Chapter 9

Hiei growled as the redhead laughed his head off. He had never seen this mature, always calm and collected demon lose his head like this.

"Kurama, I've said it once and I'll say it again. Don't make me rip out your precious voice box!" This only made the redhead laugh harder, but the comment was heard and he calmed down quite quickly.

"Hmhmhmhm. I'm sorry Hiei. Haha, it's just that I never thought I'd see the great and powerful outwardly emotionless Hiei fall in love! Hahahaha."

"What are you talking about, Fox…" said Hiei sternly and heavily.

"Hiei, listen to me. Your heart was pounding when she looked at you. I looked inside your mind and all of your thoughts pointed to the same thing. HER! Hiei, face it, you're in LOVE!"

"Please, like I would actually succumb to such idiotic human emotions."

"Hiei, it makes perfect sense. I heard every word she said to you and it's perfectly logical that she would make you feel this way. Honestly, I'd be willing to say that she knows much more about what's inside you than you do. Or even I do."

"…"

"Tell me, Hiei. Did you feel at all guilty when you said something that made her feel worse?"

"…"

"And did you feel confused about what you were feeling? Because it was something you'd never felt before?"

"…"

"And when she was about to cry again, did you want to make her feel better?"

"…"

"Did your face heat up?"

"Fox…" Hiei said warningly.

"Well did it?"

"…Hn."

"Hiei, there is nothing wrong with being in love. You think of it as a weakness, but look at how many times Yusuke and Kuwabara and I have used it to our advantage. Whenever someone we loved was in danger, we had more of a reason to be stronger and therefore became so. You've even become so yourself when Yukina was in danger and when Sensui killed Yusuke. As well as when I myself was in danger-"

"Alright, Fox, I get it."

"…"

"..."

"…"

"…So…what do I do now?"

"I say find out if she feels the same about you. I believe that she does, but you may want to hear it for yourself. I would suggest…"

"Fox?"

The redhead said nothing but had a far off look. Then Hiei felt it too…A powerful demonic aura coming this way.

"SARAH!" They yelled at the same time.

They rushed out of the room and searched for Sarah's own life energy. She was in the woods and getting further away.

And the demon was retreating with her.

(Flashback – Sarah's POV)

As I walked with Hiei, I was almost scared by how quickly I had been able to mourn. Sure, it still hurt, but it wasn't nearly as unbearably painful or traumatic as it had been just last night. And something else was nagging at me, too.

I WAS STARVING!

My stomach was growling FURIOUSLY and I noticed Hiei glancing at me a lot, so I know he heard it. That and he said, "Is that your stomach or a demonic carnivore?" I laughed at this, and he seemed satisfied with himself. I wondered why…

We entered the huge temple (yet again), and I was about to ask Hiei if he would like to join me for breakfast, but when I looked behind myself, he was already gone. I guessed that was good. He probably needed time to think about what I had just told him. I don't think that I had ever been that deep and made a speech that heartfelt before. I really hoped that I hadn't gone too far. What if he thought me an idiot for saying those things? Oh well, it had taken everything I could muster to tell him those things, so I really hoped that he took them to heart.

Anyway, as I walked into the kitchen, I took a bowl out from the same cupboard Kurama had used before, found the cereal, and poured the milk substitute into it. I grabbed a spoon and starting stuffing my breakfast into my mouth.

"Hungry, are we?" came a voice. I yelped in surprise and turned to see Yusuke grinning down on me. I smiled.

"I'm starving. I didn't have any dinner last night."

"So um…h-how are you doing?"

I smiled again, but not quite as widely. "Pretty good, considering. I'll be fine, don't worry. As I told Hiei, if there's one thing I've learned from my visions, it's how to mourn quickly and get on with life. Sure, I'll always be sad, but I'm not exactly the type to dwell in the past."

"Glad to hear it!" he said, smiling again and clapping me in the back, making me choke on my cereal. As I spluttered, he apologized repeatedly and said something about "not knowing his own strength."

"A little (cough) arrogant (cough) aren't we (cough cough cough cough)!"

"Yeah, well, I think that I have a perfectly good reason to be arrogant, considering how many times I've saved the three worlds from certain destruction!"

"Aren't we getting a little too superhero comic book here? And just because you have a right to be proud of yourself, you don't have to be an arrogant moron."

"Grrrr. I liked you better when you were saying good things about me."

"No duh," I retorted, then realized that the sun was almost up and my hat was nowhere in sight. "Uh oh," I said, putting my dishes in the sink, "I left my hat outside. Be right back!" With that, I waved to the detective and ran out to the stream.

Once I was out there, I started looking for my hat. I found it by the water's edge where I had slept the night before. As I put it on, I immediately knew that something wasn't right. Suddenly, a sharp pain entered my neck, and I passed out.

