Hiei walked through Rekai, slowly and confidently toward his goal. It was winter, and snow draped itself in freezing drifts like a sugar coating over the landscape. Hiei wore no cloak. No jacket or fleece to cover his bare torso and feet. He liked the cold, loved the way the ice stung his skin and his breath froze before him. He treated winter almost as most others did summer; a respite from regular life and a time to relax. Almost. Hiei never relaxed completely, never dropped his guard or let his emotions show on his face.
He couldn't.
Hiei had once been a commonplace demon, reveling in slaughter and bloodshed and the delicate snap of bones under his sword's pommel. He had grinned openly in delight over his latest kill, screamed in blind rage, and laughed in spite. Then, he had met Kurama.
Kurama had been young at the time, it was true. His human life had only been active for nine or ten short years, but still, something about him had caught Hiei's eye. It was only later, when he learned of Kurama's past life, that it made sense.
Kurama was kind. He was calm, determined, collected, and beautiful. He was ruthless, murderous, dangerous and temperamental. And Hiei loved it. Hiei loved him.
Hiei shivered, and halted his deliberate pace for a moment to rub some life into his limbs. He cast his eyes toward his destination. He was close. Stepping forward, he continued on.
The first time he met Kurama, Hiei had tried to kill him. However, previously wounded, he had fainted from blood loss and woken up in Kurama's room, his wound healed, in a house that reeked of humans.
"It was quite deep, so I treated it with an herb from the Demon Plane," Kurama had told him. "I hope you don't mind."
Hiei had been intrigued, but brushed it off and continued on with life, hoping to forget it.
But it wasn't to be.
The second time Hiei had seen the elusive fox; he had been working along with another demon to create an army only they could command. Now, Hiei honestly couldn't remember why they had wanted it. All he remembered was Kurama, a tall and nearly full-grown human walking up to them, glancing at Hiei coolly before turning his attention to Goki. Hiei remembered wondering vaguely whether this really was the small child he had seen before, and why did it feel as if his blood had heated to so many times his normal temperature.
Raising his leg to begin the ascent of a long, steep flight of stairs, Hiei noticed suddenly that his toes and part of his foot had turned a dull, icy blue. Shrugging it off, he put his foot down on the first freezing stone stair, ignoring the little thrills of pain stabbing up his leg. It began to snow.
The next time he had encountered Kurama, it had been because of Yusuke. The kitsune befriended him through Yusuke, and as they got to know each other better, Hiei fell farther and farther. Torn between strangling the fox for making him feel that way, and grabbing him and kissing him and never letting go, Hiei had retreated within his own mind where it was easier to ignore how Kurama's hair draped delicately over his shoulders, and his intoxicatingly musky scent of roses and blood….Well, never mind. It was all over now anyway, he was never going to see the fox again, and he might as well give himself some peace.
Hiei scaled the last stair and walked along the path toward his destination. He reached it, and stood for a moment, just looking. It was a Shinto-style shrine, huge and elegant and airy with a large gate and a sign. Hiei glanced at it, his eyes expertly decoding the multiple lines and blots that allowed him to comprehend the complex kanji character. Zetsumei, the character read: Death. This was the shrine of demons and reapers. Hiei pushed open the gate and stepped inside. Bowing briefly, he knelt before the shrine and settled himself comfortably.
Arching his neck, Hiei sat unmoving, allowing the snow to silently cover him.
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