Ticking Timebomb

by SuperNova90

Morimoto Kasumi is a highly trained, socially challenged martial artist who meets Keiko and Kuwabara at the end of their Sophomore year of high school. Her identical twin sister Hitomi has disappeared and now Kasumi has made it her life's mission to get her back, going as far as joining the Tokyo police force. But who's behind Hitomi's disappearance and what do they want? Hiei/OC

57. Lowland Hum

Ticking Timebomb

Chapter 57 – Lowland Hum

A/N: I apologize that its taken me an awful long time to get out the rewrite for this chapter. It's not that I had trouble with it, but I just didn't want to post it until I felt everything was right. It still features Mukuro heavily, as I always planned to have her play a reoccurring role in this story.

Thank you so much for all the support and nice comments I've received lately, you guys keep me going! I hope this chapter will not disappoint!

. . .

Two days ago I had entered Mukuro's throne room and thrown the knife she had given me months previously at her feet. She'd taken one look at it and pursed her lips, displeased with my show of disrespect. But I had always found pleasure in pushing her patience.

"I did not need it. You may have it back."

This simple comment had sparked a series of events. The exact order was not important, the only part that mattered was the end result.

That was how I found myself two days later, sitting in her personal chambers, my feet propped up against the desk where she did her paperwork. She sat in the high backed chair behind it, a monocle settled over her one good eye and a pen in her hand scratching away at some document.

I dragged a whetstone down Kasumi's sword again and again, the shick, shick, shick sound it made almost hypnotizing. I heard when Mukuro got fed up with my presence, her pen clattering onto the wooden top of her desk, her monocle following suit. "Do you plan to stay here the entire time she's recuperating?"

I continued to sharpen the blade in my hands, ignoring her to the best of my abilities. Just hours earlier I had fled from Kasumi's bedside and returned to Mukuro. I hadn't been willing to explain my reasons and that hadn't changed in the time I had been sitting here.

"You test my patience," she hissed.

"Give me something to do then," I said in return. I kept my gaze steady on my working hands, the gleam of the blade a welcome distraction.

"There is only one thing I need you to accomplish and yet you remain stubborn."

"Stubbornness has nothing to do with it," I replied, tone cold.

"Then enlighten me as to why you are here and she is there."

Two days ago, after my blatant insolence and the subsequent beating I had received after challenging her to a fight, I had told her of my travels...and the situation I had found myself in. My energy hadn't even returned fully and I blamed most of my honesty on pure exhaustion. I had needed that beating, the chance to release the pent up frustration and aggression I felt towards no one but myself.

I had nearly killed Kasumi.

And after spending an entire day holding her down while the others saved her life, tried to repair the damage I had done, I had come straight to Mukuro. I had rested just enough to make it to Alaric without fainting. Because Kasumi's spine was irreparably damaged. And the lord of Alaric was the only person alive that I knew could fix it.

After the woman had bested me in that fight I'd so stupidly picked, she had asked one simple question, "What did you get yourself into this time?"

And I had told her most everything, like some fool. But I could not get the image of my blade slicing through Kasumi's flesh out of my mind. I could not forget the blood that had seeped from the wound, staining everything it touched. The smell of it was still in my nose, the taste coating my tongue no matter what I drank or ate.

I had done irreversible damage. She would never fight again. And the thought had sickened me so that I had almost decided to leave and never look back – almost.

That is when Mukuro had told me to bring her to Alaric. To bring her what information I could about her condition and then retrieve the girl.

At first I had refused. Thinking it was some ploy to fuck with my head.

I still was not so certain that it wasn't.

Except Mukuro had not stopped asking me to bring her here, going as far as to make it an order.

It seemed my insolence would soon be punished, because I had refused to obey her. What she didn't understand was that was exactly what I hoped for.

No amount of punishment would be enough to make up for what I had done.

"I never took you for a man who wallowed in self pity."

I nearly crushed the whetstone in my palm, her words having struck a cord. "Piss off, Mukuro."

Her eye narrowed into a scathing glare. "Go, bring me the girl. Or I will do it for you."

I returned her glare with one of my own, unfazed. "I can't return there."

"Can't...or won't?"

"Hn."

Mukuro huffed out a breath, trying to hold onto the last vestiges of her patience. She rose from her chair, pushing the papers she had been working on aside. I watched her back as she strode towards the door, my lips turning up into a sneer.

