Chapter 15
Rin wanted to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off Hiei's face. She also wanted to kiss him again, had to keep dragging her gaze away from his lips. This was a problem. Another problem: she was breathless and her skin was on fire, while he was as cool and collected as a cat delicately licking its paws after a good meal. He had made her lose control, lose her head, and he knew it.
At least she had surprised him by kissing him first.
Okay, obviously she had enjoyed making out with him, but did he have to be so damn pleased about it? The way he looked at her, one lip curled up at the corner revealing the white flash of fang, reminded her of the way he looked at an opponent that he was about to absolutely demolish in a fight. And if this was a fight, Rin wasn't going to lose. He may have caught her by surprise, made her vulnerable, but that wouldn't happen again. Unless she wanted it to. And she maybe (definitely) did. Focus, girl. Two could play at this game.
Taking a deep breath to center herself, Rin faced the fire demon, bent in half at the waist, and retrieved her discarded drink from the ground, taking it slowly for good measure.
Now, it is important to know that her dress' neckline was a deep V which revealed her generous cleavage. Of course Hiei was not one to have his head turned just by someone's secondary sex characteristics, but this was only the first salvo in their little war. After all, he was the one who had wanted to devour her whole, so he wasn't totally unaffected by her charms. Though he pretended to be looking elsewhere, Rin knew he was watching. Hiei was always watching.
She leaned back against the railing (the one he had deliciously pressed her against, her traitorous brain thought) and took a long sip of her now-watery cranberry vodka. Instead of trying to force a conversation, she would let him take the lead. The silence stretched while Rin savored her drink. Hiei was notoriously taciturn, but even he couldn't stay quiet forever. Not after that.
Then the patio doors banged open with a crash, like a bucket of cold water dumped over her head, and Rin was briefly terrified that there was another emergency, that Botan would come running to tell them about some new threat. But rather than a small group, what looked like the entire guest list of the reception was spilling out into the fairy-light illuminated night.
Kuwabara and Yukina led the charge, glowing like moonstone under the light of the stars in their white wedding clothes. They were followed closely by a girl holding a DSLR camera - their photographer, Rin thought - and an avalanche of guests who spilled across the patio, quickly filling it up.
Hiei looked stricken and a bit put out. Rin guessed that he had thought that the patio was his domain, rather like a cat claiming a new bit of territory, and now there were intruders. Instead of waiting by the railing, Rin folded down her surprise at the interruption and went to find Botan and the others. As she passed the fire demon, she dragged the tips of her fingers across his forearm in a whisper-light touch. She could feel the point of his heated gaze right between her shoulder blades as she walked away.
"Rin! Just where have you been?" Botan called. She and the others were standing in a knot next to one of the fire pits. She staggered over and threw an arm across Rin's shoulders. Blue strands were falling out of the ferry girl's updo, and her porcelain cheeks were tinged cherry red. "And where's Hiei? Have you two been getting up to naughty things?" The last words were spoken in a drunken whisper that was loud enough to be heard three prefectures over.
Keiko gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "Botan!"
Instead of answering, ignoring her reddening cheeks and Botan's question, Rin asked, "What's going on?"
Shizuru, cigarette already lit and clamped firmly in the corner of her mouth, said, "Little bro wanted one of those romantic photos with sparklers." Her lady friend (girlfriend?) smiled and nodded, tucked in close to Shizuru's side.
As though prompted by her words, uniformed hotel workers came around, giving each guest a yard-long sparkler stick. Yusuke immediately started using his like a sword, dueling Keiko with a cry of "Have at!" She giggled and dodged, swiping at him.
A dark presence appeared at her elbow. Rin glanced to the side and saw Hiei, sparkler held loosely in one hand, uncertainty in his wide eyes. With a start, Rin realized that Hiei taken off guard was adorable.
He hesitated as Yusuke and the others chattered amongst themselves. Then he asked, quiet enough that only she could hear, "What are these… things?"
"You'll see," Rin replied with a sly smile.
