Hello, minna-san! Chapter 9 here and I'm totally obsessed with writing fics
now! Keep your eyes open for my new DBZ fic. Coming soon! Arigato to Bulma!
She loaned me her YYH tapes!!! 

PLEASE! Please give C&Cs and mail them to wsiewlee@tm.net.my 'cuz I'm not
an active subscriber to the FFML! 

P/S The previous story and chapters before this is posted at my webpage:
http://members.xoom.com/hiei 

Siew Lee 
[wsiewlee@tm.net.my] 

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                ~~~The Past, The Present and The Future~~~ 

                        ~~~The Present - Vengeance~~~ 

                         Chapter 9 - Herald of Hope 

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        Kuwabara blinked, surprised that Hiei would actually call on 
him. He took a look at Yusuke and Kurama, both of them were hurt 
rather badly. His eyes burned at the sight of the blood that stained 
Kurama's shirt and Yusuke's soft groans while he was attempting to 
get up... *Now, to defeat that monster is more important than 
personal grudges... I have to cooperate with that shrimp somehow...* 
Upon that thought, he powered up his spirit sword and calmly made his 
way towards Hiei. 

        "Hiei, we can't defeat our friend here if we act by 
ourselves..." growled Kuwabara softly, his spirit sword scintillating 
brightly. 

        "Remember the movie we saw onthat baka Ningen box at Koenma's 
place? Both the man and woman were fighting with swords," interrupted 
Hiei, raising his katana at 45 degrees towards the floor. Yes, he was 
forced to watch it together with Botan... So great for a perfect 
lover. 

        "Yeah, can you recall how to fight in that style? It seems like 
a very powerful stance," answered Kuwabara, his sword following 
Hiei's pose. 

        "Alright, you will have to forget every single argument we had 
for the meantime. We need teamwork," said Hiei coldly. He didn't want 
to fight side by side with that baka if he had the choice. 

        "After you, shri..." stopped Kuwabara in time. He wanted to get 
Kurama and Yusuke to safety, not picking a fight with Hiei now. 
"Which one can you remember? I can do both." 

        "I can do both too," came the answer. Hiei fixed his cold stare 
at Murashi who was busy fanning himself and picking little dust 
particles off his outfit. *Sissy!* muttered Hiei under his breath. 

        "You be the woman," pushed Kuwabara, blatantly shoving the 
so-called 'shameful' part to Hiei. Hey! No offense here! Kuwabara 
wouldn't be caught dead posing as a female. Some egotistic young man 
he was. 

        "No, you be. I don't want to play the woman's part," argued 
Hiei defensively, his ego badly hurt at the thought of doing all 
that elaborate hand work. 

        "Look here, Hiei. How am I going to play the woman's part? I'm 
so big sized and I can't imitate those graceful steps. Only you 
shri... um, could copy those," pointed out the orange-hair boy. 
Regardless of Hiei, Kuwabara struck the man's stance from the 
television set. 

        "Have you two finished talking and discussing? I'm getting a 
bit impatient, you know," said Murashi as he eyed the bickering pair. 
*Immature...* muttered Murashi. 

        "Okay, whatever," grumbled Hiei as he undid his cloak and threw 
it aside. He sported a graceful pose with his left hand placed 
daintily near his cheek; right hand holding the sword pointed at 
Murashi, left leg poised up behind him in the mid air... Hiei rolled 
his eyes irritably, angry at Kuwabara internally. 

        "Show us your power, baka," yelled Hiei coldly, his eyes and 
stare turning icy. 

        Kuwabara and Hiei leaped forward and began attacking Murashi 
with a pair of matching stances. Hiei above, Kuwabara below... Both 
of them fought side by side, bursting with teamwork and cooperation 
for their friends lying on the floor. Murashi looked at them and 
began blocking the swords by flicking his fan around. 

        "Good stances," commented Murashi as he protected himself 
against Hiei's katana blade above his head. "Where did both of you 
learn it from?" he continued, snickering a little. 

        "From a television series," answered Kuwabara and Hiei together 
as they began another series of attacks. Kuwabara swung his Rei sword 
with brute force while Hiei's steps were lithe and graceful along 
with his katana. 

        Yusuke was looking at the fight going on in front of him. His 
back still hurt, thus making it impossible for him to stand up. He 
looked anxiously around... Arisa needed treatment quickly because she 
was in a bad state now, drifting in and out of consciousness. 

