Chapter two
Her body felt weightless as she wavered on the edge of consciousness. The comforting smell of incense filled her nostrils and there where birds chirping around her. How long had it been since she had heard birds sing? Too long….. She wondered if she might be dead. That would explain why she hadn't felt the comfort of a futon on a soft tatami floor in so long and she felt both under her now. There was one thing she did know though. She was definitely not at her home in Mushiori. In the city she lived in the slums, taking any job she could get to pay for her rent at the broken down motel and maybe some food. At home she would be on a cracked cement floor on a mattress without a frame. No…she had to be dead or she wouldn't be so comfortable.
As she wavered on consciousness voices entered her ears.
"No. Still out, she was beaten pretty bad." An old woman's voice caught her attention. It was a dark toned, gravelly voice full of knowledge.
"Yes…Are you sure she'll be alright Genkai?" This time the voice was that of a young woman. A sweet, innocent voice.
"She'll be fine." A man…..His voice seemed very familiar to her. She frantically willed her eyes to open, but they protested and stayed stubbornly closed.
"Are you sure, Hiei?" The young girl's voice again.
"Of course. But even if she isn't it doesn't matter. The fool shouldn't have been possessed in the first place."
"Hiei, if you really meant that you would have never gone after her in the first place." The old woman stated knowingly.
"Hmph."
Possessed?...No….Not again.
She finally forced her eyes to crack open. The room was dim from the early morning sun, but still her eyes protested with a stinging sensation that screamed behind her pupils. Still, she forced them to widen, taking in her surroundings cautiously. She had been correct about the floor. It was a light, soft tatami. The room was barren for the most part except for the small, but wonderfully soft futon she was laying on and a slender, smoking stick of incense in the corner of the room. She looked to the traditional screen door to see it open and three figures looking in at her: an old woman, even smaller than herself, a young, beautiful girl with Ruby eyes and hair the aqua color of the summer sea and a dark man with the same large, crimson orbs.
The man was the first to notice her eyes on them. His red gaze narrowed at her. "Hn." He muttered, seeming to be uninterested in her presence. With that he seemed to disappear before her eyes.
Her eyes widened as she sat up, shocked at the vanishing man. "AH!" Her movement was greeted by a roar of pain that echoed through her body. The agony forced her to lay back onto the futon. "Damn…."
"Oh! You're awake!" The young girl's shocked voice echoed in the small room. She rushed to her side, concern marring her exceedingly lovely features. "Are you alright? Where does it hurt?" The young girl dropped to her knees beside the futon.
"Really, it's fine. It's just my ribs. I'm used to it." She held her rib cage tenderly, trying to stifle the sting of the pain.
"No, really! I can help. Just let me see." The girl reached toward her.
She pulled away cautiously, her eyes those of a scared animal. "Who are you to care?"
"I'm Yukina." The girl replied, oblivious the defensive tone of her voice. "Hiei brought you here late last night. Genkai and I were able to heal your wounds, but it seems with the serious nature of the other injuries that we completely forgot to check your ribs." Yukina brushed away her hand and pulled her shirt up, exposing black bruises that spanned her rib cage.
"Oh my….Yukina whispered, her soft voice fluttering in her throat. She brought her hands to the bruise and slowly it began to glow and fade.
"And who are you?" Yukina asked, her voice soft and probing.
His eyes widened. It was against her better judgment to tell a complete stranger her name….But…These people, in the five minutes since she had forced her heavy eyelids to open, had forced her to abandon many of the ideas she had once found logical. People didn't disappear, which the dark man Yukina had called Hiei had done earlier. People didn't have the ability to heal others, and even if they did they wouldn't use it. People hurt other people, they didn't help them. It was just the way things where. But this girl…this young, lovely, innocent girl had done just that. She had helped her with no foreseeable gain for herself.
"Rika…Rika Takeda…"
A soft smile stretched across Yukina's lips. "It's nice to meet you Rika."
"Um….You too, Yukina."
"Yukina." Rika looked to the old woman Yukina had called Genkai. "Let's let Rika rest. She had a very long night."
"No." Rika rose slowly this time, moving so that she wouldn't accidentally tweak another broken bone that Yukina had missed. To her relief there was no surge of pain. "Um….if it's Ok with you….I'd like to look around."
Genkai shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself, but don't go far from the house. You may end up attracting….creatures."
"You mean demons?" Rika fixed her gaze on the old woman."
"So you know." Genkai closed her eyes in understanding.
Rika smiled at the old woman. "I've been surviving possessions since I was three. You think I would catch on."
Genkai opened her eyes and returned the girl's smile. "Well, unless you're stupid."
