Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! I'm glad this story is sparking some interest! Now, I know that this chapter is short, but it's finals week at college and I'm trying to maintain my good GPA (and keep my scholarships). Hopefully this is enough to satisfy you until I can get the next part typed up (this was originally only half of the chapter, but stress and fatigue lead me to split it). Don't worry, your favorite characters will be appearing soon enough! Stick with me!
Warnings: Mild language is about all that's in this chapter. Next chapter will bring a few more warnings. ;)
Dislcaimer: I don't own YYH or anything relating to it.
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The shadow slithered up the trunk of the cherry tree inhumanly, appearing at Kurama's window a moment later. He recoiled, disgusted, as a particularly grotesque demonic face loomed from the darkness towards his closed window. The creature seemed to be some sort of snake demon by the look of it, and in no way attractive. Kurama forced the look of revulsion from his face and approached the window.
"Can I help you?" The face twisted in some sort of expression; Kurama thought it might have been confusion.
"Youko Kurama?" His speech was broken and heavily accented, but Kurama was certain he was male.
"Who's asking?" He still hadn't opened the window, and the demon had made no move to open it either. Apparently he had no interest in coming into Kurama's room; he was obviously not there to kill.
"Master Sakyo ask. Partner send message. Want see Youko Kurama." Kurama frowned, moving towards the window.
"My partner sent a message? Who, Hiei?" The demon shook his ugly head.
"No. Other partner. Kuronue." Emerald eyes widened and Kurama stared blankly for a moment before blinking and shaking his head.
"Kuronue's dead, he was killed in a trap a long time ago. My partner is Hiei now, so unless you have a message from him, I have no idea who you're talking about."
"Kuronue send message. Want see you. Miss you." Kurama was scowling now, restraining himself from sending one of his plants straight through the snake demon's skull.
"I told you, Kuronue is dead. Now, what does your master want from me? Obviously he sent you to deliver a message of some sort." The demon shook his head.
"Master Sakyo agree to send me for Kuronue. Want see you. Need help. Not dead. Need help." Kurama felt a growl rising in his throat. With a flare of demonic energy, he thrust his arm through the glass and pulled the demon in, holding him up to his face, snarling.
"Kuronue is DEAD! I know; I saw the trap that killed him! Now, either tell me what your master wants or get the hell out. I am NOT in the mood to listen to lies!"
"Kuronue want see y-" But the creature was unable to finish his sentence as Kurama's fist wrapped tightly around his neck, cutting off his airway.
"Stop LYING to me! Kuronue is dead, leave his memory in peace!"
"You have dream." The words were choked out, barely audible, but Kurama froze, staring at the demon he was clutching.
"What did you just say?" His voice was soft, dangerous. How could this creature possibly know about the dreams he had been having? He slackened his hold slightly, allowing the demon some air.
"Kuronue send dream. Want help. He say come. He say bring mirror."
"He-what? What mirror?" Kurama racked his memories. Mirror… He and Kuronue had never had a mirror… Well, they HAD stolen a mirror once. But that was the botched heist that had gotten Kuronue caught… Besides, Kurama had been ambushed just before he got back to their lair. The mirror had never even made it back to the keep. But Kuronue couldn't have known that… "The Mirror of Darkness… but what could he want with that? We only stole it because it was a challenge." The demon's eyes lit up at the name of the mirror.
"Mirror of Darkness, yes. Bring mirror. Kuronue need you. Come with me." Kurama frowned at him, releasing his neck completely.
"I don't have it. It's in Spirit World-" He was cut off by a loud hiss from the snake demon.
"Spirit World?! No! You get. I return in one week. Remember, Kuronue need you." And, quick as a flash, he slithered down the tree, across the yard, and out of sight. Kurama pondered this new information until his gaze fell upon the bloodstain spreading on the carpet. Snapping back to reality, he glanced down to see small rivulets of blood running from the lacerations on his hand. "Damn, mother will throw a fit," he muttered, wrapping his shirt around his hand and heading for the bathroom. He tossed a handful of seeds over his shoulder to hatch tiny plants that would devour the blood before it had time to set in and stain the fibers of the carpet.
Standing in front of the mirror in his bathroom, Kurama's thoughts wandered to the mirror locked in Spirit World's vault. He could steal it; that would be simple enough. But he didn't want to betray Koenma's relatively newfound trust in him. And then there was the problem of Yusuke… As soon as the mirror was discovered missing, Yusuke would be after him with a vengeance. And Kuwabara… and Hiei. Sighing, Kurama finished bandaging his bloody hand and walked back to his room. The plants had finished cleaning the blood from the carpet and were dying off. This particular species had to eat constantly or they would starve within moments.
Scooping up the dead plants, the red-head tossed them out his broken window and headed for his desk. He flipped on his desk light and sat down to think. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he picked up a pencil and let his fingers sketch blindly over the paper beneath them. Before long he had drawn a decently accurate picture of the Mirror of Darkness. His hand kept drawing… Kurama watched as Kuronue's face appeared, line by line, almost a perfect reproduction. The face he had known for so long… The face he had thought had been dead for so long. He owed this man his life, his freedom, everything. If there was something, anything he could do to help him, repay the debt he owed him… well, that was just something he had to do. Resolving to talk to Yusuke in the morning, he flipped off his light and went back to bed.
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Well? What did you think? Love it? Hate it? TELL ME!! Oh, and to clear things up, Sakyo is NOT the Sakyo that died in the series. You'll have to wait to find out any more than that, though! Much love to my reviewers!
Princess Seki
