Disclaimer: I own nothing. I own no YYH characters. I own no anime. I own no millions of dollars in anime soliciting. I DO however, own Cloud. HA!! He's miiine!! I own HIS ASS!! No touchy!! MIIINE!! And the plot too!! {snatches} MIINE!!!
Ahem...
Story Thus Far: Umm...nothing new yet...OH! Little note here! It's been nearly a century so by now Keiko and Yusuke might have a family by now. Just a warning for those of you who dislike the idea of a fic with the children of YYH charries. They MIGHT have a part, but the story does not focus upon them so fear not. They might not even appear. I haven't decided yet.
Enjoy chapter 2!
Bounty heads
. . .
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The rhythmic whir of the decrepit fan overhead quickly became hypnotic to the young man stretched out on the moth eaten excuse for a motel cot. The soft buzz of the 'VACANCY' sign outside he knew as a familiar lullaby to which he was happily ready to give into. The shadows pulsated with metric recurrence, the long shady arm of the fan's limbs casting the shadow across the ceiling, somehow causing the youth's bright garnet eyes to flutter with each rotation.
Once...
Twice...
Three times...
Again...
And again...
His lids grew heavier and heavier with each passing flicker. His blink lasting longer than it had the time before, lengthening steadily. He favored it, the few moments right before passing into sleep, drifting away into darkness that was so familiar to him.
He felt a remote pang of guilt at his indulgence. After all, the very reason he resided up here enjoying the lighted world was due to his abhorrence for his unlit home world. Ahh, irony was a cruel old biddy sometimes and she so did enjoy cracking her cane down on his poor, abused head.
"Dreams tonight?" he asked the ceiling through half closed eyes, long pale lashes curtaining his gaze. "Or nightmares perhaps? ...Dreamless sleeping?" He considered his last speculation a moment. "Nah."
He stretched long, wiry arms over his head, back arching slightly and the young looking man grimaced at the sound of his cracking vertebrae. He wondered if one day during a stealth mission he would bend over to pick up his weapon and suddenly his bones would crack and that would be the end of him and his nearly 300 years of solitary existence.
He sighed as his slender, yet well built body settled back on the moldy sheets.
His black t-shirt was a size too large, but the sleeves had been ripped out earning others a slight preview of hard chest and shoulder muscle. Built with wide shoulders and narrow waist he could be deemed either thin or wiry. Either way, he was strong without looking like a tank and that deception had saved his life many times.
Ruby eyes flickered as a small thud sound drifted from the streets outside. A cat yowled and hissed in the allies below and a trash can tipped with a gun-like bang.
With a sigh his lifted his arm over his head to brush away gold tinted strands of stray blond hair from his crimson eyes, spikes of the pale tresses trailing haphazardly into his young, tired face. Disappointment stirred in him. With a lazy, fluid movement he reached back behind his head to slide his arms under his pillow, propping his head up.
-And I had so been looking forward to a goodnight's sleep.-
Then the window exploded in front of him! The curtains tearing and dark figures seemed to sweep like living shadows into the room, swiftly gliding across the floor to surround the prone boy sprawled on the bed. Glass rained down like someone had used diamonds for confetti at a surprise party.
Surprise Cloud.
The immortal gave a small, charming smile to the three cloaked and hooded individuals now situated on both sides and the foot of his bed. His ivory fangs were unusually prominent in the rather sexy curve of his lips as he adjusted his head slightly to the left to give himself the added benefit of gazing up at them through a curtain of impossible gold blond hair.
Silence hung in the air for a long moment as both visitors and resident eyed each other, sizing up the opposition and weighing the pros and cons of starting an all out brawl.
Or...at least Cloud was.
"Oh gods, it's my fan club." the tall, deceptively slender blonde chuckled sardonically. The three figures remained quiet and Cloud's expression became somewhat more malicious as his patience thinned. "You have something terribly important to tell me or did you come by because you wanted to ogle?"
The figure to his left gave a snobbish kind of snort and Cloud began to calculate the fastest and most efficient move to take this guy to the carpet without sparing him any pain.
"Cloud? The dark angel of the Unlit? You are he, are you not?"
Cloud's garnet eyes rolled in irritation. "Sorry that would be the other shadowkai in room 209."
The guy on the left snorted again. Man, what was with this guy? He couldn't talk to you, he had to nasally clear his throat (how that works he was mystified, but it sounded like Mr. Snort was pulling it off) and do a pig imitation. Wow, do I feel inferior...
"A-HEM!"
Cloud pulled out of his mental tirade in time to see the Three Stooges all shift in annoyance. This only amused Cloud to great heights and he shook his handsome head mock apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I missed all your threats. What?"
The figure on the right hissed something nasty and therefore unprintable here, but it was something along the lines of: Forget this, let's take him now! The next thing happening was Mrs. Death Wish (it was a girl, he could tell by the pitch of her voice and the bulges curving out from her chest area.) plunging her robed hands into the folds of her cloak, obviously going for some kind of weapon.
Click
Cloud smiled predatorily and Mr. Snort and Mrs. Death Wish who had both gone stone still. Anyone watching might have suspected Cloud guilty of stealing Medusa's gaze, but upon closer inspection the real reason for their sudden petrifaction would have been made clear.
The misleadingly laid back and slender immortal had the barrels of two jet black handguns pressed lightly into the hoods of both their cloaks, the mouths of the two precious weapons kissing unseen foreheads beneath. He'd obviously pulled them from underneath the pillow he'd been so casually lounging on.
