Author's Note: As promised, there's some physical touching between the two in this chapter. xD. I hope you like it. I actually had something different in mind when I wrote this, but this somehow came out instead. So we'll see if I can write what I had originally planned in some other chapter. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed. It makes me really happy and I hope you continue. :3 Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Closer to the Edge

Prompt 004: Demon

I was beside myself tonight, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what was more pressing. I sat on a chair in my living room and stared out through the glass of the sliding door that led to the balcony. Overhead was the moon, big as I've ever seen it. I deftly placed my hand over my heart again and waited, eyes never leaving the moon. I waited and listened for two minutes— nothing. With a scowl I let my hand fall. My heart still wasn't beating. At least not in any rhythm or pattern that I could pick up. How many times can someone say they've died, not once, but twice? And even more, how many of them can say they died as a human and came back as a demon? Or maybe it was half demon. Whatever the hell I was now.

I thought about the fight with Sensui and I just got angry all over again. I grit my teeth in annoyance and allowed my spirit energy to flare outwards, the blue energy rolling off of me like steam. I looked at it in wonder as I noticed little sparks of red demon energy. It wasn't very much, but it was enough to make me pause. I wanted to stay in demon world and look for that bastard. I wanted it more than I've wanted anything, and that thought in itself was a little overwhelming.

"If you give off anymore spirit energy you'll alert the Oaf from all the way across town," a voice said from the other side of the room. I twitched in surprise and looked out of the corner of my eye. The only thing I could see from the shadows was crimson colored eyes, and they were currently fixated on mine. We stared at each other for a long time.

"Come over here."

There was a quick flurry of movement before I was enveloped by heat and my head was yanked back, the smell of ashes and burning wood surrounding me. His mouth started fervently moving against mine and then I just stopped thinking about everything. And then my heart gave a rather dull thud against my chest and I cursed, leaning back slightly to stare down at my chest.

"Having problems?" Hiei asked, his voice rougher than it was when he first came in here. I cleared my throat.

"This whole demon heartbeat thing is really starting to piss me off. What's the deal?" I asked. He seemed to be hesitating for a moment before he let out a huff of air and placed his hand over my chest. His skin burned against mine in a way that made me want to forget about everything again.

He looked at me again and said, "You will get used to it. A demon heart beats a lot slower than a human heart does. As for how slow, well…that depends on the demon." There was that word again. I frowned. He titled his head to the side, but he didn't have to ask what was wrong. I let my forehead fall forward onto his own chest and wrapped my arms around him, my hands sneaking into the folds of his coat and under his shirt and finally resting against the bare skin of his back. He hissed. "Your hands are fucking cold."

"You're so warm," I muttered. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes and bit back a smile. "Maybe the chill of death is still hanging over me, 'cause I can't seem to warm up." Hiei's entire body went completely rigid and I looked up at him, confused. He was glaring at the wall behind me and grinding his teeth. "Hiei?" He didn't answer me, but instead gripped my arms in his hands and pulled them from where they were, letting them drop back into my lap. What was his problem?

"You—" he started, his voice angry now. He let out a scowl and turned away from me, apparently unable to finish his sentence, and moved to stand directly in front of the door with his back to me. I blinked a few times, still confused. I missed his warmth. I really was cold. Probably because I was sitting in my living room in nothing but sleeping shorts.

"Hey, if you've got something to say, then say it," I told him, getting uncomfortable with his silence. He was still clearly angry about something. Hiei looked at me angrily.

"Just what exactly were you trying to prove with that little stunt of yours?" he asked, his voice clipped and cold. He really was pissed. I tilted my head to the side.

"Stunt?"

He growled and turned to face me once more. "Don't play stupid. The stunt you pulled when you allowed Sensui to kill you." Did he—? Now I was getting a little angry.

"Hiei, that wasn't a stunt. I did that for a reason." I crossed my arms and gave him a glare of my own; his never lessened.

"For someone who is usually a genius when it comes to fighting, that was really fucking stupid. Not only did your little stunt not work, but also it actually angered Kuwabara enough to cut through the barrier. You gave Sensui exactly what he wanted. And for what?" he asked me, beginning to visibly shake. My own anger snuffed out a little. I stood and crossed the room to stand in front of him, but he quickly expelled his youki and it knocked me backwards. Bastard. I used my speed this time and before he could stop me I quickly reached out and my hand gripped around his throat.

