Morning arrived, the sheet of deep snow that covered the mountain top shimmered as the sun peaked over the canopy of pine trees. In the light, the cabin the boys had slept in during the night looked more inviting. The old man from the night before was nowhere to be found and when Kurama entered the center room of the building, Yusuke and Kuwabara were already awake and sitting at a small dining room table, drinking coffee. Botan had made herself at home and was preparing breakfast... or at least trying to. Clouds of smoke and strange noises were emanating from the kitchen and the boys had decided to keep their distance.
"Forgive me for sleeping so late," Kurama said, pouring himself coffee and joining Yusuke and Kuwabara at the table. "I was plagued with some rather unsettling dreams last night."
"Were they about the outrageous battle we're gonna have today? Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle!" Kuwabara shouted and slammed his coffee cup down on the table with a force just short of breaking it.
"Have you always been so full of yourself..." Yusuke groaned.
Kurama sipped lightly at his coffee and watched Yusuke and Kuwabara's table talk escalate into a roaring argument. Thankfully this took all attention away from himself and his nightmares. Horrible images had haunted him during the night of his precious little Jaganshi being torn limb from limb by a hulking ice demon as if he were a helpless child.
Before falling asleep he had hoped for some pleasant dreams about his small demon friend as they slumbered together. Their most intimate moments were when they fought, moving as one. Any other closeness was rare, not because Kurama did not wish for it, but because he knew Hiei would never allow it to happen.
He was rather disappointed when he had awoken to find Hiei gone and was expecting him to dive through a window for breakfast at any moment. When he did not, Kurama decided to inquire if anyone had seen the fire demon.
"Would anyone happen to know where Hiei is?"
"He's on the roof," a puff of smoke replied. When it cleared, Botan stood beside the table and four plates of... something were revealed sitting before the spirit detectives.
"At least he was," she continued. "Enjoy your breakfast!" she called as she trotted back into the kitchen. Silence followed, and then...
"What IS this?" Yusuke finally said, staring at their plates.
"I think it's eggs or... pancakes or something," Kuwabara answered while examining their breakfast. "What do you think Kurama?" But when they turned, the red-head was gone. "Kurama?"
On the roof, nothing could be found but some pine needles, snow... and one single tear gem, sparkling brilliantly in the dawn sun. The Jaganshi was gone, prepared to take his frustration out on the convict ice demon, alone.
****
'I should have known you can't cook! HA!'
'What!? That's totally besides the point, now just listen or I'm going to beat you to death with my oar.'
'That's no way to talk to your boss...'
****
"To hell with you, fool!" Hiei screamed as yet another painful blast exploded against his skin. At the mountain's peak, with his sword unsheathed he ran with his nearly incomprehensible speed around the blue giant. Even for a demon as fast as Hiei, however, the ice shards were extremely difficult to dodge. He had only his Jagan eye and intuition to guide him, since the Bakuhatsubutsu Kori Missiles had no detectable spirit energy and were completely invisible to normal eyes.
Hiei dove behind a snowbank, hoping the great oaf of a demon would lose track of him for at least a few seconds. Tsumetai was just as Koenma had said, powerful and stupid. He was a low class demon, not even capable of speech beyond grunts and roars, but his natural defenses were deadly, as Hiei was quickly discovering.
"Think, idiot. Don't let your pointless feelings cloud your judgement..." He hissed to himself. He had spent almost the whole night on the roof, thinking of Kurama, and at sunrise left the cabin in blind frustration. Now he was here, fighting a seemingly hopeless battle by himself.
He shifted silently when he heard the gigantic feet of Tsumetai crunching snow and coming towards him. He fired a small blast of spirit energy into the air like a firework, and as soon as the ice demon had launched his shard attack in that direction, Hiei dove quickly under his legs. He jumped up and was able to slash only once with his sword before the bumbling demon turned to fire another wave of ice. Hiei had anticipated this and was already in hiding again by the time the crystals had left Tsumetai's mouth.
"Why does he have to be so thick skinned..." The Jaganshi grumbled. Even a direct hit with his sword barely penetrated the demon's skin, and long distance attacks had almost no effect. It was nearly impossible to get close enough for one swipe of the sword, how would he ever manage to reach a position suitable for a killing blow?
Suddenly he heard Tsumetai roar in pain and fall to the ground with a tremendous crash. Springing up from behind the mound of snow where he had taken cover, he saw that his companions had joined him. Tsumetai hoisted himself up off the ground, clutching his bloody ankle which had just been struck by Kurama's Rose Whip.
"Get down!" Hiei belted, just as a wave of ice crystals came flying at his three fellow spirit detectives. The four of them took shelter behind another snow mound, suffering only minor cuts.
"This thing is a lot faster than I expected..." Yusuke mumbled, panting and yanking a tiny ice shard from his arm.
"No kidding! He's crazy fast, I didn't even get a chance to power up my Spirit Sword and I was getting blasted by all that ice!" Kuwabara added, glancing stealthily over the top of the snow bank to make sure Tsumetai wasn't about to ambush them.
