[FFML] [yyh][ry][rewrite] Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 1: Heart of Sword (Part 1)

[gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com]

Yusuke stretched out his arms in boredom as he felt the presence of a
horde of youkai in the nearby cave he was supposed to enter. It probably
looked like an ordinary cavern to the human eye, but that wasn't the
case for him. Of course, he wasn't exactly human anymore; not really.

The sleek-haired boy sighed. "As usual, Koenma's dumping another one of
his assignments on me, as if I have nothing better to do." Actually, he
_didn't_ have anything better to do other than tending to his food stand
that he used as a front for emergency Reikai missions such as this, but
that little irony escaped him at the moment. "Oh well. Let's get this
over with."

The half-demon stopped in mid-step. 'Hmmm. There are a lot of small fry
demons in there. Still, I'm sensing something... a lot more powerful.'
Yusuke grinned. "Maybe this isn't going to be such a boring mission
after all."


________________________________________________________________________


Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho fic
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
And Danyal Herder
dherder222 at hotmail.com
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel

My first fan fiction using the original concept of another author while
cooperatively writing it with yet another author at that! It's going to
be cool. ^.^

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: Heart of Sword (Part 1)
________________________________________________________________________



Yusuke tensed as he searched in the darkness of the cave entrance,
bracing himself for absolutely anything. He afterwards jumped straight
up into the stony ceiling as a streak of greased lightning struck the
place he was occupying just seconds ago.

The spirit detective eventually let go of the stalactite he held onto
and landed on his feet like a cat. "Okay, what's the big...? YOU!" he
started, but then sputtered at the end after realizing who it was that
fired upon him. He went pale, as though he'd just seen a ghost. 

"It's been a long time, kiddo," a pasty white, red-haired, and blue-
veined demon from Yusuke's past smugly greeted, his arms crossed in
challenge. The infamous "chameleon" fighter known as Rando was finally
back in town, after many seasons of absence. "Did you miss me?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes, unimpressed by his opponent's attempt at banter,
then immediately vanished right before Rando's eyes. 

Before the youkai could even react, a meaty fist was already slammed on
his face care of the erstwhile half-demon.

Sure, Yusuke could've went on with the pleasantries of asking what the
hell the previously incarcerated Rando... whom, for all he knew, was
supposed to be dead by now... was doing there in the Shrine of the Sword
and so forth, but he figured that punching now and asking questions
later saved him a lot more time and energy.

Yusuke Urameshi, after all, was not one to dillydally.


***


"Boss! Boss Iehik!" one of the lesser demons called out in a panicked
voice, his falsetto tone grating the old, corpulent leader's large,
pulsating nerves. "There's a low S-Level presence inside the cavern,
sir! We may have some trouble here."

Before Iehik could answer, a brawny, over-muscled, three-toed, bull-like 
creature chortled mightily. "S-Levels are overrated! Let him come! If
it's a true test of guts, S-Levels suck! All they rely on is their oh-
so-powerful and limitless store of ki! Well, once they face me, they'll
know that I...!"

"SHUT UP, IEHOG!!! I'm trying to think of a proper strategy to get us
out into this fine mess you've gotten us into!" Iehik shouted irritably
at his boorish companion. "It's getting to be that a demon can't find
good help nowadays, even from his own family!" He shot Iehog one more
withering look before again falling into deep contemplation.

"I'm sorry, big brother," Iehog sheepishly apologized, kowtowed. Iehik
merely ignored him.

"It seems that something is reacting to the sword; some sort of presence
that's different from all the rest of us. The energy I'm feeling in that
blade is _definitely_ not youki," Iehik reckoned morosely as he observed
the sacred weapon.

"So what the hell do we do now, big brother?" Iehog rowdily queried.
"What's with all this 'reacting' shit you're talking about? I thought
the sword was supposed to make demons powerful! That's why it's called
the Demon Sword, right?"

"Silence!" Iehik shouted angrily. "Speak when only spoken to, Iehog! I'm
the leader of this group, and what I say goes!"

"Isn't it ironic for a person to shout silence?" one of the group's
youkai lackeys quizzically asked.

"Rikyone," Iehik sweetly addressed the inquisitive demon who made the
strange comment. "Would you be so kind as to pull the sword out of that
sealed stone altar?"

Rikyone shrugged. "No prob."

"But big brother!" Iehog whined. "Rikyone will get the power of the
sword! No fair, no fair!"

"Silen..." Iehik started, but he quickly amended to, "Hush, you fool!
Watch and learn."

Before the brainy demon was able to finish his sentence, Rikyone had
already turned to dust.

"Whu...?" Iehog started, clearly shocked. "But I thought the Demon Sword
was supposed to--!"

"Yes. The sword's a tool, like a magnifying lens. It magnifies the power
you already got. It makes your youki rise to incredible levels. It has
even made Class-D demons like us into Class-As and higher." Iehik
narrowed his eyes. "But that's not the case now. Something else is
reacting to the sword. It's not youki I feel in there."

"Huh? Not youki?" came another Iehog spit-take as he boggled.

"It's..." Iehik murmured, "reiki."


***


Even as the Demon Sword responded to Yusuke's energy signature, the
half-demon and his recently revived, fully demonic nemesis continued to
battle for a good twenty minutes or so. For some reason, despite
Yusuke's current power level, Rando managed to keep up, though only
barely so. 

The multitude of strikes from Yusuke's iron fists rumbled across the
whole expanse of the cavern entrance, sending the hapless Rando flying
through the air, hitting and breaking through boulders like they were
made out of dry wafers and Styrofoam.

