We're in this together now, NIN. Hey! I'm trying to do two things: get DrPepperGurl back to writing her kickass story about her OC (Karen) and Hiei; and get Shining HeartofThunderClan stories more recognized, because I find them hilarious and well written… so what I'm saying is… GO. Email both of them your love and comment the hell out of their stories. You won't regret it. I have a plan! I just want to say that now, because I feel I'm going to be hit with a lot of questions after this chapter…
Sorry it took so long to get this out, but I had to get it just right. Maybe one day I'll post the original version of how this whole second story was supposed to take place, or start. I've been gently piecing together the useful tatters of other half-written parts of this story. Anyways, as always, hit me up with advice, critiques, and questions! You know it. Also, I'm back in school and studying like mad for my first round of tests this week and last. Working full time too, which is freaking awesome for money and bad for my temper.
Oh! I'm working on a one shot for the end of summer/beginning of fall. Anyone have suggestions or ideas? I have one written up, but I'm not entirely sure I like it at all. ANDDD I'm going to do something very horribly and beg for someone with talent to do me an awesome favor and draw a sweet picture of Suuichi (Kurama's lil bro) and Kin Jiro (his young 11 year old looking self) catching a nap together. Shiningheart gave me the idea and its so adorable I want it tangible! Sweeet. So, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter: Casscadia, XXX, Shiningheart, keysintertwinedinabondofflame, (whose Pancakes story is neato), , dragonwingedangel, chocolateluvr13 and kitoku Flow. Yeah, that's right. I'm using names now (unless you email me and tell me you really don't want me too... then I'll stop and apologize).
"I swear to the gods, Jin!" Iruni yelled angrily, her foot grinding between the shoulder blades of the trapped fighter. He was pinned to the ground. Yukina was offering a small complacent smile, waving her hands slightly. "We want to watch the damn show!"
"Really, it's alright Ichi!" she tried to quell the fight. Kuwabara sat down on the couch beside her, and picked up the remote. Yukina's red eyes widened. "Kazuma wai-"
"Oh no, you don't!" the wolf demon grabbed the human's collar, pulling him backwards over the couch to meet the same fate at the wind master. After kicking him down as well, she placed on hand on the back of couch, jumping over it to land beside Yukina. "This morning, Yukina and I are watching some shows. You boys can just stop being so rude!"
"Rude?" Jin asked, awed. "I just wanted to know what the hell you were watching!"
"Hn." She clicked a few buttons and a title screen came up, even as her eyebrows twitched. "I was clearly setting up the DVDs."
"Clannad?" Kuwabara peeked over the back of the couch, "What is this?"
"Anime." She huffed. "One of my favorites."
"But it doesn't look graphic, or like a fighting anime," he blinked at her, making a vein appear on her forehead.
"Believe it or not, Kazuma, I do like things that aren't drenched in blood!" she snapped at him. Yukina laughed softly, trying to dispel the tension that was forming around the okami. She'd been high strung ever since the previous evening, when she'd just came into the temple and went straight to her room.
"Geesh," he complained, "I was just saying!"
"Well, don't." she looked back at the television as the first episode began to play. "I thought Yukina would enjoy it, anyways."
Her voice had grown soft. After a few episodes, Yukina became so engrossed that Iruni didn't feel like shutting it off. Instead she rose and walked away, leaving the demoness and the freshly arrived Keiko to watch the cute anime together.
"So, what happened?" Kuwabara was in his training clothes, standing on the ground as she walked to the edge of the walkway. He looked up at her with that concerned seriousness he developed when his friends were in need.
"Business." She looked down at him and he could tell, just by her indifference, that it was something important.
"That bad?" he guessed.
"Worse," she admitted quietly, leaning against the rail with her crossed arms. Her face was staring up at the cloudless sky. "A little boy was stolen away by some demons. I know I recognize one of them. I just…I just can't figure it out."
He looked up too, trying to see if there was something important above them.
"I'm so close to understanding," she breathed, "I can almost feel those children in my hands, safe again. I can almost smell them."
"That's good though," he looked up at her.
"No," she shook her head, sending dark strands shivering against one another down her back. The wind was still. "Almost is never good, Kazuma. It's never close enough, because it means you're still failing on some level."
He watched her after that. The way she stood, elbows against the railing as she stared up at the heavens. You couldn't tell from staring, but she wasn't calm as she appeared. She was never truly calm. If anything were to happen she'd be ready, because her body was always wound just tight enough to spring into action. There was never a question of almost being good enough with her, she just was.
"Yukina and Botan made shields yesterday," he looked up at her.
"Oh?" she looked down and he nodded. "And you've already started your training this morning?"
"Yes, I had too, or the day would get away from me." He nodded again. "I've done my running. I even started to go through sword stances."
"I have a new idea," she stretched lazily and smiled down at him. Kurama happened to walk back at that time, coming to her side. Her raised arm's hand brushed through his thick red hair, earning a strange look. A small thing was between her thumb and forefinger. She looked at it.
"Seeds are a precious thing," she kept looking at the small rose seed. "They are so small, and compacted full of life, but they require great care to grow. Energy and nutrients, warmth. These things are basic needs for all of life to grow."
She closed her eyes and threw the seed to Kazuma, who caught it curiously. Kurama looked on silently, though a bit annoyed she had clearly ruffled through his store of weapons.
