Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Balance ❯ As They Were ( Chapter 9 )
Disclaimer: I like writing fiction, don't you?
Balance
Chapter Nine: As They Were
He was lowered slowly through the darkness, curled in a little ball, wishing for pain that he knew would never come. Wishing for pain to feel something, anything in this world of senseless falling. He cried out to the man in the glass as he did.
Why do you hate me so…?
'It is you who hates me.'
I do not…
The man in the glass stood before him, no longer part of the glass wall, but now of the seamless sky of darkness. Vainly he examined his nails.
'Is it so?'
It is! he wailed. I swear it so! I wish to become as I was! I wish to live in the past!
The man in the sky lowered his hand slowly, stopping his preening. His eyes glittered. Malicious.
'You wish to become part of the past?' The question held no questioning tone, and was more a commanding doubt. He nodded, fearful.
I do, he whispered. I wish for my friends to be my friends once again, as they were. I wish my heart to be my heart again, as it was whole. I wish my life to be wonderful again, as it was. I wish my love to be again, as it lived.
'I can allow this.'
Allow nothing, you liar, he replied. Spitting through his fangs, he gritted his teeth and growled.
'You wish to become part of the past?' he asked again. There was no wonder, no doubt this time.
I do, and I do not.
'Why is this so?'
For I know nothing can return the future to the way the past was, he answered. I want no hollow shell of the friends I once had, the heart which once beat, the life I once knew. I wish for no love to pretend for me.
'Do you desire to be free?'
I cannot…
'Cannot desire or cannot be?'
Tears did not remain in his eyes, but instead they grew cold and dark.
Gold ceased to exist.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Again!"
Kurama smiled. Hiei was driving Kuwabara with an iron fist, completely hard-nosed and leaving no room for error. Kuwabara grumbled again, something along the lines of "Aw, shimatta…shijuuku! That far, and I went and screwed it up…"
Setting into the stance without hesitation, however, Kuwabara readied his Reiken and grit his teeth. Fool if he though he could now predict all of Hiei's moves; Kurama knew Hiei had hundreds, maybe even thousands more attack patterns than Kuwabara had seen. He was determined, though, if his expression was any giveaway.
"Come at me."
Hiei smirked. "With pleasure." A thin "fwip" of air, and he had disappeared.
Kuwabara, whose senses appeared to have improved since that morning, closed his eyes slowly. Kurama saw them dart around beneath their lids, indicating at least a subconscious tracking. From what he could tell, Kuwabara was following Hiei nearly exactly.
His lips mouthed the words "Right there" just as Hiei leapt out from the branches, and Kurama made a pleased "Hm" noise. Deterring as it was for him to have tripped up at forty-nine, he was improving, and maybe another fifty rounds would be a good thing for him.
"HA~A!"
Hiei was right on top of him, hovering in the air with his katana posed to strike. Kuwabara had flung his Reiken up with improved reflexes, successfully blocking the swing. Hiei neatly leapt to the ground, smiling as if he had expected everything which had come to him.
He nodded, sheathing his blade. "Better." Kurama snickered under his breath, earning him a disapproving glare.
"Motto shijuukuji! And you'll be able to hold your own in a real battle," he seemed to add as an afterthought. "Let's go."
"Aren't you even going to take out your sword?" Kuwabara asked warily. Hiei laughed.
"Fire is man's best friend," he replied slyly, slinking away into the trees. Kuwabara squeaked slightly, but held his sword up protectively and closed his eyes.
Kurama kept perfect track of Hiei, following his slow motions (quicker than he had been using in the earlier day, of course). After a long minute, a streak of fire jetted out from the trees, still not revealing Hiei's location (for he moved just after it was launched). Kuwabara batted the stream away, burning down a poor, unfortunate tree. Kurama frowned.
"That wasn't necessary, Hiei!" he shouted. A low snicker echoed back to him, as if to say "No, but it was fun."
Another shot of liquid flames approached then, from an entirely different direction, and Kuwabara blocked it, as well. Many minutes and many fire streams later, Hiei reappeared, grinning in that sinister way of his.
"Zutto juusan," he noted approvingly. "Not bad. More swordsmanship, now."
He drew the silver length from its battered scabbard and held it up to glitter in the thin film of sunlight shining down through the trees. Tilting it, he made sure it nailed Kuwabara right in the eye.
As Kuwabara squinted, he missed Hiei disappearing into the foliage. A soft laugh followed the vanishing act, but Hiei gave no more clues to his whereabouts than that.
The battle raged on for hours, attacks becoming longer and more streamlined, Kuwabara becoming more aware, Hiei pressing him further. Kurama watched it all in silent awe.
'I wonder…'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Oi, minna," Yuusuke piped in randomly. Kurama, who had been about to complete a complex spinning move in midair, landed gracefully instead, looking over his shoulder at the hanyou. Kuwabara tore his eyes from his target-that is, Kurama, who had stopped moving anyway-and Hiei looked up from where he was examining and sharpening his sword. Yes, again.
"Hai, Yuusuke?" Kurama asked, turning to fully face him.
"Ah, we should get going." He flipped a compact out of his pocket, shining it a little with his thumb. "To see if Reikai knows anything else. If we can get a new lead, I mean. This is a whole lot of nothing, after all; training is helpful, sure, but we've been out here for hours and I'm exhausted. Even if we do know something new, I'll need a day or so to reboot my system."
