Disclaimer: You know the drill...

Chapter 5

(A.N. Um... Hi again! I first want to thank you all for reveiwing! Second, I want to warn you that, again, this may contradict ideas put forward in earlier chapters, and that the is some OOC moments in this chapter. So try to ignore it...)

Hiei's P.O.V...

What am I doing here? I should have just left after leaving the fox, but what possessed me to come here?

I was standing on the balcony outside of that girl's room. I had been standing here for maybe ten or twenty minutes. She had already been asleep when he had arrived.

After leaving Kurama, I had every intention of just leaving Spirit World for the Human World, but...

Damn. I hate it when Kurama is right. I absolutely loathe it, which is why I am just going to turn around and-

"No!"

I froze, wondering if she had seen me. A series of whimpers and cries drifted from inside Kira's room, catching my full attention. Was there anyone in the room? Creeping closer, I quietly opened the balcony doors, and took a quick survey of the room.

No one was there.

There was just Kira, tossing fitfully on the bed, throwing and twisting the sheets in obvious distress. I walked farther into the room, pausing every now-and-then when she murmured a startling phrase or word.

I finally made it next to the bed. I was still, listening to her talk in her sleep.

"No...I didn't...no...not my fault..." she whispered desperately.

Kira's P.O.V...

The sea of faces surrounded me, and grabbed at me with phantom hands, pulling me under. They kept pleading with me. Pleading with me to save them. Or asking why I wasn't there. Or wondering why I had been too late.

Or why I had killed them.

I protested. Again and again, I told them I was sorry. Sorry about not being there. Sorry about being too late, or too weak.

But then they appeared. Clear as day, two figures floated above the sea, and above me. I looked up at them, forgetting to fight the pulling hands. It was a man and a woman. The man was tall, with gold hair and eyes, like mine, just like mine. He had tanned skin, and a powerfully built body. The woman next to him was extremely small, smaller than me. She had pale skin, like me, and looked so delicate, but, if you looked closely, you could see the faint spark of strength and stubbornness in her pale gray eyes. Her hair was as black as a raven's wings.

They spoke in unison, just like they always did. "This is why we left you, Kira. We knew you were dangerous, that you were destructive. We knew that you would kill us if you could."

I started to cry. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I yelled at them, "No! I didn't do anything! I didn't kill anyone!" They just smiled.

Then another couple appeared to their right.

The woman was of average height, with a rounded and plump figure. Brown hair and eyes gave her a very motherly and earthy look. The man was an inch or so taller than her with pale hair and navy colored eyes. They too spoke in unison, "What about us, Kira? You killed us, remember?"

"NO!" I screamed. "I didn't! I didn't! I didn't!" My voice was thick with tears and old pain.

"You burned down the shrine. We died choking on the smoke and flames that you brought forth," the second couple said together. "It was all your fault..."

Another man appeared. He looked like the man from the second couple. They were brothers. "I took you in, even though you killed my brother and his wife. You good for nothing wench! You monster! It was all your fault..."

He and the second couple chanted that last line.

The first couple joined them, "All your fault, all your fault..."

Then the entire sea of souls cried out with them, "All your fault, all your fault..."

"It was all my fault..." I whisper, closing my eyes. "All my fault..."

The hands pulled me under, and I faced my punishment.

Again.

Hiei's P.O.V...

I stood there, unbelieving as she mumbled in her sleep. Her adoptive uncle had abused her? She blamed herself for her adoptive parents' death? For being abandoned by her birth parents?

That explained why she didn't want anyone's help. Why she had flinched away when anyone came close to touching her...

"Ahh!"

I was startled out of my line of thought as she shot up in the bed, seemingly wide awake. I retreated back into the shadows, ready to take off. I watched as she curled into a ball, pulling her knees into her chest. Her shoulders shook violently, but I heard no sounds of sobbing. Maybe I could just slip out...

But then she just had to go and look right at me.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!" she screamed, jumping to her feet.

I said nothing, waiting for the hearing to return in my left ear.

Kira summoned a deadly looking fire ball, holding it in a half-cocked throwing position. The fire sent a flickering light around the room, casting strange shadows, but lighting up the area around us effectively. She was breathing heavily, still recovering from surprise, I assumed anyway. But she froze.

"Hiei?" She seemed to be calming down some.

"Hn." I waited for a response.

"What..?"

I shrugged. "I heard you yelling, so I came to check it out. It turned out that you were just talking in your sleep. I was going to leave, but then you woke up." It was close enough to the truth. Not exactly true, but it was a reasonable enough explanation.

