A/N: Hello once again, Readers!
So, as some of you may know or might have realized by now, I like to borrow ideas from other fandoms as a sort of homage to them. You might recognize that I start borrowing directly from the anime Trinity Blood here, albeit adding my own twist.
Regular update Thursday, no updates next week!
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/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.
[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}
"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).
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Taking it upon herself to rescue Isamu, Akari has run-ins with various denizens of the layer before she finds him,
fighting another demon, and tells him to come back to help her figure out how buildings are getting on multiple layers.
They discover that she is missing a few key pieces to the relics she has, and after breakfast decide to venture out to find them.
Completing the set she has is only a matter of time and after collecting them all Akari quickly leaves Isamu behind,
heading for Genkai's with the collection so that the old lady can use them to more easily serve the children displaced by the layers.
The boy Kita, whom Akari rescued and helped get to Genkai's a while back, is near the point at which Akari drops onto Genkai's lands,
and he runs up to meet her.
~!**!~
Youko and Shikiyoku's conversation in the meadow finally turns towards the story behind 'the marks,'
Shikiyoku explaining to Youko everything that happened from when she and Hiei were separated
all the way through Renai teaching her the ways of pain, being employed under Horu the guild leader,
and being taken by Kyonshi the energy-feeder.
At the last, when prompted by Youko to continue, Shikiyoku reveals that she killed Kyonshi herself.
Youko said nothing, his astonishment at the admission well hidden behind his eyes, but he was taken aback for a moment as his astonishment was magnified by the same emotion Kurama had coursing to the forefront of their mind.
That this...demure demon whom he remembered flinching without fail every single time he had ended the life of her prey, going so far as to even turn away, hiding herself behind him...
For the longest time, he had ignored her tears, which she had-for the longest time-tried to keep at bay in his presence.
Later, though, once they had grown closer, he remembered actually drawing her into his arms and letting her weep against him...
...that she had killed?
He never would have expected a demon with a demeanor like that in regards to life being taken before her very eyes to be...capable of such an action.
Not to mention the fact that it was Youko's understand that she couldn't kill. That her energy wouldn't allow it, which is why she needed a Champion in the first place. Because she had no means of protecting herself, but-
"Have you heard of demons able to feed, not on souls, but on the energy of other demons?" Shikiyoku said quietly, going on before Youko could answer, "There are not many. I only know of Kyonshi, and Kyonshi only knew of the demon who taught him. It is not so much a power as it is a disease. There are these things inside you and they slowly eat away at your mind until the only thing one can hear is this voice that must see every demon in the three worlds killed-" Shikiyoku's voice had lowered and her words hitched for a moment, "He finally went insane with the hunger, attacked me-" She blinked, remembering vividly her first kill, his blood on her hands, her face, "Youko, I-"
He could see how disturbed the memory was making her and he interrupted, "You don't have to-"
"No, it's...I'm infected too."
The sentence, like the other, hung in the air, a million different realizations crashing into Kurama and Youko's minds simultaneously.
If this were a virus, and if Kyonshi passed it to her...
Youko doubted even Shikiyoku could remember all the demons she had been in contact with while she had been stuck in pain form. If she were in fact able to pass it along, who knew how many demons were walking, ticking timebombs and on how many layers since she had lost her mind.
How long did it take for the disease to take root?
{But she doesn't hear the voice now.}
Because somehow only her pain form had whatever it was she was going on about.
"You never planned on coming back, did you?" Out of all the things he could have said, that's what Youko landed on.
Shikiyoku looked up sharply, seeing that there was no point in saying otherwise and gave a sigh.
"I was...embarrassed. For anyone to see me in such a state. For...for betraying my Champion, even if it was the only option aside from death available to me. But also, my mind had been slowly coming apart at the seams for a very long time. Ever since Hiei and I were separated, really. So...you're right. If I had never seen any of you ever again, it would have been too soon. Because despite that voice, I still managed to keep a hold of my vanity. My pride." She gave a half-hearted huff of irritation before going on.
"The disease seems to burn through the body it inhabits at a rate equal to how often one feeds, and both disease and body are only sustained through feeding. But the longer the disease rages, the more often one needs to feed, and the more one feeds, the stronger the disease becomes and the faster it burns through the body." Shikiyoku spun her hands over one another at the next sentence before dropping them back in her lap, "It's this self-fulfilling cycle. I never realized the discipline Kyonshi had until recently when I could look at everything objectively, and I don't think I'll ever understand how he was able to feed on me and not kill me. He certainly never taught me any restraint. Feeding was soon all I could think about most days once he was dead. And I was already far too brittle mentally for this one little thing to not start making cracks in my sanity."
"You would have never sought out a Consort-" Youko said slowly, "But then, all of a sudden, you would have died without one." 3
~!**!~
Akari had turned down to gather her supplies again, and paused to look up only briefly before turning down again. Her hand enclosed another rock before the sound of her name echoed around her, and she looked up in mild confusion. She met the eyes of the boy who was now running at her, and a smile quickly formed on her lips. Too bad Nabu isn't here too. He liked the kid.
She held a hand up in a wave and sat back on her heels, not sure if he was going to crash into her for a hug or stop just short of doing so. *
Kita ran headlong for Akari, his feet leaving the ground at the last few paces as he sprung forward and launched himself in her direction, his arms wrapping about her neck as he tackled her in a hug.
"You're back!"
~!**!~
Shikiyoku nodded.
"Hiei's the one that ended up catching up to me. I kept needing more and more energy to sustain myself and I think that tipped off someone and sent my most recent Champion on my trail." A smile played over her lips as she remembered just how much the fire demon had done for her, expecting nothing in return. It was actually the first time she had thought of him all day, but it sent her mind to wondering where she might be able to find him, and when she might see him next. "I didn't have the capacity to tell him exactly how I could be changed back, but I didn't know for sure myself anyway."
Youko made no comment during the pause she took, one in which he could see the faraway look in her eyes and the glimmer of happiness that colored her features. He had no doubts about of whom she thought.
