***I've combined the first two chapters, and then reloaded the rest of the
fic, too. Since I combined the first two chappies, I also stuck in an
Interlude there...its in the chapter before this, if you want to read it. And
yes, it does relate to this fic, its actually story-ish.
Disclaimed.
~
Corrections: I think shin ne (which means die) might actually be spelled *shi* ^-^;
-...and it turns out that Kurama actually has five tails, not one...o.o go figure. Not going to bother making the corrections, though...I'm thinking of reloading this whole ficcie once I'm done with it so I don't annoy everyone away. ^-^; I'll just pretending that from here on he grew four more tails or something...
-Combined chapters one and two, because they were annoying me with their shortness.
Unsure: I made up some abilities for Kuronue. Yes, He has his scythes and all, I know. But shouldn't every demon have some kind of power? Tell me if he *does* have something special so I can make up for the crappiness.
~
*typing...in the basement* Oo;
Gomen nasai, Nagem! *wails loudly* And ARIGATOU!
Or...I could be worried about nothing...because my story just might take a completely different twist then Nagem's...hmm...--; *thinks*
You know why this happens to me? THE GODS ARE AGAINST ME! THEY'RE ALL PLOTTING AGAINST ME! *shakes a fist at the ceiling* but I love 'em for their super powers! ^ ~
~
Disclaimer: yes. Or no. Or whichever one says that I don't own it.
Tama-neko: idiot. *I* could type better stories. If I had a keyboard meant for paws, of course.
Me: shaddap, Tama! *sprays him with her trusty hose* ^____^ APRIL FOOL'S! teehee! *hugs a soggy Tama*
Hiei: *soaked but quickly drying~twitches~vein throbs* baka...it's past April Fool's Day. *fireball pops up in his hand* heh... *cackles evilly*
Me: O.O I need another hose... or a fire extinguisher...make that a truck... *Tama hisses in right ear* *glare* make that a truck with a large dalmation...
Hiei: *chucks fireball*
Me: GAAAAAHH!!!
Tama-neko: MREOOOWW!!!
******************************************************
~ "Shi ne." ~
A jagged spiral of blackened ice divided and detonated into seven directions, making its presence an expeditious threat. Hiei was forced to dodge, weave and destroy the onslaught, mentally crossing out a number each time an assault was eliminated.
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two--
He landed gracefully in a defensive crouching position, but readily stood- and then stumbled forward a few inches as a last, unseen, unanticipated blast drilled in from behind. Sharp, splintering shards of coldness dug through the shirt into his unprotected back, drawing trickles of blood that left claret blotches upon the black material.
The koorime hardly flinched. Instead, he rose and sneered contemptuously at his attacker, a faint hint of distress and disbelief lingering in his narrowed scarlet eyes. "Taisei no baka! What the--!" He never had a chance to complete his amply profane question, for at that moment another shard drove deep into his shoulder, others forming as it hit its target.
A subtle rage flared in the back of his thoughts, all disorientation banished by an indignant resentment. If Taisei had calmly sought an apology, and perhaps given an *explanation* he would have refrained from an attack. Regrettably, she was acting foolishly, and so deserved no mercy. Stupidity in others was one of the qualities that he despised in others. The angered apparition jerked the icy stiletto out of his arm without a second thought, inspected the bloodied surface, and careless tossed it away.
-
To a weak human's sight, the youkai may have appeared to teleport from his position to the area directly in front of his foe.
From a more experienced point of view, the performance would have differed vastly. One would have observed the careful unsheathing of the fire demon's katana, the reluctantly aimed thrust into the antagonist's stomach--
-
Hiei withdrew his sword from his contender's body, wiped it clean and bright once more on his tunic, and slid it grimly into the worn scabbard at his waist, pausing to scrutinize its victim.
Taisei's bent form fell with a thud upon the earthen floor and shuddered as the ice misted away. The pale lids that closed tightly over azure eyes were obscured by dark hair splaying across the angled features and slightly pointed ears that defined her as a wolf demon. Crimson liquid flowed freely out of the wound, and her clawed hands clenched and unclenched at the pain.
