He coughed against the acidic burn in his lungs, glaring at Shizuru who seemed completely unconcerned with what she had set in motion not moments before.
A bombardment of energy blasts struck the large rocks they had been forced to take cover behind due to her blunder.
A small easily silenced part of him tried to argue that she may not have known how mind numbingly ignorant it was to simply approach any of the species of demons that had non humanoid bodies. She may not have known how beyond incomprehensibly stupid it was to wander up to ones that resembled spiders since they tended to band together in the Demon World.
There was a small chance she had not seen the giant web behind the creature that she had been unaware of the others milling about rocky hillside terrain.
But who did that?!
Who in the Demon World would have blindly walked up to an unknown demon with those characteristics and told them in no uncertain terms to move?!
A small child…or her idiot brother…
Granted he might have done it given the right mood but normally he avoided these battles either because there was no point or it would take more of his time than he was willing to invest in it to exterminate an entire cluster of these creatures.
"It seems the slavers should not have been our only concern." Kurama remarked with mild amusement then ducked as a new barrage hit their hiding place.
"Apparently we should've been more concerned with her inability to know danger when she comes across it or to bother with looking for energy signatures!" He spat, coughing again against the irritation that had formed in his throat.
He had been aware of the milling signatures but he had expected a modicum of caution from her in uncertain surroundings.
She had proven him completely wrong in that which only served to irritate him further.
She had bothered before, he had seen her do so though he could begrudgingly admit those times were linked with her invoking Fate to trace Masanori which made her more aware of other signatures for a short time.
Still she had been so unconcerned, no hint that she may have even suspected there were others nearby.
"How was I supposed to know it didn't want to move?" Shizuru asked feigning innocence for a moment before smirking at him, "You're just pissed you got a lungful of that…whatever it tried to spit at me."
"Acid," Kurama informed her, daring to raise himself to look over their cover before returning to his crouched position, "this species has the ability to form its stomach acid into a cloud to use it against others. Were it not for Hiei's intervention, you might have some part of your body eaten away. Unfortunately he seems to have breathed some of it in."
He spit, trying to rid himself of the horrendous taste in his mouth.
Shizuru snorted indelicately, "I was already moving. You two over react, and he's the worst about it."
His eyes narrowed to slivers, "You're impossible!"
It was a new sensation, the damage already done to his throat being enhanced by the choke of frustration and annoyance.
Shizuru rolled her eyes then copied what Kurama had done a few moments before though her peak at their now enemies was much shorter. Another round of attacks, obviously intended to hit her specifically pounded the stone above them sending down a shower of debris.
"Our only options then?" Kurama ventured, shaking lose dust from his hair "Do we retreat or fight our way through?"
"We won't get far." He stated, motioning with his chin towards movement that had only just caught his eye to the left of their shelter.
Shizuru and Kurama turned to notice what he had, the minute glimpses of shadow and the occasional body part from among the scattering of large boulders and copses of trees. In hindsight he could have predicted such a place full of crevasses and high reaching terrain would have been the perfect den for these types of demons.
Their position was being surrounded quickly and he was going to be slightly handicapped by what damage had been done by inhaling the acid while removing Shizuru from the imminent danger she apparently wanted to deny she had been in.
Shizuru was not contemplating those signs with any degree of real calculation; there was a relaxation in her features he instantly distrusted.
"Direct confrontation then," Kurama commented, reaching into his hair and producing his Rose Whip as he crouched in readiness.
Shizuru moving to place her mask on her face caught his attention momentarily as did the fact that she reached into her side bag and produced a white length of cloth that she offered to him.
For a core thrum he stared at the cloth, not recognizing it for what it was and confused over the strange behavior.
"You already messed yourself up," Shizuru explained, for some reason the mask not marring the amusement in her voice as it normally did, "You need this back. I probably should've given it back awhile ago."
His scarf, the one he had lent to her in that field of death to block the scents from overpowering her. That was what she held out to him; still he hesitated in retrieving the article of clothing.
