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Shonen
A Yuyu Hakusho fic
By Chester Casta�eda
gab_ab@edsamail.com.ph
http://www.geocities.com/gabriel_abdiel/fanfiction.htm
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=814171
http://rakhal.com/florestica/abdiel 
http://www.geocities.com/ex_fuk/shonen 

The Death card in tarot could either be interpreted as 
finality or change. Or both.

A few more notes before proceeding:

< > indicates character thoughts
" " indicates character speech


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Chapter 17: Death (Part 3)
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     Kurama dazedly gazed at Yoshitaka Tetsuma in astonishment as he
reiterated the undead being's words.

     "Reikai Hunter?" The half-youko ghost looked livid in disbelief. He
couldn't believe his ears. "That can't be right! That's ridiculous!"
 
     "Is it really that ridiculous? It's certainly more believable than
a continuous string of unlikely coincidences. I was the one who hunted
you down almost twenty years ago. I was the one who forced you to seek
refuge in a human's body because of the mortal wound I gave you."

     Kurama persisted, demanding, "But how could you be...?"

     "How could I not be, kitsune?" A thought occurred to Tetsuma. "The
koorime recently asked me why I kept calling him a koorime. To be quite
frank, I found it foolish to call him otherwise. Do you know why I call
you 'kitsune'?"

     Kurama could only stare at Tetsuma in bafflement. 

     "It's because that's how I first saw you when I hunted you down...
As a fox. As a white-furred, many-tailed..."

     "That's enough, Yoshitaka-kun. That's... enough."
 
     After much hesitation, Kurama finally relented. His possession of
Shuichi Minamino's body, Tetsuma's real identity, even his youko self's
desperate attempts at a glorious suicide were not mutually exclusive 
occurrences. Events were too intertwined and consistent to each other to
be mere coincidence. Everything was making too much sense; he couldn't
deny these allegations any longer.

     Tetsuma could only nod as realization dawned in Kurama's eyes. "In 
hindsight, you really did deserve your legendary reputation. Absolutely
no one can ever catch you unless you allow them to."

     "But you did catch me... shot me, and nearly killed me, even. So I
probably allowed you to catch me, didn't I?" Kurama reckoned.

     Enma Daio could never find, much less catch, Youko Kurama on his
own, so he instead decided to persuade the demon fox to voluntarily come
to him. He issued the youko a challenge, daring him to confront and
defeat the infamous "Reikai Hunter", one of his personal 'problem
solvers', in a duel to the death in the Human World, a neutral ground
where supposedly neither of the two factions had the advantage. He
challenged him to walk into his obvious trap and then walk out of it
alive. 

     Who was he, the legendary Youko Kurama, to pass up such a
challenge?

     "Enma Daio always said that pride was one of the things that
separated man from beast and united humans and demons," Tetsuma
recounted. "I guess what he said is true."

     In order for the youko to enter the Human World despite the Spirit
World's Dimensional Barrier, he had to transform himself into a low-
level kitsune... and Enma Daio knew this. The Lord of the Dead had set
his trap even from the very beginning. 

     Still, the risk didn't bother Kurama in the least. He always did
love a challenge. For him, it was just another adventure, much like his
countless treasure hunts in the past. He could have accepted the
Reikai's challenge on a whim, but there was more at stake than his
capriciousness.

     Researching extensively on Kurama's past, Enma Daio used his
various networks to retrieve an item most dear to the former Makai
thief.

     <Kuronue's pendant.> If Kurama had said the words, he would have
acerbically hissed them. The stakes were raised; if ever Youko Kurama
won against the Reikai Hunter, he would then be awarded Kuronue's
pendant as a grand prize of sorts. Enma Daio was truly relentless... In
case he couldn't appeal to the youko's pride, he wouldn't hesitate to
manipulate him through his guilt.

     From there, Kurama fully recalled the events that transpired that
fateful night. He winced at the memory.

     <Oh, how you mischievously jeered at the lowly human hunter who
mistook you for an ordinary beast.> Kurama berated his youko self as a
flood of memories washed away the haze in his mind.

     The hunter apparently got lost in the fringes of Makai territory
just as Kurama was about to enter the gates of the Dimensional Barrier.
Occurrences like this were neither uncommon nor rare. At the time, there
were roughly one hundred and twenty million humans living in the Demon
World. They were bartered, traded and consumed like cattle; they were
also forced into hard labor. They, along with weak, C-level demons, made
up the slave class of Makai.

     The hunter followed the transformed kitsune all the way into the
Human World. In retrospect, it seemed that Kurama actually did the lost
human a favor; a wild goose chase was certainly a preferable fate to
slavery and peonage. The red-haired ghost sighed at the irony of it all.
<You just couldn't help yourself, could you?>

     "But the hunter wasn't the only one mistaken at the time," Tetsuma
said. "You weren't being hunted by an ordinary hunter either."

     Kurama took a deep and reflexive breath as he visibly tried to
compose himself. Finally, he was able to solve the puzzle that had
plagued his existence as of late. "In the middle of his hunt, you
possessed the body of the unwitting hunter in the same way you possessed
Kuwabara-kun's body. You then imbued the bullets in his gun with your
spectral void's power. I should have known. Everything was done
according to your modus operandi. The whole setup had your name written
all over it."

     Tetsuma tacitly replied affirmative with a simple nod.

     After a contemplative pause, Kurama asked, "Why did you hunt me
down, Yoshitaka-kun?"

     "Because Enma Daio ordered me to."

     "Why did Enma Daio want me dead?"

     "Enma Daio didn't want you dead. He wanted you to remain in the
Human World."

     The cogs and wheels inside Kurama's head started to turn as other
pieces of the puzzle quickly fell into place. After Tetsuma's ambush,
Kurama lost the ability to go back to his full youko form. In his
weakened state, returning to the Demon World meant certain death in the
hands of several hundred predators and higher-echelon demons. He had no
choice but to stay in the Human World in his fox spirit form... just as
Enma Daio planned.

     "Let me guess," the kitsune said, snorting humorlessly, "The
obsessive-compulsive Enma Daio wanted to bring about balance to his
precious 'Natural Order' by bringing me into the Human World."

     The half-youko shook his head in disgust. "And once I 'wreaked
havoc' upon the weak and defenseless humans as revenge for being
marooned in the Human World, either his Reikai Defense Team or Koenma's
Reikai Tantei will spring into action and clean up the mess he made in
the first place, all for the good name and glory of the Spirit World." 

     <So I got into this mess all because of celestial politics? By
Inari.> Kurama again heaved a doleful sigh. "But you know what's ironic?
That out of all the humans I could have possessed, I chose Matsui
Asuka's reincarnated body. Isn't that a strange coincidence?"

