Disclaimer – I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho
In the Blood
By Crimson Skies
Chapter One - The Shadow Sword
'Note to self: avoid getting run through with pointy objects in the future.' Yusuke thought irritably.
His battle against Hiei had not gone as planned, especially considering how the business end of the Shadow Sword was firmly lodged in his stomach. Now normally, one would think this would result in a painful, slow death. Of course, the pain was there. Oh yes there was a great deal of that. In fact, Yusuke didn't remember feeling this much pain when he'd actually died, but that had been a rather swift death really. Still bound by Hiei's mental power, he couldn't even writhe in agony. Pain was flooding his brain making it impossible to even think straight. It was all about pure sensation. Take the sickening sound Hiei's sword made as he pulled it free of Yusuke's body. He was definitely adding that to the list of things he could without memories of.
The only question now was, would he die or would he turn into a mindless demon first?
Yusuke was no stranger to pain of course, but this was really something else. One would expect being run through to hurt quite a bit, but he didn't think it merited this. His entire body was raging, as though his very cells were convulsing or rearranging. And his heart! His heart hurt more than his stomach. He could feel every excruciating beat. The moments between each beat was getting longer and longer. And then…
…then it stopped altogether.
Darkness was creeping in on his vision. His heart had stopped. Distantly, he knew that wasn't good. How he was still alive was anyone's guess. If he was going to die he hoped it would be soon. The pain was terrible. Dimly, he registered that someone was shaking him, shouting at him. Kurama! It was Kurama of all people.
"…yer al'ttle too late…K'rama" he choked. Yusuke shuddered, and then went still. Hiei's triumphant laugh was the last thing he heard.
"Pity. He must have been in worse condition than I thought. I didn't think he'd die so quickly from a wound like that," Hiei said with a careless shrug. "And you came all this way just to rescue him, Kurama. What a waste."
Kurama ignored him. He had his fingers pressed to Yusuke's neck, searching for a pulse. There wasn't one. And yet…something wasn't right. Maybe it was just his personal feelings. Yusuke's death seemed so wrong, out of place. After all the detective had done to die like this, just before Kurama had arrived seemed so inappropriate. Somehow, he'd expected something else to happen. Kurama was no innocent, quite the opposite, but he was disturbed by Yusuke's sudden passing. Frowning, he checked Yusuke for life, just once more.
There was nothing. The spirit detective was dead. If the detective was dead, at least he could save his assistant and the girl. He owed Yusuke that much at least. Studying Hiei from the corner of his eye, Kurama moved to stand. He paused midway as he realized something
If Yusuke was dead, then why could Kurama sense his energy? It was distorted, like there was some interference but it was most definitely Yusuke.
"Hiei! Does that sword not turn living creatures into demons?" Kurama demanded as he faced the other demon.
"It's supposed to. That is odd. He should have turned into a demon by now. A dead demon maybe, but a demon all the same." Hiei was genuinely puzzled. He looked at the sword in his hand thoughtfully. Was there a limit to the sword's powers? Or was it something to do with detective himself? Then again, maybe dying did prevent the change. Even so, Hiei was familiar with all sorts of fatal wounds (or more importantly, he was familiar with inflicting them) and he'd never seen someone die so quickly from a stomach wound. It had been very swift, though he was sure that it had felt much longer to the detective.
Well it didn't matter really. The detective was dead. More importantly, he was unsure of what Kurama would do now. It seemed that the fox had come to try and save the detective, of all the ridiculous ideas. Since he was dead, Hiei rather hoped that Kurama would have no further reason to oppose him. He was wary of facing Kurama himself, as he had some idea of what he was capable of. Even if he won, it would not be without injury he was sure.
"It is strange, but there is nothing further I can do," Kurama sighed. Hiei almost had time to feel relieved before the fox started talking again. Almost. "However," Kurama continued, "I am afraid I must insist that you give the sword to me, Hiei," he finished with steel in his eyes as a rose appeared in his hand.
Hiei fought back the urge to groan in disappointment. In 'Kurama speak' that was an outright threat.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Kurama, as you well know," he retorted, shifting into a better position to counter an attack. Kurama raised the rose, readying himself to transform his whip. He slowly maneuvered himself away from Yusuke's body into open space, preparing himself.
With both of them so focused on their face off, it was Botan who noticed. During the entire spectacle she had been torn between running to the fallen Yusuke or continuing to hold back Keiko's transformation. In the end she had stayed with Keiko. It was a terrible decision, and it was the choice she knew Yusuke would have wanted. Tears poured down her face. She had started to like the idiot, only for it to end like this.
Now though, she had hope again. She stared incredulously at Yusuke's body as it floated up off the ground, glowing eerily. The energy flickered between a brilliant blue and bright red.
"What is that?!" she exclaimed, drawing the attention of the two demons. The brightening glow caught their attention and they turned to face the hovering form.
