Hiei couldn't explain the feelings that went through him. While her past was nothing compared to his, the pain in her voice made him what to comfort her. But how? Another thought went through his mind. He felt like the need to comfort her should make him feel weak but somehow he felt stronger. How was that possible? Suddenly he pictured her smile from the clearing, when she flew the fire at a tree successfully. She looked so genuinely happy that it almost made him feel... warm. And the way she danced away from Kurama the first time. He had to fight the urge to glare at the way Kurama would stumble whenever she moved her hips. How did she make him feel like this?
She must have been the first person to be so open with him so quickly. Usually people just keep their distance. It almost seemed like her unusual kindness caused this weird warmth feeling inside him. It kind of felt... refreshing. He watched her as she spoke. He noticed the pain in her eyes even when her face showed no emotion. And noticed her frown whenever she paused to think of the past. When she finished talking they just sat in silence. Hiei didn't know what to say, supplying comfort definitely isn't his forte. But she seemed okay with the silence, so he just sat there; thinking.
He almost wanted to compare these feelings and this unspoken bond—a bond that has obviously been created over the past few days—to the feelings he has to Mukuro. But what he was feeling now was completely different. With Mukuro, it was a certain level of respect. Of a similar past they both share. But with Aly-Jay... there was a certain softness to it. It actually kind of reminded him on how lonely he felt. Sure he has Yusuke and the gang, but it's not the same. He had no desire to open himself up to the guys, but he kind of wanted to with Aly-Jay.
When she finally looked over at him, he couldn't bring himself to look away. He could see the full level of pain in her eyes. Knowing she couldn't control fire. Not knowing if that girl was still alive. But there was something else in her eyes now. Something questioning, wanting.
Finally, he looked down at their hands that were almost touching. Without thinking, without giving him the chance to second guess himself, he placed his hand over hers. It was so soft... and warm.
I woke up the next morning feeling calm and happy. It feels like I haven't felt like this in forever. I was ready to face the day with a smile. But I still felt that burning in my chest. In fact, now that I paid attention to it, the burning felt like it spread throughout the my whole torso.
To ignore the pain, I started to think about last night. It surprisingly worked. It didn't go much further than the whole hand touching thing. In fact, Hiei did leave pretty quickly after that. But I couldn't help but feel like it was a lot more than a simple hand touch. We crossed a line last night that I wasn't expecting and it felt amazing.
After changing I went downstairs for breakfast. I was the last one up but it didn't seem by much since it sounded like the guys were just settling down at the island. As I passed the living room, I noticed Hiei sitting in his usual spot. Knowing that he wouldn't be the type to acknowledge what happened last night, I just walked passed him and into the kitchen. But just when I was about to enter the kitchen, I couldn't fight the urge to look back. He was watching me but I just gave him a small smile before going to help myself to breakfast.
We jumped right into business after we ate. Since my hand-to-hand has improved greatly, we decided to jump right into the elemental stuff. I was stretching my shoulders as we walked towards the middle. When we got to our usual spot I turned to Hiei who was only a few feet away.
"You don't get angry very often, do you?" Hiei asked as he turned to face me.
I shook my head. "I'm not really the angry type, and I don't like living with anger. It causes this weird feeling in my chest." Mentioning that caused me to rub my still burning torso.
"That's what I thought." Hiei paused to think for a second. "I've been thinking about that fireball you threw a few days ago. You were getting frustrated because you couldn't change it, weren't you?"
I nodded.
"Hmm. Yes. I think I know a way to improve your fire demon side." He paused for a second. "You need to get angry. Anger will help you control it."
I raised an eyebrow at that. And he jut realized this now? That's when it hit me. The story I told him last night. I was angry when the fire appeared out of no where. Maybe anger is the key. "Okay," I said. "Now how do we get me angry?"
Everyone thought about it.
"Insult you?" Yusuke suggested.
I chuckled at that. "But I'd know you'd just be saying it to make me angry. It wouldn't be real."
The next thing I knew, I was on my back and a couple feet away from where I was standing. Groaning, I sat up to see Hiei in a battle stance. The fuck? Frowning at him, I started to get up. Hiei only attacked again, pushing me down to the ground.
"What the hell, Hiei?" I heard Kuwabara yell. Oh yeah, he decided to actually join us today rather than trying to chase after Yukina. I looked over at him to see Genkai hold him back. The others just stood back and watched. Thanks for the moral support guys.
