A/N: Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!
This chapter consists of only interactions between Hiei and Toriko. Also there is Maneshi.
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Akari drags Toriko home after school, not giving Otento a chance to follow either one of them.
However, Otento comes to Toriko that night with the intent of having his way with her,
only to be interrupted by Hiei, who only spares him because of Toriko's distress.
She begs Hiei not to leave her by herself, using her energy to coax him to lay down next to her,
and asks him if he would always protect her. Hiei's answer is yes...
The sunlight filtering in through the window, closed but its curtains still open wide, slowly drew Toriko out of the most wonderful dream whose memory faded farther the further she awoke.
She felt warm, and in her still-drowsy state, scooted closer to the warmth, burying her face in Hiei's neck.
"Wha-? Her mind sleepily asked, becoming more aware of her surroundings, but unsure why Hiei's name came to mind.
Her eyes fluttered open once, but they felt heavy and she let them close again, her right hand clutching a bit of fabric into her fist as she momentarily fought a return to dreamland. In the back of her mind, she realized no alarm had pulled her from sleep and that there was actually no school and that relaxed her enough to drift off again.
Toriko had not woken up enough to notice, but Maneshi had joined them sometime in the night as they slept, laying down on Hiei's stomach and curling his front paws underneath his body, a steady purr persisting even through his own rest at the warmth Hiei unwittingly provided. By the time morning came, he had shifted into a curl, his tail twitching slightly near his face, one paw pinning it to Hiei's cloak. 3
Hiei lay completely comfortable where he sat, other than the fact he had no idea why he was where he was. His eyes stared at the feline curled on his stomach, his ears picking up on the small sound that emitted from the creature, creating a small song with Toriko's soft breathing. His mind reeled, trying to figure out how he had gotten himself into this position, his eyes shifting down to the hand that clutched at the smooth fabric of his precious cloak, making it impossible for him to get away unnoticed.
This is ridiculous, he thought to himself, realizing that he shouldn't be worried about waking up Toriko by moving away. After all, he couldn't clearly recall why he was here. Everything after Otento was a blur to him, as if he'd run through a marathon and was trying to recall everything he passed by while on the run. Again, for the fifth time since he had awoken, he scoffed at himself. Why was he still laying here?
Hiei moved, removing his left arm from behind his head and reaching for the feline with the intention of removing him from his person, possibly even toss him out the door. But the moment he touched the cat, its black head shot into the air and slitted heterochromatic eyes glared at him, claws digging into his skin slightly, as if in warning. Hiei glared right back at the cat, his crimson orbs alight with irritation and confusion from the morning's events. Already, today was appearing to be a day he'd rather sleep through.
After his slight hesitation, his eyes narrowed at Maneshi and he proceeded to grab the cat by the nape of its neck, earning a yowl as he dropped the cat to the floor, completely unaware of Toriko's stirrings. *
A yowl cut across Toriko's unconscious mind and she flinched, eyes trembling.
"Maneshi…" She thought to herself, intended to part her lips and call the cat's name, but instead coming up with, "Mmm...H-Hiei?"
She shifted around, her head moving over his shoulder to rest right at the place where the socket connected to his arm, squeezing her eyes together as she moved, still not committed to leaving her dreams.3
Hiei glared at the cat that now looked up at him from the floor, hissing once at him and sitting on his haunches, his black tail twitching on the carpet behind him. Maneshi's body shook as he readied to pounce, and Hiei glared harder at the cat. "If you value your life," he began, automatically turning to threats, but he didn't have the opportunity to finish as the cat leapt into the air. Hiei's speed would have allowed him to catch the feline, if it weren't for the fact that he was stuck on his back, pinned now by Toriko's head. Claws sunk into his side as the cat missed his landing target, Hiei having shifted enough to keep the cat from landing on his chest. A snarl left Hiei and he instinctively grabbed the cat again, wasting no time in tossing Maneshi across the room, watching as the cat landed on its feet and meowed loudly at him, protesting. Hiei moved this time, pulling the side of his cloak up to glance at the holes that had ripped at the fabric, his eyes flashing with anger. He continued to move, sitting up now with the intent to toss the cat out the window. *
Toriko felt herself sliding into a sitting position onto the bed, ending up seated on her feet and at that she finally woke up for real, blinking sleepily and rubbing an eye with one hand as she looked around the room, her mind sobering quickly once she saw the near-murderous intent in Hiei's eyes, one of his hands still holding a part of his cloak that looked damaged, and her black cat meowing angrily at him from across the room.
