Enemies From the Start, Lovers Until the End
Disclaimer: As I feel lazy today, I feel like I don't want to do a disclaimer. Please refer to previous chapters for any disclaimer information. As stated before, I don't want to be sued by any lawyers.
Me: Well, Hello everyone! How are you this fine day?
To the reviewers who make life oh-so more live able
BlackRoseVixen05
Glad you liked it, thank you for reviewing!
Lol
Yeah, I can agree with you about school, it really sucks, and it makes me sleepy. Upside? I get to go to anime club, which is really a lot of fun. I did try and make this chapter a bit longer, and I mean it this time, so I hope you like it. Thank you so much for reviewing, I appreciate it! I think you're one of my most consistent reviewers, you're so cool!
Nyte Kit
Yeah, I suppose, it could help Kurama out in some ways. Personally, I like setting fight and training scenes in nature for some reason, don't ask me why. Kurama can find comfort in nature in many ways. He feels at ease, because it's his element, making him feel protected. Still, he doesn't know it's his element. Doesn't Hiei always seem like he's always at the end of his rope? Lol, maybe I make him a bit too angry. I'm horrible at keeping Hiei in character, I think. Thank you so much for reviewing like every chapter, it makes me so happy.
Shiorifoxiesmom
Thank you for reviewing again! I hope you like this chapter.
LoversPastForgottenThanks for reviewing; I'm happy that you review so many times
Kari IshikawaYes, sometimes you need someone to be tough on you to truly reach you potential, isn't that right? I find that memories of the lost cannot only be extremely painful, but wonderful in a way. What I mean exactly, is once you get over a death and finally accept it, the memories you have with that person are more of a treasure then a burden. In certain circumstances, that is. If you regret something you were never able to compensate the person for, I'd say the memories would be more painful. Still, remembering the lost is always painful in a way. Well, I must stop the rambling and get to the point now. Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you do so in the future. Without you or everybody else's review, I think that it wouldn't be possible for this story to be here.
Kurama-Hieigirl25Well, I'm glad that you liked it. Indeed, it would be funny if Kurama just snapped and pulled out his rosewhip Thanks for reviewing!
EveneI enjoy the fact that you have some criticism for, it really helps me improve, and it's something I'm looking for. I do see the paragraphs are really bad. I'm going to try and improve upon that this chapter. Just tell me it the paragraphs are still bad. I'm glad that you don't think that Kurama's been cowering in fear too long, as some people don't hate patience watching such minimal progress each chapter. Ughh, Algebra's okay with me. You know what subject I hate? English, I may write, use big words, and proper grammar, but I absolutely suck at doing homework because I don't like having to do huge vocab units on words I already mostly know and have to write persuasive essays. Thank you an eternity for reviewing, I'm so happy you do.
Red Kitsune FlamesWell, I'm glad you liked it, thank you for reviewing!
Youko's baby
I'm happy you liked it, and thank you for reviewing!
Chapter Eleven
Hiei looked across the clearing at Kurama. From simple inspection, he could tell that Kurama was both strong-minded, and tense, but above all, insecure. He didn't believe he had what it took to fight, despite what Hiei had told him already. No matter what Hiei said, Kurama would always remain unsure about fighting. Hiei threw and extra sword he'd nabbed a few days back to Kurama.
"We'll practice martial arts offense first, I'll teach you sword techniques later." Said Hiei; informing Kurama of the things he'd need to know. The redhead only heard what he said vaguely, but still summoned up the will to nod, turning his gaze off elsewhere. Only then was he snapped back to attention by the cold, irritated voice.
"Pay attention, Kurama!" Kurama's gaze snapped up obediently. He wasn't listening to Hiei because he wanted to, but he didn't want Hiei to become more frustrated that he already was. Kurama nodded quickly and focused his attention on what Hiei said, staring off at a spot behind Hiei's head, so it looked like he was looking directly at him. Hiei looked at Kurama for a moment before continuing to talk.
"First, I want to see if your defenses are adequate, I hope they truly aren't mediocre, it isn't something I enjoy." Without warning, Hiei leapt forward and threw numerous punches, aimed in all sorts of places, some to the gut, to the face, to the chest, at the arms. He truly wanted to see Kurama's defensive skills. Most of them were blocked, but as Hiei had much more speed then Kurama, he did mange to hit him a few times. Kurama felt pain at this action, but pretended not to be fazed, for some reason, he had a burning desire to prove himself to Hiei, even though he never cared much about proving himself to anyone else.
