OK! Here's the Aftermath. I didn't have you wait too long did I? -smirk-
Here goes nothing!
Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or any of its characters! Nor do I own any of the songs I use.
I speakie like this:
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---------- 6 Months Later -----------
Hiei had disappeared. Where had he gone? No one knew. A month long search was placed not only in the Makai but in the Ningen-kai as well. He had slipped out the window after what seemed to be a nasty hit he'd taken. Kurama knew better. He was trying to inflict physical pain to numb the emotional ones. It, clearly, didn't work.
Poor Hiei.
He shouldn't have had to deal with that kind of an emotional scar. Now he leaves without any kind of a trail? It was maddening. Kurama sighed as he walked out of the house that he currently owned and locked the door before turning around. Everything in his arm fell to the ground, his books and jacket. Emerald irises widened slightly at the sight of the one before him.
The fire demon didn't speak; he hadn't the strength and fell where he stood. "Hiei!" Kurama had moved quickly and caught him before he could do more damage to himself. "What happened to you," he questioned softly. Quite a few wounds were upon the fire demon's seemingly frail frame, none were fatal but they had bled quite a bit.
He was exhausted as well. The dark rings beneath his eyes proved that. "Hiei…" Kurama couldn't believe this. What had happened to him? The kitsune set him down for a moment and moved to unlock the door but paused. His name had reached his ears. The voice was feeble and scared. He turned, looking around. It hadn't registered to him that Hiei had uttered it. Such a thing seemed impossible whether he was sleeping or not.
No one was there. Kurama looked down towards Hiei, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Who had called his name then? Had it been Hiei? The thought was pushed away as quickly as it had been thought. He couldn't have. The kitsune unlocked the door, opened it and moved to pick the young demon up and bring him inside.
Hiei would rest with the wounds taken care of and Kurama would contact the others to let them know he was safe. They all were relieved and wanted to know why he left, but Kurama told them he didn't know. That Hiei had fainted when he'd gotten there and was in bad shape physically. "That's all I know right now," he said for the final time to Kuwabara, who had seemed especially worried when Hiei had disappeared. They all had reasons to be.
"Thanks Kurama," he said.
A smile was seen upon Kurama's lips. "I'm glad I was able to catch you before you went to school. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"Yea, ok. I have to go, bye," he said and rushed off the phone. Kuwabara was starting to create a legacy for himself. They all had done well, financially. Emotionally, they had all drifted apart when Hiei left. Each blamed themselves for his disappearance.
Kuwabara blamed himself more than the rest of them did for reasons unknown.
"Kurama?"
The kitsune had looked over to the top of the stairs. Hiei was on his knees, staring at the kitsune as if relieved about something. "Hiei, you shouldn't be up! You'll upset your wounds." He moved over to the fire demon to check and see that they still weren't bleeding. Everything seemed well. "C'mon, I'm taking you back to the bed. I'll make you something to eat while you rest. Ok?" A hand gently rubbed the demon's uninjured back as Hiei leaned against Kurama for support. He would need more than the physical support Kurama currently granted him.
He helped Hiei climb back into the bed and covered him up. "You should rest."
Hiei had started to watch him go, his eyes didn't close and his hand reached out to grab onto the cloth that enveloped the other's arm. "Don't leave," he said. Hiei's eyes were looking towards the ground; they hadn't been directed up at him.
Kurama had stopped and looked back. "You need to eat as well. You'll never get better with just rest alone," he said and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, enclosing one of Hiei's hands in his own. 'He's shaking. Why,' he thought and stared at the other, wanting to know the answer to that simple question. It wouldn't receive a simple answer.
"Don't leave," he repeated, clutching the red-heads hand firmly in his own. He wouldn't look up.
He sighed. "I won't," Kurama said, finally. It sounded like a promise. If this would get him to sleep so he could go and make Hiei something to eat then so be it.
He nodded and lay back down, falling asleep almost immediately after his eyes had closed.
Kurama sighed. Hiei still hadn't let go, even after an hour of him resting. If Kurama tried to release the grip, Hiei would hold on tighter. It was as if he didn't trust him.
The door opened and the kitsune looked over. "Hello, Shion," he said with a smile.
The girl looked at Kurama and smiled. "Hey, Shuichi! How's tricks," she asked before noting the other in his bed. "Who is this?"
"He's a friend of mine," the kitsune said and moved slightly so she could get a better look at him.
