A/N: Hello once again, Readers!
I am such a huge fan of Keiko/Yusuke and I gotta admit I loved writing the interactions between the two of them in this chapter.
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!
Hiei continues tending to Shikiyoku's wounds,
and upon finishing carries her into one of the guest bedrooms,
the two of them falling asleep quickly thereafter.
~!**!~
Meanwhile, Akari and Kurama spend their time in whatever prison in which Otento placed them...
Akari gave a small sigh, listening to the movements about the room. Part of her was bored and wanted to use her energy as a form of entertainment, but after a minute she realized it wasn't possible. She could feel her energy, but as if it were behind a dam. Her frown deepened, creating wrinkles between her brows. "Not being able to access energy you know is there is kind of disturbing," she admitted, ears following the sound of his wandering as she realized she wasn't sure how it had turned out that way. "Who's doing was that...?" *
"It seems that our captor is able to lock away other energy. Which would explain why Koenma has had such trouble gathering information on this gang, and why we have been unable to track him down ourselves." Kurama sighed, stretching his arms toward the ceiling, "I can think of a dozen ways to free ourselves, but none that do not involve the use of energy. I'm sure you feel the same." He found a portion of the wall again and sat down, putting his arms behind his head with his feet out straight, crossed at the ankles. "I can think of nothing to do other than wait." 3
Akari nodded once, her hair falling in front of her face before she realized the motion was meaningless. "Well, if we knew where we were and the layout of the ground above, we would be able to at least think about it. But without that basic knowledge, we could end up just stuck under the underside of a building. That's not fun, even if you have energy."
Akari suddenly went quiet, thinking of the one instance similar to this one she had experienced, that expedition ending just as she had told Kurama. She bowed her head, eyes closing as she concentrated on her core, playing and poking the barrier she could feel. *
Kurama said nothing as she spoke the truth, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander, but coming up with no way out of their current situation.
"I suppose all we can do is wait. It appears we are at the mercy of our captors." He smiled, "I imagine we'll be missed at some point or another." 3
Kurama's musings hadn't fallen on deaf ears, but she didn't reply to his words. There was no point, really. Why linger on facts that could turn to, in some cases, depressing musings about how stuck they actually were and what could happen in the meantime? She instead continued toying with the energy she couldn't manipulate at all, finding dry humor In the fact that it would have been useless in this situation anyway. Illusions and shadows would do nothing in a cell with a comrade.
"Surely it can break," she grumbled, more to herself than to Kurama. *
Since the barrier had been placed, Kurama had not stopped examining the strange black orb that he felt surrounding his energy, but to his knowledge it would remain forever in place. He had not noticed any reduction of intensity or weak points and unlike his encounter with his energy being locked away at the Dark Tournament he could not feel the makeup-seals slowly draining.
"I for one am hoping that Yusuke doesn't oversleep." Kurama spoke up after a moment. Though, he reflected silently, if they were only able to depend on the Spirit Detective by himself, they might be down here for quite a while. 3
A small huff of air escaped Akari's lips in slight frustration at the amount of uselessness she felt. She pulled away from her inner musings in time to catch Kurama's words of Yusuke. The mental image of the human sleeping the day away was too easy to conjure, suddenly making it difficult to rely on his assistance.
"I told Nabu I wouldn't be back until later today," she added, tone even as if she were talking about the weather. She sighed for the upteenth time and suddenly pushed herself to stand. "Well, might as well," she mumbled before walking around the room, a hand running over each wall curiously as she thought of ways to amuse herself. *
"If I had realized I was going to be held captive, I would have at least stuck a packet of cards in my pocket." Kurama noted. He kept his eyes closed, listening for any indication that they would have company, attempting to sense any energy around them, but coming back with nothing on both counts. He took a breath and tried to relax, wondering if it would be asking too much to fall back asleep. 3
Akari continued walking around the room, making two laps before she decided to stop at the smooth wall, pressing both hands against it curiously as if she would be able to make out what it was made of by simply feeling and staring at the darkness before her. She considered touching her nose to it, but with the smell of dirt everywhere, she wouldn't be able to find a scent anyway. She half wondered if they were watching her and Kurama, which made her turn and look up at the nearest corner of the room. Cameras? She wondered, considering the option of one might being present somewhere. Without thinking, she moved to the corner of the room and stretched her arm up, curious of what kind of surveillance they might have. *
"So, how did the dog come to follow you around? Besides the obvious reason, as I imagine he took a liking to you rather quickly." Kurama broke the silence, feeling too awake to slip into nap for the moment. 3
Akari paused only for a millisecond at Kurama's topic choice, glancing in the direction of the voice. Shortly after she continued, standing on her toes in attempt to find the ceiling. No such luck, so far.
"Um," she began, voice strained like her body as she stretched even more, "he just... found me?" She knew it wasn't a sufficient answer, so she thought harder. "I guess after you and I parted ways that day, and I shooed him away, I kinda went back to the park for a nap. When I woke up, he was there, asleep on me. I guess I just couldn't make him leave." She made a small laughing sound and dropped back to her heels and moved to the next corner. "At first it was annoying. But he kinda grew on me."*
"Well, he thinks very highly of you, I can tell." Kurama also thought privately the pup was good for her , especially after having been caught up with Sensui for who knows how long. That sort of ultra-loyal companion was likely just what she needed to get her all sorted out. And not leave her lonely and self-destructive. 3
Akari gave a small smile at the thought of Nabu running around her feet excitedly at the times when she had left him alone for several hours. "I find amusement in him from time to time." She admitted, reaching the next corner of the room and continuing her survey of her surroundings. "He's taken a liking to you, but your competition is Yusuke, all because he got steak." She made a small sound to herself as she recalled the sleeping dog in Yusuke's lap. Just the thought made her feel a touch of worry for the pup, left alone again. *
Kurama knew she found much more than amusement in him.
"Uh oh, I'd better get on the ball, then. Yusuke is much more likeable than I. And steak simply makes matters worse for me." Kurama replied loftily. "I'll have to remedy his lead as quickly as possible." 3
A small laugh escaped Akari's lips unbidden, Kurama's tone making his words even funnier to her. As her hand grasped at nothing but air, she gave a grunt and landed on her heels again, this time turning and simply standing there in thought. If they were to be under watch by camera, those two corners would have been the best option.
