Disclaimer – "Yu Yu Hakusho" and all known related characters do not belong to me. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"What Goes Around . . . "
by DragonDancer5150

Chapter 14 – The Wrath of Batsukuno

"Kurama! Kurama, wake up!"

With a whimper, Kurama rolled onto his side, curling up in horror. It took another moment for Botan's voice to catch his attention.

"Kurama, please - wake up!"

Kurama shifted carefully, turning over. He lay on the floor in a dungeon cell. Three of the walls were stone, the forth a barrier of thick bars. Across a narrow expanse, he noted another wall of bars, Botan staring in anxious concern at him from the other side. Beside her was a stone wall separating her from the next cell. In it, to Kurama's dismay, he saw Hiei lying unconscious. His cloak and scarf were gone, as was his sword. His face and hair, hands, and boots were coated in white. What did they do to him? He smelled blood and the thick scent of flour in the air.

"Ku-kurama? Y-you were having a nightmare of some kind. Are you all right?" Botan continued as he sat up.

"Y-yes . . . I am fine." He wiped the sweat from his face, noting the manacles encircling both wrists, a short chain in between. Yoki-dampening shackles, he thought wearily. So we are back to this, then?

Hiei stirred with a low moan. He began to push himself off the floor, then stopped with a sharp hiss. He shifted his weight onto his right arm and continued up, keeping his left close. His right hand went to the back of his head and came away with blood on the fingertips. He scowled in aggravation. Then he touched his forehead as he realized his Jagan was sealed with a talismanic card. Looking around, his eyes found his partner's. "Are you all right?"

Kurama shrugged. "I have been better. You?" Hiei only grunted. Kurama nodded, satisfied with the response, then grinned in spite of himself. "What happened, Hiei? It looks like you got into a fight with the cooks - and lost."

Hiei rolled his eyes, brushing the powder from his hair. "Kurama, do you want to permanently lose your vocal cords?" The threat was an empty one and they both knew it, though Botan made a small noise of disapproval. Hiei reacted to her voice and Kurama referred his attention to the cell next to his. Hiei nodded, then continued to watch Kurama, finally pointing out, "Your hand."

Kurama looked down, taking notice for the first time the missing kimono and bandaging. He had gestured with his right hand out of habit. It still ached terribly but as he flexed his fingers, exercising caution, he realized that he was regaining its use. He reached up with his other hand, massaging the shoulder as he carefully moved his arm around, testing its mobility. He could still feel the whiplashes across his back but they, too, were healing.

Botan was frowning at him. "Careful, Kurama. Don't go re-injuring yourself."

"I heal quickly," he reassured her with a smile, "and I have had a lot of help."

She huffed. "I tried to get them to leave you alone - both of you - but they said they were checking for hidden weapons."

"Yes," Kurama chuckled at the absurdity of the excuse, "weapons hidden so that even I could not have reached them." He knew without searching that his seeds were gone. At a sudden thought, his hand went the hem of his pants, relieved to feel a tiny pebble still in the fold, its familiar Yoki seeping into his fingertips.

"What?" Hiei watched him in concern.

Kurama responded with a smile. "Nothing. Just an itch."

Just then, the door down the way opened and a number of youkai guards trouped along the corridor to their cells, the captain at the head. "All right, you three," he grunted. "Lord Batsukuno will see you now."

Hiei growled and waved him off. "That glorified magistrate's already convicted me, as far as he cares. What more does he want?"

Without bothering to reply, the captain gestured for his subordinates to move. Botan's cell was the first to be opened and she offered no resistance as they dragged her out. Kurama had pulled himself to his feet by then and also followed without complaint. He met Hiei's eye, silently advising him not to cause trouble at this point. Hiei acted as though nothing was wrong but in his movements and his eyes Kurama could read deep, suppressed pain - and something else. Kurama knew all too well the price for the death of a human. Hiei knew it, too. A hint of apprehension haunted his ruby eyes as he stepped out of his cell to Kurama's side in the corridor. The smaller youkai was not wearing a shirt and Kurama saw for the first time the primary source of the blood scent, frowning at the sight of the slightly gaping knife wound. It looked as though the blade had slid off his scapula several inches, severing the muscle tissue just to the inside of the flat bone. That's about where the Trapezius is, Kurama thought in concern, recalling some anatomy lessons from his biology class. Given his ability, it will heal given time - but will seriously hamper his mobility until then. Assuming, of course, that it does not become the least of his concerns. The back of Hiei's hair was also matted in blood from what appeared to be a minor head wound.

