Disclaimer: All disclaimers are in the first chapter where they belong. Song's are disclaimed in the chapter that they appear.
AN Hey all, they chapter came out surprisingly fast. I thought it was going to take much longer than this. But oh well, more for you I guess. You're especially lucky because the plot-bunnies are waging war with my muses, and gaining more room in which to roam in my head. It's a mess but I'm trying to sort through it all.
(I just got back from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King... my friends were crying - my mom and I were laughing. *sweatdrop* It was good, but not enough to make me cry.)
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Part 6: Prophecy
It didn't take more than five minutes after Hiei had finished his tale; including the vision he had had on the boat just two days earlier, for the three experiments to discover that something was wrong with their friend. His face was still soaked in sweat; his whole body shuddered as though he were lying on a block of arctic cold ice. His eyes were glassy and vacant, his lips dry. Kurama wasted no time in grabbing Yusuke's bag of clothes and pulling out the thickest, warmest looking garments in there. Yukina hovered over their friend, pressing her glowing hands against his skin to try and heal him. Hiei worked his hardest to transfer his abundance of heat into Yusuke's body.
But for all their efforts, nothing was helping.
"He needs water, first of all." Kurama said finally, after they had all sat back from their futile efforts. "Yukina?"
The girl nodded, taking the bowl-shaped leaf that Kurama handed her. Ice began pouring from her hands until it filled the leaf. Hiei placed his hands on the leaf, sending his fire into the ice so that it would melt into crystal clear water. Kurama took the leaf back and began carefully helping their barely conscience friend to drink.
But even after the water, Yusuke's condition didn't change at all.
"Perhaps he's delirious from blood-loss. Maybe even shock," Kurama said worriedly, peering carefully at Yusuke's flushed but pale face. Sweat continued to drip down the dark haired boy's features as he panted. The shoulder that had been ripped open by what he Hiei told him to be flying glass had been healed thanks to Yukina... but Yusuke was still suffering from its effects.
"You stay with him," he told Hiei, who was once again attempting to feed some of his abundant warmth into Yusuke's still cold body. "I'll try to get some things to help make him more comfortable. Yukina, will you help me?"
The small girl nodded and checked Yusuke's wound one last time. Satisfied that it was fully closed and hadn't scared she followed Kurama out of the dim cave and into the night.
"Hiei..." Yusuke slurred maybe ten minutes after the other two had left. His voice was thick with exhaustion. "S'not blood loss." He closed his weary eyes for a moment, leaving the Jaganshi scared that he was slipping into an endless sleep. "'S'omthing else... drug." Yusuke's voice trailed off and Hiei's eyes widened.
"A drug?" He whispered, "Did he inject you with something? Do you feel like you're floating and burning and freezing all at the same time?"
"Mmm..." Yusuke agreed fuzzily. "S'all cold 'n stuff."
Hiei's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing dangerously. There was really nothing he could do for Yusuke now. It they had known the teen had been injected with a chemical they could have nullified the effect. But because Yukina had healed the wound - Yusuke had no choice but to suffer though its effects. And Hiei hated himself for that; it had been him to originally invite Yusuke to spend time with them. He bitterly remembered his offer. 'Video games and a movie' sure, that went over real well.
"S'not yer fault." Yusuke slurred, obviously having trouble stringing his words together. He slowly, with more that just a wince, reached with one hand to grasp Hiei's. "Ya di'na know."
Hiei sighed, gently holding onto Yusuke hand. "You've been so nice to us," he said softly. "Even though you know how corrupted we are. I'm sorry this happened to you."
Yusuke muttered something indistinguishable, his eyes slipping closed. A few minutes later, he slipped into a light unconscious state while around him his aura brightened until it was visible.
Under his breath he began mumbling his first words in the dialect only those in Hell could understand.
"With the three that fled,
A forth shall emerge.
His aura bright as the sun.
But with his return,
Darkness shall fall.
The fate of many,
Are held by one."
Hiei blinked, not understanding the meaning behind Yusuke's words at all. Was it a prophecy? Or just mindless talking? Hiei didn't know, but he filed the words away in his mind just in case.
