Prolog

It had all been a blur at the time, fragments of my memory burning in my brain. Yet now, my memories of what happened then are still very clear in my mind, never faltering or fading, even when I wish they were. Cursed with my perfect memory, I wonder, will she ever let me go will she ever let me just fade back into the darkness and cease to be? I don’t know…nor do I know what to do next.
She lay before me; within inches was her bloody and beaten body. Ice jested out of her fair skin, just as it had me. How helpless I had felt, it had been a long time since I felt it. The last being when Urameshi had died the second time, trapped in that cage left to watch as that human slaughter him. How I wish I could have comforted her in some way, but alas that is not me. I am not familiar with Kindness as the Fool is, nor am I good with herbs and plants like Fox is. I, Hiei Jaganshi, am a fighter. That is all I know and all I will ever know. Form the very day I was born I’ve known nothing of love or the kindness of others. Only the bitter truth and coldness of the world which long forgot me. Our blood pooled and churned beneath us, staining her Icy blue kimono to the vibrant color of our eyes. Her Silky teal hair, tide back with her red bow, was soaked with blood. That was the one thing she toke pride in. I would watch for hours as she stroked her hair 100s of times with a brush. I never understood why she treasured it so much, but it made her happy and that’s all I could ask for. Yet here she was, dyeing before my eyes; dyeing from battle, which was my place, not hers.
In a moment her eyes fluttered open, eyes as dark as blood, one set staring straight into another. Slowly, painfully I reached out to her with finger tips drawn. They moved faintly, somehow and touched hers. I could feel it now that same old Circle closing in on us. She was to leave me soon. With her last bit of strength she squeezed my hand, causing a small groan to slip from my lips. Closing my eyes, I found I could only see a copy of what just happened. The silence was broken quickly by a quiet voice. “Nii-saanuh Nii-sanhh….NII-SAN?” the frail voice choked out heavy with pain and choked with blood that dripped from her mouth. My eyes stayed closed, fearing to open them and see what was before me. “NII-SANNN….”, the small voice cried again, trying in vain to crawl her way closer to me. I had no other options, my eyes slid open to see that small frail face worried and covered in blood.
There was a churning in the deepest part of my core in hate for what that bitch that had done to her and an unease that rocked me. She was going to die, I knew this. She was losing blood at a rate that not even the old hag or the fox could curb even if they were here now. Fox and the band of morons there still far off, they would never make it in time. But by then, she knew this as well. A small smile came upon her face despite the pain she must have been in. Her frail voice echoed in my brain, blood dripping from her mouth. A single tear fell from her large red eyes and rolled into my hand with a gentle thud, and rolled back slowly. Her small hand unwound its self from mine as the life in her eyes drained away, and she was gone. All at once I was alone in the silence. A surge of pain welled up from some here deep in sided a place I had never known before. For the first and last time tears poured down my cheeks mixing with the blood.
Finally I could hear the screams of fool, his footsteps heavy as he ran to her. Gently he pulled at her begging her to awaken. She did not. Kurama was at my side next; softly shaking my shoulder causing a shockwave of pain to surge threw every fiber of my being. A scream leapt from my lips as my vision doubled, then blurred out to nothing. For more the half an hour I faded in and out of the darkness in my mind. When awake all I could hear is people yelling, almost familiar voices with a sent and warmth that was also familiar. When in my mind there was darkness, a void and the replay of the hell that will forever be engraved in my brain. At last the darkness settled in and evened out. A faint voice called out, also a memory replying in my brain. Her last words, “Th-thank you….Nii-san-for eh-every thing. Please-ple-please tell him…..I’m Sorry”.

Kurama stuck the key in the elevator and turned it all the way around, stopping at the last number. His flat was number 13, the top most flat on the apartment like building. The Elevator buzzed grumpily then jerked upwards, rocking, shaking and sputtering in to half-life and half death. Never would he get use to elevators, especially the old ones that were on the verge of crossing the River Stix. Pulling off his gloves the red-head quickly stuffed them in the pockets of his coat, griped the brass rail that went around the inside, closed his eyes and prayed to inari. Finally the elevator slowed, jerked, then stopped at the very top, the doors popped open, and then with a bit of force, Kurama pried the old brass gate open and hurriedly walked out into his flat.
He walked no more than a few feet and yielded to the huddled lump on his wood floor. Kurama frond at the woman, she was half naked, shivering and curled into a crude ball mimicking a cat. For a brief moment his eyes wondered her body looking for any signs of bleeding or bruising. When the fox demon was satisfied that she was unharmed he shifted his attention to the other presence in his flat. Hiei sat on the window set on the other side of the room; he stared intently out the widow breath fogging the window further with every exhale. “How long has she been like this?” Kurama asked his short friend. “…How should I know, she was here when I got here…Bitch tried to bite me when I went to move her…” his voice trailed off in to hushed grumbles as he clenched his right hand. “…Alright” the red head replied as he stripped off his coat and stepped over the young woman on his floor.
The coat ended up on the tan colored couch as Kurama walked past and made his way through the flat. At some point Hiei had jumped down from his perch and had fallowed Kurama. The red-head made his way to his bedroom a medium sized burgundy and cream room with green accents. To the right of the door, in the corner of the room sat a large oak dresser to which he pulled open the bottom drawer. Within the drawer were a few hand-made sweaters and two well-made blankets. In one clean movement Kurama plucked the blankets from dresser with one hand and closing the drawer with the other, taking care not to shut his silky red locks in it. The first of the pair was a deep purple, an embroidered cartoon dragon lay to one corner and the name “Hiei” Stitched neatly next to it in a bright, overly saturated purple. Kurama snickered quietly while rubbing a thumb over the dragon, his mother’s handy work.
Once Shiori had learned the truth about Hiei, granted a VERY watered down version of the truth, she showered him in as much motherly love, hand-made clothes and baked goods as she possibly could. So far the small fire demon hadn’t made much fuss over the /foolish/ human woman, especially when food was involved. However he would recoil and flee the “goodbye hugs” and motherly forehead smooches to the safety of a nearby tree or roof. This was nothing a little raw meat and cleaver coxing couldn’t fix.
The other blanket was a rich Persian Blue and plushy soft. A silky, light blue trim was attached to this blanket, unlike Hiei’s. It reminded Kurama a bit of a baby’s blanket, soft, warm and comforting, though this blanket was much larger than a baby’s blanket. In the corner was stitched a woman’s name “Kayla”. Unlike Hiei, Kayla had taken to his mother’s doting far more polity, even if it was all an act. Hiei snatched his blanket from the fox, breaking his deepening thoughts momentarily. The short demon sneered at him then swiftly left for his window perch. A sigh escaped his lips as he rose to his feet forcing himself to walk before losing his mind to musing. The blue blanket draped over the young woman and every inch of her was sucked up by it with the exception of a few clumps of hair.