Reply to comments
SakuraTheKitsuneGurl: If you hate cliffhangers you'll hate this one even more. :p I'm not sorry.
Kath: It took me a bit longer than usual but I still hope you'll enjoy it!
Laine: I'm so excited you're excited! It makes me happy. :)
Guest: Oh you bet I will continue this until the end... But not after leaving you with cliffies and twists for many more chapters to come!
Note
This chapter took a bit longer to write and the pacing in the beginning is a bit off compared to the rest but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!
English isn't my native language but I'm trying my best. Do tell me about reoccurring error's so I can implement and improve wherever needed. Tell me what you think or theorize in the comments, they always inspire me.
Demons of the night
"Thank you for tonight." Botan said as she folded her hands behind her back, eyes watching the ground as she blushed slightly. Kurama had taken her with him on a business dinner, she thrived watching all his female colleague's silently judging her. Why someone like her would be with someone like him, they were definitely jealous he decided to take her with him. At first Botan wondered if she was just there to take an empty seat, to help him get rid of this new wave of fangirls which never seemed to stop following him, even after his academic years. It was after a few hours she realized she wasn't just there to scare them away.
"Thank you for joining me." His smile shook her to the core, crawling up her spine as a wave of heat reached her cheeks. Botan averted her gaze once more in an attempt to hide it.
"I'm glad I could." She answered softly, standing close to him. A hand entered her vision and she looked up as he tugged a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
A silence engulfed them, a silence which has gotten so loud over the last few months. It was this silence and his touch which pushed the words out of her mouth, having been forced back down for too long.
"I like you." Botan whispered. "Like, a lot."
She clasped her hands over her mouth as she saw his shocked expression. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, ah I'm so stupid!" But he wasn't mad, he smiled. Botan had to blink twice, this smile was genuine, she knew by the way his eyes squinted and his eyebrows tilted up as he smiled. Little details edged into her brain. She was expecting a spoken answer, mocking her, rejecting her. All of these thoughts were wiped away as he pressed the gentlest of kisses on her lips.
Botan didn't know how to react for a moment, her hands hovering next to him before she relaxed in his affection. She reluctantly broke the kiss as he moved back.
"You're not stupid." Kurama said. "You're lovely."
...
Kuwabara dragged his feet towards the university entrance as the morning sun peeked over the horizon, the weekend hadn't given him any rest as exam stress kept him awake though the blame was his for drinking way too much coffee. He had read chapter after chapter, over and over though he didn't have the feeling anything was being absorbed. He thought about contacting Kurama for advice, the best way to study but considering the circumstances, Kuwabara voted against it.
So instead he read and read, repeated and rehearsed without looking at the time. At a certain point, Kuwabara was unable to fall asleep due to the stress he was exposing himself too. The feeling of failing, seeing his dream of becoming a veterinarian fly out of the window, he couldn't let that happen.
"Good morning sir." Kuwabara greeted his teacher before taking his seat.
"Good morning to you too Kuwabara, you're early." His professor answered, still preparing that day's classes.
"Yeah." Kuwabara rubbed his eyes before leaning his head on his palms. "Just had a lot on my mind and as I was already awake I thought I'd come in a little earlier."
The professor clasped a bundle of papers underneath his arm. "Ah, I see." He began as he walked towards the door. "Class won't start for another fifteen minutes, you know you can always come in for a talk if you feel bothered by something, right?"
Kuwabara threw him a lopsided grin. "I know, thank you." He said. The professor nodded and left the room, leaving him alone in the dimly sunlit classroom. Yusuke had told him everything and it made Kuwabara squeamish, knowing he had roughly experienced the same symptoms. He counted them all, they were all the same except for the creeping dark marks which Yusuke later explained to be the Owaranai Yami.
He didn't realize other students were slowly entering the classroom, he was in his own bubble, his own whirlwind of thoughts. He thought about what Genkai said, he had indeed seen Kurama manipulate his energy twice near the area. Kuwabara felt his own stomach tie itself into a knot when he thought back at when he touched Kurama during this transaction of sorts. The sting it created in his arm was a burning one, as if he had broken it.
"Earth to Kuwabara!" A hand shook wildly in his field of vision.
"Huh?" Kuwabara blinked a couple of times before he saw his classmate. Taking his books out of his bag, he prepared himself to get a questionnaire about the upcoming exams.
