This is it, chapter 24, the conclusion to Don't Ask Me! And it being the
last chapter, I made it longer than normal. ^__^ About...ten pages longer.
X.X Anyway, I make small reference to chapter 2...But if you don't remember
chapter 2 I think you'll still be fine. *Falls over* Oh yes, and of course...
Right now, as you are reading this... I have already posted the first chapter
of the sequel! So, if you wish to read more of this story *begs* there ya
go! Surprisingly, everyone will be, kind of, in character! Especially
Kurama! AH! Umm...this is too long an author's note already. So here you go!
...**~*Here's to a Happy Ending.*~**...
(Botan's POV)
"So let me get this straight, this man was in a car accident, was attacked by an unidentified animal, ran into a pole, fell out a window, and then was hit by three people falling from thirty feet above him...all in the past day and a half?"
"Y-yes that's right," I told the doctor after Kuwabara and I had taken Kurama to a hospital in the human world... I was stuck doing all the dirty work, though. Kuwabara had run off as soon as the doctor began questioning! He said he had to 'watch after Kurama'. Phooey!
"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you ma'am?" he asked, looking me straight in the eye.
"No...of course not—OKAY FINE!! I MADE HIM RUN INTO THAT POLE! AND I WAS HAPPY ABOUT IT TOO!!! IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER I WOULD DO IT AGAIN!" I screamed, dropping to my knees, beginning to cry.
"And what about the OTHER things ma'am!?"
I was cracking! I couldn't take this interrogation any longer! I had come clean so now was the time to rat everyone else out!
"W-well, Koenma-sama locked him in a small room, to keep him away from Hiei, I suppose, and while inside Kura- Shuichi went crazy and jumped out the window!! SO THAT WAS ALL KOENMA'S FAULT!"
"What about the animal attack, ma'am!?"
"Well Yusuke—"
"AHA! So far we have three people guilty of harming this man! How about that car 'accident', ma'am!?"
"Hiei was the only one with him at the time so—"
"EVEN THIS HIEI! So you're saying the reason this Koenma locked this Shuichi in a small room was because this Hiei is a violent stalker of this man, out to get him hurt! What about the others falling onto him, huh, ma'am!?"
"That's not what I said at all!"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, MA'AM!"
"Well, first Hiei jumped out the window onto Shuichi and the others followed to—"
"I SEE!! HIEI HIRED THESE PEOPLE TO TRY AND HURT SHUICHI! INCLUDING YOU!! I'm afraid I'll have to take you in, ma'am," he said, coming closer to me.
"W-WHAT!? BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I protested, moving back as fast as I could.
As soon as I had reached my peek of fear, the doctor began to laugh, and laugh...and laugh.
"Sorry, ma'am. I was just joking with you! That other fella that came in with you already explained everything. It seems Shuichi has had QUITE a day and a half!"
I nearly fainted.
I decided then that I hated doctors...
(Kuwabara's POV)
Here I was, sitting at Kurama's bedside, wondering if he would be okay, if he would even survive. Of course, if Kurama *wasn't* okay, HIEI WOULD KILL ME! He'd kill everyone, which included ME! So I prayed, and prayed, and hoped, and wished for Kurama's recovery. I wasn't ready to--...for HIM to die.
"Kurama, buddy, hang in there..." I whispered, grabbing the unconscious Kurama's hand, desperately wanting him to wake up and be dandy as candy.
Before I had time to move, I was slapped again. "I told you to stop coming on to me...!" he sighed, still asleep. Well, at least it was progress.
(Hiei's POV)
After discreetly changing into the clothes I found in the bag floating down the river, and dumping all my burnt clothes behind a bush (which was everything but my shoes and scarf, and headband), I made my way out from behind the bush, and into a large, open field. I was surprised to see Rando off in the distance...the way, way, way distance, actually. He looked as though he were nothing but a small, small dot. But I *knew* it was him! So I called out in an extremely loud tone so he could hear me, "RANDO! LET'S FINISH THIS HERE AND NOW—"
"WHAT!!!!?" he called back, unable to hear me.
"RANDO! LET'S FINSIH THIS HERE AND—"
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!?"
"RANDO!!!!! LET'S FINSIH THIS HERE--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WHAAAAAAAATTT!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
"LET'S FINSIH--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
I had become fed up with this...So, I charged over to him, stopping when I was just a few inches away. I lifted myself up, standing on my toes, raising my head to just barely reach up to his nose, but I stared him in the eye, showing that *I meant business*.
"Rando, let's finish this here and now! A fair fight with strict rules!" I said firmly.
"Alright, and what shall the rules be?"
"RULE ONE: We shall be blindfolded," I declared, stepping back a few feet, loathing his foul odor.
"Agreed... RULE TWO: No using third eyes," he added.
"Very well... RULE THREE: No use of any weapons, special abilities, or powers. It shall be a fist/any other body part battle," I said, taking off my scarf, ripping it in two, then giving half of it to Rando. We then, after giving each other identical glares, covered our eyes with the pieces of scarf. "Now, let's begin our fight with a hand shake," I said, putting out my hand toward him...At least I thought so. I changed my mind when I felt it come in contact with something that felt like an eye covered with my scarf and Rando cried out, 'OUCH!' "Ahem, sorry," I apologized, moving my hand a little to left, hoping to find his hand. Sadly, that wasn't the correct spot either...it was actually his other eye.
"You're doing this on purpose!" he yelled, sending a punch toward me. Unable to see, I was hit. Instantly I grabbed Rando's nose, twisting it, making his entire body unable to move. In response, he moved! Sneaky bastard! He latched onto my hair and before I knew it, the both of us were wrestling on the ground.
(Old Man Jack Driving a Tractor's POV)
It was such a nice day out! The grass was yellow, the sky was dark and cloudy, it was cold, and it looked like rain. And my sister said there was no advantage to living out here! But she was wrong! I mean, out here I could plow whatever, whenever I wanted! That had always been my life goal...to plow stuff.
