Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Three Sacred Gems ❯ Confessions of Guilt ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Three Sacred Gems

Chapter 3: Confessions of Guilt

Sharp green eyes splashed with specks of gray scanned the distant horizon, made more remote by the height from which she searched. What would have been less than a blurred dot in the night sky was to these eyes a detailed outline of the one in pursuit of yet another figure not too much farther ahead. A dark cloud finished its path across the moon, illuminating silver wings attached to a pale, waiflike girl with long, auburn-red hair that streamed out behind her. This was Yuta, and she trailed behind Peal and Chrystal, the latter of which had previously stormed out of the restaurant in response to an errant comment cast by Yusuke, though he'd not meant to offend.

`Where is she going?' Yuta need not have wasted any thought on that, for the two ahead of her began to descend. She herself speed up her pace, with the wind acting as her aid, before dropping swiftly toward the earth and veering up at the last minute to land lightly on her feet. Spread before her was a moonlit wharf, devoid of ships and likely long-abandoned. The sea shifted in near-silence, causing the wooden platform beneath her to bob softly with the tide. Pearl sat on the end, her legs dangling over the edge, while Chrystal stood behind her uncertainly. As Yuta approached at an easy pace, she already knew in her mind what she should say to convince her friends to return to where Aloria was and trusted her heart would provide what words of consolation to offer, if such comfort was necessary.

"Worthless," Pearl spat unhappily at water's weak reflection of the moon. "I can't even protect the one I'm meant to." She then looked up at the real, more magnificent moon to ask, "Why...? Why did I trust him? I've gone soft." The moon shone on impassively and Pearl lowered head once more. "You know that's bullshit, none of us could have known he'd do this," Chrystal insisted, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's my job as a guardian to trust no one!" Pearl did not turn back and shrugged off the hand. "So your not able to trust us either?" Chrystal sat next to her and continued, "It's true some aren't meant to be trusted, but no one can tell all the time." Yuta came in at this point and sat on her heels behind the two of them. "Chrystal is right. After all, we cannot always correctly judge other's intentions, but just because we make mistakes does not mean we should make out everyone to be an enemy. Distrusting others also proves distrust in one's self, too… besides, we're all friends here—you, Chrystal, Pearl, Kelley, and I. Whatever happens, I'm sure we can pull through it if we give it our all together." She smiled softly, a light feeling radiating from her as a slight breeze stirred their hair. "It takes a great deal of strength to trust someone… knowing that they could betray you and yet having the strength to overcome it. So don't blame yourself, because it's not the fault of just one person… I know we'll get Kelley back and we'll be all the wiser for it, don't you think? Now that we know the path Yakumo has chosen to take…" "I guess..." Pearl allowed after a few minutes of thoughtful silence, then decided to let the cool water wash over her feet as Chrystal jumped in to swim.

"That was cruel, Yusuke," Kuwabara said after awhile of eating back at the restaurant. "Shut up, I know already I messed up so stop trying to rub it in," Yusuke said as he continued picking at his food. "Well, I'm going to see if I can help," Kuwabara said self-importantly as he got up and left. "Now, where did they go?" He asked himself as he searched for their energy. After finding it, he ran off, following the fading trail of energy. It took him some time, but he eventually found them and ran in their direction with an extensive amount of pride at having been able to track them. "Hey! I'm here to help you," he yelled as he neared the three before his non-grip shoes slid on the water residue, his momentum sending him sliding right into the ocean. Chrystal ended up being the unfortunate breaker of his fall, sending her to the sandy depths of the sea. Kuwabaka soon broke the surface with much splashing and gasping for air as the other guys walked up. A few minutes later, Chrystal surfaces as well, then promptly proceeds to try and kill Kuwabara for landing on her, screaming words along the lines of, "You bastard." Yusuke found this all too funny and walked to the edge of the pier, laughing all the while. Kuwabara was obviously not so amused, and forced Yusuke to likewise fall into the water by establishing a firm grip the teen's foot and pulling it towards him. Yusuke did succeed in catching the end of the pier, but its low banking meant he was completely soaked from his shoulders down anyway. Pearl laughed as they started a water fight and, soon after, an underwater fight.

Still dry, but now standing a few feet away from the edge, Yuta watched the scene play out before her with a sure smile, her hands folded together above her lap. Hearing Pearl's laugher was uplifting, for it was a rare occurrence. Chrystal lifted herself from the water, mumbling to herself, "So much for my swim." She walked off, wringing her hair out. Aloria strolled up to Pearl just to shove both her and Yuta into the water before walking off laughing. Pearl fell right in, but since Yuta had been slightly farther from the edges than Pearl, she could have managed to catch her balance if she'd used the wind to prevent her fall, but decided it was a waste. After all, she had nothing over getting a bit wet. Hiei followed Chrystal and Aloria while Yusuke and Kuwabara raced out of the water with much fighting and clamoring over one another in order to catch up. Kurama, being the most considerate of them, stayed behind to help Yuta and Pearl out of the water and was thanked by an appreciative smile from Yuta as the three of them set off together after the others.

Both Pearl and Yuta's hair dripped with water, Yuta's hair now more red in color than anything thanks to the salt, but both of them held themselves well enough—almost as though they weren't aware of being wet at all. Yusuke was busy trying to make sure the gel didn't become unstuck from his hair when Chrystal's cell rang and she answered it with a, "Yea?" There was a small pause before she exclaimed, "What!?" Chrystal turned to Aloria and told her, "They've got Kel's back! She's in the Spirit World's hospital ward." Aloria passed this information on to the others, who followed not to far behind. There was an immediate wave of relief, followed by the dread of not knowing in just what condition Kelley lay—be it better or worse.