Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Disease ❯ Chapter 15

I'm almost done with this story! It takes a while for me to update, but I'm done with school this year, so I'm updating now! Be happy!

 

Kai3anime: Thanks for the review. I love hearing back from people, especially if it's positive feedback. It's hard for me to find time to update my stories, but I'm hoping to have more time now. Now I need to finish my other stories. One step at a time, I guess.

 

~*~

 

A noise outside the window caused Robin to glance over, then stare. Hiei climbed through the window, saw Kurama and Robin together on the bed, and froze in shock. Partly because Robin was there and he wasn't expecting her and partly because Kurama was still sobbing his heart out, but mostly because Kurama had his arms around his mother's waist and she was holding him and rubbing circles on his back. He and Robin stared at each other, but Kurama didn't even look up. “Do you mind explaining this?” Hiei asked Robin in a conversational tone even though his face and body language said he was absolutely floored by this.

 

“I gave him some bad news,” Robin answered, her arms still around the fox.

 

“And this is why he didn't come to look for Gotenmaru this afternoon?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Hiei took a deep breath and started to address Kurama, but Robin's glare effectively stopped him. She recognized that start; it was universal. Hiei was about to give him what females around the world had named the “Macho Pep Talk”. It varied in who said it and how it was said, but the message was always the same: “Suck it up and be a man”. Robin knew he was going to give Kurama the speech, but she wasn't going to have any of that.

 

“Robin, why is it you're here?” Hiei asked her.

 

“I had to deliver some bad news to Kurama, but the main reason was to find you,” she answered. Kurama tensed in her arms. She made soothing sounds again until he relaxed again.

 

He looked at her warily. “You've found me,” he said, trying to cover up his confusion. “Is there some bad news for me as well?”

 

“As a matter of fact, there is, but there's also good news.”

 

“Very well. Tell me.” His voice was distant, but his aura was shot with anxiety. “Is it what made him so upset?”

 

“The bad news isn't. The good news it tied into why he's like this. Um, I don't think this is the best place to tell you. I think Kurama would rather not hear this again.”

 

“Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's quite ready to let go of you,” Hiei observed as she futilely tried to disengage his arms from her person. He wasn't sobbing anymore; tears still ran down his face, but it wasn't anything like it was before Hiei showed up.

 

“Kurama, did you plan on letting me go home anytime soon?” she asked, trying to lighten his mood up.

 

He shook his head. “Then what did you expect me to do?”

 

“Stay,” he mumbled.

 

She shared a look with Hiei. “Kurama, I don't think you're thinking clearly,” she told him. “Do you think your mother would let a girl she's never seen before stay overnight in her son's room?”

 

“That won't be a problem,” Hiei said. When she looked at him, he explained in further detail. “I saw her leave before I came in.”

 

“She just left us up here?” Robin was astounded.

 

Hiei shrugged. “She trusts him. She probably thinks that you'll be gone when she comes back.”

 

She sighed. “Well, if I'm staying here tonight, then I'll tell you later, okay, Hiei?”

 

Seeing that the fox wouldn't let go of her, the fire demon nodded. “I'll get some extra pillows,” he said, leaving the room.

 

Robin turned her attention to the boy still clinging to her like she was his lifeline. “Okay, I'm staying. Happy now?”

 

He looked up. “Happier,” he admitted. Sniffing, he let go of her. “I really need to pull myself together,” he said to his bedspread. “Normally I'm not like this.”

 

“Normally you don't get news like that,” Robin said gently, covering one of his hands with hers. “If you need me again tonight, I guess I'll be in here with you and Hiei.”

 

At this point Hiei decided to rejoin them. He threw them down on the inflatable bed and flopped down next to them. Looking up at the two on the main bed, he said, “I'm going to borrow your shower again.”

 

“Feel free,” Kurama stated as he watched his friend dig through his drawers. “I suppose you'll want to use it also,” he addressed Robin.

 

She blushed. “If it isn't too much trouble.”

 

Kurama smiled. “I'll get you something to wear tonight, then. You'll be much easier to find something for than Hiei.” He took out a white shirt and some boxers and gave them to her. “They are both clean,” he assured her.

 

“I didn't think they weren't,” she answered, taking them from him. Lines of exhaustion lay around his eyes. “You need to sleep,” she reprimanded him.

