Finally, he managed to poke his head up into a bathroom. Entrance through a toilet wasn’t the noblest of ways to get in, but it had certain advantages as he scrambled into the empty bathroom and leaped from the toilet straight into the hot bath in the centre of the floor. It was perfumed and drawn for someone yet to arrive, and after some vigorous splashing, he might have smelled somewhat more floral than he might have wanted on a job, but at least he didn’t smell like manure anymore.
Hopping out, he shook himself vigorously, then went to his youko form just long enough to grab a towel and wipe the floor where he’d been. The water of the bath was still hot and the bubbles obscured the new colour of the water, and with a wicked grin he hid the towel, and let himself into the air system. He’d been studying the layout of the castle at the time of his reincarnation and it looked like it hadn’t changed. With a flit of his tail, he was off.
An hour later, he was looking into the library of the castle. He’d seen guards through airvents, but hadn’t encountered any wards or traps in the vents themselves. The castle’s defenses seemed to be falling short of their reputation, he mused as he looked down at the library. The map was in plain sight, lying under glass in the centre of the room, and there were no guards at all.
He extended his ki, sensing for traps, but couldn’t see any. That was stupid. Either they were too delicate for him to detect, which shouldn’t have been possible, or the castle owners were so used to no one being able to get into the castle that they didn’t bother with any real security inside. Either way, he was about to become rich.
Kurama shook his head and a seed fell out of his fur and through the grate to the floor below. He concentrated and it began to grow into a kudzu plant that quickly filled the room, blocking the windows and the door in case someone decided to walk in. Branches wrapped around the glass, lifting it away, and a tendril rolled up the map to deliver to him.
Kurama accepted the map into his teeth with a foxy chuckle and turned in the small space to head back the way he’d come. It would require another trip through the sewers, but he’d done worse and the prize was worth it.
Hiei flitted from tree to tree in the Makai, pausing only to look with his jagan for a specific ki he knew as well as he knew himself. Finding it, he was off again, racing towards it.
Shuuichi didn’t know it, but he’d followed her to school, and waited long enough to make sure she was safe there while he carved Makai runes on the roof and walls of the building that claimed in no uncertain terms that this territory was his, and so was everything in it. He’d never done so before, since Kurama wouldn’t have approved, but Kurama could fight for himself. Shuuichi couldn’t, and any demon who saw those runes would know instantly from the ki emanating out of them that an S-class demon ruled there and if they trespassed, they would die. He’d marked the same around her entire neighbourhood and along the route to the school.
Hopefully, Shuuichi herself wouldn’t notice them.
He should still be there, he thought to himself as he moved. He should be protecting her, because she was incapable of protecting herself. Even a D-class youko could take her down and his hand tightened on his sword at that thought. He had no right to go back to the Makai to see Kurama, much as he loved him too. The fox didn’t need him the way the human did, he should return to his post.
Hiei kept going, feeling torn. Shuuichi was safe. She was a normal human in a normal school and there was no one there who would hurt her. There were no crazed demons running around in the Makai, the Urameshi team made sure of that. He could see his fox and spend the time he craved with him before returning to her. He could juggle two lovers and be with each while neglecting either. He hoped.
It still drove him crazy though. Maybe he could get Yuusuke to watch her during the day instead. He trusted the human to be powerful enough to stop whatever tried to harm her. Even the idiot would be better than nothing.
No, he didn’t trust the idiot, no matter how much his sister liked him. Yuusuke would be better. They went to different schools, but Yuusuke could just switch to Shuuichi’s, couldn’t he? And if he skipped class, Hiei would gut him.
Content with that thought, he flitted down towards a river, Kurama’s ki strong in his mind. The kitsune was close and he landed in the centre of a clearing he was approaching to wait.
Kurama had sensed him too and tore out of the bushes in foxform, barking happily as he launched himself into his arms.
Hiei caught him and immediately hurled him across the clearing. "Fuck, you stink!"
Kurama rolled over in mid-air to land on his paws and barked laughter at him. Flitting his tail, he dropped something out of his mouth onto the bank and ran into the river where the flow was slow to rinse off.
It was an hour before Hiei let him come out, and the youko’s teeth were chattering as he climbed out and shook himself, then changed to youko form.
"Morning, Hiei," he grinned.
Hiei glared at him. "Why do you smell like a sewer?" he demanded.
"Because I crawled through one today. Twice."
Hiei wrinkled his nose at the very idea. "Do I want to know why?"
The fox winked at him. "So that I could get into a castle to steal something."
"And you didn’t take me??"
Kurama howled with laughter and scooped him up for a hug that Hiei grudgingly allowed since no one was looking. "It was an old debt I owed, love. You can come on the next job." He nuzzled him amorously, obviously interested in celebrating.
Some time later, Hiei crawled out from under him and sat up, wiping sweat off his arms and chest. "What did you steal?" he asked.
Kurama looked up sleepily. "Hm? A map."
"To what?"
"To the treasure one desires most deeply."
