Content Warning: This story as a whole reflects what I see and experience in the world and this chapter draws a direct line to terror attacks around the world. I was excited to post this chapter as we're finally getting into the meat of the story, but the Santa Fe High School shooting serves as a grim reminder of how and why this story popped into my head in the first place. I just finished putting the last touches on the chapter, and now, after having the shooting happen, it's broken my heart. Please be mindful when reading this chapter and the chapters to come. I will post a content warning when appropriate.
Note: I left out at the beginning of twenty-one that Ashley had been traveling throughout Japan for the first three weeks of summer, leaving Knox with Yukina and Kuwabara. I've gone back and fixed the chapter now, but wanted to make note.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Heathrow
"She's gone."
"She didn't wake you?"
Ashley shook her head, strands of blonde hair waving back and forth. She worried at her nail beds, to which Hiei immediately caught. "You're doing it again," he muttered with a pointed look. Ashley flattened her lips into a line, and stopped the action immediately, only to turn away. "After what you described last night, if she wants to leave early, let her leave early. She deserves to get lost if that happens."
Ashley didn't admonish him, but grabbed her phone from it's charger and unlocked it, typing a quick message to Isla, -Why didn't you wake me? I wanted to talk about it all with you before you left-, but thought better of it and deleted the text before she could send it.
That had been yesterday, Wednesday. By the end of the day, knowing Isla had a two hour layover in Dubai before boarding British Airways for the final leg of her journey, Ashley texted her, hoping Isla was okay.
-Will you let me know when you get home?-
By Thursday, Ashley rolled out of bed with her seven o'clock alarm and declared, "I'm going to walk Knox," after checking her phone to see if she'd gotten a text from Isla yet. She should have gotten home sometime before the sun rose in Japan. No matter; her parents had probably bombarded her as soon as she'd stepped through the door. Or maybe she was still upset with Ashley.
Just as quickly as the thought came, Ashley banished it again, bending down to fasten Knox to his leash as the corgi ran in circles around her feet.
The Thursday morning they found themselves with started out like any other Thursday. Ashley walked Knox, leaving Hiei to delve deeper into the sheets for a few more minutes. On a typical Thursday, Hiei would turn the television on on his way to the bathroom and come out to adjust the channel to a news station. Any news station. If the satellite was being willing that day, the BBC, but any would do. By the time Ashley made it back up to the flat, she would throw some sort of breakfast together for the two of them and then get ready for her ten o'clock class.
On Thursday, August 27, as summer break was drawing to a close, that was not the case.
By the time Ashley made it back upstairs, however, Hiei hadn't moved from in front of the tv. Or perhaps he had and he was now coming back to change the channel. Either way, as Ashley shut the door behind her, Hiei turned to face her, expression dark.
Her stomach dropped, dread heightening her heart rate. "Hiei," she began slowly, taking her time to make it into the living space. "What's wrong?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but the television beat him to it, "…threats of violence at Heathrow airport came in not even two hours ago…" Heathrow airport. Isla. "… but parts of the Emirates terminal have already collapsed, killing both civilians and airport personnel. Officials tried to evacuate the airport when the threats first came in, but the airport soon went on lock down by the demons inside, taking the travelers hostage. Our viewers may remember the Shono Legion, who, in recent months, have been responsible for more than a dozen attacks against humanity-"
Surely she landed and got out in time.
A pounding came to the door that immediately made Ashley flinch, but Hiei was already crossing the small flat to get it.
Another male voice was immediately heard once the door opened. As much as she wanted to turn around and greet whomever it was that had decided to pay her a visit, another part of her, a stronger part of her, couldn't tear herself away from the images on the television.
Hiei crossed back into her field of vision as the man at the door yelled his name.
"I know, Urameshi!" he snapped back. Yusuke. Yusuke was the man at the door. "You go on. I'm getting her to Yukina's; I'll catch up."
"We need you now."
Hiei turned on him. "If this is a ploy to get me away from her, you can bet I won't be idiotic enough to leave her without protection." His voice was like steel. Unbending, unmovable.
"Dude," Yusuke came back, quieter. "Kurama's plants-"
"Leave it, Urameshi. I'll catch up."
Hiei waited until Yusuke had shut the door behind him and then turned back to Ashley, who hadn't moved from where she had found out about Heathrow. Carefully, gently, and completely unsure, Hiei placed his hands on her shoulders.
With a start, Ashley came to, realizing where she was, and who she was with.
Lips pressed into a firm line. "I'm okay," she reassured him, whose expression was so scrunched in worry, she felt pain for him. "I'm okay," she repeated, even as a shiver racked her body. She wasn't cold, though, and this close to Hiei should ward off any sort of cold.
