Chapter Text
I woke up and felt all alone in the bed.
"Kurama?"
"Over here Hiei…" I stiffened. It wouldn't have bothered me except it wasn't Kurama that answered me. It was a voice I recognized from a long time ago.
I turned to face who had spoken and my eyes widened.
"Yoriko…" He had Kurama tied and gagged and was standing with his demon dog at the window.
"Bout time you woke up."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to get what's owed to me. When you finally pull yourself together go to where you took it all from me. I'll wait to take my revenge." he said and he left with Kurama.
Kurama had this confused look on his face. What happened with Yoriko was something that occurred even before I had met Kurama. Something that I wasn't proud of now, but back when I didn't care about anyone or anything it was a triumph.
And now Kurama was in the middle of it…
~~~~\/_\/~~~~
Yoriko placed Kurama on the chair and took off his gag.
"Kurama, is it? As in The Great Fox, Yoko Kurama?"
Kurama just stared at him.
"Well, well, this is a nice turn of events. I had heard you fled to the human world and were living here as a human. Looks like I'll be able to get two birds with one stone. There are plenty of demons who would be willing to pay a lot in order to get their hands on you once I'm through with my revenge.""What exactly do you have against Hiei?""My name is Yoriko. I'm a demon hunter. I hunt the thieves like you and Hiei for a price. A long time ago I was hunting Hiei. I came close to getting him quite a few times and even foiled some of his thievery plans. Then he finally came after me by kidnapping my lover…my human lover. He was beautiful. Long black hair and gorgeous blue eyes." Memories of his flower from a day long gone filled the hunter's eyes.
"Hiei kidnapped him. So?"
"I never said he returned him alive."
Kurama's face was in shock.
"It was at this very spot, right where you're sitting where he raped and killed him."
Shock turned to horror at the thought of it. He knew Hiei had killed before but he had always thought it had only been demons. At one point he himself wouldn't have cared, but after having grown up knowing human emotions and knowing love itself he was horrified at the thought.
Realization dawned on Kurama and he said, "So now you're going to do the same thing to me to get revenge? You realize that makes you no better than he was then."
"Yes I know."
~~~~0_0~~~~
"Are you prepared to live with the pain and knowledge that you took something that can never be given back?" I asked as I reached Kurama's side.
He looked at me with a mixture of relief and horror. Yoriko had apparently told him what I'd done. That had been one thing I'd never wanted anyone to know about me. At the time I hadn't cared.
But something made me realize that killing a human wasn't like killing a demon.
I looked at Yoriko, mainly because I couldn't bear looking at Kurama, and he replied, "Yes I am. And I've been waiting for this moment for what seems like forever."
I heard a growl behind me and felt myself fly forward. Yoriko's demon dog had me pinned on the ground and felt my hands and feet being bound.
"Don't even think of trying to get out. I hunt demons just like you everyday. I know how to make sure you can't get away."
I struggled even though I knew he was right. Kurama was going to pay for what I'd done and there was nothing I could do.
"You see Hiei, I was only going to kill your redhead, until I saw you two in bed.""You bastard!" I yelled at him. I knew someone had been watching us.
Yoriko turned me so that I was facing Kurama. I looked at Kurama and he had a blank look on his face. He knew as well as I did what was going to happen. He looked at me and whispered, "I love you Hiei."
Tears formed in my eyes as Yoriko tore at Kurama's pants. He was definitely a man set on getting revenge no matter the cost or what would happen later. He removed his own pants. I didn't know how I would make it through this. Kurama would be gone and I'd be alone again…no not again…like always.
I watched as Yoriko proceeded to push himself in and out of Kurama. Minutes went by, but they seemed like hours. Tears were pouring out of my eyes.
Kurama had tried to stay silent throughout the ordeal but eventually the pain got to him and he cried out.
I tried to turn away, but he had done a bang-up job of putting me into a spot where I couldn't turn.
Only rarely had I felt grief for what I'd done to someone else. I had told myself I felt regret over what I had done to Yoriko, but if the pain I felt now, the pain of listening the one I loved the most being hurt so badly, was anything close to what he felt…then I'd been lying to myself all along.
I shut my eyes tightly not being able to watch any longer.
Kurama's screams were bad enough.
Eventually the screams stopped and I looked up. Yoriko was obviously done and was going to finish the job.
Kurama's eyes were glazed over from the pain. There was a small, dark pool under him of what I could only assume was blood and there were bruises already forming on his thighs.
His cheeks were just as wet as mine.
