Altered Reflections

Untitled


- Chapter 4 -

That Was Unexpected

~*~
Mirror Realm
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What in the name of Makai is going on here?! Hiei thought as he leapt with swift agility through the treetops. Everyone has gone crazy it seems. The idiot has disappeared, no big loss there....but Kurama has regained his Youko form! How can this be? The detective did not seem to notice, that is strange. Could they have somehow been affected by that strange energy? That girl was there as well...what is her name? Keiko? Where did she come from? And how did she wind up beneath me?

All of these thoughts and more ran through Hiei's mind as he continued to make his way to Reikai. He hoped that he could shed some light on this phenomenon. He only hoped that the little prince hadn't been affected as well. His mind was in such turmoil that the fire demon failed to see the streak of red and blue flying directly into his leaping path, causing him to collide head on with someone, effectively knocking them off of what they had been riding on. They both grunted with the impact and fell. At the last moment, however, Hiei regained his senses and summersaulted so that he landed on his feet. The other body did the same and soon Hiei was staring into the very annoyed face of Koenma Daio's teen form, the Jr. on his forehead crinkled a bit as he narrowed his eyes at the fire demon.

"Hiei?! What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Yusuke and the others? Botan is going to be very upset with me if you've went running off before the mission is complete!" Koenma glared for a moment, then looked over Hiei's shoulder as if expecting to see the others coming up behind him.

"Koenma?" Hiei's face showed a hint of surprised, which he masked almost immediately. What in the seven hells is going on here? he thought. Why is Koenma in his teen form and running his own errands? Where is Botan? She is the assistant. But despite all the confusion, the fire demon was actually relieved to see him. Finally! I can get some answers, he thought.

Reaching out, Hiei grabbed hold of the red scarf that Koenma kept tied around his neck. Shaking the "prince" slightly, he managed to direct eyes back to him instead of behind him. With a hint of menace in his voice, he demanded,. "What the hell oingoing on here, Koenma?!"

Koenma's eyes widened at Hiei's action and turned to stare in open mouthed shock at the obviously upset fire demon. What is he talking about? Has something happened to the others? he thought. No wait...he would have mentioned it if something had happened to his team mates.

Realizing he couldn't answer Hiei's question, the taller teen disengaged himself from the fire demon's grip before asking, "What are you talking about Hiei? I don't understand...."

"Hn. Why must you make this difficult? I'll put it to you simply. A portal opened up in the location of where we were fighting the renegade demons. After it disappated, I found the others were changed. That fool Kuwabara was gone and Kurama is now in his Youko form! And Yusuke's woman was someplace that only moments before she was not! Now, I want some answers, Dammit!" came the demon's harsh reply.

Koenma sweatdropped, not knowing what to make of Hiei's sudden outburst. Everything he had mentioned as being different just simply....wasn't. "Uhh, ookay." he said slowly. "Come along, Hiei. Ink wnk we should go back to Reikai. Maybe we can get some answers there."

Hiei glared at Koenma for a moment before nodding. It was then that he noticed the oar lying on the ground. The oar looked similar to the one Botan used. That was strange. He watched as Koenma walked over to retrieve the oar and hopped aboard it, indicating that Hiei should do the same. What's this? Hiei thought idly but said nothing as he hopped onto the oar. Koenma manuevered it into the air and made a beeline for the Reikai, all the while wondering about Hiei's strange behavior and what Botan's reaction would be when he informed her of it. It wasn't long before they were landing outside the entrance to the office of the ruler of the Spirit world. Koenma surprised Hiei yet again by knocking.

"Enter." came a somewhat familiar voice from inside.

The door swung open to reveal a bustle of ogres rushing about with their arms piled high with various files and documents. Everything seemed in place as the chaos of what normally occured inside the office went on. Everything that is, except for the chibi Botan that sat behind the desk that Koenma normally occupied (at least in the natural realm).

Instantly he was across the office and had the chibi version of the so called ferry girl yanked up by the neck of the little pink kimono she always wore. "For the last time, what is going o -- " Hiei's demand was cut short as a solid blow of Koenma's oar made contact with the top of his head. Hiei's grip on chibi Botan's kimono loosened as the fire demon slumped to the floor gracefully.

Chibi Botan blinked. "Well...that was certainly unexpected." she commented as she glanced down at the black pile at the foot of her desk.

"Your Highness." Koenma addressed chibi Botan, "are you alright?"

Though the question was directed at the toddler princess, it was a voice from below that gave him a reply. "Your concern for her welfare is quite touching but entirely misplaced. Prepare to meet oblivion!" Hiei's red eyes glowed bright as he rose from the floor, katana drawn and pointed directly at the young man.

"No! What do you think you are doing, you idiot!!" Chibi Botan exclaimed as she leapt between the two, instantly transforming into her teen form and plastering herself against Koenma in a protective fashion.

It was at that moment that the door to the young Reikai ruler's office was thrown open as Keiko, Yusuke and Youko Kurama rushed in.

"Botan! Something's wrong with Hiei! He --" Keiko began, but broke off as she took in the startling scene before her.

~*~
Natural Realm
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Hiei felt the stinging pain as Keiko's open palm connected firmly with his right cheek. He winced. Not from the pain, but simply from the fact that his mate had just struck him! It had never crossed his mind once that his beloved Keiko would do such a thing. So obviously he was shocked. It was because of the shock that what happened next....well, happened. The force of Keiko'slap caused the fire demon--for the first time in his life--to actually lose balance and fall off of the tree branch they were presently standing on.

"Oh no!" Keiko shouted, her hands covering her mouth in surprise as she watched Hiei's descent to the hard ground below.

It was at the last second--right before he would have hit the compact dirt surrounding the base of the tree--that Hiei managed to flip. As graceful as a cat, he landed on his feet then proceeded to glare back up at the two girls with angry red eyes.. Keiko was staring down at Hiei, eyes widened comically.

"Sorry." Keiko winced slightly.

She hadn't meant to knock him out of the tree. She had just been so shocked and confused about him kissing her that she'd just reacted. Not even Yusuke had ever been so bold as to kiss her. The dumbfounded fire demon stood at the base of the tree for a few seconds. Iin a flash though, he reappeared back on the tree limb in front of Keiko.

"What was that for?" He growled, his voice slightly raised.

"Hiei." Botan interrupted, knowing that something very strange was going on here and the safest thing for them to do was go to Koenma. "Why don't we return to Spirit World, hmm?"

Hiei did not respond right away, and for a moment Botan considered repeating her suggestion. Finally thack-ack-haired demon turned away from Keiko to face the ferry girl and nodded once.

"Hn. I believe you are correct, Princess. We had better get you back."

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TBC...