A/N: Italics means a flashback in case you couldn't tell from the previous chapter.
lazy fat kitsune: I tried updating once every week but... that's not going to happen. And yeah Hiei's a jerk, but you might see his true feelings in this chapter.
Red Kitsune Flames: Aww, thank you. Yeah, Karasu meets all the characters cuz he's my favorite villain :) (Guess who gets to kill him)
tbiris: Don't worry, Yukina will be saved.
Katsume18: Hope you like this chapter. I think it's a bit short though.
Serenity of Paradise: Yay, a new reviewer. I'm always happy to hear from new people.
CrimsonFox: Another new reviewer. Goodie. I'm glad you like it. Hiei and Shuichi get closer in this chapter.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
The first of the five auctions that were to take place was held on an isolated island not far from Kuronue's mansion. Hiei and Shuichi were easily let in because of the pass the bat demon gave them. Of course, neither bought anything since they couldn't afford to. Hiei noticed that there were hiruiseki in the auctions, but no one would tell him where they came from, even after he threatened them.
Shuichi took another approach. He knew that in a place full of big egos and rich people, he could get information on Tarukane by flattering and charming them. Although many of the humans easily told him what they knew, most only knew Tarukane through business and had no idea where his mansion was. By the end of the auction, Hiei and Shuichi knew nothing more about the whereabouts of Yukina.
Two weeks later, the second auction took place in a concert hall. There were mainly instruments and art pieces in the auction. Tarukane only had one painting on sale. It was mostly in hues of red and it was an abstract piece of art. Hiei had no interest in it since it wasn't a tear gem. He went around trying to threaten people for information again. Shuichi looked at the artwork again, wondering why it gave him such a chill.
"A wonderful piece of art, isn't it?" a voice behind him asked. Shuichi turned around to see a young man with long black hair behind him.
"Oh, um, yes. The artist seems to have been very passionate when he made this. The brush strokes are very bold and the splattered paint seems to cover most of the canvas. The painting almost has a... violent aura around it," Shuichi said. The other man smiled.
"You seem to understand the painting well," he said.
"Are you going to bid on this?" Shuichi asked. The other man chuckled.
"No. I've just come to admire Tarukane's handiwork and his creativeness. He finds new ways to deliver to his clients," he said. Shuichi was surprised he found someone who knew something about Tarukane so soon.
"What do you know about him? It seems you know something about this elusive seller."
"Tarukane is a very secretive person. I am just a fellow businessman observing my rival's work," he said. "I do hope you find what you're looking for," he said before he left. Shuichi wanted to ask him more but he was already gone. Hiei found him a few minutes later.
"This is a waste of time. There are no tear gems here. There's only that stupid painting," Hiei grumbled. "Did you find anything?"
"I was looking at the painting when someone came over and talked about Tarukane. He didn't say anything about him, but I got the feeling he knew more than he led on. He disappeared before I could ask him more though," Shuichi revealed. This interested Hiei.
"Describe him."
"Well, he's human, about my height, he had long black hair, and... faintly smelled like cigarettes," Shuichi said. 'Sakyo?' Hiei thought.
"Does it mean anything to you?" Shuichi asked. Hiei didn't answer but left to look for him. The fire demon looked all around the hall and even used his jagan, but it seemed the human mysteriously disappeared.
Hiei found Shuichi later and the second auction passed without the duo finding any more information about Tarukane or the ice maidens.
X X X X
There were two agents of the Reikai observing the city drowned in blood and sin. They were both humans but had unnaturally powerful spirit power. One had black hair slicked back with gel and the other had bright reddish-orange hair. They were sent here with one mission - to put Tarukane out of business.
One crouched down with binoculars and tried to find a weak point in the security. The other was looking any demons that could have spotted them. Fortunately, the two were not found and the security in the place was lax. No one in their right mind would want to infiltrate this place anyway.
Yusuke put the binoculars away and the two made their way closer to the city. It was a rather large place with many winding streets and dead ends. They split up and tried to damage the city as much as they could. The black-haired youth inconspicuously jumped from building to building, trying to destroy what he could with his rei-gun. The sounds of collapsing buildings and screams alerted the occupants of the city that they were under attack.
