Sorry about not updating, the monitor to the computer broke and I had to wait until a new one arrived.
Chapter Four:
Hiei stared at his reflection, gaping disbelievingly at the water's surface—there was no possible way in hell that this could be right, he, the great thief Hiei, could not be standing at the water's edge the height of a four year old no longer a demon but a human—that was impossible. However, sure enough it was him standing there, an appalled expression on a slightly smoother, chubbier face, with some strands of his spiky black hair falling down to his shoulders.
"N…n…no…impossible…." Hiei muttered in a childlike, high-pitched voice so unlike his normal one, then winced from a pain on his left side, clutching it quickly, instinctively. Blood drenched his hand from a large gash on his side that he must have gotten from his fall down the cliff—it had been, in his opinion, a small fall, but of course in his current body it was farther and deadlier. Swaying on the spot, Hiei fell to the earth, pain and a strange tired weakness rushing throughout his body as he fell unconscious, cursing aloud as he did so.
Elsewhere, at the city hospital, Hinansho paced outside the emergency room, anxious to know if Kurama would be all right, oblivious to everything around him except the door which led to the room where the doctors were working on Kurama.
"Shuuichi…." Hinansho whispered standing still in the hallway facing the room Kurama was in worry etched on his face. Silent he turned his attention away from the door, studying the woman sitting on a chair in the hallway tears streaming down her cheeks—Kurama's human mother Shiori. She had arrived at the hospital only minutes after Hinansho called to tell her about Kurama's illness desperate to get to her son, worried that the worse could happen.
"Hinansho, what's wrong with Shuuichi? What…he didn't…." Shiori asked speaking barely above a whisper unable to bring herself to ask or explain her deepest fear, but Hinansho understood.
"He had a fever and collapsed, that's all. It's not like the last time when he…he's just sick that's all." Hinansho replied reassuring Shiori that Kurama hadn't tried to kill himself again.
"But he's never sick; he hasn't had a cold since he was twelve. How could he get so ill so suddenly?" Shiori muttered desperately staring into Hinansho's eyes silently pleading for some sufficient answer. "My Shuuichi…."
Meanwhile at this same hospital, while Shiori and Hinansho were worrying about Kurama, a stretcher passed by them in the emergency room hall transporting an unconscious, human, Hiei to another room three doors down. (Some passing Good Samaritan had seen Hiei unconscious and called an ambulance) doctors rushed to save Hiei's meek human body, oblivious to the fact that their patient was a demon who, if given the choice, would've killed them before he'd allow them to help him. However, being unconscious, the little fire-demon could do nothing about it, nor could he do anything about being three rooms away from the ill Kurama—neither demon knew the other was so near.
Thirty minutes later Hiei awoke in a white-walled, decently lit room, the wound on his side stitched and bandaged up, all of his other minor cuts and bruised cleaned and bandaged as well. After staring numbly at the ceiling for twenty seconds, Hiei sat up dimly aware of the pain from his wounds, his thoughts concentrated on where he was and how he got there.
'Oh yeah, I fell down that cliff and I….' Remembering the reflection he had observed in the water, realizing what his painfully weakened body meant, Hiei closed his eyes shuddering, wishing that it were not true—wishing that he hadn't changed into a human.
"Oh, you're awake." A nurse, checking in on Hiei, spoke, her voice tender and kind—the sort of voice one uses when speaking to a small child. Hiei's cheeks grew red hearing that tone, from anger and embarrassment at his weakness—oh, he was going to kill the demon who did this to him. "Such an adorable little boy you are, so sad for you to be alone. Do you know where your parents are to the hospital can get in touch with them?" The nurse smiled, pinching Hiei's soft, chubby cheeks oblivious to the fire-demon's growing anger and frustration.
"Get away from me." Hiei growled—or at least tried to, in his four year old human body the tone of the words were just too adorable and childlike to be considered a growl. Hearing his own soft voice made Hiei even more angry and frustrated; he couldn't decide what was worse: him being human or him being a child. 'Why are humans so obsessed with how cute children look? Like that has any meaning.' Hiei narrowed his eyes in thought, crossing his arms across his chest—distracted again by the nurse pinching his cheek.
"Acting macho, eh? You're the sweetest little thing!" The nurse exclaimed with a smile, giving Hiei a big hug, careful not to hurt his wounds.
"Leave me alone." Hiei growled in his childish voice, turning red with how close he was to the human female—his body was that of a four year old, but his mind remained his own age. "If I had my normal body I could overpower, strip and have my way with you in a matter of seconds." Hiei muttered, muffled against the nurse's bosom.
"Huh? Did you say something?" The nurse asked, smiling at Hiei who now looked horrified.