"N-No!" She exclaimed, her demon energy suddenly thrilling through her body, unfettered by her usual glasses or tight hair style as she rose up onto her knees and threw her arms around Hiei's shoulders with more strength than she had intended, pulling him back down onto the bed next to her and landing on top of him to stop him rising again, his back with their combined weight making a gentle 'poof' against the comforter.
Toriko found herself staring down into Hiei's eyes, their noses almost touching and her dark hair falling down either side of her face, veiling the two of them in their own little world.
Her eyes pleaded with him, unintentionally glimmering with power even in the shade of her hair. "I-I'll mend it." She meant his cloak, "I'll do anything you want. Please don't hurt him." 3
Hiei glared at the cat, taking another step forward, closing the space between himself and the animal. The room was filled with the creature's sounds of warning, its eyes filled with anger and fear as he continued to close in, towering over the small creature. And then, another noise added to the room, momentarily distracting him as he registered her shout, but his eyes never left the growling tom.
Suddenly, he heard movement behind him and he halted in his steps, freezing in place as he was grabbed from behind and practically spun around, landing on his back before he even had time to register what was going on. By the time his mind caught up, still feeling a bit slow and groggy, his ruby orbs were staring straight into emerald ones. He tensed, finding the situation he was in completely out of his norm, and he didn't exactly know what to do. His mind irrationally told him that he could toss her to the side, make her lay on the bed beside him so he could get up and finish his business, but as he realized what she was offering, he merely forced himself to sit there.
He felt desperation in the aura around her, her eyes pleading him just as much as her voice was to leave the cat be. He glanced under her arm to see the cat sitting on the floor where he had landed, tail twitching and eyes watching him warily. Maneshi gave a soft meow, and Hiei resigned to resettling his head on the covers of the bed. "This fabric is from Demon World," he clarified, eyeing her calmly. Of course, he had the fabric. And, of course, he could ask Yukina to mend it as well, but the fact that he was running so low on the material left him touchy about what tore at his fire-resistant cloak.
He eyed her expectantly, waiting for her to remove herself from his personal space, feeling rather calm now that she had offered to mend his cloak. "The cat will come to no harm," he said slowly, subtly informing her that she would indeed be mending the fabric. Then he merely lay there, watching her. *
Toriko wasn't sure that she believed him, but his eyes no longer held quite the fire that they had moments before, and she suddenly realized how fast her heart was beating, blinking several times as they looked at one another.
He was kind of close.
Make that, really close. Toriko bit her lip and shuddered slightly, something else deep within her stirring, waking up and sliding a coy smile across her face.
"Hm." She leaned over, slowly getting closer to his face, then bypassing it before reaching him, moving her head to her left, down to his right shoulder and the dark cloak that covered it, taking a bit of the cloth in her teeth and nimbling gently on it, eyes thoughtfully regarding the fabric, then flickering over briefly to gauge his reaction.
"Fire proof." She said first, smirking around the cloak in her teeth, letting go and moving towards his profile, "Of course."
Going over the white cloth he wore around his neck and putting her cheek against his, then nuzzling down between the cloth and his bare skin until her lips found the collar of the cloak and took it in her teeth again.
"I know this seam too." She let go, but did not retreat, her breath filtering slowly over his skin. She noticed a necklace partially hidden under his clothing, but it was not in her purpose so she said and did nothing with it.
"I actually have an outfit or two made out of this stuff." She began nibbling on his skin, up the side of his neck, moving towards his ear and stopping to breathe, "One can never be too prepared after all."3
Hiei became confused at the expression that swept over the female's face, her smile easy-going, but almost mischievous. He watched her, unsure of what was going on, suddenly feeling very much like he was trapped where he lay beneath her. A change had come over her, that much he knew. But what he didn't know was what caused the change and what she would do.
He didn't move when she leaned towards him even more, her breath brushing his face and caressing the skin of his jawline. As she latched her teeth onto his fabric, he noticed that his entire body had gone still, stiff with anticipation of something that hadn't happened. Even when she spoke around the cloth in her mouth, telling him what he already knew, he didn't move. He didn't even turn his head to get a glance at her. The closer she moved, the more stiff he became, uncertainty and complete expectation keeping him where he lay- not that he had much of a choice. Sure, he could move her, but would she fight back? As her teeth released his cloak and moved closer to his scarf, he cut his eyes at her, narrowing them slightly. Partially not surprising him, but leaving him wary, she took his scarf between her teeth as well, mumbling that she was familiar with the fabric just as she was with the fabric of his cloak.
