Disclaimer: All characters from Yuyu Hakusho, used for fanfiction purposes only
So, We'll Go No More A Roving
By Turin
II.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breath,
And love itself have rest.
Yusuke Urameshi, high school sophomore had just finished studying. Yah, studying. Keiko forced him into it, even though he knew that algebra and chemistry would be useless in his job as a Spirit Detective. But what could he do against her? His reigun wouldn't budge her if she set her mind into something.
Scratching his head, he stretched his arms and yawned widely. No wonder, it's almost 3 a.m. He looked at the futon, so cozy, and inviting…
Krring, krring,krrrng!
Yusuke almost fell from his seat. Angrily, he grabbed the phone which was just beside his table.
"Damn, Kuwabara! Don't you know what time this is?" he shouted. That stupid giant just got to have a good reason for this.
"Mr. Urameshi?"
Strange, it wasn't Kuwabara since he never calls him Mr., and besides, this voice was too respectable. Yusuke cleared his throat and tried to reply in the most courteous voice he could muster.
"H-hai? Sumimasen. He's me."
"Ah, good. Do you know a certain Shuichi Minamino?"
Yusuke's brows knotted. Kurama wasn't the type to get into trouble.
"Yes," Yusuke answered, curious as to what this call is about.
"We tried contacting his parents but no one's answering at their house, nor their cell phones. We found your number in his wallet so we thought you might come check on him," the voice was tinged with a little sympathy.
It made Yusuke's skin crawl with what, dread?
"Why?"
"We found him injured in the park, lying with two unknown bodies…"
Bodies? Some youkai might've attacked him. Damn those traitorous monsters. If only Hiei were here, this never would've happened!
"I'll be right there! What hospital?"
The man told him a name and the hospital address. Even before he finished, Yusuke already banged down the phone. Hastily, he put on a clean set of clothes, simple jeans and t-shirt. Since there weren't much traffic, (nor did he have any money), he grabbed his trusty bicycle and paddled away to the hospital.
Ever since their first meeting, he knew that the koorime and him would be close. It was as if they knew each other somewhere in their pasts and this moment was but a continuation of their walk down the path of life.
The façade was made of warm burgundy. It was a cozy bar with a band playing love songs in the corner.
Kurama wore a long-sleeved Chinese dress, all black and made of the finest silk. A black Chinese dragon accented the dress, so finely embroidered that you have to look closely to see it. But because of the lighting, the edges of the dragon gave off a jet-black sheen, giving the effect of high elegance.
He looked lovingly at the koorime who was struggling to eat with the set of western utensils the restaurant provided. He laughed as he demanded for chopsticks to eat the crab.
Yes, Hiei was the center of his life right now. Before that, life was just an endless parade of events, and he but a leaf caught in its currents. But with Hiei…
The koorime angrily stabbed the crab, gave up and pulled out a katana from his white tuxedo.
How did he fit that there?
The guards were called and a commotion ensued. Hiei almost busted a few heads, but Kurama managed to take control of the situation. With his polished manner and wit, he coerced the manager into letting the incident pass.
He accosted Hiei's arm and pulled him away from the restaurant.
"But they started it!" Hiei growled angrily, but he gave up his tantrum when Kurama smiled instead of reflecting his anger.
"They're just a bunch of parading ningen. If they were in your situation, they'd act the same way. Only, they couldn't handle a sword like you can," Kurama said lightly, trying to inject humor into their situation.
He knew he succeeded when Hiei sighed and looked away.
Lovingly, he looked at his koibito. Hiei was a study of contrasts, being half-koorime, he instinctively abhorred strong emotions, but being half fire demon, Hiei couldn't help it. They called him a forbidden child, branding him unworthy even before he was born.
He tasted pain so soon, learned to be hard too early. As a result, he once believed only in himself. He never allowed himself to feel, nor trust, for doing so would only hurt him.
"Anything the matter?" Hiei asked when he discovered Kurama staring at him.
"Ne, daijobu. We've come a long way haven't we?"
Hiei raised an eyebrow at him, still hesitant to talk about anything.
"I'm still hungry."
Laughing, Kurama pinched Hiei's cheeks, eliciting a yelp of pain from the koorime.
