Chapter Twenty
Cobalt Nights
The pyramids were burning in the distance, the sky turned red and black, the smoke clogging their lungs as they slipped between buildings toward their target. Ashley gripped the sword tighter in her fist and shifted her shield. The enemy was out there, but somehow they'd managed to evade everyone so far. Perhaps they were fleeing from the apocalypse that raged around them.
"We need to split up," Oliver said from her right, as they paused behind a building to take in the terrain that lay before them. It was an uphill battle from there, that was for sure.
"Not a chance," Sophia said, having set down her weapons and was re-wrapping her arm. When had she been injured?
She had always been injured, Ashley realized. "Yeah," she chimed in. "If we split up we're done for."
Oliver was shaking his head. A missile flew over their heads, the scream of it ending abruptly as it found it's mark and shook the ground. Dust and ash flew outward, and Oliver was immediately on top of Ashley, covering her from the debris.
"No, if we split up, we can cover more ground," Oliver replied, slowly getting off of Ashley and helping her up. It made sense, but it wasn't something she wanted to do.
Behind her, the click of a gun's safety was disengaged.
When were guns in this world?
Guns had always been in this world.
Ashley turned to face her enemy -
Immediately Ashley was awake, jolted out of her sleep and leaving her gasping.
What had woken her?
Staying very still, she had her answer in just a few seconds; the water on the shower in her bathroom immediately started running, the spray from the showerhead echoeing off her bathroom walls.
"Hiei?"
He'd been out on a mission since dinner on Saturday. She hadn't asked any details, and he'd only said that he needed to take care of something that had come up.
Knowing a burglar, much less Dion, wouldn't immediately go for her shower, it had to be him. Relief flooded her, quietening her beating heart, and she laid back down, groping for her phone next to her. Trying the shield the light from her eyes the best she could - because who actually thought that the dimmest setting of the back light was actually dim? - she snuck a glance at the time: 3:06 am.
Of course it was past three in the morning. At least she still had over four hours to sleep before she had to wake again, which felt like a small blessing. Heaving a sigh, Ashley locked her phone and turned over, snuggling the blanket close under her chin.
However, she couldn't shut her eyes.
Her gaze had landed on a black stain on her floor. That hadn't been there when she'd gone to bed.
Pulling herself from the futon, and trying not to jostle Knox, she crossed the room to the stain. Even so close, she couldn't figure out what it was. Grabbing her phone and switching on the flashlight, however, she recognized the liquid puddle of red immediately.
She stopped breathing, and glanced toward the bathroom. A small trail of blood led from her patio doors to the bathroom, the light inside slipping between a crack.
Following the trail, Ashley hesitated before the door, not sure if she should knock or wait until he came out, but she wanted to make sure.
Before she lost her determination, Ashley slid the door open.
"I was hoping I wouldn't wake you."
Blood streamed down his body in little rivers, creating swirling whirlpools at his feet. The purple blooms of a bruise had started forming across his ribs beneath his left arm. Cuts and scrapes covered his body, the flesh torn and mangled in places, and a new scar just below the bruising had appeared, pink and puckered.
Ashley approached him, taking in his body, mouth slightly agape. The water still hit him, the steam filling the bathroom, and the water's spray lightly coating her own body.
Her hands hovered over him, not sure where she might touch him that wouldn't inadvertently hurt him.
"It's mostly their blood, not mine."
"But you're still injured," the words ghosted from her lips as she finally pulled her gaze up to meet his.
"Yukina was able to heal the worst of it. All that's left are flesh wounds." What had happened to him? She didn't pause to think about what he meant by Yukina healing him.
"I'll be okay, I promise," he reassured her, shutting off the water. Only a few areas bled openly now: a gash across his right shoulder and leg, and some scrapes on his hands and arms. It wasn't too overwhelming, but still, to see him come back in this condition was alarming. "Let me get dressed."
He tried to keep his tone light, but even as he stepped out of the shower, Ashley could see the pain he tried to ignore in his step.
"I'll get the first aid."
Before he had a chance to argue, because she knew he would, Ashley left him in the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her.