He felt the scarf fall back into place, but didn't feel her body move. He eyed her, realizing she'd likely see the gemstone necklace he wore concealed, and he prepared for a warning, but had no reason to issue it. However, the feeling of her breath on his neck made a small shiver run up his spine, making him almost miss her comment before her lips pressed to the exposed skin.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he finally barked out, his tone low and eyes narrowed, his entire being still. Even his breathing was shallow, to minimize movement. As her lips continued to move, leaving a warm trail along his skin, pausing at his ear, he gave a sound of warning. His lips parted to show his teeth, though only slightly, as the sound left his throat. "Remove yourself." *
"Enjoying myself." She responded in answer to his question, taking the end of his ear between her teeth, "And you don't seem to be trying to stop me." She smirked, letting go and putting her lips next to his ear. "So, make me." She breathed again, her demonic energy flowing freely through her body, tugging one last time at his ear.
Releasing him and suddenly sitting up, thighs straddling his stomach, she crossed her arms and frowned at him, "Alright. Take it off." 3
Hiei's eyes narrowed a fraction more at her words, his lips remaining in the position they were in to make sure his small warning still stayed intact. When her teeth met his ear, he physically twitched, not sure what to think of the contact at all. He opened his mouth to say something more, to issue a final warning, but she spoke before he did and released her hold, continuing to speak. At her challenge, he gave a small growl, though it didn't do much more than rumble in his chest, not really making an audible sound.
And then, she was sitting up. His eyes followed her every motion, his arms laying beside him to keep himself from simply tossing her away, like he had with Maneshi. And then her words registered, and his expression shifted to disbelief. Again it shifted, this time displaying irritation and slight arrogance. "And why the hell," he paused, taking another breath, "would I do that for you?" *
"Why not?" She raised an eyebrow lewdly, not attempting to hide her eyes as they swept across him, drinking in his handsome features.
"You are wearing something under it, aren't you?" She pouted a little, "Do I not please you?"
She laughed briefly as if the thought were ridiculous, sighing long-sufferingly at the end, "I suppose you probably shouldn't. It would make things worse for you."
Her smile was alluring and she bent closer, arms still crossed. "But if you don't, I'll do it for you, and you probably won't like it, just like you've never liked anything or anyone in your entire life."
Her smiled never moved from her features and she stared directly into his gorgeous crimson eyes until she almost couldn't hold herself off any longer, sitting up again and regarding him curiously.
"I guess I could command you to do it, but there are few who actually find that order of things fun. And I'm not sure I know you well enough to decide if you'd actually enjoy it or not. Hmph."
She swung her left leg over his body so she could slide off the edge of the bed to the carpet. She shrugged as she started turning towards the door, her loose nightgown fluttering around her ankles, the lacy hem catching a breeze as she moved.
"I suppose if you don't particularly wish for me to hold up my end of our deal, then by all means, keep wearing it. But don't expect me to let you hold it over my head." Her words sounded lofty. "Come, Maneshi. We'll go dig through the storage closet just in case he decides removing it is worth the trouble."
At his name, Maneshi's sleek body unfurled and he trotted to join her as she walked out of the room and down the stairs, his tail crooked into a question-mark as he pranced after her.3
Hiei's brows furrowed at her response, his eyes darkening for a moment at the prospect of what she was saying, what she was hinting. At her dry question, followed by a laugh, he scoffed, but didn't reply because, quite frankly, he didn't know what he would say. So he stared, choosing to not answer at all. He simply waited, patiently, for her to make up her mind.
And then she mentioned removing his cloak for him, and his eyes narrowed again in silent challenge, daring her to try. He dared her silently to reach for his cloak, to try forcing him to do anything. He thought of the different ways he would prevent her of getting her way.
And then she was moving away, nonchalantly shrugging and removing herself not only from his personal space, but from the bed entirely. And her words made a small spark of realization in his mind. He sat up on his elbows to watch her leave, the cat following close behind her, the duo disappearing behind the door that slowly swayed shut.
The fire demon made an incoherent sound that resembled a scoff, his expression turning blank as he realized how ridiculous he must have sounded. Without a second thought, he stood and, in one swift motion, had his cloak folded in his hand, his scarf simply hanging down his chest to hide his necklace, the white cloth almost the same color as the light blue shirt he wore underneath. He looked around the room for a moment before deciding he'd follow Toriko, even if he found that her personality tired him out.
