Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Cross of Flames ❯ To the Rescue ( Chapter 2 )

Hiei opened his crimson eyes the next morning to see Shiori in the same position he had left her the night before.

“Oh no.”

He shot across the room and rested his ear to her chest. A sigh of relief escaped him when a faint heartbeat was detected.

“Great. Another day of babysitting,” he said to silent room.

He grabbed the ointment and removed the blanket again to apply it.

Her original skin color was returning and a tattoo was now visible around her naval.

He had scene the marking once before, but paid no heed to its meaning. It was a fire symbol and he couldn't help but trace it with his fingers.

“Snap of out of it, moron. She's just a human woman,” he lectured himself.

Immediately he stopped what he was doing and finished the task he had set out to perform.

`She's messing with your head.'

He looked at her face again to study her; she really was pretty if nothing else. Her hair was tousled and strewed around her, and it brought a small smile to his face. He gently pushed a few strands out of her face and behind her ears. It was soft under his touch, and he didn't care if it was unlike him; he played with it.

A twist here and a twirl there sent him into his own little world, but when reality finally decided to pull him back he dropped the locks of hair abruptly.

`This is stupid. I'm going to train,' he thought.

He covered her again and stood. Walking out of the bare room he slid the door shut and descended four steps to the outside deck.

It was a breezy day on the mountainside and he was glad to be secluded.

“I could kill her and no one would even know it,” he muttered.

“No one except me,” came Kurama's voice.

“How long have you been standing there? Long enough, right?” Hiei asked coldly.

Kurama walked toward his friend and took a seat in front of him before asking, “What came over you, Hiei?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he answered defensively as usual.

“Hiei.”

Hiei took a seat in his normal fashion against one of the shrines pillars and across from Kurama.

“I can't tell you because I don't know. She was lying there. Helpless. I was angry. I tried to leave her there, but I felt obligated to help her.”

“I see,” Kurama sighed.

“That's not all. When I first found her she had yet to be poisoned, but she was screaming in pain for reasons I don't know. She's very powerful Kurama, but something happened to her yesterday and it caused her a lot of suffering. I took pity on her you could say,” Hiei finished.

Kurama raised and eyebrow. “Only pity?”

Hiei glared. “What else could it be?”

“It could be a lot of things, though I think it's best for you to figure it out on your own.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kurama smiled to himself and replied, “You'll know soon enough. In the mean time, you should be aware of the weather changes. The first snowfall is tonight.”

“I won't be cold, so what do I care?”

“Maybe, but I'm sure your lady friend will be,” Kurama informed as he stood. “I must be going. Shizuru is expecting me soon.”

“Heh. I can't believe you fell for that simple girl,” Hiei remarked.

“Love is strange. I'll get you some day too. Take care my friend,” Kurama waved.

Walking back inside with only a glance back, Hiei muttered, “As if.”

 

It had been seven days and Shiori had yet to awaken.

Growling in frustration Hiei sprang from the doorway and over to her body. He was sick of caring for her while all she did was sleep, and he was tired of chopping wood he needed to make a fire. Truth be told, he told himself it was part of his practice and skill building just so he'd keep doing it.

He kneeled next to her and then grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Wake up already!”

He shook her roughly before slapping her once.

“You stupid, foolish, girl. You can't sleep forever!” He shouted in her face.

Silence was his result again and he released her.

“To hell with you.”

He sat cross-legged with a forearm on each knee and watched the snowfall outside the room's window with help of the moonlight.

“Your skin is so cold,” he whispered.

Knowing he'd receive no reply he moved to the fireplace to heat the room again. The flames lapped at the wood and heated his skin significantly, and he turned to look at Shiori once more. The firelight illuminated her face, giving it some new character.

“Is this what that fool meant?” He asked despondently.

He poked the fire with a stick a few times before a voice rang in his ears. Craning his neck over his shoulder he saw Shiori trying to sit up and he moved to help her.

“Water,” she croaked.

Not really liking the situation as it was he ignored the urge to refuse and did as she asked and then sat silently and waited for her to speak.

“Thank you,” was the first thing she said.

She tried to look around the room and then at herself, which was when she felt her lack of clothing, and pulled the blanket in her other hand over her more securely.

“Why am I practically naked?” She asked in embarrassment.

“To put it simply, you were bitten in the abdomen by a venomous snake demon and the only way to clean and treat you was to remove your clothing. And, before you go and freak out about the need to remove your bra, it's because it would have cut off your circulation,” he explained.

“Your voice sounds familiar,” she mumbled.

“Don't play stupid. You know who I am.”

She set the cup she was holding in one of her hands down and reached out in the direction of his voice.

“I can't see you,” she admitted.

