Chapter one
The purple sky was beginning to get darker as the large blood red sun began to set in demon world. All the beastly creatures and lower class demons where scampering around gathering food for their evening meal and heading to their burrows for the night.
One demon in particular was roaming around heading to his chosen home for the time being. His black and white hair sticking to his face and the back of his neck from sweat the blistering heat of the sun being almost too much for him. Being in the middle of the year demon world got very hot very quickly. Red eyes searched the grounds for any kind of danger along the way slowly nibbling on some blackberries as he went.
When he finally reached the old large fortress he headed straight for his quarters without even giving the guards a glance. He was hot, sweaty, and tired from a day of spending out in the sun on patrol. 'A cold shower is just what I need' he thought. When he reached his door he realized with a groan that one of the most feared demons in all of the world was in his chambers. Also know as…his boss and Lady Lord. Opening the door with a slight roll of his eyes he entered but before he had a chance to even ask what she was doing in his room she interrupted. "Hiei where is that dagger I loaned to you the other day?" she said without even turning from her rummaging. Apparently she had been looking through his dresser, closet, and desk looking for the sharp object. Hiei took a quick glance towards his king size bed before he looked to the back of the queens head again. "Why?" he snapped not in the mood to deal with her womanly mood swings. "Because it's a specialized dagger Hiei, it's made with real gold and silver, very expensive and very rare now where is it?" she said clearly annoyed she had to explain herself.
"it might have been the one I dropped in the middle of Lake Arlic because you wanted me to fight that stupid lake monster." Hiei remembered that mission quite well due to the fact he was soaked half the day and smelled like spoiled fish.
"HIEI that was a rare dagger how could you just drop it in a lake?!" if one looked hard enough they might have been able to see steam blowing out of her one good ear and nose. "you shouldn't have loaned it to me if you didn't want it lost or stolen" Hiei smirked. "It was implied" She said as she stomped over to his bed and dropped to her knees. Bending down she took a wooden box from under the bed and pulled out the dagger in question.
"Why did you interrogate me if you already knew where it was?" he said peeved.
"To see if you would tell the truth" she replied slightly disappointed in him for lying to her face. Had he been anybody else he would be dead.
"never trust a thief" he said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. With that being said she stormed out of the room making sure to slam the door as hard as she could leaving a slightly stunned fire demon in her wake. Of course it didn't last long. "Some women can be so temperamental" he muttered to himself. Turning and taking stock of his chambers he made a mental note to rewash and organize everything. He grabbed some silk black pajama pants and headed to the joined bathroom to take that cold shower he was looking forward to.
His chambers wasn't anything to terribly fancy a simple wooden dresser, small walk in closet in the farthest left had corner of the room. A simple wood desk with a few candles for lighting sitting on top. Everything perfectly organized. Well it was until Mukuro came in. A large bay window across from the door was his natural lighting with a few small pillows on the window sill. The main attraction of the room was the huge king size bed made with the finest dark red mahogany with gold and black trim. Soft black sheets and a big fluffy white blanket with several pillows. The bathroom was not too fancy either. A simple shower with a small sink and mirror and in one corner a bathtub big enough to fit five people.
After stripping down Hiei immediately turned on the shower tap making sure to not get it too cold. He was a fire demon after all. Taking a nice relaxing shower he got dressed and sank into his bed cuddling with the sheets and blanket. Not five minutes later he was fast asleep.
The black haired man was awakened by the sound of obnoxious yelling outside under his window. He jumped out of bed and yanked the window open promptly telling the guards to shut their mouths or he would shut them both up permanently. With that problem taken care of Hiei crawled back under the warm covers and attempted to get a few more winks of sleep. Though all of a sudden he bolted up to a sitting position eyes slightly wide with a hint of worry in them. He all of a sudden realized his throat felt uncomfortable.
An annoying scratchiness to it that made him want to cough. 'I hadn't yelled that loud at the guards so why is my throat scratchy?' he also slowly noticed his head was faintly hurting. A not quite there headache was forming. And also a smidgen of an ache to his body. 'I'm not getting sick am I?' his eyes widened more with that thought. Demons don't get sick often. Usually only a few times in their entire life's.
