Reflection

Standard Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho and all its characters are not mine. This is just my small, literary attempt on writing a fanfic ^-^

Chapter Three: Clouds of Mist (Third Person POV)

If this is another one of those senseless junk that moron asks me to do, I'm going to kill him, he thought as impatience coursed through his veins, reflected by each heavy stride he took. His eyes had been glowering for the past few minutes on his way, causing fear into the eyes of the pedestrians he had passed by. But he had no choice but to mingle with them. It would cause him too much of a havoc to jump into trees to where he was supposed to go due to the huge number of people around. And with that reason said, his patience had to be gambled. If ever there was any.

Yusuke had come to him just a short moment ago, asking him to go to the hospital, giving him only the room number. He wasn't able to ask why, for the youth had left trying to comfort a very depressed-looking wife. Which left him wincing in an irate state. He thought of Yukina first, of course. But Yusuke had assured him it wasn't her. Which proved the situation useless and beyond his interest. If only Yusuke hadn't added the, "it's important" part of his almost whispered speech, he wouldn't have come at all.

He reached his destination, but found it another burden to get in without being asked questions and other things he had no time to mind. By the time he was shown the room, and by the time he felt he urge to hit the male nurse, he stalked away, leaving the nurse a glare that would certainly remind the male of him.

He didn't bother to knock when he opened the door. He expected something that would surprise him, and leave him in certain irritation later on.

"What the---?"

He got his surprise all right. Not irritated though. He tried to clear his view as the vision of a very familiar body lay stiffly against the darkness of the room, the silence almost making things a lot more vague.

"Nice of you to visit, Hiei"

He glanced behind him, seeing a familiar frame closing the door he just went through. It was only when the girl stared at him curiously did he notice that he had his mouth opened slightly through the shock. He closed it immediately, only to open again in an attempt to ask a question. "What happened?" he wanted to hit himself at the tremble he heard in that voice. But it couldn't be helped, the sight of Kurama's form so weak and vulnerable had been something that could go beyond the impossible. Although, the very moment had proved him wrong, it was way less than impossible now, it had just been made into possibility. No, lesser, it had happened.

The girl, Botan, let out a downhearted sigh and shook her head. "I don't know" she answered uneasily, obvious marks of tears had stained her cheeks, her eyes red and tired. Hiei felt a faint surge of pity for her, must've been the atmosphere and place. She must've been the one who had looked after Kurama. "By the time I saw him, he was like that already," she glanced up to see Hiei stand at the edge of the bed, looking at Kurama's lifeless body. Thinking of Yusuke, she felt a sudden rush of déjà vu at that moment. It depressed her to think that they were all shocked the very same way she had been, all of them asking the same questions, with her only answering them weakly with a shake of a head. She wanted so badly to know what happened.

Hiei took a deep breath and faced Botan. "I'll be going now"

Botan looked aghast. "So soon?" she couldn't believe Hiei would be that cold. He'd live as quickly as he came. Why wouldn't he even stay for even a minute?

Hiei frowned. "Look, nothing will happen if I stay, would there?" he asked. Looking through the frown the girl wore as well, he sighed and shook his head, taking a step to leave. By the time he was beside her, he said, "I'll try to know who did this." He hoped that sounded as an assurance.

==

He found himself standing in a blinding white surrounding. The air was bitter cold as he felt the chill run up his whole body, almost freezing him in place. He found it hard to move, as if metal chains were holding down his whole body.

"Isn't this nice?"

His eyes widened, finding his head turn abruptly at the sound of the voice.

No.

The man smirked at him, a sparkle glinted from his golden eyes. He walked closer to him, his steps maddeningly slow and small, making him anticipate and think of all the pain that would befall him by the time he arrives. "Waking up so soon?" he was in front of him then, lifting a hand to cup his chin, lifting his face up. "I don't think so…"

He glared at him through his still frame as the youkai lifted his hand from his chin to lightly run his thumb through his lower lip. Through his glare, the man smiled at him in a tinge of sarcasm that made him want to kill him, his eyes wicked as it bore through his own. He tried to bite at the finger, but he had taken it away before his teeth could bury into them.

The man winced at the action and grabbed his head with both hands and pressed his lips through the younger one's own, the kiss bruising and painful. He felt weak and unable to move again, worse than his state a moment ago. The faint feel of his energy being sucked out of him came back again as he trembled under the other man's touch. He felt his eyes grow heavy, leaving him to only feel the pain of disgust at the youkai's lips against his own, filling him with hatred that went far beyond his own will. A hatred that surged through his veins, feeling his blood heat, ready to burst.

With a last glare, he felt himself falling once again, his consciousness slipping away.

==

He was walking very lightly, hardly feeling the hard concrete beneath his feet. The streets have been cleared of all the nuisance he had that day, but he hardly noticed. Supposedly, he was going back to Makai after he left the hospital, but it seems as though something was holding him back. The shock of seeing him had caused a shudder to run through his spine. He wasn't as weak to have let just anybody defeat him. He was stronger than that. Hard to admit, but the guy would be stronger than him if only he wouldn't be so nice about fighting.

