A/N: Hello once again, Audience!
The best laid plans...
I fully intended for this chapter to be posted early yesterday because I *knew* I would not be home in time to make it work. Then a whole bunch of life happened and here we are with me going AUGH and apologizing, blaming my tire for popping and being super far from home when it happened last night, etc. Basically this just means you're going to get a chapter a day until next Tuesday as opposed to next Monday as I originally planned.
We've had more "episodes" than the anime for a long time (112) and while we don't currently have more "chapters" than the manga (175), being on episode 200 just seems kind of special to me. I dunno why since it's not particularly significant given our chapter number has only recently gotten over 100, but I suppose I just like round numbers lol.
Expect another chapter again tomorrow!
EDIT: I updated this chapter this evening because for some reason in the second half of the chapter the doc didn't copy/pasta our italic and bold markings from the google docs.
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the 'thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
A drunk Akari finds her way into Kurama's room,
crawling up over him on his bed to lay atop him.
She apologizes for being angry earlier,
in the midst of feeling scars upon his chest
and being easily distracted,
asking him what kind of underwear he wore.
Kurama manages to refrain from doing or saying anything,
until Akari insists that she's thirsty and the two of them
should drink something, which he asserts she's had enough.
As she wriggles on top of him,
claiming she's uncomfortable in her clothing,
and wanting Kurama to remove her pants,
he tells her he could get her some water,
attempting to distract her from the prospect of
removing her pants, even if to get comfortable.
She rambles about missing Nabu and
liking Kurama, and eventually says she doesn't feel good,
at which point Kurama carries her to the toilet
so she can puke.
She removes her shirt and collapses again,
Kurama handing her something to drink to help
and then dressing her in a shirt of his own.
Taking her back to his bed,
Kurama continues nursing her throughout the night.
When Akari wakes up the next morning,
at first she's afraid she slept with Chu,
embarrassed even once she realizes it's Kurama.
She's even more upset with herself
when she takes note of the fact that she was in Kurama's room,
her and Kurama still having been attempting to keep her
out from under Yomi's gaze.
Kurama reassures her, though insists he
deserves combat pay,
and after a moment she asks what all she did,
only to blush harder at Kurama's retelling of her antics.
As they relax in bed together,
Kurama tells Akari that Yomi's spies have reported back
on the fact that Raizen appears to be doing nothing
to increase the number of layer-walkers in his ranks.
Kurama thinks this is Yusuke's way of telling those
that actually know the boy that he's plotting something,
though he hasn't a clue as to what.
Akari asks Kurama what Kurama is plotting,
and Kurama banters he hasn't plotted ever in his life,
ask anyone.
Akari proceeds to mock-ask herself,
and then Chu,
and then finally Youko,
acting the part of the other each time.
When she comes to Youko,
her mock backfires as her impression ends up too perfect,
with her version of Youko replying,
'Well, I don't know. If you-'
and then immediately stopping herself,
hearing what exactly the kitsune would say,
only to have Kurama lean closer and finish for her,
'-take off your pants for me I might tell you.'
~!**!~
Sitting in the science labs,
brooding about her situation and how
she misses Hiei,
Shikiyoku finds her thoughts interrupted
by Rikei, who questions her mood
and what precisely has her in it.
She soon finds herself kissing him,
though they themselves are interrupted
by the abrupt return of Iketeru,
but not before the jolt of surprise from Rikei's gesture,
has returned Shikiyoku's sight.
The day ends with her in pain form
being escorted back to her rooms by a group of demons
and slamming her door in their faces
as she goes to take a shower.
Hiei eventually returns to her as before,
kissing her to change her form,
and she takes to watching him for a moment
before the both of them fall asleep.
Days go by, Shikiyoku forced to walk to the labs
and being escorted there by various demons
and then back again, exhausted and having Hiei return,
change her back, and then two of them sleeping.
Her and the scientists begin making plans
for trying to cleanse her energy of the Crusnik,
the formulas for which Shiki spends hours working.
On one such occasion where she is frustrated
by her inability to make the formulas work on paper,
she is approached by Hiei,
who did not find her in their rooms as usual
and sought her out,
and Shikiyoku finds that his presence alleviates her irritation,
clearing her mind and allowing her to push through
and finish up the portion of the formula
that she had been working on all day.
Once she seemed done,
Hiei carries her back to their room
and to the bed where he falls asleep
with her in his arms...
The pair of them slept through the night until Hiei felt the call in the morning and left Shikiyoku on her own, who moved out the door only a minute or so later only to find a trio of demons awaiting her.
Immediately she felt the tension set in as they each gave her luid looks when they thought she wasn't looking. Unfortunately, this particular group were all in the category of 'demons who would take her in the middle of the hallway should she give the slightest indication that she might let them.' Before she even got down to the labs her mood was foul.
The day only got worse.
Between running tests and attempting cures, one of which made her ill and left her puking for an hour, Shikiyoku kept trying to progress on the expulsion formula, only to find that she had simply thought she hit a wall the previous day, and today couldn't even make sense of the notes she wrote to herself last night.
At one point Rikei had come over to try and help, but that only led to a yelling match between the two of them and the other demon stormed out of the lab, leaving only her and Iketeru to take up the slack.
As the evening progressed into night, Shikiyoku glared almost angrily at the pages she had spread out before her, several crumpled up sheets littering her work space over which she had growled when one of the others tried to remove them.
There was honestly no point in even trying to think about the work as she felt so agitated that she spent more than half the time not even so much as reading what had been written down, only turning over the day's events with ever-increasing irritation.
The only comforting thought was that perhaps Hiei's day was going better.
When her thoughts turned to the Consort, she found a little of the barely-contained wrath lifting, the deep frown across her brow relaxing, if only just slightly.
Curious, Shikiyoku let her thoughts linger on him, thinking of his presence, his steadfastness. Letting her mind wander to the nights they spent together recently, imagining herself being gathered into his arms and-
It was about that time Shikiyoku felt herself being gathered up, turned around and sat onto the counter on top of her work.
Blinking and slightly confused at having been caught unawares, it was all she could do but stare up at the brown-haired demon who stepped up until he stood inbetween her knees, finding that his expression set a blush that spread down from her cheeks and almost skittered across the tops of her arms.
"You would think better if you were relaxed, Kuraku." Iketeru murmured.
Shikiyoku barely noticed the hand he placed on top of her thigh that quickly smoothed up her leg until it settled at the small of her back, because he had reached up with his other hand to where her neck met with her shoulders and his touch sent a tingle of her energy spreading upwards towards her scalp.
