AN: I would like to thank all my reviewers, THANK YOU!…and let the battle begin!
Disclaimer: Nothing owned…
SPOILERS (maybe)
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"Blah" Talking
Blah Thinking
Blah Telepathic
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Last time:
"You're not serious." Yusuke said, surprised.
"Am I?" Kurama said, grinning. "You'll just have to see…"
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Turning around, Kurama blocked the views of the three young wizards and witch so they couldn't see what he was doing. Pulling out a seed from his hair, he had it grow into a long vine-like plant, which had tiny spikes at the tips.
Seeing Yusuke and Hiei watching with interest, he smirked and stuck the plant's tip into the keyhole located at the front of the door handle.
Soon, a soft click was heard and Kurama took the plant out.
"There we go, this house welcomes us with open arms." With that, Kurama opened the door into the farmhouse.
"Where are the inhabitants to this dwelling?" Hiei asked, stepping into the small, cozy farmhouse.
"Oh, they'll find themselves busy with some oddly behaving crops. Wheat, I believe it was." Kurama said, inspecting his fingers.
The three humans followed cautiously behind. "This isn't right!" Hermione complained. "What if we get caught?"
"Quiet, ningen." Hiei growled. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances at the word, and Ron smirked.
Kurama strode over to the fireplace and peered into a small, black ceramic pot on the mantle. It was filled with a sparkling, dust like substance. Floo powder.
"I'll go first." Kurama pinched a small amount of the powder between his fingers. "I'll take it that you step in and say the name of the destination?"
Harry nodded and looked back to the front door, as if expecting the owners to burst in any minute.
Kurama threw in the powder and stepped in as the fire turned emerald green.
"Kanito Village!" he called out. He was swept up and spun at a dizzying speed. Kurama managed to land gracefully in what seemed to be a small hut. There was a large pot of Floo powder here, next to the fireplace.
A sign on the wall said 'Welcome to Kanito Village'. Hmm…it seems like this is a sort of pit stop for travelers. Kurama thought. Suddenly, a voice rang inside his head.
Fox.
Yes, Hiei? What is it?
The three ningens have left-
Three thumps caused Kurama to turn around and chuckle. The three humans had arrived and were piled in a heap in the fireplace. Standing, they joined Kurama and began brushing their clothes.
Yes, they are all here. Where's Yusuke?
At the other end, Hiei snorted. That's the problem. The idiot refuses to step into the flames.
Kurama sighed, and then began to talk to Yusuke. Yusuke, come on. We're all here, the flames won't hurt you.
Fine, fine.
Another two thuds were heard as Hiei and Yusuke landed. Yusuke was in a head in front of Hiei, who was looking down disdainfully at the boy.
"Move, detective." Hiei growled. Yusuke got up and scampered to stand beside Kurama, who smiled and shook his head.
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The mountain itself was not altogether too hard to climb. However, once they were at the top, they were faced with…a minor problem.
"I don't see anything." Ron stated flatly.
Kurama, however, was scanning the ground for anything suspicious.
Something on the ground flashed and caught the former thief's eyes. "There's something on the ground, we need to go back down."
Ron and Harry groaned, unhappy about the idea of going back down the mountain they just climbed.
"How do you know if anything's down there? For all we know, you could be wrong again." Harry protested, not wanting to go back down.
Hiei looked at the young wizards in disdain. "Fine. You ningens-"
The three 'ningens' exchanged looks once again, before Hiei continued. "Can stay up here while we go down and check."
"That's a good idea." Kurama agreed. "No matter what happens down there, do not follow after."
After earning three nods from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the three Rakai Tantei descended down, onto the ledge below.
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"I smell a demon around here." Hiei informed the other two as he dashed from tree to tree, searching fro the source of the strong smell, not unlike the one found back in the Black house.
"Oh, look!" Yusuke pointed to a cave. "A cave!" (AN: That sounds really stupid…ah, well…)
Kurama walked towards the opening of the cave. "I'm guessing, if anything's going to hide, it would be in there. Let's go."
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Up above, Harry began cautiously finding his way down to the cave he had seen the other three disappear into.
"Hey, Harry! They told us not to go down!" Hermione said, confused.
"Well, it's been awhile. Besides, I want to see what they're up to."
Ron nodded. "Let's go then!"
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The three humans followed the others ahead of them as quietly as they could. When they stopped, the Hogwarts trio darted behind a large rock.
The humans followed us. Hiei snarled. They didn't listen at all.
Kuso! Complained Yusuke. Now we gotta watch out for them!
It's okay. Kurama informed. Let's run for it, and I can leave a plant here to protect and keep them here until we come back.
Okay. Yusuke nodded. Ready, steady, go!
They ran deep inside the cave, through the tunnel. Drop the plant, kitsune! Hiei ordered.
Wait. The three reached a cavern, and Kurama gently set the plant down where the mouth of the tunnel led into the cavern.
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Ron looked around him. "Eh? Where did they go? They were here just a second ago."
