Hey, yall'. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, this chapter has been finished for a while, but for some weird reason, my computer wouldn't let me on ff.net!!!!


Also, I made a mistake last chapter on the bottom thing. There's actually only one confession told to Kurama, not two.


*evil smirk* Kurama acts very evil in this chapter....


*trumpets blare* This is the longest chapter I've ever written. 14 pages!!!!!!!


Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters featured in it. I do, however, own Bronwyn, Nadine, and Aiku (Who is mentioned once)

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Hiei sat restlessly on the couch in Kurama's living room, staring blankly at the ivory-colored carpet, which was stained with spots of red, from where he had carried Bronwyn's body into the living room, still dripping blood. Kurama was now up in the bedroom, doing what he could to help her.


He lifted his head to look at the wall, as if he expected it to give him the answers, the solutions, the explanations to everything that he had heard in the forest that day...


*****


"Maybe I could care about someone after all..."


"It's just...you just don't know how strongly I feel about him!!"


*****


He suddenly heard light footsteps moving slowly down the stairs, and when Kurama's shadow appeared on the wall, Hiei jumped up expectantly.


When Kurama appeared in the living room, he glanced at Hiei, and sighed quietly.


"I did everything I could, but there's still a chance that she might not..."


His voice trailed off into silence. Hiei sank back into the couch. Kurama took a seat on the couch also.


"It's the strangest thing though..." He whispered, shaking his head softly.


"What?"


He turned to look at Hiei, wearing a confused expression, "I know that she's still unconscious, but I swear that I heard her say your name...once, in a scared voice...like she was worried about you...but I might just be imagining things..."


He looked down at the ground and his eyes followed the blood spots to the door. "Maybe you should go up there..."


Hiei took his eyes off the wall to look at Kurama for a moment. "Why? You said it yourself, she's not even conscious."


"It would just be a kind gesture...Maybe she'll say your name again...then I'll know if I spent way too much time up there..." He smiled slightly.


Hiei didn't say anything more, but instead nodded slightly and left the couch, starting up the stairs slowly...


******************************************************************************


The bedroom was eerily quiet, the once-clean carpet now dotted with many dark red spots which led to the small bed. The once pure white sheets were now slightly stained with the color. Bronwyn's body lay still on the bed, her small raspy breaths echoing against the silence.


Hiei sat down in the small wicker chair next to the bed, wondering what he was supposed to be doing up here.


He sat restlessly in the chair for fifteen minutes, waiting for some kind of noise, movement, anything...but Bronwyn did not move or speak at all.


Hiei began to doubt Kurama's hearing after another ten minutes had passed swiftly. Must of just heard a bird or something...


The wind rattled against the window slightly, causing Hiei to look up at the glass panes. He thought it was time to be leaving...


"...Hiei..."


The word floated through the room softly and Hiei's eyes immediately flew from the window to Bronwyn. What did she say?


He watched as she began to move slowly, turning onto her side, even though he could see that it was causing her great pain.


A small cry of sadness emitted from her mouth.


What the...?


He suddenly had the urge to take a look at what she was thinking about, to see what was so sad, to see why she was saying his name...


He slowly moved his hand forward and placed a finger on her forehead, closing his eyes...


****


The sky was nearly pitch-black, the wind howling furiously down the beaten path that the two dark figures walked slowly on. The clouds clashed roughly, causing thunder to sound across the forest path, and the sky was occasionally brightened by the lightning that flashed periodically in the sky.


As the two people began to slow their pace, one looked up from the ground to the other person, who seemed to be crying.


"You know, it's not your fault that he was killed by that demon...Zink, was it??" Kurama whispered sullenly, slowing his pace, as did the other person.


The other figure did not answer for a moment, but instead sighed. " Zink, yes, and it's completely my fault. I didn't know that he could ambush like that." Bronwyn stopped to take a breath. "If you hadn't of came along, I would of died also."


Her tears, which had stopped momentarily, began to flow again. "I should of died with him..."


"Don't say that." Kurama said sternly. "Now, what happened again? Hiei couldn't of been killed that easily."


