Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ G-men ❯ Pressing On ( Chapter 32 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Author’s note: Someone asked whether Duo was actually invisible in the last part, or if he just felt like he was. I can say at first he just felt that way – by the time Heero was gone, only Hiei could say for sure (since he could see Duo with his jagan, whether Duo was invisible or not). Duo was at the point where he couldn’t tell, so that’s how I want the readers to be. AKA – I’m not telling, and neither is Hiei. ;p
A name dropped in this part comes from ‘Unwanted.’ I know I haven’t updated that ‘prequel’, since I don’t want to spoil things here, but what has been written so far should tell you who Austin is, and give you an idea of why he’s important. For those who haven’t read it and don’t plan to read it, just know that he was Hiei and Yukina’s foster brother, and Hiei’s first friend.
This Part: Featured characters include Kurama, Zechs, and Quatre.
Category: Anime, Yaoi, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho
Warnings: fluff, shonen ai, minor angst, possible humor, action
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, KuramaxHiei, will be 6x5
Author: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina-hotmail.com
Website / Complete Archive: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

Gmen

Part 32: Pressing On

Kurama didn’t speak when Hiei slipped into their room, his eyes locked on the glowing screen in front of him.

Hours had passed since he’d gone upstairs and been informed of Hiei’s quick departure. It hadn’t taken much to guess where Hiei had gone, and why. And as much as it angered that jealous part of him, he’d known it wasn’t his place to follow. He’d returned to their room instead.

His computer was quite different from the small laptop Heero used. Not only was it large and bulky – because he knew he wouldn’t be traveling with it - it was rarely used.

A few low hanging bits of ivy and it remained hidden in a corner of their room. That was the way he liked it because every time he used the thing, he was in a dark mood. Not the computer’s fault, of course, but it made him keep it out of sight when it wasn’t in use. He was in just such a mood now.

He waited, listening to the silence as Hiei hesitated close to the door. Then he heard a quick, indrawn breath as the boy caught sight of what he had on the screen. Kurama let Hiei stare for a minute before turning to look at him.

“I thought you’d be gone longer,” Kurama admitted, his voice soft and toneless. “Did he cry?”

Hiei flinched at that, his eyes darting off to the side as his shoulders hunched. His expression was dark and clouded, his teeth visibly clenched.

Sighing at himself, Kurama sent another sharp look at the screen. The boy there didn’t look anything like Duo, and nothing like him. His hair was too short and messy, his eyes too pale and tired. Kurama just couldn’t see the resemblance. He stared a while longer, not to make Hiei wait, but to force himself into a better mindset. Then he turned back and held out a hand.

His voice remained soft, but there was a commanding edge to it. “Come here, Hiei...”

A tense moment passed where he wasn’t sure if Hiei would respond, or if the boy would dart from the room. Then a cold hand slipped into his.

Kurama tugged him closer so he could wrap his arms around that tense form. He hugged him as fiercely as he could, the sort of embrace that would suffocate or actually injure anyone else. Hiei melted into it, heaving a long shaky sigh against his chest.

“I didn’t realize,” Kurama admitted. “If I had known what you’d see when you went upstairs, I’d have kept you with me. But I thought you’d be gone longer.”

“He has friends.”

Those words were given in a sharp, bitter tone. Kurama winced in reaction.

“I’m sure they would have caught up to him if you hadn’t,” Kurama said quickly. “Wufei cares about him a great deal.”

Hiei lifted his head, dim eyes shifting up to look at Kurama. “I know. That’s why I left.”

“I see.”

With a bit of prodding, Kurama arranged Hiei so he was curled in his lap, letting them both face the computer. Hiei took one glance before looking away again.

“Then you stayed until Wufei got there?” asked Kurama. “It must have hurt...not being able to help. But Duo isn’t like Austin.”

The name did it. Kurama tightened his arms as Hiei jerked around to glare at the computer. He could feel light, furious tremors shaking that slender body, and he compensated with as much warmth and force as he could. Now that Hiei was facing it, he dropped his head on the boy’s shoulder and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Look how tired his eyes are,” Kurama murmured. “He was older, and he’d already been through so much by himself. You said that Duo has friends, and you’re right. Even if he were tired, his friends wouldn’t let him give up. You don’t have to worry about that. He might be hurt now, but he isn’t the sort to let it keep him down. His friends will support him, and you can. He’s like me now, you know? His eyes changed. They won’t go back just because one thing upset him.”

“He looked broken.”

Hiei trembled as he hissed that out, but Kurama recognized it as anger being controlled. His friend was suppressing it so he wouldn’t burn him. Kurama brushed his cheek against Hiei’s, thanking him for the consideration.

“He’s not broken, Hiei, just stricken. Tears work as a release, no matter how much you hate seeing them. You never saw Austin cry. Look at his eyes here. He held it all in until he didn’t have the strength to go on. If Duo cried, then it’s proof that he isn’t holding back until it festers inside.“

With a sharp growl, Hiei shoved the button across from them, turning the monitor off.

“I hate it,” he spat. “I wanted to kill him for doing that.”

Kurama knew he was talking about Heero. He wasn’t about to try dissuading Hiei from being furious – it gave him an outlet. Unlike most people, Hiei never cried. He got angry instead.

“And I offered,” Hiei continued, his voice tight and bitter again, “I offered to bring him back. I’m glad he said not to.”

“Duo told you not to?” asked Kurama.

“Before he-“

Hiei stopped suddenly, his face tightening in an expression that caught Kurama by surprise. It took a while before he recognized it as embarrassment. That was such a startling contrast to Hiei’s former anger that Kurama couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Before he...?” Kurama prodded. “Exactly what did he do, Hiei...?”

Dropping his head as if he could hide his face with his hunched shoulders, Hiei glowered. “Hugged me.”

“The devil he did,” Kurama teased, his voice soft. “Taking advantage of you like that...”

Hiei growled at him, but Kurama could feel the tension lifting. He leaned forward so he could flash the boy a smile. Then he lifted Hiei and drew him over to the bed. A bit of concentration and the computer was hidden once more, leaving him to hold Hiei without the reminder.

It was difficult for him, accepting that Hiei would react so badly to Duo’s pain. Kurama liked to think that he wasn’t jealous, but the first time he’d seen Duo’s picture he’d known this was someone important. It wasn’t until a year later that he’d learned why the mystery boy in the picture was important – because of his eyes. And it always led back to Austin.

He’d looked the boy up, with a hopeful Hiei watching over his shoulder. Kurama had been hopeful as well, only he’d hoped that the boy wouldn’t be found. He hadn’t wanted to share Hiei, even back then. But once he learned of the suicide and saw Hiei’s horrified reaction to the news, he had promised himself not to ever begrudge Hiei’s feelings for others. He did, after all, have Austin to thank for his being with Hiei right now.

It was in the eyes. He’d told Wufei as much, though he’d said it in a teasing tone. Hiei really did have a weakness for those lost, hopelessly stricken eyes. He’d kept Duo’s picture because of that expression – a terrified, tearful boy running from the death of everyone he loved. And Kurama knew, Hiei had kept him for the same reason – the eyes he’d raised when he first saw Hiei and had expected to die by that blood-soaked sword.

Hiei’s reaction to tears was simpler to understand. Yukina. It hurt her to cry, weakened her. Kurama had tried to explain it before, that it was her mutant talent that made crying so painful for her, and that his own tears didn’t hurt that way. He’d given up after a while, though. Hiei simply couldn’t stand to see him cry any more than he could Yukina. And the same held true for Duo.

Kurama worried about what would happen when Heero returned – when not if – and Hiei confronted him. If there was one thing Hiei couldn’t forgive, it was making a loved one cry.

