A/N: Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!
Onwards!
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!
Foko continued distracting Akari from sleep via conversation.
The next day, Akari goes back to the park, still trying to avoid slumber,
and runs into another demon while there.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku spends her time resting in the medicinal tent,
and the next day Hiei goes on a hunting expedition with members of Shubou's tribe.
They bring back a good haul, which means the eating will be good at the celebration that night,
and Hiei returns to the medical tent to Shikiyoku and the lur'mog,
the latter of whom has on several occasions attempted to communicate something or other
via a big show of leaves, doing so once again upon Hiei's return...
When the lur'mog noticed that Hiei sat down, he started chattering excitedly again, lifting up the leaf for Hiei to look at and leaving Shikiyoku blinking questioningly at his actions.
"Do you have any idea what he's going on about?" Shikiyoku asked curiously, started to pet gently at the creature again. He started intermittently relaxing, eyes going half-lidded and making purring noises, before appearing to remember the 'urgency' of the leaf and raising his body tall again to make a couple of chortles at Hiei and lift the leaf. 3
Hiei got comfortable easily, legs stretched out in front of himself, leaning his back against a shelf that was placed here for medical means he supposed. One leg moved so that it was bent at the knee, where his right elbow rested lazily to let his wrist dangle over his knee.
At Shikiyoku's question, Hiei finally turned to notice the lur'mog's chattering and its gestures, eyeing the creature for a moment in thought. He had assumed something earlier before, but without being one hundred percent sure, he didn't act on it.
"Not really." He responded honestly, watching the creature with a blank expression. "I don't speak creature."
~!**!~
Akari stared at the demon's face, memorizing the color of his neon yellow eyes, the shape of his twisting, pointed horns at the side of his head, his pointed ears, his white hair. She didn't answer his question. She didn't feel it was an actual question, rather a rhetorical statement.
He picked up on her observations and sneered, proceeding to turn and leave. "If you ever decide to hold a real conversation, love, come find me."
She reacted a second after he'd taken his steps, reaching out and taking hold of his arm and spinning him around to face her, expression daring him to challenge her.
And he did. His eyes narrowed, his pupils going smaller and much more pointed, like an angry snake's would, and he bared his pointed teeth. All three rows of them. "Release me."
Akari's energy began to move about as she smelled his breath, reeking of human flesh and blood. It was her job, after all, to clean up the messes.
But her energy didn't get far before it snapped back to her core, a reaction to the strike that was aimed at her, dagger in hand, just grazing her cheek due to the slight delay in reaction from his movements. He was no longer joking or jovial, but feral, angry. She'd imposed, and he wasn't one to beat around the bush.
She realized this as she backed away, the blade just gliding across the skin of her stomach and causing it to sting, then burn as it raked across her almost completely healed wound from Kurama. She blinked and hopped further away, only to have the ground beneath her shift, move with a thunderous, earthquake-like sound.
And in the next moment, she was in the air, avoiding to larger rocks by hopping up and landing on the two, avoiding being crushed between them almost as if she were wide awake. Her senses were on high alert, or so it seemed, and she was dropping to the ground.
Or, maybe the ground was rising to her.
Her eyes widened as a large section of the soil moved, and then shot up at a pace she couldn't avoid, slamming into her body and sending her soaring through the air, and into another section of rock that had appeared from, quite literally it seemed, nowhere.
She hit the soil this time on her stomach, and was moving away from the demon who charged at her, sneering as she scrambled to stand. Trees. Higher ground.
She blocked the arm that held the knife before jumping away, and again, she found herself rocketing into the air on a platform, this time another section shooting from behind her. She turned in time for it to strike her stomach, sending her, again, soaring through the air and into a tree.
She hit the bark at one of the highest branches, then proceeded to tumble from branch to branch, until a branch large enough to hold her caught her body, leaving her arms and legs dangling over the sides and her chin on the bark.
She hadn't had any time to discern anything that had happened. All she knew was that, one, the ground moved now and two, she was in a tree. Too high into the tree. Three, she tasted blood and felt it dripping down her chin and over the branch. Four, she hurt.
She took a deep breath and moved herself so that she straddled the branch, both hands keeping herself balanced while she attempted to move her feet up so she could stand on the branch.
She hadn't even seen the rock that soared, throwing her from the tree and a few feet from its base, making her skid and roll across the ground.
"You know, before you challenge someone, you should make sure you can win first, love." the demon growled, his foot coming into view in front of her face. Next, his knee was in her eyesight as he crouched down, a hand touching her head, and after a moment's hesitation, petting her hair. "You picked the wrong day to fight me," he whispered, hand grabbing her hair and pulling, earning a grunt as he stood and forced her to do so as well.
She growled, her energy now pulsating around her with the close quarters, reaching out and slithering around him in the form of dark ribbons. "Too bad," she began in a tired whisper, "you didn't give me a chance to play along."
Her shadows moved, going through the demon now in shadowy forms that almost resembled sharp icicles, causing his skin to drain of color and a look of pain to strike his face, wincing. He coughed, the continuous strike on his core making blood fall from his lips as well.
And he reacted as she'd figured he would: Using whatever power he had to make a platform below her, and throw her away from him again and into another formation of rock he'd created. And again, he was throwing her into the tallest tree, and knocking her from it, then throwing her again with a snarl as she landed on the ground again.
When she didn't move again immediately, a voice echoed in her mind. You're not giving up already, are you sweetheat? Akari didn't respond, knowing the voice was nothing more than her imagination. Come now, you're better than that. I didn't die for nothing, you know.
She took a deep breath and let her eyes slide closed, spitting out the blood she tasted even more now as his feet approached again, his hand once more grabbing hold of her hair and lifting her. "I've had enough of you, love." *
"Kaido, our meeting was scheduled for twenty minutes ago." Foko's voice cut across the air to where the demon held Akari up. "Is this what you have wasted my time with doing?"
