Heh.
Anyways, new chappie…pretty short…and cliffy. Mwuaha.
Kodoku Chapter 2 By AkuryouI wasted it all just to watch you go.
I kept everything inside, and even though I tried, it all fell apart.
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory
Every time I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't
even matter. I had to fall to lose it all, but in the end, it doesn't even
matter.
--In the End; Linkin Park
~*~
I can feel them approaching. Funny that after all this time, I can still recognize the feel of their ki energy.
They want something, that much is obvious. I made it clear when I left that I never wanted to see them—or anyone—ever again. So it must be important. Very important.
I don't give a damn.
~*~
"It would be against any propensity you may have to live longer to go any further."
Koenma, Yusuke and Kuwabara all froze at the calm, matter-of-fact voice. Hiei's voice.
"Hiei, we're just here to talk," Koenma said, searching the surrounding dense trees with his eyes.
"I'm sure you are," the still-unseen fire demon replied. "But I'm not feeling particularly chatty today. So go away."
"The fate of Makai rests on your cooperation, Hiei," Koenma said. "Only one of Koorime ancestry can get past Shinka's forcefield."
"So? I stopped caring about what happened to the Makai long ago, Koenma. Four years, to be exact. Now leave me alone."
The trees rustled, as if indicating Hiei's soon-to-be departure. Yusuke cursed inwardly.
"Inari!" Yusuke growled. "We haven't seen you in four years, Hiei! At the very least, grant us that much."
There was a moment of silence, and then a black of black light signaled Hiei coming out into the open.
The fire demon had changed. Physically, he was taller, and leanly muscled. He currently wore all black, with silver trimming on the tank top. The Kokuryuha, the black tattooed dragon on his right arm, was now bandaged with a strip of blue silk that Yusuke recognized as one of Yukina's scarves. Hiei stood with his arms crossed, taking the stares wordlessly.
There was one thing that Yusuke noticed the most about his old friend. The ruby eyes. While still hard and emotionless, he saw a deep, biting sorrow in the crimson gaze.
"Happy now?" the Jaganshi asked sardonically.
"No," Koenma stated flatly before either Yusuke or Kuwabara could speak. "We have to talk, Hiei."
"Nothing you could say would ever be of interest to me, princeling," Hiei said derisively. He turned to leave. "I could care less about what happens to the Makai. Everyone I cared about is gone or doesn't care, either. There is nothing left here for me to ever want to protect."
"It's about Kurama."
Hiei froze. And then spun back around, eyes burning with crimson fire.
"You don't have the right to even speak his name, Koenma," the fire demon hissed. "You were the one who got him killed. You were the one who sent him, alone, on that fool's mission. Don't you dare even speak his name."
Koenma's voice was quiet when he replied.
"Kurama is alive, Hiei."
~*~Owari~*~