He left the campus at around four in the afternoon when a message made him stop in his tracks. Changing course within a heartbeat, he cursed underneath his breath as he made his way towards Genkai's temple.
...
Yusuke plaited another bowl. "Here you go." He said as he carefully reached it out of the window. He smiled as Keiko gave him another order and turned back to his station to prepare the newly communicated dish.
"Someone's here to see you." Keiko called through the takeout window. "Shall we switch for a little?"
He looked up in surprise. "To see me?" He said as he dramatically pointed towards himself.
"Yes." Keiko chuckled as she entered the kitchen. "Get out there."
Yusuke planted a kiss on her forehead before moving to his newly assigned station. He wasn't the best at customer service, especially not during late dinner service when alcoholic beverages were served and consumed like it was water or some kind of life saving liquid which had to be drunk in bulk. He had fought and kicked out his fair share of drunk delinquents, to the dismay of Keiko.
He reached the register and was about to use his usual 'What can I get for ya.' before seeing who was in front of him.
"Ayame?!" Yusuke smiled in surprise. "Didn't expect you here, how are you? What brings you here? Can I pour you something to drink?"
Ayame returned the silent smile but quickly dropped it. "I'm here in high urgency, Yusuke."
Yusuke's smile dropped in unison with her's, leaning over the register. "What is it? Did something happen?" He whispered.
Her eyes darted to her hands, neatly folded on her lap as she sat on the bar stool. "Koenma sent me, Botan has been missing in action for a little over a day and she isn't with Kurama. We're worried something might haven happened to her."
"She's gone?" Yusuke said in disbelief, his voice louder than intended as it caught Keiko's attention.
"Who's gone?" She said curiously, her hand holding the curtain open so she could see them.
"Botan.." Yusuke whispered towards her.
Keiko's free hand flew up to cover her mouth in shock and surprise. "Oh no, what now?"
Ayame looked at Keiko past Yusuke. "I'm here to assemble a search party. Yusuke, please help us find her."
Yusuke exchanged looks between Keiko and Ayame. It was a priority to find her, yet what if Koenma was overreacting and she was just taking a long break? What if Botan just had enough of all the stress and fled somewhere quiet? The shop was important too, he can't just leave Keiko during dinner rush hours. But what if something was indeed wrong? What if Botan was in danger? How can..
"Go." Keiko saw his hesitation, how his mind wandered to a place in-between the two choices. "I'll call my dad in to help me, we'll manage, go." She reassured him as Yusuke's mouth moved but didn't make a sound.
"Okay." Yusuke said defeated before turning back to Ayame. "Tell me everything you know." He said quickly as he removed his apron and left his place behind the register.
...
"Our profits have gone down by two procent, we need a new marketing strategy or else we can expect the line to keep decreasing by the day." The man pointed at the chart, a dramatization of numbers. Kurama sighed on his seat at the big table, his colleagues were blabbering to each other about the chart, the information never fully reaching Kurama.
"What do you think?"
Kurama looked up as an eerie silence filled the meeting room. He cleared his throat when he saw the eyes of all his colleagues directed towards him. "I uhm.. I agree that we need a new marketing plan, maybe we should focus our attention towards what the consumer wants and work towards that." He tensed.
"Perfect, I'm glad you're back Su." The man smiled at him before continuing his presentation on what to do next. Kurama sighed in relief, glad they didn't notice him dozing off. His hand had been aching ever since he told Botan and being bombarded with delayed paperwork was something he didn't look forward to either, adding to his dwindling mood.
He walked back to his office after the meeting had ended, he had placed minimum effort into it and was grateful no one had asked him anything else. He passed by the coffee machine before returning to his office, a sudden hand found itself on his shoulder and he jumped, almost dropping his coffee in the process.
"Great effort at the meeting." A male voice spoke from behind him.
Kurama turned to face him and gave him an awkward smile. "Thank you." He replied.
"I'm so glad you're back." He continued while picking his choice of beverage from the machine. "It was a total mess, you don't wanna know. It makes us all realize how important you are to our department."
Kurama hummed a tone of understanding, unwilling to reply to it verbally.
"So I'm glad you're well again. Anyway, I didn't know you were left handed." The young man said while taking his beverage out from underneath the machine. Kurama grimaced at this statement and moved his right arm behind his back as the man faced him again.
"Well I don't really have a dominant hand..." Kurama said the words as he made them up.