Her core fluttered as she stared at him, reminded strangely of Taka, and she felt her eyes begin to glimmer with power as Iketeru leaned down towards her face, a haze of energy starting to fill the air between them to embrace his body with a soft yellow glow that extended from her own to fill what little space remained.
And as it finished completely enveloping his body, their lips finally met, Shikiyoku coerced in place by her own power and left blinking at the demon as he closed his eyes. 3
Hiei's day had been eventful to say the least. He'd gotten into too many scuffles to count, and had ended up with a good amount of injuries as a result. Accompanying those messy gashes and scratches and lesions alike, his cloak had also been torn in various places, the material looking tattered and dirty and as if it had been trampled into the dirt for several weeks.
Also, on top of that, his 'companion' had taken to ordering him through the most foolish of situations, which often lead to the fire demon getting tired of the other and leaving him behind in the layers only for said demon to return with something else for him to do or for another demon to hunt down.
He couldn't remember the last time his blade had spilled so much blood in one long day.
It certainly hadn't been recently.
His feet landed in the first room of his and Shiki's shared space, and he was very keenly aware of the lack of presence in every room. He did, however, move through each room and check for her with his own eyes, just in case.
And her absence had his temper flaring just that much more. He didn't know why, but it just did.
So he moved slowly and with deliberate steps towards the labs, actually running into a few demons here and there despite the late hour. There were even a couple at the lab doors that he shooed away with a glare and a silent death threat.
He didn't care about what they were doing.
He pulled the lab doors open, his anger boiling beneath the surface.
(Shiki, I-)
Hiei halted in place as his eyes landed on the woman who sat on the countertop, her head tilted upwards and lips pressed to those of the scientist who stood over her with a hand at the small of her back. From her end of the bond, he began to feel an odd tingle along his skin, an itch beginning at his scalp and running along his skin in an odd buzz.
He didn't like it.
It made his mood sour even further when he realized that the feeling along his own skin was actually the feeling he'd felt when he'd made her energy react to his stare or whatever he'd done at those times. He couldn't exactly remember at this point in time.
He just knew that he didn't like it.
For the longest time now, he'd been the only one capable of bringing her energy about. And now this one was doing it.
An eye twitched and the fire demon began to move forward, each step silent and deliberate until he came to a standstill near the pair, arms crossed and eyes staring unblinkingly, expression neutral aside from the glint in his stare.
~!**!~
A small sound reverberated in Akari's chest. They had both known what she was going to say. He didn't have to actually say it.
Ugh.
She opened her mouth to make a remark, but found it snapping shut again and her eyelids slid closed.
She wasn't happy with the fact that she'd been so quick to come up with a reply the fox would undoubtedly give, as if she knew the fox demon more than she actually did.
...or as if she could relate to the kitsune.
Nooo…
"Shut up…" *
"Why should I?" Kurama asked innocently, "Isn't that what he would say? Isn't that what you were going to say?" He gave her a crooked smile.
"Or is that part of the problem too?"
~!**!~
After a moment, Shikiyoku's eyes had fluttered closed once Iketeru was no longer looking at her himself, and she felt the waves of her energy rolling over her body from head to toe, leaving a shimmering sort of feeling tingling across her skin.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized how much she had forgotten about the energy of this form, as she could tell each pulse of her core, which sent another wave of power over her body, took her further into the moment until all she could feel was the power her scalp released into the air, as well as the hands of the demon and the sensation of his lips moving against her as he kissed her.
The thought to resist the energy did not so much as occur to her as she sat there, her fingers curling around the edge of the counter, her hands resting upon it on either side of her thighs.
But in a way, such a thought couldn't occur to her as the blush across her face deepened, her energy simultaneously beckoning herself and Iketeru to continue.
The arms at her sides twitched, wanting to remove themselves from the counter and circle the neck of the demon over her as if to pull him closer. 3
Hiei stood with crossed arms, his mood souring when no reaction was given to his arrival. In his mind, he took up a grumbling spree of anger that started first:
I'm the only one who can make her energy do that.
There was a pause as his mood continued to sour.
You have her all day. This is my time. I only get a few hours.
Another pause.
Why are you even kissing her? It's my job, and she isn't even switched. I see no scars, you fool.
Anger.
(My. Time.)
Hiei made a sound into the otherwise silent room, his anger voiced in a growl that was shortly followed with words. "Your time is up, lab rat."
~!**!~
Akari didn't answer Kurama, only burying her face in his chest where he couldn't see her expression as it turned sour. I'm not like the fox.
But the voice in the back of her head brought up what Kurama had enlightened her of the night before, and her core gave a little jolt.
I'm not like the fox.
"No one asked you…" She grumbled into his chest, the words followed with a sound of discontent. *
"Aw," Kurama intoned as if to be consoling, "Don't be such a sour-pup. And if it makes you feel any better, he can't hear you right now anyway."
~!**!~
Something that felt almost as if it were at the back of her head started grumbling incoherently, and Shikiyoku become just enough aware of it that her descent into her power paused, leaving her considering the sensation even if she did not break contact with Iketeru.
The sound of Hiei's voice had Iketeru breaking contact just enough with Shikiyoku that their lips were no longer touching, if only barely not, and as his eyes slid open to stare down into hers, she noted the separation and her eyes came open as well, her gaze gleaming with a power that held the both of them in place.
Her first coherent thought was to note that Iketeru was actually a good kisser, the second that she had not been kissed like that in a long time.
Iketeru's unblinking gaze had her blush growing redder, even as she felt the growling sensation at the back of her head growing louder.
Finally she blinked and glanced over, seeing Hiei standing nearer than any normal demon might in the situation, her eyes still glittering with energy.
(Fire-prince.)
The words were warm and calm as she looked at him with an expression that was the same. 3
Hiei heard the greeting, but noted very keenly that neither demon moved away, and a part of him really, really considered just going back to the room.
Except he'd be alone and very likely unable to sleep.
After all, this was his time.
And this scientist was cutting into it.
(This,) he began with absolutely no patience whatsoever, an arm reaching out and grabbing at her to pull her away from the scientist and towards the door, (is my time.)
As he dragged her from the room, he made sure the door shut behind them.
(You're with him all day. He's cutting into my time. He can wait.)
~!**!~
His last words did indeed make her feel better. Immensely so, actually, and Akari relaxed.
We'll just pretend that.. never happened.
She let out a long breath. "Good." *
"And, I'm sure you'd like to know, he wasn't a witness to anything last night either." Kurama said the statement with a bit of a flourish.
He hesitated for a moment, thinking through what he had been about to admit after that.