"So what's the bounty on my head?" he asked conversationally, tone light and chatty, but his garnet eyes were hard, glinting, and alert. "I heard Koenma's upped the price since the Tantei went postal."
"One million," the last figure growled, sounding irritated that their little hunting party had the tables turned on them.
Cloud's nasty smirk widened minutely and he clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "One mil?" he whistled appreciatively. "My ass is getting expensive and I haven't even done anything."
"You're an assassin!" snarled Mrs. Death Wish. Cloud's garnet eyes lost the thoughtful wistfulness to focus like a lazer on the speaker. She didn't seem to realize the words that were coming out of her own mouth. Despite the danger onward she rambled, righteous anger taking her voice high and shrill...or maybe it was fear.
"You're a mass murder of humans and demons alike. The Tantei let you off the hook for far too long so Koenma took it upon himself to catch you."
Cloud snorted. "That's funny none of you much look like the Toddler."
"Don't have to with a bounty that high, blondie."
"Do you enjoy having a head?" he demanded, shoving the over talkative demon toward the door with a jab of his gun. She yelped as the metal bruised ribs and backed away from the annoyed immortal. "Now you can all back up real slow out that door and go back to whatever the hell it is you nasty demons do and remember that a three-man team to catch me is a bit presumptuous."
"Oh we will," the quieter one simpered scathingly from the door way, being the last one to exit and thinking himself safe to get in the last word. Tch. Like hell.
Cloud snapped out of perception and reappeared, leaning in the bounty hunter's cloaked face, ruby eyes glittering a freakish blood-light in the dull electric glow of the illumination outside. The mouth of his hand gun was dug into his visitor's gut, hammer already back. He could see right through the shadows into the guy's (rather startled and terrified) face.
He could have passed for handsome, politician face, thin, high cheekbones. Save the pair of silver blue fox ears poking out from his lank blue hair and the rosy, wine hued cast in his eyes he was almost human looking.
Cloud chuckled, low and velvet dark.
"Just 'cause you have some Reikai blood in your veins doesn't make you anymore Koenma then the rest of us demons. So don't pretend it buys you immunity to the bullet I'm seriously thinking about putting through your skull."
The raspberry eyes widened, startled that the shadowkai could read his aura so easily.
Cloud smiled a cold smile, fangs glittering. "Now go back to whoever sent you and tell them to kiss my pricey ass. Bye-bye."
He kicked the half demon out the door and sent him crashing headlong into his accomplices. Cloud watched with a small measure of satisfaction as the men toppled like a many limbed bowling ball down the stairs just to the left of his door. He'd asked for this particular room for a reason.
Cloud snorted and turned away, closing the door silently behind him. With a small sound of protest at the unfairness to the world, he picked up his weather worn, ever faithful black trench coat. Nimble fingers strapped the myriad of buckles and bindings that traveled down the front of the garment and ended just under the gap between his collarbones, letting the collar hang loose.
The over large garment now encased the immortal's lithe body comfortably without obstructing his movements.
He routinely checked the uncountable metal clasps and leathers straps about his lower arms, encircling his wrists and knuckles in a protective layer of metal, cloth and leather. Satisfied that his chances of twisting his wrist were out of the question, he rummaged in his pockets and produced several thin razor blades which he discreetly slid under the thicker bands of leather.
Whistling, he picked up his beloved twin hand guns and holstered them securely on his thighs, hidden by the folds of his too-large jacket. Pretending all was fine and dandy with the world, the shadowkai leapt smoothly out the window broken by the Three Stooges and hopped lightly from the sill to the filthy ally way outside.
He checked the area for possible set up and found nothing out of place. Finally, he reached into his pocket and flicked a pair of wire rimmed black sunglasses open. With a lazy move he slid them up the bridge of his nose and screened his unnatural blood red eyes from the world's prying eyes.
Hands in his pockets Cloud meandered casually through the steamy streets of New Chaos, comfortable as a hunting cat stalking its territory. This was his lot in life and he was rather content with that. Kept him on his toes anyway. Pausing to examine a bent street sign he made his way toward the Black Fortune Café. It wasn't a nice place but it was crowded and smoky enough to make him invisible without actually trying.
Soft words floated lazily from his lips as he strolled down the street, his heavy boots thudding on the cement, song lost in the roar of the demonic metropolis.
"And as the sun goes down I cry myself to sleep...I watch the bugs crawling across my skin...now that you are gone I can let things crumble...I know it seems that this was meant to be ...It's so hard to see and all I do is stumble..."
He kicked lightly at a can and continued to the end chorus, ignoring the rest of the stanza.
"I'm only falling through the cracks... I'm only losing my will to live... I'm only broken and beaten down... I'm only...If only the sun would spare me this pain...I would open up the doors meet you there..."
Away he went.
. . .
"By the hells, that hurt..."
"I didn't even see him move and he had those damn guns on us."
"Did you see him jump Alaster, though? I thought he was done for."
"Shuttup!!" snarled the said half demon, turning a dangerous gold tinted glare on his companions who were ranting and rambling aimlessly on their encounter.
The two demons blinked lids at him before returning idiotically to their previous conversation. The male was laughing heartily, at the description the female was hungrily lavishing on the blond bounty head. Something like: 'tight ass, hot body, blah, blah, blah'. They were hired muscle, idiots and completely expendable. Alaster planned to 'expend' them soon, but first he needed to contact his partner.
