Eighteen

Waking/Sleeping

"Don't touch her."

Kazuma retracted his hand, halfway to shaking Hatenaka Shiori awake. Shizuru knelt by the bed, eyes level with Shiori's face. They could still hear the woman downstairs weeping, but Kazuma was having serious doubts as to whether it really was Kurama's mother down there. Or up here. He was starting to feel a little punch-drunk.

"Did you notice anything strange while we were driving here?" He asked, stepping a little further away from the bed. He kept his back to blank wall, watching bed, windows, and door just in case. There was no closet in this room, thank god. He didn't think he could cope with something coming out of a closet.

"Yes," answered Shizuru, who was slowly moving back to a standing position. She walked around the bed, staring down at Shiori, then twitching aside the curtains on the window. It was all gray and mist out there. Kazuma watched her glance down to the yard and grimace. "Did Kurama ever mention anything about them getting a dog?"

Kazuma shook his head. "Getting him to agree to taking in Misa was enough of a gauntlet; I don't think this family has ever been one for pets."

"Except for foxes," Shizuru murmured to herself. Kazuma bristled, but said nothing. It wasn't his job to defend Kurama against unkind remarks, and he knew better than to challenge his own sister. "Do you know if Mrs. Hatenaka worships Inari? Or her husband?"

He paused, trying to latch on to the direction Shizuru was going with this. His hands, stuffed into his pockets for now, felt frozen. The whole place felt far too cold. He realized he could see his own breath, and hers, and Shiori's, in the air.

"I don't think so."

Shizuru did not ask another question. She put her hand up to the window and her handprint instantly fogged on the glass. When she pulled it away, the mark of her palm looked through to a green, if dreary, summer day. The rest was cold autumn mist.

Hatenaka Shiori stirred in her sleep, shivering. Kazuma longed to put a blanket over the poor woman, at least, but a quick look from Shizuru stayed his hand. Downstairs, Hatenaka Shiori stopped crying.

The Kuwabara siblings shared a glance, and turned towards the door. The sound of a chair being pushed away from the kitchen table echoed throughout the house. Footsteps. If they looked, they knew they would see her shadow at the bottom of the stairs.

"The train is coming," Shiori called up to them. "It's all right, now. The train is coming and they'll be there."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kazuma could see the sleeping Shiori's mouth moving along with the words.

"Don't worry," downstairs Shiori said. "I have tickets for all of us." A pause, then her footsteps clicked off into silence. The front door opened and closed.

"What the hell did she mean by-" Kazuma began, but Shizuru held up her hand for silence. She was at the door now, staring down the hallway to the stairs intently. A picture hanging on the wall shuddered and fell, spewing glass everywhere. Glass that stayed in the air, turning lazily, refracting the dull, frozen light of the bedroom. His hand immediately curled, palm in, the spark of his reiki the only warmth he could feel. The floorboards began to creak and shudder under his feet.

"How far can that thing take us?" Shizuru asked, turning from the door and, to Kazuma's surprise, scooping Shiori out of the bed and into her arms like the woman weighed no more than a doll. Kazuma stared dumbly at her and she scowled. "The Jigen-Tou you idiot, can you control where it takes us?"

That snapped Kazuma out of his stupor and he nodded. "If I know where we're going, yeah."

"Good. Temple, now." Shizuru snapped, navigating through the broken glass. "Damn the car, we'll get it later."

Kazuma brought the Jigen-Tou to life, staring at his sister, the glass, Kurama's mother. "But, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you later," Shizuru hissed. "We don't want to be here when the train arrives."

How much longer, Yukina wondered, am I going to spend staring at this person's back?

She followed Hiei through the dim forest, both of them slowed by mud and rain, and in Hiei's case, wounds he wouldn't admit hut him too much for anything faster than a brisk walk. Yukina knew he was in pain. She also knew he'd keep going, like a stubborn idiot, until he came back. Dragging Kurama, if he had to.

