A/N: This story takes place after the Dark Tournament saga, when Kurama and Hiei returned to Earth. I own none of the characters, though don't we all just wish I did? Light slash, if you don't like it, don't read.
Hiei had known that Kurama was dedicated to his studies in this world. He knew that Kurama had the highest marks in his school, and he knew that his clever mind, while aided by the demon within him, had not developed accidentally. He had not known what, precisely, that meant to Kurama's daily life. As the annoying bell signaled the close of the final class, Hiei had expected a journey similar to that of the morning would bring them back to the house from whence they had come. He had been wrong.
When class had drawn to a close, Kurama had returned to the lock box which held his possessions and retrieved a white coat. He had informed Hiei that he would be spending his time in the chemistry lab, experimenting. Hiei had followed him, looking for a way to occupy his time while Kurama whiled away the hours. He had eventually decided to pass the time observing the other students until an announcer had told them it would soon be time for the school to close.
As they exited the school, Hiei looked up at the sky. Something had been bothering him since he had walked through the Academy's doors, and now he knew what it was he had been missing. Although it had been bright inside, all of the light had been artificial. Hiei had spent much of his life in the dim and dark of the caves of the world of the demons, but never had the caves pretended to have light like the school, and it was the deceitfulness of the light that had disturbed him more than anything else. He had missed looking up at the sun.
They had stayed late at the school, like so many other students, and the sun had begun its descent below the buildings on the horizon. It would soon be dark, but not the true darkness Hiei was used to. The human world had even its lights in the night, and soon the windows around him would fill with the same artificial light that had illuminated the school.
Kurama trailed behind Hiei, caught in conversation with another one of the simpletons he took classes with. Hiei could hear the other boy speaking, something about a study session or a quiz of some sort, but he did not allow the discussion to occupy his attention. He thought fondly of the moment in the near future when he would walk into Kurama's room and shed the ridiculous costume he had been forced into for the day. Hiei would soon be cursing his own distracted carelessness.
The first indication that something was amiss was the scream. In an instant, Hiei's senses focused on the scene unfolding some few meters away. He was surprised first and foremost to realize that he recognized the girls causing the trouble; they were Kurama's little playthings from the meal period, Megame and Kiri.
Kiri was standing across the street from the school, screaming incoherently. Had she her wits about her, she may actually have been able to do some good by calling out a suitable warning, but as it was, she was merely distracting.
Megame was at the center of it all, though she seemed not to know. She had been crossing the street when Kiri began to scream, and she had stopped, trying to assess the danger her friend was apparently aware of that she was not. Had she kept moving, the danger would be past, but it was too late now. A large truck was barreling toward the girl, who stood still in the street, staring at her friend.
Hiei took only a moment to throw down the books he had been carrying and assess the distance he would need to cross against the distance of the truck from the girl. He knew Kurama would be upset with him, but the human restrictions which had been placed upon him would need to be discarded for this to work.
Kurama seemed to become aware of the situation only a moment after Hiei, but a moment too late. "Hiei," he called, trying to run after him, but Hiei was already halfway across the street.
There were two ways the scenario could end, and as he ran, Hiei tried to see them in his mind, the way he knew Kurama would have, were he in a similar position. His first preference would be to shield the girl from the impact of the truck. Hiei could easily manage to secure a position behind her before the truck came within dangerous proximity, and the collision could hardly compare with the other abuses his body had taken without complaint. He would emerge unharmed, as would the girl. But still, all would not be well. Questions would be asked eventually, and his actions would have endangered Kurama's standing in the human world, something Hiei found, for whatever reason, unacceptable.
Hiei's only other option, however, would be to move the girl. He would have to get to her before the truck, remove her from her place on the pavement, and deliver her safely to the other side, all before the truck occupied the same space as the girl. The other problem with this scenario was that to get to her and mover her in time, Hiei would have to ram the girl at speeds which would shatter so many of her fragile bones as to be almost as damaging as the truck itself.
All this ran through Hiei's mind in an eye blink, but still it took too long. Hiei did not have time now, however, to berate himself. He looked again at the truck as he drew near to the girl, and it seemed as though the things around him had slowed, as often they did when he moved at this speed. Brow furrowed, he knew he had to make a choice.
It happened in a flash, but to Hiei it seemed an eternity. He slowed, grabbing the girl with one arm. His change in pace had allowed the truck to overtake them much more quickly, but Hiei had planned for this. He jumped into the air pulling Megame just to the other side of the truck, and pushed off against the vehicle's side as it sped past. Hiei pulled the girl's legs up with the other arm to avoid the loss of a foot. Holding her in both arms now, Hiei landed, settling neatly on the sidewalk next to the still-screaming Kiri.
