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Dreams and Nightmares Part 12
by Korogi
Yo-mawari hit the ground roughly from the last blow, the tiny shuriken whizzing by his head to arc another attack at the violet-eyed youkai who beat him and his meijin down at every turn. The entire world before the youko's eyes spun and fuzzed from the concoctions of herbs floating in his system. His body was far from being healed since the fight at the fortress, aching and pulling at his mind as he tried to move to upright himself.
Pain and dizziness broke him down with every movement, threatening to collapse his will and defenses on the spot if he did not rest. He stumbled half intoxicated, furiously trying to pull himself to his feet.
"Feeling a bit winded, youko?" the deep, sultry voice floated just over his body like a demonic apparition, the body of Karasu rasping into full view, dark and menacing over him. Tall and sleek, the body shuffled into place, smiling with thin eyes down to the WatchMan, the silver mask sparking from the thin fingers of moonlight above. Karasu watched as his prey thrashed, trying to upright himself, reaching down a soft hand to stroke it across Yo-mawari's cheek. The youko viciously slapped the hand away, gnashing out like a cornered animal.
Behind Karasu, Hiei managed to recover from his flight courtesy of one of the ki-seeking bombs, hopping back through the woods to the battle field. "This is far from over, Karasu," he growled, hopping into position in the wet leaves, drawing out the katana quickly to his defense.
Karasu yawned and straightened from Yo-mawari, stretching an arm out with a sigh. He smiled thinly, sparking a menacing snarl from the little youkai before him. "You again? You're a tough one to get rid of you know that?" Karasu snapped a finger out of whim... but paused suddenly. The black tattoo that once wound its way over Hiei arm was no longer there. The taller youkai frowned, swinging thin eyes back and forth around him, expecting an assault from the woods...
"Something wrong?" Hiei grinned, walking calmly and boldly across the wet leaves, slowly closing the gap between the two of them.
"No... just curious."
"About what?" Hiei growled, sheathing the katana quickly into its scabbard.
"Curious... as to how many pieces I can make out of you." The over- all simplicity of his statement nearly caught Hiei off guard, halting his mind for just a second... long enough for Karasu to move.
The youkai leapt straight in to the air, a barrage of the green orbs replacing his body, instantly spreading out to encircle Hiei where he stood trapping him in place in a web of the powerful explosives.
"Meijin, don't move!!" Yo-mawari yelled from his position, furiously trying to stand himself using the blade of his katana. The vanguard of tiny shuriken exploded from their perch on his shoulder, spinning quickly through the air on a kamikaze run for the bombs that imprisoned his master.
Hiei snarled quickly to them, arching them back from their path, ordering them back to Yo-mawari's shoulder with a firm, mental warning. "Go back to the house, 'Wari," Hiei said firmly as he placed the order to the tiny youkai's, standing perfectly still within the bomb field.
Across, Karasu glided to a gentle dismount on the soft earth, shoving his hands down into the pockets of his black trousers as he landed. He stood straight and bold, more statuesque than any Greek god could have mustered, long strands of his silken black hair mingling before his purple vision.
Yo-mawari made it half way to his feet as Hiei's command came. "What did you say!"
"I said... go back tot he house!" Hiei shouted his return.
"There is no way in hell I'm abandoning you here!"
"'Wari!" Hiei spoke slowly and firmly between clenched teeth. "Go back to the house."
"H... h... hai, Meijin-san," he choked, trying to fight his own will. His feet stood him up, turning from the two youkai regardless of the cursing and threatening coming from Yo-mawari's mind. No mater what, he could not bring himself to disobey his meijin's direct orders.
Karasu watched with a smile as the WatchMan hobbled back to the house, chuckling lightly to himself in the light of all that was going on. "Impressive... you have so much control over someone so ruthless. How do you do it, you must tell me."
"Go to hell, Karasu," Hiei seethed, raising his arms slowly to cross them over his chest.
"Tisk tisk... now you're going to make me rip your secrets from you, ne? Hmm... perhaps I'll leave your little face intact - as I do so many of my victims."
"I'd like to see you try."
Karasu sighed slightly and waved a hand through the air... "Very well,"
he sighed, and four of the orb bombs sped in with an un-countering speed,
striking Hiei in the left shoulder, exploding immediately on the youkai's
pale flesh.
Botan came screaming in through the window of Yusuke's apartment, Koenma hanging on for dear life to her... Kuwabara hanging onto Koenma, squealing incoherently, eyes forced shut tight. She pulled the oar to a stop inches from Yusuke, turning quickly to the two bundles behind her. Her face sprung into urgency as she caught a glimpse of Kurama's flaming red hair out of the corner of her eye. "Uh... we're here!" she tugged urgently.
