Tori the Hanyou: Chapter 3 is here! Yay!
Time's Destruction
Chapter 3: Kidnapped by a New Foe
"Wh-WHAT??? HIEI? A CRIMINAL???" yelled Tori. She couldn't believe her ears! Here she'd been waiting for YEARS to see him again, and when she finally finds out anything at all about him, he's friggin turned EVIL!
Yusuke winced, covering his ears.
"Jeez, I forgot how loud you can yell," he muttered, "Yeah, Hiei's a criminal, and that's why we're looking for him. Our boss wants us to bring him in for questioning before he's sent to Spirit Jail."
Kagome, Tori, Kira, Joey, Yugi and Kevin sweat dropped.
"Huh???" came six voices. Kurama sighed, and Kuwabara whapped Yusuke over the head.
"Damnit, Urameshi, you weren't supposed to say THAT much!"
Tori snarled.
"Well he's already said enough to pique MY interest! Now explain!" She glared.
Kagome watched Tori worriedly. Tori never got this upset over anything...except in sixth grade when a boy had grabbed her butt...boy; she'd forgotten how vicious a fighter Tori had become...
So, Kurama proceeded to explain about their current jobs, working for Koenma as Spirit Detectives, not leaving out anything pertaining to Spirit World.
When he was finished, everyone excluding Yusuke and Kuwabara had their mouths dropped to the ground.
"Ok...but this doesn't explain why y'all disappeared," said Kira. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Kagome had it covered.
"YEAH! DO YOU REALIZE HOW WORRIED SICK WE WERE????" she screamed. Kurama winced, and Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at her like she'd grown three heads.
"Where the hell did YOU learn to yell like that?" asked Tori, shocked. Kurama recovered quickly, rubbing his sensitive ears.
"Well, what I was going to say was...that day when we supposedly 'disappeared', as you put it, we went to another city, upon request of Koenma, our boss, and the ruler of Spirit World. He wished for us to go into training so he could make use of our abilities when we grew older. That's where Hiei's negative behavior started. He didn't quite take to the idea of serving Koenma. Hina and Yukina tried to reason with him, and it worked, for a few years. Upon Hiei's turning fifteen, he started to turn rebellious once more, and this time, neither his sister nor his mother could talk sense into him. He left with the promise to come back and make Koenma and the rest of us pay for his years of 'slavery', as he put it."
Everyone was silent, and Tori felt tears brimming in her eyes. All these years...they'd been in training to help fight when they grew older...but that still left one thing unanswered.
"What kind of crimes has he committed so far?" she asked slowly. Kurama got a pained look.
"That's why Koenma wants him in Spirit Jail. In just a few short months, Hiei has developed quite a criminal record. His favorite crime appears to be murder. He always was good with a sword..."
These words hit Tori...hard. She'd never pictured it...Hiei...a killer??? The little boy she used to play with had become a cold-blooded murderer??? The tears spilt over, and she took a step back from Kurama...from all of them. No...he couldn't...
She felt her shoulders tremble violently as she cried for the first time in many years.
"How could you, Hiei?" she whispered, "HOW COULD YOU???" she screamed, making everyone jump. She stood, and took off down the street, her tears streaming behind her, not caring that her super speed was a bit more than obvious. She just wanted to get away, away from them. She needed to think.
"Oh no," started Kagome, and made a move to follow her, but Kurama laid a hand on her shoulder, gently holding her back.
"Let her be. There's nothing we can do right now," he said. Kagome watched her friend worriedly, hoping she was ok.
Kira felt horrible. Her ears drooped sadly as she watched Tori take off. She knew how close Tori and Hiei had been as children. She knew it was horrible to suddenly realize that one of your own friends had turned rotten, a friend you knew so well. She lowered her eyes to the ground and stared at it, wondering what she'd do in her friend's place. She hated seeing any of her friends in pain, and would do anything to take some of the load off. Her eyes closed.
"But why did he hate being a Spirit Detective?" asked Kevin, breaking the silence. Yusuke looked up.
"You would too if you had to endure the fucking torture WE did," he said, "I don't blame the guy for running off!"