The cloth itself was of a thickness that would provide protection from further damage from the clouds of acid the demons spat, that was the practical aspect of his using it after all and it had served as such a mask more than a few times.
That was not what caused his hesitation, nor what made him momentarily search those topaz eyes regarding him above the mask with their customary tilt of dark humor.
It would be full of her scent, drenched in it by now from being so close to her for that extended period of time.
The gesture had also caused a strange, vibrant hum of camaraderie that he had not felt in any of their previous encounters against others.
It confused him since he had never expected to experience it with her of all beings, adding to that confusion was the slice of anticipated battle as well as another reaction that he had to quell instantly though it took some effort.
Should it surprise him that her eyes were dancing with that same anticipatory light he knew so well?
Should it be shocking a part of him would find the concept of fighting with her at his side somehow a desired activity?
Why was it that not until this very moment had it even occurred to him that Shizuru would be well acquainted with the language of violence?
Why was it that he felt torn with these realizations, that they somehow battled so fiercely within him as to be distracting from the real physical battle that closed in on them every moment he continued to hesitate?
What could she mean by offering this now of all times?
The tilt to those honeyed eyes changed slightly, they narrowed in their own expression of confusion and perhaps darkened with doubt due to his inaction. The hand offering his scarf lowered slightly and began to withdraw, another sign he had stirred something with his refusal to immediately accept the sign of inclusion.
He could not explain it to her; stop that shadow that had formed because he did not understand his own reactions. He doubted he could express the things she so blithely and mercilessly caused to hound him internally.
Even if he wanted for her to know he had no concept of how to go about doing so, she was the one that had guided him to those venues before that were not ones he would have considered as reasonable options.
He found it repellant to even have the glancing thought of conversation through his preferred methods of it. Battling her would not be as it had been with Mukuro who had only understood that language of violence had only been able to fully communicate with him on that level past conscious thought.
There was no solution in this ever increasing chaos, no conceivable way for him to bring these undulating tides of need to her attention in a manner he found satisfactory.
Still…
He snatched the scarf from her hand before she could fully retract it, purposefully ignoring that she flinched from his movement due to the abruptness of it not due to fright.
He busied himself with draping the scarf around his neck in a way that would hold the edge over his nose and mouth. Then found his hand float up to touch the cloth lightly as his senses were flooded with her scent as he had known they would be.
"Sorry about the smell," Shizuru remarked, too casually, "It won't be there very long."
His eyes cut to her, a biting remark on the tip of his tongue which died away as he noted the calm acceptance on her face as she looked away from him.
I've seen her look this way before, when she didn't matter in the least…
"I've been forced to endure worse." He said instead, removing his cloak and returning his hand to the scabbard of his sword with his thumb pressed against the edge of the guard.
He was not about to tell her in a certain way he found the reduction of other scents to be preferable, that the singular smell centered his distracted mind in the here and now.
Shizuru may be an unknown component but he and Kurama had been in so many similar situations he would not need to think much beyond taking out as many of the idiots that would attack them as possible.
These were not high level, middling at best but their numbers made them worthy of some thought to caution.
"Remember there is no leader to take out with this species." Kurama cautioned in the next moment, "We may be required to kill all of them to end the assault."
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "Full commitment to wasted death isn't our problem."
Shizuru made a small sound of disgust, "Do you two ever do anything without talking it to death?"
Only the small sound of rocks shifting under her feet alerted him to the fact that she was already moving before them.
He turned to caution her and found himself choking yet again on that solid mass of frustration and annoyance.
She had gone over the shelter of rocks they had taken refuge behind, towards the strongest and most prepared of their attackers.
"I feel Kuwabara adopted more of her mannerisms than she imagined, she has a rather comparable flair for reckless behavior." Kurama remarked, drily.
"As well as an aversion to strategy…" He returned, still staring at the space she had disappeared over.
