The child was obviously human, and even he was not so heartless as to allow it to die on the plains of the Makai. Perhaps if he had met the child before he had stolen the artifacts of darkness he wouldn't have cared one way or the other what happened to the girl.
Besides, it was his job to escort stray humans back to the border was it not? Any job worth doing was worth doing well.
Still, even with all of these justifications, his actions felt odd.
Perhaps it was because of what he had seen in the child's eyes; a deep anguish that only someone like him could have recognized; the proof of a life of unwarranted agony, torture, and abandonment. It was precisely that sort of life that had driven him to become a blood thirsty felon; and yet, somehow this tiny human girl was still smiling. Despite whatever she had been through she still trusted him whole-heartedly to lead her back to where she had come from.
She wanted to be 'friends'.
Hiei felt himself snort, perhaps the child was mentally damaged.
Still, her words stuck with him, "you're lonely huh? I'm lonely too…"
Chapter One
Hiei gritted his teeth against the pain, flitting quickly from tree to tree in order to reach the vaguely familiar home of his longtime ally Kurama.
Hiei was not surprised to find the red head awake and reading a book. He landed heavily in the windowsill, catching the attention of his former teammate.
The pain was very nearly unbearable, not that he would ever verbally admit such a thing. It seemed that the rigid posture and obvious grimace was enough to clue Kurama in anyway, so there was no need to say it aloud.
"Hiei? Are you hurt?"
The fire apparition shot his friend a dirty look, "I'm fine," he half snarled, "just hungry."
Kurama seemed to catch on immediately, realizing that Hiei was by no means referring to the need for human food, but rather the need for human flesh.
"How long has it been?" The red head asked a slight tinge of worry in his voice.
Hiei grimaced again, ignoring the sweat that began to pour down his face, "Since Maze Castle."
He was sure that Kurama had something that could at the very least ease the pain of his hunger.
He was vaguely aware of the fact that his body had begun to tremble, "If the situation is not remedied soon, I can not guarantee the safety of your beloved humans."
He tried to keep the breathlessness out of his voice as the pain intensified; tried to make Kurama understand that he was not threatening the lives of the humans in this city, but that he was actually pointing out that he did not know how long he could resist the urge to eat every human being in the vicinity.
"You should have come sooner," Kurama told him.
Hiei scoffed, "I didn't think it would get this bad."
Kurama nodded, "You need Gaki fruit, it takes sometime to grow and the seeds are rather difficult to acquire."
Hiei met his eyes, now panting with the effort it took to stay in control of the overwhelming hunger that had only increased since entering this city, "But you can acquire them."
Kurama nodded, "I can."
Hiei felt the tension leave his body all at once, the black around the edges of his vision spreading quickly as he felt himself falling forwards.
The last thing he was aware of was an echo of laughter from the street outside.
He gave in to his exhaustion.