A/N: Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!
We pick back up with Akari here in this chapter!
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Hiei and Shikiyoku managed to escape Queen Rae's Royal Ball with the help of Uryo.
When she came chasing after them with a vengeance,
Uryo once again stepped in, sending Hiei speeding off faster than ever before.
Before being sent away, Hiei realized what Shikiyoku knew all along but had forgotten:
Queen Rae is Otento's older sister...
Hiei continued moving as his feet seemed to memorize the speed, keeping in consistent even as the sounds of fighting died away in the distance and he was met with forestry. At first, the tree line was thin and creatures were few and far between. A moment later, he was weaving through the trees almost expertly, as if he did indeed know the area, his Jagan helping in reaction times despite the unfamiliar, almost uncontrollable speed the fire demon was experiencing.
And he continued on silently, his inner emotions calming with the distance between himself and Shikiyoku, and the fight. He remained guarded, but no longer did he feel the need to turn around and join Uryo in fight. He realized now just how brash such a decision would have been, and the consequences of such an action.
All because he'd made the connection of family.
He'd need to sit down sometime and discipline himself for his lack of control over his emotions. If the same thing were to happen when Otento was actually around…
He couldn't afford that.
His mind receded from Shikiyoku's as he delved into his own thoughts, his expression revealing nothing of the internal mental strike he was having on himself. He wouldn't allow a slip up like that again.
He wouldn't allow himself to place her in danger like that. *
"You know," Shikiyoku murmured, having felt the warmth of Hiei's mind leaving hers and having a fairly accurate guess as to why, "The best way to exact revenge on Otento is to keep him from getting what he wants." 3
Hiei momentarily paused in his thoughts and turned his eyes down, briefly considering Shikiyoku before his eyes turned forward again, expression blank. Several thoughts popped up at her words, so for the moment, he didn't respond.
Revenge isn't exactly what I had in mind.
At least, it wouldn't be a very normal type of revenge. Most demons would deliver what had been dealt, with maximized pain and excruciatingly drawn-out time. And while it was an appealing thought…
"I'd rather see his blood color the grass." *
"Isn't that much too easy though?" Shikiyoku countered, "You let him die and then Spirit World gets to have all the fun. Why not make his existence as miserable as possible?" 3
Hiei didn't respond. He didn't voice that he wasn't sure how he'd get his hands on Otento without her getting into trouble, without placing her into trouble himself. He didn't admit that the idea of Otento even having the brief chance to get near her, when Hiei would be out searching for ways to get to the male, made his core churn. Sure, once Hiei had Otento in his grasp and he was certain Shikiyoku was out of the way, he'd have nine kinds of fun.
The only problem was getting to that point, when Otento is surrounded by other demons just as capable as he was. It was also likely that there would be more demons, thanks to the fact that there was a pseudo Youko against them.
He didn't admit that he didn't like the odds. Even with Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara's help, there were still too many variables, too many unknowns that left Hiei stressed and-
"The threat will be eliminated. How it is executed shouldn't matter." *
"It matters to me." Shikiyoku grumbled quietly into his neck. A sudden thought hit her and her eyes flashed, "If I don't get to watch him die, I'll be very put-out with you." 3
A sneer formed on Hiei's lips, and again ruby eyes turned down to emerald ones, this time holding the gaze. "Why would I keep you from your own personal revenge as well?" Of course he had planned that Shikiyoku watch the death of Otento. She couldn't attack him herself, so he'd already decided she would get her revenge by watching, smirking down at the dying demon who had tried so hard to make her his.
It would be her own revenge to disallow him her services.
His eyes turned up to the path ahead again, his expression now back to its calm demeanor. He'd figure something out, that was for sure. *
"I dunno." Shikiyoku mumbled again, feeling uncomfortable under his fiery look and wondering if she would ever feel like she knew the fire demon well at all.
It felt wrong to kill something premeditatively, but Shikiyoku brushed aside the feeling by assuring herself that Otento was meant to have been dead long ago. Before even Youko's time.
His days were numbered. 3
Hiei had fallen silent and stayed that way for what had to be several hours as he ran, making turns as directed so that they would head in the direction of Shikiyoku said the city was in. Of course, he had no intention of going through the town. He simply wanted to keep on course as much as possible.
So, when the city walls came into view, Hiei made a very distinct point to move North of them, re-entering forestry and deep brush to the left of the city, though keeping the wall within a respectable distance so that he knew he would be going the right direction without having to use his Jagan.
And it was at this point he realized he was beginning to feel a little worn out. Maybe not enough to call for a pause, or even to slow, but a part of him felt tired of the running, as if he needed to slow down and go at a more comfortable pace than the one Uryo had set him into.
~!**!~
"You know, for a kid, you're alright."
Akari looked to her right, heavy lids pulling open again to look at the demon that sat beside her. The room was dimly lit, allowing her to see his bright eyes and almost-white tinted hair that… was flecked with darker hues of the grey her vision naturally was. It wasn't hard to guess what was in those locks. She could smell it easily enough.
"You've lasted longer than even the toughest demons."
A dry, choking bark of laughter escaped Akari, making another tear fall from the pain of a broken rib or two. "It's only been a week. I haven't tried everything yet."
"You young ones are too filled with hope. You need to learn when it's time to quit."
"Say that to a family searching for their now dead child," she retorted seriously, her whispered words weaker than the rest of her it seemed. She didnt dare mention the male's mate. "They're just humans. They can't keep an army of demons locked away forever."
The room fell into silence again, save for the shuffling of the stocky male as he scooted closer, his darker-hued trousers hugging him as he moved. She watched him, not moving despite the fact that she didn't enjoy being close to anyone, much less another, much stronger demon.
"I have an idea. Think you're up for it?"
She smirked. "Always. My last escape buddy flaked out."
His smirk disappeared. "They were wise, likely. From what I've seen just these past two weeks, there's a lot we don't yet know about."
"Still, just humans." She shifted, a hand immediately moving to rest over her diaphragm. "Does it involve minimal movement?"
