A/N: Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!
Your friendly, neighborhood Star here. The sum-up on this one is extra long, but the last chapter is pretty lengthy and a lot happens that, in my opinion, can't really be left out of even a recap.
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!
Akari fears falling asleep and leaving her body again,
and begins to suggest games she and Kurama might play instead.
When the two both admit they wouldn't play fair,
Akari asks for a game Kurama might want to play,
and when she isn't given a satisfactory answer,
she decides they will play Tic-Tac-Toe.
Before they can even set up their game,
Youko demands "Shuichi's" attention,
and attempts to wrest control of their body from him,
informing the human that they were leaving immediately,
as Youko's bond with Shikiyoku is informing him of her dying.
An internal battle begins as Kurama counters leaving will kill,
not only Akari, but their mother as well,
but it appears as if Youko is of a single-minded determination,
and Kurama insists Akari leaves the room
as he isn't sure what tactics the fox will use to be set free.
Stunned, confused, and a little scared at Kurama's demand,
Akari allows herself to be dragged off towards the door,
leaving behind a devastating mental battle
between human and kitsune.
~!**!~
Knowing Kitoushi kept emergency tinctures in the old days,
Shikiyoku realizes Kit's need is dire,
and that the two of them will need to journey
all the way down to the Ninth Layer to an old hideout
to retrieve what he needs to cure himself.
Managing to convince a reluctant Hiei
that the journey will be best if only she and Kit do it,
Shikiyoku takes off with Kitoushi,
returning successful on their venture by the next morning,
her and Kitoushi roaming the streets of the city at his behest,
taking their time together in returning to her home.
However, their moment of joy is quickly shattered,
as Shikiyoku finds herself face-to-face with an Infected Kitoushi,
he having drawn a portion of her sickness into himself via kiss,
and the dose retrieved from their former hideout having done no good.
Kitoushi turns on her, and Shikiyoku shifts to her other form,
sending a life-ending blast of energy directly into his core as he pounces on her,
and dropping to the ground underneath him as he collapses.
Unable to cope with the death of her oldest comrade,
Shikiyoku dips below the layers and tears her way to the Ninth one.
The surge of energy stirs the Jagan into rousing Hiei,
who immediately chases after her,
finding the body of Kitoushi and sensing Shikiyoku's despair
as he follows her to the Ninth and fights through her toxic energy
to her side, taking her hand in his even as his own life force begins to drain away.
When he moves to kiss her, to revert her to her normal form,
she resists him, knowing that if she were to change back
that the pieces of her heart would shatter and she would break.
Despite her pleas that he leave, and live,
Hiei refuses, finally admitting that he needs her to survive,
wants her as a companion, desires for her to be with him.
She prompts him further,
and he finally repeats what he said in the bath house,
that he desires to be her Consort,
and she finally allows him to kiss her with that desire on his mind.
The pact between them is formed,
that they would divide their griefs and multiply their joys,
and so a great deal of Shikiyoku's burden is lifted from her
and passed to Hiei, so that she might be relieved of it.
They quickly begin the "multiplying their joys"
portion of the pact, previous encounters with one another
flashing through the new, shared space between them,
and Shikiyoku voices her 'concern' that he might regret being stuck with her...
Hiei only looked over at Shikiyoku with one eye open, his brow raising and bringing his awareness to the dark marking that hadn't been there long enough for him to become accustomed to. It distracted him for a moment, bringing his gaze down to the little bit of glowing swirl he could see underneath and around his eye.
That's going to take some getting used to.
He released a scoff a second later and let his eye close again. "If I didn't regret being your Champion, why would I regret this?" It was different, he knew, but at the same time so similar. *
"I wouldn't know. I'm just guessing that it could happen down the line somewhere." She tapped her fingers along the Mark once and then grinned again, sliding over until she lay on her side next to him, propping herself up by putting her face in a hand with the elbow stuck in the dirt and looking at him. "I suppose it's too late now. You're mine." 3
The fire demon didn't reply, deeming his lips twitching into a smirk of amusement as reply enough. (Hn.) Being honest, it had been what he wanted from the beginning. It had been something he'd wanted since they'd been separated, to be bound to her again and be able to watch over her.
Now, not only was that accomplished, but he'd earned a companion too, something he hadn't realized until recently that he'd actually wanted the entire time.
And she'd been the first to prove it was worth searching for.
Well, to this extent. Kurama and the others were good company on occasion, but if he had it his way, he'd rather be with this one than the others, any day.
He released another scoff.
It took another moment, but he realized they were still laying in the open, on the dirt of the Ninth Layer, where he had no idea where they were and if anyone was coming to find the source of the energy that had stormed through here.
His eyes turned to Shikiyoku in consideration before he tilted his head at her a little. If she knew no one would come this way, they'd stay. If she wasn't certain, they'd leave. Simple as that. Neither of them were really in the best shape to fight anyway, if it came to it. *
When she shifted over, Shikiyoku's other hand had come to rest on Hiei's chest, and from this side she was given her first real look at the tattoo, its thin swirls and larger curves and everything inbetween that all spiraled outwards from the heart-shaped marking over his core.
She rather enjoyed the fact that it had spread over his face, finding it amusing that he now had a visual representation of their union that everyone would be able to see.
And slightly more humorous was the knowledge that he had never gotten to do the same to her.
By the time Hiei looked at her, however, her gaze had lowered to his side and without actually meaning to, started tracing the lines of the tattoo with her finger in an effort to memorize what they looked like outside of her head. 3
Hiei felt odd about the finger tracing the markings on his skin, and it completely distracted him from what he'd been originally looking to her for. So he stared at Shikiyoku for a few minutes, watching the finger follow swirl after swirl.
And after a few more minutes he remembered what he'd been doing and his eyes lifted, watching the area calmly, almost curiously.