The silver-haired kitsune stood still well within a hundred feet of the scene now, arms crossed, the air blowing his tail and hair with the wind.
His pose seemed relaxed enough, but his eyes were cold, golden pinpricks of light, narrowed at the demon across the way.
~!**!~
The lur'mog stopped in mid-purr abruptly and turned to glare at Hiei, clawed paws grasping tightly at the leaf as he snapped his mouth shut impetuously and let out a high-pitched growl, a sound that had Shikiyoku withdrawing her hand back from the beast just a touch as a precautionary and raising her eyebrows at it.
She hadn't heard him make such a noise before.
The growl faded just as quickly as it had started and the lur'mog tromped off of Shikiyoku's chest, throwing the leaf defiantly upon Hiei's leg with an angrily flourish, and plopping down onto the rugs.
He looked first at one arm, then the other, reaching over and beginning to scratch vigorously at his left forearm with the claws of his right paw. 3
Hiei paused, raising a brow at the lur'mog's tantrum with an almost amused glint in his eye before he recovered and decided to elaborate. "I only speak to my dragon." he said slowly, glancing at Shikiyoku for a moment. "It's the only creature I can communicate with."
He went quiet again, shifting his weight so that his spine didn't dig into the wooden shelves he was leaning against. His eyes slid closed, more to help himself relax than to intend sleep.
~!**!~
Akari felt the pause of the demon lifting her up, and, now on her knees, Akari slid open a single eye in a wince from the pain of being held by the hair, something that was beginning to make her energy swirl angrily, her core move with self preservation. She had yet to see the cause of his pause.
"Yoko," the demon greeted, tone one of surprise. "I was on my way, you see, but as I'm sure you can see, I ran into a problem. A persistent little pest-"
"Sweetheart, now's your chance."
Akari's eye glanced to the left, noting the demon that stood there with a brief moment of surprise. If it weren't for the pain throbbing in her chest and her lungs, she would have gasped in surprise.
"What are you waiting for?!" He looked extremely out of place, lacking in color as he was.
Akari turned her glare up to the demon was was holding her, and her hand moved, grabbing at his wrist.
"-I was working on getting rid of. A lackey of higher powers, to be sure." He adjusted his hold, pulling her up further and onto her feet. "Just another moment wouldn't hurt, hm?"
Akari growled, mind still not registering the newcomer as she made a grab for the demon's wrist, whose eyes shot to her. He released her hair, sending her flying via platform again, for the fourth time landing amongst the tree branches, this time falling from the top and all the way back to the ground, nothing breaking her fall. *
"So, it has taken you twenty minutes to get this far with her?" Foko began walking in Kaido's direction, "Twenty minutes that you've kept me waiting? For this nonsense?" Foko scoffed derisively, smelling now the scent of the humans Kaido had likely feasted on and what had actually forced Foko to wait.
"You will waste no one's time ever again." Foko waved a hand in Kaido's direction, the ground underneath him erupting with plantlife that not only came up around him, but also burst through his feet and all the way up his entire body, enveloping the demon in a gorgeously vibrant coffin, and then pulling back down into the earth, leaving no trace of the body behind save for a smattering of blood on the grass.
Moving quickly now, Foko broke into a trot to close the distance between himself and Akari, dropping to his knees and pulling her into his lap, turning her up so that she faced him and moving her hair from her face solemnly.
~!**!~
Night had fallen outside, and still the lur'mog sat, fastidiously clawing at his other arm, occasionally lifting it up to examine it, and then going back to work.
He had by this time, gotten beyond the first layer of scales to the second, working on delving past that to his actual skin, but both Shikiyoku and Hiei had fallen asleep by this time and he glanced up at the both of them impatiently.
Throwing aside his clawing attempts, the lur'mog took to gnawing on the arm, chewing through the last layer much faster than the claw-work he had been doing, and finally piercing his own dark pink skin with a fang.
Huffing slightly, the lur'mog took a single claw and dragged it down the length of his forearm, one eye blinking and then the other in the moment of pain, until dark purple blood began to lift from the wound.
He only gave a small peep of discomfort at the sensation before dashing to Hiei's shoulder, putting his uninjured paw on the fire demon's ear and nudging gently at his face, making soft thrumming noises in his throat, cautiously opening his mouth and delicately taking the skin of Hiei's ear in his teeth and moving it back and forth without piercing it. 3
Hiei stretched languidly in his sleep, moving only his arms and legs, stretching his back until it popped, at which point he shifted back down into his comfortable resting position and took a deep breath in his dreamless sleep. He was comfortable again when something bothered him, something pulling at his attention.
He shifted his head, a hand batting the air near his face as if swatting a fly. Again, something disturbed his sleep, and finally, he awoke just enough to slide an eye open.
And the sensation of something biting at his ear had him moving rapidly, a hand shooting to whatever was disturbing his sleep. Though he sensed no danger, the sensation that had been induced was not a welcome one, so when he looked to the lur'mog, he made a sound of impatience.
"You're thinning your lifespan."
~!**!~
Akari heaved a deep breath when she was able to breath again, her head ringing with the pain that berated her entire being. She hadn't been thrown around like that ever, not even when Yusuke had taken an attempt at her life.
Okay, maybe that wasn't true. But as tired as she was, it sure did feel that way.
"You missed your only chance, sweetheart. Someone else has ended it for you."
She glanced over at the feet of Kyu, who unceremoniously dropped to the ground, laying on his stomach beside her with a smirk of amusement. "It's been a while, hm? You've grown, though I can't say you're any smarter."
She heaved a great sigh and made to push herself up, only for a pair of hands to suddenly be handling her. Panic made her react and reach out, taking hold of one of the wrists with a grip that would have broken a human's bones.
She looked up at a familiar face now, and the relief flooded her enough that her body stayed entirely still with the transition. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she closed it again and let her eyes slide to stare up at the heavens. I hate this.