If he were somebody else, he would've been toast by now.
But instead, Hiei only rubbed his sore cheeks and playfully slapped Kurama's rear.
He ran back to their room, but of course, Hiei was faster and he was already inside when Kurama was only beginning to latch the door.
"Are you trying to run away from me?" Hiei asked in a mock serious tone.
Kurama's head almost fell off in denial. Hiei laughed. Without warning, he pulled down Kurama and gave him a light bite on the sensitive join of his shoulder and neck. Playfully, the koorime whispered,
"That's for starving me so early…"
He found Kurama's secret weakness, he's ticklish when scratched on the tummy.
"And this is for pinching my cheeks…!"
Kurama guffawed with laughter, a pleasant alto laugh as he clutched his belly trying to stop himself. Instead, he only succeeded in rolling to his side which gave Hiei the opportunity to torture him more.
"Say sorry, kitsune…"
"Never!"
He was punished with even more tickling.
"Sorry! Sumimasen!" he must've apologized in eight languages before Hiei stopped. Exhausted, he sank into the soft water bed and closed his eyes, a smile still pasted on his lips.
"Not sleepy kitsune, ne?" Hiei lied down beside him and made his arm a pillow. Acting like the very perfect gentleman, he copied the actor in the movie they saw a while back.
"I want this night to be for us."
Kurama laughed and placed his hand in his.
Yusuke saw tear marks at the side of Kurama's face. He was disturbed to see them together with the sweet smile on Kurama's lips. He took out his white handkerchief and cleaned his friend's face. Better. He looked the same carefree Kurama he knew.
Kurama's eyes flickered open.
He looked confused as he looked around the apple-green room.
"W-where am I?" he asked softly, his lips barely moving.
Yusuke breathed a sigh of relief. At least he's awake now. Gently, so as not to shake the bed, he sat down on the corner, just beside his friend's injured shoulder. He looked at Kurama who was staring numbly at the ceiling. The red-head's eyes were misting again…
"Matte, matte! Why're you crying?"
Yusuke tried to soothe the sobbing Kurama, but to no avail. Kurama's lips turned into a frown as his sobs turned into tears.
"Is it your shoulders? Does it hurt?" Yusuke stammered.
But Kurama didn't even bother to answer, it was as if there wasn't anyone else in the room..
Yusuke was caught unawares when Kurama suddenly got up and jumped out of bed. He only saw a passing glance of red as the wounded kitsune passed him so fast and ran out of the room. It was unnerving to see someone so injured move so swiftly. Something was amiss, why wouldn't Kurama tell him?
Stifling a curse, he ran after his friend.
"Kurama, stop! You shouldn't tire yourself!"
But he wouldn't listen. He pushed aside everyone and everything that was blocking his way. Yusuke wanted to help the groaning patient on the floor but decided against it when he saw the security personnel grabbing Kurama roughly. His instincts took over and without thinking, knocked all the guards unconscious. Adrenaline still pumping, he helped the panting kitsune on his feet. He needn't have bothered, he saw a syringe sticking out of Kurama's shoulders. Still, Kurama was fighting the effect of the drug, but it was a losing battle. Before long, he fell asleep on Yusuke's arms.
"Stupid kitsune," he muttered out loud, unconsciously mimicking Hiei's expression. Kurama's eyes flickered open for a moment before closing again.
It should've been me. It was my fault. I shouldn't have been so careless.
These three thoughts kept repeating in his head like the steady rhythm of a drum. He moaned out loud and buried his fingers into his aching head, trying to make it stop. Someone held him back before he could hurt himself.
He opened his eyes, it was Kuwabara.
"Where's Hiei?" he whispered.
"He's in Makai, of course," Kuwabara smugly answered, "you know that little shrimp…"
Kurama didn't even let him finish lambasting his Hiei. He snarled angrily, emerald eyes flashing a deadly warning. Kuwabara shrank back, confused.
"I want you to get me something," he said softly to get the ningen's attention. "Please buy me something to read downstairs."
As he expected, Kuwabara obeyed him without any afterthought. After taking some money, the giant redhead gladly went out to buy a nonexistent title with the order not to return until he found it.
