(I don't hate you)

The chilly night winds brushed up against Sakura's delicate skin as if they were waking her up. With a twitch she half opened her eyes and looked around to find that the sun was gone, replaced by the dark. What she had decided on as a short nap didn't exactly turn out to be one, so she decided to wander around some more.

Standing up, she was surprised at how easy it was to stand and walk, for before she had fallen asleep her tattered and worn out feet had been like going through a field of prickly thorns. Now, the pain was slighter than before and she wondered why.

Looking down, she saw in semi-darkness that her feet had been bound and wrapped tightly in white linens with ointment seeping through its texture. She then understood and smiled.

She walked into the small room that was next to Hiten's, the one that she had been locked in before. It didn't reek as much as before, but it was still dingy...and the room still slightly smelled like crap.

Not caring too much about that, Sakura curled herself into a ball on the tattered straw mattress and tried to go to sleep; for one of the thunder brothers would wake her up the following morning, and to be yelled at the first thing in the morning was the last thing she wanted.

She hated it when Hiten yelled at her, for his powerful voice would make her cringe. But what she hated even more was that when he spoke to her quietly with no emotion. It made her unaware of what he would do next.

If he was yelling at her, then she would know what would be coming, which was anger; but when he spoke to her in a calm voice that reeked of irritation, it made her skin crawl; for that was what she was afraid of. She never knew what he would do to her when he used that tone of voice towards her.

As she yawned out and forced herself to go to sleep, she heard shuffles down the corridor which led past the room she was in. The footsteps stopped suddenly, then they turned into the thundering steps that Hiten usually took; ones that rang across the hallways. It stopped at the door of the room and as she heard him slide it open, Sakura quickly closed her eyes and bit her inner lip so that she wouldn't twitch.

"I know you aren't asleep." His low yet tired voice spoke. "What the hell are you doing in here? I thought you left."

"It was cold out in the balcony." She whispered after pondering whether to answer to the demon's calls or not. "I wanted to stay inside."

"You could have told me, idiot girl." He replied harshly. "You have a mouth; you might as well tell me what you need." After a short pause, Sakura saw his lips turn themselves into a smirk and he spoke again.

"Why don't you come sleep in my room?"

"No." she simply said.

"Good night." Hiten said tiredly as he turned his back to her view, taking almost half the blankets along with him. Sakura sat up suddenly, surprising the thunder demon from his semi-sleep.

"Why won't you just kill me?" she said. "I'd rather be killed than having to worry whether I'll have all four of my limbs on me when I wake up the day to follow."

Hiten said nothing; and his back was still turned to her. He then sluggishly told her to shut up and go to sleep.

"Hiten...?" she whispered again, tugging on the sash of his nightclothes.

"What...the hell...do you want now...?" Hiten said in chopped words, his voice literally drowsing in sleepiness and tiredness. Sakura didn't really notice this, however. But not wanting to bother him any further, she moved away from him; which caught his attention.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hiten said, turning his back to the wall and facing her.

"If you think I would have annoyed you, then why'd you call me here?" she questioned. "I don't understand you at all, Hiten. Do you hate me?"

"Why should I hate you?"

"Because I'm always pissing you off, I don't listen to you, and...some other things." She replied, her voice shrinking with every word. "Never mind."

"I don't hate you." He said. "I just think you're annoying."

"How many girls have you slept with?" was Sakura's other abrupt question in which her voice didn't shrink in intimidation. "Is that other pretty demon girl your girlfriend?"

Hiten paused for awhile then replied, "Why do you care if I'm a virgin or not? Yes, I've slept with a lot of girls, no, I'm not a virgin, and no, that girl's not my girlfriend, she's a prostitute."

"Okay."

"Now shut the hole in your face, please, and go to sleep." He said, turning his back to her view again.

"It's raining." Manten bellowed at the wooden table while Sakura made breakfast in the kitchen. Hiten was apparently looking quite pleased with the weather while Sakura had a grim expression on.

She hated thunder and lightening. Not only was it her childhood fear, but it was why her life was ruined. Well, now that she thought about it, it wasn't really ruined...but she still couldn't get the picture out of her mind that only three weeks ago she was happy in her village, a week ago Manten had captured her and now she was here in the thunder brothers' lair.

Manten showed appreciation for her, but Hiten still refused to. He rarely spoke to her unless she did so first, and that wasn't often either. When he did speak to her, it was mostly complaining, threatening, anything but kind words.

A week she was here, and only Manten referred to her by her name; Hiten, on the other hand, seemed to have the fixed idea that her name was 'bitch.'

"Here you go." Sakura set the plates of human flesh down on the table, trying not to hurl at the meal that she had prepared for them. She didn't feel like eating anymore, so instead she decided to go out for a walk by the rocky cliffs.

"I'm going for a walk." Sakura said simply, setting out on bare feet with her sword into the rain. Not like Hiten would care, she thought as she slammed the wooded doors that sealed the thunder brothers' privacy and her liberty.

"An-chan..." Manten bellowed after a few minutes. "I have a question..."

Hiten looked up at him and nodded; Manten took his signal as a chance to speak.

"Well, an-chan..." Manten said in almost a whisper while twiddling his fingers, "I was thinking if you could treat that Sakura girl a bit nicer, I don't think she hates you."

"Who said I hated her?" Hiten scowled as he turned away. "I don't care about that girl; I'm only playing around with her. She doesn't mean anything to me."

"But you were the one who told me to bandage her feet and..."

"I never did!" Hiten denied and banged his fist onto the table as it gave way and cracked under the pressure. "What am I, to get in a relationship with such a homely girl? I'll screw around with her first before you use her for your hair potion or whatever."

"But I don't think that she deserves it." Manten commented as he remembered the sincere talk that he had with Sakura the day before. It was sincere, and her tears were surly not a lie.

"I don't give a damn..." Hiten yelled back in fury, but he got cut off by a high pitched scream from Sakura.

"Sakura!" Manten yelled as he grabbed his shoulder armor and darted outside. "An-chan, are you coming?"

"Why not?" Hiten said almost too calmly. He wanted to dart outside before Manten could in the worries of what could have happened, but at the moment he refused to give himself away.

'Sakura," he thought. 'you stupid bitch, you'd better not be hurt...'

Yay! Hiten cares! (cough...) Well, I'm not too sure about a Manten&Sakura fic...I never thought about that, but maybe I'll make Manten a bit jealous...that'll increase the suspense! Hopefully...

Thank you guys for reviewing! I have no other stuff to write, so I'll lay it off here...