Disclaimer: oh, man, I'm such a dork…so sad.

Fall

Escape a world that cannot see
all that's empty lies in me.
To try again and start anew,
and make the change to help me through.

—Unknown

Chapter Four: Darkness Inside

Kurama nodded approvingly as the ground turned to a hideous sort of bubbling mud. Gurgling unpleasantly, it caved in on itself, revealing, of all things, a passageway underneath, the floor of which was now covered in the molten stuff. Hiei carelessly dragged his fingers down the blade, flicking off much of the muck before sheathing it again. This was basically what Kurama had predicted, and basically what he had least wanted to find. He despised following bait.

"Come on, then," Kurama said, lowering himself into the hole. Hiei followed with a moment's hesitation. It wasn't as though he would actually stay behind, but this course of action seemed rash for Kurama's style…he would expect it of Yûsuke more than he would of the fox.

They landed in the mud with a loud squelching noise. Kurama daintily lifted his foot and looked down on it with some disdain, trying with little success to shake it clean. Hiei ignored the wet sensation around his boots and walked into the darkness of the tunnel, expecting Kurama to follow (which he did). According to their previous experiences with Miru and her games, if one could call them that (undignified as they were), there should be some dispensable lackey hanging around these tunnels somewhere. Ideally, they would find the lackey, extract any possible information from him, and kill him. Easy, easy.

Thieving instincts kicking in, Kurama walked away from the mud and removed his shoes to silence his steps. Deciding it was better to adhere to Kurama's unnecessary whims than ignore them, Hiei removed his own shoes, as well, and continued walking, a bit ahead of the fox (who, Hiei noted, was making no effort to catch up).

There were no powerful traces of energy around, meaning one of three things: they were completely wrong and no one was waiting for them…they were too early and Miru had not yet set a trap for them…or they were exactly on schedule and couldn't yet sense the weak presence awaiting them. Hiei sort of hoped it was the latter, although it went against his nature to actually desire a weak opponent. At least they would know they were going the right direction.

"Do you sense anything?" he asked after a bit of walking. There was a slight pause before Kurama replied.

"No, but we're going the right way."

"Of course we are," Hiei thought irritably. "There's only one way to go."

The tunnel seemed eternal. As they walked on, the dirt became less and less packed, as though any adventurers had turned back some time ago. Hiei could understand why—he was becoming a little hopeless, himself. This darkness never ended and he still felt no trace of another life form anywhere nearby (other than Kurama, he amended). And his only company was…not much in the way of company. Kurama was still stubbornly muted and Hiei didn't want to start a conversation with someone who wouldn't respond.

Then, suddenly, there was a small light…at the end of the tunnel. Cursing himself for the clichéd mental image, Hiei picked up his pace a little and tried to intensify his reikan so as to sense anyone lying in wait. There was a faint, faint tingle of something lying somewhere, he could tell. What it was, however, was something of a mystery. Kurama, who seemed to have noticed as well, matched his pace to Hiei's and stared ahead intently, his teeth visibly gritted.

Approaching the light, they each flattened themselves against opposite walls, reaching out their senses to find the presence lurking inside. There it was, a weak demon. Exchanging a glance, they silently agreed to take this foe carefully, not springing out or bearing their weapons right away. Kurama gestured to himself, indicating that he would go first. Hiei nodded, pleased at Kurama's level headedness.

Walking silently into the room, Kurama checked to make sure his seeds were accessible—just in case—and cleared his throat. The demon, a large human-esque creature with a slight stoop, long blonde hair, and enormous blue bug-eyes, turned from the wall he was staring at and spread his hands out wide, faint flickers of energy surrounding each.

"Kompsos lampo cordoni—"

In a blur, Kurama had flung a narrow vine around the demon, pinning them to his sides and startling him out of his chant.

"Who are you heathens?" the creature screamed instead, his bug eyes becoming even larger.

Kurama put his hands up, attempting to be placating. Hiei rounded the corner, making sure to stay in the dark—he had been told that his so-called "non-threatening" expressions were more frightening than his neutral ones, and he didn't need this prospective wealth of information to become scared and closed off.

