-Telepathy-
(Thoughts)
Chapter 4
The next morning was very quiet. Shiroi and Hiei did not speak to each other. Hikori did his best to not make eye contact with either of them. Naoru and Raimeihi knew something was wrong, but neither of them said anything. Kaika also knew something was wrong, but she hadn't the slightest idea how complicated the situation was.
Hikori ate his breakfast quickly and got out of the house as fast as he could. He didn't know how to tell either of the other two adults what was going on. He needed some time by himself to think.
He walked down the dirt road with his hands in his pockets. He wondered around the village for some time before he found a slightly secluded area and sat down on a rock. He had no idea how he was supposed to tell Naoru what had happened between his parents.
"Why can't things just be easy?" Hikori asked aloud.
"Nothing is ever easy."
Hikori looked up to see Raimeihi standing a few feet away from him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I saw you leave the house with a troubled expression," Raimeihi answered. "I thought you might need someone to talk to."
"I don't know if you're the best to talk to about this," Hikori said.
"Try me," Raimeihi said as he took a few steps closer.
Hikori told the demon about what he had witnessed last night. When he finished, Raimeihi was silent for only a few seconds.
"I saw that your parents had some distance between them earlier this morning," he said. "I knew that their expectancy would have something to do with it, but I didn't think it would be this complicated."
"What should I do?" Hikori asked.
"Let's go back now," Raimeihi answered. "I saw Shiroi and Naoru go into the back room as I was leaving, if they're lucky they're still there. It'll make talking to them easier since we won't have to find them."
Hikori nodded and they headed back to the house. When they went inside, they noticed Hiei sitting in the living room watching Kaika.
"Did Shiroi and Naoru leave you as the babysitter?" Raimeihi asked.
Hiei glared at them and then turned back to his daughter.
"Come on," Raimeihi whispered. The two of them went down the hall, and Raimeihi knocked on the door to Naoru's workroom. "Are you too still in there? Hikori and I need to talk to you." When he didn't get an immediate answer, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. "Naoru?"
Naoru looked up from where she sat at her table. Shiroi stopped just as she was about to drink from a small cup. When Shiroi saw Hikori, she froze.
Hikori had a bad feeling about what was in that cup, and he trusted that feeling. He shot out from behind Raimeihi, into the room, and knocked the cup from Shiroi's hand.
"Hikori!" Naoru exclaimed.
"What was it?" Raimeihi asked.
"Um," Naoru mumbled. She looked away, looking upset.
"I heard what happened last night," Hikori said. He looked straight Shiroi, but it was hard. "I heard what happened between you and Dad last night. This was something to stop it wasn't it?" He pointed to the liquid on the floor.
Shiroi looked away, but only to look up to see Hiei standing in the doorway. The look on his face was unreadable.
Naoru got to her feet. "Raimeihi and I will leave you three to discuss this. I'll keep an eye on Kaika." As she left she whispered to Hiei, "I didn't want to give her that. I hope you three make the right decision." She and Raimeihi left, shutting the door behind them.
Hiei was silent for a moment, and then he looked at Shiroi and asked, "Why?"
"You wouldn't answer me," Shiroi answered. "I told you that if you didn't make the decision soon I would make it for you."
"You never told me how long I had!" Hiei yelled.
"You were up all night!" Shiroi yelled. "What were you doing then?"
Hiei tried to speak, but now words would come out.
Hikori couldn't speak either, but it was for a different reason. He felt that he should say his opinion, but he knew it really wasn't his place to say anything. Suddenly his father looked at him. Hikori gulped.
"What made you listen to us anyway?" Hiei asked angrily.
"You woke me up," Hikori answered. "I was going to come out and see what was going on, but then I picked up what you were saying telepathically. It's not my fault you didn't keep that in better restriction."
"You could have gone back to your room," Hiei said. "You should have, you had no business in eavesdropping like that."
"And if I hadn't," Hikori started, "I wouldn't have told Raimeihi about what I heard and we wouldn't have come in here and stopped Mom. You wouldn't have had a clue about what she had done until it was too late." He walked to the door and took the handle. "Think about who you might hurt before you make a decision." He opened the door and left, shutting the door loudly behind him.
Hiei glared at the door for a moment, and then turned back to Shiroi, whom had moved to sit down in the empty chair. "So what do we do about this Shiroi?" he asked as calmly as he possibly could.
