A/N: Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!
I give to you Chapter Twenty-One!
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Youko and Hiei take Shikiyoku back to Toriko's home and begin cleaning her wounds,
and once Shikiyoku has gathered enough strength she is able to recall her energy from Youko.
The kitsune leaves Hiei to take care of her and heads towards the park.
~!**!~
Akari herself also heads to the park and by the time she arrives,
Youko has given way to Kurama once more.
While they are talking about the events in the warehouse,
Akari starts to have flashbacks to her past,
ones which render her unresponsive to the outside world...
Akari felt several sensations at once, beginning with slight panic that it was becoming increasingly difficult to brush aside the pictures, the faces that flashed in her mind. Next came the feeling of phantom pain- something Sensui had explained to hear within the first year of her acquaintance with him. She took a deep breath, her hands moving to her head instinctively, rubbing at her temples in an attempt to rub away the sensations that were continuing to build up.
Next, the smell. She could clearly smell blood, chemicals that were used to cover such a scent and clean up such a mess. The smell of ropes and chains, the smell of sweat and tears. Humans. Demons. Everywhere.
She grimaced without knowing, her breathing hitching occasionally when another scent hit her.
But when she could feel the ropes around her wrists, the iron chains against her waist, she realized what was happening. In the next second, she was physically in a large warehouse- or so it seemed. Her shoulders were in excruciating pain, her eyes stinging from tears she refused to shed for the people who stood in front of her now, different things in their hands.
"Ah, you're awake again." the closest one said, his tone so filled with glee that she felt physically sick.
She looked down and saw cuts and bruises that colored her skin on almost every inch. Even a few needles were placed here and there, protruding only because she'd grown thin enough for them to stick out from her skin where they had once been embedded for electrical treatment. That's when her breathing stopped.
She wasn't supposed to be here. Not again, not ever. *
Kurama had not moved, his eyes constantly roving her face, catching her glance down at her hands and her breath becoming unsteady in places.
At the haunting look that her eyes suddenly retracted into, he finally spoke.
"Akari? Akari, I need you to stay with me. Here. In the park." He could tell that she was seeing something around her that was not actually there, and he could hazard a guess as to what was going on within her head. He waited another moment, unsure if actually making physical contact now would be wise. "Akari, you can't leave this place. Nabu is looking for you." He waited again to see if she could even hear him before he decided on his move.
~!**!~
"I'm certain you have considered killing me." Shikiyoku's tone remained as frank as it had been the entire conversation. "I am not certain why you have no done it yet. Or what compelled you to agree when you had no ulterior plan in mind."
Their conversing dulled her mind from the pain of the cleansing process and so she continued before it could slip back into her consciousness, "I won't complain about you allowing me my life, but it's definitely the first time I'm stuck with someone who doesn't know what to do with me."
Her voice grew quieter as she spoke almost to herself thoughtfully, "Perhaps its your age. Or inexperience."
Again, she kept going as her arm started to twitch with pain once more, speaking louder and directly to him, "You should come up with an answer for yourself, or I might feel forced to seek an alternative means to breaking our contract."
Her voice grew vehement, full of a simmering anger, "I hate being useless." 3
Hiei felt a frown forming on his features as if it were chiseled in his skin like stone. He wasn't sure why, but her last words disturbed him, which contrasted against the amusement he'd felt at first. Of course, he didn't retort right away with the first thing that came to mind. Instead, he thought carefully about his reply, taking a moment before he finally met her gaze squarely, flashing like flames.
"You may be useless, but without a protector, you're dead." His words were said in a casual tone, as if he had only just realized this. But he continued. "Should you break the contract, I may be released from you entirely, but what good would it do? You still have enemies looking for you. Simply because I do not wish to use you like a toy, that should not mean that you rid of me. I simply believed you were sick of being used."
With that, he sat back even further, stretching for a second before he picked up his towel and continued cleaning wounds again. "I suppose if you'd rather be killed for the amusement of another than useless to someone who could care less what you do, then go ahead."
~!**!~
Fear. That's what was now enveloping Akari as she looked around herself, trying to avoid the humans in front of her. But one stepped forward, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. A gaze so clouded with darkness that not even her own shadows could compare. "You will look at me when I am speaking to you." He threatened, flicking the weapon in his hand so that it struck her skin full-force. She gave a small cry, despite her defiance, and tried adjusting so that the binding around her wrists would, hopefully, lessen. They instead ground against her skin, creating new lesions that spilled a sticky substance down her arms.
Her lips clamped closed again, jaw trembling at the amount of restraint it took to keep from saying foul language, which had landed her where she hung now, alone with only one other demon in the room who was currently unconscious. Or perhaps dead, she didn't know.
"Now, we're going to try something new today, because the big man is coming down soon." That single sentence made her retch, but only once because she was struck again, this time with a rustic length of barbed wire. "You see.."
"Akari…" a voice suddenly sounded, making her blink once and glance to the side. "Nabu.."
"What?" she croaked, dried vocal cords only managing a small sound that might have resembled a grunt.
"What did I just tell you?!" The human before her shouted, while another swung something large at her face, striking her cheek and causing blood to spill over while the third stepped closer, placing a hand on her raw cheek. "Repeat what I said to you!"
And she did as told. *
Kurama held his breath at a steady rate, reaching out to gently rest a hand on her neck, calling her name again, "Akari. Listen to me. I cannot bring you out of this on my own. You're going to have to help me." His mind rushed to what plants he had on his person.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku's eyes finally whipped open, her anger smoldering just below the surface of her eyes, but she remained staring up at the ceiling as she spoke.
"I would rather throw myself into the hands of a pack of demons and die at their behest doing what I appear to have been born to do, than walk around alive and well and useless." Her voice was fierce and left no room for doubt as to her feelings.
