Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters. I do own Riya and other OC's of this story, though.
Warning: The characters might not be in their usual selves.
AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER
CHAPTER FIVE
The Search For Answers
"Three of the Legendary Weapon Wielders? That sure is fast for them to show up," the demon shinobi named Raijin snickered as he tried to get up even if he was still injured because of the boomerang attack.
Kazue had already stood up, as well, but she was still staggering because of the fireball attack from the Dragon Sword of Flame's wielder, as Hiei had stated to them earlier.
"Damn you, Fire Wielder!" Kazue swore under her breath and then began to charge to them again along with Raijin. But as they tried to get near the Spirit Detectives, the boy with a blue hooded cape fixed a fighting stance and then swung the Scythe of the Deep Waters. With one swing, he managed to throw the blade of the scythe as he shouted a spell.
"Double Water Blade Strike!" Then the blade glowed and spun faster before it multiplied into two and struck both of the demon shinobi.
They all saw the two spinning blades disappeared from its point of impact after causing a damage to the enemies and it reappeared to the scythe. The Spirit Detectives could only stare at it with awe and curiosity at the same time.
And only one question entered their minds all at the same time when they realized what was happening. Why would the wielders help them and actually protect them from the demon shinobi?
"You might be surprised when we say this," the girl with the indigo hooded cape said. "But we want only the Spirit Detectives to retrieve the weapons from us, that's why we're protecting you. We know it's weird but we really mean it. But it's not yet the time for us to do that. When the right time comes, we'll tell you everything."
"Oh, sure! Like I could believe in something like that just because it was said by a girl," Yusuke said sarcastically and began running towards the wielders. But before he could even touch them, he was thrown away by the barrier that was probably cast by the girl who had the Flute of Melody.
"Yusuke!" They called out and they approached him.
The girl could only smile sadly at that. And it's something that Kurama noticed.
"Just like what I said, we'll tell you everything when the right time comes," she plainly answered and then looked at the demon shinobi's direction. They were beginning to stand and they were chanting something.
Before they could even finish chanting, the girl waved the flute in an arc-shape above her and then shouted a spell.
"Crescent Melody Boomerang!" And then she threw the bright crescent-shaped indigo-colored energy boomerang to them, just like what was thrown to Raijin earlier. The boomerang severely injured the two demon shinobi since it came to them many times at a fast speed. The final blow came to them when the spinning boomerang with blade-like features sliced their bodies with just one strike. The sliced bodies of the demon shinobi turned to dust and then disappeared.
That had definitely made them utterly shocked and a little bit scared. But only Yusuke and Kuwabara showed that to their faces. Kurama and Hiei remained steady and a little stoic but that attack was undeniably registered to their minds.
So they're really powerful as the legend says, Kurama thought as they watched the wielders walk away. But before they completely leave, the girl with the red hooded cape faced him.
"If I were you, better take care of the girl you had pinned your attention to. She might become the target of another demon shinobi to be used as a bait to kill you, Kurama. In case you didn't know, she could sense spiritual energies from almost all kinds of beings and identify them immediately. As of now, you're the only one who could protect her."
In a blink of an eye, they vanished. But the words that the Dragon Sword of Flame's wielder left had made Kurama pondered onto the thought that Riya might get caught up with their mission. He couldn't let that happen.
Kuwabara helped Yusuke to stand up since the electrocution from the barrier earlier had disabled some of his nerves and somehow, part of his body became numb. And then they approached Kurama whose thoughts had definitely delved deeper into his mind.
"Kurama, are you alright?" Kuwabara asked that startled the red head and made him look at them.
Kurama hesitantly smiled and nodded. Then his face went serious again.
"As of now, you're the only one who could protect her…" That thought kept on ringing in his mind until now. But if the Dragon Sword of Flame's wielder believed that he could really protect Riya from the possible dangers they're facing because of the mission, then so be it.
He'll accept the job of protecting her. And it looked like fate was doing everything to make him stay close to Riya no matter how much she tried to push him away from her. He'll make sure that she wouldn't get caught up in danger at all.
