Chapter Eight
Hope
~
"Then give me her injury. You are a God are you not?"
Hiei opened his eyes from his sleeping position against the largest tree in the forest. He was leaned back against its trunk, on one of its many branches, resting his body from the injury placed upon it by that damned spirit wolf. Carefully, he moved to sit up, bringing a hand up to his bandaged torso.
It was either her or me.
And Hiei volunteered himself – or the girl would die. And normally he wouldn't have cared either way. But that damned wolf had grown on him. And he wanted to protect it. Now she was human and he didn't know what to make of her.
This wound is nothing.
It was already half-way healed, being three days since the incident and he was sleeping his days away on his perch in the tree. Every so often, Shuichi and Ajisai would leave the hollow of the tree and he would watch them. Like at this moment, for example.
Shuichi was harvesting his plants, dropping vegetables into a wooden bowl as Ajisai watched on from a crouched position next to him, sitting on the balls of her heels. Today, she was wearing a white sundress. The girl plucked a ripe tomato, inspecting it carefully before dropping it into the bowl.
Ajisai was progressing fast, learning new skills everyday. The first day as a human she forced herself to walk. On the second day she was running a light jog. Now here she was, about to leave the forest.
"Hi… ei…"
The little human had cried for him. He didn't need her human sympathy. Or her apparent worry for his well being.
Be careful.
"Hn," the black haired demon said to himself as he watched the girl and the fox carry the bowls toward the hollow. The girl paused for a moment to look up towards the trees. Nowhere near where he actually was, but he knew she was looking for him.
Why does she care?
She had more pressing matters on her hands, like relearning what it was like to live as a human. And yet, she looked for him. Worried for him. Cared for him.
"Foolish girl," he whispered to himself. He watched when the girl finally gave up her search of him and she disappeared beneath him into the tree. Hiei leaned back against the trunk of it and watched as the sky began to change colors and then darken into a deep purple.
The sky was black when he finally decided to move down to the entrance of the hollow. With a thump, he landed by the hole, a curtain of vines shielding his view inside. The fox was there, waiting for him.
The red head held out a bowl with a smile and said, "You're late for dinner. Had you been a little quicker, it would still be warm. Ajisai even fell asleep."
The fire demon took it from his hands quickly and began spooning the food into his mouth. Kurama no Shuichi watched him and waited at the entrance as he ate. Seems he had something to say to him.
"How is your wound healing up?" The fox finally asked after awhile. Hiei spooned the rest of the food into his mouth and handed it over to the red head with a scowl, telling him, "You're about as bad as that girl."
Shuichi stared at him for a moment before he said with a glint in his eye, "I merely ask because I was never told the cause of it." Prying ass fox.
"Hn. And you'll never know, either, Fox. I bet you hate that," Hiei told him with a side glance before moving to walk away. The fox was full of questions though, as he said, "Would you like for us to stay a few more days-"
"I will do fine on my own. The wound is already almost healed," Hiei interrupted him and started to unravel the bandages around his torso. He let them fall to the ground and turned to show Shuichi.
The scar was pink and jagged, it would have gently curved around his ribs in a smooth crescent if it weren't for the star-like shaped burn mark in the center. Hiei had used his flame to burn his own flesh when the wound wouldn't stop leaking blood. Shuichi assessed it silently before he spoke.
"How is it possible to get a wound like that from nowhere?" He mused and Hiei stopped him in his tracks, "It's my business, not yours, Fox. This scar will vanish in a matter of days. It won't matter then." Hiei turned again and left him to his pondering.
The night passed quickly into day and it was time to see the visitors of the forest off. Hiei stayed in his tree, avoiding more unnecessary questions from the fox and the girl. He watched them leave and the fox said goodbye to him. Hiei was about to move on to leave the area completely, only staying around this part of the forest because they were here, when he heard her speak to him from the forest floor.
Goodbye, Hiei.
