Damned
by Mayushii
All copyright materials are property of their respective owners.
A/N: "I am your angel. Your guardian, your mercy, your avenger…" Kurama leaned in, his mouth so terrifyingly close that Hiei's heart stopped. "And today, your death."
"Damned"
Return to the great hall, now. Kurama is here.
Hiei had been out in the middle of the training grounds, instructing some of Mukuro's new recruits in hand-to-hand combat, when the note came. It had been nothing more than a short, hasty scrawl on a scrap of paper. That was the first sign that something strange was going on: Mukuro normally sent orders in the form of absurdly verbose speeches. Hiei had frowned at the messenger, a small winged imp, and asked if there was any more to Mukuro's message, but there were no further instructions.
"But I saw the person Lady Mukuro was talking about," the imp said, not wanting to disappoint his master. "The half-human, Kurama. He didn't look happy."
Hiei was careful not to let any uneasiness show on his face. It wasn't like he had done anything that would upset Kurama…nothing recently, anyway, and nothing he would know about. The enchanted fox-turned-human was probably just pissed that he hadn't gone to see his old human comrades in nearly a year. Hiei knew Kurama wanted him to come to the human world more often, but he just didn't see the point in hopping between worlds anymore. His former comrades had their own lives to attend, careers and families and the like, while Hiei's present and future was in the demon world. He had Mukuro, and he had entire legions of demons who were loyal to him. He wasn't about to cling to attachments he had made as a child.
It didn't take long to get back to the mobile fortress. Hiei slowed to a more dignified walk when he reached the gates, passing some of his underlings. They all knew about his recent ritual, the final ceremony which had raised him to the upper S-class last week, and they grinned proudly at him. He nodded briefly to them in response as he made his way to one of the secret doors at the back of the great hall. The door would take him directly to the two thrones where he and Mukuro sat when they were holding court or greeting important visitors.
"Hiei." Mukuro turned to watch as a painting of two heathens being burned at the stake swung on hidden hinges. Hiei stepped out from behind it. "I thought you would have moved faster."
"Quiet," Hiei said, though there wasn't much bite to the word. "Well, where is he?"
"He's been waiting outside for a formal entrance," Mukuro answered. Hiei sighed exasperatedly and flopped down in his chair. Mukuro smiled and snapped her fingers, and the two demons stationed beside the large main doors quickly opened them.
"Announcing Kurama…" The demon hesitated for a second and then continued, "of the Spirit World."
Hiei blinked at this unusual choice of titles—he would have expected Kurama to claim the human world as his home. Then Hiei saw his old partner and his breath caught in his throat.
Kurama's human body had stopped aging when he had regained the ability to take his demon form, but whenever Hiei visited him in the human world Kurama looked a little older. Hiei always assumed Kurama was using one of the illusions his species was known for, subtly updating it so he appeared to age as a normal human. Every day he lengthened his nose and ears, deepened his wrinkles, roughened his skin tone and perfectly duplicated all the natural wear-and-tear a mortal body went through as it got older. If Hiei were honest with himself, he would admit that Kurama's grotesque aging—false that it was—was one of the reasons Hiei didn't often go back to the human world.
It had been such a long time since Hiei had seen Kurama without the illusion, he had forgotten what Kurama looked like. He had forgotten how wonderfully slim his body was, taking the form of a fifteen-year-old human boy. He had forgotten that glowing milk-white skin, those delicate, androgynous facial features. He had forgotten his eyes, wide like a child's and so intensely green that Hiei's breath went shallow when they focused on him. He had forgotten how his long mane of rose-colored hair bounced and swayed with every step he took. Hiei had forgotten, or perhaps he had never even noticed before now, just how beautiful Kurama was.
"Welcome, Kurama," Mukuro said with a gracious smile as the fox came to stand before them. "What brings you here?"
Kurama didn't respond. It was like he hadn't even heard her. His unearthly green eyes stayed fixed on Hiei, just staring at him. Then those eyes slowly blinked and he tipped his head gracefully.
"I suppose I should have expected this," Kurama said softly. "I did expect it, actually. I always had a feeling it would be like this."
Hiei sat up a little straighter. That tone of voice instantly put him on alert. It was so quiet, so utterly calm and distant, as if he were in a trance. Hiei had only known Kurama to speak that way when he was detaching himself from reality so he wouldn't feel guilty when he killed someone.
A sideways glance at Mukuro told Hiei that she had sensed the danger, too. The smile on her face had changed into a calculating look, and she seemed to be trying to decide if she should attempt to reason with Kurama or have him restrained before he could do any damage.
