Deep Crimson

By: Demon Hiei's Girl

Chapter One

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Author's Note: Another YusukexHiei AU fic by moi. I have no reason to believe this will do as well as Pirate's Life for Me, but I hope it will be decent in the realm of AU fics. I dedicate this to SpiritWave13, who was anticipating this fic. Here it is, Spirit. Hope you like.

Warnings: I'm just going to go through this once. But you are all old enough to know the basics. There will be cussing, there will be gore (not that you'll actually have to "witness" that), there will be Yusuke and Hiei slash. And if you are familiar with my (good) fics, then you know what that will entail. If none of that bothers you, then congratulations! You read the summary! If it DOES bother you, go read the summary when you click the back button. So without any further delay, the fic!

'Italics are thoughts.'

- - - - -

"Brr, it's cold out there." Yukina muttered through chattering teeth as she walked into her small apartment. It was saying something when Yukina thought something was cold, considering how much she loved the winter and all things below zero. It was normally her unidentical twin brother who did the bitching about the bad weather, but in this instance she had no choice. The blizzard was awful outside, swaying snowflakes into the apartment's windows like a tornado would throw a whole house at mountain. The turquoise haired, grey eyed girl noticed her aloof, dark haired sibling was asleep on the couch, curling into himself as an unconscious act to block out the cold. Yukina merely rolled her eyes.

"Hiei?"

The figure on the couch didn't budge, and Yukina sighed in defeat knowing that when her brother decided to sleep, he'd sleep until he was satisfied. The petite woman decided to take action elsewhere as she threw her coat on the coat rack in the corner of the room. Shaking of the remaining snow from her body, she rushed to turn the temperature up in the room. The heating bill would be a dread, but it was always a dread when Hiei lived there, him preferring very warm things. He tolerated the cold for her, though, which she appreciated both because of her distaste for really warm environments and because the heating bill was hard enough to pay all ready.

As soon as the warmer air began to fill the room, Hiei stirred, his eyes creeping open.

"Ugh, what time is it?"

"Just six." Yukina replied, returning from the kitchen with some hot cocoa. Hiei eyed the chocolate drink with anticipation as she handed it to him. She left the room once more to grab her iced tea, then came padding back into the room with her favorite slippers on, taking a seat on the armchair across from her brother.

"You're back early. I thought you worked til six-thirty today." Hiei asked with mild interest, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. "Are we out of marshmallows?"

"I'm glad you're finally cured of your A.D.D." Yukina replied with mock sarcasm. "There are some marshmallows in the lower drawer."

"And you're home early, why?" Hiei asked as he discarded the cocoa momentarily to receive said marshmallows. Yukina cringed when she heard the loud rummaging of her brother in the kitchen, amazed he couldn't find something in plain sight.

"The blizzard was too intense. The diner closed for the day, so they sent the waitresses home."

"Good." was the blunt response when Hiei returned with the bag and reseated himself.

"Not good." Yukina glared. "We need to pay for the heat you suck up like the sun."

"I'll prostitute myself." Hiei said, smirking at his sister in jest. "We'll quit our day jobs and I'll rack in some dough. What do you say?"

Yukina threw a couch pillow at her sibling. "Are you sure we're related? That's disgusting! Don't even joke!"

"You want lots of money fast, right? What better way?" Hiei snickered, throwing the pillow back at her. "We're young and good looking. Let's make a deal. We both meet some old, rich people, and I'll marry a rich old lady and you'll marry a rich old man by the end of the month. All our money problems will be over forever!"

"In your fantasy, maybe. But I'm not going to get a disease for money."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"AIDS?"

"Good point."

The twins sat in silence for a little bit after that, the joke running old. Hiei eyed his sister with the corner of his eye as he took the last sip of cocoa. She really looked down because of her shortened day at work. 'But what's half an hour?' Hiei shook his head, knowing all-too-well the answer to that. Half an hour off meant half an hour less pay, and that could hit hard later.

"I can't wait for winter to be over," Yukina finally admitted, slumping in her chair. Hiei's eyebrows raised at this revelation.

"You love the winter."

"Not when it means freezing to death in this tiny apartment, short on clothes and food and everything else."

"Calm down, you'll pop a blood vessel." the dark haired man teased. "Tomorrow will be way clearer. I'll bet the diner will be open for the day, so you can get some overtime."

"And what will you do? If you think I'm letting you sleep all day instead of doing something productive, you're mistaken." his sister scolded, getting up to put the cups they used in the sink.