The demons set aside their knives and needles to deal with the two intruders. However, as the demon residents of the city stuck their head out to see what was wrong, a sword made of spirit energy cut their heads off. Kuwabara was making his way into buildings and trying to slaughter as many torturers as he could. As he charged his way through the underground tunnels, a flurry of blue hair caught his attention. He turned his eyes to see a bunch of koorimes imprisoned behind warded bars. They shrank away from him when he approached them.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to destroy this city and save you," Kuwabara said. With two slices of his sword, the bars fell apart and freed the ice maidens. The girls quickly fled but one stopped to tell Kuwabara that there were more in cells further below. Kuwabara quickly made his way down the dimly-lit stairs, slicing demons out of his way.
He tried to free as much maidens as he could and was out of breath by the time he made it to the last cell. He lifted his sword to cut the lock and kicked open the door. He was surprised when he was met with a gust of freezing wind.
"C-cold!" Kuwabara cried. He looked in the room to see a petite maiden with glowing white eyes glare at him. Once she saw his whole figure, she dropped her icy demeanor and the room warmed up by several degrees.
After she calmed down, Kuwabara could see that she had the most beautiful red eyes he had ever seen. She was so heavenly and beautiful. He wanted to say something but couldn't put any words together.
"Who are you?" she asked. 'Kyaa! She even sounds so beautiful!' Kuwabara thought. He cleared his thought and his brain seemed to work again.
"I am Kazuma Kuwabara, savior of the innocent and destroyer of evil. I have come to take you away from this miserable place," Kuwabara exclaimed. He leaned down to take her hand. She hesitantly put her hand in his. It was warmer and softer than he expected. 'Ah! Just as expected from a beautiful maiden. She's so delicate!' he thought.
"M-may I ask your name?"
"Yukina," she responded daintily.
"Y-Yukina-san. What a beautiful name for such an angelic maiden!"
"Um, shouldn't we get out of here?" she asked politely. He got back up and clutched both of her arms into his chest.
"Don't worry about those demons. Just stay close to me and I, Kazuma Kuwabara will valiantly protect you!" he declared.
"Y-yes," Yukina responded. He led her out of the dungeon and led her outside just seconds before the building collapsed. It seemed Yusuke was randomly firing at buildings.
"Urameshi! I was still in there!" Kuwabara screeched. He then remembered that Yukina was still by his side.
"Ahem. I mean, you should be careful where you fire. You should learn to be more responsible, like me," he said. Yukina smiled at him and he blushed. Yusuke landed beside him and punched him in the head.
"Oi. What are you doing? We were ordered to destroy this place. What are you doing with a bunch of girls?" Yusuke asked. Kuwabara wanted to choke him but didn't want to seem barbaric in front of the girl of his dreams.
"The safety of innocent souls is more important than the mission," Kuwabara said in his gentlest voice. Yusuke hit him again.
"What's wrong with you? Did you get hit on the head with a brick or something?" Yusuke asked. Kuwabara didn't know how long he could keep restraining himself from hitting the youth next to him.
"No, I was rescuing these lovely maidens," Kuwabara said. Yusuke saw the ice maiden beside his friend and smirked at him.
"Oh, I see," Yusuke said. He was going to tease his friend some more but then a huge ball of youki was fired at them. Yusuke sensed it and grabbed the maiden and pulled her to safety. Kuwabara sensed the attack at the last second and barely dodged it. When he got himself together, he couldn't help but feel jealous that Yusuke was the one that saved Yukina.
Across from them was a demon dressed in all black with a silver mask over his face. He was ready to send several more bombs their way. The two got ready for battle but a girl's scream got their attention. The maidens that Kuwabara rescued were being captured by other demons. The redhead tried to save them but he felt two sharp pains in his chest. He collapsed on the floor. Yukina and Yusuke both rushed toward him. Kuwabara turned his head to see that another demon with wavy dirty hair was pulling his extended fingers back toward his body. The redhead wanted to fight him again but Yusuke stopped him.
"I sense another power heading our way. It's incredible..." Yusuke said. Kuwabara felt it too. There was no way they could take on three powerful demons at once. Yusuke already spent half his energy trying to destroy the city and now Kuwabara was stabbed twice in the chest.
"Please help my friends," Yukina pleaded. The Reikai agents turned their heads to see that most of the maidens were captured. Yusuke killed the demons that were trying to get the rest of the koorime.
