Chapter 9 Behind Every Strong Man…
Hiei's breathing was labored as he stared at his friend. They had decided on a fist fight before they entered the semi-finals arena. Hiei knew Yusuke wanted him to go on but he wasn't going to give in until he felt Hiei was worthy to. He also knew that they were almost finished, they had been pulling punches for some time now. Yusuke was staring at him, grinning, and then charged at him. Hiei stood his ground and just before Yusuke swung at him, he side stepped him and threw all of weight into slamming his body into Yusuke's back. Yusuke went down and Hiei wearily stood up. He didn't have much more brawl in him, that was Yusuke's forte.
He heard Yusuke start laughing and he rolled over, his eyes sparkling with delight. "You got me there, Hiei!"
Hiei gave a small smile to his friend, it was over. He held out his hand for Yusuke, who took it and pulled himself up. "Give him hell for me," he said clapping Hiei on the shoulder.
"Wow! It seems Yusuke has decided to forfeit the friendly match! Hiei will move onto the final round!" Koto cried. The demons in the arena around them cheered loudly. They walked back to the waiting area together but Hiei left Yusuke and went into his 'warm up' room. Kurama was waiting there for him. He was sitting in a chair next to a small table that had a box on it.
"You won't have too much time to recover. Hideki doesn't like to take his time with his opponents," Kurama said.
"Hn." Hiei moved over to the box and lifted the top slowly. Inside was the garment Yukina had made for him. He picked it up reverently and touched the dragon gently. He had brought it with him to the tournament as an afterthought, something different to wear. As he stood before the final match, he thought differently. The dragon, the emblem of his clan. Was it only because he had tamed the beast? Kurama had told him that some humans found the dragon to be symbol of evil causing only destruction and chaos. Other humans found dragons to be wise and full of wealth and fortune. Hiei didn't know where his dragon fell. The dragon was bent to his will now, so did that make it a bringer of death? Hiei was okay with that but Yukina was also wearing this emblem. He couldn't allow it to taint her like that.
Hiei set the box down and took off his cloak. He lifted the other out of the box and stared at it. He didn't want to ruin it… but something told him that he needed to wear it. He slipped it on over his head and tied the waist sash.
"Very regal," Kurama commented. "It will most certainly make a statement amongst the demons out there."
The cheers of the spectators erupted from the walls outside. Someone had done something impressive. Hiei looked down at his right hand. Would he? Suddenly feeling very tired, he sat down in another chair.
"Yusuke's fight must have worn you down," Kurama mused, frowning.
Hiei breathed deeply. This was not good. Now that the adrenaline from the fight was gone, he could feel how worn his body was. He didn't know the fight had tired him out so much. There was no way he could win in this condition. Hiei began to feel warm and Kurama looked at him curiously as the warmth spread from his left arm to the rest of his body. The sensation was pleasant and it reminded him of her. When it reached every corner of his body it surged with power once and then faded. Hiei felt… rejuvenated. He looked down at his left wrist and saw one of the stones looked scorched.
"What was it?" Kurama asked, concerned. He got up and walked towards Hiei.
"A healing rune," Hiei replied, his eyes fixated on the bracelet. He felt as though he had just woken up from a refreshing sleep, with all of his bruises, scratches, and aches healed.
"Impressive," Kurama murmured, examining the bracelet. He was no doubt forming dozens of questions to ask her.
The outside erupted in cheers again and this time Hiei assumed there was a winner. He stood up and Kurama silently followed him to the exit to the ring.
"Hiei, no matter happens…" Kurama allowed his thoughts to trail off.
"Winning is the only option," Hiei said firmly. He looked back at his red haired friend who smiled at him.
"If that's the case, then break a leg," Kurama said.
Hiei frowned at him. "Why would you wish me to break a leg?"
Kurama burst into laughter and said, "It is a human phrase that insinuates good luck by wishing something unlucky."
"If you wanted to wish me good luck, why didn't you say so?" He scowled. Kurama merely laughed again and Hiei pushed the doors open.
