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~~STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY!!~~
"Near
Far
Where ever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more, you open the door
And you're here in my heart and my heart will go on and on."
~My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dione
Chapter Seven
Hiei masked his ki expertly until he was in Mukuro's throne room. It wasn't too difficult; Mukuro's goons were notoriously moronic.
The bionic bitch was sitting on her throne. "Took you long enough!" she smirked. Hiei shrugged, not really caring at all. "You're too late; I have another heir already."
"I don't want to be your heir, Mukuro. I meant it when I told you that," Hiei replied nonchalantly.
Mukuro's smile froze on her face. "What happened to your lover? I thought you quit because of him."
Hiei remained expressionless. "No. I quit because I wanted to."
Mukuro looked puzzled. "So Kurama is not your lover?"
"No." Not anymore... Hiei thought to himself silently. Not that it's any of her business.
"Then why are you here?" Mukuro demanded.
"I didn't want to be your heir, but I will continue to defend your borders. If you wish." Hiei kept his voice neutral. "And you can tell your new heir that trying to sneak up behind me will get her killed."
"Hikoni, back down," Mukuro said, scowling. She had noticed that her heir was doing so, but had kept silent in hopes that Hiei would not notice. Then she wouldn't have had to continue to listen to her heir's whining.
A Koorime stepped from the shadows and ran to the throne. Why am I not surprised? Hiei thought to himself. "Mukuro-sama! Why didn't you let me kill him?! It is my responsibility!"
Hiei spoke up. "You are weak. I would have destroyed you." He continued to keep his voice neutral, fighting down the long-lived hate that seeing a Koorime had stirred.
The Koorime turned purple with fury. "You bastard Forbidden Child! You have no right to speak to me-"
Hiei laughed sardonically, amazed by his own self-control. "According to your people, I have no right to even be alive, woman. But I am. Your people were too weak to even kill a defenseless infant. Why should I be intimidated by the likes of you?"
"You little-" She tried to step forward, but was stopped by Mukuro.
Hiei raised an eyebrow, looking the Koorime over with a conscending expression on his face. The girl had hair like Yukina's, only longer. It was held up in a series of intricate braids. She was wearing a light blue kimono. The most amusing thing that Hiei noticed was that she was shorter than him. "Little? You have no room to talk, Shrimp." He mentally thanked Kuwabara for supplying the insult. "You're even shorter than I am."
The Koorime growled in outrage. "I challenge thee!" she cried in the Koorime language. "To a duel of honor!"
Hiei laughed, truly amused. "I don't care about honor; I have none. And I don't honor childish Koorime traditions." He looked at the Koorime, who was quickly losing control. "Speaking of Koorime tradition, why are you away from the island? Or did they kick you off?"
The Koorime let out a scream of rage. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"
Hiei smiled grimly. "You can try, but you'll certainly fail. You've lost control of your emotions, and you're acting blindly."
The girl lunged at him, claws unsheathed. "Die!"
Hiei easily sidestepped the girl, then pinned her against the wall, holding one of the jeweled throwing daggers to her throat. "I told you not to lose control," he growled. "You're lucky that I'm not going to kill you. If I killed you, I'd win heirship, and I have no wish to do that."
The Koorime glared at him. "You're just a coward! You know that my people would avenge my death!"
Hiei laughed again. "Woman, your people," he said the word slowly and insultingly, "have been trying to kill me since I was born. They've failed. I could easily kill you, because I don't fear them. I never have, and I never will." He smiled. "I've decided to spare your life so you can live with the fact that I, the lowly Forbidden Child, defeated you." He lifted the dagger and, in the same swift movement, thrust it into the center of her hair, pinning her to the stone wall, then jumped back to a safer distance. "And if you expect to survive as Mukuro's heir, I suggest that you cut your hair; it'll end up getting you killed." Hiei turned to Mukuro. "Do you want my work or not? I could always go elsewhere."
Mukuro smiled and avoided the question. "So...What do you think of my heir, Hiei?" She gestured to the girl, who was still struggling to free herself from Hiei's trap.