At the same time, Jorge's voice blared to life over the loudspeakers. "For our last group activity of the evening, the Kuwabaras want you, their wonderful friends and family, to be a part of their sparkler photos! Everyone, please take your sparklers and light them from your neighbors, then pay attention to the photographer for more instructions. After the photos, the Kuwabaras ask that you stay on the patio for a special surprise!"
At the edges of the crowd, the hotel workers began to light the sparklers of the guests nearest, who in turn lit those around them. A wave of sparking, spitting light rippled out into the night.
Rin turned to Hiei with a raised eyebrow. "Give me a light?"
Eyebrows scrunched together, he did as she asked, touching the tip of one slim finger to the sparkler she held out to him. It flared to life, washing his face in a warm yellow glow and sending points of light into his eyes, like stars in a red nebula deep in space.
"Oh, well done, Hiei!" Botan cried, clapping her hands. She used Rin's firework to light her own, then Kurama's and Yusuke's.
The photographer chivvied everyone about, forming the guests into two lines that snaked across the patio. Rin ended up sandwiched between Botan and Hiei; the fire demon held his flaming sparkler like he wasn't sure if it was about to bite him.
Kuwabara and Yukina appeared between the two lines, their faces flushed and ecstatic. As the crowd raised their sparklers in unison in an arch overhead, Kuwabara swept his new bride into his arms and dipped her in a long, romantic kiss. The photographer moved around, snapping photos of different angles and poses.
Rin glanced at Hiei. Predictably, the twist of his lips looked like he was sucking on a lemon. Her hand itched to grab his and squeeze it as a small comfort, but too many people were around. She settled on bumping his shoulder; he started and looked away grumpily. Their sparklers were almost burned down to the nubs before the photographer's camera was still.
"As a special thank you for all your love and support, please enjoy this surprise from your favorite newlyweds!" At the announcement from Jorge, the lights dimmed, plunging the patio into semi-darkness, and soft instrumental music played. Hiei stiffened next to Rin as the crowd murmured.
In the night sky above, a flaming red flower burst with a thundering crash, there for a moment and then burned into nothingness, leaving afterimages in the sky. The crowd cheered as more fireworks followed in blue, gold, and green. A smile spread across Rin's face. She had always loved fireworks. They reminded her of summer festivals, of fried foods and carnival games, of friends and warmth and home.
As the deluge of noise and light continued, Rin glanced at her friends. Yusuke had an arm around Keiko; her head rested on his shoulder as they watched the show. Kurama's and Botan's faces were upturned to watch the spectacle, and Shizuru had her arms wrapped around her girlfriend from behind. But what of Hiei? Would he be afraid? Rin didn't know if he had seen fireworks before, and she definitely didn't think they had them in Demon World.
Hiei's face was turned to the sky like a sunflower following the blazing orb of the sun, open and vulnerable with unfettered awe. The exploding fireworks colored his face in all the shades of the rainbow, turning his eyes from red to purple to orange in a kaleidoscope of color. Rin's heart skipped a beat, then filled with something she didn't dare to name. He looked beautiful. He looked radiant. He looked free. As a brief lull between fireworks plunged them into darkness, she grabbed his hand and held it tight, all pretenses of a game between them forgotten.
In the shadowy space between explosions, Hiei looked down at their joined hands, then pulled her into the crowd, away from the Spirit Detective and his friends.
The night sky above was a blue-black tapestry of stars and moons, the brief flash of fireworks like shooting rainbows over their heads. Hiei sat next to her, one arm slung over his knee, as she lay on the roof of the reception hall, nothing between them and the heavens above but air, nothing between their bodies but for an inch or two of rooftop and his corona of warmth. Their faces were turned to the sky, watching the fireworks explode overhead in a maelstrom of color.
After he had led her to a secluded corner of the patio, he had held a hand out to her in silent entreaty. When she had taken it, not knowing what he wanted, terrified and excited at the same time, he had swept her into his arms and jumped to the roof of the reception hall with his demonic strength.