When she finally came into contact with him it was with his shoulder. He snatched her hand up instantly and glared at her.

“How can you not see me?”

She bowed her head in shame it seemed before finally deciding to answer him.

“I'm blind.”

He dropped her hand as quickly as he had caught it and she continued up his neck. She traced the outline of his jaw with her fingertips then ran them across his lips before she started back down his neck. When she reached his hand she could feel a piece of fabric wrapped around it and suddenly realized who he was. Removing her hands she spoke softly.

“You're Hiei.”

“Yes. How did you know,” he asked mockingly.

“You still have those bandages and your voice finally clicked.”

“Wonderful. Now tell me what the hell is wrong with you. Why are you blind and why were you screaming bloody murder seven days ago?”

“It's been seven days?”

“Yes, now start talking,” he commanded.

Shiori hesitated for a minute and brought herself to speak.

“I'm human and yet I've been granted the ability to become invisible and perform other tasks. I thought it was a gift at first, but as it turns out it's really a curse. Every time I go ghost I become weaker and weaker until eventually my body breaks down. I thought I could control it or at least harness the power in some way beneficial to me, but no amount of training has increased my strength enough to stop the pain. After I'm drained it usually takes ten days to recuperate.”

“How does blindness fit into that?”

“It's only temporary. I should have my vision back tomorrow. It's part of the breakdown. And please, I beg you, do not watch me tomorrow as I wake,” she pleaded.

“Why?”

She tried to look up at him after opening her eyes fully.

“My eyes will shed tears of blood.”

He looked down at her in disbelief but decided that he didn't care.

“Whatever. I don't take orders from you but I'll do as you wish. I think I've invaded your privacy enough without your consent anyways. However, before you go and fall asleep again, tell me why you've got that flame tattoo.”

She bit her lip, “I can't.”

“Why not?” He fumed.

“I'm sorry but I can't tell you about it because it is not a tattoo and because you're of fire master descent,” she muttered unhappily.

“I didn't ask for excuses. If you can't tell me why you have it then at least tell me who put it there. After babysitting you for so long I think you owe me some explanations,” he barked.

Shiori gritted her teeth and held the blanket even tighter to her.

“It's part of the curse my stepfather placed on me,” she began. “He's a terrible demon who married my mother; of course my mother and I didn't know it at the time. We fought constantly over things I believed to be important; yet, were the complete opposite to him. On my 15th birthday he gave me this power in an orb. I thought it was a peace offering but I was wrong. A few weeks after that, my mother died of a sudden illness; I think the bastard killed her,” she sobbed quietly.

She held back the urge to cry and continued.

“Things happened with the new abilities and I'd mastered invisibility in a few weeks time. At that point I could tell that my stepfather was a demon and vowed to kill him and as many others, including humans, that I thought were evil.

“Have you killed him yet?” Hiei interrupted.

Shaking her head, Shiori let an angry tear escape down her cheek.

“If I kill him now I will die too.”

Hiei watched as another bloody tear rolled down her cheek and he reached out to catch one. It crystallized just like his sisters tears did and he examined it more closely. A blue flame danced inside and something pulled on his hearts strings.

Without taking his eyes of the small sphere he asked confused, “I don't understand. How are you supposed to kill him?”

She brushed away the tears and pulled herself together before answering in sugarcoated malice, “It's cruel really. I either kill him now and die, or break this curse and let him live.”

No longer looking at the blood crystal he lashed out at her, “Why would you let him live?”

“Because if the curse is gone then so are my powers,” she cried angrily.

She heard her tears hit the floor and turned away from where she knew he was watching and lied back down.

“It doesn't matter,” she muttered. “There's nothing anyone can do to save me.”

He sat speechless as Shiori cried, admitted her defeat, and then fell asleep again. It angered him to know that she was giving up so easily, but it infuriated him even more to know that someone had so much power over her. He crushed the little ball in his hand.

`Yukina is friends with this girl, so she must know about the flame symbol and its relevance. I must know more about it.'

That thought in mind, Hiei moved away from the fireplace to the other side of the room and sat down in front of her. Like usual he leaned against the wall in his favorite position and fell asleep as well.

When Hiei awoke in the morning he found himself alone with nothing but a note and a blood fire sphere to entertain him.

 

Hiei,
I'm sorry for being a burden, but thank you for your hospitality.

-Shiori

P. S. - Please don't follow me anymore.

 

He crumbled up the letter and tossed it into the fireplace. As he watched the smoldering ash ignite the defenseless paper he remembered that he had more important business to attend to and set out for Yukina's.

Hiei ascended the steps to the shrine Master Genkai had allowed Yukina to live in and quickly entered.

