Hey everyone! Fifth chapter straight ahead lol! Well we're slowly getting to the end. I plan to have the last few chapter up by the end of next week. Agh crap! My k button has stopped working again! This is the third time during the writing of this story! (I've copied and pasted a k from the story to be able to write this part now lol)...I hope it fixes itself soon because many of the characters use the letter k in their names! It couldn't be the q or something noooooo...

Anyways I'd like to thank Mika Starlight and Natsume-chan for their wonderful reviews! I hope this chapter appeases your lust for my blood after the "cliff-hanger" last time...

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Disclaimer: Sadly I still own nothing...

Warnings: From a quick scan of the chapter I believe the only thing you have to watch out for is a lot of angst and emotion.

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Chapter 5: What You do to Me

"Don't stop now…it was just getting interesting."

Everyone in the room stared at the dark haired demon lying in the bed as his voice rasped out. Yes it was weak, but the deep baritone was definitely his. It took a few minutes for realization to set in.

"H-Hiei…?" Yusuke whispered in disbelief. The man in question smirked wearily, his crimson eyes bright with amusement. When he spoke the humor in his voice was far from expected.

"Hn. Of course. Who were you expecting?" Yusuke's mouth flapped open and he floundered for an answer, but before the hanyou's fried brain could think up a reply the two red heads in the room swooped in on the fire demon.

"You're awake!"

"How're you feeling?"

"Man, are you okay?"

"Don't you ever do something like that again!"

Kurama and Kuwabara fussed over the shorter man, making sure he was feeling alright, checking that he was comfortable and making him see just how much he had been missed in the short time they had been apart.

Hiei was overwhelmed but not in a way that was unpleasant. A faint blush worked its way across his pale cheeks that thankfully went unnoticed by his friends. His ruby eyes switched back and forth between the two men hovering over him as they spoke and seeing the relief on their faces sent warmth blossoming through his chest. Hiei couldn't help the smallest of smiles that made itself comfortable on his lips. Even if things hadn't worked out the way he planned, it was still nice to feel like people cared. Several times the youkai opened his mouth to reply to one question only to be cut off by another and eventually he just sat back and accepted it, occasionally managing to sneak in a "yes" or "no" between the barrage of enquiries. Finally after several minutes of interrogation the two red heads stepped back a bit, seemingly satisfied for the moment.

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Throughout the entire spectacle Yusuke had remained still and silent. The hanyou couldn't say why but the joy that had first filled him upon sighting the fire demon awake had quickly been smothered by confusion and hurt. There were so many questions he wanted to ask and they swirled around and around in his mind. Why did he do it? Why didn't he come to one of them for help? Why? Why? WHY!?

The thoughts that whirled through his head turned faster and faster becoming a hurricane of negative emotion that sent his concern and happiness ducking for cover in the recesses of his mind.

By the time he finally saw Kurama and Kuwabara pull themselves away from the bedridden youkai the dark haired man felt ready to explode.

"Why?" Yusuke growled lowly. Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at him curiously. The third pair, coloured in blood, looked on with trepidation.

"Why…Why did you do it?" Yusuke asked again, his voice was low but empty, failing to reflect the flood of emotions inside him. The only sign of the pain and anger he held within was the look in his chocolate eyes, dark and furious. Hiei stared back with his own ruby gaze filled with sadness, guilt and resignation. The hanyou knew that a confrontation like this was definitely not what someone as apparently emotionally fragile as Hiei needed but now that he had started he found he couldn't stop. The two men stared each other down for a minute before Hiei turned away, looking awkwardly to the side. This only served to further enrage Yusuke. Hiei had been running for too long; from his friends, his sister and from his emotions. Now he was doing it again. Silence was all that answered him.

"Why did you do it Hiei?" The demon avoided him, keeping his eyes firmly off the detective. "What did we do to hurt you so much that you felt you could no longer stand to be on the same physical plane as us?" Yusuke knew even as he the words escaped his lips that this was not the case, but the fears and insecurities egged him on.

"Aren't we your friends? Or are we nothing more than allies to you? Did you even think about how this would affect us when you did this? How it would affect your sister? Did you even care?" The dark haired man was yelling by then, all of his anxiety and hurt balled up and being thrown in a volley of scathing words. Just as Yusuke opened his mouth to greedily suck in the air he would need to continue the torrent of pain he was raining down upon the other man a quiet voice interrupted him.

"Of course I care." Hiei's head had whipped around, his eyes flashing as he spoke. His voice was quiet, almost afraid, so unlike his normal brash tone. Despite the fact that the wounded fire demon had not laid so much as a finger on him Yusuke felt the wind rush from his body. He was shocked by the terrified honesty in Hiei's voice, but he was even more shocked by what he had said. Had the stoic loner actually admitted to caring about someone?

