT

I went back a while ago and re-read some of the earlier chapters. And they were horrible. xD I'm too lazy to rewrite them though, at least for the moment. I really hope I've improved since then. I may do this purely as a hobby but I take it seriously! ~~Like everything else~ >>~~

There's certain words I like to use over and over again, I've noticed. I've tried to stop that habit in this chapter. (I talk about everyone's hair and eyes for describing mood. X_- Like, constantly.)
I'm not too happy with this but it's better than the first few chapters, at least. I'm making progress right?? ;; Gah I hope so. And I have a feeling this fic is gonna be really loong. xD

Heart of Youkai Chapter Five
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating PG-13/Teen
Genre General/Romance

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"You're back!"

Shizuru pulled Keiko into a tight hug. Botan skipped over to them, her blue ponytail bobbing in excitement as she tried to fight back the tears that threatened to overflow onto her cheeks. "Keiko, you're getting so dangerous these days..." she laughed meekly. "What're we gonna do with you?"

Keiko sniffled, giving into the overpowering urge to cry. "I didn't think. I don't know, it was daylight, they usually wait until dark to come out, so I just thought..." She buried her head in Shizuru's shoulder, the touch vaguely reminding her of her parents when they were alive and able to console her. Memories of her mother's hugs dragged more sobs to the surface of her throat. "It was a mistake, I'm sorry."

Botan patted her on the back in an attempt to soothe the girl, her lips drawn downwards into a firm line. "It's alright." she whispered, her own voice slipping on a higher note. "We're just glad you're safe."

"Welcome back." Shiori said suddenly, looking at them with deep sincere eyes, the kind that could penetrate even the toughest of shells and mend the hurt beneath, no matter what the injuries.

Keiko wiped her slick lashes with the back of her index finger. "Thanks." she said, sending Shiori a grateful, if not slightly wilted smile. Her nerves were beyond shot and the only cure that could quell her fried emotions was a thick book of her favorite stories, which she had hidden under her pillow at home. If only they could return to the village soon and get out of this creaking cave...and go somewhere truly safe. But that was out of the question.

Yukina stood on the sidelines, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm happy Keiko-san is unharmed."

Kuwabara, the appointed protector of the flock of women, released the the tension out of his shoulders. He had grown up with the little brunette, and losing her would shove a hole right through his heart, like a pain he couldn't get out of his senses. He knew that feeling all to well, he'd already lost most of his family over the years. "Me too, I was getting really worried there for a while." Stray pieces of hair hung over his forehead and took on a deeper tone in the dull light.

Shuichi sauntered over to him, his previous footsteps unheard and undetected, appearing at the taller boys side like a crimson ghost. "Kuwabara, I need to speak with you."

He snapped his head to the right in surprise, letting out a startled cough and nearly jumping backwards into a puzzled Yukina. "Whoa man, don't sneak up on me like that!"

Shuichi flashed him an amused smile, his serious mood temporarily broken by his friends antics. "Sorry."

Kuwabara quickly apologized to the ice maiden. He swung around to scowl at Shuichi, no doubt embarrassed at being caught off guard. He hoped he would forget about it later. "What?" he mumbled. He didn't mean to be so pissy, but it was a long morning, and he had an inkling that it would just get worse as the hours dragged on.

"We ran into the demon."

"You did?" Kuwabara's eyes widened, his tired appearance suddenly perking up in interest. "Did you fight him?"

"Almost, but no. He had big black markings all over, and he acted...strange. He's not your typical youkai, that's for sure." Shuichi posed a finger at his chin, his eyes sharp and focused on distant, tangled thoughts. "He was hunting for someone..."

Kuwabara went silent and looked down at the ground. His sister had already filled him in on the adventure he missed out on when he had slept. He knew that Yukina had some sort of bounty placed on her pretty head. Thugs chased after her in the dead of night, just a petrified, innocent girl getting dragged down into their filth. They stole everything from her, even her tears. The mere thought of it made him sick.

And now they had found her. The threat was spreading to the village, like a violent epidemic unable to be contained. But what was he supposed to do? Protect her or the village? Surely there was someway to do both, right?

"It's me."

Both boys turned to the ice maiden, who was looking patiently up at them, her hands clasped together under her long kimono sleeves. "I told Keiko-san and Botan-san to leave me be, but they refused. They're incredibly kind, and I do appreciate the help, I just don't want their bravery to be rewarded with murder. All on my account."

She lowered her head in shame.

"So you do know these youkai?" Shuichi asked after a moment, his voice heavy and serious, letting her know that he didn't have time for games.

She took no offense to the warnings that lurked behind his tone, her figure stood still as a statue, only wisps of her blue hair quivering under the shadow of the cave. "No, but I positive I'm the one they're looking for. The men that held me captive surely noticed my absence by now and probably sent someone to find me."

Kuwabara's frown deepened as that sinking feeling returned to the pit of his stomach. "Well hold on, you can't go back, even if they are looking for you! That's not what you're thinking right?"

"Why should an entire village suffer because I'm being selfish?" she argued, clutching a fist to her chest. "I can go back and I can take it. The guilt from the loss of life would be worse than any physical pain they could give me."

Shuichi smiled at her. Of course he knew that not all youkai were corrupt, and this girl was living proof. But it still didn't mean they could trust her. "That's awfully noble of you." he said.

"You're not really gonna send her back?" Kuwabara pleaded, his hands groping for the right words in the air as he stared at Shuichi. "You can't be serious."

The redhead's expression didn't change. He looked out of the corners of his eyes at Yukina, who's ruby colored orbs were wide with questions that needed to be answered. Her fate rested in his hands. He could save her life or crush it with one decision.

It was like sending a songbird into the clutches of a cat. Behind her carefully guarded expression lived the fear of being sent back into a world of torture and misery, loneliness. He could see it, he couldn't ignore the quiet trembling of her hands under that kimono, and it sent a wave of disgust through his body, causing his heart to sink in his chest. She was only a girl, she had the same the innocent face of the ones he was supposed to protect.

But that un-natural hair color and eyes the shade of a deep red wine reminded him that she wasn't human. Deception at it's best. He moved his gaze to the ground.

"What's with the grim looks?"

Shiori touched her son's arm, pressing her fingers against his skin to jar him from his thoughts. Mother's intuition naturally told her that something was wrong. He was a distant, complicated boy, but he always had a sense of lightness about him that was now gone. "Is something the matter?" she piqued, small eyes blinking in concern, her presence snapping him from his deep reverie. "Shuichi you look pale."

He turned to her and smiled, but the gesture was done half-heartedly and his lips lost their usual luster. "I'm fine mother, don't worry. Just tired."

She accepted his answer with an air of defeated concern. A pang of guilt resonated through him at disappointing her.

When he returned with the battered Keiko, Shiori had welcomed him back with open arms, no doubt caught in a spell of unease at the idea of him clashing weapons with some vicious youkai. It was his duty to fight any threat, but she continued to fret over the dangers he willingly threw himself into.

She did that all his life, and it was something he would never forget. It was...kindness, a virtue he learned only from her.

His shoulders slumped into a posture of defeat as he faced the calm Yukina, who was busy reassuring Kuwabara that she would be alright. "Listen." Shuichi said, catching their attention. They both peered at him with apprehensive eyes.

He cleared his throat. "You can stay, no use sending you out to the wolves. Just keep close to us and don't wander off like Keiko did today. We might've led them to our hiding place already, and we can't afford to make any more mistakes."

She tried to hide her relief by stopping herself from smiling, but her lips turned upwards anyway, and she ended up beaming at him in gratitude. "Thank you." she said in that same cheerfulness, with words as light as a hummingbirds wing.

But the cold creeped back into her expression. She reminded herself of why she was there in the first place, and what would happen if she stayed. She felt like she had some sort of curse stamped on her back that relentlessly followed her everywhere. "I can't though." She turned away. "I don't want to hurt anyone here. They're after me, not any of you."

"Don't be silly." Shiori fussed, catching onto the meaning of the conversation. "You can't go back there."

Kuwabara patted Yukina on the back with a grin plastered on his face, as if he was the only one let in on some joke or secret. Shuichi, the usually rigid guardian over the village rules, had just accepted her into the group, sealing her safety for the future. "You're not going anywhere, I'm not gonna let you."

Her eyes widened in a questioning stare and she took a step back. "You're all being foolish." she whispered.

Kuwabara shook his head, wondering where the girl connected her logic together, she was so damn determined to throw herself into the hands of the enemy, even after finally gaining freedom. How long had she been locked up in that place anyway? "Maybe," he chuckled, "but you're foolish for turning down someones offer to protect your life!"

Yukina blinked and titled her head to the side, perplexed and regarding his words. It was her turn to shrink in defeat, her lips poking outwards into something that resembled a pout. "Alright, you win, I guess." she said simply.

Shiori smiled, pleased at the outcome of the situation, while Shuichi leaned against the stone wall, green eyes staring holes into some distant corner of the cave.

He prayed he wasn't making a huge mistake.

xxxxxxx

xxxx

xx

"Didn't find her, did you?"

Hiei's eyes flashed with vehemence at his question.

Yusuke leaned against the trunk of a tree, standing with the ease and grace of a great cat. Rays of sunlight crept in between the canopy of leaves, sending dapples of light across his skin, contrasting with the grey shadow from the branches overhead. The tree's silhouette seemed to give him even more patterns, even more bizarre markings.

Hiei could tell that the Mazoku had been waiting awhile; that impatient scowl reflected the string of insults floating around in his head, ready to lash out at anyone in verbal injury. Yusuke hated waiting. He didn't have the attention span for it and he bored easily, like a bratty little kid.

Hiei's lips quirked into a sneer. "Do you see anyone with me?"

Yusuke's muscles tensed for half a second. He was already caught in a foul mood and ached to go off on the first person who decided to bitch at him. He had been chasing 'invisible', maybe even imaginary ice maidens all morning and was sick of it.

But he dodged Hiei's sarcasm. The fire demon was cranky, as always, but the longer he picked at him the more the fire demon's tension built up. Eventually it would explode like an angry volcano and they'd have a vicious brawl on their hands. Yusuke had to remind him that even though they were partners on this wild goose chase, he wasn't one of Hiei's little minions. His Mazoku blood couldn't stand to be insubordinate to anyone. Especially someone half his size.

Yusuke fixed a concentrated stare on the youkai, putting total scrutiny on him as if he'd never seen him before.

His lips spread open into a devious grin. "Hey is your girlfriend taller than you?" he blurted, without thinking better of it, deliberately enticing the blunt end of Hiei's wrath. "I mean any shorter and she'd be a midget right?"

Hiei's expression switched from hostility to annoyance. "What?"

"Well it's just, y'know...I guess she'd have to like pint sized men, because.."

He visibly bristled. "Shut up you moron. She's not my girlfriend. She's my sister."

"Huh?" Yusuke blinked.

Hiei scoffed and turned his head away, facing the distant mountains. The sun finally rose out from the corner of the sky and dyed the clouds a deep maroon color, signaling the shift from morning to noon. The chirping cicadas sang their last goodbyes to the sunrise.

He hated that sound. Years before when he was alone, consumed by his back breaking training schedule, he was forced to listen to that horrible chirping the first few hours of the day. It broke the consistent quiet of the forest, usually interrupted only by deer or the occasional howling wind. But that chirping, that fast tick tick ticking sound reminded him of the constant drilling in his own heart. He was losing time.

But when the cicadas can't be heard and when the sun sinks down and changes the sky to a horizon of violet, he would move on. She had to be in the next village. He would find her. So Yusuke might as well know. "You heard me."

Yusuke's eyebrows shot halfway up his forehead. He watched the demon with a mix of caution and curiosity, wondering if this was some kind of test. "You serious?"

"We're going in tomorrow." Hiei said sharply, his back still turned to the confused Mazoku. "So call the demons out of the forest and get them ready so we can invade the closest village tonight. Did you find anything of interest?"

His question jerked at Yusuke's conscience like a invisible hand. Plundering a village never used to bother him, so what the hell? In the beginning they only raided a village when they were desperate. But somehow, over the months he'd traveled with Hiei, the attacks turned into weekly crimes, their demon underlings rushing in a killing whole towns in one swipe, staining the ground red. The corpses of their victims were starting to pile up on his mind, pulling it down.

But it wasn't like they were the only ones who did it. Youkai were growing desperate from the shortage of food, shortage of homes, and shortage of sane leaders. War after war had given death more numbers than him and Hiei ever could. It wasn't their fault! The humans were just an easy source of survival.

Yusuke rubbed his dirty cheek with the back of his hand. He frowned when he noticed the clean bandage wound carefully up his side.

His guilt seemed to reach a crescendo.

But his words moved against it, though he nearly choked trying to get them out. "Yeah, I did, actually."

To his surprise, Hiei didn't bombard him with a million questions. Instead, he simply shrugged and repeated his orders. "Good."

The Mazoku didn't follow anyone. But today was different. Hiei's tone was unusually shaky, as if he were too furious to speak and attempting to try would shatter the last control he had on himself. Yusuke was not filled with boundless intuition by any means, but he could sense the unbalanced, almost sad aura around his friend.

So he didn't say anything.

And he couldn't get past his disbelief. That crazy bastard had a sister?!

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"Koenma sir, I'm telling you, she hasn't killed anybody!"

Botan crouched at the lake's edge, peering down into the clear water. She leaned over on her tip toes to get a better look, careful not to lose balance and fall, which would disturb the mirror-like surface, blue and serene as a crystal. The weeds rose up on all sides and tickled her legs. "Listen to me!" she persisted, careening her neck farther out to see better. "I know it still sounds weird, but I really don't think she's some crazy human killer."

The magic of Spirit World was what enabled Koenma's image to stare back at her from the lake. Communicating with someone so far away was difficult, his voice was fuzzy and his image was blurred despite the glass-like quality of the water. But she could still imagine the deep line that hung over his brow, a sign that he was upset.

"That doesn't make a difference!" he wailed, his voice sounding too high and too young for his teenage appearance. "She's still the cause of it! Botan you've got to do something!"

