A/N: Hello once again, Denizens of FF!
Over half of this chapter is a continuation of that scene with Akari/Kurama. Then we do a little time skip of a week after they finish their mission!
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!
Yes, Akari, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke were all playing Mario Kart that last chapter.
~!**!~
Through Maneshi's hard work, Hiei discovers that heat assists Toriko's taunt muscles.
~!**!~
A few days later, Akari and Kurama get called in by Koenma to do a bit of recon work.
They manage to stay out of trouble at first, but the last location they scout out ends up with the two of them in delicate situations...
"You sssssmell sssso very weak."
Kurama felt like the voice came from the entire room around him, but he also knew it belonged to a much lower class demon than he.
"I am. Terribly weak." He responded.
The voice hissed at him, but nothing more happened and Kurama knew it was a C Class. Anything lower would have taken him at his word, attacking instantly without considering that he could have been lying.
"He isssss ssssmart."
"Much like yourself." Kurama's eyes never stopped roaming the room. He did not neglect the ceiling either, but there was plenty of light coming in through a higher window that allowed him to deduce that this demon was not one that could likely be seen.
"Are you alone? I wish to join you if your group is not too large."
More hissing.
"He doessss not look like usssss."
"I got caught eating a human a day ago and had to flee with nothing more than the clothes on my back. There is strength in numbers." Kurama started to move slowly around the perimeter of the room. 3
Akari moved to the next room, turning to face the demons who filed in after her, her hands up in surrender. "Now, hold on," she began, voice even. She took in their appearances, the largest being in the middle, about the size of a boar demon. The other two were of average height and weight, both with slitted eyes and touch skin. "I did not mean to tresspass," she continued, making sure her hands were up as the demon on the furthest right held knives in his hands, ready to throw.
"Then why did you come here?" This voice, she hadn't heard yet. It was gravelly, only more than a mere rumble.
"I was searching for a place to stay for the day, so I could get some rest. I'm sure you know what it's like here for us demons. Especially with the Spirit Detective and all."
Each demon reacted a different way. The largest gave a full-body jerk, and then his skin positively took on the color of boiling rage. The demon on the right growled low, helping her deduce that, with his ears and tail, he was indeed a feline-like breed. Perhaps close to a jaguar or panther. The one on the left laughed, tossing his head of purple hair back.
"That little human fool? You cain't be scared of him!"
"But look, she's so weak. Even in that shirt, you can see scars."
Akari stared at the middle demon, smiling. "He's a pain in the butt, that I can say. He's been on my tail for the past week. Only lost him yesterday."
The largest demon stepped forward, his bare foot scuffling across the tile. "You're lying."
"I wouldn't be here if I were." *
The demon hissed a laugh between his teeth.
"He issss nothing if he getsss caught."
"I got away. Unscathed." Kurama pointed out, still slowly moving around.
"Hiss essscape isss nothing. Humansss are sssstupid."
Kurama said nothing.
"And ssssso are you. You will die!"
Kurama grabbed for the exacto knife on the table in front of him and in the next second flung it at the wall across the room from him, already reaching for another one that had laid next to the first.
A portion of the wall started to shimmer as hissing and moaning and curses filled the room.
The camouflage around the demon slid away to reveal what most humans would have associated with a chameleon standing upright on its back legs, the exacto knife sticking out of its conical eye and still moving around as the demon reached for it with both hands.
In the instant the knife hit the demon, two others sprung out of the walls at him, the closer one grabbing at his shoulders.
Kurama wielded the knife through its thin outer layer of skin up the belly the demon exposed to him, quickly grabbing for its shoulder with his free hand and flinging the dying body at its other brethren that still came at him from the left. 3
"You're Lying!" This time, when the creature yelled, the walls shook, and his comrades reacted, one throwing knives and the other throwing some sort of attack that she didn't see right away, too busy dodging to fully comprehend what he had done.
She maneuvered about the desks in the room, much like a dancer would their obstacles, and moved for the door, only for the largest demon to charge, quite literally slamming into the wall next to her as he missed, both cutting off her route and taking the door with him, making various forms of debris fall.
She turned and jumped, instead, through the glass that had acted as a barrier to the next room, knives following on each side as she landed and spun, catching another that had been thrown just before it had passed and returning it with a mighty growl, satisfied when it hit the demon closest to her, the one who she hadn't known of his attacks.
"C class?" she asked conversationally, a smile forming on her face as she took a few steps back, preparing for the second smallest demon, who had apparently thrown his whole arsenal already. His fist flew at her, and her arm came up in a rather instinctive move, Sensui's signature MMA defense, and she tossed his arm to the side, her own elbow colliding with his face with a sickening crunch, his nose breaking.
He let out a cry of pain that made her ears ring, the sound echoing in the room almost as if it got louder with each vibration. She winced, but dodged his attack and glanced at the larger demon, who she was glad to see still on the floor in the other room. "Your scars are very pretty," the demon snickered, a hand closing around her arm in the single instance she'd looked away. "Can I add to the collection?" His other hand swung another dagger, and she avoided as best as possible, only earning a small knick to her side before she headbutted him and then kicked at his stomach as he stumbled, sending him back into the other room. *
The demon had been unsuccessful in removing the object from his eye, but he hissed angrily and charged at Kurama anyway, barreling through the handful of tables in the way, his good eye trained on the red-head while the other still twitched wildly in all directions.
Kurama heard the demon coming rather than saw, as he had just finished tossing the second one at the third, sending them falling to the ground one atop the other.
He leapt gracefully overhead just as the first slammed into the table and crushed it against the wall where Kurama had been standing moments before, turning back to see the chameleon whirl around and snap open its mouth, sending its tongue flying across the room.
