Chapter 12
Hiei remembered the day he had first come across that detestable female. He remembered it as if it were yesterday, though it lay nearly a century into his past…
"Not a bad harvest today, was it, Hiei?"
The fire youkai allowed himself a small smile at Tilmor, the leader of his bandit group. "It was certainly sufficient." He tossed a large bag of gold to his companion, who grinned and said, "I certainly didn't expect a weakling like this to be carrying so much loot." He kicked their gangly, grey-skinned victim over onto his back. The unfortunate demon stared up at the sky with sightless eyes. "It pays to be indiscriminating sometimes, I suppose."
Hiei nodded, surveying one of only apparitions he could truly call a friend. He was an imposing figure at nearly seven feet, with a jawful of red scruff and a head of matching curly hair. Tilmor possessed a regal quality that one couldn't help but respect; it was the reason he led one of the most formidable gangs in Makai.
"Let's head back to camp. Kito and Gyer are watching it; I told the rest to check along the southern border for patrols before we move on."
The two sped through the forest, Tilmor bounding with long strides as Hiei leapt from branch to branch above him. They were nearly at their camp when Tilmor suddenly halted. Attuned to his leader's movements, Hiei backtracked and dropped to the ground beside him a second or so later. "What is it?"
Tilmor peered into the surrounding trees, his forehead creased in concern. It didn't take long for Hiei to do the same. Things were much too quiet up ahead, even for a camp of stealth-trained bandits. The energy of the forest was still, almost breathless with fear.
"Hiei, wait for me here," said Tilmor.
"Like hell I will."
"That's an order." And with that word, he strode on ahead and his form melted into the darkness.
Hiei glared after him. "You know I only take orders I like, Tilmor," he hissed. Despite his annoyance, Hiei followed cautiously.
Then a wave of enticing energy washed over him. He stopped dead, suppressing the urge to rush to its source. Instead, he crouched to the ground and crept slowly forward. At the same instant the overpowering stench of death assailed his nostrils, he heard a woman speak.
"Why, hello there."
Unseen by Hiei, Tilmor growled. His sword rang as he whipped it from its metal sheath. "You filthy, murdering whore!"
"Now, darling. I was just doing my job. Your two friends here were enemies of the demon lord I happen to be working for at the moment. And that gold doesn't belong to you either, does it?" Her voice was the purr of a lioness, triumphant in her bloody kill…and sensing another to come. Hiei heard the sound of a slash, followed by a sharp cry from Tilmor.
"Well, I was only paid a trivial sum to protect that shipment, so I'm not too crushed. I thank you for relieving me of the duty; it was rather tedious."
Hiei cried out telepathically to his friend, Tilmor, what the hell is wrong with you?! Attack! Finish her!
Another slash, another cry, and a sharp laugh from the woman. Hiei wasted no more time; he jetted towards the clearing, his katana drawn and ready to wield. He emerged from the trees.
She crouched over the twitching body of his leader, both hands bathed in his blood. The demon raised one to brush aside her hair, leaving the lock smeared in scarlet and revealing her face. She was maddeningly beautiful.
He let out a fierce cry and ran at full tilt towards her. She turned to look at him, and he was frozen in mid-stride. He could feel her smile penetrate the numbness. "Another playmate for Haya! Lovely." Then her gaze faltered slightly. "Ah. The rest of your band is returning. I'm afraid I don't have the patience to deal with a group at the moment."
The clearing was suddenly shrouded in black, and Hiei was utterly blinded. He growled and felt in vain for her energy, but it was as if she had never existed.
Then she spoke once more. "I do hope we run into each other again sometime, fire child. You smell like fun."
The clearing reappeared; Hiei blinked. She had vanished.
A low groan sounded from nearby, Hiei was instantly at Tilmor's side. The bandit's eyes rolled in pain, the very last of his life draining from deep wounds that could never heal. He forced out, eyes locked with Hiei's, "Hi-Hiei. For me. For…me."
"I will."
Then Tilmor was gone. Hiei stood, looking to the east where he could feel the rest of his band running to join him. Majaki would be the new leader. He would be thrilled.
Hiei muttered into the darkness.
"You will pay. Haya..."