        *Things are looking good for Kuwabara and Hiei. Murashi 
can't even give the slightest retaliation, he can only defend himself 
with his damned fan... In fact, Kuwabara and Hiei could make a good 
team. Now Hiei is even acting sissy...* Yusuke stifled a giggle at 
the thought of Hiei wearing a dress. A slinky black dress with 
spaghetti straps... A sweat drop formed at Yusuke's forehead when a 
picture of Hiei dressed up in that way flashed past in his mind. *If 
I were to ever take such a photo, it would certainly be a priceless 
picture...* 

        Kuwabara and Hiei were sweating profusely, Murashi was quite 
difficult to defeat. His agility was in top form, thus making it 
tough for the duo to keep up with him. 

        Both their swords were raised up at the same time to aim at 
Murashi's chest, striking and piercing through the air. Hiei 
concentrated for a while and began feeding youki into the katana for 
more power. Murashi dodged to the left, his right leg lifted up going 
for Kuwabara's head. In a hurry, Kuwabara leaned backwards and the 
tip of his sword merely touched Murashi's pants, drawing a long tear 
instead of seeing blood at his chest. 

        Murashi jumped over the sword, his fan whirling shut to tap 
Kuwabara on the chest... Suddenly his fan clinked against something 
metallic, and he realized that Hiei's katana was already blocking his 
fan and advancing towards his body at an alarming speed. Murashi 
began twirling the fan clockwise, counterattacking Hiei thus gaining 
control of Hiei's sword. At that time, Kuwabara leaped up and aimed 
his Rei ken at Murashi's side, but only to come in contact with 
Hiei's katana. Murashi jumped back, avoiding the clash. 

        "Go!" shouted Kuwabara and Hiei stepped up on his shoulder. 
With a slight tap of his heel, he jumped up high above Murashi and 
began spiraling down with his katana aimed at the opponent's head. 
Meanwhile, Kuwabara attacked from the bottom slashing at Murashi's 
chest and abdomen repeatedly. 

        Hiei fed more and more youki into the katana as black flame was 
already erupting from the slender sword. 

        Murashi stood there, his mind forming a plan to defend himself. 
Just as Kuwabara's Rei ken was about to pierce into his body, Murashi 
whipped open the fan and the tip of the sword went straight into the 
space within the metal framework. Murashi quickly folded the fan with 
a clench and with a snap, Kuwabara's sword was cut in half. 
Meanwhile, Hiei was still attacking from the top, his katana came 
spiraling down at top speed. Murashi just raised his left hand and 
white flames spluttered out in fiery sparks. 

        Stalemate! 

        Both Kuwabara and Hiei clenched their teeth and pressed forward 
even harder. Hiei's katana inched forward heading towards Murashi's 
head... Suddenly, the sound of shattering metal filled the air. 
Murashi's left hand was emitting a powerful force and the katana was 
chopped into 10 pieces, leaving only the handle intact. 

        The fan began to discharge strong youki and Kuwabara was pushed 
backwards, forcing his hand to release his grip on the spirit sword. 
The shining form dispersed at once and Kuwabara stood there, shocked. 
Hiei was also thrown off, landing beside Kuwabara. 

        "That baka actually made my sword disappear!" cursed Kuwabara 
angrily. 

        The fan whirled around in a blurry form and it disappeared! 
Kuwabara looked again and spotted the slender form neatly placed at 
Murashi's side, held by his cloth belt. Just than, Murashi began 
producing double ki discs with both of his hands. He arched his 
fingers and aimed the energy attacks at the duo. 

        "Prepare to die!" yelled Murashi as he exerted some youki to 
launch the ki based weapons. 

        "Stop!" A voice yelled in the now silent chamber. Soft and 
ethereal music began to play across the room, even the air began to 
grow chilly at the strange sound. A lone flute playing itself to the 
limited space. 

        "Is it just me or what? My head is beginning to grow dizzy at 
the sound of this music!" complained Kuwabara, shaking his head to 
clear the fuzzy feeling. 

        Murashi stopped in his tracks and looked up. Floating in the 
air was Yamaro, playing his jade flute languidly. 

        "Yamaro-sama, why are you here? I could handle both of them," 
asked Murashi, deeply surprised when he caught sight of Yamaro. 