Kuwabara, who was sitting on a futon, was the first person he saw after opening the door.

“Where is Yukina,” he asked urgently.

Kuwabara blinked a few times and then pointed at another doorway where Yukina stood holding a tray of tea. She smiled sweetly at her brother and moved across the room.

“Hiei. How nice of you to stop by. Have a seat,” she offered.

He sat next to his red headed friend and waited patiently for his sister to sit as well.

“So what brings you here?” She asked cheerfully.

“I need,” he paused, “some information.”

Yukina set the tray down between them and began to pour three cups.

“What kind of information?”

Hiei looked at Kuwabara trying to determine if it was best to discuss the matter in front of him and eventually decided to get on with it.

“I need to know about flame seals.”

“Oh. This wouldn't have anything to do with Shiori, would it?” She asked cautiously.

Kuwabara looked back and forth between the two and scratched his.

“Uh, I think I'll leave you two alone for a while,” he said and stood up.

Hiei watched his friend leave the room and uttered a “thank you” before turning back to his sister.

“You knew I'd come.”

Yukina sighed dreadfully, shaking her head, and thought of a good way to put everything into words.

“I found her, you know, three years ago in the spring. She was coughing up blood and screaming in pain before she fell silent and then slept for ten days,” she said miserably.

“Tell me about the seal,” he pressed.

Yukina fidgeted nervously where she sat, unsure of the reaction her brother may have.

“She doesn't want me to tell you,” she finally blurted.

“I don't care what she wants. I want to know about it,” he demanded.

“The seal locks the powers she has inside her body, and unless it is broken or her step father dies she will forever live in torment.”

“How is it broken?”

“The only way to remove it is by using a fire technique, hence the flame symbol.”

“Why couldn't she ask someone to perform the stupid technique? And, why couldn't she tell me that?” He asked haughtily.

“The only people the two of us know are you and her father, but I knew that you'd never agree. You'd have to be willing to shed your own blood, and I knew you wouldn't stand for that either. She just didn't want it to seem like she was asking you to break it for her.”

Yukina shed a tear and clenched her fingers in helplessness.

“She couldn't ask you and now she's going to die,” she cried.

“What are you talking about? She was fine yesterday,” he said calmly, trying not to upset her any further.

“She stopped by this morning to say goodbye. She's going to kill her father.”

“But why?”

“She doesn't want to endure the pain anymore.”

“That stupid girl. How foolish,” he exclaimed furiously.

He stood up abruptly and shook his fists in anger at his sides.

“That stupid, stupid bitch,” he growled out.

“Hiei, calm down.” Yukina tried to rationalize. “She's doing this with the best intentions for herself.”

“Herself? What about me, and more importantly, what about you? Where is she?” he flipped out.

“She should be on her way to the wooded area by the cave that held the Kaki barrier.”

In mid sentence Hiei deserted the room like a bat out of hell and left his sister to her confusion.

Kuwabara entered the room and hugged his girlfriend close to him.

“I've never seen him act that way,” he admitted.

She was still looking at the doorway where he stood when an almost pleasant thought occurred to her.

“He's going to try and save her, Kuwabara.”

“Maybe I should go and help,” Kuwabara released her and Kurama entered the room.

“No,” he said, looking in the distance. “This is one fight he needs to face alone.”

 

He ran in a blind rage to the location Shiori was supposed to have been, and whether he was angry about the scenario or at himself he had yet to decide.

It didn't make sense to him. He barley cared about what happed to his companions. Why would she be any different? He just couldn't explain it because he didn't know, and that only increased his irritation. To top it all off, she was going to throw her life away before he had the chance to take it himself.

`Was it so hard to have asked a question? Even if I would have said no, at least she would have known my answer, but to just assume is so foolish.'

He didn't know why he felt it, but he knew that if she died it was going to hurt him.

When he reached the place outside the cave he used his Jagan eye to locate her and he spotted her a few hundred yards away. She was still standing for the most part, but was clutching her shoulder in denied pain. Her energy began to waiver and her defensive maneuvers were sloppy; she was almost out of strength.

Whenever she was finally in plain sight distance he called out to her.

“Shiori!”

Against her better judgment she turned to face him and was instantly slammed to the ground.

“You should know better than to turn your back in a fight, Shiori,” her stepfather laughed psychotically.

She spit out a mouthful of blood and snapped back, “You shouldn't laugh so hard when you know you're about to die soon.”

Raising her fists, she flew at him from the ground and threw punches furiously in every direction; eventually, she missed and gave him the opportunity to punch her in the back.

Her body hit the ground at full force and air escaped from her lungs. Desperately she tried to stand again, but the merciless man smashed his foot down into her spine.