"Actually he..." He let out a little breath and tucked his chin so that he could rest it on top of her head, continuing more quietly, "...he hasn't heard anything in a long while."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku did not audibly protest when Hiei pulled her away, and neither did Iketeru, though the second demon most definitely turned to watch her leaving.
There was a moment of a twitch when he first grabbed her and as she followed after him a rather dry thought occurred.
(I suppose we'll just have to start earlier next time, then.) 3
He didn't like it.
But that didn't mean he'd tell her that.
Hiei merely let her get her say on the matter, deciding he didn't care at the moment. He was tired, his cloak was torn, he was sore here and there, and he wanted to sleep. With her. Because he had a feeling that even if he did get comfy, he wouldn't be able to shut down his thought processes without her nearby, and he wouldn't be able to sleep in the least bit.
So he didn't respond as he dragged her through the halls and up to their shared room.
~!**!~
Oh yay!
Wait…
Not yay?
Eeehhh….
Akari's response was delayed, unsure whether or not she was more excited that Youko wouldn't have anything over the last few days to use against her, or if she should feel more bemused about the fact that the lack of the kitsune's presence could diminish Kurama's own capabilities.
Though she had no reason to believe it was as such thus far.
…
She wasn't sure what to think.
"Why's that?" *
Kurama considered the question, one he had asked himself several times since Youko fell asleep...or whatever he was doing. It was like no slumber Kurama ever remembered.
"He's..." Kurama stopped, picking up again in a different direction. "I...don't actually know."
~!**!~
As Hiei pulled her along, the energy that had been buzzing along her skin started to settle down once more, her core returning to its usual rhythm.
While she had not been able to feel Iketeru's desires, even with her energy surrounding him like that, she could read in his eyes and his body language as she was pulled away that the interaction had been more than meant as just a release for her tension, though that may have been the excuse the demon used to get close to her.
She considered with amusement how well it worked to in regards to relaxing her, of ridding her mind of the stress of the day.
Stupid scientist. 3
Hiei lead the way all the way up to their shared room in irritated silence, his single thought continuing to circle around and around in his head just behind the bond so it wouldn't be transmitted over and over again. He only released his grip on her wrist when the bedroom door was shut behind them, at which point he continued forward, stripping his cloak away and tossing it to the side as if he couldn't care less for its damage at the moment.
And he proceeded to climb onto the bed and lay on his side, eyes closing and trying to force his brain to shut up with the cycling thoughts and irritation.
Tch.
~!**!~
Akari didn't reply to Kurama, because there really wasn't anything she could say in regards to it. Especially since she found a deep gratitude for the timing, otherwise she wasn't sure what would have happened if she'd stumbled her way into this room drunk and Youko had been able to witness every bit of it. She could only imagine the uproar that the fox would have created…
Even if she didn't remember what she'd said or done.
"He'll come back. I don't see him being the silent one for too long." He'd have too many remarks to make after a while… *
"Akari," Kurama began, once more feeling hesitant before continuing on, "Do you recall the day I asked you to leave the training room? He...he has not spoken to me since after that day."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku felt surprised that Hiei had left her by herself at the bedroom door, and stood there for a second staring after him and blinking before she started forward again, getting herself onto the bed in front of him to lay facing him and scoot close.
At first she only meant to nudge her nose against the underside of his chin, but just as she did so she reached up and placed her hand over his heart, letting her nose stay in contact with his skin as she closed her eyes, feeling the marking under her fingers spreading its warm glow outwards.
The sensation had the side of her lips pulling upwards in a smile as she took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing into the bed fully. 3
Hiei was aware of the footsteps that brought Shikiyoku to the bed and even of the shifting of the mattress as she made herself comfortable. His eyes opened only for a moment when she came as close as she could, her nose brushing his skin and her hand resting over his core.
Where he had been rather temperamental before, he now felt as if the ever-growing glow of his markings purified those emotions, banishing them and leaving him relaxing exponentially. His body sunk into the bed and he proceeded to wrap his arms around the woman, all tension gone and all thoughts centered around the warm glowing that spread along his skin, accompanied by the quiet emotion that he felt transmitting from her to him.
He let out his own breath that was somewhere on the spectrum close to relief.
(...My time…)
~!**!~
Akari remained quiet for a few moments, thinking back to the day he referred to and remembering how nervous he'd made her. He'd gone from laughing at her idea of tic-tac-toe with shadows and flowers to tense in a millisecond, and then he'd ushered her from the room.
She hadn't asked what had happened.
Akari let out a breath and moved her fingers up to the base of Kurama's skull, beginning there with gentle movements of her fingers as she massaged at his skull. She wasn't sure why, really, she had decided to do so, but…
She didn't know what to say. It wasn't like she liked the fox demon, much less knew him well enough to say anything about it.
So she let out a small breath and simply let her fingers work at his skull. *
Kurama's eyes had come open to stare blankly forward, thinking back to how the fox had insisted that it was necessary to leave right that moment, the night spent fighting Youko off as such an action would have meant the death of not only Akari, but his mother as well.
When he felt Akari's hand slip up the back of his neck, Kurama let his eyes close again, a hum of relaxation murmuring past his lips as he smiled and took to paying specific attentions to the motions of her fingers against his skin.
"...thank you."
~!**!~
Fortunately for Shikiyoku, the walk down to the labs the next day had her escorted by Nikolai and a friend of his, Fuushi, and the both of them were among those demons that were more interested in at first knowing more about her than simply drawing her away to a dark corner the first chance they could get.
Needless to say, she start out the work in the lab in a much better mood than the day before.
As usual, it didn't last very long.
The two scientists had managed to isolate the Crusnik from her pain-side's energy, finding that the 'virus' was not a virus at all, but held more sentience than any disease they had come across in their work.
"They're more like...nanites." Rikei tried to explain, "Nanobots. Given a directive and a purpose that drives them forward more thoroughly than simply reproducing, increasing their numbers within you."
"Unfortunately we have yet to discover what the directive is." Iketeru said as he drew closer with a syringe full of a strangely pulsing yellow substance to Shikiyoku, sitting on the usual table.
Shikiyoku's face did not betray any of her thoughts, but given that the harsh scars of her other form were cut across her skin, it wasn't really saying much.
She had been interested at first in how Iketeru might react when she came into the room, but the demon had shown no signs of the event the night previous, and it left her feeling calm if she was being honest, for without the ability to read his desires she had started the day out anxiously. His body language, however, gave her no indication that he felt anything to be out of the norm and did a good deal to rest her mind.
As Iketeru took her arm in hand, he slipped the needle into her skin and started injecting her shoulder with the contents of the syringe.
