"Kagome! Kagome! Kago no naka no Tori wa!
Itsu Itsu deyaru? Yoake no ban ni
Tsuru to Kame ga subetta!
Ushiro no shoumen dare ?"
Hiei watched the other children play quietly from his spot under a tree. He hated being there. The day hadn't even started, and he already hated it. He gazed up at the building before him. It felt like a prison already, and he hadn't even been inside yet.
Yusuke had been the one to walk him to school, probably because the others agreed that if Hiei got out of control again he could handle it. Hiei already knew that as they walked side by side to school.
"Yusuke?" Hiei had asked, staring at the ground as he walked. Yusuke looked at the little boy who had, only yesterday, scared the living daylights out of his other two friends. From what he'd heard it was as if the boy had begun releasing spirit energy to protect himself, but from what?
"Yeah? What, you gettin' cold feet?" Yusuke asked, hoping the slight teasing would bring a spark from the child. He was disappointed to see it didn't. He didn't even crack a smile. He just kept staring at the ground as he walked.
"Nothing..."
Hiei had wanted to ask him if he thought he was a monster, but had gotten scared at the last moment. He was certain that Yusuke wouldn't call him a monster, but there was still that fear that he would. Maybe he wouldn't mean to say it, but an accident could reveal his deepest thoughts, right?
Hiei sighed audibly and pulled his knees to his chest. Kids were already beginning to make jokes about the bandage on his head. He knew, he could here them talking about it all the way across the playground. He rubbed the bandage with the back of his hand and felt the dent in his skin beneath it. He frowned and the dent flinched slightly before becoming a single raised line beneath the bandage.
'Monster.'
"Hey!" Hiei looked up and saw a school teacher standing over him. She held out her hand to him. "Well come on, school has started."
Hiei took her hand and allowed her to help him stand. She had a kindly face and warm eyes. "Are you my teacher?" Hiei asked, bringing his hand to his mouth to bite his nails.
"Yes I am, I'm Miss-" Hiei met the woman's gaze and she stopped talking instantly. He slipped a part of his mind into her mind through the scar in his forehead and began planting memories and commands. By the time he was done she was walking cheerfully back to school holding the hand of an invisible boy.
She would send the 'boy' to class once they were inside and forget about him until the end of the day when she would mark down his grades and attendance in the book on her desk. Hiei turned away from her and walked off the school grounds, wondering what he would do now that he had the whole day to himself.
"Botan, how is everything with in the human world?" Koenma asked, flipping through the channels on his TV. War. Murder. A birthday party. Political scandal. Bo-ring.
"Ooh! Quick! Change the channel to the elementary school!" Botan said, dropping a stack on papers in front of Koenma and staring at the screen. Koenma pushed the papers out of his way and groaned.
"An elementary school? Why, if I may ask?"
"It's Hiei's first day, I want to see how he does!" Botan said excitedly, "I bet he'll be just like Kurama and get straight A's."
"If you say so Botan," Koenma said, looking somewhat embarrassed by her intense enthusiasm. He raised the remote and clicked twice, turning the channel to a small elementary school hall where students were hurrying to class, crying for their parents, or simply goofing off. Koenma let out a low whistle.
"What a zoo! Are you sure you're going to be able to find him in this mess?" Koenma asked, seeing no one that even remotely resembled the little fire demon.
"Huh... uh..." Botan looked up and down the screen before grabbing the remote from Koenma and changing the channel. "He must be in the classroom already!"
Koenma watched her scan the classroom, which took much less time then the hallway, and strongly suspected Hiei was not there either. His suspicions were confirmed when Botan stuck her hands on her hips and emitted a cry of outrage.
"That Yusuke must be setting a -horrible- example if he's skipping the first day of school!" She said, turning away from the TV and heading for the door. Koenma looked into the classroom for a moment before turning his head towards Botan.
"Hey! Wait! Where are you going? I still need an update on the Human World!" He cried, hopping out of his seat and following her only as far as the door.
"I'll tell you when I get back, Koenma sir!"
Kurama was at school, studying in Biology. Yusuke was being dragged down the hall by Keiko to his next class. Kuwabara was already in class, goofing off. Genkai was at home, playing a video game. Yukina was doing house work. Hiei replaced the bandage and groaned slightly, feeling the steady ache in his forehead become a sharp pain.
