Watching the Sleeper

Dane Soar

Rating: K+

Summery: Hiei watches Kurama sleep many nights even as time goes by.

Characters/Pairings: Hiei/ Kurama but really really light. Yusuke, Mukuro appearances

Comments: This one had been simmering in the back of my head for a while waiting patiently to be written.

Spoilers: For the Three Treasures arc, the Dark Tournament, the Sensui arc, the Three Kings arc, and the Makai Tournament

Focus: Watching sleep

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In the beginning Kurama didn't know that Hiei would watch him while he slept. It wasn't every night, just once or twice every month or so. On those nights he would alight lightly on the fox's windowsill, pick the lock, then pull the chair across the room so he could sit and watch Kurama sleep.

He didn't understand the other demon at all. Why would he heal someone who had attacked him at first? It made no sense to him.

But without fail, by the time the sun came up the chair would be replaced, the window locked once more, and Hiei was gone.

Kurama feels that he sleeps better on random nights of the month for some odd reason.

And then there was the Three Treasures incident.

Now Hiei is in jail while Kurama is let go for services rendered.

So Hiei cannot come, and Kurama notices as he falls asleep each night that something is missing, though he isn't sure exactly what.

And then the Maze Castle mission, the first of many they would face.

Kurama sleeps for two days straight and on both nights Hiei came to watch him heal himself as he slept. It was indulgence on Hiei's part, but he did it anyway.

And then Rescuing Yukina.

At another time, Hiei would have killed Kurama and Yusuke for what they now knew, but things had changed, changed so subtly that not even he had seen it happen.

Both remain unharmed for what they know. Now the secret doesn't seem to weigh as heavily on him.

And then the Dark Tournament had begun.

The night after they fought Team Masho both demons had been exhausted and hadn't really noticed where they lay down to sleep once they got back to the hotel room.

When Yusuke goes in to sleep he is met with an odd sight. Both demons are curled up on the same bed, backs just barely touching. He doesn't laugh, because he doesn't want to be gutted, but it is a close thing.

And then the Dark Tournament is over.

Now Hiei comes almost every night and the window is never locked.

But the fox no longer sleeps peacefully, his rest is nightmare laden more often than not. He tosses and turns and cries out in his sleep, though never loud enough that anyone but Hiei can hear.

Dreams of the final round continue to haunt him for a long time after the Tournament is over. Hiei watches this, his fingers curling into the edge of the chair to prevent him doing something until one night, he can watch no longer.

Reaching out he places a warm hand on the fox's cool forehead, with is as much as he dared to do. When Kurama is still trapped in the land of nightmares, Hiei strokes his hair a bit, calling his name. Finally Kurama relaxes and stops dreaming.

And then there's Sensui's failed end of the human world attempt.

This time both Hiei and Kurama walk in the front door, and Hiei must face the dreaded human mother before they can go up to his room. Once there, Kurama flops gracelessly onto the bed and is so drained he is asleep almost as soon as his head touches the pillow. Hiei again takes the post of the watcher but he finds himself enjoying it.

And then the Three Kings Incident began.

Now they are spilt up, Hiei to Mukuro, and Kurama to Yomi.

When he can, Hiei opens the Jagan and peers out of Mukuro's deep dungeons, into Yomi's kingdom. When he finds the fox, he is perched on a windowsill catching a quick nap between attempts on his life.

His heart lurches strangely and Hiei realizes that for the first time he misses another person.

And then the Makai Tournament came and went.

Yusuke sleeps still, but no one is really worried considering the amount of power he used in his last fight. If he is still out of another day, they are talking about moving him to a bed common room.

In the empty infirmary bed next to Yusuke's both battered demon wrapped their arms around each other and slept, to regain their energy.

No one dare disturb them.

And then it was, supposedly, all over.

They were no longer Spirit Detectives, and there were no more missions to go haring off on.

But every once and a while, Mukuro (with a knowing look) gives Hiei a few days off and he comes back to the human world.

He knows the window will always open for him, no matter the season, and there will always be arms to wrap around him when he comes. And Kurama knows that come morning, Hiei will always still be there.

Both will sleep very well indeed.

END

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