[FFML] [yyh][ry][xover] Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 22: Freckles (Part 4)

[Chester Castañeda]

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Youtou Shinnoken
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel

Let the battles commence.


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Chapter 22: Freckles (Part 4)

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Back in the Human World... specifically, Tokyo, Japan... three weeks
after the assault Rando and the Shisejyu staged at Genkai's temple...

"Your girlfriend is being mean to me because you just gave her the 'Just
friends' speech without even realizing it!" Botan wailed in between her
one-woman cat fight, which only served to confuse Kenshin all the more.

"Kaoru-dono! Stop... hitting... yourself. And Botan. Er..." Kenshin's
eyebrows wiggled as he thought of an appropriate response. "Botan,
please grab hold of my sword so that I can talk to Kaoru-dono directly."

"NO! You talked to her a minute ago, and I want to have control of my
body for once!" Botan refused, but she then blew her stray bangs up
with a frustrated exhale as another alien thought entered her mind. "Oh,
_now_ she's wondering why you're still calling her 'Kaoru-dono' even
though _we've_ already dropped using honorifics."

An ear-to-ear, feline grin nearly tore the shinigami's face apart as she
announced to Kaoru, "It's because I've managed to make Kenshin do on the
same _week_ we've met what you couldn't do all throughout the _months_
you knew him, you harlot with a stick up her butt!" Predictably, more
self-strangulation occurred after that observation.

Once Kenshin broke the two arguing girls up by handing his sheathed
Demon Sword to her... "them"... and making Kaoru take over Botan's
physical form for the time being, the shinigami spoke using Kaoru's
voice, stating, "This can't be real. This has to be a dream."

"K-Kaoru-dono? I mean, K-Kaoru... dono? Is it okay for me to call you
Kaoru... dono?" Kenshin stumbled upon hearing the time-displaced girl
from his past life abruptly speak to him yet again with her canary-
like intonation, his efforts at dropping the "dono" suffix ending up
futile. "S-Sorry... what did you say about a dream?"

Kaoru made Botan do a flat poker face in a manner that even Botan
herself couldn't do. "Kenshin, I'm a dead spirit who ended up a hundred
years into the future, talking to you through the physical manifestation
of death that also happens to be a cheerful young woman in a pink
ceremonial kimono who flies around on an oar. How can I _not_ possibly
think of this as a dream?"

The disturbed, Botan-bodied Kaoru paced back and forth the alleyway. "I
haven't even begun to talk about _half_ of the crazy things I've seen,
like you living inside your sword like some sort of genie or something.
Heck, I'm not even supposed to know what a genie _is_, but because I'm
sharing my mind with the _grim reaper_, it makes perfect sense to me!
Again, no. I'm sorry. This _has_ to be a dream. I refuse to acknowledge
this surrealistic, Dali-like world as reality... whoever Salvador Dali
is. Just... no."

"Since you put it that way, then I agree. I don't know who Dali-san is
either, but I do concur." Kenshin cleared his throat. "However, for good
or for ill, you'll still have to come to terms with your... _our_
present situation."

Kaoru squared Botan's shoulders and used the Youtou Shinnoken as a cane-
like support of sorts. "Why did you have to die? I want to be upset with
you or even saddened by your demise, but since we're now in the
_future_, I'd feel like a fool for punishing you for breaking your
promise to me decades ago. Besides, I can't really mourn for you now
that I'm talking to you face-to-face. It's... bizarre. I don't know what
to feel. It's hard to come to terms with _anything_ because of all these
weird circumstances, you know?"

Kaoru pinched the base of Botan's nose while also wrinkling its bridge.
"By the way, I don't like the smell of this new Tokyo. Is that... smog?
Foggy smoke? I guess this new generation traded in horse poop for...
what's that? Exhaust? Horse poop for exhaust; the great price we have to
pay for having horseless carriages."

Kaoru looked at Kenshin bewilderedly as the latter made an apologetic
chopping motion with his hand. "Kenshin, are you... apologizing for the
pollution? Because it's not your fault; I blame irresponsible scientific
progress. Also, greed."

"No. I'm actually saying sorry because... well... now that we've had our
little talk, can you please give Botan back her body? I mean, I know
it's unfair that you don't have a physical form yourself, but even
Koenma-dono has no idea how that happened, so let's just find a way to
fix that later on, shall we? Pretty please?"

"Fine. I'll talk to you later." Boldly... or maybe because she
discovered from Botan's memory banks that people from the nineteen
nineties were much bolder than people back in the turn of the century...
Kaoru kissed Kenshin on his non-scarred cheek before handing him back
his sword and letting Botan take hold of her body yet again.

Botan sighed after confirming that she had control over her bodily
functions. "I am _not_ a telephone booth, Kenshin. Don't turn me into
your medium for contacting your dead girlfriend's spirit without my
permission ever again!" she admonished with a karate chop to Kenshin's
noggin. To Kaoru, she teased, "Oh, and thanks for using _my_ lips to
give that kiss on Kenshin's cheek, honey. That was _real_ smooth."

Botan then yelped as she used her right hand to block her left hand from
poking her eyes out. "Botan, please stop teasing Kaoru-dono. Kaoru-dono,
please stop... abusing Botan's body," Kenshin pleaded before the two
(well, _three_) individuals heard the shriek of sirens blare inside the
blue-haired girl's pink kimono.

'Why are your breasts making car alarm noises? Is someone trying to
steal them?' Kaoru asked, which Botan accordingly ignored in respect to
Kenshin's wishes and in realization of the genuine importance of the
distress signal. She searched through the pockets of her shinigami
uniform and produced a wristwatch-like device.

"Kenshin, this is a spirit detector. Like its name suggests, it detects
spirit energy and pinpoints its whereabouts like a radar device. Do you
know what radar is? Well, I'll just explain it to you while we go
searching for whatever it is the detector is picking up. Here, wear this
over your wrist like a bracelet so that you can track the source of the
ruckus."

