I changed the Third Chapter a great Deal. The ideas are the same, as is
the events that occur. What I did was change Hiei. I have been trying to
as accurate as possible with Hiei. The previous version was pointed out to
me as too fluffy. I agree. For those of you who like a fluffy Hiei, I am
planning to re-post this story with the Fluff. Please Review.
Note: All Japanese words I use will be translated at the bottom of each chapter.
Note: single quotes(' ') are thinking, usually telepathy. Double quotes( " ") are speech
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the YYH universe. Just my character Lorin.
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Lorin jogged through the woods, her pack slung across her back. This was it. She was heading to meet the others and head for the Tournament. She gripped her fire pendent, missing Hiei already. They had been walking home last night. He had told her that if the other teams thought there was more than partnership between them, it would be seen as a weakness for both of them. So they agreed to act as just comrades in public.
Hiei had been withdrawn, more than usual. Lorin wondered if she had done something. He hadn't smiled all night and his eyes had never lost their hard look. Maybe she had just imagined that their relationship could be more than fighting partners. Maybe Hiei had had other reasons for entering the Drawing and taking her on those dates. Maybe he just wanted to test her skill, to see if she could be trained to be a fighter for their Team.
But he had kissed her. In those moments, Lorin was certain that he felt something for her. But other times, she wasn't so sure. Lorin had placed all her memories of Hiei and her feelings in the pendent. She couldn't allow her emotions to threaten their chances at the Tournament. She could feel them by touching the crystal. Lorin approached the clearing, pulling the hood of her cloak up so her face would be covered. She looked around for Hiei and Kurama. They were standing next to two others. That must be Yusuke and Kuwabara. She thought. She walked up to them.
"Hiei. Kurama." All four of them turned at her voice. Hiei grunted, but said nothing. Kurama gave her a smile and introduced Yusuke and Kuwabara. She nodded to them, then stood next to Hiei.
Here we go. She though to Hiei.
Yes. He answered. Ready? She nodded. They boarded the boat with the other teams heading for the Dark Tournament.
* * * *
Lorin watched as Hiei lightly leaped onto the ring. He was ready. She reached up to touch the veil she had put over her face. Bad enough she was human, but she was a girl too. She would fight as much as possible with her face covered. It would throw off the demons after she revealed herself. They would have a hard time reconciling a weak, human girl with the power of her attacks. It would give her another edge and she needed all she could get. The rest of her team, well at this point that was Kuwabara, didn't know she was a girl. Yusuke still slept.
The fight started and Hiei dodged all the attacks thrown at him. Zeru glowed red and launched another attack at Hiei. This time Hiei couldn't dodge and was engulfed by a ball of flame. Lorin started to run forward. If Hiei survived that, she would finish the match and kill Zeru. A hand grabbed her shoulder, hard. She looked over into the face of Kurama. He shook his head once. Lorin silently protested. Kurama shook his head again and tightened his grip on her shoulder. The pain stopped her reckless flight to Hiei's side. She and Kurama watched in silence for any sign of Hiei. Kurama knew how this was torturing her.
Hiei appeared from the fire and Lorin want limp in relief. Kurama shifted his grip to keep her standing. After a minute, Lorin was able to support herself, but Kurama kept a hand on her shoulder. She and Kurama both gasped as Hiei called upon his Jagan Eye and used Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack. Lorin stared, rooted to the spot as the attack unfolded. When it was all over, Lorin saw Hiei's right arm. It was burned black.
Again she started to run to him, her hand tingling to Heal him. Again Kurama tightened his grip on her. She watched Hiei said something to the announcer and shoved his hands into his pockets. Lorin winced. That had to hurt. Hiei jumped off the ring and over to Kurama and Lorin. He gave a small smile at the sight of Kurama digging his nails into Lorin to keep her from moving.
You weren't worried about me, where you? he thought to her, chuckling darkly. She glared at him.
Of course I was! she yelled back. She projected worry and fear. Not fear of him, fear for him. He watched as Lorin shook off Kurama's grip and carefully walked over to Yusuke. She leaned down as if to check on him. She slid down to sit on the grass and Hiei saw a shudder go through her body.
She grabbed for something under her shirt and Hiei guessed it was the pendent he had given her. He didn't understand why the pendent was important to her. Then she was still, staring at the ground. Hiei turned back to the ring, next to Kurama, to watch the next match.
