[FFML] [fic][yyh] Shonen Chapter 24: Nemesis (Part 1)

[Abdiel]

"What was the start of all this? When did the cogs of fate begin to
turn? Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now, from deep
within the flow of time... but, for a certainty, back then, we loved so
many, yet hated so much. We hurt others and were hurt ourselves... yet
even then we ran like the wind whilst our laughter echoed, under
cerulean skies." 

(Chrono Cross Game Intro)


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Shonen
A Yuyu Hakusho fic
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel 
http://abdiel.florestica.com/
http://chester-fanfics.livejournal.com/

Shuichi Minamino's heartbreaking good-bye.

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Chapter 24: Nemesis (Part 1)
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Hesitating ever so briefly, Kurama asked with a certain degree of
resignation in his voice, "How do I get out of here, Chiho-san?"

"The silver pendant on your neck: Wish upon it with all your heart, and
it'll take you where you want to go the most," Chiho instructed, then,
after seeing the look Kurama gave her, added, "I'm completely serious,
Minamino-sama! The pendant acts just like the silver slippers in the
original story. It's your only ticket out of here."

But Chiho misunderstood Kurama's reaction. He wasn't being skeptical, he
was merely shocked by what she knew. The redhead shook his head to clear
it and grabbed hold of the silver pendant around his neck. "How did you
know about Kuronue's pendant?"

"Let's just say a little bird told me. Now make use of that damn pendant
already and leave. You don't have much time left," Chiho hurriedly
beckoned before she ran out of breath. She winced, gasped, and gritted
her teeth: Even though everything was supposed to be a dream, the pain
she was currently feeling seemed frighteningly real.

Despite feeling a bit juvenile and ridiculous, Kurama did what the
dying Witch told him to do and tightly clutched Kuronue's most precious
treasure with both of his hands. Wishing with all his might, he let his
heart wander and his emotions run free. He knew where he wanted to go
and where his heart truly belonged.

The fox spirit thought of where he wanted to go the most and, by doing
so, caught sight of a fleeting and curious vision of a middle-aged woman
lying prone on a hospital bed. 'I want to go there. Please, take me
there. Let my will be done.'

A surging torrent of glowing plasma seared through the inky shadows,
piercing Kurama and exploding in a brilliant sphere of light that nearly 
blindsided him as it bounced back and splashed all over his astral body. 
Covering his eyes with an arm, he braced himself and waited for the
light to fade.

But it didn't fade. Instead, he felt himself soar higher and higher
above the black and empty space. He was picking up speed now. He glowed,
almost too brilliantly to look at. He flared with light as he pierced
through the dark nothingness. He became the sun, the source of all
light, a wisp of eternity. The shadows parted, and he splendidly
ascended into the unknown.

As Kuwabara and Yusuke stood and stared in slack-jawed wonder at the
multicolored spectacle before them, Ayame looked uncertainly at Chiho,
her lips pursed and her puffy eyes downtrodden. The ever-resilient Ice
Queen blew her worried friend a mischievous kiss and reassured, "Don't
worry about me, Aya-chan. I'll be all right. I'll see you tomorrow.
Let's do lunch, okay?"

Her eyes glimmering, Ayame chuckled and nodded her consent to Chiho's
proposal. Afterwards, with just the slightest bit of hesitation, she
turned towards the glowing form of Kurama's evanescent body and pleaded,
"Wait! Shuichi-kun! Kurama-kun! Shu-chan! Please, take me with you!" But
it was too late. 

"Good-bye, Minamino-sama. Good-bye," Chiho Sasae, the Representative of
Summertime, declared. Half-mad with heartache and pain, the Ice Queen of
Meiou High alternately laughed and cried before her body melted into a
puddle of human amniotic fluid. Fang's trident fell on an unseen surface
and shattered like glass soon after.

The half-youko flared with light as he pierced through the dark
nothingness. He became a star; he became a supernova. The shadows
parted, and he gloriously ascended into the unknown.

The pulsating second pillar of light eventually exploded, its gleaming
fragments as numerous as the stars found in the entire universe. Kurama
didn't even have the chance to see what happened to Yusuke, Kuwabara, or
Ayame as the pendant's power pulled his transcendent soul into the one
place he longed for the most.

Henceforth, summertime ended, and autumn was about to commence.


***


Kurama's eyes flew wide open, but his body felt like lead; fright,
alarm, and a whole other menagerie of feelings and emotions engulfing
him as he woke up from his weird--for lack of a better, descriptive
term--dream.

His heart pounded feverishly in his breast, his pulse racing like a
demented dervish, but it eventually slowed as he willed himself to
relax. He afterwards blinked and laughed at the ridiculousness of his
musings. He hadn't woken up _from_ his dream, he'd simply 'woken' into a
new and completely different dream. His quest was not yet over, after
all: Asuka Matsui still needed to be reborn as Shuichi Minamino. 'I just
need a little more time, that's all.'

Kurama smiled wryly at the thought; 'Just how much more time do I need
exactly?' he inwardly chided as he dusted the glittering remnants of the
second pillar of light off of himself and idly took stock of his current
whereabouts. 'Maybe Yusuke's right. Maybe I do beat around the bush far
too much. Perhaps I really am just wasting what's left of my time here
in the Dream World, pursuing frivolous good-byes.' 

The demonic fox spirit let out a cathartic breath to further calm his
frayed nerves and palpitating heart. 'But, quite frankly, I wouldn't
have it any other way.'

He eventually realized that he was, at the moment, acutely aware of
every sensation that touched his body, tactile or otherwise. He could
feel the coolness of the air draping over his face, the sweat even
cooler on his forehead. The grassy ground he was lying on felt rough,
rigid, sharp, and pointed, scratching the back of his pants and causing
a minor irritation at the center of his back. 

He also noticed that he wasn't topless anymore, much to his relief;
moreover, during the time it took for him to travel from one dream to
another, his standard Meiou High School uniform somehow managed to
revert itself to its original, pristine state. Also, the jade glasses he
wore back in Chiho Sasae's version of Oz had peculiarly disappeared
along with its enigmatic 'creator'.

Tired, confused, and in a great deal of soreness, Kurama managed to
lever himself up onto his hands and knees, and then to his feet. There
was a little light reflecting from the glass windows high in the east
wall of a nearby building. The sun was just rising, he realized. Where
exactly was he? 

"Whoops!" He gulped down a wave of dizziness, reaching out to steady
himself against the back of a nearby bench. Then it passed, but he still
felt weak as he slowly moved forward, fighting off the feeling of dread
that kept threatening to engulf him.

The light, slowly growing, revealed things that answered most of the
kitsune's questions yet gave birth to new ones. Nodding to himself, he
proceeded to meticulously survey his new surroundings, taking particular
note of the mushroom-infested trees, the algae-covered garden gnomes,
the bench he was currently leaning on, the carefully-trimmed hedges, and
the manicured lawns.