Not Okay : Broken Mirror
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter. Yeah, the kiss was a bit impromptu, but I thought it was cute. Stay tuned! Read and Review!
I
Botan's pink eyes almost fell out of her head. It was odd, just how casual he was about it. Wait... casual isn't the right word. It was so... so... quick and almost rushed.
She quickly remembered as much as she could. His lips are warm, strangely smooth. His bandaged hand was touching the side of her face. The bandages have been worn down, and they are scratchy in some places. His shoulders relaxed as he pulled away. His entire demeanor, cold but somehow is still gentle. His cheeks were... well they appeared to be a little flushed, but Botan knew that Hiei never EVER blushed. Certainly not. Overall... a wonderful second kiss.
The ferry girl's hand crept up to her lips, as if to check if they were still there and not in some dream land. She tried to give him a reassuring smile that said: I knew that it meant nothing, it's cool. All that came was an embarrassed laugh and a small curve of her lips.
"You better have remembered everything, onna."
His fists were clenched and his teeth were grinding together painfully. Botan nodded, that odd smile still on her face.
"Yeah, I got it." She rubbed her cheeks, trying to work out the redness. "Don't worry."
Hiei crossed his arms.
"Hn." Botan watched as his head turned to the west, his eyes closing and his Jagan opening. After a few moments he frowned. In a flash, his eyes opened and he looked at her, his Jagan Eye still glowing. "Come on, we have to get to the Rekai Tentei."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. Her blue hair whipped in the wind, the pajamas she was wearing blowing as she was swept into his arms. His arms tightened around her. Her head leaned into his chest.
And they were off. Into the woods, branches cutting across their skin. The wind playing with their hair. The top ferry girl of Rekai in the arms of an ex thief. She smiled faintly, even though she could feel the impending doom that they were sprinting to.
It's okay. She knew that her life was on the line. Hiei's too. That their lives were changing with each passing second. For some odd reason, all those bad things didn't matter. She was on cloud nine. It will be okay.
II
YOU ARE FILTH! I HATE YOU!
Hiei was fuming. Self loathing was coursing through himself as he pulled away from the onna. He was almost shaking, that's how mad he was.
She had to know what my lips felt like! Her smile... it killed him. It was embarrassed and at the same time happy. Her eyes were so forgiving... caring... it really did kill him. It really did. But I wasn't supposed to enjoy it!
He couldn't deny the way his face flushed. He couldn't deny the way he felt naturally high. He couldn't deny how the kiss felt good.
The Koorime shuddered and decided it would be better if he focused on the matter at hand. Like how to solve this whole "Hiei kidnapped Botan" misunderstanding. He opened his Jagan and found the Rekai Tentei.
What he saw was not what he wanted to see.
He saw Yusuke and the others... fighting... himself. The demon tensed and quickly grabbed Bo-the onna. He ignored the way his stomach seemed to shrink when she leaned in closer to him as they jumped through the trees. She is NOTHING to me!
His eyes were steely as he stared straight ahead.
Then why are you doing all this for her?
It was a good question. Hiei just increased his grip on Botan as he broke through the branches of trees. In one swift movement, Botan was in the safety of the treetops and Hiei's katana was drawn. Ready.
His eyes were bloodthirsty. Oh yes. He wanted blood. He wanted it so badly that his bones ached for it. His tongue would only be quenched by it. And he wanted the blood of the demon that was under him.
He saw himself look up. He saw his red eyes widen with confusion. Hiei Jaganshi stared Hiei Jaganshi down as he swung his sword. He didn't hear the shouts of his teammates. He only heard the gasp of the demon under him.
III
Yusuke wasn't sure exactly what happened. He watched Hiei flicker out of sight. Koenma grabbed Yusuke's arm.
"Go! After him!"
After that, it got strange. Kurama looked to be thinking and he was only going to through the motions of getting out his whip. Kuwabara didn't move. Yusuke was about to take the first step to sprinting after the Koorime... when it happened.
Hiei jumped out of the trees. His eyes were back to their normal cold state. He wasn't pale or anxious. He was Hiei Jaganshi.
"Hn."
Yusuke watched him unsheathe his sword, letting the metal ring through their ears. Kurama flinched, not ready for his demon friend to be back so soon.
"Hiei?"
The demon turned.
"What?"