He'll make sure about that… no matter what happens to him in order to do that…
A girl with a long black hair and a pair of amethyst orbs sighed as she finished watching the battle of the Spirit Detectives and the demon shinobi at the park. And she managed to observe the appearance of the Legendary Weapon Wielders.
"Looks like the battle specified in the ancient prophecy had most likely started," Riya uttered as she began to stand up from the branch of the tree not too far and not too close to the battle scene. She couldn't afford to be exposed.
When she gazed at the direction where the Spirit Detectives were standing at, she just looked at Shuichi talking to someone familiar to her. And then she showed a bitter smile when she realized something.
It's definitely for the best if you would just stay away from me, Minamino-kun. The ancient prophecy might have something to do about my past. And I wouldn't really want us to become enemies when that happens.
With that thought in mind, she just sighed and then hurriedly left that place as she tried not to make them sense her presence as she tried to leave.
And so far, they didn't managed to sense her presence. For now, she would just have to wait for another events to unfold that might unlock the secrets of her past.
Kurama remained deep in his thoughts about the events three days ago and the words left to him by the wielder of the Dragon Sword of Flame. It's a good thing that it didn't ruin his concentration during the class. Occasionally, he would take a few glances at Riya who was just sitting at the seat behind him.
And like as usual, his classmates were still treating her as an outcast but Riya doesn't seem to mind about it. She was just doing the usual thing—reading and avoiding to talk to anyone, including him.
When lunch time came, he decided to go to the rooftop instead of staying in the classroom like he usually does. That when an unexpected guest arrived on that place.
"It seems to me you're still thinking about what I said to you that night."
He was surprised to hear that and it made him turn around. He was stunned to know that a teenage girl with a short blond hair was beneath the red hooded cape that night. He might not have seen her face back then but he clearly remembered the voice.
"How did you know about that?" he asked her calmly. For some reasons, he didn't feel threatened that a Legendary Weapon Wielder was in front of him. He could somehow tell that she didn't come here to fight.
"The way you look at Miyuzaki Riya, I could tell that she has become special to you in such a short amount of time. What you can see in her eyes are all reflections of what she has in her heart. She had become broken through the crosscurrents of fate and time for the past eight years," she said seriously but sadly.
"But why are you telling me all this? We're enemies, right?" He's really getting a little confused about the situation and he's becoming a bit desperate to know everything that has been happening.
The girl sighed before looking at him seriously. "I know this is getting a little confusing for you but I can't tell you the real reason right now. But before I tell you something important, at least I would like to introduce myself."
"Something… important?"
"My name is Hisakawa Yumi and as you already know, I have the Dragon Sword of Flame in my possession. I wouldn't mind being apprehended by you and the other Spirit Detectives as long as I managed to finish the mission that's needed to be done. But that's not what I was about to tell you," she said gravely before closing her eyes. "What I'm about to tell you has something to do with Riya's past that rendered her sad and evasive…"
His eyes widened when he heard that. "R-Riya's past?"
Yumi nodded and then she began telling him a part of the transfer student's past. It's something that might give him enough determination to fight for and protect Riya from all the possible dangers that their current mission could possibly inflict to her.
But they never realized that the girl they were talking about was just behind the door listening to Yumi's story as the girl slowly unfolded the story with regards to a part of her past.
Riya sighed as she continued to listen to the story.
"Yumi, I hope you know what you're doing. Even if you do tell him my past, that wouldn't make me change my mind about staying away from him. I should be the one protecting him, not the other way around," she muttered before finally deciding to leave that place.
She decided to head out of the school building to the soccer field in order to watch the team members practice for their upcoming game. It might have been weird for a girl like her to watch such activity but she has been a fan of soccer ever since her brother got her engaged into it.
Before she could find a spot to sit on to, she saw one of the players kicked the ball too hard that it actually flew out of the field and it was about to hit her on the head. But none of the players expected what she had done with that.
