.
The others were already there when Kurama and Karasu entered the temple. Yusuke stiffened at the sight of him, face going cold, and Kurama winced inwardly. They were sitting in a circle, Yusuke and Kuwabara, along with Genkai, Toguro, Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina, with two places open between Kuwabara and Toguro. The tall carrot-top patted the floor next to him, giving them a warm smile in greeting. Kurama gestured for Karasu to sit next to Kuwabara and sat down next to Toguro. The large man bared his teeth in greeting, and Karasu glowered sullenly. Sighing, Kurama patted his thigh soothingly. Would there never be peace around here?
Botan cleared her throat, shifting awkwardly, and effectively drawing everyone's attention. "Look, minna-san..." She cleared her throat again, bringing forth several concerned frowns. Something was definitely wrong. The ferry girl looked rather pale, and her hand trembled as she clutched what look like a report so tightly her knuckles were white. "You see," she tried again. "I was looking through some paperwork on Koenma-sama's desk- I kinda lost somebody's file- and I found... I found this!" She thrust the paper out, squeezing her eyes shut.
"What is that?" Kuwabara asked, scratching his head.
"Here, let me read it to everyone, Botan." Genkai said, taking the paper from her. "Its a letter from Koenma to Enma-Daiou," she explained grimly, then began to read.
.
Dear Father,
I regret to inform you of the apparent failure of the Makai Plan. While Enki, Mukuro, Hiei, and Yomi are all dead, Kurama and Kuwabara Kazuma remain alive, as do Toguro the Younger and Karasu. Before you become angry with me, however, let me say that there is still hope. Kuwabara Kazuma won't remain a factor too long with his ningen lifespan, and Yusuke blames Kurama for Hiei's death. We may still be able to control Yusuke even though they still live, for surely he won't accept Kurama's help after this incident. Toguro and Karasu, I believe, won't be factors. It is doubtful that they will remain in contact with Yusuke. It may prove beneficial that they live, for Karasu may yet kill Kurama. I strongly believe that once Kuwabara is dead, I may become the sole influence in Yusuke's life-- after the regrettable death of Yukimura Keiko, of course. After that, things may go smoothly.... all you have to do is look to the bright side.
Love, Your Devoted Son,
Koenma.
Profound silence greeted the end of the letter. Looks of shock were frozen on all faces except Genkai's. Then Botan began to cry.
"All the time I worked for him, he was always so cruel! But he also believed in justice!" she wailed. "And now... this..."
Yukina put an arm around her shoulders. "Botan-san...." She looked ready to cry, herself.
Genkai shook her head. "I can't say how disappointed I am in Koenma," she said. "I thought he was better than this."
"He is," Yusuke said quietly. "I'm sure of it."
"Yusuke," Genkai murmured, touching his arm. "You must see-"
"NO!" He jumped to his feet, snatching the paper from Genkai. "He couldn't be responsible for Hiei's death!" For once he forgot to look at Kurama when Hiei was mentioned. "But... I've got to know for sure." He whirled and stalked out of the room.
By then everyone was on their feet, and most began to follow the dark-haired youth out the door. "Wait!" Genkai called. "Kurama, Karasu, Toguro, go with him. Kuwabara-kun, stay here with the girls!"
Genkai came with them, and the foursome hurried to catch up with Yusuke. The boy didn't acknowledge them, and they fell in silently beside him as they made their way to the Reikai.
Koenma looked up, irritated at the intrusion, as they barged in, despite the frantic protests of George that Koenma-sama wasn't to be disturbed. The look of irritation faded as he realized who'd come to call. "Oh, Yusuke... Kurama... Karasu... Genkai? Toguro?" He eyed them warily. "What are you all doing here? Didn't you ever learn how to knock?"
"Please explain this." Yusuke waved the letter in front of Koenma's face. George peered curiously over the godling's shoulder.
Koenma snatched the letter, the color draining from his face. "Where did you get this?" he demanded. "Was it Botan?"
"It doesn't matter where we got it, Koenma," Yusuke stressed him name angrily.
"That useless girl..." He regained his composure quickly, though. With a slick smile and a laugh, he dismissed the paper. "You really think that I wrote that? It must be a fake... someone wants to turn you against me." He narrowed his eyes in Toguro's direction, but his suspicious glance didn't leave out Kurama and Karasu. "You shouldn't be so trusting of what everyone wants you to believe, Yusuke."
"No, Koenma," Yusuke said with thinly veiled contempt that startled Kurama. He'd never heard Yusuke take that tone of voice before. "Don't lie to me."
