Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do not own the music. I do own Angela.
Legend:
Music
Noise
-Telepathy-
-Thought-
/Flashbacks/
/Visions/Dreams/
Chapter Ten
Kurama was right, the next day was just as long and hard as the day before. Angela spent most of the day relearning how to control fire. Luckily a lighter had come with her into the dream world. After finding how her power had changed she was able to adapt more quickly than yesterday, so by the time Hiei called it a day, she was able to form a ball of fire in her hands without needing the lighter to start the fire. The next day she focused on creating a ball of energy with her powers. Hiei then taught her how to move the ball. After several hours, and with much concentration, she was able to move the ball around her garden in varying speeds.
Hiei nodded. "Good, now tomorrow we begin the hard stuff. You'll learn how to attack with your powers." He was right. The next day was hard. Even after eight hours, the only thing she could do was hit Hiei with two or three fire balls before he got close enough to attack.
"In a few more days, you should be able to attack several times with your energy balls, or one time with a super energy ball," he said before she woke up.
"A super ball?" she asked.
"Yes, you put all your power into one attack," Hiei explained.
When she woke up, Hiei was already gone and Kurama was there with food. "Why is it that he leaves before I wake up?" she asked.
Kurama shrugged. "I couldn't say."
"And why is it that you're always here when I wake up?" she asked slyly.
Kurama paused for a second. When he spoke his voice was quiet. "Because I care."
Angela stared at Kurama, looking into his eyes. She had expected his answer to be playful, not serious. She dared reading his feelings. What she found made her lean forward and lightly kiss him. He paused before he kissed her back.
They stayed like that for a few more seconds before Kurama broke the kiss. "Uh...you should eat then go to bed. After all, you're still training, tomorrow," he said then quickly left, a confused look on his face.
Angela watched him go, an equally confused look on her face. -What just happened?- she thought. -Why did I do that?-
Kurama rode the train home in silence, deep in thought. -Why did I do that?- he asked himself. He knew he had been developing feelings for her, but he had planned not to do anything about it, not now at least. He wanted to see what Yusuke and Hiei would do before he made his move. He also wanted to wait until after this problem with the shadow creatures was resolved and she had her life back. -What happens now? Do I tell her that what happened was an accident, that it never should have happened? And what about Yusuke and Hiei? What will they think?- Kurama shook his head, not wanting to think about how Yusuke or Hiei would react. -I'll tell them both, and Angela, that it was an accident.-
Angela tossed and turned that night, constantly thinking about the kiss. -Why did I do that? Do I have feelings for him? And what will Hiei and Yusuke think?- she worried. -Wait...why do I care what Hiei or Yusuke will think? Do I have feelings for them too?- She thought about the three men. Kurama was nice to talk to when he wasn't treating her like porcelain, and he had good looks. Yes, she was attracted to him, but was it more than attraction? And what about Yusuke? He wasn't a bad looker either, and he was fun to be around, she could share dirty jokes with him that she doubted the other two men would enjoy. As she thought more about him, she found that she liked him as a friend, mostly, but if he asked her out she wouldn't say no. And as for Hiei...-What do I feel about Hiei?- She thought long and hard, but only came up with a confused bundle of feelings. He was distant and sometimes cold, but he had a reason. He was a hard teacher, but he was like that to help her. He had saved her twice, three times if she counted him helping Kurama with CPR. He was sometimes rude and threatening, but mostly just quiet and reserved. -What do I feel about Hiei?- she asked herself again, falling to sleep.
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The next day, Hiei reprimanded her several times about her performance.
"Where the hell is your head!" he barked, as Angela again missed hitting him, even though he was going slow. Angela was having trouble concentrating, she kept worrying about the kiss and all that she thought about last night.
Finally Hiei stopped, growling, "This is pointless! We'll stop for today, but tomorrow you had better get it together!" He turned around, about to exit her subconciousness.
"Wait Hiei!" Angela called. Hiei paused. "I have something I need to tell you..." she began. Hiei turned around. "I...I kissed Kurama yesterday."
Hiei's eyes went cold. "And you're telling me this because..." he asked coldly after a few seconds.
