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

Cloud Covered Skies

Xeila was the name of a person I once knew. Well rather, someone that she did.

When I heard footsteps behind me, I slowly looked over my shoulder to see Ciel walking my way. A soft breeze blew by me, causing loose strands of my hair to move along with it.

"Shiori", Ciel seemed to say from a long distance away, "What're you..doing ?" Her voice was full of reluctance. I turned away from her and glanced down at the blue hair piece in my hand. At the moment, we were both on the roof of the place that we were currently staying in. Recall, that we're still in Makai. Soon, we'd leave this place.

"Nothing really", was my dull response, "Why do you ask ?" Again, she hesitated. "Are you worried ?", she asked slowly, as if she were counting on my reaction to determine something. I sighed and closed my hand around the hair piece that was in my hand. Shortly after, I turned around and feigned a smile. She seemed to be taken by surprise. "Worried ?", I asked, carefully watching her reaction, "Worried of what ?" "Of what is to come", she replied sternly. Ciel even narrowed her gaze towards me. I chuckled lightly and began to walk towards her, putting away the hair piece in the process. "I don't know", I mumbled when I walked past her.

"Should I be ?"

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"So are you finally ready to talk ?", I asked as I slowly closed the door behind me. "I've given you a week to think about your choice. If you're smart, we can either remain in this state or move on." Seiji smirked and Kaori stared with a desolate gaze. "I assume you want us to talk first ?", he asked with a calculating tone. "Correct", I replied as I leaned against the wall. Seiji sighed and turned to Kaori with a sympathetic smile. It almost looked sad. Helpless.

"Before we arrived to the Human World", Kaori began to say, "..Lets say about two to three months prior, we were suddenly involved in a project known as "RE". Originally, whether you want to believe me or not, we were not supposed to be involved. However during those few months, we were dragged around and were eventually given no choice." Kaori hesitated. I could see her hand tighten into a fist. "And so ?" "Xelia was one of the reasons", Seiji replied softly, continuing off from Kaori's words. "If it hadn't been for her, then this entire thing would've been avoided." "Was she the only one ?", I asked. Seiji shook his head. "Xeila is just one of the five people who lead the project. It's not that simple." "Jah, then tell me about the so-called project "RE". What is it's purpose ?" Seiji frowned and looked down at his hands.

"About 5,000 thousand years ago, there was a so-called "traitor"among the high council of Makai that abandoned the original aim of keeping the Human and Demon World together. During that time, the ruler of the Spirit World was in the process of creating a barrier strong enough to separate the two worlds. Thus, this so-called traitor abandoned the councils plans and sided with the Spirit World in order to keep them apart, despite being a demon. When the council found out, they were enraged and immediately set out to erase the traitor. Nothing is really known of what happened, but that traitor succeeded and then disappeared."

"Xeila was part of the council at the time ?", I asked. Seiji nodded and sighed in dismay. "Yeah." "So then, this project, RE, involves the shutting down of the barrier", I mumbled. "If that were the case, then the gateway on the fountain was just an experiment." "Correct." I glanced at Kaori. "But that doesn't explain how you guys got involved", I said. "Blackmail", Kaori replied bluntly, "It was blackmail from Xeila. In order to get us involved she took very important people away from us. In my case, she took my younger sister. In Seiji's his.." She stopped herself and stared at him. "My kid", he finished. His voice was cold and sharp. Full of hate. "She had the nerve to take him away from me." The tension of the room rose. "I see", I muttered.

"The fact that we failed makes it even worse", he said as he aimlessly stared out the window. "It's unsettling to think about what could have happened to them now."

Kana's words echoed in my head. "Not all demons had bad hearts. They just look like it."

"So now that you know", Seiji said after a moment of silence, "Tell us. What do you know." They both turned to me with observant eyes. "How do you know of Xeila ?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, smiling sympathetically afterwords. "To be completely honest", I said, "I was just throwing out names." "If that was the case, then why did you say hers first ?", Kaori asked. "I was going to say Mara next", I replied, "If I had done that, would you both have reacted as well ?" The both of them exchanged glances before turning back to me. "Guess not", I mumbled as I thought about what I could say next. "Anyhow, where to begin..."

"Ah, but I do have a question for you both before I begin." "And that is ?" "Why did Xeila send you to come after a human like me ?" "We were told that you had some affiliation with Makai, so she ordered us to come and get you." "I see."

Affiliation with Makai hmm...?

"Do you recall how I said that I was a decoy ?", I asked them. They both nodded. "I think that is the only affiliation that I have with the Guardians. Besides that, I'm nothing more than a doll. I don't see how my existence is important." Kaori sighed. "Either way, it's all over now", she said with a sad tone, "There are too many things that have been done.. too many things that cannot come back." In some ways, I was surprised that they didn't question me further. My explanation was very vague. Was that all it was...?

"After this, do you plan on taking us back to the Human World with you guys ?", Seiji asked in a low voice. "Correct", I replied. "What if we refuse ?", Kaori asked. "I'll force you", I replied. There was the faint sound of chuckling as I turned towards the door. "I see", I heard Seiji say. "Looks like even in this situation, we don't have a choice, now do we ?" "Guess not", Kaori mumbled as I closed the door behind me.

For a few minutes, I stood by the door, staring down at my own feet. I should've realized that it was blackmail, I thought to myself. Why hadn't I realized it earlier ?

"Hanamura", I heard a voice call out. I glanced up to see Sara walking over to me with a desolate smile. "So did they tell you ?", she asked me. I nodded my head. "Yeah", I replied quietly, "They did." "I see", she responded softly. For some reason she sounded exhausted. How strange. "You don't seem as lively as you usually are", I said, slightly narrowing my gaze, "What happened ?" She didn't reply.

"Hanamura", Sara said again after a momentary pause, "Could I ask you for a small favor...?" "Favor ?", I repeated, "What kind ?" She hesitated before continuing. "Well you see", she began to say. "I know that at this point, it's most likely impossible, but could I ask you to..."