Koenma sighed. "Obviously, you won't be persuaded." He eyed the boy warily.
"If you don't tell us exactly what's going on, then I'll.... gods help me, I'll kill you!"
"Yusuke..." Kurama murmured softly. "Don't."
"Yes," Koenma nodded earnestly. "Listen to Kurama. He knows what he's about."
Yusuke spared a glance for Kurama before grabbing the godling by the collar and shaking him. "Tell me!"
"Okay, okay! Just put me down!" Yusuke did, and Koenma dusted himself off before speaking.
"As you may know, the Makai is a subject of great interest to the Reikai. We've lost many ningen lives to youkais and youkai diseases that turned out to be capable of infecting ningen. You recall the Black Plague? A harmless youkai disease, little more than a cold- but deadly to ningens. And you know that youkai are constantly planning on breaking down the barrier between the two worlds and taking over the Ningenkai. Some humans have even become obsessed with this, like Sakyo and Sensui." His eyes swept across the group as he began to pace. "The Reikai decided to take action. We quickly realized the only way to neutralize the Makai threat was to take over the Makai. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it openly. The creatures of the Makai would never allow it. We needed a figurehead." He clasped his hands behind his back. "Someone strong and capable, whom we could manipulate. Hell, maybe he wouldn't even realize he was ruling for us. At any rate, we were lacking that key figure... until you came along, Yusuke. At first, I wasn't sure you were the one. You were strong, yes, and had potential to be more, but you were also very stubborn. I wasn't sure I could control you."
He favored Kurama with a sour look. "Eventually, I was confident I could control you, but for four factors.... Kuwabara, Genkai, Hiei and Kurama.Genkai, I knew, would be dead soon anyway, and probably wouldn't pose a problem. And as long as Kuwabara remained in the Ningenkai, he wouldn't have posed a problem, either. And Hiei, in and of himself, wasn't a problem. He wouldn't know the meaning of the word subtle, much less notice our subtle manipulations of our figurehead. Yusuke." He cast his eyes upward. "The biggest problem that I could see was Kurama. I knew he wouldn't remain in the Ningenkai forever, and if anyone alive would dig up our subterfuge, it would be Kurama." Now the godling bowed his head, a tragic figure in appearance. "The only solution was to be rid of Kurama. And while we were at it, we could rid ourselves of the other factors... Genkai, Hiei, and Kuwabara. Then Enma-Daiou had a brilliant plan that would get rid of all our problems.. plus rid us of Yomi, Mukuro, and Enki. So off went our spy, to work his way into Yomi's ranks, and plant the idea of domination in Yomi's oversized head. We picked him because we knew he was the most likely to succumb to the temptation of power. And once that was set in motion, we pulled out our final cards- Karasu and Toguro."
He eyed the two with a frown. "With them in your team, there was no way our plan could fail... as we saw it at the time. Their very presence would cause a great deal of friction among the group, and that, coupled with the mission to stop Yomi, would bring the team to ruins. The problems they would cause, I thought, would end with hopefully Kurama and Genkai dead before you even got to Yomi, and perhaps Karasu and Toguro dead as well. We figured the rest would die shortly before or during your encounter with Yomi. Yusuke would invariably triumph, and, all but inconsolable over the tragic deaths of his friends, and doubly burdened by what he would feel was his duty to the Makai, be easily manipulated by the Reikai. We hadn't expected Yomi to involve your mother, Kurama," he added as an afterthought. "But once Hiei was dead, we figured it'd all work out fine, and what would one ningen life matter in the long run?" Now he sighed and stopped pacing, looking Kurama in the eye. "It wasn't anything personal, Kurama. I really rather liked you. But a person as important as me has to look past friendship, for the good of the people."
Toguro grunted, skeptical. "It's true! I had to forget how I cared for you people, and work toward control of the Makai."
Yusuke, who had been silent until now, laughed bitterly. "For the good of the people indeed! Well, you got your wish. I'm ruler of the Makai now, and you'd better cross your fingers and pray that I don't come knocking on your door someday with the legions of Makai at my back." That said, he whirled and pushed his way out the door. Kurama darted after him, but Yusuke began to run, and Kurama didn't catch him until they were out of the Reikai.
"Yusuke!"
The boy stopped so abruptly Kurama crashed into him, flinging slender arms around his friend to keep his balance, fearing what Yusuke would think. Then Yusuke twisted in his arms, and one glimpse at his large, tortured brown eyes was enough to send fear flying out the window, and he embraced his friend. "Yusuke..."
