Out of Despair

Chapter 3

Hiei had been returning from one of his many visits from the Makai, when the screams of a human girl assaulted him. His patrol had long since been over, but he thought that he had better check it out. He wouldn't have even bothered to continue serving on the patrol if he hadn't seen it as an excuse to remain close to Murkuro, though he would never admit it. She had become a kindred spirit to the fire demon, and he found her company soothing at times.

The screams continued shrilly, piercing through his entire being, as he narrowed the distance between them. Three rather grungy looking lower class youkai had captured a human onna and quickly scurried away, discarding their toy, at the sight of the hybrid. He had long since become well known as one of the most powerful demons in the Makai and Murkuro's right hand man since the fall of the three kings. Not one of the lower class demons would bother to fight with one such as him. Hiei smirked as he watched them scamper hurriedly away.

His attention focused on the girl. She seemed to radiate a certain pull that he was positive they had been drawn to. She lay crumpled on the ground in tattered remains of clothing unconscious. Her ebony locks concealed her face as she lay face down in the sand, but he was almost certain he had sensed her before. Turning her over, he was shocked to find that this was the same girl who Yusuke had a growing infatuation for. This girl was sure to be the death of the detective one way or another. He turned his nose as she reeked of the scent of the ones who had brought her here. They had obviously had her for a few hours and forced themselves on her. It was obvious to the fire demon that they only wanted to bring her back to the Makai, kill her, and hide her body from the Reikai.

"You, stupid woman. What have you gotten tangled up with now?" He questioned. He sat back on his heal for a moment taking in the full weight of the situation. This was the same woman that Koenma had expressly forbidden that they get involved with under any circumstances. She was also the one who threatened to ruin the wedding between Yusuke and Keiko, unbeknownst to herself. As withdrawn as this girl had been, he doubted that she even knew who Yusuke was. Although, it would not stop the detective from coming back into the Makai and slaughtering the three who had done this. Whether it was justified or not, he couldn't risk Yusuke getting further involved. That had made her even a bigger burden to him. What would he do with this woman? The powers that pulsed from her demanded that she be taken back to the Ningenkai. Any further exposure would start to bring about curious onlookers that may or may not be willing to give up so easily. Wrapping the girl in his cloak as he picked her up, he mumbled a few inaudible curses under his breath.

Using his speed and stealth, he wasted no time taking her to Kurama's apartment. He was good with this sort of problem. Hell, he lived for these traumatic moments. He let out a frustrated groan before setting foot on the balcony. He was highly irritated that this melodrama of Yusuke's was now invading his life. Checking the door, he was glad that he had finally taught his friend to keep his damn balcony door unlocked if he wanted to stop replacing the window every time he came over.

Kurama entered the living room casually towel drying his hair, not placing much notice on the hybrid that stood there with the pissed off aura. "Hiei, I wished you'd learn to knock. You know I could have been entertaining." He had sensed his friend's energy for the last few minutes, but he felt no reason to hurry to dress. Hiei frequently came and left without ever saying a word.

"Hn," was all the answer he had gotten. He knew that the kits appetite had increased since he had persuaded the human side of himself to give into his desires more freely, but his insatiability was leaving Hiei disgusted. Shuichi had gone from virginal to entertaining anything that suited his whim for the day virtually overnight. It was also the reason that left him feeling somewhat ill-at-ease for bringing the girl to him, but there was little choice. It was either him or Genkai.

Kurama stopped dead in his tracks as he was met with a second aura. This aura seemed to be pulsing to new life, growing stronger and stronger by the minute. Dropping his towel to let it hand freely from his shoulders, he turned to greet the new visitor only to find her dangling over the hybrid's shoulder.

"What do you have there? Or should I say who?" Kurama's curiosity peeked as his eyes flashed golden. He could only see the midnight hair that had spilled from beneath Hiei's cloak, but he could sense even in his human form that she had been brutalized. Letting his ki roam freely, he assessed the girl. "This is Yusuke's girl."

Hiei abruptly dumped her on the couch, much like he would have done with a sack of potatoes. He removed his cloak from her so they could get a better look at her injuries. As she lay there unconscious, he noticed a softer side that he hadn't seen before.

Kurama's mind seemed to echo similar thoughts. "I hadn't really noticed before, but she is quite remarkable."

Hiei shot his partner a contemptible scowl as he watched Kurama's eyes trailing lustfully over her exposed body. "You know you really should be neutered. You are growing to be sickening." Hiei moved his cloak covering the girl's form better.

Kurama looked up at Hiei with an appalled look on his face. "This girl has just been accosted. I would never take advantage of her situation." He was just making a mental note for once she had healed, as much as she could anyway. He had loads of time to wait. "I am just wondering how she was out of Yusuke's watchful eye. He never leaves her alone for a second."

"Which is why I brought her here… Do you have any idea what to do with her?"

"Where did you find her?"

"In the Makai. Three lower class demons had brought her there obviously to dump her body once they had finished with her."

"Isn't it protocol for any human found in the Makai to be taken where their mind can be altered? Why didn't you just do that?"

Hiei continued to glare. Of course he knew protocol, and if that had been an option he would have been only to glad to do it. Kami, only knew how the little toddler would react to finding out that he had intercepted her. "Do you not feel the power that has begun radiated out of her? I was lucky to get her here without drawing any further attention."

"I have to admit it is very interesting. Not three days ago, she had been completely dormant with no known powers to speak of. Somehow, though it is not surprising. But do you realize how her energy is tainted and seems to be growing darker as it increase? Very odd for a miko." Kurama began to look at her like a science experiment. Her base energy was of a holy nature, one that seemed to be restricted, but it was a demonic energy that was overpowering it. Either her or someone else had bound these spiritual energies. Could it be the deity that Koenma had spoken of? It would explain a lot.