Angela figdeted but answered, "I thought about it last night, then I asked myself what you and Yusuke would think...Then I wondered why I would care what you would think..." Hiei just stared at her. "Well, I thought about how I felt about you three. I found that yes I was attracted to Kurama, but I don't think it's anything more than that. I felt friendship with Yusuke, but if he asked me out I wouldn't say no..." Hiei just continued to stare. "But when I thought about you, I couldn't come up with a straight answer. I do know I like you and I do wan't to get to know you better, but I don't know how to get you to open up to me..."
"Hn," Hiei said.
Angela had had it. "Dammit! I tell you how I feel, I tell you that I care what you think, that I want to get to know you better and all you say is 'hn'! Fine! Just forget everything I said! Tomorrow I'll have it together, and we'll train! Once we beat this demon you can do whatever the hell you want to! Go away or stay, just don't talk to me again!" Then she woke up. This time Hiei hadn't had the time to leave. Angela saw him, stood up and stormed out.
Yusuke saw her storm into the woods. He thought about calling out to her, and offering to go with her, but the look on her face stopped any call or offer. -Shit! That glare could turn any man to stone!- He saw Hiei exit the room he and Angela had been training in. "Shit Hiei. What did you do? She looked ready to kill someone," Yusuke said, pointing a thumb in the direction Angela went. "As Genkai said, you sure have a way with women," Yusuke snickered, calling up an old memory. Hiei glared at him. Yusuke put his hand behind his head and gave a goofy grin. "Man, you and Angela have a similar glare at the moment." Hiei just 'hn'd an ran into the woods, away from the direction Angela took.
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Hiei sat in one of his favorite trees, thinking. -What was I supposed to say! That I don't know how I feel, that I am as confused as she is?- He thought some more, his eyes narrowing as certain thoughts passed through his mind, eyes widening as other thoughts passed. He stayed like that for half an hour before he decided to seek Angela out. He thought he knew where she'd be.
He found her in her garden, turning various flowers different colors. He was about to step into the garden, when he noticed that she was crying, and the color that she was changing the flowers to was dark blue.
She was talking to herself. "Stupid of me to think that he'd have feelings for me. Yet why is it that I have the most feelings for him when I could have Kurama or Yusuke? Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she cried. "My mom said I had bad taste in men. I thought I had learned my lesson with Arron, that bastard. But no, I still go for the bad ass types and still get my heart broken!" She cried some more, the flower in her hand wilting.
Hiei decided against talking to her. He disappeared into the trees.
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Kurama entered the shrine, ready to tell Yusuke and Hiei, and talk to Angela. He found Yusuke training with part of the DT gang; Chu and Touya weren't there.
"Oy, hiya Kurama!" Jin said.
"When did you all get back?" Kurama asked.
"Oh, a bit ago," Jin replied before he went back to sparing with Yusuke.
"Two hours ago," Rinku said.
"Oh, thank you Rinku," Kurama thanked the child-like demon, then he turned to Yusuke, "Yusuke, I need to talk to you and Hiei when Hiei's done training Angela for the day."
Yusuke paused. "They're already done. I think Hiei pissed Angela off and she went storming into the woods and Hiei stormed into the woods the opposite direction."
-Did she tell him? And what did he do to make her angry?- Kurama thought, worried. He looked at Yusuke. "Well, then, I guess I'll be talking to you alone."
They walked into one of the empty rooms. "Yusuke, I have something to say," Kurama started. "Angela and I kissed yesterday." Kurama looked at Yusuke, watching for how he'd react.
Yusuke just stared at the red head for a minute, thinking, -Why is he telling me this? Is it because he knows I might have feelings for Angela. Hell, of course he knows, he's pretty perceptive.-
"What are you thinking?" Kurama asked.
"Well, I guess I'm not sure, I know I have feelings for her, but it's her choice, it's not like I have dibs on her or anything," Yusuke said, shrugging.
Kurama sighed. "I wasn't sure how you'd react, but I believe that it was a mistake. I have feelings for her too, but I wanted to see what you or Hiei would do first."
"So Hiei does have feelings for her," Yusuke said, voicing his suspicion.