 

“I'll be fine,” he protested. Unfortunately, Robin was now in “mother mode” and practically dragged him over to the bed. Pulling back the covers, she sat him down and would've gone back down to the inflatable bed, but his hand snagged her before she could. “Please don't go yet,” he begged. In his eyes she could see that he still needed a friend there to hold him. Smiling sadly, she hugged and rocked him again, though this time he didn't cry. He still clung to her, but he didn't cry. She kept this up until she heard his breathing deepen and even out. Carefully, she looked down. Yup, he was asleep. Leaning over, she tried to get him to let go, but even in sleep he didn't want to let go. After many failed attempts, she just gave up and waited for Hiei to come out and help her. Once their goal was accomplished, Robin grabbed her loaned clothes and dashed for the bathroom.

 

Inside the shower she found everything she needed for that particular night; that is, shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. Sure, there were a couple of extra odds and ends in there, but she didn't touch those. Coming out she quickly dried herself off and put the clothes on. She folded her school clothes since that would be what she would wear tomorrow also and reentered the bedroom.

 

“What was that about?” Hiei demanded quietly, unwilling to wake up Kurama.

 

Here we go again. “I'm going to tell you the good news first,” she started. “I know that's not how we normally start things off, but if I tell you the bad news, then you'll run off and I won't get a chance to tell you the good news.”

 

“And this is bad news for Kurama?”

 

“Sort of. The two are related, but what upset him won't affect you quite so much.”

 

“Is it about Shiori?”

 

“No. Um, I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore. Serena's back from Makai.”

 

There was no visible change in his demeanor. “So there's news about Jordan, then?”

 

“Yes. She couldn't come because she's going to have a child very soon now, so her husband and Crystal wouldn't let her come back to Ningenkai. They didn't know if it would hurt the baby, and they weren't going to take that chance.”

 

He raised his eyebrows at that. “A child?”

 

“She and Crystal are married now, and Crystal has an infant. Now do you see why he was so upset?”

 

“And you say Serena came through the barrier?”

 

“Yes, she's the one who told us.”

 

“I thought she was supposed to protect the village since their shield was broken.”

 

“Crystal fixed it, so she didn't feel obligated to stay. She liked Makai at first, but I don't think she wants to stay there for the rest of her life if she can help it. That's probably why she didn't get married like the other two; she didn't want something tying her to that place.”

 

That shocked him. “She isn't married?”

 

Robin shook her head. “But that was the good news. Now, I want you to promise me that you won't go rushing off once I tell you.” He warily nodded, so she continued. “It's about Kagome. She isn't well right now.”

 

“What's wrong with her?” he asked.

 

I guess he doesn't feel like he has to hide his true emotions since Kurama's asleep and he trusts me. “She's in the hospital. She's in a coma, but she's stable, and the doctors don't think that it's fatal. You said you wouldn't run off,” she reminded him when he looked at the window.

 

“I need to see her,” he said, as close to a plea as she ever saw him come. He visibly steeled himself. “Please?” Robin could tell it killed him to say that.

 

“Come back immediately,” she ordered, and he was gone before she could blink twice. Leaving the window open for him, she lay down on the extra bed and waited for him. A sound from downstairs a few minutes later caused her to sit up and look at the door. Looking up at the bed where Kurama still lay unconscious, she sighed. “I guess I'd better go tell his mother that I'm still here.”

 

Quietly getting out of bed, she staggered up and walked out the door, partly closing it behind her. Her bare feel didn't make a sound against the cold floor. Making her way down the stairs, she followed the sounds to the living room. What she saw wasn't his mother.

 

A bald man in a long brown trench coat was bent over a small table. Judging from his wrinkled skin, he wasn't Kurama's father. “Um, excuse me?” she called.

 

The man whipped around, eyes wide. When he saw her, his small mouth twisted, and he pointed at her. Recognizing the gesture from her hunting days, she threw herself behind the couch as a dark hole appeared where her middle would have been.

 

Great, so now I'm dealing with a witch. Risking a peek over the edge, she saw him pointing at the chair she was hiding behind. Not good. Focusing on him, she called her fire onto his clothes, praying that she wouldn't set fire to anything else and destroy Kurama's home.

 

The old man screamed, and Robin could smell his flesh roasting through his fire-soaked coat. How am I going to explain this? she thought as the man fell to the floor. Maybe I can just get him to the hospital and pay for his injuries? We have enough Hiruseki stones. Grabbing a blanket that had been previously draped over the back of the couch, she beat the flames off the man, but he was already dead. Horrified, she backed away, her hands over her mouth. There is a dead body in Kurama's living room that wasn't there previously. From the looks of him, he was homeless, but that doesn't help me now. How do I get rid of this before Kurama or one of his family members comes home?

