Hiei found himself outside.
Everything was bright and clear, and the air was filled with smells he long forgotten.
"Your test is fairy simple." Kira sighed sounding depressed. "Oh well...At least Kuwabara's was har-"
Hiei turned glaring so hatefully at the girl, she shut up.
"Caring for a Human?" She finally whispered. "Oh how the mighty have fallen."
Hiei smiled.
"I will kill you...we will all kill you."
Kira starred at him, and pursed her lips.
"Your test is this, Yukina and Kurama are both dying..they have the death seed in them, right next to their hearts, You will be able to get one of the seeds out, Only one. But you must choose wisely."
Kira smiled, "To make the test a little harder, if the Yukina dies here, she will die for real."
Hiei's heart almost stopped. "No..."
Kira laughed, and jumped in a tree. "There is your test!"
Hiei turned and saw Kurama and Yukina, on the ground, both breaths labored.
"Hiei...save Yukin..Yukina." Kurama moaned, and suddenly broke out in a howl of pain. Yukina lay on the ground, twitching eyes wide open in a horrible pain.
"YUKINA!" He cried rushing to her.
He placed his hand on her head, and next to him Kurama moaned.
Hiei placed a hand on his best friends chest.
"Hiei...sa...save her...she....shes your si...sister." Kurama pleaded.
In his head, Hiei knew the Kurama before him was only an image, but he seemed so real, He could feel his best friend's erotic heart beats. He was touching his cold, clammy skin. And his eyes were filled with tears, that Kurama wasn't even aware was there.
"Kurama...Yukina..."
"Hiei...." Yukina sobbed.
She raised a weakened hand and pointed, "De..dead..."
Hiei followed her hand to see where she was pointing and starred. His eyes were wide, and Hiei wished, wanted Kira would stop showing him things like this. For once, Hiei knew, if he saw any more of these images...he would not be able to keep his wits. His sanity.
Leaning against a tree was Kuwabara. His eyes wide and glassy, his mouth open. From his chest a blood stained plant burst, and pinned him to the tree behind him. Flecks of blood stood out on his skin. His hair was ruffled spilling out of place. His broken neck hung on one of the long branches, ripping past his muscle and bones.
But this did not make Hiei stare with his mouth open.
It was his eyes. Oh his eyes...they were so...dead. Vacant, empty, completely lost of all light, of all life. Like a doll, that watched you, and sent chills down your spine, and though you knew they weren't alive, it felt as if they were watching you.
Hiei in his lifetime had seen death upon death, but the way Kuwabara's eyes looked made him ache all over, and his blood freeze.
"K...Ku...Ku...Kuwa...."
Hiei's head sharply turned. A sobbing Yusuke was dragging himself towards Kuwabara. The plant was just now bursting from him. Yusuke's face was no longer that of lovely tanned skin, but ashy and gray. He was sobbing, just like that time at the dark tournament. When he thought Kuwabara died.
Yusuke reached him, and clutched his hand, and starred at it, expecting a squeeze of assurance. Kuwabara's dead eyes remained locked with Hiei's live ones. Yusuke's sobs stopped and he moved so his head was resting on Kuwabara's lap. Hiei felt his heart almost stop. He'd seen Yusuke do this before.
Another memory of the Dark Tournament.
Right at Kuwabara's faked death, Yusuke had grown quiet, and his eyes were lazily half opened. His body seemed completely limp, and he spoke in such a sad way, Hiei had felt guilty for being part of such a cruel trick, even if it was to save the world. Those where the eyes with a man who was living, but was dead already.
And that was how once again, Yusuke looked.
Yusuke looked at Hiei, and another memory surfaced. His eyes looked just like the eyes of the time, Yusuke transformed into his demon self. Wild, angry and different, yet still them same at the same time. Hiei wasn't sure what, or why all these memories were resurfacing, and he wished they would just stop.
Hiei turned away as the plant, coming out of his dark haired friend, wrapped itself, so that Yusuke and Kuwabara were intertwined together in their death.
