Chapter 27

The kettle let out a long shriek and a blast of steamy air, waking Rin from a drowse. She jumped and jostled the book in her lap. It had been a few minutes since she had turned a page; her eyes had drifted closed halfway into the second paragraph.

It was a few days after the 'incident' at the Spirit World Embassy, but Rin had heard nothing in terms of updates about either the status of Mayuga, Spirit World/Demon World relations, or whether the rebels had chosen to attack Human World once and for all. And Rin didn't care.

Frankly, she was tired. Ever since Hiei had come back into her life, he had brought with him all the drama and high-stakes situations of old times, whether he had meant to or not. Rin had thought she was well out of that life for good, and she was not afraid to admit that returning to it, however briefly, was incredibly stressful. She honestly didn't know how she had handled it as a teen. After almost having a nervous breakdown at the prospect of going back to work, she had called out for the week and had been occupying her time with relaxing and cleaning her apartment. Her landlord had finally fixed her front door after Yusuke and the crew had kicked it in; for a while Rin had made do with a simple hook and latch to keep it shut.

She had not seen Hiei since he had dropped her at her apartment, and Rin assumed that he was still searching for the would-be assassin in Demon World. That was fine, but he could have at least let her know.

The kettle continued to screech implacably, and Rin finally heaved herself off the couch. Digging in the back of her tea cupboard, she found the special butterfly pea tea that someone had gifted her. She had been saving it for ages, for no real reason except that it was her prettiest and fanciest tea. Rin was the type of person who saved the really powerful weapons in video games until after the game ended, because she never knew when she might really need them.

Hot cup of blue liquid in hand, Rin wandered out to her patio. Her apartment was on the tenth floor, so she had a nice aerial view of the surrounding town. There was a chill in the air, but it was not so cold that she needed a jacket. Rin squeezed around the small table taking up most of the available space and dropped into one of her metal chairs, the sweet, homely scent of tea wafting up from her mug.

She was just settling down to think about nothing in particular and watch the clouds go by when there was a flash of something black in the corner of her vision. She jerked backwards, bumping the table and spilling some of her tea on her hand. Hissing in pain, she righted her mug and saw Hiei standing on her thin patio railing as though it was a broad sidewalk.

"Ow! Hiei, you ass, you scared me," Rin grumbled as she popped her burned fingers in her mouth. "Did you hide your Spirit Energy on purpose?"

He gave her a sly, cockeyed grin but didn't deign to answer, setting his crimson gaze on the horizon. The wind caressed his ink-dark hair and pulled at his black clothes. Looking at him standing on her patio railing like a tightrope walker, he reminded her of a brooding manga hero. She both hated and loved that it gave her a pleasant jolt in her chest. Some part of her would never stop idolizing him and his stupid tortured sad-boy persona.

Instead of continuing to ogle him, Rin looked away and languidly examined her nails. "So, what do you want? Did you need something?" she asked, then added: "I'm not making you dinner tonight."

"Oh? There's no reason for me to stay then," Hiei replied without looking at her, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, though he fought to keep a straight face.

"Fine," Rin said, her mouth set in a straight line, lips pressed tightly together to keep the smile off of her face. They often played this game of chicken. Who would break first? Who would ask to stay? They were both proud people, but even she couldn't usually beat Hiei in stubbornness. She just wished that he would act like he wanted her first, sometimes.

She heard him shift slowly, much more slowly than he usually would; if he was really leaving he'd just flash step away, and before he could go any further, she grabbed the trailing edge of his cloak. He grinned down at her, the twist of his mouth showing that bit of fang that was solely for her, then bent down.

Rin lifted her face, but instead of letting him kiss her, she pulled away and said sweetly, "If you want dinner, you're helping me cook."

His red eyes widened as she turned and strode into her apartment, not waiting for him to follow.

"And what exactly does 'helping' entail?" the demon asked as he pulled the sliding glass door closed behind him. There was a thread of, she wouldn't say fear, but rather dubious apprehension in his voice.

As she rounded the corner into her kitchen, Rin called over her shoulder, "Oh, you know, chopping, measuring, seasoning, basting, poaching, blanching, sous viding …" She tried to think of as many cooking terms as she could; as she listed them she snatched a glance his way and saw the color drain from his cheeks. She kept a straight face for a moment longer, then grinned at him.

"Come here, you can start out chopping some vegetables. Nothing too complicated. I know you know how to use a knife, at least."

He harrumphed and moved into the kitchen area, gently bumping her into the counter with his shoulder as he passed.

"The human is getting presumptuous," he mumbled to himself, just loud enough for her to hear. "Might be time to do something about her."

"What was that?" Rin asked with a grin, handing him a couple zucchinis and carrots out of the fridge. "Slice those thinly for me. Knives are in the drawer next to the sink. And no, you cannot use your sword."

"I know not to use my sword, you ridiculous woman," Hiei replied with a slight smile.

"Oh, and get a cutting board."

He looked at her quizzically.

"Cupboard to your right," Rin pointed. She climbed onto a footstool and got her rice cooker from on top of the fridge, then measured and washed the rice.

"What in the world are you doing?" Hiei asked over his shoulder as he cut the vegetables, his jerky motions more reminiscent of roughly chopping meat than delicate slicing. Rin took a deep breath and reminded herself that the veggies would cook all the same. But his knife skills were atrocious.

"Washing rice," she said, as though speaking to a child. When she saw the expression on his face, she asked, "You know, to clean it? Like everyone does?"

As he turned back to his knife work, his cheeks tinged red, the demon scoffed and said, "You humans are so concerned about things being clean. It's fine as is."

