Not Your Usual Christmas Carol
By
Naoko Youko
Kuronue, the infamous bat demon thief and controller of darkness, had died eighteen years before our story begins. This must be understood, or this story will make even less sense to you than it surely will. The purpose of this tale is to teach a lesson, not give you, the reader, a headache. It was early night on an average Christmas Eve for Jaganshi Hiei—walking down the street, he took every opportunity to annoy people, especially people named Kaname 'Sniper' Hagiri, an eighteen-year-old human with raspberry-colored eyes and raven black hair.
"Hi, Hiei-kun." Sniper said with a friendly wave.
"Hn." The crimson-eyed fire demon responded, sticking out his foot to trip Sniper as he walked by.
"What the-!" Splat. Sniper tripped and fell into a conveniently placed snowbank. "What the hell was that for! I swear, you'll…uh…" For lack of a clever insult, Sniper half yelled, "…Karma's going to get you back one of these days, Hiei!"
"Heh," Hiei laughed to himself, saying, "I don't believe in karma and I don't believe in fate. What I believe in even less is you ever retaliating against me." After a little more walking, Hiei saw Naoko Youko, half-sister to Youko Kurama; the only person Hiei could even consider a friend.
"Hi, Hiei-sama!" the green-haired girl said with a smile, using the honorific she always put on the end of his name to express extreme respect.
"Hn." The fire demon gave her his usual monosyllabic answer. Still smiling, the earth demon watched him with cinnamon colored eyes.
"How're you doing?" she asked in a friendly tone. He merely glanced over at her uncaringly.
"Fine. Why?"
"I, uh…was just wondering…" Naoko answered quietly, starting to look a little upset.
"Hn. Whatever." Hiei hadn't stopped walking, and Naoko finally stopped trying to keep up with him.
"…I'll…see you later, Hiei-sama." She said in a soft voice, almost entirely to herself.
Soon, Hiei arrived at his small house by the ice-cold ocean and walked inside. It was almost as cold inside as it was outside, only without that pesky wind chill factor.
"Hm…" he said under his breath. "Well, this is pleasant." For some reason no one would ever understand, Hiei seemed to enjoy being alone.
Later that night…
Hiei was outside, asleep in a tree as a light snow fell around him. Another thing about Hiei no one really understood was why on earth he spent all of his time outside, not that it mattered all that much. Anyway, there was a voice from right next to Hiei…a strange thing, since there was nothing on that side of him but open air.
"Hey, kid… helloooo? HEY, IDIOT, WAKE UP!"
"What-!" Hiei jumped a mile in the air, falling out of the tree. He got up and dusted the snow out of his jet-black hair, looking around. "Who's the stupid bastard that tried to sneak up on me?"
"That would be me." Hiei turned around to the source of the arrogant-sounding voice to find someone standing there—someone with pointed ears, batlike wings, and indigo eyes, with his raven-black hair tied in a ponytail that almost reached his waist. He smirked, revealing inch long vampiric fangs. The strangest thing about his appearance, however, was the fact that he was semitransparent…in other words: Hiei could, in the most literal sense, see straight through him. "Hey, kid." He said casually.
"Wh-who the hell are you?" Hiei half yelled, shocked.
"Oh, right," the transparent bat demon replied in a tone that almost suggested he had forgotten something, "I guess I should tell you what I came here to tell you. My name's Kuronue, and I'm here to convince you that you've been more of a jerk than I ever have. And that's saying a lot."
"Wh- wait a second, did Sniper put you up to this!"
"Hm? Oh, not a chance. I can't stand that guy. Besides, there's no chance I'd ever work for anyone but myself." Hiei walked over and poked Kuronue in the shoulder, his hand going right through the taller bandit. "ACK-! Hey, what was that for!"
"Just trying to make sure I'm not still asleep." Kuronue whacked him in the head. "OUCH! Hey, wait, if you're transparent, then you should be intangible, too! How'd you do that!"
