InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Joys of Life ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: so, so, sorry I haven't updated in soooo long! But my laptop was broke and I had all my stories on there. Only recently have I been able to retrieve those files. My mom's being awesomer then usual and allowing me touse her computer!

 

Anyway, I've revised this chapterand the next! My plan is to revise the rest of this story... wish is really close to being done and then continue on with the updating the chapters. So, don't be afraid to give me a shout if you think I'mslacken... I'll let you in on a little secret! I hate revising so usually I give my stories to my friends to fix and they end of keeping them and not correcting them but falling in love with them... so yeah... most of my paper copies get stolen... hehehehe

 

So... on with the revised... and in my opinion better story! Please review and tell me your opinion!

 

Chapter 4

 

She had been gone not even a half hour and she hadn't been able to stop worrying. What if he got chilled? What if he hurt himself? What if her barrier failed? What if he disobeyed her orders and went outside the barrier?

 

`What ifs'… she could torture herself with them the entire time, but it wouldn't get what was needed done.

 

Taking a calming breath, Kagome cast a last glance over her shoulder before continuing on her trek.

 

~*~ Souta, at the very edge of his protective barrier ~*~

 

He sat on the ground, his arms across against his chest and his fiery, scarlet eyes glared angrily at the innocent ball that laid just a few feet from him. “You're a stupid ball!” An immature growl escaped his throat as he continued to glare at the round object that was just out of reach. Tossing a stone at it, another small growl escaped him. “Why did you have to go out there, anyways?”

 

Though he spoke out loud, Souta hadn't expected an answer, so when he received a reply he couldn't help but jump.

 

“Because it wanted to play out here with me.”

 

Souta watched as someone, taller than himself but not near as tall as him parents, stepped out of the shadows. “Who are you?” His eyes narrowed a bit when the stranger reached out and picked his toy up.

 

Tossing the ball in one hand, he casually gave an answer of “Who cares” before catching the leather object firmly in his hand. “If you come out of that barrier, we can play ball together. So, what do you say?”

 

Glaring into the black eyes of the stranger, Souta snorted. “Do you really think that I'm stupid? I'm not going out there!” As to prove his point, he turned his back on the outsider and began the short trek back to the cave.

 

“I never thought you were stupid, kid!” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Ok, so you don't want to come out a play, so the least I can do is give back your toy!” Holding the ball out, he waited for Souta to take it.

 

He stopped and glared at the unfamiliar person for moment for several minutes before walking back to his previous spot. Casting a finally, suspicious glance at the older boy, he reached for the offered item. As his hand touched the soft leather of the ball, Souta realized his mistake. However, before he had a chance to correct his error, a hand grasped his wrist and pulled him completely through the barrier.

 

Staring up at the older boy from his spot where he'd been thrown, Souta saw a gleam in his dark eyes that caused a shiver of fear ran down his spine.

 

“Now, we're going to play.”

 

~*~ Kagome, somewhere at the edge of the forest, up in a densely leafed tree ~*~

 

She couldn't help but feel amazed at what she saw. On the beach that just below her, were clans upon clans of fire demons. From her spot, they all seemed disorientated. And disorientation was not something that was good for a clan, and the group of juveniles that was forming was the reason.

 

Juveniles, or at least most, had a tendency to be violent and deadly. They were known to kill whatever they could for the pleasure of it, and that included younger, less experience demons, whether from their own clan or from somewhere else, it didn't matter to them. If those juveniles were not kept under a strict hand of the lead males, they were usually killed off, if not by their fellow fire demons then by others or by their own miscalculations.

 

A shiver traveled through her body as she recalled the days when Hiei had gone through this stage. She had been glad that the killing urges of a juvenile only ran in the male population, but that did leave the problem with dealing with all of Hiei's mutilation sites. Though, at the time, it had been a bit creepy, she now enjoyed a good laugh when she recalled how many times either his father or her own had punished him.

