[FFML] [yyh][rk][xover] Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 34: The Other Side of Bloodlust (Part 2)

[Abdiel]

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter
how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there
first, and is waiting for it."

(Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)


========================================================================


Youtou Shinnoken
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/223441/
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/56473/

What is beyond good and evil? What lies across the darkness and the
light?


========================================================================

Chapter 34: The Other Side of Bloodlust (Part 2)

========================================================================


At the docks of Tokyo Bay, inside the boiler room of an unattended
cargo ship...

Suzaku had longed for this day to come.

As the Shisejyu Leader predicted, Jine "Kurogasa" Udo (also known as
Tokyo's Kanji Killer) had failed to kill Kurama, the present wielder of
the Demon Sword, after insisting on having a death match against the
Youkiri Battousai that resided inside the Youtou Shinnoken.

Long story short, Jine forced Kurama to fight while wielding the Demon
Sword using a childhood friend of the half-youko... Maya Kitajima... as
bait. Kurama took the bait but used a Demon-Sword-powered Yu Kaito to
assist him. Udo forced the redhead to use the Youtou Shinnoken anyway,
and the Kanji Killer lost both his hypnotic Evil Eyes as a result.

Meanwhile, Kaito ended up injured throughout the gambit and the damsel
in distress, Maya, was spared from becoming a sacrificial lamb to make
Kurama angry enough to awaken the Youkiri Battousai sleeping inside the
Demon Sword.

And now here they were, with Suzaku hiding his presence and power level
all the while in order to watch the proceedings in silence. He used the
same technique to ambush Natsuki Shinkai during Kurama's first encounter
with the Kanji Killer, in fact.

Kurama had defeated the dragon and had rescued the princess, all the
while denying his true nature as a demon fox by insisting on minimizing
his contact with the Demon Sword and never using its full potential.

This pissed off Suzaku more than anything else. What was going on in the
mind of that youkai? Wasn't Kurama the demon who, once upon a time,
terrorized Makai for centuries, when even Raizen was a mere Class-C
demon that could be killed by spears and arrows?

Suzaku himself had, before Yusuke Urameshi killed him, lived for four
centuries. He and the rest of the Four Saint Beasts were around during
the time Kenshin Himura was still alive. They were alive and well during
the Tokugawa and Meiji Eras. He himself saw civilizations rise and fall
as well as human technology grow.

He was six centuries younger than Kurama, yet apparently he should've
been the one who was a thousand-year-old youkai in light of the foolish,
immature way the half-youko acted. Whatever happened to all the insight
the redhead should've gotten as one of the oldest living beings in
existence?

Older didn't necessarily mean wiser, it would seem. The Crimson
Sparrow's stomach churned at seeing someone turn his back on ultimate
power for the sake of pretending to be something he was not: A filthy
human.

The Demon Sword came with the opportunity to rule as the King of Makai,
and Kurama willfully threw away the chance like a piece of human
garbage.

In Suzaku's mind, that made the supposed legend as worthless as one of
those non-biodegradable plastics that, incidentally, also lasted for a
thousand years or so before decomposing.

That was right. Suzaku just compared Kurama to the PET (Polyethylene
terephthalate) component of plastic bottles used for bottled water: A
waste of indestructible space that filled landfills and never
biodegraded or decomposed no matter how many decades had flown by.

Immortal garbage.

'That crazy old coot has been alive for far too long. He's like a
vampire, almost. His age is finally getting to him, I bet. He threw
away his chance at restoring his former glory? What the hell was he
thinking?'

Suzaku performed the Prism of Seven or the Ankoku-Yoro-Jin, which
allowed him to split himself into seven shadow clones, each armed with
their own electrical bow. 'It's about time the Youtou Shinnoken acquired
a master worthy of its strength.'


===


Kurama was just about to transport (the unconscious) Kaito and (the
conscious) Maya out of the empty ship when he felt the presence of
Class-A demons whose combined powers approached Class-S might.

By reflex, he looked over Jine's direction, who was still wailing and
gnashing his teeth on the floor. No, the energy signature wasn't coming
from the Kanji Killer, whose Evil Eyes the half-youko plucked out of
their sockets.

"Mina... I mean, Kurama? Is there something wrong? You look upset,"
Kitajima, Shuichi's former classmate and childhood friend, asked.

He patted his torn vest. Inside it was the shrunken head of a humanoid
mandrake plant that held the Jagan of Udo, its roots acting like nerve
endings that allowed the redhead control of the eyes that led him to
win his rematch against the serial killer ex-cop.

Thankfully, Jine didn't somehow snatch his eyes back. This, however,
raised the question, 'So where was this foreboding energy coming from?'

A bolt of energy then shot out from the higher levels of the boiler
room that led to the upper deck of the boat.

It was fired by a demonic sniper with red and white loose clothes, blond
hair with red tips, and a forehead circlet plus other vaguely Arabic
jewelry dangling on him.

'Suzaku,' Kurama thought before ending up behind the demon and attacking
with the Ryu Sou Sen. It'd seem that Jine had a fellow Shin Juppon
Gatana member around to back him up in case he failed in his mission.

To the half-youko's inward chagrin, the Crimson Sparrow activated his
barrier that kept the metal blade of the Demon Sword from landing a
crippling blow on him.

The slightly injured and exhausted humanized demon fox barely had enough
time to block the subsequent Ankoku-Raijin-Ken that blew him back to
where he stood, his feet leaving a hard dent on the gun-metal floor.

From behind Kurama, the Ankoku-Raiko-Ha fried a whole patch of his kudzu
weeds into charred carbon while melting part of the steel construction
of the boiler room into liquid metal.

This startled Maya enough to yelp out in panic. In her point of view,
the whole exchange made it appear that Kurama winked in and out of
existence while something from behind them exploded into a rain of
sparks.

Nevertheless, keeping in mind that they were in a metal room and Suzaku
could use his powers to electrocute them from the inside (it was
impossible to do so from the outside, since the Faraday cage effect
would insulate them instead), Kurama summoned his kudzu and wrapped them
around Maya and the injured Kaito in order to keep them away from
electrical currents while also acting as insulators themselves.

"W-Wait a second! Kurama, your vines...!" began the entangled Kitajima.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Maya. Please bear with it for a
little longer," answered Kurama.

Meanwhile, Suzaku spoke. "You disgust me, Kurama. From being one of the
few demons who could stand up against the Three Kings of Makai, you
turned into this weakling who could barely finish Genbu and Jine off!
What happened to you? Have the humans tamed you? Turned you into a
whipped dog?"

As Suzaku said this, his shadow clones appeared from all corners of the
room. Kurama looked up in time to see seven Suzakus aim their Lightning
Storm of Torment at him, with the (probable) intention of killing him to
steal the Demon Sword.

Aided by the speed of light and the fact that Kurama realized Suzaku's
ambush far too late, the resulting simultaneous Shichi-Goku-Ankoku-
Raiko-Ha produced enough energy to blast a hole right through the metal
boiler room walls and all the way out of the ship's hull. Like lasers.

