A/N: Hello once again, Fellow Fanfiction Fanatics!
Maneshi is always tons of fun for me to write and there's one of my favorite scenes of him at the end of 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!
Otento, Terepo, and Gashiru manage to escape the Spirit Detectives,
who summarily rescue Akari and Kurama, the two of which wake up on the floor of Kuwabara's apartment.
Toriko shows up with food, Hiei close behind, and when the conversation shifts to the encounter,
she finds herself unable to deal with the images and impressions of what happened
while Shikiyoku was captured by the fake Youko's gang,
and she runs outside only to be followed by Akari,
who can just sense what is happening to her as Akari has been through such remembrances herself.
This leads to a clash between the two demons, young and old,
but in such a way that Toriko feels as if she has no control,
that the words she is speaking are being spoken by another.
Losing her temper, Akari stalks off and Toriko takes a moment to regain control,
getting back up to Kuwabara's apartment to ask for help from Kurama in chasing after Akari.
Meanwhile, now Akari is finding herself slipping into memories of days gone past...
In the end of that moment, she'd been surrounded. Of course those humans hadn't all left, and she was much too weak to fight them all, but she sure did try. She took three before ending up just as before, in a room alone, hung by her wrists, this time with iron instead of rope. And in front of her stood Sakyo, making a sound of disappointment at her, the human she had been dragging earlier standing just behind him.
An ear twitched at the sound he made, her eyes narrowing. "You know, I would have killed any other demon who did that. In a heartbeat, might I add."
"Too bad you enjoy my presence so much, huh?"
"Yes, too bad.." The dark haired man turned to the human behind him, expression blank as he whispered so low that, surprisingly, even her canine hearing couldn't make out. Then he turned to her again. "Your advances cost me much today."
"Then why don't you just finish me? That would end your rebellion issues."
"Hmm… I think I rather enjoy the challenge. Onizuka, gather the tools from the room next door, and…" the look he sent her way was one of consideration, a smile playing his lips, "...remove her ears and tail. She'll be a great prize to sell later once she's been tamed and can be hidden among the humans."
And as soon as he turned to leave, the human named Onizuka stepped closer, a wicked smile on his face as his disgusting breath washed over hers. And that had been the last breath he took as well.
The scene faded in her mind, leaving her to look at the family across the courtyard again, more than aware of the person next to her. Though he didn't say anything, she realized Nabu must have lead him here. She glanced back at the pup who stood several yards away, ears down and tail tucked. Then she sighed and turned to Kurama briefly, her eyes quickly turning to the humans again.
"You got up to check on little ole' me?" She asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. "How sweet." *
"Well, I'm a very sweet person." Kurama responded very seriously, his arms crossed over his chest as he also regarded the apartments on the other side of their position.
After he let the pause settle there for a while, "And it wasn't me that wanted to check up on you. I was just the excuse."
~!**!~
"You must run, child!"
"But why?" She did not understand the urgency in her mother's eyes.
"Because they will kill you." She said sadly, continuing to prepare her daughter.
"But why?" Her head tilted the other direction.
"Because of your powers."
Her lips pursed together in thought as she considered the statement.
"But why? They haven't-"
Her mother finally let out a sad laugh, interrupting her, and grabbed her for a hug, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
"This is not how things work, mother." The child did not respond to the hug, crossing her arms, her face drawn into a serious expression with brows turned downwards and lips pursed together.
"I know." Her mother gave another laugh again and pulled away, holding the child at arms length and staring her directly in the eyes.
The child visibly shrunk away, knowing all too well the power this eye contact held.
The eyes glimmered, a shine cascading over them and she felt herself entranced and unable to move.
"You will run. And you will hide. You must stay away from everyone, or you will die."
The child's eyes grew much larger at the pronouncement.'Death' was not a thing in her vocabulary. At least...not her own death.
But something within her mother's gaze told her that this was in fact directly related to her own death, and the shimmer behind them that she had not yet learned how to fight off made her stiffen.
"Yes, mother."
A voice called from somewhere behind them.
"Your majesty?"
Her mother glanced hurriedly over her shoulders, then back down.
"You are hereby exiled from these lands." Her eyes shimmered again. "And you may never return."
"But mo-"
"Say nothing!" Her mother whispered fiercely, forcibly turning the child around and giving her a shove through the small opening in the wall behind the bookcase.
"Mo-" She turned around as soon as her mother released her.
"Go! Now! Run!" The eyes gleamed forcibly brighter and then her mother's face disappeared as the opening darkened, throwing the child into complete blackness.
~!**!~
Toriko's lungs burned, her body ached, even the simple walk making them protest what with the stiffness that her muscles coveted for days now.
When she saw Nabu had stopped, she slowed only for a moment and knelt down to take his face in her hands and give his head a good rub.
"You know it wasn't me, right?" She looked into his eyes, not expecting an answer of which she could make sense.
The pause only took a moment before she stood again, breathing deeply and fighting back all the pain as she took that first step, and then another, and then broke into a jog as her teeth clenched together, making a beeline for where she could see Akari sitting.
When she got in range, she leapt at her, throwing her arms around the other's shoulders and looking at her with large, shining eyes, breathless and sore and so very glad she had not gone very far. She took a gulp of air, but went ahead and spoke even without a chance to catch her breath.
In that moment the sea of emotions broke through the dam she hadn't even known had been in place and Toriko could feel another wave of tears start threatening to spill over her eyes as she pleaded with the one in her embrace, "Please don't be mad, 'Kari! I didn't mean it! I'm- I-"
How did one explain that it was not oneself?
Toriko bit her lower lip, only finding herself able to shake her head and fight back her tears. 3
Akari huffed at Kurama, mumbling a low "smartass," under her breath. But with his last words she didn't respond, didn't feel the need to. Though, now that she'd channeled her anger into a memory, she felt only mildly irritated now. Or, perhaps as close to that end of the spectrum as she could be.
She didn't think about the things she'd said. She had a feeling that if she did, she'd either feel bad and go back, or she'd just end up angry again at what had lead to those words. And she wasn't sure she wanted either of those.