The stadium fell silent and Hiei glanced up to where Yukina was sitting to see if Mîrvana was there. She wasn't. Hiei blocked out the thoughts trying to rush to the front of his mind and focused on the demon before him. The demon that wanted to kill him, take his throne, and rule the demon world and possibly conquest to the human one. This was going to be one hell of a fight.
Koto was talking as Hiei stepped up on the arena and demons began cheering and screaming around him but their voices seemed to fade away as his gaze locked on Hideki. He seemed to not have taken a lot of damage in his previous fight. He had grown stronger. How much stronger was yet to be seen. Hideki stepped back onto the platform and glared at him. He pulled off the axe from behind his back and Hiei pulled out his sword. This would be a fight to the death.
Hiei noticed the stadium had fallen quiet and Koto's voice filled the arena. "Wow, these contestants are just going to start without any sort of break. This has to be cleared with the tournament officials… and they have given the green light! Aaaaalright! Let's get this started! The final match to determine the new ruler of the Makai! Will it be the current King, Hiei? Or will it be the second time challenger Hideki? There's only one way to find out! Fiiiiight, START!"
As soon as the words left Koto's lips, they darted towards each other. The first objective in Hiei's mind was to disable the axe. From the last fight, he had an idea of the range and how close he could get but he had to be careful. That axe cost him a load of trouble last time.
When he reached Hideki he left an after image in front of him and cut his sword down on Hideki's arm on the side. Hideki dodged and pulled the axe up to strike again. Hiei jumped aside just in time. He struggled to move in close, Hideki was covering himself well. Hiei finally jumped back, putting space between them. He threw his sword into the concrete a few yards away from him. Hideki didn't waste time, he charged at him and that was the opening he needed. Hiei waited for the last possible second that he could avoid the axe and jumped to the side. As the axe came crashing down into the concrete, his foot landed on the side of his sword. He pushed himself off of it and straight into Hideki's side, causing both of them to fall out of the ring.
While that separated Hideki from the axe, it now left Hiei in hand to hand combat with him, with only the power of the dragon flames at his disposal. As powerful as it was, he needed to time it right or else he would pass out and be done for. As much as he had trained, he never failed to fall asleep almost right after. He quickly stepped back into the arena looking down on him. Hideki got up slowly and walked back into the arena as he let out a loud, cold laugh.
"Who do you think you are? A real King? Look at you, Hiei, in your little costume. Do you really think you are fit for this job?" He began to gather youki and shoot it at Hiei. He dodged, glancing back at the holes. They were perfect half spheres. Hiei had to assume his attacks absorbed, not exploded. Either way, he needed to avoid them. He let out more orbs and Hiei dodged them as he yelled at Hiei.
"You're just playing pretend. You have been King for almost nine years. You have fought a war and lead it to victory. And now you have an elf Queen that you stole from the war. The perfect package," he sneered as Hiei dodged another ball. Those sounded like good things to him… Hideki was jealous. Why would he want an elf as a wife? Did Hideki really think that having an elf was beneficial? Or was it just a prize, a trophy? Is that why Hiei wanted her here?
Hiei stopped moving and swore. He was being distracted by Hideki's words and he failed to notice that Hideki was boxing him in. The balls had stopped hitting the concrete and were now floating in midair which were forming a singular path forming between Hiei and Hideki. Soon, Hiei wouldn't have anywhere to move. He was forcing Hiei's hand. He dodged one more until Hideki had him where he wanted, directly in front of him with nowhere to go.
"And you know something? Shouldn't your little wife be here, supporting you, cheering you on?" Fortunately, Hideki liked to talk which gave Hiei time to summon energy for the dragon. Unfortunately, Hiei didn't like what he was saying.
"Your wife, your little spoil from the war. How did you find her? Was she running from you and you took her for yourself without bothering to share?" Hideki was looking at him disgustedly.
"You would know, if you had actually fought with us," Hiei hissed.
Hideki let out another laugh. He then began collecting energy in his hands. Hiei breathed deeply, this was going to be a death match, whoever was more powerful would win.