She reached back and loosened Koenma's little fingers from her kimono, hopping off quickly to dissipate the oar. Kuwabara fell flat to the floor instantly, the tiny toddler figure of Koenma in a death grip under his long arms.
Koenma popped little brown eyes open to Kuwabara and squeaked, wriggling as a cloud of pink smoke enveloped his body. Suddenly, the human form of Koenma shot into view through the pink smoke, sitting atop Kuwabara. "Ah, that's better," he declared, adjusting the ridiculous hat that sat atop his head.
"TWERP! Get offa me!!" Kuwabara yelled, nabbing up Koenma by the collar of his shirt as he shot to his feet, shaking him back and forth. "I'm gonna kill you!!"
"AH, Kuwabara., we thought you had fainted," Koenma stuttered as he was tossed back and forth, snickering under his pacifier.
"FAINTED!!" Kuwabara shook Koenma back and forth, the big, blue hat toppling off the brown head of hair. "Who do you take me for!? I, Kuwabara Kazuma do NOT faint!!!"
"Oh, like the time when you went on the roller coasters at the amusement park?" Yusuke chuckled in. "I've never heard you scream so hard in your life. I had to CARRY you off that thing!"
"KISAMAAAA!"
"Okay okay!" Kurama yelled, bouncing the kit gently in his arms. "Quiet.. there are more important things at hand!"
Kuwabara released Koenma with a shove, watching him stumble backwards before he turned to Kurama. The kit blinked back at the tall carrot-top with large eyes, watching in awe as Kuwabara promptly crashed to the floor. "Nan da!! Kurama!!"
The room collectively groaned.
Yusuke stepped over and leaned over the tall man, sputtering on the floor. "Get up! Yukina's here!"
"YUKINA-SAN!!!!" he screamed, bolting to his feet. He squealed loudly and began looking wildly around the room.
"Hana-chan..." Kurama moaned. She shrugged and smiled up to her uncle, stretching a finger out to tickle Kiroshu's nose.
Yusuke folded his arms across his chest and looked Kurama straight in the face. "So what's the big emergency that you have to drag us all together at 2:30 in the morning?"
One word said it all.
"Karasu."
Karasu chuckled as the last of the four bombs exploded in a cloud of gun smoke, hiding the little youkai body completely from view. Debris from the surrounding terrain blown over from the explosion site. "Hmph. So much for him. Now..." he looked to the house from the corner of his eye, laying grinning violet eyes on the large, stone structure. "Looks like I'll have my fun after all."
"Think again."
"Nani!"
Karasu whirled back to the green orbs as the smoke cleared in a non- existent wind. Like a ghostly apparition, Hiei shimmered back into view, totally unscathed, standing tall and proud within the orb net. His shirt hung in thin shreds about his chest, his pale-peachy skin as perfect as ever.
"What the... impossible! You should have been blow to pieces!!"
" 'Should have'," Hiei repeated. "I told you to not underestimate me. Is this ALL you have? You're so pitiful... I expected you to be more of a challenge."
Karasu snarled loudly, closing the rest of the bombs in on Hiei. Swiftly they swarmed on the youkai, exploding in huge bursts of sulfur and brimstone, only to dissipate to reveal Hiei as he was before. Totally unscathed.
"Masaka," the taller youkai whispered. "How..."
Hiei laughed softly, brushing sulfur off his shoulders and what was left of his clothing. He raised his bare right arm, waving it a few times through the air. "You forget, I watched your attacks at the Ankoku Bujuutsukai... I know your moves. You, on the other hand, were defeated before you got to see MY techniques. Or you would have known that by absorbing the KokuRyuHa, my body becomes nearly invincible."
"A - minor - setback," Karasu spoke straightly. "You're still no match for a Quest Class."
"Perhaps not. But if I can survive you long enough until Kurama returns with Yusuke and the others..."
"You'll be dead by then!"
"We'll see..."
Karasu stood for a moment, watching the little youkai watching him. 'Damn, the little brat's right... so, now. It seems I need to alter my plans a bit here..." he thought, scanning quickly around.
Hiei watched closely as Karasu thought things through... suddenly the figure bolted, disappearing from sight and mind in a rat of black wind. "Nani!" Hiei choked, crimson eyes trying to follow the black wind. Quickly, Hiei turned in circles, scanning the tree line and the dark sky. But Karasu was gone.
"Where in the..." Hiei scanned again, turning in quick circles. "Now where did he... oh gods, 'WARI!"
