Chapter Nineteen: Suspicions
After their dinner, Kainna and Hiei took the same way back through the forest as before. Kainna thought she probably should have insisted that she was fine to walk home by herself, but she was having too nice of a time with Hiei to be polite. Little did she know Hiei was having similar thoughts, he was relieved for once that she didn't insist on walking back by herself. He could enjoy his time spent with her without having to discuss why he wanted to walk her back, why he kept wanting to spend more time with her. They walked silently for a few minutes, the forest around them filling in their silence with the chirping of bugs and rustling of leaves from some of the smaller animals running around the underbrush. Kainna was humming to herself, an unconscious habit of hers that she did whenever she was content. Hiei was surprised by it at first but said nothing as he found himself liking the cute noise she was making.
They continued walking this way up the stairs of the forest and into the field behind Genkai's dojo. With the house in sight, a sudden thought crossed Kainna's mind, and her humming immediately stopped. Kainna's expression shifted from happiness to a worrisome look.
"Hiei?" Kainna's voice broke Hiei out of the content haze he was in. He noticed she had stopped walking a couple of feet behind him, he turned to look at her with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Do you find it strange how easily Yusuke and Kuwabara defeated the Toguro brothers?" Kainna finally spoke. At her question her stomach twisted with anxiety; her instincts screamed at her that there was something wrong. Hiei's expression turned serious as he thought over her question.
"I find it extremely strange." Was all Hiei said. His mind was already running ramped at her insinuation; why would they play dead?
"I heard tales of the brothers, and I had felt their energy at one point... they are easily class A demons. And although I think Yusuke could reach class A himself soon, he's not even close to their level at the moment, let alone Kuwabara." Kainna walked closer to Hiei as she spoke and was standing in front of him now, her eyes connecting with his. "To be honest, I was prepared to have Yukina run while I held them off until you or Kurama showed up to help. Maybe you and I could have tagged team them, we both would stand a chance to defeat them but..." Kainna trailed off as the uneasy feeling returned to her.
"They should not have been defeated that easily." Hiei finished the sentence for her. "Especially by that oaf, Kuwabara." Hiei scowled just thinking about it. There was something else going on in the background here and Hiei didn't like that he hadn't a clue to what it was.
"If they are still alive, why would they let us leave with Yukina?" Kainna thought out loud as her eyes shifted to the sky, the feeling in her gut still making her uneasy. Hiei watched Kainna, his mouth twisted into a scowl. He didn't like that she was worrying herself over this but, there was nothing he could do.
"We will just have to be vigilant, in case they appear again." Hiei concluded before he nudged her shoulder with his own. Kainna turned her face towards him, they were only inches apart now and Kainna felt her stomach twist with a different feeling.
"Come on, you should get some rest." Hiei continued walking, his appearance seemed at ease, but his mind was racing. He had no choice but to leave Kainna in the care of Genkai, at least he would know she would be safe enough there. Together, Kainna and Genkai would make a formidable team, so he didn't have to worry for her safety there. But he didn't like how far away his camp was situated from her. Regardless of the fact that she could hold her own in a fight, he didn't like how long it would take for him to get to her. He needed to move his camp tonight.
"Will you be back tomorrow?" Kainna spoke before thinking, her exhaustion had caught up to her and the filter between her brain and mouth seemed non-existent in this moment. A blush erupted on her face as she realized what she had just blurted out and how it might seem. Could she not spend a day without him? Hiei seemed far too pleased with her question and smirked at her.
"Miss me already?" He teased with an easy grin. Kainna looked away from him with a pout, the blush settling cutely on her face.
"No." Kainna crossed her arms but couldn't think of anything else to say in response to his teasing, her mind was sluggish. She didn't exactly sleep while she was captured with Yukina. Besides the fact that she had to keep watch, her kind hosts hadn't exactly given her a bed to sleep on either. She was well passed the 24hr mark of the last time she slept, and it showed.
