Chapter 6
'Kuroi Kage'
by lieiavalon2044 I guess this'll be long... I have to cram lotsa stuff into it after I've been sick all this time. Oh, and I'll be accepting line challenges from now on (I meant to put this on the last chappie etc, but I forgot) so review if you have a line challenge for the next chappie!
Hiei kicked a piece of shattered glass and watched as it skittered across the reddened tiles, reminding himself of Rei's behavior before she'd asked him 'out'. Hiei smiled at the thought of the girl, hoping this investigation would be over quickly so he could challenge her again.
He found it rather amusing, except when she pulled a seemingly harmless wooden sword off the wall... He'd never call a wooden sword 'harmless' ever again in his unnatural life, even if it was broken to only a foot of blade remaining... Cause splinters hurt a lot, especially if your blood catches them on fire...
Youko gave the skittering glass shard no attention and continued to examine the evidence they still amazingly had. He couldn't believe that he of all youkai was investigating a, no, investigating at all! He was a thief and a murderer! Not a goody two shoes to listen to a TODDLERS every command!
Why not kill him!? Why not kill ALL of them!? Rise once more from dirt to one of the most respected figures in all the Makai! Bring Liei with him, make her some kind of youkai, but a kitsune would be better. She could help him, in theft or whatever he did! Koenma couldn't stop him from doing that! No matter how much he yelled, even if he was alive because Youko Kurama simply wouldn't listen!
' But... If I don't listen to that annoyance... He might never let me stay alone, or with at all for that matter, with Liei again... I hate to think this, but I have to be on my best damn behavior... I want to talk to Liei again... She's interesting... for a human... More interesting than even any youkai I've ever met... Except for Kuronue...' Youko's thoughts ended and he continued to search for clues, thinking of the heists he and Kuronue had pulled off in the good ol' days.
Yusuke was staring around the vault in astonishment because most of it was scorched or smothered with ashes. Youko wiped his fingers across the grayed glass and stared at his fingers, before turning his attention back to the shard of glass that hadn't been made into its molten form and rested his finger tips against the warm glass.
He lifted his fingers from the glass once more and looked at the thin gray layer of ash that coated his fingertips. He rubbed them together and glanced back at the charred pillar that the case had once been placed on, surrounded by guards. The thought that his most desired treasure of all time had been in a vault so close and weakly guarded ate away at him from the inside constantly now. Koenma floated down near his shoulder from examining the wall where the security camera had been before, now peeking over to see the expression on the silver youko's face. He was unreadable, as always. No big surprise there.
"Is there any evidence here, Youko?"
"Whatever was left here was burned, including the other two artifacts. Those thieves weren't amateurs and must have considered everything that could go wrong beforehand, which means at least a few months of planning before. The only way to catch them would be in the act, and to catch at least one of them, preferably the weaker of the two. But, back to your previous inquiry, there's not a clue anywhere, however the flames were that of hell."
Hiei heard this and stared, stunned, at the tattered, burned and slashed purple rug at his feet.
'Impossible... Does Youko know what he is saying? That if what he said... is true.. .then the thieves.... Were forbidden children... from the Island of Koorime... like me.... But ... all the others... are dead... We all were thrown out to die in the forests underneath that forsaken island!'
Hiei shook the thought away violently and turned back to the tiny toddler still floating at Youko's shoulder.
"Koenma, you said that in the last frame from the security camera a katana was headed toward it, supposedly to destroy the evidence as thoroughly as possible? Have you found part of the sword? Just the hilt at least? And how did you view the footage if it had already happened and the camera was destroyed?" he questioned, already at the wall where the camera had been. He vanished behind rubble, searching for any signs of the mutilated camera.
Kuwabara yawned and looked around for shorty. He and the youko were investigating the rubble under the shattered camera, but Youko didn't look quite focused...
'Probably drifting in some fox fantasy or something, the nut job.' Kuwabara thought and leaned back against the wall, but let his eyes wander around the room again. Yusuke was searching the rest of the vault, probably looking for the other two artifacts those girls had left.
'Even if we find some evidence, Koenma hasn't told us a thing about these thieves except that they were girls and fire youkai. He never said a thing about what they looked like, not even their eye color!' he thought, considering how difficult it would be to find these two if they didn't even know what they looked like.' (I must have made a mistake here. He's thinking! He may have a brain after all!)
'Or... Maybe... These two youkai have already been killed and he doesn't know it! They were probably wimpy 'D' class who had grenade launchers, and bombs... Oh yeah! I nearly forgot! MACHINE GUNS!'
(uh... Maybe I was wrong about the possibility of him having a brain in that hollow skull of his... -_- Maybe he should rent out that empty space he calls a head...)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The two thieves stood in a clearing, both staring at an orb they had placed on a tree stump. The Reikai Tantei were searching the vault for the hilt of the sword, but they wouldn't find it, as it happened to be tucked safely away under the brown haired girl's belt.
The brown haired one glanced at her now silent partner in crime. She was looking down, avoiding eye contact with her friend and long time assassination and thieving partner. She finally looked up, brushing a strand of her hair out of her eyes. It was then that a scar across her left forearm caught her friend's eye due to her long sleeve falling back revealing her arm up to her shoulder.