Flicking a small communication mirror open in his palm he irately brushed long, lank blue hair out of his face and popped a small sucker in his mouth. A habit he'd had forever. He just didn't feel right without something in his mouth so he carried a never ending arsenal of suckers, hard candy and what-not.
"Hey. You there?" he asked the small, slightly cracked lens, shifting the candy to one side of his mouth.
"Like I'd miss this," drawled a lazy, female voice from the other side of the link. "What's the status, Al?"
The half demon deity rubbed his bruised stomach where Cloud's hand gun had introduced itself.
"He's alive and kicking ass, mine in particular. You gonna go after him, Sis?" asked the false bounty hunter.
There was a soft feminine sigh from the mirror. Alaster knew the reason and blushed very faintly, happy that the mirror was cracked and images didn't come through. 'Sis' was a nick name she'd earned in his eyes. When she was being thoughtful or reflecting the nickname bothered her though he was uncertain why. However, she had taken to calling him Bro a long time ago, often 'Baby Bro' much to his irritation.
"Yeah. Did you manage to slip a youki tracer on him?"
"Yeah, but he'll get two blocks and chuck it, I know he saw me put it on his shirt."
"It doesn't matter. He's on the corner of Misuki and Fifth. If he chucks it now it doesn't matter, I've got him. Thanks Al. I'll see you tonight."
Alaster frowned. "You'd better," he growled under his breath.
There was a beep and he quickly closed the comm-link. He contemplated the odds of her return to the odds of her demise and found he was unable to clearly predict the outcome. Sighing he rose from his seat at the smoke misted table and moved to speak with his two accomplices.
"I'm terribly sorry." He apologized while bowing slightly to the two demons. "I needed to speak with my employer. He would like to know what form of payment you'd prefer," Alaster went on, sliding into the remaining seat and propping his folded arms upon the table top in a good natured way.
The female demon – Jezal – smiled erotically at the pretty half youko and shifted in her seat to give her scantily clad breasts better leverage. Under the heavy cloaks they'd worn, the youkai was clad in very little.
-Just enough not to be naked, not enough to hide anything.-
Alaster pretended not to notice, focusing on the male demon who seemed to be thinking unusually hard about it.
"I want gold. Period. Nothing special or tricky. Fork over what's coming to me, got it princess?" he grunted, decisively pounding his beefy fist on the table between Alaster's elbows. The half demon smiled patiently and nodded. Satisfied, the male demon leaned back in his seat, having asserted his masculine authority over the smaller youkai. Secretly unimpressed, Alaster turned to the female to his left.
Then he wished he hadn't.
Jezal leaned slowly across the table hoping to snag his attention with her freely hanging chest pressed to the table. Alaster hid his disgust with difficulty as she smiled invitingly at him, leaning closer than necessary to speak. Oh gods, he could actually smell the cheap perfume she was marinated in. The half demon tried not to wrinkle his sensitive nose.
She purred throatily, a long, exotically tattooed arm slipping about his shoulders. "I know how you could repay me, honey."
Alaster felt a claw under his chin, slowly tracing his jaw line to his lips. Jezal brought her face temptingly close to his, as her roving fingers moved through his silky blue hair to stroke his triangular fox ears. She tipped her head aside to whisper against his pale neck.
"You look a lot like that Yoko Kurama guy," she remarked softly.
"I know I do. In three...two...one..."
At that moment the Death Seeds he'd subtly planted in their bodies, seconds after their tumble down the stairs, burst into bloom.
Not just for fearing the ire of their leader, but logically due to the twenty degree temperature drop that assaulted the room. Frost crept up the window panes as arctic air froze breath from the lips. Light glinted from the dagger edge and all the cloaked and tense figures shifted uncomfortably.
Everyone fell silent save on demon in the front who would not stop coughing. He looked terrified, sure that his noise would draw the wrath of the ice youkai
"Sick?" The icy tone in their leader's soft voice was a very bad omen to their health.
The air grew colder still and the black cloaked youkai fingered the rough notches gouged into the wooden table top. Slender fingers traced the edges slowly as glowing blue eyes flickered toward the gathered bounty hunters. "All your men? All of them? Heh. Why does my heart not ooze with sympathy?"
"It could have been poison," one incredibly brave and stupid demon piped up. The ice youkai turned a shadowy face to the speaker. The demon started to falter under the unseen death glare. "Err...what I mean is...I...some of the men thought...they complained about...being pricked...or scratched...umm..."
The ice demon obviously was not impressed and several demons shook their heads. It was a weak argument and everyone knew it. The speaker instantly seemed to shrink into the dirt floor. Silence fell, broke only by the occasional cough or two.
"They complained of a few cut and scrapes in the middle of forest and I am to believe this is somehow the cause of a mass spread illness? I won't bother to kill you because you'll most likely kill yourself for stupidity."
The icy bounty hunter turned back to the rest of the group.
"I told you failure is not an option in this game. Now he knows someone's looking for him. You said you knew this terrain, could promise me a slight edge. All I've received so far..."
He snatched his dagger from the table and whirled on the coughing demon that seemed to be a suffering from a sudden lung disease. The green skinned lizard youkai shrieked and ducked, already feeling the bite of the blade in his skull. Everyone in the room stared at the unfortunate youkai, searching for the dagger that should have been stuck in his forehead. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the dagger was safely sheathed in the speaker's belt.