It had only taken him a moment to remember the way she moved, that damnable laugh…those eyes. Once he had, the force of the pledge he'd thought he'd never get the chance to fulfill pressed against him from all sides. And now…
She hides in the body of that girl. The fire demon glared at the palace floor from where he brooded in its rafters. Coward. I wonder how she ended up there-
As if he had summoned her with that thought, the girl appeared, walking through the hall underneath him. She passed the strap of a packed messenger bag over her head to lie across her chest, then paused in her walk to straighten it. Suddenly, her head snapped up and she looked around. She must feel him watching…but which side of her…?
That mercenary bitch. Hiding in there, laughing at me…I could just-
"Kate! Are you ready?" Hiei winced as the ferry girl's voice shrilled down the hallway, and Kate hurried forward. "Yup! Let's get out of here!" She moved out of Hiei's range of view, and he very nearly followed her.
Then her tone of voice changed, softening slightly. "Hey, Kurama! You're going the wrong way."
Kurama laughed. "That I am. I promised our friend Yukina I would bring her some healing plants she wanted to try; I just need to go get them from my room."
"Who's Yukina?"
Hiei's heart gave a reluctant twinge. Sister.
"An ice apparition we rescued a while back," said Yusuke from somewhere unseen. She's become a friend since then…a bit more for one of us you haven't met yet either, heh."
"You'll have to fill me in on that one."
"Well, it's a long story-" And Yusuke started to tell it, his voice fading away with Kate's footsteps. Kurama backed into Hiei's line of sight a moment later, looking back the way he had come with a smile…one with too much warmth to be normal, even for the kindly Kurama.
Hm. Now that's a look I've never seen on your face before.
Kurama looked up. "Hiei. What do you-"
He stopped. Hiei's eyes held a look of deep, contemptible searching. They widened slightly.
Oh, don't tell me.
Hiei smirked. Well, I can't say it's too surprising. You've let your foolish affection for your mother blind you for years, why not another-
No, Hiei.
Please, Kurama. There's no point in lying to me. Just know this. You have your interests, and I have mine.
Kurama's gaze narrowed. Hiei, if you so much as-
Without another word, telepathic or aloud, the fire demon turned and flitted away down the hall, rafter to rafter.
His last thought was solely to himself.
This is going to be difficult…
"WOW."
Yusuke grinned at Kate as she surveyed Genkai's estate with wide eyes. "It's nice, right?"
"Um, nice? It's gorgeous."
Yusuke glanced around as they trekked through the forest. He had to admit, the rolling mountains covered with tall trees were in pretty good form today, as the setting sun filtered through wisps of cloud to flood them with red and orange. He knew that soon, the sky would be filled with stars. He'd gone through a hard period in his life and training here, but it definitely remained his favorite place ever.
Yeah, gorgeous pretty much covers it.
Kate looked at the Spirit Detective. "And one person owns the whole thing?"
"Yeah. Don't ask me how, exactly, but she does."
Kate shook her head in awe, then looked back at Kurama and Botan. "So, how do you guys know Genkai?"
"Well, I had known about her for some time before I actually met her," Kurama answered. "She's a familiar name in Makai and Reikai, and also among the spiritually gifted in Ningenkai. Yusuke here has had a bit more personal experience with her than I have, though."
"Huh. Yeah. Just a bit," said Yusuke ruefully. "Hellish training, impossible obstacles, her gruesome death and out-of-nowhere resurrection-"
Kurama rolled his eyes as he held up a branch for Kate to pass under. "And she essentially made you who you are today."
"Yeah, yeah, I was getting to that!"
Kurama turned his attention back to the thoughtful-looking Kate. "You said she died and came back to life? So she's been to the Spirit World and back? As a spirit?" said the girl, stepping carefully over a huge root spanning the path.
Kurama nodded. "She has."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"They're very special cases," answered Botan. "Our very own Yusuke was one of the more recent ones."
"Oh, yeah?"
They rounded a bend in the path through the forest, and then the huge flight of stairs leading to Genkai's temple stretched up the hill before them.
"OH, yeah. But that," said Yusuke, letting out a long sigh as he contemplated the lengthy climb ahead, "is a story for when I'm not huffing and puffing up this long-ass staircase. The old hag needs to install an escalator one of these days."
"Pay for it, dimwit."
"GAH!" Yusuke yelped, and the trio whipped around to see the tiny gray-haired woman standing a few feet away, hands behind her back. Her shrewd eyes snapped at the glaring boy. "I should make you go up these stairs on your hands, get a new perspective on them."
"Um, we aren't in training, so I'll give that a NO."
"You should never be out of training. To stop training is to weaken, and to weaken is to get your ass kicked by the next monster who comes along. You're Kate?"