She drew back. How could he blame her for this!? "What am I supposed to do?" she said as harshly as she could while still maintaining a whisper. She didn't want any nosy passerby to overhear her and let the secret out about her double identity. Or worse, she didn't want anyone to think that she was going crazy, talking to the pond like this. Someone might think she was arguing with a fish. "I'm just following your orders! Maybe you don't know what you're doing? I think that's-"

"Well the thieves are still after her, so that makes her a threat! Isolate her from the village before a handful of lives are lost. Those demons will track her down and find her, and then-"

Botan sighed. "And then we'll see who the threat is."

"Exactly."

She knew right away that she couldn't do something like that. Koenma wasn't there beside her, he didn't talk to the girl or witness how much pain she was in. Did he see the scars that marred her skin? He wasn't around when she and Shizuru had to wrap bandages around Yukina's burn wounds, which still looked dark and raw against her silvery complexion.

Botan had never seen a burn injury like that. Certain sutra, ones that could go right through the flesh of ice youkai, had been cruelly pressed against her arms and legs. Shoving fire into a pile of snow had the same effect.

Yet Yukina treated her abuses like they were nothing to her at all.

The marks do hurt, but at least they left my face alone. If my face became too badly scarred then I'd be unrecognizable to someone..."

It was an odd comment. But she was an odd girl.

She wasn't about to throw her out into danger. Shuichi only just decided she could stay!

"What're you doing?"

Keiko leaned over out curiosity, wondering what her slightly squirly friend was up to. Her thick chestnut colored hair was tossed up in a short, messy bun, and the strands tickled Botan's shoulder as she moved closer to get a better look.

"Oh uh hi Keiko!" Botan tapped the water quickly, dispersing the Koenma's image. "I was just...um..washing my hands and singing! It's fun, you should try it sometime, aha..."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You don't usually sing..."

The uneasy smile started to hurt her cheeks. Botan was never good at lying...or hiding things. Why did Koenma choose her for this job anyway? Maybe she should try diversion tactics. "Oh you look so lovely today Keiko, you should wear your hair like that most often!"

Keiko twirled a lock around her finger, catching the brown highlights in the sun. "Thanks, but I don't think so, I just put it up because it was driving me crazy. This weather makes it dry."

"Oh yeah, that happens to mine." Botan said, as she stood suddenly and began pushing Keiko away from the water. Koenma might return and yell at her for hanging up on their conversation. He was a nice person, but he was still the mighty lord Koenma, prince of Spirit World, and titles like that were why he had an ego bigger than his father's fat head. "But don't you worry, you're so pretty that even if all your hair fell you you'd still be gorgeous."

Keiko made a funny face. "What?"

Botan dragged the girl back to the cave as she blabbed about anything, trying to guard her secret. One hint about what was going on and the clever girl would figure it all out in no time.

Though she wished she could tell her best friend everything; Keiko would know what to do, and Botan's problems would be solved.

But that wasn't the case, and she was lost.

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Another Fandom Post!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:19:24 GMT

Title Equivalency
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Genre General
Rating PG
Summary Yusuke's tired and brooding, ready to clock out anyone who gets too close. But who knew Kuwabara of all people could cure his foul mood. [One-shot] [Pre-series]

Written for paperteacup-san! It's a big thank-you for helping me out and being so so kind! <333 Sorry about the wonky title and dull summary, I wrote this yesterday but now my brain is refusing to work right. >>; Umm yeah~ I didn't intend for this to be pre-series, but it just kinda turned out that way. xD I meant for it to be longer also. Feehh. But I'll write another one for you soon.

Yusuke's abit angsty, forgive meh. D:

Hope you like it 'tho. c:

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"Don't you come over here and start with me!"

Kuwabara scowled in irritation, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. "Geez, that's a nasty tone Urameshi. But you know what, I don't care what mood you're in. Get ready to face my fists!"

Yusuke swung his head around to glare at the taller boy. "Don't you ever give up?" he grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. He'd been jumped by a rival school gang so now he was sore, pissed off, and ready to pass out in a bed. Problem was, Atsuko decided to sling the sake around with her drinking buddies at home. No rest for the weary. "Go away."

He raised his eyebrows. "Wow, you usually jump at the chance to fight with me. Something must be wrong." he ran a finger across his chin in thought. "...You're sick aren't you?"

"Look who's talking! You're the one who picks the fights."

Kuwabara sauntered over with a skeptical look on his face. Yusuke sat slouched over, elbows perched on his knees, black tresses hanging over his forehead. His green school uniform was torn at the arms and sides, giving him the appearance of a scruffy stray dog. "Looks like you got the crap knocked outta you." he pointed out.

He scoffed. "No, ten guys just decided to mess with me. If you think I look bad you should see the bodies."

"Nah, you probably knocked 'em unconscious that's all."

"Which I'm about to do to you if you don't leave me alone."

Kuwabara narrowed his eyes. "Get up and punch me then."

Yusuke didn't move. "I don't feel like it." he said through clenched teeth. "How about I kick your ass twice as hard tomorrow to make up for loss time. Promise. Now go. Away."

"Nah, that won't work either." he shrugged. "I'm in the mood to take you on right now. Besides, I can't let you get lazy. It'll make me look bad if the biggest punk at Sarayashiki--which is me by the way--loses to a lazy Urameshi. And hey, don't you care about your rep?" Kuwabara's lips turned into a triumphant grin, his brown eyes flashing deviously. That would get a rise out of him.

"I don't give a damn about my rep right now. Really, I don't. Like I need to 'uphold' it anyway." Yusuke remarked, a hateful smile at his lips. "Most people have enough common sense to leave me be."

Kuwabara frowned.

He seemed off somehow. Sure, Urameshi was never cheery to anyone, but he usually had more life to him. That scowl was too deep, those eyes too clouded, and his whole figure seemed chained down to the ground. "What's the problem?"

Yusuke kicked a can near his foot, sending it clattering down the street. "None of your business." he snapped, biting his lip. "I'm just pissed off."

"I feel like that alot, y'know." Kuwabara said, letting out a half sigh. He plopped down on the bench next to Yusuke, wincing when the hard wood came in contact with his legs. He slung his arm on the back of the bench, looking up into the setting sky. "School's a drag, people misunderstand stuff...and I gotta come home to parents who don't care and an overprotective sister who cares too much."

Yusuke listened and nodded slowly. He stared down at the ground without really seeing it, as if lost in thought. "Sounds familiar." he said. "Man I hate school, especially teachers. They think they know everything, what I'm like and they don't know crap!" His head shot up suddenly as an haughty expression crossed his face. "They're nice to you up front, but it's just an act. They think I'm too stupid to see through it. Morons. I mean it'd be better if they ran away or gawked at me like I'm an alien. At least the ones who do that are honest with themselves."

Kuwabara shrugged. "Oh yeah, people do the same to me sometimes. I just ignore them though. Or hit 'em in the face. Depends on who it is."

"Well I can't exactly whack a teacher in the jaw."

"Ah that's true. That sucks."

"I just want to get away from this place." he said, running a hand through his black locks. The smell of Tokyo's city air clogged his senses and the drone of traffic hammered against his head, increasing his desire to fly away from it all. But who was he kidding? He'd probably never escape it.

He side-glanced a group of passing upperclassman. Their obnoxious yelling caught his attention, and he recognized them from school. They shot off into the distance like abunch of scared kittens when they noticed Yusuke bristle up.

He grinned despite himself. "Cowards. See? That's what I mean. At least they don't put up a front."

Kuwabara laughed, flashing a row of white teeth. "All we're doing is sitting here but they run away from us. Smart enough to know who's tough though."

Yusuke's smile faltered, wilting back into that uncharacteristic gloom. He looked up at the sky, squinting at the bright colors of the sunset. The reds hues burned in the horizon, reflecting the own fire trapped within himself. "We're strong, but there's gotta be someone out there who's stronger. I want a real good fight you know? I don't think I'll ever find that here."

"Hellooo?" Kuwabara waved a hand in front of his face. "I've been trying to fight with you for the past ten minutes Urameshi."

Yusuke shoved him lightly yet nearly pushed him off the bench. "That's not what I meant! It's not the same. Besides you're not a challenge to anybody. I can knock you into the pavement so easy it's sad."

"Prove it!"

"No! I don't need to! I did it yesterday!"

Kuwabara stood suddenly. "Well I don't got time to listen to you whine. You owe me a brawl tomorrow, don't forget." Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed a handful of Yusuke's bangs, yanking his head down. Yusuke grimaced and let out a string of curses. "HEY-"

"Make sure you don't lump me in any category, you hear me?" the taller boy remarked, avoiding Yusuke's flailing arms. "I don't put up any fronts with people, and I'm not afraid of you. I'm your rival. But know I've got your back, and you'd better take me along if you go on one of these 'fighting journeys.' I'm not as weak as you think I am!"

"Alright alright, just get off me you lughead!"

He let go. Yusuke reared back an socked him in the arm with the intentions to leave a big ugly bruise. "Don't ever pull that shit again!" he yelled. "I'll get you back for that!"

Kuwabara waved the threat away. "Did you hear what I said? Don't make me say it again!"

"Yeah yeah." Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Thanks man."

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Fanfictioon

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:22:42 GMT

Title Blizzard Roses
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Genre Angst/romance
Rating PG(cursing OMG)
Summary We all yearn for what we can never have, and Hiei is no exception. Reality keeps him from reaching out to the two most important people in his life, with torment creeping in even in his dreams. [One-shot] [Slight Kurama x Hiei]

I don't like this fic. I think it's odd. XD Promt is "Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams". I didn't have specifics down before I started, I just took the idea and ran with it. Not exactly good plot material. Xx And I'm afraid I got Hiei to soft. Dammit he's NOT soft at all, personally I hate it when he's portrayed that way. xD It's hard to dig to where you can see his issues yet still keep his character far away from being emo Hiei. >> He's not weepy, he's rough. So is Kurama 'tho. Kurama's not a sapbunny either.

Err..I'm also new to writing shounen ai. I don't want to do fluff for this pairing. But I'm used to writing Yu/Kei and that seems to be the opposite of Kurama/Hiei. ~~I want to get this challenge done before school starts! ><~~ Fehh~

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"I don't understand how I couldn't have known...you mean so much to me, brother. I'm sorry I was foolish!"

She pulled him into a soft embrace. Her fingers squeezed the end of his hand, hesitant to hold onto him completely, like a shy child reaching out for affection. Her skin was smooth against his own rough calloused palm. The touch surprised him and his shoulders instantly tensed. "Yukina..."

A mass of emotions rose up from his chest like a wave rising from the sea, but the words died at his lips. There was so much he wanted to say to her. "I'm the one who doesn't understand. You deserve to hate me, why...?"

She leaned back and sent him a perplexed look. The iris of her eyes were a starling red hue, the same color as his own. "You're talking nonsense Hiei-san. You're family and an amazing person." Tears ran down her cheeks silently. "Don't think I could ever hate you."

He was at a loss. He wished for her acceptance day after day, but cut himself short of it every time. She confided in him, he protected her, he wished for her happiness, but she couldn't know the truth. She was dangled in front of him constantly, something he yearned for but could never have.

I can't have you. The reality of the situation sunk in and hit him like a shock-wave. He made a rough sound with his voice. "This...isn't happening, is it?"

Yukina smiled sadly at him.

He wrapped his arms around her back, burying his face in her shoulder. Her silky hair brushed against his neck as he fought to keep her in reach.

Hiei felt her form melt away and turn into snow, disappearing from his grasp altogether. A chilling sensation swept across his body in a futile attempt to comfort him. "Yukina!"

The cold wind blew by and hit him in the face, adding to the frigid bitterness pushing against his chest. He said nothing, only stared down at the spot where she had been a moment ago. He dropped his arms to his side, resisting the urge to yell in frustration.

Of course she had only been an illusion. He felt a wave of shame come over him at acting so naive. To think that he had honestly believed it. Pathetic.

Someone appeared behind him. "You're the one who does this to yourself, you know."

Hiei jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden presence at his back. He narrowed his eyes and continued to gaze at the falling snow, not bothering to turn around. He knew who it was. "What are you doing here?" he grumbled.

Kurama shrugged, a half smile at his lips. "Don't ask me, this is your dream."

The fire demon wasn't in the mood for small talk. "I noticed. Well get out, I don't feel like having petty conversations with you right now."

Kurama ignored Hiei's frigid temper, noting the pained crack in his voice. Dreaming about Yukina always unnerved him. "I can't go anywhere. I'm stuck here for a reason. Like I said, this is your dream." he pointed out.

Hiei said nothing in a reply, so he walked over and stood beside him. "It's strange," Kurama said, peering at the surroundings, "one would think that you'd dream of Makai. I didn't know you were a fan of beautiful scenery."

They stood on the porch of Genkai's temple, looking out into the distance. An endless sheet of white glittered across the ground and treetops with the snow drifting lazily down from the sky. The air smelled heavy of frosted pine-trees that rose into the mountains. "It's like a painting." Kurama remarked.

Hiei swung his eyes to the boy, a cynical expression on his face. Kurama seemed lost among the winter scape with his bright red hair, like a cardinal perched in the snow. "I'm not." Hiei snapped. "I have no idea why we're here. I have no idea why you're here, either."

Kurama leaned forward on the railing. "You chose this background because snow reminds you of Yukina, doesn't it?"

Hiei's frown deepened.

"Why don't you just tell her?" he pressed.

"Because-" Hiei snapped, swinging a burning gaze to the kitsune, "I don't deserve to have her as a sister. You think she'd be happy to be related to me?" he paused, regretting his outburst immediately. He hated showing weakness in front of others, but Kurama always seemed to pull his issues right out of him. "Dammit, we've had this conversation before. Don't make me repeat myself."

Kurama surveyed the horizon, emerald green eyes distant and turned away from the fire youkai. "I only think it's sad that you can't allow yourself to believe she'd be happy you're her long lost brother."

He scoffed. "I don't want your pity."

"I'm not feeling sorry for you."

Hiei turned and shoved him roughly, managing to knock him off balance despite being shorter in size. "Why are you here?!" Hiei growled, his temper lighting up his voice. Kurama stumbled back a few feet, but caught himself before he could fall. "I don't remember telling you to become my conscience. I don't have one, don't need one, and sure as hell don't want you to be it!"