He looked down to the girl to see that she was lifting her head to his perch. He moved away before she could see him. It seems her spiritual awareness was getting a little better.
The fire demon had enough social interaction from those two to last a lifetime. He was ready to go to his part of the forest and be done with all of this meddlesome drama. It started when he thought that wolf was a man-eating beast.
Then he had to help nurse it back to health.
And then he noticed that it had intelligence and awareness.
Now it's a human girl, who worries for him.
Hiei finally made it to the stone cave that he frequented staying at. This is where he rested when he was injured and needed a safe place to recuperate. It was high up on a cliff side, overlooking most of the forest.
The fire demon went to lay back against its stone wall, bringing one leg up to rest his arm. He looked down at it, eyes taking in the way the tattoo of the Dragon curved up his forearm and up to the strap of his black sleeveless shirt.
The girl and the fox had washed it for him, he realized.
It was on the first day, when she could barely walk. He remembers watching them from the treetops as they walked up to the river, Shuichi carrying the majority of the clothing under his arm. The girl sat down in a crouched position to watch.
She grabbed his cloak from the pile and looked at it. It was covered in his own blood, from the wound that he took from her. Curious, he read her thoughts just then.
Was this from Hiei's wound?
…
This is a lot of blood. He must've suffered greatly.
And then the girl cried. The foolish girl cried for him.
Hiei broke from his thoughts, lifting his shirt up to look at the scar. It was light pink and almost fully gone now. All that crying over a mere wound that healed up in just a few days.
Pulling his shirt down, he looked over across the treetops toward the center. He could just barely make out the top of the largest, and tallest tree. The tree easily stood out among the rest.
And then he felt the surge of Shuichi… no Kurama – Yoko Kurama's energy flare in the far distance, toward the icy planes. Hiei stood up quickly and assessed the situation with his Jagan, ripping the white fabric of his bandana off quickly. The eye opened and he watched as Kurama fought a large cat demon with a black aura.
Hiei closed the Jagan and quickly wrapped his forehead as he fell down off the cliff. With a powerful kick off the cliff side, he vaulted himself forward and took to the trees below. He ran as quick as his legs would carry him, even pushing himself beyond his limits.
When he made it to the forest line at the edge of the icy planes, he felt Yoko Kurama's energy disappear. Hiei sped up, a black blur amongst the gray and white. And then he felt an unrecognizable energy signature flare and saw the light from its pink aura dance across the frozen wasteland.
It was almost blinding.
Ajisai was ready for death. But, death never came for her. Before she knew it, the demon cat was bouncing off a wide pink barrier that had appeared before her. And then the cat was vaulted several meters back as it tumbled across the icy plane.
Defiant eyes melted into confusion as she watched the barrier protect her and flicker out, almost as if it never was there at all. She blinked and refocused her attention on the cat demon again. It was laying on its side, slowly getting back up from where it fell.
What just happened? She thought to herself.
Earlier, she was afraid of that thing. Then it said it wanted to kill Shuichi. Something in her snapped and here she was standing between Shuichi's wounded body and their attacker – a large demon cat with black eyes.
And a mighty powerful attack.
She blinked again and took in her surroundings. Ajisai was in the great ice plane and Shuichi had just been badly wounded. Shuichi. She twisted around quickly and ran to him.
Quickly, she checked his vitals like he had hers awhile back. The girl checked to see if he had a pulse. He did. Then she listened to his ragged breathing. Not suitable but at least he was still alive.
She was worrying if Shuichi was going to survive this attack when she felt something pull at her psyche from behind. The girl turned to see the cat stalking up to her and glaring at her with deadly slitted eyes. It was baring its teeth with its ears pinned back like a feral cat.
The girls breath hitched and it said something to her with a growl, "So you are a Miko. I didn't expect that out of you, human. I'll kill you now before your energy grows stronger!"
And then it leapt to attack her, both paws stretched out to claw at her. The girl watched in slow motion as a black streak came from out of nowhere and it slammed into the demon cat. She blinked and both figures where meters away from where she last saw them.