* * * *
Lorin silently followed the rest of her team back to their suites. The first round was finished, but she hadn't needed to fight. She had all of her Spirit Energy and would try to heal Hiei and the others. Her heart cried out as she thought of him and the burns on his right arm. They made it back without incident. Kuwabara and Yusuke flopped on the couches in the front. Hiei silently stalked into his room.
Lorin felt a wave of helplessness as she watched him slam the door. She stuck out at the nearest object, which happened to be crystal vase, and blew it into a million pieces. Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped up, startled. Lorin felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Kurama standing there, compassion and understanding in his eyes.
I know you want to Heal Hiei he spoke into her mind. Heal us first, then it won't be out of place if anyone's watching, which I doubt. Then go find Hiei. His room should be safe for you two to talk. Behind her veil, Lorin felt a single tear fall down her face. Kurama always knew what to say. That's why he was her best friend. She nodded.
"Kurama," she said aloud, "I'm going to make my rounds and start with you. I know you have a cut on your cheek and across you stomach, anywhere else? And don't lie to me." She warned. Kurama gave her a smile.
"Of course not," he said. "Those are my only wounds other than some bruises." Lorin nodded and reached out a hand to his face. This worked easier if she could touch the injury. Blue energy gathered at her fingers and she gently moved them across the wound. It glowed blue for a moment, then healed as if there had never been a cut in the first place.
She moved her hand to his stomach and the glow started again. She saw him close his eyes and sigh in relief as the pain went away. She could sense that the only other injures he had were in fact bruises and a loss of Spirit Power. She finished and moved over to Kuwabara. She knew he had been beaten badly in his fight. She reached out her hand and touched his chest. He leapt back.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He protested, holding his hands in front of him. Lorin stared at him for a moment, which made him very nervous.
"I'm going to Heal you, Kuwabara. It won't hurt, I promise." She reassured him. She reached her hand to touch his chest again. She saw Kuwabara look over her shoulder and nod. He was tense, but let her touch him.
She could feel his injures. He had cracked most of his ribs and had torn several muscles. He was in a lot of pain, but had said nothing. Lorin fed her Spirit Energy into him and eased the pain. She felt him relax.
"Hey, that feels good." he said surprised. Lorin chuckled and finished her work. Kuwabara lounged on a couch, looking like he was about to take a nap. She moved to Yusuke. He glared at her defiantly.
"I'm fine." he said. "I don't need to be healed." Lorin shook her head. She grabbed Yusuke's shoulder and pushed him back onto the couch. He fell back as if she had hit him hard. He glared up at her, but didn't protest as she moved to touch him. He was worse than Kuwabara. It was a good thing he had a hard head. As she started to feed Yusuke her energy he jumped back.
"Hey, that tickles!!" Lorin chuckled again.
"Hold still." she commanded. She again fed him her energy. As the pain left him, he closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. She heard a small groan of relief as her Healing power swept over him.
"You're right, it does feel good." Yusuke said, drowsily. Lorin pushed him down into sleep. Soon, Yusuke was whole again and sleeping to rebuild his Spirit Energy. Lorin found a pillow and put it under his head and threw a blanket over him.
"Sleep well, Spirit Detective." she said. She turned to Kurama who was sitting in a chair, sipping a drink.
"I'm going to check on Hiei." she said, blandly. Kurama nodded, but said nothing. Lorin knock on Hiei's door, then walked in. He was standing in front of the window, hands in his pockets. Lorin smiled to see that he hadn't found another shirt yet.
"Hiei," she said quietly. He turned to face her. She walked over to him and touched his face, to reassure herself that he was still alive. He flinched at the touch, but didn't move away.
"Hiei, let me help you?" Lorin asked, forcing back tears. He was distant. Maybe she had been right. She probably meant nothing to him. He stared at her for a while, then carefully showed her his hand. Lorin winced.
"If Zeru wasn't dead already, I would kill him," she whispered, not realizing she spoke aloud. Hiei jerked his head up to stare at her again. Why had she said that? Lorin reached inside for every ounce of her Spirit Energy and fed it into his hand. She threw all of her Will into Healing him. The burns lessened a little and Lorin knew she had taken away the pain for a while, but it wouldn't heal. She looked up at Hiei.
"I can take away the pain," she said, tears in her voice. "But it won't heal. It's like something is absorbing my Energy before it can get to the wound." She was silent for a moment and Hiei could see her shoulders starting to shake.
"I'm sorry, Hiei." she said crying. She could hold back her tears no longer. Tears for the pain of his obvious rejection, Tears for the failure to Heal him, Tears for the hopelessness and loneliness she felt. Hiei didn't know what to do with the crying girl in front of him. She had always been confident and sure. Crying was for the weak, wasn't it?
