✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Chapter 21 - Her Tragic Fate

Riya's apartment...

The gang didn't take Riya to the hospital but her apartment room since Master Genkai was staying in Yusuke's apartment who had just arrived shortly before the attack happened. They asked her to heal Riya's injuries and have Botan change her clothes to more comfortable ones. After that, they explained the situation to Koenma when the prince called them.

"I know she would be able to use it in this situation," Koenma said puzzled the gang. "But I never realized her powers would grow weaker up to this point."

"Wait! So you're telling us that you already knew Riya had powers before all this?" Yusuke asked in a loud tone. Koenma nodded.

"But Koenma-sama, I thought Riya-chan has a similar level of powers to Kurama. As you said before, Riya-chan is already in a low S class even though it was unusual for a human girl like her. How come she had her powers reached this weak level?" Botan couldn't help but voice out her concerns for the said girl which only made the team surprised.

"Even Botan-chan knew this?" Kuwabara asked.

But before they could even react further, Genkai came out from Riya's room after half an hour or so. Yusuke stood up immediately and approached the old lady.

"How is she?" Yusuke asked, worries evident in his tone.

"Her injuries had been completely healed, so there's no need to worry."

Sighs of relief were heard afterward. Genkai then approached the briefcase communicator where Koenma was shown.

"But if it's true that her powers are of a similar level to Kurama's, then care to explain how she had become weaker like this?" Genkai asked Koenma seriously.

This caught the other's attention, as well, and now they waited for the toddler to answer. But Koenma only heaved a heavy sigh and faced them seriously.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't answer that since I'm not sure how. I don't know much about her powers and where they originated but I'll try my best to know. By the way—" Koenma said before facing Genkai. "—how's Riya?"

"As of now, she's fine... physically. As for her powers, it's not good," she stated softly but bluntly.

'She's not as strong and powerful as she was supposed to be,' Hiei and Kurama both heard that telepathic message which surprised them both. 'A lot of things happened ever since those tragedies and her heart wasn't able to bear the pain anymore. Aside from that... her powers continue to slowly devour her life force. So in lesser time... you know what will happen.'

Kurama gritted his teeth and tightly clenched his fist upon hearing that.

'Yumi, don't tell me she's going to die just like that,' he pleaded but no answer came.

'How much longer can she handle this?' Hiei later asked after watching Kurama's reaction.

'I'm not sure. If her willpower remained strong, then she can last for a year or two. But that's only a guess. I couldn't speculate any further,' Yumi answered sadly before the telepathic link vanished.

'A year or two? That can't be right...' Kurama thought before sighing and facing Genkai. "Will it be alright if I visit Riya in her room?"

"Sure. Besides, she was already awake when I left the room," the old woman said. 'It's better if you see her now before she finally makes her decision regarding that issue,' she added in her thought and sighed inwardly.