InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ On The Night Of A Blood Red Moon ❯ Chapter 1

Title: On The Night Of A Blood Red Moon

Author: Ryukotsusei and Cyntinell

Disclaimer: We do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. We do however own the plot. Steal it and you shall face our wrath.

 

Warnings: This is a dark fic. It does have graphically detailed rape in it, as well as lemons in future chapters. It's likely to have major character deaths as well. Reviews are always appreciated, flames not tolerated. You are forewarned.

 

 

 

Chapter One

 

Somewhere In The Ningenkai

 

Hiei stared up at the night sky, a scowl etched on his face. He could feel the slow power building in the atmosphere signaling once again the moon was going to pass through another eclipse within the next few days. However, this was not a normal lunar event, he could feel the slight difference in the power shifts. No, this one was special and held great meaning to him, though it only happened once every one hundred years or so. He was thankful for that small favor that the Gods had granted him, he didn't think he could handle it without going mad if it were more frequent.

 

 

It wasn't the power that affected him so greatly; it was flashbacks of a time long ago and a woman that he could barely remember. It wasn't surprising to him that even after everything that had happened he couldn't recall what she looked like. After all three hundred years is a long time, perhaps he would still remember her except he had willed the memories away and aided the process with the Jagan. He had missed her more than he thought possible and by doing so it had made the passing years unbearable until they would meet again. She had come into his life, like a beacon of hope that burned brightly until it was viciously torn away. He shook his head, trying to dispel the memory. He'd have plenty of them to deal with in the coming nights. Perhaps this time would be different. He wondered if this eclipse would be what he had waited so long for. The night that they would be reunited.

 

 

'Kagome'

 

 

The name whispered through his head like a gentle caress. He had made her a promise that much he knew and Hiei if nothing else, always lived up to his word. He had said that he would find her one-day and he intended on keeping that promise. He owed her that much at least, after all they had gone through together. He had seen much of the atrocities that the world was capable of, humans and demons alike. Hell, he had committed many of them, but she was different. She was the one bright spot in the sea of darkness that made the human race what it was. She was the one human he could never hate; he just hoped that when he found her again she would not turn him away. Would she hate him when she learned of the crimes he had committed? He would not blame her if she did, but he had to know for certain.

 

A slight breeze to his right alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone however he was not surprised. The others had been worried about him for days, ever since he had felt the beginnings of the power shift. He had distanced himself, becoming more irritable than usual. He had no desire to explain to them something that even he didn't fully understand. He knew what their reactions would be and he was not going to subject himself to it. The only one of them that could possibly understand would be the Fox. And he would be damned if he was going to share her with him, if indeed it was time for the reunification.

 

 

Coincidentally, that was who had decided to sit with him in the dark on this night. They sat in companionable silence for a while, enjoying the few moments of peace that they had in their otherwise hectic lives. They both lived under the law of kill or be killed, there was no other way to survive doing the jobs that they did. Peace was a rare and fleeting thing for them. Even Hiei, with his need for bloodshed and the adrenaline rush that came with the kill needed these few precious moments for himself, to balance out the conflict that tore through his soul on a constant basis.

 

 

Kurama had come out seeking his partner to find out what was troubling him. They had known each other for a long time, dating back to when Youko roamed the Makai. There were few things that could bother the Fire Apparition as greatly as he had been these past few days. He couldn't begin to explain exactly what was happening to his partner but he had an idea and he was determined to find out if he was correct. This had been going on long enough; it was time for some explanations. “The moon will be going through a Totality Eclipse in two days time, but I am guessing you are already aware of that fact Hiei.”

 

 

Hiei looked over to the Kitsune unaware that a low growl had spilled forth in his irritation. He knew what Kurama wanted; he was searching for an opening to begin his questioning. He had fended them off for this long, he would continue to do so. It didn't matter that he did not have the answers to the questions at the moment. Even if he had, he would not divulge them to his partner. Kurama looked at him with a slightly predatory cast to his eyes. If there was anything the Kitsune loved it was puzzles and games. However Hiei refused to play tonight, his emotions were too raw knowing what was coming. “Let it go Kitsune, it does not concern you.”

 

 

Kurama ignored the growl and the glare that came with it. Hiei might be able to intimidate anyone else with either one of them but he was different and he would not allow his prey to escape him this time. The Spirit Kitsune within him had his suspicions as to what was going on. After all, their first meeting was on the night of an eclipse and they had fought. Hiei had been vicious in his defense of a young girl who for all intents and purposes had vanished just as the fight was getting underway. But Youko wasn't ready to fill his human counterpart on the specifics of what had occurred. His human side was smart though and had made the connection with the few clues available to him. “I beg to differ Hiei. Something is troubling you and it has to do with the lunar eclipse. Now, what is it?” Kurama kept his voice calm, trying to project a sense of reassurance to the Fire Apparition in hopes that he would trust him with his troubles.

