At long last, My OTP comes to light. Definitely had a lot of fun with this one. This is dedicated to Lesfriendly, one of my two lovely reviewers who asked about the HxK portion. I hope she and my fellow HxK lovers enjoy this installment.
Short Story 4: Room for Change
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Hiei/Kurama.
Scenario: Kurama, years after leaving his demon life and committing fully to his human family, was kidnapped and beaten by a gang of humans hoping to keep him for ransom. Though Kurama won the fight with them, he is scarred and beaten in the aftermath. Coming to his aid is a reluctant Hiei, who plans on changing him for good so that such a thing will never happen again.
Song for Inspiration: What About Now by Daughtry.
(-)
Three corpses lay limp and blood-soaked on the concrete floor of the dark top room in the two-story, abandoned brick building that now lay in near-ruins and covered in moss and vines, placed conveniently (for the thugs, at least) in the middle of the woods, far away from my home.
I had been trapped in this room for an unknown amount of hours, dreaming up strategies and cursing my luck. Jumping would have been my best option, had I not been tied up. I decided to use the vines to attack the person who would come into the room next, but my plan didn't go as I thought it would.
It had been years since I had gone into any sort of combat, demon or human. When the big, bald, club-bearing thug had walked through the crumbling door I thought that an immediate attack would be best. It was then I realized, to both my shock and disappointment, that my power was far from what it once was.
They wanted information from me. They wanted the names of my family members, the place where I lived, etcetera. The bastards were going to hold me for ransom.
I told him that I'd die before I gave him such information.
He gave a wicked grin and a "Suit yourself." before raring back with the club, ready to strike me dead.
A flash of black across the room, and the kidnapper was on his knees with a gushing wound across his torso. His scream of pain had brought the other two up to my holding room, but before they had even stepped through the door Hiei had untied me and I was on my feet.
"Don't fuck this up. And make it fast, I have things to do."
I smiled at him. "I'll do my best. For your information, it's been years since I've fought."
He groaned. "You must be joking."
"Hey!" called a brute standing at the bleeding man's side, with a furrowed brow and gritted teeth. "This ain't tea-time, ladies. If you came here to talk, runt, then you're in the wrong fuckin' place!" He was clearly holding back, fearful of earning the same fate as his friend.
Hiei just scoffed. "Kurama, the one on the left is yours."
I held back a laugh at the fact that Hiei had assigned the smaller one to me. I just nodded. "I'll take care of him."
Or maybe not. My abilities are not what they used to be. But even if I do get hurt, you're here.
Hiei broke off to attack the bigger one, and without much effort had him bleeding and on the ground. Simultaneously, the smaller one charged for me, and I stood firm, ready to fight. But before he even had a chance to swing a punch, the one injured earlier pulled out a pistol, and, unknowing to me, aimed and shot.
"Kurama!"
He had gotten me barely on the side, where I was already scarred from where they had evidently beat me earlier. I sank to my knees as the man hovering above me laughed and struck me in the head with a heavy, foreign object.
I looked up, expecting another blow, but my ex-partner had literally sliced him in two, as the other two mangled men stared in shock, fear and disgust. I tried to stand, but he pushed me back down against the wall, ultimately protecting me from yet another gunshot. I cried out as I felt my entire body be flooded with pain, and squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't remember the last time I had hurt so much.
Within a minute, maybe two, Hiei had the other two kidnappers killed as well. I just sat against the wall, feeling blood and sweat trickle down my face.
He turned to look in my direction and angry pain filled his deep red eyes.
"You sicken me."
I chuckled weakly.
"I'm serious."
I sighed and pulled off of the wall. "I know."
Trust me, I know.
"Fool." he scowled. "Do you not know your damn limits?"
I somewhat shocked myself when I laughed at his question. "Apparently not."
Hiei released an angry sound similar to that of a growl. "When you had told me that you had left your demon life behind completely, here I am thinking you were serious." He looked downward, narrowing his eyes out of discomfort. Or perhaps, by some miracle, that was sorrow. But then again, I couldn't get my hopes up.