        Yamaro stopped playing his flute abruptly... When the magical 
music was gone, it was like a totally different scene. Something 
snapped in Hiei's head, something became clear. All the enchanting 
traces were gone! All gone! 

        *What type of skill was that?* muttered Hiei under his breath. 
It was odd, Hiei had never heard nor experienced such sensations. 
A fuzzy minded and confused state created by the blend of high 
pitched notes. He took a short look at Kuwabara. *Not much 
difference, that baka jamming fingers into his ears...* Hiei chanted 
mentally. 

        "Yamaro... Kisama..." growled Hiei in a low tone. Yamaro shot a 
swift glance at him and smirked, still retaining his silence. 

        Still wordless. 

        Suddenly, he spoke. "Who is the leader here?" 

        Yusuke tried to stand up, but collapsed weakly on a wall. He 
leaned against the structure, biting his lower lip from groaning. 
Gritting his teeth, he managed to get up a little. He took a deep 
breath and answered the youkai floating in mid air. 

        "I am. What do you want?" 

        "Nothing. I'm in a fairly good mood today, so I want to have 
another tournament with all of you. Okay let's strike a deal here." 

        Yusuke spat on the ground. "When?" he asked angrily. Angry at 
himself for not being able to fight back, by the way he was helpless 
now. Crippled, relying on the wall for support... 

        "In a month's time," came the answer. Yamaro paused for a while 
before continuing. "I want to see how well you all could fight with a 
month's preparation," smirked Yamaro, almost as if he was granting 
them a favor. 

        Yusuke's eyes glinted furiously.. his blood was boiling... With 
the help of his left arm, he made an attempt to heave himself up; 
this time succeeding. He had already made up his mind. With only two 
members of his Reikai tantei team intact, they wouldn't survive 
this meet anyway! 

        "Alright... One month. Venue?" he asked through gritted teeth. 

        "The core of Makai, where the tundra and deserts of Makai 
meet," replied Yamaro. "Anyway, I won't treat the Reikai people 
badly. If I win, Reikai would have to let me and Murashi open a 
portal linking Ningenkai and Makai, and all of you can't interfere 
with anything we do; besides that, all of you won't be able to stop 
me by then. If you win, Murashi and I will turn ourselves in to the 
Reikai Crime Investigation Department. Deal?" 

        "Deal!" spoke Hiei harshly. He would make it a good fight no 
matter under what circumstances. 

        Murashi snickered and smiled as he studied the crippled team. 
That redhead was lying down in a pool of blood, the girl was near 
unconscious, the slick hair fellow was leaning weakly against a 
wall... Murashi sighed sadistically, fighting was fun when blood was 
actually present. The blood-stained marble... The reddish streak on 
his victim's clothes... 

        Smiling, he walked over to stand in front of Kurama. "What a 
beautiful face... You ought to be thankful that I didn't actually 
hurt you a lot. I have merely blocked off your youki channel but it 
will automatically reopen itself in one hour's time," said Murashi. 
Stooping down, he reached out a finger and gently brushed Kurama's 
face. "Goodbye..." Laughing out loud, he walked away and stood next 
to the now quiet Yamaro. 

        Kurama breathed in deeply, his eyes flashing with anger; but 
Murashi paid no heed to him. In a barely audible voice, he asked 
a question. "What have you done to Yusuke and Arisa?" 

        "I just tapped at your friend's spine, too bad that he can't 
take weak punches... As for the girl, I have done nothing to her but 
I advise you to take her to a doctor as soon as possible," answered 
Murashi. After he finished that sentence, white mist began forming 
around the couple and in a blink, they were gone. 

        "Stupid skills," grumbled Hiei as he threw the handle of his 
broken katana away. 

        "That flute is surely something," said Kuwabara as he shook his 
head to clear off the traces of the music. 

        "C'mon moron. We have to get the rest to Reikai quickly. They 
need to have medical attention!" yelled Hiei as he lifted Arisa up. 
"Kuwabara, you take Kurama and Yusuke." 

        Soon, Kuwabara with Yusuke and Kurama on each side plus Hiei 
carrying Arisa were quickly making their way to Reikai. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

        "Yamaro-sama, why do you want to let them fight after one 
month? I could have easily killed them off just now," asked Murashi 
as the pair walked into a lavish room. 

