Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune Tears ❯ Part Two: The Koorime Maiden ( Chapter 2 )

Part Two: The Koorime Maiden

Kurama stared out into the darkened night, his hand lifting to touch the now-familiar weight resting against his throat as he contemplated Hiei's last words to him. Take care of Yukina... Strange, that he should say that - right out of the blue, with no seeming reason or prompting. Sure, he wanted his sister protected - they all wanted Yukina protected - but Hiei had never actually ordered Kurama to. Unless they were on the battlefield, but this was different. There was no battle - nor anything strange happening, if he was any judge at all. Botan herself had reassured him that everything was just fine in the Reikai, and the Makai - although dangerous of itself - was relatively quiet in its collaborations with the Ningenkai. There was no disastrous event about to erupt, nor any demons who had managed to break free of any prison. All was calm. All was... quiet...

He frowned slightly, shifting to clasp the charm resting against the base of his throat tightly within his palm. Hiei had not returned since the picnic, and that worried Kurama. There had been no sign of him, and very few traces of his ki - all pretty far away from any familiar places, including Kurama's own house, and Genkai's temple - where he now sat, keeping his promise to watch over Yukina. That could only mean one of two things. Either Hiei was one - deliberately avoiding all members of the Reikai Tantrei for some unknown reason, or two - he was deliberately avoiding Kurama himself. But why... ? Normally he would have feared that he had gone too far in his teasing again but he hadn't -

"Kurama-san, is anything wrong?" Yukina kneeled by his side and touched his hand, her crimson eyes - so like Hiei's - revealing traces of worried compassion. Kurama quickly smothered his thoughts and gave her a lovely - if faltering - smile in return, shifting his hand to hold hers in reassurance.

"Ah - no, Yukina. I'm just thinking."

"Mm. About Hiei?" Yukina smiled in light of his surprise as she brushed a few locks of ice-green hair behind her ear. "He left very suddenly today. Is everything alright?"

"I thought it was, but now I'm not so sure." Kurama fidgeted and looked away. He started a moment later as Yukina's cool fingers brushed against his, where they lay caressing the charm at his throat. He stiffened and fought the urge to pull away as she carefully tugged the necklace free of his shirt.

Yet... she smiled as she looked on the dark, crystal-black teargem now resting upon the tips of her fingers. It glittered in the faint light of the candles around the temple, off-set by the few strands of silver Youko hair woven around it to hold it secure in a tiny net. When released to its own manners the teargem would rest in the vulnerable indention at the base of his throat, nestled in a place where the crystal itself could feel the beat of his heart. "Oh, it is beautiful. He gave you this, ne?"

"H-Hai." Kurama - who had once been accused of having a tongue of silver and words that flowed as easily as a lark - found himself stuttering. "He - um. I mean, I - uh - well, not really. I mean -" He shut his mouth firmly, shutting off the flow of half-formed and barely non-existant explanations. Seemingly intimate memories - which, in truth, weren't in any way shape or form intimate to anyone else, but always made him a little giddy with remembrance - were dancing around his mind and he mentally curse the faint blush that rose, unbidden. Restlessly a thought teased at the back of his mind before he gave himself up to hear it, only to sit in shock a moment later. If Yukina realized that Hiei cried teargems then she must suspect... He looked to her quickly; she merely smiled again and set the crystal back within his shirt before nodding to herself and turning away. "Yukina do you... I mean, Hiei..."

She sighed, either not hearing him - or not listening - before she patted his hand, which still lay in her grasp. "It is a pleasure to have you stay here the night, Kurama. I know I am safe when you are here, just as I know I am safe when Hiei is."

"Yukina..." Kurama prepared himself to ask her if she knew somehow that Hiei was actually her brother - a secret Hiei had threatened Kurama's life to maintain - and found himself unable to do so as the door behind him was kicked in.

~ @ ~

"Oi, Kurama!"

He stiffened and fell back from the half-breed's body, jerking his hand away from the creature's shoulder as if he had been caught in some vile act. One unchecked moment of fear surged through him as he nearly stumbled in his hurry to step away from the half-breed; his pale silver eyes snapped up just in time to settle on two apparently human figures coming from some ways down the street. This - wasn't good. Maybe they hadn't truly seen him. Maybe he could grab the half-breed and still make it away. He moved quickly, reaching out a second time to take hold of the half-breed's shoulder and drag him into the shadows, hidden from prying human eyes. Maybe he could actually have the half-breed delivered to the Master on time, and Leina wouldn't be harmed. Maybe, just maybe -

