Rain and Fire

Chapter 18: Showdown With Yakumo


Hiei frowned. Once again, they were heading to Yakumo's castle for a rescue mission. Just his luck. Seeing his most hated enemy for the second time in less than a month.

But...the castle looked much, much different now. It didn't look like a harmless little thing made of grey brick, as it had before. Now, it stood towering in the sky, thunder crackling around it, reflecting off its shiny black surface. It looked like something out of a nightmare...

Why had it changed? Was it something to do with that ritual, the one needed to make the forming of the being "Mizu" permanent?

He had a bad feeling about it, nonetheless...

Yet, surprisingly, when they came to the entrance, there weren't any guards. Live ones, anyways. The bodies of the guards that had been there previously were strewn about the yard, a head here, an arm there. Blood covered the entire front double doors, but Hiei didn't really care. He kicked it open, and was surprised to see one more body present, that of Jiro.

The Head of the Guard's body was plastered to the wall, his eyes still wide in terror. It looked as though something had slammed him into the wall with such might that his body had stuck there.

Hiei realized what had done the gruesome work on the outside, and to Jiro. The Hunters. They'd turned on their own master...which probably mean that Yakumo now controlled them. Great. That was just perfect.

Suddenly, the wall that Jiro was on turned into a mirror, and his body burst into ashes, blowing away with the slight wind that had picked up inside the room.

The others looked around, trying to see if there was some way to get past it, but saw none. Then, there was a small ringing noise, and an echo filled the room. A woman's voice, one that none of them could identify.

Only the one chosen by the gods may enter.

"The one chosen by the gods?" Sesshoumaru repeated. "And who might that be?"

"We'll just have to find out now, won't we?" Huo said, striding up to the mirror wall. He placed his palm on it, and was suddenly thrust back by a blinding white light.

Only the one chosen by the gods may enter.

"Yes, I believe we've established that." Hiei said sarcastically.

"Huo-san, are you alright?" Rydia asked, kneeling down beside the fiery horse demon. He sat up and rubbed his head with a small groan.

"Ow...yeah, I think I'm okay, Rydia."

Hiei walked up to the mirror, and cautiously placed his hand on its reflective surface. To his surprise, it rippled as though it was water, and the ringing sound echoed throughout the room again.

Ah, welcome, one chosen by the gods.

"What?" he asked, mostly to himself.

The hard surface suddenly gave way, and he fell through the mirror.

"Hiei!!" Sesshoumaru exclaimed, running forward. He placed his hands on the now solid mirror, only to have it shock him.

Begone! Only the one chosen by the gods can enter!

Another blinding white light filled the room, and they all shielded their eyes from it. Wind rushed around them, and suddenly, they were all the way in the village of the Demon Slayers.

"What...happened?" Huo asked.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

The silver lord turned around, and saw Rin running towards him. "Rin?"

"What happened?" she asked, coming to a stop beside him. "You all came out of nowhere!"

Sesshoumaru looked back, and saw that a barrier was at the edge of the forest, and must have pushed them all the way back to the village...

"Hiei's gone."

He looked over at Huo. "But what happened to him?"

Huo's eyes were locked on the distant castle. "The gods chose him. This is his battle now, not ours."


Hiei blinked, and realized he was on the other side of the mirror. He looked back, but only saw a wall of grey stone. He cursed, then looked back forward. So, he had to do this on his own, did he? That was fine by him.

There was nothing but a dark hall before him. It seemed to get more and more narrow as it went, and he could very faintly see a small light at the end. Well, it was the only place he could go...

He ran down the hall, keeping his demonic senses alert to anything that might jump out at him, or try to attack. However, nothing did, and he reached the door without incident.

He placed his hand on the doorknob and paused. Not two weeks ago, he'd been preoccupied with killing Youko Kurama, but now...

Now, he was trying to save a girl who was just as Forbidden as he himself was. Trying to save a kindred soul...

He shook his head, and told himself not to think too much about it. Time was against him - he needed to hurry. He opened the door, and was blinded for a second by the bright blue light inside.

He shielded his eyes, and let them have a second to adjust to the brightness of the room. He then moved his arm, and stepped inside, the door slamming firmly shut behind him.

Where was he...?

