Warnings: Knowledge of YYH necessary.
Author's Notes:Sequel to Yuugou Hakusho and Yuujyou Hakusho, but not necessary to have read them. Please read my bio page for important info about my fics. Japanese definitions can be found at the end of the fic.
Standard disclaimers apply...
Prelude to a Quartet
Kurama stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at the wall in front of him. He sighed. Hiei hadn't spoken a word to him since he'd been brought up from his cell. The short demon now stood with his arms crossed underneath his cloak, and he was glaring at the same wall Kurama was staring at. Kurama could feel the anger in the demon's aura. Hiei's youki was practically sparking off of him.
"Really, Hiei," Kurama finally said, "you're going to destroy something if you don't calm down a little."
The demon turned on the tall boy, acknowledging his presence for the first time. Well, he had glared at me when he was first brought in here. Hiei brought his arms out from under the cloak to reveal that they were covered with wards. He pulled off the cloak to show another ward wrapped around his neck.
"Calm down?" Hiei hissed. "That's easy for you to say, since you're not the one who's been kept in a cell for days. You're not the one who's been covered with wards." The demon almost spat on Kurama. "You've been prancing around the Ningenkai, free to do as you please!"
Kurama rolled his eyes upward before letting out a sigh. "Hiei, I have not been prancing. Nor have I been free to do as I please. My cell and wards just happen to be different from yours." Hiei narrowed his eyes. Kurama went on. "My cell is the Ningenkai, where Koenma is easily keeping an eye on me. And my ward is my mother. Her health and happiness are what bind me to live by the Reikai's rules." Kurama crossed his arms. "And we are both here to face Koenma concerning our paroles."
"You still have a better deal," insisted Hiei, still glaring at the taller figure.
"Well, I didn't harm or threaten humans, and I didn't try to put a sword through the Reikai's detective," Kurama responded smugly. "In fact, I even took a sword in the gut to save their detective."
Hiei narrowed his eyes once more, then turned away. But Kurama caught the demon taking a quick glance towards his middle. Is he actually sorry...?
The door opened. Both figures turned as the tiny Reikai prince entered the room. Koenma crossed the room and pulled himself up into the large chair behind the desk. He rested his arms on the desk, folding his hands together.
"Kurama. Hiei," the child-like prince acknowledged.
"Koenma-sama," Kurama nodded briefly. Hiei turned his glare on the tiny figure.
"Well, I have a proposal for you," Koenma said, focusing more on Kurama than on the angry demon. "I think you may prove useful to me, and if you agree, I can go easy on your punishment."
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Punishment? Between you and my mother, I am bound to the Ningenkai as a respectable citizen for at least the next thirty years. Were you planning some form of torture or imprisonment for me as well?"
"We don't torture the living here. That's left for your afterlife," Koenma said wryly. "But, yes, imprisonment isn't out of the question."
"You'd do that to my mother?" Kurama asked, tilting his head.
This time it was Koenma raising his eyebrow. "Weren't you the one who was going to leave her by giving up your life to the Mirror?"
Kurama bowed slightly and spread his arms. "Point taken."
Koenma paused before continuing. "And, no, I wouldn't do that your mother." Kurama grinned. "I'd have you serve your time after her death."
"Assuming I came back to you tamely..." Kurama said, still grinning. He thought he heard Hiei give an amused snort beside him. The prince gave Kurama a stern look. Then he shook his head with a sigh.
"Kurama, I know I can't force you to do anything short of threatening your mother's life. And you know I can't do that. But I can really use your help, since despite your questionable past and recent thievery, you are, amazingly, one of the few demons I can trust. Slightly."
Kurama crossed his arms again. "I'm flattered, I suppose." He leaned his head back slightly and looked down at Koenma. "So exactly what do you have in mind?"
"I'm sending the Reikai detective to take care of a little situation, and I would like him to have reinforcements," began Koenma.
"Yuusuke?" Kurama blurted out. Hiei snarled softly.
"Yes, Yuusuke. I need him to deal with the demons of the Makaigai."
"The Four Beasts," said Kurama.
Koenma nodded. "They want access to the Ningenkai. They're using the Insect Flute to control humans. I'm sending Yuusuke to destroy the Flute."
Kurama tilted his head back and let his eyes wander to the ceiling. Just when Kaasan is starting to feel like her old self... But he owed Yuusuke. He had taken a sword in the gut for him, but it wasn't enough for someone who had so selflessly and without hesitation volunteered half his life for a complete stranger. And a criminal, even... "Okay."
"...Okay, what?" asked Koenma.
Kurama sighed. "Okay, I'll go help Yuusuke fight the Four Beasts."
Koenma blinked several times. He had expected more resistance from the thief. Well, let's see how this goes, then... He turned to face Hiei. "Hiei."
"No."
That's more like what I was expecting, Koenma thought wryly. "Hiei, they could use your help there as well."
"Just throw me back in my cell. I'm not helping."
"Hiei."
"There's nothing you can offer me or threaten me with."
"You could do your time in the Ningenkai instead of in the Reikai confined to a cell."
"And why would I want to hang around the Ningenkai?" Hiei asked, but he sounded less angry.