"Oh, he's so kawaii," she exclaimed and smiled. (--A/N: Kawaii means cute in Japanese, if you don't already know.--)
Because of her squeal, the demon's eyes closed tightly and shifted uneasily before settling down.
Kurama placed his finger to his lips. "Quiet down, please. He hasn't been sleeping well. I'd rather not wake him."
She covered her mouth and gave a muffled apology.
"Shion, can you make Hiei some soup? It doesn't look as if he's eaten really well. I would, but he doesn't seem to want to let me go," he said gently with a sheepish smile and lifted the hand that Hiei had latched on to.
She nodded and smiled, removing her hand from her mouth. "Sure," she said quietly and slipped out of the room to go do as he'd asked.
It wasn't long before the woman had come back up, holding the pot and three bowls with three spoons. The bowls were balanced carefully on top of her head while the chopsticks were held with either hand upon the handle of the pot. "Figured it would be easier this way," she said with a sheepish smile before moving to set everything down on his desk. A pot holder had been placed beneath the pot and the bowls set down next to it before she dished it out for the ones currently awake. "Do you think we should wake him?"
"We'll wait a little bit, if he doesn't wake in an hour we can wake him to eat." Kurama took the bowl that was handed to him and thanked her. "I appreciate the help."
She smiled and took up a spot by the wall. "You hadn't come to school so I figured something was up. Is he the one you've been talking so feverishly about," she questioned lightly.
"… I don't talk about him that much," he spoke with false certainty.
She nearly chocked on the soup, gulped and laughed. "Or so you think," she said.
He turned his eyes to her but seemed to ignore the comment and ate in silence.
She had stopped after a bit and watched him. "How can you do that," she asked after a long silence.
He glanced over at her perplexed. "Do what?"
"Sit there and not speak," she said as she stood, having finished her food already.
"… I don't have anything to talk about," he said to her.
"I find that hard to believe," she said and stretched. "Well, I should be going. My next class is going to start soon. Toodles!"
"I'll talk to you later then," he said with a nod.
There wasn't much else to be said between the two. Her own light blue irises watched him a moment before leaving. The girl had been trying so hard, but he was so blind. Oh well. She had moved to a different room and put on the required blue school uniform with a white shirt beneath the coat before heading out the door without another word. She made next to no sounds to announce that she had left. One could have sworn that she was a ghost. A few tears would stream down her cheeks. Her waiting was over, for the time being.
---- Sometime later ----
"Hiei," the kitsune spoke gently, a hand reaching over to shake his shoulder gently.
A protesting groan was heard and he pushed the red head away, finally letting go of him.
Kurama shook his head and shook him again, a little more roughly this time. "Hiei, wake up. You should eat."
A crimson iris opened, glancing towards the kitsune before closing again and he shuffled back a bit nearly falling over the edge.
Kurama sighed and moved to the other side of the bed. "I know you're awake. Get up."
"Go 'way," came his groggily reply.
"Hiei, you can sleep later. Right now you should eat," the kitsune said to him.
The demon's eyes opened once again, blinking the sleep from them albeit reluctantly.
Kurama had a bowl of food and chopsticks ready for him when he'd sat up. The fire demon had the strength to sit up and eat. Kurama wasn't at all surprised. "What happened, or are you not well enough to talk about it?"
Hiei ate thoughtfully before giving the bowl back to the kitsune, wanting more. "A strong demon is coming this way." It was a warning, but Hiei wouldn't elaborate further. He couldn't. After the third bowl, he'd settled down in the bed again to fall asleep. Luckily for Kurama, he didn't attach himself to any of the red heads limbs this time.
The empty pot, chopsticks and three bowls were taken down to the kitchen, washed and put away.
Kurama had to get school but would stick around instead, after calling the school about his absence.
------------ Some time later ------------
He sighed and hung up the phone before heading upstairs. The kitsune opened the door and slipped in quietly, noticing that the curtains had been drawn. He hadn't done it. His eyes turned to Hiei but the demon was fast asleep. That was very odd.
Gentle music floated in from the other room. Shion was home. That would explain it. She needed to stop scaring him like that.
"Shion," he said and shook his head gently before moving out of the room to knock on hers. The door was opened slightly, but he didn't see much of her.
"Yes?"
"It's Shuichi. Is something wrong," he questioned lightly. This was odd behavior for her. Usually it was; open the door wide with a big grin plastered on her face.
