[FFML] [fic][yyh][rewrite] Shonen Chapter 21: Revolution (Part 1)

[Abdiel]

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Shonen
A Yuyu Hakusho fic
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel 
http://abdiel.florestica.com/
http://chester-fanfics.livejournal.com/

Flashbacks galore this time around. Why? Ballooning chapters and the
poor readers who could barely keep up with the sheer amount of plot
points. Now run along kiddies; nothing to see here.

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Chapter 21: Revolution (Part 1)
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Botan couldn't take it anymore; she felt that it was finally time for
her to come clean. "I tricked you earlier, Kurama. I gave you that kiss
under false pretenses. It was all just a ploy to capture you. The Kiss
of Death is one of many potent methods for us shinigami to finally
'anchor down' and take control of wayward, earthbound ghosts like
yourself. For a soul that should have died two decades ago, you have far
too much self-awareness and freewill your own good. The only real
choice for souls of the dead is to forget their past life and move on.
Please understand."

"But why?" The look of betrayal was etched all over Kurama's face; Botan
couldn't even stare into his jaded eyes at that point. This is the
closest that his 'death scene detractors' had ever gotten to actually
stopping him from fulfilling his will, and he knew it.

"I had to do this, Kurama! It was under the order of the Spirit World,
and I have an obligation to--" she parroted just like before, but in
the end, even she couldn't take her own hypocrisy. "No. That's bullshit.
I didn't do this just because Koenma-sama ordered me to do so. Your
intentions are noble, as usual, but like what Yusuke did during the time
you wished that suicidal wish with the Mirror of Forlorn Hope, I too
will do everything in my power to save you from your own well-
intentioned folly. You leave me no other choice."

"So this is your Kiss of Death. I see. Interesting," Kurama listlessly 
concluded, seemingly ignoring Botan's explanation before succumbing to
the inescapable power that the Spirit World had over all the dead, the
gyrating mass of dense aura slamming unto his weakening astral body with 
tremendous force. It shifted in shape, stretching and widening like an
amoeba. Then, without warning, it moved to completely engulf the
redhead's entire form.

To Kurama's surprise, the whole experience wasn't painful at all. Quite
the opposite really, for he suddenly felt numb all over. Botan, on the
other hand, was writhing as if in pain, and he could see some of the
variegated glow seeping into her skin. "Botan!" he screamed, and was
surprised when no sound came out of him mouth. The numbness was creeping
deeper into his body. He looked down at his outstretched hand and saw
that it was becoming transparent. He afterwards heard somebody other
than the  shinigami calling his name through the roar of the reiki
cyclone.

"At last, we have you now, Youko Kurama," an teenage-looking Koenma
announced as he casually strolled into the turbulent scene with a gait
reminiscent of Lord Enma himself. "By the power vested in me by the
Spirit World, I hereby put you under arrest for Crimes against the
Natural Order."


***


In the dark rift in between two worlds that resided within the plain of
surrealism--the Spirit World and the Dream World--velvety eyes opened to
a new awareness and a new reality spawned by the end of Kurama's long
good-byes.

Indeed, he who brought life took away life; that was the main belief of
the various religions; a belief that tried to constitute a kind of
purpose to life and death--blaming everything as the whims of some great 
creator; the ultimate puppet master. But perhaps this recently awakened
one was acting more of the puppet to the half-youko's puppet show.

It was now time to shatter through all this riffraff and accomplish his
latest mission--the reason why he escaped oblivion and identity loss in
the first place. 

How long had he been dead? It didn't matter. For all intents and
purposes, he was alive now. As such, his heart palpitated to new life as
he raced out of the darkness of his comatose state and into the shocking
awakening of a new reality; and a new purpose. He then gripped his
chained weapon and unfurled his midnight wings in anticipation.

Kurama's will shall be done.


***


"It took you a little longer than I expected, but you've done well all-
in-all on apprehending Kurama, Botan. By waiting things out while he
slowly made a noose to hang himself with as he made those long and
involved farewells to his loved ones, you've prevented him from
committing a heinous and deplorable act of resurrecting a long dead
spirit without prior approval from the Spirit World," Koenma surmised 
detachedly, his words sounding more like a message dispatch than actual
praise. "All right, read him his charges."

