Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Born Again on the Full Moon ❯ The Final Night ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: The Final Night

I want to sing out the melody of happiness

I'd like to tell you something important

a thing more certain than words

spread out those wings that surpassed the night

till anywhere

you can fly on

-hikari no naka de (amidst the light)

***

I'm getting frustrated with them. "I don't understand why you didn't do anything in the beginning, before it all got out of control."

"You answered your own question," Kurama says. "It was out of my control from the beginning. The only way to stop it was to kill me." He pauses, considering, and looks down at Hiei. "I suppose we could've done more than we did."

"Aa," Hiei murmurs. "I suppose so."

I hold my breathe and dare: "Why didn't you?"

"That's easy," says Kurama, fixing those bright eyes on me. "I didn't want to die . . . and neither did he."

-from the memoirs of Shelta Waters, ABN reporter

***

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Thank goodness Nakame went home on weekends. Daini rested her elbows on the windowsill, peering outside at the steadily-fading sunlight. Otherwise, her roommate would get a big shock when she saw Kit.

Kit . . . The fox spirit scared the heck out of her and confused her even more, and yet here she was, waiting on him to show up and . . . and kiss her again . . .

Ugh, I sound like a schoolgirl virgin.

Daini put a hand to her mouth, blanching.

Gods, I *am* a schoolgirl virgin!

Shoving those insane thoughts aside, Daini concentrated on urging the clock on her wrist to move faster. Kit had always shown up just after full dark and she figured tonight would be no different.

The moon slowly began to peek over the distant, dark blue mountains. A sliver of shadow decorated one edge of the glowing orb, indicating that the full moon's short life was ending. Daini flipped the latch and pushed open the window, ignoring the chilly breeze that scattered homework papers.

Catching a blank sheet, Daini found a chewed pencil and tried sketching the youko. Sharp yet smooth face . . . thick bangs falling into his eyes . . . waist-length, wild hair, a soft mouth . . . slender neck, wiry shoulders, strange outfit . . . some sort of belt tapering his waist . . . flat stomach . . . Daini bit her lip and tucked her legs underneath her. Loose pants . . . muscular legs, swift feet, sweeping tail . . . strong yet gentle hands . . .

She sighed and propped her chin up on her left arm, letting the pencil fall from her fingers. It rolled off the desk and thudded to the carpet. Raising the drawing to eye level, she studied it. The eyes . . . she hadn't been able to draw the eyes right. Maybe Kit would pose for her so she could finish the sketch. The image put a grin on her face.

The wind snatched the paper and tossed it somewhere behind her. Daini completely forgot about it though, because now she could see the dark figure standing on one of the branches just outside the window. She gasped and pushed away from the sill as the figure's scarlet eyes narrowed. He vanished in a blur and reappeared inside the room. Daini spun around, the first time she met Kit flashing through her mind. Behind her she groped for something she could use as a weapon, but he only bent and picked up her abandoned drawing. He took a quick glance at it before leveling an unnerving stare on the girl.

"His eyes are more slitted," he said in a calm, monotone voice.

"You're Hiei, aren't you?" Daini demanded, her searching hand closing on Nakame's flower vase.

"And you are Daini."

"Where's Kit? What have you done to Kit?"

He set the drawing on her desk. "Why do you care?"

"W-what?" she sputtered. "He's my - my friend!"

"Youko do not have friends, they have lovers."

Daini choked back a cry and hurled the vase whirling through the air. It disintegrated in a burst of black flame before even coming close to touching the little demon.

"Baka ningen," he muttered. "I came to bring you to him."

She started, clasping her sweater to her throat. "But why? Why would you do that for me?"

"I am not doing this for you," he snapped, showing the first sign of underlaying anger. "Not for you or the clone but for him." He looked down, seeming to burn a hole through the carpet with his fierce expression. When he looked back at Daini, his face was again calm, expressionless. "Come on." He flitted over, hoisted her into his arms, and they were out the window a mile away before she could protest.

Hiei moved in a mixture of jumping, running, and weightlessness, a technique that had always been effective for him. Like Kit, Daini felt the hidden strength disguised beneath his small form, the effortless way he carried her even though she was a few inches taller. She needed something else to look at besides the way the world blurred past so she decided to study the - boy? man? - that had kidnaped her. Hiei's quiet intensity reflected in the tenseness of his shoulders, his eyes that took in everything around him and stored it for later use. A white cloth encircled his forehead and through his flame of black and star-flecked hair. He wore all black too, except a white scarf, and the hilt of a katana hung around his waist.

"You're not human, are you?" Daini asked. "Just like Kit." Hiei didn't answer, didn't even glance at her. She studied her hands clenched in his skirt. "Kit said you were hunting him."

This time Hiei made a tiny snort. "You cannot understand."