"Hm. New lover?" With Kyu standing over Foko now, it reminded her that she'd once been colorblind, before Doctor had fixed that. The difference between the illusion of the black, white, and gray-hued demon and the Kitsune leaning over her was… strange, to say the least. *
"Try not to move, inu." Foko breathed, starting to gently check her bones for breakage and meanwhile watching her expression for any discomfort he might find.
~!**!~
Seeing that he had Hiei's attention for the moment, the lur'mog hopped down to the fire demon's thigh and held his injured limb up, making for certain Hiei saw it bleeding.
He disappeared into the night at a dash, and did not reappear for several minutes.
When he returned, to the same thigh he had been on, the lur'mog hopped up and down, bouncing from one foot to the other and showing that the arm was no longer bleeding, the scales grown back over the wound and the skin appearing like new. 3
Hiei stared at the limb that the lur'mog presented to him, an unamused stare piercing the air where the creature had been a moment before, now gone. He waited, knowing there was a point to this, knowing there was something it wished to get across.
When it reappeared, hopping about and presenting a healing wound, he stared as patiently as he could muster, not happy with being wakened.
"Get to the point," he grumbled, still not amused and not even close to understanding due to his fogginess.
~!**!~
"Definitely a lover."
Akari sighed as her hand dropped from Foko's wrist, landing on the grass with a thud as she'd had no energy to slow the motion. I'm tired, and this hurts. Another sigh and she realized Foko was poking and prodding, his hands methodically searching for places that-
She winced.
Places like that. "That hurts," she grumbled, eyes moving down to her throbbing ribcage. She hadn't thought anything had broken.. Maybe her tolerance for pain was higher than she'd thought.
Or maybe it was dulled.
"How about this?" Akari winced again as Kyu prodded a forming bruise on her shoulder, then sighed at her. "You're just like you used to be, Akari. The only difference is now you've got someone watching over you for me. Maybe you'll be smarter this time when the time comes to decide how to help them when they need it. Maybe you won't run off."
Another sigh, this time exasperated. "You come in at the most convenient of times, you know that?" she grumbled, the comment aimed at both demons, Kyu for keeping her mind wandering and Foko for… well, everything. *
"Consider that convenience my gift to you." Foko replied half-seriously.
He produced a leaf from somewhere that he held out at Akari's lips in a gesture that indicated she was to eat it.
"To help with the pain, inu." He explained, going back to searching the rest of her for injury, movements methodical and his eyes deep in concentration.
~!**!~
The lur'mog made a sound that had he been human or demon would have equated to a huff of exasperation.
He turned and stomped over to the leaf he had discarded earlier, waving it at Hiei again once he picked it up, and then hopped to Shikiyoku's bandaged knee, placing the paw that did not hold the leaf on it, staring at the wrap, then at the leaf and his formerly injured paw, which glistened as if wet, then up to Hiei.
He disappeared again and was at the door of the tent, hopping up and down, chittering excitedly, then reappeared at Hiei's singed pant-leg and started to pull at it towards the tent flaps, losing grip and plopping down on his rear, but just as quickly chortling again and standing back up to continue tugging as hard as he could manage, the leaf in his grasp and waving about as he did so. 3
Hiei watched the creature pull at his pant leg, gesturing to follow before again waving the leaf. He gave an expression that matched the sound the lur'mog had made a moment ago before he climbed to his feet silently, looking back at Shikiyoku once as he turned, waving the lur'mog forward in a gesture of "go, I'm coming."
He thought over the gestures, blinking at the creature. He assumed that the leaf was to act as a medicine, but what threw him off was the fact that the lur'mog continuously turned and left, as if something else was important to the matter.
"I'm coming," he grumbled finally, steps following the lur'mog as he'd said he would.
~!**!~
"Oh, that one's bruising bad too, 'kari. A knot on the knee sucks, you'll find out. Does it hurt?" Akari glared up at Kyu as he moved to stand over her, leaning over so that his face was seen just beyond Foko's. Now he was being an annoyance, prodding at her the way he was. "What, you were the one who said no sleep." The black and white image of Kyu was almost cartoon-like.
Akari took the leaf between her teeth that Foko offered, her eyes turning to watch his focused gaze as he continued poking and prodding gently, methodically. But, really, she just hurt. Everywhere. There was no discerning one pain from the other, so occasionally she'd wince from her own breathing, and occasionally she'd wince from his prodding of a bruising area or something similar.
"Thank you," she mumbled around the leaf just before swallowing it.
"No problem, sweetheart."
It took everything in her power not to groan at Kyu. Not you, jerk.
"Don't be cold. I'm helping too, and I have to say, this demon is transfixed. You sure you want to get mixed up in it?"
None of your business. *
"Nothing broken." Foko decided in the end, "Though he did a number on your ribs. Would you like to sit up?" His eyes glanced at a tree nearby as he considered just picking her up and moving her over there, but he turned his golden eyes back down to her face, patiently awaiting her response, though his gaze gave away nothing of his current thoughts.
~!**!~
The lur'mog led the way much like he had tried to lead Hiei back to camp the first time. Once out of the tent flaps, he immediately went for the forest, heading in a direction that neither led back to the city they had passed, nor forward where they were meant to go, and it did not take them towards the burnt clearing Hiei had left earlier.
He would stop and go, keeping just within sight of the fire demon, but bouncing on his feet each time he had to stop moving, as if his body almost couldn't stand to be still for any amount of time.
Their path remained unhindered by denizens of the forest, though the night sounds around them made enough ruckus that even the loud revelry of the feast back at the tribe's camp was quickly drowned out.
All at once, he reached a break in the trees some forty or fifty miles later that opened up to a small clearing where a pond of water sat silently, surrounded by the dark red trees that overhung it with their roof of branches, creating a private, serene area. Any of the noises of the night came nowhere near this point, as obvious by the fact that they were so far away that they almost couldn't be heard.