"Without purpose, one is already dead, the body has simply not been given time to catch up yet." 3
Hiei snorted at her, not really able to disagree with her last statement. But, at the same time, he felt she wasn't one hundred percent correct. He just couldn't put a finger on what made him think such a thing, when that had once been his own way of thinking. Wait, was it not that way now?
"Tch." He suddenly spat, taking the second plant and ruthlessly rubbing it against her wounds to close the ones he'd already cleansed of the ointment. "Perhaps you should find your own purpose, rather than sticking to the one you'd been taught you had."
~!**!~
Akari repeated the words she had been told, beginning from "Ah, she's awake" to the most recent ones, despite the painful resistance her throat and lungs made. When she finished, she took a shaky breath inwards, only to have it thrown out of her desperate lungs with a knife to her gut. "Wrong. You missed a word."
This time, the tears fell unbiddingly and her mouth opened for a scream or cry of pain, but nothing came out. He twisted it, and Akari could practically hear the carving out of her insides. "P-please…" she begged, head hanging as the knife stilled and the room silenced again. "Just kill me."
"Now why would I do that, when you're the most entertaining of all?"
A dry laugh shook her body, causing more tears to fall and less air when the knife sliced again at her, this time by her own movements. She wanted to call him a name, but refrained again, opening and then closing her mouth, instead running her dry tongue over her cracked lips. Finally, she spoke without thinking. "Kiss my ass."
The human closest to her ran his fingers from her cheek downwards, resting his hand over her chest. "Gladly." *
Kurama moved to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her cheeks and lifting her face so that he could look directly into her eyes.
"Akari." He said, more sternly than before.
Suddenly, he felt the presence of two more behind him out of nowhere.
"You're coming with us." A heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder and started to turn him around and in the next moment, Kurama felt himself being teleported away, the ground disappearing underneath him and reappearing mere seconds later.
He could see nothing, could hear nothing, and yet his first reaction was to turn back to Akari, whose cheek he still felt under one of his hands, and make sure her condition had not worsened.
~!**!~
"You think I didn't consider such a thing?" She fired his words from before right back at him, shifting around again with the intention of getting up and leaving the situation that steadily made her angrier, but feeling the slice along her calf and her weak muscles and knowing she would not get very far, settling back down into stillness again.
"And what great purpose do you have, oh wise one?" She continued mockingly, "Don't tell me you were taught one purpose and then defied it and made another." 3
Hiei sneered, not surprised by the turn of events that lead to his own words fired back at her. But, at her last few sentences, the sneer disappeared. His expression became blank and his mind replayed memories from the very early stages of his life, but he brushed them away with a swipe of the plant in his hand across her cuts and bruises.
He didn't answer for a few minutes. He thought, considering even the thought of answering. At first, he thought against it. But his mouth had other ideas. "I was taught to kill everything in sight and steal what I could." He didn't even pause in what he was doing, not even to look up at her to witness her reaction.
~!**!~
For a split moment, Akari had seen a change in the eyes of one of the men. From dark, nasty, muddy brown that flashed with unspeakable thoughts to a brilliant green that shone with concern and other things. Wisdom? The flash had been too brief for it to matter to her, because in the next second, she felt the soft, warm lips of the man closest to her make contact with her neck, a very stark contrast to everything else about him.
And she kicked her feet up, crying out in pain with the knife that became embedded at the hilt, and kicked the man as far away from her as her shaking limbs would allow. She pulled on the ropes, hearing them break under the weight that had been continuously pulling at them as such, and she hit the floor. It jarred her, and suddenly she wasn't seeing a warehouse. The image was gone, but the pain itself was not. At first, she didn't understand what had happened, and she swiped at the hand on her cheek out of pure reflex, grabbing the wrist and pulling the perpetrator forward with every intention of breaking his nose with her opposite hand, which shot out just as quick in an attack.
"You will die!" she growled, wild eyes not seeing Kurama for who he really was. *
Even in the utter darkness that Kurama now found the two of them in, it did not stop him from easily grasping her fist in his free hand, giving the other a sharp twist to release it from where she held on, moving again before she could react.
He grabbed her shoulder and pushed them both forward, slamming her back into the stone wall behind them and hoping the force would jarr her thoughts back to the present.
"We are not alone." He hissed very quietly at her, unable to see but the edges of her features even from as close as he now stood.
~!**!~
"Ah, the life of a bandit." Shikiyoku enjoyed Hiei revealing this bit of information to her as it gave her insight as to his actions up to this point. "Typical demon behavior."
She dropped the other subject, though her mind still burned with curiosity. He did not have a use for her but left her alive. How un-demon-like.
Her arm jerked out of his grasp once as he worked, in more of an involuntary reaction to what he did than with any real purpose. 3
Hiei ignored her completely, simply continuing about his business with addressing the wounds one by one as he had been doing. He actually wasn't sure how he felt about her having that information, not that it was much of a secret. If the others asked, he would likely tell them right out just as he had here. However, he didn't much appreciate being deemed under the same dub as other demons, despite the truth behind such words.
When she jerked, he grabbed her arm again and lowered her wrist until the underside of her arm was resting on the cool surface of the edge of the tub. "It'd do well to stay still."
~!**!~
Akari hadn't been expecting the extreme reaction she was given, and for a split moment, she made a sound that resembled a growl and a squeal mixed, but it was gone before her back hit the wall. The hands on her shoulders were firm, keeping her in place as she assessed the outline of this person before her, the voice that hissed at her familiar, but not one that alarmed her, aside from the meaning behind them.
