We managed to get all the way to Kurama's house (since it was the closest) without me fainting. I admit, I was pretty darn proud of myself. Hiei grudgingly handed me over to Tao so that he could go in and explain to Kurama's mother the situation. Well, as much of the situation as he could without giving anything supernatural away. From what I heard, it had something to do with 'drunk bar fight' and 'rowdy friends.' He came back, and helped me up to Kurama's room, ordering Tao to fetch a medical kit and then leave.

I ripped the ruined sleeve of my shirt off, so that Hiei could tend to my wound. He dabbed some sort of medical alcohol on my shoulder, which caused me to inhale sharply. He ignored my gasp, instead carefully cleaning the blood off. The alcohol burned, and the warmth of his skin certainly wasn't helping any. I decided that when the time came for me to treat his wound, I would hurt him as much as possible.

Hiei didn't speak while he tended to my injury. I closed my eyes, reveling in the feeling of his touch. I was almost sad when he pressed a sticky bandage onto it, and the warmth of his touch left me. Or so I thought. But Hiei reached around and caressed my cheek. I blinked in surprise.

"When did you get this?" He asked quietly. I frowned.

"What?"

He pressed his fingers hard into my skin, showing that I apparently had quite a nasty scratch on my cheek, probably from when I had skidded across the cement walkway. Hiei pressed another bandage to my cheek, and I took the moment to just admire his angular face. He really was quite handsome. When Hiei had finished smoothing the bandage over my cheek, he looked up at my eyes, catching me staring at him. I blushed, and glanced quickly away. He didn't comment on my staring.

I motioned to him to turn around so I could reach his cut. He slipped off his shirt, and I averted my eyes until he was sitting in front of me. With trembling fingers, I took a wet cloth and began to wash the dried blood off. He had several old scars marring the pale flesh on his back, something that made me sad to see. I gently traced some of them, wondering how they had came to be there. Hiei looked over his shoulder at me.

"Is something the matter?"

I quickly looked into his eyes, before studying his scars again. "There's so many of them. Scars, that is. It makes me…Sad."

"Why?" Hiei asked bluntly. I shrugged. He turned his head away from me, and sighed. "It's gone and done. Nothing can change my past."

I sighed, tenderly rubbing a healing ointment on his wound. "No, it can't. But just like these scars with eventually fade away, the scars on your heart can still be healed."

Hiei didn't say anything for a long time. I finished applying the salve, and began to press a bandage onto it when he spoke again.

"And I assume you're offering yourself to that job?" He taunted. I was hurt by the mocking in his tone, but I tried to keep my own voice calm as I replied.

"No, I didn't say that. You can choose whoever you want to do that. I'm just saying it's possible."

Hiei scoffed. "Then you obviously haven't experienced pain in your perfect little life."

I blinked, his words sending what felt like a painful electrical jolt through my body. I slipped off the bed away from him, and angrily trotted to the door. Before I stepped out of Kurama's bedroom, I looked back at Hiei.

"Then what do you think you've just made me feel?" I snapped, before running from the house.

****************

I deliberately bolted out the back door, so Tao wouldn't see me and follow. I didn't stop running until I reached Yusuke's apartment. Without even saying hello to Atsuko and Yusuke, I dashed into my room, closing the door and throwing myself on the bed. I began to cry.

I really couldn't believe Hiei had said that to me. Sure, I might not have been through what he'd gone through, but that didn't mean…Now I knew I was definitely crushing on him. No one's words could hurt this much unless I had feelings for him…

I suddenly found myself wishing that I had never met Hiei and the others. Life would be so much easier if I was still with Susano, helping him vanquish demons. But of course, that could never happen. He was dead, and I was now so intricately tied with Hiei, Yusuke, Kurama and everyone else that I don't think I'd ever be able to tear myself away.

There was a soft knock on the door to my room. Not wanting to be rude, I stood up and opened the door, allowing Yusuke to come in. I walked over to my bed, collapsing on it once again. Yusuke came over and sat beside me. He began to rub my back comfortingly.

"What's wrong, Tera?" He asked quietly, either to sooth me, or to insure that Atsuko couldn't hear what we were talking about if she was trying to eavesdrop.

"It hurts," I whispered. "I never knew it could hurt this much."

"What does?"

"My heart," I replied. I knew I was being awfully vague, but I really couldn't bring myself to explain the situation further. "What he said hurt so much. I'm such an idiot!"

Yusuke paused. "Hiei, you mean?" I blinked in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"It's not difficult to tell how you feel about him. I'm sorry. He's not exactly the nicest person out there. That's what Kurama is for. Assuming you don't piss him off."

I didn't answer. We stayed like that for a long time, with me lying on the bed and Yusuke massaging my back, before he finally stood up.

"If you need anything, you know where I'll be," He said kindly, before leaving. "Feel better."

I didn't move for quite a while. When I did, I walked to my window, and for the first time since Hiei had slept over that one night, I closed the window.

Hiei's being a jerk...I think he gets crabby when he's injured.