It gave the pond a mystic feel, and the lur'mog chattered excitedly at the water's edge, the distance from one side to the other perhaps half, if not less that, of the hot springs in the blackened mountains of Shikiyoku's 'home,' and looking to be only as deep as three or four feet. A small spring at the back fed the pond, its flow just trickling enough to be heard on the other side.
The waters reflected the trees that hung quietly overhead, the leaves whispering in a small breeze that picked up, and the lur'mog turned, rushing up to the ankle Hiei had wrapped earlier and giving it a strange little hug, wrapping both his front paws and his tail around it, staring back at the water, and getting all excited again. 3
Hiei had followed as he'd promised, through the trees and through the forestry until he was standing in an open little area where a pond stood, its calm surface undisturbed by anything. The area was quiet, peaceful, as if sacred ground.
It clicked then, and as the lur'mog tugged and pulled at Hiei's ankle, the fire demon reached down to peel him from the injured ankle, then continue walking forward, standing at the water's edge and staring down at the calm, dark surface.
"This heals?" he inquired incredulously, having never heard of such a thing. His eyes turned to the lur'mog, setting the creature down on the ground again, taking to simply crouching by the water's edge now to inspect it further, curious.
~!**!~
Akari breathed out in relief, ignoring the bark of a laugh from the demon looking on overhead. At Foko's question, she merely shifted her weight and began slowly pushing herself up to sit, right arm on the ground to push up with, the other stretched ahead as if to grab something to pull with.
Which turned into Kyu pulling her arm calmly until she was sitting up, head bowed as she gritted her teeth, her ribs causing more pain now that she was aware of the tenderness. "You'll be fine, sweetheart. Just some rest will do and-"
Akari huffed harshly at the male, shutting him up quickly before she leaned forward some more, intending to stand. "You know, you've helped a lot as of late," Akari began, speaking to Foko without looking at him, "and I have no idea how to repay you." *
Foko stayed where he was knelt next to her as Akari rose, golden gaze becoming thoughtful as he shifted until he sat down fully, legs bent at the knees towards him with one raised that he rested a single arm over, watching her closely to make sure she did not fall.
"Well, I could be brazen and admit to wishing for a kiss," Foko's face broke out into a smile, "But I would be remiss in not simply stating that your presence is payment enough, inu."
~!**!~
Once Hiei spoke, the lur'mog hopped back and forth again where the fire demon had put him down, paws clasping together.
Intending to further prove the statement, the lur'mog disappeared, dashing off faster than it had before in its life, and reappeared twenty or thirty seconds later with a blackened leaf from the burnt grove.
Delicately prancing forward, the lur'mog dipped the leaf into the water until the plant was completely submerged, and chattered as the blackened portions appeared to molt away into ashes in the water, leaving behind a pristine green leaf which the lur'mog took out and waved around, also miming placing the formerly injured limb he had in and out of the water as well.
The "ashes" of the leaf polluted the clear water for a while, but eventually seemed to disappear, perhaps cleansed by the pond. 3
Hiei inspected the waters now with a calm demeanor, previous irritation at being lead around and awoken in the middle of the night dissipated by the prospect of healing waters. He reached out, curious about touching the water, but decided against it as the lur'mog appeared with a burned leaf in its claws, dipping it in the water.
Before his very eyes, he saw a dead plant given life, and his eyes widened. He was more than just a little surprised. He was completely astonished, turning wide eyes to the lur'mog, before they narrowed slightly. "And you waited this long to tell me?"
With that, he was up and moving towards the campgrounds again, not sparing another glance back.
~!**!~
Akari paused in her efforts to stand when her knee shook just a little, and for the time being, she gave up and simply let herself plop down into the grass again, facing Foko as she crossed her legs loosely underneath herself, eyeing him as she heard his response.
"Heh, you should simply appease his desire now, get it over with. Fox demons are-"
"Surely my measly presence isn't that amusing to you?" she grumbled, eyes turned down to her hands, not even considering the first. "I mean, come on, you just killed, and all I'm doing is sitting here."
"Just give him what he wants, moron." *
Foko leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky, his silver hair falling around his shoulders.
One of his ears twitched at a passing sound some mile or two away, but the other was trained on Akari, listening to her.
"What is it that makes you say such things?" Foko wanted to know, "Who told you your presence was measly? Because they were lying. And likely had a measly presence themselves."
~!**!~
The lur'mog huffed after Hiei, waving the leaf around at his retreating form and doing a little show of appearing to hand the leaf to someone, then running over and dipping it in the water, and then handing it over again, turning and chattering a bit angrily at the now-gone fire demon.
It wasn't as if he hadn't tried at all.
The lur'mog huffed again and turned to disappear, knowing that things would be well here, his eyes wide and ready for a night-time hunt. 3
Hiei moved from the area, neither walking nor running, but moving at a brisk pace that was almost a jog, but not quick enough to do more than make his hair wave with his movements. After a few minutes, he was entering the campgrounds again, red eyes dead set on the tent he knew Shikiyoku to be on.
And when he moved inside the tent, he wasn't very quiet about it, intentionally wishing to wake her, so she wouldn't assume she was being attacked when he picked her up.
And pick her up he did. Without even a pause, he scooped her up into his arms, being extremely mindful of her wounds as he did so, and turned to leave the tent again.
~!**!~
Akari didn't respond to Foko in any way, shape, or form. She simply watched him for a moment before she sighed, figuring she wouldn't get any answer other than the one he'd already given her. She wasn't happy with it, but it would have to do for now.
He wouldn't be giving her any other ideas, after all.
"You didn't answer him, sweetheart."
Akari took a deep breath, still not answering the fox demon. Instead, she grumbled another thank you in his direction. *
Foko raised an eyebrow in her direction, but said nothing for a moment.