And so it began. It was a test of mental stability that fed off of emotions. It was supposed to transfer energy created by the body into a weapon, while at the same time expanding the experiments intake of life around him. Hiei had only seen one of those tests before and the girl hadn't lived a week before dying of its effects. She had been slowly going insane because of all the hate pouring into her from all sides and ended up using her weapon to kill herself. He prayed that Yusuke would be stronger than she was.
He was so worried, in fact, that he just began talking mindlessly. The words tumbled out of his mouth, unchecked - words that Yusuke could still hear and were comforted by. His thoughts, ideas, hopes, hates... everything that made him Hiei came tumbling out of his mouth. When Hiei finally ran out of things to say, he used his Jagan to move a book into his hands, and he began struggling to read the book out loud. It was one of Yusuke's detective books, if the picture of a sleuth on the front meant anything. Hiei sighed, looking at his friend before back at the book and began struggling through another page. As he read, though, he began to recognize more words and his voice became surer as the story wore on.
And unbeknownst to him, Yusuke was starting to smile in his unconscious state because of the warmth that was feeding into his soul.
===
The first thing Yusuke saw when he regained enough strength to open his eyes, was a pair of garnet-red eyes peering down at him. His nose caught a whiff of what smelled like camp-fires and ashes. He could feel the comforting aura of two people who would do nothing if not protect him, and a third who had been sitting with him for the past twelve hours. But what really made him feel good, was the fact that his entire body felt completely refreshed. No matters were pressing heavily against his mind, no weight bearing down on his shoulders. He felt good, and natural. He could feel the emotions around him, he could see perfectly despite the blatant darkness of the cave. Most importantly, he could feel his own strength and he knew the endless limits of his knowledge - both of which seemed to have broadened while he had been unconscious.
"Hey, Hiei." Yusuke said softly to the red eyes above him.
What he got in return was a disgruntled frown. "Idiot." Hiei sighed, snapping the book in his hands shut and moving to lay one of his warm hands against Yusuke's brow, and then moving his hand down Yusuke's face in a soft, warm caress. "Why did you get in the way like that?"
Yusuke scrunched up his features, one hand reaching up to catch hold of Hiei's. "Get in the way?"
"Yes, Detective. You managed to set Togoru on fire and end his life - but the end results weren't exactly in *your* favor either. The chemical he was holding fell into your open wounds - why do you think you were unconscious for so long?"
Yusuke smiled and closed his eyes, letting the warmth of Hiei's hand soak into his own. "I was listening to you read." He informed the Jaganshi, as an answer to his question. "You've gotten much better."
Kurama suddenly popped up behind them. "Hey, if you're strong enough," he began, watching with amusement as Hiei quickly took his hand back and turned to look in the other direction. "We should really be on the move again. They're bound to figure out what happened sooner or later. They'll send somebody else, somebody much worse. We need to get out of here."
Yusuke nodded and slowly began to push himself upright. To his surprise, after waking, his strength had returned as quickly as his sense of humor. He was upright without wincing or even breaking a sweat. He also wasn't wearing very much in the way of clothing. He lifted an eyebrow at Hiei, who refused to meet his eye.
"You're clothes are next to you." Yukina supplied helpfully from where she was sitting, across the cave. "I had to remove them so that I could heal you more effectively." The girl didn't seem embarrassed at all about Yusuke's current state of dress, that being an undershirt and a pair of boxers.
To be quite honest, Yusuke himself wasn't embarrassed about his state of dress, which he should have been, in the presence of a girl. He simply smiled at her and pulled his green uniform on, staring in wonder because its color seemed more vibrant somehow, and it smelled like clear water springs. Yusuke held the material over his nose and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent.
"You were right in what chemical was injected." Kurama said lightly to Hiei, laughing slightly at Yusuke's open wonder about his clean clothing. "He does seem much more aware of everything around him. And I hate to say it, but perhaps this was for the best. We all know that Yusuke probably couldn't have stood up against the ones sent after us and if he was cornered alone, he would surely die. This way he has a way to protect himself."
The other two reluctantly nodded in agreement. It *was* better for Yusuke this way, if he could survive long enough for the changes to settle in his system, that is.
Kurama turned and began packing all of their things, including food, which Yusuke lunged at. Yukina swatted at him.
