Raven's Pendant
WEIß KREUZ-YU YU HAKUSHO FANFICTION
Part 12 - To catch a raven
"Ah, Prodigy." Crawford said coolly.
"Crawford…I came to warn you." Nagi burst out as he sat down.
"Yes?"
"The human Reikai Tantei are combing the city for you with youkai detectors like these." Nagi said, gesturing to a watch-like device he wore on his wrist.
"Thank you for the warning."
"Kuronue…we're deep in trouble if that's so. By the way, what did we do that has them so hot on our trail?"
The question came as a surprise to Kuronue. He had been expecting it from the start but it had gone out of his mind in the rush of the events. He was caught unawares.
"For reviving me, love." Kuronue answered. To his credit, he only hesitated for only a split second. Still, the answer sounded a shade too fast and too lighthearted to even his ears to be genuine.
It might not be real enough…
Kuronue worried. His lover knew him too well not to catch his slip, yet the Silver Fox seemed to accept his answer for now.
And truthfully, that's all I can ask for right now…
The Chimera knew that he would answer for this eventually if they didn't manage to escape their pursuers.
If he gets his memories back, I'll be in a hell lot of trouble…
Yoko was never a forgiving sort. The Fox had a name for ruthlessness and it was more than a name.
If anyone should know that better than anyone, it's me…
He'd been the Fox's partner for more time than anyone else and had seen the Fox at the youko's worst.
He is like a ball of silver flame, all passion when roused. Bitter in hatred, ardent in sex…like a burning silver flame…warming and incinerating everything in its path… I don't hope for his forgiveness, only that our time will be long… That I could hold this ball of silver flame for as long as I can…
The price was worth it.
There is just no help to it…
"Nagi, what is their search patterns and how dense is the net?" Kuronue asked the ningen. He set aside his nebulous concerns, for the moment, concentrating on something he could change.
***
Yoko knew that there was something wrong the moment his Kuro had paused before answering his question. The little raven wasn't telling him the full truth of the matter.
Sure reviving him must be quite an offense but it seems to me that there were other things that those people were hinting at…
Yoko never considered that before this. That there might be something to what those strangers told him.
What could it be? We did almost everything together during that time…done almost anything… I've seen everything that he's capable of…and he's seen that of me as well… What would he hide from me now?
Yoko remembered that day very clearly in his mind...
***
"Why isn't it a vixen so far from her hunting grounds?" Yoko said mockingly, as his men howled and circled the youko female.
The brown female cowered satisfactorily under his burning yellow gaze. Her white face was streaked with dirt and her blue robe was severely torn in places. Blood oozed from several shallow wounds. One furry ear was slashed and bleeding. Her silky tail and mane were in dirty tangles.
It's amazing how manners can be taught by a few days worth of desperation…
A few days ago, this female had spit into his face for being a Silver when he and his band had come upon a small kitsune village. It was one of the reasons why he decided to have fun with the inhabitants.
Not that I need any reason to do what I pleased to kitsune, they owe me a great debt, a debt they can never repay…
Yoko smiled cruelly. The rest of the villagers were gone now, all the women raped, the kits killed, and the men gelded and sold to slavers. This particular vixen remained because she was the one who had shown the most spirit. Yoko had decided that she and the chief's son would make good sport for hunting. The game was almost over. The chief's son had been hamstrung and staked along the spine. She was the last one left.
"What do you say, boys? Shall we put her out of her misery." Yoko said, shucking out his robes.
The rest of the horde howled and circled. The female gathered herself to fight.
Ooh, she really is a spirited one… Days of running and still have some fight…
"Or shall we have our fun first, like we did her sisters?" Yoko said, moving so quickly that he managed to straddle the female before she could flinch away.
"What do you think of me now dirty Silver, that I am?" Yoko asked as the female struggled to push him away.
The lack of decent food or sleep had took its toll, she couldn't even budge the silver youko on top of him yet she tried to resist. She twisted weakly under him even as he tore off her clothes and helped himself to her body.
***
"Enjoyed yourself didn't you?" Kuronue asked in a neutral voice. Yoko was putting on his robe as he watched the rest of his bandits 'play' with the brown vixen.
"Yes, she's a fun romp." Yoko said, rubbing his furry ear a bit. The feisty female had tried to bite it but she didn't have much force to put behind the action.