He felt a surge of anger at whoever had caused her to cry! What, in the three worlds, was that? It's not like she meant anything to him. Or did she? No, she was just a fighting partner. Koenma had forced him into those 'dates'. At least the first one. Kurama had pressured him into the second and third. Hadn't he? Or had Hiei allowed himself to be pressured? This was pointless. He had to get her to stop crying. But how? She had responded to his touch before, on their 'dates'. He hesitantly touched her shoulder.
Her head jerked up, eyes red from the tears. She seemed to pull herself together. The tears stopped, though the stains of pervious tears was still on her face. She blinked and quickly wiped them away.
"Gomen, Hiei. You need to rest." she stood and left hurried out the door. She closed her eyes for a moment.
'What a weak fool he must think I am.' she thought. She shook her head and saw Kurama watching her worriedly. She gave him a brave smile. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort. He didn't know what had gone on in Hiei's room, but his Otomodati was hurting and he had to do whatever he could to help.
"Hiei doesn't mean to be cruel." he told her, as she pulled away from him. She looked so sad and lonely.
"Hiei is just Hiei. I know that." Lorin looked like she was going to say more, but stopped. She shook her head again. "Go, rest. I'll keep watch out here. You need some sleep." He smiled reassuringly and turned to his own room. Lorin grabbed a book from her room and a snack from the table and settled into a chair as her Teammates slept.
* * * * Lorin stood next to Kurama as they prepared to watch the next fight. It was the first time she would see the dreaded Toguro Brothers. She had hear all about them last night from her teammates, but had never actually seen them. Lorin shifted as her mind wandered. She was worried about Hiei. He had left early this morning, before anyone else was up.
Lorin decided that she would watch part of this match with Kurama, then go find Hiei. She had to know he was safe, even if he didn't want her around. Lorin was brought back to the present by the roar of the crowd. A lone figure walked out to meet the other team. It was Toguro the Younger. It was him that Yusuke and Kuwabara was terrified of. The match stared, with Toguro fighting all five of the opponents at the same time by himself.
The battle was over in a few minutes. It was clear that Toguro hadn't used all of his power. Lorin stood there stunned. She matched what she had just seen, with what she knew of Yusuke's power and winced.
"This is not good," she said to Kurama.
"No, it isn't," he replied. Lorin paused for a moment.
"Do you think that Yusuke would let someone else fight Toguro? I mean, you or Hiei or even me. I have to learn Kuwabara and Yusuke's skills, but Between my own techniques and the ones you have taught me, I have a good chance to some damage." Kurama sighed.
"I doubt Yusuke can be convinced to give up that fight. They have to prove one way or another who is stronger."
"I understand, I guess. I'm going to find Hiei, to make sure he's alright. I'll see you back in our rooms, Kurama." He nodded as she left, bent on her mission to find Hiei.
* * * *
Lorin stood with Yusuke and Kuwabara on the field. They had just agreed to a three on three match with the opposite team. It worried Lorin a lot that Kurama and Hiei were missing. Yusuke was right, they wouldn't have left them to fight on their own, if they could help it.
The fight began and Lorin sped into motion. She gathered her Spirit Energy into her hand and struck out at one of the enemy. She hit his arm, then bounced away. She heard the crowd boo and the announcer state that obviously the Masked Fighter's attack wasn't strong enough. Lorin grinned behind her veil. She knew it looked as if she missed, but she hadn't. She had done what she had intended to do, feed him some of her Spirit Energy. One of her attacks was to feed an enemy Spirit Energy until he blew up.
Lorin twisted to attack again, feeding more of her energy into another enemy. She dodged again and pushed Yusuke and Kuwabara out of them way of an oncoming attack. The fight went on and on. All Lorin required was time to complete her Attack and that Yusuke and Kuwabara kept themselves alive. One attack they weren't fast enough to dodge.
Lorin leapt and took the blow for them. She was thrown out of the ring and into the side wall. She was knocked out for a few moments. When she came to, she saw Yusuke and Kuwabara running for their lives. She leapt back into the ring and blocked the blow. Lorin realized that her veil had been shredded and her face was revealed. She moved back to attack, filling the enemies with Spirit Power.
Finally they were ready. One more small speck of Spirit Energy was all it would take to blow up all three of them. Lorin attempted to hit them, but since a lot of her energy was in them, she wasn't fast enough. Lorin changed tactics and stood between them and her teammates. She called on her remaining power.
