"Was I dreaming, Mother?"
"You were, my son, and you were not."
"Where am I, is this place a dream?"
"Did you not notice the calming light that surrounds us? Notice the River Styx down below as we drift effortlessly in the lavender sky. This is the world of the dead. This is a place where I left to long ago."
"Oh yeah, that's right. After my jagan eye was installed, I came looking for you and the other ice apparitions. However they told me shortly after I was born, when I was cast aside, that you had killed yourself."
"That is true. The pain I felt when they tossed you out, just for being male, was unbearable. I felt they abandoned me as well, so I ended my own life. Oh my precious boy, how I longed to see your face once again. I never stopped loving you, not once. Even now I love you."
"Wait a minute, if this is the world of the dead, then am I… No, but why? This can't be! I can't be dead! I don't belong here."
"Hush, shh, it's going to be alright. I've got you cradled in my arms. I am sorry, but it's true, you are dead."
"It can't be true, it just can't. What about my friends? What about Yusuke and Keiko? Yukina, my sister? Her husband and my half-wit friend, Kuwabara? My lover, Mukuro? Shizuru, what about her? I can't just leave them, I can't. It's not right. What about the one demon that has been my best friend for centuries, that husband of Shizuru? I can't just leave him. I can't leave them. Mother, I can't." Tears streamed down my face as I buried my face into her kimono. The silk material became soaked by my muffled cries.
"It's okay, it's okay. I've got you. My sweet, precious boy, it's going to be okay. Come on, Hiei. Hiei. Hiei."
"Hiei, come on, wake up," a man's familiar voice softly whispered in my ears. His warm breath blew into my nose as he rolled my body around onto my side. I felt the pillow where my head was, dampened by tears.
"Where am I? Was I dead?"
"You were never dead. I thought you were at first, though. I found you on the ground outside the Demon World faced down. You weren't moving and it didn't seem to me like you were breathing. You must have been in some fight because you had blood streaming out from your chest and deep lacerations throughout your body. So I picked you up and brought you to my home."
"I'm in your house? How long was I asleep for?"
"It's been a week since then."
"Damn, a week. She has been here for a week then. I tried to catch her, but now she's gone, that damn rat."
"Who are you talking about? Did a demon slip by the border?"
"It was Onezumi. She was on the hunt again, up to no good. I tried to stop her. I tried to kill her with my sword, but she proved to be too powerful and sliced me with her claws. Then I guess she took off. I don't know what happened then, must've blacked out."
"Kurama, who is this Oné, Oné…?"
"Shizuru, Onezumi is a rat demon from Makai. She has in the past slipped by the Kikai Barrier and entered the human world. She feeds off of humans, mostly from the inside out. She despises what she eats, however. She is very crafty and very tough to deal with. It takes more than one border officer to subdue her. She is also ruthless. It is a miracle Hiei is even alive. My guess is she was more interested in escaping to the human world to hunt, than to finish him off."
"You think I am going to be killed by that little bitch, then dream on. She can't get me that easily."
"It's been a week. Do you think in all that time she has devoured many humans by now? How many lives does she consume in that length of time?"
"I have no idea, she probably has had twelve or sixteen by now. As big as Tokyo is, there is no telling. It is such a big city, nobody would notice anything until it was too late."
"Da-ee, Da-ee, lay-ee a doh o ee-oo."
"Someone at the door for me?"
"Were you expecting visitors, dear?"
"No I…" Kurama left for the front door. "Wha… hey what are you doing here?"
I watched the door to the guest bedroom open to see a black-haired young woman enter the room with Kurama escorting. At first I didn't recognize her.
"I was just in the area when I remembered you live here. I just stopped here on a whim. Oh, Kurakun, it's been far too long. I missed you so much."
"Who is this woman, dear? A friend of yours?"
"Shiz, this is Maya. Maya Kitajima used to be a girlfriend from back in Junior High."
"Oh yeah, I remember you told me you had a girlfriend long before you met me. This is her, huh."
"What do you mean by 'used to be'? Aren't I still?"
"Maya, I am married now. This is my wife, Shizuru."
"Oh I see, so I guess that little boy at the door was…"
"That's our son, Saito. We also have a daughter, Sakura. She is asleep in her crib."
"Okay so I guess Hiei's the only one unavailable."
