A/N's: Hey everyone! Like I mentioned before, this is a crossover with Yu Yu Hakusho. I will warn you ahead of time, I toyed with the timelines, just a little bit. You probably won't notice it, but if you do, just remember I warned you ahead of time.
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The Slayer
She was a foreign exchange student from California. Blond, cute, perky, she was the stereotypical cheerleader. She was staying at the home of the model student for all of Japan. Intelligent, athletic, polite, he was in every girl's dream. She had every reason in the world to go out with him…but she didn't want to.
She should've at least been attracted, but she wasn't. He was too perfect, too pure, and too gentle. He was too nice. She'd thrown her kindness and gentleness away several years ago. All that remained of it now was an outer shell that she both hid behind and used to charm people.
She took a walk one winter day. It was cold and snowy, with patches of ice dotting the roads. She wasn't really looking where she was going, just letting her feet guide her and so was surprised when she ended up at a lake, a frozen lake, but a lake nonetheless.
It had been a while since she'd been to a lake. Her lifestyle prevented her from going to such places. It wasn't that big of a deal, just saving the world and preventing apocalypses and other small things like that. A sad ironic smile played on her lips. She did so much to preserve the beauty of this planet, but could never find time to enjoy it.
Tentatively, she stepped onto the ice. She'd been ice-skating a few times when she was younger with her parents. She didn't have ice-skates now, but she could still remember the fun she'd had. She made a mental note to take her sister when she got back home.
Something made a crunching noise under her foot. Almost carelessly, she looked down at the source of the noise. She wasn't too worried about it's possibilities for danger, but her fear of drowning danced through her mind a few more times.
It was a small chunk of ice that she'd crushed. Nothing major. She rolled her eyes at her half-fears. She shouldn't have worried. She was the Slayer. Nothing could touch her.
It never crossed her mind that the noise, might not have been caused by what she stepped on…if it had it might have made all the difference.
As she made her way farther onto the lake, she also went farther into her thoughts. She wondered what it would be like to not be a hero. What would it be like to not kill demons and vampires nightly? What would it be like if all of her friends and loved ones were still alive? What would it be like if she'd never been brought back to life…twice? What would it be like if her hands weren't stained in blood?
A loud cracking noise snapped her back into reality. What was that? Where had it come from? What was going on? Her sharp eyes noted the spider web cracks in the ice all around her, just soon enough to understand why the water had suddenly claimed her as its own.
It was cold, so, so cold. The water was everywhere, grabbing her, holding her down. The sky was just a few inches away, but all of her struggles brought her no closer to it. Cold, it was as cold as the death she gave others…but death did not want her now.
Like black lightening, an arm clothed in black shot down into her watery cell and pulled her free from impending doom. The arm handed her to its twin and together they held her to her rescuer's warm chest as she was carried out of the danger zone. Warmth filled her thoughts and invaded her mind. She snuggled closer to the warm body. She was very cold, but her rescuer was not.
Her hero's soft voice murmured something. "What?" She looked up into her savior's face. He was pale with jet-black hair that reached to the sky and beautiful crimson eyes just below a white headband.
"Where are you staying?" He repeated.
"Shu-Shuuichi Minamoto's." A gust of wind blew and she shivered. Her hero was warm, but he couldn't protect her from all the elements.
He nodded. "I'll take you there."
Her normally strategical mind was too cold to wonder how he knew where Shuuichi lived. Her normally quick eyes didn't notice how fast the scenery blurred by. Her cold, wet body didn't question his unnatural warmth. She was cold and he was warm; that was all she was concerned about for now.
They arrived at Shuuichi's house mere minutes later, though for all she knew, it had been hours. Her host's face was a picture of shock and surprise at the guests who'd suddenly appeared at his doorstep.
"Hiei, what happened?" He questioned her hero as he swiftly ushered them in.
Her rescuer shrugged indifferently. "I'm not sure. I was walking and I saw her fall through the ice. I pulled her out and she said she was staying with you."
Her redheaded friend nodded understandingly, a hint of worry tinting his emerald eyes. He turned his gaze to her. "Can you stand?"
She gave the tiniest of nods in affirmation and was ever so gently helped out of her hero's arms and onto her feet. She shivered from the sudden removal of her heat source.
Her host had seen her shiver. "We need to get you into some dry clothes." He turned to her hero. "Hiei, would you…" Before he had finished his sentence, her hero had left the room.
Wordlessly, she followed her host to her room. Seconds before he opened the door for her, out of nowhere it seemed, her rescuer appeared with an armful of towels. She'd later realize that that had been what he'd left to get. He handed her the towels and he and her host left her alone.
She was cold. Slowly, she undressed and changed into dry clothes. She collapsed onto the bed was asleep almost instantly.
She woke up hours later to find herself snugly tucked in under the covers and her wet clothes taken away. Her eyes widened slightly as she remembered what had happened and her now alert mind processed what it had been to cold to notice before.
"You're awake."
She sat up and turned to look into the beautiful crimson eyes of her savior.
"You saved me didn't you?" She questioned.
"Yes, I did." He replied nonchalantly.
"Why?"
For the longest time it seemed, the question hung in the air, asking everything and nothing at the same time.
"You're beautiful." He finally answered. "It seemed such a waste to let a pretty face die."
"You're not human." It wasn't a question.
He shrugged, allowing the accusations the statement implied condemn him. "Neither are you, Slayer."
A sad smile played on the corners of her lips. "I know."
He cocked his head to the side. "You shouldn't be sad about it."
"Why not?" She demanded. "Everyone I love gets tainted with death and darkness!"
Another casual shrug. "You're a hero. You can't expect to fall in love with those who can't understand what you go through."
"Who else does?" She practically spat the phrase out. Who else could know the pain of loving and not being able to be loved back?
Her hero rose from where he was leaning against the wall and knelt in front of her. "I do." He whispered. He caught her lips with his and imprinted on them a kiss only a fire demon could give.
He broke away all to soon for her liking and gently pushed her back down onto her bed, tucking in her covers as he did so. "Rest." He commanded. "I'll see you in the morning." With a final kiss to her forehead, he left the room.
She snuggled deeper into the blankets; a smile dancing on her face. Her host might be too perfect, but his friend wasn't. Non-human and an apparent protector of humans, she could learn to love him. She sighed happily and closed her eyes to dream of wedding invitations.
~Fin~
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