LOVE DEFIES ALL ODDS
By: Seiyo
seiyo@hotmail.com

CHAPTER 9          

In the clearing, the five men watched as their opponents fell one by one. Koenma then looked upwards to Akuma and proudly said, ”We have beaten your troops Akuma! It is now time to face your defeat.” 

“That is one thing that I could never do,” Akuma replied, her eyes narrowing. Without warning, she raised her hand towards the five and sent a force that made them topple backwards. 

“You are really trying my patience Akuma,” Yusuke mumbled and then aimed his index finger at her. He was ready to fire his rei gan when Akuma interrupted. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you Yusuke. Not if you don’t want this lady here to die.” Akuma spoke and motioned with her hand. A beast appeared beside her, clutching Botan tightly in his arms. 

“BOTAN!!!” the men shouted in surprise. 

“Botan! What are you doing here?!” Koenma shouted at her, his face full of concern. 

“Koenma— uummpph…” Botan tried to speak but the beast’s hands quickly covered her mouth. She kicked and tried to force herself free but to no avail. 

“Fools! And you think I would send all my troops to fight you without having a back-up plan?” 

“What are you going to do with her?” Koenma demanded. 

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of keeping her for insurance… she’ll be keeping me safe from you until I finish whatever plans I have then, after she serves her purpose, I’ll decide her fate.“ 

“You just can’t take anyone you like and play with them like a toy! Whatever you have in mind, leave Botan out of it,” Koenma said in a determined tone. His face was displaying an array of mixed emotions. 

“You’re really worried aren’t you my dear prince?” Akuma spoke with a sly smile, “Who is this lady? She seems very important to you,” she slowly approached Botan and stroked her cheeks. As she did, she glanced at Koenma and spoke, ”She’s quite a beauty, isn’t she? Hmm… does she happen to be your princess?” 
For a while, Koenma was taken aback by the question but was also able to recover, he looked at Akuma then moved his gaze to Botan. Looking straight to her eyes, he answered, “What if I say that she is my princess and that she occupies a great portion of my heart…” 

His companions were astonished by this revelation. They had occasionally teased Koenma and Botan but they never thought that it was true. 

Botan froze in her captor’s arms upon hearing Koenma’s words. Her eyes widened and tears threatened to flow on her face. She stared into the hazel depths of Koenma’s eyes, trying to see probe the truth in his words. They gazed at each other, their eyes conveying their thoughts and emotions. Realizing the truth in his eyes, Botan struggled and bit the hand of her captor covering her mouth. Surprised and hurt, the beast released his hold. With this, Botan shouted, “Koenma! I love you too!” 
Koenma’s eyes brightened for a while but narrowed. The beast had seized Botan. Infuriated by what she did, the beast held her tighter making her wince in pain. Koenma stepped closer, “Don’t you dare hurt her,” he spoke in a harsh tone. Anger can be detected in his voice.

Akuma keenly observed what was happening around her with interest then spoke, “You sure picked a nice time and place to profess your love to this woman. Anyway that’s the least of my concerns right now,” She turned to the beast, “Loosen up your hold on the ‘princess’. We do not want to suffer from the anger of her prince and friends, do we? Besides I wouldn’t want to hurt the person that could stop these men,” as the beast slowly relaxed his grip on Botan, Akuma faced the five,” You were asking me about my intentions for gathering Makai’s forces earlier, weren’t you? Well, now I’m ready to share with you what I have in mind.” 

“You think we’re still interested with what you have to say?” Kuwabara exclaimed, clearly incensed by Akuma, “Well I don’t want to hear any of your stories.“ 

Kurama moved towards Kuwabara, laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered “Calm yourself Kuwabara. Let her talk. That way, we might find out more about her and her weaknesses. Besides, it would buy us time to plan how we could rescue Botan.” 

Kurama faced Akuma and said, “Tell us what you will.” 

“Perhaps you already know of my history with Queen Suisho; how I served her, planned a rebellion against her and finally how she locked me up in a freezing sphere from which I was set free by one of her most loyal subjects,” Akuma stole a quick look at Shinichi then continued, “What you didn’t know was my reason for doing just that. Well I’m going to tell you. I have served her for a long time and throughout my service, I have seen how well she was treated, how much the people served her, how much power she had that with just one clap, with one signal, one motion, she could decide the fate not only of one person but one whole empire,” she paused and took a deep breath, “And there I was, standing at her right hand, making sure that her wishes were kept. I couldn’t help myself from thinking that I could be there in her position. I could be the woman calling the shots, ruling the whole empire, and the thought of being able to do all that have made realized one thing. A thing that had driven me to do all that I have done. I want to be the queen,” Akuma poured out all the emotions that she had kept inside her for so many years, ”I wanted to have all the power that she has and maybe even more. And why not? I was just as talented, as brilliant as she is. I could easily do everything that she has done. I’m just as good as her when it comes to leadership.” Akuma let all her pent up emotions spill out. She talked with such conviction in her voice and relayed her story with great vigor that it was as if all of them could see everything right before their eyes. 
“So that’s it? That’s why you plotted a rebellion and the reason why you’re here in Makai trying to get hold of all the beasts and demons that you can have?” Yusuke reacted. 

“Yes, that’s the reason why,” she answered, “Maybe to you, it seems feeble but to me it’s not. I have thought and worked hard just to get what I want and I won’t let just anyone to ruin my plans,” with that Akuma and what’s left of her followers fled, bringing Botan with them.

Previous Chapter | Back to Fanfics | Next Chapter

_______________________________________________________
Since 120901
Agaru! Yuyu Hakusho Version 3.0 is owned and maintained by Jaja.
 This is for entertainment purposes only.
Yuyu Hakusho rightfully belongs to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Studio Pierrot, Shueisha Fuji TV.