She actually kicked the ball before it could finally hit her and it went back to the field. The ball landed on the ground and rolled to one of the players before that guy stopped it from rolling by stepping on it. And then she saw him smiled when he looked at her. It was later followed by a girl coming towards her after she sat on the grass just beneath a huge tree near the field. The girl has a beautiful long blue hair done in twin braids.
"You really kicked that ball good. Do you play soccer?" the girl immediately asked after seating beside her that surprised her inwardly.
She just answered the girl's question when she shook her head. "I used to play soccer with my brother when I was young during my years back in Hokkaido. I'm not really a certified soccer player."
"But you do love soccer?" that girl asked again. This time, she answered it with a smile. An indication that her answer was 'yes' to agree with the girl.
That's when the girl remembered something. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hondou Yukari, 15 years old, a freshman here. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Miyuzaki Riya, a second year student. I just transferred here six days ago. I came from an all-girls' school back in Hokkaido." And then she smiled after that. She then noticed the blue-haired guy who stepped on the ball earlier coming towards them.
Yukari came close to her and leaned in order to say something. "He's my brother and the captain of the soccer team, Hondou Soujiro. But most of the people in the team calls him Jiro. He's a year older than me and one year my senior." And then Yukari stood up and approached Soujiro. "You're done with your practice, Onii-sama?"
Soujiro nodded and then faced her. "I'm really sorry about the ball earlier. It almost hit you."
"It's okay. I know how to evade it, anyway. But my body somehow acted on it own that's why I kicked it back," she said with a smile.
That's when Yukari exclaimed and approached her. "Miyuzaki-sempai, would you want to become the manager of the soccer team?"
She frowned at that. "Manager? But why?"
"Well, the boys on the team doesn't really want their schedules being messy, especially when it comes to practice and other related stuffs. Their coach is quite old and might need some assistance, as well. And I thought that since you're adept to soccer, you might be able to know how to handle some of their problems regarding that. Of course, I won't force you if you don't want but I have to say we really need one. I'm not really capable of being their manager even though I wanted to and somehow know how to handle one."
She became quiet for a while and then thought about it. Because of that, she didn't even notice Yukari and Soujiro having a heated conversation regarding the request. And since they were just whispering, Riya didn't seem to mind. After a few minutes, the team members gathered and Yukari told them about her request. The blue-haired girl was relieved to know that no one objected to that. Now all that's left would be Riya's decision.
That's when they saw her stood up and slowly approached Yukari and Soujiro on the soccer field.
"I'll accept the offer. So when will I start?" Riya said in a gentle and at the same time, friendly tone.
It made the whole team rejoiced and then they all discussed the matter regarding the soccer team's activities to her.
At the very least, it was better that way. Maybe she could finally find and start the better life she had been hoping for with these guys. But suddenly, an image of Minamino Shuichi entered her mind that caught her a little off guard.
Of all times, why would she think about him now? And for what reason would Yumi tell him about some part of her past when the girl knew he would be caught up in danger because of it?
Right now, she couldn't find answers to those questions easily. And she wouldn't be able to find it overnight even if she wanted to. Besides, she's trying to stay away from him as best as she could and she'll make sure she'll be able to do that just until she finished what she has to do.
But why does her heart disagree to that kind of plan that she had in mind? It was for the best, right?
So then why?
Koenma's castle…
It's been hours that had passed but Koenma was still busy looking at a picture and a profile of a teenage girl with black hair and purple eyes displayed on a screen in front of him. On his hand was a batch of papers with information written on them that's somehow related to Riya's profile displayed. He then heaved a sigh before looking back to the picture.
And that's when Botan came in. The girl was surprised to see a teenage girl's profile displayed while the toddler's face turned sober. It was somewhat rare to see him like that.
"Is there any problems, Koenma-sama? You look so serious with that profile you're looking at," she stated.
Koenma put down the papers on the table before heaving another sigh and looked at Botan.
