|
|
Yomatsu Hara-Sakai Continuation:
Part 5
by Korogi
Hiei shook his head. "Damn kitsune's."
Kurama broke suddenly, looking down to Hiei. He had also referred to Yo-mawari as a kitsune. The gears of his mind turned furiously. Now that he though about it, he never knew how Yo-mawari came to obey every will and command of Hiei.
He gathered his voice and looked down to his lover. "Exactly what happened after you ... died ... in Yomatsu?"
Yo-mawari took a deep breath ... "Perhaps I can explain ... "
***
<< Hiei raised his battered body slowly from the ground he found himself on. He could still feel Kurama's hot breath on his neck ... feel his icy tears running down his cheek ... hear his lover's choked sobs over Hiei's dying body ...
Or maybe it was just because he was sweating in this new land he found himself in ...
He raised an arm to his forehead and wiped the beads of sweat off his face, feeling it sting into his open wounds and roll down the side of his face and onto his battered shoulders. Around him, a choking heat moved all around him, flowing over a completely barren, red land void of everything but rocks. He felt alone ... very alone ... and for the first time in his centuries-long life he wanted to be smack dab in the middle of a group of people ... wanted to be lost in a sea of those annoying ningen idiots Kurama spent so much time with.
He circled a glance around the barren terrain ... seeing only rocks and red dust ...
... and he saw the tall, slim figure of Yo-mawari standing patiently off to his left, the long katana tracing out patterns in the red dust below as he watched the little figure. "Done sight-seeing, yokai?"
Hiei took a deep breath, drawing his own katana to his defense. "Alright, you bastard ... let's get this over with!"
Yo-mawari laughed, his voice ringing through the hot and heavy air, pinging off the rocks and the ground to echo throughout the barren terrain. "You won't kill me! You couldn't bring it upon yourself!"
"Don't be so sure." Hiei crouched, growling, fluidly turning the katana through the air before him.
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Yo-mawari shot an all-too familiar smile his way ... Hiei grimaced as thoughts and pictures of Kurama flooded through his mind.
Hiei paused, dropping his defense and rasing himself back to his feet. "Figured WHAT out?"
Yo-mawari raised the katana ... on the end of it spun one of the living shuriken, spinning wildly, eager to rip through anything and everything in its path. He glared Hiei down with the onyx eyes, smiling evilly, slowly lowering the katana back to the earth. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Listen! You're either gonna fight me or play guessing games ... and I have better things to do than to waste my time with YOU!!"
Hiei leapt in a whistle of displaced air just as the shuriken tore loose, slicing through the ground where Hiei once stood. He whizzed around the terrain, positioning himself on a rock to stare eye to eye with the WatchMan.
Yo-mawari spun around at the defense, surprised that the little yokai didn't attack. Instead, the cold, red eyes stared him back, thinly wild and calculating, the third eye adorning his battered and bruised forehead glowed a dim purple.
The shuriken ripped out of the earth and circled around, following the path Hiei once took, coming around, approaching the small boy from the back.
The two demons caught eyes for a second, Hiei's smile growing into pure malice as the Jagan fed him information ... and he leapt ... and the shuriken ripped through the rock and all that stood in it's way...
"DAMN IT!!"
A large flash of light spilled through the land, clearing almost instantly. In its wake, Yo-mawari suddenly fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder tightly in a small whimper. From under his hand, a steady river of blood flowed swiftly, pooling on his black pants before spilling to the dust below, pooling once again. He panted heavily against the pain, cursing lowly under his breath.
The tiny ninja star blinked sadly, the blood-soaked metal weapon sulking quietly away to hide under a rock, cowering.
"You ... you little bastard ... " Yo-mawari cursed under his breath, forcing himself to his feet, steady his body on the katana.
Hiei stalked quietly behind the man, watching him ... hunting him, just out of sight as Yo-mawari tried to search him out. "Still think I can't kill you?" the deep bass broke though the thick, hot air, his voice shaking the stillness.
Yo-mawari spun around quickly, wincing in pain. "I'll get you back for this!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
"I'd like to see YOU keep that promise of yours!"
Hiei watched the man in black carefully as his black eyes sparkled ... but it was an all-too familiar sparkle, he had seen it someplace before. Hiei stepped forward, watching the eyes closely, searching though the wounded soul. Yo-mawari smiled a crooked, half smile, shuddering under the onslaught the shuriken had done. The onyx eyes flashed gold ....
The little yokai cocked his head to the side, blinking a few times. The man's black hair flowed ... bleached out ... turned silver ...
"What the hell ... " Hiei drew back as his jaw dropped to somewhere around his knees, watching the tall man before him transform almost instantaneously.