The guards shifted into position around the three and the group headed up the corridor. From the temporary holding block, they passed through Administration and into the corridors of courtrooms, taking a new hallway none of the three had been down before. They descended a long flight of steps to a very large, thick door. Kurama was reminded of the door in his dream, sans window. His sharp hearing caught the low hum of numerous voices somewhere beyond. The captain knocked out a particular pattern. An oni guard unlocked and opened the door from the other side. The group stepped out onto the floor of an enormous circular room, stadium seating rising away from them over a wall some twenty feet high. The expansive stands were half-filled with youkai, oni, ferry girls, and an assortment of other denizens of the Realms. The round floor was empty save for two wooden poles in the center and a high podium several yards beyond, between the posts and the wall. Batsukuno stood glowering down on them from the podium, his arms crossed. "What is this?" Kurama heard Hiei growl under his breath. "Does he mean to make a public spectacle of us?" With a start, Kurama realized the presence of another, even more powerful Yoki and he raised his eyes to a section of special seating behind Batsukuno. His breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat.

At first glance, the man might be taken for a heavy-set giant from Russia in the Human Realm. Standing, he would easily reach fifty to seventy feet in height. He wore a blue uniform and matching hat trimmed in red and yellow. His black hair was thick and well-groomed, reaching forward across his jowls to frame his mouth in a short, full beard, the lips down-turned in a perpetual frown. Heavy eyebrows bristled over glasses with reflective lenses, hiding the man's eyes from view. Kurama had never seen him but there was no doubt in his mind of the apparition's identity. He stood before Emperor Enma himself, ruler of the Spirit Realm. The feeling of smallness and inferiority from his dream dropped back into his stomach. He glanced down at Hiei and was met by ruby eyes with the same thoughts as his own. There would be no escape this time.

"Wh-where's L-lord Koenma?" Botan murmured, her voice barely above a shaky whisper.

Kurama took in the spectators occupying the room with one more quick look. Lord Koenma was not in attendance. The stone in Kurama's stomach grew heavier as he realized that they had no allies at all in this room, only hostile glares looming over them from all around. They were truly alone here in the bowels of the court system.

The guards led their prisoners to the center of the room. To her surprise, Botan was then shoved ahead of the rest, standing alone before Batsukuno. The Chief Administrator of Justice only scowled at her for a long moment before addressing her. "Ferry Girl Botan, I must say that, in all of this, your participation surprises me the most. Then again, perhaps it should not. You have always been known as flighty and gullible. What story were you given that you should choose to participate in this fiasco?" He paused but Botan had no answer for him, wringing her hands as she stared at the floor, trembling. He shook his head. "I could tell you your fate were you under my jurisdiction. However, you are a vassal of Lord Koenma and therefore have no place here. Get her out of my courtroom." One of the guards took hold of Botan and began to drag her back the way they had come. As she passed Kurama, her frightened eyes caught his for just an instant. She looked like she wanted to say something but there was no chance.

Batsukuno turned to Kurama and Hiei, his look as black as thunder. "As for you two . . . " He gestured to the guards. Kurama was hauled over to one of the poles, his arms pulled up over his head by the chain of the shackles. A link was slipped over one of a series of hooks climbing the upper section of the pole and suddenly Kurama recognized it. It was a whipping post. Not again, he groaned silently. He glanced at his friend. Hiei had been hung on the other pole. His lips had gone white with agony, a pinched expression in his dilated eyes, as spasms ran across the muscles of his back from having his arms upraised, pulling on the knife wound. The first crack resounded through the vast room, echoing ominously, as several lashes cut across Hiei's unprotected shoulders. He did not utter a sound but Kurama saw him jump. Whipweals raised immediately, tiny jagged pieces of metal lacerating the skin, and the knife wound began bleeding anew. The whip cracked again and this time Kurama gasped as the braided, barbed thongs reignited the whipfire pain of his previous beatings. He set his head against the wood, eyes closed, bracing for the duration of the punishment. And so went the flogging, the whip alternating between the two partners, sometimes repeating on one or the other just to keep them guessing.

