Chapter: Emotion
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the following characters, except for Keiyma Suriei, Myrani Sakai, Etsu Nakamura, Itachi, and Zakoto.
After eating breakfast, Keiyma took a shower and changed into a new pair of jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt. Once she was dressed, she went into the living room where she found Yusuke and Genkai sitting, already in conversation. They didn't seem to notice her.
"What do ya mean, I have to help her train?" cried Yusuke.
"You've been my apprentice long enough. If you're really not a fool it should be easy for you," replied Genkai.
"In case you haven't noticed, Etsu's not really the easiest person to get along with."
"Oh yes, and you're certainly a bushel of fun. Just go through the basics with her, she should be able to pick up," said Genkai.
Yusuke groaned and Keiyma smirked.
She wasn't the only one who didn't particularly care for Etsu.
Sure, Kurama and Kuwabara were nice to her, but that didn't really count. Kurama was accepting towards everyone and Kuwabara was friendly to anyone with legs. She doubted anyone else could stand her.
"Keiyma?" came Shiori's voice from the kitchen.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind terribly picking up some milk for me at the store?"
"Sure, no problem."
"Thanks. Hang on, I'll get you some money."
"Don't worry about it," Keiyma said, grabbing her coat and walking out the door.
O—o—O—o—O—o—O—o—O
Keiyma hummed calmly to herself as she walked down the dusty sidewalk, slightly swinging the shopping bag that hung down by her side.
She found Hiei sitting on the porch of the house.
"Don't you ever leave?" She asked him, a bit snappier than she had intended.
"Just making sure you haven't run Kurama's house to the ground."
"Trust me, if I wanted to wreck it, it would be long gone."
"I never said you'd do it intentionally," he said, smirking slyly.
Keiyma couldn't think of a reply and instead started to go inside the house.
"Wait," Hiei said softly. Keiyma almost fainted at the change in his tone. Instead of his usual, cruel voice, it was almost... nervous.
She stopped and turned back to him.
"Yeah?" she said, rubbing her arm with her hand uneasily.
"You're a girl, right?"
Keiyma blushed.
"Do you really need to ask?"
"No, I just… Keiyma, this is serious."
"What's wrong?"
"You know what I said yesterday, about how we both faced out fears?"
Keiyma's pulse quickened.
"Yes."
"I didn't tell you what my fear was. I wasn't ready to let it out yet, but I've thought about it, and I'm going to tell you." took a deep breath.
It was clear to her that this was a very rare occurrence, and very few–if any–had seen such feelings from Hiei.
"My greatest fear was to feel affection for someone." He looked down to avoid whatever look she would give him.
Outside, Keiyma was only giving a blank stare, but, inside, her breath had caught in her chest.
Kurama was right. Hiei's fear was to love.
The ferocious fire demon is experiencing the most genuine and gentle feeling in the world… for her.
Can that be true? Could someone really care about her? She mentally crossed her fingers.
Keiyma looked intently upon Hiei, hoping he would sense her stare and go on. She concentrated her eyes steadily, careful not to blink, as though she believed that they could control his movement.
"I love..." he paused, taking another breath.
Keiyma's eagerness was building up inside her. It was almost unbearable.
"I love Etsu Nakamura," he said, closing his eyes in a wincing manner, as though unprepared for what could happen to him.
"W-What?"
Keiyma felt her body tense, and an enormous chill passed over her, the bitter cold burning into her. Her lower lip was quivering, ignoring her commands to stop.
"Could you just talk to her? I mean... just find out what thinks of me."
"Hiei, I'm not exactly friendly with her."
"Just try!" he begged.
His pleading eyes turned full of rage and he then pushed Keiyma roughly against the door of the house.
It was strange. Having him pressed against her like that felt… nice. But, she couldn't stand the horribly familiarity of the position and tried, unsuccessfully, to break away.
"If you tell anyone about this, and I mean ANYONE, I'll make your life a living Hell," Hiei barked, shoving even harder against her.
"I'll try Hiei," she answered very softly. "Please, get off of me."
