Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. I merely have a few rights to my OC Tora, the other antagonist OCs and this story! So, please don't sue! I have very little money as it already is...
Chapter 09 – Catching a Break
Written by: Amber M
Time is your master…
When the skies of Makai had gone completely dark, Kurama's wounds had been healed and he and Botan had pried the two cutthroat jaganshi demons apart from each other at their own risk. They were quite relieved to find that the fiery pair had been too worn to turn their blades on them. Kurama did however, receive a handful of death threats from Hiei and Botan got her foot stomped on by Tora. The red-head seemed to be the only one to go to sleep peacefully.
Honestly, he didn't sleep too well either.
The truth was: all of them had things to worry about, devoid of very many hopeful thoughts.
Hiei was met by the Aura in his sleep again. The drowning dream had changed significantly. Instead, he was the one who direly needed saving while the Oora hovered over the water's surface, silhouetted against a pale sun. She looked down on him uncaringly with no intent of aiding him whatsoever.
Shortly the fire demon woke in a cold sweat, greeted by golden eyes that actually appeared concerned. Sore from the previous day and left bitter by the dream, he had barked a rude "What are you looking at" to the fureasei and made the other two get up so the group could depart.
The day dragged on uneventful into noon. They had traveled at a hurried pace in the morning but were now walking tiredly along a common dirt path. Crossing a hostile, wind stirred desert depleted a person's energy like that.
The spirit girl was pouting, throwing glares at Tora who was too busy to notice, seeing as she was already busy arguing with Hiei for the about the tenth time that day.
The boys had informed the two girls of their findings in the chamber before they left the falls (though Kurama did most of the talking). No Auras had been there. Hiei hadn't been surprised by that because it could be assumed that he of all people would know when the correct Aura was nearby. They had set off for the northeast because Usotsuki had unintentionally given Hiei and Kurama a few clues as to where some Ooras are held.
"So, we're just traipsing over a hunch?" Tora queried sarcastically, "How brilliant."
Hiei narrowed his eyes more. "The idiotic panther said he enjoyed his lands where there was a good balance of sunshine and darkness. One particular region of Makai happens to have such a place!" he snapped.
Usotsuki had shot off his mouth to quite the extent. In doing so, he had mentioned that the Ten of Makai kept most of the Ooras they captured locked up in an underground prison. He also said the place where the prison was located happened to be one of his favorite regions of Makai, a land he enjoyed because there was a "good balance of sunshine and darkness there". After that, Hiei and Kurama had managed to make the panther flop onto a pile of hot coals that where in his chamber. It was easy to defeat him then…
"Why would he say that? Don't you think he might be trying to mislead us?" the fureasei retorted.
"Usotsuki expected to defeat us. Honestly, if another of the Ten of Makai was with him to make the numbers even, it might not have been such an incredible feat to achieve," said Kurama, "You know how cocky Usotsuki can get when he smells victory. He starts to blurt things out."
"Ah, yes, that's right."
"What! You'll agree with him but not with me?" Hiei protested, his hand itching to latch onto his katana again.
"He gave me a reason! You just believe that everything you say is absolute and no one is to question your words!"
"If you have to analyze everything I say, you're going to end up delaying us!" he snarled.
"Me? Delay us? I believe you've got that backwards. At least I am capable of saying what is truly on my mind but YOU—you just withhold as much as you possibly can: plans, dangers, or traps you may see. And your emotions!"
"What do my emotions have to do with anything?"
"They control a person's—or demons—actions. That's what! And you being so angry all the time makes you behave rashly despite the danger that's plainly in front of you!"
"Hey, I'm not the one who got captured! If it weren't for me, your head would have been melted off long ago!"
Tora hesitated. Then a mischievous glint flickered through her eyes and she said, "And who asked you to save me? Not that you really saved me. I mean, after all, Shibui did just hand me over…"
"Hn…" the fire demon paused. He looked at her thoughtfully. "Hey, what's that around your neck?"
"W-what!"
Hiei smirked.
"GRR! YOU'RE ABOUT TO MEET YOUR IMMINENT DOOM!" Tora leapt at him and their blades clashed again.
Kurama and Botan sweat-dropped.
"Um… I think I'm noticing a pattern here…" Botan surmised.
Kurama smiled nervously. "You might want to keep it to yourself."
