"What's the status on Hiroki?" asked Koenma. He came to the temple maybe a week after San had woken up. It took a while, but slowly, the others were filtering back and staying put. They wanted a head count before they decided to mount another attack. San, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Genkai, Kurama, and of course, Koenma, were meeting in the dojo. The other demons had gone off to do some damage control.
In the past few days, the rain was causing some serious devastation to the city. It was more than the humans could handle, so the other demons were sent out to help with it. The old team had some bang ups and bruises, but they were ready for another fight with the creature that threatened their lives. San had been eyeing Koenma since he arrived, and she noted that he avoided her tawny gaze. He must know what was going on, or else he wouldn't be this keen on not looking at her.
"He's been terrorizing the humans in the city. He can spawn demons with the blink of an eye," said Genkai.
"That's not all," began Kurama, "The power her uses, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. He could easily wipe us out with little to no effort."
"It's not time to give up hope!" said Kuwabara.
"Facing reality and giving up hope are two different things," said San.
"We've faced sacred energy. I'm sure we can take down this punk," said Yusuke.
"You really don't get it do you?" said Genkai, looking at her successor, "He nearly wiped you out with just a small fraction of his power. He could have killed you, but instead he warned you by pushing you away."
"So what do you want us to do? Give up?"
"No, simply find a way to take away his power."
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" asked Kuwabara.
Everyone was silent then. No one knew the answer, knew anything about him to really figure it out. San sighed lightly, her mate looking in deep thought. Yusuke and Kuwabara simply looked pissed off. The dire situation had no light to it, and finding a way to solve it really seemed impossible. San had the answer, but she didn't want to share that particular information.
"It appears there is not much more we can do tonight. If we get more information, we shall reconvene to discuss our options," said Kurama, grabbing San's hand and leaving the room. She wished he hadn't done that, she wanted a chance to speak with Koenma. The rain could be heard along the temple, and her mate led them back to her room.
He turned to face her then, his eyes serious. San was actually scared of what he was going to say. She knew it had to be something, or else he wouldn't have abruptly taken them out of there so fast. She tried searching his eyes for an answer, but he wasn't going to give it to her just yet. He held her gaze, and she began to feel nervous.
"What do you know, San?" he asked then.
She frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You've been staring at Koenma all day. I know you have something on your mind, something you have not bothered to discuss with me. I've asked you not to keep things from me, San. So tell me, what do you know?"
She stood her ground, but had no idea what to say to him. She had to think of something, and fast, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been staring at Koenma to see if he was keeping information from us again. He did it when we battled Sensui, and I don't things to go that way again."
Kurama kept his stare on her. She knew that he was searching for the truth, and she had to keep it from him, as much as she hated to do it. She couldn't tell him anything before she knew for sure what she suspected. Finally, he nodded, pulling her towards him. They sat like that for a while, San doing whatever she could to keep the tears away. If she started crying then, he would know she was lying, and she couldn't have that.
...
Kurama slept peacefully it looked like, while San was wide awake. The sound of the rain outside filled her ears, as well as her lover's rhythmic breaths. Her vision played out in her mind, and again she wondered what it really meant. If only there was a way for her to figure it all out. It seemed that this was the way it always was whenever she had a vision. Lately, it had been her life over the others, and she would gladly sacrifice herself.
She looked down at her sleeping mate. She wondered how he was able to do it, but then, she suspected it had something to do with her presence. She kissed his cheek, getting up slowly. She smiled once at him, and then proceeded out the door. It didn't take her long to find Koenma. When she reached the dojo, it looked as if he was waiting for her. Her tawny eyes were hard, but he was still calm, and remained in his teenage form.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," he spoke. San shut the door and walked towards him.
"So you do know," she confirmed her suspicions.
"That depends. What did you want from me?"
"The truth. I know of the prophecy, Koenma. I know my vision states that I have the power to stop Hiroki."
"Yes. I was waiting for you to realize it. I didn't want to announce anything prematurely."
"There's more to it, however. Now tell me."
Koenma sighed, "You're not the only one who can stop him. Kurama has the power within, but if he uses it, he will die. There is no way to bring him back from the devastation he'll cause. Hiroki will devour his soul, and the explosion caused with kill the rest of you. In the end, you'll get your desired effect, just no one to fight."
"And if I take the power from him?"
"You'll become stronger. You won't be able to kill him, but you will be able to stop him."
"But I will die."
"Not exactly. I can't say for sure what will happen to you. But I know that if you do this, you will be back at some point. Hiroki will be stopped, but for a short period of time."
