"Wait no More"
Kurama held back a small sigh, his emerald eyes gazing up at the skies, which closed in -dark and menacing- over the early afternoon. Past Kurama, the rest of the students talked among them in loud voices, chattering on thousand of meaningless matters. The voices disappeared while they parted one by one towards their homes. The silhouette of the school building loomed in the background, as well as the slender figure clad in light-crimson uniform known as Shuuichi Minamino. The roaring of the sky signalled the exact moment when the raindrops started pouring from the clouds.
"Aren't we leaving yet?"
Right beside Kurama, a deep voice spoke the words. The tone was what others would call rude and annoyed. But for the Youko in human disguise, that voice was unmistakable.
"Of course, Hiei. Let us go before it really starts raining" –Kurama smiled, his eyes spotting the youkai standing beside him.
They were alone at the school's gates.
The demon clad in pitch-dark clothes –a shadow among shadows- nodded. His strange aversion to rain was well known, after all. However, Kurama knew such thing didn't really exist, since Hiei secretly found fascination in the gentle thud of the water drops hitting the trees' leaves, even the rash pavement of the Ningenkai. Hiei would never admit it, but such denial was a somehow unconscious form of escape from his koorime roots, from his unexplainable fusion of fire and ice.
Pretending was, by now, a deep-rooted habit within the defence mode of the Jaganshi. And truth be told, this fact was also applicable for Kurama. Deceits, lies and masks. Humans and demons, what was the point.
"Hn"
The long haired human-demon smiled at the response. It was so typical from Hiei, his ample vocabulary. It seemed like no one would ever see the day when the small fire demon would actually put into audible words his real thoughts. Maybe he was used to understand minds without the need for language. Hiei was, after all, a seer. A bearer of Jagan.
"Thanks for waiting for me until the end of the classes. You always do so, Hiei, but you know well that you can stay back home in my room if you'd like" –Kurama molded with kind, almost causal words that sudden feeling of happiness he experienced whenever he thought how the Forbidden Child was always there, for and because of him and one else. He was heir to vast lands of Makai, and also First Commanding Officer in Mukuro's kingdom, but Hiei stayed by his side, a choice made by a heart that no one had fully discovered.
"Fool kitsune, you're the only one here" –Hiei grunted, his tone bordering exasperation and acceptation of those words, of the meaning hidden behind them, of the 'I love you' hidden behind them.
Even though Hiei had never spoken those words. Even though Hiei had never dared.
(Lost in the passing of time
Are the words and emotions
That I should have said
But now they exist no more
And they have no place)
People walked along with rushed steps through the damp streets of the city, and the children ran back and forth in the park, completely drenched in the rain that kept on falling. Some of them took notice of the young man that had stopped right under the bough of an imposing tree, probably waiting for the rain to wind down. The young man of red hair was talking to himself, or at least that was what it looked like. Only a little girl in the park came close enough –curious- to peer up at the tree's branches. But to the girl's eyes, there was no one in such place.
The high school student continued his casual talk, and the afternoon went by.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kazuma Kuwabara arrived in a dash at the school's gates. He halted for a moment, catching his breath, while his rushed exhalations created small puffs of fog in the cold rain. The place was deserted.
'Late again', Kazuma cursed himself. Some minutes earlier, and maybe he would have been able to intercept the kitsune at the end of classes. But being Kuwabara who he was, nothing seemed to work out well. And it was important, imperative perhaps, to talk to Kurama. Find him, corner him if possible, not let him walk away with his polite and damned fake manners. He wasn't faring well, Kurama wasn't well at all. And Kuwabara could feel it, all of them could. It was vital to talk to him. But what could they say? Such wounds weren't simple. And all of them were still hurting.
(With time, the wounds shall heal
But the scars remain
Screaming day after day
The memory of the things I didn't say
But I wanted to)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Keiko tightened her hold on the blue-and-white umbrella, hoping that the strong wind that had suddenly picked up wouldn't steal it from her grasp. But that's just the way things go, and the gust of wind carried away the blue and white object, fluttering among the roaring storm and disappearing from her sight down the thousand stone stairs of the temple's entrance. Keiko watched it fly away, without moving from her spot, letting the rain drench her. The tall gates of Genkai's temple were in front of her.
Let the life follow its natural course, let the cycle of nature run, the cycle which links worlds and beings and destinies. A cycle which ends in a second just to start over the next one.
Yuusuke and the rest of the team used to train hard, right there in the desolated surroundings of the temple. The task of Spiritual Detectives demanded more than they had initially imagined. And since they were some of the few most powerful beings of the Three Worlds, they couldn't help but to continue fighting and practicing. It was spectacular, and definitely funny, to watch their training routines. The hardest part was to get them all to agree when to train, Keiko remembered. Their styles were different, but with time they had achieved some sort of synchrony that made things easier.
Yuusuke trained in pair with Kuwabara, probably because he was the one who better put up with him and understood the flamboyant manners of the red-haired human. The other two demons, who had become a very important part in the life of Keiko and the rest of their friends, would train and attack together. Their names were Kurama and Hiei, and during a long time Keiko thought that there couldn't be a more mismatched combination.
