Chapter 11
Heart Trouble
Yukina and I finished up the dishes and I'm now walking around the temple trying to find where Kurama is hiding at. After trying multiple locations I'm about to give up when I walk into a room and see him sitting on a couch reading a book. He hears me come in and looks up from his book. I walk halfway into the room and give him a nervous smile.
"So this is where you've been hiding huh?" I look around to see that it's a small library/reading room I make a mental note to see if any books are in English before I turn my attention back to the waiting Kurama. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you're reading, if you want I can come back." I point at the door behind me then lace my fingers behind my back and rock on my heels a few times. He shuts his book with a polite smile. "It's quite alright. Did you need something?"
I chew on my bottom lip in thought, but stop when I see his eyes glance at my nervous habit before meeting my eyes again. "Umm, Yeah… So you're pretty smart right?" It was more of a statement than a question, but I felt like I should ask anyways.
He chuckles at me while he puts his book aside. "I suppose so." I see the questioning look in his eyes as he watches me intently. I shift from one foot to the other—uneasy under his intense gaze. "Ok so I have a question and I asked Yukina earlier and she said that I should talk to you because you can explain things easier to me than she can." I make my over to the couch and sit facing him.
His face goes blank while he eyes me trying to figure out what my question is. "What is it?" His eyes get that calculating look in them that I've noticed he gets when his mind is hard at work.
I reach out for his hand, but hesitate. "Just bear with me for a moment, ok?" He quirks an eyebrow at me, but doesn't question me as I grab his hand. I put his hand on my chest where my heart is and his eyebrows shoot up, clearly not expecting this. I clear my throat to get the bad thoughts out of my mind.
"I was hoping that you'd be able to tell me why I can't feel my own heart beating. Can you feel anything or do I really have no heart beat?" I bite my lip again as I hold his hand against my chest. He gives me a knowing smile and then chuckles at me which makes me frown. I really don't think this is something to laugh at…
"You have no heart beat because you're a demon. Demons don't have beating hearts like humans do. We have what's called a core and it basically works the same way a human heart would, but it just doesn't beat. It circulates our power throughout our body and regulates our organs similar to a human heart."
My eyebrows furrow as I try to take this information in. "So what you're saying is that I'm not some kind of weird zombie, but I'm a normal demon?" I look up into his eyes with the same serious look and see a twinkle of amusement shining in those unnerving green eyes. I'm so glad he gets such great amusement from me…Not.
"Yes you are perfectly normal." I let out a sigh of relief and let his hand drop before leaning back into the couch. "Well that's good I guess…Weird, but good." I give him a smile which he returns.
"Is that all you wanted to know?" He asks with that same twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Yes…for now. Thank you." I look up at the ceiling. "I just figured that with my luck I'd turn into some brain hungry zombie. And then somebody would have to kill me before I started to munch on people's heads and then I'd be dead…but for real this time." My face stays serious as I admit my idiotic thoughts.
I look back at him to see him trying to cover the smile on his face with his hand and I feel my face heat up from embarrassment. "Hey it's not funny! You wouldn't be laughing if I really did turn into a zombie!" I snort unattractively before I continue. "I swear somebody upstairs has a grudge against me or something because I've had the worst luck ever the past few months! And I swear I didn't break any mirrors or walk under any ladders lately to earn such bad luck." I sit up quickly and look at him as a wild thought hits me.
"Oh! Do you think someone could have put a curse on me?!" My eyes go wide when I think about it. "Oh my gosh there was this shady looking drunk old man that I kicked out of the coffee shop for trying to steal a table filled with bags of coffee! He was mumbling very odd things when he left…Do you think he cursed me?!" I put my hands on the sides of my face while I try to recall what happened that day. I don't really believe in things like that, but who am I to say it couldn't have happened. I mean come one! I died and now I'm a freaking demon! How much of a stretch would it be to believe that someone could put a curse on you?
Kurama's laughter breaks my over dramatic panic and my head whips back over to him. "What?!" He clears his throat to get rid of the laughter before answering. "I don't think you were cursed, but it does sound like you've dealt with some very interesting people and that you have a very wild imagination."
