Not Okay : Hell's Mouth
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Keep on leaving them. Oh, and I have to leave for Europe on the 25th of June, so that will by why I can't update in a long time. I'll be back on July 13th though! So, Read and Review!
I
Amiri and Hiei listened to the shrill cry of Botan. The demon returned to his original form, still letting the screams sink in. Hiei, on the other hand, had goose-bumps rising on his skin. He had heard that shriek before.
Then it stopped.
It was so sudden, anyone who heard it had the odd desire to lurch forward.
The Koorime had to tear his eyes away from Kurama's house just to look into the now gold eyes of the demon under him. Amiri had a smile on his face. You could say it was sentimental.
"What?" Amiri laughed. "Did you honestly think this was all about you?"
Hiei's mouth was dry. Fuck! It wasn't me... they didn't want me! They wanted Botan!
"G-give h-h-her back... Or I w-w-will k-k-kill you."
His pure rage made him stammer. He had to spit the words out between his clenched teeth, the muscle in his jaw twitching. Amiri burst out laughing, and Hiei brought down the blade. His eyes were wide with pure madness, but his heartbeat only increased when he didn't feel the soft resistance of skin. He couldn't smell the hot blood.
Hiei watched as the doll under him cracked and fell apart. Cheeks flushed and breathing labored, Hiei could only stare as the doll... the fucking toy collapsed.
The breeze was cold, but Hiei couldn't have been any hotter.
II
Kurama ran down the stairs, his red hair falling in front of his eyes. Yusuke and Kuwabara slammed open their doors, barreling after him. They heard Botan screaming. Kurama slid into the living room to see a man on the bed with her, leaning over her.
His black hair was long, almost engulfing the white sheets and the ferry girl. Her pink eyes were wide and shimmering with horror. His hand was withdrawing from her face, and all Kurama could see was the smallest curve of the man's lips.
Then they just vanished.
If you blinked you would have missed it. The only thing left behind was the wrinkled sheets and the smell of smoke and fire.
Yusuke and Kuwabara were speechless. The fox quickly searched for Hiei's energy, and found him outside. Green eyes landed on the Koorime.
The detective, nigen, and kitsune ran outside to see Hiei kneeling on the ground over what looked like porcelain. His eyes were wide, his pupils almost non existent. The heat coming off of him was equivalent to a roaring forest fire. Kuwabara couldn't get too close to him. That's how hot it was.
"Hiei?"
The fire demon held a... face in his hands. The face was frozen in mid-laugh. The eyes were squeezed shut and the mouth was open wide. Purple hair was framing the face, ending at the chin.
Yusuke kicked some of the shards around Hiei. He almost jumped back when he saw fingers. Toes. Pieces of arms, legs, back, and stomach.
"Hiei, who is this?"
The fire demon squeezed his hands together, breaking the face into little pieces.
"His name is Amiri... he... he is the one doing this to Botan."
Kurama frowned, his eyebrows coming close together.
"Hiei... you're wrong." The Koorime turned to face his best friend. "She disappeared... but she was not with that demon. She was with a way more powerful demon."
The temperature lowered. The air stopped crackling. Hiei's face relaxed.
"What?"
III
Malik and Botan appeared under the Earth's crust. The ferry girl had passed out and was currently being held by Malik. His eyes scanned the room, and he walked to a door. As he stepped out, the heat of the magma blew his hair back.
It didn't faze him. At all.
He walked over to the chains on the wall. With such gentle moves and touches, he hooked Botan up, her arms above her and the steel bracelets fastened around her wrists. He stepped back was just gazed at the sight. A sight that he had been hungering for.
He summoned a white dress to him. Malik rose his clawed hands and began to cut away Botan's clothes.
IV
Amiri, however, did not return to his Master's fortress right away. He flickered throughout the skies of Ningenkai, and finally, to Rekai. He stood on the top of the Gates. He knew that he was being watched, and that soon, spirits would be out to kill him.
"KOENMA!" Guards flew at him. Amiri didn't even have to summon a weapon. His claws plunged through stomachs and pierced throats. He would jump at his attackers and spin, the blood flying off of him. "LISTEN TO ME IF YOU EVER WANT BOTAN BACK!"
Every guard was on the ground. He returned to his post at the Gate. He gazed in the direction of the camera. He bowed gracefully, his claws getting stains on his nice suit.
"Go to Hell's Mouth in Makai." He smiled, his teeth red. "If you're really that desperate to get her back." He turned his back to the camera. "Which you won't."
V
Hiei frowned as the fox told him what had happened. Botan... kidnapped by another man who wasn't Amiri. The two must be working together, or one under the other.
"Should we tell Koenma?" Kuwabara was on the couch, wringing his hands so hard that his skin was raw and his knuckles were white. "I mean, maybe he could help us out to where she is."