It was strange, that strangling sensation had disappeared to be swallowed by the rush of anticipation.
He should be furious; instead he could only see it as Shizuru had taken matters into her own hands after becoming impatient with them.
She wanted the conflict, moved to face it.
He could not find fault in that.
He bent his knees then launched himself over the barrier to join in the fray.
She already had her dagger in her hand as she spun to face whatever it was that approached her from behind, stopping just shy of actually releasing it as she noted it was Kurama.
She lowered her hand, glancing around at the carnage she had helped create.
She could not remember how long they had been fighting, only flashes of moments where they had assisted each other.
She recalled those moments more because she had never fought like that, never engaged any demons as a part of a group. Shinya and Kanako, all of their race fought singularly more often than not and she had never fought anything that required those two to assist her so they simply had stood by.
Her muscles ached from the protracted fighting, "Was starting to think there wasn't an end to them…"
Kurama smiled slightly, "There were hundreds of them. You managed to find an unusually large cluster. Did you see what direction Hiei went off in?"
She shook her head, still trying to ease her breathing, "Last I saw of the speedball he was heading off behind me."
"We should locate…" Kurama began then frowned as his eyes wandered up to the sky.
Confused she followed his gaze, when the battle had started it had been clear of clouds and sunlit. Now, though it was light, dark clouds had begun to form but in a strange almost lazy haze as if it was only considering the idea.
"Shizuru, I must ask you to stay here." Kurama insisted, drawing her attention back to him.
"What…?" She began, stopping as Kurama walked off without another word towards a giant pile of rubble.
She snorted indelicately and followed the red head; she was not going to be out of the loop on this particular problem especially without an explanation. She did however let Kurama outpace her, allowing the fox demon room to think she was going to listen.
Whatever floats his boat…kind of stupid to think that would happen…
Kurama disappeared between two enormous slabs of rock that had partially collapsed against each other. From the looks of it half of the nearby hillside had decided at some point to join in the fight.
She immediately picked up her pace; reaching the formation just as Kurama's concerned filled voice filled the air.
"Hiei!"
She was not sure what she expected to find once passed the access, maybe a severely injured fire demon or that Hiei had somehow become trapped in all the debris.
What she found stopped her just shy of exiting the thin crevasse she had just maneuvered through. She was not sure how to identify what went through her; it was so mingled and stunning.
Kurama was only a few steps ahead of her and beyond him was Hiei.
She had to assume Hiei was the focal point, it was almost impossible to discern the fire demon in the miasma of bluish black energies that surrounded him, though it seemed somehow contained within the sphere of red demonic energies.
She took a hesitant step forward and Kurama's head snapped towards her.
"I asked you to stay…" Kurama began, taking the few steps that brought him to her side.
"What is that?!" She demanded both confused and a little angry, ripping her eyes away from Hiei.
"The Dragon is fighting Hiei. Did Fate take over Shizuru?" Kurama countered, his green eyes becoming hard, "Did you lose yourself in the battle?"
"No…" She answered, her heart fluttering strangely, "It was all me the entire time…"
"Are you positive?" Kurama almost hissed, "This is no time for pride…"
"I would tell you." She interrupted, annoyed with the accusation as her eyes were drawn back to the figure.
In that small amount of time the dark energies had retreated, the red becoming the more dominant that surrounded Hiei. It was obviously a strain on the fire demon, from the fact that his entire body was rigid to the point of shaking to his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
Why was Hiei in pain?
"I almost wish that you were so prideful." Kurama murmured turning back to look at Hiei.
A few more moments went by and the dark energies dispersed from within the nimbus of demonic ones which abruptly withdrew into Hiei. The fire demon stumbled forward, catching himself with his hands braced against his knees breathing heavily.
It was not lost on her that Kurama took a half step in front of her as if blocking Hiei's view of her; still she had a perfect view of the fire demon who tilted his head in their direction.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Hiei considered Kurama with the look of someone deciding on the worth of someone's life.