What was that??
The cat stood up slowly and regarded the newcomer. Whatever the black streak was, it didn't give the cat a chance to recover as it pummeled it multiple times in the face. It violently danced across its body, hitting it from several different directions almost at once.
The cat tried – tried to hit back but the streak was way too fast for it. It assaulted every part of its body with powerful hits. When the cat finally fell over with a loud bang, the figure landed and stood still long enough for her to register its appearance.
It was a man with black hair and black clothes. The girl squinted her eyes with a familiar feeling about that man and stood up, taking a few steps towards his direction. The figure turned and regarded her with one blazing crimson eye before turning back to his foe.
"Hiei!" Ajisai called out with a mixture of happiness and admiration welling up in her chest. Hiei didn't respond to her though, as he waited for the cat's next move. The feline got up slowly, struggling to stand up.
And when it finally did Ajisai's stomach dropped. The cat was about to do that devastating attack again. A small black ball of energy started forming in its mouth, growing bigger by the second.
"Hiei!" She yelled and in her mind as loud as she possibly could.
Watch out for its next attack!
Hiei turned his head slightly to regard her and turned back to await its attack. The energy ball was huge now in its mouth and she felt a chill wind sucking her forward. She watched in horror as the ball shrank and its color changed to a deep red.
"Hiei!" She screamed! Her voice was drowned out by the sound of the brutal attack. It covered him in red light and beamed out far across the frozen wasteland. Eventually, the red slowly flickered out to reveal nothing where Hiei just stood.
Ajisai hadn't realized she wasn't breathing. She breathed in a few gulps of air as her eyes scanned the area desperately, looking for that familiar black clad fire demon. Her face paled when she realized she couldn't find him.
The girl ran out onto the ice with shaking legs, slipping from the melted ice as she searched for him. Panic welled in her chest as she ran to the spot where he was just at, only to find no trace of him not even a dust particle.
The cat had noticed her and made to turn its body in her direction when it was attacked again violently from the side. The impact was so strong, it folded the cat's body sideways. The girl slipped and fell on her behind.
She watched from the ground as the cat was bombarded again with multiple powerful hits. This time, she knew who the attacker was. The girl watched as Hiei flew through the air, kicking and punching every part of the cats body that he could.
And then his agile form flipped backwards, landing lightly on the ground. The girl watched intently as he stood and simply lifted one arm up. She saw that the arm had an intricate black design spiraling down the length of it from his shoulder. A black fire formed around him and licked the air.
She watched in fascination as the flame grew and expanded, engulfing his whole body and several meters away from him in a huge black and purple fire. Hairs on her body stood on end and she felt the atmosphere shift as Hiei's energy crackled around her. The heat from him and his fire warmed the air around her and instantly melted the ground around him, revealing dark brown earth just beneath.
"You were cocky, picking on the fox and the human girl," Hiei finally spoke, telling the cat. The cat demon responded with a feral feline growl and it replied to him with a female voice, "You are the one who's cocky. Thinking you can defeat me, the powerful Fubuki!"
Fubuki charged at him just as a huge black dragon erupted from Hiei's outstretched arm, spiraling out of it and flying at the cat demon. The cat attempted to dodge the attack but was hit from the side. The hungry dragon opened its jaws and bit into its furry body, lifting it into the air.
The feline was lifted high into the sky, then back down to earth where the dragon crashed face first into the ground. And there, the cat's limp body lay motionless amongst the black flames scattered around it. Ajisai stood up and walked over to the fire demon, a new appreciation welling up in her chest.
As she got near him, he turned and warned her quickly, "If you value your skin to be intact, stay away from the flames. They're hotter than they look." Ajisai listened and dodged the dark flames scattering the ground as she got closer to him.
Hiei turned toward her fully and she was about to tell him "Good job," when she saw a bright red light streak coming toward them. Its brightness blackened the fire demon's form into shadow from behind as it grew, heading towards them.