"It doesn't matter." Shikiyoku shook her head, fully bringing herself into the present, "What I wanted...what I hoped you might be able to help me with is curing the disease itself." 3
~!**!~
Akari held her arms out after a moment when she noted he was about to jump, her arms closing around the boy as she fell back to her rear. She smiled and placed her chin on the boy's shoulder. "Man, you've gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you," Akari praised with a small laugh. "You could probably crush me if you wanted to!"
She gave a laugh and pulled back just a little so she could look at the boy. "Sorry it's been so long, Kita." *
Kita let go of her and took to standing in front of her a little shyly in comparison to his outburst.
"That's okay. Big Sis said you were real busy." His head tilted a little, "Why'dya come back?"
~!**!~
"My help?" Youko countered pleasantly, "Why not get the neko to do the dirty work for you?"
Shikiyoku gave him the blandest glare, to which Youko only raised an eyebrow and kept that same grin on his face.
"You know very well why I haven't said anything to Kit about it."
"You think he doesn't know?"
"Tch, unlikely. But if I ask him about it, he's just going to want to contract the disease for himself so he can analyze it like he always does and probably get himself killed before he can actually figure out a cure."
Youko gave her a look, "And when has a disease ever bested him in the past?"
"It's not the past I'm worried about, Yo-chan." The words didn't come out as so much of a whine, but he could see that she really did feel a great deal of concern about it. 3
~!**!~
Akari set her hands on the boy's shoulders, sizing him up with a quick glance up and down as she took in his energy as well, her smile widening. "Big sis is still here, hm?" She glanced towards the temple for a second before bringing her eyes back to Kita, her hands sliding away and landing in her lap.
"I went looking for a few magical objects." She said, nodding her head back to the bricks and stuff. "What does Genkai have you doing right now?" *
Kita's wide eyes at her 'magical objects' were only staved off-he wanted to ask her about those for sure-by her own question.
He took a step back and pointed at the log he had set down some distance behind him.
Some of the littler kids were trying to lift it up, but they weren't able to get their arms all the way around it, much less budge it from its place.
"Getting firewood." Then he couldn't help himself, "What magical objects? What do they do?"
~!**!~
Youko made an affirming sort of noise, but he was already thinking about other things.
"Will you...help me?"
"For free? Unlikely."
Shikiyoku huffed with disdain, "What do you want, then?"
Youko didn't answer her, staring up at the clouds thoughtfully.
"Well?"
"I'm thinking."
Shikiyoku made the same sound as before, bringing her hand up to her cheek and leaning into it, her elbow on her thigh as she watched him, only able to guess at what exactly he would want in return. 3
~!**!~
Akari's eyes turned to the log Kita pointed to, her brows raising and her smile widening. He's gotten very strong indeed. He could very easily become the next detective, if he and Koenma decided to make such an agreement.
"Firewood, hm?" She echoed, staring at the large mass of twigless bark. She turned her eyes to Kita at his question, her smile widening and a finger raising to poise over her lips in a quiet 'sh' motion. "It's a secret. A surprise." She winked at the boy and stood, rubbing her hand in his sandy hair. "Why don't you finish up what you're doing now, and then I'll see about you helping me, hm? It's going to take some time." *
Kita frowned at her.
"Genkai doesn't like surprises." He informed her in that direct manner all children had of doing. "She's says they're lu-" His face scrunched up, "Ludi-" His lips had trouble making the sounds and he gave up, turning his eyes back onto Akari, "She's says they're stupid."
~!**!~
"Yo-chan..."
The abrupt change in her tone caught Youko's attention, pulling it from the clouds overhead-which he wasn't looking at since he was thinking of how to word something-and in her direction as the grass beneath his head rustled quietly underneath him when he looked over at her. His eyebrows rose as he watched her slowly lean forward, her hands coming to settled down in the grass and she sort of crawled towards him, closing the small bit of distance between them.
He found himself unable to break contact with her green eyes, unable to so much as move from where he lay on his side, finding within her gaze everything he could ever think to ask for, and everything he couldn't.
Shikiyoku kept coming forward until she was inches away from his face, her hair falling down from over her shoulder and brushing up against his cheek where it felt like so much silk flowing as if from the softest waterfall imaginable.
He found his face lifting upwards so he could peer into her eyes, feeling her hand coming up and her fingers running down along the necklace she had placed over his head earlier.
"When was the last time I asked you for anything?" Shikiyoku murmured, her eyes watching her fingers wrap around the chain of unbloomed flowers around his neck.
Youko didn't answer, finding himself wanting her to look at him again, aware that her dark hair was blocking out the brightness of the day and creating a sort of bubble of privacy that was all their own. He didn't realize until that moment that his lips had actually parted, seeing that hers stayed open just a little after she spoke-what did she say again?
Her eyes finally, slowly started to rise up from the necklace back to meet his gaze.
"...you're good." Youko breathed appreciatively, feeling his core racing, "...very good." 3
~!**!~
Akari raised a brow and glanced at the place she'd just been digging, suddenly rethinking what she was doing and looking back over to Kita once more. She gave a sigh. "I suppose it is rather ludicrous of me to assume her intentions, yes?" She gave a smile. "Grab your log, I'll be along."
She disappeared from Kita for a moment, appearing again at the first place she'd been digging and digging up that brick first, quickly refilling the hole and appearing again at the spot she'd been at the spot where she'd been talking to the boy, her hands making quick enough work of the ground that she half suspected the boy didn't see her extricate this brick from the ground. Only that she was crouching one second, and the next standing with two bricks in her hand.
She gave a smile. "Don't keep her waiting on you. I don't want you to get into trouble." *
Kita nodded, eyes still bright with curiosity, but he knew also that Genkai expected him back, if he wasn't already late.
He turned and trotted back to the log, ushering the littler ones out of the way so he could pick it up and heft it over his shoulder, breaking out in a jog again as he headed for the temple.
~!**!~
Her eyes only glittered at him, her smile amorous as her hand came up to his cheek.