Kurama dodged to the right and the tongue stuck to a piece of broken machinery behind him. Before the demon could retract it, Kurama flipped a lever and a crushing mechanism caught the tongue, the demon crying out in pain.
The other live one ducked under the tongue and came at Kurama's legs. Kurama made a quick slice through the tongue, his knife staying stuck to it, and he circled the freed demon twice before it could react, ending up with the tongue as a rope pinning its arms to its sides, using a flick of his wrist to free the knife once he had things wrapped up.
"I usually leave the knife-fights to Hiei." He commented lightly, tossing the knife in his hand almost absently at the chameleon who already had one knife in an eye, aiming for its heart that he had spotted the location of when he'd slit the belly of the one lying dead on the floor.
He kept looking at the live demon wrapped up, not flinching as the other fell over.
This last demon trembled, eyes roving anxiously around the room.
"I don't want to kill you, understand?" He said calmly.
The demon nodded, clearly intimidated as Kurama noted a bit of gore on his otherwise clean outfit and flicked it away with an air of nonchalance.
"Does the name 'Otento' mean anything to you?"
The demon nodded again, then hesitated, nervously licking at an eye.
"Think about it once more for me before you answer."
A pause.
"Doesssss not know thissss one."
"I didn't think so." Kurama murmured, turning away to walk towards the demon lying dead with two exacto knives in its body. He'd picked them as weapons in the room because he could tell they were still sharp, likely left there by a group of kids or something.
As he bent down to remove them both, he heard a snap and a tongue whistled by his ear, sticking the wall in front of him.
"Now that wasn't very smart." Kurama commented as he stood, looking over his shoulder at the demon who hadn't meant to miss his shot. Kurama slapped one of the knives against the bottom side of the tongue just as he noticed the demon start to tip his head to recall it.
The knife stuck in place and rolled up into the tongue as it travelled back to the demon's mouth.
As a reflex, the demon swallowed, tearing apart his throat from the inside while he travelled to his stomach. His eyes began to twirl madly around in his head.
Kurama planted the sharp edge of the knife into the top of the chameleon's head as he walked by to get out of the room. There was nothing here for he and Akari and they probably needed to leave before there were any other encounters. 3
Akari growled to herself, looking around the room while she had time and retrieving the closest knife, deciding she'd need it for the larger demon. After all, Akari's fists were smaller than a normal female demon's and against a demon of this magnitude, she didn't really have much faith in her strikes alone. The only thing she'd manage was tiring herself out.
So she waited, watching as both demons stood at once, calculating. "I don't suppose you are familiar with the name "Otento?"
"Why the hell would we tell you?"
"Toriko?"
A grumbling snarl. "Your friends mean nothing to us!"
"Thought so."
The larger demon, his skin still a bright red, charged through the wall, his overly large body breaking it in a second, and she turned, vacating the room as quickly as possible, turning left, but meeting the second demon. "You're a pain." She growled, moving forward anyway, meeting his lunge with a swipe of his arm again, her hand making full-force contact with his face, breaking a cheekbone and making him fall backwards. "I really thought we could part allies, but.."
He threw his last knife at her, and she needed only to lean her head to the left, avoiding it completely, though she did lose a bit of hair in the process. And she proceeded to strike at his face with her foot, another breaking bone sounding in the air. "If you just stay down, you won't die."
His screech of pain was followed with a kick at her knee, and when she fell, she grabbed him by the face, picked his skull from the ground, and slammed it as hard as she could on the tile. His scream stopped immediately, and only a moment later, she was ripped from his body and into the air, her arm quickly swiping the blade at the face of the demon who held her, slicing his cheek wide open and earning herself tossed across the hallway. Her grip on the blade, which she only just realized was burning her hand, loosened just a little, her back hitting the wall and sliding to the floor.
From there, she threw the blade, smiling at the sound of it passing through the skull of the demon, who promptly fell, breaking tiles and making debris fall from the roof above them. She flexed her hand, only glanced at it for a second before sneering. It wasn't exactly a poison, since it didn't do anything when mixed with the blood from her cut, but it burned all the same. "Nice trick you have there," she grumbled as she pushed herself to stand. She'd seen demons who had claimed they could mimic the effects of poison without actually using toxins, but this was the first she had ever experienced, and now she realized why it had become a rather forbidden thing where she had lived. *
The sounds of more fighting had sent Kurama's feet running as he followed them, rounding the corner to see the last one fall with a gigantic rumble to the ground, Akari standing up.
"Are you injured?" Kurama slowed to a walk as he came nearer. 3
Akari heaved a sigh as she heard footsteps, at first thinking she was in for another round, but found herself rather relieved when the steps slowed and Kurama's voice rang through the sudden silence of the air. Her eyes, which had momentarily taken in the blistering of her hand, moved to the redhead and she gave a shrug. "Nothing too bad. Knives are a pain, but I managed well enough." She glanced over at the mess that had been made, rubble from broken walls and glass everywhere. "They knew nothing of Otento though. Anything interesting your way?" *
Kurama shook his head, thinking of the knives he himself used and the very likely possibility that the youths who used them were now dead. Avenged. But dead nonetheless.