"I don't know what the hell you're doing here in the Human World, Rando,
but I'll make sure that this time, you'll never come back!" Yusuke swore
as he finally succumbed to the trite old convention of the one-liner.
"I sure as hell won't let you get a hold of whatever it is Koenma sent
me here for."

Yusuke flinched as Rando slowly got up from the rubble, completely
unhurt. The demon arrogantly strode across the trail of crushed and
powdered fragments of what was once the cave floor, a nasty grin
plastered on his face. "You were saying?"

Yusuke punched Rando on the face again, but the demon barely even did a
wince or a grimace in kind. "I must admit, your punches have become a
bit more powerful since the last time we fought. Nonetheless, even the
physical exertions of a Class-S half-breed like yourself are ineffective
against my Iron Body Technique."

"_Your_ Iron Body Technique? Bullshit, it's just another technique
you've stolen from someone who's infinitely more skillful that you,"
Yusuke snorted derisively as he balled up his right fist. It soon
brimmed with barely containable spiritual energy. "Anyway, if I can't
rearrange your face with my fucking fists, then I'll just blast it off.
SHOTGUN!"

'That's exactly what I've been waiting for, Urameshi! I want to see how
much you've _really_ improved.' Rando's smile grew even wider. "ZANKU
REPPUU JIN!"

Thin, razor-sharp vacuum hoops abated the sheer ferocity of the Shotgun
technique, making it easier for Rando to escape its fury. Yusuke, on his
part, also evaded the Zanku Reppuu Jin rings that did get through his
attack with no trouble, but the grimace on his face was still quite
apparent.

"Isn't it fun to reminisce, Urameshi? These were the techniques I used
on you and your friend while I was still pretending to be a Shaolin
Monk. Speaking of which, think fast! SHAOLIN-KA-SHOU-HAPPA-KEN!"

Countless balls of Human World flames formed on each of Rando's palms as
the pasty-skinned demon easily juggled them from one hand to the other.
He carelessly and gleefully lobbed them one by one at a very irritated
Yusuke Urameshi.

'What the hell is he trying to do? Singe me to death?' Yusuke thought 
incredulously, not sure if he should be insulted or not by Rando's
little parlor tricks. The impetuous young man easily avoided most of the
fireballs. "Cut the crap, Rando!"

The youkai merely laughed mockingly at the half-demon. "Of course." From
there, Rando shouted, "ZANKU REPPUU JIN!" and "SHAOLIN-KA-SHOU-HAPPA-
KEN!" repeatedly as an endless stream of fireballs and vacuum rings
bombarded the annoyed Reikai Tantei.

"I said cut the CRAP! REI-KOU-DAN! REI-KOU-DAN!! REI-KOU-DAN!!!"

The multiple arcs of energy effortlessly blasted through the futile
techniques, as expected. Then, unexpectedly, silken threads danced
amidst the settling smoke and dust, enveloping the impulsive teenager.
"Oh, shit. Not again!"

"You must have a really rotten memory for you to forget this particular
technique of mine," Rando derided as he tightened the threads of web
around Yusuke, the errant Spirit Detective acting like a spool for the
demon web. "You may have grown quite strong over the years, but you're
still the same bullheaded little boy I knew from before; quick to anger
and quite predictably so. Just like old times, right?"

"Humph," Yusuke detailed as he broke and ripped through Rando's demonic
webbing with one movement. "You must really be full of it if you--"

Half of a second later, a flaming right hook brimming with a combination 
of unidentifiable energies smashed through Yusuke's ribs and midsection
with the impact of a many-megaton explosion.


***


Forty-five minutes later...

"Er, boss?" the panicky demon from before started.

"Yeah?" Iehik replied irritably.

"No traps. No S-Level. The, er, reiki from the sword is gone."

"Hand it over, then," Iehik ordered nonchalantly, though he still eyed
the artifact like it was a dangerous serpent.

"Sure thing, boss."

The precautious Iehik unsheathed the blade slowly, and then froze. He
threw the weapon back to the center of the room.

"Big brother!" Iehog roared in alarm. "What's going on?"

"Get back, guys. We've got an A-Level here. It's the sword," Iehik
surmised as calmly as possible, even though his knees had begun to
shake.

"Told you, boss."

"Shaddup!"

A mist rose around the sword, and it slowly took form...

"Oro?"


***


"REI-GAN!" the bloodied and bruised Yusuke was forced to use his most
powerful yet equally most energy-consuming technique so early in the
battle, which sapped his reiki up. What he didn't realize was that, in
contrast to his belief that the higher one's power level, the easier it
was to bully lower class enemies to submission, Rando was actually able
to use strategy and brains to defeat his overabundance of spiritual
force.

Rando was completely absorbed in an orb of blood-red energy as he
chanted, "Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu: INNER BLOOD TURMOIL!" Then, as the
Rei-Gan made contact with the energy surrounding him, it instantly
dissipated.

Yusuke could only stare, dumbfounded.

Rando once again cackled as he pointed dramatically at his nemesis.
"That is the true power of the Vampire Discipline. Ancient Vampires
believed that the ki of a bleeding fighter, compared to that of an
unwounded opponent, is weaker and more vulnerable to dispersing. They
have taken advantage of this fact with the creation of this defensive
skill. Your reiki-based techniques are useless against these
sophisticated maneuvers of mine."

Yusuke slowly got up from his prone position, gingerly grasping his sore
shoulder, not at all acknowledging Rando's presence.

Alas, the abilities Rando was currently showcasing were more defensive
than offensive in nature. He was so traumatized by Yusuke's offensive
capabilities the last time around, he made the mistake of concentrating
more on his defense than offense, which basically turned him into a tank
without any significant firepower.

"You talk too much," Yusuke assessed as he brushed himself off and
started walking calmly towards the now sputtering Rando.