Her mind was in a fog. Even after she shut the door behind her, she remained outside the bathroom, trying to remember exactly where she put the first aid kit. It wasn't like they needed it very often. Yes, Hiei sometimes came back from his missions a little banged up, but blood was never part of it.
It took her a good minute to remember she'd placed the first aid kit in the upper part of her closet after they'd brought Mako home over a week ago. Flipping the switch for the light in her small flat, she was able to find the kit easily, and Hiei stepped out of the bathroom only moments later, shirtless, and had a bit of toilet paper sticking to his arm where he was still bleeding.
"You're being ridiculous," he muttered, exasperated. The kit suddenly felt heavy in her hands. Was she overreacting? Shame swelled in her chest. "I'm fine, really. I'll heal naturally in a few days. You shouldn't worry yourself."
But even though this was Hiei, and he pushed everyone away, she still felt the uncontrollable desire to help him.
She steadied herself, forcing herself to look up and hold her head high. "Please, Hiei, just let me care for you," Ashley said softly. "Even if this is all I can do, I want to help you."
"Why?" Came his curt reply.
He was just brushing her off, like nothing. Was she really nothing to him?
Anger and frustration replaced the shame almost immediately. "Because I care for you, you cockwomble. And maybe you will heal ridiculously fast, but I want to help you because when you hurt I hurt."
Tears sprung to her eyes immediately, which she only cursed away in English. Stupid tear ducts being connected to her anger.
By the time she had gotten her emotions under control, Hiei's face had relaxed, watching her with an emotion in his eyes that she couldn't name. It was something she'd never seen him express before, but before she could possibly try to figure it out, the expression was gone again, replaced by his cool mask that he wore when he didn't want her to know what was going on in his head.
"Fine," he said, sighing. "If it makes you feel better," and he crossed the room to to kotatsu, sitting.
"It does." She muttered, shocked into stillness for a split second before quickly remembering that he might change his mind at any moment and grabbing the opportunity before it could slip away. Without preamble, Ashley joined him at the kotatsu, zipping open the kit and taking out the hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, antibiotic ointment, and bandages.
Ashley worked quietly, focusing on stemming the flow of blood where it was heaviest, and while that slowed, worked on cleaning his other wounds.
After several minutes of silence between them, Ashley finally leaned back, taking him in. At least the blood had stopped flowing so freely.
Usually seeing him shirtless would have sent a little trill through her, warming her belly and setting her blood on fire, but this time she just couldn't help but hurt with him. He had been watching her the entire time with those scarlet eyes of his, never leaving the top of her head as she worked.
"Can you tell me what you're really doing?" Hiei sucked in a sharp breath, looking away back towards the patio doors. "Hiei, I know this has nothing to do with your mediation… thing. If it did we'd obviously be in World War Three right now if how you came back says anything."
He wouldn't look at her. A muscle in his jaw worked in frustration, and he wouldn't relax, every tendon tense. His fists were balled on top of the kotatsu.
Realizing he wasn't going to say anything, Ashley finally placed her hand over his fist, and worked at opening his hand. That caught his attention. "I need you to relax if I'm going to work." She said, not glancing up as she leaned back over her work. Her fingers traced the shape of the black dragon that curled around his forearm. If she didn't know better, the tattoo looked more defined than it did two days ago when they last saw each other. It was like details had been added to the dragon's body that had not been there before. The smoke around it was still there, of course, but it was like some of it had been removed.
Trying to force her thoughts onto anything else, she got back to work, applying the ointment and wrapping the bandage around his arm, which effectively covered the dragon from view.
She quickly finished the major gashes and moved onto the smaller scrapes and mangled areas.
"It's the Legion," Hiei finally admitted, still staring out the window, the muscle in his jaw still working. "They appeared in Mexico, and I was… dispatched."
"In Mexico?" Ashley mused, sitting back and finding herself staring at where his dragon tattoo should be beneath his fresh bandage. "How on earth did you get all the way there and back in two days?"
