Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Barriers ❯ Family ( Chapter 12 )

A/N: I don't own this anime. Darn. And if I was good enough at writing to make money from it, I wouldn't be writing fanfic.

 

Hiei inhaled deeply. His sense of smell certainly wasn't the sharpest, but it didn't take a bloodhound to detect the scent of wood smoke so near. His eyes darted left and right quickly, and he motioned for Kuwabara to follow him as quietly as possible. The large teenager was painfully slow about it, but at least he managed to remain fairly undetectable. Hiei waited for him to catch up, then silently leaped forward again, carrying himself to the next tree branch.

 

He had first detected signs of a camp a few miles ago, when faint coils of grey became visible in the evening sky. It seemed there was a clearing nearby, and that was a good hint that something was in it. He had turned back to stare hard at Kuwabara until the latter stopped. The two of them had quickly decided that it was best to talk as little as possible, and so, save for the occasional under-breath grumbling from the teenager or twig snapping under his feet, they passed their journey in silence. Hiei was loath to break it, since talking generally led swiftly to arguing, but realized the necessity.

 

“There's someone ahead.”

 

“Say what? Who?”

 

Hiei resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “How should I know?”

 

“What should we do?”

 

Now there was a worthwhile question. If they chose to avoid the place altogether, they risked meeting whoever it was again in less favorable circumstances. If they attacked outright, they could wind up dead. Still, if it was one of those three from earlier, stealth might be the only way to win. Hiei grimaced. He wasn't fond of killing people for no reason, or without a fair fight.

 

“We find out who it is. Follow me. And be quiet about it.” With that, Hiei had taken once more to the trees, leaving Kuwabara to follow in his wake.

 

Now, stalking closer, he found that someone did indeed have a fire going. The sky had darkened by this point, but between the fire below and the moon above, the small camp was easily visible. He saw a figure laying by the side of the fire. Upon closer examination, it seemed vaguely familiar.

 

“Hiei,” an even more familiar voice called softly. “You do not need to hide.”

 

Hiei shook his head and jumped from his tree. “Do you want people to be able to find you?” He asked. It wasn't like Kurama to be this reckless.

 

Kurama stepped out of a shadow to his left. “Not really. However, there were more important considerations…” Kurama answered vaguely. At this point, Hiei remembered Kuwabara, but before he could open his mouth to call his the obnoxious human over, he had already found his own way out of the bushes and over to the fire.

 

“Now this is better!” The oaf stretched, and plopped down next to the flames. “You've got the right idea here, Kurama.”

 

A half-smiled ghosted across Kurama's face, and he shook his head. “Humans are not so cold-resistant as we are, Hiei.”

 

The fire apparition's only reply was a grunt before he, too had gone to stand near the source of warmth. Eyeing one of the remaining skewers of plants carefully, he grabbed it and returned to Kurama. He considered questioning the fox further, but decided it wasn't really worth it. If Hiei had thought himself capable of real trust, it would be Kurama that he trusted first and foremost. As it was, he knew at the very least that the fox always had a plan of some kind and wasn't likely to do something stupid without a reason.

 

So instead he just walked past and jumped back into the tree, silently volunteering to take over the watch. It wasn't long before he heard the sleeping girl stir, and the low tones of Kurama's voice as she was informed of what had transpired. She appeared to accept this, because it wasn't long before her breathing returned to regularity, and it was soon joined by the rather cacophonous snores of a sleeping Kuwabara. Kurama took up a position on the other side of the camp, and all was as it needed to be.

 

***

 

“Have you still not found them?” the voice growled.

 

“No, my lord. They seem to have split from one another, and are traveling in patterns that don't make sense. Whoever planned their strategy must have known that our teleportation takes us only to places we have been already.” Kaito did his best to keep his voice even, but the malice in his master's tone was not something to be taken lightly.

 

There was a mild crackling noise, and an image of Izumi slowly resolved into the real thing before their eyes. She immediately knelt, eyes on the floor.

 

“My lord,” she began. “I have managed to locate one of the groups.”

 

“Is she with them?”

 

“I cannot say for certain. I fear they would have detected me if I had come any closer.”

 

There was a momentary pause; Kaito felt the tension in the room grow as if it were palpable. On second thought, perhaps that was just his imagination. His highness was probably no more angry than before, perhaps even less so, and it had been a long time since Izumi had felt anything strong enough to be recognized as emotion. Yes, it was surely a trick of his own mind. They were so close to their goal, and yet…

 

“I want her taken alive. Kill the rest. If she is not among those you find, you know what to do.”

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

“Izumi?”

 

“Your highness?”

 

“Do not fail me again.”

 

“Of course not, my lord.” Izumi muttered an incantation and disappeared once more.

 

“Kaito.”