Holding back the raw emotion and building pain inside her chest the best
she could, Botan dictated, "By the order of Lord Koenma, I'm placing you
under arrest for conspiring against the Spirit World and attempting to
tamper with the Book of Fate's iron-clad decrees. From here on end, your
spirit shall be transformed into a hitodama flame... or, in your case,
fox fire... and be ferried along the River Styx while you await further
trial and sentencing." The ferry-girl afterwards collapsed to her knees,
shivering intensely as she practically bathed in her own cold sweat.

"Stop this, Botan! This soul-stealing technique of yours is hurting you
more than it does me! Please, be reasonable!" Kurama pleaded, then
angrily turned towards Koenma and rebuked, "Why are you doing this?
Don't you care about what happens to your shinigami? This isn't like you
at all!"

"Do you know who's really hurting Botan, Kurama? It's you," Koenma
reproached in kind as he took out his pacifier and started to focus the
remnants of his own spiritual energy into it. "This whole debacle has
been caused by you and your needless drama, actually. It's your innate
stubbornness that's making it hard for Botan to completely transform
your soul into a more manageable will o' the wisp form. If you can just
let go of your suicidal obsession to commit crimes against nature for
just one minute, then everything should be fine. Leave everything to the
Spirit World's jurisdiction and let things be, Kurama; this is all for
your own good."

Kurama snorted in disdain. "Taka-kun has told me everything about Enma
Daio's precious Natural Order and that damnable Book of Fate. Based on
that and the fact that it was your father who personally invited me to
go in the Human World and face the Reikai Hunter in the first place, I
could care less about _my_ crimes against nature."

Koenma flinched at the mention of his father just as the genuflecting
Botan looked up at him inquisitively. The Prince of the Spirit World
cleared his throat and said to his subordinate, "Just hold on for a
little longer, Botan. I'll help you take down Kurama as soon as I gather
enough Spirit Energy inside my pacifier." He'd already used up most of
the pacifier's energy on both Sensui and Amanuma during a much earlier
conflict, so he wasn't quite sure how much reiki was left in the
artifact. Nonetheless, he would still do whatever it took to set Kurama 
straight.

"Oh, so Botan doesn't know about Lord Enma's crimes, does she?" Kurama
remarked, his reflexive, nonexistent breaths beginning to falter as
Botan's reiki clasped at his very heart and seized at his ethereal
lungs, making each mouthful of empty air shallower than the last.

All the same, Kurama strode forward on spaghetti legs and slowly made his
way towards the blue-haired angel, stating, "I was one of the Class-S
demons that Enma Daio invited to wreak havoc upon the Human World because
he felt that the 'Natural Order' could only be brought back into balance
by 'reintroducing' humanity's natural predator. And I'm sure you've all 
eard 'Munashii's' story by now. Enma's definition of the 'Natural Order'
is fascism under his power, pure and simple."

"Stay right there," Koenma commanded, thrusting his pacifier at the
wobbling kitsune. "Don't listen to him, Botan. He doesn't know what he's
saying. I'm just about ready to release my own power, so don't lose your
concentration on him." 

Undeterred, the lightheaded half-youko continued to push his fading self
forward, his vision glazing over at that point. "The Natural Order is an 
overrated law, and I'm not doing any of this for its sake. Quite the 
opposite--I don't like the idea of some 'god' or anyone in authority
preemptively judging the course of a soul's life even before it breathed
its first breath. It didn't work against Yusuke, it didn't work against
Taka-kun, and it won't work against me and Asuka-san's impending
rebirth. It's that simple."

"Get back and let us handle the rest, Kurama. Please." Botan was feeling
quite confused at that point, and rightfully so. This was supposed to be
a mission to save the kitsune from committing a deplorable act; yet, in 
hindsight, the whole catastrophe started from Enma Daio's own past
atrocities. Could she, in good conscience, keep Kurama from committing
his crime in the name of a belief system that spawned the whole problem
in the first place? Two wrongs never made a right, after all.

"Botan, don't falter. Remember why you're doing this!" Koenma reminded
his subordinate, his words subsequently striking a chord inside her. She
forced herself to stand, faced the approaching Kurama, and said, "I can 
understand why you're feeling particularly protective and self-righteous
over your actions. We certainly seem like the bad guys now, with us
tricking you while you're in the middle of rescuing your damsel in
distress."

