Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Hikaru no naka e, Into the Light ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

 

* * * Jin's POV

 

“You're already my light, Jin. You've got nowhere to go but here.” Touya locked me in a firm embrace.

 

We tumbled down on the ground. Touya lay on his side, coated in sand. He pillowed his neck with one arm, with the other around my shoulders. I snuggled closer, burrowing my face in the crook of his neck, dropping feather light kisses.

 

“ `An I'll always stay. Cause here be me home, wi' ya.”” A wide grin crossed my face, exposing a pair of small pearly fangs.

 

“And mine too,” Touya murmured, releasing his hold on me. His thoughts wandered elsewhere.

 

The ice youkai remained motionless, his breath a chill upon my skin. The puff of air didn't feel sensual, now frigid instead of cool, absent of all emotion. His entire youki iced over threatening to numb my body.

 

“Touya, me friend?” I paused. My pointy ears sank as the excitement dropped.

 

He brushed me off sitting up. Slit eyes narrowed, azure irises glassed over turning even colder. Regret writhed beneath their surface. “Jin, I wish we could stay here forever. The truth is we can't. Sooner or later Reishyo will know we're missing. And according to the Shinobi Code desertion is a crime punishable by death.”

 

The ice youkai's chiseled features sharpened back into the expressionless mask he usually wore in battle. His skin paled over to a ghastly white, brows froze in place, and tightly drawn lips manifested the iciness of his soul.

 

“I despise Reishyo,” Touya spat, and his anger flared. “He holds no respect or remorse for fellow shinobi and their sacrifices in battle. He doesn't care as long as he wins. He's lost all traces of honor. To me, as a shinobi of the Mashyoutsukai, honor is everything." His visage dropped burning an angry trail into the sand.

 

I shuddered, scooting away lest his wrath struck me dead. His mood killed my smile, stripping me of any joy I felt in the present. The wind in my aura changed, no longer a playful breeze but a hurricane that whipped its surroundings. I'm usually cheerful as a lark, yet once in a while when Touya crashes he takes me with him. This was one of those times.

 

I sighed wishing I could help him. I dealt with Reishyo by ignoring him or knocking the damned bugger out. Poor Touya took it to heart. He's an honest and righteous one who stands in the face of corruption. Reishyo, like most youkai, believed that the strong should dominate the weak. This bred violence leading to internal dissonance in the clan itself.

 

Before we arrived in the human world Touya poured out his heart to me. Weighed down by a life of anguish he uttered, "Jin, I'm sick of the bloodshed, the wars. To survive everyday we kill, or be killed our selves. I just want a peaceful life. To me the light means freedom. Finding it gives me a reason to keep living in this suffering world. I'd give anything to have it. Even my very life because that's how much I want it." A strong sense of determination arose rooted in the pit of his soul.

 

"I hear ya, ol' friend," I said, stirred by his conviction. "Ya know I feel the same, Touya. I'll find us the light before we're a dyin', I swear on me life!" His determination fostered in a found new will inside of me, which would someday lead us to the light.

 

"That means you promise me with your life." Touya's countenance stiffened in absolute seriousness. "Why are you doing this for me, Jin?"

 

"That be...cause..." I hesitated, doubting myself deeply. "I dunno why...."

 

After arriving in the human world and spending time with Touya, I now know the reason why: I love 'im dearly wi' all me heart.

 

* * * Touya's POV

 

"Ye remember our promise, Touya?" Jin asked suddenly, grabbing my shoulder.

 

I glanced over with an expression cold enough to freeze him.

 

It nerved him and dark blue eyes went wide with fear. Then his hand lifted from me falling lazily to his side. With a quick breath he manifested his youki rising up in a small whirlwind. It gusted straight at me blowing away all bitterness out onto the vast expanse of sea. Jin grinned playfully with his arms behind his head, and legs casually crossed, as he bobbed about in the air.

 

I forced a smile, even though it came out stiff, marked only by the slight upward curve of lips. Jin had this effect on me. A person, no matter how bitter, could never stay angry for long in a presence like Jin's. He is the wind that drives off the storm giving way to sunny days. Without him I'd be frozen over heartless from my cold and icy nature.