"I see, lucky talent I guess." The man eyed his right arm where it disappeared behind Kurama's back.
Noticing this, Kurama gave a quick bow. "I have to go back to work, I have a lot of things to catch up with. Have a nice day." He said as he started walking towards his office. The young man returned the gesture and headed the other way. Entering his office, Kurama closed the door behind him, releasing a deep breath. The computer was lighting up with email notifications and Kurama resumed his seat behind his desk. Even though he came into the building roughly an hour before his shift started, he hadn't even gotten halfway through all of the emails.
A knock on his door made him turn. "Come in." He said. The door opened, his stepfather and boss appearing in the doorway.
"Heard you're back." He said. "I have some things to discuss with you.. Nothing personal, just something for the new marketing plan." He quickly added as he saw Kurama's face tense.
Kurama listened to what he had to say, typing away on his keyboard as the ideas and concepts escaped their minds. Hatanaka's eyes darted to Kurama's hands as the tempo of his typing was much slower than usual. "What happened?" He asked, gesturing towards the bandage around Kurama's hand.
"I burned myself." Kurama said quickly.
"It's slowing you down." Hatanaka replied sternly. "How bad is it?"
"Not that bad." He said but grimaced as Hatanaka suddenly reached over and took his hand.
He wrinkled his eyebrow. "You say 'not that bad' yet I see the complete opposite." He said as Kurama retracted his hand. "Add to that the fact you don't look good at all. So not only are you clearly uncomfortable, there's something on your mind which prevents you from working to the best of your abilities."
Kurama saw his change at that point. "About that, I would like to request some more time off."
"I was about to send you home to rest so I'm glad you realize this yourself." He laughed softly. "Don't worry about the work, I'll have someone take over until you're ready to come back."
Nodding his head, Kurama wanted to propose he finishes as much as he could that day, but was stopped when Hatanaka handed him his coat. "Go home." He said and Kurama reluctantly but gratefully complied.
It was when he had finished transferring all his work to his temporary replacement, his business phone rang. "Sir, someone is here to see you." A young woman said through the receiver.
'Again?' He thought to himself. "Send them through." He said before ending the call. It was just a few minutes before someone knocked on his door. He called for his visitor to enter and was met with a deity, sporting her human form.
"I'm sorry to bother. My name is Ayame, I'm here in the name of Koenma." She stared at him, fidgeting her hands nervously as Kurama lifted an eyebrow. "You are Kurama, right?" She said hesitantly.
"Yes, that's me." Kurama smiled as she relaxed, glad she hadn't tracked down the wrong person.
"Thank god." She looked around to see if no-one else was around and closed the door behind her. "Is Botan with you?" She asked hopefully.
"She left for work yesterday morning, I haven't seen her after that." Kurama replied, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why? Did something happen?" He asked with a slight panic in his voice.
Ayame's eyes dropped to the ground. "Koenma send her to retrieve some files but she never returned, we found the files scattered on the ground and I heard the safe was opened but there's no trace of her." She halted shortly before continuing, feeling Kurama's growing anxiety. "We don't seem to be able to reach her and we hoped she'd be with you. Seems we were wrong."
Kurama's face had lost its color and Ayame was afraid his eyes would soon roll back into his head. She took a hold of his blouse as she continued. "I'm assembling a search party, ogres and deities are currently searching the entire palace.."
"And you need us to look outside of spirit world?" Kurama said breathlessly.
"I'll be heading towards Yusuke's place to ask him, could you maybe get in contact with Kuwabara? Koenma has contacted Mukuro to send Hiei over." Ayame summoned her oar. "Let's all meet up at Genkai's as soon as we can."
With that, Ayame opened his office window and shot him a soft smile before taking off into the sky. Kurama watched her disappear before slowly closing his window, his mind was running wild with possible scenarios and a weird feeling settled in his stomach. He locked his office, bid the girl at the front desk a nice week and exited the facility.
Kurama took out his phone and typed a quick text to Kuwabara before the strange feeling returned. He leaned against a tree as he dry heaved due to the sudden nausea.
"Hey, are you okay?" A sudden male voice appeared behind him.
Kurama softly scolded himself before nodding him off. "I'm going home."
The man laid a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, I know this month is a busy one so don't push yourself."
"Thank you for your worry, but I'll be fine, just need some rest." Kurama replied.
"Aight, take it easy." The man said before lighting a cigarette and heading back to the smoking area. Kurama collected himself, straightening his back before walking towards the bus stop.