The storage closet was Maneshi's favorite place. He couldn't remember the last time Toriko opened it of her own volition, but here she was going downstairs and turning to the left away from the kitchen towards the living room and then turning left again and almost immediately coming to a door next to the staircase.
When she opened the door, the musty smell of the closet almost overpowered her at first, but after reeling back initially, she huffed through it and went inside. The closet was big enough to be almost another room, were it not for the shelves lining the walls and creating small corridors filled with odds and ends unorganized and in disarray.
Toriko waded in, picking her way through the junk, a stark contrast to the rest of her spotless house. She reached a few feet in from the door and stopped, putting her hands on her hips as Maneshi gleefully started crawling through the mess, sniffing everything.
Her eyes softened as she looked about, recognizing some of the things in the room, memories of days long gone by in Demon World flitting around in her head. This time, the memories didn't seem quite as painful.
The open chest in the corner had weapons sticking out of it. She smiled, but wasn't looking for relics of time past of that sort. She dug through a pile or two before uncovering an old trunk in another corner and kneeling down in front of it, throwing the lid back. That's when her grumbling began.
"...can't believe he thought I would want all this stuff..." She mumbled, eyeing various articles of clothing with increasing ire as she would pick something up and then toss it down on the floor near her.
"As if it hadn't been enough trouble to smuggle them in..." She grabbed a pile from within the trunk and plopped it down next to her, thumbing through it and grumbling again, "Not to mention the trunk itself being contraband when he gave me it..."
She mumbled to herself, cursing the unnamed 'he' in a near-constant dialogue as she bent over the trunk, still searching. 3
Hiei meandered his way down the stairs, casually glancing around the house when he realized he hadn't paid much attention to anything in the house. Everything seemed spotless, not even dust particles floating in the air and landing on any of the decor hanging on the walls. He took in the rooms he passed through almost lazily as he wandered, listening for Toriko as he moved about.
Before long, his ears picked up on a voice- Toriko's voice- mumbling, muffled as if behind a wall. He turned in the direction he heard it coming from, following the voice until he was standing outside an open door, the sound of things moving around inside making him curious enough to step inside as well.
Immediately, his eyes took in the many different things scattered about in this room, all of it from Demon World, and all of it looking rather old, some of it damaged. He eyed everything curiously, all thoughts of her taunting from a few moments ago gone.
"You managed to get all of this by right under Koenma's nose," he commented lightly, curious as to how none of the objects emitted the scent of Demon World or an energy of any kind, as most relics did. *
Toriko glanced up out of habit, though she recognized Hiei's voice and found herself giving him the same soft smile she first addressed the room with, pleased that he seemed to be enjoying himself. She turned to look down at the trunk and her old clothing within.
"Not me." She corrected him. "I...I fled Demon World on, uh, extremely short notice. I didn't have time to grab anything, much less a few prized possessions. I found a dealer shortly after getting here who was more than willing to fetch what I asked, and he's the one who did the dirty work."
One of her eyebrows twitched in irritation, "He went overboard, though. Ransacked half our base instead of grabbing the handful of things I asked for from my room."
She mumbled the last sentence as she bent over the trunk again, eyes brightening when she spied the black outfits she searched for at the very bottom.
"Ha!" She exclaimed in triumph, reaching in and tugging one from its hiding spot, holding it up for inspection. "I think I can scrap this." She decided. 3
Hiei let his eyes rove from one thing to another, quietly amazed at the relics that caught his eye. There were shiny ones that gleamed, obviously well taken care of, and there were older, rustic ones that appeared as if they would break if touched. He even saw a bunch of weapons stashed in the far corner, something he found himself naturally drawn to, but he held back and stayed where he stood.
"He must have grabbed what was worth something," Hiei mused, referring to the monetary value of the different items. If she ever decided to return to Demon World, she would definitely be set. Even the clothes he saw here and there were valuable, the fabrics popular.
As his eyes continued to scour the room, he continued to find things that piqued his interest, and it made it very difficult for him to simply stand and stare, and to not touch anything. After all, none of this was his, though he would admit that some of it he wished was his.
At Toriko's outburst, Hiei turned his red eyes to the female, eyeing the clothes she held up. It was easy to see that it was made from the same material as his cloak, simply from the shine it held. It was a dull shine, but easily able to be seen even in the darkened closet. He considered it for a moment, inspecting it for flaws, but found none.
Yet another piece of evidence that said Toriko was well organized and takes care of her possessions.
