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Hey, sorry I haven't posted for a while. Stupid school makes it difficult. I'm gonna try to post at least once a month, but I'm gonna try to post more frequently than that, depends on my homework.
Oy, lets recap shall we- Yusuke went to go investigate a youkai disturbance. He found a dead human body, presumably killed by the youkai. It is then mentioned that several youkai are hanging around Kurama's house where Hiei is staying. The group believes that they may be enemies of his and wait for his arrival to warn him of the danger. Meanwhile, oddly enough Hiei has asked Neko to accompany him to a sword display. When they arrive Neko is attacked and pulled into the water. She was drowning when we last left her.
Ok on with today's show.
Chap 5- Fire and Ice
Neko felt a pounding in her head and she found herself in a world of darkness. She tried to lift her head, but she couldn't find the strength to do so. She listened intently to the silence that enveloped her for any indication of her whereabouts. No such comfort greeted her. She was beginning to feel dizzy again. It reminded of her of the time that she had first tried alcohol. She felt tremors and suddenly was reminded that she was unarmed. She strained her ears for any sound.
Slowly noise came to her ears. She could just barely make the voices out. As she listened she realized she recognized these voices. She remembered them. Voices from the past. Voices she had long tried to forget.
"Daddy, why does mommy act so strange?"
"She's sick."
"Why is mommy sick?"
"I don't know."
"Will I be sick like mommy when I grow up?"
"You sure are curious aren't you?"
"What does that word mean?"
"It means you like to ask questions. Cats are curious too. How bout I call you Neko?"
"What's that mean?"
"Neko means cat. You even kind of look like one with your black hair and green eyes. From now on, you'll be my little Neko."
"Neko, your father's dead."
"What does dead mean?"
"..."
"Mommy, what does it mean?"
"It means he's dead you idiot child! He's dead and not ever coming back! It's your fault! It's all your fault he's gone!"
"Mommy! Mommy don't leave me alone! I didn't mean to kill daddy! I'm sorry mommy! Come back!"
A searing pain in Neko's leg brought her back to reality. She blinked her eyes groggily, when she opened them all she saw was a hazy fog. She held her head as it throbbed from the sudden rush of blood. As her vision cleared, she felt a bitterness at the nightmare she had just waken from. Slowly her surroundings came into focus.
She looked up and much to her surprise she found herself in Hiei's arms. He looked down at her in an emotionless state. Neko thought she saw a hint of a smile, but it quickly faded.
"Hnn, So you survived. Impressive for a human. A girl no less." Neko was unsure what to say, and so she let silence loom between the two of them. She lifted herself out of his arms and sat up. She glanced around at the environment around her. The sky above her was a deep crimson and wispy black clouds brought on a forbidding feeling. The sky had given the land an evil looking reddish tint. What appeared to be living trees were scattered in bunches every few feet. They looked as if they were reaching for her.
Neko felt her palm burn and she lifted it, realizing at once that it was the ground that was hot. In fact it felt like it was on fire. Regaining stability, Neko stood and dusted herself off. That was when she noticed her clothes. They were not her own. She now wore a long sleeveless shirt and skirt. She also observed that Hiei's robe was around her shoulders. She looked over at Hiei who seemed to suddenly find the ground interesting.
"And how exactly did I get in these?"
Hiei continued to stare at the ground, looking at some unseen-amusing object. "I had to find you some dry clothes if you survived your little swim in Makai lake. This was the only thing in black I could find." He left it at that.
Neko looked away, blood rushing to her cheeks. If he had dressed her in these clothes, then he had been the one to undress her. She quickly banished the thought from her mind and instead nodded. She turned back to him slowly. He turned to look at her, the same impassive expression on his face. Instead of prying further, she removed the robe from her shoulders and held it out for him to take back. He accepted it without comment. Neko watched as he slipped it back over his head. She looked away suddenly aware she had been staring. Hiei seemed not to notice, or if he did he kept it to himself.
"I don't know who tried to kill you yet." Neko felt her stomach drop. Then she hadn't dreamed it. Someone had tried to drown her, but what confused her was who would even want to. She had a sudden seething anger towards her unknown enemy. What had she done to deserve this? Or maybe they hadn't been after her she thought while watching the apparition standing beside her. It appeared to her as if he didn't even care about such details as he had dropped the subject at that.
She watched as Hiei unhitched something from his belt. He held it out to her. It was the black bladed katana that had been on display. "You may need this." Neko did not speak as she accepted it. The handle had a dragon carved delicately into it; it was wound around the handle as if clutching it. She noted that a small blue gem was clutched in the silver dragon's mouth. The blade was smooth and it shone brightly even with the dim lighting. It also appeared that the blade had just been recently sharpened. Despite the sword's appearance, it was quite light and easy to maneuver with. Hiei watched her admiring the katana, "Do you know how to use it?"
