I know nothing about Latin, they don't offer it at my school. I'm using a few words of Latin here and there in this story, so if you happen to take Latin and what I've written is completely wrong, feel free to correct me.

Disclaimer: I don't own either Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

Lost City

Chapter Eight

He then did the stupidest thing she would ever see him do. Or rather, not see him do.

He opened his eyes.

How did she know he opened his eyes? Simple. The demon abruptly ripped its claws from her and she fell into a heap on the ground, her body falling with a sharp clack. With a delighted cackle, she heard the demon flapping away from her and toward Hiei.

She gritted her teeth as she swiftly lifted herself up, though froze momentarily when she felt one of her arms brush against something metal. Her hand snatched up the knife and she didn't even take the time to find the other; before she knew what she was doing, she was suddenly on her feet and running forward with a sharp cry of "no!".

She really didn't know where she was running, only that it was in the direction she had last heard Hiei's voice. She wasn't sure what exactly she was going to do either, but she didn't have time to decide as she slammed full bodily into something, bringing her and the object down to the ground.

The demon chattered angrily when its reaching claws missed its prey, ascending higher in the cave and away from her, at least for now. It took her a moment to shake off the hard collision before she sat up from the warm, solid object she had landed on, her free hand trying to discover what it was. Her fingers touched the soft skin of someone's face, her middle and ring finger pressed against their mouth.

Oh, of course. Hiei.

She hastily took her hand back, feeling her face heat up. Get a grip, Sango, you have more important things to worry about, she scolded herself, though she felt uneasy straddling the motionless Hiei. She was about to get off him when something shocked her, making her instantly forget her current position.

Get off of me, she heard a voice inside her head say. She knew the voice. The problem was the whole inside her head thing. Had she finally lost it?

"Hiei?" she gaped. She almost opened her eyes to stare at him, but caught herself in time.

You look like a fish, control of yourself, woman, he scolded.

Yes, I've definitely gone crazy, she thought, but he interrupted by saying, there's no time now, just listen to me, you fool. It's your fault I'm in this mess.

My fault! I told you not to—, she began but was cut off once again by the man (was he even a man? What kind of man had the power to talk in other's minds?) under her. Now that's just unfair, getting interrupted in her own freaking mind. There had to be some rule against that… except, apparently not.

Stop, he commanded and she felt her annoyance rising. Or was that his? I can see the crystal.

Crystal? Sango wondered to herself, but it seemed anything she thought, he could hear whether she wanted him to or not.

The light's source, he told her curtly, if you could smash it—

Then that should break its hold, she finished, gladly interrupting him like he had so rudely done to her. Okay, so the situation was serious and he had a right to interrupt her, but it was still her mind. Besides she knew how much it must have pained him to have to look for help from someone else, let alone her. His suffering made up with the violation. And none of this 'could' business. I will.

You better, he told her, his voice skeptical before snapping, Down! Pay attention, you idiot!

She heard the alarm in her mind just as she felt the first rush of wind and quickly flattened her body against his. The grasping talons just missed her, but she'd been lucky. She had not been focused, too astonished and preoccupied by her conversation with Hiei. If he hadn't warned her… She should get this over with quick. She cherished the ability to see so much more now.

He must have heard that last part or it was just a coincidence because he abruptly said, look, and then she could see.

Well, sort of.

It was as if she was seeing from his eyes. In fact, that was what she was doing. She saw herself hovering above him, eyes closed with her face uncomfortably close to his (which she immediately rectified by pulling back) and her arms holding herself up on either side of him. And there was blood. Large quantities of blood. It was running down her shoulder, onto her arms and down her chest only to drip onto him.

Oh. She'd almost forgotten about her wounds in her panic. And then as she noticed it, what had only been a bearable pain at the back of her mind suddenly came rushing back to engulf her.

And then it had died back again until she almost couldn't feel any of it. But that wasn't right. How…?

I've cut you off from the pain, Hiei explained simply, I've separated you from the part of your mind that acknowledges it. Now get off me and go, he commanded.