"So tell me then, since you think you are so high and mighty, where did you find such a prize?"
Hiei was almost ready. But was he ready to die? He hadn't thought that out. He once thought that he was ready to die. What was he living for now? Her? What made him want to fight for her?
Hiei decided to answer him, only to buy him more time. That's the reason right? "I fought her in battle. I won and took her prisoner and I kept her prisoner to end the war," he growled angrily. He could feel the energy cackling around him, the dragon on his arm growing agitated.
"Fought? You fought her and made her your wife? Hah!" Hideki was nearing completion as well. Now it was a matter of when to strike. "I heard she was on the ground begging for her life before you took her. I bet if she were here, she would be begging for your life right now, pleading with me to save you. Or would she? Would she let you die?"
Hideki's words cut through the tension and right into Hiei's thoughts. His emotions were mixed but with what he wasn't sure. He slowly pulled his bandana off as he thought. Would she let him die? Would she be happy if he was dead? If only she would call for him… but she wasn't here. Hiei's eyes widened as he noticed that it was his left hand grasping the cloth, her bracelet dangling from his wrist. She wanted him to win, she was rooting for him, even if she wasn't there. She wouldn't let him die either. Nor did she beg for her life. As Hideki's insults began to sink in, he realized they were false. She would never stoop so low and be so cowardly to beg for her life or his. She was a fine warrior and had Kurama not stopped him, she would have died a worthy death. Even Mukuro admitted she was a great warrior.
Hideki was attacking her honor as a warrior, as a fighter, as someone who would not hesitate to kill if she needed to. Hiei had come to believe that sort of honor and pride was sacred, only death and destruction could create it. She wasn't here to defend her name, he would do it for her. He would fight for her and he would win for her because he had to. She may dislike him but he vowed to take care of her. Hiei thought to the smile she gave him a few days ago and his chest swelled with warmth and pride. He wouldn't let Mîrvana down.
"I don't know where the hell my wife is. I don't know what she is doing or why. But if she were here right now, she would be screaming at me to burn your pathetic cowardly ass to a crisp," Hiei snarled. He thrust his arm out and yelled, "JOU ENSATSU KOKURYUHA!"
The dragon charged out more powerfully than Hiei had ever felt as Hideki threw a mass of energy at it. The dragons body thrashed against the energy, causing the smaller balls of energy to disappear but chunks of the dragon were missing now too. Hiei pumped more energy into the dragon, hoping it would stay intact and it seemed to heal the spots that were missing. Finally, the dragon broke through, causing Hiei to fall backwards. His body had put out more energy than he ever had before and it was hard for him to stand as the dragon dissolved. He could feel the fatigue beginning to settle in but he didn't see Hideki. He sunk to knees. He did it. He won. He was King again and he would continue to rule, with her cared for.
He panted heavily, and his eyes widened as he saw something shift. In horror he watched Hideki as he struggled to stand. He began to laugh and Hiei slapped his cheek to keep himself awake. Hideki was saying something but Hiei watched him put together an energy ball, one that wouldn't burn him or explode him, it would erase him. He was not going to die like that. He opened his Jagan and again and closed his eyes. The image of her face smiling greeted him. His body felt warm as he thought of her and he was able to gather energy. He struggled to open his eyes and the last thing he saw before passing out was black energy shooting from his arm.
00000
Hiei was in darkness.
Rather, he was collapsed in darkness. Swirling around him he heard the song, but it was so difficult to get up, to move. He wanted to stay where he was on the ground.
"Please get up!" The child's voice called out to him. "Help me! Help me finish the song!"
Hiei tried to push himself up but his body felt like it was as heavy as a ton of bricks. He frowned. The song seemed louder before…
"Please help me! Help me finish the song!"
The voice was desperate now. Hiei could sense it was coming from a certain direction. He scowled, since when was he this weak? He slowly pushed himself so he was sitting up. He looked in front of him and the hand seemed to be reaching out to him.
"Won't you help me finish my song?"
The song grew louder as he reached for the hand. He could do this, he thought as he struggled to reach. Finally his fingers hooked.