"Enough!" Batsukuno's voice echoed sharply after several very long minutes. Mercifully, the whip stopped. Kurama opened his eyes, looking around his arm at the chief admin. After taking a moment to get control over the agony, Hiei also glared up at the podium, pain and rage burning in his fire-red eyes. Batsukuno ignored them both, addressing the audience. "Gentle lords and ladies, our most esteemed Emperor Enma" - he turned to bow to the giant behind him - "for many centuries now, I have held the position in the Spirit Realm as Chief Administrator of Justice. Upon my shoulders falls the responsibility of maintaining peace and some semblance of order not only in the Spirit Realm but in the Demon Realm as well inasmuch as it pertains to the Spirit Realm. All of you know well the chaos that runs rampant through most of the lands of the Demon Realm - and the Spirit Realm only has influence over a very small portion. Needless to say, with the known . . . character of most of its denizens, some restrictions must be enforced against them. Long have I maintained that youkai should not, under any circumstances, be allowed into the Human Realm. Its denizens are a more powerless sort than even the weakest among youkai. Also, the Spirit Realm could not properly operate in the Human Realm if the denizens are aware of its existence - and, let's face it, most humans' minds could not tolerate the truth of 'monsters' being real these days." He paused as answering chuckles of amused agreement rippled around the room. "Human so-called 'spirit detectives' have always been chosen to protect their own Realm from invasion, oni or even youkai intervention used only when no qualified humans are available. For ten years there was not a human qualified. Then Lord Koenma of the Spirit Realm Investigations Bureau and son of Emperor Enma found a human boy by the name of Urameshi Yusuke. He found two, in fact, though I understand that the second is not an official detective.

"These two before you now are known to all, I will trust. They are the surviving partners in the theft some months back of the Artifacts of Darkness from the Imperial Vault of the Spirit Realm - a weighty crime in and of itself. In spite of this, they were the two chosen to assist the fledgling Spirit Detective and his sidekick against the Saint Beasts of Maze Castle. At the conclusion of that . . . occurrence, Lord Koenma approached me concerning these two, asking that they be released to him to continue their assistance of the two humans as deemed necessary. Of course, we are all familiar with the inane compassion of Lord Koenma, something of which his father has tried in vain to cure him." Enma made no move to respond, thick arms crossed, the permanent scowl only deepening ever so slightly.

"Outside of this room, it is little known the half-human's true identity, not as a mere namesake but as the very reincarnation of the youko thief himself, Kurama the Silver Fox. His chosen partner is an accomplished assassin and mercenary swordsman no one had been able to capture until he fell to a mere fledgling human Spirit Detective." Batsukuno's eyes met Hiei's unflinchingly. "Sad, actually, if you think about it. Then again, I am given to understand that the half-breed had a hand in that." He shook his head, descending the short stretch of steps along the side of the podium to the floor. "Betrayed by his own partner, only to have that same partner be the agent by which he found release from our little corner of Hell." He smiled with little humor as he pulled up even with Hiei, looking down his thin nose at the fire apparition. Hiei made a move as though to kick at the chief admin but several lashes across his back interrupted the gesture. Batsukuno turned over his shoulder to Kurama. "And the so-called 'reformed' thief to whom some have looked as an example of atonement. Bah! I don't know which of you is worse: the blood-thirsty, cold-hearted assassin or the supposed repentant thief who stands by his side, regardless of reason or evidence." He leaned in close to Kurama's face. "People do not change, youko. You cannot hide your dark heart. Your soul is as black and stained as the day you were hunted down and left for dead. There is no such thing as redemption, thief."

"Not . . . true," Kurama murmured, pulling back from the accusing eyes that bored mercilessly into his.

Hiei snarled. "Leave him alone, you - Ah! Damn you, stop that!" he barked as the whip cracked again.

Batsukuno stepped back, sniffing derisively. "You two do make a pair, don't you? You're both pathetic."

Kurama had heard enough. "Hiei did not kill those humans any more than you or I did - " He clamped back on a gasp as the lashes targeted him.

"An unbefitting tone of voice to take with the one who holds your life in his hands, youko," Batsukuno chided.

