AN: There is mature content in this chapter. It is not explicit but you have been forewarned.
A knock at the door sent Sagaku flying into the bedroom in the fastest stumble Hiei ever witnessed. Having sensed the presence of Kurama approaching, he smirked in her wake before going to open the door to his friend.
"Breathe carefully," he commanded the fox. Kurama nodded in understanding, taking one last breath of the outside air.
"I take it she made it here in one piece," Kurama said, closing his eyes against the forming headache of resisting that tantalizing scent.
Hiei nodded sourly, glancing back to his bedroom door where the girl half-cowered. She hadn't been here long at all, and already she was becoming a nuisance.
"Feel free to take her with you," Hiei muttered sharply. Sagaku winced, catching his words. An unwelcome second of guilt washed over him.
Kurama, after shooting his friend an exasperated look, walked slowly to Sagaku. He paused every step to test his control. As long as he didn't try breathing through his nose he would be able to handle it.
"You're okay?" Kurama asked her. She stared up at him with wide, dark eyes.
With both Kurama and Hiei acting predictable under the circumstances, Sagaku made the mistake of thinking everything was fine. She took a few quick steps forward, eying Hiei warily to judge his reaction. He didn't move. Her resolve shattered and she flung herself into Kurama's arms, crying into his ribs. The twinge in her stomach from the healing wound didn't even give her pause.
"Oh, dear," Kurama stroked Sagaku's hair, knowing he could only hold the upset girl for a moment before he would have to leave. Darkness stirred inside him with the scent of a female demon in heat so close. The side of him that was more Youko than not was slowly easing into the forefront of his mind.
"It'll only be for a short while," Kurama tried to comfort his friend.
"I know," Sagaku muttered against him. "I hate it, though."
Kurama remembered the book he'd read when this had first come up. What was the word the author had used-uncomfortable? Saying heat was uncomfortable seemed akin to saying that torture was disagreeable. Had he ever seen her cry before? Trying to think back, it seemed that she might have cried when her father left her behind, but he couldn't even be certain of it.
"I'm sorry, Sagaku," Kurama pushed the girl back gently, "but I can't stay."
His face was pinched, strained even.
"S'okay," Sagaku muttered. She swiped the tears off her cheeks.
By day two, both Hiei and Sagaku were about ready to murder each other or anyone who interfered in the general grouchiness that permeated the house. Kurama had stopped by again, but he didn't even come in to see her. He brought her clothes and left it with Hiei. Kuwabara offered to stop by, but Kurama warned him against it. A sharp edge was beginning to mar Hiei's already-short temper.
Hiei stuck around mostly. Even when he disappeared, Sagaku suspected he stayed directly outside. It could have been to intercept demons before they reached his territory, but she suspected it was just to escape her.
Finally, that night, Sagaku resolved to make the best of the situation. Two days of awkward silence and brooding just made her suffering that much more piercing. Letting herself fall deep into meditation of the midnight lemurian jade on the strap on her thigh, she felt the edge of the pain fall away. It still felt as though she would shatter under any pressure, merely an ice sculpture stuffed into her form, but at least the cold wasn't burning her in that peculiar, biting way.
Several hours later, when Hiei finally returned inside, Sagaku was trying to cook in the kitchen though the cold made her clumsy. Without realizing Hiei was behind her, she held her hands over the short flame on the stove top. The flames licked up, nearly fluttering against her skin.
"What are you doing?" Hiei snarled.
Sagaku jumped, spinning around. She nearly spilled the pot of soup that she was attempting to simmer.
"Hiei!" she gasped.
He grabbed her wrist furiously, turning her hand towards him. The palm was a little pink but not burned.
"I wasn't trying to hurt myself," she glared at him, "I was just trying to warm up a little."
"Stupid," Hiei snorted.
"Like I have that many options," Sagaku snapped. She thrust her chin in the air, trying to stare the demon down. Mild warmth was seeping into her wrist, melting away the numbness. She flexed her fingers in surprise. Mistaking her motion, or perhaps just realizing he still held her, Hiei dropped her wrist. But when Sagaku turned to stir the soup, he stayed near enough that his natural heat stopped her from becoming a figurative block of ice.
Sensing that he wasn't going to leave her, whether out of concern that she would try to burn herself or because he was waiting for food, Sagaku started asking questions. It was, she realized, reminiscent of their days at the safe house except that Hiei answered shortly whereas Kurama used to take the time to fully explain his answers.
"What about the Mirror of Kuragari?" Sagaku asked, after eliciting a short list of items Hiei had stolen or assisted the theft of before Koenma had arrested him and offered him a new life.
"It broke when they tried to smuggle it out," Hiei answered. He leaned his back against the counter, folding his arms and looking anywhere but at Sagaku. She lifted herself onto the counter. Between the stove and Hiei, she could almost feel her nose again.
