*Author note/announcement for those previously following this story at end of the chapter.*
About a year from where they left off in the Yu Yu Hakusho series...
It was late. Everyone at Genkai's compound was sound asleep in their rooms. All but one. The fox demon, Kurama, was having trouble finding sleep. He laid on the futon in his assigned room simply staring at the ceiling, mind wondering.
He, along with Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara, had decided to spend the summer at the compound so they could come up with ideas on how to fulfill Genkai's wish. Helping demons learn to live with humans in peace wouldn't be an easy task, but he and the rest of the team would find a way. Their team was notorious for making things happen after all.
No longer able to find a comfortable position on the bed, Kurama decided to go outside to get some fresh air. After slipping on his shoes and stepping out the door, he was met by a beautiful, warm summer night. A sky full of stars complete with a full moon decorated the green landscape as he looked around. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he inhaled the humid air, taking in the scent of the cedar and maple trees residing in the surrounding forest. His eyes opened as a very different scent met his nose.
The scent of a demon.
This discovery didn't alarm him in the slightest, however for he immediately recognized the scent. He zeroed in on the demon's energy to location them.
Hmm. I wonder what he's doing here... Kurama thought to himself as he turned to start toward the source of the familiar scent.
Kurama ventured into the woods, weaving through the mixture of small and large trees until he came to a cliff's edge overlooking a valley. The valley, while beautiful to behold under the full moonlight, was nothing special itself. Just a field of grass with a few loan trees scattered about it. Standing at the edge of the cliff looking up at the sky was the demon he had sensed.
Hiei.
Kurama walked over to stand next to him, turning his gaze up to admire the stars as well.
"So, you've finally come out of hiding."
Hiei scoffed in response. "I wasn't hiding."
Kurama continued to look at the sky. "You disappeared after her death so most assumed you were." After a short moment with no reply, he discreetly looked over at his friend to try and assess his mood. His shoulders dropped slightly upon seeing the fire demon's clenched jaw and red eyes staring into nothing.
"So, if you weren't hiding then what were you doing?" He turned his full attention over to Hiei this time, hoping to prompt more of a response from him.
Hiei brought his gaze down to the valley. "I was hunting."
Kurama gave a slight nod, now getting a better understanding of his friend's current mindset. "For her killer, I assume?"
"Yes."
"Did you find them?" Kurama asked, the slightest glint of hope in his eyes.
"No."
Kurama looked back out at the valley, his eyes tightened with concern. Hiei was suppressing his emotions more than usual and he could only assume this was his friend's attempt at handling the immense amount of grief he was currently experiencing.
"It's not surprising, really. The killer was in and out without so much as a trace, according to what I heard."
A mix between a growl and a sigh escaped Hiei's lips as he closed his eyes. He obviously didn't wish to go into detail about the recent tragedy currently weighing on his mind.
They were silent for another moment before Kurama continued. "Is there a reason for your visit tonight?"
Hiei replied by reaching inside his coat. He pulled out a dagger and presented it to Kurama, blade shining in the moonlight.
"This is the weapon the killer used. What can you tell me about it?"
Kurama carefully took the dagger from his hand and looked it over. The blade was made of steel, sharp, and well balanced. The black stone handle had thin, gold stripes running along it and a long, black ribbon flowed from the bottom of the hilt. There was something engraved along the side of the blade as well. Some unfamiliar writing. Unfamiliar even to the old fox demon, causing him to arch a brow as he attempted to read it.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't. The blade is common enough, but I've never seen markings quite like this before." Kurama said as he handed the dagger back to Hiei.
Hiei gave the blade a once over before tucking it back in his coat, a look of disgust twisting his facile features. "Yes, it seems no one knows anything about them," he said, venom practically dripping from his words as he spoke. "An old man told me it was an ancient text from an extinct race of demon. That's all the information I've found on the damned thing."
Kurama hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "There are lots of races that are said to be extinct, though very few of them had their own language."
Hiei looked over at Kurama, now intrigued. "And which were they?"
"Well, I don't know them right off hand." Kurama began, earning an irritable scoff from Hiei. "However, Spirit World should have records of them. If you'd like, I could go there tomorrow and look them up."
Hiei looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. He then gave Kurama a level look. "Don't tell anyone that you saw me here tonight. I don't want any of them," he nodded back toward the direction of Genkai's house, "asking questions and getting into my business." Both his tone and expression darkened as he continued. "Plus, I don't want my prey to know they're being hunted."