It would have been so much easier with the eye, but Hiei hadn't let her near it, and even if he had she wasn't sure she could have healed it much. She'd heard stories about Jagan implants. Suffering through injury is what kept the bond strong with the patient. The very idea made her want to rip the damned thing right out of his fool head.

Given half a chance, she may have done just that. The way things were going now, however, losing any asset they had, no matter how distasteful, would have been disastrous.

She stumbled through the brush, following the black shadow that represented Hiei through the creeping dimness. He'd run off without saying anything, as usual, but this time she was sure it was due to more immediate concerns than his regimented need for privacy. Because hadn't Kurama been acting particularly strange since they'd come here? Kuronue definitely contributed to that, but Kurama had pulled further away from the rest of them than ever before. Like he'd been in the same room, but separated by a wall of glass.

Yukina hadn't realized she'd lost sight of Hiei until his hand lashed out of the darkness and grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her to a stop. He crouched, motioning for her to follow, in the shadow of dense pine. She heard rain on water and realized they were at the lake.

Near the shore, in the wet, green dimness, she could see a pair of shoes, one tipped on its side, on the muddy sand. A dog was sniffing at them.

A big dog. One with feathers.

She held her breath as soon as she smelled them, a stench like the Tengu that had invaded Kurama's apartment the day (had it only been a day?) before. There were more of them, milling around at the water's edge, whining and worrying at the lake, turbulent with rain. Some of them were more bird than dog, crow's feet instead of paws, beaks instead of muzzles.

"Kurama," she heard Hiei mutter. He stood, making his way towards the dogs and the shore. Yukina grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back down, yanking him so hard that he gasped. A few of the dogs looked idly in their direction.

"Don't be stupid," she hissed, letting go of the shirt. He was staring at her, perplexed, angry, and she could see a little of respect in there too, but didn't care. "You're injured, you have no weapons, and you don't know how many there are."

"But he's in there," Hiei growled back, though he made no move to stand.

"I don't sense him," she said, crouching a little lower when one of the dogs seemed to look a little more interested in their location. "I can't even smell him. If he was here, he's gone now."

"How the hell would you know?" Hiei blurted, adding another level to the amount of stupid Yukina suddenly found herself juggling today. She was in no mood to be forgiving.

"Sorry, lest we forget, didn't I spend the majority of my life searching Makai for my brother? I'm a demon, Hiei. I know how to track. And I know Kurama isn't here. He was, but he isn't any more."

Hiei stared at her. Yukina stared back. They'd never had a fight before, never had a chance to for various reasons, but she'd be damned twice if she was going to let him run into the thick of things without a weapon. She wasn't a fighter, she didn't know much about battle tactics aside from what it took to get away from trouble.

Hiei opened his mouth to speak. A flash of orange light interrupted him, and the dogs began to screech.

When Yuusuke woke up, he immediately noticed two things were wrong. He had a headache. His hands were empty.

The headache could wait.

Yuusuke pushed himself up on his hands and knees. There was grit under his hand and he could hear pebbles rolling away into the darkness. He could smell blood. He immediately recognized it as his own, mingled with others – both only passingly familiar. Kurama, maybe. It was difficult telling when it smelled so human. And he'd lay odds on the rest being Kuronue.

Maybe they'd been cut on the glass of that broken mirror/window/whatever. Maybe something had happened to them in the dark. Hell, he was still in the dark. He held a hand up to his face, and snapped his fingers. Blue light sparked and covered his hand. It was as good as a cheap lamp, for now. He didn't dare shove too much power into just being able to see.

Two figures on the ground, a few paces away. About fifty yards of black hair identified one as Kuronue. Damp clothing and the smell of lakewater, unnoticed until now, was Kurama. Kuronue was breathing, beginning to wake, but Kurama…

It wasn't just the light making his face look waxen and blue; Yuusuke knew that immediately. He jumped over Kuronue, who had one hand still clasped firmly around Kurama's. He dropped to his knees, pressing his ear against Kurama's soaked shirt, listening for a heartbeat that seemed to have just given up the fight. He pounded his fist against Kurama's chest and listened again. A feeble attempt at a pulse answered him. As long as the ticker was still ticking.

