Passing Acquaintances

Notes: I meant to update this roughly every week, give or take a few days . . . or weeks . . . hopefully we won't degenerate into every few months. Though a few reviews wouldn't hurt to speed the process up. ^_^
Any questions you might have had about the last chapter will probably be answered in this one. If not, feel free to ask.
Please note that the last couple of chapters were in Kurama's point of view, and now it starts jumping all over the place. Probably because fox-boy is out cold for most of the chapter. Also note that the only reason I'm updating now is that this chapter, at about three-fourths done, was longer than the first two chapters put together. So I split it up and posted the first part by itself. Con: it stops at a strange place. Pro: the next chapter is coming a whole lot sooner than this one did.

* * *

Maru could feed on just about any emotion, but like any self-respecting villain, he much preferred the negative ones. Once he had drunk of pain, happiness fell flat on his tongue as if it were water instead of wine. There were other demons with his power, but he alone was cursed with an insatiable thirst. He hadn't started out evil. That is, until he found that wandering around looking for pain was much less effective than causing it. And then, his fascination with suffering had escalated to an obsession. There were countless ways of causing pain, but there was a certain craft to emotional anguish, and he considered himself an artist.

His latest catch was a good one; quite possibly his best. If the dark little shadow hadn't been radiating guilt and misery before, he certainly was now. He'd put the fire demon and the other one he'd captured together, just as a little reminder. It seemed to be working quite well. But perhaps he'd drop by and see if he could wring a little more pain out of him.

* * *

Hiei knew they were in trouble.

He had failed miserably, and there wasn't anyone to blame but himself. He tried looking at it from different angles, and it all seemed to lead back to him. The only reason they were here was his own stupidity.

He and an unconscious Kurama were in a dark, narrow room. Hiei could sense nothing outside of it; no sound, no movement, no ki. Kurama's soft breathing was the only thing he could hear, the only thing he could smell a sharp but pleasing scent similar to pine sap. For some reason Hiei couldn't stop thinking about it. He had been here too long; that was all. Too long listening to Kurama breathing. It was something to focus on, at least, besides his own failure.

It had been the perfect plan, really. The creature had been able to avoid being burnt into a crisp once, but noone would be able to withstand it again. He'd been quite angry when he realized his most powerful attack had barely singed the demon. But he would still kill the bastard. Anyone who hurt his sister, as a rule, had to die.

So he'd gone to the one person he had a ghost of a chance of deceiving: Kurama. Not that the kitsune was particularly naive; it was just that when it came to Hiei, he seemed to have a blind spot. Though noone understood him better, Kurama was inclined to think the best of him. Which had gotten him in trouble. Hiei figured it was about time he woke up.

That'll teach him to trust me, he thought bitterly. It had been the perfect plan, really. Take the energy from Kurama, with the kitsune none the wiser. Even the strongest demon could not dodge his dragon more than once.

Unfortunately, his plan had degenerated when the demon, in fact, had managed to stay alive, even after a third round.

Desperate by that point, Hiei had run to Kurama, only to find him completely out of it. The youko had been drifting on the edge of consciousness, completely unresponsive. He couldn't even give advice, let alone help fight.

So this was the corner he'd backed himself into. And a pretty one it was, too. He just wished Kurama would wake up.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. They're missing?"

A vein throbbed on Koenma's forehead, threatening to burst. "For the last time, yes!"

"So what, they just dropped off the face of the earth?"

"We think they're somewhere in the Makai."

"That's real specific." Yusuke's voice fairly dripped with sarcasm. "That being said, it should only take us about three years to find them - if they're out in the open."

"And if they're even alive."

"Huh?"

"One of the reasons we can't even guess their location is that their ki levels have become undetectable. Either they're dead, or they're very, very helpless."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find em!"

"Have you been listening? We have to have some idea of where to look, or by the time we find them, it'll be too late."

"Any suggestions?"

They looked at each other for a while.

"Hiei knew where Yukina was attacked. But he wasn't exactly volunteering that information."

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other.

* * *

Not for the first time, she woke with a name on her lips.

Yukina lay, for a long time, without opening her eyes. It hurt; it felt like she'd been drained of everything good, and the only thing left was pain. She'd dealt with pain before; the worst that could be dealt to her, and had borne it without a tear. She had spent much of her life among the nastiest demons in the Makai, searching for her brother without as much as a name to go by. She let the memory seep through her limbs, cool and almost comforting. Then she opened her eyes.

She was alone, as she had expected. It was really too much to hope that her brother would be here. He was the reason for her existence, but it seemed he was somehow ashamed of her. Why he would lie to her, deliberately deceive her? What exactly she had been hoping for? She thought she knew, once. She wanted her brother to be kind, and strong - someone like Hiei-san. But now that she knew who he was, she realized that wasn't all she wanted.

She wanted someone who could love her.

There was a soft knock on her door, and she hastened to hide the single tear gem that had escaped beneath her lashes. The door creaked open, very slowly, and a pair of bright eyes peered in.

"Yukina, my love! You're awake! Thank goodness!" Kazuma fairly danced into the room, tears of joy and relief on his lashes, and after a startled moment, laughter bubbled on her lips. She could never let him know how much he bewildered and amused her.

