A/N: Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!
Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for 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.
(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the 'thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot 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 Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Eventually Shikiyoku returns to bed,
unable to understand her loss of vision,
and the next morning she is unexpectedly called to the labs.
Since she cannot sense Iketeru or Rikei's desires,
and is therefore unable to switch forms for them,
she is subsequently tossed into a monster pit,
but eventually leaves the labs when the pair of scientists
take a more pointed interest in her lack of vision than anything else.
On her return, she is kissed by a demon she thinks is Hiei,
and while she begins her switch back to normal,
the process does not finish as the demon is frightened away.
In such a state where her body is whole,
but her mind stuck in the blank nature of her pain form,
Shikiyoku finally addresses the tokens she received from the would-be Consorts:
the flower from Youko, the feathers of Taka, and the bracelet from Douji.
When Hiei comes out to see her with the objects on the coffee table,
his instincts tell him to kiss her and change her form,
but his eyes inform him she is changed.
After realizing she is stuck half and half,
he very quickly comes to the conclusion she is also blind,
but she begins to head for their bedroom,
telling him he may do as he likes with the tokens.
He burns Youko's flower, but leave the others for her.
Eventually, he kisses her and finishes the transition,
finding out from her what had happened,
and if she were not so obviously disturbed by it,
now that her emotions were no longer held at bay,
Hiei would have left to destroy the impostor.
He decides to set in place a fallback,
that if he did not speak to her through the bond
before physically contacting her,
then she will know it is not him.
~!**!~
Finishing his adjustments to Akari's necklace,
Kurama returns to the other gathered demons,
and even into the next morning,
where Akari meets him for 'training' back at the room,
he is musing on the informal plan from that meeting.
When Akari grabs for his sleeve to pull him further into the room,
Kurama shifts her hold so that their hands are together instead,
and as she settles on the ground
and the two of them end up on their backs next to one another.
In the midst of his further planning,
Akari turns towards him in her sleep,
and Kurama throws his arm around her and returns to his thoughts...
Kurama had woken her when he'd felt that the two of them had stayed in the training room as long as they could have, and they had parted ways just as silently as they had come together that morning. On her way back to her room, Jin had pulled her aside and for a good few hours, she'd tried moving between the layers without the use of her shadows.
And as normal, she'd gotten nowhere, and her temper had flared all over again. When they had parted ways, Akari had been just as mad as she had been at dawn.
Which, of course, lead her to where she was now: sitting criss-cross on her bed with her hands laced together tightly, her brows pulled down and darkening her features even more than the tenseness in her aura could have. Sweat rolled from her temple to her cheek and down her chin.
She fell through another shadow, and was immediately aware of the realm seemingly shimmering around her, straining as if it wasn't earning enough of her energy to keep it stable around her. And before she could even make another attempt at pushing through to the Ninth layer a twentieth time, she felt her energy completely and utterly dissolve, the last of it used to throw her right back onto the Eighth layer instead of trapping her inside the darkened mass.
Her teeth ground together as pain blossomed at her core, blooming and enveloping it until it was hard for her to catch her breath. Her shoulders slumped and her body sagged forward, head bowing and teeth grinding together in both anger and pain.
She hadn't even made it past two AM this time. She hadn't had enough energy to get through, hadn't had enough energy to continue trying to get through. She was lucky the shadow hadn't decided to keep her within its depths for recuperation, she supposed, but really it only made her that much angrier that she had been tossed out.
A growl rumbled against her ribs and in her throat.
Slowly, she sat up and let her eyes open to take in the room around her, a hand wiping at the sweat that nearly rolled into her vision.
Maybe if I try…
The mere thought of using her life energy had her core throbbing in protest.
And who knew how extensive that pain would be.
…
And then Kurama would easily deduce what she'd done if she showed up, pale and… whatever else would happen.
...that would never go well.
She gave a long-suffering, very impatient sigh as she straightened her spine. That would be where she drew the line; Kurama had enough to worry about. There was no use in her adding one more thing to his plate.
~!**!~
If Akari had been tired and angry before, then now she was completely livid and exhausted. Every ounce of energy was gone, because she'd used it as soon as she'd become aware of its return, and couple that failure with her continuing uselessness with the layers…
As she passed demons in the halls and stairways this morning, the denizens tended to skirt around her, their eyes following her until she was out of their sight and out of mind. A few groups of demons actually quieted, their talk of work and other things halting so that they could note her movement, apparently trying to decide if she had a vendetta or was simply going from point A to point B.
Halfway down the second staircase, however, she made eye contact with Chu, whose lips spread into a wide grin and hand reached out, bottle within his grasp but not in an offer. "I was just comin' to ge' you Sheila! The bloke's got a meeting with the king this morning, so until he's free it'll be jus' me, you, and Jin!"
She paused on the steps, coming to a stop next to him and staring at him for a moment. He seemed to take her silence as one of understanding, and he turned to lead her towards the very room she'd been heading the first time, offering the bottle in his hand to her.
"You're lookin' mighty tense there. This'll fix y-"
"No."
~!**!~
When Hiei had awoken, it was to his internal alarm yelling at him, telling him to get up and go. So, begrudgingly, he had parted ways with Shikiyoku and had followed a masked demon to Mukuro's office, where she had been standing, waiting for him with hands linked in front of her and silent presence bearing down on him.
"Hiei," the king begun, her eyes staring heavily at the fire demon from underneath her bindings, "you did well in your training." The fire demon didn't speak, didn't find a reason to reply even if he had wanted to. "Your task from here on is to gather demons who can traverse to the Veil and back, and recruit them to my cause."
She'd said a few more things, but really, Hiei only really cared about what he was doing and where she wanted him to pick up. And he had been very quickly dismissed, accompanied by the demon who had escorted him to the king.
