Chapter 1: Ghosts of the Former Days
The tea was surprisingly sweet.
It wasn't the fact that the tea was sweet that surprised Hiei. After all, it was Kurama's turn to make the drinks, and he could always be counted on to add a dash of honey or some other sweetener to the steaming tea. Likewise, Yusuke's drinks were always slightly bland, and Kuwabara's attempts were so widely varied that it was impossible to tell whether it would be tasteful, or indeed even drinkable. Hiei, of course, had categorically refused to make anybody else drinks.
For a long moment he stood, teacup steaming in his hands, and stared at an amusingly decorated roster Kurama had hung on the wall to keep track of whose turn it was to fix the drinks. The word 'Hiei' was written in neat letters in the Thursday box all the way down the list. Hiei recalled making the drinks, overly bitter, on that day last week, and the week before, and every week for the last three months.
Remaining in the human world had been a good idea six months ago, with the climactic end of the Dark Tournament. With Hiei's energies depleted, half of Kurama's blood spilled onto the arena floor, and Yusuke looking like he'd picked a fight with a Dark Dragon, it was only prudent for the group to remain near one another until they were self-sufficient once again.
Though still hesitant to repeat his battle with his own Darkness techniques, Hiei could easily have left for Spirit World months ago. But instead, both he and Kurama had stayed. They rented an apartment nearby to avoid having the trip over humans who could not easily have dealt with their demonic identities, and had met with Yusuke and Kuwabara many times over the last months since the Dark Tournament. They had even seen a Movie last week, a pathetic enactment of human martial arts, and Hiei had enjoyed it immensely.
Hiei's hands squeezed reflexively, and the teacup was not a challenge for his strength. A sharp crack and the scalding liquid spilled out onto the carpet. A flash of pain caused him to instinctively drop the cup fragments, where they rang against each other as they landed on the sodden floor. A tiny red line bled slightly in the palm of his hand, where a sharp fragment had pressed into his hand.
Hiei stood disbelieving, a tiny cut from a piece of china had surprised him enough to make him drop the pieces. By all rights, he shouldn't even have noticed something so insignificant. It simply could not be.
"Hiei?" A voice called softly from the door to the kitchen, and Kurama was abruptly framed in the opening, "Is something wrong? I heard-" The demon paused, his eyes taking in the broken teacup and the spill on the carpet.
"I'm going out!" Hiei announced shortly, grapping his long cloak off the coat peg and throwing it around himself. Wisely, Kurama said nothing as the black-haired demon swept past him. Hiei brushed through the door and down the hall, numbered apartments marked on doors to either side of him. For a moment, he hesitated between the elevator and the stairs, and then pushed into the seldom-used staircase.
They will NOT make a human out of me. He swore to himself, jumping the first railing and falling through the gaps in the stairs to the bottom floor. The door on the bottom floor nearly cracked the wall with the force that he was punched it open with, and the clerk was suddenly very alert behind the desk. Hiei could care less. Saying nothing, he crossed the lobby at a half run and went through the glass doors into the mid morning chaos of the streets. He breathed deep the outdoor air, as if trying to restore to himself the strength that he had lost. As he started down the street, he bumped into a cloaked figure, nearly knocking the other off balance.
"Sorry." He muttered tersely, the cursed himself for apologizing. What should he care for some random human's comfort? Grumbling to himself, he stalked down the street and became lost in the crowd.
The cloaked figure stared after the departing black cloak, and breathed a sigh of relief. Had Hiei been more alert, he would have felt the fact that the spirit energy in the 'human' he had bumped into was far greater then it ought to have been. It would not have taken Kurama long to sense a street battle outside, and facing both demons at once was not a part of his plan.
Gingerly, he opened the glass double doors that Hiei had come barreling out of. He nodded to the clerk as if he had every right he be present, but it hardly made a difference. Seeing one of their long time customers flee the building as if a bomb had been set off had his full attention. The elevator was already at the bottom floor, and the doors opened as soon as he pressed the button. Hitting the large number '7' on the control panel, he waited as the metal box rose to the matching floor. Stepping from it, he strode down the hall, watching the numbers on the rooms slowly rise. In front of room 613 he stopped at the slightly ajar door, and his heart began to pound in his chest. For a moment he doubted his readiness for this action, but resolve come once again to him.