The only reason he hadn't already closed the distance and stolen the kiss was partially because he was too enthralled to move and partially because he wanted to know what she would do, the calculative portion of his brain analyzing her features and trying to figure out how she was doing it, how she was able to practically freeze him in place.
It was different than anything he'd ever seen her do before.
He couldn't help himself though, "Is this the part where you ask me what I desire?"
"You-ko!" Shikiyoku exclaimed, pulling away from him with exasperation and sitting down, crossing her arms over her chest with a sigh.
"It was a valid question!" He argued, both disappointed and relieved to find his mind in one piece again as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"I should have made you say something if you weren't really enchanted." She grumbled, glaring at him.
"You almost had me."
"Stupid fox."
"Did you really think you were going to get anywhere without your energy?"
Her eyebrow quirked.
"I'm well-versed in that sort of thing, seductress: all of the little nuances one can do to oneself to draw someone in. There's a method," His head tilted a little, "A knack to it. A certain order about things. One which you have become more adept at of late, I might add." He grinned, "But since you're attempting to seduce a seducer, you were really only going to get so far without using that energy of yours."
"It was...worth a shot." Shikiyoku grumbled, lips fighting a smile.
"I can't say I didn't appreciate it," He reached up and held her chin in his fingers, his grin softening into one similar to what she had been lording over him moments before. 3
~!**!~
Akari watched Kita take off at a jog before she turned and began picking up the other objects from the ground- objects she had dropped before the boy had gotten close enough to run into them. She piled each rock, each brick into her arms before turning and making her way after the boy, following his tracks calmly and with a smile.
Maybe I'll being Nabu by.
Her energy fluctuated just briefly, forming a small creature out of a shadow that disappeared after a moment, and then reappeared shortly after- before she'd even reached the temple- and giving her the dog's response.
"The boy from the first few months? Yeah!"
Akari smiled and her energy fluctuated again, the dog appearing at her side with his tongue lolling and tail wagging. He paused mid-step and looked at her even as she continued walking.
"What is that disgusting smell? Smells like.."
"A swamp?"
"Yeah. I smelled it earlier but I thought it was the guy?"
"Nope. I showered and burned those clothes, but I still have the very quiet smell of that layer. It's awful."
"You're lucky only you and I can smell it. And the guy, but he smells like that too I guess. These kids would run from you in a heartbeat if they could smell you."
"Hush hush, Nabu." Akari smiled. "You'll hurt my feelings." She continued into the temple, silencing so as to not disturb anything that might be going on behind the doors. *
On socked feet, Shizuru padded quietly towards Akari and Nabu, smiling and holding a tray.
She offered the glass of iced lemonade to Akari, taking a homemade treat from off the tray and squatting down to give Nabu a pat and hold out the treat for him, the tray being held under her arm.
"Glad to have you back."
~!**!~
"But really," Youko continued, his voice dropping lower, eyes flashing, "You ought to know better."
Shikiyoku's expression shifted in kind, "Like I said," She leaned a little closer, "It was worth a shot."
"You know what I want?"
The question actually took her off-guard because the answer was yes in every sense of the word, but she could feel his question did not stem from his desires, of which at that exact moment there were three or four very specific ones.
"Of course." She let him gently pull her closer.
"If I cure this disease for you," He brought his lips up to her ear once he got her close enough, "Make me your Consort."
She pulled back enough to be able to meet his gleaming yellow gaze with her green one.
"And if it's actually Kitoushi that does it?" She murmured back.
The both of them found themselves amused to no end that the other kept responding seductively, as if it was really going to accomplish anything between them.
Youko let out a low chuckle, "Then don't." 3
~!**!~
Akari shifted her bearings to her left arm easily, her right hand reaching out to accept the drink offered to her. She gave a thankful smile and a sip from the cold glass, having to refrain from giving a smacking noise of content at the flavor. "I'm glad to be back. Now that everything's wrapping up nicely, I plan on visiting a little more." She paused to take a drink, looking down at Nabu who graciously, carefully, pulled the treat from Shizuru's fingers and began chewing on it, balancing it between his front paws as he chewed at it. "That is, if I won't be getting in the way."
She shifted her weight and brought her eyes back to the woman. "Is Genkai currently occupied?" *
"She's expecting you, so at the moment, no." Shizuru gestured in the direction Genkai lay as she stood up. "Make yourself at home. I'm off to take over the session Genkai didn't want to cancel."
She gave Nabu one last pat and headed in the opposite direction, giving Akari a wave.
~!**!~
"I'll hold you to that." Shikiyoku informed him, sultry smile on her face.
"See that you do."
There was a moment of silence between them in which neither moved nor spoke, only looking at one another with a sense of appreciation, another realization dawning upon the both of them in that span of time.
They had each...missed this, this interaction, this other demon who could without question hold their own, where others would simply crumble underneath what would usually be overbearing sensuousness.
Shikiyoku's smile softened again, turning more genuine as she could see in Youko's eyes the same thoughts were passing over his mind.
And she found that for the first time she didn't mind fulfilling one of the desires she felt passing over him, abruptly closing the distance between them to close her lips on his in a kiss. 3
~!**!~
Akari smiled at the woman that continued from the room, taking another sip of lemonade before she turned to the direction Genkai was. She hesitated only a mere moment before making her feet move, meandering silently over to the elder woman and lowering herself to sit crosslegged on the floor, carefully lowering each rock, each brick to the floor and setting them down silently.
"I apologize for how long it took, but I've figured it out." Akari gave an impish grin. "How to make a building reside on all layers, that is."
Nabu came to lay on his stomach beside her, treat gone and tail wagging happily in greeting of the old woman. *
"You've been busy." The old lady spoke up, eyeing the implements Akari set before her. "How does it work?" She asked brusquely, picking up one of the bricks and testing its weight in her hand.
~!**!~
Before her eyes actually came open, Shikiyoku became aware of two things: Youko's arms around her and the fact that the sun had moved, several hours having passed.
