At long last! I've updated! There's only going to be one more chapter after this.
Disclaimer: black mirage does not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters.
Chapter Nine: Farewell
Walking. Walking. Walking. That's all they had been doing all day. Walking. Walking. Walking. "Hiei!" Keiko yelled. "Must you walk so fast? Honestly…"
Hiei didn't look back. "Hn. You're just too slow."
Keiko rolled her eyes as she continued following Hiei up the side of a mountain. "Are you going to tell me yet where we're going?"
"No."
Keiko sighed. "Please?"
"No," was Hiei's sharp reply.
Keiko sighed. 'So much for that.' Slipping, she grabbed on to the first thing in front of her, and what do you know? It's Hiei's foot.
"Onna." Hiei growled, looking back at her. "Let go."
Keiko blushed and stood up, leaning on a small tree for balance. "What is the big secret? Hm? Won't you just tell me?"
"I said no. Don't ask again."
"Boys…" she mumbled, reluctantly following him as he continued. She had to admit, it wasn't a bad view from where she was walking. 'Oh! Bad thoughts, Keiko. Bad thoughts!' She scolded herself. 'We're in the middle of Makai and I'm having perverted thoughts about a short, fire demon!' Grumbling loudly, she stomped her foot with every step. 'This is going to be a long day.'
Night was slowly creeping up. Yusuke sat before the fire he had made, thinking of what he was going to do once he found them. The blaze danced merrily (A/N: Fires really are happy blazing, you know.) in front of him, casting shadows across his face. Something wasn't right. He flipped open the communicator. "Koenma!" he shouted. Koenma's face appeared on the screen.
"Yes?" Koenma looked very annoyed. He had probably just woken up from a nap.
"What's up with Hiei?" Yusuke asked, leaving no room for argument.
Koenma sighed. This wasn't going to be easy to explain. "Well, first, where are you?"
"In Makai, where Hiei led me!"
"What are you talking about, Yusuke?" Koenma asked, looking bewildered.
"What am I talking about? I'm talking about Keiko being gone, and me finding a note written by Hiei threatening her! So, if you can't connect the dots, you really are dumber than I thought." Yusuke glared at the Prince of the Spirit World.
Koenma looked to the side for a second. 'This can't be happening! I should have never trusted Hiei.' "You remember how Keiko was taking care of him, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, the poison in him wasn't…curable." Koenma closed his eyes. Why was he being interrogated so often?
"What do you mean?" Yusuke growled.
"The demon that did this is named Shin. He's a very powerful demon that injects poison into his victims, causing them to turn slowly into humans." Koenma took in a lungful of air.
Yusuke's face continuously got paler during that explanation.
"But that's not it. The only known way, that I've found, to stop it, is by sacrificing a human. Shin seems to have the only antidote. Hiei just happened to be getting closer to Keiko."
"Hiei's cruel, but would he really do that?" Yusuke asked, trying to reassure himself that Hiei wouldn't harm her.
"True, but Hiei also despises weakness. I don't think anything can stop him from sacrificing her if you don't get up there. Even then, you might be too late." A grave look came upon Koenma's face.
"Keiko has to stay safe," Yusuke said.
"I'm sending Kurama and Kuwabara into Makai to meet up with you. They'll send up a signal when they get there. Find them," Koenma ordered.
Yusuke nodded. "Make it quick or I won't wait." He closed the communicator and sat back. Things were going to get messy.
"Yes!" he hissed, dismissing the neko-youkai. "He's on his way…" He sat back in his chair, looking at the papers in front of him on the desk. "I'll just have to cancel my meetings and wait for this fire demon. It won't be long…"
"Hiei…" she gasped, looking down from the cliff. "Is this the surprise?" She turned to look at him with a hopeful expression.
Hiei simply looked at her and motioned for her to follow him. They continued down the steep path. Keiko looked at the sky, smiling at the beauty of it. She still wasn't quite sure if she believed that Hiei didn't write that note. Something was up. Why would Hiei bring her here, to a castle?
As they approached the front gates, a couple of neko-youkai stood in front of them. The one on the right spoke first, "State your business." The demon looked at Hiei with a bored expression plastered on his face.
"Move or I'll slit your throat," Hiei growled.
The guards started laughing. "A shrimp like you?" the one on the left said, just before he saw a sword coming at him.
Keiko stood there, a hand to her mouth. "Hiei?" she asked softly. She stared at the two lifeless bodies in front of her, a look of repulsion on her face.
"Come," Hiei said, taking her into his arms and jumping over the gates. They walked up the path surrounded by sakura trees.
"It's so pretty…" Keiko mumbled to herself, holding out her hand to catch the falling petals. They reached the large double doors and stopped. Keiko jumped when it swung open seemingly by itself.