The former hitokiri and rurouni allowed the ferry-girl to strap the
contraption tightly on his thin left wrist as he gave it a dubious look.
"I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to use this. I also don't like the
sound of wandering around and not knowing what it is I'm looking for.
I already did that in my past life as a vagabond. Shouldn't we be
running _away_ from whatever it is that's producing these energy
signatures? What if they're part of the Chojin's army who are after the
Demon Sword?"

Botan raised an eyebrow at Kenshin's question. "Really? It's kind of
strange for the _Strongest Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu_ to prefer running
away to fighting. Oh, no... wait. Kaoru's correcting me again. It's that
_rurouni_ side of you that's decided that discretion is the better part
of valor, right? Fine. I still say we should check these," the death
god took a look at Kenshin's detector, "B-Class blips on the radar and
plan our next move once we find them."

"Why?" Kenshin insisted because he had other plans; namely, finding a
way for Kaoru to separate from Botan's soul and having her... rest in
peace or something. He hadn't fully thought the whole state of affairs
through, he had to admit.

"Because it could be Yusuke fighting a demon... while his S-Level powers
lay dormant, which is why it's registered as B-Level for some reason...
or maybe it's detecting the presence of Kurama or Hiei... Oh, you don't
know who Hiei is yet. Well, whatever; the bottom line here is that these
radar blips could be our allies or enemies, and we won't be able to find
out unless we check them out."

"Why would the Spirit World invent a device that couldn't tell reiki
from youki or jaki?" came Kenshin's perfectly reasonable question, which
the Kaoru inside Botan's brain punctuated with an assenting, unseen nod.

"Because more often than not, high-level Reikai Tantei are able to
detect friend from foe using their own heightened sense of ki
discernment. It's like inventing a solar flashlight; it'd be pointless.
The spirit detector is just there to assist us in locating strong spirit
energy sources that don't belong in a given area," Botan assured with a
dismissive wave of her hand, which left both Kaoru and Kenshin anything
but reassured.

"Okay. Let's go," Kenshin finally relented, which prompted the ferry-
girl to summon her flying boat paddle. 'Who knows? Maybe this new
mission will help me get some leads regarding this Youkiri Battousai
business and what happened to all my friends back in Tokyo after I
died,' he mused as he got on Botan's unlikely mode of transportation and
flew off along with the goddess of death who bore the heart and mind
of his long-lost beloved.


===


Back at the Nalanda Shop, Shibuya... or the Dream World, or the Astral
Plane, or Level 10 Block 2 of the Purgatorial Sector, depending on your
point of view...

"...Up a monkey's ass as he spreads drizzling brown diarrhea all over
your face, you mountain hag!" the leather-garbed Sanosuke Sagara
verbally rampaged at Shizuru Kuwabara while she guffawed, paused, took
another look at the revived spirit's getup, whispered, "Village People,"
and doubled over in a second fit of hysterics.

"Hey, Sano," the acid-washed-jeans-wearing, Hawaiian-shirt-clad Yahiko
called out to his undead comrade while ignoring the eldest Kuwabara
daughter's continued peal of laughter upon seeing his own chosen
garments. "Those wristwatch radars that Koenma gave us earlier are
acting up. Something must be afoot; they're probably reacting to some
warrior-level entities around our vicinity."

"Firstly, I don't know what radar is. I also don't know how these tacky
bracelet things are supposed to work either." Sanosuke took one look at
himself, scowled, then said, "On second thought, tell me how these radar
things work and let's search for whatever supernatural entity is out
there. I'll do anything to stop embarrassing myself and get the hell out
of this shopping spree from hell."

Yahiko nodded. "Well, come to think of it, these aren't really radars in
the literal sense, but they're basically telling us that some powerful
warriors that are either from the Spirit World or the Chojin's army are
just sprinting distance from here... or at least sprinting distance for
you and me, anyway."

The boy pointed towards the single blinking green pixel in the middle
and the flashing arrow on top of the digital display. "See here? Just
follow the direction that the arrow is pointing at like you would a
compass and then stop when you yourself could sense the spirit energy of
whoever it is that's making his spiritual presence felt."

"How'd you know how to use that thing, Beach Boy?" Shizuru asked, and
Yahiko let the insult slip as he replied, "I used to help Koenma's
Reikai Tantei and Enma Daio's Tokubetsu Boueitai with several of their
missions. This is actually one of the more advanced spirit detectors
I've seen; the previous versions sucked ass and broke easily whenever
the enemy's power level went above C-Class."

Sanosuke still had no idea how a bracelet with blinking lights could
help him find spiritually empowered entities, but he ultimately decided
to humor Yahiko and roll with it. "Okay, I got it. Well, what are we
waiting for? Let's go meet or beat up whoever it is we're supposed to
meet or beat up! It's about time we got out and paraded in that circus
of a city, because we're certainly dressed for the part."

"HEY! What am I? Chopped liver? What am I supposed to do now?" Shizuru
asked, her hand resting on her hip as she assumed a confrontational
pose.

"You'll have to stay here, Shizuru. The Dream World is the safest place
for you at this point, and I don't want you to get involved if these
blips turn out to be demons or, worse yet, the Chojin's minions," Yahiko
said matter-of-factly as he placed his sword underneath the straps where
a leather belt would've been looped through. 'Well, now. These denim
trousers aren't half-bad.'

"AH! So my two customers have decided on their outfits, huh? You've made
some fine choices!" Hinageshi took out a receipt-printing calculator
from behind her and typed in the costs.

"Let's see; the leather pants costs eleven thousand, five hundred, and
thirty-three yen, the bomber jacket costs about the same, and the
leopard-spotted undershirt costs two thousand, three hundred, and seven
yen. As for the Hawaiian shirt, it costs two thousand, six hundred, and
fifty-three yen, while the acid-wash jeans cost four thousand, eight
hundred, and forty-three yen. In total, that's thirty-two thousand, six
hundred, and eighty-nine yen all-in-all. Will you be paying by card,
check, or C.O.D.? Also, do you want separate receipts? I have to
recalculate the costs if they're separate!"