"I…have no idea…" Kurama muttered. If nothing else the light show was impressive. More intriguing though was the way Yusuke's appearance was…flickering.
"What the hell is that? Is he turning into a demon after all? I've tested the sword a dozen times, and this never happened!" Hiei protested, clearly bothered by the event.
All three stared transfixed at the brightening glow surrounding Yusuke. It was hypnotizing to watch. Even Hiei could not wrench his eyes from the scene. Finally, it seemed a balance was achieved between the blue and the red. The light combined, turning a brilliant white and expanded outward. The spectators were force to close their eyes or risk being blinded (a particularly worrisome affliction in Hiei's case).
Kurama was the first to crack open an eye. The sight before him was astonishing. Where Yusuke was floating before, he was now standing, perfectly unharmed. He could see through the tear in the jacket that Yusuke's wound had healed over completely. In fact, he looked better than he had all week. That did not stop Kurama from feeling alarmed. The detective looked decidedly…inhuman.
His skin was darker and his hair long and wild. (To be frank, Kurama thought it looked like he'd messed around with an electric socket.) Most disturbing was the red tint in his eyes and the pattern of blue marks on his face. In fact, those marks seemed downright familiar, though he could say he'd seen them before. Either way, the boy before him was most certainly no longer human. It seemed that the Shadow Sword had transformed him after all though the transformation itself was a little unusual.
"What…happened to me?" Yusuke said finally. He was staring at his hands in from of his face. "I'm not dead, I think. But I feel weird." He clenched the hand in front of him tightly and zoned out for a long minute. Then he smashed it into the large wooden crate next to him.
It burst into mere slivers.
Yusuke stared at the fragmented remains. The rest of them stared at Yusuke.
"I have no idea what's going on here, but I've got some unfinished business to take care of," he glanced over at Keiko. Upon seeing that she was still human, he directed an absolutely vicious grin at Hiei. "You better say your prayers."
Kurama could help but agree and one glance at Hiei said he did as well. The energy Yusuke was emitting was immense. One could even go so far as to call it preposterous. Hiei was completely thrown by this turn of events, but he was no fool. If he went up against Yusuke as he was, he would not walk away. That kind of strength, it was unreal. He wondered just what sort of monster he'd created. It was difficult just to stay standing under the pressure that energy was emitting.
"Tch. This is ridiculous. I use to the sword to make you a mindless demon slave and somehow you manage to transform into something so high-class," Hiei spat in disgust. "Fine. Take the sword," he said, tossing it at the detective's feet.
"Why thanks Hiei! That's so nice of you. Still…" Yusuke moved, faster even than Hiei. His fist planted itself in Hiei's face, sending him crashing into a pile of crates and unconscious. "You should be grateful I held back, or I woulda blown off your head." Then he was suddenly back, picking up the sword like he'd never moved in the first place. He took one worried look at Keiko and then passed the sword hilt first to Kurama. "Do me a favor buddy and Keiko the antidote for me, would ya? 'Cause I think…I'm gonna…"
Kurama set the sword aside just in time to catch Yusuke as he pitched forward face first towards the floor.
"Thanks man…" the detective mumbled, finally losing consciousness. The red head watched in wonder as the blue markings began to face and his skin lightened and though his hair remained mostly the same he somehow lost most of that 'untamed' look. Checking him, Kurama found the detective to be in perfect health…and seemingly human again.
"Um, while this is all very confusing, I don't suppose we should worry about all this after saving Keiko, should we?" Botan piped up. She looked hesitantly at the sword and then at Kurama. Gathering his wits, Kurama placed Yusuke on the floor and took the hilt from the sword.
"You're right, of course. Giving Keiko the antidote is priority. I doubt Yusuke would be pleased if we neglected to do so," he said softly, approaching the girls. His questions could wait. The answers would come in time he was sure. They always did.
"Sir? Sir, what's going on?" George frowned at his boss, wondering if it would be prudent to poke him or wave a hand in front of his face. Koenma had been staring at the monitor for the last five minutes without saying a single word. Either he had fallen asleep with his eyes open (an unusual but not unheard of occurrence) or something was very wrong. If a situation was only minimally devastating then he would be throwing a fit. And it would probably be a very loud, drawn out fit at that.
"Ogre, I need you to do something for me," Koenma intoned solemnly. His eyes only flickered away from the screen for a brief moment. His frown deepened. "The knowledge of this task must remain strictly between us. You must not let anyone catch on to what you're doing."
"Er, what will I be doing…sir?"
"You'll be doing a detailed background check on Yusuke. Delve as far back into his ancestry as you have to, but I need to know if there's anything suspicious in his history."
George was a bit startled. That kind of search was rarely required, not to mention the secrecy that Koenma was asking for. Apparently he had been right in his estimation. The situation was extremely serious, or at least his boss thought so. It made him nervous. He shuffled a bit before speaking up.