...
Yusuke felt his blood boil as he waited for Kurama to arrive. Kuwabara sat in the courtyard as Genkai readied the portal. He paced around impatiently before approaching footsteps made him redirect his focus towards the stairs where an exhausted Kurama finally made it to the temple.
"Where the fuck were you? We're all waiting for you." Yusuke said surprisingly calmly.
"Care to remind me again how public transport is supposed to be fast?" Kurama huffed as he threw his suitcase inside the temple.
"You're not really dressed for a rescue." Yusuke scoffed as he took in Kurama's slacks, following his movements as he loosened his tie and threw it inside the temple as well.
"Let's just go." Kuwabara stood from his place as he saw Genkai approach.
"It is ready. This portal will take you directly to Koenma, he will brief you about their findings." She watched them enter one by one but halted Kurama before he could cross the portal. "Keep your cool." She said. "Listen carefully, you are joining them because they need you, I've already pitched them about this but you are not allowed to use your spirit energy or any energy for that matter. Am I clear?"
"I understand and am aware of the consequences were I to use my energy." Kurama nodded.
"Good. They will protect you, I'll be waiting for your return." Genkai said before pushing him through the portal.
...
The darkness was starting to fade and Botan squeezed her eyes shut as light burned her retina's. A voice was repeating something but she couldn't make out what it was saying.
"Hey, miss!"
Botan's eyes shot open as the voice suddenly increased in volume, its words suddenly recognizable. She blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust to the light before she could see her captor.
"My buddy hit you a bit too hard, my apologies." He was close enough for her to feel his breath upon her face. Botan took a few minutes for her vision to completely return, when it did, she gasped at the appearance of her captor. He had shiny white hair, he appeared human but his skin was a flawless light-grey and his eyes dug into hers like he was trying to drown her into his ocean.
"Miss?" He cocked his head to the side, eyes still fixated on her's. Botan didn't respond, she tore her gaze away from her captor to take in her environment. The room she was in wasn't dark, nor was it smelly and gross like she expected. The walls were light beige, golden trimmings and designs were draped all over the walls and furniture. She could feel that her hands were tied together behind the chair she was situated on, even the chair was soft and clean.
"What are you?" She croaked out, ignoring the pounding headache which lingered after one of them had so forcefully taken away her consciousness. "Who are you? Where am I?"
"I'm Xinlan." The demon held out his hand but awkwardly retrieved it after realizing her hands were still tied. "How utterly stupid of me, you are in our castle, you're the lucky one who gets to be in the head quarters. The others are usually taken to the basement, you don't want to know what happens in the basement." He grinned manically. "Or maybe you do want to know." His breath was hot against her cooled skin as he leaned in closer.
Botan turned her head away but gasped as her head was forcefully pulled back by his hand. His nails caressed her skin and she shivered against his touch, holding her breath as he leaned in even closer. The demon licked his lips as he took in her scent before the warmth suddenly disappeared, a loud crash and sound of rubble audible to her left.
"I'm sorry about that, our kind is quite keen on... Touch."
Botan opened her eyes once more only to be met with who she recognized as her second captor. "Why.." Was the only thing she could utter before he spoke again.
"I see you've already met mister 'nice-guy' over there?"
She redirected her eyes to her left, where a small bed of smoke revealed the demon who introduced himself as Xinlan lay giggling in the rubble of what used to be a table.
"Why must thou hurt me so oh brother." Xinlan muttered in amusement.
"Zip it or I'll rip out that tongue of yours." The other demon spat. "And I'm not your brother."
"The day you do will be the best day of my life." Xinlan grinned even wider and Botan noticed the other demon shaking his head in disappointment and slight embarrassment.
"Now then." He took a chair and positioned himself in front of Botan. "You're going to tell us about that artifact you and your friends broke."
"Artifact? What are you talking about?" Botan raised her eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Do you really think we haven't noticed?" The demon took a deep breath. "It's shockwaves have shaken the entire foundation of our castle, not even mentioning the rest of demon world. We've sent some to retrieve it and bring it here, so we could bathe in its power but they never returned, they were probably too weak and succumbed to its effects. When Xinlan and I decided to get it ourselves, we found it lost. We didn't give up though, see, Xinlan has the nose of a hellhound and its smell took us to your little hide-out in the human world. We collected three smells and yours was one of them. Now tell me, where is it." He demanded.