"Sou ka," Hiei said scornfully, re-sheathing the slick silver. Yuusuke snorted.
"Hai, sou da," he replied with an equally disdainful huff. "Oi, do you wanna be the one to call Botan?"
Hiei looked up instantly, his eyes slit and furious. "I can't believe you-you even dared to ask."
Kurama chuckled, and Yuusuke smirked. "What, you got a crush on her or somethin'? 'Cause you're sure acting like it."
The youkai flew into a subtle rage, standing rigidly and glaring at Yuusuke head on. "The very fact that you would even hint at some sort-some emotion I might feel for that-that absolute airhead of a ferry girl-I can't believe you would even try something so foolish as that!"
Yuusuke waved his hands defensively before himself. "Whoa, whoa there, mouko, I was just kidding."
Snarling once more for good measure, Hiei threw himself back to the ground, sitting with his arms folded protectively across his chest. Kuwabara recoiled, and Kurama tilted his head in silent wonder.
"Let's call Reikai," Kuwabara put in, slightly more warily this time, "and we'll see if they have some new information. If they do, we can get on it tomorrow. If not, we can…well, I don't know what we can do, but we'll think of something. Maybe take a day off."
Yuusuke nodded gleefully. "Hope so, ne?"
"Sure do."
Kurama smiled at them both. "Tomorrow is Tuesday, so I'll be able to get to school," he said, putting his hand in his pants pocket. Yuusuke snorted.
"You and your school, Kurama. I swear, you'd live there if we let you."
"I would not!"
"You totally would and you know it!" the former Tantei retorted, and Kurama crossed his eyes indignantly. Yuusuke laughed.
"How about Hiei stays at Kurama's?" Kuwabara suggested, surprisingly. Both Kurama and Hiei looked up, startled, but Yuusuke only stood beside his friend and nodded.
"Good idea. Kurama," Yuusuke turned to address the kitsune, "you can make sure he doesn't bail on us, or something."
"Ohhh…" Kurama winked. "Sou da." Hiei only snuffled, glaring at the dirt below him.
"Let's call Botan," Kuwabara interrupted. "Yuusuke, you do it."
"Na-demo-eh… You guys are evil," the hanyou muttered, opening his compact. Kurama nodded.
"Botan here, and I-oh! Yuusuke! I-eeto…" she floundered, rubbing the back of her head. "I suppose you want some new information, ne?"
He glared at her. "Yeah, that'd be nice. You don't have any, do you?"
"Eheheh, eh…iie…"
Turning away from the mirror, Yuusuke flipped the top back down, much to Botan's chagrin (as evidenced by her squeals of protest at being hung up on). "Nothing," he said disconsolately. "So…see you guys tomorrow, then?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Aa."
"Ja ne."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kurama stretched languidly as he and his companion walked down the street to his home. More accurately, Kurama walked down the street and Hiei skipped through the trees, but the effect was similar.
"Why can't you come down here and join me?" the kitsune asked, looking into the crowns of the trees as he passed by them. Flickers of black sparked periodically through the thinning leaves, not often enough for Kurama to pinpoint the location without using tracking skills, and he was really too tired for that. "I don't…eeto, maybe I do bite, but…you get the idea, ne?"
Hiei landed beside his friend in one fluid motion, appearing out of nowhere. "Ch, aa."
Kurama smiled. "So you'll be sleeping on the floor, I suppose. Or would you prefer my bed? I could sleep on the floor instead of you."
Hiei balked for a moment. "Kitsune, I'll be sleeping in a tree and you know it."
"Ah, ah, ah, Hiei," Kurama taunted, waving a finger teasingly back and forth. "Yuusuke told me to make sure you didn't leave us all before tomorrow, and how can I do that if I can't keep and eye on you? And how can I do that if you aren't even in my house?"
Hiei cocked his head thoughtfully. Kurama had a point, but he would much prefer to sleep outdoors than cooped up in a small room. A compromise, maybe…?
"Can we make a deal?" he asked shortly. Kurama smiled ahead.
"Such as?"
"Ano…"
Hiei had not expected this. He reflexively clenched and unclenched his fists, straining for some sort of idea.
"Eeto…"
…Nothing.
Kurama smiled, self-satisfied, as he pranced on ahead.
"Which would you prefer, my dear friend Hiei?" he asked laughingly, spinning around to face the youkai. Hiei grumbled under his breath.
"What was that?"
"The floor is fine, kitsune," Hiei snapped. Kurama's smile widened.
"As you wish."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shimatta: dammit
Shijuuku: forty-nine
Reiken: Spirit Sword
Motto shijuukuji: forty-nine times more
Zutto juusan: thirteen consecutively
Oi: hey
Minna: everyone
Hanyou: half demon
Hai: yes
Reikai: Spirit World
Sou ka: is that right?
Sou da: right
Mouko: fierce tiger
Kitsune: fox
Ne: don't you think?
Na: Wha-?
Demo: but
Eeto: errr…
Iie: no
Aa: yeah
Ano: uh…
Note: ahhh, this was such a filler chapter! ::erk:: Sorry! Anyway, yes, the plot will move on in the next chapter, and if they don't meet up with more demons (which I doubt they will), they will at least track them, and it will be all mysterious and fun like that. Eh…let's pretend the lack of plot was made up for by the excessive amount of Japanese. Yeah, that works.
Note: NO, dear INARI, no!! Hiei does not have crush on Botan! FILLER, people, this chapter is full of amusing FILLER.