"When you can make it grow, I'll teach you how to heal." She turned away from the carrot top, hands in her pockets as she walked down the walkway and away from the temple's main room. "Until then, continue on with your basics."
He looked down at his hand and gripped the seed in his palm.
"Right."
"Isn't he marvelous?"
Hiei looked around the tropical forest in search of the voice. He turned to see Amon-Shinpi sitting against the base of a tree, cool in its shadow. He suddenly felt the heavy laden warmth pressing against his skin. Looking at her, he could see the pride in her eyes as she looked up at him.
"Isn't he marvelous, Hiei?" she tilted her head slightly, beaming up at him. The sheer softness of her expression had him looking around again. He walked to her and sat on the ground at her side. He realized they were in a small clearing in the thick of the trees.
A small dark haired boy was diligently working through some complicated stances, a look of determination in his blue eyes. Hiei didn't say anything, instead choosing to watch the small boy go through the elaborate movements.
"He's been practicing all day, just to get a chance with the sword," she explained in that oh-so-happy voice. Hiei finally recognized one of the sets of movements as the technique Shinpi had learned from her father.
"Kin?" he asked and she just looked at him with a bright smile. But the little boy stopped his movements, and Shinpi looked up at him confused.
The fire demon lifted his head groggily. It was early morning, he could tell from the barest glimmer of light outside his window.
"What the hell was that?" he muttered to himself, sitting up in his bed. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he decided to start his day. Mukuro had some errands for him to tend to, and he might as well start now that he was awake. He'd get to train afterwards.
The dream faded from his mind, though a bit of an itch began on his brain. As if he had forgotten something important. He didn't bother trying to remember what that may be. Pulling his cloak around his shoulders he began to mentally list his priorities.
"The world is one scared woman in the rain, Across the cups of silver fields she runs, To find a house, any house where her laugh, Will build a fire, where in some tiny place, The Sun's old fiddle plays a song." Kurama walked up on Iruni, who was watching a young man recite poetry in the winter's sunlight. Her hair was down, her left hand in the pocket of her trench coat. There was a mixed group watching the man-boy speak. His eyes were happy, even though the air was bitter cold and the air was like a frozen thing hanging around them.
"I read that poem in a book called Timeless Voices," she told the kitsune, still watching the boy. "He's been drawing a steady crowd."
"How did you know I'd be here?" he asked politely.
"Registration ends this week," she looked over her shoulder at the red head. "Where else would you be, besides double checking your schedule?"
That made him smile. "Are you going to be registering as well?"
"I already did." She turned back to the front. "Turns out I don't have much schooling left, if I push myself. Next year, this semester and a summer stacked full of classes."
"It seems like nothing, when you say it that way," he watched her shrug. "Are you alright?"
"Just a bit restless, I suppose. I really only registered for something to do. I don't even feel like being in school right now," she admitted. "I'm so aggravated with myself for not cracking this case."
"Why don't I come over tonight?" he offered. "I can help you look through the files again, and we can try to come up with new theories."
"Thank you," she nodded. "That'd be nice."
"So, I heard there was a problem with the dresses," he changed subjects, and the small woman growled fiercely, interrupting the recitation of a sonnet by Shakespeare.
"Oh yes," she agreed. "There was."
As they walked off she alerted him to the fact that falling back on promises to her friends was simply not health conscious of most people. It was amusing, watching her grow so defensive over the happiness of her friend. It was as if they'd grown much closer than what showed on the surface. The fox imagined, if she were pressed hard enough, the girl might do some real damage for their strange family.
When he mentioned this, she didn't deny it.
"Can I hear it again?" Dark eyes looked up, large and almond shaped. Izumi was curled in her bed, her stuffed tiger clutched to her chest. Taro was sitting on her bed, looking over at the empty bunk across from them. Ren and Shou were lying in their beds above them, both seemingly disinterested in the fairy tale.
"You have it memorized now, Izumi," Taro brushed some hair from the girl's face. "You don't need me to tell it."
"But," she whimpered. "It makes me feel better."
"Stop being a baby," Ren snorted indignantly. He'd been much more angry ever since Youta had gone missing.
"Be nice to your sister," Taro scolded the oldest boy, "You only have one."
"Psh. One too many," the boy rolled to his side to glare at the wall. The dark haired young man frowned a bit and tried to remain patient with the preteen. He turned back to the scared little girl, and smiled softly.
"Maybe just one more time," he held up his forefinger and smiled at her. She grinned broadly, snuggling deeper into her bed.
"A long time ago, in a faraway place," he started, "there were born two of the most beautiful princesses in the world…"
"So, you're suggesting that perhaps a being from your past is attempting to sabotage you into thinking your dead brother is still living?" Kurama surmised as Ichi examined some mochi in a family run candy store. She nodded idly, distracted. "What would be the point?"
"Maybe they hope I'll draw attention to myself by trying to find him," she suggested. "I'm not entirely sure, but there is no doubt that this is nothing coincidental."
"I admit, the picture of Kin turning up, the boys going missing, some unidentified form of energy, it is all a compelling argument towards someone who wants to prod at your most serious weakness." He nodded, watching her buy enough candy that he could only start measuring it in pounds. "Do you really plan to eat all of that?"