"Hm….well I guess I'm not then." She grabbed the neck of her tattered T-shirt and pulled it off, exposing a small blank tank top. It was torn in a few places and dirty, but it would do until she could get to her house for a change of clothes. Rika smiled one last time at the old woman before gliding past her and walking out of the house and into the fresh, clean air of morning.
Night was nearing with the last glow of the sun was settling over the horizon, painting a collage of blood red and orange across the sky. Hiei looked down across the well-groomed gardens that surrounded the main house. Usually he would be far away from here by now. He didn't particularly enjoy the warm laughter that flowed from the house, or the smell of the food Yukina was bound to be cooking about now.
"It's not hatred…It's longing…" Mukuro's words spoken at the demon world tournament echoed through his mind. He had left quietly after his patrol had ended. "You just want to belong to something."
He wished he could deny her words and purge them from his mind, but he couldn't. The only thing he knew for certain was that though he had once thought Mukuro held the key to his happiness, he did not belong in Demon world with her.
He scanned the gardens below him, searching for any movement. There was none. On a normal night he would be far into the woods, basking in his solitude or down by the sea, allowing the crash of the waves to sing him natures purest lullaby. However, tonight was different.
Just as the bloody painting in the sky began to fade and night settled in, a flash of crimson caught his eye. Below him the person he had been waiting for had appeared, as if sent by ancient gods. Kurama stepped gracefully through the plants, examining each one carefully. He had been coming weekly, Hiei noted, always coming late in the evening, staying overnight and leaving before the sun rose the next morning. He seemed unaware of Hiei's presence as of yet, but he didn't mind. He was content to watch silently as his Kitsune continued his methodical analysis of the plants he had been so diligent in tending.
"Hiei, you can come down from there you know." He should have known better. The Kitsune's perception had always trumped Hiei's ability to hide. He flitted silently to Kurama's side. "You've been watching me for almost twenty minutes now, Hiei." A small smile tugged at the corners of the Kitsune's lips and Hiei's insides fluttered.
"Nonsense." He stated unconvincingly.
A laugh bubbled up into Kurama's pale, delicate throat. "You are a horrible liar, Hiei."
Indignance flushed Hiei's face. "Hmph."
"Anyway, everything seems to be fine out here so I'm going to turn in. Goodnight Hiei." The fox brushed his long, scarlet hair behind his ear and strode into the house, his beautifully slender body disappearing into the warmth and light of belonging.
Hiei wished he could follow the Kitsune, but it was as if a wall, stronger than steel stood between him and the world that Kurama now lived in. He couldn't seem to breach the gap that had grown between him and the world to which he had once belonged, the world that he, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara had made for themselves while fighting for human world. That was the last time he had truly felt that he was part of something, but that had all fallen to pieces when Yusuke had awakened as the Mazuku. He had tried time and time again to claim a new place for himself in this world, but had failed with every try. It seemed that the world had dismissed him and had never made a place for the forbidden child.
Just as Hiei stood and prepared to escape into the darkness of the forest, a shadowy figure caught his attention. It stepped quickly and lightly, seeming to float across the grass, blending with the shadows and melting into the moonlight. At first he thought that maybe a wondering spirit had awakened and found its way to the house, but as he looked closer, examining the tiny frame that skimmed eerily among the roses and orchids he saw that it was the girl he had saved. There was no mistaking that bony frame or her large, nocturnal eyes. Her matted hair had been brushed and it flowed behind her in silky, ebony strands. Hiei expected her to stop within the garden, but to his alarm she continued into the dark, dismal forest that lay before them.
Rika took a deep breath of the fresh night air. Fall gave the breeze a touch of cold and it scorched her lungs. She found the sensation to be almost pleasantly painful. She drove into the forest, away from the house that reminded her too much of her childhood...A young man had come earlier. He had been wonderfully beautiful young man with a soft, feminine voice that bubbled from his long, delicate throat. Genkai had called him Kurama. He had readily joined Genkai and Yukina for dinner and they had joined in jovial laughter, sharing memoirs and stories of their past. And as always, she had been left as an onlooker, only seeing others experience the wonderful sensation of belonging, but never experiencing it for herself. Eventually, she couldn't handle it anymore and had excused herself, fleeing into the forest.
As the brush thickened she began to feel more at ease. It hid her and separated from the rest of the world. Finally when her lungs began to scorch and burn and her breath came in ragged gasps she leaned against the trunk of a tree and allowed her wobbly legs to lower her slowly to the ground. She wasn't sure how far she was from the main house, but she couldn't smell the curry that Yukina had expertly prepared and she couldn't see the warm glow of the house sparking in the window, mocking her. Knowing this she finally allowed her eyes to flutter close and her body to relax.
