Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the related characters referenced in this story. The characters Sin and Emina are not mine, either: Sin belongs to KitsunexShi and Emina belongs to EminaKotek-nightmare. Both of them are totally awesome and you should TOTALLY READ THEIR STUFF.
Story continues...
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Earth Sector 1?"
Mal nodded, slowing his pace to match Kurama's and the albino supporting him. "Yep: Japan, the Koreas, and Eastern China. It's the area with the weakest barriers between the worlds, so a lot of things get through here."
Sin gratefully matched her pace to Mal's, shrugging her shoulders to alleviate the discomfort of the crutches wedged under her arms. "I'm confused…"
"I am, too," added Emina, peering around Kurama's chest, her face tinged slightly pink as the boy's arm was slung around her shoulders as she helped him down the street.
Mal massaged a bright purple bruise along his jaw line thoughtfully. "Alright, so Kurama already told you about the three worlds…turns out, even though humans are kept from knowing about Makai or Reikai, no one is really allowed to traverse freely, demon, human, or spirit, unless they're on official business- woah, watch it!" He reached out to catch Sin as she lost her balance and nearly fell on top of her, as the fire demon he was carrying slipped across his back.
"Thanks," she muttered, mentally cursing the stupid cast she was wearing.
Mal raised an eyebrow. "Should you even be walking on the sprained ankle?" he asked, holding up the crutches she'd thrust upon him.
"It's fine," she repeated insistently, trying to ignore both the aching pain in her foot and the deceptively small fire demon in her arms. "Tell me, though, how come you get to know about the three worlds when nobody else does?"
Mal smirked. " 'Cause I'm special like that."
Sin slugged him in the gut instinctively.
"Seriously, why do you know?" she demanded as Mal nearly doubled over on the pavement amidst hysterical laughter from Emina and a quiet chuckle from Kurama.
"…Mind the cracked ribs…" groaned Mal as he straightened up stiffly. "Haven't I taken enough of a beating already from the little maniac on my back?"
"Answer the question."
"Alright, alright," Mal conceded, picking up his explanation where he had left off earlier. "So, inter-world traffic is very restricted, but there are a lot of demons that would die for the chance to get into Ningenkai. Up until quite recently, this thing called the Kekai Barrier had been raised, which kept most demons were held securely within their own world. However, the primary purpose of the barrier is to keep out the very strongest demons, so it was actually possible for a few weaker demons to slip through the barrier's netting and enter Ningenkai. The one snag was that the demon still had to be strong enough to break through the natural barrier between the worlds, and for the most part, the two barriers overlapped in strength. There were still a couple of spots, though, where a demon small enough to slip the Kekai netting was still strong enough to break trough to Ningenkai, and one of the prime breakthrough points is actually here, in Japan. So, naturally, the person meant to guard against these demons was chosen from Japan, allowing a single person to feasibly defend the entire planet while still maintaining a normal lifestyle. This person was called the Spirit Detective."
"At the time, the term Spirit Detective was a little misleading," said Kurama.; "Really, we were simply strong, capable fighters who went where Koenma told us to and defeated whatever opponent we came up against."
Sin looked back at him, curiously, as the group stopped at a crosswalk. "You were a spirit detective, Kurama?"
He nodded, and was about to continue when Mal glanced back over his shoulder. "Hang on, you're Kurama? As in Youko Kurama?"
The green eyed youth nodded with a smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Mal blinked several times, then turned to look at his cargo. "So this would be Hiei…like, the Hiei…"
Kurama nodded again. "That's correct."
A few moments passed. Sin could practically see the gears in Mal's head whirling away. "So…so when he started to attack right before I shot him, he was about to fire the Dragon of the Darkness Flame…"
"Indeed he was," answered Kurama gravely.
A few more moments passed. "Well…" said Mal quietly, "That would have been unfortunate…"
He suddenly shook his head violently. "Anyway, I should continue."
The light changed, and the teens proceeded across the street, drawing several curious and concerned looks. "Yes, Kurama was a member of the Spirit Detective team, the one that was active when the Kekai Barrier dropped. After the first two detectives didn't work out, Koenma decided it would be a better idea to sponsor a team, rather than just a single person, to relieve some of the stress on the actual Spirit Detective himself." He glanced over at Kurama, who nodded.
