Alright my dears.. I have some bad news bears. If I disappear for a few days, it's because my laptop has finally crapped out and I'm waiting for my new one :P I am operating with a half blank screen right now, but I PROMISE I will return! Pinky swear :P I've gotten far too emotionally attached to Kira to just let her go :P If anyone has checked out "A Light in the Dark", I'm just going to let that story be until my new laptop comes in, so it could be a few weeks until I update that one!

But for now, here is an extra long Chapter 12 of "Lone Wolf".

-B.J.

Chapter 12: Awakening

Kirazuki subconsciously shifted her head towards the warmth of Hiei's hand, his palm finding it's way to to her cold cheek, the warmth comforting, "And thank you…" She paused, "I know you didn't want to, but thank you for coming to the rescue, even if it was only because you were the only one who wouldn't freeze," She laughed, looking up with her golden eyes.

Hiei's eyes widened a fraction, quite taken aback by the statement; a large part of him wanted to retreat, he was far out of his comfort zone, "Yes, I'm just a regular knight in shining armor," He smirked sarcastically.

Kira grinned up at him, "Perhaps just a black cloak,"

His smirk only grew as he brushed away a stray tear with his thumb, the mutt was growing on him. His thumb managed to find it's way to her bottom lip, slowly tracing its prominent outline almost painfully slow before lowering his head and..

Hiei jolted awake with a start, he was certainly not used to the unfamiliar sensation of dreaming. That wasn't even what had actually happened.. The damn dog was messing with his head even when she wasn't conscious to enjoy it. He peered around the darkened room to find Kurama removing one of the large thorns, the one directly below Kira's collar bone.

"I didn't wish to wake you," Kurama smiled kindly, "The venom should be completely filtered through by now, we need only wait for the plant to pump the remaining blood back through," He explained, taping a large strip of gauze the puncture hole. "You know Hiei," Kurama added with a smile as he took a seat on one of the many chairs in the room, "There is no shame in caring."

Hiei didn't even look away from the window, "I didn't ask." He replied stoically.

Kurama chuckled, "Yes, but I know how you are,"

"Once again you have no idea what you're talking about."

"You guys are good," Taryuu panted, seating his massive body on the floor of the dojo where he had just finished a training session with Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Yusuke grinned in response, doubling over and putting his hands on his knees as the sweat dripped off his forehead and from his limp black hair. He had really taken a liking to Ryuu. "You think we're ready for these punks?"

"Those grunts, Tobikuma and Tatsumi, they don't have anything on Kira and I. It'll be a piece of cake," He grinned back, giving a weak thumbs up. There was a reason he and Kira were in charge of the entire 'pack' of creatures.

Kuwabara was laying on the floor in a puddle of his own sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly, "I think I'm dying," He muttered, before magically springing back to life with a massive smile on his face, "My Yukina must heal me!" He barged out of the temple in search of the unsuspecting ice maiden.

Yusuke laughed at his antics, but his expression darkened once Kuwabara had left, "You think she'll pull through?"

Ryuu stared at the ground for a moment in ponder before nodding, "She'll be alright… I've never known her to not," He chuckled deeply.

Yusuke smiled in relief, "Keiko… She's really close to Kira.. I think she'd lose her shit if anything happened to her.. They didn't really get to leave on the best of terms," He explained, recalling how Kira had.. well, basically almost broken Keiko's arm.

Taryuu nodded, "She's a hell of a fighter, no little low class lizard is going to take her out."

"So.. You and Kira.." Yusuke grinned, his curiosity getting the best of him, "You guys a thing?"

Ryuu's eruptive laughter filled the large training space, "We're all like family up there.. All 49 of us. . She's like my sister.. Kinda.. I mean maybe back in the day when I was what you humans would consider a teenager." He began to watch Genkai and Kanami training on the other side of the large room, both of their spirit energy blooming around them; her skills were improving as well. "Demon hormones and what not," He grinned with a chuckle.

Yusuke nodded, "I get that." He straightened his back, stretching his arms above his head and wiggling his fingers, giving and little laugh, "We should probably go rescue poor Yukina,"

Kurama placed a cautious hand above the large plant before exhaling and moving towards the thorn at Kira's calf, running a cautious hand over the area, "The awakening could be instant, or it may be several days until the plants effects wear off," He explained to Taryuu and Kanami. Hiei had finally decided to go out for some fresh air for the first time during the 4 day ordeal, Kurama suspected it was likely his poorly attempted topic of conversation earlier. Hiei wasn't exactly the 'lets talk about how we all feel' type of demon by any means.

"But she might not be all there, right?" Taryuu asked cautiously, giving Kira's limp hand a tight squeeze. They had known each other for 104 years, the thought of the closest thing he had to family being gone was unsettling.

Kurama nodded slowly, they did have to prepare for that possibility. Kanami placed a small, gentle hand on his shoulder, "She will be fine." She tried to reassure with a little smile.

