Hello everyone, Pandora here, I'm really glad you decided to read my
fanfic, but sadly I do not own this anime, though I do own most of the bad
guys, and the new good girls, yep they're mine alright. I've only seen up
until the Dark Tournament, so please don't be discouraged when I leave a
few characters out, like Ayame, who I only found out about recently, and
Muruko and Raizen, even though I will still try to integrate them into my
story, I do not know them very well. Anyway, back to the subject at hand, I
do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Standard disclaimers apply. Flamers are welcome,
but will only be ignored. Enjoy!
Treasure Hunt
Chapter One: Unexpected Changes
The den looked like nothing she had ever seen, one of the
distinguishing features was the uncommon amount of plant life
growing on and around the cave. Large vines of indistinguishable
origin reached out as if to snatch any perpetrator off the
ground, and huge leaves covered the clearing as if to shield
from intruders, which wasn't exactly what she was. After all,
she had, at one time, been one of his best friends. She could
still remember sitting in his room at night after he'd comforted
her after her ordeal with Yakumo, or helping him study right
before a big test just to end up laughing at one of her antics.
She missed those times, but maybe there could be more.
The blue-haired ferry girl studied the surroundings,
looking for the youkai that she had been sent to find. She
couldn't go back to Yusuke empty-handed, he was expecting her to
find the fox. She had not seen Kurama in almost a year and did
not know what his reaction would be. Back in the old days when
he had had his human form he had been a polite young man, but
she had heard from reports that Youko Kurama was quite the bold
one. She had to admit though, she had missed him. Missed all the
fun they had had together, missed going with him to the flower
festivals just outside of Tokyo.
There was a sudden movement and two thornless vines
wrapped around her arms and up to her throat, slightly cutting
off her breathing and arching her head back.
"Do you always intrude on people's homes uninvited?" the
silky voice of Youko Kurama said just behind her ear as he was
standing not even an inch behind her. His voice was like
beautiful death, laced with satin but with steel underneath. She
was very aware of him. His muscled arms wrapped around her waist
and pulled her closer to him, if that was possible. Her head was
just under his chin and her shoulder blades fit nicely in the
curve of his upper chest.
"Only if it's an old friend," she replied, hoping that
he'd pull away, instead he pulled her closer, wrapping his tail
around her and forcing her head against the hardness of his
chest. She could feel through the vibrations in his chest that
he was purring. She was surprised that being so close, he
didn't hear her heart beat, for it must have been as loud as a
pounding drum. But his purr was soothing to her and almost
immediately she calmed down.
"Oh, of course Botan, how rude of me. Welcome to my humble
home, I'm very happy to see you." Abruptly he released her, so
fast that she nearly tumbled to the ground, if it weren't for
the vines around her, then they too, let go. She slowly turned
around and studied him. His long silver hair gleamed in the
sunlight and his eyes flashed gold. And though he was smiling,
there was a cruel twist to his mouth, as if there was something
not altogether nice about him.
He, in turn, studied her, and liked what he saw. She was,
indeed, very beautiful, just as his human half, Suiichi, had
claimed. But still, he allowed for no intruders and she had yet
to give him a reason as to why she would dare to come here. The
last time he had seen her was when she had brought him across,
when he had lost his human husk. It had died at a young age of a
mysterious disease, but that was neither here nor there. She had
looked very sad then, he reflected and he admired her for her
bravery, but she had done her job and not cried until she was
safely within her own world.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Kurama, but Yusuke has sent
me. It seems he wants you for a mission. Hiei is my next stop."
With that she turned to go but, as before, vines wrapped around
her and this time turned her to face Kurama. It seemed he had
something to say.
"Why are you, a ferry girl from Rekai, running errands for
a ruler of Makai?" Betrayed by his face, he seemed very curious,
but he was also angry, ruler or not, Yusuke Urameshi had no
right to order him about. But it was true, it was quite unusual
for the two worlds to work together. But with Yusuke in charge
anything could happen.
"Well, I'm sort of on loan to Yusuke for this mission. It
seems that Yusuke has something for all of us to do." She made a
face which, consequentially, made her look like a kitten. He
used to love it when she did that. He still did. "It's just like
the old gang getting together again to fight another battle. The
only hint he gave me was that we were going on a treasure hunt.
Anyway, I have to go get Hiei, and it's not going to be easy.