"He calls you flowers," she suddenly informed Kurama, her tone matter-of-fact as she turned back to the direction of the smooth wall. It seemed so out of place, with no door, in this rocky room. "It's funny, actually." *
"Flowers?" Kurama raised an eyebrow in the darkness, still smiling, "I can't imagine why. Did he explain it to you?" 3
"Your scent," she replied automatically, not even giving a thought to it. Even she had had the same thought as Nabu when she had first stepped in front of Kurama on the overpass that day. Not even the human child had been able to cover the scent of plants and herbs that radiated from the redhead, whether he held a weapon or herb or not.
Then she gave a dry laugh as a thought crossed her mind. If there were no cameras, there had to be another way they were being watched. She didn't voice her thoughts yet though, since she wasn't exactly sure. *
Kurama figured as much, though he didn't tend to take particular notice unless he felt like it.
The near-quiet of the space coupled with his exhaustion from the night before had Kurama lulling himself into sleep again when Akari did not at first speak further. His mind went back through the events of the night before and away from their present situation. 3
The sudden silence in the room left Akari turning around and around, trying to think of a way to prove or disprove her thoughts, but coming up empty. She considered shouting to get the attention of Otento and them with something stupid like "at least provide entertainment", but she knew better than that. Doing things like that never lead down a good road when in captivity.
She paced for a few minutes, then got tired of moving and simply took to standing in the middle of the room, pulling the tangles from her hair one by one.
And again, she found herself bored. So she moved and found the spot she'd been in earlier, this time laying on her back in the dirt, not caring if it messed up the work she'd just done on her tangles. She hadn't meant to, but she just realized that her head was pretty close to Kurama's legs, her eyes making out the outline of his body almost perfectly now that her vision had adjusted accordingly. Was he asleep? She closed her eyes, wondering if she even had such a possibility such as falling back into a comfortable sleep.
Instead, she found herself staring into the darkness over her head, bored and her mind buzzing with thoughts of nothing important. Again she sat up, this time facing Kurama with legs crossed underneath her, trying to determine if he was indeed asleep. *
Working backwards, Kurama could not make a particular connection as to the ulterior motive behind the situation in which they found themselves. Sure, he could reason out an individual "why" for each separate event, but nothing seemed to string together into a tapestry of any particular coherence.
Kurama picked up Akari's movements somewhere outside of his head, but he allowed himself to slip one step farther into sleep, lowering his breathing and heart-rate, but remaining aware of the room should something suddenly change. And if he happened to fall asleep in the next few minutes, so be it. He was exhausted. 3
Akari stared at the outline of Kurama, trying to picture the scene as if it were in full light. Yes, she was that bored. She considered speaking up, but nothing came to mind. So her mouth remained closed and she continued to sit there, coming up with random images in her mind for personal amusement, whether it be the room and how it would look if lit, or even something as ridiculous as a video game.
She didn't know how much time passed before that too became boring and she sighed heavily, placing an elbow on her knee and resting her chin in her hand. She figured Kurama was just as tired as she felt, but luckily for him, he seemed able to sleep- as his breathing was beginning to indicate.
Her own eyes slid closed again, and she thought of the smells in the room and the conversation she and Kurama had had earlier, realizing that even now she could smell the plants that the fox demon likely had with him. Suddenly, she remembered Sensui telling her the prime place where the redhead hid his seeds, and she was leaning forward, eyes open and hands in her lap, eyes on the outline of the head of hair next to her. There's no way that's possible. Sure, his hair was thick, but to hold seeds, and not lose them? That wasn't possible, was it?
Curiosity began nagging at her, and her head tilted to the side as she tried picturing something such as that. But nothing came to mind, and she was left even more curious than before. Did Sensui lie about that, too?
Despite all attempts at self-restraint, Akari found her hand moving, stretching out towards the fox, stopping just short of his hair that hung in front of his face. She knew she shouldn't but the curious part of her was just so demanding, that she couldn't really keep her hand from lightly taking hold of a bit of his hair, inspecting it in search of seeds. There's no possible way. *
Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness, Kurama knew what Akari was doing, felt her reaching for him on some unexplained urge. He kept none of his poisonous plants there, not that they could do anything unless he manipulated them, so he merely maintained his trance-like state and let her satisfy her curiosity for now. There certainly wasn't anything better to do and a small part of him felt amused that she was being so bold. 3
When she at first didn't find a seed of any kind, Akari dropped the hold she had on his hair, slightly disappointed. But her curiosity was still just as strong, so her hand moved without thinking and she found another parting in his hair and lightly ran her index finger through it curiously, hoping he wouldn't wake up while she was still messing with his hair.
She continued doing this for what seemed like an eternity, until she realized that maybe the seeds would be closer to the scalp than she'd been searching. Her bottom lip jutted out in silent debate with herself; should she try it, or give up before he woke up and likely ended up irritated at her imposing?
Then again, finding a seed would be rather fun…
Decision made, she tried again, this time slower and much gentler than before, weaving her fingers through the hair that she knew would be red if she could see it, until her fingers found something she knew shouldn't be there. She grabbed it with her thumb and index finger and pulled as slowly as possible, until she held the seed in the palm of her hand, almost giving an audible "aha!" into the darkened room. *
Kurama could feel the instant she found one, his awareness of each and every one of the pieces in his arsenal bar none. He tried not to smile to himself at the one she just happened to pick. She came away with the very rose seed he used in battle. For some reason the thought pleased him and he hoped she would keep it. For added measure, he heaved a sigh and moved, laying down on his side with his back to the wall, one arm being used as a pillow for his head. 3
Akari withdrew only a little, inspecting the object between her thumb and index finger as much as she possibly could in the darkness of the room. Of course, she had no idea what type of seed it was, but when she held it up to her nose, she didn't get a vile smell. In fact, it almost reminded her of the weapon he'd used on the overpass when Sniper had left. A vine, of some sort?
Just as she decided to attempt and put it back, Kurama huffed and then moved, making her jump just a bit in surprise, thinking he was waking up again. Instead, she listened as he got comfortable again, his movements stopping not too long after they'd begun.
She reached for his hair again, only to find that his back was to the wall, almost entirely up against it, and an arm was under his head. Well… She thought, frowning and sitting back with one palm on the dirt floor behind her. There wasn't any way she could put it back now, she knew. So, she let the seed fall into her palm, closed her fingers into a fist around it, and then rested her elbow on her knee, her chin on her knuckles. What now?