Hiei looked down at the girl for less than a second, then dropped her unceremoniously to the ground. As the truck squealed to halt halfway down the street, Hiei could see Kurama on the other side of the road. He was still running, and crossed swiftly to Hiei's side. He found it difficult to decipher to look on Kurama's face as he looked across at him.
Hiei looked down at the girl, who was apparently too shaken to speak. "You're-you're…a hero," Megame finally managed, staring up at Hiei in reverence. He kept his silence.
They had drawn something of a crowd at this point, and Hiei knew what he would soon see. Looks of suspicion and distrust, doubt in the eyes directed both at him and at Kurama, anger in the brilliant green eyes of his friend. He had risked Kurama's role as Suichi, something he had been trying his best all day not to do, for the sack of flesh at his feet. Stupid, he scolded himself.
But as the students clustered around him, he began to hear something he had not expected. There were voices coming from all directions, but they all seemed to be saying the same thing.
"Who's that boy?" one asked.
"That's Suichi's friend, Hiei," responded another.
"Did you see that?"
"He saved her life!"
"I've never seen anyone move like that."
"He just jumped into the street after her."
"He's a hero."
Hiei again heard the word hero. He thought for a moment about the implications of the label. He had done many great things recently, to be sure; stopping the Saint Beasts, saving his only sister's life, helping bring an end to the Toguro gang, stopping Sakyo's sinister plans to bring the demon world to Earth. But he was, above all, a criminal, wasn't he? He had begun long ago wondering how his time with Kurama, with Yusuke and the others, had changed him, and now it seemed he had more to consider.
Hiei looked again at Kurama, and was once more surprised. Kurama was looking down at him with pride in his eyes. Hiei stood in the middle of a circle of students congratulating and thanking him, telling him how amazing he was, asking if he was alright. Kurama helped him wave most of them away, but some few would not leave without shaking his hand.
Kiri had helped Megame off of the sidewalk, and the girl now threw her arms around Hiei's neck. He stood, stiff and still, until the girl released him. By that time, the driver of the truck had arrived, full of apology and excuse. He offered to drive the girls to the hospital "just in case." Kiri agreed, pulling Megame along behind her. Megame never once looked away from Hiei.
Fools, Hiei thought as he watched them climb into the stranger's truck. It would have served them right if the man turned out to be a killer.
Before too very long, the crowd had dispersed, and Kurama and Hiei stood alone. Kurama put his arm around Hiei's shoulders, and Hiei looked up at him in annoyance. "That was very brave of you, Hiei," Kurama told him, beaming.
"It was imprudent," Hiei spat back.
Kurama straightened, the smile fading, but his arm remained around Hiei as they began to walk toward home. "You saved Megame's life," Kurama protested.
"I risked detection. I could have ruined the life you have here." Hiei was annoyed, both with himself, and with Kurama for not being more upset with him. In his time among the humans, it seemed Kurama was becoming more and more like them, more and more foolish. He looked down at his feet as they continued to walk.
"Hiei, I want you to understand something." Kurama stopped and turned Hiei to face him. He waited until Hiei had looked up from the ground. "This is why I wanted you here. You're starting to see things the way I do. You saw that Megame was in trouble, and you wanted to help."
Hiei thought about it for a moment. Had that been his motive? Why else would he have tried to save her? He hadn't thought until now about why he had done what he had done; at the time it had seemed merely the thing to do.
Looking into Kurama's eyes, Hiei asked the question that had been at the front of his mind since they had returned to Earth. "How can you care for these people?" Kurama's eyes clouded once more, this time with confusion, perhaps even disappointment. "Kurama, if either of us had been hit by that truck, it would barely have scratched us. But neither of us would have been in a position to be harmed in the first place, because we would have moved. These humans, they are so slow, so fragile, so weak. Each one of them will have less than one hundred years before, one way or another, their existence is brought to an end. How can you care, knowing that they will be gone so soon?"
Against all of Hiei's expectations, Kurama smiled. "I can care because, for the time being at least, I am one of them. You will learn, Hiei. It will take time, but you will learn."
That had not been what Hiei had anticipated, nor what he had wanted to hear. He shook his head, full of its confusions and its contradictions, and he ran down the street in the direction of Kurama's home. He knew Kurama would not chase him, but would follow in his own time.
What's gotten into Hiei now? Is he really beginning to learn? Where exactly does he think he's going without Kurama? All this, plus the exciting conclusion, next time!
Side note: Don't look at me like that. You and I both know that the only function female characters have ever had on this show was moral support or bumbling. Just be glad it served a purpose this time.
As we slide into the home stretch, let me just thank you all again for sticking with me. I wish I could thank all of my readers by name, but specifically Bon Clay Bon, KyoHana, Summer Rising, kuro403, and SnowOverSahara. Without you guys, I think I would have run out of motivation a while back, or at least my updates would have been way more spaced out and irregular. You guys made me want to push myself to get this done, and that's really something that's special to me. Thank you all.