     "There is no such thing as coincidence once the Spirit World is
involved... or when you are involved. Most especially when the both of
you are involved."

     Kurama looked at Tetsuma in bewilderment. <Is he accusing me of
something?> To the shadow man, he asked, "What are you suggesting?"

     "You didn't exact your revenge as Enma Daio had planned... Did you, 
kitsune?"

     Kurama fell silent over Tetsuma's contention. <He didn't answer my 
question.> "I had other intentions at the time. I was more concerned
about my survival than anything else. I was not interested in finding
out who did this to me or who the mysterious 'hunter' was. My plan was
simple... I will remain in Minamino Shuichi's body up until the time I
regained my youko powers. After which, I will return to the Demon World, 
resuming the life I once led."

     "I find that very odd," Tetsuma admitted, wincing a bit as his
brittle shell of a body gradually fell apart, piece by piece. His time
was running out.

     <Just a little bit longer.>

     "Aren't you disturbed by the fact?" Tetsuma asked as he caught up
with his nonexistent breath. "Youko Kurama, the cruel youko thief who 
masterminded the plot to kill his disobedient underling Yomi, did not
seek revenge over Enma Daio's trickery? That does not sound like Youko
Kurama at all."

     Again, there was silence. A piece of the puzzle was missing.

     Kurama's mind went back to the later parts of his discussion with
Tetsuma.

     "But you know what's ironic? That out of all the humans I could
have possessed, I chose Matsui Asuka's reincarnated body. Isn't that a
strange coincidence?"

     "There is no such thing as coincidence once the Spirit World is
involved... or when you are involved."

     Then there came Kurama's epiphany.

     "I didn't exact my revenge as Enma Daio planned... but I still got
it." He gingerly stroked the ethereal bangs of Shuichi Minamino's
scarlet hair in understanding. "I definitely got my revenge."




***




     Nearly twenty years ago...

     Youko Kurama's cold anger compelled him to move on despite his
current condition. This wasn't over. Not yet. 

     <Reikai...>

     He didn't think that the Spirit World would stoop so low as to
attack his fox spirit form in such a treacherous manner. Apparently,
he overestimated their so-called righteousness. They weren't as holy an
organization as they would let on.

     <The Reikai Hunter...>

     For nearly a week, he had endured the torture of possessing body
after body of many an unwitting human in a half-hour interval. It was a
taxing endeavor to switch bodies forty-eight times a day, but he
persevered. His pride demanded vengeance.

     <The Reikai Hunter must pay. And I know how.>

     Youko Kurama knew of a way to exact his retribution on the Reikai
Hunter. Minutes after the youko's defeat, Enma Daio telepathically
spoke to his prized shinigami, congratulating him on a job well done. By 
intercepting the psychic message, Kurama overheard everything he needed
to know.

     <Well done. You are now free. Now here's my part of the bargain...
Her name is Minamino Shuichi,> Enma Daio had mentally declared.

     On one hand, all Kurama had was a name that may or may not be of
great significance to the creature who nearly killed him. On the other
hand, he had worked with less information during his many heists as the 
legendary youko thief of Makai, yet he still managed to get the job
done.

     The youko had but one objective... Find Shuichi Minamino. <Once I
find her, I will also find him. Then I will have my revenge.>

     And find her he did. One advantage of switching bodies every thirty
minutes was that he could cover a lot of ground in so little time.
Jumping from body to body, he looked up census records in several
district offices, scoured every last phonebook and residency listing he
could get his hands on, and basically stalked every last member of the
Minamino family. Most of his searches were ultimately futile, but by the
virtue of the process of elimination, every dead end led him closer and
closer to Shuichi Minamino.

     It was already late in the evening... and the body he was currently 
occupying was the thirty-ninth one for the day. Nevertheless, he was
relentless. He would leave no stone unturned. Eyebrows furrowed, he
gingerly leafed through the logbook of the receptionist he had just
possessed. His borrowed body's eyes became mere slits as he squinted at
the barely legible characters.

     <Minamino... Shuichi?>

     He read the characters again and shook his head. 

     <No, it's Shiori. Minamino Shiori.> He contemplatively paused.
Afterwards, he shrugged. <Close enough,> he thought just as he prepared
to leave his host's body to hunt for his latest quarry.




***




     After a long and arduous search, Yoshitaka Tetsuma finally found
her.

     All Enma Daio gave him was a name, but that was enough. In the same
way he determinedly searched for Youko Kurama to the ends of the three
worlds after only hearing his name, so would he to his precious Asuka's
reincarnated self.

     Shuichi Minamino.

     Even though she was conceived just a few days back, she already
had her name listed in the Book of Fate eons ago. Everything was going
according to Enma Daio's predictions save for one thing... Shuichi
Minamino's soulless rebirth.

     By the time Tetsuma extracted Asuka's soul from his voracious void
six hundred years ago, it was already too late. Half of Asuka's life
force was already gone. She had become a half-soul, just like him. 

     He couldn't do anything about it in any case. A half-soul such as
he possessed no will of his own. That was the reason why he was bound
to Enma Daio's bidding. He literally was a nonentity, a lifeless shell
of a man which the Lord of Death freely manipulated like a marionette.

     But still, even after six hundred years, a part of him still longed
for Asuka. That was all that was of left him and his humanity;
unfulfilled desires that could never be satisfied.

     Asuka Matsui gave the promise of tomorrow. 

     She died too soon, like the flower that she was.

     She came back for him to keep a promise.

     She was there, finally. He had waited an eternity.

     Damned was he. Salvation was she.

     She would save him from the silent screams, from agony and pain...
from the absence of agony and pain. 

     There were times when one would rather have pain than emptiness.

     She was there to give him freedom.

     Peace.

     Salvation.

     Meaning.

     Life.

     Yet, here she was, reborn. She came back. Devotion remained only to 
her. <Let me take her now or else be damned forevermore.>

     Yet what he had to do was also his damnation. It was murder for 
life. A sacrifice he couldn't bear to do before. 

     Yet there were also the killings.

     Yet there was also the emptiness.

     It was a risk he would take. Damnation was not an option.

     He was damned for so long.

     He knew of their faces. It was forever etched in his memory. 

     They were a part of him... every fiber of their beings.

     They belonged to him now.

     They screamed in horror... silent screams. The silence was 
deafening to him. 

     The screams remained. The silence remained. 

     The emptiness ate his whole being... if he was still considered a 
being, and not some tool of mass destruction. 

     He looked down from his perch on the branch of a cherry tree just
as the mother of the most important person of his existence strolled
outside of her apartment to get some fresh air. 