"Seriously, you two! You need to cut out this senseless—WAH!" Botan cried, ducking out just in time to avoid the pair.
Kurama shook his head exasperatedly. "Alright…" he murmured and casually stepped right in between them. Botan had taken to watching through her hands, surprised to see that the red-head wasn't diced into a thousand pieces. She let her hands drop back down her sides and sighed in relief.
"Hn… I guess you're safe for now," Hiei muttered blithely, sheathing the sword and continuing down the path.
Tora shook with anger. "Grr… I'll—!"
"Oh, don't pay mind to him, Tora," Botan quickly chirped. "It's only his way of saying he likes you!"
"Huh?" Tora and Kurama replied in confusion.
The red head then laughed lightly. "Ah… yes, now I understand."
Him and Botan joined in laughing, Tora still oblivious to what they were so jovial about. Oh, they couldn't possibly be suggesting…? Ha! Fat chance… Tora thought. Listening to them was beginning to make the fureasei queasy. Frazzled by it, she rolled her eyes and started along the path again.
"Quit dawdling unless you'd rather be made into lovely afternoon snacks for desert predators!" Hiei called back snippily.
Kurama and Botan exchanged looks as a silence fell onto the air. Furtively they went on exchanging knowing smiles and sniggering. Not only was the thought of Hiei having a crush amusing but Kurama was also enjoying Botan's happy mood.
Hiei glared down at Tora, making sure she caught it before he went on walking. Her eyes were downcast to the ground, staring uninterestedly at the beaten dirt path. Hiei considered reading her thoughts then but quickly decided against it. She couldn't be pondering anything that interesting. The girl's golden eyes finally looked up and she raised a brow at him. Hiei realized that his glare had relinquished for a smile instead. Quickly he made to frowning and turned back around.
What the hell was that? he thought irritably.
The other three caught up to his slow pace and they trudged up the hill together.
"So, Hiei…" said Kurama, "…I think you should try a date…"
The fire demon shot a glare at him. "What the hell are you—"
"They actually taste pretty good. It's funny because I don't really eat fruit that much."
Hiei's brow twitched. He'd forgotten there was actually a fruit by that name. Wait, was Kurama trying to suggest something in that discreet way of his? The fire demon recalled the times when the red-head teased about the situation with his sister. Damn that kitsune…
He flinched when Botan spoke up.
"Now, that's something unexpected…"
They turned their attention ahead of them to see a slew of buildings popping into view. It was a town and an inhabited one too. The group slowed to a halt on top of the hill.
"Kuro-Ryu," Kurama said, "The only available haven for the demons of this desert region."
"Is it safe for us to enter?" Botan asked, crossing her fingers in hope that it was so they might find a decent sleeping place, food, and a bath. She really, really wanted the last of those necessities.
Tora hesitated. Then she nodded and said, "Yes. But ambling through the town by oneself would not be wise. So don't think of straying from the group."
"Why does it sound like you're only referring to me?" the spirit girl muttered grimly.
"Let's just find something to eat. Then we leave," Hiei said, slipping his hands in his pockets and proceeding down the hill.
Botan flailed her arms in the air. "Whaaat? But-But what about staying for the night? You know to get a good rest. We haven't exactly had a good resting period since we arrived here…"
"You weren't asked to come to Makai. That was your own—"
"Hiei, what harm would one night of rest do? The sleep we had last night was hardly helpful and we've all suffered more injuries from traveling these deserts. Fatigue is sure to catch up to us at a later time, perhaps at a crucial moment even," Kurama reasoned calmly.
The jaganshi continued walking, not giving a signal that he'd even heard the red head. Finally he grunted a "fine" without turning his head.
Kurama smiled, looking to Botan who was beaming brightly and quietly doing a goofy victory dance. She stopped after a few seconds and then whispered, "Thanks Kurama."
"No problem," he returned softly. He only hoped that they wouldn't run into more unpleasant surprises waiting in the town.
Kuro-Ryu was built up from gray rock, all of its surfaces smooth and ancient. There were a fair amount of demons about; most were thieves while others were deadly nomads. Kurama almost felt like he was taking a stroll down memory lane. He'd passed by this town at least three times long ago. It hadn't changed much since then. The denizens were frequently fighting amongst each other and the proprietors were still sleazy swindlers…
"I don't think you know who you're dealing with… If you actually expect us to pay an absurd price like that, you should also expect what's going to become of your insides when I'm through with you," Hiei growled at the greasy landlord.