"Not quite."
"Good." She glanced over at the male she'd been stuck with for days, the shine of mischief in her eyes countered with a look of caution from the other. "Lay it on me."
~!**!~
It was painful. She was already sweating, and all she'd done was pull herself to stand, and helped lift a chair. She stood opposite Kyu, eyes glancing up at the shattered camera that had been placed to monitor them. "On three," he whispered, and before he even began counting, he shoved the large, metal chair, with her assistance of course, through the large one-way looking mirror, shattering it.
He moved quickly, with the dexterity of a warrior and the silence of a thief, hopping over the broken windowpane and into the room where tons of electronic equipment were seen, grabbing a human and just as quickly as he could, silencing any sound with a crack, snapping the man's neck.
The only security fell to the ground and he motioned for her to follow, even grabbing her by the upper part of her arms and hefting her over, despite his own physical hindrances.
"Now the prison, right?"
"Not for you, sweetheart." he grumbled as he pushed the only door open, peering out into a brightly-lit hallway. "You're going home. You know where the open gateway is, right?"
"You're not going alone." she grumbled at him, reaching forward and grabbing his shirt collar. "I have someone there too, y'know."
"You're terrible at lying."
Okay, so she just didn't want to go it alone. So what? "You have to let me help. I'm not leaving without you, because you deserve freedom as much as I do, and you won't get it if you go down there alone."
"Neither of us-"
An alarm began sounding and lights began flashing along the walls in the hall and inside the room they were standing in.
They hadn't even left the security room yet! How had they figured it out? Kyu quickly shut the metal door, locking it from the inside. "It's alright. This happens once a week. We aren't the ones they're after."
"What?"
"The prisoners downstairs. Once a week, they go crazy enough to riot. All at once. It's normal. And, now it's an inconvenience."
A few minutes passed as they stood there, listening to troops of feet run by. Groups of people, yelling of orders and even sounds of…
Something loud. Something dangerous, she knew. What was that? It was almost like canons, but..
"They're called guns. Demon world doesn't have them, because our energy is stronger, when utilized. These things fire little round chunks of metal that pierce the skin quicker than anything else, if you aren't careful."
"Guns?" The word was unfamiliar, but it sent a chill down her spine anyway. She wasn't a quick demon to begin with, and her injuries and sluggishness was no help. "Then you're definitely not going down there, Kyu. Come on, I know you're a warrior, and you look out for the people, but-"
"I'm not leaving them to die, Akari. Not on my list of things to do before I die."
"You can always come back with help."
The handle on the door suddenly moved, shaking madly before a fist was pounding on the metal. "Shorin, we have a situation! We need the two in there, now!"
"How much energy do you have, sweetheart?"
"Enough," she lied, taking a deep breath as the pounding fist continued, accompanied with more shouting. "Just a few outside, right?"
"Not.. exactly."
She glanced at the door and heaved a determined breath of air, her chest puffing out despite her broken ribs, her reopening wound across her collarbone. A smile came to her face despite the drugs she felt in her system, the sluggish pounding of her core telling her that she definitely wouldn't be running much. If she went out there, it'd be kill or be killed.
She'd never killed before.
"Be ready," before another word could be uttered, the door was pushed open and Kyu was crouched in front of Akari, pushing her back against the large equipment in the room.
"What are you doing? I'm fighting!"
"Warn the others!" A human yelled, and whistles began blowing.
"No, you're surviving."
He looked back at her, and Akari was quick to move him out of reach of the guard who swung a weapon that sizzled, officially placing herself in the midst of the humans. Shocking equipment was pressed to her skin, almost everywhere it felt like, and it jarred her, making her snarl and pull at the pair of hands holding her shoulders.
something wet and sticky hit her face here and there as Kyu swooped into the crowd of five or so, an arm wrapping around her waist as he hefted her from the ground, taking on a full sprint through the hallways. "You're. Going. Home."
She couldn't even respond.
But, before she knew it, several things had happened at once, and she was on the ground, blocking attacks and searching for Kyu, who was shouting at her from… somewhere.
"Get up! GO! Fight!"
Her body moved out of instinct, kicking feet out from under nearby humans before she was up and moving away, turning to look over her shoulder as she ran the direction he'd directed her. She caught a bright gaze, saw the last vestiges of a smile and even a few words, before Kyu was out of her sight.
In her sleep, Akari shifted uncomfortably, rolling over and giving a loud huff of discomfort. Nabu awoke and looked towards his best friend, watching her with a tilt of his head. Was it happening again? He wasn't sure.
Akari rounded another corner, trying not to look back to a scene that she'd already known of. He'd told her to go.
And she hadn't been able to help him.
She rounded another corner, running smack into another body. She fell, her mouth releasing a cry as broken ribs were jostled some more, and her rear hit the tile floor harder than she had thought possible.
In the next second, she was up and pinned to a wall, cheek pressing against the brick painfully and an arm twisted, wrist on the verge of snapping, as her arm was held at a very dangerous position up her spine. Words were shouted in her ear, but yellow dots were dancing across her vision.
A small sound of protest whispered past Akari's lips, barely audible.
Another second later, her head was slammed into the dark brick, much harder this time, and she felt a sticky wetness immediately form and fall down her cheek. "Just who I needed."
Her vision was completely clouded, one eye swollen and the other taken over with light at each painful movement or gesture the man who held her made. He peeled her from the wall and hastily, roughly, shoved her in the direction she was intended to go. She didn't protest much, but earned a stab to her hip, a needle injecting… something.
And her skin was on fire.
Another whimper. Nabu moved, getting closer to Akari's face and sniffing at her cheek, running his nose along her skin. "Akari, wake up."
Her will to fight was, at this moment, nonexistent. He directed her past many rooms, down several flights of stairs, until she was positively worn out from tears and pain, at which point she was tossed into a room very similar to the previous, aside from the fact that there was no lighting whatsoever.
"Good news, 253," an intercom came on, crackling overhead. "You've been promoted."
