::11::Old Rivals, New Problems::
Kyou landed hard on his chest, the impact knocking the wind out of him with one sharp breath. Youko kneeled on his back with one leg, his knee digging hard into Kyou's spine, the other leg on the ground, Youko's arm propped up on his bent knee.
"You come with me now, or you die where you lie," Youko said flatly.
"F-fine!" Kyou stuttered.
The kitsune let a small, satisfied smirk grace his pale features as he roughly gripped the collar of Kyou's tattered brown shirt, forcing the youkai to stand. His legs shook uncontrollably under him, barely able to hold his weight as Youko nearly dragged him along the mountain path, back to Kuronue, Yusuke and Hiei.
By the time they got to the makeshift campsite, Kyou couldn't take it anymore - he was simply exhausted, and collapsed to his knees as soon as the the other three youkai were in view. His chest heaved with every heartbeat as he fought for breath, though his troubles went ignored by the kitsune who still kept a tight hold on his collar.
"Here is the spy," Youko announced bluntly, giving Kyou a little shake to emphasize his words. This rattled the youkai's mind, sending the world spinning as blood suddenly rushed to his head. A sharp kick from Youko to the back brought him back to reality, but he felt like wretching right there. Luckily, he was able to supress this and stay conscious at the same time.
Hiei snorted lightly at the pathetic demon, jumping down from his perch in a tree thick with green leaves, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. His blood red eyes showed mild amusement, anger and disgust all mixed together in a swirling mass of fire...the penetrating, calculating gaze made Kyou shiver in Youko's grip, causing a dark chuckle to escape the kitsune's lips.
The scarred bat demon stood up and slowly approached his fox companion, bending down on one knee to scrutinize his prisoner. Shaking his head, his silky black locks fanned out over the wide, tattered brim of his hat as he laughed softly. "His you-ki is pathetic! Kurama, I ask you, why did you ever allow this weakling in your presence?" his laugh grew a bit stronger as his deep violet orbs rose to clash with amber, "My death couldn't have grieved you that much!"
"You're dead, too?!" Kyou shrieked, his pupils dilating to the size of a pencil tip from the fear running through him again. Were these youkai immortal?
Wait...the one with the navy hair...he was not a youkai. Not a pure one, at least. Or...was he?
Kuronue burst out laughing at the demon's fearful statement, standing to his boot-clad feet and folding his bare, muscular arms over the black vest that covered his chest. He shook his head again and leaned against the tree behind him, fixing Youko with a humorous stare.
"At least I don't fraterinize with half-breeds!" Kyou shot back, completely humiliated by the bat youkai's outburst of laughter. And in front of the legendary spirit fox! Kyou could deal with grudges being held against him for past misdeeds, but being down trodden like that...that was way over the top. Despite his traiterous behavior, he highly admired and respected the King of Thieves, which, he realized, was why he wanted him dead so badly...he couldn't stand looking up to someone like that, and felt if he could find a way to get a rid of him, he was, in some way, superior.
But the kitsune had found a way around death, and so apparently did this bat demon, judging from his previous statement.
Kyou turned his head to meet blazing sea green orbs. The half-breed was giving him a glare to match the short demon's fiery red eyes, and his ki was flaring, though invisibly, it could definitely be felt.
"Yusuke..." the name was spoken softly, intent on calming it's owner. Kyou glanced up at the kitsune who spoke what must be the half-breed's name, surprised such a deadly creature could speak so soothingly. For a split second he swore those cold amber orbs flashed a deep, beautiful emerald green as the two syllables were said.
Yusuke took a deep breath as he fought to keep control of his ki. With the you-ki floating in the air in the Makai, his own you-ki was unburying itself and trying to take over his spirit energy...as a result, his temper flared more easily, making him overreact to comments such as "half-breed".
Guess I better get used to it, he decided.
Technically, he wasn't a half-breed but a full youkai...when he came back for the second time, he came back like Raizen, ie, a youkai. However, his blood was also human, which made him a half-breed. It was all rather confusing and contradictory, and Yusuke didn't like to deal with such things, so he labeled himself a half-youkai and was done with it.
"Kurama, do I really have to keep this stupid getup on?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly.
Youko glanced at his friend and shook his head, "There is no need for the wig and contacts now. They know we are here, thanks to this low-class pawn. Knowing the spirit detective is after him may at least make their leader hesitant to attack."
A confused Kyou watched as Yusuke practically tore off the navy wig, running a hand through his own short black hair to unflatten in. Next came the contacts, carelessly tossed onto the ground and revealing dark chocolate brown eyes. They had a slight red tint, and an ever-present glint that just dared you to throw a punch. Typical street kid look, though Yusuke had the power to back himself up.
