When Yusuke finally awoke the next morning, he was warm and pain-free, and two pairs of concerned, amused eyes were staring back at him. Hiei watched in amusement as Yusuke flinched away from Kurama again, and the fox moved back to give him some space, his eyes warning Hiei to not say a word. Obviously, right now, Yusuke trusted Hiei more than Kurama, which was a surprise to all three of them. After all, it had been the fire demon that had intruded while he was having a nightmare.
Once Yusuke had recollected himself and was calmer, the Toushin allowed the redhead to remove his bandages, checking for remaining injuries. Hiei, having witnessed him healing most of them the night before, was mostly interested in seeing that his wrist had healed. When Kurama finally got around to freeing his arm, the Detective pointed it at Hiei and made a shooting motion, though he didn't fire. Flexing his wrist under Kurama's careful scrutiny, he tested his range of motion.
As Yusuke's body had finished healing, his markings had faded back into his skin. Kurama had tried to trim his hair, at least a little bit, and now it fell to just below his shoulders. It was longer than Yusuke liked it to be, but considering the fact that he had tried to strike the fox, several times, Hiei thought the other youkai had done a decent job.
After he was certain that his wrist would hold up to a Spirit Gun shot, he turned to Kurama, serious brown eyes meeting equally somber emerald. "All right, Kurama. Spill it," he demanded abruptly. Hiei smirked at the fox; apparently, even Yusuke had picked up on the other male's tension, even though he had tried to hide it from both of them.
With a sigh, Kurama explained, "The Toushin cannot find the remaining enemies that escaped. It appears that they had outside help, or that there's a way to leave your lands that we don't know of. The first is more likely, because when I was still Youko, I mapped out the territories of all three Lords, for the purpose of knowing escape routes should I ever need them. They should not have been able to escape in the short amount of time they had between the rescue and the mobilization of the Toushin troops."
"Troops? I have troops?" Yusuke asked in disbelief. Kurama and Hiei just blinked at him confusedly, and he frowned. "Well, I know of my aides and my council, and I've met most of the people that live on my lands, but I wasn't aware that I had any soldiers. I mean, I have allies, and they're strong, but I've never seen anything like a military," he admitted, obviously unhappy at having missed something so huge.
Hiei snorted. "You wouldn't have known of the Toushin military, simply because it's not one, at least not in the traditional sense. Your high-level youkai are your military, and because they're scattered throughout your land, once mobilized, they can cover your entire territory in an incredibly short period of time. It's rather efficient, actually," Hiei praised grudgingly. The other two lords, Mukuro and Yomi, were far more controlling of their military's strength and location, but it left them unable to move as quickly or freely as Yusuke's people, a fact which both Hiei and Kurama had pointed out to their respective leaders back when the lands still belonged to Raizen.
Yusuke sat back, temporarily speechless as he processed the information that he actually had soldiers under his command. Hiei watched him through crimson eyes, waiting for him to make a decision. Blinking, Yusuke looked up at his two companions. "If they had outside help, then they are outside the Toushin lands?" he asked frankly.
Kurama gave an elegant shrug, and shook his head. "I cannot say that for certain, Yusuke. It is equally possible that they are still hiding somewhere on your lands. We have not found them yet, and I am nearly certain that we have blocked any possible escape routes, so unless they had outside help that could move them more quickly than our people could move, they could still be hiding among the Toushin people. It is…hard to say, without knowing the facts," he admitted, and his words held a hint of bitterness in them.
Hiei glared at his partner, but it was too late. Sharp brown eyes pinned Kurama into place. "This isn't your fault!" he snapped at the fox, his eyes angry. "I don't know who these bastards are, or who they're working for, but they were able to ambush us all, take two of us captive. So a few escaped and are currently hiding, trying not to get caught. It won't last forever. Sooner or later they're gonna be hunted down and punished. But not finding them is. Not. Your. Fault." Yusuke was growling by this point, eyes narrowed as he watched Kurama stare back at him, wide-eyed.
"Tch!" Hiei muttered, breaking the rising tension between the two males. Two pairs of eyes swiveled to stare at him, and he scowled back. "It doesn't matter right now. The Detective's people are hunting for them. Mukuro's people are hunting for them. I'm presuming that Yomi's scouts are doing the same. They can't hide, unless they come here, which would be stupid, because then we get to take them on." His eyes lit up and he smiled cruelly. "And if they get caught in the human world, they'll wish they had taken their chances in the Makai," he vowed.