"What are you doing out this late, eh?" the shorter of the two youths laughed as they drew nearer. They were illuminated by a pool of artificial light from the street-lamps, revealing a tall, burly young man with curly red-orange hair and a somewhat shorter boy with dark eyes and short, dark hair that lay slicked back. He trembled a little, his ears flickering at the sound of the boy's voice as those brown eyes settled on him where he crouched, still half-within the darkness of his own making. "And what the heck are you doing in your youko -" Abruptly the boy's voice faltered into silence as those pleasant eyes fell to the diminutive figure lying crumpled at his feet. "Hiei!" The larger of the two stared down at the unconscious fire-demon as if he hadn't quite registered that it wasn't moving, even as the shorter human stiffened. "Wait - you're not Kurama! Who -"

He panicked, stumbling back and whirling around to flee. The barest, briefest sense of warmth brushed by his arm - caught at the frail cloth of his shirt - as the shorter human tried to catch him. Somehow he slipped through the human's fumbled grasp and leapt away, keeping to the shadows as best he could, panting softly in a tainted mixture of fear and rising anger. "Matte!" the boy shouted behind him, his voice accompanied by the concentrated sounds of pursuit. "Stop! Come back here you -"

No! He cursed fiercely, blinking back tears of rage and despair as the sounds of pursuit grew fainter before disappearing completely. This could not be happening! Already two days had passed, gone by as he spent the time Hunting down old and feeble leads, sniffing out rutted secrets and digging through already old carcasses to find the truth of where the fabled half-fire-demon, half-koorime resided. He had found him only that morning and watched, waiting patiently throughout the day, willing to let the half-breed come to his own conclusions before he faced him. His ploy had worked; the half-breed had known he was there and had already been frazzled by the time he finally decided to face the invisible foe that tailed his shadow no matter how fast or how far he went. He had been lucky to find the half-breed so quickly - and twice as blessed to find that the Master's Shadow Spell had worked as well as the Master boasted it would.

But all of that... all of his gathered luck, faint though it may have been, was now shattered. The Shadow Spell only worked on opponents who were not suspecting it and could only be used once. It was a spell that would settle on a being and not only lock its consciousness within sleep for approximately twenty-four hours, but also muffle its ki in - rightly named - spiritual `shadows' so that the being would be unable to use its own power, for any reason, for the next few days. But it worked only once - only once - and he had let that chance slip past him because of his fear of two - weak - humans. K'so! How could he have been so foolish?

He stumbled, biting hard on his lip and swallowing back the tears pooling in his eyes, even as the anger roared harshly within the depths of his shallow chest. No! He would not cry! He had to be strong! He couldn't just give up! Leina would never have given up on him! If he could only... yes! He could trace the half-breed's ki! The humans couldn't have taken him very far. If he only followed the traces of the Shadow Spell he could find the half-breed again and still have enough time to return him to the Master.

He barked a cursing laugh and continued to run, the Ningenkai breeze flowing by him, snatching at his bloody clothes and teasing the short locks of his hair. That stupid ningen had mistaken him for someone - the name came back to haunt and plague him, washing away his anger and fear at having lost the half-breed and replacing it with a fury all its own. He had called him Kurama... How dare that stupid ningen mistake him for that pathetic excuse for a youko... how dare he...

With a muffled roar he forced himself to run harder, faster, despite the ache in his ribs and the growing throb in his temple. "Kurama," he snarled, baring his teeth the night spread wide before him, that one name feeding the flames of his anger, morphing it into a hot, blazing numbness that seeped across his spine. If he ever met that bakayarou... may Inari have mercy upon any who chanced to get between them. "Kurama..."

~ @ ~

"Kazuma-chan!" Yukina leapt to her feet and ran to the tall human where he stood panting in the doorway, Yuusuke stumbling in behind him. Held awkwardly over his shoulder was a vaguely familiar - albeit short - figure. "Oh, Hiei-san! Is he okay? What happened?"

Kurama hurried to take the unconscious fire-demon from his companion, thus leading the group into a side-room as he carefully lay Hiei down on the crisp sheets of an awaiting cot. Quickly Yuusuke filled them in on what he and Kuwabara had seen as Kurama continued to check Hiei for wounds, which -

"There aren't any."

Kuwabara - ever the articulate one - was the first to speak. "Huh?"

Kurama tossed his hair over his shoulder, his emerald eyes lifting to face them where he crouched by Hiei's side. "There aren't any wounds. Yukina -"

Obediently she brushed her sleeves back to her elbows and hurried forward, setting her palms on Hiei's chest. A soft, pale blue glow hovered between her palms and the black cloth of his shirt as Kurama tugged the half-koorime's cloak free and set it aside. A moment later she shook her head and sat back upon her heels, a look of innocent fear and despair within her dark red eyes. "I can't find anything wrong. Oh, Kazuma-chan, will Hiei-san be alright?"