He'd seriously underestimated his enemy's resiliency this time around,
which basically meant that he'd now screwed himself twice over, because
when it came to offense, a Class-B demon like himself hadn't a prayer
against an S-Level. 

"Y-You may have survived that attack, but I have a good ninety-something 
techniques left to use on you! Don't get too dizzy with your own...!"

Soon the demon realized that he was again talking to thin air.

"TAKO NAGURI!" Yusuke shouted as he did another one of his impromptu and
improvised techniques, his arms striking Rando so fast that, for a
second, it seemed like he had eight arms instead of just two; hence the
aptly named "Octopus Assault."

Rando's vision blurred as he tasted the rusty tang of his own blood. The
spray of crimson from below his chin was in stark contrast to the pasty 
complexion of his veined chest, making it look as if he were wearing a
tattered red bib of some sort. Upon rubbery legs did the demon fall.

Under normal conditions, Yusuke's powerful strike would have literally
beheaded Rando save for two facts: First, the demon was an alumnus of
the Dark Arts of Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu, which left him immune to ever
sort of ki-attack so long as his blood pressure remained stronger than
his opponent's. Second, the Iron Body technique kept him away from
bodily harm's reach. Purely physical attacks meant nothing to him. There
was no way Yusuke should get through the iron gauntlet of his dual
extreme defenses.

So why was his jaw dislocated by a punch that by all intents and
purposes shouldn't have hurt him at all?

'Why? How?' Rando mentally wailed to the mocking and niggling fates as
he swung his balled-up fists at the unseen hands of circumstance. The
answer to that question was actually simple, if a bit frustrating.
Unlike he who had to resort to sophisticated techniques and genius-level
subterfuge to win fights, Yusuke only needed to try harder to succeed.

If one punch wasn't enough, then he'd use more punches. It was
disgusting how overpowered the young half-demon was, but that was the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them Enma
Daio.

Impulsive as Yusuke was, he charged up his pointer finger with the
remnants of his power without the slightest hesitation. Even though he
wasn't sure of the consequences of his brash assault, he still did what
he did _just_ because he was himself. Consequences be damned, he was who
he was and that was all there was to it.

"Who the HELL do you think I am, you BASTARD?!" Rando cried out as he
struggled to stand against his approaching doom and its comet-like
projectile. Unfortunately, his legs didn't heed his futile attempts to
move. He snarled at his numb limbs in aggravation.

By Yusuke's sheer force of will, the situation had changed. The earlier
stalemate was about to become a checkmate in his favor.

"No," came Rando's guttural growl of adamant denial. "I won't let you."


***


The demons all stared in bewilderment as the murky gas eventually
materialized into a young--actually, 'young-looking'--human who seemed
to be just as confused with the situation as they were. His orange-red
hair dangled over his forehead, and a few scattered individual strands
touched on a tiny duo of scars on his left cheek. The man eyed his
surroundings and let out a forlorn sigh. "What a place to pop into," he
muttered with his eyes closed.

At the spirit's supposed disenchantment of the situation, Iehog allowed
a small grunt to escape his lips. "What's that supposed to mean? Who the
hell are you? And..." His anger appeared to be rising, but he was
silenced by the raised right hand of Iehik, who had decided that this
was a matter that should be dealt with delicately.

The awkward silence that ensued for a minute or two was finally
dissipated by a cry of terror. The demons all turned their heads to see
the shadow of their makeshift guard hurled ten feet into the air by an
intruder. A loud thud was heard, and it became apparent that the roof
of the cave hadn't treated the guard well. Iehik gritted his teeth and
pointed a fat finger at the opening. "Make sure whoever's there doesn't
get anywhere NEAR the sword!"

"But that wouldn't be any fun, would it?" the voice of a new figure 
concluded in as sarcastic a manner as he could muster. The demons first
caught a glimpse of their opponent when he leapt onto the head of one of
the weakest in the crew and used him as a springboard, catapulting
himself right into the chest of a huge, purple demon with a right fist
that glimmered with light-blue energy. The punch of the fighter,
apparently a human boy, went straight through the luckless demon,
causing it to crouch over motionless.

Yusuke grinned, always happy to put a wretched demon out of its misery.
He took a quick glimpse at the sword, and cocked his head in confusion
at the red-haired being hanging over it. Still, even though Yusuke had
more than enough confidence to take on anyone--he just taken care of
Rando by blasting him off into the sky like a rocket care of the Rei-
Gan, after all--he still knew it'd be a good idea to get rid of the
fledglings that had encountered the sword. After all, he was currently
low on spirit energy reserves, so he needed to watch out.

The spirit that popped out of the sword looked sadly at the dead demons,
then stared at Yusuke in awe. 'Wow. What power! This boy is a bit... 
irresponsible with it, though.'

Iehik's veins were practically popping out of his head by that point. He
simply would not let such a worthless human get a hold of the sword. He
looked at the rest of his entourage. "All of you, destroy that piece of
shit!" 

The remaining demons, of which there were five or six, cautiously looked
at Yusuke. Most recognized him from the infamous Makai tournament not so
long ago, and weren't looking forward to facing one of the
semifinalists.

Still, Yusuke inched forward. "Yeah, this piece of shit is looking for
some fun." He bent his knees, lowering his body by about half a foot,
and charged forward. "Come on, you fucking bastards! SHOTGUN!" 

Before the minions could react, two dozen or so fist-sized blasts of
blue energy erupted from Yusuke's body, spraying each of them with at
least three or four good shots. All of them flailed backwards, either
breaking their necks against the hard surface of the cave, or having the
fortune of only being knocked unconscious.