Hiei grabbed her without seeing it and leapt high into the air with her in his arms. Ajisai looked down just as a large red ray of pure energy blasted through where she and Hiei once stood. The fire demon's hold on her tightened.
Hiei turned mid-air and he landed on the other side of it gracefully with her held tight. His arms loosened their hold, when it looked like he contemplated putting her down, however another red ray was sent in their direction again. Hiei dodged that one as well.
Ajisai turned her head to see that the cat was running towards them. Hiei noticed too and he made a remark about it, "Is that damn cat indestructible?" before leaping with her in the air again. This was a never-ending cycle of dodge, land, and dodge it seemed.
Put me down by Shuichi so you can fight it.
She told him, feeling like a liability. Hiei seemed to agree because he turned and ran toward where Shuichi's body lay. However, he was cut off by another blast from the cat. He dodged it too, bringing them backward. And then the girl had a brilliant idea.
Ajisai turned her head and looked into his crimson eyes with determination. Hiei looked down to meet her crystal blues as she told him in her head.
Put me down here, don't worry about me.
Hiei ignored her, dodging another attack.
I mean it Hiei.
Hiei then turned and bolted. He ran so fast that it felt like flying, slight footfalls of his boots the only thing keeping them air-born. They sped through the tundra like a bullet.
She glared at him the whole way as he ignored her, while he carried her away from the cat. When he thought she was a safe enough distance, he finally released her, putting her down onto the ground.
"Hiei!" She exclaimed in anger, waving her arms at him before he took off in the cats direction. He turned sharply and glared back at her, saying, "What? You foolish human. Do you wish to die?" He gestured toward the ray blasts.
I do, actually, just trust me. I won't die.
The fire demon was about to leave her there when she reached out and grabbed his arm. "T-trus-t… me!" She yelled at him with a defiant look on her face.
Hiei stared down at her with blazing crimson eyes for a moment before turning away, motioning his back. She took the hint and hopped on quickly. Hiei wasted no time and carried her back toward the cat.
"Foolish, crazy-girl. You better have a plan!" He yelled out and brought her back into the fray.
Hiei let her down in front of the demon cat and grabbed her arm before she could move away from him, saying, "You better know what you're doing," before releasing her. She nodded and turned to face their foe.
"Yes, bring me my dinner back, you brat!" Fubuki roared and the cat launched its body after them. Hiei hesitated, glancing at the girl once before jumping away. Ajisai stood unwavering as she slowly brought her hands up in front of her.
And then the cat crashed into her and a beam of pink-white light engulfed them both.
"Uhh…. Uhhhh!!! There's a ghost lady outside Yusuke!" Yelled a villager that ran into the house he shared with Keiko and Kosuke, naturally he slept on the couch. With a start, the black haired man sat up from his laying position on the sofa and he glared at the door.
"Why in the Hell are you in my house?" Yusuke hollered at the man and got up to slam the door in his face. He turned away grumbling to himself when loud bangs were heard behind him and he turned slowly to give it the most heated stare.
The scowling man retched the door open to see that the whole damn village was outside, fear in their eyes. They were talking all at once in unison, telling him about the ghost woman who was standing menacingly outside of the barrier looking in. Apparently, she had been there all night.
"Okay… okay, yeah," he tried to listen to them individually until his irritation got the better of him and he yelled out, "Ok, will you all just shut up!"
The crowd of people went silent, widened eyes on their faces. The black haired man sighed and he said in a tired voice, "You, tell me what's going on?"
It was a older man with one eye bandaged. The man walked up to him and hit him over the top of his head with his cane. "You idiot! We just told you! There's a ghost lady out there and she's creepin' us out!"
Yusuke rubbed his head and glowered at the man, saying, "You didn't have to hit me! I am the town's leader right? You guys don't respect me at all."
"Just check the East wall! She's there right now!" One of the villagers yelled and pointed in the direction of the wall.