Especially since I have to search all over Muruko's territory to
do it." Botan turned around again to leave but was startled when
a silver fox jumped on her shoulder. She turned to look it in
the eye. "Oh, you're coming, are you? Alright." And they flew
off in search of Hiei.
Keiko watched the seemingly young man pace the length of
the room. He had been doing this for quite some time now, and
it, along with other things, was starting to grate on her
nerves. She could tell he was extremely agitated. She didn't
blame him.
"Koenma," she said sweetly, "is something the matter?" He
said nothing, not even stopping in his pacing, but pointed to
his wife, Nabiki, who was on the couch holding her much beloved
and regal scepter. She had bright purple hair, and would have
been a dead ringer for the younger Genkai if it wasn't for the
fact that she flirted too much. She was one of Keiko's friends,
but sometimes she managed to piss off even Keiko. And right now
she was doing just that, she was committing the ultimate crime
in Keiko World, she was flirting with Yusuke. A deep sin in
Keiko's "Book of Sins".
Kurama loved the feel of the wind in his fur. But he
ducked down to Botan's neck and wrapped himself around it,
staking his claim, that way Hiei, and every other demon, would
know she belonged to Youko Kurama.
Hiei, standing behind Botan on her oar, sneered. He had
recognized the claim. Feh, he thought, like I would want her.
Then started as a scream from Botan signaled that Kurama had
given her his mating mark. "Ow. Kurama, why did you bite me?"
Keiko was fast loosing her temper. Watching Nabiki flirt
with her husband was bad enough but watching Yusuke flirt back...
Keiko looked over at Nabiki, as she, Nabiki, carefully
applied her trade-mark make-up. God, she thought, how much more
of this do I have to take?
How much more of this will I be forced to endure? Hiei
thought as he listened to Botan chatter with the fox hanging
around her neck. She had long since forgiven him for biting her,
not that she knew why he had done it. But still she chattered
on. As if he could actually answer, he thought with a sneer.
Keiko couldn't take it anymore.
"Yusuke, shouldn't Botan be back by now?" she looked over
at him and saw that he wasn't even listening to her. He was
listening to Nabiki.
"Oh, Yusuke, you're such a good ruler, I'm so surprised
Keiko doesn't treat you with more respect." Nabiki laughed at
her own statement and put her arm around Yusuke's waist.
That was the last straw.
"Look, you painted tart, get the hell away from my husband
before I shove that scepter you're so proud of right up your
ass."
Yusuke, who had been listening to her litany with a
shocked expression, said, "Keiko! You shouldn't be saying stuff
like that to—." SLAP(Keiko Slap as seen in the Suzaku battle and
the very first episode.[Poor Yusuke]). Yusuke's eyes widened as
the red hand mark on his face appeared. And heard laughter from
the hallway.
AN: [Let's take a moment of silence for Yusuke and then
burst out laughing.]
Touya, Jin, Rinku, and Chuu, his elite team stood in the
doorway. Laughing. At him. He was never going to live this down.
Rinku walked over to stand in front of Keiko, facing
Yusuke. Taking Keiko's side as he usually did in all things.
Even though he was centuries older then her, Keiko had become
his mother figure and a somewhat sister, and he never let
anything harm her. Though he often jokingly threatened anything
that dared to lay a finger on her, he would ruthlessly kill to
protect her, one of the top reasons that Yusuke kept him around,
considering what an annoyance he was. "Well, Yusuke, that's what
you get for flirting in front of Keiko. We've warned you before
but you never listen. Good going sis." Rinku's appearance made
him look not in the least bit threatening, but the look in his
eyes often gave Yusuke pause, like right now.
"Yeah, Keiko love, when are you going to come home with
me. I'll treat you better than Urameshi ever did." Jin said,
smiling charmingly. His Irish accent a thick brogue.
"Thanks," she said gently, walking over to Touya and
embracing him. In the time they had known each other they had
become one another's best friend and treated each other like
siblings. She had long gotten over that he was an ice
apparition. But it often caused problems when Yusuke
unintentionally hurt her and Touya attempted to pound sense into
him. Like now, he was giving Yusuke a very cold look. "But no
thanks."