Neko looked up at him with a smile. "I know enough to tell you that the sharp end kills the enemy." Hiei looked at her with a raised eyebrow, unable to decide whether she had been sarcastic or truthful. "So what'd it take to get this from that old guy?"
Hiei shrugged. "Nothing, he practically forced it on me, it was his idea to give you a weapon." Neko glanced away and scanned the horizon. She couldn't think of anything that it reminded her of. She was sure that they were no longer on Earth.
"So where the hell are we?"
"Makai, or if that's too hard for you, the demon world." Neko noted certain bitterness in his voice. She nodded and said nothing more. Hiei started off in what Neko guessed to be a southern direction. She jogged a bit to catch up with him and they continued to walk in silence. Each occasionally glancing at the other as if thinking of something to say. Suddenly Hiei held an arm out to Neko and stopped. To their left Neko saw movement. Hiei's eyes remained transfixed on them. "We are found."
"I figured that." Hiei glanced at her but she had her eyes set on the group of youkai that were moving in their direction. They all appeared to look like the one that had showed at the restaurant, except one. His bluish skin tone was much different than the crimson scales that adorned the others. His silver hair streamed in the dry breeze and he smiled with arrogance at them. His eyes were cold and resembled ice; glassy and translucent. A silver robe made of a liquid like material hung loosely from his shoulders. On it in blue was the symbol of ice. He held a hand up to halt his companions.
Hiei clenched his fists and glared at them. Neko felt her grip tighten on the hilt of the katana and all thoughts cleared from her mind. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She felt an unexplainable rage towards them. It felt like she had met him before. For a fleeting second she felt a surge of panic, remembering her dream about fire and ice. It quickly dissipated and the fury returned. This all felt familiar to her somehow.
The youkai smiled at them, it was apparent that he was their leader; and much smarter. The others lingered behind him, awaiting their orders obviously afraid of him. Neko thought that they resembled cavemen afraid of their prey.
"You must be Hiei," He seemed irritated that Hiei did not react. He soon noticed that there was also a female present. Neko felt uncomfortable as he looked at her in a less than flattering manner. She normally did not even acknowledge this kind of behavior, but somehow with him it was different. She took an involuntary step backwards all eyes watching her. "Ah...I didn't know that you would be here. But I know who you are just the same. You are Miayumi." Neko looked at him with a faint trace of a smile, this guy probably thought that she was an old girlfriend or something.
"Right, you need to be admitted to the loony bin. My name is Neko, I have no clue who Miayumi is, but it sure the hell isn't me." He simply kept on smiling, irritating Neko even more.
"Ah, but that's where you are wrong. You'll find out soon enough. I am Sadiron." Hiei gave him an unconcerned look.
"Why should we care?" Sadiron turned back to him although his eyes kept darting back to a now agitated Neko.
She scowled at this and clenched her teeth. Hiei almost didn't notice this, as he was curious how Sadiron knew who he was. "Where you the one who attacked her," he demanded. Sadiron's smile widened in reply.
"What's it matter to you?" He laughed seeing that Hiei was becoming frustrated. "Mad are we?" Hiei involuntarily gripped the hilt of his katana tightly. Neko seemed just as infuriated and he thought he heard her growling lowly. Course he probably would too if he had someone constantly trying to stare down his shirt. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he had unknowingly looked as well. He caught himself and looked away quickly. He was relieved that she hadn't seen him, but apparently Sadiron had seen for he sniggered loudly. Neko looked at the two unsure on how to react. Neither side spoke for several minutes, then suddenly, without warning the youkai attacked.
Two of the ogre like creatures attacked Hiei in a primitive manner. One carried a large wooden club, while the other wildly swung a battle-axe. He quickly sidestepped these attacks and grinned as they charged at empty air. The one with the club caught on and ran at him, ready to bring the weapon down over his head. "No, I don't think so." He easily evaded the assault and lodged his katana deep into the youkai's ribs. A sickly thick crimson ooze bubbled from the wound. It smelled just as foul as it looked. Hiei scrunched up his nose, and with a swift flick of the wrist, he removed the katana from the youkai's body. He stepped away as the body crashed to the ground, causing vibrations in the ground.
He abruptly blurred from sight as a battle-axe collided with the ground where he once stood. The youkai was dumbfounded and looked around puzzled; searching for its enemy. It spun around several times before actually spotting the fire apparition behind him. Hiei smirked as his fist connected with the youkai's stomach and it doubled over in pain. It dropped its weapon and clutched at its stomach. Hiei watched with a grin. Suddenly the creature snapped out at him wildly, although he was already far from reach. It retaliated by running at him swinging its apelike arms in an effort to hit him. Hiei smirked and was easily keeping out of its reach.
Suddenly it stopped, having noticed Neko standing off to one side watching. It looked between the two of them, trying to decide which to attack. It chose Neko, and with a surprising amount of speed it jumped at her. Hiei watched, unable to protect her as three more youkai took the opportunity to attack.
Neko watched as the youkai charged her, although she didn't seem to care. Sadiron watched her in a perplexed manner. He found it especially interesting when she closed her eyes, seemingly not paying attention. Hiei was watching too, even more confused than Sadiron. What the hell does she think she's doing! She's going to get herself killed!
However, at the last second Neko's eyes snapped open with an unexplainable coldness in them. Hiei barely saw her left the katana and slash at the enemy. Her movements were fluid like and he could see no flaw in her technique. Sadiron lost his grin as the youkai crashed to the ground with a thud. "You really are Miayumi, I didn't believe the master at first, but this proves it. Make no mistake, you will die, again." His playful demeanor had disappeared. It was obvious whoever this Miayumi was; he had much resentment towards her.
Neko looked up at him, for a moment puzzled, but it quickly melted away as another youkai came at her from the right. Surprising even herself, she back flipped out of the way. She brought up the katana and blocked an attack from the rear. The two swords gave off a metallic echo and sparks flew into her face. She ignored the burning sensation and twisted away from the next assault. As soon as she escaped that one, another came at her with what appeared to be a sickle on a chain. Just as it was about to swing at her, she side kicked, and felt its ribs give away. An audible crunch signified it. It fell to the ground, twitching in agony. It made screeching sounds of pain, although she ignored them.
Hiei watched in utter amazement. She had given off the impression that she was merely a weak human, but somehow she was managing to match his own strength. He had only ever seen youkai fight this flawlessly. He didn't think even Urameshi had fought this well on his first encounter with him. And here she was, making Hiei doubt that she could even lift the sword, ruthlessly slaughtering these creatures as if they were wet tissue paper. He was impressed and found that he was admiring that this female could hold her own without his help, although he was not sure that was all he was admiring. He continued to watch with a smile on his face. He didn't even flinch when another youkai bared down upon him. He simply lifted his katana and fended off the attack.
Sadiron gritted his teeth and glared at the black haired girl who stood before him. She slowly looked up and met his gaze. The youkai took a hesitant step back as she watched him with emotionless eyes. He felt fury boiling up within him at the defiant teenager. He quickly regained his arrogance in an effort to intimidate her. She simply stood watching him, his efforts in vain. He motioned for two more of his men, if you could call them that, to strike at her. They looked to him with a show of fear, but as he bared his teeth at them they quickly took haste to carry out his orders. Better to face the enemy than face his wrath, or if they had the brains they would've run.
Neko stood impassive as the first of the two came at her without a weapon. However she knew that without taking action she could die, in a split second she had ducked and heaved her katana upwards into the abdomen of it. Some of its crimson blood trickled onto her face. She pushed the carcass off of the point of the sword and stood. She turned her head as she spit out the blood that had managed to flow into her mouth. Suddenly she heard a thud behind her and she spun around hastily. Hiei stood behind her and another youkai lay at his feet.
He grinned at her, "Getting a little bit sloppy, you missed one." Neko returned the smile and then turned away to search for the last...he had fled. "He used them as a distraction. He's gone now." Hiei motioned to the two that had attacked her. She slowly nodded and then looked down. She blinked several times and then looked up. The coldness was gone and replaced with her usual saddened eyes. Hiei looked away, uncomfortable at seeing her like that. He could not determine why it hurt him to see the pain in her eyes. He had never felt this way about anyone. He brushed the notion away and looked back up, ignoring her gaze. Instead he looked at her outfit which was now stained in blood, as it had been the night when he first met her.
"Red looks good on you know," he said decisively. She glanced at him with a slight smile.
She looked down and nodded. "I suppose it does." Hiei walked slowly to her.
"We're leaving now." This time instead of taking her hand he picked her up in his arms, uncertain of the reason. Neko relaxed in his arms as the colors melted into a blur around them, her human body exhausted.
The busy hum of voices reached Koenma's ears, as it always did in matters of importance. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the jumble of words that were all fighting to reach his thoughts. He felt someone nudge his shoulder, and he looked up to see Botan towering over him. Sometimes he just hated being so short. "What happened this time? It had better be important. I'm about to eat here." He pointed at the large pile of assorted food before him.
She smiled weakly at him. "Well, I think it's worse than we originally thought. Yusuke and I...we found a body." Koenma closed his eyes in thought, then looked back to her ready to hear the rest. "I believe our murderer is probably one of the youkai that have managed to get through the barrier into the human world. The thing is, if we have already found one body...how many others have we not found yet?"
"I hate to say this, but you may be right. We may have a serious problem on our hands." Botan looked dimly at the floor. "I've already been told that they're concentrated mainly around Kurama's house. We may have to tell him not to come back, or to leave his relatives behind for a while. Until we get this situation under control, I'm not risking any lives here."
"That's very wise of you Koenma."
"Yes of course it is. Now that that's over with, now to eat!" Botan hung her head in disgust just as the feeding frenzy began.
"Koenma sir!" Koenma looked up angrily at the one who had interrupted him.
"What is it now? Can't you see I'm eating here?"
"Sorry sir. But this is important. It's just that...well...you see."
"Spit it out!" Ironically, he spit out his own food with that statement.
"Yes sir. Well, it seems that Hiei nor the human he was with are no longer in the human world. They just disappeared." Koenma jumped up, startling Botan.
"Whatdya mean the disappeared! Well don't just stand there! Find them!" He looked back to Botan who had regained composure. "Get Yusuke on this now!"
"Kurama! What the hell are you doing back so early!" The red head replied with a sad smile.
"I sense that something is very wrong here." Yusuke looked at him with confusion.
"Oh yeah. Botan said that Hiei and Neko are missing. But why would that make you come back?" Kurama shook his head, Yusuke watching in frustration.
"I'm afraid it's much more than that. I've already heard about the body you found and the restaurant. I have no doubt that these are somehow related to our friend's disappearance. We're dealing with a formidable adversary. And it appears none of this started happening until Neko arrived." Kurama allowed a moment of silence as the information sunk in. Yusuke turned back to him with a smile.
"Ok, Neko is creepy and all, but I doubt she has anything to do with this at all. She seems like just a normal kid to me. Well all except the fact that she beat the crap out of Kuwabara." Yusuke grinned at the memory of Kuwabara getting beat up by a girl. Kurama raised an eyebrow.
"She fought Kuwabara?" The spirit detective shrugged and looked at him with a blank look.
"What's wrong with that? I kick his butt all the time. He's not all that hard to beat." Kurama sighed and shook his head. He would not attempt the impossible by trying to make him understand. They were getting closer to Kurama's house; both noticed that only one room was lit. They approached the door and Kurama tried the knob. It was unlocked. He stepped inside and flicked on the light. He walked silently to the only other lit room, Yusuke in tow.
As he entered he noticed a familiar figure sitting on the window ledge.
"Hiei!" The fire apparition gave a sideways glance at Yusuke. "We thought you were gone. You and Neko. What happened...wait. What's wrong?" Indeed, the youkai had seemed to be deep in thought and was not showing much reaction to anything. He looked slightly angry and if Yusuke hadn't known better he would have thought that he was depressed.
"Uh...Yusuke, perhaps now is not the time." Yusuke turned as Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder. Yusuke nodded, understanding.
"I guess I should be getting home then. Oh crap! I forgot Keiko wanted to go out again. She's not gonna forgive me this time." Both Kurama and Hiei watched as the teenage boy danced around anxiously trying to think of an excuse. "I know! I'll make up for it. I'll take her out some other time, and actually go this time..."
Kurama watched with an open mouth. "Actually go? That was uh intelligent."
"For him that's brilliance," Hiei continued to watch the boy as his smile faded. Don't tell me he actually got that.
"She's gonna want to bring Neko along again. I'm doomed, she's gonna kill me, now wha..." Yusuke lifted his head, perhaps with an idea. "Kurama, what do you think?"
He simply stood there. "Uhhhhh..."
"No that's plan B. Please? Just this once." Kurama was uncertain whether or not to take pity on him or be annoyed that he was being put through this again.
"I'll go." The room fell silent as the other two turned to gape at Hiei. They slowly turned back to each other.
"Did he just say what I think he said?" Kurama nodded. Something important must have happened between those two.
Ok that was kind of a short chappie. I promise I will write some more soon.
You guys know the drill. Read and review or no more story. And you guys are gonna kill me. I'm gonna kill one of our characters, but that's a long way off. And no it's none of the main characters, and when it does happen, nobody correct me on the history of the show or the manga...blah blah blah, I already know what happens in them. Remember this is my story, and besides, a surprise twist shall happen before the end.
And no it's not Neko, b/c she has to come back in the sequel. Oops, I think I'll let that one slide.
Ok now review!