Hiei's face hardened as Kagome clinched the cloak that covered her as she battled her nightmares. They had set her tossing and turning violently. Mumbling fragments of words, her aura grew stronger. Both her miko and demonic fields intensified. Something had to be done and soon or else any youkai that had been wondering through would come.

The kitsune quirked an eyebrow. "There doesn't appear to be any simple solution." His friend was seemingly waiting for some instruction, leaving everything up to him. Regardless of what they did, they couldn't allow her power to keep growing as it was. It would attract too much attention, not just from youkai but the Reikai. Koenma would waste no time in finding out what was emitting that kind of energy. "She can't stay here, that much is certain. Perhaps, we should call Yusuke. He has taken on the role of her protector, it would only be right to let him decide what to do."

Hiei turned menacingly upon the kit. "Do you really find that the wisest course of action? The detective would most likely just go off into a fit of rage and then we would be left with two problems."

Kurama merely nodded as he continued to watch the girl. How much time would they have before Yusuke realized she was missing? He would have to be told, but his moods had been far too unstable to let him find out all at once, that much was true. "If her powers were to be feeding off of the recent attack, somehow using the negative emotions, that could be causing the youki to strengthen. Could you use the Jagan to alter her memories? Make her forget of the attack. It would be in her own best interest not to harbor such memories." For the most part Kurama found himself thinking out loud, but it did seem the most reasonably solution for the time being.

Hiei had to agree. He had heard her screams and now that her dreams seemed to be in full force. There seemed to be no reason to make her relive such an attack night after night. Forgetting that it ever happened would give her some solace, but he couldn't say that he was looking forward to experiencing these two warring forces up close either. Youki would be the easiest to penetrate to alter her memories, but her spiritual powers might eagerly try to purify him, regarding him as another part of the youki that was invading her. Slipping off the ward that covered his Jagan, he sat quietly reaching out to her. There was a swirling of pink and purple surrounding her entire body. The purple was by far the largest and strongest, but the pink seemed to be surrounding it, holding it's immense weight within and appearing to keep the youki from dominating her. As the Jagan neared her it could sense the form of another that she had been dreaming of. Another demon, with long silvery hair and dog ears lay at her feet, her whales of despair called to him, but he didn't move. As the Jagan, cautiously moved closer trying to enter further into the girl's mind her pink miko energy flawed to new life, warning this new threat.

Hiei stood his ground not advancing nor retreating. The energy pulsed around him. Something was trying to identify him, searching for the meaning of his intrusion. His body tensed as a calm state washed through him allowing him to continue forward. Feeling a little more at ease he trudged through the darkness of her mind to be met with the growing youki. Suddenly his feelings were overcome with malice and rage, the likes of which he had never even known. The power that radiated forth called to him, beckoning to be absorbed within the girl. Hiei's youki was pulling forth from him and into the girl. Hiei sensed what was about to happen and tried to will himself away. It was exerting control over both the Jagan and his dragon. The force was seeking out all the demonic energy it could to break free of the spiritual energy, but Hiei knew it wouldn't stop there. It wished to draw out and absorb every single bit of his own youki, making it her own.

Kurama knew that things seemed to be going terribly wrong as he felt the drain to the hybrid's body. He knew that he had to break the link without drawing it's attention to more youki. Closing his eyes and saying a tiny prayer to what ever being would grant it, he gambled that she had much more spiritual power than she was exhibiting now. He only hoped that he was right. Forcefully he pulled every bit of his own youki he could muster and mentally attacked the girl's miko energy. Not failing to disappoint, her holy powers sprang radically to life shooting out a bright pink blaze of light. Kurama and Youko braced for the hit.

Hiei fell back against the floor as he was thrown back out of her mind. Shaking his head, he sat stunned for a few moments not realizing what had happened. Suddenly, his focus was brought to the kitsune that lay motionless on the floor. Listening to his breathing, he could tell that he would be all right after he had a chance to recover.

The girl still lay no better or no worse. All of her energy had dropped back to the same as before they had started. As out of harmony as it was, it was balancing itself just enough to keep it contained. It would not stay like this for long though. It was darkening her heart. He could only imagine that it was the seeds of this entity that he had witnessed a few days ago. Her depression had nurtured its growth. Although, he couldn't say which had come first, her depression or the entity itself, they needed one another to survive until it could absorb other darker forces.

The only way to keep her safe now would be a spiritual barrier to mask her from being found. Genkai would be the only one strong enough to radiate such a field. He let out a disgusted snort with himself. What in the hell was he thinking? He should just dump her back in the Makai where he had found her. A human wasn't worth all of this effort. She had nearly absorbed him, tried to purify Kurama, and was just being a total pain in the ass. Who was he kidding? If the little brat found out he had been the one to dump her back into fate's hands, he would surely be sentenced for killing a human. One more effort wouldn't make any more difference, as long as she didn't bring any harm to Yukina. That would be where he drew the line. Looking at her face one last time, he brushed away some of the stray locks that covered her features. 'Wonder if she knows all the trouble she has created today?' His face softened as he came to an awareness of his failure to take the memories of the day's events from her. Failure wasn't something he accepted gracefully, but there was nothing else he knew to help her for now. Perhaps the old woman would know of something.

Picking her up, he glared at Kurama. 'Couldn't even take a little purification? Pathetic.' He knew he would be better later, but he didn't know when he would awaken. He had no choice but to leave him here for now. He could tell him later after he had gotten her to a safe haven.