"Are you using American prices and converting them to yen? Those are
absurd price tags for a clothing store that... exists... in... our...
collective... subconscious." Shizuru cleared her throat. "And another
thing, I demand a discount!" she haggled, her shopper's instincts
kicking in, but the two revived ghosts quickly assured her that it was
all right and they would pay for the outfits in full.

"This isn't what I'd call _yen_. It's play money, as far as I'm
concerned," Yahiko reasoned while waving one of the bills.

'This is stupid; that pacifier-sucking brat should've had us wearing
these modern-day clothes before sending us out to Japan,' Sanosuke
reflected as he counted the wad of Koenma bills he had on hand before
giving several bills to the red-haired saleslady. "Keep the change. To
be honest, if I had the choice, I'd give you the whole wad of talking
'yen', but I have a feeling I'll be needing it to get more useless stuff
from the Spirit World."

Yahiko and Sanosuke exchanged looks and nodded before turning towards
the entrance of the shop and making a beeline towards it.

"Could it be that these Reikai trinkets are merely reacting to the aura
of Kenshin and that Sousuke dude?" Sanosuke tried to nonchalantly
suggest, although his voice nevertheless betrayed a hint of expectation
in his tone.

"We can only hope," Yahiko responded as he opened the door to the
Nalanda Shop and felt an otherworldly force bring his astral projection
back to the land of the living. Sanosuke followed behind the boy before
he too disappeared into the featureless void.

"Bye-bye! Thank you for your patronage! Come again!" Hinageshi
automatically called after her "satisfied" clients before she yelped,
"ACK! I FORGOT TO TELL THEM!"

"Tell them what?" Shizuru queried once the ringing in her ears subsided
from the diminutive ferry-girl's sudden shriek.

"Their clothes will morph and change in accordance to their needs! Those
aren't just ordinary garments like the ones found in the Human World.
They're special-grade, top-of-the-line Spirit World armor that latches
onto the wearer's energy signature and even adjusts to his unique
personality," Hinageshi exposited after looking over her notes.

"_Armor_, huh? And they have to pay for it too? That seems excessive,"
Shizuru mentioned offhandedly, not really paying attention to the
junior shinigami's lengthy explanation. "Hey, wait a minute. We somehow
ended up in the Dream World, so were they trying out imaginary clothes?
Did they really even buy those outfits? How does that work?"


===


Once Kenshin, Botan, and the "unseen" Kaoru flew over the neighborhood,
subway station, and avenue of Omotesando, Tokyo, a horrifying and
pitch-black pulse of dark energy flung the both of them off the oar and
into the roof of the Harajuku Station building where Shizuru, Sanosuke,
and Yahiko got off earlier on.

Kenshin caught Botan in midair, somersaulted, and landed safely on his
feet before he saw the oar they were riding on burst into charred
cinders and ashes.

"Battousai! It's been ages. How have you been?" the shriveled and
cloaked figure of the unholy Onmyouji priest that helped both Rando as
well as the merged personas of Iehik and Iehog out three weeks back
drawled. He floated in the afternoon sky with his torn rags for
clothes that covered his whole body save for his wizened, clawed hands.

"You," Kenshin stated as he gently set the disoriented Botan down on the
roof. Meanwhile, a couple of onlookers from below had started to form a
crowd as they watched the spectacle of a traditionally garbed samurai-
looking individual talk to a floating, hooded specter. "What do you
want? What is the Chojin up to this time?"

'Hey, that weird floating guy with the croaking voice looks more like
the grim reaper than you do,' the Kaoru in Botan's head noted, which
prompted the ferry-girl to replay the memory where she first welcomed
Kenshin to modern-day Tokyo, much to the kendo master's chagrin. 'That's
not fair! I'm not even teasing you; I'm just pointing it out!'

The wraithlike entity cackled in delight. "Ah, so you and the Spirit
World are now acknowledging the existence of my master? It's about time
that you realized how big of a threat our presence truly is in the three
worlds. As for your question, let's just say it's in my best interests
to keep you here for the time being."

"I don't have time for riddles or obtuse answers," Kenshin warned, his
purple eyes shining with a glint of gold as he brandished the Youtou
Shinnoken; unlike Shaku's sakabatou, the default form of the Demon Sword
had the blade on the correct side. "If you won't let us go, then we'll
force our way out and discover for ourselves what it is you're hiding."

The cloaked figure shook the dense abyss where his head should be.
"You'll make time, as you'll soon understand."

With the supersonic speed worthy of the Grecian God Hermes, Kenshin
employed the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's Shinsoku to launch himself at the
dark phantom and slice him in half using the Ryu Sho Sen. He landed just
behind the mob of commuters, whom all clapped at him and his display,
much to his embarrassment and surprise.

'BOTAN! Did you see that? Kenshin just slashed at that guy with a
normal-edged blade in cold blood! He's now going to lose his humanity,
transform into Battousai, and... and...!' Botan conked herself to
prevent Kaoru from using her eyes and nose to begin bawling.

"It's fine. Kenshin is presumably dealing with a demon now, so attacks
that are normally fatal to humans are nothing against him." The
shinigami's pink eyes afterwards widened into saucers after seeing what
happened to the occultist's rotting, zombie body.

Meanwhile, down on the streets of Harajuku, people from all walks of life
were abuzz with fascination and excitement over the high-flying, red-
haired girly swordsman.

"I don't know what the occasion is, but that was awesome! The production
values were topnotch! Are you part of a new Sentai show? Where are the
cameras?"

"People will do anything for publicity nowadays."

"But that was so cool! Did you see how high up she went with that upward
slashing thing she did on that puppet with strings? I'll buy whatever it
is you're selling, sister!"

"You're a pretty young thing. Can I get your phone number?"

"Er, I don't think that's a she."

"Oro?" Not knowing what else to do, the short ex-rurouni grabbed the
back of his head and bowed sheepishly at the exultant throng of
salarymen, office ladies, and high school students. "Uh, no, I'm a guy.
No, this isn't part of a... Sentai show? What's that?"

"KENSHIN! The Onmyouji...!" Botan screamed to catch the redhead's
attention from her high perch.