"..not 253," she grumbled in her sleep, expression twitching. Nabu licked at her face, earning a bat of the hand and her rolling over, turning her back onto him. It's 'kari."
Nabu frowned, his dark eyebrows pulling down over his eyes. This was new. She'd never spoken in her sleep before.
"You're now under special surveillance, a special guest here. You get a room all to yourself." The intercom crackled out, and for a moment, Akari thought she'd be granted a moment of peace.
But another sound… a… sizzling? No..
Her eyes reopened, or rather, one eye opened, and immediately the stinging began. The smell finally hit her, and she began coughing. Outside of her dream world, her coughs echoed those of her past self, small at first, before growing louder and more forceful. The gas was awful, whatever it was. She retched even, moving herself so that she was on her hands and knees, short hair tickling her nose.
Then she was being talked to, this time by a familiar demon.
Or at least, that's what the thick fumes made her think.
Akari curled into a tighter form, her knees to her stomach, not quite forming a ball. as the dream continued on, she continuously shifted about, mumbling, "leave me alone."
Of course, in that room, when the gasses had subsided, she had begun wishing that they hadn't. *
~!**!~
Youko took a deep breath of the night air, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand and gazing ruefully up at the full moon with golden eyes.
He wasn't sure when exactly the cycle of his change had synced up with the lunar cycle of Human World, but the thought did nothing to lessen his current mood.
Each time the change occurred, it lasted longer and longer, and this time the shift had started so early, Kurama had locked himself in his room just after dinner with his family.
And Youko felt nothing of the change reversing any time soon.
He kept walking down the block, knowing that any humans nearby would be unable to see his true form unless they had high enough senses for it, so he let himself remain unconcerned at the thought of being seen.
~!**!~
"Hiei," Shikiyoku piped up, "The city is over there."
By the time the pair passed the city gates, the daylight had given way to dusk and night was fast approaching. 3
Hiei continued moving, not looking down at Shikiyoku as she spoke up, pointing out what he'd already deduced. "No," was his lone reply, his feet never slowing as he continued on. After a little while more of running, Hiei became much more aware of the feeling in his core of being simply…
Tired.
But his mind and body were fine, so what was going on?
His feet slowed without him realizing it, settling back into a pace he'd used often in his life, just under his top speed. He almost considered pausing, but decided stopping wasn't an option, so he continued on.
~!**!~
"Akari?" Nabu whimpered quietly, nose brushing her cheek again and his tongue rolling over her nose. "You have to get up now. You're dreaming again."
She didn't so much as even move this time, and her breathing hitched for a second.
She sat in the corner of the room, back against the corner and knees up to her chest, arms encircling her shins and chin resting on her knees. Her darkened irises were trained forward, staring at what she knew to be an illusion of some kind, but she couldn't block it out. It wasn't an illusion made from energy.
"You're looking pathetic, sweetheart."
"You're dead, Kyu. Go away."
"You know you don't want to be alone. I mean, you do deserve to talk to me, after you left me to die like that."
She swallowed hard and turned her face away from him, her short curls bouncing around her face despite the general disgustingness of it all. "You told me to run."
"No, that's just what you told yourself." She didn't reply, to which earned her a loud laugh from the nonexistent demon. "See, even you know it. You're just too chicken shit to admit it to my face. Sweetheart, you're doomed, you're going to die, and-"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Akari abruptly turned in her sleep, her voice suddenly booming throughout the silence of the house, making Nabu cringe with ears pressed atop his head. "I know you need sleep, but I'm not going to leave you alone. Wake up, now, Akari!"
She shifted, growling as she curled into a ball tight enough that he couldn't see her face when he hopped over her to sit in front of her. Nabu hadn't ever had this much trouble before.
Kyu's laughter rang even louder. "That's not possible, sweetheart. You see, there's much you have to learn, about the world and the place you're stuck in. And I'm here to give each and every lesson. The first lesson: You're already alone. Your parents have stopped searching. Your supposed mate-"
"That was arranged, and you know it!"
"-doesn't give two shits about you. He just wanted the money. These people here? You're their toy." He paused, her tears grabbing his attention. A snort blew through his nostrils. "Those'll get you nowhere."
"Just leave," she grumbled, loud enough that even though her mouth was against her arm, Nabu could make out Akari's words clearly. He realized he wouldn't be able to shake her from this one. It was a whole new caliber, and his small body just wasn't enough, as proven when he jumped on her.
She didn't react to his pouncing along her shoulder.
Nor his loud bark.
Nor his snarl.
Nothing.
And he didn't know what to do, so Nabu sat there with ears flat and eyes watching, even as she again yelled for him to leave. *
~!**!~
Attempting to clear one's mind with the evening breeze did not prove possible when one's ears picked up most sounds within half a mile.
Youko's ears twitched, his nose doing the same, and he felt strange about the one voice he had inadvertently caught onto, his steps following the noise.
Female. Young. Possibly in some sort of trouble.
But why did he care?
In any case, his steps did not slow. Perhaps he simply desired to silence whatever interrupted his midnight reverie.
As he came closer, his nose picked up on a scent he knew well, and it was at that point he broke into a trot.
His ears did not often mislead him, and they did not do so here, allowing him to weave his way through the next several blocks without having to change direction.
When he arrived, not at a scene, but instead a rundown house, his interest piqued further and without hesitation he went inside, his ears twisting a little as more noises accosted him after crossing the threshold.
It only took seconds for him to locate the red-haired girl, and to assess that her dreams were haunting her, and for a moment, he only stood there, taking in her restless sleep.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku felt her teeth clench together at the stubbornness of the tone Hiei used on her.
"The reason there are cities is because the forests outside them are wrought with danger, flame-boy." Shikiyoku tried to sound as patient as possible, "You go through them so that you don't get caught by one of the traps of the living woods." 3
Hiei resisted the urge to scoff at Shikiyoku. He wielded flames. In a forest.
And creatures could be taken down with even the dumbest of strategies.
