Burn it Black
Ch. 8 Evil Intentions
邪悪な意思
I stood in silence and darkness, observing the spines of the torn books and the many fabric bookmarks that hung over the edge of the shelves. Suddenly a smirk tugged at the sides of my lips, and I flickered into the shadows. I knew exactly where I was going. And it wasn't anything to do with the Queen of the Desert.
It took a while, but after a good half hour of searching I landed in front of another tall, dusty bookcase, identical to all the others, but it held something I wanted very badly. Glancing upward, I saw a rectangular metal filing cabinet, rusted a rugged orange at the edges.
Smiling somewhat, I raised my right hand to the large, obnoxious lock that held the files under safe protection. Leaning my ear against it I inserted my claw, twisting it left and right and listening to the corresponding clicks that echoed in my head. A spark lit my eyes as the lock sprang open and almost fell off, but I caught it readily. I walked back to look at the filing box, and then lifted the handle to the top drawer and dragged it out.
I stood tall to look over the edge of it, and gazed at the many files of past and current spirit detective names. The nametags were worn and faded, but most were legible. I grazed my fingertip along them, unsettling the dust that developed there for many years undisturbed.
Abruptly I stopped at a name that was certainly interesting. With an experienced hand I slid the manila folder from it's slit silently and held it in my hand carefully. Then I turned my back to the bookcase and lightly leaned against it. The crease of the folder lay against my chest, and my fingertips wandered over the name in ghostly touches.
Jaganshi, Hiei, I thought absentmindedly as I slid my finger into the side of the folder and then opened it up fully. The first paper wasn't anything I wanted; just a labyrinth of barcodes and numbers. Eventually I discovered something slightly more worth my while.
"Background," I said with satisfaction as I flipped the page and read the title. My eyes lowered to the following information; of which surprised me more then I had anticipated.
Name: Jaganshi, Hiei
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Height: 4'11"
Eye color: red
Hair color: Black with white streaks
Species: Fire/Koorime Demon
Signature move: Dragon of the Darkness Flame
Class: A
Occupation: ReiKai Tantei/ Formal criminal
Advantage: Speed
Description: Hiei is the result of a male fire demon and Koorime mating, a forbidden act in the Koorime Island. Hiei's mother's best friend was forced to throw him off the cliff. From then on Hiei searched for his sister and in an attempt to do so had a Jagan eye implanted on his forehead. See 'Jagan' in index of book 'Utilizing Paranormal Attributes and Underlying Abilities," by Zokusei Sentetsu. Then teamed up with two demons, Yoko Kurama and Gouki, to steal the Shadow Sword, Forlorn Hope, and the Orb of Baast. Captured by Yusuke Urameshi. Punished to join Spirit Detectives.
My eyebrows rose as I scanned over it again, words repeating in my head. Forbidden…Thrown off cliff…Jagan…Forbidden…Captured…Spirit Detectives…Forbidden.
Why is that bothering me?
Forbidden
It just stuck out like a thorn, like a clue I couldn't recognize, almost as if I were standing too close to a painting to realize the overall purpose of the illustration. But I don't know what I'm looking at.
Ignoring the topic until I could confront it later, I shuffled the papers back into order and closed the folder neatly. My eyes hesitated on the file, looking as if it had never been touched. The even white-yellow coloration showed the usual hue of a business file between my hands, the bottom end of the folder pressed lightly against my chest.
Something's missing. That couldn't be it, just couldn't be. It's all too simple, too easily put out for me to find. The lock is old…maybe placed there purposefully?
Yes…
I brushed my thumb across the smooth texture of the folder. My eyes narrowed and my ear flicked in deep concentration as the pad of my finger grazed along the small, soft grains.
The folder is too new compared to the others and this old, dusty library. It's set up… purposefully.
But…
why?
My lip curled back to reveal frustrated fangs as a low growl rumbled in my chest. I turned back to the filing cabinet and stuffed the file where it was, and then feverishly pushed the other folders apart so I could look at the front panel. Nothing on the first. I pulled it back and pushed the next forward. Nothing. Growing more anxious with each lack of success I began to loose hope and started to come to the conclusion that I was just over thinking things.