Yusuke just rolled his eyes, and he and Genkai filed into the room in a much more sedate fashion.

"We don't want to tire you," Genkai said, interrupting Kuwabara's touching but lengthy description of his despair, thinking she would be taken from him, "but we have something to ask of you - something that may save your brother's life."

"Onii-san?" Her eyes grew wide. "What's happened to him?"

* * *

The fox twitched in his sleep, and Hiei watched him carefully. Kurama was dreaming, and the from the looks of things, the dream wasn't pleasant. He hadn't the energy to toss and turn, but the hints were there; the reflexive, repeated jump of his muscles, the sheen of sweat on his brow, the strained expression on his face.

Hiei wondered idly just what it was he was dreaming about. Not that he particularly cared; but wondering could pass the time. In their little prison, most of the senses were deprived, and he had the vaguely disturbing feeling that alone, it would be much worse. Hiei wasn't the best judge of time, but he figured they'd been here for at least a day. The only sound was Kurama's quiet breathing, though he hadn't moved since he'd been rudely tossed in here with him. It gave him too much time to think, and thinking wasn't something Hiei was comfortable with.

So, barely able to keep his eyes open, Hiei hovered protectively over an unconscious Kurama. He was exhausted, but if he knew one thing, he knew that to sleep now would mean both their lives. He'd been weak enough to be caught by the demon, stupid enough to let himself be followed the last time he'd visited the kitsune. And now, unless he found some miraculous method of escape, they were both as good as dead. Eventually he had to sleep, but he vowed to himself that he would wait until the point of death until he did. Whether it was from a sense of guilt, or duty, or something else, he couldn't let Kurama die. This was his mistake, and damned if Kurama would die because of it.

Speaking of whom . . . "Kurama." Hesitantly, he shook his friend's shoulder. "Kurama." Louder this time. "Wake up, dammit."

The pale form lay motionless, and Hiei sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry, dammit. Just wake up, please."

The words sounded strange, even to his own ears. There was only one other person he'd actually apologize to. Now that he'd managed to effectively betray them both, he supposed he deserved their disdain. He immediately felt a small tickle in the back of his head, one that voiced an almost tangible argument.

They could never hate you.

Maybe that's what hurts the most, he argued back, feeling foolish. Besides . . . Kurama's kind doesn' t deal well with betrayal . . . how will he react, when he wakes up and realizes what I've done?

Reasoning that there was only one way to find out, he reached out to pinch Kurama's nose shut.

The fox flailed, and grabbed Hiei's hand roughly, growling in a hostile way that was surprisingly out-of-sorts with his calm nature.

After a few seconds, his eyes cleared, and Kurama loosened his grip on his hand, though not releasing it completely.

Kurama slumped back to a sitting position, and Hiei noted not for the first time that he was a terrible sight to see. His green eyes were dark, rimmed with red, and his skin almost impossibly pale. His hair was a mess, torn out unevenly in places where that bastard had been none-too-gentle in removing his seeds. Hiei knew, however, that much of this couldn't be blamed on the demon. Hiei had taken all he could from him, and it showed.

"Hiei. What . . . where are we?"

The jaganshi had a strange aversion to just saying, I don't know', so he floundered for a few seconds, before coming to the conclusion that he really didn't have a choice. "I can't say."

"How did we get here? I don't remember . . . ." His brow furrowed in confusion, his gaze focusing inward. "Much of it felt like a dream . . ."

Hiei was no simpleton, and he knew this was a time to tread with caution. "How much do you remember?" he asked carefully.

Kurama's pale skin took on a slight flush, and he looked away, not answering.

"Oh," Hiei said flatly.

Suddenly it became very clear that Kurama still had a loose grip on Hiei's hand, and he released it like a live coal. An uncomfortable silence reigned for a few minutes, until it became once again unbearable.

Kurama cleared his throat unnecessarily, as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't.

"His name is Maru," Hiei said suddenly, harshly, avoiding Kurama's gaze. "The dragon barely left a scratch."

"You've seen Yukina?" the fox asked softly after a moment.

"Hn. A couple of days ago."

"And?"

"Better. I imagine she's awake by now."

Kurama took in the faraway look in Hiei's eyes, and sighed. "I suppose we're going to have to fight our way out of this mess, aren't we?"

The demon's ruby eyes narrowed. "I am. You're going to rest."

"Don't be unreasonable."

"I don't need your help," Hiei growled.

After waiting the obligatory second for that to sink in, Kurama spoke. "As much ki as you took from me, I can hardly believe that."

Hiei refused to look at him. "I can take him by myself." Both he and Kurama were well aware of just how ludicrous that statement was. For that reason, Kurama let it slide, and they sat there, letting the sheer hopelessness of the situation sink in. Hiei's dragon had little to no effect on Maru– even if he did have enough ki to summon it, which he didn't, there was no guarantee another try would do much but amuse the demon. All of Kurama's seeds were stripped out of his hair, his ki drained almost dry, and he doubted Maru was planning on keeping them alive and well-cared-for long enough for Kurama to regain any workable measure of it.

"Tell me everything you know about him," the kitsune said finally.

* * *

And so the confusion continues. Next chapter soon. And by soon, I really don't mean two months from now. Really.