"It's not my fault the pizza joint closed for the winter. You can't really deliver anything in storms like this, and delivery is the only thing that place has going for them in a small town like this." Hiei replied, scrunching his nose with mild disgust. He liked pizza like most normal people, but seeing it every day made it seem less great, regardless of whether or not you got to eat some that particular day. Yukina merely chuckled at her brother's expression.

"But you're such a cute delivery boy. I've heard talk that some of the young girls from around town miss you."

"What?" Hiei asked, lifting his head with slight interest at the mention of young girls.

"Yeah, I heard a table full of them discussing it yesterday. One said she'd buy pizzas from there just so she could have the chance to see you when you delivered."

"Someone needs a boyfriend." Hiei snorted. "I'm not the only delivery sap that works there, you know. How do you know it was me they were talking about?"

Yukina only giggled further as she seated herself next to the lounging Hiei. "Because, dummy. They described you to a T."

"These chicks weren't, like... ass ugly were they?"

Yukina burst out laughing at that comment, even though she was fully aware that her brother's shallowness should concern her. "No! They were beautiful, actually. I envied some of them."

Hiei found himself snorting again. "I doubt any of them were as pretty as you."

"Aww, thank you, Hiei." Yukina chirped to her brother, giving him a gentle smile.

"After all, you are related to me."

"Ugh."

- - - - -

The next day was considerably better, as the weatherman had said. Kay's Diner was open as Hiei predicted, so Yukina rushed there early to get some overtime in. Not wanting to look lazy compared to his twin, Hiei decided to get the groceries for the week. Like most men, Hiei hated the grocery store with a burning passion that rivaled his love for heat. On the other hand, making his sister do it after she got home from a tiring day of annoying, old fashioned customers would be cruel, and he wouldn't do that to her.

Driving passed Dave's was tougher than he thought it'd be, though. It was on the opposite side of town from Kay's, but it was really no competition. Kay's was a diner for people, normally elder folks, who wanted to sit down and enjoy a well balanced meal or just good '50's style milkshakes. Dave's was just a pizza place that had decent pizza at a decent price. It was the only one in town, so it delivered for convenience. It was the lazy way of eating out, and was pretty popular. Unfortunately, most of the delivery boys decided that the blizzards made their job too difficult. Losing their delivery service would impact Dave's business too greatly, so they decided just to close shop all winter and double their effort in spring.

'Well, hurray for spring. But that sucks for winter.' Hiei mentally grumbled. He hated to look for another shitty job, but if the cold didn't stop for good soon, all the money problems would go onto Yukina, and he wouldn't allow that to happen. Thankfully, the diner only closed on super bad weather days, and Yukina only had to call it quits every so often.

Once he parked and made his way into the store, Hiei let the events of mediocre restaurants escape his thoughts. He hated that his entire life circled around them as it was. Throwing some of his picky sister's favorite bread into the cart, Hiei sighed as he circled some more aisles throwing in whatever seemed appropriate.

"Hey," acknowledged a green haired girl as he walked in the aisle she was in as he was heading for the chips. He'd seen the green haired girl, and her amber haired friend, before during his outings in the magical world of pizza. "Is Dave's open yet?"

'Oh yes, because in November there is absolutely no more chance of snow in a tiny, freezing place like this.' was the thought. But the reply came out, "Not yet."

"Aww, so no more delivery boys for awhile then." she pouted, a small smile planted on her tan face.

Hiei nodded with feigned interest, then turned to look at the chip selection the store offered. 'Whoooa. I didn't even know they made a pickled flavored chip!'

"Are you alone?" the green haired girl asked, still trying to make conversation with him. Hiei grumbled under his breath, then replied with a reluctant, "...yeah."

"Why don't you make your girlfriend come shopping with you?" she teased. "It's more of a woman thing anyway."

"What?" Hiei asked, cursing himself the moment the syllable left his lips. He had just taken the bait...

"Don't tell me you don't have one, of all people!"

"I hate to disappoint." Hiei muttered sarcastically.

"Then who's that girl you're always with!" the green haired girl continued to prod. 'Nosy bitch.' Hiei twitched.

"That's his twin sister, Juri." the amber haired girl informed her friend.

"Whaaaat?" Juri gasped in shock. "That can't be, Koto! They don't look a thing alike!"

"Sure they do." was the calm response. Koto walked towards Hiei, a little too close for his comfort, and locked her eyes onto his. "They have the same gray-blue eyes."