"Yusuke." He looked over at Touya, who was holding Keiko
close to his side. "You want to be careful with Keiko's
feelings. I wouldn't want her to be hurt." Any other situation
Yusuke would have been eager to fight, but two things held him
back, the fact that Touya was his friend, and more importantly,
his opponent held his Keiko. Not that Touya would ever hurt
Keiko, the guy would probably become human to avoid it. So all
he said was, "Umm—Yeah, sure." Not that she could ever be
seriously hurt, at the last Dark Tournament he had wished for
her to be like he was, VERY long life.
Nabiki spoke up, "Keiko, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to
offend you." Nabiki sounded genuinely sincere. And so Keiko
forgave her, as she usually did.
Keiko smiled gently at her, "All forgiven. Except you
Yusuke, you're going to have to do something really nice to make
up for this. Like no yelling for the entire day." He just
nodded, silently. He talked to Chuu and Jin about guarding the
grounds of the palace while waiting for Botan.
"Hello, is anybody here?" the gentle voice of Yukina could
be heard from the hallway. Along with Kuwabara's praise on her
polite manners. He was always praising her for something.
"In here you two," Rinku yelled, his childlike voice
eager. There was nothing he liked more than to tease Kuwabara.
Kuwabara and Yukina walked into the room and Yukina
thanked Yusuke for inviting them. "Hey, Urameshi, Genkai said
she'll try to get here by tomorrow but she had to find someone
to watch the shrine for her. She said not to worry, she'll be
here in time." Yusuke just nodded. Genkai already knew what the
mission was. He had written her a letter asking if she would
like to join the party he was forming. He guessed that Kuwabara
was his message back.
"Yusuke, I'm back!" Botan, Kurama, in human form, and Hiei
came into the parlor and stopped and stared at the amount of
people gathered there. Touya, his blue eyes icily glaring at
Yusuke, was standing behind Keiko's chair. Rinku was there,
sitting on the arm of her chair, giving her advice on the card
game she was playing with Jin and Chuu. Yusuke was sitting on
the couch, with Kuwabara, glaring back at Touya. Yukina and
Nabiki were also on the couch, facing each other, talking about
the weather. Koenma was staring out the window.
Hiei immediately went to stand beside Yukina but neither
one said anything to the other and in fact avoided each others'
gaze. Chuu, always the lady's man, got up to greet Botan with a
bear hug, but a warning growl from Kurama stayed him as to where
he only said "Hi Botan."
Jin noticed the bite mark on Botan's neck and smiled
knowingly when he caught Kurama's eye. He had often suspected
there was something between Kurama and Botan. Of course, he
himself had always fancied the courageous sort, but somehow
Botan had never appeared on his radar. Maybe it was for him and
Botan like it was for Keiko and Touya. They had always been
close. Still, he wasn't sure about how he felt with this
situation. He supposed he would have to let it play itself out.
And Kurama had better pray to God he never hurt that girl. But
he got up to greet Botan anyway, giving her a brotherly hug,
despite the now fierce growling from Kurama, "Oh, stop your
fussing, I'm not going to break her or take her. And how are
you, darling? And what's this here bite on your sweet neck?"
Botan had been almost hopping her in her excitement at
seeing Jin after a month's absence, but with the last remark her
cheeks turned to hot scarlet and she sweatdropped, "Oh, that,"
she laughed nervously, "well, um, Kurama sort of bit me on the
ride over. He still hasn't said why, but I guess it's okay, it
should heal soon." She blushed again and fell silent. Ah, so she
doesn't know what it means, Jin thought, looking at her, maybe I
should tell her, girl's got a right to know. But just as he was
about to open his mouth, Kurama cleared his throat and shook his
head. You better tell her soon, he conveyed with his eyes, or I
will. Kurama nodded and, taking Botan's arm, led her to a love
sofa where they could sit down.
Hiei looked around the room and noticed two of the players
were missing besides Genkai. "Yusuke, where are Shiishi and
Sazuku?" The two were no where in the room or on the grounds,
the Jagan eye would have told him if they were.
"Oh, they're on a different mission: training. The Dark
Tournament is in five months and they've gone off to prepare.
I've been invited. Again. I was thinking Jin, Touya, Kurama, you
and me. They have already got Chuu and Rinku, who decided to
come with us anyway, and this new fighter. She's up in her room
now. She wants to come with us. Her name is Kotori, but everyone
calls her Koto. She is a Fox Spirit Apparition."
