"Growth is the only evidence of life." -John Henry Newman

Gravity

Chapter Thirty-Five

David watched closely as Daelyn's body slowly started to relax, her twisted expression beginning to soften as she fell into the comfort of sleep. His relief of her rest was short lived as he brushed her bangs out of her face and felt the heat from her skin. This was a fever unlike he'd ever seen in his years of medicine. He couldn't touch her skin for too long without feeling like it was burning him. Yokuto had assured him that it was how demons bodies dealt with illness. The higher the fever, the harder it was working to fight off whatever was causing it. Human fevers and demon fevers were completely different. A humans fever was something you wanted to break as soon as possible. Generally, it would bring almost instant and complete relief, making the other symptoms seem not as bad. A demons fever should be left alone and let it run it's course. It was quite literally their body going into over drive to burn away the infection, poison, or whatever else was causing them illness.

It went against everything he'd ever learned. He immediately wanted to jump into doctor mode and do whatever it took to get her fever down, even putting her in one of the showers and pouring cold water over her. Instead, he forced himself to sit at her side and take the role of the family who silently hoped that she would make a quick recovery. He tore his eyes away from her to rub his fingers over his eyes. He hated feeling useless, especially in situations that he felt he should be trained into knowing how to respond to.

He let his hand fall with a drained sigh as his eyes fell back on her resting face. A sheer shine of sweat covered her forehead and cheeks, making the newly appeared blue marks stand out even more from the pale color of her skin. David didn't think that he would ever fully get used to the idea that his baby sister was now a different species than him. Would that ever change the fact that she was his sister? Definitely not. But the Daelyn that he used to know was gone. The one that had trouble opening peanut butter jars and bruised like an over ripe peach was now able to get punched full force in the stomach and able to almost instantly stand back up and brush it off. He had seen first hand how fast she could spin a bo, turning it into a blur like barrier around her with so much ease that she still smiled when she was doing it.

He wasn't sure when it had happened, but somehow she had grown up in the blink of an eye. She went from a girl, barely into her teenaged years, who still needed permission to go on field trips and needed him to come to school to talk to the principal when she got bullied, to a grown woman who had spent almost four months away from home and learning to control these powers that he didn't even know existed earlier that year. Hell, even he could admit that she could easily over power him now. He knew her independence was something that couldn't be argued with, but, somewhere deep down, he always thought that she would be this little kid that looked up to her big brother.

He could remember when Daelyn had first been born, back when they still lived in America. Dad had picked him up from school, looking absolutely elated. Mom had gone into labor soon after he had gotten on the bus for school. Dad had taken her to the hospital, gotten her settled in and then after the doctors assured him that it would be some hours before she actually gave birth, he had gone to pick him up from school, which he had been happy to be picked up from school early, but at the same time upset because he wanted a little brother. There was even a picture tucked away somewhere that Mom had taken of him crying when he found out that he was getting a little sister instead of a little brother. When they got to the hospital, Dad sat him up at one of the couches that was on the other side of the room with coloring books and crayons and had even given him free use of the television.

The hours had passed, morning soon becoming noon, then faded into evening. Mom had long since had an epidural, and it was just a waiting game after that. The nurses had brought in a divider for the room, separating him from the scene behind him. Not that he cared at that age. At the time he was still upset that he was getting a little sister. But just as the sun had sunk below the horizon, there was a quiet little cry that completely captured his attention. He abandoned his coloring book to twist around on the couch, peering over the back at the divider of the room. Time almost seemed to stand still to him while he waited. He could hear Mom and Dad speaking quietly to each other as the doctors moved about. It seemed like forever had passed before the divider was finally pushed away. He watched with wide eyes as Mom had motioned him over with a tired smile, something wrapped up tightly in her other arm. He scampered over, now excited to see his new little sister. Dad grinned as he approached and pulled up a chair for him to sit as he took the small bundle from Mom's arms. David sat in the seat that had been pulled up, and Dad kneeled in front of him.