Hiei…
He forced himself to wake up from the drug-induced weariness. Slowly, he put down his foot on the floor and tried to regain his equilibrium. It was a small success when he finally reached the door. No, he couldn't replay his early scene, he was too exhausted.
Again, he felt fear of being this weak, of being the same as ordinary ningen, unable to defend himself, nor…
He wiped the tears before it could even fall.
He called upon his youko senses even if it drained his resources even further and tried to locate his koibito's youki. He found it, a steady mass of dark energy. He should be glad that he found it so easily, but he wasn't. instead, it only confirmed his most dreaded fear.
Normally, the aura should be vibrant, reflecting the changing emotions and feelings of his koorime. Instead, it was now like stagnant water.
He shook his head. No, no…
He followed the trail, through the countless numbers of corridors, and finally, through a silent room.
Numbly, he tried to keep a glimmer of hope alive in his heart, but how could he? Steel cabinets lined the walls, everywhere he looked, he saw only everlasting darkness.
Death…
This would be the hardest command he pushed himself to do. He felt estranged from his body, as if he was looking down on somebody else and it wasn't him who was opening a particular cabinet and gazing at the person lying there. It was as if the tears only came because he didn't know how else to unburden his grief. Still, the sorrow reached him, and he couldn't help but wrap his arms around his cold fire demon's neck.
This was his fourth store and he still hadn't found, he looked at Kurama's list, the manga "Fallen" and "Angel Baby May Thirty"? Kuwabara scratched his head. Where else?
"Oi!"
Yusuke had a bad feeling when he saw that old carrot top. That stupid fool was supposed to be staying with Kurama while he went off to school.
What is he doing here?
Gruffly, he threw down his bag and stormed off to meet Kuwabara.
"Where's Kurama!"
"Hnh? He told me to buy these…," Kuwabara showed Yusuke the list, which the boy grabbed and read. Yusuke made an odd snorting sound before he suddenly bonked Kuwabara on the head.
"You fool!" Yusuke didn't know whether to kill Kuwabara now, or let him die of guilt later. He decided on the latter. Angrily, just to let off steam, he tore the piece of paper into little pieces and scattered them into the wind. He glared at Kuwabara. "Don't you even know if you've been had? There aren't manga titles like those!" Kuwabara muttered something, like, How should I know? . "Idiot! Let's go!"
Kurama wiped off his tears and tried to control himself. He couldn't leave Hiei's body in the morgue like this. What would those ningen do with him once they discovered he's different? They'd just desecrate his body with experiments. No, he'd never let that happen…
Sobbing, he held out his hands, palms down over Hiei's chest.
Tendrils of energy swirled around his hands, crept up his arms and slowly, almost imperceptibly, began changing color from a dull black to a vibrant emerald. Two auras began to merge into one as Kurama took Hiei's last youki into him.
It only took a moment.
When Kurama opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that his hair had become silver. The energy changed him back into his youko form. He remembered the first time Hiei saw him change, the koorime's eyes became as wide as saucers, as if they weren't big enough. Inspite of himself, Kurama snickered at the happy memories which always seemed to visit him whenever he was most sad. Gently, he placed his left hand on his koibito's throat, and the other on the chest. He felt the wound which killed Hiei, it looked so small and insignificant on the outside, but it did what Karasu wanted, taking the most important person in his life away, leaving him so empty and barren…
"You there, STOP! What are you doing!"
A voice shouted behind him. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't notice the personnel arrive behind him.
It didn't even take a second. Giant fern leaves sprouted in mid-air, commanded by Kurama's power to give him cover and make a way for escape. It entangled the man and all those who were alerted in the commotion. Not a very covert solution, but it worked.
He slid his hand behind Hiei and carefully lifted him up like a baby. His heart ached as his koibito's head slumped limply to the side. He turned it the other way so it could rest near his heart.
Then he remembered, where was Karasu's body? He scanned the room for another youkai, and he found it, a mass of scarlet settled just three doors beside him. Still cradling Hiei, he ordered the fern to open the cabinet.