Hiei's eyes shot open and he realized he was still in the arena. But the voice… he could hear singing, a strong song that resonated with him. Hiei felt something gripping his hand and he noticed his outstretched hand was gripping the child's hand. Except it wasn't a hand like he thought it would be, it was a three talon black claw. Hiei noticed that he was being surrounded by a black fog that was slowly circling around him. The song continued for a few moments later until it ended. The end was resolute in his ears, a fitting end.
Then there was a loud screech.
Hiei heard Hideki swear loudly, Koto's voice over the intercom system and demons crying out in surprise. The claw vanished from his hand and the black fog swirled upward and began to form the outline of a long serpent like dragon. There was another loud screech and the fog seemed to harden and turn into shiny obsidian scales. Once it moved down the dragon, Hiei looked up at its head and its eyes began to glow red. Then its head turned to him, its red eyes boring into him.
The dragon was… real. It was a live, breathing dragon. What in Kami's name had happened?
The stadium was deadly silent as the dragon swooped down to Hiei. It coiled loosely around him and brought its head near his. It then rubbed its muzzle against his upper torso. Hiei was reminded vaguely of a cat… was it being affectionate? Half terrified and half in awe, Hiei slowly placed his hand on the dragons head and it growled at him. The growl wasn't menacing, in fact it seemed pleased. The realization dawned on him that this was his dragon. The voice that was calling out to him, it was his dragons voice, her voice.
"Koku," he said softly and she nuzzled against him again, evidently pleased with the name.
Hiei turned his gaze to Hideki who was staring at him and his beautiful dragon terrified. "Th-that's not possible! First you don't die when I throw the orbs at you and now you summon a real dragon? That's not fucking possible!" He cried.
Hiei smirked menacingly. Hideki was panicking now. "So tell me, am I playing pretend now?"
Hideki howled with rage and Hiei said quietly, "Don't kill him, but humiliate him."
Immediately the dragon shot out, avoiding the energy orbs Hideki was shooting out at her. One almost hit her side but she destroyed it with a blast of black fire from her mouth. She circled around Hideki slowly who was panicking to the point of hyperventilating. Finally, her muzzle was even with his face and she let out a loud screech again. Hiei reveled in seeing Hideki cowering before her. He slowly walked up to Hideki and he turned to Hiei. He was terrified and Hiei grinned maliciously.
"Do it," he said. Suddenly the dragon wrapped Hideki in her tail and threw him into the side of the wall, causing the barrier to break and the stands to crumble as Hideki's body plowed through them. He would probably survive but just barely. Just enough to remember what happened and to not mess with Hiei like that again.
Hiei looked at Koto whose jaw was hanging. When she noticed his gaze she yelled,
"Right! With an amazing new technique that brought the dragon to life, the winner of this year's tournament is the reigning Demon King Hiei!"
The dragon wrapped around him as a wave of exhaustion hit him. He vaguely heard the cries of the crowd chanting his name before passing out and falling onto his dragon's belly.
When Hiei came to, his hearing was the first of his senses to awaken. There were a few people chatting and as he listened, and slowly their voices became more coherent.
"-how it happened. He was never able to do that before."
Yusuke. They must be talking about the dragon.
"I know that Hiei was training with Mîrvana and she was forcing him to continuously use the dragon. This must have been the end result of that training," he heard Kurama say. They were talking about her as if she wasn't there. She wasn't there?
"That almost killed him. He used the dragon twice! How would she know that it wouldn't kill him?" Mukuro was angry. He detected another emotion in her voice, it was intertwined with her anger but it was new coming from her. He couldn't place it.
There was silence until he heard footsteps rushing towards where he was. As it got closer he heard panting. The footsteps stopped abruptly and then darted again.
"Oh, Hiei," he heard a female voice say. Her voice was soft but he could sense her pleasure.
"Mîra," he mumbled. It was her, she was here. Hiei slowly pulled his eyelids open to see her sparkling lavender orbs looking down on him. She was smiling. She took his hand in hers and he was warmed by her touch.