She slowly sat up and saw herself do it from Hiei's eyes, moving carefully as she stood and began moving. She saw her figure become a mere silhouette as she walked further from him and the light surrounded her. Off to the far side of his view, near the edges of it was a small crystal from which the light was coming from, hardly visible with such brightness around it. Her body tried to freeze upon seeing it, but she forced herself to move. Seeing it through a secondary source, she could shake it off as it tried to put a hold on her.

Her grip on the one knife tightened as she made her way toward the crystal, directing her steps from what Hiei could see, not even paying attention to any of her own senses. From behind her she saw the bat demon grinning toothily, coming closer to her. It wasn't as big as she'd originally thought, about Hiei's size, not including its wing span. It was almost upon her now.

She was ready for him.

She stopped walking, just what the demon expected her to do and it tittered with glee. It hovered closer and closer, moving silently. It was higher than she thought it would be, which explained why she missed whenever she had struck at it before. The demon extended a claw and… she spun around, surprising it, and imbedded the knife into its center. It watched her with sightless eyes, wide with surprise.

"I see you," she said through gritted teeth. She then used her foot to kick the bat demon away, dislodging her knife from it. It screeched and tumbled away, out of Hiei's sight range.

She continued toward the crystal, moving quickly, even though she didn't suspect the demon to be back any time soon. That is, if it wasn't already dead. That was a pretty nasty wound she'd given it and if she had any lucky, it'd be the end of it.

When she was in front of the crystal, she took her knife, still covered in the demon's blood, and plunged into it with all the strength she had left. She might not have been able to feel the pain, but blood loss was starting to get to her, making her mind fuzzy. The knife, however, made it through the center and the crystal cracked. Multiple, smaller cracks ran through it as well, moving quickly, taking over the whole until it suddenly burst. The light grew stronger until it was blinding before everything was abruptly plunged into darkness.

It took a few moments before his eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see herself standing in the edges of his vision again. She hadn't opened her own eyes, having forgotten that she could. Sango turned in the direction of where her sight was coming from, looking toward Hiei. She was suddenly very, very tired.

Without warning, the demon swooped down from above her, avoiding Hiei's sight by lingering higher in the cave. Her legs failed her as she tried to spin to face it just as it extended its claws. She gasped as it imbedded its talons in her back.

The last thing she remembered before sinking into unconsciousness was watching herself fall to the ground and hitting her head hard against the stone floor. She didn't even remember falling herself, only seeing herself do it.

Then she saw no more.

Feet slightly apart, one hand at her side, the other pointing toward the direction the light was coming from. It was unbearably bright, yet she couldn't look away, couldn't even blink. All she was able to do was look at it and be blinded by it.

Kagome stayed like that for seemed like an eternity until unexpectedly, the light disappeared and a few long moments later she was free. She was so surprised she dropped right to her knees, wincing as they slapped against the hard stone.

"Ow," she grumbled as she plopped down on he rear, rubbing her poor, abused legs. Now she had another problem. She was left in total and complete darkness.

Well, it wasn't much of a problem really, she had gotten where she was in darkness after all and she'd be able to find her way back. Only, instead of going back, she waited where she was, intending on sitting there until Hiei and Sango came back. The light had been turned off, deactivated, or whatever it did to make it stop working, so they must have done something about it. That meant they were okay… right?

Her hand went absentmindedly to Kurama's—or rather she supposed it was hers now—dagger at her side, not realizing what she was doing until she was holding the dagger in her fist. She let it go instantly as if it had bit her, though she couldn't help but keep her hand nearby.

It was still awhile longer before she heard footsteps coming her way. She quickly stood up, waiting anxiously. She first made out the outline of a person of smaller stature. Hiei, for sure. And he was carrying something in his arms…

Kagome felt her face drain of all color, her body suddenly feeling very, very cold. He held a limp body in his arms. Unmoving. Almost… dead-like.

She didn't need to ask to know who it was.

"Is she…?"

"She will be if we don't get her to that healer," he told her gruffly.

Kagome didn't waste any time. She ran ahead, running as fast as she could toward the entrance to the cave. She tripped and nearly fell quite a few times, but managed to keep on her feet with the help of the cave wall. Breathless, she reached the others, her eyes quickly scanning over them. They had been all talking at once, though she had no idea what since she didn't care at the moment, but they all quieted when they saw her.