Because he saw no way that a demon within a certain distance wouldn't have felt the energy appear, and then slowly dissipate. *
"What troubles you, fire-prince?" Shikiyoku murmured, not even looking up from his side. 3
Hiei didn't look down at her. "Nothing, at this moment." There was no threat nearby, no demon within the area. He was simply being cautious. He didn't know the area.
Though, his lips did twitch at her after a minute, and he did glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "Just precaution, Shiki." *
The blush from earlier had long faded, but at hearing him say the name aloud once more, her eyes glimmered for a moment and the barest of smiles played across her lips and she continued watching her finger lightly follow the lines on his skin.
"No one comes this far Northeast." She murmured again. 3
"Hn," there was no denying the instant relaxing of a few of his muscles, his head actually lowering to the ground and resting so that his eyes saw the skies above, through the leafless trees that hung overhead. He found it odd that it seemed to fit in the darkened area. It looked… burned. Which made it fit in with the red of the skies that made him think of fire.
He remembered the question he'd asked her at the bath house about being a fire demon, and this time amusement flooded him enough to earn a puff of air through his nostrils. "Are you certain you're not a fire demon?" As he repeated the question, he sent the mental image of what he was staring at, and all the amusement that he felt about it. *
Shikiyoku's eyes grew faraway for a moment as she pictured what Hiei sent her, her smile growing a little wider so that she stopped what she was doing, letting her hand rest on his ribs as she looked up to the overhanging, dead, trees.
Oops.
Of course, there was no blackened smell coming from the area around them, the one that indicated fire had been in the area, and really if one looked everything just appeared to have dried up from the inside-out.
"I am not fierce enough to be a fire demon." She replied as she continued scanning the sky. "Neither am I hot enough." 3
Hiei raised a brow, though his eyes remained pointed up at the skies and the trees and such. His first reaction was to sneer about the 'fierce' comment, because someone who wasn't fierce wouldn't have been able to do what she'd done. At least, if they could, not near the way she could.
And about being 'hot enough'... Well…
"Your personal temperature has nothing to do with it. Anyone can play with fire." Not all are immune to its effects, however.
After a few moments, he became aware of her eyes on him, and he lifted his head to look at her. "What?" *
"You're cute." 3
Hiei's brow quirked a little as he realized what was happening. "Not cute," he said, frowning a little. "Fierce." *
Shikiyoku's eyebrows lifted a little, the rest of her expression unchanging, and she only stared at him again, wondering if he'd make the connection. 3
Hiei matched her stare with his own, frown pulling his lips downwards a little before his expression became blank again.
And then he realized.
...oh.
His lips turned into a smirk and he turned away. I knew that. *
Deciding she would leave him with the half he had figured out and not touch the other side of it, which he obviously missed, Shikiyoku let out a low chuckle and went back to tracing her finger along his side.
Her mind found its way back to the only other time in her life she had been into this far corner of the Ninth...well, layer now.
It had been when her mother banished her.
Shikiyoku paused her tracing and looked around.
I knew I recognized this clearing.
She'd collapsed here, as a young demon barely old enough to walk and talk, and exhausted beyond running any longer. 3
Hiei let his head rest back again, eyes closing and letting his ears do all the work. He could hear creatures moving around a good ways away, moving further. He could hear the wind blowing by and causing the dead trees to creak with the movement. He could hear Shikiyoku's breathing, even the sound of her finger along his skin before she paused.
It was so calm here, despite the damage that had been done. Or, perhaps because of it. He wasn't sure.
Suddenly, he remembered Kitoushi's body, laying on the sidewalk on the first layer. Quickly after that mental image, he found himself remembering the cat, known as Maneshi then, tearing around the house in the middle of the night, which ended up with tears in his cloak and water all over him.
And while earlier he hadn't felt anything about the death of the cat- hadn't had the time to- he now felt a heaviness that hadn't been there before.
Shikiyoku's.
It gave him something to ponder over, exploring all the things he suddenly felt as hers, shared with him through their new kinship. *
The remembrance led her down pathways she had long forgotten existed, of barely surviving at her age with a background at the Palace that really had yet to even start before being tossed away.
And then being found by the demon who would eventually become her first Champion, a demon who raised her on his own, and for a while had been like a father to her.
Before she really knew him. Really saw what he was like. How he had manipulated her from the beginning, molding her into the demon he could use to serve his own purposes.
She had thought him kind and caring...but he was cruel. And adept at fooling and hiding it from others. 3
Hiei's mind wandered back to the day he'd been separated from Shikiyoku by the portals, how she'd pushed him through and ended up stuck within Demon World. He remembered feeling angry, even lost and confused because he wouldn't be able to protect someone he couldn't get to.
But he never would have imagined that she'd torn into the mountainside as long as she possibly could before she'd given in and collapsed out of exhaustion, only to drag herself to her feet and leave the spot to find a way to sever the bond.
And how she felt about it after. About severing the bond and 'letting her champion down'.
He remembered sitting in Kurama's window that night, not saying a word, and feeling the bond suddenly taper away, leaving him in stunned silence.
That had been when he'd begun searching for other portals, before ending up sidetracked when they'd found Otento, who'd gotten away.
And the whole time Shikiyoku was doing so many other things. A decade had been so long for her.
But he'd only had time to try and prevent the demon responsible from the beginning from getting away. And the instant the worlds had begun to crumble together, he'd taken up searching for her, only to be approached by Yusuke with a favor from Jin. He'd initially ignored it, saying he had other things to do. But that had been before running into her at the first layer.
Hiei let out a small breath, his body relaxing more and his eyes coming open to stare up at the sky again.
There was so much he hadn't realized about this person, simply because he'd never gone through anything she'd been thrown into. And he didn't want it to ever happen again, if he could help it. *
"Tch."
Shikiyoku rolled over onto her back, putting her hands behind her head to prop it up, staring at nothing and too wrapped up in her own thoughts to care. She didn't even realize she scoffed aloud, though the emotion was certainly there.
Bastard.
