Soulstruck Part 1/2, PG-13/R
Dec. 4th, 2008 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
onemuseleftTitle: Soulstruck Part 1/2
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating: R-ish for language. Maybe PG-13
Summary: A soul-eating ice monster is loose in the city, but it's invisible and intangible, and Yuusuke's pretty sure he can't kill what he can't catch. Also, Kuwabara and Kurama might be dead. Sort of. Again.
Author's Note: This was written as a gift fic ages ago and I never posted it because I was pretty sure it sucked. But![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_flamewing (my favorite fiancé)and jenjinn graciously beta-read it for me, and then I rewrote a few chunks of it and added an actual ending, and now I like it much better. Any lingering suckiness is all my fault and cannot be blamed in any way on my betas.
This story is set in the same universe askahn's Running with the Crow. Reading that story is highly recommended but not at all necessary to understand this one. All you need to know is that Kurama died, badly, then came back, more badly, and eventually he and Kuwabara opened up a very unsuccessful private detective agency together where they fight demonic crime and are constantly broke. On to the story!
Happy Birthday/Merry Christmaskahn. This story, like so much of what I write, is all your fault.
Soulstruck
The warehouse district was not what Kurama would consider a particularly pleasant part of town. It was old, and run-down, largely abandoned in favor of the more recently built warehouses that lined the waterfront. These all had a stale air about them, and there was little sign of human activity. Few workers came here anymore, and the main inhabitants appeared to be rats. Even most of the criminals preferred the waterfront these days.
Kurama was, unfortunately, quite familiar with the warehouse district.
He stretched lazily and readjusted his position on a thick branch close to the trunk of the tree. He felt a little ridiculous perched there, spying on an abandoned building, waiting to get the jump on some two-bit thief. A hundred years ago he'd have died of shame if told he'd come to this.
A hundred years ago he'd have just tracked the thief down and taken the damned jewelry back. Assuming it was expensive enough to interest him. Instead, he was spending half the night in a tree for what amounted to about two week's survival pay.
+We really need to start charging more.+ Kuwabara's voice filled his head, echoing his own thoughts.
Kurama smiled to himself. +We need regular customers to charge before we can worry about charging them more.+
+For a city that's been invaded by demons three times in the last ten years, you'd think there'd be more call for paranormal investigators.+
Something moved beneath him. Kurama glanced down through the leaves and saw a young human man, about thirty or so and dressed conspicuously in all black, approach the building slowly. +Someone's here.+
+Where?+
+Right beneath me. He's about to knock.+
+Does he have it with him?+
Kurama studied the stranger. +There's something in his pocket. Could just be a gun, I suppose.+
+Wonderful.+
The man knocked three times, very deliberately, then stopped and waited. Kurama concentrated and heard footsteps inside the building. +Hiroshi's answering the door.+
+Good boy. Let's hope he doesn't screw us over this time.+
The kitsune bit back a grin at the aggravation conveyed in the younger man's thoughts, but privately agreed. He was in no mood for foolish stunts, and after the last time Hiroshi had used up all his second chances at one go.
The door opened and the man in black stepped forward, reaching into his pocket. Kurama tensed, but all he removed was a black cloth. +Attack of the stereotypical villain,+ he sighed. +Don't they know that people are going to pay more attention to them if they dress like that? No self-respecting thief walks around dressed like that.+
+Yeah, the good ones just wear gauze.+
+It was silk.+
+It looked like gauze.+
+It did not! That was all silk. Do you know what I paid for that outfit?+ Kurama aimed a dark look at the warehouse.
+I dunno. What does six meters of gauze go for? A few bucks, I'm sure.+
Kurama rolled his eyes and bit back a sigh. +We need to work on your appreciation for the finer things in life.+
+Oh, hell no.+
Hiroshi stood aside and let the man in black enter, casting a vaguely nervous glance around outside as he did so. Kurama caught a whiff of nerves before Hiroshi pulled the door closed behind him and very carefully did not trip the lock. +He's inside. What do you see?+
+Not a whole hell of a lot, unless rats count for anything.+
+Give them a minute to reach your location.+ Kurama quickly scanned the area around the warehouse, searching for signs of any backup. The man in black seemed to have come alone. He shifted his weight and gripped the tree branch, ready to drop down on a moment's notice.
+He's got it! It's all wrapped up in a black towel, but it's got to be what we're looking for. If we move now, we've got him.+
+We didn't get paid to bring in the thief,+ Kurama said lightly. +Just the locket.+
+No, but it has been several weeks since we had any fun.+
Kurama laughed to himself as he swung down from the tree. +He doesn't look like he's going to be much of a challenge. No reiki, no youki.+ He rested his hand on the door frame and waited.
+Maybe he's armed.+
+You sound far too happy about that possibility,+ Kurama scolded.
+Move in on three?+
+One.+
+Two.+
Kurama kicked in the door.
The warehouse was darker than the moonlit outdoors had been, but Kurama could still clearly make out the two men standing in the center of the empty space. Hiroshi and the man in black jumped away from each other, the black cloth and the small silver locket falling to the ground. Hiroshi scrambled away until his back hit the wall behind him, but the other man lunged for the locket.
Kurama smiled politely. "I'll be taking that, if you don't mind," he said.
The thief was eyeing him, trying to evaluate him and no doubt coming up a little short. The hair always throws them off, Kurama mused cheerfully. The thief slowly regained his feet, the locket clenched in one hand. "How about I just take this and leave?" he suggested. "Unless you think you've got some magic trick up your sleeve that can stop me?"
Hiroshi whimpered.
"It's funny you should put it that way," Kurama told him. "I have any number of things up my sleeve." He bared his teeth. Even without his fangs, it must have been impressive, because the thief took a step back.
He tensed, and Kurama waited, trying to judge if the thief was going to go through or around him, but instead he spun around and ran for the back of the warehouse.
Kurama grinned. +He's coming your way.+
+I know.+
Hiroshi tentatively approached, his face suggesting that he'd rather be playing in a pit of vipers, or perhaps toying with a rabid dog. "There's a back entrance," he said timidly. "He could get out?"
Somewhere in the back, the thief suddenly started shouting. There was the sound of an extremely brief struggle. Then silence.
"Oh," Hiroshi said. "Never mind, then."
Kuwabara emerged from the shadows at the back of the warehouse, grinning widely, with the thief stumbling along in front of him. "Tried to go through me."
Kurama laughed. "They always do."
Taking their apparent good humor as a signal, Hiroshi waved and took a few steps toward the door Kurama had kicked in. "It really is wonderful working with you guys, I mean it. Great job. Next time, don't hesitate to ca-ack!" He jerked to a stop as Kuwabara grabbed the back of his coat. "Unless you need me to stick around?" he added.
"This is why we love working with you, Hiro," Kuwabara said dryly. "You learn so fast."
"What did this guy tell you?" Kurama asked, eyeing the thief. He was only slightly the worse for wear after his rather poor choice to face down Kuwabara and appeared to be regaining his balance fairly quickly. "Kuwabara, the locket?"
"I've got it."
"He didn't say much, really," Hiroshi shrugged. "Just the same thing he told me at the pre-meeting. That he'd found it and he needed a buyer. Apparently he was having trouble selling it."
That fit in with what they knew about the situation. Three antiques brokers and a half dozen pawnshops recognized the description of the locket as something that had been offered to them in the last week, but each had refused to purchase it for one reason or another. Most had claimed that something about the whole situation felt a little off, but they had been referring to the locket, not the seller.
Kuwabara had the locket in his hand, and the silver stood out starkly against his black gloves. He held it up and though there were no lights on in the warehouse, it glinted. "There's definitely something off about this thing," he said. "What did the client tell us? That it was haunted?"
"Ah. By her grandmother, apparently."
+No. Not by her grandmother.+ Kuwabara closed his fist over the locket. +Kurama, forget the thief. There's something in the locket.+
"Hiroshi, would you escort our friend out of here?" Kurama let a little tone of command slip into the request, just in case Hiroshi was feeling recalcitrant. "We have some little business left to clear up here."
"How am I supposed to keep him from getting away?" Hiroshi demanded.