"Sanlaku, are you ok? I didn't notice that slash earlier, though you must have gotten it along time ago."
Sanlaku gazed at the other, looking sad and guilty. The brown haired girl stepped back, almost in disgust.
"You can't feel guilty! We've stolen over 400 artifacts and murdered countless people and never once have you shown a sign of guilt over either! Why now!?" the brown haired youkai demanded, leaning close to Sanlaku.
Sanlaku instinctively turned, not wanting to look her friend for 10 long years in the eyes. Her guilt was overwhelming her mind now, over the innocent people she'd slaughtered without a second thought just for a jewel or a priceless sword. She started to walk away, merely wanting to be left alone, but paused to respond to her friend's questions.
"Laoni, I have to withdraw from our deal, and perhaps even our friendship. I can't stand lying anymore, especially now that one on the case is the famous Youko Kurama. I'll return the jewels I stole and make up for my crimes." Sanlaku murmured before vanishing into the forest.
Laoni stared before she turned to the boulder behind her. There was a flash of steel and black flames and in the next second the boulder was gone.
"You lied to me Sanlaku... You aren't fearful of the kitsune ... you just have gotten emotionally involved with human scum!" she yelled, black flames surrounding her before she disappeared.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hiei glanced at the demon compass Koenma had somehow managed to fasten to his wrist, with the help of several other people. Koenma had modified this one and Yusuke's so that it would lock onto the energy signals of the stolen artifacts. It had finally locked onto one, and it seemed to be a more powerful signal than expected, so he guessed randomly that it was the more valuable artifact. He dashed through the trees, but stopped hearing footsteps behind him.
Hiei whirled, drawing his katana, only to see a harmless Kuwabara along with not harmless Yusuke and not quite harmless Kurama (red haired, green eyed, incredibly considerate, less homicidal version, but he still doesn't eat chocolate) emerged from the thick brush. They all looked pleasantly surprised at seeing the little fire youkai in an area not as remote as usual (saying it was only ten miles away from the nearest city ).
They stood there, not knowing who should say what first. But then Kuwabara's not modified demon compass started to go haywire. The needle turned and swirled madly as numbers whirred away on the minuscule digital screen installed to show distance. It finally focused, reading a little less than a mile away. The group almost instantly vanished, searching for the holder of both the incredible spirit energy and the elusive artifact.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sanlaku gazed down upon the kitsune's jewels woefully. They were brilliant, every glistening shade of blue or green shining in the sun's early light. There were sapphire, turquoise, light blue, forest green, regular green and deep emerald gems, all resting on a red silk pouch in Sanlaku's hand. She plucked out the lightest of the six jewels, knowing the Reikai Tantei were on their way.
She sighed and brushed a tear off her cheek, not watching as it glowed in midair, turning into a small nearly clear yet frosty incredibly light blue jewel. It landed next to a pebble and was concealed by the grass, but any youkai that happened to stumble upon it would instantly be happy, no matter what species.
Hiei burst into the glade, spotting Sanlaku the second he appeared and the jewels in her hand the next. She looked mildly surprised, but the expression seemed rather forced, but it had an immense amount of practice behind it, saying it nearly looked real. The only real give away was the fact that her copper eyes were melancholy, showing no desire to fight, or do much of anything for that matter. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama finally came out of the underbrush behind or beside Hiei, and when they saw the girl they instinctively readied themselves for a fight.
Sanlaku let her eyes wander over the Tantei quickly, her eyes hovering on Kurama for a moment. She broke her gaze and pulled the red bag out from under the five remaining gems slowly, making sure none of them fell. She had sat down on a rock, and her tear gem was next to her feet, nearly invisible because of her shadow. She slipped the gems into the bag, except the light blue which was settled next to her on the boulder until she picked it up and clasped it tightly in her left hand.
She stood but paused, seeing the fighters tense with her movement. A small smile flitted across her face and her right hand, still holding the bag by its tassel, fell to a rest on her katana's hilt. Hiei's own hand leapt to his katana's hilt, Kurama's grip on his rose tightened, Kuwabara looked at a butterfly that had landed on his nose, while Yusuke tensed, expecting an enormous battle. Sanlaku however, seemed smarter than the Tantei had given her credit for.
Hiei watched as the strange girl's hand tightened around her sword's hilt and she lifted it, but not just the blade. She pulled all of it out from under her belt, sheath and all before throwing it to the ground at Kurama's feet. The red head looked cautiously down at the sword, expecting it to explode at any second.
"Did you think I was stupid? I knew damn well that if I tried to fight all of the Tantei at once that I'd be killed. Here... Take these jewels... I thought I could use them, but apparently I can't." she said, dropping the bag into Yusuke's hand, having simply appeared directly in front of him from 12 feet away.
Yusuke reached for the other gem, but Sanlaku pulled her hand away swiftly, turning to Kurama. She held her hand out to him, clenched even more tightly around the jewel than before. Kurama quickly reached out his own hand and felt the cool crystal drop onto his bare hand, the girl's hand retracting and reaching down to her sword. She paused when a long vine snaked down her arm, the thorns causing small rips in the silken sleeve.