So, he ignored Shikiyoku and continued on anyway, expression blank as if her words hadn't been heard. He ran, the trees around him looking more like trees now that he was moving at a speed that allowed him to make sense of the shapes with anything other than his Jagan.
His Jagan, then, slid closed underneath the ribbon that had, somehow, withstood its power and stayed in place, hiding it from the world as his two eyes roved the quiet area.
Too quiet.
He wasn't surprised when he burst into a clearing and another creature burst from the opposite side, rearing its lion-like head, the snakes that served as a mane hissing loudly in response to the roar the creature let out.
It charged, and Hiei sighed, taking in the taloned toes and the scaled body. This wasn't a normal creature, but it didn't phase him much either. He simply shifted Shikiyoku into the embrace of only his left arm, pulling to a stop so when he fired his singular fireball-like attack, it wouldn't veer off course.
The creature paused, maw open as its black eyes glinted at the attack thrown at it.
The attack that it promptly caught from the air and consumed.
Then fired right back at him.
Hiei moved, quickly releasing Shikiyoku and bursting forward, sword drawn, slashing through the larger fireball and sending the flames scattering about in the air.
He would have continued, if the smell of smoke hadn't caught his attention. And it was as he looked down at the burning hem of his coat and pants that he realized his cloak had been left behind.
~!**!~
Nabu crouched at Akari's midsection, paws digging at the blanket beneath her and nose buried between her elbows and her stomach. "Akari, listen to me. I'm right here. Wake up, wake up!" He paused when he heard something move, a creaking of wood, and his head shot up to look over Akari's waist and up at-
"Flowers!" Nabu immediately sat up and trotted to the male standing at the door, promptly sitting on his rump at Youko's feet with ears laying down. "She won't wake up. Can you help?"
He didn't even look back at Akari as she continued mumbling, carrying on a conversation with… whoever it was she was talking to.
~!**!~
"I mean, I could go on for hours, but you seem to still be giving me the silent treatment, sweetheart. It's rather dull. At least look at me, so I know it's getting into that small brain of yours."
"253, your meal." the intercom suddenly crackled, but Akari didn't move. She merely kept her eyes buried in her arms, laying stretched out on the tile floor on her stomach. "253," the intercom repeated.
"Shut up," she grumbled.
"Aw, she actually spoke!" Kyu sang out, reaching a hand out and patting her back. "It's a start!"
"253, you are to report-"
"If you don't eat, they'll make you eat."
"I said, shut up."
"You think you're cute, sweetheart, but-"
"You have ten seconds, 253."
"-you're just-"
"ten,"
A very loud snarl sounded throughout the room, silencing both the intercom and the ghostly figure that was crouching over her. "Enough! I've had it!" She moved to sit up, darkened irises from lack of sleep and irrational emotions looking to the door. "Shut up, all of you! I'm not eating your drug-ridden food, I'm not answering to a number, and I'm not-"
The door opened and two men entered the room, wielding what looked to be sticks with handles, something she recognized even from demon world. She stood to meet their advances, fists ready to fight and a constant snarl leaving her lips. This was the second time this week that they'd felt the need to detain her. "You're going to sit down, and you're going to eat." the larger of the two demanded, batan at the ready for strike. "And you're going to quiet down, settle in-"
A sneer broke across her lips. "Too. Damn. Bad." she snarled out, moving across the room and simply throwing the pair to the ground. She would have continued on, if one hadn't grabbed her ankle and made her fall, earning a yelp of surprise. So she hadn't thought through her rebellion very well… *
~!**!~
Youko's eyes shifted from the female tossing and talking in her sleep to Nabu as the dog plopped down at his feet.
The fox squatted down and regarded the creature thoughtfully as it spoke to him.
"If you were unable to wake her," Youko commented, "It is unlikely I will be able to." His eyes turned to regard Akari's face more thoroughly. "And I think sleep is in fact what she needs now."
Without rising, Youko leaned forward and crawled the last few feet towards Akari's body, bending over her as his long silver hair began dropping over one shoulder.
He analyzed her face, seeing the dark circles there and realizing by both that and the dog's concern that these dreams, or perhaps nightmares, had been visiting her often of late. His tail twitched thoughtfully.
Youko sat back on his heels. It wasn't as if he carried remedies around for this sort of thing directly, but perhaps there was a mixture he could come up with to help Akari escape her terrors.
Withdrawing two or three roots and seeds from their hiding places, Youko let out a brief, cold scoff at his desire to help this female.
You're to blame for this irrational behavior, Red. He growled softly at his counterpart as he took the ingredients in his hand and mashed them together to form a sort of paste that he continued to knead in his palm.
It did not take much longer for the paste to take on a strange, almost crystallized form.
Demonic smelling salts. Hmph. Youko let out an irritated sigh as he leaned over Akari again and waved the crystal-like object briefly under her nose, gently rubbing his thumb alongside it so that it would release its scent into the air.
Knowing the effects would take a moment, Youko made himself comfortable, laying on his side and holding his head up with his free hand, the elbow planted below on the bed with his silver hair streaming out over that arm as he waited patiently while moving the 'salt' back and forth with his other hand just underneath her nose.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku stepped back a little once Hiei set her down, her expression flickering between satisfaction and irritation. The first at having her words vindicated, the second at suddenly finding herself cast aside like so much dead weight.
She wasn't exactly sure what had made Hiei stop instead of running past, perhaps he needed to burn off some steam, but seeing as how he apparently wished to handle the situation himself without asking for her assistance, she stood there, jacket of her dress in one hand with the other hand resting on her waist, the top of the dress now like a corset that revealed a part of her stomach before her pants took up at her hips.
Shikiyoku missed her cloak.
And by the smell of burning fabric, she would have bet anything Hiei missed his. She had to resist turning around right then and there to go get their things.
And that was one of my favorite outfits too. She regarded the burnt hems singed around Hiei's ankles with a tinge of sadness. 3
Hiei quickly grabbed hold of the coat he wore and shook it violently enough that the flames extinguished themselves, and his red eyes turned up to the creature with irritation. How was he supposed to replace such a thing he'd left behind? Also, this wasn't even his outfit to burn!