Youko was solemn and elegant, almost arrogant in his nature of white fox, but gentle and soft-mannered thanks to his human part. Hiei was rude and aloof, he spoke few words and fewer were kind, but he was powerful and imposing with his fiery eyes and black cape.
And that was just the way things go, because life followed its course and developed new surprises, and the girl started noticing how things were subtly changing. And then she realized that she had been wrong, because those two beings had found something that they would have never imagined could happen between them. Yuusuke had also noticed, Keiko thought.
But the girl shook her head, trying to also shake those memories from her mind, and she broke into a run towards the temple. It was better to leave those memories behind, before sadness took hold of her heart. To remember such times only brought back, with shocking accuracy, what they had lost. Genkai almost never spoke about those matters, and it was maybe for the best. It wasn't necessary to bring ghosts to life.
(The sceneries dissolve when the eyes
Are blurred with tears
And you can see all those faces
Which weep or deny it
But there's no reason to lose yourself in the past
So many others do it in your place
You would rather ignore it and move on
It doesn't make sense from your point of view)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Lately, Kurama, you have been acting strange"
The youko raised his eyes towards the branches, watching the fire demon who sat there, hidden among the foliage.
"More than usual?" –the green-eyed boy joked, a smile playing in his lips when he caught sight of his youkai. His youkai.
"Hn. If you say so" –Hiei joked back, but his eyes remained serious- "The others are worried about you"
"Should I be left to understand that you are not worried about me?" –the kitsune answered, daring to wink in a naughty way.
The jaganshi couldn't help the small movement of his lips, which drew the most sublet smile at the sight of such gesture from his fox. His fox.
Kurama remembered that he was the only one able to make Hiei smile in that way, and he didn't miss a chance to try it. It was one of his most treasured memories.
"Why should I worry about you, kitsune? You can take care of yourself" –the dark-haired demon replied, but he didn't lose the thread of the conversation- "And stop trying to divert me from the point I am trying to make. You know I know well your ways to distract me…..The others…they think you are dying"
Kurama returned his eyes to the horizon, to the park and the streets and the rain, which was finally calming. It was true, he was never able to easily trick the jaganshi. Even if the fox was an expert in evasions and manipulations, Hiei hadn't posed an easy prey. And the others thought he was dying. Youko, ancient and cunning, beautiful and lethal, a cruel spirit…dying.
"Are you dying?"
The direct question surprised Kurama so much that for a moment he thought he had jumped on his feet. His green eyes returned to the foliage, to the place where the eyes of outsiders found no one, but for the emerald eyes was Hiei.
"What are you talking about?"
The scarlet eyes were incredibly profound.
"Your human mother looks at you with desolation, and the others look for you like crazy, but you slip away in silence, evading them all. You have that empty gaze almost all the time, since some months ago"
Hiei descended from his heights, landing beside Kurama with feline grace, completely inaudible, as if in reality his from didn't evoke any sound, just like his name's meaning: a shadow. There was no one around to notice his presence, anyway.
"My mother Shiori has found in my younger brother a son, a son who's truly human, Hiei. It's only fair that I step aside for awhile, and let little Shuuichi have a mother for himself. And it's not true that I am evading you all. You are here, aren't you? In spite of everything, you are still here"
"I am here, Kurama, only because you want it to be so. Don't be stupid. You know that's not the answer, and this is not the truth" – the fire demon responded in flat voice- "I had thought that a demon as astute as you would understand the way of life"
"This is the truth if I want it to be!" –Kurama's voice rose, but those scarce words were enough.
Kurama almost never raised his voice. The fire demon frowned, angry and maybe a bit upset. He hated it when Kurama lost it that way, and more so if Kurama himself knew he was in the wrong.
"I'm sorry" –the youko rushed to murmur- "I'm sorry, don't go"- he begged, remembering how Hiei would simply disappear with his amazing speed whenever he felt rejected in such way by Kurama.
The young man in the damp pink uniform reached out his hand until he grazed the pale face of the jaganshi, his fingertips delicately ghosting over the skin. Hiei was so pale and so cold, his lips so soft…almost ephemeral, almost absent. The rain finally stopped, and the people walked across the streets once more. Steps could be heard in the proximities.
Those who by chance walked by the north part of the park, towards the right side of the fountain and beside the metal benches, took notice of the young man who stood at the foot of a great oak. He stood alone.
(Perhaps people are not able to see
That they have always been alone
Some day I will make the crowd understand
That it won't matter and won't transcend
That which is not there when you don't wish for it
But now I wonder if I shall transcend)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kuwabara waited impatiently for the operator to connect him. His phone card wouldn't last much more.
"Moshi? Ah, finally I find you..."
"I know, I know. It has never been my habit to greet formally anyway…"
Pause.
"He had already left"
"And why is this exactly my fault?!"
"I am tired of being—!"
"Sorry, sorry. We are all…a bit altered lately"
"The team is just not the same. I never thought one of us would, you know…."
