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Bloodshed



The forest was deadly calm, as if all the animals fled, abandoning the trees as the only living things to witness the bloodshed that was taking place. Out of nowhere, a crash came from the eastern end of the large forest. The descending tree fell several others in its path, crushing the soft earth beneath their great weight.

The sounds of yelling, panting, and clashing of metal shook through the woodland. A roaring echo followed the plummeting of another clump of trees. In the now bare clearing, three men could be made out. One stood at about seven feet with bloodstained white clothes and flowing silver hair. Another was more or less five feet tall with spiked black hair, clad in torn black clothes and carrying a katana in his right hand. The last man was tall and slim with long, emerald green hair and carried swords in both hands, a stream of red flowing from the cut on his forehead.

All were stained with the crimson of blood and heaving for breaths.

“My, my… I believe living in Ningenkai may have really soured your youkai abilities. Not just you, Yoko… You as well, Hiei.” The green-haired man chuckled, then raised one of his swords to the tip of his lips, his tongue snaking out to gather the blood that collected and taking it into his mouth with a malevolent look in his stunning silver eyes.

The tall, silver-haired man narrowed golden-set eyes to his enemy. “It would do you well not to insult my power, or Hiei’s…”

Crimson orbs focused on the emerald-haired man. “Hn.” The man in black poised his katana to strike. “I can still lop off your head, Arai. You should watch whose power you criticize.”

“Itai…” came the soft reply from the green-haired man. “Such tongues on the both of you… How I’d love to rip them out…” His lithe body shifted into an attack position, both swords in front of him. “In fact-I think I’ll do just that!”

There was a large gust of wind, followed by a clash of metal. Then silence. The tall, silver-haired kitsune cocked his head to the side, focusing burning amber eyes upon the bloody scene before him. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice refused to function. ‘H-H-Hiei!’

A few feet from the kitsune stood the two other men, both standing extremely tense. The emerald-haired man stood erect, while the shorter youkai’s form was slightly hunched. Red eyes were wide as the pain shot through the black-haired youkai’s leg, his mind battling with his body to stand still. The golden-eyed fox took a shattered breath, his mind whirring. ‘H-how did he get so fast?!’

A chuckle erupted from the green-haired man, his silver eyes glimmering with the rouge of the spilt blood before his double swords were wrenched away with a sickening sound of ripping flesh. “Not fast enough, Hiei-kun. Not fast enough.”

The kitsune watched as the black-clad man collapsed in his own pool of blood, causing it to fly and bathe the few blades of grass that withstood their battle. His gaze flashed red at the thought of his injured friend, spotlighting towards their enemy with a promise of death. “You b*****d.”

The enemy raised both swords toward his shoulders as if in mock, showing off the large amount of blood that dripped along the hilt of both and along his bare arms. “I believe that means you’re next, doesn’t it, Yoko-kun?”

“Don’t you dare underestimate me, Arai!”

Said man raised an eyebrow in question. “I do no such thing! Are you implying that you are more powerful than Hiei-kun?” He watched in amusement as the kitsune’s golden eyes narrowed in disgust. “As you can see, I got to him so easily…” He poised himself for another death blow, his silver eyes swimming red in anticipation.

The silver-haired youkai prepared himself to attack in return. He would have to survive this. For both of their sakes. “It’s clearly a cheat, Arai.” Without even a flinch, amber eyes followed the enemy’s rapid movements, moving to avoid the sharpness of two blades that came at him at once. With the same speed and agility, the kitsune delivered a blow of his own, only to be intercepted and met with a suffocating grip to the neck.

Silver eyes roamed over the now-trapped fox, his face contorted in sadistic amusement. “Perhaps it’s not the wisest choice to finish you off quite yet, Yoko?” He bent over, swords dropped to the ground in favor of securing the struggling kitsune.

Mortified golden-set eyes widened as he felt the touch of a rough tongue against the sensitive skin of his neck, a disgusted shiver making its way down his spine. “Y-you coward!”

The green-haired man raised himself up with an angered expression, his first instinct to lop off the insolent fox’s head. However, the kitsune was stunned when his silver eyes flashed red and shifted to look upwards-towards the darkening sky. “Hn.” With a scoff, he picked up one of his swords, aiming it to the horrified silver-haired man’s chest. “I’m afraid we’ll have to continue this interesting little game another time.” With one last evil glance from his silver eyes, the fox felt a sharp sting, then saw nothing else but black.

+++***+++***+++

With a turn of the knob, you tuck the keys back in your pocket and open the door. Sighing, you make your way inside, locking the door behind you. “I’m home!” you called to an empty house. You weren’t sure why you still bothered. Your parents were hardly ever home anymore. Your mom being an archeologist, she was away for business a lot. As for your father, you weren’t quite sure where he was half of the time, but didn’t pay it much attention. When he came home, he came home.