I put a hand on my chin and narrow my eyes in thought. "Yeah I guess that'd be a little too crazy right? I guess everything just happens for a reason even if I don't like it." I let a puff of air out and run my hand through my hair before I grin at him. "You have no idea the crazy caffeine deprived people that I've had to deal with. It's a really good thing that I'm such a patient person otherwise I'd have stabbed someone in the eye with a straw or something. And my imagination isn't wild just…colorful." I laugh at myself. My smile softens and I look back at Kurama with a thoughtful look.
"Thanks so much Kurama. I know that we really don't know each other that well, but I really appreciate that you listened to my craziness. You're a great guy, you know that?" I give him a warm smile and he almost seems taken aback by my words. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
"You're welcome, but I don't think I helped very much." I shake my head at him. "Sometimes all a girl needs is for someone to listen to her and you've been a very good listener, so thank you." He gives me a soft smile. "You're welcome." I stretch my arms over my head before leaning back into the couch again.
I look around the room for a few minutes while we sit in a comfortable silence. I see Kurama out of the corner of my eye pick up his book and start reading again. I turn my attention back on him and I scoot closer to him—trying to be stealth, but it's not working very well. He seems to notice that I moved closer and raises an eyebrow at me with his polite face on.
I stretch my neck out to see the book in his hands and to my dismay it's in Japanese so I can't read what it is. I let out a puff of air before I scoot away again. Kurama is watching me with an amused look the entire time. "Did you need something?" He finally asks with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
I try to act nonchalant, but it just comes off as awkward and he just waits for me to answer patiently. "Umm no." I shake my head no and he gives me one last look before continuing his reading. I look around the room again and start to fidget with a loose string on my shirt. After a few minutes I finally look over at Kurama again to see that he's doing a really good job at ignoring my child-like wiggling. "What are you reading?" I look over at the book again and crinkle my nose when I still can't read it.
"It's just a historical book that I just happened to find on one of the shelves. It's quite interesting." He puts the book down again and gives me his attention. I almost feel bad interrupting his reading like this…almost being the key word. There's just nothing to do around here so I might as well bug someone for some type of entertainment.
"You know I love to read so it really sucks that I can't read any of these books because they're all in Japanese. Why can't there be some books in English lying around somewhere?" I give him a questioning look and he gives me an amused look in return.
"I could teach you if you'd like." I feel my nose crinkle again at the thought of learning how to read in Japanese, it's just looks way too complicated for my wandering mind. He chuckles at me as if reading my thoughts. "It's not as hard as it looks." I look at him like he's crazy.
I scoff before gesturing at him with a wave of my hand. "Says the genius who can speak more than one language… Japanese writing looks like freaking abstract art to me. It's pretty to look at, but I have no freaking clue on what it's supposed to be." That causes him to bite his thumb to try to keep the serious look on his face and to stop his laughter that I can see trying to escape; which causes a smile to spread on my face. 'HA! At least someone understands my humor.'
"But seriously I don't want you wasting your time on teaching me how to read Japanese writing. I don't want to make a bigger fool out of myself when I don't get it. Thank you though, I appreciate the offer." He eyes me for a second before he gets this sly little twinkle in his eyes. Why do I get the feeling he's planning something?
"So you're saying that I'm not a good enough teacher, am I right?" He gives me an almost hurt look which makes something in my chest ache. A little voice in the back of my mind is saying 'Stop it's a trap!', but his big green wounded puppy dog eyes make me feel guilty for saying no, so that small voice just becomes smothered under my damn overbearing conscious.
"No that's not what I'm saying at all! It's just that it'll take you way too long to teach me how to read it and I don't want you to waste your time." I wave my hands in front of me trying to clear up the miscommunication. In the meantime my guilty conscious is screaming at me for turning down this poor man's offer and hurting his feelings. What's wrong with you?! All he wants to do is help and you go and reject it?! Look at his sad face! Apologize before it's too late! APOLOGIZE! …Yeah my conscious is pretty demanding sometimes.