Kurama turned his attention back to the fire-demon sprawled across the bed as Kuwabara tried to reassure Yukina as best he could. Something about his friend felt - odd... he set his palms against Hiei's chest much as Yukina had and focused... only to find that in all aspects he felt to be in a deep, relaxed sleep. But that wasn't all... "His you-ki is being - muffled."

"Nani?" Yuusuke shouldered his way past Kuwabara and came closer. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said." Kurama murmured patiently, brushing a few stray strands of stiff black hair from the fire-demon's forehead before turning to face his companions. "There's something around him, some sort of - shadow - that's holding his you-ki at a certain level, shielded." He leaned forward and shook Hiei, knowing from experience that he would respond, even if it only chanced to be a grunt or two. "Hiei. Wake up..." He shook the little half-koorime harder, and was rewarded with absolute silence. All other tries to rouse him resulted to naught - even when Kurama - grimacing as he did so - slapped him as hard as he could. Nothing. No stirring, no response. Just... silence.

Kurama looked to Yuusuke, who could offer no more suggestions, nor comfort. "I will stay with him." He offered, resisting the urge to touch the necklace hidden once more beneath his shirt as he said this. "I promised him earlier that I would keep watch over Yukina, so `Kaasan already knows I'm staying out tonight."

"Watch over Yukina?" Kuwabara stepped up, confusion evident on his features. "What's the little shrimp worried about her for?"

"He's -" Kurama bit his tongue upon the words `her brother' and substituted them instead with, "I think he has reason to believe someone may try to harm her." That wasn't entirely a lie; he did have suspicions very similar to those, although why they would go after Hiei if they wanted Yukina was a mystery...

Eventually Yuusuke and Kuwabara left for their own respective homes and Yukina retired to her room for the night, leaving Kurama to ponder this in on his own. He watched Hiei's sleeping form, as if waiting to hear the explanation from him in his dreams. Shaking his head, Kurama pulled a chair up next to the futon and sat down. He laced his fingers together and propped his chin on his hands, watching in silence as Hiei's chest rose and fell with each breath he took. His features - normally so closed of and uninviting, were relaxed and calm, almost to the point of being child-like.

"Hn. Hiei no baka." Kurama smiled faintly as he used the words the little fire-demon had spoken so often. He reached out to brush his fingers along on smooth, unblemished cheek, brushing aside a few more locks of stiff black hair from his temple as he did so. "You should have told me what it was before you got into trouble. Then maybe I could have helped, ne?"

With one last, fettered sigh he pulled away and curled up to sleep within the chair. On second thought... he reached back out and took Hiei's small hand within his own, brushing his thumb along the back of the half-koorime's knuckles. Something vague and illusive fluttered within his heart and teased at an almost welcome pain aching there as he wished - not for the first time - that he had the courage to let Hiei know how he felt.

He loved the little fire demon, with all his heart - something he had never been able to do before, whether as human or as Youko. Being that silver creature of his past he should have been rebounding with courage and should have had the strength to shrug it off and move on if he was met with rejection... yet he found himself afraid instead of courageous, and the thought of rejection was worse than any pain he had ever had to bear before. One day... he swore silently as he caressed Hiei's hand once more, closing his emerald eyes in an attempt at sleep. One day...

~ @ ~

The next morning...

"Hn." He grunted, cursing softly as his luck proved - once again - to be failing him. Restlessly he shifted on his perch in a tree just beyond the half-breed's window. His silver eyes narrowed on the two figures lying in sleep before him - one, the powerful half-breed - the other, another stupid ningen with long red hair and features softened by the pale morning sunlight filtering in from the window. All night... all night long that human had stayed by the half-breed's side, never once moving, never once releasing his hand, as if to be sure he didn't disappear within the night. Which he very well might have if that accursed ningen hadn't been there, he thought sourly, turning away with another gruff snort. "Stupid human."

Now he was left to watch the sun rise on another day - the third day, after having been given his warning and assignment - with just a little more dread, fear, and anger than he had the last. He sat back on his heels, his fingers nervously twitching through the pearl-green fur of his tail in agitation as he plotted, scrapped, re-plotted, cursed, swore to kill all humans in general, and plotted some more on how to get the half-breed back. Not only was the long, red-haired ningen an immediate threat, but so were the two somewhat gruffer males he had encountered the night before, and the old woman as well. How to get past them... abruptly he stilled, his nose twitching as he caught a strange, enticingly familiar scent upon the breeze. No, it couldn't be... but... it was. Maybe... maybe his luck was turning for the better because that scent... was... A cold, fanged smile touched his lips, sharpening the fierce, molten silver in his gaze. "...koorime..."