Kenshin turned in time to see the empty rags he just slashed in half
reform into a banshee-like zombie. 'The Onmyouji is still standing.
Well, floating. My suspicions were correct; he's using a shikigami to
project himself in this realm! Also, I don't have to hold back any
longer.'

"What happened to the powers you've unleashed during your battle against
Hiruma, Battousai? That attack was pathetic," the Onmyouji's oriental
familiar mocked with a warbling voice that, Kenshin guessed, was also
masked by his aberrant powers. "The Chojin has no interest in Battousai
the Manslayer; a mere killer of men is of no significance in these
worlds filled with demons, ghosts, monsters, and celestial entities."

Just then, the shining imprint of an inverted star with a circle of
rune-like markings bearing ancient curses appeared on the broad, tree-
lined avenue of Omotesando, scarring the landscape like an anomaly of
nature and bathing everything in a crimson light.

Afterwards, the Onmyouji's projection spoke in tongues that the scar-
faced spirit guardian could not recognize, spewing incomprehensible
words of blasphemy and sacrilege. After everything was said and done, a
globular dome covered the entire area of the station, the colors of its
entrapped territory inverting like a film negative while the people
themselves... which included Kenshin and Botan... became as still as
mannequins.

"The residents of the Spirit World aren't the only ones who know how to
create barriers." If the Onmyouji's decomposing shikigami had the
ability to smile, it would've at that moment.


===


By the time the unlikely pair of a leather-clad Sanosuke and a casually
dressed Yahiko reached Yoyogi Station, they immediately realized what
they were dealing with.

"It's reiki that's causing the spirit energy trackers to go off, so
these are probably B-minus humans. They're around the same power level
as us, so it's likely that they're Spirit World Detectives or high-level
martial artists," Yahiko supposed as soon he and his rooster-headed
companion were within range to sense the spiritual presence of the
detected entities.

Sanosuke gulped as memories of his first and second fight against
Kenshin came to the forefront of his mind. On both occasions, the Ishin
Shishi patriot wiped the floor with him, the first one had him losing
his precious zanbatou, the second had him humiliated in front of his
former fellow Sekihoutai member, Tsukioka Tsunan.

Who knew that getting beat up by what looked like a preteen girl with
no chest to speak of using what amounted to a toy sword could get
Sanosuke feeling nostalgic and emotional? Kenshin Himura; the first
and only Ishin Shishi that the waif-thin yet ox-strong man ever trusted.

"There are about two of them. We'll have to split up. I couldn't make
heads or tails out of this infernal contraption anyway, so I'll just
find my guy using my own battle instincts," Sanosuke declared. After a
minute of waiting for a response, he turned towards Yahiko and yelled,
"HEY, SAMURAI BOY! Did you hear me?"

"Y-Yeah. W-Which one do you want to go to?" Yahiko stuttered.

"Eh. It doesn't really matter. I'll take the left one, you take the
right one. Is that all right?"

"Fine."

"Oh, and Yahiko?" That caught the Tokyo Samurai's attention for the
simple fact that Sanosuke rarely ever called him by his first name.

"What it is, Sano?"

"Say hello to Kenshin for me if you do come across him."

Yahiko chuckled. "Same to you, buddy. Let's go."

The two resurrected spirits in borrowed bodies and magical clothes
sprinted off into two separate directions, the sea of humanity not
minding them in the least.


===


"I can't stay here. Why the hell did I agree with those bozos to stay
here? I should just go home," the smoke-deprived, nicotine-longing
Shizuru decided aloud when she suddenly heard a rumble from outside the
temporally displaced Nalanda Shop and felt the malicious presence of a
vengeful entity. "What's going on?"

Shizuru saw the color on Hinageshi's face drain. "This isn't supposed to
happen. Only astral projections bearing special items like the Reikai
Yen you're holding are supposed to consciously gain access to Yumekai."

The portrait of Koenma on the one paper bill that Shizuru gripped
informed, "Someone is using jaki to corrupt and destroy this store's
link with the physical realm. Shizuru-kun, you'll have to wake up now in
order to avoid harming your body if ever our connection to the Ningenkai
is suddenly severed."

"Wait. E-Excuse me? What 'harm' are we talking about? And since when did
I fall asleep anyway?" Shizuru questioned with an incredulous eyebrow
raise, unprepared by the sudden turn of events.

"Yes, you have to wake up now!" Hinageshi ordered, pushing Shizuru to
the entrance. "Go outside the shop to wake yourself up and avoid running
into whoever it is that severed the Nalanda Shop's link to the real
world in the first place!"

While they were talking, the entrance and fire exit of the mystical
store collapsed in a rain of concrete, plaster, and metal. Afterwards,
the shelves and displays of the Spirit World shop began flying all over
the place as an earthquake commenced.

"WAH! It's too late to get out through to that route!" Hinageshi yelped
as Shizuru led the both of them into the nearest counter to avoid any
falling debris and wreckage.

"Shizuru-san, you need to wake up more than I do because I'm a grim
reaper and you're a living human being. If you don't wake up soon and
get killed here, you'll never wake up alive again!" Hinageshi screeched
amidst the rumble, which made Shizuru look at her as though she had
grown three heads. "I don't want to be the one to ferry your soul! I
just met you and I think you're a nice person, albeit one with a mean
streak!"

"Wait, did you just say I'll be _dead_ if I don't wake up soon? That's
what you meant by _harm_ earlier? Well, aren't you obtuse! ARE YOU
KIDDING ME?" Shizuru shook Hinageshi so hard that the ferry-girl felt as
though she were sitting still by moving in cadence with the quake.
"Never mind that; HOW DO I WAKE UP?"

Without a word, Hinageshi slapped Shizuru so brutally that the latter
ended up sprawled on the floor.

Then, just as Shizuru recovered and got up to give the insane spirit
guide a piece of her mind, she became aware that she had woken up and
she was now standing in the middle of a condemned building where the
Nalanda Shop was supposed to be. "...Okay then. I'm glad that everything
worked out in the end."