" Wh-what?" Yusuke stammered, his chocolate eyes wide. Hiei sighed before regarding the hanyou with the same haunted eyes that Yusuke had seen the night before. The expression made the fire youkai seem so much younger, so much smaller.

"Of course I care." He repeated before continuing. "Though I wish I didn't. If I didn't care then maybe it wouldn't have come to this…If I hadn't given in to these stupid feelings then maybe none of this would have been necessary." This was the first insight Hiei had ever given into his feelings and yet Yusuke was no closer to understanding the fire demon before him. What Hiei was saying…it just didn't make sense.

"I cared too much to allow myself to keep pulling everyone down. I just didn't want to do it anymore…I…I don't want to keep feeling this way…" Hiei's rich voice broke but tears had yet to gather in his eyes. The smaller man bit his lip and diverted his gaze. His heart constricted painfully and he just couldn't bring himself to say anything more. The crimson eyed demon pulled his knee up to his chest and wrapped his arms around it, a position that looked wrong in this situation. It was just so normal and this…this was anything but. Hiei kept his eyes lowered, wanting to avoid the disgust and contempt that he was sure would look back at him from their eyes. From his eyes.

Yusuke stared, mouth agape, at the demon on the bed. He had never felt so lost, so betrayed. He felt grief for the man that had come to feel this way, that had come to feel that this was the only course of action left to him. But the anger and hurt didn't go away. He was hurt that Hiei had never even thought to come to them to talk about it. And angry. He was livid that Hiei had made the decision for all of them without even asking. Didn't they get a say, a chance?

The hanyou had never felt so strongly about anything and it confused him. He looked at his friends hoping to find the same emotions dancing in their eyes but the orbs that stared back at him were empty of the rage and agony he felt inside. It only served to rile Yusuke up even more. The dark haired man's fists clenched as he attempted to reign in his anger but found himself unable to grasp it. Blood dripped from the cuts his nails had made in his palm. Finally he gave up and turned towards the door.

"Yusuke? Where are you going?" Kurama's silken voice called after him. Yusuke paused with his bloody hand on the door's silver handle.

"I'm leaving!" He growled. "I have to be alone right now." Even to him his voice sounded harsh, unforgiving. He looked back over his shoulder and glared straight into shocked ruby eyes. His heart seemed to speed up and stop at the same time. A snarl twisted his features as he stalked out. The door closed behind him with an earsplitting SLAM and Yusuke was gone.

"What the hell's wrong with him?" Kuwabara asked clueless as ever, his rough voice cutting through the silence that Yusuke had left. Kurama didn't bother dignifying the question with an answer. Instead he sat down on the edge of the bed and stared after the hanyou with pity in his emerald eyes. He understood that Yusuke was upset, they all were, and he had an idea as to why it hit him harder than it did them. Love was a powerful emotion after all. The scarlet haired youko sighed before turning back to his bedridden friend. He expected many thing's from the other demon after Yusuke's outburst; acceptance, fear, even anger. But he did not expect what he saw before him. It was simply unheard of for the tough little fire demon to be so…broken. It was the only way that Kurama could explain it. Hiei had pulled his right leg up to join the other and was hugging his knees to his chest, literally curling into himself. A psychologist would describe such an act as a subconscious need to make oneself a smaller target, a sign of great fear and pain. From what he could sight of the demon's face his eyes were wide open, staring but not seeing and his sharp teeth had pierced his lip where he had been biting it causing blood to trickle down his chin and onto the clean cotton sheets.

Hiei was a pitiful sight to behold and it washed away any lingering resentment the red head felt towards his friend for his actions. Kurama frowned, his hand reaching out to comfort his friend.

"Don't worry Hiei, Yusuke doesn't mean it." He said quietly. The youkai snorted in derision. Nevertheless he brought his head back up and attempted to wipe away the blood that trailed down his face from his lip, succeeding in smudging it further.

"Didn't sound like he didn't mean it." He replied bitterly. Despite his tough guy act Kurama could see the hurt hiding in Hiei's crimson eyes.

"He didn't." The red head said firmly. "He's just angry and scared. He doesn't mean to lash out." Hiei didn't respond, instead turning his head and staring out the window on the other wall. Kurama sighed and gave his friend one last pat before rising to his feet.

"I'm going to go get something to eat and inform the doctor that you're awake. I'll be back shortly." He said before walking out the door. Kuwabara scrambled from his seat next to the bed.

"Hey wait for me! I'm hungry too!" He yelled as he ran down the hall after the fox.

Hiei didn't move for a while after his friends had left, seemingly content to stare out at the city as it bathed in the afternoon sun. Despite how peaceful he appeared, on the inside it was like the aftermath of a hurricane. Yusuke's rant replayed itself in his mind cutting deeper into his heart with every word and the dark haired man didn't even try to block it out.

