Don't Be Afraid Of the Dark

Chapter 34

Yang and Kami have a connection between master and student that Yang doesn't want broken, but Kami has all but already broken...a mental link that Kami had cast on a young Yang after he was knocked out, he later catches on that Kami had done this should he turn evil that, if necessary, he could make Yang stop chasing him or prevent it altogether, it's a spell passed down in the Kurosaki Clan that the next head of the clan learns on his or her own...Yang caught on to what his master had done (Kami having done the same to J'onn to an extremely weaker and less potent extent) and is about to use it to his advantage as he comes to terms that if he can't save his master, he will be forced to kill him or die trying, losing Bane and Tsume in the process.

'Bein...Tsume wa, watashi ga shinakereba naranai mono no tame ni watashi o yurushite.' (Bane...Tsume, forgive me for what I must do.) Yang said as he stood on a rooftop alone looking at Bane seemingly enjoying himself at the Banquet before he turned and left, Bane looking out the window as soon as he was gone as he thought 'Oto-san...'

Yang made his way into a forest he frequently came to alone to do what he had to, reach Kami's mind in order to find him and finish this like he should have from the start as he sat in lotus position and calmed his mind and body "Mind Reach..." He said serenely, at perfect peace with what he was about to do.

With Kami, he was still hungry and angry at certain people, recently Bane and Yang since he was raising him since both himself and Yang were children...as they weren't many years apart in age, Kami obviously being older. He was planning to hunt down Bane and Yang again when he felt a sensation. He meditated on the roof while threatening to give the human bartender the same treatment as the men that bothered him earlier if she set foot outside to test his patience.

Kami sat on the roof meditating as the door eased open, as silent as it was he made no reaction that he heard it as the woman knew that watched other exits as she set foot outside and Kami opens his eyes immediately and threw a dagger at the ground to intimidate her 'Nē, bakku no uchigawa, inaka musume...' (Hey, back inside, wench...) As she yelped at the dagger pinging off the stone paved ground the he used the simplest of the Dark Magic telekinetic abilities to raise the dagger and lunge at the door which was closed just in time as he felt Yang's mind reach out to his...this annoyed him even more when he couldn't tell Yang's intent as he seemed to be phishing in Kami's mind for something but he knew what he was looking for...how to break Kami's link to Bane which he was more than capable of doing if given the chance. Kami'd be damned if he didn't give him a run for his money though...but it stopped as quickly as it came.

Yang walked out of the forest slowly with his head down, Kami could see tears dripping from his eyes and rolled his eyes "What're you doing here...quit grovelling and spit it out!"

"I-I think I've misunderstood what you meant...my master is truly gone but my loyalty still lies with you, Kurosaki-sama" Yang's head remained down, bowed and hiding his urge to vomit as he didn't have that much or type of respect for anyone, even Kami but he could feel that Yin was seething with rage and if he played his cards right, that anger would be more than just satisfied.

Kami stood for a moment, at perfect ease despite considering Yang as much of a threat to him as the Ghoul Lords before smiling and widening his eye at Yang "Alright, I guess you're not as stupid as I thought you were...get on your knees" but got a better idea when he saw the human in the bar looking at them "I have a better idea, kill this nice human first"

"As you wish, master..." Yang said stepping past Kami and showing his sword as he opened the door and looked at the woman "Die" the woman cringed as the sword stabbed someone.

She discovered that Yang didn't harm or wish to kill her though and had stabbed Kami in the back instead as Kami gasped, really not knowing that Yang would turn on him so quickly at that moment as he heard the man moan in pain when the sword was pushed through to the hilt "Sorry, only person that will die here is you, Kurosaki-sama"

Kami fell with a smile as Yang turned to the woman "Don't worry, I don't wish to harm you but stay inside, just in case." The woman nodded and locked the door.

Yang looked to the ground to see Kami's body gone, apparently he was only dying like that because the human was watching.

"Poor fool..." Kami said as Yang blocked his dagger to the face with his sword without looking "pretty though, almost reminds me of Tsume-chan...oh, you didn't think I was through with her and killing Bane now, did you?"