Hiei was the same as he was before. He wasn't strange or giddy. Flamboyant was the word that came to the Rekai Tentei's mind first. Hiei... he was back.
"What are you going to do?"
Silence fell over them as they watched Hiei like a family of hawks. He didn't bat an eye. He never lowered his sword. He just stared back, his ruby red eyes drooped with apathy.
"Getting ready to fight." He slipped into an offensive stance. He pointed his sword at Koenma, who took a few steps back. "You said that if I left, I would be accused of kidnapping the ferry onna." He drew his sword back to him, his body tensing like an animal ready to pounce. "So... there's really no other option... is there?"
His tenor voice ceased its vibrations. Koenma bit his lip. Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword. Yusuke clenched his fist.
And yet it was Kurama who made the first move.
The fox left the ground, his rose whip cracking and cutting the skin of the Koorime. Hiei's eyes widened as he jumped back, his hand clutching his bleeding arm. The fire demon was shocked for a few moments... but slowly a smirk faded onto his face.
"Nice shot, old friend."
Kurama said nothing and sent his whip at Hiei's face. Yusuke felt his blood run cold as Hiei dodged again, but barely. Kurama wasn't going to let him get away. The ex-detective pulled Kurama back, his hand on his shoulder.
"Kurama, what the hell are you doing?"
The kitsune said nothing as he yanked his arm away from Yusuke and sent the whip right back at Hiei. That was when Hiei finally sprung forward. His sword swung.
Red hair floated through the air.
Kurama's emerald eyes were wide. The Koorime had come close. Too close. He had cut a few locks of his hair off. Yusuke shot a barrage of spirit bullets. Koenma watched Hiei effortlessly dodge the attacks.
Yusuke felt his heartbeat racing. He watched Hiei land on a branch, his smirk turning slowly into a grin. He had seen that grin before... when he had first met Hiei. It was bloodthirsty... but that wasn't what Hiei was like now... right?
"Let him go, detective." Red eyes flashed as they locked with Kurama's. "It's his choice to make if he wants to die."
Kurama sent out his rose whip once more, but it never came back to him. Koenma gasped. Kuwabara became pale... knowing that it was a killed or be killed situation. Yusuke blinked.
Hiei caught the whip.
His hand was bleeding. But he had a firm grasp on the whip, the thorns lodged into his skin. Hot, sticky red liquid dripped down as Hiei took a step towards the fox, winding the whip around his fist.
He was three feet from Kurama. His katana was gripped in his good hand.
"You ready?"
Kurama nodded.
"Death his nothing new."
Hiei smirked.
"I wouldn't want to surprise you, kitsune."
Hiei swung his katana.
IV
Koenma squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to see an execution. He waited for the thud of Kurama's head hitting the forest floor. He waited for bellows of rage. For the battle to begin.
He didn't get it.
The Prince opened his brown eyes and stared to see Hiei blocking an attack with his sword. His teeth were gritted and his eyes were wild as he was being pushed back. But his brain didn't compute the second set of data.
The person attacking him was Hiei himself.
Koenma watched as Hiei pushed Hiei off of him. The two fire demons growled. Yusuke fell over onto his ass out of confusion. Kuwabara fainted. Kurama had a flush of shock slowly spreading across his face.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
The Hiei with a cut hand hissed. The Other Hiei smirked.
"Hn. And let you have all the fun?"
The Other Hiei struck out suddenly with his claws. Hiei hissed and clutched at his face.
"Bastard!"
The Other Hiei glared, katana in hand.
"Hn. Shut up."
And the two demons flung themselves at each other. The cries of swords rang through the trees. Blood would appear in the air.
The Other Hiei backhanded Hiei, sending him into the ground, leaves flying up. That was when Hiei stood up, wiping blood from his mouth. He put out his bleeding hand and shouted, his voice cracking.
"I'll kill her! You faker!"
The Other Hiei stopped his charge.
"What?"
Hiei chuckled. With a snap of his fingers, Botan appeared. Her eyes black, her skin pale. A shriek emitted from her throat. Hiei turned to the Rekai Tentei.
"Did you hire a shape shifter to kill me?"
He didn't get an answer. Judging by his face, Hiei expected it. That was when another low moan mad Hiei turn pale.
Koenma watched as Botan... another Botan fell from the trees. This Botan wasn't in her pink kimono. It looked like she was in nigen pajamas. Her eyes were pink and she was crying.