"Where are you going? You surely won't let us leave this easily after giving up something you stole." the red head demanded, making the vine tighten. Sanlaku couldn't help but chuckle under her breath. This fox... He hadn't changed a bit according to the stories of the infamous Youko that stole and killed as hobbies. Still ... she had to give him credit for standing up to her when he knew that if he had been alone she would likely have slaughtered him by now.
"Now now Youko... No need to be aggressive... I simply borrowed those jewels, thinking I might return them and get thrown in jail if I couldn't use them for anything. Really all you need is someone to test it on, and you know what I'm talking about. Have fun, but don't hurt yourself." Sanlaku said with a smirk as she picked up her katana.
She glanced at the vine that was now drawing blood from the wounds its thorns had caused. The next moment the plant spontaneously combusted, the black and purple flames glowing with an almost sinister light. Sanlaku smiled when she saw Kuwabara, who was gaping at the flames, looking utterly horrified. Apparently he hadn't had too many good experiences with the lovely flames of hell that Sanlaku and Hiei both found so beautiful.
There was a flash, and the thief vanished, leaving a small piece of paper laying on the ground next to a piece of gravel. Hiei walked over and knelt down, picking up the scrap of singed paper, squinting to make out what was written on it. Yusuke and Kuwabara were talking about the possibilities of where the girl had disappeared to. Kurama was silent, staring down a the light blue crystal in his open palm. He looked strangely pale and his emerald eyes looked frantic, flitting back and forth between humans and the kneeling Hiei then back to the jewel.
Sinlaku Akiryu? Hiei couldn't possibly hide the look of confusion that smothered his face. Then he saw something else, small and shiny, also next to the pebble, mostly concealed by grass. He picked it up and smiled almost happily. They were dealing with a koorime, a forbidden child like him. He could understand this more now, but why had she been crying in the first place? Forbidden children were said to be as emotionless as Youko, unless someone threatened something they cared deeply about...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Shiori walked in her front door, smiling happily, imagining her son's surprise when she came home early.
"Shuuichi! I'm home!" she called, closing the door behind her. Nobody answered, but in the bedroom, Liei stirred, hearing the voice calling out Kurama's name. She yawned and rolled over under the sheets, expecting to roll into a red head, or a fox eared guy, though she didn't care which. Liei sat up and looked at the clock. No way...
Shiori leapt at the sound of a door opening, but calmed herself, reasoning that it could only be her loving son coming to happily greet her. Instead, to her amazement, she saw a silver haired girl wearing a blue hakama walk stealthily across the living room. The girl must've known she was caught, because she stopped 4 feet from the door, looking terrified. Time to be interrogated ... by an angry and surprised mother wielding a spatula.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Koenma watched as Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei walked out, heading to a new vault that the items had been stored in. A small noise disrupted his thoughts, and he looked at Kurama, his eyebrows raising considerably at the state of the red head. He looked paler than Youko, and his eyes were frantic, flitting around the room, but never looking up even once. He seemed focused entirely on the jewel, but something told Koenma that it wasn't just the gem, that something else was on his mind. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kurama's head snapped up and he walked out, suddenly as good as ever.
"I'd watch him if I were you." Hiei stated, standing in a corner of Koenma's office. Koenma looked over at Hiei, not bothering to question how exactly he got there in the first place. " There's something wrong with him. His mind is in chaos, it seems that Youko and Shuuichi are arguing, over what I couldn't really tell, but it involved Liei."
"Hiei, who is this Liei you're talking about?" Koenma questioned, looking curious. Hiei opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, unsure if he should tell or not. If he did tell, saying that it was very illegal for a youkai and a human to be involved in a relationship, then he would have to split up with Rei, saying there was absolutely no possible way for him to tell about Liei and Kurama without mentioning her. But with the look Koenma was giving him... He probably didn't have much of a choice.
"Well... ummmm... She's a human..."
"Yes, yes go on."
"And Kurama likes her, both sides..."
No response to this.
"She has a friend too... Rei... And... I like her friend... Just a little though... Well, ok... not a little... I like her a lot... She's a good fighter, and nice when not angered..."
Was it just Hiei, or was the silence getting unnerving?
"She spent last night with Youko... And none of us have any idea what happened, even Kurama..."
"You're saying that Kurama can't remember what his other side did..."
"But we got there at 1:45 and he wasn't doing anything to her, but in my opinion he was WAY too close to her..."
Oh great Hiei... You're starting to babble... Just like Botan, only not as bubbly, just hysterical... Really professional and really convincing... At this rate he's not even going to let you finish before he decides what to do...
"Hiei, calm down. As long as you or Youko don't mate either of them you can stay with them, even if they are human. But only if they accept you as youkai, and-No, don't interrupt Hiei. It's very rude. I know that this Liei has already accepted Youko, or Kurama or whatever you wanna call him..."
Sigh of relief there... Rei would kill him if he so much as glimpsed her without clothes, or without pants for that matter, even if she was wearing underwear. Not that he'd dare try and lure her into anything... She may have acted like a moron at some times, but she was a lot smarter than she let people believe... And her punches really hurt...
"Koenma, back to the case... I found something, and I want to see if you can look up the name on it. That demon thief we caught up to today left it behind, and I think the person or thing may be able to tell us about her." Hiei said, still shaking with relief as he handed the scorched paper to Koenma, who squinted at the name before nodding.