I had just had myself a pre-plow breakfast...bacon, sausage, ham, steak, beef patties, chicken tenders, pork, and of course...seconds! Of course, all meat and no plow makes Jack a dull boy!
So here I was, driving my tractor as carefree as I could be across the grassy field. That's when I felt a drop of water hit my extra long nose. I decided to take just a few seconds from my concentration to look up at the sky to see if it were raining...Sadly, besides finding out that it was in fact starting to drizzle, I felt my tractor hit a large...bump. I prayed I hadn't hit any little critters! I took a moment to pray for the life I may have cut down before going to check under the tractor. But, to my surprise and glee, I felt the tractor start to wobble, as though there was something struggling underneath! I hopped off the machine in a hurry and took a peek under it to see two figures in the darkness. At first glance they looked as though they may be conjoined but it turned out they were only holding onto each other's hair.
"Hold on there little critters! I'll get you out of there! I just need to fetch my horse so I can pull this here tractor off of ya!" I called, wiping the perspiration from my forehead as I ran back towards my home. "Shuichi!" I yelled out (Shuichi being my horse). "Shuichi—oh there you are!" I said, seeing that she had been right in her stable the whole time. I grabbed my rope, and my saddle, and in three minutes flat (a personal best) I was on my way back to the tractor, riding Shuichi. I arrived in 1 minute (another record), and soon, had tied Shuichi to the tractor. "Okay little ones!" I started to explain to the animals stuck underneath the heavy machinery. "Shuichi's here to save you!"
"WHAT!? HOW DID HE GET HERE SO FAST!?" one of the critters yelled back.
"Holy Jimmy Dean! You're a people! Lucky I got Shuichi here so fast! It was a personal record of speed! But don't you worry now! Shuichi's real eager to help ya!" I assured the little man stuck under my tractor.
"I would hope so!!" he yelled back, starting to mumble something about stupid foxes.
"Now as soon as I give Shuichi a slap 'e'll start running and pull the tractor off of—"
"HEY! IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE SHUICHI PULL THE TRACTOR OFF ALL BY HIMSELF JUST TELL HIM WHEN TO DO IT, DON'T SLAP HIM! HE HAS EARS Y'KNOW!"
"Yes but don't you forget that he's an animal! Animals don't talk the way we do," I said, laughing a little as I gave Shuichi a good slap and watched as started to move. The instant my horse had pulled the tractor, I heard two sets of painful screams. But it wouldn't last long! Because Shuichi was one strong horse, and pulled the tractor off in no time at all! IT WAS ANOTHER RECORD!
Then I finally got a look at what I had run over. There was one full grown, red-haired, long-haired man. And a small, short, little critter man with black...ish...hair. I would have felt pretty bad about running them over hadn't they been blindfolded! That made it 70% their fault! Besides, they shouldn't have been running around in my plowing territory without permission anyway.
"Where's Shuichi!?" the little one cried out, looking worried, throwing off his blindfold. I lifted my right index finger and pointed at the horse running off. It was dragging the tractor behind it though, so you couldn't really see her. "AHH!!! KURAMA!" he yelled, getting onto his feet and starting to run for my horse/tractor. Of course, after being crushed with such a heavy vehicle, his legs and things weren't working quite right, and he fell flat on his face, crying out in pain.
"I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND!" the other one screamed, feeling around with his hands and crawling around in a circle. I chuckled at his total helplessness, only because he must have forgotten he was wearing a blindfold. After he had convinced himself of being seeing impaired, he collapsed, fainted. The other one wasn't doing so well either. Shuichi had freed herself of the tractor and wandered back over to the group. She was standing right over the little one (who was wearing clothes that really didn't fit him, much too big). After staring up at her with wide eyes, he too fainted. I didn't know why...He seemed to care about that horse before but I guess all a long he had had a phobia of horses.
"Well Shuichi, I guess since you're stronger than I am...you'll have to take these two men to the hospital...You know they need it." I sighed as I grabbed a large piece off my tractor, flattened it out, and dragged the two boys onto it. I then ran back home, got my welding kit, and put a hole in the piece of metal, tied the rope onto it, then to Shuichi. I carefully explained to my horse where to take them. Shuichi was one smart cookie! ((Not a love cookie. No worries, Jack does not love his horse in that way)) I was sure she could get them to the hospital.
So I secured the two to the piece of metal and gave Shuichi a slap...and quick as a tornado she ran off into the yonder...unconscious boys dragging behind her.
(Hiei's POV)
'♥Thank you♥!'
OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!
'♥No problem♥!'
DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
'♥I'm glad you like them♥!'
GAH! GAH! GAH!
'♥I sure do♥!'
YOW! YOW! YOW!
'♥I know it♥!'
GRR! GRR! GRR!
'♥Yes, you do♥!'
GARG! GARG! GARG!
'♥Want another♥!?'
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
'♥Of course! ♥'
!@#$%^&*
All this bumping up and down was ruining my peaceful slumber and dreaming. Wait, where was I?
I slowly, cautiously opened my eyes to see the ground moving awful fast below me. Oh god... I WAS BEING DRAGGED BY THAT INSANE, MUTATED CREATURE! I would have tried to stop it and get off...but my legs just wouldn't move...same for my arms.
"Kurama..." I whispered to myself, trying to find strength. Someone had to defeat Rando and save him. I would regret it all my life if that someone wasn't me. But even so...I was still inured. My damned body wasn't as strong as my feelings for Kurama...
(Shiori's POV)
"Ah, finished!" I said to myself after I had changed into some dry clothes. Just then, I heard a knock at the door. I hurried to answer it, hoping it was Hiei or my son. But it wasn't...
"Hello, Shiori Minamino?" the black-haired boy asked, looking over to the girl beside him, giving her a nod, then looking back at me.
"Y-yes...how may I help...you?"
"Yeah...We know your son! And we were wondering if you could give us directions to the nearest hospital!"
Hospital? My son? I was starting to become worried...
"Yes, come on in," I said, motioning for them to enter. As soon as they both were inside, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, quickly jotting down directions. "Will this work?" I asked, handing the girl the paper.