Now that her curiosity had been satisfied, she was left bored in the quiet all over again. But this time, her mind was blank, and she actually considered sleep. But in the end, she decided not to, since Kurama was, and she didn't know if Otento would be returning or not. *
Satisfied that she appeared to be keeping the seed, at least for the moment, Kurama finally let himself truly return to sleep, knowing that even if Akari slept as well, one or the both of them would have enough wits about them to awake in an instant. 3
~!**!~
Sunlight made him slightly uncomfortable as Hiei came to waking, the warmth from the rays hitting his eyelids and making him painfully aware of how he felt a bit sore, as if he hadn't moved at all during his slumber. He lay there despite his discomfort, trying to figure out just how long he'd been asleep before even looking at a clock- not that it mattered, he hadn't seen the time before going to sleep anyway.
After a moment or two, the fire demon stretched his body out languidly on the bed, almost having forgotten Shikiyoku was nearby, laying against him and still asleep.
Finally, his eyes opened to look down at the girl, blinking sleep from his sight. *
"Sh-Shiki...I don't want to die..."
...
"But I'm not doing this for HIM, I'm doing it for YOU."
Toriko stirred, her dreams of speaking with her other side dancing through her mind. Something about...a deadly virus. And she remembered there was pain, a lot of pain, and an aching in her right shoulder.
In fact, it still felt like the pain was there, pulsing downwards from that joint akin to a thousand tiny needles. When she shifted in her sleep, that feeling jolted like lightening down the rest of her arm and she could feel her brow turning downward in a frown. She thought Shiki was supposed to take care of it. Toriko certainly couldn't. She didn't have free access to their power. Or not enough of it at least.
The sheet under her cheek felt warm and soft and she released a contented sigh, nuzzling her face into it as if to keep the sun away that threatened to pierce through her eyelids and welcome her into the day. 3
Hiei watched Shikiyoku shift just slightly, her face rubbing against his cloak and pulling it even tighter around his body, until the cloth hugged his entire body, making even his sheathed sword noticeable. For a millisecond, he didn't care. But very, very quickly he became uncomfortable with the tautness of his cloak, and without any thought, he used his free hand that had been resting beside his body to tug on the cloth, peeling it out from her grasp and adjusting it so that it wasn't as tight around him. Other than that, he had no plans to move, since he figured disturbing a demoness who'd had a night like last night was not wise. *
Toriko tried to move and get the arm she lay on top of, which was in pain from lack of circulation, out from under her, but found that her muscles did not wish to respond, which brought her further out of sleep and into more awareness of the situation.
Her initial shock at realizing her head was actually on top of someone caused her core to jump violently, pumping a massive dose of adrenaline into her brain which allowed her senses to quickly feed her information before she even opened her eyes: the smell of cloves and fiery cinnamon, the unnatural warmth that seeped through the cloth under her head...
"Hiei?" Her eyes came open more slowly and she immediately recognized the black cloak under her, but did not recognize any features of the room she could make out. 3
The fire demon frowned; he'd thought he hadn't moved enough to wake her. However, when she spoke up, as if unsure it was him, his brows furrowed even more. Of course it was him; she'd fallen asleep next to him…
"What?" he grumbled out, eyes sliding closed again as he tossed his arm over them again, as he had last night. From the brief moment he'd looked around the room, he'd noted that it was early afternoon, perhaps just a bit after one o'clock or so. Or at least, that was his best guess. *
Toriko blinked, and wanted to move, to sit up, to look over at him, but found that she simply did not have the strength.
The virus must have taken more out of her than she'd thought.
"Where are we?" She mumbled, closing her eyes again, wondering at how strange the predicament she found herself in seemed. What possessed the fire demon to let her sleep next to him in this manner? She blushed. Not that she found she minded. Quite the opposite...3
Hiei let out a slow breath from his nose, suddenly realizing what was actually wrong with the situation. It wasn't Shikiyoku next to him, but the more human half, as Shikiyoku would have put it, Toriko. He again took in a large breath of air and let it out through his nose, as if in doing so he could clear away the odd situation.
There was no way in hell he was about to bring up what had actually happened.
"Your house," he replied nonchalantly, removing the arm from his face and slowly moving to sit up, but not really getting far. Instead he only scooted enough to adjust his position a touch, releasing the uncomfortable twinge in his muscles and relaxing completely with one leg propped up on the knee of the other, laying almost entirely on his left hip. "A guest room, since you were wet." *
Toriko's eyes flew open again, feeling the towel underneath her for the first time, and in the same moment being assured that she did in fact have some sort of clothing on, though she couldn't imagine what it was. It felt too drafty to be anything she usually would wear.
She almost hated to ask, but…
"Why was I wet, exactly?" 3
A scoff left Hiei as he glanced down at Toriko, taking only a millisecond before considering his answer. It wasn't like it wasn't the truth. "Cleaned the wound of poison." Sure, it wasn't too far from the truth. He had cleaned wounds, one that had turned the ointment and odd color made him assume there to be poison. "It's not an easy task with a simple cloth." *
"Oh..." Toriko trailed off, brooding to herself for a moment, "Um. Thank you." Even if she didn't remember it. She let out a puff of air that might have been a laugh, "That virus must have been something awful. I don't feel like I can move any part of my body." 3
Hiei didn't reply. There was nothing he could say in this situation, so he stuck to staying silent and simply laying there for a moment. However, he grew tired of simply laying there before too long, and he shifted to sit up, this time actually sitting up and looking about the room once again.
He felt rather well rested, considering how late they'd been up the night before. His crimson eyes shifted to Toriko again, this time taking in the knots and tangles in her hair, and how matted it was. That was going to be difficult to explain, since there was blood, dirt, among other things in her hair.
"Laying around all day won't benefit you in any way." he finally stated as he swung his own legs over the side of the bed, but didn't yet get on his feet. *
Toriko knew he was right, but even as he left her and she tried to rise, she only got so far as to getting up on one elbow before her arm trembled and gave out underneath her.
She didn't bother cringing as she fell back down on the towel. It wasn't as if it hurt all that much. But her eyes did widen at the discovery and it took her twice more before she finally sat up, back hunched over as she stared down at her hands which shook just from the effort. 3
Hiei listened to the efforts of the person behind him, honestly not surprised at the struggle he could hear. He glanced over his shoulder at her, seeing that Toriko had managed to sit up, but didn't seem to making an effort to stand. And he didn't expect anything less.
He stood finally and moved around the bed until he stood in front of her, blank eyes staring down at her as he assessed the multiple possibilities of the situation. He could carry her to the bathroom, where she could bathe herself, except he wasn't sure she could even stand on her own, much less cleanse herself.