Summoning up a ball of orange demon energy in the palm of his hand, he smiled and said, “Goodbye, Shiori,” before firing.

As fast as possible, Hiei ran and kicked the man in the face as he fired his last attack. The ground where Shiori's body once resided now held a crater.

“You Bastard!” He slammed his fists into the mans face and his body crashed to the snow.

“What's the matter boy? Not hot enough for you,” he laughed.

“I'll show you hot. Dragon of the darkness flame!”

Shiori's stepfather's eyes bulged out of his head at the mere sight of Hiei's most powerful attack and held up his hands as though they would protect him. The dragon easily snatched up the mans body and set it ablaze before it devoured him completely and disappeared.

Hiei searched for any sign of Shiori's body and found her crawling towards the edge of a cliff. He followed the bloody trail of snow until he came across her cold, wet, and damp body.

“I'm willing to save you if you're willing to save yourself,” he declared, towering over her.

She slowly opened her eyes and reached a hand out to him.

“Tell Uki…that…I'm sorry for being…so selfish,” she whispered breathlessly as her body fell limp.

“You can tell her yourself,” he said, taking the bandages off his right hand.

“You can't die yet,” he shouted and removed his sword from it's sheath.

“You stupid bitch, you can't die. I haven't had my turn to fight you; if you're going to die it'll be by my hands. Do you hear me?”

He tore the clothing around her naval, sliced his hand with the blade of his weapon, and knelt down next to her. Giving everything he had left he pressed his palm tightly against her skin and unleashed the darkness flame into her body.

Her hair flared up around her and her body turned a pink color before a yellow orb shot out. Hiei pushed a little harder and removed his bloody hand from her skin. He gave her a bit more than he intended to, including some of his life energy and collapsed next to her with one arm draped across her stomach.

Shiori awoke alive and very cold with only a small portion of warmth around her waist to greet her. After sitting up, the warmth fell and she looked down to see Hiei's arm now in her lap.

Blushing in embarrassment she moved his hand and checked him to make sure he was still alive. His body felt colder than hers was, so she picked him up and began walking. Ever so slowly she began the journey back to his shrine, catching a cab once she made it to town.

She didn't have her powers anymore, so there was no more running at unusually fast speeds, but there was most certainly no long distance walks with a dead weight boy as her luggage.

“I didn't think anyone lived out here, Miss,” said the cab driver as he drove up the winding hillside.

“Well, that's just how we like things. Peaceful and secluded,” she replied while looking down at the boy in her arms. `That's how he likes it.'

She couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt, considering the entire thing had been her fault. Once inside the house she rested Hiei in the same bed she had preoccupied only a day ago.

It was freezing inside too, so she lit the fire to at least heat the room. She shivered in her clothing and realized that both she and Hiei were at risk of catching hypothermia. `Oh, man. I don't want to do this,' she screamed mentally.

Disregarding the thought she searched for extra clothes in the room, but all she found was blankets.

She sat Hiei upright and peeled the dethawing shirt off of him and then laid him back down. Reaching for the hem of his pants, she paused momentarily.

“I'm not a pervert, but I need to remove your wet clothes or you'll get sick,” she informed.

Sighing heavily she pulled his pants down and off his body to reveal boxers. Relief washed over her and she let out a breath she was holding.

“Those can stay on,” she laughed and pulled a blanket up to his chest.

It wasn't until now that she noticed his bandages were gone, leaving slightly charred skin in its wake. She touched his arm lightly; his skin was still cold.

“I'm sorry, Hiei,” she apologized quietly.

A cold droplet of water fell from the edge of her shirt onto her hand and then she remembered she was still soaking wet.

Standing, she grabbed Hiei's clothes and set them on the floor to dry in front of the fire. From there she moved to a corner in the room and stripped herself of her clothing with the exception of her underwear, and then proceeded to wrap a blanket around herself.

Within a few hours time her hair and Hiei's clothes had nearly dried completely. Comforted by the warmth of the room Shiori snuggled into the furthest corner and slipped into darkness.

Hiei awoke with a start a few hours later. It was still dark out and snow was falling very lightly outside the window.

`Where is Shiori?' came to his mind. He found her where she had fallen asleep in the corner with a blanket wrapped tightly around her.

He glanced around the room when his eyes landed on his clothing in front of the fire. `No wonder I'm so damn cold,' he thought, looking down at himself. `Hell, she might as well have taken it all off.'

Lying back down, a small, twisted small came to his lips. `Mine now.'

Mid day, when he woke, he was alone, again.

He groaned and stood stiffly. The blanket fell around his feet when he stretched and it brought a crude grin to his face when he looked down. `Damn that woman.'