Seconds passed, and Hiei finally turned away, if somewhat rigidly. Then he walked mutely out of the cavern, leaving the demoness to her probable death.
==========================================================
Botan stretched her arms out towards the cerulean heavens, enjoying the feel of the cool wind in the folds of her kimono and the warm sunshine embracing her skin. Who would have thought that the demonic realm was so magnificent? The brightly glistening treetops beneath the seat of her oar came in a variety of colors, ranging from a solemn deep maroon to a garish pink-green. All of them blurred together prettily as she soared above, tracking the ningens and demon as they hurried forward on a well-trodden path.
But one thing still bothered her: Kurama's only sibling had been quite a few years younger than him. Kinzoku, as was the young kitsune's alias, was not supposed to have even reached a hundred years of age, which was the age at which most demons reached puberty. Yet an older adolescent was what she appeared to be. Was it possible that Reikai's files were incorrect?
Down below, Kazuma was wondering something similar. He had indeed sensed youki emanating from the fox, but only that. No life force, no nothing; just a shimmering silver haze justifying itself as demonic energy. But that was when he looked at her head and midriff. When he looked at her knees and feet, a coppery field of ki practically jumped at him, demanding its existence to be known.
It was quite odd for someone with a keen sight and physic ability such as his to set eyes on an individual who only had life in her shins and feet. He thought about revealing significant piece of information to his fellow 'detective,' (A/N: I put the little marks around detective because I don't think that they're really detectives. I think that Koenma hired them do his dirty work, being the smart ruler he is.) but decided against it after mulling over in his mind about how it would sound.
'Urameshi, Kurama's sister lives in her feet.' The orange-haired Reikai Tantei winced at the very notion. Even he thought it sounded stupid, and subsequently chose to remain silent until he fashioned a more intelligent sounding reply. While he was doing so, Kuwabara nearly tripped over his Shizuru, who produced a glare in his direction.
She had come to a halt (along with the others, and Botan, who had landed her oar) in a shaded glade that harbored an almost invisible shelter that had been dug beneath a mossy granite boulder. To Kazuma's astonishment, his sister did not give him the expected slap. She just turned and continued to stare hard at the fox that had been leading them. Perhaps she had also noticed something strange...
A split second later, he received the second great shock of his day as Kinzoku flickered—literally flickered—and disappeared.
Or at least, the top part of her did. As the Tantei looked on in utter amazement, their goggling roamed down to rest upon a small, wide-eyed kitsune that smiled sweetly and latched itself onto the nearest limb.
From her tightly clutched half-perch on Yusuke's leg, the kit grinned sheepishly at her newly retrieved cohorts.
"So you *are* gonna help me, right?"
(A/N: Kinzoku: imagine Shippou from Inuyasha (which I do not own), only...a little different. Same height, though, I guess...)
==========================================================
Hate.
That was what Karasu felt for the kitsune. That was the emotion that inhabited every cell of his body, every thought that flickered across his mentality. Each movement he made contained a sparking ember of the black, burning rage that had infested his mind since his bereavement.
It had seemed so uncomplicated, so effortless. The restrained kitsune had hardly put up a decent fight in his pathetic ningen form, letting his emotions flare across his countenance in a marvelously appealing exhibit of pain. He should have known he was being too secure in his manner. It had been evident that the other's power was rising, but he had paid no attention. Thus, all of his sorrows may have been the consequence of a fault of his own.
Surprisingly enough, a plant had brought about his demise. A beastly, demonically summoned plant, but a plant nonetheless.
Now, deep, marring wounds twisted themselves across the demon's once elegant, beautiful figure;
never to bleed again,
never to be healed,
never to be scars,
never to cause death.
Death. So simple a word, yet so much pain it caused when denied to one's soul.
Is there anything worse than death?
The raven-haired youkai was one of many who knew the answer to the ever- asked question.
Yes.
Torture, rape, and witnessing the pain and murder of close friends and family were just a few examples, the last being openly scorned in Makai. All of these paled, however, when compared to the bomb demon's ordeal.
He had assumed a condition that some might have called immortality, others an undead monster. Karasu himself perceived his present state as withered husk, a flawed shell of his former self.
