This is an old one that I wrote back in 2005. Tell me what you think!

Simple Warmth

I spotted them and flitted down from the top of a power line—who knows for what reason. However, as I gazed at the group, saw their attire...

Something had happened.

"Hiei," Yusuke said, mildly surprised. I was given a grumble of greetings from that idiot Kuwabara, and then, the last one dropped the bouquet of flowers he was holding and ran towards me.

My eyes widened. My knees buckled.

He grasped my shoulders and held on tightly.

I was suddenly warm.

Tears shined upon his face, his expression distraught. Empty.

But when he took me into his arms, I felt my chest pressed against his, and I felt a steady rhythm. A warm feeling. A… wonderful feeling.

I knew that he would not let go of me.

And I knew that I didn't want for him to let go.

I titled my head curiously, pressing my ear against his breast.

I heard the sound of life within him and I could not pull away. I wanted to be able to hear the sound of his heart, beating calmly, and compare it with my own.

The blood that pulsed through my own veins was not warm, and my heart beat quickly

—or, rather, the empty place inside the chest of every demon. The youki within pulsated, but not in a conventional sense. It was just an empty place.

And that empty place suddenly felt so filled with warmth.

I felt his hands suddenly squeeze my body against his own. His palm brushed against my neck, and I tensed as I noticed the chill of his cool hands.

I was afraid.

And Kurama was afraid as well. That is why he'd taken me into his grasp. His mother, that woman whom he loved more than anyone... she had transformed the heart of a demon into a human's with her patience, and boundless love.

But I had never felt this before. And I certainly never knew what fear felt like in a body other than my own.

And then his fingertips touched my hair.

I froze.

Those hands… they touched me, feeling the length of my hair, just trying to reaffirm that I was there. I was uneasy an uneasy realization

—not one person I knew had ever come to me for help.

I remember wondering when my hair had ever felt so soft.

He held on to the back of my head now, my hair tangled between his slender fingers, and I laid my head down upon his breast again as he pushed me ever closer to his heart.

Did he want for me to hear his life?

Did he want for me to share his pain?

So selfish.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, barely audible. His red, curling locks concealed his face and his tears as he stared at the ground.

"But... I'm sure you don't know. My... my mother is dead."

I…

...Didn't particularly like Kurama.

At times, he could be cruel.

At others, he showed me a brilliant smile.

But when he's like this, I'm not sure what to think about him.

For the first time, he's held me close, for his own comfort.

And though it was for a selfish reason, I too felt like I'm being comforted.

I don't know what to do.

I allow him to do it. I don't say anything, I don't pull away. I just wish him to get over his sadness.

But now, I don't want him to let go.

I don't want him to release me. I want to hear another life so close to mine.

I want to know that I really do exist. I want to know that there's another life in this world that will come near. I want to be worth the attention of another.

And I want to feel like this always. I want to be wrapped in the warmth of a friendly gesture. I want to feel safe. I want to feel comfortable. I want to become so weak that I have rely on someone else. I want to know someone who will protect me in my weakness.

But I have no weakness. I am strong.

But I'm not an animal. Even I sometimes lose courage. Even I am weak.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said, hastily, and broke the embrace. Perhaps only five seconds had passed altogether, but it had felt like it was going on forever and ever.

"Sorry… I'm…" he tried to apologize. "Being silly... she... she lived a long time... we're going to go see her, even though I'll have to act like I'm not her son… it would be a weird if anyone recognized me when I haven't aged…"

I sighed.

"Humans are…"

"Mortal?" he said, smiling sadly. "Stupid? A waste of time?"

"No…I—"

But he released me, and he turned on his heel.

Sometimes, even I just feel like crying.

And I supposed Kurama just needed to shed some tears, to forget about his pain, to be comforted.

Normally, I do not like to be used.

But… I liked it this time.

Just this once.

For Kurama.

"Oi! Kurama!" Yusuke's rough voice called out. "Let's go! We're gonna be late!"

"Sorry, I'm coming!"

"Don't apologize, come on, let's go!"

"Yes, yes... ah!"

Kurama gently lifted the flowers from the ground, and he frowned, seeing that they looked a little damaged.

"I won't use youki on them," Kurama said to himself, as he regarded the mussed petals. "No... my mother would have liked them to look more natural... not like the ones that I've manipulated..."

I watched him run to catch up with the others.

"Kurama!" I called.

He flinched. Then he turned, as though expecting angry words to follow.

"You dropped one," I told him, and held the flower out. It only had two soft yellow petals left on it, and was bent in the middle.

And Kurama would have said, 'it's still a flower.'

"That's okay," he laughed. "You can have it. A gift for being kind."

Kurama caught up to the others, and the three humans raced down the street, probably to the train station down the road.

I looked down at the flower in my hand. A flower! It was too pretty to have been given to me, even damaged like it was...

I mused for a little while longer, remembering, deciding that it was alright that he had done it.

I'm not heartless, after all.

I would have let him hang on a little longer, if he'd wanted.

Because humans are...

warm.