Finally, he made a small sound of impatience and moved closer to the bed, silently offering himself as leverage for her to stand, and if she were to need it, he would offer more assistance, though he'd prefer if she figured out how to get through it on her own. *
Toriko heard him coming closer, a sudden sense of anxiety gripping her about having to rise with any sort of speed.
"You...don't have to wait for me." The words practically fell out of her mouth all at once as she mistook his stare and presence. "I can barely sit here, and I think standing is out of the question. I'm sure you have better things to do."
She placed her hands down on her thighs and her eyes widened again at the state of the jeans she wore...if the could even be called jeans at this point. They were barely held together stips, and she realized the shirt she wore was in much the same condition, neither one doing much more than preserving whatever dignity she had left in this situation. Her mouth hung open in shock as she took it in and it left her quite speechless. Surely a virus hadn't done all this...3
Hiei raised a brow silently at Toriko, not surprised by her misinterpretation. He waited for a moment before blinking slowly at her in expectation, waiting on her to at least try to stand. But she didn't, and he knew that she probably wouldn't be able to. So, without any forewarning, he leaned forward and slid a single arm under her knees, easily sliding his other arm behind her shoulders, and without saying a word, lifted her from where she sat as if she weigh nothing more than a feather, and he swept out of the room with general ease, crossing the hall into the bathroom without any obstacles such as closed doors or a cat at his feet, as he'd half expected.
Then, he stopped before the bathtub, glanced up at the showerhead that appeared to dislodge from the part that connected with the wall, other than a cord of some sort that, he assumed, allowed the water to flow through it, then all but dropped Toriko into the white tub. Satisfied, he reached up and handed her the showerhead, figuring she'd need it, and placed everything else nearby within reach from her sitting position.
"There." he stated nonchalantly, turning his back and taking two steps before pausing and glancing back at her once. "You reek of dirt and sweat." With that, he left the room, shutting the door with a soft click. *
Toriko blinked and stared at the showerhead now in her hand, for a moment uncertain how exactly she'd gotten here. When her mind caught up, she could feel the warmth all the way down to her toes.
"How embarrassing." She mumbled to herself, feeling her general sticky and ickyness.
Her hand holding the shower head started to shake and she set it in her lap, heaving a sigh. She could tell there was no way this was going to happen. And yet, at the same time there was no way in hell she was going to let Hiei know that.
As she sat for a moment wondering what on earth she was going to do with herself, she heard a small, curious "miau" from the other side of the tub.
She managed to turn her head to spy Maneshi regarding her with wide eyes, each one being a different color making the expression a little haunting.
"What you up to?" She asked rhetorically.
The cat murled and hopped up to the edge of the tub, butting her face with the top of his head and making Toriko smile.
He sat down after that, tall and slender with his tail wrapped about his feet.
"I don't suppose you have any ideas?" She moved the shower head around a little and almost laughed as Maneshi flinched. "It's not on."
He regarded her with a long, unblinking stare, made slightly comical by the fact that the tip of his pink tongue peeking out from his mouth.
"I do." He spoke into her mind, hesitantly.
Toriko said nothing, only lifting her eyebrows as he moved and rubbed his side against her shoulder, beginning to purr.
"But you aren't going to like it. And you could very well end up being worse for a time after."
He would say nothing else when she questioned him, walking around behind her daintily on the small lip at the back of the tub, continuing to rub up against her. He turned the corner, rubbed her shoulder with his own, then nimbly dropped down into the bath, stepping lightly down one leg and then back up the other before jumping up to the edge back where he started.
"Steam will help." He blinked once, slowly. "Though you should probably undress first."
Toriko felt no qualms at his suggestion since he was only a cat after all. She set the shower head down across her thighs and pulled the remains of the shirt off over her head, feeling quite stiff still, but stronger somehow.
Maneshi hopped down off of the tub as she dropped the piece of clothing onto the floor, going over to sniff at it as she grabbed for the sides of the tub and lifted herself up enough that she could sit back down on the edge of it before she collapsed.
The jeans were a little harder to remove, but once they were gone and on the floor she reached over and turned the handles as hot as they would go, water bursting out from the faucet and almost instantly starting to steam up the room.
As she dropped her undergarments to the floor as well, Maneshi hopped back up beside her and rubbed her arm again. She continued to feel stronger and thought that this whole bathing thing might actually be plausible, quickly moving to grab for the showerhead and get wet, at which Maneshi promptly hopped back down.
She could hear the water dropping to the tile floor behind her and found that she didn't care, the heat helping her muscles relax.
The steam had filled the room with a heavy haze of air and humidity, but Toriko hardly noticed as she went about soaping off the grime and sweat she felt clinging to her skin, a frown deepening on her face as she noticed wounds she did not remember acquiring on her legs and arms, her expression darkening even more as they slowly began to disappear before her eyes.
"Maneshi, what are you doing?"
The air was even heavier than before, and would have been hard to breathe in for any normal human. The haze was thick and palatable, almost like a fog and beginning to make it hard to see.
"It will likely get worse, and I'm sorry for that."
The hairs on the back of Toriko's neck stood on end, and yet she felt no alarm, the voice on the air resounding with the same bass-timbre as the one she had only minutes ago felt brush against her mind. Though this one sounded strained.
Trying not to think about it too much, Toriko reached forward for shampoo and placed it next to her, her mind focusing heavily on the task before her. However, when she went to lift the shower head and wet her hair, a pang of distress shot down her arms and she could not do it.
"Sorry." The deeper voice breathed, hitching in the middle of the word. "I'm about at my limit. Let's finish quickly."
The shower head was taken from her hands and sprayed onto her hair and Toriko did not protest, leaning her head over the tub and taking intermittent breaths as the water flowed down either cheek and over her mouth and nose.
The shampoo came next and while she could feel the slender fingers working it through, she maintained her stillness in the hopes of not hindering the process.
She closed her eyes this time when the water began pouring back over her face, suds from the shampoo being cleaned from her long dark hair and taking with it all the impurities Shikiyoku had acquired when kidnapped.
Just as the last of it washed over her eyes, the shower head banged noisily against the edge of the tub and Toriko could not help but whip around to investigate.
The fog was too thick at that point for her to even see the floor, though she spied a darker place that she thought could have been hair streaming over the rug.
Toriko turned back and whipped the faucet handles off so the water would stop flowing, twisting her legs back over the edge and carefully setting her feet down on the slippery tile. She took the two steps to the cabinet and wrapped a towel around her before dropping to the floor and spying one brown eye and one blue eye regarding her with a pained expression.
