*Anemone's room...Kurama's in the corner laziboy chair reading Fever, Hiei's on my bed listening to...METEORA! lol knowing me I bet you expected that...Anemone's trying to figure out what to write next*
Hiei: *head bumping to "Hit the Floor"* hey Mones...what's the freakin' hold up?! *glares at readers* These ningens are looking at me as I enjoy my music...
Kurama: *calmly turning the page* Hiei, pipe down...I'm trying to concentrate...
Hiei: *smirking deviously, quickly cranks up the volume to a really loud extent for Kurama's ears*
Kurama: *wide-eyed, drops book, shaking violently at the REALLY loud music, covering his ears* GAH!! TURN IT DOWN! TURN IT DOWN!!
Hiei: *evil snicker, slowly turns it down*
Kurama: *looking really tired and sick, twitchy eye* ehh! *glares* Hiei you KNOW my hearing is extra sensitive!!!
Hiei: *innocent look* oops! Silly me...I forgot you can't handle high volumes without suffering random body spasms...
Kurama: be quiet! You know well that is only because I've still fox-like hearing...oww!! *gently massages temples* so loud...everything is so loud...
Hiei: hahaha! *gets decked in the head* OW!! MONES!!
Anemone: *glaring down at Hiei* you just blew Kurama's ear drums, you idiot! *Kurama's still massaging temples and groaning*
Hiei: *glaring back* well serves him right! Kitsune had it coming!
Kurama: *half-gaping, half-glaring* what did I do?!
Hiei: like you don't remember how you ditched me today!!
Kurama: what are-*sudden realization* ooh......lol THAT...hahaha...
Anemone: what happened?
~*flashback to noon that day*~
Kurama: *being chased by a fanclub mob and running for his life* I ALREADY TOLD YOU!! I'VE GOT A GIRLFRIEND!! YOU'VE SEEN ME WITH HER, YOU STALKERS! BLUE HAIR, PINK EYES...SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!!
Fan girls: THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID LAST TIME!!!
Kurama: IT HASN'T CHANGED! I'M STILL SEEING HER!
Fan girls: NOT FOR LONG!! GET HIM!!!!!!!!
Kurama: oh my GOD!! AHHH!!
Hiei: *perched on a tree branch above, Kurama ducks behind tree* hahahaha! Well Kitsune, are you always this troubled?
Kurama: *glare* shut up!
Hiei: no, I think not, lol. Obviously, the almighty Kurama can't handle a few ningen females...that is pathetic. *snicker*
Kurama: grrrr!! *pricks in an evil idea, smirks, and sneaks into depths of the now confused fangirl mob, hiding his face with his bangs*
Fan girls: huh? Where'd he go?
Kurama: *clears throat, mimicking a random girl, points to Hiei up in the tree* LOOK! IT'S SUICHI'S CUTE BEST FRIEND!
Fan girls: *instantly jerking to face Hiei* THE CUTE BEST FRIEND!! GET HIM!!
Hiei: *stares in shock* what the-?! *tree gets trampled* SHIT!!! *tries to jump away, but the falling tree pins him to the ground, girls move in on him* AHHH!
~*end flashback*~
Hiei: ...and I am NOT telling you what they did to me afterwards...!
Anemone: LOLLOLLOL!!!
Hiei: what are you laughing at?!
Kurama: simply this Hiei...I got you SO bad, *snicker*
Hiei: *glare, cranks up volume even louder than before without looking away from Kurama with his death glare*
Kurama: *violent body spasms, in great pain, ears splitting at the volume* AHHHH! SORRYSORRYSORRY! TURN IT DOWN!!
Hiei: *evil laughter* what...? I can't HEAR you!
Kurama: *screaming in pain* AHHHHHH!!
Hiei: mua-ha-ha!! *smack* OW! Mones!!
Anemone: I really don't mind this volume...*looks at Kurama, now rolling on the floor covering his ears with his book and a pillow* ...but obviously Fox does!! Turn it down!
Hiei: *folds arms* no.
Anemone: *tugs his collar* DO IT! OR NO MORE ICE CREAM, CHIPS, OR CORNDOGS AT MY EXPENSE...EVER!!!!
Hiei: GAH?! Alright, alright...*mutter* I'll get him back later...*shuts off music*
Kurama: *panting from the pain* ahh!! My ears! My delicate ears! I'm freakin' DEAF!!
Anemone: poor, poor Kurama...*Kurama in background slapping his palm against one ear trying to drive the ringing noises out* right...since Kurama seems busy at the moment, I suppose his line goes to...Hiei!
Hiei: nani?!
Anemone: c'mon, Flames! *looks at the angry Kurama* you deafened Fox...you say the line!
Hiei: but you don't know what happened to me because of Kurama's little scheme today! He doesn't deserve the sympathy you're expressing!
Anemone: tell me after the chapter! The intro is already too long...
Hiei: *reeeeeally pissed off glare* grrrrrrr...fine...*sigh* chapter 29...go read it.
Anemone: why do you always screw up the lines?!
Hiei: it's not even my line!
Kurama: ahhh! Stop yelling! The ringing just gets louder!
Chapter 29: A Tougher Skin
"What exactly must I do with it, Mother?" Kurama slowly rolled his glare smoothly over the slick arrow now in his clutch. "How do I pierce it into my bloodstream?"
"By the wrist," she answered softly. "Extend your arm to a tight, firm straightness, and do not allow it to move in any manner...this is especially difficult because many tend to vibrate in fear and dread of the pain...but if you remain completely unmoving, the pain isn't near the excrutiation if a spasm falters the aim and the arrow is lodged in no particular placement."
"I see," he eyed it curiously. He then extended his right arm outward, tightened his gnarled fist to clench the skin firm, and with a quick, emotionless jerk, forced the arrow into the still wrist.
"AH!" the team winced in unison, Yukina clamping her face in her quivering hands and burrying her front in Kuwabara's chest, the awkward teenager in turn looking away and binding her against him...all of the team was shocked and slightly sickened, let Hiei, who flinched only slightly at the sound of the tearing flesh and vein. Kurama looked at the arrow with an expression of sincerity as pain stung sweat to his temples. "My..." he grunted a coarse breath of pain as a vibrating wince distorted his features. "...it would seem," he struggled with his words. "...that it hurts, more than I, had expected..."