Sick means weakness and that was not something he wanted. Hiei jumped up and looked through some old books in his desk on natural remedies. He didn't like taking pills which entered demon world about ten years ago. If he could find something natural he would take it.
After finding what he needed the fire demon set off to the kitchens ignoring the curious looks from the kitchen staff. Finding the raw honey, two lemons, and a stick of cinnamon he began the process of making his natural cold remedy. Grinding the cinnamon until it was in tiny pieces and squeezing the lemons into half a cup of raw honey he stirred till it looked like a gross brown soup. Taking the cup to his chambers he closed the door and downed the glass of odd mixture not liking the taste at all. Making an interesting face Hiei went to the bathroom to brush his teeth two or three times.
The day progressed as normal. Train for three hours, do boring paper work Muruko was supposed to do, train the army the same old combat moves, and train with the elite soldiers one on one. Nothing new except Hiei was tiring fast. After taking a solid kick to his gut he fell to his knees catching his breath. All the while the soldier he was training was pestering him asking if he was ok and if that kick broke any ribs. "Will you shut up already I can take a kick" his red eyes a blaze. " you should be thinking of ways to keep me on the ground not helping me!" Hiei leapt high into the air and suddenly disappeared. Reappearing right behind his elite he used his long wooden stick to hit the back of his neck narrowly missing him as the boy dodged. Not waiting for his teacher to have another close call at his head the student grabbed Hiei's stick and pulled as hard as he could dragging the holder with it.
It was a perfect hit square in the chest the red eyed demons back flew right into a strong oak tree knocking the wind right out of him. The elite immediately ran to his general to check on him swearing up and down he heard something crack.
Hiei could hardly gain a single breath his vision was blurry and his hearing was shot. Only a constant, very annoying ringing sound that didn't seem to end. He felt someone grab his arm and shake him but his mind couldn't register who or what they were trying to tell him. He felt like he was in a void. Like everything was going in slow motion before his eyes. He saw an almost familiar figure towering over him but he could not make out who or if it was even a who.
Mukuro stood above Hiei having been watching the whole fight. Her worried expression for her fallen general was all it took for the elite to pick him up and start towards the entrance to the fortress. Mukuro noticed every gasping breath he took and noticed his eyes clearly wrote pain in the scarlet depths. Placing her good hand against his cheek as they walked she noticed he was very hot. But it was in the middle of the day and the sun was burning ever so brightly. 'That has to be it' she thought to herself. 'He just got too hot'. Reaching Hiei's chambers they walked inside and laid him on the bed stripping him of everything but his boxers. The elite left them alone to be in private.
Hiei looked around his room still clearly confused. There was a migraine that was threatening to split his head in half in the making. He couldn't concentrate and he could not figure out why. He moaned slightly in pain from his crash into the tree thus setting off a coughing fit. Curling into himself he immediately regretted it. 'Apparently my ribs are cracked as well' he thought bitterly. He soon closed his eyes and passed out.
"Hiei?" Mukuro was watching him carefully. Her call went on deaf ears as her heir fell asleep completely exhausted. Setting to work on cooling the young man down she got a bowl of lukewarm water and some rags. Dipping a rag into the water and wringing it out she gently began to wipe the sweat from his face and neck. Also wiping down his stomach and chest she checked his ribs. 'Only three are cracked' she noted as she quickly healed them. Only Hiei could bring out her gentle side. In a way she felt like a mother to him knowing the pain he went through as a child and what he had to endure, but all in all there was a great young man before her that she would gladly take care of. Of course she would never mention this to said man while he was awake. Maybe under torture but then again who could even get close enough to her to torture her. She had her own personal guard dog who would be by her side in an instant if she was threatened. Feeling of her little guards face again to see if the water had helped any she frowned noticing it hadn't. 'If he doesn't get better then I'll call Koenma to send a doctor' she thought and left the room to go and busy herself.
