So, as promised lovelies, here's the next chapter. I'll try my best to have the next one up as soon as possible - it's about halfway done anyway, so it shouldn't take long. Wish me luck in that endeavor :D
And don't forget to toss me a little review and let me know if you still love me~ ;)
P.S. All YuYu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi :)
14. Hell lord
"We're leaving tonight..."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The following hours Kurama had spent in the girl's room; as stubborn as she was, she had ended up falling asleep in his arms and he couldn't have stopped watching her peaceful expression for anything. By the time he finally found enough willpower to move away from her, it was already late afternoon. He didn't even want to imagine how many nights she had missed out on sleep, considering she hadn't woken up even when he'd shifted her body to cover her up. Still watching her as he replaced his clothes onto himself, he then lovingly pecked her lips before leaving the chambers. His destination? The room next to his, where he had agreed to meet with his two companions, so as to go over the final details for their nocturnal escape.
Later that evening, he finally introduced Azami and her sister to Nari and Hiei; and for all the tension in the air, he couldn't help noticing that Emiko seemed to have taken a liking to the short fire-youkai. With the girls agreeing to meet them near the gates, all Kurama had left to do was to fulfill his goal and get the woman he had initially arrived to that place for. Upon entering her chambers late that night, after everyone had apparently retired, he found Nozomi still asleep and for a moment his amber gaze betrayed his concern; just how much sleep had she deprived herself of? Discarding those thoughts for the moment, he approached her from behind and placed one knee onto the bed before leaning down to gingerly kiss her cheek.
"Wake up, my love..." he whispered.
When the girl stirred and looked up at him sleepily, he offered her a slight smile and pecked her lips.
"It's time to go home."
Biting back the fatigue which was still the dominant sensation in her body, Nozomi nodded and sat up. Moving from under the linens she opened the dresser; not even casting a glance to the large collection of kimono displayed there, she instead reached in to the very back from where she retrieved the white clothes she had arrived there in.
"Let's go..." she said somewhat hesitantly, after she had once more donned the combat pants and snowy yukata she had grown so accustomed to.
Hinting to the reason of her apparent sadness, the fox-youkai approached her and grasped her hand; he wouldn't tell her that they were taking the girls with them... it would make for a nice surprise for his lover. Moving to the window he channeled a bit of youki into the vines growing along the castle walls. Within moments the plants obeyed his will and gathered around them to help them get down. Mere minutes later they had arrived at the gates, where Hiei had already taken out the guards in perfect silence. Upon sighting the two girls, Nozomi's expression lit up in a relieved smile and she was startled when Emiko ran into her arms. Placing a hand onto the young girl's head, she briefly returned the hug. Giving her that moment with the girl, Kurama stepped closer to his two companions, slightly arching a brow at the dead guards.
"They noticed us." Hiei replied impassively.
Briefly smiling at that retort, the fox-youkai nodded lightly.
"Not quite as planned, but at least we can leave easily. We need to put as much distance between us as possible, before morning."
"I assume he won't be too happy when he wakes up." Nari agreed.
"We just need to find Yasuko... she'll help us."
It wasn't Nozomi's voice that made Kurama's ear twitch, but her words themselves. When he turned to her with an inquisitive gaze, the girl merely offered a brief shade of smile.
"I'm sure you met her on the way here... she leads a pack of Hell hounds."
"I doubt that dog would help anyone." Hiei retorted.
"She'll help us." Nozomi insisted.
Averting her eyes from the short fire-youkai to Kurama, she once more smiled.
"Trust me..."
When Kurama nodded in reply, Hiei huffed ironically.
"Either way, let's get moving."
With those words he walked over to the gates, pushing one of them aside just enough for them to slip through. The following hours the group walked in silence, each of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts; by the time the sky had gained a gloomy reddish shade as daylight grew, Nari was carrying a sleeping Emiko on his back while Hiei was walking up front with Nozomi, the girl questioning him about the short period of time when he and Kurama had worked together.
"So why do you think the hounds would help us?" he suddenly asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Because Yasuko said so."
"That doesn't answer my question..."