Sin looked between the two boys. "So did you two know each other already? Maybe not as Suiichi, but as Kurama?"
Mal shrugged. "Well…it's more like I knew of him. The core members of that team are pretty well-known among us Spirit Detectives: Yusuke, Kuabara, Hiei, and Kurama."
Sin glanced skeptically at the body she was carrying. "Seriously? Hiei was a "Spirit Detectives?" The first thing he did when he met Emina and me was to threaten us with death…
Kurama chuckled quietly. "His stint as one of human-kind's defenders was not by choice, you understand, at least not at first. In fact, it wasn't for either of us: Yusuke was the actual Detective, and his first case was to track down the two of us, along with a third demon, for stealing three powerful artifacts from Spirit World."
"…So you're a criminal?" asked Sin after a moment.
Kurama looked down. "Well, not as such, not anymore-"
Mal interrupted, laughing. "Not just any criminal: he was widly considered to be the single greatest thief of all time."
Sin's eye's widened at that as Mal turned to her. "See, our friend Suiichi is actually a bit over a thousand years old. He's only had his human form for about 18 years, but before that, he was known more widely as Youko, the spirit fox, and if he hadn't been tagged by a lucky shot about 18 years ago, he would still be committing the most amazing thefts any of the three worlds has ever seen."
Emina laughed this time. "You seem pretty interested in his history, Mal. Got a bit of a man-crush on him?"
Kurama glanced over at her, amused. "All modesty aside, I was quite skilled at my trade less than two decades ago. But after I was injured, I took refuge in an infant child's body to recover my energy. That body is the one you see before you." He shrugged. "The body was well-enough developed that the Youko and Suiichi personalities…blended, in a way. I can honestly say that Youko is a different person from the Kurama talking to you. Now, I'm trying to put my life of crime behind me. You might say the change of body came with a change of heart."
Sin raised an eyebrow. "Very poetic. What about Hiei?"
"Hiei's famous in Makai as the only being ever to have mastered the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, quite possibly the single most powerful technique in history," said Mal. "Beyond that, I don't know much about him."
The red-head shrugged helplessly. "Beyond that, no one knows. We know he was born to a female ice demon that'd had an affair with a fire demon, and that he spent most of his life prior to my knowing him as a sadistic bandit that killed everyone he met. He has a twin sister named Yukina, whom he finally found a few years ago after decades of searching. That third eye of his came about sometime during the nebulous forty years or so that we have no record of. Beyond that, he was quite the recluse before I met him, so the only way to learn anything more is to hear it from him. And he's not exactly the social sort."
"So how exactly did you both end up working for the good guys?" asked Sin.
"Well, actually, I only helped steal the artifacts from Spirit world so I could heal my mother, who was deathly ill."
Emina couldn't contain a quiet "Aw…"
Kurama continued, seemingly oblivious to her, as the group rounded a corner. "Yusuke actually helped me with that matter: had I used the artifact as intended, it would have killed me. I was very grateful, and afterwards I returned it willingly. I later repaid the debt by taking a sword wound in Yusuke's stead as we attempted to capture Hiei, who had stolen the other two artifacts in a world-domination plan that could, at best, be called "absurd." Koenma ended up suspending our sentence as long as we agreed to become a part of Yusuke's team-"
"Wait, wait…Koenma…" asked Emina from beside her green-eyed charge, "As in, Prince Koenma? He's your boss?"
Mal winced. "Eh, I really don't like to think of it that way…but yeah, I suppose he is. He's more like my employer. See, now that the Kekai Barrier is down, a lot more demons are able to cross over from Makai. At the time, nobody important enough seemed to realize that even with their new 'elected government,' demons are still demons: violent, aggressive, and completely disdainful of authority."
"In order to maintain any kind of objectivity, you must first be able to consider-" said Sin, quoting Kurama.
"Oh hush," said Mal. "I get paid to find demons and beat the tar out of them, how objective am I supposed to be?"
"More objective than that," said Emina, a little darkly. Sin glanced at her best friend, and found that for once she couldn't tell what was on her mind. Disconcerted she turned away, refocusing on the conversation in front of her.
"Koenma pays you?" asked Kurama, a little shocked.
Mal nodded. "Yes he does."
There was a moment's silence. Mal glanced back at Kurama. "Wait, did he not pay you guys before?"