"Hiei...If you do not do something soon...Yukina, and Kurama will become just like those two. Intertwined by death and pain."
Kira looked at Kuwabara and Yusuke, and quite seriously said, "The test for Kuwabara greatly affected his mind...but appears no matter what we had Yusuke's image do to him...He and Yusuke's friendship remained strong....if all of you live, all of your bonds would be much stronger, I'm sure."
Kira turned smiling, "But...of course that's not going to happen...Hiei...would you like me to tell you what Kurama has to do...He has to become murderous once again..."
"SHUT UP!" Hiei's power flared up.
"I would like...to start my test."
Kira smiled. "You have half an hour to think about what you should do, then you will have 5 minutes to remove the seeds. " She smiled. "Though...it takes 6 minutes to remove one...Make haste Hiei..."
Hiei turned to the task at hand.
His mind was a whirl, but nothing, no solution came to his head. He had started to get the seed out of Yukina immediately. But...what about Kurama? What could he do for him?!
Hiei, all too soon found himself starting his test.
"Tick Tock..." Whispered Kira's voice.
Something propped up in Hiei's head, and he pulled out his sword, just as he got the seed out of Yukina, the time was ticking away.
Only two seconds.
He thrusted the sword down, in Kurama's chest, and screamed, "KURAAAAAMMMMMA!!"
Their was silence and Kira floated down, eyes wide in surprise. "My..."
Her eyes turned hard. Kurama was still breathing, Hiei barely missing his heart, and the seed was sliced in half.
"You pass." Kira spat, feeling angrier at the thought, that the Rekai may succeed.
Hiei panted, and placed a shaky hand on his head.
Almost...almost too slow...
"Hiei?" Kurama, the real one was back at his side, and Hiei was in the waiting room. Kuwabara, had placed on the pants, his feet were wrapped up, with some pieces from the pants. His eyes were dead, and he rested against Yusuke.
Yusuke did not say a word, and in fact seemed frozen. Glaring at nothing. Yet, glaring at everything.
Kuwabara looked as if he was not breathing.
Hiei looked up at Kurama's face, and saw the pain and worry. Kurama had aged 10 years.
"I don't think any type of therapy will save us..." Hiei muttered, and stood, raising himself up, and walking away. He paused by Kuwabara and Yusuke and whispered, "Yusuke...?"
No response.
He looked at Kuwabara, and already the human, was curled up into Yusuke's arms, crying and whimpering, "Please...no...NO!" Hiei felt his heart go out for the human. He tore himself away bending down and touching Yusuke's face.
"Yusuke...what...I almost....let all of you down."
Yusuke's glare was gone and he watched him, and Yusuke squeezed Hiei's shoulder, and then wrapped his arms fully around Kuwabara.
"He became mute ever since you left. He stopped talking...and he's been...been non-responsive..." Kurama said, tears pouring down his face. This was getting far too emotional, nerves were breaking, and it looked as if sanity was lost.
"We will all recover...I believe...that we all will recover...All of us..." Hiei looked around the room. "As long as we...try to live long enough...try to cope long enough with our lives. We are going to make it. We'll recover...we have to....we have to." Hiei hissed, his eyes darting about.
Kurama looked at his trembling hands, and miserable eyes.
They were all out of character.
Kuwabara was a child. A child which had been beaten, and starved. His honor code, his very soul seemed lost.
Hiei was showing fear, was showing pain. Kurama had often wondered if Hiei would ever get emotional, and for him to get emotional like this, wasn't what he'd wanted.
He, himself, was confused, and haggard. His soul seemed ripped away from him. He felt nothing...nothing at all. Yet, he felt everything, and was trying so desperately to block it all out.
Yusuke...Yusuke was empty. Kurama felt nothing in him. He was without emotion, without a soul. Yet he held them all up.
He held the tortured child in his arm, he held the emotional demon, and Held him, who tried to make everything go away.
But...what was holding Yusuke up?
"Kurama..." Kira's voice echoed from the shadows. He turned. "I await you..." Kira's voice came from the darkness, inside the door.