"This is not the hideout we're looking for." He said, "I think we ought to report back to Koenma that these demons are taken care of, however." He gestured to the bodies littered on the floor. 3
Akari nodded and glanced back at the demons she'd handled. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to fight without the use of her energy. It was probably a good thing she'd remembered at least a little of what Sensui had taught her. "All that wreckage, for nothing." she grumbled, turning to leave, suppressing a small cough from the dirt that had filled her mouth. "I assume you dealt with a posse as well?" she inquired, suddenly interested in any other type of demon that had been lingering about this place. "The three I had were hardly even C class." *
"If I hadn't been, I assure you my entrance would have been much faster." Kurama smiled. "They knew nothing of the demons we looked for and they will not terrorize anyone any longer. I think this about wraps up what we came here for. Shall we go?" 3
Akari raised a brow at Kurama, then gave a singular, small huff of a laugh, which quickly turned to a yawn. "No surprise." and she gave a small nod of affirmation, waving for him to take the lead and then following close behind, glancing back again. "Well, I suppose he can't be too upset about us breaching the no fighting rule, since these demons needed to be dealt with anyway." she mused as the bodies left her line of sight the further she walked. "It was fun while it lasted."*
"I believe his concern mainly rested on us engaging with the demon gang who kidnapped Toriko, but-"
The ground beneath them began rumbling and Kurama started to step backwards as he heard mechanisms turning and squeaking from below.
The entire length of the hallway in front of them started to open up, the ground sliding backwards to make a large, square hole that kept getting bigger. After another several moments, a giant head rose from under the floor and kept coming, the body following looking something like a minotaur out of mythology.
"I did not consider an underground route!" Kurama shouted to Akari ruefully.
"WHAT PUNY DEMONS DOING HERE? ME NOT RECOGNIZE YOU!"
Apparently that was reason enough to attack as the elevator the minotaur was standing on came to a crashing halt even with the hole it had made and the demon stepped off of it, a large hoof shaking the ground ever-so-slightly. He reached down, attempting to scoop Akari up in his large hand. 3
Akari shrugged at Kurama as he went on, her eyes moving downwards as the entire foundation seemed to shake and rattle. It rumbled enough to make her teeth hit together lightly, to which she responded to with clenching her jaw together as she turned to find the source of the ruckus.
By the time the perpetrator of the noise was in sight, Akari was staring in disbelief. She had heard of creatures like this, but seeing one… well, this was a first for her. And she couldn't quite find the words to reply to Kurama's shout.
She looked back in the direction she'd come from, thinking of the blades she had left behind, especially the one embedded in the skull of the other demon she hadn't bothered to fight without the tool. That demon didn't even compare to this one, she thought as she turned back again in time to dance away from the monster's grasp.
She did as best as she could to get not only away from the hand moving to her, but out of Kurama's way, so she wouldn't simply run into him and cause a disaster. "Hey!" she called to the demon, turning smoldering eyes to the enemy. "You're too slow! Come on, can't you do better?"
The roar of anger he let out made the entire building shake, so much so that she could even feel the force of it in her bones, shaking her ribs and making her cough in response.
Maybe if she distracted it long enough, Kurama would be able to take it down… Or in the very least, he'd find an opening for an attack.
Another swipe at her, and Akari was hopping up and over the hand, her own small hand just touching the oddly leather-like skin as she propelled herself up and over the attempt at a grab. Her gaze moved down, but from the bulky arm under her, she couldn't see the form of Kurama. *
As Kurama dodged to the opposite direction of Akari, the fist that hand been reaching for them slammed into the ground where they had been standing moments before. He thought of the many items that could be used as weapons against this beast in the room he'd left, but he had no intention of leaving Akari to this demon by herself.
It wasn't that this demon would pose a problem. Normally. Kurama knew just by looking at him that his movements would be slow and easily dodgeable for as long as either party could keep it up. The problem was he had no energy of which to speak, so he felt he would likely have to resort to desperate measures.
Akari had the demon's attention for the moment and Kurama's thoughts ran calmly over their choices.
He doubted they could punch through the skin with any sort of efficiency. Not that this brute would likely feel it.
Kurama absently leapt backwards and ducked as the demon shifted his giant hooves and went for Akari again, his tail whipping around in the air madly just above Kurama's head.
The truth of the matter was, he had brought one thing that could get them out of a scrape, but it was a last resort and meant to be used as an escape tactic. If they could find some way to actually take this demon down, they'd likely be saving lives. Or at the very least the beautiful trees that were growing up around the old factory.
Kurama glanced down the hallway Akari had been in and noticed a pile of dirt in the corner with what looked like a flag about the size of his palm stuck in it.
He dodged the tail again, which swept much closer to the floor as the demon reared back to aim another downward strike at Akari. Kurama rolled backwards twice to get out of the way before ending up in a crouch next to the dirt pile, grabbing a handful of it firmly and charging for the demon, leaping nimbly up its other arm and making his way towards its head. 3
Akari hopped and jumped around and around, eyes continuing to search for anything that might help the situation. But each time she thought she could get into another room to look for a weapon, her route was cut off by a clumsy arm that swung at her again. The demon may be slow, but he was able to at least cut off her route before she managed to get too far out of his reach.
She growled in frustration, standing in the corner of the room. Sure, he was slow and dumb, but even a stronger demon would hate being cornered. "How many friends do you have, sir?" She asked, then gave a pause. "Or ma'am? Honestly, I don't care to check."
The word he spat at her wasn't really coherent, and he reared back his fist and threw it at her, making a triumphant smile form on her features as she again propelled herself up, this time landing on his broad arm and actually standing on it, surprised by the amount of muscle such a demon had. "You could be a decent fighter, if you could learn from mistakes."
"PUNY HUMAN ANGER ME!"
"How cute."
His other hand moved, slamming down on the arm she stood on, and she quite easily stepped back and fell to the tile floor underneath, not surprised that the strike sent the demon into a rumble of pain. "Smarts, huh?"
Again, he swung at her, and she ducked and moved under him, now thinking tactically about his flailing limbs. She ran, actually moving underneath him, not surprised when his large head moved down to watch her, an arm following. She crouched as she maneuvered, suddenly seeing Kurama and offering a smile. "Hey, I have an idea!" She continued by him, letting him do whatever he was going to do while she shot around the corner for a mere moment, then turned back to watch what happened next, curious.