"Hold your arms out," he had told him quietly. David did as he was told, and Dad gently placed the small, warm and sleepy bundle into his arms, guiding him to hold her against him while supporting her hand. David looked down at her, and all qualms and arguments that he had about having a sister melted away when her eyes opened just enough to look up at him with brilliant blue eyes, her mop of wispy black hair poking out in all directions. She had been so tiny, even to his six year old self. "This is your little sister," Dad said in a voice just barely above a whisper. "She may be tiny now, but one day she's going to do something great. I can feel it. And it's going to be our job to protect her, okay?" he said with a grin. David could only nod as he watched her yawn and make sleepy little sounds.

How right Dad had been when he said that. She was working so hard to master these powers that had been forced on her, taking whatever life had thrown at her in stride. He knew she had been scared when the change first started to happen, that was something she couldn't hide from him even though she didn't say it; but she wouldn't let it keep her down. She took it in as much stride as she could.

A shift on the other side of the room pulled him out of his thoughts. Mi had shifted where she laid at Hiei's feet where he leaned on the window sill. His eyes were shut, but his third eye, the Jagan he believed he had heard Daelyn call it at one point, was open. It was a pale violet, a stark contrast compared to the blood red eyes David was used to. Seeing it set something on edge inside of him. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but being anywhere near the gaze of that third eye gave him chills. Especially with the way it was softly glowing.

"Is she going to be okay?" David asked, breaking the thick silence between them, his eyes gazing back down to Daelyn as she slept, then back up to Hiei. His eyes slid open just enough to narrowly stare at him for a moment before drifting over to Daelyn. David watched as Hiei's previously cold and harsh eyes barely softened. If he hadn't been looking closely enough, he wouldn't have noticed it.

"Hn," Hiei answered with a grunt.

David resisted the urge to roll his eyes, pursing his lips instead. "That could be taken as yes or no, Hiei," he said, trying to keep his tone even.

Hiei scoffed and shifted his position slightly, before looking back at David, his eyes hardening all over again. "I don't know," he answered after a long moment.

David clenched his teeth and rubbed his hand over his face at Hiei's answer. One part of him appreciated the honesty, but the other part was angry that he couldn't have just lied for his sake. But he quickly realized that anger was misdirected. He was really just angry that there was nothing he could do to help. He had spent thousands of dollars on medical school, hours away from home with his classes and work, just to be useless when she needed him. He decided at that moment to use his spare time to find a way to study demon medicine. He refused to be useless if he could help his sister and those helping her to protect herself.

"Kurama," came Hiei's voice gruffly.

David blinked and looked over to the demon. "What?" he asked, his voice clear with surprised confusion.

"Speak to him about teaching you," Hiei said again, his eyes still shut with his Jagan faintly glowing. David started to open his mouth to vocalize his irritation with the demon reading his mind, but he paused when Hiei scoffed. "You think too loud," he said simply. "Don't flatter yourself."

David chose to not retort back to Hiei. He stood from where he kneeled next to Daelyn's bed, stretching his legs to return the feeling back to them. With quiet steps, he made his way over to the bookshelf that was on the other side of the room where two pictures were placed next to each other. The first one his eyes were drawn to was the picture that she had asked him to send her in a letter just a few short weeks ago though it felt like it could have been a life time. It was a picture of the day that she graduated. He had just barely made it, getting off work with only ten minutes to make it to her school before she walked out of the school with her diploma.* He had just found Keiko and Yusuke in the crowd when she wandered out of the school with her backpack slung over one shoulder and her diploma tucked under the other arm.

Her grades were barely high enough in order to be able to graduate. But after a lot of sleepless nights, on both their parts so he could help her study, hours of studying that he forced her to do, and more complaints from her than he ever cared to listen to again, she just barely forced her grades high enough in order to graduate. She tried to make it seem like she couldn't care less about graduating, but the way her eyes lit up when she grinned at him when she spotted the three of them in the crowd and waved her diploma in the air, he knew she was proud of herself for managing to scrape by and graduate.

Keiko had insisted on getting a picture of them together. So it became a moment frozen in film, Daelyn in her school uniform, clad with an empty backpack, and a diploma, and him, with his arm around her shoulders, in his pale blue scrub pants and a plain gray t-shirt, standing outside her always and forever hated highschool.