"Where are you going?"

"To do what you couldn't," she replied.

I shot over to her, the blade in my hand now pointed at her neck. "Touch her and you will regret it, Mukuro."

She cocked her head and next thing I knew she had batted my blade aside, her hand shooting out to wrap around my throat. She applied just enough pressure that it became hard to breathe but the seething glare never left my eyes.

"Do you recall one of the rules I expressly stated upon making you my second?" I couldn't reply so she continued with no prompting. "I told you that taking a mate was off the table. I had thought you of all people would be the least likely to do such a thing."

She let me go, dropping me like so much trash. I rubbed at my throat, a disgusted sneer in place. "I have no desire to take a mate."

"And now you are also a liar."

She pulled open the door, holding it wide so I may pass through and said, "Go get the girl. I will not ask again."

I hesitated but the look in her eye had me sheathing my blade. I strode from the room at a controlled pace, making it clear I was not doing this by choice.

Once I was outside the fortress I began to run until everything around me was a blur. Coming to Mukuro had been a mistake, one I would not be able to take back. I had thought she meant to help me, to repair what I had done.

I should not have expected such from her. It went against her nature. She was indifferent to humans at best, and drawing attention to Kasumi could very well have caused her death. She was about to use the girl as a lesson, one I had no wish to learn.

So I let Mukuro think I was returning to human world. Instead I found that same pond with its crystal clear water that I had shown to Kasumi five hundred years in the past. I hunkered down against that same tree I had taken her against what felt like lifetimes ago...and I hid like the disgraceful coward I had become.

. . .

I had lasted all of a single night. When morning dawned I found myself staring my lord in the face, reticent and silent. She sat on her throne, advisers scuttling around her, her eyebrow raised towards her hairline.

To say she looked smug was an understatement.

"You appear to be lacking something," she said, waving a hand in the direction where a person should be standing beside me.

"I didn't go back."

"I am aware," she turned to her advisers, "Leave us."

She did not have to ask twice. They had taken a single look into her eyes and run with their proverbial tails between their legs. Pathetic.

Once the large double doors had fallen closed, the room turned silent, the air charged and thick with tension.

Mukuro spoke first. "Lest I remind you, it was you who came to me for aid and now you refuse it."

"I need to know what you plan to do with her."

"That is for me to decide," she said, keeping her gaze carefully blank. "Is she worth it?"

"What?"

"Is she worth it?" she repeated, putting an unnecessary amount of emphasis on each word as if she were talking to a small child.

I said nothing, eyes narrowed and gaze heated. That was none of her business.

"Well, I suppose I will find out for myself soon enough."

"I will not bring her here, Mukuro."

"You've changed your mind then?"

She crossed her legs, the prosthetic over the other, and folded her hands in her lap. That smug look was back and I wanted nothing more than to wipe it from her face.

Before I could think of a scathing retort she continued, "Can you live with yourself if you do not? Can you stand by and watch as she suffers, as she falls into despair because her body is broken and useless? Can you remain at her side even as she begins to resent you for the things you have taken from her?"

Mukuro's speech had my gut twisting. My face screwed up and I swallowed hard passed a lump that had formed in my throat. I could no longer look at her, my gaze settling on the stone beneath my feet and remaining there. But the woman was not done digging in the sword that she had pierced me with.

"Which is worse, Hiei? Losing the woman you have grown so attached to hatred...or bringing her here to me?" She rose from her throne, her uneven gait alerting me to the fact she had moved closer. Her shoes swam in my vision, her body a mere couple of feet from mine. "I can promise you that she will hate you. Perhaps not today, or even in a month's time, but one night she will awake from her slumber and she will despise you for what you've done."

"Enough!" I shouted. I could not bear another word, not even another syllable. "Enough..."

I never lifted my gaze from the floor, just pivoted and walked from the room without a backwards glance or word of argument. There was no point. Because everything Mukuro had said was true.

If I did not rectify what I had done Kasumi would come to hate me. Those words of devotion she had spoken would cease to be. I would fall from her favor. She would only see me as the man who had destroyed her body, not the man she had decided was worthy of her love.

Once I might not have minded. I could have counted it as a blessing, that I had chased her off with little else than a slash of my blade. That I could feel no remorse and leave her without a second thought.