~ @ ~

"Kurama-san?" Yukina stepped up behind him, placing her tiny hand upon his shoulder. With a sigh he placed his hand over hers and met her worried gaze. "Kurama-san, you should eat something. I will watch over Hiei-san until you return."

He gifted her with a fainted, weary smile. "Arigato, Yukina. You are very thoughtful."

"Ne, Kurama-san." She blushed a little, her crimson eyes lowering to the floor in modesty. "You and Hiei-san have done so much for me. I have hoped to return the favor. Onegai... take some tea and rest."

"I will." Kurama gave the half-fire-demon one last, lingering glance before forcing himself to turn away and stand. "Yuusuke and Kuwabara have promised to come by after school. If Hiei hasn't awoken by then..." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "I don't know what more to do. Nothing I've tried has helped in the least, and Genkai has no clue as to what sort of Power this is."

"Do not worry, Kurama-san. All will be well." Yukina sat in the chair Kurama had so recently - and so reluctantly - vacated. She clasped her tiny hands together and placed them demurely in her lap, lowering her gaze. "I am sure of it."

Moving to the door and beyond, he ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he did so in weary defeat. "I wish I could have such faith as yours, little ice-maiden." He whispered beneath his breath, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around himself in an insecure hug. "I truly do."

~ @ ~

Slowly... slowly... the day passed by, minute by minute, hour by hour... He watched it all from a safe, secure distance, shielding his ki so well as to not create even a stir in the old woman's wards. He waited patiently - yes, and often-times a bit impatiently - for a moment when the half-breed would be left alone to its own devices so that he could capture it and be done with this mission. But always - always - there was someone by the half-breed's side, mostly that red-haired ningen.

Something about the way that ningen moved disturbed him. Some grace that was all-too familiar hung about him - so very familiar, yet he could not place it... he blamed his irritation on worry for his sister and impatience for the half-breed to be left alone, yet he knew deep within that it was something more, something best left unseen, unheard, and unknown. He found himself often staring at that human with too much curiosity even for his own sheltered comfort. At those moments he shook himself forcefully - hard enough to cause the tree in which he his to rustle its leaves in protest - and turned his attention to the little koorime maiden walking around the grounds beneath him with the eyes of the Hunter intent on the Prey.

He had heard the old woman call her by something - Yukina, was it? A pretty name. He forced his heart to lock itself within a cold, grey cell - thus locking away all feelings of mercy or compassion with it as well - and devoutly strove not to think of what would eventually happen to her once he delivered her to the Master. It had been a stroke of luck that the two were found almost simultaneously - the half-breed and the maiden - yet he dared not put too much faith in that very same luck right at this very moment, for it had back-lashed upon him too many times in the past week to be of any use to him. What was it that Eizama used to say? "I shall believe it when my eyes behold it"? That sounded right, at least. With stubborn determination he set this thought firmly within his mind and watched the koorime maiden with the intention of knowing her every move and predicting her reaction when he set about taking her.

He knew from experience that many koorimei were vicious creatures and extremely defensive - the fact that this particular maiden had blushed three times in ten minutes when speaking with the old woman meant nothing. She was probably plotting something dire to the Makai.

He grumbled thickly in the depths of his chest and stretched languorously along the tree branch he had inhabited since the night before. He crossed his ankles and his wrists and let them slide down comfortably so that the branch was straddled by his chest and thighs before allowing his chin to plop down on his wrists, letting free a soft, muffled snort as he did so. He glanced briefly back at the window - ah, the stupid ningen was still pretending to read, yet glancing up every three seconds in hopes that the half-breed had awoken in his momentary lack of attention. With a second snort his silver eyes narrowed and shifted to the side, to settle on the koorime maiden where she kneeled, meticulously washing a few strips of clothing. Yes, that little maiden was anything but the innocent child she put on. She had to be. No koorime was that demure - or that shy. She was probably thinking of all the ways she could kill a demon - or better yet, skewer him alive - right now. She had probably killed dozens - thousands - of creatures just like him every day!

. . . and if that were indeed so, why then did he find a faint, wistful smile coming to his lips as he watched her pick up a mouse curiously digging in her pouch? Why did he have the urge to laugh along with her soft, giggling voice as she chided the mouse?

