Chapter three re-written and up! HAHAHAHA! Ah, I missed this. Tear
Anyways…I don't own (Disclaimer)
Kurama was greeted by a comfortably sitting Jaki.
"Friend! What brings you here?"
Youko smiled as well, though uneasily. Something about Jaki's piercing violet stare had always unnerved him.
"A friend of mine was supposed to visit, but he has yet to arrive. Perhaps he had gotten lost and sought shelter here?" He inquired casually, mimicking Jaki and reclining in hius chair.
Jaki shrugged in response.
"I don't know. Many travelers come to my palace. What does your friend look like?"
Youko lifted his eyes to the ceiling in the pretense of thinking, melting effortlessly into a poker face.
"Small, spiky hair, red eyes, bandage round his forehead. Wearing a pair of pants with three—no, four belts? No shirt."
Since Kurama was staring at the ceiling he missed Jaki's flicker of interest. "Name?"
Kurama smiled sheepishly. "We've only met twice now. I'm afraid my memory isn't what it was two millenniums ago."
Jaki chuckled politely, not buying it for a second. Youko Kurama's memory was nearly as infamous as his reputation of a thieving playboy and he knew the moment he had described his "friend" just who it really was. However, he did not push, opting to end the meeting as soon as possible so as to catch Hiei before the Fox Lord could.
Standing gracefully, Jaki shook his head mournfully. "No one that matches your description has come by. However, feel free to look around. How did the humans say it before they died out? Ah yes. Mi castle es su castle."
Kurama stood as well. "Such kindness. Thank you."
They smiled falsely at each other, before departing.
Neither realized just how similar they're thoughts to each other really were.
My pet. I will find you again if it's the last thing I do.
Hiei came to in a chamber that was decorated solely in black, blues, and greens. Groaning, Hiei idly thought the colors matched how he felt.
Like one big bruise.
Rolling on the bed he realized he was laying on, he felt at the collar tied around his neck.
Coughing feebly, Hiei gingerly tested the ward. He was rewarded with a jolt of electricity shooting up his spine.
"Ah." Hiei gasped. He waited until his tremors died down to a tolerable rate before sitting up and clutching the collar which by touch only he surmised to be created from Makai leather, a substance about as tough as human titanium.
In other words …
"I'm screwed." Hiei muttered, bringing his hands up to rub his face tiredly.
"Such a negative attitude." An amused voice spoke. Hiei whirled around to come face to face with the 'package'.
"Itsuki's the name." He spoke, holding out a hand.
Hiei stared at the outstretched hand, making no move to take it. Slowly, Itsuki let it drop, smiling in slight embarrassment.
"May I ask you name?" Itsuki enquired curiously, raising an eyebrow delicately.
"Hn." Was the answer. He might be off the job, but names were powerful things and if he was a package, he would do all in his power to seek vengeance against the demon who had captured him.
After all, that's what he had done last time.
"Very well. I hope you do not mind going by the name 'Kohona' then?"
Hiei twitched. "Hn." Do I LOOK like a Kohona?
You must if demons are repeatedly coming up with such a name for you. However traumatizing this must be for you though, first things first: escape.
I'm screwed remember?
Unscrew yourself then! You die I die!
…
However no fault could be found in his inner voice's argument, so curtly nodding he went about searching for any weapons that were still on him.
His sword was still hidden among the bushes at fox's gates.
His mini shooting knives were currently in the possession of his sister.
His heel blades were out of the question as he was currently barefoot.
And the pocketknife Mukuro had given him had obviously been found and taken away by Sensui's minions.
Snarling in frustration, Hiei ran his hands through his hair.
"Having trouble Kohona-kun?"
Hiei's head snapped up to Itsuki, whom he'd forgotten about. Itsuki smiled gently, taking out a small switchblade, holding it out to the koorime.
"Here. Use this."
Hiei eyed the weapon suspiciously. "What do you gain from letting me go?"
