Wandering Souls

Wandering Souls ch2 Grief

***Peeks out behind shield***
Okay, I did a little research on street gangs. Some of the stuff I will add to the story will
be from the research and some will be a hefty dose of imationtion. One fact I discovered
on an actual Japanese news site= the street gangs really do use swords! In several articles
about the Bosozuko said they fought with knives, swords and baseball bats. Bosozuko are
teen biker gangs, called the speed tribes, the actual translation is said to be violently
running tribe.

On to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~

Birds flew out the trees in a panic as Kuwabara Shizuru and Yukimura Keiko ran
through the shrine grounds. Their sudden appearance startled the diminutive Koorime
from her contemplation and drew the attention of Genkai. Keiko was the one to speak up
while Shizuru looked about. "Yukina, where's Kuwabara? It's really important that we
find him!"

The frightened tone of Keiko's voice made Yukina start to worry. "I have not
seen Kazuma-san since he left on the mission. What's wrong?" She drew a clenched fist
to her chest. She may not understand what Kazuma means by this 'power of love'
however she is very fond of him.

The thoughts of both girls were interrupted once Shizuru stepped between them,
staring off to wilds that surround the shrine. "My little brother is here, I can feel it… He's
out there, in the Cursed Forest…Damn it all, he already knows."

"And just what does he know and why would it get you, of all people, in a near
panic? I've known you Shizuru, since your brother was in diapers. It's been a long time
since anything would ruffle you this badly." Genkai had silently slipped up to the elder
Kuwabara's side. As the breeze blew through her hair, she stared off into the forest in the
same direction as Shizuru. "Hmm, his energy's is chaotic right now and growing to a…"

The seasoned psychic next words were lost as the most dismal howl arose from
the cursed woods. The tormented cry cut into one's souls, leaving a person with the sense
of loss and dread, a need for revenge and a thirst for blood. Even the primitive demons
that lived in the woods were affected by the young empathic human's tormented cry,
causing them to run away.

Gasp "That's Kazuma-san!" Yukina tried to run to the woods but was stopped by
both brunettes. Turning to face Keiko, she grabbed her arm. "Why did you stop me?
Please tell me, what's wrong!"

A strong hand on her shoulder calmed Yukina some. "Easy there, Yukina let my
little brother have some time to blow off some steam. I guess he found out from Koenma,
or more likely he had a premonition and Koenma confirmed it." With a sigh, Shizuru lit
up a cigarette. "You see, Kazu's three human friends were ruthlessly killed earlier today
in an ambush by rival gangs. We were hoping to make sure that he heard the news from a
friend. Those damned gang member are swarming the city, waiting to find Kazuma in
hopes of breaking the new to him."

"So that's what happened." Taking a puff off her own cigarette, Genkai noted
several energy signatures near the younger Kuwabara. "Well, the other three are there
with him. If that's a good thing I don't know yet."

Perplexed, Keiko regarded the aged Reikai Master. Tilting her head to the side,
she decided to voice her confusion. "Why wouldn't it be a good thing? They are his
friends too. Yusuke is his best friend, so how can it be bad for them to be with him?"

"You should remember that they often taunt Kuwabara for being human. Hiei is
not the only one that says he's weak. Remember back when his powers were latent and
the Seven were threatening us? When Kuwabara left the safety of the group, that dimwit
went to the arcade instead of looking for Kuwabara like I assumed he would have."
Genkai paused for moment, shaking her head at the idiocy. Not only at Kuwabara's but
Yusuke's as well. "I had no doubts that evening that Yusuke was looking for Kuwabara
instead of playing games. But no, I had to spell it out to the dimwit that Kuwabara's
powers were going trough a change and he was the one in the greatest danger."

Ignoring Keiko's protests, Genkai went on with her recent insights. "Yusuke does
care for Kuwabara but I am beginning to wonder about the nature of it. I've noticed that
it's protective at times, like a friend; then other times it's like an obligation, as if it's part
of a job. Before the team was defined by having two demons and two humans, but since
Yusuke's revival and learning that he's a descendent of a Youkai, it's now three demons
and one human. I've noticed that they are worse than before on their insults and so-called
jokes. Even Yusuke is harsher towards him. I don't knf thf they realize how much they
are discriminating against him. I have spent time talking to Kuwabara, he comes here
often to have someone to talk to."

Genkai paused as the sound of crashing trees reached the women. "Hn, by the
sounds of things, there will be a new meadow in the forest."

~~Meanwhile in the Cursed Forest.~~~


"HAAAAAARRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"


Deep in the forest, a young man stood on his knees, fists clenched and shoulders
thrown back, his head facing the night sky as he let a roar of rage and anguish rip through
his being.


All present was struck by the strength of the empathic wave that emanated from
the tall human. "Shit, what was that?" Yusuke still had trouble gauging the new power
level that Kuwabara has shown sinis ris rei-kan had returned.

"He's more a fool than I thought if he lets this despair affect him like this, causing
him to loose control. He should know in our line of work, it's best to always to in
control. That was the first thing I tried to teach him during the training leading up to the
Dark Tournament." Hiei scoffed, refusing to cover his ears as Yusuke and Kurama had
originally done.