Hiei looked at him sharply. "You stole the Dream Map?"
The fox shook off the lethargy intimacy always gave him and sat up. "You’ve heard of it."
"Hn. Who hasn’t?" He stood and went over to pick up the rolled piece of vellum Kurama had dropped. "How’d you get past the security?"
"There damn near wasn’t any." Kurama stretched, then ran a hand through his hair. "It was the easiest job I’ve done, if the smelliest."
Hiei brought it back to him. "From everything I’ve heard, this map is unstealable. Most thieves wouldn’t even have tried for it."
"Which kind of does make it unstealable." Kurama unrolled it. "Let’s see what ‘ultimately desired treasure’ it points to."
Hiei sat beside him to look while Kurama spread the map out on the ground, holding the edges down with rocks. It was a map of the Makai, he realized, with a big red X on it. No, it was the Ningenkai and the X was in a different spot. Hiei shook his head and looked closer, and realized that he was looking at both worlds at the same time, and two separate Xs. In the Makai one, the X was right where he was standing, on the edge of the river near the gate to the Ningenkai he always used. In the Ningenkai, the X was over a representation of Minamino Shuuichi’s school.
Hiei shot a look at the fox beside him and turned very red. Kurama didn’t seem to notice, staring instead at the map with a pale face. Hiei had the feeling he wasn’t looking at the same treasures he had been.
"What do you see?" he asked, hoping Kurama didn’t ask him the same question in return.
Kurama quickly rolled up the map and shoved it inside an inner pocket. "Nothing," he replied.
Wearily, Shuuichi walked home, exhausted from the stress of the day. She hadn’t dared go to the bathroom all day and she’d been pale enough when she remembered she did in fact have gym class that the nurse excused her from it. But she couldn’t keep that up forever. At least her period had stopped. It only lasted a few hours, but from what little she knew of female reproductive systems, that could happen in the face of intense stress, which she definitely had. Her hormones were certainly out of whack from it.
She winced as she remembered shrieking at her math sensei and hurling an eraser at his head during a bout of unexplained rage. She’d never gotten detention before and the school was in shock over it. Hopefully she wouldn’t get it again.
Hiei appeared suddenly beside her. "You’re late," he groused. "I was about to go look for you."
Shuuichi stared at the sidewalk. The last thing she wanted was Hiei mad at her. "Sorry. I got detention."
"What’s that?"
"It’s where you stay after school and write "I will not throw erasers at the teacher’s head" five hundred times on the board."
He frowned. "Why did you do that?" He was fingering his katana.
"PMS."
"Huh?"
She closed her eyes. "Don’t ask, Hiei. Just don’t ask." They turned onto her block and walked silently until they reached her house. Hiei flitted up to her bedroom window and she let herself in by the front door. Her kaasan and stepfather weren’t home from work yet and Shuu-chan was at soccer practice. She breathed a sigh of relief as she went up to her room.
Hiei watched her from his seat in the window. "How’s Kurama?" she asked quietly.
"Okay. He’s stealing again."
Shuuichi felt a bit of jealousy. "Must be nice."
"Hn. He didn’t take me along."
She smiled. "Poor baby." He just rolled his eyes and she settled down to do her homework. Hiei commenced sharpening his sword.
It was nice having him there, just knowing he was around. She could hear him shifting in his seat periodically and suddenly realized that she COULD hear him. He was intentionally making noise so she was aware of him even while unable to sense his ki. Her eyes filled with tears.
"I love you, Hiei," she whispered to him over her shoulder. He looked up at her, then put his sword aside and hopped down. He came over to her and pulled her gently from her chair and into his arms, steering her towards the bed.
"I love you too," he whispered.
Silently, Kurama sat in the clearing where Hiei had finally left him, telling him he had to get back to Shuuichi before her school let out. He’d barely acknowledged him, other than to give him a nod and a request to give Shuuichi a kiss from him. Hiei had nodded, then flitted off. Kurama knew he was worried about him, but he hadn’t said anything and Kurama was glad he’d respected his privacy. This wasn’t something he was ready to talk about yet.
For the hundredth time since Hiei went back to the Ningenkai, Kurama pulled out the map and unfolded it. The X was still in the same spot it had been before, showing him the details of a place he’d never heard about, and never imagined before. A place which would give him exactly what he wanted most. Something he hadn’t thought possible.
Kurama bit his lip, wanting it so badly his throat felt tight and his eyes burned. Hiei would understand, should understand, wouldn’t understand. There was danger, it was risky, but it was the only chance he had. He shivered, his youko nature pushing to the forefront with his desire. To run, to steal, to risk. He had to do this.
He folded the map and put it back in his pocket. He needed this, needed it more than anything in his entire 600 hundred years of life, and he knew he would wither and die if he didn’t try for it. Standing, he went to fox form and raced off on his new mission, quickly leaving the clearing behind.