Itsuki smiled wider. "Nothing at all. Actually I knew I was going to be caught from the very beginning. It's a game Mr. Sensui and I came up with two thousand years ago. You see, we've been lovers for quite some time now. We'll play around for a year or so than Sensui will run and I'll try to catch him."
Hiei blinked, unsure what to say. So, in true Hiei form…
"Hn."
He snatched the blade from Itsuki, stuffing it in his pocket just as a guard poked his head in the room.
"Itsuki." He gruffly said. "Master wants you."
Itsuki chuckled lightly. "Of course he does." He swept out of the room, the guard trotting behind.
Hiei waited until he could no longer hear footsteps, then took the knife out of the pocket and began sawing through the collar determinedly.
Kurama was no fool and he knew Jaki wasn't either. He knew the lord wasn't letting on as much as he knew, which could only mean he knew who Kurama was talking about.
The Youko pursed his lips, tapping a long finger against his chin in thought.
"Either Kohona isn't here or Jaki's holding him down in the dungeons." Kurama's eyes narrowed, before he melted back into his poker face.
Tapping the nearest guard on the shoulder Kurama was quickly escorted to Jaki's throne room.
A few minutes Jaki rushed in, looking a bit hassled.
"Ah, Kurama, I'd thought you'd left." Jaki said, looking a bit dismayed. "I must say, you've caught me at a bad time, I was just about to go visit Sensui."
Kurama smiled apologetically as his brain whirred into action. Kohona can't be here, otherwise Jaki would have no reason leave.
He's at Sensui's.
"So sorry. Actually, Sensui was my next stop for looking for my friend." Kurama replied openly. "Perhaps I may join you?"
Jaki froze, horrified, and then let his face melt into one of welcome.
"Of course my friend." He tittered graciously. Putting his hands into his pockets, he sauntered up to Youko lazily.
"What's a journey without a friend?"
Kurama smiled. "I don't know. What?"
Jaki's smile twisted cruelly and in a movement to fast to follow took out a small vial filled with a bubbling yellow liquid and rammed it down Kurama's throat.
"Peaceful." Jaki laughed as Kurama dropped to his knees, coughing.
"If the poison doesn't get you the internal bleeding will. Glass tends to do that." Jaki laughed again.
"Chow."
He left the fallen Youko Kurama sprawled on the ground.
It was about ten minutes into trying to cut though the unbreakable collar that Hiei realized the door the guard had opened was still…well…open.
Hiei gaped at his own stupidity, repressing the urge to violently hack himself to bits for overlooking such an obvious escape route.
Re-pocketing the blade, Hiei walked out into the clear hallway.
Only to have alarms to go off.
Hiei cursed again as guards poured out of walls, taking off at a human paced run, the fastest he could go with drained powers.
Taking a sharp left, he hid behind a large flower.
His pursuers ran past him and he let out a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Turning around, Hiei prepared himself for any more surprise attacks.
He took one cautious step…
And was promptly eaten by the flower he'd just hid behind.
Hiei awoke a very close face.
"Ah!" He gasped, throwing a punch in reflex. It made contact and the face went flying back with a thump and an "ompf".
The face, which had turned into a pale skinned man with long dark hair pulled up into a thick ponytail got up slowly, rubbing the side of his face. Elvin ears twitched the tattered that sat precariously on his straightened.
"Sheesh little guy. Just trying to help." The demon whined, folding his arms disgruntled.
Hiei bit his lip guiltily. "Hiei." He told the demon in way of apology, jabbing his thumb into his chest.
The demon perked up, unfurling huge bat wings. "Oh! Nice to meet you Hiei! I'm Kuronue!"
"Hn."
Kuronue grinned, undeterred. "Are you hungry? There's not much to eat here, but I just caught a nest of crickets so they're hot off the stove!"
"Hn."
"Already ate last week? Okay. Well how'd you get stuck in here? I'm here to die. But I'm not dead yet!" The last part Kuronue yelled, laughing manically.