"Maneshi?" She asked, reaching her arms out.
"Here."
He struggled to stand on all fours and walk towards her and she reached for him as soon as he stumbled into range, gathering him into her lap and off the damp rug.
A wave of pain struck her and her calf began aching, so she shifted her legs out from under her body and leaned heavily against the outside of the tub, feeling as if she would no longer be able to move.
Her head dropped forward, her chin nearly touching her chest, and she squinted as she could practically feel every muscles draw taunt in her body, the pain almost unbearable. She had little mental capacity to spare and none of it was even remotely attempting to pick apart what had just happened or what Maneshi had just done.
There was a cut on her arm that reopened and slowly began leaking blood towards her hand, and she felt the same sort of sensation at the same calf that ached, another batch of pain stinging across her eyes as she sat holding Maneshi close and trying to catch her breath. 3
Hiei had walked away from the bathroom altogether, deciding to give Toriko her privacy and head downstairs, where there was still a mess to be cleaned up. He didn't think leaving it for her would be wise- not that she'd simply yell and kick him out, but having her clean it up with her injuries just wouldn't do.
As soon as his feet touched the kitchen floor, he set to work, dashing about and picking up pans and cans that Shikiyoku had tossed around days ago, or at least it felt that long. Had it really been less than a week? It had felt like an eternity to him.
Pans clattered as he unceremoniously dumped them in the cabinets where he assumed Shikiyoku had produced them, since there were similar objects inside. He stacked the cans inside the cupboard according to the semi-organization he saw, hoping it would look as if nothing had been messed with. And then when that was done, he turned and looked at the pile of melted, green and brown mixed ice cream that he'd scorched, the burned container just a pile of ashes mixed in.
A frown settled on his face as he turned to look around the room. Where she would keep her cleaning supplies, he didn't know. So, he set out to search for anything useful, eventually coming up with enough things to restore the kitchen to its normal appearance just as he heard the water in the bathroom turning off, after which he wasted no time in flitting his way back up the stairs with a single glance back at the kitchen, satisfied.
Now he stood in front of the door, listening to the sound of her breathing from behind the door and for any signs of movement. He considered barging in, but wasn't sure if she was covered, so he shifted his weight and turned his back to the door impatiently.
"I'm surprised you made it this far," he called through the door tauntingly, referring to the fact that she had yet to pass out. *
Toriko fought back the useless feelings of pain that her muscles screamed at her, subduing them at the sound of Hiei's voice and letting them hum angrily at the back of her head.
"I can't get up." She managed to mumble, still holding Maneshi's limp body in her arms, the haze of the steam in the room making her feel a little heady as she squeezed her eyes shut. 3
Hiei wasn't surprised by the words he made out from behind the door, and took them as a green light, as the humans said. He turned around, hand finding the knob easily and twisting it, his body moving in one swift motion with the door, taking only a single step inside as the steam from within berated his senses entirely, momentarily surprising him.
After a mere second, he recovered, his nose picking up on the smell of her blood making his mind easily brush away the irritation that the fog in the room gave him. He stepped forward, eyes seeing Toriko through the haze, holding Maneshi, who looked just as drained, and before too long, he was lifting the towel-covered girl and the exhausted cat from the floor, easily maintaining the balance so that not even Maneshi would have the chance to wobble.
How many times had he carried her like this in the past forty-eight hours?
The thought was brief, brushed away as he turned and left the bathroom, cloak swaying behind him and occasionally sticking to a moist surface. It slid away, no longer catching on anything once he was out of proximity of the steamed room, entering Toriko's room with a simple turn of his wrist and nudge at the door, glancing down at Toriko and Maneshi before setting her on the bed so that she was sitting, cat in her lap. And this time, instead of leaving the room, he rummaged through her drawers for clothes, finding some clothing material he vaguely remembered her wearing to bed at a different date and tossing them onto the bed beside her, turning his back on her but not leaving the room. "When you're dressed, I'll dress the wound." *
As soon as they were set down, Maneshi climbed unsteadily out of Toriko's lap and misstepped, falling off the side of the bed as Toriko gasped loudly, unable to move to pull him back.
Her muscles seized within her again, her eyes slamming shut in agony and her hands forming fists, the action of tightening causing a third wound to reopen on her arm, and forcing blood out of the other two faster for just a moment. 3
Hiei heard the gasp and turned curiously, only to lunge forward without thinking and snatch the falling ball of fur out of the air by the waist. For a moment, he stood the way he caught the cat, arms outstretched and Maneshi dangling in his hands, long legs stretched to full length and tail swaying from the sudden stop of motion. Hm.
He then moved, breaking the still-as-a-statue pose and standing upright, cat in his left arm against his chest, feet underneath his sleek body for support. "Pain in the ass." he mumbled before his eyes turned to the cuts on Toriko that were reopened.
Without a word, he swiftly moved from the room at top speed, retrieved the last bandaging wraps from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and returned, all within a second, to standing in front of Toriko again. He set the cat on the floor and gave a stern look that read now sit still before he turned to Toriko, lifting the arm that had begun bleeding first and wrapping the gauze methodically around and around, tight enough to stay in place, but not too tight as to cut off circulation. Once he was done with that, he did the same for her leg and other arm.
Once it was done, he stood upright again with a small sound of approval at his own handiwork before turning his back to her again, fully expecting her to at least begin dressing herself. *
Maneshi collapsed to the floor where Hiei set him down, his eyes closed and his side rising and falling rapidly, no other part of him moving.
Toriko for her part made no sound of pain as Hiei made quick work of her wounds, but the pain itself was etched deeply across her brow every time he moved something.
"I can't move." Her breath hitched up in her lungs as even they tightened in protest. "Everything hurts." 3
Hiei, for some reason, hadn't thought of such a possibility such as the girl being completely immobile. He stood there for a moment, unsure and suddenly very uncomfortable at the situation. What should he do? He sure as hell wasn't going to remove her towel and dress her, because that was not his duty, even if he were her Champion.
He made a sound of disapproval before thinking harder on the matter, eyes trailing to his crossed arms. His pupils widened at the cloth he was looking at, suddenly finding an easy solution to his problem, despite his reluctance about it initially.
He turned around and, in the same motion, pulled his cloak from around himself and wrapped it around her body, making easy work of pulling her arms through the sleeves and then easily adjusting her so that she lay on the bed, head on the pillow that appeared most used. "Happy?" *
Everywhere he touched her made her want to scream, each time he moved her around sending incessant spikes of pain around that portion of her body.
