That said and done, I hope you'll enjoy the fic! ;)
Cheers,
Icegal
DISCLAIMERS: Anything with regard to YYH do not belong to me. (How I wish it did! =P) All other original characters and settings however, belong to me.
Chapter 1: The PatientHow long has it been?
19 years…
Kurama sighed and ruffled his hair in annoyance – An emotion rarely, if not never, seen by others. Emotions? Kurama chuckled dryly at that thought. To think that his former self, the fox demon Kurama, was well known to be devoid of emotions, cold, analytical and manipulative (among other things) yet here he is now, a mere human who seems to be prickled by almost anything. He frowned at that thought. This wasn't just 'anything'. Through the years since he had affixed his soul in the body of Minamino Shuichi, he was acutely aware of the youkai lurking within him, a shadow that tugged faintly at the back of his mind – a constant reminder that his life was not all that it seemed.
Lately however, the presence of the demon was becoming stronger such that he found himself wavering frequently between 'Shuichi' and 'Kurama', sometimes existing as both simultaneously. Though he had reasoned that it was only natural that his demon-self would blend comfortably with his human counterpart after 19 years, it was still unnerving to experience such drastic changes in his personality since the change was almost always accompanied by blood lust. His muscles tensed reflexively.
Admonishing himself softly, Kurama quit pacing and rolled his shoulder, easing the kinks from his muscles. He needed to find an equilibrium… And fast. Control over his youkai self was of utmost importance. After all, he wouldn't want his mother to chance upon him one day as Kurama'. She was worried enough as it was since he's been spending more time locked up in his room. Imagine if she found out her son was actually a reincarnated fox demon.
All hell would break loose.
That was what worried him.
In the back of his mind however, he knew that his mother wouldn't look at him any differently even if she found out. He was still her son after all, youkai or not. Nevertheless, she didn't know and Kurama was intent on keeping things the way they were. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone approach until he heard the soft thud of boots at his window and an indignant grunt.
"Oi."
Hiei.
"Yeah?"
The fire demon climbed in through the window, his customary black cloak was wrapped around a bundle slung across his shoulder.
"She needs help."
"Who is she?"
"Just shut up, damned kitsune, and help."
Judging from Hiei's grouchy response and awkward movements, the girl slung over Hiei's shoulder was most probably a stranger. That was a first. Whilst Hiei did have a soft spot under that arrogance and indifference (it was clear to see from the way he's protective over his twin sister, Yukina), it wasn't in his nature to provide aid to strangers.
It was none of his business, he always said.
What, then, was so different about this girl?
As Hiei lowered the bundle gently onto the floor, Kurama decided that he would prod the little youkai for answers later. But first, there was a patient to attend to.
The girl would have been quite attractive, in an ethereal kind of way, had it not been for all her cuts and bruises marring her face. High cheekbones with gently arched eyebrows above a pair of thickly lashed eyes that tilted up slightly at the ends, a small but strong nose and soft lips.
Facial injuries aside, he noted that there were finger-like bruises around her neck, as if someone had strangled her. This someone definitely had rather long and sharp fingernails since the sides of her throat were lined with welts that were swollen red. At the base of her throat, similar welts of greater length were seen peeking out from the top of the cloak. Sensing that the exposed injuries were just a prelude to the injuries on her body, Kurama unclasped her cloak and sucked in a breath. True enough, her body was battered beyond belief. Angry welts were slashed across her abdomen, ugly looking cuts covered her arms and legs. Worse still, blood was still seeping from a puncture in her side. Kurama quickly tore away the cloth around the wound and applied pressure to stop the bleeding, asking Hiei to go grab a towel from his drawer.
"Where did you find her?" Kurama asked, exchanging his hand over the wound for the towel.
"Makai."
Kurama nodded absently then instructed Hiei to get several bottles and ointments from his drawers. As Hiei returned with the requested items, Kurama gave a silent word of thanks that he had prepared a batch of medicine in case of an emergency and breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that the girl's attacker had missed her vital organs when he stabbed her in the side. After tending to the wounds on her torso, arms and legs, he instructed Hiei to help the girl into a sitting position and steady her as he inspected the injuries on her back. He lifted the girl's long ink black hair over her shoulder and gave Hiei a look of surprise.