Who was to blame?
The answer was simple:
Youko Kurama.
=====================================
"FOUND IT! Foundit foundit FOUND IT!" he crowed stridently. Twitching ears extending, Jin kicked up his feet with glee, and began to float upwards, a peculiar habit he had acquired in high levels of joy.
"MATTE!" Touya grabbed the elf's ankles to keep him from crashing into the wall and making it stretch again. "Stop that! You'll end up having to find it all over again!" He berated the wind master while dragging him down to a lower altitude.
Kuronue flapped over, his face wearing a perplexed expression. "So. Now what?"
"We figure out how to open it up more- without applying any pressure to it. I'd say...anything much heavier than a few flies."
"NANI?" the wind youkai was jerked out of his exultant state, and he groaned as if he were about to vomit. "How big are these flies?" he asked hopefully.
His comrade shrugged. "The ones around the size of a fingernail, I guess."
"Well...shit. Then we're screwed." The observant comment came from a chimera.
"We could try using youki, but then we would have to locate it again."
"..."
"We *AIN'T* doing that. Ehh...whot *else* should w' do?"
"I can't do squat, and neither can you two. Basically we're stuck until the psycho that imprisoned us decides to come along and free us."
The ice master raised an arched eyebrow. "Why can't you do anything? You never *did* tell us what your abilities were."
"Nothing much." The thief shifted uneasily, conjuring a false grin. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does! Why, s't that you're weak? That doesn't matter a bit! Even D class c' probably break this stupid thing if we could jus' *touch* it!" Jin accented the word "touch" with an incensed gesticulation, failing to remember that the demon he was conversing with had been one of the greatest thieves to ever live-- which meant that there was virtually no chance that he was anything less than C class.
"No..."
"What is it?" Touya inquired unwearyingly.
"Music." Kuronue said, wincing slightly. A happy tune was not a coveted power in the demonic realm. Most youkai scorned anything cheerier than a war chant that shouted with bloodlust. He also knew what false thoughts of hope would occur in his acquaintances' minds...
"Music!" Jin exclaimed, "Why the 'ell didn't 'cha say so b'fore? Thank Enma! WE'RE SAVED!"
"Not exactly." The remark earned its narrator an incredulous stare.
"What?"
*
"WHADDAYA MEAN, YE DON'T HAVE YER NECKLACE!?" The elf's normally cocky stance drooped considerably.
"I *had* it!" Kuronue protested, "And I brought it with me, I'm sure of it! But it fell off sometime before I met you. It's probably lying around here somewhere. Besides, even if I had it" For the second time in that hour, he felt a fervent desire for the ornament.
The master of ice had remained silent throughout the exchange, but spoke up, a note of humor suppressing itself in his voice. "Can't you just whistle?"
Sullen silence was all the answer that was given.
//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//
^_____^
-
P.S., About the tails:
Kitsunes are supposed to grow more tails as they grow older or more powerful. Too bad Youko doesn't have a specified number of tails. I went to about ten million different sites, and the numbers I got were 1,2,3,4,5,7, and 9. Why the people decided to skip 6 and 8, I'll never know. --; The majority seemed to be five, so that's what it'll be for now.
~*~
Japanese vocabulary:
Matte- wait
~no baka- ~you idiot (~ = the name)
~*~
PPS: I don't own Tama-neko! He (She? *Tama growls*) was created by Yu Watase, creator of Fushigi Yuugi. Arigatou for creating the beast, Watase- sama! *bows*
PPPS: PRESS THE BUTTON! PRESS THE LITTLE PURPLE BUTTON! OR OT SHALL EAT YOU! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!
Note: Snowfall heart Kurama. Snowfall heart Hiei. Snowfall is like Hiei in many personality traits, only happier, but Snowfall hearts Kurama more than Hiei. However, Snowfall finds it easier to annoy Hiei in her notes.
Hiei: *sarcastic* ...thanks...
Continuation of Note: Snowfall in unavailable at this time. Snowfall has gone to hug Hiei into a pulp...Snowfall wishes for you to leave a message after the *beeeeep*
*
Just to let you know, to make up for the lack of Kurama in the past chapters, the next one will be about mostly him. That's right (almost) ALL about my silve-red bishie! ^_^
Disclaimed.