Kurama just blinked at him expressionlessly, but Yusuke matched Hiei's grin with one of his own. "Oh, in that case, I hope they did. Has Koenma been looking for them here?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. Kurama confirmed with a nod, and he grinned in satisfaction. "Good," he practically purred, and Hiei could see the dark thoughts running through the Detective's head. If Yusuke got to them first, he'd merrily slaughter them. And then he'd find himself arrested by Koenma's people, unless the toddler had Kurama and Hiei do it, which wouldn't go over well, with either of them.
"Yusuke," Kurama tried to catch the younger male's attention, but when Yusuke turned to face him, he closed his mouth, watching the other man warily. Hiei could sense the Spirit Detective's youki, strong and contained, but ready to explode in violence the moment the enemy was in sight. If their enemies were stupid enough to launch the first attack, he'd finish it in a heartbeat. The problem was in not letting Yusuke make the first move.
He voiced as much to Kurama. "Don't worry, fox. If they come to us, then they're fair game. And they will come to us." He was absolutely certain of that much. There was no way that their enemies would allow them to slip away so easily. They wanted Yusuke broken, and probably both Kurama and Hiei dead. He didn't know who was masterminding the whole thing, but all he needed was to capture one and break into his mind, and he'd know for certain.
Yusuke was watching him contemplatively, while Kurama frowned at them both, but Hiei didn't care. Their enemies would die by his hand, or by Yusuke's, and it would be nothing more than justified.
A sharp knock on the door startled them all, and Kurama peered out the window, then smiled faintly. "Keiko," he explained briefly. Hiei scowled, and Yusuke blinked, startled, then moved to stand next to Kurama and peer out the window. The fox moved as if to leave the room to go greet their unexpected guest, but was stopped when Yusuke's hand reached out and snagged his wrist, jerking him to a standstill.
Green eyes turned to face Yusuke, and Hiei watched the conversation pass between them, all without either of them saying a word. A small part of him hissed at that, twisting inside of him as he watched them connect. Even if the Toushin trusted Hiei more right now, he still didn't have the same sort of easy relationship with the other male that Kurama did.
Kurama nodded and offered Yusuke a small smile, and the teenager released him, watching intently as he left the room. A moment later, Kurama opened the front door, and the soft murmur of voices could be heard upstairs as he spoke to Keiko, turning her away with promises that as soon as Yusuke had finished healing, he'd come to see her. Hiei snorted; the only healing left to do now was in his head. His body showed no lasting signs of the horrifying consequences of their disastrous fight and capture.
Keiko had apparently allowed herself to be persuaded for the moment, because Kurama came back upstairs a few moments later, alone. "Thanks, man," Yusuke offered, and the fox nodded an acknowledgment at him before settling on the foot of the bed, near Hiei. Silence fell over the room, but it wasn't really awkward. Hiei preferred silence. Kurama was a very patient youkai, used to silence. Yusuke was lost in his own thoughts, and so hardly noticed the other two youkai in the room with him.
Hiei watched in mild concern as Yusuke's mind drifted into darker memories, and he found himself wondering what it was that the Spirit Detective was actually seeing, even as he stared out into the bright morning sun. His left hand rubbed idly at his right wrist, and Hiei realized that he was probably feeling a phantom pain. Kurama moved as if to go comfort the other boy, but Hiei touched him briefly on the shoulder, and he stopped, turning to stare at Hiei, who was watching Yusuke.
Briefly, Hiei stretched out his senses and allowed his mind to brush ever so lightly against Yusuke's. He had expected the other boy to flinch and throw him out, so he was surprised when the exact opposite happened, and the Detective's mind opened up to him, pulling him deep inside another memory.
Pain wracked his body, and his wrist throbbed with a constant ache. The metal table felt cool against his skin, and he wondered briefly if he was coming down with a fever. He had closed his eyes in sheer exhaustion, his thoughts numb. It had seemed like an eternity that he had been here, in this place, even though he knew it couldn't have been more than a few days. Five or six, he thought, trying to remember what the youkai in charge of his torture had said, while smugly taunting the Detective that his so-called friends hadn't come for him yet, and probably wouldn't.
