Hiei wandered back into the room everyone was sitting in. Botan, Yusuke and Keiko were leaving, but Yukina had invited Kurama to stay. Kei was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, Hiei. You're sleeping here tonight, right?"
He hadn't been planning on it, but when she asked he couldn't refuse. "Okay."
"Good! Kurama, you can take the upstairs guestroom, and Hiei, you can take the downstairs one."
"Uh-huh." Hiei wasn't really listening, but he followed his sister to the room.
"Sorry if it's stuffy." She said, opening a window. "We haven't used it in a while."
"Hn." He was too lazy to respond.
"Well, have a good night."
He was already nodding off to sleep, but that was normal for Hiei when he was tired. He climbed into bed and without undressing, fell asleep.
Something woke him up in the night. A quiet creaking. Peering beyond the door, he saw a figure in the dark. In the moonlight, he could tell it was slender and feminine. Curious, he left his room, his feet silent. He followed the figure outside and down the street.
Under the glow of a streetlight, he saw that he was following Kei. Where is she going? He trailed her for blocks, until she came to a warehouse on the pier. There she stopped to look around her, but Hiei didn't think she would see him.
He was wrong. Her eyes sought him out almost immediately. She came towards him.
"Why did you follow me?" She growled.
"To make sure you weren't doing anything that would be of consequence." He replied.
"Well it wasn't any of your business." She glared at him. "Prying into someone else's personal matters is not kind."
"Not if it's to protect…someone." He had almost said 'to protect the ones you care about.' But that's not what he meant, was it?
She had no answer for that. "Just go back."
"No," He said, looking into the girl's eyes. They were bright red.
"Why not?" She hissed.
"I'm curious to know what stupid things you do in the dead of night."
"Fine." She was obviously frustrated. "Come with me then."
He was astonished that she would actually take him wherever she was going, but he didn't show it. He followed her like a shadow into the warehouse. The inside was a mess. Boxes and barrels lay everywhere, and you almost tripped every time you took a step. There was also a very eerie feeling about it. It felt evil.
Mesmerized by the auras and energies in the warehouse, Hiei lost sight of Kei.
Blast it, where did she get to? Hiei heard soft voices, far off.
"Why did you bring someone here, Mirikou?"
"I couldn't help it." Kei's voice responded. "I'm sorry Takeshi-sama."
"You will be punished. But right now there are more important things. How has the mission been going, Mirikou?"
Why is she being addressed as Mirikou? "I don't like it. It's not right."
"I didn't ask for the moral police. I asked how the mission was going."
"Not well."
"I see." The voice paused. "Now you will be punished."
Hiei couldn't hear anything for a minute. Then he heard a scream ring out. It was like a terrible music. It held for a moment, then drifted into nothingness.
What is going on? Hiei was alarmed. What did he do to her?
"Now, Mirikou, you have learned your lesson. I trust you will never bring a stranger again. I shall now take my leave."
There was a soft whimper.
Hiei wanted to see what sort of demon the voice belonged to, but for some reason he couldn't move. He heard a 'pop' sound, and he could move again.
He couldn't see much with all the boxes in the way, but he followed the sound of whining. He found Kei curled up on the floor.
"What's wrong, silly girl?" He asked sharply.
She looked up at him weakly. "Nothing." Her voice was a whisper.
Impatient with her stubborn ways, Hiei knelt beside her. "Then why are you holding your abdomen so tightly?"
She didn't respond, just curled up tighter. Hiei sighed. "Stupid girl," he muttered. He kicked her gently, and she yelped in pain. "Just let me see."
She unfurled and showed him her stomach. There was a short bloody wound across it, but it didn't seem serious.
"It's just a flesh wound." Then he noticed a large scar across her entire stomach. I knew she was the demon… The scar was discolored, and at the moment, it was glowing green. "What the…?" He touched the scar and Kei whimpered again.
"Stop it." She groaned. "It hurts."
Hiei pulled his hand away. "I didn't get you into this mess." He said. "Can you stand?"
Kei shook her head. "I'll be fine. Leave me here."
Hiei was a bit tempted to do as she said, but he knew better. "Come on." He said, lifting her to her feet.
She wasn't kidding when she said she couldn't stand. She stumbled and fell into his arms. He sighed. "Stupid girl." He muttered again. "Am I going to have to carry you?"
"No!" She tried to stand on her shaky legs, only to fall flat on her bottom. Then she started coughing.
Kneeling beside her again, Hiei clapped her on the back. "Come on," he said impatiently.
Yeah, yeah." Putting one hand on her wound and using the other to support herself with Hiei, Kei stood up. "Okay let's go."
They managed to get back to the house and Kei flopped down on the couch. "Oh god this hurts."
Hiei drifted into the bathroom. All Kuwabara had was self-stick bandages, so he brought them out for her.
"Get those away from me!" she squealed, cowering at the corner of the couch, which was getting noticeably bloody.
Hiei rolled his eyes. "You are really a pain in the ass."
She started coughing again. "What's wrong with you?" He asked. She just shook her head. Eventually the coughing stopped.
"I need a towel for the blood." She said.
What Hiei wanted to say was, 'Get it yourself.' But he said, "Okay," and went to fetch a towel.
Kei took the towel and tied it around her waist, blocking off the blood flow. "I need another, it's not all covered."
Scowling, Hiei got another. She tied that one below the first, then lay down on the floor closing her eyes.
"Don't you have a bedroom or something?"
Kei glanced up at him. "No…I don't always stay here. I sleep wherever…"
That's what I used to do… "Oh. Okay." He turned to go to bed.
"Hiei?"
"Hm?"
"You still feel cold. Be careful."
"Eh…"