"I don't know if I could consider it a problem, Botan. But this actually regards to the girl that the wielder of the Dragon Sword of Flame said to Kurama. It was Hiei who wanted to know something with regards to that girl."
"And did you manage to find anything?" But Koenma only looked at her seriously. She somewhat took his silence as a yes.
"I did find something but I never thought it would be tragic on Riya's part."
Botan frowned. "Riya? Is that the name of the girl that the wielder was talking about?"
Koenma nodded. "Her name is Miyuzaki Riya, the youngest child and only daughter of Miyuzaki Katsuo and Miyuzaki Ritsuko. The Miyuzaki family happened to be one of the renowned families in Japan. She was born and grew up in Hokkaido for almost sixteen years of her life. But then recently, she transferred to Yusuke's hometown and there, she met Kurama since she's studying at the same school where he does."
"So what's tragic about that?"
"The tragic part of her life happened two years before she left Hokkaido. It was when her brother Hiroto got killed by a demon shinobi. Six years prior to that, her father got killed as well… by another demon shinobi. She hadn't coped up from the trauma that those two incidents had inflicted on her since she witnessed both her father and brother's gruesome deaths." Botan gasped when she heard that and covered her mouth with her hands. Koenma then continued. "I'm not sure about this information but… they said she might have left Hokkaido in order to track down the demon shinobi that killed two of her family members."
"But does she possess spiritual energy? She won't be able to face them heads on if she doesn't have that," she said.
He turned serious once again before facing Botan and looked at her. "She does possess spiritual energy but surprisingly, it was already too close to Kurama's level of powers, an S-class, and it was getting stronger as the time passed. Though she rarely use it for unknown reasons. And one more thing that I haven't said: Riya is Yusuke's maternal cousin. But for some reasons, Yusuke doesn't have any idea that his cousin lived just beside his apartment and she probably doesn't want him to know."
After rethinking the information that Koenma said a while back, Botan came up with a thought. A question, to be exact. Unknowingly, she began to utter that question.
"If she does want to track down the demon shinobi who killed her father and her brother, do you think she has something to do with the missing weapons?"
"I don't think that's possible because she had never gone in any of the two realms outside the Human World," Koenma replied to that. "Besides, her powers hasn't fully manifested yet since she rarely use it and that made her powers somehow still sealed inside of her. And only time will know when would she be able to fully manipulate that."
She sighed before asking another question. "So are you going to tell Yusuke and the others about this? Or do you want me to tell them?"
It took a while for the toddler to come up with a decision. But whatever was his decision, it's better to respect it.
"I think we should just let Riya decide to that. We can't just barge in and suddenly telling them about this. It might infuriate her in the process."
"Alright." Botan gave up and then she heavily sighed. She managed to have a look at the photo of Riya displayed on the screen.
Well, I must say she does have a stunning beauty. I wouldn't wonder why Kurama had pinned his attention to her. But then I could tell that there's more to her for him to be interested in her. Whatever it was, I doubt I'll be able to know that sooner.
She just smiled faintly as that thought.
Yumi sighed when Kurama somehow became unable to talk or react.
"So you're telling me this for me to prevent her from being targeted by the demon shinobi?" Kurama finally managed to utter after a few minutes of silence between them.
"Partly. But I could also think it's the other way around." That statement made him frown a bit. But he let her continue. "It might be that she came here to track down those demon shinobi on her own and kill them in order to exact her vengeance."
"But this doesn't have anything to do with the other Legendary Weapons?" He somewhat held his breath when he asked that. And he heaved a sigh of relief when she shook her head. That made him remember something and he asked her that. "Why are you telling this to me? You could have told Yusuke about this, as well."
Yumi looked at him seriously before answering his question. "You might find this weird but… for now, I could only entrust Riya's safety to you since you're the one near her most of the time. I shouldn't be saying this to you since we're enemies as of now. But I know that both of us wouldn't want Riya to be involved with our issues. Am I right?"