Another muscle started ticking in his jaw. At this point, Ashley was concerned for Hiei's stress levels. Her hand laid on his arm, snapping his attention back to her. "Hey, if you don't want to say…"
"I do," he replied quickly, his rough voice reassuring. "I do, but…" and he hesitated, as if he wasn't sure how, exactly, to phrase what he wanted to say. "They're not my secrets to tell."
Her conversation with Mako appeared back in her mind. "It's alright; I understand." Ashley offered a small smile.
"I don't-" Hiei began, tense again, his eyes blazing like coals beneath the midnight light. "I don't want you to feel like I'm keeping things from you. I just need a little more time."
This man sitting in front of her, who two months ago could barely hold a conversation with her, now suddenly saying he didn't want to keep secrets? She could never have imagined this from him back then, which was the only reason why she replied with, "You have time; I hope you know that. I don't need to know anything that I shouldn't."
And truly, she didn't want to know, especially if it might put her in a difficult situation like she'd found herself in with the Legion. And if it compromised Hiei's friends or what he was doing in any way, she didn't need to know anything.
Finishing up, she put her materials back in the first aid kit and stood, crossing the room to her closet where she put the kit back and took the usual white long sleeved shirt that Hiei wore from it's hanger.
"Catch!" She called over to him and tossed him the shirt. As he put it on, careful of his ribs and the newly-applied bandages, Ashley found herself watching him. Carefully, she reached for her phone next to the futon and swiped up for the camera.
"Hey, Hiei," she said softly, catching his attention and making him look over his shoulder at her. A question lit his gaze, his brows quirked up in question. She snapped the photo with a smirk as Hiei realized what she'd just done.
"I realized I didn't have any photos of you," she answered the unspoken question, locking her phone and pocketing it. Hiei's expression lowered into a glare.
"So you chose to take the photo when I'm injured? That's reassuring." He pulled himself to his feet and cornered her against her bookcase, her lower back pressing uncomfortably into the shelf. "Maybe I ought to just," he snuck his hands around her and tried to grab at the phone in her hands behind her back, "delete it-"
Ashley twisted away from him with a laugh, and tossed the phone behind him so that it thudded quietly against the far wall. He tried to pull away from her, but she was too quick, hands snaking out and wrapping themselves around his back, pulling him close.
He struggled for only a moment before relaxing, and wrapped his arms around her, too. His scent filled her mind: lightly smoky, like the comfort of an autumn campfire, but clean from his shower, and with a slight tang from the citrus shampoo she had.
I love you, almost slipped past her lips before she was able to halt the words in their tracks. That wasn't a confession she was ready to make, and one that she was sure Hiei wouldn't reciprocate. Sure, they'd gotten close, and he was trying to be more open with her, and they were having sex regularly, but none of that called for an I love you. They were two people who found themselves attracted to one another. Why tell him when it would likely only complicate things? He'd never been good at expressing feelings and emotions anyway, and she definitely didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
No, she could keep that to herself for now.
Instead, she whispered into his ear, "I'm glad you're okay."
With a quick squeeze, he released her. "Let's get some sleep."
On Sunday, when Hiei had originally left, Ashley had taken to the streets, one destination at the forefront of her mind. Thankfully, the music shop was relatively easy to find. A bus ride, and a twenty minute hike later and she was at the storefront, slipping in through the door.
Natsu's Notes was a quaint little instrument shop, that sold everything from violins to guitars, to trumpets, to grand pianos. Even traditional Japanese instruments were sold. The store didn't have a grand location, and there was no sign out front; people knew of it only through word of mouth, apparently.
"Hi Mako!" Ashley called out to the violet-haired demon who stood hunched over the counter reading a textbook. Golden eyes immediately snapped up, a small smile spreading.
"You made it," he greeted her, straightening up.
"Of course I did. You say you have a keyboard, right?"
"Oh, I see. That's the only reason to come visit me, right? You don't actually prefer my company." His voice was serious, but his eyes were lit in mirth.
"Oh, shush," Ashley made to push him as he came around the counter, but he side-stepped deftly. Mock-irritation fueled the bark of frustration that escaped her, making Mako laugh.