She rushed forward and took the healer's hand. "Botan. Now," she said between breaths, tugging her to her feet before she could protest. She had been about to pull her deeper into the cave, but saw she didn't have to. Somehow Hiei had gotten there nearly as fast as she had, only a minute or so behind. But how…?

He laid Sango on the floor in a (one might dare to say) gentle fashion and Botan immediately went to work. Her face had turned completely serious; she seemed a completely different person. With a few stern words, she ordered all the men outside and surprisingly they obeyed her though they did not all go without complaint. Botan hardly heard the words and didn't even check to see if they were gone before she undressed the fighter to see to her wounds (which chased a lingering Yusuke away, who in turn dragged Miroku out). The rest of the women did as they were told, trying in any way to help.

"Curatio lux lucis," she said, holding her hands over Sango's shoulders. A blue light radiated off them and seeped into Sango, beginning to knit the torn muscles back together. It was a slow process. "This is much worse than what happened to you, Kagome," Botan muttered absentmindedly. "This will be a long night."

She drifted in and out constantly, so many times that she wondered if it was really happening or just a really annoying dream. She only remembered bits and pieces of what happened; a soothing feeling seeping into her shoulders, chasing away the pain; someone pouring water down her throat and her croaking for more; people watching over her, though it was always a different person every time Sango opened her eyes. Once she saw Hiei in front of her, causing her to ask, "demon?" and he answered just as simply, "dead," before she passed out again, more at ease.

This time, however, things were more lucid when she became aware again and she knew she wouldn't be falling unconscious again. She opened her eyes slowly and… was staring at stone above her.

"Can't we just leave this place already?" she muttered, referring to the cave. She hardly recognized her own voice; the words were croaked out of her.

"We can once you actually remain conscious for more than, oh, I don't know, five seconds," she heard someone next to her scolded. She turned her head to the side to see Yusuke sitting there.

She blinked blankly at him, causing him to frown. "How ya feeling?"

How did she feel? Her mind was still unclear, a fuzzy feeling dominating her senses. She shifted slightly and… oh, yes, there it was. The soreness and pain. Lovely, just lovely. But it wasn't as bad as it should have been. No, definitely not. She probably had Botan to thank for that.

Realizing that he was still waiting for an answer, she said, "like someone took a stick and beat me over the head with it. Multiple times." She brought a hand to her temple, trying to suppress the dull thudding. "I'd accuse you, but I know you wouldn't bother with the stick." As he figured out she was joking she turned her head, searching, before saying, "…water…?" in a questioning way.

She heard a soft tsking coming from behind Yusuke before Botan came into view, canteen in hand. "You wouldn't be very good at taking care of anyone, you know," the healer accused Yusuke. She sat down alongside him and next to her patient, looking down at her with kind eyes. "Good to see you're finally awake. I was worried with all the blood you lost."

She could tell, however, that Sango was not really paying attention to her words, looking longingly at the water instead. Botan deprived her no longer, putting the flask against her lips so she wouldn't have to sit up. "Don't drink too fast."

When every last drop had been had, Sango relaxed again, closing her eyes. She wasn't tired—she'd been "asleep" enough already—but she didn't have all her strength either. At least she had nothing to worry about at the moment. If anything attacked, they had enough fighters with them now that she didn't have to be concerned and that bat demon was dead, Hiei had told her that. Although that could have been her imagination as she went in and out.

Botan began explaining to her some of what had happened and what healing she had done for Sango. The fighter was only half-listening. There would be some scarring on her back, though she managed to heal most of what had been done to her shoulder so it wouldn't leave any marks. She had Kagome's blanket currently over her and bandaging wrapped around her from her breasts down to mid-stomach, as well as some that crossed over her body so her shoulders could be covered too. They'd only removed her shirt while they worked on her, which was now lying next to her (which suddenly made her uncomfortable a male nearby). Kagome had mended the shirt where it was torn, while Shizuru had gotten out as much of the blood as she could. They had all been very frightened (to which Yusuke rolled his eyes. Frightened? Him? Nah, he knew she'd be alright—though seeing his face, she knew he was lying), Botan told her, when Hiei had brought her back to them, looking like a bloody rag doll in his arms.