Normally, there was no way any living being could avoid getting shot at
by lasers, no matter how fast they were. After all, the speed of light
(in a vacuum) was exactly 299,792,458 meters per second or roughly
186,000 miles per second. It was a speed that was beyond a normal
person's reaction time.

However, not only did the Demon-Sword-wielding Kurama dodge all seven
simultaneous blasts, he even managed to transform (out of anger and
reflex, not intent) into his youko form. Within that same time frame,
he killed six of seven of the Suzakus.

The first was sliced in half with a Ryu Tsui Sen, the second was
beheaded with battoujutsu, the third was struck down from behind with a
Ryu Kan Sen, the fourth was wrapped up and sliced apart with the Rose
Whip, the fifth was ground into meat chunks with the Fuka Enbu Jin, and
the sixth was fed to a piranha plant known as the Shoku Yo Shokubutsu,
which was a carnivorous tree with acidic saliva that could melt skin
and bone.

These deaths happened all at the same time, which boggled Suzaku's mind.
Even after a protracted duel against the powerful Kanji Killer, Kurama
still had enough energy to do all this. Did the Demon Sword give the
half-youko enough power to supernaturally surpass even the speed of
light? Inconceivable. Such was the power of Kenshin Himura's Youtou
Shinnoken.

However, while Kurama attempted to finish the seventh Suzaku off, the
youkai was somehow able to pump his forward fist and unleash the Ankoku-
Raijin-Ken not on the half-youko, but instead on the hanging, vine-
wrapped Maya and Kaito.

Whether this circumstance came about because the Kenshin inside him held
back to keep his non-killing oath in check or Suzaku really did have
enough foresight to predict that his ambush would fail and come up with
a backup plan, Kurama could only guess.

All the same, the youko was forced to absorb the brunt of the attack
through the metal blade of the Demon Sword, which resulted in him
getting electrocuted.

"MINAMINO-KUN!" came Kitajima's muffled cry while the kudzu covered her
and Kaito enough to form a gigantic green cocoon.

However, the Youtou Shinnoken again saved Kurama's hide by absorbing the
brunt of the attack.

Instead of getting fried with one billion volts of electricity (which
contained between 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current), the redhead
instead got a shock equivalent to a 975,000-volt stun gun or cattle
prod.

"If you have the arrogance to deny the great power afforded to you by
the Demon Sword in favor of becoming something that you're not, then
give me the sword and let me show you how it's supposed to be used,"
said Suzaku.

While Kurama opened his mouth, smoke and steam came out of it, his hair
standing up on end due to static. "There's no way Kenshin would ever
accept you as his master. You'll never be able to harness the power of
the Youtou Shinnoken the way I do."

"It doesn't matter. Neither you nor Battousai deserve the Demon Sword.
And people call you a _legend_," the surviving Suzaku rolled his eyes,
gagged, clenched his fist, and shone with electric light and sparks.

"It makes me sick to my stomach to hear such lies! A demon who denies
being a demon has no right to wield such a treasure made for the use of
demons. You should give it to someone who deserves that power!"

Right then and there, Kurama felt the Youtou Shinnoken begin to slip
from his grip. He then realized that Suzaku had magnetized the steel of
the Reikai artifact, which allowed him to manipulate the sword into
floating into his hands through magnetic attraction.

Even the Juryo Yozan Ken wasn't enough to keep the Demon Sword's handle
within Kurama's hands, the vines altogether breaking thanks to the
concentrated magnetic wave that compelled the blade to go towards
Suzaku's waiting fingers.

This prompted the half-youko to come after it with his signature Rose
Whip. He was just about to lasso the weapon and bind it with kudzu
tendrils for added leverage when he felt something from behind him start
hacking and slicing apart the cocoon where Yu and Maya resided.

It was the blind Jine, his empty eye sockets still spurting blood. Even
without his sight, he located Kurama's friends and used his Nikaido Heiho
Ryu to chop up the shrubbery before him into mush, his other four (or
five) senses giving him an rough idea of where Kaito and Kitajima were.

Kurama had two choices. Let Yu Kaito and Maya Kitajima die to keep the
Demon Sword from falling into the wrong hands, or save them and abandon
his responsibilities as the current bearer of the Youtou Shinnoken.

The logical part of Kurama's shared brain with Kenshin told him that as
long as he had possession of the Demon Sword, he'd always be fast enough
to save the day. He, after all, faced down six of seven Suzaku with
lightspeed arrows, killing them all before they could blink.

Certainly, a blind cop-turned-serial-killer could never be a match
against the Demon-Sword-empowered Youko Kurama, who himself was Class-S
on his own... right? Then again, was _Kenshin_ willing to break his vow
not to kill Suzaku for one last time?

The emotional part of Kurama's shared brain with Kenshin, however,
reacted to Maya's screams after Jine was almost done slicing apart the
kudzu cocoon. The same part of his mind that compelled him to blindly
believe Ura Urashima's lies about fixing their fight in the Dark Martial
Arts Tournament.

It was his "human" heart, as Suzaku would've called it (with a sneer of
contempt), that made him do what he did afterwards... a move that
Kenshin himself agreed with.

The silver-haired, golden-eyed demon fox transformed back into his red-
haired, green-eyed self while the ex-copper reached right into the heart
of the kudzu cocoon, where Maya and Yu lay like two peas in a proverbial
pod.

Because of Udo's blindness and without the hypnotic Jagan, Kurama was
able to do to him what he hadn't been able to do in their previous
encounters; tear him apart limb from limb with the Rose Whip.

However, the sightless swordsman had enough battle sense left in him to
stab at Kurama's jacket with his wakizashi and extract the shrunken
mandrake head from his enemy while also injuring him at the same time.

This small victory of Jine's didn't come without a price, of course...
and it was worth more than an arm and a leg. As the Kanji Killer backed
away from the bleeding Kurama, his body parts started falling off.

One by one, his fingers, his arms, and parts of his torso dropped or
peeled off of him while his legs came under him. In a span of a second,
he turned into a grisly display of gore: Like a morbid meat gallery from
a grocery run by the Manson Family. Or by human cannibals.

All that remained of him was a scourged torso, one whole arm, part of
his bicep, two stumps for legs, and a short sword with a shrunken
mandragora head containing his plucked eyes. All the same, he had enough
strength left in him to crawl into the hole produced by Suzaku's Prism
of Seven Lightning Storm of Torment.

A while later, a splash was heard. Udo had crept all the way out of the
boiler room and into the open sea where various cargo ships were docked
at Tokyo Bay.

The Kanji Killer had managed to escape death once again.

Kurama winced and braced himself while he turned. He had bigger problems
to face than the Kanji Killer getting away with his Jagan as loot.

Meanwhile, an apologetic Maya went right beside the teenager, who helped
him up as his blood stained her clothes. "I'm sorry for getting in your
way."