 

Picking up the blanket she had used to beat out the flames, she considered putting it back on the couch, but the big black hole in the middle convinced her not to. So now I have to get rid of the blanket, too. I hope it wasn't important to them. She wrapped the body in the blanket, flinching when her hand touched him and trying to hold her breath; the reek of burning flesh was almost unbearable. It make its way into her mouth, making her choke, but she still manhandled her bundle out the back door. Glancing around, she made sure that no one was around and, putting the body on the driveway, set fire to the whole thing. The body and blanket burned to ashes, but left a scorch mark where it used to be. Well, that couldn't be helped.

 

That job done, she went back inside, but the living room still smelled like a human barbeque. “How am I going to get rid of this stench?” she asked aloud, looking around. Candles! Where would his Mom keep candles? After a fruitless search of the drawers in the living room, she ran to the kitchen and found her prize. Looking them all over, she picked ones that she thought would have the strongest scents and put them around the room, lighting them with her fire as she went. Once the candles were strategically placed around the room where they wouldn't be seen and couldn't set the house on fire, she looked around the room, left for a few seconds, and reentered, inhaling deeply. There was still a faint odor of roasted flesh, but unless someone who worked around burned bodies came into the room, they wouldn't be able to tell what happened.

 

Satisfied with her handiwork, though still disgusted with herself, she went back upstairs, turning off the lights as she went. To her surprise, Kurama was still deeply asleep. She shrugged and sat back down on the inflated bed and checked her watch. All of her efforts had taken a total of twenty-two minutes, and Hiei still wasn't back. Not that she expected him back so early. Her skin was still crawling, remembering the feel of his blackened skin and how it crunched when her hand came in contact with it. She could still smell his burning skin. Shivering, she stood and searched Kurama's closet and took out another shirt. She located a pair of boxers in one of his drawers with much blushing. Her items in hand, she crept to the bathroom, locked the door, and ripped her clothes off as fast as she could and leaped into the shower. She was intent on scrubbing that stench off her skin as well as the feel of skin flaking off in her hand. When she was done, her watch said Hiei had been gone for fifty minutes. So she had been in the shower for twenty-eight minutes scrubbing the skin off her own body. She smelled strongly of roses now, but underneath, she caught the faint tang of burned flesh. Probably her imagination, but that was hard to tell her nose. She tried to sleep, but that faint odor kept her awake and made her twitchy. When Hiei came back through the window, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “You were only gone for an hour. What happened?” she asked, sitting up and trying to slow her racing heart.

 

The fire demon looked very worried and frustrated. “Why did this have to happen to her?” he asked Robin. “She's never done anything to deserve this.”

 

“I know,” she said soothingly. “I suggest you sleep on it. You're tired and probably not thinking straight. Thing will be better in the morning. What are you doing?” she asked when he got down on the floor. Is that a new scar on his arm? I don't think that was there before he left. I really hope that you didn't do anything dangerous, Hiei.

 

“Going to sleep,” he answered gruffly, his back to her.

 

“On the floor?”

 

“Well, you're on the bed.”

 

“Since when did that matter?”

 

“Since we came to Kurama's home.”

 

“If that's the case, then you stay on the bed. You were here first, after all.”

 

“No, I'm fine.”

 

“Hiei, you're staying on the bed.”

 

“No, you are.”

 

“Okay, we'll both stay on the bed. Hiei,” she warned when he opened his mouth to protest again, “listen to me. You will stay on the bed. If it makes you that uncomfortable, then I'll stay on the floor, but you need this more than I do.”

 

“Fine,” he muttered sullenly, crawling next to her.

 

She started counting the seconds. One, two, three… She got to fifteen when he turned over and latched onto her, not unlike what Kurama had done all afternoon, except Hiei wasn't crying; he just needed to know she was there. She basically repeated what she did for Kurama, and she felt him relax. Poor baby. Maybe it would've been kinder to let him stay ignorant. He is closer to Kagome than he is to the rest of us. Looking down, she saw him fast asleep, still holding onto her. She smiled, albeit sadly. I hate bringing bad news to people, especially Hiei. He's suffered so much already, and now he's about to lose his surrogate mother. I don't know how much more he can take. At least he didn't smell that burned scent on me. I don't know what I would've told him if he'd asked.

 

~*~