Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Game of Five ❯ Time and Place ( Chapter 2 )

Bekka let out a strangled scream of rage and frustration, "Of all the gods, of all the wishes, or all the low down dirty rotten no good…"

"Hey, Absinthe…" one of the five boys ventured to interrupt.

"My name is Bekka! Next person to call me Absinthe gets decked!" She glared around indiscriminately.

"Okay, Bekka, mind explaining what's going on? Why are you and Kurama here? What's the deal with that Loki character saying he's got Hiei?"

"Loki is a god, to put it politely and succinctly. He also happens to be the god of mischief and games. I have to play. I have no choice in the matter. This game he calls the Game of the Five, referring to the five elements, earth, fire, water, wind and void or spirit. As he said, your friend, Hiei, is fire, which means Kurama is earth. Yusuke," she pointed to the boy who had asked her the questions and now looked surprised, "is wind and Kuwabara is water."

Recovering from his surprise, Yusuke asked, "How does that help us find Hiei, if he is missing?"

A blue haired girl walked up behind him, seemingly from nowhere, "How did you know Hiei was missing?"

Yusuke rounded on the girl, "Quit sneaking up on me, Botan! Some god named Loki claims to have him as a game he's playing with her." He pointed an accusing finger at Bekka.

Botan frowned at Bekka, "I haven't heard of Loki."

"He's Norse," Bekka shrugged.

"What did Yusuke mean by a game?"

"Oh, he doesn't know, he's just repeating what he heard. What he wants to know, as do you, is that this game is a challenge by Loki to me. He wants me to outsmart him or concede defeat. The first is next to impossible; the later could mean your friend's death."

"Some game!" Kuwabara inserted.

Bekka sighed, "Yeah, and just one in a series for me."

"Have you ever lost?" Kurama asked quietly.

Bekka closed her eyes, a pained expression crossing her face. Nodding, "Twice, both times cost me dear friends."

"How long have you been playing?" he asked. She didn't seem that much older than he was, physically, though she looked much older with the pain on her face.

"Almost two hundred years, across time and the planet." She opened her eyes and looked at him ruefully, "I wished to see the world. It was the last wish I ever made."

"All this yakking isn't going to find Hiei!" Yusuke broke in. "Botan, what do you have for us?"

"Only that he's missing and Koenma wants you to find him. He was supposed to see Koenma this morning and hasn't shown."

Bekka sighed, "I'll need a good map of the city. The four of us will have to go together to where ever he is."

Kuwabara spoke up, "There's a map at my place, but how's that gonna help locate him?"

Bekka pulled out a crystal on a chain. "I'll plumb for his location."

"Oh, you're a witch," Botan spoke up. Bekka nodded and Botan became excited. "A real live witch! I've always wanted to meet a witch!"

"What about Loki saying he was going to take care of you getting too strong?" Kurama asked.

Bekka covered her mouth and the others could hear what sounded like inarticulate curses. She pulled her mouth downwards and then smiled a smile that made everyone want to back away from her. "Even Loki must follow some rules. If he tampers with my power while in a game, Oberon, his father, will step in and end the game right there and then in my favor. He won't mess directly with me, or with you guys because void is made up of the other four elements. He has to come up with something else."

"What will he do?" Yusuke asked.

Bekka shrugged, "No idea, yet. Let's go, we're wasting time."

They clambered down the fire escape and out the yard. Kurama walked close to Bekka, wanting to ask her why she used a different technique to hide them on the roof when she spoke quietly, "Because I haven't figured out how to touch six people at once. The first relies on touch. The second relies on just staying in one place so I can hide more people that way."

"I'm going to have to remember you can read minds," he returned quietly, noting that their conversation was being ignored by the others. Only Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan were with them, the other three going to their own homes.

"Not all the time. Usually the thoughts have to be strong. What is your relationship to Hiei?"

He glanced at her, eyes dark with emotion. He stared ahead, not really seeing where they were going, "We've been friends for a long time," he answered at last.

"I see," she replied. "I'm going to need your help to plumb for him."

He kept his gaze forward, a slight frown passing over his features. "What do you need me to do?"

She glanced at him, sensing his reluctance. "Nothing terrible, I promise. I won't make you woozy or dizzy again. All I need you to do is thing about Hiei, to concentrate on who he is so that I can focus on that and find him. All you'll feel is me holding your hands and maybe what feels like a bit of tugging."

He nodded and she could feel his mind turning to his friend. She caught shifting images and impressions of a short black-haired demon with a third eye and a deep reluctance to get close to anyone. His impressions were strong and colored by respect and love. She was so focused on his thoughts that she would have missed the building to turn into had he not bumped into her while making the turn automatically.

"Hey," Botan's voice broke through her stupor. "What are you two so deep in conversation about? It's not nice to whisper!"

Bekka smiled, "He asked about the different cloaking spells I used."

Botan bounced up to her, eagerness radiating from her, "Can you show me?"

Bekka smiled at her and winked at Kurama, her eyes glinting. "Sure, Botan. Hold my hand, please." Holding the other girl's hand, she turned to Kurama, "Now pay attention to how it looks from out there." She began muttering "you can't see me" and Kurama watched as the two girls faded from sight. The two girls reappeared, Bekka laughing and Botan looking very unsteady on her feet. "Rather effective, don't you think?"

Botan shot her a dirty look. With an abrupt shift in mood, she urged them on, "Let's hurry and get up to Kuwabara's"

Entering the apartment, Kuwabara went off to find the map and Bekka sat on the floor at the coffee table. Kurama sat on her left when she indicated that was where she wanted him and the others arranged themselves around the table, Kuwabara on her right as he returned with the map. She spread it out on the table and looked over it. There were a lot of little streets and a lot of places to hide. She felt a little daunted by the scope of the city. She pulled the pendulum out of her pocket again and held it between her middle and ring finger of her right hand, palm down. With her left hand, she held on to Kurama's right hand and began concentrating as she swung the crystal over the map. Strangely, it began heating up, the clear crystal turning red with heat. She tried to block out the pain radiating from her fingers, but soon had to let go of the chain. The crystal skitted over the map under its own power leaving a tracing of burnt lines. Soon, it stopped, and fell onto the map with a clatter. Bekka almost bit off the fingers she'd put into her mouth to cool when she read what was written on the map.

"X marks the spot, tomorrow night, 7 pm, don't be early."

A/N I've gotten a couple of reviews to continue this, and my muse won't let me kill it so easily, either :} Just so you know, Kurama's love of Hiei, at least for the sake of this story, is the kind of love you'd have for your best friend. I'm not writing any kind of romance with this story (although I do have a fondness for yaoi :D) No lemons or any kind of fruit…Hope I haven't disappointed anyone. I'm thinking this might be a five chapter story…would fit, wouldn't it? :D I really need to work on Angel of Mercy, but I am stuck at a brick wall and this is just flowing….so…blame the muse :D