The next morning…

Hiei POV

When I wake up, it's to the sound of Leah storming around the kitchen. Great. The day hasn't even started and she's already pissed. If I can't get her to trust me at least a little bit, there's no way she'll sleep with me. And if she's angry all the time, I have no chance of winning her trust. I groan and try to lift my arm. My arm moves. Thank god. It's wearing off. I can't move quickly, but I can move. It's a start. "Leah," I shout. "Come in here."

"You come in here," she shouts back.

"I can't move," I yell at her. Might as well stay immobile as long as I can.

She walks into the room and points a knife at me. I should probably avoid that, considering what happened last time. "Don't give me that crap. I came in here earlier, and you were moving in your sleep." Oh. Well, that didn't work quite as planned. I push myself into a sitting position and groan. My stomach hurts and my arms feel like jelly. How can she expect me to walk if my legs feel the way my arms do? She frowns then says, "I have breakfast in the kitchen if you want any of it."

I drag my feet off the bed and place them on the floor. Do I even want to try to walk? I might just collapse. She's already seen me collapse once. I'm not sure I can take that kind of humiliation again.

She watches, her face covered with something I think might be concern. That's a good sign, right? As I'm preparing to stand, she suddenly objects, "Hiei, wait. Let me check your wound first."

I frown but nod. Anything to put off standing and the likely fall that will follow. She sits down next to me and begins to unwrap the bandages.

She looks at the still-bleeding stab wound a moment before she asks, "What's your pain tolerance, Hiei?"

As she does her best to wipe it clean, I answer, "High. This doesn't hurt much." Just a throbbing, really. "I've been hurt worse." A lot worse.

She nods then begins to wrap new bandages around my abdomen. I could do this myself. Just…

It's nice. The way she has to reach around me with both hands to pass the roll from one hand to the other. The way she has to lean toward me to be able to reach. The way her hands linger a bit longer than necessary as she fastens the bandage in a way that it won't come loose. It's nice.

Why am I enjoying this? Sure, I would have enjoyed the feel of her arms and hands if we were sleeping together. More importantly, I would have enjoyed the way she felt under my hands. But why do I like the way it feels to have someone else dress my wounds? But… I don't like that someone else is taking care of me.

I like that Leah is taking care of me.

Leah POV

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him start, almost in surprise. I look up at him to find confused, reddish eyes staring at me. "Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No," he whispers. Then, his voice stronger, he repeats, "No. I just don't understand why you're doing this. You're the one who stabbed me. Why are you also trying to heal me?" He looks away, suddenly unable to meet my eyes.

He's lying. That much is easy to see. And that would normally make me angry. But he looks… I don't know… ashamed, maybe? He's not the type of person to feel shame over something insignificant. And that scares me. I don't think I want to know what he's really thinking.

I answer slowly, "I didn't want you to die. I just wanted you to leave me alone."

Hiei POV

She still wants me to leave her alone. Okay. If that's how she wants it. "Very well." Why is it so hard to keep my tone even? And why do I feel like I'm lying to myself when I'm saying it's fine that she feels that way? "I'll leave."

I stand, and my legs immediately turn to jello and give way beneath me. But she catches me before I hit the floor. "You need to eat first," she says quietly. "And… I want to fix your wound before you leave."

If she just wants me to leave her alone, why is she so determined to make me better first. "It's not healing on its own," I reply as coldly as I can manage as we slowly make our way to her dining room. "What more do you think you can do?"

She hesitates, then answers, "You said you have a high tolerance for pain."

"Yes," I reply. What's she getting at? Does she want to experiment on me? Dissect me to 'learn more about my anatomy?' "What's your point?"

She lowers me into a seat where a plate of food has already been set. If she wants to get rid of me so badly, why is she doing all this? Finally, as she sits down across from me, she answers, quietly, her hazel eyes avoiding mine, "I want you to let me sew it up."

Sew it up? She wants to get my blood all over her precious sheets, her bed, herself, just to close my wound? I take a bite of the food. Why is it so hard to keep my hand from shaking? Is it still her damn cat spit or is it something else? Taking a bite, not really tasting it, I swallow, and with some effort, I manage to keep my voice from shaking. "Whatever."

I glance at her. Why is she smiling? Am I crazy or does she look… relieved? Does she actually care? Wait… why do I feel as though… why do I feel this way? The only thing I can compare it to is how I feel when I've just defeated an opponent. But I haven't defeated her. This isn't a battle to be won or lost. Not anymore. When did that happen?

