"Damn."
She stared at the cut as the blood welled with a faint sense of self depreciation. She should have paid more attention to what she was doing instead of getting lost in the memory.
She had agreed to Kazuma's idea of having everyone over for dinner. There were very few opportunities lately for all of them to see each other. Some were busy with school while others kept busy with work. It had been almost a month since they had all been able to find the time to commit to something as basic as a meal together.
She also had a much more involved reason for wanting to be near when the boys all got together. Their auras had such a unique, pervasive quality to them.
There was a defining sense of rightness when they occupied the same space, pieces of some cosmic puzzle that when those pieces aligned it infused the space surrounding them. The addition of Hiei served to complete said puzzle, enhancing it dramatically but it had been awhile since she had been privy to that atmosphere.
It was one of the few perks of being as spiritually aware as she was, being able to know that aspect of others. Being allowed to feel those qualities that most could only glimpse if the circumstances were just right. For her it was affirmation that the universe was not some cold, vacuous condition but a vibrant, tumultuous state of being that gave as much as it took.
Kazuma, Yusuke, and Keiko were entertaining themselves in the living room while she and Kurama were attending to the food.
She had been in the middle of slicing onions when she had become distracted.
She turned her face into the light breeze, closing her eyes as she concentrated.
There was a smell in the air, one that was not readily identifiable.
There was substance to it, a heaviness that normally would have been associated with another male yet there was also other scents that commingled with this one. It masked the scent, warping it into something different.
She was not all that certain if those other intermingling scents were purposeful or if there were reasons beyond that to blame for the confusion involved.
She followed those drifting clues across the tops of the human dwellings.
If this led to the one she had been seeking then it would only make perfect sense. He had taken extreme measures to keep himself hidden from the Spirit World. Such extreme measures that tracking him in the first place had taken much more time then she had originally planned.
As she moved a part of her mind remained occupied with identifying the strangeness of the scent. Human but with finest hints of demonic, succinctly male yet it held the deeper tones of things she would have associated with places more than any one being.
The richness of damp soil. The crisp sting of heavy vegetation.
She alighted on the beams of a building in construction, staring down at the singular figure that stood in the shine of an overhead streetlight.
Could it be? After all this time and effort had she finally found him?
She crushed the surge of excitement in her. She had to be sure. There was no room for error in this. If it was him then he would give himself away easily enough.
Her hand went to the hilt of her katana as she readied herself to attack.
Emerald eyes focused on her as she began to move, a hand shifting to the blood red hair...
"Here let me see."
A gentle hand grasped her's as Kurama assessed the damage she had done to herself, a frown marring his pretty features.
"You would think I would've learned to use a knife by now." she joked halfheartedly.
The frown fell away to be replaced by Kurama's brand of a smile. That slight tilt to the edges of his mouth that conveyed both amusement and fondness at the same time. He drew her over to the sink which she allowed still slightly caught up in what she had just seen.
Kurama grabbed a nearby towel and pressed it firmly against the slice she had just inflicted on herself along the edge of her middle finger. It stung, the cut looking much deeper then she had thought once he moved the towel for a quick peek before replacing it again.
She watched in fascination as he drew one of his seeds from his hair then slipped it into the soil of a plant she had sitting beside the sink. He kept his thumb over the pot and after a second a tiny plant that resembled a pea pod pushed its way out of the soil.
"Isn't that a waste?" she asked curious.
"Using my energies to help a friend?" he returned before laughing lightly, "I thought you knew me better by now Shizuru."
She shook her head, "You know what I mean."
He nodded, using his free hand to pluck the tiny plant from the soil. It opened with light pressure from his fingers. He removed the towel and proceeded to squeeze a clear substance from the plant into her cut. The stinging disappeared immediately.
"You've been very distracted lately." he observed as he concentrated on her wound.
"Have I?"
His jade green eyes flickered up to her's then back to the task, "You're hiding something. I can understand if you want to keep things to yourself. I only point it out since you seem disturbed."
It was a rare type of friendship she enjoyed with the red head. In some ways she would always view him as the younger human friend to her little brother that he appeared to be to the rest of the world.
In others she had grasped that behind it lay a mind far more knowledgeable and mature then Yusuke or Kazuma could ever be due to his demonic nature.
While he was not exactly easy to converse with at times, he was friendly in his own way. She had been pleasantly surprised by the fact that Kurama accepted that she tended to treat him both as an equal and as the adopted little brother he had become to her.
If it had been anyone else asking she would have tried more deflection or simply told them to mind their own business. The red head had a way of making both methods seem unrealistic and frankly a waste of time. If he had noticed then it might be affecting her more then she thought.
