Chapter Nine

No Expectations, No Disappointment

"I don't want you to contact me anymore."

It took her a moment to register exactly what Hiei meant, but when she did, it was like a punch to the gut.

Yeah, she didn't know him very well at all, and yeah, talking to him was like pulling teeth, but his silence was a mystery, as cliche' as that was. He was well-built and good looking. Even though he was quiet, he was usually sarcastic and snarky when he did speak. On top of that, he had a hidden kindness and seemed to watch out for her - which was proved when he saved her from slipping off the cliff.

And yeah, she'd just developed feelings for him, but she thought she'd at least be able to get to know him a little better before they pulled the plug.

Honestly, though, in that moment, Ashley was torn whether to just say "fine" and walk away, or if she should bite back a little.

Lying on her back and showing her stomach had never been her style.

"And what about the festival?" She asked, her words sharp. She was hurting, sure, but she didn't want him to see those emotions. "Yukina's expecting us both to go. And before you say anything, you should know: I plan to go with or without you. Together would probably be easier since everyone thinks we're together."

He didn't say anything, but Ashley could see the wheels turning in his head, his eyes narrowed as he glared daggers through her. A muscle worked in his jaw as he clenched it in frustration. She gladly rose to his unspoken challenge; she didn't break eye contact either.

"Fine," he said, curt, eyes flashing. Some emotion flitted across his face before disappearing altogether. "We'll go together. But after that don't contact me anymore. This bad idea is officially done."

"Do I at least get an explanation why?"

It was a simple question, and a fair one at that. She had a right to know at least.

But Hiei turned away from her, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he did so frequently. "No."

Time passed strangely from the time she saw Hiei Friday night to when she left her apartment the next morning and headed over to Yukina's house.

Getting ready Saturday morning felt like she was putting on armor and a mask, ready to act out the part of star-struck girlfriend. It was a part she'd played just weeks prior, but since the trip to Nikko National Park, it was one she'd put aside. She'd actually been developing a slight crush on Hiei.

Not that that mattered anymore.

Hiei, out of the blue, just decided he didn't want to do this anymore. Maybe she'd offended him somehow. Maybe he got bored of this whole thing. Whatever it was, he was ready to get rid of her.

And that was fine, really. If she was so easily tossed aside by him she really didn't need him in her life anyway.

But it still hurt.

Yukina answered the door to Ashley, smile beaming. "Ashley! There you are! We're just waiting for Hiei, Keiko, and Yusuke now."

Ashley's genuine smile for Yukina was just that: genuine. She'd made a friend in Yukina, and Hiei be damned if he demanded she stop her friendship with the teal-haired girl just because Hiei had an issue with her. If he told her to stay away from Yukina, Ashley's claws would definitely come out.

As soon as Yukina shut the door and Ashley was stripping her shoes off, another knock came to the door. Hiei stood on the other side, his expression guarded.

"Hiei, good to see you!" Yukina greeted him as Ashley straightened and plastered on a smile for the guy. Her stomach dipped, but she still greeted him just the same.

"Yukina," Hiei greeted her, but his eyes were already roaming over to where Ashley stood. "Ashley."

Ashley tried not to think too much into his civil tone. "It's good to see you," she managed to get out. And it was true. If this was the last time she would see him and talk to him like they were together, in any sense of the word, she didn't want to be rude to him.

Her thoughts from earlier fled from her mind like a summer breeze.

He nodded, eyes not leaving hers until Yukina accidentally tripped into him. He caught her by the elbow as she profusely apologized, and steadied her, but his attention was immediately directed back towards Ashley, her stomach doing flips in response.

His boots were off easily and Yukina led them both to the living room where Kuwabara and Minamino seemed to be lounging. Just barely did Ashley feel the brush of Hiei's fingers on the small of her back as they made their way down the hall.

Internally, she suffered both a slow and agonizing death of wanting to touch him in return and knowing this was all she would ever get from him.

The contact didn't last long, just until they reached the living room, before Hiei retracted his hand once more.

"Hiei," Minamino regarded him in his collected way. Ashley hadn't spent any time around him since that first night she arrived in Sarayashiki, straight off the plane, but he seemed level-headed and like one of the most mature people in the group. "You got a new number, did you not? I don't believe I have it yet."

As he pulled his phone from his pocket, Ashley turned to face Hiei, whose expression was like stone. "You got a new phone?" She asked politely while her mind reeled. Was this why he didn't want her to contact him? But why not give her his new phone number? "I don't think I got that number either. Can I get that from you?"

Her question was innocent to anyone listening, but she could feel the tension rolling off Hiei in waves. Served him right.

Stiffly, he gave the number to both Minamino and Ashley, repeating it twice for Ashley as she pretended to struggle to get her phone to accept his number. By the third time repeating it she felt sure that if he could send nails flying out of his glare she'd be in incredible pain.

