Heart's Starlight
Chapter 43: Kaida's Mission


The week flew and soon, I was able to go home. I had to lean on crutches, since my stomach only healed a little bit on the inside. It was enough to walk, so I was glad for that. I was tired of being bedridden in the hospital and having nurses come in to stretch my legs so they wouldn't get rest marks or I'd grow a cyst on my bones or something.

I was transported into the living room, where many people stood, smiling. "Hello," I mumbled, my stomach lurching. It hurt to talk sometimes. I sighed and sat on the couch slowly, stealing a glance at Hiei. "What are you all doing?" I asked, smiling weakly.

"We were just hanging out. We were going to train today, but it's understandable if you don't want us to," Kurama said as Kaida sat beside him. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"No, go right ahead and train! I'll just watch." Yusuke helped me stand and I ventured out back with them all. I watched them all warm up and talked amongst each other to see who was fighting who. "Hey, I pick who's fighting who!" I shouted, grinning. They all looked at me, shocked. "Alright…first to go up is Yusuke and Hiei!" I said, grinning widely and causing Yusuke to stare at me shocked and Hiei to roll his eyes.

"Why? This is a pointless fight! He's probably going to win," Yusuke complained as Hiei jumped onto the platform, not bickering like Yusuke was.

"Hey! I say you two are fighting so get up there," I said, glaring. "I'd make you, but I can't. And besides, Yusuke, it's time you actually fight against someone who is stronger than you so you work harder and eventually become stronger as well." Yusuke narrowed his eyes at me and glared at me as he walked to the platform, causing me to laugh slightly. I grinned at the two and signaled for them to go.

They stared at each other before Yusuke charged toward Hiei, his fist raised. Hiei dodged and jumped to the side, elbowing Yusuke in the side. Yusuke lurched to the left and turned sharply, just in time to block a hit from Hiei. Yusuke swung his legs out, but Hiei jumped up and vanished. Yusuke narrowed his eyes and turned around just in time to see Hiei's fist connect with his jaw. Yusuke fell back, but caught himself and side-stepped, avoiding Hiei's punches.

Hiei vanished once more and reappeared behind Yusuke, slamming his elbow in the middle of Yusuke's shoulder blades. Yusuke yelled out and turned around, shooting his spirit gun at Hiei. Hiei dodged just in time and rushed toward Yusuke, grabbing his wrist and tossing him easily aside. I was amazed by that, figuring how short Hiei was compared to Yusuke.

'You shouldn't be talking, onna,' I smiled and leaned back, wincing a little from my back. Hiei went to slam Yusuke to the ground, but Yusuke managed to spin a way that caused Hiei to slam his fist in the concrete, which caused me to wince from the smack. I began to get bored with their combat-only fight and looked over at Kaida and Kurama who were sitting beside each other and talking. I smiled at them and looked over at Kuwabara and instantly rolled my eyes: he was sleeping, like always.

Finally, Hiei beat Yusuke by a slam into the concrete, and Yusuke limped off, wincing and taking sharp breaths. I giggled and he sat beside me, sighing. "Shut it, Kirei," he mumbled, rubbing his back as it ached. I smiled and looked at Hiei who was making his way toward the bench as well.

"Alright! Kurama and Kaida!" I yelled. They looked over at me, confused. "You two are fighting now." Kaida laughed while Kurama frowned. "Oh, stop! It's just training you two lovers!"

"Shut it, Kirei," Kaida said. I giggled.

"I heard that same sentence just seconds ago!" Kaida chuckled and I frowned when they didn't move. "Come on, guys!"

"No! I trained already this morning, by myself. I don't feel like training again," Kaida said, sighing. I frowned more and bowed my head.

"Kuwabara," I yelled, causing him to snort and sit up, wide-eyed. "Fight me." I stood, limping, and Kuwabara stared at me, shocked. "Come on."

"Kirei, that's not a good idea," Yusuke warned, but I flipped him off, crawling painfully onto the platform.

"Get your ass up here before I make you," I shouted at Kuwabara, who jumped up instantly and ran over, frowning.

"Kirei, I will not fight you. I'm sorry." I glared at him. "It's against my code of honor."

"Fuck your code of honor and fight me!" I yelled. Yusuke laughed and shook his head. "I may be injured, but I can still kick your ass." Kuwabara's jaw opened. "But…your code of honor limits you, which just means you're scared!" Kuwabara's eyes narrowed and he stood on the platform. I smiled and braced myself as Yusuke counted down. Just as we were about to go at it, I heard:

"Don't even think of it, Kirei!" I looked over, narrowing my eyes, and saw Koenma, walking toward us all. "You're far too wounded to fight anyone, even Kuwabara!" Kuwabara yelled out hey but no one took notice of him. I stood at the edge of the platform and Yusuke walked up to me, holding me up bridal style and setting me down. I grinned at him and walked to Koenma. "We've got a problem."

"What?" I asked, getting excited.

"By we, Kirei, I meant the boys, myself, and Kaida. If this turns into a mission, you're not going under any circumstances," Koenma said sternly. I gasped, pouting. "And pouting won't work." So I glared.

"What is it, Koenma?" Kaida asked, intrigued.