"Hiei," Koenma leaned back in his chair, "I know you've been hovering around the Ningenkai for the last two years for a specific reason. And I know what that reason is."
Hiei's eyes darted to Kurama, but the tall boy kept his expression neutral. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Wouldn't it be easier to find what you're looking for if you're in the same realm as the object of your search?"
"You don't know that..." Hiei said, his eyes narrowed.
Koenma smiled slightly. "But you have a fairly good guess."
The demon glared at the prince for several seconds. Eventually, he relaxed his stance and closed his eyes. "Fine, I'll go. But the wards come off and stay off, even after we finish with the Four Beasts."
Koenma hesitated. "Hiei, you're really not in a position to make demands. In addition to stealing Reikai artifacts, you endangered humans and tried to kill my detective."
"Then throw me back in my cell," Hiei said stubbornly, crossing his arms.
The prince glanced at Kurama, but the tall boy was focused on a point on the wall behind Koenma, determined to stay out of the argument. Koenma noted, however, that Kurama's lips were turned up in a minute smile. He knows. He knows that I'm worried about sending just two on this mission. The brilliant son-of-a... Koenma sighed.
"Kurama." Kurama turned his eyes on Koenma, a look of polite interest on his face. Koenma growled mentally. "You've known Hiei for awhile. Do you trust him to roam around the Ningenkai without wards?"
Kurama glanced at the short demon, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Trust him? It depends on the situation."
"Kurama." Koenma was beginning to lose his patience.
"Koenma-sama," Kurama responded, his tone annoyingly polite. He turned and looked at Hiei who was ignoring him once again. "Hiei has been in the Ningenkai for almost two years and never killed a human. And while I really don't understand what made him want to use the sword on humans, there was no permanent harm done. As far as I know... " He paused as Hiei turned surprised eyes on him. "Besides, oddly enough, I trust him not to harm me." Well, not intentionally...
Hiei's eyes widened. Then the demon quickly removed any expression from his face. He faced Koenma once more. The prince was obviously having an internal battle. His brows were drawn together as he returned Hiei's gaze.
"Very well. No wards after the mission. But only if you succeed." Koenma narrowed his eyes slightly. "However, if I learn that you've harmed anyone afterwards, I will throw you back in that cell, so plastered with wards that it will hurt you to even breathe. And your sentence will be extended indefinitely. Understood?"
Hiei didn't nod and remained silent. After several seconds, Koenma decided to take his lack of a response as a sign of agreement, assuming that the demon would be vocal about it if he had any problems.
I'm probably going to regret this later...
Koenma turned on the communicator screen and tuned it to Yuusuke's location. He stared in surprise. "Well, I wasn't expecting that..."
"What is it?" asked Kurama.
"Yuusuke has arrived at the Makaigai," Koenma looked up from the screen, "and for whatever reason, there's another human with him."
Kurama approached the desk and leaned over the screen, looking at it upside down. "Do you know who he is?"
Koenma nodded. "He is a friend of Yuusuke's. Very strong rei and sixth sense. And he was the only human in contact with Yuusuke while... never mind." He didn't want to waste time going over that story. "I need to send you both now." He pushed a button on the desk. "And remember what you've both agreed to."
An oni entered the room.
"George, these two need to be sent to the Makaigai immediately."
"Yes, Koenma-sama," said the oni. He gestured for Kurama and Hiei to leave the room.
Hiei bent to pick up his cloak, pulled it back on, then silently walked out of the room. Kurama started to follow.
"Kurama."
He stopped. "Yes?"
"I'm counting on your judgement of Hiei," said Koenma. "If there are any problems, I need you to eliminate them."
Kurama widened his eyes. Then he narrowed them. "You expect me to kill Hiei?" he asked tightly.
"I expect you to take care of any situations that arise," responded the prince. He leaned away from the desk slightly. The look in Kurama's eyes made him nervous. "Protect Yuusuke. And the other human, Kuwabara."
Kurama's eyes remained narrowed. "I will do what I can to protect them. But I will not be an assassin for you. Hiei already considers me a traitor for protecting Yuusuke before. I will not turn on him." He turned and left the room before Koenma could say another word.
The prince leaned back in the chair, pensive. He hadn't planned on the boy feeling any loyalty towards Hiei... But then, he really didn't know enough about Kurama. It was only after he had surrendered to the Reikai that Koenma learned of the boy's true identity. Other than maintaining the barrier between the demon and human realms, the spirit realm had little, if nothing, to do with the activities within the Makai. Koenma would have to do some more research to learn about Kurama's past, since as far as the Reikai records were concerned, the demon Kurama's files began with the theft of the Reikai artifacts.
Youko Kurama... Well, whatever he did or was in the past, he was now Koenma's to command. No, to make requests of... and hope he acquiesces... That one seemed too smart to be a simple pawn. Way too smart. Koenma had a feeling that Kurama would be one to keep an eye on...
He sighed and turned his attention back to the monitor. For now, he would see how the Four Beasts mission played out.
Japanese definitions:
youki: demon energy/aura
makai: demon realm
reikai: spirit realm
ningenkai: human realm