Hiei settled back again, but didn't relax. He didn't know
this Kotori, but perhaps Kurama did. But Kurama was too busy
talking to his unknowing mate and hadn't listened to the
conversation. No matter, Hiei thought, he would ask about her
later. For now her looked down at Yukina. She had found out two
years ago that he was her brother, and hadn't been too happy
when she found that he had tried to keep it from her. They
didn't often see each other and even when they did they
disagreed most of the time. Or, more realistically, she
disagreed with everything he said, did, and had done, while he
said nothing and pretended he didn't care.(Typical Hiei Fashion,
technique #7685).
Meanwhile
"Chiriko, have you sensed its location yet?" the Leader
said while watching the woman practice her new whip on a nearby
tree.
"No Naruko, but I am close. I need more time and more of
your patience. Go kill something if you're bored." The young
male said this with barely leashed impatience.
"Watch what you say, young one. Be more respectful when
talking to Naruko." The female lashed out with her whip and it
cracked mere millimeters from Chiriko's head.
"Watch who you call young one. Even with this spell going
I still have enough spirit energy to turn you to dust, Liin."
And with that he went back to his incantations.
"Alright, listen up gang. There's this thing called the
Legend of Sora, it depicts a treasure, that will make the person
who finds it a god. Normally I wouldn't want to get anywhere
near this kind of thing, but Koenma's intelligence agents have
found that three treasure seekers have begun a search for it and
are making good headway. What we have to do is get to that
treasure before they do and destroy it. Now our trump card is
that they don't know about the Keys of Sora, the only thing that
can unlock the cave the treasure is in. We are going to find
those keys, get to the treasure and destroy the cave.
"We are going to split up in to two groups, myself and
Genkai being the leaders of these groups. All of us are going
for this particular adventure, it's been awhile since we were
all together for a mission and after the tournament we might not
all be here to go on another one. The groups are as follows:
Keiko, Kurama, Botan, Hiei, Touya, Rinku, and Kotori will come
with me, Koenma, Nabiki, Kuwabara, Yukina, Jin, and Chuu will go
with Genkai. My group will go North where the first of the keys
is hidden in a mountain, the second team will go South to the
Temple of Air. That is why Jin is going with that group, the
Temple is suspended in the air. Genkai said she will be here by
tomorrow. I suggest you all get some sleep, we head out
tomorrow. Good luck hunting."
AN:[If any of you readers have seen Final Fantasy: Legend of the
Crystals you know this is my to incorporate the Temple of the
Wind. I liked it too much to leave it out.]
Treasure Hunt
Chapter One: Unexpected Changes
The den looked like nothing she had ever seen, one of the
distinguishing features was the uncommon amount of plant life
growing on and around the cave. Large vines of indistinguishable
origin reached out as if to snatch any perpetrator off the
ground, and huge leaves covered the clearing as if to shield
from intruders, which wasn't exactly what she was. After all,
she had, at one time, been one of his best friends. She could
still remember sitting in his room at night after he'd comforted
her after her ordeal with Yakumo, or helping him study right
before a big test just to end up laughing at one of her antics.
She missed those times, but maybe there could be more.
The blue-haired ferry girl studied the surroundings,
looking for the youkai that she had been sent to find. She
couldn't go back to Yusuke empty-handed, he was expecting her to
find the fox. She had not seen Kurama in almost a year and did
not know what his reaction would be. Back in the old days when
he had had his human form he had been a polite young man, but
she had heard from reports that Youko Kurama was quite the bold
one. She had to admit though, she had missed him. Missed all the
fun they had had together, missed going with him to the flower
festivals just outside of Tokyo.
There was a sudden movement and two thornless vines
wrapped around her arms and up to her throat, slightly cutting
off her breathing and arching her head back.
"Do you always intrude on people's homes uninvited?" the
silky voice of Youko Kurama said just behind her ear as he was
standing not even an inch behind her. His voice was like
beautiful death, laced with satin but with steel underneath. She
was very aware of him. His muscled arms wrapped around her waist
and pulled her closer to him, if that was possible. Her head was
just under his chin and her shoulder blades fit nicely in the
curve of his upper chest.
"Only if it's an old friend," she replied, hoping that
he'd pull away, instead he pulled her closer, wrapping his tail
around her and forcing her head against the hardness of his
chest. She could feel through the vibrations in his chest that
he was purring. She was surprised that being so close, he
didn't hear her heart beat, for it must have been as loud as a
pounding drum. But his purr was soothing to her and almost
immediately she calmed down.