(End flashback – normal POV)

As the five of them (the team and Natalie, who was riding piggy-back on Kurama) raced through the forest, tracking Sarah's life energy – as the demon was now hiding his – as it continued to travel farther and farther away from the safety of the temple, Natalie, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara were viciously berating Yusuke for his stupidity.

"Why do think I was sent out to keep an eye on her at all times you imbecile!" demanded Hiei once again as more of a rhetorical question.

"ANYTHING could be happening to her right now!" screamed Natalie, about to lose her mind with rage and worry.

"If you knew that she was going to go outside the confines of the temple, you should have followed her!" scolded Kurama.

"URAMESHI! This beats ANY stupid thing I've ever done by a LONG SHOT! Do you know what might happen if that demon KILLS HER!?" yelled Kuwabara.

"Guys, I'm SORRY! How was I supposed to know that there was demon coming!?"

"By sensing its aura, you fool!" spat the fire demon. Countless images of what that demon could be doing to Sarah by now flooded his mind and he was absolutely enraged by the baka detective's mistake. He also knew perfectly well what would happen if Sarah died.

That demon would be able to steal away the White Phoenix and its powers.

Finally, their prey halted about twenty-five miles away. Relieved, they picked up their pace, giving Yusuke a break for now.

(Switching to Sarah's POV)

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the sky. I had a huge headache and stiff neck as I discovered when I tried to stand up. As soon as I was completely on my feet, a horrible pain entered my stomach and I found myself pinned to a tree-

A sword through my stomach.

I screamed in agony as blood poured from my body and mouth and I was blind-folded, my hands tied to the hilt of the sword that had skewered me. A terribly silky voice filled my ears and I gritted my teeth both from fear and pain.

"I finally have you, little Bird. Now, the question is – what shall I do with you and how should I kill you?" He giggled disgustingly at his last words. "I do so love to torture. By the way, tell me child-

"Did you like what I did to your loved ones?"

So HE was the one who did it. HE'S the one who DESTROYED ALL of my connections to MY world. I felt my head cloud with indescribable anger and loathing and a need for revenge.

"They were the first humans I ever tasted, and now I may make your species a daily meal. They were quite the delicacy. The blood sweeter and richer than that of any demon. Their hearts more lush and juicy, too." He was dragging out every syllable with that smooth and silky voice. I knew he was just trying to make me hurt more, torture me until I told him to get it over with.

I would not give him that.

"Tell me, because I simply must know – how long did you cry and despair when Koenma told you? Just how much did it hurt?" This guy was asking the dumbest questions and it was really pissing me off.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Hmmm, let's see. I KNOW!" I heard him snap his fingers. "I'll kill your little friends, too. I should start with the healer."

"IF YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR HER I SWEAR I WILL MURDER YOU!" He had struck a chord and he knew it. He began giggling uncontrollably again.

"Oh! Oh! I KNOW! Then, I should take out the heart of the Dragon himself. Why, I would be famous!"

"JUST SHUT UUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. All of the sudden, my head cleared, and I felt-

Stronger. More confident. I could think clearer, and I knew that I could defeat him.

Just like Jack Gordon.

I realized that I was chuckling, because the demon said "What's so funny?"

"I'll give you a choice. One; you untie me and run away as fast as you can. Two; die!"

"And why would I run away from you?"

"Hmhmhm."

"…"

"BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE ME MAD!"

(Switching to normal POV)

"Can't we go any faster?" voiced Natalie.

"Relax. We're nearly there," Kurama comforted.

"How long?"

"…OOF!…now."

They hit a huge wall of energy that surrounded a clearing. After the five stood up and got ready to fight, they saw that they could never get through the wall. This was a very powerful demon.

"SPIRIT GUN!" Yusuke yelled, firing his Reigun at the giant bowl-shaped barrier. It bounced back and nearly hit him.

"What do we do?" whined Kuwabara.

"We can't do anything. We simply have to hope that help comes," said Kurama, not at all happy. Suddenly, a horrible scream echoed through the trees.

Hiei charged at the barrier again, only to bounce back and land on his back ten feet back. "We HAVE to get THROUGH this damn thing!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Hiei, there's nothing we can do," the redhead explained. It hurt all of them to know that Sarah was in there. And it shocked most of them to see Hiei so uncharacteristically reckless and angry.

"LOOK!" said Natalie, now on the ground. The boys followed her pointing finger and saw Sarah, pinned to a tree with a sword through stomach, blood flowing through the wound and her gritted teeth. She was blindfolded and bound to the hilt of the sword. Hiei would give anything to help her just then, but even if they fired the Dragon at the barrier, the attack would be deflected. They soon saw her kidnapper, and he was at least as tall and muscular as Toguro at 100% and had an extraordinarily powerful aura about him. Yet, he didn't look as monstrous as Toguro had. Actually, he almost looked…suave. He had a large patch of something mirror-like on each limb and on the main portion of his back. Clearly his power was one of deflecting others' attacks.

They could hear every word being said, so they just listened with horror as the found out that he was the reason Sarah was now an orphan. As soon as the barrier went down, Hiei was going to kill that bastard.

