A/N So, I'm going back to the very beginning of their relationship with this one. If you want to see what happened before this read my story Second Meetings and then be on the lookout for its upcoming sequel Second Chances. So, I took a few days off of my daily one-shots to bring you a completed three-shot. You're welcome. Lol. I'm taking the weekend off of one-shots to finish my longer story, but I will still post the latest chapter of Second Meetings on Sunday. This piece has been hovering around in the back of my mind for a while, and it explains a lot of how Hiei came to forgive Kurama and my suspicion that it was Kurama that bargained to Koenma for both their freedoms. I have read the lovely works Define Mercy, Partners and Friends, and Partners by Blossomwitch, DragonDancer5150, and Tawnya Kisaragi respectively and felt the need to throw my hat into the ring of Kurama recuing Hiei from Reikai prison. It's really amazing how so many different people can come to the same conclusion independently.
"You know, Kurama, if I didn't know better I'd say you weren't really a demon," the brightly ferry-girl happily prattled, bouncing bubblingly down the halls of the Reikai palace with a less than overjoyed redhead in her wake.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted by that…" Kurama sighed as they passed through corridor after corridor in the impressive if a bit ominous palace. It was dreary to say the least. Whoever had designed the place clearly had a taste for the dark and grotesque. The high, vaulted ceilings were arched and painted a deep crimson accented by shades of ebony, giving the overall effect of walking down a seemingly endless throat. The floors were polished and gleaming, reflecting a distorted mirror-like world with fragmented images that coincided inversely with reality. Dark walls seemed to enclose upon the figures walking between them, even though there was quite a copious amount of space between them.
All around them ogres bandied about, carrying large stacks of important documents, carelessly leaving trails of paper in their wake. Whenever one came within touching distance of the kitsune, they would promptly gasp, dropping several more papers, and scurry away so fast they appeared to be nothing more than multicolored blurs. Clearly, Koenma was privy to his true identity and hadn't kept a firm enough leash on his lips. It wasn't certain that all the ogres knew exactly who he was, but they all must know that he was the thief behind the current break-in, for that was the only explanation for such ill-concealed fear. It got far out of hand when one unfortunate ogre actually bumped into the fox as he sped by, sending a particularly large stack of files skittering across the floor as well as his considerably bulky body. When Kurama bent down to offer a hand to the ogre, he literally shrieked in terror, tearing off in the opposite direction, folders forgotten.
Kurama watched the swiftly retreating back of the frightened creature with indignation. "Really, what's wrong with them?"
Botan had watched the scene with interest. Her empty, blue head had obviously not given her any notions about alleviating the tension between the palace oni and the guest demon. "Oh, they're just nervous. You're probably the first demon they've ever seen, and they don't know how to react."
Kurama looked at the flighty ferry-girl with mingled interest and surprise. "First?" He inquired curiously.
Botan nodded absently as she turned and continued to lead him towards Koenma's office. "Yes, most demons are dealt with by King Enma and his assistants swiftly and efficiently without the need to bring them into the palace."
"You mean they are swiftly and efficiently executed," Kurama corrected darkly, his eyes going cold and hard as they met the slightly anxious violet one's over the reaper's shoulder.
"Yes, well, um…that is no…they…well, they always…deserved…" she stammered out uneasily but was stopped by a raised hand and a shake of a head.
"That's enough. Just tell me why Koenma has asked for me," he was careful to make this a demand not a request.
She wrung her hands as she turned around, eyes darting about the magnificently eerie hall. "Well, I'm supposed to let him explain…"
Mindful of her discomfort, he posed a different question. "I was let off on parole over five months ago; this doesn't have anything to do with the terms of said parole changing, does it?" He asked shrewdly, sharp eyes watching the unusually spooked shinigami for any reaction to his words.
He caught the slightest widening of her eyes and the almost inaudible intake of breath. "Lord Koenma will be able to inform you himself in a few moments if you will follow me…"
With a small incline of his head, judging that it was unwise to press further and risk her letting slip something she ought not have and landing her in trouble because of it, they continued their long trek through the endless foyer.
Eventually they came to a set of doors, more like extravagant gates, separating the passageway from an overly crowded office area. Cubical lined the walls, spreading in a disorganized latticework of mismatched desks. Oni of all sizes and hues shuffled around the room, like displaced ants from a toppled anthill. A veritable pallet of florescent colors swirled around the fox as he tried very hard to maintain his personal space in light of the recent invasion of obnoxiously colored ogres. The whole operation screamed overbearing bureaucracy, and Kurama cared little for it. He had ever approved of the methods by which Spirit World was governed, but then, what did the opinion of a lowly demon matter to the Underworld king?
