Disclaimer: I no
own YYH or Hiei. Megan is mine.
A/N: Okay...Now I can write what I
wanted to write last chapter but couldn't because then this chapter
wouldn't start off good. No clue if that made any sense.
CHAPTER TWO: MEETINGS
The sun hadn't even begun to peek over the mountaintops yet when the demon woke. He wasn't startled; he always woke before sunrise. Not only could he watch the fantastic display of gentle rays of the sunrise as they danced across the rock faces below, lighting the whole of the mountain; he could also be bathed in the warm, golden light until the night's chill left him to sweet, pleasant heat. One of nature's comforts that he often didn't get, due to tailing the Spirit Detective on various missions. But this was one morning he could receive a natural pleasure in peace, and not have to fight some low class demon over practically piss.
After all, you could only bash a couple of demons for fighting over who smelt worse so many times.
The demon sighed, putting both arms behind his head as he leaned back on a quickly heating stone slab. Warmth gently travelled to him in waves as the land began heating up, like the tide lapping at the shores of a far away tropical paradise. Cozy, which wasn't a term he used lightly, he folded one leg over the other, and felt his eyes slip halfway shut, so that only half of his unique amber eyes shone in the fast-approaching sunlight. The sounds of the forest threatened to lull him back into welcoming sleep, and he shifted ever so slightly to keep awake.
His mind sped back to the previous night, and the mysterious girl that vanished into shadow. He wondered where she had gone, and who she was. It wasn't as though he liked her; he just wanted to know why she was so different. She wasn't like other humans, and the demon doubted it had anything to do with her being a shape-shifter. There had to be some reason for a girl to be alone in a forest in the dead of night. Especially with ten men shooting at her. But what reason? What were her motives?
Sure, he tolerated the detective, and the oaf, Kuwabara...Yet this girl...He was curious. And it was getting damn annoying when all he had was a ton of questions bombarding his brain as he tried to solve the girl's mystery. He knew it was pretty much hopeless to answer a question about some one he'd never even met, and his jagan wouldn't help him there. For that he'd have to know something unique about that person; he'd only barely seen her. Yet for some reason or another, he felt he ought to check the town at the foot of the mountains.
Where else would a shape-shifter hide?
When he was warm and ready to trek down the mountainside, the demon stood. The bright sunlight beat down upon him in a gentle caress, exposing him to the day. His black cloak concealed his other clothing, and his scuffed black boots would soon need repair or replacement. A soft wind blew over him, whispering to him in a tongue he'd never know. It tugged at him, coaxing him down the mountain with ease.
He sped down the slopes of the mountain with little difficulty, his black cloak fluttering madly behind him. Everything went by in a blur: the trees, brush, rocks, dirt, sky...It all bunched together in a confusing, Tye-dye blob before him. Yet he knew every step he took; the constant blur was something he was very familiar with. Eventually he couldn't run so easily, for there were far too many trees. Instead, he leaped into one of the mighty plants overlooking the forest.
The demon launched himself from one tree branch to the next with unrivaled speed, gaining amazing distance every second. His destination was indeed the town, convinced that was where the unknown girl was. His curiosity was uncontrollable, he realized with a shock. And to think it was perked by a mere human female.
'No, not mere. There is something about her...I have to know what it is.' the demon thought, reaching the edge of the town. He suddenly caught scent of something very out of place; human blood.
It was a small town, one where everyone practically knew everybody else. It was a pretty old-fashioned place, too. Saw mills and blacksmiths were the most advanced technology, and the local bar was at least 70 years old. And falling apart; quite literally. One door was busted off its hinges, the other flailing about loosely in the wind. The roof had plenty of patches; no lack of them it seemed. Yet still it was jam-packed full of rowdy drunks. For some odd reason, this drew the demon to the old building.
He stepped in, and was overwhelmed by deafening sound on all sides. He wasn't very tall, only 4' 6", and so he got lost in the crowd easy. And found himself getting directed towards a back door from all the moving bodies. He was backing up to said door to leave, and instead backed up into some one else. The demon was instantly drenched in alcohol, and several glasses broke behind him. What startled him worst was when he realized he'd knocked a girl over. The bar went silent.
The girl lay on the floor, trying to push herself up into a sitting position. Small shards of glass were embedded in her neck and arms, avoiding any vital spots, while tiny trails of blood leaked from the punctured skin. Black hair covered pale flesh, hiding cold grey eyes from the many bodies in the room. She too was covered in alcohol, and didn't look very pleased at that fact. She glared up at him for only a moment, then stood. A quick, evil look to the whole bar and the noise resumed, though not so loud as before.