Feeling her starting to shift into awakeness, Youko loosened his hold on her, watching with amusement the way her face scrunched up as if she didn't particularly want to wake up at that exact moment, and he felt her let go of a particularly huffy breath of air that seemed to confirm her expression.
He reached up with one hand to brush her hair behind her ear, at which she made an unhappy sort of noise since the hair had been further putting her in the shade, and she immediately buried her face in his chest, one of her hands coming up to block the light out of her eyes.
Youko's fingers found the flower he had given her earlier, he had tucked it over her ear, and he found himself smiling at it, the color accenting her dark hair just as he'd known it would.
"Sleep well?"
She felt the question rumble in his chest more so than heard it since her hand was at the side of her face and she hadn't really woken up yet.
"I'm not done yet."
She felt him laugh and it managed to pull her lips upwards at the edges. 3
~!**!~
Akari picked up the pouch she'd been holding near her crossed ankles and lifted it for inspection, feeling the pulsating energy inside of what she could only assume to be the strongest piece of the puzzle. "It's… an enchantment of sorts, really." Akari began, imagining the circular formation that would have to be made. "There is a sequence to it. A certain marking is placed at the North position, one at the South, and so on. The remaining ones are placed in the order specific to your needs. For a building to exist on every layer, the strongest piece will lay between the North and East positions, and the weakest will be at the SOuth and West positions."
Akari paused, lowering the pouch to the floor. "Some buildings can do it by using only a few of the marks, but it's more reliable, I've noticed, to use more of the etchings. Less holes in the enchantment, I guess." She gave a shrug. "What building do you want to have exist on the rest of the layers, if I may ask?" *
Genkai frowned during Akari's explanation, turning the brick she picked up over and over in her hands and examining whatever etchings she could find.
The principle was sound, though she felt herself becoming concerned that someone was going around doing this sort of thing like a hobby.
Not that it particularly mattered to her.
She pursed her lips at Akari's question, "And I can only pick one?"
~!**!~
Youko bent over her a little, just enough to put his nose closer to the flower adorning her hair, and breathed in the scent.
Just as expected, the plant smelled of her, and strongly so.
He got comfortable again, Shikiyoku shifting against him to do the same once he settled.
Youko couldn't help the mischievous grin that he suddenly wore.
Whoever she decided to 'woo' next was going to have a much harder time of it. Resisting her, that is. The flower would only serve to enhance that delicious smell.
Heh.
"Whyever are you so pleased with yourself?"
Youko glanced down to see Shikiyoku blinking sleepily up at him.
"Whatever are you going on about?"
Her eyes narrowed, "You look like the cat who's gotten into the cream."
He stared at her and she relented.
"A fox who's gotten into the chicken-coop."
"I'm just happy you so like my gift is all."
Her expression did not change, "You're never 'happy,'" She said the word mockingly, "About anything for the sake of itself."
Youko had let her smell the flower before he placed it behind her ear, confirming his suspicions that one could never really smell one's own scent.
And this flower was the nearest thing he had ever found to hers.
"If you must know," He pulled his arms a little tighter, "It's going to enhance your abilities."
Shikiyoku worked her jaw around a little, "How so? Exactly."
"Oh-" Youko started innocently, "It only smells like you."
She frowned. "I didn't smell anything."
"I know." He leaned back from her and kissed the tip of her nose. 3
~!**!~
Akari raised a brow and took a moment to think. "Well, I suppose if you wanted all of your territory-" she huffed, "All of your land to exist on the layers, it's possible too. Unless you have a specific group of buildings. As long as it creates a complete circle, I can't imagine why it would matter."
"But if she chooses buildings separate from one another, what will you do? Ask Isamu to help you find more?" Nabu huffed at the thought. "I don't like it."
Akari ignored the dog. "Also, I figured burying the pieces would be best. To keep it from being knocked out of the formation and breaking the connection completely. I personally cannot create enchantments, because I'm not versed in anything to do with them, so…" So if one breaks, I can't help. *
Genkai considered the brick, reaching out to run a finger over the markings.
"And you have no idea who is doing this." She surmised.
She wasn't really sure what she expected to be allowing buildings to exist on all the layers, but what with the prospects of any demon being able to march across her lands willy-nilly as they pleased should she chose to place these in such a manner...she immediately dismissed the desire to have all of her lands accessible to each layer. It would do the children absolutely no good if she managed to get them here and then have no safe place for them to run should some S Class decide to go on a rampage across her territory.
She snorted with amusement, suddenly remembering the early days of human children shifting, when she hadn't particularly wanted to turn her dojo into an orphanage, and had them taken back to their own layer...only to have them shift again, unable to get back on their own and stay there.
She wondered how exactly some were able to move between the layers and others could not.
"Bah!" She dismissed her personal thoughts, starting to get up. "You can do this now, right?"
~!**!~
"You only switch if your life is threatened?" Youko wondered aloud.
Shikiyoku nodded.
Youko considered the information, immediately reaching a decision.
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course not."
"Yoku..."
"What?"
He sighed, "You're just asking for me to throw you to a pack of wolves, aren't you?"
"I'd like to see you try."
"Don't tempt me."
She smirked.
"In all seriousness, I simply cannot analyze your sickness without you actually being sick."
"Mm-hm."
"Which means you need to switch."
"Mm-hm."
"And can you do that on your own?"
"Hm-mm."
"Right. So, do you trust me?"
"Of course not." She replied in the same manner as before, appearing a little confused, "What exactly was that course of logic supposed to accomplish?"
He made a noise of aggravation.
"Are you truly not following me?"
"I wouldn't 'follow' you anywhere."
"...you're purposefully making this difficult for me, aren't you?"
"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're implying."
"...of course you don't."
"You want me to switch."
"Right."
"So, you can cure my illness."
"Right again."
"But I can't switch on command."
"You're truly the paragon of stating the obvious, seductress."
"And so you ask me if I trust you? See, that is where you lose me."