As if he had been cued, Koenma appeared in a flash of fire. His face was pale and it looked like he had been crying. His brown hair was frizzy and he kept on moving. Whether it was pacing, shaking out his limbs, or just the twitches on his face, he always kept moving.
"Some demon was at our Gates today." He took in a shaky breath. "H-he had purple h-h-hair. He told me where Botan is."
Hiei's face was as smooth as ice. Like always.
"Where is she, brat?"
Koenma ignored that annoying name he had been called and instead spoke to Kurama.
"Hell's Mouth." No one said or did anything. Koenma felt that he should elaborate. "It's a cave in Makai... well... I don't know if it's really a cave but that's what it looks like from the outside."
Yusuke's raven eyebrows shot up.
"No one has gone in before?"
The Prince shook his head.
"None have ever come back."
The entire team was silent for a while. Yusuke bit his lips. Kuwabara kept on wringing his hands, only now he was rocking on the balls of his feet. Kurama closed his eyes, thinking, the probability ratios flashing behind his eyes.
Hiei only tightened his grip on his katana.
"Show me where." He stood up fiercely. "Now."
VI
That was how Kurama found himself in the darkest parts of Makai. It made all the hairs on his body stand up. And he was a fox. The kitsune exchanged a worried glance from Yusuke and Kuwabara.
Hiei was standing in front of them, gazing into the gaping hole in the ground. He hadn't said a word, but he didn't need to. Kurama, Yusuke, and even Kuwabara could feel the rage and feeling of purpose pulsing in his aura. Yusuke shivered as the three of them began to step up to the cave, so they were closer to Hiei.
"This place is creeping me out, man." He hugged himself. "There's no wind."
Kurama's green eyes widened. That was what it was. The air was dead, just standing in the air. Wherever they walked, they could feel the push of the dead atoms. Kuwabara stared at the never-ending darkness.
"I don't... I don't think we should go in there." He leaned in close to Kurama, whispering with a trembling voice. "Hiei shouldn't go in there. He's going to... I don't know... but he shouldn't go in, Kurama."
As the last syllable left Kuwabara's lips, Hiei unfolded his arms and jumped. He vanished into the hole. Kurama felt like his stomach had been plunged into a bucket of ice as he saw his best friend become consumed in the darkness.
"Come on. Let's go."
Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara leaped in after the half fire demon half Koorime. And on the way down, all of them prayed for this to be quick and easy.
But they all knew that Enma wasn't going to listen. Not this time.
VII
Botan felt like she had just thrown up almost everything inside of her. You know, when your stomach is tired and your legs and arms hurt from holding onto the bucket or toilet bowl. Her muscles had been replaced with hot wet sand. Her blue hair was down and she was afraid to open her eyes.
Wherever she was, it was scorching! She was panting, trying to get enough air into her lungs. And her arms... they were being held up...
The ferry girl cracked open her pink eyes. They widened as they saw orange. Red. Bright yellow. Burning white.
She was suspended... in the air. She tried to scream, but her throat was too dry. Her legs shot out, and she was horrified to see that she was wearing different clothes! That demon undressed me! Her toes would brush against rock under her, but she could not stand. She could only swing.
Botan was panting, her chest heaving up and down. She looked at her legs and chest to see that she was wearing a white dress. Plain. Like a summer dress.
That was when she heard footsteps. They were snappy, and they echoed throughout the entire cave. Botan almost cried when she saw Hiei Jaganshi.
He flickered up to her, gently touching her wrists, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I'm so sorry... I let you get... kidnapped..."
His voice, so unemotional yet... the statement apologetic. Botan finally let the tears fall.
"Hiei..."
VIII
Hiei landed on the ground and watched as Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara dropped in after him. He watched as they picked themselves, Kurama dusting himself and Yusuke cracking his knuckles.
"Hn. Let's go."
Kuwabara watched the fire demon go down the path to the far right.
"Wait a minute, shrimp! How do you know where to go?"
Hiei didn't bat an eye.
"I can smell her."
IX
Botan cried softly as Hiei touched her arms, his finger gliding over where her skin had become raw. He was warm and everything. She was so relieved...
"Hiei... I–"
"Sh, onna." He brought his hands to the side of her face, by her temples. "It's okay." His thumbs brushed away her tears. "I'm here... you're going to be okay."
X
Kurama noticed that the heat was rising in the cave. It was probably not effecting Hiei, but Kuwabara was going to pass out or die if they didn't do something soon. Kurama went to Kuwabara and pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger.
"Swallow these." He flicked three seeds into the nigen's throat. "They'll keep you cool."
Kuwabara smiled, panting slightly.
"Thanks, Kurama. I owe you."
The fox shook it off, a slight tremor going through his body when the ground shook around them. They all paused and looked around. Even Hiei's crimson eyes were flickering about in a nervous panic.