Hiei look his chance, leaping behind Kurama and holding his arms tightly so he'd be unable to use them. It only took a minute for Kurama to react. The redhead quickly kicked back and attempted to break Hiei's grip on him. And although this was fast, he soon realized that he had needed to go much faster if he could be able to break the stone grip. Holding the boy's arms, straight out behind him now, Hiei brought his knee up to Kurama's back and kicked hard.
The consequences were automatic for the most part, the action sent Kurama to the ground, and from simple knowledge, he knew that if he attempted to escape Hiei's grip now, his arms would be broken. He yelped slightly in pain, waiting for the right time to be able to break the grip and leap up.
Again, he advanced upon the boy with numerous punches and kicks, wanting to test the boy and find his true potential. He smirked as Kurama slowly began to adjust to his pace of fighting, skillfully blocking each one. Even if these skills were choppy and could be vastly improved upon, Hiei found himself quite pleased with Kurama's abilities.
Judging by the style Kurama used, whomever taught it to him was much more focused on offense then defense, but the way Kurama used the style, he had developed stronger defenses then what he had originally taught. Well, he would teach a different style to Kurama. His style, one that revolved around not only strong defenses, but speed and strength as well. Hiei went in for several more blows in the next thirty minutes, being blocked sometimes, and sometimes being able to hit him; there was a downside to the success Hiei saw, though. It took at lot of energy to be able to keep up with Hiei's swift pace, not to mention more energy to keep blocking so incessantly. He fell to his knees a few minutes later panting.
Hiei looked at Kurama kneeling on the ground, out of breath for the time being. Humans tired so much more easily when going at the pace considered normal for a demon, and Kurama's human body was no different. Even if his skills far surpassed that of a regular human, the effects of following Hiei's pace were beginning to show on him. This only made the demon sigh. He'd be easy on the demon just this once, and ONLY because he felt sorry for driving the boy so hard, endlessly for that amount of time. It had to have been an hour at least.
"Come, Kurama, I'll let you have a break. Let's just go." He said to the boy. Kurama stared up at him, incredulity showing through in those emerald eyes. Hiei found himself staring at the jade depths― that was, until Kurama tore his gaze away. The redhead looked down at the ground as he spoke to Hiei.
"You want me to take a break? I thought you wanted me to train." This question surprised Hiei. Here he was, being all nice and allowing Kurama to take a break, and Kurama was telling him pretty much that he had been forcing himself to go on until near a point of exhaustion. Actually, that was only what Hiei suspected and it may not be true.
"Kurama, you're such an idiot. Take a break; I know that you're tired. Listen, just relax, I'm not going to force you to go on if you need a break." Kurama stood up and actually willingly made eye contact with Hiei for a good minute at least.
"Thank you," he whispered, only loud enough for Hiei to hear. Kurama smiled a little at Hiei, and although it was only for a second or two, it was unmistakable, even to the cold, uncaring Hiei. He slowly turned to walk back towards his house, and Hiei, with nothing else better to do while Kurama took a rest, followed.
Kurama sighed and plopped down in a chair quietly when he got inside, gulping down a large glass of water he had retrieved on the way. Hiei sat across from him and watched fixedly, searching for the smile that had brightened the once again, dreary expression. That smile had made him seem so much happier, less frightened, and even a bit more appealing than what Hiei usually saw Kurama as. It made him wonder why Kurama didn't go smiling all the time. It was satisfying in a way to know he had been the one to make him smile.
The figure across from Hiei showed no signs of acknowledging the fire youkai. He just sipped silently from his cup, staring off into the distance. Maybe deep in thought, perhaps. A soft question broke the silence between the two, a random one that confused Hiei.
"Hiei, where did you come from" Kurama asked quietly. Yes, and out of the blue, random question indeed. Because of that, Hiei wondered where Kurama had found the subject.
"Huh?" It was an unlikely word for Hiei to use, yet an appropriate one for the situation. He still didn't completely understand what Kurama had meant. Kurama repeated, and then explained what he meant. It was odd for him to be talking that much. Oh, well, who was complaining about that? Certainly not Hiei, that was for sure.