"But, you kept control and didn't allow yourself to pulse harder than the norm...trust me, Kurama, the pain would have been worse otherwise," Jiaanti reassured him with soft eyes. "Now...you must push it further into your veins, until the ruby end is the only fraction of the arrow exposed...it will nestle comfortably into the grooves of your wrist."
"Right," he half-grunted as he struggled to hold the pain within and not allow it to seep through for all to see. With slight strain, and immense pain bubbling from the new wound in gushes of redness, the Kitsune bit hard into his bottom lip, and, pinching his emerald glare shut, forced himself to drive the weapon further into his system.
Hiei and Jiaanti winced sharply at the sounds their sensitive ears picked up...the distinct sound of flesh pinching torn, tissue unraveling, and vein snapping. Hiei grunted a low "hn" as he calmly pressed his ruby eyes closed, an almost queasy expression threatening to take over.
Keiko buried her face in Yusuke's shoulder, the Detective casting his chocolate stare upwards in a vain attempt to ignore the amounts of blood slipping from the fox's gashed wrist. Yukina whimpered in Kuwabara's chest as a sickening sensation swelled within her, and her control over the temperature was wavering...the entire room was now jerking from cool to freezing.
As the mint-haired beauty began to loose all control and allowed her ki to warp the surrounding caverns into the purest form of sheer coldness, Kuwabara was having immense trouble keeping his arms strung about her fragile form...her body temperature had dropped considerably, and the entire room was frosted over in cold from the demonness's sickened emotion towards the blood slipping from Kurama's wrist.
The entire group, let Kurama, Jiaanti, and Hiei, was greatly bothered by Yukina's uncontrolled antics...she was, after all, merely expressing her queasiness the only way she knew how, without exactly realizing the temperature had dimmed to beyond the human's endurance. Keiko and Yusuke bound firmly together, shivering violently in the brisk surroundings. Kuwabara was forcing himself to continue his stern hug about her chilling body, though he nearly allowed every muscle touching the aperition to dense in frozen numbness...circulation through his chest, arms, and stomach was slowing as his skin and tissue tightened from the cold.
Hiei, after a few minutes, pricked when he realized everyone's body temperature had dimmed, not just Yukina's. The cold was too much for the others...Yusuke had collapsed to the ground with Keiko meshed to his chest, and Kuwabara was half-dead from the cold...Yukina had passed out, the flame demon noticed...for one, her temperature was faltering at a slower rate, and for another, she would have forced herself to control the cavern back to normality when she noticed her little moronic boyfriend in such pain. Hiei glanced quickly for Kurama, who was still at war with the stinging pain in his wrist...and without a word, he stepped lightly for Yukina, clasped his hand to her fragile shoulder, and, pressing his narrow ruby glare shut, focused his energy into heat.
His warmth clashed with her cold, a wave of light pounding from both...a red glow from him and a teal glow from her. An unnatural breeze of energy combed through his raven mane, a breeze of his heat, and a similar wind of cold brushed through her mint spikes. Slowly, Hiei managed to neutralize the entire cave back to the dank, warm-cool level it was before her queasiness lacked the group of stable temperature. Yusuke and Keiko, feeling a wave of warmth wash over the cavern in smooth, soft ripples, cast their wide brown leers towards Hiei, who was pressing his demonic heat into his half-sister's delicate little body. Kuwabara in turn was massaged back into a normal temperature, his tense, numb muscles relaxing as Yukina was coursed through with Hiei's ki...ki that he forced to be gentle...he wouldn't have minded just blasting a fireball into the walls to break the cold...but he had noticed, in her state of unconsciousness, her body was far colder than it should be...she had lost control in her nausea, and had fallen into wavering briskness that not even an ice aperition as herself would be able to stand. So, instead of blasting a heated surge of energy into the room, he rather massaged her, and in turn the entire cavern, back into warmth.
Kurama winced a soft, Suichi smile for Hiei as the flame demon softened the cave back into decency, but pain distorted his grin into a forced expression, burning blood bubbling from the fresh wound. "GAH!!" he snarled, collapsing to one knee and pinning his singeing arm to his chest.
At this point, Hiei and Yukina were both in mild states of unconciousness, both hovering slightly in midair, both surging of their demonic powers, him of heat and her of cold. Kuwabara awkwardly slipped from her little body as she and her brother floated in the air, the human staring in utter shock...Hiei was still half-awake as he engulfed himself in his energy to soothe her back to warmth, but her cold was overwhelming to the dragon demon...she was so chilling to touch, though none of the group noticed just how cold, since Hiei had managed to calm the atmosphere back to it's original state...the siblings were still clashing, his warmth against her cold, the unnatural breezes of their energies now ruffling violently through their spiky manes. Suddenly, a surge of Spirit Energy sprayed from both, and they were thrown in opposite directions...this being the result of Hiei pinching one last force of ki that sent her temperature instantly to normal...but the blow sent the two, now conscious, demons flying.
Yukina yelped a slight squeal as her little form soared through the air.
Hiei grunted a half-shocked husk of a breath as he was jerked away.
Yukina surely would have rammed into the dagger-sharp cavern wall, had Kuwabara not yelled out her name in concern and recklessness and rushed in her route, blocking her from the jagged stone and catching her instantly. "K-Kazuma?" she blinked in surprise. "wha...what happened?"
Yusuke and Keiko, still crouching together on the ground, half-yelled in surprise, the Detective thrusting her aside just as Hiei rammed headfirst straight into his stomach, the impact sending both boys zooming staight for the wall five feet back. Yusuke coughed a gasp of pain as the only thing between the jagged stone of the cavern wall and Hiei's thick skull was his now tender stomach. Both Detective and Dragon moaned from pain and dizziness, both allowing their muscles to relax limp in that exact possition, Hiei sprawled half on the ground and half in Yusuke's lap with his arms flopped on the smooth floor, Yusuke pinned straight against the now slightly-dented wall with his legs flayed wide and lazy. "Ow...dammit, Hiei!" Yusuke grumbled a soft groan.