"You've got a gun under that jacket," Kuwabara snapped. "Even though you swore you were coming unarmed this time."
Hiroshi stammered a denial, but Kurama waved it away. "Take him and go, Hiroshi. Get him out of the area and then you can go home."
"And him? What if he struggles?"
"What," Kuwabara said in mock surprise, "you don't have any handcuffs on you this time?"
"Oh come on! You're not still mad about that?"
"Hiroshi, do you want me to make you leave?"
Very few people felt like arguing with Kuwabara when he got that tone. Hiroshi was definitely not one of them. He pulled his gun and grabbed the thief by the arm, leading him out of the warehouse at a pace just short of a dead run.
Kurama kept an ear on their progress until they hit the road and started back toward the city. Then he turned his full attention to the locket Kuwabara held in his fist.
"There's something in here," Kuwabara repeated absently. His hand flared briefly with reiki, fire-orange and bright in the dark, as he probed the locket carefully.
"A ghost?" Kurama asked, watching it warily for a reaction.
The locket clicked open. There was a pause, like someone taking a breath before a jump.
Then everything froze. Literally.
****
Kurama didn't so much wake, as he became aware of his surroundings again. He was tired, and his head hurt and he was cold. Freezing. But aside from the cold, he couldn't feel anything.
I've gone numb, he thought, surprised that he could still be so affected by temperature.
He concentrated on feeling and got nothing except a strange tugging sensation at the back of his mind and in his chest. He rubbed his chest, and was relieved to feel the contact. So I can still move.
It was also dark, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was because his eyes were still closed. He opened them slowly, expecting some pain as they adjusted to whatever light there was, and realized that it was blazingly bright and he didn't hurt at all.
He opened them wide, and sat up.
It was easily mid-afternoon, and he was lying on the pavement outside the warehouse. It took a moment for him to get his bearings beyond that, but by his reckoning, he was sitting on a direct line backwards from where he had been standing when the locket opened. Whatever was in there must have… thrown me?
He eyed the intact warehouse wall, and scratched that idea.
Then someone carried me out here. Maybe Kuwabara- Kuwabara!
He regained his feet, feeling weak in his legs, and the headache pulsed unpleasantly as he did. There was no sign of Kuwabara anywhere around him. No sign of anyone for that matter, not even footsteps to show that someone had brought him out there.
An unpleasant feeling started to grow in the back of his throat. He swallowed it and walked around the warehouse toward the front door. It was still half open from Hiroshi's sudden departure; he reached out to pull it open. He stopped when his hand went through the door.
He pulled his hand back, paused, and tried again. His hand never met the door. Instead it passed through, sinking up to his wrist. He didn't move his hand, but craned his head to see his fingers poking through the other side. He wriggled them.
"Kuwabara was right," he said. "We need to start charging more." His voice sounded strange to his own ears. He set his shoulders and stepped through the door and inside the warehouse.
In the daylight, the interior was even less appealing that it had been the night before. Kurama could clearly see the dirt and cobwebs that had piled up during the months the warehouse had stood empty, and the dust on the floor was disturbed from their encounter with the thief. In the center of it all were two large marks in the dust. About the size of two grown men.
Kurama raised his hand to eye level and watched the dust motes pass through it. I have such a bad feeling about this.
The two large marks had a trail leading away from them – two thin trails in the dust, with the occasional scuff. It looked to Kurama's eye as if someone had picked them up and dragged them away by their shoulders, leaving their heels to drag in the dust. It also looked as if they'd been dropped once or twice on the way out. Kurama checked his own feet, but he wasn't leaving any marks in the dust.
The trail led through the back of the warehouse, where they abruptly ended. Kurama knelt down, examining the cement floor for any further signs. The back of the warehouse was full of old machinery and broken furniture, discarded uniforms, piping, coils of wire and enough rats and birds' nests to start a small reserve. The back door was wide open, and the floor in front of it showed signs of having been disturbed. Something large had been there, but wasn't any longer.
A flash of color caught his eye, and he peered closer at an old rusted pipe sticking out of from a pile of garbage. A small piece of bright blue plastic was stuck to the corroded pipe, waving in the breeze caused by the open door. "A tarp," he murmured. "They set a tarp out on the floor and wrapped us up in it before taking us outside." He straightened up, and looked back toward the warehouse. "Who is it, though? Who knew we were here?"
The footsteps of whoever had dragged them away were almost entirely obscured by the marks made by their bodies. Kurama traced the trail carefully, piecing together each fragment until he had a good idea of what the footprint looked like.
Then he went back to the front door.
"Hiroshi," he growled under his breath. "What the hell are you playing at?"
And what had happened to Kuwabara? Was the human in the same situation as he? Or – Kurama frowned at the marks on the floor – was he still in his body?
Kurama stood for a moment, eying the far wall. Then he walked through it.
He saw Kuwabara immediately. The younger man was surrounded by garbage, slumped against a dumpster across from him. He didn't appear injured, but he was transparent. Kurama knelt at his side and touched his shoulder, relieved when he touched cloth instead of sinking through it. "Kuwabara-kun?" He shook his partner slightly. "Wake up. We missed all the fun."
Kuwabara groaned, and pulled away from Kurama's touch, slumping to the side and sliding right through a rather nasty looking piece of rusted metal. Kurama winced, but Kuwabara didn't even notice. A convulsive shudder ripped through the younger man and he curled in on himself, sending the metal shard back into his chest. Kurama stared in horrified fascination. "Kuwabara-kun, wake up."
"Cold." Another shudder shook through him, but Kuwabara was awake and staring at him. "Kurama?"
"It's me. There was something in the locket-"
Kuwabara's face hardened, and his eyes went blank. "I can see through you," he said harshly.
"Yes, that does seem to be a problem, doesn't it?" Kurama kept his voice light and deliberate. He had a feeling he knew what had set his friend off, but this wasn't the time – and definitely not the place. "Kuwabara, can you sit up? I can't concentrate with that thing," he gestured to the metal shard, "there."
Frowning, Kuwabara looked down, then swore and jerked upright so quickly that he almost knocked them both over. He scrambled away from the dumpster, and pressed a hand against his chest. "What the-" He glanced down again. "Kurama?"
"Yes?"
"Are we dead?" There was a definite note of "again?" in his voice.
"I don't believe so," Kurama said carefully.
"No ferrygirls." Kuwabara shivered again and climbed to his feet. "And no Koenma laughing. I'm pretty sure he'd show up just to rub it in that we were killed by a piece of jewelry."
"What were you able to sense from the locket?" Kurama questioned urgently. "What do you remember before waking up out here?"
"Cold. Very cold. Angry." His eyes seemed to focus somewhere beyond Kurama. "Hungry."
"Were you able to tell what it was?"
"A snake." Kuwabara shook himself roughly, like he was shaking off the memory. "Serpent-like. Big? I don't know. Not a demon, though. Something else." He glanced over his shoulder at the warehouse, apparently putting together the same pieces Kurama had. "Our bodies?"
"Gone. Hiroshi dragged us off. In a tarp, I think."
"Oh, for-" Kuwabara rubbed a hand over his eyes. "This shit never happened to Dick Tracy."
Kurama cast him an amused glance. "Does that make me Tess Trueheart?"
"You'd look terrible as a blond." Kuwabara visibly braced himself, then poked a finger through the wall of the warehouse. "So, now what?"
"We should find the others, see if we can communicate with them, despite our current situation. Genkai may know what's happened to us. I suspect that whatever was in that locket merely separated us from our bodies, as opposed to killing us."
"That's much better," Kuwabara said dryly.
"It means," Kurama said firmly, "that if we can find our bodies in time, we may be able to get back in them. Assuming Hiroshi hasn't done something foolish."
"I’d call dragging us off in a tarp to be pretty damn foolish," Kuwabara snapped. "What was he even doing here? We told him to leave."
"Perhaps he heard something when the being in the locket broke lose and came back. He saw us, thought we were dead and panicked." Kurama brushed off his jeans, even though the dirt of the alley didn't seem to be able to touch him. "Whatever his motivation, we need to find out what he's done with us before it's too late." If it isn't already.