"That's unfortunate," Sagaku said. "I've never stolen anything. Is it hard?"
She wasn't sure how much she actually cared about his answers. If anything, it was all a desperate ploy to keep his body's temperature near hers. But, if she was going to be honest with herself, it was a little flattering that the stoic demon was spending any time at all trying to distract her. Or amuse her. Or whatever it was he was trying to do.
"Hn," Hiei snorted. A smirk played lightly at his lips. Stealing, hard? It was practically second-nature.
"It sounds kind of fun. Not the stealing part, really, but just the stealthy part," Sagaku paused and stirred the soup a little more. The potatoes weren't quite tender yet. "I wouldn't mind learning to be that stealthy." There was another pause as she fumbled around the counter for the few spices Hiei owned. She suspected they had been a gift from Kurama since the small containers were labelled by hand. "It's funny," she continued softly, "since the day I left the warren, I've felt like I can learn anything. Maybe Koenma will let me retrieve artifacts that have been stolen."
Sagaku cast as side-eye look at Hiei. There was still a smirk playing on his lips. Because he thought she wouldn't be able to retrieve artifacts or because he had stolen so many of them himself?
Hiei was actually listening to Sagaku chatter, half amused and half annoyed. She had the weirdest thought process ever, and now that she wasn't panicked her thoughts were mostly hidden behind the shield of the stones she wore. Unless she really focused on a thought before voicing it out loud, he had no idea what absurd thing would pop from her mouth.
"Maybe," Sagaku continued, "I should learn to use a whip like Kurama. That's got to be useful if you're trying to steal something, right? Of course, I can't control plants. Maybe that's not such a great idea."
She continued talking with no idea what she was saying. Hiei watched her clench her eyes shut and grit her teeth in each pause. Her body was begging for warmth, the frigid release of hormones warring against her distractions. Just a few more days, she repeated her internal mantra to herself. Just a few more days.
Just a few more days, Hiei caught from her thoughts. With any luck that's all it would be.
Two demons slipped past Hiei's guards the next night, somehow making it into his home before he jolted awake with his katana already in his hand. Sagaku tried to help Hiei up until one of the demons pinner her against the wall with his body. Her body shivered in response, pressing closer instead of kicking out. Hiei ripped the demon away with a furious snarl. The demon hit the door, sending a crack down the center of it though it still held together.
Hiei's every atom bristled at the thought that these demons would dare invade his territory. As long as Sagaku was under his protection, they had no right to touch her.
The first demon fell beneath the polished katana. The other demon was faster to dodge, not stunned by a collision with the door. He would have put up a decent fight had he not been distracted by the onna who had backed away from the fight, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Hiei used the timely distraction to separate the demon head from his shoulders.
After a short argument with Koenma, Sagaku convinced him to send an ogre or someone to remove the bodies from Hiei's front room. Hiei seemed content to leave them there, both as a trophy and as a primitive mark of his territory. Sagaku supposed she was lucky he wasn't peeing in corners to keep other demons away.
Hiei caught that last errant thought and glared at the girl. She didn't notice, half hiding in the bedroom while she watched one of the ogres fling powder over the tile floor to soak up the weirdly dark blood.
Sagaku waited for the ogres to leave, watching Hiei's muscles tense and his fingers clench with each passing moment that these interlopers where in his territory. Words and sentiments passed on from Shoseki and Mineo fluttered through her head. She grasped at the words, formulating her course of action.
There was one way to make this better. And shivering beneath demons that would rape her repeatedly to breed their own personal army was not that one way.
Hiei relaxed when it was just him-and the onna-in his home again. The fingers that had been wrapped around his katana's hilt fell to the wayside. Sagaku judged that it was now, when adrenaline and fury still coursed through his veins, or never.
"Hiei," she took a step backwards, towards the bedroom. After waiting a brief moment to tamper down his instincts under the guise of inspecting the floor for more bits of demon, Hiei turned to look at the girl.
"What?" he asked gruffly. For the first time since she'd arrived to turn his life upside down, Sagaku met his red eyes squarely.
"I need your help," she told him firmly. He narrowed his eyes at her. What had happened to the squirrely nervousness she'd been exhibiting the last few days?
"Obviously," he finally said when she seemed to be waiting for a response. Why else would she be here-in his home-if she didn't need help?
Sagaku's shoulders went back. She dipped her chin, looking up at him with an expression he'd never seen on her face before.
"It won't mean anything," she reassured him, taking one more tiny step back towards his bedroom. His face was blank. Sagaku realized she wasn't being clear enough. Taking one deep breath, and ignoring the fluttering that was shattering the ice in her stomach, she stepped towards Hiei instead. "Just until it...goes away." Her fingers twisted under the hem of her shirt suggestively.
Her intentions were as obvious as the nose on her face now. Hiei shifted his weight insolently, a wide smirk spreading across his face.