"It's not your fault. It couldn't be helped," reassured Kurama, his
green eyes flashing gold at the spectacle before him: A chortling and
delirious Suzaku holding up the magic sword and saying, "HAHAHA! I'VE
WON, KURAMA! I HAVE THE POWER!" as electricity and energy surged right
into the blade itself, making it glow white with a pulsing light as
bright as daylight.

"Can you hear me, Jine? How it must frustrate you to 'see' me achieve
something you could never get. I'm the one who'll enslave and conquer
Battousai by becoming the Youtou Shinnoken's new guardian!" Suzaku
cackled, mocking the failed attempts of his fellow New Ten Swords
member.

In an instant, Kurama bound his stab wound with the same healing herbs
he used on the injured Kaito (yarrow, agrimony, Saint John's wort, aloe
vera, and gel from the houseleek plant), the vine from his Binding Fist
of the Demonic Vine serving as his bandages.

He proceeded to summon all the kudzu inside the boiler room and made
them compress into three separate pods containing himself, Maya, and Yu.

The Japanese arrowroot then turned into a moving jungle of tangled
creepers that tore apart the roof of the boiler room and moved the three
out of the cargo ship.

While grabbing hold of Kaito and Kitajima using the thick kudzu vines
as his puppet strings, Minamino transformed the trailing, coiling, and
climbing noxious weed into the biggest Fuyoka no Makai Shokubutsu
(otherwise known as the Floating Leaf) he'd ever made.

It was even bigger than the butterfly-like plant wings he made when he,
Hiei, and Kuwabara fought Shinobu Sensui in the Demon World.

With all his friends in tow, Kurama escaped from Tokyo Bay's docks
before the night sky darkened more than usual, became overcast, then
produced consecutive lighting strikes that blasted through the roof of
the boat they were on and into the boiler room of the cargo ship where
Suzaku replenished his power.

Never mind lightning striking twice at the same place. At that moment,
lightning bolts struck and converged into that one point repeatedly,
blasting away at the watercraft and turning it into a flaming, exploding
shipwreck in mere seconds.

Bolt after bolt of electrical energy crashed into the Youtou Shinnoken's
naked edge with repetitious regularity reminiscent of the ebb and flow
of ocean waves.

It was a beautiful sight, like the arching branches of an ancient,
gigantic tree made of light. Awe-inspiring. Terrifying. Like Zeus or
Jupiter descending from Mount Olympus unto mortal grounds, Suzaku had
become a myth turned real. A true legend that put Kurama's or Kenshin's
own so-called legends to shame.

The Class-A Phoenix of the New Ten Swords had been reborn yet again,
this time as the newest Class-S being of their group.

While Kurama floated in midair with his companions, the fully recharged
wielder and _master_ of the Demon Sword blasted off into the horizon,
arriving at his intended destination in around eleven minutes.

The worst-case scenario had finally happened: The Youtou Shinnoken ended
up in the hands of the least likeliest person among Koenma's spirit
detectives to screw up.


===


The Spirit World went on red alert. It was one thing to have friendly
Class-S half-demons lounging around in the Human World with no intention
of abusing their powers, but getting S-Level youkai... hostile ones, at
that... ready to attack and conquer Earth (or at least Japan) was a
whole different ballgame altogether.

The Reikai Tokubetsu Bouetai (Spirit World Special Forces) were on
standby, but to be honest, what good were they against a Class-S
creature? Then again, a couple of Class-Bs and Class-As were headed
straight towards the heart of Tokyo at the moment, right at Shiba Park
in the Minato Ward.

Everyone from the Reikai Army composed of Kenshin's past allies and
Yusuke's present comrades had been informed of the breaking news. Kurama
was ambushed and the Demon Sword was now in hands of one of the Chojin's
own soldiers, Suzaku of the Shin Juppon Gatana.

From Tokyo Bay, the super-powered, super-charged, and S-Level Shisejyu
traveled to the spire of Tokyo Tower while using his youki to fly like a
rocket of sorts, the Youtou Shinnoken's shining blade propelling him to
the heavens with a continuous flow of electrical energy.

Meanwhile, it took at least half an hour for Kurama to mobilize the rest
of Reikai's finest while also taking care to bring Kaito into the
emergency room of the hospital nearest Tokyo Bay. Furthermore, Maya
herself took a taxicab back home.

During those thirty minutes, reports of a power outage and a sudden
thunderstorm that no weatherman had expected in Shibakoen spread across
Minato.

Putting two and two together, the ferry-girls of Reikai contacted the
people closest the site about the situation in order to have them
mobilize and stop the Class-S Shin Ju from running amok Tokyo.

Tokyo Tower, incidentally, was the highest manmade structure in Tokyo
overlooking Mount Fuji in 1993 (in 2012, it was replaced by the Tokyo
Skytree).

By traveling there and using the communications and observation tower as
his lightning rod, Suzaku made it possible to summon more lightning and
thunderstorms towards him to increase his already significant S-Class
strength exponentially.

The structure also allowed him to test out the power-boosting limits of
the Demon Sword (if it even had limits).

With their Spirit Detectors that they got from Botan in tow, Kazuma
Kuwabara, Yahiko Myojin, and Sanosuke "Zanza" Sagara were the first ones
on the scene, with the ferry-girl briefing them on the latest
developments concerning Suzaku's assault.

A Spirit Detector was a watch-like device that measured the power level
and location of powerful beings both demon and human, dead or  alive,
via a digital display. The grades for this device ranged from D-Level
to S-Level. Since it could detect location, it also doubled as radar.

It was the same gadget Yusuke used during his early spirit detective
missions, when he was still a "rookie" Reikai Tantei. However, this time
around, the Spirit World had gathered enough information to measure
Class-S beings instead of merely ranking these S-Level entities as out
of measuring range (Class-X was now the new out-of-range grade).

It also helped that Kuwabara served as the wielder of the Jigen Tou or
Dimensional Sword, which meant he could create portals that shortened
the distance of their destination and kept them away from the
difficulties of an early-morning commute (since the last train had
already left the station).

They were now at Foot Town, which was a four-story building located at
the base of the tower. The power was out all over Shibakoen, and the
only light they had on hand was through the ethereal glow of the moon.

Not that the blackout made a difference. Tokyo Tower's closing time was
at 9:00 PM, and it was already the early hours of the morning before
sunrise. Everything from the elevators to the Aquarium Gallery had
already closed down, and the quartet of Botan, Kuwabara, Yahiko, and
Sanosuke were careful not to alert any security guards of their
presence.

"So you're telling us that _Suzaku_ was the one who somehow won the
Demon Sword lottery? He's the first demon in the Chojin's Army to
actually get his hands on the damn thing?" asked Kuwabara, slightly out-
of-breath from the exertion of using his special technique
consecutively.

Botan nodded while floating on her oar. "It's a bad idea to engage
Suzaku directly. He's S-Level now, and you guys are only at around B to
A in power. You definitely won't be able to overpower him. The plan here
is to somehow steal the Demon Sword back _then_ engage Suzaku after he's
been de-powered. Got it?"

