She ran, gasping for breath, as tears fell down her cheeks. Reality before her faded and the memory of what happened five minutes earlier replaced it.
She whimpered in pain as the bullet ripped through her legs. She sank partially to her knees. Her attacker advanced, gun cocked and ready to fire again. "Say good bye to life." He smirked and pulled the trigger.
"NO!" She glanced to the side; eyes wide as someone shoved her out of the way, using his body as a shield.
"DOKU!" She screamed as the bullet tore through his heart. It was just to the side, giving him seconds to live. She caught him as he fell. "No..." She whispered, tears falling.
He smiled, his violet eyes quickly glazing over as he spoke. He shakily lifted his arm and brushed away the tears as he whispered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "I promised you, I... I'd... protect you, Yurei'ha-sama." He tensed for a second, then his hand fell as he died.
"Doku..." She closed her eyes. Willing herself to calm down.
Which failed when she heard her assailant's maniacal laughter. "How sweet, the hitokiri sacrificed himself to save his Shidosha."
"SHUT UP!" Yurei'ha gently set her fellow assassin's body on the floor and brushed his eyelids closed. She glared at him, her own normally earthen brown eyes had narrowed and turned to the color of blood on a rain-soaked battlefield. Muddy, and mixed with a light brown. The iris, which was normally larger and gave her a feminine look, had narrowed and made her seem cold, fierce and wild, perfect for a hitokiri. "You will pay for that, yaro."
"You cannot do a thing." He laughed. "You cannot stand."
"I CAN!" Another black-cloaked assassin leapt out of the shadows; his Bo staff ready to strike. The thunder of the gunshot echoed through the hall.
"SHINKIRO!" Yurei'ha shouted as he fell back, his back arched gracefully, blood flying from the wound. She dragged herself to his side.
He opened his eyes and grinned weakly. "Sorry Yurei-chan. I... Tried..." He coughed, his blood was mixed with his saliva.
"It's alright." She brushed his raven hair from his face. His eyes warmed for a second, for he could not speak, then he closed his eyes and he slowly exhaled his last breath.
"This is getting tiresome. I'll just end it."
She turned and faced him, eyes defiant. "See if you can kill me."
He laughed and loaded his gun. "Fine. See you in hell." Just as he was about to fire, he shouted out as a knife flew out of the shadows and hit his side. He shot towards where the blade came from and was rewarded with a yelp.
"NAIFU!" She felt tears welling up again as the other assassin stumbled from the corner, another knife in hand. He smiled at her and mouthed "take that bastard down for us", tossed it towards her, and fell. She barely caught it. She hid the blade, for he had not seen her grab it, he had been to busy dealing with his wound. He glared at her.
"Very amusing, now DIE!"
"NOT JUST YET, YOU BASTARD!" She knocked away his gun with Shinkiro's staff and hit the nerve in his leg with it, evening the fighting. She grabbed the knife and stabbed him with it, right in the heart. "See you in hell."
He gaped at her, then fell backward, dead. Panting, she somehow managed to get to her feet, but she had to lean heavily on the staff. "Damn it..." She whispered, looking at the bodies of her team. She glanced behind her as Kangae'dokusha entered the room, her last fellow hitokiri, that worked with her at least.
"Wha... He..." He stared at the carnage.
"Yes... He did. He killed Doku, Shinkiro and Naifu." Her whole body shook as she sobbed. "He killed them, right in front of me! I could not do anything to stop him!" Kangae glanced at his Shidosha, the one he had known nothing to shake her up.
"Shh..." He gently held her, and before she realized what he was going to do, he punched her in the gut, effectively knocking her out. Glancing at his fallen comrades one last time, he lifted her and ran. The mission had been successful, the escape not. He ran and fought tears as well, but he had lost many more comrades than she had. And he was much older, she wasn't even close to being fifteen, much to young to be a hitokiri, much less a Shidosha. But she was a brilliant fighter and needed money, and the Kyokai needed more assassins. Especially now.
