Hiei woke up, surprised by what to catch the immediate events after Yomi and the large demon's match on the screen in the tent he was in with Nishi and his girl. He stared, hardly comprehending the scene of the large demon hunched over and crying, her boy standing near him with an unreadable expression on his face, and a much still Yomi laying on the ground.
"He won," Hiei said hoarsely. It looked like the large demon won, but why in the world was he sobbing? And how did his boy end up with them? The match must have been over at least.
Both Nish and his girl turned there heads away from the screen and to him when he spoke. "He did," Nishi said softly right next to him.
His girl stood up, coming right up next to Nishi. "He killed Yomi. Made him drown in his own blood and broke his mind by questioning him."
Hiei looked from his girl to Nishi, silently asking for more context. Nishi explained more, "Hayate didn't mean to kill Yomi, which is why he's so upset. Izo... flew up there... somehow on his ice dragon... I'm not sure how he did that... ice demons can't fly and I never taught him that... Yomi had run Hayate through with his own sword. Izo healed him immediately after the ten count ended, even though he wanted him to heal Yomi first. I don't know when Yomi died, but it was before Izo tried to heal him..." Her words seem to come from numb lips.
Hiei turned his head forward, blinking. He suddenly remembered his right hand. He looked down at it hesitatingly. It was still there, like it had never been removed. He raised it up tentatively. He examined his wrist closely, running his left fingertips gingerly over his wrist. There was no scar, no mark, nor trace of its previous removal or burns. He flexed his fingers and twisted his wrist around. He cracked the knuckles on it testily. The pops that came from the sound seem to ring loudly throughout the tent.
"Who healed me?" Hiei asked. He looked over at the screen. It had gone dark. The match was officially over.
"Minha," Nishi breathed. "She healed your hand while Yukina and Izo healed your back-"
"And I gave you blood. And Mother gave Izo more energy," his girl butted in.
"Team effort," Nishi said like an afterthought. It was a sarcastic remark, but not one laughed.
Hiei sat himself up on the cot, still feeling a bit exhausted from his fight with Yomi. He swung his legs over the edge of the cot, ready to stand up.
He stilled himself when her boy came into the tent, fully composed, but with his head down. His hands were still red from the blood from having healed the large demon and attempting to heal Yomi earlier. The second the tent flap closed however, he lost all of his composure. He broke down in his own puddle of tears. He stumbled over to Nishi in a rush, crying freely.
"Mother," was all he could manage to choke out.
Nishi pulled him in close. His head came to rest on her shoulder. Her hand gently reached up to the top of his, stroking his hair gently. Nishi looked back over to Hiei, cocking her head to motion for him to stand up. He did so, numbly, stepping out of the way.
Nishi guided her boy so she could sit down on the cot and hold him. Her boy clung to her, crying like a infant. He kept trying to speak, but only managed a few words between sobs. He kept trying to say he did not want the large demon to die, just like the large demon had not let Hiei die. He also tried to say he chose to help the king first. He also questioned as to whether or not he was wrong to not let Yomi die.
Her boy slipped his head down into Nishi's lap. He had calmed down quickly, which was impressive. He was still crying quietly now. His hand clung to her thigh though. Nishi continued to stroke his hair soothingly, saying nothing. She was waiting patiently for her boy to calm himself down. When he was younger and would cry like this over something, Nishi would calm him down like this. She let him cry it out. When his girl was younger, she would cry more than her boy ever did. She had also been louder and cried over both the silliest things and the serious things. So seeing her boy at age fourteen cry like this was pretty severe for him.
Her boy settled down, having stopped crying now, but his eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. If he was not sleeping now, he would be soon. Hiei took a moment to be amazed at how calmly and gently Nishi handled her boy's response to the events that had just happened.
Nishi finally spoke, in softest of voices, "it's not your fault. You made the best choice you could."