"I keep getting told that," she said in a huff. "Maybe it's because everyone refuses to explain it to me!"

"I haven't the right to explain," he growled lowly.

"Can you at least tell me who you are and who 'he' is? Or maybe who Kit is too. You see, I don't know much." These vague guessing games were grating on her patience. Kit had never told her anything and now this guy was doing the same thing. Did all demons hold this much contempt for humans?

"My name is Hiei," he said at length. "You will be meeting Kurama, from which your friend" - he practically spat the word - "emerged. That is all I can say."

I'm even more confused. "And . . . so will Kurama explain everything?"

"Ask him when we get there."

Daini sighed and decided to kept her mouth shut until they arrived wherever they were going. Hiei sped promptly onward. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the biting cold. What seemed like minutes later, Hiei jolted her awake by landing on the ground beside a miniature cabin nestled in a thicket of intertwined vines. Silently he stuffed his hands in his pockets and stoically walked over to the thatch door. He did not knock but pushed it open with his elbow and went inside. Not knowing what else to do, Daini followed.

The dim lighting inside came from a few candles dotted around the single room and a strange glowing flower in the corner. There was a futon to the far side, upon which lay a silver figure.

"Kit!" Daini cried and dashed past Hiei. The youko jerked his head around when he heard her; or rather, moved his eyes because he was bound head to foot in vines. Those golden depths widened.

"Daini!" he hissed, drawing in a sharp breath. He buckled, flexing his arms and thighs, struggling to reach his hands toward the girl, and cursed when he failed. Warded. I should have known Kurama warded the vines! As soon as he had separated from his redheaded significant other, Kit found a trap awaiting his arrival. Hiei had belittled him, leaving him even more disorientated than normal after the change, while Kurama snuck around from behind and caught Kit in a web of vines. And now here he was being forced to watch as the ningen girl who had been his company for four nights fall deeper and deeper within a situation she could never fully comprehend. "Daini . . ." he repeated, softer.

She knelt beside him and tugged helplessly on one of the vines. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking miserably at him and checking for any signs that he had been hurt.

"I am fine." His voice sounded raw and forced. Kit tested his bonds again and slumped. "Release me, damn you!" he charged, seething at the presence behind Daini.

"I think we owe this girl a rightful explanation, ne?" said a soft voice from behind her. A hand settled on Daini's shoulder and she craned her neck to peer up at a boy no older than she. Wild and bright red hair tumbled into equally bright green eyes.

"You're Kurama, I take it?" Daini asked, sounding cold even to her ears.

"I am," he smiled wanly. "And you are Daini."

"And I'm Kit," put in the restrained youko, snarling. "I have not done anything, Kurama, and you know it!"

Kurama got a sad shimmer in his eyes and offered to help Daini up. She took his hand uneasily, standing beside him, smoothing out her skirt.

"Would you like anything? Tea, maybe?"

"No." And she hastily added a 'thank you' for good measure. "I'd really like to know what's going on, though."

"Of course," the redhead murmured, moving to pour himself a cup of steaming liquid. He also gave one to Hiei, who downed the scalding stuff in one gulp, grimacing as he did so. "Now, where to begin? The beginning would be the most logical choice."

"Kurama . . ." Kit growled, warning.

"Daijoubu," Kurama said with a small smile and continued, "Nearly nineteen years ago a fox spirit, a youko, by the name of Kurama was being hunted."

"That's you," Daini said, frowning. "But . . . you're a human . . ."

"I am . . . both," the redhead confirmed. "With all the other things to explain to you, Daini-san, it is best if I don't go into detail about that. Now, Kurama the youko was mortally shot and killed by this hunter."

"The bastard," grunted Kit, eyes flashing.

Daini paled. "W-what for?"

"For being the youko that he was," Kurama answered. A thief, a liar, a killer. But Hunter didn't even know any of that. Hunter wanted my tails as blood-trophies. Looking pained, Kurama said in a thick voice, "The youko died and his spirit traveled to the Ningenkai where he was born again as the human Minamino Shuiichi."

Daini opened her mouth to ask a question, but snapped it shut as Kurama continued. "Shuiichi remembered everything about being the youko, about what he had been and what he wanted to become. But his new mortal body . . . and his new mortal mother . . . helped him to forget all that. Until eventually he met Hiei."

"Met?" snorted Kit. "He tried to kill you. Me. Us!"

"Not you," Hiei put in angrily, hand alighting on the hilt of his katana. "You should not exist!"

Kit wrestled with his bonds, showing his teeth in a fierce snarl. "Cut me loose, youkai, and we will see whether I exist."

Daini gingerly sat on the edge of his cot. She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. What am I not getting? Kit shouldn't exist? Kit said 'us' as if he used to be the youko Kurama spoke of . . . gods above . . .

"Damn you, Kurama!" Kit bit out. "Damn the both of you! By Inari, enough!"