"That's not what I meant, Botan. I know why you're doing this. We both
want to do the right thing. But since we're also on the slippery slope
of a road paved with our own good intentions, it all boils down to which
of our goals is the lesser of two evils. You're here on some misguided
quest to save me from myself. I'm here to rectify the very mistakes that
the Spirit World's bureaucracy and red tape helped create. Mine is a
victimless crime that could help return an innocent's life back to her;
let me be."

"It's a slippery slope, but what can I say? You yourself are a slippery
thief that has eluded death for so long that the best way for us to
capture you is by playing your own mind games and tricking you at your
most vulnerable moment. It's an unfortunate circumstance, I admit, but I
meant what I said earlier: I can't stand the thought of you taking your
life into your hands during the time when I was just getting to know you
better. Truth be told, I won't let even Matsui Asuka's shattered soul
get in the way of that."

"So are you putting more worth in my life than in Asuka-san's? I thought
all life is supposed to be equal! Some Natural Order! To what lengths
are you willing to stoop just to capture me? This life _belongs_ to her,
dammit! I'm only trying to do what's right, and this death scene of mine
is long overdue. You're right, Botan. The dead should lie to rest.
That's what I intend to do."

"Well, should you disregard the life you already have just because of
some unfulfilled fate that you shouldn't have anything to do with in the
first place? You may think so, but many others don't, judging from all
their reactions in your travels earlier. Yes, we watched those good-byes
of yours. Every last one. What about your loved ones? What about their
impending loss over their dear Kurama who's way too chivalric for his
own good? No, Kurama. I've made up my mind. Your fate is now in the
hands of the Spirit World. You're too irresponsible to be trusted with
your own life." From there on end, coinciding with Koenma's own release
of spirit energy, Botan let her Kiss of Death fully manifest in all its
blazing glory, the torrent of power ostensibly immolating the hapless
kitsune.

Kurama fought gamely against the veritable tsunami of reiki, and because
of that, he paid a hefty price. No, he didn't suffer any sort of painful
repercussions from the phantom maelstrom because of his stubbornness; he
was instead forced to watch his own resolve inadvertently inflict the
purest of tortures upon Botan's struggling form.

"Kurama, stop fighting it! You're hurting her!" Koenma yelled, adding
even more flames to the fires of Kurama's growing doubt and Botan's
wavering determination. Did this event figure into the Spirit World
Prince's ultimate plan after all? How surprisingly diabolical of him,
then; diabolical, but effective.

The ferry-girl thought she was going to die. The pain was unbearable, as
if every cell in his body was being invaded by a malevolent virus. Tears
of agony streamed from her eyes, but she fought against the blackness
creeping at the edges of her vision with all her might. 

She looked up and saw Kurama's white mask of terror and confusion slowly
eat at his resolve like acid... just as Koenma planned. She balked, more
out of  exhaustion than disgust over her boss's methods, then justified
to herself, 'Once you say you'll do anything, you might as well back it
up. Don't chicken out on Kurama now.'

"To what lengths are _you_ willing to go in order to resurrect somebody
that's supposed to be dead, Kurama? Are you prepared to sacrifice
Botan's life in exchange for Matsui Asuka's? Can you really say that
their lives are equal now? Then prove it. Show us your determination! If
you really want your capricious death scene to happen, then kill Botan!
Kill the grim reaper herself in order for you to fulfill your goddamned
frivolities!" Koenma spat glibly, his strategy to appeal to Kurama's
sympathy and Messiah Complex coming along smoothly.

This was one of only two instances that Kurama's complex roulette of a
master plan wasn't able to account for. In the recent past, the kitsune
had found a myriad of ways to deter Yusuke and the others' rather
predictable attempts to derail his decision to end his life. For Yusuke,
the redhead hit two birds with one stone by letting Kuwabara possess
Munashii-like powers and forcing them to do battle with each other. For
Hiei, Yoshitaka Tetsuma himself handled the fire demon quite soundly. 

Then again, the reaction his mother gave to his good-bye... the one
other instance that Kurama failed to anticipate with his master plan...
was so shocking to him that it actually turned his idealistic worldview
on its head. The way she'd objected Asuka Matsui's revival was
particularly painful for him.

Kurama had designed this whole quest in as dynamic a way as possible to
specifically ensure that no one outside of himself and a few others
would get hurt or killed by his noble campaign. Sure, it was naive of
him to think such things, but it did work that way to a certain extent.

