Chapter 55: Hell's Scorpion

It had only been a few weeks since the Makai Bujutsukai, and I was in the forest outside Genkai's temple, training with a new weapon…Kuronue's scythe. The illusionist youkai had, in fact, been using Kuronue's actual scythe. All anger at his impudence aside, once he was defeated, I took my friend's shimmering silver weapon and decided to teach myself how to fight with it. So, that's what I was doing on this particular day. Out of nowhere, I felt something hit me on the back of my head and everything went black. Since I have very little recollection of the events that followed, I'm going to turn this over to Hiei-sama yet again. …What, again? Fine. I had been leaning on a tree not far from Naoko and Kurama's house, when Kurama walked over with mild injuries, like he had just been in a fight. I asked him what happened, since I knew it wasn't easy to hurt Kurama.

"It's…I'm not even sure…I-it was some black haired kitsune…h-he told me he was going to kill Naoko. I-I think she's in Makai. I thought if anyone could find her, it was you."

"What!" I half yelled, worried for Naoko's safety. "What do you mean, you think she's in Makai!"

"Look, it wasn't my choice. I tried to stop him, but…he's way too powerful."

"Kurama…" I really wanted to say something really mean, but I stopped myself. "Where in Makai do you 'think' she is?" I thought I saw a glimmer of amber in his leaf green eyes as he snapped,

"You're the one with the third eye, why don't you tell me?" I glared angrily at him, but I knew he was right. He had come to me in search of assistance, which is not something a fox like him does easily. So, I started to look for her with my Jagan, which proved incredibly difficult, especially under the ice-cold watch of an overprotective brother's emerald eyes.

"Damn it! Someone's blocking my Jagan! How the hell are we going to find her now!"

"I don't know…" Kurama said softly. In that second, I felt unmistakable rage directed towards that kitsune. In an instant, I grabbed his shirt collar, Makai fire blazing in my eyes.

"Kurama, you baka kitsune! Try thinking for once!" With one swift, almost graceful motion, he slapped my hand away, speaking calmly but with a trace of anger in his glittering green eyes.

"What, do you think I'm not worried about her? She's my little sister, for Inari's sake. I trusted you enough to find her, Hiei, but I don't know everything."

"Neither do I!" I snapped, then turned away and started walking. "If you don't know, then you're no good to me right now.

"Fine," he said coldly. "Just fine." I managed to trace Naoko's energy pattern to a clearing in the middle of a dark forest in Makai. There, I realized the trail I had been following stopped abruptly. A black haired kitsune was leaning on a nearby tree, looking rather impatient.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" I snapped. He smirked, watching me with eyes of black ice.

"My name is Sasori Shinomori."

"Well…what do you want?"

"I want to be the greatest kitsune bandit in Makai. To do so, I realized I had to kill a couple demons. My plan was to kill the little girl with the green hair and then the legendary Youko Kurama, but I realized something would stand in my way…you." I knew my eyes and voice were cold and I snapped,

"Yeah. Do you have any clue who you're messing with?"

"Of course I do. You're Jaganshi Hiei. I know, and that's why I took the liberty of acquiring someone to fight in my place."

"Oh? You don't fight your own battles." I said angrily. "You get some idiotic underling to fight for you."

"Not quite." Sasori said in a cold voice, still smirking. "You see, Jaganshi Hiei, among my many powers, I possess…" As he spoke, Naoko calmly walked out of the forest beside us and stood in front of Sasori, staring at me with blank, expressionless cinnamon eyes, "…mind control." That son of a…He dared to reduce Naoko to nothing more than a mindless marionette…! I couldn't believe it.

"N-Naoko…no…" My mind raced, trying in vain to figure out what to do in order to snap her out of this trance. Sasori stepped back a little, creating a nearly indestructible shield of energy around him…probably so I wouldn't be able to kill him. Naoko pulled a black rose from her hair and created her Rose Whip, which trailed to the floor, waiting to strike. Her treasured crystal pendant, the source of the vast majority of her power, was glowing black as she continued to stare at me with no emotion in her eyes.

"Naoko…wait, think about what you're doing!" This couldn't be happening. She was actually getting ready to attack me, and as I realized this, I realized something else:

I would not be able to fight back, even in self-defense. Then, I heard Sasori's cold, confident voice say in an arrogant tone:

"She no longer has a will of her own. I completely control her. If you wish to survive, I suggest you not hold back."

I openly admit now, I was scared. Scared of hurting Naoko…I was afraid I would kill her if I attacked at all, and forget about attacking with all my strength. Panicking, I cried out,

"No…I w-won't! Fight me yourself!"