Behind him, a hunter stepped out of the woods and over to where he’d been sitting, a crossbow across his shoulder and a long hunting knife at his hip. He knelt, touching the ground where the kitsune had been, then straightened and continued on his way, tracking his target.
Delicate in sleep, Shuuichi breathed slowly and evenly, her eyes closed and her body relaxed. Sated, Hiei watched her sleep, wondering idly how he was going to keep up with the sexual needs of both a kitsune and a human. He grinned, fangs bared. He was looking forward to finding out.
Shuuichi mumbled in her sleep, murmuring his name and he bent his head to brush a kiss across her face. Reaching up, he pulled off the ward that covered his jagan, intent on really looking at her, as he’d never looked at a human before.
She was weaker than she had been while merged with Kurama, her body more fragile than he’d thought. He growled, more determined than ever to protect her and continued his examination of her soul.
A moment later, he blinked and the jagan snapped shut. He quickly rebound it and looked at her with normal eyes. She was so beautiful, so very much his. He still hated normal humans, but there was nothing normal about her. Hiei frowned and slipped out of her bed to dress. He’d arrange her protection with Yuusuke now, because he had no intention of ever letting her go unguarded again, not now. Especially not now.
He eased the window shut and vanished, leaving her to sleep where he knew she would be safe. No one would harm her in her own home.
Humming happily, Shiori unlocked her front door and let herself in. It had been a good day at work, but her feet did hurt and she was grateful as she slipped her shoes off and put on some slippers. Her purse she left by the front door as she went upstairs to change.
A noise sounded from inside Shuuichi’s door and she went over to it, opening it gently. "Shuuichi, would you like some-"
She froze, staring in shock at the creature in her son’s room. Seven feet tall with a fox’s ears and tail, long silver hair and gossamer garments. He stood half in and half out the window, her beautiful son wrapped in a sheet and asleep in his arms. He stared back at her with golden eyes as she tried to work up a scream that wouldn’t come. Seeing her fright, his expression changed and she was almost sure he looked hurt at her reaction. Then he ducked out the window with her son and was gone.
Shiori tumbled to the ground in a faint.
Hiei eventually found Yuusuke at Keiko’s ramen stand, a place he usually avoided unless dragged there by Kurama. The idiot was there as well, and Hiei’s expression darkened as he realized he was sitting in a booth with HIS sister, beaming across the table at her with a more stupid expression on his face than usual.
"Y-y-yukina-san," he babbled to her, his face bright red. She looked somewhat confused. "I-I-I-I have something to g-g-g-ive you."
"What is it, Kazuma-san?" she asked sweetly.
Hiei flitted over, his face enraged and dropped down on the table between them just in time to snatch the skinny little rose Kuwabara was trying to give her.
"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled.
Hiei chomped off the bud. "Hn. Needs
salt.""YOU ATE YUKINA-SAN’S FLOWER!" Kuwabara yelled, leaping to his feet. "YOU MUST SUFFER!"
Hiei punched him in the nose. "Forget it. I’m not in the mood."
Kuwabara howled, spurting red as Yukina ran to him. "Kazuma-san! You’re hurt!"
Hiei immediately felt guilty, even while the idiot lapped up her attention like a dog. Hopping down, he tried not to look like he was slinking away while he went over to where Keiko was standing in an apron, glaring at him.
"You didn’t have to do that," she told him. He just glared at her.
Keiko jerked her thumb towards the kitchen door. "Yuusuke’s in there."
Yukina was healing Kuwabara’s nose while he spouted love poetry to her. Not daring to look at them for fear he’d either cut the idiot’s head off or vomit, Hiei went into the kitchen.
Yuusuke was cooking noodles, and singing badly while he did so. The kitchen was full of steam, the counters so crowded there didn’t seem to be room for anything more, yet somehow he was managing to get the orders out.
Hiei glared at him. "Yuusuke."
Yuusuke kept on singing.
"YUUSUKE!" Hiei yelled and launched a cup at his head.
Yuusuke caught it and frowned at him. "Are you trying to kill me?" he snapped.
"If I were, you’d be dead." Hiei looked around for a windowsill to perch in. Not finding one, he settled for crossing his arms. "I want you to guard Shuuichi."
The boy looked startled. "From what?"
Was he as stupid as the idiot? "From enemies! I can’t be with her all the time. I need you to watch her while she’s at that ningen school of hers."
"You know, Hiei, I do have a life. Besides, I go to a different school, remember?"
Hiei’s brow tightened. "So switch schools."
Yuusuke howled. "Are you nuts?? Do you know how much that school costs? It’s private, there’s no way my mom can afford it. And even if she could, I am NOT wearing pink."
"Then she’ll go to your school."
"Yeah, right. Minamino Shuuichi at Delinquent High. Like that’s ever going to happen."
Hiei’s teeth ground together. He HAD to get Shuuichi protection, but he couldn’t tell Yuusuke precisely why. He just couldn’t. He grabbed his arm. "We’ll just ask HER that question."
"Hey! I got noodles to cook here!"