"You're always so calculated. It's rather unnerving to see you go out of control like this sometimes." Kuronue said.
"And it's not like you to be so ethical." Yoko spat out the last word like it left a bitter taste on his lips.
"Cruelty when necessary, but this might be the death of you one day." Kuronue said, his tone was completely serious.
"Yes, but they owe me." Yoko insisted.
"That's all right, as long as you understand the risk then but you aren't right. They don't only owe you..."
"What?" Yoko fairly hissed the word. He pissed, no beyond pissed.
How dare he judge me...?
"We share everything, don't we? So they owe us." Kuronue said, he grinned a toothy grin.
Oh…
"They owe us then." Yoko purred.
***
Yoko'd been happy then that his partner had understood.
That was when I should have found out that I loved him not after he'd died... Too little and too late...
What?
The piece of information floated through his consciousness. Guilt warred with discovery.
I should've appreciated him when he was there...but what did I do when he was gone...everything is so foggy... Grieve yes, but what else... I can't imagine myself passively waiting for him to come back to life… What did I do in that missing time?
Guilt won.
Why am I suspecting Kuronue? I knew that he loved me even when I didn't even feel that way about him at all… He'll never betray me…
Somehow, there was still doubt in Yoko's heart.
But then it's healthy to doubt, anyone who trusts too much in the Makai get killed...
Keep telling yourself that Yoko...keep telling yourself that...
Yoko suspected--no--knew that whatever secret Kuronue was hiding was big.
Big enough to affect both of us? Definitely...
Yoko only hoped that it wouldn't mean the end of their partnership when it came down to it.
Besides the affection I have for him, there are also practical reasons. He's the only one I have now... None of our gang seemed to have survived...
But then, do you love him that much when you can't seem to trust him?
When it came to that, Yoko refused to answer the question.
***
"Are we going to fight them in this tonight? Shouldn't we move the amulet instead?" Schuldig asked Aya who stood beside him. They were surveying the shrine where the amulet they had to protect was kept.
Whoever sent the report wasn't kidding when he said that the shrine was small. The inside of the shrine was barely four meters in width and nine meters in length and a good part of the room had statues of gods glaring at its supposed defenders. The lighting was poor. It consisted of the sunlight coming from the single narrow entrance in the side of the front end and the tiny flames of incense sticks burning around the statues. The informant was wrong about one thing though. The place wasn't a Shinto shrine.
It's a damned Buddhist shrine… Unsettling to say the least though it's too much to hope that the thieves would be just as intimidated. The Raven and the Fox have defied all odds before even against gods according to their reputation… They spit at powers that be… [1]
Now that Schuldig knew that the supernatural was real, he wasn't as sanguine about it. The statues gave the place an eerie feel.
"Yes, we are. Our success depends on it." Aya replied without looking at Schuldig. His brows knit in a frown of concentration. The Weiß leader was paler than usual and his face was taking on a drawn look that made him ethereal looking.
That's not good…
Schuldig closed his mouth. He knew how much it took out of a person to constantly exercise their talent and could see his lover straining against the demands of the situation.
Kurama-chan you better appreciate what your oniisan is doing for you…
The German telepath was suddenly indignant for Aya's efforts.
He's not even 100% sure he's going to get Kurama-chan that he loves back… Precog versus precog is a very chancy thing…
"By the way, where is Hiei? I haven't seen the runt since yesterday night." Schudig changed the subject, knowing that his concern would probably just worry Aya needlessly.
And he's got enough to worry about…
"He had a lot to think about." Aya said. He tilted his head to give Schuldig a sidewise glance.
The dim light from the joss sticks burning around them caught the redhead's profile. Suddenly, Schuldig's breath caught. Aya's features seemed to be too sharp to be human and his purple eyes seemed to take a yellow, feral taint. The German was suddenly reminded of Aya's demon heritage. He found himself mulling over the gloomy possibilities of this complication, in spite of his resolve to keep his concerns to himself until till this crisis passed.
