"Hiei."
"Yes, onna?" asked the fire demon in an annoyed voice.
"You have to go back."
"I've never known you to act matchmaker, Itomi."
"Neither have I. Maybe I'm just having an off day," she said, red eyes flashing.
"Oh really?" he asked sarcastically.
"Shut the hell up. Just go back there and get all kissykissy and get out of my way, will you?"
"Why do you care anyway?"
"I hate ferrying people to hell who died over love. They're always so moaney."
"And what are you going to do about your sister?" asked Hiei, as always, insensitive to any feelings even the emotionless deity of hell could contain.
"I won't have to ferry her. Remember, she was a saint. Saints don't go to hell too often." Hiei shook his head, trying to convince himself that the bit of remorse, sadness, in her voice was fake. "By the way, will you make up your mind someday?"
"About what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Stop calling me out on false alarms. Either live or die, get out of the life-or-death situations. They're annoying."
"Thanks, I agree."
And the two left the forest, one black cloak whispering through the trees at an uncharacteristic slow walk, and the other walking on slightly halting steps, flowers shriveling around her burning white form. No voice left Itomi's lips as she softly whispered in her mind, "Goodbye, idiot." She angrily blinked her eyes, not allowing tears to form. There would be enough of that when she told her family. She let out a breath. God that was going to be annoying.
Hiei slowly walked back to the edge of the tree clearing. He easily sensed the Ryu's ki, sitting in the tree above him. It was desolate and remorseful, not to mention SAD. He repressed a growl at himself, cloak rustling as he jumped onto Ryu's tree branch.
Ryu didn't look up, but he knew she knew he was there. She turned her head away a little more, black hair feathering down to hid her face from view.
"Ryu." He had meant to say it softly, but it came out as a word soft in volume, but not in tone.
"Nngh." Her nondescript sound was his only answer.
"Ryu."
"No."
"Yes."
"What the hell do you want?"
"For you to stop moping."
She looked up for a moment, red eyes disbelieving. "You really think I'll do that?"
"Why won't you?"
"Oh, I don't know, my best friend is dead, the guy I love won't stop yelling at me, my other friend is all wrapped up in her boyfriend, and I can't do anything, but no, nothing's wrong with me, of course not."
"Well maybe I wouldn't yell at you if you wouldn't bait me along!"
"I'm baiting you along?"
"Yes! You are!"
"By what? Admitting my feelings to you?"
"Yes!" He didn't even realize what he said until he said it. "I-…"
"Oh, sorry," she said, a shield rising behind her eyes. They were guarded and cautious, not showing anything except anger. "I guess I can tell when I'm not wanted, huh?"
"Ryu…I …"
"Save it for someone who cares."
"I thought that was who I was talking to!"
"Well maybe it was, at one point. But that all stopped when you pulled my heart out and skewered it on that sword of yours. By the way, I'd like it back if you don't mind."
"Actually, I do mind."
"Oh yeah, I guess it's not enough for a guy just to stomp on a girl's heart and kill her emotionally, he has to keep causing her pain too. I forgot."
"That's not what I'm saying."
"It's sure as hell what you're implying!"
He caught her at the end of the word, and she gasped in shock as his mouth met hers. She shrank back slightly, remembering a different set of lips, surrounded by black hair and purple eyes, lips she had never wanted to touch hers. She didn't notice her hand start to shake slightly, but apparently he did, because he grasped it in his before looking straight into her eyes as he said his next sentence.
"I want to keep your heart because if I have it, I might be able to heal it. I never wanted to hurt you, Ryu. Please, may I at least try to heal it?" His eyes and voice were shaking slightly with sincerity.
She looked into his eyes for an unbearably long time before smiling slightly. Just a ghost of a smile, but Hiei's heart jumped. Then she leaned forward and pressed her cheek against his neck, pulling his hand in hers to her chest, then covering it with her other one, treasuring it. He wrapped his other arm around her gently, pulling her to him.
