Vannen: Well, this is annoying…
Kurama: You do realize you asked for this.
Vannen: Yes, but I didn't think I'd end up running for my life for four days until I got too tired to continue.
Kurama: Hiei's very persistent.
Vannen: I noticed.
Yusuke: Serves you right, you-
Vannen: SHUT IT! I will NOT put up with your stupidity today.
Yusuke: glares but stays quiet
Kurama: For those that haven't gotten the idea, Van let us all free and Hiei took exception to what she did. Now, she's-
Hiei: Getting exactly what she deserves.
Kurama: glares at the shorter demon Hiei has her and we'll leave it at that. I'm not entirely sure what he's planning on doing. I'll let you readers use your imagination to decide what Hiei's about to do to the authoress. In the meantime, she owns nothing but what does not belong in HP and YYH.
Vannen: staring at Hiei in fear as he advances menacingly Thanks to all those that sent me Starburst and chocolate. They did get Hiei out of his chair early, not that it mattered to him. You're wonderful! Read on! Here we go!
Part 7
Almost Christmas, Past Life, Pain, and Injuries
For the next few weeks, nothing exciting happened. Hiei's phoenix grew and the two were never seen without the other, the phoenix usually sitting on the Jaganshi's arm or shoulder, Raven's training progressed as she trained with Hiei and Kurama and now Genkai and Yusuke, classes continued with no major incidents as did the first few Quidditch matches of the year. Before anyone knew it, it was December.
"Is it Christmas yet?" Yusuke demanded as the group walked down the hall.
"No, Yusuke, it's not," Kurama replied absently as he turned a page in his book. How he was able to read, listen to the conversation, and walk without running into anything or anyone will always be a mystery to the majority of the group. "It's not for another two weeks."
"Two weeks?" the Spirit Detective groaned. He'd never admit it, but he was homesick and was anxious for the chance to return to Japan where he understood what was going on.
"Christmas?" Raven asked quietly as she walked between Kurama and Hiei. The attentive expression she wore left her face quickly to be replaced by one of pondering.
"What is 'Christmas?'" Hiei inquired, looking up at Kurama for an answer.
"You don't know what Christmas is?" Yusuke demanded. "Yeesh, you really didn't have a childhood, did you?"
"Watch it, detective," Hiei warned, his hand hovering over the hilt of his katana.
"Leave him be, Yusuke," Kurama said, marking his place in the book he had been reading so he could answer Hiei. "Christmas is a ningen holiday that's celebrated in many different ways. Here, in England, it's celebrated by a feast and gift exchanges with friends and families…" he continued to explain, adding various myths and legends for reasons why things were the way they were for the holiday.
"Excuse me," Raven murmured quietly and ducked down a side hallway. Only one member of the group noticed. He quickly followed, making sure no one realized he had gone. Raven ducked down hallways with practiced ease, never once running into anyone or anything. Her head stayed down as her eyes gazed into space in the direction of the floor. Her shadow followed her as she darted into the Ravenclaw dorm and her own room.
On her desk rested a calendar. Picking it up, she ran fingers along the Braille until she found the day she wanted. Pulling a knife out of hr sash, she slit a small hole in the square marking the day.
"What do you want Hiei?" she demanded with a sigh without turning towards him.
"Hn," the fire demon growled and added, "stop brooding. You'll get your sight in a few more weeks."
"Easier said than done," Raven replied, setting the calendar back down. She sighed and sat in her chair after picking her fox up. "I guess I just miss the colors." Her smile was more of a bitter grimace.
"Hn."
"Yes, I know I'm acting like a child, but keep in mind I have the body of a ten-year-old. Sometimes that influences my mentality."
Seemingly ignoring her, Hiei walked towards the door. When Raven didn't immediately follow, he glanced back at her. "You'll miss lunch," he reminded her and continued out of the dorm to the Great Hall, Raven following slowly while petting Miro absently as the fox slept contentedly in her arms.
"Potion of Past Life," Snape informed the class that sat before him, "is one of the most difficult potions you will be brewing this year but unfortunately can only be brewed at this point in the year when you are still inadequate in your studies. Can anyone tell me why?"
Two hands went up, one belonging to Hermione Granger, as she practically bounced in her seat to get Snape's attention, and Kurama's, who sat calmly on his chair, his expression that of polite interest.
