Hiei of the Thousand Eyes
Chapter Four: Fault Lines
Kurama shot to his feet. Shizuru gasped and dropped the pot she had been cleaning, also sensing the massive shift of energy. Down the hall, Ittoku started to cry.
"What do you think that is?" Shizuru asked, worry lacing her voice even as she calmly picked up the pot and rinsed it again.
"I don't know," Kurama admitted. They glanced at each other and both knew what to do, or rather, what each of them was going to do. Shizuru was going to comfort their child and get him ready for bed, because the threat wasn't imminent and she wasn't going to get herself involved if she didn't have to. Kurama was going to find the source and deal with it in whatever way he could, but something that strange spelled trouble and he didn't want others to be harmed where he could help.
It didn't take him long to track the energy to an apartment complex not far from his home. Other than the lingering taste of such a massive dispel of energy, nothing was amiss. There was a powerful aura inside, though. He approached carefully, hand at the ready with his rose seed that was itching to grow for him.
The door to the apartment was unlocked, and when he pushed it open, none of the lights were on. Regardless, Kurama could see everything from a strong glow emanating from the main room. A girl lay passed out, her body surrounded in thick emerald green light. Clutched tightly in her hand was a golden eye.
This wasn't good. The material the eye was made of was clearly the same as the shard Hiei had presented him earlier that day. This was the girl Hiei had been complaining about, and the artifact was not as harmless as they had predicted. Kurama knew it had been foolish to let Hiei hand something over to a human when it was able to enthrall anyone without a Jagan, but Kurama let it go because it was not his choice to make and Hiei would not listen to reason without a fight.
Perhaps it would have been worth the destruction of his backyard to keep something like this out of the hands of a human. Because it was clear as day that his girl, whoever she was, wasn't human anymore.
Kurama kneels down beside the unconscious girl. He first checked her breath. It was steady, as if she were in a deep sleep. Then he checked her pulse. He waited. And waited. But there was no beat of the heart pumping blood through her veins. No, the transference of her body would have blown the valves of her heart open. It would stretch the muscle until breaking point and then thicken until the tissue was closer to stone than flesh. The heart of a demon who wasn't made of earth was not a pump like a human's, but a case that spun blood so fast it cycled through the body at a third of the rate.
It made demons faster and stronger, it gave them more energy and faster healing. And there were occasions where a human turned into a demon, but it was rare and a cursed artifact such as the one the girl held were the only things that could do it unless they were already hanyou like Yusuke. Simply replacing a heart would kill the human. They needed the energy to change the heart themselves.
Kurama had never seen anything like the golden translucent eye in the girl's hand. He had never even heard of such an object before. But the results of what it could do were astonishing enough that he now had an idea what it was the girl held.
He needed to call the Spirit Detective.
Chihiro struggles awake. For a moment it felt as if something were caught in her throat. She gagged and then gasped, fighting to open her eyelids that somehow felt as if they were made of lead. Chihiro could hear a voice in the other room, speaking to someone, but she couldn't make out the words. Adrenaline rushed her veins at the thought her father's men could be in her home. She finally pried her eyes open. A sudden wave of clarity hit her.
The headaches. The hole in the ground. The monsters. The man with three eyes. The hundred golden shards.
Her hand cramped and she squeezed it unconsciously. Chihiro looked down to see the golden eye in her hand. She had done it. She had put it all together.
Chihiro sprang to her feet, carefully tucking the eye into her bra. About the size of a cell phone, it would be safer there than in her pocket. She unsheathed her double blades which were surprisingly still on her back, and headed to the kitchen.
A man with shocking red hair was just hanging up his phone. She didn't recognize him as one of her father's followers, but he could have recruited since she left him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Miss Naya, something has happened to you," he said calmly, giving little care to her weapons. He raised his hands as if talking to an easily spooked child. "I would like to ask for your cooperation."
She was sure it was her father's man. Why else would he be so carefree around blades and know her family name? The one displayed outside the door was a fake. Chihiro didn't want anyone to put the pieces together that she was the daughter of the famous crime boss.
But she was caught off by his first words. Something had happened to her. She had learned about demons. Surely her father's reach didn't make it all the way into another world.
"Why the hell would I do anything for the likes of you?" she spat.
The man took a step closer and for an instance Chihiro could swear his hair was silver. The scent of roses hit her and she somehow knew that she was wrong. Surely a man like her father would have sought out the most dangerous things in the world. In any world. He would surely have a demon under his thumb.