"Actually, Yusuke," said Kurama, "It had nothing to do with the training. I know Hiei well enough to say that he enjoyed the training, knowing it was making him stronger; he was about the fastest improver of all of us. The real reason why he hated it was in his nature. Hiei is not a naturally obedient person. He hates to take orders, as you know, and the thought of living the rest of his life taking directions from someone really didn't bode well with him. I'm thinking the first time he spoke against it, he meant it, but he stifled it for his family's sake. The second time, he had hormones and training to fuel his anger, and therefore was able to go through with it."
"And you were gonna tell me this WHEN?" asked Yusuke, irritated.
"I figured you knew," said Kurama. Yusuke fell silent.
"Well, how strong would you say Hiei's gotten now?" asked Yugi.
"As you knew, Yugi, Hiei is a demon, like me. His specialty lies in swordsmanship and speed. Judging by that, I can say we are up against a powerful foe, though that's not exactly the right word to say..." replied Kurama.
"Yeah, just a menace," smarted Kuwabara, sniffing.
"What's your problem?" asked Kira, "You were his friend, too!"
"True, but Hiei and Kuwabara really got on each other's nerves over the years," said Yusuke, "They BOTH became a pain in the ass after a while."
They walked home after a bit, dropping off Yugi and Kevin before taking Kagome and Kira home. They stopped outside the Higurashi property, hesitating.
"Should we tell Mrs. Higurashi about this?" asked Kira. Kagome shook her head.
"It'd be too much at once. We'll wait until things settle down before reintroducing them to my mom," she said. Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara stood talking with them for a while longer.
"Well, I know I'D like to help you guys out," said Kira.
"Me too," agreed Kagome.
"It'll be dangerous," warned Kurama, almost playfully.
"Ha, ha! You should know, Kurama, that danger never has been an obstacle with us," said Kagome.
"Very well then. But you can't say we didn't warn you."
"Don't worry, we won't," said Kagome.
"Hey, you think we should go find Tori? It's getting dark," said Kira. Kurama looked down the street towards the path Tori had taken.
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should. The city IS a dangerous place at night," he said. They agreed, and headed off towards where Kagome said Tori would be.
Indeed, they were right. They came to the park, and found Tori in her favorite tree, dozing. Tears had dried on her cheeks; she'd apparently cried herself to sleep.
Kira hopped up lightly into the tree, poking Tori in the forehead.
"Hey, wakey wake up!" she said. Tori's eyes opened slowly, and she and Kira climbed down the tree and headed home with the others.
"So, where are you guys staying while looking for You-Know-Who?" asked Kagome, not wanting to say Hiei's name, for fear of upsetting Tori again.
"Spirit World, at the moment. We'll be back tomorrow, so you rest up, ok?" asked Kurama.
"Yeah! Sure!" said Kagome. Kira and Tori yawned and headed inside, and Yusuke and Kuwabara started walking down the street.
"Hey Kurama! You coming?" called Yusuke.
"You two go on ahead! I'll meet up with you in a minute!" answered Kurama. Kagome turned to go inside, but Kurama gently took her arm, turning her back towards him. "It's been too long," he said quietly, and Kagome's eyes softened.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Nine years is a long time to not see someone," she said. Kurama smiled.
"I really missed you." Kagome felt a blush creep into her cheeks.
"Yeah, me too."
"It's funny, not a single other girl crossed my mind through those years but you," he whispered, and Kagome felt her eyes widen.
"Really? That was what happened to me too! Well, except, you know, no GUY crossed my mind but you," she said, blushing. He smiled softly, and Kagome felt her heart flutter in a way she hadn't known for many years.
And, before she could react, Kurama had bent his head down, pressing his lips lightly onto hers, and Kagome felt her heart skip a few beats.
As he pulled away, he whispered into her ear.
"I can't tell you how long I waited to do that." Kagome knew her face was red, but all she could do was stare into his eyes unbelievably. He'd KISSED her! The guy she'd been waiting for her whole life...had KISSED her! She felt her breathing rate go up a few notches. He softly smiled at her, and turned to leave.
"Kurama..." she started. He turned to look at her.