As I stared at Kurama lying there quivering in a pile I saw a flash of spirit energy and Yoriko go flying. I tried to turn to see who it was when I felt my shackles being undone and a familiar voice saying, "Don't cry Hiei. Tears don't look as good as black does on you."
All I could do was stare at Kurama's savior.
-x-
Yoriko looked over to see who had interrupted his revenge and noticed I had gotten loose.
"I'll take care of Kurama. You do what you need to here." Yusuke said as he ran over and picked up Kurama's quivering body. It was a good thing he had taken care of Kurama cause I couldn't have done it. I'd have broken down.
Without saying a word I got up and walked over to Yoriko who was trying to untangle himself from some boxes.
I stared at him and for a moment I forgot everything. The guilt I had for what I'd done to Yoriko, the guilt and pain over letting that happen to Kurama, the pain of Kurama knowing I'd killed humans…even the love I had for Kurama and Yukina.
Everything I'd felt was gone.
And all I could do was hit him. I pummeled him and just kept punching him right in the jaw. Teeth and blood were everywhere and my knuckles were bloody and bruised, but I didn't care. None of it mattered.
A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away. I looked up at Yusuke and tears were in my eyes leaned down and wrapped his arms around me.
After the shock went over me I leaned into Yusuke and broke down crying.
~~~~T_T~~~~
When I was done crying Yusuke took me to the hospital where Kurama was being cared for.
As we sat there Yusuke looked like he was going to say something but he didn't. I just sat there and stared.
The doctor walked into the waiting room and recognized Yusuke as the one who brought him in. He got up and walked over to talk with the doctor.
He pointed over to me and they walked over.
"Were you the young man that Mr. Urameshi said he found unconscious lying next to Mr. Minamino?" came the gruff voice of the doctor.
Minamino…he was talking about Kurama. It would make sense though that Yusuke would use his human name for record purposes and say that I was unconscious seeing as he had no clue what had really been going on.
"Yes." I said quietly.
"Then let me tell you Mr. Minamino will be fine. He's a little battered and bruised right now and he might be in shock for a while but he should be ok."
"Can I go in and see him?" I asked.
The doctor nodded and I followed him to the hospital room Kurama was in.
He was lying on the bed wearing a hospital gown, staring out the window.
The doctor and Yusuke left the room shutting the door behind them.
We stayed in silence for a few minutes before I finally walked to his bedside.
"Kurama…" I started and stopped, not knowing what to say.
I took a deep breath and said, "I know this is all my fault. I was a demon completely through. He was a human so it didn't matter whether he lived or died. I just wanted Yoriko to get off my back and stop hunting me."
Kurama stayed silent a minute.
"Please say something." The tears started to form again.
"Hiei please leave. I just need to be by myself for a while."
His voice sounded so cold, distant and indifferent…not like my Kurama at all. But that could only expected after what happened.
"Sure." I said, my voice shaking. I turned and walked back to the waiting room, forcing myself not to just bolt at the thought of being turned away from by one of the two people who loved me.
Yusuke looked up at me and I sat next to him. He wrapped his arms around me and I just sat there. It may have been out of character for him to do something like that but it was a nice gesture.
Something a lot nicer than I deserved, especially now.
Silence was around us and we were silent for a while.
Eventually my tears and cheeks were dried and Yusuke asked, "Who was that guy and what was going on?"
I sighed. "Yusuke do you promise not to tell anyone what happened tonight?"
Without any hesitation he replied, "Of course."
I took a breath before continuing. "That man was a demon hunter. He chased after me for a long time before I finally shook him off my trail and got him to back off. I don't want to go into details but let's say that I did something I really am not proud of now. He finally tracked me down and now he's taken his revenge out on Kurama by doing the same thing I did to him." I left out the part of Yoriko not actually finishing his revenge. That would have been to much to tell so soon.
I was expecting Yusuke to stiffen at the shock but instead he held me tighter.
"Everything will be ok Hiei. Kurama is strong and he'll get through this."I grabbed Yusuke and held him back. "I hope so." Tears caught in my throat and I tried to hold them back.
We let go of each other and Yusuke got up to leave. It must have been late because we were the only ones left besides the staff.
"I'll see you tomorrow." he said as he walked away.
I nodded although he didn't really see it and I looked out the window. I hoped that Yusuke was right and that Kurama was strong enough…because this had nothing to do with physical strength which I knew he did have enough of.
-x-
"Hiei, wake up." I heard Yusuke say. I opened my eyes and saw Yusuke standing in front of me. I had fallen asleep in the waiting room.