Yusuke grinned. No matter how many times he did it, it was always fun to
destroy pathetic demons. He looked at Iehik and Iehog, the only demons
still conscious. "You guys want to try your luck, or just escape with
your lives while you still can?" The boy truly didn't care about their
decision; either way, he'd be getting the sword.

The spirit watching over the scene was breathless. He had seen some
powerful demons unleash spirit energy, but never a human, and never in
this magnitude. He allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. 'What an 
interesting fellow indeed,' he thought. His eyes remained locked on the
human, eager to see what he would do next.

The spirit's smirk looked kind of crooked as he surveyed the pathetic,
mangled and unconscious demons scattered all over the cave. 'What a very
violent and uncouth fellow. But he was considerate enough to hold back
on account of the weaker demons... sort of. There are still some demons
that are still alive, after all. To fight with all your might, not
caring whether or not the opponent survives; he sort of reminds me of an
old friend that way,' he noted nostalgically.

The red-haired lost soul then looked mournfully at the ashy remains of
the demon once known as Rikyone. 'That poor demon; so weak, so gullible.
If only I was able to manifest in time, then maybe that poor youkai
wouldn't have been disintegrated by that strange human's incredible
reiki.'

The ghostly swordsman allowed himself to blink. Manifest himself? That
was new. Usually the sword was only a focal point to magnify the youki
of any particular demon. It usually takes incredible, nigh-exhaustible
amounts of spiritual energy for him to attain at least a corporeal
form, much less a semi-tangible one that could affect the physical
world's reality.

'Could it be...?' Could it be that the human's reiki reacted to the
sword in such a way that I can now manifest himself in the physical
world without possessing people?'

To test his theory, the 'samurai' spirit tried stepping on the ground.
Sure enough, his feet were able to touch it.

"I... I can step on the ground!" the apparition cheered, clapping
excitedly. "I haven't been able to step on the ground in a long, long
time! This makes me so happy!" The now-corporeal being soon felt three
intense and puzzled gazes upon his person. "Oro?"

"He's... a rather wimpy fellow, isn't he?" Iehog noted as his other
companions reflexively nodded. 'He looks mighty familiar, though.'

The samurai spirit facefaulted then and there.

"That he is; he's all scrawny, bony and small. Could he actually be the
guardian of the sword?" Iehik chimed in.

The ghost of the sword perked up a bit from his precarious position on
the ground, blinking innocently.

"No! That's just silly! Maybe he's some low-level human spirit that got
absorbed by the sword or something!" the big-headed youkai reasoned.

The red-haired phantom merely sweatdropped instead of face-faulted this
time around. "You're both so mean!"

An insistent cough led the three beings back to the reality and gravity
of the situation, but the insistent and gleeful cracking of knuckles
really was what really got their attention.

"Now, I don't know about you," Yusuke Urameshi started, "but I really
just want to get this whole 'Get important Spirit World artifact and
shit' mission over with as soon as possible. But..."

A manifestation of intense light and heat began emanating all over the
Reikai Tantei's person. "If you insist on doing things the hard way,
then I guess I have no choice but to enjoy myself." He ended his rather
obvious and gleeful threat with a maniacal grin.

'He acts very much like Sanosuke,' the spirit concluded to himself in
silent chagrin.

Yusuke blinked in spite of himself. 'Strange. 'I thought I used up most
of my energy fighting Rando, but ever since I entered the Shrine of the
Sword, I somehow I feel more, I don't know, invig... invigor... um...
lively?' He mentally shrugged. 'Maybe it's the adrenalin rush of
getting a kick ass mission after so many months. Weird.'

"You fucking bastard! My big brother and I have been searching for the
Demon Sword for ten years now! Who are you to tell us what to do, you
dumbass?" Iehog rowdily spat while his elder sibling wisely began
inching away from the entire scenario.

"Me, I'm nobody," Yusuke nonchalantly reckoned, adding, "The two of
you, on the other hand, are nothing."

"Fuck that! You may be some weird human who happens to have Class-S
powers, but I'm not afraid of that shit!" Iehog proudly harrumphed.
"I'll show you exactly why I don't give a shit about the Reikai class
system!"

"Do your best, little brother!" Iehik called out a good distance away
from the combatants, waving cheerfully. Iehog just growled and grumbled.

"Yeah? Well, enough talk!" Yusuke shouted out as he went into the basic
Rei-Kou-Hadou-Ken stance. "Show me what you got, ugly!"

A stray gust of wind that somehow ended up inside the cave blew a small
tumbleweed in front of the disheveled, corporeal samurai spirit. "Ummm,"
he said sheepishly.

"I may be ugly," Iehog conceded as his youki began to spread across
the entirety of the cave. The unconscious bodies of their band of demons
afterwards got sucked into the brawny youkai's body, absorbed and molded
until the demon once known as Iehog was now turned into a multi-armed,
multi-legged, and multi-headed monstrosity. "But hot damn, see me kick
your scrawny ass!"


***


The entity surveyed the situation analytically, as if it was an
automatic response he had over such circumstances. 'The larger demon is
using some sort of body absorption technique that multiplies his power
exponentially. He is also able to take in the unique characteristics of
every youkai he absorbs.'

The spiritual entity narrowed his violet eyes. 'In theory, even lower,
D-Level entities, when they combine their powers successfully in large 
multitudes, could achieve abilities rivaling that of a Class-S being.
This Iehog is using that very technique right now; fascinating.'

In a blink of an eye, despite his obviously heavy mass, Iehog quickly 
disappeared. A sudden flurry of blows that seemed to come from all
directions met up with the hapless Yusuke. The boy easily countered most
of the strikes, but due to the mere fact that he was taken completely by
surprise, the monstrous Iehog was able to take graze him by the side and
hit him by the jaw.