She looked up at Kurama with an angry expression shining through her tear-stained cheeks. "WHY do you keep making me relive this? I told you what happened!! I remember Zink calling me a bitch after I confessed that he was afraid of Hiei. Then, when Hiei grabbed Zink's collar and Zink said that I was dead, which I was not, Hiei turned his head and Zink stabbed him! THERE!!"


She stormed ahead a few feet on the path, but her anger subsided quickly, causing her to let Kurama catch up with her.


"And then I showed up, and I couldn't help Hiei, because Zink had stabbed him more than once, deep cuts." Kurama said plainly.


Bronwyn turned her head wildly to look at Kurama. "You never told me that before. You only said that he had been stabbed once."


Without waiting for him to answer, she breathed deeply. "Why didn't he make sure I was dead?? I SHOULD OF DIED ALSO!!" She screamed angrily.


Kurama placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. We're here."


Bronwyn looked in front of her to see that they had reached a large clearing. She glanced around a few times, and then glanced at Kurama, confused. "Well, where is it?"


Kurama lifted a finger to point to a large spot underneath a large tree, where the area that should of been covered with green grass was instead brown dirt.


Bronwyn cautiously walked over to it, running her hands through her hair tensely, for some reason that she did not know.


Kurama watched from a distance as she just stared at the spot. The grave. He knew she felt so guilty that it was painful. She had explained to him that Hiei was the one who she had been sent to kill but it soon became impossible for her to hurt him. And he died anyways...


"I'm sorry for what happened." Bronwyn spoke to the grave, as if he could understand her, "I was the one sent to kill you. But I just couldn't do it."


Silence.


"You know, the honest, complete, absolute, truth is, that I never really hated you. Heck, I even might of...sort of...liked you. Okay, so I really liked you...Okay, so maybe...I...might...uh.."


****


Hiei's viewing of the strange dream was suddenly interrupted by the abrupt warm feeling around his wrist.


He opened his eyes immediately to see that Bronwyn's hand was tightly gripping it. She seemed to be a slight bit happier now, a small smile now replacing her troubled frown. Her hand carefully moved up from Hiei's wrist to his hand, and wrapped her fingers around his (All while asleep). The warmth of his hand seemed to comfort her.


Hiei didn't really know what to do, if he should just let her hold his hand or if he should remove it.


"What was she dreaming about?" Kurama's light voice came from the doorway. He leaned against the entryway casually, hands shoved into his pockets. He had a slight smirk on his face.


"She thinks I'm dead...and feels sad." Hiei whispered, "She feels guilty."


Kurama moved from the doorway to the bed, where he noticed Bronwyn's hold on Hiei's hand but did not mention it. "She should."


"What?"


"From what I gathered, she was sent here with one goal in mind: To kill you."


"How would you know that?"


"Well, this is just from what little bit she told me and what I've observed over the past three weeks." He said, his smile growing.


"What did she tell you?"


"Only that she was supposed to kill someone, but that she didn't know if she could do it anymore. Her world was becoming all jumbled up."


"Why would she not be able to do it?"


Kurama looked at Hiei with a surprised expression. "Hiei, don't be so dense."


Hiei growled and looked away.


"She seems to be developing some strong feelings for you and killing you would just be painful now."


"Hn." Hiei didn't know what else to say. There was silence for a moment, as Hiei was still trying to ignore Bronwyn's hand clutched around his own, even though it did feel very warm.


"Did she ever show you?" Kurama's curious voice broke the silence finally.


"Show me what?"


"You know...her...eye."


"What??" Hiei was beyond confused.


Kurama's curious look turned into a surprised one. "She didn't?? Well, that explains why you don't really understand why she didn't want to kill you."


He moved his hand forward slowly, finally coming to rest on her bangs. He carefully lifted them out of the way to reveal her jagan eye.


"She..has..."


"A jagan eye, yes." Kurama said in a calm voice.


More silence. Hiei couldn't help but stare at it. Why didn't I notice?


Kurama then let the bangs fall back down to cover the eye, and left the bedside, walking casually to the door. "Are you coming?" He asked as he reached for the door handle.


