Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Mute ❯ Addiction ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: obviously I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

Author's note: recently I found that someone has copied this story from me off of another site that I post on. So I decided to put up the real thing since the original fiction is obviously better than the duplicate. Just a note to other authors out there…don't steal, eventually the other person will find out about it…and they'll be pissed.

 

 

 

Addiction

 

 

Niobi rested her head against the soft pillows and blankets underneath her. Never had she felt such plush fabric before and she couldn't help but giggle and pounce on their feel.

Genkai stood at the doorway of the child's room, watching the tiny thing play on the futon.

She still couldn't understand the girl's power. Even now, the master could sense little spirit energy from her. But…why was she able to produce barriers?

Yes, barriers.

Genkai had enough sense to know what she was dealing with and once she had seen Yusuke and Kuwabara get close too the girl, well, that had been all the proof she needed.

The child had a barrier around her. An extremely strong one.

Niobi managed to ambush an unsuspecting pillow and growled playfully as she kicked it off the bed.

For a moment she paused as she felt around for the cushion.

After failing in her search, the girl let out a disgruntled noise and then a low keening whine.

The small master smiled to herself as she took a few steps toward the futon. The girl was too busy wondering on the pillow's location to notice the older woman and Genkai was able to get within a few feet of the bed.

She watched the girl search while she bent and picked up the cushion at her feet.

Then she tossed it back on the bed beside Niobi.

Instantly the child froze as the pillow hit the firm mattress.

If Genkai ever felt she had made a mistake in her long life, it was now.

The master watched in distant fascination as the small thing bit her bottom lip and lightly touched the pillow, almost as if she expected it to leap away on its own accord.

After a thorough poking procedure, Niobi seemed very much satisfied that the pillow was again immobile.

She squirmed on the mattress for a few more minutes, looking as if she were trying to figure out just how the cushion had come to be at her side.

With the tension gone, Genkai found herself wondering on the child's thought process in morbid interest. Never had the elder master known any handicap against her senses, and frankly, she didn't think she would survive long without them.

But this girl had lived her entire life not knowing a spoken word…how did the thoughts in her head actually go anyway?

She certainly wouldn't know how to speak being that she was deaf…there couldn't be images in her mind because she was blind…so how…?

Genkai furrowed her brow and decided the girl must think on `smells' or `feels', though that didn't really make much sense.

The psychic studied the small thing with scrutiny.

She was terribly undersized for a girl her age.

`But, then again,' thought Genkai, `so am I.'

Other signs of the abuse were apparent, the stark paleness of the skin, the blue, black, and red marks on her that varied richly in size and shape, and especially the premature grey in her otherwise black hair.

The master hadn't needed to ask on the child's past, it was obvious to anyone who looked, that the girl had been beaten.

But she had been informed rather bluntly on what other afflictions had come to this thing during her short life.

It really did sicken the psychic to learn of that news.

How anyone could do such atrocious….

But no….

It certainly wouldn't do her any good to go on brooding over it again like she had the previous night.

A sudden grumbling noise interrupted her hazardous thoughts and Genkai blinked and looked to the child.

Did she just growl?

No….

The grumbling sounded again and the master smiled when she confirmed that the sound was indeed coming from the girl, but her stomach was making the noise, not her throat.

It came as no real surprise to Genkai. After all, the girl hadn't eaten in at least a day and a night.

The master left the room and returned quickly with a small table of rice, fruits, vegetables, noodles, and even small pieces of hardened sweets hoping that the child would like something from the wide assortment.

Niobi was whining quite pitifully and rubbing at her empty stomach when Genkai entered.

Immediately the master fought not to laugh as the girl sniffed the air and held out both her hands greedily.

“Bah, bah, na!” the small thing cried, trying to convey her feelings.

The psychic was unprepared for the sudden rush of sympathy that swept over her then.

It truly wasn't fair….

Niobi seemed immune to such feelings as she bounced on the bedding with renewed vigor.

“Unh!” she cried out.

Genkai could understand well enough what the girl wanted…she was psychic after all….

But…just how was she supposed to get close enough to the child to feed her?

Would the girl let the barrier come down?

The master mused on these problems as the girl made up her own mind about how she was going to get what she wanted.

Without hesitation, Niobi came off the futon and crawled to the small master and the tray of food.

Genkai kneeled on the floor very slowly and sat crossed-legged waiting for the child to find her way.

She wondered briefly on the matter of dressing the girl in something more proper, seeing as she still went in Hiei's long cloak and nothing else, but quickly decided against it.

Who would care if the girl went around stark naked or not?

The only other being here was Genkai herself.

She stiffened slightly when Niobi managed to come within reach.

As if sensing the master's tension, Niobi stilled, staring at nothing with her bland grey eyes.

The psychic willed herself to relax and sighed in relief when the girl came toward her again.

Her tiny hand hit the tray and she halted before sitting on her knees like a proper lady and waiting patiently.

But waiting for what exactly…Genkai didn't know.

Five very slow minutes passed where not a sound was made except for the grumblings of a starved stomach.

When the elder woman grew tired of waiting, she picked up a purple grape with her fingers and placed it at the entrance to the child's mouth.

Niobi promptly opened her mouth and allowed the food to pass her lips. Genkai just managed to snap her hand back before a set of white teeth snapped shut.

Oh Inari, the girl didn't even know how to feed herself?

Or was she trained to sit like a pet?

The psychic tried her hardest not to be annoyed…but it was beginning to be difficult to control her frustrations.

A sharp beeping noise soon caught her attention before she realized it was the communicator Yusuke carried with him.

`Figures that idiot would leave something so important laying around….'

With a quick glance at the girl, the woman quickly went to turn off the damn thing.

 

~~~~

 

Hiei didn't think he could be more furious if he tried…and that was saying something.

How dare the old wench leave the child alone and hungry?!

Whatever Koenma had to say through that blasted device could wait surely!

The fire koorime had been in the same tree for over four hours now, just watching over what he considered his new charge.

He still couldn't understand why he was so concerned about the girl, but he had firmly decided not to think about it.

When exactly fifteen seconds had passed since Genkai's exit, Hiei's suspicions were confirmed that she was not a sound guardian.

Which obviously left it to him to properly look after the little Niobi.

With a huff of great annoyance, the small demon flitted from the tree he was in to the window of the girl's room.

He landed on the floor with a heavy thud, trying not to startle the thing into hiding again.

He was most surprised when she turned to him and smiled a smile that made his heart pause as if it were gasping.

She giggled happily, like she was greeting a loved one.

`A loved one….?' thought the demon.

It made him feel suspiciously warm and tingly when that statement passed through his mind and he quickly shook his head and stalked over to the girl and the tray of food moodily.

He grunted again as he sat right beside Niobi, immediately snatching up a piece of mango and shoving it toward her giggling mouth.

She blinked in surprise before sucking down the sweet fruit with a loud slurp.

Hiei could have sworn he bodily twitched when her tongue brushed against his fingers when she took the offering.

Again he shook his head in hope of clearing the unnecessary thoughts that plagued him.

His only concern was her.

The demon sniffed at the food other than the fruit and candy.

He never much had a taste for rice, he didn't like the word `noodle'…and he hated the way vegetables felt in his mouth. Too soggy and wet.

He huffed at the thought that Genkai hadn't brought any meat for the child when it was clearly obvious that it was what she needed.

The half koorime went in this manner for many long minutes, continuously feeding the poor thing that waited patiently for his every offering to her opened mouth.

Neither noticed that the psychic had returned and was watching their interaction with avid interest as her mind began to brood on Hiei's new addiction.