"We have to go now. We'll come back when we're refreshed," Yusuke yelled at Kuwabara. They both hated to run from a battle but they had no choice. Yusuke gathered the remaining maidens and Kuwabara ran with Yukina. Karasu sent more bombs toward them to block their path but Yusuke shot them out of the way. Yukina took one last look at Karasu before Kuwabara pulled her to safety.
Karasu moved over to Toguro Ani.
"It seems Tarukane won't like this," Karasu said.
"Hee hee hee. I think I found something that caught my interest," the elder Toguro brother said.
X X X X
Hiei and Shuichi were resting in a cave. The rain was pouring mercilessly and erratic bolts of lightning lit up the sky. The fire inside the cave was almost dying out but that didn't bother the demon. Shuichi was already asleep and the fire has served its purpose of keeping them warm and giving off light. Hiei was watching the last dying embers when a violent thunderclap roared its way into the tunnels of the cave. Shuichi shivered and shifted his head so that it rested more comfortably on Hiei's lap. The movement distracted the jaganshi. He looked down to see that Shuichi was now lying on his side with his face turned away from the demon. A loose strand of hair fell onto Shuichi's lips so Hiei moved it back behind the human's ear. Hiei couldn't help running his fingers through the soft ruby mane. The fire demon looked at Shuichi's profile and wondered how someone so beautiful could be so entangled with him.
The fire demon's fingers freed themselves from the lustrous hair and trailed lower. They traveled down the youth's side and stopped at the hem of his shirt. Hiei traced a finger over the skin exposed between the shirt and his hip bone. Shuichi shifted but didn't wake. He grew bolder and slid the shirt halfway up the youth's torso. His hand explored the smooth chest and stopped at a nipple to rub it between his fingers. Shuichi moaned but once again didn't awake. Hiei had wondered what the teen felt like since that day at the inn. He had noticed his beauty much earlier but wasn't interested in him until Shuichi showed him that he wasn't a weak human.
Hiei's fingers stopped after Shuichi's nipple hardened and traveled down again but stopped when he reached just below his stomach. His hand stayed there as his eyes took in Shuichi's lithe figure. There wasn't a flaw in this creature's body. Now he knew why Karasu was so interested in this human. It would be a lie to say that Hiei hadn't thought of taking the youth at one time. He could always do it by force but had no interest in an unwilling partner. His thumb brushed against the skin to illicit a reaction. The teen gasped and moved against his hand. He was really sensitive there. Hiei removed his hand from the youth's body and pulled his shirt back down. He leaned his head against the cavern wall and sighed. 'How did it end up like this?' he thought.
The third and fourth auction went by without any hiruiseki up for bids or any other items sold by Tarukane. Hiei was extremely pissed by the lack of information. Near the end of the fourth auction, Hiei claimed that it was a waste of time and stormed off. Shuichi was more optimistic and tried to get answers out of the other sellers. There was one seller that had other jewels up for bid so Shuichi talked to him. The seller was definitely interested in Shuichi and offered to buy him a drink.
The two talked for a while about petty things until Shuichi asked about hiruiseki. The other man knew Shuichi was looking for information so he drew out the conversation as long as possible. He made sure Shuichi had more than enough drinks than he could handle. When the teenager's words started to slur a bit, the man brought him up to his room. Shuichi had no idea what was happening as the man started to take off his clothes. His eyes couldn't focus on the room and his head felt like it was spinning. He was thankful when he fell upon a soft bed but had no idea what the other man had in store for him. As the seller tried to get on top of the teen, an angry fire demon interrupted this process. The jaganshi threw him off of Shuichi and tried to shake some sense into the drunken youth. Hiei asked the other man what he did to the teen but he wouldn't answer; so Hiei killed him.
The fire demon put Shuichi's clothes back on and carried him out of the room. Hiei bumped the human around here and there since the fire demon thought he deserved it after leaving him and was stupid enough to almost get raped. As they left the fourth auction, it started to pour so Hiei looked for shelter and found an empty cave. Hiei dumped the teen on the cave floor and went out to look for dry wood. It was easy for the little demon to gather twigs since he could agilely move through the trees. When he returned, Shuichi was still lying on the floor.
The fire demon ignored him for now and put the dry wood in the middle of the floor and lit them on fire. It took a few minutes before there was a blaze strong enough to emit heat and light. By then Shuichi managed to sit in an upright position and support himself on a cavern wall. The rain was getting stronger and the winds had picked up. Although they were out of the rain, the cold wind still blew into the cave occasionally. Shuichi's clothes were still a little damp and he shivered in them.