"Ah I see. So you are saying that I'm slow." He frowns, but I can still see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I make a frustrated noise as I rub a hand down my face. "No! You'd probably be a great teacher! I'm saying that I'd probably be a really bad student!" I run a frustrated hand through my hair getting even more frustrated when my fingers snag on a knot and painfully pulls my hair.
"Well the only way to find out is if you let me teach you, otherwise I might feel like you have no confidence in me at all." He tries to hide his smirk when he says that last bit and I mentally curse myself as I feel like I've fallen into a trap and that little annoying voice speaks up again as it says 'I told you so!'.
I let out a defeated sigh and slouch down into myself. "Fine! You can teach me, but I will make no promises about my learning skills." I sit up straight and point at him to emphasize my point. His smirk grows into a smile and I eye him suspiciously. "Ok we'll start in a few days."
My eyes widen and then narrow when my slow mind finally puts all the pieces together and figures out that I've just been played. He's so smooth that I didn't even know it until it was over. I open my mouth and close it a few times like a fish out of water until I find the right words and he's just sitting there watching me the whole time with an amused look to his face. "You totally played me didn't you? And I fell face first into you're trap."
"I don't know what you're talking about." I can't help the smile that's growing on my face when I snort at the innocent look he's trying to play off on me. "You are one sly fox, you know that? I'll remember that. This'll be the last time you'll play me like this." His eyes sparkle with amused mischief. "Is that so?"
"Yes, I'm on to you mister." I point two fingers to my eyes and then point the same two at Kurama for the universal sign of 'I'm watching you.' He laughs at me and I can't help but to laugh back. When the laughter stops I catch myself thinking that I really enjoy listening to him laugh. I shake the thought out of my head. 'Where did that come from?' I brush off the blush that's threatening to cover my face.
"So…I hope you don't give me too much homework because I am a really bad procrastinator and—I probably shouldn't be admitting this—I also have a bad case of stage freight so please don't make me speak in front of a crowd. Oh! And should I call you Mr. Kurama or Mr. Minamino or something like sensei maybe?" I tilt head to the side while I ask my questions. He gives me a thoughtful look before answering.
"I don't have any plans for you to speak in front of a crowd, Kurama will be just fine, and as for the homework we'll just have to wait and see." I groan at the last part not wanting to have homework to work on. I can see that mischievous glint in his eyes again and I can't help feeling like I've just signed my soul away. I wonder if I should be worried…Nah it can't be that bad, right?
"It's like I'm back in school again, but at least my teacher will be easy on the eyes." I give him a wink and giggle when I see a dusting of pink over his cheeks. I take advantage of his surprise and grab the book out of his lap. I stare at it while scrunching up my nose again as I flip through a few pages. "So you really think that I'll be able to read this?" I ask while turning the book sideways and upside down hoping that it'll somehow turn the symbols into English text.
I feel his eyes on me and I look up at him. "Yes I believe you'll eventually be able to read it. We'll just need to start out easy and it'll take some practice." I give his determined look a nod before handing his book back.
"Ok teach I leave my fate in your hands!" I stick my tongue at him childishly before I flop my back into the couch dramatically and cover my eyes with an arm. I feel his eyes on me again and I peek out from under my arm. I catch a glimpse of his amused bright green eyes and I sit up straight, done with my dramatic moment. I give him a cheesy smile before I stand up. "I'm going to go see what everyone else is doing." I give him a small wave before leaving. I leave the room, but before the door shuts I poke my head back into the doorway to see that Kurama's still looking this way. "Thanks again." He gives me a smile and a nod. "Anytime."
I find myself walking outside where I can hear people fighting. I look around cautiously till I spot the source of the noise. My eyebrows shoot up in shock when I see Yusuke and Hiei fighting. I don't know what to think, are they sparing or fighting? It's hard to tell. How is it that they're able to move so fast? I can't seem to take my eyes off of them as they jump, twist, kick, and punch. It's almost like a deadly dance—Hiei swinging his sword with such grace and skill—and Yusuke just seems to dance around both him and the sword. There is a few times where they moved so fast that my eyes weren't able to keep up or I blinked and they were in a different part of the field. It's pretty amazing.
