Insaneningen14: yay! I got enough reviews. (finally) KTO, you and me really have to go to Barnes & Nobles together. (to raid the manga section, what else?)

Chapter 13:

Previously:

"Excellent, excellent!" Ichiro laughed, hailing her. "A wonderful performance Yen!"

"My name is not Yen." She cocked her head to the side, curious.

"Then who are you?"

"I don't know." She answered steadily, not blinking an eye, but some form of confusion swirled within the depths of her irises.

-(Makai)-

He chuckled. "I am Lord Ichiro. This is Dr. Oku." The scientist bobbed his head, grinning happily. "You are Yen, my creation."

"I'm not owned by anyone."

"You don't know that for sure, do you?" He grinned. "I've wiped your memory- you don't know what happened for the past fifteen years of you life. Absolutely clueless."

He wagged his finger. "But be grateful, since they're not particularly… pleasing. You owe me for your new beginnings."

"I don't owe anyone."

"You owe me, and to pay off your debt, you're going to do a little favor. In fact, you're going to do everything I say."

"I'm not a puppet."

"You sure about that?" His voice was dangerously sweet. "Because I control you." He pointed to the stirring demon she had knocked out. "Kill him."

Instantly her body moved against her will, severing his body in half, the guts and blood pouring out.

"See? You're my pawn, my little ayatsuri." He smirked. "You do what I say, because you can't act otherwise."

"I…" She looked at her hands, spattered with the blood of her foes.

"You are a Forbidden Child. My ultimate killing machine." He leaned back, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"To prove your worth, you're going into my torture chamber." His eyes gleamed. "We'll see how much pain you can take."

Yen snarled, running towards the tower. Yet again propelling herself upwards by use of the nagamaki and her strong legs, she swung at Ichiro, attempting to take his life.

She slammed a barrier, made out of raw power, intensely strong. She fell, bumping against the wall several times, hitting the ground with a thud. In addition to her two wounds earned in battle, she had a nosebleed. Her ankle hurt horribly after her fall, but she had saved it from being broken by using her hands.

"Fool," he spat. "You dare to attack me, and you injure yourself in one way or another." She lost consciousness soon after that, barely noticing that she was being dragged away by guards.

…

"Had enough Yen?" Ichiro sat in his wheelchair, smirking over her bedraggled appearance.

Bloody and tired, sporting a black eye and many other discolorations, she still glared at him. Fire danced along the edge of her shackles, not able to leave their mistress. She snarled, pressing against the chains that held her to the wall. "Free me."

"If I did free you, it would just be pointless. You can't do anything against my will."

"I do what I want."

"Prove it." He signaled for Oku to unlock the shackles, earning a worried glance. She leapt at him instantly.

"Stop." Yen froze, dropping to the ground. He laughed, standing shakily. A few bandages were wrapped around his left arm, hiding the charred body part. She snarled, warningly, but did not move from her position on the ground, on her hands and knees.

"Get up." She did so instantly, the look on her face pure venom. He smirked, running his hand along her dark tresses. "Don't move now," he whispered. Her body was now locked in position, otherwise she would have hit him.

Fire wrapped around her, making him stumble back in fear. She glared, unable to move at all, but the message was clear. Stay away from me.

"Stop defying me ayatsuri." The fire died away, hatred still evident in its traces. He locked her back up. "You can do what you will, but I won't be easily destroyed," he hissed.

Fire bordered her shackles once more. He smirked. "If you keep that up, something quite awful will happen." The fire burned brighter, as if to challenge him.

"I enjoy breaking people ayatsuri." He left with a bang, leaving his wheelchair to remain.

If she could just melt the chains…

'Ah!' She shrieked, clutching her chest. Pain had erupted, laboring her breathing- her lungs felt like they were on fire. The air, though dank and mildewed, soon became thick and hot for her. Dizziness swamped her head as she keeled over as far as her chains would allow, erupting into a coughing fit.

Her coughs began to turn into hacking- soon she was coughing up phlegm, spitting it out on the floor. Her consciousness was soon lost afterwards, coughs subsiding to minimum hard breathing.

-(Ningenkai)-

"Urameshi?" The teenager didn't respond, snoring away.

"URAMESHI!" Iwamoto slammed the ruler on the desk, inches away from his head. Yusuke jerked up, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"What?"

"This is roll call Urameshi! You're supposed to answer!"

"Since when do I ever act the good obedient boy?" he drawled out in response.