 

 

Hiei stood to go, he did not have to answer to anyone. He knew the Kitsune was likely to pick up on part of what was going on, he wasn't foolish enough to underestimate Youko. Many people had in the past and lost their lives. While his life was not at stake his secrets were and he would not allow them to come to light, at least not until he fully understood them himself. A pale hand stopped him from darting off into the night; he turned to look at Kurama. “Don't go Hiei.”

 

 

Hiei shook his head and removed his arm from the Kitsune's grasp. If he stayed he knew he would talk and he couldn't allow that. He was surprised at the concern that laced through Kurama's emerald eyes, for once not showing any trace of gold whatsoever. Perhaps it was not the thrill of a puzzle that had possessed him to seek him out after all. It didn't matter though, he needed to leave to collect his thoughts and prepare for the next couple of days of hell. He would be ready for the memories, and the girl that haunted them if she made her appearance. “Everyone has their own personal demons Kurama. You of all people should know that.” His voice for once had no anger within it, just a sense of acceptance that only left Kurama with more questions.

 

 

However Kurama never received a chance to reply for he was suddenly alone; Hiei had vanished into the dark of the night. He wouldn't bother trying to track him down, it would be pointless. If Hiei didn't want to be bothered it was highly unlikely he would be able to find the Fire Apparition. Hiei had been right; he knew exactly what he meant by personal demons. After all he was plagued with his own almost every night. His own nightmares were centered on the fateful night that Youko had lost Kuronue. While it was in the distant past, he still felt the Spirit Kitsune's anguish over his fallen partner. Kurama just hoped that whatever it was that was coming back to haunt his friend was something that he could handle on his own. He looked down into his hand, which should have been empty; instead in his palm lay the Apparition's communicator. A sure sign he wished to be left alone. He cast one last glance into the night before returning to his home.

 

 

`Stay safe Hiei.'

 

 

In The Reikai

 

 

Prince Koenma, Heir to the Reikai was pacing on top of his desk. He berated himself severely as he waited for the Spirit Detectives to report to him. `Why did I not take Kurama's advice? He had proven our security team was ineffective and had offered to help strengthen our defenses! But no, my team assured me they had it covered!'

 

 

And now, once again something important had been stolen from the vaults. Koenma wasn't sure who would be the one to kill him first, his father or Yusuke. He was laying money on the Detective since he would come in contact with him first. He had no intentions whatsoever of telling his father that Zinan had stolen the Scepter of Darkness if he could help it. He didn't even want to think about the consequences of what would happen if it were used.

 

 

Kurama was the first of the team to arrive though Koenma did not notice him. He was too busy working on a method to give the team the information they would need while maintaining his current health once Yusuke got a hold of him. This suited Kurama just fine. It gave him time to observe the Prince and possibly gather information that Koenma would not give them about what was going on. Too many times he had sent them off into battle only half informed. If there was a chance of preventing it in this instance then he would use this opportunity to his full advantage.

 

Emerald eyes hardened in displeasure as the Kitsune Avatar listened to what his boss had to say. He had heard of the Scepter of Darkness before, even he had no desire to steal such an artifact. The damnable staff had the ability to plunge the three realms into total darkness while slowly draining the life energies of every living being and this fool child they worked for had allowed it to be stolen.Security around here had to have become extremely lax if Zinan had been the one to break in. Kurama knew of him, he was not a thief of any high caliber. However he was on the other hand ruthless and power hungry, needing complete control. Something the scepter could easily give him.

 

 

However, the entrance of Botan, Yusuke, and Kuwabara stopped any other information that may have been forthcoming. Now they were just one team member short, which was surprising. Hiei usually beat everyone there on the rare occasion they were called directly into Koenma's office.

 

 

“Where's the Shrimp?”Kurama did not dignify the question with a response. If Kuwabara could not address Hiei by name then he did not deserve an answer in his opinion. He wondered if this had something to do with why Hiei was acting so off the night before but dismissed it. Hiei would not lower himself to working with one such as Zinan. Still, his assistance on this case would be invaluable if only he had come.

 

 

“Koenma Sir, I could not locate Hiei and he is not answering his communicator.” Botan's normally cheerful voice was laced with worry. She had even tried the demon whistle which had never failed to bring him before. But Hiei had not made an appearance. Koenma stared at Botan for a moment before turning to his computer, punching in keys rapidly. He fully intended on finding Hiei by tracking his signature energy however it was not to be. Everyone watched in silence as the toddler before them began to pace once more. 'This cannot be happening to me. I need the entire team here and Hiei just up and vanished!'

