by Ryoma
- Part 2
-
The form, Kuromeru, turned. They were apparently ready to leave, already not interested in the fire demon, who they had only allowed to see them in order to see the reaction that would be drawn from him.
But a growl stopped Kuromeru, who turned, amused to find the fire demon having drawn his sword, and glaring hard, trying to pierce through the cloak and find the eyes he was sure he could intimidate.
But, Kuromeru knew better.
So, this may have been Hiei, one of the better fighters at the Makai Tournament, but Kuromeru, they held Mukuro, also a strong fighter at the Tournament, and had already subdued her. Subduing the fire demon would be far easier than that, as his level was lower than Mukuro's.
"Put her down," Hiei growled out, raising his sword in a menacing gesture.
Hiei could feel a smirk cross the face of the kidnapper in front of him, and it chilled him a bit, causing him to have to fight off a shiver.
"Do you really think you could stand a chance against me...?" Kuromeru asked, and Hiei's growl was all they needed in answer.
Slowly, they turned, and Hiei blinked as a fox demon moved into the room nearby Kuromeru, and gently took Mukuro from them. Slowly, the fox demon turned, and flitted away, Mukuro gone with him.
Hiei had only time to register the general direction the fox demon had went, and a general idea of his looks, before returning his gaze to Kuromeru, who was now spreading their cloak slightly, a long, thin hand moving out from beneath the folds.
"Let's see how well you fight." Kuromeru whispered, voice indistinguishable, and Hiei quickly jumped away as Kuromeru's wrist flicked, a shimmer seeming to move from it.
He had no time to see what Kuromeru had thrown, or had slashed, at him, as another shimmer occurred, the item obscured in the thin hand that still sat partly inside the cloak.
He rushed, senses alert, and swinging.
Kuromeru moved away quickly, faster than Mukuro, and Hiei felt a sharp pain in his arm.
Turning, he only caught another shimmer, Kuromeru's weapon again being hidden by their hand, and the earth-colored cloak. Hiei also caught the fact that his arm had been cut, not too badly, only a small, thin line, but all the layers that had covered his arm were also cut with that same thin line.
"Give up," Kuromeru whispered. "And keep your life."
Hiei growled, swinging again at Kuromeru, who nimbly dodged, and flicked their wrist.
Hiei gasped as something wrapped itself around his throat, drawing a bit of pain, and if he was right, blood.
He sensed the smile, and looked down, realizing now that Kuromeru held a thin, sharp, but strong, wire as weapon, and, though it hadn't been deadly yet, Hiei knew that it could easily detach his head from his body if Kuromeru moved right.
Hiei growled, and looked up at Kuromeru, who was still shadowed in the cloak.
"I'd give up now," Kuromeru said, tightening the wire that restrained Hiei by the neck, slicing deeper into his throat. "Because, the next time you attack me, I won't hesitate to end your life."
"Full of yourself, aren't you?" Hiei snarled.
"Who's on the end of the wire?" Kuromeru replied, a bit of a chuckle almost emanating from their voice. At Hiei's glare, a small laugh echoed from the confines of the cloak, and the wire was yanked harder, causing a deeper cut, before being quickly withdrawn into Kuromeru's hand, which sank beneath the cloak as Kuromeru turned to leave.
Hiei moved to swing, not caring he'd be attacking the figure from the back, and was quickly shot across the room as a blast of ki came from beneath the cloak, strong and forceful, but not deadly.
He watched Kuromeru leave the room, and could only watch, startled to stillness.
Slowly, he recovered, and shouted, "DAMMIT!"
He then stood, flitting away from Mukuro's compound, intent on finding Kuromeru, the fox demon, or Mukuro.
Kurama yawned lightly, sliding from his day clothes, and working himself into nightclothes.
He was so tired, he closed his eyes as he slid the shirt over his head, only to blink, and step back in shock when he opened them, a black-cloaked figure standing in front of him.
"H-Hiei?" Kurama said, blinking again. "What are you doing here this time of night? And actually sneaking up on me?"
"Hn," Hiei replied. "Not my fault you're out of practice."