He gruffed abruptly and frowned, his tail slipping free from his thighs to dangle listlessly below him in a pearl-green wave. This was no good. She was probably the most dangerous of all the creatures he had seen within the Master's dungeons. He mustn't underestimate her - by any means. He would have to subdue her quickly and painlessly, with the Shadow Spell if need be. Normally he would not fear using his own Powers against someone so obviously dangerous as she yet... he frowned, sitting up a little to hold out his left arm. He moved it this way and that, his eyes fading to a liquid silver sheen in anger as he glared distastefully at the ward wrapped firmly around the slim turn of his forearm. There lay the exact same type of ward as which had held his cell, back in the dungeon; a long, sight-thin rope created of youko hair - his very own and that of his sister's, no less - studded repeatedly every few inches with a pale, crystal-blue teargem. Beautiful, yes... the Master had always loved such dangerous beauty as this. Yet that very same beauty was a hindrance to him for if he truly was forced to try and defend himself he had nothing. The Shadow Spell the Master had let him borrow was only for disarming an opponent and for moving from one place to another quickly and efficiently; it was nothing for defense or protection.

A second low, fettered growl rumbled in his chest as his hand clenched tight; he bared his teeth at the vision of the detestable little half-breed still guarded by that damned human. The day had drawn long and was already nearing late afternoon - yet still, he had nothing to show for his actions. Very well, then. He would just have to take the maiden before the half-breed. If he could catch her with the Shadow Spell, by the time he took her back to a safe hide-out within the Makai the half-breed would be close to waking. Perhaps the stupid red-haired ningen wouldn't keep so close a guard on him if he was awake. He nodded once stiffly, agreeing with the silent plans churning themselves within his mind as his eyes narrowed - not for the first time, and not for the last - on the pretty ice-maiden now kneeling a few leaps away from his tree. She appeared to be feeding a squirrel... which she was mostly likely going to catch and fry for her supper, no doubt, he thought with a thin trace of acid marking its way through his mind.

He leapt from his tree and landed silently in a low crouch. His ears flickered at the sound of her soft - fake, it had to be - laughter. He bared his teeth in an utterly silent snarl, his left hand clenching and unclenching, the ward of teargems shifting against his flesh as he took one intimidating step toward her. Gradually he forced his feet to move and he took another... then another... before his shadow was cast over her.

"Oh!" she cried, hurrying to her dainty feet, stumbling on the hem of her ancient-styled kimono as she did so. Instinctively she whirled to face him, stepping back once more in fear, her eyes dark - blood-red, he noted, a faint memory tickling his thoughts at the sight. Her pretty mouth opened as she looked to him, startled... yet those very eyes, which he expected to flash in anger and lash out at his unprotected form, lowered to settle instead on his clothes. They widened even as she changed her course and stepped forward, her tiny hand outstretched as if to touch him. "Oh, my... are you hurt bad?"

He blinked, taken aback by her words and seeming concern for his welfare. Was he... He looked down upon himself as if for the first time and noted the shabby, hopeless condition of his clothes, which hung in tatters about his malnourished form, marred by dried blood-stains - marked by his own blood, sweat, and pain. The Master had indeed called the Healer to Heal his wounds those three days before, but hadn't care at all for his appearance, so he was still dressed in those same rags he had been for the past three years... "No." He murmured vaguely, looking back up, his silver eyes blinking owlishly for a moment as he struggled to gather his abruptly shattered wits.

Was she really...? No, she couldn't be. It had to be a ruse. No koorime was that polite, nor that caring. His clenched his jaw tight and set his resolve was more. Think of Leina. His mind chanted repeatedly. You are doing this for her. Firmly he took another step toward the ice-maiden, his chin lowered, his eyes narrow.

She didn't step away this time - whether in caution or fear. In fact, she even offered him a tender smile laced with innocent relief. Innocent... "That's good."

"Yukina! Yukina, I have returned!"

"Oh!" A faint, delighted blush crept to her cheeks as her smiled softened. "It is Kazuma-chan! He must be looking for me. Would you like to join us? I can make some tea..."

She continued on softly, oblivious to the look of terrorized guilt that abruptly replaced the firmness in his gaze as he faltered. Suddenly, in the breath of a moment, he had lost his purpose. The girl before him was koorimei - evil - malicious - spiteful - and he had been faced with taking her, braced for anything. But … she wasn't evil, or malicious, or spiteful, and now... what was he to do? Innocent... The sight within his silver eyes had shattered, leaving his gaze fragmented and weak as it fell to the ground. Innocent... She didn't even know who he was - where he had come from - his intentions nor his reasonings - and yet she was inviting him into her home? Innocent... No. No, he had been wrong. He had made a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake... He faltered back a step, flinching, his arm instinctively reaching up to clasp his belly as he fought back upon the surge of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Oh, Inari - what had he almost done? If he hadn't seen this - if he hadn't allowed her those few moments in which to speak ... He could have caused her harm - he could have, single-handedly, broken that compassionate smile, that naïve sparkle within her eyes. Think of Leina...

