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Disclaimer: I'm kinda getting sick of writing...er...typing this over and over again, so I guess you'll just have to live with this: Anything that's not mine, is not mine. ^=^
Author's note: Am I still doing okay. Any questions/comments, please send to AiShiteruHiei@chichiri.com. Thanx again.
Chapter 3
Kurama reached Genkai's temple within ten minutes. He knew it would be quite a while before the others got there because, being only human, they were much slower than him. He gently set his lover on one of the futons and quickly made the transition from his youko form to his human form, then looked over Hiei's injuries.
The left side of Hiei's face was horribly bruised. His eye was swollen shut and his upper lip was already swollen to twice it's normal size. He also had a large purple bruise across his throat where Hintoshu had tried to strangle him. Kurama left the room for a moment and returned with a bowl of cold water and a couple of rags. He soaked one of the rags and placed it over the left side of the youkai's face to help bring down the swelling.
He frowned as he finished taking care of Hiei's visible wounds, then carefully removed his lover's blood-soaked tunic. Kurama winced in sympathy; Hintoshu hadn't bothered to remove the dagger. The redhead didn't touch it, but instead assessed the extent of the fire demon's other wounds.
The fire demon had a deep gash on his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Kurama probed the area gently and his frown deepened. He opened his hand briefly as a bright red flower appeared, then closed it again tightly, crushing the blossom over the wound until a few drops of orange sap fell from between his fingers. Almost immediately, the bleeding tapered, then stopped altogether. The redhead gently wiped the drying blood from Hiei's arm with another damp cloth and wrapped the wound tightly.
Kurama then treated the rest of Hiei's wounds, except the most serious one. That he would leave to Genkai's expertise. When he had done all he could, the redhead covered Hiei with a blanket, gently brushed spiky black hair from his lover's face, and sat down to wait for the others. After a while he drifted off into an uneasy doze.
Kurama started out of a light sleep, mentally kicking himself for drifting off, as he heard voices from outside. He rose quickly as the door slid open and Genkai and Kuwabara entered. Kuwabara was holding Yukina in his arms. He carried the small Koorime girl to a futon and set her down gently, then covered her with a blanket. He was then ushered out by Genkai.
"You took care of his wounds?" Genkai asked after glancing at the small figure on the futon before her.
Kurama nodded shortly. "All but one." He gently uncovered Hiei and showed Genkai the dagger wound.
"Hmmm. I am glad you did not try to remove the dagger." She carefully twisted the dagger back into its original position and pulled it out. Kurama winced as fresh blood bubbled up, then handed her another bright red flower. Finally, Genkai cleaned and wrapped the fire demon's last wound.
"Rest," she ordered Kurama, "it has been an exhausting day for all of us."
He shook his head doggedly. "No. I need to call my parents." Genkai nodded.
Kurama left the room and used the telephone. Nobody else had to call their parents, even though Yuusuke still lived with his mother. Yuusuke's mom was a drunk and didn't really notice if he was there or not. Kuwabara was gone so often, that his parents wouldn't think anything of him disappearing for a week.
Kurama had rented an apartment and was no longer living with his parents, but they still insisted on looking out for him. And his okaasan pestered him incessantly about getting a girlfriend, getting married, and having kids. She didn't and wasn't going to know about his and Hiei's relationship. In fact, neither was anyone else.
He told his 'kaasan that he was going to go camping with some friends, and not to worry. Then he asked his stepfather for time off work. He grumbled a bit, but gave it to Kurama, as he had vacation due to him.
The redhead sighed and went outside, where the others were lounging around. "I told my parents that we're camping. We should have a few weeks before they start to worry."
Yuusuke snorted. "Some camping trip! We'll probably end up `camping' in the Makai!" Koenma shot him a dirty look. The black-haired ningen looked around at the others with a confused expression on his face. "What'd I say?!"
Kurama shrugged tiredly and went back inside. He walked to the room where Genkai was watching over Hiei and Yukina and slid open the door. She watched silently as the redhead moved across the room and carefully removed Hiei's katana from his belt. He sat cross-legged against the wall, took the blade from its sheath, and began to clean the blood from it with a rag. Genkai sat watching for a few minutes, then left.
Kurama continued cleaning the katana until there was no trace of blood on its blade, then resheathed it and placed it on the floor beside Hiei. He gazed at his lover for a while, then ran his fingers through spiky black hair and kissed him gently on the forehead. The redhead then sat back against the wall and tried unsuccessfully to stay awake.
