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Yukina blanched even paler than usual from the memories of how frightening it had been to watch her brother develop injuries from something no one could see. "Hiei-niisan is..." She bit her lip, not wanting to say too much. "Oniichan could die if he falls asleep and we can't wake him in time." She finally said, as calmly as she could manage. Her eyes were distant and cold as she tried to detach herself from the words in order to get them out. "And he exhausted himself using the jagan before we discovered the problem."
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Kurama closed the communicator and slipped the device back into his pocket. The call had been anything but reassuring but the only thing they could do now was to finish what they had started. "Let's go."
Kurama took the lead as they neared the school and left Hiei to his own devices. There was no use arguing at this point. Slipping into the shadows, Kurama snuck around back to a relatively unused entrance that would get them inside closest to the office. Plucking a seed seemingly from nowhere, he held it in the palm of his hand and grew it with a mere thought. Lifting it closer to the lock, he allowed the tiny vine to tangle around his fingers and into the lock and a split second later the door clicked audibly. Allowing the seed to revert to its original state, Kurama returned it to from whence it came and held the door open for his partner in crime to enter before him. |
Hiei walked into the school building, eying the corridor for the cameras that humans were so fond of. He spotted one turning his direction and in a flash he was beneath the offending device. With a tiny burst of energy he melted the wiring inside the plastic case to make it look like electrical. He was pleased that his fire powers were working properly and less pleased that the small use of them made him slightly light headed. He braced his hand against the wall for a moment to steady himself, hoping Kurama wouldn't catch the brief weakness.
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Kurama stalled for a moment before entering behind Hiei once the surveillance camera was decommissioned. He caught sight of Hiei leaning slightly against the wall but chose to say nothing. He realized the demon was exhausting himself but it had been Hiei's choice to come along and now wasn't exactly the time to argue about it. If anything it would only make it that much easier to restrain him when Kurama dragged him away to Spirit World.
Walking past Hiei, Kurama crept further down the hallway. It didn't seem like there were any janitors around for the time being. He looked behind him for a moment to see if Hiei was following him before picking another lock, this time to the school's main office. The lock undid with a click but instead of entering, Kurama waited for Hiei to catch up. He was happy that things were going well thus far but it was to be expected. After spending a couple thousand years as a thief, certain skills just couldn't be forgotten and as Hiei had remarked earlier, human security really was a joke. |
Hiei only held the wall up for a moment before he followed Kurama to the office. Once there he leaned against the wall beside the door and crossed his arms. He made the pose look nonchalant, but in reality the wall and willpower were about all that was keeping him upright. "I'll keep watch here." He said quietly. If a janitor came down the hall he could be gone before he was seen and he could warn the redhead without making a sound even with so little energy.
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Kurama nodded before penetrating into the office. Going straight to the filing cabinets in the back he began quickly sifting through the various names and files. It took him only moments to find the "s" section and mere seconds thereafter to pluck Mr. St. Valentine's file out of its respective placement. Flipping through the pages it didn't take him long to find the information they were looking for. The fox stared blankly at the page for a moment longer as he memorized the information at will before placing the file back from whence it came with no sign that anything had been disturbed.
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Hiei waited patiently. No janitor came in sight and the fire demon was silently grateful for it. Using both his speed and his telepathy would be a stretch with his current resources.
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Kurama nodded to Hiei before taking hold of the other's arm and leading him out of the room. With the flick of a wrist he deftly locked the door and pulled it closed silently behind him. He gently probed at Hiei's aura and felt the dwindling remains of the fire demon's energy reserves. Hiei really needed to rest if Kurama had his way, that would soon be the case. Gently keeping hold of Hiei's arm, Kurama led him down the hall soundlessly. The door was almost within sight and Kurama hoped that Hie would allow himself to be carried once the exited the building.
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Hiei didn't pull away, because he didn't want to have an argument that might attract attention to their unlawful presence in the building. He saw the exit approaching at the same moment as the lights in the hallway flickered on and a cheerful whistling was heard from behind them. Without thinking about it, the fire demon caught Kurama up in his arms and zipped out the door. Once outside, he carefully set the redhead back on his feet. He sagged against the wall beside the door, listening for signs of alarm from the human inside the building. When none were forthcoming, the demon breathed a sigh of relief. He had reacted fast enough to keep them from being seen. He allowed his eyes to close for just a second before forcing them open again and staring at the fox. "That would have ruined your image, ne fox?" He said, trying to distract the fox from his condition by making the demi-human consider his own danger. Imagine, perfect Shuuichi caught breaking into the school in the middle of the night. His distinctive red hair would make it all too easy for him to be identified and the fire demon knew it. That was the main reason he had reacted without hesitation. He could only think of protecting Kurama from being caught.