"Fuck the noodles!" Hiei dragged him out of the kitchen and across the restaurant. Spotting Kuwabara still fawning over his sister, he dragged him along too.
"Hey!" Keiko yelled at their backs. "Who’s gonna do the cooking??"
Yukina smiled at her. "Why not just call for take-out?" she asked.
Shuuichi woke up on a bed of roses.
Blinking sleepily, she sat up and looked around, the white sheet drawn up over her breasts. She was lying in a clearing on a cushion of rose petals, on a slight rise in a clearing that led to a sparkling creek. The grass was the new green of spring, the overhanging trees covered in purple and white blooms, wildflowers dotting the grass and orchids above her head. Everywhere she looked, there were flowers, and the smell was delicious. Shuuichi all but squealed in delight.
With a rustle of leaves, a five tailed fox stepped into the clearing, all his tails held high as he danced towards her, playing for her amusement while she smiled. He rolled over on the grass, tongue dangling and yipped at her. Shuuichi extended a hand towards him, laughing, and he ran up to her, lying down so that she could scratch his neck, right in the spot they both knew felt most heavenly. Kurama’s eyes closed in pure pleasure.
"Do I want to know why you brought me into the Makai?" she asked him, still smiling. Kurama opened one eye and gave her a foxy grin, then jumped up and licked her face. Leaping back, he shifted to youko.
It was the first time Shuuichi had seen herself as a youko from outside herself and her heart thumped with an ache that she would never stand in that form.
Kurama smiled at her as though he knew what she was thinking, which he probably did, she mused as he drew her into his arms, holding her against his chest and stroking her long red hair. He smelled of the deep woods.
"My Shuuichi," he whispered. "My beautiful Shuuichi." She lifted her head and he kissed his way gently down her forehead and over her eyes.
"I missed you," she whispered back, her arms looping around his neck.
"I missed you too." His arms eased around her, the breeze blowing perfume over them both and mixing their hair in strands of red and silver. "You’re my soul."
Her heart was beating in her throat. "And here I thought you were MY soul."
He smiled and hugged her close. "Well, you’re my compassion at least."
"No." She stroked his cheek with a finger. "You always had compassion. I just… reminded you of it."
He smiled down at her, and she felt like she was losing herself in his golden eyes. Flowers sprang up even more luxuriously around them as he held her, almost purring as he searched her face and shared his warmth until she felt as though she didn’t need the sheet.
Finally, he bent to nuzzle her neck and nip her ear. "I found something," he whispered to her. "A place I want to take you to. It’s only a few days from here."
Shuuichi shivered. The sound of his voice resonated in her soul. Not the way Hiei’s did, but differently. "What kind of place?" Was that why he stole her away?
His arms tightened around her in the garden he’d built for her alone. "Someplace where we both can be whole."
She’d agreed.
Excited, though he’d known Shuuichi would want this as deeply as he did, Kurama waited for her to finish dressing behind a screen of bushes. When he snatched her, he’d grabbed their favourite yellow Chinese style tunic and pants to wear, and stolen some panties on the way as well.
If there was one thing he could change about this whole expedition, it would be that he hadn’t frightened Shiori so badly. That had never been his intention, but when he saw her he froze, not knowing what to say. Shuuichi was still ignorant of that. Upsetting her would be even worse than upsetting himself and she was already feeling bad for running off like this with him without telling even Hiei. Neither of them wanted to wait, though. Not even for a second. Not even for Hiei. Kurama regretted that too.
Shuuichi stepped out from behind the bush, smiling at him. "Ready."
He grinned and held an arm for her. "Then shall we?"
She took it. "We shall."
He led her off, eyes casting about warily for anything which might see a human as an easy meal. Shortly after they left, a shadow fell over their camp.
Impatiently, Hiei led Yuusuke and Kuwabara towards Shuuichi’s house, ignoring their bickering and begrudging every second they took longer than what he would alone. Shuuichi was alone, defenseless…
"Hurry up!" he snapped for the hundredth time.
"What’s the rush?" Yuusuke demanded.
"Yeah, you little shrimp," Kuwabara laughed. "Are you afraid someone’ll steal her away?"
Hiei glared at him. "Shut up, ningen."
Yuusuke elbowed Kuwabara before he could open his mouth to retort. "Why are you so worried, Hiei? Shuuichi reads as totally human to anyone who looks at her, even demons. No one would have any interest in her."
He couldn’t tell them, he couldn’t. "Hurry up," he repeated instead and flitted up the tree outside Shuuichi’s window while the two boys went grumbling to the front door. Peering in, he saw no sign of Shuuichi, but her mother was lying on the floor, only just starting to rouse.
Hiei was through the window in an instant, bending beside her. "WHERE’S SHUUICHI!" he demanded.
Shiori’s eyes opened and she looked up at him, confused. "He, he took him."
Hiei’s eyes blazed. "YUUSUKE!" he bellowed. "GET UP HERE!" Feet sounded on the stairs and both boys burst into the room.