"Oh no you don't!" She scolded, causing him to drop a nutrition bar in surprise. "Your system isn't stable enough to eat yet! Give it a day or so, and we still have a lot of things to explain to you."
Yusuke sighed but didn't argue. And packing was quickly finished. Kurama herded the other three towards the train station, just a few miles away. They bought tickets and boarded in the compartment closest to the caboose.
"So, what kinds of things do you need to tell me?" Yusuke asked casually - though he was feeling anything but casual at the moment - leaning back into the seat of the fast moving train.
His three companions exchanged nervous glances before Kurama spoke up. "Age, for one thing." He said softly. "Because of that chemical - all chemicals used on us really - you will never physically age. And as such you won't die of old age. Your body will be preserved as it is now."
Yusuke blinked at him in surprise, his mouth dropping open. "How old are you all?" He asked dazedly, hardly believing that he would beat the aging process.
Kurama sighed, as though he knew that was coming and really didn't want to answer the question. "I am, roughly, six hundred years old. Time in hell is accelerated greatly. Besides that, some tests take decades to finish or to be recovered from. They had to come up with a way to keep the experiments young; one year out here is roughly twenty years in Hell."
Yusuke blinked again, beginning to feel faint. "And how old are *you*?" He asked Hiei.
"Yukina and I are four hundred and seventy-three years old." Hiei told him stiffly. "It took a very long time to lower and raise our body heat levels and remain stable during the process. Not to mention finish all the other changes made to our bodies."
To say that Yusuke was surprised was an understatement. He stared with open mouthed astonishment. His mind could hardly grasp the idea that the two who looked to be only ten were not only older than him, but so much older that they were already alive by the time that his *great* *great* *great* *grandfather* had been born. Plus the fact that Kurama, who looked his age, was even older than Hiei and Yukina. Needless to say it was hard to believe, but believe he did because for some reason he knew that the three would never lie to him.
"But there's something else." Yukina said, breaking into his wonder with her soft voice. "You can't... have..." She trailed off in embarrassment and quickly excused herself for the bathroom.
Yusuke turned questioning eyes to the usually calm and collected Kurama. His eyes were met with the golden eyes of a five tailed fox, as it pawed uneasily at the ground. It seemed that Kurama wouldn't be telling him this bit of information either. So, Yusuke turned to look at Hiei, who sighed in exasperation.
"You can't have a physical relationship with somebody just for the sake of having a physical relationship." Hiei said stiffly, glaring at the silver fox. "The control you have on your quirks will unhinge and both you and your partner will die because of it. If you do have a relationship, you have to care deeply about your partner - and they you. That's just how it is. During sex your quirks try to merge with your partner, if the two of you truly care about it each other it shouldn't be a problem - but if not, the power will be rejected and slammed back into you and you will both die. That's just how it works; it's been proved many times."
Just as he finished, Yukina stepped back into the compartment, looking much more composed.
Yusuke frowned. "Oh. Well, that's no big deal. I don't go for lust relationships."
The other three sweatdropped.
"I have a question though." Yusuke said, directing his question at Yukina, who would be the most likely to know the answer. "What's with the tattoo on my shoulder?"
He peeled off his shirt to reveal a bright blue swirl on the backside of his right shoulder. The swirl almost seemed to glow, and it contracted and convulsed almost like it was in tune with Yusuke's pulse. As though it were another organ that had always been there and was completely normal.
Yukina moved over and gently touched the mark. "That shows the doctors what test's has been used on you. Most of the experiments have more than one--results of more than one test, you understand. But I've never seen one like yours before."
Yusuke grinned. "So you all have one too?"
They nodded and revealed to him their tattoos. Yukina's were two small identical snowflakes, one blue the other green. Around the flakes was a glow of pure white. Obvious testaments of her skill with ice and healing. Kurama's mark was a white fox that was entangled in a long, thorny vine. But Hiei's was the most extravagant of them all. It was a black flame shaped like a dragon, with bright red eyes. The dragon actually stretched across his small shoulders, its claws seemingly digging into his flesh. The three softly explained the meaning behind each mark, which should have been fairly obvious.
The rest of the trip was spent discussing minor issues. That is, until Yukina and Kurama fell asleep almost two hours later. Hiei was once again reading one of Yusuke's detective novels out loud, which the other listened and stared out the window.
