Tango of Mortality
Chapter 12: Hiei
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Ayashi no Ceres.
Despite the fact that both of them had expressed an interest in one day truly testing each other in combat, it had yet to happen. Kurama surmised that, for Hiei's part, this was because the Jaganshi was only interested in fighting Kurama seriously in his full demon form. Which he had sworn never to don again. As for himself, Kurama would prefer to avoid such a battle because he was uncertain of who would triumph: him or Hiei. He was more ruthless than Hiei when it came down to it, but a lot of that ruthlessness had fallen by the wayside after he'd accepted his life as a human. An acceptance he'd come to in part because of the young girl who was standing frozen in place a few steps in front of him, staring in astonishment at the short figure in black who'd just landed behind him. Worse yet, Kurama could swear he thought he saw recognition beginning to form in her brandy-colored eyes (eyes that were, ironically enough, a more subdued shade of Hiei's own eye color). And that spelled trouble, trouble that could potentially ruin his relationship with Maya.
Kurama could think of only one other instance besides this one when he had genuinely wanted to kill Hiei: the night they first met. And that had also involved Maya.
"Er…Hiei. How good of you to…drop in." Kurama greeted him through gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off Maya. She was too busy staring at their uninvited guest to notice him watching her. There was something spellbound about Maya's gaze now, as if she felt looking at Hiei was the solution to some great enigma.
"There's something really, really familiar about him. You know him, right Shuichi? So I guess that means I must have known him too. We used to play with him, right?" Maya sounded triumphant, as if this were the first one hundred percent familiar thing she'd come across since she started coming back to visit her nascent neighborhood.
"Oh, no. No, Maya. He only moved here after you moved away." He was quick to correct her, but regretted it when he saw her triumphant expression disappear and the arm that had been brandishing the purse drop limply to her side. She took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out in a long, tremulous sigh. She'd closed her eyes, but he thought he saw them tearing up.
"Maya, are you alright? Did he upset you?" Kurama asked, breaking the distance between them with a few strides and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I…I'm alright, it's just for some reason this not being able to remember anything is really frustrating me." She forced herself to calm down, clenching and unclenching her fists several times and taking deep breaths. Hiei jumped down from the tree root he was balanced on and moved closer to them, peering at Maya. It could be that he was recognizing her just as she had recognized him. Kurama gave him a look that said 'speak and you die' then turned back to Maya.
"What did Momoko say?" He asked, hoping that changing the subject would dispel her frustration.
"Oh, that. Momoko said that our insider isn't an insider anymore. You know, that Kazuko girl? She got herself kicked out of the club. Probably fallout from Saemi's bad temper lately, not to mention her all around mean disposition." Maya informed. He sighed. First Hiei shows up, then a wrinkle in his plan appears. Wait a minute. Hiei…
"Do you want me to take you back to the dorm?" He asked. He would have preferred to spend the rest of the day with her and take her to dinner, but Hiei's appearance had put the fork to that idea. He glanced back at Hiei and concentrated on the Jaganshi's forehead as hard as he could.
You. My house. At sundown. And if you don't show up, I'm going to hunt you down and feed you to the Janenju.
Hiei raised his eyebrows in surprise at the genuine anger he sensed in the message directed at his covered third eye, but mercifully he didn't see fit to answer with anything more than his usual "Hn."
"I think I had better get back, I'm starting to feel kind of fatigued." Maya said, and he was surprised by how much of that fatigue showed in her voice. Had she really found the mundane activities they'd done that day so exhausting? Or perhaps it was her mind's attempts to unearth what was best left buried that had drained her energy. He took her hand and started toward the park's exit.
"Oh." She said, stopping suddenly and turning back.
"Goodbye, Hiei! It was nice to meet you. Can't say I've met any other boy besides you who chose jumping out of a tree as a way to introduce himself." She called, waving at Hiei with the hand Kurama wasn't holding. Hiei looked surprised for a moment, then made that face he always did when he was feeling embarrassed or put on the spot (or whenever Yukina was in the vicinity). An instant later, he disappeared. Kurama mused that the Jaganshi really didn't know how to respond to kindness or even common courtesy. Which would make the plan he was formulating rather difficult…
"Say, Shuichi?" Maya asked once they'd gotten back to the dorm.
