By Chibiko
5/12/2002
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warnings: YAOI HxK There. It's bold, underlined and in capital letters. You can't
miss it. May contain spoilers.
~*~
It was quiet as I stood before the entrance to Reikai's palace. The elaborately decorated doors towered over me, seemingly sturdy and impenetrable. After seeing Yusuke knock it down a few times, I know otherwise.
I gave my scarf an irritated tug. Normally, I would have sneaked in using any unguarded entrance and Reikai had plenty of those. I'd learnt long ago that it is usually unwise to announce my presence at Reikai – or the strongholds of any other powerful beings – especially when the purpose of my visit is to threaten the prince of Reikai for top-secret information. So why the hell was I standing here, with the intention to actually knock on this door?
An unbidden memory surfaced in my mind, and I saw Kurama giving Yusuke a lecture about respect and diplomacy after he blew down the gates to Gandara out of pure impatience.
Kurama.
K'so.
He was still influencing my actions, though he wasn't even here, which was exactly the problem. That kitsune just vanished a year ago without a word to anyone except his ningen mother.
Just left, without even telling me.
I visited the Minamino household with Yusuke and Kuwabara, but all Shiori told us through her sobs, was that she did not know his whereabouts, and that she had promised to keep the reason for his departure secret. She also said that Kurama had told her everything. Everything, including the existence of the other two worlds, his past as a youko and our relationship.
It didn't sound good.
After exhausting my resources in the past year and getting no results, I'm left with no other choice. That's why I'm standing at the door of one of my least favorite places in the three worlds, trying to be… diplomatic.
I pressed the button next to the tiny speaker and took some comfort in the sight of the button embedded in the wall. The speaker crackled, then came to life as a disgruntled voice spoke through it.
"Who's that?"
I bristled at the tone, but bit back a savage remark.
"Hiei. From the Urameshi team."
There was a long pause. Then one of the doors cracked open. A dark green oni peered through the crack.
I narrowed my eyes and watched with mild interest as the oni turned a shade of pale green.
"Well?"
"I'm sorry," he began cautiously. " The Urameshi team was deactivated 8 years ago. You have no right to enter."
The door slammed shut and I heard the distinct footsteps of someone running away.
…to hell with diplomacy.
I reached down to the center of my being and called for my youki; felt its cool dark power fill me to the brim and concentrate on my fists, where it burst into the form of wild Makai flames.
I smirked at the closed door; felt a fang indenting my lower lip. Then I attacked, letting out some of my frustration by concentrating my punches on the part of the door carved in the likeness of Enma Daiou. The hinges gave way a few seconds later and the supposedly impenetrable doors went down in blazing glory.
I was through the doorway and halfway down a corridor before the impact. Unsurprisingly, there were no guards around. Reikai, where the lives and deaths of all living beings were handled, was also infamous for its disturbingly inefficient security system.
Hn. It was easy to understand how the pathetic army of deranged occult worshippers had managed to invade Reikai a few years ago.
I kept to the shadows, one hand keeping my katana close to my side and out of the way. Reikai was a beehive of activity. Onis of all colors and sizes ran in all directions, each carrying a pile of documents twice their height while ferry girls weaved between them, each with a confused soul in tow. It seemed that no one had noticed my violent entrance or were all too busy to care.
I turned, heading for Koenma's office just as high-pitched wails blasted the palace; and winced when a chorus of surprised yelps and screams abruptly drowned the sound out. The alarm that should have gone off more than ten minutes ago was finally working.
"Hn," I muttered, strangely relieved to find that there was still some hope for Reikai's security system. "About time."
Guards who had been absent before flooded the hallway I was in. I waited with my youki hidden as well as I could until they passed, then leapt down from the corner where two walls and the ceiling met. Most people seldom think of looking up while searching for an enemy. Boot sliding across the floor to be as quiet as possible, I slipped into Koenma's office.
There were no guards in the office where the prince of Reikai was working. Predictable.
For a moment, I just stood in the shadows and watched the toddler at work. Chubby fingers curled tightly around a stamp, he quickly stamped each document with the speed and ease of someone who has had centuries of practice. He definitely needed the speed. The pile of papers on his desk was… massive.
Stamp. Stamp. Stamp. Stamp. The table vibrated gently with each of the rhythmic thuds.
Sometimes I wonder… does he even read those documents? Or does he simply do his job, stamp a document and dismiss someone's life the next second? I wanted to laugh. Day in and day out, all he does is sit at this little desk and work like any other ningen executive. His hands hold many lives, but what does he know about life?
Kurama's voice, warm and soothing, sounded in the back of my mind. Something the kitsune had said when Yusuke was teasing Koenma.
He has his duties, Yusuke.
Hn.
I stepped out of the shadows. The room whirled by and came to an abrupt stop as I flitted to stand before him.
Stamp. Stamp. Freeze.
Limp fingers nearly dropped the stamp.
"Hiei..."
"Koenma. You know what I'm here for."
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TBC
Chibiko: So... how was it? R & R, please. And Sylphide-chan? Review. Or else.