"Well then I'm just gonna have the blast the hell out of that thing with my Spirit Gun!" Yusuke announced, getting ready to stand up.
"No, it won't work." Hiei said. "Only short range attacks have a chance of hurting him, his skin is unbelievably thick."
"Well what do you suggest Mr. Shorty-Pants-Know-It-All?" Kuwabara asked, glaring at Hiei and receiving a considerably more menacing glare in return.
"A logical course of action would be to have someone draw Tsumetai's attention while the others attack," Kurama said calmly.
"I volunteer Kuwabara to be the moving target..." Hiei growled.
"HEY!"
"Shut up you idiot, that big doofus out there is gonna hear you!" Yusuke practically yelled while smacking Kuwabara on the back of the head.
"Oh, like you yelling at me isn't!?" Kuwabara not so quietly yelled back.
The very next moment they heard the huge demon lumbering towards them in a fit of rage.
"Nice going... fools." Hiei hissed at Yusuke and Kuwabara as the foursome rose to face their opponent.
"I will draw his fire while the rest of you attack from behind," Kurama instructed, leaping over the demons head, grabbing him by the fur and pulling him onto his back.
Tsumetai instantly rolled over and scrambled to his feet. Yusuke and Kuwabara got into position, ready for their opportunity to attack. Kurama then plucked a seed from his hair and surrounded himself with a web of vines held in place around him by his spirit energy. The wall of plant life would absorb the major explosions any ice crystals that managed to hit Kurama.
He ran away from the ice giant but stayed in the line of fire, with tiny shards of ice smashing to the ground at his heals. He paused and turned to face Tsumetai.
"Is that the best you can do, my simple minded foe?"
Tsumetai roared loudly, shaking piles of snow from the surrounding trees and unleashed a humongous cloud of Bakuhatsubustu Kori Missiles directly at Kurama. While he was in the process of launching his attack, Kuwabara sliced at the demon's left side with his Spirit Sword, Yusuke blasted his right side with a Shot Gun attack, and Hiei dashed up underneath him, making one quick jab to the abdomen.
They dispersed as quickly as they had attacked, but Tsumetai was still standing, though he was now missing his left arm and had bloody puncture wounds up and down his shoulder. Hiei's sword had broken the skin, but he had been in a poor position when striking, and had not been able to put enough force in to harm any vital organs .
This had all happened in a fraction of a second, and the moment the trio had finished attacking the ice demon, the Bakuhatsubutsu Kori Missiles hit Kurama with full force.
"Nn!" The red haired boy guarded as best he could, and though his shield of plants had taken the brunt of the blow, several crystals managed to hit him head on, and he was flung backwards.
Time seemed to slow down for Hiei as Kurama hit the snow covered ground. After being so desperately close to him the night before, the sight of his partner lying dazed on the ground sent him into an uncontrollable fury like he had never felt before. His small body suddenly was surrounded by a shield of flames and he lunged head first at Tsumetai. Wave after wave of ice crystals came pelting at him, but disintegrated instantly when they reached the wall of fire.
His eyes glowed red and he screamed in rage as he plunged his sword deep into the demon's heart. Blood began to gush from the wound and swell up in Tsumetai's throat spurting from his mouth, covering Hiei's entire front with the red liquid. The hulking form fell backwards and roared a cry of death and the metal weapon twisted inside his massive body.
Yusuke and Kuwabara looked on in shock as Hiei slid his sword slowly from the body of the dead demon, licked it clean, and placed it back in its sheath. The Jaganshi then closed his eyes, regained his composure, and walked over to his fallen comrade without saying a word.
"Woah..." Kuwabara simply said.
"Mission accomplished... I guess..." Yusuke added, still stunned by the scene that had just taken place.
"Are you alright..." Hiei said softly, helping Kurama sit up.
He shook his head slightly and smiled. "Just caught off guard, apparently. I'll be fine."
"I'm... glad..." the little demon replied in a hushed whisper.
"Hiei, such gentle words from a brave warrior like yourself," Kurama teased as he rose to his feet.
"Hn..." Hiei shook the snow from his tunic as he stood and looked up into Kurama's green eyes before smiling, and vanishing into the forest.
Kurama strolled over to Yusuke and Kuwabara, slowly though, still sore from his new wounds.
"Where the heck is he going?" Yusuke asked. "We're all supposed to report back to Botan."
Kurama just sighed calmly and gazed off into the distance.
"He's going wherever Hiei goes..." Kurama fumbled with the tear gem in his pocket that he had found on the roof, and had a funny feeling Hiei would be waiting on his windowsill when he arrived home.
****
'That's so sickeningly adorable it makes me want my mommy! WAAAAAAHHHH!!!'
'Sir... you're crying awfully hard... would you like me to get you a tissue, or maybe a-'
'No, *sniffle* just finish the story.'
'Goodness gracious...'
****