Chapter Ten
Hiei was waiting in her room when Anise returned from the field with Kurama. The fire demon sat on the window seat, watching her close the door and take a seat on the bed. "Are you ready?"
Her eyebrows rose. "You mean… right now?"
"I'm here, aren't I?"
"But it's not even dark yet!" she reasoned, pointing to the yellow sky of Spirit World. "How am I supposed to go to sleep?"
Hiei stood and walked over. "You don't have to be tired to sleep," he said, pointing to his uncovered Jagan. "Did you really think I came here just to say 'hi' and walk off?"
She shook her head, scooting away from him. "N-no…"
He watched her actions. "I'm not going to coddle you like the fox does, but I'm not going to eat you either." His face scrunched up just thinking about it.
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "Um, right."
He glared at her. "What's so funny, girl?"
She stifled her laugh behind her hands, shaking her head back and forth. He flashed out of sight, suddenly appearing next to her. His face came close to hers and he opened the Jagan eye, compelling her into sleep and entering her dreams.
Hiei found himself at the bottom of a grassy hill underneath the sunny blue sky of what looked like the Human World. Anise stood at the top of the hill, spinning in circles until she collapsed. He flitted to the top of the hill, standing over her as she laughed. "Where is this? I thought we'd be in the flower shop again."
"Jeez, I don't have the same dream every time I go to sleep, you know," she giggled, sitting up. "This looks like the hill Kurama and I just came back from. It really was a beautiful place."
Her eyes were far away, and he could feel the subtle heat from her blushing cheeks when she spoke Kurama's name. He scoffed. "Why am I not surprised?" He stomped a few feet away, plopping down and trying to focus on his task.
She watched him go, confused. "Why are you so mad?"
"Shut up, I'm working."
Anise huffed. "Excuse me, it's kind of hard to enjoy a good dream when you're over there stomping around and being mad."
Hiei didn't respond, hoping that she would leave him alone if he ignored her. She stood and walked over to him, tapping his shoulder. "Human, this may be a dream, but I assure you that cutting off a hand would feel real enough."
"I have a name, you know." She sat next to him, leaving a few inches of space.
Hiei shot up, glaring at her. "You want to know what's pissing me off so much, huh?"
She held his gaze, but the anger in his eyes made it difficult to keep the courage. She swallowed and nodded.
"You are probably the strongest being that has ever existed in any of the three worlds, but you are ruled by your emotions and a misguided belief that you are important. You think that you, some random little human girl, are so significant! But you're not. Koenma doesn't care about you. Kurama doesn't care about you. I certainly don't give a shit about you. Whoever did this to you doesn't care about you. The rest of the world doesn't give a damn about you. The only thing that anyone cares about is your power, not you."
Anise dropped her gaze at his words, feeling tears welling in her eyes.
"All of you humans are the same," Hiei continued, pacing. "You think that the world revolves around you, that everyone cares about every little detail in your life, but they don't. If your powers were given to some other human, we wouldn't have even known about your existence. You would have lived, grown old, and died, and no one would care."
"S-stop…" Anise whispered weakly.
"And human females are probably the stupidest. If a man so much as glances at a woman, she thinks he must be in love with her. So let me tell you something before you start falling in love with the Fox," he said, walking in front of her and grabbing her chin. Tear gems slid down her cheeks as he looked into her eyes. "Kurama is a demon, not a human. That husk of his might be human, but the soul inside it is fully demon. The only humanity Kurama has is with that human mother of his, and there is no room for you. He treats you the same as any other girl he meets, and you are not special to him."
Anise pulled away from Hiei, fumbling her way to the top of the hill. The sky darkened into a starless, moonlit night. She collapsed at the top of the hill, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself. She felt the tingle in the back of her mind and knew that Hiei had moved on to his work. She looked toward the bottom of the hill, but he had moved somewhere else. She stared into the sky and started drawing constellations as he worked, thinking through what he said.
After a couple of hours, the tingling stopped, and she felt a new energy swirling inside of her. It was gentle and warm, and she embraced it through her whole body.
She heard Hiei walk toward her. "It's time to leave, human."
Anise nodded and stood up. She looked into his crimson eyes with her own. "Thank you, Hiei, for what you told me."
He raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'm not convinced that humans are stupid and pathetic creatures with no redeeming qualities, but… I know that I am weak, and I have a lot to learn."
He nodded, smirking. "Hn. Kurama is not the only teacher that you will have." He placed a hand on her forehead, and when she opened her eyes, she was awake and alone in her room.