Kurama broke the silence, "How could that be? The Makaichu insects are only indicative of the first phase of a portal opening."
"We believe there's some sort of barrier containing it. If for nothing else than to prevent us from detecting it until it is too late," Botan explained.
Everyone's eyes darted to Ayame, who was studying the floor, her teeth set on edge.
"I don't suppose you know anything about that, eh?" said Yusuke.
Ayame scowled at Yusuke with a murderous look, but said nothing.
Hiei cracked his knuckles, "Apparently if she says anything, or cooperates with us in any way, they are threatening to kill her brother."
"And I'll bet you know quite a bit, given you seemed pretty familiar with the little fellow who did this to me," said Scarlett. Her voice wasn't cruel, if anything, she sounded sympathetic. Ayame could not meet her gaze, "But it remains that there are two possibilities we must face: first, that they know you have been compromised, and your brother is already dead. Second, that they need him for something, and were bluffing to silence you and ensure your cooperation. I sincerely hope it's the latter, but either way, you've served your usefulness to them. If a hole to Makai is truly about to open up, a lot more people than your brother are going to die."
Ayame hung her head, but her shoulders began to shake, as if she were fighting back tears.
"Talking to her won't work," said Hiei, flexing his right hand, "but I have ways of making her talk."
Rieka gently grasped Hiei by the forearm and shook her head. Hiei looked a little deflated just then, and crossed his arms, then leaned against the wall and said nothing further. Ayame mumbled something, and while no one else heard, it was enough to make Gadget stop struggling and look up at her.
"What? Couldn't catch that," said Yusuke.
"Yokai don't eat hybrids," Ayame said, a little louder, "I knew about the hole, Gadget didn't know anything. She's still too young. But they told us yokai don't like to eat hybrids. That's why they bred us. To replace the humans after they're gone. Was that a lie, too?"
Hiei stood a little more upright, "Well, it's true yokai don't like to eat hybrids, but I can't say what would happen if one got really desperate."
Yusuke scratched his chin, "Yeah, well, my old man tried to eat me right before he died."
"Really?" said Rieka, shocked.
Yusuke shrugged, as if this were a casual fact, "He died of starvation. He was mad with hunger when he tried it. But I could bet if I were fully human he might have broke then and done it."
Kurama knit his brows together, "While not all yokai eat human flesh, there are some that can subsist on nothing else. It would take quite some time, but I imagine they would die once the stupider yokai hunt the humans to extinction. Though hybrid flesh is abhorrent to them. It would be like--I don't know how to compare it--eating shoe leather or something, I suppose. Technically edible, but seen as disgusting and lacking certain nutritional value."
"How flattering," Hiro deadpanned, "I've always pictured myself as highly nutritious."
A bell sounded then, and Hiro and Rieka's heads whipped around to see what it was.
"Don't tell me," Scarlett groaned.
"What is it?" asked Rieka's.
"It's a warning gong," said Kurama, "The next match is starting in about 15 minutes, and I believe your team is up."
Scarlett shook off Kurama's arm and stood on her own, albeit unsteadily.
"You can't seriously be considering fighting," Kurama protested.
Scarlett gave him a wry smile, "Well, it looks like two of our team members are out of the running, and we can't let Rieka and Hiro go on their own. I recover quickly, I'll be alright."
"She's got a point," Yusuke said, "and forfeiting isn't an option for them."
Kurama sighed, "I hesitate because one of the effects of the drug withdrawal is terrible hallucinations. You could very well be reliving the worst memory of your life. I wouldn't want you to get too upset during a match." He said the last few words with added gravity, and Scarlett and Kurama exchanged a look as if communicating something only they understood.
"Well, that could be problematic," Scarlett admitted.
Kurama slipped a small, paper packet into her palm, "The medicine I made should help alleviate the withdrawal symptoms. I know you just took some, but you should take some more after the first match and before your own, just to be safe. I trust you'll be going third?"
"Sounds like it's doctor's orders," Scarlett said with her usual easy smile.
"I recommend mixing it with some hot water--it'll go down easier."
Scarlett threw an arm around his shoulders, saying, "Thanks," audibly. In a quieter voice, she whispered, "and don't worry, that little incident back then with you--you are not my worst memory. In case you were wondering." She parted with him then, and left with the others, the light dancing in her grey eyes all the while.
"Geez, are Americans really all so touchy-feely?" said Kuwabara as they left.
Kurama chuckled lightly, "I'm afraid she's something different altogether."
Yusuke clapped Kuwabara on the shoulders, "I don't know about you, but I want to get an even closer seat now that I know they're fighting."
"Heh heh, yeah," Kuwabara admitted, throwing his shoulders back in a confident, yet nonchalant pose, "Hiro was really something out there, wasn't he?"
Yusuke scoffed, "He fell out of the ring the first match and was nearly knocked out the second. Now Rieka on the other hand, she landed the winning blows!"
"She wouldn't have won that last match without Hiro's help! The guy slipped on the ice after all."
"Are you two actually bragging about your kids right now?" chided Botan, "I thought you'd be furious!"
"Oh we're mad, and we can't show them we're proud," said Yusuke.
"But we're proud all the same," said Kuwabara, before following Yusuke out of the room.
Hiei's eyes flicked to Botan and Koenma, "You two might as well go too. It's not as if you'd be any use if one of these prisoners escaped," he jerked a thumb to Ayame and Gadget.
"Well, if you insist," said Koenma, getting up to leave, "there was some tasty-looking grilled squid at a stand near the stadium..."
Botan gave them a half-hearted look before following suit.
"So," Hiei said to Kurama, "What'd you do to that girl to make you think you were her worst memory."
Kurama looked to the two girls on the sofa. While Hiei had the supernatural hearing of a yokai, he supposed, as hybrids, they didn't. In any case, the matter of his last, botched theft had been a matter of public record now, based off the records Koenma had given him.
"The short of it is: I attempted to cut out her eyes to sell them to a collector who specialized in rare body parts."
"I admit, I'm more interested in how you managed to botch something so royally when you're normally so careful. I hear she's S class, but so far I haven't seen anything all that impressive."
Kurama sighed and crossed his arms, "I thought the same thing at first, but the truth is I got sloppy."
Hiei scoffed, "You always seem to get hurt when you want to examine things too closely."
Kurama laughed softly, "That's true, and she did interest me on an intellectual level. But the root of it is, though I didn't realize it until quite recently, is that I let my guard down because I was in love with her."
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Thank you, as always, for reading! I'm including a bonus chapter in this update about Scarlett and Kurama as a (belated) thank you for the 1k reads. It will tell a little about their past from Kurama's perspective. However, if you choose to skip the bonus chapter, the rest of the story will still make sense without it! I hope you enjoy it :)