'What the hell?' Yusuke thought as he wiped the trickle of blood from
his lips. 'This guy isn't the joke that I thought he was.' To Iehog, he
snarled, "Eat this," before he shouted out loud, "SHOTGUN!"

One of Iehog's heads suddenly opened its mouth, absorbing the furious
barrage of reiki from Yusuke's fist. Then another head opened its mouth
releasing the same amount of youki toward the spirit detective's
direction.

"SHIT!" Yusuke cursed as he avoided the blast of demonic energy that
destroyed a new hole in the cave wall. "How come I didn't see that demon
use that tricky technique while I beat their asses to a pulp just a
while ago? Tell me!"

Iehog's original bearded head chuckled darkly. "Wouldn't you like to
know?"

Iehik cackled, getting Yusuke's attention. "It's all very simple, human.
The demon with the absorption technique, Rakya, can only absorb ki, not
release it. You knocked him out using physical force. The other demon,
Kukurya, the one that can convert reiki to youki, can only absorb so
much of your incredible spiritual power before he collapsed. Now, with
my brother's body fusion technique, he can get all our men's strengths
and none of their weaknesses. You're outmatched, boy!"

To Iehik's vexation, Yusuke was already ignoring him in the middle of
his rant.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes at the grinning Iehog. 'I know I can take this
guy, there's no doubt about it, but at this point he has the power
equivalent to that of Toguro, which means I can't hold back now,
especially with what that bastard Rando did to me earlier.' He sighed.
'Oh well. It looks like Koenma is about to fill in more paperwork for
several soon-to-be-dead youkai.'

The spirit also narrowed his eyes, as if reading Yusuke's thoughts. 'No.
This can't be.'

Yusuke soon manifested his true potential, startling even the previously 
unflappable Iehog.

"W-Wait a minute!" one head on Iehog's body whined pathetically.

"Oh no! I knew it; even with Iehog's technique, we still might get
killed!" another head exclaimed, saying his last prayer as he braced
himself for the worse.

"Fuck him and his spiritual power! I can take him on! And when he's
unconscious, I'll be the one to take over!" the true Iehog declared
after recovering from his initial shock. He felt his heart--among many
other hearts--beat in synchronization with his excited breathing. 'Once
I get a hold of that guy, I'll be fucking invincible! I've got to beat
him!'

"Iehog, you fool! You'll get us all killed!" another demon head cried in 
absolute terror and panic.

A demon with a deadpanned face merely sighed. "It's already too late,"
he intoned in monotone as he consigned himself to his inevitable fate.

Yusuke and Iehog charged while a large, raging fire of youki fought to
survive against the face of a torrential downpour of reiki.

It was a losing battle from the start; Iehog's fate was sealed.

But he would not allow it; he would never allow it.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" the samurai spirit screamed as he grabbed his mystical
sword and charged at the two combatants, a determined glint in his
violet eyes. "I will not allow this senseless bloodshed to commence!
I, Himura Kenshin of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, will stop this at once!"

Yusuke, right in the middle of running and preparing a punch to stop the
world, skidded to a halt, just seconds away from crashing onto Iehog.
Yusuke glared at this recently materialized Kenshin and threw up his
arms. "What the hell was that for? I'm trying to protect your sword
here!" he shouted. "You should be thanking me for getting rid of these
pieces of shit!"

The hollering on the part of Yusuke had no apparent effect on the
demeanor of Kenshin, who only shook his head. "I can't explain it to
you right now, but there are more grave repercussions to your act aside
from the obvious moral ones. Besides, you're almost out of reiki, aren't
you? You already fought a tough battle before you even got here, didn't
you?"

Yusuke was taken aback by Kenshin's assessment. 'How did he know about
my fight with Rando?' To Kenshin, Yusuke stated aloud, "That's nonsense!
I feel perfectly fine! Ever since I got here, I've never felt better!"

"That's part of the reason why I can't let you fight this monster. It
was actually your reiki that woke me up. We now share a bond with each
other because you're the current holder of the Demon Sword. Because of
that, I'm aware of the current state of your body. Your energy has been
sapped care of your enemy earlier, and the only reason you can still
fight now is because of the Youtou Shinnoken's energy magnifying
powers," Kenshin explained evenly as he took hold of his weapon and
stepped in between Iehog and Yusuke.

"Like HELL I can't fight--WHAT?" Yusuke sputtered after he felt his body
freeze for some reason. 'What's going on? Who is this wimpy samurai?'

'I'm Kenshin. Himura Kenshin. And what you're currently feeling now is
the Kanashibari technique. If you were a little bit stronger, you'd be
able to break free, but as is, my hold on you illustrates my point. Now
that you've become the designated holder of the Demon Sword, I can't
allow you to act recklessly. My apologies, sir,' Kenshin telepathically
related to Yusuke before facing off with Iehog. 

'The name's Urameshi Yusuke, you pathetic for a swordsman!' Yusuke
mentally fired back. 'What I'd like to know is how you're going to beat
that B-Level demon without resorting to _senseless bloodshed_! You'd
get killed first!'

Kenshin partly unsheathed the Demon Sword with a flick of his thumb.
'Watch and learn, Yusuke-dono.'

"Like what you see, samurai boy? Well, how about I _show_ you what this
hot stud of a body can do!" With that said, Iehog eyes unfocused as he
growled wildly. 'He' became an 'It'--a complete personification of a
greater, terrible force of nature waiting to be unleashed into the
world. Every last vestige of him that was Iehog was blown away like a
dry summer leaf in the midst of an overpowering hurricane.

It did not talk any further as it continued to advance on Kenshin at the
same even pace. Its gait was strange and unsettling, an eerie amble
that hinted at a skeleton horribly warped and twisted beneath the
hodgepodge of demon parts. 