Yusuke turned and waved his hands up as he walked, "Why's it always gotta be me? 'Hey, Yusuke! Check the bogey man under my bed! Hey, Yusuke! We need supplies, ask your team to make a run!' It's never, 'Oh, please and thank you great leader.' You know what guys, after this I quit-"
Yusuke made it to the top of the tower when he seen her. It was a woman wearing a simple white kimono, long straight black hair falling down to her hips. She had a on a purple obi with orange swirls. And she was hot!
"Hey, you there!" He called over to her, which perked her attention, bringing her soft face upwards to regard him. The woman's eyes were icy blue lined with red eyeshadow. Yusuke almost didn't speak for a moment, mesmerized by her beauty.
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat and tried again, "Hey, chick. You're kinda scaring the residents. What do ya want?"
The woman watched him for a moment and then smiled with perfect red lips. "Hello, Yusuke Urameshi. I have your friend."
She opened a beautiful red fan and gently waved it at her face as she awaited his response.
"Excuse me for a second while I- …You WHAT?" He stammered, gawking at her.
"My name is Yurei. It's nice to finally meet you," and she gave him a smile.
"I've also sensed a shift in the air, a spark of promise. I dare say we might be able to hope again. Can't you feel it?"
Shuichi's words from long ago echoed in her head as Ajisai opened her eyes slowly. Warm droplets of water fell down onto her face and she looked up to see gray skies pouring down showers of rain. The girl stared up at the skies and watched as they broke apart, exposing sunlight through cracks in the clouds.
Rays of light filtered through the clouds and shot down to earth in a brilliant display, the rain mixing in to create a misty rainbow. She watched as colors formed above her and shimmered before slowly fading away as a thicker clouds moved in to block the rays of light pouring in. And then the spell was broken and she blinked.
Ajisai moved to sit up and was instantly reminded of all of the bruises and scrapes she had received from earlier, during the fight with Fubuki the cat demon. The girl pulled herself up gingerly to see Hiei sitting next a prone Shuichi, who's face was hidden from view. In the next second, she was scrambling up in a panic to go to him.
Hiei watched her silently as she ran past him, sliding in the mud as she moved around him to get to the prone body. She stopped short of Shuichi's torso and almost fell on top of him, catching herself with a hand on the other side of him.
And then she stared down into soft emerald eyes that were tiredly looking back up at her, his flaming red hair wet with water and old blood. She almost couldn't believe her eyes. He was alive.
"Shu… Shuichi," she whispered to him quietly.
"Hello, Ajisai," he smiled and chuckled before adding, "I never wanted you to see me in this state."
Ajisai's eyes wildly roamed his body, seeing torn fabric, long lacerations, burnt parts of his body. A human whine escaped her throat that turned into a soft wail. This was the first time she's cried audibly, chest full of grief and pain seeing Shuichi in this state.
And then her vision swam with tears. They fell down her face freely as she hung over top of his badly injured body.
"Hey, it's ok," Shuichi told her softly, bringing a hand up to her cheek weakly, "This is nothing."
"The Fox will be fine, silly girl. Dry your tears," Hiei's deep voice told her from the side of her but she ignored him, to inspect Shuichi, shaky hands roaming his chest. She grabbed the fabric of his torn shirt and ripped, exposing the damaged skin below. Rivers of watery blood streamed down his sides as her eyes widened at what she saw.
Deep, long parallel gashes ran down his torso completely. Tears fell on them as she sat in shock, taking it all in. Someone tried to pull her away but she retched her arm back, keeping her eyes on the wounds.
And then she felt an odd sensation run down her arms and the urge to put her hands on the wounds. She placed them there, a soft rose pink glow surrounded her hands and radiated through them, warming up her fingers. She watched with tears in her eyes as wounds slowly closed up, one by one.