And even as they were leaving, he realized he hadn't been told when he would be allowed to return.
To which he assumed to mean he would only return when called upon, or when his companion decided as such. *
At first neither one of them had slept, each marinating in the midst of their own thoughts regarding recent events.
Hiei's departure the next morning felt a little rushed and it wasn't until Shikiyoku started to get out of bed herself that she realized she would have to make the trip to the labs on her own.
The prospect was daunting, but no less so than staying here and being by herself. Getting trapped in the room with someone that might not be Hiei.
Luckily her journey down to the labs remained uneventful.
Rikei and Iketeru were already there working, and while the first only gave her a glance, the second seemed to become aware of her irritation and drew closer when she stopped just inside the door.
"Any results?" She grumbled, hearing Iketeru moving nearby and quickly throwing up her hands in front of herself, "And if you're going to toss me in another pit at least warn me first this time."
"Will do." Iketeru found himself giving her a little smile, taking note that her vision had most obviously still not returned. The smile faded when he brought himself back to her first question. "And not exactly. At least not the kind of result we wanted."
Shikiyoku could hear and feel the demon take another step.
"I promise I'm only going to put you on the table." Iketeru assured her as he reached down to pick her up.
While he walked over to the table she had been strapped to a while back, he continued speaking, "The blood samples of both forms ended up being exactly the same, and they did not test for anything out of the ordinary when compared to my or Rikei's."
He gently set her down and turned away to another console, scanning the screen and scrolling through the information, exchanging a glance with Rikei.
"This coupled with the other information we've gathered from you-"
"-has led us to believe the source of the virus is located within your energy." Rikei finished, turning away from where he had been working and beginning to methodically hook Shikiyoku up to another machine.
She made a thoughtful sort of sound, allowing Rikei to take a hold of her arm as she sat there.
"And harvesting that is a bit of a different story." Iketeru continued. "We'll still need samples from both forms, and given your handicap we will have to employ use of Mukuro's creature pit again."
"Lovely." 3
Hiei's feet moved as quickly as possible, carrying him into the layers and finding purchase against the ebb and flow of them, his mind working hard to ensure he stepped in the right places so that the layers may push him at an even greater speed. At first, he'd forgotten that his mind had needed to be blank to do this, that he would not be the one controlling such movements.
So he tried to silence his thoughts, the Jagan focused ahead on a demon he had locked onto some time ago- a demon that continued to evade simply because his energy was such that enabled his escape.
Except every time he wanted to step from one layer to another, he'd realize he had missed the spot or the layers had not accepted him because his mind was constantly plagued with some thought or another.
Even now, as he found his mind blank, he readied to push forward.
Except he found himself thinking about the demon issue at the palace, and Shikiyoku being targeted.
Which lead to a growl from the fire demon and the complete and utter release of himself from the layers. They weren't helping his speed in any way. It was more work to try and force himself to concentrate than to simply run at his natural speed.
And with that thought, he glanced over his shoulder, realizing his companion had been left behind for the time being.
And it was a very satisfying thought.
~!**!~
Akari stared at Jin unblinkingly, lips pulled into a thin line and brows furrowing further. A corner of her eye twitched just a little, and Chu's laughter grew louder. "If you'd just take a drink, Sheila, you'd relax! It might even help with your hard of hearin'!"
Jin smiled widely at her some more and said something or another, but just as always, his fast-talk seemed garbled to her, and she caught none of it.
"Jin, the layer thing isn't working." She fought the growl that threatened to verberate in her chest. "I just can't get to the Ninth."
"It's because you're too tense Sheila. One drink and all your-"
"No, Chu."
"That anger isn't good for you!"
Akari's teeth gnashed together as she glared at the bulky demon, ignoring the twitching of Jin's ears and the wide grin he pointed at her. Apparently he found her impatience and anger funny.
"If you won't drink it, then I will!"
Akari didn't reply, shifting in the grass and pushing herself to stand. She'd had enough. "Thank you for the help, but it's not working. None of it is. I can't concentrate and-"
"Maybe you need to be gettin' you somethin' to eat, lass," came Jin's very slow suggestion. "Yer energy bein' all used up and all is goin' to leave you feelin' all woo and you're likely to fall right over onto yer noggin." There was a pause in which Akari turned to move for the door. "By the time you ge' back, maybe Kurama will be done with the big man."
"Thanks."
"Sheila, don't forget to drink too!"
Akari ignored him as she moved from the grassy biome and out into the hallways. *
It wasn't the first time Kurama felt keenly the absence of Youko.
The meetings had been more of the same thing, the same types of reports, the same strategies and plans turned over and over, and Kurama continued to wait for news from Raizen's Lands, about either him or Yusuke.
There was little that he didn't already know, or that he had not already guessed.
And for once the commentary of the silver-tailed fox might have been welcome if only to keep Kurama's mind occupied in an entertaining sort of fashion.
It was in such a mood that he entered into the training room, unsure if he was going there because he hoped Akari might still be there or because he thought perhaps the change of scenery might distract him.
~!**!~
Harvesting her energy was indeed a different matter entirely.
Rikei and Iketeru's knowledge was limited, believing that something like this had never been tried before.
They had built the machinery that would extract and process the energy, turning it into a form they could test, but it was a prototype. Very little of what was extracted became workable and as a result the amount of energy taken from her was vast.
It did allow for some interesting developments when they tossed her to the low-level demonic-monsters so she would switch, as apparently the energy of her other form was in fact a separate pool and she came out of it at full strength.
This meant they wouldn't have to wait for her to gain the energy back before they could extract it, which pleased both scientists.