"If it isn't already," Kuwabara said gruffly. "All right. But the next time I see that little rat, I'm breaking both his arms. And you're not going to stop me this time, right?"
"Trust me, Kuwabara-kun. I'll help."
****
Urameshi Yuusuke woke to the sound of school bells ringing.
He rolled over, kicking the sheet away with an aggravated twist of his leg and glared balefully at the open bedroom window. There was an elementary school down the block and every day he was there Yuusuke could hear the bells ringing and the sound of students rushing off to school. Keiko had laughed when he called it a nightmarish hell and claimed it was just his guilty conscience talking.
Conscience or whatever, it made sleeping in on the weekdays difficult. Not that he didn't try anyway, grabbing a well-stuffed pillow and pulling it over his head. He was tired, he wanted to sleep. He chanted that over and over in his mind. I'm going back to sleep. I am asleep. I am asleep. Shut the hell up you stupid fucking bell.
Funny how the bell almost sounded like screaming.
His eyes flew open and he pulled the pillow away from his face. Screaming. Not "tag, you're it!" screaming or even "Ew! Satoshi kissed me!" screaming, but "Oh, my tiny, infant god we're all going to die!" screaming. Bogeyman screaming. Monster under the bed screaming.
Good-luck-trying-to-sleep-in-you-sorry-bastard screaming.
Son of a bitch, he thought tiredly as he jammed his feet into his shoes and shimmied into a pair of jeans, then fell over sideways and tried it again in reverse. Always on my days off.
Not that he worked, or anything, but still.
He took the stairs at a run, skidding down the banister at one point to avoid a group of women clustered together on the landing. He burst through the front doors, ignoring the stares and startled cries he drew from the people gathered together in the street. Everyone was standing around in twos and threes, pointing and staring down the road in the direction of the school, although as yet no one seemed inclined to investigate further.
A half dozen cars screeched to a halt as he raced across the street, vaulting across the hood of a taxi and dodging the front end of a sedan full of women. Horns blared at him angrily, and he waved cheerfully just to piss them off.
There were little kids running down the road crying, a couple of them running into the road, others racing down the sidewalks. Yuusuke hesitated at the edge of the schoolyard, looking for the source of the trouble. He couldn't feel any sort of youki, and he couldn't see any human antagonist.
Man, if this is some stupid game, I'm gonna be really pissed.
He reached out and snagged the next kid who ran past, grabbing the backpack of a little boy in short pants and knee socks. The kid screeched at an ear-splitting decibel, making Yuusuke flinch. "Knock it off!" Yuusuke snapped.
Startled into silence, the kid gaped up at him.
"What's going on in there?" Yuusuke demanded, jerking a thumb toward the schoolyard.
The kid trembled under his hand, making Yuusuke feel kind of guilty. He hadn't meant to scare the kid more than he already was. He dropped down to his knees so he could see the kid at eye level, although he didn't let go of his shirt. "Hey," he said, gentling his voice. "Sorry. Didn't meant to snap at you. I just heard all the yelling and got worried."
That worked, and the kid calmed visibly, although he continued to shake.
"What's your name?"
"K-Kazuya." The kid sniffled and rubbed his arm over his face.
"Kazuya, what's going on over there?"
"C-Cold." Kazuya trembled again. "It's cold."
He's not shaking cause he's scared – he's shivering! Yuusuke touched his free hand to the kid's arm. It was freezing. He let go, and the kid ran off.
It had to be a demon. What else could it be? It was April for crying out loud, it's not like the kid was out playing in the snow. An ice demon could have that effect. Yuusuke flashed on a mental image of Yukina rampaging through a playground full of elementary school kids. Well, a different ice demon.
But what kind of ice demon didn't have ki? Yuusuke surveyed the schoolyard, glancing over the benches, the huddled groups of children. Nothing. Not so much as a hint of youki.
A little girl, about seven years old, was lying unmoving on the grass just a few feet away. Yuusuke jogged to her side and crouched, reaching out to check on her. She was cold as ice, her skin tinged blue and nearly hard to the touch. Frozen. Yuusuke carefully held his hand in front of her mouth, but several long moments passed and he didn't feel any breath.
The air around him grew cold so quickly that the almost seemed to snap under the weight of it. He shivered convulsively and rose to his feet, staring wildly around him. What could-
The cold slammed against his back and through him with enough force to make him stagger. His breath froze in his throat, and he thought he could actually feel his heart falter. For just a second he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, and his knees very nearly gave out.
Then it was over.
"What was that?" Yuusuke raised a hand in front of his face, staring at the frost that had formed over his skin. "What the hell was that?"
Teachers were pouring into the schoolyard in droves, and people were running in off the street to see what the disturbance was. As Yuusuke stood shivering, an ambulance screeched to a halt in front of the school.
"Sir? Sir? Are you all right?" An older woman, a teacher from the look of her, reached for Yuusuke's arm and drew back when she saw the rapidly thawing frost that covered it. "What happened out here?"
Yuusuke shook his head, rubbing his hands together. The children were slowly starting to calm down as parents and teachers coaxed them toward the school and ambulances. No one showed any sign that they were still feeling the cold that had attacked him.
It had definitely been an attack.
He waited until they took the little girl away, and the two other children found behind the school. Then he lit out for Genkai's.
****
Making their way to Genkai's proved to be an adventure. Being unseen and intangible meant they could shortcut through yards and businesses without causing a commotion – Kuwabara in particular was enjoying the ability to walk through any and every wall he came too. The trip was not without a few hassles, however. Small animals could see them, it seemed, or at least sense their passing, and for a couple of blocks they had a small following of cats, dogs and a particularly annoying ferret which had climbed out a window. The animals just followed them quietly, hackles up, until Kuwabara decided to scale the wall outside Sarayashiki Junior High for old time's sake. The animals were stopped at the wall and not being anxious to regain another following, Kuwabara and Kurama stuck to the streets from then on. They still attracted some attention, but the animals were content to hiss and growl warningly and let them pass.
Walking through people was not as much fun as walking through walls. Kurama wasn't particularly affected by it, but Kuwabara's psychic abilities were always strongest when he was in physical contact with another person – and it appeared that being intangible didn't change that any. He managed to weave in and out of the crowds, avoiding most people. One older woman in particular made him turn an interesting shade of red and avoid Kurama's gaze for the rest of the trip. By the time they reached Genkai's Kuwabara was in a foul temper and nursing a headache.
The temple was warded heavily, a necessity considering the kind of enemies Genkai made. Demons, spirits, and even humans with evil intentions would find it difficult to climb the stairs. Some couldn't get past the wards at all.
"Will they let us through?" Kuwabara stood a few steps to the side, out of the range of the wards where his presence shouldn't be able to interfere with anything.
"The wards were set to recognize us and let us pass. I don't think having a body was ever specifically mentioned." Kurama braced himself and started up the stairs. He felt the wards against his skin – like a minor electric shock, but nothing worse than they always were. "It should be all right."
Climbing the stairs to the temple was like walking through a tunnel. The sound of people and cars faded behind them until, by the time they reached the temple itself, the sounds of the city had vanished altogether and you could almost forget it was just a few hundred meters away.
"Hiei's here," Kuwabara said irritably as they reached the top of the stairs. "Yuusuke, too. Think they know something's wrong already?"
"Possibly." Kurama doubted it, although there was always the chance. "Shizuru would know if something happened to you."
"If I were dead, yeah. But you seem pretty certain we aren't yet." It was said so matter of factly that Kurama had to shake his head. Not yet. Kuwabara ducked under a tree branch by force of habit and paused outside the door. "You think the Jagan will let Hiei see us?"
"I've considered that." The Jagan allowed Hiei to read minds and sense supernatural occurrences much in the way a human psychic could. But Hiei kept the Jagan warded and bound beneath a headband except when he specifically wished to use it. Even Kurama wasn't certain how much input the fire demon received from his third eye while it was warded. It was possible that the eye was as good as blind. "Genkai will probably be our best bet." He walked through the door of the temple, feeling the additional wards spark against his skin like an electric shock. He called over his shoulder. "These wards pack a little more of a kick than the last ones."
"I noticed." Kuwabara extricated himself from the door with a grimace and a shake of his head. "I'd never even noticed these wards before."