The other picture was of Keiko and Daelyn on Keiko's wedding day. It was a picture that he had seen a hundred times, but looking at these two pictures now was strange. It felt like he was looking at a completely different girl than his sister. He picked up the picture of Daelyn and Keiko and ran his thumb over the frame, wiping away the dust that had settled on it. He could only shake his head. Even as a powerful demon, she still didn't know what dusting was. He sat the picture back on the shelf and turned to face Hiei.

"So, what's going on between you and my sister?" David asked. He saw Hiei stiffen where he leaned against the window sill. Mi opened her eyes at David's question, peering at him for a moment before lifting her head to look up at the demon who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but this room with the way that a muscle in his face jumped.

"Ask her," he grunted through gritted teeth.

"Well, I would if she were awake and hadn't run off last night, shortly before you ran off," David said, arching an eyebrow at Hiei's response. He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the shelf, more than willing to pester the demon into answering.

"Nothing," he snapped, his eyes flashing open to glare harshly back at him.

"Then you and I have two different idea's of 'nothing'," David pressed, the corner of his mouth twitching up in amusement at Hiei's irritation. It was way to easy to put the demon on edge. It was a wonder how Hiei could even begin to put up with Daelyn, with her mouth and attitude, well enough to be caught kissing her. He let his amusement die, becoming completely serious as he regarded Hiei with a hard expression. "I told you before that I won't get in between you two," he said, pushing himself away from the bookshelf and making his way back to Daelyn's side as she shifted in her sleep. He kneeled next to her, and gently pressed his hand to her forehead, relief coming over him to find that her temperature had lowered. "When she loves someone, it doesn't matter who it is, whether it be family, or friends, or maybe something more," he said, glancing over to Hiei who's glare hadn't lessened. "She loves them with everything she has. That's just who she is. That's how she's always been. Just make sure she's happy, okay?"

Hiei's glare had disappeared into a blank expression. "Hn," he scoffed, turning his head away from David. David could only sigh when he saw the confused expression that Hiei tried to hide behind an emotionless mask.

Holy shit, I was thirsty. That was my first thought that I had when my conscious began to push though the darkness of my sleep into the waking world. I laid there without moving for a few moments to let my body fully wake up with the grogginess of my mind. Finally, I slid my eyes open to a dark room and felt a warm body next to mine. I reached my fingers out to brush against the softness of Mi's fur. Her head snapped up, her eyes reflecting with the light from the other side of my door as she looked down at me.

"Hey," I said quietly, reaching up to run my fingers over the fur on her cheek. She began purring, pressing her face fully into my hand. I could feel the rumbling of her purring through my entire body. I dropped my hand to my side and forced myself to sit up, grimacing at the stiffness in my limbs. I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep, but it had definitely been long enough that my joints ached when I tried to move.

With a noise between a huff and a groan, I pushed myself to stand up. Mi stood with me, staying close to my side so I could use her for balance. I made my way to the door, sliding it open and flinching at the light from the hallway. Once my eyes adjusted, I went in search to find the water that my body was screaming at me for.

Mi was all but glued to my side as I headed down the hallway towards the kitchen. The temple was quiet, and I made sure to keep my foot steps quiet to not disturb anyone sleeping. I had no idea what time it was, but it was dark outside. I could sense Tetsuya and Yokuto in the dinning area, but beyond that I couldn't sense anyone. I'm just tired, I thought rubbing my eye. I paused in my step as I pulled my hand away to see that the blue markings that had been on my skin before were gone, and my nails were once again their normal length, just barely passed my fingertips instead of two inch, dagger like spikes. Mi bumped her head into my leg, looking up at me with her large eyes. I shook my head and ran my fingers through her fur a few times before continuing my search for water.

I turned into the dinning room and was met by the surprised stares of Tetsuya and Yokuto.

"You're awake!" Tetsuya exclaimed, nearly dropping his cup that he had halfway lifted to his lips.