Hiei smiled insolently. "Only you would choose someone so weak as an heir. It seems as though you're trying to get me to become your heir again. You choose a Koorime that is so weak that she stands no chance against many of your guards, let alone me." He chuckled. "It won't work Mukuro."
Mukuro's face twisted. "You ungrateful brat! I knew that you would refuse the challenge, but from now on, if you let your guard down once, she'll kill you."
Hiei shook his head. "What amuses me is that you actually think I care."
Mukuro stared at him. "What's wrong with you?! Have you given up living?!" He should have killed the brat and become my heir again. That's what he'd normally do! I want him for my heir, dammit! Not some stupid, arrogant Koorime!
Hiei blinked. I guess I have... He looked at his former boss blandly. "I gave up a long time ago, Mukuro." He looked at the girl, who had finally freed herself. She knelt on the floor, breathing heavily and glaring at him with a look of pure malice on her face. "Perhaps I should just let your pitiful heir kill me."
Mukuro frowned. What has changed him? "My heir will have to trap you on her own. She has to learn." She glared at the girl. "Leave the throne room, Hikoni." The girl obeyed. "You used to at least fight! What happened to you, Hiei?" Mukuro asked the fire demon.
Hiei smiled, but there was no emotion in it. It's like he's dead already... Mukuro thought, supressing a shudder. "I learned how worthless I am," Hiei said tonelessly. His form blurred and he was gone.
What happened to him? Mukuro wondered, her heart torn for the fire demon that she loved like a son.
Hiei reached his cave and went in, feeling more depressed than ever. Maybe I should have killed the damn Koorime and taken back heirship to Mukuro's land... he thought. Mukuro obviously wants me to be her heir. "It's too late now," he murmured, not even realizing that he was speaking to himself.
He threw himself onto his moss 'bed' and soon fell into an exhausted, deep sleep. He awoke as he felt something against his throat. A familiar voice reached him. "Not so tough now, hmm, Forbidden Child?"
Hiei didn't move, but he didn't freeze either. This made the Koorime angry, and she grabbed his hair and forced his head up violently. "Are you going to kill me?" Hiei asked casually. "Or are you going to follow the Koorime 'tradition' and torturing me first?"
"You have a big mouth for someone who's gonna die!" the girl growled.
Hiei smirked. "I assure you, I'm terrified." He heard a low growl before the Koorime smashed the back of his head against the rocky 'floor' of his abode. Then he knew no more.
Kurama followed Hiei's ki trail through the Makai. It led to Mukuro's territory, Kurama realized with a flash of fear. He's going to get himself killed! The kitsune picked up his pace. He soon reached a small cave in the side of a mountain. Hiei had entered and left the cave multiple times, but the fire demon was not there.
Kurama entered the cave anyway, skillfully avoiding all of Hiei's traps. The kitsune's mouth dropped open as he entered Hiei's sparse living quarters. Great Inari-sama! He lived in a place like this?!
The cave was so small that Kurama had to crouch when he was inside. It was barely two yards in diameter, and it was nearly empty. A pitifully small pile of Makai treasure and a few weapons lay near the far wall of the cave. A moss-covered rock obviously served as a bed, and a scrap of cloth that was too small to cover Hiei served as a blanket.
Kurama frowned and looked closely as he saw a dark stain near the bed. Blood! Kurama realized. It was Hiei's, judging by the ki signiture that saturated it. The kitsune closed his eyes and concentrated, looking for other ki signitures. He felt some very faint traces of what had been weak youkai, but he also felt a ki signiture that chilled him to the bone. A Koorime! Kurama crawled from the cave, trembling with pain.
He can't be dead! Kurama thought fiercely. Koorime were notoriously barbaric in their practice of torturing prisoners to death. I have to get to him! The youko resolutely followed the Koorime's ki trail, hoping that he got to Hiei in time.
Poor Kurama-kun... *evil grin* Poor Hiei-chan! Anyhoo...I have a few chapters left of this story! Then I get to start (and finish) some of my other fics...If I feel like it!
On to Chapter Eight
Back to Chapter Six
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