Kurama shot out and grabbed both of Hiei's wrists, jerking him forward before he could react. It was his turn to fall over, smacking face first into Kurama's chest. "That was uncalled for, I'm only tying to help you. You're ridiculously stubborn, you're going to break your own spirit if you don't stop tormenting yourself."

The grip was so tight that it stung, and as much as he thrashed he couldn't break free. The kitsune's hands were soft and unbearable at the same time. "Dammit! Get off!" He let out a string of curses as his lips tilted downwards into a sneer, giving him the appearance of a cornered wolf. "Fool, I'll never give up, I'll never break, now LET GO!"

Kurama was deaf to his threats and he wrapped his arms around Hiei's shoulders, strengthening his hold on him. "Didn't you hear your sister's words? She probably feels the same, there's a connection between you two, and you're making yourself the brother she can never have. You're dreaming about the people you want most in this world."

Hiei shook his head, trying to pull backwards out of his arms. The sweetness of roses and earthy smell of the woods mixed together to form Kurama's scent. It was all he could sense and it made him want to break free even more. Pure torture again, just as it had been with Yukina. "Does that mean I can't have you either, you stupid fox?"

Hiei felt a slight rumble in his chest as Kurama chuckled in amusement. "No, they're attainable, you just won't let yourself believe it." he said.

He opened his mouth in a reply, but was stunned into silence when Kurama brushed his lips against the side of his face. "No one's really out of reach. So wake up and quit having these dreams."

He let go and pushed the fire demon away from him. The sound of whip cracked in the air, and Kurama disappeared into a mass of crimson roses. "Wait a second!" Hiei yelled as he gripped in air blindly, falling backwards into the snow.

The splash of red evaporated as his surroundings faded into a blur of white. Hiei felt himself drift away into a churning blizzard, the cold taking him back into it's depths.

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His eyes shot open.

He bolted upright, mind a whirl of haze and confusion. "What?"

Immediately he noticed his location. He was sitting on a thick branch, safe and in Ningenkai. What else had he expected? The first rays of morning sunlight drifted in between the leaves, creating bright dapples on the bark. No snow anywhere. "Stupid dream." he murmured.

He picked up the lone rose he held in his grasp. He glared at it, rubbing the petals between his fingers. "Hm." He ripped the flower apart and tossed it's petals into the air. A chilly wind blew by and carried them off out of his sight. "It means nothing."

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YYH one-shot (again)

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:13:39 GMT

Watched the original Lost Boys, so now balance has been restored in my mind and all is well in the world. Lol! I'm also not as bouncy as I've been the past two days. Too much coffee and lack of sleep will do that to me. I'm such a weirdo. xD

Fic time!

Title: Felo de se
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG-13(Lime warning)
Summary: She had a sweet personality and an even sweeter face. But behind that perfection lurked feelings that could shatter her soul to pieces. What was the point in any of it? [YusukexKeiko] [One-shot]

My newest fic for 10_inspirations. "The razor's edge. This one is way less waffy than the last one-shot I did. xD It's my attempt at a semi-dark fic, mostly inspired by stories I've read that made Yusuke abit rougher when he returned from Makai. (Such as Monster by Kurome Shiretsu.)

They're abit ooc-ish, I'll admit. ;_; Which I hate, but I had to bend some things to make it work. *hides* It's really more of a 'what if', kinda thing though. ~~Keiko's Yusuke obsessive-ness is showing, arghhh.~~

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Every memory, every thought and each mile of distance slowly drove a blade straight through her heart.

At times she couldn't feel it. She didn't know where he was, what he was doing then, if he remembered her or if he even cared anymore. The love she kept so close for most of her life became locked away like a caged bird unable to sing. 'Oh well...no use worrying about that idiot right now..' became a phrase that chased his face from her mind altogether.

But a part of him still lurked behind, trailing her just as his ghost had done all those years ago. She could imagine him saying, 'Hey, don't forget about me, Keiko!' His words touching the edges of her consciousness and sticking to her soul like glue.

So she remained loyal to that fantasy, to the memory of what once was and maybe...could be. She pushed the razor into herself further and further every time she gave into that feeling, suffering only when she lay in bed at night.

She had a good life with numerous dreams, test scores through the roof, every nearby college welcoming her with open arms. To peers she was the epitome of perfection, the angelic schoolgirl that every parent yearned for and loved. She could have any guy she wanted.

But the only one she ever wanted didn't want her in return. She finished last to his own goals. He was out there somewhere, staggering around some old dusty area and fighting until his legs collapsed underneath him. That was Yusuke's dream.

Loved ones said he was beginning to have an ill affect on her. Or rather his absence, but it was all the same.

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Keiko lay blinking up at the ceiling, brown eyes hazed over, long hair a silken curtain around her head. The soft bedsheets rubbed against her skin, her mind distracted by foreign sensations that sent shock-waves from her back all the way down to her toes.

He crushed his mouth against hers. She fought him back with her lips, dropping a bombshell of emotion as her mind reeled with the taste of him. His kiss was so overwhelming that it left her unable to breath, only the mix of pain and happiness pouring out of her skin.

Yusuke pulled back and muttered something incoherent, burying his face in her hair. She noticed the black markings that ran across his body like a bizarre youkai language, speaking of power, of the Mazoku blood in his veins. The grip on her waist tightened.

He had returned different somehow; the demon in him appearing often, causing him to speak in that low tone, a growl. It made her feel like a prey caught in the lions jowls, the look in those deep brown eyes all too feral.

But the only danger Keiko risked was of being left alone again. Somehow she knew that he would always fight, he would always risk his life for reasons unknown to her. Maybe he wouldn't return someday. Yet he still possessed all of her, he always would.

Her heart burned with things she couldn't control, feelings dancing on the edge of a dagger. But it was worth it.

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I don't write lemons so lime is the farthest I'll go. -//- I don't like writing them, it makes me feel like I'm creating one of those cheesy romance novels you see sitting on a random shelf in Wal-Mart. XDD How I laugh~ I hope this wasn't too explicit. ^^;;

Yusuke so isn't like that, Keiko isn't either, and it's dramatic. But I wanted to write out that phrase, and I wanted to write Yu/Kei. ^^; Umm, I like just the writing itself, 'tho. Vignette's are fun to do even if they're abit boring.

Yu yu hakusho one-shot

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:27:53 GMT

More fanfics. Even though, y'know I should be drawing! Gah. Fanfiction is so addicting...I love to read it and write it and I can't stop. xD

This was done for 10_inspirations, prompt 'No man is an island.' And it was written pretty quickly, so I'll go back and re-edit it tomorrow, but it's mostly done. I dunno if I like it or not..it's all squish. But not really in a romantic way, and any pairings are only hinted at. Um, there's shounen ai if you really really squint hard. xD But it depends on how you take it.

To talk about something odd, I was chatting with my friend on messenger and I asked her what she thought I should title this. I was thinking about Acceptance, and not more than five seconds after I thought about it, she said 'how about..acceptance?' Damn the mind reading.

Anyway I'll stop blabbing now. I need to go to bed.

Title Acceptance
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Genre General
Rating PG
Summary Kurama enjoys the company of his friends after a late night movie. But a lone shadow follows behind, hesitant to join the group. Can Kurama catch a glance past Hiei's rough facade? [Oneshot]

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"Did you see when the guy's head flew off? Man that was great!"

Kuwabara sent his friend a disturbed look. "You've got a twisted mind Urameshi. I liked the fight scenes better, those punches looked pretty flawless to me." He knocked his fists into the air in an attempt to mimic a part in the movie. "He hit him square in the jaw and the guy went down!"

Yusuke scoffed, running a hand through his gelled black hair. "That's 'cause they were just acting, stupid."

"Shut up!" he snapped, looming over the shorter boy. Kuwabara's brown eyes flashed in irritation. "You know what I mean!"

Yusuke wasn't intimidated. He grinned and opened his mouth in a snarky reply, but was stopped when Kuwabara shoved him aside. He leaned and almost fell over, but caught himself with the natural grace of a fighter "Oh yeah?" He pushed him back just as roughly.

The force tipped Kuwabara to the side, knocking him straight into a grumpy Keiko. "Watch it Yusuke!" she snarled, bumping into Botan. The bluette caught her by the shoulders and prevented her from falling. "You guys are real childish sometimes." she said, a frown across her lips.

Yusuke and Keiko were about to butt heads with each other while Kuwabara spat out insults in the middle. Botan backed up the other girl from the sidelines, leaving Kurama as the usual diplomat.

He took the chance to speak up and put an end to the rising argument. It was all nothing more than playful bantering, but he didn't know if his headache could take much more of it. "I thought it was a pretty...interesting movie myself."

They all turned to the redhead, bringing the conflict to sudden halt. He hadn't spoken a word once since they left the theater, not that there was any room for his input among the bickering.

Botan ran a finger across her chin. "You think so? It doesn't seem like your kind of move Kurama."

He shrugged. "Usually isn't, but that wasn't too bad."

Keiko looked up at the darkened sky in thought, a chilly wind blowing by and ruffling her short brown hair. "Personally I like deep, moving films. Like foreign romance movies."

Botan clapped her hands together. "Ooo, so do I!"

The two girls began gushing over their favorite romance flicks and love stories. Yusuke gagged. "Those things are so retarded. It took me forever to block out the one you dragged me too, I mean I had nightmares about sappy, kissy stuff for weeks."

Kuwabara burst out laughing. "You serious?" He clutched his stomach as rolls of laughter overcame his senses. Yusuke sent him a nasty look.

"It wasn't that bad!" Keiko fussed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You didn't even watch half of it, so how would you know anyway?"

"I did so watch it! I had to, you kept elbowing me every time I took my eyes off the damn screen!"

Kurama held the bridge of his nose in agitation. The argument was in full swing now, there was no stopping them. It was like trying to separate two angry mules with a stick.

"No, I nudged you because that hand of yours kept creeping dangerously close to my thigh. Don't think I didn't notice that Yusuke Urameshi!"

Kuwabara shook his head. "That's low, man."

A blush flared across the teen's face, his voice cracking in a tone that meant defeat. "I didn't! I mean..geez, don't say that in front of everyone!"

"Then don't be such a pervert!" Keiko said, narrowing her eyes.

Kurama let out a long sigh, the wringing in his head seeming to reach a crescendo. The group's voices echoed loudly into the night, but it was the pounding of the film's volume that had bothered his sensitive hearing and started the headache.

But overall it was a nice evening. The get together was mostly Keiko's idea, and she had been the one to organize the time and place. Though picking out the exact movie had been a big issue, as everyone had their own taste in genre. It took them twenty minutes to decide, but luckily they found one with bloody action for the boys and smooth romance for the girls. Kurama and Hiei were the only two who didn't care one way or the other.

Kurama paused, his brows furrowing in slight confusion. Speaking of which...

He turned behind him to see the fire demon following their flock of teenagers without a word. His hands were shoved into his jean pockets(forced into casual wear as to not stand out in public), with the same dead set frown on his face. His crimson eyes flashed in the shadows.

If a stranger happened to see him they would assume he was stalking a group of helpless kids. But Kurama knew better, and he saw Hiei as a complicated soul with an anti-social personality. A loner. He smiled to himself. How did he find himself surrounded by such a variety of companions?

Hiei realized he was the target of Kurama's gaze. "What?" he grumbled, looking up at him with annoyance.

The redhead wore an amused smirk. "Why are you all the way back there?"

Everyone ahead of them spun around, and Yusuke waved at Hiei. "There you are! I figured you were lurking behind us. Come on, we don't bite. Well, Keiko and Kuwabara do, but y'know..."

That last comment was protested by a chorus of yelling.

"We're right here, don't worry." Kurama said. He turned his attention back to the fire youkai, tucking a strand of red hair behind his ear absentmindedly. "What's bothering you?"

Hiei lowered his head in a slouch, his body language closed off and unfriendly. "Nothing."

Kurama didn't press it further. It was quiet for a few moments as the two demons walked slowly behind their obnoxious friends. Tokyo was relatively peaceful this late, the walls of houses forming a quiet path through the urban neighborhood. The sleepy flickering of street lamps shown just as brightly as the blanket of stars overhead.

"I don't understand you." Hiei said suddenly.

"Why?" Kurama asked in a polite tone, gazing ahead at nothing in particular.

His lips turned downwards into an expression of disgust. "You're a youkai in spirit, yet you parade around with these humans."

He shrugged. "Well, part of me is still human, I live here in this world. And they're my friends."

"Friends," he made a gruff sound in the back of his throat, "there is no such thing. Allies maybe, alliances yes, but not true friendship. It's an illusion."

Kurama locked gazes with him, emerald meeting crimson red. "You think so? That's not true." he said simply.

"You're being naive then. Some kitsune you are."

Hiei would express his opinion at any moment without an once of regret. The words that came out his mouth could be harsh at times, but Kurama didn't mind it so much. "What would you call me then?" he replied, "If I'm being naive and calling you my friend. Your ally? An ally doesn't bother to wonder when you're sad, nor do they hang out with you because they enjoy your company. You see them..." he gestured to the others up ahead.

Kuwabara seemed to be telling a story or a joke while Yusuke looked on with amusement, his arm casually slung around Keiko's shoulders. Botan was laughing about something, her blue ponytail bouncing in the wind. An aura of warmth moved off them in waves, and love was the only way to describe the feeling.

Kurama continued. "That's not an 'alliance.' That's friendship. And as much as you probably hate to hear this, you're apart of it."

He didn't bother to read Hiei's expression, but he felt the youkai's gaze on him as he picked up his pace. He walked ahead and stopped, looking at him with genuine patience. He held out his hand in an expression of welcome. "It's not in your nature. But humor us will you?"

Hiei's eyes widened a fraction, baffled at Kurama's behavior. But whether he liked it or not, the kitsune's words slowly sunk in. He was the Forbidden child, he killed without thought, he didn't belong in that positive energy. Yet those thoughts fell away as he was pulled towards the light like a magnet. The condemned ones always long for the sun.

The wind blew past framing Kurama's face with his long red locks, vague light reflecting off his angled cheeks. For a second Hiei could see the tricky fox that lurked within, yet his look was unguarded and serene. His natural suspicion searched for malice in that face, but could fine none.