It also meant that when she left the labs her brain was not capable of concern for being caught by the demon who accosted her the day before, the only coherent thought in her mind being the pathway that would take her back the quickest. Fortunately for her, she met with no trouble in any case.
Exhausted when she made it in the door, Shikiyoku barely had enough strength left to stumble over to the couch before she collapsed on the floor, and while she never really fell asleep, neither did she so much as move an inch where she lay. 3
Hiei stalled, standing in the epicenter of the city he had lost track of the demon in, the Jagan closing as a headache bloomed behind the third eye. He let his gaze travel around the area, looking for any sign of the demon he already knew to have blurred out of the silent area.
And the silence of the night time is what made it so easy to hear the demon that approached on normally silent feet, the presence hidden but not unfamiliar. "We should return." The demon's voice was heavy and slow, husky. "We will pick up here in the morning."
Hiei turned and followed after the demon that was traversing through the layers already, the fire demon blurring between one to another, and he found himself easily capable of traversing to the Eighth on his own, and even to the rooftop of the palace, though the demon next to him had to put a hand on Hiei's shoulder and guide him through the palace as had happened the first time Hiei and Shikiyoku had arrived.
He found it odd that Mukuro didn't seem to trust him with letting him use the layers around her palace.
But that thought was gone when he landed on the rock floor of the hallway that lead to the room he shared with Shikiyoku. It was replaced with, instead, the thought of the other demon mimicking himself, and the fact that such a demon could have-
His feet carried him down the hall and to the door, which he pulled open without ceremony and shut behind himself. His eyes landed on Shikiyoku, who lay on the couch, and he stared for a moment. He had thought that he'd return to this, to see her changed and have to change her back.
(The couch isn't as comfortable as the bed.)
He moved forward, his feet silently touching the floor beneath until he was standing at the edge of the couch. He wasted no time in scooping his arms under her, pulling her from the couch and turning to carry her to the bedroom.
He hadn't realized he'd been tense all day until that tension melted away.
~!**!~
Akari had gone to the kitchen to get something to eat and drink. And despite the fact that there were demons inside readying to cook for dinner, they didn't seem to mind her raiding their refrigerators and rummaging through their cabinets. For once, she wasn't shooed from the room or barked at by the head demon chef.
In fact, said demon had even offered her a few things.
Maybe he'd just figured that if she grabbed what she wanted, she'd be out of their way quicker.
She had grabbed several things and left as quickly as she could, and instead of going back to the training room with Jin and Chu, she decided she'd go back to her own room. Because, who knew how long Yomi would keep Kurama in a meeting.
…
She didn't feel like waiting.
As she stuffed more bread into her mouth and nudged the bedroom door shut with her foot, she realized that her energy had actually begun to regenerate earlier today, she just hadn't felt it. Which meant she could try again to get through the shadows and to the Ninth layer.
Except, her stomach growled.
…After I finish eating.
She got comfortable on the bed, dropping the different snacks and drinks, letting them spread out around her as she sat crosslegged against her pillows. She gave a yawn, but really, she didn't pay any attention to the lack of sleep.
Because she had too much to do. *
Kurama sat back a little and shifted his legs around as he glanced over at Jin.
"Well, o' course we already said we would be on Urameshi's side. That needn't be a worry for yah."
"Even if he does do something stupid." Chu added, "It's not like we enjoy being ordered around any more than you do."
"The thought of he and Raizen coming up with some sort of plan is worrisome." Kurama admitted.
"I know what you mean." Jin agreed.
"Huh?"
Jin and Kurama looked over at Chu, who was obviously two sheets to the wind.
"Raizen?" Jin said slowly.
"Yeah."
"And Yusuke?"
"Yeah."
"Coming up with a plan together."
Chu blinked a little, seemed to understand, and quickly took another drink.
~!**!~
There was absolutely no resistance from Shikiyoku as Hiei picked her up, though she felt only half-awake when he started mentioning something about the bed being more comfortable.
Leaning her head against him as he moved along, she managed to mumbled, "'S too far." 3
Hiei was easily able to open the door to the bedroom and nudge it shut with Shikiyoku's feet, hearing the soft click of it before turning and sauntering to the bed, first laying Shiki atop the covers before crawling over her to lay on the other side of her, facing her. He stared at her for a moment before remembering what he'd been originally intending to do.
He reached forward with a hand and pulled her face towards him, to make sure she wouldn't turn away, and planted his lips on hers.
Because he didn't think he'd be able to sleep all that well when she was switched.
~!**!~
For the first time, Akari realized she hadn't been eating much in the past few days, and it was very obvious by the loud demand her stomach made when she reached for a small bowl of vegetables she'd procured from the kitchen.
And for a while, she only ate, making sure she got her fill of food and drink and occasionally taking stock of how much energy she had available. She wasn't surprised to find that eating something did indeed make her feel better, even curing a headache she hadn't realized she had until it was gone.
And by the time she was full, there were two empty water bottles and various containers and plastics littering the top covers of the bed, all empty.
And she felt as if she could go for a run, were it not for the tiredness from lack of sleep.
She took a deep breath, and after a few silent moments without thinking about anything other than her own energy, she decided to pick up where she'd left off and slip between the layers again.
Her energy would build up, and hopefully it would be enough to utilize again. *
~!**!~
Shikiyoku knew that there had to be a moment somewhere in the past where she felt this drained, but for the life of her she definitely couldn't recall it now.
She couldn't recall much of anything.
Vaguely she knew Hiei put her down, that he had taken his place on the other side of her, but she was so exhausted that she could feel little else floating across her mind.
That's why when he reached over to draw her closer, he was once more met with no resistance, though to be fair she had no reason to delay the transformation.