     He stared straight into the womb of the young woman and breathed a 
breathless sigh... an apology.

     He was truly sorry... for his salvation and the salvation of many 
others would come at the cost of an angel's tears.

     His precious one's life was the price.

     Half of his soul combined with hers to form nothingness... one
negating the other like two equal values of the same equation. It was
the only way he could be saved from his never-ending nightmare, but it
was also Asuka's damnation. In order for his parasitic soul to finally
rest in peace, he would have to sacrifice the remnants of his precious
one's self.

     He longed to end his suffering, to silence the echoes of the ghosts
that he had terminated in the name of the Spirit World, but he did not
want his salvation at the cost of Asuka's very existence.

     If only there was another way.

     Asuka Matsui was about to be reborn as Shuichi Minamino... and just
as quickly, she would die as Shuichi Minamino. Tetsuma had to make his
choice soon, before her soul returned to limbo.

     <I made a gamble, and it paid off. So your precious Minamino
Shuichi is actually this woman's unborn child. How convenient.>

     Tetsuma was taken aback by the last statement. The voice he heard
in his head was not his own. <Kitsune.>

     <Close. Guess again.>

     Tetsuma didn't have time for Youko Kurama's mind games. Wasn't
he supposed to be hiding right now, plotting his revenge on the Spirit
World in accordance to Enma Daio's grand scheme and design? <What do you
want?>

     <I want what you want... and I got it.>

     Tetsuma's eyes widened in horror and realization as he stared at
Shiori Minamino's womb for one more time.

     <You're a minute too late.>

     There was a reason why Kurama's spirit had to leap from person to
person every thirty minutes. Any longer than that and the soul of the
body he was currently occupying would naturally expel him. If he still
forced himself into the used body, he could do possible damage to its
inborn soul and to himself. No two souls could occupy the same body for
more than half an hour.

     That was, unless he inhabited the half-formed body of a recently
conceived infant. Even if the child was the reincarnation of an old
soul, he could still take control of its body without risking damage to
its intended occupant or to himself.
 
     And, thirty-one minutes ago, he did just that.

     <This is my revenge. I've stolen her from you. I've stolen your
precious Minamino Shuichi.>




***




     Kurama thought long and hard on the implications of Tetsuma's
latest revelations. <I first thought that I possessed Minamino Shuichi's
body out of the need to survive. I can't believe that I actually did it
out of spite... and that I even hid the truth from myself! Was I really
so cold-blooded, heartless and petty? Have I become so different from my
former self that I can now feel disgust over my past actions?>

     Kurama went into deeper contemplation. <I actually have a million
more questions in mind. Why didn't Yoshitaka-kun kill me outright after
I stole Minamino Shuichi's body? Whatever happened to Matsui Asuka's
shattered soul? What must I do in order for Asuka to be reborn? Even
though I've mostly freed myself from my self-induced mental
manipulations, a lot of things are still confusing to me.>
 
     "So many thoughts, so little time," Tetsuma grimly stated. "Your
mind is going a mile a minute. You of all people should be aware of why
Youko Kurama blocked those particular memories for so long."

     "Stop reading my mind."

     "I don't need to. It's written all over your face."

     "Too bad I can't say the same for you. Nothing can be written on
that poker face of yours."

     Tetsuma held his gaze at Kurama meaningfully. "Is that so? So what
now? What will you do now that you know the truth?"

     Kurama fell silent as he returned Tetsuma's gaze. "None of it
matters now. Whatever my intentions were before, they certainly aren't
the intentions I have now."

     "What is your answer, then? Is your answer the same as before or
have you changed your mind?"

     Kurama shook his head solemnly. "Though circumstances have somewhat
changed, my answer remains the same. Minamino Shuichi is still
everyone's Minamino Shuichi, so for everyone's sake, I will bring back
the true Minamino Shuichi."

     "I see. So your answer is still the same." Tetsuma said, his bleak
demeanor never changing. "It can't be helped, since you don't like
simple answers. You're far too complicated for that."

     Kurama blinked his leafy-green eyes at Tetsuma's strangely familiar 
response as he suppressed the surge of nostalgia in him. "I'm no more 
complicated than you, Yoshitaka-kun."

     <What game is he playing?> the demon fox thought to himself.

     "This is not a game, kitsune," Tetsuma responded gravely. "Stop
your meandering. You already have your answer, now go forth and fulfill
it."

     "I don't know how," Kurama frankly said, flustered. "How can I
fulfill my will? I remember Asuka-san and what the youko did so that I
could forget about her. I remember that she's as important to me as she
is to you. But I don't remember ever meeting her. I don't remember how
I fell in love with her. And I also have no idea how you became my
'puppet', when in fact we should have become the most bitter of
enemies because of what I've done. Please help me remember,
Yoshitaka-kun."

     But Kurama's pleas fell on deaf ears. "You have gone through a lot
these past few months. A girl almost fell in love with you, and you to
her. Your true sexuality has been revealed to you. You even fought your
past self to avoid a glorified suicide. So much has been revealed in so
little time."

     "You say that so much has been revealed, yet here I am, confused as
ever before. What must I do now?" Kurama demanded, nearly pleaded.

     "Your will, kitsune... Thy will be done."

     "I still don't understand."

     Tetsuma's limp body slumped against an unseen wall as pieces of his
immortal shell degenerated further. "From being a merciless youko thief,
you've gradually become Matsui Asuka's reincarnation. You've slowly
assimilated her personality all these nineteen years you've lived as a
human. Her kindness, her gentleness, her sympathy and compassion for
others... These are emotions that the youko could never _ever_ feel yet
you still felt them... and lived them... as Minamino Shuichi."

     "But that's preposterous! I've stolen this body from Asuka-san!"
Kurama insisted. "She never had the chance to live. I've inhabited this
body long before her soul ever could. Besides that, no two souls could
ever exist in one body. This personality change theory of yours is too
farfetched." 

     Tetsuma's fisheyes seemed to twinkle merrily at the half-youko's
expense. "It's the miracle of your free will. You willed it to happen."
In the fox's mind, he thoughtfully added, <Your 'revenge' has turned out
to be Asuka's salvation... and mine as well.>

     Quelling his frustration and suspending his disbelief, Kurama
examined the given facts in a logical chain of analysis. He lifted all
his previous assumptions on the situation and studied it anew.
Conclusions that were once dismissed as improbable were now fair game.

     <Erase everything you know about bodily possession, ghosts and
spirits. Pretend that the thirty minute rule is not applicable in this
case. What's the most logical explanation?> After a few moments, his
eyes lit up in comprehension.

     <Can it be... soul fusion?> He skeptically shook his head. <But
that's impossible! There's no such--> Kurama cut short his train of
thought as a stray memory flickered into focus in his mind.

