If Hiei wants Kira dead, why's he so angry at Akei? Kurama tries to put all the pieces together. Meanwhile, Hiei unleashes his hellish powers.
Thank you, Ensatsu-Kokoryu-Ha, for all your encouragement.
I do not own any YYH characters. They belong to their author/creator Yoshihiro Togashi. The "Black Widow" name is also used by Marvel; I don't know anything about that character, so any similarities beyond name are completely coincidental.
Akei blanched slightly, but said, "At long last, I get a chance to fight the great Hiei. I'll take your head, along with the girl's." "Hn. You're welcome to try." The large assassin edged warily around Hiei. Akei gathered his reiki and projected it, until it swirled around him like a tornado. Then he charged Hiei straight-on. The fire-demon grinned and sidestepped so that the punch missed him by a paper's width. As did the next punch, and the next, and the kick. Akei, furious, struck with a barrage of blows that narrowly missed their target. Then he struck out with a punch and a kick at the same moment.
Hiei avoided the kick by stepping directly into the path of the punch. Hiei raised his right hand as if waving and casually caught the punch. The blow's full force transferred through Hiei's body to the soil he was standing on, which showed stress fractures. The larger demon stared, unbelieving.
"My turn," Hiei said. His left hook sent Akei flying fifteen feet. Akei twisted midair to land on his feet, but still skidded back from the blow's force. "Let's stop fooling around. Show me your real power." Akei rubbed his cheek and chuckled. "Very well. I see I'll have to take your seriously." He began to pull in the power whirling around him. "It's said that the Black Dragon cannot be controlled completely, that it will turn even on its own master." Hiei waited. "The same could be said of my Beast. Which means that once it begins to tear into your flesh, it won't stop until it is satisfied. Not even I can stop it." Akei grinned widely, showing his growing teeth. His entire body expanded, bulged with muscle and sprouted hair. Instead of making a partial transformation, as he had against Kurama and Kira, he changed into his full beast form.
The bear-monster raised its head high, sniffing. Saliva dripped between his fangs while he turned and charged Kurama and Kira. Kurama pulled the rose from his hair, but knew it was already too late to summon the Rose Whip. He shoved Kira behind him as the monster slammed him to the ground with an enormous paw. Kurama rolled away just in time to avoid being crushed as the monster punched into the ground. A blur of black-and-white leapt onto the bear's shoulders and drove a sword deep into the creature's shoulder. The monster screamed in pain and swatted at the pesky insect. Hiei hesitated, trying to pull out his sword from where it had lodged in one of the shoulder bones. The blow struck him full in the chest and sent him flying into an oak, which split in two from the impact.
Kurama summoned his Rose Whip, and sent it at the beast.
"Stop! Kurama, stay out of it!" "Nani?! Hiei, what do you mean?" Hiei picked himself off the ground and brushed splinters off. "He's mine, fox." The fire demon unwound his scarf and pulled off his cloak, revealing a chiseled torso covered with innumerable scars. Addressing the beast, he said, "You got a real kick out of tearing apart Kira's soul, didn't you? That's why I'm going to let the Black Dragon consume yours." The bear ignored this and charged, but suddenly stopped when he felt Hiei's gathering power and cringed. The beast receded and left Akei standing there, terrified. "Wait! Hiei, don't! I'll give you anything you want!" Hiei looked disgusted. His Jagan glowed, staining his aura's flames black and purple.