The once black hair flowed silver over his shoulders, highlighting brilliant, gold eyes ... and framing his head was a pair of soft, pinked fox ears ... echoed by a drumming serenade as the five fox tails thumped impatiently on the rock beside him.
Yo-mawari took a deep breath under the silver hair, a familiar, disarming wicked smile crossing the pale face. "Get it yet?"
"Can't ... how ...but ... KURAMA!!"
Youko Yo-mawari lowered his hand from his bleeding shoulder, shaking his head slowly. "Not Kurama ... but you're close."
Hiei hissed lowly, crouching down to the ground. He fixed the youko before him with one of the deadliest stares he had ever mustered, putting more that anger and betrayal behind that stare.. "You can't be ... "
"What? Kurama's brother?" the youko laughed brilliantly back to him.
"NNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Hiei leapt from the ground, yelling out something Yo-mawari couldn't understand, disappearing instantly into the hot air. The youko followed easily this time, darting golden eyes around the terrain, watching every perch the yokai landed. The black wind flipped from rock to rock, growing steadily closer, circling him like a pack of hungry wolves.
Without warning, Hiei shot forward, katana blazing and fangs bared. Youko Yo-mawari barely had time to react, just narrowly deflecting the quick blade from his face, slicing through the white cloth encasing his body, grazing his soft skin underneath..
"Face it, yokai! If you kill me ... you kill a part of Kurama too," the youko screamed to the air, rising the long katana in a blatant attempt to defend his life.
"You LIE!" Hiei leapt again ... and again ... with each leap, he came closer and closer to slicing the youko's head clean off, cutting through the silver hair ... clipping the pink, fox ears ... slicing the soft skin of his face ...
"Damn you, demon," the fox spat, deflecting blow after blow, each one landing closer and closer to its mark. "HIEI!!"
Hiei raised the katana, a purple misty dragon swirling around the blade. The fire demon leapt expertly .... flew through the air ... and the katana imbedded itself through the youko's abdomen ...
The youko leapt from the ground, landing roughly behind a rock, tumbling to the red dust below, out of sight.
And then there was silence ...
The thick, hot air churned, increasing the streams of sweat running down Hiei's face, mingling with the blood from his wounds. With quick ease, he gathered himself and leapt to the top of the rock, bringing the katana to striking height ...
Yo-mawari was back to his yokai form, leaning heavily on his hands, hunched over panting down to the ground. His face and shoulder bleed profusely, dropping red circles to the dust below in dull splashes. Hiei watched closely as the man gasped in the heat, the matted, now black hair hiding his face completely.
Hiei carefully picked his way down from the rock, keeping a close eye on the man in black, searching through the jumble of information the Jagan fed him. The body shook rhythmically ... Hiei met with the ground, crouching to the red earth, one hand on the hilt of his katana, the other poised in the air, reaching carefully to the head of black hair.
His little fingers touched Yo-mawari's head lightly ... but the head recoiled immediately from his touch, slinking back around the rock. Hiei watched curiously, cocking his head left and right as if listening to each one of his shoulders separately. The rogue shiriken that had tore through its master's shoulder peeked out from behind its hiding place, the 8-pronged ninja star sulking like a scolded child across the dust, turning through the dust and leaping to sit on its master's knee. The star settled lightly, glinting in patterns, talking to the man.
Yo-mawari snorted heavily, wiping a hand across his face. "So? What are you just sitting there for?"
The star blinked again, turning its structure toward Hiei. It glimmered at the yokai, turning back to its master, confirming silent orders. Hiei crawled forward toward the figure huddled beside the rock, the tattered face completely hidden under the strings of black hair. He watched carefully, unsure of what to do. When Kurama was in pain, he knew what to do ... but ... this was different.
Hiei reached a finger out and poked at Yo-mawari's shoulder.
The man cringed, shooting a hand up to his wounded shoulder. "Must you do that?"
"You were lying ... weren't you?"
Yo-mawari laughed slightly, tossing a few strands of his hair around with his free hand, resting it on top of the shuriken poised on his knee. "Lying?"
Hiei sat back on his rear end, crossed his arms over his chest and stared the WatchMan down. "Were you?"
"No."
Hiei closed his eyes tightly, forcing his hair-trigger anger back down his throat. He ground his teeth together, for the first time adding a connection to why Yo-mawari sparked memories of Kurama during the battle in Yomatsu that ended up dumping them here.
Hiei opened his eyes and stood quickly to his feet, stirring dust around him. The shuriken glimmered hopping off Yo-mawari's knee in response to Hiei's sudden movement. It rolled up the yokai's leg and climbed his arm to sit comfortably on his shoulder like a pet bird, twirling on one of its 8 tips. Hiei stared at it from the corner of his eyes, watching it settle with a glimmer, nestling into the tattered remains of the white scarf that lay haphazardly around his neck and shoulders. He reached a hand slowly up and poked at the star, scooting it around on his shoulder.