"I'll look this up. It sounds like the name of a demon, and maybe even a relative of her. Well, keep an eye on Youko for me. I know that he likes Liei, but I think that with what you heard he may not be trustworthy with her alone anymore." Koenma said, picking up a cellphone. Hiei turned and walked out, then suddenly remembered Rei and dashed down the corridor, scattering neatly stacked piles of paper behind him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rei leant against the wall, checked her watch, kicked a pebble into an unlucky passerby's shin, then cursed at the various birds singing above her. Hiei should have been here by now and Rei was starting to get bored. People stared at her and whispered to each other as they passed, saying that girls usually didn't stand outside apartments with a sword tucked under a cloth belt whose only purpose was to hold the sword there. Had she been else where, say, oh, the Makai, nobody would have noticed the sword. Just the shorts and T-shirt, though the backwards baseball cap may have drawn more attention...
Hiei ran up the street, invisible to any normal people and a blur to others not so normal. He saw Rei quickly, standing outside her apartment complex, ignoring the attention she was unintentionally drawing to herself. Hiei leapt down, landed in a muddy puddle of water, cursed loudly, drawing all the attention from Rei to himself, muddy and wet, his gravity defying hair not so gravity defying anymore.
Rei laughed, walked over, grabbed his arm and pulled him away the crowd staring after them until a car crashed into a telephone pole. Then they all went running away, screaming and waving their hands above their heads when the tree caught on fire. Hiei's eyes widened in horror as Rei dragged him off.
"My... My tree... Holy shit! My KATANA WAS IN THAT TREE!!!" Hiei yelled, vanishing in an instant. Rei stopped and looked around. Where the hell did he go? Then she heard gasps from the (now further away) crowd. She turned, and glimpsed Hiei standing in the middle of the flames. Her eyes widened and she sped across thirty feet of pavement until she was six feet away.
Hiei stood in the middle of the flames, ignoring the stunned crowd.
"Oh... Oh yeah... I have my katana with me..."
'Did you just remember?' his jagan taunted.
'Hey! This is MY mind, not yours!'
'Technically it's both of ours. Now, look around and tell me how much memory altering I'm gonna need to do. I'm just reminding you that you're standing in fire in front of...?'
'Twenty people... Um... Crap ... my shirts on fire... Uh... I have to explain this to Rei...' Hiei thought, putting his hand on his chin, looking upward.
'Would you mind getting out the fire first moron?'
'Shuddup... I can still gouge you out. Hm ... how to explain...'
'FOR GODS SAKE! GET THE HELL OUTTA THE FIRE AND I'LL HELP WITH THE NINGENS MEMORIES AND WITH REI!!!'
'You need a serious chill pill dude...' Hiei thought, stepping calmly out of the flames. The crowd backed away, superstitious old ladies with garlic brandishing it in front of them like.. grenades... Rei looked envious, but Hiei didn't really see it, because old ladies started to pelt garlic at him. He glared at them, not noticing that the sheath of his katana was starting to smoke.
His jagan, had it been visible, would have been rolling its, um ... self, cause it doesn't really have any eyes to roll. Hiei caught the next 'grenade' and chucked it back at an old lady. The next minute, all the people were laying on the ground with swirly eyes and memories that told them they were practicing ballet, and that they were all 6 year old girls except for the 6 year old girl in ballet. She thought she was a professional wrestler and 32 years old.
Rei looked at Hiei, still in awe.
"Dude ... sweet... You were just standing in the middle of fire... Can I try?! Hey... Why are you looking at me like that?" Rei questioned, looking at Hiei curiously, who was giving her the strangest look ever.
"You're not scared?"
"Why would I be? You were just standing in the middle of a fire! I've ALWAYS wanted to do that! And I've always wanted to ski on an active volcano, but that's not really important..."
"Come here." Hiei said, not really giving Rei the chance to come when he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the apartment building. He pulled her up the stairs, ignoring her very loud protesting.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me? What d'you want me for? Why are you dragging me up the stairs? You coulda taken the elevator ya kno- "
"Would you just shut up? I'm draggin you up the stairs, that's what I'm doing. I'm taking you to your apartment so I can talk to you, and since when has the elevator worked? It was broken last night." Hiei answered.
'What in seven hells are you doing?!' his jagan yelled.
'Shuddup. And don't try to take over her mind. I want her to know what I am so she doesn't ask more questions.' Hiei thought back, stopping at Rei's apartment door. He pressed his ear against the door, and heard only the whir of a ceiling fan and a snoring fox cub. No important living things, so to hell with opening the door the normal way; it was locked anyway.
Hiei slammed his shoulder into it and it burst open, slamming into the wall very loudly. He threw Rei into the room, landing her next to the kitchen table. She actually stayed still for once, watching as Hiei tried to fit the door back on it's hinges. He finally succeeded and he turned back to Rei, who was watching him warily from where she'd landed.
"I need to tell you something Rei..." Hiei began, reaching up to pull off his bandana.
to be continued
Aren't I evil? A cliffhanger, again. You all probably hate that habit of mine don't you? Well, thanks to all the people that have read my stories and reviewed... Oh, and for those of you who don't know, I have another story, The Attack of the Chibis, and I'm not sure whether I should continue it or not. Until the next chapter... ja... And just in case you forgot, I'm accepting line challenges now!