His ire became even more potent when the creature opened up its jaw to roar again, even releasing another attack.
So it can mimic.
He moved out of the way, deciding the less of this outfit that burned, the better he'd be. He charged, sword in tow, and simply struck the creature at its side, listening to the gleeful sound of the scaled skin ripping apart.
It roared and whirled, spinning a spiked tail at him that he easily dodged, deciding he wasn't as interested in this fight than he had initially been. So, he simply beheaded it before turning to Shikiyoku again, katana sheathed in a second's notice and, even though he was facing Shikiyoku, he wasn't looking at her.
Instead, he was looking at the burnt fabric with disdain.
"Let's move on."
~!**!~
Nabu trotted around Akari as well, moving until he was standing near her head, watching Flowers assess the situation despite his words. He felt slightly disappointed that the male wouldn't help wake her, but felt certain that he had something better.
Like he said, she needed sleep. Maybe he knew how to get rid of the dreams.
"They used to happen rarely. But, they're common now. Worse each time," he informed Youko, wondering if the demon's response to him earlier had been to his words or a simple inference.
Akari landed with practiced ease, catching herself with her hands as if she were readying to do push-ups, having conditioned herself for this moment in hopes of actually getting away. She rolled, but was pulled right back to where she'd been, her nails raking across the tile floor painfully as her stomach was dragged across as well. When she stopped moving, she rolled over and kicked at..
The air.
Another snarl as her arm moved to block the blow only the shadow had warned her about, covering her forehead and directing the baton to her elbow, where the wooden weapon hit and made her arm tingle, going numb from the force.
She would have made a grab for it were it not for the second baton that struck down, hitting her stomach and making her wheeze out a breath in response.
She took a deep breath, and a new smell just touched her nose. The scene seemed to pause for a moment as she looked around for the source, but in the next second, she was covering her face again, kicking out and fighting her way to her feet with one hand holding a baton, another throwing the human aside as if he were nothing but a toy.
Alarms and whistles began blowing somewhere outside the locked room, but the sounds were almost…
faded away.
She took another deep breath, and she found herself staring at the human who had been charging, frozen in time. The lights had paused mid-flash, and everything seemed to stop.
"What is that?"
She looked around the room, the smell stronger it seemed the longer she dwelled on it. And when she wandered the room, she found she could open the door and leave.
And the moment she did, the scene was gone, leaving her in a dark room filled with nothing whatsoever. Another deep breath that turned into a sigh of relief. She didn't have to deal with it anymore. She could simply sleep…
Except this darkness was not one of sleep, but as if she'd just entered a room with no windows, no light, nothing. Just a dark, empty room. And a small noise, unidentifiable, could be heard. Along with another person's breathing.
Akari felt herself actually rising from sleep, though she was completely unaware of her surroundings.*
Youko felt the stirring of the demon next to him, but this time it held a more restfulness than her movements from before.
To assure himself that these dreams would plague her no longer that night, Youko made no move to stop, though he did lower his arm just enough to let it rest gently on her own arm while he still let the smell of the salts invade her senses.
~!**!~
"You mean into the city?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, already sensing his answer to the negatory before he made it. "I completely agree." She took a step as if to head back in the direction of the gates anyway. 3
Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku, his brows drawing over his eyes and giving a look of complete irritation that was now actually meant for her. Persistent woman. He scoffed once. "Hn. Going back makes the trip longer. We're halfway around."
When she moved as if to go anyway, he simply stood there, contemplating his options. He could just swoop her up and continue on, but quite frankly, he didn't feel as if the struggle would be worth causing. "No cities. Period."
~!**!~
Akari shifted just a little, pausing at the feel of another's hand on her arm. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, and she had to blink once before her vision cleared to reveal the silver-haired demon look-alike. Twice he's helped out. No, three times.
Her eyes slid closed again and she offered a small smile as her body completely relaxed now, all tension leaving her as she fell back into the darkness of blissful sleep. *
Youko felt the release of Akari back into slumber, being unresponsive to the small smile with which she graced him as her eyes closed again.
He turned the salt over and over in his fingers, letting the night wear on around him and listening to the steady breathing of the demon sleeping next to him.
Feeling a tug at his core just as the sun was about to rise past the horizon, Youko took a moment longer to glance down at Akari's face, reaching over to move a bit of hair that had settled over her lips back behind her ear.
Slipping gracefully to his feet, Youko considered the salt in his hand thoughtfully.
As he left the house, he placed the object on a shelf close to the ground where Nabu would be able to retrieve it if necessary.
~!**!~
"Going back and then through the city is much safer than trekking forward. We know this way is generally safe," She gestured abstractly in the direction they came from, "And I can assure you that way," She motioned the direction he wished to go, "No matter what your speed, is not." 3
Hiei's brows drew closer together and he shifted his weight impatiently, refraining from making a begrudging sound. "Yes, because the last two cities worked out perfectly well," he countered, gesturing in the direction of the town they'd left Uryo behind in. "I rather enjoyed the legion of demons. and the townsfolk."
~!**!~
Akari's sleep after her brief awakening to greet the demon she assumed was Foko had been very relaxing, and much needed. Dreamless, peaceful. It was such a deep sleep that she hadn't moved an inch since her eyes had closed.
But still, when the sun rose enough to create streams of light through the boarded up windows, her mind was rising to consciousness and her eyes were sliding open, her internal alarm clock going off and forcing her awake.
She contemplated going back to sleep, but her eyes caught sight of the school uniform that was laid out on a desk, and she realized she'd been gone for quite some time. The work had to be piling up by now.
The sound of exasperation turned to a yawn as she stretched and rolled over. It'll still be there tomorrow…
Internally, she hit herself. That was the reason she hadn't gone already. She heaved another sigh of exasperation and simply… got up. She'd simply have to deal with it, and sleep when she got back. *
~!**!~
Shikiyoku glared across the way at Hiei, her jaw tightening as she remained silent to consider him.