     During the Sensui mission, there was this one man aliased "Gourmet"
who had the ability to fuse himself with anyone he eats. He was capable 
of assimilating a person's memories, abilities, and personality by the
use of his gastronomical powers. From what Kurama remembered, Gourmet
made a grave mistake when he followed Sensui's orders to consume one
particularly malicious and despicable character.

     <Toguro Ani! Gourmet ate him, and they fused together! But wasn't
it just bodily fusion? Weren't their personalities still separate from
each other? Didn't Toguro Ani emerge only after I killed Gourmet? They
were fighting control over their fused bodies, just as two separate
souls would in a case of possession. There was no 'soul fusion' then.
That's just a myth. There's just no way two souls could ever fuse
together.> The red-haired ghost exhaled breathlessly. <Yet, seeing what
had happened to me all these nineteen years, can I still dismiss the 
possibility?>

     Another thought occurred to Kurama. <Combining half of his soul
with Asuka-san's would result in the destruction of both halves because
they'd cancel each the other out... That _was_ Yoshitaka-kun's original
plan, before I came and ruined it. His fusion with Asuka-san's half-soul
was the only way he could finally escape his fate and 'die', so to
speak. I guess half-souls, as opposed to souls, can be fused together.
But what about soul-to-half-soul fusion? Is that even possible? I
think...>

     A new piece of the puzzle fell into place. <Those bullets imbued
with Tetsuma's void... could they have done more than just weaken me?>
Eyebrows furrowed, Kurama mused, <Could it be possible that I myself
became a wandering half-soul nearly twenty years ago? Then that
means...!>

     Suddenly, 'soul fusion' didn't seem so ridiculous a concept to
Kurama. Nonetheless, he felt that something was amiss with his theory.
<If, for the sake of argument, I _did_ fuse with Asuka-san's soul, then
why didn't I cease to exist like in the case of Tetsuma's planned
fusion? Or rather, why would Tetsuma and Asuka's fusion result in the 
termination of both their existences?> He afterwards considered the fact
that Tetsuma's soul was a self-consuming and voracious spirit void.

     Though soul fusion and spirit voids were unheard of in all the
three worlds, half-souls were not. Half-souls were classified by the
Spirit World as injured ghosts on the brink of extinction. Generally,
they came from the spoils of soul-eaters reminiscent of Gouki, Kurama's
former partner-in-crime. The Reikai usually sent these 'half-eaten'
spirits to limbo, as in the case of Asuka Matsui. But Yoshitaka Tetsuma
was no ordinary half-soul, as evidenced by his deathly presence and
total lack of ki energy. He was never sent to limbo, though he did
suffer his own special kind of limbo in the hands of Enma Daio.

     <In other words, Tetsuma and I possess two very different cases of
soul fusion, and the existence of half-souls is actually an ordinary,
everyday occurrence.>

     Kurama currently had three facts at hand; half-souls could be fused 
together, his debilitated fox spirit could've become a half-soul because
of what the infamous Reikai Hunter did to him, and Tetsuma's leechlike
ghost was far different from any 'normal' half-soul he had ever seen.

     <So what would happen if two 'normal' half-souls fused together?>
As far as Kurama knew, such an event never happened, but it wasn't
entirely improbable. If, against all odds, Kurama's spirit was shattered
in exact proportion to Asuka's, then it was more than just a
probability. The odds of that happening were astronomical, but at this
point Kurama would believe anything. <Such is the power of free will,
ne? Yoshitaka-kun?>

     Half of his soul combined with Asuka's to form a whole; it actually
made perfect sense... far more sense than Tetsuma's suicidal union with
his former lover.

     Kurama's emerald eyes sparkled in realization. Soul fusion was
quite possible. He had firsthand experience of the fact.

     "I understand now. I didn't just steal Asuka-san's body. I also
stole her shattered soul. That's why you couldn't bring yourself to kill
me at the time. I unknowingly finished what you've started."

     "No. It was merely fate. Fate has chosen you to right the wrongs
that I've done. By giving back her simple destiny, Asuka can finally
realize her dreams."

     "What are you saying, Yoshitaka-kun?"

     "Fate and dreams are alike. They set you on a path, a goal; they
give you purpose in life. But they can also become traps. You could use
fate as an excuse to not do anything, since everything is already
predestined for you. So are dreams... Living in a dream world provides you an escape from reality, so you don't have to deal with real life
issues and drama."

     Once again, Kurama's senses were engulfed with wistful nostalgia.
<Have I heard these words before? Why do they sound so familiar? When
and where did I first hear them?>

     "But fate can only take you so far," Tetsuma continued. "In the end
it's your choice and judgment that will ultimately decide your destiny.
And it's the same with dreams." His lips slightly curved upward, the
former shinigami said, "Thank you for making Asuka's dreams your own.
Thank you for living her dreams."

     For what seemed like an eternity, Kurama's words were left frozen
in his half-opened mouth. They eventually thawed out and melted.

     "Was that... Was that what I've been doing all this time? 'Living'
her dreams?"

     Greeted by Tetsuma's morose silence, Kurama was left to ponder his
thoughts in evident solitude. The recently deceased half-youko was
obliged to make a great mental effort without any assistance.




***




     Kuwabara was completely prepared to cut and rend Yusuke apart
before he could fire just one shot of his Rei-Gan-'You-Gan' combination
attack. In case a shot was able to get through regardless, it would
first have to go through the whirling motions of his Jigen Tou. And, as
a final measure in the worst case scenario, he could always depend on
the Mugen Tou's energy absorption properties to save him. His safety was
practically guaranteed.

     As his motions finally hit Yusuke, the grinded earth swallowing the
half-demon whole, overpowering feelings of uncertain celebration filled 
Kuwabara. Had he done it? Was he finally able to best Yusuke Urameshi in
one-on-one combat? He wasn't about to take any chances in any case,
continuing his phenomenal offensive.

     He abruptly stopped. <No. It's too early. This isn't enough to 
beat Urameshi.> His eyes widened as he wildly looked up at the overcast
skies.

     There he was, high up in the heavens... bloodied, exhausted yet
determined.

     "URAMESHI!"

     Descending like a gigantic streaking comet from outer space came
Yusuke's fully charged Rei-Gan.

     Pooling all his resources on his defensive parry, Kazuma Kuwabara
hit the sphere of energy in full force with the Mugen Tou. Slowly but
surely, the concentrated spirit ball shrunk in size as the black sword
dispersed the incursion's superfluous amount of ghostly energy.

     Kuwabara could not catch sight of where Yusuke landed because of
the intense glare of the glowing projectile. He was about to use the
Jigen Tou to completely dissipate the energy shot when he remembered
something very important.