Now, instead of paying attention to the fireworks display, Rin snuck glances at him, traced the lines of his face with her gaze, the subtle shift of his expression in the flashes of light, wondering what he could be thinking.
One last firework rocketed into the sky. The crowd below cheered and clapped wildly, then the tread of many feet echoed across the patio. The doors slammed shut. Finally, it was quiet, the only sounds the gentle shushing of the breeze and the distant rumble of muffled music from the reception hall.
It was peaceful here, with him. Or it should have been, but her heart wouldn't stop pounding.
"Hiei?"
He cocked his head to look down at her, crimson gaze questioning, and she flushed before hurriedly sitting up. The places her brain went while she was below him were not at all family friendly.
She blurted, "You liked the fireworks?"
He considered, then said with a smirk, "I've always found explosions to be particularly beautiful."
A beat. Then she chuckled and shook her head. "Of course you do."
Hiei glared at her, but there was no fire behind it. Silence fell for a few moments.
Then Rin said, "I know this weekend has been hard for you, but it's almost over now. And you've made Yukina really happy. You're a good brother."
Again the fire demon stiffened, then ducked his chin and looked away. Ever uncomfortable with emotions and all the messiness they could bring. He mumbled, "I only did it for her. Not for that gigantic, bumbling idiot, Kuwabara."
"I know," Rin said gently. "But I also think you know that Kuwabara is a good man, and that he will take care of her."
In profile, Hiei's face was like carved marble under the moonlight, but there was a tightness in the muscles of his cheek. His eyes slid to hers, then away again as he snorted and crossed his arms. "Luckily my sister is an ice demon and can take care of herself."
Rin thought of something, and wondered if it was appropriate to ask such a personal question of the reticent demon. Then, the other part of her brain said that if the fire demon had his tongue down her throat already, it was perfectly fine to ask a personal question or two.
She put her chin in her hand and asked, "Hiei, I've been wondering. Last I heard, Yukina was still searching for you. When did you tell her that you were her brother?"
Red eyes cut to hers again, dark and unsure. He hesitated, then said finally, "I didn't."
"What?"
He sighed and ran a hand through his fluffy black hair, making Rin wonder what the strands would feel like between her fingers. "I had no intention of ever telling her. She came to me. I think she got tired of waiting."
"Smart girl," Rin said, smiling to herself.
"I was perfectly happy to keep my distance," he continued, "But she says she wants us to be a family." He spat the words as though they burned him. His jaw clenched, and Rin swore she could hear his teeth grinding.
There was a long pause. Then he said, "She wants to be a family. With me. I… I don't know how." His gaze was downcast, his tone pained and frustrated. His fists clenched and unclenched over and over as he refused to meet her gaze, but she could see anger and embarrassment in his narrowed eyes.
Her heart was breaking all over again, for this lonely demon who had never had a family, who had never known how families worked, let alone try to create one with his sister. He had been content to watch from the sidelines, but now Yukina wanted him to take center stage. Hiei would do anything for his sister, but becoming her family? That was uncharted territory. Surely he wanted to run away, back to Demon World, but Yukina was like a magnet, pulling him inexorably back to her. He would never leave her if he could help it. And so he was torn.
Rin surprised herself by wrapping her arms around him and resting her chin on his shoulder. He tensed like a taut bowstring, but didn't pull away. She breathed in, selfishly savoring his scent of woodsmoke.
"The thing is," she said after a pause, "humans don't always know how families work, either. My parents certainly didn't. Sometimes we make our own families. Not of blood, but ones we choose. Yukina is lucky to have you as a brother, but she's also choosing you now. She could have kept pretending not to know forever, but she chose you. And besides, even if you didn't mean to, you've already got a family. You chose Kurama and the guys fifteen years ago. You can choose her too."
He made no reply. Rin closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out as she felt the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Eventually, his breathing began to slow in time with hers.
Author's note: Thanks to Amandamsf1993 and zxnyue for the follow, and to zxnyue for the favorite! Next chapter: will this fanfic live up to its name?