"You know what? Fine." Shikiyoku tromped across the clearing in the direction Hiei wished to go, "We'll do it your way." She brushed past him without pausing, diving into the treeline, "Just don't expect me to not say 'I told you so.'" 3
Hiei felt no small amount of satisfaction that she finally relented, going the way he desired so as to avoid the ire-inducing cities. He completely ignored her last words, turning to follow after her, though keeping a short distance away from her simply out of precaution. Of what, he didn't know.
He was just glad they didn't have to deal with moronic demons this go-round.
~!**!~
Akari had gotten changed quickly, her hands rubbing at her face as she stood by the desk with her bag and belongings atop it necessary for school. SChool work…. Again, she was tempted to simply stay here and go back to sleep.
Instead, she willed herself to stuff the last book in the bag and heft it over her shoulder, turning and stepping over Nabu, who was stirring as she made her way out the door. "You're going to school?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about it Nabu. I'll be back before too long."
"But you didn't sleep enough."
"I'll be fine. Go back to sleep," she said to him before closing the door behind herself with a click of finality, turning and making the begrudging trek to school, rubbing at her face almost constantly. When she arrived at the campus, she was met with loud chatter within the hallways and inside the classrooms. Loud chatter that almost hurt her head as she walked into the open classroom, not looking around at the students just yet. *
Kurama sat quietly in his seat, staring blankly down at the pages of the book in front of him, absently turning the page every so often to maintain the charade that he was actually reading the thing, though the truth was his eyes saw nothing of it.
In truth, he had withdrawn deep into his own thoughts, getting impressions of the night before and Youko's excursions under the full moon.
~!**!~
This was not going to be an easy trek. Shikiyoku sighed disgruntledly. It had been a long time since she'd journeyed into this neck of the woods, and for good reason. Cuz it sucked.
She heard a sputtering, popping noise coming from an indiscernible direction until it passed underneath her feet, and she kept moving forward calmly as a spout of fire shot up out of the ground behind her, flaming for a few seconds before disappearing, then shooting up again closer to her.
The back and forth of Shikiyoku continuing to walk without pause and the spout firing up just at the place she left happened for several more steps before the noise died away, as did the flame.
Other spouts started to pop from different directions, lighting the area as they shot up into the air intermittently, seeming to have no rhyme or reason to them, but moving in a direction for a time by disappearing into the ground and then reappearing a little farther along. 3
Hiei followed along, his eyes on Shikiyoku's back calmly as his steps followed hers almost perfectly. And as he walked, there was an odd stirring within him, followed by a sound he didn't quite understand, and completed with a burst of fire that had him sidestepping rather quickly, frowning when the hem of the coat caught fire for the second time. He beat it out swiftly before continuing along, this time warily, each step careful as he watched flames spout from the ground in a steady stream before disappearing and seemingly appearing elsewhere.
He admired the formation, his eyes seeing the flames as if they were doing a dance all their own around him. Each sprout was part of another, and there were a couple that even seemed to shoot simultaneously, as if one and the same.
He paused in front of one that spat flames up at him, rolling up the sleeve of his right hand and waving his hand through the flames. It turned from the normal shade of orange to an angry red, as if reacting to something else, but it did not retreat from him. He toyed with the flame, using his energy to entrap some of the fire and holding it in his hand. He rolled it around and around his fingers, like a child would with a ball as he continued walking.
He hadn't been paying attention to anything but the fire, so when the creature underneath his feet stirred, he paid it no mind and continued walking. That is, until a loud shriek made even the leaves of the trees shake, and Hiei was being lifted into the air.
When he looked down at the creature, he realized he was standing on the snout of a creature that looked rather like a dragon, but was not actually such a thing. Before he had much more thought, he braced his knees as the creature tossed its head, and in a movement faster than he'd been expecting, he was enclosed in darkness and covered in a wet substance that caused him to slip.
Being eaten by a creature: check.
~!**!~
Akari strolled into the room after a brief hesitation, her eyes finding her homeroom teacher at his desk, red pen in hand and eyes occasionally looking up, obviously beginning roll call early, without actually calling for the students.
"Akari…" the man uttered her name and looked up, pen paused as his eyes scanned the room. She was quick to approach while she had the chance, taking to standing in front of his desk and blocking his view. "Ah! There you are! You've missed quite a few lessons, Hanase."
She nodded once, expression genuinely apologetic despite her begrudging emotions of being present. "Yes sir, I apologize."
"Don't apologize. You'll just catch up, like everyone else. Though, you may be subjected to after school tutoring too, for the hours you need to make up." He paused and looked up to meet her gaze finally, his brows furrowing slightly. "We're going over something new today, so you've come in at the best possible time." He paused, eyeing her for a moment. "How are you feeling?"
She raised a brow. He simply assumed she'd been sick? "I've had better days, sir," she replied honestly, but gave a shrug. "Part of life, hm?" she finished as she turned to leave him to his roll call, finding that her normal seat had been taken and the only open one was-
Of course.
She heaved a sigh and moved through the room, taking the seat in front of Kurama without so much as looking at the redhead. She couldn't bring herself to do so, when the memory of their last encounter was flooding her mind suddenly. *
Kurama's ears perked at the mention of her name, and upon hearing her speak, he did glance up a little, just enough to see that she had in fact come to class today. He took note of her consternation as she slid into the seat in front of him, and did not, as a result, say anything.
~!**!~
At the rumbling of the ground, Shikiyoku dodged forward and whipped around in time to see the giant fire worm snap its jaws shut around Hiei, then turn down to her.
Immediately, Shikiyoku's energy flared up in the darkness of the night, her green eyes shimmering as she frowned at the beast.
"That's my Champion you've decided to snack on. And if you know what's good for you, you'll cough him up." Shikiyoku told it.