'Shit! Why the fuck did I say that?' Hiei screamed in his head, growing red from embarrassment, him saying something like that aloud was so unlike him—however, secretly it was only saying it that was strange. Several times in the past Hiei, in necessity to quell his urges, had done exactly what he said to the nurse—found a human, overpowered him or her, and had his way in a matter of seconds. Most of those times the human did not know what had happened, on other rare occasions Hiei used willing humans—those times were few because of his inability to be seductive enough. However, Hiei felt no qualms about overpowering humans, in fact, he did the very same thing to demons weaker than himself—it was the way of demons, whoever a demon overpowered became that demon's prize. That was the law of the demons, and Hiei never gave his actions on the matter any thought—not until he met the spirit fox.
Yes, becoming close to the spirit fox Kurama, Hiei actually gave his actions deeper thought, however thought itself never changes action and Hiei believed it unnecessary to change. Kurama believed differently though, and Kurama refused to be a lover to someone who raped those weaker, and demanded Hiei to stop doing so. Hiei then retorted that Kurama as Youko could never have been so high and mighty—even if Youko used seduction and treachery instead of force, it resulted in the same thing. It was the one time Hiei had won an argument with the spirit fox, who dropped the topic abruptly afterward.
"Hn." Hiei muttered realizing that the nurse had finally left, and felt slight relief until he realized he was not alone.
"Well, hello there. Had enough of daydreaming?" A voice asked snugly from the windows, its owner sitting in the open window.
"Who are you?" Hiei demanded trying to ignore how childish his voice sounded, he could not wait until he was back to normal, then he would teach the demon who did this to him a lesson. "You…that voice…you're the one!" Hiei growled recognizing the person's voice as that of the demon that shrunk him, silently cursing his body when he realized he could not sense auras anymore.
"Correct. I'm the one who attacked you, and it seemed my attack had some marvelous affects on you." The demon replied grinning as he studied Hiei, oblivious to the fire-demon's murderous stare. Carelessly, the demon flicked a strand of blood-red hair away from his auburn eyes, the smile never leaving his lips.
"…."
"Nothing to say to me? I'd have thought you would curse me out for what I did. Did the transformation make you soft or are you just beyond anger? Hm?"
"Change me back." Hiei demanded ignoring the demon's question, slowly standing up—if only he could kill the beast.
"That would defeat the whole purpose I attacked you for in the first place."
"…this is a coward's way to kill…"
"Who said I wanted to kill you? I sure didn't." The demon spoke glaring intently at Hiei. "I wish for a favor…."
"What makes you think I'll do anything for you?"
"You want me to reverse the spell I put on you, don't you?"
"…." Hiei nodded silently.
"Good, then you will do as I say…."
Meanwhile, the unconscious Kurama finally became stabilized; however, he remained unconscious, not moving once as the doctors wheeled him into a different room to rest. Hearing that Kurama's condition was stable relieved Shiori and Hinansho, as well as Yusuke when he showed up having just got the news.
"I started over here as soon as I heard, so what's wrong? Did he…?" Yusuke asked as the three of them sat in the room next to Kurama's hospital bed.
"No, he's just come down sick, incredibly sick." Hinansho answered briefly, and then silence ensued. After a few minutes of silence, Shiori stood up.
"I'm going to see if Shuuichi's stepfather's here yet. I'll be in the hall if he wakes up." Shiori spoke leaving the room, trying to reassure herself that her son would be just fine.
After a few more moments of awkward silence, Yusuke spoke up, studying Hinansho curiously.
"Care to tell me who you are?"
"I'm Hinansho and you are?"
"Yusuke Urameshi. How do you know Ku…Shuuichi?"
"There's no need to worry, Shuui-chan's told me all about what he is and the Spirit World, you can call him Kurama if it's easier."
"Oh, he told you everything?"
"About him being a Spirit fox, yes, and he mentioned you as well. So are you really a Spirit Detective?"
"Yes. So…Hinansho, what are you and Kurama to each other? He hasn't said anything about you…."
"Well, we're roommates, and lovers." Hinansho replied, a bit shocked that Kurama hadn't told anyone about him.
"Really? But it's only been a week since he broke up with Akiko, and it took him four months before he…."
"Well, we've only just became lovers—last night in fact."
"I think that's enough of that topic." Yusuke replied, no longer wanting to know of the fox-demon's love life. "So do you have any idea how Kurama got sick?"
"No, he just collapsed when I came back from the store. He…." Hinansho fell silent, worry and guilt etched on his face, his mind on a different thought. "Oh no…."
"What? What is it?" Yusuke asked, suspicious of Hinansho's reaction. "Tell me."
"I…I think I made Shuui-chan sick. I...my last lover was a demon as well and…" Hinansho paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "He's skilled in spells and such."
"What does that have to do with…?"
"He didn't like me breaking up with him, and he put a curse on me. He'd said I'd never keep another lover. I…I…." Hinansho fell silent, tears running down his cheeks. "Oh, god no…."
"Kurama…damn it." Yusuke turned his attention to the unconscious fox-demon.