"Plot device, Hiei. Plot device."
"S-so what do you want!"
"Didn't you hear me? I told you a little more than a paragraph's worth of sentences ago."
"What, that bit about me being more of a jerk than you?" Hiei asked.
"Yeah," the semitransparent bat demon responded. "I'm here to try and get you to be less of an idiotic jerk." Hiei stared at him, still not quite comprehending what was going on.
"How do you intend to do that?" he asked skeptically.
"Oh, it'll be easy. I'll just use my mystic, otherworldly powers to show you a few visions, so to speak, of what's happening and what will happen if you don't stop being a compete moron."
"…Has anyone ever told you you're completely insane?"
"Oh, yeah. But I'm not as crazy as some people say I am." Kuronue replied with a smirk that showed off inch long vampiric fangs.
"Whatever. There's nothing anyone can do or say to get me to change the way I am."
"I wouldn't bet on that just yet."
"Whatever."
"Now," Kuronue said to himself, "where to start…? Oh, I know." He snapped his fingers casually and both of them suddenly vanished, rematerializing in a completely different place.
"Where…Where the hell are we?" Hiei asked, looking around. They were standing in a slightly familiar house that definitely wasn't Hiei's.
"Kurama's house. He's not here at the moment, though."
"Then why are we-" Hiei stopped talking abruptly, hearing a woman's voice coming from down the hall. "…Is that Naoko?"
"Well, duh. She lives here too, idiot. Why don't you see what she's doing?"
"Why should I?"
"First: Because I'm telling you to, and second: Because she can't see or hear either of us. She doesn't even have to know you're there."
"Hn. Fine, if it'll get you to leave me alone." Hiei walked into the room down the hall, finding Naoko sitting at a desk in her candlelit room. Her head was resting against her hand, and it looked like she was…crying?
"…Damn it, I hate him…" she said under her breath in a voice full of pain and spite, "He just doesn't get it, does he…? He'll never see how I really feel about him, and I'll just be alone for the rest of my life…" In a lightning fast motion, her hand went to a framed picture nearby and slammed it facedown so she wouldn't have to look at it. "He's never going to understand what I think of him…it's hopeless." With that, Naoko walked out, going right past Hiei like he was invisible.
"What's she talking about?" Hiei asked. Kuronue, leaning against a nearby wall, answered,
"Sixteen years ago, Naoko's heart was broken when someone she loved died in an accident of sorts. Now, she's afraid that she'll forever love the one person that she believes hates her."
"…And who would that be?"
"You, idiot." Hiei stared at Kuronue in shock.
"Are you saying that Naoko…"
"Yeah."
"And she…thinks I hate her?"
"Like you don't? You're always colder than ice around her, so how is she supposed to know what you really think about her, whether you regard her as nothing more than a friend or simply the sister of an acquaintance."
"…You're right, I guess." Hiei answered calmly. "But what exactly happened sixteen years ago?"
"Like I said, someone Naoko cared about died in an accident. She still thinks it was her fault when really, it wasn't." The indigo-eyed demon glanced over at the picture Naoko couldn't stand to look at anymore. "That's his picture over there. It hurts her to even look at it, from what I understand."
"Yeah, that was…obvious."
"Come on, there's something else I'd like to show you, as well." In a split second, they were somewhere else.
"Now where are we?" The two of them were standing in another house, but Hiei had never seen it before.
"We're at the one place I would prefer not to be. Naoko's closest—and really, only—friend lives here. His name is Kaname Hagiri, but I believe you know him as Sniper." With flawless timing, the psychic sharpshooter walked in, still brushing snow off his light red jacket.
"Hiei's a total jerk…" the raspberry-eyed teenager said to himself. "I mean, what the hell did I ever do to him? It's probably because I'm human and he's a demon…Still, what a total moron."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Hiei snapped back, forgetting for a moment that Sniper couldn't hear him.