Nonetheless, he was now faced with dire circumstances far worse than a
mother rejecting her own daughter or two friends nearly murdering each
other in cold blood as yet another life hung in balance of his precious
death scene despite all his chess-like maneuverings and careful
planning. What was he to do now?

A few moments later, a hideous flood of blue light surged upward the
bridge, ripping through the air like the most corrupted of unholy fires
as Botan's banshee shrieks of eternal torment contained within a single
minute echoed throughout the false Eden, forcing Kurama to make his
Catch-22 decision right then and there. 

"Botan!" Desperately, Kurama reached out to the screaming girl, his
heart holding fast to his steadfast will but his hands passing right
through her body, his very essence finally dissipating into nothingness.

His hand; he couldn't feel it anymore. He felt the very same lack of
sensation once before, during the time Munashii attacked him and the 
other spirit detectives inside Genkai's temple, where he was pinned to
the wall like a butterfly as the undead puppet literally sucked the life
out of him. 

Kurama's vision eventually blurred, and the entire garden quickly faded
like a ghost at dawn. In the corner of his eyes, he saw the ferry-girl
reaching out for him and silently mouthing his name. After a few more
minutes, there was nothing left of the redhead except a floating,
nebulous blue-green ember. At that point, with no further resistance and
strain upon her spirit, Botan promptly fainted on the debris-ridden
alabaster floor.

"His will be done indeed," Koenma exhaled as he put his effervescent
pacifier down and leaned on the cracked bridge railings for support,
feeling understandably exhausted after expending enough spirit energy to
put even a charging powerhouse like Toguro Ototo down. 

The Prince's hands and arms shook in both exultation and release; for a
moment there, he'd thought that Kurama was actually going to let Botan
die for the sake of his insane and elaborate suicide, what with her
going screeching to the brink of death and all. It was good thing that
his gamble paid off in the end, or else he would have more than just his 
father's past messes to clean up.

After he'd finally caught up with his wheezy breath, Koenma crawled
towards Botan's still form and cradled her unto his lap. "Botan, you did
great! We've won! At last, we now have Kurama exactly where we want him
and stopped him just in time... stopped him from making the biggest
mistake of his two lifetimes. I'm really sorry that you had to risk so
much in order to save that nutty old fox, but I guess your sacrifices
paid off it the end; aren't you glad?"

Botan's eyes fluttered open as she looked blearily at her boss's
relieved face. She afterwards smiled, admitting, "Well, I, for one, am
actually glad that Botan hesitated from turning me into a hitodama long
enough for me to possess her body, or else I would've never gotten the
window of opportunity I needed to keep her from dying a pointless
death."

"What... Kurama!" Before Koenma even had a chance to regain his wits,
"Botan" immediately went for the will o' the wisp that was supposed to
be "Kurama's" soul and revealed it to be the locket that the half-youko
had been wearing earlier. "I can't believe you'd actually risk Botan's
life to even that extent! How could you? If you've made a single mistake
in your little gambit, she may have died for real!" muttered Koenma
Daio, his whole face shining with sweat.

"Coming from you, that'd be a rather hypocritical assessment, dear
prince. But you know what they say: extremism in the defense of liberty
is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue," the
Kurama-possessed Botan slickly rejoined as he used remnants of his youki
and her reiki to summon a dear old friend of his. At last, the wheels
and cogs of his careful, decades-long planning had finally come to
fruition.

It was almost instantaneous. The energies flowed around Botan's body and
through Kurama's spirit; he could immediately remember his ex-partner's
voice and scent. The enchantment of the summon, bolstered by the echoes
from his old life as an elusive Demon World bandit, suffused his entire
world, turning it into a black radiance of potential and possibility. He
grasped it tight and then, with his memories as a backdrop, he let his
own inner light surge out from his host's form in the shape of a
majestic, seven-tailed kitsune aura.

His summoning reached the critical point; its forces could no longer
remain confined to the mere spectacle of light and matter. At that
precise moment, the pendant dropped like a stone and all sounds, all
light, and all energy surged back forcefully into Botan's svelte body,
igniting it like a small sun. The ferry-girl collapsed under the weight
of such power, and in her place came forth Kurama's astral form, finally
manifesting itself once more after nearly being turned into a flare of
ectoplasm.