Throwing your shoes to the side, you suddenly noticed the slight grumbling of your stomach. Frowning, you tossed your bag at the foot of the stairs and rushed into the adjoined kitchen. ‘Eh. I’ll pick it up later…’ you thought. ‘I’ll get food first.’

You pulled the fridge open with a limp arm, (color) eyes searching through the mix of food and drinks that was inside. Shrugging, you snatched a soda and found (some type of snack) from the random snack-foods that were scattered around the kitchen. Satisfied, you picked up your bag at the foot of the stairs and headed to your room with a smile.

+++***+++***+++

A pair of tired golden eyes focused on the small group of houses that lay across the street. There was no way he could make it any further. Traveling all the way back to Ningenkai carrying an unconscious fire demon was hard enough. Then, add to that the fact that he was injured pretty badly as well. In fact, the feeling in his left arm was leaving every second. There wouldn’t be much more time before this form would fade. He had to get them to a safe place soon. There was no time to make it all the way back to Genkai, or even to look for Yusuke. Luckily, he had found this small neighborhood. It would have to do for now. Perhaps if he found a fellow youkai… or even just an empty house. It would do temporarily.

He made a move to jump from the tree branch he was crouching on but froze when he felt movement at his shoulder. With worried eyes, he watched his companion shift. “Don’t move, Hiei. We’re both bad off. You have to rest first.”

With a pained but stubborn look, the black-haired youkai pointed a shaky finger to a (color) house at the very end of the street. “There. It’s a youkai house.”

The kitsune scrunched his eyebrows in question. He hadn’t sensed any youkai presence in that particular house. He was just planning to go into a vacant house that was closer. “Are you sure?” He wasn’t one to question his friend’s instincts, but he had to be certain. “I didn’t sense any youki in that house.”

The fire demon nodded slowly, his weight dropping back to settle against the much larger fox. “I sense it. It’s weak, but it’s there. Go.”

With a slight nod, the kitsune took off. He gathered as much strength as he could and made a dash towards that house, carrying his friend on his shoulder. ‘I hope he’s right.’

Absurd Explanations


You stared blankly at both strangers, watching warily as they exchanged nervous glances. Now what could that possibly be for?! Anxious, you forced an empty swallow. That seemed pointless, however, since your mouth had gone dry out of sheer nervousness about the whole crazy situation.

Whatever was happening, it just could not be referred to as normal. Silently, you praised someone higher up that your parents weren't home. First, your father would probably go insane and shoot the strangers where they stood. Once that was over with, you'd surely get the worst lecture for being so gracious to ones who were potentially dangerous.

You fought the urge to rub your aching temples. Trying hard to keep your focus on the men in front of you, you repeated the question. "Ne... I understand you were desperate for somewhere to stay... And since you're already here, I guess it would be useless and heartless to throw you out now..." You leaned back against your wall, your previously tensed muscles going slack. "Demo... I'd really appreciate it if you explain some things to me..." You closed your eyes briefly, snapping them open once more at the sound of rustling cloth.

A blush immediately dusted your cheeks at the sight of Shuichi's gorgeous smile. "Domo arigato! Hai, allow me to explain then..." Beside him, Hiei stood with his arms crossed and eyes directed away.

+++***+++***+++

You sat on your bed, clutching a pillow in your hands until your knuckles were white. "N-nani..."

For the past several minutes, you had been sitting there listening and trying hard to digest what Shuichi was telling you. Meanwhile, you had to try and ignore the piercing stare that came from Hiei's red eyes. This day could not turn out any weirder!

The first bit of information seemed normal enough for two guys their age. "We had gotten into a pretty bad scuffle..." Shuichi said, hand running through his shiny, red locks.

The next piece was a leap towards absurd. "I had originally planned to find an abandoned house... Or a temporary place..." He paused and glanced at his black-haired friend. "But when Hiei told me he felt youki from your house, I thought it would be safer... A fellow youkai living around here would have been easier to ask for help..."

You wrinkled your eyebrows and gave him a skeptical look with that statement. "Fellow youkai? What are you talking about?" You pressed your pillow against your lap. "I'm usually the only one home, and I can assure you that I'm as normal as they get. Now, my parents even resembling something of youkai nature is just ridiculous!" Looking at Hiei incredulously, you shook your head. "Maybe you just both made a mistake... Loss of blood can do that."

Shuichi and Hiei exchanged looks. You were confident that they were wrong. Of course they were. Sure, you've heard legends about youkai still existing... And there was even talk about a world of all demons that supposedly existed alongside the human world. But you hardly had time to even consider the possibility. You were much too busy with school and fending for yourself. Telling you this-when you were such a skeptic-it was practically impossible to get you to believe.

"I-I don't think so, ___-san..." Shuichi said, green eyes looking sad. "I-I still feel it... It's here..."

"Don't even bother, Kurama."

