Itetsuku yami no naka kakenuketa ano koro. Uragiru koto sae mo tamerawazu. Gin - iro no

kami nabikase. Yabou ni moeta. Koori no kokoro tokenai. Kare kusa ni nekorobi, hitori

nemuru yoru wa. Fukushuu no yume dake jagan no saki ni mita. Nozomarete umarete kita.

Waka ja nai no sa. Honoo no kokoro kesenai. Kawaita kaze ga fuku makai de ikite kita.

Namida sae shirazu ni chikara dake tayori ni. Hateshinai kioku wa sou. Tatakai no shiin.

Samayou kokoro kizanda. . .my dark side. . .------ and for those of you who may not understand

Japanese, here is the translation: Freezing the darkness inside, running through that thing before

me. I won't even hesitate to betray it. The silver god wins, using his blazing ambition his icy

heart melts. Alone, he lies down in the grass to sleep at night. Revenge is in his dreams, sharp

as the tip of a knife. I wish to be reborn, and see the difference between birth and death. The

flames of rage in my heart subside. The hungry wind blows away everything but Hell. The tears

don't command strength, only dependence. The unending memories are destroyed. Battle is the

cause of death so I wander through my bleeding heart. . .my dark side. ------ I think that

describes our beloved Hiei pretty well (especially in this chapter). Lots of things are about to

happen to our little halfling. . .I just hope he's ready for them. . . ENJOY! :)

I do not own jin and touya nor yu yu hakusho (from the people who brought you The Simpson's)

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"It won't be bein' long now Kurama, I know Hiei's comin' ta save ya." The wind demon

had not moved from his appointed spot even once since he had brought the silver kitsune to his

home, and even now as he gently stroked the demon's hair Jin could think of nothing he'd rather

do then sit by the yoko's side. "I hope you'll be knowin' how sorry I'm bein' for this when

you're wakin' up. I wasn't meanin' ta hurt ya any, or Hiei neither. Ya've both been bein' so

good ta me and ta Touya. It's bein' a shame that it's all gotta be happenin' this way. But. . .you

know what it's bein' like ta love someone, and ta be makin' sacrifices for them. Well, that's I'm

doin' fer Touya. And I'm knowin' that you'll be understandin' when this is all bein' over."

"Kurama may understand, but I won't."

"Huh?" The fire demon stood at the mouth of the cave, holding in his arms something

the wind master could not discern through the darkness.

"Where. . .is. . .he?" His breath was coming in short, angry huffs, and his words were

spoken through gritted teeth.

"Hiei, listen. Ya see I was. . ."

"WHERE'S KURAMA!?!"

"He's here, but I think I should be tellin' ya. . ."

"SHUT UP!" The black haired youkai walked over to where the wind master resided, his

steps slow and vengeful. It seemed to Hiei to take an eternity to reach his fallen lover, but in the

end, he was there. Kurama, with his silver hair flowing about him like a river of falling stars,

rested upon the cave floor, his body unmoving. "What have you done to him?"

"Hiei I . . ."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!?!"

That is when Jin realized that he could no longer carry out the mission on which he had

been sent. To see the pain in Hiei's eyes was all too much for the wind master to bare, fore he

had seen the same look in Touya's eyes so many times before. The fire demon truly loved his

yoko partner and it was not fair that he should have to suffer because of someone else's petty and

selfish actions. Kurama. . .need not suffer from the same actions either. "He's sleepin' Hiei,

that's all. There were some youkai that were wantin' me ta kill 'im, but I couldn't be doin' that.

But ya see, I was needin' yer tear gem and I was thinkin' that takin' him away from ya was bein'

the only way ta make ya cry, 'cause ya know ya never do. But I was REALLY needin' that gem

a yours, and that was gonna be makin' everythin' right. Plus, I was bein' told that Kurama was

betrayin' us with Sazuka, and. . ."

"You harmed a friend because of something you couldn't prove?"

"No Hiei, it wasn't bein' like that! Ya see. . ."

"You took Kurama and used him in order to get something from me?!"

"No listen! It wasn't like that!" But the dragon Hiei would not hear it. His rage burned

hotter then a thousand makai suns and blacker then the very pits of hell. Everything around Jin

became nothing, all of it shrouded in the fire demon's energy and he could feel the heat as the

tension inside the dragon grew.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS!?! YOU THINK I AM GOING

TO ALLOW YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE!?! I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO

BETRAY A FRIEND JIN! I WILL SHOW YOU THE PAIN!" Suddenly light began to fill the

room, coming from everywhere and nowhere and Jin could finally see what it was Hiei carried in

his arms. Touya.

