Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Petals Fallen, Blood on Roses ❯ Pain In The Omen ( Chapter 3 )

Petals Fallen, Blood on Roses

Chapter III - Pain In The Omen

By HieiNimbus3007 (AKA NimbusXtreme3007)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Warning!: In this fic, Kurama and Hiei are lovers. If this bothers you, please do not read this. I have had reviews for this fic and others I've written complaining that I made Kurama homosexual, despite the warnings I always post before each chapter. This is unfair to me, so please don't complain about this aspect of my story because it was your choice to read it. I don't care if you completely rip my story to shreds because you hate it so much, but don't bring up the fact that "Kurama is NOT GAY!" ***Thank you for all the nice reviews, though! :-)***

Now where was I?......Oh, yes.......

Another small note: I tried to make Hiei less chatty...but yes he cries *again* in this chapter. Maybe its a bit OOC, but think about it: this is the only person he ever really loved who equally loved him back, and he might get killed....

Okay, sorry. Thanks for you patience! ")

Chapter III - Pain In The Omen

The fog was so dense, and it was *everywhere*. Hiei spun around and was met on all sides by this indestructible foe. The solid wall of swirling milky whiteness loomed above him and stretched into the distance. A wave of uncharacteristic claustrophobia shuddered through him, but quickly passed as he made a feeble attempt to break through the prison. He couldn't see his hand out before him, and he couldn't see his feet below him, but these facts didn't bother him as much as the nagging idea that the fog was truly a living membrane that encased him and was slowly compressing and was destined to crush him.

The silence was unbearable. That strange feeling you experience when nothing makes a sound, and the quiet seems to burrow itself into your brain, to remain there eternally. Hiei was on the brink of screaming to the sky he knew must be there somewhere just to hear a voice when he heard something else. A light rustling sound gave away the presence of another being off to Hiei's right. He slowly turned his head in that direction and squinted his eyes at nothing. He slowly drew his sword, trying to mask the sound of the cold steel sliding along the sheath. Still, he saw nothing.

Then a voice, so distant he could hardy hear it despite his efforts, yet so close he felt icy breath upon his neck. "Too late......." He whirled around, and there was no one there.

"Who said that? Speak now or die!"

The voice chuckled, or did something that remotely resembled the dull, dry cough of an elderly man who has perhaps smoked one too many cigars in his lifetime. Or perhaps it was more like the pitiful sound of a car that has been driven to its breaking point and just refuses to go on any longer. "You're too late." It was somewhere above him now, but all Hiei could see was the whirling torrent of white upon white.

"Show yourself!"

"I don't think so. Not yet. I want to play a little first....." Something appeared from the fog - a dim outline of a figure staggering toward him. Hiei lifted his sword, preparing to attack, but as the figure neared, the colors came into focus and the details came into view. He recognized Kurama, and he tossed his sword to the ground and ran to him. He grabbed Kurama's arm, but as he did so a brisk wind swirled around him, and he shut his eyes against it. when he opened them again, Kurama was gone.

He was no longer in the heaven-white hell, but in a lush forest. So lush, in fact, that the presence of magic was unmistakable. The light that filtered through the thick, translucent canopy of leaves above cast an emerald green glow upon everything below. Hiei sniffed the air and recognized the scent of roses. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again he was back, and clutching the arm of his lover.

"Kurama! Are you okay?" The words went unheeded, but a moment later, Kurama's knees buckled and he fell. This took Hiei so off guard that when he noticed what was happening and tried to catch him, the sudden weight threw him off balance as well and they both fell to the cold ground. Kurama remained where he fell, upon his side, but Hiei scrambled to his knees and clutched at Kurama. "Kurama! Kurama! Answer me!" He shook him roughly, but Kurama's eyes remained shut tightly. "KURAMA!" Hiei noticed then the thick trickle of red running from underneath the kitsune and staining the man's white shirt. He quickly rolled him over onto his back and found a deep slash, perfect in its precision, that ran the length of Kurama's torso. Hiei's breath came shallow and his vision dulled as he frantically ripped his own shirt off and tore it to bits to press against the wound. It didn't help at all, and a cold feeling of doom encased Hiei's heart and chilled his blood.

"Awful, isn't it?" The voice asked. This time it came from everywhere. embodied not only in the fog, but also within Hiei's mind. "Not being able to do anything at all to save him. I know what you're thinking, and he's not dead yet. Just unconscious. But if he doesn't remember how to breath very soon, I suspect his time in the Living world is limited." Hiei's pain was trapped in his throat and as he stared at his dying love it screamed to be released in one treacherous flood but he couldn't allow that. Not yet. Not here.

"I know you." The voice was cruel and sarcastic. "You're the one with the eye and the human friends and the attractive icy sister."

"I will gut you alive before you lay a hand on my sister. She's done nothing to you"

"You will gut me alive just like you did before I killed your boyfriend, huh?"

