Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tears Of Darkness ❯ Glimpse Into An Icy Heart ( Chapter 2 )

KY: *waves frantically* Hello once again to 'Tears Of Darkness'! A YYH and IY crossover incase that already wasn't made obvious ^-^" And here to do the disclaimer is…HIEI! *waves Hiei banner*

Hiei: Hn.

KY: ^o^ Say the disclaimer.

Hiei: KY owns nothing, but herself so don't mistaken her for the genius creator of YYH.

KY: Did you have to make it so blunt? -__-# Meh. Life goes on unfortunately…X3

Key-

/insert text/= thoughts

(A/N: insert text)= author's notes

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tears Of Darkness

Chapter Two: Glimpse Into An Icy Heart

"Morons," Inoriko muttered under her breathe as she watched Kuwabaka (A/N: I mean Kuwabara…) and Yusuke try their hands at fishing, which was a task they were failing terribly at. With their sleeves rolled up as well as there pant legs, they dove blindly for fish only to have the fish slip out of their grasp and swim back in the river.

The river was clear and glimmered in the sun overhead. It ran through a less tree filled area of a forest in a small clearing. The water was cool and refreshing in such warm weather, but her mind wasn't on the simple beauty that surrounded them.

Her eyes were scanning them carefully as though she would get some insight on them by watching them. The only thing she had gotten out of a measly, boring hour of watching them was that they were somewhat carefree and persistent, very persistent. /Determination is a humans greatest weakness…/ she told herself calmly. She was sitting cross legged on a boulder that was on the left side of the water and was occasionally splashed, but the water sprinkling on her was the least of her concern.

Hiei and Kurama were down by the small waterfall upstream only about fifty feet away to in the hopes to converse in private, but sometimes her delicate ears would pick of a phrase or two.

"Why would Koenma give us a guide that we can't trust?" Had been one of Kurama's question. "Unless he was in a predicament, but still it makes no sense."

Hiei only said a few things in response, but the one sentence he had spoken that had made her skip a heartbeat was, "We may not be able to trust her, but she's all we have for now."

"That's unusual for you to say, Hiei." Kurama replied. "But I guess you'll have no lament about killing her if she crosses a line and puts us in danger on purpose."

"If she does that, of course I'll kill her." The fire demon said in a quieted voice.

/Seems like everybody loves me/ Inoriko thought sarcastically. /But they must understand that their survival in this time may very well be in my hands. I have the upper hand here./

"What are you smirking about?" Kuwabara questioned getting in her face.

She blinked once and then pushed him down in the water getting him more soaked then he already had been, "Mind your manners, human." She spat narrowing her amethyst eyes at him that both had cruelty in them. "Need I remind you that I'll kill you if you push me." /Stupid human…/

Yusuke stopped what he was doing and watched her as she stood up, casting a dark shadow over them. Her features were sharper then usual as though Kuwabara had said something absolutely atrocious.

She turned on her heel and jumped off the boulder, landing nimbly on her feet and headed downstream to be away from them and their stupidity. Leaving a dumb looking Kuwabara dripping in water, she walked around a bend in the river until she was hidden from their view then sighed heavily as she then sat at the river's edge staring at her reflection.

A young demoness gazed back at her that was rippling in the slowly moving water. Her crimson hair draped over her hunched shoulders as a scowl appeared on her face.

She needed to cool down and relax. Her temper was getting the better of her. /What happened to me? I used to be so easy going, so mild mannered. Now I get pissed off at everything./

She dipped her foot into the river and shivered at how cold it was as she withdrew her small foot.

Without thinking she undid her kimono and let the thin fabric slide off of her shoulders. She folded the kimono and placed her sword on top of the folded clothe.

Her body quivered when she felt the rush of a breeze against her as she lowered herself into the river.

It felt so good to be weightless in the mass of liquid that was now encasing her body.

She closed her eyes as she floated in the river and sighed her approval, "This feels great." She ran her hands through her hair and reopened her eyes to gaze at the sky. No clouds in sight, only the sound of birds chirping and the trickling of the river. /So soothing, so peaceful./ Another sigh escaped her lips as she felt her muscles relax and tension leave her.

