Hieifan666- i know that hiei doesnt really teleport, but personally, i dont think that Hiei ran or Hiei quickly moved or stuff like that really leaves that much of an impression if u know what i mean.i just think that teleport sort of describes the way he moves best. oh, and same for akiya. if you still dont like it, u could just tell me which word u would prefer. just letting u know so i dont seem like a clueless hiei fan. hehe

Recap- Run Away Forever Chapter 9- Hiei and Akiya's Mission

Hiei and Akiya managed to rescue Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara from Tokujo, one of Rejuko's helper. However, Hiei and Akiya don't get much time to rest because Koenma immediately gave them another mission. They had to kill a demon named Bachi, who took the souls of children to recover himself. He didn't seem like much, until he pulled out his hostage, Yukina. Seeing Yukina getting her soul sucked out, or so it seemed, they blindly charge at Bachi only to get more and more injuries. Finally, Akiya created clones of her and Hiei to stay in their place while she and Hiei could go into hiding. She performed and Illusionary Technique, then they killed him. When they get back to Spirit World, Koenma tells them that Bachi wasn't sucking Yukina's soul, but her life energy and that to ensure her survival, someone just had to transfer part of their life energy to her. Akiya passes out from giving too much energy, but not before Koenma received an earful from her.

Run Away Forever Chapter 10- A Day's Rest

Akiya slowly opened her eyes to see a completely white ceiling. She sat up slowly see Koenma rush to her while Hiei took his time walking over.

"Akiya?" Koenma called.

"What happened?" Akiya asked to no one in particular, trying to recall what had happened before.

"You gave out too much of your life energy," Hiei responded flatly. "So much for your medical background."

"Hiei had to donate some of his energy to you," Koenma said.

"Oh, um, thanks," Akiya said quietly. "How are the other three?"

"They're fine, thanks to you again. They're all in the Ningenkai doing stuff," Koenma replied relieved. "Akiya, thanks a lot. You've been a lot of help."

"Sure," she said.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're not going on any missions today, so you can rest up and do whatever," Koenma told them. "Just don't get hurt. We have to do some investigating tomorrow."

With that, Koenma left to his office. Yusuke was with Keiko, Kuwabara went back home with Shizuru, and Kurama went back home to help his human mother, Shiori. Yukina was back at Genkai's because Koenma asked her to go. Botan was with Koenma working. That left Hiei and Akiya. They both sat in silence.

"Hey," Akiya suddenly said to Hiei. "Let's go outside."

Hiei looked at her questioningly but led her outside. They went through a portal to the Human World and into the forest. Hiei and Akiya walked in until they were at a cliff. Below them was a beautiful, clean lake that was sparkling under the bright sun. On the other side of the lake, across from them, was an empty field of fresh grass. Akiya took a seat on one of the trees while Hiei stood on the edge of the cliff. Both of them were silent.

"Why did you ask me to come with you?" Hiei asked suddenly.

Akiya looked at him a bit confused. "I thought you liked being in the woods where it's nice and quiet. Or was I wrong?" Akiya asked.

"How would you know what I like?" Hiei asked flatly.

"Dunno," Akiya simply replied. "You just seem like the type that likes this kind on stuff."

"This kind of stuff?" Hiei asked her, looking at her funny. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Akiya laughed lightly, but didn't respond to his question. Hiei didn't bother to push for one. They both stayed silent, enjoying the outdoors. It was more relaxing but also uncomforting at the same time. Was it because they were alone together? Hiei shifted a few times.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Akiya asked quietly.

Hiei kept silent.

"You're just like Hayate-san," Akiya said as Hiei turned to look at her. "He would never answer me when I ask him questions like that. You're both so shy. Then again, I'm not one to talk."

Hiei still kept silent and looked back at the lake.

"Hey," Akiya called. "Say something, would ya? I want to know more about you other than the fact that you act just like Hayate-san."

More silence.

"Why did they toss you off, the Koorime…?" Akiya asked suddenly. "Did you do something wrong? Was it because you were a fire apparition? What'd you do?"

"That's none of your business," Hiei replied.

"C'mon," Akiya said. "I said all that and all you can say to me are five words? Geez… if I didn't know you two, I'd say you were twins…"

"Why are you so curious?" Hiei asked her.

Akiya looked at him and shut her mouth. Hiei was probably annoyed with her. She couldn't help but feel as if Hayate was with her instead of Hiei, but there was one thing that made him different from Hayate. Akiya decided to just keep quiet. After all, she knew how annoying it was to be bothered when she wanted to be left alone in peace and quiet. It remained silent for nearly half an hour.