- - -

He heard the boy before he saw him, one of those loud thoughts that were usually lost in the general murmur of a crowd. Since most of the students had retired to bed hours ago, that lone thought was particularly striking. The fact that it was bitterly resentful and directed right at him also helped to catch his attention.

Don’t you ever sleep?

Zechs gave a wry smirk as he glanced up from the table he was sitting at. As ruffled as Wufei looked, standing half in the doorway, half in the dark hall, he knew the boy hadn’t meant the thought to slip out. He looked as if he didn’t know whether to enter the room and – heaven forbid – be sociable, or to duck back out in hopes that he hadn’t been noticed.

Zechs caught his eyes, gave a quick nod, and looked back to his coffee. If Wufei chose to slip off, now he could do it without losing face.

A sigh sounded in the quiet room. Then Wufei crossed over to the coffee, snagged some, and took a resigned seat across from Zechs.

“If I didn’t know better,” Wufei muttered, “I’d think you were an insomniac. But you wouldn’t be stupid enough to drink coffee when you’re trying to fall asleep.”

His lips twitched a bit at the disgruntled tone, but Zechs hid it behind an innocent expression.

“Do you know that some people react to caffeine by becoming more relaxed and controlled? It’s rare, but it has been proscribed as a treatment to hyperactive people in the past. Ironic, that...”

“Are you saying you’re one of those people?” asked Wufei with a raised eyebrow.

“No,” Zechs smiled pleasantly. “Just making conversation.”

“Avoiding the issue, you mean.”

The boy’s expression was irritated, but Zechs could tell it wasn’t really because of him. He let the silence hang for a while, just sipping his coffee and watching to see if his suspicion was right. Unless he’d miscalculated, Wufei wouldn’t be able to stay quiet for long. He might have come down looking for ‘solitude,’ but he wouldn’t have entered the room if silence were what he really wanted right now. Sure enough, another sigh broke the quiet.

“I have you figured out, you know,” Wufei sniffed. “You already know everything about us, so there’s no exchanging stories. You don’t give straight answers, don’t encourage prodding, and just sit back on the sidelines watching. Must be nice to be so uninvolved.”

Zechs didn’t respond, his gaze steady. He waited until Wufei scowled and looked away. Then he broached the subject that was really bothering Wufei.

“How is he?” asked Zechs.

“I don’t know,” Wufei said sharply, glaring down at his cup. “He wouldn’t talk to me at all. He just said he was tired and that he wanted to sleep it off.”

“But?” Zechs said quietly.

“Hiei was with him.”

Wufei shook his head, a hint of hurt flashing past his angry eyes. Hiei had looked decidedly uncomfortable when he’d found the boy in Duo’s room, earlier. But Duo had smiled at Hiei as he left. Duo hadn’t smiled at Wufei. He’d barely even looked at Wufei. How was he supposed to react to that?

“Why would he talk to Hiei and not me? I thought...”

“Sometimes it’s easier to talk with a stranger than it is with a friend,” said Zechs. “But I’d guess it’s more that Hiei didn’t talk at all. Duo wouldn’t want you to see him with his guard down, and he would assume talking about it would keep the wound fresh. He should be able to discuss it in a few days. Right now, he’s probably trying to protect himself from his feelings, to find a way to handle the situation on his own.”

“Hiei shouldn’t have even been there,” Wufei glared. “Accusing me of hurting him, then looking guilty when I caught them alone. If I didn’t know better...”

“Kurama wasn’t surprised,” Zechs commented, his voice still soft. “He came up after the two of you left to find Duo. He wasn’t surprised to hear that Hiei had gone as well. He wasn’t happy about it, but he wasn’t surprised.”

Dark eyes snapped to him, and Zechs met them calmly. “Resigned, is how he looked.”

“He told me once that if Hiei had met Duo instead of him, he’d have fallen in love just the same.”

It was given as a challenge, as if he hoped Zechs would say something to counter it. Zechs didn’t respond to that.

“You’re still his best friend,” said Zechs. “When he’s ready, he’ll need you there to support him, without this resentment. He’s just not ready yet.”

“Ready to share with Hiei, but not with me.”

That former hint of hurt was now a frustrated blaze in those dark eyes. Zechs watched it for a long moment before leaning closer, his gaze sober.

“Do you want me to tell you what happened with Hiei?” asked Zechs. “To look in Duo’s mind and tell you whether or not you need to be jealous? Do you want to attack Hiei instead of thanking him for being there when your friend needed a shoulder to cry on? Do you really resent Duo for not wanting to be weak in front of his friends any more than you do?”

Wufei’s face was a picture of anger, hurt, and tired frustration. He shook his head, dropping his eyes to stare down at his hands.

“I should have said something earlier,” Wufei said quietly. “Before he left. I couldn’t think of anything to say that would help.”

“You can’t stand being helpless. You feel like he turned to someone else because you failed him.”

“I did, though,” Wufei sighed.

He shook his head again, giving a bitter smile at Zechs. He had a strong urge to sneak off and burn energy until he was too tired to be angry with himself. But Duo had taken away that option.

“Duo said he’d be down in the morning,” murmured Wufei, “and that he’d help me with my talent since he can’t practice his own for a few days. He was all business, dismissive, and cool. I don’t think I’ve ever...seen that side of him. I don’t like it.”

“Everyone has his own way of coping,” said Zechs. “Just be glad he isn’t isolating himself.”

“Right.”

Most of that anger had faded to the point where Wufei was fairly slumped at the table, his expression tired and drained. Zechs followed the boy’s gaze and frowned at his hands.

“Let me,” Zechs offered, waving at the dark bruises marring Wufei’s wrist.

Wufei blinked in surprise, a faint smile pulling at his lips. “From what I hear, your healing hurts more than a few bruises do. I think I’ll pass.”

“No faith at all...” sighed Zechs.

He reached out and caught Wufei’s hand with his left, ignoring the boy’s startled expression as he laid his right over the bruised wrist. It only took a moment. Then he released him with a wry smirk.

“Did you think I was a slow learner?”

“How much have you been practicing?” asked Wufei, his eyes suspicious. “I barely felt anything.”

“Us insomniacs have to find something to pass the time, you know.” Zechs flashed a teasing smile. “Mutilation in the name of training is one thing, but healing shouldn’t hurt. It’s been trial and error, but I think I have it down. Now I’m more likely to use too little energy, rather than too much.”

“In just a few nights? On top of working with Hiei-“

“I haven’t worked with him since that first time,” Zechs reminded him. “I’ll resume tomorrow if everyone is ready to get back to the training, but a mutant should have at least one thing he can do without being instructed every step of the way. Now that you know how to work your lightning, do you need Kurama to hold your hand until you master it? Of course not.”

Wufei’s eyebrow twitched at the reference, mostly because he remembered how Kurama had held a lot more than his hand. But he didn’t really see the two as similar. Kurama hadn’t shown Zechs how to control his healing energy.

“He said Hiei couldn’t teach you that,” said Wufei. “Kurama said Hiei would work on the telepathy, but that he’d have to handle the energy control.”

“Hiei taught me well enough. He told me to watch how much I used, and to use less the next time. Like I said, trial and error. Besides which,” Zechs smirked, “I don’t think Kurama would be comfortable working with me. He considers me the enemy, you know.”

Wufei raised an eyebrow at that, but Zechs didn’t elaborate, he just smirked. Then the white-haired man stood and leaned across the table to take away his coffee cup.

“You don’t want to pick up my bad habits,” said Zechs. “It’s...fifteen after two in the morning, and you need your sleep. Be a good boy and go to bed.”

Bright spots flushed on Wufei’s cheeks and he bristled at the order, his hands curling into embarrassed fists. Where did raccoon eyes get off telling him that he needed sleep?

“You’re one to talk,” Wufei glowered.

“I’m an insomniac, remember?” Zechs smirked, holding his hands up in a helpless gesture. “I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. But you have your work cut out for you tomorrow – practicing your talent and cheering up Duo. Think of your responsibilities.”