But speaking of the assassin…

"Hiei," she said as she abruptly sat up, and immediately regretted it. It was the only reason she allowed Botan to push her firmly back down, though she grabbed her arms to do it instead of her shoulders, understandably why.

Yusuke gave her an odd look. "Of all people, he's the first you ask for?" he said, a disbelieving quality in his voice. "You must have hit your head harder than we thought."

"He's fine," Botan informed her.

No they didn't know. They didn't know what she did. "I need to ask…" She dropped off there; she couldn't say more. Not until she knew what was going on.

"If you're worried about that damn demon, he killed it. Or so he told us," he added as an afterthought.

That was, of course, not what she wanted to ask. Instead of going into the whole thing, telling him that it in fact had to do with their mysterious companion and some secrets he had withheld, she wisely kept her mouth shut and put (what she hoped was) a relieved look on her face. She wouldn't mention anything to the others, not yet. She owed Hiei at least that, if not more.

To distract them from what they thought was obvious concern for Hiei, she asked, "where are the others?"

The cave was empty besides the three of them, people-wise. Besides them there was the remains of a fire, the other's belongings scattered everywhere, though most of it Kagome's, and—she noticed with a smile—her two blades lying beside her, perfectly clean. Though she couldn't help but wonder who had done that for her.

"I didn't want to crowd you too much, so I've only had one person watching over you at a time," Botan explained. Before Sango could say something along the lines of, "I wish you hadn't gone to all that trouble," Botan continued, "the rest are outside. It's the first time it hasn't been raining in days and its warmer out there than—"

"Days?" she interrupted.

"Yeah, congratulations, Sango," Yusuke told her dryly. "You've been out for two whole days."

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?" No wonder she felt as good as she did. Botan was a good healer and all, one of the best actually, but she shouldn't have felt this well if it'd had only been a few hours. But the healer had had two whole days to work on her.

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at her words. "Getting formal all the sudden?"

"I'm just… surprised, that's all." She then said she wanted to go see the others, but Botan refused to let her move around yet. Normally she would have protested, but where, really, could she go in this forest, besides the ten feet to the rest of her companions? There was no point in using that much effort.

Instead, however, Botan sent Yusuke out to get the others as Sango grabbed her shirt to put it on. Hey, she might have been covered in bandages that were modest enough, but she felt all the more comfortable with actual clothes on, thank you very much.

They came in and greeted her and she did the same quietly, not liking everyone's attention on her, especially when she was so weak. She participated in idle conversation and answered their questions. Yes, she was okay. No, she wasn't in much pain, thanks to Botan. Yes, she wanted to get moving as soon as possible, which they decided would be the next morning.

When things got quieter though, she directed her gaze at Hiei, staring at him. And he knew it too, even if he never glanced her way. Finally when others started to notice the strangeness her intent gaze, she heard the word later in her head and only then did she look to Kagome, who had just asked her something.

Sango hadn't noticed it before in all the panic of battle, but his mind speak left a tingling feeling in her head that wasn't entirely unpleasant. She wondered if he meant to do it (which she highly doubted) or if it was just a side effect of the use of mind speaking. If it was, she didn't mind it.

"Later" must have come, because when everyone started to drift off, Hiei abruptly disappeared from the entrance of the cave. She took this as a sign to take her leave as well, though she knew she wouldn't be able to leave as inconspicuous as he, not after having just been wounded.

She excused herself and went to the entrance, saying she wanted to get some fresh air (though technically they were already outside, but it didn't seem too matter to them). Miroku mentioned how she shouldn't go out alone just as she was about to leave. It made her pause, but then she glared his way, saying a curt, "I can take care of myself," and rather stiffly walked into the darkness.

Sango walked out deeper into the forest, plants and stones crunching under the force of her weight. She pushed bushes and leaves out of her way as she walked, her eyes searching for a certain assassin. It was when she heard a soft crunch behind her, so soft that she hardly even noticed, that she spun around, one of her blade springing into her hand.