She frowned. "I don't talk in my sleep."

"Yes, you do."

"Really?"

"Hn."

"Oh..." She fell silent for a second. "What did I say?"

"This and that. But I hope realize that it couldn't have possibly been all your fault."

Why did I have to say that?

Kira paled visibly, even in the bad light, it was noticeable. She took a step back, eyes wide. "H-how much do you know?"

"Enough. But I don't really want to know more." I was lying. "I'd rather know how you know that moron detective and his friend."

She stared at me for a while, then finally crossed the floor and flicked on the lights and coming back to sit on the bed. I waited, arms crossed, for her to begin. At last she said, "I lived with my birth parents until I was nine. We lived in the same town as Uremeshi and Kuwabara, and I went to elementary with them for a couple of years." She paused and smiled slightly. "The two of them were always fighting, which made another neighbor of mine, Keiko, cry. So, I felt the need to send them home to their mommies, crying. In the end, I was the one who taught them both how to throw a punch."

That made me raise an eyebrow. Those two learned the basics from this fragile human? She had answered my question, but continued, almost as if she was in a daze. Her voice took on a strange quality, almost sleepy.

She continued, "When I was nine, my parents left. The dropped me off at the doors of a shrine and disappeared. The two mages, the Hikari family, there took me in, but then things started happening. I would...cause things to happen. My powers were awakening, and I had no control. No idea of how to control them. The two mages weren't much help, though they did try. The woman was an Earth mage, and the man was a Water mage. I was Fire. When I got angry, something burst into flames. When I entered a room with a stove or fireplace or candle, the flames leaped in response, often burning whoever was near them.

This went on for about two years. Then, one night, I woke up and the entire shrine was burning. I could hear screaming and I ran down the hall, flames sliding harmlessly off my skin. I reached the Hikari's room, but... I was too late. I ran out and was confronted by fire trucks. They took me to the police station, and that's where Mr. Hikari's brother found me. He took me in... into hell, that is."

She stopped abruptly, seeming to realize how much she had said. "Sorry... I didn't mean to pour out my messed up childhood." She sighed. "I don't even like to think about it, let alone talk about it. I apologize."

"Hn."

She frowned at me. "You really need to expand your vocabulary or something."

"Oh really?" I ask, secretly amused. She could switch the topic quickly, a practiced move to turn the conversation away from her past. Of course, it was a bit late but... she didn't want to talk about her "uncle" and I had a feeling I knew why. I don't like getting involved in other people's, especially humans', problems or lives. I'd rather keep to myself; it's just easier that way. But this girl intrigued me. I didn't know why, she just did.

It was an odd feeling.

So I asked, "What kind of hell?"

She looked at me sharply. "Why do you want to know? It's not like you care or anything."

I waited.

"He hit me, he yelled at me, and he... Well, you can just imagine what a full-grown man who blamed an eleven-year-old girl for his brother's death would do to that girl. I'd rather not talk about," she spat angrily, tears brimming her eyes.

She didn't let any of them fall.

Now that I thought about it, she had never cried. Not when we had found her, not when she had recounted her abduction and confinement, and not when she was having that nightmare, even though she had come close, like now.

I pointed it out, frowning. "Why don't you cry?" Again, this wasn't something I ever do. I was getting involved. I had never felt the need to.

She stared at me again. "I-I'm not allowed," she said, surprised.

Apparently, no one had ever questioned the fact that she never cried.

"By who?"

"My uncle..."

"Well that makes sense," I muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, back off! It's just the way I am!" She had jumped to her feet, glaring.

"Sure it is."

"Why you," her voice shook with anger, "How dare you?" She began to stalk toward me. "You sneak into my room, you pry into my life, and then you criticize like you know what you're talking about! Who the hell to you think you are?" She was now standing directly in front of me, her face scant inches from his as she shouted. With her last words, she had poked me hard in the center of my chest. "Well!" she demanded.

Her face was flushed and her gold eyes glittered angrily. Her hair was mussed from sleep and the white kimono she was wearing was slightly askew.

"Step back, human," I commanded quietly.

"Make me," she challenged.

I said nothing as I grabbed her by both arms and shoved her back against the nearest wall, holding her there. She glared at me. "Jerk," she muttered.

Then something strange happened.

I was pulling away, but found that I didn't want to. I wanted to keep her there, close. I wanted... I wanted to hold her.

I abruptly released her, disappearing into the night, not wanting to identify why I wanted anything.