I sighed deep and rolled my eyes. "Maya what…oof ugh ooh…"
"Hiei, are you alright? Don't move, you are still recovering from your injuries?"
"Ah, I'm alright. It doesn't hurt real bad, it's just hard to move with this bandage around my waist. I gotta get up anyways, I gotta pee." I staggered trying to stand up from the edge of the bed. Slowly I slid my feet across the room and down the hallway towards the bathroom. My body felt as heavy as a concrete brick. I lied to Kurama, my body's still hurting. But I am a demon; I mustn't reveal my pain to any demon, even if he was my best friend. And what about Maya, what's up with that? Why the sudden visit? How did she remember Kurama after all these years? He did erase her memories of him and that doll factory, or so I thought. Geez, I guess I have been asleep for a week. I feel like Niagara Falls here or something. Why can't I shake this off already? There, finally, took it long enough.
"Eek! Help someone, please!"
Damn that sounded like Maya. "Kurama, what's going on? What happened?"
"Maya was walking out of the house when, I don't know, someone or something grabbed her. Shizuru, you stay here. I'm going after her."
"No I'm coming, too. Something seems fishy about this kidnapping. Why would a thug kidnap her in this neighborhood when there would be too many witnesses?"
"Who's going to watch the kids?"
"I called Mom, she's on her way right now. She'll be here in a few minutes. In fact, there she is now, getting out of her car. Thanks for showing up. Sorry for this short notice."
"It's okay, dear. I'm always glad to watch my grandkids. You and Kurama better go and take care of this matter. You too, Hiei. Nice to see you here."
"Thank you, Mrs. Kuwabara. Nice to see you too, I guess. Kurama, where do you think she went? Where did that bastard take her?"
"I'm not sure where she was taken."
"Kurama, something doesn't seem right about Miss. Kitajima. Didn't you say you erased her memories of you? If so, then why would she show up here of all places? Doesn't make sense."
"I noticed that too, Shiz. I also noticed her scent is weird. Almost smells rotten or bloody."
"Grr, I know that stench. That rat is involved. There seems to be a trail of that disgusting smell leading us somewhere. Damn it, that rodent. When I find her, I'll make her pay for this wound in my gut."
"Boys, get in the car. We could track her on foot, but I want to get to where Maya is as soon as possible. If Onezumi has captured her, then no doubt she will have her for dinner."
Arrogant wench, well there's no use arguing with Shizuru, and there is no time either. She's right though. Usually I would just zip there myself, as fast as I could, but not when I've not fully recovered. Ugh, where did that rodent get to? She has Maya, I know. Something else doesn't make sense. "Hey Kurama, something is bothering me about Onezumi. She is a human hunter, but she would never mess with another demon. Why would she want to stick around where there are two demons in the area?"
"What I sensed was Maya's eagerness to leave here. When she saw Shiz, she was in no mood to stay. The Maya I remembered would want to strike up a conversation with her."
"Kazuma, I can't understand you. Where are you? Near the abandoned hotel on the east side passed the Onshi Elementary School. Why are you…? Someone went in that old place? Kazuma says he saw the figure of a woman at the old Seiko Hotel."
"That's the one that is scheduled to be demolished tomorrow. I heard about it on the news earlier today. They have that building blocked off so nobody would be stupid enough to enter."
"Drive there. I am picking up a strong vibe from that direction. That rat-bitch must have Maya there."
What now, Shizuru's driving fast but I could get there in an instant. I don't like this; this whole thing seems way too easy. She is leading us to the hotel. Onezumi is way too clever to have anybody follow her, unless she wants them to. "Kurama, I don't like this. It feels we are being lured into a trap. You know how Onezumi is. She'll drag us in and try to kill us or something."
"He's right, honey when you get to the hotel, stop about a block away. We need to be careful about approaching the building. Don't separate from us too much, but don't walk like you are scared of the building."
"We're here. Should I park at the school?"
"That'll be fine."
Great, I forgot. Urameshi's kid has evening kinder care tonight.
"Yusuke, keep her at the school just a little longer. Come with us."
"Why, what happened? What's going on, Kurama?"
"There's no time to explain. However there is a big rat problem to take care of. If we don't act fast, she might make a meal out of these kids."
"She who? Who or what are you talking about? Why do you need me?"
"There is a ravenous rat demon out on the prowl. She is a human hunter. She is very fast and extremely dangerous." Kurama glared at the hotel with much distrust. "Can't you feel that ominous demonic energy from there?"