"Introduce me to your pack-mate some day." He supplied, laying down on the grass with a slight poof, his hair fanning out behind his head as he put his hands up to support his neck. "We've never officially met to my knowledge."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku did in fact stir when Hiei entered the tent, but even once she knew she was moving, she still was half-asleep in his arms.
She had enough sense of mind to raise her moveable arm and place it about his neck, though the effort came almost automatically as soon as she was lifted up.
The jostling did not bother her either, though she still had no feeling in either injured limb.
When her eyes managed to open just enough to see Hiei's face, her head dropped forward against his cheek and her eyes came shut again.
"Hiei...?..." She didn't manage to get the question of 'where are you taking me' out of her mouth in any sensible fashion, though her mind was thinking it, and as she relaxed into his grip, she knew it didn't much matter anyway. 3
Hiei was moving slower this time, forcing his steps calm and bounceless, unlike his earlier pace towards the tent had been. He used Shikiyoku's feet to brush the tent flap to the side before he continued on, moving through the camp again and towards the area the lur'mog had lead him minutes before.
He glanced down at Shikiyoku as she mumbled his name sleepily. He didn't blink at her, simply staring for a moment before turning forward again, saying nothing as he moved through the trees of the forest, back towards the pond at a brisk, but calm pace until he was in the clearing again, staring at the calm waters of the pond.
He slowed now, his pace nothing more than a saunter as he approached the water's edge, crouching again and trying to decide how to go about this.
After another beat's hesitation, he was sitting down, sitting Shikiyoku down as well and moving her until her leg was dangling in the water, supporting her weight with an arm around her waist.
~!**!~
Akari blinked at Foko before giving a small smile. She considered standing, to telling him he could meet Nabu at that very moment if he so desired, but as she sucked in a deep breath to say those words, her entire body rang with pain and stopped all thought.
"Nabu would appreciate that," she said instead, releasing her breath slowly.
"How are you still conscious?" Kyu suddenly asked, moving so he sat beside her, much like he had when they'd first met, his knees to his chest and cheek resting atop them, amused eyes watching her. "You've ignored sleep and been tossed around more than just a little. Don't you think you've had enough?"
"Mm-m." Akari hummed in a negatory, smiling a soft smile as she tried pushing herself to stand again, now actually determined to move, to stand, to walk around. *
Foko did not miss the noise she made, ear flickering in her direction, but before he could comment, he watched her begin to rise and turned over on his side towards her to watch with a guarded expression.
"Still running from your dreams, inu?" He wanted to know, offering her no help as she tried to get up.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku hissed, a sound of surprise, her eyes flying open when the water hit her leg.
In a sleepy daze, all she could feel was the icy-cold water that enveloped her leg, and she clutched at Hiei's arm with her good hand.
"What's...what are you...Hiei?" Her jaw clenched together, teeth slamming shut as her eyes blinked, trying to make sense of the darkness around her, but unable to move her leg out of the water, trying instead to scoot back out of it. 3
Hiei wasn't surprised when Shikiyoku suddenly was making an attempt at a retreat, and he made certain to cross his right leg behind her, his knee preventing her from scooting far enough out that her leg left the water. But he had yet to get her knee within the pond, so he proceeded to scoot forward, directing her forward as well.
"Don't struggle," he said calmly, eyes on her knee as he directed it into the water, watching as it became submerged finally and he firmly planted his hand on her thigh to keep her from withdrawing the leg. "It'll heal it. Just sit still, or else I'll completely submerge you myself."
~!**!~
Akari struggled for a moment to even lean forward, knee to her sore chest and a hand on the ground between that knee and the knee that was on the ground, readying to push herself up when Foko spoke up, making her pause and look towards him.
"Well, I'm not exactly running. I can't run in this state, now can I?" She turned away to concentrate on standing up again, taking a deep breath and pushing against the ground until she was actually standing, albeit not quite steady.
"You're pushing it, sweetheart."
Akari responded with the same negatory hum, quieter this time as she planted her hands on her hips and turned to Foko. "You wanted to meet Nabu, so we're going to meet Nabu." *
"Inu, you're obviously injured." Foko pointed out, not moving yet, "I think you can fulfill my desires during a time when you aren't about to fall over. Kaido wasn't exactly a wussy fighter when he set his mind to something."
~!**!~
The lower her leg got into the water, the more Shikiyoku fought against him, a panic settling over her core despite whatever reassurances Hiei gave her, of which all she heard were the words 'completely submerged.'
Sleepy mind starting now to clear, she realized that if she fell into this water, she would not be able to swim to save herself with two completely useless limbs.
When he clamped his hand down on her thigh, she grasped his arm even tighter.
"Hiei, wait-" Her core stumbled a beat as she thought he was going to shove her in, clutching at the arm she had in her hand.
The usual tingling sensation that accompanied what her body considered a life-or-death situation erupted all at once along her skin, her energy beginning to buzz around her.
Despite the fact that the knee was completely submerged, the water had not penetrated the layers of bandages as of yet, and thus no healing had actually started, Shikiyoku simply left thinking that she was about to be shoved into water whose depths she did not know, with two appendages that would handicap her ability to swim greatly. 3
Hiei kept her leg still, his own body now going still as he waited, watching for any changes in the water and only just realizing he'd forgotten about the bandages. Oh well, they'd be soaked through soon anyway. However, as panic obviously began to set in for Shikiyoku, he released a sound of impatience at her and moved his other arm to pry at her fingers.
"You're not going to fall," he said slowly, at first not feeling the effects of the energy. But after another beat, her energy seemed to envelop him, and he was sitting much calmer, much more relaxed than before, his voice turning more silky, as if trying to convince her to let him get what he desired of her. "Just sit here. It's healing water, Shikiyoku." He took in another deep breath, nostrils filling with her scent due to the very close proximity between the two. "Just sit here. You'll see."
