Chapter Four: On the Edge
The two former demons walked down the sidewalk toward school silently. Kurama had become his distant self while Hiei was inwardly kicking himself for dropping his guard yesterday and refused to drop his cold exterior today. A familiar blue-haired male and Keiko were walking along ahead of them. Touya glanced over his shoulder by chance and smiled warmly at Hiei.
"Yo Hiei!" He waved and waited for Hiei.
Hiei stopped short of his friend and gave him a blank stare. Keiko realized Touya was not at her side and turned around to walk back to Kurama.
Touya put an arm on Hiei's shoulder and whispered to him while Kurama was distracted by Keiko. "Jin told me what happened yesterday between you and girly boy over there."
"So now he's gone and told you?" Hiei asked scathingly. "You may need to hold me back from killing him."
Knowing that this was a touchy subject for Hiei, Touya smiled and winked. "So how was it? Jin noticed you seemed pretty fussy afterwards."
"Shut up, it's none of your business." Hiei growled and continued walking.
Touya didn't want to push his luck or be put onto Hiei's hit list either, so he just strode next to his friend quietly.
Kurama and Keiko also started walking again. "So how is Hiei?" Keiko asked curiously. "Touya's been very nice to me. If it weren't for Yusuke I might dump him for Touya."
Kurama knew better than to take Keiko seriously. She always talked about dumping Yusuke because he could be a jerk but she would never actually do it. But in response to her question, Kurama shrugged.
"Some answer." Keiko teased.
Kurama shrugged again.
"Is something wrong?" Keiko looked into Kurama's green eyes with concern.
"No…" Kurama sighed.
The intelligent brown-haired sophomore was about to pursue the matter when an enraged outburst occurred ahead from Hiei.
"YUKINA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM?!" Hiei shouted and pointed at Kuwabara who was walking with Hiei's twin sister, hand in hand.
"Hiei…" Yukina sighed. "He was escorting me to school because my partner ditched me."
When Kurama caught up with the others, he asked suspiciously, "Who is your partner?"
"Karasu." Yukina responded.
"That would explain it. He has no interest in girls, only guys…" Kurama shuddered, only catching the attention of Hiei and Keiko.
"He'll pay for just abandoning my sister and leaving her with this loser." Hiei scoffed at Kuwabara.
"Can it, shrimp!" Kuwabara shook his fist at the smaller boy. "If it weren't for yer two friends yesterday I woulda smashed your face in."
Hiei had had enough. Quicker than Kuwabara could follow, Hiei stepped in front of Kuwabara and flicked his lighter on under the oaf's chin. "Piss me off too much this morning and you won't live to regret it…"
Kuwabara had a delayed reaction before letting out a yowl of pain. He jumped and backed away from Hiei. Yukina shook her head and sighed, "Hiei…"
The High school first bell rang in the distance and everyone ran to the school. Kurama raced down the hall praying he didn't run into the hall monitor. Keiko was in Family Consumer Science when Kurama ran past the door, catching a little bit of the conversation.
"Yukimura, I'm disappointed in you. I would expect this sort of behavior from Urameshi but not from you. I suggest you stop hanging around that trouble maker." The teacher was lecturing Keiko.
As far as Kurama's knowledge went, Kuwabara had been sent to detention, Touya had barely made it there on time, and Hiei had no problem getting to class before he got in trouble. "How can he be so fast?" Kurama panted and skidded to a halt in front of Social Studies.
"Minamino! I thought I told you not to be late anymore!" Mr. Hall demanded.
"You did, sir. I absolutely promise it won't happen again." Kurama caught his breath and sat in the last empty seat which was far from Karasu luckily. Speaking of the freak, he was giving Kurama a very amused look.
"Now that Mr. Minamino has arrived, may we continue?" Mr. Hall rolled his eyes and Kurama nodded.
Kurama was taking notes and glanced out the window. It was as nice a day as it had been yesterday; very sunny and mild temperatures. He inwardly scolded himself for being late two days in a row. Kurama wouldn't let himself be late for second hour though. Speaking of which, he didn't know what his second hour was! Second period had been interrupted yesterday by the announcement in the auditorium. Going through his folders, he found his schedule. Second hour was gym with all four grades mixed together. Of course he hoped Karasu didn't have the same class… that would be miserable. He already shared two classes with the stalker.
"Now in the 11th year of Meiji in Japan…" Mr. Hall droned on while the red-head zoned in and out. It was nice having Mr. Hall for Social Studies because you could daydream and even fall asleep without getting caught as long as you kept your grades up. (A/N: For 8th grade SS I had Mr. Hall and I often fell asleep without getting caught . )
The second bell rang and Kurama was one of the first ones out of class so he wouldn't be late for second period.
"What's your hurry, Shuuichi?" Karasu trailed after Kurama.
"Stalk someone else." Kurama spat bitterly.
"Aw, you hurt me with such harsh words, Shuuichi." Karasu wrapped his arm around Kurama's shoulders again.
Irritated, Kurama stopped suddenly. "Release me!" He ordered.
"What's the fun in that?" Karasu smirked but Kurama just bolted running again.
"Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him…" Kurama muttered under his breath. He reached the gym when Karasu caught up with him again and this time grabbed Kurama's arm and was walking alongside him. Furious, Kurama wrenched his hand from the stalker's grip and turned to see the entire gym class staring at him. And what was worse was that there were several familiar faces in the class. Yusuke was there and so were Hiei and Touya. Hiei had a strange look on his face, half shocked and half angry.
The muscular gym teacher rounded on Kurama and Karasu. "Change into your gym clothes and get in line." He said in a commanding monotone.
Just what Kurama needed… to have to change in a locker room along with Karasu. Clenching his fists, the red-head proceeded to the locker room and locked himself in a bathroom stall to change. The stupid gym clothes that the school provided was a real pain. Kurama wondered if the shorts were meant to be that short or if they got his size mixed up with someone like Hiei. But his gym uniform was a plain white T-shirt and short blue shorts that someone on the track team would wear. Sighing, Kurama unlocked the stall to find Karasu no where in sight. He often wondered why the stalker would just vanish.
"Mr. Toguro says you need to hurry up." Sneered a cold voice.
Kurama stiffened until he realized it was just Hiei leaning against the small gym lockers. He was giving Kurama a cold glare for who knows why. "Uh…" Kurama started walking out the locker room back to class.
"You should come to my house this evening so we can get this over with once and for all and never have to see each other again." Hiei folded his arms and followed Kurama.
"Fine…" Kurama watched the freshman walk right past him and out the door. What could be up with him? Kurama wondered…
. TO BE CONTINUED .
Well… the chapter wasn't supposed to end here but hey, I think the next big event should be all one chapter. By the way, can someone tell me what Hiei's mom's name is?