"Jagan Curse Ties." she called and threw the energy at the three. A sharp pain throbbed in the middle of her forehead. She blinked and saw that the three were trapped in bands of blue and red energy. They struggled, but couldn't move. Lorin slowly walked closer.
"Well, this is unexpected," the announcer called. "The young woman has called upon the power of the Jagan, but she doesn't have a Jagan. Wait, I see a faint outline on her forehead. It looks like a phantom Jagan Eye." Lorin blinked at that. That was probably what the sharp pain on her forehead was.
She raised her hands and the three floated up in the air. Lorin gathered the required energy in her finger tips, ready to send the three into the afterlife, when something flew into the arena. Then a much larger something. When the dust cleared, Lorin saw a robot of some kind and Kurama and Hiei. Relief filled Lorin as she saw Hiei alive and well. Kurama was quick to explain that the men Lorin was holding were completely innocent.
"Then I can't kill them, can I?" Lorin asked, straining with the effort to continue to hold them in the air. Kurama shook his head. Lorin sighed.
"Ya know, I wish you two could have told me this earlier. If you had been 30 seconds later, they would already be dead. As it is, I want my Energy back." Lorin jerked her hands back as if pulling sharply on a rope. Three streams of blue energy poured from M-1, M-2, and M-3. They slumped to the ground as Lorin broke her Curse Ties. All the energy flowed into Lorin and she glowed for a moment. Then the power sank beneath her skin. She turned to Kurama and Hiei.
"I don't suppose you two have any bright ideas?" she asked. Hiei didn't respond and Kurama shook his head.
"Great," Lorin muttered and turned back to the fight. The three in the ring tried to come up with something to stop these guys. Kuwabara refused to run and the three hit him out of the ring. Lorin ran to his side. They had purposely missed his vital areas. He would live. Lorin turned back to the ring.
Then she had an idea. What if she blew up the things controlling them? Her Spirit Energy would flow into every part of the creature she was filling. She would keep a tight reign on the explosions and maybe she could just remove the controlling things. She leapt into the ring to start her attack. She was almost done, when Yusuke broke through the mental barrier that had kept him form his full potential.
He prepared to fire his Spirit Gun. Lorin fed them the last of the energy , then leapt and knocked Yusuke's blast aside. They both fell back.
"What are you doing???" Yusuke yelled. Lorin groaned from the impact. She ignored Yusuke and got to her feet.
"I'm going to try to save you." she said to the humans hidden deep within themselves. "If I fail, I'm sorry." Lorin threw the last of the Spirit Energy at the controlling things and followed them with her mind. She stretched herself into three minds and watched the explosions from the inside, trying to contain the damage.
Then she was thrown back into her own body with a rush of her Spirit Power. She fell back, stunned. She could see that the controlling things had fallen off and were in pieces. The humans were bleeding, but the looked as if they were waking up. Then Lorin was assaulted by a darkness, a malice. It was binding itself to her Spirit Energy and trying to work it's way into her mind. She fought, erecting walls. It hurt. She groaned.
Lorin was aware of another fight, this one against the evil doctor. All her teammates were fighting. She saw a shadow fall over her and managed to turn her head to see the announcer.
"Well, the Masked fighter is still alive, but in a lot of pain," she called. Lorin wanted to punch her in the face. Instead she screamed as the malice battled past her walls. She clawed at it, pushing it back. She felt a new pain in the center of her forehead and the malice started to fade. Lorin renewed her attack and soon the malice was gone completely. The pain on her forehead was still there.
"A phantom Jagan Eye has again appeared on the Masked Fighter's forehead. But why?" The announcer called. Lorin frowned. A phantom Jagan Eye?? It had sort of made sense for that to appear when she had called upon one of Hiei's Jagan attacks, but she hadn't called it. Why had it come? She knew that it had helped her fight back the malice in her head.
Lorin focused on the present and moved her head to see the fight. Lorin rolled on her stomach and got to her knees, slowly, too slowly. She had used too much of the Spirit Energy she had gotten back from her last attack, fighting for her own mind. She slowly made it to her feet. She carefully walked toward their side of the field, trying to show no signs of weakness.
Suddenly Kurama was next to her ready to support her if needed. He kept pace with her as she carefully made her way off the field. She sat down on the grass, trying to pull herself together. She looked up for Hiei. He was standing a little a part from the others. He looked over at her. Lorin saw a brief flash of concern and worry, then it was gone, replaced by Hiei's normal cold stare. He looked away. Had she imagined it? She didn't know. She took a sip of water that someone had handed to her and waited for the next round.