Hiei couldn't really explain what took over him at that moment. Maybe it was that for once everything Hiei cared about was taken care of. Yukina was found and now safe in the demon realm, and Kainna was exactly where she belonged, with him. Despite knowing the Toguro brothers were out there plotting something for them, Hiei was finally able to relax for once. And so, he allowed some of his tightly wound emotions out. Kainna's hair was still messy, not that it ever wasn't. Her hair was straight but was soft enough that strains usually slipped from her carefully placed braids, a strain was blowing into her face from the small wind that drifted through the open field. Hiei reached forward, his fingertips brushed over the soft skin of her cheekbone, leaving a trail of heat as he moved the strain of hair behind her ear. His hand lingered for a moment before he let them run through her silky locks and down the back of her neck, his thumb rubbing the edge of her jaw. Kainna's eyes widen as she felt the roughness of his skin, her eyes connected with his as she gasped a breath of surprise.
"I'll be here around noon." Hiei murmured, his eyes searching hers for moment before he disappeared completely from her view. Hiei had moved too quickly for her to notice, or perhaps she was just in shock from his touch to see his movements. She reached up and placed a hand over the cheek that he touched, the coolness of her skin calmed the fire he had left behind. She wasn't sure if the heat was from Hiei or her own blush, either way his touch had created it. A shiver ran down her spine, it wasn't as if he had kissed her, but he had touched her in such a familiar way that made Kainna feel as though it was romantic, she wondered if he meant it that way. An embarrassed but giddy smile took over her face, one she couldn't get rid of despite being unsure of her own feelings or his.
Hiei crouched on a tree branch not far away from the field, watching Kainna place a hand where he had just touched moments ago. Hiei scowled at his own cowardice, for once hating how he relied on his speed. In his nervousness he had ran, again. But his emotions scared him, especially since he didn't know what Kainna thought about him. He ran before she could have a chance to slap his hand away, before she had a chance to reject him. But watching her now... Hiei leaned against the trunk of the tree in thought. She hadn't looked upset, in fact Hiei was sure he could see a smile stretched across her face. His scowl changed into a smirk; he could work with that.
Hiei had only slept a couple of hours before his restlessness forced him to get up around dawn. He had decided to move his campsite to the lake he had discovered by Genkai's, the same lake he had to cool off in after he and Kainna had sparred. After thinking things over, he figured that was close enough to be able to get to Kainna quickly in case she needed him while being far enough away not to be detected by her. He didn't want her to know where his campsite was yet. In the demon realm he had more pull with his infamous name and more money at his disposal, being imprisoned in the human realm left him little to be proud of and while he was not embarrassed of his way of living, he wanted to show her that he could provide a lot better than what he currently had. He had spent most of the morning moving his items, his body moving on autopilot from the boring tasks. His mind was better occupied by replaying his conversation with Kainna yesterday. From her story he was happy to hear that she had experienced being nomadic, his way of life should not negatively impact her, that is, if she accepted him.
Hiei wasn't planning on offering himself as her mate any time soon, he had goals to achieve before he could feel confident enough to do so. The most important goal being mastering the Darkness Flame technique. With that mastered no one would dare to challenge him for Kainna or insinuate that he couldn't protect what was his. With Kainna's steady flow of energy during her time healing him, Hiei had enough energy back in his reserves to start practicing the technique this week with Kurama. He wanted it to be a surprise for Kainna, only wanting her to see it when it was fully mastered. The dark masculine part of Hiei was satisfied with his thinking, Kainna would surely accept such a powerful mate and Hiei couldn't help but smirk thinking of how powerful of a mated pair they would be, no one would stand a chance against them. He found great pleasure in this.