As his lips pressed against hers, his desire swept across her core and the nucleus fluttered as the change began, the usual tingling feeling blooming outwards as it always did until the ashen skin started to almost peel away, taking her scars with them.
However, the pumping of her typical energy into her body occurred at a much slower rate this time, and somewhere in the back of her head Shikiyoku immediately associated the sluggishness to the fact that she had not gotten a chance to recuperate, making the process painstakingly slow in comparison to what normally happened.
If she were coherent enough, she would have taken an interest in the process of her brain shutting down, as it would have been slow enough to track this time. Instead she only felt the edges of her mind starting to blacken into darkness as her body rebooted itself. 3
Hiei would have pulled away after a certain amount of time- purely out of instinct- but he actually found that he knew the change would take longer, even without opening his eyes to look at her or relying on the bond between them to relay such information. And so, he maintained the contact until he was able to read the feedback from her end- which wasn't much.
And even then he didn't pull very far away. He only moved his hand away from her face, instead draping that arm over her side and resting his cheek on the pillow with only a couple of inches between their noses as he rapidly fell into sleep.
~!**!~
Hiei's eyes came open early the next morning, and for a moment he wasn't sure why he was awake so early. His eyelids slid closed again and he shifted a little, aware of Shikiyoku next to him and not wanting to leave. He settled close to her once more, both arms around her and eyes closed, but his mind completely aware of his surroundings.
Slow to process, but aware nonetheless.
Even when he realized he'd woken before his internal alarm had sounded, he didn't so much as move an inch.
~!**!~
It was early. Way early.
Actually, the truth was it was simply earlier than she had been leaving her room in the last few days. There was still light in her room, but it wasn't near as much as, say, yesterday or even the day before. She was gathering trash in her hands from her "meal" the day before, crumpling up plastic bags and empty bottles and tossing them into a small trashcan near the door. The bowls she set aside- or, more accurately, she tossed them to the side, where they clattered against one another and fell to the floor anyway- to return to the kitchens later. The two unopened water bottles were left on the mattress for later.
She could feel the rings under her eyes just as easily as she could feel the simmering rage at herself for not being able to get to the Ninth Layer and the roiling disgust at the amount of uselessness that she'd become. And the fear that she wouldn't be able to get there, and she'd be tossed to-
The mental image of the creature had her pausing and roughly rubbing a hand over her face. She dropped that hand to her side again and continued on, ignoring the very adamant protests of her muscles and the way her core practically screamed at her for her extreme lack of energy and the agonizingly slow regeneration of it all.
The door to her sleeping quarters slammed shut behind her, and she was moving down the halls in her own bubble of intensity and darkness. And she really really hoped she wouldn't be with Chu today. His drunken ramblings were not ideal for her definitive absence of patience.
Which was displayed as she took the steps down a level one at a time, stuck behind a demon who moved about as slow as an elderly human. But, the stairwell was so narrow that with the amount of traffic going up on her left, she couldn't pass the annoyance in front of her.
Move that large body down the stairs as if there's candy at the bottom, you-
She cut the thought off with a growl. It would do her no good to be irrational.
By the time her feet hit the landing and the demon was going the opposite direction than herself, Akari's lips were curled up and she wasn't even looking to see if Kurama waited or not. In fact, she hardly noticed if he was even there when her hand snaked out and turned the knob in a jerky motion, moving into the room and not even bothering to shut the door behind herself. *
Nothing unusual was passing over Kurama's mind until Akari walked right by him without so much as acknowledging his presence, at which he pushed himself away from the wall and moved into the room after her, closing the door behind them and stopping after another step to consider her.
He realized they hadn't talked much lately, about anything. The typical scenario included sleep of all things, which Kurama rationalized for himself to be the best time to actually let himself slip away since nothing was getting into this room without his express say-so at this point.
That did mean, however, that conversationally he and Akari were not much company for one another, though he did not particularly think either of them wanted to talk about things that the other was aware of, at least in this case where the topics of conversation revolved around Yomi and being stuck. Essentially at least.
The way she had been stalking down the hall in his direction did not go unnoticed, however. And neither did the dark expression, the sleepless eyes, or another number of other things he sensed without even asking.
"Akari..." He already knew she wasn't feeling well, "What's wrong?"
~!**!~
It had been nothing to just fall asleep almost as soon as Hiei switched her, and the sleep had been dreamless, and a deep one, her entire being needing the time to be able to replenish the energy she lost the day before.
Her eyes did not open the next morning, but something in the connection drew her out of slumber. When she searched out the reason, she found only that Hiei was no longer sleeping, but the realization brought the slightest tension across her body.
She was grateful to have gotten to spend the night next to him, given that previously she had gone several without him, but what other reason could he have for stirring than having to leave once more? 3
Hiei didn't move, mentally checking the internal clock that said he still had plenty of time to lay here for a few more minutes before getting up to shower and leave. And Shikiyoku's tension did not pass him by, as minescule as it was.
Which was the reason he had yet to move- aside from his own sluggish ability to waken his mind.
It had only been a few hours since he'd gotten comfortable, no more than six to be sure, no less than four.
He released a small breath and slowly retracted his arms from around Shikiyoku, every ounce of his being wishing to stay right where he was and tensing when he told himself he couldn't.
Though, he assumed he would be back again tonight, perhaps if only to switch her back. He wasn't absolutely sure of Mukuro's motives in what she ordered for him. He wasn't even sure she had told his companion when they would be returning, or if it was simply the other's choice.
There was no way of knowing, really.
(Go back to sleep.)
She needed it, after all.
He moved away slowly, calmly, forcing his brain to awaken as he moved off towards the bathroom.