"Ever think you're too careful with your possessions?" he mused, his lips twisting into a lopsided sneer of amusement. *
Toriko glanced around the room at Hiei's first comment about the dealer grabbing everything worth something.
"I guess?" She shrugged and stood back up, unceremoniously dumping the clothes she did not need back in the trunk, gathering a small bag from among them as she went.
"I never really considered it because I don't really care for any of it. I don't waste my time on things that do not have practical value anymore. And I'm not in Demon World so it's just junk." She started walking towards the door and spoke again as she approached.
"I haven't touched this stuff in over a decade. And I am about to scrap a perfectly good outfit for you. I don't know how 'careful' that really is."
She couldn't help her small, suggestive smile, while she walked, "Especially after meeting a fire demon. Good thing I have another. Maybe we'll get some use out of it once you change your mind."
On a roll, she proceeded to take his 'careful' comment in a way that she knew he hadn't meant, speaking flippantly as she drew closer, "But I don't have to be careful with anything if that's what you prefer."
She stopped and kissed the very tip of his nose as she passed, slipping his cloak out of his hands as she did so and then moving beyond him out of the closet and a few steps into the living room where she promptly knelt down on a large, free space of the carpet, sitting on her feet, and snapped the cloak out of its fold to let it flutter gently onto the ground, carefully beginning to search the fabric for the damage done. 3
Hiei listened to Toriko as she babbled on about his comment of being careful, not really amused with her antics. He was too engrossed in looking over every single thing in the closet to really care, though her last comment successfully pulled his attention to her in time to earn the small gesture of her lips on his nose, her delicate hand slipping the fabric from his own as she continued on her way. His reaction remained contained in his own mind, not giving her the pleasure of his reaction since it seemed that she was all about his reactions. He eyed her as she sat herself down in the middle of the living room, momentarily torn.
Then, he made his decision by turning and walking further into the small closet space, opening a trunk and glancing at the weapons inside. He crouched before it, eyes drinking in the sight of the ancient tools that he once had dreamed of possessing. Though, they seemed less than they had been glorified to be, and he felt a touch of disappointment brush across his conscious. Like everything else, it seemed these weapons were mere legends with tall tales behind them, nearly meaningless. To him, at least.
He ran a finger over one of the rusty blades, the cool metal covered in dust and dried, crust substances he only assumed to be blood. It was obvious they hadn't been touched, much less cleaned, in years. So, curiosity satisfied, he stood up again and stalked his way out of the closet, lingering just outside of it to watch Toriko at work. *
Toriko had grown very quiet as she bent over the cloak. She shuffled bits of the fabric through her hands, examining it closely until she found the area in which Maneshi's claws had ruined it, sitting back again and picking up the dark cloth next to her, frowning as she considered it in her hands and held it up to Hiei's to make for certain they were the same color.
She studiously began tearing her outfit into strips about the width of her hand, then pulled the smaller bag over and rummaged it in for thread and needle. She began to go about her work, making sure to ignore Hiei as he hadn't followed her back out of the closet.
"Maneshi." She hadn't looked up, but her tone was one of warning.
The black cat paused in mid-step, just at the edge of the cloak with one paw poised to place down on the fabric across from her. He raised his eyes, gleaming at her from the other side, moving his paw just an inch closer while he stared.
Toriko cleared her throat and the cat pulled back, sitting tall on his back haunches and wrapped his tail around his legs as if he'd never meant to do such a thing. Though his eyes did rove over the cloak, wondering if it still held any warmth of the man who had been wearing it. 3
Hiei eyed Toriko, momentarily flickering his gaze to the cat that had approached his cloak. He speculated the animal, his eyes slowly darkening the closer it came to the fabric of his beloved article of clothing. Slowly, Hiei too moved forward, pausing as well when Toriko spoke up, his own eyes flickering to her. He waited for only a moment before continuing, moving so that he stood on the opposite side of the fabric that was spread across the floor, not bothering to sit since he felt comfortable just how he was.
He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, feeling odd about not having pockets to stuff his hands into, but dealing with it anyways. Occasionally, he glanced at the small cat that had taken to sitting close, almost too close, to his cloak. "Does it have a death wish?" Hiei suddenly spoke, his calm tone referring to the way the animal was insistent on being at least near the cloak. As if Maneshi understood him, the cat turned his blue and brown eyes to Hiei, the pupils widening only slightly, watching him closely. Hiei merely turned back to Toriko, watching her hands work. *
"Often." Toriko replied, finally looking up and glaring at the cat, who met her eyes with his own before they broke the stare and he lowered his head to sniff at the edge of the cloak, whiskers twitching, but never touching the actual cloth with his nose.