As it was, he could not, and she was trying not to die of internalized laughter.

By then, of course, Yusuke and Keiko had arrived and Yusuke also asked for his new number.

"Get it from someone else!" Hiei shot at him, and stomped from the room. "I'll be outside whenever you idiots decide to join me."

Ashley snickered as he stomped out, catching Yusuke's gaze. "It's fun to mess with him, isn't it?"

His grin lit the room like a beacon. "You have no idea."

The festival happened to be on the first warm day of the year. It was warm and humid and Ashley was very pleased she decided to wear shorts instead of the pants she originally had planned. The sun had decided after a short bout of cloud cover that morning that it wanted to shine at it's full strength and had chased the clouds away.

It truly was a gorgeous day.

Yukina had never really told her what exactly the festival was celebrating, but music blared over speakers, the bass thumping in her chest, and vendors were set up along the streets. Traffic had been diverted for the day.

The crowd was thick and was the most diverse group of people and demons she had ever seen in one place apart from possibly the airport. Some demons towered over the crowd, or pushed through at barely three feet tall. Demons whose skin was every shade, and demons with horns and different colored hair, eyes, and other features. Some with wings even walked about. Most people were of Japanese descent, but with the diversity of the crowd, even those who weren't necessarily from Japan blended in easily. It was like a melting pot.

Ashley stuck close to Hiei as he led her through the throng of people. As two people tried to cut her off from him, without thinking she reached out and took his hand, grasping it as she tried to keep up with his strides.

He glanced over his shoulder in surprise, but the look vanished just as quickly and he turned back around.

Heat rushing to her cheeks in the slip, she released his hand just as quickly once she was confident she was close enough on his heels that no one would try to cut them off again.

Their group quickly became displaced as they tried to walk through the crowds of the festival. Kuwabara, easier to spot with his height and carrot-orange hair, motioned to the rest of their party, and moved toward a less-crowded area to wait for everyone to catch up. With the way the festival was set up, however, they could easily split up into groups and meet up every once in a while. Which was what was decided. Minamino decided to tag along with Hiei and Ashley once Keiko voiced that he was the only one without a date.

His smile was subdued but his eyes sparkled just the same. "It's fine. I'll be the third wheel if one of you don't mind."

And so he decided to stick with Ashley and Hiei. Hiei seemed to be lost in his own world again, never quite locking eyes with Ashley, but absently scanning the crowd. It looked like he was looking for someone, but if he was he never voiced it.

Minamino, however, was the easiest person to get along with.

"Oh, look, Ashley," he called to her over the pounding music as he held up a fox mask to his face. The colors were almost technicolor and feathers stuck out at every direction. She couldn't help but laugh. The crazy blues, pinks, and greens complimented his red hair almost perfectly. Dark red sequins lined the mask, which made it look like it was made for him.

"It's perfect!" she squealed, picking out a mask as well and holding it up to her face. Hers was of a unicorn. The horn was made with gold and silver sequins.

Minamino pulled his mask away from his face to laugh at Ashley's curious cocking of her head. Hiei stood several paces away, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hiei!" Ashley called over to him, pulling her mask away for a moment so she could call to him and have him hear her. "You should choose one! Look, Minamino found a fox and I've got a unicorn! Maybe you could be the dragon?"

She held out the dragon mask for Hiei, but he merely glared at it and then shifted his glare towards Minamino who had begun laughing with absolute mirth.

At a raised eyebrow in question from Ashley, Minamino waved his hand. "Sorry, inside joke."

Ashley definitely missed that one, but when she turned back to Hiei, he'd turned away, shuffling on and leaving them alone.

Her hand holding the mask dropped, disappointment killing her excitement.

"Try not to be too disappointed in Hiei," Minamino said as he placed the fox mask back onto the vendor's table. Ashley did the same with her masks. "He takes a while to open up."

"So you mean forever?" Ashley replied with a dry chuckle that held no humor.

"He's always been closed off, for as long as I have known him." Minamino admitted. "And that has been for several years now. Just be patient with him. He'll come around."

Ashley followed Minamino through the crowd, sticking close. He'll come around. As if they had all the time in the world. As Minamino paused to let some people pass in front of him, Ashley got close so she wouldn't need to raise her voice very much. "And what if he doesn't?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her, emerald eyes meeting hers. "Hiei is someone whose respect you have to earn. Once you earn it, however, he is loyal. Try not to give up on him so easily."

If only she could tell him the whole story. If only she could create a confidant in him. He seemed so easy to talk to.

But he was also a good friend of Hiei's. Could she really talk to him openly and not worry about him running back to Hiei to tell him what they talked about?

