Hi everybody who's reading this mail. I'm posting up chapter 8 now and
special thanks to Rhionae who is willing to help me rectify through all the
mistakes in this fic. Note: This will be my last fic posting until sometime
October as my finals are coming. After all, I have already been banned from
fanfic writing until October... ^_^; Alright, please give your comments as
this is still my first and only epic so far... :) 

P/S 1:Previous chapters are posted up on my webpage. 
P/S 2: FFMLers, please send your C&Cs to me at wsiewlee@tm.net.my 'cuz I'm
not subscribed to the FFML anymore. 

Thanks. 

Siew Lee aka Azurite 

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		~~~The Past, The Present And The Future~~~

			~~~The Past - Memories~~~

		    Chapter 8 - For The Love Of A Lady

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	A gust of fierce wind blew across the hot plains of Makai; 
bringing and blowing up sand and dirt together with it. On the huge barren
field stood two groups and a castle. The atmosphere was 
tense; in the distance a bolt of lightning crackled, throwing off 
static electricity discharges. Black clouds filled the sky and 
resounding thunder echoed in their ears. 

	"Welcome! We have been waiting for you for quite some time 
now," called one of the pair, dressed in a black vest coat. The 
voice, not too loud but quite high pitched, called out. Yusuke and 
the rest looked up at him, glaring fiercely.

	Criminals weren't meant to be disparaging. 

	Koenma and the rest looked at them curiously, amazed that such 
well defined people could be two of Makai's worst criminals. The pair 
of notorious criminals who attempted to take over Makai, Reikai and 
Ningenkai at one time.

	"I'm Yamaro; and I'm Murashi," said both of them together, 
smiling. Koenma could just detect a tinge of sarcasm in their voices. 
They sounded like... they could just defeat them without lifting a 
finger... Were they so powerful? Maybe the youki of the whole 
Urameshi team was pathetic if compared to theirs'. Koenma pushed that 
thought away quickly; they must have all the confidence in them if 
they were to win this match. 

	At that time, Hiei looked on and scanned the surroundings for 
any signs of Misuko. He could see none, no sign at all. Even with his 
youkai eyes, he couldn't see anything. Calmly, he undid his head 
bandage and looked far and wide with his jagan. The jagan was very 
useful to him, but it too seeped a lot of his youki. *From an A class 
to a mere C class...* thought Hiei bitterly. 

	*Just because of Yukina,* Hiei told himself whenever he thought 
of his jagan... Alright, maybe he wouldn't be standing here fighting 
side by side with his 'friends'. In a way, the jagan served a good 
purpose. At first, the surroundings were the same to him. Slowly, he 
fed youki into the jagan. Hiei put in youki to a certain point and 
stopped. He looked again with his jagan. The greenish light emitted 
once again from his third eye. This time, his jagan showed him that 
the poor girl was strapped to a pillar on top of the castle.

	Hiei disconnected his youki from the jagan and wound a long 
piece of bandage around his head once again. The Jagan must be 
protected... Hiei edged over to Koenma and pointed out Misuko. Koenma 
narrowed his eyes, straining them. He could just barely see a figure 
dressed in blue kimono as it struggled, one of its slippers dropping 
to the ground below. 

	"So, three lords of Makai and a prince of Reikai are here. Such 
a commotion. The throne of Raizen belongs to you, right?" Yamaro 
pointed towards Yusuke as he asked the question.

	Yusuke spat on the ground and answered, "So what?"

	"You are Kurama, heir to Yomi's throne; and you are Hiei, the 
successor to Mukuro's empire," continued Murashi, as he gestured 
towards both of them.

	"If I'm not mistaken, you are Prince of Reikai. Hmmmm, good 
looking and good taste you have in Misuko. She's pretty," jeered 
Yamaro.

	Koenma seethed and yelled, "What have you done to her?"

	"Oh, nothing. Just locked her to a chair for the whole night in 
our silent, dark hall. Maybe full of rats, who knows? Oh, I nearly 
forgot, send my good wishes to your otousama the next time you see 
him; I haven't seen him in a long, long time," said Yamaro this time, 
his eyes glinting in the semi-darkness. 

	"Where is Misuko! Hand over her now and I'll not press charges 
and gave you both a heavy punishment for violating the rules of 
Reikai," yelled Koenma towards the pair. A drop of sweat was already 
rolling down his brow. This wouldn't be so easy to settle. If it was 
that simple, Enma-Daiou wouldn't have spent so much time capturing 
them... Anxiety was beginning to build up, causing his hands to 
tremble slightly... 