"I think they're meant for wandering spirits," Kurama mused, hovering one insubstantial hand over the wood of the doorframe. "Ghosts. Evil entities."
"So we're wandering but not evil?"
"And not dead," Kurama reminded him. "I've been dead. This isn't it."
His partner studied him carefully for a minute, then nodded. "Not enough eyeliner to be dead."
Kurama leveled him with a steady glare, relieved despite himself to see Kuwabara crack a reluctant grin. "That joke will never grow old with you, will it?"
The human smirked and motioned for Kurama to proceed him into the temple. "Dead or not isn't the biggest problem right now anyway. Whatever did this to us is still out there. We need to figure out what it was, how it got out of the locket and whether or not we can put it back."
"Without anyone dying," Kurama finished grimly. "You said it was serpent-like?"
"And hungry. Don't forget hungry." Kuwabara paused outside the practice room door and stuch his head – literally – through the door. "I have a bad feeling I know what it eats, too."
"Souls?" Kurama guessed.
"I was thinking red-heads, actually," Kuwabara pulled his head back and jerked a thumb at the door. "Hiei looks like his puppy died. Not that he ever looks happy or anything."
Kurama slid through the door into the practice room and raised a curious brow as he noticed the small group gathered within. On the far side of the room, Yuusuke and Genkai spoke quietly, Yuusuke leaning down, their voices hushed. They look concerned, which is to say that Genkai looked annoyed and Yuusuke looked bothered. Hiei stood across the room from them, directly across from the door, leaning against one wall with his hands in his pockets. He didn't react as Kurama entered the room.
"Hiei?" Kurama called, knowing he wouldn't get a response. The fire demon's gaze didn't even flicker.
Kuwabara pointed to his left. "If we're going to get Genkai's attention, now's the time." He slanted a sideways glance at Hiei, then leaned over Kurama's shoulder and poked a finger through Hiei's shoulder. He jerked back as if he expected the fire demon to explode, but Hiei didn't even flinch. A wicked smile curved over Kuwabara's face and he reached over again and poked another finger through Hiei's throat.
"If he finds out you're doing that, he'll unleash the black dragon on you," Kurama warned mildly.
The human paused. "Can the black dragon even hurt a bodiless, wandering-but-not-evil spirit?"
Not as far as Kurama knew, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it, knowing it would only encourage Kuwabara. "See if you can reach Genkai." He gave Hiei a tired glance, then deliberately turned toward Genkai and Yuusuke.
"I'm not very good at this," Kuwabara admitted reluctantly, as if Kurama needed to be told. "Hiei's the mind reader, not me."
Kurama waved that worry away. "We don't need to read her mind-"
"Thank god," Kuwabara interjected feelingly.
The youko gave him a rueful glance. "We just need to get her attention." He cast a doubtful glance at Hiei. "I'm surprised they haven't sensed our ki already. At the very least, Genkai should have sensed us when we set the wards off at the door. She wouldn't normally turn a blind eye to wandering spirits crawling through the temple. Even of the non-evil variety."
"They seem to have something else on their minds," Kuwabara said doubtfully. He crossed the room slowly, hesitantly, and Kurama thought that this must be how Kuwabara had once approached bank robbers and murderers. Of course, no human murderer would have been able to kill Kuwabara as easily as these two; this old woman and a middle school dropout. He paused at Yuusuke's side, and appeared to concentrate. "Yuusuke's worried about something. Us maybe, but not enough to really know what's happened. There's something else. An attack?" His eyes glazed over slightly as he reached further. "Something… something's hunting humans. Something's hurting humans. It touched Yuusuke." He shuddered and his eyes slid shut. "It's cold, Kurama. And hungry. Very hungry. It's been so long since it fed last."
"Kuwabara!" Kurama darted forward and grabbed at his partner as the taller man started to waver.
"Something's here." Genkai's voice crackled through the room, bringing Hiei and Yuusuke instantly to attention. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and stared straight through Kurama.
"Well, we got her attention." Kurama grunted as he caught most of Kuwabara's weight only to have it suddenly pulled away.
"It's here!" Kuwabara jerked free of Kurama's steadying grasp. "Kurama, get down!" He gripped the front of Kurama's shirt and shoved the youko away from him just as a blast of searing cold enveloped him. Kurama hit the ground and rolled to his feet as something flew past him and hit Yuusuke with a furious roar.
A wyrm. It was shockingly white and nearly transparent, with a thick, snake-like body. Wicked looking bone spikes lined along the top of the body, and the creature's jaw hung open to reveal jagged rows of teeth the size of Kurama's fingers. Nearly ten feet long, from the rounded, horned head to the point of the hook-shaped bone protrusion at the edge of the tail, the creature radiated cold in waves. "That is what was in the locket?" he said disbelievingly.
Kuwabara grunted a wordless affirmative and staggered to his feet, looking more or less none the worse for wear. Behind him, Yuusuke was still on his feet and staring wildly around the room. "What the hell was-" Another roar drowned out the rest and Kuwabara flinched, but Yuusuke and the others didn't react at all.
"They don't hear it," Kurama realized. "They didn't even see it."
"Great," Kuwabara said darkly. "So we're on the same footing as the damn snake."
Kurama thought wildly. "If the wyrm is what pushed us out of our bodies, then it's fairly safe to assume that it pulled us into the same dimension of space that it occupies itself."
"Yay?" Kuwabara ventured.
"No, Kuwabara, that means we can hurt it!" Kurama thrust a hand out and sunk it deep into Yuusuke's chest. "They don't hear us, or feel us. We don't even exist to them. But if we were really ghosts, then they would have sensed us. Or Hiei's Jagan would have found us, or Genkai would have heard you when you called. Even Yuusuke's not totally insensitive. One of them should have known we were here. We're not ghosts, our souls are in another plane, another dimension."
A thunderous roar drowned out whatever Kuwabara had to say to that, and the wyrm exploded through the back wall of the practice room. Genkai dodged cleanly out of the way, and Yuusuke, too late, threw both arms up in front of himself. The wyrm bared its fangs and screamed piercingly, but passed through Yuusuke without any visible effect.
"It can't hurt them!" Kuwabara's elation turned to tension as the wyrm turned toward him.
"It can hurt them," Kurama said quietly, "but not easily, not yet. If I'm right, it's not strong enough to hunt humans as powerful as Yuusuke and Genkai."
"What about humans as powerful as us?" Kuwabara asked warily.
Kurama smiled grimly. "I'm not human. But if we can reach it, then it's safe to assume it can reach us as well."
The wyrm reared its head and opened its jaws, throat muscles working. A piercing cry burst free, painfully loud. Kurama clapped both hands over his ears, even knowing it wouldn't help. "Kuwabara, move!" he called, hoping desperately the human would hear him over the screeching cry. He threw himself to his left, through the wall of the temple, and sunlight struck his eyes just before the ice-white color of the wyrm blocked out everything else. Still halfway through the undamaged temple wall, the creature lunged and snapped at him angrily, screaming in Kurama's face, but pulled up short as if something had caught it. Kurama reacted instinctively, summoning the rosewhip to hand. He flipped himself backwards, landing on his feet, facing the wyrm, which continued to strain against what held it.
"Any day now, Kurama!" Kuwabara shouted from somewhere still inside the temple.
The whip lashed out, striking across the wyrm's head and face nearly a dozen times. Pale blue lines appeared across the flesh where the whip had struck, and as Kurama watched, translucent liquid began to drip from the lacerations.
"So," Kurama said, quietly pleased. "I was right. You can be hurt." The fact that the creature appeared to be suffering only minor scratches from an attack that had cut Genbu to pieces and killed hundreds of other demons was something to worry about at another time. The fact that it could be hurt was good enough to start with. He flicked his wrist and the whip wrapped around the wyrm's neck.
The wyrm reared back, pulling Kurama off his feet as the creature strained against the whip. Kurama let go just as the wyrm lashed its head violently from side to side. The whip slapped through the walls of the temple and came loose. Kurama called it back to his hand even as the wyrm slammed its head into the ground and appeared to heave. From inside the temple came a vaguely panicked shout, then the bone tip of the wyrm's tail appeared through the roof of the temple.