For the first time since the incident, he gazed on the face of Karasu. Karasu's eyes were wide open in a sort of lunatic gaze, his lips curled in a taunting smile. Range crept within Kurama. Karasu's body suddenly burst open as plant roots and leaves grew explosively inside him. Kurama tore the body piece by piece, mangled it so much that they'd have to wash him off the floor, but even with all the morbid fascination it gave him, it wasn't enough to lessen the pain of his loss.
Tears running down his cheeks, he found himself laughing maniacally like a madman. Then, realization stopped him. No, not even if he killed Karasu again, nothing would bring Hiei back. His koibito, his tomodachi…
With a piercing scream, he took off with Hiei's body.
"If something happens to him, it's your fault!"
"But he said…"
"Just shut up!"
Yusuke's mind seemed to be going in circles. They ran back to Kurama's room. They found him asleep on the bed, covered in what seems to be all the blankets in the room. Yusuke breathed a sigh in relief. Kuwabara laughed his annoying guffaw.
"Ano, Kurama…," but Yusuke felt something wrong. Hesitant, he slowly raised one end of the blanket. No Kurama. He pulled off the whole sheet. Just bundles of pillows arranged just so to create the perfect illusion of someone asleep. Angrily, he kicked the drawer beside him. "We've been had with the oldest trick in the book!"
That was when they heard the explosion, no, it was more like something caving in and rushing water…
In a flash, the two ran to the commotion.
It seemed comical that two teenage boys were running opposite everybody else, but they knew that Kurama probably was involved.
Smoke greeted them. Yusuke covered his nose with his sleeves, but it was still difficult to navigate. Kuwabara was flinging curses to every dust particle that stung his eyes. Yusuke used his power to conjure light for them.
A bluish orb floated from his hands and lit the path for them. Kuwabara stared transfixed, wondering why he didn't think of it earlier.
"Let's go!" Yusuke shouted to shake him out of his reverie. After that, it was fairly easy to see where Kurama's been. A giant man-eating fern swayed just down the corridor. Who else could do that?
He must've been attacked, Yusuke thought. Concern fueled his body, he ran the remaining distance in a second flat. But when he was about to stop himself, he stepped on something slippery.
"Yaaaargh!" he skidded 3 metres and hit a cabinet with a loud clang. Scratching his head, he looked for the cause of his accident, intending to fry the person who left the banana peel lying around. He didn't expect what he saw. A little digit, with the nail hanging loosely from the skin.
His skin crawled as his vision adjusted to the dust-covered room.
In between the clear-spaces of air, he could recognize traces of blood, and also, the shattered remains of a person. He was used to gore, being a Ghost Detective and all, but this was too much, too revolting even for him. As he raised his hands to relieve his nose of the stench, he found his fingers also dirtied with red.
"My God," Kuwabara muttered.
Yusuke turned to see his friend slowly walking towards him. he could only stare dumbly and nod his head. He watched the plant standing guard on the doorway. Only now was he taking in the details. The plant didn't attack them, it looked content munching on something… munching on…
"Kuwabara, that plant's eating someone!" he screamed.
As they fought the plant, conflicting thoughts ran into his mind. Did Kurama do this? It's too much, even for self-defense. What could've provoked Kurama to do this?
Before long, they managed to set the plant on fire with the combined powers of their reigun and spiritsword. The plant withered, leaving only an ominous rank-smelling goo. Watchful for any sudden movements, they investigated the thing that the plant was munching on… by prodding it with a stick they found lying conveniently in reach.
Kuwabara turned the torso around, but it was too badly digested.
Yusuke sighed. Kurama did a good job with this one. But where is he? He hated mind games. He'd rather bust a few heads and leave the planning to Koenma.
Out of frustration, he wandered around the room, looking for clues. Two cabinets were opened…
"We found him injured in the park, lying with two unknown bodies…"
Yusuke stopped in his tracks. Could it be…?
He looked for all the bigger pieces of body parts he could find. As best as he could ascertain, it belonged to only one man. But another body is still unaccounted for. The two may've tried to get Kurama, and one succeeded in kidnapping him. Or they may already be dead and Kurama came and just wanted to take revenge? Argh! His head's throbbing already!
Suddenly, they heard a knocking sound.
