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Standard disclaimers as seen in part one of this fic, apply here also. As do
the Warnings: Up-and-coming scenes of lemon, yaoi violence ... take heed
when reading
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YOMATSU HARA-SAKAI, THE BOUNDS OF NIGHT: PART 3
It was night in New York City, and the entire city population was uptight
and panicked over the mutilated corpse of Jason Murry that had been found in
a back alley that day. The police were on special alert, out patrolling the
streets regularly.
From a down-town dojo, two young girls stepped out of the front door,
calling their goodbyes to their master.
"You girls be careful tonight!" he called in a thick Japanese accent.
"Stick to the streets!"
"We will, Tanaka-sensei," they called back, hopping out into the steady
flow of late night pedestrians.
All along the sidewalks, newsstands had displayed articles about the
supposed 'gang mutilation', every television in the Sony Store window was
tuned to the news where they were headlining the story just about every five
minutes.
"Why does this city always glorify disgusting crap like this?" Karyn
Miller asked, pointing past her best friend to the television screens.
"Who knows. If you ask me, half the news people around here are sick
and perverted. They make a big deal about the TWA crash ... they go on for
days about the subway bombings ... they bore ya with the hostage situation at
the World Trade Towers ... but when something important comes along, it's
two words, and 'boom-boom, bye-bye'. Sicko's if ya ask me!"
The two continued on, following their masters instructions and sticking
to the well-lit main streets. Their normal trek home usually involved making their ways
through the labyrinth of back alleys.
They passed an alley they would have normally turned down and stopped.
Something caught both their eyes, just visible beyond the smoky blackness.
A dim, red glow throbbed under some cardboard boxes about halfway into the
alley.
"What's that?" Karyn asked, tugging on her friends gi.
"Let's go find out." The two agreed silently, checking their position on
the sidewalk and slipped deftly into the alley, keeping close eyes out for
alley-thugs as they reached the cardboard. The pulsating glow was coming
from a large gem ... almost like a ruby, buried under wet cardboard
and newspaper.
Karyn sifted quickly through the mess and held it up in the dim light from
the streets. "Wow. Pretty neat, huh?"
"I bet some gang leader or jewelry thief hid it back here."
"Then let's not stick around to find out!"
The two ran out of the alley and continued on down the sidewalks,
hurriedly, gawking over the glowing gem. Karyn thrust it into her gi pocket,
watching as the pocket glowed red from inside. "How are we gonna sneak
that by your mom?" her friend asked, poking at the glowing pocket.
Karyn stopped suddenly.
"What?"
"Ever feel like you're being followed?" Karyn and her friend looked
behind them ... but the sidewalk was bare. Occasionally, a stray bar-hag would
stumble out on a man's arms, and they would disappear into the night, but
other than that, they were completely alone.
"Just the wind?" her friend suggested.
Karyn nodded. "Let's get home. This is givin' me the creeps."
On they walked, glancing about them as they turned down a long row of
apartment buildings. They were being shadowed ... Karyn noticed this when
they turned. She reached over and nudged her friend, ppinting as she gestured to
the other side of the street. Across the street, keeping pace with them was a
tall man, dressed all in black, carrying a long, slender glinting object. The two
picked up their pace, watching as the man picked up his pace too.
"Oh God ... what if it that's that mutilator guy?" the friend whispered.
Karyn reached down to a passing trash pile, retrieving a length of pipe.
"Then we'll just have to take him out ourselves"
"Yeah!... what?" her friend hissed.
Karyn jerked to a halt, turning with the lead pipe to the figure across the
street. "What the hell are you following us for?!!" she yelled loudly.
The figure stopped and turned toward her ... and in an instant he was to
the other side of the street, glaring down on her.
The man had long, streaming black hair, short crops of it sticking out
at odd angles from the nape of his neck, haloing his head. And set within his face were two,
large black eyes that smiled gently at the two girls as if they didn't belong to the mysterious
man at all. "The gem ... give it to me," he asked quietly, cornering them both with his gaze.
The two girls screamed and stumbled back. "Shit, he can move!" the
friend yelled.