The entire room was bathed in blue light - there was no furniture, no decoration, no walls, no floor, no ceiling. It looked like a void, yet he didn't fall through the absent ground. And all the light, the beautiful blue light, was coming from Mizu, who was floating in the middle of the "room", her eyes closed and her hair flowing loose from its ponytail.

She wore a different outfit now, no longer the short-sleeved kimono that Sango had lent her. Now, she wore something that was a bit more...exotic. And frankly, more see-through. Several strips of cloth covered her, floating around her like a mist, and she wore a skin-tight suit that looked like pearl - that shiny, metallic silver.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Hiei's hand flew to his katana hilt, his eyes darting about the blue void, searching for Yakumo. He couldn't see him, but he could sense him.

"I never expected Ameratsu to have a child, nor for my daughter to have a daughter of her own. But look at her. She's got Devika's hair, and her beautiful eyes, and she has her grandmother's body, and she's got my power. She's perfect, my little Mizu."

"Enough talk, Yakumo. I know what you're planning, and there's no way I'm going to let you create your own little world."

There, he saw him. Standing about four feet from the glowing Mizu, Yakumo smirked. "Ah, and how do you plan to stop me?"

"I'll start by slitting your throat." Hiei said, drawing his katana and dashing forward.

Yakumo frowned, jumping back to avoid Hiei's attack, but Hiei took another step forward, slashing the other demon across the stomach. Yakumo let out a cry, and drew his own sword from his back.

"You bastard!"

Hiei smirked as he swung again. "Glad the feeling's mututal."

Yakumo growled at him, and suddenly, his sword was crackling with electricity. He thrust it at Hiei, who managed to stay barely out of its reach. Hiei frowned inwardly.

He knew that he and Yakumo were pretty evenly matched - they could keep fighting for hours at a time, and neither would be winning. However, this time, he didn't have hours to spare.

With each passing second, Mizu's pulsing blue aura would get stronger, brighter, and would pulse more rapidly. It looked like there was a small barrier around her, and the closer he got to it, the more like he felt that his energy was being pulled away from him. Maybe that was why, then? When they'd been outside Yakumo's castle, all the trees and wildlife had been dead...

If she really was taking the energy of those around her to power herself up for the destruction of the world, then if he could just get Yakumo close enough to her...

It was worth a try.

He swung at Yakumo with all his might, catching the other demon slightly off guard. It wasn't really Hiei's style to swing, so wildly like that, and he wasn't expecting it.

"Getting desperate, are you, Hiei? The end of the world that scary?" he taunted.

Hiei didn't reply, and instead jumped to the side to avoid a swing from Yakumo. He needed to get himself at an angle so that he could push Yakumo towards Mizu...

But, at the moment, they were both parallel to her, so he wasn't in any position to go through with his plan. He cursd inwardly, and thrust his katana at his enemy. Yakumo smirked, and grabbed Hiei's blade as he dodged. He gave it a hard yank, and Hiei's grip slipped from it.

The crimson-eyed demon tossed Hiei's sword to the side, and ran towards him, his own sword aimed for the fire demon's heart.

But Hiei wasn't defenseless without his katana, and quickly sent his you-ki to his fist, letting it catch fire. He dodged, and punched Yakumo with his flaming fist, and the other demon cried out.

That was it! He was in the right position to push Yakumo into Mizu's barrier!

He summoned all of his strength, and shoved Yakumo, whose eyes widened as he stumbled back, just as Hiei had planned, into Mizu's rapidly pulsing blue aura. For a second, it seemed as though nothing would happen, but then, something snapped. Yakumo's face seemed to drain of all blood, and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull.

He made a strange sort of gurgling noise, and then Hiei had to look away, because he didn't really want to see Yakumo's face as he died. It wasn't that he cared, it was just that he didn't want to see what Mizu could do.

He heard Yakumo's body fall limp to the floor, and he looked back over at Mizu. Her eyes were still closed, and her barrier was still around her. Great...

Now what was he supposed to do?

Suddenly, Mizu's words flashed through his mind.

If something happens...if I...do something bad...do you promise to end it?

His crimson eyes widened. End...it...?

But, no! He couldn't do that. There had to be some other way to stop her power. He couldn't just...do that. But...what other option was there?

