The Scar: Part Three

It has been two and a half days since he got to Rei's little hut. Hiei could now sit down and lean against the wall. Actually, he was already fine. That was, to his stubborn opinion. He could barely move his limbs and he was already insisting that he leave as soon as possible. But his small words weren't really strong enough to hold him. His attempts to stand up failed him.

He heard Rei humming another one of her invented tunes. He sat down and leaned against the wall, his eyes resting on Rei as she chopped vegetables in the kitchen, tossing them to the pot of boiling water beside her.

Without meaning to, he silently wondered how could a girl like her live in the middle of nowhere and be fine. Were the rumors true? It was true that he never saw anyone or heard anyone pass by. But was the rumor about her being a murderer true? He thought of the villagers that had attacked him the day before. They were all so determined to kill him but why was it that upon seeing the girl they all backed away? Does it mean that fighting her would mean absolute death? He couldn't believe that part. She seems harmless. And that made a part of him curious, the 'fighter' part of him.

Rei momentarily looked up to see Hiei staring at her. She smiled sweetly at him that made him quickly looked away, a little annoyed of her smile but all the while embarrassed that he was caught staring.

"Hmm… So my guest is already awake. Now, I hope you won't try to stand up again. You knocked off one of my favorite vases yesterday so don't you dare attempt to break another one." She winked at him, indicating that what she said was a joke. Hiei grunted to himself, blushed a little and heard his chest thump a little. He wasn't accustomed to females. Much more to females winking and smiling at him sweetly. And it's annoying him.

"Now, just sit there as I finish with my cooking so that we can have lunch. Maybe you'll have lunch sitting down today; you seem a lot better than you were yesterday." She said as she got back to her stirring.

Hiei didn't say anything. The girl was too much of a talker, as if life is full of surprises and she can't stop being excited about it. She was annoying him. No, actually she wasn't annoying him. Annoying is how Hiei would put it because of his i-don't-care vocabulary which lacks a more appropriate term for what he was feeling but what she really was is interesting in some sort of way Hiei couldn't define. The girl was noisy all right, but there is something about her that makes Hiei feel a little differently.

He quietly observed her once more. But now carefully, a little worried - for whatever reason he couldn't understand - to be caught looking at her again. Amidst all her bubbliness, he could sense that there was something strange about her. Like for instance, the thick woolen glove she always wear. Plus the black cat she owns. The cat wasn't really alarming. But the fact that she never touches it made it strange. When she fed it last night, Hiei observed that Rei passed her hand over the cat's head without touching it and he saw a tear drop from her eyes.

He shook his head. What was he thinking? It was all too lame for him. He concentrated on how he could get out of there as soon as possible, and how he could get out of this white overalls as soon as possible. He was bored out of his wit. The damn place was too quiet and not doing anything makes him feel useless.

He frowned at his thoughts and shook his head once more, grunting to himself and cursing silently. Well, that was the typical Hiei. He pride himself for being independent and getting fed and dressed by a girl was way out of his stubborn live-only-for-myself-and-by-myself principle.

"Hiei?" He raised his head to see Rei calling her. "You think you can stand?"

He looked at her for a while, his face expressionless. Then he tried to stand up. When Rei saw that he couldn't quite get himself to stand up, she hurriedly went beside him. She offered her right hand for help but she quickly put both her hands at the back as if offering her hand for help was a mistake and stood back.

"No, don't stand up. I'll bring you your lunch here." She said, her hands still hidden behind her back. For the first time there was a trace of guilt in her eyes. Hiei couldn't quite get it. What is it with her hands?

Rei came back with a tray carrying their lunch, "I thought it would really be nice if we eat together."

Hiei didn't say anything.

"You don't talk that much, huh?" Rei continued talking as she handed him her food. She set the tray aside and placed her own plate of rice and bowl of soup in front of her. She nodded at him as if to say it was already time for them to eat. She started eating and so did Hiei.

"So, Hiei. Tell me about yourself." Rei started a conversation.

Hiei didn't say anything.

"C'mon. It wouldn't hurt to share a little about yourself." Rei encouraged. Her eyes cheerfully looking at him expectantly.

"I have nothing to share." Hiei said.

"Now that was five words in a single sentence! By far the longest sentence you've said since you got in here!" Rei said, waving her chopstick triumphantly, and smiling brightly. "Hmmm... I think that's a great accomplishment for me for today! And now, It's time we get back to lunch."

Silence came as they both finished up their lunch. Rei finished first, she scrutinized the stranger eating in front of her. In her opinion, Hiei looked kind of nice but a lot reserved. How could somebody last for two days without talking at least a hundred words? She has to admit that Hiei was a little strange. She wanted to learn more about him. It has been a while since she last heard about other people's stories.

"I can see a person's past and his future." Rei said, hoping that it would somehow interest him and he'd start talking.

Hiei stopped eating for a while. He looked at Rei. Judging from her face, he couldn't decide if she was joking or not. That bright smile was still all over her face. Hiei silently wondered where she got all her energy.

"But I don't really read a person's past or future it if the person doesn't permit me to do so."

Hiei continued eating, pretending not to care.

After a moment, Rei's face turned somber, "You're from Koorime. Born with a twin sister. Forbidden. Thrown away. Your mother's tears, your pearl necklace. You grew up with …"

"Stop." Hiei said firmly as he placed his bowl on the floor. So, Rei wasn't joking. She read his past, and she read it quite well. And other people minding his past irritates him. No, actually it angers him.

Rei was surprised to see Hiei's reaction. She saw his jaw tighten and his eyes hardened. How could she read his past before he said yes? For a moment, she felt fear then it turned to guilt. Maybe his past was too painful for him and bringing them all up now brings back all those pain alive again. Rei could only wish she could take everything she said back.

"I'm sorry." She said softly after a while. Her voice really meaning what she said.

Hiei frowned at her words. Was that sorry? He didn't expect a sorry. What was he expecting to hear from her? Something else, anything but sorry. He couldn't remember anyone saying sorry to him before. She sounded sincere. He looked up to see her looking down at the floor, her eyes apologetic. She looked like she was really sorry. Hiei felt weird but he loosened up a bit, his expression softening but the frown was still there.

"I won't do it again. I'm really sorry." Rei said as she looked up to meet his eyes.

Hiei didn't say anything. A part of him softened up as he looked straight at her watery eyes.

"I know how you must feel right now. I've got things in my past that I wouldn't wanna bring up, much more talk about. I'm really sorry."

Silence.

"Well, let's just talk about something else." Rei broke the silence, "Something fun, I've seen how bored you were just before lunch. Oh, well. Maybe I'll just clean up for a while and maybe a card game would be nice. Nah…card games actually bore me. But doing nothing is much more boring than card games! But you might be tired. You're not really 100 well. Maybe if you get better this evening, that's when we'll play a card game. For now, I suggest you take a rest as I wash these dishes and clean the kitchen. And oh, I forgot to feed Neko!" Rei said, referring to her black cat as she gathered the dishes on the tray.

Hiei silently watched her, he momentarily forgot about Rei's meddling with his past and got a little amused by her constant babbling. And for the first time he cracked a little smile, too little to even get noticed by Rei's eyes.