Following the girl was easy. All Hiei had to do was follow the tiny demons and spirits of the forest that flocked to the girl's aura. He found her after only a few minutes. She had fallen asleep leaning against the trunk of a Sakura tree. Around her sleeping frame demons gathered, staring at the young human who gave off such an intoxicatingly dark energy and the spirits of the forest crowded greedily around her, vying for a chance to feed off of it. He would never let himself forget what that power could do…..
Hiei watched discreetly from the treetops, waiting for the time to come when he would have to step in and ward them off, but as the spirits crept closer Rika opened her large nocturnal eyes. But the person who smiled cynically at the creatures gathered around her was clearly not the young girl who had so easily let herself be possessed. Her eyes were void of the wild, cautious component that always pervaded her gaze. This was someone else…someone…..stronger…..Hiei watched silently as she lifted her hand to the sky, her eyes confident and vindictive. Her black energy began to thicken and swirl about her, choking and shriveling the plants at her feet. Feeling the menacing energy threatening to strangle the weakest among them, the demons and spirits alike fled back to their places in the forest. Her thin lips stretched over her teeth in a wide, eerie grin and she settled back into her place beside the Sakura tree. Slowly she allowed her paper-thin eyelids to close, covering her restless, dark eyes.
Kurama woke with a start. His body was drenched with a cold sweat, and his breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. The forest was unsettled. There was a dark energy pulsing through it, making even the air around them seem alive. He rose slowly and cautiously, tuning his senses into the night. The energy thickened around him, making it difficult to breathe. And then, as suddenly as it had appeared it was gone. He stared out his window into the now quite night. What could that have been? He stepped, with all the grace of a fox, to his window sill and slipped out into the night. He allowed himself to melt into the darkness of the forest and float through the dense foliage like a ghost, leaving no mark behind as proof of his presence.
It wasn't long before he came along another trail. It was light, and difficult to see. The footprints in the dirt where small and delicate, those of a very small woman. The branches were still in tact though. Except for the footprints she had left, this girl may as well have been a wondering spirit.
It didn't take long for the trail to lead to its creator. Leaning lightly against a Sakura was the girl he had met earlier. Genkai had introduced her simply as Rika. The large eyes that had drawn his attention earlier that evening where closed and her breathe came in a steady rhythm, indicating her deep state of sleep. He worried about her out here in the middle of Genkai's forest. Since she had asked them to make it into a safe house she had begun moving forward in that vein. In a very short time the forest had become inhabited by demons of varying types and levels. Even though Enki's reign had prevented much of the demon mischief in Nigenkai, there were still renegades who escaped to human world with malicious intent. This forest was no place for a normal human to be with no escort.
"Rika wha—" a strong, bony hand clamped over his mouth, stifling his words.
"Shut up fox…" Hiei's words were quiet and full of warning.
Kurama turned to face the little demon. "What's gotten into you, Hiei? This girl could be killed out here. She doesn't have the power to-"
"That's where you're wrong fox." Kurama looked at his friend, but Hiei's eyes where no longer on the Kitsune. Instead his crimson gaze was fixed on the lonely creature before them. Her long ebony hair fell in a pool around her and her ivory skin seemed to glow in the light of the moon that glistened through the trees. The longer Hiei's gaze stayed on the girl the more Kurama burned with jealousy. He quickly squelched the fowl emotion. There was no use in it. He had always known he didn't stand a chance with Hiei.
Finally the silence became too much for his self control. "What did you mean I was wrong, Hiei?"
Hiei began to tell him of his first meeting with Rika, and the ore Hiei told, the wider the Kitsune's eyes became. He looked at the body before them. He just could not bring himself to believe that this frail little body could harbor such a dark and dangerous ability.
Rika shifted as she slept, her bony shoulders moving oddly against the back of the Sakura. It was unnerving how he could see the bones of her shoulder react with her clavical so plainly, as if she where nothing but a skeleton. She was not particularly beautiful, or at least not in a conventional sense. Her eyes where eerily large and devoid of emotion and her hair fell limply from her head in a knotted forest of ebony. However, something about this strange creature had an odd allure. Maybe it was only the fact that Hiei seemed so interested in her, or maybe it was that her power seemed so familiar to him…..Whatever it was, he had an undeniable urge to find out what slumbered behind those large, black eyes.
"Kurama, you should go back to the house." Hiei's eyes once again fixed on Rika. Jealousy surged up hot and fresh in the Kitsune, seeming to burn his esophagus.
