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

To a Time of Betrayal

"Before I begin, I must ask you... are you both aware of what had happened in this world 5,000 years ago ? The incident involving the Council of Makai ?"

Shuichi and I exchanged glances. I knew of the story because of Seiji and Kaori. They had mentioned it during the short time we spoke to each other. Shuichi on the other hand, I wonder if he knew. I stared at his stoic expression and somewhat frowned. I had a strange feeling that this wasn't the first time Shuichi has been to Makai. A while back, I recall him taking a short yet sudden break from school for something. For almost 3 weeks, he had been absent. And if I recall, he left to do some sort of errand with Urameshi and Kuwabara. I wouldn't say that I was certain about this feeling, but something told me that their "errand" was in Makai. If this was the case, then surely, Shuichi must know about the story.

"Are you referring to the one who betrayed the council ?"

"..." Bingo. So he did know about it. Asai smiled at him and nodded her head. "Correct", she replied, "I'm surprised that you know about this. Not a lot of Humans know about Makai's history..." Her voice trailed off. "Not exactly", Shuichi replied nonchalantly, "I only know of some things. It's vague, but it's enough to get an idea of what happened." Asai chuckled and glanced over at me. "How about you ?", she asked. I shook my head. "No", I lied. From the corner of my eye, I could see Shuichi staring at me. I knew that he was observing. Even in this situation, there were still a lot of things that I had to keep away from him. He was exactly the same. I was drawn away from my thoughts when I heard Asai's voice again. "Oh", she replied dully, "Is that so ?" I nodded. "Jah", she mumbled, "Tell me. What do you know before we continue." I stared at Shuichi, who averted his gaze and looked out the window. 

"It's not very clear", he began to say slowly, "But if I recall, there was a traitor among the Council of Makai, someone that they trusted very much. It was said that something had happened between the Demon World and the Spirit World which eventually led to the development of the Kekkai Barrier. It was around that time, that things began to change." Asai nodded her head as she reached into her pocket and pulled something out. Shuichi looked over his shoulder as we watched her hold her hand out. Shortly after, something appeared. A piece of paper. Asai skimmed over it before saying, "Correct". She peered over at us with a collected yet stern expression on her face. "Let's see", she mumbled, "Why don't we begin from here..."

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It all began with a dispute.

"About 5,000 years ago, before the existence of the Kekkai Barrier, there was a dispute that took place between the Council of Makai and the ruler of the Spirit World, Kind Enma. Not much is known about how it originally began, but the dispute was over the existence of humans. Back then, the Demon and Human World were both merged as one place. That meant that there was an abundant amount of complications. To demons, humans were nothing more than items, something that could easily be replaced if something happened to the last. And to humans, demons were nothing more than monsters that killed them. Demons were nothing more than the things that struck fear into their hearts." 

Asai looked down at the paper in her hands, a solemn smile on her face.

"After several years of observing the merged world, King Enma would eventually begin to acknowledge the existence of humans. From that point, he began to think about their worth, whether they had a place in the world or not. Surely, King Enma himself pitied them. In the end, it was probably because of that feeling of sympathy that ultimately led to the planning of the Kekkai Barrier. Humans were no match for demons. Everyone knew that. So for as long as he could, King Enma kept the plan a secret. Only him and two others knew of it. "Tsuiyō", is what it was called. A plan that would someday succeed and separate the merged worlds from each other. However as you may guess, it was quite difficult to keep the secret away from the Council. Especially when there was a dispute going on between them."

"It wouldn't be until about 2,000 years later that the news would eventually reach the Council. By then, Tsuiyō was almost complete. And it would've been completed if it had not been for a spy that had managed to get into the Spirit World. Although, at one point, the news was delayed. The spy who was supposed to deliver the news to the council was killed by someone. But as usual, that didn't stop the information from reaching the council. When they learned of King Enma's plans, they were enraged and immediately set out to prevent the success of Tsuiyō. They succeeded and destroyed the first barrier, the prototype. Also known as the "Old Ruins", the place that we know now. It was no doubt that King Enma was placed in a difficult position. However he did quite a lot to prevent the situation from worsening."

Shuichi and I exchanged stern glances. "So then if Tsuiyō failed, what happened afterwords ?", I asked Asai slowly, " Was there a war ?" Asai shook her head and smiled. "Luckily no", she replied as she continued. 

"After the destruction of the first barrier, King Enma set out to plan things much more carefully. It didn't stop him from thinking of another method. After all, it was a prototype. If the demons of the Council was able to destroy it so easily, then it needed to be stronger. I believe that it was around this time that things within the council also began to change. When they destroyed the barrier, they kept a close watch on King Enma, but believed that he had given up. In a way, their misjudgment would eventually effect what would happen to them later. In their case, the betrayal of one of their very close members. None of them had realized."

"In the Council of Makai, there are 10 members. At least there were. Now there are only 7. The original line up went as this, Xeila, Luurè, Ryou, Kana, Eion, Sachi, Yuuto, Haruto, Akira, and Jiiro. The Council was also said to have included the Three Kings, but no one has ever been able to confirm that. Anyhow, out of all those 10 members only 5 of them have remained since the very beginning of the Council's creation. Those members were Eion, Sachi, Xiela, Luurè and Kana. It was said that the ones who destroyed the first barrier was Kana and Xiela. Eion, Sachi, and Luurè were said to be the most strategic and were the ones who usually set up the plans for the Council. Ryou, Kana, and Xiela were said to be the ones who did most of the dirty work. The rest of the members were nothing more than those who observed the merged worlds for any disruptions. In some ways, I guess you could say it was a perfect set up."

"Out of all those names", I mumbled softly, "Who was the strongest ?" A faint look of interest appeared on Asai's face when I asked her this. She looked over the paper.

"The top three consisted of Luurè, Kana, and Eion." 

"You mean to say that Xiela wasn't ?" Asai shook her head. "No", she replied blandly. "Xiela was 6th strongest but she was nothing compared to the others. It was said that Luurè was the most observant and strategic. Although he wasn't the type to fight, it was said that he was very strong. Kana followed after him as the 2nd because she was known for being the most ruthless out of the entire Council. It was said that beside Luurè, she was very sharp and alert. 2nd chances didn't exist with Kana, she'd strike you down the moment you cross paths. Eion followed as the 3rd for being the most manipulative and cunning. Blackmail was usually his type of system, but other times it wasn't. All three of them were S Ranked."

Asai sighed slowly. "But of course, that was only the very beginning of it."