A/N: This is a REALLY old story that I had up here once but after basically redoing everything on FF to start a new, I took it down. But I like this story too much to keep it away. It's not told the same as most stories which is why I like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but MY characters and the plot.
There was a moment of weakness. That was all he needed in order to get in the killing blow. With a tilt of the blade to just the right angle the sword split the air and sliced through the head of the target standing in front of him. There was nothing he could do; this fool shouldn't have been so cocky. If he had just listened, then he wouldn't be dead. It hadn't taken much effort for him to completely dismember his foe; his sword was sharpened to a fine point that couldn't be matched. Although it was his sheer skill and speed that had allowed him such precise cuts that couldn't be seen without using developed Spirit Awareness. Even though Kuwabara had over developed Spirit Awareness for a human, even he couldn't follow every cut or move he made; but then again he was an idiot. Much stronger than Kuwabara, Yusuke should have been able to see every single motion made by his sword, but his Spiritual Awareness wasn't as highly developed as the red headed oaf. Kurama on the other hand, was able to follow more closely, though still having just a bit of difficulty.
Black boots touched the concrete and the sword was swung to the side to disperse the blood staining the beautiful silver blade. Another swing and the demon blood was finally gone and the sword was sheathed. Angular, slightly slanted eyes were closed as the sword was sheathed and didn't open until everyone heard the click of the hilt touching the sheath. Bloody, crimson eyes blinked and looked up their teammates with a stoic look that never seemed to change. Such a fool that demon was for trying to delay them. They had what they had come for and now demons were trying to stop them from returning home. This was a mistake on their part. Standing in the way of the Spirit Detective wasn't the best idea for everyone in their way would fall to their death.
"Wow Hiei! That was freaking awesome!" Yusuke exclaimed with a wickedly amused grin.
"Hn." was all the fire apparition replied with, knowing his skills were beyond measure.
"Indeed, I was only able to follow about half of his strikes, or a little over," Kurama said as they all once again began their trek home.
Kuwabara's face dropped, "Huh, I wasn't even able to follow that many…" he trailed off.
"That is because you're stupid," Hiei quipped with his hands in his pockets.
"What was that shrimpy?" Kuwabara shouted angrily. Hiei didn't reply except with an amused grunt and swiftly stepped away from an attack launched by Kuwabara, continuing to walk as if nothing had happened. "You wanna say that to my face!"
This bickering continued all the way back to Genkai's temple. Kuwabara shouting like a banshee at the rather quiet and unphased Hiei as he walked, ignoring the taller. It was normal routine for them actually. The same fighting amongst them and no one could ever seem to get it to stop for long. They were supposed to be a team, to be friends, but they acted like each one of them hated the other; except maybe Kurama who had the best manners out of them all.
"Oh my, Kazuma you're hurt…" Yukina gasped as they walked through the doors of the temple and found the girls in the living room.
"YUKINA!" Kuwabara shouted in happy excitement as his eyes fell upon the love of his life. "Did you miss me baby?" he asked as he ran up to her and stared into her big red eyes.
Yukina couldn't help but giggle. His strange human ways always made her laugh, "Oh yes Kazuma, I was worried about all of you. That seemed like a dangerous mission you were sent on," she replied. Hiei couldn't help the flare of anger that over took him watching the two interact with each other.
Kuwabara grasped her hands and stared at her with charming, loving eyes, "Nothing could keep me from you my love. The love we share keeps me protected from all harm…" Yukina blushed.
"Right! That's why you got the crap kicked outta ya Kuwabara," Yusuke teased, slapping his best friend on the shoulder to which the red headed barbarian collapsed under the pain.
Now the bickering shifted from Hiei and Kuwabara to Yusuke and Kuwabara. There was a never ending bickering streak between the two teenage boys. It was quite possible that it was even worse than what would take place between the latter. Hiei never thought much of Kuwabara and thus would never bother fighting him, but Yusuke was a different story. Their fighting goes way back and who was he to turn down a fight; especially one he would win? Of course, things were a little different than what it used to be. Now they were aware of their spirit energy and would utilize it in fights sometimes; but mostly it was just pure fist fighting between them. Even then, Yusuke was the superior fighter.
With a disgruntled sigh, Hiei walked out of the temple and into the large forest that surrounded them. He was unable to stomach the way Kuwabara acted around his sister; it was just pure disgust! What his sister saw in him was a mystery to him. There was no way there was anything remarkable about a loud mouthed idiot who didn't know when a fight would kill him. Constant worry and overconfidence would stress anyone out and yet his sister dealt with it like a saint. They were so different. Sometimes he wondered if they really were twins because they acted nothing alike. Of course, they grew up in completely different ways so it wasn't as impossible to imagine as he made it seem. His eyes snapped open. Wait! Was he feeling sympathy for the moron? He shook his head, that was impossible.
