Title: Tears in Heaven
Summary: Another YYH fic? Le gasp, Solaris! Anyway, AU fic, totally fucked up if you ask me, but here goes: Kurama is on his way home when he finds a little demon girl running from something. Confused, he offers her safe haven, and finds that she's on the run from heaven. An angel-demon cross? What has been going on? And why does she intrigue him so?
Rating: M
Warnings: The general shit. No citrus forseen.
BGM: Meteora by Linkin Park. Should be the soundtrack for the whole damn story. Provided it doesn't exceed 13 chapters. 1-8-07: Added Evanescence- Fallen to the soundtrack.
Blood type: Water and tea. I didn't have time for breakfast this morning.
Comments: Okay, so today has been a real bitch and a half. First, I set my alarm to 6:30, woke up for about three seconds when it went off to roll over and hit the off switch. Woke up again at 7:30 and barely had enough time to shower before I realized that I didn't have class until 9 this morning. Thanks to the copious amounts of eyeliner I've worn the past couple of days, I look like Gaara from Naruto on a bad day even after I've washed my face about thirty times. I thought I'd have enough time to drink some tea before I had to leave. Between feeding cats and pulling the dog off Sephiroth (my new kitten), I barely had a chance to get dressed, get my hair combed, and finish my liquid breakfast. I left the house at blasted 8:35, drove about two or three miles above speed limit the whole way, freaked out because the route I took to get to the parking garage was teeming with cops and I had a case of dry mouth thanks to the medicine I took a few DAYS ago to cure whatever funk I had, didn't stop to get water after I had parked and gotten into the building because I didn't have any change or ones, and I STILL ended up a few minutes late for my literature class, just got in there a few seconds before she called my name. It has begun as a shit of a day for me, so you may be wondering why the hell I'm posting this at -looks at clock- 10:55 on a Friday morning when my last update was Sunday. Well, it's all because of my first reviewer for this story.
So, BBVixenXoXo, Thank you SO much for the review, and here is the new chapter! Please enjoy! (Basically the moral of this rant is reviews make Solaris happy so if you want Solaris to get off her lazy ass and risk losing her scholarship-kidding, I study enough!- to create new stories and such lovely things for you, then send REVIEWS! They can turn an author's day from a lousy, I'm-running-late-and-undercaffeinated-and-should-anyone-mess-with-me-so-help-me-God-I'll-hurt-'em, to a bright and hopeful time. And trust me, if a quasi-goth uses bright and hopeful, you know it does good.) Also, anyone want to see any artwork from this? Let me know.
Disclaimer: Yeah. University student owns YYH? Please. I wish.
Part seven: Ice and Snow
"Yume ni miteita, ano hi no kage ni, todokanari sakebi…" Solaris sang along to the radio in the apartment while Foxglove lounged, looking at a magazine. The twins had been living with Kurama for a few months now, and winter was starting to set in. Foxglove had picked up on how to read ningen quickly, and Solaris was doing well in her Demonic language studies. Just the other day, she had cursed the superintendent of the apartment out for waking her up from a much-needed nap. And the poor man had thought the pretty lady was suffering sleep-deprived insanity, speaking gibberish, and left her to sleep again. Kurama had his classes, and the super hadn't talked to him since, so he had no clue.
Which probably wasn't a bad thing.
"Hey, sis, you going to go get him or not?" Foxglove asked. Solaris stopped singing, and nodded, smiling.
"Yeah. Guess it's time to head out, huh?"
"Not just yet, but in an hour. Hey, it says here that Sweet Pea is having a sale on sweaters and accessories. We should hit that sale, yanno? 'Cause no offense to Kurama or his bro, but I would rather not wear their clothes. A little too big for me in the hips. And a little too tight for you in the bust."
"I dunno, Kurama's clothes are pretty comfy. But I guess I'll check out that sale on my way. Anything you want in particular?" Solaris asked. "Color? What?"
"Hm… can I get that bright blue one?" she asked, pointing to a sweater in the ad. Solaris nodded, and left.
"Okay! See you in a while!" she called as she slid on some shoes and grabbed a jacket and purse. Foxglove laughed softly; her sister really showed some upbringing. Well, it was time to start on dinner anyway. It was her turn to cook. Alternating days worked out nicely like that.
