Kurama sat at lunch on the roof of his school.
The wind blew soft. It was turning Fall now and there was a chill in the air. Kurama sighed as heat and cold mixed high above and brushed against his face.
He finished his lunch and pulled open his bag. He didn't always sit alone at lunch although sometimes he prefered to. Especially here so high above everything, that much closer to the sky.
Sighing, Kurama pulled out his biology book. He liked it here, but that's not why he wanted to be alone.
"The human body is an amazing machine." he read and stopped and his eyes fell upon the hands holding the book. Those two, pale, human hands holding the book. Slowly, he reached up and brushed his fingers against his hair. It was soft, but it was just human hair.
What was he thinking?
That was simple. He was thinking of things far away and unseen. He closed his eyes without meaning to and imagined it wasn't the wind of the Human World against his face, but that of home. He let the scent of the humans and their trees and the millions of blades of grass and stalks of flowers become that of home. Abruptly he stopped.He laughed and pulled his legs closer to his chest, rested his head there.
"I am Youko Kurama." he said to the sky as though it had asked. "I am..."
He stopped and picked the biology book up again. He flipped ahead.
He knew enough about the human machine.
He knew far too much.
He let his head fall forward, hair covering his eyes. He could still feel the sun, the breeze. He could cover his eyes, but when he opened them he would still be where he started, wouldn't he?
With a smile he shook his head and stood.
Walking to the guard rails, he leaned against them, resting on his elbows and gazed across the city.
What if he were to up and leave now? Forget his mother he knew he could never forget and the life of perfect student, perfect son?
If he could do that, then he would be Hiei.
"Hiei..." he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to feel for the fire-demon's youki. For a moment he thought there was a glimmer not very far off, but when he opened his eyes it was gone.
Was the little demon standing atop some near-by tree, watching him with the same too wide eyes he had seen yesterday when his little prank got out of his control?
It was funny, wasn't it?
They both tried so hard to stay in control, but were they really?
One little taste of youko blood and Hiei was lusting after it. One little reality call and Kurama was questioning everything.
A tilting balance.
A kiss.
Kurama looked across the city and the Autumn wind blew through his hair.
....to be continued...