Without bothering to remove his hands from his pockets, he jumped into a tree with ease and flopped onto the branch. His back rested against the trunk of the tree and he once again closed his eyes. It was peaceful outside in the wilderness. The sounds of nature all around, although human nature it may have been, it was still calming. Wind blew across his cheeks, rustling his hair and feeling his bangs sway against his headband. Yes, this was calming. Everything about what was going on was drifting out of his mind and it was slowly going blank. To onlookers he looked asleep when in fact he was just relaxing in a deep trance. The Human World wasn't as bad when you took the time to enjoy the solidarity. Without humans around, this world could have passed for a more peaceful Demon World.
Even in a deep trance, it didn't take too long for the fire demon to actually fall asleep. The peace and quiet was too good to pass up. Nothing pursuing him, no need to constantly look over his shoulder; it was a nice feeling. No forced fighting, no having to help the Spirit Detective. There was no greater feeling than enjoying your own company. Never in his life had he experienced the company of others enjoying, even after hanging around the Spirit Detective and his friends so much. Being alone was more his style and always would be. There was nothing better than it really. And as dreams of blood flooded him mind, he only seemed to enjoy being alone even more.
'Hiei.'
Something seemed to speak his name; in the mist of blood he had heard it. Over the sound of his sword passing through bones. How was that possible? No greater sound could stop his ears from enjoying that sound. It was one he had found comfort in for so long and now something was trying to disrupt that. The dream image of himself looked around for the source of the voice, his eyes narrowed thinking that maybe it was just part of the dream he was having. Maybe another enemy was trying to trick him into letting down his guard. If that were truly the case, it wouldn't work!
'Hiei.'
There it was again! From the sound of it, it was a female voice but he didn't know many women. He purposely didn't want to know them feeling that they would cause unneeded emotions. From being around the humans for such a time he had thought correctly. His enemy was stupid if they thought a female could distract him; he would strike her down too. When it came to him and his blade, nothing stood in their way. An imagine began to appear in the bloody mist that still filled his mind and he brought his sword up, ready to attack. His eyes narrowed as the blood swirled around violently and a humanly shape began to appear; or what looked human. Soon cat ears could be seen in the swirl of crimson, along with a sleek tail. Hiei narrowed his eyes a little further but this time in a more curious way. What enemy could this be? A neko demon? They weren't all that powerful. So why were his dreams giving him one to face?
'Hiei.'
Again with that voice! It was really starting to bug him how much that voice kept saying his name. This was seriously beginning to frustrate him. A few more seconds and he would know the face of this voice. This female voice that seemed to plague him this day. As the blood became much more defined in shape the voice continued to say his name. A haunted, kind, compassionate sounding voice; as if this voice were speaking to a lover. This thought caused the short demon to ponder the voice, try and figure out if he somehow knew the voice. While it was highly unlikely, there was a sliver of a possibility that he knew the voice. His thoughts raced as he watched and tried to figure out the conundrum confounding his mind. As he thought harder and harder on this voice, it seemed that it was suddenly becoming familiar to him. It was as if it were a long forgotten memory that was only powered by a voice and the memories had been thrown away long ago. A feeling of déjà vu perhaps was a better way of describing it. It was like he had heard the voice before but couldn't seem to place where exactly he had heard it. Was it the voice of a victim? An ally? Perhaps a bystander? He was unsure.
For some reason no matter how hard he thought on the subject, he couldn't find the source. Finally, through all his hazy deeds and mental tricks he was beginning to give the voice consistency. Their shape was becoming so much clearer. The silhouette of a young woman a half a foot taller than Hiei emerged. The blood began to disperse even more. Long, straight hair the color of a soft pastel blue seemed to be swept up in some kind of wind as it gently blew around her waist, her silver tail swishing gently behind her backside. A soft violet kimono with floral print wrapped her body from his view and stopped mid thigh with a slit on her right side. Her feet were bare, her clawed hands by her sides and her glittering silver eyes staring at him. He finally figured it out!
The sight of her struck a chord and he seemed to collapse from shock. He knew who she was. He knew her VERY well. Never in his life did he think he would see her again. The last time he did see her…he didn't even remember it had been so long. His knees hit the ground and for a moment he just sat there on his knees, looking up at her with the most despaired look upon his face that anyone would never see from him. Even more surprisingly was the echoing CLANK from the hiruseki stone that fell from the corner of his right eye. Soon after his body fell forward as his unconscious subconscious tried to remember the last time he had seen her. As he lay within the middle of his mind, her image didn't seem to be affected by his passing out and walked up to him, dropping to her own knees and rolling him onto his back. His head rested in her lap as the scenery around them changed. Her loving silver eyes never left his sleeping face as a beautiful forest background enveloped them, the two of them sitting under a tree, her back against the trunk.
'Hiei.' Her voice echoed in his ears and throughout his mind. 'Wake up Hiei.' The young neko demon touched his cheek gently, feeling him stir under her touch.