"And why didn't you tell us?"
"Youko's protective of you. If he knew that you would die in the process, he would struggle to find another way to work with it. If he managed to figure one out, which wouldn't happen, Hiroki would probably be ruling by then. His first order of business would be to kill the two of you."
"So he does know what can happen to him?"
Koenma nodded.
"How will he know about the power stored to stop this demon?"
"The emotions he keeps so in check will have to be released. Once that happens, there will be no limit to his power. I'm sure from Genkai's ability to borrow the power, you can easily take it from him."
"Yeah. That was one of the first things I learned from her."
"It was no accident that you landed here. Without the demon hunter, neither of you would be powerful enough to stop this threat."
"Perhaps. But we were once A class demons."
"Without any contact from Ningenkai. You have reached the point where you are ranked one of the highest S class demons around. You could probably win the next tournament if you really wanted it. But you are not interested in things like that, you prefer to be free. This battle will enable that."
"For a short time. You said I cannot kill him."
"No. You will fight again, but you may actually be able to kill him the second time."
San sighed, "So it's my life for the world, or my mate's for pure destruction."
Koenma put a hand on her shoulder, "You will be rewarded some day, San. I can guarantee that."
"I suppose. I better get going."
"You're not going to face him alone?!"
"I have no choice. You said his emotions will wake up his power. The only way to do that is to make him angry, and that means challenging Hiroki by myself. It won't take him long to realize I'm in danger. I can survive enough to get him there, don't worry."
"But-"
"You just said yourself this is the way it has to be. It's my choice, and I chose life. See you in Rekai," she smirked. She took off at demon speed, long before Koenma had a chance to say anything. He wished there was another way, but he knew that the prophecy had to be fulfilled.
...
San knew where Hiroki was. It wasn't a case of trying to find him, she could just feel him. She teared a little, not knowing how to deal with her emotions. She didn't want everyone to die, but she wasn't ready either. She didn't have choice, she couldn't let the others go because of some selfish decision. How could she manage that?
So here she was, running to her death. She figured her mate would be awake by now, wondering where she had gone. The minute he felt pain, he would be trailing her. She just hoped she had enough in her to survive long enough for him to get here. She saw her prey dead ahead. His cold eyes never left the site of her. He was regular size, unlike when she had last seen him. He flared up his power, and San nearly coward. She pressed on, however, knowing that there wasn't any choice left. She stopped in front of her enemy, tawny eyes defiant.
"And so, as foretold, we meet, your Majesty," said Hiroki, smiling slightly.
"It appears so. Are you prepared to die?" replied San, masking her fear.
"I should be asking you that. You do not have the power to stop me."
"So you think. Like it or not, Hiroki, you will die, and it will be by my hand."
Hiroki laughed then, "We shall see. Come get me if you can, Majesty, for I hold your pathetic life in my hands."
"So be it," she told him, summoning her mouri kouba and preparing for battle with this beast.
...
Kurama awoke with a start. He was breathing heavily, a cold sweat occupying his body and his heart hammering in his chest. He looked next to him and noticed San had vacated. That meant it wasn't just a dream, she had really gone to face Hiroki on her own. He banged his fists on the bed. She did know something she wasn't telling him. This meant that she was probably going to sacrifice herself to save them all. She should have told him, they could have figured something else out.
Jumping out of her bed and finding clothes, he dashed out of her room, in search of Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke. It wasn't hard, they were already standing outside the temple, with Genkai. They could see a white light coming from the forest, from where they had last battled with the demon. Kurama stared in horror, and then he felt it. Her pain, it was coursing through her body. He dropped to his knees, knowing if he felt this bad, she was much worse off.
"Guys, what is that?" asked Kuwabara.
"Hn. San has gone off to face our enemy," replied Hiei.
"Alone?" exclaimed Yusuke in horror.
"It appears so," said Kurama a little weakly. He got back to his feet, "She must know how to stop his power, or else she wouldn't have gone off on her own."
"If she knows something, it means she had a vision. Her power is back and it showed her the way. If she neglected to tell us anything of it, then it means she is willing to die," said Genkai.
"What? We can't let her do that!" yelled Kuwabara.
"That's right. Let's go," said Yusuke, looking at his team. Genkai was the first one to take a step, "Hold it Grandma, you don't have nearly enough power to compete with us."
The old woman looked as if she were going to scold her successor, but instead kept her mouth shut. She looked at Kurama then, "Bring her back alive," she told him. Kurama nodded, and then took off in front of the others. Hiei followed suit, and then Yusuke.