Iehog closed the distance between itself and Kenshin with a sudden
burst of blinding speed, lashing out at the swordsman's head. Even with
his lightning reflexes, Kenshin barely managed to evade the attack. 

Iehog attacked with a ferocity which was hideous to behold. It lashed
out at the ex-rurouni with wickedly keen claws, slicing towards him with
blows too fast for the normal human eye to follow. 

'Iehog's mind has completely been taken over by the demonic body parts
he'd just absorbed,' Kenshin deduced as he continued to dodge. Though
Iehog could never be anything more than an exceptionally strong Class-D
youkai without it, the Body Absorption technique that Randou taught him
put him in three classes higher altogether. He could increase his base
power tenfold, perhaps even a hundredfold, by the sheer virtue of that
simple yet deadly tactic. 'I've got to find a way to counter these
unnatural advantages of his somehow.'

Finally, Kenshin found an opening in the being's relentless offense.
The redheaded ghost afterwards blurred into a flash of blazing
luminosity as he did a complete three-sixty degree turn to add extra
momentum to his powerful strike, intending to end the fight early by
brusquely decapitating his horrid opponent. Unfortunately, due to
extenuating circumstances beyond his control, he hesitated ever so
slightly with his attack as Koenma's century-old warning came back to
haunt him with inopportune vengeance. 




"Tainting the Demon Sword with sin and murder, even that of demons, will
condemn your spirit to the Lowest Ranks of Hell far worse than
Phlegethon or good ol' Fire and Brimstone. And if that happens, the
Hitokiri Battousai will probably take over, and it's good-bye to the
noble Himura Kenshin as he is replaced by a madman who helps wreak havoc
on the world."

Yusuke's eyes widened after seeing a glimpse into Kenshin's memory. 'Is
that the reason why he can't allow me to kill Iehog? Because Koenma told
him so? Just who is this ghost anyway? Why would Koenma give him such a
strange stipulation!

The split-second of distraction was all Iehog needed. It swatted Kenshin 
with a backhanded blow from his draconic arm that connected solidly to
his ribs. Spinning like a top, the redheaded ghost saw the world as
nothing more than a swirl of color and motion as he flew out of control.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! What are you going to do now, ghost?" Iehik
hooted and hollered in uncontainable excitement. "IEHOG, finish him off
so that we can finally get that damned Demon Sword ALREADY!"

Iehog rumbled in concurrence to its brother's orders before it galloped
straight towards its hapless target, its horrible arms cocked back and
ready to strike. 

"Wake up, Kenshin! WAKE UP!" The spinning ghost blinked. It was Kaoru's
voice. The hazy image in front of him was definitely her--she with the
shiny, dark-blue hair that looked like an icy aurora borealis to his
blurry eyes.

Unfortunately, Kenshin's lovely hallucination was suddenly eclipsed by
a hurtling, hulking Iehog as the monster stampeded straight towards him;
all the same, the revived ghost somehow managed to summon enough sword-
ki to meet the charge with a rising strike of his own that took them
both backwards.

The ruthless Iehog lashed out offensively, making Kenshin fly backwards
like a rag doll, slamming into a wall and shattering the rock with the
force of his impact.

That was exactly what happened, except for the whole 'flung like a rag
doll whilst shattering wood' part: Kenshin had already faded like the
ghost that he was by the time the abomination started his counterstrike.
Taking advantage of Iehog's momentary confusion, Kenshin crouched low
and dove into the youkai's abdomen, cutting precise spots on its
exposed underbelly with surgical precision. 

Iehog exploded in a blast of black, acidic ichor and swirling debris
that sent a fountain of loose dirt and demon blood from the cracked
ground below them, and the youkai was forced back a few steps. Kenshin
shifted his grip on his sword, wielding the magical katana like a spear
and thrusting its uppermost tip into the monster's temple with all his
might. 'Careful, careful: Don't put it in too deep,' he reminded
himself.
 
Iehog shook its mane and roared a throaty bellow that caused even more
dirt to shake loose and tumble onto the former vagabond. Its previously
unseeing eyes afterwards blinked back into self-awareness; Iehog knelt
in the crater made by the impact of the explosive rupture of his blood
vessels, his arms outstretched, frozen in a world of unbelievable shock
and agony. 

Then, his lungs remembered how to breathe, and his heart began to beat
once again. Iehog tried to double over, clutch his chest and hack
violently. Well, one out of three wasn't so bad. After recovering from
his wheezing fit, he stammered, "B-Brother! It hurts so bad! What has
that wimpy samurai done to MEEE?!" 

"It's Demon Anatomy 101, Iehog-dono," Kenshin elucidated as he wiped the 
nonexistent sweat off of his brow. "Chimeras such as yourself usually
make use of special connective tissue that can make all sorts of body
parts from different species work as a cohesive unit, even though they
shouldn't otherwise. By severing these connections and doing a quick
lobotomy of your frontal lobe, I can render your Body Absorption
technique moot and void. Your body now perceives your fellow demons as
foreign bodies, and it's now trying its best to 'expel' them out of your 
system."

"B-But that's not FAIR! How can you possibly know about Demon Anatomy? I
was already kicking your ass and then some, and now you pull something
like _this_? YOU CHEATER!" Iehog whined pathetically as he struggled to
make his chimerical body move in futility. 

"I'm not the Guardian of the Demon Sword for nothing, y'know. Though
my memory is a bit rusty, I can still remember a thing or two about how
to disable and immobilize demons with as little effort as possible."
Kenshin sighed and allowed himself to relax. "I am Himura Kenshin, also
known as the feared Hitokiri Battousai during my time as a human being,
but to you demons, I'm more known as the Youkiri Battousai. You're
lucky to be alive at all."