"I'll stop by Genkai's temple in a bit. Are you coming?"
"I know where he is, you don't have to remind me. He goes there every day"
"Yes, yes, yes. I also go there almost every day…"
"It's just that….I never thought…"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kurama walked towards the upside road, passing by some plum trees which had lost their leaves and splendour, but that next year –for sure- they would pose a magnificent view. The afternoon grew colder as it resided into twilight and this into the night. It was a nice place, far from the bustle of the city, with dirty roads snaking here and there, but none of them was frequented much. As if it were an abandoned temple, a group of tall trees could be sighted in the highest part of the hill. All of them had agreed that this was a good place. You could watch with intoxicating clarity the night sky and its thousand stars, and the day sky with the scattered clouds. The air here had something not entirely human. Almost as if breathing air of Makai.
The young man arrived to the foot of the tallest tree, his hand coming to rest on the ancient bark. Kurama could almost hear the song of that tree and the voices of the rest of the plants. The breeze also carried other voices.
"Here again?"
Hiei stood beside him, watching the tree for a minute, then looking down at the flat and grey tombstone located at the base of the tree. It was a lonely sight, almost sad.
"I like it here" –Kurama answered, without directing his eyes towards the tombstone.
"If you say so" –Hiei shrugged. It matter little to him, or at least that was what it looked like.
The fire demon wasn't precisely famous for his public display of emotions.
"Nothing is the same now" –youko whispered, still studying the surface and formation of the bark.
"Of course. Everything in this and any world requires changes" –the youkai commented neturally.
"Your rational and emotionless logic doesn't fit this place, you know" –the kitsune replied, half seriously, half jokingly.
"You can't blame me for it, Kurama. It was you the one expecting those words to leave my mouth"
Kurama let a strangled laugh escape, laughter lacking any mirth.
"Certainly. You know me too well, Jaganshi. Forbidden Child. Hiei"
Finally, the fox's eyes decided to lower towards the lonely tombstone, but the games of light that fell upon the stone –courtesy of a dying sun- obstructed the view of the few words engraved in the tombstone.
' …..ave….rage…..sub…..indne…s'
"I love you"
Kurama spoke the words with his heart up his throat and his sight blurred. Something inside him was cruelly torn apart whenever he arrived here and repeated the ritual. The demon beside him, in the long and dark cape and with the white cloth over the jagan, didn't say a word. Even if the answer was held right between his petite lips, even if the voice was struggling to come forth, he didn't say anything. He had never said those words. But what wouldn't he give now for the opportunity to do so….
"Let's go" –Kurama ordered in soft voice, turning around and starting to walk away.
Walking behind him –like a shadow- Hiei followed. But before giving ten steps, the youko halted, his face turning back, and the last sunbeam of the retreating sun shone over the stone. Hiei copied the gesture, blood red eyes also fixing over the grave marking.
'Brave courage and subtle kindness'
"It sounds so foolish" –the half koorime half fire youkai commented with disdain.
Kurama shook his head in negative. A single tear slid from his eyes with the movement.
"It was completely true"
The words engraved in the tombstone:
HIEI
'Brave courage and subtle kindness'
(And the truth is
That it is me who lies in that tomb
It is true that I was
The one always distant, cold and repulsive
Cruel glares from eyes that never
Learnt to look in any other way)
If someone, anyone, would have stood in one of those dirty roads, or maybe back down in the lower part, they would have seen a young man with red hair and emerald eyes making his way down the hill in slow and melancholic steps. Alone, completely alone.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Shiori had received her older son with a smile and a tea of warm tea. Shuuichi came home drenched, and very late. Since many days ago –months perhaps- the boy came home every time later. At the beginning, Shiori hadn't noticed it. As a good mother, she spent her days working and helping the little Shuuichi with his homework, and cleaning the house and taking care of many other things. Besides, her older son had never been cause of problems for her, and she trusted him blindly. Now that little Shuuichi was home, she felt compelled to take good care of the child. But that feeling, like a nagging thorn, wouldn't let her in peace. What was wrong with her older son? She had heard about the death of one of his friends some months ago, but time had already lapsed. Was that person so important? Was that lost so serious?
Kurama's answer to her questions regarding his well being was the typical 'everything's fine, I'm just a little tired' and he had flashed a smile that could almost be labelled charming, if it wasn't so empty. And then, as if following the script to a well rehearsed play, he had gone up the stairs and locked himself in his room, not leaving it until the following day.