'Kuroi Kage'
by lieiavalon2044 I guess this'll be long... I have to cram lotsa stuff into it after I've been sick all this time. Oh, and I'll be accepting line challenges from now on (I meant to put this on the last chappie etc, but I forgot) so review if you have a line challenge for the next chappie!
Hiei kicked a piece of shattered glass and watched as it skittered across the reddened tiles, reminding himself of Rei's behavior before she'd asked him 'out'. Hiei smiled at the thought of the girl, hoping this investigation would be over quickly so he could challenge her again.
He found it rather amusing, except when she pulled a seemingly harmless wooden sword off the wall... He'd never call a wooden sword 'harmless' ever again in his unnatural life, even if it was broken to only a foot of blade remaining... Cause splinters hurt a lot, especially if your blood catches them on fire...
Youko gave the skittering glass shard no attention and continued to examine the evidence they still amazingly had. He couldn't believe that he of all youkai was investigating a, no, investigating at all! He was a thief and a murderer! Not a goody two shoes to listen to a TODDLERS every command!
Why not kill him!? Why not kill ALL of them!? Rise once more from dirt to one of the most respected figures in all the Makai! Bring Liei with him, make her some kind of youkai, but a kitsune would be better. She could help him, in theft or whatever he did! Koenma couldn't stop him from doing that! No matter how much he yelled, even if he was alive because Youko Kurama simply wouldn't listen!
' But... If I don't listen to that annoyance... He might never let me stay alone, or with at all for that matter, with Liei again... I hate to think this, but I have to be on my best damn behavior... I want to talk to Liei again... She's interesting... for a human... More interesting than even any youkai I've ever met... Except for Kuronue...' Youko's thoughts ended and he continued to search for clues, thinking of the heists he and Kuronue had pulled off in the good ol' days.
Yusuke was staring around the vault in astonishment because most of it was scorched or smothered with ashes. Youko wiped his fingers across the grayed glass and stared at his fingers, before turning his attention back to the shard of glass that hadn't been made into its molten form and rested his finger tips against the warm glass.
He lifted his fingers from the glass once more and looked at the thin gray layer of ash that coated his fingertips. He rubbed them together and glanced back at the charred pillar that the case had once been placed on, surrounded by guards. The thought that his most desired treasure of all time had been in a vault so close and weakly guarded ate away at him from the inside constantly now. Koenma floated down near his shoulder from examining the wall where the security camera had been before, now peeking over to see the expression on the silver youko's face. He was unreadable, as always. No big surprise there.
"Is there any evidence here, Youko?"
"Whatever was left here was burned, including the other two artifacts. Those thieves weren't amateurs and must have considered everything that could go wrong beforehand, which means at least a few months of planning before. The only way to catch them would be in the act, and to catch at least one of them, preferably the weaker of the two. But, back to your previous inquiry, there's not a clue anywhere, however the flames were that of hell."
Hiei heard this and stared, stunned, at the tattered, burned and slashed purple rug at his feet.
'Impossible... Does Youko know what he is saying? That if what he said... is true.. .then the thieves.... Were forbidden children... from the Island of Koorime... like me.... But ... all the others... are dead... We all were thrown out to die in the forests underneath that forsaken island!'
Hiei shook the thought away violently and turned back to the tiny toddler still floating at Youko's shoulder.
"Koenma, you said that in the last frame from the security camera a katana was headed toward it, supposedly to destroy the evidence as thoroughly as possible? Have you found part of the sword? Just the hilt at least? And how did you view the footage if it had already happened and the camera was destroyed?" he questioned, already at the wall where the camera had been. He vanished behind rubble, searching for any signs of the mutilated camera.
Kuwabara yawned and looked around for shorty. He and the youko were investigating the rubble under the shattered camera, but Youko didn't look quite focused...
'Probably drifting in some fox fantasy or something, the nut job.' Kuwabara thought and leaned back against the wall, but let his eyes wander around the room again. Yusuke was searching the rest of the vault, probably looking for the other two artifacts those girls had left.
'Even if we find some evidence, Koenma hasn't told us a thing about these thieves except that they were girls and fire youkai. He never said a thing about what they looked like, not even their eye color!' he thought, considering how difficult it would be to find these two if they didn't even know what they looked like.' (I must have made a mistake here. He's thinking! He may have a brain after all!)
'Or... Maybe... These two youkai have already been killed and he doesn't know it! They were probably wimpy 'D' class who had grenade launchers, and bombs... Oh yeah! I nearly forgot! MACHINE GUNS!'
(uh... Maybe I was wrong about the possibility of him having a brain in that hollow skull of his... -_- Maybe he should rent out that empty space he calls a head...)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The two thieves stood in a clearing, both staring at an orb they had placed on a tree stump. The Reikai Tantei were searching the vault for the hilt of the sword, but they wouldn't find it, as it happened to be tucked safely away under the brown haired girl's belt.
The brown haired one glanced at her now silent partner in crime. She was looking down, avoiding eye contact with her friend and long time assassination and thieving partner. She finally looked up, brushing a strand of her hair out of her eyes. It was then that a scar across her left forearm caught her friend's eye due to her long sleeve falling back revealing her arm up to her shoulder.