Hiei gave her a contemptible look, not even glancing down at the blade a few inches from his body. Judging from the softly swaying branch above them, he had dropped down from the trees, landing behind her.

"Do not," she scolded, " do that. Especially when we're in a demon infested forest."

He continued to give her that same pitying look as he brushed past her, while she put the blade back in its place. She turned to follow his movement, only to find he was already looking at her from a few feet away.

"It's not my intention to scare. You're just not alert enough to notice my presence."

Um, ouch. From someone else it might have just been a fact and not at all scornful. From him, it unmistakably was. Insult me some more, why don't you, she thought.

Gladly, came the response in her thoughts. That same tingle happened as it did before. It was a rubbing against the back of her mind… like when a cat rubbed against a person it had affection for.

Yeah, now she knew he definitely wasn't doing it on purpose.

She pushed the thoughts aside and was thankful for the darkness that hid the blush she knew had come to her cheeks. "You owe me an explanation," she told him. Good, at least her voice came out even and stern.

He didn't want to answer her, didn't want to tell her, she knew. After a brief silence he said, "I saved your life."

Wow. Just… wow. Hiei was reminding her how he saved her. He must have been that desperate for a change of subject. It must have been something he really did not want others to know.

"And I saved yours," she reminded him. She gave her surrounding a quick glance over before finding a suitable place to sit down. She plopped down on the fallen trunk. "Getting pretty banged up in the process, I might add. You still owe the explanation."

"I owe you nothing," he replied coldly, his voice low and threatening as he said it.

She shrugged nonchalantly as she got up. "Alright, I guess I'll go tell the others…" she called as she turned her back on him. She was bluffing, of course. Or, at least, she though she was. If he didn't give her the answers than she might have to… after all, he could be a danger to them…

Suddenly he was a step behind her, though he had been a few feet behind her a second before. He reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly. "You won't." He said it in a commanding tone, as though if there was no way she'd ever argue with him.

Yeah, right. Like there'd be a day when that happened. It might have worked on others—he did have an intimidating presence—but not on her.

She stared down to where his hand was touching her wrist, wrapped around her somewhat warm skin. He followed her gaze and dropped her arm quickly as though it had burned, then threw her a glare as though it were her fault. Her fault. Why and how could he blame it on her?

"Then tell me what is it that you did." She made her voice soft, which she realized a mistake as she did it. He didn't want to be patronized.

She moved back to her spot, sitting on the tree as he turned his back to her. He didn't speak and she wondered if he was too annoyed with how she'd said her words. Just as she began to wonder if he would even say anything at all, he began talking. "I can read people's thoughts and talk to them, mind to mind. But only if I've had direct contact with them before."

"But you touched me when we first met. You mean you've been reading my thoughts all this time?" She was more than a little angry by that. And embarrassed. All the things he must have heard…

"Direct contact," he said once again, giving her a look as though he thought she had just grown dumber in the past five minutes.

It took her a moment before she said slowly, "you mean, skin to skin," to which he gave a soft, "hn." She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it almost as soon. It was true, he never had. The time they first met, he held her hands together behind her back by holding her sleeves. Then when he held her throat it had been her shirt he'd been touching. Never once had he touched her skin. Any of the travelers' skin, for that matter. He stayed away from everyone so that even an accidental touch was impossible.

But she had touched him when she'd knocked him down to save him. That was when he'd first intruded her thoughts.

Some other things made more sense as the broken, unfinished chains of her memory linked together in her mind. The way Hiei and Kurama had just stared at each other… and that eerie feeling she'd gotten. Kurama must have known about Hiei as well and they'd been communicating. The two did seem to know each other well, not to mention they were acquaintances before Kagome's—their journey started.

And another thing. She had wondered how he had known the other were paralyzed by the light. How could he have known without opening his eyes and seeing it himself? He couldn't, of course. But Kurama, having gotten caught by it, would have. And all Kurama had to do was tell Hiei and then those who hadn't been caught could save the others.

He watched her process all this, practical being able to see the wheels turning in her head. Not to mention he could hear her as well.