He wasn't sure what it was that hurt so badly in his head, but he did know that whatever it was seemed to give him these strange abilities to watch people from far away, control people, and lift things. He had a feeling that if he kept testing it out he'd be able to do much more, but he wasn't a masochist and he didn't like the headaches that came with using it. He sighed and fell back into the grass.
Once he'd managed to get out of school Hiei had walked almost by accident to the park and headed back into one of it's most remote places. There he had found a tree so far out of the way he didn't think anyone would notice him, and had taken a short nap. Now he wasn't sure what to do.
His head still ached, and he was beginning to feel hungry. Sure, lying in the grass in a patch of sun was enjoyable, but he was seven. He needed to do something, anything.
After a few moments of restlessness, he grabbed a stick off the ground and then a rock. Tossing the rock in the air, he began to swing at it wildly with his stick. One hit sent it spiraling into the tree where it bounced off. Hiei ran to retrieve it so he could hit the rock again. This time he kept it airborne for three hits before it was sent spinning into the brush.
Hiei grinned faintly. He liked this new game.
"Oh, where is he? When I find that boy, I swear I'm gonna drag his butt to school!" Botan said as she drifted lazily over the skies of the Human World. She could not find him at his school, nor Kurama's, not Yusuke's, and she hadn't seen him at his house either. She began to turn around for another look at the school when she passed over the park and heard an odd sound.
She drifted lower and heard it again. A crack, like the sound of a baseball being his with a bat. The sound rang out again, and again. Botan landed easily and put her oar away, then she began to follow the sounds. From a distance she saw Hiei swinging a stick through the air and keeping a small rock up in the air. He was so caught up in the process he didn't even notice Botan zooming down through the trees and landing behind him.
"HIEI!" That, however, he noticed. Hiei jumped as if someone had shocked him and the rock fell from the air and landed on his head, startling him further and making him fall down. Botan watched Hiei stand up and totter around a bit before looking at her.
"Darn, I forgot about you..." He mumbled quietly, wondering if there was any way he could invade Botan's mind like he had the teachers. Botan sent Hiei a mean look and held her oar threateningly.
"Hiei! What are you doing skipping school like this? Don't you know how important an education is?!" She said, brandishing the oar at him. Hiei looked away from her and began to search for the rock.
"I'm not going to school no one likes me there," He said, picking up the rock at tossing it in the air. He raised the stick to swing when Botan caught the rock. Hiei glared at her, but the look of concern on her face surprised him slightly.
"What do you mean no one likes you? Hiei, you haven't even been there one day and you already think that?" She said walking over and setting her hand on his head. Hiei looked down and slightly off to the side so he couldn't see Botan at all. She had looked at him with pity many times before, but lately it just bothered him when she did it.
"No one likes me, that's all," He mumbled, pushing Botan's hand off his head and scowling slightly. Botan was surprised, since she had made the same affectionate gesture only a few days ago and received a smile for it. Now he just stood with his arms crossed, stick in hand, scowling at the ground. She settled her hand on his shoulder and, not feeling him resist, knelt down to his level.
"Hiei, what makes you think they don't like you?" She asked gently, trying to coax the information from the boy. His expression didn't even soften as he spoke.
"They're making fun of the bandage on my head, and they keep calling me names! I know they don't like me, and I'm not going back. I-"
'-am a monster who might hurt someone.'
"-don't belong there!" Hiei yelled, his frustration and confusion running high. He didn't know why the other children didn't seem to like him, but every time he thought about it he always came to the same answer. He did not belong. They were not the same.
"Hiei!" Botan said, turning the child so he faced her. Hiei clenched his fists and began to feel the stirring. He focused everything he had to block it out.
"Hiei, everyone get's called names at school, not just you. It doesn't mean people-" She stopped when she felt his growing spirit energy. It felt like static electricity crackling over her hands, her arms, over her clothes, and through her hair. She felt as though she were hanging onto two wires and using her own body to complete the circuit. She struggled to hang on.