"What is it that you were expecting?" Hiei asked finally, warily.
Kurama's face suddenly broke into a radiant smile.
"Why, that we would meet like this!" Hiei shrank back in his throne at Kurama's falsely happy tone. "Just look at you! You've grown so big and strong…" Those green eyes were blazing in a way that made Hiei feel both wonder and terror. "Eating well, I take it?"
Hiei's entire body turned cold.
Kurama knew.
"Of course, Hiei has always eaten well here," Mukuro said smoothly, pretending not to notice how the young demon beside her had frozen. "You know I would never let him starve."
"Aren't you going to answer me?" Kurama asked. He was still smiling and staring at Hiei as if the woman beside him didn't exist.
Hiei opened his mouth and made a choking sound. He wanted to say it wasn't true, but the look on Kurama's face told him that there would be no denying what he had done. That face, those eyes—Hiei felt like Kurama could see into the very core of his being. He couldn't lie.
"I—" Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to be calm. "It was…"
Kurama's smile widened. "Oh, Hiei, why do you look so pale? Are you hungry even now?"
Hiei shook his head, but his stomach chose that precise moment to growl loudly. Kurama walked toward him.
"You are," Kurama murmured. His face was so tranquil, yet his eyes were so bright. There was a time when such a look would have given Hiei shivers of delight, when watching Kurama destroy his enemies had made Hiei so proud to be his partner. Now that look made Hiei shiver for another reason entirely. "I know you are, because you haven't eaten since last week."
"Don't take another step!" Mukuro said, startling Hiei. Her voice was rumbling with power—not just authority, but actual spiritual power pushed out with the words she spoke.
Kurama stopped, his smile fading away into a very strange look. He tipped his head and looked at Mukuro for the first time since he'd arrived. Or, he looked in her direction. He didn't meet her eyes, in fact, his eyes didn't focus on her at all. He didn't really seem to see her. Then he returned his gaze to Hiei and stared straight into his eyes.
"Her name was Kimiko, if you didn't know," Kurama said softly.
"How do you…?" Hiei whispered, feeling numb.
Kurama raised an eyebrow.
"Did you forget, Hiei? It's been so many years, maybe you don't remember the arrangement I made with Koenma after we were arrested." Hiei blinked and Kurama's pale, beautiful face darkened slightly, as if this were the first thing Hiei had done to displease him. "He let you go free because I promised to take full responsibility for you. Koenma made me your protector, your guardian angel so to speak. Being separated from you for two decades didn't change that. For every crime you committed, I was to take the punishment." Kurama's eyes flashed. "And as you well know, demons are forbidden to kill humans no matter what the circumstances. It's punishable by death."
Mukuro narrowed her eyes sharply.
"We all know Koenma excludes S-class demons who have to eat human flesh to survive," Mukuro said. It was true, but they all knew it wasn't for the reasons she implied. If it were possible, the Spirit World would punish all demons for eating human flesh, because no demon needed it to survive until after he had already taken his first bite. The weaker demons were brought to justice, but the S-class demons were simply too strong. That was the real reason they got away with it.
"So, why did you do it, Hiei? Why did you take that first bite?" Kurama asked. "Do you have a good reason, at least in your mind?"
"He had to," Mukuro said stubbornly. "He has to be strong in order to survive, and to get stronger he has to consume human flesh. Maybe in the human world you can all be friends, but here in the demon world it's eat or be eaten. Hiei merely took the next logical step to ensure his survival."
Kurama didn't even look at her. Why wouldn't he look at her? Why did he keep staring at Hiei as if he were the only person in the world?
"You don't…understand," Hiei said feebly. He wished Kurama would look at Mukuro, he wished Kurama would listen to her instead of forcing him to defend himself against these horrible, truthful accusations. "I had to—"
"You had to?"
The beautiful creature moved suddenly, faster than a human body should be able to move, appearing in front of Hiei with speed that might have exceeded the demon's own. Kurama was standing over Hiei, peering down at him, the shadows that fell over his face making his eyes stand out even more.
"You survived on normal food before," Kurama whispered. "Don't you remember, Hiei? Remember when you ate with Yusuke and Kuwabara and me?"
Of course he remembered. He could recall several times when he and his human comrades had taken meals together. Yusuke and Kuwabara had stared as he'd wolfed down ice cream and cake and any other sugary thing he could get his hands on. They had laughed at him, calling his enthusiasm for such things childish. Kurama had never made fun of him. He had taken Hiei's sweet tooth in stride, fondly encouraging him by pointing out items on the dessert menu he might like to try.