To her mortification and annoyance, the hateful, nasty, and malevolent
feelings she felt through her Rei-Kan earlier were back in full force.
Also, at the entrance of the empty lot stood the eager, stubbly visage
of an eye-patched man holding a wooden sword and wearing traditional
garments more suited to people during Yahiko's time a century ago. "Who
the hell are you supposed to be? Yagyu Jubei?"

"Hello, beautiful. I didn't believe Kazemaru when he first told me
that you're the sister of that grotesque Kuwabara." The bokken he had
on hand flared with malice and contempt, which Shizuru actually saw in
the form of smoldering flames thanks to her extrasensory perception.
"Don't make any sudden moves and just follow my advice; by doing so, you
may get out of this situation alive and in one piece."


===


Yahiko's thoughts were filled with images and visions of the man that
inspired him to resume his samurai lineage's tradition of
swordsmanship excellence that continued to that very day and age.

His mind overflowed with memories of Kenshin beating up a host of yakuza
in order to free him from his debt, of both Kenshin and Sanosuke urging
him on secretly while he knocked a grown man unconscious using only his
bamboo sword, of him defeating one of Makoto Shishio's Ten Swords while
imitating one of Kenshin's signature techniques, and of him facing down
an actual giant because of his faith in the former vagabond.

Granted, his later memories of Kenshin turned out to be bittersweet for
him because in the end, Shishio managed to kill the ex-rurouni in their
long and epic duel. However, the prospect of seeing the redhead again
after what literally had been a hundred years of waiting promised to
erase that last bit of melancholy in his heart.

One can only imagine his disappointment when he arrived and saw that the
B-Level human inside the Tori Gate of the _Meiji_ Shrine... 'How
appropriate,' Yahiko drolly reflected... was just some bald man wearing
stagehand clothes that approximated what shinobi wore back in the day
and a manji tattoo that, to the man who witnessed the Second World War
firsthand, looked like a Nazi swastika.

"Who the hell are you?" was Yahiko's straightforward question as he
took off his spirit detector and pocketed it inside his denim pants.
He couldn't believe he wasted his time sprinting all over Harajuku just
to find some woefully deluded man who thought that all one needed to
become a ninja was to wear tight-fitting black pajamas and a ski mask,
his high energy output be damned.

The unsubtle ninja with a costume fit for Halloween took one look at the
boy wearing a Hawaiian shirt before lifting a plucked eyebrow. "Unless
you're a revived spirit sent by the Spirit World, I have no business
with you."

"And what if I am? Who are you? Are you friend or foe? Do you work for
Koenma Daio or the Chojin?" Yahiko insisted as he cautiously grabbed
hold of his sword's handle and waited for an answer.

The hairless ninja exhaled and scratched his cheek in irritation. "Kid,
you should go back to school or something. I'm looking for a man wearing
a thick, open trench coat and what appears to be a large sword, another
guy with a mantle that has a ridiculously long collar, a boy in a blue
kimono and white hakama with blue trim, a policeman with a sword, or a
tall man with gravity-defying hair who looks like he just got out of a
recent karate tournament. You look like none of those people."

It was at that point that Yahiko realized that something was amiss. Just
in time, he ducked and leapt away from the concussive wave of scorching
reiki that emanated from the palm of the ninja's hand.

"REIKI HO!"

The choleric blast turned the concrete of the holy place into a nice and
long oblong crater, which prompted onlookers to make themselves scarce
as soon as they "saw" the bizarre phenomenon of a man firing "invisible"
waves of energy happen.

The manji-tattooed ninja cracked the knuckles of his steaming right
hand. "Nevertheless, not even the most faithful of Buddhist monks know
who _Koenma_ Daio is, so I'm betting you're the samurai boy the Chojin
wants dead. Nice threads. You look like you've just come home from the
beach."

"That's rich, coming from some Neo-Nazi wannabe who confused the
theatrical version of ninjas for the real thing," Yahiko rebutted, not
noticing that the clothes he wore had now transformed back to his
original style of clothing. "Back in my day, ninjutsu meant something.
I'm Myojin Yahiko, a Tokyo Samurai. Prepare yourself, you traitor to
humanity."

"That's a neat trick you did with your clothes, samurai boy," the
Chojin's human minion appraised while outright disregarding Yahiko's
ridiculous assertions about his brand of ninjutsu. "I'm Fuwan Kazemaru,
a ninjutsu _master_. I'll make you eat your words and send you back to
the realm where you belong, Myojin Yahiko."


===


At the southern end of the Harajuku Station, in Omotesando, Kenshin,
Botan, Kaoru (to a lesser extent), and a whole cast of incidental
characters who believed they were in the middle of a publicity stunt
were now in a bit of a bind, spiritually speaking.

'The Onmyouji is using a Kanashibari binding spell,' the ex-hitokiri
reckoned as he struggled to break free from it.

The shikigami rubbed his hands together in classic villain fashion.
"Yes, stay put for the time being. We've finally forced Koenma to slip
up, and it just wouldn't be acceptable for us to let this opportunity
pass us by."

Kenshin was familiar with the technique; he'd used a version of it on
Yusuke twice over during the time they shared an emphatic bond with each
other. The term was also used to describe the sleeping disorder known as
sleep paralysis or fatal nightmares with hypnagogic hallucinations,
otherwise known throughout Asia as gui ya shen, gawee nulim, phii am,
khmout sukkhot, dab tsog, ma de, bong de, suk nimnyo, kena tindih,
ketindihan, amuku be, amuku pei, bakhtak, khyaak, and bangungot. It was
also called "Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome" or SUNDS by the
medical community.

The sensation was quite reminiscent of the Nikaido Heiho's Shin no Ippo,
and like Jine Udo, Kenshin was capable of doing a less extreme version
of the ability, hence his eventual mastery of it when dealing with
rambunctious, hard-headed people like Misao Makimachi or Yusuke
Urameshi. More importantly, he knew how to break free of the paralyzing
enchantment by using his own generous amount of swordsman energy to
neutralize it.