"Where did you come from? I mean what types of events brought you here and such." Hiei nodded vaguely, while a plan slowly formed in his head. This was his chance to figure out the mysteries of Kurama's life. He could just make a deal that if Kurama talked about every aspect of his own past; he'd do the same. The chance of Kurama lying was pretty much ruled out, because from what Hiei knew, Kurama was honest enough as it was.
"Okay, then, let's make a deal. How about you tell me about all the events in your past that make you who you are today. After that, I'll do the same for you." The expression he received from that wasn't a very good one, he hadn't factored in the chance that Kurama could refuse this altogether. Kurama thought hard, taking a few minutes to answer the demon.
"Fine… I guess. You promise you'll tell me about yourself after I tell you?" he asked, giving Hiei an almost pleading look. Hiei nodded, a motion that encouraged Kurama to begin with his own tale. Kurama nodded again before taking a sip of water and beginning to talk again. He took long pauses in between word, choosing to start over a few times before he found a strong sentence to continue with.
"Well, I guess you could say many events led me up to this. But the farthest back I can think that's around the time these events started, I was only twelve years old. I was so happy; I seemed to have a perfect life. Stupid― but nonetheless, good friends, who'd stand by me all the time, their names were Yuusuke and Kuwabara. They'd decided they wanted to train me, and despite the fact I had refused a numerous amount of times, they finally convinced me, and I began to train with the every day. It seemed to go well for a little while, but soon after, my entire village was destroyed," Kurama paused for a moment.
Emotions tore at his heart; he found it hard to bear― talking about this, to be specific. He'd never, never talked to anyone about this, not even Hikaru. It was hard, yet somehow, it was comforting to know Hiei was listening to this. How could that be, it was so rare for Hiei to ever offer such comfort, much less on this subject. Nevertheless, he continued, voice wavering between shaky and slightly confident.
"It-it was that day. I had spent some time in a forest near my village, and I eventually fell asleep in a tree. I was awoken to the smell of smoke. And-and…" his voice wavered off for a second time, it was becoming hard for him to speak. Hiei stared at him, confused while the dejected fox tried to find his voice and keep calm. Soon enough, he found the courage enough to speak up again, so he still continued on.
"When I arrived, my village had already been burned pretty badly. It was unbelievable, so many people were dead, and… as were Yuusuke and Kuwabara. They killed my mother in front of my eyes, he screams still haunt me sometimes, even after all this time." Kurama could no longer bear it; silent tears fell from his eyes as he reminisced the event from the past. He forced himself to continue.
"They captured me and took me to Karasu and there I remained for almost three years. He wasn't kind, in fact, he was completely opposite, he hurt me in more ways then many… But through all that, there was one person who could make me happy, only one. His name was Hikaru, he made me happier then I'd been in a long time. He acted so nice, almost like he cared about me. But I was once again proven wrong! He just HAD to go and get me in trouble with Karasu, and betray me like that. God, I TRUSTED HIM!"
All this was said in an extremely choked voice, and as Kurama finished, he gave a muffled cry and collapsed from his chair onto the ground. His cup of water fell from his hand, the cup shattering a few inches from his face, water running across the floor in a small puddle. Despite all that, he couldn't care less. Small shards of glass cut across his cheeks and a light trail of blood leaked onto the floor, water soaked through his shirt and soaked his hair. Yet still, Kurama just lay there, all spread out on the floor, tears splashing lightly from his eyes. Hiei got up and looked down at the mess of a boy that lay at his feet, his gaze hardened, but he forced the feeling back and gently knelt down to Kurama's level, lowering his expressionless gaze to the boy's.
"Listen, Kurama. Simply because you've had bad experiences with people in the past doesn't mean you need to cry over it now." Kurama almost glared, and automatically lashed back out at Hiei for it, not wanting to get put down by Hiei's insults before he could get his words out.
"You don't get it, do you? I lost everything that I loved in one day; some demon comes along and decides to keep me in a dungeon for three years as his prisoner, just my luck, right? And then the one thing I think I've gained back in my life is withdrawn immediately. I though I could trust Hikaru, and I was wrong. I loved him, and Karasu took it from me and tried to kill me for it, as if loving is a sin for me. For all I know YOU could just be another servant of Karasu, waiting to trick me again just like Hikaru did."