Yusuke stiffened, listening for any more noise. The knocking came again. Kuwabara lighted his sword, and Yusuke readied his reigun. Slowly, he inched towards the cabinet where the noise originated.
"I-is everything fine now?" a squeeky voice came from the drawer.
The two Detectives looked at each other and heaved a sigh.
"What happened here?" Yusuke asked as they helped the doctor(?) to his feet. The man was old and balding, it was a miracle that he didn't suffer a heart attack with what happened.
The man sank to the floor, knees still wobbling from fright.
"I-I saw a ghost kneeling beside a c-cabinet," he answered, not looking at any of them, "his hair was silver, and h-he was standing there!" he pointed to one of the opened cabinets.
Yusuke raised his eyebrows. He didn't need much mental skill to deduce that that was Kurama's youko form. he felt he knew all that he needed to understand why Kurama was acting strangely. He left the questioning to Kuwabara who was asking questions just for the sake of asking questions. Funny.
He walked towards the cabinet the man pointed to. Strangely, it was one of the places left untouched by the plant, while the cabinet beside it was dented and ruined beyond repair.
113, 121, he muttered, memorizing the numbers. He went to the filing cabinet and looked up the records.
What the?
113 looked like Karasu? But he's dead! He wiped his hand on his jacket, that piece of offal clinging to his skin was too much. He'd remind himself to throw this jacket later. He turned the page looking for 121.
He almost dropped the record book. He knew the picture in the logbook.
It was Hiei.
Koenma sucked a lollipop contentedly with a pacifier still in his mouth. He looked like a big baby, but in reality, he was over 400 years old and also, the designated caretaker of the Nextworld. Piles of unfinished documents lay strewn on his desk, and even more were being delivered by busy violet imps every second.
"At last!" he suddenly shouted, looking very pleased with himself. He finished the upper quadrant of his desk, and was proudly looking at the neat pile of documents in that corner. "It's hard work, but it's worth it! Just met the deadline…"
He was about to call an imp to deliver this personally to his Father when suddenly…
"What the?"
He was turned over from his chair by a strong shockwave coming from outside. When he recovered, he saw sheets of paper flying overhead. There goes his allowance. Angrily, he stormed out of his office to strangle the imp who was responsible. Clucking his knuckles, he planned what torture device he would use.
He saw a crowd gathering in the entrance, and by the looks of that place, it also seemed to be where the shockwave came from. the entrance's door was thrown to the back wall and the tables nearest it were either disintegrated or badly charred.
"Let me go, damn you!"
Wait, he knew that voice. All the more reason for him to worry, its not a good idea to keep a fire demon waiting, even worse if that particular fire demon was almost class S and very, very bad tempered.
With his small size, it was easy for him to pass in between the tall imps legs and bully his way into the center. He was right.
Ten imps were trying to wrestle down Hiei, to no avail. The koorime twirled here and there and managed to throw back more than half of them. Lucky for the imps, Hiei's katana was still sheathed, but if he uses his fire dragon technique kokuryuhaa…
An image of his office blown to bits, his inheritance negated, his reputation gone with the wind…
"Everybody, STOP!" he shouted.
The commotion paused, but Hiei disgustingly threw away the remaining imps who were holding him. the fire demon snorted angrily and walked straight to Koenma.
"Send me back to Makai!"
"What?" Koenma asked, confused, why'd Hiei need his permission?
Hiei pointed to something floating and glowing on top of his spiky hair.
"Y-you died!" Koenma aked unbelievingly. The notion of Hiei being beaten this suddenly didn't even cross his mind. That and the fact that he's dead and standing here… "but how?"
"That stupid Karasu, who was supposed to be dead, killed me," he glared at Koenma who shrank even smaller. "It's your fault! You were there when Kurama killed him, you saw it, why'd he come back to life?"
"But he can't come back to Makai if I don't say so, and I won't ever," Koenma defended.
"Well he did, and I'm dead," his eyes took on a blank look, as if a thought suddenly crossed his mind. Kitsune…
Koenma and Hiei then tried to stare each other down, a contest which Hiei won, obviously. Koenma sighed and ordered Hiei to follow him to the record room.