Was it at all possible this was real and what he had been living was the dream? That would be a much more pleasant idea. Could it be that his dream could come true? The one dream he kept secret and buried so deep inside himself that he usually denied the existence of this dream. Her touch, it was something he missed dearly. He could feel her icy touch against his searing hot skin; it was natural being a fire demon. This is how he remembered her. Her touch had always been so cold to him, but so comforting; he enjoyed it in some weird way.
His eyes began to flutter open, hoping that she wasn't gone. It had been so long since he had seen her. To see her for a moment and then have her gone would have been the worst. Red eyes finally opened completely and to his joy he saw her staring down at him with those sweet almond shaped silver eyes. He couldn't believe she was really here!
"Is it really you?" he asked sitting up and turning to face her, feeling the grass beneath his hands.
She nodded a response gingerly. To which he couldn't help but gather her in his arms. Never had he shown such emotion towards someone, even his sister. Sure he loved his sister dearly, but in order to protect her he couldn't get as close to her. This though, this was entirely different. He knew this woman. Dare he even say he loved this woman. His facial features became somber, but that was a long time ago. Too long.
'Wait! Hiei, where are you going?' the same feminine voice called out as the image of her disappeared from his side in a wisp of smoke. He tried to reach out and stop her some how, but she was already gone. His attention turned to the scene that had changed without him noticing.
The same woman was running to the door of her tiny home on a large hill surrounded by nothing but trees. She had a look of worry and something similar to panic. Her hand touched the frame of her doorway as she suddenly brought herself to a stop, her long hair whipping about her face as it settled against her back and shoulders. Beyond her sight was Hiei with his back to her and hands in his pockets. Slowly her look became one of sorrow and a hand came to her chest. She seemed so pained by something. He was leaving her, could she really be that upset by such a trivial act? He had much more important things to take care of and staying with her was not how he was going to get them done. He had to leave and he had told her that.
'Hn. I'm leaving, I already told you,' he replied, his voice just as echoed as her own. Stern and cold. It was how he always was, even with her. Yet somehow, she got past all of that.
She left the threshold of her door and ran towards him, 'Why? Why do you have to leave? You can stay here and we can live…'
'Shut up!' his voice boomed causing her to gasp and stop talking. His head was angled down to where his facial features were unreadable and his hands clenched into fists within his pockets. He spun around to face her and gave her a menacing look, 'There's nothing between us. I don't belong here and my job is done. How many times do I have to say it to you? I don't love you, I don't love anyone! How you got it in your head that I did I'll never know, but now that my contract is up I have no reasons to stay. You're nothing more than a petty child living on a spec of hope that will get you nowhere. Emotions get you nothing and nowhere so you should learn to throw them aside. Only by being powerful can you truly get whatever it is that you want.'
She stood there with a shocked look with tears streaming down her face, ears flattened against her skull. She dropped her head and didn't bother looking up at him, 'I'm sorry you feel that way Hiei. Just know there is always a place for you here…' Her hands came to her face as she spun around and ran back inside her home and away from him.
That's right. That's how he had left her. The pain pinged in his chest and he doubled over while still sitting on his knees. Whether or not he liked it, that was how she was. In the time that he knew her he had never really known her to act in any other way. His fingers curled under his palms as he held himself up and hissed from the pain that was burning his chest like something had physically pierced his heart. Slowly the image began to ripple and fade away as he struggled with the unknown pain that was beginning to run through the rest of his body. Falling onto his side, he clutched his gut and curled into the fettle position as the pain grew. Beside his writhing body the same neko woman appeared again and stared down at him with sympathetic eyes.
His crimson eyes shifted to her silver ones and they locked gazes. She hadn't changed a bit. But was this just a mental guide for him, or was this image of her real? He couldn't tell for sure. She seemed rather ghostly, but that could have just been because she was in his mind. Maybe she was some subconscious entity that he couldn't make go away but he couldn't make real; stuck between being tossed aside for good and clinging desperately to remain within his thoughts. He watched as she slowly reached out to him and touched his skin. That same bone chilling touch! The pain subsided and he sat up, slowly getting to his feet. His many years of training couldn't be pushed aside anymore as he glared at the image standing before him; taller than him.
"Who are you? Or rather, what are you?" he asked with his glare locked onto her.
Her head tilted to the side and she smiled softly at him, 'I am who you think I am Hiei. The echo of your most guarded secret. The shadow of your pain. The guide to your confusion. Times have changed and now I break free for the secrets you will uncover in the very near present.'
She faded away in a wisp of smoke, just like the memory. Hiei tried to reach out for her, but just like the image of a past event, she was gone before he could reach her. Once again he had lost her. It was painful to see her fade away from him again, but by the sound of her words, she could possibly be back. Was it possible that he would see her again? In his mind or within the real world? A blood curdling scream echoed in his mind, deafening all thought. An image flashed so quickly through his mind that he almost didn't have time to see it.
With a start he awoke in the tree, "Minami!" he shouted, his hand out stretched as if once again trying to reach for her.
