Many thanks to RandomCitizen, Takara Rose Oizumi, Wolf-Maiden Mitsuki, Oakensheild, and Anon for reviewing! :D

Oh, and don't kill me... I have a feeling that you're all going to hate me after I post this...

CHARACTER DEATH WARNING.

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."

T.S. Eliot

The Darkest Shadow

"Karasu," I repeated, and took an automatic step backwards.

He tilted his head slightly to one side, surveying me with a sinister, disturbing gaze. And he followed me as I retreated, gliding forward with menacing grace.

"What do you want?" I asked forcefully, fearfully, as he loomed closer. I stumbled as I retreated backwards down the steps.

His eyes crinkled in amusement as I fell backwards, catching myself on the railing. But he stopped advancing. Warily, I came to a stop, knowing that I wouldn't make it down the stairs in one piece.

"Clumsy, silly Reina…" he murmured, eyes glinting. "You know it's useless to run…"

"Maybe," I said, eyeing him carefully. "But what I don't know is what you want, or what you're doing here," I said, and my voice quivered. "But stay away from me…"

He chuckled at that, staring at me with those piercing, violet eyes. "Why are you so hostile, Reina?" He took another step forward, eyes taunting, following me as I cringed away. "Are you afraid…?"

I was silent on that one. My muteness was as good as an answer; he laughed again and took another step forward.

"Good. You should be."

I shuddered at his voice; menacingly friendly, cool and genial. The voice of a madman. A killer.

"What do you want with me?" I whispered.

Karasu seemed amused at my breathless query, the crinkles beneath his eyes deepened as he smiled coldly at me.

"Oh, nothing from you, Reina." His eyes burned into mine. "Just from your dear… Kurama."

I froze at that, and eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't… understand," I said hesitantly.

Karasu laughed again. "Well, I'm afraid your little cover-up is not going to buy us time for a long explanation, Reina, so I'll make it short.

"After all, I have a little business to attend to here, and I'd rather not leave until it's completed." He took another step forward, but his gaze held mine and I was frozen on the spot, unable to flinch away.

"Simply put… Kurama has been lying to you, ever since you've met him, I'm assuming."

The claim unfroze my limbs, and I was able to stumble backwards again, voice sharp and disbelieving.

"What makes you say that?" My eyes narrowed, and despite the creeping fear that told me that something here was very, very wrong, I felt a surge of irritation, welling up under the fear. "Not that I believe you, because Kurama isn't a liar…"

"You certainly hold him in high esteem, don't you?" Karasu's eyes glinted. "I suppose that's why he's been keeping you, and your friends, in the dark…" He leaned then, casually, against the railing, musing: "So you won't think ill of him…"

"For someone so short on time, you're being awfully vague," I pointed out, scathingly.

His eyes tightened a little at that, and I instantly regretted the cut, as he gave me a level look, and crossed his arms, blinking in faint surprise at my bluntness.

"Very well, then. If you have a death wish." He watched as I started, edging further away from him, hand rising to my throat.

"Reina, you silly, foolish girl… I'm going to kill you."

My blood froze. I stood, paralyzed, staring into his eyes as he announced the malediction, so calmly, so unperturbed, still leaning against the railing as if he were talking casually about the weather.

"Ryo did this, didn't he?" My voice was weak, trembling, as I backed further down the stairs. I trembled as his eyes followed me. "He set this up. For some sort of twisted revenge..."

"For revenge? Of course not. The boy was the only of my company who resisted."

My breaths were jagged, heart racing fearfully in my chest. The claim of Ryo's innocence only registered faint surprise in my mind.

"Then… why…?"

Karasu chuckled, mercifully closing those penetrating eyes and shaking his head.

"It was under the pain of death that Ryo told you to come here, and in the fear of death that he unwillingly set the trap." He opened his eyes again, and they captured mine, holding me in place.

"But, rest assured, the coward was very, very reluctant to orchestrate this…"

"I still don't understand… why…?" My voice was lower than a whisper now, a mere breath.