"Is a headache, excuses, and a lost element of surprise," he finished evenly. The room held its collective breath. The one demon coughed once into the silence and clapped a hand over his muzzle.
The leader, an experienced fighter who'd shown up out of no where, was an ice demon judging by his energy manipulation. No one dared ask his name, no one bothered with those trivials anyway. He'd been tracking someone. Some one dangerous if they'd actually vouched to get a hunting party together.
All the bored and gung-ho bounty hunters in the area decided to join him, now they were wishing they'd all just stayed out of his way. Him and his crazy partner, the latter of the two being seated in a dark corner of the rafters over head, humming cheerfully to himself and watching the show like it all a big play for his enjoyment.
"I'm relieving every one of your place in this group. I suggest you leave quickly."
The scamper for the door was like a stampede of cattle for the watering hole. In an instant the room was empty leaving only the two hunters left.
"Io guess tha' did'nah go too weel," remarked the shadowy figure seated in the rafters. His voice was light, lilting and fast paced with a deep accent that made his speech nearly undecipherable. "Ah this rant we'll never be findin' tha' creepy guy. All those idiots follerin' yu around lioke hound- dogs wid a rabbit trail. Why dincha kill em, Touya?"
The ice demon yanked his concealing black hood from his face, light fell across pale angular features and slanted pools of blue that were his eyes. Shaking his head with a sigh, the Ice Master folded his arms across his narrow chest and blew his four misplaced teal bangs out of his face.
"Because as much attention as those bumbling fools attracted by utterly destroying our search; think how much more attention would be drawn our way if they all were to meet an untimely demise only two days after our arrival," Touya replied tersely.
Pupiless azure eyes flitted to his comrade's hiding place in the overhead beams. "Get down from there, Jin. The show is over and we must go before the trail grows any colder.
There was a whoosh and blurr of motion and wind. A blinking later a tall well built elfin youkai was seated comfortably on the top of the table, Indian style. His dancing blue eyes were practically laughing, endlessly amused by Touya's terrifying affect on all the low class killer wannabes that crawled around this area. The wild mop of flame orange hair capping his head was only just settling from the tiny gust he'd summoned. The Wind Master's long, triangular ears twitched excitedly as he grinned to his stony faced companion.
"Mioght be a shade warmer if'n yu stopped th' blizzard an le' it warm up a wee bit," chuckled the wind elf.
Touya rolled his eyes and moved toward the open door with an irritated sigh. The ice receded from the farthest wall, the sheets of cold following the young man's slender countenance toward the exit. He was far to annoyed to give a care at the moment.
The two comrades moved down the path to their left, and made their way toward the nearest city. Silence hung over them like a silent threat. To lose their element was surprise was something Touya had made explicitly clear that he'd had no wish to do. Frankly, Jin wasn't too pleased about this development either. They'd been tracking this killer down for almost two months. The speed in which Touya had tracked the fleeing demon was incredible, but Jin was used to his friend's astounding intelligence and so it was hardly a surprise when they'd been asked to do the tracking job.
The tracking was easy.
It was when you caught up with the target that the problem presented itself.
True it was, that Touya had developed a greater connection to ice, in fact the ice youkai's training had advanced so far that even Jin had not seen the full extent of his abilities. He wasn't sure he wanted to sometimes. Touya had once said that ice was a cool and calm element to control at first, but when you delved deeper into the mysteries of the colder power it began to get dangerous, complex and more mind consuming.
Jin had advanced greatly in his technique using the wind. Having earned a title as the greatest Wind Master alive he was easily maintaining it power- wise but he wasn't sure if he was quite ready to face the challenge that they'd agreed to take on. His element was wind. True it was easy to tap into and manipulate, he was a natural at the control of the breeze, but he'd recently reached a new plateau in his training and his powers were some what...unpredictable.
However, their previous hunts had gone quite well. On the askance of a good friend they'd come to this area of Makai. A Dead Zone. No Emperors ruled it and it was every demon for himself. Mostly a hang out for low level scum. Just about no one ever came down here to see what was happening because usually nothing was. But there was something wrong. Or so their ally had said. It was too quiet down here and she wanted them to investigate it as a possible hide out for her target.
And who better to do it then the two most skilled shinobi around?
So they'd come and tracked and found some rather disturbing things. Jin was already convinced and ready to return and report their findings but Touya was not so readily swayed. He wanted to be sure this was actually the real thing. Anyone could lay a false trail, pretend to be someone he was not. He needed some serious proof that what was happening here was real and that meant seeing it with his own eyes.
The inn was run down to say the least. Jin was all for sleeping outside like they usually did but Touya pointed out that dozing in the open wasn't an option for them anymore. Jin twitched slightly and involuntarily glanced up at his forehead, not actually seeing, but knowing there was a large chip taken out of his horn. A very near miss from the last little encounter they'd had while traveling this region.
Yeah, sleeping in the inn would be OK for now.
The two comrades took a seat in the shadiest corner of the tavern and relaxed a bit for the first time in about two days. Neither of them lowered their hood from their faces however, because despite everything their likeness was uncomfortably well known to those who wished to find them. Being in the Dark Tournament a century previous had given all manner of youkai access to their appearance and anyone who wished them harm could be searching for them. Yes, it wasn't much fun, but it was better than dying.