* * * * * *
Otomodati- best friend
Gomen- Sorry
Note: All Japanese words I use will be translated at the bottom of each chapter.
Note: single quotes(' ') are thinking, usually telepathy. Double quotes( " ") are speech
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the YYH universe. Just my character Lorin.
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Lorin jogged through the woods, her pack slung across her back. This was it. She was heading to meet the others and head for the Tournament. She gripped her fire pendent, missing Hiei already. They had been walking home last night. He had told her that if the other teams thought there was more than partnership between them, it would be seen as a weakness for both of them. So they agreed to act as just comrades in public.
Hiei had been withdrawn, more than usual. Lorin wondered if she had done something. He hadn't smiled all night and his eyes had never lost their hard look. Maybe she had just imagined that their relationship could be more than fighting partners. Maybe Hiei had had other reasons for entering the Drawing and taking her on those dates. Maybe he just wanted to test her skill, to see if she could be trained to be a fighter for their Team.
But he had kissed her. In those moments, Lorin was certain that he felt something for her. But other times, she wasn't so sure. Lorin had placed all her memories of Hiei and her feelings in the pendent. She couldn't allow her emotions to threaten their chances at the Tournament. She could feel them by touching the crystal. Lorin approached the clearing, pulling the hood of her cloak up so her face would be covered. She looked around for Hiei and Kurama. They were standing next to two others. That must be Yusuke and Kuwabara. She thought. She walked up to them.
"Hiei. Kurama." All four of them turned at her voice. Hiei grunted, but said nothing. Kurama gave her a smile and introduced Yusuke and Kuwabara. She nodded to them, then stood next to Hiei.
Here we go. She though to Hiei.
Yes. He answered. Ready? She nodded. They boarded the boat with the other teams heading for the Dark Tournament.
* * * *
Lorin watched as Hiei lightly leaped onto the ring. He was ready. She reached up to touch the veil she had put over her face. Bad enough she was human, but she was a girl too. She would fight as much as possible with her face covered. It would throw off the demons after she revealed herself. They would have a hard time reconciling a weak, human girl with the power of her attacks. It would give her another edge and she needed all she could get. The rest of her team, well at this point that was Kuwabara, didn't know she was a girl. Yusuke still slept.
The fight started and Hiei dodged all the attacks thrown at him. Zeru glowed red and launched another attack at Hiei. This time Hiei couldn't dodge and was engulfed by a ball of flame. Lorin started to run forward. If Hiei survived that, she would finish the match and kill Zeru. A hand grabbed her shoulder, hard. She looked over into the face of Kurama. He shook his head once. Lorin silently protested. Kurama shook his head again and tightened his grip on her shoulder. The pain stopped her reckless flight to Hiei's side. She and Kurama watched in silence for any sign of Hiei. Kurama knew how this was torturing her.
Hiei appeared from the fire and Lorin want limp in relief. Kurama shifted his grip to keep her standing. After a minute, Lorin was able to support herself, but Kurama kept a hand on her shoulder. She and Kurama both gasped as Hiei called upon his Jagan Eye and used Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack. Lorin stared, rooted to the spot as the attack unfolded. When it was all over, Lorin saw Hiei's right arm. It was burned black.
Again she started to run to him, her hand tingling to Heal him. Again Kurama tightened his grip on her. She watched Hiei said something to the announcer and shoved his hands into his pockets. Lorin winced. That had to hurt. Hiei jumped off the ring and over to Kurama and Lorin. He gave a small smile at the sight of Kurama digging his nails into Lorin to keep her from moving.
You weren't worried about me, where you? he thought to her, chuckling darkly. She glared at him.
Of course I was! she yelled back. She projected worry and fear. Not fear of him, fear for him. He watched as Lorin shook off Kurama's grip and carefully walked over to Yusuke. She leaned down as if to check on him. She slid down to sit on the grass and Hiei saw a shudder go through her body.
She grabbed for something under her shirt and Hiei guessed it was the pendent he had given her. He didn't understand why the pendent was important to her. Then she was still, staring at the ground. Hiei turned back to the ring, next to Kurama, to watch the next match.
* * * *
Lorin silently followed the rest of her team back to their suites. The first round was finished, but she hadn't needed to fight. She had all of her Spirit Energy and would try to heal Hiei and the others. Her heart cried out as she thought of him and the burns on his right arm. They made it back without incident. Kuwabara and Yusuke flopped on the couches in the front. Hiei silently stalked into his room.