The golden eyes of an angry kistune turned to regard the fire demon. "I do not
agree with you there, Hiei. Kuwabara-kun has every right to voice his loss this night."
With a blink of the eyes, they returned to the vivid green and the white streaks faded back
to the scarlet red hair. "This howl, it's too familiar to my tastes. I know the torment that
he's suffering from." Haunting memories of a raid gone wrong and the bamboo trap that
was sprung came to the surface of his memories.

Curious, Yusukly sly slightly turned to face his teammate. "How is that,
Kurama?"

A gruesome scene played in the mists of memories. A darkly handsome figure
with leathery bat wings stood with multiple spears made out of bamboo sticking out of
his form. The hollow poles allowed blood to flow out freely as he cried for his friend to
forget him and save himself. Kurama shook his head in an attempt to banish the
nightmare. "The night that Kuronue died, I cried out with same type of howl as
Kuwabara-kun does now. the the same howl of the loss of dear friends. A loss that will
not go unpunished, just as I pursued the ones that caused Kuronue's death, until I caused
their ruin."

"I still can't believe that the toddler gave him the file!"

~~Flashback~~

With closed eyes, Kuwabara took a deep breath to collect himself. Squaring his
shoulders, he looked at the prince of the Reikai in the eye. "Koenma-sama, when we first
met face to face, you stated that you owed me a favor. I wish to collect now. I want to
know…no, more than that, I want a copy of the detaf myf my friends death."

After a tense moment of silence, Koenma spoke. "It's true, I did say that I owed
you a favor. Jorge, make a copy of the file for Kuwabara." As Jorge scurried away,
Koenma turned to Kuwabara. "What you do with the information is your own decision,
but I will remind you that I will be watching."

Snapping out of his stupor, Yusuke turned to his friend. "What's going on here
Kuwabara? Do you mean that Okubo and the others are …dead? How did that happen?
Botan, did you bring them to Reikai yet?"

A tearful Botan tried to answer but a sub was all she got out. Kuwabara spoke up
to answer Yusuke. "They were ambushed by the Scarlet Dragons and the Night Spiders. I
saw a glimpse of that "

"What! That' impossible, they're rivals and hate each other." Yusuke sputtered
out in surprise. "Why would they work together?"

Glaring at Yusuke, Kuwabara continued. "I think that they hate me more than
each other. So they teamed up to ambush my gang, the Honor Blades, killing three of the
senior members who so happened to be my best friends." Turning to Botan, Kuwabara
took her into his embrace. "Botan, I know there's more to it but there's also something
else that's bothering you. What is it?"

Wiping a few tears away, Botan hid her face in his chest. "I've come to see
Okubo, Sawamura and Kirishima as friends as well. Perhaps not as close as you guys. I
would say as close as Genkai was during the Dark Tournament." The guys winced as
they remember how torn up Botan was over Genkai. "That just makes it harder to accept
that I failed my duty as a ferry girl to them…. They refused to come to the afterlife,
deciding to stay as restless souls in the living realm. I'm so sorry Kuwabara!"

"That's okay Botan, I don't have any hard feelings for you. I'm assuming they
didn't come because of me." Kuwabara could barely tell that Botan shook her head.

"Yes, they said they needed to stay for you. That you have had enough trouble
with ghosts and it time that there were friendly ghosts hanging around you." Botan
sniffed as she turto fto face Yusuke. "They figured out that when Yusuke was a ghost,
that he hung around you some and it kept some of the ghosts from pestering you. That
and they would join the other few ghosts from the Honor Blades."

"Wait a minute… Did you say they knew I was a ghost?" Yusuke turned to ask
Botan. "They don't have Kuwabara's spirit awareness. How did they know that?"

"They used logic." It was Kuwabara that spoke up. "They figured out that it was
during the time that everyone thought you were dead, and later believed it was a coma.
The coma was a lie to cover your revival. Well, they knew that sometimes, a spirit can
separate from the body in sleep, a form of astral projection. They thought that was
happened to you, that your soul separated from your body while is was in a coma. So,
while you were ghost-like, you came around me some. They were lead to believe that
since before your death we were bitter rivals and after your revival it changed to the
shock of everyone to friendly rivals." Kuwabara gave a bitter grin. "They were right. The
process to the conclusion may be wrong, but the final conclusion was right."
As Jorge came in with the copies of the files, Kuwabara stepped away from
everyone to take them. As he walked out the door, Yusuke stopped him.

"What are you planning? You can't go ballistic!" Despite how he would often act,
Yusuke did care about his friend. Fear gripped him as he recalled how fiercely protective
Kuwabara is of all his friends. "I know that you will do everything possible to protect
your friends, whether it's us on a mission or the thmembmembers of your gang. I know that
you would do everything to avenge them as well!"

Memories of how Kuwabara would act to save the tentai flooded the minds of all
present. Yusuke remembered when Kuwabara jumped over a lava pit to throw a mighty
punch that sent a 10 foot tall Byako into the lava.