"… No, nothings wrong," she said and opened the door the rest of the way, grin in place.
He was suspicious but nodded anyway. "The school let out early or was this due to one of you're famous notes?"
"Work called, I had to ditch. I just got off, actually."
"Is it that late already?"
"… I don't work graveyards anymore, Shuichi."
He shook his head. "I'm not toying with you. I haven't been paying attention to the clock. Oh, I need to go and get bandages. Could you keep an eye on Hiei?"
She nodded. "Sure."
He smiled. "Thank you," he said before heading out the door.
Kurama hoped that Hiei would be safe here. For now, he needed to speak to Yusuke and Kuwabara and get bandages.
The three of them were called earlier. Each would meet him at the shop before going back to his place.
During that time, Hiei woke up on his own. Shion hadn't noticed just yet. She was bent over something at Kurama's desk, pencil in hand and scribbling furiously.
"Where's Shuichi," he asked and rubbed an eye.
The woman had turned after nearly jumping out of her skin with her eyes wide. "Hey, didn't think you'd wake," she said. "He went to the store and should be back shortly."
The demon hadn't sat up, he didn't want to, and closed his eyes once more. It seemed as if he was talking in his sleep, but he was aware of it occurring.
She watched him. "So are you just gonna lay there or are you gonna get up?"
He shrugged, as if undecided.
She snorted and stood, moving over to him. She poked his stomach. "Are ya hungry?"
The demon opened his eyes and glanced over at her, moving away. "No."
She tilted her head. "Sure?"
He nodded. Stupid humans.
"Alright then. Do you need anything," she questioned lightly.
He just stared at her suspiciously. Who the hell was she?
"Oh, right. I'm Shuichi's friend and roommate, Shion! And you are..?"
"… Hiei." If she was Kurama's friend then she couldn't be all bad right? Whatever. He kept his eyes on the woman anyway.
"Sure you don't need anything?" Her head tilted slightly, soft follicles drifted across her features while the eyes took on a concerned look.
"I'm fine," he said to her and then got off the bed. There was no reason for him to stick around. Pain racked his frame before his shoulder collided into the wall as he got off of the tender ankle. Damn thing.
"You alright?" She moved over to him, lightly touching his shoulder.
He glanced over to the woman and pushed her away. "I'm fine," he insisted stubbornly. When he'd straightened, blood was shown upon the wall from where he'd hit it. A wound that wasn't fully healed had reopened.
"Fine huh," she questioned before moving over, scooping him up and throwing him on the bed. "Stay."
What did she think he was? A dog?! The demon grumbled to himself but had stayed put and pulled off his cloak to have a look at the damage he'd inflicted. It appeared to be a small scratch, nothing to truly worry about. The boy's ankle was another story altogether. The demon took off his boot carefully, wincing as he did so. It was swollen and there seemed to be part of a bone protruding at an odd angle beneath the skin. "Damn fox."
"Fox? Is that what attacked you? Ooh. That ankle doesn't look very good. I'm guessing Shuichi either didn't know it was there or couldn't get your boot off," she said and moved over to have a look before reaching out with one of her hands but stopping and looking over to him as if for permission.
He didn't care.
She sighed and moved her hand over it, checking to see where everything was before popping the bone back into place before straightening it out and putting a few things beside it to keep it that way.
Hiei's body shivered as the immense pain ran through it while she did this.
She looked up, noting the pain in his eyes and raising a brow. "Not one to show weakness of any kind is we?"
He glared but didn't answer which was met with a smirk. "You have some immense control, kiddo."
Kiddo?! His brow twitched as she took care of the shoulder with some cold water and a rag. "It's Hiei," he insisted.
"Aww, I can't call you kiddo?" The woman pouted.
"No."
"You're no fun," she said childishly and finished while holding the rag there. "Hold this. Shuichi had to get bandages. We're completely out apparently otherwise I'd wrap it."
"Hn…" He reached over and did so, placing some pressure upon it to keep it from bleeding too much.
She moved out of the room after a bit and opened the door. Someone had knocked on it prior to her coming down. "I didn't expect you to bring friends. Is anyone hungry? I'll make us something to eat."
"I'm not." It was Yusuke that spoke. "Where is he? I have a bone to pick."
Her eyes turned towards the black-haired teen with a raised brow. "O...K... Anyway, Shuichi, he's got a fractured ankle and it looks pretty bad. I did the best I could with it. Maybe you should take a look." She was speaking to him as he approached.