He's not human…and it could--affect, no, take him away from me…
It struck Schuldig like a stab to the kidneys. He'd never thought of it that way before. He'd known of the difference intellectually not emotionally. He had seen Aya's youkai-ness as something like his Telepathic Abilities, something useful as a tool, nothing more, and Aya's youkai looks as something that made him exotic. Now, all the things he had heard about youkai came flooding back to him, their strength, their alien-ness, and most of all their longevity. [2]
He's not going to be mine forever…
He was very conscious of the time difference between them. It made him want to hold on to every passing second and make them count.
But…but what if…I'm going to leave him in a few decades--what was that saying? --Ningen die in a blink of a youkai's eye… What if he doesn't want to go through all that? Cut loose before he can get in too deep to get out of it? Besides, he's a very strange kind of bird creature in his other form…and we're not at all compatible there…
Schuldig knew that there were many excellent and very logical reasons for he and Aya to get away from one another. There was the big difference in their life spans, the different reproductive system of Aya's alternate form, the need for Aya to be in the Makai where he technically belonged. Lots of reasons…
Hell, Hiei's even come up a new one--Makai politics! It seems that Kurama-chan and Hiei are both politically prominent. There would be a lot of youkai looking for weak points and I'd be all but wearing a damned bull's eye on my back… They can't be around all the time to protect me. Besides, there would also be those who would see me as an obstacle to their ambitions. Aya's a pawn in the alliance-by-marriage market because he's Kurama-chan's dear brother…
The odds were stacked against them. Suddenly, Schuldig wanted very much to touch Aya…
Just to make sure that he's real and he's here beside me…
***
"Schuldig, what's wrong with you?" Aya asked, giving the man a half-hearted glare. The crazy telepath had suddenly turned and hugged him tightly.
What's he thinking? This is a public place…
Aya was not averse to being close to Schuldig but could the man have chosen a better time?
Anyone could walk in and see us at any moment…
Though Aya's mind continued to grumble, there was a part of him that crowed at this new stage in their relationship. He was past the point that he was surprised by his attachment to the baka gaijin but he still didn't want it to become public.
"Nothing…" Schuldig said.
"Hn." Aya knew better but he had no time to deal with it a moment. He was sweeping the probable futures almost at every other moment. Crawford was too good a precog for him not to do so. The future was getting so fluid now that he couldn't take the chance that it could get it out of his control. It would only take one possibility to break the net he wove around the raven. The net was as delicate as spider silk, so easily brushed aside or flown out of. He needed to concentrate to keep it whole and in place.
I'll have to deal with it after this crisis is over…if--no, when, it's over, we'll have a nice long talk…about my heritage, about Weiß, about Schwartz, about everything…
Aya wasn't completely insensitive.
Just a bit dense, perhaps…
Aya's lips curled in a self-deprecating smile.
"Ah, Hiei, there you are. Don't you think this shrine's too small for us to fight in?" Schuldig said as the small fire youkai came up from behind him. He had barely let go of Aya to address the man.
Not you too?
Aya thought that the telepath believed in him. He had honestly thought that the man had believed that he could use his powers effectively and win this little game. He fought his disappointment at this little development.
Doesn't he trust me at all…? How can we be together if he doesn't trust me? What else does he doubt about me?
In the midst of his insecurity, Aya felt Schuldig giving his hand a reassuring squeeze and then understood.
He's just making conversation…
Schuldig just needed to talk. Aya's mood lightened considerably.
"Hn." No.
"Okay, so how'd you're brooding session go?" Schuldig asked practically.
"Hn." Fine. Hiei gave Aya a small almost imperceptible nod.
I almost forgot that… Good, he managed to do it…
Aya had almost forgot the little thing he'd ask Hiei to do. Schuldig just had that effect on him. He relaxed a bit and decided to sit back a bit and watch his semi-boyfriend tease the small fire demon.
"Hn, Hn or Hn, Hn?" Schuldig asked giving the grunts different intonations.
"Hn." Hiei said darkly.
"What kind is that?" Schuldig asked, as they walked around the garden surrounding the shrine.
He certainly likes the sound of his own voice…
Aya thought amusedly.
Rather like Kurama-chan...
Aya tightened his jaw at the thought and got back down to work.
Who knows what possibilities will finally matter in the endgame?
***
"So, we strike at the shrine just after midnight?" Crawford asked.
"Ah, that's when they'll be the most unguarded. Unless you have another suggestion?" Yoko said, his tone glittered silver-cool in the air so bare of feeling.