"Yes?" He asked warily.
"I almost forgot about it what with all the excitement, but Hiei called you a fox. What did he mean by that?" Maya asked, giving him a curious look.
"Oh. Um. Well. It's because…" He was stuck for a moment, then gestured to the long red hair that was flowing down his shoulders. "It's because my hair looks like a fox's tail!"
"Oh! You're right, it does!" Maya laughed and waved goodbye as she walked inside the dorm. As he turned to leave, he caught the warden's eye. He and the sour-faced warden engaged in a half-hearted staredown until the warden looked away, his sour expression dissolving into a smirk as if to say, 'Hey kid, don't worry about it, I'm on your side. I was just messing with you.'
(Later at sundown, in the Hatanaka-Minamino household)
"So what was that all about, Kurama? Usually you're grateful for any kind of interruption when those human girls are chasing after you." Hiei was perched on the windowsill of Kurama's room. He had come at sundown as had been requested of him, half expecting Kurama to challenge him to a fight or just attack him the moment he appeared. No such thing had happened. Kurama had simply opened the window for him and gone back to his homework.
"Yes, usually, but not this time. Not with that girl." Kurama said, not looking up from his homework.
"She seemed familiar somehow. And she acted as if she'd seen me before." Hiei said after a long silence. Kurama sighed and set his pencil down, turning his chair away from his desk so that he faced Hiei.
"So you did recognize her. You remember that night we first met? You know, when you almost cut her in half?" Kurama asked. Surprise flitted across Hiei's features then was replaced by a look of rumination.
"Oh. Right. There was a human girl there, too." Hiei said finally, having dredged up what he had long ago tossed away as an insignificant detail. "And that was why you went with me to fight that demon Eight-Hands, the one who was rumored to have eaten an Ice Maiden. Because he took the girl."
"Yes, Hiei, and that girl in the park was the very same girl. Which was why her seeing you was not a good thing." Kurama said. A confused look replaced the thoughtful one on Hiei's face.
"But didn't she leave? She left on that train thing and I didn't see her in the area anymore. I remember because you were sullen and dangerous to cross for at least a few months after that. What's she doing back here?" Hiei pointed out. Kurama sighed. It had been around the time Hiei found Goki and they had begun planning the heist of the Treasures of Darkness that Maya's mother divorced, remarried, and took her daughter back to her birthplace of Miyagi. Maya's departure had been the final impetus for using the Forlorn Hope to save his mother from the breast cancer that was slowly eating away at her. Now that Maya was moving on to a new life and wouldn't need him around anymore, there was really no reason for him not to die. It had been a dark and lonely time for him.
"She left, and in truth she still isn't back. She just goes to the same school that I do." Kurama explained.
"Hn. You called me here on pain of death to tell me that?" Hiei prompted after another long silence.
"Actually, that's only part of it. Yes, I am mad that you decided to jump right in front of a girl whose memory of meeting you I erased – jump out of a tree no less – because that could potentially cause me a LOT pf problems. Especially were she to actually remember everything. So, as payment in kind for that injury, I want you to do something for me." Kurama said in a light tone that nonetheless brooked no argument.
"Do something for you? In Human World? Is this something that could potentially get me back on Spirit World's Most Wanted List?" Hiei asked dubiously.
"Not if you can avoid killing anyone, which should be fairly easy since this job involves not being seen, period." Kurama said, amused. He was curious as to whether Hiei was wary of getting on Koenma's bad side again or whether he secretly longed to do it. Probably somewhere in between. "I want you to spy on someone. You know, gather intelligence on my enemy's plans."
"Enemy? What enemy?" Hiei asked, intrigued that there was actually something in Human World that Kurama would classify as a threat.
"Those girls that are always following me around." Kurama said. Hiei gave him a blank stare.
"I thought they worshiped you, fox. And considering how vain you obviously are, I thought you enjoyed that." Hiei said finally, clearly baffled. Hiei, doubtless, could find no reason for Kurama to have put up with those girls for as long as he did if he wasn't getting anything out of it. Hiei, obviously, had never been exposed to a high school community, and Kurama was also beginning to realize why no bandit gang had ever seen fit to keep Hiei around for very long. Or rather, Hiei hadn't seen fit to keep them around for very long.
