Reminiscence of You

By FaiaOokami

Rated: M

Summary: In order to save Kurama from a fatal hit, Hiei ran in blindly to kill a human, which breached his contract with Reikai. He was to be sent to the last cycle of hell, but first Kurama wanted to execute his very selfish plan.

Part One ~ Last Cycle of Hell

It all started with a female demon named Yusa who had been crossed the wrong way when Kurama was still the Yoko; something about how he got to the rabbit that she was hunting first. Since then, she formed a large grudge against the Yoko, only to find out when she ended a tavern one day that Yoko had been gunned down by a bounty hunter. Later, though, it was rumored that Kurama survived and was hanging out in Ningenkai somewhere. Yusa began her scheming to avenge the rabbit that could have eaten. Talk about a ridiculous reason for a grudge.

It was thanks to the injured Hiei that she found him. Thanks to his recent Jagan implant and fear for Yukina's safety, his movements were slower and his spiritual awareness was diminished. Yusa waited for years, observing Kurama as his human body grew. Kurama, of course, noticed Yusa and her the lack of experience in following him. As she was almost a non-exist D-class at this point, Kurama simply ignored her, passing her off as a fan girl. This was his biggest mistake. When Yusa felt the time was soon, she threw the seed of the Rechee tree at the faces of ten humans. This Makai seed, depending on how much youki was infused with each kernel, allowed a certain time amount for human mind control; in Yusa's case, she was only able to get three days. Inevitably, she chose the time when Kurama would be the most vulnerable – after the Dark Tournament.

Literally, only an hour after her first attack, the group's attacks lessened in damage. Yusa, as her arrogant self, thought it was her 'marvelous' plan in action. The reason was actually her slaves. They were all humans and by Koenma's order, none of them could get killed, either on accident or on purpose. Minor consequences would be delivered on Yusuke and Kuwubara. Kurama's punishment would be an inch higher on the punishment scale, but Hiei… Because of his stunt with the Conjuring Blade (Shadow Sword in the anime), his penalty was death.

Everything was going pretty smoothly, until a bulky man, presumably a boxer, managed to get close enough to slam his fist into Kurama's back. Yusuke saw this, yelled at Kuwubara to hurry the hell up, and turned to run towards the fallen fox spirit. However, in the time his head was turned, a vicious attack took place. Lying on the ground next Kurama, with blood and intestines hanging, was the large human that started the confrontation. Standing above Kurama with his katana gleaming fresh with blood was a wide eyed and slightly disturbed Hiei, who realized his mistake. However, the problem was – Hiei had moved on blind instinct to help the redhead. He hadn't known what happened until it was too late.

Sure enough, once an angry Kuwubara slashed open the female demon's stomach and a furious Yusuke spirit gunned her to high hell, the two ran over to fully investigate. Before a word could be uttered between them, however, Botan appeared behind Yusuke on her oar to stare sadly at Hiei. His red eyes, though, were too busy watching Kurama stand up. The fox spirit managed to dodge at the last moment so to avoid a fatal hit, thanks to Hiei's hit. Holding his newly bruised shoulder, Kurama stared hopelessly at Hiei with watery eyes. Before Kurama, or even the fast talking Yusuke, had a real chance to speak up, Hiei was whisked away by the grim reaper.

Hiei stood in front of toddler-version Koenma, who refused to look up from the paper in front of him. Rubies traveled quickly over the features in the room; a mahogany desk with a mountain of mess almost covering up the whole thing and the infamous television screen that revealed visual tales of the Ningenkai to the demi-god were really the only decorations in the small room. It was, in short, a really boring place. No wonder Koenma abandoned his post whenever possible.

The fire demon knew what he did and didn't regret it. Kurama would be one of two he would die protecting. It didn't matter to him whether he really died or not, only that Kurama and Yukina were safe and happy. That was why he really did not care about anything other than them anymore and why his thought process turned out the way it did. His life was boring; he was on parole, stuck in Ningenkai, and his only real entertainment was Yukina and Kurama. Despite his hatred in the oaf, he knew Kuwubara could properly take care of his sister. Kurama, on the other hand, could take care of himself and even Hiei, in ways that disturbed the fire demon. For example, in the sticky situation he was in right now, Kurama had probably already thought up a flawless plan to get him out of it.

Koenma sighed, while saying, "Hiei, you know of the consequences of your actions."

"Yes."

At this simple answer, Koenma did look up, wondering why Hiei was giving in so easily. The last time the flying shadow was captured and held due to his actions, he fought harder and even escaped three times. There was no fight in him now, just sad red eyes. He asked, "Why do you give in so easily?"

"Does it really matter whether I do or not? We both know I breached my parolee and now punishment will be executed, quite literally." Quite skilled in the arts of being aloof, acting this way during this type of situation was natural for him, even though under that thick cloak were tightened fists with small amounts of blood tickling from his palms. Inside a corner of his mind, Hiei felt that he still had worth in his life, he just didn't know what exactly.

Koenma sighed again. He was very depressed. It wasn't like he was sad just because a great asset to the team was going to be lost, it was also that he had seen Hiei transform from an angry, low-leveled demon to the powerful master of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame and loyal teammate to Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwubara. To be truthful, Koenma became fond of Hiei enough to really not want to send him packing. However, it was his task as a ruler of spirit world to fulfill and carry out orders and contracts. So, with a final sigh and soft brown eyes, Koenma picked up his stamp to declare Hiei's place in the last cycle of hell.