Every time I tried to dodge Hiei and get up, he would only find a way to get me back on my back or hands and knees. I was really starting to feel helpless and weak and it began to irritate me. Every time I ended up on my hands and knees I couldn't help but feel useless or like I was bowing down at him. I didn't like it one bit. And whenever he pushed me down, the burning in my chest would increase. I couldn't stand this feeling. I may be small but I'm not weak.
"Stop it!" I yelled, which caused Hiei to pause. I felt this familiar burning in my right palm. Without thinking, I made a throwing gesture towards Hiei. My eyes widened with shock as I watched a fire ball hit Hiei directly in the chest.
Hiei seemed surprise as well since he made no movement to dodge. Not like he needed to. All the fireball did was cause him to take a few steps back to regain his balance. It also caused a hole in his shirt to reveal part of his chest. Don't stare. Don't stare. Don't stare.
"Way to go, Aly-Jay!" Yusuke cheered.
Grateful for the reason to look away from Hiei, I looked over at Yusuke and smiled. I finally was able to get up without Hiei beating me back down. After brushing myself off, I crossed my arms and put most of my weight on my right side so my hip was kind of popped out. I glare at Hiei as I said, "Well, it's great that we figured out how to make me angry. And I'd like to say I don't want to do that again but for some reason, I don't think that's going to happen."
Hiei tried to attack me again, but this time I was able to dodge him. And just like that, training started in full swing. I wasn't able to improve too much on my fire demon side. Hiei could make me irritated and frustrated, but it didn't get me very far. It felt like I needed to embrace my inner anger but I couldn't get to it. I didn't have this dark, lonely, past to go on. Most of my life I've felt safe and secure.
Since I didn't do a lot of stretching this morning, I decided to get some done after dinner. And since I wasn't willing to make the whole trip to the front of the compound, I decided to make do with what little room I had in my bedroom. I said goodnight to Yusuke and Kuwabara and they just have a "goodnight wave" since they were too busy watching TV. Shaking my head at them with a soft chuckle, I made my way upstairs towards my room.
The next morning, during breakfast, I began to feel a little stir crazy. While I haven't had the opportunity to feel bored—not with all this training—I did feel like I needed to get out. I needed to do something active that didn't involve training. Half way through our meal I decided to try and do something about it.
"Guys," I said to gain their attention, "could we do something today that doesn't involve training in anyway?"
Everyone looked at each other for a second before Kurama turned to me. "Was there something you have in mind?"
As I thought about it for a second, then realized that I actually didn't. "Not really... I'd just like to go out." Then I got an idea. "Actually, now that I think about it, I'd like to go swimming or something. I can see the days are getting shorter, I want to enjoy summer while it's still around. But I didn't bring a swimsuit. So do you think we could go to town so I can get one?"
"Sure," Yusuke said, "we can go right after breakfast. I'll even let Keiko know. Maybe we can meet up with her."
I nodded. "Great!" I could use an oestrogen fix.
We quickly finished our breakfast then got ready to head out. Since we were actually going into town, I wanted to change into something more suitable. Sweats and a tank just didn't seem appropriate. Because the weather was nice, I changed into some white loose fitting shortish shorts and a light blue V-neck shirt. To finish it all off, I put on my light grey cardigan and my pair of toms from one of my bags. Not having to wear my work out clothes was actually kind of refreshing.
On our way to the steps that left the compound, we bumped into Yukina.
"Hey, Yukina," Kuwabara said with a huge grin on his face. "We're going to town for a bit, did you want to come?"
"Oh?" Yukina said.
I took a step towards her. "Yeah, plus we plan on going swimming later. Did you want to join us?"
A small smile grew on her face. "That sounds like fun. But unfortunately, I don't have a swim suit."
"That's fine," I said before Kuwabara had the chance. "I don't either, that's the main reason why we're going to town. Come on, it will be fun. Keiko is meeting us there too."
"Alright," Yukina said, her smile growing.
It didn't take us too long to meet up with Keiko at a shop that she recommend. Since Keiko already had a swimsuit, she just helped Yukina and I pick something out. The guys went off to do something else since shopping wasn't really their 'scene.' It didn't take us too long to find something that we liked. While I couldn't sway Yukina away from a one piece, I did find a nice one that worked well with her figure. I probably would have gone for a one piece to if Jessie hadn't practically beaten me up one summer because I was too self conscious over my body. Because of her, I'm a strong believer in showing off your assets whenever you can while you've got them. In a tasteful manner of course. When I came out in a deep, fiery, red halter top with a matching side strings bottom, Keiko blushed softly.