“You’re changing the subject again. If you wanted to sleep, you wouldn’t be down here drinking coffee.”

Zechs nodded, not losing his smirk. “Unless I was one of those people for whom caffeine has an opposite effect.”

“Which you’re not!” Wufei blurted.

“Right,” Zechs smiled.

Wufei’s eyebrow twitched twice before settling into a droll expression. He heaved a deep sigh and pushed away from the table.

“You really don’t like straight answers,” said Wufei. “Be glad I’m too tired to continue this discussion.”

“Not at all,” Zechs smiled, escorting Wufei to the cafeteria door. “I would have liked the company. But you do have an obligation to be wide awake come morning, so I won’t keep you.”

The boy tossed him a frustrated glower, and Zechs watched until he disappeared in the dark hall. Once Wufei was gone, he smirked and shook his head, turning back to the table. As Heero might have said, the mission was accomplished.

Telepaths didn’t read their friends. Since he’d spent considerable time without friends, that restriction hadn’t stopped Zechs from reading innumerable people. Duo had seen it back when he first met the group – his familiarity with manipulation. It wasn’t something he used often, certainly not with his newfound friends. But knowing exactly how to change a person’s mood was useful at times. Wufei wasn’t upset now, just tired.

He’d offered him comfort for his doubts, honesty to clear up his own false targets – he was angry at himself and not Hiei or Duo, and a distraction, something else to focus his frustration on. Treating Wufei like a child had made his proud self-reliance spring into place, all but erasing the lasting effects of his helplessness that morning.

He might have manipulated a friend, but he’d done it with good intentions, and he was satisfied with the results. More than satisfied. It was nice to feel useful. For one brief moment, he’d felt like part of the group, and it was a good feeling.

- - -

It was an unusual bunch at the table that morning. Kurama and Hiei had come up a good hour before anyone else – except Zechs, who’d never left. They were seated when the others came in, as if to make up for the missing place at the table. Duo came downstairs before Quatre and Trowa, another unusual occurrence since there hadn’t been anyone there to wake him up. And Wufei was the last, dragging his feet and yawning all the way to his seat.

Duo sent one hesitant look at Hiei before plastering a wide smile on his face and beaming at his wary friends.

“So,” Duo drawled, “training! What’s the plan?”

Zechs answered, mostly repeating the plans that had been postponed the day before. He gave a nod to Hiei before speaking.

“Hiei and I are going to be working in the forest, with Quatre doing sweeps from the yard. The distance should work as a dampening effect.”

Kurama nodded and caught Trowa’s eyes. “It’s a good chance to start on you,” he told the boy. “You should be far enough away that you won’t effect Quatre any more than Hiei would. And if Zechs can handle Hiei’s mind, I’m sure he’ll survive the exposure to yours.”

Eyebrow twitching at that smug remark, Zechs sniffed. “I’ve read Trowa in that state before. It’s painful, but not deadly. With my focus on Hiei, it shouldn’t be more than a minor distraction.”

“Right,” Kurama smiled back. “And considering Trowa’s own mind is painful to telepaths, I’d wager he won’t be affected by Hiei – at least not too much. He won’t be using his mindreading abilities for this.”

“What would I be using?” asked Trowa.

“Whatever other powers you have,” said Kurama. “We’ll take the valley. You drop your shields and face my plants. They’ll be your targets, so you shouldn’t have to worry about hurting me. I promise, if you so much as touch me, Hiei will feel it and intervene.”

That last bit was given in a teasing tone, with a sidelong look at the boy in question. Hiei’s eyes narrowed, and he gave a tight nod.

“I’ll be within a few seconds distance,” he said. “With my speed that should be enough.”

“And I can work with Wufei,” Duo said brightly. “There’s a way I could help him, isn’t there?”

Kurama nodded, his smile just a tad encouraging. “Yes. He’d strain himself if he went against my plants so soon, but a slower moving target would be reasonable. Rocks or sticks – anything you can throw. From a tree that would give him a few seconds to try tracking it.”

“That sounds good,” said Wufei. “But if you’re going to experiment with Trowa’s powers, you might want to include someone who uses energy the way he does. He glowed when he dropped his shields. Yusuke might be helpful if he can test his energy on him without being a visible target.”

“He did say he had a distance attack,” said Trowa. He looked a little wary, but was willing to give it a chance.

“He’s probably still asleep,” Kurama smiled. “We can stop by his room on the way and pick him up.”

“If he’s willing,” Duo frowned, “you mean.”

“I’m sure he’d be all for it,” Wufei assured him, giving the boy a knowing smile. “He likes to fight and show off, and this would let him do both.”

“Then we’re set?” asked Quatre. “I’ll bring Une her breakfast. It looks like she’ll be getting the day off again.”

With the plans laid, they split up, Quatre staying at the school while the rest headed for the forest. Kurama had picked up Yusuke on the way. Quatre watched them go from his place beneath the tree on the front lawn.

Once they were out of sight down the hill, he sat and started his sweeps. It would be a while before they were in position for Zechs to actually start reading, but a bit of flexing before the session couldn’t hurt. He was making a wide encompassing sweep of the entire area when two very close minds caught his attention.

Quatre opened his eyes and blinked to find two girls standing a few feet from him. He smiled at Yukina, but was surprised to see Relena standing next to her. If he hadn’t been sitting comfortably, he’d have gotten to his feet out of respect.

“Hello,” said Quatre. “Good morning to you both.”

“You’re out early today,” said Yukina. “It’s a lovely morning.”

“I’m working on my talent,” Quatre said honestly. “Zechs and Hiei, and the others, are working in the forest today. I’m going to be doing sweeps of them to test myself against Hiei’s jagan.”

He didn’t mention that he’d also be feeling Trowa’s mind for the very first time. He didn’t need to. Yukina gave him a wide-eyed look the moment he mentioned Hiei’s jagan.

“It’s painful to telepaths,” Yukina warned. “Do you think the distance will be enough to protect you?”

“I’m sure it will,” said Quatre. “If not, I’ll pull back.”

“I see.”

Yukina flashed him a bright smile, her dark red eyes glinting in the morning light. Then she turned her gaze on the tree he was seated by. She stared at the branches for a moment before hopping onto a nicely curved one and making herself comfortable.

Quatre stared in surprise, and a little unease at having a girl in a dress above his head. The way she was half curled, half stretched on the slanted limb was a stark contrast to how ladylike she was. It made him feel awkward.

Patting a hand on Quatre’s shoulder, Relena gave a knowing smile as Yukina beamed from above them. “She gets that from her brother,” Relena confided.

It was plain that the two girls were fond of each other. They were sharing a look like best friends with a secret. Despite himself, Quatre felt his heart contract in a surge of jealousy. Not of one of the girls, but of that look, the feeling they shared. It made him miss his sisters. He hadn’t seen them in so long, but he remembered that look. They had the twinkling eyes of girls who knew each other better than anyone else ever could. Best friends.

Quatre had dropped his eyes, wishing now that he had picked a different place to read from. The memories that ran through his mind were painful, wistful, and distracting from the work he wanted to do.

“Well,” said Relena, “I wish you luck. I’d be a distraction if I stayed, once the students get active, so I’ll be going in now.”

The girl gave Quatre a polite nod, and flashed Yukina another of those ‘insider’ smiles. Yukina beamed back before glancing down at Quatre.

“Will my being here distract you?” asked Yukina.

She looked unreasonably cute up in the tree, and Quatre couldn’t hold onto his sad jealousy for long. He shook his head with a wry smile.

“No,” said Quatre. “You won’t bother me from up there.”

He turned back around, making himself more comfortable against the tree. Just as he was closing his eyes to start another sweep, someone bounced over, nearly landing on his crossed legs.

“Yukina-sama~!”

