The Gate of Betrayal
*****Yusuke*****
It felt like a mountain was strapped to my back, threatening to crush me. I held my hands up, trying to stop it, it took so much just to keep it from falling, and based on the grunts and seething I heard around me, we were all strugglin’ with it too.
I heard… something start cackling.
Of course it wasn’t gonna be that easy.
We all saw some weird… thing . A demon, if I was a bettin’ man. It looked like it was one big eyeball, a tiny mouth, and it had bat wings on either side that it was flapping, with little feet to perch with.
Gross.
It let out its fuckin puke-inducing wet-ass sounding snicker, and started to monologue . “Foolish intruders of Maze Castle! You all stand here, at the Gate of Betrayal!”
I scowled at Saotome.
Kuwabara just said he felt somethin’ funny about him, now red-headed mcpigtail says ‘drop it’ and suddenly this thing falls on us.
A place called the ‘gate of betrayal.’
It’d be hysterical if I wasn’t the one caught up in it.
“This pillar will keep putting on its pressure, just enough to not squash you if you all hold it up! It calibrates perfectly to your combined strength! The only way out, is if one of you slink through, just enough time for one, and one alone, while the rest become STAINS !” It let out another set of mad cackles.
I grit my teeth, my words more of a hiss. “Saotome… don’t you… dare.”
He looked back at me, and there was a real sense of… offense, of hurt. “ I would never . A martial artist… always … helps those in need!”
I could tell it wasn’t just some canned phrase, it was something he lived his life by.
Sure, he says he’s a man amongst men even though right now he looks like a short redheaded girl, with like… Jesus, F cups or something? and sure he says he’s honorable even after lying through his teeth to us, but this. I really could tell he believed this, with every ounce of his heart and soul.
… maybe I’m thinkin’ too hard.
I looked over, at the other person I knew I’d need to worry about, and, worryingly, found Kurama had already been looking at him too. The fox boy’s eyes darting around the room, to Hiei, then back around, scanning the whole place.
I seethed, barely choking the words through my teeth, locked shut under tension. “Hiei… I know you’re an asshole, but I really need ya to not kill us.”
The spiky haired shorty was grunting, his face contorted with strain, and the typical distant frustration. “How reassuring . Besides, what does it matter if I give my word, when Saotome just lies anyways.”
Saotome shook his head, “This is different! It ain’t about my curse, it ain’t about my manhood, it’s about honor , about lives at stake!”
Hiei scoffed, “You humans. Bleeding hearts only when it’s convenient.”
Kuwabara let out a groan, “Guys! This is just what that weird… THING wants! Makin’ us all suspicious!”
*****Kurama*****
We all felt the pillar get heavier, and a chorus of grunts and exertion were let out. There has to be something, some trick, some way out. I was ready to die for my mother’s sake, and I’d do it all over again, but… not here.
There’s no out of place or odd looking bricks in the walls, nothing there that looks like it could be secretly pressed. No outline of a false door.
I sniffed the air, no residual spirit energy concealing something, there’s a lever in the room. Looking closer, it looks like a vast majority of it is covered in dust, intruders to Maze Castle have been known to fail, and I can’t imagine they get many visitors. However, clear within the dust, was an imprint of some sort of claw gripping it, the same one this bat has.
“The lever!” I squeaked out, just barely able to talk under the weight. “Hiei! The lever would… stop it!”
I tried to catch my breath, even just that took a lot out of me, I pray they understand.
Yusuke looked at me, “Well, guess it beats waitin’ to get… squashed! Hiei! Go… pull it!”
Miss Saotome piped up, never satisfied with the solution two feet in front of her, “Why’s he gotta be the one to do it!...” She let out a grunt, “I’m the fastest guy I know!”
Yusuke let out a squawk of effort, “You also the humblest?”
She didn’t seem to care too much for that.
The spirit detective groaned, the shifting and scratching of stone piercing my ears. “Just… Trust me!... He’s faster n’ any human!...” He let out a whine of pain, “I know he’s a demon… but that doesn’t mean shit!... You can’t judge someone on that…” He panted, “You of all people… should know not to judge someone on the outside…”
…
There was silence, the scraping, scraping, scraping, of the pillar bearing down its weight on us.
Saotome nodded over to Hiei, “I’m countin’ on you.”
Hiei started to shift his stance, eyeing the lever, it was about 2.36 meters away. The four of us should be able to hold the pillar, if we really put in our all, for about two seconds, before it’d acclimate to our strength, and we would be crushed.
The lower class demon spoke up, “Hiei, are you really going to try and save these humans !? Think about the opportunities, I’m sure lord Suzaku would be more than pleased to add a demon such as yourself to servitude! You, a Saint Beast! You’d be unstoppable!”
Yusuke seemed worried, “Don’t do it Hiei!... Ghhgh… Don't’ even think about it!...”
Hiei darted out from under the pillar, and stopped.
Right next to the lower class demon.
I yelled out, desperate to reach him. “Hiei!”
It seemed to get a devious smirk, the smile of a crafty victory plastered on its face. “Ahahaha, YES! I knew you’d see reason!”