"Whoa," she said. "You look amazing. I wish I could pull something like that off."
I huffed and waved my hand. "You're joking right? You could totally pull something like this off. You'd look amazing. Plus, I'm sure it would drive Yusuke crazy." I winked at her for good measure.
Keiko only blushed even more and changed the subject. Once we were done purchasing our items, we went outside to see the guys waiting there with ice cream. Convenient to, because the moment I took a step outside I noticed it had gotten a lot hotter.
"Here," Kurama said, handing me a vanilla ice cream cone. "We weren't sure what you would like so I figured plain and simple would be a good guess."
"Thank you," I said, taking it from him. "Vanilla is actually my favourite." I tilted my head to try and lick away the melting ice cream.
"Here," Yukina said, with a little giggle. She reached out towards my ice cream, and without touching it, she refroze it.
"That was amazing," I said, a little excited. "Thank you."
Since we had finished what we set out to do and it was still rather early, we took our time heading back to Genkai's compound. As we windowed shopped, I was able to catch up with Keiko. We haven't talked since we graduated high school, and while there wasn't anything new going on with her, I told her all about my training. I hadn't realized how much I wanted to talk about all this until I started talking to Keiko. It helped a lot that she knew all about Demon World and everything.
By the time we made it back to the compound it was time for lunch. Keiko and Yukina helped to teach me how to cook while the guys watched TV. I'm good at making typical breakfast meals, but utterly hopeless when it came to making lunch and dinner. Both of them were excellent teachers and I caught on quickly. When lunch was ready I went to go tell the guys to come eat. As I poked my head out of the kitchen I noticed Hiei sitting at the window seat. I tried to get Hiei to come eat with us, but he refused. So instead, I went to go make a plate for him.
As I set it at his feet, I looked over at him to see him staring at me. "Here," I said. "You might not want to eat with us, but you should still eat."
Hiei actually nodded before taking the plate. Unsure of how to react to that, I just turned and went to eat with the others. When we were all done eating, I gathered all the plates while Keiko and Yukina did the washing and drying. I invited the girls to come upstairs so we could all change into our swimsuits. After getting help with tying my top, I changed into a loose summer dress that I had gotten at the store. All ready and set to go, the girls and I got downstairs to see the guys waiting.
We all started to get going, but as we reached the door I noticed Hiei wasn't coming. I paused at the door. "Come on, Hiei, you should come."
"No," was his only answer.
"Come on," I insisted. "I'd really like it if you came. And I wont accept that no as your answer." As if to prove a point, I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame, waiting.
Hiei glared over at me, and I returned it with a playful one of my own. Without a word, he got up and joined us.
"Oh," Kurama said with a small smile. "So you've decided to come, Hiei"
"Shut up, Kurama."
I was a little surprised by how long it took us to get to the beach but grateful as well. By the time we got there I knew I didn't have to worry about getting cramps when swimming. At first most of us just walked along the beach. Yusuke and Keiko walked off ahead of us while I walked along the water with Yukina.
It was nice talking to her. She was a really sweet girl, kind of naive at times, but sweet nonetheless. Plus, it was nice that I didn't have to look up at her while we talked. As we turned to start walking back to Kurama and Hiei—both of them decided to stay behind and relax at this large log—Yukina and I took off our shoes and walked in the water, letting the waves hit our ankles.
"Is the water nice?" Kurama asked when we got within earshot
"Mhmm," Yukina and I said at the same time. Both of us stared at each other for second before we laughed softly.
"You should join us," I added.
Kurama waved me off gently. "No thanks. I'm not much of a water baby."
I shrugged before turning to Yukina. "You ready to go swimming?"
She nodded with a smile. Both of us took off whatever we needed before started to walk towards the water.
Before we got too far away, I turned around to face the guys. I didn't miss the fact that Hiei was staring, but he quickly looked away. Trying to ignore that kind of attention from him, I looked over at Kurama. "Are you sure you don't want to join us?"
Kurama barely batted an eye. "Yes, I'm sure."
Without another word, I turned back around and ran into the water. I loved the way water made me feel. It was so relaxing. Although, I could never tell if it was because of my water demon side or if it's just a natural love for it.
Yukina and I just played around at first, splashing each other and stuff. It wasn't long before Keiko decided to join us as well. While playing around was good and everything, I couldn't help but feel like I actually wanted to go swimming. So while the others were distracted, I drove down under the waves and swam off, deeper into the ocean. When I finally came up for air, I noticed I was already a few miles away from the others. Whoa! Could I really hold my breath for that long?