"We don't want to hurt you," Kurama was saying. "We're not heathens—in fact, we want to help you."

"Is it her power you're after?" the creature hissed. "Because she's told me—promised me—it's all mine, you hear? All mine!"

Kurama raised and lowered his eyebrows once, but remained otherwise passive. "Indeed it is," he said soothingly. "I know. I don't want her power, it's all yours. I only want information."

"I won't betray my mistress," the demon spat. Kurama shook his head, smiling softly.

"I understand," he said. Hiei hung back but wondered if Kurama really knew what he was doing.

"Then what do you want?" the demon asked, his voice still attempting to be threatening.

"What is your name, good sir?" Kurama asked. Hiei caught the note of satire in his tone and hoped the demon was not so adept.

"Sareru," the demon said suspiciously. Kurama's smile widened and he slowly lowered his hands.

"Well, Sareru," Kurama said, "what exactly is it your mistress has promised you?"

At this, Sareru seemed to take on a completely different air. He drew himself up, not completely out of his slouch, and pressed a fist to his chest in what might have been pride. Kurama raised an eyebrow and Hiei took it as a sign of danger. He prepared himself to step in at once.

"My mistress," Sareru declared, "has promised me the secret to her power if I fulfill my mission."

"Oh?" Kurama asked. His low tone indicated danger more clearly, and Hiei became nervous.

"Yes," Sareru continued with a wide grin. "If I fulfill my mission and loyally remain in this hovel until my mistress comes for me, she will grant me the power of the Choir."

At that, Kurama's eyes narrowed impossibly thin and his voice came out low and feral around his bared fangs.

"Your mistress," he growled. "Miru. She is nothing more than a lying, cheating freak. You would be wise not to believe her."

"I have no choice," Sareru declared. "Her power far surpasses my own and I do not wish for her to kill me! With her Choir, I could destroy her and rule all of this realm!"

"It never occurred to you," Kurama went on, "that if Miru didn't kill you, whoever she was using you to catch might finish the job for her?"

Sareru's eyes became larger still, but he controlled the stutter in his voice as he made a bold proclamation: "You cannot kill me, for I am protected by my mistress!"

"Your mistress," Kurama said dangerously, "does not love you. She does not care for you. She probably does not even remember you. She will not protect you."

"She will!"

"Ah, poor soul," Kurama said in mock sorrow. Fearing that Kurama was about to do something stupid, Hiei stepped forward, but so caught up in the moment as they were, neither Kurama nor Sareru noticed him.

"I am not poor while I have—"

"—the protection," Kurama finished coldly, "of your mistress."

"In—"

Sareru never finished his last word; a fraction of a second after it was started, his body was lying in pieces on the floor, Kurama's Rose Whip dripping with his dark blood. Hiei, caught in mid lunge, landed on the floor with a soft "splash" as his feet hit the puddles of blackish liquid. Ignoring the squelching sound in his boots, he stalked over to Kurama and caught him up by the collar.

"Why did you do that?" he asked softly, his voice sending a chill up Kurama's spine yet somehow burning with intensity all the same.

"Do what?" Kurama asked, maintaining his sullen façade.

Hiei pointed stiffly at Sareru's broken body, lying all across the room. Kurama followed his gesture and looked at all the scattered pieces, his indifference never wavering.

"What is that?" Hiei hissed dangerously.

"Exactly what it looks like," Kurama said, beginning to sound irritated. "I am purging this world of the wretch that is Miru."

"And what will that accomplish?" Hiei snarled, thrusting his face into Kurama's. "You think you can wipe every trace of her from this realm? Impossible!"

Glaring, Kurama slapped Hiei's hand from his shirt and narrowed his eyes once more. "You think I don't know that? There is a darkness inside of me that cannot be quenched until Miru is dead!"

