Kurayami no Akai Bara

By: Jineka

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Chapter 4.

Hiei had no idea where he was going once again. He vaguely thought about following Kajin, a small amount of youki was trailing behind Kajin, making her easy to follow, but that seemed a bit desperate to him. He had walked another block before he noticed that Kurama was following him. Kurama was following slowly and hiding his self quite well, but Hiei knew a lot about Kurama including how he hunted. Youko was obviously powering this chase.

Hiei walked another two blocks before he had figured out a way to escape Kurama. A girl was sitting on her porch, apparently just staring up into the sky. The sun was still high and there was nothing to look at, but the girl seemed to be in some sort of trance, maybe just day-dreaming, but her face showed absolute seriousness. She was probably thinking about something important.

Hiei stopped in front of the girl. The girl looked up and seemed to assess Hiei for a minute. "Hey," she said continuing to look at him.

"Hn." There was a pause and then she opened her mouth again, but it was shut swiftly and silence reigned. "What were you looking at?" Hiei inquired surprising both him and her. He wasn't one to break the silences. It usually didn't bother him, but he needed this girl right now and it was best to keep the conversation moving, however slowly.

"Oh," she paused as if deciding what to say next, "Nothing, really. I was just thinking." Another pause, Hiei didn't say anything. "My name is Sora Setsuko, what about you?"

"Hiei." Hiei replied simply.

"It's nice to meet you," Setsuko said with half a smile. The small smile lingered on her face for just a few seconds before it slowly dropped and then disappeared completely.

Hiei looked around. Kurama didn't appear to be near, but Hiei knew that Kurama was somewhere watching him. Hiei wondered if Kurama was in hearing distance, but didn't take any time to think about it. "Listen. Can you do me a favor?"

Setsuko blinked, "What kind of favor?"

Hiei stopped, was this a good idea? Hm... Oh well, he couldn't think of another way to ditch Kurama. "There is someone following me." Setsuko gasped and seeing her expression Hiei said quickly, "It's nobody bad or out to get me or something like that. He's actually my..." Hiei paused, "friend. I've been acting kind of strange and he's noticed and he's following me."

"He probably just wants to know if you're ok."

"He has long, red hair. I just want to be alone for a while." Hiei didn't wait for a reply. He walked off quickly. Setsuko stood up and watched him go. There was something so... interesting about him. He had his share of problems just like she had hers.

Setsuko sat back down onto her porch. Sure enough, she saw a boy with long red hair walking toward her. He didn't even glance at her as he walked by. Her eyes suddenly flashed with determination. She got up and tapped the boy on the shoulder. He stopped and turned around. "Sir, please help. I've got a kitten stuck in a tree." It was so cliche, but she didn't care.

Kurama gazed at the girl. Hiei obviously told her to distract him, but it couldn't be helped, he would have to go to the tree and help. How she had a kitten conveniently in a tree was beyond him. There probably wasn't even a kitten. "Of course, where is he?"

She smiled thankfully. Kurama had to admit, she was a really good actress. She even gave off the aura of being worried. "Please follow me."

As Kurama followed he noticed that the girl was missing one of her fingers. Her pinky on her left hand was gone as if ripped off in some horrible accident long ago. The funny thing was that Kurama could've sworn that she had all her fingers when she was asking him to help.

The girl stopped and pointed up into a tree. Kurama looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. There was a tiny little cat sitting up in the tree. What, did she put cats in trees just in case someone was being followed and needed her to provide a distraction to the follower? It was definitely strange, but Kurama was sure Hiei had put her up to this. She could've asked Hiei to help, and why was she just sitting there on her porch, before Hiei was there, and not asking someone else to help? Hiei had definitely put her up to this.

Kurama looked up at the small cat. It would be quite easy to climb up to considering that this tree had many branches low in its trunk. "I'll climb up ok?"

The girl smiled, "Thank you so much sir."

Kurama grunted as he pulled himself up into the tree, "Minamino Shuuichi at your service."

"You are too kind Minamino-san. My name is Sora Setsuko. It's nice to meet you."