"Hiiieei, I'm cooold," Shuichi complained. Hiei looked over at him and saw that he was still a little drunk. He didn't sit straight and Hiei could still smell alcohol on the youth's breath.
"Take off your clothes, they're still wet," Hiei responded. Shuichi nodded his head and then tried to take off his shirt. He fumbled around with it and was stuck when he got the hem of the shirt over his head but couldn't get his arms out of the shirt. The teen laid down on the floor and tried to slither out of the shirt but he twisted it around him as he tried to get out. He struggled for a while, entangled in his shirt, until Hiei got up to help him. The jaganshi told him to stay still and Hiei unwound the shirt around Shuichi and took it off in less than a minute. Shuichi giggled when he saw Hiei leaning over him.
"Heh. This is a goooood position," Shuichi slurred. Hiei ignored him and got up to put the damp shirt close to the fire.
"Heeey, are you trrrryying to burn my clooothes?" Shuichi asked. Hiei didn't answer again as he moved himself away from the human. The teen slowly and clumsily got up and crawled over to Hiei. He tried to get his shirt away from the fire but Hiei stopped him.
"It's drying," Hiei said curtly. Shuichi let this thought sink in and decided that a warm shirt would be better than a wet one. He nodded again and moved back. He stayed close to Hiei since the fire demon always seemed to be warm.
Minutes passed and neither said anything. The only noises reverberating throughout the cave were the rain hitting the ground, the thunder of the skies, and the wind that swayed the plant life outside. Hiei was trying to sleep, leaning against the wall with one leg bent and resting his arm on his knee. He was always alert and ready if an enemy should attack. He was surprised when he felt something soft rest on his shoulder. Hiei opened his eyes to see Shuichi resting his head on his shoulder. The fire demon was surprised that he didn't even sense the youth's approach. 'Have I really dropped my guard that much around him?' Hiei asked himself.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hiei asked. He was ready to push the human away from him when the teen turned his head so that they were facing each other. Hiei was caught off guard by the emerald eyes. They were unlike anything he had ever seen. They were so soft and gentle but had such a sad tint to them. Light reflecting off those eyes gave them a shine and glimmer that he hadn't noticed until now. Hiei's red eyes traced every curve and line on Shuichi's face. The little demon couldn't help but notice that their lips were mere centimeters apart. He could even smell the other's breath. There was still a faint trace of alcohol on the youth's breath but not strong enough to repel Hiei.
"It's a bit chilly in here and you're warm, so..." Shuichi started but didn't finish his line of thought. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the demon's waist and buried his face in the other's neck. Intimacy was something new to the demon, so Hiei stiffened. They stayed like that for only a few minutes until Hiei pulled away.
"If you were still cold, you could've told me sooner," Hiei said. Shuichi did feel cold against him and he suspected that the alcohol made the human feel worse. Hiei got up and moved toward the fire. The shirt was dry by now and he gave it to Shuichi. The human slowly put the shirt on and then resumed his position on Hiei's shoulder. Hiei opened his mouth to complain but Shuichi put his mouth over the demon's. The jaganshi was shocked but that didn't stop the human from moving his tongue around Hiei's. The fire demon loosened up and started kissing him back. Shuichi moved his arms around Hiei's neck and closed any space between them. The kiss lasted only a few minutes when Shuichi broke the kiss and slumped against Hiei's chest. The fire demon couldn't believe it. Shuichi fell asleep. The bitter taste of alcohol was now in his mouth.
He moved the human so that his head rested in his lap. Hiei didn't know why he was being so nice to this little brat that fell asleep while they were kissing. Hiei took off his cloak, folded it, and put it under the human's head.
That was a few hours ago and the human slept comfortably since then. Hiei couldn't sleep and pondered his life with Shuichi. Look at the things that he let Shuichi get away with. The teen buried him, argued with him, ignored him, and now made out with him. The jaganshi didn't know why he put up with any of it. Usually, he should be dead by now. Hiei knew that this human was slowly creeping into his heart. If things kept going this way, the fire demon knew that it would be dangerous to keep him around. 'I don't need him anymore,' Hiei decided. The fire demon lifted his left hand and sharpened his nails. He was going to get rid of this burden once and for all. Just as he was about to bring his hand down onto the human's neck, he felt a tug in his heart. He stopped right before Shuichi's carotid artery. "You should learn to soften your heart, child. Even someone as strong as you needs someone to ease your pain." Hiei snorted as he remembered what that old demon said a while ago. The jaganshi softened his hand and put it back by his side.
