What's this? Tiemiosho writing a serious fanfic? Tiemiosho updating? What happened! Well, folks, my humor has dried away as I wandered in misery contemplating the meaning of life. I'm so pathetic. I've hung around in the forums a lot, of course bitching at sues and bashers. Then I realized I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, and slumped my way back to writing and, well, here I am.
Hiei carefully searched through the chest, shoving aside the piles of cloth, and the occasional weapon. He needed to travel as light as possible. A short sword, a spare katana . . . At long last, he pulled out a gray cloak, and a well-crafted dagger. Opals protruded from the delicate round hilt of the silver weapon. A token of his status, crafted by the best of Makai's silver smiths. After stashing the dagger in his boot, Hiei stood, throwing on the hoodless cloak . That was all he needed.
Other than the futon and plain chest, Hiei's room lacked furnishing, as he wasn't into decorating. He liked to think he had no home. No roots. Denial was the only escape from the past, but it was no doorway to the future.
Leaving the room, the empty hallway gave Hiei a bit of relief. There was something he never liked about every passerby. The stares they gave him, as if they already knew everything they needed to know about him. In truth, Hiei was far too complex for even himself to understand. No one truly understood him; no one had bothered to try. Not even he. Except...
The opening doors bathed him in light as he left the hall and stepped into the Makai wilderness. Hiei still preferred the comforts of darkness. No one could see him, and he didn't need to be disgusted by the sight of some lowlife. He shielded his eyes for a moment, adjusting them to the not-quite-so-dark Makai. It had suddenly become a different world. The trees were greener, the grass was longer. In short, everything he had come to live with had dissapeared under a thick layer of moss.
As he walked into the scattered forest, Hiei caught a glimpse of his former lord. Mukuro stood atop the massive insect-shaped contraption of the Makai guard, scanning the horizon. He wondered what exactly she thought of him. He felt some sort of strange connection with her, though he still wasn't quite sure what exactly it was. Did she feel the same way for him? Had she just used him for her own power all along?
Hiei stopped short in his tracks. Why did he even care? He pulled the dagger from his boot, admiring it. Actually admiring it. He sighed, and glanced up at Mukuro, almost afraid to blink. For whatever reason, he was absorbed in her, studying her. Slowly closing his eyes, Hiei again faced the path. A peaceful smile almost formed. Almost. The corners of his mouth twitched, then finally rested as he opened his eyes once more.
Hiei had become himself again, wearing the trademark cold glare. At that moment, he realized he couldn't go back.
It had been a while since Yusuke had been here; over a year, now. He didn't expect to come back so soon, and already he could barely recognize the place! There was a new and unfamiliar serenity, now. It sure helped that there wasn't all this war or power struggle. Once every four years or so, it would come back with the next tournament to keep things from growing too dull. Yusuke couldn't think of anything better. Even then, though, he would be missing something.
He took a deep breath; the fresh air no longer had the thick stench of corpses, but rather a earthy odor that made him gag. Yusuke still wasn't all-out for the great outdoors.
He finally reached his destination, a clearing. What was once merely an ugly rocky field was covered in a mosaic of well-tended square gardens.
"I didn't expect you to return so soon," Yusuke heard a familiar voice as he approached the other end of the garden.
"It's just a visit. I have a little errand here, and thought I'd stop by."
"Ha! So you couldn't take the time to pay your old man a visit unless you were just passing by, anyway?"
"Ohh..." Yusuke clenched his teeth with a wince, halting briefly before advancing again. " Cut me some slack! I still need to get used to the whole father-son thing," He said, finally reaching the end of the garden and kneeling before the tomb.
"Well, I guess I'm mostly to blame for that." Raizen admitted gravely. "I would have liked to get to know you better, before..."
"I know," Yuske sighed, smiling grimly. "Same here." The garden became silent. The former detective got to his feet, remembering a saying from his mom. "Howling at the moon," he muttered. "You always want the thing you can never get."
"Master Yusuke!" Yusuke looked up from Raizen's grave. The voice belonged to one of the monks, loyally serving Raizen, even in his death.
"Hey, thought I'd stop by," Yusuke waved. "How are things?"
The monk smiled warmly. "I've never seen Makai thriving like this. Your father would have been proud of you."
Yusuke returned the smile. "I know. He's proud of all of us."
"So you hear him, too?" The monk slowly approached Yusuke, his face brimming with pride. "Like Raizen's still watching over his kingdom. He speaks to me sometimes. Mostly about you."
Yusuke blinked, suddenly realizing. He took a quick step back.
"Master Yusuke?" The monk halted, his smile fading.
"Well, I-I've got an errand to do and I stopped by just to say hello." Yusuke backed away, speaking as fast as he could in order to leave sooner.
"Well," The monk looked confused. "I hope you visit often."
"Oh, yeah!" Yusuke gave a nervous chuckle, still backing away. "You can count on that. Well, see ya!" With that, Yusuke made a quick retreat.
There he was, a free spirit. Out of the corner of her eye, Mukuro caught a brief glimpse of Hiei. He was anchored to nothing; he would never say he was leaving, much less give a farewell. She could understand that. Hiei had spent the greater part of his life alone. He had no obligations to his family. But what really surprised Mukuro was that Hiei always was looking out for his sister. The ice maiden she had seen in his memories. Sometimes he would use his Jagan eye for hours at a time. When asked, he never told his colleges what he was looking for. But she could take a guess.
The former demon lord smiled in amusement. Hiei didn't admit much, but it was cute how he would try to hide even the most obvious facts. He cared for his sister. He cared for his friends. Yes, he did have friends. His "soft spots" were out in the open. No getting around that.
An explosion. That was the only thought in her mind as her head snapped to the right. She couldn't see it, but felt energy like she had never known or even heard of before. Not an army of demons. No. Something much, much more ancient.