The moment Kurama struck, she rejoined, running back into the scene with a laugh to herself. She was actually enjoying this fight, despite the fact they hadn't been able to get by the demon. *
Kurama kept moving up the demon's arm, his feet light enough that it didn't seem to notice, and when he reached its shoulder, just as it started to turn its head to see him, he jammed his fist into its ear and let go of the dirt.
The demon roared as Kurama flipped backwards up and over the hand that it sent flying through the air to slap at its ear.
"WHAT YOU DO?!" He yelled as pain clearly started to overtake the demons features, Kurama alighting on the ground about ten feet away.
"An idea?" Kurama asked, looking in Akari's direction as the demon started to wail, then turn on them and started slamming his fists into the ground all the faster while they kept out of the way. 3
Akari paused only briefly when Kurama addressed her, but she didn't reply with anything other than a mischievous sneer. When another strike was aimed, she hopped out of the way, then turned and repeated her earlier action, running up the demon's forearm all the way up to the shoulder. The demon roared at her, reaching a hand up to try and grab at her, only managing to strike himself in the places she had been.
And each time he struck, his large hand just missed her as she continued up and close to the ear Kurama had tampered with. "Yoo hoo. You've missed again." The demon jerked at the close proximity of his hurt ear, and immediately reacted in the only way she had thought he would: Swinging a fist at her. She stayed longer than she probably should have, watching the fist swing, and only jumping just before it hit her, causing him to quite literally punch himself in the side of the head.
She hopped from the top of his fist and to the top of his head, maintaining her balance as the demon stumbled and fell onto his side, roaring louder than he had since his appearance. She heard glass breaking from the volume somewhere nearby, and she searched for the broken windows, only to huff and continue moving about the demon's head as he struggled to stand, swinging again at her as a foot got stuck in the tangles in his mane.
Akari, for a moment, didn't think she would get free, and instead dropped and rolled, her body moving in the opposite direction than the demon's head moved as it stood again, making her land on the ground with a thud, her shoulder hitting first. Her air left her, but she rolled more anyway, avoiding the large palm that slapped down through the air at her. And again, she was standing, moving underneath the demon, whose feet stamped and stomped, trying to crush her but not even close to succeeding. "Down here, you loon!"
The demon swung downwards, striking his own knees and causing himself to pitch forward, rear in the air and face to the floor again. "That's it! You almost had me!" she yelled some more, now 100% sure he would continue to strike himself if the demon even remotely thought it could hit her or Kurama. *
Kurama smiled as he saw what Akari was doing, the demon becoming more and more confused as Akari landed "hits" on it.
After the demon fell to the ground, it shifted around, attempting to get its hands underneath to push itself up. After rising half-way on its hands and knees, its head suddenly twitched with a very loud crack and for a moment, time seemed to freeze.
The demon's arms gave out and it crashed back down to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of its head as out of its left ear burst suddenly some very green vines that continued out the ruptured orifice for another several seconds, weaving around one another in an unknown pattern.
After those moments of rustling growth, the vines came to a stop, sticking at least a foot out of the demon's ear and growing no more.
"Well, that wasn't exactly what I meant to have happen." Kurama commented as he relaxed from his defensive stance, "But I suppose one shouldn't complain."
He moved closer to the downed demon and leaned in to examine the handiwork of the vines in the stillness after battle. 3
Akari hadn't been expecting whatever sound had filled the air, and as such, reacted in alarm and retreated from the demon, eyes watching every movement of the creature as it stilled. Her eyes searched some more, until they saw the vines go still and Kurama's words registered in her mind.
A small laugh bubbled up, more at her own reaction from the sound. "You're scary, you know that?" she grumbled at the redhead, eyes still scrutinizing the plant, slightly disappointed. She'd been enjoying herself. "How many other tricks do you have up that sleeve of yours?" *
"I apologize for spoiling your fun." Kurama caught on to the disappointed air. "And I only have one trick up my sleeve, really. A last resort of sorts. I didn't expect this one to actually work at all. I was prepared to use the last resort in its stead." He continued to puzzle at the vines, "Or at least, I did not expect it to work in this way. It's a prototype and the chance I got to do testing with it was rather limited."
He continued peering into the demon's ear. Every trace of the dirt he had in his fist earlier was no where to be found, the seed he place inside having eaten through it for growth and then immediately stopping when the dirt ran out. 3
"Prototype…" she repeated in a grumble, eyeing the redhead now as he inspected his own handiwork. Of course. Akari released a long breath of heavy air through her lips, rolling her eyes. What kind of prototype works like that? "Too bad it didn't work the way you planned." she mused, mildly curious of how he'd thought it would turn out. "But, I guess if a last resort wasn't necessary, then all's well and good. The next question is: should we clean this up, or have Koenma send another lackey to clean it up instead? I assume leaving a mess like this is something you guys never do?"
Akari moved around the other side of the demon, glancing at his large fists, and around the areas where he'd struck himself. Only mere bruises here and there. Nothing broken, and that told her that had Kurama's prototype not worked, her fallback plan wouldn't have worked either, and last resorts would have had to take place.
Of course, she hadn't thought that far ahead.
And the mere thought that Kurama had left her again glancing up at the redhead with a blank expression. Maybe it comes with the age… Or the experience. *
Kurama was unsure whether to consider the plant a success or a failure, for it was both depending on which way he looked at it.
Having his demonic energy restricted had driven the fox demon to messing with the seeds he manipulated in other ways, and while this one did not actually do what it had been expected to do once in contact with the dirt from Human World, it had prevented the need for him to pull out the one thing he knew would work.