 

Turning her attention back to the growing crowd of demons, a thought struck her. With so many fire demons about, there should be more than just the small group of juveniles she'd seen.

 

Turning back towards the forest and her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

 

“Souta…”

 

Quickly, she left the beach behind as she retraced her steps back to the cave.

 

~*~ Hiei and the others, about a mile to the east of the Cave ~*~

 

“Where the hell are all these kids coming from? And what the hell is there problem!” Yusuke demanded as he chased yet another group off his Rei Ko Ha. “What is that? The forth or fifth group?” He knew that there were going to be plenty of demons that they would encounter, but did he had known that they were just going to be kids, he would have stayed home.

 

“They are not just any `kids', Yusuke.” Kurama spoke up. “I believe these to be juveniles.” He glanced over in Hiei's direction and when he received a verification nod, he continued. “Juvenile fire demons, as well as other breeds, tend to go through a mischievous and murderous stage. Usually, their superiors keep these youth under strict rule. But, my guess is that with the massive gathering that's taking place, there's some confusion and some of these dangerous youths have slipped away from their respective groups.”

 

“Are you telling me that all these kids are murders?” Kuwabara boomed, thinking that very idea was preposterous. How could such innocent children do something as hideous as murder?

 

“That is exactly what he's telling you, fool.” Hiei sent the carrot top an annoyed glare. “You forget these aren't humans we are dealing with, but nearly mature demons.” He was quiet for a moment.

 

“Don't think of them as the mindless lower class demons that run on instinct alone. Juveniles apparitions have a tendency to work in groups; formulating plans and such.” He stopped and glared at the forest around them. “You should think of them more as higher class demons. After all, their plans usually make them very successful hunters.”

 

No sooner had those words left his mouth, a horde of juvenile males seemingly pounced out of nowhere. And instead of them coming from only one direction like they had before, they came from all sides, making it impossible for them to be driven off by a simple Rei Ko Ha.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara where the only two who hesitated in killing them, trying simply to drive them back. They found out the hard way that it wasn't going to be that easy, especially when they soon found their blood smeared on those `so-called' kids' claws.

However, for Kurama and Hiei, they found hardly anything wrong with slicing through the horde.

 

The fight however, didn't last nearly as long as any of them had suspected and they soon found the juveniles clustering in a large circle around them.

 

“I must say that was a wonderful show!” A black eyed, wild orange hair boy stepped forward, clapping his hands. He was clearly the oldest, perhaps even to old for the kind of behavior that he was demonstrating, and the leader. “And, since you all have been such wonderful participants, I think I will reward you!” His laugher was too innocent to ignore as he tossed his so-called gift at the smaller groups feet.

 

Hiei and the others tensed as the younger demon the round object at them. Only when it rolled to a stop in front of Yusuke, did they examine it farther.

 

“What the hell?” Though Yusuke's full attention was on the dark round thing at his feet, it was Hiei who identified what it was first.

 

“A child's ball covered in blood.” Hiei's nails dug into his hands as his hand clenched into fists. He knew all to well that the only child; either demon or human, within over a hundred miles of here on all sides was his own. It had been one of the reasons why he'd choose the area in the first place. He didn't bother listening to the questions that the rest of the team voiced as he cut in. “Where is he?”

 

He couldn't help that the words could out as a hiss, though it did seem to grab everyone's attention.

 

“Oh, you mean that kid? The one who gave me that ball?” Hiei had to keep a tight on hold his rage as the younger demon spoke with a tone of bored amusement. “I guess he's still around…” He seemed to think about for a moment for snapping his fingers. “Yes, I do believe our dear friend Souta is still with us. Though, I do doubt it'll be for much longer.” Several dark snickers could be heard for the some of the juveniles, and Hiei had no doubt that they were from the ones who'd seen his son.

 

“I must say, Souta is quite a fighter! I mean we did have to dunk him a few times before he actually stopped trying to escape.” A section of the crowd near the spokesperson clustered closer together, forming a walk.