"Shut up, ningen...that wasn't a picnic for me, either..." Hiei hissed lazily, his head swimming and his fingers still singed from the cold of Yukina's shoulder.
Seeing this, Kurama did what he hadn't for a while...he laughed. Despite the pain burrowed and stabbing deep into his wrist and singeing into his forearm, he chuckled hard at the scene of Hiei bashing into Yusuke, and both denting into the wall, yelling at each other. That was just plain funny. Without even thinking about it, the fox subconsciously wedged the arrow deeper into his arm as laughter pounded him in jagged pulses...he couldn't believe how strangely funny that was...the whole situation was serious, and admirable on Hiei's part...up until he and Yukina were ripped apart and Hiei rammed not only himself but Yusuke into the far wall...it was hilarious to have witnessed.
The entire group stared at Kurama, his laughter light-hearted and brisk, the fox ignoring the stinging eyes of question burning on him. Silence stunned the lips of his every companion, each watching him with widened eyes and raised eyebrows. Yukina and Kuwabara blinked in side-glances to each other, and back to Kurama, who continued his pulsing chuckles. Hiei and Yusuke just looked at him with expressions of confusion meshed with annoyance.
"The hell is so funny?!" Yusuke growled, still sprawled against the wall with the irritated Hiei still flopped half on his lap, glaring his own deadly stare of flaring ruby at the laughing kitsune.
"You!" Kurama managed to breath between light chuckles, the fox still unaware of the pain singeing at his tender arm and still lodging it deeper into his veins. "That..." he panted through mad laughter. "...that was the, funniest, thing, I've ever seen, to happen between the two, of you!" his eyes were pinched shut as his glee tightened his features in an expression of pure amusement. "...I mean, the whole, situation, was beyond serious...until Hiei bashes into Yusuke and the two collapse into the wall! That is SO funny! It has to be, the most, amusing thing, I've ever had the pleasure, of witnessing!"
Kurama was lost of his signature dignity and composure...right now, he was as hysterical as Botan would have been, clasping his side as his riveting laughter cramped into the muscles at his waist. Stares, ruby of Yukina, scarlet of Hiei, chocolate of Yusuke, caramel of Keiko, onyx of Kuwabara, and emerald of Jiaanti, watched Kurama in silence and surprise...this was new...Kurama never acted like that before...he'd chuckle briefly in the past...but this...it was almost scary how hilarious Kurama found this...so, to break the tension, Kuwabara, having taken in the situation, realized that it was pretty humerous, and decided to join in on the laughter. He pulsed in quiet, stiffled chuckles, and cast his eyes towards Hiei and Yusuke, still too lazy and far into the conversation to have moved from the position by the wall. Kuwabara eyed them both with solid onyx stares as he tried to hide his amused snicker.
"Actually, I do hafta agree with Kurama...that was pretty funny..." he snickered...Kurama was still caught in mad hysterics of laughter.
"What was, Kazuma...?" Yukina eyed her boyfriend in utter bafflement...being unconscious, she had no idea why she was whizzing through the air and into Kuwabara's arms...and she had missed Yusuke's encounter with the wall and with a flame demon's granite skull.
"Oh, well Sweetums," he grinned goofily as he was about to jump into a long, excruciating explanation.
"Shut up...!" Hiei and Yusuke growled in unision at the human, already neuseated from Kuwabara's would-have-been acts of nostalgic stupidity...Kuwabara in turn threw a vicious glare of narrowed onyx leers at the pair.
"Well, it was..." Kuwabara lightened up after a moment of his threatening stare, chuckling slightly, but hardly in tune with the hysterical Kurama. A slight pause, before Yusuke couldn't stand Kurama's over-the-top laughter.
"Geez Kurama it wasn't that funny..." Yusuke eyed him in half-fear of his sanity. The fox merely shook his head as his gentle snickers grew steadily louder.
"Yes it was," Kurama grinned. This really wasn't like him...
Hiei and Yusuke stared blankly at the chuckling Kitsune for a pause's time before casting their eyes in confused side-glances, and smoothly eyeing back to him. Suddenly, Hiei pricked. "Uh-oh..." he breathed, kicking up from his flopped position wedged against the Detective.
"What is it...?" Keiko blinked at him in confusion.
"Something is wrong..." Hiei grunted, throwing his sharp scarlet glare at the calm Jiaanti, who remained unmoved by Kurama's foreign behavior. "That arrow is giving him drugged effects, isn't it?" he deduced, merely by glancing at the ecstatic boy. Jiaanti simply bowed her weighed head in a brief nod.
"Do not worry, though..." he reassured the angered Dragon with a serene tone. "...his composure will set in eventually...it's just, well..." she paused in an attempt to address Hiei with the news. "the arrow has an odd effect...the metallic substance, when entered into one for the first time, acts like sugar."
"Wait wait WAIT..." Yusuke eyed her in shock. "You mean he's on a high?!"
"In a way, yes."
"Ah SHIT...!" the Detective snarled.
"Calm down..." Jiaanti grunted in irritation. "...the fresh effects of hysteria will wear off in a minute or so...once the metallic material has tainted every corner of his circulatory system, his body will be used to it's presence and will be able to return to the norm."
"Okay...so, you're saying he'll be hyper until every part of him has taken in the arrow's substance?" Keiko inquired slowly.
"Exactly...that little scenario between the Detective and Hiei triggered that hyperness within him...he'll be back to normal as soon as his entire system has experienced the feel of the arrow."
"I see..." Keiko pulled back in thought.
"...well, as long as he isn't going to act like Botan for more than a minute..." Hiei grunted, a slight shiver veiling his spine at the thought. "...then fine..."
"GAH!!" Kurama growled, snapping instantly from his mad hysterics and jerking everyone's stunned gaze...let Jiaanti, who merely watched on in solace. The boy collapsed to his knees in utter agony as the stinging of the arrow plagued his tender, half-swollen wrist, blood still slipping from the open gash. "ACK!" he snarled in pain, bowing downward and quivering as his body took in the immense pain rooted at his wrist and swelling throughout his entire system.