He backed away from her and quickly disappeared. Keiyma stared blankly at where the demon had just stood. Her head began to pound with the frantic voice of her inner monologue.
Of course he loves her. She's gorgeous, wealthy, and powerful. She's not a low class mutt like I am I just thought that, maybe… maybe, there was someone who appreciates me. God, I'm such an idiot.
As her mind debated, Keiyma felt a lump start to form in her throat. It was tightening and choking her so that she couldn't breathe. She opened the door of the house and stepped in, putting the shopping bag she'd been carrying on the small coffee table by the entrance. Kurama walked over to pick it up, but paused when he saw Keiyma's face.
It was very pale, her eyes were puffy and mixed with shock, angst, and resentment. They were glazed over, showing that she was dazed and lost in her thoughts. Her lips were slightly parted, and he noted that no air seemed to pass through them.
"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked holding on to her shoulders, concerned.
Her eyes didn't focus on to him. She simply brushed passed, walking up the stairs. He stared after her, worried, but completely unsure of what to do.
Keiyma closed the door to her room and turned the lock. She finally felt able to breath, and gasped for the air. After the first fresh gulp of oxygen, her breathing became quick and ragged, choked in sobs. She then looked up, breathing easily, as though time was suddenly stopped.
Wait... why am I so upset by this? So, the world's dealt me a bad hand, am I just going to let that take over me? No, I won't just give in. I refuse to accept this. I refuse to lose. I will thrive and be strong. I will fight. I will prove myself.
No more tears…
Keiyma took a deep breath and laughed a little. Her expression seemed determined, but traces of sadness still blemished her face.
She ran her fingers through her long hair and unlocked the door, opening it to find Kurama pacing in front of her. He looked up, mildly embarrassed.
"Is everything–"he began, tilting his head to the side. Keiyma cut him off before he could finish.
"You ask that a lot, you know," she said, smiling. "Everything's great," she added, a smirk appearing. "I'm ready."
"Ready for what?" Kurama yelled out as the girl ran down the steps and out the door.
She didn't respond, but he was sure she had heard him.
O—o—O—o—O—o—O—o—O
Keiyma walked behind Genkai, Yusuke, and Etsu, careful not to reveal her position. Genkai and Yusuke were closest to her, in discussion, and Etsu was somewhere up ahead.
Keiyma's mind was swarming with an aggressive thirst for power. She didn't depart from her thoughts until she heard her name spoken amongst the conversation in front of her.
"Honestly, I think Keiyma needs to chill." It was Yusuke's voice. "She has a break down every five minutes. I mean, I didn't exactly grow up in a dream situation, either, but I don't lock myself in my room, pouting, all the time."
"You really are an idiot, you know." Genkai replied, shaking her head.
"Damn it, what did I do know?" he asked angrily.
"Obviously, your awareness isn't nearly as strong as I thought it was."
"What do you mean?"
Genkai smirked.
"It's not wise to insult people standing behind you," she said, watching in humor as he quickly jumped and spun around to face Keiyma.
"Why, hello there, Yusuke!" Keiyma said in a cheery manner.
"Keiyma! Yeah... I knew you were there the whole time. You see, I was just... uhmm... joking around?" he said nervously, adding an uneasy chuckle.
"Mmhmm. Of course," she said, adding a little nod to mock him. Yusuke blushed with embarrassment.
"Well, what are you following us for anyway?" he asked irritably.
Keiyma crossed her arms over her chest.
"Just looking for a place to train, if that's all right."
"No, it's not, now go home," said Yusuke stubbornly, sticking out his tongue at her.
"I wasn't asking you. I was asking Genkai." She turned to face the old woman.
"Very well. I'll get you situated once we arrive."
Keiyma nodded her thanks and turned to face Yusuke's sudden outburst.
"Hey Suriei! I'll race you the rest of the way!"
"You're on!"
They both began running at top speed toward Genkai's temple.
O—o—O—o—O—o—O—o—O
Keiyma came to a stop at the stone building, panting, and glaring at Yusuke, who was peacefully leaning against the wall.