By the time Hiei had finished moving his campsite it was slightly passed noon, he was late. Not so much so that Kainna would worry about him but enough to make him pick up his speed as he headed towards Genkai's. He had a spring in his step as he caught sight of the light of the empty clearing filtering through the last few trees the forest provided before he broke through the clearing. His steps faltered as he noticed the scene he broke into. Genkai and Kuwabara were standing solemnly, their eyes downcast at the three bodies that were on the ground in front of them. Yusuke was laying on his back; his body mangled with deep lacerations and horrible bruising; his spirit energy was so low it was barely detectable. Botan and Kainna were kneeling next to him, Kainna had both hands placed over his heart, one over the other as she sent high amounts of energy into his body. Streams of tears were dripping down from her eyes, the drops splashing against Yusuke's unflinching face. A cold shiver travelled down Hiei's spine at the sight of Kainna's tears, a frown tugged on his lips. He approached them, finally close enough to distinguish thew words jumbled between Kainna's sobs.
"I knew it, I knew they weren't dead. I should have-" A heart wrenching sob tore through her, interrupting her sentence but Hiei could easily figure out what happened. They were right, the Toguro brothers weren't dead. Botan placed a comforting hand on Kainna's shoulder.
"It's alright Kainna, we got Yusuke here in time. Everything will be ok." Kainna wanted to argue but kept her mouth shut. They had arrived moments before with Kuwabara carrying an unconscious Yusuke up the hill. Kainna had been outside with Genkai meditating when they arrived. Yusuke was close to dead. Actually, Kainna was sure his heart had stopped for a moment before she had started to heal him. She had to kickstart his heart with her energy for a few seconds before she felt it beating again. He had been dead, but only she knew that. She had failed again as a protector; she should not have let him go off alone, but she wanted to believe everything was fine. She wanted to believe the Toguro brothers would leave them alone for a little while. She was wrong.
Kainna had depleted more than half her energy before she was able to safely say Yusuke was in the clear. With his reserves regenerating his own energy again and his body healing, she finally took her hands away and sunk back on the ground. Her eyes looked up at the group surrounding her, finally noticing Hiei had joined them.
"Hiei." Kainna murmured as a greeting, her mind already exhausted from today's events. Hiei's eyes softened when she spoke his name, but a flash of anger travelled through him all the same. He felt bad for Yusuke, he was a good and loyal teammate who didn't deserve this suffering but, he was even angrier that yet again, the Toguro demons had brought suffering to Kainna. His hand twitched with murderous intentions, but he quickly stuffed them into his pockets before directing his gaze towards Kuwabara.
"What did they want?" Kuwabara looked briefly at Hiei before redirecting his gaze at Yusuke.
"I only caught the end of their conversation, something about submitting us into the dark tournament." Hiei was surprised to hear this, although this couldn't have worked out better in his favor. What better way to improve his skills, enact his revenge and show his worth to Kainna than to be entered into the dark tournament.
"Good, I have a something to discuss with those two." Kainna spoke darkly, a shiver ran up Hiei's spine at her words. He couldn't deny how attractive he found her with bloodlust in her voice, he wouldn't mind watching her fight as well. Maybe they could even kill the brothers together. Hiei grinned at the thought.
"They don't know the mistake they made." Kainna locked eyes with Hiei at his words, a sadistic grin graced her features.
"Oh, they will."
When Botan had heard of what happened, she had called Kurama to inform him to meet them all at Genkai's. Koenma also insisted on meeting with the demons of the team to discuss the strategy. Once Kurama arrived, the three demons along with Botan, travelled through a portal to spirit realm. Kainna wasn't pleased with having to leave Yusuke, but Genkai reassured her that she could watch over him while they were gone. However, before they left, she pulled Kainna aside alone.
"Kainna, there is a favor I need." Kainna was surprised at Genkai's words and was about to make a joke about it, but seeing the seriousness of Genkai's expression, she held her tongue.
"What is it?"
"I am not sure what Koenma plans to do but tell him I need to be on the team. I don't need to fight but I need to be made captain or a sponsor. I need to be at the dark tournament, for Yusuke's sake." Genkai voice was insistent, it surprised Kainna momentarily. She didn't think Genkai would want to be included in the dark tournament. At the look of confusion that passed over Kainna's face Genkai continued.
"There are stories from my past that I have yet to tell you. But just know this, I am linked to those brothers. I need to see them fall as well." Kainna's demeanour changed once Genkai had said that. Although she didn't know the story, she understood Gankai's insistence.