He was still in Kurama's arms for a moment, then returned his embrace. "Kurama... I'm sorry, Kurama. I'm so sorry." His dark-haired friend began to cry, burying his face in the crook of Kurama's neck. "Oh g-gods..."
"Shh, Yusuke," he murmured, rubbing the boy's back soothingly. "Daijoubu. Daijoubu."
"K-kurama," he sobbed quietly. "Can you e-ever forg-give me?"
He stroked his friend's hair, eyes misting, feeling for the first time since the day Hiei died an overwhelming amount of grief. Yusuke was now supporting as much as he was supported, and for the moment, they mourned the loss of everything together.
"There's nothing to forgive, Yusuke. There's nothing to forgive...."
.
Almost a week later, things has taken on a semblance of normalcy. Yusuke had returned to the Makai, but would come back often, unwilling to abandon Keiko. Eventually, as the tentative plans were, Kurama and Karasu would take up a permanent residence in the Makai, Kurama as an advisor to Yusuke. But for now, they would stay in the Ningenkai, going to the Makai only when Yusuke called for help. Right now, Kurama and Yusuke's relationship was too fragile for any more, despite the revelations of a week ago. And Toguro had finally made up his mind.
"Is there any way I can convince you not to go?" Genkai asked softly, knowing the answer even before he opened his mouth.
"I must, Genkai. You, of all people, should understand that there's nothing for me here. I must seek my fortune in the Makai. I belong in hell, but the Demon World is close enough."
She shook her head slowly. "I can't agree with you. Despite all your mistakes, you don't belong in hell." She gazed up at him, almost wistfully, and for a moment he saw Genkai as she once was, young, beautiful, with her whole life ahead of her. But then the visage faded, and she was once again the old, time-ravaged crone at the end of her years. He shook his head regretfully, wishing he could turn back the years.
"You have no idea what I did in that time."
"I think I do," she murmured. "Believe it or not, I know you. Better than your brother did. I always knew what you were feeling, and I knew what drove you... fear. Fear of being beaten, fear of not coming out on top... fear of time. Fear of becoming an antique; nice to reminisce about, but having no real use." He grimaced at the truth of her words. "But I knew all along that you weren't really evil, and that all one had to do was dig past all those hard muscles to find the kind, honorable man you'd once been." She sighed, leaning against his leg. "I'll miss you. I missed you then, and I'll miss you now."
"You should have found someone else."
"There was no one else, Toguro. No one could have ever taken your place in my heart."
Guilt reared its ugly head. "For what it's worth... it was the same for me."
They stood in silence for a moment, not speaking. But, then again, not needing words. They watched the birds and the bees, they scanned the temple grounds and watched Kuwabara clumsily court Yukina, who giggled and blushed, her two teargems gleaming brightly. They watched Kurama and Karasu, curled up together against a large willow, the kitsune resting his head against the taller youkai's shoulder. It was amazing how their positions had been reversed; Kurama had once dominated the relationship, but now seemed to take a submissive role. A raised eyebrow from Genkai had produced a chuckle from the redhead and something about a "condition" and "uke." Toguro wasn't sure he wanted to know, really. Though he was glad he'd apologized to the fox for his behavior. Flirting just to prove that Genkai wasn't important to him was childish, and beneath him.
"When are you leaving?"
One large hand reached down to gently rub her shoulder. "I thought I'd go the day after tomorrow. No use lingering."
She sighed. "Good luck, Toguro. May your life be filled with many pleasant things." She rolled her eyes heavenward. "And be filled with many worthy opponents, so that you'll be strong enough to face Yusuke someday."
He glanced down at her. How strange. Long life. And when he'd just resigned himself to being dead, too. After Kurama and Yusuke had left, Koenma had given them their lives in truth, saying wearily that such a large breach in policy was peanuts compared to his miserable failure.
"You're speaking like I'm already gone," he said drily. "In case you've forgotten, I'll be around for another two days."
"Hai, hai," she murmured with a chuckle.
His eyes were once again drawn to Kurama and Karasu. He silently wished them happy lives together. They deserved it. Genkai had deserved it, too, but now it was too late to make up for the mistakes of the past.
"I hope you do find happiness, Toguro," she murmured softly, as if sensing his train of thought. Her gaze followed his to the couple cuddled beneath the willow. "Don't let your past consume you. If you do, life will be meaningless." She eyed him sideways. "You've been given another chance. Don't waste it."
He bowed his head to her wisdom as laughter drifted to them. Kuwabara, Yukina, Kurama, Karasu, Yusuke and Keiko; they all deserved happiness.
Perhaps, someday soon, they'd all find it.
. .
