I...am on guilt trip over money spending. Have finals on Tuesday. Both of them. Both count for 25 of grade. And yet, I'm WRITING. What is WRONG with me? ::curls up in tiny ball and begins rocking in a corner:: Oh! Ahahaha! I'm missing TRYOUTS too! YayI'mscrewed.
Disclaimer: Go. Away.
::the smell of truth::
"How do you feel about being bait?" Botan asked.
Blink. Blink.
Yusuke and Kuwabara both burst out laughing. Hiei looked mildly pained. Kurama put one finger up and tapped his chest inquisitively.
"Yes, you," Botan snapped, looking vaguely annoyed. "SHUT UP!" she added. Absolutely no one listened. "In case you hadn't noticed, Ramandai is already looking for Kurama!"
"Ahaha...ha...wha...wait, he is?" Yusuke demanded.
Botan dropped her face into her hands, groaned, then looked up again. "We know where Ramandai is. We know he's looking for Kurama. We can guess he's also looking for Hiei. If we dangle them in front of him, then he just might go after them. Well, go after Kurama again. Therefore..."
"We're bait," Kurama finished. "Works."
"No, it doesn't," Hiei objected. "I'm not bait."
"Right then, I'll go alone," Kurama decided.
"You will not," Yusuke objected. "Not to be harsh, but look at what he did to you already."
Kurama almost smiled. "All the more reason for me to be on my own, yes?"
"Oh, hush, all of you," Botan said impatiently. "Yusuke can't go with him."
"And why not?" Yusuke demanded, sounding outraged.
"You're...um...well, sort of human-ish," Botan said delicately. "Only sort of, but it's still enough."
"So is he!" Yusuke pointed out, flailing in the direction of Kurama.
"And if you're with him, it really screws up my plan," Botan added.
"Why are we following this plan again?" Kuwabara inquired.
"Look," Botan exploded. "We take Kurama and Hiei to the Makai, leave them to whatever they may do, and shadow them until Ramandai shows up! Then you lot take care of him, I report back to Koenma, and everything gets cleared up!"
A cricket decided to start chirping from afar. Brave little bugger.
"...that was a bit loud, wasn't it?" Botan admitted.
Yusuke picked his jaw up off the ground. "Men, she's a genius," he declared.
"Wait a second," Kuwabara began. "How do we – "
"We'll figure it out later," Yusuke shut him up. "We have something going here."
"But we – "
"Later!"
Kuwabara glared, then settled in for a prolonged sulk.
"Question," Kurama advanced.
"Hmm?"
Kurama fixed on his most blinding smile. Hiei looked vaguely annoyed. "I don't suppose you could get Koenma-sama to approve of me acting...oh, say, as though you lot were quite unaware of my actions?"
"You want sanction to steal stuff?" Botan asked suspiciously.
"Erm. Yes?" Kurama tried to look innocent and noble, still smiling in that disturbing fashion.
"...why?"
"Because if I'm acting as a criminal rather than an enforcer of law, he'll be more able to send his people out to get me," Kurama purported. "I mean, I'm sure he's after me because I'm a so-called traitor or some such, but this way speeds things up. Everyone's going to be after me, and he'll want to be first."
"Ooo," Botan said, nodding. "I see. I'll go talk to Koenma-sama, see if we can work out a deal." She promptly hopped aboard her oar and soared up into the sky.
"Now, look, I have a serious question, here!" Kuwabara began.
"Does it have to do with kittens, cute girls, or Kurama's stance?" Yusuke asked suspiciously. Kurama twitched slightly.
"No, it does not!" Kuwabara said angrily.
"Oh. It can wait then," Yusuke said dismissively.
"Urameshiiiiii!"
"Oh, shut up," Hiei said, leaning against Kurama's house idly.
There was a long silence.
"Fox?"
"Er?"
"If this vine doesn't stop copping a feel, everything within fifty feet is going up in fire. We clear?"
"Sure."
Meanwhile, Kuwabara was busy looking frustrated and muttering to himself. He quietly caught himself in the middle of his muttering, doing a double-take towards Hiei. "Hey. Pyromaniac midget with a vine fetish. Why's your – erk?"
Hiei glared up at him along his sword. "You're addressing who now?"
"You reacted," Kuwabara pointed out. "Why's your – "
"I got it!" Botan sing-songed as she screeched to a halt behind him, cutting the tallest boy off. "You've got your clearance, on one condition."