"Find me my cloak, Fox." Hiei demanded harshly.
Kurama nodded, moving as if he would try to guide her away then froze as she met his eyes.
She was not going to leave and Kurama was going to have a very painful moment if he thought otherwise.
Kurama sighed softly, "Do not approach him, Shizuru. I will try to explain when I return."
She nodded, her eyes drawn back to Hiei who had lowered his head again, then slowly eased himself down to one knee. She let the silence stay unbroken; there was nothing to be gained from conversation with the fire demon if he was talking to Kurama like he had.
Kurama had asked about Fate, was this something new?
Had she been watching Hiei exert his will over it?
She had not reached Hiei the last time the Dragon had risen, only seen its mark on Hiei but apparently that dark swirl of energies were a part of its emergence.
I don't get it…
Why were they so different in the ways their respective universal concepts dealt with them?
Why did it seem like the Dragon offered Hiei a choice while Fate took all of it from her?
Why did Hiei seem like the Dragon was torturing him in their struggle?
Why was it at every turn she found she was woefully uninformed about everything?
I didn't want to know details like an idiot, that's why.
It still seemed that even with her total lack of interest Shinya should have tried to inform her better especially about the Dragon in particular. The ancient demon had droned endlessly and constantly on and on about Fate itself and its role in the universe but not about its direct enemy. There had only been that single conversation about it.
It did not just feel as if she wanted to know these things now, it was much closer to finding it vital to know more about the Dragon and what she had just witnessed.
Kurama maneuvered past her and strode over to the silent fire demon, cloak in hand.
Hiei opened his eyes as Kurama stopped beside him, "Set it on the ground and leave, take her with you."
She straightened as his gaze struck her then snapped away; there was a definite spike of hostility in his tone which apparently included her.
"If you are certain…" Kurama began, leaning down to place the cloak on the ground.
The tension had returned to Hiei's body, "Is there nothing you won't assume is your business?!"
Kurama remained silent as he returned to her side, this time she allowed him to guide her away with one last look over her shoulder.
Hiei had brought the cloak closer and begun to remove small things from an inner pocket in a slow manner that spoke of impatient exhaustion.
She kept her questions to herself until they had passed the area they had originally stopped fighting in.
It was obvious Kurama had no intention of waiting for Hiei to do what he was doing which she supposed was only realistic. She did not want to wait around all of the bodies herself and Hiei would catch up with them sooner or later.
"I promised you an explanation," Kurama began after a few more moments glancing at her, "I warn you I am not the expert Shinya or Kanako were in Fate. The Dragon is…Hiei's expertise."
She nodded, "So what was all that?"
Kurama's brow furrowed, "Do you know much of the techniques involved themselves?"
"No," She admitted honestly, "I wasn't exactly interested in the Dragon to begin with, Shinya brought it up. I only know it hates Fate and what it looks like when someone…carries it…"
It was awkward to speak about this with anyone because it was so different to how it was for her.
Shinya had not bothered with the distinct she had just made, had spoken of the Dragon in much the same way he spoke about Fate which was to say as an indistinguishable part of the mortal whose body it decided to occupy.
Hiei was not an embodiment, she was one.
Why her mind kept insisting on that distinction she had no clue but it was that glaring a reality.
It all returned to choice, even Masanori who seemed to be able to control his pulses for some reason had no choice in Fate taking him over. In a very real sense Fate was in constant control of Masanori, his will was its will. A Chimera Soul was chaos and that was what Fate wanted or it would have intervened.
Me and him…we're not like Hiei…it hasn't stopped Masanori once. He's doing exactly what it wants. The Dragon doesn't control Hiei like that; it gives him a chance to say no to it…
"I don't know if what Hiei has achieved with the Dragon was the original intent of those that invented the techniques." Kurama continued as they walked, "I never fully understood why Hiei found them so appealing when effectively learning them will eventually lead to his consumption by it."