Sanosuke hit his palm with his fist. "I don't think I was even able to
fight this Suzaku joker yet, Boke. I fought someone different during
that skirmish we had against the Shin Ju in Aokigahara. You know, that
guy with long, green hair that can make portals like you."

"Remember that Chinese dude with his army of same-faced bodyguards,
Sano? Is this Suzaku anything like the Chinese Suzaku that Aoshi
fought when we were still alive?" asked Yahiko while Sanosuke shook his
head.

"If he were that weak, then we wouldn't have a problem. What's the
difference between S-Level and A-Level or B-Level anyway, Jo-chan?"
asked Sagara, which made Kazuma freeze.

While Botan protested to Sanosuke, "I'm not 'Jo-chan'! That's Kaoru's
nickname, not mine!" Kuwabara remembered when he, Hiei, and Kurama
fought the S-Class Sensui.

They were absolutely outclassed and outmatched in every way, shape, and
form. No amount of tactics or special powers even fazed the experienced
former Reikai Tantei.

Even the brash Jaganshi Hiei and his usually overpowered Kokuryuha
appeared absolutely terrified of the powered-up Dark Angel and his Sei
Kou Ki.

Granted, there were times when weaker beings could luck out and take
out a stronger entity, like Rando or Kido outsmarting Yusuke during
their fight. However, if the more powerful being they faced was himself
a master tactician like Kurama, they were practically screwed on both
ends.

Before Botan could answer Sano's question, someone else already replied
for her. "You want to know the difference between you and me, human? Let
me show you the difference," said an impish Suzaku while saluting at the
four with the glowing blade of the Youtou Shinnoken.

A minute later, an entire double-decker bus broke through the rolling
shutters of the building, floating in midair through Suzaku's magnetic
field, and was thrown right at them wholesale along with the gates it
just crashed into.


===


Suzaku and his Reikai opponents ended up out on the streets of Shiba
Park... specifically along Sakurada Dori... near the Akabanebashi
Station, the Zoujouji Temple, and the Tokyo Prince Hotel.

Thanks to Kuwabara and Sano's traumatizing experiences while trapped
inside the pocket dimension of "Gatekeeper" Itsuki, Sensui's former
right-hand man (they also had to destroy multiple floating objects
hurled at them at the time), they survived the onslaught of flying cars,
trucks, billboards, rebar, and anything else large and metallic thrown
at them.

Kuwabara traveled from portal to portal, Sanosuke sliced entire double-
deckers up after summoning his horse-chopping blade known as the
zanbatou, and Yahiko might as well have been nicknamed the "Artful
Dodger" with all the artful dodging, twisting, and turning he did to
avoid being crushed, mauled, or otherwise broken by flying steel
debris.

After Botan flew up and away from the wreckage and devastation while
Sano and Yahiko ran interference so that Suzaku wouldn't end up using
her as bait the same way Jine did with Kurama's childhood friend, Kazuma
had one request for her.

"Get help. Quickly. We need all the help we can get."

"Kuwabara-kun, what about you and...?" sputtered Botan.

"Don't worry, Jo-chan. We can handle this electric eel. We'll fry him
and have unagi for lunch," reassured Sano, who charged closer and closer
towards Suzaku while swatting away or slicing apart anything that the
Shisejyu threw at him, which was everything _and_ the kitchen sink.

"What are you waiting for, Raccoon Girl? GO!" said Yahiko after he
evaded a Harley-Davidson motorcycle whizzing past him at 200 miles per
hour while upside down.

"Don't any of you dare die, or else I'll kill you!" shouted Botan before
leaving for Kamikitazawa.

She heard from her fellow ferry-girl, Sayuri (also known as Uchiko
Shikoku) that it was the place where Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's
reincarnation) and Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation)
were currently at for whatever reason.

They were staying at some sort of mental hospital, according to Uchiko's
reports. Botan had no idea why, nor did she have time to wax poetic on
the implications of such questionable info.

Suzaku shot an Ankoku-Raiko-Ha at Botan, only for it to be intercepted
with a timely energy-cutting slash by Kuwabara's Jigen Tou, the arching
waves of energy branching out like the illuminated cracks from a broken
eggshell or pieces of glass.

The demon frowned. 'It's that annoying Dimension Sword again. I have to
do something about it.' At the corner of his eye, he espied humans
fleeing from the scene. He then remembered Kenshin's unwillingness to
kill even during battle. Even in the face of a ruthless demon out to
murder him.

What a disgusting, self-righteous hypocrite. Suzaku hated the type. As
far as he was concerned, those who claim they were evil were usually no
worse than others. It was the people who claimed they were good and
were better than others that people should be wary of.

'I'll show him.'

In the blink of an eye, he turned all of the civilians into human-shaped
stains on the ground with the Lightning Storm of Torment. The Crimson
Sparrow cackled and mocked the sleeping Himura inside the Youtou
Shinnoken.

"What use is all your morals now that I have control of your sword,
Battousai? The Demon Sword has finally tasted blood... the blood of
innocents, at that... and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Murderer! Thief! Monster! Don't you dare taint Kenshin's sword with your
filth! Give that sword back to _us_!" Yahiko shouted then dodged his way
into striking distance. If he had to fight toe-to-toe with the electrical
demon, he would.

"Give it back?" Suzaku smirked. "That would imply the Spirit World owns
this weapon, which is not the case at all. The sword belongs to anyone
who holds it, and it has been that way since time immemorial, even
before Battousai was turned into this blade's guardian. It's mine, and
I'd _love_ to see you take it away from me."

'Oh shit, I forgot to tell him...!' Kuwabara realized before he
teleported two magnetized trucks with no drivers in them towards each
other so that they'd crash into one another. "SAMURAI KID! It's a bad
idea to fight Suzaku with that metal blade of yours!"

"_NOW_ YOU TELL ME!" screamed Yahiko after his strike stopped in mid-
swing right in front of Suzaku's chuckling face.

The boyish-looking spirit found out too late that no matter how hard he
struck the youkai, his steel blade (and metal sheath) would not land on
the demon thanks to the magnetic field that served as his impenetrable
spherical shield to such straightforward physical attacks.

By the time Suzaku batted the Tokyo Samurai Descendant right into a
glass display of a nearby store within a gasoline station (Yahiko
wouldn't let go of the sakabatou, so he got dragged all the way there),
he had to avoid the incoming concrete post thrown at him by Sanosuke
by levitating upward.

Yes, his increased control of the magnetic field had granted him the
powers of flight that defied the earth's gravitation pull.

"If metal things can't harm Cockroach Bangs because he's some sort of
super magnet, then the zanbatou is out of the question too, isn't it,
Boke?" said Sanosuke and Kuwabara could only nod in response.

Meanwhile, Yahiko got up from the wreckage of the store he crashed
into, the aisles filled with groceries cushioning his fall. 'Dammit,
how am I going to fight him with a metal sword? I might as well not be
here at all!'