Hiei, in a blur, flipped the lever, and grabbed the demon bat by its large eye. It made a squeaky sound as he did.
He gave it a dark stare. “You dare sully me, thinking I’d be content playing second fiddle, let alone fifth for some presumptuous upstart.”
It gulped, “w-wait, sir Hiei, w-w-w-we can talk abou-”
I heard the telltale sound, metal clinking against sheath, a blade drawn in an instant, a single grain of sand flowing down in an hourglass, and the creature was split in two.
The pillar relented, mercifully slinking back up where it belonged, back in the square hole.
Yusuke let out a sigh of relief, and Saotome seemed surprised. Checking her own person to see she was still alive.
The spirit detective gave a small, warm smile, “Thanks man.”
My accomplice rolled his eyes, “It would be inconvenient if you were to die. You’re my ticket to being pardoned, and we stand greater chance of defeating the Saint beasts with five, as opposed to one.” and with that, he started to walk.
I nudged Urameshi, making sure Hiei was out of earshot. “He has a hard time with words, but I do think he’s taken a liking to you.”
He simmered on that, and I watched the oil pop in his mind as he nodded, “Strange guy.”
I nodded, my head tilting from side to side like a snake’s slither, “And yet he has his reasons. It seems like you two have some sort of understanding, unless I’m mistaken.”
The jet-haired boy scratched his head, “Well if we have, I’m sure not in the loop on it… but hey, I can work with this”
*****Ranma*****
Well THAT was stressful. I mean, I'm fast enough that I still could’ve wormed my way out, could probably give the shortstack a run for his money, but I really would’ve hated to see the other guys go splat, and definitely would’ve hated having to do this alone. I’m pretty out of my element here, what with all this demon stuff goin’ around. Not that I couldn’t , let’s make that crystal clear, just woulda been wayyyyy more of a hassle.
We’d all been walking, a newfound joy at having survived a death defying obstacle.
Kuwabara chuckled, “Man! When that thing fell, you totally freaked Urameshi!”
Yusuke gave a small, wry smile, “Yeah yeah, yuck it up. Just tryin’ to make sure I didn’t turn into a detective pancake. Dying once was enough for me.”
I stopped.
“W h a t?”
Yusuke looked back at me, blinked a few times, and seemed to come to a realization, “Oh shit! I guess Saotome doesn’t know.”
I looked back and forth at the other three, Kurama gave a veiled shrug, as if it was none of his business, and wasn’t a huge deal, Kuwabara just nodded, and Hiei… I can never read that guy.
Kuwabara looked away, bothered. “Yeah, he uh, died before. He’s doin’ good now though.”
I couldn’t believe it, and yet, I also felt like I had no choice. Why on Earth would he lie about something like this. Why would Kuwabara back him up, they weren’t trying to hold back laughter, or pulling a bit. Kuwabara seemed… Hurt. Like the whole experience is one he tries not to think about.
And Yusuke… he seemed so… matter of fact about it. I recognized the way he talked.
I know it, because it’s me. Because it’s the same way I talk about my curse to the people back in Nerima. Like if I just state the facts plainly, embrace it, then it can’t hurt me. Then nothing they can say can hurt me.
… “You… wanna talk about it?”
Yusuke shrugged, letting out a sigh, “Long story short, I died. Got hit by a semi-truck. Got told it wasn’t supposed to be my time, did some trials and stuff, and came back to life. With a catch . I have to be the ‘spirit detective’. Basically some lame-ass errand boy for Koenma, the toddler you saw earlier. Oh, he basically runs all of life and death.”
I practically jumped out of my own skin. “He WHAT!?”
Yusuke smirked, and looked at me, a goofy grin, “I know right?! He doesn’t even look potty trained!”
I just blinked.
This guy has died, come back to life, met the one in control of the balance of all life on Earth, WORKS for him, and still has the mentality to shit all over him.
I cackled, though it sounded way more like a giggle, before it turned into full laughter, “MAN! You’re an interesting guy Yusuke!”
His smile got a little more genuine, “Yeah, I’ve been told.” It faded slightly as he continued, “Anyways, apparently being spirit detective is less mystery, more clobbering demons and trying not to get killed.”
I nodded, and really felt for the guy. “Sounds hard.”
Yusuke, “Sometimes, yeah. But to be honest… I dunno if I’d really wanna be doin’ anything else. Yeah I get my ass-kicked, have to train with an old hag that’s so brutal she might as well be torturing me, have to deal with a girl that constantly wants to slap me around, all while everyone expects me to give a shit about school. Like I care! I’m good at fighting, the best around town! I shouldn’t have to care!”
… He’s… He sounds a lot like… “Tell me, does the girl call you a pervert and an idiot all the time for stuff that’s not even your fault?”
His eyes went kinda wide, “Yeah! And she’s always on my case-”
I knew the rest already, “And gives you that angry disappointed talk, like she expects you to have to listen to her.”
He got a smile of disbelief, and recognition flashed through his face. “Yeah!” Quickly he snapped, and his brow furrowed. “How the hell do you know Keiko?”
I grinned, sly, “I don’t. But I know Akane.”
This guy.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad.