AN: Hiya! Yep, another chappie up! And I'm also in the process of chapter 6, isn't that Kakkoi? (cool) I thought so, lol. Sorry the very beginning of this chapter is slow, also the first part is still in first person, but after that its in 3rd. Im experimenting, so be sure to tell me which way you prefer, k?
So without further ado, I give you, ladies n gents,
MidNite Wander
Chapter 5:
Manae, Taka and The Reincarnation
The next morning at 6 am, I got up quietly and packed my things. Of
course Hiei was up, I had a feeling he rarely slept. After all my
things were together I walked over Yusuke to Hiei, he was again,
looking out the window.
"Uh Hiei, I'm going to go now, I wont be back for a couple of days."
"Hn..just..be careful Kia."
He didn't look at me, though I'm sure he could see me through the
window's reflection. I smiled to myself, again not sure why.
"Well, bye for now."
After that I walked to the cabin door, looking one last time at Hiei,
before slipping out into the early morning mist.
At home it was 5 am, I figured out that our days and Hiei's days are
a day and an hour apart. My mom was just getting up when I unlocked
the back door and tried to sneak in.
"Kia? Is that you?"
One thing I didn't like about my mom was her exceptional hearing. I
must've gotten my good hearing from her.
"Yea mom, its me."
I mumbled while trying to find the switch to turn on the hallway
light. After a couple of minutes a soft glow illuminated the hallway
and my mom, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, still in her
robe.
"Wow your actually home this time."
I looked at my mom like she was on crack or something.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She chuckled before turning around and walking back to her room.
"Oh nothing, it means nothing."
I stared at where she was once standing, then getting my senses back,
went upstairs to put my bag away and getting my school bag, went back
down to the kitchen. My mom was now dressed and getting her stuff for
work ready. See my mom is an Accountant and so she always has her
briefcase with her.
At the moment she was putting papers in it.
"Hey mom, you get dressed fast, did you know that?"
She looked up at me, grinned then looked back down.
"Well obviously I need to get ready quick, if I have a daughter like
you."
Again she said something that confused me.
"Mom, wh-."
She held up her hand before I could finish.
"It doesn't mean anything, never mind it k?"
I nodded numbly, after that she went upstairs to wake my sisters.
Ray and Leigh came down about 10 minutes later, apparently surprised
to see me. My younger sister Ray, ran up to me.
"Kia! You're back!"
"Yea, I will be for 2 days, but then I have to go back to see Hiei
again."
She frowned.
"Someday, I'll bring you guys with me, don't worry."
My mom was outside getting the car turned on so Ray and her could go
to Ray's school.
Leigh and I had to stay home to wait for the bus. We went out at 7:10
am, the air was warm and there was a slight breeze.
"It's supposed to get up to 80 later."
Leigh told me as we walked to the end of the road.
"Oh yea? That's good."
We stood in silence for a moment, I could tell Leigh wanted to ask me
something.
"What is it Leigh?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh, um.I was wondering what you, er.ah! Where did you get that
cut!"
Leigh said the latter a little louder, shock and amazement on her
face. I looked down at my arm. There was a large cut about 6 inches
long going from shoulder to halfway down my upper arm. It wasn't
bleeding or anything, so I forgot to cover it up again after I
bandaged it the nite before.
Flash-Back.
Listening I heard a rustling behind me. I quickly made my Ki sword in
my hand and turned around just in time to block as a metal sword came
slashing at me. Again the sword slashed and I jumped back after
blocking. I made a startled cry and Hiei came quickly to my aid. While
Hiei went after the guy, a second person emerged from the trees behind
me. This person was a girl, she had 4 kunai in hand, then smirking,
threw all 4 at me. I dodged one, deflected a second with my sword,
dodged the third one but then got grazed by the fourth. It only grazed
my left upper arm, but it hit with enough force to disable that arm
and make a pretty decent sized cut. Then she vanished and I ran to see
how Hiei was fairing. When we got back to the cabin, after the others
went to bed, I washed and bandaged my arm before going to bed myself.
End Flash-Back.
"Oh, this ole thing? I got it in a fight, I'm alright though, don't
worry."
I saw a slight relief wash over her face. After that the bus finally
came.
"Bout time, I really need a damn car." I mumbled while getting on,
Leigh following behind.
Once at school I followed the messed up schedule we had. It was the
last 2 days of this year, so we have a different schedule the last 2
days. Normally we have 8 periods in a day, each period lasting around
42 mins. Today the schedule was 1,2,4,5. Tomorrow it will be 3,6,7,8.
Its screwed up, yeah I know.
The day went by fast for me, before I knew it, I was on the bus
heading home. Zea, my best friend, sat across from me on the bus, once
her boyfriend got off. I don't know his name.-.-;;.
"Hey Kia! We haven't talked much lately."
I looked at her, she had startled me because I was thinking about
Hiei, looking out the window.
"Yea I know, man its tough in Hi-" I stopped because I remembered she
didn't know about Hiei's world.
That day we all saw him, she kept telling herself it wasn't real, so I
let her think that.
"Whats tough in what?" She asked me while I sat thinking.
The bus stopped at Leigh and mine stop.
"Its tough to get off the bus when everyone is in the way. Gotta go
bye!"
I covered as I quickly got up and left with Leigh. Zea sat watching me
leave, confused.
"Aw man, still one more day of school left." 'I wonder what Hiei and
the others are doing.'
(AN: this is where it goes from 1st to 3rd k? k.don't forget to tell
me which way you prefer, 1st or 3rd, which ever one gets the most
votes is how the rest of the story will be written..) Hiei woke up the next morning, to find he was in a tree by cabin 2.
'Oh, today is Kia's last day of school..I wonder if she'll come later
today or tomorrow.'
With that he jumped down, went to the bathroom, ate and then went to
his training place. It was 5am as he began to mind train. He imagined
the man Kia had described to him, then fought him in his mind. The man
was tough.
'He must be tough, I have to imagine the worst possible scenario, that
way I'm not surprised.'
Hiei trained well into the afternoon. Botan went with Keiko and Yukina
to his training place. Obviously people did know about it.
"Is this the spot?" Botan asked nervously as Keiko and Yukina came up
behind her.
"Yes Botan, I believe it is."
Yukina answered
"Good, now what did Yusuke want to know again?"
Botan smiled and scratched her head nervously.
"Oh Botan, don't you ever listen? He wanted to know what Hiei was
doing out here!"
"Heh and only you would know what Yusuke wanted Keiko!"
Botan walked a little ahead, turning to face Keiko only when there was
a good distance between them.
'And what exactly is that supposed to mean Botan?"
Botan hid behind a tree, smirk on her face.
"Nothing, nothing at all Keiko-chan."
"If you two don't mind, could we please hurry? I want to go back to
the cabin."
Yukina interrupted when Keiko started to threaten Botan's existence.
They both looked at her, then bowed apologetically.
"So sorry Yukina dear. Ok girls, lets go!" Botan pointed forward and
they began to get closer to Hiei.
Hiei opened an eye, as he had heard rustling nearby, but dismissed it
as a furry animal.
'I think I will train for another hour, then go eat.'
When Botan, Keiko and Yukina reached him, he had begun to train again.
"Well it only looks like he is training." Botan whispered.
"Mind training! There's a difference you know." Keiko corrected as
they headed back to the cabins.
On their way back, a blur of black and purple passed them.
"Huh? What the heck was that?" Botan and Keiko said at the same time.
Kia hid in the trees close to Hiei. When Hiei finished training it was
around 7:30 pm. He stopped and then stretched before towards where Kia
was hiding. Before he got to her trees, a hand shot out with Ramen
already cooked in it. Hiei about jumped out of his skin.
"Hee, hungry Hiei-sama?"
Kia came out from behind the tree, holding the Ramen. He fell over
anime style.
"Kia, when you did get here?"
"About an hour ago." She said as she put the container and chopsticks
in his hands. She noticed he had some scars on his hand, then ran her
finger over one on his arm gently.
"Wow, you have a lot of scars Hiei-sama. Wanna see mine?"
She asked, without waiting fir an answer she took off her over coat
thing, to reveal the cut she got from the female ninja.
Hiei was surprised for the third time in about five minutes.
"Where did you get that from?"
Kia wrapped her over-coat around her waist before answering.
"Oh, well the day we got attacked out here, a female ninja threw kunai
at me. I dodged the first 3, but the 4th grazed me a bit."
'Wow, she's got a high tolerance to pain.' Hiei thought as they sat
down and he began to eat.
"So, how long have you been watching me?" He asked through mouthfuls
of Ramen.
Kia thought a moment, looking at her watch.
"Well I've been out her for about 45 minutes I think"
"When did you make these?" Hiei asked pointing to the Ramen.
"3 minutes ago, why? Are they cold? Do they taste bad? Are they cooked
all the way..?"
Kia had a look of terror on her face. Hiei grinned.
"No, they're fine, I was just wondering how you kept them warm and how
I didn't smell them. But you only made them 3 minutes ago, so that
explains it."
Kia smiled, visibly sighing in relief, then laid on the ground. She
looked up at the barely visible stars. It was getting dark as it
neared 8pm.
"Wow, you can see some stars already. Its not even dark yet!"
Kia pointed at some stars above her.
"Whoa, look there's the Big Dipper."
Hiei leaned towards her to see from her view, there was an opening in
the trees above her.
"Yea, and I see the North Star.." Hiei pointed a little to the left so
Kia could find it.
"Oh.I see it..cool." She had to lean a little towards Hiei to see the
North Star.
Kia sat up leaned against the tree nearest her.
"Hiei-sama, where's your trash? I'll put it in my bag.."
He pointed to the other side of where she was sitting, she leaned over
and grabbed it, stuffing the Ramen container and chopsticks in her
bag.
It was now dark enough to see enough to see more stars. Botan and
Keiko were watching from behind some trees. After Kia had sped past
them earlier, Yukina went back to the cabins, while Botan and Keiko
stayed behind to see what was going on.
"Oh darn! That was almost a romantic moment, don't you think Keiko?"
Keiko, who was looking around the forest, turned to Botan.
"Almost, but where did Hiei go? One moment he was there, and now."
Both Botan and Keiko turned slowly to look behind them.
"KYAH!"
They yelled at the same time. Kia turned to where the noise came from.
"Hiei, was that Botan and Keiko?"
He looked to Kia from where they were sitting before.
"Dunno, I didn't hear anything."
It was Kia's turn to give him a 'look'.
"Heh, you're really bad at lying, you know that right?"
He looked back to the stars.
"Hn."
Kia chuckled to herself.
"Wonder what they're doing out here.."
Shrugging to herself, she moved back to where Hiei was laying. The
nite became alive soon after, because the nite creatures started to
get active.
Botan and Keiko ran off to the cabins for fear of their lives.
"That was s-so s-scary!" Botan said, a little out of breath.
"And to think, she hangs out with him!" Keiko exasperatedly said while
sitting down.
"Don't forget, we also sleep in the same cabin as him!" Botan reminded
as they sat down on the deck of cabin 2.
"Maybe we should stay with Shiziru and Yukina tonite." Keiko
suggested, Botan nodded.
"Good idea, I always knew you were the smart one!" They hurried to
cabin1 to sleep.
Back in the forest, Kia was again laying beside Hiei, the sky was full
of stars.
"I've never seen so many stars at once. Is it always like this?"
Hiei closed his eyes a moment.
'This is just like old times. And this is the exact spot Manae and I
watched stars.' He thought before replying to Kia.
"No, not all the time, only when the sky is really clear, like
tonite."
Kia nodded in reply, not that he saw her.
"How long have you been training today?" She looked at him, then
turned on her side, facing him. They were laying in the grass, which
was lush, or was until they sat on it.
"I was up and training at 5 this morning."
Kia's eyes got bigger for a second, before she took on a calculating
look.
"Wow, you trained for 14 ½ hours! That's almost a whole day!"
Hiei chuckled at amusement.
"Normally I train for 16 hours."
Kia looked down at the ground, an ant was barely visible, carrying
part of a leaf, up towards the tree behind them.
"I wonder how long I would last..training I mean." Kia said this more
to herself.
Hiei looked her over a minute, then said. "I bet you would last longer
than most human males."
"Really? You're not just saying that are you?"
Hiei shook his head.
"No, I mean it. You could last about 10 hours at the moment. If you
trained with me then you would be able to last longer than 10 hours."
Kia's face turned a slight shade of pink, she also felt her face turn
slightly warmer.
'What's wrong with me? Oh man.' She thought, looking at her watch. She
noticed it was now 10pm.
"Wow, its already 10, we should probably go soon."
Hiei nodded.
"We'll go in a couple hours."
Kia looked a little worried.
"At midnite, why then?"
Hiei smirked. "There's something cool that happens at midnite during
the summer. You'll see, don't worry."
Kia looked up at the sky, then sat up all the way, Hiei also.
"Well, what should we talk about until then?
Hiei looked around. "Dunno, did anything happen at your school today?"
Kia looked at him, surprised that he was even remotely interested in
her day.
"Well, not really, nothing interesting ever happens."
She sighed while looking up at the sky, she could feel the body heat
from Hiei on her right side. A breeze came in on her left and she
shivered slightly.
"Wow it gets cold pretty quick at nite."
Hiei nodded while still looking up at the sky. Kia leaned her head on
his shoulder, much to his surprise, the closed her eyes.
"Kia.?" Hiei looked down at her, blushing slightly himself. He noticed
she seemed to be asleep.
'Well nothing I can do now, I'll wake her at midnite..' He thought as
he leaned all the way against the tree behind him.
A cold breeze blew by once again and Kia, in her sleep, shivered. Hiei
took off his black overcoat and put it around her. She stopped
shivering and sighed.
Hiei stared up at the sky. 'Why, why does this have to be just like
when I was with Manae? Why?' He thought while trying to get the déjà
vu sensation to go away.
"Because...in a sense, I guess I am Manae."
Hiei heard Kia's voice in his head, looking down, he noticed she still
seemed to be asleep.
'Kia? Are you awake?' He asked through telepathy.
'No Hiei, are my eyes open? Heh, this feels like a dream. Its so
weird, how did we get in a flower field anyway?'
Hiei looked around, they weren't in a flower field, they were in the
forest and it was dark and cold.
'Uh, Kia? Are you ok?'
As if to answer him, her arms wrapped around his left arm.
'Hiei, it's getting dark, there are things in the field. I'm so glad
you are with me, I feel a little braver.'
After a second Hiei realized she must be dreaming, and in her dream,
he was standing right beside her.
'Its ok Kia, don't worry about anything.'
After closing his own eyes, and tuning into her brainwaves, he could
see what she was dreaming. They were in a flower field that was
getting dark. After a few moments it was completely black.
Kia's grip on his arm surprised him. A face that was partly
transparent on the bottom appeared before them.
He had green eyes, and from what they could see of him, appeared to be
wearing a purple cloak. He was also several inches taller than both
Hiei and Kia.
"Oh not you again!" Kia said angrily. "Why don't you leave me
alone?"
The man chuckled and instantly Hiei knew, this was Manae's clan
leader.
"Manae, why would you ask such a thing? I told you before, you will
pay very dearly for your meddling."
His voice was calm, collected and deep, it annoyed Kia to no end.
"Shut up! I am Kia Tsuki, not Manae! I don't even know who she was!
Stop calling me Manae!"
"Ah, denial, a serious mental condition in which the person lies to
themselves until that's all they believe. Its so sad that you Manae,
the beautiful, bright professional of our clan had to fall victim to
such a horrible disease."
Kia had now let go of Hiei's arm, much to his delight as she was
squeezing the life out if it. She stood directly in front of the
floating head.
"Ok, first of all, I am not in denial, second I am not Manae and
third, what the hell is your name anyway?"
Hiei couldn't help chuckling a little. He had never seen her so
flustered before.
The floating head made a deep chuckling noise as his body started to
materialize before them.
"Hmm, well my name is Taka; I am the leader of the Demon Assassin
Clan. You are Manae and you have meddled with our name for long
enough."
Hiei moved closer to Kia as she stood in a fighting stance.
"I think at the moment it is pointless to try to prove to you that I
am not Manae. So, either you leave me and Hiei alone, or we fight.
Which'll it be Taka"
She said Taka like it was poisonous. Hiei grabbed her arm and pulled
her away from Taka, so he could talk to her.
"Kia, do you realize you wont win right now? Not with as little
fighting experience as you have."
Kia turned to look at Taka, then back at Hiei.
"Well, just so you know, I am a master martial artist, though I may
not look it. I do know how to defend myself. Isn't this a dream
anyway?"
Hiei sighed. "Yes it is a dream, but don't forget, he made you go
towards him last time without touching you. He may be able to hurt
you, even if it is a dream."
Taka 'ahemed' as they both turned to look at him.
"Sorry to interrupt your pep rally over there, but are we going to.."
Kia never heard his last words because a searing pain shot through her
head. She fell to her knees as Hiei held her protectively.
"Kia? Are you ok?" there was a worried tone to his words.
Then Kia opened her eyes as the pain faded.
"Wh-where am I?" Looking around she saw she was in a dark forest.
Stars were shinning brightly above her.
"Kia? Kia."
She turned to see she had her head on Hiei's shoulder and he looked
worried.
"H-Hiei? Uh."
"You were just dreaming. I woke you because you sounded in pain. Are
you alright?"
She nodded, then looked up.
"It was the weirdest dream I've had in a while, and you were in it,
Hiei."
"Yea I know, I saw your dream. We met Taka, the clan leader."
Kia looked at Hiei, a wondrous look in her eyes.
"The Jagan lets me.."
She sighed in a defeated manner, before looking up at the stars from
where her head was on Hiei's shoulder. Her head still pounded
slightly.
"Is it midnite yet?" He asked as Kia looked at her watch.
"We've got 5 more minutes, hey tell me what it is we are waiting for."
She looked up at Hiei, who had a glazed look in his eyes. Sighing
again, she
turned to look into the forest.
"Huh?"
"Nothing Hiei-sama..."
Hiei looked at little sad as she turned and looked back up at the
stars once again. After five minutes of no one speaking, a loud
rumbling noise echoed throughout the forest.
Kia sat up, while Hiei just looked interested.
"Ok Kia, this is what we've been waiting for. Look behind us at this
tree."
He pointed to the one they were leaning against. Hiei stood up, Kia
was already up, looking around. They both stood facing the tree, Hiei
expectantly, Kia a little worriedly.
A screen-type thing appeared on the tree, just face level for Kia, a
little above eye level for Hiei. The screen was glowing and making
fuzzy noises like when you turn the TV to the wrong channel.
After a few seconds a woman of about her early 20's, appeared on the
screen.
"Is that...Manae?"
Kia asked, half in a daze.
Hiei put his hand on her shoulder also watching as Manae sat at the
edge of a bank, dipping her hands into cool silvery water.
"Yes it is. This tree has the ability to show where spirits are
hiding, anywhere in this forest."
Kia looked thoughtfully at the sky for a moment.
"But uh.I thought she died. How can she be a spirit if I have her
soul?"
Hiei walked up to the screen, seemingly studying the woman on it.
"Well, she isn't really a soul, that's her real body, some one
resurrected her with black magick. I have a feeling it's whoever wants
to rid this planet of her soul."
Kia walked up beside Hiei, also studying Manae, who was now drinking
from her hands, in the shape of a cup.
"So.she is actually doing this, right at this moment?" Hiei nodded.
"I thought it time for you to meet her. But she isn't the exact same
as when she was alive."
Kia turned to look at Hiei, worry etched into her features.
"But.what if.if she doesn't think I'm a.a worthy reincarnation? I
don't want her to hate me, like Kikyo and Kagome."
"She wont think you are a bad reincarnation. As long as you are human,
she wont have a problem with you."
Kia turned to face Hiei yet again.
"But what about-"
"Me? Yea, well she tried to kill me when we first met. But I saved her
life, so she started to trust me. That was foolish of her."