Mako found the keyboard he'd told her about after class a week prior, placing his hand on it. "Here she is," he said, glancing back over his shoulder at her.
"And you said it's only thirty two thousand yen?" Ashley asked; Mako nodded.
"It's been here so long, Natsu keeps dropping the price. Don't know why she keeps getting looked over, but she does, even though she plays like a dream."
After a few minutes playing it, going through the buttons and different settings, Ashley finally gave her money for it. Really, she wasn't as knowledgeable about keyboards as she was with an actual piano, but seeing as how purchasing an actual piano was a far-fetched dream at this point, especially with her teaching job ending in less than a year, and she could simply ship the keyboard back to herself in England at the end of the year, this was the best idea.
She'd found herself playing it while Hiei was on his mission, going through her old sheet music that she asked her Mum to fax to her while on campus. At times, Knox would howl along with her music, his ears new to the sound, which would end in a laughing fit on Ashley's part.
The morning after Hiei's return, the Tuesday before she left on her traveling adventures for summer break, Ashley had put the keyboard away in favor of getting her grading out of the way. She'd planned the summer break with trips and sight-seeing adventures, and needed to get her responsibilities taken care of before that started and she inevitably lost track of time.
By mid-afternoon she sipped on some tea at the kotatsu, the tv was turned on to the news, while Hiei sat against the wall by the patio doors as a thunderstorm raged beyond them, sharpening his sword on a whetstone. Knox sat near him, watching him move his blade against it. The smooth, almost rhythmic sound of it was soothing as she worked, and had chosen to leave her earbuds out in favor of listening to that. The sound was just so… Hiei.
Even with the sound and the thunder outside, it was just a quiet afternoon.
Lightning flashed outside, the thunderous boom not even seconds behind. The images on the tv caught Ashley's attention and she turned up the volume just in time to see the local news reporter cut to clips that an international station had recorded. Something that looked like an explosion had leveled a corporate area, rubble spread about.
"…And here, if you'll note, is where the event occurred," the woman was speaking in English, and kanji were displayed on the lower part of the screen for Japanese who could not understand English. "Now, authorities are calling it a gas leak that caused the damage, but really, the Shono Legion is taking the credit for this one. The best we can figure is that their target was to damage the energy grid, which would effectively shut down the city until officials could fix the issue, which, if the grid was destroyed completely, might take months. Thankfully, some of the peace liaisons were able to step in and stop this attack -"
Glancing over at Hiei, Ashley noticed that he'd also stopped his activity, Ashley's attention on the tv catching his own.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Ashley asked him, the comment off-hand as she cocked a brow, a small smile playing on her lips.
Hiei caught the expression as a smile tried not to worm its way into his expression as well as he looked away. "Not at all." Lightning cracked again.
"Hm-hm," Ashley replied, not impressed. If the destruction that they showed on the tv was anything to go by, it was no wonder that Hiei had returned to the flat as beaten up as he was. "You don't have to go out anywhere today, right? You can stay in?"
Hiei glanced outside and the apocalypse that raged beyond the glass. Kurama's plants were holding up well, but for how long, that was to be determined.
"Not in that," he replied, shaking his head. He focused back on the sharpening of his blade without fanfare. That was good. At least she had him for the rest of the day. Once she left tomorrow it would be a good three weeks before she saw him again.
She was about to turn her attention back to the essays that her students had composed when her phone chimed. Sophia's message only contained a single photo. It was a photo of the writing on the wall that the ghosts were somehow managing to create. Letters had been added since she had last gotten a photo of it.
"Weve been h-" That was all it said. The cursive letters were carved into the wood of one of the walls; a wall that looked to be in the family room, or very near to it; it'd been years since Ashley had actually stepped foot inside the House. It it was definitely in an area downstairs, and a conspicuous location. One could not miss it, even if they weren't looking for it.
"What's that?" Hiei asked absently, not looking up. Ashley merely glanced at him as he spoke.