He slowly walked around the barrier, so that he was facing her. Her eyes were still closed, her face still peaceful...

How could he possibly bring himself to do that? He felt his energy flowing away from him, towards the growing blue aura that surrounded the girl. But...if she was going to destroy the world...then why couldn't he stop her? Why? What was holding him back?

The humans call it 'love', Hiei.

Love...?

The 'ground' shook, and Hiei quickly regained his balance. That didn't sound good...

He needed to stop Mizu, right now. But...the only way he could think of doing it...

He slowly walked over to where his katana had fallen. He picked it up, reluctantly, trying to ignore the fact that his hand was shaking. He was tired, that's all. That's what he told himself. He was just tired because that damn girl was leeching off his energy.

He walked back in front of her. That's right, he was shaking because that damn girl, that beautiful damn girl, was leeching off his energy. So, he needed to stop her, didn't he?

So then why couldn't he bring himself to do it?

The barrier.

Right, if he tried to kill her, he'd be killed by her barrier. That's what was holding him back.

He frowned. No...that was a lie.

The real reason...

Hiei ran forward, wincing as he entered the glowing aqua light. He could feel invisible hands pulling at his very soul, and it hurt like hell. If he could just reach her...

is because...

His katana hit its mark, and the girl's eyes snapped open. They met Hiei's intense gaze, and her hand went to her chest. She looked down at Hiei's sword, and at the blood running out of her wound, and was surprised to feel a little splash of water on her cheek.

She looked back up at Hiei, at Hiei's pained face. He looked...angry. But then what had that been? Could it have been...a tear?

"Don't give me that look." he growled through his clenched teeth. He drove the katana deeper into her chest, and she smiled.

She wrapped her arms around him, with a small sigh.

"Thank you, Hiei. For...everything."

There was a pain in his own chest. He wouldn't last much longer if he stayed in the barrier. But...he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay there with her.

Blue light surrounded both of them, and Hiei's world went dark.

The real reason...is because...I love you.


Author's Notes: [sniffle] Well, that's it for now! The next chapter is the final one, and there will be an epilogue, as well as a mini-chapter explaining Huo's past, because frankly, I can't really write an ENTIRE story on it. Well...maybe a mini-story. I dunno yet. Well, how was that for a tear-jerker?

And I realize this chapter is terribly short, and I apologize!!!!

NOTE!!!!: I'M GOING TO POST A NEW STORY UNDER THE PEN NAME KITSUNE IN A BUBBLE AS SOON AS I'VE FINISHED THIS STORY AND HOUKI NO MAJO! It'll be good, and well written, and funny, and weird, and it'll have lots of COOL PEOPLE! LOL. Well, I like it very much, anyways. I've already written the first two chapters of it, and I'm loving how it's coming along. It'll probably be one of my best stories yet...and ever notice how I write the first chapter like a pro, then get lazy on the rest? Well, in THIS story, it'll be good that way the whole way through - as much as I can help it. I'll post a small summary of it in the next chapter.


sisko66002: Okies, thank you! I'm glad you didn't think it sucked that bad.

Coodle: Well, you can only wait for two more REAL chapters, and one explaining chapter. It's almost over!

miyako14: HA!! But THIS time, my e-mail works! [cackles madly]

Bronze Dagger: I think I sent you an e-mail...but anyways, it's a story that belongs to a friend of mine, LuckyKoorime, and she's got the first story under her account. You can find it there, and later, I should be posting the next three stories that come after it back on fanfiction after I've revised and re-written them.

WindyRen: I'm glad you think so!

Sarna: Was the last chapter sad or something?

Tears of a Dragon: Oh! Really? That's so cool! I'm happy now! [grins]

Story Weaver1: Actually, Rin was Hajime's child AFTER he met Devika. Because Rain is a year older than Rin.

slave2anime: LOL. Yes.....and I can't picture Sesshoumaru being a pedophile, either.

Chibi Lady: My computer is being SATAN!! It keeps disconecting me from the internet for no apparent reason, and it'll keep me off for hours at a time! Noooooo! And thanks for the compliment! Glad you like the story!

TPM-girl: I'm glad! If you still have a question, don't hesitate to ask!