"Follow me," the awaiting demon behind the doors said.
The long hallway was beautiful. Keiko couldn't help but think so. Torches lined it, illuminating the marble walls. A red carpet adorned the floor. Keiko's feet seemed to bounce from its surprising softness. After passing many doors leading away from the main hall, they reached the end. In front of the pair loomed a set of jet-black doors. From what Keiko could see, there seemed to be no way to open it. Her dilemma was solved when they opened themselves. 'This place seems to have a thing for self-opening doors.' Keiko thought. Upon seeing the inside room and the figure sitting behind the desk, she had a feeling that this wasn't exactly going to be a pleasant event for her.
"Finally!" Yusuke shouted at the two. "I was about to leave. You're lucky you got here in time." He turned around and headed in the direction of the mountains with Kurama and Kuwabara following him.
"Koenma did not tell us why we were being sent here. Perhaps you would like to explain?" Kurama looked expectantly at Yusuke as he walked beside him.
The spirit detective's eyes hardened as he explained the situation.
"Hiei wouldn't do something like that, would he?" Kuwabara asked.
"That's what I said. Apparently he would," Yusuke said, sighing.
"It seems Hiei has gotten himself into quite the mess. I don't want to believe that we might have to kill him," Kurama said. His face grew taut as he said this.
"We'll do what it takes." Yusuke frowned. He didn't want to have to harm someone he had grown to know as a friend, but he wouldn't let anything happen to Keiko either.
"At long last, Hiei Jaganshi," the figure said, shrouded in darkness.
"Show yourself, Shin," Hiei growled out his name like it was poison on his tongue.
The demon shook his finger at Hiei, as if he was reprimanding a child. "There's no need to get violent over this, Hiei. Just hand over the girl and we can all leave in peace. Well," he laughed, continuing, "except for the girl of course."
"Hiei? What is he talking about?" Keiko asked, her eyes wide with fear.
Hiei ignored her. He continued to glare at Shin. "I will not deal with a coward. Show yourself!"
"As you wish," he replied in a mocking tone. He snapped his fingers, causing the room to light up.
"Hn. The only resemblance I see is the eyes and hair color."
"You should be honored, Hiei, to look like someone as powerful as me," Shin said cockily.
Hiei snorted. "Don't be a fool. Someone like you should die a slow torturous death and rot for eternity in hell."
"It seems we have a few…not so kind feelings between us. I suppose we better just get this over with or neither of us will get what we want." Shin stood up and walked over to Keiko, smiling at the fear written on her face. "Ah, what a pretty human, Hiei. I'm surprised she remains a virgin. I was getting worried when you hadn't paid a visit yet." His dark hair fell in his face as he took Keiko's chin with his claws. She scowled at him and jerked away. "Spirited, too," he laughed.
"Our deal," Hiei reminded him. He glared as the demon walked over to his desk, extracting a potion from a drawer and placing it on top of scattered pieces of paper. The liquid shone a deep, ruby red. Flashes of emerald erupted within it. Hiei quickly walked over to it, but was stopped when Shin stepped in front of him.
"I have one more…request before you leave. You must watch me kill the girl." His eyes grew cloudy with blood lust as he gazed at Keiko.
"Hiei! Stop this! You're scaring me!" She ran over to him and grabbed his arm. "Let's go," she pleaded, her eyes growing wide when he simply unlatched her, snatched the potion, and nodded his head.
He figured he might as well get this over with. It wouldn't make any difference to watch the scene, no matter how pissed he was that this demon thought he could boss him around.
"I smell him," Kurama said. He glanced at Yusuke who nodded.
"Where?"
"Near the gates to that castle. It disappears after that. The castle must have a shield around it." The redhead had his hands in his pockets, giving off a careless demeanor. Yusuke knew better, though, when he looked at his companion's eyes. They blazed with an emotion he couldn't quite place.
"That shrimp better not have hurt Keiko or I won't go easy on him," Kuwabara said in a voice resembling a growl. The trio walked up to the gates and noticed the dead guards. "Why didn't they send new ones?" Kuwabara asked.
Yusuke snorted. "Hiei probably has Shin occupied right now." Yusuke looked at the gates and rolled his eyes. "This is too easy. SPIRIT GUN!" He pointed his finger at the gates, blasting them away with his attack. They stepped through and raced towards the entrance to the castle.
"Hiei! Tell me what is going on! Please!" Keiko looked at Hiei with disbelief written on her face.
"My dear girl. He didn't tell you on your way here?" Shin asked, grinning. Keiko shook her head slowly, still trying to figure out what was going on. Had Hiei betrayed her? Was this a joke? "Well, since my poison was slowly turning him human, he came here to sacrifice you."