And it's not really the same feeling anyway. After winning, I feel a kind of self-satisfaction and pride. When I win, I'm pleased with myself. Now the fact—no, not even that. The idea that Leah might care about me, at least a little bit, makes me… it makes me happy. But why? I'm so confused.

She stands. "I'll be back in a while. Clean up when you're finished."

"Don't tell me what to do," I mutter.

"Don't break into people's apartments if you want to be treated like a guest," she snaps, slamming the door.

Leah POV

What is wrong with you, Leah? Are you trying to get him to stay with you longer? No. Why the hell would I do that? Unless… unless Zara is right.

But I don't want her to be right. If she's right… If I do like him… I shake my head. Forget it, Leah. All he wants is to get in your pants. The moment he's succeeded, he'll be gone. And even if he doesn't leave right away, even if he stays—especially if he stays—I can't take that kind of heartbreak again.

I knock on Zara's door. She's probably not even awake yet. When the door opens, it's not Zara. It's Andy. I should have known. I step past him and he closes the door behind me. Seeing my face, he sighs, "I'll leave." Then he shouts, "Zara, Leah's here. Looks important."

I hear a scrambling from her bedroom—which is more or less their bedroom, since he stays here more often than he stays at his place—and Zara appears. Her black hair is flying in every direction, and all she's wearing is an extra-large t-shirt.

She sees me pacing, her eyes widen, and she says, "Let me get dressed. Then we can talk." She flies across the room, gives Andy a kiss goodbye then disappears into her room.

Andy stares at me a moment. Then, pulling on his coat, he tells me, "From what I hear, Leah, you should give this guy a chance. You deserve to be happy." That's all he says. And just like that, he leaves.

And now it's official. I'm going to kill Zara.

She pops into the room, bright-eyed and forces me into a seat. "Spill," she commands.

"First tell me why you told Andy," I counter resentfully.

"I tell Andy everything, Leah," she says, sounding completely exasperated. "If you don't specifically tell me it's a secret, it's fair game. Now, spill."

"I don't know, Zara." Then I add, "And none of this leaves this room."

She stares at me. "What do you mean, you don't know? If you don't know, why are you here?"

"I'm here because I don't know, Zara. I… I like him. There I said it. Are you happy now?" I demand.

"Immensely," she answers. "Go on."

"That's all, Zara," I complain. "I like him, and it scares me. What am I supposed to do?"

"You have several options," Zara says. "You can keep him around, making excuses once he can walk—"

"He's walking," I say. "I've already made one excuse. I don't know how long I can keep making them up without him getting suspicious."

"Well, keep making up excuses, tell him the truth, or sleep with him." For once this suggestion seems to be a serious one. And coming from Zara that's saying something. She goes on, "Those are your options."

"He'll leave if I sleep with him, Zara," I tell her. "He doesn't feel the same. He's maintaining his cold, indifferent attitude. He still wants to get in my pants, but nothing more. He's probably listening to this conversation right now, laughing his ass off because he's got me hooked and it's only a matter of time before I give him what he wants."

Zara bites her lip. Then she asks, "Do you want me to talk to him?"

I hesitate. "Yes."

Zara looks at me. "Are you coming? Or do you want me to talk to him alone?"

"I'll wait here." I can't be there. I don't know if I can take knowing that he doesn't feel anything for me. At least not like that. I can keep pretending until he's healthy, and then I can kick him out.

"And you just want me to try and learn a little bit about what's going through his mind, right?" she asks. "Nothing that happened in this room?"

I nod. "And if he brings it up, ignore the question."

As she gets ready to leave, she says, "I'm proud of you, Leah. As much as I've pushed you, I never thought you'd begin to move on after only six years. I know you loved him at least as much as I love Andy."

I shake my head. "Don't, Zara," I say. I can't think about him right now. "Just go."

Hiei POV

Zara walks into the apartment. She looks at me and says, "Why are you still here?"

"What?" I ask. What is she on about? And where is Leah?

She rolls her eyes, shakes her head and repeats, "Why are you still here, Hiei?"

"I heard you the first time," I mutter. "I meant what do you mean?"

"You can walk, Hiei," Zara tells me. "Yet you haven't left. What is your reason for staying here?"

What's my reason? I don't know anymore. "I'm going to sleep with Leah. End of story." The thing is… that no longer seems important. I mean, I'd like to sleep with her, but who wouldn't? She's hot. But there's more to it than that. She's strong. She's smart. She's stubborn. And there is something about her almost violent mood swings that fascinates me. I want to know why.

"Is that all?" Zara asks. Why is she so suspicious?

"Yes."