--
Solaris showed up at the gate with a bag in her hand. Kurama sighed; the label read the name of one of Foxglove's favorite stores. The vixen had thrown a hat over her head, her tail in the long skirt and hidden. All of his university classmates just thought she was an incredibly attractive young woman, maybe a relative of Kurama's from out of town, and aside from setting them straight about the relative thing, he did nothing.
After all, the day she had hugged him had set them buzzing, wondering what kind of relative hugged someone like that. Pounce hugs were not really what they expected of a cousin or something.
"Let me guess, Foxglove alerted you to a sale, huh?" he asked. She nodded her reply. "Thought so."
"Well, she's always saying she's cold, so I thought I could get her something nice. And she did point it out to me."
"So it wasn't a trip for you?" Kurama asked, a little stunned.
"Not entirely. I did get a sweater for me, but I got Foxglove a sweater and some jeans." Solaris laughed as they set out. Kurama gingerly reached out for her hand, trying to rein her in at least a little. The little angel-demon cross was incredibly happy for some reason, and he really had no clue why. As he held the tiny hand, he could feel a thrumming, the characteristic feeling he got around her when she was happy.
"So… what's got you so excited?" he asked. Solaris merely grinned up at him and shrugged.
"I have no idea. I think Foxglove's a little annoyed with me for it, but I can't help it! I'm just really excited right now!" The thrumming increased and Kurama smiled; it was a soothing feeling. When they arrived home, there was a fairly large box on the table, wrapped up in blue, with a note on top of it.
Sis,
Had to go home for a bit, the bazaar has major deals this time of year. But this is for you! Please keep my sister safe, Kurama. I'll be gone for a week.
Foxglove
"Huh?" Solaris said quietly, and opened the box. Inside was a black suit trimmed in silver, long pants, a jacket, and a halter top, with a tiny, red leather medicine bag on top of the whole kit and caboodle. The vixen opened the bag and pulled a tiny bit of paper out, staring at the demonic language.
"Sewed this myself. For the eventual battle. If you can read this, you have learned all I can teach you. Love you." Solaris read, and smiled. "So that's why she found excuses to send me out all the time." Suddenly, her expression turned serious, and she looked up at Kurama. "Where can I get a weapon? Gun, sword, scythe, anything will work," she declared.
"Uhm… there's a shop nearby, I saw a katana in their window the other day. Stands to reason they might have something else."
"Katana would be perfect." Solaris nodded, and headed to the door after transferring her money from her wallet to the new medicine bag. "I'll be back soon."
"Wait! Why do you need the katana?" he asked. She paused at the door, but didn't turn back around.
"I have a battle to fight. And a fury to defeat. And at least part of my name to regain." With that, she left, and stayed gone until late. When she returned, she carried a sword, the same katana Kurama had seen in the shop window.
"I'd have been home sooner, but the priest took forever to bless Hikaru." She said, drawing the sword and looking at it quietly.
"You… named the sword for your mother?" Kurama asked quietly, not missing the tear marks on her face.
"Foxglove said mother just fell over ill one day. I know that's not natural. And it only happens when a fury is influencing your body. That's all I can figure. What better way to take revenge for the mother I hardly knew than to defeat the fury with a sword named for her?" Suddenly, the two could hear thundering on the stairs to the apartment, and a dark-haired man, with crimson eyes, ran in, looking half-panicked.
"Kurama, I thought I saw a fox demon wander in with a sword! What's going… on?" he trailed off, staring at the tiny creature on the tatami mats in the front room. Solaris stared back, confused.
"Hiei, you're back from Mukuro's? How long have you been home?" Kurama asked, smiling.
"For a few hours. God, get home to rest up from one stressing situation, and get a heart attack before I even get good and settled in… so, who's the vixen?"
"My name is Solaris Sarue Moon, and I will have you know I'm the daughter of the angel of death!" Solaris declared, scowling. He returned it, point for point.
"And the fact that you are half angel is supposed to impress me how?" he asked.
"The fact that she actually claimed him startles me." Kurama sighed. "Solaris, this is Hiei. He lives in the apartment below mine; I've known him since middle school. Hiei, this is Solaris. It's… it's a long story."
"Which I can tell in five words: None of your damned business." She decreed, and went back to looking at the sword. Hiei smiled darkly; something was up here…
"You don't know how to use that thing, do you?"
"Shut the hell up." Solaris glared. "I'll figure it out eventually."