"Water," I croaked, too thirsty to join in his excitement. I shuffled passed them and into the kitchen to find the biggest cup that I could find. I filled it to the brim as Tetsuya came to my side to look me over like he was afraid I was going to fall apart, while Yokuto stayed by the doorway to study me from afar. I lifted the cup to my lips and drank deeply, not taking a moment to stop and breathe. When the cup was empty I began to fill it again. "How long was I asleep?" I asked, feeling much more like a normal person again now that my mouth didn't feel like a desert in a drought.

"Five days," Yokuto answered behind me.

The cup slipped from my fingers, clattering into the sink as I whirled around. "What?!" I exclaimed loudly. Mi pressed her head into my leg, trying to send comfort into my body. But my mind was already running a mile a minute.

"You were sick," Tetsuya said, gently. "Your body needed rest."

"Dammit!" I cursed, spinning around to slam my hand down on the faucet to turn off the stream of water. "So I only have just under two weeks to train now?!" I asked frantically as I did the math quickly in my head.

"A week and three days," Yokuto answered, his demeanor completely calm. "You and the others will need a few days to meet up and actually reach Seikatsu's land."

"Then what the hell are we standing around talking for?" I asked, storming away from Tetsuya and passed Yokuto.

Yokuto's hand shot out and grabbed me by the arm, stopping me from going to find my bo and ribbon blind fold. "Take it easy," he said as I tried to yank my arm away from him. "You just woke up," he said when I glared up at him.

"Exactly," I snapped, pulling my arm away from him again. "I don't have time to sit around-"

A blow came from behind, hitting me square across my shoulders and knocked me forward a few feet. I barely had enough time to regain my balance and spin around on my heels to yell when Yokuto rushed forward, and slammed me back into the back wall of the dinning room, his forearm holding me in place across my collar bones. He dug his arm into me painfully, my feet just barely able to touch the ground. He lowered his face to mine, his normally molten eyes frozen solid as he glared at me.

"You just woke up after five days of nearly being in a coma," he said deadly calm. "You were able to block that three weeks into your training. Your body is weak, and it's not just from you being ill. You're going to take it easy until we can figure out what happened so we can make sure that it doesn't happen again." I grit my teeth as he dug his arm in further into the scars on my chest. "What do you think is going to happen if this happens again, and you're asleep when it's time to leave to demon world? You aren't any good to anyone if you're unconscious. Do you understand me?" he asked, his glare still hard as he let me go to fully stand on my feet. He stood to his full height, which towered over me. I clenched my fists and stared hard at the floor. "Do you understand me?" he asked again, his voice daring me to not answer him.

"Yes," I snapped back.

"Glad we could come to an agreement," he said, finally stepping away from me. "Now sit down and explain to me what happened before you passed out."

He went to sit at the table where he had been before and I grudgingly followed, ignoring Tetsuya's surprised stare and sat heavily in my normal spot at the table. Mi came to my side and nudged her nose into my cheek. I reached up to pet her as I felt a familiar burning presence appear at the edge of my mind.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, refusing to look anywhere but at Mi.

"Your brother had to return home for work. I assured him that we would let him know if there was any change. Elijah, Oliver, and Knox returned home at my request three days ago," Yokuto answered after I heard a flick of a match for his pipe. "I told them they could return after you get back from demon world."

"I bet Oliver wasn't happy about that," I grumbled mostly to myself.

"Yes, hopefully should he return he comes back with more of an open mind," Yokuto answered.

Before I answered, my hands started shaking. My eyebrows knitted together as I clenched my fingers to stop the tremors, but it didn't do any good. My eyes flashed over to Yokuto who was watching my hands closely. His eyes traveled up to meet my gaze.

"I'm in really bad shape," I said after a moment. "Aren't I?"

He gave a single nod and I pursed my lips, lowering my hands into my lap. Tetsuya sat across from me at the table, his eyes flickering between us cautiously. I felt Hiei's energy drawing closer until he came to stop in the doorway behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at him and gave him a small, tight smile. He stared down at me with narrowed eyes, looking like he was trying to solve some kind of puzzle. He tore his gaze away from me to glance at Yokuto and Tetsuya, then moving to sit next to me, at the other side of where Mi sat, her face pressed into my neck.

"I don't really know what happened," I said after I took a deep breath. "I thought I was hallucinating at first. I stood up, then..everything was covered in blood," I paused to shake my head. "Then..I don't know how to explain it. I saw someone." I felt Hiei stiffen beside me, causing me to pause.