"Detention! Get out of my class!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He walked out, still sleepy. He obviously went up to the roof, for a bit of a nap in the sun.

Minutes later, Kuwabara arrived as well.

"Kick you out as well?"

"Yeah." Kuwabara joined him in lazing about.

"Man, that guy is a real b----," Yusuke grumbled, resettling himself.

"How are things with you and Atsuko?" Ever since that strange day, Atsuko had tried to bring Yusuke closer to her and Jiro.

"Fine." Yusuke rolled his eyes. "They're all lovey-dovey with each other. Kinda disgusting. He's worse at cooking than Mom."

"Did you move into his house?"

"Nah. He's living with us, but he keeps his old apartment in handy, just in case. We have some of our junk there now, along with his." Yusuke grinned. "He was trying to get rid of mom's cigarettes. He doesn't like the fumes, he says. She's trying- even considering nicotine patches. They want to have things work out."

"So what was the whole deal between them anyways?"

"They were dating. She… didn't have enough protection. Jiro was good about it though- he stuck by her until he died. A demon sniper got him- I forgot why he went after him. Anyways, when he got to Reikai, Koenma offered him a job. Reikai Karyyudo. Basically supplies information on cases for Koenma. But the condition was he had to stay away from Mom from then on. Pacifier-Breath didn't want more half-breeds." Yusuke sighed.

"Sounds like he's trying hard to get the family back together again," Kuwabara put in.

"He is." Yusuke looked back up at the sky. "But we both miss Yuki. And Mom wants to meet her badly."

"I miss her too."

"You've got Yukina idiot."

"Not in that way! I would never betray Yukina! But she's a close friend to all of us!"

"Yeah. She's like my sister in a way, since Jiro is her guardian, and he's my dad too."

"Never thought of it that way Urameshi…"

"…Because you're an idiot…"

"Say that again-!"

-(Reikai)-

"Hiei?" Kurama stepped in, just as the mentioned demon came to.

WHAM

"Could you at least shut down the barrier?" The redhead rubbed his sore nose, slightly miffed.

"Hn." He did so, that the kitsune could step further inside.

"How are you?"

"As best can be, stuck in Reikai."

He chuckled. "Still sore about it?"

"Shut up."

"Has she woken?" Kurama looked at Yuki's form.

"No."

The redhead glanced at Hiei curiously. Garnet irises showed some softness for her, some pity. He grinned. "You like her."

"Hn. I don't love." His eyes hardened in a glare.

"You love Yukina," Kurama pointed out.

"Love is a useless emotion."

"Mm-hm." Kurama dropped his coat on a nearby chair. "So, tell me, what happens if you mate her in her mind?"

"Fox, wipe that damn smirk off your face, or I will personally do it for you," Hiei snarled.

"No need to be aggressive." Luckily he had known Hiei long enough to not come away seriously injured.

"Hn." Hiei settled down slightly. "What gave it away?"

"Your scent. Only a slight change, but different all the less." Hiei scowled. "So did you make any moves?"

"She said that she loved me," he admitted reluctantly

Kurama chuckled. "What did you say?"

"…"

"Inari- Hiei, you just left!"

"Hn."

A worried expression was already forming on the redhead's face. "Hiei, please, be reasonable. I know you've never really been comfortable on the subject of affection, but think of her feelings-"

"I don't need your advice on women," Hiei snapped.

"Hiei, she'll think you turned her down-"

"For all you know, I did!" Kurama collapsed with a sigh on the same chair he had draped his coat on. "I don't need a weak being like her to hinder me!"

"Hiei, you seriously offended her-"

"How do you know what's going inside of her head?"

"Anyone would feel the same."

"She's not 'anyone.' She's nothing! A Forbidden!"

"Just like you."

"I don't need emotions, so neither should she!"

"She's like my relation."

"She's a stranger! She just turned up and you all throw your trust with her!"

"……I know what it's like to be turned away."

The fire apparition quieted. "What happened?"

The fox's lips tightened. "A year ago. I met this girl- she was an exchange student from America. Her name was Sakura. She was in all of my classes, and I was assigned to show her around, as well as house her. She was intelligent, high IQ, good at drawing, beautiful voice, fiery spirit- and she wasn't in my fan club."

"I dated her for a month or so- neither you, Yusuke, Kuwabara, nor anyone else knew. At the end, Youko took over. He… forced her to the bed. He was completely in control- I stopped him just in time, before anything…" The redhead trailed off. The Jaganshi waited patiently.