"I believe so, and I fear the reason he and Angela were angry today may be because she told him and he didn't take it too well." Kurama sighed.
Yusuke shrugged again. "Only one way to find out. Ask them when they get back."
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Angela returned later that night, and Hiei didn't return at all.
Kurama pulled Angela into a vacant room. "What happened today with Hiei?" he asked softly.
Angela blew up at him. "It doesn't matter, I never want to talk about that asshole again. Once we're through with training and with this demon, I never want to see, talk about or hear from him again!" She stormed out of the room and went to her bedroom, leaving a stunned Kurama behind.
When he went back into the big room, the DT gang and Yusuke looked at him. "Wowee, the lass's gotta good pair o' lungs on her, I tell ya that fer sure," Jin said. The others nodded in agreement.
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The next day in training, Angela showed Hiei that she had gotten her stuff together. She pounded him with everything she had. Hiei had to speed up to avoid getting hit. -She's still pissed it seems.- He barely dodged a super fire energy ball, it clipped him on the left ankle. The smell of singed clothing wafted up to his nose. He smirked. -If I wasn't a fire demon, that would have hurt.- "Good Angela, you're getting better," he complimented.
Angela just glared at him as she attacked him with a barrage of small earth energy balls. As he kept dodging, Angela grew even more pissed. -That bastard's dodging is getting annoying!- She thought, gritting her teeth against a frustrated scream. She thought hard about how to slow him down. An idea came to her, and she smirked. She thought -That'll do quite nicely.- She concentrated hard as she threw two energy balls to Hiei's left, making him dodge right. All of a sudden several vines shot forth from the ground to ensnare him. Hiei saw the vines and disappeared. "What?" Angela asked in shock.
"Hn, nice try, but remember, I've been holding back my speed," Hiei said, behind her. She whirled around, readying an energy ball. Hiei disappeared again, and reappeared on the other side of the garden. "Enough," he ordered. "We'll train some more tomorrow, then tomorrow night we attack the demon."
When she woke up, Hiei was gone. "Good riddance!" she huffed.
Kurama walked in. "Angela, I've been meaning to speak to you about the other day," he said, sitting in front of her.
"I think it was a mistake," Angela said in a rush, turning her face away.
Kurama raised his eyebrows. "That's what I was about to say."
"I know," she said, admiting to using her empathic ability on him.
They sat there in silence for a moment. Angela sighed. "I feel attracted to you, but I don't think it's anymore than attraction at this moment. Maybe after awhile, but not now. I'm sorry for kissing you." She quickly stood up and left.
Kurama sat there, his emotions confused. He finally sighed. "I guess it's for the best."
Angela walked into the big room. Shishi and Suzuka were in there talking, Shishi in a human form. When Shishi saw Angela he made a mistake. "Hello miss moody," he said. Angela shot him the scariest look he had yet to see directed at him. "Uh...uh..." he stuttered as she stalked towards him. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground across the room, his nose bloody.
Suzuka stood there awed at the girl's punch. "But I thought Angels were peaceful!" he exclaimed.
She glared at him. "I might be an Angel, but I was raised in the 20th century," she growled as she stalked out.
"What does the 20th century have to do with fighting?" Suzuka wondered.
"Uh, a li'l 'elp 'ere?" Shishi asked, holding his nose.
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Training the next day was even more harsh, for both participants. Hiei decided it was time to not go easy on her, and for some reason Angela was fighting him like she was intent on killing him. Angela threw energy ball after energy ball at him, hitting him a few times, she had even managed to get an energy ball to lock onto him and he ran around for a few seconds before he turned and took it on his left arm. Hiei would dodge the energy balls and get in close to her to give a few 'light' punches. At the end of the session, Angela had several bruises and Hiei had lost his shirt to a super blast and had a few scrapes. "Good. Tonight we fight in the real dream world," he said at the end.
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That night, Angela went to the big room where Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei waited for her. Hiei motioned for her to lay down on the bed mat in the middle of the room. Hiei sat at her head, like he did when they trained. Kurama leaned down and gave Angela a glass of tea. "This one will make you fall asleep, but it won't fend off dreams. Be careful," he said to her as she downed the tea.