Kurama looked away, a glint of irritation shining in his emerald eyes.
Mal looked pained. "That's not right…
Kurama turned back and shook his head. "There was really no need to. As I said, we weren't really doing real detective work."
Mal looked disbelieving. "I've seen some of the footage from your fights, Kurama. You ended that fight with Karasu bleeding from head to foot." Emina gasped and looked up at the red head. "I mean, I couldn't even make out the color of your clothing anymore…and yet he didn't pay you for anything?"
Kurama shrugged slightly, and winced. "Well, he may not have 'paid' us, precisely, but my work for the detectives was in exchange for my freedom: I had accumulated quite the list of charges during my time as a thief, so I suppose it was a fair trade."
"Anyway," said Sin firmly.
Mal coughed. "Right, so," he continued. "After the Kakai Barrier went down, all sorts of demons began making there way into human world, way too many for one person or team to contain. So Koenma had to draft multiple people, all over the globe, to deal with them. Now there are twelve Spirit Detectives, with divided territories, each covering a certain section of the globe. I'm in charge of sector one, here in Japan, so named because the natural barriers between the worlds are weakest here. There are a couple of other differences, too: we get paid now, sorry Kurama, and we operate more independently of Spirit World. We don't get as much information on the demons as the old detectives did, but we also don't have to jump through hoops just because Koenma says so. We simply have to find demons or other inter-world criminals. And basically, that's my job: I hunt down demons that have gotten into Human World and demand they show proper permissive papers. These papers state the explicit terms of their presence in this world, and all of them have Koenma's stamp of approval and give off a unique energy signature. If they don't have their papers, I have to arrest them and send them to Spirit World for processing."
Sin nodded as the approached Emina's cottage. "Sounds like fun."
Mal laughed, flexing his bruised jaw and massaging his ribcage. "Sometimes, Sin, I find this job can be a little too much fun, as it were…"
Sin stared down at the small demon's sleeping form and tried to force her heart to stop racing.
"Ready?" asked Kurama in the dimly-lit room.
Sin looked over at the read head, illuminated faintly by the fading daylight filtering through the window. He was holding what looked like a leafy green balloon with a set of vines protruding from it and looking at her expectantly.
Sin gulped, wishing for the millionth time that she'd gone home like Mal had, instead of asking to stay over at Emina's that night. She hadn't counted on the fact that Kurama would want to take more blood samples of her, although she half-suspected that it was just an excuse to stay with Emina.
"Yeah…" she said, nervously, dreading what the boy was planning to do with that disgusting plant, whose vines seemed to be moving and swaying completely on their own. "Just…just gimme a moment…"
The red-head cleared his throat. "Um, I must ask why you decided we should do this in here…it's very poor lighting, and we'd be better off not disturbing Hiei."
Sin glanced back at the small, shirtless form on the bed, and sighed quietly. A few days previously, when Kurama had been trying to stick her full of alien flora, Hiei had somehow managed to simply take away her fear. Sure, he'd been threatening her life and pinning her to the sofa at the same time, but still…she'd looked into his eyes and felt her fear fade away, like it had been drawn into those deep, crimson orbs and incinerated…
She felt herself blush hotly, and was suddenly thankful for the dim light. She thrust out her arm to Kurama. "Alright, just do it."
"This will probably sting…" He warned, as Sin focused her gaze intently on Hiei, trying to recall that feeling of smooth, blanketing calm. And oddly enough, she could swear she felt it working. She carefully thought her way around the idea of needles, and her skin didn't start to crawl like it normally would. It was as though Hiei was inside her mind again, shutting down the phobia with his crimson eyes…
She felt Kurama's gentle but firm grasp on her arm for a moment, and then a sharp prick.
The feeling of a foreign body wiggling about inside her flesh brought the faded phobia sprinting back hurriedly, determined to make up for the time it had lost while it was away.
Sin felt her throat clench up and a blood-curdling scream swelled up in her chest, but a strong hand suddenly clamped over her mouth, catching the scream before it could escape. "I would strongly advise against that," Kurama whispered quickly. "Hiei does not take kindly to rude awakenings. Startling him while he's asleep is asking for him to slit your throat."