She took a shaky breath and clenched her jaw closed, fighting against the panic she still felt. A dark place, where she couldn't see her surroundings, and people in the room she couldn't make out…
A scene similar flashed in her mind's eye, and she shook her head back and forth jerkily, not realizing tears had formed in her eyes until they fell down her face with the force of her shaking head.
Then she stilled again, raising her hands to remove Kurama's from her shoulders, silently letting him know she was aware, even if just enough to know it was him. *
"Indeed you are not, Kurama. Or should I say, Youko Kurama? How unfortunate for you both to end up trapped down here, but I suppose it can't be helped." There was no mistaking Otento's velvety voice speaking from somewhere behind him.
Kurama said nothing, allowing Akari to do as she wished in removing his hands slowly before he turned around to face the direction the voice came from, keeping her body hidden behind his own, satisfied that she would do no more to him for the moment.
He had not wished to be so forceful with her, but he sensed the presence of Otento as well as the wall behind her when they teleported, and took advantage of the opportunity when he did not think they would have much time to gather themselves.
As it was, he felt no maliciousness aimed for them and remained quiet and calculating.
"What do you want of me?" He called.
"Absolutely nothing." Otento responded in kind, "Just to keep you out of the way."
"Then let her go."
"Not a chance."
He sensed a huge flare of demonic energy came from where Kurama assumed Otento stood, and he raised his arms as if to block whatever headed for them.
The energy, instead smashing into him as he expected blew right through him as if incorporeal, a portion of it falling into his body. It clamped down over where Kurama knew his own demonic energy lay, an impenetrable orb of completely black energy and cutting off Kurama's access.
Otento's footfalls began and Kurama knew he was walking away.
"So you will leave us here to die?" Kurama asked, taking a step forward.
There came no answer and Kurama kept walking forward with one hand out until his fingers brushed against something in his way that he could not see.
Satisfied momentarily that they were in a limited prison cell, Kurama went back to Akari, having no trouble finding her and placing a hand briefly on the top of her shoulder to let her know he was there.
~!**!~
"Easy for you to say." Shikiyoku's voice resonated from low within her chest and she growled once, her lip rising on one side to reveal her clenched teeth. "But I've been through this before. And it hurts." 3
Hiei felt a corner of his lips lift up into a sneer at the hiss he received, suddenly finding an odd amount of amusement from her reaction. "How about this," he suddenly spoke up, halting in his tracks to meet her gaze evenly. "Be useful and sit still. If you want to be of use, then stop moving and let me do my job."
~!**!~
There were only a few things Akari were aware of, and the situation in which Kurama was dealing with was not one of them. Sure, she knew that they were no longer in the park, but how they'd gotten here, wherever here was, and who was addressing Kurama, she didn't know. She couldn't exactly focus straight, her vision- not that it would help in the darkness- was blurred out and her mind was torn, making it hard for her to be sure what was reality and what was just an illusion created by her own sick memories.
There was pain, as if her skin had been sliced inch by inch. There was a sound she could hear that, maybe, sounded like a cry for help, but she wasn't sure of that either. And occasionally, she found herself back in a room that was starkly similar to what she knew of this one- dark, closed-in, and very, very uncomfortable to her. Dog demons never did well with dark spaces, especially dark, small spaces, though she wasn't sure she was even in a small space or if that too was part of her memory.
Angrily, she wiped at her face, as if it would clear the fogginess from her mind. Instead, it only made the feeling stronger, and her breath hitched when a hand again touched her, making her jump slightly before she remembered who she was with.
"Space," she suddenly said, her body reflexively shrinking against the sharp edges of the rugged wall behind her, her shoulderblades digging in with extra force when she realized this pain made her feel more in control. "Please, space," she begged, despite all efforts of putting up a front. After all, the last time she'd dealt with a moment like this, she'd had a punching bag and a man who gave pep talks when needed. *
"We are alone. For now." Kurama said to her, "Take all the time you need." He stepped back and turned away.
Kurama reached into his pocket and pulled a small seed, experimentally attempting to tap into his demonic energy, not feeling surprised in the slightest that he garnered no response and the seed remained the same as before in his hand.
He put it back in his pocket, frustrated that he could do nothing to fight back the darkness, which seemed more oppressive and heavy than any normal sort.
He walked forward again until he found the invisible wall with his hand, running his fingers over its smooth surface. He decided to follow it in one direction, coming to find that there were two right turns which eventually put him right back near Akari, where he walked past her and continued, turning right twice again and picturing their square prison in his mind.
The two walls on either side of where Akari stood were stone of some sort as well, the ground underneath them one of dirt, and the fourth wall smooth, Kurama unable to tell what exactly it was that prevented him from going further.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku opened her mouth, intending to fire something full of as much snark as he blessed her with, but quickly closed it again as her arm twitched. She turned her head away towards the other side of the tub so she wouldn't have to look at him, struggling still to not move and managing to continue to be unsuccessful at it unless he paid specific attention to keeping his grasp firm.
She wished it was her having to tend to his injuries. Then they'd see just how much he squirmed.
She managed to pull her other arm up and rested her elbow on the other edge of the tub, leaning her cheek into her hand and making another face down at the rust-colored water. 3
Hiei sneered again when he had no reply given to him other than another twitch of her muscles. Seems like he finally found a way to best her at her own game, it seemed. Not that it mattered, he told himself. He merely continued with what he was doing, a few moments passing by before he got irritated at her jerking muscles.
"Train your body to sit still," he all but demanded of her, but in a way, he was telling her of his own ability to do such. "It's basic for anything. I assume you've attempted fighting before," he continued, never looking up from his work as he continued around the cuts with the plant that he ran over it, watching wounds beginning to seal, just as Youko had said they would. "Even in fighting, you have to keep every muscle under control. Perhaps you should practice that now."
