Asylum

Asylum(n.) - 1. A place of safety; refuge 2. An institution for the care of mentally ill, aged, or poor people: a term now rarely used (Definition taken from Webster's New Compact Desk Dictionary and Style Guide)

Forcing Confrontation

The question gave Isabella pause as her hand touched the handle to the door. She slowly turned back to the demon who had now faced her and answered evasively, "You will learn soon enough."

With such a cryptic statement, Isabella turned and exited Hiei's room without another look, leaving Hiei to make a decision; brood over the witch's words or find something else to distract himself with.

It was actually much more difficult for the demon than most would have thought. His natural curiosity prompted him to brood, hinting at even sniffing around to learn more about Ayana and her connection to his room, just to satisfy himself, but his level-headed and reasonable side frowned at the curiosity, dubbing it a foolishness.

"I am not foolishness! Through me, Hiei could learn it all, then distract himself for as long as he pleases," Curiosity snapped, a fist planted on her hip, loaded with attitude.

"You can't seriously think that learning about some meaningless female employee is going to bring Hiei any advance in any area of his life, do you? Digging his nose into what is obviously a private matter will only bring trouble. The man should preoccupy himself with some other activity besides you." Reason stood, poised and urbane in his tattered attire, his voice taking on the haughty tone that comes with being fashioned from cockiness and cold instinct.

"For one thing, Ayana isn't nearly as meaningless as you think. I'm sure that if Hiei could just learn a bit more about her, he may find solace and his own strife may be that much closer to being resolved."

"Pah. The woman employee works in an Asylum for the deranged demons and can't even control most of them. She would have no affect on Hiei at all, I'm sure."

"Like you could be sure about anything. Reason isn't always truth."

"And curiosity always did kill the cat." Curiosity opened her mouth to make a quick reply but Reason saw it coming and intervened,"but the satisfaction never brought it back."

Curiosity glared at being beaten to the punch but Reason had already walked off, which signaled that she was to fade from existence until the next time Hiei ever faced a decision. Back in reality it had only been a few seconds and Hiei had adjourned to brood for a few quiet minutes before throwing it away to train some time longer in the gym.

To brood, Hiei decided it would be better to be in an element more familiar to him, so he crossed his room and entered the hallway, headed downstairs to go out into the garden; his only hope was that no one was out there who would bother him.

As he traveled down the hall he could distinctly hear the crazy child Tasha on the floor above him, screaming and pitching another fit over something utterly pointless. Hiei rolled his eyes and continued down the hall without falter until he got to the stairs. Descending, he was left alone as he headed outside into the garden. The day was bright and warm, which in Hiei's case, wasn't exactly a good thing. People were meandering down the different pathways or seated on benches, all admiring the natural beauty provided for them. Hiei's entrance to the floral haven didn't go unnoticed but it wasn't exactly recognized either. Hiei took that as a good sign and tried his best to make his strides casual and leisurely as he headed toward the large oak tree on the far side.

Finally Hiei was standing beneath the large expanse of leaves. With fluid agility, Hiei jumped up into the branches and found himself a high perch to rest on. He quickly made himself comfortable while also making sure that the surrounding leaves and branches gave him moderate coverage; he'd rather keep himself isolated for as long as possible.

Now he could brood properly.

What he wanted to know was why Ayana was so edgy when she neared his room, especially now that the insane female girl had claimed it as the 'Bad Room' and dared Ayana to come in and get her. Hiei was sure that she didn't realize that he had noticed her antics but it really wasn't all that difficult to discern; she twitch excessively when she was even three feet from the doorway and she never set foot inside, even to give Hiei his linens.

Then there was the notable fact that she was afraid to wield any sort of weapon, refusing to spar unless it was hand-to-hand. It was as if they were ... evil to her but why was the question.

It didn't help that the woman seemed extremely obsessed with nature, obviously shown in her interior decorating. Everything in her house had that same strange aura around it that couldn't be justified as demon or human. It had the strength of a demon about it but the tranquility and softness of a petty human so it was impossible to make out. Hiei had it in his mind that Ayana definitely wasn't human but she also couldn't be a demon. It all just didn't add up right.

Maybe if he just stopped thinking about it and waited, Isabella would be good to her word and Hiei would learn everything soon enough. It wasn't much of a reassurance though, which kept Hiei brooding over it for almost half an hour before he was rudely interrupted.

"Hiei."

The demon opened his eyes to find himself gazing into the pitch black ones of Isabella. "What the hell do you want?"

The girl gave a wry smirk as she pulled back and resounded in that strange way of hers, "Your friends are here to see you. Afterward I want you to come to the training room; there's something I want to show you."

Hiei's eyebrow arched questioningly; he would probably end up going to the training room to see what Isabella had to show but what did she mean by friends? To him, those three nuisances were nothing but pains in his side. Nonetheless he sat up and dropped down to the ground before heading back inside, not caring that Isabella was still standing on the branch when he left.