~
Corrections: I think shin ne (which means die) might actually be spelled *shi* ^-^;
-...and it turns out that Kurama actually has five tails, not one...o.o go figure. Not going to bother making the corrections, though...I'm thinking of reloading this whole ficcie once I'm done with it so I don't annoy everyone away. ^-^; I'll just pretending that from here on he grew four more tails or something...
-Combined chapters one and two, because they were annoying me with their shortness.
Unsure: I made up some abilities for Kuronue. Yes, He has his scythes and all, I know. But shouldn't every demon have some kind of power? Tell me if he *does* have something special so I can make up for the crappiness.
~
*typing...in the basement* Oo;
Gomen nasai, Nagem! *wails loudly* And ARIGATOU!
Or...I could be worried about nothing...because my story just might take a completely different twist then Nagem's...hmm...--; *thinks*
You know why this happens to me? THE GODS ARE AGAINST ME! THEY'RE ALL PLOTTING AGAINST ME! *shakes a fist at the ceiling* but I love 'em for their super powers! ^ ~
~
Disclaimer: yes. Or no. Or whichever one says that I don't own it.
Tama-neko: idiot. *I* could type better stories. If I had a keyboard meant for paws, of course.
Me: shaddap, Tama! *sprays him with her trusty hose* ^____^ APRIL FOOL'S! teehee! *hugs a soggy Tama*
Hiei: *soaked but quickly drying~twitches~vein throbs* baka...it's past April Fool's Day. *fireball pops up in his hand* heh... *cackles evilly*
Me: O.O I need another hose... or a fire extinguisher...make that a truck... *Tama hisses in right ear* *glare* make that a truck with a large dalmation...
Hiei: *chucks fireball*
Me: GAAAAAHH!!!
Tama-neko: MREOOOWW!!!
******************************************************
~ "Shi ne." ~
A jagged spiral of blackened ice divided and detonated into seven directions, making its presence an expeditious threat. Hiei was forced to dodge, weave and destroy the onslaught, mentally crossing out a number each time an assault was eliminated.
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two--
He landed gracefully in a defensive crouching position, but readily stood- and then stumbled forward a few inches as a last, unseen, unanticipated blast drilled in from behind. Sharp, splintering shards of coldness dug through the shirt into his unprotected back, drawing trickles of blood that left claret blotches upon the black material.
The koorime hardly flinched. Instead, he rose and sneered contemptuously at his attacker, a faint hint of distress and disbelief lingering in his narrowed scarlet eyes. "Taisei no baka! What the--!" He never had a chance to complete his amply profane question, for at that moment another shard drove deep into his shoulder, others forming as it hit its target.
A subtle rage flared in the back of his thoughts, all disorientation banished by an indignant resentment. If Taisei had calmly sought an apology, and perhaps given an *explanation* he would have refrained from an attack. Regrettably, she was acting foolishly, and so deserved no mercy. Stupidity in others was one of the qualities that he despised in others. The angered apparition jerked the icy stiletto out of his arm without a second thought, inspected the bloodied surface, and careless tossed it away.
-
To a weak human's sight, the youkai may have appeared to teleport from his position to the area directly in front of his foe.
From a more experienced point of view, the performance would have differed vastly. One would have observed the careful unsheathing of the fire demon's katana, the reluctantly aimed thrust into the antagonist's stomach--
-
Hiei withdrew his sword from his contender's body, wiped it clean and bright once more on his tunic, and slid it grimly into the worn scabbard at his waist, pausing to scrutinize its victim.
Taisei's bent form fell with a thud upon the earthen floor and shuddered as the ice misted away. The pale lids that closed tightly over azure eyes were obscured by dark hair splaying across the angled features and slightly pointed ears that defined her as a wolf demon. Crimson liquid flowed freely out of the wound, and her clawed hands clenched and unclenched at the pain.
Seconds passed, and Hiei finally turned away, if somewhat rigidly. Then he walked mutely out of the cavern, leaving the demoness to her probable death.
