Winds of Thyme

By Sakura Takanouchi

~*~ Winds of Thyme Chapter Fourteen: Showdown! Sakura and Hiei battle it out ~*~

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Now read the fic!

Sakura woke up bright and early Monday morning, ready for school. She put on her school uniform and slung her bag over her shoulder. Normally, at about this time, Kurama would be at her door ready to walk her to school. But he was not there.

Sakura decided she would stop by Kurama's house to see if anything was up.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan," Shiori greeted her.

"Ohayo, Shiori-san," Sakura returned. "Is Shuiichi feeling alright this morning?" She asked.

"Gomen, but Shuiichi will not be attending school today. He has recieved minor food poisoning from some fish he ate yesterday," Shiori said.

"Arigatou for telling me this, Shiori-san," Sakura said. "I'll get his homework if you like."

"Oh, would you? I'm sure he's really appreciate it," Shiori said and Sakura went on her way to school.

~*~ At school ~*~

"Ohayo, Sakura!" Yuzuriha greeted as she met Sakura at her locker. "You weren't in school Saturday."

"Yes, I wasn't feeling well," Sakura said.

"Also, you know Takeru-chan? He wasn't at school either," she said. "Kirameki's pretty concerned."

"He won't be going to this school again. He transfered, and he told me to tell you. Also, Shuiichi has food poisoning and will not be here today," Sakura commented. "A lot of people aren't here."

"Its strange, ne?" Yuzuriha said. "Come one, we better hurry before homeroom starts."

They walked into homeroom to tell Kirameki the bad news and then school started. Sakura made extra notes and got Kurama's homework.

~*~ After School ~*~

Sakura put away her books in her locker, and then left school to go to Kurama's and give him his homework.

"Konnichiwa, Kurama-kun!" Sakura greeted a very tired-looking Kurama. "Are you feeling better?"

"Hai, I think I'll be able to go to school tomorrow, but I'm still really weak," Kurama said.

"Here's something to keep you occupied," Sakura said, and handed all of his homework to Kurama.

"Arigatou," Kurama said. "I better get started on all this,"

"Ja!" Sakura called, and went on her way to her apartment without a care in the world.

~*~ At Sakura's Apartment (Thank Enma it's not the park) ~*~

"Hmm Hmm..." Sakura hummed as she hung up some clothes. She decided to do the laundry, and since it was a sunny (november?) afternoon, she had the window open. She had the radio on, and it was blasting the Dual opening theme. Sakura was humming along to it.

"Nice weather we're having, huh?" A voice came from Sakura's open window.

"Oh my god!" Sakura yelled, and then turned to see Hiei sitting on her windowsill. "You knocked several years off my life with that!"

"Hn," Hiei hn'd and got off the windowsill. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Sakura asked, but then caught herself. "Oh yeah—stupid question. Tokyo Marathon, here I come!" she yelled.

"Then meet me on that field outside your apartment complex whenever you're ready," Hiei said, and vanished.

"Sure!" Sakura waved. Hiei almost fell off the tree he had just gotten to. 'How could she track my movement?' he thought. 'I had better not underestimate her.'

Sakura hung up the last t-shirt she had washed, and changed out of her school uniform to something more suitable for fighting. It was a purple Asian style shirt and a black skort that was knee-length. She wore high boots with her daggers, of course. Her hair was done up in buns, and she had chopsticks in each bun. "Let's go kick tail," she told her reflection. She then jumped out of the window (second story) and landed on the side of the empty field. "Yo, Mr. Big shot!" She called. "Let's start this today, if you don't mind!" Hiei spit from his position on the tree, and jumped down. His hand was just above his katana.

"Oh, you use a katana?" She asked. "This should be interesting."

Hiei remained silent. They could both still hear the music that was playing through the open window. The song had ended, and now the Slayers opening theme was playing. "I love this song!" Sakura said.

"Hn," Hiei grunted. "Are you going into this weaponless?"

"Charge and you'll find out," Sakura said.

Hiei charged, drawing his katana. Sakura knelt down, and pulled out a dagger at the last minute, blocking Hiei's attack. She swung with it, and Hiei jumped back to avoid attack. He charged again, but this time, Sakura dodged it, along with every swing Hiei took. Surprisingly, it was all to the beat of the music. Hiei frowned.