Golden electrical energy soon covered the Youtou Shinnoken's blade while
Suzaku held the weapon horizontally and turned it into a pseudo-crossbow
made of lightning that shot thunderbolts at people.

"You think you weaklings actually stand a chance against me? Learn your
place. You're like candlelight compared to the sun, which has heat that
can reach all the way to the Human World and light that could blind when
stared at directly even though it's millions of miles away from Earth!
There's no comparison."

"Yeah, yeah. 'I am rubber, you are glue,' and all that crap. Get on with
it, you electric bug!" said Sano.

Suzaku harrumphed. "Very well. Witness what your folly has wrought. Come
at me. I will _end_ you."

The difference between their power levels soon became apparent once
Suzaku shot his arrow-like Ankoku-Raiko-Ha through the Demon Sword
instead of how he normally shot them, which was through his fingers.

Kuwabara attempted to slice through the blasts and turn them into
harmless heat and light, but before his arm could swing down, he was
already hit by billions of volts of electricity.

'Wha...! He's shooting them faster than before!'

'Those lightning strikes are moving too fast! I can't read or react to
them at all!'

'Goddamn you, Cockroach Bangs!'

Kuwabara, Yahiko, and Sanosuke served as sitting ducks to Suzaku's
Lightning Storm of Torment, with every blast homing in on them at more
than 180,000 miles per second before they could even react. Even those
that missed doled out damage in the form of electricity that traveled
from the ground to the soles of their feet.

Normally, the trick to avoiding laser beams and lightning bolts that
traveled at the speed of light was to watch out for the one pulling the
trigger, because _he_ wasn't traveling at lightspeed even though his
projectiles were.

However, the problem with Suzaku was first, he could levitate now, and
second, he was raining death from above at speeds worthy of Hiei or even
Soujiro Seta, his trigger finger moving faster than the speed of a
bullet while his projectiles traveled at what the Laws of Physics
claimed was the fastest speed in the known universe.

They all fell from Suzaku's might... all except one, who kept standing
and walking with unstoppable resolve towards the Shisejyu even while his
burns and damage piled up: Sanosuke Sagara.

He wasn't even bothering to dodge that blasts at all, the strikes
absorbed either by his body or by the occasional swats from his
humongous blade.

"Rooster Head, you idiot! You're using your face as a shield again!
Learn some fucking defense!" berated Kuwabara while managing to slice
apart the beams not aimed at him but instead at Sano with the Jigen
Tou.

"Shut up, Boke!" said Sagara. "This is how I fight! Offense is the best
defense! It's been a hundred years, do you really think I'm going to
learn how to dodge all of a sudden?"

"Yes, it's a pity. An old dog can never learn new tricks," Suzaku
chitchatted before he crushed the approaching Sanosuke with a
steamroller that he controlled with a wave of his hand and the
telekinetic flow of the magnetic field that surrounded him. "Don't you
wish you've learned how to dodge a hundred years ago?"

"Nah."

In a few seconds, Sano made short work of the vehicle with copious
use of the Futae no Kiwami, Sanjo no Kiwami, and his version of the Tou
Ate (the _Zanbatou_ Ate) or the ground-based version of the Dual Extreme
that made use of a weapon to bring forth a landslide or sorts, turning
the construction vehicle into scrap heap.

'Just wait a little longer, Kenshin. I'm coming for you, buddy,'
Sanosuke thought while he kept his eye on the prize, which was the Demon
Sword.

Sano gave Suzaku a look that made the latter sneer: A look that said,
'Is this the best you could do?'

The demon glowed with energy and screamed, shooting all his lightning
strikes over and over at Sanosuke until he realized too late that they'd
become predictable and aimed at the one target that wouldn't go down.

"Well, call me a monkey's uncle. Sano did it. He has turned himself into
a lightning rod for Suzaku's energy beams and hatred," Yahiko murmured
with a smirking shake of his head.

"Oh yeah? None of us have landed a significant blow against Suzaku yet.
It's too early to celebrate, Samurai Boy," reminded Kazuma.

"Then let's do something about it," the Son of Tokyo Samurai swore with
shining eyes and eagerness bordering on bloodlust.

Suzaku then harrumphed because his Ankoku-Raiko-Ha aimed at "Zanza"
became moot after Kuwabara used his Dimension Sword to slice the space
in front of the demon apart in advance, _before_ the projectiles were
fired off, thus creating a rend in space-time that even lightning bolts
couldn't pass through.

"You've impressed me quite a lot, human. In fact, you've impressed me
enough to remember your name. It's Kuwabara, isn't it? Come to think of
it, you were the one who kept me from gaining Class-S powers during the
last time we met, weren't you?" said the demon.

Kuwabara shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about, Blondie."

"Oh, I think that you do." The Shisejyu's skin crackled with sparks and
static. "You teleported me away just as I was about to get hold of the
Demon Sword in Aokigahara. This is the perfect opportunity for me to get
payback, don't you think?"

Suzaku then had to land back on the ground after Sagara tossed the
wrecked remains of the steamroller at him with one hand, the demon
blasting the vehicle into molten metal and plastics with a Lightning
Storm of Torment.

The intensity of the recoil sent Suzaku back to the ground, his feet
creating a crater from below him.

Just as Suzaku attempted to fire off another one of his near-lightspeed
arrows, Myojin did a combination of the Dou Gami (a crater-making bomb
blast of a technique), a Dou Ryu Sen aimed at Suzaku (the Dou Gami made
it easier for him to do Kenshin's signature avalanche blast), and the
Ten Gami (an extra-powerful Dou Gami that allowed him to fly into the
sky) in three strokes.

In particular, the _Earth_ Dragon Flash that Yahiko mimicked from Himura
himself enabled the samurai ghost to fight Suzaku without worrying about
his attack being deflected back at him due to magnetic shenanigans.

Presently, Suzaku had three attacks to watch out for. The earthy
inundation headed towards him, the flying samurai with righteous
indignation, and the charging street fighter with a twelve-foot blade
that could turn survive lightning strikes and a car crash.

The Crimson Sparrow stopped the incoming waves of earth with a tempest
of his own made from microscopic metal particles from the streets,
buildings, vehicles, and everywhere else in the dense urban jungle of
Shibakoen, Minato.

Following Kuwabara's advice for once (although his survival instincts
were at play as well), Sano ducked underneath the black cloud of flesh-
rending magnetized metal debris while he cocked back his zanbatou for a
full-swing blow powerful enough to cut entire trees down with one chop.

Meanwhile, Kazuma shortened Yahiko's flight by creating a portal that
the teenaged-looking ghost passed through, which had him end up in
another portal right above Suzaku.

Both Myojin and Sagara were going to hit the demon at the same time,
with the samurai hitting high and the street fighter hitting low.

'Aren't these idiots forgetting something?' thought Suzaku, laughing to
himself. His invisible magnetic shield then pulsed with energy.

