Please give C&Cs as I'm quite desperate for them. Anyway, previous chapters
could be found posted up on my page: http://come.to/wsiewlee 

Siew Lee 

Newspaper pen name: Azurite
URL: http://come.to/wsiewlee 
UIN: #14025577 

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                ~~~ The Past, The Present And The Future ~~~

                        ~~~ The Past - Memories ~~~

                        Part 7 - A Plan, The Kill

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        Koenma lay tossing and turning on his mattress made out of 
grass. The soft and comforting draft that blew in and out of the 
plant house couldn't seem to calm him in the face of his dilemma he 
was facing. 

        A dilemma that nobody could help him to solve. 

        Misuko had called out to him once again. How deep were his 
feelings towards her? Did he really love her? Or was it just mere 
lust that prompted him to go to the garden that night? Koenma truly 
didn't know. There were many factors that could have made him do so. 
Work stress, loneliness, etc. Perhaps he had been acting erratically 
that night... Koenma swallowed painfully; he had destroyed her 
life... 

        Love was a mysterious subject... You could love someone with 
the forces of nature, but was it really worth the sacrifice you gave? 
But when you didn't love that person, it was just simply lust and 
fun... 

        Was she just a tool for him to relieve the stress of life? If 
she really was, then Koenma had done the wrong thing. The guilty 
feeling inside him could have been the part where he had hated 
himself for dragging her past the point of no return; or was it? His 
carelessness had caused such consequences. He shouldn't have gone 
looking for her that night. 

        *Admit it, you went to the wrong person... You shouldn't have 
gone to her just for your needs. What about her?* A voice kept 
reminding him every minute, torturing his thinking, tormenting his 
sanity. Predicaments usually didn't plague him during the night... 

        Unconsciously, a tear rolled down to the bridge of his nose. He 
hated himself for all he had done. Misuko... George... It felt that 
the entire world was accusing him of guilt and crime. Slowly, Koenma 
went into a sleeplike trance, forcing himself to believe that he was 
really sleeping peacefully. Peacefully... in the night. 

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        It was a cold night in Makai. A gush of chilly breeze blew 
across the plains, making souls shiver in the dark. A lone figure 
was sitting there. Pouring out his thoughts... His regret... His 
reminiscences... It felt like almost an eternity had passed, yet on 
the contrary it was just hours that he had sat there. 

        Kurama sat on the log beside the campfire. The dancing tops of 
the flames irritated his eyes. Painful, they might be, but his heart 
ached even more. Yellow and red flames burned together, reflecting 
their light into a pair of emerald green eyes. The eyes of Shuichi 
Minamino. 

        Kurama, a notorious thief and robber in the past in Makai, a 
silver youko, had finally met his match tonight. He had never failed, 
and never would; at least in his own wonderful world of dreams. 

        But he had failed tonight. Kurama had never been resisted in 
any way, but he had been resisted just now. By Hiei, his best friend. 
He never expected it, in any way. He always thought that Hiei liked 
him, so he made the final move tonight; but he failed. Botan, what an 
unexpected match; but still she defeated Kurama. It was too late. 
Hiei's soul and heart already belonged to someone else. Hiei's  
reaction made him feel that he was doing something deranged... Kurama 
couldn't believe he was going sentimental over such little things; 
after all, he was an unscrupulous criminal in Makai, a cold-blooded 
youko that couldn't be bothered by mere sympathy or passion. 

        He never knew that Hiei was sentimental too. 

        Kurama held back a sniff. That feeling of being defeated was 
terrible. Kurama had never been defeated before this... This time, he 
had been defeated mentally. He had always thought Hiei liked him. 
Yes, Hiei liked him... only as a friend, but what Kurama actually 
wanted was his attention, his love. 

        Hiei was only a friend. Why a friend? Kurama didn't quite 
understand this answer that was given to him. Hiei was very important 
to him. His best friend, his companion. Throughout the years, they 
had fought side by side, defeating countless opponents. *Why? Why?* 
Kurama yelled to the deserted plains. 

        Kurama's long red locks blew with the wind, flying in various 
directions. A wisp of hair tickled his cheek as a tear rolled slowly 
down his face. Kurama quickly reached up with the back of his hand to 
brush it away. No! He couldn't shed tears! 

        Kurama had never made such advances towards anybody; this was 
his first. Although he knew how to do so, but he had not attempted to 
seduce anybody. The moment when Hiei pushed him away, he felt his 
heart break into a million pieces. The effort he put into planning, 
and everything else. 

