That night, Kurama stopped Hiei from escaping the house. "Can you watch her?" he whispered to the shorter demon. "You're the only one who can do it without crowding her."
For a moment, it looked as though Hiei would protest. Then, with a glance at the quiet form on the couch, he nodded jerkily. Kurama pat his arm and disappeared quietly from the room, turning off the lights as he went. The girl stared at the wall, unmoving. With extreme prejudice, Hiei settled onto the windowsill, staring at his own reflection in the darkness. His blood was boiling for a fight. That evening had been...not as expected.
As the night slowly bled into morning, Hiei took the liberty of slipping into the Hanshoku's thoughts. She was in a weird state of not-sleep, her eyes open but breathing steady and brain patterns dulled. His mind barely touched against hers before he was sent reeling back. The pain was palpable, searing him with regret and fear and betrayal.
"Get over it," Hiei said to the girl. She made no move to suggest she'd heard him.
Sagaku's thoughts, dulled by repetition, still battered the inside of her skull. She hadn't even said goodbye to her sisters, hadn't realized what her father was going to do. If her chest didn't hurt so badly, she would sob. Instead, she let the serpentine thump rhythmically against her chest, soothing her into a form of mindfulness she'd never had cause to achieve before. Learn it, the stone seemed to whisper to her, call on the stones. Learn the true way of the hanshoku.
Hiei escaped to his room when the others showed signs of stirring in their abodes. Sitting against the headboard, after pushing aside the pillows, he let his third eye brush over the girl again. Something weird was stirring inside her-not quite the wholeness of Kurama's plants, but not quite the almost-sentience of the dragon seared into his arm. It was something different.
They stayed in the house for several more days, trying to give Sagaku time to adjust. She did, in part, moving from the couch and joining the world of the living again. But she became a shadow of her former self, flinching whenever the men tried to speak directly to her. Flinching, Hiei gathered from her thoughts, because she couldn't quite grasp who she was supposed to be. How was she supposed to reassure her friends that she was okay if she couldn't pretend she was back to normal? It was foolish thinking.
"We're leaving for our homes today," Kurama told Sagaku one morning while she pushed a grape mindlessly around her plate. "Keiko was looking for a roommate, so Yusuke talked to her about living with you. He lives just down the road." His sharp eyes watched her, waiting to see how she would react.
"What will all of you be doing?" Sagaku asked after a long moment of silence while she digested the news. She wasn't sure how it made her feel.
"Work, classes," Kurama shrugged. "We all have responsibilities we need to return to."
"How will I pay for where I live?" Sagaku asked. She understood rent from Yusuke and Kuwabara's griping, even if she had never paid it.
"Koenma is covering it," Kurama leaned forward and pat her hand. She pulled away, tucking her hands in her lap.
The serpentine reached for her again, it's pulse echoing through her chest. Her heart beat latched on to it, slowing and letting her get control of her thoughts. A man would be taking care of her, again. And she wasn't even an investment, this time-Koenma would not sell her to a suitor. How could she once again become a burden on those who sought to care for her? With surprise, she realized that the steely feeling building in her chest was resolve.
"I will get a job," she announced.
"Why?" Yusuke asked, yawning in the doorway.
"I am not going to live off of other people my entire life," Sagaku said sharply. "I will work so I will not be a burden."
And so it was that several days later, in borrowed clothes from Keiko (since the only human clothes Sagaku had was a torn shirt and a pair of jeans, and Keiko assured her that wouldn't do for an interview), Sagaku become hunting for a job. She had no formal education, no work experience, and no transferable skills. Still, Kuwabara's sister, Shizuru, and Keiko were patient and coached her through resumes and applications.
Though she saw Yusuke nearly daily (due to her proximity to Keiko), and Kuwabara stopped by multiple times a week, Sagaku saw Kurama only once a week and Hiei not at all. With a bit of luck, she found a job as a waitress to occupy her time. She even made enough on tips to pay her own rent, so Koenma didn't have to host the girl himself.
The only problem Sagaku had (or the only problem she was willing to admit) was that she slept poorly, every night. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get past seventeen and a half years of sharing a bed with her family. No matter how many blankets and pillows she piled around herself, she was never quite warm enough. None of the tricks her friends suggested work either: warm milk, reading until her eyes were dried and sandy, meditating, and so on.
It was one of those nights, when Sagaku sat hollow-eyed on her bed begging sleep to take her, that movement outside her open window caught her eye. She flew to the window, knocking down pillows and blankets in her wake, to lean out the window. Hiei's stiff shoulders met her gaze. He was clearly disgruntled at having been caught.
"Hiei!" Sagaku felt a smile blooming on her lips, one of the rare moments of genuine happiness she'd felt lately. She clambered out the window, her bare feet sliding a little on the roof tiles. He made no move to help her, turning and watching her blunder with a look of mild condescension on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Kurama asked me to check on you," Hiei told her blandly. She didn't know if that was true or not, but suspected it was. Kurama was always saying he wished he could visit more frequently, but with his second-to-last semester in college in session, there never seemed to be enough time.