That was when something shimmering caught the corner of my eyes. Slowly I paused pushing the drawer back in place and turned to my left. On a large, old book not five feet from where I currently stood was an iridescent stone tied to the fabric bookmark. Leaving the filing cabinet, I walked toward it cautiously, my mind memorizing the thick spine and timeworn edges of the novel, with jagged, yellowed pages. Bending at the knee, my right hand palmed the sharpened stone and raised it to a more comfortable eye level. As I realized what it was, my eyes widened and stared at the clue in a mixture of disbelief and shock.
After I found the will to move, I stood up and glared at it one last time before walking back to the filing cabinet with rough steps. I fingered through the files again, this time more carefully, and picking out the next wanted file from alphabetic order. As I read through the rest of the Spirit Detective's backgrounds, I left the bookmark dangling, the shard of blue moonstone glistening in the near-darkness and the strip of paper bouncing as it showed a roughly inked yin yang circle in the shreds of light cast by lit candles among the ceiling.
It was a sign.
He found her.
--
Tp Tlp Tp Tlp
I tilted my head up and averted my eyes to the ground below. In the pervious hour I had situated myself above the bookcase. It was comfortable enough. The grip on Yoko Kurama's file slackened as I tilted my head forward, straining my ears to confirm what I thought I heard.
Tp, Tp, Tlp, Tp
"Well, well, speak of the devil," I whispered, my eyes relaxing as I sat back on my hands and twitched my ear in comfort. I watched with amusement as the red-haired human, now known that a fox demon nested itself in his soul, walked between several bookcases, stopping every now and then before frustratingly turning away. Closing his file I slid to the end of the bookcase and braced my legs before leaping downward. My feet met the old floorboards silently, as always, and I turned to the filing cabinet.
Tlp, Tp, Tlp…
I froze as I realized he was much, much closer then I thought. Only a few feet away…My heart fluttered as I tore open the filing cabinet recklessly and earned what seemed like an earsplitting creak, making my ears flatten against my skull.
Tlp Tp Tp……….TlpTpTlpTpTlp
The footsteps quickened as I repeated silently not to rush too much and steady my now shaking hands. As I slipped the three folders back where they belonged, I couldn't help but think about the irony of the situation. One second relaxing and taking my time, and the next rushing to avoid being caught and possibly charged with trespassing, not to mention using files strictly confidential. You don't just waltz in and get what you want. Unless you're very, very good at not being caught. As the footsteps got closer they slowed somewhat, and I saw strands of red around the corner as I glanced over my shoulders, my eyes glinting dangerously.
TpTlpTpTlpTp, Tlp, Tp, Tlp…
Kurama turned the corner cautiously, trying to be as quiet as he could. He was sure he heard something over here…. He looked straight down the isle of dusty floorboards and old books that lined the sides, expecting to see something, anything. His eyebrow rose in curiosity for a moment as he slowly walked to the center of the isle, gazing intently at the floor. I narrowed my eyes at his figure as locks of black hair spilled over my shoulders. When he reached his destination he bent his knees and put his finger to the floor, sliding some dust onto it.
"Interesting," he mumbled to himself as he noticed certain spots where the dust had been missing or unsettled. Kurama straightened himself then, gazing around before his sight stopped at a shelf. There was a clearly marked footprint on the edge, but only the top half of the foot. Kurama tilted his head upward quickly and smiled when he saw me perched on the top of the bookcase, grimacing at him with a slight glare.
"You're too smart for your own good," I mumbled as I rested my hands on the brink of the bookcase and pushed myself off, landing less mutely then before with a very audible groan of the floorboards.
Kurama just smiled at me then, but it faded into a scolding frown as he told me, "Have you been doing any work? At all?"
"Course."
"What'd you find?"
"Nothing. You?"
"I looked up her name in the index of the library, but all the filing cards were mixed up. Supposedly, she's around here somewhere…"
At this remark I instinctively turned to my right and placed my finger along one of the bindings. I sidestepped and dragged my fingertip along the other edgings, grazing the titles for anything to do with our new objective. Kurama crouched at floor level and simply placed his chin on his knees and looked on with his eyes.