"Kurama," she popped two gummy worms into her mouth and chewed as she spoke, "I need to keep my energy up if I'm going to solve this."
"You know that sugar is a false high, and that you'll just crash later." He chided.
"Will I?" she lifted her eyebrows. "Have you seen me crash off of a sugar high yet?"
He paused, considering this. "No, actually."
"I'm not going to eat it all at once," she sighed. "But it'll probably be gone in no time."
The two were in Iruni's borrowed bedroom, her sitting at her desk staring at the timeline and pictures, and him on the borrowed bed.
"So, in all honesty, do you think one of these boys is Kin?" Kurama cautioned his tone, trying to avoid upsetting the okami as he pried. He was naturally curious about this.
"No," she shook her head, sucking on a sour flavored lollipop. "First, it took me twelve and you ten years to restore our powers. Kin was strong, but not more so than either of us. Second, I feel as if I'd know if he were so close."
"Would you be able to tell, though, if he had no energy?" he wondered aloud.
"I suppose not," she admitted, then sighed. "I just don't want to believe he could be alive without me knowing it. But part of me…"
"You hope he is, just for the sake of him being alive." The red head smiled gently. "It's understandable."
"You know, if Koenma hadn't been trying so hard to keep me from the information, it would never have seemed so likely that something was amiss." She complained, leaning back in the chair to stair up at the ceiling. "I was set and ready to believe this was all an elaborate ruse. That is what I believe, but still."
"Who would know you so well, though? Who would be powerful enough to control so many demons to find young boys with this pure energy? Why look for energy at all? Why that age range at all? The fox questioned seriously, and she looked at him with hard eyes.
"I've been running those questions and more through my head since I received this case." She told him. "Why? How? Where did they find the information? Who found the tear in the barrier? Where are they taking the boys so that no one notices of bunch of human children? How do they know where I'm not when they come to take more kids?"
"A true conundrum." Now he was just as frustrated as she was, after spending the whole day talking things over with her. "An enigma."
"There's an answer, and I know it." She looked away, over the length of the bare room. "I feel it. I just can't force myself to figure it out yet, I guess."
"Who did you smell? He put the thought in her head. "You said it was familiar."
"I don't know. I don't remember, and it's killing me." She growled. "Damn it."
Iruni looked over at Kurama from the corner of her suddenly partially narrowed eyes. It was a look he'd grown familiar with over the months, and he partially feared it. It always looked devious, because it normally was, and her eyes sparkled with the smile that pulled at her lips, but she wouldn't let show.
"Yes?" he asked preemptively.
"Obviously I'll go crazy if I keep focusing on my short comings regarding this case." She continued to look at him.
"Obviously," he was wondering if she really had that much farther to go. His face betrayed his thoughts.
"In order to preserve what fragilely clutched tendrils of sanity I have left," she began, "perhaps you should distract me.
"I don't know what you're suggest-" he started to protest and watched her eyes promptly darken.
"If he would be more open, I wouldn't have to be underhanded," she complained, brushing her hair from her face. "All the time it's 'Shinpi, explain this' or 'Onna, explain that' or some other demands for my history to give him insight. I ask him anything and he becomes a freaking mute."
"Hiei isn't fond of his past." The kitsune explained finally understanding, though it was something she already knew. "Even we don't much about him."
She glared at him. "You know more than most."
"Maybe," he shrugged without meaning. "But not very much more. I can't think of anyone he talks willingly to about his life."
"Tell me anything." She pressed. She'd only recently realized the deficit of her knowledge towards Hiei. And the fire demon was not exactly forthcoming.
Kurama thought back. The last time she'd asked, he'd told her how him and the youkai had met he was young. The story of Goki and their teamwork to rob Spirit World, and their eventual encounter with Yusuke. She still meant to ask Keiko and Yusuke about it.
"I'll tell you about our first mission with Yusuke and Kuwabara," he decided. "Maze Castle. It was their first time dealing with Hiei's honor, pride and respect."
She listened raptly as he spoke, memorizing every word, forming a host of mental images like a storyboard. Yusuke trusting Hiei, the fastest of them, with all their lives at the Gates of Betrayal. Hiei proving to them he could be trusted. Vows of vengeance and fights. The Blue Dragon battle and Hiei's somewhat slanted moral code.
She asked a lot of questions for him to elaborate on, but even he could tell she was still holding back. Why would Yusuke be such an idiot? Had Kuwabara really not been able to defeat a lowly cat demon? Had Hiei already begun to respect the Spirit Detective at this point?
He smiled at her as she berated him like a curious child. He'd try to convince Hiei to be more open with the wolf demon, because she seemed to take any information about him and hold it close and tight.
Eventually he cut her off. He had to get home at some point, after all. She moped then walked him to his house for something to do that would keep her mind occupied.
"Get some sleep, maybe it'll help." He suggested, making her frown but nod.
"Yeah, sure." She started to walk back to the temple as he walked into his house. Shiori watched from the den window, smiling as she watched her oldest son watch the reclusive raven haired girl walk the way she'd come.
Her head was brimming with questions still, even when she got back to the quiet temple and her borrowed bedroom. Hiei was more of an enigma than she could ever hope to be. That was a depressing truth.