He supposed the situation could be chalked up as a 'win.'
"We are only to report back to Koenma." He replied after a moment more of looking. "He sends a team to take care of the mess during the debriefing. They do good work." 3
Akari nodded, promptly turning to survey the rest of the hall they'd been fighting in, searching for the place where the demon had come up from. And now that she searched for it, she could see that the lines between some tiles were wider, out of place, but blended in almost perfectly if one wasn't privy to the fact. She ran her fingers over the edge, feeling the slight difference between the tile and the platform. A very small part of her wanted to find a way to make it move so that she could survey the underground route, but a vast majority of her was beginning to relax until she was fighting a yawn.
For the upteenth time today, she found herself thinking about her sealed away energy and how it could be handy here. Instead of leaving the mechanism so it could function, she could have destroyed it, as she had numerous other things, with her shadow prowess. At least, in that case, this place wouldn't be able to be discreetly used by anyone else.
"I guess we should get going then," she finally responded, looking up from where she was crouched, both arms balancing on her knees as her weight shifted to her toes. As curious as she was, she didn't feel it necessary to investigate. They had the information they'd been sent to get, and now all she wanted to do was go lay in the sun and take a nap. *
"We should be sure to mention the possibility of an underground tunnel system in this area to Koenma. I'm sure he'll have his people look into it." Kurama tore his eyes away from examining the handiwork of the seed turned vine to glance at Akari where he heard her voice coming from. "We should get back as quickly as possible."
He turned to follow the hallways back to the door they entered through and out into the sunshine. 3
What's the rush? Akari thought to herself as she stood, hands finding the pockets of her school uniform, reminding her she'd missed half a day of classes. How the teachers must feel about her and "Suichi" being gone at the exact same time.. Perhaps they considered coincidences more than a demon would.
Her feet moved at a leisurely pace, putting her a little behind the redhead as she eyed the large office door ahead. The nameplate on the side wasn't necessary, at least in her eyes. Only the prince would have doors this large and a small intercom on the side. It was simply too… professional? No, that wasn't the word…
Botan had gone on ahead, pressing the call button even before Kurama had reached the door, and by the time Akari had caught up, the doors were already sliding closed when her foot passed the threshold.
"Well?"
Akari fought the urge to roll her eyes at the impatient prompting, instead glancing at Kurama before shrugging her shoulders lightly. "The first two places haven't been touched. Literally. There's still charred remains inside the warehouse, along with ropes and a fan. The tunnel was empty. Nothing new." *
Kurama nodded as Akari explained the situation.
"We did find a group of demons hiding out in the warehouse, but to our knowledge, they are unrelated to the gang you are looking for. However, we have reason to believe there is a system of tunnels underneath that were allowing them freedom of movement without having to go along the surface. I would highly suggest you have your team investigate into it. We did not pursue that particular venue."
Koenma agreed with their decision, "I sent you to look for Otento's crew, so I'd rather you came back here and let my people deal with whatever else is down there."
"There were three chameleons and a minotaur demon." Kurama looked to Akari for her portion of the fighting. 3
For the few moments while Kurama continued on, Akari thought back to her own fights, knowing she'd have to report the three she'd taken on on her own. She knew the species of two of them, but the third… well, she hadn't really cared enough to notice. He had looked similar to the lion demon, but not exactly the same.
So when the room went quiet, her eyes slid open and she gave a minor shrug. "A boar demon, a lion, and I assume the third was either panther or jaguar, though I'm sure you understand that I didn't care enough to look for the tail." The smile that came to her face was lopsided and only slightly amused at he thought. "He didn't put up much of a fight. None of them were above mid C class," she glanced at Kurama, figuring it was much the same for his three opponents. "Seven accounted for, though I wouldn't be surprised if there were more." *
"They're all dead, though." Kurama added. "They engaged us."
Koenma's lips pursed together.
"It's quite unusual for even just those seven to be in close proximity like that with one another, possibly working together. And if there are more…" Koenma faded off, but came back to the present after a moment and shook his head. "I'll definitely have to look into this. While we've had reports of nothing else major, our resources have been so focused on the attention this Otento character is kicking up, there has been little chance for us to look elsewhere." Koenma picked up the papers he had been writing on as the two in front of him spoke and tapped the edge of them smartly on the desk to straighten them out before handing them over to George.
"That's all I need from the two of you for now. My thanks for making quick work of it." 3
A small yawn left thin lips as Akari turned to leave, not even nodding farewell to the prince. The doors slid open as if automated, though she knew they weren't, and she was quick to escape through them, as if being inside that office suffocated her. All she could focus on now was getting back to the human world, back to Nabu, back to the sunshine and the warm breeze that she knew was blowing through the park.
So when Botan asked if she and Kurama were ready to go, she didn't even hesitate to nod eagerly, and when her feet touched the concrete sidewalk of the human world, in an alleyway where they wouldn't be spotted, she wasn't surprised to see Nabu race by on the way to the school that she just realized was only now releasing their students. The thought made her laugh; the pup would find out she wasn't there and it wouldn't take him long to hunt her down.
Then again…
She glanced at Kurama and Botan briefly. "It's been fun, but I think I'm going elsewhere." With that, she turned and made for a run after the pup, deciding that he didn't need to run off around town in search for her. It wasn't like she was going out of her way, anyway. The park was just along the path. *
~!**!~
Koenma frowned down at his paperwork, only looking up once the teal-haired Grim Reaper flew in from whereabouts unknown. "Botan, I need to speak with Hiei."
"H-Hiei, Koenma-sir?" It had been a week since Kurama and Akari's mission and Botan had sort of hoped that perhaps the Prince would send her after that pair again instead of the stoic, slightly scary fire demon.