Kangae glanced at Rei; she was going to be broken after this. He ran, considering his options. He would have to mind-wipe her. The Kyokai would not allow themselves to lose another assassin, especially now that three of their best was dead. And if she stayed, it would just kill her, spiritually. The strain would temporarily weaken him, but at least she would be safe, even if she did not remember them. And after the other hitokiri realized that she would be of no use to them because she remembered nothing, they would leave her alone. Though watch her from the shadows, for if she showed signs of improvement, they would take her in again, though he would make sure that would never happen. He would look after her himself, from a distance. After all, once a hitokiri, always a hitokiri.
When he reached the front of her condo, he quickly staged the area to look as if she was mugged. Then kneeling beside her, he put his hand to her forehead. Concentrating all of his energy, he suppressed the memories. Her mind was strong, and he could not erase them, but it would take a lot for her to remember them. When he finished, he was breathing heavily, his body being torn apart from the inside out. Using the last of his strength, he teleported himself to his comrade's bodies and created a portal to the Demon World and entered it. There he buried the bodies in honorary fashion.
I abruptly sat up, panting, completely soaked. I glanced at my alarm clock, three in the morning. I fell back on the pillows, shivering from the cold sweat. These dreams had started after I came back to life, had increased after my training with Genkai and became nightly after my fight with Suzaku, but for the life of me, I could not remember the dreams. Soon my breathing returned to normal, but I couldn't help but think that I was forgetting something important... Shrugging it off, I got up. Maybe Hiei was somewhere close, maybe he could help, I doubt he would, but it was worth a try. I felt like talking and I doubted Kuwabara, Keiko, Kurama or Ma would appreciate it if I woke them up. Pulling on some sweatpants, I pulled on a cardigan and my tennis shoes. Silently slipping outside I went towards the park. Sitting on a swing, I knew I was going to skip school tomorrow. My attention was drawn for some reason to the tree to my left. "I know you are there, Hiei." I whispered, he would hear me.
"Hn." He appeared and leaned against the support right next to me. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. I can't sleep."
"Nightmares again?" I didn't ask how he knew. For I knew that he had spy networks and funds hidden from Koenma in the more shadowed side of the business world.
"Yeah. Don't remember them, but... I think they really happened. I think they are memories. Maybe of someone I possessed while I was a ghost, for they started when I came back to life."
"Possible." He acknowledged as he sat on the swing beside mine. I felt his intense crimson gaze boring into me, but I ignored him. Even while I was fighting him for Keiko's life, I didn't hate him. If anything, I felt I related to him more than I had originally thought. I don't know why, but I have that suspicion I do. "Follow me."
I glanced at him as he stood up, but I did. Even though he told me not to trust him, repeatedly, he had gotten it at Demon City. He knows he does and when I flat out told him after I came to after my fight, he got this look on his face. It was a mix of shock, and acceptance. I know he'd deny it, but I think he values it.
He walked down the path, slightly in front of Yusuke. She was somewhat lost in thought, but wasn't tripping over anything. He had been surprised when she was so willing to trust him, he didn't ask for it. So he accepted it and cherished it. He would not let her down for she had his respect. And she showed him some, in her own, crude, unusual way. She was his most important ally. He glanced at her. She had even stuck her neck out for him when Koenma had nearly discovered one of his spies. He knew she knew about them, but did not tell Koenma. When he confronted her about this, her reply echoed in his mind.
"I do what I want, Hiei. I fight for my own reasons, and if your activities don't bother me, why the hell should I give a damn about them? I fought you guys because I wanted to, not because Pacifier-baka asked me to. I didn't want those kids to get hurt. I went to Genkai's to train because I knew I would get stronger. I fought Suzaku because he was going to kill everyone I considered a friend! I was not about to let him kill Keiko, Ma, Kuwabara, you or Kurama. If I had died, again, while taking him down, as long as he went with me, I would not have cared. At least that death would not have been pointless."