~!**!~
Akari stood, hands balled into fists and planted on her hips as she stared at Foko, smile making her lips lopsided as she waited, only for him to counter her words by reminding her of what she was already aware of.
"Yes, I'm injured, but it's just bruises. You said so yourself, nothing's broken." she countered, ignoring the resigned sigh from Kyu, who had moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view.
To which she responded with by leaning around him to look Foko in the eyes again. Which lead to her simply toppling over and into the dirt with a sigh.
"What did I tell you? You pushed too far, moron." There was a pause from the male, who blew air from his nostrils, sending his almost-white bangs fluttering above his eyebrows before his gaze was on her again. "For your own good, don't get up again."
And of course, Akari ignored him and made to stand again anyways.
"Why don't you stop her, you damn fox?" *
"Inuuu," Foko practically whined at her, ending the word with a sigh, "You're making me hurt just watching you." He had by this point turned completely over on his stomach, legs up in the air behind him and his chin resting on a hand. "Besides, if you get up and leave, that means I have to get up and leave and the grass is so comfortable." He mumbled the last word as he turned his face to the side and laid it across his hand, resting on the warm grass. "Why won't you just lay down with me?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku froze in place, still clutching at Hiei's arm, and blinked rapidly into the darkness around her, giving one last squeeze of her eyes and forcing herself awake, the air alive with her panicking energy.
A shiver ran up her body from the chill of the water, and she still felt off balance with how close to the edge of the pond she was, her dead leg giving her a strange sense of her weight, when the only portion she could feel was the bit that was about to slip in completely.
Something strange was happening with her knee, though she stiffened as she felt the water reach it, wondering if she'd ever be able to bend it again.
"How do you know?" She asked quickly, trying one last time to scoot back, leaning as far away as she could manage from the surface. 3
Hiei momentarily sat still, his eyes watching her bandaged knee before he remembered the other bandage, to which he slowly reached over, this time with both hands and methodically unwrapping the bandages, his left, uninjured leg wrapping about her waist to keep her from falling, as she still seemed to fear.
His hands moved quickly, removing the bandages before he paused at Shikiyoku's question. He looked towards her face with a calm expression. "The lur'mog showed me," he answered truthfully, turning back to unwrapping the bandages. "It healed his own bleeding arm first, before he showed me whatever it was that caused his injury to heal."
~!**!~
Akari paused, crouching again like she had the first time, her eyes moving to Foko with a small sound at his words that was an odd cross between disappointment and relief. She wasn't sure what to do, since she'd been so eager to get up and go see Nabu. Then again, Foko didn't want to get up and leave.
She thought for a moment before she simply resigned to his request and lowered herself to lay in front of him, miming the way he lay for a moment before her ribs protested, causing her to roll onto her back. "You're no fun."
"It's about time you listened. Still as moronic as ever."
Akari continued to ignore Kyu's commentary, looking to the sky and extending her arms above her head, effectively stretching out her body that protested in almost every single way possible. "You're right, the grass is comfortable." *
"Of course I'm right." Foko ignored the 'fun' comment, "I wouldn't lie to you about that." Foko raised his head for a second to glance over at her, thankful to see that she seemed resigned to not leaving.
"I only wish to meet Nabu once you are well. Though...is there a particular reason why he is not with you now?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku couldn't help but look down at her arm as Hiei unwrapped it, and she felt her stomach lurch when the hole appeared, able to see straight through her forearm as the rotting skin on the opposite side fell open.
She shivered again, though because of the image or the water, she could not tell.
And the smell was terrible, the flesh and muscle not healing properly for whatever reason, and a portion of the bone shifting out of place without the bandages to hold it straight. 3
Hiei didn't even flinch at the wound he'd unwrapped, at least not outwardly. Inwardly, his core dropped and his stomach churned. His eyes turned to the water, watching it begin to change colors as the bandages were beginning to become soaked through.
He considered the depth of the water for a moment before assessing that it wouldn't be much of a threat, and he turned his eyes to Shikiyoku again. "To speed up this process…" he paused, thinking over what he was going to request for a moment. "Do you still trust me?" he suddenly asked, half afraid to know her response after yesterday.
~!**!~
Akari shrugged, her hands playing with her own hair as she lay there, staying stretched out on the grass. "I left this morning before dawn, when he was still sleeping." She thought back to how bored she'd been inside that house, how she'd wanted to get out and wander around. She'd considered journeying into Mushiori City again, to visit the place where Sensui had lived for a while, but had decided against it. Why, she wasn't sure even now.
"He might come along in a while, if he notices my school stuff is still at home."
"Your small talk is getting boring." *
"Even more reason to stay then!" Foko exclaimed pleasantly, genuine smile on his face. "Surely your injuries will not take too long to heal. Perhaps we could get up and run about then...? If you wished?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku tore her shimmering eyes away from the wound to look at Hiei when he spoke, curiously regarding him when he faded off, and then suddenly surprised by his question, her face becoming kind and gentle at what she felt to be his apprehensiveness at what her answer might be.
"Dearest Champion…" She shifted her weight and pulled her good arm across her body in a gesture that she would not normally have made, placing her hand up to Hiei's cheek to cup it in her palm, eyes shining.
"There will be a time when you go along with a decision I make, and you will be hurt, and I will almost kill myself with guilt because of it, much as I think you have this time." She searched his eyes to see if she was correct.
"But you did what you thought was right, what you thought was best. How could I not place my trust in you for even just that reason alone?"
She finally smiled softly at him, "You have my trust, now and for always. There is no need to ask after it. Unless it makes you feel better to hear me say so."
She chuckled once gently, "And in that case, ask it as many times as you desire my answer. It will never change, though. That I swear to you. For as long as you are protecting me." 3
Hiei stared at Shikiyoku as she answered him, his eyes never leaving her face as she moved her hand to just touch his cheek, a gesture he wasn't sure how to respond to, so he did not. He simply sat there, eyeing her as she continued on in her reply that had his core feeling calmer, the bond in his mind ringing, thrumming with the sincerity behind her words.