Ryuu chuckled, clapping his large hands down on his knees, "I'd be surprised if she didn't come out swingin',"

The room was silent, breathless as Kurama removed the second large thorn painstakingly slow, keeping pressure on the circular wound before placing another large strip of gauze over it, taping it down firmly to her flesh.. They waited in complete quietude, anticipating something, anything to happen; seconds dragged into minutes, and still they received nothing. "As I said, it could take several days for the plants effects to wear off.."

Hiei slept silently at his windowsill, the side of his head resting against the glass while Kurama occupied himself reading a book about various Ningenkai plant life. He yawned, looking up towards the wall clock on the opposite wall: 2:39 AM. He sighed, it was definitely time to rest. He cast his emerald eyes up towards Kira one last time for the night, but what he saw nearly gave him a heart attack, causing him to stand quickly from his chair, rushing to the side of the small bed.

Kirazuki was seated straight up, stone still, staring off into nothingness. It almost made his skin crawl, "Kira?" He whispered cautiously, seating himself on the edge of the bed, silently hoping she didn't suddenly lash out. She didn't even move. He carefully placed a hand on her cheek and began to turn her head, "Kira." He repeated more firmly, her eyes widening and snapping to his, they were full of confusion and fear; he also took note that her right eye, the same side she had sustained the damage on, was significantly darker than the left, taking on a more brown hue. He would need to look at it more closely after.

Kira began to shake, bringing her trembling hands up to his cheeks, she had definitely returned to her normal cold body temperature, it almost felt like someone had placed ice cubes on his face, "Am I alive?" She whispered hoarsely.

Kurama smiled, relieved she was talking, "Yes, and well it would seem."

Before he had the chance to say another word, she had latched herself around his neck, "I thought I died," She cried, burying her face in his chest, immensely enjoying being able to feel. Kurama placed an awkward arm around her, rubbing her back in comfort. It took her about 15 minutes to finally calm down, Hiei had woken at some point, silently observing from the window. "I'm sorry," She sniffled, pulling away.

Kurama chuckled, "It's quite alright," He stood now, pulling back the thin sheet that covered her; she winced when she saw her foot. It was still quite swollen, and an odd array of colors from red, black, blue and purple, "Those are merely surface wounds, but we do need to see the extent of damage done to the underlying muscle," He explained, placing his fingers on her toes, "Can you move them?"

Kira's eyes filled with tears again as she shook her head, "I can't even feel your fingers.." Kurama nodded, moving his hand up to her calf, she could just barely feel it.

"Can you bend your knee?" He asked, tucking two of his fingers underneath the crease to her knee.

"Barely.." She sniffled again, bending her knee minimally.

Kurama squeezed her leg in comfort, she almost didn't even feel it and she probably wouldn't have known if she wasn't watching him, "I believe Genkai has something that may help.. You will be fine," He finished, promptly exiting the room in search of said item.

Kira sat in silence, tracing her fingers up and down her thigh; how was she to do anything if she couldn't even feel her leg? Let alone move the useless slab of meat? Perhaps she could get a new one somehow..

Hiei scoffed from the window, the first noise he had made since she awoke, "You don't need a new leg,"

Kira blinked in confusion, she hadn't even realized he was there, "When did you get here?" She asked absently, scooting herself closer to the edge of the bed. She had to use her arms to move her right leg, throwing it over the side uselessly.

Truth be told, he'd barely left; but of course he wasn't about to tell her that; instead he smirked, "About the time you began wallowing in your self pity again."

"My leg - doesn't work." She spoke through gritted teeth, glaring at the fire demon; perfectly reasonable excuse for self pity, honestly. She touched her left toes to the ground before hopping less than gracefully off of the bed.

Hiei flickered to her side in an instant, his shoulder underneath her arm, catching the light weight creature, "You fool," He spoke coldly through gritted teeth, "If you can't feel it what would make you think you could stand on it?"

Kira glared at him, "I just wanted to see.."

Kurama re-entered the room with.. What Kira thought looked, quite frankly, like a velcro-metal-robot leg; he couldn't help but chuckle at the scene before him, both little demons looked very angry, "This will support your leg for you," He explained, undoing what seemed to be about a million straps of velcro, "You need only your thigh to help move it, it should gradually aid in rebuilding the muscle," Hiei moved to seat Kira back down on the edge of the bed, but Kurama shook his head, "It will be easier to fit while standing," He smiled innocently while Hiei glared at him furiously, 'Stop it, fox.'

He first slipped her foot into the brace, doing the velcro on the top of her foot, followed by the ankle, calf, and so on; when he was finished he placed her foot flat on the ground, nodding to Hiei, who very promptly released Kira. She took a deep breath, first stepping with her left foot, followed by nearly having to drag her right; it had only budged a fraction from the ground.

Kurama offered a kind smile, "It will improve. For now, you have several people waiting to see you."