     <Yusuke's charging two of his pointer fingers, one with reiki, the
other with youki. I'm only parrying one Rei-Gan. That means...!>

     Kuwabara glanced towards his back in terror and doubt. Ten meters
away, descending head first towards the ground was an upside-down
Yusuke, firing his last You-Gan. 

     His reflexes flaring up in time, Kuwabara repeatedly hit the
approaching demonic spirit ball with his Jigen Tou. By the time it
reached him, the You-Gan was reduced to about three-quarters its
original size.

     Nevertheless, Kuwabara awoke to a shocking realization. He was now 
sandwiched between two massive spheres of pure death.

     But death was the furthest thing from Kuwabara's mind. <This is
Urameshi's all-or-nothing attack. He poured his whole heart and soul
into these two blasts. I won't give him anything less than my full
effort and more!>

     As Samson had prayed for one last burst of strength during his time
of great need, so did Kuwabara. Even with the difference of culture and
religion, the amount of faith they poured into their prayer was about
the same. Adrenalin pumping like hot magma in his veins, the
rambunctious teenager ferociously pushed against the orbs of spiritual
fire that threatened to crush him like a gnat and burn him like a moth.




***




     After much contemplation, Kurama's faint whimsy was finally
overwhelmed by the torrent of remembrance. His recollections were filled
with images of people from both the distant and recent past. Shigeru.
Midori. Chiho. Ayame. Maya. Kaito. Keiko. Yusuke. Kuwabara. Hiei.
His youko self. His mother.

     Just who was Shuichi Minamino to them?

     More memories came flooding into Kurama's mind, some his own and
some not his own, all originating from the dreams he had shared with the
many people of his human life.

     <I'm inside their dreams... all their dreams. I'm replaying their
memories in my mind. I'm seeing the same view over and over again.>

     It was really silly of Shigeru Amano... the biggest fool... to
think that Minamino was his friend. He was such a fool indeed to look up
to someone who didn't even give a damn about him and his personal
affairs. It was foolish of him to think that he was friends with this
metaphor, this archetype, this unreachable ideal which he was never
close with in the first place. That was who Minamino was to Shigeru...
not a person, but the idealistic concept of one.

     <I couldn't blame Shigeru-kun for thinking that way. Once upon a
time I too saw Minamino Shuichi as an archetype instead of a person.>
      Shigeru always felt that even though he knew of Minamino, he could
never really know the true Minamino... as if _that_ concept was far
beyond the grasp of his mind. He was but a mere outsider in Minamino's
World.

     <But I myself didn't know who I was... up until now, even. I'm the
outsider in your world.>

     "The Ice Queen... her pawns... the White Emperor... the girl of 
dreams... the mass of lemmings... the boy of reflection... It's as if
they came from another age, another time, another world," Midori Ohya
had said to Youko Kurama in the Janen Ju-induced dream in her mind. 

     <These are Midori-san's nicknames for everyone at Meiou High. The
Ice Queen is Sasae Chiho, while all the members of the Fashion Club are
her pawns. The White Emperor is Principal Sasae. The girl of dreams is
Ayame-san. The mass of lemmings is the "Legion of Minamino-sama".
Finally, the boy of reflection is... me. And I now know why Midori-san
calls me that... because even now, I'm still uncovering the many
reflections and faces of Minamino Shuichi.> 

     It was tough work, but somehow Chiho Sasae was able to organize
everything and everyone within the Legion of Minamino-sama, making them
a formidable force to be reckoned with indeed. There were times when
Chiho wondered if the Legion was even bigger than Minamino himself...
bigger than the very reason for the club's existence.

     <Chiho-san and the Legion's opinions of me are both half-truths and
half-presumptions. The Minamino that they're devoted to is a larger-
than-life caricature of me. Just how do I separate fact from
exaggeration? What am I supposed to realize?>

     "Fate and dreams are alike. They set you on a path, a goal; they
give you purpose in life. But they can also become traps. You could use
fate as an excuse to not do anything, since everything is already
predestined for you. So are dreams... Living in a dream world provides
you an escape from reality, so you don't have to deal with real life
issues and drama," Ayame had said after she finally worked up the
courage to confess to Kurama her true feelings.

     <So these words that Yoshitaka-kun said aren't his at all... but
they aren't Ayame-san's words either. She borrowed them from me. These
are my words. This is how I see fate and dreams.>

     "I'm happy being what I am now... an image in your mind... because
I'm glad that somehow, you've let me in your heart. This is enough," the
Maya in Kurama's mind stated. "I'm happy that when you made this dream
your own, I became a part of it. I'm more than glad to be a part of your
dreams, Shuichi-san. Never forget that."

     <Is this how I made Asuka-san's dreams my own? Was it the same way
I made Maya-san a part of my dreams?>

     <Who was this 'Kurama' person anyway?> Kaito remembered asking this 
question over and over again in his mind and to others involved ever
since Genkai revealed to him his rival's true past. <Demon plants and
demon foxes aside, what are the base components of this person who has
three identities altogether: the youko, the human and the person in
between?>

     <Ever since this whole dilemma began, I've been asking myself the
same question. It's my unending identity crisis.>
      Kaito smirked. <Why should it matter? A rival is a rival... It's 
quite apparent what choice he has made and who he's going to be. It is 
Minamino Shuichi who is my rival. It was Minamino Shuichi whom I fought 
with in that abandoned house during those weird times... Minamino 
Shuichi is my rival, now and forever.>

     <It would seem that Kaito knows me better than I know myself.>

     "Kurama-san can only be Kurama-san," Keiko had earnestly said one
fateful springtime night when she and Kurama cleared up several
misunderstandings. "Kurama-san can never, ever hurt the people he cares
about the most. He never has any selfish reasons behind his motives.
That's because Kurama-san is nice."

     <That's the exact opposite of who Youko Kurama is. I was never like
that as Youko Kurama. What happened? What changed?>

     "I believe that the first thing you'd answer to a question with no 
hesitation whatsoever is your true answer," Yusuke had said to Kurama
the day after he dreamed his strange dream about Hiei. 

     <The kind of questions I've been asking myself lately has no ready
answers, Yusuke.> 

     "So... your answer is still the same, Kurama," Yusuke said
passionately, pointing at the kitsune with equal fervor. "But you don't 
seem to like simple answers, since you're such a complicated guy to 
begin with." 

     <But from all my complicated answers comes even more questions.
Nevertheless, what Yusuke said about me being complicated is very true.
I still couldn't figure myself out.>

     "I don't get it, Kurama... You're a good-looking fellow... a pretty
boy, in fact," Kuwabara said, scratching the back of his head to 
illustrate his confusion. "But all indications just lead to one 
conclusion... with the way you can relate with girls and can't relate 
with boys, the answer should be pretty obvious." 

