I'm soooooooo sorry for this long update. I had midterms all last week and I was stressed out all that time. Once again, I'm sooooooooooooo soooooorrrryyyyyy!Plez forgive me! R and R! Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Trick of Death

Yoko gently placed Kurenai on the ground far away from the beginning battle. He was taking a closer look at her injuries when Hiei blinked next to him. "How is she?" he asked quickly and with hard breathing. Yoko growled in response. "The armband must have been modified to leak electrical power directly into the wearer's body. And the son of a bitch must have attempted to strangle her." He gestured to Kurenai's black and blue bruises on her neck and arm. "I won't know exactly how much damage that lightening did until she regains consciousness."

"If she regains consciousness." The two demons sent dangerous looks at the one who spoke. Shinya was walking over to them with a blank expression. "Stay the hell away from her." Hiei demanded standing protectively in front of Kurenai. "Heh," Shinya laughed at the apparition's protective action. He stopped about two yards away, leaned on the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't understand why she chose you over me." the cocky demon wondered aloud, purposely trying to anger Hiei. But to Shinya's surprise, the fire demon remained in his spot.

Taking the chance to cut in, Yoko asked, "How deadly was that electric attack?" Shinya directed his attention to the fox. He sighed and answered, "As deadly as it looked. Her scream should be enough to gauge the pain, don't you think?" Yoko was afraid of this, but Shinya seemed to draw pleasure from the kitune's distress. And so he continued. "There is a chance she'll live, but there is just as great a chance she'll die."

No sooner had the words left Shinya's mouth, Hiei was standing on the other side of the blue-haired demon, blood dripping from his blade. That would have been a death blow had the intended victim not moved at the last second. Shinya crouched on the ground, clutching his sidein agony. Hiei swung his katana in the air to remove most of the blood from the shiny metal. He then stalked over to the injured demon. "You caught me off guard." Shinya hissed. "But you're not the only one with fast reflexes."

In a black and blue blur, Shinya drew his broad sword and lunged at Hiei. Yoko was surprised at how fast he moved. Hie speed almost matched that of the fire apparition. Hiei, too, was in awe, but had no time to ponder. Barely blocking Shinya's attack, Hiei stepped around and slashed at his opponent's unprotected neck. Shinya spun out of the sword's path, countering with an upward strike. Back and forth they exchanged blows, neither doing more damage than a few scratches.

Despite the gash in his right side, Shinya only grew fiercer with each strike. His growing rage soon paid off. when Hiei went in to fake an attack to the legs only to redirect it upward, Shinya thrust his sword through an open space. Hiei stopped mid-attack and jumped away from his opponent. He gripped his right shoulder where Shinya's sword had pierced his skinto the other side.'Damn it." he mentally cursed, not wishing to allow Shinya to see him in such a disadvantage.

'Hiei,' Gripping his chest tighter, Hiei's eyes widened and he glanced over to Kurenai. That was her delicate voice, but she still lay motionless on the ground, eyes closed to the pursuing battles. 'Hiei, are you hurt?' This time he was sure it was her. 'Kurenai?' his thought went out to her. 'Who else would it be?' she replied. Hiei frowned. You'd think the girl could be a bit sympathetic if she sensed him in pain but no, she had to be snappy.

Ignoring Kurenai's attitude, the apparitionsaid, 'How are you using telepathy if you're unconscious?' There was a pause before Kurenai came back with, 'Just because my limbs aren't working doesn't mean my brain isn't. Now what is going on?' 'Your father is fighting Rumaru, I'm fighting his lacky, and Kurama is with you.' Hiei heard the komori mentally sigh in pain. 'Save your energy. Let me finish this demon off and the I'll-' Their mental connection suddenly broke, Kurenai's hearing opening to allow her to hear the death cry of one of the combatants.

Kurenai struggled to open her eyes, move her arms, anything to come out of her present state. Her dark eyes slowly opened. "Hiei," she coughed out along with some drops of blood. She pushed herself upright to a sitting position despite Yoko and her body's protests. The bat demon looked around for Hiei and Shinya. When she caught sight of them, she sighed in relief. Shinya was lying on the ground dead from a stab wound to the heart. Hiei stood triumphantly next to the body.

"Kurenai, lay back down." scowled Yoko as he tried to push her back down. She refused and pushed the kitsune's hands away. "I'm fine." the komori sighed. Pulling her feet in closer to the rest of her body, Kurenai tried to stand up. Immediately she fell back down with a yelp. "Ow. That hurt." she whined. Hiei had seen her failed attempt to stand and rushed over. "Stop moving around before you hurt yourself even more." Hiei commanded when he knelt beside her. Ignoring Kurenai's insulting mumbles, the apparition looked at Kurama.

"Her attitude is intact so I assume she'll be fine in time." the fox said with a smile. Kurenai sent a dirty look at her godfather, then focused her attention on the lone figures in the of the room. Standing in fighting stances, Kuronue and Rumaru were facing off in a battle that would determine who would die, for the first time or the second. The lightening demon was panting for air, his body aching all over. His opponent had thrown him around with punches and kicks that were more powerful than the average A class demon. Even though these attacks took a lot of effort, the komori showed no signs of fatigue.

"Father!" called Kurenai. She once again tried to stand, but was only forced back down by the men beside her. "Stop moving." the apparition demanded. "I have to help my father. He's in danger." she replied while struggling against Yoko and Hiei's grips on her arms. The kitsune looked at the male komori and then to Kurenai. "He's not in danger, Kurenai. Your father has the upper hand. He's not even hurt." he told her.

"No! He's not safe. Rumaru is a sleazy trickster. I've seen what he does when he's losing a fight." The worry in Kurenai's eyes was overflowing with tears. She eventually got to her feet, stumbling towards the center of the room. "Let go of me." Pulling her arms free, Kurenai used all of her strength to run towards Kuronue. "Father!" Kuronue quickly glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Hiei appear in fornt of his daughter, stopping her progress to him.

The komori squirmed in Hiei's arms. "Let me go!" In anger and frustration, Kurenai threw her elbow back, catching Hiei in the jaw. The sudden pain loosened his grip, but he tightened it as soon as he got over the initial shock. "Father!" Kuronue smiled at the girl, and in that gesture told his daughter how much he loved her. Kurenai knew what he was doing.

"Kurenai, come on. Kuronue will be fine." Hiei tried to calm her down for her own sake. But his efforts failed. Rumaru noticed Kurenai's behavior, and knew what she was thinking. 'What am I going to do? This bat surpasses me in strength and possibly in intelligence.' Rumaru's voice echoed in Kurenai's head. 'And yet...ther is something here that I can use to my advantage.' The female komori's eyes went wide just before pain errupted in her skull. She fell to her knees clutching her pounding head.

Kuronue saw his daughter collapse and turned to go to her. "Kurenai!" This was Rumaru's chance, and he wasted no time in taking it. While Kuronue was distracted by his child's distress, Rumaru raised his arms in the air and mumbled something. using the negative charged particles in the air, Rumaru created crackling gold blades in the air surrounding Kuronue. The demon's laughing filled the room. "Fools! You think you can win against me? I am all powerful!" The charged blades closed in at fast speed.

Time went in slow motion in Yoko's eyes. He was seeing his friend's life being threatened again. He saw the sheets of bamboo streaking down from the sky. He saw the lightening blades coming down towards Kuronue. It was just like last time. Kuronue was trapped and the kitsune was powerless to safe him. "Kuronue!" The komori saw it and quickly yelled, "Forget about me! Get Kurenai out of here!" Kurenai's head stopped pounding, but it was too late. "Father!"