"I need your answer first before I decide anything," Shiroi answered.
Hiei shook his head, "I don't want my answer to be the major part if this decision."
"Just tell me Hiei," Shiroi said sternly. "I want your answer now, and I won't leave this room until I get it."
Hiei sighed, "As of now, I don't want it."
Shiroi looked away from him, and then began to reach for the bottle that sat on the table. Before she could reach it though, Hiei's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She looked up at him as he yanked her to her feet and wrapped his free arm tightly around her waist.
He looked her straight in the eye. "That doesn't mean my decision can't be changed over time."
"You don't have much time left before I can easily stop it," Shiroi whispered.
"How long do I have then?" Hiei asked.
"A week," Shiroi answered. "That's the best I can give you."
"How far along are you?" Hiei asked. "You and Naoru never mentioned that."
"We're both a little over two and a half months along," Shiroi answered. "It's easiest to stop in the first trimester. Once it goes beyond that it gets more complicated, even though it is still possible to lose it before the third trimester."
"That was a little more than I wanted to hear," Hiei muttered. He sighed, "I will have my final decision for you in a week. Will that do?"
Shiroi pulled away, "I said we're not leaving this room until I get you answer, and I meant your final answer."
Hiei growled, "Why must you make things so difficult?"
"Because this is an important decision," Shiroi answered. "You do realize that a life is at stake here."
"Of course I do!" Hiei yelled. He snatched up the small glass bottle that held the contraceptive liquid in it. "You should be one to talk." He squeezed the bottle, and it suddenly shattered in his hand. He hardly blinked when glass shards cut into his hand.
"Hiei!" Shiroi exclaimed as she grabbed his injured hand. "You moron," she muttered as she carefully picked the glass out of his hand and set it on a disposable cloth. Once she had pulled out all of the glass shards, she reached for another bottle and cloth. She poured a clear liquid onto the cloth and began to the clean the cuts. Once she was sure that the contraceptive liquid was gone and the cuts were clean, she healed the wounds. "There, be more careful next time."
Hiei shook his head, "You didn't have to do that."
"Of course I did," Shiroi retorted. "I couldn't let that heal on its own, at least not before cleaning it." She looked away, "Amazing how the need to heal turns my attention."
Hiei looked at his hand, it was like the injury had never happened. Injuries like that were easy for Shiroi to heal, even on herself, but it wouldn't be possible to heal herself from the injury she would sustain if she were to use the contraceptive. It would be more of an emotional injury than a physical one, but an injury nonetheless.
He looked back at Shiroi, who still was looking at him. He reached out and gently turned her head she was looking at him. "Keep it. I'd rather not have you suffer because I'm the only one keeping you from being happy."
"Are you sure?" Shiroi asked hopefully.
Hiei shrugged, "I wasn't sure about Hikori at first, but I didn't say anything about it because I didn't want to hurt you. You'd wanted one so badly that I couldn't say no. After a while, I came to wanting it too."
Shiroi clenched her eyes shut to keep back tears as she stepped back and sat down in the chair again.
"Shiroi?" Hiei asked. "Are you okay?" He bent down slightly to see her better.
"I'm all right," Shiroi answered as she tried to wipe her tears away. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry anymore."
"Speak for yourself," he grumbled. "I'm going to be worried about you until the kid's out of you and you're both deemed healthy."
Shiroi laughed through her tears, "Go back twenty years and you wouldn't have given a damn. You've changed so much Hiei."
"Yeah," Hiei grumbled, "I've gone soft." He shuddered. "Never let that out into demon world."
Shiroi smiled, "I'll make sure of it."
Hiei helped her to her feet, "I guess we should go and tell the rest of them that they can relax now."
Shiroi nodded, but before Hiei could move she hugged him tightly. "Thank you Hiei."
Hiei carefully returned the embrace. "Don't thank me," he said.
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Author's Note: ATTENTION READERS! PLEASE RESD THIS NOTE! Now that the situation between Hiei and Shiroi has been solved, I have a request for you. I would like your suggestions on what gender, ability(or abilities), name, and whatever else you could possibly think of, for Shiroi and Naoru's babies. I'll use your suggestions along with my own ideas to create them. You can tell me your suggestions through your reviews. Thanks for reading.