"Oh, calm down, Hiei." Kuronue said. "I hate to say it, but he's got a point. You are a total jerk to him for no reason."
"Well…what about you, hypocrite! You said you couldn't stand him, either."
"Unlike you, I have a valid reason. Nothing I feel I should tell you, however."
"Hn. Whatever. Why are we here, aside from hearing this idiot insult me behind my back?"
"You'll see. Just wait about three seconds." Exactly three seconds after Kuronue said that, there was a light knock on the door. Sniper answered it, finding Naoko standing in front of him.
"Oh, hi, Midori," he said, using the nickname he always referred to her by. "What brings you here all of a—Midori!" She had interrupted him by walking in, shutting the door, and throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Wh-what's wrong?" Sniper asked, shocked.
"It's…I just…" Naoko was stammering, trying to form a coherent sentence as Kuronue stared at Sniper with ice-cold envy in his indigo eyes.
"Something wrong?" Hiei asked.
"No, it's nothing." Kuronue answered shortly, that coldness not leaving his eyes for a second.
"It's okay, Naoko," Sniper said quietly, trying to sound reassuring. "Just tell me what's going on." The earth demon sat down in a nearby chair, eyes downcast, and said,
"I…needed to talk to someone. My elder brother's not around right now, and I don't think there's really anyone else I know I can trust, Kaname." She said in a shaking voice, using his first name because she was the only one close enough to him to do so and not tick the black-haired human off.
"Well, what's going on?" Sniper asked, looking concerned.
"It's just…Hiei-sama's being a complete idiot. Th-there's something important I wanted to tell him today, but he was even colder than usual…I couldn't."
"Yeah, he seems to excel at being evil today." Naoko was silent, her shoulders shaking just slightly.
"I…I'm not sure what to do…"
"What was it you wanted to tell him?" Sniper asked calmly.
"…You promise not to tell anyone?"
"Of course."
"…Fine, but I'll only tell you because I trust you. I…I wanted to tell him that…that I loved him." Sniper stared at her, looking stunned for a minute.
"Wh-what? How can you…how can you love an emotionless, coldhearted bastard like him!" He seemed genuinely upset.
"I can't explain it…demons can sense it better than humans…but I just know he's not really like that. He just acts that way to stop people from getting close to him, maybe because he doesn't want to get hurt."
"…N-Naoko…"
"What is it, Kaname?" Sniper hesitated for a moment.
"…Do you think…if you told him how you felt…that you'd be happy?" Naoko thought for a moment.
"…I hope so…at the very least, I wouldn't have to hide it anymore…"
" 'Anymore'! How long has this been…How long have you felt like this…!" Naoko mumbled a soft, hesitant reply. "What'd you say, Naoko?" Sniper asked.
"A-about a month…" Hiei stared at Naoko, stunned. All this time, he had no idea… Kuronue glanced over at Hiei, the cold jealousy in his eyes fading.
"You were totally oblivious, weren't you, kid?"
"Y-yeah…" Hiei said under his breath.
"A month! Are you serious…?"
"Yeah. Kaname, I don't…I don't know how to tell him." Sniper sighed, looking exasperated, and brushed a few strands of jet-black hair out of his eyes.
"Naoko… If you honestly think you can be happy after telling him your true thoughts regarding him…then do it. That's all the advice I can give you."
"…Are you saying I should just…just come right out and tell him?"
"Yeah, Midori. All I can do is wish you good luck and say that… If he ever breaks your heart, just tell me, okay? I'll always be here for you."
"Th-thanks, Kaname." Naoko responded with a smile. "I think I'll go home for a while…and see if I can tell him tomorrow morning."
"Okay, Midori. I'll see you later."
"Sayonara." With that, Naoko walked out and Sniper just stared at the closed door she had walked out of moments before.
"…Damn it…" he said under his breath. "I knew I should have told her beforehand, I just knew it. Now she's fallen for Hiei and it's too late for me to say anything."
"...Kuronue, what's he talking about?"