~!**!~
Akari paused at the sound of her name being called, blinking once and slowly turning to look at Kurama with a heavy stare as she weighed his question. So many answers popped at the forefront of her mind one after another, most of which were petty complaints about something or another.
So for a minute or two, she stared at him, those thoughts making circles in her mind and creating a tirade of complaints, or irritation that mounted again.
She was tempted to say Everything.
But really, it wasn't true. It was just… her.
She almost made the excuse that 'I am tired'. And she did open her mouth to say that, but what came out was completely different, as if her tongue worked against her brain.
"I just-" she made a sound of frustration, "-the Ninth Layer is denying me all access and my shadows are doing the same and-"
She took a breath, and her eyelids slid closed.
"I'm tired and Chu is adamant about me drinking and Jin talks too fast and the demon in the hall was slow and I'm just mad because..."
She continued to go on, but really, it was much the same thing. Petty complaints about little things under her breath even as she turned and began to move through the foliage in the room. Really, she wasn't even aware she was still talking aloud, or that she had been actually answering someone's question just moments before.
She just wanted to sleep for a while and try getting to the Ninth again later. *
Kurama patiently started following after Akari, and while he listened and heard every word that came from her mouth, his inward dialogue centered around her inability to traverse between the layers, wondering at what might have caused her to become incapable of doing so other than disuse. Besides the fact that his own personal reservations on the matter consisted of the truth being she didn't want to use that method of travel considering what she had seen.
The fact that she appeared to be sacrificing her own well-being in her efforts was likely the biggest thing that bothered him. After all, it wasn't as if they were in a hurry. She had no immediate need to rush that Kurama could see, and perhaps it was simply something that might take time.
He said nothing, only nodding where appropriate as he walked next to her.
~!**!~
(Can't.)
She grumbled something incoherent as he got up. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually been asleep when he wasn't there.
Granted, the extraction of her energy of the day before left her only letting her unhappiness filter through their connection instead of voicing a protest or even moving.
The words 'stupid' and 'sick of this' were hazily repeated across her own mind, though they were in relation to the situation more than anything else. 3
Hiei understood everything he felt filtering through the connection and felt it become his own emotions just as quickly, as if her thinking it reminded him of his own distaste for their situation. It had his mood going south very quickly, though he pushed away the thoughts for the time being so he could shower.
Which he did in record timing, by the way. He was in, cleaned, and out in what felt like no time at all, the water dissipating quickly from his skin before he dressed in another fighting outfit similar to the one before. So when he returned to the bedroom it was as if he'd only been gone about five minutes, and he moved straight for the little fridge, where he pulled out the red loaf of bread for himself and grabbed the purple for Shikiyoku.
He moved back to where he'd been laying earlier, though he sat on the bed and extended the purple colored loaf to her calmly.
He still had half an hour to sit here. He'd woken early enough to do just this.
~!**!~
After a few minutes of grumbling under her breath about anything and everything she could, Akari went silent and turned inward, grasping at absolutely no energy even though she had known it wouldn't have regenerated anything yet. With the way she'd been using it, she wasn't surprised.
But at the same time, it made her mad that she didn't have any.
Which was ridiculous considering she had just rationalized it.
I'm exhausted and this sucks and I hate being here.
She came to an abrupt stop and her eyes focused on the foliage around her, deciding she didn't feel like venturing too far this time. She instead lowered herself to the ground right where she had stopped, quickly getting comfortable laying on her side and closing her eyes. It was at this point two things hit her:
One, she hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours.
Two, she was with Kurama, and had somehow forgotten.
"I'm just really tired." Those words were nothing more than a grumbled admittance. *
Kurama stood in place for a moment, considering the demon who had finally grown more quiet after laying down.
Had she actually spent all her energy attempting to move between? Is that why it was all gone?
He let out an almost inaudible sigh, "You shouldn't do that, you know."
~!**!~
By the time she felt Hiei returning to the bed, the weight and distribution shifting next to her, Shikiyoku was awake enough to at least open her eyes without the threat of them immediately protesting and falling closed again.
Granted, it wasn't as if she could see anything.
However, she did feel the intention of Hiei and as his arm shifted forward she lifted her own slightly, hesitating for only a second as she calculated the distance to his hand and reaching out to take the offering of food.
She scooted herself closer to him and lifted her head until she could place it in his lap, beginning to nibble at the edge of the small loaf. 3
Satisfied that Shikiyoku accepted the offering, Hiei's hand fell to his side as she shifted closer and rested her head on his crossed legs. He watched her curiously as he ate at his own bread, finding he didn't mind the taste even if bread wasn't his absolute favorite thing in the world. It was fresh and fulfilling, that was all that mattered to him.
As he sat in silence, a thought passed by the forefront of his mind and his lips gave a small twitch as he considered her for a moment.
In the end, he decided not to do it and continued eating instead.
(How'd you use so much energy?)
~!**!~
Akari stilled, her eyes closing and a breath leaving her lips in a small puff of air. And yet she was extremely aware of Kurama's eyes watching her. It had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and her muscles tightening just a little around her shoulder blades.
And at his comment, her reply came swift and without actual thought, without actual permission to be said before she could analyze her own reaction about it.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure I can do whatever I please, seeing as no one has stopped me." *
"Perhaps someone should stop you." Kurama replied mildly, still standing a few feet away, "Before you actually injure yourself. Or worse."
~!**!~
(Oh!)
The exclamation came as one that meant she had intended a moment ago to broach the subject, but had become distracted by the food.
(The disease is not blood-borne.)
She continued munching quietly.
(We've discovered that much at least. Rikei or Iketeru, or most likely they both had a hand in it probably, devised a way of extracting energy as they believe via their other analysis and what I have been able to provide information-wise that if not in the blood, it possibly flows through the energy itself.)