"You know, actually," Youko started to pull away from her, "The fact that you don't trust me may make this that much easier."
"You've lost me again."
"It was intentional that time, Yoku." He primly kissed her cheek before standing up, causing Shikiyoku to sit up herself if only because she was confused about what had him leaving her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What it means is that I'm going to attack you in a moment," His eyes started glowing, "And if you don't manage to figure out some way of defending yourself, I will kill you." 3
~!**!~
Akari shrugged. "They haven't made it easy to track them. Trust me, I've tried. Not a single trace of the person creating these," she nodded to the bricks and such, "that I could find. Not a footprint, not a scent, not even an energy trace. I have a few suspicions, but that does me nothing if I can't explore it." She took a deep breath, ignoring the question Nabu aimed at her and glancing about the room.
She took a swig from the glass, and then another after Genkai's question. "I have nowhere else to be." She turned inward to the odd bond- no, that wasn't it. Kinship.
She inspected the odd feeling of the kinship that had bloomed again, noting that she could feel Isamu doing the same, likely in an attempt to hunt her down and rejoin. She sighed, not really wanting him to join her.
"Akari?"
She glanced at Nabu and gave a shrug before turning to Genkai, her thoughts still churning. "I came today with every intention to do what you ask. It isn't likely I'll have time after today to return for a while." Discreetly, a shadow behind her in the corner of the room disappeared, carrying a small message to Isamu. "Where do you want me?" *
"I appreciate all your hard work, Akari." Genkai replied with an actual smile, "This will help me immensely."
She started to stand up, "Let's go see about where to place these, hm?"
~!**!~
"Youko Kurama! Stop this at once!" Shikiyoku dodged again, finding she had to just as quickly dodge back another direction, looking up to see that Youko was halfway across the grassy prairie from her now, having driven her off.
"Bastard." She growled at him, forced to leap out of the way even as a part of the encroaching plantlife managed to snag at her side, cutting through the material as if it were nothing and immediately drawing blood.
Youko stood where he had gotten up, arms crossed, watching the waves of the meadow swell about her like so many sharks circling their prey.
Interesting. Simple verbal threats did nothing. And neither has physical threats either.
{She can sense desires, silver-tail. You did not lace your words with the intention to kill, and even now you don't particularly want any harm to come to her.}
[I suppose that makes sense, but at least this way I have you to vouch for me that I did try it the easy way.]
{...be careful.}
Youko's first thought was to close the distance and threaten her himself. Red was right, though, caution would be prudent, which is why he hadn't simply attempted to have the plants strangle her. Because he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen when she did switch.
He broke into a run, distracting her with another swell, one that he had reach out and entangle her leg to put her off-balance, speeding towards her with a thorn-covered vine-whip rising out of the meadow beneath him into his hand as he closed the distance.
Once close enough, he lashed out, snapping the tip across her cheek and seeing her eyes go wide when she looked up from the plant creeping up her leg to see the cold expression in Youko's eyes as she could do little to move out of the way, seeing in one second his free hand reaching for her throat, whip coming up to his ear and snapping out again to wrap around her neck as in the next second he slammed into her.
She fell onto her back, breath forced from her lungs and hands immediately coming up to pull at the whip even as he shoved her chin upwards with his free hand. 3
~!**!~
Akari nodded and moved to stand, Nabu following her and turning to leave. "I want to watch the kids." He looked at Akari, silently asking if she was okay with it. She shrugged at him.
"Don't be a distraction. Got me?"
"I know, I know."
Akari turned to Genkai, downing the rest of the lemonade Shizuru had kindly given her before she set her glass down and retrieved her items. She piled everything in one arm easily before rubbing at her neck a little. "Quite frankly, I enjoy having something to do. So, if there's anything you need done, don't hesitate to ask. I… am not a person who should be bored." She gave a lopsided, sheepish smile. "It isn't fruitful in the least." *
"Idle hands and all." Genkai allowed, stepping back out into the cool of the closing day.
With her hands clasped about her back, she took a few steps forward, head rotating as she considered where exactly the haven should be.
"The dojo itself, of course." She began her inner dialogue as she moved towards that specific building, eyes scanning the area. "And the children's quarters as well. With enough space to expand." She thought ruefully.
She made her way as far North as she thought necessary to cover the area she wished, and marked the spot in the dirt with her toe before stepping back.
"It will make the entire area exist on all the layers, correct?"
~!**!~
It was...difficult to keep himself locked away, difficult not to relent when her eyes pleaded questioningly with him, gasping for air as she struggled fruitlessly to free herself, his weight at her stomach as he crouched over her holding her in place.
And every time he had even an inkling of stopping passing behind the cold façade, he tightened the whip.
Just give in, the voice deep in his mind implored her silently.
It wasn't the choking, nor was it the tips of his nails that she could feel digging into the skin at the sides of her face.
It was his eyes.
Their yellow, which had been bright and teasing before, were flat and empty and her core faltered.
It was the same expression he had always donned just before loosing her prey's head from its neck.
I'll just blackout, that's all he can do.
The thorns of the whip dug more poignantly into her skin as the whip tightened further, as if to emphasize that if she couldn't do something soon, he would without remorse do the same to her that he had down to others many times in the past.
As he stared blankly at her, Shikiyoku felt the burning sensation start at her hands, which suddenly darkened with energy as the change tore across her body, scars erupting over her quickly greying skin as her eyes dulled into a more muted green laced with darkness and her features sharpened fiercely.
Those blackened eyes flashed and Youko's lost their intense glare as he suddenly found himself releasing his hold on her to clutch at his own neck.
The weapon which had held her and the vines at her leg both loosened and she slipped out from underneath him to stand before him as he remained knelt, doubling over as his breath shortened.
"How dare you." The hoarse tone came icily from her lips, eyes starting to darken further as she could feel his energy fading away in the whip that lay near her feet.