"Ok, I will advocate for you to Koenma. I'll let you know everything when we get back." And with that, the three demons travelled to the spirit realm. Once there Botan led them into the office Koenma always seemed to be in. Kainna wrinkled her nose once she entered, she couldn't say she missed this place. Some might find it tranquil and calm, at least outside of Koenma's office, but Kainna found it quiet boring. She was glad she didn't have to be there anymore.
"Ah, the demons from Team Urameshi. Hello, how is Yusuke doing?" Koenma greeted them, only taking a pause in his stamping to address the demons in front of him.
"He is stable and regenerating his energy. He should be awake by tomorrow and ready to train by the day after, so long as he listens to my instructions." Kainna answered Koenma's question for the team as she was the healer. Koenma nodded in thought.
"Good, he needs all the training he can get. As I'm sure you guys have been made aware, Team Urameshi has been submitted to be part of the Dark Tournament. Being the special invited guest this year, we cannot reject or forfeit the invite without the entire team being killed." Koenma started with reviewing the basics.
"We weren't planning on rejecting the invitation. In fact, considering what happened to Yusuke, you might say we are excited for it." Hiei said with a smirk. Kurama nodded solemnly while Kainna gave a toothy grin that sent a chill down Koenma's spin. That grin looked like it was filled with nothing but bloodlust. Koenma cleared his throat and shuffled the papers in front of him to distract himself from it before continuing.
"Yes well, lucky for us the team requires five members. Team Urameshi already has five, you three, Kuwabara and Yusuke. You may also have a Team Captain to coach to advise you along the way that will act as your one substitution or remain on the sidelines. Any thoughts?" Before the two men had a chance to speak, Kainna quickly spoke up.
"Genkai." The way she said it left no room for argument and considering how well known Genkai was for being a tough fighter, no one even thought of nominating someone else. However, Koenma looked curiously at Kainna. He knew some of the background involving the Toguro brothers and Genkai and wondered if Kainna was privileged to that knowledge as well. Koenma stared at her a moment longer but couldn't read her.
"Alright, Genkai will be coaching Team Urameshi. Judging by your confidence in nominating her I'm guessing Genkai is already aware?" Kainna nodded. "Good, now the dark tournament will be taking place in 10 days in its usual place, Hanging Neck Island. I will give Botan the details of the meet-up spot along with the date and time."
"It's happening in exactly 10 days?" Kainna asked suddenly. Koenma looked at her again, knowing exactly why she was asking this.
"Yes, you will be taking a ship to the island on the night of the new moon. Considering the first round of fights don't start until the morning after you should be recovered enough to fight in the first round." Koenma reassured Kainna. Kainna nodded although her worried expression didn't change. Hiei glanced at her from the corner of his eye, it didn't matter what day the new moon fell on. He would be there, no one would be able to lay a finger on her.
"Do not fret Kainna, I'm sure Hiei wouldn't allow anything to happen to you." Kurama teased with an easy smile. Hiei's neutral expression changed immediately to an annoyed scowl.
"Don't you mean the team wouldn't let anything happen to her?" Hiei muttered back feeling embarrassed to be called out so publicly. He glared at Kurama; the fox had the balls to smile innocently back to him.
"Oh yea, that's exactly what I meant." Kurama said with a far too innocent voice. Hiei fumed silently before noticing Kainna had yet to say anything. Her expression was still worried, her eyes were focused on the floor in front of her. It was obvious she didn't hear anything they said.
"Kainna?" Kurama called her name. She jumped as if the noise scared her before refocusing her gaze on the two demons in front of her.
"Yea, yea... I'll be fine. Anyways we probably should get back to Genkai." Kainna said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Hiei and Kurama shared a look, something wasn't right.
Kainna stayed relatively quiet the rest of the trip, only responding to questions aimed directly at her rather than participating in any conversation. She listened as Botan gave the details of their accommodations but otherwise seemed to be in her own world. By the time they had left and were back at Genkai's, Kainna had probably said about 10 words in total. They stopped in the field behind the dojo, the sun was just starting to set, and a cool breeze brought the promise of a colder night. Kainna had stopped walking and was looking at the sunset in thought, Kurama glanced at Hiei.
