AN: Hello again everyone. Glad to see some of you came back for my long awaited update. I was in contact with some of you devoted Yukina Fans. Sorry it has taken me so long but Wireless internet is few and far between my travels. I'm thinking about picking up one of those satellite internet sticks when I get back to the US next weekend.
This is a look at the siblings, and was an experiment in interpersonal perspective.
Minutes
I stood under the red gate of Genkai's Temple; watching wind rustles the grass. The scent of water carried on the same breeze made my nose twitch. Drawing a deep breath, I picked up the scent of humans. This world was infested with the smell of them, the musty, sweaty, smell, was there as soon as I stepped foot in the human realm. This world being so different to me still. No matter how many years I had spent here, the Demon world was still my home, and that was where I wanted to be.
"Mr. Hiei?" Yukina stood at the sliding doors of Master Genkai's Temple, one of the few good places that this world had to offer me. She came out to meet me. The thought of her here while I was away did make me feel guilty contrary to the belief of others. It is all for good reasons though. My leaving her with Master Genkai was on of preservation, for her as much as myself. It was enough till I returned.
Genkai was wise and able to take care of her, show her that she could live her life in peace. My eyes dart to her presence, my sister, she has gotten bigger. I notice this by the way she let the hem out of her Kimono. Her hair was longer, the way it laid around her shoulders different than what I could recall from memory. So she should be as tall as me now, if not than just under my height.
Taking a small step back my eye's give her a once over, great another blow to my ego. I'm short and now my sister is the same height. Kurama will mock me twice as hard now.
"You came back!" I ran down the stairs and to the man that was to find my brother. I would not admit it but I had a soft spot for the lonely wanderer that I saw in the eyes of Hiei. His eyes were softer than mine, but the same color. Demons with red eyes were common enough but I explored the changes I saw in him.
"You have changed much." I smile in genuine welcome to his presence. Hiei had grown, we were still of common height but his was more noticeable than mine. He had longer hair and the angles in his face and become more defined with his new age. The bandana he traditional wore around his third eye was replaced with a seal. It allowed him freedom from the stares of humans, effectively hiding his Jagan eye from those of non-demon blood. Even Kuwabara-san had trouble spotting it.
"You're taller." Hiei spoke his voice was still filled with the same bored tone, but his observations about me where still the same. Many times I had asked Botan about that, her answers were more than nonchalant. I knew deep down that Hiei had only the best intentions where I was concerned. That is one of the reasons I had trusted him with my mother's tear gem and task of searching for my brother.
"So are you." Yukina always replied to my blunt behavior. One of the things that I knew would always not sit well with me. Intimidation was the key to my respect after all.
"I will prepare your favorite tea." Yukina took my hand in hers. "Come, come. We are the only two here in residence at the moment. Genkai has left to see some townspeople, so don't feel out of place."
I allowed her to lead me to the temple doors before slowing my pace and moving away to walk behind the Ice Maiden. She had gotten bolder, but the weird formal nickname she had given me still stuck. The first time she used it to address me personally was when she gave our mothers other tear to me. She told me to find her brother. I took it and lied to her.
"Yukina," For some reason my eye's drifted to the floor, my boots paused. I thought about the reason why I lied and how she felt knowing that I would be the one to find him.
Did she really think me capable to accomplish such an essential task for her?
This man she was searching for, this hero type?
What would she think knowing that it is me?
I had thought about my decision many times. I did not care that the others did not approve. It was my choice not theirs. When it came down to it, I'd always have her put first. That is the way life has intended.
"Yes?"
I stopped, looking over my shoulder the movement of Hiei behind me stilled my pace. Hiei's profile had always been something that made me think about the movie's that I had watched with Botan. The ones about the men who save the world, the ones that charge in and take control. Botan and Yusuke said that they kick ass and take names, a true underdog persona. To me that was Hiei, his outward appearance was defiantly something women would swoon over. All angles, black clothing and brooding in the shadows. His face was bent down. His eyes unseeing, as if in memory. Letting him be I started to walk on again, when coming to the end of the hall I called to awake him from his thoughts. He lived too much in the past as it was.
"Would you like me to prepare your room as well?" His attention snapped my way. "That is, if you're staying for long, I'll get a futon."
The responding grunt was quiet in the hall and footsteps signaling him coming back to present had me moving towards the kitchen. Mixing the blend that Hiei seemed to always choose I set the brown pot in the flame to heat the water, and quietly went about preparing a small meal for him. Knowing he wouldn't ask even if he was hungry. His affection for cold sweets something I found endearing in the man. Setting everything out I poured him a small cup and waiting for him to settle himself down. Watching him, his face had always fascinated me. His profile; the slop of his nose and the stubborn jaw line, something about it just set of little bells in my mind. I remember the first night I after I had asked him to look for my brother. That night I had dreamt of a man with long black hair and a scary laugh. Deep gold eye's glowing in the dark. Every time I thought about the memory, if it was in fact a memory, would be unreachable. Somehow so very familiar, looking at Hiei I knew I was in the presence of someone utterly dangerous, but ultimately I trusted with my life.
Genkai approached the room that her ward and sibling resided in. There demonic signatures relaxed and calm in each other's presence. Funny how no one took the time to closely look at the two when they were in the same room. If one did, the conclusion that they were two sides to the same coin would become glaringly obvious. The smell of floral chamomile engulfed the room. Yukina's obsession to make everyone who entered tea had struck again, but to Genkai who spent the better part of the day warding a nearby house from ghostly mischief could use the calming substance. She knew why Hiei was here, he would be leaving soon. The old women sighed as she turned back the way she came. They needed this time, more than she needed tea.
Back in the room chimes struck as the clock announced the time, early evening. Yukina and Hiei both cast looks at the time box, that Genkai had hung up on the wall next to two beautiful silk paintings. The clanging sound it made sounded hallow, but soon gave way to the quiet constant ticking sound it normally admitted. The minuets passing slowly again.
Glancing at one another briefly before Yukina set her tea cup down, Hiei leaned forward and poured the warm liquid for her.
End
Can't wait to hear what you think, let me know what everyone would like for the next update!
Happy Writings Everyone!