"And that is...?" Kurama demanded, quietly picking the sword out of Kuwabara's jugular and pushing it aside so he could cross between the two combatants.
"If Enma-sama finds out, your death sentence is back on. Both of you."
"How is Enma not supposed to find out?" Hiei demanded, sounding outraged. "And when did I get involved?"
"Koenma-sama will do his best, as will everyone in the lower offices. But if Enma-sama finds out...well..." Botan shuffled a bit. "We could all be executed too, for conspiracy. So we can't guarantee your safety either. Yusuke and Kuwabara might be our executors or killed along with us. Do you have any idea what kind of risk you're taking now?"
Kurama smiled. Botan and Hiei both stared at him slightly oddly. "I like risks."
"Oh lord," Botan muttered. "Anyway, let's be off now."
"What was with the stare?" Yusuke asked Botan as they all shuffled around to get ready for their cross-dimensional trip.
Botan whipped a scroll out of her kimono and dangled it in front of Yusuke's nose. "Read this. And stop wondering where I was keeping that."
Yusuke dragged his mind out of the gutter and opened it to behold two very familiar pictures plastered across a WANTED poster. One of whom had on that exact smile from a few seconds before. "Ah," he said.
"Oh good, you're worried too," Botan said with a sigh.
"Worried? Me? Why worried?" Yusuke asked cluelessly.
"Listen, Urameshi, I still think there's a slight problem. You know that part in the plan where we yeaaaaagh!" The transportation between realms cut Kuwabara off before he could finish the sentence.
Poor guy.
-----
"You two are pretty much on your own now," Botan instructed. "Go to it."
Kurama and Hiei glanced at each other, shrugged, then vanished from sight.
"How'd they do that?" Yusuke wondered.
"Can I speak now?" Kuwabara demanded.
"Yeah, sure," Yusuke said idly.
"One: When did the pyro start cooperating? Two: Why the hell did he have his third eye open until we got here? Three: How the hell are we expected to be able to follow them?"
"Oh, hey, where did they go, anyway?" Yusuke asked.
"Oh bugger," Botan muttered. "Come on, boys. Time for a search party."
(meanwhile)
"Where are we going?" Hiei demanded. "Now that we've shaken off the pack of idiots, do you have any thoughts as to what we're going to do?"
Kurama grinned. "To steal stuff. If I'm back, everyone had better damn well know it."
"That I assumed, but what?"
Kurama screeched to a halt outside a rather large castle. "Mmm...there's a particularly nice jewel in there. I think it might be a ruby. About yea big," he added, holding his hands about half a foot apart. "Carved in the shape of a dragon. Useful for fire mmmph!" Meanwhile, Hiei had grabbed hold of one of Kurama's more dangly locks of hair and used it to drag the taller boy down for snogs.
"Let me guess. Was that a hint to shut up and go get it?" Kurama asked breathlessly.
"..." Hiei raised one eyebrow.
"Actually, I think I'll keep talking," Kurama said cheerily. "I mean, you never know what will – ack! Hey, stop that! No making me bleed before a raid!"
"Stop being conspicuous," Hiei began, "and I'll stop biting you."
Kurama gave this some thought. "You're distracting me," he said plaintively.
"Shiny thing. Now," Hiei ordered.
"Hmm. All right. Where's the nearest guard?"
"Where's the nearest what?"
"I've got to get in somehow," Kurama said, looking innocent.
"By waltzing in the front door?" Hiei demanded.
"...well, I do want people to know I'm here, so I'm being a little showier than I would if someone were hunting me very closely."
"Someone is hunting you closely," Hiei objected as they started around the building towards the gate.
"Yes, well, this is a different kind of hunting," Kurama said. "I want them to come get me. Oh, look, guards." The redhead rummaged through his hair, took out a seed, and popped it into his mouth. "See you inside."
Hiei's instincts warred briefly with his interests, which finally led him to go stand on top of the wall – why the devil is that stupid fox being so damn showy? – and stare as Kurama walked up to the guards.
It didn't help his instincts any that the guards started being quite fascinated in having a very pretty demon sort of thing walk up to them inexplicably. It reaaaalllly didn't help when one of them kissed Kurama to see how he'd react. Closely followed by two others.