****
Continued in Part 2/2
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Rating: R-ish for language. Maybe PG-13
Summary: A soul-eating ice monster is loose in the city, but it's invisible and intangible, and Yuusuke's pretty sure he can't kill what he can't catch. Also, Kuwabara and Kurama might be dead. Sort of. Again.
Author's Note: This was written as a gift fic ages ago and I never posted it because I was pretty sure it sucked. But
lady_flamewing (my favorite fiancé)and jenjinn graciously beta-read it for me, and then I rewrote a few chunks of it and added an actual ending, and now I like it much better. Any lingering suckiness is all my fault and cannot be blamed in any way on my betas.This story is set in the same universe as
kahn's Running with the Crow. Reading that story is highly recommended but not at all necessary to understand this one. All you need to know is that Kurama died, badly, then came back, more badly, and eventually he and Kuwabara opened up a very unsuccessful private detective agency together where they fight demonic crime and are constantly broke. On to the story!Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas
kahn. This story, like so much of what I write, is all your fault.The warehouse district was not what Kurama would consider a particularly pleasant part of town. It was old, and run-down, largely abandoned in favor of the more recently built warehouses that lined the waterfront. These all had a stale air about them, and there was little sign of human activity. Few workers came here anymore, and the main inhabitants appeared to be rats. Even most of the criminals preferred the waterfront these days.
Kurama was, unfortunately, quite familiar with the warehouse district.
He stretched lazily and readjusted his position on a thick branch close to the trunk of the tree. He felt a little ridiculous perched there, spying on an abandoned building, waiting to get the jump on some two-bit thief. A hundred years ago he'd have died of shame if told he'd come to this.
A hundred years ago he'd have just tracked the thief down and taken the damned jewelry back. Assuming it was expensive enough to interest him. Instead, he was spending half the night in a tree for what amounted to about two week's survival pay.
+We really need to start charging more.+ Kuwabara's voice filled his head, echoing his own thoughts.
Kurama smiled to himself. +We need regular customers to charge before we can worry about charging them more.+
+For a city that's been invaded by demons three times in the last ten years, you'd think there'd be more call for paranormal investigators.+
Something moved beneath him. Kurama glanced down through the leaves and saw a young human man, about thirty or so and dressed conspicuously in all black, approach the building slowly. +Someone's here.+
+Where?+
+Right beneath me. He's about to knock.+
+Does he have it with him?+
Kurama studied the stranger. +There's something in his pocket. Could just be a gun, I suppose.+
+Wonderful.+
The man knocked three times, very deliberately, then stopped and waited. Kurama concentrated and heard footsteps inside the building. +Hiroshi's answering the door.+
+Good boy. Let's hope he doesn't screw us over this time.+
The kitsune bit back a grin at the aggravation conveyed in the younger man's thoughts, but privately agreed. He was in no mood for foolish stunts, and after the last time Hiroshi had used up all his second chances at one go.
The door opened and the man in black stepped forward, reaching into his pocket. Kurama tensed, but all he removed was a black cloth. +Attack of the stereotypical villain,+ he sighed. +Don't they know that people are going to pay more attention to them if they dress like that? No self-respecting thief walks around dressed like that.+
+Yeah, the good ones just wear gauze.+
+It was silk.+
+It looked like gauze.+
+It did not! That was all silk. Do you know what I paid for that outfit?+ Kurama aimed a dark look at the warehouse.
+I dunno. What does six meters of gauze go for? A few bucks, I'm sure.+
Kurama rolled his eyes and bit back a sigh. +We need to work on your appreciation for the finer things in life.+
+Oh, hell no.+
Hiroshi stood aside and let the man in black enter, casting a vaguely nervous glance around outside as he did so. Kurama caught a whiff of nerves before Hiroshi pulled the door closed behind him and very carefully did not trip the lock. +He's inside. What do you see?+
+Not a whole hell of a lot, unless rats count for anything.+
+Give them a minute to reach your location.+ Kurama quickly scanned the area around the warehouse, searching for signs of any backup. The man in black seemed to have come alone. He shifted his weight and gripped the tree branch, ready to drop down on a moment's notice.
+He's got it! It's all wrapped up in a black towel, but it's got to be what we're looking for. If we move now, we've got him.+
+We didn't get paid to bring in the thief,+ Kurama said lightly. +Just the locket.+
+No, but it has been several weeks since we had any fun.+
Kurama laughed to himself as he swung down from the tree. +He doesn't look like he's going to be much of a challenge. No reiki, no youki.+ He rested his hand on the door frame and waited.
+Maybe he's armed.+
+You sound far too happy about that possibility,+ Kurama scolded.
+Move in on three?+
+One.+
+Two.+
Kurama kicked in the door.
The warehouse was darker than the moonlit outdoors had been, but Kurama could still clearly make out the two men standing in the center of the empty space. Hiroshi and the man in black jumped away from each other, the black cloth and the small silver locket falling to the ground. Hiroshi scrambled away until his back hit the wall behind him, but the other man lunged for the locket.
Kurama smiled politely. "I'll be taking that, if you don't mind," he said.
The thief was eyeing him, trying to evaluate him and no doubt coming up a little short. The hair always throws them off, Kurama mused cheerfully. The thief slowly regained his feet, the locket clenched in one hand. "How about I just take this and leave?" he suggested. "Unless you think you've got some magic trick up your sleeve that can stop me?"
Hiroshi whimpered.
"It's funny you should put it that way," Kurama told him. "I have any number of things up my sleeve." He bared his teeth. Even without his fangs, it must have been impressive, because the thief took a step back.
He tensed, and Kurama waited, trying to judge if the thief was going to go through or around him, but instead he spun around and ran for the back of the warehouse.
Kurama grinned. +He's coming your way.+
+I know.+
Hiroshi tentatively approached, his face suggesting that he'd rather be playing in a pit of vipers, or perhaps toying with a rabid dog. "There's a back entrance," he said timidly. "He could get out?"
Somewhere in the back, the thief suddenly started shouting. There was the sound of an extremely brief struggle. Then silence.
"Oh," Hiroshi said. "Never mind, then."
Kuwabara emerged from the shadows at the back of the warehouse, grinning widely, with the thief stumbling along in front of him. "Tried to go through me."
Kurama laughed. "They always do."
Taking their apparent good humor as a signal, Hiroshi waved and took a few steps toward the door Kurama had kicked in. "It really is wonderful working with you guys, I mean it. Great job. Next time, don't hesitate to ca-ack!" He jerked to a stop as Kuwabara grabbed the back of his coat. "Unless you need me to stick around?" he added.
"This is why we love working with you, Hiro," Kuwabara said dryly. "You learn so fast."
"What did this guy tell you?" Kurama asked, eyeing the thief. He was only slightly the worse for wear after his rather poor choice to face down Kuwabara and appeared to be regaining his balance fairly quickly. "Kuwabara, the locket?"
"I've got it."
"He didn't say much, really," Hiroshi shrugged. "Just the same thing he told me at the pre-meeting. That he'd found it and he needed a buyer. Apparently he was having trouble selling it."
That fit in with what they knew about the situation. Three antiques brokers and a half dozen pawnshops recognized the description of the locket as something that had been offered to them in the last week, but each had refused to purchase it for one reason or another. Most had claimed that something about the whole situation felt a little off, but they had been referring to the locket, not the seller.
Kuwabara had the locket in his hand, and the silver stood out starkly against his black gloves. He held it up and though there were no lights on in the warehouse, it glinted. "There's definitely something off about this thing," he said. "What did the client tell us? That it was haunted?"
"Ah. By her grandmother, apparently."
+No. Not by her grandmother.+ Kuwabara closed his fist over the locket. +Kurama, forget the thief. There's something in the locket.+
"Hiroshi, would you escort our friend out of here?" Kurama let a little tone of command slip into the request, just in case Hiroshi was feeling recalcitrant. "We have some little business left to clear up here."
"How am I supposed to keep him from getting away?" Hiroshi demanded.
"You've got a gun under that jacket," Kuwabara snapped. "Even though you swore you were coming unarmed this time."
