Diclaimer: Don't own it.
Notes: No new notes.
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Embrace the Winter Snow
Chapter 2
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"That's funny," Yusuke muttered.
"Yeah," Kuwabara began, "because that almost sounded like-"
"Hiei." The two boys spoke simultaneously as they turned towards the door. Standing in the doorway was none other than Hiei. Only, he wasn't the Hiei that either remembered.
The fire demon had definitely changed.
He was dressed in a pair of deep black pants, which hid the top of his black boots (which was normal enough.) A long, ankle length tunic was wrapped around him, slitting up both sides until belted by a red sash (not normal! Not normal!) The tunic was midnight black with red designs of twisting ribbons around a fierce white dragon.
Yusuke was unnerved by the similarity of this outfit to Kurama's old fighting clothes.
Hiei had grown a few inches since the two men had last seen him. Surprising, considering that he had not grown over five feet in the century that had been his life. But he was definitely a few inches taller.
Kuwabara shrugged it off; it had to be something Mukuro was feeding him. Besides, what did he care? The Shrimp was still a Shorty.
His katana was strapped to his back with a black leather sling, probably for easier travel rather than the hip sheath, which could affect running. From what Yusuke could see, the fire demon had acquired a new one. At least, he didn't remember the last one having a silver hilt decorated in designs of twisting dragons and never-ending lines that were etched into the soft metal.
But maybe his vision was just going.
The fire demon's hair was different, also. The same unruly spikes jetted up against gravity, but the length had grown. His hair spiked more to the back where it was clenched tightly with a red tie. The mullet like ponytail wrapped over his shoulder, the silky stands of black and blue falling down to his chest.
Yusuke and Kuwabara said nothing as Hiei regarded them with the same, calm, emotionless, eyes. He did, however, allow a smirk to show slightly, mocking their surprised expressions. The fire demon started forward.
The raven-haired shop owner frowned. "What are you doing here, Hiei?"
The youkai paused, tilting his head slightly. "Does that mean you want me to leave, Detective?"
Yusuke's frown deepened. Hiei was acting much too…snooty. The fire demon eventually shrugged as it became obvious that Yusuke was not going to answer. Instead, Hiei held out his hand, which had been empty seconds before but now gripped a wooden cylinder. He handed it to Yusuke, who took it with a now-suspicious scowl.
It was a scroll tube made of deep mahogany wood and covered in a lid that was etched with the symbol of Alaric. Silver lining was etched around each base and the symbol of the top and middle engravings.
With another frown, he popped the lid off and dumped the tubes contents out onto the table. Picking up the light scroll, he opened the rolled paper and read the short letter rather quickly.
Lord Urameshi,
I'm sending Hiei to you. He needs an attitude adjustment…that or a good hit to the head. And so I leave him in your capable hands. Take as long as you need.
On a much lighter note, your advisors are starting a war with my borderline towns. Get your ass back to Demon World and fire them already!
As always,
Lord Mukuro.
Yusuke smiled slightly as his eyes scanned over the message, but the look disappeared as his gaze landed on Hiei. A slight frown replaced the expression yet again.
"What does it say?" Kuwabara asked and Yusuke handed him the letter. The orange-haired teen let out a laugh after scanning it. He rolled the scroll back up and slipped it into the tube.
"I'll send a messenger back to Mukuro and my advisors," Yusuke said as he took the scroll, glancing once again at Hiei. "How long are you planning on staying here?"
"Seven days," the fire demon answered briefly. Yusuke only nodded and turned to walk back into the kitchen. He walked past the doorway and into the hall of his house. As he grabbed some paper ad a pen, he could hear an outraged shout and the beginnings of a heated conversation.
'Well, that didn't take long,' he thought. Although he prayed they did not wake Keiko, he made no sudden rush to stop them. As he wrote out two letters, he tucked them into the scroll tube and reentered the restaurant.
By that time Kuwabara was standing red in the face and hands balled into fists at his side. Hiei appeared calm; his hands in the pockets of his pants and face expressionless. Yusuke, however, noticed that there were harsh glints of anger in those blood red depths. Normal insults at Kuwabara had annoyance but never much rage.
That only told him that the topic of conversation that turned to a deadly subject for the two. ((Which…you don't get to know right now.)) Kuwabara let out a frustrated growl before his shoulders sagged. He turned to Yusuke.
"Sorry, Urameshi. I don't feel much like going to the arcade anymore. I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "Sorry if we woke Keiko."
"That's alright. See you tomorrow, Kuwabara."
He pushed past Hiei as he angrily stomped to the door. As he pulled open the door, he turned and growled, "Stay away from him, Hiei."
"Hn," the fire demon replied, eyes never leaving Yusuke. "What makes you think I would want to be near him?"
Yusuke could practically hear Kuwabara's teeth grinding as his hands shook. The orange-haired psychic growled but did nothing, cursing Hiei to the depths of Hell within his own private thoughts. In the end he did nothing more that stalk out the door, resisting the urge to slam it shut behind him.