Chihiro didn't know how to gauge this new threat, but she knew she shouldn't do it alone. Whoever this man was, he had made a crucial mistake by waiting in the kitchen. Chihiro feinted forwards and the darted out the living room fire escape.
She heard him call after her. Instinct made her jump to the left. Something zoomed past her, imbedding itself into the brick like a bullet on steroids. She didn't want to know what would have happened if it had hit her. Chihiro didn't think and ran as fast as she could.
Fubuki stormed into Koenma's office, startling the prince as the doors slammed open. "We have a problem," she informed him.
Koenma looked up, worried. Fubuki never came to him with problems, only solutions. "What is it?"
"Did Hiei come to you about a human girl?" she asked.
"Yes. Perfectly ordinary – "
"She's a friend of my brothers. Kaisei tells me she's been putting some artifact together for months, searching for pieces every day. Hiei told Kaisei she'd been falling into the Makai. Kurama just called. He said the girl had been finding pieces of the artifact in the Maki, but that Hiei let her have it."
"He what?" Koenma said, standing up. Hiei should have known better than to just let something from the Makai into the hands of a human. Kurama should have known better than to let Hiei do this!
"She put the pieces together. Kurama contacted me. He still doesn't know what the artifact is, but it blasted her heart open with energy. It turned her into a demon."
Koenma's face paled. He should have taken more care with Hiei's request. Hiei never came to him for anything. Of course his minor annoyance would have been related to something so big.
"Do you know what the artifact looked like?"
"Kurama said it was gold like and shaped like an eye."
Koenma sank back into his seat. "This could be bad. Depending on if we can get it back."
"But, Sir, what is it?" Fubuki demanded.
Koenma rand a hand over his face. "The Eye of Solomon. It was the artifact used to turn the Toguro brothers into demons."
Fubuki's eyes widened. She had been a young child at the time team Urameshi defeated the Toguros, but she still knew of their strength and near immortality. If this eye could make demons that strong, it could lead to a verifiable army.
"Call your brother," Koenma instructed her. "Have him find this friend of his. If she still has the eye, we need it back."
Fubuki nodded, fully intending to track this girl down herself. Still, her brother's insight would be valuable.
As she turns to leave, Koenma raises his hand. "Oh, and one more thing."
Chihiro darts past the security with a quick wave and a breathy greeting. They do nothing but raise an eyebrow at her hasty entrance. She pushes her way through the crowd of the club and into the back rooms. The dance music is instantly softened, replaced by the constant chatter of gamblers and escorts.
"Chi-chi!" Risa squealed.
Chihiro gave her a strained smile. "Risa! Where's your brother?"
Risa frowns since the attention's not on her, but dutifully points. Ryoku doing business behind a cloud of smoke from the table he stood by, but he would pause his dealings for this. Chihiro marched over, fear of her father and the strange new world of demons giving her the strength to act so boldly.
Ryuoku flicked his eyes to her. He calculated her stance and her face. She could feel the way his gaze crawled over her body, detached and uncaring. He held a hand up to silence his business partner, his full attention on her now. "You have something for me?"
Chihiro reached underneath the fabric of her shirt and pulled out the lump of luminescent gold. "Every piece."
Ryuoku grinned wickedly, a smile she rarely saw. Chihiro had chosen Ryuoku to protect her for a number of reasons. He didn't deal drugs, that wasn't his trade. He hated her father almost as much as she did. He used logic over emotion in most situations. His level head had kept him out of trouble time and time again. Still, he was a boss. He could be brutal when he chose to. He could be malicious. She had chosen Ryuoku because he understood what it would mean to protect her. She hadn't chosen him because he would treat her right. All she could hope for was better than her father.
As Ryuoku reached for the golden eye, Chihiro felt a tremor run down her spine. It felt like a warning of some kind. Her fingers tightened around the item briefly. Chihiro didn't want to let it go. She had worked so hard to put it all together. She had been accosted by things that shouldn't exist. She was holding back tremors at the very idea they were real, something she wouldn't have to know if it hadn't been for this stupid thing.
But Ryuoku was her boss now. And she retrieved it for him. Completing the task meant she would be able to join her old post before it broke. A chance for advancement in the underworld. More protection.
She forced herself to open her hand, to keep her palm flat as she offered the golden eye to Ryuoku.
He took it like it would shatter again at the slightest touch. He took it with reverence and glee and something dark behind his eyes. He took it and ran his thumb over the carvings and muttered something under his breath. He took it and kissed it like a new born child.
They were relatively alone in the back corner. The business partner he had been speaking with had stepped away, waiting to be called back. The gamblers were rowdy and in their own world, despite being mere steps away. In that moment, Ryuoku acted as if he were the only one in the room.