Hours later Genkai silently slid open the door to see Kurama asleep against the wall in a sitting position with his head against his chest. She padded over to him and touched him gently on the shoulder, waking him instantly. "Sleep," she whispered to him. "You are not helping anyone by exhausting yourself."
The redhead nodded tiredly and lay down on one of the futons. He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow. Genkai sighed softly and covered the sleeping boy with a blanket, then sat cross-legged for the rest of the night, meditating.
Kurama awoke to see the light of the moon shining through the window onto his face. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Hinigeshi was standing near the door. "Hello, Kurama. Are you okay?"
Kurama nodded and looked around the room. "Where are Genkai and Yukina?"
"Oh. Genkai's meditating in the other room. Yukina woke up earlier and is outside with the others." Hinigeshi looked at him. "What happened at the picnic? Who was that demon?"
Kurama sighed, mildly amused that, for once, Hinigeshi didn't know the name and history of any one demon. "That demon who attacked us..." He trailed off, uncertain of what to say. Hinigeshi stared at him expectantly. "His name is Hintoshu. He seems to know Hiei somehow, though I don't know how well."
"But why did he attack us?" Hinigeshi asked persistently.
Kurama looked away. "I'm not sure. Hiei said something about Hintoshu trying to kill him, but he didn't get the chance to say much else..." Hinigeshi nodded sympathetically.
Kurama knelt beside Hiei and removed the cloth from his face. There was no longer any swelling, and the only evidence that he had been injured was a black eye and a bruised cheek. He started as Hiei's ruby-colored eyes slowly opened. "Hiei?"
"What happened?" the fire demon mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position. He felt at his head and winced as if he had a bad headache, which was incredibly likely, considering that he had been hit by someone with the size (and intelligence) of a small bus.
"Hintoshu nearly killed you. He would have if Yuusuke and Kuwabara hadn't shown up." Kurama smiled softly as Hiei grimaced in disgust at the notion of having been saved by Kuwabara. "You've been out for nearly twelve hours."
Hiei started to speak, but was cut off as a hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling. A large blue-haired demon jumped through the hole, landing in the middle of the room. Hinigeshi shrieked before being thrown into a wall by a blast of wind. Kurama and Hiei jumped, dodging a second one.
Hiei went to his belt for his katana and realized that it wasn't there. He spotted it on the floor on the other side of the room. He cursed as he dodged another blast of wind and lunged for it.
The blue-haired demon, who was evidently a wind demon, unsheathed a no-dati and swung at Hiei, who barely managed to dodge. Kurama attacked the demon with his rose whip. The demon jumped and sliced the whip in half, then swung at Kurama, who was too slow in dodging. A gash appeared in the redhead's side and a gust of wind propelled him across the room into a wall.
Hiei took advantage of the distraction that Kurama had provided, ignoring the twist in his gut that seeing Kurama get injured had caused, and dove for his katana. The demon turned too late and missed the small fire demon. It swung again and hit. Hiei gritted his teeth as pain shot through his leg. Kurama stood up across the room, changing into a silver-haired youko, ready to attack. Kuwabara and Yuusuke charged through the door.
The demon whirled on them, then suddenly let out a scream, clutched its head, and fell to its knees. "No! He promised he wouldn't..." it wailed in a decidedly feminine voice, sobbing pitifully into its (her?) hands.
Yuusuke and Kuwabara were ready to kill the weeping demon, but Hiei gestured to them to hold off and limped toward it. "Who are you?" The demon lifted its head from its hands. Hiei started as he recognized her. "Midzuho?! Why are you working for Hintoshu?" The others stared at him, startled by his recognition of his attacker.
She lowered her head in shame. "I am sorry Hiei-san. He captured my family and told me that I had to kill you or he'd kill them." She began to sob again. "And...and he killed them anyway."
Hiei resheathed his katana and glanced at the others. Kurama was leaning heavily against the wall, in his human form once again, holding his side. Yuusuke was carrying the unconscious Hinigeshi. Kuwabara was just standing there, doing what he does best: looking like, not to mention being, an idiot. "Midzuho, you have two choices. You can go back to Hintoshu with the knowledge that he will kill you, or you can help us fight against him and avenge the death of your family." He studied her intently, waiting for an answer.
She stood. "You know my choice. I stay." She smiled sadly. "I really am sorry about this."
"Wait a minute!" Kuwabara complained. "She just attacked you! How do you know she can be trusted?!" Midzuho lowered her head shamefully.