Hiei shrugged. "Fine."

He walked at Kurama's side and joined the group, the barrage of energy's swirling around him. Yusuke's energy was like a fire, while Kuwabara's was sharp and clean like a physic. Keiko's was calm and compassionate, and Botan's was pure and bubbly. And he was currently the center of it all.

Yusuke nudged his shoulder, a cheeky grin across his lips. "Hey there Hiei, you finally done trailing us like a ghost?"

"The midget's here, our groups complete!" Kuwabara laughed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Hey Hiei-san." Keiko smiled meekly.

"See! Isn't this just so nice?" Botan chirped.

Hiei caught Kurama's eyes again and nodded in acknowledgment. Sure, they were decent humans, he could put up with them. But he didn't necessarily trust everyone, he didn't like all of them, and he definitely wasn't going to adopt their shiny morals anytime soon.

But it was good enough.

Kurama smiled.

"So Hiei, what did you think of the movie?" Botan asked.

He grumbled. "I don't know. I slept through the stupid thing."

Laughter erupted in the night as they continued through the city, making their way to an ice cream parlor under the light of the moon.

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Heart of Youkai

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:04:03 GMT

Heart of Youkai Chapter Four
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating PG-13/Teen(Again, violence and language)
Genre Romance/General

I don't like this chapter very much. It don't think it's written as well. It's such a pain in the ass, it takes hours to drag a few paragraphs outta me. >( It's usually fun, but I'm in a bad mood right now. I'll post it on FF.net later, when I feel like seriously editing.

Happy news; I got most of the kinks worked out. I'm hoping the bizarreness of this fic will come out nice in the end. ~~I HOPE~~. ~~Fuck~~ there's too many characters. I want each of them to have importance, instead of just being there. Lurking in the background. ><

I need green tea. ;_;

One thing I've noticed that's kinda weird; listening to the same band(Skillet) when I write helps the words come out faster. xD So now I hear specific songs and think of this fic. ~~Skillet I'm so, so sorry.~~

He immediately spotted the girl hovered in the corner.

Yusuke met her gaze and she flinched instantly. Her eyes widened as she clutched that little weapon for all she was worth. "Go away!" she said, hair hanging wildly in her face. But she wasn't fooling anyone. He could sense the fear moving off her in waves.

Yusuke's lips turned into a grin. "What if I don't want to?"

Her angry expression faltered but she continued to eye him warily. She flashed the sword in the light like a frightened kitten bearing it's claws. "Get out."

He frowned. "Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't answer to you." He straightened up, getting rid of his natural slouch and standing to his full height, letting her know who was really in charge of the situation.

"I don't care, get away from me."

He raised his brows. She had some guts at least. Most village women panicked at the sight of him, running around in circles like chickens with their heads cut off. How old was this girl anyway?

"Please, just go away." she repeated.

Yusuke let out a sigh. He walked over and crouched down in front of her. "Whatever. Listen, have you seen any..uh, ice girls around here? I'll leave you alone if you tell me."

Her face went still and cold like a stone, which probably meant she was hiding something. "Well have you?" he persisted. He leaned in closer to her, strands of his black hair brushing against her neck. "I dunno who you are," he growled, sending her a scowl that would make any youkai run for cover, "and I don't think you know who I am, but let me fill you in. I could tear you to pieces if I wanted. It'd be wise for you to answer me."

She glared at him and remained silent. Her arm jerked once as if she were about to strike out with the sword. Surely she had more sense than that.

Her brown eyes seemed to burn with emotion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She was convincing, but not convincing enough. He caught the tremor of hesitation in her voice. "I think you're lying."

Her lips parted in a reply, but instead she took a desperate chance. She swung the katana at him in one swift movement.

Big mistake. Yusuke jerked back and caught her wrist, the blade coming within an inch of his face. He tightened his grip hard enough to make her drop the sword, which fell out of her fingers instantly.

She whimpered in pain and he let go. He kicked the weapon across the room, out of her reach. "You're not stubborn or anything." he grumbled.

Sweat trickled down her forehead as she stared at him in horror, wishing she could take back what she just did. She was out of options now. But she remained tight-lipped and told him nothing, putting her own safety in jeopardy.

Yusuke fought the urge to tug at his hair in frustration. "This is going nowhere..." He groaned, mellowing out his hostile facade. "Just tell me where she is and I'll leave your village alone ok? I don't have time to play games. I know you know what I'm talking about."

But the girl continued to peer at him without a word, those brown eyes trying to examine his motif. Unshed tears glittered on her lashes.

His expression turned cool. "What's your name?"

She moved her head back, startled. "Excuse me?"

"I said what's your name?"

"Why?" she snapped, suspicion laced in her voice.

"God I was just wondering." he scoffed, "Don't frikken overthink it!"

She bit her lip. "Keiko."

He nodded slowly. "Keiko huh? Well Keiko, let me ask again. Where's that ice woman? Lemme guess, she's laying low with the other villagers somewhere right? I'll flush them all out of their little hiding places if you don't tell me."

Her composure cracked as angry tears began rolling down her cheeks. "Shut up! I don't know! Please, I don't know..."

He stood suddenly. "Fine, then I'll find her myself. Thanks for nothing." He turned away from her and headed towards the doorway, wincing at the sharp pain in his side. Blood ran down his legs and started a crimson trail on the floor.

Keiko wiped the moisture from her eyes, desperation and worry slipping into her expression. She couldn't let him leave yet. She couldn't let him find the villagers. "Wait!"

Yusuke stopped, turning around to face her. "Change your mind?"

Keiko looked down at her feet. "Ah...you, um...you're bleeding, I can heal your wounds."

"What?" He narrowed his eyes, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. "Why the hell would you want to do that?"

Keiko drew herself up off the floor and walked over to a cabinet on the opposite wall. Yusuke crossed his arms, watching with mild curiosity. People generally didn't react with kindness when threatened. He knew she was up to something.

He expected her to pull out another weapon, but instead she brought out a handful of herbs and a roll of bandages. "This should stop the wound from getting infected." she stated simply. Her face was still lit with anxiety and anger, despite the calm of her voice. "And the herbs will stop the bleeding."

Yusuke scowled, realization slowly dawning on him. "Hold on, I know exactly what you're doing you little pain! You're stalling! How stupid do you think I am?"

Keiko bit her tongue, stopping herself from saying something nasty. "That's not it!"

"Yeah, right." He rolled his eyes. "You're such a bad liar."

Yusuke grunted in discomfort and plopped down onto the floor. "Heal my wounds then," he said, propping his elbow up on his knee in a nonchalant manner. "I know I said I was in a hurry, but this cut is really annoying. So go ahead."

It was strange, he acted almost...human, like Yukina did. But Yukina was no where near this irritating. "Fine."

She went over and sat down beside him, her heart racing at being so close again. He could reach out and easily snap off one her limbs at any moment. But it was a chance she had to take. Her loved ones would be in worse danger if her bravery failed her now.

"Try not to move for a sec." Keiko said as she pressed the herbs against the wound. It was a deep, long cut that ran from his lower back up to his ribcage. A scab was already beginning to form along his skin. "When did this happen?"

He shrugged. "Last night I guess."

An injury like that would surely kill a human, but his body was healing itself on it's own. She grimaced at the blood that ran in between her fingers and all over Shizuru's kimono.

Yusuke waited, his black hair tossed over one shoulder and out of her way. His muscles bunched and relaxed at her touch that brushed against his skin. He caught the light scent of Lavender. But she wasn't using Lavender was she?

Keiko leaned in and wrapped the thick bandages around his waist quickly, her fingers trembling. That long dark hair reminded her of a lions mane, and it tickled her hands when she touched his opposite side.

"What's your name?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

"Yusuke."

Funny, that sounded familiar. She shook her head, waving the thought away. Yusuke was a fairly common name.

A few moments passed as Keiko worked on his side. She concentrated on cleaning up the wound, trying to ignore the fact that she was touching a youkai. The reality of the situation sent shivers of alarm down her spine, and she only hoped stalling gave her friends time to prepare for an attack.

Yusuke directed his gaze away from her, staring straight ahead at the wall. Rays of the morning sun drifted through the doorway and onto the floor, lighting up the dull brown of the wood flooring. He still kept smelling the perfume of Lavender, adding to the dreamy quality of the atmosphere.

Which vanished when Keiko yanked roughly on the bandages.

"OW! Shit that's sore!"

She grinned triumphantly to herself as she tied the ends of the cloth, unable to stop the sarcasm from dripping into her voice. "Oh, I forgot. I'm sorry."

Yusuke leaned away and moved her hands off his side, pushing himself out of her reach. "I'm sure you are." he said, peering at her with a snarky grin on his face. "But thanks for the clean up."

Keiko stared at him in surprise. Did he just...? She hadn't expected a thank you from him. She really hadn't wanted to do this much interaction with him at all. "Sure." she grumbled. It was all for her friends. She hugged her arms to her side, trying to calm her nerves. She was in this situation for them.

He stood up from the floor and shook his head, moving his hair out of his face. He stretched lazily, testing the strength of the bandages. "Hey, do yourself a favor and get out of this place by tomorrow."

Keiko jerked her head up to look at him, his words churning a sinking sensation in her stomach "What?"

"Just trust me. Get out of here alright?"

"Why?"

He made a vague sound in the back of his throat. "Because. Things are gonna get dangerous. This coming from a youkai! So shut up and do it." He spun around to leave, but sent her once last glance over his shoulder. His dark brown gaze met her light brown one. "Sayonara."

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Shuichi raced through the empty village with the swiftness of a fox. His long crimson hair flailed out behind him as he searched for any sign of movement.

"Keiko!" he called, only to have his own voice echo back in a reply. "Keiko!" he yelled again. No use hiding his location, the youkai probably knew where he was. Even the lowest of them could smell a human and sense his aura from miles and miles away.

The redhead couldn't believe that Keiko would wander off like that. She knew how dangerous it was.

He cursed himself silently, biting his tongue in frustration. He couldn't be there to protect everyone. If only he were stronger...

At least the sun was up, and the lights shown over the mountains to guide his way. He clutched his weapon, not a sword, but a long winding whip covered in thorns. It could slice a boulder in half with no effort, making it a deadly defense against tough demon hide and bone.

He passed house after house until he came to his own. He stepped cautiously up to the walkway, but stopped immediately when he noticed something was off. The door was gone.

The wind ran past him, carrying the wave of power he had felt earlier. But it was much stronger now, or closer, and it sent ripples of energy through is body. He felt it, the forest animals felt it, and even the grass around tremored with it as they wilted in the breeze.

And the source of this energy walked out of Shuichi's own house.

He immediately bristled, eying the dark markings that ran across the stranger's arms and torso. He had matted black hair that cascaded down his back, framing a face that regarded him with mild interest. Most youkai didn't look like that, and Shuichi knew instantly what he was.

A variety of emotions moved in his stomach, but his expression gave away nothing. The stranger was a Mazoku, the sort of demon that devoured humans for food. And Keiko was an ideal meal for one; young, healthy, and defenseless.

Shuichi was far from weak even though he was human. He could send youkai running for cover with one crack of his rosewhip. He fought off numerous raid attempts, keeping the village one of the more populous areas in this region. But despite this, he wasn't sure if he could take on this breed of demon.

He fixed a stern gaze on the stranger, hostility shining behind those emerald green eyes. "Leave now and go back to whatever land you came from."

The Mazoku came closer, a hateful smile spreading across his face. Shuichi held up his whip, the string of thorns dangling down to the ground and brushing against his legs. "Keep your distance." he warned.

"Sorry, can't do that." he said, waving the threat away. "I'm on a mission here, so get out of my way."

Shuichi didn't move.

"Are you deaf or something? I said get lost!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Shuichi growled, his voice cold and laced with dangerous undertones. He felt the pulse of his energy leak out from his core. "And I can't let you go any further. I suggest you go back. You are not welcome here."

The youkai's expression changed when he truly looked at Shuichi, the way a warrior sizes up his opponent. His eyes darkened. "There's something...strange about you, but I can't figure it out."

Shuichi waited for his next move, straining all his senses in an attempt to understand his motive. The man's fists were raw and bruised, but his build wasn't all that tall or buff, and he carried no weapons. This was a bad sign; it meant he could do damage barehanded.

But Shuichi would fight if that's what it came down to. He was the only thing standing between this youkai and the villagers. "Leave." he said again. He noted the dark blood that stained the Mazoku's side. Where was Keiko?

The youkai shook his head. "As much as I'd love the fight you, 'cause I don't think you're a normal human..I can't right now. So get over it, whip-boy."

"Don't call me that."

He scowled. "Look, I don't want to argue with someone again. You haven't seen an ice maiden around anywhere have you?"

Shuichi said nothing as he stood there with impatience, the wind moving the whip around him like a tail.

The man let out an annoyed sigh. "Didn't think so."

To the redhead's surprise, the stranger turned around, leaving his back unguarded and bare. He was either foolish or very confident that Shuichi wouldn't attack him. "I'm outta here." he said before he started off in the opposite direction.

Shuichi's shoulders sagged in relief. But he had to know one thing before it was over. The bandages on the youkai's side weren't bleeding, yet the stains on his legs and arms looked fresh. "Did you hurt a girl?"

His heart felt like a dead weight in his chest. But he had to know.

"No." he said, not bothering to turn around. The sense of conflict in the air dispersed completely, like it had never been there to begin with. "I didn't."

Shuichi thought over his answer warily. But despite his better logic, he believed him. It was baffling, but true.

He waited until he was out of sight before darting into the house, the floorboards squeaking loudly when he entered the room. "Keiko?"

She glanced up at him with surprise, eyes wide and lips quivering, but unharmed. "Shuichi? Thank god-" she stood up and launched at him with a hug, forcing him to drop his rosewhip. She began sputtering out excuses and apologies. "I'm sorry I ran off. I didn't mean to put you all in danger, and where is everyone? Are they alright? Listen, that youkai-"

"Relax," he smiled cooly, "no one's been hurt, and the youkai just left."

Her mouth fell open. "You ran into him?"

"Yeah."

She tugged on his arm. "No, no, he's after Yukina! We can't let him-"

"Wait, who's Yukina?"