"If it's money you want, I have plenty. Just don't kill me. It wasn't my idea to hurt Kira, the Guild made me! She's not worth protecting anyway. She's not nearly as strong as she seems." "Oh? What would you know about her powers?" Akei leapt at the opening, pouring out his story. "Her abilities don't match with her weak spirit energy. I was ordered to find out her secret, so I challenged her. It's fake: her ki threads aren't made from spirit energy, they're actually spun from . . ." "So you do know." Hiei smiled. "I told you before: it has nothing to do with the girl. I just don't like the way you smell." He raised his right arm, releasing the dragon tattooed there. It tore through Akei, consuming him whole, before turning to attack its master. Howling, it swallowed Hiei's right arm. Groaning with effort, Hiei forced it into dormancy again, until it was no more than a tattoo. He surveyed the ashes for a moment, then started swearing. "Kisama! That bastard!" Kurama cried, "What's wrong? Did Akei escape?" "No. I forgot my sword in his shoulder." Hiei glared at the ashes. "Well, it's incinerated now. Damn." Kurama noticed that Kira was shaking violently in his arms. She tried to muffle the sound, but her laughter spilled forth like ringing bells.
Hiei warned in a surly voice, "I'm still going to kill you, eventually." Kira replied, "Watch out. If you attack me now, I'll bleed on you. And I won't stop until I win." Hiei snorted, "Hn," but the corners of his eyes crinkled. "At least you don't give up easily." "You should know. You're the one who tried to tame me." Hiei gave her a sidelong glance. "How badly are you hurt?" She shrugged. "Nothing worse than serious bruising. Except that I won't be able to use threads again for a week." Hiei turned to look at Kurama, who smiled weakly. "Nothing's broken, and the bleeding's stopped. I'll be fine by this time tomorrow." "Hn. I guess I'd better take over baby-sitting for now." Kurama asked, "Hiei, how do you feel? I mean--" "If you're asking am I about to fall over from exhaustion, the answer's no. Unlike at the tournament, this time I didn't absorb the Dragon's powers into my body. I'll be back to full power in a couple of hours." Back at Yusuke's apartment, they found Kuwabara hovering over the spirit detective, who was tormented by fever dreams. "Hey, guys! Where have you been? Did you hear that strange scream, too?" Kuwabara snarled at Hiei, who was ignoring him, "Why'd the shrimp come back?" "Because none of you fools seem capable of taking care of yourselves," Hiei retorted without any real anger.
Kurama took Yusuke's best friend by the elbow and explained, "We all heard the cry, Kuwabara-kun. An assassin attacked Kira, and she . . ." Kurama hesitated, then concluded lamely, ". . . she got hurt, I guess." He turned to the others for an explanation, but they didn't volunteer anything.
Kuwabara grabbed Kira's hands and vowed, "I'll protect you, Kira-chan. Don't worry. Are you badly hurt?" Kira was taken back by the boy's sudden familiarity. Stepping away from him, she muttered, "That's sweet of you, Kuwabara . . .-kun. But you needn't bother. I'm fine now." Kuwabara frowned. "No you're not. That scream I heard came from the very soul." Kira became rigid, but Kuwabara plowed on, "I can see that your aura's weak, but it's something even more serious. Like a part of you is missing, or broken . . ." "Don't be ridiculous." The calm of her words was belied by her clenched jaw. Kurama said her name, but she ignored him and curled up on the couch, hugging her sword to her chest. Hiei also ignored them and perched on the sill of the open window. He also clutched his sword to his chest.
"What's going on, guys? C'mon, just tell me." Kuwabara scowled. "Kurama-kun, won't you tell me what's up with them?" "I don't know, Kuwabara-kun. Maybe it's none of our business." Even as he said it, his mind was trying to piece together the puzzle. Hiei had called Kira a traitor, but he leapt to her defense against Akei. Kira said that Hiei was an old partner, but she also mentioned him trying to tame her. Akei said something about Kira having sent assassins after Hiei, and also that Kira's ki-threads were fake. She didn't have enough spirit-energy to account for her abilities. Hiei had accused Akei of trying to destroy Kira's soul. Now, combined with Kuwabara's observation that she was somehow broken . . . No matter how he turned it in his mind, Kurama couldn't find the truth beneath these facts.
The fox-demon mixed another bitter medicinal tea to reduce Yusuke's fever again. He slept little, waking up every few hours to check on the spirit detective. It wasn't until dawn that Urameshi's fever finally broke, and Kurama was certain that he would be fine. He fell asleep leaning against the foot of Yusuke's bed.