"What's happening to him?!" Kuwabara blinked in shock at Kurama's sudden mood swing from glee to sheer agony. Sweat broke loose in rippling droplets from the humanoid's face, his emerald stare wide from the pulsing pain chaffing within him, betyond his reach, under the flesh and stinging in his very veins.
"After the momentary hysteria, the metal still must escape the bloodstream to brace at the skin...the entire point of this weapon is to harden the flesh."
"But, you said he'd go back to normal!" Yusuke scowled.
"He's no longer caught in hysterics...he is now back to the normal Suichi you all know and love...but, normal as he is, he is now in pain at his veins rip to allow the metallics through."
"WHAT?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara gaped in unison. "His veins are ripping?!"
"It is the only way," Jiaanti's tired eyes pressed shut as Kurama's screams echoed louder, insane pulses ripping through his veins and arteries.
"How, pretell, is he supposed to remove this thing?! It's like, mutated into his system!!" Yusuke growled as Keiko braced against him in fear, the Detective subconsciously binding her to his side with his left arm, his right still limp at his side.
"He kept the tail of the arrow exposed..." Jiaanti answered without much emotion. "...that tail keeps control of the entire weapon...when he jerks it out, though the rest of the arrow's body has disintegrated into him, it will be unstable for his body to stand, and it will exit him."
"It better!" Yusuke threatened, before being whapped upside the head by the brunette laced to his side.
Kurama gasped chaffed breaths of agony as he tried to remain calm, but his veins snapped and his arteries tore...had he been a normal human, without tamed Spirit Energy to keep him alive, he would have died instantly from the smoldering pain of the immense internal bleeding. His eyes stung with tears of physical torment, burning red against his emerald glare.
Suddenly, an eerily calming glow of green escaped him, and engulfed his panting form...an unnatural breeze combed through his bushy mane, and he was enticed to a stand. His leer gaped and the whites of his eyes smoldered in the cool glow of minty-emerald. The tears broke loose from his broadened eyes, and streaked in face in gentle streams. There he stood, calmed and silenced of his pained screams, his Spirit Energy just barely keeping him alive.
The glow of his energy brought a strange sense of solaceness to the cavern, his gleam licking light to the jags of stone wall, floor, and ceiling circling him. He was so at peace, standing half-steadily with his glowing Spirit Energy warming his tattered form. The glare of the gentle light stained onto the faces of Jiaanti, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Keiko, a gentle gleam that cast shadows over the crevices of their features. The entire cavern was dark let the fox's glow, the engulfed their fronts in light and their backs in shadow.
"His energy is keeping him alive as he bleeds from the inside..." Hiei breathed in awe of the glorious glow. "Is this supposed to happen?" he cast his narrowed ruby glare for the side, towards the calm she-fox watching her son.
"No...normally the veins close the instant the metal escapes the skin..." she breathed. "...but, that's what happened to Ryooki, and other demons...Kurama is too human right now...I really don't know what will happen to him."
%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%
Anemone: hey there! Whadidya think, eh? Was it good? *gasp* was it bad?! How was it?! Tell me!!
Kurama: ow! *winces, covers ears*
Anemone: oops...oh yeah, haha...erm, well...Kurama's ears are still pretty swollen *glares at Hiei* so no one get me hysterical or else I might scream and make it worse lol.
Hiei: he deserves it!
Anemone: oh Hiei, c'mon...it couldn't have been that bad...
Hiei: *glare*
~*flashback to right after tree collapses*~
Kurama: *having successfully run away* YES! haHA!!
Hiei: *being dragged away, clawing the ground* OH MY GOD!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!
Kurama: *yells, but the girls can't hear him because he's so far off...only Hiei can hear him* WHO CAN'T HANDLE A FEW NINGEN FEMALES NOW, EH HIEI?! HAHAHA!
Hiei: DAMN YOU, KURAMA! I AM GONNA KILL YOU!!
Fan girls: if we can't have Suichi, we can still have his cute loner best friend!! *evil laughter*
Hiei: GAH!! HELP ME!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO JUST HELP ME!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!
Kurama: *behind another tree, watching Hiei being dragged away* hmm...maybe I should help him...*brief pause* Hell no! If I try they'll get me for sure!! *walks off*
Hiei: WON'T SOMEBODY HAVE A F***ING HEART AND F***ING RESCUE ME?!? THEY STOLE MY KATANA, AND THEY BOUND MY LEGS!! I CAN'T F***ING GET AWAY!!
~*cuts off flashback*~
Anemone: -okay, look...as interesting as this is, Hiei, *Hiei glares* people have lives to live and reviews to send--hinthint--and, you can start off the next chapter telling us who exactly saved you. Now say your line.
Hiei: you make demands of me when you don't even hear me out?!
Anemone: uh, yeah, yeah I do.
Hiei: I refuse! You lack a heart, Mones!
Anemone: look who's talking! I'm sure if you had your Katana with you during this little horror story of yous, I wouldn't have been able to bail you out of jail again, you're so merciless!
Hiei: ooh, Touche, ningen...
Anemone: look, if you say your line...I'll buy you a corndog and some chips...sound good?
Hiei: *brief pause as he thinks this over* make it two corndogs, tostitos, and a strawberry cone and I might.
Anemone: *sigh* if it wasn't for your obvious trauma, I wouldn't even consider doing this...fine, I'll make it two corndogs, tostitos and a strawberry cone.
Hiei: YES!! IN YOUR FACE, KURAMA!
Kurama: OWW! *glares through the pain of his numb ears*
Anemone: say the line, Flames...
Hiei: hn? Oh, that...go review. Okay done can I have my food now?
Anemone: okay get your cloak and lets go to the corner store...Kurama, you want anything?
Kurama: *moaning* aspirin...extra strength aspirin...
Anemone: okeey dokeey...*turns to readers* don't worry...if you wanna hear the rest of Hiei's little 'adventure', make sure to stay tuned for the next chapter...the mystery of his survival will be revealed!
Hiei: *rolls eyes, he and Kurama already out the door and waiting in the hallway* ningen, food!