Kurama frowned lightly. The remark was Hiei, but the tone hidden beneath it was not, and what was that mark on his throat, which seemed to have been bleeding?
"Hiei, what is this?" Kurama said, even as he knelt to examine the wound. "Did you get entangled in some sort of wire on your way here?"
Hiei shook his head, wincing lightly at the pain that shot through the wound on his neck, and then feeling Kurama hold his neck still.
"Then what happened?" Kurama started working to patch up Hiei's neck, using both ki and other items he had spread about the room.
"Kuromeru." Hiei replied.
Kurama blinked, "He came?"
Hiei nodded. "And took Mukuro."
"What?!" Kurama said, eyes widening. "How did he manage that? And was he the one to cut you?"
Hiei sighed faintly, and started to explain.
Kurama frowned. "A wire, huh? That's an awful unusual weapon for someone of the Makai, but, I've seen odder I suppose."
He fell listlessly back on his bed, his red hair splaying around white sheets. Hiei sat nearby him, looking frustrated.
After he had finished explaining, and Kurama had finished his curing, Hiei was very anxious to get out of there, and back to his search. He had only come to Kurama because his neck was hurting so badly after all and never intended to listen to the fox's ramblings, which usually didn't bother him, but did now.
Kurama noticed, but he wasn't about to let Hiei go off in an unthinking rage, and possibly get himself killed.
If Kuromeru could get through the guards, grab Mukuro, and manage to cut Hiei, then they were pretty dangerous. And they had a fox demon working with them, meaning there was a slight bit more danger.
"Anything else you can tell me about this Kuromeru?"
After all, Kurama had heard about Kuromeru in short. He had heard of the letters, and Kuromeru's threats, on the few times Hiei had come to visit after the letters started coming in. But that was all he had heard.
"Only what you know." Hiei replied in short, voice frustrated.
Kurama closed green eyes. "Calm down, Hiei." He ignored the feeling he got, the one that told him Hiei was glaring at him, as he knew the fire demon wouldn't do much more than that.
Quietly, he continued to speak, as if he hadn't actually finished his sentence before. "If you go off like you are now, unthinking, and angered to any extreme, you won't find either Kuromeru, his fox, or Mukuro for that matter."
He felt the eyes shift away, and dared to open his green ones to stare at the spiky-haired man.
Hiei's red eyes were cast down on the bed, a look of frustration filling his face, but Kurama kept a lock on his eyes, surprised at the emotion he saw there.
Hiei was not an idiot, and he knew Kurama was right, but the look in his eyes told Kurama that presently he had no care for thought, rational or irrational, and only wanted to throw his thoughts to the wind and act on animal instinct alone.
"Let me go get dressed and make a phone call, and we'll get going." Kurama replied, watching Hiei look at him confused. A small little grin crossed Kurama's face, his green eyes holding both laughter, and a bit of comfort for Hiei's benefit.
"I figure, there's at least two people involved in kidnapping Mukuro," Kurama replied to the question. "Kuromeru, of course, will be yours, but that fox demon of his could make it harder to get to him."
"So, you're coming along?" Hiei replied, making a small growling noise at Kurama's nod. "Annoying fox, I don't need your help!"
"Too bad." Kurama said, standing and moving away to dress and make his phone call.
To himself only, though he knew Kurama already sensed it, Hiei was actually glad that Kurama had decided to help him.
After all, the redheaded, green-eyed, mischievous fox was right. That fox demon that Kuromeru had with them could cause him many problems, especially since there was enough Makai inhabitants around that had absolutely no sense of honor.
That, and Hiei didn't know if perhaps Kuromeru had more subordinates.
Sure, Hiei could easily handle a few, and in an angered state, several, but if there were too many he'd be overcome. With Kurama's help, any rival would be out of luck, as Hiei and Kurama moved together in perfect harmony, almost as if they were bonded in some way.
Hiei snorted at the idea of him and Kurama being somehow linked, and looked out the window, blinking softly at the moon.
It was bright, like in the Makai that night, and Hiei let a small smile creep across his face as he remembered watching Mukuro sleeping with the moon touching her face.
But his eyes and face hardened again at the same thought, as it lead to the events that night, and he barely cared, or heard, as Kurama moved back into the room, reporting he was ready to go.
