Riya's apartment...
The gang didn't take Riya to the hospital but her apartment room since Master Genkai was staying in Yusuke's apartment who had just arrived shortly before the attack happened. They asked her to heal Riya's injuries and have Botan change her clothes to more comfortable ones. After that, they explained the situation to Koenma when the prince called them.
"I know she would be able to use it in this situation," Koenma said puzzled the gang. "But I never realized her powers would grow weaker up to this point."
"Wait! So you're telling us that you already knew Riya had powers before all this?" Yusuke asked in a loud tone. Koenma nodded.
"But Koenma-sama, I thought Riya-chan has a similar level of powers to Kurama. As you said before, Riya-chan is already in a low S class even though it was unusual for a human girl like her. How come she had her powers reached this weak level?" Botan couldn't help but voice out her concerns for the said girl which only made the team surprised.
"Even Botan-chan knew this?" Kuwabara asked.
But before they could even react further, Genkai came out from Riya's room after half an hour or so. Yusuke stood up immediately and approached the old lady.
"How is she?" Yusuke asked, worries evident in his tone.
"Her injuries had been completely healed, so there's no need to worry."
Sighs of relief were heard afterward. Genkai then approached the briefcase communicator where Koenma was shown.
"But if it's true that her powers are of a similar level to Kurama's, then care to explain how she had become weaker like this?" Genkai asked Koenma seriously.
This caught the other's attention, as well, and now they waited for the toddler to answer. But Koenma only heaved a heavy sigh and faced them seriously.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't answer that since I'm not sure how. I don't know much about her powers and where they originated but I'll try my best to know. By the way—" Koenma said before facing Genkai. "—how's Riya?"
"As of now, she's fine... physically. As for her powers, it's not good," she stated softly but bluntly.
'She's not as strong and powerful as she was supposed to be,' Hiei and Kurama both heard that telepathic message which surprised them both. 'A lot of things happened ever since those tragedies and her heart wasn't able to bear the pain anymore. Aside from that... her powers continue to slowly devour her life force. So in lesser time... you know what will happen.'
Kurama gritted his teeth and tightly clenched his fist upon hearing that.
'Yumi, don't tell me she's going to die just like that,' he pleaded but no answer came.
'How much longer can she handle this?' Hiei later asked after watching Kurama's reaction.
'I'm not sure. If her willpower remained strong, then she can last for a year or two. But that's only a guess. I couldn't speculate any further,' Yumi answered sadly before the telepathic link vanished.
'A year or two? That can't be right...' Kurama thought before sighing and facing Genkai. "Will it be alright if I visit Riya in her room?"
"Sure. Besides, she was already awake when I left the room," the old woman said. 'It's better if you see her now before she finally makes her decision regarding that issue,' she added in her thought and sighed inwardly.
xxxxxx
Several hours later...
Yusuke and the others already left Riya's apartment just as soon as they made sure she was alright. Even though Genkai already confirmed that all the girl's wounds were healed, Kurama insisted on staying by her side and he was only convinced to go home when Riya asked him to do so. She used Shiori as a reason and somehow, it worked.
But even though they left her sleeping, Riya woke up because of a phone call. It wasn't a surprise when she saw the name displayed on the screen.
"Hello? Riya here," she started.
"Good thing you're still awake," came out a woman's voice on the other line. "I guess you know the reason why I called you."
She sighed. "More or less, I already had an idea since the symptoms showed a while back when we were fighting two demon shinobis who suddenly attacked us from out of nowhere."
"You don't have much time left, Riya-chan," the woman said seriously but sadly. "You think you can still handle it?"
Silence filled the room before she clutched her fist on her lap. "I'm not sure, Haruna-neesan."
The woman calling her was her sister-in-law and her late brother's wife, Miyuzaki Haruna. Hiroto and Haruna had twin daughters Misako and Sachiko—both six years old—and a son Satoshi—four years old. Those two girls were only four years old and Satoshi was two when Hiroto got killed. Right now, Haruna was the one who took over the position Hiroto was supposed to inherit—leader of the Miyuzaki clan—since she was a legal family member and the wife of Riya's brother.
"I don't know how long I will be able to handle it, Haruna-neesan. Now I'm scared of losing everything because of this... I'm scared..." Riya admitted, her voice began to crack and her hand started quivering.
Riya heard Haruna sigh on the other line.
"Whatever happens from here on, you don't have to be scared. For as long as he can accept you for who you are and can support you no matter what, don't hold back. Fight for what you think will benefit many. He'll always be there for you. I know it."
She frowned at her sister-in-law's words. "Are you sure you know what you're talking about, Haruna-neesan?"
"Yumi-chan informed me of what's happening to you there. Somehow, the demon fox was the reason why you're scared right now. Kurama-kun doesn't know he's the one holding you back to fight before your time is over. Just leave it that way for now. It might not be easy but it's for the best," Haruna said.
"He shouldn't know... so that it wouldn't be too painful..." she muttered that almost tearing her heart apart. Riya knew where those words would lead her no matter how she analyzed them.
And it was too painful for her to utter the answer she realized. It was as if each word would tear her heart completely.
'But I guess it's the only way... even though just thought of it will be too hard for me to bear the pain...'
"So what do you want to do now?" Haruna asked after moments of silence, snapping her out of her musings.
Riya gave herself a few more seconds to think before she looked outside the window and gave her answer to Haruna's question.
xxxxxx
Minamino residence, Kurama's room...
Three hours had passed since Kurama left Riya's apartment and went home because she insisted on it. But that period was more than enough for him to think over a lot of things bothering him after all that had happened a while back, especially the facts that he and the others discovered from Koenma and Genkai.
And to tell the truth, he didn't know what to think at first. But all of those thoughts bothering him only concerned one person and that was Riya.
The fact that she possessed a considerable amount of powers had surprised him, especially when she blocked the initial attack with her bare hands and absorbed it in the process, thus saving him. Learning that the level of her powers matched his own and that it has grown weaker because of her life force being devoured slowly gave him a mild shock and extreme worry at the same time. He kept on thinking how could a 16-year-old girl like her managed to go this far.
Secrets after secrets had been slowly revealed to him that concerned the girl he loved. It was making him restless, afraid, and worried all at the same time and it was already frustrating him. This hasn't happened to him before, not unless it was Shiori that was related. But in Riya's case, it was even more intense.
Something was about to happen and he knew that since a series of events slowly began to unfold the answers to finish the mission. Not only about the mission but also everything about Riya, as well.
But he could only hope that it wouldn't be something that might take Riya away from him. It would be too unbearable for him if he lost Riya because of the mission. A lot of possibilities could happen and he didn't want to think of all those possibilities that might drive him crazy.
But his worst fear for his beloved would be the possibility that she would be killed either because of the demon shinobi or her life force reaching its end and her string of life would be cut soon. He hasn't prepared himself for that and he never could, no matter how hard he wanted to try. Just the thought of it was enough to tear his heart to pieces.
And because of that, he has to do something to let Riya know his feelings for her already. In other words, he must tell her his feelings. His true feelings.
That way, he has more reasons for him to do whatever it takes to protect the woman he loved truly...
...even if he has to deal with Death itself.