"What happened??"
Hiei glared at them, hating them for delaying his return. "Someone took Shuuichi," he bit out.
Yuusuke gaped at him, then knelt beside Shiori while Kuwabara ran to check outside. Hiei stared at the bed where he’d been so recently with Shuuichi, numb.
"Minamino-san?" Yuusuke asked, helping Shiori to a chair. "What happened to Shuuichi?"
Shiori was trembling uncontrollably. "I- I came in to ask Shuuichi if he wanted some tea, and there was this THING in the room, carrying him! It took him out the window! I couldn’t stop it!"
Yuusuke patted her shoulder awkwardly. "What did it look like?" Hiei was imagining a hundred different monsters, each more horrible than the last.
"It was some kind of kitsune," Shiori told them. "It had fox ears and a tail and it was silver, with gold eyes. Oh, it took my Shuuichi!"
"Don’t worry, Minamino-san, we’ll get him back," Yuusuke nodded and hurried downstairs. Hiei just flitted out the window. Shiori didn’t notice, crying over her kidnapped child.
They regrouped outside.
"Why would KURAMA want to kidnap Shuuichi?" Yuusuke asked.
Kuwabara shrugged. "Maybe he’s gone nuts."
"Yeesh, I hope not."
Hiei stared off into space, thinking. Why would Kurama kidnap Shuuichi? He remembered the map, the one which showed the location of one’s greatest treasure. For him, it showed where Kurama and Shuuichi were, and he wished he had it now.
His eyes widened with understanding. "He’s trying to remerge with her."
They both stared at him. "Huh?"
He glared, furious and frightened. "That damned youko… he’s trying to remerge with her, the way he was before that thing in the prison tore them apart! He doesn’t care what it means to her-" He broke off. "We have to go to Koenma!"
They were still staring at him, apparently a step behind. "Uh, why?"
"Because I don’t know WHERE they’re going. He might!"
Something was wrong. Shuuichi followed closely with Kurama as he hurried her down a near-deer trail leading through the Makai woods. They’d been walking leisurely the first few kilometres, but now they’d almost doubled their speed and he looked back for the third time in twenty minutes.
"What is it?" she asked.
He started, looking at her. "Someone’s behind us."
She looked back, suddenly nervous as well. The Makai was no place to be careless. "Maybe they’re just using the same path."
"No, they’re tracking us."
Grabbing her up under his arm, he leaped into the bushes that opened to swallow them. Racing up to the top of a covered hill, he dropped them both down behind a thick bush that hid them but let them look down at the path they’d been travelling on. They watched.
Five minutes later, a shadow appeared on the trail, followed by a person. He was tall and thin, almost emaciated with his face hidden under a wide-brimmed hat. His clothes were a dusty brown and patched many times with leather squares that didn’t quite match. They hung on him as he slouched, a small hump on his shoulders. He wore a crossbow on his back and a skinning knife at his hip.
Both Shuuichi and Kurama froze, each of them recognizing him instantly. It was the same hunter who had killed Kurama before Shuuichi was born. He gave a low whimpering sound in her ear, while she felt like screaming.
The hunter walked calmly down the trail, and stopped as he came to where they’d left the trail. He looked up towards them, his face hidden in shadow still, then, to their mutual horror, started to push through the bushes after them.
How did he know?? Shuuichi wailed in fear as Kurama grabbed
her and ran, his long legs carrying them both in a panic away
from the creature that hunted them.
This couldn’t be happening
again, not here, not now. He hadn’t been able to escape the
hunter before. How could he now when he had a human to protect?
Kurama tried to fight off the
panic clogging his brain, his mind flashing over memories of being
hunted for almost a day, then shot. He’d discorporated and
leapt from his body into Shuuichi’s, leaving the Makai just
as the hunter knelt over him with his skinning knife drawn. It
was one of the few memories he had that still gave him nightmares
and he shuddered as he thought of that happening again. Of that
happening to Shuuichi.
"Put me down!" Shuuichi
gasped from under his arm, squirming. "I’m gonna puke!"
Kurama skidded to a wary halt
and set her down. Darting away from him, she threw up next to
a boulder.
"Are you all right?"
he asked worriedly. He’d never intended for her to be harmed.
"I’m okay. My stomach
just went nuts on me." She straightened and shivered, looking
back the way they’d come as Kurama clogged it with plants
he hoped would slow the hunter down. None of his efforts that
way did any good against it so far though. "How did he find
us?"
"I don’t know."
Kurama pulled her close, needing the comfort of her embrace as
much as she needed his. "I never hoped to see him again."
She looked up at him again. "What
do we do?"
He bit his lip. To get back to
the gate, they’d have to go around him, and the thought of
intentionally getting closer to that creature terrified him. "I’m
not sure."
She shivered. "We have to
circle around."
"Yes…" He looked
around. "We keep heading the way we’re going. It’ll
be easier to move fast once we’re one. We can circle around
him then, get back to the Ningenkai where he can’t follow."
