Gray's Elegy

what's with disclaimers? some people use them, some don't. this Is so isn't that enough of a declaration that we don't own a lot of what we write about?
Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.

"He left," Hana remarked without much surprise. Her eyes were fixed on the next object to explore and she didn't care much about the other living beings present.

Kurama sighed and looked at her as she began pushing buttons on the microwave. He was wondering what on earth he was going to do with her when she grabbed the nearest object, a saucepan, and thrust it into the appliance with every intention of seeing what would happen. "No Hana, you can't put that in the microwave." He felt like he was talking to a child, a very disruptive and curious child. She gave him a wide-eyed innocent look, pushing her bottom lip into a trembling pout, and reached behind her to push the 'start' button.

He caught her before she could press the right one, but he was starting to sweat. 'A disobedient child,' he amended his previous thought as he pushed her towards the center of the room. "Do not put metal into the microwave, you will cause it to break. Also do not run it without anything in it, it will break," he directed. "Do not use the appliances without asking, and without someone here to direct you. And do not stick anything into the electrical outlets He pulled her back just as she was reaching out a hand to investigate the strange shape on the wall and she let out an indignant noise.

Perhaps he should have followed Hiei's advice; maybe it was not too late. He was distracted from these thoughts when he realized that the indignant noise had turned into a low whine that was steadily getting louder. He let go of her quickly and she began rubbing at her arms while keeping her back to him. 'Such unusual behavior.' His thumb rubbed against his fingers, then he repeated the motion, feeling the slickness there that shouldn't have been. He looked down at the rust discoloration of his fingers and took a long sniff of the air. He hadn't thought twice about the scent of blood coming from her, the air of the demon world saturated everything, giving it at least the flavor of that liquid. He hadn't bothered to think that she was actually bleeding.

"Hana, would you like me to tend to your injuries?"

"Why would you bother?" she asked, her posture had become withdrawn, her shoulders hunched and her arms pulled tight against her body. Her knees were also bent slightly and she stood between him and the door, her weight shifted into a position to allow sudden flight. "Why do you want to see where I am hurt? So you can target me there later!"

He was shocked by her change in tone, the defensiveness and the accusation. Hadn't he been trying to help her so far? He took a deep breath and a step back, holding up his hands and smiling at her. This was a prey species, she was not used to fighting; she was used to running. The old and infirm fell behind and were eaten, the young and fit survived. "I want to help you get better," he said slowly. "Since you're in the human world you have to fit in, you cannot walk around bleeding."

This ended up being the right thing to say, that or she was horribly trusting, for she pushed her hair behind her ears and held out her arms for examination. The skin was raw and ragged around her wrists where the manacles had been, while the rest of her arms were covered with minor scrapes and bruises. However, her ear looked serious. She had been tagged, tagged like humans tagged their feed animals. It was obviously fresh, the wound was still weeping and her ear was covered in tacky blood. He took her by the hand and led her upstairs to the bathroom.

She immediately climbed into the tub and began poking at the knobs. "What does this do?" she asked, pointing and bouncing up and down slightly as he looked for bandages.

"It makes cold water come out of the spigot, where your other hand is resting."

"Ohhh, and what does this do?"

"It makes hot water come out."

"So this is your watering hole? It is very small, you cannot socialize well in here."

He nearly dropped the disinfectant he was holding. "No, no that's the bath. We drink water from the sink he indicated the one in front of him. "There is one in the kitchen as well. We socialize in the living room.

"What's the bath for?"

"Humans fill it with water then get in to clean themselves. They also use soap," he held it out of her reach, slightly afraid she might try and eat the bar. "Now if you would like I can clean those cuts."

She climbed out of the tub and sat on the edge while he dabbed at her wounds. The demoness was quite docile once she was sitting still and silent. Kurama noticed that she didn't flinch until he tried to touch her ear, then she insistently batted him away. She pushed him back with her foot and he saw that she lacked shoes and her legs were almost as battered as her arms. He reached for another roll of bandages and let out a long breath, wondering how he was going to get a look at her ear.

"I feel like I'm dying," Hana complained as he tied off another wrap around her leg. She took a heaving breath and flapped her arms up and down. "What have you done to me!"

"I just bandaged your injuries, it's normal procedure. Why don't you let me see what I can do about that ear?" She clasped her hands over it and shook her head furiously, her dusty hair whipping around. "Alright," he said, sinking back in his crouch. "What to do now?" 'A bath would probably be best, but I suspect she could drown herself. Some outfit better suited to human world then, Shiori's clothes might fit her.' He stood and held out his hand, like he would have done to a child. And when she took it he led her to his mother and step-father's room like he would have led a lost child.

Hana registered his treatment but kept it to herself, too caught up in her strange new world to bother with her guide. If he wanted to consider her a youngling it might even turn out to her benefit. She hated the bandages and wraps on her arms and legs. They were slowly tightening, restricting her movement and suffocating her. She forced her mind away from this dismal train of thought and looked at the large object taking up a good portion of the room. The boy released her hand and slid open more of these 'doors' but she was slowly approaching the strange object. It smelled of people she had yet to see and was covered in fabric. She had no idea what it could be for.

"Hana, Hana-chan." Her head shot around to look at the boy as he stood by the other set of doors, holding something. "I think you may fit my mother's clothes, though you appear to be slightly taller than her." She pursed her lips and walked forward. One of the objects resembled her tunic, but much shorter, the other, she was not so sure about. She looked over the male critically, he had on clothes of a similar shape and she noted how they were worn before taking the ones he was offering her.