"Sanlaku, are you ok? I didn't notice that slash earlier, though you must have gotten it along time ago."
Sanlaku gazed at the other, looking sad and guilty. The brown haired girl stepped back, almost in disgust.
"You can't feel guilty! We've stolen over 400 artifacts and murdered countless people and never once have you shown a sign of guilt over either! Why now!?" the brown haired youkai demanded, leaning close to Sanlaku.
Sanlaku instinctively turned, not wanting to look her friend for 10 long years in the eyes. Her guilt was overwhelming her mind now, over the innocent people she'd slaughtered without a second thought just for a jewel or a priceless sword. She started to walk away, merely wanting to be left alone, but paused to respond to her friend's questions.
"Laoni, I have to withdraw from our deal, and perhaps even our friendship. I can't stand lying anymore, especially now that one on the case is the famous Youko Kurama. I'll return the jewels I stole and make up for my crimes." Sanlaku murmured before vanishing into the forest.
Laoni stared before she turned to the boulder behind her. There was a flash of steel and black flames and in the next second the boulder was gone.
"You lied to me Sanlaku... You aren't fearful of the kitsune ... you just have gotten emotionally involved with human scum!" she yelled, black flames surrounding her before she disappeared.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hiei glanced at the demon compass Koenma had somehow managed to fasten to his wrist, with the help of several other people. Koenma had modified this one and Yusuke's so that it would lock onto the energy signals of the stolen artifacts. It had finally locked onto one, and it seemed to be a more powerful signal than expected, so he guessed randomly that it was the more valuable artifact. He dashed through the trees, but stopped hearing footsteps behind him.
Hiei whirled, drawing his katana, only to see a harmless Kuwabara along with not harmless Yusuke and not quite harmless Kurama (red haired, green eyed, incredibly considerate, less homicidal version, but he still doesn't eat chocolate) emerged from the thick brush. They all looked pleasantly surprised at seeing the little fire youkai in an area not as remote as usual (saying it was only ten miles away from the nearest city ).
They stood there, not knowing who should say what first. But then Kuwabara's not modified demon compass started to go haywire. The needle turned and swirled madly as numbers whirred away on the minuscule digital screen installed to show distance. It finally focused, reading a little less than a mile away. The group almost instantly vanished, searching for the holder of both the incredible spirit energy and the elusive artifact.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sanlaku gazed down upon the kitsune's jewels woefully. They were brilliant, every glistening shade of blue or green shining in the sun's early light. There were sapphire, turquoise, light blue, forest green, regular green and deep emerald gems, all resting on a red silk pouch in Sanlaku's hand. She plucked out the lightest of the six jewels, knowing the Reikai Tantei were on their way.
She sighed and brushed a tear off her cheek, not watching as it glowed in midair, turning into a small nearly clear yet frosty incredibly light blue jewel. It landed next to a pebble and was concealed by the grass, but any youkai that happened to stumble upon it would instantly be happy, no matter what species.
Hiei burst into the glade, spotting Sanlaku the second he appeared and the jewels in her hand the next. She looked mildly surprised, but the expression seemed rather forced, but it had an immense amount of practice behind it, saying it nearly looked real. The only real give away was the fact that her copper eyes were melancholy, showing no desire to fight, or do much of anything for that matter. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama finally came out of the underbrush behind or beside Hiei, and when they saw the girl they instinctively readied themselves for a fight.
Sanlaku let her eyes wander over the Tantei quickly, her eyes hovering on Kurama for a moment. She broke her gaze and pulled the red bag out from under the five remaining gems slowly, making sure none of them fell. She had sat down on a rock, and her tear gem was next to her feet, nearly invisible because of her shadow. She slipped the gems into the bag, except the light blue which was settled next to her on the boulder until she picked it up and clasped it tightly in her left hand.
She stood but paused, seeing the fighters tense with her movement. A small smile flitted across her face and her right hand, still holding the bag by its tassel, fell to a rest on her katana's hilt. Hiei's own hand leapt to his katana's hilt, Kurama's grip on his rose tightened, Kuwabara looked at a butterfly that had landed on his nose, while Yusuke tensed, expecting an enormous battle. Sanlaku however, seemed smarter than the Tantei had given her credit for.
Hiei watched as the strange girl's hand tightened around her sword's hilt and she lifted it, but not just the blade. She pulled all of it out from under her belt, sheath and all before throwing it to the ground at Kurama's feet. The red head looked cautiously down at the sword, expecting it to explode at any second.
"Did you think I was stupid? I knew damn well that if I tried to fight all of the Tantei at once that I'd be killed. Here... Take these jewels... I thought I could use them, but apparently I can't." she said, dropping the bag into Yusuke's hand, having simply appeared directly in front of him from 12 feet away.
Yusuke reached for the other gem, but Sanlaku pulled her hand away swiftly, turning to Kurama. She held her hand out to him, clenched even more tightly around the jewel than before. Kurama quickly reached out his own hand and felt the cool crystal drop onto his bare hand, the girl's hand retracting and reaching down to her sword. She paused when a long vine snaked down her arm, the thorns causing small rips in the silken sleeve.