The books piled up messily over his desk, papers and notes too. Kurama sat down in front of the gathering homework. He grabbed a pen and a random book. He opened it and started leafing through the pages carelessly, one by one until he counted 232. Then he snapped it closed. He grabbed another book and repeated the actions, this time counting in multiples of three. Anything was okay in order to keep his mind busy. He could always start on his pending homework instead of postponing it, but he couldn't for the life of him find any reason to continue with his eternal pretension of the model student. It was a lie, in all honesty, all his life was a lie. He wasn't really human, he wasn't really son to Shiori, he really didn't want to be the star student. He only knew how to pretend to be all those things. Hiei always told him that sooner or later he would grow tired of—
"I told you that sooner or later you would grow tired of the Ningenkai, Kurama"
The small youkai was sitting on the bed, his dark clothing completely dry despite the rain that had apparently been falling over him during the afternoon. Kurama spun in his chair, once again abandoning his books. He gazed at the jaganshi for a couple of minutes, in silence. Meanwhile, Hiei divested himself of his black cape and white scarf, letting them drop carelessly on the floor rug. The moment the articles made contact with the ground, they disappeared. The youkai found a comfortable spot on one corner of the bed, sitting against the wall with his knees pressed to his chest, and his childlike face nested on his folded arms over the knees. It was like this that the great Master of the KokuryuuHa, manipulator of the Dark Fire of Hell, waited peacefully for the kitsune to finish his homework and then come over to keep him company.
(But now, this exterior crumbles apart
The smiles and the broken illusions are left behind
And what people call blood is now coldness inside of me
The things I used to do are now senseless
Without sense and without you)
"What are you?" –Kurama finally dared to ask.
Hiei blinked, not fully understanding the question.
"Me?"
"Yes. What are you?" –the youko repeated.
Hiei scoffed, a sound he used to emit when he heard something absurd.
"You are asking me? You tell me, Kurama. You are the one who calls me here"
"You are not real, then" –the kitsune replied, standing and advancing the four steps that separated him from the bed's corner.
"As real as your memories, I think" –Hiei shrugged- "I don't know. I say what you want me to say, I am where you want me to be, and do what you want me to do"
"Go way then!"
Hiei didn't disappear. He remained sitting there, in the same corner against the wall. The place he usually occupied.
"You don't want me to go" –the fire demon said after some seconds.
Kurama brought his hands to cover his face, frustrated.
"I never wanted you to go to begin with" –he muttered- "You left me alone"
"Don't blame me for dying, Kurama"
And Hiei's voice was surprisingly sweet and soft, sorrowful in its entirety. The youko raised his face, wiping the tears that hadn't finished pouring from his eyes. Hiei was there, as ethereal and beautiful as he remembered him.
"If it is so, I want to feel you then. I want it with all my heart"- Kurama begged in a low voice, climbing up the bed and reaching out to embrace the fine but strong body of his youkai, to hold him against his chest and hug him with desperation, for them to lie on the duvets and pillows and let the night go by.
But Kurama's hands made contact with nothingness when he tried to place them on Hiei's arms.
Even though Hiei's image was still there
"Don't do this, Kurama. You are only making it more difficult" –Hiei whispered at the sight of the pain lacing the kitsune's features when Kurama couldn't hold him.
Kurama bit his lips, his fingers now grabbing onto the white sheets with fury. Suddenly, a delicate touch -almost nonexistent- of a pale hand ghosted over his face. Hiei, with a tenderness no one but Kurama had ever witnessed, was caressing his skin and the strands of red hair that framed his face.
"Go to sleep now"
Without uttering another word, the young kitsune of human looks laid down on the bed, closing his eyes, while that vision called Hiei watched him. It didn't matter if Kurama slept, that vision was able to find him anywhere, anytime. Because Kurama wished it so.
(Your voice, the perpetual sorrow in my ears
The touch of your hands haunts me
In the sleepless hours or the coming of dawn
Confusing my senses and overpowering reasons
And still, fervently I seek you, you are my yearned fantasy)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Yuusuke silently stepped into the temple, the same temple that had seen him enter for the first time several years ago, when he fought for Genkai-sensei's training.
"A lot of things have happened since" – the young detective sighed, going through rooms and halls until he arrived at a wide room, lit weakly, where his friends sat.
Kuwabara was there, as well as Keiko. Yuusuke and Keiko had agreed that morning to visit the temple. Later, during the afternoon, Yuusuke received a phone call from Kuwabara. The red-haired boy had almost talked to Kurama. Almost, but no. Yuusuke had started to scold him, but then he stopped in his tracks, noticing the tired and hurt tone of voice from Kuwabara. They all had their nerves shot. In the end, they had all decided to once again gather here, like they were getting used to do every three or four days, since one member of their detectives' group died.
"Yuusuke, you're late" –Genkai spoke from her place at the kotatsu, but her hand beckoned the boy to take a seat.
"Sorry"- Yuusuke offered a small smile- "Hi all" –he greeted the rest.
Keiko and Kuwabara answered the smile. Soon, the three of them would start a card game or some casual conversation, anything to bring back a sense of normalcy to Genkai's temple. The temple, which was now the permanent home of Yukina. The snow maiden, pure koorime, barely returned the smile, but it was a beginning, an attempt.
"Why late, Yuusuke?" –Kuwabara asked.
"I stopped….stopped at a place. And then I went….well, I tried to visit someone, but….."
No one needed to ask which place had Yuusuke stopped at.
They all had agreed that that far away place, the hill in the outskirts of the city, with its tall and silent trees, was a good place. Hiei's tomb rested there. The idea of placing him in Makai had been a powerful and logic one, but that would have meant for them to lack a place to visit and offer tributes. So, maybe in an egoistical decision, they had opted for keeping him here in the Ningenkai. Even if Hiei would have cursed them for that.