"Hey, Hiei?" Yusuke asked softly, breaking into the story just as the culprit was about to be revealed. "Can I ask you something?"
Hiei looked up, half annoyed that Yusuke choose such a crucial moment in which to interrupt him - and half curious at what was bothering his friend.
"Hm?"
Brown eyes determinedly didn't meet Hiei's curious red orbs. "You said that in a physical relationship without emotions, both involved will die, right?" The newly turned experiment paused hesitantly, "what happens if it's a forced relationship that isn't wanted at all?"
The small child-like figure's eyes widened impossibly wide at the question. He also winced as a memory, or perhaps it was a vision that was thrust upon him. He shut his book, putting it down on the seat.
"I heard once, long ago, that one of the guards became enamored with one of the experiments and forced himself on her. The woman died during the experience because her control unhinged and bled from her body. The blast was said to have destroyed the guard and two of the surrounding buildings." Hiei sighed. "So, I guess if you're raped that you die and take a whole lot with you."
Yusuke didn't look very happy about that, in fact - he was beginning to look downright terrified.
"Hey!" Hiei said in alarm, darting to sit next to Yusuke and take a gentle hold of his hand. "It's forbidden to rape people in Hell, that's the number one rule! And don't worry, because nobody there knows that you've been injected with a chemical, so if they *do* ever catch us they won't take you with us. And even if they know you were injected with that specific chemical..." the dark haired fire wielder winced, cutting himself off.
"What?" Yusuke asked, trying desperately to keep his fear from transforming into tears that would course down his cheeks. "What would happen?"
"They wouldn't care." Hiei said softly. "Because the last person injected with that chemical died because of all the negative input she was picking up..." a new spark seemed to flare in those red eyes. His hands moved to gently cup Yusuke's cheeks, his thumbs following the curve of his cheek bones, "but I won't let that happen!" It was forceful, a promise. "I won't let you die!"
To his surprise, Yusuke actually smiled. "I'm glad you care about me, Hiei. You're one of few."
And he leaned in to touch their lips together.
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AN Review and I'll update.
.
AN Hey all, they chapter came out surprisingly fast. I thought it was going to take much longer than this. But oh well, more for you I guess. You're especially lucky because the plot-bunnies are waging war with my muses, and gaining more room in which to roam in my head. It's a mess but I'm trying to sort through it all.
(I just got back from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King... my friends were crying - my mom and I were laughing. *sweatdrop* It was good, but not enough to make me cry.)
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Part 6: Prophecy
It didn't take more than five minutes after Hiei had finished his tale; including the vision he had had on the boat just two days earlier, for the three experiments to discover that something was wrong with their friend. His face was still soaked in sweat; his whole body shuddered as though he were lying on a block of arctic cold ice. His eyes were glassy and vacant, his lips dry. Kurama wasted no time in grabbing Yusuke's bag of clothes and pulling out the thickest, warmest looking garments in there. Yukina hovered over their friend, pressing her glowing hands against his skin to try and heal him. Hiei worked his hardest to transfer his abundance of heat into Yusuke's body.
But for all their efforts, nothing was helping.
"He needs water, first of all." Kurama said finally, after they had all sat back from their futile efforts. "Yukina?"
The girl nodded, taking the bowl-shaped leaf that Kurama handed her. Ice began pouring from her hands until it filled the leaf. Hiei placed his hands on the leaf, sending his fire into the ice so that it would melt into crystal clear water. Kurama took the leaf back and began carefully helping their barely conscience friend to drink.
But even after the water, Yusuke's condition didn't change at all.
"Perhaps he's delirious from blood-loss. Maybe even shock," Kurama said worriedly, peering carefully at Yusuke's flushed but pale face. Sweat continued to drip down the dark haired boy's features as he panted. The shoulder that had been ripped open by what he Hiei told him to be flying glass had been healed thanks to Yukina... but Yusuke was still suffering from its effects.
"You stay with him," he told Hiei, who was once again attempting to feed some of his abundant warmth into Yusuke's still cold body. "I'll try to get some things to help make him more comfortable. Yukina, will you help me?"