He sat up again, kicking Kuronue awake. He moved to Kurama's head, tilting his face, remembering a vague video or poster on CPR. Water was trickling out of Kurama's mouth. Yuusuke cursed and tried to remember if chest compressions or mouth-to mouth came first. Kuronue grumbled behind him, pulling into wakefulness. The smell of blood was stronger now. Kurama's heart was stopping again.

Stupid thing. Stupid, weak, human thing. Why did they have to be so easy to stop? Just a little fucking water and he's dying? What the fuck was that?

"Kurama, why is your hand so cold?" Kuronue murmured, apparently still half asleep, or delirious. What had happened when they were in the dark?

Yusuke pounded his fist on the stone floor, barely feeling it. He put his hands on Kurama's chest and pushed, feeling the pitifully weak pulse under his palms. There was a sludgy noise and he could see more water, leaking out of Kurama's mouth, nose. He pulled back, pushed again. More water, reflecting in the blue light that had climbed all the way up to his arm by now. He was too nervous to keep it down. Kuronue, behind him, was scrambling to his feet.

"What's-"

"Drowning," Yuusuke said, pushing once more. Just a little bit of water this time, Kurama didn't seem inclined to start breathing on his own.

"How did-"
"Do I look like I fucking know? Get over here and help me!" Yuusuke didn't want to think about how shrill he sounded. He kept pushing, unsure now if he was really feeling a heartbeat or if he'd pushed too hard and that was the bones popping. Kuronue was kneeling at Kurama's head, bending. Fingers crossed over the black bruises those selfsame hands had put there only days ago.

Yuusuke kept pushing. Both arms were on fire with reiki, filling the room with blue light. He wanted to shove the light right through Kurama's skin and just make him breathe again dammit, couldn't they get a fucking break and would he just breathe already?

He didn't realize he was crying until Kurama finally wheezed and turned over, vomiting out the rest of the water that had clogged his lungs. It was an ugly noise, but so god damn beautiful at that very second it was all Yuusuke could do to keep from breaking down and sobbing like a child.

Kuronue was holding Kurama's hair back, looking at Yuusuke with something like bewildered fear. Yes, all that had just happened. Stuck in and endless hallway of mirrors into dreams, pulled into a black nightmare that they couldn't remember (or were pretending not to) and now this?

Kurama was slowly pushing himself up off the floor now. Alive enough that even through the panic and confusion Yuusuke could hear the pulse from where he sat.

"God," he said softly, sitting back on his heels. He looked from Kurama, who was slumped now against the cave wall, to Kuronue, who still had a hand wrapped around some of Kurama's damp hair, and back again. "You assholes better never put me through anything as scary as that again."

Kurama laughed weakly, wiping at his face with the back of a hand. Kuronue realized he was still clinging and hastily let go of Kurama's hair, scooting away a little bit. Yuusuke glared at Kuronue, who glared back in defiance. It was the "I'm still mad at him and there's nothing you can say that will make it better" glare. He saw it a lot with Keiko, after one of her boyfriends drove her just as crazy as he did. It was a stupid look, one of his least favorites. To see it on Kuronue's face, after everything that had just happened, made him want to slap the Tengu silly. For now, though, he had Kurama to worry about.

"What happened to you?" Kurama rasped, looking exhaustedly at him. Yuusuke noticed he was starting to shake. It was fucking cold in this cave, he realized, and humans did about as well with cold as they did deep water.

"Me? What about you? Why the fuck are you all wet?"

"Went for a swim," Kurama murmured, eyebrows pulling down. He was frowning, his features pale and spooky in the light. "You look like you were in a car wreck. Again, as it were."

"Oh, lovely." Kuronue muttered, before Yuusuke could answer. "Trapped in a speeding mechanical monster with a lunatic asleep at the wheel. If you killed me, Yuusuke, I will be very disappointed."

