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Chapter Three
Memory's Lane; Memories Slain

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After a big breakfast, Rhys' strength returned fully and she could walk without her knees shaking. Kurama had insisted that Rhys change from her filthy rag dress into something of his mothers, helped by both Yukina and Botan.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had to go to school and their homes, so after giving brief good byes, Rhys followed the two girls up the stairs and into a bedroom. After going through some drawers, the two girl finally found an outfit small enough to fit Rhys - a white tank top and a faded pair of capris. They showed the kiyone where the bathroom and shower were and left her to bathe.

Rhys entered the room and immediately turned the hot water on and pulled off her dress. She looked at it in disgust before throwing it in the trashcan. Stepping into the warm water, she let it surround her and wash all the dirt away.

She analyzed the self-inflicted damage to her body, wondering if anyone had even noticed. If they did, they hadn't said anything. She spied a razor and held it tightly, feeling how nicely it fit into the groove of her hand. She jumped when she heard loud laughter drift to her ears.

That laugh...it reminded her of her sister, Stahr...Rhys could remember her so well. Stahr was the best sister to her - always giving and caring and loving Rhys. Stahr never asked for anything in return, but Rhys tried to be just as good to her.

Stahr didn't deserve to die the way she did. Rhys hated herself for it. It was her fault. Rhys was Stahr's big sister. She was supposed to protect her. But instead, she had killed her.

She remembered that one day in particular. That cursed day that haunted her nightmares and thoughts...and probably would forever...

-- Flashback --

Rhys woke from a deep sleep, rubbing her eyes. Hadn't there been someone tapping her shoulder? She looked to her side and spied her sister's sock on the floor. It must had been her, trying to wake her. Where had she run off to? Rhys couldn't sense her anywhere.

Rhys stiffened, her eyes drifting over a small pile of ashes. Her heart skipped a beat. "No..." she said, panic flooding her heart. Tears leaked from her eyes, mixing with the soft ash as she knelt in front of it, running her fingers through it.

Rhys could hear her father coming, but she didn't care. Let him see what she had done. There was no humanly possible way he could make her hurt more. He came storming into the room. "Who screamed?" he asked gruffly, ignoring his daughter's tear-streaked cheeks and sniffles.

"I don't know, I didn't hear anything..." she trailed off, looking at the ashes.

"Stupid bitch, I know a scream when I hear one!" He grabbed Rhys by her hair and dragged her to a standing position, her head leaning in the direction he was pulling. "Now tell me, who screamed?"

It took all her concentration not to whimper in pain, and if she opened her mouth she would start sobbing uncontrollably. "ANSWER ME!" he shouted, red in the face. His hand came down hard, connected with her cheek, and left a burning hand mark.

Her eyes watered with pain but still no sound escaped from her lips. He was about to do something worse when he suddenly let her hair go. She fell back on the floor, trembling, and watched as he circled the pile of ashes like a vulture. "What is this!"

"I-I-I..."

"WHAT DID YOU DO!"

"It was an accident, I swear! I was sleeping - and she - I mean, I think - she t-tried to wake m-me up...and..." she stuttered, not daring to look up at him.

He picked up a handful of ash, all which remained of her little sister. He was about to scream something else when his wife ran into the room, having heard the shouting. "What is going on here?" she demanded, seeing Rhys, her father, and the pile of ashes.

'Mom,' Rhys thought pleadingly, searching her mother with her fearful eyes. Her father smiled sadistically. "Your daughter has killed Stahr."

The words were like torpedoes, shot from his mouth to her ears, and exploding on contact. "W-What?" she whispered, eyes wide and glancing between the ashes and Rhys.

Rhys could only nod, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill over. 'No,' she told herself. 'Don't cry.' She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "Yes," Rhys said softly. "But it was an accident."

"ACCIDENT MY ASS!" he cried, and proceeded to punch, hit, and kick any place he could reach of Rhys, bruising and scarring her to no end. All Rhys' mother could do was turn her back and exit out the front door, grief tearing at her heart. Rhys watched her mother leave through smarting eyes, thinking, 'Why, mom?'