"Wooow." I whisper amazed, watching as they land hits that could have easily knocked someone senseless, but they just take it with a grain of salt and keep going. I feel someone standing next to me and I look over to see Genkai watching them too. "These two dimwits never quit." She grumbles before lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag.
"It's amazing how fast they can move. I wish I was that fast." I feel envy start to swell up in my chest, but I quickly squash it. They have obviously been training for a very long time if they can fight like this, I have no right to be jealous. "Hmm…How much of their movements are you able to see?" Genkai asks curiously and I give her a confused look before looking back at the fighters. I watch them for a second before speaking. "Pretty much all of it, I guess. There is a few times where they move so fast it's like they vanished and then appeared in another spot, but otherwise I can see them just fine. Why?" I look down at Genkai to see her giving me a strange look. Why am I getting the feeling I was better off staying inside?
"Interesting…Have you had any experience fighting?" She asks while she flicks the butt of her cigarette so the embers fall to the ground. Curious to see where this conversation is going I give her the truth. "I took some kick boxing classes when I was younger just for fun, but that's about it. It's nothing compared to them though." I indicate the two fighters with a wave of my hand and I hear Genkai grunt.
"That may be true, but I can see potential in you girl." She admits and I give her a surprised look. I really don't know what to say to that. She thinks I have potential? For what though? To fight like these guys? I look back at the boys and snort. There's no way in hell I can even come close to their skill level. I'm not much a fighter to begin with—too big of a bleeding heart to hurt someone without feeling bad—but I guess that doesn't mean I can't try though.
"I don't know ma'am, I'm not much of a fighter. I don't think that I have much potential for any of that." I watch the guys again and flinch when Yusuke kicks Hiei across the field, but it doesn't take Hiei very long to recover and disappear showing up just long enough to cut Yusuke across the chest with his sword. "Not with that attitude you don't. Would you be willing to learn if someone taught you?" She states in her rough way and I look back at her in shock. I take a minute to think about it. My mind flashes back to when I was kidnapped. If I knew how to fight back then, then maybe none of this would have happened. I get a determined look on my face when I finally make up my mind.
"Yes ma'am. I would be more than willing to learn if I had someone to teach me. I don't want to be defenseless anymore…I need to know how to protect myself from people like Zanryuu." My face gets hard and I feel my stomach clench when I think about that monster. I look back at her with determined eyes and she gives me a nod before she stomps her cigarette out. "Good...Hey dimwit, get over here!" She yells causing me to jump. They guys stop fighting and Yusuke starts to walk over, grumbling under his breath.
I have to stifle a giggle at the fact that he responded to dimwit. Genkai gives me a look and I freeze not liking the way she's sizing me up. "What is it grandma?" Yusuke shouts as he stands in front of us. "Meet you're new training partner. I want you to test her and see how she fights." I look between her and Yusuke with wide eyes. "W-what?" I stammer out and she glares at me. "If I'm going to train you brat, then I need to know if and how you fight. Now go!" I open and close my mouth not knowing how to reply. 'Do I really have to fight Yusuke!?' My mind is unable to process it yet.
"Hey grandma, are you sure about this? I don't want to hurt her or anything." Yusuke says as he eyes me while he rubs the back of his head. "Yeah what he said." I point to Yusuke while giving Genkai a wide eyed stare. She gives both of us a glare and I can see her patience running thin. "Do you want to learn how to defend yourself or not girl?" She demands with an irritated look on her face. I swallow the lump in my throat before speaking. "Y-Yes ma'am." I nod at her with a look I'm almost positive is equal to a scared rabbit. "Ok then! Now I need to see how much you know and the best way to do that is if you fight someone. Yusuke won't kill you, he's not that stupid." She grunts out before shooting Yusuke a look.