"I will go inform Genkai all that we discussed with Koenma." Kurama offered with another glance at Kainna before leaving the two demons alone. Kainna still hadn't said a word but sat down in the field. Hiei remained standing but shifted his posture to address her. Admittedly her silence had worried him, was there something about the new moon that worried her?
"Kainna." Hiei called out to her for her attention. Kainna looked up, suddenly startled from her name rolling off his tongue. She realized he hardly called her by her name, and she found she liked how it sounded from him. But at her glance she could tell what he wanted, she had been silent ever since the mention of the new moon and she could tell he wanted to know why. Ironically, that was why she was silent. She wasn't sure who she wanted to trust with her vulnerability, but she found herself always returning to Hiei as her answer.
"Did you ever hear the story of how moon demons came to be?" Kainna asked instead. Hiei was intrigued, he could tell that this had something to do with whatever was bothering Kainna.
"No, only rumors that you came from a moon god." Kainna smiled slightly at his answer.
"You are partially correct, originally, we were a group of humans that worshipped the moon almost a millennia ago. Would you like to hear the story?" Hiei sat down and that was invitation enough for Kainna to continue.
"The story goes that the humans that worshipped the moon believed the moon was a goddess that blessed those who followed the moon cycle. They gave her sacrifices on the full moon and in return their village flourished with their crops and animals. It was told that the other humans got jealous of their prosperity and claimed they were witches that should be burned for their sins. So, one night, they came into their village and slaughtered everyone except the high priestess, Mizuki and her lover, Mikoto. The priestess was something that we would consider a spirit detective, she had high spiritual energy and was believed to be very powerful, even in her human life. They kidnapped Mikoto in hopes of convincing Mizuki of joining them and bringing some of her power over to their side. They left her alone that night to think it over in the pool of her family's blood." Kainna thought it ironic that she had also experienced a genocide as well. It almost seemed a curse on her people.
"What they didn't know what how vengeful our people can be. That night was a full moon and so she went into the lake of her village, the very same lake that they had sacrificed animals to the moon goddess. She begged for enough power to destroy the village that took her lover from her and in return she would give her life's energy. She took a sharp rock and slashed her wrist open and bled out into the lake. When she awoken hours later, the lake was completely red, her black hair had turned white just like the moon and she had a glowing crescent on her forehead. She had felt power that she could never have imaged; she was the first moon demoness. She went and killed every single human in the village, all but the captain that had taken her mate, he had run away at first sight of her. By the time she had gotten to Mikoto, they had already broken his neck. In despair, she grabbed his body and took him back to the lake, begging the moon goddess to give him back to her, claiming she could not live eternity without him. But when she placed him into the water, his hair had turned pitch black instead of white, his neck healed but he didn't receive the crescent moon. When he awoken, they discovered that while he was a demon, he did not have the power she did. That didn't matter much to them, they were together and so they travelled, killing off the rest of their enemies that managed to escape. Everything seemed fine, until the night of the new moon." Kainna glanced over at Hiei to make sure he was still paying attention. His gaze was focused solely on her, the intensity of his stare made her flustered for a second before she continued.
"They had started to notice that Mizuki had started to feel weak, her energy reserves were depleting although she was not using them. It was then that they discovered the Captain had traced their whereabouts and was enroute to them. In fear, Mikoto had brought her into a secluded cave for the night to protect her from anything that could do her harm. They had thought the moon goddess had taken away her power, they believed her to be dying. When midnight hit, Mizuki couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She fell into a deep slumber; her body was surrounded by a white light; her life energy had created a shield to protect her in her weakened state. It was then the captain had found them, he and Mikoto began their final battle. During the fight, he had struck Mikoto who fainted from the blow and approached Mizuki but when his hand touched her shield it burnt him like hot embers. His scream awoken Mikoto who was able to finally kill him. Without thought, he rushed to Mizuki and reached to wake her. His hand passed through her shield without any pain and once his hand touched her shoulder, the shield disappeared, and Mizuki woke up. It was then they realized why Mikoto was not given the same power as her, Mizuki's powers were influenced by the moon, so much so that when the moon disappeared so did her powers. Mikoto was created to watch over her during the new moon, he was to protect her when she as at her weakest." Kainna ended her story here, turning her body to address Hiei now. He was looking away in thought, his mind reviewing the tale she had just told.