Hiei examined the girl with sanguine eyes, folding his legs to sit where he stood. Sagaku smiled shyly and crept forward a few few to sit near him-not touching, though. Hiei didn't like touch. She had to keep reminding herself of that, because the urge to greet him like a long-lost-friend was strong.
"You're not sick," Hiei finally decided. "Why are you worrying the fox, onna?"
Sagaku toyed with the grit on the tile beside her. Hiei studied her in silence, waiting for her answer.
"I work at least two shifts a day," she tried to defend herself. "I don't always have time to text him like I did the first few weeks out here."
Body heat radiated off Hiei. Sagaku closed her eyes and tilted her head back, revelling in the comfort of being so near someone. Hiei stared across the silhouette of the city, trying to ignore the happiness that was rolling off the girl.
"You make enough to...live." It wasn't phrased as a question, but Hiei truly was curious. Dealing with people's demands, and constantly being pushed around and crowded and polite...it sounded absolutely hellish. He couldn't imagine it was worth any amount of money a human employer would be willing to pay.
"It adds up," Sagaku shrugged. "Keiko and Yusuke want to move in together soon, so they offered to split rent on a bigger apartment so I won't be alone. It works out though, because we'll all pay a little less than we are now." Her head drooped a little and she let herself lean towards Hiei's heat, still careful-always careful-not to touch him.
"Why are you awake?" Hiei watched her suspiciously, ready to bolt if she got any closer. There were dark shadows around her eyes, and not just from the poor lighting. "It's late."
"It used to be me asking all the questions," Sagaku teased. When Hiei only stared at her with those impenetrable red eyes, she sighed. "I don't sleep much. I can't, anymore."
"Why?" he demanded. He could just as easily sift through her thoughts to find out, but found he was more curious about what she would say than what she would think.
"I miss them," Sagaku told him. Then she yawned, her eyes fluttering. "You're so warm," she murmured. "If I thought you'd stay, I would ask…"
Hiei snorted. "I won't stay," he said. He paused for a moment, eying the girl who appeared ready to fall asleep right on the roof. "Go to bed, onna," he ordered. He escaped then, leaving her to climb back through her window. Even with Hiei gone, she found his heat lingered about her and she was able to sleep once more.
Sagaku woke the next morning with the scent of smoky campfire in her hair and a plan forming in her head. There were several hours before she had to be at work, so after a quick shower (she still hated the stupid little cubicle all showers seemed to be in), she called Kurama. Hopefully he wasn't in class.
"Hello?" his warm voice answered.
"Hi," Sagaku found herself smiling into the phone, "I have a quick question."
As if sensing her mood was elevated for the first time since her sisters had been taken from her, Kurama was happy to answer any questions so long as they didn't make him late for class. They chatted on the phone for several minutes while he walked across campus.
"So what was your question?" he finally prompted her.
"What was the author's name of that book that mentioned the serpentine?" Sagaku asked.
"Ishikawa no Taira," Kurama answered immediately. "But it was written in the Makai, Sagaku. You won't be able to find anything similar here."
"That's okay," Sagaku dismissed his concern, "it was just a thought. I'll see you later, 'kay Kurama?"
"Goodbye," he said, sounding slightly bemused.
Sagaku hung up her phone and dressed to get ready for work. Before work, though, she was stopping by a bookstore.
The bookstore was clean and orderly. Sagaku wavered between the natural sciences shelf and the holistic healing shelf. Finally, with a mental shrug, she grabbed a book from each shelf. Properties of Crystals and Semi-Precious Stones and Formation of Rocks Around the World nestled in her bag, bumping against her leg as she hurried to make it to the restaurant in time. The entire shift, all she could think about were the pages between the covers that she hadn't had time to look over.
Keiko and Yusuke were arguing-their version of flirting-in the living room when Sagaku got home from work. She dropped to-go containers on the counter and leaped over the back of the couch to dive-bomb her friends.
"Sagaku!" Keiko yelped from the tumbled mess on the floor.
Sagaku grinned unapologetically. "You looked like you needed a distraction," she said innocently.
Yusuke swore inventively, but chucked his knuckles lightly against Sagaku's head. "You haven't taken me down that hard since I said I'd teach you to kick," he joked.
Sagaku copied Yusuke's usual smirk, and winked at Keiko.
They fooled around for a while, with Yusuke trying to get Keiko and Sagaku to play a video-game with him. Neither girl was good at it, but they played until their thumbs hurt from button-mashing and that made Yusuke happy enough.
When Sagaku escaped to her room, container of rice in hand, she was at peace. The gaping hole her father had left in her chest was at least a little duller around the edges.