Kate jumped, then nodded quickly. "I am. You're Genkai?"
"Sure as history's laziest Spirit Detective is standing in front of me," she said, with the gentle tone of scalding water. Kate glanced at Kurama, who was hiding a small smile.
"Let's get on with this." Genkai began to climb the stone steps briskly. Yusuke hurried after, muttering curses under his breath, while Kurama, Botan and Kate brought up the rear.
Botan noticed Kate's shell-shocked expression. "They are really very fond of each other."
"Oh, I could tell."
"All right, everyone."
Genkai surveyed the two boys and two girls sitting around her on cushions in her main room.
"Koenma gave me a general background on the situation, but I need to hear from the perspective of the possessed." She looked at Kate. "How has this demon been operating so far, kid?"
Kate cleared her throat, and everyone else turned their focus to her as well. She blushed slightly at the attention.
"Well, one or two nights during the two weeks before I came here, I had…really bad dreams. Lots of blood and, um, screaming. Some other stuff. Nothing would happen during the day, I was just really, REALLY tired. Kurama and Yusuke finally caught up to…us…on the last night, knocked her out, and brought me to Spirit World. Then not long after I woke up there, she decided to try it with me awake."
Kate swallowed hard, and shuddered at the memory. "She succeeded." She touched the gold chain encircling her neck. "And this is all that's keeping her inside now."
Genkai sat down in front of the girl, reached out her hand and took the necklace's jewel between her fingers. "This is an old stone." She put her other hand on Kate's forehead, closed her eyes, and became very still. Kate's gaze flickered to Yusuke, who shrugged. Kate waited, then closed her eyes as well.
A few minutes passed before Genkai released a snort of surprise, startling everyone. The sage came out of her trance, then squinted at her wide-eyed subject of study. "Huh. That little bitch. She's got nothing nice to say to me, at least."
She backed up and settled onto another cushion, folding her hands in her lap.
"Here's what I'm thinking. You could try a standard exorcism, but I doubt it would work. I feel that this demon is so entrenched into your very being that it would next to impossible to draw her out."
"Well, what about forced out?"
Genkai eyed her skeptically. "You mean, by you? It's hard for me to see that happening, to tell you the truth."
"Is it because she doesn't have enough spirit power or something?" asked Yusuke.
Genkai looked at him. "Remember Dr. Ichigaki from the tournament?"
Yusuke grimaced and nodded. "I wish I didn't. Goddamn heartless troll."
"Oddly enough, he said it the best: every human has a gigantic store of spirit energy. If it is trained properly, as with yours, it can become incredibly effective, against the right people, anyway. And you saw with his team what could happen if that energy's power is directed to malicious destruction, unleashing the 'monster within', as he said."
She looked at Kate. "This girl actually has quite a large store of spirit power under her consciousness, and with some proper training, she might even be dangerous."
Kurama shifted his gaze to Kate, who didn't seem to know how to take this information. She finally let out a long breath. "Oooookay. What should I do, then?"
Genkai carefully scrutinized the girl until she looked a little uncomfortable. The old fighter suddenly got up from the table and walked out of the room. Startled, Kate looked around at Kurama. "What'd I do?"
"She's just gone off to think about it," said Yusuke helpfully. "It's a thing she does sometimes."
"Oh."
Genkai suddenly stuck her head back through the door. "Yusuke, come with me. Kurama, Botan, you stay here with her."
Yusuke got up and followed her, tossing a puzzled glance back to the three who remained. "Um, see ya." The door closed behind them.
"That was…weird." Kate looked at Kurama. "Or was it?"
"No, that was strange." Kurama looked around at her. "But she told us to wait here. So that's what we'll do."
A half hour or so later, the stars had come out in their full glory. Kate sat on the porch admiring them, drinking tea made for her by a smiling Yukina, who hadn't been present for the meeting and thankfully hadn't tried asking a lot of questions about it. Yusuke was right; she was a total sweetheart. The girl had gone off for a walk with Botan, leaving Kate with Kurama.
Kate heard the door slide open and footsteps sound behind her. "Are you cold?" said Kurama softly. Kate shook her head.
"Were you able to sleep last night?"
Kate bit her lip. "Not much. It's okay though, it doesn't take much for me. With all the homework, the honors program at my school taught me to run on four hours or less." She stifled a yawn, then said, "That's probably the reason why I didn't notice much those two weeks this was, um, going on."