Watching him navigate through the crowd, he seemed so calm and collected. He didn't seem to be the type of person to circulate drama. Maybe they could be friends.

She certainly wanted to try, even if she and Hiei were about to end.

The thought occurred to Ashley, then, that she had lost Hiei in the crowd. She stuck close to Minamino as they arrived at their next vendor, an old woman selling handmade jewelry. As Minamino leaned over a selection of bracelets, the woman smiled kindly. "Looking for anything in particular?"

Ashley barely heard Minamino reply, "Just something for my mother-"

She hung out behind Minamino, searching for Hiei in the crowd. Few people were actually wearing black that day, as warm as it was, so she was able to pick him out fairly easily: to the left of where they stood, several booths down. He'd found Yusuke and was talking with him, their heads bent together as Keiko chatted with another vendor.

"Ashley?" Minamino captured her attention. The girl spun back toward him. He was holding up two bracelets. One was made with deep red gemstones, the other with deep blue, possibly sapphires, but really, she knew little about stones. "If you were to get one of these as a present, which would you prefer? It's a gift for my mother and I can't decide between the two."

His expression was so worried as he looked over both bracelets again. Ashley took them both in her hands. She didn't mean to check their price tags, but they fluttered in the wind. Both were more than she usually spent on herself in two weeks.

"Well," Ashley began, trying to keep her voice even. "Does she have a favorite color?"

"She has always liked both of these colors." Ashley could see why with the deep red bracelet. It was a direct match to his hair. She probably liked it because it was a reminder of her son.

"Which do you like better? Usually parents really like things that their kids like, or if you tell her it made you think of her she'll love it for sure."

Minamino smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "The red then."

Holding them out to him, Ashley smiled a small, knowing smile. It seemed he had an affinity for the color red. "I'll take this one, please." He had turned back toward the vendor lady and Ashley looked back in the direction that Hiei had last been standing, but he had disappeared again, as he seemed to do in this crowd.

"Find something?"

His voice appearing next to her so suddenly made Ashley nearly jump out of her skin and a light curse slip from her lips. Sure enough, Hiei stood just to her right, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he watched Minamino exchange money for the bracelet.

He nodded. "For my mother."

"Where'd you disappear off to?" Ashley asked, poking Hiei in the ribs to try to be comedic. It didn't work; he barely moved, just glanced down at her.

For a moment, Ashley thought he wouldn't answer her. After a moment, though, he turned his attention away from her and over her head, back at Minamino. Finally, he said, "Needed to speak to Yusuke."

Ashley glanced back at Minamino who seemed to share an unspoken conversation with Hiei. She and Isla had often done that: share a conversation between the eyes alone. It took a strong friendship, and knowing the other person almost completely.

"Shall we go meet up with the others?" Minamino said, turning from Hiei and stepping towards the direction that Yusuke had just been in.

Two hours had already passed. As a result, everyone had decided food was in order. Some picnic tables had been set up close to the stage, but it was entirely too loud and no place for actual conversation. Instead, once everyone got food, they found a brick wall that overlooked the streets that held the festival and sat upon that.

Hiei helped Ashley up the wall, grasping her forearm and hauling her up easily, as the brick wall was nearly as tall as she was. Keiko and Yukina, rather than opting for a hauling by their significant others, walked around the back way, taking steps up to the little landscaping area and then balancing on the wall as they walked back towards where the rest of the group sat.

Ashley was seated right between Minamino and Hiei, the latter's thigh just inches from her own. It had gotten warmer as they sat there, but it was a nice heat, if such a thing existed. Almost comforting.

Talking down the line was a difficult matter. Kuwabara sat at the very end and had to holler against the distance, music, and chatter from other festival-goers toward the end of the line where Hiei sat. Truly, they looked like a line of birds sitting on a wire, their feet dangling over the wall, all except Yukina who sat cross-legged, and Hiei, who had scooted back from the edge and leaned against a tree that was close to the wall, one leg straight in front of him and the other bent at the knee, his arm thrown over it casually.

Ashley felt a certain pair of crimson eyes on her back. Turning towards him, and swallowing her bite, she raised a brow. "You okay? You seem distracted today."

Goodness but he was attractive sitting like that. She tried not to let anything show on her face, but trying to control what she felt had always been difficult for her. Oliver had often teased her while growing up that she was as easy to read as an open book. Ashley prayed she'd gotten better at it over time; it was almost painful to watch him knowing that this was their last day. After this, their relationship would be over, even if it was a fake one. Even what little friendship they had would end.

He'd asked her not to contact him again, after all.

"I'm fine," he replied, glancing away and back to the crowd, ignoring her.

Not meaning to, her posture slouched slightly in disappointment.