"The power," She supplied thoughtlessly, it was the only thing that made sense.
It also helped make the case that Hiei's involvement with the Dragon was entirely choice if he had sought out those techniques to begin with. She could not see Hiei going after something like that without knowing exactly what he was risking to do it.
"Hmm…yes I suppose that did motivate him." Kurama agreed with a hint of amusement, "He had fully mastered the technique of calling the Dragon or so it had seemed for awhile…"
A small chill went up her spine as she glanced at the fox demon that melancholy had drifted back to his expression.
"Until what…?" She prompted, slightly annoyed with the delay of information.
"Until after we lost our Witness…" Kurama answered, slowly, "After Hiei returned here to Demon World, it became more adamant in asserting its want for battle and Hiei…well Hiei feels it should never be allowed to."
"He was adding wards wasn't he?" She ventured, her eyes studying the ground as it passed but not truly seeing it.
"Every fight Hiei enters into now the Dragon insists on inclusion. Every battle for him is one of a dual nature; he must subdue the Dragon as his life is threatened. There are times like when we fought those bounty hunters he is successful, the Darkness energies remain locked away. At others the Dragon gains hold in him and he must fight anew." Kurama explained further, then his voice dropped, "That is the strongest manifestation of it I have witnessed. I believe the Dragon was attempting to fully manifest of its own will…"
The red head fell silent for a moment, the sound of their footsteps on the ground filling the air.
Kurama was deeply disturbed by that physical manifestation of Hiei's fight with the Dragon that much was clear.
What was not so clear was why Kurama was still considering his words so carefully as if he were filtering the information with dedicated concern for both her and Hiei.
What could Kurama know that he felt that need to protect both of them while just explaining the mechanics of how Hiei and the Dragon interacted?
"That's why you asked about Fate." She reasoned taking another glance at Kurama, "You thought it was because of me."
Kurama sighed softly, "I admit I had my suspicions but as Hiei said it seems to react differently to you. It did not assert itself the first time we encountered Fate through you."
That seemed like an eternity ago; the first time she had purposefully invoked Fate to follow Masanori.
But it wasn't the Dragon that protected Kurama from me, it was just Hiei…
"So it had to be something else…why does it hurt him like that?" She asked before thinking then immediately regretted it as Kurama looked at her sharply.
"I imagine it has something to do with the manner Hiei and the Dragon interact now. As I suggested before I doubt what he has achieved was considered in the development of those techniques." Kurama continued contemplatively, "Where before Hiei used the techniques to lure the Dragon to the mortal world I believe somehow there is no longer a need to lure it, that it resides in some manner within Hiei."
"And he can't just tell it to go away?" She pressed, struck by the information.
"If only it were that simple, the truth of the matter is from the moment he first lured it there was only one possible outcome." Kurama supplied, quietly, "When and if Hiei's will to live, to exist falters the Dragon will consume his life and return to its home in the Spirit World. Hiei has had growing…difficulties in subverting its desires."
She continued in silence, digesting all of the things Kurama had revealed to her and knowing some of it the fox demon might not understand was valuable information.
It had been slightly underhanded of her to take advantage of his obvious distracted concern for Hiei but that had not stopped her.
There were things she needed to know, things she had to have some semblance of control over and if they would not offer it to her willingly then she had no issue with using dishonest ways to do it.
Kurama did not know but after her initial shock she had become increasingly aware of the presence of Fate's attention in the back of her mind. It was similar to the amount of interest it found in the reaper that repeatedly visited Shinya, a disturbing contemplation that it did not bother with having for Witnesses.
That interest alone told her there was something worth paying attention to in the fact that Hiei and the Dragon were so at odds. It mattered that at one point in the past Hiei had seeming control over it but had issues with asserting it now.
It mattered that Fate, the part that resided in her was far more interested in the study of the Dragon than being confrontational, but that interest could have quickly turned to that.
It did not make her feel she was any less a potential threat to Hiei as he was to her.