Yusuke sighed, setting the tube down to remind him to summon a messenger demon in the morning.
"Well, I don't suppose you have a place to stay?" the raven-haired man asked with an exasperated sigh. Hiei replied with his customary 'Hn.'
'Guess some things don't change,' Yusuke thought coldly to himself. He looked back to the fire demon. "Well, you can stay here if you need to."
He began to lead the youkai upstairs to the rooms above the restaurant. Hiei followed without a world, surprisingly cooperative to Yusuke. However, as Yusuke made sure he was situated and turned to leave the guest room, he looked back at the fire demon.
"A word of warning, Hiei," he started, his voice serious and words more wise than the youkai remembered. Hiei was slightly surprised, though he didn't show it, at how much Yusuke had matured. "If you do choose to stay the week here, I advise you to leave Kurama alone."
"Hn. As I told the Fool, Detective, 'Why would I want to see him?'"
Yusuke could only turn away, not uttering a word but with sorrow deep in his eyes, unhidden. As the door slid shut, though, Hiei's sensitive hearing picked up the ex-detective's muttered words.
"Because you're running out of time to do so…We all are."
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"Botan, can you fetch some more bandages?" Genkai asked as she slid the ancient temple door closed. The ferry girl nodded, coming up beside her. The two walked down the hall towards the front statue room, the walls reverberating in the shadows cast by Botan's candle in the dimming light.
"We are almost out, Master Genkai," Botan reported, her voice ever cheerful but now with an underlying tone of darkness. Genkai nodded.
"I'll go get some more tomorrow morning. Perhaps I'll bring back breakfast," she answered thoughtfully and Botan grinned.
"Um…" she began hesitantly after a small wave of silence had passed. Her smile saddened. "How is he?"
Genkai gave her a stern, searching look before drawing her eyes back to the hallway. "He has not improved much. In fact, I fear his condition may worsen soon."
"Oh, I was afraid you'd say that," Botan muttered with a sorrowful sigh. She said no more as the old master slid open another door and entered the kitchen. Botan dismissed herself to go gather more bandages, the last they had, as Genkai started on making tea.
Humming a rather slow tune quietly to herself in the dusk light, she bundled up the bandages she would need and headed back down the hall. Quieting her song, she opened the door to one of the extra healing rooms, trying to put a smile on her face.
She supposed it didn't work all that well, but she opened the door nonetheless.
The room was lit by nothing more that the streaks of silver moonlight that fled through the window as the changing trees blew in the wind, constantly casting moving shadows over the shining, silver light.
Cold wind swept into the room every so often through the partially opened window. The figure lying in the futon would not have it opened anymore and always requested, however politely, to leave it partially opened.
Said occupant was lying on the white, sheet-covered futon. He was sleeping lightly as he shivered every once in a while. The rest of the room was dreadfully bare, no other furniture in sight, nor any needed.
Botan walked over to the bed and knelt down, laying the bandages beside her.
Kurama was pale, his skin a sickly white. His lips seemed pale but they were still a darker shade than they had once been, and they contrasted with his skin, turning the already ashen-colored flesh even lighter.
Slowly, as Botan gently called to him, brushing his bangs to one side, the fox awoke. Kurama opened his green eyes, which were dark in the fading light. Botan always found herself looking away from the fox's eyes nowadays.
They were not what they used to be.
Instead of lively, they were dead. Instead of a spark of fiery flame, they were dull. Instead of the bright light they once held, they were pale and often glazed. Kurama no longer had that spark to him. His luster was gone, and had been for a while now.
In fact, empty was now the only word to describe those eyes. As empty as his soul.
"Konbonwa, Kurama," Botan greeted happily, trying to keep up her normally cheerful voice.
It worked for the most part.
Those green eyes focused on her and she tried so hard to look back into them. His face remained emotionless as he nodded back to her, a small forced smile tugging at his mouth.
"You seem to be doing better," she lied as she pulled the white sheet and comforter back down to the fox's waist. There were bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen but above his pubic area. They were pristine white and free of any blood, which had the ferry girl smiling.
She double-checked the bandages wrapped around his ribs and gave a nod of approval; little to no blood was there. Plus, from what she could see, it looked like the bruising had reduced again.
As she moved up his body, checking the bandages, she came across the old bloodstained ones wrapped around his neck. Botan gently unwrapped it, holding Kurama's head lightly in her lap. As she got the last wrap of the long bandage off, she held back a grimace.
A two inch long slice separated the skin on Kurama's neck. Through her vivid memories, she could almost see blood gushing out, the wound having been freshly cut through his jugular and larynx, muscles, veins, and nervous system. Beyond any meaning of the word luck, the fox had not been killed by the blade so many years ago.
The metal had gone deep enough only to scratch the air tunnel, not deep enough to allow any leakage of blood into the lungs. Saving him from blood loss had been a different story.
Botan shook her head as the memories of that mess of crimson liquid came back to her. She glanced back at the wound, now only a smeared mess of dry and wet blood leaking slowly out of the sliced skin. The area around the laceration was still red and purple, irritated and bruised as if sliced just yesterday.
