Darkest Disguise
by Hypertia
I will weep and rue the day I wrote this...
Okay, minna-san, this is a short fic I came up with over the weekend. I have two copies of it, and I can't tell the difference between the rough copy and the edited one. I'm still sending it out because I'm feeling a little on the insane side...
Note: Even though it's Keiko p.o.v, Jenni-chan insists that Keiko's not like that, until I pointed out to her that she's *evil*...
Hypertia
---wondering how the heck is she supposed to clear her mail this time...
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Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Darkest Disguise
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~ Beauty is potent, but power is omnipotent ~
I am Yukimura Keiko. Or rather, I was.
I was a human a long time ago, and I had everything. Beauty and brains, family, friends, reputation, a fiancie who thought the world of me...you had only the need to name it, and I had it.
By the logic of all the Worlds, I should have been happy and contented with my life.
But I wasn't. I hungered for two things every moment of my life.
Absolute power and Youko Kurama.
Let's talk about absolute power first, shall we? First off, gaining the status as Princess of Reikai and Empress of Makai hadn't been all that hard. All that I had to do was to seduce Koenma into believing that he was in love with me, at the same time, encouraging Yuusuke to win the Makai Tournament
When he won, I became the fiancie of the Lord of Makai.
It didn't take long before I became wife to the Lord of Makai.
Now, there's this funny thing about titles. I didn't like the sound of *Lord* or *Lady*. It wasn't...powerful enough. I had to do something about it. My poor silly husband had no idea of my true intentions, and blindly agreed to it.
The poor silly fool. But, in a way, it only made things easier for me.
Then, I figured out the three-year system.
That had me enraged. Unfortunately, staying angry for too long wasn't too good for my health or my beauty. I needed to stay as young as for as long as possible. Eventually, my anger had cleared, and I began some not-so-minute changes to the rules and regulations.
No one even suspected anything. They thought that I was the innocent, saintly, *ningen* wife of Urameshi Yuusuke, Lord, or should I say, Emperor of Makai?
*Ningen*...I hated that word with a passion. I was perpetually reminded that I was a human and Yuusuke would outlive me. After all that I had done, and he outlive me? Not on his life.
Then, the Makai Lords began revolting. Makai fell into chaos and discord for years. Yuusuke moved to fight for his kingdom, often fighting at the frontlines. It was just too easy. All I had to do was to arrange his opportune death.
Ironically, *his* death stopped the wars. Had I known that earlier, I would have arranged his death a long time ago.
Koenma, by then, was completely under my spell. Our little rendezvous had been placed on hold after my marriage to Yuusuke, though every time we met, I would drop hints. Not too much, but just enough to convince him that he still loved me, fending off any advances made by any other women. That he had loved me since the first time we met.
That blue-haired Reikai Guide was annoyingly pesky during my rise to power. But then, she had a reason to be so. She *knew* the truth, only too well.
Aside from that, she had been infatuated with Yuusuke for a long time.
And that the infatuation was never realised always brought a smile to my face.
Subsequently, I had to kill her before she blurted out everything to Koenma. Before she told him that I had arranged Yuusuke's death, as well as the deaths of the Kuwabara family and Hiei.
Though the fact that she was about to be married to Kurama was partially the cause.
I had loved Kurama as long as I could remember. His charm, charisma...everything about him drew my attention. He was beautiful, completely charming to the heart and mind.
There was only one flaw in him: he always chose the wrong people to befriend.
My advances were always taken lightly by him. Nothing seemed to work; coyness, boldness...absolutely nothing. He kept his amused demeanour, seemingly intent on frustrating me into giving up entirely. Even as I confessed my love for him, he had no reaction. Except for one.
< Someone has captured my heart already. I'm sorry...Keiko-chan.>
At first, I had thought he meant the fire demon. They were always seen together, as though there was something deeper going on between them. I didn't like Hiei anyway, and sent my private assassins on a blood hunt. For him.
They succeeded, and brought back a tear gem, the one he wore after Yukina's death. I thought I had won.
But I was wrong.
*She* had been the one, the very one to obstruct my every step to power. It was *her* fault that Kurama couldn't see the brilliance in me. The beauty in me. Everything that went wrong with my would-have-been romance with Kurama was all *her* fault.
The biggest insult was the fact that she was not even as brilliant as I am.
Hearing her cries of pain as she slowly died had been most entertaining. Poor Botan. She had no idea what hit her. Being in Makai had taught me a lot of things, including knowledge of plants that fed solely on reiki.
The airhead of a Reikai Guide simply dissipated, two days after her official engagement to Kurama.
It was just too easy. No one suspected the future bride of Koenma-sama of doing anything of that sort.
A broken Kurama had been most amusing as he wept over her death. I would never utter her name simply because I hate her so.
< Hate her, hate her...>
I despised her, detested her, and even till now, I still regarded her as a threat.
Simply because Kurama had never forgotten about her.
< Never forgotten about her...>
< Will always be a threat...>
< Never forget...>
"Shut up ~! Shut the fucking hell up ~!" I shrieked uncontrollably, covering my ears to shut the voice out as I fell to my knees.
I hated that voice, the voice that haunted me daily for the past twenty years.
< Why? Scared of your own conscience?> taunted my inner voice, < Forgotten how many lives you've destroyed over the years?>
The voice sounded suspiciously like...*her* ...
< I am her, she is I. We are one and you can't stop us.>
"You don't scare me, I am immortal." I rose to my feet, swaying, dusting my skirt with an exaggerated carefulness. I was not afraid, would never be afraid. I ruled Makai and Reikai, nothing could ever threaten me.
Not even the voice.
"Trust me, I can. You are just a figment of my mind's imagination. You don't exist."
< You wouldn't want to bet your life on that,> the voice advised playfully, < you'll lose.>
"Shut up and go to hell."
I continued to walk down the corridor, the heels of my stilettos striking against the floor loudly, the only sound to be heard for miles.
I couldn't afford to be late. After all, Koenma was waiting for me at the altar with the Father.
I barely suppressed a smirk. So I was the Princess of Reikai, and the Empress of Makai.
I guessed my next target would be Ningenkai.
The skirt of the wedding gown swirled around me, humming ominously as it did.
The doors opened for me, and I strode forth confidently, accepting George's arm as he escorted me to Koenma's hands.
I made a show of quivering my voice as I said my oaths, while my thoughts wandered to Kurama.
Yes, my next target would be Ningenkai *and* Kurama.
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Darkest Disguise ~ End
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This is a very confused fanfic writer writing a very confused woman,
Hypertia
Signing off to watch Slayers