Reborn-soul-09 - Thank you. And he'll continue to waver as I see fit so there: p
Baka Hanyou Rahvin - Yes, she'll find out. Just a few more chapters to wait though.
StormOfTranquility - Thanks for the support! And I'd love to help.
Ebbster - Thanks...I think...
Chapt. 6
The Fire
It's nearly Christmas Eve and I want nothing to do with it. Every year, the children of the mill would be worked to the bone on Christmas. Memories of the pain from the lashings of a frozen whip on my back come back to me. My scars begin to burn and sting; I shudder even though the house is quiet warm. Something crashes, reminding me of the crack of the whip, and I jump. I see Shuuto nervously searching with his eyes for the source of the noise.
"Don't worry, Kurama is just a klutz," Hiei smirks, appearing behind me.
I jump again.
"Don't do that!" I snarl, glowering at him.
"Mitsukai, what's that smell?" Shuuto questions suddenly, sniffing the air.
"His name's Hiei," I mumble to no one in particular.
Hiei sniffs the air as well.
"I smell nothing," he answers gruffly.
"Well, I do," Shuuto defends, walking off still sniffing the air. I follow after him with little interest. We walk for a while; I still smell nothing. His pace picks up into a speedy run all of the sudden and he bursts out the front door and leaps into the snow; I follow him.
"Shuuto, what're you doin'?" I call, trying to keep up with his fast pace.
"Something's burning! I can hear their screams."
I strain my ears, but I can hear nothing. The smell of burning wood tingles in my nose and I see smoke rising into the sky. My eyes widen. There was something burning. When I look over my shoulder, the house isn't in view. How did Shuuto smell this from so far away?
"Hurry! We have to save them!"
We stop at the top of a hill. Before us stood a burning house. Screams of fear and pain rose with the spiraling black smoke. Hiei walks up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder. I look up at his face. Amazement played in his crimson eyes, like he was also surprised by Shuuto's strange ability.
"Stay here, I'll take care of this," he says to us.
"You're not invincible you know," I scoff, pulling from him and turning to look at him.
"You don't know that." He steps forward and I step back. Something crunches beneath my feet and the next thing I know, I'm dizzy and burning. Once I clear my head, I look around. Everything was on fire. Screams of fear reach my ears.
"Help!" a female screams before coughing.
Not thinking, I stand up and run towards the coughing. I stuff my nose and mouth into the crook of my elbow when the smoke begins to get to me. A burning thing licks my back. I turn slightly and see that my jacket was burning. Discarding the flaming item, I continue towards the coughing.
Four shaking bodies huddled in a corner before me.
"Let me help you," I cough, kneeling beside them.
"You are only a small child," one of them says.
"Yea, so?"
A cracking and sizzling noise sounds behind me. I look up and part of the ceiling falls in, blocking the exit. Now what?
'Great, just great. Now I really am gunna die. This would be a perfect time to have a real guardian angel.'
"Baka. Look at what a mess you've gotten yourself into now," a familiarly gruff voice growls. I look around, trying to find the person who said that. A loud explosion type noise sounds beside me and a hole in the wall bursts out, exploding in the flames. Crimson eyes greet mine.
"You weren't quite who I had in mind…" I groan, crawling through the hole in the wall.
"Sure I was. You wanted a guardian angel."
"Yea, a real one," I scoff, helping the people to the snow bank. The moment everyone is there, the house collapses. "We sure lucked out there."
"Thank you so much!" a small child grinned, hugging my waist. I tense. I had never been thanked in such a manner. "Bye!" he smiles as he runs off with his family.
"Bye…" I whisper. I turn to Hiei. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
He ignores me and begins to walk home.
"I'm talking to you!" I yell, tailing after him.
Nothing.
"Mitsukai, answer me! Please!" I beg, clutching his black cloak. "Please don't ignore me."
He turns and kneels beside me.
"I wouldn't be a very good guardian angel if I couldn't hear your thoughts, now would I?" he whispers, resting a hand on my shoulder.
I plop down in the snow. He was still trying to convince me he was an angel. The lair still insisted on lying to me. I didn't understand. Why would he do that to me? Why would he lie?
"Stop lying to me, please! I'm tired of being lied to!" I cry, throwing his hand from me. "Who are you, really?" I stare up at him, my eyes watering.
"My name is Hiei Jaganshi. If you perceive me as a lair, then that is what I am. If I am to be an angel, I will guard you readily. I am no one." He stands and turns as if to walk away from me. "Who do you wish me to be?"
A tear slips from my eye, slides down my cheek, and falls into the snow. I stare down at my hands sunken deep into the cold, white stuff. What did I want him to be? I wasn't sure.
'I just want a friend.'
"You have one of those. A very good one at that."
'I just want a friend…'"Then a friend is what you shall have. Now, we must get you home before you catch a cold," Hiei growls affectionately, picking me up. He cradles me in his arms as Keiko does with her blonde haired, blue-eyed child. I felt a sense of security, something I wasn't used to. It scared me so. How I wanted to escape this feeling, yet I wanted to keep it forever. No, I was supposed to be strong! I was strong! Strong people don't feel secure, ever. I wanted to push him away, for him to leave me there in the snow, alone as I should be. But a strange feeling wanted for him to stay, to protect me from the evil I could not face. I wanted to be helped, but I did not want the help. A fear burned inside of me. The fear that I would get too attached to him, and then he would be taken me. I didn't want that.
"Hiei," I whisper.
He looked down at me.
"Do something for me?"
"What?"
"Don't let Shuuto get hurt." I felt a glass come over my eyes as I looked off towards the house. Shuuto was ahead of us, walking proudly home. "I'll never forgive you if he gets hurt."
"What if I can't protect him because I'm protecting you?" he asks, looking at Shuuto with the same admiration he shows me.
"Then let me fall. Shuuto comes first, I come second."