The time that the dishonest teacher blackmailed Kuwabara came to Botan. Akashi
demanded that Kuwabara couldn't fight for an entire week or Okubo would loose his job,
which meant his family would starve. Since he refused to run away like some coward,
Kuwabara went through the week being beaten up by rivals but refusing to hit back.

In Kurama's mind, the scene replayed as Kuwabara stood to face Risho despite
his injuries. He recalled how Kuwabara contacted each of his teammates telepathically
before turning to his opponent and claiming that if he could drag Risho into death with
him, then the match would be a stalemate and his teammates would have another chance
to survive.

It was the encounter with Sensui that Hiei remembered. When Yusuke died yet
again and the others fought against Sensui with all they had. Kurama had turned into his
original form, to be stronger, in order to fight Sensui who's power was in the S class. He
knew he was far weaker but Kuwabara refused to back down. When they were trapped
were trapped by Itsuki, it was Kuwabara's determination that freed them as he summoned
his newest spirit sword. It was the Jigen Tou that made Kuwabara finally reach A class.

The time that Younger Toguro appeared to have killed Kuwabara played in
Koenma's mind. Kuwabara was not as hurt as everyone feared but played dead so the
shock could bring Yusuke to a much needed fightinge ine in order to win against Toguro.


Kuwabara brought everyone out of their moment of musing by turning to
Yusuke. "You're afraid I'm going to do something stupid that will get me in trouble here
in the spirit realm aren't you?" When no one denied this, he went on. "Remember that the
Reikai judges all the humans to be not just some of a select group. There are people
whose religions are as diverse as, Buddhism, Shinto's, and Taoist; there are some
Christians and Muslims here in Japan. Every city does not have the same set of rules, nor
does every religion or culture. It makes judging them very complex. I'm assuming that
one major factor in judging a person is whether they follow the orders of their religion
and culture?"

At this Koenma nods his head. Despite the grim atmosphere, Koenma found some
small amusement that it was Kuwabara that grasped the complexity of judging a soul. But
then the boy did grow up with a strong awareness.

"Speaking of culture, there are sub-cultures." Kuwabara tucked the file under his
arm as he pointed towards Yusuke. "You are a thug, you should know how the streets
work. Street gangs have their own sub-culture. What are the laws of the concrete jungle?
What are the responsibilities of a gang leader?"

Yusuke's shoulders slumped as he realized what sort of corner Kuwabara was
backed into.
"A gang leader is to protect and lead the gang. When a dishonorable raid happens, a gang
leader is expected to find out who are responsible and get revenge."

"I do not know much about street gangs so can you explain what qualifies as
'dishonorable?" Kurama spoke the question that everyone else wanted to ask.

As the only street fighters, Yusuke and Kuwabara gave a grimace at the question.
"Most people think any street gang member has no honor. But that's not true. The honor
codes are different for each gang but every gang has a set of honor codes that they follow.
Some people may not agree with them but it's a code that rules their actions." Kuwabara
tried to clarify it for them. "But there is a core set of codes that is shared in the streets. In
a street fight, it is dishonorable for two gangs to ambush one gang. One on one gang
fighting is okay. And it would be okay if two gangs teamed up to fight another set of two
gangs."

"Hn, so it is seen as if they are weak if two separate gangs team up to fight one
single gang." Hiei leaned back against the wall, thinking of how these 'street gangs' were
like the thieves gangs back in the Makai. "What if the single gang was bigger than them?
How is that dealt with honorably?"

Shrugging, Yusuke answered casually. "That's simple, instead of joining forces
as two gangs, they merge into one gang. Then it's an honorable fight."

" But they didn't merge so it's dishonorable. And Kuwabara must now seek
reparation for his friends murder or he will breaking one of the rules that govern this sub-
culture, correct?" Kurama's question was answered by both Yusuke and Koenma
nodding their heads.

With a smirk and a wave of the hand, Hiei pointed out what Yusuke feared. "Then
that means that Kuwabara has to kill the humans responsible. Even Yusuke wouldn't kill
a human when he should have at the hospital."

"Yusuke was a fool during that encounter." Kuwabara still held firmly that the
doctor was too great a threat to be allowed to live. "Most likely now he can't kill a human
since he has demon blood. King Enma threw a fit before when it was revealed that
Yusuke was descended from a youkai, he would hit the roof if Yusuke killed a human.
But yes, Hiei. By core set of codes, I'm honor-bound to kill the ones that killed my
friends. What the spirit realm will be watching is HOW I do that. I cannot act like a
madman or kill them in their sleep. I will have to avenge them with my honor."

~~End Flashback.~~

"Hn, I for one, will like to see how he gets started." Hiei smiled, he knew that
Kuwabara had his own style of an honor code and wondered how he fitted killing into it.
After all, as part of the team, he has killed many demons. However, two of his teammates
are demons and he has professed his love for Yukina, an ice demon.

"While we wait out Kuwabara's grieving, how about we read what has upset him
so greatly." With a swish of paper, Hiei and Yusuke turned to see Kurama g thr through
the file that documented the murders of Okubo, Sawamura and Kirishima.

TBC