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Kurama caught the flicker of lights just as Hiei had but was unable to react as fast as the fire demon's abilities allowed him to. Before he knew it, the lean redhead was scooped off of his feet and whisked away down the hallway. Kurama's heartbeat pounded uncomfortably in his chest, both at the idea of being recognized and at the idea of being held by Hiei. In mere seconds the couple had exited the building and Kurama was put back down on his feet. The two demons held their breath for a moment but it seemed that there was no pursuit and Kurama breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, it could have..." he muttered, still recovering from the episode. The fox had known there would be a slight danger of discovery during the break in maneuver however he had faith in his abilities and those of his comrade. Fortunately it seemed that they had succeeded in finding what they were looking for however at a certain cost. Kurama was all too aware of Hiei's state as much as the other demon tried to hide it and he was determined to help him in return for the favor that had just been done for him. "Let's not waste any time..." he said at last before crouching down slightly, "Now I insist that you let me carry you as payment for the favor." |
Hiei considered arguing but decided that he really didn't have the energy. Not to mention Kurama was the one who knew where they were going. He wouldn't put it past the redhead to leave him behind rather than let him walk. The fox was also obviously trying to let him salvage his pride by playing up the insignificant rescue the fire demon had just managed. "Hn." He reluctantly climbed onto the fox's back and rested his head wearily on the soft crimson hair. His arms rested naturally around the green eyed boy's slim neck and Hiei decided it really wasn't an uncomfortable way to travel. He was a little disconcerted by the feelings that such close proximity to the redhead stirred in him but his mind was too fuzzy from lack of sleep to really examine the emotions so he let it go.
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Kurama was immensely grateful when Hiei agreed to his prescribed mode of transportation without a fight. The redhead waited only long enough for the petite demon to clamber onto his back before setting off. He went slowly at first, sneaking back out of the entrance of the school yard without a hitch, before taking off at a brisk jogging speed. The fox kept to the back streets as much as he could but wisely avoided those known for possible gang activities.
It didn't take them too long to arrive at Taykayo's block. Once there, Kurama allowed Hiei to slide off of his back so he could approach the boy's house in a more normal fashion. At the door, he paused for a moment, mentally composing himself to deal with the worst possible situation before raising his hand to the door. The redhead rapped firmly on the door before letting his arm drop down to his side. Kurama could not feel any traces of the boy's energy from within the apartment and a bad feeling began to clench in his gut. |
Hiei stayed out of sight of the door, but remained close enough to move in if the house turned out to be some sort of trap. He leaned against a tree and crossed his arms to wait. He couldn't feel any trace of spirit energy from the house and he wondered if no one was home, or if he was merely to tired to be sensing things properly. If the boy's family were all humans without spiritual powers, it would be easy to miss them due to fatigue.
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The door opened a little bit briefly and then closed, where there was then the sound of locks being undone. Finally the door opened completely and a woman with light brown hair and blue eyes stood in the doorway. "Who are you? I hope you're not trying to sell something." Her appearance was rather disheveled, as if she had rushed to make herself presentable. There were black lines running down her cheeks where her mascara had run. Clearly something was not right.
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Shuichi bowed slightly, "Konbanwa St. Valentine-sama. My name is Minamoto Shuichi. I'm in the same class as Taykayo-san however I'm afraid he didn't show up to class today. I wanted to come make sure everything was alright..." As Kurama finished with his statement, he studied the mother's face intently taking note of the smeared makeup and worry lines that revealed themselves as well as her generally disheveled appearance. Kurama could already guess where this was leading...
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The woman stared at the red head for a moment before another round of tears streamed down her face. "I haven't seen my son all day. He never does this. Taykayo is a good son, he would never run away or not tell me where he was." She bawled and almost stumbled forward to grab onto her visitor, but she controlled herself. "Please, if you find my son, tell him to come home." She cried. "I'm afraid something terrible has happened to him. I can almost feel it. Please find him, I know you can. Please bring him home." The crying continued.
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Kurama's eyes narrowed for a split second, 'I can almost feel it... Please find him, I know you can.' The words echoed inside the fox's mind. Was the woman spirit aware? No wasn't the time to find out however, they had discovered what they came for: it seemed Taykayo was indeed captured. Kurama bowed once again to the woman, "I will do my best to bring Taykayo home as soon as possible St. Valentine-sama." With that Shuichi left the premises and returned to where Hiei was waiting just out of sight. "I assume you heard?" Kurama asked quietly as he began mentally calculating the best place to start looking.
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The fire demon nodded. "It seems the boy's premonition may have been correct." He said, not wanting to think about what that meant for his own future. Taykayo had had a vision of him being mortally wounded by one of his dreams after all. "Where do you suggest looking for him?"