"That," she said, getting up, "Is my phone about to die." Her phone really was, so she crossed the room to plug in her phone. She highly doubted Hiei would be interested in ghosts supposedly making carvings in a wall. She, herself, was only interested because Isla had brought up up to her all those weeks ago. "Sophia just sent me a photo, is all," she replied instead as she plugged in her phone, lightning cracking loud and close.
Multiple gunshots went off in succession. The light above flickered and died.
Hands were around her wrists in an instant. "Ashley!" They tugged, pulling her hands away from her ears. Had she covered them? Hiei's face was inches from her own, brows knit together. Somewhere, Knox barked with fervor.
"Ashley!" He yelled again, forcing her to meet his gaze. "What happened?"
She stuttered. "I-I-I-" Slowly, the world behind Hiei's face came into focus. Scorch marks ascended the wall and crossed the ceiling to reach the light fixture, which no longer existed. Shards of glass covered the room. "What - What happened?"
Hiei huffed a breath and tried to contain the clear annoyance in his voice. He tried, and failed. "That's what I'm asking you!"
"I-I plugged in my phone…" Ashley turned to the phone and charger that was still connected to the wall. Or, at least, she turned to where the charger had been. The bright green cable had been reduced to a charred plastic goo that was slowly melting from the wires. Ashley sucked in a shaky breath, leaning closer to where Hiei knelt next to her. Her phone smoked next to her, it's screen effectively shattered.
The light above them had gone out, as she'd noticed before, the glass scattered like it had exploded. The room had been plunged into darkness; even the tv had shut off, although, it seemed to still be intact. Lightning streaked across the window outside.
Knox was still barking.
"Will you please quiet that insufferable creature?" Hiei seethed next to her under his breath, only to take Ashley's shoulders in his hands and turn away from the dog. "What happened? Are you injured?"
Ashley, however, couldn't seem to form coherent words. "Ashley." Hiei placed himself in front of Ashley, where she was looking around the room at the destruction. He touched the side of her face gently, drawing her gaze. "What happened?" He tried again, trying to school his tone into something gentler.
"I just tried to plug my phone in. You have to believe me. I didn't mean for this -"
She was shaking like a leaf. Hiei pulled her close to him, careful to still block her view from what had happened. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course I believe you."
She clung to him, for a moment, willing herself to calm down. Her heart raced in a gallop, left-over adrenaline making her hands shake. Tears were nowhere nearby, even though she felt a pressure inside her chest swelling like she wanted to.
Lightning cracked again, setting her blood on fire.
Hiei, for all his heroics, did not let Ashley cling to him for too long. Maybe a minute, and then he was pulling away, still taking up her view of the apartment. "Do you remember what happened?"
Ashley nodded, her eyes wild. "I was plug-plugging in my phone, and the lightning flashed outside. The next thing I know," she forced herself to take a breath, her voice shaking. "The next thing I know, you're next to me and I'm on the ground." Confusion settled in her mind. "Hiei, what in the world was that? Was that me?" She whispered the words, as if afraid to hear their truth.
A muscle twitched in his jaw, his expression, for once, unreadable, even to her.
Knox was still barking. "Will you please…!" Hiei's voice raised in frustration before he paused and tried again. "Will you please get him to be quiet? I can barely hear myself think."
"Knox," Ashley called to him even though she couldn't see the dog. "Knox, it's okay; I'm fine."
Immediately he crossed the room and crawled into Ashley's lap, nudging her hand for pets.
Finally, the room fell quiet. The only sound left was the pouring rain outside the patio door. "What did you feel before it happened? Anything?"
"No."
"Nothing out of the ordinary?"
"Like being sick?" His insistence was worrisome. "No. I felt the same as I've always felt." He paused, silent. "Hiei, what are you thinking?"
What little she could read his expression in that moment, it terrified her. Looking around the room, it was like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.
She reached for his right hand, which still gripped her shoulder. With a light squeeze, she got his attention. "What? What is it? What are you thinking?"
He finally spoke. "Do you have any sort of connections spiritually? Ever died and come back to life? Ever have any sort of supernatural experiences?"
"Not really no. I mean, the House can't count, can it?"
That got his attention. "What goes on at the House?"