She ran up to him and lightly kissed him back. "It feels like forever since I last saw you, and I've been waiting, too," she said, smiling happily.
"Yes, Kagome, it HAS been forever, but the wait is over," said Kurama, "It hurts to say good bye so soon after we've met again, but I daresay you'll need a good rest if you want to help us tomorrow, so, good night." He kissed her on the forehead. Kagome felt like she was going to melt as she watched him walk off into the darkness.
"Good night, Shuiichi."
She walked back into the house, slowly ascending the steps to her room as the memory replayed over and over again. She dressed for bed silently, noticing the lack of noise down the hall that usually occurred when Tori and Sota were playing video games.
She went down the rooms, passing Kira's open door. Kira sat on her bed, listening to a CD player and reading a Teen People magazine while crunching on a big red apple. Kagome continued down, peering into Sota's room. He was playing Spiderman 2 on his X-Box, but Tori wasn't in there.
"Hey, Sota?" she asked. Sota cringed, quickly pausing the game as he turned to his sister.
"Make it snappy! I'm trying to save this guy from falling off a building!" he said.
"Did Tori come in here?" asked Kagome. Sota's annoyed look faded.
"No. It was kinda weird. I even went into her room to ask her if she wanted to play Unreal Championships with me, she loves that game, but she told me she was gonna be on the roof tonight and didn't feel like playing."
"Oh, I see. Well, ok then, you can go back to being Superman now..."
"It's SPIDER Man!"
"Whatever!"
Kagome turned towards Tori's room, the farthest down the hall. She came in and opened the door. The room was dark, and eerily quiet. She walked in and over to Tori's window, which was still open, the curtains blowing in the warm summer breeze.
She carefully clambered out onto the roof, crawling up to the flat part where Tori usually sat. "Tori? You out here?" called Kagome.
Amazingly enough, no answer sounded.
Worried, Kagome crawled up onto the rooftop, looking around. Tori definitely wasn't here.
She turned to leave, when something caught her eye. A small sparkle shimmered in the moonlight. Kagome picked it up, gasping. She scrambled down the roof and back into Tori's window as fast as she could, hurrying back to Sota's room. "Sota!" she called.
"WHAT NOW??" he yelled.
"Are you POSITIVE Tori said she'd be on the roof??"
"Yeah, why?"
"She's not there, and I found this." Kagome extended her hand, revealing a very small book-shaped locket.
"Tori's locket!" exclaimed Sota, "but she never takes that off!"
"I know."
Kira came dashing into the room, squealing as she clutched her Teen People magazine in one hand.
"Oh my GOD, Kagome, you are gonna DIE when you see this pic of Chad Michael Murray!" She froze at the pale looks on Kagome and Sota's faces. "Ok, what's wrong?"
Kagome explained.
"Oh no...you don't think Tori could've been...kidnapped, do you?"
Kagome gulped.
"I dunno, but we DO need to tell my mom about this!"
:Later:
Mrs. Higurashi had called the police to report Tori's disappearance, and when they had come and gone, started calling the neighbors.
She went through every house nearby she could think of, when one person she spoke to piqued her interest.
She hung up, turning to Kagome, Kira and Sota.
"You won't believe this. Mrs. Jurei from down the street says she was walking her little Pomeranian past our house when she saw a black, cloaked figure suddenly jump from our God Tree onto the roof, and she heard some strange, muffled words, before the figure jumped off behind the house."
The three kids paled.
"So she WAS kidnapped."
"But by who??" asked Sota. He was really upset that his favorite video game PIC had gone missing.
"I wish I knew," snarled Kira, "if I ever get my hands on that jerk..."
"Now, now, we can talk about this in the morning. I'm just as upset as you three, but now's not the time to be making rash decisions! It's midnight, and you kids need sleep, summer vacation or not!"
With that said, she ushered them upstairs. Sota whimpered to Kagome that he didn't want to sleep by himself that night.
"What if the kidnapper comes back??" he cried. Kira agreed, and Kagome grudgingly let them sleep on the floor in her room, allowing them to run around and lock the door and window, drawing the blinds before going to sleep.