And Kurama walked out of the light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was bright and clear, and the air was filled with smells he long forgotten.
"Your test is fairy simple." Kira sighed sounding depressed. "Oh well...At least Kuwabara's was har-"
Hiei turned glaring so hatefully at the girl, she shut up.
"Caring for a Human?" She finally whispered. "Oh how the mighty have fallen."
Hiei smiled.
"I will kill you...we will all kill you."
Kira starred at him, and pursed her lips.
"Your test is this, Yukina and Kurama are both dying..they have the death seed in them, right next to their hearts, You will be able to get one of the seeds out, Only one. But you must choose wisely."
Kira smiled, "To make the test a little harder, if the Yukina dies here, she will die for real."
Hiei's heart almost stopped. "No..."
Kira laughed, and jumped in a tree. "There is your test!"
Hiei turned and saw Kurama and Yukina, on the ground, both breaths labored.
"Hiei...save Yukin..Yukina." Kurama moaned, and suddenly broke out in a howl of pain. Yukina lay on the ground, twitching eyes wide open in a horrible pain.
"YUKINA!" He cried rushing to her.
He placed his hand on her head, and next to him Kurama moaned.
Hiei placed a hand on his best friends chest.
"Hiei...sa...save her...she....shes your si...sister." Kurama pleaded.
In his head, Hiei knew the Kurama before him was only an image, but he seemed so real, He could feel his best friend's erotic heart beats. He was touching his cold, clammy skin. And his eyes were filled with tears, that Kurama wasn't even aware was there.
"Kurama...Yukina..."
"Hiei...." Yukina sobbed.
She raised a weakened hand and pointed, "De..dead..."
Hiei followed her hand to see where she was pointing and starred. His eyes were wide, and Hiei wished, wanted Kira would stop showing him things like this. For once, Hiei knew, if he saw any more of these images...he would not be able to keep his wits. His sanity.
Leaning against a tree was Kuwabara. His eyes wide and glassy, his mouth open. From his chest a blood stained plant burst, and pinned him to the tree behind him. Flecks of blood stood out on his skin. His hair was ruffled spilling out of place. His broken neck hung on one of the long branches, ripping past his muscle and bones.
But this did not make Hiei stare with his mouth open.
It was his eyes. Oh his eyes...they were so...dead. Vacant, empty, completely lost of all light, of all life. Like a doll, that watched you, and sent chills down your spine, and though you knew they weren't alive, it felt as if they were watching you.
Hiei in his lifetime had seen death upon death, but the way Kuwabara's eyes looked made him ache all over, and his blood freeze.
"K...Ku...Ku...Kuwa...."
Hiei's head sharply turned. A sobbing Yusuke was dragging himself towards Kuwabara. The plant was just now bursting from him. Yusuke's face was no longer that of lovely tanned skin, but ashy and gray. He was sobbing, just like that time at the dark tournament. When he thought Kuwabara died.
Yusuke reached him, and clutched his hand, and starred at it, expecting a squeeze of assurance. Kuwabara's dead eyes remained locked with Hiei's live ones. Yusuke's sobs stopped and he moved so his head was resting on Kuwabara's lap. Hiei felt his heart almost stop. He'd seen Yusuke do this before.
Another memory of the Dark Tournament.
Right at Kuwabara's faked death, Yusuke had grown quiet, and his eyes were lazily half opened. His body seemed completely limp, and he spoke in such a sad way, Hiei had felt guilty for being part of such a cruel trick, even if it was to save the world. Those where the eyes with a man who was living, but was dead already.
And that was how once again, Yusuke looked.
Yusuke looked at Hiei, and another memory surfaced. His eyes looked just like the eyes of the time, Yusuke transformed into his demon self. Wild, angry and different, yet still them same at the same time. Hiei wasn't sure what, or why all these memories were resurfacing, and he wished they would just stop.
Hiei turned away as the plant, coming out of his dark haired friend, wrapped itself, so that Yusuke and Kuwabara were intertwined together in their death.
