What I learned at Genkai's Temple
Chapter 24: Mercy, Merci

Okayz...just so everyone is forewarned. There are some lemony scents at the end of the chapter so if you really can't stand that, then just skip that part, okay? It's not a necessity to read.

"You did what, Kurama?" Hiei questioned after hearing about Daphne's lab incident.

"I didn't do anything Hiei! I was out here helping Kit train (Jacqie: I remember something slightly more than training going on...lol) when all of the sudden my lab blew up. It's Daphne's fault for being in things that she wasn't supposed to be in. She's old enough to know better!" Kurama exclaimed, slightly surprised at the extreme lack of hesitation that Hiei had shown before taking Daphne's side.

"It's not like I did it on purpose! Besides, you shouldn't just leave such dangerous chemicals lying around in the open like that!" the subject of their conversation interjected heatedly, her hands on her hips.

"She has a point, fox. There aren't many people in this temple that know how to correctly handle all of those chemicals. If she hadn't realized what was going to happen in time, she wouldn't have gotten out, and she probably would have been killed," Hiei stated, crossing his arms and glaring darkly at the kitsune.

"So basically, you're saying that if Daphne hadn't managed to get out of the lab before it exploded and had been harmed, that the blame would lie at MY feet? I told them, all three of the girls, to stay out of my god-damn lab! It is nowhere near my fault that Daphne does not know how to listen to directions!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, fox!"

"I still fail to see how exactly it is my fault that Daphne has that certain disregard for the rules!" (Jacqie: Did anyone notice that Kurama seems to be ignoring the fact that Kit has a 'certain disregard for the rules' as well?)

During this exchange, Kurama and Hiei had gotten closer and closer together and by this time, they were nose to nose. Neither one looked as though they were planning on backing down any time soon.

"Kura-kun! I know that Daphne, in no way, meant to cause the lab to explode and that she is sorry for doing so!" Kit jumped in; trying her best to prevent a fight from erupting between her kitsune and Daph's pissed off looking demon.

Daphne had also realized that a fight was brewing between the two friends so she took up where Kit left off, "Of course I'm sorry for blowing the lab up! I was just so bored and the door to the lab was open so I decided to explore. It's not like I was randomly mixing chemicals just to see which ones would explode! I had no clue that my purple fire was still burning, or that the magnesium was rolling towards it until it was too late to stop it. I swear, I never meant for this to happen!"

"Exactly! It was just an accident, Kura-kun! Unlike you and Hiei, Daphne and I happen to be completely human, and we can't help but to make mistakes sometimes!"

"Yeah! Kurama, please forgive me and understand that it really was nothing more than an accident! I would've stopped it if I could have! I don't want to be the thing that causes a rift between you two!" Daphne exclaimed, eyes full of tears that didn't go unnoticed by Kurama, Hiei, and Kit.

Kurama took one look at Daphne and he could easily see that she was very sincere about her apology. "Okay Daphne, I do understand that it was an accident and I forgive you. Just, next time, when I tell you to leave something alone or stay away from something…listen!"

Daphne relaxed slightly as he stepped back and pulled his hand away from the rose whip. She then looked at Hiei who just looked back at her for a minute before nodding at her with a slight smirk. They all then agreed that all the girls would train together from then on to avoid anymore accidents; Kurama and Hiei then headed towards the temple together leaving the two girls standing in the same place with relieved expressions on both of their faces.

"I'm bored," Daphne announced, staring out the window of the temple.

"Je m'ennuie aussi," Kit replied in French. (Note: Because translating sites suck, we're gonna provide the translations just in case you can't understand what they're saying. Besides, we can't provide the accent marks, which messes up translations. In this sentence, Kit's just saying that she's bored, too.)

"Tu parles francais, Kit?" ("You speak French, Kit?")

"Oui." (Self-explanatory.)

"Chouette!" Daphne said. ("Great!") They commenced to carry on a conversation in French, making up random phrases.

After a while, Kurama and Hiei came into where the girls were. Daphne's eyes lit up.

"Dis, Kit," Daphne asked, "tu vois l'homme qui s'appelle Hiei?" ("Hey, Kit, you see that guy that calls himself Hiei?")

"Oui, et alors?" ("Yeah, so?")

"Je veux vraiment lui pousser," Daphne answered slyly. "And I don't mean 'push,' either," she added in a low voice so Kurama and Hiei wouldn't hear her. (Note: Okay, for this one, no translating site is gonna provide the translation. Daphne just said, "I really wanna blow him.")

Kit gasped, astounded that Daphne would use such a crude phrase. This made her cough for several seconds while Daphne giggled at her reaction. "De tout facon," Kit tried to change the subject. "Je préfère le garcon roux." ("Anyways/At any rate, I prefer the redhead.")

"Oh, vraiment?" Daphne pretended to be surprised. "Et pourquoi?" ("Oh, really? And why?")

"Je pense qu'il est mignon," Kit replied with a smile. ("I think he's cute.")

"Il soit," Kurama corrected her, taking Kit and Daphne off-guard. "You must use the subjunctive when expressing something that isn't considered a fact."

Kit and Daphne looked at one another, jaws dropped. Kurama had understood their entire conversation.

"Mais, merci, Kit. C'est gentil de ta part." (Kurama just thanked Kit and said "That's nice of you.")

"Uh...de rien," Kit managed to say. (This is universally accepted as "You're welcome," because it pretty much means "It was nothing.")

Kurama grinned at their blushing faces then departed. Because Hiei was still in the room, and they felt certain that he couldn't understand their French, Daphne continued in that language.

"Tu sais, Kit," Daphne remarked randomly. "Tu et Kura-kun pouvez faire des enfants jolis ensemble." ("You know, Kit, you and Kura-kun could make some pretty babies together." Okay, technically, "enfants" means "children," but we like to say "babies.")