Then, they heard the demon threaten Natalie, and Kurama growled menacingly while Sarah screamed at him at the top of her voice.

Then, he threatened Hiei, and her voice heightened (if possible), and…something else did, too.

They all felt her life energy race up so that it was like she had the lives and souls of thousands of people inside her. It wasn't demonic energy nor angelic nor entirely human. It was just life energy and her psychic energy. They focused all their attention on the girl inside the dome as a change came over her. She stopped yelling, and she seemed to calm down, although that energy level stayed the same. She began chuckling to everyone's amazement. When the demon demanded to know what was so funny, she replied inaudibly. Then, they heard these words loud and clear:

"BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE ME MAD!"

Suddenly, they watched in shock and amazement as she focused all of that new energy into her blood. The blood that was on the sword. Then, so quickly that only a demon could follow it (and Kuwabara), she withdrew the sword from her stomach, let it slip so it cut her bindings, then thrust the sword into the demon's body. She was smirking. And so was the demon.

"Hnhnhnhnhn. Do you really think that a simple sword in my gut would hurt me? You're pathetic!"

"Oh please. You don't know what pain is." Her hands were still on the sword, and she thrust it farther in.

"I HAVE SUFFERED THOUSANDS OF DEATHS!" She began pushing him back. "I HAVE BEEN BURNED, FROZEN, SUFFOCATED, AND DROWNED!" She took another step. "I HAVE BEEN SLICED AND BUTCHERED TO PIECES AND RIPPED APART BY TORNADOES AND SANDSTORMS AND WAVES!" Another step. "I HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, HAD MY LIMBS TIED TO HORSES AND THEN PULLED OFF, SAVING MY HEAD FOR LAST!" Yet another step. "I HAVE BEEN WHIPPED, CUT, CHOPPED, SLICED, BURNED, RIPPED, TORN, FROZEN, CRUSHED, AND DIED IN ANY IMAGINABLE WAY EXCEPT THE ONE WHERE YOU DIE PEACEFULLY IN YOUR SLEEP AT A RIPE OLD AGE! AND YOU THINK YOU CAN SPEAK TO ME ABOUT PAIN!"

She stopped moving toward him, but kept tight hold of the sword. The demon looked genuinely afraid now. Apparently he could feel the rising energy as well. She began to speak again, only this time calmer.

"Now my blood has mixed with yours, and therefore my curse is yours, and once it awakens…YOU WILL DIE!" With that, she withdrew the sword and stepped back. Immediately, blood spurted from various parts of the demon's body and he screamed and twitched and clawed and writhed on the ground in pain. Many parts of his body became consumed in fire and both legs separated from the torso with a sucking pop. His eyes rolled to the back of his now disembodied head.

He was dead.

The barrier disappeared, but none of the five outside of it moved or said anything or even breathed as Sarah walked up to the remains of her tormentor, picked up his head by his black hair, and said-

"You really are weak. That wasn't even a tenth of what I've been through." She then spit in his eye and threw the head away. Then, her energy decreased until it was back to normal again, and she took off the blindfold (that had been over her eyes throughout it all) and stared emotionally at the wound in her stomach as the blood stopped flowing and it cleaned and healed itself.

Then, she fainted.

(Time gap – Sarah's POV)

My eyes fluttered open and I saw that I was in my room and on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. I looked to the side to see Hiei sitting in a chair; asleep by the looks of it. Memory flooded into me and my body shook with fear.

I had killed another person.

No. He was not a person. He was a monster that deserved to die and I could not scold myself for taking another life, especially when he had taken so many lives already. I sat up and felt a dull pain in my stomach, which would be sore for a few more days. Hiei's eyes opened, and I just sat there, staring at him staring at me. Finally, he spoke.

"How are you feeling, Onna?"

"Fine."

"…"

"…"

"…What happened back there, Onna?"

"…I got mad. When something gets me exceptionally mad, I feel my head clear and I get stronger…I got mad."

"…"

"…How long was I asleep?'

"Only 24 hours. The fox has finished that cream and potion for you, so we'll start training tomorrow."

"What time is it?"

"11:30 at night."

"…I'm sorry for worrying you."

"…It's…okay, Onna….Why didn't you…get mad when the other onna was threatened?"

"I did."

"But not enough."

"…Because she wasn't the one that I was thinking about the most right then."

"…Who were you thinking about?"

I turned my head away from him, afraid that I wasn't going to be able suppress the truth. I couldn't say it, and yet I did.

"You."

"…Why me?"

"Because…" I turned my body so it faced the wall entirely, willing myself not to say it, even though I knew I was going to anyway. Besides-

Some part of me wanted to say it. So I did.

"…I care about you, Hiei. A lot."

He didn't say anything. Didn't move, didn't speak. So neither did I.

The words came to my lips in the softest of whispers before I could stop them.

"I think…that I love you."