"Touya? But why is he bein' here? What is it you're gonna do with him?! What is it

ya've done ta him already?!"

"Heh. I've been waiting a long time for this moment. Ever since he fought Kurama in

The Dark Tournament I've been waiting. Only a few more moments and he'll die, and I'll have

the privilege of watching. And after he's gone, I'll come after you. And don't think you can run.

I'll find you, and I will never stop hunting you."

Jin couldn't believe his ears. Was Touya really about to die? Would Hiei just let him?

No, he couldn't. It was impossible. "HIEI YA CAN'T BE KILLIN' HIM! YA CAN'T JUST

BE LETTIN' HIM DIE! JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YER DOIN'!

"AND JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU'VE NOT ONLY

ABUSED OUR TRUST, BUT BETRAYED AN ALLIED FRIEND!"

"Oh he's done much more than that." Both demons turned and looked towards the cave's

entrance. There, a new figure now stood, one who reeked of sinful prowess. "You see Hiei, Jin

not only betrayed Kurama. . .he's killed him as well!"

"WHAT?!" The word was spoken by both at the same time, and with its utterance a new

wave of fear seemed to wash over them. Fear of the knowledge they were about to hear.

"Oh yes, and he's done it all for me." The figure stepped into the light of the fire

demon's glowing aura, and now the two could see who had intruded upon their meeting, though

they both had already known. "Thank you Jin, I couldn't have done it better myself."

"What are ya talkin' about Sazuka, I was never killin' anyone! Especially not for the

likes a you! Kurama's not bein' dead!"

"Then what, my shinobi friend, do you call it when you're lying on the floor unmoving

and not breathing?"

"HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S. . ."

"TELL HIEI THE TRUTH JIN! TELL HIM HOW YOU KILLED KURAMA IN

REVENGE FOR BETRAYING YOU! TELL HIM HOW YOU SLIPPED THE POISON INTO

THOSE MAKAI DARTS AND TRICKED THE YOKO! TELL HIM! TELL HIM NOW!"

"TREEBA SWANLA SANMA YOUO!. . .THEN WHY DON'T YOU TELL HIM

WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Another figure had now entered into the mix, this time only

recognized by the fallen master of wind.

"Supika? How were YOU gettin' here?"

"Joustin dionadido wa lan do ni, jama totola fin. . .I could sense something was wrong as

soon as you left the village, so I followed your you-ki trail. Rouni ga jawo qawn. . .for a while I

thought I had lost you. . .demo no awani. . .until I found this man." She raised her arm, and jin

could not believe his eyes as he stared at the severed head of the youkai whom had sold him his

deadly weapons. "Urituri honla wo Sazuka mai sunda. . .he told me how he was employed by

Sazuka, serving as his spy. Kiiroi mi dai sono ma. . .he was instructed to lace the darts he sold

you with ahen (opium). . .honma kunsa dondo. . .making it seem as though the yoko slept as he

was slowly dying from overdose."

"She lies Hiei! It was Jin who did the deed! It was HE who purchased the darts in the

first place."

"Hiei da muneni Sazuka chun!. . .Tell Hiei the other truths Sazuka! Wasuna de nido

jaqa!. . .Tell him about the soul you've already taken! WASUNA MUJIHI! TELL HIM ABOUT

MUJIHI!"

"ENOUGH! I SHALL HEAR NO MORE!" Sazuka sent a blast of multi - colored

energy straight at Supika, catching the youkai girl off guard. She was sent tumbling through the

air and though she landed on her feet, it was not without its pains. The anklet she had been

wearing had snapped off as a direct result of the blast and was now sliding along the floor only to

rest at the feet of one darkened youkai.

"QWAN SU NADE SAZUKA! WASUNA MUJIHI HUNTO NO DEBASHO DE

SUTETA!. . .TELL HIM WHAT YOU DID SAZUKA! TELL HIM HOW YOU KILLED

MUJIHI ONLY TO CAPTURE HIS SOUL FOR YOUR OWN SICK PLANS!"

Hiei stared at Sazuka, his eyes filled with even more blackened rage, as though what

Supika had said had struck a nerve and the wind master could not help but ask, "Hiei? Hiei

who's she talkin' about? Who's Mujihi?"

The black haired youkai stood there many moments before simply breathing with the pain

of it all. But finally he spoke, his answer destroying any hope Jin had that this would all end

well. "He's my father. . ."

!#$%&()

"Yer father? Supika, you're meanin' it was Sazuka that killed him?!"

"Hai. Sazuka erenda kokoro no mamni ima. . .yes. In order to start the triad, Sazuka

needed the soul of a fire demon who loved an ice demon. . .y takuso youni. . .and then of an ice

demon that loved a wind demon. . .y yaseni no mamage. . .and then of a wind that loved a fire."

