~Kuwabara no Miko ~
It had happened too fast.
Hiei had never thought he, of all beings would have to admit to that.
He'd been too slow-- No!
No, he'd hesitated. That was what had happened.
The wild swathes of blood on the snow were so red... so bright... there was so much of it. It seemed as though the world was suddenly painted scarlet.
The soft sound of weeping, each sob driving the blade of pain deeper into his heart.
He'd never thought it would hurt this much....
***
"Oi, Hiei!"
He glanced down. Yuusuke was waving, grinning like a maniac. Which was essentially what he was, truth be told. The Fool was there was well, looking decided less pleased to see him. In fact, nearly everyone he knew in the Ningenkai was in the park, enjoying the freshly fallen snow.
The humans were playing at a mock-battle of sorts, males against the females. Kurama and Yukina were prudently seated to the side, on a parkbench Kurama had cleared of snow, watching as Botan, Keikko, and Shizuru pegged balls of snow at Yuusuke and Kuwabara.
It all looked like a complete waste of time to Hiei. Especially considering Yuusuke and Kuwabara weren't trying very hard to win. More often than not their own projectiles missed, while the ones thrown by the females -- especially Shizuru -- struck with startling accuracy. It had to be deliberate, but why?
Hn.
"Hiei! Come join us!"
He ignored Yuusuke's invitation, staring off into the sky as though he hadn't heard.
"Itai!" He smirked, hearing a firm smacking sound and Yuusuke's yelp of surprise, and glanced down. Evidently Keikko had got her mate a good one upside the head. Yuusuke shook the snow off and glared. "All right! This means war! YAAH!"
Hiei noticed that in spite of this declaration and all the noise he was making, Yuusuke wasn't throwing any better than before.
Snorting, he flitted down to join the only two of the group that had managed to capture more than his disinterest, or, in the case of Yuusuke, grudging respect.
"Konnichi wa, Hiei," Kurama smiled, his beautiful face lighting up as Hiei landed next to him.
"Hiei-kun!" Yukina said happily, clasping her hands and smiling just as beautifully, just as brilliantly.
It still amazed him that anyone would be happy to see him, much less the two most important people in his life. It scared him, and yet at the same time he found it sparked an answering warmth in his heart.
He bowed his head slightly to acknowledge Yukina's greeting. Kurama chuckled softly, used to being snubbed. He patted the bench between he and Yukina. "Sit, Hiei," he invited.
"Hn." Hiei turned to watch the others play in the snow, opting to stand beside Yukina.
Kurama merely shrugged, still smiling.
Of course, this quiet time didn't last. The others soon tired of their battle, tumbling over, laughing, and shouting, and crowing in victory in the case of the females. Hiei removed himself, going back to the treetop he'd been occupying earlier before anyone noticed. He saw Yukina look around in confusion and felt something wrench in his chest. Kurama's green eyes found his perch unerringly and clashed with his own crimson gaze. Hiei looked away first.
No one else seemed to miss him, engaging in their usual interactions.
The Fool was mooning over his sister again. He snarled silently. If he could claim his kinship, he'd have cause to come between them. But he couldn't. Yukina was innocence embodied, and Hiei was....
Was....
Kuso.
Still, didn't that idiot realize how short his own lifespan was? To tie Yukina to him, in that ugly body that wouldn't last even a fraction of Yukina's life, to leave her alone and bereft in just a few short years....
Fortunately Yukina didn't seem to have any idea what the Fool felt for her, considering him nothing but a friend. The very innocence that kept Hiei away also served to protect her where he couldn't. At least there was that much comfort for him.
Hiei was just preparing to go, leave the others to their fun, when he felt it. A strange you-ki. A strong you-ki. Here in the park, where it did not belong.
What the hell--
Seeing that Kurama and the others had already noticed, Hiei turned his attention to trying to find the source. It was strangely confusing, as though there was an... echo, of sorts. Something odd, something just not right about it. It disordered his senses so that he could not pinpoint the source of its origin.
"K'so...." He remained where he was, looking around with growing unease. Shizuru was herding the other girls away, after a quick word from Yuusuke. The other members of the Urameshi Team were on guard, glancing around as anxiously as Hiei was. It was best he remain up here, where he was at an advantage, was out of the way, but with the ability to sweep down at a moment's notice.
Suddenly the youkai they had been sensing appeared. Deceptively small, almost pretty... it looked a lot like Hiei himself, only with white hair, pale flesh, huge translucent eyes, and a wide grin full of toothy teeth. There was nothing of sanity to the thing as it gave the huddled group below Hiei a bright smile.
"I found you!" it caroled, sounding like a gloating child playing a game of hide-and-go-seek. Once again, Hiei got the sense of an echo underlying the voice. The hairs on the back of his neck raised, and he grasped the hilt of his katana. This didn't look good....