Hiei blinked, then nodded. "If that's what you want to call it."

Koto smiled, but Hiei shrugged it off, maneuvering passed them. He thought he heard Juri nag about how Koto got a little too close to him, but ignored it. If that was their way of flirting, it wasn't really working on him. Or maybe he had too much on his mind. Really, the only woman he felt like dealing with nowadays was his sister. Anything else would be too complicated, too time consuming, and cost too much. And considering the consequences, he decided dating right now just wasn't worth it.

And from the looks of things, despite many admirers, Yukina decided the same.

Hiei bought only what he could carry out of the store in two bags, both because he didn't feel like carrying any more to the car, and because money was tight this month. Hopefully, though, they could get by with this and not need to take a second trip back in a week or so. Lost in thought once more, (wondering what time it was, when Yukina would come back home, where he parked the damn car), the dark haired man accidentally bumped into the hard chest of someone else in the parking lot. Dropping both bags and staggering backward, Hiei let out a surprised yelp.

When Hiei's ass hit the floor, a hand reached out to him, silently offering him some help up. Without a second thought, Hiei grabbed the hand and pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" the man who had knocked him breathless asked, a concerned and exhausted edge in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm just thankful I didn't decide to buy eggs this go 'round." Hiei replied, brushing off his backside to remove the small amount of dirt from his jeans. His grey eyes glanced up to see the man he ran into. Short, dark hair that fell in front of his face, dark amber eyes, and ghostly pale skin... He was a couple inches taller than himself, and had a decent build, too. 'Obviously, since I ricocheted off it.' He didn't seem all that muscular, though, when Hiei got a better look. Really, he had a thinner frame than you'd think with a chest that hard.

The man must of had noticed the staring. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. My ass will heal eventually." Hiei mumbled, reaching down to grab the bags that had only dumped a little of their contents.

"Here, let me." offered the stranger, refilling the opposite bag. When Hiei reached for it once he was finished, he noticed the extreme weariness that radiated off of the man. Dark circles were under the redish brown eyes, and they were only enhanced by his light skin.

"Are you okay?" Hiei asked, his eyes narrowing as he tried to further examen him.

"Fine!" he jerked, suddenly wary. "Just a little dizzy."

"Do you want a ride to the hospital or something?" Hiei asked, concerned. A little voice in the back of his head nagged him about talking to a complete and total stranger and offering said stranger rides, but he squashed it.

"N...no, that won't be necessary!" he assured him. "But thanks anyway, uhh..."

"Hiei." was the response. Smirking a bit, he held out his hand. When the man grasped it and gave him a firm shake, he heard the reply. "Yusuke."

"Nice to meet you, even if it meant getting my grocery bags dirty." Hiei smirked, lifting the bags a little.

"I really am sorry. I should have watched where I was going. Please let me help you carry those to your car."

"It's only two bags." Hiei snickered, but this 'Yusuke' proved to be persistent as he took a bag and began to haul it towards Hiei's car. It didn't take long for the grey-eyed man to notice his newfound friend's staggering.

"Are you sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Yusuke let out a small laugh. "Trust me, I'm good."

"Whatever." Hiei mumbled, tired of trying to be nice to someone who kept shrugging him off. When they reached the black automobile that was the only transportation Hiei and Yukina had, besides their own two legs, Hiei popped the trunk and loaded his bag in. Yusuke did the same with his, then looked at Hiei as he turned away from him. The taller man debated in his mind for several minutes before he realized he wouldn't be able to do it. Shaking his head at himself ended up not being a good idea though, because it only intensified his dizziness and before he realized it, the sickness became too much and he fell over, everything going black.

Hiei heard the thud and dashed his head around. "Yusuke?"

Seeing the unconscious man had Hiei groaning, but what else could he do? "Ugh, c'mon." he muttered as he pulled the now dusty man off the ground and into the back seat. "This will be fun to explain to Yukina." With that lovely thought coming to his mind, Hiei rolled his eyes and began to head back to the apartment. "Oh well, at least I got the groceries."

- - - - - -

Author's note: I've been wanting to do a fic like this for awhile. Many things influenced me to write a Vamp-fic, including the anime Master of Mosquiton and the more popular Twilight book series. (I've only read to New Moon, for the curious.) The storylines didn't really impact any decision I decided to make with this fic, but still, they got me in a vampire mood. Hopefully this fic got you guys in one, too. See you next chapter... hopefully.