Kurama shook his head. "Search our minds, if you have the ability. If not, find one who can - "

Batsukuno laughed. "Nice try, youko. You are clever but not clever enough. I know the strength of both your minds. Doubtless you could convince yourselves of falsities long enough to fool a telepath into believing the scenes you would show him. That, however, could not erase the recorded images of human video."

"What?" Hiei growled.

Kurama gasped. "The security tapes!" He exchanged looks with Hiei, recalling what the swordsman had said about them. Hiei glowered back, "I told you so" burning in his eyes.

Batsukuno nodded darkly. "A few were missing but my agents recovered more than enough." He ascended the steps to the podium once again and passed his hands over the surface. The vast space in the center of the room over the heads of the onlookers filled with smoke which compacted itself into a large cube, the swirling surfaces as flat as polished crystal. Whether the images appearing on the sides were projected or produced from within, Kurama could not tell but he watched in horror as clips played of an individual who appeared unmistakably like Hiei silently and methodically assassinated group after pair after gathering of humans throughout the mansion, sometimes filling a room with a gas to incapacitate the victims first. His partner watched just as silently, fury seething in his ruby eyes at the dishonoring images.

When the heinous drama had played itself out, Batsukuno passed his hand once again over the top of the podium and the smoke dispersed. The room was completely silent as the audience took in what it had just seen. "Ladies and gentleman - " Batsukuno's soft voice broke through the quiet - "in all the decades I have held the position I maintain, never has such a crime been committed. Men, women, even the few children in the household - innocent sons and daughters of the lowly and ignorant servants - never saw what hit them. That is perhaps the only redeeming detail of this case, that they died quickly and without ever seeing their slayer. They were dead before they knew Death had crept up behind them. Death has a name - Jaganshi Hiei."

Hiei breathed an oath in Demongogian that Kurama not heard in years. It earned him another round of lashes.

"How dare you?" Batsukuno raged at the same time. "There is a reason that I have never been known for mercy, assassin! It is a weak sentiment and unbefitting one who deals with your kind day in and day out. I am disgusted to be of the same species as you! Both of you!" His flashing eyes turned to include Kurama. "For once - just once - I took a chance. I gave you both a second chance, a grace gesture - and you dare to repay me like this! How dare you even look at me, assassin? I should have your eyes removed for having the gall to meet my gaze - all three of them! Insolent - " Batsukuno's voice failed him, his face a contorted mask of fury. When no further words would emerge from his wrath-choked throat, he gestured and the punishing lashes tore into them anew.

Kurama braced again with his eyes closed and feared he would soon lose consciousness if the punishment continued much longer but the whip stopped as suddenly as it began. Again, Kurama looked up at the decider of his fate. Batsukuno's glare was as black as Kurama had ever seen it. "I have had enough of the both of you. This is the last we will see of each other, I assure you. Youko Kurama, you are to return to the Pit for triple the remaining time of your sentence or until your life should expire - whichever comes first. Honestly, I don't care at this point. Bokuma, take him down." He cracked a large gavel against the surface of the podium.

Kurama jumped as he realized his torturer was behind him, had been all along. Bokuma strolled up between the two prisoners, coiling the lashes he had been employing on them with abandon. In a gesture of almost affectionate perversity, he gently brushed back Kurama's hair from his face. "Miss me, little fox?"

Gods, no! Kurama pleaded silently. Anything, anyone but him! His legs faltered as Bokuma lifted the chain free of its hook on the post.

"Come, pretty fox," Bokuma leered, enjoying the look of horror and despair in his prey's eyes, "let's get you back where you belong."

In spite of his own injuries, Hiei began trying to climb his post, looking to free himself of his hook. "No - Kurama! Bokuma, don't you dare - !"

Bokuma struck out with a snarl and the barbed coils of his whip tore open the side of Hiei's arm. It was enough to make him lose his grip before he could get the link of his chain over the hook. Then Bokuma laughed. "Give it up, assassin. You've lost."

"No - !"

"Hiei, don't - !" Kurama began.

"Look to yourself, assassin!" Batsukuno snapped. "Your partner's fate is kind compared to your own." He lifted his gavel once again. "You, Jaganshi Hiei - "

"Won't be going anywhere! SPIRIT GUN!"

Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!