-- End Flashback --

As the memory played through her mind, Rhys found herself singing through her tears, cutting along to the song's rhythm. She sang and remembered, her tears flowing silently and mixing with her blood on the shower's floor. She cut one last time, her tears subsiding to an occasional sniff. She sighed in relief when she felt the sharp pain in her leg from where she had pushed the razor the hardest to her skin - relief that she could feel, she was alive.

She stepped out of the shower, proud of the self-inflicted pain burning her leg, and wrapped a towel around herself. She was about to pull the shirt on when she stopped and looked forward. Her reflection stared back at her with wide, orange eyes.

'I'm so ugly,' Rhys thought sadly. Her nose was way too big. And her eyes - what an ugly color orange. Like the rust on an old sword. She absentmindedly pulled on her clothes, staring into the mirror and finding fault with just about every part of her body.

Meanwhile outside, Hiei sat on a tree branch just outside the bathroom window. He wrapped the white bandana back around his forehead, once more hiding his Jagan. He lounged back into the branch and sighed subconsciously, watching Rhys' silhouette on the drawn shade.

He had easily entered her mind and listened to her thoughts while she showered. He was...surprised, to say the least. He closed his eyes, hands behind his head. Who knew that one little demon could carry so much depression and anger in one mind?

He wondered if Koenma had known about her past, finally deciding that if the toddler had any more information he would have shared it. Right? Or perhaps he wanted to team to find out for themselves? Or...was it possible he didn't know at all?

"Hiei? What are you doing out there?" Rhys interrupted his thoughts. She stood, fully clothed, behind the now open window.

He hid his surprise behind his usual, emotionless mask and opened one eye to look at her. Her damp hair was neatly combed and pulled into a high ponytail away from her face and her eyes searched him for an answer.

"I told you, I was told not to let you out of my sight."

"I can't even shower alone? What demon in their right mind would attack me while I'm in the shower?"

It was then Hiei noticed two fresh cuts on her arm. "Hn. A smart one. You'd be vulnerable." He jumped, disappearing from the branch and reappeared in seconds on the windowsill.

Rhys jumped back, hand flying to her chest and eyes wide. Before she could say anything he had stepped down from the sill. He roughly grabbed her left wrist and pulled her closer to him, examining her arm.

She tried to pull away from his tight grip, twisting and squirming. "What are you doing?"

He pointed to the fresh cuts. "Where did these come from?"

"I..they've been there..."

He looked into her fearful eyes. "They weren't there this morning."

"How do you know?" He just stared at her while she looked away from him. He tightened his hold on her.

"I'll find out even if you don't tell me."

'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry,' she chanted to herself. The tears she had felt welling up inside her eyes left. "How?" she asked softly, recalling the way he had killed two demons when they had first met.

"I have my ways."

She didn't want to tell him how the wounds appeared. She couldn't tell him. He would tell everyone in the house and they would all hate her. "I...can't tell you," she whispered to the floor. He dropped her arm and jumped out the window.

She heard his feet hit the earth seconds later, but kept her eyes on the floor. What did he mean, he had his ways? Would he hurt her to make her talk? It wouldn't matter if he did. She was certainly no stranger to pain.

She looked at her wrist where Hiei had held it. She touched the red fingerprints gingerly, wondering if he even knew he had hurt her. If he even cared.

He certainly seemed to care about where her scratches came from. But maybe that was because if a demon had attacked her it would be his fault. Yes, that was probably it. It had nothing to do with her, or her well-being.

- - - -

Hiei's feet hit the ground and he stalked off into the forest behind Kurama's house. He spotted the fox walking into the forest and followed him, wondering where he was going.

Before long, Kurama glanced behind himself. "Why are you following me, Hiei?"

Hiei stayed balancing on the tree branch, his mind working furiously. What was he going to say? That he had invaded Rhys' minds and that they had a depressed, self-abusive demon on their hands? Well, that was the truth... He jumped to the ground in front of Kurama and folded his arms.