Keiko gasped. "You're the demon that attacked him?" Her mind reeled with her thoughts.
"Of course. So, he came here to get the reversal potion in exchange for you." Shin smiled maliciously at the expressions Keiko displayed. Oh, he was enjoying this.
Keiko looked at Hiei in disbelief and confusion. "Tell me he's lying, Hiei."
Hiei only looked at her and then down to the potion he held in his hands. He couldn't look at her any longer. Something inside of him was gnawing its way out and he didn't like the foreign feeling. No, he wouldn't stop now. Not when he was so close. Not when he could risk the chance of turning human and becoming weak. He wouldn't become weak. She wasn't worth it.
"No," she whispered. She shook her head slowly, her hair obscuring her vision. She turned to look for a way out but was thrown against the wall by a pair of strong arms. The breath knocked out of her, she looked up to see Shin smiling at her.
"Don't even think about it. Remember, we must put on a show for the delivery boy." He advanced upon her and took her by the throat, holding her against the wall.
She couldn't breath. She couldn't touch the ground. Her feet just barely grazed it, unfortunately, not enough so that she could gain any leverage to run. "Hiei," she choked out, "help. Please." She started kicking her legs but was dropped right before she lost all oxygen.
"That wouldn't have been any fun. What's the point if there's no blood?" Shin asked, wagging his finger at her.
Hiei watched all of this, his eyes blazing with fury. He was hurting her. He didn't think that it would turn out this way, but this feeling deep inside of him wouldn't allow anyone else to touch her. His fist clenched more and more. He didn't care anymore how weak he would be. All he knew was that she couldn't come to any harm.
Shin threw her across the room again, earning him a loud crack as her body hit the opposite wall. Her scream was cut short as she slumped to the ground, her breath caught in her throat. She didn't know how much longer she could last. His advancing form filled her with fear. His blood red eyes reminded her of her betrayer. Her heart broke and she found herself not caring if she died. She wouldn't be able to live with the fact that after all, Hiei didn't care about her. A loud shatter resounded in the room as the potion bottle was dropped and Hiei rushed forward to Shin with his sword drawn. "HIEI!" Keiko cried as she noticed that Shin was armed as well. It was too late. She struggled to her knees, her fist clenched to her chest as the blood spattered on the floor. Neither of them missed their targets.
"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, slamming open the doors, followed by Kurama and Kuwabara. They froze. Hiei had thrust his sword through Shin's chest. All of them noticed, however, that Shin's sword had done the same to Hiei. The demons stood there, facing each other with a look of hatred and disbelief. Hiei withdrew his sword and backed out of the steel imbedded in him. Shin fell to the ground with a thud, followed by Hiei. The three rushed to him and kneeled beside him. "I knew you couldn't do it," Yusuke said, looking at Hiei's half open eyes, a knowing grin on his face. However, sadness shrouded his eyes as he gazed at his dying companion. He was pushed aside by Keiko throwing herself beside him.
"Hiei!" Keiko cried. She grasped his cloak in her hands, her knuckles turning white. "Don't! You can't leave me! I love you!" Keiko cried.
Kurama and Kuwabara remained silent, watching their friend cry harder and harder as Hiei's breathing grew quieter.
"Baka. I'm fine," Hiei growled in annoyance. He coughed, drawing blood out of his mouth. His shaky intake of breath said otherwise.
"Yusuke, pick him up! We need to get somewhere fast!" She turned to the spirit detective, pleading silently.
"He can't, Keiko. It would only cause more damage." Kurama looked sadly at Hiei, who he had grown to know as a type of brother. "His lungs are already collapsed."
"No! They haven't! He said he was fine!"
Hiei breathed again. They could tell it was taking a lot out of him just to do that simple action. "Keiko…"
"Yes?" Keiko asked, holding his cheek.
"I…" He let go of a breath and went limp. His eyes stared at Keiko, lifeless.
Keiko's mouth hung open in a silent scream of agony. Shock suspended her voice for a minute. "Hurry! Someone get him to Genkai's!" She looked around frantically, all the while holding onto Hiei. She screamed as everyone shook their heads. "You idiots! Do something!" She cringed as pain erupted in her chest. Silently, Yusuke picked her up and headed for the exit. "Put me down! Get Hiei! Put me down!" She slammed her fists onto Yusuke's chest, screaming Hiei's name.
"Keiko, he's gone," Yusuke said quietly.
Keiko looked over his shoulder at the figure now being picked up by Kurama. An arm fell limply at his side. "No…"
Author's Note: Well there you go! Hiei's dead! Wonderful ending, huh? I know I'm going to get so many flames for this, but you have to wait for the next chapter! It doesn't all turn out bad, I promise!