He looked down at her. "I can’t protect you from him."
"I’m sorry I’m
slowing you down." She hugged him but didn’t suggest
he leave her behind. She knew his answer to that as well as he
did. Hands clasped, they fled again.
As usual, Koenma was behind his
desk, busy stamping the thousands of documents he processed every
day. Hopping up onto the desk, Hiei grabbed the toddler around
his throat and lifted him to eye level.
"Where would Kurama go to
remerge with Shuuichi?" he snapped.
"Hiei!" Yuusuke yelped,
reaching out to grab him before he throttled their boss.
"Crazy shrimp!" Kuwabara
yelled.
Koenma glared at Hiei, his expression
reminding the koorime that, appearances aside, he was still a
god. "Put me down."
Hiei held him a moment longer,
then dumped him back into his seat. "Where would they go?"
he repeated.
Koenma readjusted his clothes
and glared at him, still looking angry over being nearly strangled.
"Why should I tell you?" he sulked.
"Because I have to stop them."
All three of them stared at him
as he hopped down and crossed his arms. "Why would you want
to stop them?" Yuusuke asked.
Koenma looked at him. "There’s
only one place they could go to do it, and it will work. They’ll
be whole again."
"Where is it?"
"Hiei," Yuusuke pointed
out. "Don’t you WANT them back together? They obviously
do."
"No."
Kuwabara was shaking his head.
"Crazy demon. What is this place they’re going to?"
"It’s a well,"
Koenma told them. Hiei listened intently. "Its waters will
rejoin souls and bodies. Basically it’ll undo what the demon
did. I don’t know how Kurama knew about it though. The only
place it’s listed is on the Map of Dreams."
Hiei stared at him. "Kurama
stole that this morning."
"He what??" Koenma slapped
his forehead. "That stupid fox!"
"What is it?" Yuusuke
asked.
Koenma groaned and sagged in his
seat. "The Map of Dreams is a magical map. It shows you the
location of the treasure your heart desires most, but it’s
got a really simple security system. If you even start looking
into how to steal it, a hunter will track you down and kill you,
and the hunter can’t be killed."
"Oh," Kuwabara chuckled.
"Kinda like the terminator, ne?"
"Good analogy."
Hiei’s eyes were almost bugging
out of his head. "You have to tell me where the well is!"
he yelled. That thing was hunting his fox and his human? Hunting
his- "Now!"
Koenma glared at him, still petulant.
"It’s Kurama’s own fault for this. He should know
better."
"Koenma, PLEASE!"
They all gaped at him. No one
had heard him use that word before, or seen such a frantic look
on his face.
"Why?" Koenma asked,
stunned at his attitude.
Hiei misinterpreted the question.
"Because Shuuichi is pregnant!"
Shuuichi was sore, scared, hungry
and tired, and if she threw up one more time, she was going to-
Darting off the trail, the girl
fell to her knees, vomiting. A moment later, Kurama was there,
holding her hair up from her face yet again. He never complained
about how she slowed them down, but she knew he was worried about
her, and that he ached to stop and care for her. Neither of them
dared to though. The hunter was still back there, and they both
remembered what happened the last time Kurama stood his ground
and fought. He died.
"Are you alright?" he
asked for the hundredth time that day. The thousandth since they
started running two days ago.
She nodded weakly. Neither of
them had slept or eaten much, and still the hunter followed them.
She’d panic if she had the energy to. Kurama helped her to
her feet and she staggered down the trail with him. He was as
tired as she was, but according to the map, it wasn’t much
farther. Maybe, once they were merged, they’d have enough
strength again to really flee, and get them both back home where
they belonged.
She smiled up at him lovingly.
It was worth the fear and the effort, to be him once again.
Had he ever been as brave as Shuuichi
was? Kurama wondered as he helped her down the trail. She was
sick, weak, powerless, and she kept going, pushing him on when
he wanted to give up, forcing him to keep moving, keep walking.
When he’d faced the hunter before, the chase had been over
in just a day, but they were nearing their third now, and he knew
it was due to her human strength, where weakness was irrelevant.
You just dug in and struggled on anyway. In the Makai, the attitude
was that the weak died, and for most, there was no point in fighting.
It was a lesson it seemed Shuuichi
hadn’t learned.
Supporting as much of her weight
as he could on his arm, he guided her down the steepening trail
into a valley. The well supposedly lay there, but the trees were
thinning. They’d have to cross fields to reach it once they
hit the valley, and they’d be easy for the hunter to spot.
He could feel its ki behind him, like a permanent feature on the
fabric of his soul, tearing him down. That was what it had done
before, he remembered. His despair was what finally made him turn
and fight, and that had been a fatal mistake.
Shuuichi slipped slightly on the
gravelly trail and smiled at him. "Gomen," she apologized
and he smiled back, loving her deeply. With her at his side, he
couldn’t help but make it, he had to believe that. They belonged
together, each of them finishing each other’s soul, though
they then needed Hiei to complete their heart.