But her mind went there anyway, lingering on the last thing she'd said before leaving. Internally, she cringed at the harshness, but at the same time, there wasn't anything inside her that felt remorse over those words, since in a way, she felt as if she herself needed to hear the words. She'd gone on so long acting as if it were just her, nothing affecting anyone but herself, but since Nabu…
No, since Toriko had been kidnapped, she'd taken to actually caring a little more about the group and…
No, even before that.
A sneer suddenly crossed her features. How ridiculous.
Her thoughts would have gone on, if she weren't ripped from them by a sudden weight crushing into her, knocking the wind from her lungs and making her temper flare. "Would you get off of me!" She growled, not really caring who it was. But as Toriko's voice filled her ears, desperate to make her understand, she began pushing some more, her body leaning slightly the other way, though she was very aware of Kurama and where he sat as well.
Her hands slipped under the girl and tried prying her from her body. "You don't get to do that," she growled out, getting nowhere with her effort of getting away. "Get off!" *
Kurama started laughing outright at the scene, not minding it in the least.
Toriko, for her part, did let go of Akari as she asked, slipping down into the bench beside her, still facing her, and lifting a hand to jam her palm into her eye and rid it of the sudden tears that threatened to spill out.
"Sorry." Toriko said again as she did so. 3
Akari suddenly wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, her temper was still rolling, churning her stomach and even her core. But on another…
"You don't get to cry now," she growled out, turning away and looking across the courtyard again to see the family she had been watching earlier, watching her. Another sigh escaped her lips, and she turned to Toriko again, ready to say something rather nasty, but at the sight of the girl's tears, she simply…
Deflated.
All energy left her in another sigh and she leaned back against the back of the bench, rubbing her forehead with her right hand, grinding into her skull. The dull ache that formed there was only by her own doing, but she didn't pull away from doing so.
"Enough." she grumbled, referring to the tears. "Don't…. do that." And for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to tell the girl not to cry in a softer way. *
Toriko...giggled. Actually...giggled. There wasn't any way around the noise that popped out of her mouth at that moment, unintentionally. She kept rubbing at her eyes as a few tears still fell.
You sound like Hiei when you say that.
"I'm sorry." She apologized again, her voice softer than before as all of the darkness from earlier simply vanished away in that one thought.
She settled back into the bench with a slight "oof" of air blustering past her lips. She was certain she could not move for a while and the breeze felt nice.
"I..." She started hesitantly, "I've never had a friend before."
"Am I to suppose that I am but a piece of chopped liver?" Kurama eloquently jabbed in a good-natured fashion over Akari at her.
"You're a male. It's different." Toriko protested loudly. Had she been next to him, his comment would have been awarded with a solid punch to his shoulder.
"I...didn't want to lose a friend." Toriko went on, quiet again. "A female friend." She said, louder.
Kurama's eyes twinkled, but he said nothing.
"...I'm very sorry." 3
Akari kept her eyes forward, but the sudden smile that formed on her face at Kurama's jab and Toriko's response was undeniable. All anger had been washed away, and her arm resettled on the back of the bench, both arms extending behind the people who now sat on either side of her.
She took a deep breath in, her eyes looking to Toriko from the corners, and she replied, "Quite honestly, I haven't either. My temper was out of place, only out of reflex. I…" she paused, her eyelids sliding closed. "I apologize too. I was...harsh." And that was all she could say, for the moment.
Because as she looked around herself, she again found that she felt rather at home, rather comfortable with these people. Is this what it actually felt like to consider a place… Home? She hadn't known that feeling in so long that she wasn't even sure.
Suddenly, she glanced to Kurama, a small smile on her face. "Remember that vacation I told you about, where no morons are?" She paused, her smile growing. "It's not here, but this will do." *
Toriko leaned forward to speak to Kurama at almost half-volume.
"Did she just call me a moron?"
Kurama leaned forward slightly to answer her.
"You know, I'm not sure. But it's quite possible. Why don't you ask her?"
Toriko leaned back and crossed her arms, glaring playfully at Akari.
"Did you just call me a moron?" Toriko tilted her head upwards a little, "Because it sounded like you just called me a moron." 3
Akari rolled her eyes to the sky at the duo, listening to them idly before Toriko actually did address her.
"Why, whatever do you mean?" she responded, eyes moving to the ground as something touched her shin, laying eyes on Nabu, who had never been so quiet before. "I mean, for all you know, I could be referring to the dog," she continued as she picked up Nabu and planted him in her lap.
"Too bad you'll never know." *
"Did you hear that, Nabu?" Kurama exclaimed, "She's calling you mean names again!"
Toriko didn't look convinced, but reached over to give the dog a pat if it looked like neither he nor Akari minded. 3
Nabu looked up at Akari, obviously not have been listening to the topic aside from what Kurama had just said, giving a small whine of "Is this true?"
And the way his ears lay back so innocently made Akari toss her head back and give a laugh, not noticing Toriko petting him. "No, Flowers is making things up again."
"Why would he do that?"
"Ask him."
And the look he sent over to Kurama was one of pure sadness, and for a moment, she felt genuinely sorry about the lie, and she reached down and pet the dog, following his spine.
"I'm just kidding, Nabu. I'm being mean, and I'm sorry."
"Better be!"
Akari gave a small laugh and turned to the redhead. "See what you got me into? Now I'm in trouble…" *
"Me?" Kurama blinked in her direction innocently, "I would do no such thing."
Toriko was quick to pick up on Akari calling Kurama "Flowers" and looked between the two with a strange expression on her face before turning back to Nabu.
"Nabu," She addressed him seriously, "What's my name?" She pointed to herself. 3
Akari jutted her lip out at the redhead, as if he'd saddened her by his words. "You're hurtful."
But at Toriko's sudden question, Akari turned to Nabu curiously, wondering what the dog would say.
And Nabu's head turned to the side, at first confused. Was he supposed to have a name for her already? At first, nothing really stood out, except…
"Sparkles."
Akari raised a brow at the dog. "Sparkles? That's all you've got?"
"She sparkles! Just like Loudmouth has markings on his face and Flowers has ears and a tail!"