Hiei frowned, dwelling on his options. Kurama was no longer crazy, it seemed, but that could be because his mind was filled with hate. That was not much better; it would cause him to act irrationally in the same way a lacking mentality would. And what could he do to tip the situation towards normalcy? He could start by agreeing that Kurama needed to kill Miru, and it would probably serve him well to dismiss Sareru's death as a casualty of war. He had been dangerously close to letting his anger overcome him; they would need to find a new informant, but Kurama might have let go of a tiny shred of his fury, so that was a good thing. Yes, Hiei told himself firmly, a good thing. Don't be angry at good things.

"Very well," Hiei said tersely, stepping back. "We'll need to find another of Miru's drones. Have you got any idea where to look?"

"Maybe some."


Botan jumped up and down a little, wringing her hands and muttering about how Hiei shouldn't have done "that" and Kurama shouldn't have gone "there." Yûsuke was, for once, trying to think logically and come up with a course of action, something made horribly difficult when he couldn't quite shut out Botan's high-pitched whining.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, okay. We need to find Kurama."

"And Hiei!" Botan chimed in nervously, still hopping around.

"And Hiei," Yûsuke added. "Okay. So we need to find Kurama and Hiei, and we need to get them to let us in on what is going on and why they thought it was a good idea to try it without any of the rest of us."

"Okay," Botan said with all attempted seriousness (slightly detracted from by her larger-than-normal eyes and slightly quivering lower lip).

Yûsuke paused, looking at Botan in a silent plea for a suggestion. She was a tad distracted to come up with anything, or even notice his unspoken request. Naturally, Yûsuke took it on himself to, well, inform her of it.

"…how're we going to do that?"

Botan looked at him for a second as this set in. Her business-like tone hadn't settled over her demeanor yet, it seemed, as she began to panic again.

"I don't know!" she wailed. Yûsuke slapped his forehead and closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out the migraine that was sure to come. He needed to think…think of something to do…right then…something like…

…find Hiei and Kurama.

No, that didn't help. He needed to find Hiei and Kurama, and to find Hiei and Kurama, which was something he could not do, he needed to find someone who could find Hiei and Kurama. Someone who could find anyone at any time. Someone who wouldn't lose his cool when faced with such a proposition. Someone who might try to kill him for asking, but would get the job done.

Someone like Koenma.

Damn, he had really hoped he would never need to call in a favor with the demigod. Koenma got so smug when he thought he was in power.

"Botan!" Yûsuke snapped, drawing the ferry girl back to reality as she looked at him anxiously. "We—I need to talk to Koenma. Can you get me to his office?"

"Well, of course I can," she said irritably, and Yûsuke clenched his teeth at her sudden change in manner. "Come on, if you had told me that right off, we could be there by now!"

"Then let's go now, why don't we?" he said, his teeth grinding. She nodded, grabbed her oar out of nowhere, and hopped on.

"Let's be off, then," she said, patting the paddle behind her in an indication for him to sit. He put a finger to his chin thoughtfully, staring off at the ceiling.

"What's wrong now?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. Yûsuke looked at her and smiled in a way that said "You're going to scold me for this and I don't know why."

"Let's get Kuwabara."


Hiei had been more or less blindly following Kurama for a ways, having blown out the top of the tunnel so as to make a quick escape. He wasn't too fond of confined spaces. Kurama seemed to know where he was going, anyway, although Hiei had to admit, the situation had been basically the same before they had met Sareru. He hadn't had much faith then, and it had been under mysterious circumstances that Kurama had located Sareru so efficiently. That trance had been most peculiar, and chances were low it would happen again.

Still, Hiei followed without question, trusting Kurama to guide the way. A bad habit of his, he supposed, believing in Kurama so willingly, but…well, he didn't really have an excuse. Things just went that way.

With a small, imperceptible movement, Kurama tilted his head and glanced over at Hiei. His demon companion had been oddly quiet, even for him, for the entire walk; Kurama wondered if he was brooding. That would be a bad thing, indicating that he was angry or frustrated over something. Neither of them needed that just then, although, as the stench of death in the air returned some of Kurama's clarity of thought, he realized that a common solution might work: talk it out.