Just as he jumped to leave for Makai, something wrapped around his ankles, pulling him down. Something painful to be precise, it almost felt like it had spikes or thorns in it. He let out a growl as he fell stumbling down the concrete ground. By the time he regained himself, he quickly stood up and looked around. A presence could be felt from his place as he stood still, his eyes darting around for any sign of movement.

Through the mist that hovered across the visible radiance of the street lamps, a shadow cast itself upon his lithe frame, causing him to stir back. He stood his guard as the shadow came closer, the vision of the owner passing through the glow of the lamp's light, making him visible to him. He smirked when he saw him. "Hiei"

Hiei's eyes widened at the sight of him. "Kurama…what are you doing here?" he asked, a look of disbelief on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" Just a moment ago he saw Kurama lying like a corpse in a hospital bed, and now he's…just as pale, but very much alive. Only, he wasn't in his human form.

Youko Kurama let out a hoarse laugh. He shook his head and lifted his hand behind the back of his neck. Hiei watched as Kurama pulled out red rose, twirling it between his fingers. He stared at it with a glum smile on his lips, seeming as though smelling the fragrance, before shooting his gaze at Hiei. Hiei returned the gaze in bewilderment as Kurama slowly put down his hand holding the rose, positioning himself on a pose he knew so well. Why? What for? That pose was only when Kurama would bring out his…

"Rosewhip!"

Hiei jumped back reflexively as the tip of Kurama's whip snapped at his foot. He cursed before stumbling back, glaring at the youkai as he gained his balance. "Shit, Kurama, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kurama didn't reply, only running forward to lunge at Hiei again with his whip. Hiei stood in defense of the battle as he dodged the whip's attacks and Kurama's usual hits. Through the confusion, he was amazed he could still move away from the attacks. Youko Kurama moved as fast as he was. Either that or he was too much used to Shuuichi's lesser speed. But nonetheless, he wondered what got into Kurama's head to do this.

He looked back to see if Kurama was behind him. A short gasp escaped him as he saw nobody. It was nothing more than a split second once he felt the faint chill of fingers through his back, feeling the hand grasped the back of his coat as his nails cut wounds into his nape. He held his breath as he was lifted from the ground he stood upon and thrown onto the hard wall at the side of the street. Everything had happened in just a manner of a second, he hardly knew what came next to the other. He yelped as he hit the wall, feeling the saltiness of his own blood cloth his lips, forcing him to spit it out.

"Damn it, Kurama, you've gone mad!" he called out as he tried to duck yet from another attack.. Kurama didn't speak, only letting his weapon show his response. Staring through his eyes, behind that glint, Hiei only saw space. Nothingness. Beyond that grin, all that was visible is a blank limbo, as plain as a golden orb. He had no emotions at that moment. No feelings. No guilt. Just the lust for battle. The lust for blood. The eyes that bear the persona of a murderer.

He wasn't sure whether or not he should fight back. He barely recognized the one he had mostly grown accustomed to. He knew he should somehow fight back to defend himself, but his body wouldn't abide to his will. His hand couldn't move to his sword, something was pulling him away. He was too shocked, too much into the spell of his, supposedly, best friend's gaze as he slashed him thorn by thorn.

The haze of his uncertainty had left him off-guard, giving his opponent an opening. The next thing he knew, he was wrapped inside the tight and pointed coils of Kurama's whip. He tried getting his hands out, but he realized that both his arms were held down by the whip, each wrapped in a grip that knotted itself through that on his body, pinning his hands at his sides. It was too late for him to notice he had been trapped. Any sort of struggle would leave him wounded in the danger of the barbs of the whip. All he could do was look at Kurama's eyes, drown into the glint of his smile as he pulled the whip closer to him, tightening the bind around Hiei. Hiei winced, feeling the blood from his mouth trickle down the ground. He knew what would be coming next, a painful death in the hands of his own friend in a mystifying puzzle.

Then a thought struck him. He had gone mad to even forget. If he'd use his own strength, he might stand a chance. Much as he didn't want to hurt Kurama, he had no choice. He clutched his right hand into a tight fist, feeling the roughness of his bandage as it was held under his grip.

Forgive me, Kurama. "Jaou ensatsu---"

He was cut short. As if from a miracle, the grip of the whip around him loosened, unwrapping themselves off of him. It had left a few wounds, but at least he wasn't caught in it anymore. Instinctively, he grabbed his sword and cut the whip before it could do any more harm.

Which he found useless as he glanced up to see Kurama tremble in his place, a quivering hand lifted to touch his temples, only to abruptly fall to clutch his stomach, as if in pain. His face twisted, biting his lip in an obvious agony as he fell on his knees, both arms holding himself, the whip discarded at the side. Before he could fall down, Hiei leapt to catch him.

What in the friggin' hell…? That was the last thought Hiei had as he pulled Kurama to face him. The feel of his skin was cold, as if he was dead. His skin was paler than usual, almost as light as his own clothes. Sweat covered his face, his brows knitted in absent pain as his hands fell limply on his sides.

If Hiei was confused a while ago, that was nothing compared to what he felt now. He pulled Kurama's body to his back, trying his best to support the youko's greater weight in his own.

Somebody better explain things to me or I'll blow my own head off.

End of chapter 3