	"Why should we do that? We have Misuko in our hands. Free us 
now or she will not live to the next minute," answered Yamaro. He 
signaled to Murashi with his hand. Murashi gave a nod at once and 
white hot flames began sprouting from his palm. At first, the flames 
had no shape, but little by little, they consolidated into a ball. 
The fireball rose above Murashi's palm for about half a foot. There, 
the ball spun and spluttered as a gust of wind blew past, throwing 
out little sparks of flame. Slowly, Murashi controlled the fireball 
to aim at Misuko.

	"Just one hit and she is history!" said Murashi evilly. His 
fireball spluttered in rhythm with his voice.

	"Make your decision now!" shouted Yamaro, demanding an answer. 
"I'm getting impatient."

	Koenma's mind was scattered now. He couldn't think of a 
positive way to save Misuko yet keep Yamaro and Murashi locked up in 
this building. Yamaro's evil ways flashed in sequence showing the 
terrorization of Ningenkai a thousand years ago. News clips had flown 
all about Reikai, as shown in documentaries. Koenma shuddered and he 
thought how many innocent souls would be in danger.

	But... Misuko. What about her? He had waited for her for such a 
long time. He could not afford to wait for another eternity. The 
dreaded question popped into his mind once again. *Do I really love 
her?* 

	Clips of times flashed past into orderly blur way. Clips and 
clips. The time that he shared with her was an evergreen memory; one 
that he would remember forever. One question still intrigued him, was 
Misuko worth the price he was willing to pay? Was he oblivious enough 
to destroy humankind in order to save a lady he loved? He had to find 
some way, somehow. He must perceive matters clearly enough to make 
the correct choice... 

	Koenma was broken into two. Misuko or Ningenkai? Koenma buried 
his face into his palms, undecided. A life was in danger now!

	The rest of his friends just looked on. Yusuke was barely 
containing his anger while Kuwabara's face was turning from red to 
purple. Yukina and Botan stood at one side, also undecided.

	"No! We won't let villains like both of you go free. I will 
destroy you first!" shouted Kuwabara as he charged forward, powering 
up his Rei-sword in the process. The Reiki guiding him, Kuwabara 
leaped and swung the spirit sword at Yamaro. 

	Yamaro smiled and stood there, motionless. Just as the Rei-
sword was about to hit Yamaro, Kuwabara felt a shockwave wash over 
him. He blinked in surprise and immediately, a fist slammed down his 
head. Kuwabara didn't expect Yamaro to be that strong, so he toppled 
backwards and landed on the ground on his back. Kuwabara hit the 
ground and stars swam around in front of his eyes. The hit was very 
hard, about a few hundred kilograms, at least.

	"Kazuma-san!" shouted Yukina, seeing her boyfriend lying on the 
ground, still unable to stabilize himself. "Hey!" she yelled towards 
the duo. She opened her mouth and began blowing. A cold draft blew 
around and crust thin ice started to form on barren rocks. 

	"Ice dart!" screamed Yukina, a dozen darts made of ice suddenly 
appeared in her empty hand. She waved her sleeve and the darts flew 
towards Murashi and Yamaro in all possible directions.

	"Child's toy," smirked Murashi as his left hand grabbed hold 
some of the fire from the fireball and threw it at the coming darts. 
The fire melted the darts into some harmless drops of water. "Go to 
hell." Murashi produced some very minute sized spears and ignited 
them. Murashi threw these projectiles at Yukina this time. 

	"Yukina!" A male voice yelled. His breathing was ragged, his 
hair was dripping with sweat... Yukina was standing there, bolted to 
the ground. Yukina was in danger! Kuwabara's head hurt. The pain was 
agonizing... paralyzing his limbs. Yukina... Kuwabara reached out a 
weak hand. At that moment, Yukina was about to be hurt! 

	Yukina's eyes widened in shock. She was very scared of flames. 
She was just about to open her mouth to scream, when a pair of 
strong, muscular arms grabbed her and pulled her away. The spears 
missed her sparingly and hit the ground. 

	"Kazuma-san, are you alright?" asked Yukina, close to tears 
when she saw that her savior was Kuwabara. 