"No one?" Snape demanded. He had made it a practice to ignore Hermione and Kurama, claiming them to be insufferable know-it-alls.
Tentatively, another hand rose. It belonged to Neville Longbottom. Arching a quizzical eyebrow, Snape nodded at him, giving him permission to speak.
"B-b-because it c-contains Fruit of the P-past Life," the boy stammered uncertainly. "It's only r-r-ripe around th-the winter s-s-solstice."
"Hmph," Snape growled, "correct. The instructions are on the board. Get to work." He swept back up to his desk and sat down, grading homework.
"This isn't good," Raven muttered under her breath in Japanese. "If he makes me drink it, I'll end up back in my phoenix form, I know it."
"Calm down," Kurama ordered gently in English for the benefit of the three students around him that he was sure was listening in on the conversation that couldn't speak Japanese. "After you proved that you know what you're doing in this class with the first potion we made, I doubt Professor Snape will challenge you again."
"Then you don't know him very well," Harry Potter murmured as he chopped up some roots.
"Mister Potter, if you can't refrain from talking, I'll have to take points away from Gryiffindor," Snape drawled from the front of the room.
Harry just glared at the tabletop as he started to chop furiously.
"What did the roots ever do to you?" Raven asked laughter in her voice. Harry didn't respond. The group laughed and went back to work.
"Time's up!" Snape snapped at the end of the class. "Bring your potions up." Everyone did so. When Raven set her beaker on the desk, Snape glanced up at her. "Miss Black," he started, "we haven't seen your work in a while. Drink it."
Raven's eyes widened slightly in alarm. How on earth would she explain the transformation that would take place?
"Calm down shojo," Hiei's voice ordered in her mind. "I'll put an illusion on you."
"Thanks Hiei," she replied and sighed inwardly in relief and picked up the container filled with the purplish-red liquid. Silently, she drank half of it before her hands lost their grip on the glass and it shattered on the floor.
Scenes of her past flashed in her mind as she shrank. The demon that had taken her sight came to mind, and the sight of her father's face. Then things changed. She burned, but in reverse. It wasn't long before she was seeing times with Touya and the Shinobi, and just as soon as the memories came, they disappeared.
Yellow light, bright and blinding, flashed behind her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream and fainted.
"I think she's coming around." The voice belonged to Kurama.
"Not so loud," Raven groaned as she swam her way out of the darkness encompassing her. When she finally regained consciousness, she found herself to be lying on something soft.
"Are you alright?" the fox asked.
"Where am I?" Raven retorted with a groan, trying to sit up, and failing miserably.
"I asked you first," Kurama told her gently.
"You fight me on this Kurama, and I swear I'll rip your head off and spit down your throat."
"You're in your room. Don't worry," he added seeing her slightly panicked expression. "Hiei took care of the illusion of you, showing Snape that you fell asleep as an infant. He dismissed the class after that."
"In a rather pissy mood too," Yusuke sounded like he was chuckling.
"What happened shojo?" Hiei demanded from his position on her windowsill.
"The last thing I remember is a yellow light. I'm not sure where it came from." A bell rang, making Raven flinch at the loud noise.
"Classes," Kurama murmured. "Are you up to coming?"
Raven just shook her head and put her head back on her pillow.
"This is going to hurt you more than you can imagine," Kurama told Raven quietly as the two and Hiei walked through the forbidden forest. Light from the waning gibbous moon shone down, reflecting off the new fallen snow that muffled the three's footsteps. "This will hurt more than if you were to receive a Jagan Eye. I would fully understand if you were to back out. I wouldn't think you weak, and I'm sure Hiei wouldn't either."
Raven nodded and swallowed hard. She knew the stories as any demon did. Still, she clenched her fists and shifted her wings in determination. "I can handle it." Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder to show his support.
Kurama and Hiei exchanged a glance as the trio stopped in a clearing. Both knew the girl's words were foolhardy but her determination was astounding. Kurama gently pushed Raven down until she sat on a log that they had stepped over moments before.
"I can't perform the process," the fox told her. "I'm going to guide Hiei into your head and walk him through what he needs to do. He's going to disconnect everything in your mind that has to do with sight using fire and then melt it back together in the proper order that it should be in." Raven nodded her understanding. "Are you prepared?"