It did help when the first guard collapsed to the ground, choking up blood and intestines. He felt even better when the next two followed. Dropping his sword clean through the skull of the fourth and final one managed to make both his instincts and his interests shut up for the time being.
"I don't share," Hiei snapped when Kurama blinked at his sword, then glanced up.
Kurama grinned. "I'm flattered." He then stuck two fingers into his mouth and traced a hole in the gate with saliva. Hiei jumped down to meet him as the redhead pushed the crumbled remains of that part of the gate aside and scrambled through.
"What was that?" Hiei asked the obvious.
Kurama stuck out his tongue impishly. "Acid."
"And you're not screaming in pain, spitting out blood, and dying like them why?"
Kurama put his hands on his hips and glared. "How come you don't incinerate yourself every time you breathe fire?"
"...point. Where's the shiny thing?"
Kurama raised one eyebrow. "You could look for me. They might've moved it in the past two hundred years."
Hiei looked unimpressed, then opened his third eye briefly. "There," he said, pointing to the walls on their immediate left.
"How many walls do I have to go through?" Kurama inquired.
"A lot."
Kurama looked back at the dead guards. "I give us less than five minutes before they raise the alarm. No more breaking walls."
"We are not going through the front door over there."
"No, we're not." Kurama jumped up to the window that sat right next to them, fiddled with the catch for a bit, then flung it open. "Window," he added, stating the obvious.
"...smug bastard."
"Your point is...?" Kurama tossed his hair and grinned, then began running down the hallway.
Hiei waited for Kurama to reach the end of the hall, then caught up as he turned the corner. And promptly stood around waiting for the redhead to turn again. The fourth time he did this maneuver, Kurama screeched to a halt, remarked, "Smartass," and breathed on the lock. The door then swung open.
"You're not going to be able to close the door if you destroy the lock," Hiei pointed out as they tramped inside.
"Oh, that wore off a while ago," Kurama said cheerfully. "That was a lock picking spell. Ooh, shiny," he added. "Get out of the room."
"What the hell?"
"Get out of the room!"
Hiei went, sulking slightly.
Seconds later, Kurama went flying from the room, kicking the door shut before he hit the ground. Hitting the wall hard, he winced slightly before sitting up. "Oh, that's going to bruise," he complained, examining one arm. "I don't think I triggered the alarm, but I'm leaving anyway. You coming?"
"What was that for?"
"Trap spell on this," Kurama twirled the jewel in one hand idly. "I didn't feel like breaking it."
"So you just took it?" Hiei threw his hands in the air. "Idiot! Why didn't you break it?"
"Do you have any idea where we are?" Kurama asked, changing the subject.
"Not in the least," Hiei retorted. "Why?"
"Ah. Never mind. Let's get going, shall we?"
"...riiight." Hiei looked suspiciously at Kurama all the way back to the window and out the gate. He didn't stop until they hit the forest. Of course, what followed the lack of suspicious look was "What the hell is going on?"
"You'll see," Kurama said cheerily.
Hiei looked at him oddly yet again. "You're hiding something."
"Yes, I am," Kurama replied, his tone not changing a whit.
"You're going to get us killed!"
Kurama shrugged. "Well, I'm hoping that doesn't happen."
"How do you know I'll see what's going on?" Hiei demanded. He hadn't liked that answer at all. Especially since he didn't think Kurama was going to be the one delivering the news.
Kurama shrugged. "Well, I was trying to be cataclysmic. You want the shiny thing?"
Hiei glared. "You're. Not. Helping. And why aren't we leaving? I do believe they just figured out someone broke in," he added as a good deal of yelling erupted from the castle. "No idea what they speak, but they don't sound happy."
"We're not leaving because we want Ramandai to come get us, right?" Kurama asked, sounding slightly deranged.
"And he's just going to start ransacking the woods because he knows we'll be out by some random castle how?"
Kurama looked innocent. "Well, it is his castle."
There was a long silence.
"How stupid can you fucking get?!"
Kurama maintained the innocent look.
"The idea was not to go up and feed yourself to one of the nastiest demons in the Makai! The idea was to draw him out! You're not supposedtobe suicidal!"Hiei glared at his still-bloody sword as though it held all the secrets of the universe.
"Well, we do usually just go up to our enemies and say 'Come get me'," Kurama pointed out.