She sat the cup down and laid down, saying. "Don't worry, I will be."
/She was standing in an abandoned maze that she often visited when the fair came. This time, the glass was missing and all that was left were the frames and hanging plastic. A breeze ruffled the plastic. She turned around. There was Hiei.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Now you find the anchors," he replied.
"How?"
"You can sense them. Use your empathic ability to sense the wrongness of your dreams," was his answer.
"But you never taught me-" she began.
Hiei cut her off, "Hn, the only thing that doesn't change in your dreams are you psychic abilities. Now, find the anchors."
She stood still, sensing the vibrations around her. She sensed memories that this place held, of when she was a child and had gotten lost in a big maze, how she cried in a corner until one of the fair workers came in and led her out. She paused. There. There was a tiny thread of evil. She pointed, saying, "There, something evil is in that direction."
They walked through the abandoned fair ground. Past decrepit fun houses, broken down roller coasters, a leaning ferris wheel, and other things. Finally Angela stopped in front of a haunted house. "In there. Funny that the evil anchor would be in a haunted house. Couldn't think of a more cliche hiding place for evil," she joked, hiding her fear.
As they walked through the haunted house, they found that this attraction was still fully operational. If it wasn't for Hiei being at her side, she would have run out. She never was one for haunted houses, had never been in one, and her subconcious had picked out all of the things she feared and had heard about being in haunted houses. Ghosts flew around graveyards, mummys popped out of sarcophaguses, vampires dropped out of the ceiling, bloody zombies popped out of holes and doorways. There were chainsaws, sparks, loud horns, and little dolls with knives. Bloody clowns with evil grins would run from shadow to shadow. Finally they reached the end. There it was, a hideous black stereotypical goblin.
"This is the anchor?" she asked.
"Hn, what did you expect? A real anchor?" he asked sarcastically. She didn't reply. "It's a copy of the real demon," he explained.
"Well...what do I do now?" she asked, staring at the demon. It stared back at her.
"Kill it of course," Hiei said, taking his sword out. "I'll watch your back, the real demon might attack when it feels it's anchor die."
Angela concentrated her energy and sent a barrage of small balls at the thing. It screeched and tried to run, but she had aimed the barrage so that no matter which way he tried to dodge, he'd still be hit. It gave one final shriek as it dissipated.
"One down, how many to go?" she asked Hiei as the dream scape changed. "Where are we going?" she asked, watching as they seemed to speed through the world to some unknown destination.
"Your mind is automaticaly taking you to the areas where the anchors are," he explained.
Now they were standing on top of a house in a large canyon. Around them were a handful of other large houses scattered through out the canyon.
"Uh oh." Angela said. Hiei looked at her. "Um, in this nightmare, a volcano is about to errupt," she explained as she turned and pointed to the peak of a small mountain not too far off. "D'ya think we entered a 'race against the clock' dream scape?"
"Hn, I don't want to find out so hurry," Hiei replied.
Angela concentrated and easily found the evil anchor. "Well, just our luck, it's in that direction," she said sarcastically and pointed to the mountain.
"Hn," Hiei replied, glaring at the mountain. All of a sudden Hiei picked Angela up and ran in the direction she pointed. Soon they were in front of the anchor, however the real demon was there too. Hiei dropped Angela and pulled his sword out again. "Hurry and kill it!"
She started throwing energy balls at the anchor but it was too fast. The real demon charged at her but Hiei intervened and pushed it back. Angela did her vine trick again, this time it worked since the anchor wasn't as fast as Hiei. It shreiked as she hit it with a medium energy ball. The demon disappeared calling "I still have one left, and it's twice as strong as these two!"
"Hn, idiot," Hiei said as the dream scape started to change.
Angela glared at him,"Excuse me!"
Hiei sighed, "Not you, the demon."
"How so?"
"It said that there was only one more before we could defeat him. Meaning you don't have to hold back so much on your power as you destroy the next anchor," he explained.
The scene changed to a city of skyscrapers. The one in front of them was the tallest. It had a glass elevator that ran on the outside in the front.
"Oh shit...not this one..." Angela whinned. "I'm terrified of elevators and stairs, not to mention skyscrapers." She paused. "And the damn thing's at the top!"