"No," the phoenix replied, fear evident in her voice, "but let's do this anyway."
"Alright," Kurama murmured and looked at Hiei. "Let's start," he told the hi-youkai. The two placed their hands on the sides of her head. After a moment, she could feel the two prodding around in her mind. The sensation stopped after a moment and then white, searing fire touched down behind her eyes. She would have opened her mouth to scream but she was afraid she already had. The pain increased and Raven lost all ideas or concepts as, wishing death would claim her.
"Is she going to be okay?" The voice was soft, kind, and belonged to Yukina. Still, it shot pain through Raven's head, causing her to whimper slightly.
"You're awake?" That one belonged to Hiei, but it sounded in her mind instead of in her ears. It felt as if she were just remembering what he said instead of hearing it at that very moment.
"It hurts," she whined mentally. Her own thoughts hurt. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. The sensation of the liquid passing her eyes made her gasp.
"I'll get rid of them," the memory told her. There was a crescendo of sound, making her want to chop off her own head. Then it stopped as if there was never anything there. A rustle of cloth sounded by her, and then nothing more until the Hiei memory returned.
"Calm down. Everyone is gone but Yukina and me. She's going to help with the pain."
"Just make it stop," Raven whimpered.
"Stop trying to sit up," the memory ordered gently. "Yukina is going to put a hand on your wrist and it's going to hurt, but only for a moment. She's going to help."
Raven murmured an affirmative in her mind. A cool hand rested on her arm and pain claimed her senses again. She felt it reside slightly just before she lost all consciousness again.
"How is she?" Kurama asked with concern as he looked over the top of his book at Hiei when the fire demon walked out of Raven's room with Yukina in front of him.
"In pain," Hiei snapped.
"No kidding," Yusuke drawled. "How long until noise doesn't hurt her?"
"Christmas morning," Yukina said quietly. Hiei glanced at her. She gave him a shaky smile, virtually telling him she could handle any inquiries the others had and that he should get some sleep. He was tired, and she knew it. With a nod, the Jaganshi went to his room, Yukina's voice fading behind him as she answered questions.
"She was strong," Kurama thought as he walked over to a window and leaned against the stone next to it. "Inari, let her remain that way." He straightened and glanced towards the phoenix's door.
"Piece of crap!" Yusuke snarled as he got up from where he had been thrown into a wall by Genkai. "You didn't have to throw so hard!"
"Slacker!" the child form of the old woman barked. "Get up and try it again. We're not stopping until you get it right!"
"What about him?" Yusuke demanded, pointing at Kurama as he practiced with his whip.
"He managed to counter me after the third try. You have still failed, and I lost count of your attempts at around two hundred and forty-three! Now, do it again!" The pink-haired ten-year-old dropped into a fighting stance as she glared vehemently at her young student.
"Ah, come on, Grandma!" The punk whined as he rubbed his sore back. "We've been at this all day long!"
"And we'll be at it all night too if you don't figure it out!" Genkai pointed out angrily. Without any more warning, she launched herself forward and attacked the hapless youth. He soon found himself against a wall again.
"Wha's up wi' Moyasu?" Jin asked from his position in a headlock, courtesy of Touya, as he looked up at Hiei's bird winging its way towards the group. Something seemed to be clenched in its claws.
Kurama pulled back from the strike he had just been performing with his whip, coiling it perfectly with the backstroke. He looked skyward and watched the blue phoenix as it descended from its flight. The fox put out an arm and the bird landed lightly on it, extending one claw until the kitsune took the cloth from it. The phoenix jumped up to the redheads shoulder as he examined the white strip in his hand. His eyes grew wide as he realized what it was.
"Show me where," he ordered the bird and clutched the cloth in his fist, a shadow of anger behind his eyes.
Moyasu took flight in the direction it had come. Without hesitation, Kurama followed. The remaining four that had been outside training shared a glance and chased after the thief.
"Hiei!" Kurama called into the dark trees. He didn't receive an answer. Moyasu had been lost as he, Yusuke, Genkai, Touya, and Jin had entered the trees of the Forbidden Forest. They were now searching blindly.
"Where is he?" Yusuke asked, scratching the back of his head as he approached Kurama.
"I don't know, Yusuke," Kurama replied quietly, "I don't know."