"You do remember, don't you. Back then you probably could have lived on ice cream alone. But now you've had a taste of something else, and you'll never be able to go back."
Hiei shrank down in his throne, hating the horrible knot in his stomach that tightened with every word Kurama spoke. He had never felt like this before. He had never felt such unbearable heat in his face, such painful tightness in his stomach, such shivers that wracked his whole body. He had never felt such a sharp, prickling sensation between his eyes. He had never felt so guilty before.
"It's an addiction, Hiei," Kurama said quietly. "Once you start, you become completely dependent. If you wanted to survive now, you would have to keep eating human flesh. But you didn't need it to survive before, and that's what Koenma's jury based its decision on."
"What jury?" Mukuro and Hiei asked at the same time.
"The jury I had to face all by myself," Kurama answered. "The one that decided I should be executed because you took a little girl from her mother and butchered her!"
"It wasn't like that!" Hiei finally had the courage to speak up, but his voice was so high-pitched with fear that he sounded like a child. "That girl wandered across the border on her own, it's not my fault if her mother couldn't be bothered to keep an eye on her!"
"YOU MADE THAT GIRL WATCH AS YOU CUT OFF PIECES OF HER BODY AND ATE THEM!" Kurama screamed in his face. "HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY THAT, HIEI! HOW CAN YOU EVEN TRY TO JUSTIFY IT!"
"A human's energy begins to dissipate as soon as the soul leaves the body, there's no point in eating one that's already dead!" Mukuro zealously defended Hiei.
"You tortured her, Hiei," Kurama said fervently, not paying Mukuro any attention. "You tortured an innocent little girl whose only crime was wandering off to play unsupervised." Kurama's eyes danced. "You know, the girl isn't the only one you've hurt. Think of how the mother must feel, the guilt she must feel, knowing her daughter would be alive if only she had been a little more diligent. I wonder, Hiei, how you would feel if such a fate befell someone you loved. It would just…tear you up inside, wouldn't it?"
Hiei felt a stab of guilt in his chest, a wrenching pain he hadn't felt in years because he hadn't thought about her in years. Yukina… His own sister had been tortured for another's profit. If only he had been there to protect her…if only he had put aside his own bloodlust and searched for her sooner…she never would have suffered the way she had. His fault. It always had been his fault.
"You don't understand," Hiei choked, knowing he was just saying words now, knowing he didn't mean any of them. "I didn't have a choice."
"You always had a choice," Kurama said uncompromisingly. "We all did. Yusuke chose to starve. He's dying faster than Keiko now, and he doesn't regret it. His conscience is clean. He had kids, you know. He loves them. And not the way you seem to 'love' them. I wonder what he'd say if he knew what you are able to do, willing to do—eager to do."
"I didn't—I'm not…"
"And I wonder what Kuwabara would say, knowing you would eat him or his sister. Or Yukina, what she would say if she knew you would happily destroy her family not once, but twice."
"Stop it," Hiei pleaded. "Kurama, please…"
"You tortured that little girl. You murdered her. She screamed and cried and begged and you didn't stop. And now…" Kurama leaned in until the tip of his nose touched Hiei's, and his breath was like an icy blast of wind on Hiei's face. "Now, I won't stop, even if you scream and cry and beg."
There was a hoarse yell, and Kurama blinked, his expression turning oddly flat. Hiei, petrified, glanced down and saw Mukuro's fist. It was lodged right in the middle of Kurama's neck. Mukuro had been reaching out to grasp Kurama's neck and break it, but her hand had gripped only air.
"Hiei, he's not human!" Mukuro gasped.
"W-what are you…?" Hiei asked breathlessly.
Kurama tipped his head languidly, a lock of beautiful red hair falling across his cheek.
"I told you, Hiei. I am your angel. Your guardian, your mercy, your avenger…" Kurama leaned in, his mouth so terrifyingly close that the demon's heart stopped. "And today, your death."
Hiei's lips were cold even before the fatal kiss was given. Mukuro screamed, but the guards rushed into the room too late. Enormous black wings made of shadows and dust flapped, closing around the pair. When those wings disappeared in a shower of ashes and cinders, all that remained was Hiei's lifeless body.
A/N: Sorry if it's not that good, it's just something I wrote while I was upset this morning. I thought I'd share it with y'all. …Bleh. Please leave a review.