"Oh, of course Botan, how rude of me. Welcome to my humble
home, I'm very happy to see you." Abruptly he released her, so
fast that she nearly tumbled to the ground, if it weren't for
the vines around her, then they too, let go. She slowly turned
around and studied him. His long silver hair gleamed in the
sunlight and his eyes flashed gold. And though he was smiling,
there was a cruel twist to his mouth, as if there was something
not altogether nice about him.
He, in turn, studied her, and liked what he saw. She was,
indeed, very beautiful, just as his human half, Suiichi, had
claimed. But still, he allowed for no intruders and she had yet
to give him a reason as to why she would dare to come here. The
last time he had seen her was when she had brought him across,
when he had lost his human husk. It had died at a young age of a
mysterious disease, but that was neither here nor there. She had
looked very sad then, he reflected and he admired her for her
bravery, but she had done her job and not cried until she was
safely within her own world.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Kurama, but Yusuke has sent
me. It seems he wants you for a mission. Hiei is my next stop."
With that she turned to go but, as before, vines wrapped around
her and this time turned her to face Kurama. It seemed he had
something to say.
"Why are you, a ferry girl from Rekai, running errands for
a ruler of Makai?" Betrayed by his face, he seemed very curious,
but he was also angry, ruler or not, Yusuke Urameshi had no
right to order him about. But it was true, it was quite unusual
for the two worlds to work together. But with Yusuke in charge
anything could happen.
"Well, I'm sort of on loan to Yusuke for this mission. It
seems that Yusuke has something for all of us to do." She made a
face which, consequentially, made her look like a kitten. He
used to love it when she did that. He still did. "It's just like
the old gang getting together again to fight another battle. The
only hint he gave me was that we were going on a treasure hunt.
Anyway, I have to go get Hiei, and it's not going to be easy.
Especially since I have to search all over Muruko's territory to
do it." Botan turned around again to leave but was startled when
a silver fox jumped on her shoulder. She turned to look it in
the eye. "Oh, you're coming, are you? Alright." And they flew
off in search of Hiei.
Keiko watched the seemingly young man pace the length of
the room. He had been doing this for quite some time now, and
it, along with other things, was starting to grate on her
nerves. She could tell he was extremely agitated. She didn't
blame him.
"Koenma," she said sweetly, "is something the matter?" He
said nothing, not even stopping in his pacing, but pointed to
his wife, Nabiki, who was on the couch holding her much beloved
and regal scepter. She had bright purple hair, and would have
been a dead ringer for the younger Genkai if it wasn't for the
fact that she flirted too much. She was one of Keiko's friends,
but sometimes she managed to piss off even Keiko. And right now
she was doing just that, she was committing the ultimate crime
in Keiko World, she was flirting with Yusuke. A deep sin in
Keiko's "Book of Sins".
Kurama loved the feel of the wind in his fur. But he
ducked down to Botan's neck and wrapped himself around it,
staking his claim, that way Hiei, and every other demon, would
know she belonged to Youko Kurama.
Hiei, standing behind Botan on her oar, sneered. He had
recognized the claim. Feh, he thought, like I would want her.
Then started as a scream from Botan signaled that Kurama had
given her his mating mark. "Ow. Kurama, why did you bite me?"
Keiko was fast loosing her temper. Watching Nabiki flirt
with her husband was bad enough but watching Yusuke flirt back...
Keiko looked over at Nabiki, as she, Nabiki, carefully
applied her trade-mark make-up. God, she thought, how much more
of this do I have to take?
How much more of this will I be forced to endure? Hiei
thought as he listened to Botan chatter with the fox hanging
around her neck. She had long since forgiven him for biting her,
not that she knew why he had done it. But still she chattered
on. As if he could actually answer, he thought with a sneer.
Keiko couldn't take it anymore.
"Yusuke, shouldn't Botan be back by now?" she looked over
at him and saw that he wasn't even listening to her. He was
listening to Nabiki.
"Oh, Yusuke, you're such a good ruler, I'm so surprised
Keiko doesn't treat you with more respect." Nabiki laughed at
her own statement and put her arm around Yusuke's waist.
That was the last straw.
"Look, you painted tart, get the hell away from my husband
before I shove that scepter you're so proud of right up your
ass."