"She has healing abilities," Hiei whispered from somewhere beside her. The girl never broke eye contact with the wounds, her brows nit together in concentration now. When she was finished with one area, she moved on to the next.
Eventually, she felt very tired and she swayed to the side. With a jolt, she pulled herself back up. She had to get all of them closed.
"Ajisai," Shuichi whispered to her and he sat up, grabbing her hands. "That's enough. You can stop now. The rest will heal on their own."
Tears continued to stream down her face and she gently touched a large laceration on his arm with a small, slender glowing finger. It slowly closed and her vision distorted. And then a warm muscular body grabbed her from the back and she was lifted into the air.
"No!" She yelled out, kicking her legs, "No!"
"It's for your own good, Ajisai. You can't use up all of your energy at once," Shuichi told her from somewhere beneath her but the girl continued to struggle against the vice like grip on her anyway. The girl fought against the arms that felt like stone.
Frustrated, she whipped her head up with a glare to meet slightly wide crimson eyes. Why was he looking at her like that? He needed to put her down!
Ajisai glared at him with defiance as he simply blinked and let his face fall into a neutral position. Somehow, her eyes were pulled to the shiny blue jewel resting against his tan chest, just above the collar of his black shirt. She relaxed as she stared into it and then slumped into his arms. The jewel seemed to calm her nerves, for some reason.
"Are you finished, girl?" Hiei asked her calmly and she glanced back up at him. She examined the colors of red gradient in his irises, from bright crimson to dark garnet. "No," she said after awhile, softer this time. The girl looked away with a warm sensation forming on her cheeks and she felt an odd warmth grow in her chest.
Hiei let her down anyway, placing her on her feet. She stumbled a little and looked around, assessing the new environment they were in. When she awoke, the last thing on her mind was where they were at. Everywhere around them was melted ice and wet brown earth.
The ice is melting…
She stared at the landscape for awhile in wonder, scanning slowly as she took in the round patches of white amongst dark brown, taking in the significance of it. It had stopped raining, sunlight streaming through broken clouds to grace the ground with rays of golden light.
Then, she realized she was missing something. The girl turned and looked up at Hiei with confusion in her eyes. "W-where…?"
"It's been defeated," Hiei simply said and when she searched the landscape again in confusion, he bent and grabbed something next to Shuichi. It was some sort of rolled up material. He showed it to her, saying, "This is your doing, crazy-girl."
Carefully, she took it into her hands, confusion marring her face. Shuichi must have noticed because he said, "It's a scroll, Ajisai. Somehow you sealed its demonic energy into it when your powers awakened."
"That sigil on the side is written in a Demon Realm language. It says void," he added and she turned the scroll to the side, an odd character etched into the old dark wood of the handle. It was the same symbol as was on the cat demons collar. She turned it around, inspecting it some more before handing it back to Shuichi.
"I'll keep on to this for you," he said and moved gingerly to place it into his bag, which was still tied to hers. She watched his movements closely, seeing more healed pink skin than open gaping wounds. Then the girl walked over and crouched at the bag, grabbing a roll of bandages and looking at them, then to the wounds that he still had.
Shuichi must've read her mind because he grabbed some iodine and a wound cleaning kit and handed it to her, saying, "Clean with the iodine first and wrap tightly with gauze."
He showed her how to clean and wrap his wounds while Hiei watched on beside them. When they were finally finished, Hiei turned to him and said, "Should we inform the Detective?"
This seemed to surprise Shuichi as he paused while putting the medical items back into his bag. "That would be a good idea, I suppose," he glanced over to Ajisai before adding, "It will be a long journey."
Ajisai looked down at him in confusion. Was he implying it was hard for her? She would be able to travel just fine with them.
And then her breath hitched. Was he possibly implying that they should leave her? A feeling of sadness crawled through her chest as she pondered that thought.
Almost as if to prove her theory wrong, Hiei said, "I'll carry the girl. I am much faster than you, anyway." She looked up to watch Hiei's eyes carefully as he stared down at the red head.