Karasu sighed, and shrugged easily away from the railing. I lurched backwards. "Reina, you should know this… you see, Kurama has such potential…" he sighed again, "but lacks the proper motivation. But, in your death, he will be consumed with rage, and fight me like he has fought no other."

"Why me?" My mouth was dry. My hands were shaking.

He eyed me, amused. "You are a victim of ignorance, Reina. You see… that boy, your Kurama…"

He paused. I waited, eyes darting nervously about me, searching for an escape. Finding none.

And Karasu continued.

"Loves you."

My eyes gave up their frantic search, focusing on Karasu's pale features. I could only stare at him. Disbelieving. And afraid.

"You're…" I managed, choking out the words, "You're insane…"

He stepped closer then, but I was too paralyzed to move.

"Quite the contrary. Let me help you remember, Reina." His eyes glinted, something malevolent, terrifying, lurking in their depths.

"When you went to speak with him, as he was surveying the competition, you did not see the… well, how should I put it… resentment, almost, when he saw you were being accompanied by that Shinobi..."

"He was worried," I said, shaking my head in denial, feeling cold beads of sweat trickle down the back of my neck. "Jin's a demon, of course he was worried…"

"And when you were hunting Ryo, your… vigilante," he continued quietly—I could sense his amusement. "Did you not see how… utterly furious he was when the boy put you in danger?"

My blood froze in my veins as he stared into my eyes.

"You've… you've been following me," I whispered.

A slight crinkling in his eyes—betraying a cold smile under the mask—was my answer.

"Get away from me," I said flatly, taking another step back and stumbling again. "You're… insane. I don't… I don't believe you."

Karasu's eyes flashed. "No, not insane, girl. I just see… what you have failed to."

"I only believe what I can see," I retorted, my voice a near sob, taut with terror as he lifted a long, white hand. His fingers were curled, as if he were holding something. My knees trembled; my legs were weak. I wouldn't be able to run.

"Then I suppose you don't believe in this…?"

He tilted his hand in my direction; it was empty.

"There's nothing there," I pronounced, and felt my hands clench into fists. Tense, strained fists of fear—useless against a demon, I knew—but I couldn't help myself.

"Nothing that you can see," Karasu admitted, eyes flicking down to his hand, looking at it in a thoughtful, almost loving way. "But what I am holding is what's going to kill you. You would be wise to believe in it."

I was silent.

"Now…" Karasu's eyes glinted in anticipation, as he looked back into my face. "Let us finish this."

My chest rose and fell in gasps, dragging air into my lungs, and letting it out too fast to do me any good. My head was spinning, just like everything else. Caving in. Ceasing to be real.

A year ago, I didn't even believe in the occult.

But now I was going to die because of it.

At my silence, Karasu tilted his head slightly to the side, raven hair blowing out from behind him, casting long shadows across his gaunt features. "You could always try to run." He leaned in closer, something horrific glinting in his eyes. "I do so enjoy the chase."

And, suddenly, I was.

I whirled around, heart lurching into my throat, sprinting down the stairs two at a time as my breaths came too fast, too shallow, too soon—I was running from him in vain. I knew that I would not survive this. I knew it was useless to flee. But primal instinct drove me onwards, fear consuming all thoughts, and I was flying.

Then, in my path, a familiar, tall figure. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, staring, stricken, up into my face.

"Reina!" He lunged desperately up the stairs, running full tilt towards me.

I knew him instantly, and felt his name tear out of my throat.

"Ryo—RUN...!"

But he didn't. In my terror-driven flight, I was upon him before he could get even halfway up the staircase, a choking scream building up in my throat.

And he held out his arms, and jerked me to a stop…

And spun around, leaning over me, face a sickening blur of terror, and purpose.

My eyes slid past his face. Karasu towered over us, eyes glinting a sinister burgundy, alight with the desire for blood, for death. His hand was lifted, holding the invisible doom. Before I could cry out in warning, Ryo and I were flying.