Lorin felt a wave of helplessness as she watched him slam the door. She stuck out at the nearest object, which happened to be crystal vase, and blew it into a million pieces. Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped up, startled. Lorin felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Kurama standing there, compassion and understanding in his eyes.
I know you want to Heal Hiei he spoke into her mind. Heal us first, then it won't be out of place if anyone's watching, which I doubt. Then go find Hiei. His room should be safe for you two to talk. Behind her veil, Lorin felt a single tear fall down her face. Kurama always knew what to say. That's why he was her best friend. She nodded.
"Kurama," she said aloud, "I'm going to make my rounds and start with you. I know you have a cut on your cheek and across you stomach, anywhere else? And don't lie to me." She warned. Kurama gave her a smile.
"Of course not," he said. "Those are my only wounds other than some bruises." Lorin nodded and reached out a hand to his face. This worked easier if she could touch the injury. Blue energy gathered at her fingers and she gently moved them across the wound. It glowed blue for a moment, then healed as if there had never been a cut in the first place.
She moved her hand to his stomach and the glow started again. She saw him close his eyes and sigh in relief as the pain went away. She could sense that the only other injures he had were in fact bruises and a loss of Spirit Power. She finished and moved over to Kuwabara. She knew he had been beaten badly in his fight. She reached out her hand and touched his chest. He leapt back.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He protested, holding his hands in front of him. Lorin stared at him for a moment, which made him very nervous.
"I'm going to Heal you, Kuwabara. It won't hurt, I promise." She reassured him. She reached her hand to touch his chest again. She saw Kuwabara look over her shoulder and nod. He was tense, but let her touch him.
She could feel his injures. He had cracked most of his ribs and had torn several muscles. He was in a lot of pain, but had said nothing. Lorin fed her Spirit Energy into him and eased the pain. She felt him relax.
"Hey, that feels good." he said surprised. Lorin chuckled and finished her work. Kuwabara lounged on a couch, looking like he was about to take a nap. She moved to Yusuke. He glared at her defiantly.
"I'm fine." he said. "I don't need to be healed." Lorin shook her head. She grabbed Yusuke's shoulder and pushed him back onto the couch. He fell back as if she had hit him hard. He glared up at her, but didn't protest as she moved to touch him. He was worse than Kuwabara. It was a good thing he had a hard head. As she started to feed Yusuke her energy he jumped back.
"Hey, that tickles!!" Lorin chuckled again.
"Hold still." she commanded. She again fed him her energy. As the pain left him, he closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. She heard a small groan of relief as her Healing power swept over him.
"You're right, it does feel good." Yusuke said, drowsily. Lorin pushed him down into sleep. Soon, Yusuke was whole again and sleeping to rebuild his Spirit Energy. Lorin found a pillow and put it under his head and threw a blanket over him.
"Sleep well, Spirit Detective." she said. She turned to Kurama who was sitting in a chair, sipping a drink.
"I'm going to check on Hiei." she said, blandly. Kurama nodded, but said nothing. Lorin knock on Hiei's door, then walked in. He was standing in front of the window, hands in his pockets. Lorin smiled to see that he hadn't found another shirt yet.
"Hiei," she said quietly. He turned to face her. She walked over to him and touched his face, to reassure herself that he was still alive. He flinched at the touch, but didn't move away.
"Hiei, let me help you?" Lorin asked, forcing back tears. He was distant. Maybe she had been right. She probably meant nothing to him. He stared at her for a while, then carefully showed her his hand. Lorin winced.
"If Zeru wasn't dead already, I would kill him," she whispered, not realizing she spoke aloud. Hiei jerked his head up to stare at her again. Why had she said that? Lorin reached inside for every ounce of her Spirit Energy and fed it into his hand. She threw all of her Will into Healing him. The burns lessened a little and Lorin knew she had taken away the pain for a while, but it wouldn't heal. She looked up at Hiei.
"I can take away the pain," she said, tears in her voice. "But it won't heal. It's like something is absorbing my Energy before it can get to the wound." She was silent for a moment and Hiei could see her shoulders starting to shake.
"I'm sorry, Hiei." she said crying. She could hold back her tears no longer. Tears for the pain of his obvious rejection, Tears for the failure to Heal him, Tears for the hopelessness and loneliness she felt. Hiei didn't know what to do with the crying girl in front of him. She had always been confident and sure. Crying was for the weak, wasn't it?