"I..." she began uncertainly.
How could she explain exactly what had been happening without sounding crazy?
"How long has it been happening?"
It was a leading question that made it sound as if he already knew what was troubling her. Somehow that made her relax a little as he pressed on her finger with a swiping motion then released the hand. She studied his handy work. If she did not know better she would not think there had been a cut in the first place.
"Since Genkai's," she answered making herself meet his eyes, "I think somehow I ended up with his memories."
Kurama's reaction to her words made her tense. His eyes narrowed slightly in thought, his body stilling to the point she was not all that certain he was still breathing.
That can't be good...
"Hiei's...memories." he clarified.
She nodded, watching him intently. Demonic fox or not Kurama had tells just like anyone else. She had spent enough time around him to have noticed them just as she knew Yusuke's and Kazuma's.
Even Genkai had been subjected to her brand of scrutiny just because she was use to doing so. It was a rare occasion that she was told all the information around this group. Knowing their tells gave her a heads up before things went down the drain.
She had no intention of any of them finding out how quickly she assessed their group and it's moods by those trace showings.
Kurama was more difficult then the others. His tells more subtle. The sudden stillness meant he was bothered by something but not necessarily that it was an entirely bad thing he was contemplating. It was just where you had to pay more attention because his mask so rarely slipped. The more disturbed he was the more firmly in place the mask became.
"How often is this happening?" he finally asked.
She shrugged, "Not all that much. It's just hard to concentrate when it does."
"Is it causing you pain?"
She chuckled, "No. If it was I'm pretty sure I would've brought it up before now. It's not like there's all that many demons walking around to ask Red."
His brow furrowed, "Shizuru you should have mentioned this before now. I am fairly well versed in many things but this is more Hiei's area of expertise."
She folded her arms, "I'm not sure I want him knowing."
Kurama's eyebrows rose in surprise. She had to look away before she started to laugh at the shock on his face.
"I don't think he would like me knowing this stuff about him." she explained slowly, "It isn't hurting me so I don't see why he ever has to know."
That was something she had no questions about. Hiei would be furious if he found out she had such intimate knowledge of him. The fire demon could adapt quickly to most things but this situation was not something that was easily adapted to.
Given what she knew about him now she did not want to be the cause of him feeling exposed and vulnerable. She had progressed far enough into those intimate thoughts to finally feel guilty. It almost felt like reading someone's diary or as if she had gained the knowledge through some form of deception.
The things she knew should have been offered to those he felt closest to, not thrown into the head of someone who was more or less a complete stranger.
Despite that she absolutely did not want to be on the receiving end of the reaction that would come after him finding out.
"Worried he might be offended?"
"That's a bad habit." she censured bringing her eyes back to his, "If you already know why should I say it?"
"I think you've thought about the repercussions for Hiei a little to much." Kurama offered leaning back on the counter, "For all we know he might have taken this...side affect into consideration to begin with. I'm not saying that he is not quick to anger. Or that he had this in mind. Only that he has a different view of things then you or I do."
"Wow you're a pretty impressive double talker." she pointed out with a small smile, "We both know he won't like finding out."
"I believe it's better that he does before rather then after something changes in those memories and you become a victim of a side affect he had not intended. Even Hiei would be offended to have his efforts in saving your life wasted." He countered, "Though I applaud the effort of you trying to protect his pride. It appears he's found himself a new champion."
"Don't get to ahead of yourself," she warned abruptly in need of a cigarette and a non Kurama zone, "Alright but if I end up dead I'm blaming you. I'm going to haunt your ass. You'll be the only demon around with a human permanently attached to them for all eternity."
"I promise to keep that in mind." he said after a moments hesitation.
"You do that. I'm going to go have a cigarette..." she glanced at him speculatively.
"I can handle the final preparations for dinner Shizuru." he assured her as she pushed away from the counter she had leaned against while they spoke.
"Sure you can...Yusuke!" she yelled.
After a second the brunette boy appeared in the doorway grinning, "Need something?"
"Yeah someone to keep Kurama from burning the kitchen down." she said.
"You trust me to tend your wounds but not to cook in your kitchen?" Kurama asked.
"Kurama...do you trust you to cook in her kitchen?" Yusuke returned grinning.
"It was one time." the fox demon half growled folding his arms.
"It took out my curtains." She reminded him though she gentled it with a hand to his shoulder.
"I can manage to prepare a meal without supervision." he insisted.
"No worries fox boy. I'm sure if you live another hundred years she'll let you try to boil water." Yusuke offered moving into the kitchen as Shizuru passed him, "It's not all that long of a wait."