Inside were tons of floating parchment, and Koenma picked one out from the air. He unrolled it on a desk in the middle of the room. As if by magic, names appeared on the list in glowing red ink.
"These are the names of the dead in my jurisdiction," he explained. "Look, if I want to know if he's still here, I'll just ask the book. I'll show you. Hiei".
"Do you have to start with me?" Hiei muttered.
Like a computer searching for data, the face of the parchment was covered with rapidly moving text, it suddenly came to a halt when it reached H. Hiei's name glowed in bright blue. Also, the date of his birth and death were listed on a box which appeared below his name, also his destination in the Afterlife.
"Wow!" Koenma patted Hiei on the back as he read the koorime's destination. "You're going to heaven!"
"Couldn't care less," Hiei muttered, he'd rather stay with Kurama and fight even in hell, "Show me Karasu's name."
Koenma said 'Karasu' and the book obeyed, listing multiple entries.
"What the?" again, he said Karasu, envisioning the youkai's face and aura clearly in his mind with the same result.
Hiei, who couldn't read looked at Koenma and the book.
"Why're there many glowing things?" he asked.
"It's Karasu… somehow, he's coming back to life."
That was the last draw. Hiei couldn't believe that he died because someone let a dead man slip through their doors. He clenched his fists, trying to control his rising temper, but it didn't work.
Cursing and yelling, he slammed his fists into the wall, creating a large circular hollow.
"Damn it! Why?" he shouted at Koenma who was still holding the book.
"I don't know, then I would've stopped him," Koenma muttered.
Hiei snarled and accosted the ruler's collar into his hands and raised him up high into the air. Koenma slammed into the wall with a loud thud.
"It's not my fault!" he shouted, afraid of what the angry koorime might do to him (kill him, probably), "somehow, he's circumventing the system so he could return to life without us knowing… Look, he's not even bothered to be reincarnated!"
Hiei closed his eyes tightly and brought Koenma slowly down. He slumped to the floor as if defeated and held his temples in both hands.
Koenma didn't know what to say. How could you say sorry if it was partly your fault that someone lost their life?
"Could you bring me back, like Yusuke?" Hiei broke the silence.
"N-no," Koenma answered gravely, even though he really wanted to say yes. "Yusuke's case was different from yours. His heart didn't stop beating all through out that time, so technically he wasn't really dead. I'm sorry Hiei, it just isn't done, even for my friends or we'd be on the verge of granting immortality." Suddenly, Koenma's eyes lit up. "Hey, why don't you try to be reincarnated? I could arrange that you take your memories with you!"
Glare.
Glare and lots of veins sprouting on the fore head.
"I don't want to be reincarnated! I-need-to-protect-Kurama-now!" he shouted, iterating each word with all the menace he naturally exudes. Koenma shrank to the ground.
Koenma's heart beat so fast. He knew what would happen if word leaks out that someone passed through his jurisdiction. His father might fire him, and where would he be? He'd made lots of enemies so maybe, he'd go back to his former office as another dead soul. He shuddered. Then he had a terrific idea.
He sprung to his feet and ran back to his office.
Curious, Hiei followed.
He found the little shrimp already talking with someone on the phone. The conversation or deal seems to be finished. Apparently, it went very well because Koenma's grin spread from ear to ear.
"I've got good news for you! Another Spirit detective agreed to take your case, so you have nothing to worry about anymore."
Hiei raised his eyebrow.
"He'd guard Kurama, too?"
"Yup and catch Karasu. I'm so sooo good!" he twirled from place to place like a stupid ballerina.
"Who's he?"
Suddenly, Koenma stopped his celebration as sweat covered his face. Hiei noticed something amiss so he repeated the question, slower this time.
"Do you really want to know?" Koenma asked nervously. Hiei flashed his fangs. Beaten, Koenma mumbled, "It'sItsuki"
The fire demon looked at the little ruler who was cowering behind his desk. He didn't know who this 'Ichichuuki' was. Perhaps he was a strong youkai since Koenma seemed apprehensive in saying his name out loud. Still, he couldn't trust anybody when it came to his koibito.