~!**!~
Akari stood in silence with her own thoughts and images, taking deep breaths and digging her shoulders into the wall behind her, little by little, hoping that her mind would clear if she created real pain, instead of focusing on the pain that was only a part of her imagination.
But after a few minutes, the desired effect wasn't being achieved, so she tried focusing on the sound of Kurama moving about the room. That did nothing but remind her of her own movements when she'd been in a similar situation, and she took another deep, shaky breath. She held that breath, an idea coming to mind.
And before it would become clouded with her inability to see between reality and illusion, she acted on it, letting her head fall forward for a moment, breath still held, and then jerking it back against the wall. The breath left her through clenched teeth as pebbles rolled to the ground behind her. Her eyes remained open despite the pain she now was focused on, trying to fixate on something tangible in the room to see.
But it didn't seem necessary. As the pain continued to blossom in the back of her head, the images began fading as if they had been nothing more than lightning strikes through a night sky, disappearing just as quick as they'd come.
And in relief, she slid to the dirt floor below her, her knees touching her chest and her forehead resting on her kneecaps, arms hanging loosely at her sides. *
Kurama felt that he would gain nothing more from attempting to examine their prison, and he came back and sat down against the stone wall near Akari, leaning back and bending his legs at the knees, letting his arms rest on top of them and closing his eyes. He spent a moment in silence, letting his breathing slow as if he entered a meditative state, hoping to clear his mind and be able to examine their predicament clearly.
~!**!~
"I-..." Shikiyoku began, releasing her breath and refusing once more to look at him, her cheek still resting on her hand, but beginning to burn with a blush of embarrassment even without the admission he inadvertently almost drew from her.
Of course she'd never attempting fighting. Her energy didn't work that way so why try? Any target she'd ever had was eliminated for her by another's hand once she used them past their point of usefulness. No fighting required. The very idea of throwing a punch or actively seeking to kill someone-much less completing such an act-held a foreign place in her head, along with the amused notion that he hadn't killed her yet.
If she was honest...truly the thought of killing another unsettled her. And she remembered vividly mesmerizing victims only to have Youko kill them once she was through...and trying to hide tears from him when he had done so.
She did at least feel worn out and her eyes slid closed. Control, no. Relaxed, yes. How did she come to feel so uncomfortable with his handling of her? Had her mind cleared enough-though she certainly still felt rather weary-that his touch bothered her on some level? A strange thought...3
Hiei raised a brow curiously, waiting for the rest of that sentence, and soon realizing there wouldn't be one. Instead, he learned new information that actually left him a bit surprised. Here she was, barking about being useful, had never had tried fighting. He scoffed once at the thought; was that considered hypocritical, or simple ridiculous? Either way worked for him, so he didn't linger on the specifics of the vocabulary for very long. He did, however, pause when she moved, glancing at her to see what she was doing before going back to work indifferently as she continued to get comfortable.
He half expected her to begin falling asleep, since she had to be worn out by now. It was a wonder she hadn't passed out again from the amount of fatigue her body and mind was sure to be dealing with.
After a few more minutes, he moved to her calves, the last part of her body he hadn't worked on yet, since he'd been so amused with their small battle earlier.
"Will you be able to bathe?" he suddenly inquired, referring to the time after he had dealt with her. One look at her hair and he himself felt as if he needed a brief cleaning; there were so many knots, clumps of foreign substances, and etcetera that matched the film of sweat that had dried on her face from the amount of pain she'd dealt with during this healing process.
~!**!~
Even in the darkness, Akari was aware of each movement Kurama made, even as he simply sat on the ground. Focusing on the sounds of his breathing helped hers come to a steady rhythm as well, though now that her body began relaxing she half regretted her decision about smashing her head into the wall. It pounded ferociously with pain, throbbed in a spot where she was surprised she hadn't began bleeding. In fact, she'd refrained from drawing any blood at all, which was a surprise even to her.
Suddenly, she realized just how calm she actually was, her mind even wondering about how Nabu would be without her around for… however long she were here. She gave a small sigh at the thought; the pup had become so dependant of her as of late. A frown settled on her face at the thought of it.
She moved on to something else, turning her head so that her cheek rested on her knees and her eyes were pointed at the outline she could just make out, if she looked hard enough. "I apologize for… earlier.." she mumbled, not sure of anything else to say besides yeah, I tried to kill you. Sorry about that. *
."Think nothing of it." Kurama did not hesitate to reply. "I am simply grateful that I did not have to attempt to do more to pull you from your...thoughts." He waited another moment before speaking up again, "What do you make of our situation?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku wavered right in between the state of awakeness and sleep, her eyes unable to open and her thoughts muddled. Her constitution was certainly nothing to scoff at, former occupations had required high endurance for many reasons, but even she had her limits and she neared the wall where she would be able to go no farther.
When she heard Hiei speaking to her, it sounded very far away, but pulled her back from slumber enough to decode his words.
"Of course." She mumbled, her lips barely parting. Unless he meant this very minute. She didn't think she could do much of anything in the immediate future. 3
Hiei nodded once to her reply, noting very easily that her words were muffled slightly, slurred just a bit by slumber. As he had thought, she'd begun to fall asleep before he'd spoken and interrupted her near-peacefulness. So he shut his jaw and continued on with his work, swapping plants again to the third and last one, which he figured wouldn't be too hard nor time-consuming, unlike the others. But he waited a moment before continuing as his eyes glanced to the water, realizing that, one, it was dirty and, two, it was likely lukewarm by now. So he drained it out, waiting approximately five minutes before turning the knobs for fresh water, easily balancing the two temperatures, but adjusting just a bit so that a little more warmth would filter through to ease any physical discomforts Shikiyoku might be having now.