 

It wasn't a question, but it compelled him to answer all the same. “Yes, your highness?”

 

“It is almost complete. Make the preparations for my final release. We approach the day when the name of Kurogami shall once again bring fear into the hearts of human and demon alike. I refuse to be a child's tale any longer, Kaito. This time, I shall rule all there is.”

 

The voice was growing louder; Kaito felt the stonework under his feet move in response. In truth, a thousand years had made him forget how fearsome his lord could be. An equally fierce loyalty stirred within him, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. “Of course, my lord. I eagerly await the day when you remake the world.”

 

He stood, and his lips twisted into a smile as he turned and left the room. Soon. Very soon.

 

***

 

Unbeknownst to both parties, Yusuke and Botan were only a few miles from where Hiei and Kuwabara had found the others. Beside a fire of their own, the Spirit Detective and the ferry girl were each anxiously speeding through their own thoughts. Botan worried about how the others were doing and if their enemies would find them; Yusuke wondered how they would ever be strong enough to deal with what came next. Eventually, however, he decided that planning wasn't really his thing. When the time came, he would figure something out. Until then, it did him no good to think about it too much.

 

It was because of this that Yusuke managed to fall asleep, leaving Botan to worry on her own. She let him sleep, knowing that if this was anything like past experiences, he would be getting little enough rest later. Botan looked down at the little device that she had used to find the portal that led them here, wondering if it had been such a good idea to go in blind after all. The tiny compass did not reply, however, and she bit her lip.

 

Botan was a perpetual worrier. Of course, it wasn't something she told anyone. No, it was generally better to be as cheerful as possible, to give off an air of confidence. It was really all she could do, sometimes. Now though, out here with only the generally unsociable Yusuke for company, she allowed her worry out of the cage she kept it in, and allowed her façade to fall away. She'd worry tonight, and go back to being productive tomorrow.

 

Well, she thought to herself, best get it all off my mind then. She looked again at Yusuke, and, finding he was soundly asleep, decided that speaking aloud couldn't hurt.

 

“I don't know if we can do this,” she began softly. “These people just seem so strong, and I don't know for sure if we can beat them. It's not like I doubt you guys, but they seem like they're… I don't know… like they're infallible somehow.” She smiled a little at her use of the word. It wasn't like her, really. “And then, of course, I always worry about being a burden. Before, it wasn't that big of a deal. I could always help somehow, but now, I just feel so incredibly useless. The four of you boys fight so hard for all of us, and Shiki's strong too. I wish I could fight. But then, I don't think I could ever do it. Ever hurt anyone.” She sighed. “And now I'm just being even more useless. Complaining.” Yusuke stirred, and Botan shook her head, smiling in a most uncharacteristically sardonic way. “You're all so strange. You, Yusuke, you just keep on fighting, even when you know you're beat. And Kuwabara, he just seems to get stronger the worse off he is. And Kurama, he never gets flustered, like nothing can touch him. Hiei…” she trailed off. “He cares so much for Yukina, but he'd never show it. We're kind of like a silly, dysfunctional family. You're all my brothers and sisters.”

 

Botan fell silent, stewing over the last thought. Family… She'd never really known family before. But it felt nice, thinking about them this way. She cared about them all. She just wished she could do something more to help them.

 

“Well, maybe I can. Maybe if I just keep on going, being happy no matter what, maybe that's helping too.” She smiled. “That's it. Not everyone in a family has to do the same things. We're all different. So what if I don't fight? That's it! Thank you, Yusuke!” She clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing he was still asleep. “Oops. Sorry!” she whispered.

 

“I was like you once,” came a flat voice from behind her.

 

Botan sprang to her feet and turned around, but she was too late. The blunt end of something heavy hit her in the back of the head, and she crashed into the ground, black spots dancing at the end of her vision.

 

“Do me a favor,” the voice continued. “Tell your friends that if they ever want to see this one again, they'll surrender the girl to Lord Kurogami.”

 

”N-no…” Botan choked, trying to get up. A wave of nausea hit her, and she found she couldn't move. The blackness continued to creep into her line of sight. Kurogami? I've heard that before… but her addled brain could not complete the thought, and she succumbed to unconsciousness.

***

Kiku's Corner~

 

And that's the end of the fic! Okay, obviously not. I hope you liked the chapter though. It was mostly transitional, but still.

 

So, nobody reviewed or alert plussed or anything after the last chapter. I was very sad, because I thought it was nice. Hmm… perhaps I should stick to more action-y stuff and less whatever that was lol. Not that I can tell if I'm any better at action scenes. Urk. Opinions? Anyone? Don't make me drag Hiei out here again to ask for reviews. Seriously, please don't. He gets cranky. -er than usual.

 

Anyway, please review. Even just to let me know that people actually read this on purpose.

 

Love Beams!

~Kiku~