Hiei was about to nod and get up also, but right before he was about to move, Bronwyn squeezed his hand slightly, as if trying to say "don't leave..."


"I..I think I'll stay."


Kurama smiled. "Suit yourself." He then opened the door and was half-way out when he turned his head back to Hiei, now wearing a grin.


"I'm suspecting that her hand is quite warm, since you haven't let go of it the whole time I've been in here."


Hiei turned to the doorway with a look of hatred. "Kurama..." He growled angrily.


But Kurama was already down the stairs, laughing quietly to himself.


******************************************************************************

"Bronwyn? Bronwyn, wake up!!!" The blond haired, blue eyed girl whined desperately as she shook Bronwyn's shoulders roughly.

Bronwyn's peaceful look was now replaced with an disturbed look as she raised her hand to wave the young girl away. "I'm trying to sleep, Nadine." She moaned, turning over.

But when she felt the word "Nadine" on her tongue, she suddenly realized that that was impossible. She sat up straight, staring wide-eyed at her deceased twin sister.

"You...You..." She choked, unable to speak another word.

Nadine held a comforting hand out. "Bronwyn..."

But the hand just seemed to convey more fear in her. She backed up against the wall, a look of horror on her face. "You...can't...be...here...you're...you're..."

"Dead?" Nadine said brightly, as if it didn't bother her at all.

Bronwyn nodded slightly, becoming less and less afraid with each passing second.

Nadine began to giggle at her nod, and pulled herself off the floor, staring at Bronwyn with a playful look. "Well, you would be right, but this is a dream. And in a dream, I can be here as long as I please."

"A dream..." Bronwyn said outloud faintly, also leaving the cold floor, and for the first time, glancing around her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a small cottage, the walls painted with a bright yellow color, adorned with pictures of beautiful meadows filled with flowers. The floor was covered with a ivory-colored carpet that was actually quite comfortable.

"Where is this?"

Nadine bowed her head. "Well, this was the house I always dreamed of living in when I left home..." She moved sullenly over to the window, and watched a robin fly by, chirping happily. This, though, just seemed to increase her sadness. Bronwyn joined her at the window.

"Nadine, I'm so sorry..." She embraced Nadine, something she had wanted to do for so long now. Nadine hugged her back, and it was a very sentimental moment. When they broke away, Nadine smiled weakly, even though it looked like she was trying to hold back tears.

"It's all right, I'm fine." Bronwyn smiled also.

"But, I'll be joining you soon, won't I? Zink injured me fatally." She said brightly.

"Well, actually, you're going to make a full recovery." Nadine whispered, leaving the window, heading towards the door. She motioned for Bronwyn to follow her.

"That's just great..." She muttered under her breath. Nadine heard it perfectly, though.

"What's the matter? Don't you want to live?" She asked curiously, starting down a long hallway with Bronwyn close behind.

"Not really. There's nothing worth staying for. I'd rather be with you." She moaned, staring at the ground as she walked.

Nadine stared at her with a deep look in her eyes. She brought her gaze down to the ivory carpet. "Well, you actually do have a choice in this..."

"Come again?"

"You can die if that 's what you truly want." Nadine whispered, slowing down her pace. Bronwyn grinned happily.

"Well, that is what I want!!"

"No it's not. You don't want to die." Nadine muttered. "What about the people who care about you? Your friends?"

"I don't have any friends."

"Bronwyn!!" Nadine scolded. "Don't lie. You know that there are a great number of people who do care about you. Besides, when you're alive, I'm able to follow you, see what you see, feel what you feel." She abruptly stopped in front of a light pink door at the end of the hallway."

"I want to show you something." She whispered, in an embarrassed tone, gripping the door handle tightly, "But you must promise that you will not laugh."

Bronwyn wore a confused expression as Nadine opened the door slowly. "Why would I....OH MY GOD!!!"

The room's wall were plastered head-to-toe with pictures of Kurama. Nadine waltzed in happily and sat down in a chair in the corner. She flashed Bronwyn a warning look when she saw her open mouth.