"Oh yes! Thank you!" And with that the two started for the door, very quickly. Of course what was even more alarming...
"I'm so glad my mom accidentally called the hospital!"
"Yeah I know! And it's such a good thing she knows Hiei!"
"And Kurama, too!"
"Yes! Oh, did you inform Yukina?"
"I did...I hope she gets there before it's too late!"
"It would suck if she didn't get to see her brother one last—OH YUSKE!"
"Don't cry Keiko, don't cry..."
After hearing that, I reached out, grabbed my keys and ran for my car.
(Botan's POV)
"So let me get this straight... This man is Hiei, and he was also in a car accident, fell out a window, was hit by two other people falling from about thirty feet, got in fight with this other redheaded man, almost drowned, was run over by a tractor, and then dragged to the hospital by a horse, who is also named Shuichi?"
"Y-yes," I answered, feeling extremely nervous. Here I was, having to answer questions about all the injured people I knew!
"O...kay... How about the alcohol and drug use?"
"I have no clue about that, I assure you!" I cried, spotting a nervously laughing Yusuke and Keiko in the corner.
"Alright..." he sighed, giving me a strange look.
DID I HATE DOCTORS!
(Rando's POV)
I slowly opened my eyes to see a flash of white. Oh no... I WAS...IN A HOSPITAL! I then turned my head to see what was beside me. I saw black, and purple, and BLUE! It was *Hiei*! Wearing that oversized purple shirt and oversized jeans he had had since I found him in that field! Soon, I saw him open his own eyes. He glared at me, the same way I glared at him.
We both knew what came next. So, with our legs up in traction and the rest of us just plain hurting, we reached out for each other, trying to land punches from across the room and from in our beds.
"I'll kill you!" Hiei screamed, jumping up and down, trying to move his bed closer.
"Not before I kill you!" I called, doing the same. Until it hit me! I picked up the clock from my end table and threw it at Hiei, who just barely was able to dodge.
"NURSE!" Hiei called. I watched in awe of his brilliant plan as a very good- looking woman in white entered our hospital room.
"May I help you, number 345-B?" she asked Hiei, smiling.
"Yes, may I have a cup of water...?" Hiei requested, never looking at the woman, always keeping his eyes fixed on me in a loathing, hateful way. The nurse nodded, left the room, and then quickly returned with a small cup of water. Instantly, after handing it to Hiei, he flung his wrist out my way, splashing all his water in my face. "Nurse, I spilled my water, may I have some more?" he asked, sounding stressed and angered. The woman gave Hiei a very strange look, and then ran off in fear.
I had to top that. So, I reached down under my bed and ripped one of the supporting legs off of it, making my bed crash down. I then threw the leg at Hiei, hitting him directly on the head, knocking him out. Mission accomplished. Of course, I had just re-broken my legs...so the pain made me pass out as well.
(Koenma's POV)
"Look what you've done Botan!" I cried, pointing over at all the sick, injured people in the waiting room
"I didn't do that!"
"Oh... Well then what about Hiei and Kurama!?"
"I didn't hurt them either!"
"Oh... Well then what about Rando!?"
At that moment, both Botan and I had a mental realization of what had happened.
"We can just go get Rando while he's unconscious!" we cried at the same time, happily reaching out, hugging each other, and jumping up and down in all our genius.
(Yukina's POV)
"H-hello? Yusuke, Keiko?" I called quietly as I entered the hospital waiting room. I had gotten a call from them, telling me that Hiei and Kurama had been seriously hurt and that he may not live...I had rushed over here as quickly as I could!
"Yukina! You're finally here!" Keiko cried, running over to me. "Now, just go into room 345, and 344, and heal whoever is in their to the best you can! But hurry! Go now!"
"A-alright!" I agreed, determined. I quickly ran around, repeating in my mind, 345, 344, 345, 344, 345, 344... Until I finally made it to room 344! I slowly walked in, looked around, and found Kurama sleeping there, along with Kuwabara! "Hello!" I whispered. At the sound of my voice, Kuwabara's head began to turn, very slowly, but excitedly. The look on his face made me almost want to run away screaming...but he was just upset about Kurama. Yes...that was it. And he expressed sadness by smiling really, really wide, in a scary, stalker way, and blushing...
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-..." he continued with his stuttering as I began to heal Kurama. Of course, since we were in a public hospital, I decided that I better put on those rubber gloves the doctors always wear, and the protective masks to keep away germs. And while I was at it, I found myself a hairnet. But in no time at all Kurama was healed! Still unconscious, but healed... It had really taken a lot out of me, though. I hoped I had enough strength left to heal poor Hiei!
"Goodbye Kuwabara! I'll see you later!" I said as I left the room...
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-..."
And so I then entered room 345. I instantly saw Hiei there, but there was also another man... He looked even more injured! His face was drenched in...sweat! And his bed had collapsed! I had to tend to him first! So, I healed him just enough so that he could walk again. I would have tried to heal him fully but I needed to save energy for Hiei! Then I realized I didn't *have* all that much energy left. Nevertheless, I poured it all into fixing Hiei's legs; it was all I could do. Feeling accomplished, I left the room and rejoined Yusuke and Keiko.
"Yukina, when did you get here!?" Botan asked cheerfully as I walked back into the waiting room.
"Just a little while ago," I replied, smiling back at her. "You know, Yusuke and Keiko really had me scared! Hiei's injuries really weren't all that bad! Especially compared to that other guy in his room! He was really hard to heal..."
"W-what...?" Botan asked...her and Koenma's eyes filling with fear. "You didn't—you didn't heal another man in that room...did you?"
"Yes...why? Was I not supposed to?"
"BOTAN! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! NOW WE HAVE TO GO AND GET RANDO BEFORE HE WAKES UP AND DECIDES TO KILL US ALL!" Koenma yelled, grabbing Botan's sleeve and dragging her along behind him as he marched off toward the hospital rooms.
I hoped I hadn't done something...wrong.
(Hiei's POV)
I just now had opened my eyes. I woke up the instant I found Yukina in the room, but quickly went to pretending I was asleep. I didn't want to have to explain this all to her... I felt rather ashamed. Being struck down by a tractor!