"If my answer doesn't please you, you can ask her yourself when we find them." she retorted.
Moving his gaze away from the horizon, the fire-youkai frowned up at Kurama.
"I'd bet my life that you're the one who taught her to be this snarky."
His brow twitched when the silver haired thief chuckled in reply; yes, he was definitely the source of Nozomi's boldness.
"I hate women..." he muttered to himself.
"Speaking of women..." Nozomi smiled. "I do believe Emiko has taken a liking to you."
She barely held back a chuckle when Hiei glared at her.
"I'm not exactly the father type."
"I didn't mean it that way..." she replied, a sly smile now playing on her lips.
Narrowing his eyes, the fire-youkai soon realized that despite her expression she was quite serious in her statement. Pouting, he broke eye contact with her and once more averted his ruby gaze toward the horizon.
"Not like I can do anything about it." he replied.
Within the next few minutes the winds picked up along the barren plains, and even Kurama felt compelled to admit that there was an ominous aura which the currents carried.
"Nasty wind..." Hiei muttered. "It gives me the creeps."
"So you feel it too?" Kurama replied, his eyes slightly narrowed in thought by now.
"Yeah... something's definitely coming."
Coming to a halt, Nari handed Emiko to her sister while Kurama and Hiei gathered around the two girls and Nozomi. With the tense atmosphere around them, the girl almost desperately glanced around, hoping it was only Yasuko and her pack. Her lungs emptied of air in a gasp, however, when a bloodlust filled thought invaded her mind.
"It's him..." she muttered.
When she instinctively grasped Kurama's yukata, the fox-youkai offered her a brief glance over his shoulder; that gaze in her eyes said it all. Already his mind had started analyzing the situation, the terrain around them, as well as his companion's abilities, to work out a plan. After all, that was the trait he was most renowned and feared for throughout the Makai... his unsettling intellect which allowed him to think two or three steps ahead of everyone else. The fact that they didn't know what abilities Daichi possessed was a rather big disadvantage for them, but fortunately Kurama was used to adjusting his combat style in the middle of the fight. He was in fact so caught up in that, that the voice which suddenly echoed around them all but startled him.
"So... it is true."
In a gust of wind which stirred the dust from the plains, Daichi now appeared before them, twirling a beautifully decorated umbrella in his right hand.
"I take you into my home and this is how you repay me? You not only kidnap my woman, but two of my servants as well?"
No reply came from Kurama, however, as the fox-youkai was too busy analyzing the one before him. Falling silent for a bit as well, Daichi examined the group until his eyes narrowed at the sight of Nozomi clinging to Kurama's yukata.
"Don't tell me... you're that man." he said, a sly smile curving his lips. "Thinking on it... yes, I do believe her father told me that his name was Kurama. When you arrived yesterday I believed it was a mere coincidence that you bear the same name, but apparently I will have the pleasure of killing you."
"There it is..." Hiei spat out in disgust.
Even as the fire-youkai's words filled his ears, Kurama could see the way Daichi's expression morphed, his smile turning more sinister in nature and his gaze gaining a gleam strikingly similar to insanity. When Hiei unsheathed his blade, Daichi raised a hand and gestured for him to stay still.
"Now, now... it's not polite to interfere in a one-on-one fight. Don't you agree... Kurama?"
"So you want to take me on alone? I'm flattered that you think so highly of me."
Chuckling at the thief's sarcastic reply, Daichi now leaned the closed umbrella against his shoulder.
"It wouldn't be fun to kill you if your friends intervene."
"Very well... I'll take you on."
"Have you lost it?" Hiei hissed next to him.
Without a word Kurama took a step forward only to find that he was forced to stop when Nozomi's grasp failed to release his yukata. When he turned to her, however, his brow furrowed in thought at the fact that she was watching Daichi.
"I know I'll regret this..." she said. "But if you let them leave, I'll stay."
"Do you know what you're doing, child?" Nari frowned, setting a hand onto her shoulder.
"I'm saving all your lives..." she replied, fixing her gaze onto the ground.