        Kurama buried his face into his open palms, hoping such a scene 
would never happen again. Never ever. Let time heal his wounds. 

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        It was daylight in Makai. Although there was no sun in Makai, 
light was still present there. Unfortunately, it wasn't a slow pass 
as dawn in Ningenkai, but within 15 minutes it would reach full 
daylight, and the temperature would start soaring with it, too.

        Koenma woke up first. Last night's sleep hadn't been very 
restful. Problems plagued him. Koenma pushed his body upwards with a 
grunt. Problems... mainly of Misuko. What would happen to her? Koenma 
tried to push that thought away, but failed. Sometimes, things like 
this couldn't be abated. 

        As he walked out of the house, his heart still ached from 
constant worries and doubts. 

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        "Ohayo, Kurama," said Koenma, surprised that there was actually 
somebody who woke up earlier than he did.

        "Ohayo. So early?" greeted Kurama back.

        "Yeah, couldn't sleep," answered Koenma, his expression turning 
depressed at the moment that he thought of his own problems.

        "Hmmm... Wait for about a few more minutes and breakfast will 
be ready," said Kurama, turning his attention back to the smoking 
campfire. 

        Koenma couldn't help feeling there was something wrong with 
Kurama this morning... He seemed depressed. 

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        "I always hate waking up after a nice dream and restful sleep," 
grumbled Yusuke to himself. As he said the word 'dream', his cheeks 
flushed a light shade of pink. He and Keiko were engaged the last 
month. Last month was fun and enjoyable. He and Keiko had nice times 
together. Actually, he rather enjoyed the way Keiko treated him; 
rough, yet romantic. He actually missed Keiko's occasional grumbling
and the once-in-a-blue-moon slap. He dismissed that thought as he 
remembered he was in Makai now. 

        Yusuke looked around. As thoughtful as Kurama was, he had even 
grown some plants to collect dew for them to get cleaned up. Yusuke 
stifled a yawn. Why was night time always so short? In fact, night 
time was always so relaxing. A time to sleep without disturbance, of 
course if you didn't find yourself in a nightmare full of monsters 
with tentacles...

        Yusuke looked around for the others. Everybody had woken up, 
except a snoring Kuwabara. Kuwabara was sleeping soundly; his mouth 
was opening and shutting like that of a goldfish. Yusuke was about 
to wake that figure when a mischievous smile showed up on his face. 

        *I'll get back at that stupid Kuwabara for catching me offhand 
that day. I shouldn't have been so careless in that damned poker 
game,* said Yusuke to himself as he scratched his head for an idea. 
Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a few plants growing in a corner 
of the hut. An evil grin soon crossed his face... What a good idea...  

        Yusuke got up silently and crept towards the area where the 
bowl-shaped flowers had sprouted. With agile fingers, he carefully 
plucked off the flower head. Balancing it carefully, he walked over 
to Kuwabara's makeshift futon. Aiming precisely at Kuwabara's mouth, 
he poured the water down Kuwabara's throat.

        "C'mon... C'mon..." muttered Yusuke as the water went down in a 
steady stream. 

        *Choke! Choke! Splutter... splutter! Choke!* 

        Yusuke went up in peals of laughter as he heard Kuwabara choked 
and splutter on the water. *Kuwabara's awake at last! Bravo!* 

        Kuwabara choked for several minutes and glared at Yusuke who 
was rolling on the ground, suffering from a stitch in his side. 

        "Wahahahaha!!! Kuwabara!" laughed Yusuke uncontrollably. 

        Kuwabara's face turned from blue to red and to purple. He gave 
an angry growl and lunged at Yusuke, aiming for his neck. Fingers 
closed around Yusuke's neck as Kuwabara tried to strangle him.

        "Urameshi! You bastard! Why did you pour water into my mouth!" 
shouted a furious Kuwabara.

        "Kuwa... Kuwabara! Let go of me!" screamed a now suffocating 
from lack of air by Kuwabara's clench Yusuke and the over-laughing 
session.

        Kuwabara seemed... unforgiving on his part. 

        A series of shouting voices and crashing sounds soon followed.

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        This morning was Kurama's turn to cook breakfast. Yukina, Botan 
and Hiei had already woken up and they were assembled around the 
fireplace. All of them were exceptionally quiet today. Maybe, each of 
them had problems and difficult situations of their own. 