     <Kuwabara was only half-right. Neither boy nor girl could ever
understand me. I was a youko trapped inside a human body, an outsider
from the very beginning. But perhaps the answer is obvious. I just have
to look deep inside myself to find it.>

     Whoever he was at the moment... whether Kurama, Youko Kurama or
Shuichi Minamino... his fighting technique remained the same, so it made
no difference to Jaganshi Hiei what Kurama currently called himself. 

     <Perhaps I should go with Hiei's logic. It does make things simpler
and easier to understand.>

     <Being a self-righteous martyr is no way to live your life. Regret
doesn't make up for lost moments. You've got to savor each precious
second... until the very end,> Hiei mused just as he prepared himself to
fight Kurama's youko self.

     <But I am savoring each precious second, Hiei. As you have lived a
full life with no regrets, so have I. I'm beginning to understand what I
must do. Something must now end in order for something else to begin.>

     "Well then... I have this to say. If you still think that you are
me and I am you, then you will see and understand the tragedy your
decision has made of your life," Youko Kurama had said to his half-youko
counterpart during one of their many face-offs.

     <The question is... am I still you? I still don't see the tragedy
of living my life as a human. And the more I think about it, the more
convinced I am that I've truly changed. Though you're definitely a part
me, you are not me. Not anymore. I already bid farewell to my past.>

     <Sometimes I want him to be naughty. I want him to have fun... to
dirty his clothes once in a while and to play in the dirt once in a
while,> Kurama's 'mother' had wistfully contemplated when he was just a
little boy. <He should talk more. He should talk about 'boy' things
like lizards, tops and slingshots. He should be more curious of his 
surroundings. All the other kids keep away from him, and it worries me.
I love him so much, but still...>

     <I might have not been the typical child... but even so, do you
like what I've turned out to be, kaasan? Do you like the Minamino
Shuichi that I've become? Because...>

     As Kurama's train of thought progressed, one very familiar
childhood memory entered the scarlet-haired ghost's mind. It contained
the image of a young Shuichi Minamino sitting on a branch of a tree
while a delightful squall of cherry blossoms surrounded him. His mother
was smiling blissfully at him, her arms wide open as she ushered him
down from his perch. It was a simple memory, but it had a significant
impact in his life.

     <...Because it seemed that you did. Well, I'd like to think that
you did. I'm fairly sure that you do love Minamino Shuichi. No, you
certainly do, no doubt about it. Don't worry, kaasan. I'll bring your
_real_ child back. The true Minamino Shuichi will soon return, just you
wait and see.>

     Since that momentous day in spring, Kurama vowed that he will
become the best Shuichi he could ever be for Shiori's sake. From that
day forth, he learned to love Shuichi Minamino as much as she did.

     "And indeed you did learn to love her. It would seem that you and
the late Tetsuma Yoshitaka have fallen in love with the same woman," 
Tetsuma mechanically said, interrupting Kurama's thoughts. 

     "I know, but I still don't understand! I know I love her, but I
don't remember how. How did I fall in love with Asuka-san? How can I
fall in love with a woman I've never met?"

     "But you have met her. Everyday, you've watched her grow and
blossom like a flower. Seeing her kindheartedness, her sweetness and her 
sympathy for others melted your cold, merciless heart. Her pure love for
her mother has moved you beyond words. From the moment you've learned to
love her, you knew that you had to protect her, no matter what. You love
her almost as much as I did, when I was still alive." 

     "But how...?" Kurama insisted.

     "Have you ever looked in a mirror? Who was the person staring back
at you?" was Tetsuma's enigmatic response.

     One final, dream-like memory came into view. It was one of
Tetsuma's memories from twenty years ago, when Kurama finally became
Shuichi Minamino.

     Half of his soul combined with hers to form nothingness... one
negating the other like two equal values of the same equation. It was
the only way he could be saved from his never-ending nightmare, but it
was also Asuka's damnation. In order for his parasitic soul to finally
rest in peace, he would have to sacrifice the remnants of his precious
one's self.

     "But you don't have to, Yoshitaka-kun. You don't have to combine
your shattered soul with Asuka-san's anymore. Because..."

     Comprehension finally dawned in Kurama's face. The puzzle was
nearly complete. "I've done your job for you. But the strangest thing
happened. Instead of damning Asuka-san and myself, I've... I've..."

     "You've become her," Tetsuma finished for Kurama. "From what I've
seen in the countless dreams you've shared with the many important
people in your human life, I've come to believe that you've unwittingly 
transformed yourself into Minamino Shuichi."

     Kurama mutely nodded as he absently stared down at the dark abyss
beneath his feet. "I don't need to become Asuka-san. I... already am
her. I already am Minamino Shuichi. I don't know how, but I've fulfilled
her chance to be reborn and lived her life for her."

     Kurama had just recently declared that Shuichi Minamino and Asuka
Matsui were one and the same. He never realized that he, along with
Minamino and Asuka, were all the same person.

     "It was Asuka-san. It was her all along that led me to become like
this. It was Asuka-san's gentleness that permeated through the cruel,
merciless shell of my former self. Then I became... different from what
I had been before. It was Minamino Shuichi whom I've fallen in love with
all this time. It was Minamino Shuichi whom I want."




***




     A nasty combination of noxious gas, musty humus and rotting corpses
was unceremoniously flung into the air as entire plots of land were
overturned. <Oh man... I hope I don't get too much bad karma for
thrashing this graveyard! If I die now, Koenma will send me to hell!
Kami-sama, please forgive--> Kuwabara reflected, but his train of
thought was prematurely interrupted by daggers of ever-increasing pain.

     In the back of Kuwabara's mind, he realized that he had bitten off
more than he could chew.

     Small gushes of blood started to spurt from all over Kuwabara's
battered frame as the intense gravitational pressure on him mounted. It
seemed that his body was about to burst by the way his veins were
pulsating and his muscles were contracting. <What the hell does it take
to beat you, Urameshi? What the fuck does it take, you mother-fucking
BASTARD?!>

     Despite his current, incapacitated state, Kuwabara could still feel
Yusuke's sharp, unblinking glare on him. It was a glare of definite
challenge that pierced through the debased boy's despair and
frustration.

     'Is that all you got?' Yusuke seemed to say through his fiery eyes.
'Are you happy with this?'

     Needless to say, Kuwabara was becoming 'royally pissed.'