The fire demon merely shrugged. He'd seen it too.
The back of her outfit seemed to have been ripped off, exposing most of the length of her back which was unmarred except for a large tattoo that spanned the length and width of the gape in her tattered clothes. The tattoo was made up of a total of nine runes, three across and three down. The weird thing about the tattoo was that it didn't seem to be imprinted on the surface of her skin. Rather, it seemed to have been burned on the underside of her skin.
Although Kurama wasn't too certain about the identity of the girl, there was something vaguely familiar about the tattoo on her back. He remembered seeing these runes before… A long, long time ago. Curiosity eventually got the better of him and he reached out to touch the tattoo.
"I saw one of them burn it onto her back," Hiei announced.
"Them?"
Hiei stared at Kurama strangely and looked as if to say something more before the eyes of the girl in his arms snapped open suddenly. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head and her back arched stiffly as she seemingly gasped for air. Hiei tried to hold the convulsing girl still as she thrashed wildly in his arms.
"What the hell did you do?!"
What did he do?He touched her.
The minute Kurama's fingers brushed across the tattoo on her back, the runes started to glow a fiery red before vanishing one by one, and the girl started her violent spasms. Her thrashing ceased only when the tattoo had completely disappeared.
The girl sunk back limply into Hiei's arms, breathing deeply. The pair watched in silence as she opened her eyes slowly, her hand reaching up to feel for something at the base of her throat. When she grasped nothing, a look of panic crossed her features and she tried to straighten, hissing at the pain in her side.
"Don't move," Hiei fished for something in his pocket. "Here. I found it lying next to you."
It was a blue teardrop.
An ice pearl… A Koorime?The girl snatched it from Hiei's hands instantly, clasping it protectively against her chest.
"Thanks," she mumbled wearily.
Her head felt like a piece of mush, her muscles ached, her body was sore and she felt like she was just put through the grinder. She was vaguely aware that she was cradled against something warm and that she was being watched. By whom? Well, she would worry about that later. Right now, she was awake and that was all that mattered. There were urgent matters that required her immediate attention; she should be making a move now. She frowned as a thought passed through her mind.
The question is why is she awake?
It was impossible unless…
Her eyes narrowed and she struggled to get up, only to have the warm grip around her tighten. Cursing her carelessness and weak body, she battled against her captor, lashing out violently.
Hiei ducked as he saw her throw a punch at his face. Annoyed, he tightened his grip around this mad woman and yelled out for her to stop. He had every right mind to throw her across the room and out the window presently. Maybe he should've just left her in Makai to die.
"Hiei. You're hurting her."
"Hn."
Kurama grabbed the girl's flailing arms and trapped them in his own palms. "Stop moving so much or you'll open your wounds again."
She flung her angry gaze up to him, twisting her arms in an effort to break free from his grasp. Kurama sighed when he saw her grimace and the bloodstain on the bandage around her abdomen started to spread.
"I told you to stop didn't I?"
"I can tend to my own wounds."
"Can you?"
There was a hint of mockery in his tone that she found offending. Even if she ignored the veiled insult in that question, the truth was that she couldn't tend to her own wounds. Not in her present state at least. Apart from the fact that her body was battered and sore, she was drained of youki as well. That much was obvious since she wasn't back in her original form. She growled. It would take her a couple of days to recuperate and she didn't have the luxury of time on her hands.
Damn it all.
"Hold still. We need to change those bandages of yours."
The girl gritted her teeth. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was the sense of helplessness. Unfortunately for her, she had no other option. She needed to heal quickly and this red head seemed to know what he was doing. The other occupant in the room had left her side as soon as the red head took over, scooting over to the other end of the room, eyeing her warily as if she might pounce on him any minute. She gave him an amused look and that seemed to prickle him even further. Eventually, he grunted then stacked his hands behind his head, leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
The red head on the other hand, seemed to be more levelheaded than the other. He was friendly and yet distant at the same time. As he wrapped new bandages around her stomach, she realised that while his actions were gentle overall, he was also admonishing her for her foolishness by tightening the bandages every time he passed over her wound then smoothening the linen firmly with his free hand. It was a subtle way of reminding her that she depended on them and not vice versa.