 

 

“You know, as much fun as it is to watch you I have better things to do with my time so get on with it. Why the hell are we here and where is Hiei?” Yusuke's voice had effectively cut through the silence. Kurama sighed quietly and pulled the communicator out of his pocket, immediately gaining everyone's attention. Hiei had intended on not being found even before handing his communicator over, for he had turned it off. Giving it to him had only ensured that he would not be found until he was ready to make an appearance. Hiei would mask his energy and nothing short of someone having an excessively large amount of spiritual awareness would find him and even then they would have to be within close proximity or they would never know that he was there. “Hiei's not coming.” Not one word was said as everyone present continued to stare at Kurama.

 

 

In The Ningenkai

 

 

He had felt the first pass of energy searching over the area for him. Apparently there was some reason for Koenma to search him out however he was not inclined to indulge the toddler at this time. The flashbacks had already begun once again and if one struck him while they were engaged in battle it could easily be fatal and he had no intentions of dying any time soon. He was certain that whatever it was that Koenma wanted would be easily taken care of by the others.

 

Hiei had much to consider and little time to do it in. The first was determining where he would wait this out. It wasn't an easy question to answer. If he went to the Makai he would need to take shelter somewhere until it was over. It was a dangerous place and he had no desire to be attacked while he was vulnerable. However when he had met her it was in the Makai, would she reappear there? He was uncertain as to the likelihood of that. She was indeed human, a Priestess to be more exact and not exactly a native to the Makai.

 

He leaned against the trunk of the tree he was residing in and closed his eyes as another memory assaulted him. A glimpse of her face, eyes filled with pain and fear as she fell backwards into a well. How she had cried out his name as blue light surrounded her. A shudder wracked his body as he felt the ghosting of her fingers across his own as he had reached for her. She had fallen due to his carelessness. He had been too intent on his opponent, he had not noticed Youko's arrival. But by the time he had it was too late, Kagome panicked at the appearance of an unknown male and he had been unable to prevent the well from taking her. There had been no time for goodbyes.

 

He opened his eyes as another wave of searching energy passed over him. It was unlikely that it would be able to pick him up however he wanted to be sure. And the easiest way to ensure that he was not found out was to go someplace where they would least expect him to be. Bracing himself for the distasteful thing he was about to do, he headed off into the city to immerse himself in a sea of humanity. It would be the last place they would look if they were determined to find him. Besides, he wanted to be prepared for her arrival and there were some crucial items he would need.

 

 

In The Reikai

 

 

“What do you mean he's not coming?”Yusuke was not at all pleased about this turn of events. They all had to pull their own weight on this team and that meant that participation was mandatory. `Why the hell would Hiei up and fucking disappear?' He was never allowed to get away with shit like that so why was Hiei? `What could possibly be so damned important?'

 

“It's obvious Yusuke. He is not here and he gave me his communicator last night without revealing to me where he was going. Koenma cannot track his energy so it's obvious he's masking it and has no wish to be found.”Kurama inwardly sighed, wondering how he had ended up in this mess. He knew that his answer was not going to be enough to pacify either Koenma or Yusuke but he didn't have anything else to tell them. Youko however could be counted on to give them something that would at least help. After giving the Kitsune partial reign of his body, Youko gave them the one explanation that was likely to keep them from throwing the Apparition in prison for violation of the terms of his probation.

 

"Hiei needs a few days to himself, his reproductive cycle is approaching and his scent is already changing. Another day or two and it will be upon him and he would not be able to aid us anyway." Kurama was surprised that Youko divulged this bit of information and hoped that Hiei would not take offense to such personal information being given out. Yusuke looked like he was about to protest the very idea of Hiei being incapable of helping but he cut it off with a shake of his head. "Trust me in this Yusuke, his instincts will be pushed to the surface and we do not need the added complications to this mission."

 

 

Koenma looked at the Kitsune Avatar, he was certain that he knew something and was withholding that information however he knew that getting Kurama to talk would be near impossible if he did not want to. He knew Hiei had gone through these heat cycles before and it had not held him back so why would it be an issue now? He'd have to corner him later on and see how far he could push him. However at the moment they had bigger issues to concern themselves with. For now he would accept Kurama's explanation. He sighed heavily, Hiei would have been a great asset to have on this mission but there was no use putting this off any longer. “We will worry about Hiei later, you all need to be briefed on your next mission. Pay attention because this gets complicated, this task I'm giving you is of the utmost importance, the fate of the three worlds hangs in the balance!”

 

 

Yusuke rolled his eyes at this; he had heard this particular line far to many times. He was certain that Koenma would consider a hangnail a life and death situation that needed to have the team's personal attention if he thought he could get away with it. He leaned against the wall and did a decent imitation of a snore much to Koenma's irritation.