Maneshi got up and skirted the edge of the cloak, getting over to Toriko and gathering his body together, coiling up like a spring before he released and leapt to her shoulders. Her being bent over let him cross to her other side with his front paws and he lay down across them, his stomach tickling the back of her neck.
His fur blended almost perfectly with her hair as he lay in the midst of it, though he peeked his head through the curtain of locks to stare at her while she worked to match up a piece of fabric with the hole.
When she had them held together, she picked up the needle and it began to glow. She passed the needle and thread up and back over the cloak deftly, Maneshi's eyes watching her every move. When she finished, she brought the thread up to her teeth and broke it, twirling the loose end around in her fingers until it simply disappeared.
The needle stopped glowing and she examined the cloak closer, satisfied that it looked as if no hole had been there and moving to work on the next, though each hole's fixing became faster as her fingers recalled doing the work before.
Once she finished, she lay the cloak down on the carpet as flat as she could make it, smoothing out any wrinkles from that area, and then put her other things in a pile to put away later. She stood up, Maneshi still laying around her shoulders with his tail lazily about her neck as if a furry necklace.
"Don't touch it." She told Hiei. "The work still needs to set and it can't be bothered until it's finished. I'll be right back." She felt increasingly uncomfortable walking around in her nightgown and planned on going upstairs to change, then had thoughts of food floating about in mind for after she wore different clothing. 3
Hiei's eyes followed the needle curiously, having never seen his cloak actually mended in person. Normally, he left the job with YUkina and simply went about doing other things, when there were things actually to be done. So, when the needle began to glow, he wondered if it was a normality. For demons, anyway.
He continued to stand, eyes locked on the glowing piece of metal, his mind trying to figure out the process so that, perhaps next time, he would be able to do this himself, though he doubted he would desire doing such a tedious thing. After a few moments, he found himself shifting his weight back and forth, almost impatiently, as he continued to wait. He had thought it was a quicker process.
Toriko snapped the thread with her teeth and suddenly stood, leaving the cloak on the floor looking as if it were new. He scowled and looked to her expectantly, curious as to why she hadn't handed it to him, only to nod and decide he might as well sit. He glanced around the room, eyes roving over the various furniture in contemplation before he decided to plop himself down on the smallest couch, legs stretched out and head propped on his hands, his head turned so that he would see when she reentered the room. Also, it was his way of making sure Maneshi didn't prance into the room and mess with his cloak, like he had noticed he seemed to want to do. The fire demon wasn't sure why the cat liked his cloak, but he sure didn't enjoy the thought of the tom prancing all over it. He didn't think Toriko would be able to stop him from actually harming the creature if his cloak were to be torn again. *
Toriko went to her bedroom and Maneshi promptly jumped from her shoulders to her pillow where he curled up in a tight ball.
Slipping her nightgown off over her head, Toriko pulled on a pair of soft, dark pants from one drawer in her dresser and took a bra and tank top from another, putting them on and frowning as she turned around and didn't see Maneshi on her pillow any longer.
The cat wasn't stupid, but Toriko knew he liked to push the line and she sighed, going back out of the room and downstairs to check on the cloak. She gathered her hair in her hands to pull it out of her face and released it so it all hung down her back together instead of hanging over one shoulder like it had been.
Maneshi had kept one eye open until Toriko's back was turned, leaving as soon as she wasn't looking to go back downstairs. He must figure out the secret of the warm cloak.
Once he hopped down from the last step, he elongated his body in a nice stretch and yawned, knowing perfectly well that the man in the couch was watching him carefully and regally prancing from the stairs over to the cloak, once again skirting the outside of it, but stopping every now and then to sniff at it, never touching it, but very nearly brushing his whiskers on it.
When he got around the edge near where Hiei sat on the couch, he completely ignored the fire demon, but jumped onto the arm of the chair and made his way gracefully to the back where he fluidly wove behind Hiei's arms and sat down just to the side of the back of Hiei's head to regard the latter's hair with great interest, once even raising a paw as if to bat curiously at a spike, but thinking better of it and lowering his paw before actually doing so.
He made the small leap down to the seat of the couch, near Hiei, and made an inquisitive noise as he caught a wave of heat when he passed Hiei's shoulder on the way down.