"What the...you...okay, this is freaky..." She said, glancing around.

"What?" Nadine hissed. "Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't have a

crush, does it?"

Bronwyn stared blankly at Nadine for a moment, and then collapsed onto the floor with peals of laughter.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!!" Nadine squealed, looking like she might burst out in tears any moment.

Wiping her eyes, Bronwyn glanced up at Nadine. "You...like...Kurama?"

Nadine's furious look gave everything away. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!! And if you die I won't be able to see him anymore!!"

"I hope you know, Nadine, that it's going to take more than that to make me want to stay alive." Bronwyn choked between giggles.

"Fine, then..." She thought in silence for a moment, but then something else seemed to pop into her mind.

"You know," She said quietly, staring thoughtfully at Bronwyn with a slight smile on her face, "I thought that was quite noble of you."

"What?"

"What you did for that fire demon. It was something I never thought you would be capable of."

"A lot of good that did him...he died anyways..."

Nadine's smile turned into an exasperated look. "For heaven's sake, he DID NOT DIE!!!"

Bronwyn turned to stare at Nadine wearing a look of surprise.

"What?"

"You fell unconscious before you saw what happened and had a dream that he was killed by Zink, when, in reality, he's fine!!!"

Bronwyn just stared at her for a moment. "Really?"

"Yes."

She sighed contentedly. "Well, that's good..."

"Actually, you've been saying his name in your sleep?"

"I HAVE???"

"And held his hand..."

"I DID??"

"And he didn't mind..."

"WHAT??"

"And he was actually the one who saved you. He carried you to Kurama's house."

"WHAT THE HECK..."

"What's the matter with you?? I know that you care deeply about him."

"I DO NOT."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"I...DO...NOT!!!!!!!"

"You can deny it all you want, but you still do..."

"NADINE!!!"

"You know, you make the cutest couple..."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!"

But Nadine was already riled up. "Bronwyn and Hiei. Your names even sound good together..."

"IF YOU WEREN'T ALREADY DEAD, I'D...."

"STOP IT, BRONWYN!!!" Nadine screamed. Bronwyn could never remember her screaming in her entire life. The room quickly became silent. Nadine took a deep breath.

"I'm your sister. If you can't tell me something, you can't tell anybody. Now confess...what is really going on in your heart??"

Bronwyn just stared at Nadine for a second, and then turned away from her. "I don't know...I feel...weird...."

Nadine came to sit down beside her. "Well, that's a start..." She said quietly.

"Let me ask you this...do you feel happy around him?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you feel....glad?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you feel..."

"What is this going to accomplish, Nadine?" Bronwyn snarled impatiently. Nadine gave her another scolding look.

"Work with me here. We are going to sort out your feelings, okay?"

"I DON'T HAVE FEELINGS!!!! I CAN'T...feel....anything...anymore...even if I wanted to....I can never care again...."

"And why not?"

"Because I'll get hurt again!" Bronwyn cried, burying her face in her knees, where she began to sob. "I can't take anymore of it. All guys are alike. They just want to use you for some reason or another and then they'll get rid of you."

Nadine stared at Bronwyn with an incredulous look on her face. "Where the heck did you get that idea?"

"Aiku." Bronwyn muttered.

"What happened with him?"

"He said that he loved me. But then, he started...hurting me...but he always said that he was sorry afterwards, and I believed him....and then, he tried to kill me..."

It was Nadine's turn to feel sorry. "You just need to move on, Bronwyn. Don't dwell on the past."

"But I can't! It will just happen again!!"

"How can you be so sure?" Nadine asked quietly.

Silence. Bronwyn lifted her head slowly to look at Nadine, her eyes filled with tears.

"Do you love him?"

"What???" Bronwyn choked, not really sure that her hearing was accurate.

"I said, do you love Hiei?"

More eery silence. Bronwyn thought about it carefully. Did she?? Could it even be possible?? Even though her head was saying "No, no, no, you can't feel that, it's not right, stop before something bad happens," There was something different going on in her heart. A small smooth voice that was telling her that it was okay, that she didn't have to be afraid....