        As usual, it was Botan who started a conversation.

        "Kurama-san, where did you gain all these fabulous cooking 
skills?" asked Botan.

        Kurama smiled and replied, "I was a youko and I had lived for a 
few hundred years. During my thieving career, I used to live in 
jungles, caves, you name it. So, I picked up my skills through 
experience."

        Botan then picked up a delicious looking morsel and held it up 
to let Kurama see. "May I know what it is? It has a very nice 
taste..."

        "I think you might not want to know..." answered Kurama, 
smiling knowingly.

        "Just tell me, I won't mind," urged Botan, her curious heart  
thinking of all kinds of possibilities. Besides, the food that Kurama 
cooked was succulent. In fact, it was very appealing to taste buds... 

        "Um.. since you wanted to know, it is a type of underground 
rat," replied Kurama.

        "Really? It doesn't look like one," counter-replied Botan, who 
couldn't believe that the tasty morsel that she was holding in her 
bare hands was an underground rat.

        "Eat it, woman," interrupted Hiei who was busy eating away.

        Everybody then ate their breakfast in silence. Botan looked 
around and saw that Hiei kept edging towards her. In fact, he was 
more edging away from Kurama who sat beside him. Botan looked at Hiei 
in surprise. She wondered why was Hiei was acting like that but she 
kept her mouth shut. Hiei wasn't the type where you could ask him 
questions publicly. Besides, she had made a promise... 

        Yukina finished her breakfast first and stood up. She announced 
that she was going to wake up Yusuke and Kuwabara. Yukina straightened 
her kimono and began walking towards the makeshift house. Kurama and 
the rest cleared the rubbish they left and sat down again, waiting 
for Yukina, Yusuke and Kuwabara.

        Suddenly, a series of screams and yells broke the mutual 
silence in the air. Then, a loud explosion drove straight into 
everybody's ears. Kurama shot upright. 

        *An attack!* thought everybody at the same time. It sounded 
like ki assault! Yusuke and Kuwabara were under siege! They should 
have known better than to leave both of them in the hut without 
protection. Yusuke maybe a S-class youkai but he would not stand any 
chance against creatures of Makai whilst asleep... 

        Everybody stood up nearly at once and started running towards 
the direction of the voices. Kurama brandished his Rose Whip while 
Hiei unsheathed his katana. They stepped in the house cautiously, 
half expecting some type of demon to spring out at them. 

        "Better be careful; there are a lot of hungry youkais and 
demons around," advised Koenma anxiously. He didn't want to lose two 
of his most experienced Reikai Investigators now... 

        Hiei and Kurama nodded, both of them then ventured in deeper. 
Kurama looked around and tried to detect where was the sound coming
from. Kurama perked up his ears and sensing a muffled sound coming 
from behind a vine screen. Hiei and Kurama walked over to that spot 
cautiously. Hiei glanced and took a survey of the surroundings. No 
alien youki, only those of Yusuke and Kuwabara's... *Whoever this 
youkai might be, it must be a very skilled one...* thought Hiei 
silently. 

        Wait! There seemed to be a figure crouching over something... 

        "Be careful..." whispered Kurama softly to Hiei. Hiei didn't 
give any verbal response, but instead he just nodded. 

        "One... Two..." counted Kurama lowly, giving the cue to attack. 
"Three!" yelled Kurama at the last count. Both of them jumped and 
crashed through the flimsy layer. 

        They didn't see any demons whatever; instead, they saw Kuwabara 
on top of Yusuke, strangling him. Over at the ceiling, there was a 
big gaping hole. Everybody let out an exasperated sigh.

        "Can't you guys be more mature?" said Koenma, obviously 
disappointed by their behavior.

        "Yeah, especially that insane Kuwabara," taunted Hiei from the 
side as he sheathed the katana into the long and slender ebony cover. 

        "What did you say???" fumed Kuwabara. He let go of Yusuke and 
attacked Hiei instead.

        "I have been patient with you for a long time, but now, how 
dare you call me insane!" yelled Kuwabara angrily, his face turning 
an even more brilliant shade of red.

        "Who asked you to be patient with me?" replied Hiei loftily, 
rolling his eyes.

        "If you have the guts, come and attack me right now!" 
challenged Kuwabara aloud, glowering. 