Kit's face turned beet red. She stood, outraged that Daphne would say such a thing (even if she believed it herself.). "Tu es...wrong!" Kit ended in English, unable to think of the words that meant "wrong" in French. She then began to stomp out, but realized she was going out the same door as Kurama, which would make Daphne joke her for nothing. She whirled around and left through another door as Daphne laughed uncontrollably.

"Oh, and Daphne," Hiei shut her up, pointing to his Jagan. "I understood perfectly what you said about blowing me," he revealed before he, too, disappeared, leaving Daphne wide-eyed in shock.

"No way...oh hell...this is bad, very bad," Daphne said to herself, still staring at the spot that Hiei had occupied until just a moment ago. She continued to stare dazedly at that spot, deep in thought, until a loud cough jerked her back to reality.

"Daphne, are you okay? You've been staring into space for about 10 minutes now," Keiko said with a slightly worried undertone.

"Oh, hey Keiko. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just thinking about something."

"Well, are those thoughts more important than dinner?" Yukina questioned with a smile.

"I'm not hungry right now, Yukina. I think I'm going to go for a walk," Daphne said as she followed Yukina and Keiko into the dining room and then headed out the back door, somehow managing to keep her eyes from straying to where Hiei was sitting.

About an hour later, Kit found her sitting at the edge of the pond, deep in thought.

"Chick? What's up with you? You've been all thoughtful and quiet since our French conversation earlier," Kit said plopping down next to her friend.

"I guess I'm more embarassed at the moment than you are. Hiei understood everything we were saying...including my 'pousser' statement."

"Oh..."

"I guess I've been really quiet since then because knowing that he understood everything I was saying just brought on these really deep thoughts somehow. It's easier for you, Kit. Everyone can see how much you mean to Kurama...and I have no clue how Hiei really feels about me. I don't know how important I am to him. God, I'm falling in love with him more and more every day and I'm scared as hell to think that he doesn't feel the same way about me!"

"Ask him. You're never going to find out otherwise. And I mean, come on...everyone can see that Hiei at least cares for you. He wouldn't tolerate you if he didn't."

"You're probably right. I need to talk to him so I can at least figure out what this thing between us is. Thanks, Kit," Daphne gave Kit a quick hug of before heading up to the temple.

Once she got inside the temple, she went straight to Hiei's room and, without even bothering to knock, walked right inside. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the actual room, though she could hear running water coming from his bathroom. "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait for him to finish up," she said to herself. With that said, she sat down heavily on his bed only to have her eyes immediately drawn to a package lying on his bed. Curious, she picked it up, only to drop it again after reading the name on the package.

"What the hell does he have a sample package of Enzyte for?" she wondered aloud, "At least it isn't open, so he hasn't actually used any."

She finally decided that she didn't want to wait any longer, plus that package was starting to creep her out. She got up and went to the bathroom door. She raised her hand to knock but Hiei's voice stopped her in her tracks, "Did you want something in particular, Daphne?"

"Ummm...yeah, actually. Want to share an explanation of why exactly there's Enzyte lying on your bed?" she questioned with a teasing tone.

A short pause followed her statement before Hiei replied, "Come in here, Daphne."

Now it was her turn to pause. After having a very quick internal debate with herself, she turned the doorknob and stepped inside the bathroom, immediately rolling her eyes at the colors. Pretty much the only color in the room was the dark blue tiling...everything else was black, even the towel hanging on the hook beside the shower.

"I'm reasonably sure that there was something else you wanted to talk to me about...besides that package. So what was it?" Hiei asked, sticking his head out of the shower to look at Daphne.

"Yeah, there was something else actually, but it's not really important," Daphne said, staring intently at the pile of dirty clothes in one corner of the bathroom.

"I hope you realize that I don't believe a word of that, Daphne," Hiei replied, reaching out and grabbing the towel hanging on the hook.

"I'm serious, Hiei. It's nothing. I was just wondering what exactly this thing between you and I is. I mean, I can't read your mind...I don't know how important I am to you and that hurts. Especially because I'm falling more in love with you every damn day and the thought that you don't return those feelings scares me to death!" Daphne's eyes, which had filled with tears, were still trained on the pile of clothes, noticing now that on the top of the pile, was a pair of boxers - black with blue polka dots. She immediately jerked her head away, staring at the floor instead.

Next thing Daphne knew, she was soaking wet with Hiei's body trapping her underneath the showerhead. "This thing between us is not some casual fling or something like that, Daphne, so don't even let your thoughts wonder down that path. I'm not good at showing my feelings towards anyone...especially someone like you, who is in the best position possible to hurt me. I can't change, Daphne...I'm sorry that I'm not as romantic and as open about my feelings towards you as Kurama is towards Kit, but I do care greatly about you...and there should never be a reason for you to doubt that." Hiei ended his statement with a deep kiss that in Daphne's mind, seemed to go on forever.

A smile lit up Daphne's face as they parted, "Thank you Hiei. That's all I really needed to know."

"Good...now seeing as your clothes are completely soaked...I'm rather curious to find out exactly how serious you were earlier," Hiei said with a low growl.

Daphne smirked and glanced downward, "By the way Hiei, you don't need that Enzyte."

Jacqie: Yup...that's the end of this chapter. I'm not going into anymore details...use your imaginations!

Kohari: We're sorry for any lifelong scars you may have gotten from reading this! But remember, we warned you not to read past that first divider!

Jacqie: At least there was some humor in it, right?

Kohari: -cough- Enzyte -cough-

Jacqie: -rolling on floor laughing-

Anywayz...review you guys!