Youko managed to glance up, seeing that hundreds of strands of yellowish-black energy had erupted from her back, her gaze telling them those strands were about to head for him, and he scrambled to his feet, vision closing in as he choked, one hand still at his throat, but finding himself unable to move further as the energy shot forward, pathing directly for his body. 3
~!**!~
Akari followed after Genkai quietly, having nothing more to say about the subject of her idle hands as Genkai had said. She didn't even pause when another shadow flit up her arm and whispered a message to her before dissipating. She turned her eyes to the ground when she heard Genkai's foot disturbing the soil, her brow raising slightly.
"Every stick, every stone," she replied calmly, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure if it would make the people in the area exist on all layers. She paused mid-step and thought back to the buildings, to the first ones she'd found and when she'd tested everything she had thought of in that moment.
She remembered moving from layer to layer, looking at the objects in the building and-
The people were different every time.
She released a breath silently and crouched, beginning to dig in the ground silently, not saying anything more until she dropped the first brick into the hole and began to cover the brick. "The kids won't have a problem with appearing on every layer, just to ease that possible worry. Only if you have enough energy will one be able to traverse from one to another- through the layers anyway. There are some- very few I suppose- who do what I do and travel by other means. I'm otherwise convinced not many know about the layers." *
When she saw Akari about to finish, Genkai turned and marched off again to the East.
"Few in numbers or not," Genkai made another mark on the ground. "I am hoping it doesn't attracted anyone unsavory. We can only fight them off if they decide to meet us on this layer. I would be rather put out if some demon comes along and destroys the buildings just for the fun of it."
~!**!~
Youko could only watch as the strands cut through the air, his mind too ravaged by the pain to summon any energy to defend himself.
Her power, however, never reached him.
The choking sensation stopped as suddenly as it started and Youko stared with wide eyes as Shikiyoku's lids fluttered closed and she collapsed backwards, the snakes of power dissipating into nothingness and leaving Youko free to make the dash to her side.
He immediately began examining her.
{Fever. Heart-rate increased. Weakness of musculature. And did you see how her eyes darkened?}
[Unfortunately we have no idea of knowing what is the disease and what is the pain.]
Was her hair supposed to be this lack-luster?
The flower almost looked comical in it now.
And these scars...
{Surely they're only a part of what got her to this point.}
[She was not born a demon of pain, so I imagine she is only able to replicate any pain she has felt as opposed to any pain at all.]
Youko reached up to his throat, swallowing.
{I like how well your plan worked out.}
[Don't take that tone with me. I had everything under control.]
{You were going to blast her face with a powder intended to knock her out as soon as she switched. And how well did that work out for you?}
[She's unconscious, isn't she?]
{No thanks to you.}
Youko pursed his lips.
[I feel as if it was too quick.]
{She's been sick for an as of yet indeterminate amount of time.}
[Remind me to ask her about that.]
Youko placed a seed between her lips, watching as it dissolved and then putting his hand to her forehead, noting that it did help her fever recede, if only a little. And her breath started coming slower.
Youko never took his eyes off of her, ready at any second to knock her out again if she came out of it.
{That scar there...it looks older than the others.}
Youko turned his attention to the area Kurama indicated, seeing a harsh marking underneath all the others on her forearm.
He produced a sort of paste by rubbing his fingers together over a leaf after licking at it with the tip of his tongue, and he reached over and carefully spread the stuff over a bit of the scar, watching as it did start to recede a little from her skin.
Shikiyoku shot up with a growl, eyes completely black, and Youko calmly flicked his hand in front of her face, puffing a cloud over her that had her falling back to the ground.
He went ahead and scraped the paste off.
[You know something I didn't think about, Red?]
{Mm?}
[I never asked her how to change her back.] 3
~!**!~
Akari pushed herself to stand and moved after Genkai, arm still holding the other bricks in her arms. She eyed the old woman's back for a moment before turning her eyes to the side. "You know… when I was looking into those other buildings, the only bitter people I saw about it were the owners. I have a feeling whoever is bringing about these things is someone who wants no fights about it." She thought for another moment. "But, that doesn't mean another will see it as an advantage to them; they'd have several places to choose from before this one, however. I've seen plenty of empty buildings and-"
She paused, blinking. Why would an empty building need to exist on the layers?
She added that to her mental list of things to look into.
"You know, I have no idea where I was going with that. I can't predict myself, much less anyone else." She shrugged. "Disregard me, if you will." *
"Remind me when we get back to the main house: I have something for you." Genkai said absent-mindedly, moving as far South as she needed the next brick and marking the ground again.
~!**!~
While Youko walked up the path to Shikiyoku's house, he eyed the setting sun with some passing incredulity.
[I can't believe I didn't wait until after she had seen the flowers bloom.]
His disgust with himself at the oversight was immense.
As much as he would have liked busting down the door, he carried Shikiyoku on his back, her arms hanging over either side of his neck, and both his hands were occupied with holding her up behind him.
So, he simply faded between the layers and stepped over the threshold, coming back onto the first as he stepped lightly in the direction of the couch, seeing Kitoushi's black hair and ears from over the back of it.
"Right where I left you." He murmured to himself before adopting a louder, announcing tone, "Hi cuz!"
Kitoushi blinked at the TV screen, not recognizing the show that now flickered past and wondering for a moment how much time had passed.
"What did you do?"
"Do?" Youko echoed, "What on earth makes you think I've done...anything?"
Kit took an irritated breath, "I can smell the sickness, fox."
"Oh. Well. Yes. So can I!" 3
~!**!~
Akari raised a brow at Genkai curiously, but didn't say anything about the woman's request to remind her of… whatever it was she had for Akari. Please don't be another puppy. I can hardly handle the two I'm looking after now. Nabu gets impatient, and Isamu… dear lord, Isamu…
… …
Akari raised a brow at the map outstretched to her, but didn't hesitate in grasping the paper and retrieving it from the older woman. She thought for a moment before unraveling the map and glancing around it, eyes finding a few areas she could mark, but deciding she'd make for certain later.
"Sure thing." She looked up at the older woman and gave a small smile. "I'll work on it on my down time." Which will be sometime after the next few days, as I'm sure Isa won't let me run off at random while I'm holding up my end of the deal.