"Do I really remind you of him that much?" Hiei asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," she simply replied.

"How?" Hiei asked again.

"Aren't we curious now," Akiya joked as Hiei glared at her. "Relax will ya? There's already one reason why I think you're so much like him. I mean, the way you act, you're like mirror images of each other."

"Hn."

It became silent again.

"They never accepted me, even though I was only a baby at the time," Hiei unexpectedly said as Akiya looked at him silently and questioningly. "Koorime is a place where there are only ice maidens. The females can reproduce on their own, so they didn't need males. My mother however, mated with a fire demon. Yukina was accepted because of her appearance and powers. She was one of the Koorime. I however, was a bad omen, something that would only bring misfortune to their home, so they tossed me off into the Makai…"

"So you were alone from the beginning also?" Akiya accidentally asked out loud.

"Also?" Hiei questioned.

"Uh… n-nothing," Akiya replied, just realizing that she had voiced her thought.

"What about you?" Hiei asked.

Akiya gave him a confused look.

"Back then… what happened," he said not wanting to be direct.

Akiya had an even more confused look.

"Your past," Hiei said, not looking at her.

"Nothing… but pain… and betrayal…" she said quietly as Hiei turned to look at Akiya who stared straight ahead. "Everyone I held close to my heart… they all died… either protecting me… or fighting me. Then there were people who pretended to be my friends, and people who I'd never even heard of before… back then, when I was fourteen in my first life in the Makai, some kitsune and his friend captured me… hurt me and stuff… I can remember that moment so clearly… but I can't seem to see their faces… but anyway, they killed me, or sort of anyway. I was able to escape to… another body I guess you could say."

"And you wound up in that village," Hiei said.

"My, aren't we smart," Akiya said sarcastically. "Well anyway, I've been wondering, your mother, how is she?"

"I… don't know," Hiei replied, a bit embarrassed that he didn't know how his mother had been.

It became silent once more. They didn't like this kind of silence. It made them both feel constricted somehow. Akiya wanted to ask him something, but just didn't know how.

"We're friends, right?" Akiya asked, even though it wasn't what she meant to ask.

"What?" Hiei asked.

Akiya jumped down from the tree and suddenly hugged Hiei. Hiei's expression was between a shocked and a confused one. He didn't embrace her back. In fact, he was too stunned to do anything. It was the first time that a girl just hugged him all of a sudden.

"W-what are you-" Hiei was at a lost for words for the first time.

After a bit longer, Akiya let go and looked at Hiei who was still shocked and confused. She was smiling slightly.

"Sorry… I had to know," she said a bit shyly.

"Know what?" Hiei asked, returning to normal a bit.

"It's a secret," she said smiling.

Hiei kept silent. What was that all about? Hiei thought. She isn't acting like she always does…

Hayate-san was right… Hiei does lack something, Akiya thought to herself. I thought that maybe he had figured out what it was… but… even now… how come… how can he still not realize it?

Akiya looked over to Hiei.

I guess I'll just have to help him get what he's missing.

She grabbed Hiei's hand and led him around to the other side of the lake.

"Let's go down there," Akiya said.

Hiei looked confused yet again, but he followed her. They went down from the cliff and over the open field of grass. There, they sat down next to each other by the lake. Akiya glanced over at Hiei a couple of times to see his expression, but it remained emotionless. Akiya mentally sighed. It was no use. She should've known that it would take more than just sitting together at a lake to make him see what he lacked. It was already past noon.

"Oh yeah," Akiya said, breaking the silence again. "I forgot to give you this. Your mother told me to give this to you when I finally got the chance to meet you."

She handed him a necklace with a silver chain and a gem on it. Hiei, surprised, took it from her.

"This is-"

"A Koorime tear gem," Akiya finished for him. "It'll protect you."

"Like I need some necklace to stay alive," Hiei stated.

"Maybe you do," Akiya said.

"What's that… supposed to mean…?" Hiei shouted at first, but finished normally.

"Relax, relax," Akiya said. "I was just joking."

"I don't joke," Hiei dangerously said suddenly. "If you want to joke with me, then you might as well-"

It started raining all of a sudden.

"What the!" Akiya said as she quickly stood up.