He was dead now, though.
And for a second time no less.
...and by her own hand.
Well, directly anyway.
It was no small amount of satisfaction to remember tearing through him, even though at remembering why she had done it had the momentarily vicious gleam in her eye fading.
Funny how she could look more objectively at the feeling of missing him now that she wasn't blinded about it when she so much as thought of the bird demon. 3
The sound caught Hiei's ears, but the fire demon didn't turn to look at Shikiyoku as his own thoughts slowly drifted away, his mind becoming nothing but a blank slate as he stared up at the sky. Clouds rolled by, a lighter red than the sky itself was, and it made the visual of flames even more convincing as he continued to spectate the heavens.
He noticed that Shikiyoku also pulled away, but he left her to her thoughts.
….he almost felt too tired to move.
Oh yeah. He'd forgotten, almost, that it had taken so much energy to not only get here, but to convince Shikiyoku to let him change her back, to become her Consort. It made him give a small breath through his nostrils and close his eyes again.
How is she still conscious? She was the one who used most of her energy anyway. *
Shikiyoku reached up and scratched at her face absently, her thoughts rolling past Otento and all the trouble he caused over the years.
Strange to think he could have been her Consort. And that the desire was strong enough that his mark had been decent sized.
...and yet another reason why I should avoid Rae's palace for the next hundred years.
Though that did mean not going to the Niiro Kaga.
...Kafu.
And Horu. And Uryo.
Still alive. Still well.
The thought of visiting Kafu led Shikiyoku's thoughts to what he might say upon seeing Hiei with the tattoo marks on his face.
Aren't they a little...fierce for a fire demon?
For that matter, facial markings were new for him too. She was the only one who had seen them yet.
...this could be interesting. 3
Hiei let out another long breath. ….woman.
He wasn't even sure what the beginning of that thought was. It had almost been like he'd been talking aloud, and the only part heard was the last word of the complaint. Except this time, it had been just the thought, not even finding its way to his lips.
How was she still awake?
Because he was beginning to struggle.
Hn.
His hands were suddenly moving, pulling his cloak back over himself out of instinct- the wind was beginning to stir the dirt a little and he really didn't like the feeling of it moving across his body. And then he tossed his right arm over his eyes, just as he had the night before.
….Tch.
Sleeping again so soon. *
She missed Taka.
And for that matter Douji and-
Oh Kit.
The newer memory was just recent enough to have her closing her eyes, a frown making her brows come together.
And his body is still laying out on the street.
She inwardly made a noise of disgust with herself, thinking through the logistics of moving his giant cat body.
But where would I-
The meadow.
He told her he had been there before, right? With Youko and...Nabu? Yeah.
I bet Youko wouldn't mind if-
Shikiyoku actually cringed.
...
He...might not want to talk to me for a while.
To be fair though, neither had he cured her sickness. And that was their condition after all. 3
Not yet.
Hiei mentally shook himself awake, though the rest of his body didn't so much as move. He could rest without sleeping, so there was no need. If he just lay here until she needed him to get up, he'd be able to do anything she needed him to do.
….Because eventually, she was going to want to do something about Kitoushi.
And since he didn't know the cat very well, it was not his place to make suggestions, even if he did have any. *
After thinking about him, Shikiyoku's mind kept returning to the cat demon.
Giving the differences in time, there was no telling how long he had actually been laying there.
Unlikely any humans could see him. And more unlikely that any demons would touch him.
Add on the fact that she had actually ran with the layers earlier and any sense of the time or day she might have had was lost to them.
She gave a little sigh, but still didn't move, as if dreading the thought of even seeing the cat's corpse again. 3
Hiei heard the little sound that passed Shiki's lips, and it wasn't hard to know where her thoughts had gone. His had been there, after all. And he could also feel her reluctance, the dreading of going.
His lips pulled downwards at the corners for just a moment before flattening out again. "We will have to go at some point," he said after a moment, giving a small breath himself. *
We...
That's right. I won't have to go alone, will I?
She turned her head to look at him, a little noise accompanying the small smile she found herself wearing as she looked at him.
Mine.
This time the thought was coupled with the greatest sense of contentment.
...I wonder how long it'll take for you to figure out I'm yours. 3
He could feel her eyes on him. He didn't move right away, but Hiei could definitely feel the stare that had landed on him. He acted as if he couldn't feel it, as if he wouldn't noticed if she only sat there and looked for a while.
But after a moment or two, he decided to let his arm slide away from his face and to turn his head in her direction, looking at her through bleary eyes from the pressure of his forearm. Waiting for her to say something, anything, whether it be about Kitoushi or anything else. *
In spite of herself, the smile grew larger when he finally shifted around to look at her, but she couldn't really think of anything that needed to be said in that moment and she just looked back.
"...thank you."
(For everything.) 3
Hiei couldn't quite see her clearly yet, but he offered a small raise of his brow before giving a small smirk. He almost said it, the line that came to mind, but for some reason it just didn't form on his tongue, and he couldn't bring himself to say it telepathically either.
I'd do anything you need.
So he gave a little nod at her instead. *
She let out a breathy little laugh.
"You don't even know what for, do you?" Her eyes gleamed teasingly. 3
Hiei turned his head to look up at the sky as his vision began to clear.
He didn't answer her, because really, with her, there was no telling what she would bring up. So he merely smirked up at the sky. *
Shikiyoku closed her eyes after a moment, taking a deep, cleansing breath.
"We should..." Subject change. Pause. Breath releasing. Serenity in the next thought. "I want to go take care of Kit." The statement was accompanied by a questionness that was asking him to go with her, please, and, "He should not be left out in such a way." 3
Hiei felt her sobering up and knew what she was about to say. So, ever so slowly, he began shifting around, putting a hand on the ground and pushing himself into a sitting position even as she spoke. And for the first time, he realized she was asking him.
Not that he wouldn't have gone with her in the first place.