"And your visit…." –Keiko wondered.
Genkai gave a little sigh. She could foresee the answer.
"Kurama"
Keiko looked away – "Oh….and you talked to him?"
For the first time, Yukina raised her eyes towards Raizen's descendant. Her eyes were blood red, mirror image of the jaganshi's.
"How is Kurama-san?" –she asked in soft, sweet voice.
"Well…."-Yuusuke smiled guiltily, trying to diminish the graveness of the situation- "I couldn't talk to him. I guess he was home, because the lights of his room were on. And I swear I was about to ring the bell and ask his mother to call him down, but…."
Genkai sipped at her green tea, her tired but wise eyes studying her pupils. She at least considered them all as pupils, that's why she hadn't doubted for a second to suggest Yuusuke to organize these reunions since the death of the mighty Master of KokuryuuHa. She had known the jaganshi for some years now, and she had read in his eyes –before anyone could- that he hid a tragic and devastating past, but also some traces of a pure soul that had survived such destruction. But it was mainly because of Yukina that they were here, these nights. Because even if she had never heard from lips of Hiei himself that they were siblings, the koorime knew it in her soul, and the loss was huge. She would heal with the years, and with the love from everyone, maybe even with Kazuma at her side. But the process was slow and it was just starting.
"But I saw his window wide open, you know…" –Yuusuke combed back his black hair- "He hasn't closed it since then….."
"And he never will" –Genkai added.
"And I didn't know what I could say. What else could I possible say, if he refuses to listen"
"But he listens" –Keiko said, but Kuwabara interrupted.
"He doesn't listen with the part of himself that should listen"
Yukina sighed, sad –"I hurt so much for him. His sorrow seems great compared to us. He suffers so much, and I wish we could comfort him"
A white pearl slid off the yukata the koorime wore.
Kuwabara took her in his arms gently- "Come on, Yukina-chan, don't worry so. We will make it, all of us, you'll see. When we manage to reach him, we will help him heal"
(All nodded their assent.
Whispers follow persistently
And sorrowful consolations strive
To reach
And even though no one around me realizes it
Little by little I have allowed my life to
Seep from my grasp)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kurama didn't know what was worse. To wake up and find that perpetual ghost, that magnificent but tearing vision beside him, always beside him, just like Hiei had promised. Or to sleep and abruptly enter the reality that plagued his dreams. Illogical, ridiculous, that reality lived solely in his dreams, and that by waking he coexisted with fantasies. Hiei would have loved the irony of it.
But Kurama found nothing pleasant in his dreams. Nightmares, so real that he could feel the warmth. The warmth of the blood on his hands, staining his clothes. Thick and maddening red blood that escaped- like the breath- from Hiei.
No one knew what had exactly happened. Everything had been a damn mistake, or a damn decision, or a damn twist of fate, or in the worst of the scenarios, everything was Kurama's own damn fault.
Makai was in war. Ningenkai was in danger. The detectives were summoned. Amidst the chaos of the situation, it was necessary to form two contention forces, each one in the threshold of each world. Nothing in life would have convinced Yuusuke to leave the ningenkai unprotected. Keiko could be at risk. For his part, Kuwabara wouldn't be separated from his post guarding the temple where Yukina lived. And Kurama, wrapped in his life of lies, with his human mother and false circumstances, also decided to stay behind. To seal the portals connecting the worlds and in consequence, stop the crossing of more demons into their realm while fighting the ones already there. To stay and protect the Ningenkai.
Only Hiei, commander of Mukuro's army, crossed to the Makai and stayed there, leading thousands of demons who faced the attack of millions of rebels. Genkai-sensei was the only human who also crossed towards the demonic world, ready to back up the attack of the Jaganshi. Genkai knew well the great power Hiei possessed, but she also knew he wouldn't be able to make it on his own. There was something absurd in the oddity of the numbers: dividing the team in three detectives in one side and only one in the other. It spelled danger all over.
One second before the team got separated –just one second before- scarlet eyes met emerald ones. Kurama could have sworn that Hiei wanted to tell him something. There was something in his gaze, but they had run out of time. Kurama parted on his way, and Hiei parted in the opposite direction.
And right then, in that same instant, Genkai knew that something would go terribly wrong. But they had run out of time!
(Sometimes I should have called you
But I didn't make up my mind
These are mistakes that never die)
The battle was rough. Yuusuke, Kuwabara y Kurama fought their hardest to eliminate the demons who were threatening the humans. There were many enemies, dozens, all of them powerful. Whips, swords and energy shots filled the place, blood of different shades was spattered on the ground where everything had begun, and now reached an end.
Somewhere from the spiritual world Botan informed them that the rebellion had been smothered and that the thresholds were safe, the worlds were safe. The three detectives exchanged tired but smug smiles. Of course they would make it. Now they only had to cross towards the Makai and help Hiei and Genkai to dispatch the last rebel demons. The threshold took them to the battle field. It was a graveyard now, covered in corpses and drenched in blood. By thousands, the demons had fallen. Both from the rebel forces and from Mukuro's army. Screams could be heard everywhere. But one voice caught their attention. It was Genkai's.