By the time she'd finished speaking, he'd almost forgotten why he'd asked. However, when he looked away, his eyes caught the waters and his memory quickly restoring to the reason he'd asked her. Feeling more confident now, he took a deep breath.
At least he could take away her pain now, much like she'd attempted to do for him earlier that day.
Except… more successful.
He hoped.
Without further ceremony, the fire demon was moving, scooting around her before deciding he'd show her that the water wasn't deep enough to worry about before pulling her in. Almost as soon as his ankle hit the water, a chill ran up his spine, but he ignored it for a moment as he lowered himself fully into the water, then turned to face Shikiyoku, arms extended to her in a show of "you're coming in too."
~!**!~
Akari moved her head so that she was craning her neck back to look at Foko, hands still playing with her hair that was fanned out above her head. She smiled at him, feeling even the slightest changes in her body already beginning. "Have anything in mind?" she asked him, since her only idea was of Nabu.
She almost considered showing him video games, but…
Yusuke could be there.
The thought suddenly had her frowning, realizing the detective could have skipped, just as she had, and if he were to see her with Foko…
She'd be dead before she could explain.
"Just now occurring to you, sweetheart?"
Akari gave a small huff that ended in an almost inaudible growl at Kyu.
"You're slower than before." *
"Well, I may have meant 'run' in the literal sense of the word." Foko's ear flicked to the side once and he lifted himself up on his stomach to look at her. "What was the human term for it again?" He appeared thoughtful, reaching out with a single hand and extending his first finger to place it gently on her forehead. "You're 'it.'"
~!**!~
While Shikiyoku did not hesitate to shift around and place her good hand on Hiei's shoulder, it was obvious that her entire body stiffened as she attempted to steel herself for what she already knew to be water so cold she would never voluntarily plunge into it.
Getting clean for once would be nice though. She could still feel the layer of muck and bile on her skin, and didn't particularly want to know what condition her hair was in. 3
Hiei watched Shikiyoku shuffle about for a bit before he glanced behind her, noting absently that the lur'mog was nowhere to be seen. The fire demon turned to Shikiyoku again, moving forward and grabbing her around the waist and hefting her into the water, lowering her, but keeping a hold on her good arm to keep her standing in the water that came up to his chest.
He shifted his weight, feeling the water soaking through his own bandages that he'd tied around his ankle. He hadn't really intended to heal his own wounds, but he simply felt that doing it this way was less trouble.
"Make sure your elbow is in the water too." he instructed, the skin where the water touched feeling much better as the grime on his body was slowly being washed away.
~!**!~
Akari's brow raised at Foko's word. Was he, in a roundabout way, asking to play? The thought made her lips curl into a wide smile, a small sound escaping her lips that she tried to stifle with a hand. The fox demon, bringing up tag, of all games. She wasn't sure which emotion was stronger: surprise or delight.
"You mean Tag?" she asked aloud, tone completely filled with amusement. "You, of all people, want to play?" She released another laugh, but she quickly clamped her lips together to end the sound, not wanting to seem like she was laughing at him.
"How can one be so…" she searched for the words in her mind. "How can you go from fierce to…" She thought some more before craning her neck to see him again, "adorable?" *
Foko pouted royally at her, "Where does it say that leaders aren't allowed to have any fun?"
He tossed his head, clearing hair from his face that stubbornly fell back to shade his eyes anyway as he set his yellow eyes upon her.
"And I believe that would be what is all considered part of my...charm." He finished, grinning wickedly.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku shivered violently at the chill that almost matched the buzzing of sensation that her skin still held, her gleaming eyes closing tightly as she fought an urge to jump out of the water.
Her arm had floated uselessly along the surface next to her without her direct attention, but at Hiei's reminding her of it, she struggled a moment before wrenching her shoulder down, biting her lip at the pain.
She could at least feel that.
And for that matter, her knee besides, which she carefully attempted to bend.
"Too soon." Her closed eyes squeezed tighter and the hand at Hiei's bare shoulder clenched down on it just a little.
Trying to pull her attention to something else, Shikiyoku opened her eyes, and turned the shimmering gaze over to her submerged arm.
In the darkness, she couldn't quite tell if anything was happening yet, but slowly became aware of being able to feel the water passing through the hole. Which was disconcerting to say the least.
Anywhere that Hiei had been injured or cut started to clear up, but left a sort of pollution behind in the water, a darker color than the rest of the liquid. And it was easy to see the same process begin at Shikiyoku's arm, though much slower, as it appeared the water itself turned thicker and started to move away from the injury after it had been used up for healing. 3
Hiei stood in the water, making sure he was close enough that Shikiyoku could lean on him if need be, not once moving as if to pull from her reach. In fact, he did shift his weight so that he seemed closer than before.
His eyes turned down to the water now, watching as it turned dark, moving away whatever it was cleaning from their wounds as if caught in a current. Curious, he watched the trail, seeing where it would lead to, and found that, eventually it died off. Dissipated. Disappeared.
He was utterly fascinated, to say the least. Never before had he heard of waters such as this, that purified wounds and even healed them to the most pristine condition as possible. He wondered if it would leave a scar where Shikiyoku's arm had been pierced, or if it would simply smooth over as if nothing had happened.
He supposed he'd find out, as his own wound could likely scar over as well.
He suddenly scoffed.
A wound from a trap similar to a bear trap in Human world. He surely wouldn't be explaining that one to anyone else any time soon.
~!**!~
Akari was smiling over at Foko, eyes sparkling with mirth as if she were a child. "I agree. Your charm is rather…" she paused again, searching for the word intended here, but coming up short and settling for, "charming."
"Smooth."