Botan and Kurama successfully navigated the sea of flustered oni and loosed papers until they reached the final barrier to the young prince of Reikai.
"I've brought, Kurama, sir," Botan announced cheerfully into the electronic communication devise on the door.
The sound of static greeted her words followed by a muffled "Bring him in," as the doors swung opened to admit them.
At first, Kurama felt dim amusement at the appropriateness of the color scheme in the toddler prince's personal office. He had a fleeting impression of a child's nursery upon scrutinizing the interior of the small space. The walls were a soft green, seafoam to be exact, and the floor was a light powder blue. Periwinkle accentuated the border between the two, and the overall effect was significantly different from that of the corridors outside the office. Where the latter commanded exaltation through intimidation, the former invited comfort through soothing.
The office was exceptionally sparse with nothing in the way of furniture save a desk and a chair behind and before it. The chair before the desk was clearly a new addition, brought in should the godling have visitors, and it looked hideously out of place in its plainness. The only other fixture was a large screen the prince most likely used to spy on the living world.
The infantile prince himself sat comfortably in his overstuffed armchair, sizing up the redhead as he entered. While his body was that of a toddler, there was an intelligence and an arrogance in his amber eyes that spoke of the numerous centuries he had lived. He was dressed regally in grand robes of blue and red silk. He wore a large, puffy royal blue hat embroidered with a large black "Jr." His ever-present baby blue pacifier was clenched between his teeth as he appraised the demon that stood tall before him.
Kurama bowed formally once he stood directly before the small prince. It was a sweeping, elegant gesture, imbued with all his considerable natural grace. The Rekai lord smiled at the gesture and motioned for him to straighten up with a wave of his tiny hand.
"My, how you do impress. I had thought that Yusuke was out of his mind to so readily trust you, but I know now what he saw in you. Botan, you may leave us now." He turned to his assistant as he said the last, indicating that she take her leave of him.
She bowed to him, and it was a much clumsier gesture than Kurama's own. "Yes, sir." Koenma watched her retreating back until it passed behind the doors as they closed behind her. Koenma turned his attention back to the demon in front of him and motioned for him to have a seat.
"Please, take a seat; make yourself comfortable. There's no need to look so wary, Kurama," the young lord beckoned, sitting straighter in his chair.
Kurama obeyed, sinking hesitantly into the less opulent chair opposite the prince. While he radiated the outward appearance of one completely at ease, he was anything but. He curled himself into the chair, crossing his legs and folding his hands on top of a prompted up knee. He cocked his head to the side in silent inquiry.
"Why have you requested my presence, Lord Koenma?" He chose to stick to polite difference when dealing with Enma Jr. Despite any pretenses, the young lord had him under his thumb. Were it not for his interference, Kurama would be at the mercy of Enma Sr…and he was not known for his mercy.
Koenma made a show of shuffling the stacks of paper on his desk, riffling through them and selecting one folder in particular. He placed it on his desk with delicacy, tapping it with an extended finger.
"It has recently come to my attention that a gang of demons is making the nuisance of themselves…"
Kurama listened in silence. He did not know where the Rekai lord was going with this.
"Are you familiar with the Four Saint Beasts?"
He started at this unexpected question. There were few demons alive that remained ignorant of the infamous exploits of the Saint Beasts. They were a legendary band of demons that collectively accumulated the largest bounty Spirit Word had ever offered. They were chased out of Human Realm by hunters many centuries before. They built a fortress city around themselves and were locked away with a powerful Kekai barrier. Their threat diminished; they were forgotten.
However, even fewer knew Kurama's history with the beasts. In their early days of seclusion, many bandits and bounty hunters stole into their domain in an effort to rob them, or rid them of their lives and claim the reward. Kurama had been one such treasure hunter. The beasts had accumulated quite the fortune in their years of exiled hoarding. Such tempting wealth had not failed to pique the master thief's interest and lure him into their lair. The venture had been his most resounding failure. Due to certain circumstances beyond his control, his second in command had lost all of their men to the innumerable traps, and the two of them had been forced to retreat without the spoils.
"I do not understand. I know for a fact that these demons cannot do any harm to this world or Human World due to the powerful barrier that currently imprisons them in their stronghold…" Kurama explained slowly, considering each word carefully before speaking it aloud.
Koenma shifted in his chair, straightening his hat and fidgeting with the corner of the file. "Well, therein lies the problem. They're demanding that the barrier that contains them be torn down…"
"And I take it they have some threat that they are using to blackmail you into doing so?" Kurama asked shrewdly, cocking an elegantly sculpted, red eyebrow.