If this was any other situation, his lips might quirk up in humor. As it was, however, he remained unreadable. "I'm getting you to Yukina's. Pack a bag."
"You're going to have to go, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question. Ashley had heard the announcer say that the Shono Legion had taken responsibility for the attack and was still holding hostages. Which could mean Isla, or any other of her family for that matter; who knew who was traveling today.
Ice gripped her spine.
Hiei froze, an expression blooming across his eyes and parting his lips ever so slightly. Before, it had been easy. Before she had squirmed her way into his life, he was all business: taking care of issues and attacks without second thought. Now, things were different. He'd told her that once. Now he went with everything, all his power with him, because there was someone he wanted to protect, and if he failed, it would likely mean she would fall, too.
At the time, Ashley had smiled a hidden sort of smile, pride filling her chest. Now, it was painful to admit that she didn't want him to go. She didn't want him to put his life on the line, which he seemed to do every time he left her flat. If she could, if she had the power, she would hole them up in that little flat so that no danger could touch them. No danger could have the power to rip their lives apart.
But what kind of life would that be for this man who loved to fight?
If only she had some sort of ability to protect his back, too. The electricity that she'd found within herself was so weak compared to his power. It was nothing but a nuisance. Desire to protect him for once, rushed through her.
She'd told Isla a little over a week ago that she loved this man, and Isla's words came back to her, then, "If you feel that way, you need to tell him." She hesitated.
"Please stay safe," Ashley muttered instead, reaching for his hand. He allowed himself to grip her hand in return, but rolled his eyes with a tsk.
"For you, yes, but only if it'll make you shut up with that emotional crap."
It was his normal response, and probably as heartfelt as he would ever be with her. She waited for affection to bloom in her chest for this man, as it usually did.
This time, though, it only made her worry more.
"Yukina, you're freezing! Doesn't Kuwabara let you leave the air up?" Ashley asked, trying to hide a shiver after her embrace with the young woman. Hiei had already left after sparing a final glance towards Ashley, a look that was only for her, and then he'd disappeared, Yukina welcoming Ashley and Knox into her home without question.
It hadn't even been a half hour since Yusuke had showed up in her flat. It had barely been fifteen minutes since she'd hurriedly typed out a message to Isla asking if she'd made it out in time. To hell with this tiff that they'd had. Isla could at least let Ashley know that much, right? Besides, even before their most recent fight she was like a sister, and would be her sister as soon as Sophia and Daniel married. They'd get over this tiff.
Isla, who was always on her phone, hadn't texted her back yet.
Ashley tried not to think about what that could mean. It could mean anything, right?
Keiko was already at the apartment, sitting in front of the couch with a dark-haired woman behind her that Ashley didn't recognize. The woman looked to be a handful of years older than herself, and she was running her hands through Keiko's long locks absentmindedly. The television was already on in the living area. Already turned to the Tokyo news station that played the attack on Heathrow in a loop. The news reporter seemed to be interviewing one of the officials in charge of ending this hostage situation, and he was going over the numbers of who was trapped inside: "seventy six thousand airport personnel, and more than thirty three thousand civillians -"
"Ashley, this is Shizuru, Kazuma's sister." Yukina, ever the gracious host, began.
For whatever reason, Ashley's mind seemed to be running a few steps slower than everyone else seemed to be operating. She stuck out her hand in a normal greeting before realizing that she was singling herself out against traditional customs. Embarrassed, and fighting the flush of scarlet that rose to her cheeks, she quickly retracted her hand and bowed low.
"You seem stressed," Shizuru replied instead, an almost bored tone to her voice.
How could she answer that without giving too much away? Her mind couldn't think more than a few thoughts at once, so she ended up just giving a half shrug.
"Come sit," the older woman said, patting the couch next to her.
As soon as Ashley sat Shizuru turned from Keiko, who rose and walked around the couch to wherever Yukina was, and turned to Ashley. "Turn around."
Ashley followed Shizuru's command, and immediately her fingers ran through her hair, pulling the elastic band until her ponytail fell out and her locks fell over her shoulders.
The news reel continued playing as Yukina and Keiko spoke in hushed tones in the kitchen. A tea kettle was placed on the stove.
Ashley didn't try to overhear what they said. Instead, focusing on the gentle motions of the woman running her hands over her scalp in the most soothing motions she'd felt in months.
She gripped her phone, waiting for the triple vibration to alert her that Isla's text had come in letting her know she'd made it home.
An hour later she couldn't stand it anymore and texted Isla again, asking again for confirmation that she was safe.