Prepared for bed, she sat at her desk and pulled her latest journal towards her. Since they'd met she'd had a running list of questions for the miniature fire demon. The first ones weren't so pleasant, since she'd been pretty sure she wanted to beat the sense out of him at the time, but they got more personal and serious as the list grew on.
Naturally, she never thought she'd actually ask him any of them.
New unanswered, unproven, ideas and wonderments were added to the steadily growing list. Maybe one day she'd tie Hiei down and force him to answer to her curiosity.
She didn't think that'd go over too well either. Closing the diary she pushed it back behind a stack of books on the desk and walked over the bed. Kurama was right, answers would come with a refreshed mind.
Hoping that was true, she forced herself to sleep.
Iruni sat in the park, mentally listing all the information she'd been given recently, and everything left missing. She was reviewing Youta's file, trying to figure out who she had recognized when a shadow and a familiar scent fell over her.
Blue eyes looked up as the lanky human boy walked up to her. Her eyes were unfriendly, but her face was otherwise neutral as she closed the file she'd been reviewing.
"Hey," he greeted, sitting down beside her on the park bench. The weather had broken a bit, and it was a windless sixty something. The boy had on a navy sweater. Iruni wore her trench coat, still feeling the cool weather as freezing.
"Hello," she smoothed her hand over the top of the manila folder. "Hishiruno, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Hishiruno Taro."
"Did you need something, or is it a habit of yours to sit next to near strangers?" she raised her eyebrows pointedly. He was either immensely thick skulled, or plain ignoring her negative signals.
"My young cousin was kidnapped." He told her bluntly. She didn't seem shocked. "His name is Youta, and he's five. He's a small kid, and very soft and kind hearted. He's special to me."
"I'm sorry for your loss." She bowed her head slightly, "it must be hard."
"He has two brothers, a sister, and me." He went on.
"No mother?" she knew he had one, it was in the dossier.
"She's very sick," he sighed. "She's in the hospital, but she's getting better. I haven't told her yet, because I'm afraid she'll relapse on all her progress. I know it's wrong, but if keeping this from her means the other kids get their mom back, then I'm willing to pay for it."
Silence followed that. Iruni made a mental note to add the details she'd just learned to the file.
"His older brother was watching him and his little sister when it happened. Ren won't forgive himself for not being strong enough to save Youta." His tone changed and it become familiar, worried.
"I'm sorry, but why are you telling me something so personal?" she asked carefully.
"Because I think, maybe, you can help us." He admitted heavily. "You're practically graduated, even with your time off. Psychology is your forte."
"I'm not qualified to analyze a child, that's not even my specialty." She blinked at him.
"How qualified do you have to be to say 'Hey, don't worry, it wasn't your fault'?" he frowned. "Ren is important to me, and even though he tries to be cold and hard, he loves his siblings dearly. He wants to be responsible for them. In a lot of ways he reminds me of someone I used to know. I just want him to know it's not his fault."
"He was there?" she clarified, considering this. If the boy witnessed the attack, she could get a statement from him and maybe solve this faster.
"Yeah, him and Izumi." He nodded.
"I'll talk to him," she agreed. "I'll tell him it's not his fault. Maybe I'll get through to him, maybe not."
"I hope so." He smiled a relieved grin. "Are you busy right now?"
"No," tucking the file under her arm, she stood. "I can come now."
They walked in through the front door of the house she'd broken into days before. On the way over she'd ducked into a shop to use the restroom to let Koenma know what she was up to.
"You have a nice home." She told him politely, doing the human thing to make small conversation that ultimately meant nothing.
"My aunt's house. I'm just living here for the kids." He offered to take her jacket, but she declined.
A little girl with dark hair and eyes ran up to the lanky boy, throwing her thin arms around his legs.
"Taro!" she cried, "They're picking on me!"
"Boys!" he called, a bit authoritarian sounding. "Get in here!"
Both older boys shirked their way into the entrance way. Ren, the oldest, was thin and tall for his age. He had a scowl on his face that could easily be seen as permanent. He glared at Iruni who looked back with indifference. Shou was smaller, carrying a little more pudge around the frame of his body the way young kids can despite exercise.
"This is Mikamoto Iruni, she's a friend from the university." He explained. "Let's try to be polite to her, okay guys?"
Ren huffed.
"You have pretty eyes!" Izumi blinked up at the demon in disguise with awe. "They're so blue!"
"She loves blue eyes," he explained apologetically. "It's from her favorite fairytale."
Iruni remained quiet, instead of talking to him, and knelt to look at the small girl hiding behind his long legs.
"I used to get picked on too." She told her quietly. "Your brothers are just trying to make you stronger. They really care about you."
"They're being mean to me." The little girl complained. "They just bully me because I'm small and a girl."
"I'm small and a girl," Iruni tilted her head. "Trust me. It seems cruel now, but they just don't have a better way to care about you yet. But if someone else hurt you, they'd probably defend you to the ends of the world."
"How do you know?" she asked.
"It's just how big brothers are." She shrugged. "Or any big sibling for that matter."
"Do you have a little sister?" Izumi asked.
"No," there was a slight edge of sadness in her voice. "Not really. But I have some friends that are as close as I'll ever get."
"Who is this girl?" Ren asked coldly. "Youta is missing and you go get a girlfriend! You said you were going to find him!"