Koenma nodded solemnly. "Indeed. They are threatening to unleash a wave of Makai insects on the Human Word using a special whistle to control them should we refuse to raze the barrier. We can either give in to their demands or suffer a plague of chaos and mass-murder."
"Both options are unacceptable," Kurama said dryly. He had an idea what the young lord was driving at now.
"I need to send in Spirit World operatives to infiltrate their city and destroy that whistle. It is my intention to send Yusuke once he completes his training, but Yusuke alone doesn't stand a shadow of a chance against four powerful demons…"
"I agree, Yusuke is unusually powerful for a mere human, but even then him taking on four demons is a stretch," Kurama acquiesced. Truth be told, if Koenma thought to send Kurama with Yusuke, he doubted they would fare much better…
"That's why I wish to amend the conditions of your parole. As it stands your parole is indefinite. Should you render assistance to my detective on select missions, I will have your sentence changed to time served. It's rather fortunate that we have you, really. You've proved you are quite skilled by retrieving those artifacts, and you have proved your loyalty to Yusuke. It shouldn't be a problem for you to infiltrate the enemies' keep and retrieve the whistle." Koenma explained all this carefully, making it sound as if it was merely a request, and the fate of the Human World did not hang in the balance.
So, he had been correct in his assumption. Koenma aimed to send his only detective and a demon he barely knew or trusted to destroy four deadly demons and save the whole of the earth. This would be tantamount to suicide. They needed help, and Kurama knew just how to kill two birds with one stone…or save two lives with one gamble.
"Is it not a risky venture, Lord Koenma, to send one human and one demon to fight four hardened apparitions?"
"Yusuke will, no doubt, be accompanied by a fellow human friend with unusual strength and who is gifted with a powerful sixth sense," he further explained with a wave of an errant hand as if he could dispel Kurama's doubts with a simple placating gesture.
"The odds are still not stacked in our favor: three against four…" Kurama was careful to keep his voice casual, light, and empty of implications or inflections.
"What do you have in mind?" The petite prince asked guardedly, eyeing the kitsune with suspicion.
"Why not even the odds? I'll need a partner, preferably a demon partner…" Kurama kept his tone flat and devoid of emotion. He would have to play the prince very carefully to getwhat he wanted.
Koenma pondered his words for a few patience straining moments, mulling over the wisdom of his request and stacking it against the risks of bringing another fighter into the fold, especially a demon with questionable loyalties. Eventually, he relented, "Understandable. Do you have any demons friendly to Reikai in mind?"
"Only one…who's loyalty can be traced solely to me," Kurama answered honestly. The lord would never believe for a minute that the demon he had in mind would be loyal to Reikai by any stretch of the imagination.
Koenma's eyes narrowed at this hedging. He probably considered a demon loyal to Kurama and not to him a liability…and he would be correct, but it would be the best he would get. He bit out roughly, "Who?"
"Hiei…"
"Absolutely not," he replied immediately as soon as the name passed Kurama's lips, his dismissal swift and his voice hard.
"It will even the odds, sir. Four against four. He is a master swordsman and the only demon I will trust to guard my back in battle. Just give him a chance. He may prove himself to be less of a villain than you believe," Kurama resolved with conviction. He said this in earnest, passionately. "May I remind you that the harm he caused with the Shadow Sword was very minimal…?"
"The only demon you trust at your back? May prove himself to be less of a villain than I believe? Minimal harm?" He repeated incredulously, shaking his head fervently. "Have you forgotten that he swore to murder you!"
Kurama let out a long suffering sigh. "That was in the heat of the moment when my perceived betrayal was fresh on his mind. He was also still under the influence of the Shadow Sword at the time. He's been given more than enough time to clear his head and calm down."
"More like he's been given enough time to stew in his anger and plot the most grueling torture he can imagine for the one responsible for his incarceration! Look, I don't trust that demon as far as I could throw him, and I couldn't even get close enough to pick him up; he'd burn me to a crisp first!" Koenma yelled, pacifier miraculously managing to stay in his wildly flapping mouth.
"That is why I must see him free, Lord Koenma. I am responsible for his fate." This time he switched tactics, playing to the youngling's sense of sympathy and fairness.
"Even if I agree to this nonsense proposition of yours, he never will! He'll never willingly work for me," he insisted stubbornly.
"Let me convince him," Kurama suggested evenly, silky persuasion in his lilting voice, as he leaned back in his chair to study the young god's reaction.
"That's suicide…" Koenma growled, leaning forward in his own chair to better study the red haired fox before him. What he saw in front of him was a man desperate to aid a fellow comrade. His eyes were hard but glittering with a fierce determination. Those eyes held the promise to never be deterred from the course they had set. His body was rigid, tense, and he had unconsciously clawed the arms of his chair in a hard grip. Koenma had to listen intently to catch his next words.
