Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Strings ❯ The Curtain's Rising ( Chapter 7 )

Genkai: Ametank doesn't own YuYu Hakusho. In fact she doesn't own anything except for a Hard Rock Café teddy bear and an overactive imagination.

Me: Aw gee thanks Genkai! *blushie*

Genkai: *shrugs* It wasn't really a compliment.

Me: Oh…

Genkai: Yeah.

*awkward silence*

Me: Maybe we should move along to the new chapter

The Curtain's Rising…

Pain shoots up your legs as they contact with the hard stone floor, but the cry that escapes your lips is from shock, not pain. You survey the rubble again and you see it so clearly you wonder how you could have ever missed it. Most of the walls are gone, leaving behind small sections jutting upward, and several fallen pillars. The roof is non-existent and the marble is not longer the pristine white you remember. You realize with horror that it looks like the carcass of some great beast, left to the elements and scavengers.

You reach out gingerly to trace the familiar designs on the onyx doors, and your chest constricts painfully. You don't cry though, not yet, but you close your eyes, taking deep breaths to try and calm your racing heart. When you do, you feel the thing inside you dissolves completely, and you are alone at last in your skin. It feels cold. Slowly, for the pain in your knees, your rise to your feet, and take a step forward.

"Hn…"

You spin around at that familiar sound, too quick for your knees, and lose your balance, barely catching yourself on the base of a nearby pillar, cursing softly. You glare at Hiei who is watching you with cold eyes. He isn't wearing his cloak, though the outfit is as monochrome as before. His arms are fisted lightly at his sides, and even in the dark you can see the ripple of muscle as he flexes unconsciously. There is a slight bend to his knees, as if he's expecting a fight. You can't imagine why. But you notice that his hair is slightly disheveled, and his cloths sloppily done, as if he dressed in a hurry. Perhaps he just rolled out of bed.

"What are you?" he demands.

You glare and refuse to dignify such a question with an answer. You're not even sure what he's asking. Ignoring him completely you steady yourself on your feet again, doing your best not to wince at the aching of your knees. You don't want to show weakness, not to anyone, not to him. Holding your head up proudly you begin to enter the rubble again. His fingers wrap around your wrist, tugging you to a halt. You spin on him, using your whole body to increase the force of the slap you land across his face. His head jerks to the side, and his eyes widen slightly for a moment, but that is the only reaction he gives you, before tightening his hold on you.

"What are you?" he repeats.

You glare and try to pull away, but his grip is vice-like, and you know struggling is stupid. You do it simply because you don't know what else to do. You've always known it was futile. Fate has pulled you helplessly along you whole life. From birth, your destiny was wound tightly around your neck, choke-collar style, and every time you try to break free you hurt yourself. You feel the control in his grip, the commanding air around him, and it serves as a reminder that this is all you will ever know. All you ever have known.

"What do you want?" you demand

"Stop," he commands. "Do you think I'm stupid?" What's he talking about? "I felt you," he whispers, "I felt the change in your ki. It woke me, and I followed you."

He looks annoyed, and even a little curious, but what can you tell him? You don't know what a ki is, and you're pretty sure any answer you give him will be unsatisfactory. You turn away, unconcerned with his questions. They don't matter after all, and you have more important questions of your own such as…when did the temple fall? How long has it been? How did I get here? Where is here? They race through your mind, and you know the answer must be somewhere inside this temple. You turn to Hiei again and place a gentle hand to his cheek.

His reaction is what you expect. He reels back from you touch glowering. "Don't ever touch me," he growls.

"The same goes for you." For the first time you wonder if the two of you might have more in common than either of you knows. A common pain perhaps? You don't wait for him to retort; instead you point into the rubble. "I have to go there. Follow if you want."

