Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters.
Sorry this hasn't be updated in such a long time. I have way too many stories so thinking of the plot for this one wasn't happening. I never really had this story planned out, but I did get a review recently and I wanted to try and press forward.
Hiei started to come and go more often, whether it was to directly check on Yukina or to question Shizuru about her wellbeing. Shizuru didn't mind the intrusion being used to her brother dropping by unannounced, but Kazuma was a different story. It was through him that Shizuru found out about Hiei visiting Yukina. That meant that the fire demon had no need to frequent her apartment. Why he continued to come, she had no idea.
So here she was, walking to the corner store to pick up a few groceries and some more cigarettes while pondering Hiei's strange behavior. Focused on her inner thoughts, she stepped off the curb, but was pushed back instantly, just in enough time to see an angry driver speeding by. She stared into the road in confusion wondering why she hadn't sensed the speeding car before her eyes moved to the hand resting on her arm, the owner being a very irritated fire demon.
"You were lucky I was there to save you from you own reckless stupidity," he growled in his oh-so-charming way.
"My hero," Shizuru grumbled bitterly before forcing herself off the ground. "What are you doing here, anyway? Red said you were heading back to Demon World today."
Hiei stood up next to her and scoffed at the nickname she had given Kurama. "I still am, but I apparently had to save another pathetic human from sudden death on my way."
Shizuru narrowed her eyes at him for the insult. "Don't give me that crap, Hiei. I know full well that the boarder is on the other side of the city. Is there something you needed from me or can I get back to what I was doing?"
Shizuru didn't know why, but a flicker of hurt passed over Hiei's eyes. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Look, I'm just not in a good mood today, and nearly being hit by some speedster doesn't help matters. I'm just curious as to why you are here."
"Do you not want me here?" Hiei asked, his voice revealing an expectance of rejection.
"I don't mind you being here," she replied as she started walking. Hiei just watched her before she looked over her shoulder and said, "Let's go. I still have things to do today, that is if you don't mind tagging along."
"Hn," Hiei responded while crossing his arms. "Why not? I may have to rescue you from your own stupidity again."
"Whatever, Hiei," Shizuru grumbled, not sure if inviting Hiei along was the best idea.
At the corner store, Shizuru ended up gathering a couple packaged meats, some sauces and seasonings, and some sodas and beer. Not being one to cook, this was Shizuru's usual purchase…many foods she could just throw together. It didn't take her long to pick anything out, and, by the time she was done, she found Hiei looking around curiously and reminded herself that Hiei had probably never seen a supermarket in his life. "Hey, kid, want anything?" she asked him, receiving a dirty look in return.
"I wouldn't be calling me a 'kid' if I were you," he sneered, "especially when I am almost five times old than you."
"Okay, okay," Shizuru relented, raising her hands in a "settle down" type fashion. "Anyways, do you want anything?"
"What could I possibly want from this place?" he snarled. "I don't even know what any of it is."
"Yeah, I figured," Shizuru muttered. "I have to go pay now."
"Whatever," Hiei growled. "Just get me out of this place."
Shizuru rolled her eyes biting back the retort that he didn't have to join her as she led them to the register. "Hey," she was greeted by the male cashier, "if it isn't my favorite girl."
Hiei growled at the heavyset man for some strange reason, but Shizuru ignored it as she entered into conversation with the man. "Afternoon, Kentaro. How's the wife?"
The man, Kentaro, just chuckled. "She's doing fine, kid. Actually, she said if I saw you to ask if you had an opening for Friday. Her exact words, 'my hair is growing like a weed.'"
"Yeah, of course," Shizuru replied with a nod. "Anything for you guys."
Hiei looked between Shizuru and the cashier as the man started ringing up her groceries. "Let me guess," the man said while bagging the items, "two packs?"
"Three," Shizuru muttered. She received a raised eyebrow. "It's been an unusually stressful week."
"I hear that," Kentaro said with a chuckle before bagging the packs of cigarettes and then finally noticing Hiei. "Oh, hey there, little guy. Didn't see you. Want an ice cream or something?"
Hiei's fists clenched as he gritted his teeth to make an attempt at willing himself not to kill the human cashier in front of him. Shizuru chuckled silently next to Hiei and just answered Kentaro. "Yeah get him an ice cream, but he's not a kid. He's actually older than I am."
"Well I'll be darned," Kentaro laughed. "I never would have guessed. Sorry, but I'm still going to call you kid. I call all the young folk 'kid.'" He moved to get Hiei an ice cream sandwich handing the fire demon the frozen treat. Shizuru was about to hand him the cash for payment, but Kentaro refused it. "Just count it as my wife's payment for Friday."