Inside Hiei traversed down the hall until he walked into the lobby to be met by a jovial shout.

"Hiei!" Yusuke came up, arms raised as if to worship him or exult him in some way. "How have you been in the crazy house?"

Hiei glared at the boy as he came to a stop, refusing to go any further. Yusuke and the two others didn't seem to mind; instead, they came to him. Kurama looked down at his red-eyed companion and asked, "Yes, how have you been lately?"

Kuwabara stared as well, but without saying anything. Hiei glanced at him briefly and immediately understood that the carrot-head was still traumatized from the last encounter, when he had a blade pressed to his throat.

"I'm fine," Hiei answered begrudgingly. "Now let me leave this damn place."

Kurama shook his head. "Not just yet. Isabella-san has told us that she has yet to learn what has caused you problems so you're to stay here until she releases you."

That damn witch, Hiei bit out to himself, then spoke, "Don't expect me to stay in here for long, fox. Sooner or later I'll find a way to get out of here, whether that witch lets me out or not."

Kurama nodded as if he understood and then he sighed and said, "We wish we could stay and talk with you longer but we're on a tight schedule today and need to be going. We'll come back and visit you again though, so look forward to it."

Hiei didn't say anything in response and Kurama took it that he wasn't going to try and keep them there. With a one shoulder shrug, Yusuke lead the way as the three detectives left the institute without another word.

Damn bakas, Hiei thought bitterly. Now that they were gone though, he was free to head to the training room.

Hiei walked down the hallway and was soon standing at the doors. As he pushed them aside he wondered what exactly was so important that Isabella wanted to show him. It didn't take him long to figured it out though.

As he stepped in, Ayana looked up at him from where she was on the ground, having just been knocked there by Isabella who currently stood over her. Isabella looked up as well and when she saw Hiei standing there, her eyes seemed to sink in depth, as if she were excited about something. Hiei saw the shift in the witch's expression and immediately became wary of her.

"Isabella, what are you doing?" Ayana sat up as Isabella walked over to the weaponry.

"Hiei, please close the doors," Isabella remarked. Hiei wasn't sure if he really should but as he stood there, deciding, the doors closed on there own, followed by a click as a hidden lock fell into place.

The small girl had disappeared into the weaponry as the doors had closed themselves and soon enough, reappeared with Hiei's katana clutched in her small hands.

"What are you doing with my blade, witch?" Hiei hissed out.

"Using it to demonstrate something" was Isabella's evasive answer. She strode toward Ayana who was still sitting on the sparring mat. When the girl saw Isabella coming toward her with the katana in hand, her eyes widened and she quickly clambered to her feet.

"I-Isabella!" she intoned, a quake in her voice. "Th-this had better not b-be what I th-think it is."

"I have a feeling it is what you think it is, Ayana my dear, but you can't avoid it." As Isabella spoke, she produced the same piece of cloth from the night before and tied it to the hilt of Hiei's katana.

Ayana began to back up as Isabella advanced, which irritated the witch slightly. Isabella stopped walking and so did Ayana, a look of relief on her face. It was immediately replaced with fear, however, when Isabella started toward her again and she was unable to move.

"Isabella! Don't do this!" The woman began to shake violently but still, her feet were held firmly in place as Isabella began to quickly close the distance between them.

"It's for your own good," the small girl replied evenly. She now unsheathed the katana and brought herself to stand right before Ayana.

Hiei was watching this from the doors, too curious to see what was going to happen to register that Isabella was wielding his own blade. Ayana was now quaking all over, her face pale and clammy as she stared at the silver blade being raised to her. Her eyes held an evident fear and aversion to the weapon and yet she couldn't take her eyes off the thing.

"Give me your hand, Ayana." Seemingly of its own accord, Ayana's left hand shot out. Isabella seemed pleased and slowly passed the katana into Ayana's hand, forcing the fingers to wrap around the hilt.

Now Ayana was hyperventilating, her entire left arm seeming to vibrate vehemently as it clutched the hilt. "P-Please! S-stop this!"

Isabella took a furtive step back from the woman and watched calmly as Ayana bit her lip, her eyes squeezing shut as if she were in pain. Her face contorted into a grimace and she began to whimper, her entire body still being racked with tremours.

"Isabella," the witch turned her exuberant black eyes toward Hiei as he spoke, "what are you doing?"

"Making her confront herself." Isabella spoke with pleasure before turning to continue watching Ayana's tortured face. "Making her face her fears."

Isabella's horrible isn't she? So we're inching nearer to what Ayana has such trouble confronting and chapter nine will soon be on it's way. Just hold tight why don't you.

Tata, luvs.
.Bloodrunner.