"I _knew_ you were going to do that!" declared Kuwabara before he cut
the magnetic barrier with his Jigen Tou, thus nullifying Suzaku's
control over magnetism. "NOW! ROOSTER HEAD! SAMURAI BOY!"

Suzaku's eyes bugged out. He screamed, "KUWABARA...!"

"TSUI GAMI!"

"ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE!"

Both attacks hit the defenseless demon full force.

The God Hammer was essentially Yahiko's version of the Dual Extreme,
particularly the Sanjo no Kiwami, because it was able to hit at the same
point three times in succession with a sword instead of a fist.

Meanwhile, Sanosuke's aerial version of the Zanbatou Ate, like Raijuta's
Tobi Izuna, made use of a far-reaching vacuum slice.

Suzaku's jaw unhinged itself, his face paling and his irises rolling all
the way at the back of his head, with only his eye whites visible.

"Did we get him, Sano?" asked Yahiko.

"I hope we pureed his insides!" answered Sanosuke.

Both blades proved too blunt to slice anything, but they traveled fast
enough for chopping, and if Suzaku weren't a demon, he would've been cut
into quarters by them.

However, his grip on the Demon Sword never faltered despite the
devastating attacks.

"Sano! Yahiko! LOOK OUT!" screamed Kazuma too late.

The continuous thunder strikes from before, when Suzaku first held the
Demon Sword, came about again, electrocuting both Sagara and Myojin with
billions of volts of electricity that would've killed or even vaporized
(sublimated) lesser men.

Suzaku then stabbed the Youtou Shinnoken into the ground and blasted it
with an Ankoku-Raijin-Ken that resulted in an electromagnetic shockwave
that juggled the two Meiji Era warriors in the air through exploding
pillars of light from underneath them that appeared one after another
like energy geysers.

Such was the terrible might of a Class-S demon.

Kuwabara clenched his teeth so hard, his gums bled. "SUZAKU! Get over
here, you son of a bitch!"

"Your little gambit has failed." The Crimson Sparrow turned his head
towards the sprinting human and smiled. "Come forth, Kuwabara, so that I
may _end_ you too."


===


"You had to make a stopover _where_? What's the matter with you guys?"
demanded the flying Botan while she detoured from Shibakoen to Uedo
instead of Kamikitazawa.

"This is an emergency situation! These are A-to-B-Levels fighting an
S-Level!" the ferry-girl admonished. "It's like several children
fighting a full-grown adult! Kuwabara mastered using his Jigen Tou only
recently, plus Sano and Yahiko were revived just weeks ago! I don't want
them to _die_ just like that because you people were playing around!"

"We aren't playing around! Jeez, don't get your underwear in a bunch!"
Uchiko "Sayuri" Shikoku berated.

"W-What did you say to me?" Botan felt the water in her eyes sizzle.

She was using her Spirit Compact to communicate with her fellow
shinigami, Uchiko, via mobile Spirit World technology so advanced that,
in 1993, it was only available to the wealthiest of people in the Human
World.

It wasn't until well past the Turn of the Millennium (around the time
cellular phone technology had become advanced enough to give birth to
the "smartphone"), that such advancements would become commonplace in
Japan and elsewhere in the world. Prior to that, the idea had been
fantasized about and referenced in popular fiction.

Furthermore, primitive versions of "videoconferencing" were already
around in 1993, such as the CU-SeeMe (early videoconferencing software
developed for the Macintosh in 1992 that was video-only until sound was
added in 1994 and 1995, around the time it was transferred for use in
the Windows platform).

In fact, the concept of videoconferencing was first demonstrated through
"The Mother of All Demos", which was a demonstration way back in
December 9, 1968 involving computer technologies that would eventually
become commonplace consumer items. Specifically, the NLS computer
technology of the Stanford Research Institute was used to make the
videoconferencing demo possible.

"Look, I'm _really_ sowie, Botan-chan! But as soon as they heard that it
was _Suzaku_ who got the Demon Sword, the Ikemen (Hot Guy), I mean,
Detective Matsudaira insisted that we go back to the mansion to get some
stuff they needed to prepare for battle," a "contrite" Sayuri
apologized.

"...Prepare? How are they going to prepare? What do you mean?" asked
Botan.

"Oh wait, Tsuki-chan wants to talk to you!" said Uchiko.

"Eh? Why...?" Botan stuttered.

"...I'm so sorry, Sensei! We went back to Likka-tan's house to get a
ceramic cane!" Natsuki Shinkai told the ferry-girl. By "Sensei", she
was actually referring to the Kaoru personality inside the shinigami
instead of the shinigami herself.

Botan blinked and tilted her head to the side. "_Ceramic_ cane? Whatever
for? And isn't ceramic... easy to break or something? Like a ceramic
vase?"

The ferry-girl then heard a monotone voice in the background explain,
"We're talking about a different ceramic. This is a hard and tough type
of ceramic that can double as steel without its magnetic properties. To
be more specific, it's zirconium dioxide. It's even harder than steel."

Botan nodded in animated understanding. "Oh, right! Good thinking,
Shinomori Aoshi! Way to go! As expected of a ninja turned detective!
Suzaku can magnetize blades, so _of course_ having nonmagnetic ceramic
weapons is the smart thing to do! I'm sorry I ever doubted you guys!"

"I also needed a _sample_ of a ceramic knife and cane so that I could
synthesize my blades with the material," continued Daiji, Aoshi's
reincarnation. "The last thing we need is Suzaku using our own weapons
against us."

"Botan-san, where are you?" a fourth, rather exhausted voice asked.

"Hinageshi? What are you doing there? Shouldn't there just be Uchiko,
Natsuki, and Daiji floating around?" Botan asked a question that
apparently no one had time to answer.

"It's a... long story, Botan-chan," insisted Sayuri after the Spirit
Compact was passed back to her.

Botan rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. _Anyway_, I'm already nearing Uedo.
Where should we rendezvous?"

"How about above Uedo Park?" suggested a voice that Botan didn't
recognize but somehow sounded familiar.

"...I'm already here. Where are you?"

"We just got here too. Just stay right where you are so that we could
find you without missing you, okay?" said Shikoku.

Botan confirmed, "Fine."

A minute or two later, and the two parties met up. Also, as soon as
Botan saw them float in front of her, she figured out why there were
more of them than she initially expected.

Right behind Uchiko Shikoku and her floating boat battle rode Detective
Daiji Matsudaira. Meanwhile, Natsuki flew with the redheaded, priestess-
garbed Hinageshi.

However, there was a fifth person in the party that Botan didn't take
into account at all: It was the one who suggested that they all meet up
together above Uedo Park.

The girl in purple with long, braided hair rode with Hinagashi as well,
which explained why the ferry-girl "underclassman" sounded so tired; she
had to lug around more than Uchiko did.

"Long time, no see, Kaoru-san," greeted Misao Makimachi, or at least the
spirit and image of her.