"On the night of the new moon, I will be really weak. My spirit energy would be that of a lower C or D class demon. Its why I have my sai daggers, I will be able to defend myself fine with those. But once midnight comes around, I won't have a choice. I will be out for an hour until the new moon starts descending from the sky. I'll have my shield but if someone tries hard enough, they'll be able to break through it eventually. Its why un-mated females in my clan are not allowed to leave the village. We have male moon demons that are assigned to protect the females during the new moon."
"What have you been doing while staying here?" Hiei asked. He wondered if Yusuke was taking place of her mate, protecting her during the full moon. Alhough he knew that their relationship was like that of siblings, he didn't like the idea of someone other than him taking that position, the idea made him frown.
"Only Genkai knows what truly happens to me during the new moon, Yusuke just believes I get sick. I've been locking myself in my room with wards on all the entrances during the night. It's not the best situation for me, but it's been working so far." Hiei was pleased with her answer, a possessive part of him delighted in the knowledge that he was the only male that knew of her weakness. Although, he didn't like how alone she was during this process. He should be there.
Kainna was unaware of how Hiei's thoughts aligned with her own, she chewed her lip in nervousness. She had to ask something of him that she never had to ask another male before. "From what I understand, we will be taking a boat to the island and arriving there a little bit before midnight. We will all be sharing a suite with only two rooms and a living area. I won't have enough time or spirit energy to put my wards up in one of the rooms. Would you-" Kainna hesitated, an embarrassed look crossed her face. "Would you ensure my safety during that night? I know you aren't part of my clan or my mate or anything." Kainna blushed here and looked away not noticing Hiei's embarrassed expression. "So, you don't have to if you don't want to, but... you're the only one I trust to defeat any demons sent to kidnap me." Hiei felt a burning pride settle in his chest at her declaration. Yes, he thought egotistically, he was the most powerful on the team right now, the only one coming close was Kurama, if he could access his demon form. As it stands, he would be the best person to protect her. He was extremely pleased by this, especially knowing she could clearly see how competent in fighting he was as well. And even though he wanted to correct her, he wanted to state that he was not her mate yet, he held back. Although he was powerful, he was not as powerful as he wanted to be. So, instead he decided to tease her a bit to lighten the mood.
"Are you sure Kuwabara isn't more suited." Hiei couldn't control the smirk he had on his face at his own joke. Kainna's eyes widened in shock as laughter escaped her.
"Oh, are you saying you're weaker than Kuwabara? My mistake then, I guess I'll just have to find some human to protect me." Kainna snickered to herself as she teased Hiei back. She was glad he broke the awkwardness with a joke, she felt like she had been serious far too long today. And her question left her very embarrassed, it almost felt as if she were declaring her feelings. Kainna looked away as that thought crossed her mind, what feelings exactly?
"Well, since you have said I am the most powerful on the team-"
"I didn't say that-"
"It was implied." Hiei's smirk widened as Kainna looked away in defeat. "I don't mind watching over you. Will I have to also wake you up after the hour of the new moon?" Hiei asked.
"No, I'll awaken on my own. Besides, I'm not entirely sure you will be able to pass through my shield. It's a subconscious thing. The only one my conscious let enter my shield was my sister, my parents couldn't even pass it." Which was why she was still alive, it's what saved her that night. Hiei looked thoughtfully at Kainna.
"You must have been close to her, what was her name?"
"Hikari." Kainna spoke her name softly, realizing it had been years since she last spoke it. Hiei's eyes softened seeing Kainna's somber look.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing will happen to you."