"I have never dressed myself before," she said casually. "But I do not suppose you would help me. Clothed clans fear the bodies of others. Where do you wish me to go?"

"Yes, it would be considered inappropriate," he smiled nervously. "You really should have underwear too." He glanced at the wardrobe then back at the waiting girl.

"What does it do?"

"You wear it underneath the top layer of clothes." He stopped there, unsure how to continue explaining, and not wanting to raid his mother's underwear drawer.

"Like this?" She jerked up the tunic so suddenly he looked at her in surprise before quickly averting his eyes.

"Yes, like that," he said, wondering why the slavers had bothered to dress the girl. He realized that she intended to change then and there and made sure his back was turned to her as the tunic went sailing by his head.

"I don't like this," the girl's voice came from behind him. "The bottom thing doesn't fit well at all."

"Have you got it on the right way?" He turned and looked back at her to see that the pants were a few inches too short, and a few too wide as she held them up by the waistband. She let go and they fell straight to the floor. He turned away quickly then realized that she was not in the least embarrassed by what was going on. He had been in 'human' mode so long that he was having trouble accepting her nonchalance. "I'll get you a pair that might fit better."

Hana watched as the red-haired boy left the room. She listened for a few seconds to make sure he was walking away before she turned her attention back to the large object. She took a deep breath and jumped on it. To her distress it began sinking under her weight, but then stopped. She moved cautiously, the unstable surface shifting under her weight.

"It's called a bed, humans sleep in them."

"Oh," Hana looked up to see the boy had returned. "How many of you fit up here, five, six?"

"No, only my mother and step-father," he laughed. "I have my own room."

"You sleep alone? What did you do wrong?" she asked as she took the pants he was holding and tried them on.

"Nothing," he said as she zipped up the jeans. This pair was tight enough to stay up, but too long for her. He crouched down and began rolling up the pants' legs. "Humans tend to sleep separately. My step-brother also has his own room. I'm assuming you sleep in a big group?"

"Yes, with everyone taking turns to keep watch. But since you have built yourselves these buildings, you do not need to keep watch?"

"Correct," he said as he straightened and looked over her. The shirt was too large, the girl surprisingly thin. 'Not underfed,' he decided, 'more like a greyhound or a thoroughbred, built for speed.' She had no curves to speak of, and if her hair was cut short and she wore a hat she might have been able to pass for a pretty boy. There was a noise from downstairs, the front door opened then slammed shut. Kurama grabbed her by the hand and ran out into the hallway. Hana let out a frightened squeak as he tugged her down the hall and into a different room.

"I'm home, anyone else here?" called a young male voice from downstairs.

"Good afternoon Shuichi," Kurama called out his door as he pushed the demoness towards the closet. She resisted his push and tried to look out the door too. "How was school?"

"Boring," the boy replied, his voice getting louder as his footsteps came up the stairs. "Something wrong?" he asked pausing in the doorway to his room.

"No, everything's fine," Kurama replied and drew back into his room, shutting the door behind him. The girl was still pushing to get past him and look into the hallway.

"Who was that? Why won't you let me see him?"

"That was my step-brother. I think it's best that I don't inform my family right now," he drawled. "It would be difficult to explain to them, because I live with humans. They don't know about demons."

"Explain," she demanded, sitting on the floor of his room. He sighed and sat on his bed, ready to retell the story of his death and subsequent possession of a human body once again. Not only did she asked detailed questions into the nature of the process affecting his soul she made him repeat everything in Japanese so she could hear what it sounded like. The process took well over an hour and at the end he was tired and irritated. "So if I were to somehow—"

"Hana, please excuse me, but I really must start on my homework," he said, rubbing his eyes as he stood and made his way to his desk. He pulled several books out of the bag he had dropped there earlier and placed them neatly to one side. He sat down at the desk and started on the first assignment, hoping a normal activity would give him time to think through his situation a bit more. He was just reaching for the second assignment when he looked around. The girl had been oddly quiet this whole time and he had a sinking feeling about it.

She had taken every single book off the bottom shelf of his book shelf and spread them out across the floor.

"Hana," he said and she looked up from the book she was holding upside down and flipping backwards through. "Could you please put the books back on the shelf once you've looked at them?" She nodded solemnly and turned the book she was holding while cocking her head to the side. Kurama went back to his homework. The assignments hardly took him anytime, it would have been boring if half his mind had not been occupied with trying to find someway in which the demoness could actually become a productive member of society. 'Or she could always just stalk around the park during the day and steal food,' he thought, his mind drifting to another demon he knew.

"Up. Up! See?" He turned at the strange sounds to see the girl pointing at the bookshelf which she had restocked. He blinked as he saw that the books were all in the order he had arranged them in, in spite of the fact that she had taken every last one out.

"You're very clever," he said, not as a compliment, but as a realization. She smiled at him and fidgeted with her ear. "Let me see your ear." He stood up and took a step towards her but she cringed back, covering the hanging tag and shaking her head. "I just want to help." He crouched down next to her as his door opened and his mother appeared in the doorway.

"Shuichi, I'm home early. How was your…" she trailed off as her son stood, a guilty flush coming to his face as he tried to step in front of the person on the floor. "Oh, you've brought a girl home."