"Hiei...If you do not do something soon...Yukina, and Kurama will become just like those two. Intertwined by death and pain."
Kira looked at Kuwabara and Yusuke, and quite seriously said, "The test for Kuwabara greatly affected his mind...but appears no matter what we had Yusuke's image do to him...He and Yusuke's friendship remained strong....if all of you live, all of your bonds would be much stronger, I'm sure."
Kira turned smiling, "But...of course that's not going to happen...Hiei...would you like me to tell you what Kurama has to do...He has to become murderous once again..."
"SHUT UP!" Hiei's power flared up.
"I would like...to start my test."
Kira smiled. "You have half an hour to think about what you should do, then you will have 5 minutes to remove the seeds. " She smiled. "Though...it takes 6 minutes to remove one...Make haste Hiei..."
Hiei turned to the task at hand.
His mind was a whirl, but nothing, no solution came to his head. He had started to get the seed out of Yukina immediately. But...what about Kurama? What could he do for him?!
Hiei, all too soon found himself starting his test.
"Tick Tock..." Whispered Kira's voice.
Something propped up in Hiei's head, and he pulled out his sword, just as he got the seed out of Yukina, the time was ticking away.
Only two seconds.
He thrusted the sword down, in Kurama's chest, and screamed, "KURAAAAAMMMMMA!!"
Their was silence and Kira floated down, eyes wide in surprise. "My..."
Her eyes turned hard. Kurama was still breathing, Hiei barely missing his heart, and the seed was sliced in half.
"You pass." Kira spat, feeling angrier at the thought, that the Rekai may succeed.
Hiei panted, and placed a shaky hand on his head.
Almost...almost too slow...
"Hiei?" Kurama, the real one was back at his side, and Hiei was in the waiting room. Kuwabara, had placed on the pants, his feet were wrapped up, with some pieces from the pants. His eyes were dead, and he rested against Yusuke.
Yusuke did not say a word, and in fact seemed frozen. Glaring at nothing. Yet, glaring at everything.
Kuwabara looked as if he was not breathing.
Hiei looked up at Kurama's face, and saw the pain and worry. Kurama had aged 10 years.
"I don't think any type of therapy will save us..." Hiei muttered, and stood, raising himself up, and walking away. He paused by Kuwabara and Yusuke and whispered, "Yusuke...?"
No response.
He looked at Kuwabara, and already the human, was curled up into Yusuke's arms, crying and whimpering, "Please...no...NO!" Hiei felt his heart go out for the human. He tore himself away bending down and touching Yusuke's face.
"Yusuke...what...I almost....let all of you down."
Yusuke's glare was gone and he watched him, and Yusuke squeezed Hiei's shoulder, and then wrapped his arms fully around Kuwabara.
"He became mute ever since you left. He stopped talking...and he's been...been non-responsive..." Kurama said, tears pouring down his face. This was getting far too emotional, nerves were breaking, and it looked as if sanity was lost.
"We will all recover...I believe...that we all will recover...All of us..." Hiei looked around the room. "As long as we...try to live long enough...try to cope long enough with our lives. We are going to make it. We'll recover...we have to....we have to." Hiei hissed, his eyes darting about.
Kurama looked at his trembling hands, and miserable eyes.
They were all out of character.
Kuwabara was a child. A child which had been beaten, and starved. His honor code, his very soul seemed lost.
Hiei was showing fear, was showing pain. Kurama had often wondered if Hiei would ever get emotional, and for him to get emotional like this, wasn't what he'd wanted.
He, himself, was confused, and haggard. His soul seemed ripped away from him. He felt nothing...nothing at all. Yet, he felt everything, and was trying so desperately to block it all out.
Yusuke...Yusuke was empty. Kurama felt nothing in him. He was without emotion, without a soul. Yet he held them all up.
He held the tortured child in his arm, he held the emotional demon, and Held him, who tried to make everything go away.
But...what was holding Yusuke up?
"Kurama..." Kira's voice echoed from the shadows. He turned. "I await you..." Kira's voice came from the darkness, inside the door.
And Kurama walked out of the light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
