That night, the gang agreed to meet at the park before beginning to form groups that would lead the search to some of the suspected places where the four weapons would be. Koenma gave them the map and the coordinates where the energy similar to those emitted by the four weapons was last spotted.
Yusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara took the areas to the east and southeast while Kurama and Hiei took the areas to the west and northwest from their positions. But before they could even proceed to their destination, someone greeted them caught them off guard and surprised them.
"Looks like the Spirit Detectives are off on a mission right now," a woman with a long curly blond hair holding a long and straight-bladed spear said while smirking. "But I wouldn't guess what mission was that because I already know what you're looking for."
"She must be one of those people that Koenma-sama was talking about," Botan stated.
Yusuke frowned and then faced her. "Which one? Someone who might have the weapons we're looking for or someone who's after the weapons?"
"The second one that you said, most likely," Kurama replied. "Her weapon wasn't emitting unique spirit energy unlike those from the legendary weapons. And from what I remember from the legend about it, the weapons emit spiritual energy that's somehow different and yet the same from its wielders at the same time. Though no one was able to prove that."
The woman smiled and tightened her grip on her spear. "I admire your knowledge about the legendary weapons, Yoko Kurama."
Kurama was surprised when he heard that from the woman. 'How did she know that?'
But before they could react any further, they saw the woman charging at them with her spear. And that caught them off-guard for some seconds before they managed to find their senses and evade it, though they were a bit late because the spear's blade surprisingly injured Kurama's right thigh, making him lose his focus and dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, the wound was deep enough to hit a nerve that made him unable to move easily because of the pain.
The woman was about to strike down Kurama when a beam of light struck her, throwing her away from him. That beam of light came from Yusuke's Spirit Gun. When the smoke faded from the point of impact to the ground, they were surprised that no one was there. And then they heard a sinister laugh. All of them looked up, only to be surprised to see that wretched woman floating in mid-air.
"Do you think you could take me down with that simple attack?" she said and then she began flying as she charged toward them.
They were ready to evade the incoming attack with Kurama carried by Yusuke when suddenly; they saw the woman screaming as an invisible barrier somehow stopped her. She seemed electrocuted by the energy that created the barrier. And then after a few minutes, she was thrown away and landed on the ground.
Yusuke and the others could only stare at her in awe and confusion as they felt that the energy from the barrier that protected them was beginning to disappear. They have no idea at all who cast that barrier but somehow, they owe their lives to that certain someone.
They saw the enemy trying to stand up using her spear as a crutch. "H-how did that... happen? You could not cast a barrier like that... So how?"
No one said anything, though.
Most likely, they have the same question running inside their minds, among others. But that's not the only question they had, especially for Kurama. When he looked down to check on his injury, he was stunned to see that the wound was slowly healing. And in a matter of seconds, it was gone.
The enemy charged at them again but just like a while ago, the barrier that has not faded threw her. The effect of the electrocution from the barrier was even worse than the first one. And that somewhat forced her to retreat for the time being.
As for Yusuke and the others, they were surprised to see no wound visible from the torn slacks of Kurama where he was struck by the spear's blade.
"You healed yourself, Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.
Kurama only answered by shaking his head and then he looked at his healed injury.
"But what could have caused something like this to happen? A barrier that protected us from that wretched woman's attack and Kurama's injury being healed..." Botan said and looked at them with worries.
But before they could conclude something, someone already answered them.
"It's the energy from the barrier that was cast by the wielder of the Flute of Melody that healed you, Kurama."
When they turned around to see who spoke, they were surprised to see Master Genkai approaching them, along with Koenma in his older form. Botan approached Koenma when those words registered in his mind.
"Koenma-sama, what are you doing here?" Botan asked.
Koenma sighed before answering the girl's question. "It's just that I forgot to mention information regarding the four lost four legendary weapons of those four weapons emit a unique form of spiritual energy. One of the weapons had already left a trace at the spot where the barrier was cast."
"Before that, would you mind if I ask you about the woman who attacked us earlier?" Kurama asked as he stood up with no problem since his injury has healed.