"What? Did something happen to him?"
She shook her head. "He's been in bed for a while. When he stood, he couldn't stand on it and reopened something on his shoulder." She indicated which by tapping the right one on herself.
"I thought that there might be something I was missing. Thank you," he said to her before moving into the house once she'd moved aside.
"The two of you haven't answered me yet," she said.
"I am, a little," Kuwabara admitted.
She turned her eyes to the kitsune but had to grab his arm to stop him. "Hiei can wait. Have you eaten?"
The answer was the growling of his stomach. "Not much," he said with a sheepish smile.
She shook her head. "Ok, should I just make soup? So Hiei can eat too if he's hungry?"
"Soup would be fine. Thank you," Kurama said to her and moved up the stairs with the other two in tow.
"Lucky bastard," she said beneath her breath before going and making some soup for the small group.
Kurama had entered the room, looking towards him. How did he get a fractured ankle? Earlier, he seemed fine! "Hiei," the kitsune questioned, looking towards the bed. The fire demon didn't speak, just glanced over.
"What were you doing?" The kitsune had looked to his ankle, it was still swollen.
Hiei raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't have that before," he said, pointing to the swollen ankle.
"How would you know," he demanded.
The kitsune watched him. "Hiei," he said.
"You didn't bother to look, fox. I've had this," he said, glaring back at Kurama.
He raised a brow. "You were walking fine earlier," the red head said.
Hiei blinked at him, giving him that clueless look that was known to occur when he didn't know anything about it or something of the sort.
"You don't remember," Kurama asked.
"I haven't moved since you put me here."
Kurama held his hands up in a silent defeat before moving over to check on the ankle. The splint that Shion had placed on it was sturdy, but Hiei shouldn't walk with it on. He could end up breaking it more if he did. "You'll have to stay off of that until it heals," he said after he'd finished looking it over.
The demon didn't speak; his eyes looked out the window. This was just perfect.
The kitsune moved to take care of the shoulder wound Hiei had reopened but paused as the demon was pushed back into the wall and held firmly there.
"What the hell were you thinking Hiei," the human could only hold his anger for so long.
His eyes turned to the detectives, which seemed to glow with the fury he held inside for far too long. The fire demon's eyes glared back. He wouldn't fight with Yusuke. His body was far too tired and there was little point to it. The small boy was silent, though.
"Yusuke, don't do anything rash," the kitsune said, about to interfere.
"Don't bother. I won't hurt him," he said to Kurama. The elder boy couldn't. He wouldn't. Hiei had been through far too much pain and he seemed to understand it before letting go.
All they had done was stare at each other. Had they spoken mentally? Kurama doubted it. There was just a mutual understanding between the two of them.
Yusuke had finally let Hiei go, his eyes softer than they had been before. "I'm sorry, Hiei."
The demon smirked but didn't speak. His gaze said everything. Yusuke wasn't the one at fault, he was.
"I'm glad your back," the other human said.
The demon turned his eyes to Kuwabara and wrinkled his nose. "Being soft isn't your strong point buffoon."
"Hey! Shrimp paste." Kuwabara retorted, though it sounded just as playful as usual between the two of them.
Hiei felt much better. They hadn't blamed him for it and that was something he'd been worried about when he thought about returning to see them again.
"What kind of trouble do we have to bail you out of this time," the detective grinned, grabbing the smaller boy to give him a noogie.
Hiei ducked beneath Yusuke's outstretched arm, still able to maneuver quite well despite his bad leg. "It's nothing, detective." Hiei had kept that nickname, despite Yusuke being fired. It suited him regardless of the position he held.
"You talked about a powerful demon, did he do this," Kurama asked.
Hiei turned his eyes to the other. Fun time was over. He was even beginning to enjoy himself, oh well.
"Not him, another. I killed that bastard but he liked to talk," Hiei said evenly. "It should be true. No one else had heard of this demon besides a select few…" Hiei didn't want to talk about it. Not now.
"Are you tired? We can always talk about this later," the kitsune said, catching on fast.
The demon nodded and lay down. His eyes had closed, but the boy wouldn't sleep. Everyone had shuffled out of the room quietly to let him rest.
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Ok. I think I'm gonna end it here. I hope you liked it!!!! .
Look for the next chappie soon! -will be writing until she gets this done-