"And?" he prompted after several moments.

Kurama turned his head, so as not to face Hiei, but Yuki. "She ran off. Back to America, I assume. She didn't spill- I made sure of that. I had to erase her memories of that afternoon- as with her attraction to me. Just like Maya."

"…… I'm sorry."

"No." He glanced back at the fire demon. "Even though she didn't accept me, it was alright- I know what happened."

"What?" He was confused by his response.

"Yuki will die," Kurama stated bluntly. "Her sickness will kill her if she keeps this up." The fox gestured to her still body. "And I'm not sure how her spirit will hold out in the void."

"She-"

"Has never loved someone like you. The least you could do is tell her how you feel about her. The mere suspense will kill her faster than the sickness." He stood. "Just do it. You won't regret it." Leaving on the way out, his quick hands snatched Hiei's bandana away, undoing the tight knot in less than a second. Kurama exited stonily after that, leaving a shocked Hiei.

'Might as well… he took my bandana anyways…' His Jagan opened and started to glow

-(Yuki)-

'He left me.' Yuki was lying spread-eagle, eyes closed, silent. She couldn't bring herself to speak. Her song had been turned away. So why bother?

But the silence was killing her.

'Life is nothing here. Music brings soul. Vision brings color. Touch brings reassurance.'

'No sound.'

'Nothing to see.'

'No one to touch.'

'No life.'

'One soul against nothing cannot stand.'

'It will cease to exist, and become the Void that killed it.'

'As will a loner's soul…'

"Wrong."

She closed her eyes. His voice was torture for her; sight would be even worse.

"Your pathetic look on the Void is wrong." His wry voice penetrated her. Yuki didn't respond- that would be only submitting to… her insanity. "Nothing is nothing. If the soul is pitted against it, what does it have to fight?"

"Nothing. If nothing is nothing, then nothing is Void. And Void is the emptiness," she answered back. "It is impossible to fight something that is not."

"So what are you fighting now?" D--- that arrogant voice.

She clenched her fist. "Nothing. I'm talking to nothing."

"If you opened your eyes, you might see something instead of nothing."

"Nothing."

"You said it yourself. Music, Vision, and Touch compose being. You hear me."

"You are nothing."

"Open your eyes."

"Nothing. I will see nothing."

"Yuki. Open your eyes." A soft touch to her face made her heart wrench. "You talked to me once- you hoped that there was still a chance for yourself, to escape your past. You asked me: Don't you yourself hope for another life of happiness?"

Yuki's throat constricted, making it hard to talk. "And you told me that you knew you won't get one," she choked out, on the verge of tears.

"I'm giving you yours now."

She sobbed. "And what about you!"

He was silent for a bit. "You… are my hope. My chance to make a better life." He hesitated.

Tackling him in a hug, she began to cry more profusely than ever. Opening her glittering purple eyes, she gazed at his red ones. They showed no signs of tears, but affection showed through. Ruffling her silver locks, he held her close willingly, breathing in her scent.

"Koorihana," he whispered, stroking her hair. Yuki rested her head on the crook of his shoulder. Nibbling at her neck gently, Hiei placed a small kiss there. She nuzzled him in return, relaxing in his grip.

Shifting her slightly so that her face was looking towards his own, Hiei kissed her on the lips, gnawing slightly with his fangs at her bottom lip, then slipped his tongue in. She smiled.

"My existence…"

: End Chapter

Insaneningen14: What I do for you people (mutter, mutter) But the good thing is, I have come up with another plot twister! At least, that's what I think it is. It was like- whoah, I get it! It was wicked…

Miharu34: we want six reviews for the new chapter.

Insaneningen14: D--- STRAIGHT! Whoot! You tell them! (happy dance)

Hiei: crazy human.

Insaneningen14: AH! (jumps behind accomplice) What are YOU doing here?

Kurama: we just wanted to visit your… office

Insaneningen14: This is my bedroom! Get out!

Yusuke: if this is your bedroom, why do you have signs saying 'the Dorms' and 'Office' on your door?

Kuwabara: Why do you have utensils on your desk?

Insaneningen14: GET OUT! ALL of you! I don't care whether you're pretty boy or antisocial goth or punk! I'm going crazy, I just started school when I update this, and I had preseason when I actually wrote this! Out! (shoves them outside)

Oh yeah, this was my last chapter in stock- I know what to write, but I have to actually write it.