Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Just Outside the Light ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

This is for Katarica! I was going to trash this, until your review brightened my day.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, and am coming to terms with the fact that I probably never will… probably.

Author: Letta

Rating: Probably R.

Warnings: Violence, slight OOC, possibly AU- it's up to you.

Pairings: none so far

"speaking"

/thoughts/

Title: Just Outside the Light

The Reikei Tantei plus one walked through the forest, ever alert for any sign of attack. Unfortunately, they weren't alert enough, otherwise they would have noticed they were being followed. That would probably be a problem they would have to deal with at some point.

The group was quickly converging on the portal that would take them back to Ningenkai, blissfully unaware of their predicament, until bam! A flash of green plowed into our fine kitsune friend, bringing him to the ground with a roll. A forest colored cloak covered a body struggling with Kurama, tumbling over each other across the ground. The remaining Reikei Tantei sprung to life, scrabbling after their fallen comrade, but not before the attacker freed itself to leap away, diving into the trees and hitting the ground at a dead run.

Hiei was the first to reach the kitsune, crouching over him with something akin to worry flickering in his eyes. Kurama, on the other hand, had his eyes squeezed shut as he held a hand to his temple, cradling the injury he had obtained during the scuffle. When the rest of the group reached his side, crowding around him anxiously, he carefully opened one golden eye, opposite his throbbing temple. A moment later, the other opened, both narrowing dangerously.

"What happened?" Kuwabara asked.

"He was attacked, idiot," Hiei shot.

Yusuke glared at the two before an argument could break out, before his eyes slid to Leiko, the demoness inspecting the area where the attacker had left. His attention left her to settle on the kitsune.

"Are you all right, Kurama?" he asked, offering his hand to the grounded youko.

"Nothing serious," he spat, ignoring the proferred hand as he got to his feet on his own, reinforcing what he stated. His hand left his temple, a small amount of blood accompanying it. He glared at said hand.

Yusuke sucked in a breath.

"You've got a bit of a gash."

"It's nothing," Kurama growled, irritated more by being caught off guard than anything else, especially since his guard had been up. What he didn't mention was that the demon who assaulted him had a familiar scent.

Yusuke looked helplessly at Hiei, who shrugged in return and began walking again. After a moment's hesitation, the rest followed.

When Leiko caught up, Hiei turned to her.

"Did you find anything?" he demanded.

"Sort of, though I don't know hoe exactly it will help us," she replied, thrusting a fisted hand at the fire youkai, who stared at it distrustingly for a moment, before he put his opened palm beneath it. Leiko uncurled her fingers, letting the object clenched in her hand drop into the waiting one below, walking ahead when the fire youkai stopped to examine it.

Hiei picked up the heavy necklace, inspecting the finely wrought silver chain inlaid with an intricate pattern as his eyes slid down to what it supported. A precious Makai jewel was encased in a glittering frame etched with the same complicated design as the chain. The fire demon held it up to catch the light better, noting how as the jewel swayed it appeared to change color, going from a deep red to a delicate lavender and back again. It was about half the size of his thumb and slightly more round, though still holding true to its oval shape.

Hiei furrowed his brow, suspicion marring his features. It felt much heavier than he thought it should. Then there was the question of why the attacker had been carrying it, assuming that's who it belonged to. In his experience, one did not carry valuables such as this when they went into battle. Not unless there was a reason for it.

"What is it?" Yusuke asked, looking curiously at the jaganshi.

"A necklace," Hiei said, stuffing the piece of jewelry into his cloak, and flitting up into a tree, preferring to travel above the ground where there were fewer questions.

~`~`~`~`~`

The group entered the temple with varying degrees of excitement. Yusuke took the initiative and charged in first, immediately setting off to find Yukina, leaving the other four to await his return. A few minutes later, he entered the room, the koorime behind him.

She stared openly at the group for a moment before politely asking Kurama to lay on the couch inhabiting the room. The kitsune hesitated before complying, feeling uneasy as his body rested on the cushions.

Yukina smiled kindly at him before setting to work, eyes slipping closed in concentration. Everyone in the room felt the fluctuations of her energy as she struggled to heal the kitsune, frowning every so often before her face cleared. After what seemed to take forever, she lowered her hands and rocked backwards on her heels, smiling weakly at the group, moving a hand to wipe the beaded sweat from her brow.

Kuwabara rushed immediately to her side, politely taking her arm and leading her to a chair to rest from her exertions. She murmured her thanks to him too quiet for the rest of the group.

Yusuke stepped forward uncertainly, looking at the silver haired kitsune as he sat up on the couch, legs outstretched in front of him.

"Kurama?" he asked, questioningly.

"Yusuke," Kurama said, flashing a friendly smile. "I believe it worked."

~`~`~`~`~`

Yukina watched as Kurama was crowded, everyone trying to find out what had happened to him. While they got the story out of the kitsune, she frowned to herself.

From what she could gather, Kurama had been taking advantage of his mother's absence and went searching for Makai seeds when he was attacked. He had been sensing that he was being followed for some time, but had been unable to ascertain a location. When they did make their presence known, however, he had killed one of his attackers. Unfortunately, it had been night and he wasn't able to get a good look at the other one's face. All he had to go by was the scent, which had been identical to the demon who had attacked him on their way back to ningenkai. Eventually, his fight had led him into a cave, where the other demon had managed to gain the upper hand and left him for dead.

After a while, when everyone had gotten as much information as they needed, she pulled Hiei to the side.

"Hiei-san?"

"Yes?"

"I wasn't able to heal Kurama-san completely."

The jaganshi looked at his sister in question, silently urging her to continue.

"The gash he had on his forehead," she began, biting her lip gently, "I was able to close the wound, but I couldn't heal it beyond that. There's damage there that I should have been able to mend, but for some reason, I couldn't."

Hiei looked at the koorime sharply, considering every word.

"I'll ask Genkai about it," Hiei said, leaving her side to search for the psychic.

~`~`~`~`~`

"Genkai," Hiei said, entering the yard behind the temple where the psychic was smoking. She looked at him, eyes expressionless as he walked towards her.

"What do you want?" she asked, bringing the cigarette to her mouth.

"What can you tell me about this?" Hiei said, hand reaching into his cloak to pull out an object which he tossed to her. She caught it with her free hand, bringing it up to her face for a closer look.

Her eyes widened slightly as she turned it over, studying its features.

"It's a necklace," she said, flatly.

Hiei fought the urge to roll his eyes and go for his sword.

"Other than the obvious," he growled.

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A/N: Hmmm. If anyone wants me to continue this, say so. Sorry if it's a little boring. I'm trying to write better, because I know I haven't been.