The size of the needle was nothing to scoff at and the entire time Iketeru pressed the thing further in she let out a harsh breath of displeasure, sending an unhappy glare in his direction.
"It. Hurts."
"I imagine it does." He replied, remaining unphased and continuing to empty the syringe until all of the energy was gone.
He stood over her for a moment, and like the first time he had injected her, she vaguely caught something stirring behind his eyes and had she not been in pain form she would have blushed.
As it was the edges of her eyes twitched as she felt the substance spreading into the rest of her.
They had managed to concentrate what they had extracted of her normal form's energy and were attempting to see how it would react to the activated Crusnik.
As Iketeru turned away to gather the third and final injection, a shiver ran down Shikiyoku's entire body and she reached for the clipboard sitting next to her on the table near her thigh and began working again at the formula as Iketeru prepared the last syringe. 3
Had Hiei worn his cloak today, it would have been torn bad enough to need to be completely replaced, rather than simply patched up with the material. And had he had his tear gems, they would have fallen away from him during another scuffle, and there was no way of knowing what would have happened to them then. Had he not had his Jagan already accessed and tracking another energy, he wouldn't have been aware of the ambush that had ensued just inside the city walls on the Seventh Layer, and due to the combined powers of those demons he very likely could have actually suffered severe consequences had he not been alert.
And after that attack of thirty or so high-level demons, he'd had no time to recover before tracking the layer-runner down all over again, who had put up quite the fight as well before he'd lost his life. Hiei hadn't been in the merciful mood.
And he sure was not in the merciful mood now, either, as his day had only gotten worse from there.
He moved into the bedroom and tossed his sheathed katana to the side, hearing it clatter and skid across the floor until it bumped into the wall and came to a stop near the door. When he was aware of no Shikiyoku in this room, he checked the bathroom and found it too vacant.
"I suppose we'll just have to start earlier next time, then."
The echo of Shikiyoku's words the night before had him snarling and turning, retracing his steps and positively fuming. What part of my time do you not understand?
He marched through the halls and down to the labs, any demons nearby scattering with a single glare in their direction. A glare that held only one warning and no mercy.
He pulled the door to the lab open, ignoring the tightening of the bandages around his arm and shoulder, the ones around his torso tightening a little when he took a breath in. His eyes landed quickly on the scarred, ashen-skinned Shikiyoku before roving over the scientists in the room, glaring at the needle that was brought into his view.
"You're done for the night." His tone was not one that would allow for debate as he moved forward, every intent being that he would scoop Shiki from where she sat and carry her away.
~!**!~
Akari's lips twitched just a fraction at the sound she was rewarded from the male, and her fingers never paused as she released her own breath. He'd never brought something like that up to her before, and while she had been very tempted to make a joke about the kitsune, she had resisted simply because him telling her about it was more than enough to let her know he was deeply concerned, perhaps disturbed, about the silence from the fox demon.
And she wasn't quite sure how to handle it aside from what she was doing now.
"Mm-hm," she hummed back at him, fingers moving a little higher up the back of his head. Anytime. *
Kurama's first reaction was to say something about her learning from the best, that being Youko, but he restrained himself if only because he was enjoying the attention too much.
"Have you ever been told how excellent of a distraction you are?"
~!**!~
Both Rikei and Iketeru glanced up for a moment upon the entrance of the fire demon into their territory.
And both of them almost immediately dismissed him, though only after blinking at him for a moment, only just now catching up with the time of night and realizing they'd been so keen on their current actions they had forgotten the late hour.
Rikei went back to studying the console in front of him, tracking the readouts from Shikiyoku's body as her true form's energy started coursing through her.
It appeared that the absorption of the energy was slower this second time, easier to track their manipulation by the Crusnik.
Iketeru went ahead and approached Shikiyoku, whose lip curled just a little as she pulled her arms out of her lap again, not eager to be pricked again.
"The injection has to be used as soon as possible," He told Hiei as he took a hold of one of Shikiyoku's arms, "Otherwise it becomes useless." 3
Hiei's eyes narrowed at the dismissal of his presence, and it took every single ounce of restraint he had left not to snarl and make a verbal threat to their lives. He did not pause in his deliberate steps towards the woman, but the moment he saw the needle being pointed at Shikiyoku and her lips curl, his own seemed to mirror that gesture with the male's words.
And he couldn't restrain the sound he made in anger as his hand shot forward, his mood too far south to care at all about restraint. He grabbed the needle in a swift motion quicker than any he'd made today, and without pause for thought he jabbed the needle into his own arm, dispensing every ounce of what was inside into his own body before tossing the needle back to the demon.
"There."
He proceeded to scoop up Shikiyoku, his anger driving him to leave the room before he actually decided to take their lives.
...It wouldn't do well in her cure research if she had no lab monkeys to do the work for her.
~!**!~
Akari flashed a small smile at Kurama, her fingers pausing briefly in their massaging to play with the strands of his hair instead. She tugged lightly through a tangle she found until it unraveled and she continued through the strand before letting her fingers find the base of his skull again where she resumed her massaging.
"Maybe here and there," she replied after a moment, her tone calm and her voice no louder than a murmur. "I've learned a few things in my time." Her lips spread into a wide smile. "It has its usefulness."
She continued about what she was doing with gentle attentiveness, wondering if there was a specific spot that would bring the most amount of satisfaction. *
"You know," Kurama began in that same murmur, his eyes half-lidded as he stayed relaxed, "I will have to keep this in mind. Haven't had a chance for much actual time to ourselves." He briefly shifted his arms around her, his tone taking on just a hint of Youko, "I despise Yomi."
~!**!~
Where Iketeru had lifted his hand to insert the needle, suddenly he found his fingers without syringe, blinking at the place where it had been, his eyes widening when he turned to watch Hiei inject himself.
Rikei caught sight of the action as well and both scientists appeared to have their breath catch in their throat even as Hiei swept Shikiyoku off the table and out of the lab.
When Iketeru turned to Rikei, the first had his eyebrows raised to the second who wore a similar expression, something between anticipation and shock.
"That's...a rather interesting development." Iketeru commented mildly.
"I think it's later that will prove more interesting."
"It might not do anything."
"It could put him in a better mood."
"One can only hope."
Shikiyoku made sure that when Hiei gathered her up she had a firm grip on the clipboard she still clutched in one hand. She was in the middle of a portion that she had intended to finish that night before she went back to the rooms, but between the injections there had not been enough time to continue much so she felt further behind than she particularly wanted to be.
What with the more muted reactions, she thought that somewhere she might have been at least a little amused at Hiei's response to the scientists, though his interruption did mean that she would likely have to start the whole process again the next day.