Confused, Akari raised a brow. Who was loudmouth? Her first thought was Yusuke, but he didn't have markings on his face.
Then again, Toriko didn't sparkle to her either.
"Flowers' scent is very calming."
"I bet," she replied quietly, still perplexed by the meaning behind Nabu's nicknames. *
For once the prospect did not bother her and Toriko laughed with delight at the name, giving Nabu another good rub, "That's a very apt name for me, Nabu. I approve." Toriko pointed with one hand at Akari, "And who is this?" 3
Akari was pulled from her thoughts again by Toriko's question, suddenly curious. The dog, confused, looked at her, and then back to Toriko. "That's Akari." He paused, giving her time to repeat his words before he continued, "And she's my best friend in the whole world!"
Akari, having repeated merely out of habit, didn't really hear the words at first. But when they registered, she gave a small smile and hugged the dog so tight, he made a small, strangled cry for help. "What, no weird nickname?"
"Well, you're a dog, but your ears are gone. I could-"
"Nah, Akari is fine."
"Okay…" *
"Has he met Kuwabara yet? Or Yusuke?" Kurama felt his own curiosity rising what with his and Toriko's "names" being revealed. "Or what about Hiei?" Kurama couldn't help the humor that danced in his eyes at the thought of what Nabu might call the fire demon. 3
Nabu's head tilted to the side, unfamiliar with the names that Flowers asked about.
Akari nodded once though, "He's met Yusuke and Kuwabara, and…" she paused, remembering that Loudmouth was indeed the detective. "He refers to Yusuke as Loudmouth, because he dumped him on the floor after winning a game, yelling. As for Kuwabara…" She glanced down at the dog, curious. "You know Loudmouth's friend, right?"
"Oh…. Yeah…" The dog tilted his head the opposite direction in thought, obviously unsure of what he would call Kuwabara.
"While you think about that, what about the other guy that was in the apartment?"
"The shorter, but still tall, one?"
"Uh, sure."
No hesitation. "Grump."
And Akari repeated the name with a laugh.
"And Loudmouth's friend's name is… uh... I don't know."
"He doesn't have one for Kuwabara yet, though." *
"Funny. Kuwabara made a pretty strong first impression when I met him." Kurama mused.
Toriko was still in fits about "Grump."
She wiped tears from her eyes for a different reason this time and heaved a breath.
"I think if I ever accidentally call him that, he might kill me." She stifled another laugh.
"I think if he heard any of us calling him that, our heads would roll." Kurama rephrased for her. 3
Akari sat back heavily into the bench, Nabu still sitting upright in her lap as he watched Toriko laugh. He'd never had someone laugh at his nicknames before, and Akari wouldn't be surprised if he was as filled with joy as he was with curiosity.
"Well, when Nabu was with Yusuke and Kuwabara, and I showed up, Kuwabara wasn't very talkative, except when it came to Yusuke not driving." And at that, she forgot to elaborate, her eyes turning to Nabu again. "Are you sure you don't have a nickname?"
"I can't think of any."
"Too bad." *
Toriko pursed her lips together in thought. "You know, I'd probably dub them Loudmouth A and Loudmouth B."
Kurama chuckled, "That certainly sums them up quite nicely."
Another thought of Hiei brushed against Toriko's mind. Just a moment. Just enough to remind her about him. A plethora of confused feelings that she had been having towards him recently bubbled up and she appeared lost in thought, Kurama also taking to the moment of silence by enjoying the air. 3
Akari fell into silence, listening to the air that blew by, her mind turning again to Nabu's nicknames. She understood Kurama's, and she remembered Toriko's power, which explained Sparkles. Sure, Loudmouth was an adequate name for Yusuke, but… Markings? She wanted to ask Nabu, but decided to wait until later, when they would be alone, so she could focus entirely on it and not be interrupted.
"Hey! Loudmouth!" Nabu suddenly barked, making Akari actually jump before she turned to look behind her, seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara traipsing up behind them quietly, except they looked rather like they'd been busted sneaking away.
"Dang it, Nabu! You ruined the fun!"
"You know, sneaking up on demons isn't smart, right?"
"But If we can sneak up on you guys, especially Kurama, then we'd be set for life!" *
"Unfortunately for you, you seem to forget that "sneaking" means being quiet." A smile played across Kurama's lips as he glanced over the back of the bench to regard them. "It seems our vacation is truly over, Akari." He told her confidentially. 3
A heavy sigh escaped Akari's lips, "It was so nice…"
"We were on a vacation?!"
"What does that mean?" Yusuke grumbled, arms crossing. "I don't get the joke."
"That's too bad."
"Hey, I'm glad y'all are awake though!" Kuwabara suddenly piped, smiling as he came around the bench and sat on one not too far from the one Akari, Kurama, and Toriko had taken claim over. "How long have you been up? It's been really quiet without you guys. Except, y'know, this moron," Kuwabara jerked his thumb at Yusuke.
And Akari laughed, because he'd just accentuated the joke he hadn't even been in on. "Not too long, I guess."
"Well, smartass, how long is not too long?" Yusuke grumbled as he sat on the same bench as Kuwabara. *
"I doubt it's been much more than an hour, Yusuke." Kurama eyes held a mirth that he did not allow to spread to his lips, but he had not missed Kuwabara's inadvertent joke either. "Have you been able to get in touch with Koenma? Do we have any idea what's going on yet?" 3
Kuwabara shrugged. "Yeah, we talked to him for a little while about what happened, but after we left, Botan hasn't been back."
"I guess Spirit World is really behind these days. They haven't been doing very well in keeping up with much of anything."
Akari heaved a sigh. "That's reassuring."
"Yeah, especially since it took them an hour after I'd already figured out you guys were gone before they even noticed. And then it took even longer for the tracker to be-"
"Tracker?"
"Yeah, he said it was part of your parole, or something." Kuwabara answered, shrugging. "No big deal."
"Right." How could she not have thought of that? "Well, it's a good thing it was in place. Another day in there and I would have gone insane. Not that it matters much."