The small girl nodded and checked Yusuke's wound one last time. Satisfied that it was fully closed and hadn't scared she followed Kurama out of the dim cave and into the night.
"Hiei..." Yusuke slurred maybe ten minutes after the other two had left. His voice was thick with exhaustion. "S'not blood loss." He closed his weary eyes for a moment, leaving the Jaganshi scared that he was slipping into an endless sleep. "'S'omthing else... drug." Yusuke's voice trailed off and Hiei's eyes widened.
"A drug?" He whispered, "Did he inject you with something? Do you feel like you're floating and burning and freezing all at the same time?"
"Mmm..." Yusuke agreed fuzzily. "S'all cold 'n stuff."
Hiei's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing dangerously. There was really nothing he could do for Yusuke now. It they had known the teen had been injected with a chemical they could have nullified the effect. But because Yukina had healed the wound - Yusuke had no choice but to suffer though its effects. And Hiei hated himself for that; it had been him to originally invite Yusuke to spend time with them. He bitterly remembered his offer. 'Video games and a movie' sure, that went over real well.
"S'not yer fault." Yusuke slurred, obviously having trouble stringing his words together. He slowly, with more that just a wince, reached with one hand to grasp Hiei's. "Ya di'na know."
Hiei sighed, gently holding onto Yusuke hand. "You've been so nice to us," he said softly. "Even though you know how corrupted we are. I'm sorry this happened to you."
Yusuke muttered something indistinguishable, his eyes slipping closed. A few minutes later, he slipped into a light unconscious state while around him his aura brightened until it was visible.
Under his breath he began mumbling his first words in the dialect only those in Hell could understand.
"With the three that fled,
A forth shall emerge.
His aura bright as the sun.
But with his return,
Darkness shall fall.
The fate of many,
Are held by one."
Hiei blinked, not understanding the meaning behind Yusuke's words at all. Was it a prophecy? Or just mindless talking? Hiei didn't know, but he filed the words away in his mind just in case.
And so it began. It was a test of mental stability that fed off of emotions. It was supposed to transfer energy created by the body into a weapon, while at the same time expanding the experiments intake of life around him. Hiei had only seen one of those tests before and the girl hadn't lived a week before dying of its effects. She had been slowly going insane because of all the hate pouring into her from all sides and ended up using her weapon to kill herself. He prayed that Yusuke would be stronger than she was.
He was so worried, in fact, that he just began talking mindlessly. The words tumbled out of his mouth, unchecked - words that Yusuke could still hear and were comforted by. His thoughts, ideas, hopes, hates... everything that made him Hiei came tumbling out of his mouth. When Hiei finally ran out of things to say, he used his Jagan to move a book into his hands, and he began struggling to read the book out loud. It was one of Yusuke's detective books, if the picture of a sleuth on the front meant anything. Hiei sighed, looking at his friend before back at the book and began struggling through another page. As he read, though, he began to recognize more words and his voice became surer as the story wore on.
And unbeknownst to him, Yusuke was starting to smile in his unconscious state because of the warmth that was feeding into his soul.
===
The first thing Yusuke saw when he regained enough strength to open his eyes, was a pair of garnet-red eyes peering down at him. His nose caught a whiff of what smelled like camp-fires and ashes. He could feel the comforting aura of two people who would do nothing if not protect him, and a third who had been sitting with him for the past twelve hours. But what really made him feel good, was the fact that his entire body felt completely refreshed. No matters were pressing heavily against his mind, no weight bearing down on his shoulders. He felt good, and natural. He could feel the emotions around him, he could see perfectly despite the blatant darkness of the cave. Most importantly, he could feel his own strength and he knew the endless limits of his knowledge - both of which seemed to have broadened while he had been unconscious.
"Hey, Hiei." Yusuke said softly to the red eyes above him.
What he got in return was a disgruntled frown. "Idiot." Hiei sighed, snapping the book in his hands shut and moving to lay one of his warm hands against Yusuke's brow, and then moving his hand down Yusuke's face in a soft, warm caress. "Why did you get in the way like that?"
Yusuke scrunched up his features, one hand reaching up to catch hold of Hiei's. "Get in the way?"
