"That was insane." Gia muttered as she, Kurama, and Botan left Hikari's apartment. She appeared to be visibly shaken by the events that had just transpired, her violet eyes unfocused as she tried to internalize the situation. Kurama looked to Botan. "I believe an explanation is in order, Botan," he said firmly. "Why hadn't you informed us all that Hikari was haunted by her older sister?"
Botan jumped, scratching at her cheek. "I didn't know Chika was haunting Hikari, I just knew that Hikari was her attachment to the world and that was why she refused to cross over! Every time I would try to get her to come to Reikai, she'd run!"
"You said Chika was volatile. Have you ever had an issue like this?"
"Only once in a while, but in the end the spirits crossed over."
"Obviously one found you too chipper for that," Gia cut in icily, glaring at Botan. "Did Koenma know the entire time that Kari's had a sister?"
"Of course he did," said Botan, her tone slightly guilty, as she cast her eyes to the ground. "But Koenma didn't feel it was his place to tell everyone. It was something Hikari kept secret—the fact that she was being haunted by her cherished big sister."
Gia gritted her teeth angrily before screaming to the sky. "Dammit, Kari! Why couldn't you tell us what really bothered you?! Why couldn't you trust us?!"
Her words seem to echo throughout the neighborhood before her gaze went to the concrete, her eyes glimmering with tears. She bit hard on her lower lip, trying to restrain her sobs as her shoulders shook in her efforts. Sighing heavily, Kurama approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do not keep your emotions inside, Gia. It's not good for your health," he told her gently.
"Shut up!" Gia threw his hand off of her, glaring heatedly at him. "You keep your emotions in check at all times! If anything, you should heed your own advice you raging hypocrite!" she snapped.
"Gia!" Botan gasped, looking scandalized. "That's no way to talk to a friend who wants to help you!"
"Gia's understandably upset, Botan," Kurama said, his eyes half-mast.
"Don't pretend to know how I'm feeling, Kurama! Not when you haven't shed one tear for Kari after she's confided in you!" Turning on her heel, Gia took off in a run down the street before either Kurama or Botan could react. After a few moments of silence, Botan turned to look at the redhead.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he answered swiftly. Much as Gia's words wounded him—and he was a hard person to wound emotionally at the best of times—he knew it was solely due to the anger she felt inside of her.
"We should go after her," Botan murmured worriedly, looking at the direction Gia had fled to.
"Leave her be," said Kurama, closing her eyes. "She needs time to herself."
"Kurama-" Botan began, but she trailed off and Kurama was certain Botan wanted to say something, anything, but backed down for loss of words. The usually chipper guide was always quick to blurt her thoughts, but he presumed that in this case, Botan wanted to be careful with her thoughts and how they would come out. The guide worried for Gia; of course, she would. However, Gia was the type of girl to take her aggression out on something without witnesses. Seeing her crack and receiving sympathy was something Gia hated and Kurama knew it. With a shake of his head, he spoke softly, "We should return to the others and tell them we've encountered information about Hikari that may give us a lead."
Botan nodded wordlessly and the two began to return to Yusuke's apartment.
The darkness was suffocating, all around her, inside of her. Sanzeris felt as if she were dying, floating in some abyss that had no sliver of light. Blindly, she tried to reach for something, anything, but her fingers only groped air.
Inhaling sharply, Zeri turned this way and that, trying to find some way to escape the darkness. Her breath caught in her throat, her chest heaved, lungs hurting to the point where she was sure her body would be robbed of breath.
"Zeri…Zeri…" A soft voice whispered, echoing in the darkness. It was a voice she recognized, a voice she missed so dearly when she knew she would never hear it again.
"Kari?" Zeri gasped, looking around wildly. "Kari, is that you?"
"Zeri…" Hikari's voice was still so heartbreakingly soft that Zeri felt tears sting her eyes. She blindly reached out, hoping to come in contact with that familiar hand. "Kari! Talk to me, please! What's hurting you?" she called out, her own voice magnified in the abyss.
A high, keening scream of agony answered her, ripping through the thick, pitch-blackness. It was so sharp, so searing, Zeri felt her body freeze and pain pricking at every nerve as if she was being tortured. Her own scream mingled with Hikari's, her mind hyperaware of the feeling of something tearing her apart from the inside. Her throat was hurting, felt raw, and Zeri longed for the anguish to end…
"Hold her down!" Yusuke panted, gripping Zeri's wrists, his face slicked with sweat. His brows were furrowed in concern and focus as Kuwabara grabbed at Zeri's flailing legs. Zeri had been asleep ever since Keiko managed to calm her from when they all heard Hikari's voice screaming. All of a sudden, her peaceful slumber was shattered and her scream pierced the air like a gunshot as she thrashed on the bed, her limbs flailing madly as though she were being attacked.