	"For you, everything will be alright..." said Kuwabara, stars 
still swimming in front of his eyes. He had just managed to muster 
enough strength to save Yukina when he saw the spears flying towards 
her. Somehow, a burst of power enabled him to lift himself off the 
ground and grab Yukina on the way. 

	"Thank you! Kazuma-san..." 

	"Yukina?" 

	"I'm here..."

	"If I die, please take care of yourself..." Kuwabara's voice 
growing weak. 

	"I promise... I promise... No! You won't die!" Tears were 
starting to stream down Yukina's pale face. Her lower lip trembled as 
she saw Kuwabara slowly blacking out. 

	Kurama, seeing that the situation wasn't good, he grabbed a 
tablet from his shirt pocket and swallowed it. Soon enough, mist 
enveloped him. As the mist began to blow away, a silver youko was 
seen to be standing in place of Shuiichi Minamino. Quickly, he 
conjured up a plant. 

	"Go!" he shouted. The plant dashed forward at neck-breaking 
speed. The flowers bloomed, opening mouthfuls of vicious-looking 
teeth. Glinting and razor sharp teeth. 

	The pair suddenly vanished and reappeared at the middle of the 
stem. Yamaro gathered his ki on his palm. With one swift chop, the 
trunk of the plant snapped into two. 

	Yusuke's eyes went bloodshot as he saw Kuwabara go down. Yukina 
was sobbing uncontrollably... Yusuke clenched his fists, his blood 
boiling at the sight set before him. 

	"Go to hell, you bastard!" cursed Yusuke as the point of his 
index finger glowed in response.

	Yusuke shifted his fingers to a pose of a gun, and the glow on 
his finger tip radiated even more brightly. Yusuke aimed at Yamaro.

	"Rei-Gun!" A burst of energy flew straight towards Yamaro.

	"That should be able to blast that ass-hole to the 18th floor 
of hell," thought Yusuke smugly and savagely. The energy beam as 
thick as a huge tree trunk flew straight in front of Yamaro. 

	Yusuke's eyes blinked wide open suddenly. The energy beam was 
hovering in mid-air, stopped by some type of invisible barrier 
between Yamaro and his Reiki. The energy beam just stayed there, 
frozen.

	"Hahahahahaaaaa!" Yamaro raised his palms and drew his arms 
apart. The energy beam spilt apart and disintegrated into nothing.

	"No! That's impossible! I had practiced his stance for years,  
and now it's been stopped by some wimp!" shouted Yusuke, nearly 
hysterical. Quickly, Yusuke posed his fingers for another Reiki 
attack. The fingertip began glowing brightly again and another Reiki 
missile shot out... but it was in vain... It just shot past Murashi 
without even harming a single strand of hair. 

	"Yusuke! Can you transform into your youkai form now?" asked 
Hiei, half shouting across the plains of Makai.

	"No, I can't! I need some type of trigger to launch myself into 
youkai form!" answered Yusuke dejectedly, his unexpected failure 
depressing him suddenly. *No! I must never give up!* Yusuke stood up 
again bravely and glared at the duo. Slowly, he aimed his index 
finger at Yamaro and fired again. Yusuke's hopeful glance followed 
the beam of energy... *C'mon... C'mon...* 

	No! It was rendered useless! Yamaro simply concentrated for a 
while and the energy was driven totally off course. 

	A voice boomed above them. "Quick! Make your decision now while 
I count up to three. At the count of three, your sweetheart will die, 
Son of Enma. One..."

	Koenma stood there undecided on his actions. He paced for a 
while, obviously deep in thought. The rest just looked at him. 
Waiting for his decision.

	"Two..." 

	Different emotions surged through his heart and soul at the 
same time. Guilt, responsibility, love, sorrow, conscience, just to 
name a few. Most of the time, he couldn't even recognize these 
feelings. Koenma was torn between the two alternatives; Ningenkai 
or the girl that he had waited that long... Koenma judged both 
possibilities carefully, mentally listing down the pros and cons of 
each. At last, Koenma raised up his head to look at Yamaro and 
Murashi.

	"Koenma-sama, have you reached a conclusion?" asked Botan 
softly; her boss was truly in a predicament now...  

	Koenma just kept quiet. He needed to concentrated fully. 

	"Three!"

	At the sound of three, the white-hot fireball raised another 
few inches from Murashi's palm; preparing to kill at the sight of 
any sudden movements. The fireball now was fully formed and hovering 
in the mid-air, preparing to launch itself at any command from its 
master. A few more feet and it would hit Misuko. 