"Her name is Kazue, a demon shinobi who came here to the Human World to seek the Legendary Weapons. But with the level of her strength right now, it would be hard for her to counter the powers of one of the weapons. And that includes all of you, as well," Koenma answered.
"The evidence was already in front of our eyes just a while back..." Hiei added. "...when that demon shinobi attacked us earlier using her weapon."
"But how are we supposed to locate the weapons when we don't have any idea what kind of spiritual energy they emit?" Yusuke asked in a rather irritated manner which was understandable.
But Koenma didn't answer. Instead, Genkai summoned four colored energy balls and each of the balls flew towards Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. The indigo, blue, yellow, and red-colored balls chose Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei respectively.
"That ball of energy that each of you has right now contains the energy that the legendary weapons left on their regions. Its energy will be your guide to locate them," Koenma explained.
But Kuwabara only frowned as he looked at the blue-colored ball in front of him. "But how are we supposed to locate those weapons using these?"
No one from Genkai and Koenma answered but the old woman only flicked her fingers which made them confused. And in an instant, the balls emitted a bright glow that surprised them. Despite the bright light that surrounded them, the four of them saw what was happening with the balls. To their surprise, the balls were being absorbed by their bodies. It took a few minutes before the glow vanished. And all of them had their eyes widened when they saw that the balls disappeared from that glow.
"W-what had just happened?" Botan couldn't help but mutter her question because of surprise.
Genkai's face turned serious. "Those energy balls were absorbed by their bodies for each of them to become familiar with the energy of the four legendary weapons."
Yusuke faced Genkai after hearing that. "What do you mean by that, old hag?"
"Just shut up and listen to what we have to say, dimwit!" the old lady shouted in front of his face, surprising him and taking him aback.
They all just kept quiet and waited for Genkai to continue speaking.
"The balls of energy that you have inside your body, like what Koenma said, are the energies of the four legendary weapons that had mysteriously disappeared from their respective regions. I wasn't sure if the energies chose your bodies to be their refuge or otherwise. But what I'm sure is that the energies inside of you will be your guide to sense the energies where the four missing legendary weapons would probably be located. The indigo-colored energy inside of you, Yusuke—" she said and then faced the said man. "—contains the energy from the Flute of Melody. The blue energy ball inside of Kuwabara contains the energy from the Scythe of the Deep Waters. Kurama's yellow energy ball contains the Arrow of Wind's energy and for Hiei, your red energy ball has the Dragon Sword of Flame's energy. All of those weapons were wielded right now by people whose energy levels are already at a rank of an upper A class or even higher," she continued as she faced each of them.
No one said a word after that. And after a few minutes of silence among them, Yusuke and Kuwabara sensed immense and familiar spirit energy that struck their spiritual senses almost immediately. That made them look around while the others were quite confused.
"What's going on, Yusuke, Kuwabara?" Botan asked the two men.
But they only faced Kurama and Hiei who somehow got an idea of what was going on with them.
"Didn't you sense that strong spiritual energy?" Kuwabara asked but Kurama and Hiei just shook their heads as a response.
As for Koenma and Genkai...
"Looks like the wielders of the Scythe of the Deep Waters and the Flute of Melody were just around, watching us," Koenma commented. And then he sighed to ease his tension. "But it seems that they won't cause any trouble... for now."
"But why only Yusuke and Kuwabara were able to sense the energies?" Kurama couldn't help but ask.
Genkai most likely answered it. "That's because you and Hiei had different energies that you can sense thanks to the energy balls inside of you. That way, it would be much easier for you to sense and locate the four weapons. But in this case, you will be working alone when it comes to locating them. You'll fight together as a team when it comes to the demon shinobi and the wielders themselves when worse comes to worst."
The four agreed to it and rescheduled the search. But before Yusuke left, he felt a flow of spiritual energy being blown away by the wind along with a soft mellow song coming from a... flute. And he wasn't surprised to see that the damage on the park caused by his Spirit Gun was slowly disappearing in front of him. He just looked seriously at it.