"Kurama wants to see you."
I got up and forced myself not to run down the hallway to his room.
I swallowed, took a breath and opened the door.
"Yusuke said you wanted to see me?" I walked halfway over to him and stopped. He still looked distant, but more like himself than the night before.
"Yes."
He even sounded a little more like himself.
"I want you to know that I don't blame you even though your actions are what caused this."
He just kept looking out the window.
"Kurama, please look at me."
He turned and gave me a pained look before returning his gaze out the window.
My chest filled with pain and he started talking again.
"It may not look it, but I really don't blame you."
"You say that and you say that you mean it, but is it really true? If anything you should hate me beyond anything. If Yusuke hadn't shown up you'd have been killed and there wouldn't have been anything I could have done to stop it."
He was silent a moment before saying, "Yes I know."
"Then why don't you hate me?" It was unfathomable…something beyond belief. "With as much pain as I put you through…"
"Because it wasn't you who did it physically. Therefore I couldn't hate you. As you said, you were a demon who didn't care about the possible consequences of your actions. Therefore you could have never foreseen something like this happening."
He looked at me, his smile conflicting with the pain his eyes still held. "Everything will be ok Hiei. I promise."
"I'll leave you to rest now. The sooner you get better the sooner we can leave here." I told him. "I'll be right out in the waiting room if you need me." I smiled and walked out of the room.
He promised everything would be alright, and Kurama didn't go back on his promises.
As I walked back over to Yusuke and sat down he looked at me.
"So how did it go?" he asked.
"Pretty well. He said he doesn't hate me."
"You see! I told you he was strong."
I nodded and stayed silent. We sat there neither of us saying a word to each other for some time. Then something else he had said came back to me.
"What you said to me right after you knocked Yoriko out…it sounded like you were flirting or something. Was that it or was I just imagining it?"
Yusuke thought about if for a moment and then gave me his normal goofy grin. "Yeah I guess I was."
The smile left his face and he continued. "I just couldn't stand seeing you like that. Tears really don't suit you."
He stood up before saying, "I care about you Hiei. Just as much as Kurama does."
I stared at him stunned as he walked away.
~~~~0_0~~~~
It took a few days but eventually Kurama was allowed to go home.
"How are you feeling?" I asked as he got changed so we could leave.
"Fine." He said and smiled at me.
Over the last few days Kurama had returned to his old self but he still seemed a little distant. We hadn't had any kind of physical contact since that night, not even holding hands. He hadn't said anything about it and I didn't want to push. I was the reason of his pain and although he was strong I knew it would still be too soon. I didn't know how long it was going to take for him to really recover, but I was prepared to wait however long it would take.
It still hurt Kurama to walk a little so I was helping him get home. He kept his arm on my shoulder for support the whole way home…and I was happy for the contact and the closeness.
We got home and I helped him to the bedroom.
The doctor said he was bruised pretty badly so it would still hurt for a while.
"Kurama…" He looked at me and smiled, though it was still a little sad. "I…just…I wanted to know if you needed anything?"
It wasn't really what I wanted to say, but I didn't want him to get mad at me. Although I don't know why he would…or why I hesitated. I normally wouldn't have thought twice about it…
"No there's nothing at the moment." His smile actually looked happy now. I smiled back and started to walk out of the room.
"Oh and Kurama…" I decided to tell him anyway, even though I hesitated before. "I don't know how long it'll take you to recover but I want you to know that I'll be waiting for you no matter how long."
~~~~0_0~~~~
I sat outside of the room all night listening to him sleep. Kurama hadn't said anything about shutting the door so it was still open. I spent that night in a mixture of confusion and bliss.
Bliss because I knew Kurama really was going to be okay.
And confusion because of Yusuke.
He said that he guessed he was flirting with me. He said he cared about me as much as Kurama does…How was I supposed to react to that? I mean I loved Kurama more than anything else, but…it felt like there was something tugging me in another direction. It felt like there was something trying to move Kurama away from me.
Why else would Yusuke have "confessed" while the one I loved was injured and in a hospital bed. Why else would Yoriko have shown up when he did and done that to Kurama.
Sure there was always the mundane explanation of complete coincidence. That Yoriko had just finally caught up with me after long enough and that Yusuke happened to be going by when he heard, and recognized, one of Kurama's screams.
But I am a demon and mundane things don't work well with me.
Some energy was pulling us apart…but I wasn't going to let it happen. I would fight with every bone in my body against whatever force it was so I could keep Kurama. I had been alone long enough.