        "Actually, this is a plot to get Ningenkai into our hands. 
Wouldn't it be better if we finished them off in one easy shot? I am 
sure that we will be able to defeat them. In another way, we can 
destroy those pests from Reikai once and for all," replied Yamaro 
softly as he sat down gingerly on a wooden chair. 

        "Yes, Yamaro-sama. Judging from their performance today, we 
could easily defeat them, even with a month of preparation. Now, 
let's toast for Ningenkai, Reikai and Makai, let's toast for our 
future victory! We will be rulers of three worlds!" said Murashi as 
he handed a glass of wine to Yamaro. 

        Yamaro nodded slightly and sipped the wine slowly, relishing 
the fine taste of the liquid... Maybe not the liquid, but the taste 
of sure victory. A smirk lit up his face, showing his confidence. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

        "Koenma-sama! Koenma-sama! We need a doctor right now!" yelled 
Kuwabara as he and Hiei burst into Koenma's office back in Reikai. 

        "What happened?" asked Koenma quickly; he had a feeling that 
something bad had happened ever since the central computer began 
receiving zero youki detection from the abandoned house. Misuko shot 
Kuwabara a puzzled glance but noticed Yusuke and Kurama on the floor. 

        "No time to explain. Just call the doctor!" snarled Hiei. 

        Koenma switched on the intercom and yelled. "George! Call the 
Imperial Doctor now! At once!" Koenma shut off the intercom and 
tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently. 

        Misuko got up from her place quickly and knelt down beside 
Arisa. "What happened to her?" she asked anxiously. Yusuke was 
looking fine now as he could stand up with the help of Kuwabara. 

        Kuwabara just shrugged, indicating that he didn't really know 
anything. Misuko had a bad feeling about this and kept anticipating 
the familiar creak of the door opening. 

        Koenma took an overall glance at the Reikai tanteis. Arisa was 
lying on the floor, Kurama was leaning against the sofa seats with 
a red smudge on his chest. Dried blood was visible on a corner of 
his mouth and fresh blood was trickling slowly down his chin. 

        "What happened?" yelled Koenma at everybody. "What actually 
happened? Why is Kurama bleeding and Yusuke limping?" 

        "Well..." started Kuwabara slowly. 

        *Crash!* The wooden door burst open and a white robed figure 
rushed in the room. A man in his mid-forties carrying a bag gave a 
slight bow to Koenma and asked, "Where's the patient?" 

        "Those three," answered Misuko for Koenma, pointing at the 
three spread across the room. The man took a quick glance and went 
towards Kurama quickly. Carefully, he picked up Kurama's wrist and 
prodded around for his pulse. 

        "Wait, doctor. Check her first..." whispered Kurama softly, 
taking his hand away from the man. The doctor shot a quizzical look 
at him, but was silenced when Kurama nodded slightly. 

        The doctor went and knelt down beside Arisa, feeling her wrist 
for her pulse... "Weak... Very weak..." mumbled the man aimlessly. 
Reaching out this hands, he slightly tapped Arisa's belly. Hearing 
the pained gasp and feeling the immediate wince, the doctor was very 
sure that the girl was suffering from a near-miscarriage. 

        Quickly, he dug in his bag and produced a needle with a small 
vial of liquid.  Carefully, he sterilized a patch of skin on Arisa's 
arm and slowly injected the clear substance into the near unconscious 
girl. 

        He heaved a sigh and wiped away the beads of perspiration 
forming on his forehead. One by one, he checked Kurama and Yusuke. 
One hour quickly passed, both of them were beginning to feel a lot 
better... but Arisa but still lying there, unmoving. 

        "Is she alright?" asked Yusuke, obviously worried about the 
still form on the carpeted floor. 

        "Let's talk outside. Give the patient some room to rest and 
breathe,"  answered the Imperial Doctor as he gathered his 
instruments and took leave. The whole group followed the doctor until 
they were outside Koenma's office. Even Kurama could manage with some 
help from Yusuke. 

        "What actually happened to her?"  asked Kurama weakly. 

        "What had she been doing before she was in this state?" asked 
the man in return, his eyebrows knitted together in curiosity. 

        "Uh... She was fighting with Murashi when she suddenly writhed 
and blacked out," replied Yusuke. 

        "Did she jump or leap?" 