Kurama had already climbed to where the little cat was. "Likewise," he said as he made a reach for the cat. Setsuko watched him and almost smirked as the cat scratched at his hand and began hissing. She wondered where Hiei had gone and what he was doing. She wanted to see him again.

"I'm sorry about Neko-chan. He's not exactly the friendly type to strangers." The little cat was clawing furiously at Kurama, but Kurama's hand found its mark and grabbed the little cat around its middle. He was slowly descending the tree careful to keep the little cat's claws away from his body.

Setsuko watched as he descended. Hiei was probably long gone by now. She had done good enough. "Thank you so much Minamino-san. I don't know what I'd do without my little Neko-chan." She had taken the little cat from Kurama and it started purring immediately snuggling into her chest.

"No problem, but if you'll excuse me I have somewhere to be," Kurama said discreetly making no room for further delay in Setsuko's part.

"Thank you Minamino-san," she said with a small bow. Kurama nodded and left in the direction of her porch. He was obviously still going to try to follow Hiei, so she decided to follow him.

-

Hiei was now following Kajin's youki. There was nothing else to do and this was the mission, right? He noticed that Kajin's youki varied greatly. Sometimes it was come off strong and other times it seemed to be gone completely. It was like a pulse, a heartbeat; it came and gone in the beat, extremely steady. Hiei wondered how close he was to her, her youki seemed to be the same distance away no matter how much he walked. Maybe she was walking too.

It was already the afternoon and Hiei hadn't eaten any lunch. He skipped meals a lot before, but he was getting a bit hungry and tired from walking around which was definitely strange. He faintly wondered why his body was acting so strange. Maybe staying in the human world did these things to his body. He felt more human.

Suddenly Kajin's youki became extremely strong, just for half a second, and then it disappeared. Hiei frowned; this was not how it pulsed, and he had never felt it this strong before.

He continued to walk toward where he had felt the youki coming from, but he was walking blindly; her youki was gone. He walked a little further, but it was pointless to follow nothing. He dimly thought about going back to Kurama's apartment. It would probably take him a long time anyhow seeing as he had no idea where he was.

As he was debating whether or not to go back he saw Kajin. She was inside that little park sitting on the swing, looking up at the sky exactly how Setsuko was looking at it. Kajin was probably thinking too. He began to go toward her, but before he was noticed by Kajin, he heard her talking. He stopped.

"...a good idea. You really think that he is the one?" A pause. "No I don't." Another pause, this was a long pause. Kajin opened her mouth, "Bu-" She shut her mouth. Another long pause. "Fine, ok, fine. What do you want me to do?" Pause. "No! I can't. That'd be embarrassing. Wait! Are you leaving?" Another pause.

Then she turned and saw Hiei. She paled and quickly turned away, but he wasn't about to let her go this easy. Who the heck was she talking too? He went to stand right in front of her. She didn't look up, "How much did you hear?"

Hiei kept his answer vague, "Not enough to know what is going on?"

She obviously didn't believe him. "You heard everything, huh?" Hiei remained silent. "Then you know what I have to do, don't you?" She reached out and grabbed his arm pulling him closer. Hiei pulled back, but Kajin's grip was surprisingly strong. She looked him straight in the eye. She didn't look scared or worried anymore, but there was a hint of color rising on her cheeks. She pulled him even closer and then she brought their lips together.

Hiei began pulling away, but Kajin held fast puting both her arms around him and holding him there. Hiei felt his strength leaving him. He felt as though he was physically weakening. Was this what happened when you kissed a girl? His legs collapsed and he couldn't feel them anymore. This can't be normal.

Kajin pulled back. She looked flushed and out of breath. She was panting heavily. Hiei watched her. His legs were not responding. He couldn't move.

"You must think I'm some sort of freak right? Well, actually you're dreaming. This is your dream," Kajin said slowly. Hiei suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion. Maybe he was dreaming, but could you fall asleep in a dream? Probably. "Go back to sleep. It'll be easier for the both of us," Kajin said softly. Hiei barely heard her. He was falling asleep fast. The last thing he felt was Kajin's lips back on his.