The force of the explosion hurled us into the air, spinning, screaming. I could feel the intense heat of the blast—but it didn't burn me, and I realized that that had been Ryo's intention all along, as he shrieked from the agony that he had shielded me from.

We slammed into something bone-jarring, something solid, and we were separated on impact. I went rolling, crying out as my head slammed into stone, sliding across a smooth, rock-hard surface. I couldn't see Ryo. Or Karasu.

And I slid to a stop. Something warm and wet trickled into my eyes, blinding me. I lifted an aching arm and rubbed it away. It came back red with blood.

I looked up, fearfully, searchingly, seeking out the boy who had saved me and the sadistic demon who wanted to kill me.

A moan reached my ears, and my eyes widened as they landed on a crumpled, dark figure on the ground.

"Ryo…!"

He fell back to the ground with a yelp. My blood froze. I scrambled to my feet unsteadily, and bolted towards him.

Karasu materialized in my path, and I skittered to a stop, almost falling over, retreating quickly in terror.

He loomed over me, the darkest shadow I had ever seen.

"Reina!" Ryo shouted desperately. "A bomb, on your left—MOVE!"

I didn't think, I just acted, lunging to my right.

The explosion still knocked me off my feet, sent me rolling. I knew it had hit me before I slammed into the ground—if the searing pain on my calf was any indication. I slid to a stop and forced myself to sit up. I surveyed the damage quickly. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been.

Karasu was still standing there, in the exact center of the ring. He was staring at me, pinning me to the stone with my fear. Then he glanced away, towards Ryo—who was just beginning to stand—and raised his hand. The explosion tossed Ryo backwards like a rag doll, off of the ring, and he slammed into the barrier wall. He fell forward, to his knees, to his side, and then lay on his back, unable to move.

"No," I whispered hoarsely, and spun, launching myself off of the ring, landing in the grass and falling over when my leg gave out on me. I scrambled to my feet and limped as fast as I could to get to Ryo.

I reached him and he turned his head to look at me as I hovered over him.

"I told you to come here," he all but whispered, coughing once. Blood lightly speckled my face, dripped over his trembling lips. His eyes were tortured. "He made me… set you up… and I did. I"m sorry, Reina. I'm so sorry."

I could see the wounds on his chest—his shirt had been incinerated in the last explosion—and almost wept at the ruined flesh. "But you've already done so much to try to make it right," I breathed, reaching up and wiping away a droplet of blood that was traveling down his chin. fighting the sobs welling up in my throat. "That counts for something, Ryo. I forgi—"

Ryo's eyes widened in horror, and I spun to see Karasu standing over us.

"Touching," he said with a malicious chuckle, and lifted a hand.

I turned back to Ryo and threw myself over him—supporting my weight on my arms so I didn't hurt his wounds. He stared into my eyes silently, and I saw that he was crying. His tears mixed with the blood on his cheeks.

The blow didn't come.

And then, his voice, right next to my ear.

"On the off chance that you survive this… Reina," he murmured silkily.

Then, searing agony.

It ripped me from hip to shoulder, knocking the wind out of me so I couldn't even manage a scream, just a choking gasp. I fell on top of Ryo, and I felt his hands come up and hold me. He was whispering in my ear, but I couldn't hear his words. My mind was numb.

"Now," Karasu said. His foot hooked under my side, and kicked me over. I cried out as the torn, tattered flesh of my back hit the ground.

"Let's see yours, boy."

I heard him kick Ryo over as well, and turned my head languidly to look. Darkness was creeping into my vision.

Ryo was facedown now, and Karasu was kneeling next to him, back towards me. As I watched, unable to move, barely able to breathe, Karasu grabbed a handful of Ryo's hair and yanked his face to eye level.

"Takeo Ryo, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

"Fuck you," Ryo hissed, and spat in his face.

Karasu didn't do anything for a single second, and then rose suddenly, holding Ryo up.

He threw him back onto the ring, and then came for me.