Not as she was though she had been a good distance away from the energies and the Dragon had not been physically realized, but once they were near Masanori it would be different. Fate would want to react then and there was a small consideration in the fact that she had no clue if it would want to do that as two separate embodiments or only as one.
Knowing that only allowed for desire to distance herself from the whole thing, from him because she could see the end result, one that the other two would have never given voice to though it was the only logical conclusion.
She purposefully shoved that knowledge aside; dwelling on it was not going to do her any good.
He has…a choice though…
Was it strange for her to feel that was the more important aspect considering how little choice she had in any of it?
Hiei had the choices in front of him, even if he wanted the choice to give up and let the Dragon consume him.
She was not so sure she had even that option, that Fate would ever let her go willingly if it meant not existing in the mortal plane.
It was another thing so different than her own experiences it made their inevitable clash even more ludicrous to her.
I don't want to be his enemy…
It was almost as ludicrous as that still persistent, growing and frustrating attraction to the fire demon.
Though it was the last thing she wanted to dwell on in that moment those flashes of him intervening on her behalf during the fight with the spider like demons had only increased its annoying presence.
She had liked the interaction of it, the way they both had slipped in and out of each other's vicinity during the more difficult moments. It had been a little distracting, seeing him in full action without his shirt on and the flash of white at his throat had only accentuated his compact frame in an easily seen as lewd fashion.
It had felt almost natural, as if they had been doing so for a long time and she had to admit that hostility in his tone had cut into that pleasurable sense of cooperation.
She felt like smacking herself over all of those strangely erotic undertones to the battle, and for even letting herself think of it now.
She needed him out of her mind!
What did she have to do to set him aside like she could everything else?!
He studied the new layers of wards he had set, annoyance curling his lip.
He had purchased the extra materials, straps of leather that crisscrossed the bandages along his arm and hand. It would limit his mobility of the arm a little due to the thickness but it was necessary. Stronger wards required stronger materials so it was an irritation he would have to endure.
He had been arrogant enough to not use them immediately due to the disclosure that Masanori was another embodiment of Fate. He had assumed that meant he had less reason to be concerned the Dragon would try to impose itself until they were near that demon.
He had made a foolish mistake in forgetting Masanori was not the only reason the Dragon fought to impose itself on the mortal realms.
He had made another foolish mistake in allowing himself to be distracted by her scent, by the ease in which she had stepped into the pattern of defense and attack with him and Kurama.
If he had not allowed himself to be caught up in that rhythm, to giving himself over so fully to the pleasure of shared battle with her he would have been prepared when it had begun its assault on the wards.
If it had not taken so long to kill their attackers he would have sensed that oncoming approach in his mind much sooner.
The fact remained that he had been distracted; that he had not realized the Dragon was slipping its bonds until the flame in his hand began to flicker with the shadows of the Darkness Flame and by then it had been close to releasing itself.
His warded hand curled into a tight fist as he forced himself to stand and replace his cloak around his shoulders though he did not bother with even a passing thought of replacing his shirt that had torn away during the fight. It was too much effort at the moment or he simply did not want the extra layer, one of those reasons would do.
It was unwise to stay so close to the corpses that surrounded him.
The animals would be coming to feed on them soon enough and he had little energy to defend himself.
The battle with the Dragon had consumed too much of his energies but not enough to make him remain where he was for the night.
I will not be rejoining them…tonight…
He began walking to the crevice the other two had slipped through planning on removing himself from the immediate vicinity then finding a convenient tree to keep the predators from finding him as he slept.
He paused as he reached the main area they had fought in.
An energy chain passed his shoulder just as he was removing his sword from one of the attackers.
He turned in response to see what it had been aimed at just as Shizuru rushed passed him.
"Watch your back better, speedball." She yelled at him as she went by.
Was it that moment?
Was that when he had let his guard down internally in favor of the rush of pleasure in knowing she was beside him in what he had always considered impossibility?