Then the moment passed. The glee and reverence drained from his face, leaving it stony and cold and far too reminiscent of the man Chihiro was hiding from.
"What is this," he demanded, his voice calm and soft. It made her heart speed in fear.
"The artifact," she answered, unsure what he was asking.
"Nothing happened." This time his lips snarled around the words as if he were holding back a caged lion behind his teeth.
"Was it supposed to?"
The game behind them was quieting down, catching wind of the boss's displeasure.
"You took it," he accused.
"What? No," Chihiro pleaded, confused and rapidly becoming truly afraid. "That's it, I swear. I put it together and – "
"I don't know how you knew about the wish, but I will make you pay for taking what is mine, Naya-chan." His voice had calmed again. Steely cold. All the tables had gone quiet. The only sound the beating of music and dancing in the club in the front. "You are going to wish you had stuck by your father's side. I should have known a daughter who left her family had no loyalty and couldn't be trusted."
"I didn't do anything!"
Ryuoku reached for his gun. Chihiro watched it happen as if her life were in slow motion. She could feel the yakuza at the table all reach for their weapons. In a moment, all attention would be on her. And she was in the back corner of a back room and no real way out.
Hiei enters his chambers to find Mukuro already there. He never knew when she would be in. They didn't always spend the night together. More often than not, she spent her nights training. She needed very little sleep. He supposed he had avoided her for lone enough. It was time they saw each other again.
"I have concerns about you," she started with. Mukuro never beat around a subject or lead into a conversation. "This isn't working. I can feel you pulling away."
He didn't bother to remind her he had been pulling away for the better part of the last fifteen years. "What do you propose we do about it?" he asks, pulling off his cloak and throwing it on the far chair.
"I don't care that it's not working, Hiei," she said. He looked up at that, trying to not show his surprise. They had invested more than a decade with each other. A relatively short time for the life span of a demon, but enough time to have a strong enough attachment to care.
Even he cared. He wanted it to work, even though he knew it wouldn't. It was one of the reasons he had stayed so long.
"We never properly mated, Hiei," she reminded him. "I did that for a reason. I don't even want to be tied to another, in any way."
He supposed he felt obligated to her, in a way. They had saved each other. That sort of life debt didn't go without payment. "I've always known that," Hiei said. It hadn't stopped him from pursuing her back then.
"My issue isn't with us not working. My issue is with you pulling away."
"What difference does that make?" Hiei asked, laying his sword down. He wanted to rest. This conversation was going to make his brain hurt.
Mukuro walked over and placed her cold fingers on his chin and twisted his head to look her way. "My worry is that your waiver in this relationship translates to your devotion to my leadership. I don't want to lose my second in command over something as trifle as a failed romance."
He yanked his chin away from her grip. "I've worked hard to obtain this spot. I'm not likely to give it up over this."
"That's not what I'm saying."
Hiei stilled. Her tone was icier than he had heard it in years. "You think I would try to usurp you." The revelation came like a smack in the face. He turned his gaze back to his sword.
"You're still a foolish child," she scolded. "Impulsive and irrational. You don't know how to play the long game, the strength of our life spans."
"You think instead I would try to kill you for your kingdom?" he scoffed. Hiei grabbed his sword and cloak and was by the door before she could blink. "Perhaps I made a mistake taking up with you when I was still so young," he spat. "I'll find my own room."
"Regardless of your future inent," Mukuro said, her voice betraying her softer side, although her face was still sharp with anger. "I do wonder. If I cannot hold your attention, who can?"
Her words taunted him as he sped off. That was the other reason he had stayed with her for so long after he knew it was ending. Mukuro was a surprise. Love and affection, in whatever form he found it in, was not something he ever expected out of his cursed life. He didn't think he would ever find it again. And if he did, she was right. How could it possibly hold?
Hiei was almost at the training grounds, needing somewhere to let his aggression out, when he felt the presence of a strong human. It was vaguely familiar so he didn't put up too much guard when he changed course to greet it.
It was the female twin, the current Spirit Detective. She seemed annoyed to be there and was clearly waiting for him.
"We have a problem."
Hiei wanted to slice her throat open. Would this never cease? "What?"
"That human girl you've been catching here, that you let have a spirit artifact," she over enunciated her words to get her displeasure across. "She's not human anymore."
Hiei reared his head back in surprise. "Do you mean she died?"
"No, Hiei. I mean you gave her something that turned her into a demon. And not just some mindless minion like that sword you stole did. This item is what made the Toguro brothers. This is your fault."