"Last we heard, he was trying to relocate the demon gang, and had Botan trying to figure out what to do about your energies being all missing and stuff." Yusuke finished, expression grim. "I doubt they're getting very far. Botan said she'd never heard of this before now."
"How reassuring, detective."
"Just doin' my job." *
The change of subject set Toriko on edge, seemed to sharpen her senses, as the words 'detective' and 'Spirit World' were passed around between the persons around her.
Do they know?
Her gaze flickered over to Kurama, who sensed her momentary anxiety and gave her the smallest smile meant to reassure.
Do they know of us?
As if he were able to read her thoughts, Toriko thought she saw Kurama give an almost imperceptible nod as if to tell her everything was alright, and the expression he wore actually set her at ease, getting her to sit back into the bench underneath her once more, though she did not remember when she began to sit forward.
There was something deep-set within her that still remained unsettled, even as the voices around her continued to banter and talk back and forth, and somewhere in her mind she found it amusing to realize all at once that in her original moment of asking Kurama to send for her to help, in the end she was assisting the very people who had a warrant out for her arrest.
Warrant?
What had that meant? Where had it come from? Toriko had never done a single wrong thing in her life.
The idea that Youko was now essentially working for those same people who had once hunted him also-
Youko?
She blinked rapidly, the image of Kurama coming into her mind's eye, though she did not understand why, as she remembered a conversation a long time ago with the redhead in which had been revealed that he knew she was special because he was the same.
The same what?
As the conversation around her continued, Toriko slowly slid her way off of the bench, slipping away at a moment when she would be unnoticed by the others.
Walking back to Kuwabara's apartment, she could feel things stirring in her mind, the beginnings of answers forming to her questions starting with the last one.
You're a demon, child.
Toriko paused in place, struck by the fact that somehow she knew this response to be true and also by how it didn't immediately send her to her knees in fright.
Youko had to run too.
A new sense of similarity between the two of them welled up inside her as an image of what she understood to be Kurama's 'true' form became interposed on top of the redhead she had befriended a couple of years ago.
Toriko slowly walked forward again, stepping onto the first flight of stairs and making her way upwards, carefully filing away all of these strange thoughts in the very back of her mind before they got the better of her.
There were bento boxes of hers that needed picking up, and the plate that she'd left on the ground from Nabu was likely licked clean by now-
She forced herself amidst these other thoughts of exactly what she would do when she got there, and so it was that she entered the room with stiff muscles and distracted from the past with the present. She closed the bentos that were not finished and placed them in the refrigerator, kneeling with a grimace at her pain to place her own back inside the satchel she came in with.
She was most definitely still not feeling well and her mind lingered on laying down to rest. 3
Hiei had been lounging on the largest couch, completely comfortable now that, one, he was full and, two, it was quiet in the apartment. He even considered taking a small nap, before the door opened, getting his attention with the small click it made.
His crimson orbs locked on to the girl who, when he'd last seen her, had been in tears. Now, she seemed distracted, busying herself with picking up boxes from around the room. He had seen her do this several times, forcing herself into doing something that would keep her busy. He figured it was what kept her going, kept her from dwelling on thoughts she didn't want to remember.
"Was the problem solved?" he suddenly asked, actually curious.
~!**!~
"You're mighty grumpy today." Yusuke commented after having gotten a sound spoken beating from Akari
Akari huffed, but then gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "I'm sorry hunny, would you like me to kiss that boo boo?"
"Shattup."
"Aw, but I'm only offering my heart to you, sweet heart!"
"You're scaring me." *
"Just don't talk to him like that when Keiko's around. Or you'll get him into even more trouble." Kurama decided to be as helpful as possible, his face remaining perfectly serious as he conveyed this information.
Akari's curious gaze turned to Kurama, and suddenly she was smiling wickedly. "Aww, sweethearts, are you?" she asked Yusuke, earning a small huff of defensiveness.
"We aren't together or anything. She's just a friend of mine since we were kids."
"You know, in demon world, that means mates."
The choking sound she earned from the boy was enough to stay her next taunting remark, instead replacing it with laughter.
"Yeah Urameshi, when are you gonna tell 'er anyway?"
"I have nothing to tell her! God dammit, leave me alone about it!"
"I dunno, you've been rather friendly lately."
Akari didn't even have to say anything anymore, since Kuwabara had taken over her taunting. She glanced over where, moments ago, Toriko had been, realizing the spot was empty. Thinking nothing of it, she moved so that her back was leaning on the arm rest, her feet stretched out in front of her, only an inch between her foot and Kurama's knee. And this was about as comfortable as she could be at this point in time.
"Are you okay?"
Akari hummed a small affirmative to the dog, simply sitting back and watching the bickering boys, letting serenity take over for a while. At least, in her mind, there was serenity. *
"Kuwabara," Kurama chastised, "He'll ask her when he's good and ready." He regarded Yusuke playfully, "Though, from what I've heard, he usually saves that one for when she's really angry at him. If he does it for real, he'll have to think of something else to use to satiate her anger."
~!**!~
Toriko's eyes moved to Hiei to indicate that she heard him, having not realized he was still in the room when she entered until he spoke.
"Yes." She looked back down at the box in her hand, placing it in the bag and reaching for Hiei's as well. She had it over the satchel before her arm spasmed violently and she dropped it in where it clanged against the other box by accident. She stared down blankly at her fingers, which were flexing on their own in the aftermath of her muscle tightening.
She formed them into a fist and threw the fist down by her side as she rose and pulled the satchel over her head with the other hand, turning away and slipping her shoes back on as she opened the door.
"I'm going home." She said simply as she left, unsure if he would care, but feeling strange about leaving without a word. 3
Hiei raised a brow, not asking further about whatever incident had occurred. It wasn't his issue anyway, wasn't his business. But, since the other two weren't back yet, he wondered what else was going on. He brushed the thought away, watching as her arm gave a spasm.
The fire demon had thought those were over.
