Chapter 10

Hiei scowled at the palace from his perch on a nearby rock formation. He wasn't sure why he had returned to Reikai. He had sensed Kurama was in a high level of distress, and had tried to contact him telepathically. There had been no reply. He supposed in the end it was just a matter of boredom, although he had to be careful not to run into Koenma. Kami knows he would probably try to rope him into some mission or another.

Not this time, you little brat.

He began to jump from rock to rock to reach the palace. Just as he landed on the railing of an balcony hallway, the fire demon heard something quite unusual. A scream, not too far away. He cocked an eyebrow and moved soundlessly down the hall, soon turning a corner.

A woman, her face concealed in the shadow of a pillar, stood in the middle of the hallway. He heard her soft whisper.

"Mine."

She abruptly became aware of him and inclined her head slightly, her face still enshrouded in darkness.

"Ahhh." He could feel the air between them crackle with a dangerous energy when she spoke. "You must be Hiei. Hiei of the Dragon. Am I correct?"

"You don't belong here."

"Hm. How could you tell?"

Hiei drew his katana and took a step forward. "If you don't give me an acceptable reason for being here now, I will kill you."

"Oh, please try." She laughed and vanished.

Hiei quickly found her and sprang into the air. She was very fast, nearly as fast as him. He flitted around the pillars, often coming within inches of the demon. But with every movement he made, she was just able to counter-react in time to avoid his blade.

Although it wasn't necessary for him to fight, he almost wished she would look him in the eye. He could often tell an enemy's next move by the dilation of their pupils, but he was having no such luck with this one. She continually looked away, an exhilarated smile on her face.

He landed on the marble floor and paused for a second's fraction, looking up towards her. He finally made eye contact.

And realized he had made a grave mistake.

The one emotion he could vaguely sense under the strange paralysis was anger. How dare she? And how could he be weak enough not to fight this? Her energy drew closer, but all he could see were her gilded eyes, burning, unchanging, irresistible. Her scent enveloped him, suffocated him…

A sardonic laugh. Her eyes vanished.

"No…a little while longer. I'm having too much fun with you."

It was like he had been bound for hours by steel cables that had just snapped free. He stumbled, and in that split second, she was gone. Even for a few seconds after that, his senses were jumbled. It was a very vulnerable feeling for Hiei that very much pissed him off.

Damn her, what was that?!

She had paused a few yards to his right, almost as if she was waiting for his recovery. He growled and whipped around, launching himself towards the pillar she half-hid behind. She issued another exhilarated laugh and jumped for a beam in the ceiling.

Then suddenly, as she grasped the beam and began to pull herself up onto it, her averted eyes focused on something down the hallway behind Hiei. She paused again, giving the fire youkai the opening and time he needed.

He coiled, then shot towards the ceiling with an incredible burst of speed, his blade thrust straight forward. He knew exactly where it was going. One slash, and she was dead.

He was inches away. He heard her sharp, quiet gasp. She had realized. He smirked.

Too late.

"Hiei, NO!"

His concentration faltered and his blade shifted, cutting deep into her side but missing the vital organs he was aiming for. He ricocheted away off a pillar and landed in the middle of the hall.

She landed next to the same pillar and crouched there, one hand pressed against her gushing wound, her golden eyes fixed on the kitsune behind Hiei.

Kurama stared straight ahead at the wall behind her and spoke firmly. "Kate, I know you can hear me. Concentrate…you can push her out. Whatever it was you did in your backyard-"

The demon's cackle echoed through the hall, cut short by a gasp of pain. "What…she did, Kurama? Your precious Katherine did nothing. I merely passed out, and…lost control for a moment."

She cast a glance down at the blood staining the white marble floor. "I don't think you'll treat me as I am. I might not be a very good patient." She sneered at Kurama, then at Hiei. "Have fun with Katie. Be back soon."

The demon closed her eyes, then as suddenly as she had stood there, Kate was collapsing to the floor.

Kurama ran and caught her, lowered her to lie on her back, then quickly ripped off a swath of his shirt to press to her bleeding wound. Kate's eyes snapped open. She took a shallow, shuddering breath and sat up slowly.

He whispered, "Kate, don't. You're injured."

She froze for a moment. The pain seemed to hit her, and she let out a sharp cry, contracting forward. "Oh! What…what…ah!"