Anemone: oh, right...*grabs purse* gotta go buy Hiei some food and Kurama some aspirin...latr!
Hiei: *head bumping to "Hit the Floor"* hey Mones...what's the freakin' hold up?! *glares at readers* These ningens are looking at me as I enjoy my music...
Kurama: *calmly turning the page* Hiei, pipe down...I'm trying to concentrate...
Hiei: *smirking deviously, quickly cranks up the volume to a really loud extent for Kurama's ears*
Kurama: *wide-eyed, drops book, shaking violently at the REALLY loud music, covering his ears* GAH!! TURN IT DOWN! TURN IT DOWN!!
Hiei: *evil snicker, slowly turns it down*
Kurama: *looking really tired and sick, twitchy eye* ehh! *glares* Hiei you KNOW my hearing is extra sensitive!!!
Hiei: *innocent look* oops! Silly me...I forgot you can't handle high volumes without suffering random body spasms...
Kurama: be quiet! You know well that is only because I've still fox-like hearing...oww!! *gently massages temples* so loud...everything is so loud...
Hiei: hahaha! *gets decked in the head* OW!! MONES!!
Anemone: *glaring down at Hiei* you just blew Kurama's ear drums, you idiot! *Kurama's still massaging temples and groaning*
Hiei: *glaring back* well serves him right! Kitsune had it coming!
Kurama: *half-gaping, half-glaring* what did I do?!
Hiei: like you don't remember how you ditched me today!!
Kurama: what are-*sudden realization* ooh......lol THAT...hahaha...
Anemone: what happened?
~*flashback to noon that day*~
Kurama: *being chased by a fanclub mob and running for his life* I ALREADY TOLD YOU!! I'VE GOT A GIRLFRIEND!! YOU'VE SEEN ME WITH HER, YOU STALKERS! BLUE HAIR, PINK EYES...SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!!
Fan girls: THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID LAST TIME!!!
Kurama: IT HASN'T CHANGED! I'M STILL SEEING HER!
Fan girls: NOT FOR LONG!! GET HIM!!!!!!!!
Kurama: oh my GOD!! AHHH!!
Hiei: *perched on a tree branch above, Kurama ducks behind tree* hahahaha! Well Kitsune, are you always this troubled?
Kurama: *glare* shut up!
Hiei: no, I think not, lol. Obviously, the almighty Kurama can't handle a few ningen females...that is pathetic. *snicker*
Kurama: grrrr!! *pricks in an evil idea, smirks, and sneaks into depths of the now confused fangirl mob, hiding his face with his bangs*
Fan girls: huh? Where'd he go?
Kurama: *clears throat, mimicking a random girl, points to Hiei up in the tree* LOOK! IT'S SUICHI'S CUTE BEST FRIEND!
Fan girls: *instantly jerking to face Hiei* THE CUTE BEST FRIEND!! GET HIM!!
Hiei: *stares in shock* what the-?! *tree gets trampled* SHIT!!! *tries to jump away, but the falling tree pins him to the ground, girls move in on him* AHHH!
~*end flashback*~
Hiei: ...and I am NOT telling you what they did to me afterwards...!
Anemone: LOLLOLLOL!!!
Hiei: what are you laughing at?!
Kurama: simply this Hiei...I got you SO bad, *snicker*
Hiei: *glare, cranks up volume even louder than before without looking away from Kurama with his death glare*
Kurama: *violent body spasms, in great pain, ears splitting at the volume* AHHHH! SORRYSORRYSORRY! TURN IT DOWN!!
Hiei: *evil laughter* what...? I can't HEAR you!
Kurama: *screaming in pain* AHHHHHH!!
Hiei: mua-ha-ha!! *smack* OW! Mones!!
Anemone: I really don't mind this volume...*looks at Kurama, now rolling on the floor covering his ears with his book and a pillow* ...but obviously Fox does!! Turn it down!
Hiei: *folds arms* no.
Anemone: *tugs his collar* DO IT! OR NO MORE ICE CREAM, CHIPS, OR CORNDOGS AT MY EXPENSE...EVER!!!!
Hiei: GAH?! Alright, alright...*mutter* I'll get him back later...*shuts off music*
Kurama: *panting from the pain* ahh!! My ears! My delicate ears! I'm freakin' DEAF!!
Anemone: poor, poor Kurama...*Kurama in background slapping his palm against one ear trying to drive the ringing noises out* right...since Kurama seems busy at the moment, I suppose his line goes to...Hiei!
Hiei: nani?!
Anemone: c'mon, Flames! *looks at the angry Kurama* you deafened Fox...you say the line!
Hiei: but you don't know what happened to me because of Kurama's little scheme today! He doesn't deserve the sympathy you're expressing!
Anemone: tell me after the chapter! The intro is already too long...
Hiei: *reeeeeally pissed off glare* grrrrrrr...fine...*sigh* chapter 29...go read it.
Anemone: why do you always screw up the lines?!
Hiei: it's not even my line!
Kurama: ahhh! Stop yelling! The ringing just gets louder!
Chapter 29: A Tougher Skin
"What exactly must I do with it, Mother?" Kurama slowly rolled his glare smoothly over the slick arrow now in his clutch. "How do I pierce it into my bloodstream?"
"By the wrist," she answered softly. "Extend your arm to a tight, firm straightness, and do not allow it to move in any manner...this is especially difficult because many tend to vibrate in fear and dread of the pain...but if you remain completely unmoving, the pain isn't near the excrutiation if a spasm falters the aim and the arrow is lodged in no particular placement."
"I see," he eyed it curiously. He then extended his right arm outward, tightened his gnarled fist to clench the skin firm, and with a quick, emotionless jerk, forced the arrow into the still wrist.
"AH!" the team winced in unison, Yukina clamping her face in her quivering hands and burrying her front in Kuwabara's chest, the awkward teenager in turn looking away and binding her against him...all of the team was shocked and slightly sickened, let Hiei, who flinched only slightly at the sound of the tearing flesh and vein. Kurama looked at the arrow with an expression of sincerity as pain stung sweat to his temples. "My..." he grunted a coarse breath of pain as a vibrating wince distorted his features. "...it would seem," he struggled with his words. "...that it hurts, more than I, had expected..."