Quatre’s eyebrow jerked at the boy’s happy wail, and he gritted his teeth. He wouldn't dream of criticizing the boy, but now really wasn’t the best time to have Kuwabara simpering all over the place. He’d never be able to concentrate with that mutant dancing around the tree.

Yukina’s eyes widened and she held a finger over her mouth, giving Kuwabara a pretty frown. “Shh...”

The tall boy froze, his eyes shifting around to see what he was supposed to be quiet for. Since it was Yukina, his first thought was that she was trying to coax a bird onto her wrist. She was good at that, but she’d taught him that one had to be very quiet or the birds would be too afraid to land. He held his breath, eyes darting over the branches near her, looking for the bird.

“Quatre-san is practicing his talent,” Yukina whispered. “He needs quiet to concentrate. If you can be very quiet, you can come up here so you won’t distract him. Do you think you can be that quiet?”

Quatre sent a harried look up at Yukina, absolute disbelief flashing over his face. One look at the orange haired boy was enough to tell a person that ‘very quiet’ wasn’t in his vocabulary. But when he glanced back at Kuwabara, he was surprised to see the boy’s mouth clenched firmly shut.

Kuwabara’s eyes were wide and sparkly, almost frighteningly happy and shiny, and he fairly floated up to the limb to the left of Yukina. He never made a sound, but the worshipping expression plastered on his face was dripping with the sticky sweet scent of puppy love. Quatre sweatdropped.

- - -

“So not only is it flying and mindreading, but a mystery power, too. You guys sure do like your secrets.”

Yusuke was in a bright mood, considering the bits of sleep that still clung to his eyes at having been woken up early. He strode next to Trowa, doing his best to engage the silent boy in some sort of conversation before he had to attack him. That was what Kurama had asked, that he help him attack Trowa. The request had been enough to wake him up very quickly.

“I thought you guys didn’t play with your talents,” Yusuke continued, raising an eyebrow at the brooding teen.

“It’s not playing precisely,” Kurama told him. “We want to see what his limits are, and how he responds to different attacks. Your energy attacks should compliment my plants nicely. I have a suspicion Trowa may very well be as versatile as Hiei is – just not so controlled.”

“Not controlled at all,” said Trowa.

He wasn’t comfortable with the way Yusuke kept smirking at him. If the boy didn’t take this seriously, he could easily wind up hurt or worse once he dropped his shields. As far as Trowa knew, he only responded to stimulus – countering attacks, taking out those aiming to hurt him. But that didn’t mean Kurama and Yusuke would be safe as his opponents. There was no guarantee that they’d be safe, especially if Kurama’s plants were as powerful as he claimed they were.

“It’s like a grab-bag,” Duo said brightly, tilting his head at Yusuke. “Only it’s not a mystery prize, it’s a mystery death. Will he flashfry you, or punch a hole through your chest? You won’t know until you open the bag.”

Trowa shot a sharp look back at that comment. He was reminded of his ill-fated idea to have Duo test his powers by attacking him. Compared to that foolish notion, having Kurama and Yusuke as his opponents was much safer. While they didn’t have Duo’s excellent ‘hiding’ abilities, they did have offensive attacks that could keep him at bay.

“I really doubt he’d kill them,” said Wufei. He smirked at the worried look that came over Yusuke’s face. “And if you ask nicely, I’m sure Zechs would heal you when Trowa’s finished with you.”

Yusuke halted, a flash of confusion skirting past his face. “Are you guys kidding, or what? I thought this was just a test – training – not a real battle.”

“It’s just a test,” said Kurama. “But it is a potentially dangerous test.”

He turned a taunting look on the black-haired boy, pushing at Yusuke’s pride more than anything.

“Since you’re so eager to face Hiei in a real fight, I thought you’d be excited to try out your attacks on someone who might also be an S class mutant. But if you’re afraid, you don’t have to take part.”

“I’m not afraid,” Yusuke scoffed. “I just-“

He stopped suddenly, his face blanking for a long moment before screwing into disbelief.

“Did you say he was S class?!”

Kurama gave a wide smile. “We don’t know. That’s what makes it interesting.”

“Would you be jealous if he were?” asked Wufei.

Yusuke snorted and started walking again, his hands shoved into his pockets. “Of course not.”

A glance back at Yusuke told Trowa the boy was serious. That playful, taunting look had been replaced with an almost calculating one – but an eagerly calculating one. Yusuke might take the fight seriously, but he was still looking forward to it. He had the sort of excited hungry look of a person who thrived on conflict.

Duo was looking up at the canopy as he walked, following a certain shadow with his eyes, so he jumped a little when Kurama showed up beside him. The redhead sent him and Wufei a smile before gesturing to their right.

“This path splits in a few minutes,” said Kurama. “Follow the right path till you see a cactus with orange blossoms, about this big.”

He cupped his hands to show a small diameter, and gestured a size about five inches high.

“It’s a marker,” he continued. “If you go off the path and keep heading straight, you’ll see a bluff. There’s a beautiful pear tree you can throw things from – pears if you like, though it would be better if you only throw the bad ones. No sense wasting them, after all.”

Wufei and Duo gave somewhat hesitant nods, and Zechs raised an eyebrow at Kurama.

“Cactus? And a pear tree?”

The redhead grinned sheepishly, making Zechs shake his head with a bemused smile.

“I know you can grow almost any plant in a foreign landscape, with your talent,” said Zechs, “but your choices are strange. You do realize that.”

“They’re real plants,” Kurama said in his defense. “I planted the seeds years ago. I did make the tree grow faster, but I didn’t use a bit of my talent on the cactus.”

“It’s for show,” said Hiei.

Zechs glanced over, surprised to see that Hiei had come down from the trees to walk with them. He’d been bounding overhead since they reached the forest.

“Show?” asked Wufei.

Kurama explained, still wearing his sheepish, lightly embarrassed smile. “I wanted to see how long it would take for someone to notice it, since the paths were used much more often back then. But as far as I can tell, no one ever did. I suppose it just wasn’t large enough to catch anyone’s attention.”

“And the pear tree?” asked Duo.

Kurama sent a teasing look over at Hiei, smirking when the boy glowered and sidled further away from them. He turned back to Duo and winked.

“Hiei likes pears. You’ll see that when you get there. He’s completely wiped out the ones on the top of the tree.”

“Urusai.”

Duo glanced over at Hiei’s low growl. The boy was bristling and pointedly looking away from them. Duo gave a small smile as he turned back to Kurama. “Maybe I shouldn’t throw them, then. I’ve never been one to waste food.”

“You can tell which ones are bad,” said Kurama. “Just consider it pruning. And you could always throw them at Wufei. It would encourage him to strike them down. Rotten fruit isn’t pleasant when you’re hit by it.”

Wufei’s eyebrow twitched at the suggestion. But Duo sent him a teasing smirk that made him keep his rebuttal to himself. If it cheered the boy up to throw rotten fruit at him, then so be it. He heaved a resigned sigh as he turned to watch for the split in the path.

The two boys left the group a few minutes later and Kurama went to walk with Hiei. Zechs was trailing after Trowa and Yusuke, far enough ahead that he wouldn’t hear them.

“Where do you plan to work at?” asked Kurama.

“I don’t,” Hiei sniffed. He sent a droll look up at the redhead. “You make the plans. And this isn’t work. I’m going to curl up and take a nap. He can read me from the ground. I don’t need to be awake for this.”

“You’re bored...”

Kurama’s eyes widened and he gave a frustrated huff. “Of course you’re bored. You could probably work with Trowa without it affecting the reading Zechs gets from you. And here you’re stuck wasting the day, not even close enough to watch the fight.”

“I wouldn’t want to watch it,” said Hiei. “I’d want to fight it. But it would affect the reading. If I used the jagan or the kokoryuuha, it would be affected. It would be too distracted to pay attention to him.”