Hiei glared at Kuwabara. "Shut up, baka!!" He limped from the room.
Midzuho retreated after him after getting a nasty look from Kuwabara. "Hiei-san..." She trailed off as she noticed his limp. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." he snapped irritably. Midzuho recoiled. Hiei turned away, immediately regretting having snapped at her. "Did Hintoshu tell you why he was attacking the Koorime?" he asked more gently.
Midzuho looked away. "He...he said that if he killed enough of them, you would die." Hiei's mouth dropped open as he gaped at her in utter surprise. She continued reluctantly. "After you beat him and left, he went crazy. He became obsessed with killing you. He took over the town, killing anyone who got in his way. Eventually, most of us left." She sighed. "He caught many of us though. He uses our families against us." She looked up darkly. "He used mine to manipulate me."
The fire demon was silent for a long moment. "Midzuho, please do not speak to the others of this. They do not know my past." Midzuho nodded and walked back into the temple.
Hiei jumped onto the temple's roof and sat. He checked the wound on his leg and winced as he saw a flash of bone. He jumped from the roof and limped inside.
Hinigeshi had regained consciousness and was sitting on the floor, Genkai, Yukina, and Boton beside her. Midzuho was sitting near them, apologizing to Hinigeshi profusely. Kuwabara and Yuusuke were trying to grill Midzuho, who was studiously ignoring them. Kurama was nursing his injury on the other side of the room.
Hiei walked to Kurama. "You were injured."
The redhead looked up, smiling slightly at the hint of concern in his deep voice. "I'm fine. It isn't too bad of an injury." He smiled. "I've survived worse..." He looked at Hiei's bloodstained pant leg. "You're hurt. Sit down." Hiei obeyed. Kurama looked at the gash through the ripped pant leg and winced in sympathy. He gently rolled up the pant leg and cleaned and wrapped the wound.
Hiei rose and walked to the open window, still favoring his left leg. He casually leaned against the windowsill and took out his katana. The fire demon examined the blade, then pulled a cloth out of hammerspace, and began to clean away a nonexistent stain.
Koenma indicated for silence and stood up. "I suppose that you have the right to know what is going on." He was speaking to the girls, who had been left out of the earlier discussion. "The demon who attacked us is Hintoshu. He is half tree demon and half fire demon. He and a large group of other half-breed demons have been attacking and killing the Koorime." Yukina gasped in horror. Koenma turned to her. "I am sorry to have to tell you that your mother was one of those killed."
Yukina gaped at him for a moment, then burst into tears. Tear gems clattered to the floor by the dozens. Kuwabara held the weeping Koorime, and the women crowded around, trying unsuccessfully to comfort her. No one noticed that Hiei had left through the open window. Finally, Yukina's tears subsided and she allowed herself to be led from the room by a compassionate Boton. The other women followed, with the exception of Shizaru.
Kuawabara's sister pulled a cigarette and lit it, then turned to look at the guys. "Y'know, this really sucks." Then she left the room as well.
Kuwabara reluctantly stayed behind, convinced by Koenma's threatening look. He scanned the room, looking for someone to take his anger out on. He exploded as he realized that his usual victim was missing. "Where the fuck did Hiei go?! I wanna ask him about this Hintoshu asshole!"
Kurama stiffened as he realized that Hiei was gone. "I'll go find him." He opened the door, changing into his youko form as he left so he could track Hiei easier. The kitsune followed his lover's scent to a small lake. Hiei was standing on the bank. Kurama reverted to human form and walked forward until he stood behind the fire demon. His presence was ignored.
"Hiei..." Kurama paused as the small fire demon stiffened. "Hiei, I'm sorry about..."
"GO AWAY!!" Hiei snarled, interrupting Kurama. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
The redhead took a step back, startled by his lover's hostility. "Hiei..."
"Leave me alone, stupid fox!!" Hiei shouted. His form blurred and he was gone.
Kurama sighed and let him go, knowing that his lover would come back when he was ready. He frowned as he saw something glittering near the bank of the lake and stepped closer to inspect. The half-youko started as he saw that it was a single black tear gem. He debated for a while, then picked it up and put it in one of his pockets.
The redhead's form shimmered briefly as he became a silver-furred kitsune. Turning, he started back to Genkai's temple.
Everyone looked up as a nine-tailed silver fox entered the temple. "Well, where is he?" Kuwabara immediately demanded of the creature.
The fox changed into a red-haired human. "I..." Kurama paused, deciding what to say. "I don't know." he finally responded, neatly sidestepping the question. Not a lie, but not the whole truth, either.