It wasn't much, but he figured she'd need it, so he waited until the water, which stayed clean aside from the herbs and a very small amount of discoloration, was a little higher than before, enveloping not just a few inches of her skin, but enough to almost completely cover her legs as if a blanket. In truth, he hadn't meant to wait that long, but had anyway without thinking.
And it didn't even hinder his movements as he continued on with his duty.
~!**!~
The desire to argue arose for only a split moment before Kurama's next words cut her off, making her realize she had actually witnessed a bit of his attempts at getting through to her, such as Nabu's name and the flash of green she'd thought she'd imagined. She made a small sound somewhere between a huff and a sigh, turning her head the opposite direction to look at nothing but darkness that rivaled even the shadows from hell she had seen in her lifetime.
She frowned at Kurama's question, her immediate thought being that she didn't know a single thing of the situation, not even how it had arose. But she took a moment to think back, try to sift through what she hadn't been able to discern between reality and illusionary.
And without hesitation, her mouth uttered the words, "we're underground." There was a short pause as she sifted through the past few minutes quietly, but she continued with, "Not far, because there's no water dripping, but underground nevertheless." The smell was awful to her, sickening and made her feel like she were to be crushed. The mustiness of the dirt almost convinced her she was claustrophobic, but she knew she wasn't such a thing. "Other than that, I don't have a clue." She finally admitted, her eyes sliding to a close. She was now tired in every aspect, but despite that she wouldn't be able to sleep, because if she did, she knew what would follow.
And she didn't want Kurama to witness that pitiful sight a second time.
"Well, we know one thing: I wasn't necessary. So, the question is: how did you get on his radar so specifically?" *
"I am the true Youko." Kurama replied simply, "If my former name is being used, it is better that I am out of the way. I changed forms before them and they learned the truth."
Kurama thought on Akari's observations that they were underground and he found that he could not see fault with them. The question was...how exactly did he plan on getting them out?
~!**!~
Shikiyoku continued drifting along, awake, but relaxed to the point beyond outer movement, listening to Hiei's movements and now fully able to appreciate the dextrous, soft attentions that he continued to give her. She smiled.
As soon as Hiei had moved away from his reclined position, Maneshi had slipped off the fire demon's lap and spent a few minutes sitting on his haunches nearby, still as a statue save for an occasional twitching of an ear.
Once Shikiyoku leaned to the side and he noted no further movement from her, Maneshi trotted over to the edge of the tub and stood on his back legs, leaning his front paws against the side and taking an experimental sniff with his body extended, his tail gently swaying back and forth from behind. 3
Hiei worked methodically, shifting his weight from the balls of his feet to the heels several times as he moved about, the plant doing its job just as efficiently as he had hoped it would. Before too long, Shikiyoku began looking like she'd merely had a skirmish rather than just getting out of a deadly war from hell. And by the time he'd sprinkled the plants that Youko had so graciously left him, the difference was astonishing, even to him. He'd known Youko was a master at his work, but for even Hiei to have no trouble with it made him feel a bit more respective towards the fox demon- if that were even possible.
He sat back on his heels again, this time dropping everything he'd held in his tired hands to the floor before he stood, some bones popping and some muscles tingling with sleep as he moved about the tub a bit. "Now its time for you to do your part," he said casually, bending down and picking up every single towel, bandage, and plant that had been discarded on the floor without remorse. "Or else it'll have been for nothing."
Of course, he knew that wasn't true, but he said it anyway on his way out the bathroom door, shutting it until only a small crack was open enough for the cat to move around, if he so pleased.
~!**!~
She didn't know how long they'd sat there, but the silence in the room was deafening to Akari. Her mind wandered from place to place, never really mingling with important things such as getting out, since for her, she didn't see a way out. She couldn't make any plans without knowing the layout of the area above them, and that was impossible since they'd been teleported, as she had guessed.
But slowly, her eyes had drifted closed all over again, this time her eyelids too heavy to keep open much longer. She had no energy of any kind, be it to fight or to even talk, it was gone almost completely. But she shifted her weight again, this time raising her head and stretching her legs out in front of her, lightly tapping her numb foot on the floor.
"Any ideas, wise guy?" she finally grumbled, making a weak attempt at lightening the atmosphere. *
"Besides the fact that I could really go for some sushi about now, nothing seems to be coming to mind." With the darkness around them, it did not matter if he smiled while attempting to sound dry and humorless, and he did so. "You?"
~!**!~
By the time Hiei walked from the room, Maneshi had climbed up and weaved himself behind Shikiyoku's shoulders, laying down with his limbs hanging on either side of her neck.
He lifted his head slightly, peering at Hiei leaving the door open a little, but rested his chin back down between Shikiyoku's arm that her cheek still lay on and her shoulder when she did not make as if she heard him.
Hiei's words had indeed not landed on deaf ears, for when he spoke again he drew her more towards the waking world. She sat immobile, however, completely confused as to what he meant in any way, shape, or form.
She woke up further when his hands stopped attending her, suddenly left to her own devices and she would have let out a huff of unhappy air had she the strength to protest him leaving her alone.
Maneshi began purring in her ear, but it did not seem to have any effect whatsoever. Not that it stopped him from doing so. 3
Hiei stood in the hallway for a moment in consideration, glancing down at the materials in his hands. First, the plants. He would throw them out, since he had no further use for them. So, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding the trash can easily and simply dumping the green, leafy plants into the bag. It didn't take long for the herbal scent to cover the scent of the kitchen's mess, though he hardly noticed it. Instead, his eyes turned to the freezer curiously; hadn't Shikiyoku put up his strawberry ice cream?