"I've told you about it before," she replied, indignant that he would forget. Surely she'd told him three times already.
His reply came quick. "Enlighten me again."
"It's an old house on my mother's side," she explained, trying to keep the attitude from her words. "We care for it because some of the ghosts of my family still reside there. But Hiei, I don't understand-"
"And have you ever noticed yourself have any sort of inclination towards anything in particular?"
Several beats passed. Lightning flashed menacingly behind him, the thunder following a few beats later. The storm was moving on. "You're not making sense."
"Have you?"
He was insistent, as if this was the most important detail in the world. "Hiei. What on earth are you talking about?"
He huffed a sigh, resigning himself to whatever was going on in his head. "I've noticed it starting for a while now, but I didn't think anything of it. The fox can explain it better than I can. I think you're like the oaf."
Oaf. Ashley forced herself to think back; where else had she heard him call someone by that name? "Kuwabara? But what does he have to do with this? And what do you mean by fox?" This conversation had definitely taken a turn for the weird.
A muscle twitched in his jaw again. Frustration fell off his body in waves.
"It's part of what you were asking about last night." Hiei, she could tell, as much as he wanted to explain it to her, was lost for exactly the right words. Why? She wasn't sure, but he was. As much as she wanted to have it all explained to her now, it seemed as if that wouldn't be. "Give me a day or two during this summer break of yours and I'll take you to Genkai's. We'll see if we can't get you an answer."
As much as she wanted to fight it out of him, because she knew he knew something, even if he didn't know how to describe it for her, honestly, Ashley just didn't have the energy. The adrenaline was finally ebbing away, leaving her feeling exhausted and empty.
"Even if you don't have a way to explain it to me now," she began, hoping he would understand without her having to go into too much detail. "Can you at least tell me what it is? At the surface level?"
He clenched his jaw, something warring with himself behind those scarlet eyes of his. "You're showing the signs of having psychic abilities."
- End of Chapter Twenty -
[EDIT: If you are binge-reading this fic (I love you if you are; I myself am a binge-reader), please please take a break from reading. Just a ten minute break, so not long at all! Stretch your legs, go to the bathroom, get some water and food if you haven't eaten in awhile. We are now at just over 100,000 words, which means you have just read enough story to fill Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Wuthering Heights in one sitting. After your ten minute break, come on back and keep reading! If you've gotten this far you must be enjoying things. I hope you continue to enjoy Ashley and Hiei's story.]
Aaaaaand now we begin a month-long hiatus while I write the next 10 chapters for Camp NaNoWriMo. Don't kill me! Chapter 21 will be posted on May 5. I apologize that 20 was late (again). This weekend has been crazy and weird. Currently trying to fight a stomach bug. At any rate, Happy Easter (if you celebrate it)!
At this point I also have to mention a few things. First, I've been itching to share her ability manifestation with you all for over seven months. It was one of the first things I knew she would have when this story came to me. I'm so glad I'm finally getting to share it with you! It's HERE. I think a few of you might have guessed this was coming for awhile, and some of y'all got really close to guessing what sort of abilities she might have.
Second, I have to also mention my inspiration for On Dating a Demon. Hereafter, whose fic, Once We've Fallen, inspired me in a small way: after reading her fic I knew I wanted to write a HieixOC fic of my own. I wanted to create something thought-provoking, too. Then, after I started writing this I had the idea for Ashley's electricity. A few months later I began re-reading the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, and started seeing the vague similarities with Mare's lightning and knowing what I have planned with Ashley's. Therefore, I have to reference it as inspiration if nothing more than exploring a character who has lightning abilities and their significant other being a character who has fire abilities. After re-reading those books I've also seen a couple of techniques that Mare does that I wanted to incorporate with Ashley, so you'll likely see those nods later, too.
And finally, that dream was actually a dream I had; I just replaced my family, who were originally in it, with Ashley and her siblings.
Thank you to WistfulSin, Ruler of the Elements, and JohnGreenGirl for reviewing on Chapter Nineteen, and to musicnutftw for your review on Chapter Ten! If you like what you read, please review! I always love seeing what you all think.
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.