Koenma looked up from his paper-work, "I don't think I stuttered, Botan. Is it so strange that I would call on him?"
"Well, yes sir. I mean, no sir. I mean...I'll go get him for you, sir."
"You do that."
~!**!~
About a week after his mission with Akari, Kurama sat at the table sipping at the tea that had been placed before him. His eyes roamed around both the kitchen and the living room, but at a clatter of dishes, he turned back to watch Toriko for a moment as she prepared dinner for them.
She moved a hand up to her ear to tuck a portion of her long, dark hair behind it, her bright green eyes-free of their usual thick lenses-did not stray from the methodical work she had to do in front of her.
Kurama smiled.
The condition of her hair and lack of glasses had been the buzz of the school that day. Virtually as soon as the girl had walked onto campus. There were stares and whispers and rumors floating around that had not stopped, to Kurama's knowledge, at the end of the day.
The majority of students assumed on her missing glasses' part that she had merely "gotten with the age" and purchased contacts. Other speculation about her hair included ideas as far-fetched as her having been part of a religious sect that did not allow for her hair to be down, but she finally rebelled or quit and this was the result.
There was, of course, no one who had been in preschool with her since she was a transfer to Meiou, but most of her classmates had been there when she first arrived two years ago and none of them could remember her ever having gone without her usual bun and thick-lensed glasses.
For his part, Kurama had not been surprised to see her this way. There were changes happening to his old friend. Changes for the better, he thought.
"And you cannot feel her right now?" He picked up the lull in their conversation right where it left off. The biggest of these changes, besides her stammering being basically nonexistent, appeared to be her ability to better articulate and discuss things relating to Demon World without immediate, mind-wrenching repercussions. The subject namely being her other side.
Kurama still hesitated when talking with her, however, keen on keeping her in the sane world and taking stock of her with each furthering of their conversation. He gave her reprieve here and there to return to her task, settle her mind again, ever watchful for changes in her attitude.
Toriko paused for a moment in her work as if reaching inward, and she shook her head, speaking quietly.
"There's nothing there. I remember that I used to be able to at least feel her, trapped. But she's gone." Her brow dipped together over her face. "And I can feel none of my former energy either." There was no mistaking her relief at the prospect of her demonic energy being gone.
Kurama knew this last part, and also understood that it greatly attributed to why her hair was down and her glasses gone. Those being the two sources of herself that her energy channeled through the easiest...well, now that she could feel nothing, there was no point to hiding either one. Granted, if he guessed correctly and this particular change had started sometime last week, she had certainly remained cautious and likely experimented a bit herself before deciding to arrive on campus with such changes.
Kurama's eyes lingered on Toriko's hair as it shifted down her back while she prepared the food. He briefly shook his head and blinked to pull his attention away from it.
Ever since his encounter with Shikiyoku's powers, he had noticed himself doing such things to her and he did understand now why Toriko was so reluctant formerly to use her powers around him.
Once ensnared, even with her removing the immediate influence of her energy, it did not appear that one ever fully recovered. Of course, he only viewed her as a dear comrade-more so now that he knew she had a past with Youko and he could realize that's where his early feelings of connection with her arose-but that did not mean Kurama didn't catch himself in moments like those gazing at her before his brain realized what was happening and he intentionally pulled his attention away.
Kurama also on some level understood what Hiei was to Toriko now, as he picked up on such a relationship between Youko and she before the fire demon, and likely others before that if what little he had gleaned from the slumbering kitsune could be taken as truth.
"How do you feel about it?" He piped up again.
It took Toriko a moment before she answered.
"Many things." Came her slow replied at first, pensively considering the question. "Relief. Confusion. ...fear."
"Fear?" Kurama's eyebrow quirked. Relief because she had no demonic energy to restrain. Confusion because, well, no one understood why this had happened. But the last one...
"She isn't supposed to be free." Toriko's face darkened. "And if she is not with me, then am I not supposed to assume that she is free?"
This time Kurama didn't answer immediately.
It was obvious Toriko still didn't accept her other side, and while Kurama may have thought it unhealthy for one soul to be divided into two so strongly as this-notwithstanding his own condition, of which there were major differences-there was likely nothing to be done in joining the two sides together while one of them still held the other in so much fear and hatred. That would be the catch: getting the human side to accept the demon side.
Seeing as how Toriko appeared to be rather human, Kurama assumed that it meant her fears were strictly limited to all things demonic in relation to herself-which also explained her previous inability to function in a conversation relating to demons. "Human" and "Demon" described the division of the soul before him rather aptly in his opinion.
"What if it means that you're finally one person again?"
"No." Toriko gnashed the word viciously out of her mouth, the knife she was cutting with cracking against the cutting board with much more force than necessary.
Kurama remained silent at her vehement response.
Toriko took a breath, ruefully eyeing the hairline fracture she made in the bamboo of the cutting board.
While she found of late that she had no problem with the idea of her other side, she still felt apprehensive about everything in relation to her other side. She feared the darkened memories that had started ruminating just below her awareness, ones where she imaged her other side doing horrible things. Demonic things.
"I don't want to be one person." Toriko replied, her voice low. "She's done terrible things." She felt as if she knew this for certain.
Kurama held back the introspective sigh he wanted to release.
He conjectured a long time ago that Toriko came out of Shikiyoku's flight from Demon World. Shikiyoku took on a human form. The bobby pins were seals against her demonic energy. And slowly over time, as a result of her being forced into hiding, the more human-like Toriko was born. Like Shuichi's body, it would keep Shikiyoku safe until Spirit World stopped hunting her.