He fell silent after that. And somehow, she took it as a yes. Yumi, for some reason, omitted the information that Yusuke and Riya were cousins and that Minamino Shiori and Miyuzaki Ritsuko had always been friends since high school. She felt that this was not the appropriate time for her to reveal that much information. She would just let him discover it on his own.
Kurama smiled and then he looked at her. "So that would make it a truce for us?"
"Somehow…"
"Alright. I'll do it," he declared, determination evident in his eyes. And that's when she turned around, about to leave that place but then she was stopped to her tracks when he asked a question. "Why are you doing this for Riya? Does she know you have the Dragon Sword of Flame?"
He saw Yumi showed and faint smile as she as she faced him. "Riya's actually my childhood friend and my savior. That's why I want to do everything to protect her and keep her out of danger. But I couldn't do it openly, that's why I want you to do it in my place. As for the weapons, she doesn't have to know and there's no reason for her to know that. I would only drag her in danger if I do that."
And with that, she jumped and left that place by leaping high up the floor before landing to a building with about half a kilometer gap from the school building. Much like the same way Hiei does whenever he wanted to leave.
After that conversation with Yumi, Kurama gave a second thought about it. But then he realized that no matter how much he rethink about it, he would always come up with the same decision. Even until the classes for that day was over and had a conversation with Kaitou during a club meeting, it's still the same. And that issue came up when they came out of the meeting room and they walked along the corridors going to his classroom.
"So that's what she said, huh? But are you sure enough to trust her about that? She might be using Miyuzaki to let your guard down," Kaitou said.
Kurama shook his head. "I don't think that's how it works when she told me those information about Riya. Those information were quite confidential and yet she told me that to somehow make me understand the situation. I could tell that she was telling the truth."
"Does Yusuke and the others know that information she just told you?"
Kurama remained quiet for a while before answering him. "I don't think so. But I guess Hiei already had suspicions about it. And Koenma most likely did something for him to retrieve the necessary information."
That's when they had reached Kurama's classroom and opened the door for them to come in. But Kurama stopped to his tracks the moment he glanced at the girl who was clearing up the writings on the chalk board. Even though he could only see the back view of that girl, he already knew who it was.
"I guess that must be her," Kaitou suddenly whispered that inwardly startled him. He just nodded as a response to that.
He then continued to walk towards his seat and took his bag. And when he gazed at her, he felt his world and everything around him to suddenly stopped moving. He could see her stoic face yet her eyes were telling otherwise.
Surprise, guilt, pain and a hint of regret were some of the emotions that he saw in her eyes. If he could compare it to the ones he saw on day he first met her, her hidden emotions began to surface in her eyes now that made it lost its sparkle. Before, he couldn't even read what was her eyes in any way. After he learned a part of her past from Yumi, now he had definitely understood most of the things that was currently going on.
He wanted to approach her but for some reasons, he couldn't. Then he saw Riya avoided his stares and walked towards him. And without looking at him, she passed by and took her bag. He somehow felt a stinging pain in his chest when she did that. Even though he was a little expectant that she would do that, he couldn't deny that he was hurt.
Little did he knew that Kaitou somehow felt that pain inside of him. And that's when the bespectacled man approached him.
"Better try to do something to get close to her if you really want to protect her like what that Yumi person asked you to do." And after that, Kaitou left the room ahead of Riya.
He's right, Kurama thought the moment Kaitou's words sank into his mind. This is what I've promised to Yumi after I decided that. I have to keep my part of the bargain since I agreed to protect Riya in her place. Yumi and I might be enemies as of now but we share a common goal—and that is to protect the girl we're trying not to be involved in the danger that our mission could impose to her.
With that thought in mind, he turned around to look at Riya who was about to open the door.
"Riya, can we please talk… even just for a while?" he asked in a hopeful tone.
He saw her hand froze in mid-air just near the doorknob since she was about to open the door when he spoke.
Please… Give me a chance to get close to you, Riya… he somewhat pleaded in his thoughts before he saw the girl faced him with a serious expression etched on her face.
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