Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Clean ❯ Despair and Hope ( Chapter 22 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: This story was written by me, mhmartini, for enjoyment purposes only. All characters taken from a show/series/book/etc. are property of their respective creators; I am only borrowing them. Original characters are mine. The storyline is mine. I am making no money from this endeavor. The only �profit� involved is the joy of writing and the reviews of my readers. No copyright infringement is intended.

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.19.2005 | Updated On: 06.03.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 808 | Status: Completed

As the door to the dungeon swung open, Hiei looked up with undisguised hatred. Three days had passed since the ward had been placed on his left leg. Two days ago, Intaro had done the same on his right leg. Ever since, the hiyoukai had been alone, dangling by his arms in the darkness, his useless legs dragging on the floor. Eight days of no food and no water were taking their toll. Hiei's muscular frame was thin, gaunt. He was dehydrated. But his spirit was unbroken. Intaro strode in and looked at his toy.

"Well, now. That's a scary look," he said, nodding at a henchman. The demon reached up and released Hiei's left arm. Using all the power he had left, the small captive launched a wild punch at his tormentor. The weakened tendons in the fire demon's shoulders, stretched from his long term hanging on the wall and unused to movement could not hold anymore. With a sickening crunch, Hiei's left shoulder popped out of socket. The force of his punch spun him to the right, and with a twist, the right shoulder popped as well.

"Ahh!" Hiei cried softly.

"Now, now. A seasoned warrior like you should know better than that," Intaro said in a mock comforting tone, and he placed a hand on Hiei's back. With no warning, he ripped the shirt off the small demon. Hiei winced and hissed at the pain this caused in his shoulders. Intaro made a gesture, and the henchman released Hiei's other arm and dragged the small form to a cement slab in the center of the room.

"This may smart a bit..." Intaro started. Any other words he may have spoken were lost to the shrill cry that escaped the fire demon as each of his arms were yanked outwards, resetting them into their sockets. At least now he could move his arms, somewhat.

Intaro approached, brandishing another of his special wards. "Now, my pet. Let's see...where did we leave off? Oh yes! I believe we were right about here." With this the sadist brushed the wards across Hiei's chest. The hiyoukai cried out in pain, and tried to drag himself away from the touch, but his damaged arms were too weak. As before, Intaro played this game for some time, before he took Hiei's right hand into his own.

"And now, Little One, we must suspend our play. Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow." With this, he gently kissed the back of Hiei's hand before pressing the ward against the withered wrist. Hiei shrieked in agony. When the cries finally subsided, Intaro turned to leave. As he reached the door, he stopped, almost as if he had just remembered something.

"Little One. To show you I'm not that mean, I'm letting you go. The door is open, and the guards will not stop you. You're free to leave or stay as you choose." With that, the demon left, followed by all his cohorts. The door was indeed left open.

Hiei took a few minutes to wait and see if anyone came back. Nothing. Slowly, he tried to use his injured left arm, his only remaining movable limb, to sit up. He did not have the strength. As he tried again to push himself upright, his immobile body rolled, and he landed on the concrete floor with a thud. Unfortunately, he also landed in a position that pinned his left arm under his body. Try as he might, he could not free it. He spent the night staring at the open door, and trying to think of a way to either drag himself through it or at least remove the ward over his jagan.

When Intaro walked into the dungeon the next morning he walked completely past Hiei's crumpled form on the floor, whistling merrily. As he turned to leave, he laid eyes on the fire demon, and took a step back, feigning surprise. "Why, Hiei, I'm touched. You enjoy my company so much you have chosen to stay here. Little One, I had no idea you felt that way."

Angry and confused, Hiei replied with the first thing that came to mind, "Shove it."

"Oh, Little One, where would you like it?" Intaro countered. Hiei realized that lewd comments might not be in his best interest at the moment, and the last thing he needed to do was to give his tormentor any new ideas, so he just bit his lip.

"Well, Little One, as touching as your presence may be, I had not planned on entertaining you today. So, I am afraid I will have to cut our little games short. I would hate for you to get the wrong idea, however. So I will leave you with a little gift before I take my leave of this place. Intaro gathered Hiei gently into his arms, and placed him back on the cement slab very carefully. He tenderly took Hiei's left hand and caressed it between his own for a moment. Then he withdrew a fresh ward, and placed over the hiyoukai's wrist. The scream could be heard resonating throughout the castle that housed the dungeon. Hiei felt a searing heat engulf his entire body, and then the heat vanished. Only cold was left. Now that all four of his limbs were warded, he could no longer control his body temperature. He could not even shiver. He lay on his back, glaring at his captor.

"Just kill me, you sick, twisted, son of a..." he started.