And then finally he had her laying down, wrapped in the cloak he wore that still held much of the warmth he carried around naturally.
All the pain from before still ravaged through her system, and she grimaced, but pulled her head down farther into the neck of the cloak until it covered her nose, and then stopped moving altogether.
She opened her eyes once to glare angrily at him for asking such a ridiculously stupid question, but said nothing, trying to just concentrate on getting air into her lungs. 3
Hiei raised a brow at the glare he received from underneath his own cloak, the thought of that being a rather amusing one all of a sudden. "I'll leave you to your thoughts then," he said as he turned to leave, deciding that he wanted ice cream. Of course, he planned on coming right back to this room, whether she wanted him there or not, but she didn't have to know that just yet.
He didn't even shut the door behind him as he went, making his way down the stairs and straight through the kitchen that looked so odd now that it was clean; he'd gotten so accustomed to the mess he and Shikiyoku had made of it.
He tossed the thought away and grabbed what he came for, plus an extra spoon, just in case, and made his way back up the stairs, slowly, to give Toriko time to believe he wasn't returning for a while.
And on the way up the stairs, he heard the most annoying sound:
A dog's bark from the streets.
!**!~
Nabu called out once for Akari, wondering where she had been for so long. Sure, she could have gone to that large building where Flowers and other people went during the day, but she had left the bag and clothes for that place behind, and her scent hadn't renewed itself in the room since her leaving last night. He was curious, expecting her to be in the park, where he now realized her scent was headed, albeit a faint scent trail.
But when he got to the park, her scent abruptly disappeared, and no matter how far he walked, he couldn't find where it picked back up. That was when the alarm set in.
Never before had she shown him that.
So he took to searching the streets, occasionally crossing his own scent and backtracking, doing this for what felt like days, even though the sun hadn't set even once since he'd began his hunt.
And the longer he searched, the more distress he felt. He began to call more often, barking into the crowd that occasionally picked up in flow, then lessened again during the different hours of the day.
He even went back to check their home again, but nothing had changed.
Loudmouth! he suddenly thought, remembering the boy who had fed him, let him sleep in his house, and then dumped him on the floor with a loud bellow before loving on him some more. The dog turned and began a nice, steady run towards the place he knew the boy resided, but instead found, when he arrived, that his scent lead away from the building, so he took to following after the boy's trail diligently. *
~!**!~
As soon as Hiei turned and left the room, Toriko closed her eyes and tried to relax, the warmth of the cloak assisting greatly in her attempts as it soothed the muscles away from their tightness. Even if just a little.
Her eyes flew open again after a moment when she remembered Maneshi and at the silence in the room, she could pick out his labored breathing somewhere on the floor.
Her desperation to know his condition allowed her to scoot once, closer to the edge of the bed, but she finally cried out in pain at the effort, her own breathing matching that of the cat below that she could now make out, her eyes heavy with concern.
"Maneshi?"
She received no response.
~!**!~
"Yusuke Urameshi! You're in big trouble, mister!"
"What is it now, Keiko?"
The girl ran to catch up to the green-uniformed boy marching along, getting close enough to smack him in the back of the head with her brown satchel.
"Don't give me that!"
"Ow!" He rubbed at his neck, "What was that for?"
"You know exactly what that was for! You already miss so much school what with working for Koenma, and then even on a day when you do make it to class, you're half a day late and you bugger off early!"
"It's not my fault the teachers have nothing interesting to say."
"That is not the point and you know it! You're making me look bad-"
"As class rep," Yusuke interrupted, "Yeah, yeah I know."
"Then get yourself to class next time!"
"I can't promise you that."
"You'd better!" 3
~!**!~
Hiei slowly, or as slowly as he could withstand, made his way up the stairs, pausing at the landing with a spoonful of Ice Cream in his mouth, swallowing the cold substance that made his teeth hurt. He lodged his personal spoon in the tub of ice cream and then turned to the bedroom door that stood wide open, pausing at the sight he saw.
Toriko was leaning over the bed, eyes trained on the mass of black fur on the floor that moved with heavy breathing to match the girl's. He considered the scene for a moment, not taking too long before he had deduced what was going on and continuing into the room, approaching first the cat, picking up the ball of fur, and then laying Maneshi down beside Toriko, on the side of the bed that was unoccupied so that, if she were to fall asleep and roll over, she wouldn't end up laying on the small creature.
"You… didn't share."
Those words echoed in his mind from the night before, just before he sat down in a chair and sat the extra spoon in his hand. "Do you want any?" he asked, holding up the tub for her to see since he was on the side she was facing. He figured she might be a bit hungry, and this was all he could offer her at the moment.
And in that same moment, he stuck a spoonful of the sweet substance in his own mouth as he waited on her response.
~!**!~
Nabu ran down the sidewalk, nose to the ground as he followed the scent he barely knew from the one interaction with the person he was hunting down. It was his last chance to figure out where Akari was, and he wasn't going to miss it.
Occasionally however, he crossed his own scent and became distracted, or the scent of the boy clashed with another scent that left him confused, wandering in circles until he found the same scent again and taking off like a rocket.
He even ran through an alleyway, where other, much larger dogs growled at him in warning for trespassing on their territory, making him run even faster, tail between his legs with the rush of fear he had experienced.
If only Akari were here, then…
Then I wouldn't be looking for Akari! he suddenly thought, realizing his own thoughts were beginning to mix and mingle, much like the scents in the streets.
At one point, he had to make a run from a large man with a net and some other contraption who ran at him, hollering like a banshee and stomping his overly large feet in his direction. He'd been a bigger man, so outrunning him hadn't been much of a problem.
By this point, he was sitting in front of a large building that was a bit similar to the one Akari visited on some days. His chest rapidly moved with his huffs of air, trying to regain the precious element of oxygen that he'd lost on his trip here.
It had been such a tiring one, but he was worried.
It was the afternoon, almost time for dinner, and Akari hadn't returned to him yet. Normally, she'd be yelling at him for lunch before he even woke up, telling him that later they would visit the park and play before she went and took care of some things on her own.
But she hadn't even come home for breakfast today, like he'd hoped she would. Yes, she had said she would be back this afternoon, but it was almost evening, and Akari never missed lunch with him unless she were at the building like this that was filled with people.
The worry made Nabu lay his ears back and his eyes scan the crowd suddenly emerging from the large building in front of him. His nose twitched, and before long he caught sight of the boy with markings on his face, except they were hardly noticeable today. Had he not been so worried for his best friend, he would have thought on that fact, but he was too preoccupied otherwise.