But I no longer wanted that.

And Mukuro knew that as well as I.

The damnable bitch. She had read me like a goddamn book.

A chuckle from off to my side had rage filling every crook and crevice of my soul.

The punch I socked Kirin with could have been heard from a mile away.

Hope you have fun piecing your jaw back together, you piece of shit.

. . .

It was late by the time I arrived at Genkai's temple. The energies within told me they were at rest...all but one, anyway.

I crept to her window, wedging my fingers beneath the wood to pry it open. I didn't bother being quiet. She had sensed me the second I'd stepped foot on the grounds.

I clambered through the opening, my gaze shifting immediately to her. And to my surprise she was sitting up in bed, a cigarette dangling between her lips, smoke curling above her head.

She did not turn to acknowledge me, but I could see the pain that lined her face and swam in her eyes. Even sitting up was torturous for her. It was stubbornness that kept her in place. Stubbornness...and the alcohol I could smell on her.

"Are you drunk?" I would strangle whoever had given her the liquor. In her current state it was best Kasumi stayed within her right mind.

She continued to smoke, my lip curling up at the smell. She did not answer other than to lift her hand and give me the middle finger.

With a roll of my eyes I jumped down from the window sill and rounded the bed so I could look upon her face. And it became apparent that fleeing hadn't been the best of choices. I should not have let her blatant show of emotion force my hand.

But even now those words rang in my ears, the plea for her life. She did not want to die and though I had promised her time and again she wouldn't, I could longer say so with certainty.

There was too much left up to fate and chance and Kasumi herself. Too much for me to predict the outcome.

All I could do now was stand beside her...and weather the storm.

Kasumi's eyes were hollow, her gaze trained on my feet and lips curled around the cigarette in a sneer. She was hiding behind her favorite mask. And like hell was I going to let it continue.

I reached out and snapped the cigarette from her mouth. It was dropped to the floor where I crushed it beneath my boot. That was all it took to get her to look at me, albeit with a glare, but she wasn't ignoring me anymore at least.

"You're a real bastard," she said.

"So I've been told."

I toed off my boots and shed the shirt Kurama had given me, letting it fall in a heap on the floor. I didn't ask permission, I simply climbed into the bed beside her, back against the wall, one leg pulled up to my chest.

In that time Kasumi had fished out another cigarette from the pack she had stashed beneath her pillow. She lit it with a match, tossing the used bit of wood into the ashtray she had resting beside her.

"You'll ruin your lungs," I said.

The look she shot me could have melted the flesh off a weaker man's bones.

"What does it matter? I'll be dead in less than six months."

"Kasumi..."

"No, you don't get to use that tone with me, like you're trying to placate a child throwing a tantrum!" she said, not caring to keep her voice down. "You have no idea what I'm feeling. You haven't got a fucking clue. And now, I'm stuck in this bed with little else to do than think. My brain never stops, it's always turning, thinking of the inevitable."

I moved so I could throw a leg over her thighs, straddling her and essentially trapping her against the wall. I was careful to keep my weight balanced and off her, but I still made my point very clear. "You're right, I have no idea what it must feel like to know the exact moment when death will come to claim you. To have to stare it in the face long before you are ready. But unlike many, you do not have to face it alone."

She pulled the cigarette from her lips and set it against the rim of the ashtray. Each movement was carefully calculated to the point that when she went to punch me I was quick to grab her fist and pull it back down towards the bed.

"You are not alone, Kasumi."

"It sure as hell feels like I am," she snarled. "You ran from me yesterday, like a coward."

"Yes," I said, watching as her eyes widened in shock at my honesty. "I did. And I regret it, but I cannot change the past. I...do not deal with...emotion well."

"That much is obvious," she groused. "You nearly killed me when I told you I loved you."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Love me, you fool."

I heard her sigh, but it was soft and breathy. A noise not born of irritation or anger – but exhaustion.

"How many times do I have to say it? Yes, I love you. But I also don't know what to do with you most of the time."

"You'll learn," I said. "If what you say is true than you will come with me to the Makai."

Her nostrils flared and she picked up the cigarette to take a deep draw off it. She spoke even while the smoke rolled out from beneath her teeth. "That...isn't very nice. You shouldn't use that to coerce me into doing something."