"But, you kept control and didn't allow yourself to pulse harder than the norm...trust me, Kurama, the pain would have been worse otherwise," Jiaanti reassured him with soft eyes. "Now...you must push it further into your veins, until the ruby end is the only fraction of the arrow exposed...it will nestle comfortably into the grooves of your wrist."
"Right," he half-grunted as he struggled to hold the pain within and not allow it to seep through for all to see. With slight strain, and immense pain bubbling from the new wound in gushes of redness, the Kitsune bit hard into his bottom lip, and, pinching his emerald glare shut, forced himself to drive the weapon further into his system.
Hiei and Jiaanti winced sharply at the sounds their sensitive ears picked up...the distinct sound of flesh pinching torn, tissue unraveling, and vein snapping. Hiei grunted a low "hn" as he calmly pressed his ruby eyes closed, an almost queasy expression threatening to take over.
Keiko buried her face in Yusuke's shoulder, the Detective casting his chocolate stare upwards in a vain attempt to ignore the amounts of blood slipping from the fox's gashed wrist. Yukina whimpered in Kuwabara's chest as a sickening sensation swelled within her, and her control over the temperature was wavering...the entire room was now jerking from cool to freezing.
As the mint-haired beauty began to loose all control and allowed her ki to warp the surrounding caverns into the purest form of sheer coldness, Kuwabara was having immense trouble keeping his arms strung about her fragile form...her body temperature had dropped considerably, and the entire room was frosted over in cold from the demonness's sickened emotion towards the blood slipping from Kurama's wrist.
The entire group, let Kurama, Jiaanti, and Hiei, was greatly bothered by Yukina's uncontrolled antics...she was, after all, merely expressing her queasiness the only way she knew how, without exactly realizing the temperature had dimmed to beyond the human's endurance. Keiko and Yusuke bound firmly together, shivering violently in the brisk surroundings. Kuwabara was forcing himself to continue his stern hug about her chilling body, though he nearly allowed every muscle touching the aperition to dense in frozen numbness...circulation through his chest, arms, and stomach was slowing as his skin and tissue tightened from the cold.
Hiei, after a few minutes, pricked when he realized everyone's body temperature had dimmed, not just Yukina's. The cold was too much for the others...Yusuke had collapsed to the ground with Keiko meshed to his chest, and Kuwabara was half-dead from the cold...Yukina had passed out, the flame demon noticed...for one, her temperature was faltering at a slower rate, and for another, she would have forced herself to control the cavern back to normality when she noticed her little moronic boyfriend in such pain. Hiei glanced quickly for Kurama, who was still at war with the stinging pain in his wrist...and without a word, he stepped lightly for Yukina, clasped his hand to her fragile shoulder, and, pressing his narrow ruby glare shut, focused his energy into heat.
His warmth clashed with her cold, a wave of light pounding from both...a red glow from him and a teal glow from her. An unnatural breeze of energy combed through his raven mane, a breeze of his heat, and a similar wind of cold brushed through her mint spikes. Slowly, Hiei managed to neutralize the entire cave back to the dank, warm-cool level it was before her queasiness lacked the group of stable temperature. Yusuke and Keiko, feeling a wave of warmth wash over the cavern in smooth, soft ripples, cast their wide brown leers towards Hiei, who was pressing his demonic heat into his half-sister's delicate little body. Kuwabara in turn was massaged back into a normal temperature, his tense, numb muscles relaxing as Yukina was coursed through with Hiei's ki...ki that he forced to be gentle...he wouldn't have minded just blasting a fireball into the walls to break the cold...but he had noticed, in her state of unconsciousness, her body was far colder than it should be...she had lost control in her nausea, and had fallen into wavering briskness that not even an ice aperition as herself would be able to stand. So, instead of blasting a heated surge of energy into the room, he rather massaged her, and in turn the entire cavern, back into warmth.
Kurama winced a soft, Suichi smile for Hiei as the flame demon softened the cave back into decency, but pain distorted his grin into a forced expression, burning blood bubbling from the fresh wound. "GAH!!" he snarled, collapsing to one knee and pinning his singeing arm to his chest.
At this point, Hiei and Yukina were both in mild states of unconciousness, both hovering slightly in midair, both surging of their demonic powers, him of heat and her of cold. Kuwabara awkwardly slipped from her little body as she and her brother floated in the air, the human staring in utter shock...Hiei was still half-awake as he engulfed himself in his energy to soothe her back to warmth, but her cold was overwhelming to the dragon demon...she was so chilling to touch, though none of the group noticed just how cold, since Hiei had managed to calm the atmosphere back to it's original state...the siblings were still clashing, his warmth against her cold, the unnatural breezes of their energies now ruffling violently through their spiky manes. Suddenly, a surge of Spirit Energy sprayed from both, and they were thrown in opposite directions...this being the result of Hiei pinching one last force of ki that sent her temperature instantly to normal...but the blow sent the two, now conscious, demons flying.
Yukina yelped a slight squeal as her little form soared through the air.
Hiei grunted a half-shocked husk of a breath as he was jerked away.
Yukina surely would have rammed into the dagger-sharp cavern wall, had Kuwabara not yelled out her name in concern and recklessness and rushed in her route, blocking her from the jagged stone and catching her instantly. "K-Kazuma?" she blinked in surprise. "wha...what happened?"
Yusuke and Keiko, still crouching together on the ground, half-yelled in surprise, the Detective thrusting her aside just as Hiei rammed headfirst straight into his stomach, the impact sending both boys zooming staight for the wall five feet back. Yusuke coughed a gasp of pain as the only thing between the jagged stone of the cavern wall and Hiei's thick skull was his now tender stomach. Both Detective and Dragon moaned from pain and dizziness, both allowing their muscles to relax limp in that exact possition, Hiei sprawled half on the ground and half in Yusuke's lap with his arms flopped on the smooth floor, Yusuke pinned straight against the now slightly-dented wall with his legs flayed wide and lazy. "Ow...dammit, Hiei!" Yusuke grumbled a soft groan.