"Sir, something like that could take quite a bit of time on my own, especially if nobody at all is supposed to find out."
"I'm aware of that. Unfortunately, not everyone is as level headed as I am. I'm of the opinion that some of my colleagues, my father included, are too quick to choose solutions of a drastic nature. If Yusuke's situation is what I suspect, then there will be some very unhappy people. Of course, nothing can be done until I know for sure. I'm trusting you with this ogre. Don't let me down."
The first thing Yusuke saw when he opened his eyes was Botan's face about a foot from his own.
"Arg!" he scooted across the bed (his own) and up the wall. "What's your problem? And is it just me, or did the warehouse suddenly transform into my bedroom?" He studied the room with a befuddled expression.
"I thought you might finally be waking up! It's about time too. It's been almost twenty-two hours since you passed out on us," Botan informed him. "You had me worried for awhile there.
Yusuke pulled up his shirt and pressed a hand to his stomach in wonder. "Wow. It's still kinda fuzzy, but I could have sworn I died. Again. That's really starting to get old…" he muttered. A thought struck him as he remembered. "Wait a minute! Keiko! Where is she? Is she alright?"
"Calm down Yusuke, no need to panic," Botan giggled, her amusement mounting at his obvious frustration. "She's fine. No harm done. She got away with nothing more serious than a minor headache. After you blacked out Kurama and I were able to give her the antidote in time." Yusuke sighed then in relief. Botan really didn't blame him. Just the day before she had been worried over Keiko's wellbeing also. Still, it was funny to see him get so worked up.
"So what happened to Kurama? And Hiei for that matter?" he asked.
"They've been taken into custody. Their punishment hasn't been decided yet, but it may be lighter considering that Kurama came to your aid and Hiei surrendered. No lives were lost in the end, and so all they really need to be held accountable for is stealing the items," Botan told him. "Knowing Koenma, he'll probably assign them some sort of unpleasant 'community service'."
"That's a relief. Kurama did try to help me out you know. And it's not like he didn't have a reason for what he did."
"I know. I'm so glad it turned out well. No fatalities. It's practically a miracle," Botan agreed, with a sage-like nod of her head.
"Hey, this is the great Urameshi we're talking about here. Of course I succeeded!" he boasted proudly
"…Right."
"You don't have to sound so skeptical. Geez. I kicked some serious ass!" He hesitated then, despite his words. "Though…Botan…I don't suppose you know what exactly happened to me? I was sure that I died." Yusuke crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable.
"Yes, I was wondering when you'd ask," Botan bit her lip, concerned. "The truth is, we don't know. Koenma is looking into it, but…it may take some time. That's all I have to tell you really. Artifacts like the Shadow Sword are very powerful, and we still don't know everything about them. There should be something in the archives about it though."
"Great. So, I get stabbed and come back with more energy than I can handle and all you people can say is you don't know? That's just peachy."
"Er…well…yes? Don't be so upset Yusuke. It turned out well didn't it?" she asked. "How do you feel anyway?"
"Fine. Normal, I guess. I'm a little stronger I think, but I don't feel nearly the amount of energy as I did when I pounded Hiei. That was…too much. I don't think I could handle that much power even if I did have access to it," he admitted. Botan 'hmmed' thoughtfully. Yusuke then shook his head experimentally. His expression morphed into one of annoyance. "The only weird thing I've noticed is that I'm having a really hard time holding my head up straight." He reached up to rub a hand against the back of his neck and froze.
"About that…it was kind of difficult to cut your hair while you were thrashing around in your sleep, so…"
Yusuke hardly heard her. He was up and in front of the mirror in five seconds flat. His exclamation shook the room.
"GYAAAH! I LOOK LIKE A FREAKING HEDGEHOG!!!"
Okay, so I admit I probably shouldn't have started this, but I couldn't help it. I felt the need to write this though as I couldn't believe nobody had attempted this plot before. It just fits so perfectly. That and I have a few (okay, more than a few) frustrations with the selection the YYH category. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I can never find the kind of story I'm looking for. Therefore, I figured I had to write one.
This will probably be the longest author note in the entire story, but bear with me. I need to cover a few things right from the start. This will not have Kurama x Hiei in it. Period. Not that I have a problem with those who like it. I just can't see it. Other than that I can't really say what will be in it. There could be multiple pairings, or none. And as fair warning I'll write pairings that are yaoi and ones that aren't, though romance/pairings are never the focus of my multi-chaptered fics and I don't intend to change that anytime soon.
Those who are familiar with me might know that my updates are sporadic. Please be patient with me. Fanfiction makes life interesting but it is not my life. I have other priorities. And if I don't feel like writing but force myself just to get a chapter out sooner I guarantee the result will not be remotely enjoyable to read.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far! Later! -C.S.-