He slowly pushed himself to stand before turning and offering her his hand for the same. Momentarily, he remembered the first time he'd offered her his hand, back when they'd been in the tunnel with Sensui. He blinked and the image was gone.
"It's why I'm here."
To be with you when you need me.
~!**!~
If one was looking on from the outside, Akari could be seen laying under her covers with one hand clutching at the blankets and the other at her chest, her knees pulled to her stomach and her face hidden. They wouldn't have been able to see it, but her eyes were sporadically moving behind her lids and her lips were twitching.
In the dream realm, she was standing, fidgeting, watching the being at the large chair she now considered a throne. Isamu stood to her side and Takeo a foot behind her, keeping her from turning and running even if she'd had the ability to move her muscles. And the being, the creature sitting in the chair was only just realizing she'd been there, turning to her slowly, as if she wasn't important enough for his entire attention.
And yet, apparently she was important enough to have guards, keeping her where she stand, where she fidgeted in fear. Guards who laughed when she backpedaled far enough to back into Takeo.
"You got away."
The voice seemed to come from everywhere, resonating around her like the energy that pressed down on her shoulders, filling her senses with the knowledge that she was nothing more than an insect to this one. An insect who was held underneath a magnifying glass on a hot summer day.
"Not again."
Her eyes suddenly came open and Akari found herself breathing hard, and she was sure that the clamminess from her body was from more than the hot covers that she quickly threw away. She curled tighter into that little ball, her forehead resting against her knees and her arms tucked to her chest.
HAd she been aware of her surroundings, she would've noticed the maid in her room before the girl had even piped up, and she wouldn't have nearly attacked the poor unsuspecting female.
She had to repeat what had already been said.
"Master Yomi requires your presence at breakfast. He advises you not be late."
It took a few minutes of standing with shaking legs and staring at the door before she could gather herself together, remind herself it was just a dream, and move for the shower. *
There were no words to describe the internal battle between fox demon and avatar that took place over an indeterminate amount of time, and had the avatar still been more human than demon, there would have been no denying that the kitsune spirit within him would have overtaken the body of Minamino in a matter of minutes.
But many years had passed in which the two resided together, and in that time the strength of Youko, the guile, the power, had been shared between human and demon so that the boy with red hair could attribute his heritage more to his demonic infestation than the mother who birthed him.
And so the fight waged on.
And on.
And on.
But Youko was relentless in his onslaught, and though the teen had only to defend, to stand firm, the passion of the kitsune slowly wore him down, the tide tug-of-war having never been even and the advantage of centuries of life gaining, overruling his counterpart.
They were, in the end, unmatched. For Youko was still stronger, still wiser, still had more stamina and toughness than the boy he inhabited.
And then, all at once, Youko stopped.
Kurama did not lower his defenses, and could feel the kitsune had chipped away steadily, pinpointing Kurama's weakness as if they were his own, for the two knew each other well enough that only the age of the demon would give him the upper hand.
The redhead many have gained the knowledge of countless years of experience...but he had not lived it.
Stockstill, the avatar checked himself, standing as firm as he was able within his own mind, feeling the instability in his stance that he knew the fox could not have missed.
Minutes, perhaps seconds more and Youko would have prevailed.
There was no way the silver-haired fox couldn't have known.
Blinking in the plane of his thoughts, battered and worn and metaphorically breathing heavily, Kurama no longer sensed the presence of the fox.
This had happened before, in an attempted trick to slip by, a tactic the fox used well enough, but such shadowy and indirect things were fruitless as they each knew the others thoughts and intentions and only a frontal wearing down would succeed.
Kurama said nothing, only standing there barely able to keep his proverbial feet, watching, feeling for the next move.
He did not know how long he waited, only that at some point he was able to sense the fox demon was...gone.
Maybe not quite that completely. He was still there after all, still inhabiting the body they shared, but there was no reading in him the intention to continue, not even a hint that this was another ploy, a change of tactics.
Simply...
...nothing.
Without words, Kurama reached out to the kitsune in a cautious examination of Youko's state and found, as he felt, that same impression of nothingness.
Unwilling to accept that Youko had given up, Kurama spent the rest of the night in the room gathering his strength, expecting an attack that never came.
~!**!~
In the very early hours of the next morning, Kurama emerged from the training room, before any others had a chance to awaken, and made his way back to his rooms.
There were no others to watch him stagger briefly in the middle of the hall, no one to see him stop and lean up against the wall as if the mental effort needed to lift his feet and walk proved too much for him.
He mindlessly walked back, closing the door behind him, fearful yet of even sleep when the fox might overtake him while unconscious, and went to stand in the shower, only starting to peel his soaked clothing to throw it to the tiled floor after standing there under the water for a while as he braced himself against the wall of the shower itself, too exhausted to do anything but be prepared to step between the fox and what had been Youko's goal with whatever mental capacity he had left.
He did not leave the shower for a long while.
~!**!~
A sense of relief passed through her to him as if somewhere she thought he might not go with her, an impression of gratefulness that he might once again lend her his strength, his presence, as she sat up herself and took his hand to receive his help in standing.
Even after she rose, she did not at first move, only looking at him with the calmest expression and a small imitation of that smile no one else but him got to see. 3
Hiei pulled Shikiyoku to her feet, watching her even as she watched him, offering a small twitch of her lips as she eyed him. To be quite honest, he felt reluctant to go as well, though he wasn't sure if that was his reluctance, or hers that he was feeling.
Since he'd become very much aware that he could feel a little of what she was feeling at the moment.
It was… odd, to say the least.
He didn't release her hand as he turned and began walking from the area, folding the layers over them as he did so.
Anymore waiting and they'd end up dreading it more than they already did.
~!**!~
Akari had showered and dressed in a slow. sluggish fashion that made it feel as if the day was going to be too long, even though her inner clock said she'd been moving at her normal speed and had gotten dressed just about as fast as she normally did. And she didn't even bother putting her hair up- she was going to sit at a table, not run around like a maniac. She wouldn't need her hair to be out of her face.