Deciding to continue to ignore the demon, he stamped across the couch, and subsequently Hiei's lap, taking off at great speed when he felt the fire demon move as if to swat him away, leaping over the other arm of the couch and making a dime-turn to dash madly around the back of the couch for the still-open door of the closet to hide within the confines of the relics it contained.
He felt satisfied at any rate, having felt under his paws warmth as he stepped across Hiei's thighs.
Toriko only came down the stairs in time to see Maneshi disappear to her left, towards the closet, and she made a mental note not to shut him inside. At least not for too long. She felt Hiei's eyes on her but she continued to ignore him and went for the kitchen, thoughts on breakfast. Eggs. Potatoes. Maybe some bacon if she had any.
It didn't take too long for the smell of bacon to permeate the downstairs, followed closely by the spiciness of the home-fry style potatoes Toriko started in another skillet. The eggs were the last addition and they took only a short while to be finished.
Toriko made up two plates of the food, having sensed Hiei moving to the nearby table to sit down and watch her, and turned with them to walk to him, saying nothing, but sliding a plate in front of his nose and going to sit across from him.
"If you don't want it, don't eat it." She said primly, grabbing a fork from the canister she kept on the table with silverware in it and diving in to the food with gusto. 3
Hiei slid into a chair lazily, crimson eyes watching Toriko as she moved about the kitchen, his nose picking up the smell of the different foods being cooked. The different scents had his nose twitching only slightly, his stomach even rumbling even despite his normal dislike of basic human "goods". As his eyes followed Toriko, he searched for the thing he had caught sight of moments ago, wondering if he had merely seen a shadow cast at an odd direction earlier. For now, he saw nothing out of the norm, so he pushed it away from the forefront of his mind, brushing away his thoughts as she turned to him, sliding a plate towards him. His eyes instinctively turned down to the plate, watching as it slid to a stop just before it met the edge of the table.
When a fork was passed, Hiei picked at the contents of the plate for a few moments, as if he thought something might be wrong with it. When she piped, telling him he didn't have to eat it, he glanced at her momentarily before turning back to his plate, slowly bringing the fork to his mouth. The piece of meat he chewed on was salty, but had a hint of something almost sweet. It was chewy, but he found he liked it. He recalled Yusuke eating it once during the Dark Tournament, calling it bacon. He had offered some to Hiei then, but the fire demon had held no interest in anything to do with the team at the time. Now he wondered why he'd ever turned it down; it tasted better than it looked.
When the fire demon sampled the rest, he found he didn't much care for the eggs or the potatoes, and he simply munched on the bacon he'd been given, eyes now looking around the room before roving up to Toriko. It was then that he caught sight of what he'd seen earlier, except this time he knew it wasn't a shadow. However, he didn't exactly know what it was. He stared at it for a few minutes, recognizing that the skin was a bit discolored, turning a shade of blue that a bruise would, but the way it looked didn't strike him as a normal bruise.
When he finished his last bite of bacon, he continued to stare at it, eyebrows knitting together as they fell over his eyes in speculation. Then, he moved, pushing his plate to Toriko and standing, taking the two steps that was required to reach her and pulling back her hair to get a better look, noticing some dried, crusted blood along the nape of her neck. He felt sudden anger boil as he recalled the blonde demon, his mind finally going over the events from the night before, as if a fog had been lifted. His expression shifted only slightly as he stepped away, still staring at the mark. "You need to take care of that," he said, his tone flat and monotonous. *
"Take care of what?" After her initial flinch at Hiei's quick movement, Toriko tried to look down and see what he was talking about, but she couldn't move her chin far enough out of the way to see. She reached up to touch at her neck and went pale as her fingers touched a bit of skin that twinged as she passed over it, feeling something crusty and her hand coming away with what she knew could only be dried blood.
Toriko's stomach churned and she felt her heart skip up to her throat and she blinked as she held her hand up to her face, memories of the night before threatening to spill over and something inside her fighting to maintain control of her mind.
"I...I'm going to...to go..." Her hand still up in front of her eyes, Toriko abruptly stood up and turned towards the stairs, almost tripping over her chair but making it to the banister and pulling herself up.
Clean it. Just get it clean. Just get it off. She repeated the mantra to herself, hoping to distract her thoughts from the one that kept rearing its head. Get to the bathroom. That would require looking in a mirror. Clean it. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the thought of a mirror. J-just...c-clean it…
Once upstairs, she felt her stomach lurch again and she dashed the last few feet down the hall to the bathroom, throwing up the lid of the toilet and vomiting her breakfast inside.