"I do not believe he will kill me…yet," he mumbled in pained lament.
Koenma nodded. "Indeed, he'll likely wait until you were on a mission then stab you in the back. All the more reason for me to refuse."
"No, Hiei's word is his bond; he'd never go back on it. Once he's sworn his allegiance to someone, he is loyal to them until death …" Unlike I am.
Koenma cocked his head to the side and surveyed the demon with renewed interest. "You know him that well?"
"Yes, I'd even go so far as to vouch for him if need be," Kurama replied with steely confidence, a glint in his emerald eyes.
The youthful lord blinked at the redhead several times, now fully intrigued by the enigmatic figure before his eyes. "You sound rather fond of him." He said this with unrestrained wonder.
Kurama thought about his partner and perhaps even at one time friend. Yes, he was rather fond of the prickly, petite youkai. He was abrasive and blunt, but he could also be surprisingly compassionate and considerate. He was a fierce warrior and an honorable swordsman. They had instantly shared a strong bond from the moment they met.
"I am," he answered simply, but those words were powerful enough to convey what he felt.
"What is this demon to you?" Koenma asked, curious despite himself. He hadn't known demons to form any kind of relationship besides those made for convenience and to gain power.
He said without hesitation, "A friend."
The prince blinked in open shock, mouth agape. Demons most certainly did not make friends.
"Friend?" He asked stupidly. The fox had said as much already.
"Indeed."
"One you betrayed without hesitation…" Koenma pointed out relentlessly.
"I'm an evil demon, or so your realm would have us believe…" Kurama let the bitterness he felt at this bleed into his voice, lacing it with hostile venom.
The Underworld price shivered in fear at that cold tone. While the delicate and fragile appearing redhead before him looked as if he couldn't hurt a fly, Koenma knew he was a demon and a warrior to boot. A dangerous killer lied in wait beneath his colorful, placid sheep façade.
"This isn't about you being a demon…" And it truly wasn't. When he wasn't in cold eyes and hard voice someone-will-die-soon-and-it-most-certainly-won't-be-me mode, the one he was in currently, it was quite easy to forget altogether that he even was a demon.
"Then don't assume I did this to him without hesitation," he said with a soft undercurrent of anger in his curt reply, hidden behind his calm and civil demeanor.
"Then why do it? Why cross a friend? Why save Yusuke? Why try to free him after you helped arrest him?" He could not stem the flow of queries that broke loose from the dam of his lips. This demon was truly an enigma.
Kurama took a deep breath and leveled a serious glare at the baby prince across from him. He continued to stare him down as he spoke. "As to the first two questions, I did it because I perceived his actions as wrong. You, like me, must have realized that that sword was having a malicious influence over his actions. I did what had to be done. In answer to the third question, the boy saved my life. I was merely repaying a debt; there was nothing noble about it. Now, for your last question, I am trying to correct a wrong I committed in betraying a friend for the greater good. Repaying a friend…is that so hard for you to understand, Koenma?" He dropped the formal honorific purposefully. The pretenses had been dropped. Kurama now laid his trump card on the table. Koenma could either call or fold. "If you want me, you'll have to accept him, too. It is a package deal or nothing."
He had delivered his ultimatum. Koenma, who had been busy trying not to flinch during his speech, promptly did just that at his last sentence, spoken with such unwavering finality as it reached his tiny ears. It's funny, really, Koenma thought he was doing the thief some great favor when really he was being manipulated the whole time. But he had to know the answer to one final question before he made his decision.
"Why are you really doing this? He tried to murder you." Kitsune were known tricksters. Surely his motivations could not be so noble…
"Would you believe my motivations if I told you?" He spoke softly, his words heavy with some secret emotion as he bowed his head and a curtain of voluminous red hair obscured his face. Without being able to read his expression, it was hard to identify what that emotion was. Annoyance flashed across his baby face as the demon answered the question with one of his own. Trying to get straight answers from the tight lipped fox was like pulling teeth tweezers.
"We'll only know if you do."
"Guilt." Kurama raised his head in order to accurately gauge the kami's reaction. He saw understanding flit across his features to be replaced with his professional mask.
The petite prince had seen true remorse in his face and honest sincerity. He could tell the demon before him rarely showed such raw emotions. He relented. "You can try to persuade him; just know that if he agrees, the hardship has only just begun. You will be holding his leash, Kurama, responsible for all his actions. Take care that he doesn't bite you."
As the young price watched the red head retreat, he hoped he'd have the uncanny ability to influence the small demon…for his sake.