The 8-pronged star shone brilliantly, re-positioning itself under Hiei's insistent poking, each time, returning to nestle in the scarf. He curled his nose, watching it, confused at the gestures.
Yo-mawari suddenly stirred, rising slowly to his feet, keeping his back to the yokai that had defeated him in battle. "You can leave now, meijin."
"Meijin?" Hiei turned his attention from the star to Yo-mawari. " I don't understand. Why did you just call me 'Master'?"
Yo-mawari sighed, rubbing his shoulder lightly. "You defeated me ..."
"So? I've defeated alot of people ... why am I suddenly your master?"
"It's the law of the WatchMen ... " Yo-mawari turned to face Hiei for the first time since his defeat, lines of blood and tears dried on his dirty face. "Do you understand?" >>>
Hiei walked silently along between the two brothers as the story ended, staring blankly off into the Yomatsu wilderness, watching as the four living ninja stars stirred the flesh-eating birds from their posts and scattered the nocturnal creatures.
Kurama took a deep breath, looking fist to Hiei, then over to Yo- mawari. He was completely speechless ... this was the first time he had heard about how Yo-mawari came to be in the service of Hiei. Instead of asking the many questions that circled through his head, he looked forward to the forest and settled for the silence that surrounded him.
***
Keiko sipped her coffee gently, watching Botan fiddle with a packet of sugar, the long sleeves of her kimono occasionally dipping into the cup. "Ever get the feeling there's something the guys aren't telling us?" she said, bursting the sugar packet open. Sugar rained everywhere but in the cup, blanketing the table before her in the fine granules. Botan sighed and reached for another one. "Retarded ningen packages ... "
A figure on a bike raced by the window catching Keiko's eye. "Hey! That's Shizuru!" Keiko said, sitting up from the table. She whizzed past Botan who tossed the sugar packet, taking up her oar and following Keiko out of the shop.
***
"What are you guys doing here?" Kuwabara Shizuru asked, taking a long puff on the cigarette as she dismounted her bike. Smoke rings curled out of her mouth as she talked, wiggling up to disappear into the night air.
"Have you seen Kuwa-chan?" Botan asked, clunking the end of the oar on the sidewalk heavily.
"He was home sleeping when I left for Shinjuku ... why?"
Keiko crossed her arms over her chest. "Hmm ... Hiei says he's in Yomatsu... and Yusuke's been acting weird. I wonder what they're all up to!"
***
"This is the blast sight alright ... there's still a residue of you-ki ... but no hole," Yusuke said, leaning down in the middle of the street that used to be the edge of a 3 block crater just 10 minutes ago.
"Now what?" Koenma adjusted the red scarf about his shoulders, tossing its ends behind his shoulders.
"Maybe we should try to evacuate the people."
"Good idea, Urameshi ... but exactly how are you going to do THAT?"
Yusuke racked his brain a minute, standing from the street as a car flew by, honking its horn furiously. He looked around the buildings quickly, a lightbulb lit somewhere in his head, casting a playfully evil smile over his face. "Bomb threat!"
Koenma hit the pavement instantly in mock-death, falling out of view. It took him a few minutes to recover, hoisting himself to his feet and regaining what composure he could. "You're kidding, right?" Koenma groaned, rubbing the purple letters on his forehead.
The other grinned like a fool. "I've always wanted to do this."
"Idiot," Koenma smacked a hand to his face.
***
11:15 ... he'd been working too hard.
Masami Kyoku pushed back from his desk at one of the large corporate buildings smack dab in the middle of the fishmarket's outskirts, stretching. "Time to go home."
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGG!!!!
Masami groaned, leaning across the desk, picking the phone up. "Moshi-moshi."
There was a slight giggle ... and then the person on the other end cleared their threat. "There's a bomb in your building sir."
Masami yawned. "Yeah ... WHAT?"
The voice on the other end giggled, followed by a hushed 'baka!'. "Uh .. a bomb! It's set to go off in 15 minutes!"
***
Koenma groaned, knocking his head on the glass panes of the phone booth again and again, shaking the booth. "Urameshi .. this has got to be the DUMBEST idea you've ever had." He was met with a swat in the back of the head as Yusuke turned back to the phone.
"You have 15 minutes, starting now, to notify the authorities and evacuate the 2, 3 and 4 thousand blocks of the fish market. Good luck," and he hung the phone up.
"Good luck?" Koenma groaned and pounded his head on the glass again. "You're hopeless, you know that! Why didn't you just call the ningen police in the first place!"
Yusuke smirked at the young man, hiding the 'Why
didn't I think of that' look that was forcing to make itself known. "Come
on ... Junior!" he emphasized. "We've got work to do!"