'So these are some of the Flute of Melody's powers...' Yusuke thought before turning around to follow the others as they left.
xxxxxx
A silhouette just a few yards away from that battlefield could be seen as she showed a triumphant smile. That's right... A 'she'... It was a silhouette of a teenage girl based on her physique and height plus the long flowing hair. Another silhouette accompanied her. But this one was the silhouette of a man. Both were standing on a tree branch with the thick clusters of leaves covering them, thus enabling it to hide them.
"Looks like Koenma-sama managed to device a plan to catch us, Onii-sama," the girl said in a rather amused and... happy tone.
The man smiled, as well, to somehow show the same feeling he had at that moment. It was the feeling that the girl had, too.
"This is going to be even more exciting for us, then," the man stated before facing the girl. "Did you manage to do it? The captain would be scolding us real bad if we failed to protect them."
"I know that, Onii-sama. So don't worry; they're okay. I managed to cast a long-distance barrier before they were even hit by Kazue. And using the energy from it, I healed that red head's injury, as well."
The man sighed. "So we're done here. Mission accomplished. Now let's go back."
"But before that, can I ask you something, Onii-sama?" the girl said before the guy could even move an inch.
"About what?"
"Just what are the reasons for us to protect the Spirit Detectives secretly?"
It took him a while before he could answer it. "I'm not sure about the reason myself. But Captain said that they are quite essential for our mistress's and our weapons' true awakening."
"I guess I'll be satisfied with that answer," she said and then the two of them leaped to leave that place as soon as they could without anyone following them... along with them were the weapons that the Spirit Detectives and the demon shinobi sought for.
xxxxxx
The next day...
The sun had already risen to the sky but all this time, Riya was just lying on her bed as she stared vacantly at nothing. Her alarm was set off 15 minutes ago but she only turned it off and lay there. For reasons certain for her, she does not feel like moving from her bed. She's feeling down.
But no matter how down she was, she still has to attend school since it was her second day and she doesn't want her teacher to be disappointed in her in some way... even if it was just for the teacher that she'd go to school. After heaving a few heavy sighs, she finally stood up and lazily get ready for school.
After eating breakfast, she locked the front door using the main key. And while she walked down the route going to school, she couldn't help remembering the reason why she was feeling down since yesterday...
...all because Minamino Shuichi asked her to be his project partner.
xxxxxx
[Flashback]
Riya was walking out of the school building with an expressionless face but a happy heart since all of the classes had ended that day. Even though she showed a stoic face, her heart was unbelievably happy. But somehow, she understood the reason why.
She was able to meet Minamino Shuichi. Funny... just because his name was the same as the name of the boy who gave her the Snow Rose. She couldn't help but feel elated of some sort. Her spirit and energy rose to a high level.
"Miyuzaki," a voice of a girl suddenly called out, making her stop in her tracks.
She frowned because she knew that the voice was familiar and at the same time, threatening. But even still, she turned around to find out who said that. And she gasped silently to see Ayako approaching along with two other girls that she knew were her classmates and a part of Ayako's circle.
"What do you want?" she asked nonchalantly to hide certain emotions she was feeling at that time.
But Ayako only glared at her and she tried to remain stoic. "You're a flirt, aren't you? Making Minamino-kun your project partner. For a transfer student, you sure have some guts."
Her expression didn't change although deep inside, she flinched as she was taken aback by Ayako's comment. And that made Ayako even more infuriated.
"So you're not going to say anything?" Ayako asked rather sarcastically. And then she scoffed. "It's true, huh? Listen to what I have to say, Miyuzaki. Make a step to get close to Minamino-kun and I'll make sure you'll regret ever stepping into this school. You're just some weird girl, anyway. And do you expect the whole class to welcome you with open arms? Think again. We only select the people we need to befriend and unfortunately, that doesn't include you at all," she continued and then smirked.
Riya heard every word that Ayako said and it somehow left a stabbing pain in her heart. So she wasn't welcomed by the class... and probably even Shuichi. She saw Ayako gritting her teeth after moments of silence between them; an indication that the girl in front of her was completely infuriated by her nonchalant attitude.