However, even as Kenshin roared and released his kenki to its maximum
potential in order to counteract the Chojin's secondhand jaki... his
complexion returning to normal after looking like a film negative while
petrified in place... the Onmyouji's familiar remained passive, merely
noting, "Oh. So you still have some fight in you. Not that it matters,
though, seeing that you're trapped within my territory. It'll be amusing
to see you try and get out of this predicament. Are you going to slice
me in half again?"

Kenshin leapt in front of the floating shikigami, twirled so that he'd
end up at an awkward corner, and then let loose a potent barrage of
kenki-powered strikes that randomly hit every inch of the apparition's
rotting flesh and ragged clothing. So thorough was the redhead's
shredding strikes that the marionette had no choice but to teleport
away from the thunderous onslaught in a puff of black smoke and miasma.

"Just as I suspected; even though that's merely a shikigami, it's still
your only way of confronting me and creating this barrier. Once I
destroy it, your kekkai will disappear along with it as well," Kenshin
deduced before he rebounded on a tree and landed on the street on all
fours like a cat.

The Onmyouji shikigami materialized right beside the frozen Botan on the
roof of the Harajuku Station building. "As expected of the Legendary
Battousai... a man whose career spans generations and is renowned in
both the Human World and the Spirit World while feared in the Demon
World. My bluff didn't pay off after all." From there, the puppet of the
Chojin's conduit took hold of the frozen ferry-girl's shoulders as she
inwardly shuddered.

"Nevertheless, the Youkiri Battousai who used only a fraction of his
abilities to overpower Hiruma even as the monster was turned into
another conduit of the Chojin would've finished off this messenger of
mine with just one slash. I have to wonder, why are you so weak now? Is
it because you're presently bonded with this shinigami instead of
Urameshi Yusuke? That's possible, but then again, Urameshi already used
up his energy when you transformed, and you were left to fend for
yourself. Or are you suffering from the aftereffects of your recent
battles? I'm intrigued by your current mediocrity, Battousai."

"Let go of her or I'll make you regret going up there," Kenshin
cautioned as his violet eyes commenced gleaming into a more golden hue.
"Don't think that just because you're using a shikigami that I can't
hurt you."

Unmoved by mere death threats and scary glares, the Onmyouji chuckled,
his laughter reverberating within his pawn's emptiness. "Oops. It seems
that I've forgotten myself. It doesn't matter if you're weaker now,
because that's something that I can use to my advantage. _My_ job is to
keep you here for as long as I can; nothing more, nothing less."


===


Sanosuke was practically on the same rampage he went through during
Kenshin's abrupt exit from Tokyo a hundred years go in order to go to
Kyoto and confront Shishio and his faction. Trees shattered into pieces
in his wake thanks to the double impact of his mighty fists and the
power of Anji Yukyuzan's Futae no Kiwami.

"FUTAE NO KIWAMI! AH!" he screamed repeatedly as he indulged in his
wanton destruction of nature; it wasn't a necessary step in executing
the technique correctly, and it actually rubbed the throat of his
freshly created body of flesh and bone raw, but he still shouted those
words to his heart's content regardless.

The people who witnessed the spectacle he was making of himself would've
laughed at his brashness, ridiculous outfit, and out-of-context babbling
were they not mesmerized by how he kept turning trees into shards of
wood and sawdust. The showcase of strength was made even more impressive
by the fact that it was spring, so every time Sanosuke punched a cherry
tree down, the white blossoms exploded alongside the wood, creating a
brazen waltz that was both beautiful and terrible to behold.

Ergo, meeting up with what looked like a Bohemian, muscular, and scarred
Jesus in a lotus position sapped all his pent-up passion and expectation
into nothingness.

The non-sequitur appearance of the dirty martial artist with jade
tresses who looked like the great messiah that Christians all over the
world worshipped would've made Sanosuke laugh out loud were he not
expecting someone else at the time. As it was, it just pissed him off to
no end.

He searched high and low... up to the point of lifting the frozen
bearded man up and looking under him... but alas, there was no sign of
Kenshin. There was no doubt about it; the B-minus human he was looking
for was nothing more than this long-haired, homeless man.

"Son of a bitch! Well, at least I was able to get out of shopping. Man,
did that geisha-looking lady have a mouth on her. Kids in today's Japan
need to learn some manners..."

At that point, the pseudo-Christ had heard enough. "I wasn't sure when I
first saw you in those god-awful clothes, but the repeated use of that
fist of yours clinched it for me. You must be Sagara Sanosuke, aren't
you?"

"Eh? Well, yeah. I am." Sanosuke shrugged before he turned his back on
the strange man and started to leave the decimated park.

"HEY! DON'T JUST TURN YOUR BACK ON ME! What if I were an enemy and I
suddenly attacked you from behind? What then?"

"I wouldn't really care. Do what you want. You're not the guy I'm
looking for anyway," Sanosuke's retreating form replied. "Besides, the
Chojin uses _demon_ zombies to do his bidding, not living humans. You
have to admit, human martial artists... even B-Class ones like
yourself... aren't as impressive as undead youkai, you know?"

It was at that moment that the muscular warrior who wasn't from Nazareth
employed a takedown on the unprepared Sanosuke and pounded the taller
yet thinner man repeatedly.

"I. Am. Not. Inferior. To. Zombie. Youkai. I'll. Make. You. Remember.
My. Name. Even. If. It's. The. Last. Thing. Your. Pureed. Brain. Will.
Ever. Recall," he said, punctuating each and every last word with a
punch to all of his opponent's vital areas. Thrice to the groin.

After tenderizing Sanosuke's face to a fine pulp and leaving his skinny
body black and blue, the mixed martial artist grabbed hold of the
rooster-headed man's newly bought bomber jacket, got up to his feet, and
lifted his victim up in the air.

"I am Getsuno Kibano, a master of all the different martial arts from
aikido to judo, jujutsu to karate. You've picked the wrong man to
insult, Sagara Sanosuke."


===


Two red orbs glinted within the blackness that covered the Onmyouji
familiar's indistinguishable face. As if on cue, the inverted-colored
people from down below groaned, moaned, and choked in agony. "Move one
more inch, and all the people covered inside my barrier will die
horrible, suffocating deaths because of their fears and nightmares."