~*~3 days later~*~
It was hard for Mukuro to keep her mind off of Hiei considering everybody was muttering about him being carried to his chambers and how one of his students beat him in a fight. Also the fact that he hasn't left his room and how Mukuro would not let anybody in. They knew something was wrong and they refused to drop the subject. Snickering and bickering could be heard in the hall on the way to her personal office and she was not having any of it. Giving everybody she walked passed a death glare that would have made Hiei proud she stomped to the office and slammed the door. Leaving the hallway quietly stunned.
One ruby orb peeked open slowly followed by the other. Groggily he put a hand to his fevered head trying to ease the ever constant pounding. For three days Hiei has been stuck in bed and he felt utterly miserable. In the short time his cough has gotten worse, his headache refused to go away, and his fever has shot through the roof. Even though he has been sleeping most of that time he still felt exhausted. 'probably from the fever' he thought. He cuddled back into his white blanket and the other two his Lady Lord provided for him and attempted sleep again. As soon as he was drifting he heard the door open and the familiar energy spike. "Hiei I know your awake, sit up and take this stuff" she said holding a glass with some dark green liquid. Hiei burrowed himself inside the blankets even more knowing exactly what she was trying to get him to take and the awful taste it provided.
A wonderful blend of spinach leaves , lemon juice, cinnamon spice, raw honey, orange juice, and some herbs made in special gardens from their world that would help with a high fever. Least to say it had a very awful taste to it anybody would shrink away from. "Come on it can't really be that bad" she stated holding the glass out for him to take. Which of course he didn't. Not going to put up with his childish tactics she yanked the blankets from him, sat him up, and pushed the glass into his hands giving him a stern look. Hiei reluctantly brought the glass to his lips holding his breath as he downed the glass as quickly as he could. Forcing the stuff passed his gag reflex so it would not come back up for a visit. He gave the glass back to her and put a hand over his stomach the help settle it. "See that wasn't so bad now was it" she paused to look at his face a look of disgust written all over it a light green tent to it. "I bet its getting easier to drink it since you have been taking it for the last couple days at least right?" she asked him.
Hiei did not respond instead opting to jump up and make a mad dash for the bathroom. Mukuro was greeted to the sound of retching and slowly walked in. Seeing him clinging to the porcelain bowl and emptying his stomach made her walk to him and rub his back. He continued to vomit for another five minutes before slowly moving away. Wiping his face with the wet towel Mukuro had given him he sat back against the tub and breathed. "does that answer your question?" clearly peeved that he had to take that crap. "How long has the vomiting been lasting" she asked ignoring his question.
He looked at the tan tile floor and answered "this is the first time" he paused "I think it's getting worse" he looked at her to see her expression. "I'll call Koenma and tell him to send one of his doctors" with that she was about to leave until he stopped her. "wait why one of his doctors demon world has plenty?" he asked getting up off the floor. "I want someone I can trust" she looked at him in the eyes as she said "You and I have many enemies. It wouldn't be good if one of our enemies found out you were sick and seek out a doctor we would chose" she started towards his bedroom door again and paused "I don't want you to get worse than what you already are Hiei" with that said she left his room. Hiei walked to his bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. Closing his eyes he fell asleep in a heartbeat.
Mukuro sat at her large screen staring at the prince of spirit world before finally explaining her current problem. "Koenma I would like for you to send a doctor for Hiei. He is sick and getting worse. I want one of your best doctors because if he fails me you may not be getting him back do you understand?" She was always good at striking fear into her opponents. This situation was no different. If she was to get a doctor for her heir then it had better be a good one. The prince stared at her for a moment pondering what she had just told him. "Demons don't get sick often how exactly did Hiei get sick?" Mukuro thought about it and answered him honestly. "I'm not sure it could be a poison or just a summer cold there is no way of telling without a professionals help" she sighed. "Very well Mukuro I will send in my best team of doctors only on one condition" he said with a strange gleam in his eyes. The demon ruler just glared at him knowing what the young man wanted. "Very well but if they cause problems expect your head to be on my mantel" with that she cut her connection. Leaning back in her big brown leather chair she sighed again. Getting up she set out to make preparations for a lot of guests.