"Shut up, ningen...that wasn't a picnic for me, either..." Hiei hissed lazily, his head swimming and his fingers still singed from the cold of Yukina's shoulder.
Seeing this, Kurama did what he hadn't for a while...he laughed. Despite the pain burrowed and stabbing deep into his wrist and singeing into his forearm, he chuckled hard at the scene of Hiei bashing into Yusuke, and both denting into the wall, yelling at each other. That was just plain funny. Without even thinking about it, the fox subconsciously wedged the arrow deeper into his arm as laughter pounded him in jagged pulses...he couldn't believe how strangely funny that was...the whole situation was serious, and admirable on Hiei's part...up until he and Yukina were ripped apart and Hiei rammed not only himself but Yusuke into the far wall...it was hilarious to have witnessed.
The entire group stared at Kurama, his laughter light-hearted and brisk, the fox ignoring the stinging eyes of question burning on him. Silence stunned the lips of his every companion, each watching him with widened eyes and raised eyebrows. Yukina and Kuwabara blinked in side-glances to each other, and back to Kurama, who continued his pulsing chuckles. Hiei and Yusuke just looked at him with expressions of confusion meshed with annoyance.
"The hell is so funny?!" Yusuke growled, still sprawled against the wall with the irritated Hiei still flopped half on his lap, glaring his own deadly stare of flaring ruby at the laughing kitsune.
"You!" Kurama managed to breath between light chuckles, the fox still unaware of the pain singeing at his tender arm and still lodging it deeper into his veins. "That..." he panted through mad laughter. "...that was the, funniest, thing, I've ever seen, to happen between the two, of you!" his eyes were pinched shut as his glee tightened his features in an expression of pure amusement. "...I mean, the whole, situation, was beyond serious...until Hiei bashes into Yusuke and the two collapse into the wall! That is SO funny! It has to be, the most, amusing thing, I've ever had the pleasure, of witnessing!"
Kurama was lost of his signature dignity and composure...right now, he was as hysterical as Botan would have been, clasping his side as his riveting laughter cramped into the muscles at his waist. Stares, ruby of Yukina, scarlet of Hiei, chocolate of Yusuke, caramel of Keiko, onyx of Kuwabara, and emerald of Jiaanti, watched Kurama in silence and surprise...this was new...Kurama never acted like that before...he'd chuckle briefly in the past...but this...it was almost scary how hilarious Kurama found this...so, to break the tension, Kuwabara, having taken in the situation, realized that it was pretty humerous, and decided to join in on the laughter. He pulsed in quiet, stiffled chuckles, and cast his eyes towards Hiei and Yusuke, still too lazy and far into the conversation to have moved from the position by the wall. Kuwabara eyed them both with solid onyx stares as he tried to hide his amused snicker.
"Actually, I do hafta agree with Kurama...that was pretty funny..." he snickered...Kurama was still caught in mad hysterics of laughter.
"What was, Kazuma...?" Yukina eyed her boyfriend in utter bafflement...being unconscious, she had no idea why she was whizzing through the air and into Kuwabara's arms...and she had missed Yusuke's encounter with the wall and with a flame demon's granite skull.
"Oh, well Sweetums," he grinned goofily as he was about to jump into a long, excruciating explanation.
"Shut up...!" Hiei and Yusuke growled in unision at the human, already neuseated from Kuwabara's would-have-been acts of nostalgic stupidity...Kuwabara in turn threw a vicious glare of narrowed onyx leers at the pair.
"Well, it was..." Kuwabara lightened up after a moment of his threatening stare, chuckling slightly, but hardly in tune with the hysterical Kurama. A slight pause, before Yusuke couldn't stand Kurama's over-the-top laughter.
"Geez Kurama it wasn't that funny..." Yusuke eyed him in half-fear of his sanity. The fox merely shook his head as his gentle snickers grew steadily louder.
"Yes it was," Kurama grinned. This really wasn't like him...
Hiei and Yusuke stared blankly at the chuckling Kitsune for a pause's time before casting their eyes in confused side-glances, and smoothly eyeing back to him. Suddenly, Hiei pricked. "Uh-oh..." he breathed, kicking up from his flopped position wedged against the Detective.
"What is it...?" Keiko blinked at him in confusion.
"Something is wrong..." Hiei grunted, throwing his sharp scarlet glare at the calm Jiaanti, who remained unmoved by Kurama's foreign behavior. "That arrow is giving him drugged effects, isn't it?" he deduced, merely by glancing at the ecstatic boy. Jiaanti simply bowed her weighed head in a brief nod.
"Do not worry, though..." he reassured the angered Dragon with a serene tone. "...his composure will set in eventually...it's just, well..." she paused in an attempt to address Hiei with the news. "the arrow has an odd effect...the metallic substance, when entered into one for the first time, acts like sugar."
"Wait wait WAIT..." Yusuke eyed her in shock. "You mean he's on a high?!"
"In a way, yes."
"Ah SHIT...!" the Detective snarled.
"Calm down..." Jiaanti grunted in irritation. "...the fresh effects of hysteria will wear off in a minute or so...once the metallic material has tainted every corner of his circulatory system, his body will be used to it's presence and will be able to return to the norm."
"Okay...so, you're saying he'll be hyper until every part of him has taken in the arrow's substance?" Keiko inquired slowly.
"Exactly...that little scenario between the Detective and Hiei triggered that hyperness within him...he'll be back to normal as soon as his entire system has experienced the feel of the arrow."
"I see..." Keiko pulled back in thought.
"...well, as long as he isn't going to act like Botan for more than a minute..." Hiei grunted, a slight shiver veiling his spine at the thought. "...then fine..."
"GAH!!" Kurama growled, snapping instantly from his mad hysterics and jerking everyone's stunned gaze...let Jiaanti, who merely watched on in solace. The boy collapsed to his knees in utter agony as the stinging of the arrow plagued his tender, half-swollen wrist, blood still slipping from the open gash. "ACK!" he snarled in pain, bowing downward and quivering as his body took in the immense pain rooted at his wrist and swelling throughout his entire system.
