What Runs Deeper

a fanfiction by andrivette and psychoheidi

chapter six
"The Danger Within"

Shigure had only come out of his room because he had run out of food.

For some reason, the guy who usually delivered meals to him had gone AWOL, and Shigure was hungry.

He didn't want to have a conversation with anyone. He just wanted to eat, stock up on cheddar squid titties, and leave.

But here was what always happened every time he ate in plain view: Someone was talking to him. And he had actually thought the fortress might have been empty.

"Something fucking bad is going on," Kirin said.

Shigure looked up from his sandwich. It was sort of strange to hear that sort of language from the big guy. Maybe he was doing it for shock value. People had done a lot more radical things to get his attention before, like maim their own hand.

"And I think it's affecting Lord Mukuro."

"Huh," said Shigure, not bothering to swallow before he spoke. "What, has she gone nuts or something?"

Kirin sat down across from him. "Not exactly, but just listen to this. Most everyone else in the fortress has gone nuts, or something like it. I've seen them attack Hiei and myself for no apparent reason—and I heard Lord Mukuro was actually attacked herself several days ago. But now they're all obeying her, and she's even training them. But I can't get through to them at all. Every time I'm seen they rush at me blindly."

He paused, looking pretty distressed. "I had locked some of them up in a room, and Lord Mukuro had apparently been sleeping for a couple days, when out of nowhere she appeared and ordered me to let them out with no regard at all to reason and safety. She's not acting like them, but it's definitely strange. I haven't been able to get close enough to talk to her again without getting attacked by her soldiers."

Shigure wiped some sauce from his jaw ring.

Then he shrugged. "Everything seems pretty normal right now."

"That's because they're not here," Kirin explained. "The fortress hasn't been regularly occupied for days. They're probably in the training rooms. As for Hiei, I haven't seen him since yesterday, but he's been avoiding me anyway because he's either in denial or just a selfish little shit, which I wouldn't doubt in the slightest."

Shigure failed to suppress a chuckle at the disdain in Kirin's voice.

But as entertaining as this all probably was, he had other things to think about. "So what do you plan to do?" he asked, trying to move the conversation along.

"I don't know," Kirin answered. "To do something about it I'd have to figure out what's going on with them, and every guess I'd have would just be a shot in the dark. Maybe they've got some kind of rabies. Maybe they're just plain crazy. Hell, there's no way I can tell like this."

"If they have rabies, you have nothing to worry about," said Shigure idly. "They'll all die in a week or so." He paused. "Unless you have it, too. In that case, you're screwed, and I shouldn't be anywhere near you."

He was about to take another bite of his sandwich when suddenly the door at the back of the dining hall was thrown open and a throaty gurgling cry echoed across the room.

Shigure stopped and turned in his seat just in time to see a lower-ranking soldier running at them—at a pathetically slow speed, but with impressive gusto.

As the hysterical demon came nearer, Shigure rose, and just as it lunged for him, he pulled his fist back and hit it squarely in the face, sending it flying backward into a table.

"I guess that's what you were talking about," he said, interest piqued somewhat.

"Yes, in essence," Kirin said with some hint of amusement. "And I'm hoping you have more of an idea of what's going on than I do."

Shigure peered down at the unconscious soldier. Its nose was bloody and there was a substantial amount of drool on its face, but other than that, there was nothing spectacular to note about its appearance.

"I'd need some time to figure out what's wrong with him," he said. "If you're that interested in knowing."

He leaned down to try to lift the demon off the ground, then stopped, looking back at Kirin. "You mind carrying him to my room?"

Kirin grunted. "Sure."

"I can't be sure what's causing it," Shigure had said. "We need another specimen to compare."

If Shigure only knew how difficult that task would be, he wouldn't have simply left Kirin to it. Well, on second thought, maybe he would have. He did seem pretty absorbed.

But that didn't make this any easier. All Mukuro's men were clustered together so closely that it would be next to impossible to grab one of them without alerting the entire group and likely Mukuro herself.

"Stop panting like dogs and do it again!" he heard her voice over the sound of the wind in the trees, and he glimpsed two of her men flinging themselves at one another.

Kirin was hunched behind a group of bushes, biding his time to see if any opportune moment would surface, when suddenly a noise beside him made him look up.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

It was Hiei.

Kirin scowled, but kept his voice steady, refraining from making the brazen comments that came to mind. "I need to capture one of these guys. Shigure and I are trying to figure out what's wrong with them so we can fix this."

He turned back to the crowd of them. "But with them all grouped together like that, it's damn near impossible." It was when the words came out of his mouth that the idea came into Kirin's mind.

He was unlikely to agree, but it was worth at least a suggestion.

So Kirin asked, "Do you happen to feel inclined to help me out?"

For a long time, Hiei simply said nothing, staring out beyond the brush at the scene that lay before them.

"Hn, pathetic," he scoffed, before darting back up into the trees.

So much for help.

Kirin had turned his attention back to the horde with a sigh, but just moments later he saw a blur of black and white appear behind one of the men, and the soldier fell soundlessly to ground.

What. . . ?

Soon the entire congregation had realized what had happened, and Hiei ran out of the mass, leading them away.

Kirin was honestly shocked. The little asshole had actually decided to help him, it seemed.

Kirin's gaze shifted just slightly, making sure the coast was clear, when he saw Mukuro herself making her way after Hiei.

There was no telling what kind of beating he might be in for, but surely he would be all right, wouldn't he? Mukuro wouldn't kill him, acting strangely or not.

Would she?

Better not waste any more time, Kirin reminded himself, then darted out of his shrubbery cover and snatched the unconscious man from the ground, making his way swiftly back to the fortress.

—.—

By the time Kirin returned to his room with the second soldier in tow, Shigure must have spent more than an hour staring into his microscope. He sat up as Kirin walked in, glancing at him and blinking his vision clear.

"Just sit him up over there," he said, nodding in the general direction of a couple chairs next to the operating table where the first man was lying.

"He hasn't woken up?" asked Kirin, once his arms were free.

"I gave him a strong sedative, he'll be out for several more hours," said Shigure. He slid the microscope in Kirin's direction on the table. "C'mere, have a look at this."

Kirin stared for a moment before somewhat awkwardly approaching the microscope and putting his face up to it.

"What . . . am I looking at?"

"It's his blood," Shigure answered. "Do you see those black deposits?"

Kirin stared into the microscope, unsure what he was seeing but supposing it was black specks. "Yeah."

"Those shouldn't be there. I'm assuming it's related."

Kirin looked for a moment more before he pulled away. "So what are they? What does it mean?"

"I can't be sure yet, but I don't think the black stuff is the cause—it doesn't appear to be a living organism."

Kirin wasn't sure whether that was good or bad, but it seemed apparent that something was inside those men.

Something that was possibly inside of Mukuro.