You work your way through the demolished hallways towards the High Priests chambers. You remember he kept daily records in his desk there, and they are probably the best chance you have at understanding what happened. Hiei follows. There seems to be little left of the fine room you once remember. There are scraps of decaying fabric here and there, most of them so fragile they would probably dissolve under your touch. A pile of wood and straw covered in a filmy sheet of what was once bedding and vines is what remains of his bed. You ignore the nostalgia that wants to rise. No time, you think. And you almost believe it.

A giant pillar has fallen across the length of the room, one end of it having fallen squarely on top of the desk, which now sits flat on the floor, its legs having long since given out. You walk over to the pillar, and grunt as you try to lift it on your own. You barely manage to lift it a few inches before dropping it again. Hiei chuckles and you glare at him, though you assume its not very impressive with you panting and in your nightie.

"Move," he says at last, and you step aside. He pauses a moment, then lifts the pillar up with ease. I'll have to find out how he does that, you think, and make a mental note to ask about it later. You scramble to tug the desk out of the way, and out of the corner of your eye you see something; it looks like Hiei's been engulfed in black flames. You look at him, and he glares, "Get on with it!" but there are no flames. You chalk it up to your imagination and jerk the desk out of the way, and Hiei drops the pillar again.

For a moment you wonder if Hiei might be more than he seems; after all he lifted that pillar all on his own, and though you may not be the strongest person in the world, it probably should have taken at least two or three people straining hard to lift it. You meet his molten gaze, and at that moment you know that on a whim he could see and lay bare all your secrets. He could pillage your mind, leaving nothing but an empty husk behind. Absently you place a hand over your heart, feeling it flutter frantically beneath your fingertips.

You blink, and shake off whatever spell it was that held you entranced, and turn back to the task at hand. There is a dent in the desk, a place where the wood caved in under the weight of the pillar, and the wood is soft to the touch. Gingerly you sit down and dig your fingers into the crumbling wood, pulling the top back easily, revealing two books.

You pick up the first, recognizing it immediately as the daily records, but your eyes slide quickly to the second. You shove the records at Hiei with he takes with surprisingly little complaint. Perhaps he's as interested as you. This book was old when you first saw it, but as you lift it up, you can feel the brittle, frail pages start to flake off at your touch. You take a deep breath and blow the dusk from the cover. The border is a ring of flame etched into the leather, and a golden dragon in the upper right hand corner. In the center is the familiar flowing script of the divine language.

"What is it?" Hiei asks, breaking the silence and kneeling beside you to get a better look.

Before you think not to you say, "This is the God Book. Only five were ever created."

"How did you know it would be here?"

You shake your head, "I didn't."

He scowls. "Then how do you know what it is?"

Reverently you hold the book to your chest and rise to your feet, watching Hiei follow. When you meet his eyes this time you feel your lips curl into a wide smile, your first in a long time. But even to you it felt strange, the perfect blend of happiness and misery. This book presented hope, a means of understanding what happened to you, but it carried with it the weight of memories you'd rather not visit. You feel you must look quite terrifying in your white night gown, hair disheveled, bruised and unkempt, smiling like a lunatic. You can't bring yourself to care.

"It was my father's," you reply at last.

***

Me: Has anybody heard that song "The Ketchup Song" by Las Ketchup? I can't stop listening to it! *mutters* stupid catchy hooks…

Hiei: At least its not that Milk and Cereal song you obsessively listened to about a month ago.

Me: OH YEA! Me and AoA LOVE that song ^_^

Kurama: We know *shudders*

AoA: *starts singing* Milk and cereal (cereal) (cereal) Milk and cereal, Cereal and milk!

H&K: *covering their ears*

Me: So question…anyone care to venture a guess as to who you're headed for a romance with? ^_^ And how many people check for my updates on my Bio page? I'm curious because if no one's reading it I might stop putting updates there…no biggie ~_^

-I want to take a moment to thank everyone who not only reads but reviews, particularly my regulars. It makes me super happy and you guys say such nice things. ^________^ *gives all the reader's Hiei or Kurama plushies(take your pick)*