The first book she picked up, about the natural sciences, was difficult to understand in places. Sagaku knew little of the classifications the book started with: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. By the time she passed that introduction and tried to delve into aggregate compositions of the different types of rocks, she was ready to rip her hair out. She dropped that book off the side of her bed, picking up the other book instead.
The second book was easier to understand, though it was more of a reference book than anything. It was organized as a dictionary, of sorts, listing types of crystals and minerals alphabetically with ways to use them and what they could be used for. Sagaku skipped to the "s" pages, dragging her finger across the pages until she found serpentine. It was known for awakening higher brain functions, whatever that meant, and connecting instincts with rationality, balancing the nature of a person with learned behaviors. It was also tied with the kundalini, not that Sagaku had any idea what that meant. It said nothing about protection, though.
Sagaku flipped to another page at random, looking at the small pictures of jasper now. Healing, enjoyment, positivity, relaxation-all a bit useless in the scheme of practicality-purifying, grounding, physical strength. Sagaku ground to a halt. Physical strength. That was useful. Red jasper, a type of quartz, could be used to increase her endurance and help her enhance her physical strength. Like the serpentine, the book suggested it was tied to rising kundalini. She would have to look up that word later.
With growing excitement, Sagaku dragged the notepad she normally took orders on out of her apron pocket, flinging her apron to the side. She scrawled a quick note on it, and then flipped to another page with hopes of finding another stone of use.
Red Jasper - physical strength
Red Calcite - sensory awareness & clarity
Cathedral Quartz - multidimensional awareness (does this mean aware of the demon, human, and spirit world at the same time?)
Tiger Eye - discernment
Tiger Iron - strength, stamina, grounding
Ulexite - telepathy & mental agility (does this work in reverse?)
Dumortierite - mental discipline
Libyan Gold Tektite - psychic protection
Malachite - protection
Black Obsidian - psychic protection
Garnet - grounding, knowledge, protection
Her list was getting longer and longer so she made herself stop. Looking back over her notes, she couldn't help but grinning. Lots about psychic protection. Was that saying something about how she felt about Hiei's ability to slip into her thoughts? Not that he would bother, most of the time.
The next day, Sagaku found a hobbyist store. The store owner there, after hearing what she was looking for, sent her to a nearby New Age store. That clerk was more helpful, procuring a set of tiger's eye earrings and an armband adorned with garnets. When Sagaku asked about the rest of the stones, the clerk shrugged and suggested just ordering them online.
Though she was pleased with her two finds, Sagaku had another problem: she didn't have pierced ears. There was a tattoo parlor near her work that had a sign listing piercing prices, but it looked intimidating, all brick with graffiti-style signs and artwork depicting flames and bones in the windows. Still...Sagaku fingered the small tiger-eye studs. What else was she going to do-carry them in her hand like this?
The tattoo parlor was open. Sagaku hesitated outside, anxiously trying to make herself step forward. A man was vaping at the front of the alley beside the parlor. His hair, lime green and at least a foot tall, was spiked into a mohawk-like fashion. He eyed Sagaku and then blew out one last breath of smoke before stubbing the roach under his toe.
"First time?" he asked her. His arms were covered in a complex black and gray design. Sagaku looked at her own arms, peachy and light.
"Yes," she answered.
The man smiled at her, transforming his face. "Aw, don't be nervous," he said. "Come on, let's go in and I'll take care of you, alright?"
Sagaku entered through the door he held open with more than a little trepidation. He stepped behind the front counter, which had a glass top, and squirted some hand sanitizer onto his hands. His nails, Sagaku noticed, were trimmed neatly and painted metallic blue. She looked into the counter display, marveling at the expanse of bars and studs and hoops. It was all rather intimidating.
"You're here for a piercing, then?" the man asked, leaning onto the counter to follow her gaze.
"Yes," Sagaku gulped. She unclenched her fist, showing him the two studs she had secured there. He picked one up, holding it to the light to examine the metal. Then, he whistled through his teeth.
"Very nice," he said. "My girlfriend likes this kind of thing. Looks like it's a gold setting. If you don't mind me sterilizing them, I can pierce your ears and you can wear these ones right away. You'll have to keep them in for at least a month though so the holes don't close up."
Something inside Sagaku eased. She smiled shyly at the man. He grinned back, and held out a hand. "I'm Nenriki. I run the place."
"Sagaku," she told him.
"Let me get the paperwork started while I soak the earrings, and then we'll be good to go. First hole?" he asked, eying her ears. He tapped his lobe, pointing to the piercing closest to his jawline when Sagaku looked confused.
"Oh!" she said. "Yes. First hole."
Keiko celebrated Sagaku's first act of what she called "rebellion" that night by baking cupcakes. They giggled and enjoyed the treats, locking Yusuke out so they could have a girl's night. Yusuke, normally game, loudly called from the hallway that he wanted a cupcake until one of the neighbors complained. If anything, that made Keiko and Sagaku giggle more.