My stomach leaps up into my throat and I push it back down before nodding and hesitantly following Yusuke onto the field. I get into a fighting stance and take a shaky breath. 'What the hell did I just get myself into? Yusuke is going to beat the shit out of me. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.' I feel my nerves starting to make my hands shake and I clench them into fists before anyone notices. I'm scared, but that doesn't mean everyone has to know I am. "Don't expect me to hold back because you're a girl." Yusuke states while he rolls his head and shoulders, getting ready to fight. I nod in understanding before I take another deep shaky breath, trying to clear my mind.
I can see Hiei leaning on a tree to the side of Yusuke with a smirk on his face. Why do I feel like I'm about to be today's entertainment for anyone that might be watching? Before I can think anymore Yusuke gets a serious look on his face and clenches his hands into fists. "Ok let's do this!" He shouts before he lunges at me.
He takes a swing at me before my minds able to process that we've started and I flinch, making a weak attempt to put my arms up for protection. His fist connects with my arms with such force that it makes me slide backwards and almost trip over my own feet in the process. I catch myself just in time to see him coming at me again with another swing and I flinch again forgetting to block and take the full hit on the jaw. I face snaps to the side and I feel my bottom lip bust open as my teeth grind painfully together. I see stars as I fall backwards onto my butt holding my jaw tenderly. "Stop flinching and fight me!" He shouts angrily at me for not defending myself. I stare at him wide eyed for a second before standing up on shaky legs trying to rub the pain away. I've never been hit in the face like that before and it hurts like hell.
"Hn. She's not worth your time detective, she's just another burden." Hiei states from his spot and I look over at him with a hurt expression. "I'm not a burden!" I say while still rubbing my slowly swelling jaw. He rolls his eyes at me and then glares. "Then you're a useless weakling." He says and I stand there in shock. I can feel my anger start to rise. I don't like to be called a burden or useless. Who does he think he is to judge me like that? I shoot him a dirty look, which I receive a glare in return.
"What gives you the right to judge me like that?! I'm not useless!" I take a few stomping steps in his direction and he stands up straight with a mocking look on his face. "You've done nothing to prove otherwise." He states with a satisfied look on his face. I'm not one for violence, but that look he's giving me is making my blood boil. "If I hadn't killed that demon chasing you then you'd probably have ended up as his lunch and that might not have been a bad thing." The smug way he stated that just makes my stomach twist in guilt and anger because I know he's right and he knows that I know that he's right—which makes it even worse. This guy knows how to get under my skin in the worst kind of way. Not having anything else to say to him I flip him off before I turn my attention back to a waiting Yusuke. He looks at me amused when I give him an angry look. "Ok let's go." I say, but this time I'm ready to punch something.
Yusuke charges at me again with a right hook, which I feel slide across my face as I'm barely able to dodge it. He spins and throws a kick at me and I jump back just in time to miss it. I'm not actually able to do anything but dodge at this point. I'm focusing on trying to find an opening in his attacks and I wasn't paying close enough attention to his hands, so when his fist makes contact with my stomach I fly backwards just to be stopped by a tree. My back makes contact with the very sturdy tree and I feel all of the air rush out of my lungs. I feel the back of my shirt rip as I painfully slide down the rough bark of the tree, no doubt taking some of the bark with me in back cut up back. I crumple to the ground in a gasping sweaty heap. I sit there for a second trying to catch my breath with a dazed look on my face.
I've never been punched into a tree before and I'll have to admit that I'd rather not have learned how painful it is. Today's full of first times, now isn't it? I'm finally able to catch my breath and I take a few lungfuls of precious air. I'm grateful that Yusuke is waiting for me to recover from his rib crushing blow and not continuing his onslaught of pain. I slowly stand up with the support of the tree. "Ouch." I breathe out before I mentally steel my resolve to go back to the source of my pain. I make my way over to him, but this time I don't give him the chance to rush me.
Yay an update! I'm not very good at writing fight scenes, but practice makes perfect right?
Thanks for reading!