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Kurama shook his head in agreement, still deep in thought. It would be impossible to locate Taykayo alone, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The best option would be to see if Spirit World could locate the boy however it seemed Koenma had his hands full with other matters. The Spirit World Prince had however given him "orders" to be with the others when he called back and it seemed like the most logical thing to do at the moment. "I suggest we return to Genkai's and regroup," Kurama replied thoughtfully. After the run-in with Taykayo's mother it was hard to not rush off in search of the boy however that would be unwise given the current dangers as well as Hiei's condition.
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Hiei nodded. That was as good an idea as any. Plus, it would give him an opportunity to check on Yukina. He didn't like leaving her alone with the oaf. The boy might get ideas. 'Even in this condition, I could still beat him to a pulp.' Hiei thought snidely. He didn't admit that he might pass out afterward, not even to himself. Kuwabara was a tank, even without his spiritual powers he could take damage that most people couldn't even survive and keep standing stubbornly...and shouting about love and honor the whole time, no doubt. 'Baka.' He didn't even consider arguing this time. He merely climbed onto the fox's back like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. He buried his face in the fragrant red hair and focused on staying awake long enough to get to the temple.
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Kurama blinked in surprise as Hiei climbed up onto his back and settled into a comfortable position. He was grateful that Hiei had done so without arguing; perhaps the fire demon was beginning to come to terms with his current state. Kurama took off in the direction of the temple ad a steady walking pace. He could feel his own weariness weighing heavily on his body but he was still far off from being in the same state as Hiei. In the recesses of his mind however he knew he needed sleep. It would be prudent if those unaffected by the dream territory took turns watching over Katsumi and Hiei while the others got some much needed rest. They would need to make sure their forces did not dwindle as Kuama was sure there would soon be upcoming trials...
When Kurama finally reached the cover of the woods, he paused briefly to regain some strength before tackling the remaining distance to the dojo. "Don't fall asleep back there Hiei..." he warned softly. A bead of sweat ran down the side of Kurama's face and he mindlessly brushed it away. With Hiei's unnaturally warm body being pressed against his, Kurama was beginning to feel overheated. He didn't complain however as the sweat was a mere nuisance. Perhaps he could spare a moment to bathe in the springs near the dojo once they settled in for the evening... |
Hiei grunted to prove he was awake, but it was a near thing. He had almost drifted off despite his intentions. He lifted his head to make himself less comfortable and noticed Kurama's discomfort. "I can walk from here." He said firmly, attempting to untangle his limbs from around the overheated redhead. Kurama was uncomfortable because he was tired and hot. Hiei was not helping either of those conditions by being a burden and the thought bothered him greatly.
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Kurama immediately regretted having wiped his brow when Hiei began trying disentangling himself. "Relax Hiei! Just a few more minutes; we're almost there!" he said, grimacing slightly as the fire demon snagged something on his hair. Instead of allowing Hiei to dismount, Kurama kept a firm hold on the fire demon's legs, leaned forward to offset Hiei's backwards momentum, and took off once again walking at a brisker pace this time. He knew Hiei was feeling guilty but he wanted to make sure they made it safely to the temple as soon as possible. If anything attacked them this far away from the dojo in their current states, it could prove to be a very difficult combat.
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Rather than continue to make things even harder on the stubborn fox, Hiei settled back into his previous position. However he wasn't happy about it. The only reason he kept his mouth shut and let the redhead have his way was because he knew the situation was rather urgent and he couldn't travel very fast in his current state. But he silently vowed that the fox was going to hear a mindful about bossing him around once things went back to what passed for normal in their lives. If they were going to try and deepen their friendship into something more, they were going to have to have a long conversation about acceptable behavior. Hiei resigned himself to the fact that it would most likely involve actually discussing the matter with Kurama, rather than simply stating his opinions as needed and then sticking to sarcasm and yes or no grunts.
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Kurama was content when Hiei stopped struggling and decided to stick it out the last few minutes but he could tell the fire demon wasn't happy. The fox understood his concerns; it wasn't often that he had to bully Hiei into taking certain actions and it seemed he had already done so on numerous occasions in a single day. He hoped that Hiei would understand that he was merely worried and that he intended to back off once the demon regained his strength.
Rounding the bend for probably the fourth time that day, the grand staircase came into view once again and Kurama steeled himself for the ordeal. The petite demon on his back didn't weigh much but his muscles were quite tense after a day of constantly running to and fro. Mounting the first step he continued one step at a time until they finally reached the top. Taking a few more steps away from the staircase, Kurama leaned over and allowed Hiei to finally slide off of his back. |
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