Jin yanked his hood off.
...Or not.
"Ah! It's bein' far too warm in here fer all tha' hot and heavy clothin'. Doncha think Touya?"
The ice demon resisted the urge to slap his forehead in frustration and pulled the dark cowl back from his face, but not completely off. The icy look he sent Jin told his exactly what he thought about the wind elf at the moment and Jin wasn't too keen on raising the smaller youkai's ire any farther than it had been upped these last few days.
"Ahh, relax. There ain't no one 'ere t' see," Jin reassured his edgy companion.
Paranoia wasn't usual for Touya, but these last few weeks he'd been pushed to his limit. At one point he and Jin had separated to cover more ground and unfortunately the lone ice demon had run into a nasty bunch of living corpses that just refused to die. They had pursued him for a ridiculously long time but eventually Touya's frigid techniques did their work and the undead creatures were finally put down.
Touya described it like five hours of, and I quote, 'godsdamned hell'. End quote.
Jin had been a smidge more lucky asking questions in a nearby town. Many of the occupants of the village had been taken ill recently and the more delusional ones had been very forthcoming upon Jin's friendly inquiries. Many of them rambled about crows, and 'horrible glowing purple eyes'.
This had been the first sighting of their targeted quarry, but despite the hair-raising encounter Touya was not one to be scared off. Luckily, by doubling back to Jin's location and performing a complex tracker spell Touya had picked up on his trail and given them a hot new lead.
However this lead was now stone cold due to the idiocy and greed of the stupid demons living in the area. Tch. Organize a hunting party. What a bright idea that had been. No sooner had they set out on the hunt than several of the weaker demons started to become tired and ill with the constant searching. After only a day they were forced to turn back. Touya brooded over this a moment before glancing up at his companion.
"It's almost disturbing," he remarked.
Jin blinked up at him, bright blue eyes lit with curiosity. "What now?"
"Well, the illness I mean. Half the hunting party came down with it."
Jin shrugged and yawned drowsily as he replied. "Yur jus' worryin' too much. Dun be gettin' yer hair in a twist over nuthin, Toy." The Wind Master folded his arms over his chest and sat back in his seat, sitting comfortably into the worn leather upholstery. "They're all jus' a great buncha ninnies an' wusses that's wha'. Sides, a bit o' th' sniffles never 'urt nobody."
Touya frowned. "Yes, but it looked more than simple exhaustion or common virus to me, Jin. I don't know how they picked it up but they all seemed unfocused, then fell into fever. I doubt over reaching their physical limits could damage their immune system to the point of them all catching this sickness."
"Uh-huh..."
"It's probably nothing but I feel like our target is somehow causing...Jin?" Touya broke off to peer at his friend. He'd been silent for far too long and that last reply hadn't been very energetic, unusual for the hyperactive wind demon. "Jin?"
Touya blinked, uncertain at first about what he was seeing.
No, it was real, his eyes weren't playing tricks.
Jin was slumped back in his seat, out like a light, snoring softly and peacefully. He'd somehow dozed off during Touya's brief reply and now he was sawing logs in dreamland. Just like Jin.
Touya shook his head and studied his friend.
They'd been pushing themselves pretty hard the last few months. Jin hadn't ever raised a complaint to Touya's fast pace or his near tireless efforts to find their chosen target in almost impossible situations. He'd always been there to back him up, offer a new insight or make Touya stop pushing himself too hard, because often the ice demon forgot little things like sleep when he was on the trail of something. But it was pretty obvious that the long time on the road had worn both of them a bit.
-I just hope we can find this guy in time,- Touya thought distractedly, glancing out he nearby window, cupping chin with his hands, fingers curled lightly against his lips. Slowly his thoughts turned back to their 'employer'. He could still see the glittering hatred in her tawny eyes. -It disturbs me that she so lives for this vengeance.-
Touya frowned, dark thoughts becoming a blur in his mind. With a sigh he leaned back in his seat and focused on relaxing each of his taunt muscles. He rotated his wrists, groaning in satisfaction as they both cracked softly in the ruckus of the tavern. Touya stretched, cat-like, extending his arms over head and wincing as his shoulders protested the movement. Yes, they'd been on the road far too long and pressing on with out rest far too long.
As much as he hated it, Touya knew the trail was all but frigid and they could probably spare a day or two to regain their strength. Tapping a finger thoughtfully on the table Touya didn't take note of the figure that drew even with him until it stopped directly beside his table.
"Do you wish to know immortality?"
The shinobi froze. In a moment all Touya's senses were focused upon the being standing alongside him. Pale blue eyes slid smoothly around to study the speaker. A tall, black cloaked figure was lounging comfortably against the outside of the booth, shadowy face turned to look at the slender ice demon. Touya wasn't impressed, but he was certainly intrigued by the question.
"Immortality?" Touya murmured voice soft as usual. He glanced away, his face set a nearly bored expression of disinterest. "Impossible as it is folly."
"Do you think it a bad thing, ice demon?" The question was mildly interested, slightly off-kilter. Touya rather doubted the sanity of the speaker and wished he'd moved away. Touya was getting sick of everything and would have liked to get some rest.
"What good is living forever if you're left all alone?" Touya asked, monotonously, closing his azure eyes. Greenish bangs slipped into his left eye as he added, "You'd get tired of living eventually. I know this for a fact."
"Are you tired of living, pretty ice demon?"