Around forty minutes and thirteen frustrated grunts later…
I angrily looked up from the end of the bookcase and glared at Kurama. Damn, I mean, I was at the end of the god-forsaken hallway and he was still at the same spot.
"OI!" I shouted. He turned toward me but didn't budge. Somehow he seemed to be…leaning over something…
"Did you find anything?" I asked, a little suspicious.
The red curtain of hair turned away and hid his face. "Um…yes."
"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner!" I screamed.
"Would sooner have been…. -"
"Let me put it this way: when did you find…whatever you have?"
"Um…" He winced. I twitched. "…Thirty eight minutes ago?"
WHAMP
Kurama flinched and turned to face me slowly, and then sighed when he saw me lying on my back, a disbelieving look in my eyes as I twitched uncontrollably. He mumbled, "I'm going to hear of this sooner or later…"
--
"So," Kurama said as I leaned over his shoulder, observing the pages of the torn book that held all we needed to know and more, "this is the story. Shikai, at birth, was supposed to be a fox demon with the element fire, but instead of that she turned out to be a water demon due to a reversing hex placed by an unknown character. Her father, unable to believe the disgrace, fled. Yet, he left a companion to Shikai as a mockery to remind her she was the dishonorable heir to her parents. Shikai was left to the hands of her mother and her sister, Aikyou after that."
Kurama paused to flip the page.
"Years later, a letter was sent to the mother, the Queen, saying that the former King was currently prisoner somewhere and pleaded for help. She left for him, leaving her two daughters in place of the throne. Neither she nor her husband was ever heard of again. After the realization that their parents were dead, Shikai and Aikyou pitted against each other and fought for the title of Queen of Kanson City. Shikai won, and took her proper place. A deep jealousy ran through Aikyou, and she plotted to one day kill her sister to gain what she believed was rightfully hers."
Kurama and I came to a spot in the book where a long line of ink ran across the page. Traces of letters could be seen around the splatter, but the words containing them faded from view as the distance from the line increased.
"What is this?" Kurama quietly mused to himself.
"Sealing Ink," I replied with a sigh.
"…Care to enlighten me?" the redhead requested as he half turned and looked up at me.
"…Not parti-."
"What is it?" Kurama asked again, more forcefully.
I glared at him for a moment, but then changed my attention to the book. Raising my thumb to my mouth, I bit down sharply with my fangs until a small rush of blood met my tongue. Then I leaned over Kurama and firmly placed my bleeding finger at the top of the strike. In one quick, pressing motion, I ran it down the black ink splatter and watched the blood sink into the book and resurface letters in black ink. I reached the bottom of the page and forced my thumb into the page, creating a small deposit of blood.
"There," I said as I lifted my sticky digit from the page and licked the remaining blood clean from the cut.
We both watched the words at the bottom of the page realign and resurface until legible. I continued this time. "Aikyou, the jealous daughter of royal blood, is pitting against Shikai. In three days time, Aikyou will make her move and perform a ceremony to create forty-four underlings of fire and overtake the throne. Once that is completed, Aikyou will call upon an old ally and use his powers to take Shikai's element ice. With these two powers in control, Aikyou has the intentions of killing her sister and attack Koenma's base at 1:02 am."
Silence passed over Kurama and I; him from a mixture of confusion and fascination, me from deep thought. "Three days," I whispered to myself as I turned and sunk into the shadows. Kurama stood up, book in hand, and looked around for a second. "That's interesting. Very, very interesting."
--
I exited outside the library, under a tall tree that kept me from becoming soaked. As I tilted my head upward, I frowned at the sky. "Damn fox," I muttered, "too smart for his own good."
Sorry, it's kinda short. I only get comments from the two glorious people, 4-is-lovely and sadxautumnxsky. I was wondering if ShadeSpirit and -incessant embers- were still reading? If so, please message...or...something! Oh yeah, check out my account, I've got pictures of Kumori if you were curious of what she looks like.
http / fuzzyears007 . deviantart . com /.
Just kill the spaces and it should work.