"Where are you going? You surely won't let us leave this easily after giving up something you stole." the red head demanded, making the vine tighten. Sanlaku couldn't help but chuckle under her breath. This fox... He hadn't changed a bit according to the stories of the infamous Youko that stole and killed as hobbies. Still ... she had to give him credit for standing up to her when he knew that if he had been alone she would likely have slaughtered him by now.
"Now now Youko... No need to be aggressive... I simply borrowed those jewels, thinking I might return them and get thrown in jail if I couldn't use them for anything. Really all you need is someone to test it on, and you know what I'm talking about. Have fun, but don't hurt yourself." Sanlaku said with a smirk as she picked up her katana.
She glanced at the vine that was now drawing blood from the wounds its thorns had caused. The next moment the plant spontaneously combusted, the black and purple flames glowing with an almost sinister light. Sanlaku smiled when she saw Kuwabara, who was gaping at the flames, looking utterly horrified. Apparently he hadn't had too many good experiences with the lovely flames of hell that Sanlaku and Hiei both found so beautiful.
There was a flash, and the thief vanished, leaving a small piece of paper laying on the ground next to a piece of gravel. Hiei walked over and knelt down, picking up the scrap of singed paper, squinting to make out what was written on it. Yusuke and Kuwabara were talking about the possibilities of where the girl had disappeared to. Kurama was silent, staring down a the light blue crystal in his open palm. He looked strangely pale and his emerald eyes looked frantic, flitting back and forth between humans and the kneeling Hiei then back to the jewel.
Sinlaku Akiryu? Hiei couldn't possibly hide the look of confusion that smothered his face. Then he saw something else, small and shiny, also next to the pebble, mostly concealed by grass. He picked it up and smiled almost happily. They were dealing with a koorime, a forbidden child like him. He could understand this more now, but why had she been crying in the first place? Forbidden children were said to be as emotionless as Youko, unless someone threatened something they cared deeply about...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Shiori walked in her front door, smiling happily, imagining her son's surprise when she came home early.
"Shuuichi! I'm home!" she called, closing the door behind her. Nobody answered, but in the bedroom, Liei stirred, hearing the voice calling out Kurama's name. She yawned and rolled over under the sheets, expecting to roll into a red head, or a fox eared guy, though she didn't care which. Liei sat up and looked at the clock. No way...
Shiori leapt at the sound of a door opening, but calmed herself, reasoning that it could only be her loving son coming to happily greet her. Instead, to her amazement, she saw a silver haired girl wearing a blue hakama walk stealthily across the living room. The girl must've known she was caught, because she stopped 4 feet from the door, looking terrified. Time to be interrogated ... by an angry and surprised mother wielding a spatula.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Koenma watched as Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei walked out, heading to a new vault that the items had been stored in. A small noise disrupted his thoughts, and he looked at Kurama, his eyebrows raising considerably at the state of the red head. He looked paler than Youko, and his eyes were frantic, flitting around the room, but never looking up even once. He seemed focused entirely on the jewel, but something told Koenma that it wasn't just the gem, that something else was on his mind. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kurama's head snapped up and he walked out, suddenly as good as ever.
"I'd watch him if I were you." Hiei stated, standing in a corner of Koenma's office. Koenma looked over at Hiei, not bothering to question how exactly he got there in the first place. " There's something wrong with him. His mind is in chaos, it seems that Youko and Shuuichi are arguing, over what I couldn't really tell, but it involved Liei."
"Hiei, who is this Liei you're talking about?" Koenma questioned, looking curious. Hiei opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, unsure if he should tell or not. If he did tell, saying that it was very illegal for a youkai and a human to be involved in a relationship, then he would have to split up with Rei, saying there was absolutely no possible way for him to tell about Liei and Kurama without mentioning her. But with the look Koenma was giving him... He probably didn't have much of a choice.
"Well... ummmm... She's a human..."
"Yes, yes go on."
"And Kurama likes her, both sides..."
No response to this.
"She has a friend too... Rei... And... I like her friend... Just a little though... Well, ok... not a little... I like her a lot... She's a good fighter, and nice when not angered..."
Was it just Hiei, or was the silence getting unnerving?
"She spent last night with Youko... And none of us have any idea what happened, even Kurama..."
"You're saying that Kurama can't remember what his other side did..."
"But we got there at 1:45 and he wasn't doing anything to her, but in my opinion he was WAY too close to her..."
Oh great Hiei... You're starting to babble... Just like Botan, only not as bubbly, just hysterical... Really professional and really convincing... At this rate he's not even going to let you finish before he decides what to do...
"Hiei, calm down. As long as you or Youko don't mate either of them you can stay with them, even if they are human. But only if they accept you as youkai, and-No, don't interrupt Hiei. It's very rude. I know that this Liei has already accepted Youko, or Kurama or whatever you wanna call him..."
Sigh of relief there... Rei would kill him if he so much as glimpsed her without clothes, or without pants for that matter, even if she was wearing underwear. Not that he'd dare try and lure her into anything... She may have acted like a moron at some times, but she was a lot smarter than she let people believe... And her punches really hurt...
"Koenma, back to the case... I found something, and I want to see if you can look up the name on it. That demon thief we caught up to today left it behind, and I think the person or thing may be able to tell us about her." Hiei said, still shaking with relief as he handed the scorched paper to Koenma, who squinted at the name before nodding.