He sauntered his way to the odd contraption and pulled the top door open, glad to see that his memory had served right. He pulled the half-gallon from the cold environment and peeled the lid away, tossing it to the counter before he looked for a spoon. As soon as he found one, he scooped some of the sugary substance into his mouth, finding that while the taste was somewhat diminished from having been melted and then refrozen, he didn't mind it so much. So he carried it, along with his other arm-full of towels, back up the stairs in search for a room dedicated to dirty cloths and clothing, as most human dwellings had.
When he didn't find one, he merely turned back the way he came and tried searching downstairs until the machines were in his sights. He didn't know how to use them, so he merely dumped his load onto the white basket that was already filled with clothing. Without another thought, he turned and again walked up the stairs, this time realizing he didn't hear any running water. So, without thinking, he opened the bathroom door, only to see Shikiyoku as he had left her. He raised a slightly twitching brow.
"I didn't mean to sit around. Bathe," he grumbled around the spoon, waving his hand in a "get up" gesture. "You want to be useful? Get through the struggle."
~!**!~
Akari would have laughed if she weren't so tired. With her eyes still closed, her head rested back against the rock wall, not caring that the tender spot on her head slightly ached in protest to the contact. "Sushi?" she repeated, suddenly realizing she'd never had any. Each time Sensui had had some, she'd thought it had smelled repulsive and had turned it down. Then again, she didn't care for seafood either.
Her stomach grumbled at the idea of it now, though, making her realize that she hadn't eaten since about noon. A frown settled on her face. "What sounds nice right about now," she began, her tone matching his earlier one, "is a nice, long vacation away from humans and morons." She paused, then gave a laugh that was completely humorless. If she went by those standards, her vacation would be now, in this room. "How long do you think it'll take the others to notice?"*
"It's an acquired taste." Kurama admitted when she sounded skeptical about his food choice. He listened to her next words, thinking in the back of his mind that he had no idea the time and that he had not gotten any sleep since the previous night.
"Should you find such a place that exists, I would appreciate knowing where it is located." Kurama sighed and went on, "I do not know. I feel as if it is still night, if very early morning, and I would imagine that everyone is asleep now." He allowed himself to blink his eyes sleepily, "Perhaps they will take action in the morning?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku wasn't sure what struggle Hiei was talking about, unless he meant her struggle to stay awake.
In an attempt to appease him, as he appeared to be still at the door, Shikiyoku moved, placing her hands palms down on either edge of the tub she still sat in, pushing herself up without much thought.
Or, so she wished to do.
She only her rear a few inches away from the bottom of the tub before her arms trembled violently and gave way without her consent.
Maneshi made no sound of protest, but he did bite her left ear as if to emphasize her stupidity at trying.
"Ow." Shikiyoku mumbled, her lips again not opening much to let the muted exclamation pass through them.
Instead of trying again, she felt around for the bottom edge of the remains of the shirt she wore, but was unable to make sense of the tatters, instead simply fumbling to grasp at it. As she went to pull it over her head, she did not get very far before her muscles seized again and she was forced to drop them back down.
That time, Maneshi did meow a protest, reminding her that if she had been successful, she likely would have knocked him into the water.
Shikiyoku found herself no longer caring about what Hiei thought she should be doing and leaned heavily up against the wall next to her.
"Sleep first." She mumbled again. "Bath later." She didn't even get the second half out of her mouth. 3
Hiei eyed the muscles that twitched and jerked at each motion Shikiyoku made, dully noting the fact that he would have to, in the very least, help her up. But as she completely gave in, her body slumping in exhaustion, he too gave in on the notion and reached over to the sink, setting his strawberry ice cream down beside the handles, spoon safely lodged into the frozen treat. Without much hesitation, other than considering the way the cat wound himself around Shikiyoku's shoulders. After that single moment's hesitation, he reached for the cat first, making a point to keep his claws from digging into Shikiyoku's shoulders as he pulled Maneshi away slowly and carefully.
"Go on," he grumbled as he let the cat drop to the tile floor on his feet, making a motion for him to scram from the room, or in the very least, out of his way. Then he turned and found a clean towel still left on the ground, picked it up, and, while the water drained from the tub, thought about how he was going to do this.
By the time the water was gone, he wrapped the towel around Shikiyoku's shoulders and, with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, lifted her with ease from the tub, ignoring the droplets of water that followed her as he turned and carried her from the bathroom and to the nearest room that wasn't known asToriko's room. He figured that he'd made enough of a mess in her house, might as well keep the bed nice and clean.
It wasn't hard to open the guest-room door and cross the room to the bed, not even in the dark. And within what felt like milliseconds, he had Shikiyoku laying on the top blanket of the bed, towel keeping her wet skin from sticking to the comforter. Now, he needed to look around for another blanket, just in case…
~!**!~
Akari smiled into the darkness, amused that he'd simply bypassed her blunder and continued on anyway. Her eyelids were now too heavy to even think about lifting, and her body had gone still, her breathing slowly beginning to become calmer than normal despite her desire to stay awake. For a moment, she didn't understand what Kurama's last words were about, but she gave a sound of acknowledgement despite her own feelings of the situation.
She suddenly thought of the speech she'd given Yusuke earlier, about heroes, and realized that she was now expecting him to fill a similar role, despite the fact that there were no emotional attachments to the human. A huff left her as her head rolled to the side just a bit. Moron.
And after that, she found her mind going completely and utterly blank, and the darkness that she was met with was different than the darkness of the small room she was enclosed in. It became a comfortable darkness that promised peace, even if just for a little bit.