"And if I say no? Has the feared master of the jaou ensatsu ken lost his nerve?" He was so calm and collected…I hated him.

"No. But I'm not fighting a girl. Especially one that's weaker than me."

"How do you know she's weaker than you?" the fox continued in the same calm voice.

"I just do."

"Well, why don't you find out for sure? She'll fight you anyway." Quickly, I tried to control my panicking mind, as I thought to myself: /Naoko, please wake up. I-I don't want to hurt you…Please…/ All I felt was despair, fear, and helplessness. I was helpless to save her at this point. There was absolutely nothing I could do…but I had to try, damn it! For the sake of our relationship and for the sake of everyone that cared about Naoko, I had to save her!

"Naoko…l-last chance…SNAP OUT OF IT!" I quickly drew my silver katana, an outward threat with no conviction behind it.

"Rose Whiplash!" she cried, her thorned whip cracking thousands of times in the space of two seconds with very little warning. Moving quickly, I barely managed to get out of the way, continuing my desperate attempts to awaken her.

"Naoko! Come on, Naoko…" She cracked the whip at me once more and spoke in a voice devoid of any emotion:

"Fight back or die." Naoko…my Naoko…had just threatened my life. Still…I would rather die than hurt her.

"I won't fight you." I felt like everything I had ever cared about in my life was being shattered right in front of me as I dropped my sword, losing all hope.

"Rose Whiplash!" she cried again. I avoided it again…or tried to. A sharp pain cut into my right arm, telling me I had just missed a near-fatal strike.

"Naoko…please…"

"Shut up!" she yelled, still in that same voice. "Mateki Sandan Shya!" There was a high pitched whistle, and a small blizzard of ice flew from her hand. I quickly dodged the technique I had watched her steal from Touya during the Ankoku Bujutsukai, desperately screaming for the kitsune I knew was still inside that cold, emotionless shell.

"NAOKO! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" I sent her a telepathic message, trying to awaken her mind from whatever spell Sasori had used. /Naoko, please! Wake up… I love you and I don't want to hurt you/ Laughing, Sasori said,

"She can't hear your pathetic telepathic messages." A split second later, Naoko started twirling her whip overhead.

"Rose Whip Thorn Wh-"

"Naoko…I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" I teleported over and punched her in the stomach, trying to incapacitate her. Her whip stopped twirling and trailed to the ground from her hand. Something wasn't right here… Suddenly, her long fingered hand grabbed my white scarf as she gave me the most evil smirk I have ever seen. Very softly, she whispered…

"Rose Whiplash."

"Wh-" The very next second, I felt the full force of Naoko's favored attack as it cut across my skin like a thousand swift razorblades. Despite my attempts to restrain it, a scream of pain escaped my throat. Physical? Like you wouldn't believe. Emotional? Even worse. She stepped back, letting me recover from that attack. I straightened up and stared at Naoko for a second or two. At that moment, I made a decision.

I could not and would not let this continue.

My body seemed to act on its own as I walked forward, my eyes locked on Naoko. For a millisecond, I thought I saw a flicker of panic in her eyes as she fired Touya's attack again. I raised my arm to block it--that's right, block, not intercept—and I felt frigid icicles stab with white-hot pain. Ironic, huh? Then, I know I saw a tiny flicker of panic in Naoko's eyes as she used Rose Whiplash again. I didn't resist, just took her attack, knowing it would leave me badly injured. I was right. Suddenly, I teleported right in front of Naoko, grabbed her shoulders tightly with both hands, pulled her close, and kissed her. I realized I was crying as I broke it off and said quietly, "Naoko…I-I love you." All my strength was basically gone, and if this didn't work…I would die. However…as I looked right into her eyes, I saw actual emotion…like she was fighting to break Sasori's control. Before anything else could happen, however, the black haired fox said coldly:

"This isn't fun anymore." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Naoko's shoulders stiffened under my hands. With a rush of shock, I realized…she had stopped breathing. A split second later, Naoko collapsed like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut.

"N-Naoko!" I cried out, shocked, "Naoko…get up!" I knelt down beside the green haired earth youkai, who remained still, and gently took her wrist, checking for any sign of life.

Nothing. She was completely still and lifeless.

"Naoko! …NAOKO!" /I feel like…my heart has been ripped apart…/ It was at that moment I lost control. /…It has…all because of this psychopath! I swear to you, Naoko, I will make him pay for what he's done to you…/

end of chapter fifty-five