The realization had her releasing a puff of air from her nose that was laced with distaste at the possibility. 3
Hiei seemed to almost glide through the hallways and up the stairs, his steps silent despite the fuming anger within. His hold on Shikiyoku, however, was not rough or harsh. In fact, his grip on her was just as it always was, enough to hold her up and get her from point A to point B without any delay.
And he didn't set her down again until the first door to their shared space was clicking shut behind him. His eyes noted the clipboard in her hand briefly as he set her on her feet, his eyelids closing as the pulsing vein in his temple slowed its erratic throbbing.
He let his anger from the day slide away, his attention turning to the fact that he was able to go to bed now, and that Shikiyoku was not held up in the labs anymore.
In fact, as those harsh emotions faded, he became aware of an odd sensation in his veins and a leftover sting where the needle had gone through his skin.
He quickly dismissed this however, and opened his eyes to look about the room. Oddly, everything seemed clearer, sharper in detail than before.
And whatever he'd been thinking about before now was no longer relevant.
~!**!~
Akari made a small humming noise at the back of her throat, acknowledging Kurama's declaration and the switch in demeanor that reminded her of the fox demon he'd just said was gone. Hm. "Well," she began in the same tone as before, "it also doesn't help that I've been using my days for sleeping and nights for-"
Stupid layers.
"-other things." She paused and gave a small sigh.
My shadows aren't cooperating either in that respect..
The thought had emotions attempting to break through the calm that had been created, and it took a moment to reign those in and lock them away in a box for later.
"Distractions are rather potent, no matter the source." *
"Potent or important?" Kurama murmured, "Because...at the moment...I'm thinking it's both of those things."
It was a simple matter to let his mind for once focus on something other than their situation, on the strange actions of Raizen and Yusuke, and the impending conversation with Yomi and his staff about how-
Nope. Being distracted.
…
Mmm…
~!**!~
As soon as she had been set down, Shikiyoku kept moving forward towards the other door, lifting up the clipboard in her hand and looking down at it, eyes scanning the page and starting to catch herself up with where she had been before leaving the lab, thoughts already stirring and picking up the previous mindset.
Considering that her choice for seating included the couch or the bed, she went ahead and went into the bedroom and crawled up over the end of it, making her way to the top where she propped the pillows up just enough that when she lay back down she could have the bottom edge of the clipboard resting on her stomach and still see the whole page. That's when she started writing again. 3
Hiei's eyes looked around the room in wonder, curious as to why it appeared sharper and more detailed than when he'd been in here earlier. Maybe it was just because he was calm now? He wasn't sure.
And when the fire demon became aware of Shikiyoku walking away from him, his eyes zeroed in on her back, watching her with avid interest as her hair bounced against her back and her steps gave a very slight sound in the room that was even quieter than her breaths.
Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he heard the voice of his dragon in his mind, saying, Pretty Lady!
It was after this thought that his eyes began to take note of every muscle that twitched as she moved, watching her until she was out of sight and in the next room.
He followed after her into the next room, and with each step and each beat at his core, the room sharpened even more and his mind focused on the sole desire to see the pretty lady.
He didn't even shut the door behind himself as he moved into the bedroom, pausing only briefly so his eyes could focus on the woman whose eyes were on a clipboard.
No.
He sauntered forward, expression oddly neutral despite his sudden change in mindset, and he crawled up the bed until he was near enough to rip the clipboard from her hand and toss it across the room, hearing it clatter against a wall and drop atop the sword he'd tossed aside earlier. The space at her stomach that was vacated was quickly occupied again as Hiei brushed her hands to the side and sat his rear on her abdomen, his feet set against the mattress on either side of her and knees raised so that he may rest his elbows on them, his arms hanging in the space between his knees, hands almost touching her diaphragm.
Pay attention to me. My time.
And he merely stared at her.
~!**!~
Kurama's question had Akari giving a thoughtful sound before she nodded once in agreement with the redhead, deciding he was right. And even as she was trying to distract him, she found herself also being distracted by maintaining the smooth movements of her fingers and the calm serenity that had enveloped them.
Because if she began to think of other things, she would forget what she was doing and likely let him fall into his earlier thoughts.
…
Not gonna think about it.
"You know, I rather enjoy being a distraction," she suddenly admitted with a humoured smile. "It creates moments like this." *
"Well, as I have said, you're certainly rather good at it." Kurama had to resist adding something else about her learning from Youko. "And I should remember to take advantage of it more often."
Not that we get the chance.
He let out a little sigh.
Not that he regretted pulling her out of the limelight by making it appear he was disinterested in her, as she was likely all the much safer for it, but it meant he unfortunately had not had the opportunity for this.
Why had he suddenly wanted her to know about Youko?
The thought skittered across the back of his mind.
It wasn't as if he had wanted to tell anyone before. In fact, it wasn't as if he had even considered letting anyone know.
Especially since Yomi would likely have a hayday with the information.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku only took notice on a subconscious level that Hiei even followed her into the room, but all her attention on the clipboard in front of her was abruptly put to a halt when she found the item no longer in her hand and the demon taking up the space where moments before she had it placed.
She heard the clatter of it against the floor, eyes briefly following its trajectory without initial understanding until Hiei's weight settled on her stomach and her gaze turned back up to him.
Interesting.
A single dark eyebrow lifted as she considered his face.
"Problem?" 3
Hiei stared down at Shiki, the same thought he'd had earlier passing by the forefront of his mind in the voice of his dragon, but as if he were hearing it from a distance. And even when Shikiyoku asked her one-worded question, he did not seem to have heard her either.
He raised a brow after a moment, staring down at her with more attentiveness- if it were at all possible. His answer came in the form of a shrug, as if to say not anymore.
Except when he stared down at her, he suddenly became aware of her scarred skin and the lack of color in her complexion, the muted green of her eyes.
Oh, yeah.
He shifted his weight a little, but paused as the little dragon voice in his head spoke up again in remembrance of the day they'd been on Hanging Neck Island.
"Pretty lady taste good!"
His head tilted to the side as his eyes focused on her again, curiosity taking full control of his thoughts. Was it true? There was really only one way to find out.
Hiei leaned further forward until his nose was almost touching hers, but instead of moving to kiss her and change her as he had remembered he was going to do earlier, his mind focused entirely on the memory of the dragon's observation and he instead snaked his tongue out and just touched it against her cheek, pulling away after the contact and hiding his tongue behind his lips again.
Hm…
Well, it hadn't been wrong.