In fact, she found she probably would use her hair to hide herself. She wasn't exactly feeling up to confrontation today anyway.
She didn't have time to think about much on the walk down the few flights of stairs to the main hall, but that didn't mean she didn't find herself wanting to hunt down Kurama and see what was going on.
And had it not been for Yomi calling on her, she likely would have done just that.
Instead, she pushed the door open to the dining hall, unsurprised to see the blind demon sitting at the head of the table and a waiter to his left. He'd even been watching the door with a small, almost pleasant smile that had her hesitating.
She never liked that smile.
"Have a seat, Akari."
And she never liked it when he used her name, either.
She calmly stepped up to the chair that another demon was pulling out, taking a seat and adjusting as necessary so that she could hide her hands under the table, her eyes watching the demon carefully. No plate was set before her, not even a glass of water.
"It has been brought to my attention that you've been wandering my halls." He paused, seeming to look for a reaction, and when he earned none he continued. "It's not an easy thing to miss when my men are complaining about cold spots and static in areas where no electricity is being conducted."
Again, she gave him no reaction, not surprised nor worried about the topic.
"It has also been brought to my attention that you've been convening with our good friend, Takeo."
Now that had her mind beginning to work. She'd forgotten about that.
"I am just wondering if there's anything I should know."
Not like you don't already know.
Akari shifted, straightening her spine a little and speaking for the first time. "Takeo took his leave a while ago. He's not roaming any longer."
Yomi's lips pulled up just a little as he raised a glass to his lips and took a sip.
She knew he was waiting for more details. "He made the mistake of attempting to keep me from my own body. And as I'm sure you know, shadow demon's usually have a personal shadow that acts as a guard in those circumstances. My personal guard acted when it sensed the threat."
The small slick of Yomi's glass touching the table again seemed to echo in the new silence, and she found herself glad that Sensui had taught her the art of passing lie detection tests. It made this moment so much easier- but to say she wasn't still worried would be a lie.
That silence seemed to stretch on, Yomi watching her in his unique way and Akari merely staring, as if she could meet his gaze square on.
Another few minutes ticked by before he turned his head away. "You are dismissed."
Slowly, Akari slid her chair back and stood, turning to the door and taking two steps before the demon called to her again, pausing her.
"I expect results soon."
She didn't reply as she left the dining hall, every hair on her neck standing on end. *
It took a great deal of time before Kurama allowed himself the luxury of rest, and even then he only sat on the floor, stripped to the waist wearing a set of pants he pulled from the dresser, to meditate.
His breathing slowed, his mind open and expanding until he could feel every bit of both himself and Youko where they resided together, spirits intertwined in the most intimate of manners, hardly distinguishable from one another.
He would have no fear of Youko attempting to take over here, for he knew he would sense every motive of the kitsune this way.
An emotion of confusion passed along the outside of his thoughts, bouncing away, for he once again, as before, sensed nothing from Youko.
The presence was there as always, but even when in time past when the fox had slumbered within him, Kurama would feel the life of the being, the deep breathing that Kurama tapped into on occasion when he felt his own calm of spirit becoming disturbed. It was not so now.
Kurama sent once more his presence into the midst of the fox, further melding their souls together, searching for any signs that the fox could feel him, sense him, acknowledge his intrusion.
Nothing.
...and that is likely what frightened the redhead the most.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku was also grateful to him for taking the lead, for making that first step in the direction they needed to process.
(For being my strength.)
Even though that last thought was not directly, word-for-word, spoken between them through the warmth of Hiei's mind she could still feel connecting them, Shikiyoku could sense it flowing through the new kinship they shared, a sort of semipermeable membrane where while her existence was still her own, while she still had a sort of privacy separate from him, there was this...this space between them where things would get through and mingle together.
She felt fairly certain that if she had known before now this would be part of the package of things that came along with having a Consort, she would have felt extremely hesitant, unwilling even, to take one on, perhaps scared to be so open to another.
...but experiencing it without previous assumptions or expectations was perhaps a blessing.
(This...isn't so bad.) 3
Hiei continued to lead Shikiyoku through one layer at a time, his mind working over the heaviness he could feel, along with the occasional new little thought or impression that suddenly alighted in his mind. The only way he knew to describe it was that he'd lost control of telepathy and had to figure out what he was sensing and what was his own.
To be quite honest, it was a bit of an amusing thing, and yet he could see it becoming a problem later if he wasn't able to think clearly about a situation. So he nitpicked every little thing in his head and filed it away little by little until he was left with nothing else to observe except for the new flashes of feelings or random words that he could hear.
(Intriguing.)
And as he thought the word, even felt his own amusement and curiosity that accompanied it, he also became aware that it seemed to slide away from the forefront of his mind and traverse the bond he could sense between them, sending her the word that had come to mind.
And it made him realize that she was fully capable of feeling what he was feeling too, whether he directly meant for her to or not.
And that made it all the more intriguing.
~!**!~
"I expect results soon."
If that hadn't been a passive threat, then Akari wouldn't know what was. And yet even still, he didn't really scare her. What only scared her was what she might face if he did decide she was useless. The thing that had taken to haunting her dreams.
A frown colored her lips and she gave a small sigh. It had been so much easier to sleep when Kur-
Don't do that.
She felt herself pause in the middle of the hallway, her eyes lifting and looking around herself as if she might see the source of her thoughts. She hadn't seen the redhead since she'd left the room, and it took everything in her power not to turn around and go on a hunt.
Yomi's listening.
She gave a look to the only other demon in the corridor, who had paused to watch her curiously, before she continued on her way. She didn't really have a specific place she was going, since she didn't want to go back to her room or even to the training room.
But in the end, she wound up right back in her room, sitting crosslegged on her bed and staring at the window.
...Might as well see if I can do it.