Why had she ever even hoped to escape? She should have known that Daichi wouldn't give her up without a fight. And she wasn't about to see Kurama killed before her eyes. When the fox-youkai grasped her hand, however, her thoughts came to a halt; the gaze in his eyes when she looked up at him suddenly made her voice die in her throat.
"My dear, your desire to sacrifice yourself is as admirable as it is useless." Daichi smiled. "Whether you want to stay or not, I will kill him here and now, and I will take you back."
"You sick bastard..." Hiei growled.
Without warning he lunged forward in a dazzling display of speed, his blade poised to slice Daichi's throat. However, the Hell lord was unimpressed by that attack; upon seeing his hold tightening around the umbrella, Kurama suddenly realized that he could follow Hiei's speed and that he would retaliate.
"Hiei!" he called out.
His warning tone came too late, however... deftly twirling the umbrella, Daichi summoned a gust of wind which swept Hiei up and smashed him onto the ground.
"Don't get into this!" Daichi ordered angrily, staring down the fire-youkai.
With wind now menacingly swirling around him, the Hell lord once more averted his gaze toward Kurama who forcefully pried Nozomi's hands off him and stepped forward.
"That's enough... I already said I'll take you on. You have no need to fight them."
"Oh my... it seems you misunderstood my words." he replied courteously. "I will destroy the other two as well; I simply wanted the pleasure of killing you first."
Narrowing his eyes, the Yōko finally unleashed his youki which now swirled around his body in a breathtaking display of red shades, making his clothes, hair and tail flutter violently.
"You talk too much."
With a sly smile, Daichi extended his arm to the side and flicked the umbrella open.
"I apologize for that bad habit. Shall we?"
With Nari holding her back to prevent her from jumping in between the two youkai, Nozomi could do nothing but stare in disbelief at Kurama. The youki she could now sense from him was utterly different from everything he'd shown to her before; a perfect mixture of coldness and bloodlust which made her very heart quiver. It was the first time that she finally understood just how much power he had amassed over the centuries.
"Tch..."
Hiei's displeased huff briefly gained her attention and she glanced down to him just as the fire-youkai was returning his katana to its sheath.
"Kurama... don't take your time with him. Keep it short." he called out.
As much as he too wished to make it a short fight, the fox-youkai knew that he had to take some time to assess Daichi's power level and to find out if he had any trump cards. His expression was as unflinching as ever while he watched Daichi tearing off one of the black talismans which adorned his umbrella. When he tossed it into the winds whirling around him, Kurama felt his jaw clench as he tried to assess what the Hell youkai was planning. He was compelled to admit that he was taken aback when the talisman suddenly multiplied and the wind lunged at him as though it was alive. He was among the fastest youkai in the Makai, he knew that, but not even he could outrun youki-infused wind.
His best bet for the moment was to find a way around the wind and approach Daichi just enough to plant a Shimaneki seed; it was an old favorite of his due to the fact that it didn't consume much youki to grow and was highly efficient in killing. It wasn't too hard for him to track the direction of the winds thanks to the talismans floating about them, thus he swiftly leapt to the air just before they reached him. However, when Daichi's smile morphed into a sinister grin, Kurama realized that he had made a mistake in thinking that attack would be so easily dealt with. Indeed, the currents now coiled upwards and wrapped around him trapping him into a real tornado, the dust raised from the plains hiding the talismans from his sight and filling his lungs.
With his youki holding him in the air, he now cautiously glanced at the twisting airstreams around him, trying to determine what direction the attack would come from; judging from what he had seen of Daichi's personality so far, he already hinted to the youkai's preferred choice. His intellect didn't fail him when indeed the first strike came from behind, thus he was able to avoid it. What caught his eye, however, was the fact that what had passed him by wasn't a talisman anymore, but looked more like a black snake. Almost instantly it seemed as though all the talismans which had been whirling around him decided to attack; within moments he was covered in bleeding cuts, his once snowy outfit stained crimson. While rather shallow, the wounds were indeed numerous enough to make the pain a hindrance. He had been careless...
"You didn't think wind is the only thing I'm capable of creating, did you?"