"Kurama," was all Hiei said.

The redhead nodded, flickering a glance at the Jaganshi. "Not many humans know what I just told you, Daini, and what I'm about to say, only you. The past few days has been the period of the Jiyuu moon, the five nights in which spirits are allowed to take shape. When the full moon rose last Tuesday night, my youko form was released and thus Kit, for lack of a better word, was born. But the Jiyuu moon's effects are only temporary."

"Temporary?" Daini echoed, clasping her hands tightly in her lap.

"Aa," replied Kurama. He bowed his head gravely, scarlet strands falling across his face. "At the end of theJiyuu moon, my youko spirit will return permanently."

The girl gasped, jerking her head to stare at Kit who had his eyes focused unwaveringly on Kurama. "But - but that means . . . Kit?" No answer. "Is there no way to keep him free?" she asked Kurama. I'm insane. I know I've gone insane! But I've been insane the moment this silver being crept into my life and I have to ask . . . I have to suggest that I want him to stay . . . I have to!

There was silence where no one ventured to speak. Then, at the same instant Kurama opened his mouth, Kit began yelling. "She doesn't have to know!" he cried, wrenching his body side to side. "No matter what becomes of me! She does not have to know, Kurama!" He sagged, growing suddenly limp. I'll be gone come tomorrow morning. I'll be gone and she will never know! "She does not have to know," he whispered again in a strained voice.

"Know what?" Daini breathed.

"The only way for Kit to remain free," the redhead said quietly, "is to bond his soul with a human. He had chosen you."

Daini tried to draw in a deep breath, but it seemed like the air had been sucked from the room as suddenly as any sense of reality. Kit turned his face away, chest still heaving from his outburst.

"That's why . . ." Daini murmured to herself.

//Not a sound, not a movement.//

"The first night . . ."

//This must be quick.//

"That's why . . ."

//Tomorrow then, ningen.//

"That's why he came."

//I came with the purpose of stealing your innocence, but I would not do it then, just as I will not now.//

//Just as I will not now . . .//

// . . .will not . . .//

Daini.

Feeling along her waist, Daini found the small pocket knife she always carried with her, a memento of the father she never really knew. She pulled out the cool weapon, exposing the sharp blade with a click.

"What are you doing?" Hiei demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"What does it look like?" Daini retorted as the first vine snapped across the steel curve and Kit's ankle came loose. "I don't care about what Kit tried to do. The point is, he didn't do it and therefore doesn't deserve to be tied down like an animal." She could feel the silver youko's eyes burning into her. No one stopped the girl from cutting away his bonds and, in fact, the vines seemed to fall aside easier as if by their own will.

As soon as one of Kit's hands sprung free, he clawed the rest away himself and sat up. Daini grinned and made a move to give him some room but he lashed out and grabbed her wrist. The knife skidded somewhere under the bed. Daini found herself being jerked onto the mattress, Kit shoving her legs apart with his knee and holding her slim hips still. The sound of scraping metal and Hiei had drawn his blade; Kurama slowly slid a hand into his hair.

"Stop, I say!" Kit snapped, pulling the girl tighter against him. "Or I swear by Inari . . ." His voice broke and he glanced those golden eyes down at Daini. Oh, Kit. She reached up and slid her palm over his satin cheek, curling small fingers in his hair. He leaned into the caress, closing his eyes.

"It's okay. It's alright," she breathed. "You can take what you need."

Kit's eyes squeezed tighter shut and he bent forward until his forehead rested on the girl's stomach. His shoulders shuddered, once, and she stroked the long silver hair that pooled around them. Oh Kami, oh gods, oh Inari-sama, please hear me now. Onegaiishimazu, I beg you. Tilting her head toward the two silent others in the cabin, she motioned for them to leave.

"Kisama," Hiei muttered in a hissing breath but Kurama silenced him with a meaningful look. The redhead seemed to hesitate, staring at his double as if trying to understand what was happening. Then his eyes met the black-haired girl's, shining and gentle, and he nodded. He left the room noiselessly, Hiei sheathing his weapon and following.

"Kit?" Daini called softly. "Kit . . . onegai?"

"Where is the moon?" he asked.

She shifted a little, still very aware of their position, to spy the glowing orb peeking over the windowsill. "It's halfway into the trees."

He breathed a heavy sigh. His thumbs strokes her sides. "Let us stay like this . . . until . . ."

"You're not getting it," she said, pushing at his shoulders. "I don't want you to go away, Kit. I . . . I want to be with you."

He rose without looking at her and padded over to the window. "I could never," he said, his back toward her. "Not to you, Daini, never to you."

"Then it won't be like that," she pleaded, grasping the sheets in clenched fists.