"Maybe they disapparated." Harry suggested.
Hermione shook her head. "No, normally, if someone disapparated, a popping sound would usually appear." She sighed. "We'll just follow the tunnel."
They ran through the tunnels, until they were finally met with a wall of thick vines and thorns. Through the gaps, they saw the three transfers standing, tense and watching.
Despite their best efforts, they could not break through the wall that Kurama had set. The three, however, continued to try until a smooth, silky voice sounded.
"Welcome to my cave…my name is Kayechi." (AN: Hmm, sounds kinda cliché…oh well! Let's continue!)
Hiei glared at the demon, growling deep in his throat. "Who are you?"
The demon laughed. "Did I just not say so?" His laughter subdued, leaving him smirking at Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke.
The demon, Kayechi, had oily, wavy hair. His sharp, beady black eyes stared at the three Tantei. A smirk that looked as if it was permanently stuck on his face, and he wore a fur jacket, accompanied by long silky pants that reached his feet.
"Shall we begin?"
The demon locked eyes with Yusuke, who immediately fell still, eyes becoming blank. Kurama, sensing something was wrong, began to stride over to where Yusuke was standing.
Before he got halfway, Kayechi turned his gaze to him, and he froze and dropped to his knees. Hiei, the last still clear minded, saw Kurama visibly try to resist whatever had happened, before shaking uncontrollably.
"What have you done?" Hiei snarled.
"Patience, my little friend. The kitsune is merely reacquainting himself with some old friends. As for the other one, a little-hallucination, you could call it- would be enough. Now it's your turn."
Hiei found himself subjected to the same treatment as his two companions. He staggered, to find himself leaning against the cool stonewall.
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The fog rolled away, leaving Yusuke very confused. He looked down at the arms, and to his alarm, saw them covered with blood.
Some of this blood was his own. He recognized the lashes of Kurama's Rose Whip and some neat slices from Hiei's katana. However, the majority of the blood was not his.
Yusuke looked around, and with mounting terror, ran over to a still form. Many still forms. When he approached it, he found it to be the bodies of Keiko, Botan, Atsuko, and Kuwabara.
"No…no!" Yusuke felt his eyes sting. Then, he saw two more prone figures. He dashed over to them, and recognized them to be Kurama and Hiei. With a flicker of hope, he noticed them both to be breathing, though covered with blood.
"Yu-Yusuke…" Kurama choked out.
"What happened?" Yusuke asked, trying not to panic.
"De-demon for…c-control…" He gasped out." Idiot." Hiei breathed from the other side. "You've f-failed the mission." Then, they both lay still. Yusuke realized what they meant. Their blood was on his hands.
He had killed them. Suddenly, he remembered something else Hiei had said. Mission…What mission? Yusuke pondered hard. I remember! We were battling a demon, and…he must have done this!
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A figure approached Kurama through the dense fog. With a swish, someone, or something landed behind him. He turned to see someone who he had thought was long dead.
"Hello, my little kitsune." Karasu said, smirking.
"Karasu!"
Surprised to see me?" He questioned, studying Kurama.
Kurama looked at Karasu in fear. "I-I thought you were dead!"
"Well, you were wrong, Youko." Another voice drifted through the mist, one with a familiar ring to it.
"Kuronue?" Kurama blinked in astonishment. "You're still alive?"
"No thanks to you." His face twisted into a sneer. "Leaving me behind while you ran for your precious little life. What kind of friend are you?"
"You told me that-" Kurama trailed off, looking frightened, confused, and guilty.
Kuronue snarled. "Did you honestly think I would enjoy death? You should suffer the same traitor, though not by my hand." He turned and walked away, leaving Kurama alone with Karasu.
Kurama stared at Kuronue's retreating back. "No…don't go!" He whispered hoarsely. Suddenly, he felt something brush against his arm, and he jumped back just in time to avoid it.
Karasu's bomb exploded right beside Kurama's arm, making Kurama temperately dazed then an arm shot out besides him and grabbed his shoulder.
"Kuronue! Come back! Don't leave me here! Please!" Kurama shouted out before the mists engulfed him, Karasu, and Kuronue's shadow, getting smaller and smaller in the distance.
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A demon had been terrorizing humans for a month, Koenma had said. Koenma sent Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei to exterminate him.
"What was the name of the demon, kitsune?" Hiei asked Kurama. They walked to a mountain where the demon was. Kurama looked away and did not reply.
"Kitsune?" Hiei tried again.
Yusuke turned. "Why are you still trying to fit in with us? You never will. Why would we work with a Forbidden Child?"
Hiei stepped back, shocked. "W-what?"
"You heard me! Scram!"
Hiei felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. How could this have happened? He could only watch at Yusuke and Kurama's retreating backs. Suddenly, he felt hands shaking him…
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"Hiei? Hiei, wake up!" Hiei opened his eyes groggily. He was slumped against a cave wall, Yusuke shaking his arm. It all came back to him.