Shikiyoku closed her eyes, pausing for a moment and summing up the answer to his question with, (The process is not very efficient.) 3
Hiei's brows rose high as Shikiyoku explained, his mind turning over the new information with curiosity and interest. He hadn't known someone could take another's energy and store it for later. At least, that's what he assumed she was telling him.
He could only guess how it came about, however.
(Interesting.)
He was almost curious enough to ask how it was done, but part of him recognized that if she said it was a painful process, it might set off a little alarm in his head that would have him disapproving of it altogether.
So he left it be with that.
~!**!~
Akari released a sound akin to a scoff. "I'm not dumb enough to use life energy," she grumbled at him. She'd already thought of it, yes, but had quickly decided against it. It likely wouldn't do her any good anyway. "Also, it is no one's job to look after me. You aren't my mother, Kurama." *
Kurama raised an eyebrow at her, managing to stave off his initial reaction which was irritation and a bit of anger, both emotions being ones he knew would not serve him in any capacity in this situation.
However, there was no denying her near-admittance to having considered tapping into her life force, and that is what had Kurama giving his cool reply.
"In that case, I imagine you can take care of your own training today." Without another word he managed to calmly turn back around and leave the room.
~!**!~
(That's certainly one word for it.)
While the pair had not told her how long it would take to analyze the energy she produced for them, there had been no indication that she would not be needed or welcome again today and she had every intention of going down there.
...because while she had yet to run into the other Hiei again, the thought of whoever it was cornering her in the room still did not sit well with her.
None of her actual thoughts managed to drift between them, Shikiyoku could feel at least some of her distraught filtering through, accompanied rather quickly by an intentional apology as she tried to scoot nearer and let his closeness wash over her.
It did actually help a little and had her smiling as she relaxed into him. 3
Hiei raised a brow as he felt the unease that was fed to him through their connection, but he didn't really have a hard time guessing what it was that was bothering her. He simply continued to stare at her, sliding another chunk of the bread into his mouth as he sent a passive emotion through the bond that said she hadn't been bothering him.
As she shifted, he lifted his eyes to stare at the closed door of the room, vision going out of focus as his own thoughts crept to the forefront of his mind.
After a moment he realized he'd finished his own bread and he was left only sitting there, practically hearing the nonexistent ticking of a clock that told him time was passing and he would have to leave soon.
Not that he cared at the moment.
He simply let himself enjoy the moment he had, his eyelids sliding shut and his ears tuning in to the sound of Shikiyoku's breathing.
~!**!~
That's cute.
The sarcastic thought was echoed by the sounds of Kurama's near-silent footsteps leaving her. And at that exact moment, her mood told her that it was probably best, despite the fact that she'd come here not only because she had to, but because she had wanted to.
But that thought was long gone as she dove into the sleeping realm. *
~!**!~
Really the only thing that was keeping her from completely enjoying the moment was the fact that she knew he was going to be leaving soon.
(How much longer?)
How much longer would they have to stay here? Never before in her life had Shikiyoku felt so impatient.
It wasn't a question that needed an answer, just a general complaint, followed by a frown.
(I want you all to myself.) 3
Hiei's eyelids came open and he looked down at Shikiyoku, expression neutral. He turned inward again, checking the loudly ticking clock and restraining the feeling of irritation, because he felt exactly as she did. He didn't want to part ways, to leave her to demons he didn't know nor trust. He didn't want to share his company with anyone else.
Especially since they'd been so comfortable the day they'd had to leave.
Internally, the alarm began to go off and he felt a scowl form on his face.
It was back to chasing demons. He'd rather just give them the ultimatum of join or die.
…
That wasn't such a bad idea. It would make the day pass quicker if he had someone to challenge, too.
Tch.
His eyes focused on her again and he zeroed in on her expression.
(I've spent all the time I can.) *
As Shikiyoku slowly started to sit up, half-eaten bread in one hand, she let out a tiny sigh of resignation.
(I know.)
Though it didn't particularly matter since she could not see, her eyes stayed turned downwards at the bed, trying to keep her melancholy from him. 3
Hiei let his brows pull down just a little at her, giving a small sound of displeasure as he slid by her and from the bed, turning to stare at her again anyway. A deep breath and he felt his brows settle in their natural position again.
He was tempted to reach forward and pat her head, touch her hair or something, but in the end he only stared for a moment and turned his side to her, readying to leave.
(I have time to walk you to the lab.)
Perhaps it would put him a minute or two behind, but quite frankly, he didn't care. He'd much rather see her safe to her destination before he left. It would definitely ease his mind for a few hours. *
Shikiyoku let out a brief, low chuckle, remembering what she had told him a while back.
(You shouldn't lie, fire-prince.)
She started to get up off the bed, tucking away the jewels that bounced against her chest.
(Especially with someone who can tell when you're lying.) 3
Hiei gave a scoff. He'd heard that line at some point or another, and while he couldn't rightly recall the first time she'd said it, it amused him all the more to hear it a second time. He turned and began moving towards the door, a hand twisting the doorknob and pulling it inward so she could pass first.
(Hn.) *
Shikiyoku went ahead and followed after him, weaving her way around the edge of the bed into the other room.
She paused after a couple of steps.
(Do you...will you be back tonight do you think?) 3
Hiei kept moving ahead of her, eyes forward even as he registered her silent query. He pulled the front door open to reveal a busy hallway, pausing with his back to her and eyes watching the passersby.
His initial instinct was to say yes, that he assumed he would be. But he also knew that it could very likely be different this night, if things went in another direction.
But still, he remembered the demon actually hunting him down to tell him it was time to go for the night. As if he valued a little sleep to get him through the next day.