Hiei couldn't help the small huff, albeit as quiet as a normal breath, that passed through his lips. She was still recovering, and he knew it would be a long process, especially if she kept moving about. So, when she got up to leave, he had already assumed she wanted to do so, slowly rising from his comfortable spot and following her, hands in the pocket of his cloak as he stepped out the door and followed her down the flights of stairs, though he stayed a few feet behind her, in case she wanted space.
And as they passed the courtyard, his eyes glanced in that direction, watching the small group of four before his mind touched Kurama's briefly, with an "I'm leaving," not specifying that Toriko was as well, since he figured the fox would simply assume that. After all, someone had to watch over her, and Hiei saw it as his duty, since he'd taken on the pact.
~!**!~
Akari shifted a bit more, using her arm to toss her hair over the side of the bench so she wouldn't be laying on it, suddenly realising just how clean it was, how tangle-free it seemed. She found herself taking stock of herself again, realizing that she'd been completely cleaned up.
She'd have to remember to thank the human- Shizuru, was it?- later before leaving.
"Yeah, but he's so slow at it." Kuwabara suddenly complained, giving Yusuke a hard rub on the head with his knuckle. "He needs to grow a pair and just tell her, not use it as a way to get out of trouble!" *
Kurama chuckled, "And why suddenly so eager to get him married off, Kuwabara? So you can be free to ask Yukina?"
~!**!~
As Toriko rounded the last corner that would put her on the block, she leaned heavily against the fence next to her for a bit.
It was so strange that she still felt this weak. Normally she had no trouble recovering from...anything. Granted, her constitution rarely allowed something to get this far, but she definitely felt that there was more than one thing wrong with her of late.
She moved again, feeling Hiei's eyes on her back and staring down at the sidewalk as she closed the distance to home.
Toriko felt torn about Hiei not walking next to her. She probably would have leaned on him for support, gathering strength from him. In a way she felt glad she could not, even if her independence did mean she moved at a slower pace.
When she got in the door, Maneshi lifted his head from where he lay curled up on the couch only long enough to look over the arm and make sure it was her, then he laid his head back down.
Maneshi had acted in similar straits as herself for the past couple of days and his muted reaction came as no surprise.
Still, after slipping off her shoes and placing the satchel on the table, she went over and ran her fingers across his side, earning the beginnings of a purr though he did not react otherwise.
Keeping silent, her mind still churning, Toriko glanced at the satchel with the bento boxes inside and quickly decided she had not the strength to deal with them at the moment, moving across the room to the stairs and intending to go to her bedroom. 3
Hiei wandered into the house behind her, eyes keeping careful stock of Toriko as her muscles continued to hinder her movements here and there. He considered closing the distance, but decided against it, simply so she could get a little stronger on her own. After all, he didn't want her relying on him too much.
Not that it mattered.
As the girl turned to go up the stairs, Hiei glanced to the cat on the couch too, reaching around the arm of it and lightly touching Maneshi's head before pulling away, more out of habit since he'd been doing it a lot as of late.
Then he turned and closed the distance between himself and Toriko in a flash, silently walking beside her in a show of help, if she so desired it.
~!**!~
"HEY! No one asked you!" Kuwabara shouted, immediately ending up in the same position Yusuke had been in moments ago, earning a hard rub on the head, albeit much rougher than when he himself had done it.
"Are you going to stop them?"
Akari made no sound, only smiled at Kurama, who had gotten that rise from the boy. "Who's Yukina?" she asked curiously. *
"She's the Ice Maiden Kuwabara is going to marry some day." Kurama's expression of teasing was plain, but he spoke in pure truth that anyone who had seen the pair together could vouch for.
~!**!~
Toriko leaned gratefully into Hiei as she moved for her room, feeling as she had thought she would: his presence gave her more strength. And she desperately needed it.
Once she stepped inside, she sat down on the bed, pulling her glasses from her face to put them on the bedside table and rubbing her eyes almost anxiously.
"I feel no stronger than I was two days ago." She finally confessed aloud, knowing Hiei could likely already see that. "And my pain has not lessened. Every muscle screams each time I move. With every movement they feel more brittle and cold. Like fracturing ice that is about to crack." She put her hands down into her lap and stared at them. "It gives me a headache."
She reached up to take some pins out of her hair, feeling them grating against her skull, but her arms let her remove not more than three or four before she had to give up and lay down, putting her back towards the door and closing her eyes. 3
Hiei, for some reason, didn't mind being the support she needed to get up the stairs. So he let her lean on him until she was sitting on the bed, managing to pull out a few of the pins in her hair and to put her glasses to the side before he saw her give up from exhaustion and pain, as she had admitted only moments before.
And he didn't say anything in regards to her statements, deciding that he could give no words that would comfort her, since he honestly wasn't surprised. Sure, he had hoped she would be able to at least go out for a little longer than that by now, but it couldn't be helped.
So when she rolled over on the bed, eyes shut, he did the only thing he could do in hopes that it would assist her in resting and, in the long run, regaining the strength she needed.
He methodically began pulling pins from her hair just as gently as he could, setting them where the others were, hoping that it would at least help with the headache she'd been speaking of.
And then, as he finished, he stood again and moved to the window he'd only most recently claimed, pushed it open, and then got comfortable in the sun's rays. If there was anything that he needed to get done, he decided that it could wait until later.
~!**!~
"Hey! You can't just go telling people that!" Kuwabara protested, his words muffled by Yusuke's arm around his neck and covering his mouth just a little.
"That's rather interesting," Akari commented, amused by the group's banter.
"HEY! Since we're on the subject, Kurama, have you ever met someone you wanted to… uh… what's the word in demon world?"
Akari sighed. "It can still be the term getting married, but usually it's simply called mating."
"That's weird. But, have you?" By Kuwabara's question, Yusuke had released the boy and leaned backwards on the bench, arms crossed.
"I dunno. Youko's pretty severe." *
"You first have to understand that there really is no such institution as "marriage" in Demon World." Kurama began. "And many demons...mate with one another without pause for thought. It's rare for them to stick with one mate and that's usually only in the higher classes." Kurama wasn't exactly sure why the conversation had suddenly turned on him and he raised an eyebrow, "And I'm only sixteen, Kuwabara. Does it make sense to you that I would have found someone? You and Yusuke are not what I would equate to a part of the norm."