I weakly tried to crawl away, but he reached me anyway and did the same—tossed me back onto the stone tiles. My broken body rolled to a stop next to Ryo's.

Karasu appeared behind Ryo, staring down at him coldly.

"Up, boy. I want to look into your eyes as I kill you. I know you have the strength left. The ones before you suffered worse than you have today, and still—they stood and faced their deaths, bravely. Get up. Do not ruin your family's reputation with cowardice." The last word was a hiss.

The darkness was closing over me, suffocating me in its embrace. I knew if I succumbed, I would never wake. I fought it back and reached for Ryo.

His hand came out and took hold of mine. He stared into my eyes.

"Survive… for both of us. Promise me that," he whispered.

"Stay," I whimpered. "Don't—"

He squeezed my hand one last time, smiled grimly, and rose slowly to his feet, letting my hand slip out of his. Tears flowed unbidden down my cheeks as he stumbled—but stood. He turned to face Karasu.

Under the burns, under the blood, I could see three faint scars marking the wide expanse of his back.

With a shout, he lunged at Karasu, and the demon humored him for the lesser part of a minute—dodging punches, deflecting them idly—but then he grabbed Ryo by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"Ryo!" I sobbed, trying to move, to stand, to do something but—

"I want you to watch this very carefully, Reina," Karasu said, turning to look down at me. He held Ryo out so I could see him. "Watch him die."

He drew back a thin, pale hand, and then flicked it forward.

Ryo let out a choked gasp as Karasu's hand buried itself in his chest.

NO! My mind screamed as I could only watch in mute horror, unable to speak, unable to do anything as Ryo went limp. RYO…! Ryo, NO!

Karasu yanked his hand out of Ryo's heart and lightly tossed his body towards me.

Ryo was facedown, head turned towards me—his cheek resting on the stone. His eyes locked on mine. His fingers twitched. I saw how he was barely holding on, and pulled myself across the tiles to get to him. I had to reach him, somehow, before—as if it would change something, or do anything for him. There was nothing I could do, I knew, for either of us. But I had to…

"Ryo…" I whispered as I dragged myself next to him. I reached out and took his hand. "Please… stay with me. Don't…"

Blood flowed over his lips and began to pool onto the tiles. He smiled.

"Live," he told me, and then his eyes unfocused. His weak grip on my hand loosened.

A roaring filled my head as I stared into his lifeless eyes. Dead. Ryo was dead. My fingers trembled in his; they were still warm. I squeezed them, but he didn't move, didn't twitch, didn't breathe. My breaths came in short, tight gasps, and I realized that I was sobbing, but no tears were flowing. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Ryo, couldn't stop looking at his body, even while knowing that he was gone.

"Are you near your end, Reina...?"

My heartbeats were slow and distant in my ears. The raw, bleeding wound in my back sent wave after wave of pain through my skull, my entire body, paralyzing me. Karasu was walking towards me. He was laughing.

"Do try to suffer a little more..."

I stared, helpless, across the ground. Into Ryo's eyes. Blank. Lifeless.

Dead.

"Ryo…" I choked, gasping, vision swimming with tears.

And, suddenly, I thought of everyone else. Their faces swam before my eyes, not overlapping Ryo's, but ebbing behind it, hazy images. Yukina, Shizuru, Kurama, Botan... Kuwabara and Yusuke, Keiko and Jin. Hell, even Hiei. Though the latter would probably be happy that I was gone, everyone else would suffer if I died. I knew I would, if our roles were reversed.

My family.

I had known them... I had known them well...

Ryo... Ryo was just a boy that I had met by chance. I didn't even know him, much. And he had died for me. He had come to me for help, and I had failed him, and he'd died for me.

The pain ripped mercilessly through my body, lighting me on fire, burning me from the inside out. My mind screamed with it. And as I stared into Ryo's eyes, as I dragged myself a little closer to his body, I knew what was the greater pain. The unbearable guilt that I knew I would carry, for the rest of my life. The last few minutes that I had to live, I knew I would suffer more than Karasu could ever dream of.