The sky was clear and blue just a few minutes ago, and now, there were large gray clouds bunched together, pouring rain on the two people. Hiei noticed a cave nearby and walked over to it with Akiya following him. Thunder struck the sky. They could tell that it was going to be a while before the rain stopped. Time seemed to go so slowly. Every second felt like an hour for the two people sitting in the cave mutely. The two were motionless, as if frozen in spot. They didn't know why this was. Akiya normally liked the rain, and Hiei didn't mind it, but now, they both wanted it to stop as soon as possible so they could get back to the palace.

"It's uh… weird, isn't it?" Akiya asked. "I feel so… tense. What about you?"

"Hn," Hiei replied.

Man he's hard to get a reply from! Akiya thought. "Other than Yukina and the other detectives, is there anyone else that you care about? Maybe, say… a girl?" she asked him slyly and a bit sarcastically.

"No," Hiei said without a second thought. "Women are pathetic and useless, and the offspring that they produce are nothing more than they are; weak, foolish, and all they do is take up space and fill their world with more and more stupidity."

"Offspring like you and your sister?" Akiya asked trying to keep her cool.

In less than a second, Akiya found herself pinned to the wall with Hiei's hand wrapped around her throat, depriving her of air. She didn't try to resist or push him away. Her eyes were completely emotionless as she stared into Hiei's angry ones.

"What are you so angry about?" Akiya asked in a slightly mocking tone. "You said it yourself. The offspring that are produced are pathetic, useless, weak, and foolish… all they do is take up space and fill the world with more stupidity. You're no exception you know! You are an offspring, aren't you? What makes you think you're any different?"

Hiei's grip on her throat tightened. He was irritated with her acting like she knew everything there was to know. What he hated more was that she thought she knew everything about him. However, Hiei seemed to feel a bit sympathetic for some reason. He loosened his grip on Akiya and eventually let her go. Akiya massaged her throat a bit, looking outside. The rain was still pouring heavily. They both sat down again.

That wasn't supposed to happen… Akiya thought.

She felt a bit bad and guilty for saying what she did. Hiei was just like Hayate. She knew that much, so she knew that their responses would most likely be similar. What Hiei said was probably what Hayate would've said.

"Sorry," Akiya apologized quietly. "I… shouldn't have said what I did."

Hiei didn't respond to her at all.

"I just wanted to help," Akiya told him, earning another confused look from Hiei. "Remember, back at Genkai's when we were training? Hayate said that you lacked something that made you a lot weaker than he was. I wanted to help you, but that was a stupid idea. You need to realize it yourself… but I'm amazed that someone like you would lack something so important."

"What are you talking about? The only thing that I lack is the patience to deal people like you," Hiei said.

Akiya scooted closer to Hiei.

"Do me a favor," Akiya said as she put her hand on his chest, over his heart. "That's where I wanna be… that's where I want you to look… to trust…"

"What are you blabbering about?" Hiei asked.

"You'll see someday," she replied. At least… I hope so…

"Why are you acting so different around me?" Hiei asked curiously. "Are you this open to your friends?"

"No," Akiya answered. "Just you and him."

"Why?"

"Dunno."

"Do you… care about anyone… other than your friends... like a guy… other than him?" Hiei hesitantly asked.

"Of course," Akiya answered pleasantly, smiling at him. In fact… he's right here with me.

Hiei blushed very slightly you couldn't even tell. He was reading her mind when she thought what she did.

"Me too," Hiei said.

Akiya looked at him with a horribly shocked expression.

"You have a guy that you care for!" Akiya asked completely stunned.

"No!" Hiei shouted at her embarrassed. "I mean that I have a girl that I care for!"

"Good!" Akiya said with a big smile on her face. "You're starting to obtain what you were missing! That's great!"

"Hn!"

Akiya laughed a bit. Hiei felt something he never felt before. It wasn't that he loved her or anything. It was just that he felt so free when she was around. Everything from his past that he would constantly think about without anyone knowing was suddenly lifted off of his heart. His heart that was encased in ice was starting to melt. He wondered if Akiya had felt the same way.

"It stopped raining," Akiya said, pulling Hiei out of his thoughts. "We should go back. It's probably been raining for hours now."

Akiya walked out of the cave but Hiei stopped her before she could go any further.

"Do you really want to go back to that baby right now?" Hiei asked her, trying to say that he wants to stay longer.

"I suppose you have a point," Akiya said. "Yeah, let's stay longer."

-----Next Chapter's Preview-----

Run Away Forever Chapter 11-Ninja Invasion

The detectives, all fully recovered, go to investigate a city that has been overrun with ninjas. Who is behind the attack? Is it Rejuko, or someone else? Akiya seems to be very hesitant in fighting these ninjas…