He stared down at her, suddenly giving a small jolt in his muscles as he remembered the actual reason he'd begun leaning towards her earlier. And he did so again, this time with the intention to change her back, a new reason surfacing.
I wanna see her be shiny.
~!**!~
Akari's lips pulled up at the corners and she took to simply playing with Kurama's hair, finding it soft between her fingers and that the scent of flowers and other plant life stirred in the air with each motion of her hand. Her eyelids came open a little, about halfway, and she took to watching her fingers move through his hair, aware on some level or another that his thoughts had strayed.
"All you have to do is say the word," she murmured, thinking she wouldn't mind laying just like this when they were in the training room, doing nothing more than what they were doing now.
You've done so much for me, and I've done nothing in return. It's… the least I could do…
Again, she noted that he was brooding over something or another, and her fingers traveled through his hair slower this time, trying to coax him into letting those thoughts file away for another time.
"...you're adorable."
Where did that come from? *
Kurama's eyes came open and he blinked once slowly, expression softening and a small smile tugging at his lips.
"You really think so?"
~!**!~
While she took note of what little she could feel passing between them, Shikiyoku herself gave no reaction to the demon sitting atop her at that moment. Not even when he licked her cheek for whatever convoluted reason that she could not sense from him.
The second time he leaned down towards her, she calmly reached up to place her fingers over his lips, her severe expression unchanging save for a tiny twitch at the tops of her cheekbones as she considered him.
"Something's different. Or...wrong. Are you okay?" 3
Hiei paused, expression unchanging as he eyed Shikiyoku, his lips twitching against her fingers. Wrong? Nothing was wrong, he just-
"I wanna change you back." He paused, brows rising quickly. "Not that there's anything wrong with this," he gestured with a hand at her face, referring to her scars. "They're great, don't get me wrong, but you can't sparkle like this." He sat back a little, letting his back rest against her thighs. "And if you can't sparkle, then I can't sparkle. And I wanna sparkle, Shiki."
~!**!~
Uh…
Yes?
Akari's lips pulled up in a crooked smile as her eyes traveled to the redhead, an awkward grin slowly stretching her lips. She still wasn't sure what had made her say it.
"Is there another word you'd prefer?" *
"Well, I mean," Kurama began loftily, his eyes leaving her as if thinking, "I am certain I could provide you with a few adjectives you could use."
He let his gaze slide back down to her, lips curling upwards.
"But I rather like all the ones you've come up with so far."
~!**!~
Sparkle? What on earth was he-
Wrong. Definitely the 'wrong' one. Something was wrong.
Shikiyoku sat blinking up at him, her fingers backing away from his lips just slightly and her confusion actually readable as her brows fought between frowning and appearing curious.
When had he ever said he liked her scars? For some reason she always thought he hated them.
I...
I don't...3
Hiei waited patiently for Shikiyoku to reply, and instead found himself seeing a twitch in her brows and an odd expression coming over her face. He recognized it as confusion, and took it as he hadn't explained properly. So, he took a deep breath and leaned forward, stopping just in front of her face.
"Can I kiss you now? Because I don't like it. I can't feel you." He paused, blinking once. "I mean," he gave his body a little wiggle, his rear moving against her stomach to indicate what he was referring to, "I can feel you, but I can't," he pointed a finger in her face and made an odd circular motion, "feel you. And I don't like it."
Another pause.
"I'm gonna kiss you now. I hope you don't care because I'm gonna do it anyway."
And he closed the distance before she could even speak against it, his lips touching hers. Change back so you can sparkle!
~!**!~
Akari's lips twitched further upwards, curling into an expression of slight mischief as her fingers paused in his hair, hand lowering to rest on the mattress for the moment. She had plenty she could use, and for a moment she went down a mental list of adjectives.
…
"I think I'll stick with that one for now," she finally said, tone light and expression cheerful as she gave a little shake of her shoulders and returned to playing with his hair. *
Kurama made a little hum of agreement.
"I suppose I can't complain." He admitted, "It's a rather nice one of you to use after all."
He let his smile tilt into a smirk, eyes narrowing playfully, "You let me know if it changes, though."
~!**!~
Just as Hiei bent further to kiss her, the random frantic thought that right now she desperately needed to not switch back scattered any of her former concern as to Hiei's state of mind, but just as she opened her mouth to protest his lips met with hers and almost instantly she could feel the tingling sensation that heralded her change of forms. 3
Hiei pulled away after a moment and gave an eager nod of his head, lips tilted up in a crooked smirk of amusement. Now you gon' sparkle. He sat back and rested his elbows on his knees again, his back against her thighs as he waited patiently for her to change.
"Shiki," he spoke up after another moment. "Make me sparkle."
~!**!~
Uh-
…
Akari stared at Kurama's expression for a moment with her hand paused in his hair and her expression unchanging. "Well, it's changed alright." She gave a shrug, but didn't continue on with her words as she made a face at him and took to playing with his hair again. *
"Mm, is that so?" He did not change how he looked at her. "Are you planning on sharing with the class any time soon? Or shall I attempt to coerce the answer from you myself?"
~!**!~
When she felt Hiei pull away, fully in her true form now, Shikiyoku kept her eyes squeezed closed, attempting to think about everything else except what was currently happening.
Specifically, she started reciting the next portion of the formula in the back of her mind, filling her thoughts with numbers and equations and trying very hard to ignore whatever it was that Hiei had just said. 3
Hiei's lips turned into a disappointed frown when Shikiyoku completed her shift back to her normal form, but she didn't open her eyes to look at him. The fire demon's brows came down over his eyes and his lips pursed together, waiting semi-patiently until he realized she was trying not to look at him on purpose.
He reached forward calmly with an index finger, poking at her cheek.
"Shikii…" His tone was unlike any he'd used until this moment. "Pay attention to me. I wanna see your shiny eyes." A pause. "The dragon and I agree that they're pretty."
~!**!~
Akari's nose lifted higher in the air a little at Kurama's challenge, but her lips turned into a grin. She purposely pressed her fingers to the base of his skull and began to massage again, methodically putting pressure here and there that was meant to have a calming effect on people.
And she did not answer him. *
"Challenging a fox, dog? Doesn't seem very smart of you." Kurama's eyes had slid back closed, but he let out a little breath, "Should I narrow my eyes at you again?"
~!**!~
There was no disguising the fact that her abdomen tightened underneath him, Hiei's pleading voice cutting through whatever semblance she had of holding herself together.
Between clenched teeth she barely let her lips part as her eyes stayed closed, "I'm...ignoring you." 3
Hiei gave a pout at the female, frowning at her as she admitted to ignoring him- not that he hadn't already guessed as much. (Mean.)