"We will." Taro soothed.
"What happened?" Iruni asked in a controlled voice. "I mean, how did he go missing?"
"None of your business." The preteen snapped.
"Ren!" Taro's eyes were wide, but Iruni held up a hand that silenced him.
"Look, I know you have to be strong, kid. I get it. Mom is sick, your older cousin had to step up as man of the house. You think you should be able to do it, take care of your brothers and sister and the house alone. You shouldn't need help because you're the oldest." She glared back as he glared at her. Her dark look was a mile more frightening than his though, and held much more conviction than he could muster. "But you do need help. Everyone does sooner or later. Don't take your inner anger at your situation out on other people. It's immature and disrespectful."
The boy was quieted in his shock. Taro was always lenient, understanding, calm. This woman was calm but it was very different. She looked straight through his attitude and tore it to shreds without even raising her voice or hands. Taro seemed shocked as well, but didn't say anything.
"Now," she continued, "I understand how upset and you all must be. I'd lose my mind if my baby brother disappeared," she closed he eyes. "I can't imagine how this must feel, truly."
Taro glanced at her while her eyes were closed. The total change of her tone made him sure she knew exactly how it felt to lose a sibling.
"Tell her what happened," he verbally nudged the kids. "It's okay."
"The monsters took him." Izumi, who was still clutching to her cousin, spoke up. "We were playing and the monsters came to get him. When Ren went to stop them, he got hurt. Then Taro came and fought them, but they took Youta away."
"You fought them?" she looked over at the young man with a toned down glare. He shrugged. "Some 'monster' comes, takes a kid, and you fight them? What did you think you'd accomplish?"
"I wanted Youta back," he explained with the first scowl she'd ever seen him wear.
"And getting yourself killed in the process? Where does that fit in?" she growled back. "Some people have no self-preservation skills."
"Are you telling me, given the chance, you wouldn't die to save someone you loved?" the question hit home just like he knew it would. She turned away and looked at Ren.
"You did what you could." She told him. "You tried to get him back."
"He's still gone." The twelve-year old nearly yelled. "Because I wasn't strong enough!"
"No, he's gone because someone was determined to take him." Her mind was already adding the new information into the puzzle.
"Ren and I had to go to the ER. He has a mild concussion, I got these." Taro lifted his shirt to reveal semi-healed scratch marks raking down and across his torso. Neither one seemed ashamed of his action, neither one having modesty enough to really care. The kids seemed more than bothered, though.
"I want to talk to you alone," she walked back out the front door with a frown, her voice hard. He followed leaving the kids inside.
"Ren is just worried," he sounded tired.
"He should be." She glared at him again. "His little brother is missing."
"I know," he stated. "I was just hoping you could calm him down."
She stared at him, and he felt the penetration of her blue-eyed gaze to his bones. It made him look away to avoid the intensity. Like a small boy fidgeting under the scrutiny of someone in authority after he'd been caught misbehaving.
"Why have you been trying to talk to me?" she demanded coldly, the wind rising just a bit around them. He winced. "The real reason."
"Because Youta is special," he whispered, eyes stricken. "I know it's dumb, but he's special. I can feel it, his energy. It scares him because it's so new."
That stopped Iruni.
"What?"
"Youta is sweet, gentle, and kind. But his energy scares him because he doesn't know how to control it yet." The dark eyed boy explained, as she began to watch him closely. "It just started recently. He was being picked on and went to shove the kid away, but the energy threw him several feet. They started calling him a freak, and it all got worse."
"I don't understand-" she began.
"I saw you once, you were sitting on a bench alone, but there was this… aura around you. I remembered how tense you always were, how afraid of people you seemed. I thought maybe, you were special like Youta."
"I'm not special in any way." She denied.
"The biker guy, and the guy with the beanie on at your house were demons." Her eyes widened fractionally. "I'm not stupid Mikamoto."
"I don't know what you're playing at, kid." She glared. "But sounds like you need some counseling."
"Mikamoto, I know demons took my cousin. I was there. I fought them. I've been able to see them since I was little. And I know Youta is special, that's why they took him. I also know that you know it too." He reasoned with her.
"What do you want?" she asked, unconvinced of his innocent intentions. Experience warned her away from believing his stories, not matter how honest they felt. Someone was out to get her, using children. All of the sudden this man shows up with a missing kid claiming he knows she's special. It was too convenient.
"I want Youta back," he breathed, eyes tired again. He looked older suddenly, which she hated. She wanted to help. Damn it. He could the one after me for all I know.
She didn't believe it.
"He's just a little boy." He continued.
"You think I can help him?" she questioned.
"I don't know, but I want you too." He admitted. She paused, some sense pulling on her attention.
"I know you know how Ren feels, how I feel. Please, don't make the rest of Ren's life like yours has been." He spoke to deaf ears. Part of her heard him and maybe understood in a vague corner of her mind, but it didn't settle in her distracted mind. "Ichi, please, just help him if you can."
There was something happening that she could feel. The demon hidden inside her shivered, and her body reacted. The scent of the wind changed, becoming a bit more putrid and a little less human. The wolf demon lifted her head, her eyes narrowed dangerously in the direction of the gust. She could also smell blood.
