Hinote Kyou Mizu

Chapter 2

“Her cancer has gone out of remission obviously. It is attacking her lymph nodes. There is not much we can do with out major surgery and chemotherapy. I am sorry Mr. Urameshi.”

Ryu listened intently to what the doctor had to tell him and his father. He let his eyes flash back and forth between his father and the oncologist. The Doctor was calm, matter of fact, yet still sympathetic in tone. He had taken care of his mother since her first bout with the disease. He understood the families he worked with, their quirks and how things affected them. Ryu had great respect for him, he tried everything in his power to help the very sick woman in the bed next to them. The demon next to them on the other hand, was a different story.

“How much time does my mother have, Doctor Ashitaka?”

“Three months with treatment, much less without. My suggestion would be to make her final arrangements.”

Yusuke looked up, his eyes narrowed. “Thanks Doc, but I will decide with my wife what to do. And we will do everything possible that she wants done. You will not decide what is to be done. We will.”

Dr. Ashitaka looked taken aback as Yusuke spoke, Ryu sensing the situation between his father and the doctor, the elder battle mo-zaku’s youki flaring up, his aura burning red hot with anger.

“Doctor, let my Father and I speak with my mother. We will just need to discuss what she wants.”

The doctor nodded, glad to get away from the unprovoked verbal attack he saw coming. “Of course. Let me know. She will sleep for a while due to the drugs. It will be at least two hours.”

As he left, Yusuke turned and threw a slightly spirit energized punch in the wall behind him, making a large, deep hole in the plaster and drywall next to the window. He went to throw another one when he felt his son’s hands on his shoulder and then wrist, pulling him back.

“That’s enough, Dad. You are not going to do her any good by bringing the hospital down on all of us.”

Yusuke was silent as he stared at his son, eyes full of more pain, sorrow and heartache than he had ever seen. “I’m going to lose her, Ryu. I haven’t aged since I was twenty and here she is, dying.” He turned and looked around him, the hospital room stark white, save for the few instruments around the sleeping, frail woman in the bed. Her face was sunken, pale and drawn, a shadow of her former self. She almost seemed to be gone already, but save for the slow, soft beeping of the heart monitor.

“Dad, we will both lose her. I love her too and…but…” Ryu kneeled next to his mother, holding her right hand, careful of the IV line in her arm, the medication keeping her asleep dripping through the plastic tube and into her hand. “Mom, we love you. Don’t leave us yet.”

Keiko never stirred as her son cried into the blanket laid over her, his face buried next to her as he wept. He looked up and reached into his pocket, the ringing alerting him to his wife’s phone call.

“Hey, I called you earlier and left a message. Where are you, I have great news!”

“I have news too.”

“Great! You first!”

“How fast can you get to the hospital in Kyoto?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Hiei walked in the door, the room silent. He felt no one in the apartment, not even the cleaning lady who came once a week to do the bathrooms, the one room even Hiei refused to take care of. He turned on the light in the darkened room, heading for the kitchen, hungry after a long day of training at Genkai’s temple. He didn’t bother to turn on the light as he reached into the fridge, grabbing the roast beef, bread and pepperjack, settling on a sandwich, due to sheer hunger. He closed the door and turned to shut the door when he felt the blink of a slightly unfamiliar energy.

He turned, his Jagan opening slightly behind his bandana, looking for the unknown demon energy. He found it on the counter, embedded in a piece of paper. He turned on the light over the kitchen sink, picking it up and inspecting it. He could make out no words on the paper, confused as to what it was. He removed his wrappings and opened his third eye fully, seeing the words, somehow written into the paper with pure energy.

Hiei
I went to meet my mother.
Don’t come for me.
I’ll be back soon.

Amaya

*~*~*~*~*~*

Hinote raced up the stairs, turning the corner so fast that if she were a human, she would have slipped and wiped out. Her demon reflexes were at their peak as she ran past the nurse’s station, a screaming nurse telling her to slow down as she headed for Keiko’s room.

“Ryu? Yusuke?”

“Hia!” Ryu looked up from the chair he was sitting in the corner, the lack of sleep evident on his face. He stood stiffly, stopping his wife before she came farther into the room, ushering her back into the hall, looking back to see if his father had awoken at the sound of Hinote’s voice.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“She collapsed, had a seizure at lunch. The cancer resurfaced since her last check up. It’s going to be fatal this time, no matter what they do. It is just a matter of how long she has. They are keeping her on pain meds right now, keeping her asleep. When she woke up for a little while a few hours ago, she was mostly incoherent. Dad’s seven ways of freaking out and refuses to leave.”