"I can tell what you're thinking, and you're not destroying the music," Sakura warned. This angered Hiei, and he swung his sword again. Sakura dodged and took one of her chopsticks out of her hair. One of the edges was razor sharp. She flung it at Hiei. Instinctively, he caught it. His hand started to bleed. He dropped the chopstick and stepped on it.

"You will pay for that," he said. Sakura bent down and retrieved her second dagger.

"You were saying?" She asked cockily. He charged again, and this time Sakura countered his attack with her daggers. They started sword fighting hand-to-hand style, with Sakura being the one moving backwards. She then jumped back and threw another chopstick at Hiei. This one grazed his shoulder. The impact caused him to lose his balance and fall over. "Come now, you haven't landed a hit on me yet," Sakura commented. "Are you afraid Kurama will be sad if you hurt me?"

"He... told you ... to call him... Kurama?" Hiei asked, getting back on his feet. Then, he vanished.

"Oh! So you're doing the speed demon thing, huh?" Sakura said, turning around as if she could follow Hiei's speed.

'What's with her senses?' Hiei thought. He then went in closer to punch her, but Sakura caught the punch and stole his katana from him.

"Can I use this?" She asked.

"Hn," Hiei answered. He was now weaponless, and Sakura had three. Sakura tucked her daggers back inside her boots. She then threw the katana at the tree.

"I think we had better not use these for the rest of our fight," She said. She charged this time, and they started throwing punches and kicks at each other. Sakura was driving Hiei back, but then Hiei picked up a chopstick that was sticking out of the ground and threw it at Sakura. She, not having any time to dodge, threw one back at Hiei. She felt the fabric of her left shoulder sleeve being torn, and the chopstick she threw tore through the back of Hiei's headband, making it come loose.

"You... You have a jagan!!" They both asked. Sakura had just seen Hiei's jagan on his forehead, and Sakura had what looked like an eye on her left shoulder.

"Relax," Sakura told the fazed Hiei. "This doesn't do much. It's temporary, in fact. I have to get a new one every full moon. I can sense that yours is a lot more powerful. I guess that's what happens when you trust cheap demon traders. Besides," she said, running up to Hiei, "I don't turn a different color when I use it!" She punched Hiei upside the head, but as she was doing that, she left herself open. Hiei saw this and punched her in the stomach. She flew backward several feet, and Hiei landed in the tree.

"I think we're pretty evenly matched," she said, but just then, she heard a voice.

"Sakura-chan? Are you home?" It was Kurama.

"I think we had better call it a draw," Hiei said, and dissapeared. Sakura ran back into her apartment and changed clothes. She put on something more suited for winter. Plus, it would cover the bruises from her fight. She also straightened her hair.

"Gomen, Kurama! I'll be with you in just a second!" She called, and walked calmly to the front door. "Konban wa!"

"Konban wa, Sakura," Kurama said. "I just wanted to thank you for getting my homework today."

"Oh, it's nothing," Sakura replied. "Do ya want to come in? I've got tea and ramen if you like."

"Arigatou," Kurama said, and he went into her apartment.

~*~ Thirty Minutes Later, or around 6:16 PM ~*~

"I've got to go now," Kurama excused himself. "Shiori wanted me home early tonight."

"It's ok. See you tomorrow!" Sakura waved goodbye as Kurama walked down the steps leading to her apartment.

Sakura shut the door, leaned against the wall for several seconds, and then reached for the Band-Aids. She needed to treat her battle wounds.

Kurama was walking along (in the park, of course). 'She seemed like she was limping still,' he thought. 'I better check on her tomorrow.' He was then joined by a familiar little fire demon. (Oops... did I say little?)

"I had a nice chat with your girlfriend a couple days ago," Hiei said as they walked.

"I heard," Kurama answered. "Why did you interrogate her?"

"I did more than interrogate her," Hiei said. This made Kurama stop in his tracks.

"You didn't... tell me you didn't fight her!" Kurama said. Hiei remained silent.

"It ended in a draw," Hiei answered. "I ended up more hurt than she was," he showed Kurama his hand. It had several red lines on it from the chopstick he had caught.

"I see," Kurama mused. "She is an excellent fighter after all. But that still doesn't answer my question," he started walking again. "Why did you interrogate her?"

~A/N~

Long Chapter Again, ne? Next chapter will be a real plot twist, minna! I also will focus more on the rest of the tantei and their problems. After that, my ocean of ideas will dry up...I've got nothing left after that. If I'm inspired, I'll write more, but I've still got several more chapters left.

Sakura Takanouchi