Hiei flashed through the woods, bringing out the katana as the house sped up on him, a looming structure of architected stone and wood. The door lay still in its destruction from the previous assault as he breezed through it...
"Too late, little youkai," Karasu's deep voice laughed to him as he entered. Hiei whirled to find Karasu with his arms wrapped passionately around Yo-mawari's shoulders, a huge gash from the bombs running down the side of one of the arms. Yo-mawari stood stone still, eyes closed tightly as Karasu ran a thin finger over his cheek. He swirled it about under one of the closed, jet-black eyes. "Why wait for Kurama when I have his double right here?" he spoke softly, brushing his cheek up to Yo-mawari's. "How lovely you are..." he chuckled, nuzzling one of the youko's ears, wrapping the arms tighter about his shoulders.
"Bastard, let him go!" Hiei yelled, slicing through the air violently with the katana
"Oh, I don't think so." Karasu raised a hand and formed a chain of the glowing orbs around the youko's throat, laying a gentle kiss on one of the soft, flushed cheeks, running a soft line up to one of the closed eyes. "It seems I'll be the only one giving orders around here, little brat. One false move and this youko's head is mine," Karasu snarled, eyes glowing red with intensity. He glared from behind Yo-mawari, brushing the back of his hand over the youko's lips.
Karasu unwrapped himself from about the young mans shoulders, lowering him with a commanding hand to sit on the floor. "I suggest if you wish to live to see another day, you don't move, woodsman," he whispered softly into Yo-mawari's ear.
Yo-mawari growled deeply, stiff as a board under Karasu's intoxicating presence, slowly moving a hand over to cup the bleeding arm.
"KARASU!!" a chorus of voices yelled.
Hiei turned to see Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama storm into the house in a group, bursting into the house as a collective. It was Kurama who first noticed his brother off by the wall, the chain of orbs hovering dangerously close to his pale neck.
"Ah, Kurama. I knew you'd show eventually. How do you like my redecorating?" Karasu smiled across the room to the new company, flicking a strand of the black hair from his face.
"Shut up and release my brother!" Kurama screamed, shuffling forward.
"Ah ah... temper, love. You know I have my conditions."
"Name them!"
"Kurama!" Hiei snarled behind him, reaching out to brush a finger lightly to his elbow. "You're letting him win, Kurama."
"Anything!" Kurama spoke, ignoring the little youkai, shuffling forward again. "Just release Yo-mawari," his voice dropped to a low, pleading whisper.
"Anything?" Karasu smiled and chuckled. "I have one simple request."
"What? I'll personally see that its fulfilled."
"Of course you will, I have faith in you," the violet eyes laughed silently, burning into him as he rounded through the room, eyes never leaving Kurama's paling face. "My one request is..." he paused enough to play on the tension in the air... " you."
The team around him all gasped as a collective, Hiei snarling deeply over them all.
Kurama paled and nearly collapsed. He had know that Karasu's request would have fallen along those lines, but in the back of his mind he hoped perhaps the youkai would request political immunity or something much more logical... more logical than his captivity.
"Bastard..." Hiei seethed.
:Kyoudai!: the mental cry came, knocking Kurama off balance to shuffle backwards a few steps. :You aren't seriously going to... forget me! I've had my chance here...: Yo-mawari's voice echoed into his mind, pulling at his body to refuse the request.
:'Wari-kun...: Kurama paused to sigh through his mind, glancing quickly out of the corner of his eye. :Kyoudai-kun, I leave things in your hands. Take care of Hiei and.... :
"KURAMA! Idiot!" Yo-mawari yelled out loud across the room, frozen still under the deadly necklace of bombs that orbited at his neck. "I swear, if you agree to this I'll never forgive you!"
" 'Wari-kun, I... "
"Don't give me that! Kurama!!"
Kurama took a deep breath, pushing everything he could out of his head, closing his mind and ears to the world around him, focusing solely on the ominous youkai before him. Cautiously, he prepared himself and stepped forward, positioning himself before Karasu. "Let him go and I'll do anything you want."
The entire world was tuned out to Kurama's ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friends yelling, he could see Hiei's face so clearly as he gasped in an emotion that could clearly only be fright. In Kurama's heart, he hoped he knew what he was doing, and he hoped that Hiei would be able to realize his plan. "Anything," Kurama whispered as a final oath.
Karasu smiled deeply and reached out, taking Kurama's shoulders firmly, bringing him in. The violet eyes burrowed into his soul before they closed slowly and lazily, Karasu leaning in to passionately begin to kiss Kurama firmly, forcing his tongue deep into the youko's hot mouth. Kurama straightened rigidly feeling the tongue swirl into his mouth... that unfamiliar taste of another man that was not his lover sent a rush of aching chills into his body, cramping his muscles to the point where they just about refused any and all movement.