This made Hiei anger in an odd sort of way, his heart throbbed for a moment at the tome of voice he'd used towards him, he clutched the spot lightly, forcing the alien feeling away. Kurama softly whispered something out,
"I'm such an idiot… I truly do deserve to die, don't I Hiei?" With that, he buried his face in his arms so he wouldn't anger Hiei anymore than he had already. Surprisingly, it wasn't an angry response that he received. Hiei just knelt down further and ripped a bit of his shirt off, dabbing another place that was bleeding quite badly, the underside of his wrist. He tied it around the wrist tightly and went to the medicine cabinet to retrieve bandages, speaking as he went.
"You aren't going to commit suicide, are you? It's only a cowards way out of life, and I don't even think you'd stoop to that low of a level. But then again, maybe I'm wrong about you." Kurama sat up and pushed himself to his feet, beginning to pick up the shards of broken glass and throw them in the trash. Hiei walked over to him and forced him to sit, Kurama wasn't in much of a mood to protest today. Hiei hit Kurama lightly upside the head (not enough to hurt him) and scolded angrily upon closer inspection of both cuts.
"Damn you Kurama, that's a deep cut, and you got blood all over the floor. Hn, so much for training today, you idiot." He muttered, while wrapping the left wrist. He pressed hard against the wound and wrapped the bandage quite firmly around the wrist. It was enough to cut off circulation, but still enough to allow a little bit of blood through to his hand. He winced, but made no comment. Hiei was already mad enough, at least, it seemed. It was just― Kurama really wanted to see a time when Hiei would actually praise him, and tell him that he was impressed.
Ha! Like that would ever happen! Kurama saw no talent in himself that Hiei could ever appreciate, so there was no point in dreaming about the impossible. Kurama stood up quietly in the middle of Hiei wiping blood off his forehead and he gently tugged the rag out of Hiei's grip, muttering, "I'll take care of it myself" before sulking off to his room.
Hiei stayed behind, left to clean the blood and water mess. At least he didn't have to be in a room with that fox, he couldn't think of a person he hated more at the time. He began to wipe up the mess on the floor, contemplating about everything Kurama had said. Anger and that unknown emotion washed through his senses again, and merely due to lack of attention, he slipped and landed right in the middle off the mess. 'How pleasant' he thought 'Now I'm wet AND I'm covered in his blood, he rolled his eyes angrily at this and finished cleaning quickly. He had a shower in mind now, so he stormed back to Kurama's room to ask about it.
He knocked on Kurama's door lightly, opening it and glancing inside. "Kurama?" he called. Said redhead did not stir on the bed, he laid there motionlessly, his soft green eyes closed and a neutral expression dominating his features. For a minute, Hiei panicked, believing that the boy had fallen unconscious due to lack of blood. He ran up quickly to him and lowered his ear to Kurama's chest. A normal heartbeat met his ears, and for some reason, Hiei sighed in relief.
"I'm taking a shower, okay, fox?" He called to the sleeping figure behind him, heading into the Bathroom and locking the door. He sighed as he entered, and he quickly stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower, switching it on. The warm water that over his body spilled relieved him, and he furiously began scrubbing himself to rid not only the blood itself, but also the scent as well. There was nothing that he hated more then smelling like blood. He forced Kurama's picture out of his mind and furiously began scrubbing his entire body.
Kurama opened his eyes a moment later, keeping his head low before his ears caught the sound of Hiei in the shower. Now he could go make lunch in peace, he hadn't meant to really run away from Hiei so quickly, but it seemed as if he needed a short break from him anyways, not that he found Hiei irritating or anything, it was just he enjoyed time alone, and at the time, he wanted some. He threw together some leftovers for dinner, making a plate up for Hiei, then a smaller plate for himself. Silently, he munched down on some sushi and ramen, not showing much interest in the action. Maybe a walk could clear his mind.
Washing his plate, he took a pen and wrote a quick note for Hiei.
-Hiei-
I'm going out for a while, just to let you know. Please, don't come looking for me, I need to clear my head, and I'd rather be able to do it alone. I've made you lunch, and left it out on the table, seeing as you're in the shower now. I'll see you later, since I am coming back.