 

"No, I forget," I responded quietly at length, seeking refuge in the shade on this sandy isle in the middle of the bay. Ice youkai detested heat and I was no exception.

 

Jin glided above me. His pointy ears shot up like coiled springs into the fiery mane of hair. He said in a thick brogue accent, "Back in the youkai world, I made ye a promise. I'd a find us the light. 'An I swore on me life. Jin don' go back on his promises, so don' worry, Touya."

 

His reassurance eased my pain. "I won't. Sorry, Jin." My thoughts raced back to our conversation in the youkai world as I sat down reclining back against a trunk. "I wanted peace and we talked about the light. But now we have it, don't we?" Doubt tinged my voice.

 

"Aye, the light," Jin remarked. His whirlwind dissipated as he alighted on the earth. "I been a thinkin' 'bout it. The light mean many things. Between us as friends..."

 

"Or lovers," I teased, pressing a pale finger to his lips.

 

He kissed it and a hearty laughter escaped him. "That too," Jin agreed, without question. "We're givin' one another hope. That be one meanin' o' light."

 

I gave a deep nod. "And the other?"

 

He fell silent resting his large frame against me. "Freedom, me friend," Jin whispered with passion. "Freedom ta live how we choose wi' out the suffering o' the Makai."

 

"And from Reishyo," I added, sinking back into his naked chest, taught with the swell of firm muscle.

 

"Oh, that damned ol' bugger!" Jin muttered. Reddish brows knit together in a slight frown. It gave way as his the corners of his mouth broadened into a grin. "I ain' worried 'bout him o wee bit. It be this world..."

 

"The human world. This island. It's the light, isn't it? Compared to Makai life it's heaven." My heart sank at the thought of life in the Makai.

 

"Not exactly," Jin corrected, tilting my chin up with his index. His eyes narrowed locking in on mine. The brightest hue of emotion stirred in them. "The human world got wars too, naught as bloody o' the makai's. It's cause the sun don' shine here all the time. If there did, then no war, ya see?"

 

A sudden realization dawned on me. Jin meant the light would be a world without suffering, pain, or darkness of any sort. The human world still had them, just not as bad as the Makai. Could it be he referred to another place instead? "Jin, are you saying this world truly isn't the light, because it's temporary here?" I cast a questioning look.

 

"That be right, Touya." Jin showered me with a gaze of boundless affection, embracing me tightly.

 

I buried my face in the base of his neck, planting an icy kiss. It's cold charge coursed through his body from his shoulders chilling him to the bone. Teeth clattered in his mouth shaking from their base in his gums. I chuckled. "So where do we find this place?"

 

Jin sprang up and hopped around trying to warm himself up. "Not a wee bit sure," he said, shivering from my kiss. "Let's be a goin' back ta the hotel. I'll think from there."

 

* * * Jin's POV

 

At the hotel Touya headed up to his room to report to Reishyo and the others under the pretense of training. The captain didn't care as long as we fought his battles in the arena and he got what he wanted. I, for one, felt restless. The light consumed my thoughts. Where would I find it? That bright world I could be free from the darkness forever. If I found it with Touya, it'd be a place where the sun never sets or rises, because it's always there up in the sky shinning day and night. There, we could be free for all eternity. That's my dream and Touya's. That's what we live for.

 

I paced about the hotel lobby alone lost in my mind. The grand and spacious lobby looked lonely without people and youkai to fill it. Couches huddled together around a low glass table across from the check in counter, abandoned without sitters or loungers. Not a soul worked on their lovely burnished surface, colored many hues of brown.

 

An echo split the silence. The sound of wooden clogs called geta that clattered over the smooth marble floor. Geta were a style of traditional Japanese footwear with a flat wood sole, raised up on two wood strips with a V shaped thong between the big toe and smaller ones. Women usually wore them with a kimono for special occasions. But who'd dress like this at a bloody youkai tournament? As I speculated it stopped.