"What's happening to him?!" Kuwabara blinked in shock at Kurama's sudden mood swing from glee to sheer agony. Sweat broke loose in rippling droplets from the humanoid's face, his emerald stare wide from the pulsing pain chaffing within him, betyond his reach, under the flesh and stinging in his very veins.
"After the momentary hysteria, the metal still must escape the bloodstream to brace at the skin...the entire point of this weapon is to harden the flesh."
"But, you said he'd go back to normal!" Yusuke scowled.
"He's no longer caught in hysterics...he is now back to the normal Suichi you all know and love...but, normal as he is, he is now in pain at his veins rip to allow the metallics through."
"WHAT?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara gaped in unison. "His veins are ripping?!"
"It is the only way," Jiaanti's tired eyes pressed shut as Kurama's screams echoed louder, insane pulses ripping through his veins and arteries.
"How, pretell, is he supposed to remove this thing?! It's like, mutated into his system!!" Yusuke growled as Keiko braced against him in fear, the Detective subconsciously binding her to his side with his left arm, his right still limp at his side.
"He kept the tail of the arrow exposed..." Jiaanti answered without much emotion. "...that tail keeps control of the entire weapon...when he jerks it out, though the rest of the arrow's body has disintegrated into him, it will be unstable for his body to stand, and it will exit him."
"It better!" Yusuke threatened, before being whapped upside the head by the brunette laced to his side.
Kurama gasped chaffed breaths of agony as he tried to remain calm, but his veins snapped and his arteries tore...had he been a normal human, without tamed Spirit Energy to keep him alive, he would have died instantly from the smoldering pain of the immense internal bleeding. His eyes stung with tears of physical torment, burning red against his emerald glare.
Suddenly, an eerily calming glow of green escaped him, and engulfed his panting form...an unnatural breeze combed through his bushy mane, and he was enticed to a stand. His leer gaped and the whites of his eyes smoldered in the cool glow of minty-emerald. The tears broke loose from his broadened eyes, and streaked in face in gentle streams. There he stood, calmed and silenced of his pained screams, his Spirit Energy just barely keeping him alive.
The glow of his energy brought a strange sense of solaceness to the cavern, his gleam licking light to the jags of stone wall, floor, and ceiling circling him. He was so at peace, standing half-steadily with his glowing Spirit Energy warming his tattered form. The glare of the gentle light stained onto the faces of Jiaanti, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Keiko, a gentle gleam that cast shadows over the crevices of their features. The entire cavern was dark let the fox's glow, the engulfed their fronts in light and their backs in shadow.
"His energy is keeping him alive as he bleeds from the inside..." Hiei breathed in awe of the glorious glow. "Is this supposed to happen?" he cast his narrowed ruby glare for the side, towards the calm she-fox watching her son.
"No...normally the veins close the instant the metal escapes the skin..." she breathed. "...but, that's what happened to Ryooki, and other demons...Kurama is too human right now...I really don't know what will happen to him."
%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%
Anemone: hey there! Whadidya think, eh? Was it good? *gasp* was it bad?! How was it?! Tell me!!
Kurama: ow! *winces, covers ears*
Anemone: oops...oh yeah, haha...erm, well...Kurama's ears are still pretty swollen *glares at Hiei* so no one get me hysterical or else I might scream and make it worse lol.
Hiei: he deserves it!
Anemone: oh Hiei, c'mon...it couldn't have been that bad...
Hiei: *glare*
~*flashback to right after tree collapses*~
Kurama: *having successfully run away* YES! haHA!!
Hiei: *being dragged away, clawing the ground* OH MY GOD!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!
Kurama: *yells, but the girls can't hear him because he's so far off...only Hiei can hear him* WHO CAN'T HANDLE A FEW NINGEN FEMALES NOW, EH HIEI?! HAHAHA!
Hiei: DAMN YOU, KURAMA! I AM GONNA KILL YOU!!
Fan girls: if we can't have Suichi, we can still have his cute loner best friend!! *evil laughter*
Hiei: GAH!! HELP ME!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO JUST HELP ME!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!
Kurama: *behind another tree, watching Hiei being dragged away* hmm...maybe I should help him...*brief pause* Hell no! If I try they'll get me for sure!! *walks off*
Hiei: WON'T SOMEBODY HAVE A F***ING HEART AND F***ING RESCUE ME?!? THEY STOLE MY KATANA, AND THEY BOUND MY LEGS!! I CAN'T F***ING GET AWAY!!
~*cuts off flashback*~
Anemone: -okay, look...as interesting as this is, Hiei, *Hiei glares* people have lives to live and reviews to send--hinthint--and, you can start off the next chapter telling us who exactly saved you. Now say your line.
Hiei: you make demands of me when you don't even hear me out?!
Anemone: uh, yeah, yeah I do.
Hiei: I refuse! You lack a heart, Mones!
Anemone: look who's talking! I'm sure if you had your Katana with you during this little horror story of yous, I wouldn't have been able to bail you out of jail again, you're so merciless!
Hiei: ooh, Touche, ningen...
Anemone: look, if you say your line...I'll buy you a corndog and some chips...sound good?
Hiei: *brief pause as he thinks this over* make it two corndogs, tostitos, and a strawberry cone and I might.
Anemone: *sigh* if it wasn't for your obvious trauma, I wouldn't even consider doing this...fine, I'll make it two corndogs, tostitos and a strawberry cone.
Hiei: YES!! IN YOUR FACE, KURAMA!
Kurama: OWW! *glares through the pain of his numb ears*
Anemone: say the line, Flames...
Hiei: hn? Oh, that...go review. Okay done can I have my food now?
Anemone: okay get your cloak and lets go to the corner store...Kurama, you want anything?
Kurama: *moaning* aspirin...extra strength aspirin...
Anemone: okeey dokeey...*turns to readers* don't worry...if you wanna hear the rest of Hiei's little 'adventure', make sure to stay tuned for the next chapter...the mystery of his survival will be revealed!
Hiei: *rolls eyes, he and Kurama already out the door and waiting in the hallway* ningen, food!
Anemone: oh, right...*grabs purse* gotta go buy Hiei some food and Kurama some aspirin...latr!