"Do you sense anything?" he asked amicably. Hiei looked at him strangely, as though he had suddenly undergone some sort of unexpected physical transformation. Seemingly, Hiei hadn't even been trying to sense anything, leaving that all to Kurama.

"No," he said suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. "Why? Do you?"

"No," Kurama said, shrugging. "I thought you might have picked up on something I hadn't, that's all. Are you feeling all right?"

"Am I—?" Hiei asked, seemingly offended. "I'm not the one whose mentality is in question!"

Kurama couldn't help but take some offense at that remark. He knew he wasn't doing perfectly well, but he wouldn't say his mentality was in question…that seemed harsh. He was only a little concerned.

Maybe more than a little, but certainly nothing more than that.

Hiei, much to Kurama's satisfaction, had clapped his hands to his mouth as soon as the words had spilled forth. At least he realized he had said something wrong. That was something. Hiei couldn't bring himself to apologize, and Kurama knew it, but Kurama recognized regret when he saw it and he was calmed.

"Well," Kurama said, unable to keep the stiffness from his tone, "I suppose we'll keep wandering, then, shall we?"

"Yes," Hiei muttered, pointedly looking anywhere but at the fox.

Silence fell, awkward and cold, and Kurama almost shivered. Hiei was being distinctly distant, but that wasn't the entirety of the cause. It was almost as though Kurama himself was harboring some loathing that was filtered into the air without his knowing. He tried to ignore it and failed, shifting uncomfortably.

He could think of only one thing to say, anyway.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

Hiei gaped, not missing a step. "Stop you?" he asked disbelievingly. "You can't be serious."

"And why is that?" Kurama asked, not entirely seriously.

"I tried to stop you!" Hiei cried, a small drop of hysteria leaking into his voice. "I jumped forward to halt your movement, but I didn't think you would really be so stupid as to kill our only lead!"

"Stupid?" Kurama asked icily.

"Yes!"

Tossing his hair back over his shoulder, Kurama closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds before replying.

"You think I'm stupid?"

Hiei raised his hands in a wild shrug. "I think you were!"

Kurama glared down at his partner. "You would."

"What?"

"Hm!"

Kurama turned his chin up, perfectly aware of how childish he appeared and failing to care. Hiei had no right to speak to him so harshly or with such disbelief. His mentality was in disorder, yes, but he wasn't suddenly an idiot! He was Kurama, for gods' sakes! He didn't make those kinds of mistakes…he didn't.

He didn't even know why he was so angry at Hiei. He knew why he was displeased, at least, but he usually had much better reign on his emotions, and Hiei was known to act coldly like this. It couldn't be his mind; he was Kurama, and he was very smart. There was no way his mind was falling to pieces. Absolutely none. The problem must be coming from somewhere outside, maybe from—

"Why did you say that?" Hiei asked softly, effectively interrupting Kurama's thoughts. He sounded genuinely hurt, and Kurama tried to feel bad that he was the cause. It was hard.

"I…I don't know," he said, and neither of the two made any effort to look at the other.

Hiei made a grunting noise that sounded like disbelief as he folded his arms over his chest. He didn't seem to accept that, and truthfully, Kurama didn't, either. He wasn't sure why he'd said it. He wasn't sure of many things.

"Are you sorry?" Hiei asked. Kurama did look down at him now, his eyes softened.

"I—"

"Don't say you are," Hiei interrupted, "unless you mean it."

Kurama paused. He had been about to apologize without thinking, but did he really mean it? Was he sorry he had been so snippy to his companion? Would he do it again?

Damn, but this was frustrating.

"I don't think I am," he said finally. Hiei snorted, his eyes narrowed and his mouth curved in a resentful smirk.

"Didn't think so. I don't know why I waste my time on you when you're so hopeless."

"So leave me, then."

"Maybe I will."

Kurama felt his breath hitch in his throat.


Kompsos lampo cordoni: Greek. Not literal, as there is no sentence structure to speak of (so no one tell me I can't write Greek, because I know I can't, and for my purposes, neither can Sareru), but word for word: "Elegant glitter cord."