"Miss Ashley?" a familiar voice called to her from below. Turning, Ashley immediately recognized Ren and Tetsuya, the latter who was nearly at eye level with her where she sat nearly six feet in the air. Where Tetsuya was easily the most recognizable in class with his towering height, horns, and clay-colored skin, he was not the strangest-looking demon in this crowd.

She couldn't help the grin that split across her face at the sight of her students. "Hi! You know I've asked you to call me Ashley."

Ren smiled in her toothy way, arms crossed over her chest, and started to reply, but Tetsuya cut her off, pointing a finger at each of the members of Ashley's party. "You all know each other?" He asked.

Ashley immediately felt Hiei stiffen beside her.

Minamino, likewise, while he smiled, something else lurked behind his expression; his eyes were too tight for his smile to be genuine. He set down his food, holding it in his lap as Tetsuya and Ren stood before them.

"Yeah, I met these guys when I first got here." Ashley leaned over to glance down the line at Yukina, who was smiling politely at the newcomers. "Yukina introduced everyone to me. And I kinda like these guys." A thought clicked in her head at that. "Do you know them?"

Looking again at Ren and Tetsuya below, they seemed almost hesitant in their stance, their posture and body language completely different than it had been just a few seconds prior. Tetsuya had taken a step backwards and now rested his weight on that foot. Similarly, Ren's folded arms looked less like her challenging attitude that she wore most days, and more like she was nervous about something.

With a glance back down the line, Ashley noticed similar uncomfortable tension was visible in Kuwabara, Yusuke, Minamino, and even Hiei's attention had sharpened.

"We've met," Tetsuya finally replied, his tone cool.

"But, uh, hey," Ren chirped up. "We'll see you in class Tuesday? We're on our way to meet… some people."

She was waving "bye" before Ashley could respond and instead looked after them in confusion. Turning to Hiei, she asked, "Do you know what that was about?"

He was watching intently after their retreating backs. "No idea."

She didn't believe him for a second.

- End of Chapter Nine -

It's so great to be back! During NaNoWriMo, I wrote 50,000 words, which equates to roughly 10 chapters. As you can tell, I have started posting on Saturdays! Here's the schedule for December. It's extra special since it's the holidays: Chapter Ten will be posted Dec 16. Chapter Eleven will be posted on Dec 21 (I celebrate Yule, personally, so it's my gift to you). Chapter Twelve will be posted on Dec 23. Chapter Thirteen will be posted Dec 30.

Since it's been a month since you've seen me, and because I participated in NaNo, I got to spend a lot of time with this little fic, and I have hammered out where it's going, and specifically the time line. I'll be doing sneak-edits over the next week or two (I'll post a note in an author's note when I'm done in case you want to go back through and read the fic again), but the major events won't change. When they happened will. Here's some Spark Notes:

Ashley born on December 31, 1996 (remember, she's 23 in this fic)

The first Makai Tournament occurred 10 years ago. As in canon, Enki won and brought down the barrier to non-malevolent demons. Unlike canon, Spirit World placed a secondary restriction on this ruling (which will be explained in a later chapter and contains spoilers).

Ashley took 5.5 years at Cambridge. Some demons were in the world during this time, and there was confusion and some tension among humans, but it was still pretty rare to actually meet someone who was a demon.

The second Makai Tournament took place 7 years ago, and Takayo won. Random fact that will probably never make it into the fic specifically: Takayo changed the frequency of the tournament from every three years to every five. Takayo was killed approximately 4-ish months later by Shono. Shono took over for about five months during which the barrier came down completely and there was a massive influx of demons into human world. Hiei took out Shono and put Koji (the runner up to the second tournament) in place. Since the barrier came down completely and without restrictions, demons became commonplace in Human World (these events are staying the same… just note it was seven years ago, not two)

For two and a half years after that Hiei was tracking down rogue, malevolent demons and upper-class demons that had slipped into Human World while the barrier was down. For a year of this time traveling permits for demons were suspended.

The Human & Demon Peace Treaty was put in place five years ago. Around the same time limited traveling permits were allowed again.

Two years ago was the third Makai tournament. Koji placed first this time and returned to his position as King.

For the last two years the Legion has been purposefully increasing tensions and Hiei has been tracking down the members. Tensions are now at a breaking point. (this does not change but shows the relationship between everything else).

I think that's it for the Spark Notes as far as things are related through chapter eight. Again, I'll make an announcement when the chapters themselves have been updated.

Thank you to ZeroDarkNex14, WistfulSin, Kristy Himura, and LadyEllesmere for reviewing on Chapter Eight! And destinyswindow for your comments on Tumblr. Your reviews and comments always make my day (even if I'm shit at responding).

I do not own, in any way, the characters, places, or ideas of the Yu Yu Hakusho universe created by Yoshihiro Togashi. I only own my own characters and plot.