Yusuke had snarled at that, his eyes brightening momentarily in anger, but the youkai had just chuckled, watching the doubt as it filled his expression, until Yusuke had slumped back against the table. He hadn't given up faith in his friends in the slightest, but there was no sense in flaunting that before his captor. Kurama would come, and maybe even Kuwabara. He just hoped they came with an army to back them up. He didn't know how many youkai were in this place, but he had heard several voices in the hallway outside his chamber over the past few days, so he knew there had to be at least a dozen, probably more.
Now, though, lack of food and water, and constant pain had worn him down. They gave him enough to keep him alive, no more. They didn't even bother to bandage his wounds, not really caring whether or not he survived. His only consolation was that they wanted him broken before they moved on to Hiei. So as long as he remained strong and didn't allow the cracks to show, they'd leave the smaller youkai alone. Some days, that was the only thing that kept Yusuke sane, and he knew it. Heh. Who would've thought the runt would be his one anchor in this horrible nightmare?
Still, it wasn't easy to remain strong, not any more. Several youkai had taken turns at him, tearing into his flesh just to watch in delight as he writhed in agony. Some of them had brought their own powers to bear. Yusuke had been sliced open, shocked, almost drowned, suffocated, and burned. Occasionally, his youkai powers would help him to heal, but healing faster only brought on more torture, so he was almost relieved when his Toushin heritage finally backed down, his energy too depleted to be spent on healing everything but the worst of his injuries.
One of the youkai had thought it would be fun to fuck the human Spirit Detective. Yusuke had disabused him of that quickly, firing a spirit gun despite his broken wrist, the agonizing pain an acceptable price for the bastard's death. Still, he felt violated, and had the horrible sinking sensation that he'd never quite feel right again. So far, that had done far more damage than the straight out torture he had been subjected to, but he comforted himself with the thought that no other youkai had been able to even come close after that. Whatever defense mechanism that unexpected attack had brought to bear was holding, and they could slice him up, but they couldn't touch him at all from his hips down to his thighs. Pity he couldn't shield all of himself, but he'd take what he could and be grateful for it.
The door to his cell creaked open, and Yusuke waited in silence. He had quickly found that it did him no good to tense up, as it only made his aches more noticeable. Besides, his youkai captors never kept him waiting for long. Sure enough, the ringleader sidled up to him, and Yusuke turned a tired, disinterested gaze towards him.
"And how are we faring today, little human?" the male asked, baring his teeth in a wide smile. Yusuke didn't answer, but then again, the youkai hadn't really expected him to. Slitted yellow eyes gazed down at his wrist, and Yusuke felt himself tense against his will. Cruel satisfaction in his eyes, the youkai reached down and snapped his poorly healed wrist with a quick jerk and twist. Unable to keep completely silent, Yusuke let out a small moan, too tired and hoarse to scream at the renewed agony.
Cold eyes peered down at him, and the Spirit Detective fought the urge to close his own eyes in the hopes that his tormentor would go away. Still, he wasn't expecting what came next. "Seems like you're losing your fire, little human," the youkai mused, his tone more curious than disappointed. "I suppose we'll have to remedy that." Without glancing behind him, the youkai growled out an order, and two burly youkai moved forward, quickly removing the bands around his limbs and carelessly hauling him into a standing position.
The room tilted around Yusuke, both from the sudden vertigo and from the waves of agony riding up and down his body as wrenched bones and wounds sent sharp reminders of their presence. Before the youkai had time to react, Yusuke bent over as far as he could in their grasp, and promptly threw up everything he had been fed in the past twenty-four hours or so. It wasn't much, but it was certainly enough to make a mess.
The youkai would have dropped him in disgust if the ringleader hadn't given them a sharp, "Don't release him!" Tightening their grip, the two grunts lifted Yusuke, slightly more careful now, and half-dragged him out the door. Yusuke wasn't sure where they were going, and found that he didn't really care. Perhaps they had other plans beyond simple torture?
Yusuke vaguely realized that this place was a lot larger than he had first thought, as he was dragged down what seemed like an endless maze of corridors, before the youkai stopped in front of yet another sturdy wooden door, bars across the tiny window and heavy locks on the outside. The ringleader went in first, and Yusuke tried to focus, tried to anticipate what was coming, but his body was so heavy, and he couldn't really bring himself to care.
Still, when they dragged him inside and he heard a low growl, he blinked, forcing his eyes to focus. Had they brought him here to be torn apart by some youkai's pet or something? Were they finished with him. Raising his head, Yusuke stared blankly at the person before him. Slowly, something clicked, and Yusuke realized that his captors had brought him to Hiei.