"That's because Yusuke's an idiot!"Hiei made a frustrated snarling noise. "I didn't think it was catching!"
"He uses humans to do his work. How strong can he be?" Kurama asked irritably. "I don't know if he's home, so I'm just going to camp out here until he shows."
"Wait, so you know where he lives and nothing else?" Hiei looked vaguely appalled. "You have no idea how strong he is?"
Kurama tilted his head from side to side. "Erm. Not really. This is different from usual?"
"Yes!"
"What, you're worried about me now?"
"You're fucking insane," Hiei said wonderingly. "You're absolutely insane!"
"I'm aware." Kurama grinned at Hiei.
Hiei blinked. Kurama wasn't looking at him, though. He was looking...over...his...shoulder...?
This, he decided, was prime time to run. He promptly blurred and vanished from sight.
This proved that for today, Hiei was the smart one.
Kurama blinked up at a six-foot-tall humanoid demon with long, pale hair, large dark eyes, and hands with eight claws. "You'd be Ramandai?"
Ramandai looked amused. "Yes."
"Aaaand you want me why?" Kurama folded his arms and looked unimpressed. "You're not a vigilante. You wouldn't try and kill me if you were. I don't think you care about me going with the option to save my life and maybe redeem myself, either. I want a good reason and I want it. Right. Now."
"You have something I want," Ramandai said with a vague, gentle smile.
"What, this?" Kurama held up the gem. "Pull the other one, it's got bells on."
"Well, sort of like that," Ramandai smiled even more widely. "Why do you think I have it?"
Kurama shrugged. "You like fire?"
"Again, sort of like that." Ramandai's pupils were oddly dilated. "I have it as a lure."
"Not for me," Kurama said.
"Not for you," Ramandai confirmed.
Kurama went very, very still. Oh Inari please tell me Hiei figured it out way before I did oh please I have to run! He raked one hand through his hair and stared at the small red seeds in his palm.
"You're moving very slowly for a rose whip," Ramandai pointed out.
"I am," Kurama replied. Shock seemed to have made him even more stupid.
"You're not acting very much like a youko, you know," Ramandai said.
"I know," Kurama said. It was almost a whisper.
Ramandai reached over, causing Kurama to jump back and fling his handful awkwardly at the other demon.
"Fireflower," Ramandai said as the redness exploded. "How...cute."
Why can't I move?
"It's not shock," Ramandai said gently. "It's me."
Kurama's eyes widened. Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Need a spell, need a spell, need a spell...
Ramandai gently lifted the ruby dragon out of Kurama's numb fingers. "I have much better bait now, don't you think? Something even prettier..."
Ka ign phlegis plutonis shemuh...
Nothing happened.
Ka ign phlegis plutonis shemuh...please, please, please work...ka ign phlegis plutonis shemuh...
"Your escape spell won't work," Ramandai said idly. "I'd heard you had a special one, one that overcame all magic. It nullified them by burning away the connection between you and the caster. But nothing to do with fire will ever touch me. Water won't do it either, I'm far too well warded."
Kurama swallowed hard. ...I'm going to die.
Inari help me, I'll die if he...if he...if I...
Why...can't I finish...?
Hiei stared from the overhanging tree for a long minute as Kurama crumpled to the ground.
"An excellent lure," Ramandai said softly. "I will keep denying him things as time passes, for his sins. Movement. Speech. Spells. Thought. Consciousness. Breath. Blood." He smiled up at the tree. "I already got you."
I can't...move...how long have I not been able to move?
Hiei stared at Ramandai. "Fuck. You."
Ramandai grinned. "Exactly."
...oh, that was a bad choice of words, Hiei decided as everything got very dark all of a sudden.
He didn't feel it when he hit the ground.
Hah. Be afraid, for THE PLOT HAS COME AGAIN! Dun dun dun.
KuramasKitsuneGirl: Less than a week, and I won't have to worry about classes for a while...less than a week...
Henrika: Ah, theft. How I love thee for plot-renewal. (psst, when the fight scene occurs, it'll be big. ::nod-nod::)
Na-kun: No, you aren't...really...and I'm glad that people like Yoshiko.
Kerei Kitsune: And he just keeps getting angrier. Mwahah.
Sailor Comet: You have a point on the fifteen minutes thing. But he got pissier anyway, so...::shruglike::
good show on the reviewing...keep it up?