"I would not have if it wasn't of grave importance."

"You're a pain in my ass."

A smirk drew the corners of my lips up. "I'm sure you will feel that way for a long time."

"Forever," she corrected, pouting.

"Come with me," I said again.

"Ya' know, a please wouldn't kill you once in awhile!"

I sighed loudly, my eyes dipping closed as I counted to ten and said, "Please," through my teeth.

She hummed thoughtfully for a second before saying, "Hm, fine, I'll accept it." And then she had her hand threading through the hair at the nape of my neck, so she may pull me down for a kiss.

I did not resist her, having grown to enjoy the feeling of her lips against my own. I pressed both hands to the wall behind her head, mindful of her wounds, keeping enough separation between us that only our lips touched.

My tongue slid between them, running along the ridges of her teeth, tasting stale nicotine and smoke and not caring in the slightest. I took control, turning the kiss deeper, pouring what I couldn't say into each slide of my lips and tentative touch of my tongue.

My heat burst outwards, igniting my skin and casting a bubble of warmth around us. My palms left blackened shapes on the wall. I wanted nothing more than to hold true to my promise and claim her in a proper bed. But she was too hurt, too broken. And it would have to wait.

I pulled back with a quiet groan, the saliva coating her lips creating a wet sheen that made my groin tighten.

Kasumi had left her eyes closed and I watched on quizzically as she took a couple of deep breaths before whispering, "Will you stay?"

And I knew those words – spoken with such wistful sadness – were not just meant for tonight. So I shifted off her with a tired sigh, settling beside her with my back against the wall. The smell of charred wood and the lingering scent of cigarette smoke overshadowed what was naturally her. So I leaned in just a little closer, my thigh pressed against hers, and let her rest her head on my shoulder.

"I will stay," I replied, my voice holding a careful calm that I did not truly feel, "Until the very end."

I heard her hum softly, and whisper, "Thank you..." Soon after her breaths evened out. Her energy, always in such turmoil, calmed. I did not move her. I let Kasumi sleep, my mind racing with all that I had seen and done in my many years of life.

And somehow, through all of that, it had lead me to her.

I would never understand it. For I was a thief, a criminal, a murderer and a fiend.

Yet she loved me.

A smirk curled my lips, a wry chuckle rumbling through my chest.

I didn't know if I should count this as a streak of dumb, blind luck...or if I was truly just cursed. Because Kasumi was by no means an easy acquisition.

Although...she'd been my greatest act of thievery yet.

When the sun rose and Yukina came to tend to her once more, only then did I leave. I promised the sleep addled woman I would return in due time, whether she had listened or not did not matter. Because I would hold true to that promise, if not any of the others.

I would be there at the very end. And when death came to claim her, I would make sure to damn him straight back to hell where he belonged.

. . .

Later that day I once again found myself in Mukuro's private chambers. The woman was standing across the room, her hands at her hips and a single eyebrow raised towards her hairline. But this time her face lacked all traces of smugness, now she looked to be caught between annoyed and angry.

"Kirin is quite displeased with you."

A low and deep laugh slipped from between my lips, "Good," I said.

She shook her head, her face in her palm. She took in a deep breath for patience and then turned back towards the single window that adorned the room.

The sky outside was tremulous, yellow streaks of lightning flashed across the deep red and purple of the Makai's atmosphere. A storm was brewing, but it was far off yet.

Mukuro placed her hands against the sill, her long fingers tense and white knuckled. "The horizon speaks of something foreboding."

"It is just a storm," I scoffed.

"Perhaps that is so...but yet my skin still crawls."

"When did you become so superstitious?"

She ignored my question, the lines of her face filled with a grave uncertainty. That look alone sent a tremor down my spine. I had never seen such an expression on her face before.

"Your hesitation in bringing the girl here might have been for the best," she said, backing away from the window.

Rain began to pelt the thick glass, the sound of thunder booming through the fortress. It seems the storm was closer than I had thought. And it was incredibly quick moving.

Mukuro sat in her desk chair with all the grace a ruler like herself should hold. But the hands she threaded through her hair and the grumble of discontent were anything but. She beckoned me towards her desk, a piece of parchment clutched between her fingers.

I took it from her, my eyes scanning the words with quick efficiency. "What the hell is this?" I hissed.