"Hiei, what is it? Hiei?" Botan said, gritting her teeth against a sudden surge of energy from the child. How had his power grown so much without them knowing? He had levitated things through his Jagan, but the Jagan was a completely separate being from Hiei. It was a parasite using his life and energy to live. For Hiei to be generating this much spirit energy...
Hiei shook his head quietly, face scrunched in a look of pain and concentration. She thought she could hear him whispering something, as though hearing some invisible voice that was accusing him of a crime. She forced herself to grip him tighter and was rewarded with a sharp pain that bolted up one arm and down the other. She felt the air around him begin to grow hot and released on of her hands.
"Hiei! Snap out of it!" She didn't mean to hit him as hard as she did, but she couldn't think of another way to shake the boy from his fugue. Her hand made connection with a loud, sharp SMACK. Hiei blinked, looking dazed, and the energy he had been generating simply vanished. The mark on his face turned white, and then blood red.
"Oh..." Botan watched the child reach up and touch his face, eyes wide with shock. He lowered his hand and looked at the ground, as if trying to work out what had just happened. He could remember the voice talking again and then his face had hurt. When he looked back up he saw Botan's eyes, full of tears.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Botan sobbed, pulling the child into a firm embrace. Hiei blinked and then gently patted Botan's shoulder. She hugged him tighter and Hiei frowned. He could remember her shaking him, but not much else until he had been hit. All he could remember was the voice, and that bothered him. He sighed and pulled Botan away so she was at arms length.
"Botan? Are you okay?" He asked, deciding to overlook his own problem for the moment and worry once Botan had stopped crying. Botan stared at Hiei as if he should have been acting differently. Botan began to wipe her eyes.
"Hiei, don't you-"
Hiei, seeing that no more tears were going to fall from his friend's eyes, let go of Botan and began to walk away. He wasn't sure why, but the whole situation was making his very uncomfortable and confused. He had been hugged a lot by Botan before, but now it just felt kind of creepy. Seeing her cry had been odd as well, since she was always so happy. He dropped his stick and picked up his book bag.
"Hey Botan? Can we get some ice cream?"
Botan handed Hiei his ice cream, still surprised that Hiei didn't remember her striking him, and followed him to a bench. Hiei hummed quietly, kicking his feet gently and licking frantically at his ice cream. Botan felt a smile pull at the edge of her mouth. How could someone be so dangerous and so precious at the same time?
Hiei looked up at Botan, a glint of curiousity in his eyes. "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, nothing, just enjoying the day," Botan answered, digging into her own strawberry cone. Hiei shrugged and returned to his ice cream, casting out his sense experimentally. His head ached faintly, but the pain was not as bad as when he had watched everyone earlier. He could feel Botan beside him, her energy a bubbling pool of guilt tainted concern, and beyond them the ice cream vendor who seemed about bored out of his gourd. He reached further.
There was a squirrel, hot on the trail of some new food source, and a bird who was getting tired of flying. He could feel people, and a girl who was walking through the park. She felt a little younger then him, so maybe she was there with her parents. A little beyond that-
Hiei dropped his cone and slid himself back against the bench. What is that?! Botan looked at him curiously.
"Hiei? What's wrong?" She asked, making Hiei looked up at her in a sudden dawning comprehension. He grabbed Botan's hand and pulled, making her rise from her seat.
"Come on Botan, we gotta go home," He said, taking fearful looks around as he began to pull her towards the park exit. Botan frowned.
"Why do you want to go home so suddenly?" She asked, noting the fear in his eyes and movements. Hiei looked up at her and smiled weakly.
"I think Genkai is in the park somewhere, and I don't want her to know I skipped school. She yells really loud," He said, summoning up as much honesty in his tone as he could. Botan laughed, which must have meant she bought it, and began to lead Hiei out of the park.
"Silly, you're going to have to face her eventually," Botan said, looking down at the boy. That's when she saw it, a flash of something like concern mingled in the fear, concern that wouldn't be there if it was just Genkai he was worried about. She opened her mouth to talk and saw the red mark on his face she created. She winced internally and turned her head away. She'd ask the boys if anything was wrong later.
Note: Working up towards the finale here.
...Of course that'll probably take an ungodly amount of chapters to do...
...There's no end to it, is there?
