Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Half-Breed's Curse ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two
Kurama carefully went through his seeds, weaving quite a few of them in his hair for the coming mission. The rest he tucked into the pocket of the daypack he was bringing. He had just harvested these seeds from the garden the week before, so he was well-stocked. If he needed any more, he would have to gather them along the way. Considering that they were going to the Aganth forest, that would not be much of a problem. He would be in his element.

They had been given a bit of time to gather the gear they would need, which reflected on the importance of the mission. They usually started on the mission straight from the debriefing, but Koenma wanted them as prepared as possible, so he had given them one hour. If they failed this, there would be no second chance.

Yuusuke and Kuwabara didn't really need much preparation since they used rei weapons, but they had disappeared anyway, grumbling something about "decent food" as they'd hurried off. Kurama assumed they were going grocery shopping for the mission, a thought that made him roll his eyes in amused exasperation. He could only hope that the two would remember that they would be without access to the luxuries that were necessary to prepare human foods.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark figure slip through the bedroom window. "Hello, Hiei." He wondered if his comrade was in a better mood than he had been before.

"Hn."

Kurama sighed; if anything, Hiei looked more annoyed than he had earlier. "Did you need something, or is this a social call?" He couldn't resist the tempting opportunity to tease the demon, though he knew it would not be appreciated.

Hiei scowled at him. "I don't do 'social calls'. I need a bag."

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "You would normally just steal one. Why are you asking me?"

The fire demon's face twitched slightly, his jaw clenching in anger. "Koenma."

The redhead's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't press for information. Obviously, the godling had discovered that Hiei was putting his thieving skills to good use in the Ningenkai. Kurama wasn't sure how Koenma expected Hiei to survive without stealing in a currency-based world. He sighed. "There's a black one on the top shelf of my closet." He watched his friend retrieve it. "You've never carried a bag on our missions before," he noted. "Why are you using one now?"

Hiei didn't look at him. "None of your business."

Kurama frowned. "That depends on whether it will end up affecting the mission."

The fire demon stiffened, then slowly turned and glowered at the fox. "There's a reason I don't want to go on this mission. I'm not shirking my responsibilities." Hiei turned toward the window.

"Hiei..." His friend stopped, not turning. "What's wrong?

He turned his face slightly, looking at Kurama peripherally. "You'll find out soon enough. There's no way I'll be able to hide it, Kurama."

The redhead frowned at the flat, defeated tone of the fire demon's voice. "What-?" Hiei disappeared through the window before he could finish his question. Kurama sighed, glancing at his clock. "See you in twenty minutes." He winced. That meant he had twenty minutes to spin a lie for his mother about his absence. He quickly finished packing his bag, spinning a yarn as he did, then headed off to talk to Shiori.

Kurama hurried toward Yuusuke and Kuwabara, who were arguing over a daypack. "What's going on?"

Yuusuke scowled. "Kuwabara brought a whole pack filled with junk food. I'm trying to tell him that he can't bring it, but he won't listen."

There was a displacement of air, and the pack in question disappeared. "We don't have time for this, idiots. The wrappers would give away the fact that we're coming." Hiei was standing on a high branch, the daypack dangling from his hand. He lashed it securely to a branch. "We'll retrieve it when we return."

Kuwabara scowled as he jumped down. "I was only trying to make things easier for us!"

Hiei glowered. "And you failed miserably. Nothing new there."

Kuwabara opened his mouth to reply, but Kurama smoothly intercepted whatever comment he had planned on making. "We don't have time for arguing, you two. Hiei, please cooperate so we can get this mission finished as soon as possible."

"Hn."

Kurama glanced at Yuusuke. "Are we ready?"

He shrugged. "We're waiting for Botan. She's supposed to be coming with us." The statement incited a scowl from Hiei. "I wonder where she is?"

Hiei snorted. "Typical. Women are always late."

"Hiei-chan, that's mean!" Hiei nearly jumped from the tree as Botan appeared on a branch suddenly. She was dressed appropriately for hiking, thankfully. She grinned at them. "Are we ready to go?"

Hiei scowled and muttered something under his breath, but they ignored him. Kurama smiled at the ferry girl. "We're ready, Botan."

The girl jumped down from the tree. "Okay, then. Let's go!" She led the way through the gate, the others following.

Kurama sighed and wiped sweat from his forehead as they trekked through the dense undergrowth, grateful that his control over plants aided him in getting through. The others weren't so lucky, and they'd had to struggle through several very dense areas several times. Botan and Hiei had not had to deal with this, as Hiei stuck to the trees and Botan had chosen to ride her oar. They'd been traveling practically nonstop since they had left the Ningenkai hours before, despite the humidity. They had stopped only for a bit to eat a light meal. Hiei hadn't bothered to come down from the trees even then.

They were keeping off paths because of Hiei's insistence. The fire demon had made it very clear that they needed the element of surprise, and that all the paths going into the Aganth forest would be watched and heavily guarded. His lecture, of course, had been obvious to Kurama. Yuusuke had understood as well. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was still angry over the daypack of junk food. He'd spent the entire morning making comments directed at Hiei until Kurama had finally asked him to be quiet.

It was nearing dusk when Hiei finally jumped down from the tree. "We'll camp here," he said, his soft voice indicating that there was no room for argument. There were none anyway. They had all been rather worn out by the full afternoon of hiking.

The fire demon disappeared, and Kurama had Kuwabara get to work finding firewood while he and Yuusuke prepared the campsite. Hiei reappeared as they were finishing, carrying the carcasses of several rabbit-like animals. He threw them down near the firewood then hopped into a tree.

Kurama glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow. Hiei nearly always ended up starting the campfire. Granted, he usually did it after watching Kuwabara try to start it manually, but he had assumed that the fire demon would volunteer rather than deal with Kuwabara tonight.