Instead of answering, he sent the emotion of uncertainty, but backed it with the feeling that he wouldn't exactly agree to be gone for any certain length of time. *
It was...more of a comfort than the last time at least.
As she started to move forward, somewhere in the back of her mind she began cursing the three would-be kings and their stupid war, and for dragging her into it.
(I never should have left the Ninth Level.) 3
Hiei made a small sound and sent a disapproving stare over his shoulder.
(And then where would you be?)
The thought had him almost cringing.
(It will be over. Hopefully after they kill each other.)
He walked from the room and into the busy hallway, stepping to the side and one pace in the direction he needed to go.
(We just need patience.) *
Shikiyoku realized as soon as she thought it that she had not actually meant it.
After all, she really had been thinking originally. That she quite literally should never have left, which would put her all the way back to the day Kitoushi fell to the Hunters. Or thereabouts.
(I hate waiting.)
The statement was followed quickly by: (I've been waiting my whole life.)
As she closed the door behind herself, eyes looking in Hiei's general direction as she cast a small smile after him, she finished the declaration.
(For you.)
Though perhaps she had never realized it until recently.
And now she had to share.
Lame. 3
Hiei let out a single breath of amusement that, had it been echoed, would definitely have been classified as a snicker at her. He may not have heard her thoughts, but the general impression was all he needed to know at this point in time. He'd grown rather talented with deducing her general thoughts here and there.
You know, when the bond was there.
Heh.
(Was it worth it?)
He didn't wait for an answer, only turning and moving down the hall in the direction he should have already been going. And he was probably in the best mood he'd been in for a while. *
(You tell me.)
She heard him start to walk off and merged herself in with the demonic traffic heading the way she needed to go, wondering what had everyone in such a rush. There were usually not this many demons around tearing up and down the dimly lit halls.
Greater numbers did mean less of a chance of running into the one impersonating Hiei, however. 3
~!**!~
Out of the blue, Akari's dreams had come to a halt and her eyelids had peeled open. She took a deep breath and was immediately aware that the presence in the room was not that of the person she had been expecting, and quickly remembered that he had left the room after she'd griped and..
Well… that was smart, Akari.
"You awake now Sheila?"
Oh… oh no..
"You were lookin' mighty peaceful there for a bit. You're quite the cutie when sleepin'."
Nooo…
"I came in here to have a chat with the fox, but you was here all by yerself and I just couldn't leave ya here. Anyone could come bargin' in at any time!"
Akari's eyes shifted to look over at Chu, whose general scent she could not pick out from the foliage that had previously been hiding his musk. Her eyelids slid closed rather quickly after noting the bottle he lowered to the ground after a swig.
"At least you're gettin' yer rest Sheila. Can't have you bonkin' out now and again."
"Chu, could you… not?"
"Well, I mean I could, but where's the fun in that? I ain't hurtin' nobody, just enjoyin' a nice afternoon is all."
Akari sighed and rolled onto her back so she could push herself up into a seated position. She crossed her legs and turned to look at Chu again, annoyance very quickly filtering into her system again. I'd been sleeping so well…
"You're lookin' a bit tense."
I'm not in the mood for your games.
"You alright there?"
She ran a hand over her face and released a heavy sigh. "Chu, I was sleeping so well."
"You can always go back to sleep. I won't wake you."
You already have.
"That tenseness is bad for you Sheila." When she turned to look at him, he was silently offering a bottle whose contents sloshed a little against the glass. "I know they say alcohol is a depressant, but it works wonders on the muscles."
"Chu, I-"
She paused, brows twitching.
"Or we could work on yer layers."
When she looked up at him again, he was watching her with a curious expression, as if he thought she didn't need to "work on her layers". And a part of her thought he was mocking her.
If I drink, will you shut up?
"Sheila?"
She suddenly reached forward, snapping the bottle from his hand, which he relinquished quickly, and tossed her head back, the bottle to her lips and the liquid burning her throat as she downed the last of what was inside.
When it was gone, she wiped at her mouth and extended the empty glass bottle towards Chu, not looking at him as she crinkled her nose a bit. It didn't taste.. bad. "Happy?"
When she was given no answer, she turned to look at him. His expression of surprise had a sneer stretching her lips.
"That was mighty fast, finishing off the bottle like tha'. I'm impressed, Sheila."
She scoffed and dropped the bottle to the grass.
"If you want it, I have more."
She took in a deep breath and turned to look at him again, eyeing the two large bottles he'd procured from… somewhere. That breath was released in a sigh as she extended a hand to take one of the two. "If you'll shut up about it."
"That's the spirit!" *
~!**!~
Oddly enough, it helped Shikiyoku to maneuver through the hallways when she had her head up instead of staring down at the floor like she wanted to do.
Everyone seemed to be out and about and it took all her concentration not to run into or be run over by anyone.
When she heard her name called, she did not stop, continuing to step around the other demons with which she occasionally brushed shoulders.
"Kuraku!"
The closer proximity of the voice confirmed what Shikiyoku likely thought anyway, which was that whoever wished to gain her attention would chase her down regardless of her reaction.
She did feel, however, that when the demon said her name louder that the others nearby started giving her second glances, as if they had not realized she walked among them.
Half of her found it uncomfortable, and the other half had her standing up straighter and tossing her hair over her shoulder as if they should have known the whole time.
A demon fell in step next to her.
"You should not be walking the halls without escort, Kuraku."
It came out chiding.
"I am usually not walking the halls."
"Oh? Is that so? What a pity, I'm sure. You should consider doing so more often."
She did not see it of course, but the demon cast his gaze around at the busy hallway.
"I imagine the corridors would be this crowded all the time should you grace them with your presence."