I could see and hear the others clearly. I thought it was a little weird at first but just assumed it was because of the demon in me. Yukina and and Keiko paused in their playing when they noticed I was around. When they finally spotted me, I waved to show that I was okay. They seemed okay with it, but I noticed Kurama and Hiei got up from their spot on the log, and kept their eyes on me. Talk about paranoid.
My thoughts barely finished before I felt something wrap around my ankle. I didn't have time to react before I was pulled under. Not willing to go without a fight, I kicked my ankles hoping it would shake him off. I tried to look down to get some kind of glimpse at whoever had a grip on me. Unfortunately, the water was so dark that I couldn't see much farther than the human looking hand that held my ankle. I felt his hand slip so I gave a hard kick. Thankfully that worked so I began to swim up to get some air. Luck wasn't on my side, however, since I only had enough time to gasp for air before being pulled back down.
Since my struggles weren't working, I decided that I should try to use the water. I was in an ocean after all. Not sure if I wanted to attack right away, I decided to make a whirlpool around my ankle, forcing him to let go and go deeper down into the darkness. Wanting to get away as soon as I could, I reversed the whirlpool and made it big enough for me to stand on as it lifted me out of the ocean.
At that point I could hear Yusuke tell the girls to get out of the water. Seconds later, the demon, creature... thing, burst out of the water. It looked like he hovered in the air for a second before rushing at me. Caught off guard, I lost my balance and got blown back. I adjusted my body so I flipped backwards. Before I landed, I pointed my toes and straightened my whole body so when I reached the water, I just drove straight down. When I felt I was deep enough, I catapulted forward, so when I came back out I was behind this guy.
My plan actually worked. I was a little surprised to see that I had actually caught him off guard. Commanding the water around me, I used it to wrap him up making him unable to move. Standing on the reversed whirlpool, I used the water to bring him forward. I could hear the guys trying to make their way towards me, but since I was so deep into the ocean it was a slow process.
When he was finally close enough, I asked, "Who are you?"
The guy actually whimpered and tried to get away. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't think you had control. I figured... I-I-I figured I'd give it a shot. You're much more powerful than I thought. I'm s-s-s-sorry, I didn't mean to o-o-o-offed you. P-p-p-please let me go."
Realizing that he was actually just a coward—hoping that the element of surprise would make him able to capture me—I decided to let him go. I forced him back a little before moving me hands in a position as if I was holding him. Using the water to my advantage, I made a motion as if I threw him over my shoulder. At the same time, he got thrown into the horizon.
Proud of my first—kind of—victory, I turned towards the guys with a huge grin on my face. They continued to make their way towards me, this time Kurama and Hiei successfully bouncing over the water. As they got closer I began to feel this weird, burning in my chest. Knowing it wasn't a good sign, I threw both my hands forward in a way to tell them to stop. I barely got the word out before I felt fire explode around me.
As I felt my fire side explode with power, I saw Hiei and Kurama get blown back. I tried to gain control over it, but I could tell it wanted release after I only used water to fight off that demon. It was angry and demanded dominance. I heard myself scream from the pain of it. It was so intense that I almost felt numb from it. Kurama yelled at Hiei to try and contain the fire. I heard Hiei grunt from the effort. Blinded from the pain, I couldn't see what was happening around me.
It almost felt like the fire was trying to prove a point. That it wanted to show water that it was powerful and can't be tied down. Once fire seemed satisfied, it suddenly went away leaving me to fall back into the water. My brain yelled at me to try and swim up to the surface, but my body didn't listen. I didn't feel like I had any control over my body. So I started to sink. Pain pounded in my head and when I opened my eyes I saw blood mixing with the ocean's water. Where is it coming from?
I vaguely remember someone grabbing me and pulling me to the surface. Warm, strong, arms wrapped around me when I was finally able to gasp for air. I felt something drip down from my nose. Slowly, I forced my hand up and wiped at my nose. Pulling my hand back, I saw that it was blood. I got a nose bleed? Weird...
"It's going to be okay, Aly-Jay. Just breathe." Was that Hiei? His voice was so quiet...
Forcing myself to keep my eyes open, I looked up to see Hiei bounce across the water. He was running as fast as he could making my hair fly around me. I assumed it was so he could stay over the water rather than just sinking down. I felt him gently place me down on the sand while the others rushed to check up on me. Everything began to go black even as I tried to fight it. I don't want to be a fainter. Please don't be a fainter... The last thing I remember is feeling Hiei's warm cloak being placed around me.