Yang's eyes glowed as he tossed Kami with a gust but he regained his footing as Yang growled "Leave. Them. Out of this!"

"Well, if it isn't for them then why have you seeked me out?" Kami scowled slightly "if it's to go back to that city to see my lying excuse for a former master, I wouldn't bet my life on it if I were you."

'If I get too close to him right now with that look in his eye, I'm done for...' Yang said as he became Yin and saw a purely demonic look in his master's eyes just then as both raised their one hand...

Rasenshuriken!

Amaterasu: Kagetsuchi!

Kami tossed a shuriken of black flames at Yang's oncoming shuriken that was a wind magic dirivative of Kagetsuchi that Kami knew he was learning but not that he'd already long ago mastered as Yang's shuriken cut down trees that it couldn't even reach and Kami's Kagetsuchi, like expected with Amaterasu, threatens to burn the entire forest to the ground as the two clashed and created a white and black light that almost looked like a Yin-Yang symbol above a massive crater.

Kami and Yang threw their weapons at each other as they collided but the fighters got to them before they could think of hitting the ground, almost an exact match for each other using their martial arts skills before knocking each other back again.

They both stopped for a while, their eyes never leaving the other's...Kami closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the moment 'To think of it, he'd been developing a variant of my Kagetsuchi all along right under my nose, no doubt' he then stops smiling altogether as he looks at Yang again 'this should be fun...and entertaining, you still have a very long way to go if you think that just because you can challenge me, you can kill me though'

At the same time, Yang smiled thinking 'You're right, this may not fully be for Bane or Tsume as much as it is a very personal revenge but one of us won't be leaving here alive! You said to J'onn that Kuro-sama was dead so I guess I'll avenge him for you'

The two charged at each other screaming as they clashed, bounced each other back and clashed again, determined that defeat would be detrimental to their pride, which wasn't allowed. Back with the Ghoul Lords, most of the Ghouls couldn't eat another bite including Bane when Tsume noticed Hamura was already going outside with a crossed look on his face, like he was going to kill someone despite everyone here being in the best moods (at least until they're hungry again) as Tsume followed her husband's closest friend.

"What have you done, Yang?" Roku seethed as he punches a wall to keep him from harming the girl with him, his niece Anko who was about Bane's age, cracking it as he sensed Kami and Yang faintly as Tsume came up behind him to guide the girl away as Hamura came up to him "Are you okay?"

"Unless this happens often in your presence...you should try to calm yourself down, girl" Hamura said to a worried Anko as Roku punched the wall again "I swear on my dying breath, I'll make them both pay for this..." He whispered to himself, Hamura tackling the women from being spiked by Roku's glass arm and jumped at Tsume touching his shoulder as he walked

"Are you okay?" Roku glared darkly at Hamura when he said this as he asked the ladies this as Roku finally notices them replying sharply "Why should my problems concern you?"

Tsume froze as his hard eyes glaring at her over his shoulder but Anko almost seemed to be used to it and almost matching her violent (to everyone but her) Ghoul uncle "I have something I must do, escuse me...watch over my human niece, Anko while I'm gone" He bowed to them and took off.

"Leave him and let him clear his conscience" a hand held Tsume's shoulder to stop her, it was Anko, who seemed used to her uncle's temper although it causes her to see him only on extremely rare occasions as anything would set him off at times "you're more likely to be attacked if you get in his way"

"Mitarashi Roku...be safe" Tsume said as Roku said "I had unfinished business with some humans, but I did intend to come back... missing me already?"

"You killed them, I assume?" Tsume said as Roku replied "That's a bad thing to say, they were watching over someone for me, my adoptive niece"

"Another Ghoul..." Tsume said as Roku snarled "Don't call her that, she's a human and I had to hide her not only from Kami but your hypocritical husband as well, he's a terribly bad infuence on her!"

A girl roughly the same age as Bane walked up as Roku said "Are you ready to introduce yourself, Anko?"

"Hi...I'm Anko Mitarashi" she smiled at Tsume despite her tomboyish attitude as Yamamoto stepped out "Have you seen Mitarashi-san yet, Tsume?"