"I thought that you could track him." Kuwabara sneered. "I guess you're not as good as you thought."
Kurama sighed, understanding at last why Hiei so often lost his temper with Kuwabara. "When Hiei doesn't want to be found, he won't be."
Kuwabara grumbled something under his breath, then glared at Kurama. "Why'd he leave anyway?!"
Kurama sighed. "I don't know." A lie, but he couldn't reveal the truth to him. Everyone else that was present (with the possible exception of Midzuho) already knew the real reason that Hiei had run off, and each of them knew better than to ask stupid questions.
Midzuho looked up. "I know why." Kurama glanced at her, wondering just how well she knew Hiei. "I told him why Hintoshu was attacking the Koorime." They looked at her, waiting for her to continue. She complied. "Years ago, Hiei fought Hintoshu and beat him. After their `great' leader was defeated, Hintoshu's gang rejected his leadership. I guess he went a little crazy after that." She paused. "Hintoshu took over the town, killing anyone who tried to stop him. He got his gang back, but he continues to rule it only because everyone is too afraid to oppose him. He schemed for years, and finally came up with a plan. He decided to kill as many Koorime as he could, so, eventually, the Makai would lose its balance between ice and fire and both elements would be destroyed, including Hiei."
They sat in silence, disgusted by the notion of someone initiating a mass genocide just to kill one person. And for the primitive reason of revenge, no less. Koenma finally spoke. "But why would he going to kill so many innocent people just to get to Hiei?"
Midzuho sighed. "Hintoshu doesn't care who he hurts or kills. The only thing he cares about is revenge for the humiliation Hiei caused him by beating him. Hintoshu's too cowardly to attack Hiei outright because he knows he'd lose in a fair fight. He hides behind other people instead."
Everyone sat still for a moment in stunned silence. Finally Kuwabara changed the subject. "Do we need to go protect the Koorime? I, the mighty Kazuma Kuwabara, will protect them with my skill and cunning."
Koenma was silent for a moment, probably trying to keep from laughing. He won that battle. "No. We already have an army of demons there."
Kurama was relieved. Had they been ordered to go to the Koorime city, Hiei would have left for good. If he were forced to go, there was a chance that the Koorime would find out that he was the Forbidden Child and kill him. Even if they didn't find out, the mere fact that Hintoshu was killing them to get to him would be a large problem. He didn't even want to think about what they'd do to him...
He was startled out of his reverie when Koenma continued. "But, if the situation gets much worse, we may have to go." He paused. "And I can practically guarantee that it's going to get worse before it gets better." He did not say `if it gets better.' He looked up. "Meaning that you might want to haul out the winter clothes, just in case."
Kurama looked up. "Koenma, you can't take Hiei to the Koorime city. If they find out that Hintoshu is only killing them to get to him..."
"Then they might do the job for him." Koenma finished, knowing full well the other reason. "Alright then, he stays here. As do you, Kurama, considering that plants don't grow in climates that cold." He glanced at Midzuho. "You, too, shall stay in the Ningenkai." He paused. "Let's go get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."
Koenma, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara went into another room, where there wasn't a sunroof, to sleep. Midzuho and Kurama stayed where they were. The wind demon stared at Kurama. "So you are the great fox-thief, Kurama? I thought he was dead."
Kurama looked at her with something very much like amusement playing across his face. "I did die. Fortunately, I managed to escape to the Ningenkai before dying. I was reincarnated into a human."
Midzuho nodded, then stared at him, as if sizing him up. "How well do you know Hiei?" she asked.
Kurama looked at her, trying not to blush. "I could ask you the same question." He sighed when Midzuho smiled. "I know the other reason he ran. As do Yuusuke and Koenma. Nobody else, though. Hiei doesn't trust too many people. He hasn't even told Yukina." The redhead sighed, then continued softly. "And Yukina refuses to leave the Ningenkai until she finds her brother."
Midzuho glanced at the door and lowered her voice so Kurama could barely hear it. "I know his past also. His link to the Koorime included." She stared at him, then continued. "My family took him in after he came to our town because he looked like he was only a child. He didn't tell my parents his past, but, after a while, he told me. He was the forbidden Koorime child that the entire Makai was raving about. When he went to the fire demons, they tried to kill him."
"Didn't anyone ever ask him questions about his past?" Kurama wondered aloud.