Shaking the loose shards of glass from her arms into a nearby trash can, the girl glanced around. Her gaze fell once more on the demon, and her brow furrowed. Did this guy have a staring problem or what? She hated it. The noise, the people, the smelly drinks she had to serve every day. Everything that involved living, practically. The girl stooped down, gently plucking the larger of the glass pieces off the wood floor and depositing them into the garbage can. She was still aware of the guy that had knocked her down; he was still looking at her. This was it.
"Excuse me. Is there a problem here? Or do you just like randomly staring at people? If that's the case, go look at someone else!" she yelled. Again the bar fell silent. A large figure appeared behind her, and the anger on her face slowly gave way to pure fear.
"Girl...You have some nerve telling people off here." a beefy man said, revealing the fact that he was the boss with a name tag and the word 'BOSS' on it, "Two weeks pay, gone. Now get this mess cleaned up and get out of my sight!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the big guy hit the girl across the face. She was knocked back into the door the demon had been trying to reach before his collision with her. The damn door swung open, and she hit the dirt outside with a loud thud. The girl rose to her feet, stiffly, and went back to cleaning the spill without word or look at anyone. Task accomplished, she exited through the front door, heading towards the mountains.
'That...that was her. The female from last night...' the demon thought, moving to follow her.
"Whoa...You pissed Megan off good. And I mean real good. And pissing her off is pretty dangerous shorty." a male voice said into his ear, and the demon felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
The demon turned to face the guy speaking to him, already wishing to strike the man for intruding on his thoughts and calling him short. So what if he was only 4' 6"? He still kicked ass. But he found this man too wore a name tag, and so had to work there. Of course, he was too busy death-glaring the guy for the playful human insult, and therefore didn't bother reading the tag. As far as he was concerned, the guy could've been named Shithead. He honestly didn't care. Then he realized that it might be to his advantage to talk to the guy.
"...Megan? Is that her name?" the demon asked, looking off in the direction the girl had left. The guy nodded.
"Yeah...My name's Connor..." the taller male said, before he suddenly broke into laughter, which made the demon turn his attention back on him.
"What do you find so funny?" the demon asked, annoyed at the man but wanting his information. Connor grinned.
"I've seen many guys look at her like that before. All I have to say is give it up. That girl won't take anybody into her life. Trust me, I've tried." again the boy broke into laughter, and the demon boy suddenly wondered if the guy was stoned or something. Him? Love a human? Not even for control of the Demon Realm...
'Okay...Maybe for the Demon Realm...' he thought to himself, allowing a small smirk to grace his otherwise unmoving mouth. "Trust me, she's not the type I'm looking for. However, I do need to speak with her."
"Uh-huh...Well good luck with that. She lives up in the mountains; has a tiny old shack to live in. Doesn't like others either, simple as that." Connor replied, his own smile fading.
"Do you know why?" the demon asked. Connor eyed him for a few moments, searching for an unspoken answer to one of his unspoken questions.
"Well...It isn't really my place to say. What I can tell you is this: she likes solitude, hates people, has a very short temper, hardly ever eats or sleeps and doesn't really have anything. Her family was killed in a really weird tornado a few years ago, when she was 14." he said, and the demon's eyes narrowed.
"Weird tornado?" he repeated.
"Yeah. It was a tornado, but it had fire in it. Black fire, they say. That and it was really close to the mountains. Tornadoes rarely get that close." Connor continued. The demon pondered a minute.
"A flaming tornado of darkness? Who says black fire?...And better yet, why do you sound like you know this first hand?" inquired the demon. The other male began to perspire, and he paled a little.
"Well, uh...you see I-"
"CONNOR! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?!!!" shouted the boss. Connor sighed, with as much relief as exhaustion.
'Saved by the bar regulars...' the taller male thought, before leaving the demon. Then he remembered something he hadn't asked before, and turned back.
"By the way...I never caught your name."
"...Hiei." the demon said, turning and walking out the bar.
A/N: Yeah...okay...hopefully that chapter turned out okay...So the demon finally has a name. Good for him. But what about the girl? Megan? She has a name, sure. But what else? Find out in the next chapter. (By the way, if anyone reads my other fic, What of Jin and Touya, I'm having trouble on chapter 13. Sad I know. I was so looking forward to typing it and my ideas for it...that I gained a minor writer's block. But I'll get back to it soon...writer's block or not...)