Now, though, Kurama felt sure that Shikiyoku could not come out if she wanted to, instead only by some outside influence hitherto undetermined. The protector has since become the jailer, convinced that the reason Shikiyoku is trapped within comes from her being too dangerous. And while that might have been true on some level...Kurama didn't see convincing Toriko that the danger of pursuit being over would solve the problem between demon and human. Now it would be a matter of convincing her Shikiyoku was no threat. Did Toriko fear all demons? Or did she simply fear the demon inside? 3
Hiei lounged about in the trees that lay on the outskirts of town, eyes closed and body relaxed since he knew Kurama would be watching over Toriko today. It gave him a small reprieve to be alone, allowing him time to soak in the day's sun and catch up on some much needed rest- not that he was actually behind on it. He simply… preferred napping without disturbance, and as of late, it had been a rather hard thing to come by.
With eyes shut, the fire demon used his hearing to visualize his surroundings, the birds nearby that twittered loudly, wings flapping as they played their silly little games. A squirrel sniffed at him curiously from the branch above, its tail hitting the bark as it twitched. The green leaves were still with the absence of any breeze, making it easier for Hiei to become lulled back into the edges of sleep he'd just emerged from moments ago.
~!**!~
A full stomach and complete and utter relaxation. Those had become Akari's allies as of late, as she'd taken to simply doing whatever she pleased. She was alone, but in the restaurant she sat in, she didn't feel alone. Humans were in almost every chair, chattering in groups or pairs, the place a steady rhythm of laughter and idle chat.
Her eyes roamed as her hand lifted another roll of rice into her mouth, finding herself feeling odd since Nabu hadn't been allowed inside. But he sat patiently by the nearest window, chewing on a bone she'd given him on the way to the little sushi joint.
"Your bill," the waitress said with a smile as she placed a small leather book on the surface of the booth. Akari only managed to pull out a bank card as the girl retreated to another table, taking their orders. She sighed and sat back, content for the moment even as she stared at the plastic money card. She found herself considering going back to raid Sensui's place again, but this would do for now. *
~!**!~
Botan whirled through the air on her oar down from Spirit World, her eyes scanning the city beneath her for the approximate location Hiei had been in when she left Koenma's office.
Her hair streamed behind her as she dove down, her Reaper senses constantly feeding her information about the state of the humans below.
As she flew above the streets, she avoided those that she felt were close to their time as their eyes would be more attuned to picking out her spirit form. She knew the ones that were supposed to see her would, and so it was without pause that she came to float a few feet from the ground amidst a group of trees.
Hiei was among one of them, but she spoke up anyway, knowing Koenma wished for her to hurry and not taking the time to figure out exactly where he was.
"Hiei! Prince Koenma wishes to speak with you! He didn't tell me about what." Botan continued, her eyes searching for a dark spot among the branches of the foliage around her, "Just that he wants to do it now." 3
Hiei felt the disturbance before he heard it. The air changed slightly, turning from peaceful to… panicked as animals fled from whatever frightened them. He didn't bother opening his eyes though. He merely stay where he lay in the tree, shifting only slightly so that his head was rested against the bark at an angle that lessened the strain on his neck.
And the voice that called to him shattered his own world of peace. He didn't respond, hoping the source would go away, along with whatever it was Koenma and his lackeys wanted. Didn't they know he was on break for the day?
~!**!~
Akari waited, sipping almost lazily at the tea that was still just warm enough to be worth drinking. It settled in her stomach, making her entire body feel warmer, almost akin to the effects of a nap under the shade of a tree.
"Here you go," the waitress said, gaining only a nod of thanks as Akari took the receipt and her plastic card from her hand and stood to leave, but not before finishing the drink she'd specially ordered after eating. "come see us again!"
Akari waved over her shoulder to the man behind the bar across the restaurant before leaving, a silent thanks for the meal, and the bell rang against the door on her way out. "Nabu, let's go."
"Park?"
"Sure." *
~!**!~
With her eyes examining the trees intently, Botan finally spotted the hidden fire demon lounging among them and she lazily floated her oar in his direction until she sat level with him in the branches.
"Oh, come on, Hiei. I know you heard me. It's not like Koenma calls on you all that often. And the sooner I get you there, the sooner you can get back to your tree." 3
The sudden desire to knock that oar out of the air was stronger than even Hiei's desire to stay where he lay. He strongly considered it as Botan spoke, now not too far away, meaning he hadn't hidden himself successfully enough. Too bad…
"Perhaps.." he began, but that train of thought too was shoved to the furthest recesses of his mind, to not actually ever say to this woman who was nothing more than a messenger for Koenma. If he had anyone to blame, then he'd simply blame himself for not hiding well enough.
On that thought, the fire demon let his eyelids slide open and he slid his glinting eyes over at the ferry girl. "This better not be a waste of my time."
~!**!~
Nabu proudly followed Akari with his bone in his mouth, feet coming higher off the ground and head swaying back and forth as if he had a rhythm stuck on repeat in his mind. She took note of his jolly attitude and the enthusiasm in which he stopped to gnaw at his bone here and there, reminding herself to grab one the next time she ran off and left him alone again during one of his naps. He hated when she did that, and quite frankly, he'd been able to make her feel a bit guilty about it here and there.
"Don't get lost."
"I won't," his muffled reply drifted to her from a few feet back, and Akari paused briefly to look back again, raising an unamused brow as he licked at the slobber that hung from his maw. "I'm coming!"
She rolled her eyes and continued, passing the gate entrance to the park she had come to frequent less often as of late- another reason she'd given Nabu the treat he now drooled over. She hitched her duffel bag higher on her shoulder, the sound of his many playthings moving making her ear almost twitch. "What first? You pick, since this was your idea."
"Ball."
