Prisoner of War
Part Nine: Repayment
The crowd had dispersed; only Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Calai remained with the wounded yokai.
"Well," Yusuke said, glaring at Hiei. "Why are you here?"
Hiei returned Yusuke's unfriendly gaze but didn't answer.
"The better question," Kurama said, "is why are you here alone?"
Still Hiei did not respond.
Calai gave a frustrated sigh. "For God's sake, are you three just going to let him bleed all over the floor? Go get some bandages, antiseptics, something!"
For a moment, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at her for a moment in shock.
"Calai," Kurama began cautiously, "I don't think you realize—"
"I realize that he needs help," the girl snapped. "That's all I need to know. Now go get the bandages."
The three men looked at each other then back at Calai.
"What the hell are you waiting for?" she shouted. "Go!"
As Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara left, Calai turned her attention to Hiei. "How did you do this to yourself, huh?" she asked, kneeling beside him.
"That's none of your business," he said.
Calai rolled her eyes. "Here I am trying to help you and you're still being a pain in the ass. If I don't know what's wrong, I can't help fix it."
Kurama returned with a handful of bandages and a bottle of peroxide. He handed them to Calai, frowning.
"I know you don't trust me," she as she opened the peroxide. "You're welcome to stay in here and keep an eye on me if you want."
Not bothering to answer, Kurama took a seat on the couch at the other end of the room.
Hiei glared at the human girl. "I don't need your help."
"Yeah, sure," Calai scoffed. "Forgive me, but the large bloody gash on your stomach would say otherwise." She reached for the wound with a piece of peroxide soaked gauze.
The yokai's firm grip wrapped around her wrist and pulled her hand away from him.
"I said I don't need your help."
"And I said I don't care whether you think you need it or not." Calai pulled her hand free and placed the gauze on Hiei's wound.
"So," she said, cleaning the wound. "What happened?"
"I don't have to tell you."
"Fine, then. Don't."
Yusuke peeked in the room. "Hey, Kurama, we need to talk to you for a minute."
With a glance to Hiei and Calai, Kurama rose from the couch and ambled to the hallway, where Kuwabara and Yusuke waited for him.
"We have a real issue here, Kurama," Yusuke said without a moment's preamble. "Even if Hiei hasn't led anyone here—which I still think he did—it'll only be a matter of time before Mukuro finds him. And us. What should we do?"
Kurama looked back into the main room where Calai continued to clean and dress Hiei's wounds. "I'm really not sure. That's a decision that has to be made carefully. It'll take time."
"What if we don't have time?" Kuwabara asked.
"There," Calai said happily as she taped the last bandage down. "Better?"
Hiei looked away from her. "Hn."
The girl rolled her eyes. "I'll just take that as a yes." She began clearing up the bandage wrappers and the bits of unused gauze, not noticing that Hiei was watching her.
"Why?" he said.
Calai stopped gathering the trash and looked at him. "Why what?"
The yokai stared at her, eyes narrowed in a puzzled fashion.
"What?" she asked the slightest bit unnerved by his stare. "What?"
"Why are you helping me?"
She tilted her head to one side, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I dunno," she said after a moment. "Maybe I'm just too nice."
"You shouldn't help me."
Calai smiled. "I know that."
"Then why are you?"
"I want to."
"That doesn't answer the question."
Calai began picking up the trash again, thinking about how to answer him.
"I guess I'm helping you," she said, "because… because I feel like I owe you for not killing me in the cell."
"That's not a good reason."
Calai shrugged. "I know." She smiled cockily. "But it's not like it's too late for me to change my mind."
Wrappers and gauze bits in hand, Calai left the room, smiling.
End Part Nine