	"Stop!" yelled Koenma.

	"Yes, have you considered our offer carefully? I hope you 
won't regret it," said Murashi, luring Koenma into looking at Misuko.

	"Tell us right now," interrupted Yamaro.

	"Alright, I shall free you; but with one condition, let go of 
her first!" Koenma voiced shakily. This decision could involve 
Ningenkai's entire human population.

	"I will, if you let me go first. A man's oath is worth 10,000 
pounds of gold," answered Yamaro.

	Koenma looked at him; wanting to believe. At last, Koenma was 
left with no choice but to free them. 

	*I hope this is the right choice...* prayed Koenma silently. 
This was really the ultimate test of his feelings towards a girl.

	Under his breath, he began chanting a curse with no melody nor 
legible words. It was a tune with no beginning or ending. 

	Little by little, Yamaro and Murashi could feel the restraining 
walls that held them captive to this castle break apart. Yamaro 
reached out a finger to test his youki. True enough, his youki began 
fluctuate wildly upwards. Murashi also tested his own youki and 
smiled happily at the results. 

	"Alright, we will return your dearest Misuko." Yamaro flicked 
his graceful fingers, and Misuko could feel the bonds loosening and 
herself falling from the sky. "Let's see whether you are really that 
quick," taunted Yamaro as Misuko began her rapid downward descent.

	"Please Kurama! Do something quick!" screamed Koenma.

	Youko Kurama rummaged through his silk robe and produced some 
seeds. He threw the seeds far below the castle. Originally Kurama was 
an expert in plants, so his way of rescuing was also linked directly 
to plants. Once the seeds were on the ground, they sprouted into a 
network of entwined vines wove themselves into a net. Seeing Misuko 
was safe, Koenma heaved a sigh of relief.

	"Shall we finish off them now?" asked Murashi, seeing that they 
were now all practically helpless.

	"No," answered Yamaro with a glint in his eyes.

	"Why?" asked Murashi in return.

	"We still have games to play..." answered Yamaro.

	"Yeah. You're correct," said Murashi, this time smiling 
happily. Then, he raised his voice to a loud tone.

	"Sayonara, and arigato for freeing us," called out Murashi 
flirtatiously at all of them. He and Yamaro began to dematerialize in 
the mid-air. The rest of the Urameshi team just looked at him with 
disgust and resentment.

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	Seven pairs of eyes looked unblinkingly at the vanishing pair. 
Yusuke slowly slumped on the ground below, looking at his own hands 
in disbelief. Until now, he hadn't been ready to accept the fact that 
his Rei-gun was rendered ineffective against Yamaro and Murashi.

	On the other hand, Koenma recovered first and the next moment, 
he was kneeling beside Misuko.

	Meanwhile, Misuko was feeling very tired. She just lay in the 
net, motionless. She had never felt this exhausted before. She felt 
as though she had lived and worked non-stop for a few weeks without 
resting. She closed her eyes, until a pair of arms shook her 
slightly. Sleepily, she opened both of her eyes and saw Koenma's 
brown ones staring back at her. 

	Seeing Koenma was almost the same as seeing a god come to 
rescue her. Nobody would ever understand what she had been through 
during the last 48 hours. Each hour felt like a year to her. A catch 
in her throat escaped finally and Misuko couldn't stand it anymore. 
She broke into tears and buried her face in Koenma's shoulder, 
sobbing to the fullest. Emotion like resentment and sorrow came out 
all together. She had never felt that relief before when Koenma had 
actually patted her and consoled her.

	At last, Misuko tore herself away from Koenma's shoulder and 
wiped away streaks of tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her 
kimono. She stood up and looked for the other missing slipper. At 
last, she tidied herself and as she bent down to adjust her slippers, 
one sleeve had fallen off her shoulder. She quickly pulled it up in 
embarrassment.

	"Er... Koenma, I have something to tell you." said Misuko in 
front of the guy that she had known and loved, but still unable 
to remember any bits of the times they shared...

	"Listening." came the answer.

	"Em... sorry for slapping you last time in that ramen shop," 
apologized Misuko.

	Koenma softly touched his own cheek, then he said, "Never mind, 
I was a little rash that day." He reached up with one hand to touch 
her cheek lovingly.

	"You are still beautiful as ever," said Koenma dreamily, his 
worries and troubles left aside temporarily.