"Yes, I do." It just felt right.

Nadine mournful look quickly turned into a full fledged grin. "That's so wonderful!!!!" She hugged Bronwyn tightly, who was now smiling also.

"Thank-you. I needed that." Bronwyn whispered in her ear.

"Anytime, sis, anytime..."

***

Bronwyn's eyes snapped open immediately. Even though it was very blurry and hard to see, she managed to sit up, even though it hurt so much that a small yelp escaped her lips.

As she rubbed her eyes, she could finally see that she was back in her bedroom. Carefully lifting up her shirt, she ran her hand gently over the bandages.

"Bronwyn? I didn't think you would wake up for another day or so." Kurama, who had been standing in the corner, whispered, as if speaking loudly would be painful to her.

Bronwyn looked up at him, wide-eyed, noticing for the first time that he was there. "Kurama?" She stared at him blankly for a moment, and then began to giggle, suddenly remembering Nadine's crush on him.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing." She said, even though it just made her laugh more.

After a few more minutes of uncontrollable laughter, she finally managed to settle down, but still wore a bright smile.

"What are you so happy about??" Kurama asked cautiously.

"You know, when you been hiding something like that for so long, it feels good to get it out into the open!!" She chirped, struggling to move her legs over to the side of the bed.

"Hiding what?"

"That I love-....nothing." Bronwyn hurriedly tried to correct herself, but Kurama was already smiling.

"Who do you love??" He said, even though he already had a hunch.

"How do you know it's a "who?" Maybe...maybe it's a "what"......oh, fine, it is a "who"." She growled, angry at Kurama for intruding on her newly discovered feelings.

"Tell me...."

"*Cough Hiei Cough*"

"What was that?"

"Hiei." She whispered so slightly that it almost wasn't there at all.

"Still didn't hear it...." Kurama was clearly enjoying this.

"IT'S HIEI, OKAY??? HIEI!!! WAS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU, BAKA!?!?!" Bronwyn even surprised herself by how loud she could scream. But it hadn't seemed to have even fazed Kurama in the slightest. He still wore a grin.

"Hmm....Nice to see you admitting it." He laughed, holding out his hand for Bronwyn to grab, since she was still trying to pull herself off the bed.

"If you ever breathe a word of what I just said to anyone, I swear I'll...." She snarled, grabbing his hand roughly. Kurama pulled her to her feet.

"Don't worry." He whispered. His expression, though, turned to a curious one as he stared at Bronwyn's forehead.

"Your jagan eye...it's...glowing." He whispered, pointing to her forehead, where a bright blue light was illuminating the area. "Why is that?"

"I don't know....it only does that...when...." She glanced around suspiciously for a few seconds and then proceeded to slowly move over to the window. She pulled it open roughly and poked her head out, glancing around.

"Who's out here??" She screamed angrily, still looking around furiously.

The figure was so quick that Bronwyn almost didn't catch it. For a split second, she saw a black shadow in the tree next to the window. But it was gone before she could even get a good look at it.

As she closed the window, she felt a sick twinge in her stomach.

It couldn't of been....he couldn't of heard....that....

****

She loves me.

Hn. Feelings are for the weak.

But, If I'm succumbing to them, does that make me weak?

No. I will not fall prey to ningen emotions.

She loves me.

That's impossible. No one could be capable of loving someone like me.

But, no matter how much I try to ignore it, she cares about me.

And no matter how much I try to deny it, I care about her.

She loves me.

There's no use in hiding it...

I feel the same way.

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Was it just me, or did Hiei seem slightly OOC on those inner thoughts???? I mean, that ending part.

I think that unless I can write a REALLY good last chapter, this will be my favorite one. I swear, every time I read this over and get to the part where Nadine asks, "Do you love him?" I go crazy.

So.....People are in tune with their emotions.....they know what they feel.....

Where do we go from here????????

You'll see in the last chapter of Miss Independent!!!

And if you haven't read my author's page, you wouldn't know that I'm planning on making this a series....I've got tons of ideas.....

I'll post a summary for the sequel next chapter.

REVIEWS!!!