"I'll look this up. It sounds like the name of a demon, and maybe even a relative of her. Well, keep an eye on Youko for me. I know that he likes Liei, but I think that with what you heard he may not be trustworthy with her alone anymore." Koenma said, picking up a cellphone. Hiei turned and walked out, then suddenly remembered Rei and dashed down the corridor, scattering neatly stacked piles of paper behind him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rei leant against the wall, checked her watch, kicked a pebble into an unlucky passerby's shin, then cursed at the various birds singing above her. Hiei should have been here by now and Rei was starting to get bored. People stared at her and whispered to each other as they passed, saying that girls usually didn't stand outside apartments with a sword tucked under a cloth belt whose only purpose was to hold the sword there. Had she been else where, say, oh, the Makai, nobody would have noticed the sword. Just the shorts and T-shirt, though the backwards baseball cap may have drawn more attention...
Hiei ran up the street, invisible to any normal people and a blur to others not so normal. He saw Rei quickly, standing outside her apartment complex, ignoring the attention she was unintentionally drawing to herself. Hiei leapt down, landed in a muddy puddle of water, cursed loudly, drawing all the attention from Rei to himself, muddy and wet, his gravity defying hair not so gravity defying anymore.
Rei laughed, walked over, grabbed his arm and pulled him away the crowd staring after them until a car crashed into a telephone pole. Then they all went running away, screaming and waving their hands above their heads when the tree caught on fire. Hiei's eyes widened in horror as Rei dragged him off.
"My... My tree... Holy shit! My KATANA WAS IN THAT TREE!!!" Hiei yelled, vanishing in an instant. Rei stopped and looked around. Where the hell did he go? Then she heard gasps from the (now further away) crowd. She turned, and glimpsed Hiei standing in the middle of the flames. Her eyes widened and she sped across thirty feet of pavement until she was six feet away.
Hiei stood in the middle of the flames, ignoring the stunned crowd.
"Oh... Oh yeah... I have my katana with me..."
'Did you just remember?' his jagan taunted.
'Hey! This is MY mind, not yours!'
'Technically it's both of ours. Now, look around and tell me how much memory altering I'm gonna need to do. I'm just reminding you that you're standing in fire in front of...?'
'Twenty people... Um... Crap ... my shirts on fire... Uh... I have to explain this to Rei...' Hiei thought, putting his hand on his chin, looking upward.
'Would you mind getting out the fire first moron?'
'Shuddup... I can still gouge you out. Hm ... how to explain...'
'FOR GODS SAKE! GET THE HELL OUTTA THE FIRE AND I'LL HELP WITH THE NINGENS MEMORIES AND WITH REI!!!'
'You need a serious chill pill dude...' Hiei thought, stepping calmly out of the flames. The crowd backed away, superstitious old ladies with garlic brandishing it in front of them like.. grenades... Rei looked envious, but Hiei didn't really see it, because old ladies started to pelt garlic at him. He glared at them, not noticing that the sheath of his katana was starting to smoke.
His jagan, had it been visible, would have been rolling its, um ... self, cause it doesn't really have any eyes to roll. Hiei caught the next 'grenade' and chucked it back at an old lady. The next minute, all the people were laying on the ground with swirly eyes and memories that told them they were practicing ballet, and that they were all 6 year old girls except for the 6 year old girl in ballet. She thought she was a professional wrestler and 32 years old.
Rei looked at Hiei, still in awe.
"Dude ... sweet... You were just standing in the middle of fire... Can I try?! Hey... Why are you looking at me like that?" Rei questioned, looking at Hiei curiously, who was giving her the strangest look ever.
"You're not scared?"
"Why would I be? You were just standing in the middle of a fire! I've ALWAYS wanted to do that! And I've always wanted to ski on an active volcano, but that's not really important..."
"Come here." Hiei said, not really giving Rei the chance to come when he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the apartment building. He pulled her up the stairs, ignoring her very loud protesting.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me? What d'you want me for? Why are you dragging me up the stairs? You coulda taken the elevator ya kno- "
"Would you just shut up? I'm draggin you up the stairs, that's what I'm doing. I'm taking you to your apartment so I can talk to you, and since when has the elevator worked? It was broken last night." Hiei answered.
'What in seven hells are you doing?!' his jagan yelled.
'Shuddup. And don't try to take over her mind. I want her to know what I am so she doesn't ask more questions.' Hiei thought back, stopping at Rei's apartment door. He pressed his ear against the door, and heard only the whir of a ceiling fan and a snoring fox cub. No important living things, so to hell with opening the door the normal way; it was locked anyway.
Hiei slammed his shoulder into it and it burst open, slamming into the wall very loudly. He threw Rei into the room, landing her next to the kitchen table. She actually stayed still for once, watching as Hiei tried to fit the door back on it's hinges. He finally succeeded and he turned back to Rei, who was watching him warily from where she'd landed.
"I need to tell you something Rei..." Hiei began, reaching up to pull off his bandana.
to be continued
Aren't I evil? A cliffhanger, again. You all probably hate that habit of mine don't you? Well, thanks to all the people that have read my stories and reviewed... Oh, and for those of you who don't know, I have another story, The Attack of the Chibis, and I'm not sure whether I should continue it or not. Until the next chapter... ja... And just in case you forgot, I'm accepting line challenges now!