Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Vacation Time ❯ Chapter Twenty-Nine ( Chapter 29 )

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Reflections

 

Hiei's POV

 

I sat down on the couch, pouting and rubbing my cheek. Ever since Kaline had slapped me, the pain had increasingly become worse. The cat demon had cast some sort of spell over me as punishment for hurting her best friend.

 

At the thought of Cassie, my annoyance faded to sadness (which I hid behind my stoic face). She was crying, and I did not even know why. Supposedly, I was the cause of her pain; at least, that is what Kaline had said. According to the kitsune's girl, I had broken Cassie. If I had indeed hurt her, then it had been accidental. I would never willingly harm her. Hell, I loved her; I tried not to hurt people I loved.

 

What Kaline had said still bothered me though. She did not lie; in fact, she was a horrible liar. If she claimed Cassie was crying because of me, then it was probably true. Damn.

 

I just could not figure out what I had done to hurt her so badly. I had not said anything insulting to her, nor had I left her in the middle of the night. I hadn't raped her; she had been more than willing. Last night, she had seemed just fine, but this morning had been different.

 

Flashback

 

I woke up, stretching out an arm to feel where Cassie was. I found nothing but air. Frowning, I opened my eyes and quickly realized that I was alone. I was the only one in the room.

 

Silently cursing, I got out of bed and quickly threw on a pair of double- belted black pants and my favorite blue muscle shirt. Then, I used my nose to search for Cassie. Luckily, she was in heat. That fact made her scent very easy to follow.

 

I didn't quite understand why I was looking for her. Maybe it was because I enjoyed her company; maybe I wanted to repeat the previous night's events; or maybe I just wanted to hold her. Whatever the reason, I wanted to find Cassie.

 

I followed her scent out of the room, down the hall, and right out the front door. When I stepped outside, the tempest instantly greeted me while I cursed it. The wind and rain had erased all of Cassie's scent. Damn it!

 

Scowling darkly, I walked around the beach house, keeping my eyes open for Cassie. Luckily, I found her in one of my favorite trees, just sitting there. She looked like mother nature herself as she let the rain lash at her and the wind violently tousle her hair. I stayed still for a moment, admiring the beautiful girl that would soon be mine. All I had left to do was mark her.

 

A small smile on my face, I ran and leapt up onto the same branch as Cassie. "At least you like trees," I commented, letting her presence relax me. Only Cassie could have that effect on my body.

 

The girl didn't reply with a hello. Hell, she didn't respond even remotely how I thought she would. "Hiei, do you remember what I said last night before we fell asleep?" She gave me a hopeful look that tugged at my heartstrings.

 

I nodded my head. "Yeah. Why?" She had said 'Wow, indeed' to my exclamation of amazement (which had been wow).

 

"So you remember, but you have nothing to say back to me?" Cassie asked, pain in her eyes. She looked crushed for some reason; however, I couldn't figure out why.

 

"No," I replied. "Should I?" I carefully watched her expression, hoping that I could find a clue as to why she seemed so upset.

 

The drenched girl turned away from me, obviously refusing to meet my eyes. That was not a good sign. "Never mind," she told me, hopping down out of the tree and walking away.

 

I felt my heart twist painfully in my chest. Cassie, MY Cassie, was actually walking away from me. What in the world was going on?! She had never walked away from me before.

 

Frowning about how things were going, I went after Cassie. With my speed, I easily caught up to her and gently pinned her to the side of the house. I didn't want to hurt her, but I also didn't want her walking away from me.

 

"What is your problem?" I demanded to know, my voice a little harsher than I meant it to be. Old habits, like my cold attitude, were hard to break; but that didn't matter, damn it! I was supposed to treat her better than everyone else. I loved her. She was going to be my mate for life.

 

I watched Cassie's face, worry in my eyes. I wanted to know what was wrong; but if she didn't tell me, then I would never find out. I needed to find out so I could help fix the problem.

 

The smile she gave me in reply was so sad that my heart ached for her. Only Cassie could make me feel so bad just by giving me a look. "What if I don't want to play Jane to your Tarzan?" she inquired, voice so soft that the wind almost carried it away.

 

That dumbfounded me, as I had never heard that phrase before. Who or what were Jane and Tarzan? She was making absolutely no sense. I shook my head to clear my thoughts so I could continue to talk with her.

 

"And what is that supposed to mean, Cassie?" I asked, my confusion apparent on my face.

 

"Figure it out," Cassie told me. "I'm done talking to you."

 

I was completely and totally shocked by this. She didn't want to talk to me... didn't want to explain things to me. Also, it was obvious that she wanted to get far, far away from me.

 

This realization rocked through my body, and I stepped away from her, the hurt most likely visible in my eyes. She took the opportunity and ran into the house. My eyes followed her until she was no longer in sight. While leaving, she hadn't looked back at me once.