Keiko bit her lip. "The ice maiden me and Botan rescued last night. But that's not important right now...he's looking for her, and she's in the cave with everyone else."

"Well we'd better get back there quickly." He paused, frowning. "Why are you covered in blood?"

She glanced down at her kimono, which had splotches of red across the front and sleeves. "Oh it's not my blood."

He gave her a confused look.

She shook her head. "I'll tell you on the way to the forest. There's alot of things I think you need to know, I think we're gonna be in some serious trouble."

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"How dare you, you little shit!"

The man charged at Hiei, barreling straight at him with the strength of a bull. His eyes were wide with fear and rage as he brought down a dull sword, aiming straight at his head. But Hiei stepped to the side, avoiding the attack with little effort. "Too slow."

The man crashed onto the floor.

Hiei glared down at him with cold apathy. Normally he would have finished him long ago, but the bastard had wanted a fight. "There's no way you can harm me. I suggest you give up now."

"I'm so sick of this, you demons, you can't do this forever!"

"That's where you're wrong." Hiei said calmly. "We can, and we will. The human race won't be around much longer when the new king comes to power. You should thank me for killing you fools when I did."

The man's dirty face twisted into anger as he pushed himself to a standing position. He was the village protector, he couldn't let the fire demon destroy everything he had loved. But he was failing. With arms built like tree trunks and head nearly touching the ceiling, he towered over Hiei both in weight and height. Yet he had no chance.

An Hiei was unafraid. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

He ended the man's life with one slash of his sword. That ugly liquid splashed out of the body like a reminder of an old tune heard over and over again.

He moved out of the house and into the village. Bright flames reached for the sky as they ground homes and lives into the dust. Soon there would be nothing left of the little village, save for the ghostly memories of those who had perished in an earthly hell. No one would remember them.

Yellow light reflected into Hiei's crimson eyes, which shone like rubies amongst the devastation. Burning embers surrounded his form, giving him the appearance of a dark deity, a fallen saint. The heat warmed his skin as he walked within the inferno.

Yukina was not here. But what else had he expected?

He took off his cloak and tossed it into the fire.

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Heart of Youkai

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:03:20 GMT

Heart of Youkai Chapter Three
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating PG-13/Teen(good amount of violence in this chapter.)
Genre General/Romance

I know I said the last chapter took forever to write, but this one took even longer. I was up until one 'o clock in the morning trying to finish it. xD And it's still not perfect. ;_; But I'm a novice writer so meh.

This story is going to eat me alive. I keep introducing more and more characters! Which means more and more subplots and relationships...*falls over*

Moments of Hellsing fandom leaked into this somehow. xD Especially at the very end. X_x How did I manage that?

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"Run this by me again, you did what?"

Shizuru Kuwabara leaned back against the wall, a skeptical expression on her face. She watched Botan and Keiko attempt to explain themselves. Her eyes narrowed in disapproval, light brown hair tossed over her shoulder. "That's stupid and reckless. You could have gotten yourselves killed!"

"I know I know!" Botan said, her voice slightly squeaky. She expected go get a lecture and maybe a pop on the head from Shizuru. "And we're very sorry, but we had to do something!"

Still, the bluette believed that going to Shizuru's place was a better plan than running home and waking a wrathful Shuichi. She could persuade her to make up some excuse as to why her and Keiko weren't home in the morning, and say Yukina came from a neighboring village. Well, maybe. Fate had been on their side so far.

"She was being tortured." Keiko said calmly, sitting back against the wall, keeping her distance from Shizuru. "We couldn't ignore that, I mean..."

"Yeah well, since when is it your job to rescue people?" she replied. Shizuru crossed her arms and walked over to Botan, glaring down at the younger girl. "If either of you ever do something that stupid again I swear I'm gonna..."

She stopped, looking past her and at Yukina. She had settled next to Keiko, sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. She kept quiet during the whole argument, studying them with those calm ruby eyes.

Shizuru's angry demeanor melted. "Hey. Is Keiko right? Were people hurting you?"

Yukina lifted her gaze, lips turning into a polite smile. "Yes. And I'm sorry that I put your friends in danger, I tried to warn them not to rescue me...but-"

"Oh well I don't mean it that way. No offense to you, it's just..." she paused, rethinking her words. "Actually, we're glad you're here with us. Sorry I'm being so rude."

"You're not. It's nice to meet you."

She smiled. "Likewise."

Shizuru turned around, facing the hall that led to her brother's room. It was pitch black outside, and all the windows were shut tightly. Candles lit up the darkest of corners, casting shadows across the wall, giving the house an sleepy, comforting atmosphere. "Kazuma! Get out here, we've got guests."

There was a faint shuffling sound, followed by a loud groan. Someone stomped down the hall like an angry bear, and soon a young man appeared in the doorway. He was tall and bulky, with a bright patch of orange hair on his head. His eyelids drooped with sleep. "Who the heck visits this late in -- oh. Hey you guys."

"Evening Kuwabara." Keiko said. "Sorry to wake you."

"Kuwabara, this is Yukina." Botan said, gesturing towards the girl. "She's uh, new here."

Yukina gave him the same look she had shown Shizuru. "Hello, nice to meet you."

Kuwabara's brown eyes turned to her. "How's it-" His jaw dropped, as if an unseen forced suddenly slapped him in the face.

A baffled look crossed Yukina's features. She bowed low, thinking she had somehow offended him. Her green kimono shifted with her when she moved, framing her petite figure, like a butterfly wrapped in velvet.

He stared, not bothering to blink.

Shizuru coughed loudly.

She snapped him from his daze. He straighted up, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "S-sorry, where're my manners? Yukina was it? I'm Kuwabara, but you can call me Kazuma." He flashed her a wide grin. "Are you from the neighboring village?"

Yukina blinked, a nervous smile at her lips. "Um..."

Keiko held in a giggle, and Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Little brother, you're an idiot."

Kuwabara scowled, swinging around to face his sister. "C'mon, I'm being nice."

"Right. Well please don't make a fool out of yourself." She grumbled, then directed her attention to Yukina, who watched them both with a perplexed expression. "We don't get many visitors, as you can tell."

Her smile brightened. "It's ok. You all seem nice to me."

Kuwabara dropped down next to Shizuru, eyes still straying to Yukina. Botan laughed to herself, amused by the situation. Keiko studied the flame of a candle, chewing her bottom lip, the light catching the auburn shades in her hair.

She had to know. "Not to kill the mood of the conversation, but..." Keiko whispered, placing a hand on Yukina's shoulder. "Why were you held up in that awful place?"

Botan's eyes flashed, but she said nothing.

Yukina didn't wince, nor did her facade falter in the slightest. Keiko's question had been floating in the air all evening. "I was captured a long time ago."

Kuwabara frowned. "Captured? What're you talking about?"

Shizuru nudged him. "I'll tell you later, alright."

"Where do you come from? I mean...why would anyone want to take you?" Keiko pressed.

"My tears," she gingerly touched the corners of her eyes, "are valuable to some. I didn't know this when I left my village, but the pearls of ice apparitions are sought after by youkai and humans." She sighed. "Some bandits found me and took me prisoner, and I've been locked up there ever since."

"Ice apparition?" Shizuru quirked an eyebrow.

Keiko cringed. "So you're not..human?" she asked, removing her hand from her shoulder.

Yukina peered at her with mild surprise. "Why would you think that I was? I'm a youkai."

A startled silence filled the room. Everyone fixed a heavy gaze on her, and the friendly faces suddenly became serious. It was as if she has uttered a shocking taboo.

Keiko swallowed her natural fear, her expression slipping into one of caution. "You're a demon?"

"You don't act like one." Shizuru pointed out.

"You don't look like one." Kuwabara said.

Yukina fiddled with her kimono sleeve. "But aren't my features unnatural to humans?"

"That's true, but look at Botan. Her hair's blue, and she's human." Shizuru said.

"Y-yeah!" Botan chirped, plastering a fake smile on her lips. The sudden attention on her made her jump. She had been keenly listening to the conversation, noting every word spoken. Hope no one noticed her hesitation.

They didn't, all eyes were on Yukina. Kuwabara leaned forward. "You can't be a youkai. Youkai are big nasty monsters, and you aren't any of those things."

"Some of them are bad, yes, but not all. I come from a village of youkai women, and we don't go around killing humans or fighting each other. We live in peace."

"Are you a youkai human mix then?"

Keiko gaped at him. "That's not possible. Who would..."

Kuwabara shrugged. "I dunno, I've heard stories."

Botan spoke up suddenly. "So you don't have anything against humans?"

Yukina looked away, disregarding their judgment. She couldn't blame them for it. Humans were treated so badly here. "No. There are good and evil ones, just like there are good and bad youkai. Humans and youkai held me captive, so in my eyes they're the same."

The room became quiet again. Her words sunk into everyone's thoughts, cooling down their curiosity and bringing sympathy back up to the surface.

"We're the good ones." Kuwabara said, holding his hands out as if to comfort her. "Sorry that you've been hurt, but we're not like that. Please don't hate us."

She caught the sincere tone in his voice. "I know that. After all, Botan and Keiko saved me." she beamed at him. "It's okay."

"And we know you're not like..most youkai." Keiko said, giving her a cool smile. "We're glad you're safe."

"Thank you."

Shizuru let out a long breath. "Now that that's over with...come over here Yukina, we've got to bandage those wounds. Keiko and Botan, you two get yourselves cleaned up, you can borrow some of my clothes."

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"I think we killed all of 'em."

Hiei swung a burning gaze to Yusuke, his lips pulled back into a snarl. "I don't understand, she should have been here! She was here, dammit how did we miss her?!"

Yusuke examined a cut on his fist, ignoring the aching wounds on his side. "Maybe she escaped," he said, "she couldn't have gone too far."

The demons stood in a ruined castle, a section of one wall destroyed, the broken bodies of men and youkai visible to the outside forest. The smell of meat and blood hung so thick in the air that they could taste it. Yusuke grimaced at the flavor of copper on his tongue.

"She's definitely not here, anyway." he said.

Hiei removed the bandanna around his forehead and closed his eyes. A pulse of power echoed throughout the room as his Jagan eye opened, it's iris a glowing splash of violet.

Yusuke frowned. "I thought you couldn't find her with that."

"They had her sealed up with some kind of sutra, but not anymore."

His third eye gave out another wave of energy before it revealed the images to him. He saw the thick woods and empty plateaus that made up this region. He saw numerous, unnamed youkai blundering through the distant mountains. Nothing useful.

Hiei's forehead ached as he waited, but the vision of his sister finally brought the images to a halt.

"She's in a neighboring village."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. One had to poke and prod to get an informative conversation out of Hiei. "Great, lets go then! Can't stand here forever you know, my attention span's limited."

Hiei's Jagan closed shut as his eyes fluttered open. "Something's not right, I can't pinpoint her exact location."

"What, your Yukina senses aren't tingling?"

He sent him an angry look. "This isn't something to make jokes about."

Yusuke ignored the glare and wiped a smudge of sticky liquid off his own cheek. He never liked Hiei's cut and slash technique, it was too messy. "There shouldn't be many villages around here. We can search a few, find her then leave."

"You know it doesn't work that way." he said, wrapping his bandanna back around his head. "We'll wipe out any vermin too."

Yusuke opened his mouth in a reply, but closed it, rethinking his words. "Yeah, about that..."

A pained groan sounded to their right. They turned to face the noise, their eyes widening when they saw its source. "Oh. I forgot he was still alive." Yusuke remarked, shrugging. "He hurt your girlfriend, so I guess you can do the honors."

"She's not my girlfriend." Hiei snapped, eyes locked on the dying man.

He slinked over to him, the way a wolf walks to it's wounded prey. The man lay flat on his back, fists clenched in pain. His entire body began quivering at Hiei's approach, fat lips choking on air like a fish out of water.

Yusuke leaned against the wall, eyes distant and face turned away. Having to listen to the carnage was bad enough.

Hiei drew his sword downwards, stopping an inch from the man's neck. "Any last words before I cut your throat?"

The man shook violently, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Hn, I didn't think so." Hiei pressed the blade further down until it pierced skin, then swung it sideways with full force, cutting the bone and severing the head from the shoulders. An ugly slick sound echoed loudly as liquid hit the floor.

Hiei stared at the dead man, gripping the sword so tight that it sent surges of pain through his fingers. He had done it. He killed the source of his sister's suffering. Yet he felt no better, the hate was still there. Why?

"There's a village uphill from here." He told Yusuke after a moment. "Look for her, turn the place upside down and I'll catch up to you tomorrow night. I'll search the one up in the mountains."

Yusuke peered at him, all humor gone from his face. "Do I need to summon the crew for a raid?"

"Not yet. Wait until tomorrow."

Yusuke scowled. "How am I supposed to find her? I don't know what she looks like. You failed to tell me those details."

Hiei fixed a heavy stare on him, but Yusuke caught his hesitation. "She's an...ice maiden. Long green hair, pretty features, red eyes. Don't forget it."

With that he was gone, seeming to flit away back into the shadows.

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"This wild goose chase is getting old! I mean I wonder if that girl even exists. Maybe I'm running after a figment of his warped imagination." Yusuke grumbled to himself, smacking leaves away from his face as he made his way towards the village.

He stomped through the underbrush of the forest. The pink tint of morning hung over the horizon, the rising sun chasing away the darkness. Yusuke concealed his powerful demon energy in the hope that some clueless youkai would pick a fight with him. He was tired, irritated, and in the mood for a good brawl.

But not a good murder. He cringed despite himself. He knew that the bastard had deserved it in the end, but watching Hiei's cold apathy towards slaughtering a human had been disturbing in so many ways. Then again, that crap always bothered him, he didn't enjoy seeing people maimed. He was around it alot, but he never got used to it.

Personally he'd rather use his fist to knock the hell out of some demon. Not a human, it wasn't a fair fight. He couldn't blame Hiei for doing what he did, though.

He stopped, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. A devious smile eased across his face as he waited.

A snarling youkai sprang out from the bushes. "Food!" It growled out in a rough, calloused voice, lunging towards him with giant claws. "I'll kill you!"