"Oh, this will be fun! I want to know where they are too!"
"I'll get it to you as soon as I'm sure I've found them all. But, I'm sure new ones will pop in since I've kinda… borrowed from previous ones." *
"There's no rush." Genkai assured her, "Just something to...occupy your time should you find need of it. Not to say that I won't appreciate the answers. If new ones crop up, try and approximate a time frame, like a date when you discovered it and it hadn't been so before."
~!**!~
Kitoushi let out a sigh.
"You don't actually know how to change her back, do you?" He stood up and walked gracefully around the edge of the couch, seeing Shikiyoku's head resting over Youko's shoulder.
"I never said I didn't." Youko quipped, starting to follow after the cat who began walking up the stairs.
Kit didn't respond as he moved down the hallway once on the second floor and opened the door to one of the guest rooms, turning on a lamp by the door as Youko stepped past him and gently lay Shikiyoku down on her back, the bed in this particular room in the middle of the wall, leaving room to stand on the other three sides of it.
"Can I at least ask 'why' and get a straight answer?" Kitoushi crossed his arms over his chest, standing at the end of the bed.
"She thought I might be able to figure out a cure for her disease."
"And she didn't ask me-"
"Because she knows you're a fool who would just as soon 'cure' her by taking the disease on yourself." There was a pause as Youko continued positioning Shikiyoku into a more relaxed pose, moving her hair from her face. "Which I'm certain you've done already in some capacity or another, haven't you?"
Kitoushi stared down at Shikiyoku's scar-ridden body that lay with what little peacefulness could be afforded her considering he could practically feel the disease running through her veins.
"Of course. I was only able to get a little of it though."
"That much is obvious." Youko raised his eyes curiously, "How did you manage it?"
Kit shrugged, "I kissed her."
Youko blinked at him.
Nodding to indicate the female in the room, Kit extrapolated, "You have to kiss her switch her back." His eyes shifted to the left, "I...may or may not have realized that at the time and was just using it as an excuse to get close enough to try and draw the disease from her body."
Youko laughed openly, though Kit missed him eyeing Shikiyoku with thoughts of kissing her running through his mind, "You discovered anything yet?" 3
~!**!~
Akari nodded. "I might be able to track the demon behind it better this way too." She gave a smile. "This will be fun." She turned her eyes to Genkai again as she shifted her weight, readying to head for the door. "I enjoy puzzles."
"Or anything that will keep you busy. Workaholic."
"Also, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to witness your work sometime. Kita's grown quite a bit since the first time I saw him. I've seen what you can do with demons, and I'm curious what you can do with human kids." She gave a polite smile. "Keep me in mind if anything else crops up," Akari added as she turned to leave, Nabu on her heels as she tossed a wave over her shoulder. "Tell Shizuru I said the lemonade was great."
And she stepped into a shadow, disappearing from the temple and reappearing in her home, where Isamu lounged on her couch lazily, a plastic container of-
"What do you think you're doing with my cherries?"
"That's what these are called?"
"Put them away. Those are mine, and I don't share."
The male chuckled and threw another in the air, mouth wide to catch it when it fell. "Relax, I found these on my lonesome. Yours are still in the cold-box thing." *
~!**!~
"No." Kit frowned, looking at Shikiyoku again as he moved to the other side of the bed without paying any attention to Youko, "I didn't get very much of it at all before she switched forms, and I have yet to be able to actually activate what I believe is in fact a virus. It's dormant at the moment, despite my best efforts."
"A kiss, huh?" Youko murmured, expression on his face making it perfectly clear that he had every intention of kissing her, if the fact that he planted his hands on top of the covers and started to lean over her wasn't indication enough.
Kitoushi resisted a snort, seeing Youko's hair fall free over his shoulder and brush against Shikiyoku's cheek, causing her to stir.
Youko's eyes slid shut as he closed the final distance, and Kit said nothing, interested to see what might happen as Shikiyoku's eyes started to flutter open.
In the next split second, before Youko's mouth had a chance to close around hers, Shikiyoku snapped wide awake, gaze completely devoid of color, and her lips parted hungrily, energy snaking out from her mouth and diving into Youko's, freezing him in place where he hovered over her as his own energy slowly started swirling out into the space between them and down her throat.
Kit had every intention of stopping whatever he witnessed unfolding before his eyes, but like Youko he found himself frozen in place for a split second, if for completely different reasons.
His heterochromatic eyes flickered over to the window, seeing that night had fallen, and his core hitched in place, suddenly allowing him to move again.
He took a step forward and ripped himself painfully into cat-form in an instant instead of letting it slowly morph him, landing on the bed on all fours for only the moment it took to coil his lithe limbs for a leap, launching through the air into Youko's shoulder.
Just as he contacted, removing Youko far enough away that the spell between the fox and Shikiyoku broke, Youko came back to the present and his hand came up inbetween himself and the female, a puff of powder releasing into her face as she started to rise up, snarling viciously.
The force of Kitoushi's leap still knocked Youko to the ground, but on the rebound the cat twisted gracefully and landed back onto the bed, hissing angrily in Shikiyoku's direction as he arched his back, raising his hackles and causing his fur to stand on end.
Youko stood up almost immediately, breathing heavily as vines erupted from the carpet and lashed themselves around Shikiyoku's wrists and ankles, a thicker one going across her neck.
She barely had the wherewithal to strain against the vines, her lids already beginning to close under the heaviness of the powder, and her growl faded as she relaxed back on top of the covers.
"Energy-feeding." Youko finally managed to heave.
"What?" 3
~!**!~
"Cold box?" Akari repeated, momentarily confused before glancing to the kitchen. "You mean the refrigerator? If mine aren't there-"
"You make too many threats. Just have some of these and show me this weird contraption."
"What are you on about now?"
"That!" Akari turned to face him again, eyes noting the remote he held in his hands. He pressed a few buttons, and the next thing she knew she was covering her ears, the television screaming into life with music as loud as it could be. "Turn this god-awful sound off!"