As I continued to think about this, I noticed that Rando was missing from his bed after I had glanced over there. That meant...that he could walk! (Or that the doctors took him in for surgery... BEFORE ME!) I brushed it off as nothing though, until I looked straight ahead of me... Rando was standing right over me, smirking evilly.
Was he going to...kill me?
"Don't worry, Hiei... You're *not* the one I plan to kill. (I've tried that and look where it got me...) Instead, I've decided to kill two birds with one stone."
"What birds!? What stone!?"
"You and Kurama...AND MY FIST!" he answered, holding up his arm in triumph.
"If you're not going to kill me, then how am *I* a *bird*!?" I asked, glaring at him as hard as I could... boy, if I had heat vision...
"Because...I heard it from Kurama myself! If I kill one of you, the other will never be the same. So, I take out your fox...and I, in theory, take out you," he laughed, exiting the room.
Damn him... I had to get to Kurama before he did! BUT IT WAS ONLY RIGHT NEXT DOOR! So I leaped out of bed (luckily my legs worked...but that was about all) and ran as fast as I could into Kurama's room... I found that not only was Kurama there, but also Kuwabara ((Was there the whole time)), Yusuke ((Came in with Keiko)), Keiko ((Came in with Yusuke)), Botan ((Got dragged in by Koenma)), Koenma ((Had the wrong room)), Yukina ((Came to try and help)), and Shiori ((Brought flowers for Kurama and Hiei))... and Rando, WHO WAS JUST ABOUT TO SHOOT KURAMA WITH A HUGE BLAST OF ENERGY! Thinking, acting, and jumping quickly... I made it just in time to block for Kurama...
...........................
...........................
...........................
(Kurama's POV)
"So you and Koenma took care of Rando?"
"Yes, we did. And how about you and Yusuke, are you two okay?"
"Oh yes we're fine!"
I was awaken by the sounds of familiar voices...
"How about Shuichi, will Shuichi be alright?" My mother...
"Don't worry! He'll be just fine! Yukina did a really good job!" Yusuke...
"I did nothing, really... I did more harm than good..." Yukina...
"It wasn't your fault at all! It was mine for not explaining better!" Keiko...
"It's no ones fault at all! It was Botan!" Koenma...
"It was not! I had nothing to do with this at all!" Botan...
"It certainly wasn't *MY* fault!" Kuwabara...
Yes... but someone was missing...
"Hiei!?" I called, opening my eyes to see a room filled with the friendly faces of those I knew.
"Shuichi, you're awake!" my mother declared, running over to me and giving me a hug.
"I am mother. But that tone in your voice suggests that something happened to me! What?" I asked, looking around the room at everyone. They all returned me the same nervous, hesitant, blank gaze.
"Y-you were in a car accident!" Keiko declared, putting on a smile, turning and motioning for everyone else to agree...which they did. I would have been a little more suspicious if I didn't actually remember being in a car accident. And then I also remembered...that Hiei had been in the car with me!
"Where is he!?" I cried nervously, scanning the room again to confirm he wasn't here with the others.
"Wait... Kurama... You really...believe you were in a car crash?" Yusuke asked, giving me a questioning look.
"Of course, it's last thing I remember..." I answered truthfully, still wondering why no one would answer my question. "Where's Hiei?"
"He's in the next room, honey," my mother said softly, giving me a reassuring look. How did my mother know who Hiei was? Oh well, I'd ask later... But I was still worried about him.
"Is he...alright?" I asked, getting sad looks from everyone around me.
"He almost died trying to save you," Botan answered, looking down at the floor.
"In the car crash!" Keiko declared, as everyone else nodded and started to say things like, 'yes oh yes!', and 'the car crash, right!'
"But...will he be okay?" I asked. I was shocked that Hiei had done such a thing...for me.
"Why don't you go and see him, dear... I think he'd like that," my mother suggested, helping me out of the hospital bed. "It's just the next door over..." I nodded and quickly ran into the room. After I had started running, I realized that I was wearing different clothes then I had been earlier... purple shirt and jeans. Odd... But that didn't matter right now!
I cautiously entered to the room. The door had been closed so I shut it behind me, making the room dark, but not dark enough not to be able to see. And so Hiei was easy to spot. "Hiei," I said, pretty sure that he was asleep. I looked around for a chair to pull up...but the others must have moved them to my room, so I just sat on the bed. "And I thought you were dependant of me..." I sighed, gently looking down at Hiei's unthreatening, asleep, expression. I laughed a little, seeing that Hiei would be just fine in a couple of days. I figured I should let him sleep... But...I'd rather of just looked at him. So innocent looking...like he would never harm the smallest and most unnoticeable flower. I smiled to myself as I lifted my hand to his head and brushed some hair away from his eyes. "Why would you do such a thing for me..." I questioned to myself, continuing to play with his hair...
"Don't ask me..." he replied, opening his eyes, glaring right at me. He had a very unusual and almost...suggestive look on his face. But it must have just been the lighting.
"I thought you were sleeping," I said softly, moving back from him, but still remaining on his bed.
"I was. It's hard to sleep when there are people talking," he grunted, turning his gaze away from me.
"I know. I don't know how I'll ever get back to sleep with everyone in my room," I laughed, smiling at Hiei.
"What...did they tell you?" he asked, jetting his eyes back to me.
"They told me I was in a car accident. I remember that. But, they also told me something I don't remember..." Hiei laid there, patiently waiting for me to continue. "Thank you Hiei." Hiei looked away again, so I smiled and started to get up. It would be best to leave him alone. But I guess he didn't believe so... Hiei reached out and grabbed my sleeve, gently tugging it toward him.
"They're noisy... you'd sleep better here."
I pointed to his bed and gave him a questioning look. He nodded. So, I crawled in beside him, finding there not to be much of any room. Hiei noticed that too...and fixed himself right over me, wrapping his arms around me, and gently snuggling his head into my shirt.
Never before had I experienced Hiei being *this* tired!