"You do not understand." Kit turned and his golden eyes were sad. "Youko . . . this ceremony will bond our souls together. It will . . . bind . . ." He grunted, crossing his arms as he could not find a way to explain. Daini merely stared up at him. Bond? Is this a life-long commitment? "Never have I felt the need to give myself wholly to another," Kit continued. "And now I am willing to . . . to have this with you, for you and not for the Jiyuu moon."

Daini got up from the bed and moved until she stood before him. "You're right," she said after a long moment of just staring. "I don't understand, at all. But . . . we'll have years and years to figure it out, won't we?"

"Aa." His lips twitched at the corners. "The . . . ceremony is brief though powerful."

She nodded. "Tell me what to do."

"Fetch your blade and then remove your clothes. I will do the same."

The girl swallowed down the nervousness that suddenly rose. She stumbled back over to the cot and found the pocket knife like he had requested. Quickly her shoes and socks were toed off and she stared down at her bare feet, her hands moving to unbutton her sweater and the blouse below and slide them both off; the skirt pooling on the floor by her feet. A dream, she told herself. It's all a dream. I'll wake up and be back in my bed four days ago as if this never ever happened. Her face was burning when she turned back around.

The youko had drawn a circle in the middle of the dirt floor, candles spread out beside it. Kit stood on the outer rim and his eyes trailed down the girl's vulnerability; Daini could not help but do the same to him. Tall and lithe and beautiful . . . she snapped her gaze back up to his.

"You can refuse the ceremony at any time," Kit said thickly. "By stepping out of the circle." He came closer, wrapping his hand around hers and guiding her across the chalked circle. "Anytime," he repeated, breath fanning her face.

He expects me to decline.

Steadying herself on his forearms, Daini planted a kiss on his smooth collarbone, which was as far as she could reach even on her toes. When she pulled away, his eyes were shimmering.

"I give my blood to you," he said, exposing his palm. "Do you take it?"

"I - I do," she replied.

"Do you take it?" he asked again and this time his gaze flickered once to the knife she still held. He can't mean . . . Daini raised it and revealed the blade, unsure about what exactly he wanted her to do, and carefully laid the edge across his palm. He neither pressed upward nor took his hand away. Cautiously, she pushed the sharp tip into his skin, meeting no resistance from the youko. Deep violet blood welled up from the shallow cut and she jerked the knife back. Kit only smiled a little and gently took the knife from her hand, blood dripping down his fingers. But then he stopped and merely looked at her.

Daini's hand shook as she lifted and bared her palm. "I - I give my - my blood to you." She hesitated, heart thumping wildly. "Do . . . do you take it?"

Kit answered by pressing the blade to the pale skin of her palm and she winced as it drew a bright flash of pain and then her own scarlet blood. He set the knife aside and held their two injured hands together, lacing their fingers in a tight grip, violet and red mixing and dripping into the dust.

"We are wounded together, we heal together, we breathe together," he stated.

"Wound, heal, breathe together," she murmured. When they separated their palms, the slashes were completely healed, to Daini's amazement and Kit's pleasure. The only token was a tiny scar, a pucker of skin almost invisible.

"What now?"

Kit's eyes danced with merriment. "Copulation."

"O-oh?" She knew she was blushing horribly. The youko pulled the sheets off the cot, careful to stay within the circle, and spread them out on the floor. He took Daini's hand and led her over to the roughly-made pile, lowering them both upon the soft cushion.

For a moment he just stared down at her and ran his slender fingers through the black hair that fanned about Daini's head, as though fascinated with the texture. Then he leaned over her, melding bare skin to bare skin, and buried his nose beside the curve of her neck, breathing deeply.

"I need you, Daini," he said softly and she could feel the truth of his pure confession against her thigh.

Daini trembled beneath him, this youko, this man-fox, this inhuman creature that both fascinated and terrified her. Thoughts fled across her mind in a flurry of confusion and want. Can I do this? Can I give myself to him when what I know about him can fit in one sentence? Can I? And how can *he*? Kit, we don't know each other. We're strangers wandering down a blind path and - and - and what if you steal my heart?! She skimmed her quivering fingertips along his shoulder blades and tightened her arms around his firm waist. I can't question! Not now, not when he could be lost forever . . .

She forced a swallow and shifted ever so slightly; Kit brushed between her legs. They both froze and Kit's breath turned labored and hot in her ear. That mere entrancing sensation sent a tremor through her and Daini arched against the silver fox without even comprehending the movement. In an instant Kit's lips sought the girl's and devoured them, still gentle and longing but more fevered than ever before. A warm tongue ran over Daini's bottom lip and she opened herself to him in more ways than one.

Their cries mingled and resounded off the walls, sometimes muffled, sometimes not. Daini wondered if Kit only did this because he had to, wondered if he'd lied when he said their souls would be bound together. She wondered lots of things then, until a burst, an explosion within her, took all thoughts away and she was pitched into black warmth.