"You're the one who turned it on!" She screamed at him over the song that was literally nothing but gruff screams and loud sounds. "Turn it off!"
"I don't know how!"
Akari growled and lunged forward, snapping the remote control from his grasp and mashing her thumb on the volume button until the number on the screen read a measly five. She took a deep breath and turned to Isamu again. "Why would you turn it on when you knew it was loud?"
"Because I thought I could turn it off again, like before."
"And how did you manage that?"
"I honestly don't have a clue. How do you manage such sound?" The glare he sent to the screen was accusatory and nothing short of hatred. "What is it anyway? That… that thing? What does it do, other than scream obscenities at us?"
"Hopefully put you into a nice, long sleep so that won't happen again."
"No one asked you, mutt."
"Enough. Both of you!"
"He started it."
Akari heaved a long sigh and sent a glare at Isamu, officially staying whatever it was he was about to say. "As I was about to say," she continued, "This is called a television. It provides mindless entertainment to humans and, occasionally, myself when I feel like laying around and doing nothing."
"What kind of entertainment? I bet it's nothing like-"
"You watch moving pictures, normally called movies or shows. The longer variations are usually about an hour and a half to three hours long. That is what a movie is. The shorter versions, television shows, can last from twenty to forty-five minutes. The most popular, I've found, is action."
"There's a word I understand. Action. I assume it's fighting?"
"...yes, but there's many other things. There's also romance-"
"Yet another word I'm familiar with. This gets easier to remember by Genre, eh?"
"Comedy, drama, thriller, horror, and many more."
"Show me a television show."
"What kind?"
"Any kind."
Akari turned to look at a nearby clock that ticked away on the wall, and a smile came to her face. "Okay then, sit up and scoot over so I can sit. And give me those." She moved, snatching the cherries from his grasp and plopping down on the couch when he was out of the way. She slid a single cherry onto her tongue and sat back, pointing the remote at the screen and clicking away through the guide. "You probably won't like this one, but I enjoy it, and you made the dumb decision to let me choose what to watch. So deal with it."
"I bet I can handle it." He leaned back in the cushions, moving so his arms were tossed over the back of the two-seater couch and his feet moving to prop up on the glass coffee table. He reached over and grabbed a handful of cherries before sitting back, every single one of them in his mouth and his arm resting behind her again.
Akari leaned away from the male, her elbow resting on the arm of the couch, one leg crossed over the other as she continued clicking through the guide, a smile coming to her face when she found what she wanted, just in time to hear the opening theme of the show. "We made good time." She paused and glanced at Isamu. "This one, by the way, is an hour long per episode."
"Episode?"
"This runs in a series. Episodes are the individual segments, one of which you'll be watching today. Now hush. It's starting."
"Whatever you say, love."
"Shh." *
~!**!~
"Energy-feeding." Youko repeated.
If Kitoushi had been in humanoid form one of his dark eyebrows would have lifted. As it was, he simply stared unblinkingly at the fox who was in turn watching Shikiyoku with a more wary eye.
"To activate the virusy-thingy." He let his gaze turn down to the cat who still stood at the edge of the bed, fur at the nape of his neck bristled even as he sat down, bushy tail twitching in vague agitation. "I think."
Youko waved a hand about dismissively in the air, referring to the subject the neko had been discussing with him before Shikiyoku had attacked. "She got the virus activated by an energy-feeder, a vampire of sorts. Kyonshi. He went crazy from the virus and tried to kill her. He fed on the energy of other demons, and apparently taught her to do the same while she was stuck like this." The hand gestured to indicate Shikiyoku's ashen form, then he shrugged.
"Don't ask me why. Didn't get that part from her. I believe the capability to feed on energy like that is directly related to this virus being active."
Kitoushi let his heterochromatic eyes leave Youko and turn to look over Shikiyoku, taking in her scars, the strange peacefulness that Youko's powder had contorted her face into, one that looked much more severe than it normally would have when she slept.
"Crusnik."
"What?"
Youko had seen the wheels turning in the cat's head, and thought the conversation was going to take a different direction.
Kitoushi's tail curled about his front paws.
"Not 'vampire.' Crusnik. We can feed upon humans, no? That really makes us the vampires, does it not?"
As if the question didn't already sound rhetorical to the fox, the cat went on without allowing himself to be interrupted.
"But who feeds upon us?"
Youko raised an eyebrow, "These 'crusnik' apparently."
A single ear upon Kit's head flicked in a replication of a nod.
"We are not the top of the food chain as we would like to think. There are these Crusnik, these super-empowered demons, just one of whom is capable of wiping out entire civilizations of demons at a time. But the same virus which empowers them also drains them, burns their bodies out quickly so that they only keep our population in check instead of rendering us extinct."
"Shikiyoku said Kyonshi activated the virus within her, though."
Kitoushi gave the cat equivalent of a shrug.
"I can't say I know everything there is to know about these Crusnik. I never came across one myself, so I gave up a long time ago on ever understanding the so-called 'virus.' According to some legends, in the old days demons ran wild across the first Earth, terrorizing the humans to the point of wiping them out completely, and when the Kamis finally heard the humans' desperate prayers, their answer was the first Crusnik, whose mind and body they twisted in order to create the ultimate predator. The stories say that whenever the number of demons becomes too great, too powerful, the line of Crusnik will rise once more."
Youko frowned at Shikiyoku.
"So, in her 'pain form,' Shikiyoku is no longer a demon, but-"
"Technically a Crusnik, yes."
"Can any demon learn the ways of a Crusnik?"
"I do not know. It is said that the original Crusnik was once a demon, so I do not think it would be farfetched to assume so. I have been unable to discover how to active the portion of the virus I siphoned from her, however. And as she seemed to indicate to you, that would appear to be the first step." Kitoushi blinked slowly.
"Indeed." Youko's stare upon Shikiyoku lengthened, silence growing between himself and Kitoushi. 3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star