A small exclamation of surprised pain escaped her as the demon caught a hold of her by the chin and forced her back against the fence. Her hands wrapped around his wrist in a futile attempt to pull the crushing grip from her.

"This can be easy or difficult," he crooned almost lovingly, "it is up to you. My time is short. I'm sure your little friend has already reached them. He will be here soon enough. All I require is a small perusal Shizuru, a minor glimpse into your mind..."

Those words sent a shock wave of anger through her causing her to stiffen, "No!"

"Difficult then..."

Her eyes snapped shut as an influx of force pushed into her mind. There was nothing gentle in it's drive through her thoughts. Slivers of pain shot through her head as it moved deeper even as she flailed about trying to keep it away.

'Stop! Stop! Stop!'

'Let me in human. This pain is needless and altogether without merit. I can destroy you.'

'Stay out of my head!'

Abruptly she was on the beach, her chin forced upward as she stared at the half realized dragon.

That was all that mattered. All that could matter.

The dragon.

The arcs of dark energy dancing around it.

The water as it produced water spouts under the forces that drew the energies out of its depths.

The furious crimson eyes of the world behind that gauze of secondary reality.

'Amusing but it will do you no good.'

Icy, white hot agony sliced into her peeling back layer after layer.

She was bare, exposed to the creature in her that ripped and tore at her with uncaring claws.

The dragon was gone, lost in the tormenting miasma of pain.

The world had turned away from her.

She had been abandoned to this thing. Left on her own to survive the unending, echoing torture of her soul being mangled by cruel designs.


Clear thought was not a possibility for him once he came upon the scene in the alley.

Once he saw Shizuru, eyes shut tightly pressed against the fence.

Once his mind supplied the comparison of the sickly green glow of the demon's eyes to the attack she had placed herself infront of to spare him.

Once his rage filled awareness noted tears tracing their way down her cheeks there was no chance of anything but the death of the thing that held her.

He levered himself off of the rooftop drawing his blade. In the last second as he bore down on the demon the other moved away.

Shizuru dropped to the ground with a thud that seemed to resound in his head.

Instead of slicing into the attacker he found himself crouching protectively infront of Shizuru's unmoving body.

"Nariaki served his purpose. She holds your doom."

He straightened, "You have it wrong. She assures yours."

"I knew it would be you that showed first." the demon murmured in a pleasant tone.

He scowled, "If you knew me you would not have such hopes."

"I know you Hiei. Most assuredly I know you perhaps better then even Muruko could accomplish." the demon smirked turning it's full attention to him, it's eyes seeming to glow briefly, "There is so very little in words that truly conveys the depths of any one being. I have a unique view, one I'm sure you'll come to appreciate...eventually."

"I only intend to appreciate your blood spilling." Hiei returned raising his sword.

Icy, electric agony shot through his Jagan drawing a startled sound of pain from him as the breath left his lungs. Out of reflex his hand went to the source of torment as he stumbled back a step. The creature's eyes were still on him as it took a step forward, the sheen of light in them brightening in his clouding sight.

"A double edged sword," the demon half crooned, "that Jagan of yours holds so much in promise and yet also creates such a divine weakness. You have no idea what lengths have been taken to assure your end swordsman."

The pain in the Jagan increased, tendrils of overwhelming agony sank deeper into his head. It ripped and clawed at him making it difficult to remain focused. Anger surged through him pushing away a small portion of the onslaught, enough for him to retain his grip on his sword that had been weakening.

"Mmm," the demon that stood over him hummed, "Can you sense it? Even with your paltry abilities? Intoxicating really. How do you think it will be? To see what will happen because of your interference? To see the light die from her eyes as everyone looks on. They can do nothing you know. They are ineffective when it comes to situations such as these. They give in, pause, hold off in an attempt to stave off what they know will happen. They are not creatures such as she is or as you are. They could never hope to be. The future is unformed yet I know exactly what you will do."

Another stab of agony dropped him to one knee forcing him to brace himself against the ground. His sword slipped from his hand to lay in the dirt.

"What flows through you flows through all you touch Hiei." the demon whispered suddenly at his side, "Keep that in mind as you interfere once again. You should have kept to your nature. You should have let the human perish. Your darkness could not help but taint all that it touches. It is as integral in you as a dragon's own flame. Your very breath is destruction...but you knew that already did you not?"