She gladly surrendered all her emotional barriers, and finally, she let her tears fall.
Kurama's POV (A/N: Wow, haven't done that one in a while…)
It's grey. Funny. Kage always said that was her least favorite color out of everything. She liked white and black, but grey was in the middle, and she didn't like it. If she were here, she'd be complaining that everything's so monotone, telling everyone to lighten up and wear some color. And then Yusuke would make some comment about how she didn't wear color either, and she'd throw a rock at him.
Oh yeah, I forgot. She is here. So's her whole family. I guess it would be rude to miss your own funeral.
Tears bloom at my eyes, something that's been happening too often lately. I make no effort to wipe them away. I won't hide my grief.
Her whole family is here, and they're off to one side. Her eldest sister, Takara, is sitting on a garden bench, trying to comfort her youngest sister, Keisha. Her mother and father are standing together by the casket, looking down. Her mom laid a flower on her earlier, but it's not enough. I understand her there. How could a flower ever be enough?
Itomi, the white one, is standing away from the whole group. She's glaring at the ground, and the grass in front of her is dying. Scratch that, it's already dead. I suppose the other grass is probably screaming in fright and looking to me to save them, but I'm not really listening.
Everything seems so fake. It's like it's not real without her here, pointing out the flowers and asking what they are, just…she was so…innocent. Saintly. I don't know. I can't describe Kage, or what I felt for her. All I can feel is the pain at the fact that she's not here.
Allie and Ryu are talking, and Ryu's let down that mask she always wears. Hiei and Yusuke are standing together a little ways away.
Kage's oldest sister, Takara, is walking over to me. It's odd, but I don't even feel any surprise as she envelops me in a hug. I don't really feel anything at all. Just…an emptiness consuming me. She then pulls back to look at me. "Kurama?" she says in a soft voice. It's the first voice I've actually heard this morning. It's a lot like Kage's, but softer, without the battleworn sound.
I meet her eyes. I see her flinch slightly. I must look a mess, but I don't care. She apparently gets over it as well, as she swallows and says softly, "I'm sorry."
"I…" I can't get anything else out. It's like I took too big a bite of dry bread, and it's stuck in my throat.
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, and that I hope you're happy again someday. I know it's what Kage would want."
What Kage would want? How can it be that? I don't want anyone except her!
My confusion and desperation must have shown on my face, because she let a ghost of a smile onto her face for a moment. "That's just who Kage is. She doesn't care what happens, when her friends or loved ones are happy, she's happy. She wouldn't want you to mope forever."
"…Y-yeah, you're right." It's true. Every time I see her in my mind, she's smiling when I'm smiling, as best she can. It's that cute, happy smile I always remember her with. And whenever I smiled, she smiled.
I can't force a smile now, though. My true emotions bubble over onto my cheeks, leaving warm, wet trails of salty liquid down them. When Takara looks up, she's crying too, but the little smile is still on her face.
I watch her go to pay her respects to Kage. She kneels before Kage's coffin, laying a bouquet of white roses by the side. Then she says, in a voice tainted by tears, "Now don't you come back to smell the roses, Kage. I love you and all, but sometimes, a sister needs a little peace. And…well…you sure figured out how to give it to us, didn't you? Well, have fun up there in heaven, sis. And when you look down here again, don't be offended that I'm smiling, and pushing 'your' Kurama toward another girl. I'm not gonna let him mope forever, and you've gotta see the sense in that. So…love ya, sis, and you'll always be here with me, but…we're going to move on. We will. You'll see." And when she stood up, her tears were gone, and there was a little bit of determination on her face as she went to talk to Ryu, who listened for a while, then abruptly threw a little fire at her and turned away.
But even after that, Kage, the world's still grey. I don't want it to be grey. Kage…I turn away from the casket, sitting heavily on a bench.
I'm alone, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I'll go on living, sure, but I'm not going to just move on like Takara said. I can't just forget about her like that.
Okie, that's it….for now…but hopefully I'll update soon, now that school's over. Adios!