"Hold up." Botan shook her head in confusion. "You're telling me you followed the scent to K-.." She paused. "Okay let me be clear. One, I do not know what you're talking about. Two, why are you after us and three, who in Enma's name are you?!"
"Oh excuse my manners." The demon replied. "I'm Uranrel, you've already met my right hand man Xinlan. You're in our territory in demon world and we've kindly sent your boss an invitation to come and get you. If you cooperate, we won't harm you."
"I wouldn't count our specialties as harming though." Xinlan grinned, making himself comfortable in the rubble.
"Just ignore him please." Uranrel sighed. "Anyway, if you tell the truth and are a really unaware of all this then you must be blind or been lied to, seeing your eyes are working perfectly fine, I must regretfully break the news to you some have lied to you, sweetheart."
"She's not lying." Xinlan replied absently. "I can smell lies and this ain't one to lie, brother."
"I swear if you call me brother one more time.." Uranrel growled.
"No problem... Brother." Xinlan teased.
Uranrel sighed heavily and stood from his seat. "I guess we'll be waiting for your rescuers than, I'm sure we'll be able to get some information out of them."
"You won't get anything out of them." Botan sneered. "They aren't ones to give you everything and anything you want with just snapping your fingers."
"I don't need to snap my fingers when I got you, darling." Uranrel smiled softly. Botan swallowed thickly as he continued. "Why else would we take you with us? Our species is frowned upon but that doesn't mean we're stupid."
"What species are you?" Botan gathered all her might to ask him but was left without reply as Uranrel just shook his shoulders and dragged Xinlan out of the room.
"You just hang on tight, we'll take care of the rest." He smirked before closing the door, leaving Botan alone in the room.
...
"So this is it?" Yusuke eyed the huge compound in front of him.
"There is no security, nothing." Kuwabara scoffed in slight disappointment. "You would think they'd crank up the security when you invite people over to save your hostage."
"Yeah, it was already weird enough they left a note in the place of the thing they stole, basically inviting us over. They did our job for us so I'm not complaining but come on! A little action wouldn't scare me." Yusuke crossed his arms.
"So we just, go in, I guess?" Kuwabara lifted his shoulders and dropped them again and started walking but stopped when Hiei appeared in front of him.
"Before we go in, I suggest you hold your breath and keep your eyes to the floor, same goes for you detective." Hiei hummed, clearly unamused by the energy signatures he sensed. "There are a lot of demons in there but they won't attack."
"Then what's the point of having security when they don't attack trespassers?!" Yusuke whined as it didn't add up in his mind.
"They aren't there for security, Yusuke." Kurama shook his head. "They live there and I must agree that you should both keep your eyes to the ground."
Yusuke was as confused as a caveman with a stick. "I really don't get why.."
"Just keep your eyes to the ground and breathe slowly, you don't want to breathe in their scent, that's how they lure you in." Hiei turned to face them. "Maybe pull your shirt over your mouth, it'll help with the smell."
Kuwabara chuckled. "Does it stink?"
Hiei shot him a warning look. "They are no laughing matter. I've come into contact with one of them and trust me, you'll regret your decision of getting close to them really soon."
Kurama nodded at that. "I've met a few back in my demon days but never took their bait."
"With your reputation I would've thought otherwise." Hiei threw the smooth with slight amusement.
Kurama clicked his tongue before taking the lead. "Let's just go, I want her out of there as soon as possible. I don't want to know what they might have already done."
"What are they? Whose castle is this?" Kuwabara asked.
"Succubi and incubi." Hiei retorted at mentioning them.
They opened the heavy doors and set foot inside the compound, a sweet aroma washing over them like a gust of wind in a storm. Kurama and Hiei raised their hands to their noses to avoid inhaling the strong smell. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed their lead, their eyes on the floor as they held their shirts over their mouths with one hand and kept contact with their two demon comrades with the other so as to not lose their way.
Sounds reached Yusuke's ears, they sounded like women trying to lure him to them. The voices were accompanied by warmth as hands softly touched and pulled at his shirt, begging him to stop and look at them, to take in their scent and join them but Yusuke kept a firm grip on Kurama's shirt as they quickened their pace.
Kuwabara did as he was told, holding on to Hiei's cloak as he blindly followed in his footsteps. Rather than keeping his eyes on the ground, Kuwabara had decided on keeping his eyes closed. He felt a cool breeze as a set of doors opened and closed behind him, feeling a firm hand pat his back as he opened his eyes and allowed himself to breath.