“It,” Kurama repeated, his eyes dark. “Do you have any idea why it wants to talk to him, Hiei? Why it’s even interested in him?”

“I think because he’s the only one to read me,” Hiei scowled. “If the boy – Quatre – can read me, I’ll know. If it responds to him as well...”

“Then it’s just curious about who is entering your mind,” Kurama finished. “I really wish you could just ask it.”

Hiei snorted, sending a taunting look up at Kurama. “What do you think I talked about after our fight the day before? I was only out for an hour. It was...amused by my questions. I didn’t have time to get an answer.”

Kurama raised an eyebrow, his eyes glittering merrily. “Are you saying I should have knocked you out for longer?”

“Think you could have?” Hiei countered. He gave a sly, appreciative smile. “I like that attack. It’s more powerful than anything you’ve created before.”

“I’ll work on it,” said Kurama. “I can’t make it much stronger, though. I was afraid I’d killed you for a minute there, when you first went down.”

“Baka.”

The little mutant rolled his eyes, and Kurama smiled as he put a warm arm over Hiei’s shoulders. “Do me a favor, would you? Have Zechs heal you before you take your nap.”

Sharp red eyes snapped up at him. Kurama answered that glare with a sly smile.

“Do that for me, and I’ll see if I can make that attack stronger the next time we spar. I think I could have increased the speed with fewer roots, without loosing the impact of the limbs themselves. It would be very dangerous that way...potentially deadly, even to you...”

The temptation did it. Kurama could see the familiar gleam in Hiei’s crimson eyes, the flash of small white fangs as he grinned.

While Hiei regularly pushed him because he wanted him to increase his offensive powers, the little mutant also enjoyed the challenge. Lately their fights had shifted from sessions of ‘push Kurama to be inventive so the match lasts longer’ into ‘try to come as close to killing Hiei as you can without actually killing him.’ It was a little nerve wracking for Kurama, but addictive in its own way.

- - -

Since his friends knew he was doing sweeps over them, Quatre didn’t hesitate to ‘watch’ them while he waited. He didn’t prod deep enough to read their memories, sticking to surface thoughts, glimpses of what they saw. Quatre had found that when it came to his abilities, he was visually and emotionally inclined. The images that came to him were dim compared to reality, but quite vivid considering they were secondhand scenes.

He skirted over Zechs, from whom he got a nice back view of Trowa walking not far ahead. Yusuke was beside Trowa, and Quatre hesitated on him. From his eyes he could see how blank Trowa’s face was.

It disturbed him, knowing that Trowa was closing his emotions off and he hadn’t felt a thing. The boy had seemed a little hesitant that morning, but nowhere near as cold as he looked from Yusuke’s eyes. Trowa’s face was pale, highlighted as if carved with marble. His hair was a tawny sheen, backlit with a green so dark it made his eyes shine with a light of their own. The word that Yusuke placed on the scene, as if stamping the back of a snapshot, was dangerous. And next to that, in a flowing script-like quality, was sexy.

Quatre fumed and pulled away from the imaginative boy, a dark angry flush taking over his face. He’d forgotten exactly who he was reading for a moment there. Trowa had looked almost surreal – because that was the tint Yusuke’s imagination put on the scene. But the idea of Yusuke checking out Trowa like that...

He glared at his hands, forcefully rubbing his palms over his legs. He’d just experienced a very strong wash of possessive anger. Now he had to resist an urge to make the boy bite his tongue for thinking of Trowa like that. It didn’t matter if Yusuke was absolutely right about how sexy Trowa was. He shouldn’t have been looking in the first place. He could damn well find his own guy to drool over.

Determined to calm himself before the real readings began, Quatre shifted his attention away from Trowa. He paused on Zechs this time and nearly pulled away in surprise as a ghost ran past his eyes.

It was a memory, half mixed with the forest path Zechs was walking down, but it was at the top of his thoughts, as vivid as Yusuke’s has been. A little girl with shockingly long lemon colored hair flying out behind her as she ran laughing down the path, followed by large fluffy black and white dog nearly as tall as she was. The title given to the memory, as insubstantial as a shadow written in charcoal, was guilt.

The meaning was lost on Quatre, but he pulled away quickly to put more distance between himself and that half-formed memory. That was a private thought, and having read it – even if it was at the very top of Zechs’ mind – made him uncomfortable.

He shifted off, skirting around Kurama as if the teen’s mind was plague-ridden. None of them had forgotten Hiei’s warning, so he wasn’t about to read him, even if he was only doing light sweeps. Instead, he sought out Duo.

Wufei, as usual with him, was giving a wordless image of a dark thundercloud. Now that Quatre knew him better, he realized that Wufei’s block took the form of whatever talent he was using, or had used last. It was all the information he could get from him. Duo’s mind was much more open.

Even with his reading being light, thoughts filtered in along with the images. Trowa had commented on that before, how loud Duo’s thoughts were. It was an ironic counter to his mutant talent. Physically Duo was made for hiding, but mentally he was vivid and striking.

He was looking down at a little brown mass of something sticky and wet that lay a few inches from black shoes, that were now specked and splotched with bits of the stuff. There was no need for a title as the thought came embedded in the image, now that will stain if it hits your chest.

Laughter tinted the scene a bright blue as the image shifted to show Wufei standing with what was now recognizable as a rotten piece of fruit splattered over his shoes. The boy was scowling, his dark eyes glinting with sparks of red that were Duo’s interpretation of anger. The small, quietly giggling thought that accompanied Wufei’s growling expression, with a wash of warm gold, was adorable.

Quatre smiled as he shifted his sweep back toward the others. He’d been stricken with guilt since Heero had made his announcement yesterday. It wasn’t his place to intrude on Heero’s thoughts, especially when the boy’s eyes had been so set and determined and...his emotions had given him a dismal haze that Quatre had felt without needing his mindreading abilities. He had feared, after Duo had run, that the boy would fall into a state of isolated depression. Seeing how bright and warm his emotion-mixed thoughts were, he knew Duo was coping. At least for right now, he was coping.

He made a fast sweep back over Zechs and Yusuke, catching a vague bit of impatience from the latter, and surprise from the first. They were no longer together, though.

Since he was supposed to be reading Hiei, Quatre forced himself to focus on Zechs instead of Yusuke. He really wanted to see what happened when Trowa dropped his shield, but his sense of responsibility told him to be patient.

Zechs was staring at something that at first didn’t make sense to Quatre as he tried to interpret the oddly mottled shades of pale green and tan. He pressed a bit closer, glancing at the thoughts that accompanied the scene, and he reacted with a surprise that mirrored Zechs’ emotion; Kurama’s stronger than I gave him credit for.

And the scene shifted into a more meaningful focus. The colors changed into pale skin, bruises healing on a curved back. He considers that a good fight, I can imagine what a great fight would result in.

The thoughts were whispers, different from Duo’s vibrant words. This was what happened when he listened to a fellow telepath talk to himself. Quatre knew that if he pressed just a bit, Zechs would hear his own thoughts and they’d be in communication with each other. But for now, it looked like he had a few more minutes to continue his sweeps.

He pulled away, rushing back to Yusuke to check on Trowa. The images were unfamiliar to him, but the boy put a label on the scene that told him they had reached their destination, demon territory. It was the valley where Kurama and Hiei had their sparring matches.

Yusuke’s attention was on a very large tree limb that was reaching toward him with crooked finger-like stems and a backdrop of splatter-movie red. The word attached to the scene was a playfully horrified tentacle-sex, with a subtitle of only Kurama.

Quatre’s face flamed and he gritted his teeth. It was going to be very difficult spying on Trowa when most of Yusuke’s thoughts were enhanced by that imagination of his. Having the boy label things didn’t help matters any. It made him wonder how Kuwabara could be so insanely sweet around Yukina when he spent most of his time with a boy whose very thoughts were twisted like that.