"Can't you sniff him out? I mean, you have a really strong nose. You're almost as good as a dog that way."
Kurama blinked, then hit his forehead in exasperation. "Of course," he murmured and stuck two fingers in his mouth. A piercing whistle sounded through the trees, echoing as it rang loud and clear.
"What was THAT for?" Yusuke demanded, rubbing his abused ears.
"I'm sorry Yusuke," Kurama replied absently and sat on a fallen log to wait. "I just thought we could use some help." A large black shape bounded through the trees after a few minutes, heading straight for the redhead. When it reached him, it proceeded to wash his face unceremoniously until he stood up and pushed the large hound away gently.
"Here, Yugure," Kurama said holding out the cloth that Moyasu had given him. "Find Hiei." The large hound sniffed the cloth for a moment, than turned her nose to the air. It wasn't long until she barked and started trotting off in another direction.
"I guess we're to follow," Kurama stated and ran to catch up with his overly large puppy. He resumed calling his short friend's name. The scent of blood reached his nose. Now starting to worry, the fox started to run, urging his faithful dog to higher speeds.
"Kurama!" Yusuke called as he started to fall behind. "What's going on?"
The kitsune just ignored him.
Yugure stopped at the base of a tree and pawed the bark, whining slightly. "Good girl," Kurama told her and scratched her ears. Looking up, he saw the bright blue feathers that belonged to Moyasu and a black boot hanging down. The smell of blood was stronger here than it had been anywhere else.
"Hiei?" Kurama didn't get an answer. He jumped into the tree, and almost lost his grip at what he saw. Hiei sat against the branch, his right arm scorched, the wards to his Black Dragon smoldering, and blood streaming down numerous gashes.
"Jin," Kurama called down to the wooded floor where the others waited. "Find Yukina and bring her to the edge of the forest. We'll meet you there."
The windmaster didn't hesitate. With a nod, he had jumped through the treetops and soared away.
Pulling Hiei off his perch, Kurama rested the Jaganshi over his shoulder. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?" he asked the silent form.
"Sending stronger demons," Hiei's groan sounded firmly, even if his speech was a little disjointed.
"Stronger?" Kurama demanded, his eyebrows snapping together in a frown. "This early in the year and they're sending demons that could hurt you this badly?" He ignored the questions Yusuke asked.
"There were eight," Hiei gasped while trying to struggle his way off the kitsune's shoulder, not taking kindly to being carried. "One for you, me, the detective, the Shinobi, the old hag, one to incapacitate the shojo, and two to take her, I would guess."
"And you decided we didn't need to be bothered with such trifles," the fox concluded as he set the fire demon down at the edge of the forest. Yukina and Jin could be seen running across the lawn.
"Hn."
"Stupid," Yusuke snapped at the barely conscious demon. "You should have let me take 'em!"
"Shut-up, Dimwit," Genkai ordered, smacking him upside the head. "We're going back to training. Hiei will be fine."
"That don't mean nothing!" the detective retorted loudly as he stormed off after the "old hag," continuing to mutter angrily until his teacher jumped and kicked him in the head.
Yukina arrived and started healing Hiei immediately as Kurama went to look at the corpses, pondering over what the arrival of stronger foes meant. At last, he came to a conclusion: Raven needed to recover quickly so she could continue her training. If things became too sketchy, they could always take her to Japan where they knew the territory a little better. The fox had a feeling things would start moving, and moving quickly now. Such feelings, he had learned, were seldom wrong.
Vannen: Why Hiei's postponing my doom is beyond me, but while I still have a chance, thanks too all those that have been reading and awaiting this chapter patiently. I'm sorry it didn't come earlier. Soccer season makes things difficult. I'll try to do better, but play season is starting up. Thank you all!
Kurama: I'll be leaving now.
Yusuke: Me too.
Vannen: You're leaving me here alone with him!
Yusuke: Of course. He's paying me to leave. I can't pass up cash made that easy!
Kurama: I just fear that what he has in store for you isn't appropriate for me to see.
Vannen: Cowards! Craven fools! Spineless ninnies! Continues to rant even after the two have left. Some help they are. Well, review. I'll probably be here for a while, begging for my life. Thanks all! Starts pleading with the evilly grinning Hiei that is advancing slowly, sword drawn
