Chapter six Change

There will always be room for change.

"Kurama, how are you feeling?" The cold, unemotional voice that was Hiei's hurt him more than usual. There was blood on Hiei's hands, where it had stuck on the edges of the nail bed. It was not his own.

"Hiei, I'm fine, but you…what's happening to you?" Kurama's soft, agonized voice pleaded with him not to follow that path.

"I'm waking up."

A knife twisted in Kurama's heart, the harsh words of his best friend echoing in his mind. "What do you mean?" he asked, his hoarse voice sounding like a half-sob. "What are you doing?"

"The only key to life is in death, and I'll find no peace in the former." Blood so red, so sweet, so warm. Warm as the beating heart that stills.

"Don't say that, Hiei. You're scaring me." He closed his eyes while he spoke in quiet, painful tones. "Please, don't say that. I heard…last night…" His voice trailed off. He was tired, and in more ways than one. He would rather die than see Hiei transformed back into the heartless, twisted demon he was turning into.

"I killed before the sickness, and we were still friends, still close. Why is that changing now?" Hiei showed no emotion as he spoke, and it hurt worse than the words he spoke, the unspoken belief that Kurama no longer cared about him.

"It isn't changing Hiei, you are. You are changing into something I had hoped never to see from you again. You killed again last night, young victims under the age of eighteen. You made blood pour down the chapel steps. Don't become that kind of person." Tears came now, a trickle that he couldn't stop, for all his control.

"That has nothing to do with-" Hiei started to say, then stopped, as Kurama closed his eyes tightly, a last pair of tears squeezing out.

"It does. You're becoming a monster, though you had already redeemed yourself in your service. Now what will happen? You're turning into the kind of person Koenma had us hunt down! Is that what you want, to be hunted like an animal by your comrades?" His breath caught in his throat, he could not go on.

"You would hunt me?"
"Hiei…"
"That's fine. Save your soul." Hiei snapped, and slammed the door behind him, trying very hard not to smash it to dust.

Kurama stared at the door as though it were a viper, swaying before attack. He refused to allow the tears he could feel coming spill from his eyes. They would only show weakness, not solve anything.

Hiei! You were the one I trusted most in the world! You were closer than a best friend, you were my brother, and I loved you as such. What is happening to you?

"He is losing his way." A musical voice, like wind chimes, reached his ears from the direction of the small pool. Kurama turned gracefully to see Alut'tum sitting there on the water, as if it were a solid seat.

"Alut'tum. How fare the silver waters?"

"Bright and swift. How fares the growing earth?"

"Strong and green. How fare the burning flames?"

"Just and versatile. How fare the clever winds?"

"They bear heavy tidings."

"May the Spirit bring lighter news. You have a good memory, fox." Alut'tum said, and then stood, looking burdened by terrible news.

"Thank you. You…were right about Hiei." Kurama, weakened terribly by the illness and his distress, decided not to stand. Besides, Alut'tum was so small, that would hardly be wise.

"Tell me about Hiei. What is wrong?" Alut'tum's lilting voice soothed him, and he felt he could trust her with the truth.

"He…he's killing innocent humans. He murdered all those who were worshiping in a church, priest and children included, simply for the…joy…of killing. The path he is treading will get him killed himself. Koenma – I serve him as a spirit detective – has us track down and kill demons who do that in Ningenkai. I'm afraid, terribly afraid, that that will be my next assignment. I do not doubt that if it goes to Yusuke, Hiei will be spared no mercy. "

"Yusuke is heartless then?" Alut'tum pursed her lips, folding her arms in blatant disapproval.

"No. He just thinks of Hiei as a partner, but will not give up his soul for a mere partner. What news do you bear?"

"The epidemic has a death rate of... I believe 63 percent. I image Skye is noticing that already." Kurama paled. Sixty three percent! That meant he himself might die! "I have to go. May the sun always shine on your land."

"And on your waters as well." he replied distantly. A knock sounded at his door. Now what? Maybe that's why Alut'tum left. I hope not, I like her. "Come in." he called.

The face of a young girl, unsure of herself, appeared in the doorway. "Is this Kurama's room?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I am Kurama."

"I'm supposed to be checking your temperature. I'm Silverbough." Silverbough informed her crisply. Or tried to, her voice wavered. Perhaps he was her first real experience with an epidemic, she was definitely unsure of herself.

"Skye had checked already. I assume I'm fine, she didn't say anything." I'm not fine! Look what's happening to Hiei! Silverbough pursed her lips.

"I would have thought Lady Wingthorn would have told me." Lady Wingthorn? Of course, that's her Miko name.

"Can't anyone just call me Skye? One would think that would be easier." Skye's serene, slightly amused voice came from behind Silverbough, who started stammering something about honor, and privileges. "Spare me, Silverbough. What's his temperature?"

Silverbough sighed. "I'm told you just checked." She informed her curtly. When Skye raised an eyebrow and waited for the young Miko to do as she was told – young being used loosely, Skye was only about fourteen herself -, Which she did, grudgingly.

"Ninety-nine point eight."

"The fever is picking up again. Tell me, apprentice Silverbough, what causes a fever?" Skye asked her. Apprentice! So she's still learning. But how did Skye get to be a Miko so young? Does it matter? No.

"Fever is the body's attempt to…boil out the illness. It tries to make the body so hot that the germ cells die, while making the person feel cold so they try to warm up further." she recited in a monotone, defeated.

"Good. Now go check the patients in the new ward. Make sure only to give the allotted herbs, in the right amount, if the slate says it's time." Apprentice Silverbough lowered her head, flushed with embarrassment, and left to do as she was told.

"Take this Willow bark tea, and you are not given a fresh dose at these times," she scribbled a list of times and dosage on a slate, and handed it to him, "Tell the yellow rose to call for me, and I'll come. You're in for a rough ride."

She left, leaving Kurama alone, and wishing he had something to occupy his time. He kept remembering the words whispered in a dream, words he knew came from Hiei, in some twisted, demented way.

Blood so red, so sweet so warm. Warm as the beating heart that stills.

Hiei, what have you done?