And unbeknownst to her, the motion her body made during her drift-off to sleep landed her head right on the shoulder of the person next to her, her own shoulder meeting his. *
Kurama was not surprised when she fell asleep first, but he had been forcing himself to stay awake, thinking that perhaps conversation would hold off her nightmares.
So, when he felt her relaxing next to him, he finally allowed his own eyes to close, listening briefly to her soft breathing that slowed to a pace indicating her slumber. He found himself unconsciously matching it and he did not know the exact moment when he slipped into sleep himself, but slip he did, resting his cheek on the top of her head.
~!**!~
When Hiei removed him, Maneshi tried not to protest too loudly as he sensed Shikiyoku falling asleep, but his initial yowl at being removed reverberated off the echoing walls of the bathroom. He landed on his feet and swiftly dodged out of the way when Hiei moved as if to kick him aside.
Shikiyoku was, of course, no help at all, though she relaxed mightily once in Hiei's arms, feeling his core beating steadily underneath her arm as she let her head drop against his shoulder.
When he set her down, her eyes came open, the feeling of safety abruptly removed from around her. She made sleepy noises that held no actual coherence, unsure where he had gone and determined that she could not sleep until his return. She even went so far as to manage to roll onto her side, groaning at the dull ache her entire body broadcasted at any movement. 3
For a moment, the fire demon turned to glance at Shikiyoku's odd protest, watching as she even rolled over, but the next moment he turned to ignore it, eyes searching for something useful to him. At first, he didn't see one, so he silently left the room despite all instincts yelling at him not to do such a thing. He slipped into the bathroom briefly, snatching the ice cream from the sink-top and then swiftly maneuvering his way down the stairs, using his speed to his advantage and having not only put up the ice cream, but had another bite in his mouth and found a blanket before returning to the top of the stairs, making his way into the room the same way he had left, calmly and quietly.
He crossed the room and, without any prompting or announcement, tossed the blanket over Shikiyoku, not caring if she protested or not. He didn't think she could afford to get sick, despite the demon's vastly greater immune system.
He paused a moment, staring down at her thoughtfully. "Will you sleep now?" he asked suddenly, not really sure what made him ask if she was even able to fall into slumber. Why wouldn't she, he asked himself. *
Shikiyoku shook her head back and forth, "Nuh-uh."
She scrunched her face together in an attempt to open her mouth to speak.
"You...didn't share." 3
A brow raised slightly, making a shadow fall over one crimson eye. He gave a small sound that, for anyone else, might have been a sigh. But to him, it was nothing of consequence and held no meaning. At her last words, however, he scoffed very quietly. "Too bad." he replied, moving around the bed to the other side, deciding he might as well get some sleep as well. So, he plopped down on the bed unceremoniously and crossed his ankles, his hands lacing underneath his head as they always did. "Now sleep." *
"Meanie." Shikiyoku mumbled.
The thought crossed her mind to roll back over and scoot closer to him, but she became very aware of her general uncleanliness as she considered it and decided on staying farther away intentionally. She knew her hair was matted, and despite her legs having been in the water, she didn't want to consider the state of the rest of her and so shoved it away, wondering if sleep would actually let her regain strength or not and feeling for certain she would never fully slip away.
The act of laying down woke her up more, against all odds, but she found she couldn't move about and released a sigh, her mind buzzing with a lack of sleep. 3
Hiei, despite his own sudden realization that he was tired, found himself turning a single eye over to Shikiyoku, who hadn't moved as he had expected her to. In truth, he had expected a repeat of the night with Toriko, where he'd made his agreement and sealed his own fate of being the protector of this woman, who now lay with her back to him.
Yes, he was tired now that he was comfortable, but a slight discomfort somewhere else in his being was distracting him, keeping a single eye open and trained on Shikiyoku. He'd expected her to almost entirely pass out…
After a moment, he let his eye close, the darkness enveloping his being a calm one, but not one where he could sleep. Not yet.
He huffed at Shikiyoku impatiently, realizing it was the bond that was keeping him awake, and he tossed an arm at her lazily, just brushing her tangled hair. "Stop," he mumbled, retracting his arm just as quickly and turning over so his back now faced hers. "It doesn't matter," he finished, referring to whatever it was she was thinking. "Not now." *
If Shikiyoku had been able to keep her eyes open, they would have widened at both Hiei's touch and his comment, both of which were gone as quickly as they had happened.
It wasn't fair that he had the Jagan and could listen in whenever he wanted, she thought sleepily to herself.
In spite of her reservations from moments before, Shikiyoku went ahead and turned back over after uttering a quiet, "Fine."
A gasp of pain shivering from her lungs as she faced Hiei on the bed, lying very still for a moment and then realizing she probably could not get her body to scoot any closer.
Instead, she reached an arm out and around his waist and pulled him back towards her with relative ease for her state, mumbling through her teeth again, "Stupid telepath."
As a result, she banged the sheathe of his sword hanging down his legs against her knee without even considering it as an option and immediately jerked her arm off of him to clutch at it on where it hit. She bit her lip to prevent herself from uttering a sound, but drew blood that trickled down the side of her face and towards the bed. 3
Hiei had gotten comfortable with a single arm under his head, the other stretched out in front of him. He was so close to sleep, that he could almost just imagine the dream that was to come. Instead, however, he was surprised by suddenly being moved; he'd been so close to sleep, despite Shikiyoku and the bond, that he hadn't realized she'd moved at all.
But the sound of his sheathed sword hitting her knee made his eyes open reflexively, the sound bringing him to full awareness out of pure self-preservation that he'd learned over the many years. He waited a moment, until he smelled blood, before shutting his eyelids in consideration and then rolling over again to his back, keeping only one arm under his head, the other with his hand on his stomach.