The fire worm lowered its large, strange snout towards her, pressing it against the front of her in a hard nudge that nearly knocked her off her feet before she could raise a hand up to rest against it and push it away as flames shot up out of its nostrils.
"Open up." She ordered, batting it firmly with her palm between the spurts of flame.
The maw began to open, but before Shikiyoku could peer down to see what had happened to Hiei, another worm shot out of the ground next to her, jaws apart and snatching her within them, closing her in darkness as it dove back deep under the forest floor once more. 3
Hiei slid along the tongue of the creature and down to the back of its mouth, then promptly down the throat. He growled to himself, his feet and a single hand trying to get a hold on the sides of the slippery walls of the throat, but having no luck.
And he did not want to find out how potent the stomach acid was.
A hand quickly unsheathed his katana, and a brief moment later, he speared his sword into the creature's throat. Almost immediately, he stopped moving, the sword as an anchor working out just as planned, despite how the walls contracted with the screeching the creature was now releasing.
He looked up, and found that he could just make out a little light from the outside world. He hadn't fallen as far as he thought he had.
Hiei reached up with his second hand to hold onto the hilt of his katana as his body moved with the thrashing of the creature, knowing this was going to be a difficult feat if he decided to-
Fool. he called himself, scoffing at his own ridiculous stupidity. Why try to slice away from the inside, when he could just burn it from the inside out?
With that thought, he produced just about as much flame as he could muster, and allowed it to move as it pleased through the creature's body.
It would only be a matter of time now.
~!**!~
Akari leaned an elbow onto the desk and rested her chin in her hand, causing her long curls to fall over her right shoulder as she leaned into her lazy poise. She let her eyes slide close and tried to push away the emotions that had stirred, the confusion and the embarrassment, among a few others she had yet to explore. It was even harder to push away the warmth she felt creeping up her neck, finding herself glad that her hair would hide this from the male behind her, whose green eyes could be watching her at this very moment.
Smirking.
Asshole.
She shifted in her chair so that her ankles were crossed beneath the seat, eyes sliding open again as the brown-haired girl in front of her turned around, regarding her with a welcoming smile. "Good to see you back. Gym class has been boring without your…. moments."
Akari raised a brow. Right. Dodgeball and stuff. She shrugged once at the girl, who smiled knowingly. After all, not many kids got away with throwing a ball into another's face. It just so happened that the gym teacher hadn't been paying attention, and half the class hadn't liked the girl anyway.
"You playing today? Volleyball."
"Not sure," she replied honestly with another shrug, her eyes turning to the side as she considered at least greeting Kurama.
And again, she was met with the tingling of her lips, the strain of her abdomen as she shifted, and the mental image of him leaning much too close into her space, and promptly shot the idea down.
Asshole. *
Something...something about...Akari?
Kurama tried not to wince down at his book, frustrated with his counterpart and whatever memories they were not sharing at the moment. There were moments like this when he could not readily recall things the fox had been through, and the changes during the full moon only appeared to make things worse.
~!**!~
"You're not swallowing me." Shikiyoku announced, seated on the tongue of the worm as she was.
Cross-legged, arms folded over her chest, she could practically feel the veins in her forehead pulsing with irritation as her eyebrow quirked in time with it.
She could feel the rapid movement of the beast as it burrowed around.
A spout of flame, then two, shot up from its belly to exit through its nostrils, singing part of the hair that had fallen from Shikiyoku's formerly formal do. Not so much anymore.
"And you can stop that nonsense right now." She growled, reaching up to pinch out a flame that danced at the end of a twist of her hair.
There was no point in ordering it to open its mouth at the moment, since she would simply be pushed down by the soil it would be forced to consume, and so instead she started radiating her energy outward in defiant pulses, fully intending to take control of the thing once enough power permeated its senses. 3
Hiei watched the flames move about through the throat, then down and away from himself, a lick of fire even going up the back of the throat. He felt the night air being sucked in desperately by the creature, and sneered as he sent more fire up.
After a while, he decided it simply wasn't enough, and completely engulfed himself in flames. They swirled angrily in the small space, moving at his will and simply hugging the sides of the throat. The walls contracted, momentarily leaving Hiei in a space much smaller than comfortable, and in the next moment, a stench met his nose and he was looking down.
He wrinkled his nose, and after taking a deep breath in, relinquished his katana from the creature's throat, allowing the creature to quite literally spit him up, along with other chunky objects and a stench to rival almost anything, even Human World.
He sat on the ground, covered in bile and utterly disgusted. One way to get it done. He wiped his eyes clear and turned to glare at the creature that burrowed into the ground. When it was out of his sight, the fire demon moved to stand, looking down at himself with an expression filled with disgust.
At least Shikiyoku wasn't here to-
Shikiyoku wasn't here.
Hiei's mind jolted, just like the rest of his body, and the fire demon spun around on the spot, searching for any sign of her. None. He turned inwards for the bond, only to find it was pulsating angrily within his mind, almost like a headache. He quickly accessed his third eye and followed the connection, making mental contact after a few moments. "Where are you?"
~!**!~
"Well, if you do play, I'm a team captain, and would enjoy showing you how to play, since I know where you come from, there weren't many sports." Akari nodded at the girl in front of her, thankful for the distraction from her inner musings and briefly recalling her own made-up story of where she'd transferred from.
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Okay class, listen up. Listen!" The teacher clapped his hands twice, making the room go silent quickly thereafter. "Today, we're starting a new unit on herbs and their effects in medicine. I have a project for you-" the class erupted into talk as students turned to one another, "-BUT, your partners are pre-decided by yours truly. No groaning, mister Castillo!" A kid in the back immediately hushed, and several kids laughed, even Akari giving a small smile.
Maybe this was what she needed.
"They will be groups of two, since Toriko is still out sick." He gave a pause to consult the paper in his hands. "Now, the groups are as follows…"
Akari didn't really listen as the biology teacher went on naming pairs of students. Her eyes wandered to the window and around the room in thought, hoping she'd be stuck with someone who wasn't a problem and wouldn't-
"Akari and Shuichi. That's it."