Like the cliché in almost any heart-stopping incident, there had to be some sort of last minute interruption. So, as if on cue, Yusuke's foot slammed so hard into Koenma's office doors that the hinges couldn't take the pressure and ended up snapping in two, allowing gravity to do its part. The heavyset doors collided with Koenma's desk, shooting the mess of papers into the air. The part of desk that had survived the double attack was luckily the section in the middle, where Koenma was currently seated. The blue, red, and yellow ogres immediately abandoned ship, since their pay wasn't high enough to sacrifice their own lives for. The rest of the Reikai Tantei ran into the office, the two teenagers anxious and worried, whereas Kurama was deadly silent. Koenma could tell even before any conversation happened that the group would try to plead to get Hiei out of his current predicament. As much as Koenma wanted to as well, the contract had be fulfilled or else the Reikai squad would be ask to attack the group in front of the demi-god. In the end, Koenma could see no possibility of a peaceful ending to this one.

Within seconds of entering, Yusuke yelled, "What the hell, toddler bitch?! [1] Botan comes out of nowhere and snatched Hiei up like he was already dead! You had better start explaining shit!"

Kuwubara was about to put in his two cents when Hiei interrupted, "You fools. I broke the contract that allowed me to be on parole all this time."

Both the boys stared confused at the junior ruler and the fire demon, whereas Kurama's eyes dimmed. Despite the fact that he had hoped differently, he knew exactly what was going on, since he was the reason Hiei got on parole in the first place. The price for such an easy let go was Hiei's consent with his soul that he would not kill another human. It took Kurama and his bargaining skills a terribly long time to urge Koenma and Hiei into making these decisions.

Why he cared so much in order to put so much effort into it, he didn't know at the time. However, as time passed as Hiei and he helped Yusuke and Kuwubara in their missions, their companionship grew and trust developed. Such a concept was foreign to Hiei, so this task was greater than freeing the demon from Koenma. Kurama was sure that Hiei and he would be willing to give up their lives to protect each other. The current situation was proof of this assumption. Hiei had run blindly into saving him from a potential fatal blow at the risk of killing the human. So in summary, he had given his life to protect the fox. Guilt was definitely hanging in the back of Kurama's mind, but the current issue was more important. If he didn't do something quick, Hiei would be sentenced to reside in Hell, being tortured until his soul no longer existed.

Yusuke and Kuwubara, in taking turns, had been mentioning Hiei's good traits and putting in some 'kiss ass' comments to soften Koenma. Of course, it didn't work, as Koenma's hand was getting ever so closer to stamping Hiei's contract. Some of these comments were aimed at Hiei as well, telling him to fight back and prove that he's not the asshole he used to be. In reality, all Yusuke and Kuwubara were doing was adding guilt, sadness, and anger to an already tense environment. Kurama watched for Hiei's reactions to any and all of the 'conversation', but all that was expressed was annoyance. Did Hiei really not care at all that he was going to be slowly ripped apart for ten thousand years? It was time to speak up.

"Koenma."

Yusuke and Kuwubara shut up immediately, wanting for Kurama to remedy the situation. Hiei, though, looked up with grim eyes for a second, before glancing back at the floor again, forcing himself to appear bored. He wanted to get up and tell Kurama to mind his own business; the failure in this logic was Kurama was nothing but involved. He was on parole due to the redhead. Oddly enough, that wasn't the reason for why he wanted Kurama to shut up though. Far from it, actually.

"Kurama, you know I…"

Deep emeralds, swirling wildly due his many emotions, looked up as Kurama stated, "There is another bargain that can be made about this."

"I cannot do this, and you know why. My hands are tied; it was dangerous of me to even consider what I did back then. Now, the subject is over. Hiei has been…"

Kurama snatched Hiei's contract from under Koenma's nose, before the demi-god even noticed Kurama had moved. He eyed the paper, knowing the inscriptions by heart, as he was the one who drew up the passages. It was true, that Hiei was not allowed to kill a human during his parole, however Kurama had inserted a back-up plan so if it did happen, Hiei would be able to bid proper farewell over a twenty-four hour period. Mostly, Kurama put forth this so Hiei had the time to hopefully tell Yukina about who he really was, but now…

"I'm afraid you missed something in the fine print." Kurama placed the paper down in front of the demi-god one more time, so that Koenma could look. In mere seconds, he gasped and eyed Kurama dangerously. He saw the final passage at revealing Hiei's final and completely free time before he was executed. However, since it was in the original contract and Hiei had consented it, the time was to be given without thought. Koenma didn't like this, but he had to give in. Damn Kurama. So, with a monotone voice, Koenma started, "So, it appears that I had missed some important details concerning this matter."

Yusuke blurted out, "That's why Reikai is always so fucked up."

Kurama stared pointedly at the spirit detective, who didn't really care about pissing the junior lord of the underworld off. He was thoroughly willing and ready to strangle Koenma – fuck the consequences. Koenma stared as well, clearing his throat, "As I was saying, Hiei's contract was mis-understood. Before his execution, Hiei has been given a twenty-four hour leave to do whatsoever he pleases. If he is not back by the designated time, he will be hunted down by the Reikai squad."

He looked over at Hiei directly, rather than speaking to the whole group as he was before, "This is a serious matter, you know."

Hiei stood, making this the first real movement he had done in the duration of the gathering. He stared at Koenma, potentially ignoring the oaf and detective, and refusing to have eye contact with the fox spirit. He said in icy tone, "Of course, I know that. I don't have the limited capacity on brain power that the oaf has." With that said, Hiei disappeared down the hallway, with a pissed off Kuwubara and a laughing Yusuke following. For now, the normal interactions had resumed between the three. It was Kurama who was distanced, however, his mind continuously replaying his carefully thought out plan, detail by detail. There was no way that he would let Hiei go willingly, despite how discouraging the situation looked. He had been willing to wait decades, maybe even centuries for his chance, however he would be cut short. After all, he was going to be very selfish in what he would do next.

[1] Episode 57 - Dubbed

Time: 10:22pm

Date: 2/1/2012