Yusuke, who had been listening to her litany with a
shocked expression, said, "Keiko! You shouldn't be saying stuff
like that to—." SLAP(Keiko Slap as seen in the Suzaku battle and
the very first episode.[Poor Yusuke]). Yusuke's eyes widened as
the red hand mark on his face appeared. And heard laughter from
the hallway.
AN: [Let's take a moment of silence for Yusuke and then
burst out laughing.]
Touya, Jin, Rinku, and Chuu, his elite team stood in the
doorway. Laughing. At him. He was never going to live this down.
Rinku walked over to stand in front of Keiko, facing
Yusuke. Taking Keiko's side as he usually did in all things.
Even though he was centuries older then her, Keiko had become
his mother figure and a somewhat sister, and he never let
anything harm her. Though he often jokingly threatened anything
that dared to lay a finger on her, he would ruthlessly kill to
protect her, one of the top reasons that Yusuke kept him around,
considering what an annoyance he was. "Well, Yusuke, that's what
you get for flirting in front of Keiko. We've warned you before
but you never listen. Good going sis." Rinku's appearance made
him look not in the least bit threatening, but the look in his
eyes often gave Yusuke pause, like right now.
"Yeah, Keiko love, when are you going to come home with
me. I'll treat you better than Urameshi ever did." Jin said,
smiling charmingly. His Irish accent a thick brogue.
"Thanks," she said gently, walking over to Touya and
embracing him. In the time they had known each other they had
become one another's best friend and treated each other like
siblings. She had long gotten over that he was an ice
apparition. But it often caused problems when Yusuke
unintentionally hurt her and Touya attempted to pound sense into
him. Like now, he was giving Yusuke a very cold look. "But no
thanks."
"Yusuke." He looked over at Touya, who was holding Keiko
close to his side. "You want to be careful with Keiko's
feelings. I wouldn't want her to be hurt." Any other situation
Yusuke would have been eager to fight, but two things held him
back, the fact that Touya was his friend, and more importantly,
his opponent held his Keiko. Not that Touya would ever hurt
Keiko, the guy would probably become human to avoid it. So all
he said was, "Umm—Yeah, sure." Not that she could ever be
seriously hurt, at the last Dark Tournament he had wished for
her to be like he was, VERY long life.
Nabiki spoke up, "Keiko, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to
offend you." Nabiki sounded genuinely sincere. And so Keiko
forgave her, as she usually did.
Keiko smiled gently at her, "All forgiven. Except you
Yusuke, you're going to have to do something really nice to make
up for this. Like no yelling for the entire day." He just
nodded, silently. He talked to Chuu and Jin about guarding the
grounds of the palace while waiting for Botan.
"Hello, is anybody here?" the gentle voice of Yukina could
be heard from the hallway. Along with Kuwabara's praise on her
polite manners. He was always praising her for something.
"In here you two," Rinku yelled, his childlike voice
eager. There was nothing he liked more than to tease Kuwabara.
Kuwabara and Yukina walked into the room and Yukina
thanked Yusuke for inviting them. "Hey, Urameshi, Genkai said
she'll try to get here by tomorrow but she had to find someone
to watch the shrine for her. She said not to worry, she'll be
here in time." Yusuke just nodded. Genkai already knew what the
mission was. He had written her a letter asking if she would
like to join the party he was forming. He guessed that Kuwabara
was his message back.
"Yusuke, I'm back!" Botan, Kurama, in human form, and Hiei
came into the parlor and stopped and stared at the amount of
people gathered there. Touya, his blue eyes icily glaring at
Yusuke, was standing behind Keiko's chair. Rinku was there,
sitting on the arm of her chair, giving her advice on the card
game she was playing with Jin and Chuu. Yusuke was sitting on
the couch, with Kuwabara, glaring back at Touya. Yukina and
Nabiki were also on the couch, facing each other, talking about
the weather. Koenma was staring out the window.
Hiei immediately went to stand beside Yukina but neither
one said anything to the other and in fact avoided each others'
gaze. Chuu, always the lady's man, got up to greet Botan with a
bear hug, but a warning growl from Kurama stayed him as to where
he only said "Hi Botan."