She shakes her head. "No it's not, Hiei. Leah may be stupid enough to believe that, but I'm not. She just wants to believe you don't care at all because it's an excuse not to get close enough to form a real relationship. Now tell me, Hiei, do you care about her?"

I hesitate. "Are you going to tell her what I say? I'll tell you the truth, but if you tell her, I might not be able to… get in her pants." Talking to Shizuru always seemed to help Kurama, but—why am I comparing myself to Kurama? Why am I comparing my relationship with Leah to his relationship with Anna?

Zara groans at my request, but she says, "As long as it doesn't present a direct threat to Leah's physical, mental or emotional health."

Okay. I can handle that. "I don't know," I admit.

"Unbelievable," she says. "Absolutely unbelievable. He doesn't know what he wants."

"Zara?" I ask. "I… I'm not staying just to get in her pants, if that's what you're worried about. I just don't know what my real reason for staying is. Not anymore. I'm just… confused. And I don't know what to do." How can I be admitting this to Zara? I've met her how many times? Three? Four? This situation is so screwed up.

Zara nods. "Good."

"What's good?" What could possibly be good about this situation?

"Just…" she starts, then she says, "Never mind. Just hang around awhile. Stay open to new ideas." She stands, probably to leave.

"Zara," I ask, "What happened to her? Why is she so wary of getting close to people?" I have good reason to feel that way. But why would she?

Zara doesn't pause for a second before saying, "You have to ask her that. I didn't even tell Andy that." Who the hell is Andy? "He knows, but only based on things Leah has said. If you want to know, you'll have to hear it from her." Looking flustered, she says, "Now, I need to go. Goodbye, Hiei. Stay open to new ideas and emotions."

As she pulls the door shut behind her, I swear I hear her mutter, "Physically violent, mentally irritable and emotionally compromised and unstable, the both of them." What is that even supposed to mean?


Well, I was too lazy to proofread this chapter so if there are about a thousand typos, my bad. I own everyone but Hiei. Time for the reviews.

Neko-fire demon tempest: If this one is as long as 'Runaway Train' I will kill myself. I am so tired of this story. Because it is the same story, just an alternate branch... urgh. Goal: keep it under 20 chapters, preferably 15. I hope that is short enough for you, especially considering this story is already 4 chapters longer than it was supposed to be. XP

Allysarian: Okay... confession time... I don't know which stories you've read, so I don't know if you've met Kiyoshi or not. Kiyoshi is example A of a character that is different from all the others. He wrote himself and now he won't go away. I think the reason the characters I write are all so... unique, shall we say, is that I'm not writing them. Kiyoshi and the other people in my head are doing that for me. I just write it all down. When I try to make a story happen the way I think it should or the way I want it to, it doesn't generally turn out very good. So I have a tendency to just go with what feels right. And that somehow lets the characters be themselves in ways I couldn't consciously plot out. If that made any sense, congratulations. If it didn't... sorry for wasting our time. And yes, he is allergic to cats, although I don't really remember why I decided to do that.

four-eyed 0-0: Thanks. :) I like it when people read more than one of my stories. I hope Hiei's still in character this chapter. I'm not really sure about the ending... but I kind of gave up.

canopyskyandblanketseas: Nope, not at all. Actually, I'm glad you did. It means at least one person knows I'm not crazy. (Me=allergic to cats. My cat=likes to drool on me when I get home. Me+my cat=hives. FAN-tastic.) And I'm glad you like my inspiration. ;)

Angel of Randomosity: that's a good question... on the other hand... what Hiei really meant is 'put up with them.' And considering we sometimes have mood swings for almost no reason at all (very general/unspecific "we" by the way), guys do have to put up with them to some extent. They just need to learn not to complain. :)

FireStorm1991: Your review made me want to kick myself because it made me realize something about Leah and Hiei's relationship that should have been obvious from the beginning (maybe it was obvious to you, I don't know, but it was definitely a surprise to me). Anyway, thanks for helping me out.

animegrlsteph: please note: Zara is actually capable of being serious. See chapter 4.

TeacupKitty: Hope I succeeded in keeping Hiei in character this chapter. It was even more difficult now that he can walk around. Grrrr... anyway, it's easier to keep Hiei in character in first person because then he can be the soft unrecognizable person without it being entirely ridiculous, so long as he keeps acting like the 'big tough demon man' as you put it. It just shows how little Hiei actually trusts people, his closest friends included. okay, I completely forgot where I was going with this...

Well, that's all for now.

Kiyoshi'sGirl64, signing out.

Kiyoshi: you should probably post the chapter before you sign out.

KG64: You should probably shut up before I make you shut up.

Kiyoshi: No need to get violent.

KG64: No need to get irritating.