"Come here!"
The three of them turned towards the voice, only to behold a surprising sight. The sky became completely black due to the powerful light emitted by the KokuryuuHa, and due to the explosion of dark fire that was born from the serpentine dragon. A deafening sound filled the field at the time the black dragon finalized its attack.
Kurama, Yuusuke and Kuwabara advanced towards the central point. Over there, against the horizon, they could make out the small silhouette of Genkai holding her left arm –badly injured and broken in several places. Ahead, only smoke and eerie silence. Kurama's heartbeats started to accelerate.
Just a few feet before reaching the place where Genkai stood, they were able to hear her weakened and tired voice, her wise eyes fixed on the front.
"Firm until the end"
What rose in that horizon was another portal towards the Ningenkai. If it had been left unprotected, everything would have been in vain. If it hadn't been guarded, the leaders of that war would have crossed over, taking chaos towards the rest of the worlds. Destroying the school and the life of Keiko. Destroying the temple and home of Yukina. Destroying the houses and humans which were part of the fake life of Kurama. If Hiei had backed down, everything that Kurama wanted to protect, would have been torn to pieces.
Motionless on the ground, among clouds of dust and smoke, the silhouette of the jaganshi could be found, enveloped in black and red shades. During three fractions of a second, everyone –even the kitsune- stood petrified in their spots. The ki that had liberated the Black Dragon only a few moments ago, was now vanishing.
(Like the memory that assaults my senses
When you lay beautiful but absent
After cruel wars
Far away from me)
Kurama had run –by all the gods- faster than all of them. Falling to his knees beside the inert body, the medicinal plants had started sprouting around Kurama without him consciously invoking them.
"Hiei"
The Jagan was still open, blood pouring from the eyelids like red tears from that demonic eye. The scarlet eyes were empty and clouded, the gaze lost. Kurama could feel his face wet and warm because of the tears that were leaking from his green eyes. Softly, gently so, he picked up the blood-covered body, nestling it in his lap, searching for a spark of that fire that burned so deep within the spirit of the Forbidden Child. Ashes, nothing else. Kuwabara arrived then, followed by Yuusuke, who carried Genkai in his arms.
"Damn it, don't do this to me, Hiei. Don't do this. Come on, Hiei, let your ki burn. Please, anything but this, anything but this…."
Such words were meaningless now, it didn't matter how much Kurama raised his own spiritual energy in order to feed Hiei with it. It seemed everything was over.
Kuwabara was terrified. Yuusuke and Genkai didn't utter a word. Only then, at the last second, with the last breath, the ruby eyes looked up at Kurama's face. And there was something in that last glance. Kurama never heard the words, but he could have sworn they were there. Even though the eyelids closed the next instant.
By that time, in Koenma's office, Botan had barged in all of a sudden, her face horrified.
"Koenma, there must be a mistake. They just informed me that Hiei's soul has disappeared"
(Where are you now
After such a long time away)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Rumors say Mukuro went crazy. Botan and Koenma didn't know what to say. Guilt was a beast hard to dispel. Yukina had been unconscious during three days. When she finally woke up, the first words she murmured were:
' I feel as if I lost a part of my soul somewhere'
Yuusuke and Kuwabara mostly kept silent, but the aura around them was dense and turbulent, strangled with pain. All of them had kind and beautiful words towards Hiei, friend and comrade lost in battle. They all admired his sacrifice for both worlds.
All spoke about his strength, his loyalty, his inner kindness. Only Kurama, with dry eyes and a cold gaze, remained quiet. Things went by around him as if in a dream, and he felt disconnected from the flow of time. His mind was plagued by doubt.
'Where would you like to rest, Hiei? Would you like someone else to be notified? Was there another demon besides us who would mourn your leave? Would you like to go to the world where your mother rests? What should we do with your katana? What will I do without you? What will I do without you? What will I do without you? Tell me….'
(Now they proclaim your name
Those who barely knew you
When back then you didn't even exist for the world
When among shadows you breathed
I, who did know you, am beginning to think
That in the end, didn't know anything about you)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Will you always stay by my side, Jaganshi?"
"You ask some silly questions from time to time, Kurama"
Kurama laughed softly, as his hands tangled carefully in the strands of night-dark hair of the demon lying next to him.
"I was asking seriously" –the youko insisted, placing the ghost of a kiss over one of the high cheekbones of the fire youkai's face
"I was also answering seriously" –Hiei grumbled, but didn't move away from the warm presence of the being next to him. He didn't move away one inch.
"Hiei, tell me, fire koorime" –and the fox in his human form tilted down his face so that his eyes would stare right into the other crimson eyes- "Tell me, seer, my youkai" – so that his lips would move grazing the other lips- "Tell me if you will always stay with me, if we will remain like this, if you will wait for me…"
The following kiss had drowned the rest of Kurama's words, as Hiei answered and sealed the vow with his lips.