She closed her eyes, and within a matter of seconds she found herself sitting in the inbetween.
The only thing was, when she opened her eyes, she could still see herself sitting on the bed on the Eighth Layer.
She groaned and closed her eyes, only opening them again when she felt herself sitting on the bed.
This is a pain. *
~!**!~
The entire way up to the first layer, there wasn't a word spoken between the two of them.
Of course, spoken words would mean they said something aloud, and Shikiyoku was fairly certain that never happened.
Plenty passed between them, though, and Shikiyoku tried to make sure that her sense of contentment, of happiness, in the choice they had made together to be this way was properly expressed.
Funny how she had not known how very alone she felt until now.
It was hard to feel alone like this.
And she hoped she never had to be alone ever again. 3
Hiei slowed when their feet hit the first layer, his thoughts turning away from his own curiosity about what he and Shikiyoku had enacted and turning to thoughts of Kitoushi, of being near Shikiyoku so that she knew she wasn't alone and that he wouldn't let her fall apart if she even considered doing so.
Because now that he could feel the sadness surrounding the cat's death, feel how close the pair had been, he found that even if he had wanted to go another direction, he wouldn't have been able to muster up the energy to turn and leave her to whatever she was going to do.
He could think about other things when this was over with.
And the closer down the street they got to the place he knew Kitoushi's body to be, the heavier he actually felt, and the more lost he felt. He didn't know what to do. He'd never had to do this.
~!**!~
So long had passed since Akari had tried moving layers that it had even grown dark outside, leaving her room swamped with shadows that each watched her curiously as she slid between the layers, met an odd barrier before the Ninth Layer, and ended up right back on the Eighth. And at one point, she'd thought she had slipped through, she'd even saw a flash of red, and then she'd found herself sitting on the bed again with a headache.
Why can't I just use the shadows? It's so much easier.
Her stomach growled, and she heard herself echo the sound in annoyance. This is stupid.
She could try again.
But that didn't necessarily meant she should, much less would try again.
So she let herself fall backwards, eyes on the ceiling as the shadows slithered into view, watching her as she watched them.
Her stomach growled again.
With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself from the bed and dragged herself from her room, silently clicking the door shut behind her so that the guard leaning against the wall wouldn't wake up from her exit. *
~!**!~
Shikiyoku stopped abruptly before Kitoushi's body even came into view and tugged at the hand Hiei still held, turning him to face her and grabbing his other hand, searching his eyes with her own.
(What can I do?)
(How can I bring you comfort?)
Her pain was nothing new. She had long lived with pain. But keenly aware that Hiei now experienced what she knew, her expression grew concerned, peering up into his countenance with worry. 3
Hiei pulled to a stop when he heard Shikiyoku's steps pause, turning to look at her with an expression even he wasn't sure he knew. He turned to face her when she pulled at him, his expression softening just a little with a very, very small tug of his lips upwards.
Right. Pain.
Sadness.
He couldn't ever remembering feeling these emotions in the way he did now.
Then again, he'd always channeled them to pure, unadulterated rage and usually took off on a rampage that left entire villages up in smoke depending on the situation.
His expression flattened out into a calm mask again as he in turn watched Shikiyoku. What exactly was he supposed to tell her? He wasn't even sure what to think of himself.
So he gave a little nod of his head that said he'd be fine and tugged on her hands a little, silently saying they needed to get going again.
~!**!~
Akari had rummaged through the countless cabinets and pantries, had ransacked the refrigerator, had even looked through the places she knew the spices and such were kept before she'd found the bread box that was so often moved to a new location, solely for this reason.
The staff didn't much like her siphoning from their stock.
That didn't stop her from grabbing a good amount and shimmying from the room, though. She had bread in her mouth the whole walk back up to her room, and was even still munching as she changed from her usual outfit into something comfortable enough to sleep in.
She considered going back to how she used to sleep, in only a large shirt and underwear, but she quickly remembered the last time she'd done that here, and decided against it, instead finding a comfortable shirt and pair of pants before crawling into bed, finishing off the last roll, and found herself falling asleep much quicker than the night before.
And thankfully, it was a dreamless night. *
As if nothing had happened, nothing changed, as if he had not stayed in his room for an entire day, at the established time Kurama appeared leaned up against the wall next to the training room, arms folded over his chest, his head slightly tilted down and his eyes closed.
And when that time passed, he lifted himself from the wall, walked with an air of patient arrogance down the hallway and all but pounded on the door to Akari's room, waiting for a moment for an answer with a narrowed glare at the closed portal.
~!**!~
A smile scattered over Shikiyoku's lips as she still looked up at him.
(Denying it?)
(I can sense it now, you know.)
But...at the same time...
She let go of one of his hands, this time leading the walk down the street.
(I only know myself still. I only know what comforts me.)
(And I don't know if that's what you want or need.)
(And I'd only try it if you asked. If you thought it might help.)
Kitoushi's body was still there, laying on its side like it hadn't so much as been moved or touched, appearing almost as if the giant cat were asleep, though his side did not lift with breath, his dark eyes open and staring at absolutely nothing.
Shikiyoku stopped within a foot or two of him and heaved the biggest sigh of her life. 3
Hiei had to fight not to turn his eyes away from hers, because he knew she could feel it too. He knew she was aware that he was feeling the same as she was, and that she wanted to help. He simply… didn't know what to do. Didn't know how to handle the situation, so he remained quiet and followed after her, coming to a stop when she did.
It was almost as if he was seeing the demon's lifeless form for the first time, and it struck him in a way that had him staring for a few moments, taking in the sight of the lack of breaths being drawn in, the lack of life in the cat's eyes, until the fire demon had his own eyes sliding closed.
He wasn't directly aware of it, but he echoed the sound Shikiyoku had made, the heaviness in his chest and on his shoulders seeming to multiply, as if he'd only just begun to feel it.
This emotion was almost as taxing and exhausting as it was to be constantly angry. Except with this emotion, he didn't know how to handle himself.