The wind demon shook her head. "When you live in a town where everyone has a bad past, you don't ask questions. Oh, there were those who asked, but they were the ones who ended up hurt or dead." She smiled. "Hiei dealt with one such character. It happened the first week that he was in town. Thinking that Hiei was too small to take care of himself, one of the town badies tried to steal his Koorime tear gem." She paused, sighed, then proceeded to tell Kurama about that day.
Young Midzuho looked down at her companion. Her parents had taken in the small newcomer, who had told them that his name was Hiei. Of course, she had gotten stuck watching out for him. Many newcomers didn't make it through their first week in this town. So she'd gotten the job of showing him the ropes. She'd rather have been playing in the park with her friends.
Even worse, when she told him what to avoid doing, he had just rolled his eyes and ignored her. His exact comment was "Hn. Whatever." Then he'd gone and smarted off to one of the biggest, nastiest demons in town. That had to have been the fastest that she'd ever run before in her entire life. And she'd had to drag him behind her, as he hadn't seemed to want to run. Now, the whole town knew about him, and all the thugs were looking for him to see how tough he really was. If he got himself hurt, she'd be in major trouble. Her father would ground her for a month!
They were walking down the main street, when one of the local thugs grabbed her charge and ripped a necklace from around his neck. He threw Hiei down at Midzuho's feet. "Now what do we have here?" the pickpocket cackled, holding up his prize.
The problem was ignored by passers-by, as it was almost an everyday occurrence.
Midzuho watched as the small demon jumped angrily to his feet, yelling, "Give it back!"
The thief just leered at him and examined his prize. The look on his face quickly turned to one of surprise. "What?! You're the For-" That was as far as he got, as, at that point, his head fell to the ground, a surprised look on its face.
Midzuho gaped at her charge in shock as he grabbed his necklace from the now-dead thief's hand, then calmly wiped the blood from the blade of his weapon and resheathed it in the sheath that was hidden beneath the cloak that he always wore. The boy scowled at the body before him, then punted the thug's head down the street. Midzuho just stood there, not sure of what to do. Obviously, this boy was not as helpless as he looked.
By this time the happenings had attracted the attention of passers-by. They crowded around Hiei, Midzuho, and the dead body, some yelling obscene things, others just staring at the headless form that was lying in the dirt. Fortunately Midzuho's father arrived just then and muscled his way through the crowd to his daughter and the boy he had taken in. Midzuho's father was a large man (demon, whatever), so the crowd moved away, mostly out of fear.
"Come on, we're going home," the extremely pissed wind demon muttered, grabbing each of them by the arm and dragging them through the now-thinning crowd.
"After that day, no one ever messed with Hiei again, and I never complained about having to stay with him when we went out. In fact, my parents made me go out with Hiei for my own protection." Midzuho looked at him for a reaction, having ended her tale.
Kurama smiled a bit as she finished. "That certainly sounds like something Hiei would do." Midzuho laughed with him. Kurama looked at her curiously. "Not to pry or anything, but how did you know that your family was...well..."
Midzuho stopped laughing rather abruptly. "Killed?" she finished for him bitterly. She sighed sadly. "Wind demon families are very close-knit, unlike many other demon-families in the Makai. We have a sort of link among our close family, and sometimes very close friends, that is established by a hired telepath. That's how I knew that they were gone."
Kurama didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry," he managed to whisper. Midzuho nodded appreciatively and left the room. Kurama sighed and sat against the wall, hidden in the shadows, trying to push away his worried thoughts to meditate.
Hours later, Kurama was startled into awareness by the sound of someone jumping through the open window. He watched as a dark figure crossed the room and sat in a corner.
Kurama's eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw Hiei unwrapping his injured arm. The fire demon examined the wound for a moment, then began cleaning it demon-style.
The redhead silently rose and walked toward Hiei, who froze mid-lick when he heard Kurama approach. When he was about three feet away from the youkai, Kurama stopped. "Hiei, are you okay?" He kept his voice low.
"Go away!!" Hiei growled. Kurama decided that it was probably better NOT to argue with a pissed off fire demon, especially if that fire demon happened to be Hiei, lover or no, and slowly backed away and left the room.
This is taking a long time to write, considering that I keep geting side-tracked with other stories, like Kesu, Fruitcake, or Kachime no Nai.
Anyone who likes Yu Yu Hakusho should see a Japanese anime that I recently saw called Twilight of the Dark Master. Warning: this movie contains a character that's kinda like a cross between Youko Kurama and Hiei. (That has some really kinky implications!! :D )
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