"Hey, are you even listening to me, you freak?" Ayako shouted already at her face.
But still, she didn't even flinch. And after a while, she heaved a heavy sigh before facing her.
"Are you done with your speech? If not, then better save it for tomorrow so that the whole class could even hear. That would be much fun for you, right?" she said as a statement with her expression remaining stoic. That made Ayako flinch. It's as if it was unexpected for her to see that she would remain composed after openly declaring their disgust to her. "And for your information, it was MInamino-kun who asked me to be his partner and not the other way around. But if you wouldn't believe that, I wouldn't give a damn care. I wouldn't last in this school, anyway," she continued, filling her last sentence with meanings.
But it would appear that Ayako didn't manage to grasp the hidden meaning. And then she left them without even looking back.
It seemed to be that she wouldn't be able to achieve her dream of a new life in this place. And she hated that fact. But even though how much she hated it, it doesn't matter. One thing was sure for now.
It was better if she keeps a distance between her and Shuichi as much as possible... no matter how painful it would be to her and how much she hated it. Besides, she still has her mission that was too dangerous and she wouldn't want her family and her friends, especially Shuichi, to get caught up in danger.
For her to do that, she must establish a plan to make them remain within their boundaries and let them stay away from her. That way, no one would get hurt in the process. After all, she left Hokkaido for her to locate someone who had caused her life to turn upside-down.
She sighed with a heavy heart as she continued to walk away from Ayako and her friends. She wasn't even paying attention to everything that those girls were saying. Well, almost everything. There was one thing Ayako said that registered in her mind, though.
"Don't even think of ruining Minamino-kun's image and reputation here at school just because of you coming near him," Ayako said in a threatening tone but didn't scare her one bit. Besides, she was already used to that kind of tone. It didn't scare her before and it would never scare her now.
But then, she didn't rethink what that girl had said. She hated the idea of staying away from Shuichi since her mind immediately opposed to it. Yet, if it would prevent her from ruining Shuichi in some way, along with the danger she's about to face, then most likely it's better if she would just stay away from him.
And there's only one way for her to do that since she couldn't avoid him completely. They're classmates and project partners, after all.
She'll just have to surround her heart with ice and turn it cold... figuratively.
That way... maybe...
xxxxxx
Riya entered the school gate and sighed for her to calm herself. Her heart was beating rapidly again but she was trying not to show them that she was still affected by Ayako's words yesterday.
Although that confrontation suddenly turned her into something she wasn't supposed to be, she guessed it would be better that way. She would be able to mask everything she's feeling, including the emotions that she tried to bury deep within herself and yet trying to come out.
She entered the classroom quietly and that made the class suddenly quiet as they watched her walk towards her seat. And like what she had planned, she didn't mind them at all. As soon as she was seated, she took out a book from her bag and began reading, without care for her surroundings. Well, almost without a care.
She's still trying to observe her surroundings using her senses. Even though her mind and her eyes were focused on the book she was reading, she was most likely observing them from the corner of her eyes. Even when Shuichi entered and greeted her, she didn't even glance at him. She knew that it would be rude but that's all she have to do. And at the same time, Ayako's words continued to echo in her mind.
When their homeroom teacher entered, she tried to focus on their lessons. And during those times, she could sense Shuichi looking at her from the corner of his eyes. She felt tense in some way but then she tried to remain firm and maintain her stoic expression.
And when lunch break arrived, most of the students in their class stayed in the classroom since Ayako told them so. That also made her and Shuichi stay there. She decided to remain there by choice. As for Shuichi's reason to stay there, she couldn't tell.
She saw Ayako approach her but she didn't move from her seat and from what he was doing at that moment. All she did was continue reading the book she brought that morning.
"Staying quiet, huh? It seems to me that you have finally learned your place. But I doubt if it would be for a long time."
But no words came from Riya while the others were somehow anticipating seeing her counter Ayako's words. In his seat, Shuichi was getting a bit angry by the way Ayako said those words to Riya. More or less, he had an idea about the meaning behind it.