Kurama nodded, mouth set in a firm line. "I won't tell a soul. You have my word."
"Good." He slipped his hands into his pockets, satisfied with his friend's answer. "I'll be back tomorrow night to see what you've found," Hiei said before turning to walk away.
"Hiei."
The fire demon stopped at the sound of his name and looked over his shoulder at the fox demon.
"What do you plan to do once you've found them?"
Hiei's eyes momentarily glowed red before he turned his head to look forward again. "Heh. Kill them of course." He continued to walk away.
"Of course," Kurama said quietly to himself before turning to head back to Genkai's house.
Once off Genkai's massive property, Hiei found a tree with a hollowed-out place in the trunk high up and hid the dagger inside it. He put his back up against the small hollow and settled in, making himself comfortable on the broad branch. Shortly after he closed his eyes and started to doze off, he heard something zipping through the air. Before he could locate the source of the noise, a sudden sharp pain pierced the side of his neck. His hand quickly reached for the spot and pulled out a feathered dart. Demon energy made itself known then and Hiei jumped down from the tree, dropping the dart and taking on a defensive stance.
Wrapping a hand around his sword's hilt, Hiei scanned the area for his attacker. The snap of a twig breaking announced his opponent's approach, prompting him to draw his sword from its sheath.
It was then that he suddenly started to feel dizzy. He placed a hand on a tree to steady himself, feeling more disoriented with every second. His vision started to blur as the world began to spin. By the time the opposing demon stepped into view he was unable to see their face.
"What did you do to me?" Hiei hissed as his body struggled more and more to stay up.
The sound of a sword being drawn was the only response the demon gave him. He tried to move, but only managed to stagger backward a little as his body refused to obey. The demon advanced on him quickly, thrusting a large sword into his stomach and pulling it out just as quickly. Weak from the worsening effects of the dart, the attack easily brought the fire demon to his knees. One hand went to his stomach while the other kept him from face planting the ground. He stared down at his blood-soaked hand, the image of it a swirling blur. His vision quickly darkened and he blacked out before his head could hit the ground.
Hiei woke to the sound of echoing footsteps as if someone were walking through a cave. He could feel that he was being dragged by his arms. His heavy eyes opened to see a concrete floor moving under him, the site causing him to feel dizzy. Keeping his eyes open was a struggle and his body felt too weak to resist whoever had ahold of him. Barley holding on to consciousness, he managed to lift his head to see where he was being taken. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out a tall, man-shaped figure walking in front of him. The man was obviously leading the two who were dragging him. They stopped and the blurred silhouette pulled something from his side. A handgun based on the way he was holding it. The figure pointed it at what looked like a prison cell.
"I don't think I need to remind you what kind of bullets are in this gun, kitten. Now be a good girl and stay there while we bring in your new cellmate," the tall figure said with a loud, guttural voice. The sound caused Hiei's head to start pounding. He sounded like he was far away even though he wasn't. Everything sounded like it was far away.
Whomever the man was pointing the gun at must have obeyed because he then pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, keeping the gun pointed at the cell as he did. He opened the door and the two holding Hiei dragged him in and dropped him, causing him to groan in pain. He heard the door close and lock behind him. Vision still blurry, he watched a pair of black leather boots walk toward him and stop a couple of feet away. A composed, feminine voice spoke then.
"He's going to need medical attention or he's going to die," the woman said firmly.
Hiei heard something slide across the floor and watched as a white medical kit was stopped by one of the black boots.
"Well then," another gruff voice said mockingly, "I suggest you fix him up. That is unless you want his corpse stinking up your cell."
The men broke out into laughter and their footsteps echoed as they walked away.
"Bastards," the woman growled.
Hiei watched as the booted feet took another step toward him and their wearer knelt down next to him. A groan escaped him as the woman carefully rolled him over to his back. He squinted up at her, the light shining from the ceiling above hurting his eyes. To his displeasure, his vision was still severely compromised, making it impossible to make out the woman's facial features.
The mystery woman brought her hand to his face and forced one of his eyes to open fully. She leaned in closer to get a better look at his eye, allowing him to see the shade of her own. Violet. He didn't know anyone with violet eyes, did he? She took her hand from his face and sighed.
"I take it they drugged you too," she said as she pressed two fingers to the side of his windpipe under his jaw, feeling for a pulse.