Hiroshi stammered a denial, but Kurama waved it away. "Take him and go, Hiroshi. Get him out of the area and then you can go home."
"And him? What if he struggles?"
"What," Kuwabara said in mock surprise, "you don't have any handcuffs on you this time?"
"Oh come on! You're not still mad about that?"
"Hiroshi, do you want me to make you leave?"
Very few people felt like arguing with Kuwabara when he got that tone. Hiroshi was definitely not one of them. He pulled his gun and grabbed the thief by the arm, leading him out of the warehouse at a pace just short of a dead run.
Kurama kept an ear on their progress until they hit the road and started back toward the city. Then he turned his full attention to the locket Kuwabara held in his fist.
"There's something in here," Kuwabara repeated absently. His hand flared briefly with reiki, fire-orange and bright in the dark, as he probed the locket carefully.
"A ghost?" Kurama asked, watching it warily for a reaction.
The locket clicked open. There was a pause, like someone taking a breath before a jump.
Then everything froze. Literally.
****
Kurama didn't so much wake, as he became aware of his surroundings again. He was tired, and his head hurt and he was cold. Freezing. But aside from the cold, he couldn't feel anything.
I've gone numb, he thought, surprised that he could still be so affected by temperature.
He concentrated on feeling and got nothing except a strange tugging sensation at the back of his mind and in his chest. He rubbed his chest, and was relieved to feel the contact. So I can still move.
It was also dark, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was because his eyes were still closed. He opened them slowly, expecting some pain as they adjusted to whatever light there was, and realized that it was blazingly bright and he didn't hurt at all.
He opened them wide, and sat up.
It was easily mid-afternoon, and he was lying on the pavement outside the warehouse. It took a moment for him to get his bearings beyond that, but by his reckoning, he was sitting on a direct line backwards from where he had been standing when the locket opened. Whatever was in there must have… thrown me?
He eyed the intact warehouse wall, and scratched that idea.
Then someone carried me out here. Maybe Kuwabara- Kuwabara!
He regained his feet, feeling weak in his legs, and the headache pulsed unpleasantly as he did. There was no sign of Kuwabara anywhere around him. No sign of anyone for that matter, not even footsteps to show that someone had brought him out there.
An unpleasant feeling started to grow in the back of his throat. He swallowed it and walked around the warehouse toward the front door. It was still half open from Hiroshi's sudden departure; he reached out to pull it open. He stopped when his hand went through the door.
He pulled his hand back, paused, and tried again. His hand never met the door. Instead it passed through, sinking up to his wrist. He didn't move his hand, but craned his head to see his fingers poking through the other side. He wriggled them.
"Kuwabara was right," he said. "We need to start charging more." His voice sounded strange to his own ears. He set his shoulders and stepped through the door and inside the warehouse.
In the daylight, the interior was even less appealing that it had been the night before. Kurama could clearly see the dirt and cobwebs that had piled up during the months the warehouse had stood empty, and the dust on the floor was disturbed from their encounter with the thief. In the center of it all were two large marks in the dust. About the size of two grown men.
Kurama raised his hand to eye level and watched the dust motes pass through it. I have such a bad feeling about this.
The two large marks had a trail leading away from them – two thin trails in the dust, with the occasional scuff. It looked to Kurama's eye as if someone had picked them up and dragged them away by their shoulders, leaving their heels to drag in the dust. It also looked as if they'd been dropped once or twice on the way out. Kurama checked his own feet, but he wasn't leaving any marks in the dust.
The trail led through the back of the warehouse, where they abruptly ended. Kurama knelt down, examining the cement floor for any further signs. The back of the warehouse was full of old machinery and broken furniture, discarded uniforms, piping, coils of wire and enough rats and birds' nests to start a small reserve. The back door was wide open, and the floor in front of it showed signs of having been disturbed. Something large had been there, but wasn't any longer.
A flash of color caught his eye, and he peered closer at an old rusted pipe sticking out of from a pile of garbage. A small piece of bright blue plastic was stuck to the corroded pipe, waving in the breeze caused by the open door. "A tarp," he murmured. "They set a tarp out on the floor and wrapped us up in it before taking us outside." He straightened up, and looked back toward the warehouse. "Who is it, though? Who knew we were here?"
The footsteps of whoever had dragged them away were almost entirely obscured by the marks made by their bodies. Kurama traced the trail carefully, piecing together each fragment until he had a good idea of what the footprint looked like.
Then he went back to the front door.
"Hiroshi," he growled under his breath. "What the hell are you playing at?"
And what had happened to Kuwabara? Was the human in the same situation as he? Or – Kurama frowned at the marks on the floor – was he still in his body?
Kurama stood for a moment, eying the far wall. Then he walked through it.
He saw Kuwabara immediately. The younger man was surrounded by garbage, slumped against a dumpster across from him. He didn't appear injured, but he was transparent. Kurama knelt at his side and touched his shoulder, relieved when he touched cloth instead of sinking through it. "Kuwabara-kun?" He shook his partner slightly. "Wake up. We missed all the fun."
Kuwabara groaned, and pulled away from Kurama's touch, slumping to the side and sliding right through a rather nasty looking piece of rusted metal. Kurama winced, but Kuwabara didn't even notice. A convulsive shudder ripped through the younger man and he curled in on himself, sending the metal shard back into his chest. Kurama stared in horrified fascination. "Kuwabara-kun, wake up."
"Cold." Another shudder shook through him, but Kuwabara was awake and staring at him. "Kurama?"
"It's me. There was something in the locket-"
Kuwabara's face hardened, and his eyes went blank. "I can see through you," he said harshly.
"Yes, that does seem to be a problem, doesn't it?" Kurama kept his voice light and deliberate. He had a feeling he knew what had set his friend off, but this wasn't the time – and definitely not the place. "Kuwabara, can you sit up? I can't concentrate with that thing," he gestured to the metal shard, "there."
Frowning, Kuwabara looked down, then swore and jerked upright so quickly that he almost knocked them both over. He scrambled away from the dumpster, and pressed a hand against his chest. "What the-" He glanced down again. "Kurama?"
"Yes?"
"Are we dead?" There was a definite note of "again?" in his voice.
"I don't believe so," Kurama said carefully.
"No ferrygirls." Kuwabara shivered again and climbed to his feet. "And no Koenma laughing. I'm pretty sure he'd show up just to rub it in that we were killed by a piece of jewelry."
"What were you able to sense from the locket?" Kurama questioned urgently. "What do you remember before waking up out here?"
"Cold. Very cold. Angry." His eyes seemed to focus somewhere beyond Kurama. "Hungry."
"Were you able to tell what it was?"
"A snake." Kuwabara shook himself roughly, like he was shaking off the memory. "Serpent-like. Big? I don't know. Not a demon, though. Something else." He glanced over his shoulder at the warehouse, apparently putting together the same pieces Kurama had. "Our bodies?"
"Gone. Hiroshi dragged us off. In a tarp, I think."
"Oh, for-" Kuwabara rubbed a hand over his eyes. "This shit never happened to Dick Tracy."
Kurama cast him an amused glance. "Does that make me Tess Trueheart?"
"You'd look terrible as a blond." Kuwabara visibly braced himself, then poked a finger through the wall of the warehouse. "So, now what?"
"We should find the others, see if we can communicate with them, despite our current situation. Genkai may know what's happened to us. I suspect that whatever was in that locket merely separated us from our bodies, as opposed to killing us."
"That's much better," Kuwabara said dryly.
"It means," Kurama said firmly, "that if we can find our bodies in time, we may be able to get back in them. Assuming Hiroshi hasn't done something foolish."
"I’d call dragging us off in a tarp to be pretty damn foolish," Kuwabara snapped. "What was he even doing here? We told him to leave."
"Perhaps he heard something when the being in the locket broke lose and came back. He saw us, thought we were dead and panicked." Kurama brushed off his jeans, even though the dirt of the alley didn't seem to be able to touch him. "Whatever his motivation, we need to find out what he's done with us before it's too late." If it isn't already.
"If it isn't already," Kuwabara said gruffly. "All right. But the next time I see that little rat, I'm breaking both his arms. And you're not going to stop me this time, right?"