She'd only been with them for a day and already she though she would never survive this.

She took a deep breath before plunging into the water.

~*~*~ Flashback To Last Night~*~*~

The stars glistened above around the thin sliver of a white crescent moon. How she loved the stars in the black night sky, each one had their own loveliness.

A campfire roared as she sat leaning against a tree with her head tilted upwards in admiration of Nature.

"You like stars?" Kurama asked her as though he was trying to make pleasant conversation as a sleeping Kuwabara snored loudly next Yusuke who was drooling in his sleep and muttering something about hellish training and someone named Grandma…

She shrugged, "They're nice."

"Just nice?" Kurama raised an eyebrow, "Magnificent is a word I'd use."

"Must you ruin a nice night with small talk?" Inoriko said coolly. "If you were quiet then you might decide you like the stars and moon better without trying to describe how wonderful they are?"

Kurama scoffed at this, "Maybe I would if someone wasn't being rude to me."

She diverted her eyes away from the stars to the flickering flames in front of her that gave off warmth. "It's just easier to enjoy things if you don't try to critique them is all. Just look at it, don't focus on what it is, just stare and marvel."

The fox demon cast his green emeralds at her with wonder, "You make it sound easy, but we live in a world where people are always striving to know everything they can about everything."

She rolled her teeth over her bottom lip before answering, "The more you do that the less beautiful something is."

"Maybe so," Kurama said thoughtfully, "But it doesn't work that way for everyone. Our time is much unlike this place."

She rubbed her hands together, "That may be the case, but that's then. This is now." She then hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, her eyes still fixated on the jumping red and orange flame that burned in front of them. "I don't want to ever define beauty, I just want to admire it for just being there. Is that too much to ask?"

Her light purple spheres focused once again on the night sky. That's when he saw it, what her heart was like inside. It wasn't mean, it was pure and untainted.

Kurama grinned awkwardly at her, "No, that's just enough."

~*~*~ End Of Flashback ~*~*~

She resurfaced, her entire being shivering with cold. Part of her felt somewhat frozen in the water, but she could managed to ignore it. After all, she would be a pretty pathetic demoness to be brushed off by some icy water.

She swam back to the shore and climbed out and reached for her black kimono, but the fox demon was standing there with a pink blush across his face.

Water was dripped to the ground from her strands of hair as they stood like stone statues for what seemed like an eternity.

"I was…j-just seeing if you w-ere alright…" He choked out turning his face away. "Yusuke said you had s-stormed off and I went to find you." He was obviously embarrassed for seeing her naked for the blush deepened.

But she didn't seem to mind after a few minutes and put her kimono back on without saying anything to him. She then tied her hair up in a ponytail with a white ribbon, letting a few stray wisps frame her face. "What's wrong with you?" She scrutinized. Her eyes were half closed as if she was in a dazed state while she said that in a somber voice.

He had his profile facing her, bracing himself for the moment when her hand would fly and smack him across the face leaving a red handprint on his face. But it never came, she just went by him as though nothing had happened.

Her head was held up slightly as she took each step with such poise, that he could only blink after her. /I thought for sure she'd slap me./ Kurama's mind raced as his eyes followed her.

"Aren't you coming?" Her chilly tone rang out to snap him out of his train of thoughts. She was looking over her shoulder at him, "The village is only another days walk and I want to get there before nightfall." She ordered.

The shadow of a flying bird flew over her face as they stared at each other for a moment. Her eyes glittered in the sunlight like the gem they were the color of and behind them a hidden soul buried deep could be seen.

He nodded curtly and started to apologize, "I'm sorry for-"

"Forget it." She cut him off, raising a hand to silence him. "Just forget it please." Her words cut into him like knives. "Don't worry about it, I was just surprised that you'd follow me."

"Oh," he was expecting harsh words on her part to be truthful, but then again she was a demoness. She wasn't going to act like some pansy prissy girl, she was beyond all of that. That could clearly be seen.

She faced herself forward again, "Well c'mon. I haven't got all day fox." She said in a clear voice.

Then they heard an almost deafening crash.

Both of their eyes were wide and alert and their feet were running to the source without thinking twice about the danger they could be in.