"Just relax, please, we need to-"

"W-what?! H-how did this happen? What are you-"

She froze again, then looked up at Kurama. Then at Hiei, still crouched a few feet away with his sword bared. Then she looked at Yusuke approaching with Koenma and Botan down the hallway.

The Spirit Detective stopped cold, caught off guard by her look of terror. He glanced at Kurama, then back at Kate. "Kurama-?"

She mouthed wordlessly, then looked back at Kurama. "I-"

She suddenly pushed herself away from him.

"Oh. Oh. Oh my GOD!"

"Kate-"

Hyperventilating, she looked down at her hands, covered with her own blood. Her eyes widened even further, then she shut them tightly and shook her head. "No. NO! I-"

"Kate, listen to me-"

"NO! NO NO NO! I- oh God…oh my GOD-"

She began to sob hysterically.

"Oh God, oh God-"

Kurama beckoned to Botan, who immediately came to his side and took the already soaked rag he offered; he then stood and ran as fast he could down the hallway.

He turned a few corners, then ran down the narrow hall to the last door, wrenching it open and stepping into the room Koenma had given him for the rare occasions when he needed to stay at the palace.

It was a botanical museum of impressive proportions and diversity for the size of the space, filled with exotic greenery and vivid flowers. Ignoring all of this, he made a beeline to the far wall to a small plot of fuzzy poppy-like blooms. He ripped two up by their roots, then ran to the small herb garden beside the door. He collected a few crimson flowers, then turned and ran back out the door. The image of her terrified face seared through his mind as he sprinted. The demon had released control of her body, but her mind…

She's forcing her to remember everything…to relive every moment…every murder…

What he saw when he turned the last corner nearly made him stop in his tracks.

Yusuke knelt in a puddle of blood restraining a flailing, sobbing Kate; Botan tried to keep the cloth on her side, looking back and forth frantically between her and Hiei; Koenma stood between them and the fire demon, who crouched with his katana inches away from Kate's neck.

Koenma was yelling. "Hiei, are you insane?! Get out of here!"

Hiei didn't move, staring at the girl, whose eyes were tightly closed as she screamed. "No no no no-"

"Hiei!" Kurama slid into the space between Kate and the fire demon. "Hiei, leave. We need to get her back to a safe place, I will explain everything to you later."

The fire demon's eyes did not leave Kate's struggling form, and the sword did not move.

In a fit of wild frustration, Kurama grabbed Hiei's sword hand. "HIEI!"

In the next second, which Kurama could follow only because he was accustomed to Hiei's speed, Hiei had reflexively pulled away, moved his sword to his partner's neck, then jerked and jumped a few feet back.

Kurama quickly turned and knelt by Kate, crushing the flowers into a fine powder in his hand. He gently blew some of the dust into her face. She inhaled mid-scream, then suddenly collapsed into Yusuke's arms.

Yusuke, Koenma, Botan and Kurama waited a tense moment. Hiei had disappeared.

She was spattered with blood, tears rolling down her cheeks. She frowned slightly in the deep sleep induced by Kurama's plant.

The kitsune had a gut-wrenching flashback to her unconscious face in her backyard...so much pain.

It was only a day ago that he had met her in the grocery store.

And a few hours since he had stopped Mark from attacking her.

Walked her home.

He looked at Yusuke, who still clutched her protectively. The Spirit Detective blinked, looked down at her, then up at Kurama as he loosened his hold and lowered her to the floor. He shrugged weakly.

"She was…trying to hurt herself."

Kurama nodded slowly, then addressed Botan as he ripped up the red flowers and carefully applied them to Kate's deep cut.

"The whiteseed poppy is strong enough to keep any being unconscious for at least fifteen minutes, including a powerful demon. We should be able to get her back without a transformation. Then, Botan, can you-"

"I have enough power left to heal her, yes," she replied. "It's…only a slash, after all."

Kurama could guess by Botan's grieved expression what she was thinking. That her white magic couldn't fix the more lasting damage…

He picked her up and set off down the hall, followed by the others.

Yusuke fell into step next to him and, after a moment, spoke quietly. "Thought this would be over in a few days. Man. Got a bit more than we were expecting, huh?"

Kurama was silent. He glanced down at Kate.

"Yes. And it is far from being over..."