Steeling himself for anything, he pushed the door open.
Kurama was kneeling near the broken china, collecting the pieces of the cup before soaking up the now cold tea with a towel. He was hesitant to throw the bits of teacup away, as they had been his mother's once, but he knew that the little fragments would be no use to anyone. Perhaps he could enjoin upon Hiei to try his hand at melding the cup back into one piece. If the work were precise enough, it would be as if it had never broken.
The door opened behind him, and he knew the fire apparition was back. He studied the largest fragment in his hands, and the half of a phoenix on it looked back at him. He used it as Hiei's cup because the short fighter seemed to have an affinity for the image.
"Needed a walk?" Kurama asked over his shoulder, as he mopped up the remaining drink. With a suddenness that startled him, arms were entangling his, dragging his limbs backward into a restraining hold.
That's not Hiei! Kurama's mind screamed at him. He felt the strange makeup of this attacker's spirit energy, and it nearly seemed familiar. He struggled against the arms as the held his hands to his back, and a strange tingle ran through his body, as though his entire being had fallen asleep. He tried to send his energy into the rose in his sleeve, or the seeds in pocket, but found that he couldn't extend his energy past that tingling feeling.
I'm trapped! He said to himself, recognizing the feeling. In the Dark Tournament, Gama had also sealed his power within himself, using a mix of makeup and blood. In a desperate effort, as the attacker's weight bore him down onto the floor, he raised his head sharply in an effort to head butt his enemy and maybe loosen the hold. The strike missed, but caught the figure's cloak, tearing it away from the face. Kurama saw his own reflection in the fragment of china, and the image of his attackers. For a moment nothing was real, and then a soft voice whispered into his ear.
"A now, Kurama." Suzaku whispered to the captive demon, "You will tell me where I can find Yusuke Urameshi."
The tea was surprisingly sweet.
It wasn't the fact that the tea was sweet that surprised Hiei. After all, it was Kurama's turn to make the drinks, and he could always be counted on to add a dash of honey or some other sweetener to the steaming tea. Likewise, Yusuke's drinks were always slightly bland, and Kuwabara's attempts were so widely varied that it was impossible to tell whether it would be tasteful, or indeed even drinkable. Hiei, of course, had categorically refused to make anybody else drinks.
For a long moment he stood, teacup steaming in his hands, and stared at an amusingly decorated roster Kurama had hung on the wall to keep track of whose turn it was to fix the drinks. The word 'Hiei' was written in neat letters in the Thursday box all the way down the list. Hiei recalled making the drinks, overly bitter, on that day last week, and the week before, and every week for the last three months.
Remaining in the human world had been a good idea six months ago, with the climactic end of the Dark Tournament. With Hiei's energies depleted, half of Kurama's blood spilled onto the arena floor, and Yusuke looking like he'd picked a fight with a Dark Dragon, it was only prudent for the group to remain near one another until they were self-sufficient once again.
Though still hesitant to repeat his battle with his own Darkness techniques, Hiei could easily have left for Spirit World months ago. But instead, both he and Kurama had stayed. They rented an apartment nearby to avoid having the trip over humans who could not easily have dealt with their demonic identities, and had met with Yusuke and Kuwabara many times over the last months since the Dark Tournament. They had even seen a Movie last week, a pathetic enactment of human martial arts, and Hiei had enjoyed it immensely.
Hiei's hands squeezed reflexively, and the teacup was not a challenge for his strength. A sharp crack and the scalding liquid spilled out onto the carpet. A flash of pain caused him to instinctively drop the cup fragments, where they rang against each other as they landed on the sodden floor. A tiny red line bled slightly in the palm of his hand, where a sharp fragment had pressed into his hand.
Hiei stood disbelieving, a tiny cut from a piece of china had surprised him enough to make him drop the pieces. By all rights, he shouldn't even have noticed something so insignificant. It simply could not be.