Hiei's soul sank... nothing else mattered to him than the green-eyed youko he had pledged his heart and soul to. Not the fact that Yo-mawari had been freed and sat bleeding off in a corner... not the fact that the team behind him snarled and shouted at him...
He ground his teeth together blocking everything out, his heart painfully breaking deep within his little body. His worst nightmare had come true.. loosing Kurama to another. And to Karasu no less! Anger couldn't even begin to express the emotional download that demanded release deep within the youkai's being, clawing and scratching at the shell of his body.
He raised a trembling hand to his neck, feeling for the nearly invisible chain that held the engagement ring Kurama had given him. That night's memories flowed back so vividly to him... the look of Kurama's bright green eyes, what he was wearing, what he smelled like, what the apartment smelled like. The look of complete astonishment on the soft face when Hiei finally agreed... Hiei snapped the chain, bringing the ring out to dangle before his eyes, the silver band glinting delicately under the jeweled rose that enveloped it. "Kurama..." he whispered above the screaming, looking through the ring to the redhead beyond.
One of Kurama's eyes popped wide open at the whisper, Karasu's wandering hands working down his back, pulling him in deeper to the kiss. The green eye looked over to his lover, pained and heavy as it met with the blood-red spheres burning in the youkai's face. He saw the ring dangling in midair, a perfect tunnel between their visions...
Kurama's mind raced. This was not how things would end, he refused to die without fulfilling his promise to Hiei. No matter what...
"Kurama..." the whisper came again, more to his closed mind than to his ears.
Kurama balled a hand into a fist tightly and raised it to drape over Karasu's shoulder, the youkai still deeply kissing him with an unbridled passion that nearly made Kurama sick. A single seed fluttered from the fist and nestled deep into Karasu's long, silken hair, lost immediately. Kurama knew his plans, delving deep into his soul to wake the powers of the Youko that waited patiently inside, finding enough leeway to tense his body further in Karasu's arms.
In a sudden burst of in-found strength, Kurama broke from Karasu's kiss and hurled him across the room, a deafening scream pouring from the youko's soul to exit his mouth. The scream held everything in the world in it, flooding into the front foyer of the huge house and echoing out to the woods, the words just barely audible through the noise as Kurama shuffled back and called once more to the plant world, his hair strobe-lighting between red and brilliant silver...
"Kurama you TRAITOR!!" Karasu yelled.... moments before the Shokuyu Shokubatsu exploded into existence in a flurry of tenticaled vines, snarling and hissing at their intended target...
Karasu's body held absolutely no resistance to the Makai plant that burst into life from the back of his neck, splintering into strands of horror, stained blood red, the demon plant quickly devouring the youkai as he fell to pieces.
Kurama wasted no time through the carnage and mutilation, sending out a flurry of rose petals he pulled from his blazing hair, tossing them into the waltz formation quickly. They swirled like a great tornado, slicing the demon plant to pieces, setting off and explosion that leveled the front foyer, sending the pieces of the plant out to shower into their respective parts of the Makai outside...
And then there was silence.
The darkness of the night echoed the silence in the house, plunging everything around the group into a thick, black uneasy quiet. It seemed all to unreal, so whimsical, like a floating scape thought up on a lazy artists canvass. So silent - until the hard *thump!* of a body echoed around the devastation. Kurama.
Hiei was the first to move, removing himself from the pile of rubble that had settled on him, quickly crawling across the floor to where Kurama's last position was. He felt blindly through the blackness, his mind pleading with every thread of hope that the tall youko was still alive. Horrible images came flooding back to his mind of Kurama's many fights... fights the young man had just barely made it out alive from, coming out battered and bruised. Hiei thought perhaps he held a mischievous pleasure in making the youkai pull his hair out over him, the though making Hiei curse roughly, searching frantic fingers through the blackness that rewarded him.
He let unruly thoughts poke into his mind; what if Kurama was caught in the explosion, what if the Shokubatsu ate HIM too... until his fingers came in contact with warm, soft flesh, alive with a steady heart beat and pulse beneath. "Kurama..." he whispered, a heavy sigh of relief poking through the deep voice. Hiei pushed himself over onto his knees, pulling the body up and onto his lap, positioning the heavy head just so. In the darkness, he couldn't tell who he held... but in his heart he knew it was Kurama. He could feel it.
The Jagan burst into green light atop his forehead, spilling the eerie light out to illuminate his lover's face below. Kurama lay still the green eyes opened in only thin slits, rolling up to Hiei above with a certain glimmer that held more words and speech than his mouth could ever hope to spill.