An all-too familiar pain pierced his heart - I am thinking of Leina - sharpening and digging into his lungs with an unhindered sense of vengeance, restricting his breath to a faint, labored pant. Warmth pricked the back of his eyes as he did think of her, and stumbled at the on-rush of pain that accompanied such thoughts... Quickly, lest more break-down unawares, he leapt forward and caught the maiden's face within his palms carefully and held on to her. He pressed his cheek against hers and squeezed his eyes shut, the memories flashing across his mind, unbidden, unwelcome in this moment - memories of a little kitsune pup with pale, ice-violet hair and wide, innocent eyes - so like... so like this one. Don't look... just don't look... He bit back on a whimper and just held her for a moment, remembering. "Forgive me." He whispered against her cool temple, just as a tear slid down between them. ". . . forgive me, Leina. I - I can't... not this one..."

Yukina stumbled as the warmth of his hands - and his presence - abruptly flittered away and disappeared. She whirled around to find him - yet he was no where in sight. "What..." she faltered, looking up as Kuwabara called her again. "What a strange, sad young boy..."

~ @ ~

The following night...

Hiei was... floating... he struggled to shake away the sluggish feel of being drugged to no avail... he blinked, lowering his head, able only for the moment to stare in avid, vague fascination at the swirls of water - air? - beneath him. He was... floating... but he wasn't wet. It couldn't have been water but... but it wasn't air...

A soft, lilting melody swirled around him, rising and falling back with the gentle floating, in tune, in time, with the swirls beneath his feet. What... he blinked again, his head laying back to rest against a warm shoulder as his eyes struggled to make sense of the movement... his feet swayed with the flow of whatever he lay within, yet there was another pair of feet swaying behind his own, pale and small ... the silver flickering of a tail caught the light, blinding him for a moment before it faded to shadow - only to flicker and reappear a moment later. Slim, agile arms were wrapped around him, tiny hands resting on his chest... "Kurama...?"

The melody shifted and grew stronger, then softened and fell away once more... a warm breath teased his throat just beneath his ear as the tip of a tongue caressed the tender flesh. "Don't be frightened..."

That voice... so breathy, so faint... "Yukina...?"

Laughter, gentle and innocent, as a small pair of lips were pressed against the back of his shoulder. "Ne, Hiei..."

"Who are you?"

The melody came again, shallow and so very soft as he lay cradled within the girl's arms, swaying to the movement of the water... "Shh. Don't speak." A cool, silken cheek lowered to rest against his as the slim arms wrapped around him more securely. "Just listen... do you hear...?"

"Yes." He whispered, closing his eyes, relaxing in her arms, unable to stop himself from letting his head rest more fully upon her shoulder. "Yes, I can hear... what -"

Gentle, teasing laughter sparkled around him. "Ne... don't ask. Don't ask. Just... listen... do you hear it?"

"I..." he grimaced. That song... it was so familiar... But that wasn't what - deep within, far, far within... there... a steady, shallow beat... twice heard for one set... level, slow... heavy... "Yes. Yes I - hear it."

"Good. Very good." The voice whispered in his ear, nuzzling the turn of his jaw as her arms pulled him closer, snuggling against him. One tiny hand caressed his chest before stilling, right above his heart; the silvery sparkle of a tail wrapped around his thighs, holding him close, protecting him. "You must awaken now, minna-san. He is coming for you. Help us, Hiei. Onegai. Help us... You must wake up, now ..."

~ @ ~

Wake up, now... Hiei started, his eyes snapping open, darting here and there to access his surroundings before his body had even realized his mind had arisen from its dreams. Determining from the look of the walls and the - he sniffed delicately - smell, he was in Genkai's temple. But why... K'so! He cursed silently, his thoughts back-tracking to the creature that had faced him only - how long ago? He couldn't remember. Odd - what had it been? It had looked, vaguely - very vaguely, considering all the shadows - like a youko but... there had been something... he almost felt as if he knew the creature, or should have. Which was stupid, because he had never bothered to get to know a youko personally until Kurama, and even then it was against his own better judgment. There were no others. He growled softly, staring up at the ceiling as down, pressed against his side, his fingers twitched.