The Other Hiei was by her in a flash, catching her. He whispered to her, and she wheezed something in reply.
Then she screamed.
The Botan with black eyes began to flicker in and out of focus, like a picture on a bad television screen. The Other Botan hunched over, her fingers clutching her skull.
The Other Hiei glared at the Botan with black eyes. He eyed her with his katana shining in his hand, but Hiei interrupted his obvious thoughts.
"You can't kill her." He pointed his katana at the Other Botan writhing on the ground. "She'll die."
The Other Hiei shook his head.
"I don't believe you."
In a flash, Botan was beheaded. Her shrieking stopped and she slumped over. Koenma cried out. The Rekai Tentei was astonished that they didn't have time to react.
The Other Botan began to wail.
V
Hiei watched his hostage die before his eyes. Yusuke watched his face twist with rage. He threw his sword at the Other Botan, but the Other Hiei quickly deflected it, his face cold and impassive.
Now, that face Yusuke knew well. He had seen the Koorime like that when he was fighting Sensui when everyone thought that their favorite detective was dead.
But they didn't charge each other. Hiei was red in face, his entire body shaking.
"You will regret this."
The Other Hiei narrowed his eyes even more.
"I'll find a way to deal with it."
His sarcasm seemed to drive Hiei over the edge. In a flash of smoke, Hiei was gone. The Other Hiei didn't put his katana away for several minutes. When he did, he quickly knelt down by the Other Botan.
She whispered something, and Hiei smirked in response. He then took her hand and pressed it to his skin on his face. He made sure to brush her fingers over his lips.
She smiled and moved her arms so the Other Hiei could take her into his arms. The Other Botan was biting down a wince.
"H-hey guys... what's up?"
There was an uneasy silence. Kurama was still recovering from the fact that his head was still attached to his shoulders. Kuwabara was still unconscious. Yusuke was still wary of this Other Hiei.
"B-Botan... is that you?"
The Prince of Rekai was the only one to approach the Other Hiei, his eyes only on his prized ferry girl. She smiled through it all.
"You know it, sir."
Koenma leaped forward and hugged Botan. He laughed as tears fell out of his hazel eyes. He quickly pushed up the legs of her pants. He saw the muscles twitching beneath it.
"You really did use Rekai power..."
Hiei was mute until Yusuke drew him out of it.
"What the hell was that?"
The infamous thief smirked, but his weariness seeped through.
"All we know is that he's a shape-shifter."
"He's right." Eyes traveled to the fox. He was kneeling next to the dead Botan. He brushed the hair back from her face and opened her eyes. "This is a really sophisticated... doll."
He picked at the doll's skin and it fell away, exposing an open shell. The ferry girl wrinkled her nose.
"Ew..."
Kurama smiled a little.
"I guess you could say that." He frowned and let the doll drop to the ground, standing up. "All that is required to make a doll like that is the blood of who the doll is supposed to look like." He looked back at the lifeless heap on the ground. "The only problem about a good clone like that is that the original copy can't get near it or the two will try to merge."
Yusuke rose his eyebrows.
"So that's why that thing began to flicker once Botan fell out of the tree."
The fox nodded and Hiei growled a bit, Botan shifting in his arms.
"Hn."
Kurama locked eyes with his best friend.
"It's good to have you back."
VI
A loud crack was heard. It sliced through the air, it's crisp ring hanging there. Amiri was sprawled out on the ground. His left cheek was red, and he began to pick himself up.
"Master..."
Another crack. Amiri did not try to get up again. He just stared.
"You... disgrace..."
Malik stepped into a dim part of the room. Amiri squeezed his eyes shut.
"Sir... I didn't think that the Koorime would have the guts to disobey my orders."
The taller demon narrowed his eyes, his long black hair falling in front of his face.
"He was going to go against our threats eventually. You should have been better prepared."
Amiri was crying, hating himself for failing his all knowing Master.
"P-please... let me make it up to you..."
The darker, stronger demon ran his long clawed hand through his hair.
"Fine." Amiri opened his eyes. "You know what you have to do."
VII
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Keep on leaving them if you want more. Um... was everyone in character? Hiei was okay, right? That's about it. Oh, I came up with a new fic called Midnight. Check it out for Hiei and Botan goodness!
-mia