"It's fine." Kurama didn't know what he was talking about. Kubwabara's thanks or the situation they were in. "It's nothing."
XI
Hiei leaned in to kiss Botan. She relaxed, her toes brushing the ground as his lips settled over hers.
Her eyes opened.
Her stomach began to twist itself and turn inside out.
His lips were cold.
Slimy.
Slippery.
Botan's mouth, teeth more specifically, acted all on their own. She hadn't realized what she had done until she tasted the blood in her mouth.
XII
As Hiei walked down the corridor, his friends behind him, he thought of what Koenma had said.
"Hell's Mouth has been around since the beginning of Time itself. My Dad thought it would be a good place for Hell, but he soon realized it was too bad down there. The rocks are dry and sharp. The temperatures are unbearable to nigens and most demons."
"Whoever is down there... well... who knows how old they are. Dad said nothing was alive down there. No plants. No bacteria. Nothing. Everything was dead. Whoever is down there... they have to be powerful."
"Don't get me wrong, I want Botan back. I want her back with all my being."
"But... Who knows what awaits you...? I don't."
"If... if for some reason you can't get to her and you somehow manage to make it out alive... I'll understand."
"Oh... and... before you go... I just wanted you all to know that you've all been great friends. I love you. I really do."
Not very promising. Koenma had practically said goodbye to all of them before they had even died.
Hiei took off his bandana and opened his Jagan Eye.
I'm not going to fail, Koenma. The picture of Botan healing him was still ingrained into his memory. Her face twisted with pain. His pain. If I fail... then I die.
XIII
"You fucking bitch!"
Amiri stepped back, his purple hair and gold eyes back. His lips were bleeding, and some of his tongue too. Botan glared at him, spitting out his own blood onto his face.
"Don't you ever do that to me again or I'll rip them off."
Her voice was so soft and hard that she actually sounded deadly for a few moments. The way her pink eyes turned ice cold and how the blood dripped down to her chin. It was surreal. Amiri wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve.
"How did you know it wasn't him?"
XIV
Hiei knew exactly what he was going to do when he found her. He knew just what he was going to say. He knew how he was going to kiss her. He knew how he was going to kill the two demons responsible.
"Kurama."
The kitsune's head jerked up.
"Yes, Hiei?"
The Koorime... the Forbidden Child turned and smirked at his teammates.
"Let's get moving. I've got a lock on her." His smirk turned dark. "Amiri too. He's there."
They took off, into the darkness that was growing hotter. Hiei began to sweat as the walls began to glow red. They sprinted, and Hiei drew his sword as they came to the room. The hollowed out cave.
Kurama and the others stopped. They stared at the magma that swirled under them. Yusuke almost swooned with the heat, but Kurama gave him his ice seed.
But Hiei never skipped a step.
The entire world disappeared.
The only things that mattered were the two beings locked in his eyes.
Amiri and Botan.
Hiei drew his sword and jumped. His black overcoat flapping in the air. Nothing else existed. The lava. The sweat on his forehead. The heart pounding behind his rib cage.
None of it mattered.
He saw blood on Botan's lips. He saw it dripping down her chin.
That mattered.
XV
"He didn't!" Botan glared at the demon, who was continuing to dab his lip. "He kissed you?" His fists clenched and a vein in his neck bulged. "Bastard!"
Botan's lips pulled back, revealing bloody teeth.
"He did it so I would know the next time if it was really him or not." She spit some red saliva onto the stone. "And it worked."
Amiri paced about wildly, as if something inside of him had collapsed.
"He can't do that! He wasn't supposed to do that!" He sounded like a six year old. "IT'S NOT FAIR!"
The ferry girl felt no sympathy.
"It is." Her eyes looked past him.
"It's very fair."
Amiri turned to follow her gaze, and he saw a very enraged half Koorime and half fire demon hurling at him. Botan saw her savior. Her knight in black. The coppery taste in her mouth and the pain in her legs were forgotten when they made eye contact.
She saw desperation and true instinct in his eyes.
She saw the instinct to protect. Botan watched as he drew his katana. She saw his eyes lower to her mouth. To the blood.
She almost chuckled.
"It's over." Amiri didn't turn to face her, but she knew he heard her. "I've seen what happens to the people who get on Hiei's bad side."
XVI
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate them. So, again, just a reminder, I am probably not going to update for a while because of my band trip to Europe! I'm really sorry, but I promise, when I get back the ideas in my head will be overflowing, so get ready to read after July 13th! Please Review!
-mia
p.s. The music was listening to while I was writing his was Ghost in the Shell (electric rave remix) Type it in at Youtube for a good song!
P.s.s, Did you guys like this chapter? Please, be honest, I won't mind!
