Hey peoples! Sorry this took so long to get done…I was at a loss :-P But now I'm back on track and ready to start Chapter 7! HAVE FUN, and please r & r!

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Hiei ran aimlessly into the night. The wind whipping his face and hair seemed to ease his mind from the shock he had just received. He hoped he could run away from his fear.
But what exactly am I afraid of? He asked himself. He ran faster, trying to escape the confusion that was swallowing him whole.
BAMF! "OW! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU B--"
A pair of evergreen eyes glittered back at him in the dark. Long blood red waves flowed in the wind, lightly whipping the small fire demon's face. "Hello, Hiei. I was just looking for you."
Hiei's own ruby eyes met the emerald ones. "What did you need me for?"
Kurama placed a friendly hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Are you alright? Everyone is worried about you. Even Yusuke is beginning to wonder."
Hiei snickered. "And why WOULDN'T I be fine?"
"Oh trust me. You are much more emotional that you let on."
"And you would know this how?"
Kurama pulled him into the embrace only a best friend could give. "Sometimes I think I know you better than you know yourself," the red-headed boy said.
Hiei couldn't think of anything to say to that. He just surrendered to the warm embrace of his best friend. "Kurama, what should I do about Aura?"
"About who?" He looked at him strangely. "You've never mentioned anything about anyone named Aura before..."
Once again Hiei was silent.
Kurama sighed. "Hiei, why do you do this to yourself?"
Rubies met emeralds as Hiei regarded Kurama. I've never told him...?
"Are you alright? You're getting more and more distant every time I see you. It's like you're slipping away and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"Who are you to say I'M distant?" Hiei said angrily. "If anyone's distant it's YOU!"
Kurama glared at him. "The worst thing is that you can't SEE that it's happening. And as my best friend, it hurts to see you in so much pain..."
Hiei stood up in a rage. "You're the one who can't SEE! Maybe it's the pain I NEED!" His voice lowered to a whisper. "Ice that never melts hurts worse than the hottest fire..." Flames sprang up from the ground around his feet, encircled him, then he was gone like a sakura blossom lost to the wind.
The breeze left in his wake swirled Kurama's now white locks in front of amber yellow eyes. In place of the boy, there now sat a icy hearted kitsune. "Interesting..." he breathed, "very interesting indeed. The boy is right; unmelting ice does cause more pain than any blaze." A low rumbling laugh echoed through the cool autumn night. "Ah, I suppose only the ones who have been and remain there can understand. But..." -Mist shrouded his face as he exhaled into the cold- "the irony of it is, his icy heart is probably what will save him this time. Keep it up a little longer, Hiei. You've saved me on numerous occasions, and I INTEND to return the favor. I'm gonna exorcise this apparition before she ruins all our lives."

***

Crunch crunch crunch. The forest floor protested against the presence that walked across it. The demon wandered haphazardly across the nonexistant paths, as if searching for something that was long lost.
"AURA IS REAL, GODDAMMIT!" He screamed to nobody. "I JUST-CAN'T-TELL-ANYONE!" He beat his fists against the thick trunk of an old oak. "I CAN'T TELL ANYONE THAT MY HEART OF ICE IS MELTING! I CAN'T TELL ANYONE THAT MY FEELINGS EXIST!!" He sank to the damp leaves. "It's not as if anyone would care..."
"Oh but they would."
Hiei whirled around to see Aura step out of the foliage. His heart skipped a beat. "A-Aura!" He tried to regain his composure. "Why did you follow me?"
She laughed softly. "Why SHOULDN'T I follow the one I need...and who needs me?"
"Your head's screwed on wrong."
"Is it now?" Aura jokingly tilted her head from side to side. "No, I think it's on right." She came over and put her arms around him, one leg sprawled carelessly over his lap. "Itooshi, tell me what's wrong."
Itooshi...BELOVED... Hiei flushed as red as his eyes. He tilted his head down and let his hair hang in front of his face to hide the sudden obvious sign of weakness. "Aura, stop it right now." He pushed her leg away, but left her arms in place.
She stroked his glossy black head. "What's the matter? Didn't anyone ever teach you to look at people when they're talking to you? Well, I suppose we have all those years of raising yourself to blame." When he didn't respond to this, she shook him slightly. "Hiei, look at me."
Silence.
"Are you listening?"
More silence. But this time she heard a sound that hadn't been present before. It was Hiei's heartbeat, pounding hard through his veins.
Slowly, his ruby eyes came into view. Before he knew it, her lips were pressed to his. "Wha...?!"
"Shh...don't talk. I'm not going to do anything nasty." She leaned in for another one, but a ray of sunlight hit her face, illuminating her blue-green eyes. "It's almost time for me to go..."
"I know."
"Remember, YOU MUST NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH ME."
"You keep telling me that."
"No matter how much you want to, don't give in."
"YOU'VE TOLD ME A HUNDRED TIMES."
She jumped a little at the sudden elevation in his voice. "I...I'm sorry...I just don't want to see this end." Another sunbeam struck her. "I'll see you tonight, ok?"
Hiei nodded. "Maybe. IF I feel like it."
"You will, I know it."
"How do you know what I'M going to do?" He asked irritably.
"I know you better than you think." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his again.
He squeezed his eyes shut but did not return the kiss. He just let his mind sweep him away from the present. Everyone keeps telling me they know me better than I think...Could it be that they know me better than I know myself? This is all so confusing...
Only a hard slap across the face brought him back to reality.
"What are you doing, you lech?!" Sayaka was scrambling backwards as fast as she could go. "Who said you could kiss me?!"
"OH GETCHER MIND OUTTA THE GUTTER!" Hiei tossed a rock at her head. "If you were paying ANY attention whatsoever, you would have noticed that I WASN'T kissing YOU, YOU were kissing ME!"
"I REMEMBER DOING NOTHING OF THE SORT!"
"WELL I ALWAYS KNEW YOUR BRAIN WAS OUT TO LUNCH!"
"YOU'RE--IMPOSSIBLE!" With a last glare at Hiei, she disappeared like a flash of lightning.
Hiei sighed. "This is getting to be more complicated than I thought..." He turned and walked toward the edge of the woods, unaware of the amber-yellow eyes that had observed the whole occurence.