:The next morning:
Kagome and Kira waited outside the Higurashi property for Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara to show up. Sota and Mrs. Higurashi had decided to stay inside to wait and see if the police called with any other information. Kagome had called all of their friends and told them to meet them outside the front of her yard.
Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara were the first to show.
"Good morning," yawned Yusuke sleepily. He looked at the two girls. "What the hell happened to you? You don't look like you got any better sleep than we did! Stupid ogres..." he muttered.
"Tori's been kidnapped," came Kagome's voice first. Kurama frowned, and Yusuke and Kuwabara snapped out of their morning stupor.
"What??? By who??" asked Kuwabara.
"We don't know. A neighbor says they saw a dark, cloaked figure jump onto our roof and then go back down," said Kira.
"But why would that make you think he did it? Unless Tori was on the roof or something..."
"She was," interrupted Kagome, "and she dropped this, a sure sign that there was a struggle." She showed them the locket. They stared.
"We have no idea who did it, but..."
"I might," said Kurama, "but I'm afraid I'll have to wait to tell you."
"Why?"
Kurama pointed. Yugi, Kevin, Joey, Tristan, Duke, Mai, Serenity and Tea were coming down the street.
"Hey guys!" said Kira.
"Hey Kira, what's all this crap I hear about Tori getting kidnapped?" asked Tristan.
"It's anything but crap, Tristan, it's true," said Kagome.
"Hey, where's Bakura?" asked Kira.
"Dunno, he didn't answer the phone this morning," said Kagome.
"And who are these guys?" asked Duke, pointing at the other three.
After a few brief introductions, Kagome explained the whole scenario.
"Ok, so someone's a rooftop kidnapper. Where are we gonna find any traces of who did it?" asked Joey.
"I think I just confirmed my suspicion," said Kurama. Kagome turned, and he was examining the locket, now open.
"Hey! Tori doesn't want us to look in there!" she said.
"Kagome, this is an important situation, do you really think it matters what Tori would want us to do?" asked Kira.
"Oh...heh, heh...right."
She and Kira came over to see what Kurama was looking at, and gasped. A tiny picture of a seven-year-old Hiei pouncing on top of a giggling six-year-old Tori sat inside the locket's pages.
"How does this confirm your suspicion?" asked Kira, "The guy didn't have to look inside, he could've just accidentally dropped it when grabbing Tori."
"I'm afraid not," said Kurama, "In order to do that, he wouldn't have taken the time to undo the clasp, see?"
Indeed, the chain wasn't broken. The clasp and fastener lay undone. "I think he wanted us to find this. He wanted us to know he'd taken her. But that also leaves another fact unresolved. I know Tori well enough to say she's not the weak, gentle type that can easily be taken advantage of."
"You got that right," said Kira, wincing as she remembered the pounding Tori had given her the morning before.
"So why would the kidnapper take the time to undo the necklace if Tori was thrashing about so violently? Unless of course he put her to sleep. How long had it been before you checked on her, Kagome?"
"Uhh, about five minutes, I think..."
"Exactly. That's not nearly enough time to properly drug her or induce sleeping gas. Another force was at work here."
"Ok, you guys are making my brain hurt," said Joey.
"Join the club," said Yusuke.
"Amen," muttered Kuwabara.
"What kind of other force?" asked Kevin, "What would you say we're up against?"
"Only a very powerful mental force could have lulled her to sleep in such a short time," said Kurama, turning to him.
"And...are we supposed to know anyone who has that kind of power?" asked Tristan.
"Yeah, for all we know, it could have been a crazy psychic who did it," said Tea.
"Or him," said Kurama, pointing to the boy in the picture. Everyone's eyes widened.
:Meanwhile:
Tori groaned, her head pounding beyond belief. What the hell had happened? She felt like she'd been sleeping for hours. She sat up, rubbing her temples to try to ease the headache, when she realized something odd. She was sitting on something cold, hard, and metal, from the smell.
She jumped, staring around her. Once her ligress eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see bars. Bars??? She scurried over to the side, rattling them angrily. Why the hell was she in a giant metal cage??