~!**!~
The tension around Toriko's neck lessened and she half-realized what Hiei had done.
For some reason, it seemed almost as if the pins and glasses she had been so attached to for all of her life were only adding to her pain recently, whereas before they were in place to prevent...things.
They certainly didn't feel like they were doing their job, Toriko grumbled silently to herself. Granted, it was a job that at one time she couldn't exactly explain, and even now did not want to explain.
"Hiei...do you ever...try...to forget things?" Toriko asked quietly, hesitantly. 3
Hiei's eyes had slid to the outside world, and that's where they remained even as Toriko asked him a question. For a moment, he thought about it. There had been times where he had considered doing so, but…
"Why forget when you can remember, and grow on it?" He replied without another beat's hesitation. Sure, his version of 'growing on it' involved revenge, or at the very least, the thought of it in many cases. "If you can't change things, why try?" Maybe he was aiming this at himself now, he didn't know, as he thought about his years in demon world, and how he was simply… stuck in this world.
~!**!~
Kuwabara and Yusuke were silent for a few moments, staring at Kurama curiously. "I thought you were older..?" Kuwabara grumbled, eyes speculating the redhead.
"Not in a human body. He's being very specific here," Akari replied without looking at the duo, but staring at the redhead. Did he not associate himself as Youko much anymore, or was he simply just… not wanting to include his demonic blood in the conversation? "But, I agree. I thought you were a little older," she remarked as well, smiling. "I guess not all information you gather is true and reliable."
"What about you, Akari?"
"Now why would I want to sit around with the same person all my life when I can simply do whatever I want, whenever I want, alone?"
"You're a killjoy, you know that?" *
"She holds a very demonic viewpoint." He shrugged. "I know that there are a few humans who feel the same, but the vast majority of Demon World feels the way she just articulated for you. Especially among the younger ones. Or the ones who never get past what Spirit World refers to as C Class."
~!**!~
Remember and grow...
But she didn't want to remember. Remembering scared her. Did that mean she didn't want to grow either?
Something within her didn't like the thought of that, and when she spoke up, she mumbled, almost as if she was talking to herself,"If you're not trying to change things that you want to be changed, then what on earth are you doing?" 3
Hiei found himself turning to look at Toriko after her quiet musing, considering her words for a moment before thinking on them as well.
He had tried leaving this world, this plane of existence. However, each attempt had ended fruitless, only managing to make him feel even more trapped than before. So, he'd given up and accepted his fate of being chained here, under Spirit World's watch.
There wasn't anything he could change about it, no matter how bad he wanted to change it. So, really, he didn't have an answer for her, nothing to appease her mind and soothe her in any way because, in reality, if he tried to do so, he would be lying.
So he settled for turning to the outside world again, his eyes watching a couple of birds flying around in the nearest treetop.
"Then what on earth are you doing?"
He didn't even know himself.
~!**!~
"So, what class are you, Akari?" Kuwabara asked.
The demoness smiled, knowing he was simply going off of the age and power Kurama had just supplied. "Lower B. I only passed C ranking because of training with Sensui. Before that, I was practically a spec of dirt."
Kuwabara laughed nervously, as if unsure if she was making a joke or not. "I bet you can do a lot at once, huh?"
Her head tilted to the side a bit. "Not really, actually. I'm more of a distraction than an attack weapon."
"But then, why did Sensui-"
"Like I said, distraction. It was all he needed, really, to make sure nothing hitched his plans. In the end though, I guess Koenma was the one he didn't think would mess it up."
"Whaddya mean?"
She didn't answer that question that Kuwabara asked. Instead, she turned her eyes to the sky, letting her head rest back on the armrest of the bench. *
Kurama looked at her for a moment before lifting his eyes to the others, "He was not supposed to have that much power left in his Ma Fū Kan." Kurama fell silent again, musing how that one thing surely changed so much. If Koenma hadn't managed to ensnare Sensui...where would they be now?
~!**!~
Toriko felt that the first question she needed to answer was what exactly she wanted to be changed. That way she could go about doing it instead of feeling like she wandered through life completely useless to everyone around her.
Her eyes tried to flicker towards Hiei on the window, but she could not see him from where she lay.
But she didn't know what she wanted changed. The thought occurred that perhaps she did at one time know what she wanted changed, but had lost it along with all of her other memories. And finding her answer would require remember. And she was scared of that. Scared of being a...demon. Scared that something like whatever happened with Akari would be commonplace. That she would push people away and be...alone again.
~!**!~
It took Maneshi much longer to get up than he'd wanted, but when he'd come downstairs for food earlier that morning, he found he didn't have the strength to go back upstairs and lay on Toriko's bed.
Where he capable of it, he would have just asked her to let him eat in her room, but she hadn't been smart enough to figure that one out on her own yet.
He listlessly came in to murmurings from Toriko that led to a silent point in whatever semblance of conversation had been going on.
There was nothing particularly graceful about his movements as he made his way over to the bed. His tail no longer acted as it should and he found himself quite balanceless without it.
He stopped at the edge, seeing Toriko's back, and didn't have the strength to meow at her and get her to pick him up. And neither did he think he could make the jump, though he did pause briefly to analyze the distance.
He heaved a large breath than normal, had he been human it would have been a sigh, and spied Hiei sitting in the window frame.
For the first time in days, his eyes actually brightened, and he almost pranced in Hiei's direction, had his feet been able to lift high enough off the ground to call it "prancing."
He came to stand in front of the window, looking up at Hiei with his two-colored eyes and staring, huffing a breath out his mouth to try and get his attention.
Maneshi even attempted getting on his back paws in a stand, where he would have pawed with a limb at the edge of the cloak that hung down, but he only managed to lift himself a couple of inches before his muscles would do no more and he ended up on his haunches, eyes wide and silently pleading with the warm one to hold him. 3
The silence in the room was comfortable, even though it was a thoughtful one. His eyes continued to follow the trail of the birds outside, his mind wandering through several thoughts about the most recent conversation.