Touya's eyes slitted open at the complimentary innuendo. "Was that a threat?"
"Life is full of threats," the cloaked figure told him joyfully, if not a bit insanely. "Are you sick of them, little blue eyed, ice demon? Sick of life?"
Touya was getting irritated. His said blue eyes glittered insidiously in the dim lighting as he softly made his displeasure known to the bold demon.
"These questions are both pointless and tiresome," he growled. "Leave now or I will make you leave."
The tall, cloaked figure shrugged slowly, shoulders arching with a strange gracefulness one didn't often associate with an insane person. Touya watched the demon moved away from the table with lidded blue eyes, following every step as the stranger wandered away into the crowd and out the door. Touya was silent for a long time afterwards. The roaring of the bar around him could not wake the ice demon for the silent train of thought running through his mind.
Immortality...
Touya reached across the table to shake Jin.
"Come on. Let's get a room."
. . .
Cloud stretched, back arching and cracking as if his earlier strtch hadn't quite reached all those pesky vertebra in his lower spine.
Relaxing, he slouched comfortably in his seat, happily tucked in a corner stall of the bar, watching the smoke drift perpetually through the air. Demons moved through the room at will, brawling, fighting, drinking and groping the serving girls. He wrinkled his nose and folded his arms across his chest to wait for his drink.
He hadn't ordered one, but he knew he was going to get one.
Five seconds later a shapely bar girl wearing a black spandex outfit that revealed a flat, tanned belly, rushed his table and frantically placed a mug of beer on his table. She smiled sweetly at him before sticking her tongue out at the other bar maids who glowered back, jealous.
The girl turned back to Cloud, grinning sweetly as she batted long lashes at him. Her light teal hair curled cutely around her face, a pair of fins on either side of her head flapping.
"Hey, sweetie. This ones on the house," she said sliding the mug toward him and leaning comfortably on the table. Cloud noticed a long pale blue tail swinging back and forth behind her. She caught his stare and the serpentine limb slunk up to wave at him from the opposite side of the table. "Strange, but fun," she said with a playful smile.
Cloud peered at her. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked, frowning. She opened her mouth to talk but some one beat her to the punch.
"Yeah, yeah. Her name's Juri and she thinks she's all that and a bag of chips because she was a referee at the Dark Tournament a billion years ago," snapped a female fox demon, passing by with a tray of steaming food. She grabbed the younger girl's tail and yanked the bar maid away like a spoiled child.
She glanced back at Cloud. "Thought I'd save you some time. That's her big pickup line. Let's go, airhead."
"Aww! Koto!" she whined, voice fading into the roar of the bar.
Cloud stared after them with a disinterested look and ran a slim finger along the outside rim of his mug. His taste for the stuff was less than enthusiastic. Its flavor was terrible and he couldn't get drunk off it so what was the point? He glanced about the tavern, garnet eyes sweeping the room over the top of his dark glasses.
Low level demons for the most part. Weaklings you'd see in the stands at the Dark Tournaments; blood thirsty only because they could spill none themselves.
Cloud slid the glasses back up, knowing that he need not hide his eyes in the Makai, but years in the Ningenkai had made the summer wear, into casual wear for him. After all, the excuse 'They're just contacts' only will worked so many times.
"Dark Day, I hate bars," he mumbled.
"Then why come to one?"
Cloud glanced sidelong at the speaker, startled she could even hear him over the chaos of the tavern. He was pleasantly surprise to see the speaker was a more humanoid demon. Her back was to him, one heavy combat boot propped against a nearby table. Her clothes were comfortable, form fitting so they weren't in the way, loose enough not to hamper her movement. Just like his.
Her silky golden brown hair was hacked short at the neck; a worn white head band circled her forehead. Cloud's eyes were drawn to the delicate curve of her back, exposed by a skin tight black turtle neck. Slung over her shirt was a blood red vest of heavy crimson material and her jet black pants were belted up by at least three thick leather belts. Two, twin blades were strapped across her lower back in plain view while she knocked back a goblet of what looked like...chai tea?
Cloud tipped his head, amused.
"For the unique and interesting people you run into?" he drawled lightly, finger trailing across the rim of the cup.
He felt the girl grin and her shoulders shook slightly with a small laugh. She smoothly let her boot slide to the floor with a thump and adjusted something about her clothing. Then she turned around to face him.
Cloud fought not to look startled.
She was probably beautiful; he could see it in the slender arch of her neck and the elegant curve of her jaw and lips through the cloth covering the entire lower half of her face. The hack, slash job on her hair made her bangs hang low in her eyes, curtaining them from his sight, but he felt they were amused.
"I'll drink to that," she chuckled. Cloud felt a smile threaten to pull at the corner of his mouth as she stood and hooked a foot around her chair, kicking it to the table side. She seated herself backwards on the seat, long legs straddling the back of the chair, elbows propped on the table top.
"So what's so bad about bars?" she wanted to know, eyes glinting obscurely from under the veil of hair.
Cloud reached back to sweep his own hair out of his eyes. "I have bad associations with them?"
"Such as, if I may be so bold?"
"Too many admirers?"
"Poor boy," she sympathized. Suddenly she slung a hand across her brow in a mock dramatic way, mimicking him apparently. "I look too good. Oh why me?" Somehow she maintained a cool monotone through the entire episode and still made it sound funny.