A teacup had soon replaced her phone in her hand. Shizuru never spoke, and never tired of creating hairstyle after hairstyle in Ashley's golden hair.
The tea went cold. Ashley drank it anyway.
"…and as you can see, the mediators employed through the Human-Demon Alliance have arrived on scene and are attempting to end the conflict here today."
The boys had arrived. Half a world away. Back home.
Ashley spotted Kuwabara's orange curls immediately as the camera zoomed in. Hiei was easy to spot next: look for the shadow that never stayed still.
"Although their presence is a controversial matter."
"I know, Tamaki. So many people believe that demons should stay out of the conflict altogether, especially since they are the ones who make up the Legion."
This was the first time Ashley had seen him fight. Even half a world away, chills rose up her spine as he unsheathed his sword.
"Well, not all demons are interested in war, as we've seen with the musical artists, KRJ-"
"And, moving away from that topic, it seems as if communication lines have failed inside and violence is being resorted to. The Guardians have arrived on-scene, offering to go in with force to end this attack-"
Violence raged on the television as the day passed. Neither side seemed ready to bow down.
The Guardians, armed with assault rifles and other weapons that police rarely used, were able to sneak inside while the boys kept the Legion distracted, and some returned every so often with half a dozen people every hour. Some were injured, some were bleeding profusely. Most were terrified: dirty faces streaked with tears.
"There's even rumors that they've infiltrated the governments," Isla had said a week ago. Ashley had laughed it off then, but what if it was true? How else were they able to act like a SWAT team and enter the airport to fight back?
Ashley texted Isla half a dozen times that day. She tried calling her, but each time it went straight to voice mail.
By five that evening, Keiko was making dinner in the kitchen with Shizuru, who had finally pleated Ashley's hair into a french braid, and Ashley had joined Yukina on the patio, phone purposefully left inside on the coffee table. Knox joined them on the tiny patio. With both chairs set up outside and Knox on the ground, there was no room to close the door, so it remained propped open. However, it provided a nice little breeze of air conditioning that escaped from the main room; a nice reprieve from the suffocating humidity of Sarayashiki in August.
Ashley and Yukina sat in an amiable silence, each enjoying the afternoon as best they could. Even if it was only a slight break from the nearly overwhelming stress that the television provided. It was a catch-22, though. They couldn't turn it off. Their loved ones were on the other side.
Ashley wanted to talk to Yukina, but how, she wasn't sure. The other woman was kind, and had showed Ashley nothing but kindness since she'd first picked her up at the airport all those months ago, but that was about as much as she knew about the other girl. As much as she wanted to be friends with her, the how in bridging that gap and forming any sort of friendship past their relationship through the university seemed difficult.
"You seemed tense at dinner the other night. Did everything end okay with you and Isla?" Yukina asked tentatively, watching Ashley, who immediately lowered her gaze and drank from her mug.
She could tell Yukina the truth. But the truth was hard to bear, even for Ashley, who had known Isla for six years. "Not really," she admitted, the words quiet. She stared into her mug. "Isla…" the sentence died on her tongue. There was no point in admitting what her friend had said. Ultimately, could they stay friends? Hiei was a demon, like the demons Isla had condemned before.
How could she reconcile the two worlds she belonged in?
Yukina let the subject drop. Words from the television drifted out to meet them. The boys had had to retreat, apparently.
"Thank you for sharing your world," Yukina muttered, the words small, but determined. Ashley glanced up. "You're in the minority, I think, who are okay with us being here."
Us.
Ashley's gray gaze locked with Yukina's scarlet one. Us.
"You're a demon, too?" Ashley asked. A bird called from a tree nearby.
Yukina merely nodded in the affirmative. "It's times like these that it will be hard to exist in a shared space for awhile." Ashley's mind immediately went back to Isla's words. "But thank you for sticking up for us. Keep doing that, if you don't mind."
The compliment felt weird to receive, and Ashley changed the subject. "Can I ask… what's your world like?"
Yukina's lips twitched upwards in a small, sad sort of smile."It's cut-throat. Or at least most of it is. Survive or die, mostly. At least that's what I found when I started traveling. There are some parts that aren't that way, but it's rare. And those places have their own issues. We'll be our own death of ourselves."
"Why were you traveling?"
"I was looking for my brother," she admitted. "And I ended up finding more than just a brother. I was…" she trailed off, lost in thought. After a moment, she shook her head, dispelling whatever it was that she remembered. "It doesn't matter. But I've never felt more at home than I do here. This is my world, now, and I don't ever want to go back to the Makai. I love it here. It's beautiful, and multi-faceted, and simpler." She listed off the qualities like she was trying to find the perfect words to describe earth. "It's home. More of a home than I've ever known."