 

 

“This is serious Yusuke, quit screwing around! Tomorrow night an event called a Totality Lunar Eclipse is going to happen. Normally we would not be overly concerned about this even though there is immense power that is pulled into the atmosphere due to the alignment the moon and sun take with the Earth.” Koenma began to go into more detail on the power shifts and the effects that it would have on the group.

 

 

Yusuke was already bored; he didn't give a fuck about alignments or any other bullshit that he was hearing at the moment. He wanted to know what the mission was so they could get it over with. He had better things to do than to stand here listening to what amounted to a three year old for a boss talk about some eclipse. Kuwabara's thoughts were running along the same lines, wondering if there was a point to this lecture or not.

 

 

“What does the Totality Eclipse have to do with the Scepter of Darkness?”Koenma looked startled by Kurama's question, he had not been expecting it but then again he had not noticed the Kitsune's entrance to begin with. Kurama on the other hand had a bad feeling about this entire situation. He was not aware of exactly how the scepter worked but if it's power was triggered by the energy bleeding into the three realms then this could be very bad indeed.

 

 

“I'm not going to ask how you know about that right now. Late last night a demon by the name of Zinan broke into the security level Alpha vault and stole an artifact of immense power.”Koenma's gaze shifted nervously over to Yusuke with good reason.

 

The detective hadstepped away from the wall, advancing towards Koenma with a murderous glare in his eyes. The last time someone had broken into that vault he had nearly gotten killed and he was not looking forward to that prospect again. “You told me you increased security on that vault!” Yusuke was beyond infuriated and the tone of his voice conveyed just how displeased he was.

 

 

Koenma dove off of his desk, cringing behind his chair. He did not like the look in Yusuke's eyes at all; in fact he looked ready to kill. A quick glance around to the other occupants in the room revealed to him that both Kuwabara and Kurama were wearing similar expressions. He swallowed hard knowing he had to continue briefing them even at the risk of bodily injury. “Yes, well my staff assured me that it had been done but apparently it was not enough. As I was saying, he stole the Scepter of Darkness. Thankfully the knowledge needed to key the staff and access it's power is a closely kept secret that not many know of. Unfortunately for us though the timing on it's theft leads me to believe that Zinan already has access to that knowledge and intends on using it tomorrow night during the eclipse when the moon bleeds red.”

 

 

Kurama wondered where Hiei tied into all of this, if he did at all. It could in fact be coincidence that this had happened to coincide with Hiei's desire to be alone. He trusted his partner but he devoutly wished that he were present so he did not have to worry about any potential trouble he had gotten himself into.The idea that this all tied in with the eclipse did not sit well with him or Youko.

 

 

“So tell me who the hell this Zinan is, how strong is he and when do we leave so I can kick his fucking ass and get this over with?” It would seem to Yusuke that he wasn't going to get an afternoon of quiet after all and as such was more than ready to get the mission started so it could be done with.

 

 

Koenma just shook his head wondering how Yusuke had managed to stay alive for so long before realizing he hadn't, he'd needed divine intervention on more than one occasion. He was still as brash as ever though, which strangely enough was one of his greatest strengths as well. Just when everything looked hopeless Yusuke managed to pull a miracle out of thin air and overcome the odds. Koenma hoped he had another such miracle hidden away somewhere. “Zinan is an S class Yusuke which is why I wanted all of the team here. However you'll have to make due without Hiei's assistance until we can find him." Koenma's gaze rested on Kurama for a moment letting the Kitsune know that he wasn't done discussing Hiei's disappearance. "His fortress lies in the northernmost reaches of the Makai, however his energy has been spotted sporadically throughout the realm so Botan will transport you to his last known location.”

 

 

Kurama was not under any illusions that this would be an easy case. He was well aware of Zinan's capabilities. They would have to be careful with him, he was a teleporter among other things which would make it very difficult to nail his location down, as well as fighting him . “So we are to retrieve the Scepter. What of Zinan?”

 

 

Koenma gave them all a look that told them he expected no arguments from any of them at his next statement. Each one of them had pressing reasons for not staying in the Makai for an extended period of time but he could not allow something like this to happen again. “You are to take Zinan down. Dead or alive it makes no difference as long as you retrieve the scepter and eliminate the threat he poses. If that means you spend the next six months in the Makai searching for him then so be it. You will be allowed regular breaks to return home. I've already arranged the excuses for your families. A letter arrived to your homes this morning from our office explaining to your families that you had each been chosen to participate in an extra curricular assignment for your schools and that your housing has been taken care of.”

 

 

Neither Yusuke, Kuwabara, or Kurama looked particularly pleased at this announcement. Kurama especially since it would mean that his record in his final year of schooling would be marred but it wasn't as if he had much choice in the matter. If Zinan succeeded in his plans then his schooling would no longer matter. Nor would anything else for that matter. Perhaps Koenma would see to it that it was not too adversely affected.

 

Special thanks to my beta Mary!