"Trust me, Kuwabara-kun. I'll help."
****
Urameshi Yuusuke woke to the sound of school bells ringing.
He rolled over, kicking the sheet away with an aggravated twist of his leg and glared balefully at the open bedroom window. There was an elementary school down the block and every day he was there Yuusuke could hear the bells ringing and the sound of students rushing off to school. Keiko had laughed when he called it a nightmarish hell and claimed it was just his guilty conscience talking.
Conscience or whatever, it made sleeping in on the weekdays difficult. Not that he didn't try anyway, grabbing a well-stuffed pillow and pulling it over his head. He was tired, he wanted to sleep. He chanted that over and over in his mind. I'm going back to sleep. I am asleep. I am asleep. Shut the hell up you stupid fucking bell.
Funny how the bell almost sounded like screaming.
His eyes flew open and he pulled the pillow away from his face. Screaming. Not "tag, you're it!" screaming or even "Ew! Satoshi kissed me!" screaming, but "Oh, my tiny, infant god we're all going to die!" screaming. Bogeyman screaming. Monster under the bed screaming.
Good-luck-trying-to-sleep-in-you-sorry-bastard screaming.
Son of a bitch, he thought tiredly as he jammed his feet into his shoes and shimmied into a pair of jeans, then fell over sideways and tried it again in reverse. Always on my days off.
Not that he worked, or anything, but still.
He took the stairs at a run, skidding down the banister at one point to avoid a group of women clustered together on the landing. He burst through the front doors, ignoring the stares and startled cries he drew from the people gathered together in the street. Everyone was standing around in twos and threes, pointing and staring down the road in the direction of the school, although as yet no one seemed inclined to investigate further.
A half dozen cars screeched to a halt as he raced across the street, vaulting across the hood of a taxi and dodging the front end of a sedan full of women. Horns blared at him angrily, and he waved cheerfully just to piss them off.
There were little kids running down the road crying, a couple of them running into the road, others racing down the sidewalks. Yuusuke hesitated at the edge of the schoolyard, looking for the source of the trouble. He couldn't feel any sort of youki, and he couldn't see any human antagonist.
Man, if this is some stupid game, I'm gonna be really pissed.
He reached out and snagged the next kid who ran past, grabbing the backpack of a little boy in short pants and knee socks. The kid screeched at an ear-splitting decibel, making Yuusuke flinch. "Knock it off!" Yuusuke snapped.
Startled into silence, the kid gaped up at him.
"What's going on in there?" Yuusuke demanded, jerking a thumb toward the schoolyard.
The kid trembled under his hand, making Yuusuke feel kind of guilty. He hadn't meant to scare the kid more than he already was. He dropped down to his knees so he could see the kid at eye level, although he didn't let go of his shirt. "Hey," he said, gentling his voice. "Sorry. Didn't meant to snap at you. I just heard all the yelling and got worried."
That worked, and the kid calmed visibly, although he continued to shake.
"What's your name?"
"K-Kazuya." The kid sniffled and rubbed his arm over his face.
"Kazuya, what's going on over there?"
"C-Cold." Kazuya trembled again. "It's cold."
He's not shaking cause he's scared – he's shivering! Yuusuke touched his free hand to the kid's arm. It was freezing. He let go, and the kid ran off.
It had to be a demon. What else could it be? It was April for crying out loud, it's not like the kid was out playing in the snow. An ice demon could have that effect. Yuusuke flashed on a mental image of Yukina rampaging through a playground full of elementary school kids. Well, a different ice demon.
But what kind of ice demon didn't have ki? Yuusuke surveyed the schoolyard, glancing over the benches, the huddled groups of children. Nothing. Not so much as a hint of youki.
A little girl, about seven years old, was lying unmoving on the grass just a few feet away. Yuusuke jogged to her side and crouched, reaching out to check on her. She was cold as ice, her skin tinged blue and nearly hard to the touch. Frozen. Yuusuke carefully held his hand in front of her mouth, but several long moments passed and he didn't feel any breath.
The air around him grew cold so quickly that the almost seemed to snap under the weight of it. He shivered convulsively and rose to his feet, staring wildly around him. What could-
The cold slammed against his back and through him with enough force to make him stagger. His breath froze in his throat, and he thought he could actually feel his heart falter. For just a second he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, and his knees very nearly gave out.
Then it was over.
"What was that?" Yuusuke raised a hand in front of his face, staring at the frost that had formed over his skin. "What the hell was that?"
Teachers were pouring into the schoolyard in droves, and people were running in off the street to see what the disturbance was. As Yuusuke stood shivering, an ambulance screeched to a halt in front of the school.
"Sir? Sir? Are you all right?" An older woman, a teacher from the look of her, reached for Yuusuke's arm and drew back when she saw the rapidly thawing frost that covered it. "What happened out here?"
Yuusuke shook his head, rubbing his hands together. The children were slowly starting to calm down as parents and teachers coaxed them toward the school and ambulances. No one showed any sign that they were still feeling the cold that had attacked him.
It had definitely been an attack.
He waited until they took the little girl away, and the two other children found behind the school. Then he lit out for Genkai's.
****
Making their way to Genkai's proved to be an adventure. Being unseen and intangible meant they could shortcut through yards and businesses without causing a commotion – Kuwabara in particular was enjoying the ability to walk through any and every wall he came too. The trip was not without a few hassles, however. Small animals could see them, it seemed, or at least sense their passing, and for a couple of blocks they had a small following of cats, dogs and a particularly annoying ferret which had climbed out a window. The animals just followed them quietly, hackles up, until Kuwabara decided to scale the wall outside Sarayashiki Junior High for old time's sake. The animals were stopped at the wall and not being anxious to regain another following, Kuwabara and Kurama stuck to the streets from then on. They still attracted some attention, but the animals were content to hiss and growl warningly and let them pass.
Walking through people was not as much fun as walking through walls. Kurama wasn't particularly affected by it, but Kuwabara's psychic abilities were always strongest when he was in physical contact with another person – and it appeared that being intangible didn't change that any. He managed to weave in and out of the crowds, avoiding most people. One older woman in particular made him turn an interesting shade of red and avoid Kurama's gaze for the rest of the trip. By the time they reached Genkai's Kuwabara was in a foul temper and nursing a headache.
The temple was warded heavily, a necessity considering the kind of enemies Genkai made. Demons, spirits, and even humans with evil intentions would find it difficult to climb the stairs. Some couldn't get past the wards at all.
"Will they let us through?" Kuwabara stood a few steps to the side, out of the range of the wards where his presence shouldn't be able to interfere with anything.
"The wards were set to recognize us and let us pass. I don't think having a body was ever specifically mentioned." Kurama braced himself and started up the stairs. He felt the wards against his skin – like a minor electric shock, but nothing worse than they always were. "It should be all right."
Climbing the stairs to the temple was like walking through a tunnel. The sound of people and cars faded behind them until, by the time they reached the temple itself, the sounds of the city had vanished altogether and you could almost forget it was just a few hundred meters away.
"Hiei's here," Kuwabara said irritably as they reached the top of the stairs. "Yuusuke, too. Think they know something's wrong already?"
"Possibly." Kurama doubted it, although there was always the chance. "Shizuru would know if something happened to you."
"If I were dead, yeah. But you seem pretty certain we aren't yet." It was said so matter of factly that Kurama had to shake his head. Not yet. Kuwabara ducked under a tree branch by force of habit and paused outside the door. "You think the Jagan will let Hiei see us?"
"I've considered that." The Jagan allowed Hiei to read minds and sense supernatural occurrences much in the way a human psychic could. But Hiei kept the Jagan warded and bound beneath a headband except when he specifically wished to use it. Even Kurama wasn't certain how much input the fire demon received from his third eye while it was warded. It was possible that the eye was as good as blind. "Genkai will probably be our best bet." He walked through the door of the temple, feeling the additional wards spark against his skin like an electric shock. He called over his shoulder. "These wards pack a little more of a kick than the last ones."
"I noticed." Kuwabara extricated himself from the door with a grimace and a shake of his head. "I'd never even noticed these wards before."