"I have been sensing an evil presence in this area. I was assuming it was coming from that hotel. I didn't want to move from the school. If I did, I feared it would set off more curiosity than I wanted. The last thing that these people need is to get in harms way without provocation."
Hn, I want to work solo on this. I need to confront this rat on my own. I think if I sneak around to the unlit areas beside the building, she won't notice the ambush. I can see her in a room on the third floor. The silence here is enough for me to freak. It feels like the hairs on the back of my neck are like ice crystals. I feel chilled, though that is impossible, it's summertime, we are in the middle of July. I can sense my friends in the building, but they are creeping along, trying to make as little noise as possible. Onezumi could be anywhere. There seems to be some sort of light coming from the room Maya is supposedly occupying. There shouldn't be lights on here. From what I understand, the building is to be demolished. There shouldn't be any electricity turned on here. I noticed the power supply was shutdown.
"I can feel both Maya's and Onezumi's presence right in this room." The fox demon pushed the door open with his body. "Oh my gosh, it's Maya. She's been tied to this chair with a bag placed over her face."
"No, wait, Kurama, it's a trap." Shizuru glanced around the room, tension residing in her voice. "Think about it. As old as you are, I am surprised you don't see that obvious trap."
"I knew that much already, I was pretending to be duped by this Maya. I knew this girl wasn't the real Maya, I just played along. I know for a fact that Maya isn't Kitajima anymore. She married an American Naval officer last year. She's living with him in America now."
"Fox, you are a clever one, aren't you? Course, I know you weren't stupid. You are a demon traitor that needs to know his place." The woman snapped her ropes and sprang forth from the chair. "I do despise humans, but what I really hate are turncoats like you and Hiei to side with these retching creatures. Demons who don't hesitate to kill one of their own deserve to die."
"Hn, what I despise are rodents like you who hunt and eat what you hate. They have big mouths and bigger egos. What does one gain from such a habit of eating a creature you claim as repulsive? How many of these 'retched creatures' have you eaten yet?"
"It doesn't matter, Hiei, because I have heard all I can stand from this demon rat. She is just like any other demon I have killed throughout my teenage years. All have the same story about how they hate humans."
"You're that spirit detective I heard so much about. You, the son of the late King Raizen, how dare you treat me like this! You are the most retched one of all. After I kill you, maybe that ugly wife of yours could do nicely for me. Maybe even that little girl of yours will be my appetizer."
"You leave them out of this. You have to get through me first, and I hardly ever lose to an upstart like you."
"Fah, stupid human, how can you defeat me when…you can't even see me. Ha now I have this pathetic human girl here. Shizuru was it?"
Onezumi grabbed Shizuru by the throat, trying to choke her. "Don't th-thin-k y-you c-can…" Shizuru reached her arms back, grabbed the rat's body, and flung her to the ground. "Don't think you can underestimate me, just because I am human."
"Are you all right, Babe?"
"Yeah sure." Shizuru spat on the ground. "You are going to pay for that, Rat."
"You, human girl, have no idea. Watch me demonstrate my powers." The light in the room twirled with the air to produce a whirlwind around her body. In the wind, she picked up fragments of wooden debris. She transformed the debris into angry, squealing rats. "This is called the Fury of the Ratwind." Onezumi launched the rats at us in a blinding storm-like manner. Each little rat had his teeth bearing at us, ready to bite. In the eye of the storm was Onezumi, directing the directions of each of her little minions.
Kurama drew out his whip immediately and sliced through the hoard in his direction. Shizuru used her Spirit Spear to cut through the hoard. Yusuke was battling his way through the mass, smashing them into the ground. I sliced through the mass with my katana.
"This is impossible, there's too many of these things. How do we get rid of these things? They just keep coming. There is no end."
A dark figure stepped forward carrying something in his arms. Without warning the rats scattered in every direction.
"Hey what's this commotion up here? You can here it all the way to the street."
"Hey Kazuma, why is Buttons here?" Shizuru looked at her white Persian.
"I don't know, but all of a sudden she was going berserk."
"Keep that thing away from me, please." Onezumi shook in sudden terror, her back inching towards a wall.
"What is this girl scared of? Buttons? But she's harmless."