"W-What's going on here?" the Kaoru Kamiya inside Botan (and not Botan
herself) stuttered. "What is Misao-chan doing here?"


===


Kuwabara lasted longer than Suzaku expected. However, with all things
being fair and equal, an A-Level alone could never take down an S-Level.

Nevertheless, the human gifted with the once-in-a-lifetime ability gave
the powered-up Shisejyu leader hell.

None of the Lightning Storm of Torment projectiles reached Kazuma this
time around for a multitude of reasons.

One, his twitch reflexes had increased, such that even if Suzaku so much
as blinked, he'd be on guard. He also kept his distance and found great
cover for the laser beam lightning bolts.

Most importantly, he had begun to abuse the rips in space-time that the
Dimension Sword afforded him, the multitude of portals serving as his
net, shield, or escape routes against the onslaught of lightspeed
bullets from the Crimson Sparrow's Demon Sword lightning crossbow.

Kuwabara played the hit-and-run game and soon, Suzaku acquired cuts and
slashes all over his body while the human remained none the worse for
wear, scourging him at will.

Kazuma then (literally) cut the distance between him and Suzaku while
the previously unconscious Sanosuke and Yahiko regained their wits from
the devastating electromagnetic pulse that the Shisejyu delivered
against them.

Speaking of which, Suzaku attempted to do another magnetic shockwave,
with him stabbing the Youtou Shinnoken on the ground in order to create
a second devastating wave at Kuwabara. To the demon's vexation, one
slash of the Jigen Tou was all it took to cancel the move out.

"I got you now, you unagi bastard!" said Kazuma at the moment when he
was about to cleave Suzaku in twain. However, the youkai had other
ideas; specifically, he wanted to try out something he'd been
considering to do ever since his defeat in the hands of Yusuke.

"BOKE!" both the freshly awoken Sagara and Myojin chorused after they
saw the slack-jawed Kuwabara's Dimension Sword... a glowing blade made
entirely of spirit energy... flicker and die.

Suzaku absorbed the power from the weapon into his body, converting the
reiki into dengeki or electricity. "Suffer for your arrogance."

The electromagnetic pulse that the Shisejyu leader released in the form
of the Ankoku-Raijin-Ken appeared different than usual. Powered by the
Jigen Tou's own golden light, the Storm of Torment Fist emitted
electromagnetic radiation that couldn't be seen by the naked eye but
manifested itself to everyone else in more ways than one.

"Did you know that my electrical powers can be used to emit microwaves
too? Yes, just like your little ovens you use to heat water and hot
pockets. You're being cooked from the inside out by electromagnetic
radiation, human."

In this particular instance, the microwaves emitted by the Crimson
Sparrow's thunderous punch and superheated plasma flowing around him
manifested its presence by the red steam that poured forth the pores of
Kuwabara.

The microwaves from the Ankoku-Raijin-Ken had literally made Kazuma's
blood boil and produce a red mist all over his body.

Sanosuke shivered in remembrance. He'd only seen a human exude that
crimson haze once before, when he was alive. It was during Kenshin's
fight against Makoto Shishio, when the latter was exceeding his natural
limits.

Shishio was so badly burned that he couldn't sweat anymore. When he
fought beyond an allotted time, the heat in his body rose so high that
it literally made his blood boil and then turn into vapor. Red vapor.

"Holy shit, Sano. What's happening to Kuwabara?" said a still groggy
Yahiko, who rubbed his eyes in disbelief and shook his shell-shocked
companion awake.

The youngish-looking old spirit then took a gander at his Spirit
Detector. From S-Minus, the Saint Beast raised his power level up a
notch, to S-Flat. 'We really have to get that sword away from Cockroach
Bangs somehow _pronto_,' thought Myojin.

Kuwabara screamed what could be considered a death rattle after Suzaku
finally exacted his revenge on him, just as he'd promised. A lesser man
that wasn't at least B-Class would've melted like candle wax right then
and there.

Suzaku only stopped his attack after Sano threw a Volkswagen at him,
which prompted him to throw the steaming-red Kuwabara away like a rag
doll and convert his stolen energy into a magnetic bubble that allowed
him to fling the car back at his attacker.

The street fighter easily wrecked the vehicle with one swing of his
zanbatou.

"STOP USING THE DEMON SWORD FOR EVIL!" screamed Yahiko, who smashed the
concrete beneath him with the God on Earth and did a golf-swing strike
with the sakabatou that blasted the broken ground and asphalt shards
straight into Suzaku's face.

The youkai again neutralized the attack by extracting iron particles
from his surroundings and using the sandstorm of magnetized metal to
stop the incoming waves of earth.

However, while Suzaku prepared to levitate above Sano and Yahiko in
order to bring death from above in the form of Youtou-Shinnoken-
assisted lightning blasts, a different deluge surrounded him all of a
sudden: A flood of green, to be more specific.

'What is this?' thought the Shisejyu while verdant ropey clumps formed
and crept around him, binding him and preventing his flight. He then
remembered who it was that escaped earlier when he first gained
possession of the sacred Reikai artifact. 'Oh right. _Him_.'

For whatever reason... perhaps he was still out of sorts or he might've
suffered a concussion after going through the shockwave version of
Suzaku's Storm of Torment Fist... Sano blurted out, "Hey, look! It's
Kuwabara's redheaded girlfriend!"

Shuichi "Kurama" Minamino was too busy controlling the endless torrent
of kudzu vines... a noxious weed that people typically saw in ghost
towns and abandoned cities that Mother Nature had "reclaimed" for
herself... in order to "drown" Suzaku in vegetation to pay Sanosuke's
faux pas any mind.

Therefore, Yahiko hit Sanosuke with a God Hammer to the head on
Minamino's behalf. "You bonehead! He just saved our bacon! Show some
gratitude!"

Unnoticed earlier, Kurama had landed in the middle of Minato's Sakurada
Dori with his Floating Leaf hang glider made entirely of kudzu. He then
snuck up and started his assault when Suzaku least expected him.

"...So you want to fix your mistake and reclaim what's rightfully mine,
Kurama?" asked Suzaku in between shots of the Ankoku-Raijin-Ken that
fried most of the plants before him.

However, the Shisejyu couldn't quite keep up with the leafy vines'
continuous, hydra-like growth. Whatever he destroyed grew back
immediately, as if nothing happened.

"That's right. That sword doesn't belong to you," said Shuichi.

"Oh, yes it does. And spare me the spiel. I've heard it all before.
Besides, someone who outright _rejected_ using the full power of the
Demon Sword for the sake of indulging his little fantasy of being a
_real_ human boy has no right to lecture _me_."

"...."

While Sano checked on the red-hot and steaming Kuwabara to see if he was
all right, Yahiko stared in amazement because Kurama managed to do
something the three of them couldn't do at all; back the S-Level Suzaku
to a corner and keep him from advancing, the kudzu binding his
movements.

"Kurama looks pissed," observed Sagara before returning to slapping the
unconscious Kuwabara awake. Meanwhile, Myojin sweated in vexation at
Sano's antics.