Ryo was dead.

And it was my fault.

The truth rang through my mind. I sobbed into the ground, not caring any more of what Karasu thought of me, not caring if he laughed at my pain. It didn't matter anymore. I didn't care anymore. Why did Ryo ask me to live? I couldn't live with this. I could only hope for death at this point, anything to wipe the vision of his lifeless, broken, bleeding body from my mind.

"Don't worry, Reina… you'll soon be joining him. But first…"

I felt Karasu's fingers on my throat. He lifted the Barrier Stone from my neck, and my eyes rolled back into my head as his aura washed over me, burning me alive.

"A memento from our time together."

Karasu's voice fell without weight on my numbed ears, as I gazed into Ryo's empty face. Dead. For me.

Karasu's shadow cast a dark, final haze over me. I knew it was over.

I knew his hand was lifting into the air…

His eyes would be glinting with victory.

I closed my eyes, and waited for the end.

Hiei's POV

In an instant, I was at her side, sword drawn.

The crow demon obviously sensed my advance—my sword cut through his afterimage with a faint whistle, but I jerked the hilt up in time, so the blade just missed the ground.

The mental fire flared up at the human's aura, and I bared my teeth in a disgusted grimace, whipping around to face the demon, the tip of my sword leveled in his direction. I could hear the human make a small moaning noise at my presence, and reminded myself to scoff at her for it later. Idiotic, weak fool.

The demon was silent, glaring at me.

'I can't believe… why would Hiei?' The human's thoughts whispered, dull, turned out from habit. Along with it, more fire, an annoying flame that seared across my Jagan, not blinding it, but slashing it, jabbing it, attacking it.

Endure, you fool. Think of something other than the pain—control your pathetic power. I thought back angrily. Her grieving was distracting.

My eyes didn't leave the demon's face. So I saw when he slinked forward a step, circling around to my left. Trying to get at the human.

"Try it," I challenged, in a snarl, swiveling so I was between the girl and her attacker.

The demon stood crouched for a few seconds more, then swiftly rose to his full height, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled, under his mask.

"Actually... no, I don't think I will." At the sound of the demon's voice, the girl on the ground whimpered softly, and thrashed weakly. A faint thought, like a leaf on the breeze.

'Ryo…'

At the mention of the unknown's name, I felt my eyes flick down automatically, glancing down at the human. Her fingers were closed around those of a dead man's. Only a few seconds had passed since the demon's last words, and I moved my gaze disinterestedly from the broken pair on the ground, back to the demon's face.

"Then you're not as foolish as you look," I retorted, letting my eyes narrow into a glare, frowning.

His eyes flashed, and slipped past me, to the bleeding human crumpled on the ground behind me. "I believe..." the demon said slowly, thoughtfully, "that though I would like to have the satisfaction of killing her now… the idea of having Kurama watch her life slip away is quite… appealing." His eyes flicked back up to mine, they were glinting now, excited. "Take her, look at her. It will make no difference, Hiei. She's already dead... she has no will to live." The demon's eyes glinted with the look of glazed-over insanity. "She will die with him... and then, maybe... he will understand that... certain feeling..."

"You disgust me," I growled. The human at my feet stirred weakly. I looked back down at her. Her eyes were searching beneath their lids, twitching, fluttering... seeking helplessly. With a resigned, inward grunt, I sheathed my sword and bent down to her level, assessing the situation. The claw marks in her back were deep, bleeding. If I wasn't wearing my cloak, that would be a problem. A second's worth of skin contact would kill her, now.

Grimacing in disgust, I slipped my arm under her knees, the other behind her shoulders, and stood. I had to tug to free her hand from the corpse's. She cried out weakly, jerking out of her semi-comatose state, and peered blearily up at me. Her face was bloodless. Such a weak, repulsive human.

Then I was running.