"Thanks, Ken," Shizuru said softly before taking her grocery bags. "Come on, Hiei. I'm done here."
Hiei looked to the ice cream sandwich and pick it up before following Shizuru out of the store. "What is this?" he growled.
"It's ice cream, Hiei," Shizuru muttered. "It's a desert. You better eat it before it melts and gets all sticky."
"I don't want it," Hiei retorted.
"Look, Hiei, just try it," Shizuru muttered. "Chances are you'll like it. Anyways, just consider it a travel snack for your way back to Demon World."
"You seem eager to get rid of me," Hiei scoffed. "Is there a reason for that?"
"No, Hiei," Shizuru replied. "I just figured you'd want to leave just as soon as you came. You hate it here, so why you come all the time for weeks at a time, I don't know."
"I hate humans," Hiei agreed, "but my sister is living among them and I will not abandon her."
"But you'll continue to lie to her," Shizuru said plainly, not even looking at Hiei to gage his reaction. "Why don't you just tell her the truth?"
"She would hate me," Hiei answered. "I told her that her brother was dead…that and another thing."
"I think she'd forgive you. And what other thing could there be?"
"It's not important," Hiei replied as he watched Shizuru unlock the door to her apartment.
They went inside, Shizuru moving to put her groceries away and Hiei staring at the ice cream sandwich that he placed on the table. He crossed his arms and just studied it. "You're supposed to eat it," Shizuru told him.
"Why would I eat something cold covered in paper?" Hiei asked seriously.
Shizuru just stared blankly at him for a moment. "You take off the paper. The ice cream is inside."
"Hn." Hiei picked up the sandwich and started removing the paper finding a cold, white substance between two black squares. "And you're sure this is edible?"
"Hiei, just…I don't care what you do with it," Shizuru snapped. "If you don't want it, throw it away."
Hiei looked from Shizuru to the cold treat and decided to taste it amazed by the sweetness that touched his tongue. He looked over to Shizuru who was putting away the few groceries she had before turning to wash pots and pans in the sink when he took an actual bite. Having hated all things Human World, Hiei never expected to be doing something so mundane as eating an ice cream sandwich in the kitchen of one of his comrades (he would never called Kuwabaka a "friend") while actually enjoying the treat. How could the humans that irritated him so much make something that tasted so good?
Well, apparently not all humans irritated him. He looked back over to Shizuru and thought back to the Dark Tournament. Yusuke was human then and, where his antics irritated the fire demon, Hiei still thought highly of him as a friend and valued teammate, though he would have never said it. Genkai was human, but she was more irritated with him than he was of her. And now, looking at Shizuru and thinking back to the past months, he found himself strangely comfortable in her presence. Did that mean he was finally experiencing the things that made Kurama want to stay in this world? He wasn't sure, as he had not met Kurama's family or seen him interact with them to make a comparison. All he knew for sure was that part of him actually enjoyed the company of this human and came here purposefully even when he didn't have to.
"So," Shizuru said breaking the intense silence, "are you looking forward to returning home?"
Hiei was almost visibly taken aback by those words, but she wouldn't have been able to see it as she continued with her chore. "Hn," he replied. "Where's home? I don't exactly have one of those."
He didn't know why he said that, but he did, and it made Shizuru freeze in what she was doing and turn to face him looking like he had just offended her in some way.
"What do you mean you don't have a home?" she asked.
"Just what I said," Hiei answered, looking away from her in embarrassment for having admitted too much.
"Everyone has to have a home," Shizuru told him. "Like, this place is my home. Genkai's is now Yukina's home. Kurama's is with his mother. I guess this is technically Kazuma's home, but he's away at school. Wouldn't your home be with that demon Kurama was telling me about?"
"Mukuro's fortress is not my home," Hiei stated monotonously. "I've never had a home save once when I was a child and then I was forced from it…and then received another home only to be shunned from it. I have never had a home since."
Shizuru felt something tug at her heart whether it was her own sadness or what she was feeling from him. All she knew what that she did not like the feeling and put her arm on his shoulder. "Well," she started with her voice wavering, "you're always welcome here, even if it's not your home."
Hiei tilted his head so that he was looking at her. His emotions were buried inside of him, but Shizuru could see the shine in his eyes at being offered something so huge. For someone who hadn't had a home for so long, he was being offered the world, a place to go to when he needed it, one with kindness, compassion, and apparently ice cream sandwiches.
"Thank you," he said in his usual bored tone, but for once he actually meant it.
Before Shizuru could say anything, Hiei was gone from the kitchen and apartment taking the ice cream sandwich with him, though leaving her a bit of a melted mess to clean up. Shizuru chuckled before getting a rag with water to clean it up. "And he says he's not a kid," she said fondly as she went about the rest of the day.