But wouldn't it be an advantage? He could just touch his an enemy and know what they're plotting, Sango thought.

Nothing is as simple as that. But you may live in your delusions if you want, Hiei cut in.

I wish you'd stop doing that. Even in her head it sounded grouchy.

If she didn't know better, there was the smallest bit of a smirk on his face. She couldn't believe it; He was enjoying violating her mind by listening to her thoughts. Probably because it annoyed her so much.

Once I touch a person, I can hear their thoughts. Always. He could feel the panic raise in her and almost smirked further. But for some reason, he put her fears to rest. Somewhat. Though I can shield and they can if they're smart enough to know how, which most humans aren't. Just because he thought he put her too at ease (and he couldn't have that) he added aloud, "but you'll never know when I'm listening and when I'm not. I doubt someone like you would be able to keep me out."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" she questioned crossly. He didn't answer her, however, turning his attention elsewhere as she continued to digest the information she just received. She was silent for a long time and Hiei jumped onto a low branch of a tree, resting there with his eyes closed.

He didn't listen, however, to what went through her mind. Being in the thoughts of some girl was not something he desired even remotely. He had once before and the brainless, stupid things the woman had thought were enough to be maddening. He didn't want the same experience repeated.

Which was why he was unprepared for what was coming next.

"I don't get it," she suddenly decided, announcing it out loud to him.

His eyes opened as he raised an eyebrow. "Stupidity must run in your family if that cousin of yours is an indication. I don't think its possible to put it in simpler words."

She glared at him and didn't even waste time to think of a decent insult to throw back at him. "I mean how? How is it possible? Are you even… human?" She asked it hesitantly, not wanting to upset him. If he wasn't human… well, then she really didn't want to upset him. At least, not when she wasn't a hundred percent. Though her knives were back in place, just in case. But what was she thinking? He had just saved her, he wouldn't kill her now. Later, maybe. But now? No.

He didn't look at her, his gaze instead off into the forest. The quiet stretched between them. She could have apologized (though she disliked even the idea of it) and said it was none of her business. She knew it was what Kagome or Botan would have done. But she had to know. She wouldn't risk anyone getting hurt if he was… not.

It was like he read her mind. …And she supposed he might have. "And if I wasn't?" All she could do was shrug. What if he wasn't? What would she do? He hadn't hurt any of their numbers so far… so it wouldn't really change anything. She'd just be more prepared if she knew what he was.

There was a long silence where she just watched him, her eyes neither hostile nor friendly. He knew her gaze was on him, but continued to look into the distance. Surprisingly after minutes upon minutes of quietness, he did answer her question directly.

"From what I know, my parents were human, but my father possessed power that others didn't. They were hunted and killed by their village. I survived on the outskirts of this forest." A pause. "…I don't know what happened to my sister."

She dropped the topic. She wasn't fool enough to continue it; she could tell he might get malicious if she did. Instead, she moved on by saying, "so you can mind speak and I know you're faster than any human should be. And stronger too." She remembered how easily he put his sword down through the thick skull of that first demon they had met. Yeah, definitely stronger. Probably something to do with fire as well, she thought, remembering how easily he had sparked the fire on the wet wood. "Anything else I should know about?"

There was a pause. "No."

She stood up and moved closer to the tree he sat in. They weren't on eye level because he sat on the branch, though it only put his face a foot higher than her own, which was a change. "Why don't I believe you?" she inquired, mostly to herself. She eyed him with curiosity in her gaze. She didn't have anything to fear from him. Not right now. "What else are you hiding?"

She could practically feel the anger and annoyance rolling off of him, finally fed up with her questioning, no doubt wondering why he'd told her as much as he did or anything at all. Meanwhile, she was wondering if she had possibly gone too far when suddenly one moment she was looking up at him, the next he was standing beside her. As she turned to face him, his hand reached for the white bandana he always wore around his forehead.

With one swift tug it was loose. He let it drop from his hands and…

She gasped at what she saw.

AN: I know I don't say this enough because my head is usually too scrambled when I'm trying to update, but thank you very much to everyone who left their wonderful reviews! You're so sweet and they really brighten up my day!