"I think so," Hiei ground out weakly, his words slurred. He started to remember the dart, but the memory was fleeting as he became distracted by the woman's next move.
Without warning, she lightly dabbed her finger in the blood seeping from his punctured stomach and brought it to her mouth. Before Hiei could ask what she was doing and why she turned to the medical kit and opened it.
"Whatever they drugged you with is poisoning you. You'll likely die if something isn't done," she said as she went through the contents of the med kit, her tone adopting the brusqueness of a blunt doctor. "I'm going to have to give you some of my blood. The poison they used is plant-based, so my blood will neutralize it and serve as an antidote. I'm naturally immune to most poisons and can temporarily pass that immunity to another," she quickly explained.
Hiei watched as she pulled out the biggest syringe she could find in the kit and started to draw blood from her arm. "Normally I would just have you drink it, but I don't know how long ago they drugged you. Injecting it straight into your bloodstream will let it get to work immediately." She pulled the syringe from her arm and pulled his left arm on to her lap, causing the fire demon's nose to wrinkle in discomfort. "I'm going to assume that you don't have any objections. Not that you could fight back at the moment anyway," she said as she injected the blood into his arm.
Putting the syringe aside, she moved her attention to his stomach. "What kind of a coward stabs someone and poisons them?" she muttered, lip curling in disgust as she dug through the med kit.
Hiei's vision started to clear and for the first time since waking, he was able to focus. The woman pulled a washcloth and a bottle of water from the kit and turned back to look at him. She stopped when she looked at his eyes.
"Well, well, looks like your body is taking to my blood quite nicely. Your vision is already clearing up."
She slid an arm under his shoulders and slowly sat him up, causing him to groan in pain and give a weak attempt at pushing her away. Her free hand grabbed his wrist as she frowned at him.
"I'm sorry," she said, "but I need to get this off you if I'm going to patch up that wound." She quickly and carefully pulled his blood-stained shirt off before he could put up any more resistance.
Hiei had started imagining what it would be like to throw this woman across the cell for disrobing him so forcefully, but that thought was derailed by the sudden realization that his coat and sword were missing. He attempted to growl, but his dry throat prevented any audible sound from coming out. All he could think about then was how incredibly parched he was. The demon's thoughts were a jumbled, inconsistent mess. His vision may have cleared up, but his brain was still working to do the same.
The woman slowly lowered him back down and examined the injury. She placed a dimly glowing hand over the weeping wound, muttering an unfamiliar word. A small burst of energy shot from her palm and into the wound, causing Hiei to gasp in surprise.
"What the hell was that?!" he very nearly shouted, attempting to sit up.
"Calm down," she replied, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting up, "I was just stopping the bleeding."
Hiei looked down at his stomach and sure enough, the bleeding had stopped.
"I'm glad to see you're getting some of your spunk back, but if you want to live, I'm going to need you to cooperate with me and let me dress your wound. I promise I know what I'm doing," she said sternly.
The rebellious demon's eyes met hers then and he was struck by the determination he saw in them. As he stared at her, frozen in wonder, he noticed a settle twitch in her right eye. Whether she was just becoming agitated or holding back some other emotion he couldn't tell. He got the feeling she was wearing a mask of some sort, however, and he had just witnessed the mask cracking. A small crack, but a crack nonetheless. Some clarity started returning to his mind and, oddly enough, he felt himself calm down and slowly laid back down.
What was that about? Why does it matter to her whether I live or die? He pondered to himself.
Satisfied with his compliance, the stranger went to work on gently cleaning the wound with the cloth and water, careful not to cause him any more pain than necessary. Hiei took this chance to study her. She appeared to be about his height. Long, black hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, framing an elegant face. Her sun-kissed skin was refined and her strange eyes remained calm and focused as she worked, seemingly oblivious to his attention. She was dressed in all black, her clothes the same as what he typically saw humans wear. A tank top, black boot cut jeans, and the leather combat boots he'd already seen earlier. He could tell she was a demon, though he couldn't figure out what kind she was.
"Who are you?" Hiei asked
She glanced over at him momentarily before answering. "Most know me as Shadow."
"Shadow?"
"Yeah. Retrieval Specialist for hire. I'll give you my business card later," she said nonchalantly.
Hiei thought the name sounded vaguely familiar but didn't bother trying to remember where he'd heard it. Instead, he decided to ask her another question. "Okay, Shadow, why are you helping me?"