	Misuko blushed at his compliment. She was also mesmerized by 
how he said it. It was exactly the way romance novels described such 
scenes.

	"Snap out of it," a voice in her head said. Misuko awakened 
from her dreams to face the reality. Her face turned an even deeper 
shade of red as she thought of how someone whom she barely knew 
could sacrifice anything for her. Perhaps, you could say it was 
ironic in a way.

	"Koenma, your friends are waiting for you over there," reminded 
Misuko.

	Koenma lent her a hand to help her to walk as Misuko's hands 
and legs were all pins and needles after the long sit during her 
abduction.

	Slowly, they made their way through the plains of Makai, their 
footsteps leaving imprints in the sandy ground.

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	When they finally reached the group, everyone seemed to get 
back to normal. Yusuke had finally calmed down and looked positively 
himself again. Even Kuwabara was slowly recovering from the blow he 
had received. 

	"Er... attention please, I want to introduce someone to all of 
you. This is Misuko." he pointed to the girl behind him.

	"Misuko, this is Yusuke,..." He gestured towards a lean guy 
with slick black hair.

	"... Kuwabara," He pointed to a tall muscular guy with carrot 
hair, but now lying on the ground... Botan was busy checking Kuwabara 
with her reiki. Kuwabara was injured, yes; but he could recuperate in 
a short while. 

	"... Kurama, Hiei, Botan and Yukina."

	Misuko greeted each of them with a friendly smile. Botan 
skipped to Misuko side and began to rattle off with her endless 
topics to talk about. Misuko seemed quite at ease in Botan's company. 
Even Yukina interrupted once in a while. Koenma left Misuko to talk 
with Botan; while he himself went over to discuss the matter of the 
dangerous criminals with his friends.

	"Good taste, Koenma," teased Yusuke as he laughed and looked at 
the group of girls over at the another side. The rest exploded into 
laughter as they heard Yusuke's comment. Koenma blushed and quickly 
changed the subject.

	"Yamaro and Murashi have escaped..." began Koenma.

	"So, what are we going to do with them. Now they are free and 
loose without any walls restraining them. I think they might want to 
take over Ningenkai for good. Just imagine how many lives they could
take if they were set on a rampage," interrupted Kurama in a worried 
tone. 

	"Yeah, especially now when I can't turn into my youkai form 
whenever I like. Actually, if I don't turn into my youkai form, my 
Reiki is only lower S-class, compared to my Youki, which is nearly 
upper S-class now. Besides, I really do hate the long hair," retorted 
Yusuke, grumbling about his youkai form.

	"Well, there's nothing I could do about this. Once they were 
freed, they could go anywhere they want. Even though Reikai is 
observing all the entrances to Ningenkai, I doubt that will keep them 
busy for long. They are bound to figure out how to hide their youki 
and appearances; especially Yamaro, whose powers and youki usage are 
based on mental manipulation. Now, I can only wait for them to make 
their next kill in Ningenkai," explained Koenma seriously, voicing 
out his worst fears.

	"Well, I guess we could use some patience," said Hiei, as he 
donned his cloak.

	Everybody nodded and sat there thinking, each with a different 
thought. Koenma was thinking about his new-found sweetheart, while 
Yusuke was also thinking how Keiko would scream at him for leaving 
Ningenkai so suddenly. Perhaps you might say as he was thinking of a 
way to retaliate. Hiei was wondering how to conceal his secret from 
the rest. Kurama... He didn't quite recovered from Hiei's 
rejection... Youkos were cunning race as they didn't show their real 
feelings at anybody... Kurama, why was he torturing himself this way?  

	"What are we waiting for? Let's go back to Ningenkai!" said 
Yusuke cheerfully. "I can't wait to experiment how to turn into 
youkai form anytime I want," continued Yusuke.

	"Oh yeah! Let's stop by my place to have a rest and get cleaned 
up before going back," offered Koenma. "Besides, I have some 
investigating work for your team to do," continued Koenma towards 
Yusuke.

	Everyone agreed happily. The team set off again, this time with 
an extra person --- Misuko.

	Koenma smiled happily to himself. He hoped that he had made the 
correct choice; for the love of a lady. 

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First version: December 1997
Second version: March 1998

All standard Yu Yu Hakusho disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee 

E-mail: Siew Lee <wsiewlee@tm.net.my>
URL: http://come.to/wsiewlee 
UIN: #14025577 

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