He had never had anyone call him a friend before, even then, when he told her to watch her back, she laughed him off. She had even suggested that he go and raise the lever at that gate. She was different than the others. She wasn't scared of him, but she was wise enough not to annoy him too much. He had walked automatically to the destination. He heard her gasp in awe. They were in a cave, beautiful formations scattered throughout, there was even a waterfall inside that fell into a decently sized pool. Beside it was a small campfire ring and sleeping bags.
"This is where I stay." Using his Demon Energy, he lit the fire. It looked normal enough, but it emitted demonic energy and would not burn outside the circle, it would, at Hiei's command, but he did not wish it to. And it did not need fuel.
"Nice." She looked around. "I didn't know this place existed."
"You wouldn't. I found this a couple of centuries ago and hid it. Only I know of its location, besides you." He could tell she was a little surprised he showed her this. She nodded and sprawled out on one of the sleeping bags besides the fire. She curled up slightly and was soon asleep. He sat beside her. He was slightly surprised when she moved closer to him, attracted to his body heat. He let her snuggle close. He took off his headband and opened his Jagan. His energy washed over her, keeping the dreams at bay. Putting it back on, he stretched out beside her, secretly enjoying the warmth. He stayed awake the whole night, katana at hand.
I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. I don't know why, but I felt safe there. Maybe because I knew Hiei would keep watch all night, or because I was in a place that only two people knew about. But in any case, I slept straight through the whole night. When I woke up, Hiei was sitting across from me; he glanced in my direction as soon as I was awake.
"There is a bag of donuts on the ledge, feel free to take what you wish." He stood and glanced at me. "And I'll go grab you some clothes from your home." He was off. I had just grabbed a chocolate covered vanilla butter cream when he reappeared with some jeans and a T-shirt. I didn't mind having to wear the same undergarments twice in a row, it wouldn't kill me, though feeling crappy would. Or maybe just Hiei. When I finished, I looked up at he was gone. He had obviously known I would want my privacy. Setting my clean clothes to one side, I stripped down, folded my clothes and set them beside the others. Diving into the clean lukewarm water, I grabbed a handful of gravel from the bottom and scrubbed myself with it. Getting dressed again, I used my cardigan to towel my hair dry. Tying it back loosely with a stray bandana I found lying around, I did my morning stretches. A few minutes later, Hiei returned and sat down, somewhat next to me.
"Thanks." 'For letting me spend the night, the breakfast and grabbing my clothes.' remained unmentioned.
"Hn." Eloquent as always. He paused a moment, as if to consider something, then handed me a videotape.
"New assignment?" I asked, eye twitching. He nodded and smirked at my expression. "Just like him to send me on a new assignment a day after I am healed." I groaned. "And knowing my luck I'll end up nearly getting killed again."
Hiei shrugged and stood once again and walked off. Sighing, I grabbed my clothes and the tape. Going back home, I dropped the stuff off and went to Kuwabara's because our VCR was broken. Perfect. He'll probably be dragged into this assignment somehow as well. Someone else to baby sit. Man, why couldn't Koenma send Hiei or Kurama to go with me on assignments, considering they were sort of Spirit Detectives now...? Damn that baby to hell and back.
Dokusatsu suru (Doku for short, which is literally "poison")-kills with poison
Yurei'ha (Rei is an affectionate nickname used by Kangae)-ghost blade
sama: sign of great respect, along the lines of "Lord" or "Lady" Only Doku calls, called Yurei'ha that.
Hitokiri-assassin
Shidosha-leader
Yaro-bastard
Bo staff- wooden staff used in some martial arts
Shinkiro-mirage
chan: used for those younger than oneself, or girls, or friends. Only Shinkiro calls Yurei'ha this.
Naifu-knife
Kangae'dokusha (Kangae "mind" or "thoughts" for short)-mind reader
Kyokai-guild
You have until June 16 to suggest another pairing, if not, I'm going with Hiei. Thecharacter that gets the most suggestions (in other words, vote) is the one that is going to be Yusuke's romantic interests.Arigato gozaimashita.(Thank you very much)