The man reached a long arm out to his side, clutching a long katana.
"You have my gem. Please give it to me."
Down the sidewalk a ways, a flash of light brought a lumbering shadow
into sight. "The jewel!" it bellowed, running forward toward the three. "My
lovely! Give it to me, thief!" A horrid looking thing brandishing a reaping
scythe blinked in and out of the musty street light, heading straight for them.
"RUN KARYN!!!"
The girls burst off across the street, screaming at the tops of their lungs.
An old man settled calmly down in a battered sofa and flipped on the
television. "In updating the Manhattan Mutilation story .. " *click* "In other
news, there still have been no leads as to the mutilated body of ..." *click*
"and the boy's parent's ... " *click*
*click*
*click*
The old man huffed and turned the TV off. "Damn city."
Just then, a blood curtailing scream burst through the open windows,
startling the old man up out of the chair. "What in bloody blazes ... " he
staggered for the phone and dialed 9-1-1, watching the two girls race down the
sidewalk past his apartment window.
Hiei stepped through the portal first and onto the dark streets of New
York City, wrinkling his nose at the musty smell that wafted from the rained
streets. The city smelled horrible, compared to what the smells of Tokyo brought to him. Fast
food, cooked hamburger and wet, dirty streets lingered up to tease his nose as he growled.
Behind him, everyone started stepping out carefully, surveying the
streets before them. They were on a residential, inner-city street, lined on both
sides with apartment buildings, lit only by the occasional dim street lamp.
"I guess this isn't the ritzy part of town," Yusuke sneered, shoving his
hands in his pocket. "But, I guess things could be worse."
From down the long street-way, a blood-curdling scream bounced off
the buildings up to them, running their veins' cold. Through the dim lights,
two girls ran quickly, tailed by a lumbering figure brandishing what looked like
a sawed-off reaping scythe.
"You were saying?" Hiei growled, dissipating into the air.
"We can't out-run him, Karyn!"
"My house is just a little farther down ... "
The man in black suddenly appeared before them, warping into
existence, raising the long katana over his head. He eyed Karyn's glowing
pocket ...
The two girls turned on their heels only to see the lumbering goblin
galloping up the street ...
.... the man in black swung the long katana and they braced themselves
...
*CLANG!!*
The sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the street in an
eerie, reverberating whine. Karyn opened a cautious eye to find a short boy
before her, his spiky hair almost reaching up to her chin. He expertly held his
own katana before him, having successfully blocked the attack.
"REI-KEN!!" came a bellowing cry from beyond the two in black. A
flash of yellow light burst into view, heading strait towards them, swinging
oddly through the air.
"Nigero," the child with the spiky, black hair growled, pushing
back the attack.
Karyn and her friend turned, only to find the goblin in mid swing.
"AAHHHH!!!" they screamed, ducking the swing and stumbling out into the
street
The yellow, lightning-like light whipped before them, wielded by a tall,
goofy looking man with red hair. He yelled something to the goblin in a
language the two girls didn't understand, and preceded to land well-aimed
blows.
Kurama slid to a halt as Yusuke and Koenma pushed past. "Keep the
girls back there!" Yusuke yelled, beginning to gather his power.
Keiko and Yukina ran up next, each being caught on the shoulders by
Kurama. "Stay back. This isn't something either of you can handle."
Karyn and her friend ducked out of the battle, barely missing the whirling
blades. The five new people were involved heavily in the battle now, ganging
up two and three at a time against their attackers ... and not having much luck.
The little boy with the spiky black hair moved like the wind, almost invisibly,
but the tall man in black blocked every strike and then some.
"This is nuts!" Karyn yelled to her friend. "Let's get outta here. Ya with
me?" Without another word, the two took to their feet.
"OI!! Matte!!" One of them yelled after the two girls. "Koenma-san! Shoujo-tachi yo!"
"Keep running!" Karyn yelled.
Kurama noticed the two girls get up and run as he dodged a scythe
attack. "HEY!! Wait!" he yelled, but they continued running. He leapt back
from the battle. "Koenma! The girls!"