"Kuwabara, that's not why. She's a cat. Of course, that's why she ran from our house and ran here. If she wanted to come and attack us, she would have a long time ago. This fight would have been back at the house. About the time you left for the bathroom, Hiei, Buttons sauntered into the room. It is natural that she would want to flee. Cats are a rat's most feared enemy."
"Keep her away. Got to get away." Sheer panic came over Onezumi's face. She tried to back away from Kuwabara and the cat.
"Rat, you aren't going anywhere. You have caused enough trouble here." Shizuru drove one of her spears straight through her chest. Kurama thrashed the whip straight towards her abdomen, wrapping it around her waist and around her neck in a tight squeeze. Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun at her body, freezing her every muscle, paralyzing her. I drove in a flash through her body and sliced her to pieces. Finally, the nightmare of Onezumi was over.
I think it was. Was it? I can't remember. What's happening? Now I can't move.
"Hiei, what's the matter? Oh no, your wound reopened." I could barely hear Kurama. Almost sounds like he's talking through a tube. I guess in the fight, I didn't notice the large amount of blood oozing from me.
"Kurama, I…" Oh no, my voice. I feel so weak. What is weird is I don't feel any pain. I'm just tired. Was this feeling like before? No it's different. I can't feel my own breath very well. Everything seems so distant. I feel so sleepy, can't keep…my…eyes…
Suddenly I can hear him again, as clear as a bell. Am I awake? He's holding me in his arms? When did this happen? What is with that weird tearful expression on his face? What's the matter?
"Hiei, respond please. I beg of you please!" Kurama shook my body, trying to get me to respond. "No wait, please. Hiei! HIEI!" I could hear the tears gargling in his voice.
I am right here. It's all right, I'm fine. Can't you see that? I just can't move, that's all. My hand is so…limp. My chest…not moving. My heart is… No, this can't be! What is this? Why can't I feel it beating? This is not supposed to happen. Why did it happen this way? I was supposed to kill that rodent, not…
"Kurama, he's gone, isn't he?" Shizuru, don't say that. This can't be happening. Why is this happening, why? She kneels beside her mournful husband. From what I can see she is rubbing his back, tying to comfort him. Tears start flowing out of her eyes as well.
"He was my b-best f-friend. I-I have known h-him forever. I-if t-there w-was a t-time I-I n-needed him, i-it was-s n…ow." His tears and his breaking heart stutter his voice.
Oh, Kurama, if you could only hear me, I want to be there right now. How I hate to see him cry. I can see his tears pour down his cheeks. His mournful sighs tear into my own heart, if only I still had one beating. Why did I die? Why did I leave? I still have too much to do. I still need to guard the border to Makai. I still need to be with Mukuro. She's carrying my child; I never got the chance to tell anyone. Now it's too late. I need to be with my friends. I can't leave them. Not now. Why must I leave? I never got the chance to tell Yukina who I am, that I am her twin older brother. Now that is gone too. I wish I could have been there. Now I am nothing more than a lifeless body, soon to be put in an oven. I need my friends. I wish to be alive again. I didn't want to die.
"Hiei… Hiei…" What is this? Who keeps calling my name?
"Hiei... Hiei… Please wake up."
This time I heard the voice of Mukuro calling to me. "M…Mukuro? Is that you?"
"Of course it is. Who did you think it was? What's wrong? What's with that sad look in your eyes?"
I clasped onto her body, holding her as tight as I could. "Mukuro, you have no idea…" I feel the warmth of her arms caress my head and back. I poured my breaking heart onto her chest.
"Hey now, it's okay. It's okay. That must have been some dream you had, Hieikun. But don't worry, that's all it was. Just a dream."
"I thought I was dead. I thought I had left my friends. I left you. I don't want to do that." Tears continued to pour out of my eyes onto Mukuro's breasts. "I was ultimately defeated by Onezumi, she's the one that killed me."
Mukuro smiled, almost laughing. What is so funny? I almost died, and she is laughing.
"Is that what you dream was about? Even if it was true, how could it be? I know she was trying to get through the Makai gate earlier last night, but I saw you kill her before she even made it past."
"Oh, right. How did I forget that part?" Yeah, that dream was crazy. It is so good to feel my body move again. There was never a scratch on me from that rat. Oh well, I guess I'll just rest right here beside Mukuro in her bed. Ahh…on. I guess I'll just have to dream about some…maybe I will dream that I am the person who is reading this story.