"I want to see him. I'll make sure he do the job right," Hiei started to walk away but Koenma stopped him. Koenma began digging in the pile of rubble which was his desk. At last, he found what he was looking for. He handed Hiei a leather bracelet with a crystal dangling on the center. He eyed it suspiciously. "Kono wa nani des' ka? (Meaning 'What's this?' - is that right? Is my Japanese grammar right? Author.)
"That's sort of a Spirit battery," he explained. "You don't have a body to renew your spirit so you might um, lose your substance and disappear. Souls can't really stay very long on earth without being harmed. Know the confused dead, those stupid spirits who seem to rattle incoherently about the same things? Their minds were damaged and they've forgotten who they are, and…," he was starting a lecture.
"I see your point," Hiei cut him short and stared at the bracelet. He put it on. It was a bit big, but otherwise, Ok. "How long have I got?"
"If you were a ningen, about a month since their energy requirements are lower than…"
"Enough! Me, me! How long have I got!" he snarled.
"I don't know, less?"
"But I thought ningens last a month!"
"But they don't have pet dragons coming out of their hands, and I know you'll use that kokuryuhaa of yours in this mission, right?"
Hiei only nodded, knowing Koenma to be so right.
"Okay. So you can use your techniques about three times. No more than that. I can't give you another battery, if that's what your thinking since a soul can only use external energy only so much. It would be safer if you leave it all to him, though.
The fire demon snorted.
"Like I left it all to you guys. I'm going."
Hiei was halfway out the door when he realized something.
"How do I go to him?" he asked meekly.
A man in a simple silk kimono leisurely ran his fingers through his aquamarine hair. He stretched his arms languidly. He's been living like a normal ningen for three years, and liking it. It was strange. Once he hated humankind for what they did to his beloved, but now, he's so comfortable that he didn't mind masquerading as one. Even if it meant not using his powers, or doing anything bad. A smile crept into his lips. One's got to admit, but it's less stressful if you don't have to watch your back constantly against demons trying to kill you, or worse.
It was nice of Koenma to give him an official pardon, even providing them with a cozy little Japanese home.
"Are you comfortable, Sensui?" he asked sensously to the man sitting beside him.
The man didn't answer. In fact, it looked like he couldn't. His lips were stiffly shut into a thin line. His skin was waxy, shaded with a sickly moldy brown. He sat stiffly on the chair, as if a board was holding him up. His muscles show like bundles of twine on his leathery skin. But Itsuki didn't mind. In fact, he even wrapped his arms around Sensui and rested his head on the other's unbeating heart.
"Someone's coming to visit me today, I hope you won't get jealous," Itsuki whispered and looked up to his beloved's face. He frowned as he saw the skin peeling again. Unflinching, he tried to put it back with some salve which he always kept in his pockets. "I knew you'd understand," he continued his little tirade, "Koenma agreed that I could use my powers if I accept this assignment so I said yes. Don't you agree that you looked better when I had my powers to use instead of this 'stick-all'?"
He laughed a silent bitter laugh, remembering the times when Sensui was alive, the wonderful moments they shared together. Sensui was the fire which lit up his life, no began it. He never felt more alive than with Sensui. Even now that he's dead, he still couldn't let go, literally. Even as he saw Sensui's spirit leave, he couldn't say goodbye.
So he kept his beloved's body with him in his World, and even brought it back into ningen.
But since he was prohibited from using his powers as a condition for their pardons, Sensui's body slowly decayed. First, he put him in the freezer, but frost crept to his skin. Then, he put him in alcohol, that was disastrous, Sensui almost became pickled. He tried formalin, but hated the funny smell. Finally, he gave up. Maybe it was because of the various chemicals he used but Sensui's body didn't rot. Instead, it slowly dried up and mummified, which was much less of a bother.
"Well, I'm going to put you in bed now. You rest while I take a bath for our guest, hmn?" Humming to himself, Itsuki carried the body to the other room.
Outside, the nightingales sung gaily.
To Be Continued
Author's notes: Thank you for having read this far! It takes me about a month to write each chappie since i'm writing 4 stories simultaneously (yah... that prevents writer's block for me... nn;;) Encourage my fingers and muses! R/R?
Hope to see you soon two weeks from now! Oh, you might as well put me in your C2's or favorites so more people could read this story. Thanks again!