The fat, blue skinned demon burped and set down his donut, moving sluggishly to get off his stool. "Listen, shorty… I get reservations from big, bad demons daily and—Hey! What the..!"
"Hiei, calm down!" Kurama urged as he and Tora struggled to restrain the fire demon from murdering the landlord.
Tora gritted her teeth. While she was kind of liking the feel of Hiei's impressive muscles, if he murdered this particular landlord, the denizens of the town might riot. "Can't you offer a discount?" she asked, feeling Hiei's coat quickly sliding away.
"Hiei, would you please!" Kurama tried again.
"Why would I give a discount to the likes of a buncha slack-jawed punks like you?" the landlord said slowly, now backed far behind his desk with his big stomach bulging out as a means to stay out of the jaganshi's reach.
"Slack-jawed!" Botan repeatedly crossly. "You listen here, tubby! We are NOT slack-jawed. And who are you to be calling anyone slack-jawed when your brain's probably the size of a nut! Not even a nut! A sesame seed!"
"Listen, bag lady, I—Ulp!"
Botan had gotten up on the desk separating them and snatched the demon by his collar. "No, YOU listen! We have been traveling across these miserable lands with nothing but trouble popping up everywhere we've gone! If you're going to deny us a much deserved night's rest just because we're a few yen short on currency, I'LL PUMMEL YOU UNTIL YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"
By this point, the other three had ceased all moment but for a few blinks. There were a few more instances of silence then:
"O-o-okay, lady! Geez, all ya had to do was say so… I-I mean…" the landlord reached behind his desk and withdrew a key. "…H-here ya go…"
Botan smiled contently and took the key. "Thank you!" she sang and slid back off the desk. "Alright! Let's go!" she said to the others and skipped along up the stairs.
Hiei, Tora, and Kurama exchanged looks and then followed after the blue-haired grim reaper.
"Bingo! We got the penthouse!" Botan cheered.
"Big surprise. There were only five floors—and five rooms," Hiei muttered dryly.
"Five floors, five rooms and five beds per room," Kurama surmised, "I suppose that's why they call it the Five Headed Dragon Inn."
Tora nodded. "Hmph, yeah. And if not for this spirit girl, I suppose we'd be paying five hundred yen as well."
"That price was absurd," Hiei grumbled.
"What do you expect? This is a con town of demons. Everyone's crooked and conniving here…"
"Really? Hn… I think I'll go see for myself," he said and walked back out of the room.
Tora raised a brow. "Oh… I guess he's going to scout for TM members, huh?"
"You're using an acronym for them now?" Kurama queried curiously.
"Well, we are in a town where several ears may be just twitching to hear some juicy information."
"And the demon whose ears might hear something could carry that something to someone else…" Kurama added.
"Right." Tora nodded.
Botan climbed back down from the stairs leading to the roof, smiling. "Well, at first I was skeptical but having a bath on the roof is actually pretty nice!"
Tora winced. "Oh, that's just perfect. Won't it be possible for peeping toms to… peep?"
"That's what I thought at first! But actually, it's shielded by nifty retractable screens! And you can also pull out a domed roof overhead, too! Although… I think the roof thing is stuck… I tried pulling it out but it just wouldn't budge," Botan mumbled absently. She started rummaging through one of the cabinets surprisingly filled with clean bathroom stuff.
Tora and Kurama sat down on their picked out single beds as Botan went on inspecting the room. A few times, the blue-haired girl asked them questions and made comments about things she found in the room. A couple minutes later, she got up from one of the desks waving a small paper in the air.
"Okay! I've written up our bath time schedules!"
"You must feel so accomplished," Tora muttered, lounged back on her bed.
Botan frowned. "Hmph… Well, anyway, here's how it'll go: first me—since Kurama refused to go ahead of me! Thank you so much, Kurama!" she beamed at the red-head. He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "My time will be from 3:00 to 4'. Next will be Kurama—"
"Ah… so that's how things are, huh?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Please continue…" the fureasei mumbled airily.
"Actually I meant that the girl's should have precedence… out of courtesy of course. You should go ahead of me, Tora," Kurama said.
"But Kurama… You're covered in much more blood and grime than Tora is… Me and you got the worst of it back there, remember? I think YOU should go ahead of her!"