"Hey guys, wait for me!" called Kuwabara, running after them. Genkai watched after them, until she could no longer see them in the forest. She wished she had the power to help, but knew that they were the only ones who could pull this off.
...
San felt weak already. She was in pain, and she knew that this was barely any of Hiroki's power. She just had to stall, had to wait until the others got there. She would be fine once her mate's power combined with her own. She attacked again, summoning her vines of destiny. They proved useless, barely being able to touch him. She unleashed one of her pralla seeds, creating a net around him to seal in his power. The problem with that, the net's capacity depended solely on the user, and he was easily able to break free.
Finally giving up on her inventory, she stuck to her mouri kouba. The double bladed lance had done more damage than any of her energy, and she swiftly attacked. It wasn't so much that she couldn't hit him, she just couldn't hurt him at all. Even now, as they fought with integrity, she knew she wasn't even making a dent in his energy. He was just too powerful. But she had an almost unlimited store of power, just waiting to be reached. He knocked her back and she went through a few trees. She got to her feet quickly, going to face her enemy.
Hiroki was laughing, "You really do have a death wish, don't you, my Queen?"
"No more than yours. Continue on this route and you will perish," she told him defiantly.
"Your kind is too weak to contend with me. It was fun playing with you Moriko, but I think it's time you die before you get way too ahead of yourself."
Hiroki was about to unleash his attack upon her, but he was stopped buy a ball of demon energy mixed with spirit. It was Yusuke's spirit gun. San smiled, they had finally reached her.
"Did you think she would really sit there and die for you?" yelled Yusuke, coming to stand in front of him. San saw Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama with him. She jumped to where they were, joining them beside her mate.
"What say you now, Hiroki?" asked San.
"Yeah, if you think we're going to back down, guess again punk!" yelled Kuwabara.
Kurama took San's hand, knowing she was feeding off his energy. She was weak, but she hadn't changed into her demon form yet.
"How touching, you'll all die together!" yelled Hiroki, powering up. Hiei was the first to attack. His sword powered with the darkness flame was easily brushed off by their enemy. Yusuke went in for his rapid punches while Kuwabara used his spirit sword to attack the enemy.
Kurama flashed once, changing into his demon form, and summoned his rose whip. Moriko wasn't about to be outdone, utilizing her skills with her mouri kouba. The two attacked together, their combined strength stopping Hiroki from consuming any more power. Yusuke fired another shot, and it managed to knock him back a little. It was followed by the dragon, and Hiroki was thrown back by its power, breaking a few trees himself. Moriko stood with her mate, weapon at the ready. Nothing had moved yet.
"Did we win?" asked Kuwabara.
"It.. looks like it," said Yusuke, not sounding too sure of himself.
The demons remained quiet, keeping their guard up. Moriko's tawny eyes narrowed, and she brushed the rain out of her eyes. She knew her mate had that menacing look on his face, but they all jumped when they heard that hideous laughter. It seemed to grow louder with each passing second, and they were all swept up with the force of the wind. Youko went to grab his mate, but she had just flown out of reach.
"You think you've beaten me?" the booming voice of Hiroki reached their ears while they were uncontrollably being whipped around in the air, "You can't even come close to the power I have!" They were getting higher, and it was becoming harder to breath. Finally they were sent to the ground with such force, Moriko could barely breath. She felt her mate touch her hand, and she looked into his golden eyes. They were glossy, the wind knocked out of him, "You will never come to defeat me! Surrender now while you still can!"
"We will never surrender!" yelled Yusuke.
"Then you will die. Prepare yourselves, vermin, for I am your master now!" and Hiroki appeared before them, just as they were struggling to get up. His power made her want to scream, and his size made her wish she could run away. But that wasn't an option. Even if she managed to get far enough, she was sure by his immense size that he could simple squash her with one step. She rose to her feet slowly, the first one of them up. She wasn't going to quit, even if meant they died. Yusuke joined her, followed by Hiei. Youko was next to get up, and then Kuwabara. Each of them had a purpose in their eyes, a burning desire to save this world. They jumped out of the hole that was created from their drop and looked up at their enemy.
"No matter what you throw at us, we'll still get up!" yelled Kuwabara.
"We will not let you come into power here," said Moriko.
"You will die by us, Hiroki," said Youko.
"I will not be ruled by any demon," said Hiei.
"Get over yourself, Hiroki, cause we're going to kick your ass!" yelled Yusuke. After his words, they all took a fighting stand, preparing themselves for the final battle.