Thank you, Ensatsu-Kokoryu-Ha, for all your encouragement.
I do not own any YYH characters. They belong to their author/creator Yoshihiro Togashi. The "Black Widow" name is also used by Marvel; I don't know anything about that character, so any similarities beyond name are completely coincidental.
Akei blanched slightly, but said, "At long last, I get a chance to fight the great Hiei. I'll take your head, along with the girl's." "Hn. You're welcome to try." The large assassin edged warily around Hiei. Akei gathered his reiki and projected it, until it swirled around him like a tornado. Then he charged Hiei straight-on. The fire-demon grinned and sidestepped so that the punch missed him by a paper's width. As did the next punch, and the next, and the kick. Akei, furious, struck with a barrage of blows that narrowly missed their target. Then he struck out with a punch and a kick at the same moment.
Hiei avoided the kick by stepping directly into the path of the punch. Hiei raised his right hand as if waving and casually caught the punch. The blow's full force transferred through Hiei's body to the soil he was standing on, which showed stress fractures. The larger demon stared, unbelieving.
"My turn," Hiei said. His left hook sent Akei flying fifteen feet. Akei twisted midair to land on his feet, but still skidded back from the blow's force. "Let's stop fooling around. Show me your real power." Akei rubbed his cheek and chuckled. "Very well. I see I'll have to take your seriously." He began to pull in the power whirling around him. "It's said that the Black Dragon cannot be controlled completely, that it will turn even on its own master." Hiei waited. "The same could be said of my Beast. Which means that once it begins to tear into your flesh, it won't stop until it is satisfied. Not even I can stop it." Akei grinned widely, showing his growing teeth. His entire body expanded, bulged with muscle and sprouted hair. Instead of making a partial transformation, as he had against Kurama and Kira, he changed into his full beast form.
The bear-monster raised its head high, sniffing. Saliva dripped between his fangs while he turned and charged Kurama and Kira. Kurama pulled the rose from his hair, but knew it was already too late to summon the Rose Whip. He shoved Kira behind him as the monster slammed him to the ground with an enormous paw. Kurama rolled away just in time to avoid being crushed as the monster punched into the ground. A blur of black-and-white leapt onto the bear's shoulders and drove a sword deep into the creature's shoulder. The monster screamed in pain and swatted at the pesky insect. Hiei hesitated, trying to pull out his sword from where it had lodged in one of the shoulder bones. The blow struck him full in the chest and sent him flying into an oak, which split in two from the impact.
Kurama summoned his Rose Whip, and sent it at the beast.
"Stop! Kurama, stay out of it!" "Nani?! Hiei, what do you mean?" Hiei picked himself off the ground and brushed splinters off. "He's mine, fox." The fire demon unwound his scarf and pulled off his cloak, revealing a chiseled torso covered with innumerable scars. Addressing the beast, he said, "You got a real kick out of tearing apart Kira's soul, didn't you? That's why I'm going to let the Black Dragon consume yours." The bear ignored this and charged, but suddenly stopped when he felt Hiei's gathering power and cringed. The beast receded and left Akei standing there, terrified. "Wait! Hiei, don't! I'll give you anything you want!" Hiei looked disgusted. His Jagan glowed, staining his aura's flames black and purple.
"If it's money you want, I have plenty. Just don't kill me. It wasn't my idea to hurt Kira, the Guild made me! She's not worth protecting anyway. She's not nearly as strong as she seems." "Oh? What would you know about her powers?" Akei leapt at the opening, pouring out his story. "Her abilities don't match with her weak spirit energy. I was ordered to find out her secret, so I challenged her. It's fake: her ki threads aren't made from spirit energy, they're actually spun from . . ." "So you do know." Hiei smiled. "I told you before: it has nothing to do with the girl. I just don't like the way you smell." He raised his right arm, releasing the dragon tattooed there. It tore through Akei, consuming him whole, before turning to attack its master. Howling, it swallowed Hiei's right arm. Groaning with effort, Hiei forced it into dormancy again, until it was no more than a tattoo. He surveyed the ashes for a moment, then started swearing. "Kisama! That bastard!" Kurama cried, "What's wrong? Did Akei escape?" "No. I forgot my sword in his shoulder." Hiei glared at the ashes. "Well, it's incinerated now. Damn." Kurama noticed that Kira was shaking violently in his arms. She tried to muffle the sound, but her laughter spilled forth like ringing bells.