With no warning at all, the youkai struck. It was almost as fast as Hiei, zipping toward the three males on the ground and through them before they could react. Yuusuke went flying head over heels. Kurama grasped his belly, crying out. Blood seeped slowly between his fingers, marking the snow about him with small scarlet blossoms that resembled the roses he prized, but it was not a life-threatening wound. Kuwabara was untouched, but had no time to react before the youkai was out of reach.
"Rei-Ken!" Kuwabara sneered and flourished his glowing blade as the youkai smiled cheerily at the group, licking Kurama's blood off its long, long claws. "Come back here and try that now!" the large youth invited. "Kurama, daijoubu ka?" he queried over his shoulder.
"Ah."
Yuusuke groaned and clambered to his feet. "That hurt...."
With another blur, the youkai attacked again. Once more Yuusuke went flying, this time with a spatter of his own blood. Kurama jumped back and stumbled, falling heavily to one knee. Kuwabara took a wild swing with his Rei-Ken, then cried out in pain, his blade of spirit energy dissipating as he grasped his right arm, blood pouring over his hand. "Shimatta!"
"Boring," the youkai declared, sounding disappointed, like a pouting child. Hiei prepared to leap down and join the fray, as Kurama staggered over to help Yuusuke to his feet, and Kuwabara swayed where he stood, clutching his wounded arm and glaring.
Then suddenly Botan sneezed loudly, drawing the strange youkai's attention to the girls, who were still too close, even though they had moved out of the area of immediate danger.
"Ah, kawaii!" the youkai declared, its insane eyes lighting up. "Wanna play?"
"Fuck!"
Hiei felt his blood run cold. No! Using his gifted speed, he was down off the tree and on the ground before anyone could blink, right on top of the youkai. He swung his katana down in an arc, feeling the familiar, comforting jar of flesh parting beneath the blade.
But there was no blood. What the--
The youkai laughed, the sound suddenly doubled, much more noticeably than before. Hiei looked to either side of himself in shock. Where there had been one youkai, now there were two, identical down to the nasty giggling. Hiei zipped past and up onto the back of the parkbench, staring down angrily, trying to analyze this new situation and find a way to turn it to his advantage.
"You're not nice," the youkai on the right said, turning to glare at him.
"Wanna play with pretties!" the other declared, flexing sharp claws and smirking at Kurama, who was dragging Yuusuke up, his back half turned.
"Yes!" the other declared, looking in the opposite direction, its eyes trained on Yukina, who had become a bit separated from the other girls.
Before Hiei could react, the two youkai were moving.
In two different directions.
Toward the only two people he prized in this world.
Even with his speed, there was only time to save one. But which?
Yukina, his twin sister, the only claim in his life to innocence?
Or Kurama, that maddening youko who had stolen his heart with his beautiful soul?
It was an impossible choice. He froze, his mind unable to deal with the situation.
"REI-GAN!!"
There was a huge explosion to the left. Yuusuke hadn't been as wounded as he had seemed.
His fox was safe.
But Yukina--
There was a loud scream and a sickening crunch, and the white world was suddenly filled with scarlet, everything bathed in red.
Hiei moved and drove his blade through the killer youkai, ending its life in a flare of power.
Then he turned, slowly, unwillingly, almost letting his katana drop from numb fingers as he gazed at his sister's pale face, her soft, pure skin liberally dotted with splashes of blood. He felt something within him twist and break.
"KUWABARA!" Yuusuke screamed behind him.
But it was too late. Too late for the Healing Yukina was desperately trying to force into the lifeless body sprawled in the snow before her, too late for anyone to say anything, do anything.
Kuwabara was gone.
"Yukina-san," Kurama said gently, kneeling beside the dazed koorime, as Yuusuke fell to his knees in the bloody snow, eyes huge. Hiei knew it ought to be him trying to comfort his sister, but he couldn't move. Could only stare at the body before him.
It was clearly over. There was no way any human could survive that much blood loss. The thick chest was still beneath the ruin the youkai's claws had made of the boy's shirt and flesh. Kuwabara had thrown his body recklessly between Yukina and certain death... and had paid the price.
"Kazuma!" Shizuru's trademark calm was broken as she flung herself forward to clutch at her brother's lifeless corpse. Botan was weeping softly, Keikko, still in shock, had gone to Yuusuke.
"Kazuma-san...." Yukina's voice was a hopeless whisper, but it cut right through Hiei's heart. He watched his sister's eyes fill with tears, her innocence slipping away as she buried her face against Kurama's shoulder, sobbing pitifully.
He'd been too late.
He of all people, had been too slow, had hesitated at the crucial moment.
It had happened too fast.
And now....
And now....