"Who?" Yokuto pressed when I didn't say anything else for a moment.

"It..she..She looked like me. But, more demon like? I don't know how to explain it. It wasn't me. She looked like me, she sounded like me, but it wasn't me. I don't know how I know, but I just know."

"Could it have been Seikatsu?" Tetsuya asked. "I've never seen him shape shift, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have found a way."

"No," I said firmly. "It wasn't him. I would have known if it was him."

"There wouldn't have been anyway that he could reach you on my land," Yokuto said, nodding in agreement.

"But what about someone who doesn't think he's twisted?" Tetsuya pressed. "He has so many different types of demons who all but worship him. Would they be able to get through if they thought they were trying to help her?"

"I don't even want to think about that," I said, rubbing my trembling hands across my face. "Just listen to me, okay? She told me that she's the one that was causing my hallucinations because she was trying to talk to me."

"Did she say who she was?" Yokuto asked.

"No," I said shaking my head. "I came out of it before she could tell me. But she did tell me that Seikatsu 'woke her up' inside of me."

They were silent for a few minutes. Yokuto's expression told me that he was trying to work out what I told him in his mind. I focused on my hands in my lap, trying to ease the tremors, but they refused to stop shaking. The aching in my joints hadn't eased either. I felt weak, just like Yokuto had said. At this rate I wouldn't have a chance at standing my ground against Seikatsu. I would have to completely rely on Yusuke, and the other three demons that would be there for my safety. That wasn't something I was okay with. It wasn't that I didn't trust Yusuke. I trusted him with my life. But I wouldn't put it passed Seikatsu to have some kind of plan to separate me from four of some of the most powerful demons alive. I was no where near their strength.

I wouldn't be able to defend myself. I knew that I would be completely and utterly lying to myself if I thought that I stood any chance against him. I was so pathetic. It felt like every time I was beginning to get stronger, something would knock me back two steps. I couldn't rely on everyone to protect me forever. I needed to find a way around this set back and protect myself for a change.

My mind was snapped away from my thoughts as Hiei reached over to grip my chin in his fingers. He twisted my face to his. I blinked in surprised as he ran a finger under my nose and pulled it back. His finger was wet with blood. I pulled my face away from his grip to wipe the top of my hand across my nose to feel the dampness of blood. I pushed away from the table to stand and go to find something to stop the bleeding. When I stood, the world started to spin and I lurched forward, barely catching myself against the table as both Hiei and Yokuto shot out to catch me from falling.

"I'm okay," I said, trying to pull my arms away from them. Mi mewled up at me, her eyes reading nothing but concern.

"Sit down," Hiei commanded. Normally I would have argued with him trying to boss me around, but my knees gave out under me and I sat down like I was told. He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a small hand towel and wiped the blood away from my face. I let him continue without argument, my hands shaking too much for me to try and bat him away. Yokuto said something to Tetsuya, who stood and started following Yokuto out of the room. He paused long enough to glance back at me, his face etched with worry before disappearing out of the door. Mi rested her head on my lap, the deep rumbling coming from her chest soothed the aching in my knees.

"What is happening to me?" I asked out loud to myself. I saw a muscle in Hiei's jaw twitch, but he didn't respond. I was thankful for that.

My eyes focused on his hands, finding it too much to watch his face while he worked to stop my nose from bleeding. His hands were large and calloused, showing signs of years and years of swordsmanship and labor. His skin was darker than mine, but he had fine lines of scars that matched my paleness. On his bandaged hand I could see some of the edges of his dragon poking through areas where some of the bandage had been disturbed, pushing it back just enough to show some of the blackness of the mark. I saw it begin to twist around his arm, coming alive under the bandages.

"Does that hurt? When it moves?" I asked, trying to get my mind away from the taste of blood in the back of my throat.

He paused, I figured to see what I was looking at before he went back to trying to slow the bleeding with the towel. "Sometimes," he answered after a moment.