He felt a surge of anger at whoever had caused her to cry! What, in the three worlds, was that? It's not like she meant anything to him. Or did she? No, she was just a fighting partner. Koenma had forced him into those 'dates'. At least the first one. Kurama had pressured him into the second and third. Hadn't he? Or had Hiei allowed himself to be pressured? This was pointless. He had to get her to stop crying. But how? She had responded to his touch before, on their 'dates'. He hesitantly touched her shoulder.
Her head jerked up, eyes red from the tears. She seemed to pull herself together. The tears stopped, though the stains of pervious tears was still on her face. She blinked and quickly wiped them away.
"Gomen, Hiei. You need to rest." she stood and left hurried out the door. She closed her eyes for a moment.
'What a weak fool he must think I am.' she thought. She shook her head and saw Kurama watching her worriedly. She gave him a brave smile. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort. He didn't know what had gone on in Hiei's room, but his Otomodati was hurting and he had to do whatever he could to help.
"Hiei doesn't mean to be cruel." he told her, as she pulled away from him. She looked so sad and lonely.
"Hiei is just Hiei. I know that." Lorin looked like she was going to say more, but stopped. She shook her head again. "Go, rest. I'll keep watch out here. You need some sleep." He smiled reassuringly and turned to his own room. Lorin grabbed a book from her room and a snack from the table and settled into a chair as her Teammates slept.
* * * * Lorin stood next to Kurama as they prepared to watch the next fight. It was the first time she would see the dreaded Toguro Brothers. She had hear all about them last night from her teammates, but had never actually seen them. Lorin shifted as her mind wandered. She was worried about Hiei. He had left early this morning, before anyone else was up.
Lorin decided that she would watch part of this match with Kurama, then go find Hiei. She had to know he was safe, even if he didn't want her around. Lorin was brought back to the present by the roar of the crowd. A lone figure walked out to meet the other team. It was Toguro the Younger. It was him that Yusuke and Kuwabara was terrified of. The match stared, with Toguro fighting all five of the opponents at the same time by himself.
The battle was over in a few minutes. It was clear that Toguro hadn't used all of his power. Lorin stood there stunned. She matched what she had just seen, with what she knew of Yusuke's power and winced.
"This is not good," she said to Kurama.
"No, it isn't," he replied. Lorin paused for a moment.
"Do you think that Yusuke would let someone else fight Toguro? I mean, you or Hiei or even me. I have to learn Kuwabara and Yusuke's skills, but Between my own techniques and the ones you have taught me, I have a good chance to some damage." Kurama sighed.
"I doubt Yusuke can be convinced to give up that fight. They have to prove one way or another who is stronger."
"I understand, I guess. I'm going to find Hiei, to make sure he's alright. I'll see you back in our rooms, Kurama." He nodded as she left, bent on her mission to find Hiei.
* * * *
Lorin stood with Yusuke and Kuwabara on the field. They had just agreed to a three on three match with the opposite team. It worried Lorin a lot that Kurama and Hiei were missing. Yusuke was right, they wouldn't have left them to fight on their own, if they could help it.
The fight began and Lorin sped into motion. She gathered her Spirit Energy into her hand and struck out at one of the enemy. She hit his arm, then bounced away. She heard the crowd boo and the announcer state that obviously the Masked Fighter's attack wasn't strong enough. Lorin grinned behind her veil. She knew it looked as if she missed, but she hadn't. She had done what she had intended to do, feed him some of her Spirit Energy. One of her attacks was to feed an enemy Spirit Energy until he blew up.
Lorin twisted to attack again, feeding more of her energy into another enemy. She dodged again and pushed Yusuke and Kuwabara out of them way of an oncoming attack. The fight went on and on. All Lorin required was time to complete her Attack and that Yusuke and Kuwabara kept themselves alive. One attack they weren't fast enough to dodge.
Lorin leapt and took the blow for them. She was thrown out of the ring and into the side wall. She was knocked out for a few moments. When she came to, she saw Yusuke and Kuwabara running for their lives. She leapt back into the ring and blocked the blow. Lorin realized that her veil had been shredded and her face was revealed. She moved back to attack, filling the enemies with Spirit Power.
Finally they were ready. One more small speck of Spirit Energy was all it would take to blow up all three of them. Lorin attempted to hit them, but since a lot of her energy was in them, she wasn't fast enough. Lorin changed tactics and stood between them and her teammates. She called on her remaining power.
"Jagan Curse Ties." she called and threw the energy at the three. A sharp pain throbbed in the middle of her forehead. She blinked and saw that the three were trapped in bands of blue and red energy. They struggled, but couldn't move. Lorin slowly walked closer.