Objectivity incarnate…
Nagi hadn't seen Yoko get angry even when Crawford countered his arguments.
And he is Yoko not Kurama-chan. He's very different from the Kurama-chan that we know… I hope I'm not making a mistake…
Nagi thought with something close to regret as he covertly observed Crawford and Kurama interact. Yoko was definitely not Kurama. He acted colder without his human memories. Something was missing, a vital spark that made the redhead seem alive.
The young telekinetic's only thought when he set upon this course of action was to hurt Hiei and Kurama for the loss of his beloved Tot. He hadn't known the depth of the loss he would feel when he saw Yoko's indifference.
I didn't know what I was thinking then, but I suppose part of me thought that what they felt for each other was a sort of deathless romance. Though it's too late now for any regrets…
Nagi knew that he no longer had the option. Even if it wasn't what he had thought it was.
Crawford, at least, is deeply in love and would see to that… He always has…
Crawford seemed unchanged by the memories of the life that he'd had before. Kuronue merging with Brad Crawford to make a whole, a more dangerous whole.
But then, why should he change? There doesn't seem to be much difference between Crawford and Kuronue?
Nagi had seen the same determination in those dark blue eyes when Crawford had had to have something. The same look had gotten Schwartz nearly to the top of the Estet food chain. It was clear that Kuronue-Crawford felt a deep attachment to Yoko and would do anything to keep the Silver Fox by his side at any cost. Nagi's life would be a cheap thing to pay, if the telekinetic got in the way…
Obsessed one-sided love…what have you gotten yourself into?
There was no real way out of the situation. He absently listened to the rest of the conversation.
"No, but I think we should take turns napping before we leave. We're going to need all our energy for this job." Crawford said.
"Hai." Yoko replied.
I hope they fail…but it isn't likely…
***
A ruby comet streaked into his dreams trailing a sparkle of gold. It blurred and resolved into the pendant swinging like a pendulum...to and fro...to and fro... Yoko didn't know how long he had been staring into the space following the rhythmic swing...
He stared beyond at it as it stopped, staring deep into its red depths to see a reflection of himself...in his ningen form...a small dark shadow beside him and dark shadows behind him... Accusation was in those emerald eyes. The look was as sharp as one of his grass blades.
Why is it? Why is that?
He looked away...confused.
He looked again. The shadow wavered into the small dark-haired demon he had seen before...
Huh? What am I...is he...doing...?
Yoko stared at the improvised mirror...the shadows behind "him" begun to materialize one by one... One was the orange haired gaijin...the other the redhead that looked so much like his ningen form... Then at the very back of the crowd, there was a woman...a woman he'd never seen before!
She was a plain middle-aged ningen, nothing more...small of stature and demure of dress but...there was something about her...that fascinated him...
Suddenly, the red of the mirror flared to a bright bloody hue...it hurt! He felt his eyes burn... He stubbornly tried to keep looking...
I must...
Somehow, he knew the Answer to all his questions was in that mirror...but the heat reached beyond his eyes to engulf him in wine-colored flames... Then he knew nothing more...
***
"Yoko, Yoko…wake up."
"Hmmm?" Yoko woke up, dazed and disoriented. It was so unlike him, that for a moment he thought he was still asleep, dreaming, but Kuronue's face loomed over him was a real and solid thing. It dispelled the red mist that remained imprinted in his eyelids.
"You were having a nightmare." Kuronue said, neutrally.
"Aa. Thanks for waking me." Yoko said automatically, through his daze an alarm was tripped in his head at those words. Before he could really think about it a thought formed in his head.
Something is definitely not right…
Though damned if the Fox knew what it was.
My head hurts…maybe a shower would clear it up so that I can think…
"I'm making sure the kid stays put. You go get ready?" The chimera said going out of the room.
"Aa." Yoko said again, getting up to get his thought-of shower.
He was halfway through his shower that he realized the thing that made him uneasy.
How can he know that I was having a nightmare?
Kuronue had been sitting with Nagi in the living room since he did not quite trusting the young ningen.
***
I'll be glad when we leave this world behind… Too many things remind Yoko of his human life here…
Kuronue thought as he waited for Kurama to get ready for their heist. He knew that he couldn't continue to block the memories if they stayed here much longer. He could still remember the moments earlier with dismay. He had been sitting on the couch when he felt the ruby around his neck burn. He nearly panicked when he felt it.