Kenshin cursed under his breath; the occult priest and his shikigami
puppet was using the Kanashibari method to induce SUNDS on all the
innocent bystanders. The swordsman ghost tensed and glared helplessly at
the worsening situation as even Botan produced choking noises from her
throat while paralyzed.

The Onmyouji's shikigami mocked, "Have you ever wondered what it's like
for a grim reaper to die? Can these personifications of death even die?
I think we're about to find out. I myself am deathly fascinated by the
subject... excuse me for the pun."

"You want a pun, you faceless dishrag with arms? Well, how about this?
Let these people go, because some of them have jobs that charge by the
OAR!" Botan and Kaoru chorused, their respective reiatsu and kenki
energies merging to defeat the binding spell, which in turn let them
summon the signature shinigami paddle and stuff its wide end right
between what was presumably the creature's glowing eyes.

After Kenshin extricated himself from the pratfall he did in reaction to
the possessed death goddess's droll witticism... he could've sworn that
even the unmoving mob of students, employees, businessmen, and whatnot
slightly tilted themselves to the side in embarrassment after hearing
that awful joke... he summoned, "Botan! Miss Kaoru! That was amazing!"
with an impressed smile.

At the back of the redhead's mind, the memory of Kaoru conquering the
One-Sided Heart during his fateful battle against Jine replayed itself
within the symbolic iris of his mind's eye. "I'm glad you were able to
free yourself from his spell. I was so worried."

Botan flew... or rather, _fell_... into Kenshin's waiting arms while the
Onmyouji's servant burned another one of her oars to ash from behind
her.

"Ah, Kenshin! I've never been so scared in all my life! I swear, I could
feel the clamminess of that freak show's skin even through my kimono! It
was so disgusting!" At that point, the blue-haired girl... well, sky-
blue-haired girl... noticed that another blue-haired girl (someone
sporting dark-blue-hued tresses, to be exact) continued saying the same
thing as she was in unison with her.

"AH! Stop that! How are you doing that? No, YOU! Ah, this isn't funny
anymore! I sound like the voice you hear inside the bathroom! STOP IT!
STOP IT! WAH!" went Botan and Kaoru's unintentional and toneless
acapella choir.

"It looks like you two are now getting along better," Kenshin quipped,
which earned him a two-handed toss straight into the sky that made him
flip head over heels repeatedly like a giant, red-haired, and cross-
scarred pancake.

'How surprising; I didn't expect the shinigami to be strong enough to
break my hex, much less toss Battousai around,' the Onmyouji reckoned.
Aloud, he threatened, "Don't get any bright ideas, Battousai, or else
I will kill the rest of these humans down... there... What...?"
Henceforth, the practitioner of esoteric arts got his third shocker for
the day.

Botan and Kaoru abandoned their petty squabbles for the time being as
they took advantage of their accidental synchronicity to combine their
powers and tear down the kekkai and the Kanashibari spell by their
seams.

What horrified the undead occultist was the fact that their attempt at
freedom worked; the passengers of the train started to breathe in a
normal fashion, while the inverted colors of the surroundings also began
to return to normal. In the meantime, the magical seal he so carefully
crafted faded in and out of existence along with the dome-shaped barrier
he placed in the general vicinity of Omotesando.

'Who the hell is this Reikai woman?' the Onmyouji wondered before
screeching a banshee-worthy shriek and proclaiming, "You've spoiled my
fun long enough, harlot! Become the death you're supposed to represent!"

Subsequently, the shikigami synthesized a destructive energy ball of the
purest jaki, which even the preoccupied Botan was able to identify as
the same purple haze of vigor that the Ruler of the Nether World,
Yakumo, used to create in order to blast Yusuke Urameshi within an inch
of his life.

'Could it be that the jaki the Chojin possesses is the same jaki Yakumo
absorbed throughout the centuries in order to be as powerful as one of
the gods?' Botan couldn't help but reckon as she felt her strength get
sapped and her synchronization with Kaoru destroyed by the sheer power
of the Onmyouji's negative force.

Nonetheless, just as the occult cosmologist's servant threw the ball
with the malicious intent of burning Botan and the rest of the humans in
the dark light of the Overfiend's vast supply of corrupt power, a
battoujutsu strike from out of nowhere cut the sphere of sin into two
exploding halves, the slicing ability of the magnificent attack even
reaching the shikigami and shredding its body into pieces.

Amidst the resulting explosion, the ragged poltergeist saw the brilliant
gleam of golden eyes and fiery hair as it succumbed to the Chojin's
volatile jaki and its apparently low, friction-induced flashpoint.


===


Back at the entryway to the Meiji Shrine, underneath the large Tori
Gate...

After Yahiko had the presence of mind to look at himself and notice his
change of clothes, he groaned. 'Oh, great. My magical Hawaiian shirt and
jeans can change back to the garments I was wearing before I bought
them. What's the point of getting new clothes when they can magically
change back to the clothes you wore before? Dammit, and I liked that
shirt too...'

"You dare claim that I'm not acting like a true ninja? And how about
you? You're just some snot-nosed brat who's also pretending to be a
samurai! You have no right to insult me, resurrected soul or no! I don't
care if you were born in the Sengoku era; I'll show what ninjutsu is
really about!" Kazemaru Fuwan raged as he attempted to keep the Kamiya
Kasshin Ryu master at bay with his laser-like palm blasts and turn the
battle into a mostly projectile-based fire fight.

In mere minutes, the charging Yahiko and the retreating Kazemaru
transformed the peaceful landscape of the Meiji Shrine's entrance into a
wasteland of upturned trees, broken floor tiles, and complete
devastation. "Seems to me like that you're acting a bit defensive. More
importantly, why are you working for the Chojin?"

"Would you believe that it pays well and has enabled me to unlock the
secrets of ninjutsu that I would otherwise have no access to?" Kazameru
revealed while shoving the memory of Yusuke hoisting him by his own
petard... or, in his case, explosive shuriken... aside. As he kept on
tossing his projectiles, he scowled at how much energy he had so far
spent.