"You really aren't good at judging emotions, are you? Sniper's wanted for a while now to tell Naoko the same thing she wants to tell you. He just didn't know when the right time to tell her would have been."
"Are you saying that Sniper…"
"Yeah." The same cold jealousy was back in Kuronue's indigo eyes. "Naoko doesn't realize it yet, though. Now, she may never know, unless he tells her anyway." Hiei was silent, staring at the psychic sharpshooter as he kept his hawklike eyes locked on the door for a minute before walking out.
"Where's he going?"
"What, you think I know everything?" Kuronue answered. "I haven't the slightest idea, and I don't really care." Hiei almost questioned why Kuronue seemed so malicious towards Sniper, but decided against it.
"So…what now?"
"Well, Naoko's on her way home, Snipers off to wherever, and you're going to…?" He trailed off, watching Hiei expectantly and waiting for an answer.
"…I just want to go home. My plans for the immediate future are my own."
"Oh, alright, don't tell me." With an exasperated sigh, Kuronue snapped his fingers again, bringing Hiei back home. "You're visible and audible to everyone around you now, and I suppose my work is done here. Oh…one more thing."
"What?"
"When you find out about the one Naoko loved so devotedly sixteen years ago, whether she decides to tell you or if you find out on your own…you shouldn't let yourself feel jealousy or hate towards him. Take my word for it, he's not going to try and stop you from telling Naoko you love her, if that is what you intend to do."
"…Hn. I'm hardly concerned with what anyone else thinks." Kuronue smirked, laughing to himself.
"Whatever, kid. See you later." With that calm, casual phrase, he suddenly vanished.
The next morning…
Naoko was in her room, brushing her apple green hair as a gentle snow fell outside her frost-edged windows. She heard her elder brother's voice from the next room.
"Naoko, there's someone here that wants to talk to you."
"Okay, Kurama," she answered, "I'll be right there." She changed into green high top sneakers, a pair of blue jeans, a black camisole, and a gray sweatshirt that hung off her shoulders slightly. Hardly winter attire, but it was fine for a demon like her. As she checked her reflection in the mirror on her wall, there was a light knock at her bedroom door.
"One second." She walked over, opened it… and found Hiei standing in front of her. Instantly, she got nervous.
"Oh, h-hi, Hiei-sama. Wh-what're you doing here?"
"Naoko," As he walked in and shut the door behind him, he spoke in a quiet voice, nothing like the ice-cold tone he had used the night before. "There's something I'd like to tell you."
"What is it?" A light red blush was working its way across the cinnamon-eyed woman's slightly pale face. Hiei handed her a single red rose and kissed her lightly.
"I love you, Naoko." She took a step back in surprise, her face turning bright red.
"You…what?"
"You heard me." He seemed so calm, so impassive…Naoko wasn't sure what to say.
"Why…why are you saying this all of a sudden? Why not before now?"
"I wasn't sure how until last night. I'm sorry, Naoko, I've been a total idiot."
"Hiei-sama…I-I love you too…" she admitted, still blushing bright red. Hiei smirked and replied,
"I already know that." Naoko couldn't help but laugh softly.
"You just know everything, don't you?" she said in a playful tone.
"Of course." He answered with a laugh. "Naoko, would you like to go out somewhere for a while? I happen to know this excellent sushi restaurant down the street."
"I-I'd like that, Hiei-sama. Just a second." She turned around, picking up her glasses from where she had left them on her desk, and moving aside a few miscellaneous items to get a necklace she always wore, an amber-colored crystal on a black string. As she placed it around her neck, Hiei noticed something. The picture that Naoko couldn't stand to look at last night was back to a vertical base, and Hiei saw who was in it for the first time. A raven-haired, indigo-eyed demon with deathly pale skin, pointed ears, and bat wings…
Hiei would find out later that he was known to some as the greatest bandit of all time, to others he was known as the manipulator of shadows, and to a select few he was just known as…
…Kuronue.