"So you're just going to stay quiet?" Ayako irritatingly said but just like a while back, she didn't even flinch.
But what she did after that had taken Ayako by surprise. Not only Ayako but the rest of the class, as well. Shuichi was surprised, too. But he just narrowed his eyes as he tried to study her actions.
What they all saw was the threatening glare of Riya at Ayako. The transfer student was looking at Ayako with hate and in some way, disgust. That had made the latter subconsciously step backward.
"W-why are you staring at me like that?" Ayako asked as she couldn't prevent herself from whimpering.
Riya stared at her that way for some seconds before reverting her gaze to the book she was reading. Ayako laughed nervously and tried to smirk but to no avail. Admit it or not, she got scared by the look of that transfer student to her.
"You can't even fight back. It seems to me that you're trying to impress us with your calm attitude. But do you think you could—"
"Shut the hell up!" Ayako was abruptly stopped to continue speaking when Riya said that in a firm and somewhat scary tone. "You're ruining my concentration with your loud mouth. So shut up!"
Her enemy was stunned by that. They never thought that she could counter Ayako's words like that. And with a heavy feeling beginning to build up in her chest, she stood up and left her seat along with her book. But before she managed to finally leave the room, she heard someone stand up and spoke to her. She flinched inwardly when she realized it was Shuichi.
"Riya, you can't let them affect you in any way. Whatever Kirisawa-san said to you, don't listen to any of it. I know her and—"
But he abruptly stopped talking when she spoke to him in a gentle tone like the same tone he had heard yesterday.
"It's alright, Minamino-kun. There's no use for you explaining anything to me. I just want to breathe some fresh air. Staying in this place would only suffocate me, anyway," she said seriously but gently.
"Then I'll go with you," he said.
"No!" she firmly said that slightly surprised Shuichi. She knew that even though she was not looking at him. "As much as possible, don't try to get near me or talk to me if it's not related to our project. I'll still do my part about it so rest assured, I would become an excellent and reliable partner like how you described me once. Other than that, it's better if you leave me alone. It's for the best and your own good, anyway." And with that, she left the room.
But when she closed the door and walked through the hallway, her mind was getting a little crowded with questions and what if's because of so many reasons. And the only thing she could think of was what she said to Shuichi. It's like she meant it completely but she kept on thinking that it was for the best. That way, she wouldn't get hurt in the process once the inevitable happened. She doesn't want to get hurt anymore.
She then stopped walking and tightly closed her eyes before a tear escaped from them. With all that had happened that day, it's no surprise if she cried secretly even if for a short while. It's better that way rather than endure it and keep it to herself as she pretended as if nothing had happened.
'I just made a new friend and yet, I'm telling him to stay away from me. Even though I wanted to get to know him, I couldn't. I couldn't let him be dragged into so many issues because of me. I'm sorry if I'm telling you to stay away from me, Minamino-kun...' Her heart began to ache as she said those words in her mind. She felt herself getting tired as if she lost a lot of energy, that's why she leaned against the wall and cried silently but hard. 'I'm sorry...'
xxxxxx
In the classroom...
It took late for Riya's words to finally sink into Kurama's mind before he realized that she had already left. Yes, she wanted him to stay away from her. But why? Why was she isolating herself from the rest of the world?
Everything went well yesterday, as he remembered. And after that, he thought that everything would go well today, as well. He thought wrong. And the only thing he could think of was that something happened to Riya yesterday afternoon for her to act like that.
It's like she was slowly turning her heart into ice. But instead of following her outside since that's what he wanted to do, he just stayed there as he clenched his fist to somehow cool down his head even if it's just for a bit. He stayed there in a respect to what Riya wanted, as well.
At the exact instant that he sat on the chair, he was somehow struck with something when he felt immense spiritual energy hovering near. He glanced outside but there was no sign of weird activity there. That's when he realized that he must have somehow felt the spirit energy of one of the four missing legendary weapons: the Arrow of Wind.
'It seems to me you've already felt the presence of another legendary weapon, Kurama,' Hiei stated to him telepathically, implying that the fire demon was just near.