"Why save me then…" He whispered miserably. Probably his stupid hero complex, the fire demon thought bitterly. Well I'm not going to let him stand in my way. No matter how much I love him…

Hiei's ruby gaze followed the tubes from their bags down to his body. The tubes were still in place and two little suction cups were stuck on his well-defined chest. He scowled. Reaching his hand down his grabbed the tubes sticking out of him and ripped them off. Blood flowed from the inside of his elbow and down the back of his hand as the tubes clattered uselessly against their poles, dripping various fluids onto the linoleum floor. An incessant high-pitched screech came from the machine beside him that until the moment he removed the suction cups had been beeping quietly in the background. Hiei ignored the drone and stood. The action caused the blood to rush from his brain and he staggered slightly, his vision blurry. It took a precious few moments for the room to stop spinning and come back into focus. Once he felt he could move around without passing out he began to search the room for his belongings. The raven haired demon finally found his prey in the cupboard near the bed. He smirked as he pulled out his blood stained clothes and pulled them on, wincing when he opened the gash in his right palm. The cut instantly reminded him of his sword that he noticed wasn't in the locker with the rest of his possessions. He glowered at the piece of furniture as if it were its fault and briefly contemplated searching the hospital premises for his treasured blade but decided against it when he heard loud footsteps clamoring down the hallway. Without another thought he threw open the window and jumped out.

Kurama and Kuwabara parted ways at the café downstairs, Kuwabara claiming he was too hungry to go hiking around after the doctor. Kurama shrugged it off and went off in pursuit of Doctor Lee's office. After getting himself lost twice he finally asked a pretty blonde nurse for directions. The red head was annoyed to find out he was only two corridors down from his destination but thanked the giggling employee anyway.

Ten minutes after his search began he finally reached Doctor Lee's Office. The door was painted a pastel moss colour and was barren but for the tarnished silver nameplate and knob. He knocked on the door, a little louder than was probably necessary and stepped back to wait. For a moment nothing happened then the door opened to reveal a tall man with light brown hair.

"Shuichi! Is there something I can help you with?" The ever smiling doctor asked cheerily. The youkai nodded in response.

"Yes actually. I came to inform you that Hiei awoke about a half hour ago." The doctor's pale blue eyes widened dramatically.

"Really? Wow…that…that was certainly unexpected." Kurama raised an elegant scarlet brow and the doctor quickly reiterated. "No, this is good of course, it's just shocking. We didn't believe he would wake up until tomorrow after the trauma his body went through." Doctor Lee moved out from his office, locking the door behind him. He turned to Kurama once more and opened his mouth as if to say something when a beeping sound from the man's lab coat interrupted him. He motioned to the scarlet haired male to give him a minute and fished a small grey phone from his pocket. As he read the text a frown slowly made its way across his face.

"Is something the matter?" Kurama asked concerned. The brunette looked back up at the youth with a worried look in his eyes.

"I'm afraid so." He replied, all light heartedness gone from his voice. "I've just been alerted to the fact that the patient in room 218 is flat lining." Kurama felt terror freeze the blood in his veins.

"That's Hiei's room…"

The two men raced through the hospital towards room 218. Kurama reached the door first and in his hurry struggled to work the knob. Finally he threw the door open and ran inside. His terrified emerald gaze moved frantically around room not missing a thing. The bed was empty, various fluids from the tubes puddled on the floor around it. The heart monitor was letting out a constant whine and its attachments dangled uselessly. A faint breeze blew through the room bringing their attention to the now open window. Kurama moved over and stared out the window in a daze, despair settling in his heart.

'I'm not afraid of dyin'
As much as I might say
I'm scared of you
Moving lips, you're lyin'
From the bottom of your little black heart
Your little black heart!

I've never been so angry at myself
I've never been so crushed by valid worries
I've never seen such mindlessness before
It's never been so cold…

What you do to me
Is let you through to me
Now it has to be
Nothin' at all.

This time it's me
Who's gonna leave
Leave you to bleed (Oh yeah)
From the bottom of your little black heart
Your little black heart…

Look at all these broken promises
On the top of all these wasted worries
Look at all of these too late conversations
They never changed a thing.

What you do to me
Is let you through to me
Now it has to be
Nothin' at all.

This time it's me
Who's gonna leave
Leave you to bleed (Oh yeah)
From the bottom of your little black heart
Your little black heart!

Hope falls hard
Trust runs deep
I won't make excuses
Anymore for you

This time it's me
Who's gonna leave
Leave you to bleed (Oh yeah)
From the bottom of your
Little black heart
Your little black heart…
(Your little black heart yeah, yeah)'

Little Black Heart by Sister Hazel.

HA! Lol I just dug my own grave with that cliff-hanger. Mika if you thought the last one was bad, what's this one considered? ^^"

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter and please continue to Read and Review!