"That was quick." Kuwabara laughed but halted as he noticed he was alone with Hiei. "Where are the others?" He asked as he looked around.
"Succubi fortresses usually have multiple doors, once you walk in, you are to keep your eyes on the target door and not look away from it." Hiei smoothed out his cloak.
"Why?' Kuwabara asked.
"Because they will try to distract you. This is one of the reasons why Kurama is with us, I would've abandoned you in that hallway if I were in charge." Hiei scoffed as he met Kuwabara's confused gaze. "It means that we got separated because we focused on different doors. Not that it's the end of the world, all hallways lead to the same center."
"So everything is connected.." Kuwabara observed the three entrances with a frown. "How about these?"
"We've entered their maze." Hiei sighed. "Luckily for us, I've already encountered this one."
Kuwabara's jaw dropped. "Wait, so you're saying you've been here before?!"
"I can neither confirm nor deny that claim." Hiei shook his head as he approached the right entrance. "Just follow me, there will be traps but I don't think they have changed a lot about it."
They made their way into the darkened narrow passages when a sudden crash caught their attention. "What's that?" Kuwabara asked as he looked around. "Did we initiate a trap?!"
"We didn't." Hiei said bluntly. "But Yusuke probably has."
"I hope they're okay." Kuwabara didn't notice Hiei had continued further into the narrow passageway. "Hey hold up!"
Hiei held up his hand to silence Kuwabara. "From here on out, follow my footsteps exactly, one wrong move and we'll be squished like bugs."
Kuwabara grimaced and nodded at Hiei's command, following his footsteps with veterinarian precision. He felt a lump form in his throat as he noticed the walls coming closer with each advancing meter. "Uuhm, Hiei?" Kuwabara said shakily as he felt claustrophobic.
Hiei noticed that he was getting uncomfortable. "Stay here, I'll see where it ends.. Do not move an inch." With that, Hiei pushed himself through the passageway, minding his step as to not trigger any traps. After a few minutes he made it to what seemed like the end. A large room with double doors on the other side. Hiei turned his head and carefully made his way back to Kuwabara.
"I have good news and bad news." Hiei said as he approached Kuwabara.
"Good news first please." Kuwabara did his best to control his breathing so as to not panic.
Hiei nodded. "The good news is that we chose the right passageway, the bad news is that it will get even smaller before we reach the end, but it will be wide enough for you to pass through."
Kuwabara swallowed thickly. "What do we do?"
"Take off your belt and your jacket." Hiei answered sternly.
"You want me to strip?! Here?!" Kuwabara laughed at Hiei's lame attempt for a joke but dropped it as he saw Hiei was being serious. He took a few steps back and unbuckled his pants and took off his jacket, leaving him in his shirt. "Why did I have to strip and what now?"
"Your belt and buttons will only get in your way, you'll have to squeeze yourself through these last meters. Follow me." Hiei motioned him further in. "Keep an eye on your steps."
The walls continued to tighten up the passageway and Kuwabara was squeezing himself through while controlling his breath so as to not panic. Hiei had taken his clothing as he had more space to move around, it didn't help that Kuwabara was three times Hiei's size. He kept his composure and dragged himself through, relieved as he saw the end of the tunnel. Hiei pulled him through the last couple of meters before he finally fell into the central room face first.
"Well well well, who do we have here?" A voice was heard as the big double doors opened, revealing Xinlan to be waiting for them. "If it isn't Hiei."
"You know him?" Kuwabara took his belt and jacket back, blindly pulling the belt through the loops as he kept his eyes on the incubus in front of him.
Hiei sighed audibly. "Of all the scum it has to be you.."
"Oh come on Hiei! We had fun, didn't we?" Xinlan winked teasingly which made Kuwabara wildly uncomfortable. Xinlan continued. "And who are you? A human?" He smiled. "I never thought of you as one to choose a human."
"Judgemental as ever I see." Hiei bit his tongue.
"You know me too well." Xinlan grinned. "I'm still waiting on the other half of your entourage, Hiei. But it seems they dove too deep." He shook his head as he motioned towards one of the other doors, the one exactly next to the gap Hiei and Kuwabara emerged from.
...
Another set of heavy doors were opened and they entered another room, this one cold compared to the other one. He heard Kurama gasp as soon as the doors closed, taking in air as he hadn't had any during their entree.