"Yes, Detective. You managed to set Togoru on fire and end his life - but the end results weren't exactly in *your* favor either. The chemical he was holding fell into your open wounds - why do you think you were unconscious for so long?"
Yusuke smiled and closed his eyes, letting the warmth of Hiei's hand soak into his own. "I was listening to you read." He informed the Jaganshi, as an answer to his question. "You've gotten much better."
Kurama suddenly popped up behind them. "Hey, if you're strong enough," he began, watching with amusement as Hiei quickly took his hand back and turned to look in the other direction. "We should really be on the move again. They're bound to figure out what happened sooner or later. They'll send somebody else, somebody much worse. We need to get out of here."
Yusuke nodded and slowly began to push himself upright. To his surprise, after waking, his strength had returned as quickly as his sense of humor. He was upright without wincing or even breaking a sweat. He also wasn't wearing very much in the way of clothing. He lifted an eyebrow at Hiei, who refused to meet his eye.
"You're clothes are next to you." Yukina supplied helpfully from where she was sitting, across the cave. "I had to remove them so that I could heal you more effectively." The girl didn't seem embarrassed at all about Yusuke's current state of dress, that being an undershirt and a pair of boxers.
To be quite honest, Yusuke himself wasn't embarrassed about his state of dress, which he should have been, in the presence of a girl. He simply smiled at her and pulled his green uniform on, staring in wonder because its color seemed more vibrant somehow, and it smelled like clear water springs. Yusuke held the material over his nose and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent.
"You were right in what chemical was injected." Kurama said lightly to Hiei, laughing slightly at Yusuke's open wonder about his clean clothing. "He does seem much more aware of everything around him. And I hate to say it, but perhaps this was for the best. We all know that Yusuke probably couldn't have stood up against the ones sent after us and if he was cornered alone, he would surely die. This way he has a way to protect himself."
The other two reluctantly nodded in agreement. It *was* better for Yusuke this way, if he could survive long enough for the changes to settle in his system, that is.
Kurama turned and began packing all of their things, including food, which Yusuke lunged at. Yukina swatted at him.
"Oh no you don't!" She scolded, causing him to drop a nutrition bar in surprise. "Your system isn't stable enough to eat yet! Give it a day or so, and we still have a lot of things to explain to you."
Yusuke sighed but didn't argue. And packing was quickly finished. Kurama herded the other three towards the train station, just a few miles away. They bought tickets and boarded in the compartment closest to the caboose.
"So, what kinds of things do you need to tell me?" Yusuke asked casually - though he was feeling anything but casual at the moment - leaning back into the seat of the fast moving train.
His three companions exchanged nervous glances before Kurama spoke up. "Age, for one thing." He said softly. "Because of that chemical - all chemicals used on us really - you will never physically age. And as such you won't die of old age. Your body will be preserved as it is now."
Yusuke blinked at him in surprise, his mouth dropping open. "How old are you all?" He asked dazedly, hardly believing that he would beat the aging process.
Kurama sighed, as though he knew that was coming and really didn't want to answer the question. "I am, roughly, six hundred years old. Time in hell is accelerated greatly. Besides that, some tests take decades to finish or to be recovered from. They had to come up with a way to keep the experiments young; one year out here is roughly twenty years in Hell."
Yusuke blinked again, beginning to feel faint. "And how old are *you*?" He asked Hiei.
"Yukina and I are four hundred and seventy-three years old." Hiei told him stiffly. "It took a very long time to lower and raise our body heat levels and remain stable during the process. Not to mention finish all the other changes made to our bodies."
To say that Yusuke was surprised was an understatement. He stared with open mouthed astonishment. His mind could hardly grasp the idea that the two who looked to be only ten were not only older than him, but so much older that they were already alive by the time that his *great* *great* *great* *grandfather* had been born. Plus the fact that Kurama, who looked his age, was even older than Hiei and Yukina. Needless to say it was hard to believe, but believe he did because for some reason he knew that the three would never lie to him.
"But there's something else." Yukina said, breaking into his wonder with her soft voice. "You can't... have..." She trailed off in embarrassment and quickly excused herself for the bathroom.