Jin noticed the bite mark on Botan's neck and smiled
knowingly when he caught Kurama's eye. He had often suspected
there was something between Kurama and Botan. Of course, he
himself had always fancied the courageous sort, but somehow
Botan had never appeared on his radar. Maybe it was for him and
Botan like it was for Keiko and Touya. They had always been
close. Still, he wasn't sure about how he felt with this
situation. He supposed he would have to let it play itself out.
And Kurama had better pray to God he never hurt that girl. But
he got up to greet Botan anyway, giving her a brotherly hug,
despite the now fierce growling from Kurama, "Oh, stop your
fussing, I'm not going to break her or take her. And how are
you, darling? And what's this here bite on your sweet neck?"
Botan had been almost hopping her in her excitement at
seeing Jin after a month's absence, but with the last remark her
cheeks turned to hot scarlet and she sweatdropped, "Oh, that,"
she laughed nervously, "well, um, Kurama sort of bit me on the
ride over. He still hasn't said why, but I guess it's okay, it
should heal soon." She blushed again and fell silent. Ah, so she
doesn't know what it means, Jin thought, looking at her, maybe I
should tell her, girl's got a right to know. But just as he was
about to open his mouth, Kurama cleared his throat and shook his
head. You better tell her soon, he conveyed with his eyes, or I
will. Kurama nodded and, taking Botan's arm, led her to a love
sofa where they could sit down.
Hiei looked around the room and noticed two of the players
were missing besides Genkai. "Yusuke, where are Shiishi and
Sazuku?" The two were no where in the room or on the grounds,
the Jagan eye would have told him if they were.
"Oh, they're on a different mission: training. The Dark
Tournament is in five months and they've gone off to prepare.
I've been invited. Again. I was thinking Jin, Touya, Kurama, you
and me. They have already got Chuu and Rinku, who decided to
come with us anyway, and this new fighter. She's up in her room
now. She wants to come with us. Her name is Kotori, but everyone
calls her Koto. She is a Fox Spirit Apparition."
Hiei settled back again, but didn't relax. He didn't know
this Kotori, but perhaps Kurama did. But Kurama was too busy
talking to his unknowing mate and hadn't listened to the
conversation. No matter, Hiei thought, he would ask about her
later. For now her looked down at Yukina. She had found out two
years ago that he was her brother, and hadn't been too happy
when she found that he had tried to keep it from her. They
didn't often see each other and even when they did they
disagreed most of the time. Or, more realistically, she
disagreed with everything he said, did, and had done, while he
said nothing and pretended he didn't care.(Typical Hiei Fashion,
technique #7685).
Meanwhile
"Chiriko, have you sensed its location yet?" the Leader
said while watching the woman practice her new whip on a nearby
tree.
"No Naruko, but I am close. I need more time and more of
your patience. Go kill something if you're bored." The young
male said this with barely leashed impatience.
"Watch what you say, young one. Be more respectful when
talking to Naruko." The female lashed out with her whip and it
cracked mere millimeters from Chiriko's head.
"Watch who you call young one. Even with this spell going
I still have enough spirit energy to turn you to dust, Liin."
And with that he went back to his incantations.
"Alright, listen up gang. There's this thing called the
Legend of Sora, it depicts a treasure, that will make the person
who finds it a god. Normally I wouldn't want to get anywhere
near this kind of thing, but Koenma's intelligence agents have
found that three treasure seekers have begun a search for it and
are making good headway. What we have to do is get to that
treasure before they do and destroy it. Now our trump card is
that they don't know about the Keys of Sora, the only thing that
can unlock the cave the treasure is in. We are going to find
those keys, get to the treasure and destroy the cave.
"We are going to split up in to two groups, myself and
Genkai being the leaders of these groups. All of us are going
for this particular adventure, it's been awhile since we were
all together for a mission and after the tournament we might not
all be here to go on another one. The groups are as follows:
Keiko, Kurama, Botan, Hiei, Touya, Rinku, and Kotori will come
with me, Koenma, Nabiki, Kuwabara, Yukina, Jin, and Chuu will go
with Genkai. My group will go North where the first of the keys
is hidden in a mountain, the second team will go South to the
Temple of Air. That is why Jin is going with that group, the
Temple is suspended in the air. Genkai said she will be here by
tomorrow. I suggest you all get some sleep, we head out
tomorrow. Good luck hunting."
AN:[If any of you readers have seen Final Fantasy: Legend of the
Crystals you know this is my to incorporate the Temple of the
Wind. I liked it too much to leave it out.]