"What pain, old man?" Hiei lied to himself. The little demon looked down at the innocent creature reclined on his lap and stroked his hair one last time. He kept denying to himself that Shuichi meant anything special. 'There's only enough space in my heart for one person, and that's Yukina,' Hiei thought.
The next morning, Shuichi groaned as he felt a thumping pain in his head. The sunlight that hit his eyes hurt as he turned on Hiei's lap to avoid it. He was comfortable where he was and didn't want to get up and greet the day. He thought he heard someone calling him, but why was it so loud? 'Is Hiei right next to me?' Shuichi wondered. It almost felt like Hiei was right on top of him. He slowly opened his eyes to see a black shirt. Confused, he tilted his head upward to see a sideways Hiei look back at him. He stiffened when he realized he had been sleeping on the little demon all night. Shuichi got up as quickly as he could and received a head rush for doing so. He moaned as he put his hand to his head in an attempt to stop the pain. 'What the hell happened last night?' he wondered.
Hiei was non flustered as he gratefully got up and stretched his legs. He hadn't been able to move those limbs all night and was glad that he was finally able to do so. Shuichi was going through his memories and trying to figure out what happened. He remembered meeting a snobby seller and having a lot of drinks. There was a bed involved and... he couldn't remember anything after that for a while. The human looked around the cave and remembered being brought there after it started to rain. He looked outside to see that the storm had passed. Shuichi looked around the cave to try to recall anything else. His eyes fell upon the burnt wood and he remembered taking off his shirt, having Hiei on top of him, and then later kissing the fire demon. He blushed intensely after these thoughts and tried to put some words together. He looked at the jaganshi to see him stretch his muscles and ignore him. 'Did it really happen? Hiei's acting so indifferent. Maybe it was all a dream...' Shuichi rationalized. 'But then why did I wake up on his lap?'
"Are you fully awake yet?" Hiei asked.
"Uh... yeah," Shuichi responded. He wanted to ask what happened earlier but couldn't work up the nerve to do so.
"You hit your head while I carried you out of the last auction. I didn't want you complaining this morning so I let you sleep on my lap," Hiei explained.
"Oh. Thanks," Shuichi said. Of course there would be a logical explanation for it. 'It's not as if I mean anything to him other than an informant,' Shuichi sadly thought. 'So it was just another dream.'
"So did you get that asshole to tell you anything last night?" Hiei asked. At first Shuichi didn't know what he meant but then realized he was talking about the seller.
"Just that Tarukane was planning to sell a lot of things at the last auction, not just hiruiseki."
X X X X
One week after the fourth auction, the fifth one took place on a luxury cruise line. It was said to the the best and have the most items for bid. Shuichi and Hiei boarded the ship without trouble and once again looked for Tarukane. It was strange that the seller had never once shown up at any of auctions and neither did his henchmen. Hiei hoped that Tarukane would show his face so that he could beat the shit out of him. He was also hoping he would see Toguro again so he could pay him back. This was his last chance to find any trace of Yukina. Hiei looked around to find that Shuichi had already mingled with the other guests and acted like he was one of the very affluent. The little demon was amazed at his grace, beauty, and eloquence. Whoever raised Shuichi was a fool to let him go.
Shuichi was aware that Hiei was watching him and was surprised. He thought that the fire demon would looking for people to intimidate. Shuichi didn't allow Hiei's presence to disturb his manner and kindly talked amongst the other guests. When the auction finally started, Shuichi knew that the auction held some clue to Hiei's sister's whereabouts. The guests were so excited at what Tarukane had to sell. Shuichi knew that the items someone sold gave clues as to where the seller went. So far the only thing other than hiruiseki that Tarukane had up for bid was that painting that gave him a chill.
The first couple of items up weren't put in by Tarukane, so he ignored them. The first item sold by Tarukane was a pair of knives that had a very weird design to them. The tips curled slightly and the blades had edges to them that stuck out. Sticking the knife in would hurt, but taking it out would hurt much more. Next up by Tarukane was another abstract painting but this time in hues of blue and purple. Once again, Shuichi felt a chill in his spine. Shuichi took mental notes of everything Tarukane put up for bid. There were various rare demon body parts for sale. He knew from Kurama what some of those things did. The eyes of psychic demon would increase someone's luck by fifty percent for one day if ingested. Nails from a powerful lion demon coated with an ogre's blood would be fine ingredients to forge a powerful sword.