"I promise, youko, but you better promise it too"
(Where are you now
After so many sweet hours)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
'Promise it too…..'
'Promise it too…..'
'Promise it too…..'
Kurama awoke with the first sunbeams of the early morning, with a voice still murmuring around him. He blinked twice, thrice, four times, trying to shake off the same nightmare from his mind, and the voice from his ears. But it was still there, vibrating coldly but surely in his room, just like the breeze that blew from the open window.
(I can hear the breeze
Whistling through the branches
That used to cradle your memories
Your voice calling from my window
I want to follow it, follow you
Will those whispers take me to you?
Will you really be waiting?)
Kurama got up and walked towards the windowsill, his eyes trained on the tree that rose right outside his bedroom. From the closest branch –the one he had seen a thousand times- Hiei observed him.
"You're going to be late to your ningen school" – the youkai commented, his voice bored and careless.
"Is that why you are here, Hiei? Because you are waiting for me?" –the kitsune asked the apparition, the shadow, the ghost, the memory of Hiei sitting in front of his window.
Slowly, the half koorime –or better put, his memory- opened his eyes, as if reflecting every word and action.
"Of course" –the voice was soft but deep, and the small youkai stood, graceful and elegant he advanced on the thick branch and he jumped artfully in order to now stand on the windowsill. Immediately, and in a sign of how much he placed himself in the ancient youko's grasp, he knelt over the window frame, coming to stay face to face with Kurama.
"Of course. I am here, always like this. I am waiting, as I promised" –and with every word he closed the distance more and more, until they mirrored that night and that moment of a vow made of lips on lips- "But you better promise it too…."
The fox held his breath, waiting for the kiss, the warmth, that mix of wild winds of Makai and the dampness of dusk. But none of that was felt. When Kurama opened his eyes, the vision wasn't there anymore. Only the memory of their promises.
(Will you keep on waiting?
Promises and vows
But I still remember
You were always impatient
Blazing, like fire)
"Shuuichi, it's getting late!!"
Shiori's voice pulled Kurama out of his thoughtful reverie. Around him, the life of humans continued moving, and the school was waiting, along with the rest of the lies.
"I'll be down in a minute, Shiori!"
In the kitchen, the woman of brown hair let the tea cup slip from her hands, the liquid spreading on the floor, her eyes wide open and her breathing hitched.
Upstairs in the bedroom, Kurama stunned himself when he heard his own voice answering in such a way, calling his human mother by her name, like if she wasn't his mother….
Because, in all honesty, she wasn't his mother. And nothing here was real. Not anymore.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Urameshi and Kuwabara walked side by side, their shoes left behind at the entrance of the temple.
"Anyone would say we are devoted to the Buddhism, with how much we come here" –the boy with the dark hair joked.
"Well, for my part, there's no other place where I would like to be" –Kazuma replied, a smile showing in his face.
"Sure thing. Yours was love at first sight" –Yuusuke said, mirth in his voice, even if the comment was pretty accurate.
At the end of the hall stood Keiko, and her eyes were lit in an odd way, sudden happiness, anxiousness and relief all mixed up.
"What's going on, Keiko?" –the reigun master asked when they reached her, but his answer were the voices of the people sitting in the next room.
"……of course, Yukina-chan, you don't have to worry so…"
It was the kitsune's voice.
"Kurama!" –the other boys rushed into the room.
The crimson-haired boy with the ki of a youko was sitting at the right side of the kotatsu, a tea cup in front of him. Yukina was there, and on the other side, Genkai.
"Yuusuke, Kuwabara, what a nice surprise. I am very happy to find you her—"
"What are you talking about, Kurama?! We have been looking all over the place for you like mad!" –Kazuma roared, taking his seat.
The fox blinked.
"I've been at school, or at home, like usual"
"Yes, yes, but we've tried many times to…you know…tall to you…and…" –the tall red-head shut up after some seconds. He was starting to get all tangled in his own words.
"I'm sorry if in any way I caused trouble" –Kurama apologized graciously, his gestures elegant and calculated.
Yuusuke observed him with a serious frown.
"That doesn't matter anymore" –Keiko smiled- "what's important is that you are here with us. It's so nice to have you back! We are all your friends, and we have missed you, right, Yukina-chan?"
The small koorime nodded, a beautiful smile in her delicate face. The happiness was clear in her features. Her heart was so gentle that she found joy in knowing that others were also content. And she had wished with all her heart for Kurama to escape the depression he was being pulled into. Just like Kazuma had predicted, they were reaching him! Together they were healing the young human-ancient youko.
"I'm sorry for staying away. I …needed some time…." –Kurama hesitated, for the first time seeming completely sincere- "Some time away from everything, just to think, and make up my mind on what to do after…..after what happened"
Yuusuke breathed a sigh of relief in the face of the honest words. He scooted over towards his friend, his hand posing over the fox's shoulder.
"We're here to lean on each other, Kurama, to support each other. What happened was….damn it….it was a too cruel blow for all of us, you gotta believe that. But if you would let us, just…let us stand by you when you need us…."