"If you don't mind, Hiei….I think I'll sleep here tonight."
"Do as you wish, fox."
Kurama set his back against the oak that Hiei had perched himself in and allowed his emerald eyes to close.
This Kitsune was achingly beautiful in the mottled moonlight that shone through the trees. It glistened on his ivory skin, illuminating it in the darkness. Hiei wanted to reach out and touch him. He imagined Kurama's skin to be as soft as silk and he longed to run his fingers across it….But he would never do it, out of fear of his Kitsune waking and rejecting him. He would rather watch from a distance, never to touch Kurama's silken white skin, or stare into his gorgeous emerald orbs and know his feelings where returned…because they never would be. For this reason he was happy to just watch as his Kitsune's breath evened out slowly, and he gave into the deep confines of sleep.
Her eyes opened, slowly and groggily as the first rays of the sun found their way past the dense branches of the forest. She scanned the area around her wearily and her eyes rested on the lanky red head named Kurama. Why was he here? She allowed her eyes to continue her assessment of her surroundings. It wasn't long before she found Hiei, resting in the branches directly above Kurama. He gazed down at the red-head-head, his eyes softer than she had seen them in the sort time she'd known him. He looked almost….sad….
She shifted and his eyes snapped up, showing no sign of the softness she had just seen. In fact, they were cold as ice. "It's about time you woke up." He snapped, hopping down from his perch with feline grace. "You shouldn't be here."
"Why do you care?" she asked softly. "No one else does."
His eyes narrowed at her. They seemed to blaze in the morning sun. "This forest is dangerous. I can't just let you kill yourself when I just saved your worthless life."
She smiled half-heartedly. "You're right. I'll go back in a little bit."
"Hn." And with that he disappeared just as he had done before.
She brushed her hair back from her face. It was greasy and left a residence on her hand. It reminded her that she hadn't bathed in days….she wasn't sure how many, but she felt disgusting. She turned toward the direction of the main house and sighed. She really didn't want to go back there. Maybe she should just thank Genkai and Yukina for their kindness and be on her way.
"Why did you agree with him?" The voice startled her and she whipped around to face it. "Jumpy are we?" Kurama's voice was light and free with slight feminine tones.
She let out the breath she had sucked in. "What do you want."
"Why did you?"
"Because….he was right."
Kurama tilted his head inquisitively, as if questioning Rika further.
"He was right. My life is worthless. You all would have been better off had he just left me."
Kurama rose to his feet and walked over to her. "No one's life is worthless."
"Hm….You seem smart, but you must be really stupid." She had lived too much to believe that his idealism could be truth. Humanity would never allow everyone to have worth.
"Maybe so…" He smiled, as if he knew of something that she didn't, or couldn't understand. "Now, why don't I walk you back to the house?"
He place his hand between her shoulder blades, as if to propel her forward. She shied away, her whole body prickling at his touch.
The rest of the way back to the house she stayed three steps ahead of him, her short legs straining to outpace his long stride. Somehow she managed to avoid any sort of contact with him. Her aversion peeked his interest and made him wonder even more what was behind her emotionless façade. The walk to the house seemed to take forever. She was silent, her nocturnal eyes shifting wildly to and from him like a caged animal, making sure he wasn't making any more attempts to touch her. Finally they reached the gardens from which she had fled the night before.
"Goodbye Rika. I'll see you again soon."
Her eyes fell farther, attempting to avoid eye contact with him. "No you won't." With her eyes still glued to the ground she all-but floated up the front steps of the house and disappeared into the gaping doorway that seemed to swallow her whole.
Kurama smiled to himself. He wasn't a gambling man, but he was willing to bet that her inability to control such a dangerous power would be enough reason for Genkai to keep her here. In the meantime, he wanted to find out why this strange ability seemed so familiar to him.
Author's Babble: Hellow peeps! Here is another HK fic for you. I wasn't sure I would be able to do another one after Losing You was finished but here it is. Promise: it is an HK fic. Don't know if I can say this enough. The OC is there for creative purposes and the story will reveal what they are soon enough. However, she is not a romantic interest. I could never put my favorite demon lovers in the arms of anyone but each other. I know I didn't leave a babble in the first chappie, but that was because it was simply a teaser before the real story began. This fic also isn't as blatantly emotional or fluffy as Losing You, but it is darker. I will also try to keep Hiei and Kurama as in character as I possibly can, which in turn will cause less of the mushy stuff that you saw in my last fic. Now to the boring part: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and henceforth I do not own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. Ok I think that's about it!
Dillio OUT!