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I ran my fingers through Hiei's hair, watching his peaceful breathing. He had spent so much of his energy fighting Bui, and he managed to come out alive. He hadn't even moved in the nearly six hours he had been unconscious, restoring his energy. I thought I'd lost him. I thought I'd lost Kurama. This tournament was getting worse and worse with every passing second. How was Kazuma supposed to fight one of the Toguro brothers, let alone the elder. He was crazy, unnerving. Kazuma may not have seen him fight, but I did. How the hell was he supposed to fight someone who could shapeshift and elasticize to ridiculous lengths?
"Are you sure you're okay?"
I looked up at Kurama, blushing at his smile. "I'm fine. Just... worried about Kazuma."
"You have every right to be. The Toguro brothers are famous for their cruelty, and they have won every round they have fought before this without issue."
"You know, that's something that I really do appreciate about you, Kurama. You always say it the way it is, no bullshit." I gave him a half-hearted smile.
"Ella. You don't have to put on the brave face right now. It's normal to feel frightened." He leaned forward, his eyes softening.
"You almost died." I said quietly, looking down at Hiei again. "Hiei could have died. And I love my cousin so much, but he isn't you or Hiei. He isn't like Yusuke. And... I don't know how he's going to come out of this alive."
Koenma glanced up at me, opened his mouth, and looked down again with a grimace.
"You don't have to reassure me, Koenma. I know the odds. It's nice to finally meet you in person by the way."
"Likewise." He chuckled, some of the tension easing out of his posture. "I've heard a lot about Genkai's second student."
I flinched, cracking my neck to distract myself. "She was an amazing teacher."
Kurama reached over and adjusted the blanket on my lap, drawing my attention away from the spiraling darkness of my own thoughts. I nodded to show him that I was okay and offered him another weak smile. Everything as we knew it was on the brink of destruction, and all I seemed to be able to focus on was this moment, this fleeting peace before our inevitable doom. Hiei's head in my lap, Kurama talking to me like a real person... everything here felt natural.
Talk about emotions running haywire.
Hiei tensed up, his shoulders flexing against my thigh, and I glanced down at him. He blinked once or twice, glanced at Kurama, and sat up.
"Ah, finally awake?" Kurama teased him.
"Where am I?" He ignored him. "How long have I been out?"
"We're in the locker room, and you've been 'hibernating' for a little over six hours."
Hiei's eyes widened as he shifted to a normal position, his hand resting on top of mine as he situated himself. I couldn't help but smile when he didn't remove it.
"Six hours?! Well who won the tournament?!"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that one. Nothing's changed since you were last up. Yusuke and Kuwabara got bored and went for a walk."
"Urg! You're not making sense!" Hiei insisted, standing up with that fire to fight coming back into him. It didn't escape my notice that he stayed connected to me by pushing his leg against my knee, like he was getting ready to defend me or something. I stayed quiet, wondering if and when he would notice my presence. Kurama just smiled, ever the patient one in our ragtag little group, and stayed where he was so he could explain the situation to Hiei's impatient satisfaction.
"It's taken time to organize since you leveled half the stadium. I hear they were going to fly in a carrier plane from the mainland to transport the ring from the old stadium, but Toguro carried it on his back so we can begin shortly."
I grimaced, remembering his hulking frame carrying the piece of stone that should have crushed him like an insect. It was the single most terrifying thing I had seen yet at this tournament, and it hadn't been an easy day.
"What?" Hiei whispered, his muscles tensing again as the stress of that thought got to him as well.
"I just received the official word!" Koto announced over the speakers, drawing our attention once more. "The ring is now in place and we'll be ready to start in thirty minutes. Please make your way to the seats in an orderly fashion, and Juri, if you can hear this, get over here!"
Kurama stood up calmly. "Shall we go, Hiei?"
At that exact moment, Hiei seemed to notice me. Our eyes met, and I watched his guard sink down for just a moment while he assessed our point of contact and my reaction to it. He looked ready to bolt at any minute, but instead cleared his throat, nodded to Kurama, and briskly walked ahead to get out of the room without seeming like he was running away from the situation.
"I don't understand any of this." Koenma finally said to me.
"How?" I wondered, quirking my brow and standing up myself. "I thought Kurama explained everything fairly thoroughly-"
"No, I mean I don't understand Hiei's reactions to you." I blushed, clearing my throat and looking at the wall. "Hiei is a very complicated creature, even by demon standards, but one thing has always been true about his psychology; he hates humans more than he hates anything else. I can understand his acceptance of Yusuke, since they are so alike, but you seem to draw more attention than I've ever seen him give anyone."
"People change." I defended him quietly.
"Not like this."
I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets and shivering again. What was with this weather? "I don't know what to tell you to satisfy your curiosity, because I don't know myself. But I need to make sure that my cousin is going to be okay, so I'm going to give him a pep talk and make sure he has some sort of game plan."
I turned from him, hearing him following behind me, and blinked at the brightness that greeted me from the stadium. Kazuma walked over to me, anxiety written all over his face, and I glanced to the younger Toguro brother who was grinning cockily from his side of the stadium. I growled under my breath, ignoring the jeering from the stands, and met Kazuma halfway.
"You okay?" I wondered.
He stared at me, then closed his eyes and turned his face away from me. Fear coursed through me again, and I touched his face with both hands, closing my eyes. He flinched, our souls meeting halfway, and I combed my way through his own terror, soothing the treks along the way. His breathing evened out, matching mine, and rested his forehead against mine as he let me make my way through his consciousness. It wasn't like I was a miracle worker, but I could feel the tension easing away and cupped his worth, cradling it for him to 'see'. I felt him pushing back against me, the pale yellows surrounding us brightening into that familiar lightening color.
Kazuma gripped onto my forearms, pulling away from me with a smile.
"Thanks." He ruffled my hair, taking a deep breath, and facing Yusuke with that familiar grin.
"What did you do?" Kurama wondered, stopping next to me as the two children of our group started talking again.
"I don't know." I admitted. "I just... followed my gut. Someone told me recently that I need to do more of that."
He quirked a brow but didn't push, just stood next to me in comfortable silence. I wasn't sure what to do at this point, so I just stayed next to the red haired demon and waited, not feeling any of the calm that I gave to Kazuma.. If nothing else, they could always use someone else that had healing abilities, right? And if I wasn't getting in the way, then biddy for me.