"Hn, so do we take the stairs or the elevator?" Hiei asked.
She stood there for a second. "Well, the stairs end up like Escher's Relativity, and the elevator goes up and down real fast like it's broken, and the floor's made of glass."
"Which one is the lesser of two evils?"
She sighed, resigned to her fate,"Actually, the elevator is the only option, 'cuz it's the only one that goes to the 99th floor. In fact, that's the only floor it goes to." They stepped into the elevator, and sure enough, the moment the doors closed, it was zipping up and down. "Hold onto the railing!" Angela shouted above the rattling noise the elevator was making, "If you hit the roof or ceiling, you'll fly out!"
After a few hair raising minutes, the elevator abruptly halted at the top floor. Inside Hiei and Angela wobbled for a second due to the abrupt cease of motion. Once Hiei steadied, he noticed he was still wobbling. "Oh, and the building wobbles, just stay away from the windows," she explained nervously.
It wasn't hard to spot the anchor because the whole floor was one room. They found it in the middle. It backed up, hissing. Angela gathered energy in both of her palms and was about to fire, when the demon materialized in front of her. Hiei grabbed her hands. "No! Remember, you can't kill the demon unless all the anchors are destroyed!" he shouted in warning.
"Then how are we going to get the last anchor if he's in the way!" she griped.
Hiei turned to the demon, growling "I'll handle him." Hiei rushed the demon and started fighting it. "Now!" he yelled.
Angela ran around Hiei and the demon, energy ball ready. She blasted the anchor, it screamed, but it survived. "Damn!" Angela blasted again, using more power. This time the anchor died.
The demon shreiked "You BITCH!" It jumped past Hiei and punched Angela, sending her flying into a corner. Hiei appeared beside her. He looked her over. She was 'unconcious'. The dream paused./
Hiei surprised Yusuke and Kurama by talking in his sleep. "When I say 'now', be ready to attack."
/Angela 'woke up' and the dream resumed. The demon was charging her and Hiei. Hiei glared at it, all three eyes glowing. "Angela, are you ready?" he asked in front of her and the demon. Angela nodded, gathering up all of her power into one super ball. "Now!" Hiei shouted.../
"Now!" Hiei shouted. Kurama readied his whip while Yusuke readied his spirit gun.
/Hiei jumped at the demon slicing it in half. As Hiei expected, the demon started to heal, but as he was distracted, Angela blasted him. The demon shreiked again, "BITCH!"/
The demon materialized above Angela, he looked around then at Angela. He dove for the girl, claws extended.
Yusuke pointed his finger. "Spirit-!" A hand grabbed him from behind and something jumped past him toward the demon.
"Spirit Sword!" Kuwabara shouted, materializing a sword out of his hand.
"Rose Whip!" Kurama shouted, lashing his whip at the demon.
The demon found himself attacked simultaneously by the spirit sword and the whip. It shrieked as it disolved into thin air. "Did we get it?" Kuwabara asked.
"You idiot!" Yusuke shouted at him. "Why'd you stop me!"
"I didn't want the house to be blown apart, you idiot!" Kuwabara shouted back, grabbing Yusuke into a choke hold. While they were fighting, Hiei and Angela woke up.
Kurama bent down. "Are you two alright?"
"Hn," Hiei nodded.
"Yeah, though I feel exhausted," Angela replied.
"You used all of your energy. It's expected," Hiei said.
Angela looked at Hiei, then looked away. -Is he actually being nice?- Angela thought.
Kurama saw the look Angela gave Hiei. He smiled. -Maybe things between them will be resolved after all.- He thought.
Hiei also saw the look Angela had given him, and he gave her a look in return. -What do I feel about her?- he asked himself. He stood up, ready to leave.
"Well," Kurama said. "I think it's safe for you to go to bed now."
"Sure," Angela said, standing up. She wobbled and about fell, but Hiei caught her. They looked at each other, then Hiei quickly steadied her and left. Angela watched him go, a puzzled look on her face, then she turned to Kurama. "Could you make sure I get to my room without falling over?" she asked, smiling.
Kurama smiled in return. "Sure."