        At first, it was only some minor kicking and punching, but 
things began to look ugly. Kuwabara powered up his Rei-sword and Hiei 
retaliated by undoing his head bandage and arm bandage. A black 
dragon tattoo adorned his right arm... Both of them were going to 
fight for real this time.

        "Woa... Stop it at once!" shouted Yusuke, seeing that a battle 
was about to occur between two of his teammates, subsequently 
standing in the middle. Both Hiei and Kuwabara ignored Yusuke and 
continued staring at each other.

"Hey!" yelled Yusuke as Kuwabara's Rei-sword missed his head by a few 
inches in an attempt to hack Hiei on the shoulder. 

        Hiei raised his right arm and black fire began to swirl 
clockwise around the limb. *I'm going to blast that bastard to 
pieces! Once he's dead I won't have to see his disgusting face,* he 
thought furiously. 

        Kuwabara yelled, "Go to hell!" He pushed Yusuke aside and 
charged towards Hiei with his Rei-sword high up in the air; his ki 
sword scintillating even more brightly than ever before. 

        "This *is* hell!" answered Hiei, preparing to use his 
Kokyuurha.

        "Stop!!!" A female voice rang out. It was Yukina. Two bolts of 
fiery energy stopped at once, about two meters from each other. 
Kuwabara deactivated his Rei-sword and stepped forward to hold 
Yukina's hand. Kuwabara always enjoyed holding Yukina's hand, as it 
was constantly pleasantly cool. 

        "It's alright," assured Kuwabara towards Yukina, his face 
showing obvious signed of gaiety simply because Yukina had actually 
cared for his safety. Yusuke and the rest heaved a huge sigh of 
relief. They didn't want any of their friends to be hurt... They 
needed all the manpower they had now. 

        Meanwhile, Hiei was standing there, rewrapping his right arm, 
his eyes turning bloodshot at the scene. 

        "What do you think you are doing by holding her hand?" growled 
Hiei angrily. Why would Yukina want a bastard like that? Hiei didn't 
quite comprehend Yukina's mind and soul. 

        "Why? She is my *friend* and is there anything wrong holding 
with her hand?" shot back Kuwabara, emphasizing on the word 'friend' 
to taunt Hiei at the same time. 

        Hiei kept quiet and bit his lip. Why had Yukina chosen that 
fool Kuwabara out of everybody else in Makai, Ningenkai and Reikai? 
That surname Kuwabara was always so irritating. Hiei rolled his eyes 
and looked away. 

        Kuwabara saw Hiei's reaction and thought for a moment. A smug 
smile replaced that blur look on his face. Kuwabara grinned and 
yelled out aloud in triumph, "Ah! I know! You had a crush on Yukina 
too!" 

        Hiei's face turned from red to purple, obviously enraged.

        Yukina who was standing beside Kuwabara suddenly interrupted. 
"What are you saying, Kuwa-chan? Hiei's my oniisan." 

        "Huh? Hiei's your brother? He doesn't look like it. Look, 
Yukina. You don't need to help that fellow save face," answered 
Kuwabara, grasping Yukina's hand even more tightly than before.

        "It's true. I just found out about it yesterday..." replied 
Yukina.

        Sweat drops began to form on Yusuke, Koenma and Botan's 
forehead. How would Kuwabara response to his fact then? Hiei was 
Yukina's long lost brother... 

        "What?! How can it be?" yelled Kuwabara, obviously near 
hysterical this time.

        Yukina gazed at Kuwabara. Her face showing a tinge of despair 
and disappointment. Kuwabara didn't seem to accept it well and gave a 
snort of disgust but didn't say anything more for the sake of Yukina.

        Hiei muttered something under his breath and walked away 
towards the exterior of the small house.

        Kurama handed Yusuke and Kuwabara a fruit which looked like a 
blue banana.

        "This is your breakfast," explained Kurama as he saw Yusuke and 
Kuwabara eyeing the fruit curiously. Didn't look appetizing... 

        "Eat it and start walking or else we won't be able to reach 
that castle before dusk," said Kurama again, convincing them to eat 
it.

        After Kuwabara and Yusuke had eaten, the little group of heroes 
and heroines continued their journey peacefully. Alright, maybe a 
little bickering here and there, but nothing much. 

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        "Hahahaha! I can't believe they are actually falling for our 
trap!" laughed Murashi. His arms were draped around Yamaro's neck as 
they stared into the crystal set before them in a stand of dark green 
jade. Murashi leaned forward and gave Yamaro a peck on his cheek.