As he tentatively glanced back to see Yusuke climbing the limb – which was now a normal tree limb except for the impossibly needle-sharp blue-tinted stems, skewers – something caught his attention.

‘I’m starting now, Quatre.’

The voice was soft and unobtrusive, but definitely directed to him. He turned his focus back to Zechs, physically steeling himself for whatever pain was to come. That small push took him closer to the man’s mind, and he could almost see through his eyes with real-time clarity. ‘I’m ready.’

The eyes he’d been looking through closed, leaving him in complete darkness with just a hint of not being alone in there. Quatre waited with what would have been wide-eyed nervousness if he hadn’t had his own eyes closed as he concentrated.

A shadow shifted somewhere, a lighter burning gray over the black. Zechs’ attention turned toward this and the darkness broke with bright sparks of flaming hot white pain. It struck Quatre in a frontal assault that sent him reeling away so quickly he hit the back of his head on the tree he’d been leaning against.

The mental pain was fleeting compared to the back of his head. Quatre grimaced and rubbed a shaking hand over his hair. He’d been knocked completely out of the connection he’d made with Zechs. It wasn’t like a block. He hadn’t been looking in when the window closed and cut off his sight, he’d been inside and literally thrown out. ‘How could he do that?’

‘Quatre?’

Zechs’ thought came to him as if wrapped in that force, another blow that hit him as if it wanted to knock him out of his own mind next. Quatre shoved against it, sending a sharp mental order to Zechs. ‘Don’t broadcast. It rides your thoughts.’

Silence answered him and it was a dazed moment before he realized he had made it an order. The pain of both the attack, and his aching head had confused him enough that he exerted his control without meaning to. But Zechs hadn’t fought the order, so it was just as well.

With a deep breath, Quatre eased close again. Like before, he did a light sweep over Zechs. Only he found himself reading a beacon of black with shifting, threatening white beneath. As if it were a sentient presence it taunted him, daring him to come forward so it could lash out at him again. And it was obscuring Zechs so that he couldn’t read him.

He pushed for a way into what his visually-inclined reading saw as a barrier, jerking back again when the edges flared with a hint of that pain. He wasn’t going to take it head on, he was looking for a weak spot.

His attention was very focused, so he barely noted the rising background noise. When it came, it struck him like a cyclone from behind, shoving him into that white barrier. He was thrown off as if he had no more substance than a balloon in a wind tunnel. Emotions swirled around him, catching him up in a blinding haze that was somehow worse than the pain.

Rage, frustration, fear, fury, confusion, curiosity, amusement, dark violent satisfaction, impatience, stark childlike terror, apathy, pain, burning, broken, cold and alone. Retaliation. Love. Destruction.

Lost in the maelstrom, Quatre wasn’t aware of the small, choked sound he made, or the moment when he lost his anchor to his body. His mind was crushed, tossed and buffeted by conflicting emotions that drew him into the eye of the storm, right into the midst of a repressed psyche that was chaos when released.

- - -

He’s not welcome here. But another would devour him happily.

The words were a deep, taunting grin in the darkness burning around him, and Zechs suppressed his urge to fight against it.

He’d been locked in, by an order he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Whatever Quatre had done to him with that one statement, he knew he wasn’t reading Hiei now. He couldn’t seem to read anyone at all. And as horrifying as that was, being locked in with that presence was a thousand times worse.

Its sheer amusement frightened him more than the sense of something huge and evil towering over him.

Fear. You came to me, now you fear. You don’t know what you want.

It wasn’t a voice, not like Quatre’s voice had been in his mind – separate, but audible. This was a feeling that couldn’t be broken down into voice;thought;sound;sensation. It was communication, but some kind he couldn’t define. And as much as he’d tried to steel himself for this, Zechs couldn’t make himself respond to it.

Twisting shadows behind him, flickering flames of purple and black, peaked eyes that would swallow entire worlds if given the chance, turning to slither toward him, monstrous.

It couldn’t be a subconscious mind. Zechs refused to accept that, not when it had shape and motives and an agenda entirely its own. He couldn’t reconcile that, wouldn’t accept that.

What I am eats at you, stubborn fool. The fox knows. He always knew first.

The image of that giant creature sneaking up behind him faded for a moment, and Zechs registered what it was saying to him.

Now there was a hint, not of the monstrous creature from some black nightmare, but of something far more familiar to him. It was just a hint, with the use of that pet name, a hint of Hiei.

But if it really were a subconscious voice, why would it assume that shape?

Do you know what I see when I look at you here? You’ll know regret for my notice. What I am, what you are, one of a kind, both. I can give you what you want, in return for my use.

Questions came to him, but Zechs didn’t know how to voice them. He thought it could read him – not his thoughts because what it spoke to him didn’t come in the form of anything so simple as thought – but that it knew just from being in contact with him.

Because the moment Quatre’s presence had been rejected, the moment he’d been locked into communication with the thing, he’d ceased to have anything he could call a simple thought. He couldn’t form the words, didn’t know how to direct them in the form of question. Incomprehensible.

Don’t think so much. Thoughts, nonthoughts, it doesn’t matter. How do you speak to the part locked away, the part that rejects your weakness to protect you from yourself? Dialogue is so mundane. You’re no better than him in that.

Need, frustration, impatience, and a want so strong it shook from it.

Zechs recoiled, cringing from the push of feeling from something he still couldn’t see as human. ‘What do you want from me?’

The response was immediate, intense, and filled with an almost childlike glee. And it was followed by a memory, presented with the feeling not of a gift, but of a debt that would be repaid at a later time.

To wake you, use you, and see. So many things he doesn’t know, doesn’t need to know. Neither of them do. I know, and that’s enough. You interest me, with the potential. Less than the fox, who we need, yet more in a way. I don’t need you, but I may choose to. If that time comes I’ll show you what you are. In return, know me as he does. More than that, I won’t give you.

The memory was nothing like what he’d sensed when reading Hiei. As vivid and striking as those memories had been, he felt this one. Like he was experiencing it, rather than watching it.

When a thought rose, young and fearful, he heard it in his mind as if it originated from him and not a younger version of Hiei.

‘Am I dead...?’

Hardly.

Zechs reacted with surprise, suspicion, and fear that weren’t his own. Darkness surrounded him and he couldn’t lift his eyes. But the sensations were a part of the memory, like the brief glimpse that formed in his mind.

Yukina, choking for air, eyes bright with tears, outstretched hand shaking, begging, terrified.

‘Yukina! Is she...?’

Dead? No, but lost to you if you don’t open your eyes. They’re taking her away from you.

‘She’s all right? My eyes...I can’t open them. Hurts. My head hurts...’

You weren’t ready to use that power. You failed to protect her, so she saved you. You made her kill for you. And now she doesn’t know you.

‘She didn’t...!’

Anger, disbelief, childish grief and old, old coldness forming a sharp denial.

‘You lie. Who are you? Lie again and I’ll-‘

Kill me? You’d kill yourself if you did. I am you. I see everything you do, and much that you do not. I told you how to control him, remember? Or maybe you don’t. You remember so little of anything. This world has ruined you. Let me tell you what you did. You’ve done what you, I, would never do, hurt her, forced her to do what goes against her entire being. Our purpose is to protect her. She and the...she. She is all we have left. Yet you lie here letting those people hide her away. Get up. Find her.

‘I can’t wake up. I’m trying. I can’t move...’

So weak.

Fury, frustration, how could that be him, he’d never be so mocking of himself, impossible, how he wanted to kill him, to sleep in what had to be death. But for Yukina, if it were true...