"What is it?" the human asked curiously, but she was too busy growling to hear him. Taking off into a full run, she turned into a streak on the horizon. He stared with awe after her.
She had the communicator open as she ran, shouting to Koenma without bothering to see if he could hear her. "I've caught the scent of our kidnappers! I'm following them through a tear in the barrier, I'm going into Makai."
"Iruni, you have not been cleared-" she closed the device and didn't look back as she tore through the barrier and landed in Makai.
It was dusk and the sky was a flaming orange-red. Taro stood in front of Mikamoto's empty home, watching the windows light up with the reflected fire of the sky. Swallowing his fear, he walked around to the back and pulled a ladder out of the unlocked shed. He thought it was careless of her, but then again, what exactly did she have to fear?
She had run off without a reaction to his words, but he knew why. He could smell the stench of Makai too, like a long distant but unforgettable memory. But he had to make sure. He had too.
Climbing up the ladder he tested the bedroom window and found it unlocked as well. Again, he noted, it was a bit careless of her. He'd done the same thing though, and he'd just been attacked. Stones and glass houses, he figured.
It only took a few minutes for him to rustle through her belongings to find what he was looking for once he was inside. It was all too easy to tell if he was right or not then. He sat on the empty, cool, bed, and began to study the fruits of his conquest. A small collection of hand written leather bound journals that told the human story of Amon-Shinpi and Iruni Mikamoto.
"Damn."
It had been an almost instantaneous change as Iruni had melted into Amon-Shinpi. Red hair was braided away from her face and down her back as she walked through the dense forest. As she'd put more of herself into sensing the kidnappers, her human guise had fallen by the wayside for her true self to shine through.
But now she was in an unfamiliar forest, alone, unable to feel or sense the demons she knew couldn't have outrun her. She took a step forward only to pull back and look down, realizing she was on a high plain. The sheer drop she'd nearly walked off of lead down to more trees. With a sigh she sat down and let her legs hang off the edge. It had to be a nearly forty foot fall.
"I lost them," she hung her head a bit and a blow of air lifted her hair from below. "I'm going to need help covering ground."
Her communicator buzzed in her pocket, a forgotten device she wanted badly to ignore. Instead she reached in and grabbed it, flipping it open. Koenma's enraged face greeted her.
"You are so violating your parole!" were the first words he screamed at her.
"I'm hunting a demon on your behalf," she reminded him. "I'm your number one bounty hunter, Koenma. Have a little faith. This isn't a social call."
"Have you found them?" he demanded.
"No, Koenma."
"Are you on their trial?"
"Yes, Koenma."
"Will you be back soon?"
"Yes, Koenma."
"Be careful." He sighed, "I don't guess I could convince you to wait for proper approval or back up?"
"Don't need it," she flicked her bangs from her face. She desperately needed a haircut. "Anyways, I'm sort of facing a problem, so I'm going to go now. I'll check in when I have something to tell you worthwhile."
"Make sure you do." He cut off the line first and she closed the device, shoving it back into her jacket pocket. Taking a deep breath she worked on finding her center and contacting the wind, the way Jin had shown her to. She was so going to be pissed if she got to the bottom and found stairs.
With that last thought she scrunched her eyes and pushed herself off the edge of the cliff to slowly fall down in a controlled act that left her kneeling on the forest floor far below. Her first goal was to get to her land, if she didn't sense out the perpetrators first. Hayato should have received Youta's toy, and she could use Akira to hunt these bastards down.
"Can we track her energy?" Koenma asked as George talked to other ogres who specialized more in surveillance.
"Not without her setting us a baseline first," one of the ogres explained. "But we can follow the signal of the communicator you gave her. It'll allow us to keep track of her."
"Good," the Spirit Prince nodded. "I hate that she's so far out of sight alone."
"I understand, she has proven herself to be quite the danger." One of them agreed, but that wasn't what Koenma had meant. He blinked, and realized that as a leader, he should've first been worried about her actions.
As her friend he could only worry that was in Makai alone. She was hunting down some very smart demons who wanted something from her very badly. Logically, he knew she should be able to handle it, but he still wanted to call Yusuke and the others. Then the thought of Hiei finding out popped into his mind, and he decided to wait it out. If she needed help, she'd call. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt like she'd demanded.
He was Prince of Spirit World, how hard could it be for him to keep some faith, after all?
"She's coming," a tall man looked down at the blonde woman who was glaring at him with wild eyes. Her chipped nails were digging into her palms as she clenched her fists. "She came through the barrier just after us. We only managed to get away because she lost our scents."
"All dogs do have their short comings." The blonde woman sounded angry, her voice hoarse. "Just make sure you get her. This will never work unless she's here."
"Is her blood that powerful?" he asked, looking down with a dark eye through his blue hair. He was shirtless, but she didn't seem at all aware.
"More so," she seethed. "A great man died just for a taste that he never received."
"Sounds like he was weak," two more men came from the shadows of the cavernous cave. "To fall victim to such a tiny girl."
"He was powerful!" she roared. "But she was stronger, in the end. I don't know how, but I know," an image of a short man with tall dark hair interrupted her thoughts. "I know he made her stronger."
"You're sure she'll find us?" the first man asked as his two flunkies flanked him.