"What the hell do we do, Urameshi?" yelled Kuwabara. Before Yusuke could even answer, Zeri let out a high-pitched screech, wrenching her arms from his grip and slugging him in the face. "Crap!" he grunted, hand over his cheek where Zeri struck him before grabbing at her wrists again to still her. "Dammit! Why isn't she stopping yet?!"
Keiko rushed to Zeri's bedside, her brown eyes wide with concern as she attempted to talk to Zeri soothingly in effort to calm her. "Zeri, it's just a dream," she murmured amidst the screams. "Please, wake up."
Keiko's effort, however, was in vain; Zeri only thrashed harder, her screams escalating octaves higher than what was considered normal that Yusuke was sure—though he was no doctor— her throat was going to be raw. The thought escaped him when Zeri screamed a name neither he, Kuwabara, or Keiko expected: "Kari!"
Yusuke exchanged a look with Kuwabara, feeling his insides freeze. The moment was fleeting when the door to his place opened and Kurama and Botan appeared in the doorway not a second later. Botan gasped, raising a hand to her mouth and Kurama's expression twisted into a concerned frown.
"Little help?" Kuwabara grunted from the strain of Zeri's thrashing and Yusuke gave Kurama a look that clearly said he would explain later. With a nod, Kurama strode to the bed briskly where he could clearly see Zeri fighting to free herself, though she wasn't conscious. Her scream was already at a level that would be considered offensive to his ears. He placed a hand against Zeri's forehead right as her scream faltered for a brief second and then it picked up in volume. Thinking quickly, Kurama began to use pollen from one of his many useful plants, silently hoping it worked quickly. Being close to his friends as he was, watching Zeri suffering from some night terror was enough to agitate him.
It took no little than three minutes before Zeri finally began to cease her thrashing, her chest heaving from exertion as she tossed her head to the right. Now that her head wasn't moving at rapid speed, there was evidence of tears tracking down her face. Her screams were reduced to mere whimpers as Hikari's name continued to escape her.
"Thanks, Kurama," Yusuke panted as he and Kuwabara released Zeri's arms and legs. Keiko and Botan immediately placed the blanket over the still girl. Tears were still streaking down Zeri's face, but she was no longer screeching in agony.
"What on earth was that about?" asked Botan, looking at the black-haired male with confusion in her eyes.
"Dunno. Zeri just started screaming and thrashing. Kuwabara and I held her down, 'cause we were sure she was gonna hurt herself. Then she just said Kari's name like she did just did and screamed bloody murder." Yusuke stabbed his fingers through his hair.
"Where's Gia?" Kuwabara asked Kurama. "Wasn't she with you?"
"Yes, she was. However, she was overcome with sentiment about Hikari as well and ran off," answered Kurama, intentionally leaving out Gia's outburst and completely one-sided argument with him. "However, we did find out something that may help us."
"And what's that?" Kuwabara crossed his arms. Yusuke raised his eyebrow expectantly.
"Hikari had an older sister, who was also murdered by demons when Kari was ten years old." The information still hadn't sunk in for Kurama, but he steeled himself. In spite of Gia's accusation of his lack of mourning for Hikari, he knew that someone had to keep a level head. "Gia and I had the…pleasure of encountering her spirit."
"You saw Kari's dead sister's ghost?" Yusuke asked in disbelief, his brown eyes widening. "Where?"
"At Hikari's apartment. Gia wanted to see it for herself and insisted in spite of my disapproval. I had gone with her in case she encountered Hikari." Kurama paused, took in a breath, and then continued. "Her sister, Chika, had told us that the Tsukiyomi family had been haunted by a spectre for generations. She's even mentioned that their parents have gone insane because of their abilities."
"Hang on." Kuwabara raised a hand. "Kari had powers? And didn't tell us?"
Kurama nodded and when he noticed his two friends' exchanging suspicious glances, he knew what must have gone through their minds. "Hikari never told me any of the sort in her letters. I hadn't any idea," he told them briskly.
"I'm more on the idea that Kari's parents are alive," muttered Yusuke. "Can't we just go and see if they can cough up something? Have a fit of sanity or some shit?"