Koenma slid to a halt, watching the two girls rush by him. He turned
quickly to chase after them. "This isn't what I came along for!" he groaned to
himself.
Hiei stepped back, breathing heavily as he glared down the man before
him. "Who the hell are you anyway?" he growled, grasping the hilt of his
sword.
The man only smiled as a slight breeze struck up. It ruffled the hair
concentrated around Hiei's forehead and reveled slight glimpses of a purple
object, Hiei's jagan, his third eye.
The man grinned. "Youkai? In the Ningenkai? You are looking for
more trouble than you're worth, little one."
"Watch who you're calling 'little'!!"
"And such a temper!" He laughed slightly, lowering his katana. "I
admire your swordsmanship, little youkai. Perhaps you can help me."
"I'll help you alright ... to a hole in the head!" Hiei raised his blade to
strike.
Behind them, the battle with the tengu took a sudden turn as Kuwabara
landed a blow, completely severing one of the razor-clawed arms. Quickly it
reeled back, disappearing into a brilliant vortex of light, leaving behind a trail
of oozing, purple gook.
All attention turned to the tall man.
He stood confidently in place, one hand in the pocket of his pants, the
other gently gripping the hilt of the long katana.
Kurama frowned as he took a defensive stance. The figure before him: the body,
the hair, those eyes. The man in black almost looked just like Kurama!
"You're outnumbered," Yusuke said boldly, ripping Kurama from his thoughts.
"Perhaps." The man sheathed the katana. "Mark my words, I WILL be
back." and he vanished in a puff of wind.
Get your hands offa me, pervert!!" Karyn yelled, kicking and screaming.
She furiously tried her martial arts techniques, but the man's grip was like
stone. She clawed and bit at the hands, trying to get away.
"ITTAI!!!" the young man screamed, releasing his grip. Karyn crashed to the
pavement, turning on her back to stare up at the man, holding and cradling his
hand. He cursed and wiped a hand across his forehead, chewing intently on
what looked like a pacifier in his mouth.
Karyn stared strangely up at the teen as he began to shake the life back
into his hand. "K'so!" he cursed, waving around his bitten hand and muttering
to himself.
Behind him, the others ran up quickly, joining the other teen,
beginning a conversation in some oriental language. Karyn fingered the gem in
her pocket as she got to her feet, keeping a close eye on the group.
A woman with flowing red hair and green eyes stepped forward, bowing.
"Hajimemashite," she smiled. "Watashi no Kurama desu. Dozo yoroshiku."
"Yeah, hadji-whatever to you too," Karyn said backing up, keeping close
eyes on the group of strange visitors.
A teen with slick, black hair elbowed the teen sucking on the pacifier, conversing
quickly. He shrugged and looked to the redhead.
"Forgive me," the redhead began again. "You speak English?"
Karyn backed up a few paces. "This is just too gonzo for me! I'm outta
here!" and she turned to run ... only to come face to face with the short boy, a
third, purple eye glaring her down. "AHH!!" she screamed, reeling back.
"Just who the hell are all of you!"
Kuwabara stepped forward, dissipating the spirit sword. "I'm Kuwabara.
.." and a volley of introductions followed.
"Weird names," she said. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going home."
"Hold it right there," Yusuke said. "Exactly what were those two after
you and your friend for?" He pointed down to her glowing pocket. "Couldn't
have anything to do with that thing in your pocket, would it?"
Karyn shot a hand to the pocket. "Why would they want this?" she said,
pulling the jewel from the folds of her gi.
The group's eyes widened.
"It's that power again!" Yusuke awed, reaching a hand over the gem.
"The same power that came of that shuriken back in Tsukiji."
Kurama rubbed his hand. "You're right." The woman turned to Hiei.
"Can you and Kuwabara find that opening to Makai?"
"It's not Makai," came his reply, quickly. Hiei's expression turned to one
Kurama had never seen before. He tried desperately to read the face ...
analyzing the features as Hiei's brow twitched every so often.
"Not Makai? Then where did that tengu come from?" Yusuke broke the
silence.
© April 1997 Jiminy Cricket Presses
On to part 4