"Hiei?" A voice called softly from the door to the kitchen, and Kurama was abruptly framed in the opening, "Is something wrong? I heard-" The demon paused, his eyes taking in the broken teacup and the spill on the carpet.
"I'm going out!" Hiei announced shortly, grapping his long cloak off the coat peg and throwing it around himself. Wisely, Kurama said nothing as the black-haired demon swept past him. Hiei brushed through the door and down the hall, numbered apartments marked on doors to either side of him. For a moment, he hesitated between the elevator and the stairs, and then pushed into the seldom-used staircase.
They will NOT make a human out of me. He swore to himself, jumping the first railing and falling through the gaps in the stairs to the bottom floor. The door on the bottom floor nearly cracked the wall with the force that he was punched it open with, and the clerk was suddenly very alert behind the desk. Hiei could care less. Saying nothing, he crossed the lobby at a half run and went through the glass doors into the mid morning chaos of the streets. He breathed deep the outdoor air, as if trying to restore to himself the strength that he had lost. As he started down the street, he bumped into a cloaked figure, nearly knocking the other off balance.
"Sorry." He muttered tersely, the cursed himself for apologizing. What should he care for some random human's comfort? Grumbling to himself, he stalked down the street and became lost in the crowd.
The cloaked figure stared after the departing black cloak, and breathed a sigh of relief. Had Hiei been more alert, he would have felt the fact that the spirit energy in the 'human' he had bumped into was far greater then it ought to have been. It would not have taken Kurama long to sense a street battle outside, and facing both demons at once was not a part of his plan.
Gingerly, he opened the glass double doors that Hiei had come barreling out of. He nodded to the clerk as if he had every right he be present, but it hardly made a difference. Seeing one of their long time customers flee the building as if a bomb had been set off had his full attention. The elevator was already at the bottom floor, and the doors opened as soon as he pressed the button. Hitting the large number '7' on the control panel, he waited as the metal box rose to the matching floor. Stepping from it, he strode down the hall, watching the numbers on the rooms slowly rise. In front of room 613 he stopped at the slightly ajar door, and his heart began to pound in his chest. For a moment he doubted his readiness for this action, but resolve come once again to him.
Steeling himself for anything, he pushed the door open.
Kurama was kneeling near the broken china, collecting the pieces of the cup before soaking up the now cold tea with a towel. He was hesitant to throw the bits of teacup away, as they had been his mother's once, but he knew that the little fragments would be no use to anyone. Perhaps he could enjoin upon Hiei to try his hand at melding the cup back into one piece. If the work were precise enough, it would be as if it had never broken.
The door opened behind him, and he knew the fire apparition was back. He studied the largest fragment in his hands, and the half of a phoenix on it looked back at him. He used it as Hiei's cup because the short fighter seemed to have an affinity for the image.
"Needed a walk?" Kurama asked over his shoulder, as he mopped up the remaining drink. With a suddenness that startled him, arms were entangling his, dragging his limbs backward into a restraining hold.
That's not Hiei! Kurama's mind screamed at him. He felt the strange makeup of this attacker's spirit energy, and it nearly seemed familiar. He struggled against the arms as the held his hands to his back, and a strange tingle ran through his body, as though his entire being had fallen asleep. He tried to send his energy into the rose in his sleeve, or the seeds in pocket, but found that he couldn't extend his energy past that tingling feeling.
I'm trapped! He said to himself, recognizing the feeling. In the Dark Tournament, Gama had also sealed his power within himself, using a mix of makeup and blood. In a desperate effort, as the attacker's weight bore him down onto the floor, he raised his head sharply in an effort to head butt his enemy and maybe loosen the hold. The strike missed, but caught the figure's cloak, tearing it away from the face. Kurama saw his own reflection in the fragment of china, and the image of his attackers. For a moment nothing was real, and then a soft voice whispered into his ear.
"A now, Kurama." Suzaku whispered to the captive demon, "You will tell me where I can find Yusuke Urameshi."