Quickly, Botan cleaned the wound. Pressing a healing hand to it, she closed her eyes and concentrated as a golden blue glow surrounded the fox's thin neck, casting shadows over his pale skin, creating a ghostly effect.
Kurama's expression softened slightly as the building pain caused by his dammed up youki was lessened. Botan pulled her hands back and gave a soft smile.
The wound had lessened to nothing more that a fresh scar. The skin had pulled back together, stitching itself up with a heavy seal of dried blood and water, crusting to keep the skin together.
Although her healing should have had a much better effect, she had never been able to mend the fox fully, and regretted it with as much guilt as if she had been the one to hurt him.
Botan quickly rewrapped the wound; glad to hide it as she hid her own guilt. Kurama seemed much more relaxed, perhaps even genuinely for once. Unfortunately, for someone with the well-trained healer's eye, it was obvious that the fox had been in pain, despite how well he hid it.
The ferry girl checked his other minor injuries. They were just that: minor, nothing that was life threatening. That is, if they continued to stop the bleeding before it progressed into something much worse.
Botan sighed. This wouldn't have to happen every weekend if Kurama just refrained from returning to his daily activities, but he refused. The fox had been strong through the ordeal, but he refused to stop his college education, or his part-time job. The ferry girl feared that his stubbornness would be the death of him.
She gently laid Kurama back down, pulling up his sheets once again. "You should try to get some more sleep."
Kurama nodded but said nothing, so Botan continued, "Sorry to have woken you…You're leaving tomorrow, correct?"
Again, Kurama only nodded, his eyes beginning to droop. The ferry girl brushed his bangs to the side again and ran her fingers through the silky hair. Slowly, Kurama's face grew peaceful as he fell into a quiet, simple sleep.
Slowly, Botan stood from her kneeling position and exited the room. As she walked into the kitchen, Genkai came out, a cup in her hand.
"Kurama fell asleep," Botan said with a slight bow. Genkai looked down at the tea.
"Well, we shouldn't waste it, I guess. Come on; let's drink this up ourselves then. There's some more in the kitchen." The woman turned back around and walked into the doorway she had just come through. Botan followed her.
As the ferry girl poured herself a small cup of tea, she sat down across from Genkai. Silence followed as they drank, dwelling on their own thoughts.
"Tekara is coming in the morning," Genkai started up, suddenly disliking the silence she normally cherished.
Botan nodded. "She is very kind to come every week."
"I…told her she could stay. I never realized how quiet it is around here without Yukina," Genkai mused and another awkward silence passed over the two. Genkai finished her tea.
"She said she would." Botan looked up but did not reply. Having the demon wanderer at the temple everyday, with her weird manner of healing and all, would aid them a great deal, especially with Kurama's inability to recover. Not to mention that the temple was awfully lonely with only the old master these days.
"Well, I'm off to bed. I'll go get more bandages in the morning. It's too late now. You should return to the Rekai." Genkai stood from the low table and Botan did the same, bowing slightly to the master.
"Good night, Genkai. I will stop by tomorrow if I can."
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-Ring-
…
-Ring-
…
-Ri—
"What?" Yusuke's angry and only half-conscious voice barked into the receiver. Sleep was thick in those tones and his eyes blinked in the darkness of his room.
"Shizuru? Is that you? What's wrong; why are you crying?" Yusuke sat up as he asked these questions. His sleepy voice turned worried. Keiko stirred next to him.
"What!" Yusuke shouted out. Keiko started awake, blinking her eyes. Yusuke's voice grew hoarse. "No…This-this has to be a joke. Tell me you're joking, Shizuru. Tell me this is a cruel joke."
Keiko sat up as only silence answered. She could just make out Yusuke's silhouetted form. The blankets shifted as the phone dropped from the man's hand.
The girl sitting beside him gently touched Yusuke's shoulder. He jumped. "Yusuke, what's wrong?"
There was a long silence before Yusuke answered, his voice numb and nothing more than a dry whisper.
"Kuwabara's dead."
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Ha! A partial-not-so-much-keep-trying-cliffhanger! O.O
Wow, this is crazy! Summer comes and suddenly I'm updating stories almost every day! WOW!
Anyways…ah, yes, author's notes!
Authors Notes (I seem to be very redundant)
…stop his college education, or his part-time job… Yeah, yeah, I know all that crapolla about Kurama not going to college and working for his stepfather. So…after a year, he went to college but still keeps his job with his father at part-time.
I have been hinting slowly at what happened that night, mentioning things in a round about way that should throw questions into your mind. If anyone wants to take a wild swing at the piñata in the dark, be my guest!
For those of you who have no clue, don't worry! The more shock later, the better fun now…or something like that?
I think most of the info will come in chapters four and five with perhaps a flashback in six and seven…I'm not so sure. Most of this story is planned out, just not written out.
Oh, and some of you are probably wondering why the heck Kurama has to heal every weekend from cuts he got several years ago…well, you'll find out soon enough…or…was it eventually?
I can't remember…
Hope you guys enjoyed.