Nobara: Alright...I hate this computer it is a piece of crap...
Kurama: How many times does this make that's it's been erased?
Nobara: I lost count
Kurama: Anyways, Nobara has to go back and re-write all the chapters she had been working on
Nobara: I hate this computer...
Kurama: But now she's back so she has no excuses
Nobara: Yeah, yeah, so I guess I'll get this chapter up...
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The weeks had gone by and winter was only starting to slightly subside. Hiei hadn't had any run-ins with Melody since the day she out ran him. Curious woman Melody was, Yusuke had become obsessed with outdoing her and Kuwabara was just plain obsessed...until Yukina came onto the scene. Then he'd always return to his one and only ice maid. Though the fire demon hated winter he had made a promise to Kurama to see Rose's plane off. For the next few weeks the vixen would be at home with her own family for the holidays for once. Kurama hadn't been in a particular mood since he heard she was leaving for a few weeks. Botan, in her rampage of good holiday cheer, had tried everything to lighten his mood, nothing worked. Today he "shadowed" some teacher as part of some program. Hiei didn't know what that meant but he figured it had something to do with stalking and didn't ask questions. He'd returned to Genkai's temple to see Yukina for a little while just to make sure she was alright and having fun helping Botan's raging "holimones" decorate whatever had no decorations yet.
He had just stepped to the top of the mountain when a snowball came sailing towards his head. It was easy to dodge but none-the-less he didn't like being target practice. "Gomen-nasai Hiei-sama!" came Yukina's soothing voice. Hiei calmed down some, he wasn't going to maul his sister. "Hn..." he replied and looked around, someone else was here with them, and they had an incredible aura surrounding them. "Yukina! Where did you go?" the musical voice rang through the snow filled trees and in the fire demon's ears. The beautiful and melodic voice was followed by the dark haired Melody. He scowled as he saw her, she vexed him so horribly. "Oh, hello Hiei," she said with a smile as she joined Yukina. "Sorry about that Melody-sama, I thought it might be Kuwabara-kun," replied the ever polite ice maiden. Hiei scowled more at the mention of the oaf's name. As though on cue a fourth voice split the icy air. "YUKINA MY DOVE! WHERE ARE YOU?"
"There he is, he said he was going to visit," said Yukina. With a wave to Melody and Hiei the ice maiden disappearred after the voice. A few silent moments passed before Melody spoke. "Why don't you just tell her you're her brother?" she asked. Hiei's spine went rigid, how the hell did she know that? His eyes scanned over her and for a second time he tried to get into her mind. It was still locked, and well guarded. Again he felt the electric shocks shoot through his body as he, much like the snowball had, flied through the air to crash into a tree. "Oh my God! Hiei! Hiei, are you okay?" Melody rushed to where he'd crashed and kneel beside him, he wasn't moving. "Hiei!" she shook his shoulder only to get nothing. Tucking her hair behind her ears she pressed her ear to his chest to listen for his heart; still beating. He was just returning to conciousness when he felt her laying on his chest, how dare she take advantage of him when he was out cold. Though his heart was beating his breathing had stopped. Doing the only thing she knew what to do for him Melody opened his mouth gently and moved to help him breath again.
The fire demon opened his eyes and saw her moving to kiss him. He jumped slightly and pressed himself against the tree. She felt him move and stopped, he was okay. "I'm so sorry Hiei, I don't know what happened, are you okay?" she asked. He could hear the sincere concern in her voice. He said nothing and pushed her away gently so not to topple her. "I'm fine," he replied coarsely. Silence passed between them again before she spoke. "Do you ever do anything? Outside of being a detective and guarding your sister?" she asked. Hiei didn't respond so she tried again, "There's some type of winter festival going on in town. I know you're antisocial but maybe you want to go..."she said it pretty much without thinking. Melody knew he wasn't the "festival type" but it had seemed worth a shot.
He looked at her with an arched eyebrow as if you ask her if she was joking. Knowing she'd never find away Melody sighed and looked out over the snowcovered landscape. Then a thought occurred to her, "I'll make you a bet. I think I can outrun you again, if I win then you have to do what I ask you to," she said. Hiei winced, he couldn't turn down a bet easily, "And if I win?" he asked. "Then I'll tell you who I really am," she said with a serious glance. He stood up and walked to her, "Fine, same place?" he asked. Melody shook her head, "No, through the forest and back is all," she replied. Hiei nodded, "On your call," he said. Melody nodded, "Go." she said simply.
Hiei fell to his knees, trying his best to catch his breath. Melody stood a few feet to his leftbent over, her hands on her knees and sweating heavily. "Alright Hiei, to the fair it is," she said between pants. He growled to himself, he'd made the bet and now he had to hold up his end of the bargain. Now he had to go endure that senseless ningen festival; just wonderful. A hour later Hiei sat on the railing of the porch waiting for Melody to change clothing. Why can't I see in her mind? Hiei asked himself as he waited, never before had he been so locked out of a person, not even Kurama. "Sorry I took so long," the musical voice flew to his ears and bid him to look up. The fire demon arched his eyebrow, she wasn't so bad looking for a human. Dark blue jeans hugged her legs perfectly, belling out over black boots and she was buttoning up a black cordoroy jacket over a thick loose white sweater. "Ready to go?" she asked looking up at him with dark violet eyes. Hiei nodded his response and made no objection as she pulled him away by the arm almost playfully.
"This is a fair?" asked Hiei as he looked around at the large crowd surrounding a stage. "Yes, have you never been to one before?" Melody asked in response. The fire demon made no sound and shifted his gaze back on the path in front of him. The girl gave him a somewhat pitying glance, "You haven't...well, we're going to fix that right now," she said. She laced her fingers with his and began to drag him again, this time to one of the many amusements. Hiei's eyes were fixed on the hand holding his, wasn't this a sign of affection for humans? No one had ever shown signs of caring for him before, this was...nice. Cautiously Hiei tightened his hold on her hand some and gave a faint smile, he'd never held hands with anyone before either. After realizing what he was doing the fire demon scowl and turned her hand loose as though it were made of hot embers.
Melody felt his grip loosen and turned to see him standing there staring at her. "Are you a succumbus?" he asked in a dark tone. She arched an eyebrow, "No, I'm not a succumbus," she said. Hiei watched her through narrow eyes as he came closer to stand directly in front of her. Now that he was this close to her he realized how delicate she was. Standing no more than five-foot-three she was only an inch or two taller than he. Her frame was petite like Yukina's, nothing remotely similar to Rose. The vixen was an Amazon. She stared back at him just as stubbornly as he was at her. "Do you want to leave?" she finally asked. Hiei sighed, he had lost the bet, fair was fair. "No, let's just get this over with," he replied. "Stubborn-ass," she muttered as Hiei began to walk away. "Who's been teaching you that?" the fire demon asked protectively. Melody gave a mischievious smirk, "No one, I heard Yusuke call you that. He's right you know, you are a stubborn-ass," she replied. Hiei sighed inwardly, well, at least she was honest.
xXxXx
Nobara: I got it updated! Go Nobara! Go Nobara!
Hiei: You start breakdancing I'll be forced to kill you onna...
Nobara: What are you talking about? I'm friggn white! White girls can't dance!
Kurama: That sounded kind of racist...
Nobara: It wasn't meant to, it's just a fact. If you'd have seen me trying to do the macarena you'd agree.
Yusuke: You did the macarena?
Nobara: Tried is the key word...
Kuwabara: They got that on tape right? I have got to see this!
Nobara: Nothing exciting boys, Nobara's hips can't move
Kurama: I'm not getting involved in this conversation...