Still, he had no idea what to do or say. He felt as if he should say something, but he just didn't know what. And that was leaving him almost perplexed.
So he pushed the thought away for a later time, when maybe his mind wouldn't be so tired. The sun's rays were calming, making every muscle in his body relax, his feet up against one end of the window's frame with his back against the other, though he slid down only about an inch so that his head was also comfortably against the wood. His eyes closed.
And then a small sound, so small he almost hadn't caught it, grabbed his attention. He reopened his eyes and glanced first towards Toriko, who hadn't moved even an inch. He turned his head back, but at the corner of his eye he realized there was a little shadow on the floor beneath the window.
Or, not a shadow, he realized as he met the pleading gaze of the cat. He raised a brow, at first too comfortable to move. But after a few moments of staring unblinkingly, the fire demon gave in and reached his arm down towards the cat, too lazy to actually get up and lift him up, and instead waiting for the cat to come into his reach. "I suppose it won't hurt."
~!**!~
"You mean his little pacifier thing?" Kuwabara asked, tone amused and confused all at once.
"Yeah, I remember him calling it a Ma Fū Kan. Too bad I couldn't have dealt with Sensui myself."
Akari huffed and turned onto Yusuke, her expression completely serious. "I don't think you would have been able to. You hadn't seen even the tip of the iceberg," she commented, frowning. "He's a whole lot smarter than you give him credit for. But, despite that, he's probably dead by now."
Like the rest of the team…
That thought caused her eyes to close, and she shook her head lightly back and forth. That wasn't true. She knew Kamiya had lived, and that Sea Man had as well, along with Itsuki.
That thought made her realize she didn't know about the other members. I need to ask..
"What do you mean, dead by now?" Yusuke asked, voice loud with the sudden information. "I haven't kicked his ass yet!"
Akari sighed. "First off, even if he were here, you wouldn't find him. Itsuki would be sure of that…" *
"Secondly," Kurama picked up as she trailed off, "Sensui had a disease that I would image Kamiya kept at bay for as long as possible. But even those resources were coming to an end. He had no more time left."
~!**!~
Maneshi was more than happy to come as close as possible, even going so far as to lift himself up what little he could, his eyes hopeful at the sight of Hiei reaching down. 3
Hiei raised a brow at the cat that eagerly stepped forward, his body lifting just a little as his hand swooped under the midsection of the animal. The fur was soft and warm with the last traces of where he'd been laying on the couch. Gingerly, Hiei raised his arm back up, cat in hand, until all four paws of Maneshi's were on the fire demon's stomach, in which case he released the cat and ran that same hand along the bony spine. "You're just as hopeless," he grumbled, more amused than anything that he had found himself watching over not only Toriko, but the cat as well.
~!**!~
Akari nodded when Yusuke's eyes turned to her, large with disbelief. "So what you're saying is that he was going to end the world, and then leave the mess for us to clean up?"
"The plan, actually, was for Sensui to die in Demon World. And, quite frankly, I had been hell bent on getting there myself."
"But you were part of the bad guys, why run away?"
Akari gave a dry laugh at Kuwabara. "Did you forget the part where I was disposable, only meant to distract until my usefulness was up? Come on, you're getting even more dense by the day if you can't remember that much!"
"But he kept you so tightly leashed that we didn't even knew you existed until that day."
Akari shrugged, turning to Kurama as she remembered how the redhead had come across her, ending with her tossing a child over the bridge and into heavy traffic. "That's what happens when you're a dog. You end up on a leash." She smiled and turned her eyes to the sky again, giving a small laugh. "Too bad it ended the way it did. I'd have liked to get my hands on them myself." *
"Once a portal from Demon World to Human World opened up, don't you think that most demons on our side would be wanting to get back to their real home?" Kurama countered Yusuke's questioning of Akari's motives. He knew in a very personal way that sometimes other people were only a means to an end, and once your goal came into sight, you would leave them behind in a heartbeat to get what you came for.
~!**!~
Hiei did get a single noise of protest from Maneshi as to the way he handled him, but then Hiei put him down and everything was fantastic.
Maneshi shifted so that he lay up Hiei's stomach and chest, his front paws not far from the fire demon's neck as he assumed a rather Sphinx-like pose with his rear at Hiei's thighs.
Maneshi wasn't really sure what "hopeless" meant, but if it was something about "warm" and "enjoying the attention," then he was SO hopeless right now.
He sat with his head tall, eyes closed with the most beatific cat-expression possible across his face, and as the warmth seeped upwards from Hiei's body into his, he began purring madly with each breath, able to feel his worn muscles absorbing the heat. It eased all of his pain away into nothingness as he finally found he could relax without a care in the world. 3
Hiei got comfortable all over again, this time the purring of the cat making his abdomen feel odd, almost like he was earning his own personal massage. A small twitch of his lips almost brought a gentle smile to his lips, but it was gone before it even had the chance to appear as he turned his face to the sun again, finding complete and utter comfort in both the day, and even the motorboat of a cat.
His eyelids fell closed again, the sun against his face making it hard for him to resist the calling of a short nap.
Or perhaps… a not so short nap…
~!**!~
Yusuke made a small sound that said he understood, nodding his head once before he said, "Wait, most? Does that mean you'd stay if you had the choice?"
Kuwabara huffed and crossed his arms, not saying a word.
But Akari was still smiling as she turned to the dog on her stomach who had begun to lightly snore. She hadn't realized he had lulled off into a sleep. She understood that some demons, as Kurama had hinted, had other things they worried about. Those were the types of demons Akari found herself envious of at times, where they would have such a choice. *
"It is not unheard of for demons to make their way to Human World and ending up staying by choice." Kurama sat back against the bench thoughtfully. "Some of them even become almost human themselves, getting married, raising children. I don't know what I would do." He answered, getting back to the question and at the same time knowing precisely what he would do. 3
Akari listened, finding herself curious as well to the answer Kurama was providing. And when he was done, no one said a word for a minute, the silence only breached by birdsong or the occasional gust of wind that blew by.