Two shadows quietly crossed the border that separated the Ningenkai from the Makai, and began moving off towards Mukuro's compound, intent on seeing if any clues were there that would give them some idea of where Kuromeru and company had went.
Hiei had only seen the general direction that Kuromeru and the fox demon had taken to get out of the compound, but, aside from that, he had no idea where they had moved off to, which of course would make searching for them difficult.
Kurama had been the one to suggest they headed back to the compound and do some investigative work, and Hiei had calmed down just enough to agree with the idea, instead of running off to look for them in random patterns.
However, both the demons were a bit worried that there would be few clues, as there were few clues about who, or what, Kuromeru was. It was apparent Kuromeru was a good fighter, and had a high level ki, placing them as probably being from the Makai, but the specific class they held was a mystery.
They kept moving.
The first thing to greet her was pain, the second confusion, and finally, fear.
Looking around, Mukuro found herself in unfamiliar settings, with nothing at all to tell her where she was, and no one at all around. She was also bound at the wrist by bands similar to those she had worn before Hiei had sliced them off from her.
But these ones were stronger by far, and she couldn't feel any of her powers flowing through her.
She turned as there was a small clicking sound, and realized that there was actually a door in this room, off to the side where it wouldn't be so noticeable, and, coming through were two forms.
The first was a fox demon, much like Kurama, but with brown coloring instead of silver. He was, however, attractive still, his hair tied back carefully with a green band, and green eyes attentive.
His clothes were very plain, and also brown. They consisted of a tunic, and pants underneath, with small boots covering his feet. This set it up so that one would more often look at his eyes, the only section of color to his body, as his face was also fairly pale.
The second form startled Mukuro, as it was covered completely in a brown cloak, but gave off such a feel that she inwardly shuddered. Sitting at no power didn't help her as she felt the cloaked figure’s eyes measure her up, and could feel the smile that crossed the figure’s lips.
"Who are you?" Mukuro said, her good eye squinting in annoyance at the figure, who took center stage next to their fox counterpart.
"I would think you would know," came the silent response, and Mukuro blinked several times.
"Kuromeru?!"
The figure chuckled softly, and nodded. "Correct."
Mukuro growled softly, not sure what to say to this change of events. She didn't know where she was, how she got there, and it was frightening to be face to face with Kuromeru with no powers.
"Show your face..." Mukuro demanded, trying her best not to seem fearful, and, to her shock, Kuromeru complied, slowly lowering the hood of the cloak, then letting that same cloak start to slide to the floor, the fox companion carefully catching it and holding to it before it fell.
Mukuro blinked quietly, for before her stood Kuromeru, not a man as had been suspected, but a woman.
This woman had jet-black hair, tied up in a high pony, but still long enough so that it fell to her shoulders even with the tie. Her eyes suited her companions, green as well, but far darker, more like the green of the forest in the setting sun.
Her clothes were plain, but also very grand. They were mostly black, but thin golden lines of thread formed a strange pattern through the collar, and at the cuffs of her button-down shirt. Gold cuff links also adorned the darkness of the shirt.
The pants Kuromeru wore were also pure black, only being cut off from monotony by a small, thin, slit skirt on either side that seemed to attach to the shirt, though it didn't. This piece also sat at black, but had the golden design running through it. Moving right, it could be told that the inside of the skirt-like piece was a silk-white color.
"Better?" Kuromeru asked, smiling at Mukuro.
Mukuro remained silent, unsure of what to say, and Kuromeru smiled again, and indicated the brown fox.
"This is my companion, Saephan." The fox bowed as Kuromeru introduced him, and then Kuromeru smiled again at Mukuro. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but I am afraid you are now my prisoner."
Mukuro glared slightly, feeling an intense anger welling up in her. "I am no one's prisoner!"
Kuromeru shrugged slightly, eyes uncaring. "It doesn't matter what you say, you are at no ability to fight, and in your weakened state would put up no challenge against me. You know this as well as I do."
Mukuro just continued glaring, though she knew that Kuromeru was right. She had barely any strength to go at Kuromeru, both because of her energies being gone, and due to a small, throbbing headache, that made it hard to concentrate.