-

Kurama was walking away fast. Kajin had just kissed Hiei! Was that why Hiei was acting so strange? Kurama felt extremely surprised and confused. He would even go to say that he felt nauseated, but why was anyone's guess. It's not like he was jealous of Hiei, it wasn't as if he liked Kajin or anything. Sure she was pretty and smart, but there had been no attraction, had there? No, there wasn't. Kurama wasn't so sure himself anymore.

Kurama tried to calm down. It would be easier to think if he was thinking logically. Ok, he was going to start over. Hiei was kissing Kajin... They were friggin' making out! Ok, calm. Where had that come from? Kurama was so confused. He felt himself lose balance and he collapsed onto the ground in an uncomfortable sitting position. He saw a cat. It was pretty big and looked old, but it was the same color as the one he had saved from the tree. He vaguely wondered if it had a better temperment. He was answered quick enough.

The cat came up to him and meowed. It almost looked sorry for him, in such a strange predicament. Kurama reached his hand out and stroked the cat. It was soft.

Kurama pulled back his hand, back to thinking logically. They were kissing and he got... what? Angry? Jealous? Angry at what and jealous of whom? This was too confusing. He was angry because Kajin had been kissing Hiei when she could've been kissing him? Was he jealous of Hiei?

Oh. My. God. Was he jealous of Kajin? Did he want to kiss Hiei? Was he gay!

Kurama collapsed into the ground further in a dead faint.

-

Kurama awoke in a strange room. It wasn't his apartment and it wasn't some strange street. He was disoriented and confused. He didn't remember what had happened. He sat up and shook his head around to wake him up. Where was he?

He stood up and went to the door and opened it. It opened into the kitchen, and sitting in the kitchen was none other than Sora Setsuko. She looked up at the sound of his entrance, a piece of toast hanging in her mouth. She took the toast from her mouth with her hand. "You awake?"

Kurama stumbled into the kitchen and quickly took a seat. He felt sick like he was going to throw up or something. "I guess so. What happened?" Another wave of nausea took over and he tasted bile in his mouth, but swallowed it.

Setsuko looked at him with a worried expression, "Are you feeling ok Minamino-san?"

Kurama smiled weakly, "I feel a bit sick, but please don't worry."

"You fainted or something yesterday. I found you in the street and took you back to my apartment. Do you want some water to drink?" Setsuko asked softly.

"Please and thank you," Kurama replied. He blinked to clear his eyes. What time was it? He looked around and saw the clock. It was past one at night. It was really late.

Setsuko passed him a cup. Kurama took the cup and noticed that her left hand had five fingers. That was strange, but he took no time to think about it. "I'm so sorry," he said, "It's so late. You must be tired."

Setsuko's gaze went to her clock and she yawned, "I've been worse. What were you doing anyway? Fainting like that in the street."

Kurama thought about it, but he couldn't seem to remember much. He just felt sick. "I don't remember. Do you mind if I lie back down?"

"No, not at all, make yourself at home," she replied.

Kurama smiled, "Thank you so much." He made his way back into the room he was originally in and lied back down.

Setsuko smirked closing her right hand around her left pinky, "It's no problem. You did save my little Neko-chan."

Fini.

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TO MINU-CHAN:

I introduced a new character! Setsuko-chan. Ok, read this chapter very carefully and if you can figure out what Setsuko is then go ahead and write with her, but if you find her completely normal, then refrain from using her and let me drop you more hints in the next chapter I'm doing.

By the way, you get to continue with what happened to Hiei. I don't even know what's going to happen to him. I have nothing planned exactly so I'll just let you figure it out, and you should figure it out. Your last chapter did not help the plot move. It was more of a filler... so this one, think about it carefully and see what you can do. Hiei is supposed to be under some sort of spell right?

And also Kajin should have seriously asked why the two of them were trying to meet her. I mean she doesn't even know them. You wouldn't find it strange that two random strangers wanted to meet you and knew where you worked and your name. Hm..?

TO EVERYBODY ELSE:

Read and Review please. (Pretty please? Just drop a nice little comment. It'll only take a minute. You know how long it takes to write a chapter?)

Jineka