     As the self-proclaimed number one delinquent of Sarayashiki Junior
High, Kazuma Kuwabara very much believed in "Fighter's Pride." For him,
a true man should keep on fighting no matter what the odds or who he
faced. Unfortunately, Yusuke Urameshi... the _reputed_ number one
delinquent of Sarayashiki Junior High... also possessed that kind of
pride.

     <But pride has nothing to do with this. Winning has nothing to do
with this. I just want to fight. I want to see how far I can go. It's
that simple,> Kuwabara concluded to himself.

     Kuwabara now knew how Yusuke felt whenever he fought. They now
shared the same reasons for fighting. For once in his life, the tall
teenager wasn't just fighting to prove his self worth. He wasn't just
fighting for revenge, or for some heroic, manly ideal. He fought because
he enjoyed it. He fought because he wanted to know the limits of his
abilities.

     "Bastard."

     Both energy spheres moved an inch away from Kuwabara as he began to
counter the powerful offensive.

     "You're always pissing me off."

     The inch widened to a foot's distance. A minute later, the massive
bursts of spiritual fire were at arm's length.

     "Mother-fucking bastard..."

     Before long, Kuwabara had regained enough leverage to strike... and
so he did, with all his strength.

     With a mighty roar of, "Mother-fucking, son of a bitch BASTARD!"
Kuwabara cleanly sliced the youki and reiki blasts into four halves,
parting them like twin Red Seas. Their demonic and spiritual ki quickly
dissipated into harmless heat and light.

     Kuwabara wasn't sure if his "tank" had enough "fuel" left in it,
but he was certain that Yusuke wasn't in such great shape either. It was
now his chance to even the odds. <I don't care how pathetic a hundred
and fifty-six wins to one win sounds. If I'm able to beat him now that
he's Class-Shit or whatever, then all those other wins won't count!
Urameshi, I'll...!>

     However, something was amiss.

     "What the fuck?!" Kuwabara yelped in surprise as a web of cracks
started to form on Chuuku's Mugen Tou. <Oi, shadow man! What's going on?
Are you all right?>

     He was only greeted by silence.




***




     Kurama stared at the severely damaged Tetsuma with a hint of worry
in his eyes. The former shinigami's body was rapidly deteriorating.
"Will you be all right? It looks like your fight with Hiei has taken its
toll on you," the recently deceased kitsune hypothesized, unaware of the 
supposed battle's final outcome. The only thing he saw before he expired
was Hiei charging at Tetsuma. 

     "The koorime wasn't the only one who did this to me. Even now, I'm
lending my powers to someone else to..."

     "Then stop it! There's no point to this anymore. I'm already dead,
right? There's no reason for you to strain yourself. You've already been
through too much. That's enough."

     "You should be more worried about your koorime friend."

     Taken aback by Tetsuma's statement, Kurama anxiously asked, "Should
I be?" expecting the worst. He was now torn between worrying about the
state of his alleged puppet's body and worrying about Hiei's own 
condition. <It must have been a fight to the death. Maybe I should have
finished you off when I had the chance, Hiei. Then I could have at least
given you your death match.>

     Tetsuma waved Kurama off in apparent reassurance, stating, "His
will is strong... but so is yours. It will be interesting to see whose
will shall prevail."

     Needless to say, Kurama felt anything but reassured. He soon found
himself pondering on the solution to the mystery that was Yoshitaka
Tetsuma. The nonentity's responses were indeed cryptic to the point of 
incomprehension. "What now, Yoshitaka-kun? What should be my next move?"

     "It's now time to fulfill your will, kitsune. At long last, it has
come to this. Everything was orchestrated according to your bidding. My
job here is nearly done."

     "What about your will? What about the things that you want? What
happens to you once I bring Minamino Shuichi back?" Kurama forthrightly
asked as he felt a cold dread gnaw at the pits of his ethereal stomach.

     Tetsuma glibly remarked, "It doesn't matter what happens me. I am a
means to an end... nothing more. Enma Daio knew this and treated me 
accordingly."

     Kurama winced at Tetsuma's words as he sadly looked away. "Don't
say that. Don't ever say that or you'll make Asuka-san very sad. You've
already sacrificed so much for her, and..."

     "Don't be sad for me. Tetsuma Yoshitaka is already dead. In fact,
who I am right now is not who I was before. I only did your bidding and
nothing more. Your sympathy is misplaced."

     Kurama shook his head and then stared into Tetsuma's violet eyes.
"I can't think of you as a means to an end, even if you are a shadow of
your former self. I never could, for Asuka's sake."

     "That's because Kurama is nice. Kurama can only be Kurama. Kurama
can never hurt the people he cares about the most. He never has any
selfish reasons behind his motives."

     "Those aren't your words. They're Keiko-san's," Kurama stated,
adding, "The words you've been using are either words I've heard in my
dreams or words I myself have said. Stop using other people's words."

     "But a puppet has no words of its own. It can only say what its
master wants it to say," Tetsuma vacuously replied.

     "Don't you dare say that I _wanted_ this to happen! You can't claim
that it's my will for you to die! Yoshitaka-kun, Asuka-san is coming
back soon. Please, just wait a little longer. I swear that I'll figure
this problem out, so--"

     Interrupting Kurama's rant, Tetsuma emotionlessly noted, "Kuwabara
Kazuma has finally pushed me to my limits. It's just as well... I can
now complete my final task."

     "Kuwabara-kun was the one you lent your powers to? Why, Yoshitaka-
kun, why? Why are you so intent on killing yourself?" Kurama demanded.

     "It's because I have your will to fulfill," Tetsuma parroted.

     "Damn my will!" Kurama exclaimed. "Is there no other way? Don't you
want to see Asuka-san again? How about following your own will?"

     "My will? My will was to destroy myself and Asuka by combining our
half-souls together. I wanted to end my suffering, even at the cost of
Asuka's last chance for a happy life. It would have been the end for
both of us. I deserve to die alone."

     "Ikanaide! Koko ni ite. Wasure naide hitori janai. Asuka-san needs
you. She needs Tetsuma Yoshitaka to welcome her back to the world of the
living. It couldn't possibly be her will to see you go, not after what
both of you had been through."

     "Tetsuma Yoshitaka is dead... 'Chuuku' is a contradiction to that.
I am an anomaly in the eyes of the Spirit World. I am not supposed to
exist. I believe it's time to rectify this abnormality."

     Kurama was reluctant to pick up the puzzle piece that was right in
front of him, but he had to face facts. He knew that Tetsuma wasn't
Tetsuma anymore. The nonentity Chuuku was a miscalculation of fate that
needs to be corrected, and Tetsuma himself knew this.