He opened his mouth to say something, and suddenly had an idea.
He'd been kissing her.
So now, it was her turn!
…
Which brought his expression into changing. He scrunched his nose and squeezing his narrowed eyes shut, pursing his lips a little at her as he leaned towards her face, pausing and staying right there, making no sound whatsoever. He only waited for her to look at him.
~!**!~
Akari's grin became smug as her fingers worked at his skull.
If she had her tail at this moment, it would have been thumping loudly on the mattress in happiness.
"If you think that will get you anywhere, go ahead." *
Kurama let his eyes open again, "Oh, but I do."
Adopting the same expression as before where he narrowed his eyes he leaned down closer to her.
"Granted, it might be just as fun to make you forget whatever adjective you had in mind."
~!**!~
Strangely enough she wasn't getting much feedback from him, though she felt his accusatory 'mean' when she admitted to ignoring him. And her immediate counter filter towards him.
(Self-preservation.)
Because really, if she actually thought about the position she was in, she felt as if her situation would only get worse.
Personally she thought her self-restraint was admirable, because heaven knew all she really wanted to do was-
(Erk.) 3
"Shikiii-yokuuuu…." Hiei complained as he cracked an eye open to look at her. "You look at them all day. Why won't you look at me?" He kept that same expression he wore, leaning a little away from her again but not leaning all the way back. "It's not fair."
~!**!~
"Mmm… is that so?"
Akari's eyes came open to meet the narrowed gaze aimed at her, her lips twitching into a gentle smile. Yes, that stare had an effect here too, but she'd try her best not to show it. "Well, if you really want to know, that expression had the word coltish coming to mind."
And while 'playful' was indeed the definition of that word she used, she didn't actually tell him the right word she'd been thinking. *
"I'll have you know I'm much more adorable than any silly horse."
~!**!~
It wasn't really all that hard to figure out what had Hiei in such a mood. After all, he had taken a rather concentrated injection of her energy and Shikiyoku found herself rather unsurprised at how the situation had been panning out.
"You forget," She started to say, her teeth still held together, "That 'they' are in their right minds, whereas, in this case, you are not." 3
"So?"
Hiei huffed and sat back, crossing his arms over his abdomen and changing his expression into a mild pout. I. Don't. Like. It.
He stole my job.
Hiei made a sound of discontent.
I don't like him.
~!**!~
Akari gave a huff of a laugh. "I guess you aren't full of spirit enough to take that word as it is." She paused, fingers and all. "Oh, right. You're more similar to an ass."
She made a happy little sound to herself and resumed the massaging of his skull. *
Kurama gave an over-exaggerated, dramatic scoff.
"As if. Donkeys have nothing on me."
~!**!~
For a second, Shikiyoku frowned, catching the impression of him not liking...something, and then knowing there were other things passing between them, but there were all things she found herself unable to pick up.
(Don't like what?)
She crinkled her nose and let out an unhappy little puff of air.
"I can't feel you." Her lips struggled not to pull into a smile as she wriggled a little bit underneath him. "I don't like it." 3
"You would feel me if you kissed me." Hiei commented loftily, nose rising in the air. "I do all the kissin' around here and I don't like it. You never kiss me."
He gave a huff.
"I do all the work around here."
Hmph.
~!**!~
"Self-satisfied," Akari added, lips widening into an even broader smile. She would have said self-indulgent, but considering what he'd told her earlier, that was sure to become a trap she'd never be able to avoid. "Also, suave. I'll give you that one." *
"Hm. You know I'm starting to like this game more and more. You should tell me more about myself."
~!**!~
"That's not what I meant and you-ugh." Shikiyoku couldn't help the grunt of protest.
After a half a second she went on once she gave a long-suffering sigh, wondering how much longer she might have to endure this unfortunate torture, "Hiei, if I really thought that's how you felt about it I would have kissed you a long time ago." 3
"But I just told you how I feel about it," Hiei protested, giving a huff of annoyance at Shikiyoku. "I wouldn't lie." He shifted a little bit, thinking about what she'd said a minute ago as best as he could.
...Oh.
"Now you know how I feel when you're switched."
~!**!~
"I dunno, beautiful," Akari began, finding herself a little incredulous that she'd remembered that conversation from the night before, but not anything more, "I'm getting a little bored." *
"I would offer to spice it up a little, but I'm not sure if you would accept the offer."
~!**!~
(Not fair. I don't like it.)
"But...Hiei you're..." High? Drunk? Drunk.
"Hiei, you're not in your right mind at the moment. How am I supposed to take anything you say seriously?" 3
Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, frowning at her still.
I dunno.
He shrugged at her after a moment. "Good faith?"
~!**!~
Akari paused, entire body going still as her lips opened and a retort flew from her mouth before she could stop to think. "Well, I mean, you wouldn't be getting combat pay this time around."
…
Did I seriously just say that?! *
"I'm still waiting for that, by the way." Kurama told her, "This doesn't count."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku deflated a little as thoughts continued to pass over her mind and she finally relented and opened her eyes to look up at him.
The words tumbled out quietly from her mouth, "I'm...sorry you feel like you have to do all the work."
(I didn't know you felt that way about it.) 3
Hiei's eyes turned down to Shikiyoku quickly, catching her gaze as she looked at him and holding it with a calm and level stare as she spoke. His brow twitched a little, but he didn't let it rise to show his amusement. After all, he hadn't really felt weighed down by it. Actually, he'd rather enjoyed it.
Heh.
"You can fix it by kissing me. All of it, at once!" His lips turned up in a smirk.
~!**!~
Internally, Akari was making a high-pitched sound of distress at herself for saying such a thing. Where had these comments started coming from anyway?
Because Youko isn't listening?
That thought had her almost vocalizing the high-pitched sound that echoed through her whole body.
"Don't think I'll forget." She finally said to Kurama, nose lifting higher in the air in a calm demeanor. "I'm fully aware of that, thank you." *
Kurama didn't say anything at first, only letting his gaze steady on her face for a moment after she spoke.
"...you're terribly adorable when you say something you immediately regret. You should do that more often too."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku raised a single eyebrow at him even as she felt her core start to shiver under the stare he gave her, spreading a familiar tingle along the underside of her skin.
"Is that so?" 3
"Yup. All of them, every problem, solved at once. All forgiven."
Hiei kept his stare steady, an odd feeling beginning to creep up the back of his head as he continued to stare. He reached a hand to scratch at the area, only to find that he actually recognized it this time, and it was his doing, not the lab monkey's doing.
Which had his smirk widening a little, even turning lopsided.
My job.