But I didn't protest... I owed him. And I was tired anyway. So I shut my eyes, and prepared myself for the onslaught of dreams I was sure to have...
......Hiei, asleep in my arms......
......Silently letting my caress his back......
......Holding me, hugging me......
......What a wonderful dream......
..........................................Wait...
~*END*~
...**~*Here's to a Happy Ending.*~**...
(Botan's POV)
"So let me get this straight, this man was in a car accident, was attacked by an unidentified animal, ran into a pole, fell out a window, and then was hit by three people falling from thirty feet above him...all in the past day and a half?"
"Y-yes that's right," I told the doctor after Kuwabara and I had taken Kurama to a hospital in the human world... I was stuck doing all the dirty work, though. Kuwabara had run off as soon as the doctor began questioning! He said he had to 'watch after Kurama'. Phooey!
"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you ma'am?" he asked, looking me straight in the eye.
"No...of course not—OKAY FINE!! I MADE HIM RUN INTO THAT POLE! AND I WAS HAPPY ABOUT IT TOO!!! IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER I WOULD DO IT AGAIN!" I screamed, dropping to my knees, beginning to cry.
"And what about the OTHER things ma'am!?"
I was cracking! I couldn't take this interrogation any longer! I had come clean so now was the time to rat everyone else out!
"W-well, Koenma-sama locked him in a small room, to keep him away from Hiei, I suppose, and while inside Kura- Shuichi went crazy and jumped out the window!! SO THAT WAS ALL KOENMA'S FAULT!"
"What about the animal attack, ma'am!?"
"Well Yusuke—"
"AHA! So far we have three people guilty of harming this man! How about that car 'accident', ma'am!?"
"Hiei was the only one with him at the time so—"
"EVEN THIS HIEI! So you're saying the reason this Koenma locked this Shuichi in a small room was because this Hiei is a violent stalker of this man, out to get him hurt! What about the others falling onto him, huh, ma'am!?"
"That's not what I said at all!"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, MA'AM!"
"Well, first Hiei jumped out the window onto Shuichi and the others followed to—"
"I SEE!! HIEI HIRED THESE PEOPLE TO TRY AND HURT SHUICHI! INCLUDING YOU!! I'm afraid I'll have to take you in, ma'am," he said, coming closer to me.
"W-WHAT!? BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I protested, moving back as fast as I could.
As soon as I had reached my peek of fear, the doctor began to laugh, and laugh...and laugh.
"Sorry, ma'am. I was just joking with you! That other fella that came in with you already explained everything. It seems Shuichi has had QUITE a day and a half!"
I nearly fainted.
I decided then that I hated doctors...
(Kuwabara's POV)
Here I was, sitting at Kurama's bedside, wondering if he would be okay, if he would even survive. Of course, if Kurama *wasn't* okay, HIEI WOULD KILL ME! He'd kill everyone, which included ME! So I prayed, and prayed, and hoped, and wished for Kurama's recovery. I wasn't ready to--...for HIM to die.
"Kurama, buddy, hang in there..." I whispered, grabbing the unconscious Kurama's hand, desperately wanting him to wake up and be dandy as candy.
Before I had time to move, I was slapped again. "I told you to stop coming on to me...!" he sighed, still asleep. Well, at least it was progress.
(Hiei's POV)
After discreetly changing into the clothes I found in the bag floating down the river, and dumping all my burnt clothes behind a bush (which was everything but my shoes and scarf, and headband), I made my way out from behind the bush, and into a large, open field. I was surprised to see Rando off in the distance...the way, way, way distance, actually. He looked as though he were nothing but a small, small dot. But I *knew* it was him! So I called out in an extremely loud tone so he could hear me, "RANDO! LET'S FINISH THIS HERE AND NOW—"
"WHAT!!!!?" he called back, unable to hear me.
"RANDO! LET'S FINSIH THIS HERE AND—"
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!?"
"RANDO!!!!! LET'S FINSIH THIS HERE--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WHAAAAAAAATTT!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
"LET'S FINSIH--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
I had become fed up with this...So, I charged over to him, stopping when I was just a few inches away. I lifted myself up, standing on my toes, raising my head to just barely reach up to his nose, but I stared him in the eye, showing that *I meant business*.
"Rando, let's finish this here and now! A fair fight with strict rules!" I said firmly.
"Alright, and what shall the rules be?"
"RULE ONE: We shall be blindfolded," I declared, stepping back a few feet, loathing his foul odor.
"Agreed... RULE TWO: No using third eyes," he added.
"Very well... RULE THREE: No use of any weapons, special abilities, or powers. It shall be a fist/any other body part battle," I said, taking off my scarf, ripping it in two, then giving half of it to Rando. We then, after giving each other identical glares, covered our eyes with the pieces of scarf. "Now, let's begin our fight with a hand shake," I said, putting out my hand toward him...At least I thought so. I changed my mind when I felt it come in contact with something that felt like an eye covered with my scarf and Rando cried out, 'OUCH!' "Ahem, sorry," I apologized, moving my hand a little to left, hoping to find his hand. Sadly, that wasn't the correct spot either...it was actually his other eye.
"You're doing this on purpose!" he yelled, sending a punch toward me. Unable to see, I was hit. Instantly I grabbed Rando's nose, twisting it, making his entire body unable to move. In response, he moved! Sneaky bastard! He latched onto my hair and before I knew it, the both of us were wrestling on the ground.
(Old Man Jack Driving a Tractor's POV)
It was such a nice day out! The grass was yellow, the sky was dark and cloudy, it was cold, and it looked like rain. And my sister said there was no advantage to living out here! But she was wrong! I mean, out here I could plow whatever, whenever I wanted! That had always been my life goal...to plow stuff.
I had just had myself a pre-plow breakfast...bacon, sausage, ham, steak, beef patties, chicken tenders, pork, and of course...seconds! Of course, all meat and no plow makes Jack a dull boy!