        "Hah! I could barely believe they were this dumb, especially 
that Kurama. He is supposed to be a youko. Youko's are well known for 
their extra intelligence and craftiness. Besides, they were too rash 
in their act of knights in shining armor," answered Yamaro, his mind 
already thinking of more ways to attack the small group.

        "Looks like they will reach here by evening," said Murashi, 
carefully calculating the distance and time involved in coming to the 
castle.

        "Meantime, we have some planning to do," Yamaro flicked a 
finger and Misuko sat there, face to face with them.

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        One night of anguish and misery. Torture, Misuko had always 
dreaded that word more than the actual action. Now, she finally 
understood. It wasn't just physical, but mental too. Until now, she 
still hadn't accepted the fact that she was a ferrygirl in the 
past... She was some fianc�e of a guy she never knew before. 

        She was tired, tired of all this. A few days ago, she was just 
only an ordinary schoolgirl, but of all sudden she was dragged into 
this game of deceit and despair. 

        Koenma, who was he actually? Well, she knew that he was her 
past lover, but she had no memories of him. Misuko squeezed her eyes 
shut. No... It didn't work. There was just blankness there. No...  
She couldn't remember anything about him, about herself, about her 
life... Memories, they played an important role in lives. Very 
important roles.

        A second thought came to her mind. She had heard that one could 
commit suicide by biting the tongue. Perhaps it was the overflow of 
blood that led to death. She was Death in the past life, so what did 
it mean anyway? Perhaps that might be the best way to end her misery 
here, but Koenma's face showed up in her mind. She had to give him 
some type of explanation. This time, she would wait for him; he had 
given her a reason to live. She had to know the truth.

        *Of course I need to know the truth!* said Misuko to herself 
defiantly.

        Misuko could only wait. She had tried freeing herself. She had 
struggled with the bonds that held her in place. Misuko felt tears of 
desperation forming in her eyes, but she blinked them away. For one 
moment she thought she was seeing things, but two figures seemed to 
materialize out of the thin air. Thin air?! This must be some kind of 
illusion... 

        "So did you enjoy the night?" asked one of the figure whom 
Misuko recognized as Murashi, deviously. Misuko looked away, 
disgusted at the tone of his voice.

        "Don't play around anymore, Murashi. Misuko, they are coming to 
rescue you, if you don't do anything stupid, we won't harm you," 
interrupted Yamaro.

        A flicker of hope lit up in Misuko's eyes but she wouldn't let 
it show. She must not let it show; help was arriving! At least she 
could buy them some time by keeping them here... 

        "I've already told you! I won't help you!" yelled Misuko.

        "You don't need to." Suddenly, Misuko found herself on top of 
the castle, still strapped to the chair.

        "From here, your dearest Koenma will have a very nice view of 
his sweetheart," laughed Yamaro together with Murashi, levitating in 
the mid-air. Yamaro concentrated for a moment and Misuko could feel 
the invisible ropes loosening their grip. Then, a wave of energy hit 
her and she was pushed towards the pillar-like structure behind her. 
Over there, the invisible ropes once again bound her like steel by 
her hands and waist; leaving her feet dangling freely from the 200m 
tall building.

        "Look over there, Misuko. Your dearest Koenma and his team of 
dogs are here," mocked Murashi. 

        Misuko looked forward and nearly fainted at the sight of the 
group advancing.

        *Help was here!*

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        The journey was very difficult and so was the climate. Yusuke 
and his friends had walked for quite a long time before reaching the 
castle. It was nearly dusk when they had finally sighted an ancient 
building.

        "Koenma, is that the castle we are looking for?" asked Kurama 
curiously, as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead.

        "It looks awfully like the pictures of 'Hotaro' in the Reikai 
structural files," answered Koenma thoughtfully. As they walked 
closer, they saw two figures, levitating in mid-air and another 
figure, female figure, strapped to a pillar in front of the castle.

        "We have finally reached our destination..." said Yusuke 
softly, looking at the couple floating in mid-air. The threat wasn't 
a joke. Genkai was right, they were powerful users of ki. 

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End Part #7

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First version: December 1997
Second version: March 1998

All standard Yu Yu Hakusho disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee 

E-mail: Siew Lee <wsiewlee@tm.net.my>
URL: http://come.to/wsiewlee 
UIN: #14025577 

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