"He went after Yang" Tsume said as Bane peeked out "He what?"

In another room, the Ghoul Lords were having a very private meeting and weren't seeing eye to eye on how to deal with Kami in the slightest yet.

"So how do you suggest we take care of Kurosaki?" Bartalos suggested as J'onn said "Find some way to bring him to his senses, like Bane did"

"Hn, kill him..." Ryujin narrowed his eyes as lightning seemed to spark between his and J'onn's eyes "I didn't expect you to be so naïve, Lucario, but my son's far too gone and we both know it." His voice was calm, which meant more danger than if he was screaming his head off.

"We could seal him away...for good" Bjorn suggested but Ryujin shut him down as well "Your biggest underestimation of Kami begins with him being the weakest Ghoul Lord, but his mind is nearly as sharp as yours and he'll see this coming and do everything in his power to stop it."

Briarios was pissed and ominously silent with his eyes closed and arms folded with one finger tapping idly as J'onn said "We'll just have to make it so he doesn't get away then."

This caused Briarios' finger to stop mid air and Ryujin to snap "Are you brain dead or just trying to piss me off...I said he'd try to stop us, not evade us, he's not the Demon of the Ghoul Lords without a damn good reason, after all"

Briarios was not one who liked unnecessarily loud noises or to control any bad aspect of himself, including his very hot temper as he sat in lotus position with Bartalos alone noticing that he was gritting his teeth until his eyes opened.

SHUT UP ALREADY!

Briarios flung both fist at the closest Ghouls, hitting J'onn across the mouth and knocking him against the wall as Ryujin blocked just in time with his partially unsheathed sword but both his hands felt shocked...he also felt some of his blood vessels burst from the blow of aggression. Briarios never failed to impress him with his show of raw power and astounding strength.

"There's the problem as to why we were defeated by Kami...as well as Bane Asakura" Briarios snarled "because we're too busy fighting each other rather than fighting the enemy"

"Bjorn disagrees" Bjorn says as he quickly blocks a kick "Kami hasn't defeated us because he was powerful alone...unlike us, he's been seemingly training his whole life to the bone for it"

"In part due to him not liking to lose..." Bartalos commented "he didn't take the fact that he was weaker than any of us to heart that he was not strong"

"Exactly" Bjorn agreed looking at J'onn just coming to "He once held J'onn on a high pedistal but despised him all the same because he was not Japanese but was Japan's Ghoul Lord."

"That leaves Bane Asakura and Yang Hiachi..." Bartalos says "on one hand, Yang has been raised and trained by Kami himself...he's not too pleased with us and Kami alone may know what he's fully capable of"

"Meanwhile, Bane is well...the most powerful young Ghoul I've ever met or fought, I must say" Briarios said, grinning like an animal "I, for one, an excited to fight him again and is there something we should know, Tartaron?"

"Asakura...even now, his mind is even more powerful than his body is" Bjorn chuckled "Bjorn gets the feeling that he can enter the realm of dreams by his own will as well though"

"He can enter dreamland?" Briarios asked as Bartalos chuckled nervously "That shouldn't be able to bother us...as Ghouls don't sleep"

"But it does...somehow" J'onn said as Bjorn nodded "while Bane was fighting you three, there was a moment where time froze and Bjorn could swear Kami touched our shoulders even though Kami was nowhere near the city at the time"

"Are you saying that Kami is smarter than you are, Bjorn-boo?" Tsu Chen chimed in as Ryujin smirked "Bjorn-boo?"

"No...that would be like saying he's stronger than Briarios is and milady..." Bjorn telekinetically slammed Tsu Chen to the wall and put on a slightly sad look on his usually stoic face "What have you been told of the nicknames you've been giving to Bjorn?" He whispered darkly as his own dark side seeped out, darkening the atmosphere of the whole room "I sense your fear...do not test me any further, for your sake" Bjorn's voice grew creepier as he chokes the Ghoul Mistress and smiles.