Akari's ears twitched at her name, but her expression and mood immediately soured. It took everything in her power not to slink down in her chair, and it took even more control to recompose herself before the teacher met her gaze. "This project is simple. You're going to come up with a home remedy. For anything. No drug usage, okay? Don't get me fired. That's the only rule." He looked down at his watch. "You have today to decide on what you're going to go for, and tomorrow you will be working on creating your remedy. You'll make three different forms of whatever it is you decide to go for, just in case. We'll present them to the class on Friday, understand?" There was a pause. "Okay, get started." *
At the mention of Toriko, Kurama's thoughts strayed again as his eyes moved to the seat she normally took before taking a sort of faraway expression.
Koenma had been quiet on the subject, so Kurama knew something had to be up, as not only was the girl gone, but so too had Hiei disappeared along with her. Any comfort Kurama took from both of them missing remained solely in the fact that they were together, and hopefully able to keep one another out of trouble…
~!**!~
Shikiyoku's jaw clenched together again as a thick drop of saliva fell from the roof the worm's mouth and enveloped her bare shoulder in its strange stickiness.
Not that it would have done her much good, but the jostle from being snatched had caused the jacket from the gown to go tumbling down the throat of the beast.
The she-demon wanted nothing more than the hot springs of the valley to bathe in at that moment, not to mention a nice change of clo-
"Where are you?"
The question echoed in her mind as she continued radiating power outwards.
"Take a guess." Shikiyoku replied archly. 3
Hiei stood in the middle of the small clearing, eyes roving until he received an answer, and it made it much easier to locate her, as if a radar suddenly popped up and he was able to move to the exact spot she was supposed to be. Except…
His eyes went downwards and he frowned at the soil. He didn't know just how far down she was, but he was sure that simply attempting to-
The ground moved. Not where he was standing, but nearby, and Hiei was turning to see several of the same creature rearing up from the ground, each one spouting flames from its nostrils at different times. The sound that filled the air made his brows furrow over his eyes.
Oh. That's where it comes from.
He glanced down at the soil in which he stood, realizing that if Shikiyoku had time to be mad, she wasn't in danger at the moment. He unsheathed his katana as four of the worms looked down at him simultaneously, the flames from their nostrils dark and angry.
"It might be a minute," he sent before the creatures lunged at him, moving just fast enough that at his top speed, Hiei was keeping up with equal speed, running along their bodies and thinking of different ways to end this quickly.
~!**!~
Akari's eyes watched the teacher settle into his desk before they turned to the girl in front of her, who again turned around to her briefly with a smile. "Lucky, you get the smart one. I get the slacker."
Akari sighed, "Good luck."
Of course, she figured the groups were picked that way, where the smartest in the room were paired with kids who needed a nudge of help. In Akari's case, she assumed it was because she was behind.
After a moment, she turned around in her seat, leaning her right elbow on Kurama's desk and resting her chin in her hand again, crossing her left leg over her right knee calmly. "Alright, mister herbals, you decide." she said, not looking at the redhead, instead her eyes remaining facing the way her body was, staring at the opposite wall in an almost bored fashion. Let's get this over with. *
Kurama stared blankly at Akari's profile for a moment, his brain going back and replaying every word spoken since he became lost in his thoughts of Toriko and Hiei.
He thought of several 'home remedies' that he would like to create, namely one that would let he and his counterpart merge together, but instead of answering her, he lifted a hand up to cover his mouth and stifle a yawn.
There had been no sleep for him last night.
"You have no ideas of your own?" He asked lightly.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku let out a low growl that resonated in the mouth chamber where she sat.
A pass of hot air fluttered over Shikiyoku's skin, as if the worm resisted allowing more flames to shoot out of its nostrils as she had asked it do to.
She could feel her energy brushing up against the sides of the beast and extending outwards.
Eye contact was going to be a no-go here.
Standing up carefully, to avoid getting pitched down the black hole of a throat, Shikiyoku reluctantly put her hand against the edges of the teeth to her right and started walking along the tongue to the front of the fire worm's mouth.
"Up." She ordered simply, the word echoing around her.
The worm began to shift, its tongue arching to prevent her from falling backwards.
On the outside world, the fire worm burst from the soil into a stand much like a cobra, and when it opened its mouth at another command from Shikiyoku, she easily hopped out and landed on the forest floor.
The worm immediately lowered most of its body back into the earth, but nudged at her again with its snout at which she growled angrily, another pulse of her energy radiating into the air.
At her reappearance, three of the nearest fire worms also pulled their heads from the ground and started making strange gurgling noises as they surrounded her, butting at her with the tips of their noses.
"Stop it!" Shikiyoku snarled, a wave of irritated energy bursting out from her again and only further encouraging the worms, who knocked her off of her feet. As she sat cross-legged on the ground with her arms woven together over her chest, they began sniffing at her, blowing her hair this way and that with the warm breath from their noses.
"Are you quite finished?" She growled again, glaring at one of them.
It snorted an arc of flame at her, promptly setting the remains of a red slipper aflame.
Shikiyoku let out a huff of an exasperated sigh and dug the foot into the dirt to put it out.
"Go away." She mumbled with less force than before.
The fire worm whom she had made contact with opened its mouth and started to hang its tongue out towards her.
Shikiyoku scrambled backwards, hurriedly stammering as she did so, but finding that she ran into the body of another worm, "Don't even think abou-"
It licked her, then pulled back with an excited expression.
Shikiyoku couldn't help the shiver that erupted down her entire body as she tried not to gag.
"You're. Absolutely. Disgusting." Shikiyoku felt another pulse of energy leaving her as she desperately wished these creatures would go away.
The fire worm simply snorted another burst of flame in her direction, and Shikiyoku didn't even bother putting out the fire as it caught her pants at the ankle. 3
The noises of the fire worms as they move under the ground, that is the spurts of flame they breathe, are a direct reference to the flamey spurts that are in the Fire Swamp within the movie The Princess Bride.
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star