==========================================================
Botan stretched her arms out towards the cerulean heavens, enjoying the feel of the cool wind in the folds of her kimono and the warm sunshine embracing her skin. Who would have thought that the demonic realm was so magnificent? The brightly glistening treetops beneath the seat of her oar came in a variety of colors, ranging from a solemn deep maroon to a garish pink-green. All of them blurred together prettily as she soared above, tracking the ningens and demon as they hurried forward on a well-trodden path.
But one thing still bothered her: Kurama's only sibling had been quite a few years younger than him. Kinzoku, as was the young kitsune's alias, was not supposed to have even reached a hundred years of age, which was the age at which most demons reached puberty. Yet an older adolescent was what she appeared to be. Was it possible that Reikai's files were incorrect?
Down below, Kazuma was wondering something similar. He had indeed sensed youki emanating from the fox, but only that. No life force, no nothing; just a shimmering silver haze justifying itself as demonic energy. But that was when he looked at her head and midriff. When he looked at her knees and feet, a coppery field of ki practically jumped at him, demanding its existence to be known.
It was quite odd for someone with a keen sight and physic ability such as his to set eyes on an individual who only had life in her shins and feet. He thought about revealing significant piece of information to his fellow 'detective,' (A/N: I put the little marks around detective because I don't think that they're really detectives. I think that Koenma hired them do his dirty work, being the smart ruler he is.) but decided against it after mulling over in his mind about how it would sound.
'Urameshi, Kurama's sister lives in her feet.' The orange-haired Reikai Tantei winced at the very notion. Even he thought it sounded stupid, and subsequently chose to remain silent until he fashioned a more intelligent sounding reply. While he was doing so, Kuwabara nearly tripped over his Shizuru, who produced a glare in his direction.
She had come to a halt (along with the others, and Botan, who had landed her oar) in a shaded glade that harbored an almost invisible shelter that had been dug beneath a mossy granite boulder. To Kazuma's astonishment, his sister did not give him the expected slap. She just turned and continued to stare hard at the fox that had been leading them. Perhaps she had also noticed something strange...
A split second later, he received the second great shock of his day as Kinzoku flickered—literally flickered—and disappeared.
Or at least, the top part of her did. As the Tantei looked on in utter amazement, their goggling roamed down to rest upon a small, wide-eyed kitsune that smiled sweetly and latched itself onto the nearest limb.
From her tightly clutched half-perch on Yusuke's leg, the kit grinned sheepishly at her newly retrieved cohorts.
"So you *are* gonna help me, right?"
(A/N: Kinzoku: imagine Shippou from Inuyasha (which I do not own), only...a little different. Same height, though, I guess...)
==========================================================
Hate.
That was what Karasu felt for the kitsune. That was the emotion that inhabited every cell of his body, every thought that flickered across his mentality. Each movement he made contained a sparking ember of the black, burning rage that had infested his mind since his bereavement.
It had seemed so uncomplicated, so effortless. The restrained kitsune had hardly put up a decent fight in his pathetic ningen form, letting his emotions flare across his countenance in a marvelously appealing exhibit of pain. He should have known he was being too secure in his manner. It had been evident that the other's power was rising, but he had paid no attention. Thus, all of his sorrows may have been the consequence of a fault of his own.
Surprisingly enough, a plant had brought about his demise. A beastly, demonically summoned plant, but a plant nonetheless.
Now, deep, marring wounds twisted themselves across the demon's once elegant, beautiful figure;
never to bleed again,
never to be healed,
never to be scars,
never to cause death.
Death. So simple a word, yet so much pain it caused when denied to one's soul.
Is there anything worse than death?
The raven-haired youkai was one of many who knew the answer to the ever- asked question.
Yes.
Torture, rape, and witnessing the pain and murder of close friends and family were just a few examples, the last being openly scorned in Makai. All of these paled, however, when compared to the bomb demon's ordeal.
He had assumed a condition that some might have called immortality, others an undead monster. Karasu himself perceived his present state as withered husk, a flawed shell of his former self.
Who was to blame?
The answer was simple:
Youko Kurama.