"You heard what the idiot triplets said. You may not be opposed to dying but I'd rather not be stuck in this confined space with your corpse." She answered coldly.
Shadow then put the cloth to the side and pulled out a curved medical needle, quickly getting to work on unraveling the thread attached to it. She looked over at him once she'd completed the small task.
"There aren't any painkillers in this kit. Think you'll be able to handle it long enough for me to stitch this up?"
"Heh, I'll be fine," he replied, trying for his normal callousness yet inwardly cringing at how weak he sounded.
Shadow smirked at his answer. "Well, at least you're not a coward." Her grin instantly disappeared when she turned her attention back to his wound.
Hiei clenched his jaw as she worked on stitching him up, but made no other indications of pain. When she was done, she pulled a roll of gauze from the kit. "Think you can hold yourself up while I wrap this up?"
"Yeah," Hiei grunted as he started trying to sit up.
Shadow quickly slid her arm under his shoulders. "Easy now. If you re-open that wound I'm not going to be able to stitch it again," she chided, gently guiding him into a sitting position.
She brought his arm over her shoulders so he could use her to hold himself up. He sighed irritably at this, annoyed by this own weakened state and mentally kicking himself for allowing himself to be put in a situation where he needed to rely on a stranger's help.
The demoness's eyes glance over at the sound of his sigh, momentarily giving him a sympathetic look. She quickly wrapped the bandage around his abdomen and reached for the med kit again. She grabbed another bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to him.
"You should drink this. You're dehydrated."
He grunted a refusal, earning a piercing glare from her. "Keep trying to be stubborn and I'm going to lose my patience."
Hiei glared back at her, an image of him lighting her on fire playing in his mind. His mouth chose then to betray him by reminding him of how uncomfortably parched it was, prompting him to take the water bottle from her. With a shaky hand, he put the water bottle to his lips and drank, his dry mouth and throat feeling instant relief. Shadow waited for him to finish drinking before taking the empty water bottle and setting it aside.
"Kay then, now let's get you to one of the bunks so you can rest."
She helped him stand, earning another pained groan from him and started to walk him to the closest bunk bed in the cell.
"Where are we?" Hiei asked after taking a quick look around.
"I'll answer any questions you have once I'm sure you're stable. As of right now, you're dead on your feet and in serious need of some rest."
Despite the trouble he was having standing on his own two feet, she managed to get him over to the bunk with relative ease. Her petite body was obviously stronger than it appeared. Once he was seated she stepped back and gave him a once over, watching as he started swaying ever so slightly once left to sit on his own.
"How do you feel?"
Hiei stared up at her, not wanting to think about how hard it was to keep his eyes open, to focus on her face. Each sound pounded against his head like a drum. Despite all the questions roaming around in his head, he found he no longer wanted to think about anything. "Tired," was all he managed to say in response before his eyes finally shut, passing out while still sitting up.
Shadow caught him before he could fall off the bunk and carefully laid him down. She pulled a cover over him before going to pick up the medical kit. She placed the kit under his bunk and walked over to sit on the only other bunk in the cell.
Sitting on the thin, dingy mattress she took a moment to study Hiei, trying to place his face. He looked familiar, but she just couldn't quite remember where she had seen him before. Feeling tired herself she shrugged and sighed an, "Oh well," as she laid down. She rolled to her side so she was facing Hiei in the other bunk.
I wonder if he knows why he's here, she thought as she gave him one last look over before allowing her eyes to rest.
*AN* Hey all, sorry for any weird notifications you may get about this story. I've spent the last few months rewriting this story and am now going to be replacing the old version of this story with the new version I've been working on. The base story plot is going to stay the same, but there were some things in the story that I felt could be better. So, I've put more thought and effort into this story than before and cleaned it up a bit. For example, I took some time to better build my OC's character (known in this chapter as Shadow). I felt I was starting to make her a bit overpowered, so she has more limits now. I've also put the saying, "show, don't tell" into better practice with the rewrite in hopes of painting a better picture. (Shout out to roeseyes for all her awesome help and advice! She's helped me out a lot. She also writes YYH fanfiction here on FFn, so go check out her work sometime! ^.^) Sorry for any inconvenience this update might cause any of you, but hopefully it's worth it. Feel free to follow me on Twitter ( noxchyc) or Tumblr (noxchyc) for story updates.^.^