After a few more moments of sitting on his haunches, huffing for air, he stood on all four and bolted through the crowd, calling "Hey! Hey, Loudmouth! Steak-boy!" sure, he didn't know the boy's name, but it wouldn't matter because he didn't think the boy fully understood him anyways.
"I can't find Akari! She left with you yesterday, right? Where is she?" As he barked out the questions, Nabu ran up to the boy, not even halting when he reached him but instead making circles around his feet, frantically trying to convey his worry.
"You know where she is?!" *
"Um, Yusuke, you realize there's a puppy running around your feet?"
"Huh?" Yusuke looked down, "Nabu!" He exclaimed when he recognized the dog. He bent down and grabbed the dog's sides to lift him up, "What's got you all excited, boy?"
"Nabu?"
"Yeah, it's Akari's dog."
"Who?" Keiko asked threateningly.
"Keiko, come on now. Wow, he's really squirming around. I wonder what's up." Yusuke put Nabu back down before he dropped him, but he squatted down to talk to the dog more directly. "Slow down there, short-stack. You're wearing me out."
Keiko did the same as Yusuke, though he had his hands in his pockets and she had her legs together under her longer skirt, holding her brown satchel in front of her knees.
~!**!~
At his question, Toriko's stomach growled too loudly to mistake the noise for anything else and she blushed mightily.
She acted as if she was about to hold out an arm to get a spoon from him, but just before she moved her arm decided against it and managed to shake her head, casting her eyes down. 3
Hiei felt a corner of his lips lift at the sound that all but echoed in the room, giving him his answer for her. But when she shook her head, he tilted his head to the side with an expression that read "really?"
Then he moved the chair forward a little, so that he could reach her, but instead of extending an offer to her as he had originally thought of doing, he sat back and placed another spoonful of the ice cream in his mouth, eyes staying locked on hers almost tauntingly.
And he waited only a few moments like that, with the spoon hanging from his mouth, before giving a small huff of amusement and giving in, taking the extra spoon and scooping the substance up just enough to control, and lifted it to her mouth, pressing the chilling spoon to her lips lightly in a silent offer.
~!**!~
Nabu had wriggled his entire body when picked up, knowing that this wasn't the reaction he needed in order to get his urgency across to the boy who now knelt before him. The dog's body visibly shook with the effort it took for him to suddenly sit still, ears laying back and tail tucked as closely to his body as it could get, a small whine escaping from his maw, which opened only enough for the sound to be heard in a plea.
"I don't know where she is, and she left with you… but you're back, and she's not." he whined, his front paws unable to stay still and moving automatically with the amount of emotion he felt. "Help me!"
Suddenly, his eyes turned to the female next to the boy, eyeing her bag that was held in front of him, giving him a sudden idea. He turned back to Yusuke and lightly nipped at his clothing, hoping this would get his message across before he turned and began running back the way he came, pausing to look back and see if the boy understood his actions. *
"Well, I don't think that could get any more obvious." Yusuke stood and started after the pup.
"Agreed. Is he always like this?" Keiko fell in step beside him.
"Not that I know of. But I've only seen the little guy one other time. And that was last night!"
~!**!~
Without her realizing it, Toriko's eyes flashed approvingly at Hiei's tease.
"He's learning," a smugly self-satisfied voice said that she didn't think was her own, but it sounded like her. And it acted as if a thought coming from her own mind. And Toriko's...other side was gone for the moment, Toriko knew, slumbering most heavily in the darkest recesses of her mind as if exhausted beyond comprehension. She dismissed the random interjection.
Toriko pulled back a little as Hiei reached out with a sample. Her concern did not stem from a lack of ability to hold her own spoon, but rather that even if she could do so, she feared dropping it on his beautiful cloak.
However, as the spoon, icey cold, touched her lips, she found herself unable to do anything else put part them and accept the offering he extended. She certainly did not regret the action, though the flavor of the strawberry sweet snow seemed a little...duller than she expected.
She nodded a curt thanks, mouth full and letting the treat melt a little before she attempted to swallow, her tongue snaking out and licking her lips. 3
Hiei met the flash in Toriko's eyes with a sneer of amusement, his own irises flashing in contrast with hers. He wondered of her thoughts at that moment, but didn't dwell since it was inconsequential and unimportant to him.
When her lips opened and then closed around the spoon he offered, he slowly pulled it back, letting her get a majority of the substance off the spoon before simply taking it all away from her, though that would have been amusing to witness.
He scooped another bite of the ice cream for himself, sticking his spoon in between his lips before replenishing her spoon as well, waiting until she swallowed the bite he had given her a moment ago before offering this one to her, much in the same fashion.
~!**!~
Nabu felt relieved, albeit just a touch, that the boy seemed to understand him. But now, where would he go? Home, to show that Akari's things were still there, but she was not, or the park where her scent ended? He paused outside the wall of the large building's grounds, looking right to left, right to left. Which way?
Finally, he made up his mind and darted to the right, towards home, his small body weaving through the people easily, but he did turn back to check on the boy and his friend every so often.
And it didn't take long before he reached his and Akari's home, where he slipped in through the hole on the side of the building and stood in the middle of the room, waiting for the boy to enter as well before he hopped around and around the few things Akari held as her possessions, namely her school supplies, as she'd called them once before. *
"Where do you think he's taking us?" Keiko asked curiously as her eyes kept track of the small furry animal that kept stopping to look back and make sure they followed.
Yusuke shrugged noncommittally.
"Wait, where'd he go?"
Keiko pointed to a hole in the side of a building, "I think there's a door on this side." She broke into a trot and found the door before Yusuke, cautiously trying the doorknob.
"Not even gonna knock?" Yusuke came up behind her and startled her so that she dropped her hand and turned beet red.
"Well, I figured whoever is in there probably knows we're coming."
"I didn't take you as the breaking and entering type, Keiko!"
"Oh, shut up." Keiko went ahead and threw open the door with gusto, having discovered it was unlocked, and walked inside with Yusuke trailing after.
"Geez this place is a mess."
"I wonder who lives here."
"Who in their right mind would live here?"
"Someone who goes to school." Keiko noted, pointed at a uniform.
"Hey, I'd know that terrible pink color anywhere! That's where Kurama goes to school." Yusuke smacked his hand against his forehead, "Well duh, that's where Akari goes too."
