|| A Bouquet of Red and White Roses || [Yu Yu Hakusho Fan-fic] {Edits}

Weakened Barriers

A slight gust of wind blew by us as we stood before one of the Barriers. This barrier in particular gave off an unsettling feeling. The gate to Makai. The Demon World. Ciel moved in front of me and examined the seal that had been placed in the gate. "Is this what Botan was talking about ?", I asked, eyeing the area around us. Ciel did something to the seal before taking a step back. She eyed it suspiciously. "I don't understand", she mumbled, looking down at the seal, "How is it that low leveled demons can pass through here ? It's still intact... There's no way that.." I stopped listening to her when I felt a presence suddenly appear behind me. I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see what I was implying. Someone was behind us. A silhouette that stood in the dark. "Sabotage ?", I replied in a questioning tone, "Don't you think ?" "How", she mumbled. "Why ?" I shrugged, turning to face our guest. "I'm sorry but you seem to be lost", I called out nonchalantly. "If I were you, leaving would be the best option." The shadow didn't move. I could feel Ciel moving towards me from behind. "That's not a person", she said, taking something out of her pocket. She threw it directly at the shadow and watched as it disappeared into the night. "Someone is controlling those things", she was saying. "Those shadows. Sometime after you got sick, I happened to notice those things hanging around. At first, I ignored it thinking I was imaging it but.." She looked out into the area where it had disappeared. "This one marks the twentieth one that I've encountered." I turned to the Makai Gate. "Do you think the Reikai Gate is in order ?", I asked. Ciel didn't turn around. "It should be fine", she replied with a sigh. "If Botan is able to make her way here to the Human World, then Koenma is doing his job right." I imagined Koenma sitting there at his desk with a lot of paper work. I grinned at the thought. "I wonder how he's doing", I mumbled as I stared off. Ciel turned to me and shrugged, slightly grinning. "Who knows", she said. "After all, I guess he is a 'prince'."

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There was a surprised look on Botan's face when we told her about the seal to Makai's gate. "I don't get it", she was saying while she paced around. "How is that possible when the rate of appearing demons in the human world is growing ?" We were all gathered at Genkai's home, shrine, whatever one it was. Genkai herself was absent and was somewhere else. "That's what I said when we went to go check it", Ciel replied, rummaging through her pockets. She pulled something shiny out and immediately caught my attention. "What's that ?", Botan asked, eyeing Ciel's closed hand. She opened her hand to reveal red shards. Ten, to be exact. I recognized them right away. "Are those.. Oka's ?", I asked quietly, slightly titling my head to the side. Ciel nodded. "But Oka has been away for such a long time now", Botan muttered, eyeing the shards. "How could these be hers..?" Ciel and I looked up at Botan. "Speaking of Oka", Ciel said, returning the shards to the pocket of her jacket. "Has she stopped by ? Have you seen her walking about in the Spirt World ?" I eyed her suspiciously. "She's not dead though", I added, looking at Botan. "Well ?" Botan shook her head. "If she were in the Spirt World", she was saying, "Then she would have stopped by to visit Koenma." A grin appeared on Ciel's face. "Say... doesn't that guy like Oka ?", she asked, somewhat muffled. A reluctant smile appeared on Botan's face. "I don't know", she said. "Ask him."

"So if she's not in the Spirt World, then is it possible that she's in the Demon World ?" 

"I don't see why not. If she's not here, or the Spirit World, then surely, she must be there." 

"But why the Demon World ?" 

"If I had answer, then I'd tell you. Sadly, I don't, so all we can do from here is assume.."

"Nee, Ciel, the last time you saw her. When was it ? Where was it ?"

"Where ?" She looked up at the blue colored sky before looking back to me.

"Here obviously. Here in this world of Humans."

It wasn't until about mid afternoon that we saw Botan off. As usual, she went back to the Spirit World on that broom of hers. Genkai was still not back so we decided to head home. I tried to distract myself by thinking about food. It would've worked too, if only I wasn't reminded of what happened the night before. Thinking about that shadow gave me shivers. It was like a ghost.

"That silhouette", Ciel was saying while we were walking through the busy streets, "Was it just me or did it seem familiar ?" "Familiar as in what way ?", I asked, eyeing the road in front of me. "Like we knew who that.. what that thing was." "But that's.." I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder. A chill for some reason, suddenly passed though me. I didn't want to turn around so I kept walking after Ciel. She must've realized. She must have felt it too because she stopped not that far away from me and scanned though the crowds of people. "..Shiori come here for a second will you ?", I heard her call out. I moved towards her, acknowledging whatever was behind me. "Nani ?" She tilted her head, looking somewhat uneasy. "Someone is watching us", she said as we remained in one spot. Her eyes were fixed on the crowd while she talked. She was trying to notice something. I would have done the same, but something was telling me not to. Finally, she looked back to me. "When we start walking again.. don't turn around", she advised cautiously, "This 'person' has a very similar aura to those wandering shadows." The seriousness in her voice gave it all away. So we continued. However this time we kept our guards up. "You speak as if it's a bad thing", I asked softly. "Those wandering shadows. What exactly are they ?" "Well for a fact", she replied with a calculating tone, "They are neither human or demon. Thus, giving them the name 'shadows'." "So like ghosts ?", I suggested. The expression on Ciel's face didn't change. It was alert yet collected at the same time. "Somewhat", she replied. "Like I had mentioned before, those shadows suddenly began appearing right after you got sick. Since then, I've been trying to locate a source." Suddenly, the expression on her face became unreadable. "I don't know why, but I have a very bad feeling about something." I made a guess. For some reason, that uneasiness was beginning to make it's way over to me. [Doushite?] I was well aware that they involved those shadows. Including this presence.

"Could it be that they're looking for something ?" We came across a stoplight and waited for the light to turn green. "Perhaps", she mumbled, looking up at the afternoon sky. "But instead of it being a 'something', I have a feeling that it's more of a 'someone'." I began to recall what Izumi had told me. The sudden situation with Ao. What I should be looking out for. The things that I question are the things that Ciel already knows. Sometime before Izumi told me, she told Ciel. But Ciel doesn't know that. I was sure that she had no intention of telling me anything in the first place.

Could it be...?