=====================================
"FOUND IT! Foundit foundit FOUND IT!" he crowed stridently. Twitching ears extending, Jin kicked up his feet with glee, and began to float upwards, a peculiar habit he had acquired in high levels of joy.
"MATTE!" Touya grabbed the elf's ankles to keep him from crashing into the wall and making it stretch again. "Stop that! You'll end up having to find it all over again!" He berated the wind master while dragging him down to a lower altitude.
Kuronue flapped over, his face wearing a perplexed expression. "So. Now what?"
"We figure out how to open it up more- without applying any pressure to it. I'd say...anything much heavier than a few flies."
"NANI?" the wind youkai was jerked out of his exultant state, and he groaned as if he were about to vomit. "How big are these flies?" he asked hopefully.
His comrade shrugged. "The ones around the size of a fingernail, I guess."
"Well...shit. Then we're screwed." The observant comment came from a chimera.
"We could try using youki, but then we would have to locate it again."
"..."
"We *AIN'T* doing that. Ehh...whot *else* should w' do?"
"I can't do squat, and neither can you two. Basically we're stuck until the psycho that imprisoned us decides to come along and free us."
The ice master raised an arched eyebrow. "Why can't you do anything? You never *did* tell us what your abilities were."
"Nothing much." The thief shifted uneasily, conjuring a false grin. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does! Why, s't that you're weak? That doesn't matter a bit! Even D class c' probably break this stupid thing if we could jus' *touch* it!" Jin accented the word "touch" with an incensed gesticulation, failing to remember that the demon he was conversing with had been one of the greatest thieves to ever live-- which meant that there was virtually no chance that he was anything less than C class.
"No..."
"What is it?" Touya inquired unwearyingly.
"Music." Kuronue said, wincing slightly. A happy tune was not a coveted power in the demonic realm. Most youkai scorned anything cheerier than a war chant that shouted with bloodlust. He also knew what false thoughts of hope would occur in his acquaintances' minds...
"Music!" Jin exclaimed, "Why the 'ell didn't 'cha say so b'fore? Thank Enma! WE'RE SAVED!"
"Not exactly." The remark earned its narrator an incredulous stare.
"What?"
*
"WHADDAYA MEAN, YE DON'T HAVE YER NECKLACE!?" The elf's normally cocky stance drooped considerably.
"I *had* it!" Kuronue protested, "And I brought it with me, I'm sure of it! But it fell off sometime before I met you. It's probably lying around here somewhere. Besides, even if I had it" For the second time in that hour, he felt a fervent desire for the ornament.
The master of ice had remained silent throughout the exchange, but spoke up, a note of humor suppressing itself in his voice. "Can't you just whistle?"
Sullen silence was all the answer that was given.
//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\ //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//
^_____^
-
P.S., About the tails:
Kitsunes are supposed to grow more tails as they grow older or more powerful. Too bad Youko doesn't have a specified number of tails. I went to about ten million different sites, and the numbers I got were 1,2,3,4,5,7, and 9. Why the people decided to skip 6 and 8, I'll never know. --; The majority seemed to be five, so that's what it'll be for now.
~*~
Japanese vocabulary:
Matte- wait
~no baka- ~you idiot (~ = the name)
~*~
PPS: I don't own Tama-neko! He (She? *Tama growls*) was created by Yu Watase, creator of Fushigi Yuugi. Arigatou for creating the beast, Watase- sama! *bows*
PPPS: PRESS THE BUTTON! PRESS THE LITTLE PURPLE BUTTON! OR OT SHALL EAT YOU! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!
Note: Snowfall heart Kurama. Snowfall heart Hiei. Snowfall is like Hiei in many personality traits, only happier, but Snowfall hearts Kurama more than Hiei. However, Snowfall finds it easier to annoy Hiei in her notes.
Hiei: *sarcastic* ...thanks...
Continuation of Note: Snowfall in unavailable at this time. Snowfall has gone to hug Hiei into a pulp...Snowfall wishes for you to leave a message after the *beeeeep*
*
Just to let you know, to make up for the lack of Kurama in the past chapters, the next one will be about mostly him. That's right (almost) ALL about my silve-red bishie! ^_^