"I'm still leaving to find that dipshit son of mine but do we agree on at least keeping an eye on Asakura-san?" Ryujin scowled but his smirk came back at another thought "He might be our next Ghoul Lord like his father as much as I hate to say that."

Screen splits showing the Ghoul Lords each nodding in agreement, all expecting Bane to do as he pleases but not to fail their expectations at the given time as it signaled the end of the meeting.

"Who did that?!" Ryujin snarled holding his nose, glaring at everyone...Bane, Tsume, Yamamoto and others were outside but Ghoul farts are deadlier than humans, thanks to their diets and whoever let one rip would have a busted throat from Ryujin, if everyone else doesn't beat them senseless first "Open a window, bakayaro!"

"What's the commotion out there?" Bartalos said as he broke a window then went outside to find Anko fighting Bane "What're you two doing out here and who is she?"

Briarios gets closer as his glare intensified on his suddenly very sweaty face as the two traded blows

"Enough!" Ryujin and Briarios crashed between the two and grabbed their heads pushing them back.

Ryujin then charged at Bane, who barely got time to pull his own sword out as Braiarios held Anko back with little effort with one arm.

Ryujin duelled Bane and was somehow pushed back, not by skill but by Bane's inherited intuition from what Kami did for a part of him to in Bane's body and vice-versa.

Ryujin's both feet ending up on Briarios' neck and back, also sending him on his face if he weren't as physically strong as he is as he charged back at Bane with a disgruntled "Don't get wet behind the ears, boy"

Everyone saw the look on Briarios' face as he simply lets go of Anko and dashes the two Ghouls, holding Ryujin in a headlock with one arm, while gripping Bane's face "I think I've had enough of you people for a lifetime...and didn't you just say that this was the main reason we lost to Kami?" He snarled at Ryujin who could barely breath already.

Back with Kami and Yang, they were still at each other's throats with no sign of stopping with Kakuzu enjoying every second of it, until Rokusho appeared with a determination to stop his old master and old friend. Kakuzu wasn't planning on letting him go through with that.

'Watashi no sukina koto ga sugu ni wa okoranai yōnimieru... Karera wa kono rēto kesshite owaranaidarou' (Looks like things won't be turning in my favor anytime soon...they'll never end at this rate) Kakuzu said in awe of the two warriors from his safe perch in a tree where he also was unseen as Rokusho appeared on some branches right under him without ever noticing the Bounty Hunter's presence. Kakuzu glanced down at him for a second but was not interested in him until he made the mistake of opening his mouth.

'Karera wa... Yan, watashi wa anata no kimochi o rikai shite imasuga, sono hito o watashi no masutā to yobu koto wa dekimasen' (There they are...Yang, I understand your feelings but there's no way I can call that man my master) Rokusho said, his glass arm reacting and spiking violently to his rage 'Shikashi, sono hito wa mō mohaya watashitachi no shujinde wa naku, anata wa sore o rikai suru ni wa amarini mo junsuide wa arimasen. Anata ga sono navu~ete to tomoni jibun no michi o hanareru kagiri' (But that man is no longer our master and you're too naïve to understand that, as long as you stay out of my way with that naïveté)

He jumped out of the tree to get between the two but Kakuzu jumped higher than him and came down on him with both feet on his back "What do you think you're doing, Mitarashi?" Kakuzu asks abandoning his haori, knowing they'd have more of a fight than a talk, given that it was Kakuzu's fault that Kami reduced Roku's arm to a burning stump and Mitarashi was responsible for Kakuzu owing a lot of people including Kami, the Hunters and the Crypt who he has all since paid off, whose wardins rarely have a need for money to begin with...this was the reason Kakuzu became one of the best Ghoul Bounty Hunters with his only ally being himself and his money along with everyone, not just other Bounty Hunters, as competition.

Rokusho landed on the ground and bounced before landing on his back with Kakuzu never far away.

Having smashed his head on the ground has made the already dangerous Rokusho wild, feral, berserk and pissed off by the black cracks on the skin around his eyes and, once his eyes opened, they were black and pupil less with no outward expression as his strength has physically grown but not to Kakuzu's level yet as the Bounty Hunter came up growling, not very sane himself 'Hāto...' (Heart...) He snarls 'Kokoro o sakanakereba naranai... Korekushon ni tsuika... Nokori o ikite moyasu!' (Must rip heart out...add to collection...burn the rest alive!)