"Impossible! The Youkiri Battousai? Here?" Iehik hissed. "I can't
believe that the Youkiri Battousai is actually the Demon Sword's
Guardian! So that's the reason why you disappeared four decades ago!
To think that such a frightening person still exists in this day and
age!"

Yusuke scratched his head ponderously. "Battousai the Manslayer?
Battousai the Demon Slayer? Who the hell is Battousai anyway?"

Kenshin turned to see all seven or eight heads on Iehog trembling.
"Leave. You've lost, and I don't know how long I'll be able to control
the boy when he regains his full power. You're lucky that I was the one
who faced you."

The last sentence prompted a laugh from Yusuke. "Pal, if I was at full
power I'd have hair down to my ass and a couple hundred tattoos around
my body." He grunted and faced the monstrosity of Iehog. "But yeah, the 
samurai's got a point. Beat it."

Despite their ramblings, Iehog's new friends didn't need much in the way
of encouragement, and in a manner similar to a three-legged race, he...
or they... scrambled out of the cave. Iehik glowered at Kenshin and
Yusuke before realizing that it was probably a lost cause.

If the boy could dispatch of his entire squad, even channeled within
Iehog, than this would have to wait. "You think you've won, you
worthless human, but you didn't. Chojin-sama will hear of this, I
swear!" he growled. Yusuke had to resist the urge to chase him down as
he scrambled out of the cave, but he still got a good chuckle out of it.

After all the threats to him had vanished, Yusuke sighed and laid down
against the side of the cave to rest; first Rando, then some demon with
an unpronounceable name. The mazoku prince really did get a lot more
than he bargained for with this latest mission.

Kenshin, still enjoying the wonders of being physical, began touching
various objects and watching bugs scamper around. He jumped almost five
feet into the air, however, when Yusuke began screaming at him. "Why'd
you stop me from killing them? You know as well as I do that those
things don't deserve the air they're breathing."

Kenshin turned around, his face a strange mixture of pleasantness and
resolve. "You aren't to determine who can breathe and who can't," he
remarked in a subdued voice, then bowed. "But I am truly grateful to you
for keeping my sword safe."

"What's with you and not killing?" Yusuke muttered, flicking a stone
around the floor of the cavern. "Sometimes people deserve it."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that wanton killing, which is what
you're doing, should go on. I've killed far too many over the years, and
I'm not going to let the weak be destroyed by the strong, which you most 
certainly are," Kenshin justified, sighing as well. It seemed as though
every time he ran into a powerful but arrogant fighter, as this boy
appeared to be, he had to give this mixture of speech and lecture. 'Ah
well,' he thought.

Yusuke, in turn, rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you've got more morals than
Kurama, but at least he knew when killing was necessary," he retorted,
flashing back to when Kurama gave a certain demon named Roto the fate he
deserved. After a few minutes, the boy did a double-take.

"That's not what I meant! You said that there was something aside from
moral implications that made you keep me from killing that demon! It's
your shtick, but you had to apply it to me as well because we now share
a bond with each other or something! Then I saw some sort of flashback
of Koenma telling you that you'll go to hell or something if you kill
demons! What's with that?' Yusuke moved behind Kenshin and thumped in on
the head.

Strangely enough, the both of them reacted to that one thump, with
Yusuke getting as big a lump on his head as Kenshin. "What the hell just
happened?"

The swirly-eyed swordsman wiped the tears off of his spiraling eyes
before clarifying, "Like I said, your spirit energy was what woke me up
from my slumber. We now share a bond--an emphatic one, in fact. Whatever
you're feeling or thinking, I will feel and know as well, and vice-
versa."

Yusuke scowled. "You have got to be kidding me. I'm now stuck with you,
Mister Love and Peace? That's just great. I'd slap you silly and run
away if it weren't going to hurt me as much as it does you," the younger
man admitted frankly. "You're quite strong, though, manhandling that
behemoth without slicing him up to ribbons. I guess the reason you're
so nice is because you can afford to be nice."

Kenshin could only scratch his head sheepishly at that, somewhat glad
that Yusuke wasn't familiar with the bloody history of both versions of
the Battousai. "You're one of Koenma-dono's spirit detectives, aren't
you? Well, long story short, I was supposed to be sealed in this cave.
I assume Koenma-dono sent you here to retrieve me before those thieving
demons could get a hold of me. The seal to the Shrine of the Sword must
have been broken or something."

"Former spirit detective, actually; I'm working freelance now." Yusuke
pursed his lips. "Those Class-D demons weren't really the true threat
to your sword. Before I got here, I had to fight an old enemy of mine
to a near standstill despite the fact that he was about three power
classes below me. The that fat, old pig of a demon mentioned someone
named 'Chojin-sama'. Does that name ring any bells, samurai boy?"

Kenshin helplessly shrugged. "I've heard of that name before, but I was
already sealed into this sword before I even discovered who he really
was. Sorry."

"Huh. Really? Okay. But enough of that," Yusuke continued, standing up.
Actually, he had a million more questions to ask Kenshin, but the
mission took precedence. After all, ever since the end of the Makai
Tournament, missions had been rather scarce, so he now had a tendency
to overdo things nowadays. Even though the Spirit World Barrier had been
taken down, it was surprising how little it actually affected the Human
World all in all.

"In any case, your sword is safe, so let's just get it back to Koenma so
he can patch things up. Besides, I'm sure some friends of mine will want
to take a look at that," Yusuke stated as he rubbed his nose with his
finger.

Kenshin smiled. "Yes, that would be nice. I haven't been able to
experience the living world in--" He took a second to calculate the
numbers. "It's been over a hundred years. It will be nice to do that
again. By the way, what did you say your name was again?"