-Kurama-
He left the note on the table and walked out the door. Maybe he could go and get some ice cream; it would be nice change of things. Ice cream could always cheer people up, it worked on him, and so, with that in mind, he headed towards a nearby ice cream parlor.
Hiei got out of the shower and immediately dried himself. He'd have to wash his cloak off somewhere; it was completely covered in blood. The good thing was, that his cloak was amazingly thick, and no blood had seeped through to his shirt and pants. He walked out of the bathroom and went to check on the fox. He'd have to wake him up if he was still asleep, he didn't want Kurama to be sleeping in the middle of the day, not when he could be doing something else. When he looked into the bedroom, he saw no Kurama, and the bed was neatly made.
So, the fox had actually gotten up. That had to mean that he was either in the kitchen or in the living room. He wandered out to that spot of the house. Still, he didn't see any sign of Kurama. By chance, Hiei's eyes happened to skip over the lunch on the table along with the note.
For a moment, panic spread through Hiei's body, and an uncontrolled thought that Hiei didn't know where it had came from popped into his head. What if Kurama was injured and dying somewhere? He was just about ready to bolt out the door when his nose caught the smell of lunch. Curiously, he turned his head and looked over to the table, he now saw the note.
Quietly walking up to the table, he picked up the note, reading it over quickly. It seemed the fox had simply gone out for a walk. A suspicion passed over him quickly, but was soon quelled by the sniffing of the note. Kurama had written this willingly, and there weren't any other demon scents on it. Plus, he'd raised his awareness to the youki in this vicinity. Besides him and Kurama, there were no other demons in this town currently.
Actually, he felt relieved to have some time alone; the human had really been getting to him over the past few days. He plopped down at the table and ate the food Kurama had made him. It was just leftovers, really, but pretty good ones at that, A salad had been made to go along with some cold white rice mixed with some leftover breaded chicken. Yeah, so maybe it was an odd combination, but it was still quite enjoyable. Hiei enjoyed the silence.
A few minutes after eating, he sighed. It was so odd here without Kurama, he found the scene almost unnatural in a way, and he sighed and lay down on the couch. Nothing to do at all, not even talk to Kurama. A few times, he thought of going out and finding him, but the thought was always rejected a few minutes later. Obviously, he needed some time to think, as it had been stated in the letter and unless Kurama was planning on doing something stupid, that was. It was the last thought that went through his head before he fell asleep right there.
Hours later, a door opened as Kurama let himself into the house. What a nice break that had been. He'd forgotten how nice it was to be outside for such and extended period of time. Gosh, he loved the outdoors. He blinked and glanced around, expecting to receive an angry lecture for something or another. To his surprise, that didn't come. He was faced with a quietly sleeping feature. 'He looks so innocent when he sleeps…' he thought. He gently reached down to touch the demon's shoulder. "Hiei" he called softly/
That in itself was enough to wake Hiei; the fox assumed he must be a light sleeper. He heard a growl, and looked down to Hiei, he looked quite mad, he could feel the small body heating up under his fingertips. "Get you hand off me" he whispered venomously. Kurama immediately complied and removed his hand from his shoulder.
"Umm, I just wanted to say, I brought home some ice cream, would you like some?" asked the boy in a nervous voice. Hiei's eyes widened and the angry look disappeared almost completely. Sweet snow! He hadn't had it in over a year, and he was what you called a sweet snow addict.
"Where" he asked intensely Kurama pointed to the table, where a bowl resided. Hiei immediately forgot his anger towards Kurama, racing towards the table and digging into the bowl of ice cream with a spoon. Kurama followed him over slowly and sat down across from him, taking a few minutes to ask his question.
"Hiei, you promised that you would tell me about your past if I did the same for you," he said. Hiei finished licking off his spoon and pushed the bowl off to the side a little.
"Fine." He replied. Little known to the both of them, two figures stood outside the window and watched as the two talked.
Me: Finished! And that was a bit longer, ne? Well, I hoped you liked it and as always, I am pleading with you to review. High school may be a pressing matter that takes up a lot of my time, but I swear, I will continue if I get enough reviews. It's simply because I want to know if people like this fic or not. There really isn't a point of continuing a fic that everyone thinks is just a sucky waste of space on the Internet, now, is there?