Kia looked down, turning this info over in her mind.
"I remember when you fought Yusuke. You could've easily killed her
when she was least expecting it, but.you didn't."
Her eyes glazed over as her mind wandered. Hiei looked back up at
Manae, who was now leaning against a tree by the bank, and picking
berries from the bush beside her.
"So, you ready to go?"
Kia looked up with a start.
"Oh, well, uh.I guess, more ready than I'll ever be."
Hiei nodded, "Ok, follow me."
They both disappeared off into the forest. Kia had been working on her
speed while at home. She was only a few feet behind Hiei while he ran.
'Wow, I guess I wont have to go back to get her after all. She's been
training while away.' Hiei thought as he looked over his shoulder at
her.
Kia smiled. 'Yea, I can go almost as fast as you Hiei-sama!'
She heard his thoughts again, and was finding it increasingly easier,
the more time she spent with him.
Hiei looked surprised before turning to look in front of him again.
After ten more minutes of running, they finally reached the place
Manae was laying. Kia, who was out of breath, stopped dead in her
tracks when she saw Manae.
'Wow, we really do look similar, more so than Kagome and Kikyo, but
Manae is like, 5 times prettier than I am.'
Hiei walked past her to Manae, who was now looking up at the trees.
"A sinister wind blows in this forest." Manae whispered to herself as
Hiei approached her.
The forest was almost pitch black and Kia wondered how she could even
see anything up there. Then Manae turned to look at Hiei, startled.
She smiled when he knelt down beside her and whispered something, when
he was done, she looked at Kia.
Kia stood rooted to her spot, as Manae slowly got up. She was wearing
a traditional Japanese kimono, like Kikyo wore. The shirt of the
kimono was a Lavender color, the pants were, from what Kia could see,
black. Manae's black hair was longer than Kia's purple, and swept down
to her lower back.
Hiei stood behind Manae and watched patiently to see what Kia's
reaction was going to be.
"Kia, am I correct?" Manae asked looking warmly at her, though Manae's
voice betrayed her. She sounded rather annoyed.
"Yes." Kia said quietly, watching Manae's every move.
Manae chuckled suddenly, causing Kia to frown slightly.
"It's good that my reincarnation at least has a spine. Is she as firey
as you say Hiei?"
Manae asked without taking her eyes off of Kia's.
"Yes, she wasn't afraid of Taka at all. She wanted to take him on in
her dream. I had to wake her up."
Kia slightly blushed as Hiei recounted her dream experience.
Then Manae slowly walked around her, sizing her up.
"She seems to be in shape, but her time may be coming up, that's where
you come in Hiei. You need to train her to the best of your ability.
Taka won' easily be beaten. And he definitely doesn't need to destroy
my soul."
Kia noticed that Manae seemed to be annoyed as she walked back in
front of her.
"Manae-sama? Is.something wrong?"
Manae looked up at Kia, a grin on her face.
"My my Hiei, she's even polite. I'm just worried you won't have enough
time to train very well before Taka makes his next move."
Kia nodded, thinking, then jumped up in the tree above her.
"So, uh do I pass, as an acceptable reincarnation?"
Manae looked up Kia, staring in awe a second before regaining her
composure again.
"Yes, you look almost exactly like me. You also seem to be able to
hold your own, and if what Hiei told me is true, you can fight well."
Kia jumped down as Hiei neared them. She smiled at Manae before
standing beside Hiei, who turned to Manae to speak to her.
"Well Manae, we need to go now, but hopefully we'll be able to speak
with you before Taka strikes again. It was nice seeing you again after
a whole year."
He turned to go as Kia stayed behind a second.
"Jaa Manae-sama, I'm glad you approve of me, I was worried you'd hate
me or something."
Manae waved as booth Kia and Hiei sped off towards the cabins.
"No, I'm glad you are my reincarnation Kia, you seem nice."
Manae spoke into the wind, watching the two disappear around a bend.
End
AN: Stay tuned for chap 6, sorry I took soooooooooo long getting this up,
seriously. I'll try to get them up faster.
Seigi Tsuki