Of course. *
Youko took a deep breath of the night air as he wandered the paths of the park, unphased by any humans he happened to come across.
Most, if not all of them, would find themselves unable to see his ears and tail as humans have a tendency to keep a veil over their eyes that prevents them from seeing things they don't understand, and while his outfit was not exactly normal, no one thought to stop the tall, slender, silver-haired man that moved like so much fluid floating along across the grass.
He paused for a moment with his pointed nose upturned slightly in the air. Unlike some, he actually enjoyed the fresh air of Human World. Though, it did make him miss home just a little.
In the midst of his reverie, Youko's ears twitched slightly at the sound of padded feet tearing across the dirt and as he brought his eyes down, he caught sight of a small ball bouncing along and coming to rest next to his foot, lighting tapping his shoe before stopping.
Just as he started to kneel down, he spotted a tiny body dashing frantically into view.
~!**!~
Koenma hardly glanced up from the work at his desk when Botan appeared in the room with Hiei.
"Thank you, Botan. That will be all." Koenma made his dismissal of her apparent, flickering his eyes towards the blue ogre that was leaning over his desk assisting him. "You may go as well, ogre."
George pulled away from the desk, blinking at Koenma for a moment before frowning. The Princeling usually didn't dismiss him so casually like this.
"Yes, Koenma-sir." George did not protest, feeling as if perhaps he deserved the break after all, and followed Botan out of the door.
Koenma said nothing as the two left, his pen scratching at the papers over which he hunched.
Only when the two were completely gone did Koenma finally look up, he and Hiei the only ones in the room.
"I have something for you, Hiei." Koenma said after a moment of regarding the fire demon over his desk. The toddler hopped down from his chair and started moving towards a door behind him. "If you would follow me please."
Koenma opened the door and walked through, fully expecting Hiei to come with him.
"Close the door behind you, if you would."
This room was much smaller than the one they just left, with various tomes piled in stacks on top of one another, smelling like ages past. The power the items in room contained almost hummed audibly and Koenma wove his way through until he reached a second desk towards the back, climbing up into this chair and indicating that Hiei was welcome to sit in the chair across from him if he wished. 3
Hiei hadn't reacted to anything as of yet, and quite frankly, moving to another room almost piqued his interest. Except… it was more of a library. But this library, he realized, was almost alive. Energy buzzed through the room, making him feel as if his own energy were struggling against it, fighting to either join the rhythm or overcome it. His eyes found several things of interest, but he didn't approach them, since he didn't think they would actually be of use.
As if he had a use for them at this very moment.
The fire demon followed the toddler until another desk came into view, though when Koenma gestured to the chair, he merely glanced at it before ignoring it completely. Why sit down and invite the prince to take his sweet time?
For the time being, he stayed silent, waiting in expectation of whatever was to come next.
~!**!~
Akari's arm fell to her side and she sat back in the grass, the hand that had just released the ball resting flat on the ground behind her. She leaned further back, crossing her ankles and twitching her numb toes idly as she waited. Still feeling full and lazy, she didn't feel like getting up at the moment, and had actually decided to run Nabu as much as he wanted, so long as she didn't have to get up again.
Her eyes closed, her mind blank for a few moments. She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, she realized something wasn't right. Her nose twitched with a small itch and she sat forward, scratching it idly as her eyes reopened and searched the darkened park for the small body of her companion. With him not in the immediate area, she sighed and resigned to wait a bit longer.
More time passed.
She found herself counting to 3600 in her mind, marking another approximate five minute wait before she reached for the bag of toys and stood, now deciding to hunt him down. Her luck, he'd be with Kurama again, like the last time this had happened.
She made her way around at a slow, lazy pace, breathing in the night air as she walked until she came upon the sound of an excited dog.
"Flowers! C'mon, throw it! Play with me and Akari! It's fun!"
Another sigh. "You're getting predictable," she called ahead of herself, not yet having reached the person Nabu referred to as Flowers. But when she did lay eyes on him a moment later, she paused, unsure what to make of the demonic form. Wasn't that something he reserved for fights? *
Youko regarded the unfettered joy of the pup who had clamored right up to him without hesitation with an amusement that did not appear to reach his eyes, though the dog had only allowed him to indulge in a moment of petting before hopping back and wagging his tail excitedly, bouncing back and forth and pausing only briefly to bow playfully at the fox demon.
His eyes softened just a touch at Akari as she came into view, him still kneeling on the ground where he had been petting Nabu, and holding out the ball as if to ask for her permission to toss it.
"I'm getting predictable?" His soft, low voice repeated with a bit of incredulity laced into his question. "How terrible boring of me."
~!**!~
Koenma took another half a moment to give Hiei a guarded look, waiting until the door was closed before pressing a button that activated the lock which clicked into place.
"We may speak freely here." Koenma noted. "No one else knows of this room's purpose and it is not monitored. My father does not even know of its existence. I would ask you to keep this and any words we exchange here to yourself."
Koenma took a deep breath and released a sigh as he drew his hands together over the desk.
"I called you here because you seem to have had the most contact with the girl known as Toriko. I desperately need to speak with Shikiyoku and I'm hoping you know of how I can do so." 3
Hiei regarded Koenma with caution, his expression mutual as he soaked in the information of Koenma knowing of Shikiyoku's whereabouts. Hadn't she been hiding from this man? Why hadn't he made an effort to capture her, if what she had said about being wanted by Spirit World still rang true?
"And what makes you think she'll simply waltz in here?" He gave a pause. "Or am I assume that you wish for me to convince a demon to come here, where her head is a prize?" In truth, he didn't really need Koenma's answer, because he had a feeling that he was right. "I hardly see her wasting her time for such a threat." Like my own time is being wasted at this very moment. *
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star