He wished Hiei was with him now,
with all his incomplete heart and sundered soul.
If he had to listen to Kuwabara
WHINE one more time about how tired he was, he was going to-
Hiei shook himself. No, he needed
the idiot to fight the hunter. Or to serve as cannon fodder if
nothing else.
At the head of his three man party,
Hiei raced towards the well Koenma had finally told him the location
of, once he finished laughing. He still couldn’t believe
he’d gotten upset enough to admit that his jagan had seen
that Shuuichi was carrying his child. If Yuusuke and Kuwabara
weren’t too out of breath to speak, they’d STILL be
teasing him about it.
His baby. Shuuichi was going to
give birth to someone who was half him. The idea terrified and
thrilled him both, and he couldn’t decide which emotion was
stronger. He’d have a baby, one who WOULDN’T be thrown
off a cliff or abandoned, or left behind unloved. His mouth tightened
as he ran down Koenma’s carefully detailed shortcut. He’d
be able to make up for all the mistakes that were made with him.
Providing he got there in time to prevent that hunter killing
the human, or to stop Kurama from merging with her and destroying
her womb with its precious cargo.
Hiei bit his lip. He loved Kurama,
loved him so much it still scared him sometimes, and loved Shuuichi
just as deeply, but he’d kill the fox to save his child.
He knew that as clearly as he knew his own name and he drew blood
from his own flesh with his fangs as he prayed that it wouldn’t
become necessary.
They left the woods shortly after
noon, possibly the worst time to do so, but unavoidable given
their pursuer. Hands clutched together, Kurama and Shuuichi stumbled
across the flowing sea-green grass, hurrying towards the centre
of the valley where a well could be seen, more like a pool with
flowers growing all around it. It was only a few kilometres away
and Kurama started praying to Inari under his breath that they
reach it safely.
Shuuichi was the one who looked
back, and she screamed as she saw the hunter standing on the edge
of the trees, knocking his crossbow with a bolt.
"Run!" Kurama yelled,
racing towards the well. It hadn’t become just one stop,
the halfway point on their circle back to the gate. It had become
salvation itself and they would die if they didn’t reach
it.
Shuuichi stumbled, falling, and
he took two steps before he turned and ran back for her. He pulled
her to her feet and looked up to see the hunter aiming right for
his heart, and the exact same spot where he’d hit him before.
Kurama’s ears flattened with
terror.
Hiei bolted the second he heard
Shuuichi’s first scream. Their shortcut had cut hours off
Kurama and Shuuichi’s lead, putting them all in the valley
at the same time. Still under tree cover on a different slope
than the two had used, he heard her cry out easily.
In an instant, he’d left
his two companions to try and catch him, racing through the trees
faster than he’d ever moved before. He hit the grasslands
and immediately saw Kurama, tharn, Shuuichi in his lap exhausted
and the hunter only a few hundred metres away, firing at them.
Hiei bolted towards them. A blur
of black, he leaped and caught the crossbow bolt in midair, his
momentum carrying it and himself clear. He rolled to his feet
and drew his sword.
"Run for the trees!"
he yelled and charged at the hunter. It tilted its head almost
quizzically at him and stepped aside at the last instant. Hiei
swung on nothing and spun, trying to catch it in a side sweep
instead. It dodged again.
"Hold still!" he yelled
in frustration, then saw over its shoulder that Kurama and Shuuichi
WEREN’T headed for the trees. They were running towards the
well again. "NO!" he screamed and hurled black fire
at the hunter between him and them.
The flame slammed into its chest
and dispersed. It looked down at itself, then up at him, the afternoon
sun shining on its face, and Hiei blanched at what he saw.
Yuusuke and Kuwabara skidded clear
of the trees, gasping. "Shit," Yuusuke gasped, seeing
Hiei fighting a figure that seemed to be faster than he was, and
invincible, and a panicked Shuuichi and Kurama running towards
the well. "Go help Hiei," he yelled and ran to intercept
Kurama.
His legs felt like lead, his body
drained of energy as he struggled to catch up with them, but they
had a head start and the terror to give them speed. There was
no way he could catch up.
"Wait!" he gasped. "Kurama,
stop!"
The two reached the well and Kurama
lifted Shuuichi up into its waters as gently as he would a child.
Neither of them heard Yuusuke yelling and he blinked back tears
as he stopped and pointed his finger at Kurama, willing his ki
to be as weak as possible as he fired into his friend’s back.
Kurama fell, crashing into the
side of the well with a gasp and tumbling to the grass limply.
Knee deep in water that was making
her feel tingly, Shuuichi couldn’t understand it for a moment,
staring at him in confusion with her trembling hands held up to
her mouth. Then it sank in and she wailed, climbing out of the
well to kneel beside him.
He was still alive, his back badly
burned but with no sign of a crossbow bolt. Then Yuusuke skidded
up beside her.
"Is he alive?" he gasped.