"Tsk tsk tsk! No need to bring my parentage into this," Intaro said sweetly. "Now, Little One, be a good boy and stay put." The demon leaned in closer, his voice become deeper and more serious. "You do know that these wards will continue to drain your energy, don't you? Right now you can breathe. Your heart, or at least the demon equivalent, is beating; your organs are working. The longer these stay on, the less energy you will have. Finally, your body will fail, and you will die.

"I guess now we find out just how much your beloved fox actually cares for you. If he dallies on his way here, he will find you dead. Even if he does not, what good are you to him now? You're paralyzed. Those wards are firmly attached to your skin. Do you think he will bother to remove then, and nurse you back to health? My bet is, he'll see you for the ugly, weak, forbidden nobody that you are, and leave you here to rot.

"Too bad I'll be gone before he gets here. I'd love to see the looks on both your faces. Oh, but I imagine you won't want to see it. So I will spare you the sight of your lover's ass as he walks out of your life, leaving you for dead."

With this, Intaro tied a blindfold around Hiei's eyes. The hiyoukai felt pressure on the outside of the blindfold, and his senses suddenly dulled. Intaro's voice reached him, but it sounded soft and distant. "One more gift: a ward to dull your perceptions. Have a nice lif...er...death, Little One!" Then there was silence. Hiei lay still as the coldness and darkness overtook him.

Intaro swept out of the dungeon. He turned to his henchman. "It's been delivered?"

"Yes, sir," the demon confirmed.

"Good. Now we leave. Gather all the troops. We will leave behind one group; we must maintain appearances. Choose the soldiers you do not like to defend the castle. We might as well get rid of them at the same time," the mastermind said, and then continued on his way to leave.

A loud knocking on Kurama's door startled the kitsune. He quickly moved to answer it, withdrawing a rose from his hair as he did so. Reaching out, he threw open the door, poised to strike.

"Woah! Jumpy much, are we?" Yusuke asked, falling back before the fox.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke, I am jumpy. Have you heard anything?" Kurama asked.

"Yes. Botan came to tell me. She's getting Kuwabara while I get you, and we all need to go to Spirit World and see the Infant. She said he found some information." Kurama bolted out the door, taking only a second to lock it behind him, and the two ran to the rendezvous point.

Standing before Koenma's desk, the three youths grew impatient. Finally, Koenma appeared, in infant form. Taking his seat behind his desk, he produced a piece of parchment with a blue ribbon. "We now have a precise location where Intaro is holding Hiei," he said to those gathered before him.

"Hiei's alive?!" Kurama practically shouted.

"Yes, he is, or at least was when this information was gathered," Koenma confirmed.

George, the blue oni spoke up at this point. "Gathered, Koenma, sir? I thought you found it sitting on your desk with that blue ribbon tied into a pretty little bow on it."

"NOT NOW OGRE!" Koenma shouted, hitting George on the head.

Kurama paled at this. "So, yet again, this villain has out maneuvered us. We know this information only because he chose to give it to us, and even that was gift wrapped."

"Yes," Koenma admitted. "He is an arrogant bastard, and there is nothing we can do to stop that. It may be a trap..." he never got to finish.

"I'm going. Give me the parchment," Kurama demanded, holding out his hand.

"But, Kurama, I don't..." Koenma started.

"Now. Or would you like Youko to come out to play?" The kitsune's voice held no exaggeration; he was absolutely serious. Koenma silently handed over the parchment. Kurama glanced at it, and then left the audience chamber, Yusuke and Kuwabara on his heels.

"Hey, Kurama! I thought you decided not to go Youko anymore during the Makai tournament," Yusuke called to his friend.

"I did. But Koenma doesn't know that," Kurama replied, speeding up to a run. Within moments, all three boys had passed through a portal into Makai.

After a few hours of travel, they reached a large and imposing castle. A small squadron of guards was drilling in the courtyard. According to the note, this was where they had Hiei. Kurama scanned the grounds then turned to his comrades.

"We are close to one of my old dens. We know this may be a trap. I believe our best bet is to create a diversion. One member will sneak in, retrieve Hiei, and sneak out. We will escape to my old den until Botan comes to take us back to Ningenkai," he said, looking to Yusuke for approval.

"Works for me," the detective agreed. "I think you should do the sneaking, King of Thieves. Kuwabara and I are more the direct type, I think." Kurama nodded. He slipped off towards the outer wall to await the diversion, and his opportunity to rescue his lover.

A loud explosion broke the still air. Part of the outer wall crumbled to the onslaught of Yusuke's Spirit Gun. As the guards ran to engage the intruders, Kurama slipped undetected into the main keep. He wound through staircase after staircase. He knew Hiei would most likely be in a dungeon, which was most likely underground. He continued wending his way downwards until he reached a level that reeked of blood and death. Clinging to the hope that his lover was alive, he crept through the dark corridors looking for any sign of the small hiyoukai.

Finally he reached a room that seemed to have been used recently. There were footprints in the dust going into and out of the room. Before he entered, Kurama steeled himself for whatever he may find.