In three seconds, I had broken free of the stadium, and was hurtling through the trees, darting soundlessly between the streams of light filtering through the canopy from the setting sun. At the same time, I cast my mind forward, letting a snarl of frustration come forth as the girl cried out, as my running jostled her wounds, searing them, burning them.

But she had no blood left to bleed.

KURAMA!

'Yes?' His inner voice was quick to reply, tight, nervous from my mental shout. 'Hiei... what…?'

I shot a mental image of the girl's face to him, and his thoughts froze. They completely iced over; the vision had paralyzed him.

Then, instantly, he had recovered, and his thoughts were cool, collected—Kurama had a purpose now, and his emotions didn't matter at the moment. Finish the objective at hand, and then he could mourn, and seek his revenge. That was why I respected him.

'What can I do?'

Meet me. She's more used to your aura, it'll buy her time.

'Already on my way.'

All of Kurama's automatic mental barriers were cast away, dissipating in the wind. In the back of my mind, I could see his surroundings—blurred from his haste—I could hear the leaves under his feet scatter into the air from his speed. I turned in his direction, recognizing where he was, and sped towards that place.

The girl was beyond vocal complaint now. In my peripheral, I could see her mouth opening and closing, tears seeping out of her eyes, but she didn't scream. She whispered something that I couldn't pick up, and I glanced down at her briefly. Somehow, she had locked her gaze to mine—and reached up, taking a fistful of my shirt in a surprisingly firm grasp. I curled my lip as she opened her mouth again, this time raising her voice enough to be heard:

"Hiei… s-stop."

The fool. I picked up speed, and the creature tugged more insistently on my shirt, her bloodied fingers twisting in my bandana. With a faint snarl, I came to a stop. "What."

She spoke between gurgling breaths. "Don't… tell Kur… Kurama."

How spectacularly idiotic. Like anyone could hide her death from him.

'Hiei.' The urgency in her mental voice gave me pause. She stared at me, unable to speak aloud. Her thoughts, however, rang loud and clear. 'Listen. Don't tell him who did this. If he knows…' She curled in on herself suddenly, trying to fight back a cough and failing. I grimaced at the spray of blood as some landed on my cheek, disgusted. 'Too… focused on revenge. He won't kill quickly. Understand? He can't know.'

I frowned at the dying girl. Kurama had a vicious streak, yes. Coupled with his absurd love for humanity—and particularly this member of the under-developed race—he would torture Karasu for what he had taken. He would draw out the other demon's death with great pleasure.

"He can't… lose," she murmured. Her eyes slipped shut.

This girl wasn't taking pity on the demon who had already killed her. She wanted to ensure Kurama's victory, and his continued survival. Karasu was not an opponent to toy with—Kurama needed to kill him with impunity, for his own sake. I stared at her pale face with mild curiosity; it seemed that she at least had the barest hints of insight into Kurama's cruel nature, and the stakes which had been set before him. Then, as I heard him running towards us, I looked up.

"Give her to me," Kurama ordered urgently, sounding as if he were out of breath. His eyes were wide with fear. I handed her over and Kurama retreated to the edge of the clearing where we had met, shooting me a lost sort of look.

"Who did this?" he whispered.

"I didn't see," I lied flatly.

He turned his attention to the girl in his arms, not doubting my word for a second. "Reina. Reina, open your eyes. Who did this to you? Reina?"

I saw her twitch, saw her eyes open just enough. I knew that she was gone, and would allow them this moment unobserved. I turned to go.

"Reina..."

I lifted my head to see what Kurama was doing. And I saw a frozen man, wide-eyed, trembling, weak. His heart beat a panicked staccato into the air between us—and in that moment, all the respect I had for him vanished. We both looked at the human girl as she stared up at Kurama, trembling fingers clutching and staining his shirt with her blood.

"Please, tell me." Kurama's head bowed close to hers, tilted so he could hear.

Instead, the girl reached up to touch his face. And then—remembering that she couldn't—smiled, and died.

…Yeah, I just did that. Left the most evil cliffhanger EVER. XD

...Reviews help me edit faster. Just saying ;D