She was at their mercy.
He knew it and had no qualms reasserting that fact.
"You've been staring for some time. Is something amiss?" The red inquired dryly, never stopping to lift his head.
His attitude was grating her nerves. It took a lot of effort on her part to refrain from strangling him. It took an even greater effort for her to thank him after he was done changing her bandages.
Kurama rose to his feet, looking at the obstinate girl out of the corner of his eye as he packed all his poultices back into their respective drawers. She had an incredibly unique pair of eyes… Turquoise with chips of cool amber in their depths. He shivered as the memory of those eyes sparked with fury surfaced in his mind.
There was something about her that puzzled him. He was quite positive that this was the first time he had met her, yet a voice in his head told him that he knew her. When he treated her wounds, he felt a sudden surge of bloodlust and later, when he came face to face with her, the bloodlust lessened to a faint pound and a sense of comfort and longing washed over him instead.
You're being ridiculous, Kurama.
He shook his head to clear his absurd thoughts and turned to hand her one of his shirts, only to find her curled up on the floor, fast asleep. Hiei, he noticed, was watching the girl with a strange look in his eyes. There was something Hiei hadn't told him, and it was high time somebody explained what was going on.
Before that however, Kurama bent to scoop the girl into his arms. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his soul, a song of joy and contentment trickled into his veins, filling him with unprecedented warmth.
I think I'm losing my mind.
As he cradled her gently, he was surprised at how fragile the girl felt in his arms despite her earlier tantrum and headstrong character. As he bent to deposit her on his bed, he sniffed and inhaled deeply.
This scent…Kurama allowed his fingers to brush her forehead slightly before turning to face Hiei.
"I think you owe me an explanation."
"Hn."
The little fire demon merely glanced at Kurama, who was currently leaning casually against his desk, then crossed over to lean against the wall facing Kurama. He could predict what Kurama would ask and he had little problems in giving the answer.
Or did he?
Ever since he saved the girl from the clutches of the Hunters, he had questioned himself over and over again. Was he mistaken in what he saw? Was that the true form of the Hunters? If so, why hadn't he noticed? According to myths, the Hunters had perished after the war approximately 5000 years ago and were not seen since.
Yet…
Normally Hiei would brush myths off as tales for the dumb and dumber, but what he saw today caused him to reexamine his opinion. He was quite confident that the youkai he saw before were neither an illusion nor a myth.
Hell, he'd killed a couple of them himself.
Upon his accidental arrival at the scene, the Hunters were clearly taken by surprised and most dispersed almost immediately. Others tried to attack instead, but their efforts were futile as they fell beneath Hiei's blade. Once Hiei had dispatched the last of the attackers, he heard a faint chanting beyond the growth and when he broke through into a clearing, he saw the girl.
She was bleeding profusely, her head slumped forward and her arms were locked at her sides by two of them, while another in a black hood had his palm pressed against her back. He was about to turn his back on the girl when a flash of blue around her neck caught his eye. He saw the blue gem fall from her neck and the next thing he knew, he had slaughtered the two who held the girl's arm in an arm lock. When he turned to finish of the last one, the hooded Hunter merely smirked and vanished in a heartbeat.
Till this very minute, Hiei couldn't understand why he had dashed in to save the girl.
It puzzled him even more when he realised that he brought the girl to Kurama. One minute he was standing in Makai, the next minute he was outside the damned kitsune's window, pleading (no, demanding) for help.
The whole fiasco seemed so… unreal. If it weren't for the girl in flesh and blood, Hiei would've thought that he had imagined it all. Heck, he would've thought he was mad.
"One of them burned the tattoo onto her back. Who are they?" Kurama's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.
There was a pregnant pause in the room, as Hiei seemed to contemplate his answer. Kurama had noticed that Hiei had been staring intently at him periodically since the little fire youkai had stepped into his room. There were times when it looked as though Hiei wasn't looking at him, but at another being, in another time, in another place. Maybe he would have a better understanding once Hiei gives him some details.
Her scent…It's lavender with a tinge of spice…"Hunters."
"You can't be serious."
"I am," Hiei eyed Kurama curiously. "And you're one of them aren't you?"
Ah… I do miss it so.