 

A short girl stood before me with large pink eyes that twinkled. Her skin glowed pure milk white without a mark or blemish. She tied her sky-blue hair in a high ponytail that reached below her shoulders. A light pink kimono the color of cherry blossoms wrapped around curves of her physique and its lengthy sleeves flowed to her feet. Small and dainty, they poked out from under the hem of her kimono in wooden geta. She had a pleasant wind about her, neither youkai nor human in feeling. Who could this lovely stranger be?

 

She swallowed under my scrutinizing gaze. "May I help you?"

 

"I be lookin' fer somethin'," I piped in a jovial tone. My friendliness put her at ease.

 

"Oh, come, come." With a wave of her slender hand she motioned for me to follow her. She shuffled towards the couches, planting herself on a sofa across from me, with the low glass table dividing us.

 

I plopped down on a leather couch behind me, stretching out comfortably. "Wot are ya, missie? Not youkai or human I take it."

 

"Normal humans wouldn't know a thing and I'd fool most youkai, but you're sharp," she said, smiling faintly. "I'm a shinigami, a soul reaper who works for the Spirit World."

 

"Do ya shinigami grant wishes?" Anticipation filled me.

 

"Wishes?" Her shoulders sank back and she sighed. "No, but the Spirit World does. That is if you win the Dark Tournament. Most who enter never leave alive."

 

I edged forward on my sofa listening intently. "Wot happen after death?"

 

"Shinigami like me wait on the other side, escorting the departed to Koenma-sama's place, where they're judged," she explained, with arms folded over her lap. "Their deeds determine the next life of their rebirth. For example, there's a human who likes fighting. They might be reborn in the Makai, a world plagued by wars. Or there's a youkai who yearns for a peace. They could enter one of the heavenly worlds."

 

"Worlds, eh, lassie? There be more than one?" I exclaimed in amazement. An elated hue lit my face. This could be the light Touya and I seek.

 

Her smile broadened. "That's right. The Makai contains seven levels of existence. So do the Heavenly worlds."

 

"Tell me 'bout 'em!" I piped, skipping over to sit on the arm of her sofa.

 

"Well, okay." She shifted her position facing me. "If you're a virtuous soul who does good things, like feel compassion for the suffering, love those around you, do great kindness or bring other's hope, you're probably enter the Heavenly worlds. The more virtuous you are, the higher the realm you'll inhabit. The highest level is the soul plane, a world made entirely of light. Once you're there you'll never incarnate again and you're free for all eternity."

 

At last I learned where the light truly was! If Touya and I won the Dark Tournament the Spirit World would grant our wish to be reborn on the soul plane. However, if we lost it what could be do?

 

"Me 'an o' friend want ta go there, cause we be searchin' fer the light." I bent down, whispering in her ear.

 

Her pink eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, how unusual! Most youkai live to fight. That makes you different."

 

"Ya think so?" Weariness weighed down my voice. "A good fight do stir me well, but I tire o' the wars 'an endless death. Finding the light be the reason we live. I'd give me life ta find it, fer Touya's sake."

 

"You'd do anything for the light," the shinigami said, admiring my devotion. "I'll do anything I can to help." She rose to her feet meeting me eye to eye. "If you can't win the tournament and have your wish granted, don't worry. I'll come up with something else."

 

"Wot a nice lass ye are." I felt a great sense of gratitude towards this young lady.

 

"My name's Botan." She introduced herself bowing her head slightly. "But don't tell anyone, okay? I'm supposed to be helping Team Urameshi."

 

"Yer secret be safe wi' me, Botan," I replied with a wink. "Call me Jin, lassie."

 

"Jin, eh?" Botan shook my hand. "You're on Team Mashyo, right?"

 

I nodded. "We fight tomorrow. 'An thank ya fer everythin'."

 

"I'll be watching from the bleachers. Goodnight, Jin." A touch of hope sparkled in her irises.

 

"G' night," I said back softly.

 

After our meeting Botan departed from the lobby. The silence penetrated once again. For the first time in life I felt that I might really find the light. For Touya and all the love he's given me, I'll never give up.

 

TBC