Cloud consented to the hit and raised his hands in submission. "I don't like attention, alright."
The girl snorted softly and peered into her goblet. "Yes, I know the feeling."
Cloud felt strangely drawn to her as she adjusted the bindings on her arms, also similar to his. Her slow, drawling voice was familiar and comforting somehow. This troubled Cloud. He didn't like to feel comforted. Comfortable as possible physically, yes, but not comforted. Not relaxed comforted, not vulnerable comforted. Her voice had become a key and all his defenses were voice activated.
Cloud's alarms were beginning to go off. Why did he feel this way? What was she doing to him?
"So," she continued, tawny eyes flitting up to meet his. Cloud resisted the strangest urge to divert his gaze. That was an old habit he'd long since gotten out of. Even this little slip set off his instincts. Was it paranoia or something very real?
The girl ran her finger lightly along the rim of her mug. "Did you come here looking for someone? You look like a fighter to me..." She let her words han in the air expectantly waiting for his name.
The wanted shadowkai lowered one of his folded arms to his hip holster, fingers slipping around his left side handgun.
"Darien," he lied, point blank. It was the old alias he'd used in the human world. Even a lie detector wouldn't pick it up.
The young woman seemed to smile as she leaned back in her seat. Cloud didn't miss how her hands slipped under the table as she shook her head. Soft gold, ocher hair slipped into cat-like hazelnut eyes as she turned their amused, piercing gaze upon him.
"Liar."
He had to give it to her...she was perceptive and fast.
Cloud had gone for his gun, but somehow sensing his intentions the girl lunged across the table, hand whipping back to yank her short blade from the back sheath.
Both fighters snapped out of perception and were instantly intertwined on the seat. Cloud thrashed, mind briefly wondering how she was the one on top while futilely attempting to pull his gun free of his holster. Her inner thighs were preventing this magnificently because she was straddling his mid-riff and therefore sitting on his gun arm.
His free arm was not 'free' per say because he was busy using it to keep her wrist pinned against the back of the seat and not drawing her remaining blade. He'd managed to disarm her of the first one and her other hand was being used to brace herself against the edge of the table of prevent them from both taking a tumble beneath it.
To anyone watching it looked like they were just having themselves a bit of fun and not embroiled in mortal combat, compacted into a two feet of space between a table and back of cushioned couch.
"I finally tracked your ass down!" hissed the masked woman while still attempting to reach her blade. "Took me almost a century to find you! Quit squirming and hold still!" This last part was snapped in frustration as the dark angel managed to foil her attempts to use her weapon on him. He was too strong; she couldn't get her wrist free.
"Sorry but that seems like a bad idea just about now," he grunted, while vainly attempting to buck the deceptively slender girl off his abdomen. She snorted and clamped her thighs tighter about his poor middle, discouraging his endeavor.
She tipped her head slightly as if taking note of something. "Ahh. I see we've gotten over the nice, polite dark angel. Turned bad ass while I had my back turned, Cloudhunter?"
Those words hit him like a ton of bricks and left the dazed dark angel breathless in stunned realization. "Huh?! Wait! How do you-," Cloud sputtered, eyes going wide.
His attacker grinned behind the mask and managed to twist her hand free get a grip around his throat, choking him. "Know your true-name?! Easy. Because Karasu used it in front of me, remember?"
Cloud was stunned. His entire brain locked down at this slap of information. He knew only three living people that knew his true-name. One knew Cloud would kill him on sight and avoided him like the plague. The second was probably in the depths of the Makai jacking shiny things from other people. So, that left only the third living person and that was the one person he'd actually trusted after years of solitude.
-And now she's trying ram a knife down my throat!? Something doesn't add up.-
Since his brain was in lockdown, the part that was supposed to tell him he was choking, temporarily forgot its job and the words slipped involuntarily from Cloud's lips. He was disgusted to hear shock and hurt in his voice and wished his stupid brain was a bit more efficient. It would have spared him the humiliation.
"S-Shizuru?"
. . .
"What!? It's gone already!?"
"I didn't even see the primary security grid flare yet!"
"Hot damn this guy's good!"
"SHUTTUP!!!"
Vergil Orion was a respectable man...cat...neko-oni...whatever. Yes he was. Brilliant and unquestionably one of the best Netherworld security code programmers in history. In one millennia only one man, one youkai had ever dared to defeat his masterful systems, his perfects grids and traps. Oh it was rush! To watch as the alarms blared and the guards, well trained, the best the Reikai and Makai had to offer all scrambled in a panic.
Thrilling.
Now most youkai would be in tears having put so much effort into a near damn unbreakable security system only to have it be broken in a matter of moments. But not Orion. No, Vergil was nearly dancing a river dance so elated was he.
Ahh! The challenge! The thrill!
His long spotty cat's tail lashed about in excitement, frizzing out in his absolute adrenaline rush. His weathered, leopard patterned face was split in a wide, fanged grin as alarms sounded all around and watch-girls dashed about in a panic.
"And Youko returns they cry!" crowed the ancient security master, cackling inanely and bouncing about the main security room, drawing odd stares from many of the Reikai watch-girls.
They scowled at the neko from their stations at their computers and grids but glumly acknowledged that there was nothing they could do. He was the best of the best and if that kitsune rouge was getting through the systems it wasn't because of the old man's mistakes, it was because Youko happened to be just that good.
Orion was mad. Yes mad, but he was a talented mad fool.