"Oh, is that you Keiyma! Why, I haven't seen you in ages! So what have you been up to, besides EATING MY DUST?" he said to her, laughing like a maniac.
"Shut up. You cheated anyway." Keiyma growled.
"It's not my fault you're so slow."
"YOU PUSHED ME INTO A QUARRY!"
"You should have been more alert!" he said, smirking as her face fumed. "Don't worry," He gave her a reassuring smile. "you would have lost anyway!" He started laughing again.
Keiyma cussed viciously, leaving a shocked Yusuke.
"Where did that come from?"
She shrugged.
"Talk about a personality change…"
Keiyma didn't want to say anything. Luckily, she didn't have to, because Genkai arrived and told Yusuke to cut the chitchat and start training Etsu.
"Well, where is she then?" he asked, tapping his foot impatiently.
"I'm... here," came a shrill voice full of deep, gasping breaths. They looked over to see Etsu running frantically–and rather pitifully–towards them.
Yusuke sighed at the sight of his newly found student and gave Genkai a pleading look, which was replied to without a single ounce of sympathy.
"Well, come on," he groaned, pulling the dippy girl inside the temple, looking very annoyed with the whole ordeal.
"Where do you want to begin?" said Genkai, causing Keiyma to turn her attention to the woman.
"I need a weapon. I was thinking maybe something like Kuwabara's spirit sword."
"Well," Genkai began, chuckling. "you can try to create one. Just don't be surprised if you're spirit energy can't handle it."
"I'll deal with that if it happens. Now, how do I make one?"
"Usually, such a spirit weapon is produced when a person experiences a large amount of danger. You can also try to focus all of your energy into creating a weapon. This is you best bet, but it will leave you exhausted afterward if you're successful."
"Nothing left but to do it." Keiyma rolled up her sleeves.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating her mind. She tried to picture a sword, its texture, its weight, its strength, envisioning holding it within her hands. She focused and tensed all the muscles in her body, yelling out as loud as she could.
Keiyma peeked open her eyes to see what she hoped was a newly formed sword.
Her hands were empty.
She scoffed at her own failure and then closed her eyes to try again.
"There's really no point." Genkai's voice rang, causing Keiyma to reopen her eyes a second time.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't sense enough spirit energy within you. No matter how hard you push yourself, you'll be incapable of creating a weapon."
"You can sense spirit energy?"
"Not everyone can, it's an acquired skill."
"So, that's how you can tell Etsu is so powerful?"
"Yes and no. I sense absolutely no spirit energy in Etsu. It is believed that the Jaganshi who hid her also used a spell to mask her power, so that foul demons wouldn't be able to find her."
"I see." Keiyma said, bowing her head down.
"Why don't you go into one of the rooms inside to train? I doubt I can really help you, but you're welcome to use the equipment I have."
"All right. Thank you"
O—o—O—o—O—o—O—o—O
Keiyma walked up the steps and through the door, passing through a long hallway. She glanced in the rooms for one that appealed to her, finally deciding on an area with a punching bag and several weights spread out.
She stretched and walked inside, picking up a medium sized weight. She began doing reps, but stopped when Yusuke's voice echoed through the building.
"Can't you do ANYTHING?"
Keiyma put down the weight and followed the sound. She looked in to see Yusuke trying to pull out his hair and Etsu sitting down on the ground frowning.
"You know, for a natural born fighter, you're a REALLY slow learner."
"Hey! This stuff is hard, okay?" she whined.
"You were supposed to use your energy to hit me, not poke me!"
"I WAS hitting you! You're just too strong to feel it."
Keiyma smirked at the disgraceful scene that was taking place before her. It's not that she wouldn't enjoy watching Etsu fail, but she decided she had better go back to the room and train further.
No point in standing around waiting while everyone else gets stronger. I promised to fight and I will. I'll become just as powerful as them! Then nobody will look down on me.
Keiyma went back inside the room, but instead of heading toward the weights, she went to the punching bag. She concentrated and drew back her arm, driving her fist as hard as she could into the bag. She pulled it back and pounded again with her other fist, repeating over and over again. Motivated by all her failures, she began a flurry of non-stop punching fury.