"It's safe to breath now." Kurama said in-between gasps.
Yusuke removed his shirt from his mouth and allowed himself to take a few deep breaths before lifting his head, facing Kurama. "Hang on." He said quickly as he looked around. "Where are Kuwabara and Hiei?!" He panicked.
"We got separated, they are fine but these are the dangers of succubi and incubi compounds, they play with anything that comes into their territory. Hiei and Kuwabara have taken a different route to avoid the succubi." Kurama eyed the door they just entered through with disgust.
"What are succubi and incubi and why am I not allowed to smell or see them?" Yusuke grumbled under his breath.
"Demons of the night, the females of this species are called succubi while the males are called incubi. Looking at them won't hurt you but knowing you, the temptation would've been too much. Their aroma is like an aphrodisiac, you should never inhale it for that is their most effective luring technique, once inhaled, they can make you do whatever they want." Kurama explained. "The entrance hall was filled with it. From here on out, it should be safe."
"What about Kuwabara and Hiei?" Yusuke asked.
"They'll be fine. Hiei knows their ways and Kuwabara is smart enough to not run off." Kurama turned towards the outstretched hallway. "This isn't a regular hallway." He began. "Keep your eyes open for any traps, they are well prepared for individuals who succeed in resisting their temptation."
Yusuke nodded absently while he was eyeing the door at the end of the hall. "So that is our next entrance?"
Kurama looked around and determined there to only be one door aside from the one they just entered from. "It seems so.. Hey wait!"
Determined to not waste any more time, Yusuke was making his way towards the door in a fast pace as he angrily swung his arms in rhythm with his steps. Kurama took a small sprint to catch up to him, landing one hand firmly onto Yusuke's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks and turning him around to face Kurama.
"You can't just walk up to it like that!" Kurama whispered harshly. "This entire hallway must be filled to the brim with traps!"
"There are no traps here, I've literally made it this far without initiating anything." Yusuke scoffed and managed to set a few more steps before being halted by Kurama again.
"We are in unknown territory, we need to be careful." Kurama said, blocking Yusuke's path.
Yusuke was about to say something when a sudden change of light made him halt. He looked at Kurama in confusion as only the light above him seemed affected. His breath hitched in his throat as he looked up at. Looking back at Kurama, Yusuke braced himself and launched himself into Kurama, forcing them both onto the ground as a block of concrete barely missed them.
"Yeah, you were right, sorry." Yusuke groaned as he recovered from his sudden action. Kurama lay underneath him, stunned by the sudden action. "You okay?" Yusuke asked.
Kurama looked up at him and held his arm, disabling Yusuke from getting up. "Don't move just yet." He said. "This is just one of the many, if we move, we will most definitely activate more."
"So what do we do now?" Yusuke asked while he watched the door once more.
"We either get up very slowly or we risk it and run as fast as we can." Kurama suggested.
"Well, get ready to run then." Yusuke said before he stood up and yanked Kurama with him as he ran. Kurama barely managed not to fall as he was pulled up and away. They ran as sounds and crashes were heard behind them. "Prepare for impact!" Yusuke yelled as they got closer to the door.
"No, wait!" Kurama tried pulling Yusuke to a halt but failed as Yusuke's body connected with the wooden door. What awaited them, however, wasn't another room.
Yusuke's apparent war cry turned into one of unexpected shock as they were met with a free-fall. Kurama had managed to reduce their speed to the point where he was able to reach out and hang on to the edge of the void. The sound of the door hitting the bottom gave them an estimate of its depth. Yusuke dangled above the abyss, imagining the height of their fall would they to plunge in. His thought became a reality when Kurama groaned, forcing Yusuke's attention towards him. Realization hit him as he saw Kurama was holding them up with his right hand.
"Hang on!" Yusuke yelled. "I'm climbing up!" He pulled himself up and climbed up to Kurama's waist when he saw the muscles in Kurama's hand protest.
"Shit." He heard Kurama groan under his pained breath before his hand gave out, not having the strength to keep them both from falling. They fell down for what seemed like minutes before crashing onto the ground. Yusuke yelped as the knob of the fallen door dug right into the left side of his back. Kurama's back connected with the concrete below, both landing in the basement with a sickening thud.
But what's in the basement? If you have any idea's throw them at me! I'd love to see what you come up with!
See you in the next chapter!