Hiei warned in a surly voice, "I'm still going to kill you, eventually." Kira replied, "Watch out. If you attack me now, I'll bleed on you. And I won't stop until I win." Hiei snorted, "Hn," but the corners of his eyes crinkled. "At least you don't give up easily." "You should know. You're the one who tried to tame me." Hiei gave her a sidelong glance. "How badly are you hurt?" She shrugged. "Nothing worse than serious bruising. Except that I won't be able to use threads again for a week." Hiei turned to look at Kurama, who smiled weakly. "Nothing's broken, and the bleeding's stopped. I'll be fine by this time tomorrow." "Hn. I guess I'd better take over baby-sitting for now." Kurama asked, "Hiei, how do you feel? I mean--" "If you're asking am I about to fall over from exhaustion, the answer's no. Unlike at the tournament, this time I didn't absorb the Dragon's powers into my body. I'll be back to full power in a couple of hours." Back at Yusuke's apartment, they found Kuwabara hovering over the spirit detective, who was tormented by fever dreams. "Hey, guys! Where have you been? Did you hear that strange scream, too?" Kuwabara snarled at Hiei, who was ignoring him, "Why'd the shrimp come back?" "Because none of you fools seem capable of taking care of yourselves," Hiei retorted without any real anger.
Kurama took Yusuke's best friend by the elbow and explained, "We all heard the cry, Kuwabara-kun. An assassin attacked Kira, and she . . ." Kurama hesitated, then concluded lamely, ". . . she got hurt, I guess." He turned to the others for an explanation, but they didn't volunteer anything.
Kuwabara grabbed Kira's hands and vowed, "I'll protect you, Kira-chan. Don't worry. Are you badly hurt?" Kira was taken back by the boy's sudden familiarity. Stepping away from him, she muttered, "That's sweet of you, Kuwabara . . .-kun. But you needn't bother. I'm fine now." Kuwabara frowned. "No you're not. That scream I heard came from the very soul." Kira became rigid, but Kuwabara plowed on, "I can see that your aura's weak, but it's something even more serious. Like a part of you is missing, or broken . . ." "Don't be ridiculous." The calm of her words was belied by her clenched jaw. Kurama said her name, but she ignored him and curled up on the couch, hugging her sword to her chest. Hiei also ignored them and perched on the sill of the open window. He also clutched his sword to his chest.
"What's going on, guys? C'mon, just tell me." Kuwabara scowled. "Kurama-kun, won't you tell me what's up with them?" "I don't know, Kuwabara-kun. Maybe it's none of our business." Even as he said it, his mind was trying to piece together the puzzle. Hiei had called Kira a traitor, but he leapt to her defense against Akei. Kira said that Hiei was an old partner, but she also mentioned him trying to tame her. Akei said something about Kira having sent assassins after Hiei, and also that Kira's ki-threads were fake. She didn't have enough spirit-energy to account for her abilities. Hiei had accused Akei of trying to destroy Kira's soul. Now, combined with Kuwabara's observation that she was somehow broken . . . No matter how he turned it in his mind, Kurama couldn't find the truth beneath these facts.
The fox-demon mixed another bitter medicinal tea to reduce Yusuke's fever again. He slept little, waking up every few hours to check on the spirit detective. It wasn't until dawn that Urameshi's fever finally broke, and Kurama was certain that he would be fine. He fell asleep leaning against the foot of Yusuke's bed.