"Now," Kuromeru said, ignoring the glare that was still being leveled at her by Mukuro. "Why don't you try to rest a little? The drug has probably left a pretty good headache going, and there is little else for you to do. I will have Saephan bring you some food later."
With that, Kuromeru turned and left, Saephan following close behind.
Mukuro muttered, not sure of what to do.
"We haven't found any sign yet, fox." Hiei said, annoyed. He was staring at Kurama, who was still looking around Mukuro's castle.
They had been there an hour or two now, and Hiei was becoming quite annoyed, and was about to run off and find Mukuro on his own. He didn't need the kitsune's help in this case.
Kurama looked at Hiei, calmly. "Perhaps not, but we won't have any better luck if we just guess randomly where Kuromeru is."
Hiei muttered, and Kurama returned to his inspections.
It was a moment later that Kurama's happy 'ah-hah!' brought Hiei's attentions from sheer annoyance, to interest.
"What is it?" Hiei moved to Kurama.
Kurama smiled, holding up a piece of wire with a small sheet of paper attached.
"It got kicked to one side of the wall and was ignored," Kurama replied to Hiei's questioning look. "And is definitely Kuromeru's."
"What is it, then?" Hiei replied.
Kurama carefully unwound the wire from the paper, then opened the paper to read. He blinked several times. "Hiei..."
"Hn?" Hiei asked, leaning in to look at the paper. He blinked as well.
Mukuro sat silently, deep in thought.
It had been quite a while since Kuromeru had left, and she had tried to sleep a little, though very much on guard.
She didn't, and wouldn't, trust either Kuromeru or her companion fox, even if their intentions towards her did not seem harmful... at present.
First Kuromeru had written several letters saying that she was coming to take over Mukuro's third of the Makai, then the letter before this said she was going to get Mukuro.
It was confusing, as it left Mukuro with no idea of the true intentions behind Kuromeru and Saephan.
There was the sound of the door unlocking, and slowly opening, which Mukuro turned to, watching with cold eyes as Saephan entered the room, a small tray of food and drink in hand.
He crossed the room, silent, avoiding looking at Mukuro, and laid the tray on the table, then turning quickly and moving to leave.
"Do you think I am going to eat that?" Mukuro said, annoyed, and curious of the fox demon's reaction. "It could be poisoned, after all."
Saephan stopped, silent, before speaking just audibly enough. "It isn't poisoned..."
He started to move to leave, and Mukuro snorted her distrust. He stopped again, turning to look at her quietly.
Mukuro blinked a bit at what she saw.
No longer did Saephan look like a demon, nor a semi-servant, as he seemed to act around Kuromeru, but he looked more like a frightened, or injured, child.
"Lady Mukuro," His voice was soft, but she could tell he spoke the title with respect. "We have no desire to kill you, or even take over your third of the Makai."
"Then why hold me here?" Her voice was acid.
"We... have reasons..." Saephan lowered his eyes to the floor, but could still feel Mukuro staring at him. "Please... it... it's not our intention to cause pain..."
"Then what is your intention?"
"I... have none..." Saephan responded, causing Mukuro to again fall off guard. "My only intentions are to live my life as best as I can, hopefully with Mistress Kuromeru, without problems, but... Problems are a problem with me..."
Mukuro just stared blankly at Saephan, not sure of what he was saying.
Catching it, Saephan sighed softly. "It's a very long story, Lady Mukuro, but let us just say that you are only a part of a very large thing."
"What large thing?" Mukuro squinted her eyes at him.
"I... I..." He looked away to one of the walls. "I'm not supposed to tell you... B... But I don't want you to hate Mistress Kuromeru..."
"I have nothing to like so far." Mukuro said, aware that maybe if she said just the right words, she'd figure out why she was where she was.
Saephan bit his lip softly, his eyes leveled at the wall, but concentrating more into his mind than at anything on the wall.
After a moment, he finally turned to Mukuro, all traces of childishness, or even worry, gone. His eyes were very calm, and also very angry. "Let me tell you what this is about before you judge Mistress Kuromeru..."
Saephan again paused, while Mukuro waited, intently, for him to speak.