"You're too kind."
Much too kind.
What do you want?
Strangely enough, Shikiyoku could sense nothing from him other than the honest-to-goodness desire to walk her to her destination.
Luckily for her she was not long in arriving, turning down the very next hallway and out of the main stream of demons.
She paused for just a moment when she reached out towards the door knob, turning her eyes in the demon's direction, knowing that he had stopped just short of her.
"...my thanks."
"Anytime, Kuraku. Should you have need of me, my name is Nikolai."
Shikiyoku gave him a nod and let herself into the lab. 3
~!**!~
It wasn't long before Akari was staring wide-eyed at a chuckling Chu, whose cheeks were flushed and he was leaning towards her, his breath floating to her nose, which she crinkled as she gave her own laugh. "Chuu," she began, voice breathy as she gave another laugh. "Tha's not how it works.."
He leaned closer and his intense stare bore into her own as she resisted leaning away. He watched her with avid interest. "You know Sheila, if the fox weren't after you already, you'd make a mighty fine chase."
She waved a hand in dismissal. "You're changing…" she paused, eyes wandering to the side for a moment, "..the subject."
"Oh! Righ'!" He leaned away and tipped his head back, bottle to his lips as he took several long swigs before pulling the bottle away and smacking his lips. "I say it's like this: I take you to the Ninth, and you ge' a good look around and try again!"
"No, Chu, wrong." She raised her half-full bottle to her lips and took her own swig, gulping loudly before lowering the bottle to her lap again, all ten fingers curled around the neck of it as she licked at her lips. "I can't do it because-"
"Sheila, did you know your hair is super long?"
She burst into a stream of giggles as he reached forward, hand twitching as he tried to pet her hair, which she continuously leaned away from.
"No, no, Chu!"
"Am I gettin' close? I can't tell."
"Chu, stahp! I- I don't like being touched!" She batted his hand away with a sloppy wave of her hand again, missing each time she tried to wave him away.
"Ah, sorry Sheila!" He leaned away and gave her a sloppy smile. "I don' mean to invade yer bubble."
"You do it all the time." She lifted her bottle to her lips again, even as he spoke up.
"I mean no harm Sheila. It's a compliment, really!"
She lowered the bottle and held it in front of her face, inspecting it and its leftover contents, noticing that this bottle was also nearly empty too. She turned her glassy gaze to Chu, her expression turning bright and merry at his apology and her smile widening into a sloppy grin. She leaned forward and pat at his knee with one of her hands. "That's okay, I forgive you! Just.. Don't do it no more! Only one person-"
She paused, eyes gaining a faraway gleam.
She blinked three times before her eyes refocused again and she took to chugging the last of the bottle.
"Sheila?"
"I'm gonna go…" she paused as she dropped the now empty bottle on the floor, "...visit Kurama."
She turned to leave, stumbling to the door, only to pause and turn to look at Chu with a raised finger. "But," she made a face, "Don't tell Yomi."
"I got yer back Sheila!" The male yelled as he lifted a bottle in her direction. As she pulled the door open and passed Jin, she was pretty sure the other drunken demon had fallen over. And by the time she was past the windmaster and the doorway, she noticed nothing but the path ahead of her.
Not even the look on the redhead's face when she scuffled by him. *
~!**!~
Being blind certainly had its advantages.
At least where Rikei and Iketeru were concerned in relation to the testing they were able to do with Shikiyoku.
Today, for example, she had done little else but sit on the table as she and the other two batted ideas back and forth.
There was in fact something different about the two energy samples, which Shikiyoku could have told them, but the difficult part was getting beyond what was simply 'different' and what was 'infected.'
And since they did not have a sample of her energy from before, really a lot of what they were doing was guesswork.
Rikei felt fairly confident the source of the virus lay in her energy though. And he continued attempting to narrow the tests down further and get them more specific while the three of them conversed. 3
~!**!~
Akari managed to, somehow, traverse the stairwell without falling, though she did stumble here and there and had to keep her hand along the wall to make sure she didn't get too far away from it. And she stumbled down three flights before she paused and realized she'd gone too far down and had to turn around and make her way back up one flight of stairs. Of course, she didn't stray from the wall, which lead her to occasionally stumbling into another demon actually going down.
Demons did glance at her when she stumbled on a stair and caught herself here and there, but otherwise they seemed to not mind her stumbling presence aside from the few she'd actually run into. Those, on any other day, wouldn't have been very funny.
So when she found herself looking at the door down the hall that she knew to have the redhead behind, she felt accomplished that she hadn't been stopped by Yomi or one of his henchmen.
And it was with that happy thought that she grabbed the handle of the door and tossed it open with gusto, and yet somehow it didn't slam into the wall when she released it. She took three steps into the room with eyes on the redhead, paused, held a finger in the air, and turned slowly and retraced her steps.
Gotta shut the door…
And so as quietly as she could manage, she did just that. *
Kurama had retired to his room earlier that evening and after a long shower decided that he might as well attempt to get some semblance of sleep, but it was only a couple of hours later that his eyes opened to stare up at the ceiling of his room, puzzled momentarily as he could not find any particular reason why he awoke.
That is, until the door to his room was flung open from the outside.
Shifting around a bit, feeling no immediate danger, he propped his head up from the pillow a little by slipping his fist underneath the base of his neck, eyebrows raising as he could make out a demon he specifically remembered leaving to her own devices some time ago.
Curiosity conflicted with chagrin in his mind as he regarded her calmly from across the room, and as soon as she had the door closed he made sure to subtly get the seeds in the corners of his room growing so as to mask whatever was coming next.
Because if he was not mistaken, he could smell the alcohol on her breath from here.3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!