"What part of sit still don't you understand?" he mumbled, though the amused smirk on his face was undeniable, especially when he registered what she'd called him. He didn't even deny it, despite the fact that his Jagan was, as he himself should be, fast asleep. *
"The part where shut up you're too far away." Shikiyoku fired back sleepily, afterwards snaking her tongue out of her mouth and trying to lick away the blood that slipped between her lips and dribbled down the side of her face.
If anyone had been looking, the sight of her trying to catch it and just barely failing would have been amusing, her face tense with the concentration on the attempt that was simply not physically possible. After a small noise of frustration, she gave up, a frowning heavy across her brow.
"If you didn't get so far away, I wouldn't have a reason to not sit still." 3
Hiei suddenly felt like he was speaking to a human child who refused to take an afternoon nap so that their caretaker could rest as well. His brows drew together only slightly in frustration, but the wrinkles smoothed out just as quickly as they had formed when it was quiet again. With both eyes shut, he missed the scene he could only imagine as his ears picked up on the sound of Shikiyoku licking at her lips and then getting frustrated- at what, he didn't know nor care.
Again, he ignored her retort, this time tossing his arm from where it lay on his stomach to cover his eyes, as if doing so would shut out the noise in the room as well. Curse demon senses. Perhaps, just perhaps, if he didn't say anything, she would fall asleep as well… *
Shikiyoku growled suddenly, reaching out again and pulling Hiei closer once more, this time leaving her arm over his body and snuggling her face against his ribcage.
A smile settled on her lips and her breathing grew more steady, Shikiyoku feeling as if his warmth swept over her, relaxing her. She hovered on the edge of sleep, content for perhaps the first time in a long while. 3
As Hiei was suddenly moved, for the second time, he made a sound of impatience and opened his mouth reflexively. "Remember when I said there were times I had considered killing you? This is one of those times." Of course, he didn't actually mean those words… to a degree. He merely wanted her to sit still, and sleep, so that he too could find a night of peaceful rest.
And sit still she finally did, after she got comfortable. But for a few moments, he was uncomfortable, which led him to making another sound. Despite this, however, he didn't move. Instead, he decided it wouldn't matter, and he merely stretched his legs a little further out before his body relaxed again, his mind easily falling back into the state it had been in earlier now that the room was quiet. *
"Then do it..." Shikiyoku grumbled at him, knowing the threat was an empty one.
She slipped off into sleep and lay still, but after a minute or two her head lifted and ended up across his chest as she mumbled something incoherent, her other hand moving closer to her face, those fingers softly taking ahold of the dark cloak underneath them. 3
~!**!~
Akari's eyes moved rapidly below her eyelids, her fingers twitching every so often with the dream that was playing out in her mind. It wasn't an important one, per say, but it wasn't exactly one of the imagination either, it seemed. It made fear make its way into her core, swirling slowly at first until her breaths were inconsistent and ragged.
And then all of a sudden, her eyes were open. At first, she blinked, confused at first by the darkness and unfamiliar surroundings. And then she noticed the weight on her head, and, still half asleep, gave a full-body jerk to the side, away from the person she could now smell and sense being way too close in her personal space. A growl reflexively escaped her mouth, her lips curling up to show her teeth, even though it would be a pointless warning in the dark. "Where am I?" she demanded in a snarl, mind still stuck in whatever nightmare she'd been having just enough to keep her slightly panicked. *
"Next to me." Kurama responded immediately. He paused. "Other than that, your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid." He blinked sleepily, having no sense of how much time passed, but being jolted away by her sudden movements left him no less tired than before.
He was not surprised at this. His recent changes into Youko often brought a greater weariness than he was formerly used to and he attributed it to the strain it put on Shuichi's body. 3
Akari was crouched a few feet from the voice that replied almost too calmly back at her, and suddenly her memory came back, hitting her like a brick wall and causing her to deflate entirely, accompanied with a loud puff of air through her teeth. What had she been dreaming about again? She wasn't sure.
"Sorry," he grumbled as she simply sat where she had ended up, legs crossed underneath her as she gave a small yawn. How long had she slept? There was no way to know down here, but it hadn't felt like a very long, satisfying sleep. "I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," she said simply, as if talking to Nabu, not even realizing just how she might sound to the redhead.*
"Mm." Was all Kurama managed to get out at first, his eyes closing again as if he meant to oblige. He stayed silent for a moment longer before gathering himself to reply.
"Don't apologize." He said kindly, "This darkness is rather disorienting." Another pause. "Did you sleep well considering our situation?" 3
Akari stretched her arms over her head, finding that she was becoming a bit sore in her shoulders and neck from sleeping the way she had. She almost considered sprawling out on the dirt floor, but she decided against it and instead simply crossed her arms over her chest, making herself as small as possible in hopes of popping a few bones.
"I suppose," Akari replied, making her tone sound just as nonchalant as she could to cover the lie. "Just about as well as anyone. You?"
She felt even more exhausted than before, but she wasn't one to whine about it, especially not to someone who'd already seen her have one of her spells. The thought of another being considering her weak and unstable left a bad taste in her mouth. She didn't want him to feel as if he had to keep an eye on her constantly. *
"That makes one of us I suppose." Kurama made no attempt to hide the yawn he now made, "I feel as if I could sleep another week and still be tired."
He slowly stood up, stretching his legs and walking about for a moment.
The limited rest he'd gotten, which left him feeling less refreshed than before if possible, had not provided him upon waking with a way out of their predicament, and he decided to muse on the fact that someone had to be paying attention and realize they were gone. His guess rested on Koenma being the first to realize, though he nervously thought of his mother and wished he could contact her in order to assure her he was well, if otherwise occupied. 3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star