        "Jump? I think so. I remember her leaping onto a table 
avoiding that ki disc. Ah yes! The wooden table collapsed under her 
and she was flung down roughly," explained Kuwabara, his hand 
reaching up to scratch his head. 

        "Well, don't let her jump, leap or whatever. This time she was 
lucky to survive that fall," advised the doctor, looking slightly 
puzzled at this point. 

        "Why? I thought she was quite strong physically when I 
recruited her," interrupted Koenma. Misuko was there, standing 
quietly. *May god bless Arisa...* chanted Misuko mentally... Her 
biggest secret was about to be revealed in front of her friends and 
Misuko was sure that her cousin wouldn't like the idea... 

        "Don't you know that she is more than two months pregnant?" 

        Misuko nearly strangled the doctor at this point. The words hit 
her like a slap... She shook her head a little, expressing pure 
concern for her cousin lying inside the room. 

        "Two months pregnant?!" yelled everyone together expect for 
Kurama and Misuko. 

        "How could that be?" exclaimed Yusuke. "She was just training 
with us here about two months..." Yusuke stopped himself... Two 
months... Could it be a mere coincidence? 

        "Well, whether you all know it or not, she is two months 
pregnant and if she had been brought in any later, she might have 
miscarried. Anyway, I have give her an injection to stabilize her 
condition but she will have to be more careful in the future." 

        "Are she and the baby alright?" asked Kurama softly from the side. 

        "Yes," answered the doctor. 

        "Thanks..." mumbled Kurama. 

        The man took leave, leaving the small group standing jarred 
in the noisy office. Yusuke was the first one to say something. "How 
could Arisa be pregnant? Who's the father then?" he asked in a 
totally confused way. Believing the fact that the girl was going to 
be a mother hit him like a tsunami, nearly impossible for him to 
recover. Kuwabara and Hiei stood there, wordless. 

        Misuko, upon hearing Yusuke's question, glared at Kurama 
furiously. She couldn't care less anymore! Sooner or later, the bunch 
here in Reikai would know about it; so it might be better if she 
could burst the bubble now. "How could you do this?! My best friend 
and cousin is hurt!" snapped Misuko coldly at Kurama. 

        "What have I done?" asked Kurama softly, the shock and guilty 
look on his face already giving him away. The rest glared at him, for 
that expression proved his so-called 'innocence'. 

        "Look here, Kurama. I don't care what you have done - why did 
you get Arisa-san pregnant?" asked Koenma angrily. "Now Reikai is 
already lacking tanteis and you are there on lookout for any girl to 
please you!" 

        Kurama just kept quiet, leaning against the wall. 

        Everybody was quiet and unusually reserved. Yusuke stormed up 
to Kurama and grabbed the scruff of his shirt. "Kurama! What have you 
done?! Tell us the truth now!" yelled Yusuke furiously. "As far as I 
know, Arisa doesn't flirt around with anybody! Especially you!" 
shouted Yusuke again, pushing Kurama against the wall. 

        Kurama remained silent, his eyes downcast. Yusuke looked at him 
with pure disappointment and his grip on Kurama's collar loosened a 
little. "You should have told us earlier. Thank god Arisa-san and 
your brat are alright or else..." Yusuke's gaze turned menacing 
again. Nobody could ever hurt his friends; let alone his teammates. 

        "I have done nothing wrong. I did my best to protect Arisa just 
now," said Kurama in a barely audible whisper. 

        "How dare you say that!" screamed Misuko angrily. "How can you 
say you have done nothing wrong?!" The whole division office turned 
quiet suddenly and a few hundred pairs of eyes turned to focus at the 
group. 

        "Alright, if all of you are to scream and yell like this, you 
all might as well do it in my office," commanded Koenma as he dragged 
a fuming Misuko by hand into the room. The rest trooped in quietly, 
shutting the door when the last one was in. 

        "I'm sorry..." began Kurama as he bent down and brushed aside 
some strands of Arisa's hair. 

        "Kurama, if you have guts, admit it right here!" yelled Misuko 
but Kurama just kept quiet. 

        "Answer me! What did you do to her when both of you were drunk 
that night?" said Misuko, calming down a little. The rest gasped in 
shock, they had never expected Kurama to do something like that! It
was too abrupt! 

        "Both of us were simply drunk that night and I lost my rational 
thinking... I didn't mean to do this to Arisa and I didn't expect 
that she would get pregnant the first time..." mumbled Kurama lamely. 