Her words seemed like an admission of some kind, although Ashley didn't want to press for details when Yukina was so precise in what she explained to her.
"This world isn't perfect either, you know," Ashley said instead.
Yukina looked away, off the balcony. "I know."
Yukina and Kuwabara's flat came with two bedrooms, but the four girls ended up making cots on their living room floor, staying up and talking for most of the night. At one point, Ashley told them about what she accidentally did with the phone chord and the light in her flat, the heat rising in her cheeks, but Yukina slipped a hand to her own and squeezed gently, her touch cool. For the first time all day the television had finally been turned off, but no one was sleeping. Heathrow's battle still raged on the other side.
"You should get that checked out by Genkai," Keiko said from the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest. Shizuru had claimed the couch to sleep but Keiko sat beside her, her own cot below. "She's a spiritual master."
"Hiei mentioned her name when it happened," Ashley replied. "The problem is finding time, you know?"
Keiko replied with a long, "Yeah. Who has any of that anymore?"
"But really, Ashley. Kuwabara had spiritual abilities and he trained on how to use them. Now he can fight back. It could be useful anyway," Yukina chimed in, referring to her current beacon-like situation with the Legion. Ashley cracked a smile, but something stopped her from agreeing.
"When you say spiritual abilities, what do you mean?"
"For him, it was like seeing spirits and stuff," Shizuru spoke. "I've always been the same."
"Well I certainly can't do that," Ashley replied, thinking back to her history and the House, and Annabelle pushing her down the stairs. "My sister can, but I can't."
"It can present in other ways, too," Shizuru said. "For example, can you feel Yukina's energy?"
Ashley looked at the teal-haired woman next to her. The woman in question smiled gently, as if easing Ashley into relaxation.
"Her… energy?" Ashley asked, quirking a brow.
"Yeah. Genkai says you can feel another person's energy with your own," Keiko said.
Ashley tried to wrap her mind around that. "How?"
Yukina shifted, sitting up on her cot. "Sit up for me?" Ashley did as she was told, and faced Yukina. The woman offered Ashley her hands, which she took. "Eventually you'll be able to do this without physical touch, but while you're learning it's easier." Yukina spoke with the gentleness of a patient teacher. "I want you to close your eyes." Ashley followed her prompts without question, eager to learn something about whatever it was that had suddenly started residing within her. "Take a deep breath; feel your heart ease.
"I want you to find your energy in your mind. It's likely in your center- your chest. Do you feel it?"
Ashley tried not to bite her lip. "What's it supposed to feel like?" Honestly, she had no idea what she was supposed to be 'looking' for.
"It should feel familiar; like an extension of yourself. It's the calm that resides within you."
Ashley took another deep breath, willing her mind to calm. Find her energy. It sounded nearly impossible, but as she sat there, eyes closed, the world quieted. Within her, within her chest, she felt it: a hum of sorts, telling her everything would be alright.
An instinctual chill rose up her spine to the base of her skull.
A laugh bubbled up, as she felt it. It was warm, and tingling. And Yukina was right. It was familiar; it was the same energy she felt any time she held anything electronic, or fixed a problem with Oliver's phone. It was like greeting an old friend, because she'd known this energy her entire life.
"I want you to take your energy with your mind-" because that wasn't weird at all "-and slowly ease it through your hands into me. I want your energy to meet mine."
Ashley nearly let her energy slip back into the imaginary hole in her chest, but she focused harder.
Push it out through her fingers. That wasn't an odd request at all.
But how to push it out, especially so that it wouldn't harm any more light fixtures?
Tentatively and painstakingly slow - it could have been hours or minutes - Ashley focused on her energy, but any time she went to push it out, it slipped.
She would focus harder, and it would come back into sharp focus, like a camera lens being adjusted.
"Try guiding it," Shizuru's voice came from somewhere beyond the void of her eyelids. "Like, think about your arms, and imagine it flowing out."
This was easily the weirdest thing she'd ever done, but Ashley followed Shizuru's advice. Letting some of her focus slip, she instead shifted her attention to the feeling of her arms and hands, and how they felt in Yukina's cool grip.
Easily, as if she was tilting a cup with water inside, her energy followed the path her mind had created, and flowed from her center, through her arms, and into Yukina.
Of course, it didn't flow into Yukina, as Yukina's own energy met hers. Ashley immediately sensed a wall, and cold like ice. The harshest winters, snow drifts, the first snowfall.
Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes opened, but her energy continued to meet with Yukina's own. The teal-haired girl had broken out in a proud smile. "Ice?" Ashley asked carefully. "You're an ice demon?"
She nodded. "Yes."
As soon as they broke their hand holding, Ashley felt her energy slip back into her center, but it never fully disappeared again. If she fell quiet for a moment, she could feel it there, in her chest, tingling with a warmth she had never really known before.
This was her energy.
The girls devolved into a giggling fit over something that Yusuke and Kuwabara had done back when they were younger. Stories were passed around, Ashley regaling them with situations she and Oliver had often gotten into as children.
It was close to midnight, but they weren't yet asleep when Ashley's phone lit up with Isla's face on the caller ID.
Ashley grabbed for it, alerting Knox and making him whine, as she shot straight up and unlocked her phone.
"Isla?" The other girls went silent. "Isla? Are you okay?" She couldn't keep the worry from her voice. Fight or no fight; this was her sister in all ways except blood.
But what met her on the other side was static and gunfire. Ashley could barely hear Isla huffing on the other side.
"Isla?" Ashley asked quieter, frozen in place.
Something banged on the other end, and a moment later, Isla's whispered voice came like a breath of fresh air, but she was panicked and speaking quickly. "Ashley? Ashley can you hear me?"
"I can hear you, Isla!" Ashley nearly yelled through her phone. She wanted to reach through the phone right then and reach her, but being half a world away was like being caught in a nightmare and unable to wake yourself.
Isla yelped and something exploded in the background. "Ashley, I can't hear you, but I think you can hear me." She was huffing, like she'd just run a marathon, and paused, before coming back to the receiver. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry Ashley," the desperation in her voice was almost too much. "I didn't mean what I said before but I couldn't -" she disappeared again as something else exploded. More gunfire rang out. "I couldn't let them find you. I had to say them. I'm sorry... I had to see you. I wasn't supposed to, but I had to." She was rambling in desperation and disappeared again. The next moment it sounded like she was moving; the phone kept hitting something.
Behind her, Ashley was aware that someone had turned the television back on. Turning, she took it in. The caption at the bottom of the screen read, British Airways Terminal, the terminal Isla had landed in. Black smoke plumed into the sky.
Let her have gotten out. Let this be a different area that she's in.
She steeled herself. Her stomach was in knots. "Isla? Isla, it's okay. It's all okay; you stay alive, alright?" Ashley couldn't do anything but listen and try to reach her friend, but Isla couldn't hear her.
"Listen to me - Ashley? Oh shit!" Something else exploded, this time too close to the phone receiver. On the television, an explosion of fire and smoke erupted into the sky.
It was another good minute before Isla came back to the phone, and even then, her voice sounded far away, like she wasn't talking to Ashley but herself. "I think this is it."
A chill rose up Ashley's spine. "Don't say that; you're going to be okay-"
"They're everywhere. What do I-" Like she lifted the phone back to her ear, she continued, louder, "Ashley. Don't listen to anything anyone tells you. Use your own head." On the television, a series of explosions went off.
One. After. Another.
On the phone, Ashley could hear them getting closer. Dread pooled. Not daring to speak, fearful she missed what Isla said.
"I love you. Stay-" The terminal collapsed on the television.
The line clicked dead.
- End of Chapter Twenty-Two -
I've known Heathrow was going to happen for almost a year now, but unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the issues Ashley and everyone are going to face. It's definitely a turning point for the story. The next two chapters will be from Hiei's point of view, and if you're just joining us (so many of you guys followed and faved last time, thank you!), my update schedule is on my profile. I post every other week, and take hiatuses during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo. Chapter Twenty Three will be posted on June 2.
Thank you to the wonderful WithLoveSammiV and Star Charter for your reviews on Chapter Twenty One! I loved getting them. Personally, reviews always mean a lot to me. I enjoy knowing what other people think of my story and my characters, and find that they're the best way to tell if my audience is enjoying the story I am putting out for them. I mean, I personally love my characters and love where the story is going, but I'm curious about you, too, the people taking time out of their day to read this. So, if you are so inclined, I would love to hear from you, whether you loved it, or felt I could do better, or it broke your heart; I'd love to know what you felt or thought while reading.
Shameless self plug: I have a tumblr (link on my profile) where I will often post things for On Dating a Demon, including possible spoilers, and mood boards that I create for this fic. I create one for every chapter. If you follow me there, please shoot me a message so I know you found me through ODAD and I'll follow you back!
Super big thank you to the artist Haux, and their song, "Sister," which I used to write a majority of this chapter. The Spotify playlist for this fic is also linked on my profile.
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.