A huge monstrous looking demon stood over the two unconscious bodies Kuwabara and Yusuke. It was a large cat like looking thing that was coated in mangled thick white fur that was soaked with blood, it's white fangs winked in the sunlight at them and the claws were razor sharp. It had two large amber eyes with cat like pupils and pointy ears that stuck out of its head. It let out a loud snarl as Hiei stabbed it with his katana right through it's stomach.

Blood dripped from the edge of the katana when Hiei withdrew it after the beast fell over. A puddle of dark crimson forming underneath it.

"What is that?" Kurama asked walking up to it. He knelled down next to it, "It looks like some type of cat demon."

"It is," Inoriko said without any concern. "It must have sneaked up on your friends, they're quite stealthy these ones. It still has a pulse though." Her eyes watched the chest of the demon heave up and down with strain. "Poor thing. Shame it must suffer like this."

The body of the demon then glowed a strange white light and it transformed into the size of a house cat and looked like a small tiger cub only it was black with white strips. A small red collar was around its neck that had a golden bell attached.

She picked the small cat demon up in her arms and she heard it whimper, "Its virtually harmless in this state, looks like it transformed out of fear or something." She examined the wound. /It should heal fast because it's a demon, but still it's in pain./ "A tiger demon cub, how cute."

"That thing almost had Yusuke and Kuwabaka for a meal," Hiei snorted, "And you think its adorable. I'm sure the next you'll say is that you're going to keep it as a pet."

"Well, we can't exactly leave it all alone out here for something else to eat it." She cradled the injured cub in her arms, "It didn't know any better. How could it? I bet his mother is probably dead, killed by some humans no doubt." The blood stained the sleeves of her kimono, but she didn't mind at all. Even as the blood began water falling out of her arms she held it close to her body and whispered into a pointed ear, "Don't worry you'll be fine…what's your name?" The demon cub purred a response so quiet that Kurama's ears couldn't understand it. "Ah, Tora. What a nice name." Inoriko commented, completely overlooking that Kurama and Hiei were there.

"Looks like someone has maternal instincts," Kurama said.

"Hn." Hiei said, "As long as it doesn't cause any trouble, I couldn't possibly care less." His crimson colored eyes went back and forth between Inoriko and the demon in her arms.

Kuwabara and Yusuke stirred a little and slowly came to over the course of an hour. Their clothes were dripping wet and they nearly threw a fit when they found out that the cute demon tiger that Inoriko was being so affectionate to was the thing that attacked them, only in its original form.

"She's gonna keep that thing around?" Kuwabara shouted pointing at the demoness who was sitting under the shade of a tree nearby nursing the cub as gently as possible.

"Insane…" was all Yusuke could grumble as Inoriko bandaged the injured demon. "Really insanely stupid…"

"Shut up both of you," she ordered calmly.

"How can we when that thing in your lap is a demon that tried to eat Urameshi and me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Do you wish to be decapitated Kuwabaka?"

"Eh? I mean no."

"Then shut up or else I just might consider it." Her tone was heartless this time, not one ounce of anything human or demon could be heard in it.

He gulped, but she took his silence as an answer. She had won that round of pointlessness and nonsense.

Tora purred and curled up in her arms, the bell on his collar jingling lightly as he shifted his position.

She cast a small smile down on the now sleeping Tora. Her hands around the small cub began stroking its soft fur as it snuggled against her.

"What about getting to the village before nightfall?" Kurama inquired as the sound of the river water became so loud that it echoed in his ears.

"It can wait another day." She said, "It can wait for now."

~*~*~Fin~*~*~

KY: OHH! Inoriko is so motherly to Tora.

Inoriko: >-<

KY: ^.^

Kuwabara: What are you talking about? That thing tried to eat me! I'm too handsome to get eaten!

KY: *sighs* Eh, quiet being so dramatic. *rolls eyes* Besides, your Ugly.

Kuwabara: What'd ya say punk?

KY: U-g-l-y you ain't got no alibi (you know how it goes…)

Tora: Mreow! =^.^=

KY: Gah! So cute! *glomps Tora*

Hiei: Idiot woman…

KY: X3 That's me.

Love, peace and all that crap,

KY