"I can carry her just fine," Shuichi said with a neutral voice, looking away from him.
"You are wounded. I will carry the girl," Hiei's eyes narrowed slightly.
Are they really arguing about carrying me?
"Don't be absurd, I'm simply keeping the Fox from being foolish and opening up his wounds," Hiei told her and glared down at Shuichi.
"And she's my responsibility. Also, I would rather you don't read her mind without her permission," Shuichi told him cooly.
Ajisai felt the tension in the air thicken as she glanced between the two.
"I… wa…walk." She suggested.
"No," they both said in unison and turned to her.
"The place we are going to is going to take weeks to get to with human speed alone, Ajisai." Shuichi told her calmly as he moved to stand up. He pulled out a white shirt from his bag and went to put it on while he told her, "And this mission seems to be of top priority."
When he was unfastening the tie he used to secure their bags together, he told her quietly, "I think we've found our key to save the world."
Finally separating the bags, he slid his over his shoulder and grabbed hers by the strap. He set it down at her feet without looking at her and turned to Hiei when he spoke.
"And the Fox isn't going to be foolish and carry a human girl with two backpacks on his back is he?" Hiei sneered over to him and crossed his arms with an irritated look.
Shuichi gave him his own, calmer version of an irritated look and brought his hands up saying, "Fine! But only for while these wounds heal." And then his emerald eyes narrowed dangerously as he said, "And if you cause any harm to her on the way-"
"The girl is safe with me," Hiei interrupted him with a blazing look. Shuichi must have seen something in his eyes, because his expression softened and then he sighed.
"I'm protective of her, is all. She's been at my side for awhile now. It's hard to see anyone else taking care of her," Shuichi said quietly after awhile. Ajisai cocked her head slightly to the side and he continued, "I don't wish to see her get hurt."
"And you won't, Fox. Not with me around," Hiei responded to him with his arms crossed. Ajisai cocked her head again toward the opposite side.
"I'll…" she spoke and they turned to her in silence. Ajisai suddenly felt the overwhelming pressure of their two sets of eyes on her, one narrowed crimson red and the other wide emerald green. She almost gave up but tried again, determined.
"I'll be… oh… kay. I'll be okay!" She yelled at them, red flushing her face.
The ice that once surrounded them across the land was nearly all melted away by the time the small group was ready to leave, leaving pockets of muddy water among the great expanse of now bare earth. Shuichi had commanded some grass grow around their little area as they prepared for the long journey ahead.
He had given Ajisai a small blue flower called a forget-me-not when he carefully weaved the rest of it into the braid he had just finished. Ajisai moved her head from side to side, feeling the "french braid" slide across her back. It was a new feeling, to have her hair secured and pulled back like this. Gentle wisps of hair fell loose to frame her face, ticking her neck.
"I think it's about time to find shelter for the girl," Hiei spoke up, eyes trained on the sky. A brilliant painting of purples, pinks and coral spanned the sky above them.
"That will be fine. We'll spend the night somewhere and leave at first light," Shuichi agreed, moving to grab his brown leather bag. He had obtained a thinner jacket from the large bag, a soft dark brown with high collars, his white shirt underneath.
Ajisai still wore her frayed, dirty white jacket. She didn't have much of a choice, poking her finger through a hole in her sleeve as she absentmindedly wondered what this Yusuke character was going to be like. Hiei must've noticed it's frayed condition, he kept glancing at her before moving to grab his cloak.
"Here," he told her as she shoved it into her face while looking away with a scowl, "It'll be much warmer than that tore up jacket that you have on."
Ajisai took it carefully and brought it up to her face, remembering the day she washed his blood from it. The girl looked back up at him and stared for awhile with an odd sensation in her chest before shrugging off her tattered jacket, exposing her white undershirt. When she turned to put it on, her arm was gently grabbed from the side.