 

I sighed and let the storm beat at me for a minute or so before I followed Cassie inside.

 

End Flashback

 

Things had not become better when I had gone inside. I could not find Cassie, and when I had entered into our room to change into dry clothes, she had not been there waiting for me. It had been disappointing and rather confusing for me.

 

After I had finished getting into dry clothes, I had gone out into the dining room and found Kurama. I had him for some advice, but I hadn't been able to talk to him for very long before Kaline had entered the room. Listening to her cuss me out had been a totally new experience for me. The slap had been even more surprising. She had NEVER hit me or cussed at me before. The fact that she had cast a spell over me hadn't helped my confusion at all. Actually, the pain had made it even harder to think.

 

I sunk deeper into the couch as I felt the pain spread. Normally I could block out pain, but the spell obviously kept me from doing so. Stupid, annoying, magical spell. I had the greatest desire at that moment to strip Kaline of all her magic. That girl was too dangerous when she used her special powers.

 

Things weren't becoming much better, and I couldn't even find Cassie. Kurama hadn't been much help. All he had said was I should apologize to Cassie for whatever I had done. What good was that advice when I couldn't find her to apologize?

 

Then, on top of that, Kaline had cursed me. Damn it all! All I wanted to do was talk to Cassie, figure out what was wrong, and fix the problem. I wanted Cassie to stop crying, and I wanted to rid myself of the ache in my heart.

 

I almost sighed when Botan and Keiko entered the living room, glaring at me for a moment before going into the kitchen. They had probably talked to Kaline because they were obviously angry with me as well. Stupid girl network. I had honestly thought Kurama had been joking when he had told me about the girl network. He had said that the instant a guy hurt one girl, all the other girls hated the boy for it. It was just my luck that he had actually been serious during that discussion.

 

When lunch finally came around, I skipped it. All it took to convince me to do that was everyone except for Yukina and Kurama glaring at me. I never liked it when people gave me the Look while I was eating. It was just plain annoying. Of course, I didn't feel like dealing with Jin either. During the brief moment I had seen him, he had looked ready to murder me.

 

So, while everyone else ate, I went searching for Cassie once again. She was still in hiding, and Kaline was not going to help me find the girl any time soon. The cat demon was still pissed as hell at me.

 

Whatever luck I had once possessed had obviously deserted me. I couldn't find Cassie, couldn't smell her, and couldn't sense her. If I had marked her, then locating her would have been simple. Of course, I had been stupid and tired last night, so I hadn't marked her. I was paying for my stupidity now.

 

I gave up after a while and went into sunroom. Taking a seat on the ground, I allowed my mind to wander as well as it could. It was hard to think with my cheek throbbing with pain.

 

Giving a very small sigh, I recalled the last time I had been in the sunroom. I had been sunburned and just plain relaxing when Cassie had entered and given me the aloe massage. It had been wonderful, and I had enjoyed every minute of it.

 

That day seemed so long ago, even thought it really wasn't. So much had happened since then. I remembered kayaking and laughing after I had tipped her into the water, accidentally walking in on her while she had been changing, swimming and playing Marco polo, and the horseback riding incident. My mind recalled each incident in vivid detail, making me smile slightly despite the situation and the pain. A memory of Cassie laughing made me full out grin.

 

At that moment, I realized that I could not imagine my life without Cassie. In my mind, I had already twisted our futures together. Ever since the luau, I had considered her my mate-to-be. Now that things were so uncertain, I was very unhappy.

 

I already missed Cassie far more than I had ever thought possible. She was avoiding me, and it was my fault. I had done something, but I couldn't recall for the life of me what I had done. She had probably given me a hint sometime today; I just had to figure out what the hint was and what it was hinting at.

 

"Hiei, do you remember what I said last night before we fell asleep?"

 

Cassie's question from the morning rang through my head very clearly. I could even see her hopeful face in my mind, practically begging me to give her the answer she had wanted.

 

She had said something to me last night, something important. The question was... What had it been? Shit. Why couldn't I remember? I remembered her little comment, snuggling underneath the covers, me shushing her...

 

Wait a minute? I had shushed her? Why?

 

Then it hit me. Dear Kami... she had said that she loved me, and I had shushed her! No wonder she was so devastated. I could not even imagine what she thought of me, especially after our exchange earlier. I had caused her tears and her pain. Kaline had been right. Damn it. I needed to find Cassie, and now I at least knew what the problem was.

 

I stood up and left the sunroom. Instantly, I was greeted by the most wonderful smell in the entire world --Cassie's scent. Either Kaline had undone some of her spells, or Cassie had left her hiding place. I did not care which it was. All that mattered was going to my future mate and repairing the damage I had done.

 

Taking a deep breath through my nose, I followed the scent straight to the room I shared with the girl. Cassie was inside and, as far as I could tell, alone. Bracing myself for anything and everything, I opened the door and went inside.