It is true, you know that. They took her from you, gave her to another and brought you here. Even if you can’t open your eyes, you can open your ears and listen to what they’re saying around you. She doesn’t remember! She’s defenseless and she doesn’t remember you or herself. Amnesia, they’re calling it. They don’t plan to tell you where they took her, or to tell her that you exist. The longer you lie here, the further they take her. You can’t find her like I did before.

‘Before?’

You don’t remember anything. Wake up and I’ll let you remember everything from now on. Just wake up and find her.

‘Say it all you like, it won’t change anything.’

Resignation, pain, exhaustion, confusion, dread that it might be true, but certainty that it did not fit.

‘If you were me, you couldn’t know what you claim to know.’

I hear. You would hear if you’d just listen. They’re talking right now. They don’t understand why the wound won’t heal. You feel the pain. They’ve sewed it up with some ridiculous notion that it’s a wound to be closed. That is what hurts you most. Sense it, try to open you eyes.

‘What wound? You mean my forehead? The cut...’

You used it to control him, used it before you were ready. But you are alive. You’re not hurt so badly you can’t move. There’s no excuse to lie here day after day while she gets further away from us!

‘Stop. Yelling. At me.’

Growling, burning anger sparking into a small rage, annoyance at the intrusion and condescending tone, who did it think it was?

You, you fool. Believe me and wake up, or I’ll make your sleep so miserable you’ll beg to wake up on your own.

‘So I’m threatening myself now...?’

Right. Only I am not the shell you are. Do you want to see her cry again and again until you break from it? You do know that kills her, don’t you? She was not made for tears. Each one takes more life from her. See how many she shed for you.

Yukina in the dark across from him, her sobs choking her, whimpers echoing his pain as the tears streaked down her ashen face, sparkling in her pale hair, her empty hand clutching at air unable to reach him, terror, horror written in those eyes as they slowly turned white, glowing, hardening into absolute hatred-

‘Stop!!’

Your eyes were still open when you passed out. I can show you what your eyes saw that you didn’t stay awake to see. If you need to see that. I think it would break you to see that.

‘What...what happened to her...?’

Ice to your fire, light to your dark. The kindest ones can be the most merciless when driven to kill. You’ve awakened too soon; your body is not ready to control power like mine, ours. For her, it is different. They’ve always matured quickly. You would understand...if you didn’t forget things.

‘But her eyes...’

Each tear. Count them as they fall. Each one shortens her life.

Guilt, a gaping chasm of black opening to swallow him up, that voice, presence, fading away as he sunk into it, dull, hopeless, empty.

No! You’ve slept enough. Use the guilt and pain, make it anger, and wake up.

‘It’s too late. I couldn’t help her...’

You weren’t ready. I may hate it, but it can’t be changed. You’ll be stronger, strong enough to protect her, to protect...anyone you want to protect. Fight. Struggle. I, we, have always lived that way. Find the...find a partner to hone your skills. They’re there, they just need to be woken. You’ll see...when you open your eyes.

‘If I am so strong, why can’t I wake up?’

Silence, waiting, the sudden sensation of having gotten the upper hand in a contest he didn’t understand. Satisfaction at having shut up someone he was coming to dislike immensely.

You hate my knowledge. Ironic, I hate your naiveté. You’re a child trying to control powers far beyond your understanding. Don’t question yourself, just feel it. You don’t need to know why it exists, or how it works. Just harness it and use it to get out of this place!

‘Get out of my head, and I’ll try.’

Idiot. The moment you wake up, you won’t hear me anymore. The next time I speak to you, it will be after you’ve tapped my, our, power. Or at the moment of your death. Until then, you’ll be on your own. Thrive off that if you can. I know I always have.

The memory didn’t fade out the way it had come, it simply ended, with Zechs staring dazedly into that shifting darkness. He could feel that thing watching him, waiting for a response, and he spoke the first thing that came to his mind. ‘What happened after that?’

He woke up.

Those questions that had formed early were returning to him, but Zechs shoved them aside. That memory, living it as he had, made him forget most of his terror and awe at this presence. Now, he was beginning to wonder if it really might be just what it claimed, Hiei’s subconscious mind. ‘What are you, really?’

What are you? You don’t even know what you are. Why would I tell you about me?

Zechs could sense some sort of satisfaction from the presence, like a predator toying with its prey. He refused to back down from that. ‘How did Hiei, or you, find Kurama?’

Anger, suspicion, annoyance, impatience, affronted.

The reaction to his question told him he’d made a dent, struck a cord. And it clarified things for him. No matter how strange the being was, it reacted the same as he’d have expected Hiei to.

That’s not your concern. I’ve let you see enough memories of him. You won’t get another from me.

‘Let?’ Zechs prodded, his suspicions rising sharply. ‘I never passed the jagan, did I. You pulled me through. Only you didn’t bother to tell Hiei. You let him think he had a weakness that anyone could exploit.’

He does have a weakness. I didn’t pull you through, I just monitored where you went once you passed it. You did pass it, but I could have locked away every memory, so you’d have gotten nothing for your trouble.

‘But you did feed me those memories I saw.’

I merely gave you a handful that would peak your interest. It was a trade. I fed your curiosity. In return, you showed me what you are.

‘You’ve said that more than once. What do you think I am?’

Potentially useful.

Grinning, dark, predatory, amused, and mocking. Zechs knew instantly that he could push for no more information than that. There was a warning hidden behind that dark promise, a warning he could only interpret as death.

Tell your friend not to contest me. I won’t let him touch my mind, not with his power of control. I’d be forced to kill him if he persisted.

‘You mean Quatre.’

I mean.

There was a sudden rush of light, a sensation of air flowing past his face, and Zechs let out a startled breath as he landed on his back. His wide eyes stared dazedly at the far too bright sky peaking at him from above. It wasn’t until a shadow fell over his face that he realized he was no longer locked in his mind. And Hiei was standing over him with an impatient scowl.

“Are you finished?” asked Hiei. “How could you concentrate with noise like that?”

As if the boy’s words broke a sound barrier, Zechs realized the forest was alive with crashes, tearing sounds that fairly shook the ground beneath them, and explosions that sparked visibly even though they were separated from the valley by half a mile of forest.

Hiei snorted before darting away. Still getting used to the sensation of having a physical body, Zechs trailed after him.

- - -

The emotions were fading, leaving Quatre with the feeling of being dropped into a turbulent ocean after having spun above it. The emotions, having combined to form an unending rage, were still there, still rocking him, but it was weakened enough that he remembered who he was. He began to fight against them, searching for some sort of control, some block he could put up as protection.

The thought, barely formed, seemed to materialize before him. That imagined ocean, with the water cyclone still spinning over the tsunami-like waves, was separated from him. With his visual nature, he saw it as a slowly thickening pane of glass. It didn’t stop him from seeing the torment, or feeling the aftershocks, but it would keep him from being swept away.

And he began to feel again. He could feel that faint throbbing from where he’d struck his head earlier, the soft press of grass from where he sat on the lawn, and something else.

He could feel a strange tingling that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

Quatre opened his eyes, only to be dazed by a golden sparkling glow that obscured his surroundings. He winced and let out a small sound of pain as his head brushed the tree behind him. The golden light withdrew, revealing large open hands, then pulling back to show a very familiar – and entirely unexpected – face.

“He’s awake!”

“Are you all right?”

The voices were quiet after the loud emotional upheaval he’d been in the middle of. Quatre had to think for a moment before he was sure what they’d said. Then he gave a slow nod. “I think so...”

Kuwabara let out a loud sigh, his shoulders slumping despite the hand Yukina placed on him. He barely had the energy to beam at her, so he’d have to gush later.

“We were very worried,” said Yukina. Her eyes moved over Quatre’s ashen face, and she let out a little sigh of her own. “You were talking, but you didn’t hear us.”

“Talking?” asked Quatre. “What did I say?”

A slow, tired smirk spread over Kuwabara’s face, and he sniffed at the blonde boy. “Trowa. That’s all you said. His name, over and over. It’s a good thing you were whispering it or the students would have had a field day.”