"Anyhow..." Kuronue finally broke the silence, glancing at the rest of the group, finally landing his amethyst orbs on Kyou and smirking, showing off glinting pearl fangs. They looked longer and sharper than Youko's, making Kyou flinch.
Taking the visual cue of a slight nod from Youko, Hiei withdrew his sword and approached Kyou with slow, threatening steps.
"Now..." he said slowly, swiftly flipping the katana in his grip so the tip pressed up against their prisoner's chin, "tell us about your master. His powers, his weaknesses and his strengths, the army he is building and his power source."
Kyou defiantly snapped his mouth shut, refusing to say a word.
Youko bent down on one knee to be at Kyou's eye level, "You remember when I caught you, Kyou? I said I may not kill you...I suggest you not jeopardize your chances of possibly getting out of this alive..." he whispered the statement so low and quiet the black-eyed prisoner strained to hear...but he caught every word.
"We are all skilled in the art of torture, you weakling, so start talking!" Hiei snarled, deeping the impression his sword was making in the demon's tanned skin.
Kyou gulped, supressing a shriek of fear as he felt the cold steel of the hybrid youkai's katana press harder on his chin. "Fine..." he sighed, trying to calm himself so he didn't stutter and sound more like the fool this group made him out to be, "my master's name is Yakumo-sama."
Everyone but Kuronue's eyes went wide.
"Yakumo?! That bastard is still alive?!" Yusuke shouted angrily, his brown eyes flashing as he fixed Kyou with a penetrating glare, "You better not be lying...!"
"I'm not! Yakumo-sama was nearly killed. He risked using almost all of his life energy to heal himself and was able to flee to the Makai...I think your Reikai classifying system would have ranked him as a lower D-class at that time. But he gained power, and found a ruby pendant near the Palace of Makai -"
"A ruby pendant?" Kuronue tried to keep the shock out of his voice, but it seeped in as emotions flooded through him. Desperation was the strongest, it told him to run to the Palace now and get the pendant - reason, however, was much stronger, and Kuronue gained his composure after a brief moment of losing control.
Youko eyed his bat youkai friend with worry distantly etched into his cold amber eyes - he shouldn't be acting like this. The pendant had never caused a loss of control like that - he got a little touchy if Youko had ever asked to handle or look at it, but nothing like the brief display just shown.
"Interested, are you?" figuring he had the upper hand now, Kyou tried to look as deadly as possible while on his knees, not an easy feat, and not one he really accomplished all that well, "Well, if y-"
"I am NOT in a bargaining mood, Kyou!" Youko snapped, on his feet in an instant to deliver a powerful kick to Kyou's lower back, "And you are in no position to start making offers. Tell us what we want to know, now."
Hiei's sword hadn't moved from it's dangerous position, pointed up Kyou's chin, and he increased pressure for a split second as a warning.
"Yakumo-sama wears the pendant, it keeps him alive. He says he's draining the ruby of it's power, and when he's finished he will need it no longer. He said he will be invincible if he absorbs the pendant's energy! We're stationed at the Palace of Makai, but you probably already know that from your Reikai files or something of the sort...the army he is building consists mainly of low to middle class youkai, and they are all under his power once they enter the Palace. The pendant has hypnotic powers, anyone wishing to join and get a portion of Yakumo-sama's power must succumb to it."
"Is that all we need to know?" Youko addressed the entire group, smirking wickedly. He received three nods as an answer, and roughly bent back Kyou's neck so the demon's black eyes were now staring up at him.
"Now that you have given us the information...we do not need your master coming after us," he said slowly, raising his amber eyes to gaze at his companions for a few moments.
"Hn," Hiei smirked, "yes, our job would be made much more difficult to have Yakumo on our backs."
Withdrawing his katana, he plunged it swiftly through Kyou's heart. The blow was so fast, no sound was uttered from Kyou's lips, but his eyes were wide and blank with the shock. Blood flowed like a waterfall from his chest, spilling down his front in torrents and splashing to the ground. Flecks of the crimson liquid splattered messily onto Hiei's pale face, perfectly matching his blazing crimson orbs. Unfazed by the gorey display, Hiei withdrew his katana and sheathed it, not bothering to rid his face of the bloody specks.
"Ok, now we know who we're dealing with," Yusuke got to his feet and stood beside Kuronue, "we can kick his ass."
::End::Chapter::
Short, I know, forgive me, but I liked the ending right there. It's Yusuke's trademark line! XD