"What makes you think I want to help you, onna?" he held his ground. She would chicken out, he had no doubt. But she took another step forward, now within reaching distance of him.
"You have nothing to lose." Her voice was low, husky. Unlike her usual voice. Her eyes didn't leave his face, but past his smirk it was impassive.
"Hn," he snorted softly. He still didn't move. She took one last step, looking straight up the scant inch and a half to his face. He didn't move, didn't even look interested. She narrowed her eyes in a brief flare of temper, and then in one swift motion she put her hands on his shoulders and lifted her lips to press against his.
Surprise fluttered pleasantly through Sagaku, stoking the embers that were forming low in her belly. She'd never kissed anyone before, but feel of his lips against hers...she moved her lips experimentally. He didn't pull away.
Sagaku pressed a little closer, close enough that Hiei was sure to snap and send her skittering away. It didn't matter, she decided, the heat that was spreading from where her lips met his were worth it, no matter how brief.
When Sagaku let her weight fall back to her heels, Hiei pushed after her, not letting their lips detach. It was his lips moving against hers, now. Sagaku's eyes, shut because she'd feared seeing his rejection, flew open when her back slammed against a wall. His arms caged her on either side. His lips slid to the side, trailing her jawline.
"It doesn't mean anything," he growled at her.
Heat burst unexpectedly in Sagaku. Her hand latched on the back of his neck, drawing his lips back to hers again. Molten lava was running through her veins now.
"We never even have to talk about it after I leave," she agreed. Her breath mingled with his and his tongue slipped into her mouth. She was so glad Shoseki and Mineo had explained all this to her. Imagine how embarrassing if she didn't even know about kissing...the thoughts were chased from her mind under Hiei's onslaught. Somehow Sagaku managed to spin Hiei back so he was pressed against the bedroom door. His warm fingers brushed against the little dip between her hip bones. She moaned against his lips, thrusting herself so close to him he almost lost his balance.
Without knowing how, Hiei managed to control their mad descent to the bedroom.
"The stones go," he ordered. His red eyes were wild with an emotion Sagaku had never seen before. She watched that expression, letting it stoke the fire that was building infuriatingly slow in her belly. One by one, she dropped stones from her body.
Hiei wondered when he'd started breathing through his nose again, intoxicated by the scent of the her heat and excitement. If he were as altruistic as the fox, he would stop this now before it started. But he wasn't the fox, and he would take what was freely offered. Sagaku lifted her foot onto the bed, lifting the hem of her skirt to unclasp the last stone. Her eyes never once left Hiei.
Before the last stone had even hit the floor, Hiei was pressed against her again, his hand pressing lightly against her throat as he tilted her head to the side and nipped at her neck. Her fingers tugged at his cloak until it fell somewhere over the stones on the floor. Her icy fingers chased up his chest under his shirt, warming under her exploration. He pushed her back onto the black sheets, removing his own shirt as she went down. He crawled over her, letting her fumble with the belt (belatedly he realized he should have removed his sword before this). His own hands pushed her shirt over her breasts, lifting her hips to pull her skirt away.
Shocked by the feel of his hot mouth on her breast, Sagaku ran her hand through his hair, losing her train of thought. His mouth trailed back up to her neck. One of his hands groped behind her head until he found the elastic and tugged it from her hair. Her hair followed his hand across the pillow, releasing a stronger miasma of her scent.
Any control the two of them had exhibited shattered now. Under a frenzy of kisses and building heat, all shame or hesitation disappeared. How could they feel anything but the fire running between them?
Sagaku woke up trapped firmly against the firm muscles of Hiei's chest. He was sleeping soundly still, one hand tight against the naked skin of her lower back. Last night had been expected. She didn't think he'd take her up on her invitation. If she hadn't been so desperate to make the cold go away, she wouldn't have even attempted it.
Now there was a faint chill in her finger tips, not even a shadow of the arctic chill from before. She wiggled her toes and flexed her muscles. She was sore. Hiei had...helped her...until they were both exhausted. She wasn't even sure who had fallen asleep first.
Her movements, small though they were, were enough to make Hiei shift away in his sleep. Sagaku escaped to the bathroom, happy to escape what was sure to be an uncomfortable situation once he woke as well.
There were small bruises from his fingers and mouth all over her body, though he'd been careful to never bite her. She understood, from Shoseki and Mineo, that most demons marked their mates by biting them. She hadn't used her teeth, either. Her nails, however, had left pink welts down the otherwise smooth skin of his back. She'd seen it on her way out of the room.
Continuing her examination of her body, Sagaku noticed with an odd surge of pleasure that her thighs were sore. He hadn't gone easy on her, though he'd at least waited a moment for her to adjust. She didn't mind. The cold was sinking slowly back into her system, spreading from her fingertips, but it was so faint it was only as bothersome as one flea might have been. It had worked, then. Not a cure, but at least a reprieve.