Tora chuckled. "You know what? She's right, Kurama. You have much more filth build up on you than either myself or that willful fire demon… It's only fair that the filthiest get priority in this case," she said with a devious smile.
"Oh… thanks… I think…" Kurama replied.
The grim reaper smiled obliviously and continued, "So, Kurama's time is slotted in at 4' to 5:00. Next will be Tora at 5' to 6:00 and Hiei will have 6' to 7:00, which will then give everyone more than enough sleeping time! Now, then, does everyone have their times?"
"We're not idiots. I think a simple schedule like that should be easy enough to remember," Tora murmured and rose up to exit the room.
Botan narrowed her eyes in irritancy. Recomposing herself into cheeriness, she then remembered: "Oh! Tora! Tora, wait!" she called, rushing to the open door and peering out into the hallway. "Can you tell Hiei when his time… Oh, never mind…" she grumbled seeing as the fureasei demon was likely far out of earshot by then.
"Hiei should be returning soon. I think he only went to scout the town for potential threats," Kurama said, starting to read a green book he'd found on one of the night stands.
Botan pulled herself back in the door, smiling nervously. "Uh… yeah… Um, you don't think the Te—I mean… a certain band of demons would show up here do you?"
The red head blinked at her. "Oh… No, I highly doubt that. You don't need to worry, Botan," he reassured.
A sigh of relief left the girl. Then she proceeded to gather things for her bath. Maybe their luck was starting to change if they didn't have to meet up with any of the Ten of Makai members.
Raucous laughter rang all around the fire demon as he walked through the bar offhandedly. The place reeked of feet and liquor, quite unpleasant and yet it was the most crowded place of the city. Not yet had Hiei found any conspicuous culprits, well, none worth his time anyway. Truthfully it seemed like many of the demons had something to hide and weren't very good at keeping that information to themselves.
He finally slipped into an unoccupied corner and coolly surveyed the vast room.
"Don't worry, they're all primordial oafs."
Hiei swiveled his head toward the familiar voice. He found Yomi sitting back in a chair nearby, his hand rested on a table and wrapped around an ice filled glass.
"Jaganshi Hiei, yes?" he inquired.
Hiei chuckled quietly. "I could stay silent and walk away but I suppose that would be rude."
Yomi grinned. "I thought you had been sentenced to a patrolling duty beneath Mukuro's wing."
"And I thought you'd gone on a journey to train that bratty son of yours or some nonsense like that."
The youkai laughed. "Okay, I get it. It's none of my business. But I can't see anything that would bring you to a town like this."
"You can't see anything, period. Remember?"
Another laugh. Yomi shook his head and then said, "You've come here with some friends. I was quite surprised to sense Kurama's presence."
"We're… looking for someone. Or maybe you'd call it a something. I'm not entirely sure."
"Is it of great value?"
"Not really. I could care less."
"But?"
Hiei hesitated and then: "It's the difference between life and death I guess you could say."
"Well… it must be something difficult to obtain then, huh?"
"The Ten of Makai certainly make it that way."
The entire room suddenly went quiet, a wave created by all the demon head's that turned toward the corner.
Yomi smiled. "Sounds like you're in deep."
AN: Wahoo! I finally got some more ideas! Yeah, I know that was the longest delay yet! Sorry about that! I totally had writer's block though… I just hope it won't be returning so soon… (shivers) But I already do have the next chapter written too so... seven reviews will bring it up quicker! (gets pumpkin shoved on the head)
How am I supposed to talk through this... oh, thanks sooo much for the reviews! Although I was one short from my set number, I really appreciate those of you who have and continue to review! I just can't thank ya enough! U-unless… you're sick of hearing my thank yous I suppose I could stop… Uses telepathy (thank you!)
Hiei: You can shut up now. I think you've annoyed them enough.
Wolf: Aaah! Why are you so mean to me? Ouch! (topples over thanks to the heavy pumpkin on her head... plus Hiei pushing her) Hey, you're not supposed to tip over pumpkin heads! That's bad luck! Or... was that salt?
Hiei: (starts unraveling dragon tattoo)
Wolf: Uh-oh… (sighs) Oh… I guess it's time to… RUN FOR IT! (scrambles to feet only to fall down again... and again)
Hiei: ...Idiot.