"Well, this is unexpected," the announcer called. "The young woman has called upon the power of the Jagan, but she doesn't have a Jagan. Wait, I see a faint outline on her forehead. It looks like a phantom Jagan Eye." Lorin blinked at that. That was probably what the sharp pain on her forehead was.
She raised her hands and the three floated up in the air. Lorin gathered the required energy in her finger tips, ready to send the three into the afterlife, when something flew into the arena. Then a much larger something. When the dust cleared, Lorin saw a robot of some kind and Kurama and Hiei. Relief filled Lorin as she saw Hiei alive and well. Kurama was quick to explain that the men Lorin was holding were completely innocent.
"Then I can't kill them, can I?" Lorin asked, straining with the effort to continue to hold them in the air. Kurama shook his head. Lorin sighed.
"Ya know, I wish you two could have told me this earlier. If you had been 30 seconds later, they would already be dead. As it is, I want my Energy back." Lorin jerked her hands back as if pulling sharply on a rope. Three streams of blue energy poured from M-1, M-2, and M-3. They slumped to the ground as Lorin broke her Curse Ties. All the energy flowed into Lorin and she glowed for a moment. Then the power sank beneath her skin. She turned to Kurama and Hiei.
"I don't suppose you two have any bright ideas?" she asked. Hiei didn't respond and Kurama shook his head.
"Great," Lorin muttered and turned back to the fight. The three in the ring tried to come up with something to stop these guys. Kuwabara refused to run and the three hit him out of the ring. Lorin ran to his side. They had purposely missed his vital areas. He would live. Lorin turned back to the ring.
Then she had an idea. What if she blew up the things controlling them? Her Spirit Energy would flow into every part of the creature she was filling. She would keep a tight reign on the explosions and maybe she could just remove the controlling things. She leapt into the ring to start her attack. She was almost done, when Yusuke broke through the mental barrier that had kept him form his full potential.
He prepared to fire his Spirit Gun. Lorin fed them the last of the energy , then leapt and knocked Yusuke's blast aside. They both fell back.
"What are you doing???" Yusuke yelled. Lorin groaned from the impact. She ignored Yusuke and got to her feet.
"I'm going to try to save you." she said to the humans hidden deep within themselves. "If I fail, I'm sorry." Lorin threw the last of the Spirit Energy at the controlling things and followed them with her mind. She stretched herself into three minds and watched the explosions from the inside, trying to contain the damage.
Then she was thrown back into her own body with a rush of her Spirit Power. She fell back, stunned. She could see that the controlling things had fallen off and were in pieces. The humans were bleeding, but the looked as if they were waking up. Then Lorin was assaulted by a darkness, a malice. It was binding itself to her Spirit Energy and trying to work it's way into her mind. She fought, erecting walls. It hurt. She groaned.
Lorin was aware of another fight, this one against the evil doctor. All her teammates were fighting. She saw a shadow fall over her and managed to turn her head to see the announcer.
"Well, the Masked fighter is still alive, but in a lot of pain," she called. Lorin wanted to punch her in the face. Instead she screamed as the malice battled past her walls. She clawed at it, pushing it back. She felt a new pain in the center of her forehead and the malice started to fade. Lorin renewed her attack and soon the malice was gone completely. The pain on her forehead was still there.
"A phantom Jagan Eye has again appeared on the Masked Fighter's forehead. But why?" The announcer called. Lorin frowned. A phantom Jagan Eye?? It had sort of made sense for that to appear when she had called upon one of Hiei's Jagan attacks, but she hadn't called it. Why had it come? She knew that it had helped her fight back the malice in her head.
Lorin focused on the present and moved her head to see the fight. Lorin rolled on her stomach and got to her knees, slowly, too slowly. She had used too much of the Spirit Energy she had gotten back from her last attack, fighting for her own mind. She slowly made it to her feet. She carefully walked toward their side of the field, trying to show no signs of weakness.
Suddenly Kurama was next to her ready to support her if needed. He kept pace with her as she carefully made her way off the field. She sat down on the grass, trying to pull herself together. She looked up for Hiei. He was standing a little a part from the others. He looked over at her. Lorin saw a brief flash of concern and worry, then it was gone, replaced by Hiei's normal cold stare. He looked away. Had she imagined it? She didn't know. She took a sip of water that someone had handed to her and waited for the next round.
* * * * * *
Otomodati- best friend
Gomen- Sorry