"I'm sorry," I said. I wasn't sure why. I was starting to become a bit delusional as the time passed. Yokuto and Tetsuya reappeared back in the room. Yokuto kneeled next to me. Hiei directed me to hold the towel in place before stepping back next to Tetsuya to give Yokuto room.

"Take this," Yokuto said gently, handing me a small wooden bowl. I reached a trembling hand out to take the bowl from him, but he pushed my hand away and lifted the rim of the bowl to my lips. I dropped my hand to let him tip the bowl, and a gritty slime like substance passed into my mouth. It had a rich and sweet taste that didn't mix well with the taste of the blood from my nose, causing me to nearly retch, but I forced it down.

As the concoction hit my stomach, I felt the aching in my joints ease and a haze came thick over my mind. "What was that stuff?" I slurred out, my tongue feeling thick in my mouth.

"Think of it as a cure-all," Yokuto said, pulling the towel away from my nose. "It should slow the bleeding here soon," he continued putting the towel back in my nose, and bringing my hand to hold it.

"Will it make me better?" I asked, letting my eyes droop with the weight of the haze.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "You're going to feel funny for a little while. I'm going to take you to lay down, okay?" I nodded, my head feeling much heavier than it had just a few moments ago. I felt him lift me up from where I was sitting with ease, then say something to Hiei and Tetsuya that I didn't bother to pay attention to as I gripped tightly to his shirt. The change in altitude sent my senses spinning, and it felt like I was falling even though I knew Yokuto was too strong to simply lose grip on me.

When he started moving I had to squeeze my eyes shut. My stomach lurched into my throat, threatening to empty its lack of sustenance all over the front of myself and Yokuto. I managed to force it down long enough until we reached my room and he laid me gently on my futon. The second I stopped moving the nausea passed, leaving me just dazed and slightly confused. Mi quickly found her place next to me on the bed, and laid her head across my stomach.

"I'm going to go and speak with Hisao," Yokuto said. I peered up at him, having to squint my eyes to focus. His back was turned to me, and he was speaking quickly to Hiei. "Something isn't right here. Maybe he'll know. Tetsuya will be coming with me. It'll be faster to pass though the shadows. If anything gets worse you let me know immediately."

With that he was gone, leaving only Hiei, Mi and I in the room. I threw my arm over my eyes to keep myself from seeing the spinning ceiling, but still keeping the towel in place. I heard Hiei moving somewhere in the room. I could feel the heat from his energy ebbing though the fog in my mind. It seemed so much harder to ignore in the state I was in.

I turned my head to face him, only sliding open one eye to look at him. He was standing at the window, looking out into the now rising sun, telling me that it had been just before dawn when I first woke up. Though my body felt strange, and my mind was foggy I was wide awake. There was no way that I was going to be able to go to sleep any time soon.

So instead I let myself watch Hiei as he looked out over the changing colors of the sky. It was almost surreal to see him like this. Though everything was bleary around me, he stood out against it clearly. I hadn't ever really paid much attention to how he carried himself. His arms were crossed in front of him, his shoulders squared back in complete confidence in himself. He stood tall, making his height seem a lot taller with his confidence in himself. Yet even though he carried himself with confidence, I could still see that he was closed off from the world, a guard up between him and the outside. It was kind of painful for me to see. What had caused him to be so cold?

I knew he wouldn't tell me if I asked. He would probably tell me to mind my own business, or just ignore me. Most likely ignore me. I would find someway to get him to tell me eventually. But right now, my mind was too much in a whirlwind. If I somehow managed to survive going into Seikatsu's castle I would figure out a way. I shifted where I was laying, causing the towel to fall from my nose. I waited for a moment to see if my nose continued to bleed.

"Hiei," I slurred out to get his attention. He turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. "I think my nose stopped bleeding." He turned to walk over to me. He kneeled in front of me, studying my face closely before taking the towel and tossing it on the desk, then went to make his way back to the window. "You know, you're really cute," I said, which caused him to pause in his step. "I mean, with the way you're always glaring at people and you're really sassy on top of that. It's just really cute." I wasn't sure why the hell I was saying all of these things, but it was like a dam had been broken. "I like your face, too, though."

"Stop talking, woman," he snapped at me, glaring at me over his shoulder.