Her voice had been full of her own pleasure and it had imbued her with even more interesting qualities that enhanced his attraction towards her even in the center of blood being spilled.
He could not allow it to happen again, for his guard to be dropped so fully that he ignored the rise of the Dragon's will against his own.
He had no interest in his own death or in causing her death because of his inattention.
Her…
It always led back to her!
He slipped his hands into the pockets of his cloak as he continued past the battlefield, his eyes narrowed in thought.
Before there had been certain strength to his vicious despair now that harsh edge it had provided him was gone. The battle with Kurama had weakened his resolve, created a flaw in his studied control. It had been so easy in that self imposed damnation, to split his concentration between the Dragon and whatever it was of the moment attempting to kill him, to exist only to survive things bent on his death.
Though he was loath to admit it even to himself what truly made him vulnerable, the difference that made him so negligent was Shizuru. It was because he could not release the past fully and allowed himself to relax in ways he had not been able to for three years.
Regardless of how she might view him, deep within his core there was that small whisper of yearning hope that her continued presence kept alive. If he allowed it to continue it would all but consume him.
All things considered he had no choice but to find that way to destroy that thread of connection with Shizuru, to end that abysmal spark of hope that lingered within him no matter his endeavors to discard it.
His continued inability to do so was causing him to become a liability not only to her but to his own well being.
A smirk of self disgust curled his lip as he recognized that in a way this recent event stirred more than a small degree desperation to find that elusive technique.
Not just because of the recent failure on his part to control the Dragon.
It was also because in this state, with this growing thing inside of him that craving suddenly to share his world with her he knew he could never step fully away from her.
She despised him, would come to do so more in the future and he would be bound tightly to her by that hatred if he did not find the solution. He may even come to resent her for it, for existing to hate him to the degree he knew she would. That was the last thing he wanted to contemplate but it was not something beyond him and he was well aware of it.
Chu was a fool. I was always Shizuru's….she was never fully mine…
The thought made him stop in his tracks as he stared sightlessly at the ground.
They had shared time and a bed but he had never completely given over to sharing his life with her, the risks had seemed far too great. Even the act of touching her had required he hold back his strength that he never relaxed while in her company and that had translated to every other aspect of their time with one another.
She was human, fragile and ethereal despite her inner strength.
He was a demon, too imbued with the means to destroy her to leave any reaction to chance.
It had taken almost no time to decide her life above all else mattered because he had already practiced that concept daily, even if it would destroy him in the process with her in consideration it had been a simple choice.
It was a cosmic joke that only now would he understand how fully he had cheated her without meaning too.
It had never once crossed his mind then that to share the commonalities between them in the Demon World would have been the most desired outcome with her. To live like that with her, to experience that, to extend their time to one of constant influence had simply been impossibility.
It had never occurred to him until he was shown its possibilities through the utterly hopeless veil of her finding him repellant.
He pulled his hand from his pocket and ripped the scarf away from around his neck, his eyes centering on it dangling from his closed fist as her scent drifted up from it.
It had been nothing more than a practical offer, most likely due to her also wanting to rid herself of it and nothing more.
He almost cast it to the ground, discarded it as conflicting dark emotions boiled within him.
What did hope mean to a creature like him anyway?
He normally viewed things like that as crutches, things that only those who let their emotions rule them depended upon. That very dependence made them weak, and left them at the mercy of those that found out about those vulnerabilities.
Hadn't he learned that through Kurama and the countless times the fox demon's human family were threatened to gain his cooperation?
Hadn't he attempted to take advantage of that himself when he had first went up against Yusuke?
Hope was nothing but a trickery of the mind, a fool's errand most especially when taking into account his was fed by nothing more than cursory but necessary interactions with someone that loathed him.
It was time he cast it aside, he needed to finish what that battle with Kurama had begun instead of giving excuse to continue with the charade.
There was nothing between them and that spark of hope had to be eradicated, it was the only choice.
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