And the next thing to interrupt the silence was Akari's stomach, which gurgled loud enough to make Nabu jump in surprise and look first to her stomach, then up at her with half-lidded eyes. "Can't you be quieter?"
Akari gave a small laugh and rubbed the dog's head, but otherwise didn't make a move to leave. Instead, she gave a small sigh. "You know, I actually don't mind this place." It was an odd admittance on her part, since she'd never actually decided before now that she did actually enjoy the human's world. "I suppose it isn't too terribly boring."
"Boring? You didn't even know what a video game was, so how can you even judge this world without knowing everything about it!"
A sneer in Yusuke's direction. "Please. I'm sure staying inside all day, twiddling your thumbs over controllers isn't near as fun as you make it out to be. Being inside all day would be boring, after a bit."
"You just don't have the iron will of us humans!" *
"That is certainly at least one thing your species has going for it." Kurama mused.
Kurama had not missed the sound of Akari's growling stomach, and his thoughts turned to the bento box he'd left all by itself up at Kuwabara's apartment.
"Could we adjourn this pleasant conversation and relocate? I didn't get to finish my lunch." Kurama stood, determined that he was going to get to eat the rest of that delicious bento box whether anyone else followed him or not. 3
Yusuke huffed at Kurama indignantly, not saying anything more until he was standing, at which point he and Kuwabara followed suit.
Akari took a long breath in, taking in the fresh air before she wrapped her arms around Nabu's small body and she too sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bench, and stood. "I agree." Of course, a small part of her wondered if he'd spoke up about it at least a little on her behalf, since she hadn't felt like interrupting the nice moment.
"You guys didn't finish eating? Why?"
Akari shrugged. "Felt like getting up and around," she replied smoothly as they each followed after Kurama, up the stairs and into the apartment. *
"Some things are much more important than food." Kurama added for his part, and though he did not let his gaze shift to Akari, he knew it would not go over her head. "Shocking revelation, I know." He aimed at the two humans with them, who seemed to scarf it down at any juncture possible.
His eyes saw no one upon coming into the place, though he knew Hiei had retreated earlier, likely in no small part contributing as to the reason why Toriko was no longer with them either. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
Their food was also not in place, but knowing Toriko as long as he had led Kurama to the refrigerator and two bento boxes she put there.
He lost no time in going right back to where he had been asleep earlier, sitting cross-legged on the mat and covers once he passed Akari hers. He wasted nothing on any further words, instead getting right back to where he started with the meal. 3
Akari refused to let her eyes shift to Kurama at his words, instead making them turn to the side and look over the railing of the stairs as they climbed. The two boys protested loudly, saying "Nothing beats a good meal!"
"They're more like dogs than Nabu is." she commented lightly as she entered the empty apartment.
"You're being hurtful again!" Kuwabara called jokingly, looking back at her since she had taken to following at the rear of the train.
"Well, I guess you'll have to get over it." She grumbled as she looked about for the bento boxes, not surprised when Kurama was suddenly handing her the one she'd been holding earlier. And she too returned to the mat she'd slept on, returning to the comfort and warmth almost eagerly, setting Nabu down in her lap as she crossed her legs. *
~!**!~
Night had fallen.
It was not the lack of sunshine, or the transition of daytime noises to those of the evening, but something else entirely that popped Maneshi's eyes open and had them gleaming in the muted light that the window ledge afforded him.
He felt better than he had in days, and somewhere in the back of his night-aroused mind, he attributed that to the constant heat provided unwittingly by the victim upon which he lay. He could not explain how or why, but his muscles had taken in that warmth and they no longer hurt. Not one bit.
He turned his head to examine the peaceful face of the fire demon upon which he enthroned. He could feel underneath his small body the rise and fall of breath. Steady. Deep. All indications of a sleep that Maneshi himself had just withdrawn from.
And now he felt wide awake, nocturnal instincts rising and peeling back his housecat layers until he could feel the beast within taking shape.
His full intention at the moment to leave the warm one undisturbed, Maneshi softly rose up on his paws enough that he could leap out of the arm encircling him without jostling anything.
His padded feet landed silently on the carpet and his eyes flashed as he crouched his body close to the floor. His stomach brushed against the carpet without a sound as he crawled forward to sneak out of the room, rounding the corner of the bedroom door with a leap and a pounce on an invisible prey.
Maneshi shot down the staircase, a streak of black fur in the darkness of the room, his tail streamlined out from his back as he made a pinpoint turn before hitting the front door and dove under the couch.
He snatched at the mouse-toy he hid there with his teeth and dashed back out from under the other side, grabbing it in his paws and tackling the monster to the ground, beginning to viciously cut at its underbelly with his back feet as he gnawed on its face.
Just as quickly as he had it defeated in his grasp, Maneshi let go of it and charged around the room like one of those cheetahs he'd seen on the television-thingy. He zoomed up the stairs and down the hallway, briskly turning and shooting back down to take a flying leap at the mouse.
Finding that it was now utterly defeated, Maneshi picked it up by the tail between his teeth and pranced up the stairs with his tail high, dashing back into Toriko's room and dropping it by the bed in the midst of his leap up over her body and onto the bed next to her.
He swatted at the bedspread several times to catch the invisible creatures he spied there, skittering around the covers in his mad chase before jumping into the air sideways and somersaulting his lithe body around to land firmly on his feet before hauling himself around the room twice more.
When he stopped next to the toy mouse, his breath did not appear to be coming any faster than when he started, and he grabbed the mouse one more time, making the jump back up to the bed and next to Toriko where he rubbed his side up her back before tromping over her hair strew out over her pillow.
He dropped the mouse near her face and gave her nose a butt with his head, murling at her. His nose caught a smell and he experimentally licked at part of her cheek, finding the remains of the scent of sushi there and licking her twice more with his rough tongue.
Play with meeeee… he seemed to say as he leapt onto her side and tramped up to her neck, meowing again down at her ear. He lay down on her shoulder, ending up with the rest of his body across her side since she had her hands up near her face.
He wasn't there long, instead rising and going towards her hair to lay in the middle of it and chew on the bits that were sticking up. 3
Sakyo - no meaning
Onizuka - family or surname
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star