Hiei noticed his gaze and glowered back. The fox sighed. The sanjiyan definitely had something that was bothering him, and he knew they would find out what it was when the time came. Something that had Hiei so upset would definitely end up affecting them as well. He decided to ignore it until it became a definite problem.

Kurama frowned as Hiei did nothing while Kuwabara struggled with the fire. The fire demon made no move to start it, and merely ignored Kuwabara. He exchanged a look with Yuusuke, who pulled out a lighter and used it to start the dried leaves mixed with the wood.

Yuusuke and Kuwabara ended up electing Kurama to cook the meal, and he did so, with Botan's help. He seemed to be the only one who noticed that Hiei ate nothing. This was becoming more and more worrisome. As darkness fell, the fire demon spoke up. "We will keep watch in pairs."

Yuusuke looked surprised. They'd never done that before. "But we'll be fine keeping watch the way we always do it! And we need to be well-rested!"

Hiei glared at him, then looked away. "Trust me, Yuusuke. We will keep watch in pairs."

Kurama exchanged a worried glance with Yuusuke, then looked up at Hiei, who was still perched in the tree. "We'll take first watch, then. Yuusuke and Kuwabara can take second. Botan, you can sleep the whole night, unless you wish to take watch with Yuusuke and Kuwabara." Hiei nodded almost imperceptively, and Kurama noticed that he seemed . . . relieved that Kurama had offered to keep watch with him. But why?

Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan settled down for the night. When Kuwabara started snoring softly, Hiei spoke up again. "I brought wards with me. We should set them up around the camp, just in case."

Kurama was surprised. Hiei had never done that before, preferring to rely on his demon instincts. "Hiei-"

Hiei jumped down, pulling the borrowed bag from under his cloak. "Don't ask, Kurama. Just . . . don't." He took out the wards, then replaced the bag under his cloak and disappeared for a moment, reappearing a few seconds later. Instead of jumping back into the tree, he sat a few feet away from the redhead and stared into the fire.

They sat in companionable silence. "Hiei, why didn't you start the campfire?" Kurama asked after a while.

There was a short silence before the fire demon answered. "I don't want it relying on my ki . . ."

That surprised the fox. "Why?" Hiei shook his head and didn't answer. Kurama sighed. "Hiei, I'm worried about you. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Hiei glanced at him briefly, then went back to staring into the fire. After a moment, he reached forward and touched the flames, then pulled back suddenly, as if burned. He looked surprised. "It's too early," he murmured. "It shouldn't be happening yet . . ."

Kurama moved forward, his eyes widening as he saw that Hiei's hand had been burned. "You're a fire demon, Hiei! Why-"

The wards suddenly fizzed and went up in flames. Hiei cursed and was on his feet in a flash, katana out and at the ready. Kurama reached into his hair. "Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Botan! We have company!" The three barely managed to reach their feet as a group of demons attacked.

Kurama slashed with his rose whip, dodging blasts of ki interspersed with spells. They had a mage with them. He cursed, taking note of how the other Tantei were doing as he moved. Botan was battling valiantly with her oar, bashing the few youkai that got past Yuusuke and Kuwabara, who were protecting her as they battled. Hiei was flitting around, dodging ki attacks and spells as well. Kurama frowned. He was going slower than he normally did, and he seemed to be slowing further.

Kurama concentrated on his fight as he very narrowly avoided an attack. These were trained youkai, obviously sent to destroy them by their enemy. The battle had begun, and they hadn't even reached the tower site.

His eyes widened as he heard a yell that he hadn't expected. Hiei . . .? He slashed the demon he had been fighting and positioned himself so he could see what had happened, just in time to see Hiei fall, apparently hit by a ki attack. The demon he had been battling moved to finish him off and Kurama moved quickly. He was beaten there by Yuusuke's rei gan, which destroyed the offending demon.

He continued to move, reaching Hiei's unconscious form. "Get the supplies and retreat!" Kurama picked the fire demon up, confused by the fact that Hiei seemed lighter than usual. He disregarded it for the moment as he dodged another ki blast--someone had apparently taken out the mage, as there were no more spells being thrown about. This wasn't surprising as mages tended not to have the best defenses.

The redhead ran into the forest near Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan, relieved as he felt them follow. He manipulated the plants behind them and the demons following them quickly fell behind. They ran for a long while, until they were completely certain that they weren't at risk of being found.

When they finally stopped, Kurama lowered Hiei to the ground. The fire demon was shuddering uncontrollably. What had he been hit with? "I need a light." There was a short pause as Yuusuke rummaged in his bag. After a moment, a flashlight clicked on, shining on Hiei's still form.

Kurama heard Kuwabara gasp. "His hair!"

The redhead stared in shock. Hiei's hair had turned the same light blue-turquoise as Yukina's hair. What the . . .? "He may have been hit by a spell," Kurama said softly when he regained use of his voice.

"I took out the mage before he went down," Yuusuke whispered. "There's no way it was a spell."

Botan finally spoke. "Maybe . . . Maybe this is part of the reason he didn't want to come?"

Kurama moved forward, checking Hiei for injuries. He recoiled as he felt something soft that shouldn't be there. He checked his friend's ki and gasped.

Hiei was no longer a fire demon. He was now a true Koorime, gender included.

The reasoning behind this will be explained in the next chapter, whenever I get it out. ^^; And, yes, Hiei is female, and, yes, Kurama touched his breast.

Sorry this took so long to get out. As you noticed, I was concentrating on Suicide for a while. I'm also working on some other things. School is about to start up tomorrow again, so I figured it'd be best to get this out while I still have time and energy.

Thank you for bearing with me as I take so long to update. Life is insane right now.