"I heard it, I heard the song. It was beautiful," she whispered. Her voice was a song of its own to his ears, unmatched by anything else.
"I won," he said, feeling fatigued and unfocused.
"I know, I'm so proud," she said smiling. Her eyes seemed a little sad now and he wondered why. Then he remembered that she wasn't there. She had missed everything. He moved to sit up and he looked around the room. Mukuro was sitting in a corner, staring at him. Kurama was in a chair opposite of her and Yusuke was leaning against the wall near the door. He turned to his wife who was sitting on the bed, beaming at him. He looked down at his right arm to see the dragon tattoo.
"You can summon it to a physical form but you still need some energy to do it. Right now you should rest," she said gently.
He eyed her, frowning. She knew this would happen. Hiei felt his mind clear as he realized she knew this would happen and she wasn't there. He withdrew his hand from hers.
"Where were you?"
The words seemed to strike her for a moment but she was smiling again as she pulled up a brown satchel bag. She began to rummage through it and Hiei realized what she was wearing and became angry. She was wearing what she usually wore when they sparred, a white bikini type top and a long white skirt with slits on both sides that reached her upper thigh. Around her neck was a silver tree clasp for the large dark green cloak that hugged her shoulders. She had been somewhere, she didn't plan on attending the tournament at all.
"Ah, here it is. You will never guess where I went," she said excitedly offering him a manila folder.
"That's a good question, maybe you should tell us," Mukuro said coolly.
"I don't answer to you and I was talking with my husband, not you," Mîra snapped. Hiei frowned at the way she said 'husband,' why would she point that out to Mukuro? Thinking back to Mukuro's odd tones earlier, it clicked. Mîra was establishing dominance because Mukuro was… jealous. Hiei inwardly groaned, two jealous women pitting it out against each other was the last thing he needed right now.
"I think you had better answer, elf. I made sure all of those cloaks were destroyed personally," Mukuro sneered. She had a point. Those cloaks had some sort of magic within them that allowed a few elves to pass by lower class demons unnoticed. Finding spies were quite troublesome for a long time during the war because of it. If Mîra was wearing the cloak, it meant that she had been sneaking around.
"Explain," he demanded and she turned back to him. She set the folder down and reached for his hands but he pulled them away from her. She looked slightly hurt at the gesture but she replied to him anyway.
"I had to go today, it was the easiest day to do it."
"It could have been another day," the words tumbled out of his mouth. For the first time he wasn't think about what he was saying, he was so frustrated.
"I had to go. I thought if I left soon after you I would at least make it back in time for the final fight and-"
"You planned this?" He asked interrupting her.
She averted his gaze as she answered him softly. "Yes." Her gaze turned back to him, her eyes pleading. "But I had to, just listen-"
"You lied to me," Hiei said. He suddenly felt detached from her. She had lied to him. He had tried to think she had gotten held up, got lost, or genuinely missed it. Mukuro was right, she had lied.
"Hiei, I'm sorry," she pleaded. Her lavender eyes were remorseful, he could see it but it only made him angrier. "Hiei, I did this for us. To save-"
"Yourself. You went off and did Kami knows what while I was here fighting for-" He choked on the word 'you.'
"No, for you! " she said desperately. "And I'm sorry. I wanted to be here, I really did but I had to-"
"Then why weren't you here?" he asked, his voice low. He had fought for her honor and her name and she was off doing something else. Hiei shouldn't have been as perturbed as he was but he couldn't help it. Who else was he fighting for if not her? He didn't need to be king again.
She didn't say anything for a moment and Hiei realized how tired she looked. He noticed how messy her usually pristine hair was and that her clothes had fresh dirt marks and stains on them. She had been fighting and traveling and she lied to him about it.
"Get out," he said suddenly and she looked up at him shocked.
"What?" she asked.
Hiei regretted what he said as soon as the words left him but he couldn't help it now. "You heard me."
"I did this for you, Hiei, if you would just stop being a stubborn ass and listen to me I can explain!" She was frustrated now but he didn't care.