"A missive I received from Yomi yesterday evening. And then there was this as well..." she held out a message orb, the color an odd swirling black and gray.

"You didn't watch it?"

"Of course not, it arrived for you."

"Me?"

I took the orb from her as well, casting a look her way before I decided that I didn't care what information it held. I tossed it to the ground, watching as it shattered and the hologram took form.

A tiny image of the Bokur appeared...and standing behind him...

"Shit," I breathed, listening to the message and wishing I hadn't opened it in front of Mukuro of all people.

"Well..." she said when it ended, an emotion I could not identify coating her tone, "How interesting."

She rose from her chair, hands planted against the desk's surface. "It appears you have some important omissions to fess up to. I have no doubt the trouble in Gandara stems from your little jaunt into the past as well."

I could not look her in the eye. I had not told her any lies, but I could not deny that I had left certain parts of our travels out. Kasumi's devastation of Konstatin and the resulting freedom of his slaves had been one of those things.

As well as my bargain with the Bokur...which I had not been aware would come back to bite me so soon.

Mukuro's lips curled in distaste, anger radiating off her in waves now. "As I am also sure your human has played a large role in this I will give you time to build your case. Bring her here...and I will decide what to do with you both then."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I growled.

"Did you think you would go unpunished? The gift –" she spat the word as if it sickened her "– you gave the Bokur has created problems in Alaric that will not be easily rectified. And as for the issue in Gandara...perhaps I should give up your human as a way of placating the bastard Yomi."

"You wouldn't," I growled.

The look she shot me told me she was serious...and that the severity of the situation had forced her hand. I hadn't been careful, I had not heeded Hitomi's or Koenma's warnings...and I was about to pay dearly for such a mistake.

"You have three days to decide what to do and how you plan to fix this. I will not give you any longer than that, am I clear?"

I glared at her, my lips curled in a cruel sneer. "Crystal," I said between clenched teeth.

"Good," she rumbled, "In the meantime, the arena has been prepared for you. I will arrange for your human's transport. My patience has grown thin."

"Mukuro – !"

"I will accept no entreaties or arguments! For once do as you are told! You have caused enough hardship in your vendetta to satisfy your carnal hungers!"

"My intentions were never about meaningless sex," I snarled. "You have no idea what it is you speak of!"

She laughed, the sound bitter and cold. "You love her then?"

Those four simple words had me freezing. My jaw tightened to the point it was painful. I had no answer for her, not a single thing I could say that would not damn me one way or another.

She laughed again, the sound lacking any kind of humor and then shook her head. She strode by me, intent on leaving. "Soulmates," she said beneath her breath, as if it were some kind of joke.

She paused at the door, her hand having wedged it open, and turned to me one final time. "I'll show you just how arbitrary a term that can be."

For the next two days I trained in Mukuro's dank arena, floors below the main fortress. Darkness surrounded me, the only light provided by the oddly glowing puddles of toxic sludge and the strange fauna that had festered in this place.

She had never lacked willing fools to challenge me with. They came in droves for days. But unlike before the first demon world tournament I was not faced with merely A class apparitions. The vast majority were in the lower S class now and the shear number of them posed a challenge.

For the first time in years I thought I would die during training...and this caused me to push myself past my limits. At the first touch of that tiny piece of soul that hid deep, deep inside I recoiled in shock.

Never, not once, had I touched my life energy. I would not allow it to happen now.

And that was when one of the nameless bastards got the jump on me. And my vision flooded to black.

I had no concept on the amount of time that had passed, but I awoke slow, the smell of rain and metal and nicotine causing me pause. Then came the feeling of hands running lazily through my hair, the fingers massaging my scalp every so often.

If I hadn't become irrationally angry from the mere fact that she was here, of all places, I might not have minded the touch.

One of my eyes was swollen shut, but the other snapped open and I tore away from her. Sitting up in bed, I turned to pin Kasumi with an incredulous look. How long had I been out?! Had Mukuro held true to her promise and brought her here against her will?

"What the hell are you doing here, onna?!" I snapped.

But before she could answer I cast my gaze wildly around the room, as if someone were lying in wait among the shadows that cast the corners of my chambers into darkness.

"Where is she?!" I hissed, my voice seething.

"Who?" asked Kasumi.

