Chapter seven

Snow and Blood

SIGH!

"I'm so bored", Yusuke drawled.

"Why don't you go see Keiko", Botan said.

"No", he said with a pout.

"Oh, come on, Yusuke. Suck it up. So you made a mistake, but he did like her. She just didn't want anything to do with him, and still doesn't. I can't believe that you would even think that she would do something like that."

Shizuru stuck her cigarette back in her mouth, and drew a long drag on it. She was right, but Yusuke didn't want to admit it. He was still mad, at the guy for hitting on his girl, and at himself for making a fool out of himself.

"She must really hate me", he mumbled to himself.

Shizuru looked over at him, but didn't say anything as she took another hit.

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The searing pain that burned through her arm, and than throughout her whole body, knocked her to the ground. Arc was pinned to the ground as the other shocker was shoved into her shoulder. With a silent scream, she tried to get up. Picking herself up was harder than she thought, but she just had to get away from them. She may not care about a lot of things, but she sure as hell wouldn't let some filth defile her. Hiei hadn't even done that to her.

'Hiei...'

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Hiei awoke with a jolt on the branch, as another stab of pain hit him in the heart. So, he decided to open his jagan, and when he did, what he saw made him furious.

He retied his bandana, and leapt off towards Makai with such speed, that he had never used before.

XXXXXX

When his name ran off her tongue slowly, she savored it. It brought a small, sad smile to her face. Within a few seconds, the staffs were frozen as they were shoved at her body ruthlessly. Blood fell without regret down her arm, and back as she moved out of the way.

Her wrists were still held in a pair of shackles, that she broke over one of the youkai's heads. He fell to the floor in a bloody heap, as the other one came at her with a sword on fire. The burning blade grazed her shoulder as she fell to her knees, and stabbed the youkai with one of the frozen staffs.

The pole jutted out from his back, covered in a thick scarlet liquid. Arc turned around and saw that more guards were coming, and that she would never escape that way. So, she turned towards the wall and looked out the window.

Looking down from the tower, she could hear the footsteps getting closer, and she made up her mind.

The wall's bricks were blown out of the way, and rained down on the dirt path beneath it, as Arc jumped down. She landed on her hands and feet, rolling over onto her back, as she broke her ankle.

Without hesitation, she ran off, with a small limp.

XXXXXX

When Hiei saw the partly destroyed castle, he moved along the shadows, searching for Arc. He reached the tower, and saw that no one was in it, so he decided to look in the dungeons, just in case she didn't escape. When he overheard her escape, he bounded off into the shadows, trying to follow her scent.

Where ever she was, she wasn't stopping, and she was moving fast. Hiei had trouble sensing her, and when he used his jagan, she was always on the move. But one thing he saw was more snow. She moving farther up north, towards the mountains.

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Arc finally came to a stop when she reached a small cave. She was tired, and really hungry. But she couldn't find anything to eat, so she just laid down and fell asleep.

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Hiei stopped when her scent was very close. He walked around a small clearing, and than spotted a cave. When he went towards it, he was surrounded by her smell. He looked down and saw her, covered in snow flakes and rags. Her skin was more pale than usual, but she looked... cold.

He stooped down beside her and picked her up, and just held her. She woke up and looked at him, her eyes back to their normal ice blue.

"H-hiei", she whispered, as his warmth coursed through her veins. He stood up with her in his arms, and than sped away.

Arc rested her head against his chest, and almost cried. She didn't deserve to have him, so why was he helping her?

She looked up and saw that Hiei looked very... distant.

'It's my fault he's like that. I'm sorry, Hiei.'

Hiei looked down at her as her eyes began to grow heavy, and then close.

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"I'm not going to apologize!"

Botan shrank back at Yusuke's holler, and than walked away. He just stood there, looking at his mom passed out on the floor. When he heard the door close to the apartment, he cringed. He hadn't meant to shout, but he was getting sick of all of this. He wanted to see Arc, and have her cheer him up. If she were here, she would threaten to kick his ass, and then actually do it. He wanted to see Keiko, and not have her mad at him.

He picked up his black jacket and walked out the door, to try and clear his head. As he walked down the streets, he saw a little kid playing with a big, bright red ball. When he looked closer, he saw that it was the same little boy that he had saved a few years back. He was a little older, but he was still short, and stupid for playing by the road.

"Hey kid", Yusuke called out.

The little boy turned around, and just stared at him. When Yusuke saw his eyes, he took a step back.

"W-what's going on?"

"You're going to die, Yusuke Urameshi", the little kid said. It was kind of funny, to Yusuke anyway, and a bit creepy at the same time.

"What the hell-", he was cut short, as the red ball hit him straight in the face.

"Ow, that actually hurt", he said, as he rubbed his nose.

When he looked down, he saw that the kid was gone.

"Damn kid", he muttered, as he walked off.

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Arc was dropped on her back onto one of the beds at Genkai's. When she felt someone's hands on her ankle, she opened her eyes to see Yukina healing her ankle.

"Thank you", she said tiredly.

Yukina bowed, and then looked at the rest of her. The cuts on her had already healed themselves, and with that Yukina was done.

After Yukina left the room, she noticed Hiei in the corner, with his eyes cast down.

"You shouldn't have come."

Hiei didn't move, nor show any reaction to her words. When he didn't say anything, Arc sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up, only to have Hiei knock her back down.

"Sit."

"I don't want to."

She tried to stand back up, but he pushed her back down.

"Hiei, let me go, now!"

Push.

"Damn you, why do you care? Just let me go, and-"

He pushed her back, and placed both his hands on either side of her on the bed, and stared her in the eye.

"I do care."

She looked away from him, as a few tears became visible in her eyes. But she held them back.

"How could you? After everything I did to you-"

A finger was placed over her mouth, and she looked up at him, a tear slide down her face.

"It doesn't matter."

With that, he kissed her. They fell back onto the bed, and Arc wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tighter to her.

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OK, if you want a sex-love making scene, than tell me, and I'll see what I can do. If you don't like that kind of stuff, and i write it anyway, than I'm sorry, but I'm the type of person that believes when you love someone enough, than it's OK. As long as you're safe about it, and you don't rush into it. It is a very big step, and it's something not to be taken lightly. All right, I'm gonna shut up now, you don't need a lecture about sex from me. So, please review, and tell me if you think i should do.

K, love you guys,

Robin