Yusuke's smile busted into an all out grin as he grabbed the creature by the wrist, avoiding it's claws and nearly jerking the arm out of it's socket. "You wanna fight me then?"

The youkai let out a scream. "No, no forgive me I thought you were human!"

Yusuke dropped the demon and it fell to the ground with a thump. It gaped up at him with big yellow eyes, trying to make itself as small as possible. It's snout was a mess of teeth and blood. Yusuke sneered. "Didn't know I was a youkai huh?" he said, frowning. "And..what the hell happened to your nose?"

The demon backed up, creeping out of his way. "Two armed human women." It growled.

Yusuke threw his hands up in exasperation. "Girls! The source of everyone's problems these days!" He sighed. "Seriously, am I the only one who's not driven crazy by some chick? Get lost gecko, you're too puny to beat up anyway."

It slithered into the bushes and took off, disappearing into the forest. Yusuke watched it go, his mind drifting once again. He shook his head, his thick hair brushing against his back. He sneaked down the hill, unmasking his demon energy in a vague warning to the village. "Here we go again." He whispered.

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Yukina's eyes snapped open. She bolted upright in her futon, her hands quivering in fear.

She had been locked in a deep sleep, finally able to rest knowing that she was safe. No bandit lurked behind to harm her when she was helpless. Bandages covered the scars and burns on her arms, a clean kimono on her back.

But something had jarred her awake. Danger tugged at an invisible string, sounding the bell of alarm in her head. She sensed that only someone ridiculously powerful could carry that much energy, and they probably weren't friendly.

She reached out and tapped Shizuru, who lay less than a foot away. "Miss Shizuru, please." She shook her, trying to rose her from her sleep. "You have to wake up, we need to get out of here."

The brunette rolled over and blinked, waiting for recognition to sink in. "Huh?" she groaned, messy hair hanging in her face like a silk certain.

"Someone's coming this way," Yukina persisted, "I don't know who, but they're strong. You need to get everyone someplace safe!"

There was a loud banging on the door. The girls jumped up, startled, immediately searching the room for weapons. Shizuru grabbed a katana that was laying on the floor and walked over to the barrier between them and a possible monster. She listened through the door, completely awake now. Her heart pumped wildly in her chest.

All the noise woke Botan and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's 'goin on?"

Yukina pressed her back against the wall, a faint blue aura surrounding her body. The temperature dropped in the room as her panic rose. She feared the bandits found her and were out for revenge. They would slaughter everyone in this little village, and she could do nothing.

"Let me in, it's Shuichi!"

Shizuru dropped the sword, which fell to the ground, forgotten. "Thank god!" She swung the door open. Shuichi and Shiori stood in the entrance-way, still wrapped in their night kimono, holding out a dying candle. Shadows danced across Shuichi's face, revealing flecks of gold in his eyes. His mother looked worried, her brows drawn up in sadness and her dark hair falling out of its braid.

"Are you trying to scare the hell out of us?" Shizuru yelled, but stopped when she noticed his stern expression. Her blood ran cold. "What's wrong?"

"We need to head for the forest, something nasty is coming this way." Shuichi warned, his voice eerily calm. "Have you seen Keiko and-"

He spotted Botan in the corner. She cringed, but gave him a sheepish smile. "Um. Hi." She rose her hand as if to wave, then dropped it back to her side.

"How did you-" He rubbed his temples, letting out a great sigh. "You know what, never mind, we don't have time."

Kuwabara appeared in the room. "What's all the yelling about?"

Shizuru yanked her brother to her. He grabbed on to Yukina, pulling her along as everyone crowded together, trudging faithfully behind Shuichi. Botan picked her katana off the floor and sheathed it against her hip.

The ice maiden tapped Kuwabara on the shoulder, ignoring his hard grip on her wrist. It was uncomfortable, but not tight enough to hurt. She could tell that he was terrified, she could almost feel the fear trailing from his hand. "Where're we going?" She asked.

He smiled, but no warmth reached his eyes. "To safety, don't worry."

They hurried past neighboring houses and gardens, meeting a group of villagers standing on the outskirts of the forest. More and more people dribbled into the crowd, toting pets and crying children with them into the woods.

A large cave appeared, standing out among the trees, it's hole a mass of cold darkness. The brown rocks surrounding the entrance were jagged, the ground around it damp and soggy. Every person in the village had seen it before, it was their only source of refuge from attack in times of emergencies.

Groups of four and five creeped into the entrance, a single candle their only guide through the black. The trees blocked the light of morning as families hovered together for comfort. Men and women held onto dull blades and spears, prepared to fight if forced to.

Shiori had a deep frown on her face as she surveyed the members of her own party. She had never seen Yukina before, but she hardly noticed the girl. Something else bothered her. Someone was missing.

"Where's Keiko?"

Everyone whirled around to gape at her, mouths hanging open in shock. "Keiko!" Botan screamed. "I can't believe we didn't notice!"

Shizuru's hands began trembling but she kept a calm voice. "She was..there when we went to bed."

The group erupted into a frenzied conversation, trying to remember where she was last seen and where she could have gone.

Kuwabara cracked his knuckles. "I'll go look for her, we can't leave her out there alone."

"No." Shuichi stopped him, that dark note still laced under his tone. "You stay with the women and protect them here. I'll find her."

No one protested. Shuichi was their best fighter and probably Keiko's only chance. Kuwabara nodded, vowing to defend the girls no matter what.

Shiori tugged on her son's shoulder. "Please be careful." she whispered. "They don't know what's out there. It's a youkai, I don't want to lose you to those monsters."

"Don't worry," he smiled, "I'll be back. Those...monsters, won't harm me."

Botan watched with apprehension, chewing on her nails. How could she not have noticed? "Oh Keiko..."

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She headed home, padding quietly across the rusty landscape, keeping her senses alert to any signs of danger.

Keiko ran a hand through her chestnut color hair, sighing ruefully. She had snuck out of the Kuwabara home to take a walk, despite her better judgment. She couldn't sleep, couldn't dream, and she was tired, both in body and soul. She was on the verge of exhaustion, but still..she couldn't go to bed. Too many things bothered her.

So she had gone out in the wee hours of morning when the moon finally descended along the horizon. She went to her spot on the hill to think. Maybe make some sense why she was feeling so blue. She was never good at picking out her emotions.

Those ruby eyes were kind, but...foreign. Yukina was nice, and she liked her so far. The girl was polite, considerate, and probably more traumatized than Keiko could ever imagine. So she was drawn to her in the way that friends are drawn to one other. Yukina was hurting, and she wanted to help her through the pain.

But it was different. Yukina wasn't human. No matter how she acted or where she came from, she was still an enemy.

She didn't see her that way. That was the problem! She felt guilty sympathizing with someone she should hate. Her parents would surely be disgusted if they saw her helping a demon. Compassion couldn't transcend the boundaries between human and youkai.

Keiko came to a stop when she reached the village. What she saw made her glance around in confusion.

No one was there. The howling wind scraped across empty rooftops.

It was early in the morning, but still..there would be at least a few people moving about between houses. She should hear the happy barking of a dog or the gossiping of neighbors. Yet there was nothing.

Logic screamed at her when the facts finally sunk in. It took her a minute to process what she knew, because she didn't want to believe it. "Shizuru? Botan? Hello?" she called in a hoarse voice.

For the second day in a row terror gripped her senses and refused to let go. And empty village meant a youkai came through. But there were no bodies or broken buildings. The people must have fled to the forest.

And she was left alone.

She heard footsteps somewhere close. Keiko didn't bother to turn around as she bolted, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

She dove into her house, almost tripping on the porch in the process. Something laughed at her in a deep, predatory voice, the way a cat laughs at a dying mouse. Fury mixed with her fear. Life was only a toy to them, wasn't it?

Keiko slammed the door, bolted up all the locks and ran into a corner. She clutched the katana to her chest, praying to the gods that her friends were safe and that she could survive this.

The door busted open off it's hinges, and Keiko let out an angry cry. "Get away from me!" She was backed in a corner. Her fists, the sword, and her adrenaline the only weapons against a creature that had many ways to kill her.

The dust settled and she forced herself to peek up at the enemy. She couldn't stop the confusion from showing on her features when she found herself staring at a young man. His hair was a black mess down to his knees, with markings thrown across lean muscle.

Her eyes narrowed. No, not a man, a monster.

And he was coming closer.

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Heart of Youkai

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:31:53 GMT

Geez, I'm bored to tears. I need to draw something, I dunno, important, like..work on perspective and realism..~~but all I wanna do is anime.~~ It's much more fun. I can do realism but it's such a pain to me and I have to be in the mood for it. I'll figure out something though.

Anyway, finally got the second chapter to this monster finished. ♥ Took me frikken forever. I'm not very good at describing action(really more of a vignette kinda person), but I guess practice helps. >>~

Heart of Youkai Chapter Two
Fandom Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating PG-13/Teen(whatever rating system you wanna go by~) =P
Genre General/Romance

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"Listen up Botan, I've got an important mission for you to carry out."

She straighted up at Koenma's serious tone. "Sir?"

The Reikai prince let out a heavy sigh. "We've got an issue. I need to ask one more favor of you."

Botan nodded, anxiety swelling in her stomach. She loved her job as a Spirit World spy, though her duty did give her one heck of an adrenaline rush.

Koenma propped his head up against his hand, as if it were tiresome to sit up straight. He talked to her in the illusion of his older form to fit the grim mood of the situation. "There's been an increase in death in the human race, and we've been trying to figure out why. I've recently gotten information from reliable sources that it's the work of a murderer, not a disease or something natural."

Botan's eyes widened. "But Koenma sir, how can-"

"Please-" he held up a hand, "let me finish. Ironic as it sounds, we don't know who the threat is, but it has something to do with a girl."

"A girl?"

"You know how these things work. We have no control over Makai, and getting any information is a blessing, so we can't be picky about it. Even though it's a real pain." he let out another sigh. "Man I've got such a headache."

He looked awful with his tousled hair hanging in his face. When was the last time he had a good nights sleep?

"To top it off, there are rumors circulating that it's going to be the end of the humans if we don't end it. The murderer is wiping out whole villages and not showing any sign of stopping."

Botan's heart dropped in her chest.

She spat out a barrage of questions. "How's Spirit World going to handle this? What's going to happen to the humans? Sir, how're we gonna stop it?"

Koenma ignored her and went on talking as if she wasn't even there. "We don't know who the girl is either, but my sources-"

"Who's your source anyway, sir?"

He paused, sending her an aggraveted look. He wasn't upset with her, his patience was just running out. "One of our undercover fighters who got picked up by this culprit. He wan't hired by the murderer himself, but by one of the members of his party, so he doesn't know who the guy is either."

He dropped his head onto the desk.

Botan clutched her oar in frustration. She wasn't technically human, but she wasn't a demon either, and she hated the thought of those monsters killing everyone she cared about.

"How can I help?"

Koenma lifted his head and peered at her, the dread returning to his face. "The unkown girl is the center of it all. Our sources know that much, and if we don't gain possesion of her then it'll be a disaster. I think she's the mastermind."

Botan waited, not wanting to interrupt him again.

"You're one of my best agents in the west, so I'm relying on you to take the first step. If you hear or see something out of the ordinary let me know. That girl is said to be in your region. If she turns up I need you to do anything you can to get her in your possession, thus in the hands of Spirit World."

"But why don't you send some of our warriors?" Really, what on earth could she do about such a thing? She wasn't a fighter!

"They're busy tracking the murderer. We're close to hitting the heart of this so I can't afford to pull them out now."

So he didn't have any other choice. Botan studied him silently for a moment then nodded. "I understand." she said in all seriousness. There was no way she could refuse with so much at risk.

"Just tell the villagers that she's a hostage of demons, or something," he whined, "I mean I know I'm asking too much, but-"

"I understand."

"You do?" He stared at her.

"Yes Koenma sir."

A smile finally came back to his face, returning him to his usual lighthearted self; centuries year old with the mind of a kid. "Sorry, you usually argue with me."

Botan stood up straight, holding her oar out like a weapon, as if she were a soldier. "I joke around y'know, but there's so much at risk now. I'll try my best to follow out your orders."

"Thank you Botan, I won't forget this. I'll promote you at once."

She bowed and strolled out of the room, pushing past the heavy doors and flying out into the wispy sky of Spirit World. Tangeled worries lay heavy in her heart while the clouds drifted past her without a care.

She was sworn to an oath of silence; a Spirit World spy here, and a common village girl in Makai. No one could know her past the ordinary facade, not even her friends.

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Botan reminded herself of why she was doing this. She had an obligation to fulfill, no backing out now, she gave Koenma her word. She gritted her teeth in determination and tried to quell her trembling knees, for fear of her legs would out under her.

She could see the outline of Keiko's small outline beside her, their arms locked to keep them from getting seperated. The sky overhead whirled around, adding to their nervouness as they ran. Botan fought back the urge to be sick.

Her eyes darted from the ground to the foliage around her, expecting danger to pop out at them at any moment; like a fawn intruding into the lion's den.

Suddenly she knocked into Keiko from the side, sending them both sprawling into a bush and onto the ground. Keiko got a mouthful of grass and tried to cough, but Botan stopped her by clamping a hand over her mouth.

Botan could only hear the sound of her own pulse. Nothing else. For a moment Keiko laid so still that she forgot she was there.

Something let out a hiss above them.

Keiko let out a squeak of horror, but it didn't get any further then Botan's fingers.

A shadow of a large form crept closer to the bushes. They could hear it sniffing the air.

The girls froze, silently praying for help. Keiko itched with the instinct to run, and Botan resisted the urge to fight. Neither one dared to move their weapons.

A scaly snout shoved its way through the bushes, smacking Botan on the head, and they did the unthinkable.

They screamed.

The youkai roared in respone, it's muzzle opening and shuting like a trap, jerking Botan back by the ponytail before she could get away.

Her heart lept up in her throat as the yelling reached a crecendo. She swung her sword at the youkai's head, but the demon saw it coming and evaded the attack.

"Let her go!" Keiko pulled Botan by the arm, trying to free her from it's grasp. It turned it's shiny eyes on her and snarled, it's pupils mere slits of black on yellow.