***
Shit! Yoko's fighting free of the spell…I have to do something…
Kuronue nearly fell off the couch in his haste to go to Yoko. He remembered barely just in time to flash a restrained grin at Naoe Nagi before striding off to Yoko's room.
Yoko's will is very strong, I should know that…that was what made me sure that he was going to survive, whatever would come… He might not willfully know that he's under a spell but his unconscious mind could feel the invisible net I've woven to cage the memories…
Kuro felt the Fox's mind strain against his spell most often when Yoko was asleep. This wasn't the first time that it happened, merely the most serious near-breach of them all. The Fox came close to breaking free. He was scarcely on time. The Fox was tossing in his sleep as if in the grip of a nightmare, glowing like a new red sun with the power of the spell.
If he stays this way, he might break free of the spell or…die…
The pain the spell used to keep Yoko away from the memories of the past could kill a lesser-willed individual but Kuro knew the risk when he took it. He measured the risk and knew it small in the case of his lover.
He's more likely to break free…
"Yoko, Yoko…wake up." He shook the Fox awake.
"Hmmm?"
Good, fighting the spell has him off-balanced…
Ordinarily, Yoko woke with a start and fully alert.
"You were having a nightmare." It was a bald statement and Kuro knew that the Fox must sense the falsehood behind it but he had nothing else to offer.
"Aa. Thanks for waking me."
"I'm making sure the kid stays put. You go get ready?"
"Aa." Yoko agreed as he stood up to head towards the bathroom.
***
Kuronue had been so grateful that he hadn't been questioned by Yoko that he overlooked the suspicious gleam in those dazed eyes. Now, he was regretting his neglect.
But it's too late now to fix… He'll be even more suspicious if I try…
They just had to get out of this place as soon as possible. In the Makai, there would less to remind the Fox of his life as a ningen. Besides, the ambient power in the air was stronger there and that would strengthen the spell's hold until Yoko completely forgot.
Yes, that is the only way…
***
"Hiei will stand by the door. I'm going to stay here behind the statue. Schuldig, you take the left…" Aya rapped out. Aya suddenly felt a disorientating wrench.
Schuldig getting the worst of Kuronue's swinging blade…dying in his arms...
"No, you go here, Schuldig. I'll take the left." Aya corrected automatically.
That was an unthinking response…when has he become that important to me?
Aya's breath was still uneven from the vision of Schuldig's death. He directed the other people involved absently, thinking of how fast he'd become attached to the mouthy telepath.
It's frighteningly fast…
"Then what?" Botan asked when they were all in position.
"We wait." Aya said, leaning on the statue he was hiding behind and closed his eyes.
***
"Ready to go." Kuro asked Yoko. They stood behind some foliage outside of the shrine they were about to pillage.
Yoko's fur was molten silver in the moonlight and his golden eyes glowed with a feral light.
Gods, he looks like a god out of the old legends…and so ready for everything…
Kuro proudly thought.
"Hai, it's show time." Yoko said as he strode closer to the entrance of the shrine.
Show time indeed…
Kuro followed him.
***
Yoko glided from shadow to shadow through the small porch that lead to the small shrine. His mind was still mulling over the implications of the dream and Kuro's actions, if Kuro had warned him exactly where to step, everyone in the shrine would've known about their attempt long before they had gotten inside. His mind was coming up with a most disappointing conclusion…
I can't really trust my little raven anymore…
It wasn't just because of the nightmare and Kuro's knowledge, though those were enough.
It smacks so much of mind control…I'm almost sure of it…
It was Kuro's extremely possessiveness. He kept too close, not trusting Yoko to stay without being…guided. He was also trying too hard to get along with Yoko.
It was as if he needed me all the time...
In the olden days, Yoko would have shrugged this off and thought this, his due. He even liked this dependency because it meant that his best partner would never abandon him. Kuro's promise had been another thing to bind them together. He hadn't loved his little raven then. Now that he knew that he loved his raven, the feeling that bound them together should be a source of joy. It wasn't. It just wasn't. Somehow, Yoko knew he could do better than that. Better than the unadulterated worship in those dark blue eyes. Better than the adoration paid by the slightest concessions.