What had that thing done to him? It had to have been some sort of Power but what kind? And why was he here, at Genkai's temple? Why had the creature tried to take him?... teargems. The creature had had teargems wrapped around his arm like a casual dressing of ribbons... his anger rose; his hand flexed. Any creature who had that many teargems... a brief, shooting thought of panic as the feeling of a familiar, icy-ki entered his consciousness - Yukina! - followed by the faint, elusive ki of the creature of Shadows that had followed him. No! He couldn't let that thing near his sister! He had to - move -

He snarled a curse as the force of his anger and will only caused his right arm to shift and his shoulder to rotate. What the hell was this thing on him? There wasn't any pain, and he didn't seem to be hurt... he just couldn't move. Slowly - too slowly, he thought with a burst of fury that could have withered Beauty itself - his was gaining the feel of his body and urging it to move but... the creature was waiting for him. He knew that, the total assurity of such a fact sinking into his gut and remaining there. Whatever the creature wanted, it was waiting for him. Now. Right this minute...

With a heavy sense of effort he pushed himself up to sit, fighting back a wave of nausea even as something soft slipped down his arm to rest on the back of his hand... Once his vision had cleared itself of most of the black spots swirling before it, he frowned and looked down at what was there... only to stare at Kurama where he lay, his fair red hair spread out upon the covers, his hand now covering Hiei's. He was balanced precariously between the chair and bed. Even in such a position - even in sleep - he managed to appear graceful. Still. Hn. Hiei thought briefly. Stupid fox. Should have gone home.

A dark, muted glimmer caught his eye where it lay at the base of the youko's throat; he reached out, picking up the solid black teargem, staring at it in shaken surprise. Kurama had actually - kept it? He actually wore it? Hiei hadn't thought that -

But... it was still there. The creature was still waiting... Another time, fox. He thought with a derisive snort, forcing his arms to work as he pushed himself to the edge of the cot. His feet very nearly gave out beneath him - a second wave of black nausea over-came him - yet when it cleared his katana was gripped firmly in his palm, and he was beyond the threshold of the door, stepping out into the night to face the creature of Shadows that had dared to try and take him. Such was the stamina of his resolve. He could feel that creature here... somewhere... although he knew that he could feel it only because the creature wished it so. There was something subtly - off - about it, about the way it had looked, the way it had reacted - as if it knew of how Powerful he was, yet it hadn't feared him at all. If he didn't know better, it had almost felt as if the creature was tinged in... desperation... Hiei shook these thoughts away with a cold, hard precision and lifted the tip of his blade as he stepped out into the yard, his eyes searching the newly fallen night for...

"Ah, finally. You bloody well took long enough to wake up, you know."

His gaze swam briefly before narrowing on one slim stance of artificial shadows, beyond which he could just barely make out the form of a pale boy. The ethereal glow of the moon sparkled once upon two tufted ears as they flickered and lay at half-back; the boy bowed his head. "I regret having to do this, but there is no other choice."

"Hn. Spare the sentiment." Hiei grunted, settling into a fighting stance and forcing his shoulders to lay back even as a second - third - wave of trembling weakness licked across his limbs. "Fight. Now."

A soft, breathy sigh and... "Fine."

Abruptly the silvery glow of the boy-creature's outline disappeared - Hiei stumbled, thrown to the side as sharp, muted pain burst in his left cheek. He was caught in a moment of total and complete disorientation like that which he had never held before and hit the ground before the fact that he had been caught off-guard connected in his brain. He focused his ki to summon the Black Fire to his palm - and faltered - grunting as he was met with - nothing. Only cold, black, nothing.

"It's the spell you were under." The creature murmured, stepping away to the shadows once more. "You can't use your powers. Not even your speed. There's only one choice left to you. Come with me now, without a struggle, and I promise I will not harm you."

Hiei ignored this as he pushed himself to his feet and snorted. His grip tightened at the hilt of his katana; speed or no, he was still one of the best fighters of the Makai, and he'd be damned if he was going to be beaten by a youko of all creatures... "Bakayarou... I still have my blade."

A flash of silver - a second, searing pain across his cheek - and the weapon was gone, snatched from his grasp as he hit the ground a second time. "Pity." The figure murmured as it threw the weapon across the grounds of Genkai's temple. The faint sound of metal connecting with stone was heard as the katana landed a good seven leaps away, the demonic blade letting free of a few wild sparks as it did so. "No more weapon. Now this is the last time I'm going ask nicely. Come with me without a fuss - or fight back, and still come with me." The figure gave a low, irritated growl, an over-powering onrush of anger coming as if from nowhere to taint the feel of its mien in danger as it stepped closer. "You have no choice in the matter, don't you see?" he barked, that low alto tone in his voice colored with the heavy lacings of a snarl. "Either way you're -"

"Rose Whip!"