So here I was, driving my tractor as carefree as I could be across the grassy field. That's when I felt a drop of water hit my extra long nose. I decided to take just a few seconds from my concentration to look up at the sky to see if it were raining...Sadly, besides finding out that it was in fact starting to drizzle, I felt my tractor hit a large...bump. I prayed I hadn't hit any little critters! I took a moment to pray for the life I may have cut down before going to check under the tractor. But, to my surprise and glee, I felt the tractor start to wobble, as though there was something struggling underneath! I hopped off the machine in a hurry and took a peek under it to see two figures in the darkness. At first glance they looked as though they may be conjoined but it turned out they were only holding onto each other's hair.
"Hold on there little critters! I'll get you out of there! I just need to fetch my horse so I can pull this here tractor off of ya!" I called, wiping the perspiration from my forehead as I ran back towards my home. "Shuichi!" I yelled out (Shuichi being my horse). "Shuichi—oh there you are!" I said, seeing that she had been right in her stable the whole time. I grabbed my rope, and my saddle, and in three minutes flat (a personal best) I was on my way back to the tractor, riding Shuichi. I arrived in 1 minute (another record), and soon, had tied Shuichi to the tractor. "Okay little ones!" I started to explain to the animals stuck underneath the heavy machinery. "Shuichi's here to save you!"
"WHAT!? HOW DID HE GET HERE SO FAST!?" one of the critters yelled back.
"Holy Jimmy Dean! You're a people! Lucky I got Shuichi here so fast! It was a personal record of speed! But don't you worry now! Shuichi's real eager to help ya!" I assured the little man stuck under my tractor.
"I would hope so!!" he yelled back, starting to mumble something about stupid foxes.
"Now as soon as I give Shuichi a slap 'e'll start running and pull the tractor off of—"
"HEY! IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE SHUICHI PULL THE TRACTOR OFF ALL BY HIMSELF JUST TELL HIM WHEN TO DO IT, DON'T SLAP HIM! HE HAS EARS Y'KNOW!"
"Yes but don't you forget that he's an animal! Animals don't talk the way we do," I said, laughing a little as I gave Shuichi a good slap and watched as started to move. The instant my horse had pulled the tractor, I heard two sets of painful screams. But it wouldn't last long! Because Shuichi was one strong horse, and pulled the tractor off in no time at all! IT WAS ANOTHER RECORD!
Then I finally got a look at what I had run over. There was one full grown, red-haired, long-haired man. And a small, short, little critter man with black...ish...hair. I would have felt pretty bad about running them over hadn't they been blindfolded! That made it 70% their fault! Besides, they shouldn't have been running around in my plowing territory without permission anyway.
"Where's Shuichi!?" the little one cried out, looking worried, throwing off his blindfold. I lifted my right index finger and pointed at the horse running off. It was dragging the tractor behind it though, so you couldn't really see her. "AHH!!! KURAMA!" he yelled, getting onto his feet and starting to run for my horse/tractor. Of course, after being crushed with such a heavy vehicle, his legs and things weren't working quite right, and he fell flat on his face, crying out in pain.
"I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND!" the other one screamed, feeling around with his hands and crawling around in a circle. I chuckled at his total helplessness, only because he must have forgotten he was wearing a blindfold. After he had convinced himself of being seeing impaired, he collapsed, fainted. The other one wasn't doing so well either. Shuichi had freed herself of the tractor and wandered back over to the group. She was standing right over the little one (who was wearing clothes that really didn't fit him, much too big). After staring up at her with wide eyes, he too fainted. I didn't know why...He seemed to care about that horse before but I guess all a long he had had a phobia of horses.
"Well Shuichi, I guess since you're stronger than I am...you'll have to take these two men to the hospital...You know they need it." I sighed as I grabbed a large piece off my tractor, flattened it out, and dragged the two boys onto it. I then ran back home, got my welding kit, and put a hole in the piece of metal, tied the rope onto it, then to Shuichi. I carefully explained to my horse where to take them. Shuichi was one smart cookie! ((Not a love cookie. No worries, Jack does not love his horse in that way)) I was sure she could get them to the hospital.
So I secured the two to the piece of metal and gave Shuichi a slap...and quick as a tornado she ran off into the yonder...unconscious boys dragging behind her.
(Hiei's POV)
'♥Thank you♥!'
OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!
'♥No problem♥!'
DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
'♥I'm glad you like them♥!'
GAH! GAH! GAH!
'♥I sure do♥!'
YOW! YOW! YOW!
'♥I know it♥!'
GRR! GRR! GRR!
'♥Yes, you do♥!'
GARG! GARG! GARG!
'♥Want another♥!?'
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
'♥Of course! ♥'
!@#$%^&*
All this bumping up and down was ruining my peaceful slumber and dreaming. Wait, where was I?
I slowly, cautiously opened my eyes to see the ground moving awful fast below me. Oh god... I WAS BEING DRAGGED BY THAT INSANE, MUTATED CREATURE! I would have tried to stop it and get off...but my legs just wouldn't move...same for my arms.
"Kurama..." I whispered to myself, trying to find strength. Someone had to defeat Rando and save him. I would regret it all my life if that someone wasn't me. But even so...I was still inured. My damned body wasn't as strong as my feelings for Kurama...
(Shiori's POV)
"Ah, finished!" I said to myself after I had changed into some dry clothes. Just then, I heard a knock at the door. I hurried to answer it, hoping it was Hiei or my son. But it wasn't...
"Hello, Shiori Minamino?" the black-haired boy asked, looking over to the girl beside him, giving her a nod, then looking back at me.
"Y-yes...how may I help...you?"
"Yeah...We know your son! And we were wondering if you could give us directions to the nearest hospital!"
Hospital? My son? I was starting to become worried...
"Yes, come on in," I said, motioning for them to enter. As soon as they both were inside, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, quickly jotting down directions. "Will this work?" I asked, handing the girl the paper.
"Oh yes! Thank you!" And with that the two started for the door, very quickly. Of course what was even more alarming...
"I'm so glad my mom accidentally called the hospital!"
"Yeah I know! And it's such a good thing she knows Hiei!"
"And Kurama, too!"
"Yes! Oh, did you inform Yukina?"