But Keiko wasn't affected by it's stare. She blindly stabbed again and again at the angry demon until it dropped Botan. The youkai let out a pain yell as a dark liquid splashed on their faces and clothes.

The girls took off at a frantic pace. "Oh my God," Keiko breathed, "are you alright?! What was that thing?"

"Way to go Keiko, I owe you one!" she cheered, flashing a peace sign. "Some kinda giant lizard, but I'd rather not think about what almost had me for lunch."

They sprinted uphill, their footfalls echoing in the darkness. They didn't dare glance behind in case it would hinder their vision.

The forest ended and a clearing opened up before them, like a sudden breath of air. The weeds were tall and wild all around, and in the dark they couldn't see the path in front of them.

Keiko slipped up as rock got caught under her foot. She made a sharp dive forward, dragging a surprised Botan with her downhill. She tried to regain her balance but the steep slope and Botan's weight added to the momentum.

They hit the ground hard, the prickly grass doing nothing to cushion the fall. "Owww..." Keiko moaned, as she helped a shaky Botan stand. "Sorry! I can't believe how-"

The groan of a demon interrupted her. It sounded close, and they took that as their cue to be on the move again. "Looks like that monster's mad you rearranged it's face." Botan commented. "It'd better leave us alone too, if it values it's life."

"I think it's the other way around." Keiko remarked, hoping the youkai couldn't overhear. One never knew with those creatures.

They reached the stone fortress. It's impending walls held no more comfort than the vicious woods that surrounded it. There were youkai everywhere; the castle kept out the blundering enemies but possibly held the worst ones within.

"How're we gonna get inside?" Keiko asked as she watched Botan feel the walls for any sign of a hidden entrance. "Well, you know the front's guarded, but these things usually- aha!"

Botan's fingers traced a crack on one of the bricks. She pushed on it and it slid, making an opening. She pulled on another brick beside it and it too, came lose without much effort. "Well, that was easy."

But only a small child could pass through that small a space. Her and Keiko were little, but not that little. "Help me," she gestured to the brunette, "move this one, it shouldn't be too heavy."

Five minutes passed, each second ticking away on their chance for survival. But they finally got a decent opening in the wall that maybe one of them could go through at a time.

As if on cue, the lizard demon emerged at the top of the hill. It's face was bleeding heavily and it instantly spotted the girls with a look of vehemence. It let out an ungodly roar and charged.

It would probably take less than a minute for it to reach them. Keiko's body began shaking miserably.

"Keiko, you go in first-" Botan urged.

"I can't do that, you-"

"Oh we don't have time to argue about this!" Botan shoved herself head first through the entrance, but the surrounding bricks held onto her side. She yanked herself back out, clawing at the wall and starting to panic. "Dang it, come on-"

Keiko swung her head around to see the youkai less then ten feet away. The creature's jaw opened in a sneer, knowing that it would soon be feeding on human meat. "Oh Botan, Botan we've got to do something now!"

They both tugged at the bricks with all their strength, despite their trembling fingers. A piece of the wall came lose and Botan dived through the hole, Keiko pushing in right behind her.

The youkai slammed into the wall not a second after the girls made it through. It's head would not fit through the opening, but it's nose was narrow enough that it could.

Keiko all but shoved Botan the rest of the way when she saw the gaping mouth at the beginning of the tunnel. "It can't fit! I know it can't..." she told herself.

"But it's sure trying." Botan grumbled. "It can't get through though with that fat head, just ignore it."

Keiko swallowed her fear and concentrated on the path ahead. Even if the youkai was snarling and slamming its enormous tail into the outside wall, she would not freak out. It was trying to intimidate them, that's all.

The surrounding bricks shook as the creature fought against them to get to it's human prey. "Hope this doesn't cave in." Botan said, her voice calm. She was terrified, but she hid her panic to keep from adding to Keiko's fear. "But this is pretty sturdy so I don't think it will. This must be some hidden tunnel in and out.."

The claustrophobic air of the passage ended when a room opened up before them. It's spacious, high ceilings gave it the feeling of an ancient, forgotten temple. Dusty tapestries hung from the ceilings, seeming to add to it's decrepitude. And it was empty.

Botan crawed out slowly. "Some place..it looks like no one's here at all..." she whispered, standing up, keeping her back against the wall. "It's safe right now though, better then outside."

Keiko eased herself up from the floor. "I think I can breath now." she sighed, "I thought I was gonna die back there."

"But we didn't!" The bluette sent her a tired smile. "Are we warriors or what?"

"Yeah, we're some fighters!" Keiko said half sarcastically and highfived her. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, though."

"Me neither."

Keiko studied the room, her eyes trailing to the door on the opposite wall. "Should we try it?"

"Might as well. Maybe this place is completely empty though, I mean, there couldn't possibly be youkai in here. They would've smelled us already..."

Botan marched across the room. Keiko stood to the side, back flat against the wall; her dagger posed to swing in case a threat jumped Botan when she opened the door.

The bluette wrapped her fingers around the doorknob. It was cold against her skin, as if no one had used it in years. Her heart began pounded again. She felt like she was living a horror novel.

She glanced sideways at Keiko, who gave her a nod in reassurance. The sword in her hands glinted in the dull light.

But before Botan could do anything, the door swung violently, as if someone had kicked it open.

She like out a yelp, and Keiko responded by reeling around to face the threat, posed for combat. But instead of a youkai, they found themselves staring into the face of a gigantic, dull eyed man. A bush of a beard grew on his face, a deep scar across the bridge of his nose. He inspected the girls with an air of bordum. "My shift's..over..I'm sick of babysitting this bitch, so here."

He dragged a woman out from behind him and threw her at Botan. The girl uttered a sound of surprise, then went lax in her arms. "She froze the whole goddamn room." the man spat, "thought I was gonna die from frostbite. She was giving me some weird illusions too, you'd better watch her real close. The one with the aardvark was twisted."

Riiight. Keiko watched him warily. The smell of alcohol came off of him in waves. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Botan raised an eyebrow. He was an oaf of a guy, but human nonetheless. Question was, who did he think they were?

Then it dawned on her. She truly looked at herself for the first time since they left the village. Her and Keiko were posed in a fighting stance, holding up sharp weapons with blood splatted all over everything. Not to mention her own strange blue hair, which striked others as more demonic than human. A grin eased across her face. "Yeah, well.." she said, "you don't have to deal with it, we'll handle her."

Keiko sent her a baffled look.

"It's our turn, isn't it demon slayer Keiko?" she coughed.

She got the hint. "Oh! Um, yeah, you don't have to bother. We'll take care of her."

The man grunted. "Good. Make sure 'nothin happens. If she escapes the boss'll kill us all. That wench is a goldmine."

And with that, he whirled around and left, slamming the door behind him.

"That was..painless.." Botan mumbled, amazed. She thought they were have to fight through an army of monsters and maybe lose a few limbs in the process. Not have the captive tossed right into their hands.

"That was weird.." Keiko said.

A meek cough drew their attention to the girl wrapped up against Botan. The stranger stepped back and watched them, her eyes glazed over, as if she was no where near reality. Despite the emptyness lurking beneath, her eyes were a rich with a dark maroon color, like red wine. Her hair was pulled back in waves of sea green, framing a small face.

Botan and Keiko gaped at her, at a loss for what to do. Obviously she was not human. But she didn't seem threatening whatsoever, her frame seemed more fragile than even Keiko's, and she held no visible weapons. She couldn't possibly be a demon.

The girl said nothing about their scrutiny, only stood patiently like a wilted flower.

Keiko creeped over to her. "What's your name?" she asked in a gentle tone.

"...Yukina." the stranger responded quietly, directing her gaze to the floor.

"Well Yukina," Botan chirped, not phased by the girl's shyness, "we've come to get you out of here." She tugged on her blue kimono sleeve.

"What?" Yukina said, taken aback. Her apathetic facade shattered to pieces. "You can't!"

"That's why we're here! You've been held captive haven't you?" Botan frowned. "I know we just met, but lets be friends okay? Me and Keiko came to rescue you, we've heard your screaming late at night, and it bothers us."

"Are you alright miss Yukina?" Keiko asked her in concern.

Yukina took a step back. "You can't take me from here. You don't know what you're getting yourselves into, they'd come after you if I left!"

"Who's they?"

Yukina whirled around and made a beeline for the door. "Wait!" Botan grabbed her by the shoulders. "Wait wait wait, don't run from us, we're here to help."

Yukina's crimson eyes were wide with confusion. "I-I..don't know either of you." she whispered. "I'm sorry, but-"

"Well we can't leave you here. And you're obviously not being held in good company." Keiko said flatly. She walked over and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, for fear the girl would bolt. "We're not bad guys, promise."

She regarded them silently, searching their faces for any signs of malice. But she found none, only quiet empathy from Keiko and overzealous kindness from Botan. "There's sill no way." she told them.

Botan let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry too, but you're getting out of here whether you like it or not."

Both girls looked at her with surprise. But before either could respond, Botan nearly jumped a stunned Yukina, wrapping her small arm in a deathlock, pulling the poor girl through the opening in the wall.

"Botan!" Keiko shrieked, horrified.

"C'mon! We have to hurry!"

"You can't do this! You're putting yourself in danger!" Yukina called in a squeaky voice, but was ignored.

"Ugh.." Keiko shook her head. Botan did not always respect personal space, even strangers got the full blast of her friendly nature. "I'm coming, hold on!"

Keiko caught up to them as she crawled through the tunnel. "Hey isn't that youkai still out there?" she reminded her hard-headed friend. Botan was in front, so she would see the demon first.

"Yeah, somewhere, but I think it left."

But it could still be there waiting for them. Not like they had a choice in the matter...A worried knot formed in her stomach. She gripped the trusty katana at her side.

They manged to er, rescue the girl at least. All this terror and running around hadn't been in vain; even though she'd be suffering from nightmares for weeks.

Unlike Keiko, the possibility of danger was not bothering Botan at the moment. She was too busy wondering about the stranger Yukina, Koenma's warning echoing in her mind.

"If we don't gain possession of her then it'll be a disaster. I think she's the mastermind."

There was just no way. Sure, the meek girl seemed mysterious enough, but not malevolent enough to plan the destruction of humanity. She was not a monster, Botan knew that when from looking at her.

Yet she had to be the one Spirit World was after. Yukina said people would come after them if she was removed from the hiding place. Things didn't add up no matter what you did.

Luckily the youkai was gone when they emerged from the wall. The three girls made their way back to the village at a frantic pace, Yukina getting pulled along behind them.

Fanfic: Heart of Youkai

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:47:12 GMT

Heart of Youkai, Chapter One
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating: T(Cursing, hints, of violence, blah blah)
Summary: When the Human and Demon worlds were one, a savage battle raged on between youkai and ningen kind. Who knew that a single Mazoku could change all that, for worse or for better. Yusuke/Keiko AU

AN: I seriously doubt anyone's gonna read this here, but I'm storing this fic in my journal in case my computer crashes or something, because I'm paranoid like that. xD This is the first draft and it's not ready to be put up on FF.net, though any spelling and grammar errors are corrected. >>~

This chapter is kinda strange, but things get clarified in the next chapter, promise.^^;

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"Botan, wait, where're we going?"

"Oh don't be so loud Keiko or we'll get caught! I just need to show you something."

Keiko did not like where this was going. It wasn't safe for them to be out so far from home, even this early in the day. She trusted her friend, it was the local youkai that she was uneasy with.

Botan knew what she was doing though; she was very air-headed at times, but could also be resourceful when the time called for it. Keiko swore that the girl had at least one demon relative or some other supernatural being in her bloodline, because normal humans didn't have light blue hair or eyes the color of pink roses.

She gave Keiko a light tug on her wrist as they hid themselves in the thick undergrowth. Grass pricked at her stomach and legs. "What am I suppossed to be looking at?" Keiko asked. All she could make out were endless rows of dense trees and bushes.

"You don't see it?"

"Um, no?"

"I think that's 'cause you're in the wrong spot. Look over here."

She scooted closer, peering through the weeds and trying not to completely squish Botan. After brushing a few sticks and leaves out of her way, she could see the outline of a large fortress looming in the distance, about a mile or so downhill. It appeared to be made of stone, covered in vines and overgrown trees, making it mostly hidden. If Botan hadn't pointed it out then she never would have noticed it there at all.

"What is it?"

"I dunno, but it sure is eerie..."

Keiko nodded, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "How did you even find it? Don't tell me you went sneaking around down there because you were curious."

"Of course not!" Botan held up her hands in defense, grinning like a guilty cat. "I'm not that crazy, sheesh." Actually she'd found it after getting lost in the woods a while back, but Keiko didn't need to know that.

Keiko gave her a look. She knew her friend better than that; she remembered being dragged along Botan's little 'adventures' back when they were kids. Like the time they explored what was thought to be a large fox den -- when it was actually the home of a rather grumpy raccoon youkai. She still had nightmares about that incident sometimes.

"For the past few weeks I've been hearing strange noises coming from down there." Botan said, nodding her head towards the fortress.

"Like what kinds of noises?" It could have been anything; youkai made all kinds of sounds; howls and shrieks echoing in the dead of night, like a chorus of weeping banshees. They gave the local humans chills, like the ones that were creeping along Keiko's skin right now. They really shouldn't be out here alone.

"It's hard to tell but..I think it was a girl screaming."

"Youkai scream all the time Botan."

"Yeah I know, but this sounds just like one of us. Exactly like a human, I'm not kidding. It's really unnerving." Botan's eyes misted over just from thinking about it.

Keiko frowned. "Has anyone in the village went missing?"

"I don't think so."

They gazed at the castle for a moment, grim thoughts settling over their heads. If no one was missing from home, then who could the girl be? Probably not a wise idea to find out.

"We need to do something about it." Keiko murmured suddenly. "But how can we? It's too dangerous. We don't know who it is, and we don't know if they're even human or not. I mean.."

"Yeah." Botan sighed. "But I can't imagine what they're doing to the poor girl for her to be screaming like that..what if that was you or me down there?"

"We'd wish someone would come save us."

"Bingo."