"Yes, and I don't want them to worship me. Not now that they're getting in the way of me getting something I want." Kurama explained.
"I see. And you can't just kill them all because you'd be on Spirit World's Most Wanted List. So what sort of information do you need?" Hiei asked. Kurama was surprised. He hadn't in a million years expected Hiei to be this cooperative. It occurred to him that Hiei might be trying to do anything to keep him from asking exactly what he was doing hanging around in Human World in the first place. Must have been some kind of incident between him and Mukuro…but he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, even though any other time he would've loved to needle Hiei.
"Oh, you'll find out tomorrow. I need you to come with me to that park again to meet someone. I even got you some clothes to wear." Kurama suppressed a laugh at the sharp look Hiei gave him as he leapt deftly out of the window and into the night. Despite the uncooperative front he was putting on, Hiei had essentially agreed to help Kurama with this, and Hiei was a demon of his word.
(The next day, at the park)
Hiei was looking sullen. In fact, he was looking like he was going to bolt any minute. It had to be the clothes. Kurama had absolutely refused to let Hiei wear his usual black ninja outfit. They were going to meet Momoko, after all, and that girl would not stop until she knew why he was dressed like that. In addition to everything else about him. At least with him dressed somewhat normally Momoko would have less of an incentive to snoop. He hoped. Hiei was dressed in a tan leather jacket (for some reason he had insisted on going shirtless under that even though it was starting to get colder outside), black velvet pants and matching black leather boots, with his Tear Gem around his neck. It was one of the best articles of clothing Kurama had made since his own battle outfits, if he did say so himself. Hiei, however, almost seemed embarrassed by the change of clothes. Kurama recalled that fabric from Demon World was so durable that most demons only had one outfit that they wore continuously. Even he had done that, once upon a time…
"Shuichi!" He heard Momoko call, and looked up to see her walking leisurely toward them. She stopped when she caught sight of Hiei. "Who's that?"
"He's the one who's going to get us our information about Saemi's next move. His name is Hiei." Kurama said.
"Well, fine, but that's not exactly answering my question. Who is he? Where's he from? And, geez, Minamino, how long have you been hiding him from me?" She was looking at Hiei with stars in her eyes. He realized then that Hiei was probably just Momoko's type. Great. That was going to make things…interesting.
"His full name is…is Hiei Jaganshi. He lived around this neighborhood but I never met him until after Maya moved away. We never saw him before that because, well, he didn't want to be seen. He's been a hardcore delinquent since he was about, oh, five years old." Kurama explained, watching Momoko's adoring expression with growing concern.
"Cool." Momoko said fervently.
"And I've been hiding him from you because I knew Tasaka would kill me if he thought I was orchestrating a relationship between you and another boy." He added with emphasis, and Momoko instantly deflated.
"Oh, right." She said as if she'd just now remembered that she already had a boyfriend.
"He'll keep an eye on Saemi and her clique, as he doesn't go to school because, like I said, hardcore delinquent. He'll be an excellent spy." Shuichi continued. A second later Momoko's cell phone beeped to indicate she was being sent a text message.
"That," She said, sighing, "will be Tasaka. I swear, he has some kind of psychic power that lets him sense when I'm with another guy. Gawd. Well, I guess I'll be going since we've had our little secret meeting. I take it you'll call me once you've got us some information?"
He nodded and Momoko turned to go. Before she did, though, she turned back around and winked at Hiei, giving him a charming little wave goodbye. They stared after her, Hiei with an ambiguous expression that anyone nonetheless could see as having something to do with extreme discomfort.
"Kurama, who the hell was that?" Hiei asked after a moment, sounding borderline horrified.
"That was Momoko, an indispensable ally to our cause. And from the tone of your voice, I think from now on you'll probably have a better understanding of what I've been through with that thrice-cursed fan club."
Author's Note: MOMOKO LIKES HIEI! MWA HA HA HA HA! I'm so evil.