"That's a good thing, right? Boke told us to never make that redhead
angry under any circumstances unless you can take his wrath," said
Yahiko.

"Yeah. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?" supposed
Sanosuke.

"...Do you want Kurama to suffocate you in vines next?" came Myojin's
remark after he smashed is reversed-edged sword at Sano's head again.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Kurama calmly after Suzaku fried
even more of the climbing weed with his Ankoku-Raijin-Ken and Ankoku-
Raiko-Ha to escape from getting tangled. "I'm not using youki or reiki
attacks because you can now absorb energy. Your one advantage is now
gone."

In response, the demon harrumphed. "My _one_ advantage? You don't know
what you're talking about. You're sadly mistaken." However, Suzaku
remained on the defensive, fighting against one of the few (tactical)
A-Level beings that could give even S-Levels a run for their money.

Using magnetic currents and electrical bolts as his rope, the Saint
Beast proceeded to climb the Tokyo Tower anew, as though he was a weird
cross between the superhero Spider-Man and the supervillain Magneto. He
could even cling to metal walls like Peter Parker could.

Kurama went in hot pursuit of his fellow youkai, using the ever-growing
vines he'd brought along with him to climb up right after Suzaku. Soon,
as though they were stuck in a post-apocalyptic Minato Ward that had
suffered a nuclear strike, the structure designed to mimic the Eiffel
Tower was covered in vegetation.

It didn't help that part of the tower had been damaged, melted, and
otherwise blown up thanks to the constant blasts of Storm of Torment
Fists and Lightning Storms of Torment from Suzaku.

This was the sight that greeted the half-conscious, "microwaved" Kazuma
after recovering from the severe injuries he'd taken from Suzaku's
Ankoku-Raijin-Ken

"Holy shit. HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN ASLEEP?"

This time around, both Sano and Yahiko conked Kuwabara upside the head
despite the fact that the teenager had been recently injured.


===


"So let me get this straight. Your _best friend_ in Japan all this time
has been Misao-chan all along? And she's been living with Aoshi in his
apartment as well?" announced the Kaoru "personality" of Botan a little
too loudly for comfort (as far as Daiji Matsudaira and Likka Ikumi were
concerned).

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK, KAORU-SAN!" Likka protested to Kaoru on behalf
of herself and Daiji, who himself had the faintest tinge of red on his
cheeks.

Natsuki cleared her throat and answered the question of Botan/Kaoru. "Y-
Yes. But I had no idea at the time! I've only gotten to talk to my past
self, Yuta-kun, fairly recently, and even he had problems remembering
Weasel Girl... I mean, Misao."

Had Botan (or Kaoru) met Likka earlier, she would've recognized her
immediately. Ikumi was the spirit and image of Misao Makimachi, from her
tomboyish yet cheerful voice to her long, braided hair.

...Or perhaps not, seeing that this present incarnation of Misao loved
putting on different clothes and costumes that mimicked the looks of
various famous fictional characters in anime and manga.

"Long story short, we were reunited recently, and Misao... _Likka_...
came long with us once she found out we're taking on the enemies of the
Spirit World and the New Ten Swords," came Daiji's explanation. "She
won't take no for an answer."

"Can you blame me? I was lucky enough to be reincarnated along with you
in this lifetime, only for me to also find out that you're now fighting
supernatural entities and super-powered versions of our past enemies!"

The Kaoru inside Botan closed the ferry-girl's eyes and nodded sagely.

"I understand. I was bewildered when I found out that Kenshin is the
guardian of the Demon Sword. Granted, I was even more shocked when I
found out it's a hundred years later since we last met, but seeing him
fight against ghosts and goblins also... worries me."

Misao looked at Kaoru... or rather, Likka looked at Botan... as though
the possessed ferry-girl were speaking a foreign tongue. "_Actually_, I
tagged along because I wanted to help. I'm more than confident that
Aoshi-sama... wow, it's been a while since I called him that... can deal
with anything this Chojin character can throw at him, even if he was
reincarnated as Uncle Jiji."

"Oh! Oh. I see..." Botan wiped the sweat drop (actually, ectoplasm) on
her forehead. Yep, this sure was the overenthusiastic Misao she
remembered. There could be no doubts about that.

The eyebrow of "Uncle Jiji"... or rather, Detective Daiji... quirked up,
which prompted Likka to give him a peace sign while winking at him and
sticking her tongue out. "I'm just joking, Uncle Jiji! You're as good as
Aoshi-sama ever was!"

Only the Ikumi Sisters could catch the subtle changes in Daiji's visage
on his otherwise stone-faced expression.

Botan could only look on along with Kaoru while their shared mind
marveled at the changes in Misao and Aoshi's relationship after being
reincarnated in the Heisei Era.

While Makimachi dealt with the seemingly emotionless Shinomori with
reverence, Likka treated her "Uncle" with joking familiarity.

At any rate, because Botan had finally arrived to help carry the load of
three passengers, their riding "configuration" at present was as follows:

Natsuki rode with Botan, Likka rode with Hinageshi, and Daiji rode with
Sayuri. Indeed, the shinigami really were serving as ferry-girls this
time around by the truest meaning of the term.

Nevertheless, Kaoru's curiosity got the better of her, which compelled
her to say to Natsuki, "Hey, back in the Meiji Era, Misao-chan and Aoshi
were _kind of_ an item. Do they still share the same feelings for each
other?"

"EH?" At the back of the Taiwanese girl's mind, Yutaro provided her with
his own memories that confirmed what Miss Kamiya said.

Natsuki went silent for a couple of minutes, biting her lower lip while
she considered her words carefully. There were some things Kaoru didn't
need to know about the history of the Ikumi and Matsudaira families.

"It'd be _so_ romantic if their love from a hundred years ago were to
somehow blossom today!" said Kaoru.

Shinkai chuckled weakly. "I-I guess?"

Even Botan herself became curious enough to slow down the speed of her
flying boat paddle so that they would end up at the back of the ferry-
girl flying-v formation (she was the lead oar) out of everyone else's
earshot.

Natsuki then cleared her throat and gulped aloud. "Um, maybe more for
Likka-tan than for Daiji-sempai? She's still in high school too, so I'm
not so sure about their feelings being mutual."

"I KNEW IT! It was the same situation back in the Meiji Era!" exclaimed
Kamiya.


===


To Be Continued...

Next: The Seven S-Levels.

Suzaku: PIKACHU!

The powers that Suzaku are displaying aside from his canon ones are
taken from various electrically powered characters in fiction like
Magneto from the X-Men comics, Yaiba Kurogane when he's using the powers
of Raijin, Blanka from Street Fighter and his cheap-ass special move,
Ginji Amano of Getbackers' fame (particularly his Raitei form), and (of
course) Mikoto Misaka of A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific
Railgun fame. Among many others.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi,
Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful
property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios,
Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. 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.

So long! Farewell!
Abdiel
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