Although the revived Yahiko had none of the acrobatic agility or speed
of the Legendary Battousai that the shinobi kept hearing about, he
employed the basic defensive tactics of measuring distance, dodging,
weaving, feinting, and taking advantage of his environment to kendo
clinic perfection. However, the spiky-haired young lad remained a close-
combat fighter trapped in the middle of a long-range fight, so the
advantage remained in the ninja's corner.

To Yahiko, Fuwan mocked, "What is it about the term 'shadow warrior'
were you confused with? A ninja is supposed to strike fear within the
hearts of others and not feel it himself. I am the terror that strikes
from the shadows or beyond them. As long as I'm able to finish my
mission, then I will remain a ninja beyond peer, regardless of what you
think."

Yahiko sidestepped another energy beam. "Look, I'm doing more ninja-like
things than you are by avoiding your attacks and fighting defensively.
Are you absolutely _sure_ you didn't just mistake samurai for ninja and
impersonated one for the other?"

"That's enough out of you, half-pint." Kazemaru went to the center of
the Tori Gate, stretched his arms as far as they could go, and let
loose his energy blasts on both pillars in order to let the structure
fall right on top Yahiko. Calmly, the boy backtracked a couple of paces
and let the wood fall just inches away from his sandaled feet before he
resumed his pursuit of his opponent.

Kazemaru took the opportunity afforded by the falling debris that he
turned the edifice into to leap up into the air and let loose a steel
barrage of his powered-up fighting stars that blotted the sun from above
and formed a metallic blanket of slate-gray death. By instinct,
Yahiko made good use of his barehanded shirahadori abilities to pick out
the dozens of sharp star-shaped blades and let them drop harmlessly
around him.

'Huh. He's also adept at barehanded blade blocking?' Kazemaru observed
as he begrudgingly marveled at how effectively Yahiko neutralized the
rain of sharp, metal death without once unsheathing his weapon. 'It
would've been funnier to see him hitting those shuriken with his sword
and watch the look of his surprise on his face, but whatever. He's a
dead kid either way; when you have this many explosives, accuracy isn't
required anyway.'

The slightly nicked and sore Yahiko was just about to jump away from the
scattered pieces of metal when the madly grinning Fuwan put his palms
together and sent forth a scorching wave of his reiki into the general
vicinity of the shuriken-surrounded boy, which instantly reacted with
the volatile material that coated each and every last piece of the
ninja's weapons and making them release their energy in an impressive
conflagration that leveled most of the entryway.

"Was that 'deceptive' enough for you? Or perhaps you were expecting
ninja clones or teleportation? Fucking moron," Kazemaru rebuked the
flaming crater where the Tori Gate and the samurai faker used to be
before his decades-ingrained instincts told him that something was
amiss.

He looked up; at twenty feet in the air, the image of a slightly charred
and scratched but otherwise unharmed Yahiko hung in midair, his
inherited sakabatou withdrawn as he prepared to strike down Fuwan with a
double-handed wallop to the noggin.


===


Back in Shibuya, inside the empty building where the Nalanda Shop used
to be...

"Yes, yes. I'm sure that's fascinating. My brother is ugly, the sky is
blue, and water is wet. Unless you have any more groundbreaking insights
to share, I'll be on my way," Shizuru Kuwabara reproached as she walked
out of the abandoned studio in a huff, not even giving her hairy, eye-
patched stalker a second glance. However, she stopped short of her
complete departure when the middle-aged man grabbed hold of her wrist
and pushed her back. "HEY! Let go of me!"

"I don't think you realize how serious your situation is right now. I
even went through the trouble of finding this godforsaken store and
tearing it apart from this plane of reality in order to meet up with
you, and here you are, giving me lip? That's hardly sporting of you. I
think it's about time you learned your place, woman."

Shizuru took out her keychain bottle of mace... not the kind that
contained watered-down pepper spray, but a genuine aerosol spray
containing the lachrymatory agent of tear gas... sprayed it into the
man's exposed eye, poked the very same eye for good measure, and got out
into the street, screaming her head off for somebody to help her in
order to deter the thug from pursuing her.

"HELP! This crazy man is trying to beat me up with a kendo stick!"
Several briefcase-wielding businessmen and punk-attired delinquents came
to her aid, prepared to gang up on the out-of-place figure with a ratty
samurai costume.

The auburn-haired girl's face then drained itself of color when, in one
fell swoop, the blinded eye-patched madman swung his Japanese training
sword at the hurtling group of Yankee thugs and salarymen and created a
wave of gravity so powerful that it crushed everything before him,
including the men that ended up as nothing more than bloodstains full of
viscera, popped bones, and other internal organs on the streets after a
collective, muffled crunch.

'Fuwan and Getsuno have to convert the jaki rationed to them into reiki;
I don't need to do that! With this corrupted sword from an ancient tree
where thousands of youkai were banished and sealed, I can do pretty much
anything I want!'

'Oh shit, I should have brought the shotgun with me,' Shizuru mused
before the maniac turned and hit her with a thrusting sword strike to
the abdomen that knocked the wind out of her, broke a couple of her
ribs, and sent her flying back into the empty, Nalanda-Shop-less studio
with a resounding crash followed by a wet thump to the wall.

Subsequently, the timber-sword-wielding kendo practitioner sprinted
towards the shop without missing a beat. Once inside, he whistled a
merry little ditty as he commenced beating his conqueror's sister
senseless with his blunt instrument.

This time, after witnessing how much of a danger the murderer posed to
society, the crowd of onlookers did their best to ignore the girl's
muffled shrieks of agony, although some of them did have the courage to
at least call the Shibuya Police or go straight to the Shibuya Police
Station downtown.


===


To be Continued...

Next: The secrets of the past.

Who was the true winner of the battle between Makoto Shishio and
Kenshin Himura? Who did the new era choose?

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro
Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is
the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. This
disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that
are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very
poor.

Akin ang huling halakhak!
Abdiel