"Urameshi. Urameshi Yusuke." Was the reply of Yusuke, who was already
beginning to exit the cave. "And you're... Kenshin, right?"

"Yes," Kenshin assented, following the young man out the cave entrance.
The two made their way out of the tunnel in near silence as both felt
awkward dealing with one who was so different than them, and each had
different thoughts running through their mind. 

Yusuke was kind of worried about how Kuwabara was currently doing, what
with the monumental task he left him with, and Kenshin was wondering
what his awakening all meant, seeing that his peace had been undisturbed
for a considerable amount of time now.

The short exit from the cave was soon completed, and Yusuke watched as
Kenshin gazed at the sky in wonder. "Oh, this is pure beauty," he
appraised, sticking his sword back in his sheath and bending down.

He examined a blade of grass swaying to the wind and almost began
crying. Kenshin's eye caught a raccoon scurrying up a tree. "Oh, I bet
Kaoru would like that. No, that's not nice." He grinned to himself.

Yusuke, who had arched an eyebrow while watching Kenshin's antics, still
glanced up to the sky to look at it as well. "Yeah, it's a pretty nice
day," he reckoned.

When he looked down, he saw Kenshin standing back up and grinning
stupidly at him, from ear to ear. "It's a shame that I won't be in this
form for too long. Once the situation is cleared of danger, I'll be able
to inhabit the sword again for perhaps another century. Still, I'd do
anything to see my friends and family back on Earth for a day."

Yusuke couldn't resist a little chortle. "Hey, you never know. I've died
twice and was able to return to life both times. Maybe you'll get lucky
too, Kenshin."

The ex-rurouni was taken aback. "Oro? How did that happen?" he asked.

"It was pretty crazy, actually. You see..." Yusuke's long-winded story
was interrupted by the sound of something flashing past them in the
wind. After making a few laps around the top of the cave, it stopped
right in front of Yusuke and Kenshin. 

Though Kenshin was greatly surprised at what it was, Yusuke didn't break
a sweat. It was just a familiar blue-haired, pink-robed girl flying an
oar; nothing special or weird about that.

Kenshin narrowed his eyes as a wave of nostalgia filled him. But why?
There was absolutely nothing familiar about the shinigami in front of
him at all; nothing at all.

"Yusuke, we've got trouble!" the girl wailed.

"What? What's the big deal, Botan? I got the sword, it's safe, and the
owner is safe too. Oh, by the way: Kenshin, Botan. Botan, Kenshin,"
Yusuke hurried through the introductions.

Kenshin bowed. "A pleasure to meet you, my lady. But what, pray tell, is
the trouble? Is it about my being out of the sword?"

Botan shook her head. "Right now that's the least of our worries! Both
of you, grab onto my oar. I'll take you to the Spirit World and Koenma
will explain everything to you."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, and then turned to Kenshin. "Come on, let's
go. Looks like the day, nice as it is, is not yet over," he commented,
maintaining his nonchalant attitude. "The sooner we get there, the
sooner we'll get this over with."

"Very well." Kenshin nodded, as he reminisced of the first time he ever
visited the Spirit World. At any rate, the two climbed on the oar behind
Botan, and the spirit guide instantly soared into the air, away from
anyone else's sight.


***


A memory from Kenshin's distant past...

Lord Koenma, the acting Administrator for the Spirit World, sat before
Kenshin with a grave look on his puerile face. As the judge, jury, and
executioner of the fates of all souls, he had quite the responsibility
over his shoulders. Case in point was this one very special case he had 
during the latter parts of the year 1878:

"Himura Kenshin. For all the murders, assassinations, and crimes against 
humanity that you've committed in your lifetime, I, Koenma Daio, shall
now sentence you to an eternity of suffering in Level 16, Block 1 of the 
Corporeal Punishments Sector: You and all the rest of the Sinners of
Violence shall be boiled in Phlegethon, the River of Blood found in the 
entranceway of the River Styx's Left Fork," the diminutive prince stated
with uncertain finality after retrieving and carefully reviewing the
former vagabond's file from the Book of Fate itself.

The recently deceased Kenshin accepted his sentence in all humility, his
head bowed down low on the ground in utter acquiescence; in his mind, it
was fitting for a man who made it rain blood to be _boiled_ in a river
of blood as castigation for all his crimes. There was a twisted but apt
irony to the punishment, when one thought about it. 

Koenma cleared his throat, his eyes twinkling impishly for some reason. 
"HOWEVER, since you've done quite a lot to atone for many of your past
sins--your ten-year sabbatical where you vowed never to murder again
and the resulting good deeds you've done during and after that period,
in particular--I've decided to, well, _lighten_ your sentence a bit.
It's only fair." The toddler got up from his desk and started to
deliberately pace around the stooping, bemused Kenshin. "Your new
sentence: an eternity of community service by becoming the guardian of
a newly-forged, demon-slaying Reikai Artifact, the Youtou Shinnoken."


***


To be Continued...

Next: The true nature of the Demon Sword.

Ah yes; my first cooperative, round-robin fanfic. ^-^ Many thanks
to my coauthor Danyal Herder for writing half of the stuff here in
the first chapter of Youto Shinnoken, as well as the "Yahiko's
Sakabatou" manga forwards. Much coolness, dude. Much coolness.

Kudos goes to Brian Clevinger's "8-Bit Theater" for Rikyone's
"Fighter" quotation. Also, I dedicate this fic to the original
author; SeventhOne, this concept rocks! 

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others)
are the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji
TV, St. Pierrot, Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. Don't sue me please,
I'm very poor.

Ja ne!
Abdiel





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