"You lied to me!" He hissed. "You lied to me to go out while I was distracted for your own personal gain."
Her face became stone cold but her lavender eyes were no longer sad but they were now filled with… hurt. His words had hurt her. Well good, because she had hurt him too.
"Personal gain?" she said slowly, her voice rising. "I see. I'll always be that selfish bitch won't I? By trying to help you, trying to save you and your throne, I'm the selfish one." Tears were rolling down her cheeks now as she stood and Hiei could only watch her as she continued. "I'm always the fucking selfish princess aren't I? Who is always crying and I am so tired of crying all the fucking time!" Her voice echoed into the hallway as she screamed. She inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure.
"I'm trying so hard to…" She began but left the words unfinished. She breathed heavily her lavender eyes piercing him as she stared into his frustrated red ones. Finally, Hiei couldn't stand to look at her upset face any longer and he tore his gaze off of her. He heard the swish of her cloak and her light footsteps exit the room. Yusuke quietly followed and Mukuro stared at him before leaving the room as well.
Kurama closed the door behind them. When they were gone Hiei looked up at Kurama to see pity in his eyes. Hiei hated it when he looked at him like that. Wordlessly, Kurama picked up the file and began to flip through it. There was an uncomfortable silence as he rifled through the papers.
Finally Kurama said, "Hiei do you know what is in here? Blueprints, layouts, strategy maps, and other documents. The map has a western point as the main base, I'm assuming it's Hideki's. Hiei, she snuck into Hideki's hideout. That's where she's been. She's brilliant," Kurama said with awe, flipping through the documents again. "She went during the days that his most powerful demons would be gone so she could easily slip in and collect information."
Not wanting to think about Kurama's conclusion he asked, "What do the documents show?"
Kurama sighed, "I think he's been building an army. There is a blueprint for a machine on here, it looks like a cloning machine." He looked up at Hiei and said, "Hideki was going to attack you if he didn't win. For the past three years he has been building an army and with the war just ending, there would be no one to defend you. Hiei, this information saved your life."
Just the words he wanted to hear. Great. She had lied to him in order to uncover an usurping of the throne and he had cast her out, ignoring her, and destroying any headway they had made on actually getting along. He was at square one. Scratch that, he was in the negatives with her now.
"Fuck," he said.
Kurama looked at him and said, "The damage isn't irreparable. You had a right to be angry with her, she betrayed your trust."
"I fought…" Hiei said scowling, letting the words trail off.
"I know," Kurama said.
"I wondered before the fight, if I would have been bent on winning again if I wasn't with her."
Kurama paused before replying. "Does it matter? She is here, what you would have done if she wasn't is irrelevant."
Hiei supposed Kurama was right. In the end he had decided to fight for her, for her honor, for her sake. Where had that led him? Discovering she was a liar.
"Hiei, she isn't a liar," Kurama said. Hiei glared at the fox who chuckled. How Kurama knew exactly what he was thinking was beyond him, though he suspected it had to do something with his facial expressions.
"Don't worry Hiei, this will blow over as long as you apologize. For now though, you should go home. Get more rest. I'll begin consulting with Yusuke and maybe Kuwabara about what to do."
"I don't need that oaf," Hiei scowled.
"Maybe, but it might be nice to get everyone back together again," Kurama said, a devious twinkle in his eye. Hiei hated that look too, it usually meant trouble.
Hiei turned his thoughts back to her. Could he fix it? He did owe her an apology especially if Kurama was correct. He loathed apologizing. It made him feel weak.
"Hn."
Kurama smiled as Hiei got off the bed. There was a knock on the door to reveal Shana and Yukina. As they hugged him and offered congratulations the image of Mîra's hurt face popped into his mind and as much as he wanted it too, he could not push it away.
I have to say I was really amused at how many people thought Mukuro had something to do with Mira's absence. I didn't think Mukuro seemed that suspicious but I guess she was haha! Anyway, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been following the story, especially to Death-101 who has reviewed every chapter I've posted. I hope you enjoyed this chapter =)