He worked and plotted and molded his new security systems. Wonderful, artful, sneakily devised traps and subtle sensors so intricate that none but a perfectionist, OCD patient could possible create. Not to mention two thousands years of experience as a thief himself before being employed as a code-writer.
It was thrilling for the old ex-thief to see a youngster so easily bypassing his own skills. Ahh, yes. Watching Youko breeze though his security was almost as exhilarating as stealing from Enma's own vault all those years ago. The new King of Thieves was a much more deserving candidate for the title.
Vergil had nearly burst into tears upon hearing the boy had been hunted down. It put an ache in his old heart to know that the members of the light- fingered community were so ill-favored. Not to mention how infernally bored he'd be without Youko to crack his security. All the other wannabe thieves usually died four layers into the system's outer defenses.
When news of the Dark Tournament had reached him...
Let just say every watch-girl in the whole security wing knew about the fox's return twenty odd seconds after it had been aired. Old Vergil had lungs on him like no other.
With pride like that of a father, he delicately picked up the big red phone and dialed Koenma's number. (333-011) All the watch-girls groaned and waited for the line.
"Sir, the King of Thieves has struck again," Orion said primly, chest swelling out like a mother hen.
One particularly high-strung watch-girl banged her pink hued head against a computer keyboard, upsetting several large mugs of coffee. The girls around her patted her back in sympathy. The pinkette was the head watch-girl, the security equivalent of Botan, the head ferry-girl and Grim Reaper. The sound of her skull on the computer was becoming a regular around here.
Orion hung up and grinned at the forlorn group of watch-girls. The pinkette seemed to be having a small seizure; too much coffee Vergil guessed and sat down on the nearest table.
"Message machine. Said the Kid was in a meeting with his father or something, but Enma should know about it in a few minutes."
All the girls cringed and clung to one another in fear. Vergil grinned and amiably fished a toffee from a small candy tray he'd insisted on bringing in, unwrapped the brightly colored sweet and popped it in his mouth. He smiled, swaying good-naturedly back and forth, oblivious to the terror- stricken watch-girls behind him.
In three...two...one...
KABOOOM!!!!
"Ooh! Sounds like he blew up the storage wing!" grinned the mad old security writer. His long cat-like ears twitched with excitement. "Poor ogres are gonna have a devil of a time cleaning that up! Hee hee"
The phone rang.
The pinkette, Noana by name, looked ready to sob as she picked it up. "Head watch-girl here."
"Umm...can you take this up with one of my underlings?" rasped Koenma's voice from the other end.
If Noana hadn't known any better she would have thought he sounded ill, mortally exhausted even. She made a confused face at the other girls and point meaningfully at the phone, mouthing, 'Koenma'. The girls waited with bated breath.
"My father allowed me out of the meeting for only a moment to deal with it," Koenma continued, tiredly. "I have to get back quickly."
There was a shuffling and the phone was handed to someone else. A voice cleared and a dignified, male voice spoke into the receiver. "Koenma-sama is in a meeting as of now. This is Jorge here. We'll be faxing you the paperwork. Be sure the printer had exactly four-hundred-ninety-two sheets. We'd like it back by the end of the week. Thank you."
Noana hung up and shrugged at the other girls. "Don't know. Koenma sounded tired. Had a meeting with his dad so he forgot to punish us. Cept all the paperwork..."
"Meeting with his father?" cackled Vergil suddenly. Everyone stared at him. "Sure, sure. A meeting I'm sure. Youko would feel bad if he knew how deficiently he'd timed his break in. Poor Junior. Hee hee!"
All the watch-girls exchanged disturbed looks at this. One girl glanced at the screen showing the room where the priceless 'Heaven's Fire' stone had once rested. Upon the velvet pedestal was set a small piece of parchment, with neat flowing writing.
Koenma
Give my regards to your father.
-Youko
$%$%$%$ %$%$%$%$
-Old nightmares scare the worst...
$%$%$%$ %$%$%$%$
"blah" : speaking
=blah= : Onishin (demon speak; I only use this if one of the parties present does not speak Onishin, like a human, if they're all demons and their all in the Makai with no human about assume that their speaking Onishin)
-blah- : thinking
-"blah"- : telepathic speaking (mind to mind)
PS: The song Cloud sings is by a band called Ra. Dun know the name, but its very good. I get is stuck in my head all the time.
{Me} There WILL be more Youko, Hiei, Yuusuke ass-kicking, I just have to set up the plot properly first. THEN I shall release the all powerful Reikai Tantei to beat up the bad guys! MUH HAHA!!
{Cloud8.9} Yeah. Sure. Anyway, she finally got around to making this stupid thing. Enjoy her pathetic attempts at making an actual plot! {gasps} She'll probably just screw it up in the end, but whatever. I think it's real funny that it's a Kurama story, but I see no Kurama in the first chapter.
{Me} Shuttup! I'll have you know he'll come in, but for the sake of the fic he can't be here right now this instant. In the meantime you can amuse yourselves with the antics of Jin and Touya. Sorry. I HAD to slip them in somewhere. So, good, bad, hate it, love it? Flames are accepted as long as you explain in detail how I can improve, otherwise I will be toasting smores tonight.
{Cloud8.9} Yum. I'll get the marshmallows.
{Me} YOU JERK!!!! {screaming and beating is heard} Thanks for reading! R&R!!
-Later dayz!!