She turned and looked at the huddle of human children clinging to one another and crying. Their energies were weak, soft, useless. She knew though, that if there was one weakness the demon lord had, it was children. They led to her demise before, they'd do it again. Her irresistible urge to save that which she could not have for herself, it would always haunt her.
"Oh, she'll find us." She smiled a very warped grin at the children that caused them to cry out. "Even if we have to leave a trail of bodies like breadcrumbs to the front door."
Akira walked beside the demon lord as she trudged through the unfamiliar trees. She was working on day six of her Makai hunt. She'd taken two days to find her home, then to get back this far. She figured if the demons had dropped here, they must have left some sort of trail. They had to be close… how did she lose them?
"Just do me a favor," she requested as she stood on the edge of her territory, where the grass faded into rock. They were on the opposite side she normally came and went from. Here mountains raised out of the ground, hidden by trees and colored emerald enough to blend into the horizon unless you knew where to look. Her castle sat in a plain, something few people other than the ancient kings knew.
"I'll make sure it the highest quality," Hayato assured her. Her hand tightened on the arm of the stuffed dog in her grip, Youta's toy. "Be safe milord."
"I will be." She assured him. "Thank you, Hai."
"My job is to make you happy," he smiled and she smiled back.
Akira looked over to her like it was her fault they'd had to climb two mountains so far. Now they were staring up at the cliff face she'd jumped off of six days before. His violet eyes narrowed.
"Well, if you can think of a better way to track them, I'm all ears." She glared back at him. He tossed his massive from side to side. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
The wind rose in a natural breeze, lifting long strands of red hair around Amon-Shinpi's face. Blue eyes widened as she and the wolf turned to face the current of air. Without needing to check with each other they took off in a run. The smell on the air was them she would recognize it anywhere after she'd been slapped in the face with it days before. That notorious stench. She would hunt it to the ends of Demon World.
A vague, mostly quiet voice in the back of her mind warned that this was convenient, it was probably trap. Another voice agreed, pointing out the children were probably long dead. But a calm, overwhelming presence in her mind took over everything else. It drowned the doubt, the fear. Her resolution grew and even though she felt their arrival, she didn't seem able to care about more than the fact that she had finally done it.
She had found the kidnappers and solved the case. The children were going to be okay.
A fist came flying out of what seemed like static space. She was only partially aware of Akira jumping over a tall body, as she leapt gracefully into the air, her hand closing around the fist that had been aimed at her face. Throwing with her shoulder she sent the attacker skidding across sand, making her realize for the first time they'd crossed the boundary from forest to desert again. She bent herself backwards in a balanced, well practiced arch to dodge the kick that came at her from behind.
"She was right, you are a challenge," the voice wasn't familiar and she didn't care to pause if it had been.
"Akira, gather the children," her voice was steel.
There were three men around her, in a loose triangle. All of them probably had fifty pounds and several inches on her small frame. None of them felt like a challenge though, and she felt no need to even tell them as much. Her eyes swept around as the wind picked up in a small circle around her feet.
"You're the ones responsible for the kidnappings and the death," she stated.
"Death?" the shortest of them, maybe a man of five-five with shoulders as wide as he was tall, asked. He was holding a large headed axe and a long staff. Orange skin and bald of hair. "You mean you only found the one body?"
"Must've been the first kid to go," the one nearly behind her, so close to the edge of her peripheral vision it was hard to see him, spoke. He was closer to six feet and bulked in the legs more than the arms. He had long white hair to compliment his grey skin. "Did you miss the last present we just left over in Human World?"
"My cohorts will be able to handle whatever you've done that I haven't found," she assured them all.
"And what about you? What will you handle?" the last one to speak asked. He had cropped blue hair, dark eyes and skin the color of young goose down. It was him her attention pulled on, him who tripped her self-preservation sense.
"I'll be handling you." She held nothing in her voice, no malevolence, no fear, no regret. It was empty.
"My name is Ri." He bowed slightly at the waist, "I'm a bit of a fan of yours, Lord Takani. I admit, my presence here has little to do with plots about children, and more to do with a fascination with you."
"I met a demon named Ri, once." She tilted her head to feign interest. "I was still quite young, as was he. I recall he lost to me, but I didn't kill him."
"Perhaps you should have." He straightened.
"Perhaps." She nodded slightly. "Let the children go."
"As you wish, milord." He made a gesture with his hand and she looked behind her. There was a cave in the distance and a wave of small people ran out of it. Akira was already there, guiding them. They screamed loudly.
"Ri," the short one snapped. "That was our dinner!"
"You can't just let them go!" the other protested.
"We are about to receive a bounty worth more than a handful of young lives." He assured his comrades.
"Quaint." She moved just as the axe bit into the ground where she'd been standing, phasing nearly out of their ability to see. Her closed fist caught the white haired man in the back of the head, sending him reeling forward and into the ground. The other lunged at her as Ri watched, infatuated with the artful dance of her evasions and attacks. She kept merely kicking his companions to the ground as her wolf made off with their previous bounty. Ri didn't care.
Akira came down on top of the stouter of the two opponents like a bus of fur, mowing him into the ground. Strong jaws tore into flesh without hesitation and the axe swung up to hit a wall of clear green. Everything stopped as Ichi glared at the offending fighter, the taller of two unconscious on the ground.