"Kurama didn't do anything to you either. And neither did I."

"On the contrary, you have." At that point the fog *did* swirl closer and encase Hiei. It worked its way down his throat and filled his lungs and he fought but it did no good. Too terrified to scream and too anguished to cry, he gripped Kurama's body tightly against his own and felt his soul be carried away.

But then, wait, was that someone calling his name? He could hear it plainly through the peaceful emptiness he was positive had been death. "Hiei! Hiei!" He tried to move, to call out in response, to yell for someone to bring him away from this absolute nothing, but to no avail. Suddenly, he remembered the mysterious assassin who had just taken his life and was filled with fear for the life of the one seeking him.

Through the death that surrounded him, he actually managed to speak. "Goway..." he sluggishly yelled. "Heelkeelyootoo!"

"Hiei, come on!"

"Donewooryboutme! Go! Heelkeelyoo!"

"No one's going to kill me, Hiei! Now wake up, Goddammit!" Hiei was shoved into wakefulness by a swift kick in the ribs. He looked up to see a very pissed Botan glaring at him.

"What the hell..." He rubbed his sore ribs.

"How dare you!? How dare you fall asleep out here in the open when you know some crazy guy is out to kill you? You were like a roasted pig on a silver platter! And why are you crying!"

Hiei hadn't noticed the tears streaming from his eyes before and hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand. "I wasn't."

"Mmmhmmm," muttered a totally unconvinced Botan.

"Besides," Hiei began. "I'm more aware in my sleep then Kuwabara is awake." Botan sighed.

"That may be true, but you shouldn't leave yourself so vulnerable." Hiei growled at her, proving once and for all that he was anything *but* vulnerable. "Okay, okay. But what possessed you to fall asleep out here anyway?"

Hiei looked around and for the first time realized that he had fallen asleep on his hill. Apparently he had drifted off where he had fallen the night before. "I don't know. It just happened."

"You were *supposed* to be looking for Kurama." Hiei stood up and brushed the grass off of his clothing and began walking down the hill. "Where are you *going!*"

"To look for KURAMA." He kept going, so she ran down the hill after him and joined him at his side.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes." Her eyes lit up with excitement.

"REALLY?! Where?"

"In a forest."

"What forest?"

"A *forest*. I don't know." She stopped in her tracks and watched him walk a few paces with her moth hanging open before she jogged after him again.

"Just `a forest'? That's all you know? Just that he's in a forest?"

"Yes."

"There are hundreds, maybe even *thousands* of forests around these parts. You can't search them all."

"*I* can." They walked on for awhile, Hiei seeking Kurama everywhere possible with his jagon and Botan cluelessly calling Kurama's name. A couple hours or so had passed, and they had searched all around the general area when Hiei turned to Botan and told her that he would rather search alone. "You slow me down. I could have been halfway done by now if I hadn't been so courteous as to allow you to accompany me."

Botan ignored the subtle insult, because she knew she agreed. "Okay, but be careful Hiei. I don't want you to get hurt." Before Hiei could act or even take a breath she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to her. She pushed her eager lips against his not-so-eager ones so forcefully that Hiei cried out in shock, and possibly pain. When she finally released him, he staggered back and bumped into a very large tree. He stood there panting and staring at Botan with a very disgusted look on his face.

"What's the matter, Hiei?"

"Nothing. You just tried to eat me, is all."

"You mean.....you didn't feel anything there?"

"Only the fear of suffocation." Botan glared at him.

"How dare you crack jokes! You're so thoughtless and cruel! You aren't capable of loving *anyone* are you?" Hiei ignored the question and walked away. He spoke to her as he left without turning his head to look back.

"I'm going to find him now. Every day that I don't know where he is, a little more certain I am that the Hunter has gotten there first." And with that he was gone. Botan sighed and say down on a tree stump thinking to herself.

She whispered to no body, "Hiei and.........Kurama?"

The cool air felt good on the bare skin of his chest and back and he let his red hair fly free to play in the breeze. He walked quietly and barefoot through the underbrush that teemed with plant life. He smiled, but he felt too many emotions coursing through his body to be truly content. He was happy to be home, but his heart ached for Hiei and he was uneasy to be done with the final task he needed to complete before he knew that he could be with Hiei forever.

There was a small spark behind a tree and a man appeared dressed all in rich blue silk. His long silver hair glimmered and he smiled a cruel smile to himself and vanished again with another spark.

To the kitsune, he went unnoticed.

Up next.....

Chapter IV - Guardian,Rose Savior, Rise And Do My Bidding

In which Kurama reaches a secret location in the forest known only to him and to his Rose Savior that he had created so many years ago for a situation such as this. We find out exactly why Kurama left Hiei and what he intends to do now. Hiei locates the forest, only to find out that the Hunter has