Hinote nodded, shaking her head as she looked past her husband at her father-in-law, the older demon sleeping in a chair next to his wife’s bed, fingers entwined with hers. “How are you holding up?”

Ryu shrugged, following his wife’s line of sight to his parents in the dark room. “If Dad wasn’t nervous enough for the both of us, I would probably be a basket case. I know she isn’t gong to make it and I came to terms with that a long time ago. I don’t know if I could mourn anymore than I have.”

“I know.” She thought back to the nights they would simply sit and talk, Ryu admitting to Hinote his feelings of being a demon, losing his human mother, and the harshness of training. “What’s next?”

“Dad and I decided to wait ‘til Mom is a bit more coherent, we want to let her decide if she wants to get more chemo or what.” He shook his head. “I just hope she wakes up pretty soon. If she doesn’t, dad will ask for her to have chemo, to keep her around. She is his World Hinote, if he loses her…”

Ryu went silent, thinking about the things he had seen and heard his parents had gone through. His father’s awakening blood, three years separation, the heart ache, his birth, her being sick for years. They had made it through so much, ending like this would be hard on everyone.

Ryu turned to Hinote and smiled weakly. “You never told me your good news.”

“Oh it’s nothing really…”

Ryu pushed. “Come on. Tell me.”

Hinote smiled, hands behind her back, swinging them as she spoke, her voice having a definite sing-song quality. “Oh, I went and saw Harime today.”

“And…”

“I’m pregnant Ryu.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The red torii gate above her shown in the sunlight, obviously well cared for despite its obvious age. The forest, gardens and streams around her were simple, a pure and natural environment that Amaya never had seen paralleled anywhere in the city.

“The gardens are maintained by the monks at one of the neighboring shrines. Lord Keiji takes particular pride in the vegetable garden, which he claims is the only one he can keep up without making it turn brown.”

Amaya turned her attention to the young woman, following her silently, senses completely peaked. She wondered about the girl, though she looked familiar, she couldn’t place her.

“If you wish to know my name Amaya-san, all you need do is ask me.”

“Fine. Who are you, and what is this about my mother?”

“All will be explained soon enough.”

Amaya growled and stood in front of the girl, hands on hips. “Not good enough. We are not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on. As far as I know, my mother is dead, murdered, and has been for a very, very long time. You are going to explain to me why you dragged me away from my mate and all the way out to Kyoto. And you are going to do it right now.”

“That is enough Night Rain.”

Amaya turned and set eyes on a smallish woman dressed in a dark green hakama and bright yellow kimono top. Her katana was to her side, and wakizashi in the front, all well tied up. Her long blue hair, the color of several different seas, was tied back in a ponytail, floating freely in the wind, her blue eyes, deep as the ocean, reflecting the same light Amaya’s did.

“Who are you? What the hell is this all about?”

“I am known to those around here as Mizu-reidou, Kisaki no Mizu or simply the Lady of Mount Hiei. My name is Ayame and as Spirit Deteictive you should sense what I am.”

“Super S class Demon, Godhead Status. Why are you…?”

Ayame smiled. “I can’t blame Koenma for this, you haven’t been told anything. Come with me Amaya, It is time you were told the truth.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hinote threw both Yusuke and Ryu out of Keiko’s room around 9 am the next morning. She insisted they get a hotel room, both get a shower, clean clothes and more importantly food. Her argument was sound. ‘if Keiko catches you two in this state, she will smack you both.” For Yusuke, the threat of Keiko’s hand against his face in a not-so-friendly way was enough incentive to take care of himself. They called Kurama to bring clothes for a week for both of them, and booked a hotel before they went to find food, Hinote asking the two of them to bring back snickerdoodles and onigiri. Ryu smiled at this, while Yusuke had just dismissed it as a weird “that time of the month” craving.

While they were gone Hinote sent a message to Botan via her communicator, asking her to bring Harime to see the dying woman. Spirit World had been on alert since Keiko’s first sickness, not sure of Yusuke’s reaction to her death would be, always ready for a call from Ryu or Hinote. The Ferry girl knew the reason for Harime being called for. Botan agreed to bring her from Genkai’s former estate; the young Ice maiden, reformed from her time with Mukuro due to Kaida’s skill, now a well renowned healer. She was known for taking away the pain if not the illness, no matter the severity.

“I’ll have her there ASAP”. The bubbly spirit girl blinked out as Hinote turned to her mother-in-law and finally let herself cry.

“Stay with us, long enough to meet him. Please Keiko.” She didn’t bother to even wipe her eyes as Kurama entered to room, his mate Kaida and their children Matsu and Inari close behind. “Stay long enough to meet your grandchild.”