"Thanks, guys" –the fox smiled sadly- "I think…yes, you're right. It was a devastating blow. But perhaps, during this time, I've understood some things. And now I know what I should do"
"What do you mean?" –Kuwabara asked.
"I've decided, that I must take care of all the promises I made"
The green eyes were hiding some kind of secret, Genkai could tell.
"Promises?"- Yukina repeated timidly.
"I promised many things to….Hiei. I will make sure to remain loyal to my word"
The rest of the youngsters exchanged curious glances for a moment, but they all desisted in further inquire about it. Surely it was something too private between the demons. Lovers' pledges, probably. They couldn't meddle in that. Anyway, what mattered was that Kurama was back, and that he seemed to be ready to move on.
Genkai, for her part, was arguing in her interior whether she should speak up or not. She had finally caught on the true meaning of Kurama's words and eyes. The finality of it. It was a tad bit unfair, maybe. But…but who was she to take away the happiness from the kitsune? And if by leaving was Kurama happy, what was she supposed to do? After all, this reunion seemed to be some kind of farewell present, from Kurama to the rest of them.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
(Beyond what I had previously esteemed
I have now endured
With sincerity I want to tell you that
You should wait no more
Because I come to you
Because I don't want to miss
The opportunity to tell you what in life
Was never said)
Again at the silent, distant place. Again beside the tombstone. The sky wasn't dyed in red and orange shades of the afternoon. Instead, it was bathed in deep blue-black, against which the stars trembled.
The young man clad in his impeccable uniform leant against the bark of the ancient tree, and he slid down until he sat on the damp grass of the hill. The howling wind was cold to the extreme, to the degree that coldness seeps into the bones. Kurama also trembled.
"What are you doing here so late at night?" –Hiei asked, standing in front of Kurama.
The kitsune didn't answer. He was holding between his hands a piece of white cloth, and his fingers were caressing it with sacred sweetness. It was the white cloth that used to cover Hiei's jagan. When Hiei was alive.
"Kurama?" –the image that copied with wicked perfection every line of the jaganshi's existence called the name, and asked again- "What are we doing here so late at night?"
"I've come….or at least I think so…" –Kurama raised his eyes towards the apparition, which looked so painfully real- "I've come to tell you once again, that I love you"
The ruby eyes shone for a fleeting instance, but besides that, Hiei didn't react.
"Because of who you were, not because of the way you came into the world. Because of how you were, not because of the hundreds of beings you defeated. Because of your own merits, not because of the titles you were given or what others thought of you. Because for me, you were much more than someone forbidden, or bearer of great powers. Because you were simply you when you threw everything away to love me too. Even if you never said so"
(You were something forbidden
And you were marked as something cursed
Reading beyond crimson mirrors showed me
There was a soul and there was a heart
Not only a shadow among the worlds
With messages of death)
"What's wrong with you, Kurama?"
"Nothing. I have finally decided to fulfil my promise. You promised, and I promised too. That I would stay with you, that we would remain like this forever, that I would wait for you. That I would come to you"
Hiei kneeled in front of the fox, leaning down until he was able to whisper in his ear.
"Are you really coming now?"
"Yes, I am on my way"
"You could regret it…."
"Never"
"And what about your human mother and school and your—"
"It doesn't matter. All of those were lies. The only thing real was what I wanted the most. It was you"
The Jaganshi's face tilted back, in order to face the kitsune. The small smile came to life in that childlike face.
"Come then. I've missed you too"
(Come forth then sweet messenger
Carrying messages to me
Tonight I await the warm embrace
Of the one who went away)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
In the distance, the city continued sleeping.
Kuwabara fidgeted in his bed, barely opening his eyes. He could swear that he felt a known ki vanish. Or maybe he was imagining it, or maybe he was dreaming it…..after 15 more seconds he sat up abruptly. That wasn't his imagination. His spiritual senses didn't lie….. Kurama?
One by one, Yuusuke, Genkai, even Yukina, awoke softly from their rest. They got up, hesitant, caught between incredulity and surprise. The ki that was dying…Kurama?
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Everything was extremely cold around him, and the landscapes were blurred, as if being seen through water mirrors. The sounds disappeared one by one. The only thing that remained was that voice.
"Kurama, come…."
And only that face in front of him remained. Too real to be his imagination. Too real…..
"Because I want to tell you…."
Kurama was lying on the damp grass, her red hairs –like silk waterfalls- spilling onto the greenness of the ground. His breath was less and less frequent.
"What in life I never said…."
The emerald eyes were losing clarity, the soul was escaping with every second. The only thing that he could see was Hiei beside him, caressing his hands, his hair, his eyes, leaning down until he placed his lips over Kurama's mouth, who exhaled for the last time.
But this kiss was completely palpable, incredibly warm and real. And Hiei's voice was full of emotion. Breaking with it.
"I want to tell you that I love you"
(The kiss of death
That creates a beginning and an end
Wait no more, I come to you)
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"I love you too"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
FIN.
"I don't know if God exists
I don't know if I exist
I only know that Love exists"