I felt a grin break onto my face. "Yeah, like that. It doesn't scare me when you do that you know. It makes it harder for me not to like you." I saw surprise flash across his face before being hidden behind a wall of emotionlessness. "It's already hard for me not to like you with this whole second puberty thing going on, but when you try and be all stoic and emotionless when I can feel what you're actually feeling, it makes it really hard to not like you more.

Sometimes I wonder why you're even remotely interested in me. I mean, look at me. I'm useless. I can't protect myself. I'm not strong. I live in a constant state of some level of fear of Seikatsu because of how useless I am." The words were coming out faster than I could think. I couldn't stop them. Even when he turned to fully face me, his eyes narrowed at me as I rambled on. "But I guess you wouldn't like me if it wasn't for this stupid instinct stuff. That really sucks, you know? I kinda liked Tetsuya for a little bit, I think I do still sometimes but it's nowhere near as much as I like you. I used to sometimes have these crushes on people before, but this just like blows everything else out of the water and it sucks because if you weren't forced to be around me and protect me and my worthless ass then would you even feel this way about me?

I don't think so. You should be with someone who's super strong and someone who can fight with you, not someone that you have to protect all the time. Someone who's super, super, super gorgeous and a bad ass and doesn't have to worry about someone coming to get her all the time because she can kick their ass because she's so strong and just everything I'm not. I don't deserve you and I don't know why I keep feeling the way I do because I don't want to own you, you know? That's why I started to ignore you, did you know that? I don't want all of this to be determined because of some stupid second puberty bullshit but it won't stop and it's only getting worse and I want you all the time and I think I might lo-"

"Daelyn," he snapped, his voice forceful to break through my blabbering. I let my mouth snap shut as he closed his eyes tightly. I watched him grit his teeth for a few moments before he opened his eyes. He wasn't glaring at me, just looking at me openly. It made me feel strange. He wasn't expressionless or staring, just looking at me in a way that I had never seen him look before. "Stop talking." he said. His voice had lost it's harshness. There was a different tone in his voice. My empathy was dulled with whatever Yokuto had given me, so I couldn't feel what he was feeling.

"Okay," I said, simply.

Man, Dae-dae you are such a blabber mouth. Giving me finger cramps and shit, jeez.

LOOK GUYS I UPDATED WITHIN THE WEEK. I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. -dies because I just spent the last 12 hours writing-

Okay, you all don't even understand how excited I am for the next chapter. You all need to get excited for it too. No, I won't tell you why. You'll just have to trust me:)

Oh, and the Japanese high school system, from what I've read on it and understood, doesn't have a great big huge graduation where students walk across a stage with a cap and gown. They do it pretty much classroom to classroom. Family and friends wait outside of the school for the students to come out after they've received their diploma. It may not be fully correct, but I didn't linger too much on it:).

MissLini: Good guess! We'll see more of her soon to figure out if she really is good or evil:). Ihope you enjoyed this one!

animechick98: Thank you so much! I know the beginning of the story was a little confusing, buuuut I like to make things interesting. It catches peoples attention you know? I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a book and read the first chapter and just went nope and put it back. Kurama and Botan aren't going to be a pairing in this story, though it is a pairing I do enjoy. Kurama is going to have his own story in a sister story to this one after it ends! I already have a character planned out and a story line, but we have to wait until this one is finished because Daelyn and Hiei are going to play a major part in it and that would give away spoilers to Gravity. She may or may not show up towards the end of this story, I haven't fully decided yet. Botan also has a pairing within this story, too! We just haven't gotten to it yet:)

Guest: I really appreciate that! I've been trying my best to make this a story that hasn't been recycled over and over again, you know? I try to catch as many typos and grammar mistakes as I can, but alas I don't have a beta so sometimes they do slip through the cracks. Haha, if I can't poke fun of my own characters how can I enjoy them, you know? Even when I write it I'm just shaking my head going "you dumbass." but they seem to tell me how to write them most of the time and who am I to censor it? She's definitely going to have trouble coming her way if she can't pull herself together! Especially now with this set back. Haha they definitely do need to get laid. They're both wayyy too stressed out. That will come eventually though. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!