Chap. 10-Winter's Coming
Natsuki woke with a start. She grabbed the necklace that was hanging around her neck. While examining it closely, she found a long crack that ran along the back. That must have been why it didn't work. She said to her self. At that moment, Shadowflame walked in looking ruffled and happy.
"Do you mind if I bunk with you tonight?" she said dreamily. Natsuki was taken aback.
"Um sure…I guess…uh" She looked Shadowflame up and down. Shadowflame quickly read her looks.
"It's just, I don't thinkHiei would like it if I stayed in hisroom." She said comically. Natsuki laughed. Shadowflame went to the other side of the bed and hopped in, snuggling under the covers.
"Night Kiki," she said and fell asleep. Natsuki clicked off the light but lay awake a while longer, thinking everything over. Finally she fell asleep, her mind buzzing with new questions and information. In the leather wrist band sitting on the bedside table, a small red light flicked on and off.
Hiei lay on his bed across the hall staring up at the ceiling. His Jagan was uncovered. He had been sensing something new, something that was interfering with the space around Natsuki. He just couldn't place his finger on it. He sat up and put the bandana back over his Jagan. Just then, Kurama walked in. He was back to his normal self so Hiei saw no difference, but he felt it. He smiled menacingly.
"So Yoko finally made his move. Tell me, how was the experience?" Hiei asked coolly. Kurama frowned.
"Nothing like that happened." He said, lying completely. Hiei just smiled and leaned up against the headboard. He closed his eyes. He had had a headache ever since he started sensing that interference. Kurama noticed him wince and spoke.
"I'll take the couch tonight. You need to go to sleep." Hiei said nothing; he just reached over and turned out the light.
Kurama made his way into the dark living room. He lay back on the couch. He knew what was wrong with Hiei. He noticed the weird sent around Natsuki and he could sense Hiei's feeling of regret and guilt.
A month passed without any new disturbances. Natsuki and Hiei only spoke to each other when it was necessary. Kurama and Shadowflame would go off somewhere every once in a while, leaving Hiei and Natsuki alone together. Natsuki could never figure out if this was planed or not. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko would come to visit periodically, sometimes bringing Yukina (to Hiei's dismay). And on the full moon, Natsuki merely grew ears and a tail, but the others guarded her the whole night through. November had flew past and it was now December. It had snowed off and on the first part of the month without hindering Natsuki, but today was different
Shadowflame woke up. Natsuki did too.
"Woo Hoo! It's snowing!!!" Shadowflame yelled. This made Natsuki's head throb. She did not feel good at all. Shadowflame hopped out of bed and began to get dressed in some warm cloths. She walked over to the door.
"Are you going to come or not Kiki?" She asked. Natsuki covered her head with a pillow. "Okay, I guess not." Shadowflame said, leaving the room. Out side Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were attempting to make a snowman. Keiko and Yukina were watching, laughing when the boys did something stupid. Shadowflame went over to them.
Soon she got a snowball fight started, girls against guys. Shadowflame was captain of the girl's team, and Kurama was captain of the guy's team.
"Now, the guys have no possible way of winning." Shadowflame said pacing back and forth in front of Keiko and Yukina. The had made a small fort. "Do you know why?" the two girls shook their heads. "Because we have Yukina-chan!!" Shadowflame ended. Yukina clapped her hands together and Keiko said "Right!"
Kurama walked back and forth in front of the guys in a similar fashion.
"Now, I know Shadowflame likes to fight dirty, from past experiences…" his mind wandered for a moment, "…but anyway, just be prepared for defeat." Yusuke stood up.
"No way are three girls going to beat us!" he yelled. At this moment, a snowball flew across the yard and hit him square in the back of the head. He toppled over out of surprise. So began the war.
Inside the house, it was quiet and dark. Natsuki got up. She had a throbbing headache. She walked to the bathroom to wash up. She splashed the warm water on her face. It felt very relieving. After drying she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was very pale, her eyes were dull. She almost looked aged. She stepped out of the bathroom and walked down the hall. Hiei's door was closed as well.
Natsuki peeked her head around the door. Hiei was still in bed also.
"What do you want?" he said, his voice muffled from his head being in the pillow. Natsuki walked closer.
"I just wanted to see if you were feeling as crappy as me." She said. Her voice was horse. Hiei pushed up off the bed and turned to face her. He was also very pale. Natsuki tried to walk towards him but her legs collapsed beneath her. She fell down. Hiei got up and walked over to her. He bent down and helped her to her feet.
"You're being stupid, you shouldn't have gotten out of bed." He said walking her over to his bed and making her sit down. He sat down beside her, not purposely, he actually collapsed beside her.
"You shouldn't be out of bed either." She said, scooting over allowing him to get into bed. He was extremely reluctant to lay down with Natsuki beside him, but he had no choice. He lay back and closed his eyes. Natsuki lay down beside him.
"What's going on, Hiei?" she asked, almost whispering. Hiei sighed.
"It's the first day of winter. Since we are fire demons, this is the point in time we are at our lowest power level" Natsuki understood now.
"So what do we do?" she asked whispering this time.
"Sleep, until it's over." He said. Natsuki's eyes were becoming extremely heavy. She rolled on to her side, putting her arm around Hiei's chest.
Hiei was too tired to react. He just took a deep breath, and drifted off to sleep.
Well there's chapter 10
Hiei: Natsuki's too clingy
Natsuki: You know you like it....
Hiei: humph.
Shadowflame: Shut up, both of you, your herting my ears.
Natsuki: hope you stick around to see what happens!