"Yusuke, Hikari's parents are insane and hadn't the faintest ideas that their daughters have left home and were subsequently murdered," Kurama told him. "However, now we have information that Hikari had an ability that ran in her blood and her family had made a pact with a very powerful entity."
"Probably that scary aura I felt back when we went to Kari's place," Kuwabara chipped in, crossing his arms. "It was evil, like really dark. Bloodthirsty."
Silence weighed upon the group and it seemed to agitate Botan enough for her to try to be peppy. "Look! Just because things are turning out this way doesn't mean we have to let it get us down!" she exclaimed. When they boys didn't respond, Botan looked to Keiko hopelessly, but Keiko was silent, her eyes fixated on her hands folded in her lap. Botan almost wished Zeri hadn't had whatever that moment was, so as to try and brighten the mood. Unfortunate as it sounds, however, no one was in condition to brighten anything. It was though Hikari was a weight that they couldn't throw off until this was resolved.
Hiei had returned to the Ningenkai in hopes to get the noose off of his neck. The only person he would normally convey any type of frustration—if at all—was Kurama. The much older demon was always able to discern Hiei's particular moods, but Hiei wasn't in the mood for philosophical psychobabble. No, what the fire demon needed was some kind of answer for why the human was haunting his mind.
Standing on the branch outside of Kurama's home, waiting for fox to return, Hiei allowed himself to think of what bothered him beneath the surface. It wasn't just the fact that the girl haunted him. Ever since that strange vision he had of her, Hiei felt…exhausted. It was as if she was siphoning his strength from him and Hiei despised her for it. His throat burned with bloodlust; he longed to tear his claws into flesh, to rip muscle and bone. He ground his teeth together. He was better than this, stronger than this, and the mere memory of the girl was ripping him to pieces on the inside.
When the light went on in Kurama's room, Hiei moved, sliding the window open, as he knew full well Kurama wouldn't lock it. The redhead was stabbing his fingers through his hair, looking as drawn and exhausted as Hiei felt before his green eyes rose to look at the fire koorime. "Hiei. I didn't expect you to return this quickly."
Hiei rolled his eyes. "Of course you haven't," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Kurama quirked an eyebrow at him, as though sensing that something was off in the younger demon's psyche. "Is something the matter, Hiei?" he asked. Hiei glared at Kurama, unsure of how to vocalize his turmoil. Even that word sickens me…
It sickens you that the girl's feelings are affecting you, a voice said in his head. You're becoming soft.
No, Hiei rebuked the voice, that girl is meaningless. I am not becoming soft.
"Hiei." Kurama's voice was firm, drawing Hiei from his revere as he met the fox's eyes. "Something is troubling you. I can see it in your eyes."
"It's in your eyes." That was what she said to him. That was one of the last moment he had seen her face, when she was alive.
The girl was quiet as she sat beneath the tree that Hiei resided in. It was one thing for her to be silent, but she always had that idiotic notebook in her lap, writing something or other. Yet she wasn't even doing that.
She just sat there, staring into some distance.
While the silence was more than welcome, when it came to her, Hiei was agitated. The girl would have occasionally chirped some strange little thing in that gentle voice of hers. Yet she did nothing.
Hiei jumped down from the branch he sat on, standing in her proximity. Her scent, which was normally so floral, was…different. It was more...strange. Decaying. She turned her head, looking up at him and her expression was like stone. Her usually lively ember eyes were icy. Her lips were drawn in a thin line. Her long, ebony bangs swung into her eyes, yet loose strands framed her face.
"Woman." Hiei kept his tone cool as he met her eyes. When she didn't respond, Hiei felt a flare of irritation. "What is the matter with you?"
Her eyes seemed to have lost focus, yet become more so frostier. She tilted her head and locks of her black hair swaying with the movement and Hiei felt his insides shudder. A chill shot up his spine as he gazed into her eyes. Beneath his bandana, he used his Jagan to probe her mind and found…
A block.
A black mass was blocking the gentle probing he began, with no weakness in the defenses. Lips drawn into a frown, Hiei glared into the girl's eyes…and surprise overtook him, showing on his face when he tried to maintain stoicism around her.
Her eyes…her eyes, usually so bright like flames, were dulled. She was gazing at him with eyes devoid of life, eyes that were only to be described as dead.
"So that's it," she whispered. "It's in your eyes."
"What?" Hiei growled.