"I did...I hope she gets there before it's too late!"
"It would suck if she didn't get to see her brother one last—OH YUSKE!"
"Don't cry Keiko, don't cry..."
After hearing that, I reached out, grabbed my keys and ran for my car.
(Botan's POV)
"So let me get this straight... This man is Hiei, and he was also in a car accident, fell out a window, was hit by two other people falling from about thirty feet, got in fight with this other redheaded man, almost drowned, was run over by a tractor, and then dragged to the hospital by a horse, who is also named Shuichi?"
"Y-yes," I answered, feeling extremely nervous. Here I was, having to answer questions about all the injured people I knew!
"O...kay... How about the alcohol and drug use?"
"I have no clue about that, I assure you!" I cried, spotting a nervously laughing Yusuke and Keiko in the corner.
"Alright..." he sighed, giving me a strange look.
DID I HATE DOCTORS!
(Rando's POV)
I slowly opened my eyes to see a flash of white. Oh no... I WAS...IN A HOSPITAL! I then turned my head to see what was beside me. I saw black, and purple, and BLUE! It was *Hiei*! Wearing that oversized purple shirt and oversized jeans he had had since I found him in that field! Soon, I saw him open his own eyes. He glared at me, the same way I glared at him.
We both knew what came next. So, with our legs up in traction and the rest of us just plain hurting, we reached out for each other, trying to land punches from across the room and from in our beds.
"I'll kill you!" Hiei screamed, jumping up and down, trying to move his bed closer.
"Not before I kill you!" I called, doing the same. Until it hit me! I picked up the clock from my end table and threw it at Hiei, who just barely was able to dodge.
"NURSE!" Hiei called. I watched in awe of his brilliant plan as a very good- looking woman in white entered our hospital room.
"May I help you, number 345-B?" she asked Hiei, smiling.
"Yes, may I have a cup of water...?" Hiei requested, never looking at the woman, always keeping his eyes fixed on me in a loathing, hateful way. The nurse nodded, left the room, and then quickly returned with a small cup of water. Instantly, after handing it to Hiei, he flung his wrist out my way, splashing all his water in my face. "Nurse, I spilled my water, may I have some more?" he asked, sounding stressed and angered. The woman gave Hiei a very strange look, and then ran off in fear.
I had to top that. So, I reached down under my bed and ripped one of the supporting legs off of it, making my bed crash down. I then threw the leg at Hiei, hitting him directly on the head, knocking him out. Mission accomplished. Of course, I had just re-broken my legs...so the pain made me pass out as well.
(Koenma's POV)
"Look what you've done Botan!" I cried, pointing over at all the sick, injured people in the waiting room
"I didn't do that!"
"Oh... Well then what about Hiei and Kurama!?"
"I didn't hurt them either!"
"Oh... Well then what about Rando!?"
At that moment, both Botan and I had a mental realization of what had happened.
"We can just go get Rando while he's unconscious!" we cried at the same time, happily reaching out, hugging each other, and jumping up and down in all our genius.
(Yukina's POV)
"H-hello? Yusuke, Keiko?" I called quietly as I entered the hospital waiting room. I had gotten a call from them, telling me that Hiei and Kurama had been seriously hurt and that he may not live...I had rushed over here as quickly as I could!
"Yukina! You're finally here!" Keiko cried, running over to me. "Now, just go into room 345, and 344, and heal whoever is in their to the best you can! But hurry! Go now!"
"A-alright!" I agreed, determined. I quickly ran around, repeating in my mind, 345, 344, 345, 344, 345, 344... Until I finally made it to room 344! I slowly walked in, looked around, and found Kurama sleeping there, along with Kuwabara! "Hello!" I whispered. At the sound of my voice, Kuwabara's head began to turn, very slowly, but excitedly. The look on his face made me almost want to run away screaming...but he was just upset about Kurama. Yes...that was it. And he expressed sadness by smiling really, really wide, in a scary, stalker way, and blushing...
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-..." he continued with his stuttering as I began to heal Kurama. Of course, since we were in a public hospital, I decided that I better put on those rubber gloves the doctors always wear, and the protective masks to keep away germs. And while I was at it, I found myself a hairnet. But in no time at all Kurama was healed! Still unconscious, but healed... It had really taken a lot out of me, though. I hoped I had enough strength left to heal poor Hiei!
"Goodbye Kuwabara! I'll see you later!" I said as I left the room...
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-..."
And so I then entered room 345. I instantly saw Hiei there, but there was also another man... He looked even more injured! His face was drenched in...sweat! And his bed had collapsed! I had to tend to him first! So, I healed him just enough so that he could walk again. I would have tried to heal him fully but I needed to save energy for Hiei! Then I realized I didn't *have* all that much energy left. Nevertheless, I poured it all into fixing Hiei's legs; it was all I could do. Feeling accomplished, I left the room and rejoined Yusuke and Keiko.
"Yukina, when did you get here!?" Botan asked cheerfully as I walked back into the waiting room.
"Just a little while ago," I replied, smiling back at her. "You know, Yusuke and Keiko really had me scared! Hiei's injuries really weren't all that bad! Especially compared to that other guy in his room! He was really hard to heal..."
"W-what...?" Botan asked...her and Koenma's eyes filling with fear. "You didn't—you didn't heal another man in that room...did you?"
"Yes...why? Was I not supposed to?"
"BOTAN! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! NOW WE HAVE TO GO AND GET RANDO BEFORE HE WAKES UP AND DECIDES TO KILL US ALL!" Koenma yelled, grabbing Botan's sleeve and dragging her along behind him as he marched off toward the hospital rooms.
I hoped I hadn't done something...wrong.
(Hiei's POV)
I just now had opened my eyes. I woke up the instant I found Yukina in the room, but quickly went to pretending I was asleep. I didn't want to have to explain this all to her... I felt rather ashamed. Being struck down by a tractor!
As I continued to think about this, I noticed that Rando was missing from his bed after I had glanced over there. That meant...that he could walk! (Or that the doctors took him in for surgery... BEFORE ME!) I brushed it off as nothing though, until I looked straight ahead of me... Rando was standing right over me, smirking evilly.