"Well?" prompted the red head.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just taking a walk. Care to join me?"

"Hn."

The two walked side by side, not talking. Kurama admired the scenery, but Hiei stared blankly ahead. Why couldn't he just tell Kurama about Rhys? Why was it so hard? He stopped walking. "Rhys cuts herself," he blurted out.

Kurama halted and turned to look at Hiei with disbelieving eyes. "What?"

Hiei stared straight ahead. "There are two more cuts on her arm that were not there this morning."

"But that doesn't mean - "

Hiei looked hard into Kurama's eyes. "Yes, it does."

"Are you sure?"

"I entered her mind when she was in the shower." Kurama raised an eyebrow. Hiei threw a glare at him. "She killed her little sister." Kurama immediately looked serious again. "She claims it was an accident."

"But how...?"

"The same way she killed those demons yesterday."

"I see," said the fox slowly. Hiei waited for Kurama to say something else, but he had closed his green eyes and sighed deeply. Hiei scowled and turned to walk away.

"Wait," called Kurama. "Don't say anything to her. I'll talk to her."

"Hn." Hiei disappeared from sight and Kurama hurried to the house.

- - - -

A knock sounded at the bathroom door. Rhys glared at her reflection one last time, then opened the door. She found Botan's happy face staring down at her. "Oh, Rhys, that looks lovely on you! Yukina, come look!"

Rhys forced a smile, wishing they would stop looking at her. She endured all she could of the two's squabbling over her before she could escape. "Thank you both so much," she said, stepping slowly towards the door, "but if you'll excuse me, I really do need a drink now."

With that she left them and headed down the stairs. She didn't really want a drink, but she might as well go to the kitchen and get one.

What she really needed was a place to be alone - and the bathroom was obviously out. She wondered if she would ever find a place to be alone in the house while entering the kitchen. To her relief it was empty.

She poured herself a glass of juice and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a smooth voice behind her ask, "Can you pour me a glass?"

Whirling around, she found a tall red head holding out a glass. He laughed softly. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew I was there. I didn't mean to scare you."

She took Kurama's glass and gave him a smile. "It's okay. How much do you want?"

"Half way is good, thank you." He took his glass back and sipped it, placing it on the table.

Over the rim of her glass, Rhys could see him looking at her arm. He saw the scratches - and the fingerprints. "That looks like it hurts."

She held her glass with both hands. "What?"

"Your arm. May I...?" He reached out to her arm, careful not to touch her wrist and the finger marks, but just above them. 'These cuts...they're to clean for a demon to have just carelessly scratched her...Hiei's right...'

She pulled away after a moment, looking at the floor. "They don't hurt that much."

She took another sip of her juice and heard Kurama sigh. "I was just talking with Hiei - " Rhys choked in the middle of a sip. What had that little demon said? " - and we're both worried about your injuries." She placed her glass on the table and folded her arms across her chest. "If there's someone - or thing - out to get you, it's our jobs to stop it and help you."

'It was my job...It was my job...It was my job,' echoed around the kiyone's head once more as her coughs subsided. 'They don't care about me at all,' she thought bitterly. 'All they care about is doing theirs jobs right and not getting punished if they do anything wrong.'

She didn't say anything, but stared into his piercing eyes. "Rhys..." he pleaded. He looked so sincere...but she couldn't let him fool her. She wouldn't let him.

She pushed past him and hurried outside. As she flew past him he tried to catch her arm. He misjudged her speed completely, though, and was left with a slamming door and a handful of air. He closed his eyes and dropped his hand.

"Don't say anything, Hiei," he ordered, not even opening his eyes and sinking into a chair. Hiei folded his arms and moved to stand rigidly in the center of the room.

Kurama slowly opened his eyes, seeing the tense fire demon before him. "Would you mind bringing her back? We can't leave her alone, especially not now..."

But Hiei was already jumping out the window and had disappeared into the forest. Kurama glanced at the windowpane and smiled sadly at his reflection. He hoped his friend wouldn't do anything stupid.

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