So he stood there, waiting for a cue, for something to do.
~!**!~
Akari shifted around a little, her sleep disturbed by an outside force that she didn't quite pay attention to except for the grumble of 'go away' that she issued in her sleep. She pulled the covers tighter around herself, tucking them under her chin before settling again and giving a small sigh.
It was such a wonderful, peaceful sleep.
No use in giving it up for the maids, right? *
Ears keened on any sound that might come from inside, when he heard only the rustle of her body, Kurama let the impatience his persona would feel flare within him and he reached for the knob without knocking a second time.
Plants grew from around his wrist when the initial turn proved what he already knew: that the door was locked.
The plants retracting once the situation was remedied, he wasted no time in throwing the door inward and stalking across the room to Akari's bed, stripping the covers from her body, grabbing her arm and lifting her out forcefully, then turning for the door with her in tow, half dragging, mostly carrying her out into the hallway and towards the training room.
"When I said don't make me come get you, I meant don't make me come get you." He seethed icily through his teeth, not even bothering to get her reaction, listen to anything she might have to say, or allow her to get away from him, barging into the training room and slamming the door behind him before standing a moment as the plants behind them grew back over the door and the Speakers began a tirade of noise.
Then he let go of her arm to gather her into his embrace.
~!**!~
Warning him she meant to move again with a gentle squeeze of his hand, Shikiyoku did not let go of Hiei as she started forward, needing to be in contact with him for this moment.
Her steps soft against the pavement, Shikiyoku approached Kitoushi from behind and squatted down, her eyes scanning his body for a moment before she reached out, hesitated, and then laid a hand in the midst of his fur.
His body was cold, lifeless, the fur no longer holding the warmth she remembered as images of being carried across his strong back away from the horrors of the ritual gone wrong flashed over her mind.
She fought back a brief hitch that could have sent her crying, inhaling a steady breath, warning Hiei not to let go of her, and closed her eyes.
Please.
Please take us to safety.
To where we may bury him in peace.
Shikiyoku wrapped the three of them inbetween the layers and felt them shift around her as if she moved through the inbetween place, though it instead moved around her, around the three of them, until the Youko's meadow blurred around them and then cleared, leaving all three of them in the middle of it.
Suddenly the heather, the grass around them started to heave up in giant waves and Shikiyoku stood abruptly, holding Hiei's hand tighter and throwing her other hand up as if to halt the wave that undulated towards them.
"No!" She ordered it sternly, "He's with me."
There was a second where the wave did not seem like it was going to listen, and Shikiyoku shifted until she stood between it and Hiei, keeping hold of him and glaring at it.
The wave grew smaller, rolling back down into the earth, and Shikiyoku waited only for a pause before turning back and looking at Kit once more. 3
Hiei's eyes came open with the small tug on his hand, and the fire demon took to watching Shikiyoku, not even considering letting go of her hand as she moved closer, his silent steps following hers. He could sense the lack of heat in the cat's body now that he was closer, and it seemed to only make the heaviness grow more crushing.
His eyes had closed again when he felt the hitch that had hit Shikiyoku's throat, and he found himself swallowing a little. By the time he reopened his eyes to look at her again, there was a new scent around him, telling him of the change in venue just before he felt the threat that swelled nearby.
He watched the wave with eyes that were almost too calm, noting that it could only be the fox's doing even as Shikiyoku's voice rang out in the meadow, and when she stepped in front of him, he looked down at her with a raised brow.
He knew how Youko worked. No permission, no entry.
And yet she seemed to be able to dissuade the tide, sending it back into its calm, harmless state that had him staring at the heather around him. He understood now where Youko had taken her those times he'd run off with her.
His eyes turned to Shikiyoku again, finding himself unable to look at Kitoushi any longer.
~!**!~
Somewhere in her mind, Akari had been aware of an intruder. But, she hadn't been given enough time to process it, to pull herself from sleep before she was dragged out of sleep, yanked to awareness and even to her feet, which earned a loud snarl from her lips as her mind automatically associated the action with a demon who she'd forgotten was actually dead now.
So the icy voice had her snarl tapering off, and her eyes focused on the back of Kurama's head.
Which only seemed to lead to another growl.
"It isn't like you gave me any specific orders, fox." She hissed through her teeth, brain still completely out of it and her feet struggling to keep herself upright and following the demon that she tried to tug herself from. "You only said you needed time to prepare."
Even in her tired state she was aware of listening ears of those passing.
She'd almost said a curse as she was pulled into the room, the door slamming behind her and more noise starting up, leaving her even more disoriented as she suddenly felt the redhead turn to her and wrap her in a rather tight hug.
She gave an irritable sigh, but she didn't try to get away.
"I was sleeping so good." she grumbled, irritation still coating her voice. "I'm unhappy with you."
Of course, she knew he hadn't had a choice. She was simply too tired to reason through her irritation. So, she was being blunt about it instead. *
"I'm sorry." It took everything within him to not make it seem like she was the only thing holding him up at the moment and he very quickly lifted her into his arms and started off at a smooth pace, "We can sleep here."
~!**!~
As if waiting for a moment in which to overtake the three of them, smaller waves still crested around them, circling like sharks were known to do.
Shikiyoku knelt down and pressed her hand to the warm earth just shy of Kit's body, nestling her palm between the soft grasses.
"I know you know him." She murmured. "I know you can feel he is your kin. Was your kin."
Please accept him.
Feeling the earth beneath her give something of a sigh, Shikiyoku stood up and took a step back as the waves around them disappeared for a moment before a single medium-sized one rolled by just in front of her feet, near-silent rustling the only noise it made as it engulfed Kitoushi's body, hiding him from view, and when it passed the cat was no longer there.