"You're making it hard to pretend I don't like you," she commented, knowing that if the conversation turned to this particular demon sometime in the near future, it would be highly unlikely she would be able to participate without giving herself away. "You're going to get me killed." Of course, she was only half joking. *
Foko just kept grinning at her fumbles.
"And why in the three worlds do you think if I had stopped Kaido that I would let anyone else kill you, hm?"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku let her good foot rest on the bottom of the pond. Or at least her toe, since she did not wish to get any further in the water than necessary.
Which would be a problem if she actually wanted to get her hair clean.
By this time, her whole body had set to shivering, and when she drew closer to Hiei, the eternal furnace, for warmth, she was envious of both sides of his heritage which likely contributed to how calmly he stood there with her.
"L-lucky hybrid." She stammered at him with a grin, her teeth beginning to chatter, trying to warm her.
On the bright side, the water around her knee was almost completely darkened with her injury, and she was actually starting to feel itchy there, an old, reliable, tell-tale sign of healing. 3
Hiei hadn't been paying much attention to the person in front of him at that very moment, his eyes continuously following the trail of the ickiness in the water. So, when Shikiyoku spoke up, her teeth chattering a little, he turned his eyes up to her with a look of confusion for a moment, before his eyes lit up with amusement that didn't go any further than his gaze.
He thought for a moment, considering the different ways he could keep her warm, but likely not disturb the water, in case it altered its process of healing.
Or maybe heat would speed it up?
He didn't want to chance it, so he raised a hand from the water, facing the palm to the sky and causing water to drip from his fingers and back down to the pond's surface.
After a moment, a small ball of fire formed in his palm, tossing a warm glow around the area and lighting the small clearing. Rolling over and over itself, it slowly grew until it was large enough that, should Shikiyoku decide to place her hands in front of it, its warmth would radiate down her arms too.
For a moment, he stared down at his own creation before his hand extended towards Shikiyoku, his fingers sliding from underneath it to allow it to simply hang in the air between them. He watched as it tossed a warm glow around her features, lighting her green eyes and making them shine brighter than even the fire in the darkness of the night.
~!**!~
Akari stared at Foko for a moment before sighing once, smile fading from a wide grin to a small smile of appreciation. "Killing a business partner must set you back a bit, hm?" she asked in a soft tone, part of her that she wasn't exactly in tune with at the moment thankful for the setback that would delay whatever fight that was brewing, even if just a little longer.
She went quiet suddenly, ignoring the soft humming of Kyu as he took to sitting next to her, legs crossed and a clawed finger gently tapping at her forehead, as if to gain her attention.
She released a long-suffering sigh and let her eyes close for a few moments. "Killing a business partner for someone who's supposed to be an enemy is dangerous, isn't it?" *
"First of all," Foko held up a finger between them, speaking in a very factual manner "A demon who is stupid enough to waste my time like that deserves to pay for that time with interest. Secondly," Another finger joined the first, "I don't see anyone around here complaining about the death. Except you." He winked. "And neither do I think anyone here will go around telling people it happened."
Foko considered Akari for a moment longer, head tilting slightly.
"Have you considered telling him to go away? Or her." He shrugged, as if the gender of the hallucination he knew from experience she was having-he'd guessed it very early on-did not matter. "It occasionally worked for me, when I was feeling particularly bothered by them."
~!**!~
When she saw what he was doing, Shikiyoku closed her eyes again and briefly turned away, letting them adjust to the change in light before blinking, squinting, and leaning back normally as she had been floating.
Her body relaxed a little, though the shivers did not completely vanish, and she sat basking in the warmth the fire shared, flexing her toes in the water and finally able to move her knee without pain.
She hesitated reaching down to itch at it though, unsure if the lack of pain meant the wound had completely closed yet or not.
Blinking sleepily, Shikiyoku, in spite of the cold, felt her head dip slightly once and she jolted herself awake because of it, glancing over at her arm as a distraction, but finding that she blinked at it without making sense of the thing and sighed, trying to not let her eyes close again. 3
Hiei stared at Shikiyoku for a few more moments before turning his eyes to his own flame again, watching as it continued to roll, the flames moving as if stuck within a container that wouldn't allow the fire free. Of course, sparks flew here and there, rising into the air and floating away almost lazily on the now calm wind, but other than that, it gave the illusion of being suspended and trapped in some sort of encasing for simple viewing matters.
And he found himself enjoying the sight more since he hadn't stopped to appreciate the element in a long while.
Years, he realized suddenly. He'd simply been using his flame for attack, for destruction when he saw fit, unlike when he was younger, when he would toy with the power during times of boredom or sleepless nights.
Had it been that long?
~!**!~
Akari rolled her eyes at Foko's first words, each point a valid one she realized. How could she have forgotten that he was the leader of whatever side he was on, and not another ruling over him? Hmm… maybe I should get some sleep tonight.
"But the dreams, remember sweetheart?"
Akari's eyes widened as she registered Foko's question, and then simple explanation of his own dealings with sleep-deprivation induced hallucinations. She rolled over onto her stomach so she could look him in the eye now, searching his face as if that would give her the answer as to how he'd figured it out. In her mind, she'd done well in ignoring Kyu enough to keep his presence discreet.
She sighed after a moment, eyes sliding closed again. "He'll leave eventually." she grumbled, not looking at him now. She felt there was something else she wanted to say, but it wouldn't traverse from the back of her mind to the forefront and then to her tongue, so she was left laying there, cheek on the grass and eyes closed.
"Like I'd leave so early. We haven't caught up yet." *
Foko remained silent at her word, opening his mouth to speak again, but quietly letting it come closed as he watched her.
He wanted to reach out to her again, to run his fingers through her hair, but something held his hand in place. And so he simply sat there.
How long… He mused to himself, How long will you continue to see me as just a fox demon? You realize that I'm not, right? That I'm only putting on this masquerade? This façade? ...what would you think of me, I wonder, if you could see me as I truly am...?
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star