Rokusho smiled wide "Try it if you dare!" Without being seen, he moves to impale Kakuzu but his stitches came apart, also slashing up his body as he kicked him hard against a tree but he shrugged it off as the tree was about to fall, but he slashed it cleanly in half with one swing as the blade tripled in size, lethality and sharpness as they dashed at each other.

Kakuzu growled as he dodged glass blades at rapid speed until the were both blurs and ran in, grabbed him as he ran through the trees and everything he could get his claws on before throwing him the rest of the way as he jumped back.

A dust picks up around the two, who unwillingly garner Kami's attention as Kakuzu laughed sadistically as the thin tentrils that formed the silken thread in his stitches came from the wound and tried to slice Rokusho's heart out but he caught them

"I guess it's pointless to tell you to stop using that curse before it's side effects kick in badly for you, as you won't listen" Rokusho struggled to hold the tendrils back with both hands, even though they were tearing into his flesh "that curse Kami put on you has more risks than even he knows"

"This is my burden to bare, not yours-" Kakuzu was cut off when they just noticed Kami and Yang had stopped fighting.

The dust cleared and showed that Yang was near Rokusho, helping him to his feet and Kami was close to Kakuzu, looking at him like a long lost pet, unfazed by Kakuzu's cold glare

"What are you doing here, Roku?" Yang asks as he pulled the man to his feet "Leave..."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen, bakayaro!" Rokusho looked at Kami's eyes and was silent "I came here to stop you, even if I had to kill you"

"So you did this by playing with my pet Bounty Hunter?" Kami smiled evilly, his eyes never leaving Roku's as he attempted to pet the crouched Kakuzu beside him, who glared at him

"Don't pet a shark, Demon" Kakuzu threatened too calmly as he avoided his very touch "You might lose more than an arm"

The four jump at each other and start fighting, meanwhile War and Peace are on their way to find Bane...having been intrigued about the young Ghoul since Azazel had told them about him.

"We are close..." Peace said as War was unusually silent, a look of annoyance on the wolf's face as he gave an even more annoyed "Tch...something bothers us about this place"

The demon pair had unknowingly come upon the Crypt on their way to where they were really going and the Hunters, mistaking them for an intruder, attacked without mercy.

War snarled as a fireball came too close to it's snout, stepping back.

"Calm yourself, War...we do not want trouble" Peace said, petting his companion to calm him as War snarled "But they do"

Peace stepped off War's back but a stray burst of water magic froze him completely "Peace!" War shook with rage, turning on the Ghouls "How dare you?!" He attacked tearing Ghouls apart until they got the point to stay clear of him as he circled Peace before laying at his side.

He saw a Ghoul rise to his feet and approached him as he stood quickly and snarled, still enraged "You rotten little beings will pay for this!" But the Ghoul turned tail and ran into the forest instead as War remained where he was and howled into the sky.

Back in the city, Bane heard this cry and wanted to go to the Crypt again and as he went outside he found someone who wanted the same thing, Tazaki Hyomaru.

Bane went outside, determined to go to the Crypt even if he had to alone, only to bump into Tazaki as the bartender snarled "So, he heard it too, Asakura?"

Bane nodded knowing who he spoke about as Tsume walked out "I'm coming too"

"No..." Tazaki said "so you're the boy's mother, huh?"

"I just got a report that my men were attacked..." Scar said "It wasn't Kami..."

In no time, the four were on their way to the Crypt with Tazaki and Bane in their wolf forms and Tsume on Wolf-Bane's shoulder.

A/N - Yang, Kami, Kakuzu and Roku were at each other's throats...who's gonna win when no one will come out unscathed while Bane is on his way to help War...let's just say that War doesn't especially like Ghouls and isn't in the best of moods to begin with thanks to the Hunters' unprovoked attack, freezing Peace and ticking War off. R&R for more!