"Knock it off," I told him, pulling him towards me. He seethed with anger and gripped my arm, his hand emitting a lot of heat that was burning hot against my skin. "Stop it," I hissed between clenched teeth. He continued to fight against me and I finally managed to kick his leg out from under him. He fell and I landed on top of him, gripping both of his hands in my own. "Hiei, stop!" I yelled this time. "Look, at the time, I thought I was doing what was best. I know how powerful and strong you guys are, and I knew that power would only increase if something pushed you. You guys were the best chance the human world had."

Hiei scoffed. "Oh, yeah, we were so strong. Not only did we give Sensui exactly what he wanted but we couldn't even fucking touch him." I blinked and titled my head a little again. At least he stopped struggling against me. For now at least. "So much for that genius plan," he said bitterly.

"You're just never happy, are you?" I asked then, laughing a little. He glared at me again and I could feel him tensing up. "Sensui had to use his sacred energy just to keep you guys from killing him. And it's not like I knew about that before hand. Besides, it turns out that dying helped more than anything. I came back as this half-breed Mazoku…thing."

He was quiet for a while, his eyes not so much angry anymore, but there was something there I wasn't quite catching. "Toushin," he said quietly.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile, briefly anyways.

"The demon blood running through you. Your ancestral father who gave you the Mazoku gene. His race. Toushin," he tried again. I sat up a little then, curious.

"Toushin, huh? Well, that's something. What else do you know about this guy?" I asked. I didn't think to ask Hiei about it, because I didn't think he knew. Which was incredibly stupid considering how he's a demon who has lived in Makai his entire life with the exception of the past few years. Another score for my genius brain. Hiei suddenly sat up, and because I wasn't expecting it, He quickly maneuvered me onto my back and straddled me. I wasn't exactly complaining.

"Raizen. One of the three leaders in Makai. His species has to live on human flesh to survive. He is…powerful, Yusuke. More powerful than I can really articulate," he answered. "But last I checked, he was still starving himself. So he has gotten considerably weaker."

"Starving himself?" I asked, confused again. Hiei nodded.

"Raizen stopped eating humans some time ago. I don't know why. But it was causing quite the political rift when I was still living in Makai. I have no idea of his condition now or if he's still in power or not. I suspect he is, otherwise Yomi or Mukuro would have taken over by now." I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, and he apparently noticed. He smirked a little and shook his head. "Demon politics. It's not important."

I nodded. "So, if he's starving himself, does that mean he's not as powerful?" I tried to be all nonchalant about it. Unfortunately, I was talking to Hiei, and he always had the ability to see right through me. Even without the use of the Jagan. His eyes narrowed at me.

"Raizen is not as powerful as he should be since he started starving himself. But do not mistake that for weakness. Raizen is still the most powerful demon in Makai and even in his current state he could make Sensui look like an ill trained idiot with absolutely no real power to speak of." I let his words sink in and wrap around my head a little.

"Holy shit."

"Is this demon thing really bothering you?" he suddenly asked. I focused back onto him and frowned. Eventually I just shrugged. I'm such a fantastic conversationalist. But honestly, I didn't really want to talk about it anymore. Hiei and I were never exactly good at the whole 'talking' thing, despite the fact that we probably really needed to talk more. I still didn't answer, and instead pulled the scarf from around his neck and tossed it to the other side of the room. His coat came next, and he sat up a little and unstrapped his katana, laying it next to us. He tugged his shirt off and I made an appreciative noise in the back of my throat, allowing my still chilled hands to trace and run across all the hard lines and dips in Hiei's skin. Eventually he gripped my hands and held them over my head, fully lying against me. I tried to kiss him, but the little bastard kept pulling away at the last second.

"Don't tease," I muttered, displeased. Hiei didn't look amused though. Was he angry again? Finally he let out a huff of air and pushed my head up, his mouth trailing a path of heat from the hollow of my throat to right behind my ear. My hands tightened in his and I moaned, squirming a little.

"Yusuke," he started, his breath at my ear. "I prefer you much better when you're alive." He released my hands and I immediately wrapped them around him and laughed a little.

"I love it when you're sentimental and sweet," I teased. He looked at me with a glare, but it was only half hearted. "Don't worry, Hiei. I prefer you much better when I'm alive, too." This time he couldn't stop the small chuckle from his mouth, and I grinned. "I'm so funny."

"Yeah, you're hilarious," he responded in sarcasm, rolling his eyes a little. He kissed me then, hard, until I felt lightheaded and dizzy. "No more talking." I laughed a little, slowly forgetting about all the problems and bullshit and just concentrating on the way he felt against me.

"Finally."