Hiei did not speak a word only reached down and retrieved the fallen item, and all at once

he felt at home. These were the tears of those who cried like him, those who had been born into

a most hateful breed, fire demon and koorime. He had thought that he was the only one, but now

he could clearly see that he was not, and he wished he could have known these youkai in the past.

And now Hiei wondered why they had cried those tears, what had made them give up their most

precious gift? Had they too been forced to suffer the way he suffered now? Were they too

forced to stand in reclusive silence as their lover lay dying? Had their fathers also been murdered

for the sake of another youkai's obsession? Had they also lived their life alone, only to one day

find the one they loved, and yet to only have that taken away? Had they been forced to cry?

A painful sensation began to run through the fire demon, starting in the very hollows of

his youkai heart and finally resting in his reddened eyes. It was a pain the likes of which he had

never felt, fore he had never allowed it to reach this far. But now there was no stopping it. For a

moment, everything began to blur and Hiei could no longer see anything. To him, there was no

one there, only himself, his lover, and the memories of the halfbreeds long since past. He could

feel their pain, everyone's pain, even that of Jin and Touya, Sazuka and Supika. It was all

coming together, all the doubts and regrets he had hidden so far away within himself were now

coming to surface. And then. . .he felt it. What we all feel when we can no longer take the pain

of the world around us. That overwhelming sensation that pours out of even the strongest of men

and demons. He felt his tear.

It started out slow at first, making its way down his pale cheek leaving a light trail of

water behind. Then it began to pick up speed, sliding all the way down to rest on the edge of his

chin. Hiei knew he could have wiped it away, leaving nothing for any youkai to take. . .but he

didn't want to. They could take his tear gem. . .they had already taken everything else. Then it

fell, forming its own perfect black sphere. But it did not land, as he had expected, with a slight

tink on the barren floor. No. Instead it hovered in the air for a moment, rose slightly, and then

found its way it the other tear gems the black haired youkai now held in his hands. The anklet

then began to glow a brilliant white, it's spell now having finally been completed after so many

years.

All four demons stood in disbelief at its brilliance, and now all but one knew the decision

that had to be made. "Hiei, what ya've got there in yer hands is bein' called a kubikazari. When

ya put it around the neck a any sick youkai, it'll be curin' um no matter what it is they'll be

sneezin' at. But it's only workin' once and then it's bein' gone forever. Please, give it ta Supika.

She's gonna be usin' it ta fix up her mom, and then she'll be puttin' things away the way they

should be! Trust her."

"Trust her! My dear shinobi you are even stupider then I gave you credit for! Supika has

been lying to you all this time! How could you not see it? Kurama has never joined forces with

me and has certainly never gone against you. She only told yo those things so that you would do

her dirty work for her. Inari knows what else she's lying about! That woman may not even be

her mother!"

"Supika, is what this clown is sayin' bein' the truth?"

"Hai, youkai san. Demo na Kurama jido Sazuka mo. Watima wa te te ma!. . .yes little

demon. . .Kurama has never collaborated with Sazuka. But everything else I have told you has

been the truth!"

"Well now I can't be knowin'!"

"YUNSUNA MAI JII!. . .BUT THIS NOT YOUR DECISION!" They all looked at Hiei.

Everything that was about to happen rested on his will, and the fire demon knew that. He could

use the kubikazari to heal Kurama and be done with it all together, but what of Touya? He too

needed to be healed, and he had done nothing wrong, only had been caught in the middle of this

whole event. Not to mention the fact that The Beautiful Sazuka WANTED the ice demon dead

in order to further his own plans. And what of Supika's mother? If she was telling the truth,

then with the healing of her mother there might a way to cure everyone. But what if she was

lying? Then an even greater evil might be released upon the world. But either way time was

running out for all of them and Hiei had to make the choice quickly. All was silent in the cave

then, only the rhythm of their beating hearts remaining. It would all be over soon, fore it was

with Hiei that all their lives would end. . .

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Ok, I know that was a lot to take in, but I need you all to do something for me. I need you to tell

me who you think Hiei will give the kubikazari to. Will it be Kurama, Touya, or Supika? Who

can be trusted? Who can't be? I told you I was the QUEEN of plot twists, and I think this

proves that I deserve my crown. :) Anyway, be sure to review and tell me what you think will

happen, or e-mail me if you have an idea for the ending. I will tally the votes and in 7 days I

shall put up the next chapter based on those results. So take a deep breath and think about how

to tackle this problem. Remember, Hiei's decision rests in your review. :)