Your head shot up. Kurama? Who was this Kurama person Hiei was referring to? Your (color) eyes focused on Shuichi, then moved to Hiei when he spoke once more. "Onna. You are a youkai."

You almost burst out laughing hysterically, but your mind was too busy whirring in confusion. "G-gomen ne, H-Hiei-san... If that is your name..." Pushing yourself up from your bed, you headed to your door. "I-I think I-I've heard enough... You're welcome t-to stay..." Though you hated to admit it, the information had hit you hard. What would the possibility be of it being true? Trying to control the shakiness in your voice, you went on. "But please... C-can you not tell me such lies anymore? If you didn't want me to know why you were so badly injured, th-that's fine." Your door clicked open, and hastily you moved forward. "I think I'll s-start dinner. I'll call when it's ready..."

You left quickly, not even leaving room for them to speak. What they said was enough to shatter your usually calm demeanor. There was no way it could be true, of course... Maybe they were drunks, and it wasn't safe to allow them to stay after all. Perhaps just burglars who lulled trusting people like you into false security. Or they could simply be insane. 'Iie... They have a different aura...' part of your mind contradicted. 'They're nothing like that. They just needed help.'

Scoffing at your own conscience, you scurried into your kitchen and rummaged through the cabinet. Heaving a sigh, you began looking for something to cook for three. If anything, you were glad to have company-as odd as the company was. You would just have to keep your guard up when it came to them. And, of course, hope that neither of your 'visitors' would start up another absurd conversation that questioned the facts you were raised with.

+++***+++***+++

"Where the hell are they?!"

"Urameshi, calm down!" A red-haired guy said, watching as the black-haired one paced back and forth. "They're perfectly capable of taking care of themselves!"

"Yusuke, Kuwabara's right. Hiei and Kurama will be fine." The girl with baby blue hair sat down and sighed. "Meanwhile, we must figure out what to do about this new threat."

Scoffing, the pacing boy slumped down on the seat beside the girl. "Fine."

+++***+++***+++

The table was silent. You sat across from Shuichi-or Kurama, or whatever it was-keeping your eyes on your food at all times. As awkward as it was, you were just glad that Hiei sat away from you, once again near the window.

"Arigato for the food, ___-san," Shuichi whispered. "We were really lucky to have run into you."

You simply nodded. "Hai."

Kurama sighed inwardly, eyeing Hiei at the window-who was staring outside. He felt a bit bad for what they had told you, especially because it seemed like you were really upset by it. He cleared his throat, determined to find out why it was that you had no idea about your youkai background. "___-san..."

Raising your head, you met his emerald gaze. "H-hai?"

"I don't mean to pry... But why is it you have no idea about your youkai blood?"

The hand around your fork clenched. "Nani?"

Hiei glanced at Kurama with a shocked look. He never would've thought Kurama would go so far as to bring it up again. Usually, he would've been respectful of your wishes and refrained from 'telling such lies'-as you had phrased it. "Kurama..." he whispered in a low tone, watching as your body tensed. "She won't listen."

"Listen to what?" you bit out. "I told you already... My family is normal. Youkai don't even exist anymore!" You got up so fast that you almost fell back again. "Please! Just stop!"

Kurama stood up as well, and Hiei watched, dumbfounded, as his stance changed. "You don't have enough energy to show her, Kurama," Hiei growled dangerously. "She's not important." He moved towards his companion.

Though Kurama knew that Hiei was right, he couldn't let go of the fact that you deserved to know. Living among humans for all your life as a youkai could be problematic. He knew that you were entitled to see the truth. "___-san... Onegai... You must listen. I'm not telling you this to throw you into confusion." He raised his head from his plate to meet your gaze head on. "I'm telling you because I feel you must know. If anything, to protect yourself in the future." His voice was calm as usual, but his eyes had a fire behind them that were mesmerizing.

Hiei shook his head and scoffed. "What do you plan to do, fox? Show her what you really look like?"

'Fox?' you thought subconsciously. Aloud, you voiced your question. "Really look like? Wha-?"

You flinched when Hiei's crimson glare fell over you, interrupting your words. "You're a troublesome onna," he told you crisply. "He's trying to tell you this for your own good. And yet you want to be stubborn and not listen."

That hit a nerve. Your eyes fell downcast. As stupid as it may have been, you felt a trust for Shuichi-or Kurama-that you just couldn't place. Hiei was not as nice in telling you, but he seemed to be keeping an explosive temper in check for the sake of his partner. Your gut told you that both were dangerous. But if they meant to cause you harm, they wouldn't wait this long. Pushing your hardheaded attitude down, you nodded.

"Ne, Shu-..." You paused and hesitated. "K-Kurama-san... I'll listen." Hands trembling, you sat down. "D-do you really think I'm a-a-" The word seemed to refuse to come out. "-y-youkai?"