"I think they're meant for wandering spirits," Kurama mused, hovering one insubstantial hand over the wood of the doorframe. "Ghosts. Evil entities."
"So we're wandering but not evil?"
"And not dead," Kurama reminded him. "I've been dead. This isn't it."
His partner studied him carefully for a minute, then nodded. "Not enough eyeliner to be dead."
Kurama leveled him with a steady glare, relieved despite himself to see Kuwabara crack a reluctant grin. "That joke will never grow old with you, will it?"
The human smirked and motioned for Kurama to proceed him into the temple. "Dead or not isn't the biggest problem right now anyway. Whatever did this to us is still out there. We need to figure out what it was, how it got out of the locket and whether or not we can put it back."
"Without anyone dying," Kurama finished grimly. "You said it was serpent-like?"
"And hungry. Don't forget hungry." Kuwabara paused outside the practice room door and stuch his head – literally – through the door. "I have a bad feeling I know what it eats, too."
"Souls?" Kurama guessed.
"I was thinking red-heads, actually," Kuwabara pulled his head back and jerked a thumb at the door. "Hiei looks like his puppy died. Not that he ever looks happy or anything."
Kurama slid through the door into the practice room and raised a curious brow as he noticed the small group gathered within. On the far side of the room, Yuusuke and Genkai spoke quietly, Yuusuke leaning down, their voices hushed. They look concerned, which is to say that Genkai looked annoyed and Yuusuke looked bothered. Hiei stood across the room from them, directly across from the door, leaning against one wall with his hands in his pockets. He didn't react as Kurama entered the room.
"Hiei?" Kurama called, knowing he wouldn't get a response. The fire demon's gaze didn't even flicker.
Kuwabara pointed to his left. "If we're going to get Genkai's attention, now's the time." He slanted a sideways glance at Hiei, then leaned over Kurama's shoulder and poked a finger through Hiei's shoulder. He jerked back as if he expected the fire demon to explode, but Hiei didn't even flinch. A wicked smile curved over Kuwabara's face and he reached over again and poked another finger through Hiei's throat.
"If he finds out you're doing that, he'll unleash the black dragon on you," Kurama warned mildly.
The human paused. "Can the black dragon even hurt a bodiless, wandering-but-not-evil spirit?"
Not as far as Kurama knew, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it, knowing it would only encourage Kuwabara. "See if you can reach Genkai." He gave Hiei a tired glance, then deliberately turned toward Genkai and Yuusuke.
"I'm not very good at this," Kuwabara admitted reluctantly, as if Kurama needed to be told. "Hiei's the mind reader, not me."
Kurama waved that worry away. "We don't need to read her mind-"
"Thank god," Kuwabara interjected feelingly.
The youko gave him a rueful glance. "We just need to get her attention." He cast a doubtful glance at Hiei. "I'm surprised they haven't sensed our ki already. At the very least, Genkai should have sensed us when we set the wards off at the door. She wouldn't normally turn a blind eye to wandering spirits crawling through the temple. Even of the non-evil variety."
"They seem to have something else on their minds," Kuwabara said doubtfully. He crossed the room slowly, hesitantly, and Kurama thought that this must be how Kuwabara had once approached bank robbers and murderers. Of course, no human murderer would have been able to kill Kuwabara as easily as these two; this old woman and a middle school dropout. He paused at Yuusuke's side, and appeared to concentrate. "Yuusuke's worried about something. Us maybe, but not enough to really know what's happened. There's something else. An attack?" His eyes glazed over slightly as he reached further. "Something… something's hunting humans. Something's hurting humans. It touched Yuusuke." He shuddered and his eyes slid shut. "It's cold, Kurama. And hungry. Very hungry. It's been so long since it fed last."
"Kuwabara!" Kurama darted forward and grabbed at his partner as the taller man started to waver.
"Something's here." Genkai's voice crackled through the room, bringing Hiei and Yuusuke instantly to attention. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and stared straight through Kurama.
"Well, we got her attention." Kurama grunted as he caught most of Kuwabara's weight only to have it suddenly pulled away.
"It's here!" Kuwabara jerked free of Kurama's steadying grasp. "Kurama, get down!" He gripped the front of Kurama's shirt and shoved the youko away from him just as a blast of searing cold enveloped him. Kurama hit the ground and rolled to his feet as something flew past him and hit Yuusuke with a furious roar.
A wyrm. It was shockingly white and nearly transparent, with a thick, snake-like body. Wicked looking bone spikes lined along the top of the body, and the creature's jaw hung open to reveal jagged rows of teeth the size of Kurama's fingers. Nearly ten feet long, from the rounded, horned head to the point of the hook-shaped bone protrusion at the edge of the tail, the creature radiated cold in waves. "That is what was in the locket?" he said disbelievingly.
Kuwabara grunted a wordless affirmative and staggered to his feet, looking more or less none the worse for wear. Behind him, Yuusuke was still on his feet and staring wildly around the room. "What the hell was-" Another roar drowned out the rest and Kuwabara flinched, but Yuusuke and the others didn't react at all.
"They don't hear it," Kurama realized. "They didn't even see it."
"Great," Kuwabara said darkly. "So we're on the same footing as the damn snake."
Kurama thought wildly. "If the wyrm is what pushed us out of our bodies, then it's fairly safe to assume that it pulled us into the same dimension of space that it occupies itself."
"Yay?" Kuwabara ventured.
"No, Kuwabara, that means we can hurt it!" Kurama thrust a hand out and sunk it deep into Yuusuke's chest. "They don't hear us, or feel us. We don't even exist to them. But if we were really ghosts, then they would have sensed us. Or Hiei's Jagan would have found us, or Genkai would have heard you when you called. Even Yuusuke's not totally insensitive. One of them should have known we were here. We're not ghosts, our souls are in another plane, another dimension."
A thunderous roar drowned out whatever Kuwabara had to say to that, and the wyrm exploded through the back wall of the practice room. Genkai dodged cleanly out of the way, and Yuusuke, too late, threw both arms up in front of himself. The wyrm bared its fangs and screamed piercingly, but passed through Yuusuke without any visible effect.
"It can't hurt them!" Kuwabara's elation turned to tension as the wyrm turned toward him.
"It can hurt them," Kurama said quietly, "but not easily, not yet. If I'm right, it's not strong enough to hunt humans as powerful as Yuusuke and Genkai."
"What about humans as powerful as us?" Kuwabara asked warily.
Kurama smiled grimly. "I'm not human. But if we can reach it, then it's safe to assume it can reach us as well."
The wyrm reared its head and opened its jaws, throat muscles working. A piercing cry burst free, painfully loud. Kurama clapped both hands over his ears, even knowing it wouldn't help. "Kuwabara, move!" he called, hoping desperately the human would hear him over the screeching cry. He threw himself to his left, through the wall of the temple, and sunlight struck his eyes just before the ice-white color of the wyrm blocked out everything else. Still halfway through the undamaged temple wall, the creature lunged and snapped at him angrily, screaming in Kurama's face, but pulled up short as if something had caught it. Kurama reacted instinctively, summoning the rosewhip to hand. He flipped himself backwards, landing on his feet, facing the wyrm, which continued to strain against what held it.
"Any day now, Kurama!" Kuwabara shouted from somewhere still inside the temple.
The whip lashed out, striking across the wyrm's head and face nearly a dozen times. Pale blue lines appeared across the flesh where the whip had struck, and as Kurama watched, translucent liquid began to drip from the lacerations.
"So," Kurama said, quietly pleased. "I was right. You can be hurt." The fact that the creature appeared to be suffering only minor scratches from an attack that had cut Genbu to pieces and killed hundreds of other demons was something to worry about at another time. The fact that it could be hurt was good enough to start with. He flicked his wrist and the whip wrapped around the wyrm's neck.
The wyrm reared back, pulling Kurama off his feet as the creature strained against the whip. Kurama let go just as the wyrm lashed its head violently from side to side. The whip slapped through the walls of the temple and came loose. Kurama called it back to his hand even as the wyrm slammed its head into the ground and appeared to heave. From inside the temple came a vaguely panicked shout, then the bone tip of the wyrm's tail appeared through the roof of the temple.
****
Continued in Part 2/2