Kurama leaned against the post opposite her, and she looked up at him. "By the way, thanks for trekking the mountains and bothering your recluse-teacher-friend for me. Means a lot."
"Please, don't mention it. I never mind coming up here anyway. It's quite beautiful."
Kate looked back up at the sparkling night sky, sighed and nodded. "Yeah. It's really amazing. I've never seen so many stars in one place. That's what I get for living in a city, I guess." The crickets prevailed for a while, then Kate began to hum. The humming soon gave way to quiet singing.
"Bend low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming."
A few more moments of silence passed, then Kurama's voice floated down to her.
"When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
One who is singing by your gate.
His song is softer than the dew
And he is come to visit you."
Kate twisted around to blink at him in surprise, then she smirked. "Countering Sandburg with Joyce. Thank you, Mr. Elitist. Learn that in your English class, too?"
He smiled and came to sit next to her on the step. "I did. I did not, however, grace my words with a tune. Did you compose that?"
"Nah. My friend Mary is in a band, and they specialize in putting poems to music. I always liked that one."
"Well, your rendition of it was lovely."
"Ha, you don't have to lie. I know I can't-"
"Really."
Kate shrugged her concession. "Well, fine. Thank you."
God, what a charmer. She returned his smile, and took the opportunity to search his gaze for a clue to this compliment.
But once again…
Nothing but sincerity. Huh.
He looked away, stood up and faced the forest. Kate watched him, but he didn't turn around. The sudden silence felt weird, so she decided to break it.
"So…what do you think?" asked Kate. "Will she help me?"
Kurama nodded. "I think that if she can, she will."
A small figure suddenly appeared from the trees, and as it drew closer they saw that it was Genkai. Kate and Kurama stood and descended the steps to the grass. Genkai beckoned to Kurama, who, with a glance at Kate, came forward.
He did not expect to hear what Genkai murmured to him. "A demon has followed her here."
A jolt ran through Kurama and he snapped his attention to the trees. "Who?"
"Don't know. I felt him skulking around the porch before and thought I'd have Yusuke kick his ass for me."
Kurama took a few steps towards the forest, then stopped. He looked back at the pagoda, and Genkai did the same. Kate was leaning against a post, sipping her tea and watching them.
Genkai caught his train of thought and nodded. "Yeah, you should probably stay with her. The bastard's a regular Hiei, anyway, whoever he is; he vanished before we could pin him down. Dimwit should be showing up any time- ah. Nice of you to join us," she said scathingly as Yusuke jogged out of the shadows.
He scowled at her. "Thought I'd make another pass by the pond, Grandma; sorry for being thorough."
"No sign of him, Yusuke?" said Kurama.
"Nope. Gone. What makes you so sure he's after her, Genkai?"
"I'm pretty good at detecting malicious energy, and this demon was directing a serious amount towards her. And," she grew deadly serious, "I'd say it was against Haya, not Kate herself. Meaning-"
"Kate's in his way." A shiver ran down Kurama's spine. "All the more reason to extract her as soon as possible."
"Yeah. The whole matter may not even be about her spirit energy, though. It feels like Haya's bonded her life energy directly to Kate's somehow, so it may be a matter of Kate's life energy being weaker than hers, unable to overcome it. And you two know as well as I do that spirit energy and life energy are two totally different animals."
She looked back at Kurama. "Give me a few days to think it over. I'll let you know as soon as-"
"Okay, I'm sorry," said Kate as she joined the group, looking miffed. "I'd really like to know what's going on. If, that is, you're talking about me when I'm ten feet away."
Kurama spoke quickly before Genkai could respond. "Genkai isn't sure what's going on yet. She will let us know in a few days."
Kate raised an eyebrow at him, but seemed to accept his answer when Genkai nodded to her.
They decided to stay the night, considering the train ride back to town was rather long for the late hour. When Kate was in bed and Yusuke secretly stationed outside her door (he had agreed to trade off watches with Kurama), Kurama joined Genkai on the porch.
"So." Genkai glanced at the kitsune. "You don't usually interrupt me, Kurama. Got a good reason?"
"I do not want her to be under any more stress than is absolutely necessary. We will protect her."
"Uh huh. Like her?"
She didn't seem to expect a response from the suddenly cold kitsune, and continued. "That's fine, I don't care, just make sure she knows enough to keep herself out of serious trouble. I'll be in touch. Good luck."