~!**!~
Erk.
Akari blinked at Kurama for a moment before sticking her tongue out at him, calm demeanor replaced with her current expression of childish defiance.
Which also quickly changed to mischief.
"You know, I'm starting to like this game more and more." Pause, eyes flashing briefly. "You should tell me more about myself." *
"I dunno, beautiful. I'm getting a little bored. Let me in charge and you may find yourself in the midst of a game you didn't bargain for."
~!**!~
A cascade of energy shimmered over her eyes without her direct say-so, under the influence of Hiei's stare, among the several other things he had said and done within the last few minutes.
Leaning up to prop herself on her elbows, her eyebrows rose a little.
"Are you certain that's what you desire?" 3
"As certain as I am that I couldn't count how many demons have died by my sword."
Hiei scrunched his face up again, nose crinkling and eyes squeezing shut, lips pursing together as he craned his neck forward in her direction.
~!**!~
Tch. No fun.
Akari gave a shrug and pulled her hands from his hair, letting her arms simply rest around his neck and her hands rest against the base of his skull. Her fingers had begun to twitch a little as if to cramp up, but they hadn't, and she decided to wait before trying that again anyway.
Because it obviously wasn't giving her any advantage at this point.
Stupid fox.
"Meh." *
"Was that you giving me permission? Because that kind of sounded like you giving me permission."
There was no denying the distinct impression that had Kurama been wearing Youko's ears they would have been standing at attention and pointed in Akari's direction.
~!**!~
(Is that so?)
Shikiyoku's expression faltered as he leaned forward, unsure exactly what face Hiei was attempting to make at her considering she had never seen anything quite like that face before.
"I don't know what you're doing." She admitted, "But you're too far away." 3
Hiei had just been about to protest the lack of movement from her when Shikiyoku spoke up, and his eyes came open to stare at her again, lips twitching in amusement.
He moved, beginning to lean forward with his lips pursing at her.
Except as he continued to lean forward, his eyes closed and he found himself in the next moment simply laying on her, head by hers and nose to her ear.
It was a rather uncomfortable position, considering the way his legs were folded still.
It took a few minutes of gathering strength before he shifted around and got comfy.
His next words were a whisper. "I'm closer… And I'm gonna lay right here… because you're warm."
A pause.
"Shiki… I had a bad day. I got hurt and mad and… will you kiss it to make it better?"
~!**!~
Akari's eyes came open and she stared at the fox, an immediate internal debate sparking. Permission for what? I don't like that expression… but I like that expression….
No?
Yes?
Maybe?
What are you asking about?
Her lips opened and her head moved in the indicator opposite of the response she gave, to show her uncertainty. "...Yes…?" *
Kurama's eyebrows raised a little as she shook her head but said yes.
He leaned a little closer, face a few inches from her own as he began to murmur, "You appear to be conflicted. And that just won't do. I'll ask again: are you giving me permission?"
~!**!~
He certainly would never have acted in such a way before their separation, would never have said such things, or quite possibly even had the capacity to feel such things, no matter how much of her energy they pumped into his veins.
Honestly, at first Shikiyoku could feel her whole body tensing, trying not to give in to her energy which beckoned her to respond to his sudden willingness by providing her with several actions or scenarios that he likely would have enjoyed given his state of mind.
And a sort of resistance grew stronger within her out of wanting him in his right mind should any of those scenarios play out, because in this situation she could see him filled with regret once the buzz of her energy within him wore off, which would in turn make her feel the same way, and make her feel guilty for having taken advantage of him.
As she reflected on her tension and her resistance, she started feeling amused since she could not say that she had not wished for this sort of connection or moment with Hiei since...since the beginning of their relationship even when he was only her Champion. And there were certainly no other demons in existence upon which she would exercise such restraint. She could almost hear Youko laughing at her predicament.
When Hiei leaned down closer to her and she noted his exhaustion taking over, she forced away what she really wanted to do in that moment when he collapsed against her and instead let his body weight take her back down onto the bed, shifting her arms until she no longer sat propped up by them and they only hung at her sides, and lay stock-still, unmoving. If this is how he desired to spend the night, she would...deal with it.
It had her eyes sliding closed, fighting against natural instincts now enhanced by the energy that started to permeate the air around her, excited by his words and actions up to this point, and keenly aware of his breath from his nose caressing her ear where his head had come to rest next to hers.
Her teeth clenched together when he shifted around on top of her, presumably to get more comfortable, and even when he finally appeared to have settled she let out a shuddering breath of air.
Assuming he would be there until morning, Shikiyoku felt resolved that she would...deal with this. In much the same manner as she had been, which was by doing nothing. For him.
Only for him.
As he began speaking, she felt her stomach underneath him tensing as she resist a laugh.
Closer indeed.
She didn't think he had ever been quite this close. Not of his own volition at least. ...not that this was purely of his own volition, considering her energy could still be blamed for it.
Her head tilted in his direction just a little at the last portion, more laughter threatening to bubble up from her lips.
You have fire demon blood, how can I feel warm?
She tried to ignore the shiver of pleasure his tone and breath sent down her spine, understanding all too well what made him think she felt warm. ...he felt very much the same to her in that moment.
Shikiyoku's arms twitched at her sides in the moment of silence, knowing that it was only her energy trying to coerce her into wrapping around him, holding him. Despite the fact that it was very much what she wanted to do.
Out of all the times he had used the nickname for her so far in the past few minutes, it was this time that sent her core fluttering another wave of energy into her veins and she let out a silent breath.
His words seemed almost childish, reminding her once again of how young he really was and how he had not gotten to be a child, and she felt her tension starting to slip until he asked again if she would kiss him, at which point any semblance of resistance melted away and she found herself giving in to her energy all at once. In that moment she made a tiniest sigh of protest, but went ahead and wrapped her arms around him.
Instead of exploding outwards, the sensation of letting go only released her energy rather calmly into the air around them like the sigh she had given, buzzing down her skin and over her eyes and moving to envelop the both of them in its soft yellow glow.
And she became aware of the feeling of him against her, that he had bandages wrapped around his torso which was pressed onto hers. She found herself more attentive to the soft breathing at her ear that sent more shivers down her spine, and every little thing had her accepting further the energy that beckoned her to relax and enjoy him being here with her.
Naturally, it all set her blushing, her energy moving around in the air about them, but her uncomfortableness had long gone the way of her tension.
One of her hands left him to move up and smooth back and forth over the bandages on his arm, ones she knew had not been there the day before.
Moments after he spoke up she responded in a murmur, "I would do anything for you, fire-prince. Anything you wanted." 3
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!