It feels like he's trying to strangle me with his form of affection… He doesn't seem to think that I should do anything alone… Maybe I've been idealizing him in the thousand two hundred thirty-seven years he'd been gone… In that, he's so unlike H--
Yoko could feel the ruby flames begun to leak into his mind…and retreated…
I think I should just turn around and ask some hard questions from my so-called partner--Wait! A thousand two hundred thirty-seven years? Ah, a proper date at last…and H--Hi--
The name he was about to think seems to burn with ruby flames.
So be it… This partnership will last only until we get to the Makai… After that, there are no guarantees...
Despite the sorrow Yoko had felt at Kuro's death and the affection he felt for his little raven, he couldn't abide at the way things are going now.
Truly, he isn't as I remember him… Did I really love him or miss him more as "my best partner ever", I can't find out, he's gone and taken the choice from me at this point…
***
Schuldig didn't know how it started but suddenly everything burst into motion. A flash of silver dashed in evading Hiei's weaponless lunge. A black blur sent a blade towards Aya. He dashed over to bar the way to the statue. The silver blur resolved itself into a silver haired figure as it dashed towards him. Schuldig noted that the Kurama made an impressive figure, wild silver hair flying, ears twitching in the wind and feral amber eyes fierce with battle.
I could almost forgive Crawford at being infatuated with him at all…
Almost. There was a matter of leaving obligations behind and doing the unthinkable.
"Get away from there, ningen." Yoko hissed as he hurtled towards Schuldig.
"Kurama, don't you remember me at all?" Schuldig dodged Yoko's flung grass blade.
A sidewise glance proved that Hiei was still busy combating a Makai plant that was more monster than plant, all fangs and sharp tentacles. It filled the whole back end of the shrine. Aya was still busy dodging blades or so Schuldig assumed. The part of the shrine where Aya and Crawford battled was covered with roiling mist, a testament that Crawford was in full command of his Chimera powers.
"What do you mean, human?" For a moment, Schuldig thought that Yoko would stop then but the Fox kept on going.
Schuldig could see some more hesitation in the kitsune's movement though. He didn't have to try as hard to dodge the Silver's attacks.
He's starting to doubt his partner… He sees it, too…
Schuldig decided to risk it all on a gamble.
"You don't belong with Cr--Kuronue, you know it now don't you." Schuldig asked. He thought he had the Fox then. Something flickered in Yoko's eyes before they hardened back to unreadable amber.
Damned…
"And we don't belong here in the Ningenkai. Nice try, human." Yoko riposted, throwing Schuldig into a statue, hitting his head a little too hard on the stone. The last thing Schuldig saw was a white hand reaching up to take the amulet off the neck of the statue.
***
"Schuldig!" Aya yelled as he saw in a premonition what was happening to the German. He was too busy fighting Crawford to go and help the man. Crawford was a fast bastard even without youkai reflexes. It took all of the redheaded youkai's concentration just to stave the Chimera off. He suddenly found himself without an opponent and the mists receded into nothingness. He knew it could be a price for the victory but he didn't want it to be true.
"Don't worry the human is still alive. Tell Koenma that we are just taking this to return to where we belong." Yoko said as he ran with Kuronue and they both vanished into a swirl of blue light. Hiei was released from the plant monster a few moments later.
Aya ran to Schuldig who lay on the foot of the statue and was relieved to find the man breathing regular.
Stubborn gaijin…you could have been less persistent you wouldn't have been injured at all… I wasn't relying on this particular battle to win this war anyway…
He thought affectionately as he lifted the German gently to bring to the waiting car and left the man to Botan's ministrations. He nodded to Hiei and they set off to Genkai's temple in youkai speed.
Hiei and I still have a job to do…I know you'll understand that if you were conscious…
~TBC~
[1] No offense meant to Buddhists, its just Schuldig talking.
[2] My metaphors are getting a bit bloody and painful.
NEXT: Sheesh, everybody's a precog...
Author's Apologies:Sorry this is late, I caught a bad cold and my internet connection has been loopy. The telephone company is going to hear more from me, it's the phone line that's causing the idiotic slowness in our dial up connection. *bites PLDT and sics Ayan and Brad-chan at it*