Tears at the corners of her eyes from the effort, she stood up and grabbed a washcloth, mind-numbly sticking her face under the faucet of the sink and washing it and her mouth, then putting the washcloth under the running water, her body visibly shaking as her memories threatened to overtake her consciousness.
No. She can't take it. No! Stop! Don't think about it!
Somewhere, the voice inside her was getting drowned out by the wave of last nights events that broiled under the surface, farther up into the forefront of her mind.
No, wait!
She started to look up at the mirror in order to clean the wound.
You're not ready! Hold on!
When her eyes met themselves in her reflection, Toriko froze, locked onto the image of the blood and the nasty bruise not-so-hidden underneath. The hand that didn't hold the washcloth trembled as it reached over as if to touch it again.
We can't do this! It's too much. I...I'm sorry...
All at once, last night's terror enveloped Toriko's mind, upheaving any sane thoughts she'd been able to maintain and twisting them inside out.
She blinked, unable to do anything but stare at the wound, the tears in the corners of her eyes at first one of anger, her jaw clenching, but the furiousness she felt at the predicament could not hold back the fear, the anxiety, the absolute fright that it had happened again.
I'm so sorry...I tried...
The voice said again from within, calm. Giving a sigh, it could do nothing but lovingly wash over her consciousness and pull her into a sleep, feeling their body go slack and collapse onto the fluffy rug of the bathroom floor. 3
Hiei watched Toriko as she, at first, confusedly reached up to touch the area he had pointed to, and he felt even his own emotions become darker. Even as she stumbled and fled from the room, ruby orbs following her, the fire demon's mind lingered on the demon, lingered on the thoughts of bringing harm to Otento. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of looking for an actual wound the night before, but now that he had pointed it out, Hiei considered the way Toriko had not only reacted at the feeling of it, but of last night, when she had practically begged him to stay. He realized that the way he had pointed it out to her had perhaps been a not-so-smart thing to do, but it was too late now.
He lingered where he stood, looking around the kitchen and down at the abandoned silverware, the abandoned plates and food. Instinctively, he was listening to the movement upstairs, his ears finding the steps of Toriko as she moved into a room on the side, and after a few moments, the sound of running water. Hiei decided to give her space and began moving the plates, gathering their forks and, easily balancing everything in one hand, began to make his way around the table, using his other hand to move her chair from his path. And then his ears picked up on a sound that made him pause, his red orbs turning up to the ceiling above him, momentarily widening. When he heard no further movement, he stretched his arm in the direction of the table with the intent to put the plates back, only for him to, in his haste, miss the surface, the forks clattering to the floor and one of the plates shattering, food moving across the tiled floor. He glared down at the mess for a mere moment before turning and continuing in the direction he had seen Toriko go.
His feet carried him with haste up the stairs and to the bathroom where he could still hear water running. Instantly he took in the scene, staring down at the fallen girl. He took a deep breath, reassured since he could tell she didn't collide with anything in the room other than the rug on the floor, and he calmly stepped to the sink, a hand pushing the handle to the off position before he knelt beside Toriko, inspecting her for a moment. Then, without any form of hesitation, he swept his arms under her and listed her from the floor, ignoring small memories that flashed across his mind as he moved towards her room, successfully nudging the door open with a foot. *
It wasn't often that Maneshi was allowed time to himself in the depths of the strange closet and he made it a point to sniff everything that he could get his whiskers near, marking the edges of the trunks with the side of his face just in case there would ever be any question as to who really owned anything in here.
He eyed a couple of the top shelves, but became distracted each time by another interesting smell would hit his nose which he would rush through the junk to find.
After a few minutes of rustling, his nose got inundated by bacon and his rummagings became less enthused, but he still enjoyed slipping in and out between the boxes and piles, slightly disappointed to have not found any critters to chase.
A crash of plates made Maneshi jump, the fur on his back standing on end, and he shot back out of the closet, weaving his way back through the piles with expert precision and coming out to look up the stairs, seeing Hiei disappearing at the top.
Maneshi's nose twitched and he went over to inspect the food fallen on the floor, curiously sampling a bit of everything and eating any stray bacon, though he quickly decided the eggs were not for him and the potatoes too spicy.
He flicked his tail in a cat-frown when he heard water being turned off from the upstairs bathroom, but no words being said, and he left the mess on the floor to slip up the stairs, just in time to see Hiei walking through Toriko's bedroom door, her limp frame in his arms.
Maneshi hurried after him into the room, tail cocked in a question mark with kitty concern. 3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star