She crawled back to her spot, suddenly feeling something warm where she was. She snatched it up, and felt it to be a cloak of some kind. This was what had been spread over her while she was sleeping, she deduced. But why try to make her comfortable if she was in a friggin cage? She was already getting claustrophobic. The ceiling of the cage was only four feet high, while the rest of it was about eight feet in diameter.
She felt her heart beginning to pound as her animal instincts sprang up. She growled as she searched for any sign of weakness in the cage walls, and felt all the more constricted when she didn't see any. The door to the cage had a huge padlock on it, the kind requiring a key. Tori calmed herself for a few seconds as she tried to think of ways to open the gate.
She crawled over to it, grasping the cloak about her. It had a pleasant scent to it, the kind that reminded her of the wild...and someone long forgotten. Plus, it was freezing in here!
She came to the lock, examining it. Yeah, a key was required. There was no breaking it off, the lock itself was solid steel, and it was half-rusted from age. She turned to the hinges first before attempting anything with the lock. If she could pry those off...
She drew out her ligress's claws, picking at the hinges with them, trying to pull out the pegs so she could bust down the door. She happily felt the first one come out, and set to work on the second. The hinges were like the lock, old and rusted, but she eventually was able to get all of them out. Now for the fun part. She turned onto her back, propping her feet against the door. She lifted them up, giving them a good slam against the metal. The door fell away, and Tori noticed the lack of clanging. It was a carpeted floor.
Oh well, it had helped. She clambered out the door, deciding to leave the cloak behind. She'd get warm while she was running.
And indeed, she took off, shooting across the room, her heartbeat echoing in her ears. She had only been praying no one had heard the thud of the door falling. She continued racing across the room, heading for the door that she was hoping to be the exit, when...
SLAM!!
She felt a force from behind her tackle her to the ground, and a sinister voice murmured in her ear,
"I knew we shouldn't have locked you in that old cage."
Tori didn't care what it said. She thrashed about violently, struggling to get the great weight off of her so she could run. Chances were, now that she'd been caught, it wouldn't be so easy to escape next time.
She snarled viciously as she tried to bite the hands that pinned her down. The accent surely had been familiar, though. She thrashed so she managed to get a look at her captor's face, and nearly dropped dead, her body slacking.
"B-Bakura???" she said unbelievably. He loosened his grip, and Tori sat straight up to look him in the eye. "Bakura, why are you here?? Did you come to help me?" she asked hopefully. To her ultimate shock, an evil smirk appeared on his face, contorting his features into someone Tori realized she didn't know.
She backed away. "Y-you can't be Bakura! But you look just like him! WHO ARE YOU??"
"I am your friend, Bakura," came the evil voice again, chuckling, "but I guess you can also say I'm his...counterpart."
Tori felt her lungs constrict with a sickening fear. He was in Bakura's body, but now she saw the differences. The brown eyes flashed with maliciousness, and his hair seemed to stand up on end. She then noticed something gold around his neck.
"What's that?" She pointed to it. He clutched it. It was a strange ring with a triangle in the center bearing the same symbol as Yugi's puzzle. Five points hung from the outer edges of it.
"None of your concern," he said, "We need to get you to a better holding place. He will come to see you shortly enough, so he tells me."
"Who's 'He'?" asked Tori. He snickered, giving her chills.
"You'll see."
:Back with the others:
"What?? But why would Hiei kidnap her??" asked Kagome fearfully. Kurama sighed.
"You remember how close they were when they were little?" he asked, "How hard it was to separate them, even when they were fighting?"
"Yeah."
"I'm thinking he either kidnapped her because he has feelings for her, or he kidnapped her for bait so he can kill us, maybe both," said Kurama.
"Ok, if the bait part was true, why not leave some clue as to where to find him?" asked Kevin.
"Hiei must have assumed that we were smart enough to figure it out on our own. Quite a compliment from him, really," answered Kurama.
"But we don't know where he is," said Serenity.
"We'll split up and search the city, then," said Kagome.
So it was decided. They split up into groups of two, deciding that would cover more ground, and set off.
Tori the Hanyou: Yay! Chapter 3 done! Wow, this was long, about 12 pages! Get ready, because the next chapter's already in the works!
CHAPTER TITLE PREVIEW: The Foe Revealed