Daichi's voice grated on his ears amidst the howling winds surrounding him. Not gracing the Hell lord with an answer, he now searched the vast list of plants he knew of, to find one which could help him get out of that tight spot. The Fuyōka was too light and too out of his control to use... while it was a good way to stay in the air without wasting youki that plant was ultimately made for gliding, not flight. And suddenly he found it... as he reached to slide his hand through his strands, so as to retrieve a particular seed, he actually wondered how he hadn't thought of that plant from the moment when that talisman had split. Once the seed was in his hand, he channeled enough youki into it and dropped it to the ground below. He could only hope that he would be able to summon Makai plants in Hell, but for now it was his best bet.
His lips twitched into a shade of smile when he saw the ground cracking around the seed as he continuously fed his youki to the plant. Within moments afterwards, five sturdy vines shot out around his body, covered in sword-shaped crimson leaves. It didn't matter now from which direction Daichi would attack... nor would he wait for another strike. With that in mind, he held out his hands before extending his arms to the side in a sweeping motion. Mimicking his moves, the plant's vines gracefully coiled before the leaves shot out from their sockets in all directions, leaving no spot uncovered. The painful hissing sounds which reached his ears convinced the fox-youkai that his assault had been effective; indeed the winds soon died out, leaving him to stare Daichi down as he now stood upon one of the larger leaves, the other four vines swaying ominously around him.
"You truly are a master of plants, as the rumors say." Daichi chuckled. "I'm compelled to admit that you intrigue me."
"I don't appreciate it when my opponent mocks me." Kurama replied.
"Yes, I admit I was merely testing you just now. You didn't disappoint me..."
"Do you have a death wish?"
Watching Kurama's narrowed eyes and the murderous glance in his golden orbs, Daichi suddenly burst out into laughter.
"How intriguing you are... even when you're enraged you can still think logically. That is truly a fearsome ability; too fearsome for you to be allowed to live."
Rising into the air onto the winds, the Hell lord finally gave up all humor. When the umbrella in his hand gained a black aura, Kurama finally came to realize that was most likely the source of Daichi's power, given that he couldn't really sense any sort of youki from the youkai himself. With this new goal in sight, he extended his right arm to the side, his fist clenched around a rose seed.
"Juryō Yōzan Ken..."
As his calm voice floated on the swirling winds, his youki flooded the seed from which several thorny vines shot out, crawling up his forearm all the way to his elbow. Once he opened his palm the vines extended outward forming what looked like a sword's blade. Of course, he wasn't planning to simply engage Daichi... while the Yucca plant kept the Hell lord occupied, he could try to get close enough to destroy that umbrella and hopefully render Daichi powerless. Hiei was right; he couldn't afford to drag the fight on for too long, especially now that the numerous cuts on his body were getting in his way.
As if reading his thoughts, the vines suddenly shot forward with the leaves zeroing in on Daichi, their final aim being to impale him thoroughly. Though he did notice that the youkai did not move in front of this direct attack, Kurama decided that he had to take a gamble and try to get closer. The more he stayed out of reach, the more time Daichi had to make some move that the fox-youkai would regret. Reaching his target at the same time as the Yucca plant, Kurama was suddenly struck by the realization of just how grave his mistake was, when Daichi's lips curved into a sinister smirk. Yes, he had been waiting for the Yōko to make the error of getting too close.
"Kaze no Yaiba..." he muttered.
Swinging the umbrella horizontally whilst he spoke, he channeled his youki into the winds around him which now took on the appearance of an energy blade. In that same instant Kurama tried to change his direction in midair, whilst the Yucca gathered its vines in between him and the attack. Even when it became obvious that he would not be able to avoid it in time, given how easily the wind blade slashed through the thick plant, he still desperately sought a way to avoid being sliced in half. Within the next moment, however, just when he felt the blade starting to slash through his stomach, something grasped his yukata and pulled him aside, the wind attack hitting the ground instead. Ignoring the wound which wasn't deep enough to be life threatening, he moved to stand just as one of the Hell hounds stepped in between him and Daichi.
"What do you think you're doing, Yasuko?"