The smaller youkai didn't appear to be harmed, but Yusuke knew full-well that looks could be deceiving. Hiei's eyes were slightly glazed as well, and Yusuke snarled, fury helping him to block the pain of his broken body as he struggled, fighting against his captors. If he could just break free, just get to Hiei, he'd kill every last youkai in this place, starting with the damn ringleader.
Crimson eyes watched him in disbelief, but the sudden fist that slammed into his broken ribcage caught him by surprise, and Yusuke cried out, tears falling from his eyes unsolicited. A low chuckle as he fell limp, slowly losing consciousness, and then he felt his body sailing through the air a short distance, until he collapsed bonelessly on the floor, instinct making him curl up as much as possible through the pain, trying to prevent further damage to his body.
Yusuke felt Hiei move to crouch over him, and a part of him wanted to sob with relief that he wasn't alone in here, that there was somebody else who could protect him, who could be strong for him for a little while. He wasn't used to being in the position of needing to be saved, but right now, he didn't give a damn. It was only him and Hiei in here together, so the only one whose opinion he cared about was Hiei's, and the other youkai didn't seem inclined to be disappointed in him. Instead, he seemed far more protective than anything, and Yusuke felt himself slowly relax as the ringleader spoke to Hiei.
"Don't worry, Forbidden Child. He's not dead, yet," the youkai chuckled, and Yusuke grit his teeth. Bastard. "But I thought perhaps you'd want to see the one that tried to rescue you…all of you. Pity the other two got away," he lamented, Yusuke would have grinned triumphantly if he had the energy or awareness to do so. Yusuke might have been captured, but Kurama and Kuwabara had managed to escape.
Hiei spoke next, and Yusuke couldn't decide whether to be pleased or horrified as the fire demon gave himself away. "Well? You have us. Now what? We're obviously not going anywhere," he demanded. Yusuke could picture the scowl on his face, his voice clearly unhappy with their situation. No shit, Sherlock, Yusuke thought vaguely. I'm not exactly happy either, ya know.
Yusuke could practically hear the glee vibrating in their captor's voice as he gloated. "That's all I needed to know," the youkai practically purred. Yusuke felt Hiei shift and then tense above him, and he forced his eyes to open and stare blearily ahead, trying to focus on the scene outside of their cage. Yusuke saw a small youkai with a crossbow shuffling closer to their small prison, and he heard Hiei hiss, obviously having dealt with this guy before.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. He might miss and hit your friend there instead. With the shape he's in, the drugs just might kill him," the ringleader pointed out gleefully. Hiei snarled furiously, but moved forward, closer to the bars of their cage. Yusuke opened his mouth, wanting to tell Hiei not to worry about him, to just try and escape, that it didn't matter if one of those things hit him instead, but he couldn't force the words out of his raw throat, and he cursed his own weakness as two darts landed squarely in Hiei's right shoulder, the fire demon grunting at the impact, his body swaying. "Good lad," the youkai murmured, the patronizing, gloating voice grating across Yusuke's nerves as he watched Hiei collapse to the floor.
The cage door grated across the floor as the large youkai opened the door, Hiei obviously no longer considered a threat. Large hands reached in and grabbed Yusuke's legs, dragging him towards the front of the cage, and Yusuke felt his body go limp, consciousness fading. No doubt he'd be back on that slab, chained down when he woke up, if he didn't die before then, of course.
"Yus-," the strangled sound came from a barely conscious Hiei, followed by words that Yusuke had never thought to hear in his lifetime. "Please," Hiei managed, the words obviously difficult to manage in his condition. "Don't." The slow slide and scrape of a hand scrabbling across a stone floor. "Leave him. Chain…me."
Yusuke wanted to cry, that Hiei would allow himself to be brought so low as to beg to be chained in exchange for the youkai not taking him away. For him, Hiei was making himself vulnerable, giving up his chance at escape. For a Spirit Detective to whom he owed nothing.
A low murmur, and his legs were released. Hiei was dragged out of the cell, and Yusuke heard the rattle of chains. Realizing only that both he and Hiei were to remain together in the same cell, Yusuke finally allowed unconsciousness to claim him, sliding quickly into nothingness. The last thing he heard was a dull thud as their cell door was shut, imprisoning him and Hiei in darkness once more.