She was unfazed. "Your eyes. The things you've kept hidden, things you've endured. Your eyes are showing me everything, Hiei."
"She's borne witness to your sins."
A sharp pain seared through Hiei's mind and his palms pressed against his temples. It was as though his mind was on fire, but it was different from the level of comfort Hiei had with the element, with his skills in the darkest of pyromancy. This type of pain, this type of fire…it was different, darker. A low grunt of pain escaped his lips, as the pain seemed to spread further, inching to every limb. A buzzing in his ears made Hiei acutely aware that a voice was calling to him. Something grasped his shoulders and shook his roughly when he was suddenly jerked back into reality.
Kurama's face was floating nearby, concern on his face. Hiei jerked from his grasp, aware that his breaths were labored. It didn't escape Kurama's notice and it was proven when he asked, "It's Hikari, isn't it? You're seeing her?"
"How did you guess?" growled Hiei, glaring to the wall as if it could possibly catch flame from his irritation at all of this.
"Zeri is enduring the same thing," murmured Kurama, moving to sit at his desk chair. He interlocked his fingers, folded them in his lap. "I went with Botan to Yusuke and Keiko's apartment to tell them about the new information Gia and I have found out about Hikari. We hadn't taken Zeri due to her…sensitivity."
Hiei scoffed, the sound noticed by Kurama, whose eyes narrowed only slightly. "I am not certain of it, but it seemed Zeri had an attack. She was screaming and only one name escaped her once she calmed."
"Hikari?" Hiei asked before thinking. Shock filtered on Kurama's face, but he nodded. Silence hung between them before Kurama ventured forth with his own questions. "Hiei…are you being haunted by Hikari?"
Hiei glared sharply. "Does it matter? The girl is trying to reach out to someone. I would believe that she would have reached out to the one she was in contact with before her death." He didn't understand why it bothered him that Hikari had only contacted Kurama before she died, why it agitated him so that she had once confided in him and yet couldn't do so.
Kurama seemed to pick up hostility in Hiei's voice but chose to ignore it before proceeding with his train of thought. "Hikari had never confided in me the facts that she had an elder sister and had abilities we weren't aware of."
Abilities? Hiei frowned. "That girl was just a human."
"Yes, she was. However, her family was cursed."
"You know this how?"
"Gia and I encountered the ghost of Hikari's sister, Chika. She's told us as much as she possibly could."
"Which is nothing, I bet."
"Not necessarily. Chika mentioned that she and Hikari have been born to see the entities that are in the human world."
"Hn. Entities." Hiei frowned, his irritation taking root within him, flaring more and more. It would explain a few certain things—like why he was unable to probe Hikari's thoughts when she was alive. However, what was the wall in her mind when she had that deadened look? "It sounds ridiculous."
"Ridiculous, then…" Kurama shook his head at Hiei's reaction. "I assume you weren't surprised."
"Not in the slightest." Hiei crossed his arms. "Are you assuming the girl is a lot stronger than we were aware?"
"Not stronger. Perhaps a tad more spiritually aware, yet was unable to control it," murmured Kurama, closing his eyes. "However, Yusuke plans to seek out Hikari's parents. Unfortunately, they aren't in the best condition to receive guests."
"What, they're dead?"
"No. They are insane."
Hiei snorted derisively. "And he thinks he can managed to speak to them? The fool," he muttered. Kurama shook his head in amusement. "You and I both know that Yusuke tends to do things his own way, even when it is unconventional."
That fact was true, as Hiei knew very well. Yusuke had an unconventional streak of getting information as well as winning his fights. "Are you going with him to find the girl's parents?" asked Hiei.
"In order to get information about this curse Hikari's family was placed under, it may as well be our only chance. Chika Tsukiyomi is not entirely keen to help us, as Botan is trying to coax her to go to the Reikai," Kurama answered. "You are free to join us, Hiei. As you were the closest one to Hikari, I am sure you would want answers."
"I don't care," retorted Hiei bluntly, glaring at the fox. "Find your answers. It will not change the fact that she is dead." Even as the words escaped him, Hiei found a foul taste coating his tongue. However, he wasn't going to admit that aloud. Riled with impatience, Hiei proceeded to move to Kurama's window.
"Leaving already, Hiei?" The fox was looking at Hiei, his eyes contemplative, yet betraying no other emotion.
"I have no other reason to be here." Another foul taste in his mouth—it seemed to be an indication of a lie. Shaking his head, Hiei put his foot on the sill and hauled himself out into the night.