They were fighting a demon! His heart lightened. Kurama and Yusuke never said those things to him! Hiei then saw red whiplashes and cuts on Yusuke's arm.
"How did you get those?" Hiei asked, staring at the slightly bleeding cuts.
Yusuke cringed. "Did you have a vision, a hallucination too?" he asked.
Hiei nodded, then said reluctantly.
"You and Kurama couldn't stand to work with a Forbidden Child." The bitterness in his voice was obvious.
Yusuke sighed. "In mine, my demon form killed everyone. Everyone! You two must have fought back…"
Hiei nodded. "Has Kurama woken up yet?"
Yusuke gasped. "I forgot! I didn't check yet. I came over here first." He looked around the cavern, to see Kurama kneeling in the center.
The two ran over to him, and stared at his wide-open eyes. In them, they saw terror, confusion, and sadness.
Suddenly, they saw a cut open without warning on his shoulder, blood oozing out slowly.
Yusuke shook the fox demon, but could not seem to wake him. Several new cuts opened by this time.
"I see you two have awoken." Kayechi stepped out of the shadows.
"What have you done to him?" Yusuke shouted, copying Hiei's earlier statement.
"Pretty much the same I did to you. Your friend will find himself fighting a losing battle!"
Hiei growled. "Against who?"
Kayechi smirked. "Ah, what was his name again? Karasu?"
Hiei and Yusuke blanched. "You creep!" Yusuke screamed. "What else can you do? Kurama beat that dude before, and he can do it again!"
Kayechi smiled an I-know-more-than-you-smile, before his expression turned mock thoughtful. "Why yes, I believe I did do something else. Sent another old friend to him. Now what was his name? Now, when I sent him, mind you, he was quite angry at the kitsune. Quite angry indeed."
Hiei remembered Kurama once telling him about a partner of crime he had. One who had died to let Kurama run. But it couldn't be. Not him. "Kuronue?" Hiei said hollowly.
Kayechi snapped his fingers. "That's right! Now your friend will not wake up, as long as I'm still alive. He's not even getting the worst memory he could have. I wonder what it would be like for him to experience utter loneliness. If others he thought to be his friends abandoned him…" A sarcastic sigh followed. "How sad it must be for him."
Both Hiei and Yusuke growled at Kayechi. "Wake him up, now!" Hiei snarled.
"Why, how much you care for your kitsune, Forbidden Child."
The two glared at the other one, distanced away from them and charged at him. "Die, Kayechi!" (AN: Urgh…I'm hating the name more and more…no matter, hope you're not getting attached to it…)
The demon took a step back. "Are you sure that is wise?" He sneered at the charging demons before disappearing and appearing right behind Kurama.
He reached inside his cloak and conjured up a silver dagger, and pressed it to Kurama's throat.
"If you try to kill me, I'll have to kill your companion in return."
Yusuke and Hiei stopped abruptly. "Don't touch him!" Both shouted out at the same time.
Kayechi threw his head back and laughed. "I knew it. You couldn't harm me if I still have the fox demon under my control."
Hiei and Yusuke's eyes flashed dangerously but made no move to attack Kayechi.
"See? After I finish you guys up, I'm going to kill those kids hiding behind the plants." Kayechi cackled, saying that loud enough so only Hiei and Yusuke can hear.
Yusuke, noticing Harry, Hermione, and Ron behind them, hissed to Hiei. "What are they doing here?"
"Hn. Stupid ningens."
Both turned their attention back to Kayechi though when they smelt more blood, from where Kayechi pressed the dagger a little too hard.
"Opps. My mistake." And Kayechi looked up, grinning evilly at Yusuke and Hiei.
They could only watch bitterly as Kayechi laughed and pressed the wound on Kurama's throat harder than necessary, producing more of the scarlet liquid leaking through.
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"Karasu, let me go!" Kurama screamed out in pain as another one of Karasu's bombs exploded near his back.
"Now, why would I do that?" Karasu smirked, "It took so long to find my kitsune again, you think I'll just let you go? Anyways, if you die here, you can stay with me forever!" His happy laughs reflected his feelings of the current position.
Pain clouded Kurama's mind as he felt another wound appear on his throat. Wait…throat? Karasu's bombs never went near any parts of my face. Where did this wound come from?
Thinking harder, images flashed by of Hiei and Yusuke fighting an unknown demon.
What are they doing? He thought. Did we have another mission? Hmm…Kurama's eyes lit up. We were on a mission, and we started to fight that demon, Kayechi! Meaning…this isn't real!
Kurama grinned as he realized this and put his new found plan to action.
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Hiei and Yusuke could only watch, as more wounds appeared on Kurama, and his blood decorated the floors beneath him.
Then…Kurama's eyes became more focused, and looked up at them. He blinked, smiled, and winked at Hiei and Yusuke. I'll handle the rest.
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Yah! Chappie fini! I'm so happy! Hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last. Please blame all typos on the giant snow bunny outside my window, bothering me by asking for pudding. XD.
Like it? Hate it? Won't know if you don't tell me!
Cya 8tr!