"Aah!" He cried out and clutched at his arm, falling back a few paces, away from his intended Prey - from the half-breed - his silver eyes narrowing in on the red-headed ningen. The accursed thing skidded to a halt between them, snapping a long, vine-like whip in warning as he did so. Dark, roiling emerald eyes narrowed on his own shattered silver as he gave another broken snarl and stepped back a pace. He inspected the wound now bleeding in his upper-arm and frowned; that stupid human thought he could just come running in here with a whip and defeat a demon with it? It must have been more brainless than he had originally thought to dare so much - and to protect the half-breed no less.

His hackles rose as he looked to the red-haired ningen once more. The sense of familiarity was practically shrieking in his mind now, enforced and tripled by the human's stance - the stance not only of a creature protecting something, but claiming it was well. The human's creation itself shouted out, loud enough, subtle enough, to where the air practically grew heavy with a fierce defensiveness. Hn. Well, if the human really was stupid enough to try and claim the half-breed... then so be it. "You wish to die, ningen? Because that's what's going happen if you don't get out of my way."

"Hiei, are you alright?" Kurama called down softly, to be rewarded with a distinctly angry grunt as the fire-demon struggled to his feet.

"Weak. No - energy."

"What are you after?" Kurama turned back to level a hard, calculating glare into the shadows, struggling to see the opponent before him. "What do you want?"

A slim, pale hand reached out and pointed past him, where Hiei was snarling curses and holding his head in pain. A some-what calm, reasonable voice returned. "I only want... him."

Kurama glanced down briefly, then back up and into the shadows. "No." Something silver and ethereal shimmered briefly within the depths of the night before him.

"You will protect him?"

"Yes." Kurama gathered his own ki around him, sending out his awareness into the bushes and trees in the yard, preparing to strike... if only he could see - could sense at very least - the creature there. But - nothing. He wouldn't even have known it was there, if he didn't hear that calm voice for himself, if he hadn't seen the shimmer of pearl-green leap away at the rasping caress of his whip. "With my life."

The shadows laughed, short, self-depreciating laughter that - if Kurama didn't know better - sounded on the verge of tears. "How trite. You're going to protect him from me, so I can protect her from him. If that's not poetic irony, I don't know what is."

"Nani?" Kurama frowned as the shadows grew heavier, as the silver eyes piercing through the darkness settled and bored into his own - without anger, without malice, without fear. Devoid of... everything. He set his shoulders and glared back...

He recognized the signals for what they were; a calm, level voice in one moment, a burst of uncontrolled fury the next... his opponent of the shadows wasn't stable - whether in the heart, soul, or mind, whichever the case may be.

He would wait... if the ningen wanted to protect his pet half-breed, then so be it. He would just have to die, like the others had. But he could feel it - a faint sense of honor, hovering around the human as if it was somehow relatively new, but there all the same. If the ningen truly had honor, then it would wait for him to make the first move... interesting. How long, he wondered - how long before the human snapped? One could only hold so much tension... and as the moments passed between them, slow, silent, the tension rose. Molten silver eyes lay locked on emerald green... Kurama's hand flexed around the handle of Rose Whip as the silence lengthened...

Hours went by... no, surely not... yet the tension rose so quickly that it seemed as if an eternity slowly ticked by, minute... by minute... by minute between them. A thin trickle of sweat slid down along Kurama's spine as he waited tensely for the shadow-creature to move - to attack - to do something, for Inari's sake...

He suppressed a delighted grin in light of the ningen's discomfort and bowed his head farther, silver eyes narrowing... and then - somehow, someway - it all went horribly wrong. The tension was so thick between them that the half-breed's blade could probably slice it in two; the friction rose almost to the breaking point when one or the other would have to make the first move and strike... and then the world burst into movement and there was no time - no time - to stop it.

All it took was a sudden shifting of the moon-glow -

A breath of panic struck his heart as in one timeless flash he saw within the shadows a familiar lock of ice-green hair and a pair of compassionate red eyes -

The ningen started whirled, its thorned whip lifting and lashing out instinctively in defense -

Silver eyes sharpened in brief, horror-filled panic as a single cry tore itself free from his throat; "NO!!"

But it was too late - too late - for that beautiful crimson gaze widened in trembling disbelief - that small, tender mouth grew slack - the ice-maiden's muted cry - as the lash came down, slicing cleanly through cloth and softened flesh alike, dark blood spilling to the ground beneath her feet.