     Kurama made it his will to destroy Tetsuma because Tetsuma himself
wanted to be destroyed. Of course, Keiko Yukimura's "nice, unselfish and
gentle" Kurama was noble and gallant enough to grant his loyal puppet
this one last wish. But, as usual, the kitsune's will was divided on the
issue.

     <What little that's left of Yoshitaka-kun inside Chuuku could never
forgive himself for even _considering_ to put an end to Asuka-san's
existence; that's the real reason why he wants me to kill him the only
way he can be killed... by pure willpower. But can I? Am I merciless
enough to destroy what little that's left of him?>

     With certain conclusiveness, Tetsuma declared, "It's time."

     "NO! Don't die, Yoshitaka-kun! After all this time, you finally
have the chance to see Asuka-san again! I'm sure she'll be really happy
to see you, so don't waste this chance. Please, listen to me..."

     "Congratulations, Youko Kurama. After almost two decades, you've
finally risen to Enma Daio's challenge. You've beaten his precious
Reikai Hunter without even lifting a finger. You truly are legendary.
Here is your... prize."

     "NO! Yoshitaka-kun, don't die! YOSH'TAKA-KUN! Can you hear me?
Yosh'taka-kun? Y'TAKA-KUN! Y'taka-kun! Wake up, 'taka-kun! Taka-kun!
TAKA-KUN!" Kurama shouted out in helpless concern.

     "I can... hear it. She's... calling me by that... name. I... can...
hear her," Tetsuma disjointedly rasped to himself as the rift inside his
chest widened. His fragile, fractured self quickly degenerated,
interspersing into shards of human clay.

     "TAKA-KUN!!!"

     At long last, an unmistakable smile crept into the edges of
Tetsuma's lips. This was the happiest he had ever been in six hundred
years. "It's a call... that I've always... cherished."

     Tetsuma's withered and broken body collapsed into the spectral
void; it could no longer support the gravity of its own weight. Piece by
piece, he fell apart... his fingers, hands, feet, shoulders, arms, limbs
and head crumbled into dust, one after the other.

     He then disappeared, swallowed by his own oblivion.




***




     Yoshitaka Tetsuma's Infinity Blade suffered a fate identical to its
original owner's, shattering like fragile glass thrown into a merciless 
concrete wall. The exact same thing happened to the chain-mail armor,
its broken shards disintegrating into nothingness.

     <Chuuku...!>

     Kuwabara's shoulders limply slumped as reality struck him hard. <So
Kurama did go through with it after all. He let Chuuku die.> The carrot-
topped boy shook his head. <No... It's not Kurama's fault. It's really
my fault. I was careless. I wanted to bash Urameshi's teeth in so badly
that I strained Chuuku's powers too much. His body couldn't take it, so
it fell apart. Damn.>

     "Fuck, now that's what I'm talking about! I've been waiting forever
for this!" Yusuke said, blissfully unaware of what truly conspired after 
Kuwabara lost his borrowed abilities. "This time, come at me using
_only_ your powers, Kuwabara!"

     Pulling himself together, Kuwabara quickly realized that he still
wanted to finish his fight with Yusuke. Little else mattered to him as
of the moment. His grieving could wait. <I guess this is Chuuku's
farewell gift to make up for all the shit he put me through in granny's
dojo. Well, this is one helluva present!>

     "I only got one hit left," Kuwabara admitted, smirking.

     "Really? So do I," Yusuke confessed, guffawing. "I'm not even sure
if I can still stand after this fight, let alone breathe properly."

     "Okay. Then nobody can call foul afterwards," Kuwabara reckoned as
he readied his flickering Jigen Tou into position. "Since I can't charge
from where I'm standing because of my busted legs, it's your move."

     "Fine, 'coz your high cheek bones, flaring nostrils and ugly face
are really starting to piss me off." 

     "Is that so? Well, your uppity, devil-may-care attitude really
makes me want to clop that gelled head of yours clean off!"

     "Feh. Shut up. I can't believe you actually used faerie powers to
land a low blow on me a while ago. That's cheap, even for you!"

     Kuwabara blinked. "You're still pissed about that?"

     "Hell yeah, I'm pissed!" Yusuke spat. "I'm pissed, but I don't hate
you."

     Kuwabara toothily grinned. "Same here. Actually, I am kind of
jealous of how you live your life. You really don't take shit from
anyone, do you?"

     "Stop it! You're making me tear up," Yusuke joked, chuckling.

     "Heh. I guess the love fest ends here." Kuwabara chortled. "Because
there's something I just can't let go off. Something I can't give up."

     "That's right. I feel the same way."

     Just like in their battle with the Supreme Ruler of the Nether
World... Meikai no Ou, Yakumo... Yusuke and Kuwabara's minds soon became
one.

     "And for that, there are times when you have to fight!" the two
infamous Sarayashiki delinquents chorused.

     With that, no more words were necessary. With the swiftness of 
punches and the skillfulness of slashes amidst mutual pain and agony,
each struck their final blows.




***




To be Continued...


Next: Shuichi Minamino's final decision.

Translation notes: What Kurama meant by, "Ikanaide! Koko ni
ite. Wasure naide hitori janai," is, "Don't go! Stay here.
Don't forget that you're not alone." 

Is this a manifestation of a Yuyu Hakusho fanfic author's
tendency for writing gratuitous Japanese in his fics? Maybe,
but I have my reasons. These 'lines' were taken from the
lyrics of Maaya Sakamoto's Yubiwa (Ring) from the Escaflowne
Movie's Original Soundtrack (I love inserting anime
references ^-^).

Now why is this important? It's because Chuuku's belief in 
the "Power of Free Will' is based on one of the main themes
of the Escaflowne Movie. In other words, Tenkuu no
Escaflowne is a direct inspiration for Shonen's storyline
and many of Chuuku's motivations. 

Anyway, truth be told, this should have been the last
chapter of Shonen, but then I said to myself, "I'm not going
to end Shonen just so that I can finally start writing the
rest of Rurouni Yahiko! That's shallow! Shonen needs to end
with a bang! Star's death, crash and burn and all that!" 

Seriously, it's very important for me to end Shonen properly
to prove to myself that I can finish things that I've
started (just like Onizuka-sensei! :P), even if it is 'just
a fanfic.' I have more in store for the Shonen finale, so
just you wait and see, dear reader. :)

Oh, and congratulate me. My college thesis deliberation last
February 21, 2005 was a success! I passed! Yatta! ^___^

Note that I put in the title _Shonen_ not _Shonen-Ai_. Shonen-Ai 
(male-male relationship) and yaoi are just not my cup of tea. This 
is dedicated to Chimamire Kitsune for giving me the inspiration to 
write this fic... Wherever you are, this is for you.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) 
are the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV 
and St. Pierrot. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

Ja ne!
Abdiel

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