Yusuke turned questioning eyes to the usually calm and collected Kurama. His eyes were met with the golden eyes of a five tailed fox, as it pawed uneasily at the ground. It seemed that Kurama wouldn't be telling him this bit of information either. So, Yusuke turned to look at Hiei, who sighed in exasperation.
"You can't have a physical relationship with somebody just for the sake of having a physical relationship." Hiei said stiffly, glaring at the silver fox. "The control you have on your quirks will unhinge and both you and your partner will die because of it. If you do have a relationship, you have to care deeply about your partner - and they you. That's just how it is. During sex your quirks try to merge with your partner, if the two of you truly care about it each other it shouldn't be a problem - but if not, the power will be rejected and slammed back into you and you will both die. That's just how it works; it's been proved many times."
Just as he finished, Yukina stepped back into the compartment, looking much more composed.
Yusuke frowned. "Oh. Well, that's no big deal. I don't go for lust relationships."
The other three sweatdropped.
"I have a question though." Yusuke said, directing his question at Yukina, who would be the most likely to know the answer. "What's with the tattoo on my shoulder?"
He peeled off his shirt to reveal a bright blue swirl on the backside of his right shoulder. The swirl almost seemed to glow, and it contracted and convulsed almost like it was in tune with Yusuke's pulse. As though it were another organ that had always been there and was completely normal.
Yukina moved over and gently touched the mark. "That shows the doctors what test's has been used on you. Most of the experiments have more than one--results of more than one test, you understand. But I've never seen one like yours before."
Yusuke grinned. "So you all have one too?"
They nodded and revealed to him their tattoos. Yukina's were two small identical snowflakes, one blue the other green. Around the flakes was a glow of pure white. Obvious testaments of her skill with ice and healing. Kurama's mark was a white fox that was entangled in a long, thorny vine. But Hiei's was the most extravagant of them all. It was a black flame shaped like a dragon, with bright red eyes. The dragon actually stretched across his small shoulders, its claws seemingly digging into his flesh. The three softly explained the meaning behind each mark, which should have been fairly obvious.
The rest of the trip was spent discussing minor issues. That is, until Yukina and Kurama fell asleep almost two hours later. Hiei was once again reading one of Yusuke's detective novels out loud, which the other listened and stared out the window.
"Hey, Hiei?" Yusuke asked softly, breaking into the story just as the culprit was about to be revealed. "Can I ask you something?"
Hiei looked up, half annoyed that Yusuke choose such a crucial moment in which to interrupt him - and half curious at what was bothering his friend.
"Hm?"
Brown eyes determinedly didn't meet Hiei's curious red orbs. "You said that in a physical relationship without emotions, both involved will die, right?" The newly turned experiment paused hesitantly, "what happens if it's a forced relationship that isn't wanted at all?"
The small child-like figure's eyes widened impossibly wide at the question. He also winced as a memory, or perhaps it was a vision that was thrust upon him. He shut his book, putting it down on the seat.
"I heard once, long ago, that one of the guards became enamored with one of the experiments and forced himself on her. The woman died during the experience because her control unhinged and bled from her body. The blast was said to have destroyed the guard and two of the surrounding buildings." Hiei sighed. "So, I guess if you're raped that you die and take a whole lot with you."
Yusuke didn't look very happy about that, in fact - he was beginning to look downright terrified.
"Hey!" Hiei said in alarm, darting to sit next to Yusuke and take a gentle hold of his hand. "It's forbidden to rape people in Hell, that's the number one rule! And don't worry, because nobody there knows that you've been injected with a chemical, so if they *do* ever catch us they won't take you with us. And even if they know you were injected with that specific chemical..." the dark haired fire wielder winced, cutting himself off.
"What?" Yusuke asked, trying desperately to keep his fear from transforming into tears that would course down his cheeks. "What would happen?"
"They wouldn't care." Hiei said softly. "Because the last person injected with that chemical died because of all the negative input she was picking up..." a new spark seemed to flare in those red eyes. His hands moved to gently cup Yusuke's cheeks, his thumbs following the curve of his cheek bones, "but I won't let that happen!" It was forceful, a promise. "I won't let you die!"
To his surprise, Yusuke actually smiled. "I'm glad you care about me, Hiei. You're one of few."
And he leaned in to touch their lips together.
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AN Review and I'll update.
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