Quatre’s eyes widened, a dark blush tinting his cheeks as he saw the few students that spotted the lawn. They weren’t looking at him, but he imagined they would have been making a great fuss if he’d been screaming out a boy’s name.

“Is he in danger?” asked Yukina. “We can take you to him if he needs help.”

“No!” Quatre shook his head quickly, and promptly winced as it throbbed. “No,” he said again. “I was reading him and...got swept up in it. That’s all.”

“Yeah,” Kuwabara snorted, “that’s all. Don’t I get a thanks for saving you?”

Yukina gave a little frown, but nodded when Quatre looked to her with confused eyes. “You were getting weaker and more distant with every second. You couldn’t seem to breathe properly, and your face was so pale.”

“It’s still pale,” Kuwbara commented. “But you were really cold, too. I figured since I helped that friend of yours, I could try with you. I didn’t think it would work that quickly, though.”

“He’s still very weak,” said Yukina. She frowned in concern at Quatre. “You should go in and lie down.”

“You gave me energy,” Quatre whispered. “And I used it to...make a block. Only it wasn’t a block, but a filter. On...”

Quatre’s eyes widened and he gave a little gasp, his heart jumping into his throat. “On Trowa! I made a filter – meaning I can still read without getting the full brunt! Thank you!”

The blonde boy darted forward, and Kuwabara choked as he was given a very grateful hug. His face turned crimson, and even Yukina’s pleased smile didn’t stop him from twitching. He’d never live this down once word of it got back to Yusuke...

- - -

There was a very inelegant saying about how messy things got when the shit hit the fan. Kurama now knew exactly what those people meant. What had been planned as a straightforward – if inherently dangerous – experiment, had turned into a fullblown battle within a space of a few minutes. He still wasn’t sure what had gone wrong.

Trowa hadn’t waited for them to attack him first. The boy had been standing at the base of the valley, seemingly calm. Then, for no reason Kurama was aware of, he’d sparked into a blaze of green energy. And even stranger, he’d reacted as if he’d been incited by an enemy he couldn’t see.

Kurama had waited a moment, keeping Yusuke and himself shield by the tree so the mutant wouldn’t spot them. But it became clear that Trowa was going to find a target of his own if they didn’t give him one immediately. The boy launched into the air, proving this, and the fight had begun.

It wasn’t a test. It was more of a challenge at trying to keep the boy in the valley. They had no idea where he was planning to go, but the absolute violence in him was visible. He couldn’t be unleashed on the school like that.

Yusuke had thrown a barrage of energy blasts, white bursts that exploded on contact with Trowa’s green aura. And it was evident that the powers were not compatible.

From his vantage point as watcher-slash-controller, Kurama recognized the green energy as a shield. It deflected Yusuke’s attack the same way it did the smaller vines Kurama had sent at him. If it had been a heated energy, like Hiei’s flame, the plants wouldn’t have skidded off like that.

The one saving point Kurama had was speed. His plants, at least the ones he ended up using now, were crafted to match Hiei’s speed. For all of Trowa’s destructive and defensive power, he had human speed. His ability to fly let him dodge slower attacks, but he couldn’t compete with rapid, bloodthirsty plants.

These were enough to keep him confined to the valley, but Kurama still couldn’t get them through Trowa’s shield. The boy had enough strength to shred his thickest vine – nearly eight feet in diameter and geared to resist Hiei’s sword – with his fists alone, the pieces glancing off his shield as he flew right through his targets. And Yusuke was hard pressed to keep the boy distracted without revealing his own location.

Hiei joined the fray after a single glance at the mutilated plants, and the seemingly psychotic mutant rampaging within that confined valley. He tossed away his cloak – and sword, since he couldn’t exactly slice the boy up – then jumped down.

It took Zechs considerably longer to reach the valley, but he alone understood the real problem. All he needed was one glance into Trowa’s fury-ridden mind to know. The boy must have sensed Quatre’s encounter with Hiei’s jagan earlier.

That sudden unexpected pain would have been enough to set him off. And Trowa, unable to think clearly now, had no way to realize that the reason Quatre continued to feel pain was because of him, and not an unseen enemy. The boy was reacting to something he couldn’t fight, and taking that out on anything that posed a threat to him.

Kurama spotted Hiei before Yusuke did and blocked Yusuke from sending any more of his energy attacks. He had an idea that they would burn Hiei as badly as Kuwabara’s energy had him, and Hiei would be fighting far too close to Trowa to risk that. Yusuke didn’t argue, subsiding to peak out from behind the tree’s shielding leaves.

Since Hiei was making darting moves at Trowa, essentially keeping the boy on the ground, Kurama diverted his plants to create a barrier over the top of the valley. With both of the mutants locked inside, there wouldn’t be any chance of Trowa escaping unless he got past first Hiei, then the block.

There was no emotion on Hiei’s face as he continued to make darting moves, merely circling the enraged boy. He made no attempt to actually strike him. Trowa was floating inches from the ground now, his glowing green eyes wide as he twisted and turned, unable to lock on his target. That energy shield of his weakened as he got more and more agitated.

Hiei had expected as much. With his continued speed, he didn’t pause long enough for Trowa to see him. All the boy knew was that someone was there, someone who could hurt him, but someone he couldn’t see. And as wildly out of control as Trowa had been before, he was much worse now.

Trowa let out a scream that was the epitome of frustration, and his green energy crackled for a second. A second was all Hiei needed.

In that moment of weakness, Hiei darted forward and landed a single blow on the back of the boy’s head. The energy dissipated as Trowa sagged forward, and he caught him as he fell, lowering him to the ground.

Kurama removed his barrier from the valley and jumped down, momentarily forgetting about Yusuke. He was halfway to Hiei when the boy gave a wild cry that made him whip back around.

The tree was snapping its limb back and forth, trying to dislodge the mutant who had a death-grip on its branches.

Kurama couldn’t help the snicker that broke from him as he knelt to send a bit of soothing energy through the ground to the roots of the tree. The flailing stopped immediately, and it lowered the limb so Yusuke hung mere feet from the top edge of the valley.

Yusuke didn’t move for a long minute, blinking wary eyes down at the ground as if he fully expected the crazy plant to snap back if he started to let go. Then he jumped and crouched. Sure enough, the moment he was off, it jerked the limb out of his reach. Suddenly he thought he knew how unwanted a leech must feel on a disgusted teenager’s arm.

“That’s the last time I get on your psycho tree, Kurama!”

Kurama grinned and tipped one silver ear at the boy before turning away. He reached Hiei and crouched down to take Trowa from him.

“He’s much stronger than I thought he’d be,” Kurama admitted.

Hiei flicked his eyes over the remains of the plants in the field and leveled a knowing smirk up at the fox. “You didn’t use your latest attack on him.”

“Well of course not,” Kurama scoffed, “I didn’t want to kill him. He wasn’t thinking clearly enough to defend against something like that plant. It’s nearly as intelligent and calculating as I am.”

“Then he’s not so strong,” said Hiei. “But he’s still S class. If he learned to control that energy, I’d like to see the two of you have a rematch.”

“Us?”

Kurama’s eyes widened and he sent a sharp frown down at Hiei. “Why don’t you want to fight him?”

“He’s too slow. He relies entirely on close combat, so he’d never touch me in a fight.”

“Ah...”

Hefting Trowa onto his back, Kurama gave a long sigh and started toward the edge of the valley. It would be a while before he had the energy to regrow the plants that had been destroyed in this little fiasco. He couldn’t wait to get back to his nice soft bed and nap for a few hours.

A glance back at Hiei had him smirking as they walked. He was tired enough that he could even survive a back rub without his libido going crazy on him. And he knew just the person bored enough to give him one.

- - -
TBC