There were other rare items that sold in the millions. What bothered Shuichi the most about these items were that they seemed fresh. How could Tarukane travel the world for these demon parts and keep them so well preserved? Some of the items even came from the Makai. The items were just as rare as hiruiseki and just as hard to get. Tarukane would have to torture the demons to get them or forcefully take them out of a demon's body. They weren't run of the mill trolls either, they were hard to catch. He was putting his thoughts together when Hiei approached him.
"Just as I thought. Tarukane didn't show his ugly face," Hiei said.
"Hiei, that painting for sale; was the paint blood?" Shuichi asked. Hiei thought about it for a while.
"Yeah. It's dragon's blood mixed with a little human blood. Now that I think about it, that painting earlier was also drawn with blood," Hiei said. Fear crept onto Shuichi's face. The dragon's blood confirmed it all. Tarukane didn't torture these demons one by one, he caught them all and extracted the rarities all at once. There was only one place in the Ningenkai that had a dragon buried in a cave under a city. Kurama warned Shuichi to never go there. Shuichi knew where Hiei's sister was being kept but didn't know if he should tell him.
Hiei knew that Shuichi was hiding something from him. The fear resonating in his body gave it away. Hiei had a feeling it had something to do with Tarukane. If Shuichi wasn't going to tell him, he would use his jagan. Hiei made a move to take off his headband when Shuichi stopped him.
"Hiei, I know where Tarukane is keeping the koorime," Shuichi slowly said. He lowered his head and tried to put words together that wouldn't enrage him. How could he tell Hiei that his sister was being held in a city that was famous for its torturing techniques?
"I'm not some fragile human, where is she?" Hiei demanded.
"I've only been there once and was warned never to go there again and believe me, I don't want to. The... city, if you can even call it that, doesn't formally have a name. I just refer to it as hell," Shuichi explained.
"Where is it?" Hiei yelled. He was so close to his sister. He needed to know where she was.
"I'll take you there," the human said, avoiding eye contact.
The two ran south as quickly as Shuichi could go without rest. The teen knew that Hiei was excited to find his sister but Shuichi knew that Hiei wouldn't be so excited if he knew what that place was like. They reached the place in two days and stopped about a mile away from the city. Hiei stopped and watched with his jagan from the distance. Even this far away, he could smell the stench of blood, both demon and human. He couldn't see his sister but already knew that she was being shielded from his view. If this city of torture and blood was where Yukina was being held, her pain would be nothing compared to what he would inflict on Tarukane and whoever lived in that hellhole.
Shuichi quietly watched Hiei a couple of feet behind him. He couldn't imagine the thoughts going through the jaganshi's mind after finding this out. Hiei would probably find his sister now and leave him. Shuichi couldn't help but feel a bit sad that their journey together was over. He wanted to say something, to express how he felt, but he knew that Hiei's thoughts were preoccupied with his sister. Hiei made a move to charge into the city, but Shuichi stretched out his hand to stop him.
The fire demon didn't know why, but he didn't move when Shuichi grabbed him. It would be easy enough to break his grasp, but he didn't. He knew Yukina would be waiting for him down below but stayed so Shuichi could say something.
The human didn't know why he grabbed onto his companion. He just wanted to say something before they departed ways. There was a pain building around his heart and threatened to pierce it. Shuichi wanted to grab Hiei and kiss him but didn't know how Hiei would react. He said the only thing he could think of at the moment that would be appropriate.
"Be careful. I hope you find your sister," Shuichi said. Hiei didn't respond. He removed his hand from Shuichi's and headed toward the city. Revenge was the only thing on Hiei's mind right now. When Hiei moved away from Shuichi, the human felt like his heart had been shattered into pieces again. A wetness formed in his eyes and he let gravity pull it toward the ground. He sat on the ground and prepared to watch the city turn into debris. If anyone could come out of that place alive, it was Hiei.
"I love you," Shuichi said. His second love confession went unheard again by his loved one.
"Why, Shuichi, I love you too," a voice behind him said. The youth stiffened as he felt a cold hand close around his neck.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
A/N:Smile: Yes, I know I'm evil for leaving it off here.