He sighed before answering him the same way. 'Fortunately, yes. Though it's faint, I could say that the power is massive. But it wasn't doing anything dangerous. It seems like the wielder of the Arrow of Wind is nearby and was just observing the surroundings.'
'But even still, you have to keep yourself alert. That demon shinobi might try to locate the weapons again,' Hiei suggested, making him smile inwardly.
And then he's beginning to feel the presence of the Arrow of Wind's spiritual energy was beginning to fade away.
xxxxxx
Later that night...
The Spirit Detectives gathered at the park once again since that's where Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei sensed the spiritual energy of the three weapons. But instead of the Legendary Weapon Wielders that greeted them there, they were slightly surprised and yet expectant when Kazue the demon shinobi showed up from out of nowhere.
"You like popping up like a mushroom, huh?" Yusuke said rather sarcastic as he prepared himself to fight.
But Kazue only smirked at that. "Same goes to you, Spirit Detective." And after that, she began to charge the team.
Or maybe not to the team, but a specific person among the team. They were surprised when they saw that Kazue was aiming at Kurama. But it didn't make them caught off guard this time. The said redhead prepared his iconic Rose Whip. But before he could even strike it at Kazue, someone had already struck the demon shinobi with a fireball that they were sure it didn't come from Hiei.
That large fireball was enough for their enemy to be injured. Koenma said once that they might have a hard time fighting a demon shinobi like Kazue whose spirit energy rivaled those of middle S class demons. But compares to the spirit energy of the legendary weapons, they somehow figured out that the combined powers of the Spirit Detectives could only cause minimal damage to the Legendary Weapon Wielders.
And that's where a part of another legend came in. Legendary Weapon Wielders were said to belong in the rarest class of fighters higher than the S class. But since no one had ever encountered anyone with a class higher than the S class demons, they never believed that it existed. They belong to a mythical class of beings known as the SS class (said as the Double S class).
But if it was true, then the legend about the weapons' capability to destroy the barriers that separate the three realms would most likely be said as facts.
"Where did that fireball come from?" Kuwabara asked despite his surprise about the sudden mysterious attack on Kazue.
But Hiei already knew the answer. "From the wielder of the Dragon Sword of Flame."
"But it's not only him who's around watching us right now," Yusuke said. "I could also sense the spirit energy from the Flute of Melody."
"Same as mine," Kuwabara added. "Someone who has the Scythe of the Deep Waters is also here."
Kurama could only smile at that. 'So that means the one with the Arrow of Wind isn't here.' But then, he frowned at one question that entered his mind. 'But why would the Legendary Weapon Wielders let us notice their presence? And they're even protecting us from the demon shinobi's attack... Why is that?'
But even though his mind was becoming full of questions about their mission, he couldn't understand the reason why would a single image of Riya smiling shyly actually helped him focus his mind on the case that they were trying to solve. He's still confused as to why would Riya ask him to leave her alone and don't talk to her only when it's really necessary and project-related.
And before he could even speculate on an answer to that, he saw a crescent-shaped indigo boomerang strike another demon shinobi that was about to attack them. This time, the demon shinobi was a man with yellow spiky hair and blue eyes. He's holding a weird-looking long sword and he dropped it when he was struck by the energy boomerang.
"Just because someone got lost in their thinking doesn't mean you can strike them by surprise," someone said, making them change their focus to look for the one who spoke.
And when they looked behind them, they were surprised to see three people wearing colored hooded capes holding some sort of weapon that would most likely be described as the legendary weapons that they were looking for.
Two girls and a boy wearing hooded capes—each of the capes represented the colored energy balls that the Spirit Detectives had within them—were standing just a few feet away from them.
"You should pay more attention to your enemies, Kurama. Or should I say—" the girl wearing a red hooded cape paused and then showed a faint smile. "—Minamino Shuichi?"
That made the Spirit Detectives surprised. 'How in the world did she know that?'
Little did they know that a certain someone with a pair of amethyst orbs was watching the battle at the park from afar.