Keiko narrowed her eyes and glared downhill. She hated the thought of letting someone waste away behind those foreboding walls, but two human girls could hardly rescue the women from an unknown number of hostile demons, which no doubt lurked just beyond the trees.

"Lets go home and talk to Shuichi about it. Maybe he knows something." Keiko said, rustling leaves as she sat up from a laying position. "And besides, I'm ready to get out of here before a spider crawls up my kimono or we get munched by a demon."

They trekked back to their village, tip-toeing under the forest and ducking behind large boulders, not saying a word to one another; dreaming of what life would be like if taking a walk didn't have a risk of death.

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Yusuke wondered how someone so short could be so intimidating.

It was kind of funny really. He was at least two and a half feet taller then the fire demon, but Hiei stood with such an air of power and angry impatience that it sent even giant youkai running for cover. Yusuke was pretty darn scary himself, but for some reason he didn't shake people up as much as his friend, er, ally did.

"What'cha need Hiei?" Yusuke piqued casually.

Hiei's glares were like the look of an alpha wolf; intense, brooding, and sometimes malevolent. But now he regarded Yusuke with a quiet seriousness. "Why haven't you informed me about last night's raid? If your usefulness runs out I won't hesitate in kicking your ass out of here and our deal will be null-in void."

Yusuke waved the threat away. "I think you've got that bandanna wrapped around your head too tight, you need to relax, geez. I'll have you know we found nothing interesting, just a bunch of defenseless humans, the usual. I didn't bother telling you 'cause I didn't think it was important."

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Well, it is, so don't forget next time, idiot."

Yusuke resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at him. The whole reason he left was to travel with the demon and get away from people constantly telling him what do to; but here he was, getting bossed around again like a dog.

But at least here he was getting bitched at by different kind of youkai, not his drunk of a mother or the know it all Mazokus that he dealt with at home.

"Hey, where're we off to tomorrow?" Yusuke asked, absentmindedly running a hand through his mass of black hair.

Hiei ignored him as he got out his katana and examined a nick on the blade's edge. He'd gotten into a fight with a bear youkai that had on some tough armor. "To the west." he answered after a moment.

"What's out west?"

"I don't know. But we've checked everywhere else in this region, that's the only place left. She's got to be there."

Yusuke raised his eyebrows. "Yeah..about that..who is this chick anyway? We've been searching for her for months, but you have yet to tell me who the hell she is." She had to be something special, because mystery girl was the only person Hiei seemed to care about, while everyone else could just jump off a cliff. But what did he know? He'd traveled with the guy for almost a year now, but he still knew relatively nothing about him. Hiei was one complicated little sociopath.

"None of your business."

"Eh, whatever." Yusuke grumbled, leaning back against the wall. He should have expected that answer, but it was worth the try. In the end he would find out whenever they found her, so it was inevitable.

After a minute of silence Hiei looked up from the sword gazing ahead at nothing; his lips turning upwards into a slight smile. "I can't wait to slice them into mere ribbons, and then burn the remains down to the ground. There won't be a single thing left when I get a hold of those fools."

..O-kay..Yusuke laughed nervously. Thus ended sharing time with Hiei, he was better off if he didn't ask about his issues. "You know I'm glad you don't talk alot. I don't even wanna know what goes through your head half the time."

The fire demon didn't utter a word in response, only continued to scowl at the wall as his eyes grew distant.

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"Shuichi-san!"

Hearing his name called, the redhead turned around to see two familiar figures jogging towards him from the woods; one had a bouncing blue ponytail, the other wearing an indigo colored kimono. "What on earth were you two doing out there?"

They ran up and stopped in front of him, panting as if they'd just sprinted for miles. Botan rested her hands on her knees. "Oh..I had to show Keiko what I found the other day, no big deal."

Shuichi Minamino regarded them with a cool look, waves of crimson locks framing his delicate face. His features were borderline androgynous, yet he had a startling look of beauty in his expression, which now seemed displeased with the nervous girls. "I really don't think it's wise for either of you to be out there, though. It's not such a good idea."

Keiko nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"Did you know there was a castle down there?" Botan perked, side-stepping his comment.

"Where?"

"That way" she pointed behind her, "Down the big hill at the edge of the forest. It gives me the creeps, let me tell you. But I didn't think Keiko would believe me so I had to show her."

"Hey! I would have so believed you, and it would've saved us a trip-"

Shuichi thought for a moment. "That's not good. It's a demon lair most likely, I didn't think there was one around here. We need to let everyone know and tell them to keep their guard up, just in case."

Keiko bit her lip. So nobody had gone missing, otherwise he would know. Shuichi's cleverness and knowledge on youkai had saved their home dozens of times, and the villagers were thankful for it; yet there were some still who were wary of his uncanny ability to understand the motives of demons.

"I think it's too late for that," Botan frowned, telling him about the noises she'd heard coming from the forest.

"Is there anything we can do?" Keiko asked.

Those girls worried about everyone but themselves. The redhead sighed, a smile grazing his lips. "It's starting to get dark out, lets go inside first."

They passed the modest wooden houses that were tightly packed together in some areas. Even if the their village was mildly poor, as most were, the people made the best of it -- and the bright, newly planted flowers in the gardens reflected that.

Keiko and Botan strolled into their small home with Shuichi trailing behind them. The two girls sat down on their individual futons as he slid the door and windows shut, just as the last light of day faded into the distance.

Shuichi glanced at his mother, who was currently sleeping in the corner of the room. Shiori worked hard during the day and was part of the reason they even had a place to live. Affection swelled in his heart at the thought of her; she was the kindest person he had ever known.

Keiko twirled her brown hair around her finger, keeping her eyes everywhere but looking towards the windows, trying to keep her thoughts away from the oncoming darkness. The sun was not their protection, but it was a vision of hope. Nothing was fair..she only wanted to live in peace.

"So.." Shuichi whispered, sitting down under the window, "What's this business about doing something about the screaming?"

"Me and Botan were thinking about trying to get her out of there."

He raised an eyebrow. "How? No offense, but there isn't much you can do. Keiko-san, you can pack a punch, but-"

"And I've got an oar!" Botan grinned.

"Yes well, neither of those things do much against demons."

"Actually," Keiko argued, "I was thinking..if we got enough people to go storm the place, then that should do some damage. I mean, we don't even know if demons actually live there or not. If it's a bunch of rich humans, then.."

"There isn't such a thing as rich humans these days.." Botan grumbled. "But, I agree with Keiko, I think it's an excellent idea! Lets start a riot and rescue that poor girl."

"I don't know of many who would want to risk their life for someone they don't know, and in such a foggy situation, it's pretty unrealistic." Shuichi pointed out.

"Kuwabara would help us." Keiko said, "his honor code wouldn't allow anything else."

Botan giggled. "Ohhh, so you're saying we take advantage of poor Kuwabara's chivalry?"

"No! No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that he'd help us. That's one person guaranteed."

"A few of us against how many?" Shuichi asked, tapping a finger against his cheek. He hated to rain on their rescue parade, but he did not want to see either of them injured, or worse. The death of Keiko's parents left her and Botan without any protection, so he felt compelled to step in and help out; needless to say, he'd become fond of the two girls after living with them for the past few months.

"Um..." Botan trailed off. "Well.."

"I have no idea. She doesn't either." Keiko told him bluntly.

"Eheh, that's true."

Shuichi just looked at them. "It's entirely impossible, I'm sorry. We don't need more loss of life on top of everything else that's happened this year."

Keiko knew what he was referring too. She dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Aww, you can't bare to lose us. I didn't know that you cared about us that much Shuichi! Keiko an I are flattered, aren't we Keiko?"

"Yeah." Keiko murmured.

Her tone caught the bluette's attention. "What's wrong?" she asked, concern laced in her voice.

Keiko looked up briefly and her brown eyes caught Shuichi's green ones. A look of understanding passed between them; he'd come close to losing his mother to a hungry youkai once, though he was able to save her in the end; Keiko hadn't been so lucky with her parents.

"I still think it's worth a try, irrational as it is." Keiko whispered, giving him a tired smile. "Maybe the castle's abandoned and she's hiding there, injured or something."

"It's a possibility..but really, whatever the reason is, I'd stay away from there. Not all youkai are blundering, stupid monsters. Some are smarter and more cunning than you think, trust me." They could very well be walking into a trap if they decided to investigate the situation.

Botan wondered how he knew this for sure, but didn't comment on it. "I guess you're right..." she said. "It's for the best that we ignore the issue for now."

Keiko looked at her strangely. "It is?"

The bluette nudged her lightly in the side. Keiko sent her a scowl, but kept quiet.

"All this talk of rescue missions is making me tired." Botan said suddenly. "Is it getting to you too Keiko?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I'm going to bed, I think you should too" she smiled, "and you too Shuichi. We've gotta get up bright and early, as always."

The boy gazed at them with a suspicious glint in his eye. "Yeah..sounds like a good plan."

Botan slid up off the floor and moved to her own corner of the room, laying down on the lumpy futon. "G'night, everyone!"

Shuichi and Keiko were left staring at her, slightly confused about her abrupt end to the conversation. They looked at each other and shrugged.

He smiled politely, and eased himself off the floor. "Goodnight Keiko-san."

"Night." She replied, laying down on her own futon. A few seconds later she heard the other room's shoji screen shut quietly.

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Keiko laid there blinking up at the ceiling without an ounce of drowsiness. She turned on one side, then the other. She really wasn't that sleepy. It was hard to relax her body knowing what was lurking outside, and the absence of her parents bothered her, even though she was well over the immediate shock of it all. Sometimes, when she was still drowsy with dreams, she would wake and look for them, coming to her senses when she recognized the figures of Shiori and Botan.

"We don't need more loss of life on top of everything else that's happened this year."

She missed her mom and dad terribly.

She rolled onto her back, her short brown hair fanning out behind her head. The room was so dark that it was like looking into a black hole; it didn't make a difference whether her eyes were open or closed.

"Psst."

She heard what sounded like moving of covers. "I'm going out. Wait up for me, alright?" Botan's voice whispered in the blackness.

Keiko sat up, wide eyed. "What're you talking about?"

"The girl. The only time I saw her was at night. I've got a good chance now."

"As in tonight? Are you crazy?!" She'd never been out this late. Ever. And Botan hadn't either, as far as she knew. Keiko had come close a couple of times, but she'd managed to get inside before the moon could finally show its face. Going out now was almost a death wish. People committed suicide that way, people were dragged from their homes, but they never went into the darkness intentionally, not expecting to come back alive.

"Listen, I know it sounds insane, but you have to trust me. I wouldn't drag you into this otherwise, but I need you stay up and wait for me. Unlock the door when I come back. And nobody else can know. I've got to go down there and see what I can find."

Keiko's head was reeling, her palms sweating from the thought of Botan doing such a thing. "Wait a minute, you saw the girl? You didn't tell me that!"

"I know, but-"

"Botan-"

"It's important, I have to."

Keiko buried her face in her hands. "I don't even know what you're talking about. You can't go there now!"

It was silent for a moment, until she felt the girl move, and saw a shadow hovering above her. "Please?" Botan whispered.

The brunette sighed loudly. There was no stopping her friend. "Ugh, I'm not letting you do this alone."

She let out a faint, happy squeak. "Oh I knew you would come through for me Keiko! That's the spirit!"

"No, I mean, I'm going with you." Her heart hammered at her own words.

"You can't!" Botan protested, voice rising a pitch. She couldn't stand the thought of putting her friend in danger. "I have to do this. You don't, there's no need-"

"Either I go with you, or you don't go at all. That's your choice." she warned firmly, her decision set in stone.

"Keiko!"

"I'm serious."

Keiko ignored the logic that was screaming at her to stop, and lifted herself from the floor, her limbs beginning to shake. Yet her voice was strong. "I'm not letting you go out there by yourself. I wish you wouldn't at all, but..I don't understand why this is so important to begin with. I want to save a fellow human being too, you know, but there's no sense in going out right now, when they're at their worst."

"Then why are you coming?" she pressed.

"Because I don't want to lose anyone else to those monsters."

One fact hung unspoken in the air. There was nothing she could do if they were caught in a dangerous scenario. There wasn't anything either of them could do to save each other. They would be defenseless, blind humans lost in the dark.

Botan let out a loud sigh. "Fine. You win. You're too stubborn to argue with. But listen, if anything happens, you have to run back here. Don't wait or get yourself killed trying to save me."

Keiko made a sound in agreement, but silently rebelled against that idea. She would not do something like that, leave a friend behind, and they both knew it.

"How're we going to get back in? We can't leave the door unlocked." she added.

"We'll figure it out later. I've got an idea."

They slipped through the door without a word, making sure to lock it tight behind them. Keiko couldn't shake the feeling of being barred from the only place of safety and cast out into a nightmare. Adrenaline poured into her veins as she fought the urge to cry.

They stood outside the house for what seemed like forever. The Makai skyline was a deep purple color at night, the moon the sole source of light, shining like a beacon; potentially leading them to their destination, or showing a demon where their next meal was hiding.

Botan pulled a medium sized katana from her kimono and handed it to Keiko. "I'm guessing you're not sure how to use that, and I don't really know either..soo..I guess you start slashing when something starts um. Attacking. If anything does." Which something probably would.

Keiko nodded and took the sword, gripping it against her chest. Botan pulled out a smaller blade, unhooking it from the sheath at her leg. Keiko watched wide eyes as she did this; she had no idea Botan owned any weapons. Things were getting weirder and weirder, and she hoped the bluette would explain things when it was all over.

"You ready?"

Keiko tried to regain her composure that was slowly slipping away at every pounding heartbeat. "Yeah." She said shakily.

Botan smiled gently at her. "It's okay, I'm scared too. You can go back, you don't have to do this."

She nodded. "I know."

She concentrated on rescuing the girl who was probably stuck in terror all the time. Botan obviously knew more about it then she did, but that meant the lost girl wasn't a youkai, she was sad and lost. Feeling anxiety more intense by a thousand times then what Keiko was experiencing right now. Yeah.

The girls stormed forward off the porch, not bothering to look back. Botan's katana glinted in the moonlight as Keiko unsheathed hers, grasping the blade like it was her last lifeline. Botan led the way, and they moved as shadows through the clearing of the village, past the haggled tree and into the forest.

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