        "Kurama, oh Kurama. How could you be so careless? Don't you 
know that Arisa is just eighteen this year? How is she going to face 
her future like this?" 

        "Misuko-san, I suggest you don't yell that much. Arisa-san 
needs rest right?" interrupted Yusuke from the side, seeing an 
argument was about to happen with Misuko yelling at Kurama like that. 
Yusuke's anger was already fading by then. 

        "Yeah, that bastard tapped him with his fan once and he went 
limp..." interrupted Kuwabara from the side. 

        "I'll carry her to the rest room," offered Kuwabara. "Um... 
Koenma-sama, got any idea where the rest room is?" 

        A sweat drop formed at Koenma's forehead. "Never mind, I'll ask 
some of the ferry girls to move her there. For now, why don't we just 
discuss about ways to meet the challenge?" 

        The rest nodded silently and Kurama sat down on the sofa seat 
with a bleary look in his eyes. Yusuke leaned against the wall for 
support, his backbone still hurt. 

        "Why did Yamaro and Murashi let all of you go free?" asked 
Misuko curiously. She could have sworn that Yamaro would have killed 
at least one Reikai tantei. 

        "Well, I'm not sure what that bastard wants but the other 
fellow who turned up at the last minute demanded a fight with him one 
month later... Koenma-sama, you won't believe how powerful he is..." 
grumbled Yusuke. 

        Koenma nodded and closed his eyes for a while. *What is he up 
to this time?* The last time had nearly frightened him out of his 
wits with Misuko kidnapped... Yes, that incident got him into some 
serious trouble with his father and his very own conscience. 

        "Wait, Kuwabara, did you say 'fan' just now?" asked Koenma, 
snapping out of his silence. He looked at Kuwabara intently, 
expecting an answer. 

        "Er... yes, he has this weird fan that he flicks around and 
fights with," said Kuwabara slowly. 

        ""That is what I feared most," mumbled Koenma softly. He leaned 
back heavily in the armchair, shaking his head. "According to the 
Reikai files, Yamaro and Murashi each have a special weapon. Yamaro's 
is a flute while Murashi's is a fan. It is reported that the two 
weapons were never found after their capture..." 

        " Murashi said that the fan is made out of iron or something 
like that... I hate it, so irritating to look it," smirked Kuwabara, 
growing angry at the thought of his ki sword dispersed by a clench 
from the fan. 

        "Murashi is a fire youkai," a deep voice said suddenly. 
Everyone turned to look at Hiei who was usually quiet. "In Makai, 
there are two types of fire youkais, one uses the black flames like I 
do while the other tribe uses the white flames. Both clans have 
battled for centuries over the sacred land of fire at the edge of 
Makai," explained Hiei, his eyes focusing on Koenma and the strange 
box which his employer called a 'computer', in front of him. 

        "So what actually happened?" 

        "When we fought, Murashi seems to manipulate our steps and 
fighting style. I don't know how he did that but he seem to have an 
ability to anticipate our moves, not to mention that he is almost as 
fast as Hiei..." answered Yusuke. 

        "Is he really that powerful?" 

        "Agility, speed, ki power... He excels in nearly every one of 
them. Basically, there are no glaring weak points." 

        "Just my luck. With Arisa in this condition, she won't be able 
to do anything. Okay, I think all of you would have to come along 
during weekends to train... Ah, Kurama, aren't your school holidays 
coming along fast? If I remember correctly, it is supposed to start 
next Monday, right?" suggested Koenma, his forehead wrinkled in a 
frown. 

        "Yes, Koenma-sama," answered Kurama softly. His head was still 
a little dizzy after the sudden loss of blood. 

        "Ah, one more thing. Yamaro challenged the Reikai tanteis to a 
tournament one month from today onwards. He promised to turn himself 
and Murashi in if he loses but if he wins, we would have to stop 
interfering with his activities in Makai and Ningenkai..." voiced out 
Yusuke suddenly. 

        "Then we would have to make sure that we will win!" shouted out 
Misuko after Yusuke, growing enthusiastic. At least she could help to 
dismiss Koenma's guilt after freeing Yamaro and Murashi... 

        "Yes!" shouted Yusuke and Kuwabara in unison. 