Staring at the place where the cat demon lay moments ago, Shikiyoku reached up with her free hand to press a palm into one of her eyes to wipe away the tear that threatened to spill over, and her shoulders finally slumped. 3
When Shikiyoku had begun speaking to the blades of grass at their feet, he found his eyes turning to the large, black body of the panther-sized cat demon, staring as he suddenly remembered how Kitoushi had helped Shikiyoku mourn over Taka. And for a very brief moment, he wondered who was going to help her mourn him, before the fire demon remembered that it was his own job to do that for her.
And, really, he found the idea of laying around for a while a very appealing one.
So when he realized he'd been staring at the ground where Kitoushi had been swallowed up, he tugged on Shikiyoku's hand and pulled her towards himself, tucking her against his chest and wrapping that arm about her shoulders, not even loosening his grip on that hand he held in the process.
He waited a few minutes before his eyes closed again, his lips giving a heavy sound and his shoulders slouching over her a little.
And then he wrapped the layers around them.
~!**!~
Akari gave a haughty sigh at the redhead when he lifted her from the ground, and her head rolled to rest on his chest and a hand grasping at his shirt. Her eyes closed and she repeated the sound as she remembered him telling her to leave.
"Didjya take care of wha'ever you nee'ed to?" she suddenly asked in a sleepy voice, her brain providing just enough power to create full, coherent thoughts here and there. *
"Yes." Kurama's reply came readily, even as his mind mulled over the question.
Youko still had not responded to anything Kurama did, but for her question the answer was not a lie.
He had not let Youko leave the compound.
The redhead did not go quite as far as he had the first time they came in the room, finding he didn't want to waste the strength to get there and after a few more paces he stopped, lowering himself to the ground and shifting the way he held Akari so that when he was stretched out on his side he had her in his arms, the grass beneath his head thickening and raising under his neck until it had poofed up into a soft pillow.
Then he closed his eyes and released a deep breath.
~!**!~
Have you ever had to mourn someone?
It was the thought that passed over her mind as Shikiyoku most readily let Hiei pull her close, the hand he didn't have a hold of coming up to grab onto his cloak, clutching at the fabric as she leaned into him, feeling the warmth of his body radiating through his clothing and onto her cheek as the side of her face met with his chest.
More than her sorrow for Kitoushi, in that moment her worry for Hiei superseded other thoughts and for the first time in a long time it left her wondering.
(What do I do?)
Comforting another might have been simple. But 'others' were not 'Hiei,' and of him she was not sure. 3
Hiei could feel her concern through the connection in his mind, could feel her insecurity with what to do with him, and it left him feeling slightly amused, which lifted away some of that weight that had cropped up. And as the layers continued to fold around them until he was sure they'd land on the first, he realized that maybe laying around shouldn't be the first thing that happened.
His eyes opened and he unwound his arm from around Shiki when his feet touched the concrete sidewalk on the first layer, and he glanced down at her with an image passing through the bond to her, asking her if she remembered if there were strawberries and sweet snow at the house.
Because if not, he was getting some.
~!**!~
"Mmm," Akari had tried to get the word 'good' to pass out of her lips, but it had only come out as a small hum of approval and relief at the one-word answer she received, and she decided that was all she needed to know. It was almost all she wanted to know, considering how he'd scared her with his calm smile and urgent air.
She didn't know how long he walked, but the moment he lay on the grass and wrapped his arms around her, Akari was wrapping an arm up and over his midsection, and she buried her nose against his chest, taking a deep breath of his scent and letting it out in a long, content sigh as she relaxed into him.
She grumbled out a few words, but they all slurred together and held no distinction between syllables before she was slowly drifting back into sleep again. *
Kurama let go of the tiniest breath he had been holding, the one where he expected her to ask him about wearing the necklace, the one with his rebuttal where he would dismiss it as 'work,' which he very much did not want to think about right now.
And for the first time in many days, Kurama relaxed, listening to Akari's breathing slow and letting it carry him off into a dreamless sleep.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku's eyes glittered for a second.
(There's one left.)
Strawberry, that is.
She reached up as if into his hair and produced one of the red fruits for him, holding it out near his jaw and fighting back a smile.
Sleight-of-hand was likely her favorite trick.
"Want it?"
No sweet snow though. 3
Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku as she produced a strawberry in the same way he'd been baffled by her doing once before. And in this moment, he let out a breath through his nose in amusement at her. He eyed the little red fruit for a moment, until he heard her voice fill his head with an almost teasing question that left him turning his gaze to her unblinkingly.
"Very much so," he replied after a second, his lips twitching just a little, though he was a little disappointed at the lack of sweet snow.
He briefly mulled over the effort it would take to actually procure some. While it would have been amusing on another day, he found himself deciding he could get some tomorrow.
And the strawberry would do.
Hiei reached for the strawberry, but kept his eyes on Shiki with slight amusement at her.
~!**!~
Akari wasn't sure how long she had slept this time, but when she woke, it was to the sounds of the talking plants in the corner of the room and the sound of Kurama's steady breathing as he slept. She shifted very little, stretching out her back and quickly going still again, hoping not to wake him as her eyes slowly lifted so she could gaze at the sleeping demon.
And she realized she'd never had the chance to observe him like this, when he'd had plenty of opportunities to watch over her in similar situations of exhaustion. And for a moment, she found herself smiling up at him.
And then she realized that watching him could also stir his awareness, so she closed her eyes and rested her head down again, simply listening. *
~!**!~
(You've eaten it all.)
(Not a speck left in the house.)
Her hand twitched as if she wanted to pull it away, but she kept it in place to let him take it.
"What? Not going to just eat it out of my hand?"
Heh. 3
At the information passed to him, Hiei remembered tossing away the empty tub one day after she'd taken her leave with one of the others and he'd sneaked into the house and finished it off. Right. He'd meant to get more that day too, but he'd forgotten after a nap.
..Right.
Her question brought him back to the matter at hand, his fingers pausing just shy of the little fruit as he raised a brow at her.
"Do you want me to?" he asked after a moment, genuinely curious.
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star