Hiei sweat dropped (It had to happened sooner or later). "Hn. I'll be going now."
He turned to see if there was anyway he could climb back the way he had come when an anguished howl stopped him in his tracks. Kuronue let out a screech, diving to Hiei's feet, latching onto his legs, sniffing.
"Don't leave me!" He exclaimed. "I've been living here for years ever since Sensui shoved me in here! I can't leave and no one knows I'm here except for him, so I'm so lonely!" He whined, sounding more like a hurt dog than the bat human hybrid he was.
Hiei nodded, awkwardly leaning down to give the crying demon a quick pat on the head.
"I won't go." Hiei sighed. Kuronue lifted his head, eyes glistening.
"Really?"
"Really."
"You promise?"
"Yes."
"Pinky Swear?"
Hiei frowned. "What?"
Kuronue gasped, leaping up and twining his pinky finger around Hiei's own. "Pinky Swear!"
Hiei shrugged one shoulder. "If I will satisfy your intense insecurity needs then yes. Pinky Swear."
Kuronue Smiled.
"Sooooooooooo…you never told me how you got stuck down here did cha Hiei?"
Now, usually a Hn and a none of your business would be the typical response, but since Hiei had had a bad day that needed to get itself off his chest and took this Kuronue as nice a demon as one could get—if a bit bipolar—he decided to give Kuronue the whole story.
"Fell."
Kuronue nodded understandingly. "Sensui bribed you a lot of money to bring his lover Itsuki to him so he could win the game they were playing, but in the middle of it decided he wanted you too huh?"
Hiei blinked, dumbstruck. No one should be able to decode his language!
Yet this stranger just did.
Aw, you're bonding. His inner self sniveled. He just as silently told it to go stick something up his ass and boil his head.
"You too?" He asked aloud to Kuronue, who nodded. "Except I had to capture Sensui under Itsuki's orders." He paused. "That was before tablets were invented and Sensui asked me to be his whore when we got to Itsuki…his castle. I refused and got shoved down here to die." He stopped his monologue, eyes losing focus to as they went back to memories of the past.
"How'd you survive?" Hiei asked curiously, snapping Kuronue back to the present. "Crickets won't hold anyone over for more than a few weeks."
Kuronue smiled sadly. "I found that small mushrooms lived in corners, thriving off the wine that leaks down here. It's easy to cook and good to eat. It gets kind of tiring to eat over and over, but as bugs and rats are rare, that's my main source of food and drink. Take what you can get, you know?"
Hiei nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. When your left to your own devices its either take what you have or die.
But there was no time for pity. Kuronue had made it perfectly clear that Hiei wouldn't be allowed to leave without Kuronue himself. So…
"How about I make a bargain with you?" He asked casually, a half-formed plan coming to mind, complete with satisfactory catch and all.
Kuronue's eyes narrowed at the mention of a deal.
"What kind of deal?" He asked warily, crouching over in a defensive position that looked more comical than anything.
"Simple really. You feed me: I'll bust you out of here." Hiei said, shrugging nonchalantly keeping it simple in case the bat was slow as well as over-emotional.
Much to Hiei's relief the hybrid was anything but stupid.
However, he was over-emotional.
"You'd do that for me?" He whispered hopefully, eyes glistening with unshed tears of happiness.
Hiei backed up, glaring.
"I said I would!" He snapped. Kuronue whooped, running to a far corner in the small dusty "house".
"I'll get the lunch, you just get us out of here! Oh I hope the crickets are still warm!"
Hiei nodded, not really paying attention to the last statement as his full focus turned towards finding any hitch in the gloomy place. When nothing but warped and/or splintered wood met his two natural eyes, he ripped off his bandana to let his third unnatural eye to have a look around.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, noth—ah-ha! I knew there had to be a break! He smirked at the small disturbance where the magic had obviously been sown together, leaving a small break.
Just waiting to be torn open and taken advantage of.
"They just don't make barriers the way they used to." Hiei sighed.
"Lucky me."