"Mukuro!" I replied as if she should know damn well who I was speaking of. My rage subsided a fraction when I remembered I hadn't spoken a word to Kasumi about the lord of Alaric.

The realization that I would have to explain things – and soon – had my anger turning to cold fury.

"You mean the woman who brought me here? "

So she had gone through with her previous threat. My irritation rose to new heights. I hadn't had a quarrel with Mukuro this bad in years. It was dishonorable, her dislike of humans aside, and I would not stand for it.

I had known Kasumi would be a weakness. Time and again she would be used as a bargaining chip, as a way to get to me when there was no other. I had known that. And I had chosen to ignore it.

But here in the Makai, in this time, I would need to keep my distance. It wouldn't do to draw anymore attention to her than there already would be – for a human in Mukuro's domain was unheard of.

With this in mind I was quick to extricate myself from her hands, to allow that scent I had grown to savor to leave my senses be. I flickered from the bed, realizing I was in the same blood and dirt encrusted clothes from days ago and not giving a damn.

I stared Kasumi down, my face as cold as frost bitten stone. "The woman who brought you here...did she say anything to you?"

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. Something in the way she held herself belied her true emotions. Because I could sense pure rage writhing within her reiki. But rage at what I had no clue.

She ignored my question completely and replied with a snarky, "You have a thing for redheads, huh?" instead.

I did my best to glare at her, even with only one eye. Now was not the time for jokes.

Knowing I would not garner a single piece of useful information from the obviously incensed woman, I turned to rip open the door.

A strangled shout of, "Hiei...wait!" caused me to pause.

I turned back around to find Kasumi standing – if you could call it that. She held onto the edge of the headboard connected to the massive bed I had only slept in a handful of times. Her legs trembled beneath her and sweat coated her brow. It was obvious she was standing by shear force of will alone.

All my anger fled...and I remembered the real reason I had wanted to bring her here. "Can you walk?"

Shame coated her face and the words she next spoke,"It...hurts. But to a certain extent – yes. Just not for long."

She wasn't paralyzed. The relief that flooded through me would be short lived, but I was thankful all the same. The damage was still drastic...but perhaps not irreparable.

As if to prove what she said was truth, Kasumi let the death grip she had on the bed fall, and she made her way over to me. Without a word and barely a glance, she shuffled by me and out the door. Her gait was stiff and her eyes were creased in pain. I stared after her in confusion, shouting, "Where are you going?"

In which she replied, "To find the others."

I stood stunned for a moment before kicking myself in the ass and hurrying after her.

She hadn't gotten far, using the stone walls as support, one hand trailing across the cobbled wall, fingers sinking in and out of the cracks and crevices.

I rushed to her side, pulling one of her arms around my shoulders and forcing her to bear most of her weight onto me.

But she would have no part of it.

She wrenched out of my hold and I allowed it, in fear she would strain the still tender wound across her back. Next thing I knew I found myself trapped in an embrace, her face buried in my neck.

"You didn't come back," she mumbled, lips brushing across my skin, setting me aflame.

My arms laid slack at my sides and my back stiffened. For I could hear footsteps coming down the hall, the uneven gait impossible to misread. I would know the sound of those steps even in a crowd.

Kasumi's senses, sharper than they once were, picked up on them as well. She pulled away from me of her own volition and cocked her head to look over her shoulder just as Mukuro rounded the corner.

Both women wore identical looks of cold disinterest. But I knew it was all for show.

"Hello Kasumi," said Mukuro, an all too sweet smile curling her lips, the look unnatural. "I've been waiting for you."

And Kasumi, turning fully towards the other woman with a glare so vicious I wondered how Mukuro didn't burst into flame, replied with, "Don't speak to me as if we are familiar Mukuro."

The way she had spat her name had me sucking in a sharp breath. She lacked all sense of self preservation, of fear.

I didn't know if I should be proud...

Or afraid for her life.

Because surely the look that had blossomed across Mukuro's face did not mean anything good for either of us.

. . .

A/N: Once again, I'm really sorry its taken so long. I hope this version is better for all of you! I'm not sure when chapter 58 will be done, but it has been started, so I hope you'll keep an eye out for it! I'm not feeling so down anymore and writing is becoming easier. Thank you so much for reading and the continued support, you are all amazing!