Mystery Destiny
"But it isn't supposed to be this way!"
The shriek wasn't as shrill as it could have been; it didn't send birds flying from the canopy or small animals running for cover, but it did make Hiei's ears ring.
"Those are the facts," Hiei said, calmly sticking a finger into one ear and wriggling it about in case something had come loose. It didn't come out bloody, so he considered that a success for the day.
"But it isn't fair!" The girl wailed. She was human, teenager, and... well, he supposed the best adjective he could use to describe her would be 'mysterious.' She wore something like a dress that was also a jacket, and there were horribly tight pants, and petticoats, and a hat that was too small to be any use to keep the sun off, and everything was in shades of blue with sparkles and lace on. She was pale skinned and large eyed with overlong hair in big, salon-quality ringlets that glistened with an economy of hairspray and gel, the smell of which would have been overpowering if she didn't have so much floral perfume on.
What made her mysterious was that somehow nothing had eaten her yet. Or killed her because the stench of a corpse would be preferable.
She had told him when he first arrived that her name was... something long that sounded like it was out of a fairy book, and that she had a mission of the utmost secrecy. She also demanded that Hiei take her to see Kurama, as they were soul mates and must always be with one another or their souls would wither to dust without the tender touches of love.
When he'd tactfully asked where the hell she got the notion that they were, ahem, 'destined for each other,' she'd said in a perfectly solemn voice that the Goddess of the Moon had told her.
Seeing as Hiei knew perfectly well that Susano-o wasn't even remotely a female (and not knowing nor caring much about foreign religions), he'd decided that it was time to point out that she was an idiot and needed to go home now. (He was rather proud that he hadn't mentioned that Kurama wasn't exactly interested in partners of the female persuasion, and was a bit busy having a life. )
She sparkled at him indignantly. "There are rules, you know," she said, her voice wavering on the kind of threatening that wasn't at all. "You have to go by the rules."
Hiei wondered if he should bother asking what the rules were. After a moment of internal debate he decided that knowing really wouldn't be in his best interests.
"Right now," said Hiei, "the only rule I'm interested in is the one that keeps me from walking away. I have to escort you back home." This didn't get quite as happy a response as it should have; the girl stamped her feet and wailed again.
They were in the middle of Makai, halfway between Gandara's border and Mukuro's currently stationary fortress. There had been accidental (and not-so-accidental) gateways to the human world popping up all over this area in the last few months. While gates weren't uncommon now that the barrier was gone, the risk of too many dead humans brought finders like Hiei long hours and no weekends and no shortage of terrified or misguided humans to deal with. The terrified ones were easy, and more numerous. But the few misguided mortals that insisted on trying to enlist a few demons for some get-megalomaniacal-quick scheme, or wanted to learn the ways of the demons, or for some reason just wanted to relocate were notoriously difficult to get home alive.
This one seemed to have the traits of the latter, and it made Hiei's head hurt.
"We're going," he said, turning in the direction of the forest. He wasn't terribly surprised when she turned in the opposite direction and started to run. He shoved his hands in to his coat and waited. There was a rustle, a thud, a long, descending scream and then silence.
Hiei stepped lightly along the path the girl had left in the underbrush, and looked down the steep, nearly invisible cliff. There was a splatter of red and blue in the far distance at the bottom. He lifted the bandanna over his third eye, gave the splatter a closer look, and grimaced.
Well, that was his job done for the day, one way or another. He'd do the paperwork in the morning. He turned away, and then paused when he heard a quiet, pitiful groan from over the cliff. he listened for a moment, and then the groan was cut off by the rustling of plants and the snap of large, powerful jaws.
Conscience and work ethic satisfied, Hiei flitted away back to the fortress, making a mental note to catch up Kurama for dinner.
fin~
Gotta dedicate this one to Blueutopiah. You know why :3