Author's Note: Two reviews! I feel loved. As a reward I will go ahead and put up the next chapter. I was going to check it over a few more times because I work without a net (aka beta) but that's mostly me being a perfectionist. Please let me know if you find any typos. Thanks. Also a special thanks to my two kind reviewers. It is good to know at least someone is interested in my craziness.
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Very Cranky
Chapter 4: Back to School Blues
Hiei resisted the urge to tug at her red skirt. The garment barely reached her knees and left her feeling horribly exposed. It also gave her nowhere to hide the sword she had acquired the night before so she had to settle for a simple dagger tucked into the leather satchel she carried. The lack of her customary weapon set her nerves even more on edge than the situation she was walking into.
Hiei was on her way to school, for the first time in four years.
Kurama walked beside her, his face a picture of calm though she could feel some nervousness from him as well. "Everything will be fine. Koenma has already taken care of changing your records for the past few years to say you've been studying abroad."
"Hn." The fire demon nearly laughed at that. She'd been studying alright, just nothing they could teach her in a ningen middle school.
"He also took the liberty of registering you and making sure you would be in my class." The fox added with a small smile.
"Hn, probably wants you to keep me out of trouble." She scowled, though even she could admit the precaution wasn't entirely unwarranted considering her history of expulsions during the time she spent in the orphanage.
"True, but I'm glad all the same. It will be nice going to school together." The redhead smiled cheerfully.
Hiei had her doubts about the humans' school being pleasant in any way but she kept them to herself as they arrived at the gates and passed within. Instantly, she became aware of eyes tracking her, or rather, her escort. Whispered conversations broke out all over the courtyard and only the chime of the school bell stopped several people from approaching the pair to find out who she was. Hiei had a strong suspicion that Kurama had purposefully timed their arrival to ensure they wouldn't be bothered before reaching their classroom.
The redhead unerringly steered his charge through the throng of human youths to the office where they were able to pick up her class assignment. Kurama was relieved to see Koenma had indeed put Hiei in the class with him. It wasn't that he didn't trust the fire demon to take care of herself, but he knew she was going to get a lot of unwanted attention simply because she had been seen arriving with him. At least if they were together most of the day, he could field many of the inevitable questions so the temperamental demoness would hopefully be able to keep her patience intact.
"Try not to be nervous and please, for both our sakes, don't let your temper get the better of you." Kurama nearly pleaded as they traversed the empty hallway towards his classroom.
"I can control myself, Kurama."
"It's Shuuichi." The redhead corrected quickly. "There's no Kurama here."
"Hn." Hiei pushed her way into the classroom before he could say anything further and the fox in human clothing was forced to follow in her wake.
Yasutori-sensei frowned sternly at her new pupil. She could tell the girl would be a trouble maker. The brat was breaking the uniforms regulations already and her entire bearing seemed to shout defiance; from the way her strangely red eyes stared unblinkingly back at the class as she entered the room, to the scowl that seemed etched permanently into her elfin features. The experienced teacher could see clearly this one would need a strong hand to keep her out of trouble. The only point the girl had in her favor was the fact that she had arrived alongside Shuuichi Minamino, but that could have been a coincidence.
"You are Kiji Leiko, ne?"
"Hn." Hiei didn't care for the woman's disrespectful tone but she remembered Kurama's warning about her temper and simply gritted her teeth and nodded once.
The woman frowned at the girl's lack of proper etiquette. "Are you aware this is the advanced class? Your transcripts don't indicate any particular academic aptitude."
Hiei nodded again, ignoring the way the human children suppressed a wave of snickers at the teacher's comment. She was aware of it now. In light of Kurama's overachieving tendencies it was not surprising to find him in the gifted class.
"Leiko-chan can do the work, Yasutori-sensei." A familiar voice suddenly interjected, causing Hiei to look over at the redhead in some surprise at being defended. "She's quite intelligent."
The compliment brought a small smirk to Hiei's face, despite her growing annoyance with her new teacher.
"Minamino-san, please sit down and refrain from speaking out of turn." The older woman frowned, flustered at having to reprimand her star pupil. "Kiji-san, you may take the seat next to him."
Kurama took his seat without further protest, pleased to have distracted the woman from antagonizing Hiei any further, despite the damage his rescue may have done to his own spotless reputation.
Hiei nodded silently and went to the indicated seat. As she settled in, she was careful to project an indifferent facade but inside a small voice was urging her to run, to escape from this suffocating room and all the human brats surrounding her.
Kurama was just beginning to really get to know the dark haired demoness, but he was quickly learning to recognize the small signs of emotion she allowed to slip past her defenses. He could tell she was resisting the urge to bolt and he reached over surreptitiously and caught her warm hand in his own larger one.