Sin looked down at the fire demon, who was still unconscious on the bed. The throbbing pain in her arm was sending waves of pure, unadulterated fear into her brain, so she barely registered Kurama's warning before fear shut her mind down, and in a moment of blind instinctive, primal need her other arm snapped out and latched onto Hiei's like a lamprey eel.
She felt her hand brush the demon's arm, felt the cool, soft skin, and for a short moment, a calm slid over her mind, a calm that was shattered as her back slammed into the hard wall. The impact sent pain throughout her entire torso, and she slid to the ground, landing awkwardly on her injured foot, which throbbed violently, erasing all traces of the serenity she had felt a mere moment before.
She looked up and saw Hiei sitting bolt upright, silhouetted by the twilit window. His head snapped around, featureless except for his large purple eye that shown brightly in the dim light. She found herself looking up into it, expecting to see anger and annoyance at being so harshly woken up, but found none. She couldn't place it exactly, but the eye seemed almost…sad…
Then, the outline blurred and vanished. The window pane shattered loudly in the wake of Hiei's swift exit.
There was silence, broken by a sigh from Kurama. "I did warn you. You're lucky the vampire weed came loose so easily. We'd have had rather a time of it trying to extract any torn pieces from your veins before they took root."
Sin turned to the boy's shadowed form, deciding to ignore that last part. "Don't you think you should-"
Sin's chest finally registered the force with which Hiei had hit her, and she finished her sentence with a snarl of pain.
Kurama was suddenly kneeling down in front of her in the dark. "I apologize; I hadn't realized how hard Hiei must have hit you. How badly are you injured?"
Sin indicated the bruise slowly forming high on her chest, slightly below her left shoulder. "It's not…ouch, it's not that bad, it just stings…"
She couldn't really see his expression in the light, but she could hear a slight confusion in his voice. "Really?" he asked, fingers tracing the injured area, "I thought for sure Hiei would have broken your collarbone, hitting you that hard-"
The lights clicked on. "What's going on- oh…"
Sin and Kurama looked up at Emina, clad in her pajamas, standing in the doorway, eyes locked onto the pair.
Kurama quickly withdrew his outstretched hand from Sin's chest. "Hello, Emina," he said. "Is everything alright?"
After a short, silent pause, she responded. "Yeah…everything's fine…" Sin watched her friend force her eyes away from them and onto the empty bed. "Where's Hiei?" she asked, a little distantly.
Kurama stood up and coughed. "He, uh, was feeling a bit better, so he decided to take a walk to clear his head."
Emina nodded, raising her eyes a little. "Through my window, I see."
Kurama nodded back. "It would appear that way."
Her face was unreadable as she turned back to him. "Don't you think you should go after him?"
He shook his scarlet mane, oblivious to Emina's unusual demeanor. "No, not particularly." He indicated the bandages around his midriff. "I'm sure he's perfectly capable of-"
"I think you should go after him," stated Emina, and she turned and left the room without another word.
Kurama stared after her. He turned to Sin after a moment, a puzzled look on his face. "I believe I was just politely commanded to leave."
Sin nodded. "Looks like."
Kurama looked back to the empty doorway silently.
"Well, it did look kinda awkward when she walked in," Sin said.
Kurama sighed and shook his head. "Yes, but one would think the multi-colored bruise on your chest would catch the eye more than the placement of my hand."
Sin gave a pained shrug. "She's a teenaged girl, Kurama. We're hard to predict."
The boy nodded, resting his head wearily in his hand. He looked back at Sin pleadingly. "I don't suppose you could try and talk to her? Maybe see if you can explain the-"
Sin cut him off, shaking her head. "She's just as pissed at me, Kurama. I'm sorry, but you're on your own here."
"Ah…I suspected that might be the case." He nodded to himself. "Well, I suppose I ought to leave, then, even if I won't be searching for Hiei incredibly hard."
Sin stood up, wincing at the pain in her shoulder and neck, and looked at him questioningly. "Why not? Aren't you guys friends?"
He gestured to the bandages around his midriff. "While this isn't the first time Hiei has stabbed me through the abdomen, or the last for that matter, it doesn't mean I appreciate the gesture. And I'm going to be working on analyzing your blood sample." He shrugged as he gathered up the disgusting, bulbous plant and its waving tendrils. "He'll be back in any event."
Sin cocked her head. "Why do you say that?"
"Simple," said Kurama, a mischievous smile playing at his lips. "He left his sword here."
