Chapter Five- Manipulation

"Are you okay?" a girl asked Kuwabara in school Tuesday afternoon. The half-human had been ill-tempered and moody, try as he might to not feel that way. He knew his demon nature was surfacing again and he found it hard to suppress it.

"I'm fine," he said, flashing a smile. "Just didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh. Well, maybe you'll sleep better tonight."

"I hope so." The girl left and the smile vanished. His feelings about being around humans had taken a sudden and dramatic turn since last night. He found them weak, pathetic, and most horrifying of all, delicious. He desired to eat them! No! I won't eat humans! I told myself I would be a tiger demon who doesn't eat humans. And yet…I feel a strong desire to do it. I should be able to fight it. Maybe if I drop my illusion, I'll feel better as I haven't dropped it in days.

So, when he got home, he went upstairs and dropped the illusion. He exhaled and turned when he saw something orange before gasping for he was before his mirror. My change has increased since I last looked. He was incredibly muscular and seemed to have grown two feet taller. His hair was fur and spread about his head like a fur cap. Orange and black covered it except the parts on the sides of his neck: They were white. His face was as white as the one who bit him as were his hands which sported long claws as opposed to just looking claw-like. He looked down to see that, unlike his attacker, his feet were paws that had broken open his shoes and had sharp claws on them as well.

It's almost done, he thought in awe of what he saw. He smelled a demon approaching and faced the window as Hiei alighted on the sill. He looked Kuwabara up and down before giving a small nod. "Yes, I was right. You look better as a demon."

"I'm not done yet," he pointed out.

"True, but it won't be much longer. It seems it's only your facial features, ears, and tail that's left."

Kuwabara folded his arms. "What do you want, Hiei?"

"Hn, make no mistake, I didn't choose to come here, at least not at first. I was told to help you resist your demon instincts."

"That I'd like to see as I've been finding them hard to ignore." He sat on the bed.

"I'm afraid resisting them is impossible. No animal demon can fight them forever. You said they're hard to ignore. Tell me about that."

"I feel different about humans. I see them as weak and pathetic. I also feel a desire to eat them." He gave a small shudder. "I thought if I dropped my illusion, I'd feel differently, but I don't. I've also been moody and ill-tempered today."

Good, Hiei thought. I just have to keep pushing him in that direction. "For someone who's almost a demon, it's a start as far as feelings, but tigers feel a lot more that that as we saw almost two weeks ago."

"He was mean, vicious, and clever. I appreciate the clever part but not the other two."

"And why not?" Hiei snapped. "If you ask me, the others are trying to influence you to be the most pathetic tiger that ever lived."

"They're helping me become a peaceful demon who doesn't eat humans."

"Ah, but they may have an ulterior motive for doing so."

"Ulterior motive? What other reason would they have besides helping me stay me?"

"They may fear the demon you could be and seek to prevent that by lying to you."

Kuwabara's eyes sparked with fury at that and a low cat growl sounded. "They fear me and lie to keep me weak. What right to they have to do that to me?"

"No right at all. You should be allowed to be whom you are and how you want to be. So, who do you want to be?"

"I want to be someone who is strong and who can do anything I want."

"Then do that. Really, no one is stopping you."

"But, you said our friends are trying to stop me." Kuwabara felt confused, not knowing whether Hiei was encouraging him or lying to him like the others.

"Oh, they are and they want me to do the same. I, however, know that's wrong. One can't deny his true nature, even one who is changing his race. You said you want to be strong and you know the others don't want that. You also said you want to be able to do anything you want and I fully understand that."

"You seem to be the only one who gets me."

"I was viewed as weak at times in my life and I trained my powers to improve and fought to prove I'm no weakling."

"Yes…I don't want to be seen as weak, either."

"No one wants to be seen that way. I want you to be the best demon you can be."

"But how can I when everyone else is insisting I stay the way I've always been?" The teen sounded confused and angry and that pleased Hiei. He wants to listen to me. His thought process is turning more demon. Good.

"I would ignore what everyone else says and listen to my heart because that has never led me wrong."

Kuwabara closed his eyes and let out his breath slowly. He focused on his heart and noted that it wasn't beating. I have a demon heart now. He pushed that aside and focused on what was in his heart now. He sensed a feeling of savagery and a desire to be strong, powerful, and vicious. I want to be like the one who bit me. My friends fear these feelings and want to stop me from following them. I will not let them stop me!

He opened his eyes and focused on Hiei who had waited patiently. "I want to be the tiger demon I should be. My heart tells me to be strong, powerful, and vicious. I will not let anyone stop me from being that way."

Hiei nodded. "I said that it's impossible for animal demons to resist their instincts or their nature."

"You did and you are right. I am almost completely a demon and I'd like to go to Demon World once I've finished changing."

"I would be willing to help you with that as I am ready to head back myself."

"I just find it hard to believe that Urameshi and Kurama would want to keep me from being a strong demon."

"Well, maybe this will convince you."

Kuwabara saw Hiei toss something at him. He caught it and saw it was a notebook: The one Botan had last week with information about his demon type. He looked at Hiei. "How did you get this?"

"When Botan asked me to keep an eye on you two days ago, this fell out and I picked it up. I've already read through it and it told me that they want to stop you from being the demon you're supposed to be."

Kuwabara opened the book and began to read. It was as Botan had told him, only expanded. There were examples of his powers and senses and he liked what he saw. He turned a page and his eyes flicked to what Botan hadn't told him. He gave another low growl. So, fighting the urge to eat human flesh is a losing battle. She didn't tell me; most likely because she's trying to keep me tame. Well, I won't fight it. Tiger demons eat humans and I am becoming a tiger demon. When I finish changing, I will ask Hiei for passage to Demon World where I will spend the rest of my life and be the vicious demon I should be.