Keiko raised an eyebrow at the mention of the girl, but stayed quiet on that subject, "Then, why did Nabu lead us here?"
"I dunno. Nabu? Buddy? Where'd you go?" Yusuke stepped farther into the house.
~!**!~
Toriko did not hesitate this time when he offered her another bite, but she couldn't help the befuddled expression that passed over her face as she moved the sweet snow around in her mouth again.
Something had to be wrong... Hiei wasn't this nice. At least not to her. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? She was wearing his cloak...he was feeding her sweet snow... She felt strangely puzzled by the whole situation. 3
Hiei raised a brow even further at the expression that took over Toriko's features, the black blending in with his hair that hung over his eyes. Then his lips moved into the sneer that had disappeared only seconds ago, finding her confusion amusing to see forming between her brows and making her eyes spark with thoughts.
He suddenly sat back again, taking the spoon from her mouth much faster this time and simply lodging it into the strawberry goodness, leaving it there as he continued eating. If she didn't want it, he wouldn't give her any. He would simply eat it all by his lonesome.
~!**!~
Nabu heard the door open, and glad he had done what he'd been intending to do, he hopped up on the desk across the room and layed down so that only his front paws and his chin rested on an open book and some papers that Akari had worked on three days ago, the last day she'd gone to school. Her pencil was still in the crease where the pages turned, the lead dull and only one set of teeth marks from the moment his best friend had gotten frustrated at the paperwork, and promptly given up.
As soon as Yusuke called for him, he called out "Over here", but to them he knew his words would be nothing but a small, barking whine. So he repeated the sound, his big, brown eyes staring right at the boy as he waited for the spark of understanding that the pup was trying to grasp from this one.
Too bad he couldn't find Flowers. He'd understand much quicker than this one would… *
Yusuke started to head to the part of the room he heard Nabu making noise from.
"Aw, don't look so sad." He stuck his face in Nabu's and pouted, patting him on the head.
Keiko wandered more slowly in the other pair's direction, her eyes keenly taking in the room and the things inside.
"Yusuke..." She began thoughtfully, "When was the last time you saw Akari?"
"Um," Yusuke stood up, but patted Nabu's head again, stopping to scratch at his ears. "Last night?"
Keiko's temper flared again, "I won't even ask what you were doing together last night." She closed her eyes and huffed out a bit of air, "But I guess that sort of throws a wrench in my theory."
"Your theory?"
"That she's missing." Keiko said offhandedly. "I mean, look at him." She gestured at the dog and closed the distance. "He looks so sad."
~!**!~
"Meanie." Toriko muttered under her breath as she dropped her eyes away from him when he made no move to offer her more, secretly glad that he stopped before she messed up his cloak somehow.
She knew he was acting too nice. He really just planned on enjoying torturing her the whole time.
Her stomach growled just as loudly as before and she blushed again, absolutely refusing to look up and see if Hiei was paying attention. 3
Hiei was, of course, paying attention, but he chose to ignore the sound he heard from Toriko, his mind instead on the stark similarity between the one word that he'd been called by her; it was the same thing Shikiyoku had said the night before, when he hadn't shared with her either. The similarity made him ponder their relationship for a moment, so concentrated on his own musings that he didn't even scoop another spoonful of ice cream for a few minutes.
Had they always been so similar? He wasn't sure, since he'd dealt more with Shikiyoku than with Toriko. His initial thought was no, they haven't. However, he noted several similarities and decided he'd just been imagining things, only just now catching how similar the two were since he was now able to compare them in a more even way. After all, she was rather similar to Kurama and his Youko half, where they shared many similarities, but were, also, starkly different in some areas.
So with that reassurance, he wrote the moment off as coincidence and finally added another spoonful of Ice Cream to his mouth, this time being generous and offering one to Toriko as well, despite his earlier thoughts about her pouting.
"Get over it. Can't do anything yourself."
~!**!~
Nabu could have growled in frustration at the density of the boy who wasn't even beginning to understand what he was trying to say. But the girl saved the boy from a bite on the hand- not a hard one, of course- by speaking up.
And the pup listened very intentively, watching her with keen eyes that suddenly realized she was beginning to understand what was going on. He sat up again, paws dancing on the papers below him as he let out a bark at the girl when she spoke about Akari being missing. His ears were forward, his entire body now moving with excitement now that at least one of the two had realized.
"She's gone!" He barked again, this time standing up and making a very small circle on the book, accidentally ripping papers that he briefly glanced down at before leaping from the desk and approaching the girl, hopping up and down on his hind legs, his front paws only barely making contact with her shins.
"She's missing! You got it!" *
"Doesn't look so sad now." Yusuke pointed out.
"Hush." Keiko told him, squatting down as she had earlier, her eyes narrowing in thought as the dog bounced up and down. She watched him very carefully as she slowly spoke, "Akari's missing."
~!**!~
Toriko made no protests about taking the sweet snow from the spoon, but after it melted a bit in her mouth, she spoke around it, "But I hate being useless." She grumbled and moved the lump around with her tongue, still refusing to meet Hiei's eyes. 3
Hiei's eyes narrowed only for a second before he tilted his head at Toriko, immediately assessing the girl before him with a glint in his eyes. "Then be useful and eat." he replied curtly, expression unchanging from his assessment of her as he spoke, even lodging the spoon between his teeth afterwards. "Fool." he uttered around the utensil.
~!**!~
Nabu spinned and spinned around and around when the girl said the two words he'd been trying to make her friend understand, feeling a lot more weight gone now that someone knew. Oh! he thought suddenly, stopping every motion and looking to the door, thinking about the end of the trail at the park. Should he lead them there?
His eyes turned back to the girl, thinking hard. Would they know where to look? Not if they didn't know where to start.
With that thought, his teeth grabbed hold of the bag she held and he tugged as gently as he could, so as to not rip the bag, that would get her to follow as he turned to dart out the open door and to the park. *
"Well, aren't you a regular dog whisperer." Yusuke noted.
"Oh, shut up." Keiko said half-heartedly as she allowed Nabu to tug at her bag, standing up to follow him.
"You know," Yusuke started hesitantly, "If Akari really is missing..." He tapered off, shaking his head, "You follow Nabu. I'm gonna go see if Kurama's seen her. Or Toriko. They ought to have been at school and maybe she's been there the whole time."
"Okay!" Keiko agreed as she started to take off after the little dog who had already shot down the sidewalk.
"I'll find you when I know something!" Yusuke called, breaking into a trot himself and giving Keiko a little wave as he headed towards Meiou High. 3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star