"Foul mouthed little angel. Point is, I know how to wield a katana, and if you were willing to shut up and do as I say, I could teach you." Solaris got in his face, surprising Kurama for two reasons: one, no one got in Hiei's face and lived to tell of it. Two, apparently Hiei was taller, because she didn't even have to incline her head to stare him in the eyes.
"I am fighting a fury to avenge my mother! I barely met her before she died from a fury-induced illness! So don't think you can teach me jack about peaceful swords and shit like that! I am not Ruroni Kenshin! I am not interested in Bushido! I just want the bitch who took my mother from me to die!"
"Good. We'll start in the morning." Hiei nodded and left. Solaris stared after him in confusion, then ran to the door and yelled.
"Didn't you hear me? I ain't interested in fucking Bushido! I want fucking revenge!"
"He knows that. He actually did something similar. Why do you think Koorime are really dying out?"
"Generations of interbreeding and no diversity." Solaris said. "Plus they live on a glacier, how the hell can you stand living on a glacier?"
"No. He went there to take revenge on the koorime for throwing him away for being the forbidden child. Then he found out they killed his mother. Look, the details aren't too clear, but let's just say he gets you." Solaris looked stunned at this, but nodded.
"So he really had it worse. Okay. I'll play nice." She grinned.
--
"Kurama, never let her watch Clamp School Detectives before she comes to train, ever." Hiei sighed as he bought the tiny vixen home the next morning. Solaris was still singing "Peony Pink", just like when she walked out earlier.
"I'd like to know where she found it on TV, myself. Just to know what channel to block in the mornings." Kurama laughed good-naturedly.
"C'mon! It's cute!" Solaris protested. "Sis has got to see it when she gets home!"
"Hey, Hiei, I'm running for groceries, do you mind staying with her while I'm gone? Thanks!" Kurama laughed and ran out, making the vixen wonder if she really needed babysitting that badly. Hiei just sat down and stared at the auburn child.
"So… why would you call the sword Hikaru?"
"For my mother." Solaris answered simply, flopping onto her stomach to trace the patterns in the tatami with her finger.
"Your mother?"
"Yeah. Mom was a demon. No duh. But dad took me away from her before I was even weaned. I wasn't even two days old before I was in Heaven. Thanks to daddy dearest. I never knew my mother until a few months ago, when I got to meet her. She was sick to death, though, and she ended up dying before I'd known her for two hours. It's all the fury's fault. And I want vengeance for my mother… for my sister… and I'm going to use that sword to get it."
"Noble. And you say you don't care about Bushido."
"I don't. I will attack my enemy from behind if I must, if it will kill it. An eye for an eye. No honor in striking my mother down, no honor spared to my enemy." Solaris decreed as she got up and headed to the refrigerator. "Want anything?"
"Water." And it stayed fairly quiet until Hiei's eyes landed on a photograph of the twins playing in the first snow of the winter. The picture was displayed in prominence, one of the few that Kurama had taken of the twins that had turned out well. Foxglove seemed to be better with the camera. Hiei picked up the photo and stared. "Who's the red head?" he asked. Solaris grinned.
"My twin. Pretty, huh? She stayed with mom when I was taken by dad. She's actually the one who brought me to mom. If she hadn't known where to find me, I would never have met my mother." Solaris grinned. "She's back in Makai right now, god knows why. Some bazaar."
"Hn." Hiei nodded. "She looks nice enough," and that ended that matter. Kurama got back later, to see Solaris asleep over the kotatsu, and Hiei watching her rest.
"You two…"
"Didn't kill each other, no. She didn't even get mad at me for anything. So we're all right. Send her back over tomorrow morning, I'll continue to train her. And tell her that when her sister gets back, to send her too. I want to meet this girl. The way she talks of her, I want to meet this little… miracle worker."
"She is. I never saw Solaris so open after her twin came home with us. She was the whole reason Solaris didn't go insane in grief." Kurama sighed, and draped a blanket over the vixen's shoulders. "I'll pass the message along, she'll probably wake up soon."
"Thanks. Night." Hiei said, barely messing with formalities.
TBC
The song Solaris sang part of last chapter was Kirameku Namida Wa Hoshi Ni from the anime Fate/Stay Night. The song she sang at the beginning of this chapter... can't remember but I bet it was from the same anime. But next time:
"The redhead standing at his door looked familiar…"
"The twins looked at him, as if he had lost his mind. But what had he said?"