"I almost didn't come. You… were the great Yoko Kurama." Admittedly, the emphasis on the past tense verb made my heart hurt. "You didn't need any help with some measly pack of disguisting humans." Hiei was back to angry within seconds after the end of his sentence.
I know you're angry with me. I know you're upset with me.
"I hate to be proven wrong." he turned away from me fiercely, having seen enough. "Gods, what happened to you? What happened to what you used to be?"
You wanted me to become as powerful as I once was,
I just sat there, feeling the sting of his judgement.
so that I could take care of myself without your help.
"…Things change. I changed."
And you were so close. But I left that life for the benefit of someone else.
Because you couldn't leave until you were certain that I was going to be alright without you. I had found a way to bring Yoko back, and that gave you peace. That's all you wanted all along, isn't it? But now I've officially left that life. I'm just another weak human, by your standards.
"You worked so hard to get your power back." Hiei's voice had dropped to a calm level. "To just throw everything away like that is injustice to no one but yourself."
And you. It's alright, you can say it. It's unfair to you, too.
"Thank you." was, at the time, all I had the energy to say. "For helping me."
I started to get off of my knees, and then striking pain hit me on all sides. Ignoring my trembling limbs, I attempted to stand to no avail.
Before I could collapse onto the floor, Hiei flashed over to where I stood, catching me. I chuckled while he held me, helping me to my feet. "Why should I worry about power?" I said, noticing for the first time the weakness and pain in my own voice. "I have my knight in shining armor to save me wherever I go."
"Hn." To be honest I suspected a much more violent response. "Don't think I won't drop you."
I didn't laugh that time. Didn't have time to. Before I could give him a reply of any substance, he had swept me off my feet, into a "bridal-style" position, if you will, in his arms. I looked up at him and smiled. Hiei wasn't one for smiling, so he just glared back, daring me to carry on in my banter.
"You can't take me home like this." I told him as he walked towards the window of the building, holding a firm but careful grip on my back and the joint of my legs as I lay tired in his arms.
His turn to chuckle. "Who said I was taking you home?"
I looked up him, wide-eyed. "Where are you…"
You're taking me with you. You're going to get what you want if it kills you, aren't you?
"I convinced Mukuro to give you a room for the night in her castle. She said she would be glad to have you." The tone in his voice left no room for objection.
"But, I have to…" I tried to tell him that I had to get home to my mother, that I had work in the morning. That I had "human" things to do. But that would've just pissed him off. Not to mention that regardless of what I had to say or do, Hiei was going to take the opportunity he had laid before him and take me back to Demon World.
Now that I'm weak, you can do as you please. Who's to say I wont try to escape and go back home once my strength returns?
"I'll train you until you're back to normal… it may take years." He was clearly determined to get me back to where I once was. He reached the window and stepped onto the sill, looking out to the world below.
"To normal?" I asked, feeling drowsiness try to drag me down. "You mean, back when I was with Yomi?"
"Before then. Back before Yusuke. Before becoming human. Back before, you know, dying."
I was damn sure what you meant. But you wont succeed.
"…That will never happen."
And you're well aware of that. And yet, you're going to try anyway.
Hiei looked downward at me once more. His eyes almost seemed to say 'Yeah, I know.' But that wasn't his reply.
"Sleep. We'll be at the castle soon."
Admit it.
He tightened his grip on me and flew expertly off of the window onto the ground, where he took off in a sprint torwards the castle.
There's deeper meaning to the actions you make. You cant fool me.
Within seconds of him leaving the crumbling building behind, I complied with his request and closed my eyes.
You do this because you love me.
0O0
Aw, I worked my ass off on this and I really think it paid off. I love love love it, and I hope you did too. I think maybe next installment will be Kuwa/Yuki. Or maybe Yusuke and Koenma. Or maybe Yusuke and Keiko. I guess we'll just have to find out.
Thanks for Reading! :D