On the heels of this statement the agony in his Jagan shot outward through the rest of him, muscles clenched as he was assaulted from every avenue with the electric ice that invaded his mind. His teeth clenched against another pain filled grunt emerging. He would be damned if he gave this demon satisfaction from his pain.

On the very edges of his awareness he could sense the approach of the others. They should fair better against this bastard who seemed so intent on torturing him.

His breath rushed out of him as the agony abruptly lessened, leaving his body shaking with the strain it had been under.

His mind barely registered the muffled arrival of the others. He sensed more then felt someone kneel beside him. There came a gentle touch on his shoulders in an attempt to brace him. He shied violently from the touch, his skin screaming in oversensitive agony that was overwhelming for a moment.

There were other sounds, angry and panicked being soothed by another just as angry but more stabilizing in its intensity.

"Hiei.."

He swallowed convulsively, knowing he was the only one who could tell them the entire situation. His sight refused to remain completely focused, blurring in and out as he fought off the edges of black that sought to claim him.

"Shizuru?" he questioned past the rawness in his throat.

"She is unconcious." Kurama informed him tensely.

He tilted his head to look behind him as he forced his body at least to sit back on his legs. Yusuke and Kuwabara stood a few feet away. Yusuke held onto Kuwabara's arm as they talked heatedly. He should have been able to hear the conversation easily but his ears felt stuffed, as if cloth lay in them.

"It was the same type of demon as Nariaki." he supplied, "Much stronger."

The shadowed edges in his sight did not deter him from forcing himself to stand. It took longer then he wanted it to, schooling his shrieking muscles to respond in the manner he wanted them to. By the time he gained his feet he could only focus on keeping his strained breathing to a minimum, not willing to expose the amount he had been affected.

He was extremely unsettled by the dulling of his senses. Pain had never affected him to this degree, it had always served to heighten his senses not deaden them. Which explained why it was that when Kuwabara suddenly grabbed him he was unable to do more then restrain the scream that clawed at his throat from the explosion of agony that both ripped inward and outward from the abrupt contact.

"What the hell happened runt?!" Kuwabara roared in his face, "How could you let her get hurt again?!"

"Kuwabara stop!"

"Let him go you moron!"

He could only seethe as he grasped weakly at the giant's wrists. He so very much wanted to attack. He wanted to feel the snap of Kuwabara's bones under his fists. He wanted to bloody the face that was presented to him in so open a fashion.

Instead the shadows raced forward, lunging to claim him in the midst of him attempting to regain his equilibrium enough to do any of the numerous and extremely painful things that he craved to do to Kuwabara for daring to grab him as he had.


"Whoa...hey!" Kuwabara exclaimed as Hiei went limp.

His mind went from rage at the fire demon to concern in an instant as he lowered the unconcious form to the ground. Kurama and Yusuke crowded to the sides.

"Good going Kuwabara." Yusuke censured.

"How was I supposed to know he was hurt?" Kuwabara half snapped guiltily.

"Other then Shizuru being hurt?!" Yusuke pointed out casting an angry look at the bigger man, "You're such an ass! You know he wouldn't have let that happen if he could have stopped it! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Whoever this new demon was he was able to inflict a large amount of damage to Hiei. We need to gather more information. I have a feeling this is going to become much more complex." Kurama said reaching for the still form on the ground, "Let's get them somewhere more comfortable."

"Guess it's time to ring the Lord of Diapers." Yusuke sighed heavily, "Man I hate it when things get complicated. Whatever happened to just going in and kicking ass?"

"We can take them to my place." Kuwabara said standing with Shizuru in his arms, "She's really cold."

"She was like that before." Kurama said standing as well, "It must be a common affect of this type of attack. I don't believe Hiei is hibernating, just exhausted. Hopefully when he wakes he feels up to doing as he did before for Shizuru."

"Aw man that just makes me feel worse." Kuwabara grumbled.

"I wouldn't worry to much Kuwabara," Yusuke said lightly, "when he wakes up I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about it. Broken bones have a way of fixing things like that."

"I hate you sometimes Urameshi."


Please review! I know I changed it up a little from "love" story but it was not really supposed to stay as just that. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing!