Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Okay, this is out a little later than I thought it would be... I suppose that this couldn't be avoided, however. Since the recent end of school, we've actually been very busy. It's a miracle I've even typed up this chapter, seeing as we're not home much to speak of at all, at the moment anyway. I'm positive that as summer draws nearer, I'll be left with more spare time on my hands, meaning I can type up chapters quicker, possibly longer too. This is good, so hurray for summer vacation! The USA has the longest summer vacation out of all the countries, blah, blah, blah. All because of having to plant crops and such in the "olden days". Some people want to hack off days of our summer vacation... Let's not get into what I have to say about that! Oh! Yes! I make note of this once again; The story rating has risen to "R" or "M". I just felt it was necessary. Although it still is high PG-13/borderline R. Thank you;
Moon Minamino Wow; I haven't heard from you in a while! Thank you.
Hoshiko Megami Is this soon enough? Thank you!
YokoYoukai Muwhaha! The process of making Hiei and Youko "get together" is kinda... complicated. Subtlety... nn; Thanks!
Kuranga108 Yes! Huzzah! Action! Well, most of your questions should be answered in this chapter. Thanks!
Agent Dark Moose I'm glad you realize that these chapters are necessary... But man! I don't know about you, but these chapters can get so annoying if you have them one after another after another... Well, this is probably the last "explanatory" chapter. Next chapter should be all action!
Bluespark Now that I remember them more clearly, the bomb things do look like bats... Hm. Yeah. Yes, the Ultimate Glare was recently patented by a certain Hiei Jaganshi. Haha, yeah. I can't glare worth anything... Yes! Karasu does appear in this chapter! Albeit only at the end, next chapter will be one of his shining moments!
IwuvMyKenshyPoo Aw, I'm glad you think I deserve so many reviews per chapter! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter! Here is your update; and thank you for reviewing!
WARNING:
1. This story will contain Shonen-Ai in later chapters (will be mild), if you don't like it, don't read it.
2. Rated for reasons: Language and future scenes (blood, etc.)!
You have been warned!
-
CAPTURED
-
"Find anything useful, yet?" Youko called over his shoulder to Kuronue.
The chimera spared Youko a glance then continued pushing through the crowd. "No, not really." He said.
"Ah," the kitsune pushed through the crowd, past an ugly green demon, a boar demon, and two absolutely hideous female youkai who seemed to have no apparent shape at all.
To the youko it didn't matter what they looked like, it mattered what was attached around their thick necks. There rest one pearl necklace per each demon. Youko stretched out a hand, using his expert skills to undo the clasps with lightening speed, stuffing the necklaces into a pocket.
"Found two things 'o pearls!" Youko said, "Did you find a new hat to replace that old maggoty one on your head, yet?"
"No!" Kuronue replied, heatedly this time, "If I wanted a new hat I'd get one. I don't. I like this hat, damn it! Leave it alone! What did it ever do to you? I can't do anything to you! It's a hat!"
"Yes it can!" Youko insisted, turning his head to catch Kuronue's glare, Youko smirked, "It existed! Don't tell me you forgot that one, Kuro!"
"Must have slipped my mind..." Kuronue muttered under his breath, but Youko caught the words.
"I'm sure, Kuro! So, seriously now, have you found anything of use or value yet?"
"Well," Kuronue spotted an aqua colored hair piece, set into the most unkept hair Kuronue had ever seen. It was greasy and knotted in many places. "Yeah, I found somethin'." He said to Youko as his quick fingers grabbed the hair piece, forcing the nasty hair to fall down from it's former position.
"Good... the crowd's coming to an end. Race you out?" Youko asked, glancing back for confirmation.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Kuronue replied, something wasn't right...
"Ready... Set... Go!"
And they did.
Only... when Youko came out of the crowd, which was starting to disperse - the reason they were there must have ended - he was completely alone. He couldn't trace Kuronue's scent anywhere.
It was as if Kuronue had vanished.
From thin air.
Without a trace.
Completely... gone.
"KURONUE!"
There was no reply.
Youko never saw Kuronue again until...
( Chapter 14 - Waiting Boredom and questions
"Now!" Genkai said, eyeing Yuusuke, "We can begin. What took you so long?"
The detective, who stood in the door way, was sheepishly looking at Genkai. "Uh... Koenma?"
"What!" Koenma's was heard, indignation evident, "It was not my fault! It was Kuwabara and Hiei's!"
"Because of you." Yuusuke added in. "Well... screw that. Everyone wants to know what he has to say. It's everyone's fault. Except mine." He said, nodding in Kuronue's direction.
"What the hell? I distinctly remembering you bragging in Kuwabara's face..." That was Hiei.
"Yeah? Well... it's true! What I said to Kuwabara, anyway."
"You weren't too mean to Kazuma were you, Yuusuke?" Yukina's voice asked, a slight bit of concern swimming in it.
"Nah. You know us, Yukina. We were just playin' around."
"I'm sure Kuwabara thought that when you punched his face into the wall." Koenma.
"Shut up," Genkai put in before Yuusuke could even open his mouth to retort, "We've got business to do."
"Whatever." Yuusuke said, walking in. He was following by a frowning, agitated Koenma, the ever impassive Hiei, and a blank faced Youko Kurama. Yuusuke and Koenma chose to sit with the others, Youko stood against a wall, Hiei went to a corner as the room was a windowless.
"Good. Now we can begin." Genkai said, glaring at Yuusuke accusingly.
All eyes turned to Genkai, then to Kuronue who had sat silent through the whole ordeal. Genkai glanced at the chimera, "Introductions. Genkai." She started.
"Yuusuke."
"Hn."
"That was Hiei. Koenma."
"Yukina."
"Youko."
"Kuronue."
"Now that we all know each other, we'll start the interrogation. Kuronue, why did you 'fall out of the sky' earlier?"
"Because I was wounded." Kuronue said, his first sentence in the company of these people besides giving his name, which he knew everyone already knew.
"Obviously." Genkai said, looking sharping at the bat. "How did you get to that condition?"
"Karasu." Was Kuronue's simple reply. The bat kept his eyes averted firmly on the wall a meter or three in front of him. "Wasn't that clear enough?"
"I suppose so, seeing as we already have another person acquainted with Karasu here."
"So I've seen." Kuronue murmured, looking at Youko. The kitsune looked back, their eyes met. They hadn't seen each other in years, after all.
"Yes. Why did Karasu wound you so seriously?"
Kuronue looked at Youko once again, after looking back at the old woman. "Disobeying his orders."
"What were these orders?"
"None of you business."
Genkai turned her stern gaze to the chimera and kept it firmly there. "What are Karasu's plans?"
"For attackin' this place?" Kuronue asked, Genkai nodded, "I don't know. We all know what he's after, that doesn't mean he'll get it. He plans to arrive late today, early tomorrow."
"Is he bringing any other forces?"
"I don't know. It's not like he discussed this with me!" Kuronue said, glaring at the old psychic.
"How do we know you're not lying?" She demanded.
"He's not," Youko said, "He wouldn't."
"Can you prove that, Youko Kurama?"
"He can't. I can." Hiei said, speaking up.
"Oh aye? Do it." Genkai prompted. Hiei gave her a sour look but complied, closing his eyes. A shiver ran down the backs of Yuusuke, Koenma, and Yukina. The jagan eye, hidden behind the bandana glowed briefly, just reminding the people in the room that there was no need to doubt Hiei.
"Satisfied?" The Jaganshi asked, opening one eye, leaving the other closed.
"That... will do." Genkai sighed, inwardly, "I suppose this meeting is over. Yuusuke, go inform Botan, Keiko, and Kuwabara on the situation. Koenma... go to whatever you do in Rekai-."
"Oh man... just think of all the paper work!"
"-Yukina, go back to the first aid room to finish up there." As the others left the room, Youko, Hiei and Kuronue were left. Hiei had closed his other eye and was frowning at nothing, arms crossed over his chest, in his corner. Youko was looking at the stone floor, seemingly lost in thought, Kuronue was once again looking at the wall. "As for the rest of you..." Genkai said, "Go do something. Train. Talk. Sulk. Get out of here!"
"Hn." Hiei replied for them all, and the three left the room.
Genkai sighed.
This was going to be a long day.
-
The three demons sat outside, banished from being inside. Youko was idly growing clover flowers, then throwing them through the air into a pile that had begun. The clover flowers were white, brilliant white, Hiei noted. He suspected this was because Youko Kurama was growing, and then there was the fact that they were being grown using youki, not through a natural process.
"So you've still got that hat." Happened to be the first sentence to leave the kitsune's mouth in a while.
"What's it you?" Kuronue retorted. The chimera was laying on his back, hands behind his head, looking at the sky. It was a most peculiar color... it wasn't blue like the Ningenkai's sky, but... different. Well, here it was, at least. Makai was a world of differences compared to the Ningenkai's Earth. Some parts the sky might be blue, others it might be red, or brown, et cetera. Here, however, the sky was a maroon-red color. The clouds were white.
"It's even more old and maggoty than before." Youko said, this time throwing not just one, but three clovers onto the pile a few meters away.
"I'm sure. We've been through this before, 'Rama."
"I know." Youko said, thoughtfully throwing more flowers into the pile, "Seems like we're on nickname terms once again, Kuro."
"So it would seem. You know? I've still got that hair piece from that day..." Kuronue said, digging through a pocket producing the aqua hair piece. He tossed it to the fox.
"Interesting. That you kept it all these years, I mean." Youko said, looking at the item. "You know something? I don't think this is just aqua-colored. I think it's some kind of... blue diamond or really pale sapphire. Interesting catch, Kuronue." He tossed the piece back to the bat, "Keep it. For old times sake."
"Ah." And they lapsed into silence once again.
Hiei, silent the whole time, was propped up against a tree. His eyes were barely open, switching his gaze between the fox and the bat. It was strange, being in the company of Makai's most famous thieves. To think! Hiei, the forbidden child, was in the presence of these... infamous youkai. It was strange indeed!
The silence continued it's reign of the three demons.
And then Kuronue broke it.
"I didn't go to Karasu willingly, you know. That day in the crowd - he came out and got me by surprise from behind. Damn bastard. I'd never work for him. I know how his mind works, after being forced to work for him all these years."
"I know." Youko said, after a long moments consideration, "I know how your mind works, you just had me doubting you for a while."
Kuronue blinked at the sky, mentally sighing when the afternoon went quiet once again. It wasn't that he minded, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was just that... it seemed empty. It wasn't like the nights when he and Youko had just sat there, thinking, not needing to talk. Then it felt... more... complete. Now it wasn't.
His thoughts shifted to the other demon present with them. The one he'd hired for Karasu to do the job. Kuronue wondered if the little demon would keep his deal with Karasu. Yet, for some reason, Kuronue doubted this. He didn't know why, but Youko didn't seem to feel uncomfortable around the demon, dismissing the main reason why they were in each others company. If Youko had decided to like - no necessarily trust - the Jaganshi, then Kuronue would too. Besides, the hi-youkai wasn't threatening the kitsune. In fact, the Jaganshi had come to Youko's rescue while the Genkai woman was interrogating Kuronue!
The thought that maybe the shorter demon felt some kind of affection for the youko flashed in Kuronue's mind. He dismissed it after a short pondering on the situation, but the thought still seemed to hang around, hazily, in the back of his mind. One never knew. Demons weren't like humans. They didn't care what sex their partner was. Playing around for a night or being serious, no one really cared if their partner was male or female in the Makai.
"I'm bored." Youko finally said, blandly. "I need to do something."
"You are doing something." Kuronue pointed out, "That pile's gettin' kinda big, don't ya think?"
"Exactly my point!" Youko exclaimed.
"I don't see how..."
"The pile is big meaning I've been throwing a lot of flowers on to it meaning that I've been doing the same thing for a long time now. Do you get it now Kuro?" The fox said, sounding somewhat exasperated.
"Hai..."
"Good! Now, I'm itching to do something other than waste youki growing pointless flowers that you're sitting on right now without my influence at all!" When no suggestion was offered, Youko stood. He looked to the Jaganshi, "Okay then. You look bored too. How about a sparring match?"
Hiei opened one eye, using his mastery over emotions to conceal his surprise. He wasn't expecting to spar with Youko Kurama. Damn it, the fox was his captive! For crying out loud, you don't fight your prisoner!
'But you don't consider him your prisoner anymore.' That little voice in the back of the head.
That annoying little voice that can convince you to do anything. It's power was supreme. It controls you. Well, it did Hiei, anyway. He supposed it was his instinct, conscience, gut, and the over-all rational functioning part of his brain combined telling him information. Maybe that was why it was usually correct in what it had to say?
Because, on this matter, the little voice was correct. Hiei didn't think of Youko as 'just a captive' anymore.
"Hn."
Youko understood this 'Hn' in Hn-ese perfectly. It meant something like 'Yeah. Sure. Whatever. I ain't got nothin' better to do anyways.'
"Great. Come on, then. Let's go... over there." Youko said, pointing to an area a few feet away.
Kuronue quirked a brow from his position on the ground, "You understand that?"
"Yes. It's easy to understand after a while." Youko said, walking over to where he had pointed.
Hiei opened his eyes and pushed away from the tree trunk, walking to the kitsune.
"Anything, anyway, whatever you want... except one thing; fists only. I don't feel like using up all my youki on you while Karasu is the more important threat at the moment. Not saying that you can't fight, or anything like that, just saying that it'll be good to save up energy. Okay...?"
"Whatever," Hiei said, sounding unenthusiastic, though he was looking some-what forward to 'fighting' with the youko. "Let's go, already."
"Okay. Impatient, aren't we?"
"Hn."
Youko smirked and slid into a fighting stance, Hiei followed suit. He obviously wouldn't be able to use his katana, or any energy-using attack. 'Well,' he thought, 'this isn't all that bad. I know how to use my fists. Maybe not as good as the detective in this area... but better than most.'
"Let's begin then, ne?"
"Hn."
"Ready. Set. GO!"
Kuronue pulled himself up into a sitting position to watch the fight. He just wanted to see how good the fire demon was with his fists. I mean, really, he already knew the smaller youkai couldn't travel all too well in a dark, dense forest. Kuronue still remembered the encounter clearly. The Jaganshi's back wasn't the softest place to land, yet the chimera had to tell himself, the plain trunk of the tree wouldn't have been much better at all. He decided it was a good thing that the Jaganshi had gotten there first. It saved Kuronue some pain.
During Kuronue's thoughts, the spar had started. Youko was being defensive, dodging most of Hiei's attacks.
The hi-youkai aimed a fist for the foxes face, but the kitsune ducked and flipped over backwards to avoid the attack. Growling slightly, Hiei sped up, coming at the kitsune with a faster rate of speed. This time he aimed once again for the head, but brought his foot around knocking the youko over, causing him to lose balance.
Youko's eyes widened only slightly in surprise before catching himself by putting a hand down and launching himself up just before the rest of his body hit the ground. He sent the fire demon a glare and ran to the side, coming up behind the Jaganshi. After getting were he intended to get, just before Hiei could turn around, the fox thrust his hand out to the half-koorime's back, pushing Hiei forward even faster.
This caused Hiei's feet to stumble, and his knees gave in. He did a series of somersault-like rolls and stopped himself by sticking a hand to and coming up right with one knee down acting as a braking system and the other leg bent, foot firmly on the ground.
Hiei looked up at the fox briefly, sending him a quick glance, then quickly recovered to a stand position. Youko stood solidly where he was, not backing down or moving as Hiei came up, afterward breaking out into another run. As the Jaganshi got closer, the youko bent his knees slightly, too get a good aim, and went to punch the fire demon in the stomach.
Hiei saw the attack coming and bent down farther than Youko's hand, the punch went over his head. Hiei kept going forward, running clear into the fox, knocking him on the ground while Hiei neatly sidestepped before he too would be down on the dirt. Youko blinked an eye, then the other, and was soon back on his feet. Hiei jumped a few feet backward, making the kitsune have to come to him to fight.
Youko complied with Hiei's 'request' and started running forward...
Kuwabara had always had horrible timing. That wasn't the humans only problem. There was another one too. When he ran a tad bit too fast, his legs had a hard time stopping on command. This little issue became apparent as he collided head on with Youko, who was running at Hiei.
The fox was thrown over to the side, Kuwabara thrown backwards. Hiei took a moment to register what had happened and snorted saying "Baka ningen." at the same time Kuronue chose to say "That was... interesting."
Youko sat up from his laying position, shaking his head slightly. This cause silvery strands of hair to fall into his eyes. He didn't bother trying to fix it; this was always a problem. Youko had gotten used to it by now. I mean, with a thousand plus years of life on his side, he tended to get used to things that would annoy the average, pathetic, human of Ningenkai.
The kitsune thief turned his gaze to Kuwabara, who was getting back up to his feet, Youko followed his lead... only he didn't. See, Youko didn't follow anyone's lead.
"What was that for?" He demanded of the human.
"Well... I... uh... s-see... Genkai told Yuusuke who told me to fetch you guys... Um, so yeah..." Kuwabara's explanation slowly ran off to a mumble.
Youko looked at Kuwabara intently, then shrugged. "Fine with me."
Kuronue nodded, standing up, and Hiei merely glared at the Oaf. "Don't you have a bar to take care of?" He asked.
"Not... Not right now. Days off... Cause of the Karasu dude..."
Hiei settled for silence and started walking back to the hideout, the others following.
-
Youko sighed, lazily looking at the door. He was in the house-like portion of the hideout. He'd been banned from going downstairs since coming back. So had Kuronue and Hiei. Probably because they were 'untrustworthy demons,' but then again, Youko could have cared less.
There was nothing to do.
Absolutely nothing.
And then...
...the door blew up. Remnants from the door scattered around, flying past the fox and the other two demons in the room, but knocking holes the walls and breaking glass furniture. As the debris cleared, smoke included, the demons were given a clear view of who had so cruelly 'killed the door.'
Youko was immediately on his feet. He snarled at the visitor.
"Hello, again, my little youko. Missed me much?"
It was, inevitably, him.
Karasu was here.
-
Well, then. That's actually nine pages of little typed figures. Woo. Go me! Okay, don't expect the next update to be, like, uber early. Or, actually, up within the next week for that matter. For one, I'm going to be out of the house a lot. Family business. And, two, I have to write action. A whole action-packed chapter. I almost wanna say 'Help me!' but I'll deal. It's good practice! So, yeah, please review and wait patiently for the next chapter! Many thanks for reading - and reviewing!