"You focused so much on my wounds that you've neglected your own injuries," Shuichi told her softly from the side and he grabbed his bag to bandage her scrapes and wounds. When he was finished, she secured the cloak to her neck and made to grab her bag.
Once it was strapped to her shoulders and under the cloak, the men stood patiently waiting for her to join them at the end of the grassy patch. She looked between Shuichi and Hiei reluctantly. And then it dawned on them, Shuichi looked toward Hiei and Hiei walked over to her.
He turned around and crouched slightly in front of her, waiting for her to grab on. The girls heart raced, a blush forming in her cheeks as she hesitatingly wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders and hopped on. Adjusting her light weight easily and tightly holding on to her thighs, he took off across the empty brown barren land.
Ajisai held on tightly, watching the whole world blur around her as Hiei ran. After she started to feel a little sick, she lowered her forehead to his back and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the nausea to go away. Hiei was right, he was much faster than Shuichi.
She stayed like that until she felt his movements slow and suddenly they were in a dark forest, a different forest than the one they previously stayed at before. The girl glanced around, quickly taking in everything. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Shuichi's red hair and gave him a soft smile.
Hiei moved at this speed for awhile, weaving through trees and leaping over logs. Interestingly, she hardly felt it, feeling very light on his back. She fit there nicely.
The thought brought another blush to her cheeks and she pushed the thought away, focusing on the way he gracefully brought them through the trees. Shuichi kept pace beside them, his brown and red streak leapt from tree log to the forest floor in fluid movements. Both easily managed to maneuver through this dense forest with surprising agility.
Ajisai thought back on the fight the both had with the cat demon, remembering how they easily dodged swipes that would've killed her instantly. These two men were on a whole different playing field than her. She felt weak in comparison. Where did she fit in exactly?
And she wondered back on that bright rose pink light, it was different than before. She was expecting a barrier to form between her and the cat demon like the first time. Instead, a powerful warm light erupted from her body just as the cat made contact with her. And then she must have passed out. Whatever it was, it sapped a lot of energy from her.
The girl was musing on if she could've had enough energy to fully heal Shuichi if it hadn't been for that light, when she felt Hiei slow to a jog and then a walk. They must've been at the location.
It was a small, triangular shaped stone cave hidden beneath some dense trees. Ajisai's eyes could hardly see do to the quickly growing darkness around them. With shaking legs from the exertion of holding on for so long, she slid off Hiei's back to wander over to the cave entrance.
"Wait," Hiei told her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back, "Let me inspect it first. It's been a minute since I've come to this place."
The girl took a step back and stood with Shuichi waiting as Hiei made his way to the entrance of the cave. Shuichi was also checking out the area with his eyes closed, she sensed the pull of his light green energy as he tapped into his powers.
Ajisai was getting better at this supernatural stuff, she realized. Not too long ago she couldn't even see auras. She made to close her own eyes to feel out the area and felt nothing, when she opened her eyes, Hiei was making his way back toward them.
"It's clear," Hiei told them and they made their way in, Shuichi commanding a handful of vines to cover the front entrance.
After while, everything was set up for bedtime. Unusually, Hiei had decided to camp out in the cave with them. Probably just to keep an eye out for them as they slept, she pondered. She watched his still form from her blankets, watching as his vibrant violet aura calmly radiated from his body as he leaned against the stone wall across from her.
Oddly, she felt a slight pull toward Kurama's bag but pushed it off. It was probably some of his demon seeds getting restless. Sometimes they had a life of their own.
Before she knew it, she was asleep. A tranquil peace enveloped her and she could feel her own rosy pink aura blossom around her calmly as she dozed into the nothingness, for the first time feeling safe and content. Especially with these two around.
And then that peace was disrupted.
Shuichi was yelling something and she opened her eyes to see him shaking a sleeping Hiei. Confusion crept into her mind and she wondered why he was anxiously trying to wake Hiei up. And then she noticed his aura.
It was the darkness flame being called forth. And Shuichi was pushed back by its violent fire.