Crimson eyes met bright green ones and Hiei felt the panic urging her to escape melt away under the penetrating stare. She relaxed slightly and settled more fully into her seat, breaking the eye contact self consciously. Kurama smiled as he felt the tension drain from the fingers he clutched in his own and he gave the fire demon's hand a brief squeeze before letting go and turning his attention back to the class.
Hiei really wasn't sure which was worse anymore; prison or middle school. At least in prison no one would be pestering her with constant questions and orders to pay attention. The teachers' quickly learned not to waste their breath with the latter though the questions did not stop. The bored demoness kept much of her attention focused on the open sky she could see through the large paned windows and allowed the rest of her mind to wander. When the various teachers called on her or attempted to catch her off guard with a question, she simply skimmed the answer from the surface of the questioner's mind and spat it back at them verbatim. This seemed to both impress and infuriate her instructors but she cared little. Koenma could make her attend school as part of her probation, but she didn't have to work at it.
Lunch time was a welcome break from the crowded classroom and she practically jumped at the chance when Kurama suggested they enjoy the bentos his mother had packed outdoors.
Maya gaped in shock as a familiar girl exited the building at Shuichi Minamino's side. She had seen that same face in her nightmares for four years. "Kiji-san." She almost squeaked as her throat seemed to close.
She noticed the white band tied around the girl's forehead and suddenly felt rather sick as guilt welled up inside her. 'That injury must have left a terrible scar for her to feel the need to cover it like that.' She thought regretfully.
Hiei felt eyes on her and she turned her head to meet the gaze challengingly. She locked stares with Maya and a slight trace of surprise flitted across her features. Maya looked away quickly, unable to quell the wash of guilt that rose up in her heart.
Kurama followed her gaze to where Maya sat amongst her friends, several of whom were now asking the brown haired girl what was wrong. "Hiei?" He called out softly.
"Hn?" Hiei let her gaze shift to the redhead, dismissing Maya in the process.
"What are you thinking?"
The demoness shrugged. "She's not worth my time." She answered flatly, walking away from the crowded lawn and leaping into a tree as soon as she was sure she was out of sight. She did not expect the fox to follow.
Hiei chose a wide branch and settled down with her lunch, unwrapping the plastic bento box from its cloth cover and popping off the lid to examine the contents.
She might have been startled when Kurama leapt lightly onto the branch in front of her if she hadn't taken to keeping a light mental touch on the redhead just so she could track his movements. She wasn't about to have him sneak up on her the way he had while she was fighting Yusuke. Besides that, the connection allowed her to pick up on the other demon's shallowest surface thoughts. 'He must not mind.' She told herself firmly, determined not to feel guilty for the small breach of privacy. 'He has to know I'm doing it, since he keeps using it to talk to me.'
She began to eat her lunch calmly, deftly using her chopsticks to snatch up cold noodles with some sort of spicy sauce and sweet pickled vegetables.
"Is this seat taken?" The kitsune asked playfully, amusement sparkling in his eyes as he didn't wait for a response that they both knew she wasn't likely to bother giving before he made himself comfortable on the sturdy branch.
Hiei continued her meal placidly and Kurama gave up his game for the moment in order to see to his own bento. Only once the pair had finished the silent meal did the redhead attempt further conversation.
"How are you doing?" He asked solicitously.
Hiei merely gave him a blank look in response.
"I know you don't have much patience for humans and this must be difficult for you." The redhead elaborated carefully, not wanting to offend the proud demoness. "I also know everyone has been staring at you all day." He added sheepishly, knowing that the latter was likely his fault. He didn't make a habit of socializing with his peers so his obvious connection to a new student was bound to get people talking.
Hiei rolled her eyes, was that all he was worried about. She wasn't going to blow up the school because a bunch of hormonal brats were staring at her. She had more control over herself than that.
"Hn." She snorted in amusement. "They all want to know who I am to you. Nearly all the females are jealous...as are several of the males." She added the last part slyly, though in all honesty she had been shocked to find that some of those males were actually jealous of Kurama because they found her attractive. The very idea of allowing any of the prepubescent human males to court her was laughable but she had to admit the knowledge that they were interested was a boost to her self esteem.
Kurama gave a short bark of laughter that reminded Hiei of the fox her companion had once been. "How do you know all of that?"
The jaganshi tapped her headband meaningfully, giving him a look that seriously questioned his intelligence for not guessing the obvious answer. "I got bored." She explained simply.
Instead of taking offense at her expression, Kurama's foxlike laughter rang out again and Hiei found herself smirking at him in return. Perhaps, she decided, her parole wouldn't be so bad so long as the redhead was around to keep it interesting.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: That was fun...at least for me. Hope you all like it. Since Hiei won't meet back up with Yusuke until the Saint Beast arc we have some downtime to play with. Should be fun. Thank you for reading and please review.