"Well, it seems like there's something that I require back from a thief, but the only way to get it is to steal back from him," Koenma said, peering at Kaida, who smirked. "It's the legendary Isle de Marco!" Kaida gasped. "Yes, almost every thief has dreamt of stealing it and using it as their own." I looked around, confused. "The Isle de Marco is a special artifact, which allows the wielder to gain control of any thing he or she seeks. That could be mountains, islands, volcanoes, other people. Anything," Koenma explained.

"Wow, this must be important if you came out yourself," Yusuke said, smartly. Koenma eyed him.

"No! Botan was busy and my ogres are incredibly stupid!" I giggled. "Now, the main person I need is Kaida, who will be going through training all week for it, with a simulation room, which will act like the security around the artifact. It's just like the room she'll be stealing from, so by the end of the week, she should have it mastered!" Kaida grinned. "Boys, you will be fighting demons, most likely, as she sneaks into the security safe for the artifact." I pouted.

"I get to stay home?" Koenma nodded. "Wow, that day is going to be so freakin' awesome," I said, pissed off. I grabbed my crutches and walked inside, grumbling incoherent curses and death threats to anything I walked by. The others called my name a few times, but I ignored their stupid uninjured stupid butts and walked inside the house.

I struggled with the stairs, but got them eventually, just as the boys stumbled in, along with Kaida, and walked down the hallway. "Did you just get up those stairs?" Yusuke teased. I glared at him around the corner and flipped him off, actually meaning it. "Whoa," he mumbled as I walked to my room. I was in the mood to be teased, punk'd, or taunted. I was going to be left out an incredibly fun mission because of a stupid injury I got from my own friggin' team mate.

I slammed my door and walked to my bed, sitting and letting my crutches fall. "Stupid Koenma! I'm stronger than he realizes! I can take anything!" I flexed my arms, but the raising of my arms caused my back to throb with pain, causing me to whimper and lower my arms instantly. "No one saw that," I mumbled, glancing around before falling onto my pillow and staring up at my ceiling, bored.

I looked over and saw Chessy's stuffed rabbit, frowning. I grabbed it and turned onto my side, sighing a little from the tension that arched in my stomach and back, and held the rabbit to my chest, curling into fetal position. It smelt a little like her, which actually made me feel better, and cuddling it made me feel like I was holding her. Without knowing it consciously, a tear leaked out of my right eye and fell onto the rabbit and quickly followed by more tears.

Hiei was up in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his fidgeting hands. He had heard the thought Kirei made as she walked to her bedroom and it made him feel even worse than before. He knew she knew he didn't mean it, but he couldn't help but feel bad. That lust demon had complete control over him and he couldn't control himself. It was like an out-of-body experience those moments and he saw how much pain went through Kirei eyes when Hiei and Tessa shared that kiss.

And the amount of pain she had when he stabbed her. All of it.

She hardly fought against him, seriously, and he knew why. She didn't want to seriously hurt him. "She should've," Hiei whispered, sighing. Maybe I wouldn't have stabbed her, he thought before walking to his bathroom and stripping for a shower. The shower soothed him a little, but his mind kept raging. It was now that he thanked Kami that Kirei didn't have the ability to read minds, or she'd be confused and highly irritated with him at that moment.

'I miss you ...' Hiei looked at his wall, the direction of Kirei's room, and his eyes narrowed. 'I wish you were here with me, Chessy' her voice rang, echoing in his mind. Hiei finished with his shower and dried off quickly, still connected with Kirei's raging mind. It was mainly talking about her sister and memories of them together flashed through her mind.

He dressed in some casual sweats and a black tank and vanished out his window, after he locked his bedroom door.

I sighed and turned over, facing my ceiling again, forcing my tears to stop. They eventually did and I looked over, smiling. I stared at two beautiful crimson eyes, who stared back. "I thought I smelt you," I whispered before chuckling. Hiei smirked and walked to me, sitting beside me, staring down at me before his eyes drifted to my stomach, which had bandages showing under my skin tight white tank. "Hiei…stop it."

"I know you blame me for it," he snapped. I sighed and sat up, slowly.

"I know I do, but I don't mean it." Hiei stared at me confused, causing me to smirk. "It's a human thing." He rolled his eyes and I sighed, grabbing his hand and lacing my fingers with it. "Hiei?"

"What?"

"Kiss me." Hiei scooted forward, smirking, and grabbed the back of my head, pulling it forward slightly and pressing his lips to mine softly. I wrapped my arms relaxingly around his shoulders and he scooted closer, his lips parting with mine slightly. He sighed and laid his forehead against mine.

He smirked and I giggled, laying back and staring up at him as he stared down. I suddenly felt so…naked almost. Hiei chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry. I wasn't picturing you naked." I blushed, but nodded. I turned onto my side, curling my legs up to my butt, and Hiei got the hint and sat beside me as my wings pressing flat against my back. "You need to learn how to put these away." I giggled. "I'm serious. That night you slept with me was hard. Every time you'd twitch or had a bad part in your dream, your wings would end up smacking me." I laughed, ignoring the slight pains in my stomach and Hiei smirked at me, running his hands up and down my arm.

"Hiei ... " I whispered as he sighed.

"Don't." I looked at him, confused. "Just…shhh/i." I nodded and looked away from him, staring out the window. It wasn't an awkward silence. Or a tensed silence. It was a relaxing silence, which actually put me to sleep.