 

“Holy shit…” That was the only thing that came to Yusuke's mind as he watched two of the smaller juveniles drag what looked to be a small dead child between them. The only thing that actually let him know that the child wasn't a corpse was that the small body was trembling and his chest was moving. He could also hear the boy's teeth clicking together as he shivered. “You bastards!” As angry welled up inside of him, he quickly confirmed that the rest of his team felt the same as he felt their energies beginning to spike.

 

“I know.” It was the only reply that he received as the leader of the juveniles moved to stand in front of Souta. None-to-gently he grasped Souta chin and tilled it up as if examining it. “Doesn't he look so-”

 

A yelp of surprise and pain cut off whatever he was going to say as found his fingers caught between Souta's fangs. “You little bastard!” Defiant red eyes glared up at him as ripped his hand from Souta's mouth.

 

Raising his hand to slap that defiance from Souta, he quickly found that his arm was stuck. Looking over his shoulder to see who had dared to stop him, only to have the pleasure to stare into another set of red eyes and they held rage.

 

Before the other demon had a chance to defend him self, Hiei's blade was already imbedded up to the hilt in his chest. A smirk appeared on his face as Hiei watched the two “guard” registered what had just happened and drop his son where they stood in favor of running away. Without their leader, Hiei watched as the juveniles ran off and though he wanted to chase each down, he stopped himself and settled for killing any who came to close to his son.

 

Only once the vicinity was cleared of all juveniles, did Hiei turn to his son. Kneeling, he gently placed a hand on his son pale back, who was on his hands and knees and trying to rise to his feet. His skin felt like icy under his hand and he knew that wasn't good. “Souta, are you alright?” He wanted to pick his son up but he didn't want to frighten him anymore than he already was.

 

“C-Cold…” That was the only thing that got passed Souta's chattering teeth as he leaned into the warm on his back. At the moment, he could care less who was talking to them as long as they didn't dunk him anymore; he would do partially anything that the voice would ask. “B-But no m-more dunking…”

 

“No more dunking.” Hiei agreed with soft amusement, before removing his own cloak and draping it over Souta's shivering form before picking him up. He would have to warm Souta up slowly or risk him going into shock.

 

“Hiei! Is the boy alright?” Kurama rushed over to where his friend was picking up the small boy. Once he was close enough to Hiei to look over his shoulder, he jumped back, Hiei's katana removing several strands of hair.

 

“Shrimp! Why the hell are you attacking Kurama?” Kuwabara stopped just behind Kurama, dubbing it a safe area out of the range of Hiei's blade.

 

Though Kuwabara had directed his question to Hiei, Kurama was the one who answered. “Look at the child. He's scared and Hiei's instincts are telling him to get rid of the problem or us.” Answering his teammate's question, he carefully stepped forward. “I promise you that we won't hurt you. If anything, we are trying to help you. If you don't believe me, than you can ask Hiei.”

 

Souta adjusted himself so that his arms were still wrapped around Hiei's neck and he could look up at his father. He watched as Hiei took his eyes off the group in front on them and gave him an agreeing nod. Also, he heard his sire mutter something under his breath, but he didn't catch what it was.

 

Finding that his father accepted these strangers, Souta continued looking up at Hiei, his look turning to questioning to demanding. “I'm hungry. I'm cold. I want to go home! And I want to see my mamma! And then, I want to go to bed!” Seeing that he had voiced his demands and made them clear to everyone present, he snuggled deeper into his makeshift blanket.

 

Hiei was more than taken back. The last time someone had ordered him around that someone had lost his or her life quicker than they could have snapped their fingers together.

 

“That kid has guts!” Yusuke erupted with laugher. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but he'd heard the demands that the kid had called and it surprised him that they were directed towards Hiei.

 

“Yes, but he is right. I should get him home before his mother comes looking for him.” With that said, he turned and started down a path that he knew would take him to his cave. He was worried though. Why hadn't Kagome come yet?