When Hiei was finally able to leave the memories, he found himself curled up on Kurama's large bed, the fox's warm hands rubbing almost frantically up and down his arms. Hiei realized vaguely that he was shivering. A low murmur of voices surrounded him, and Hiei focused on what was happening, the shivers slowly fading as his body warmed up under the heat of what he now realized was another body curled up behind him.
"He'll be fine," Kurama was reassuring the worried Spirit Detective. "Sometimes, when he stretches himself too far, the heat will leave his body. As long as he's kept warm, though, he'll recover just fine. After all, he is part fire demon," the fox smiled, amused. Hiei just grunted, the sound alerting his two roommates that he was back with them.
The body behind him shifted, and Hiei fought the urge to move back into the warm embrace. His body, not yet fully recovered, started to tremble again, and he cursed silently. A brief moment of hesitation, then the human warmth was curled against his back once more, and Hiei found himself relaxing. Yusuke's head raised above his left shoulder, concerned brown eyes staring at him worriedly. "You okay, man?" the dark-haired male asked, obviously not convinced.
Hiei grunted. "I'll be fine, Detective. I wasn't expecting to be pulled in," he admitted reluctantly, not sure if it was a good idea to admit that the other boy had caught him by surprise. Yusuke just flashed him a guilty, apologetic look before ducking his head down, his body curling tightly around Hiei's, surrounding the fire demon with heat and scent.
He couldn't scent any more blood on the Toushin, which pleased him unnecessarily, and he shot Kurama a warning glare. Emerald eyes just stared back at him benignly, completely unfazed by his glowering expression. Hiei gave it up for a lost cause and settled more comfortably, well aware that Yusuke wasn't going to release him unless he forced the issue, which would require more energy than he felt like putting forth at this particular moment in time.
"What did I miss?" he growled a moment later, uncomfortable at having to ask. It seemed that the memories had done him more damage than Yusuke, if the Detective had been able to leave his spot by the window. Most likely, they had been talking while Hiei had been caught in memories that weren't his own. He decided then and there that he wasn't going to pry into the mind of Yusuke Urameshi anymore. The boy would talk when he was ready. Instead, Hiei would settle for making the Detective understand that nothing that had happened in that prison had been his fault.
Another shift as Yusuke shrugged behind him. "Not much. We don't know where those creeps are, and Koenma's pretty much ordered that we stay out of the way for the time being." His tone of voice was obviously unhappy, and Hiei felt himself bristling. No way was the tiny god going to keep him from tracking those bastards down.
"He ordered that we not participate in his investigation," Kurama corrected mildly, and two pairs of eyes peered up at him. Hiei, more used to Kurama's natural sneakiness, caught on quickly and bared his teeth in a feral smile. Shifting, he pulled away from Yusuke, and the boy let him, shifting up and back, away from the other two youkai. Hiei debated pushing the issue immediately, but discarded that idea. Yusuke was fighting between his human and youkai instincts right now, and forcing him to get used to Hiei's touch would do nothing but make him fight harder. There would be time enough for that later.
"So we can't participate in his investigation," Hiei repeated. "But he didn't say anything specific about not doing our own investigation?" The look of complete shock on Yusuke's face as realization dawned was worth having to spell it out for the Detective, Hiei thought smugly.
Brown eyes glanced over at Kurama, who shrugged. "His precise words, I believe, were 'Make sure you tell that idiot Yusuke that neither he, nor you or Hiei, are to take any part in my investigation!' He said more, but it really wasn't that important," he replied mildly. Yusuke just cackled, obviously pleased to see that the fox didn't take Koenma any more seriously than he did most of the time.
"Great. So when do we start?" he asked, brown eyes lit with determination and something far darker, a primal instinct that demanded vengeance. Hiei glanced at him covertly for a moment, then decided that it wasn't worth digging in to right now. If Yusuke wanted revenge, he'd make sure he got more than he could handle. Yusuke was their leader, after all.
Kurama just smiled, showing teeth, and replied, "I think I've got a lead." Hiei felt his own lips curling into a vicious snarl. Finally, some good news! Those youkai wouldn't know what hit them until it was far too late to beg for mercy. Just the way he wanted it.
Settling in for the conversation, Hiei watched as Yusuke absorbed himself in plans and strategy and the hunt, feeling an odd stirring in his blood that sang and hissed, demanding something that he dare not name. Not yet, at least. Revenge first. He'd figure out the rest after he had bathed in the blood of his – and Yusuke's – enemies.