"What do you mean, 'asleep at the wheel?'" Kurama asked, struggling to sit up a little straighter. He pulled his feet under him. Yuusuke realized he was barefoot. He realized they had bigger things to worry about than catching up.

"We can play family reunion later, when we're not stuck in some fucking cave god knows where." He stood up, and offered a hand to both of them. "We need to get out of here and find out what happened. Then we can argue over my driving skills."

"Or lack thereof," Kuronue muttered, taking Yuusuke's hand anyway. Yuusuke stuck out his tongue and pulled them both to their feet. Whatever hell they'd walked in to, at least they were together.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Some hours had gone by, Kurama had lost count of how many, but after sliding through crawlspaces almost too small to fit, and treading lightly through caverns that echoed quiet sinister whispers back at them, they'd finally come to a point where they could see light, and smell air.

Of course that point would be directly above their heads, about five storeys up.

It had been a long, silent trudge, and this was just the icing on the cake.

"Man, this is the worst fucking daytrip of my life," Yuusuke said. He was staring up at the hole, hands on his hips. Kuronue silently watched their backs. He'd walked beside or behind Kurama the entire time, though but for one very intense and uncomfortable look, neither of them had said anything to the other.

"Well, I can climb it," Yuusuke was saying. "Kuro, you think you could carry-"

"No."

Kurama didn't flinch, but he felt like he'd been hit with something. He kept his mouth shut.

"Not through an opening that small," Kuronue amended. "I'd need more space to get a head start."

Especially carrying dead weight, Kurama thought miserably.

"Well, shit. Kurama, you know math and stuff, right?" Yuusuke said, poking him in the arm. He flinched, and saw Kuronue scowl out of the corner of his eye.

"I've been known to dabble with equations," he replied, giving Yuusuke a wary look. Whatever the detective was planning, he already didn't like it. Still, focusing on Yuusuke's special levels of insanity was something he'd rather do than focus on the inevitable talk he would need to have with Kuronue. Yuusuke was beaming at him, glowing blue with excitement. Or nervousness. Probably both.

"How hard d'you think I'd have to throw to get the two of you up there?"

Silence echoed through the cavern. A pin would have clanged.

"You are not throwing me anywhere," Kuronue said.

"You're not throwing him anywhere," Kurama said, at the same time. "That's a stupid idea, Yuusuke, and it won't work.

"This is a stupid idea and it won't work," Kuronue hissed. Yuusuke's arms clasped his; Kurama clung to his back, shaking.

"On the bright side, if he misses, our deaths will be relatively quick and painless."

"What brought on your sudden optimistic streak, I truly wonder," Kuronue growled.

"Are you two old ladies ready or what?" Yuusuke asked, characteristically excited to be using his companions as lawn darts. Their combined glare was all the affirmative he needed. Yuusuke dug his heels into the ground, and started spinning.

"ONE!" Yuusuke shouted, as the first revolution completed. Kurama's grip tightened, Kuronue tensed, willing his wings back, pushing himself out of the human shape he'd been borrowing.

"TWO!" The second revolution completed; Kuronue felt the prickle of wings wanting to stretch through his skin.

"THUH-REE!" And suddenly they were airborne, shooting up through the cavern to the thin escape far faster than he'd ever been able to take off on his own. Kuronue's wings peeled out of his back, shedding skin and feathers and scraps of his shirt. He just needed two good beats and serious precision and they were free. He could hear Yuusuke shouting encouragement from below. Kurama was clinging to him like a damp burr. He could see the light pouring through the ceiling of the cave and his wings remembered the years at the bottom of that dark well, flying them to freedom better than mere will could have sustained.

They broke through into a fog of heat, the stench of old-growth forest and ozone wrapping around them like a shroud. Kuronue kept flying, up past the canopy of dense trees the ringed the nearly-invisible cave mouth. Yellow lightning blasted through sickly purple clouds and he realized with shock that the'd escaped one nightmare to find themselves in the middle of another.

They were home.

This was Makai.

TBC

9/25/2011

And you thought I was done being a bitch for this month. 3

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