"It's a killable offense to harm one of my wolves," she glared darkly. Akira walked backwards, glancing at his master wearily. "Take the children home, Akira. I'll meet you along the way."
The kids had gathered close by, a small puddle of tear streaked faces and haunted eyes. One face struck her more than the rest and she turned with a confused look to figure out why. It was Youta, the little cousin of her once classmate staring at her with large dark eyes.
I thought you were special like him.
She could feel the soft hum of his energy through the distance between them, fed by his fear. But he stood tall, and she was reminded of other children she used to know. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Youta, Akira will take you somewhere safe, then we'll get you home."
He nodded, and believed her. She reached into her pocket, hand wrapping around her communicator, and breathed out. With a sharp motion she tossed it over to the boy, who caught it. She just nodded and he shoved it into his pocket.
"You have this powerful way of speaking, even when you aren't saying much at all." Ri stepped forward with a modest smile. "Even when your tone means nothing, there is such a strength in believing what you say."
"A trick of the voice, or of the mind?" she knew the question, she'd been asked it before.
"I think its just a play of your innate, beautiful, power." He stepped forward and she held her ground. The children were too close to move out of the way in time if he ran. She was the only thing blocking him from harming them again.
"How did you know to use children?" she asked curiously. It made him pause. A sharp headache began to form between her eyes and shot through to the back of her skull in a hot line. Pin points began to play in her vision, but she kept the blank mask alive.
"Everyone has a weakness, Lord Takani," he answered. "Yours has always been your unrelenting hold on the past you never could cope with, or so I've been told. I didn't devise this plan, I just carried it out. I admit, it has worked charmingly well."
"How did you find me?" she asked. "The children? How did you find any of them?"
"All in good time. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to see if time has lent me strength, as it has you." The taller man bowed again and came at her. This time, as she dodged with her vision spotting and blurring and the pain in her skull growing worse, Youta watched.
"Come on!" One of the boys slightly older than Youta pulled his arm. "We need to run! The others might wake up!"
"I know her," the younger boy watched with awe as the red headed, blue eyed woman continued to thwart the bad guys. "She's a princess in the fairy tale my older cousin tells me."
"What are you talking about?" the kid screamed.
"A long time ago, two of the most beautiful princesses were born. Both had flaming red hair, but one had eyes as blue as the wind, and one had gold as pure as her spirit." The little boy remembered. It was a story that he'd had memorized most of his life at this point, something he'd heard over a million times. "I never thought she was real."
"Come on!" the other boy pulled on his arm.
Ri's fist made a solid connection with Amon-Shinpi's jaw, sending her staggering and twisting around. She realized the children were still there, still in danger, and her anger ripped open in a scalding lash of wind that cyclone around her with the sand.
"Go!" she yelled at the group of children. Youta finally shook himself settled and grabbed two smaller boys by the arm, two who had been crying and whimpering, and began to pull them away. The rest of the group was running as fast as their thin legs could carry them. The other two attackers were pulling themselves conscious and bruised to their feet.
The two reawaken men attacked at once and the red head managed to dodge them, though it was becoming tiresome. Her body was starting to feel off, strange and stiff. She landed in a crouch off to the side, glancing to see Youta starting at her as the other boys continued to run.
"Youta, go!" she yelled. One of the demons ran for the boy, noting her distraction, but she was faster even with the foreign searing pain in her skull. She pulled him back by his shirt, keeping him from attacking the small child. It caused a closed-fist skirmish between them. Youta watched as he punched her in the stomach with a lucky shot, but her reaction to the hit was slow. She pulled away, in an exaggerated, confused stagger.
With a growl, she looked down and her eyes made Youta's travel as well. They saw the needle sticking from her stomach together.
"Youta. Go. Now." She growled, falling to her knees. Her dark blue eyes moved from the little boy to the man who had just attacked her. The white haired bastard she should've killed when he was down.
"It's the Sloth Plant Poison." He grinned down at her with arrogance as his companions closed the space around her with shadows and blurs. Her head was a pounding drum on full blast, her body stuffed with poly-fil. There was a malicious hint to his eyes as he watched the effects cascade over the demon lord. "It paralyzes your motor skills, but leaves all your other mental facilities intact."
"In other words," Ri sauntered up. "You'll be awake, and able to feel the whole time we get the honor of your company, milord."
"You just won't be able to scream," she heard them and tried to fight the lead in her veins. She tried to snarl, then just to do anything but sit there. She fell over, her eyes half open. She saw the back of a dark haired head as Youta ran from the scene, but it went black as the white haired demon slammed is foot into her temple.
Preview:
"Don't you mention him!" the demoness slashed at the red haired woman's face, creating a shallow cut that bled down her cheek. Her breath was ragged and her eyes frenzied. "Don't you dare."
"Why?" she snapped, fighting against her chains. "He took everything from me!"
"You were everything to him!" the woman cried out, anger filling the small cave like scalding air. Her energy wasn't impressive, but it stained. Ichi stopped, and stared.
"What did you say?" she demanded.
"For the last century I've had to deal with your shadow. Every day, every action, every advancement we made was about you! His whole life revolved around getting back at you, proving that he was stronger. Even when he thought you were dead, he worked to be better than you." Her eyes narrowed on the wolf demon. "I thought for sure he'd kill you. I knew we'd be able to move on once his pride was sated."