        "Anyway, make sure all of you are here by next Sunday. I don't 
want to see any chances of us losing," commanded Koenma, tapping his 
fingers impatiently on the wooden desk. "You are all dismissed." 

        The whole group slowly filled out of the room while a couple of 
onis came in and lifted Arisa into the rest room. Kurama's eyes 
trailed the small group until there was only him, Misuko and Koenma 
left in the office. 

        "I'm going to look after Arisa-chan," announced Misuko coldly 
and walked out of the room, throwing Kurama a sharp look. 

        Slowly, Kurama walked out of the office. Almost aimlessly, he 
wandered towards the corridor, looking for a deserted place to calm 
down and think properly. 

        Tired, Kurama leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, trying 
hard to search for a peace of mind. Suddenly, there was a male voice 
interrupting the silence. 

        "Kurama?" 

        Kurama opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the 
voice. It was Yusuke. 

        "Hi..." dragged Kurama, his voice still weak and powerless. 

        Yusuke walked up to Kurama. Taking Kurama by the arm, both of 
them sat down on the carpeted floor. 

        "Er... I am sorry that I nearly bashed you up just now," began 
Yusuke slowly. 

        "Never mind. I know how you feel when your friend actually 
slept with another of your friends," answered Kurama simply with a 
short sigh. 

        "Alright, I don't know what happened but what did you do 
actually?" asked Yusuke, his face showing concern. He didn't want to 
know the details but still Yusuke needed to understand the truth 
about Kurama and Arisa. 

        "Yusuke, thank you for getting concerned about me... I just 
felt so confused and distressed all of a sudden," replied Kurama 
miserably and paused for a short while. "I didn't actually know what 
happened that night. I was drunk, she was drunk... Yusuke, trust me! 
I really didn't know what I was doing that night!" 

        "Yes, yes, I believe you..." 

        "She just looked so beautiful that night... I couldn't resist!" 

        "But that doesn't mean you could get around taking advantage of 
her drunk!" 

        "I don't know... I was drunk when I helped her into her room. 
When I half dragged her onto her bed, I meant to leave immediately! 
I really wanted to leave! But she was there mumbling a lot of things 
and I kinda overheard some..." 

        "Drunk people..." muttered Yusuke softly. 

        Kurama just retained his composure and continued. "She was 
there saying how much she loved me... I lost my head and thinking... 
I just kissed her and she responded..." 

        "Uh oh..." 

        "I truly didn't know what I was doing! I wouldn't do such a 
thing if I wasn't drunk!" confessed Kurama sadly, close to tears. 

        "C'mon Kurama. Cheer up! Does Arisa know anything about this?" 
asked Yusuke, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown. 

        "Well, not before last week." 

        "Did she accept you?" 

        "Yes, I promise I would take her as my wife." 

        "Then that's okay. Honestly, Kurama, it alright," smiled Yusuke 
as he gave Kurama a friendly punch on his arm. 

        "But she is hurt now..." 

        "I think you should be at her side. Although I'm no good 
husband nor good boyfriend, I still feel that you ought to be by her 
side, not sitting alone in the corridor." 

        "Thanks, Yusuke. I'll go and see her after this," sighed Kurama 
inwardly and got up. "Really, thank you." 

        Yusuke smiled and took his leave. Kurama did felt a lot better 
after telling his innermost secret together with Arisa to someone 
else. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

        A lone figure stood in the washroom, standing straight and 
silent. Gushing water was running freely down the tap. The figure 
cupped his hands and watched the water fill up in them. 

        Quickly, he splashed the cool water on his face, feeling the 
water droplets roll down his cheeks. Slowly, he looked up at the 
mirror. 

        In the mirror, he saw a man with red hair and green eyes, but 
he saw another image within himself. The flash-by showed him as a 
youko with golden eyes and silver hair. There was a cruel smile 
curling his lips, giving signs of no concern at all. 

        Kurama sighed and turned off the tap. What could he do at the 
moment? Nothing. That lashing by Misuko in the office still hit him 
endlessly... Her words resounded in his ears like thunder. 

        They made him feel guiltier than before. 

        Kurama stared at the mirror once again. 

        He must face the reality. 

        He must bear responsibility for every single thing he 
had done. Always. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee 

All standard Yu Yu Hakusho disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

E-mail: Siew Lee <wsiewlee@tm.net.my> 
URL: http://members.xoom.com/hiei 
UIN: #14025577