Rin struggled not to gag. "Do you even cook it?" she asked. No wonder he could be tempted by cooked food so easily.

"I'm a demon," he replied haughtily. "I have no need of your grains and vegetables. I only eat fresh meat." As if to illustrate his point, his knife struck down on a poor piece of carrot like a blacksmith's hammer on an anvil, sending chunks flying everywhere.

"Uh huh," Rin said skeptically, thinking of the vegetable stew and veggie tempura she had seen him wolf down like a starving animal. "You never eat anything green. Everything's roasted on a spit over an open fire, right?"

One red eye studied her over his shoulder as his hands continued to move, most likely trying to see if she was teasing him. "I don't have to answer that question."

She couldn't help but laugh, and the words came out before she could stop them. "Well, look at you now: all domestic, chopping vegetables for dinner in the Human World. What would your great demon ancestors think? You're almost tame."

Maybe it was that word. Maybe it was her tone. Something flashed in his eyes, some emotion she could not quite parse. Instead of answering, he turned back to his cutting board.

Later that evening, after a very tasty pork katsu with rice – the vegetables a tad undercooked, Rin noted – they were playing cards at her kotatsu. At least, Rin was playing cards. Hiei was trying to understand the rules of Koi-Koi.

"Why you humans have a need to distract yourselves constantly, I have no idea," he said irritably, after Rin had won her fifth hand in a row.

"We don't have to keep playing," Rin said, a little hurt but ignoring the barbed remark. The fire demon had been even more taciturn than usual at dinner, eating his food in total silence.

At her words, Hiei tossed his cards down and crossed his arms, looking moodily into space, and Rin's stomach dropped. She didn't know what was bothering him, but it was clear he was upset. The silence stretched from awkward to uncomfortable.

"Anyway, I've been thinking about dinners for next week," Rin said lightly, trying to change the subject. "It's hard to have enough food to cook for two when I don't know if you'll be there. I thought we could maybe plan things out. Do you know what days you'll want to stay over?"

Red eyes flicked her way, and the simmering anger in their depths caught her off guard. "Don't mistake me, Rin," he said, tone laced with venom. "I do what I want, when I want. I'm not human, I'm not your pet, and I'm certainly not tame." He spat the word. It seemed that her jab from before dinner had gotten to him. Or perhaps this irritation had been stewing for a while.

Rin held her hands up placatingly. "Whoa, whoa, slow down. I was just joking earlier. I'm sorry I made you upset. Can we talk about this?"

Contempt flashed across his face. "I don't know what you think this is. I don't know what you're expecting of me," Hiei continued, as though she hadn't spoken. "You know what I am. I'm a demon. You can't tame me. I don't do romantic dinners or dates or whatever other human nonsense you're thinking of."

Pain stabbed Rin right in the heart. Just when things had been going so well… But instead of sadness, unexpected anger rose to match his. He had wanted this just as much as she had, had jumped in with both feet, and now he was backing out, pulling away, acting like she was the needy human when all she wanted was some semblance of stability.

"You know, I was just asking a simple question, Hiei. You don't have to be a dick about it. I'm not trying to insult your oh-so-important demonic dignity." She paused for breath, her heart racing. "I don't think it's a lot to ask to know if I'll be feeding you next week."

For once, the fire demon looked away. "I'm not your boyfriend, Rin. I can't be." Instead of inciting pity, the woe-is-me look on his face just made her more annoyed.

"I'm not asking you to move in, you arrogant ass," Rin snapped, her head full of static. "I'm not even asking you to be my boyfriend." Not yet… whispered her traitorous heart. She pushed that thought down. "If you want to continue this – whatever this is –," she gestured vaguely at both of them, "I need some structure. I need times I can expect to see you. I'm not going to sit around waiting for you to decide you want to see me. That's not fair." She crossed her arms. It felt like falling off a cliff. Taking a step she couldn't take back. But she knew she was right, had put up with people who took more than they gave, and she was tired of it.

"All you want is for me to change," Hiei shot back. "You know I'm a demon, that I'm wild. Yet you want me to have a schedule: be predictable, be human. I can't be that. Not for you. Not for anyone." His expression changed and he looked almost wistful, perhaps a bit ashamed, and she knew all at once who he was thinking of at that moment.

Mukuro. Of course he was thinking of his first (and presumably only, besides Rin herself) romantic partner and the current Demon King. Even more heat rushed to her cheeks. But she reminded herself that this was most definitely not a good time to bring her up. Possibly the worst time. She pushed those thoughts away and tried to think of anything else to say.

"I just…" Rin began, but the words disappeared on her. He was watching her with the twin crimson bonfires of his eyes, and all she wanted was to burrow into his arms and make this whole stupid conversation go away. Forget it ever even happened. But they were past that now. Instead, she said, "If that's how you feel, I –," she paused, not wanting to go on, but needing to say the words. To say them for herself. She took a deep breath.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this with you," she said. "This has been fun, but Hiei," her voice cracked, then dropped to a whisper, "I don't want it to just be fun. I like you. I promised I'd stay with you, back at the wedding, but if you don't want more, if you can't give me more, then we need to stop."

His eyes swirled with emotions that she couldn't name as he looked away, looked down, anywhere but at her. He ran a hand through his midnight hair, then finally glanced at her sidelong.

His voice was gruff. "Fine."

Without another word, he got up and flash-stepped away.

Author's note: I know, I know. I'm sorry!

Thank you as always to all of my very patient readers. A special thank you to sicklemoon13 and bluerose921 for the follows and to ashpuppy for the very sweet review!