Shuuichi didn’t even begin
to try and wonder how he’d gotten there, any more than she
did about Hiei and Kuwabara, both fighting the hunter. She clutched
at him frantically. "Kurama’s hurt, he’s hurt,
you have to do something!"
"I’m sorry, I didn’t
have any choice!"
She blinked at him. "You
shot him? Why?"
Yuusuke took a deep breath and
gripped her shoulders. "Shuuichi, listen to me, you can’t
merge with Kurama just yet."
"Sure I can." She pointed
at the water. "All we have to do is hold each other in there
and will it."
"Shuuichi, you’re pregnant."
The entire world eclipsed to his
face. "Nani?" she whimpered.
"You’re pregnant. Hiei
got you pregnant. He saw it with his jagan. That’s why you
can’t merge with Kurama right now. It’ll kill the baby."
Shuuichi’s knees gave out
from under her, her eyes wide with shock. Pregnant? She was pregnant?
The stress of two days terror and four days in an alien body hit
her at once and suddenly she could hardly breathe, shaking and
crying. She couldn’t have a baby, not out of her own body.
She didn’t know HOW. How could she explain it to her mother??
Breasts she could hide, but not a swelling belly.
Overwhelmed, she started to cry.
Shuuichi was crying.
Groaning, Kurama lifted his head,
his back on fire and Yuusuke helped him sit up. Shuuichi was kneeling
beside him, sobbing.
"Don’t go into the well,"
the boy ordered him sternly. "I’ll be back." He
ran to join his teammates.
Kurama put his arms around Shuuichi,
frantic. Seeing her cry was like feeling the pain himself. "Don’t
cry, please!"
She looked up at him. "I’m
p-pregnant!"
"HUH?"
"I’m pregnant! I’m
going to have a b-baby!"
Kurama clutched her close. "Oh,
Inari," he breathed.
Koenma had been right, the hunter
was unstoppable. Kuwabara charged it, sword swinging, and it slapped
him, tossing him back. Yuusuke’s strongest beam hit it and
it barely took a step back, then resumed its forward advance.
Hiei snarled in desperation. His
sword was already broken, his ki nearly depleted, and it wasn’t
even singed, its faceless head turned always towards its targets
embraced before the well. It started towards them again, drawing
its knife.
Hiei leaped between them. "JAO
ENSATSU KOKUR-"
He hesitated. Nothing any of them
had thrown at him so far had even phased him, and if he used his
dragons and they didn’t work either, he’d be helpless
to stop the hunter. It would kill Kurama and Shuuichi both and
reclaim its map.
The map. Hiei blurred, running
towards the two, and skidded to a halt before his fox. Digging
into his shirt as he protested, he pulled out the map and bolted
away from the hunter. It moved to intercept.
Hiei grinned. "You have two
choices," he told it, holding the vellum up. "Leave
now or I torch your treasure map." He held up his other hand
and it burned with black flame.
The hunter stopped.
"All right, Hiei!" Yuusuke
yelled, running over to join him. Kuwabara cheered too, flanking
his other side and holding his bruised ribs. Together the three
stood between the hunter and their teammates.
"Give me the map,"
the hunter whispered. Hiei snarled.
"Not until you swear to leave
all of us alone," Yuusuke snapped. "Swear it or we’ll
destroy the map."
It stared at them, then nodded.
"I
swear."
Yuusuke nodded. "Toss him
the map, Hiei."
"You better be sure about-"
"Just do it."
Hiei tossed the map. The hunter
caught it and turned to walk away.
"That’s it?!" Kuwabara
squeaked.
Yuusuke looked back at Shuuichi,
who was still crying in Kurama’s arms. "Isn’t that
enough?"
"I can’t do this,"
Shuuichi gasped.
At her left side, Hiei squeezed
her hand minutely, silently offering her his support. He hadn’t
left her for an instant since the well and his red eyes looking
up at her were a source of strength. On her right, Botan squeezed
her other hand and Yukina and Keiko choroused their assurances
that she could, along with Yuusuke and Kuwabara and Koenma. Even
Shizuru clapped her back and Kurama whined at her feet, nuzzling
her leg lovingly. No one had protested the kitsune coming along,
hoping any bad luck spawned by the fox’s presence would be
minor.
"Just go in and tell her,"
Keiko told her. "We’ll all come with you if you want."
Shuuichi swallowed heavily, looking
up at her house. They were all standing on the front lawn, waiting
for her to work up her nerve to go in and tell her mother she’d
been lying to her for her entire life. "I don’t think
I’m brave enough."
Everyone fell silent as the door
opened and Shiori stepped out. She looked years older, her face
lined by the strain of her child’s disappearance. "Shuuichi?"
she gasped, her voice filled with hope.
Shuuichi swallowed again and stepped
forward. A second later, she’d run and was in her mother’s
arms, hugging her tightly while they both cried.
"Where did you go??"
Shiori wailed.
Shuuichi looked back at all her
friends, then at her mother. "Kaasan…? There’s
something I have to tell you."