Was he going to...kill me?
"Don't worry, Hiei... You're *not* the one I plan to kill. (I've tried that and look where it got me...) Instead, I've decided to kill two birds with one stone."
"What birds!? What stone!?"
"You and Kurama...AND MY FIST!" he answered, holding up his arm in triumph.
"If you're not going to kill me, then how am *I* a *bird*!?" I asked, glaring at him as hard as I could... boy, if I had heat vision...
"Because...I heard it from Kurama myself! If I kill one of you, the other will never be the same. So, I take out your fox...and I, in theory, take out you," he laughed, exiting the room.
Damn him... I had to get to Kurama before he did! BUT IT WAS ONLY RIGHT NEXT DOOR! So I leaped out of bed (luckily my legs worked...but that was about all) and ran as fast as I could into Kurama's room... I found that not only was Kurama there, but also Kuwabara ((Was there the whole time)), Yusuke ((Came in with Keiko)), Keiko ((Came in with Yusuke)), Botan ((Got dragged in by Koenma)), Koenma ((Had the wrong room)), Yukina ((Came to try and help)), and Shiori ((Brought flowers for Kurama and Hiei))... and Rando, WHO WAS JUST ABOUT TO SHOOT KURAMA WITH A HUGE BLAST OF ENERGY! Thinking, acting, and jumping quickly... I made it just in time to block for Kurama...
...........................
...........................
...........................
(Kurama's POV)
"So you and Koenma took care of Rando?"
"Yes, we did. And how about you and Yusuke, are you two okay?"
"Oh yes we're fine!"
I was awaken by the sounds of familiar voices...
"How about Shuichi, will Shuichi be alright?" My mother...
"Don't worry! He'll be just fine! Yukina did a really good job!" Yusuke...
"I did nothing, really... I did more harm than good..." Yukina...
"It wasn't your fault at all! It was mine for not explaining better!" Keiko...
"It's no ones fault at all! It was Botan!" Koenma...
"It was not! I had nothing to do with this at all!" Botan...
"It certainly wasn't *MY* fault!" Kuwabara...
Yes... but someone was missing...
"Hiei!?" I called, opening my eyes to see a room filled with the friendly faces of those I knew.
"Shuichi, you're awake!" my mother declared, running over to me and giving me a hug.
"I am mother. But that tone in your voice suggests that something happened to me! What?" I asked, looking around the room at everyone. They all returned me the same nervous, hesitant, blank gaze.
"Y-you were in a car accident!" Keiko declared, putting on a smile, turning and motioning for everyone else to agree...which they did. I would have been a little more suspicious if I didn't actually remember being in a car accident. And then I also remembered...that Hiei had been in the car with me!
"Where is he!?" I cried nervously, scanning the room again to confirm he wasn't here with the others.
"Wait... Kurama... You really...believe you were in a car crash?" Yusuke asked, giving me a questioning look.
"Of course, it's last thing I remember..." I answered truthfully, still wondering why no one would answer my question. "Where's Hiei?"
"He's in the next room, honey," my mother said softly, giving me a reassuring look. How did my mother know who Hiei was? Oh well, I'd ask later... But I was still worried about him.
"Is he...alright?" I asked, getting sad looks from everyone around me.
"He almost died trying to save you," Botan answered, looking down at the floor.
"In the car crash!" Keiko declared, as everyone else nodded and started to say things like, 'yes oh yes!', and 'the car crash, right!'
"But...will he be okay?" I asked. I was shocked that Hiei had done such a thing...for me.
"Why don't you go and see him, dear... I think he'd like that," my mother suggested, helping me out of the hospital bed. "It's just the next door over..." I nodded and quickly ran into the room. After I had started running, I realized that I was wearing different clothes then I had been earlier... purple shirt and jeans. Odd... But that didn't matter right now!
I cautiously entered to the room. The door had been closed so I shut it behind me, making the room dark, but not dark enough not to be able to see. And so Hiei was easy to spot. "Hiei," I said, pretty sure that he was asleep. I looked around for a chair to pull up...but the others must have moved them to my room, so I just sat on the bed. "And I thought you were dependant of me..." I sighed, gently looking down at Hiei's unthreatening, asleep, expression. I laughed a little, seeing that Hiei would be just fine in a couple of days. I figured I should let him sleep... But...I'd rather of just looked at him. So innocent looking...like he would never harm the smallest and most unnoticeable flower. I smiled to myself as I lifted my hand to his head and brushed some hair away from his eyes. "Why would you do such a thing for me..." I questioned to myself, continuing to play with his hair...
"Don't ask me..." he replied, opening his eyes, glaring right at me. He had a very unusual and almost...suggestive look on his face. But it must have just been the lighting.
"I thought you were sleeping," I said softly, moving back from him, but still remaining on his bed.
"I was. It's hard to sleep when there are people talking," he grunted, turning his gaze away from me.
"I know. I don't know how I'll ever get back to sleep with everyone in my room," I laughed, smiling at Hiei.
"What...did they tell you?" he asked, jetting his eyes back to me.
"They told me I was in a car accident. I remember that. But, they also told me something I don't remember..." Hiei laid there, patiently waiting for me to continue. "Thank you Hiei." Hiei looked away again, so I smiled and started to get up. It would be best to leave him alone. But I guess he didn't believe so... Hiei reached out and grabbed my sleeve, gently tugging it toward him.
"They're noisy... you'd sleep better here."
I pointed to his bed and gave him a questioning look. He nodded. So, I crawled in beside him, finding there not to be much of any room. Hiei noticed that too...and fixed himself right over me, wrapping his arms around me, and gently snuggling his head into my shirt.
Never before had I experienced Hiei being *this* tired!
But I didn't protest... I owed him. And I was tired anyway. So I shut my eyes, and prepared myself for the onslaught of dreams I was sure to have...
......Hiei, asleep in my arms......
......Silently letting my caress his back......
......Holding me, hugging me......
......What a wonderful dream......
..........................................Wait...
~*END*~