Kurama tried to smile, the energy for even that much gone from his drained body. The eyes slid shut and his head rolled to the side, nestling itself in Hiei's lap. "Hiei. I promised..." he whispered
"Shh..." Hiei soothed as best as he could, smoothing the red hair from his lover's face. "Quiet now." The youkai rubbed a finger over Kurama's cheek gently, feeling the complete absence of ki from the body beneath him. In desperation, Kurama had put everything he had into that attack, a foolish effort which could have ultimately killed the youko. But Hiei knew better, he knew Kurama's determination all to well to think he would carelessly toss his life away at the hands of someone like Karasu.
Behind him, he heard the others crawl from the rubble, tumbling rocks and concrete around them as they emerged. "OI! Hiei, where are you!" he heard Yusuke yell through the blackness.
Hiei leaned down, closing the Jagan tightly, plunging Kurama's angelic face back to darkness. "Kurama, Kuraihana is going to be SO mad at you..."
Hiei received a soft chuckle from Kurama, the ghostly presence of a blow kiss drafting to Hiei's lips. "Thanks for caring," Kurama snorted softly, falling silent quickly afterwards.
"You're welcome," he retorted snidely. Hiei bent down and blindly felt for Kurama's lips, laying a soft and utterly gentle kiss down to them. "Don't worry, everything is going to be just fine," he whispered, kissing the soft lips again.
Kurama murmured something inaudible under Hiei, taking a deep breath to speak out his words in a strained whisper. "Just please tell me this was all a horrible nightmare."
Hiei, despite himself, smiled through the darkness, hearing Yusuke and Kuwabara yelling from off in the darkness.
"Why Hiei... I do believe you're smiling," Kurama spoke one last time.
"Hn. Stupid fox."
Two Weeks Later
Kiroshu bound playfully through the apartment shared by the two brothers, scooting along on the polished wood floors as Yukina tagged along behind him, trying to catch the swift little youko kit. "Come now, it's lunch time," she laughed, sneaking into the dining room with a large, adorable smile. She heard the little squeals of her brother's adopted son echoing across the room, the koorime kneeling down to peek under a table. "Found you!" Kiroshu squealed and darted from under the table, dashing across the room to disappear into the living room before Yukina could blink. "Oh, come back!" Yukina pushed herself to her feet, giving swift chase.
Hiei sat on a cushion at the low table just outside the kitchen as he watched Kiroshu go bolting by. He wore his usual black clothing, the silver engagement ring dangling in plain sight at his throat. He scowled over a newspaper and a cup of coffee, trying to make heads or tails of the lettering. This odd language used in the Ningenkai was so bizarre. How the humans could read the funny characters was beyond him. He was just getting settled into the headlines when he heard the familiar patter of little feet scamper out of the living room. He turned red eyes to see Kiroshu bound into view on a crash course toward him, giggling loudly. The youkai braced himself as the little kit hopped a cushion and landed in Hiei's arms like a circus performer, scurrying to hide under his black tank top as Yukina slid into view.
Hiei blinked in astonishment as the little silver head popped out of the neck of the tank top, large pink ears turned fully toward Yukina as she slid around the corner, panting.
"Well, there you are!" she smiled softly. "You're a tough little one to keep up with, you know that."
"Hope he wasn't too much trouble," Hiei growled, ruffling the kit's little head with a playful grunt. Kiroshu giggled, raising little hands to pull at his father's immensely larger hand bringing it down to gently sink little fangs into it, barely enough to cause any pain whatsoever.
"Oh, not at all," Yukina smiled. "You need all the help you can get around here while Kurama gets back on his feet. Not to mention..." Yukina crossed the room and sank gracefully into a pillow beside her brother. "Has Kurama told Shiori-san about Yo-mawari yet?"
Hiei eyed her cautiously, fishing the kit out of his shirt. "No." He met her wide, pink stare for a moment before turning attention back to the kit who squirmed in his arms. "He can't avoid his mother forever..."
"Yo-mawari's been away every time Shiori-san has come to visit Kurama... some day she'll find out about you and Yo-mawari... and it's best that Kurama tell her beforehand."
Hiei shrugged and shifted Kiroshu in his lap. "So, why are you telling me this?"
"You're marrying him, ne?" Yukina waited for an ample nod from him. "So..." she trailed off, expecting Hiei to finish.
Hiei's eyes widened quickly, jerking his head around. "K'so... Shiori! Kurama hasn't told her yet!"
Yukina just smiled back at him, shaking her head. "Sometimes Hiei...
you can be so..."
