InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Anshan ❯ The Rescue 11 - Burning Contemplation ( Chapter 33 )

The Blue Anshan

By Alesyira

Summary: Hiei contemplates the strangeness of the girl they're escorting while she rebuffs Kurama's attempts to be helpful.

Chapter Rating: T. Nothing crazy.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and Yu Yu Hakusho is owned by Togashi Yoshihiro. OCs are my own. I make no profit from this piece of fiction.

Author's Note:  (don't forget an occasion review y'know) Original Post Date 06/28/20

Arc 4 - The Rescue 11 - Burning Contemplation

the present

Nothing can burn Hiei. The hottest fires of Makai had yet to do more than warm his flesh and destroy some of his clothes. (Fans were definitely not cheering extra loud during Dark Tournament matches due to clothes being burnt away.)

Youko's comment about the girl's burning blood had stuck in his brain and refused to budge. How could blood burn? She wasn't high temperature. The plant toxin was supposedly sweet. He had heard of the alcohol burn that Youko mentioned, but he had yet to experience one strong enough to have any noticeable effect.

Her blood was like that?

He mulled over this in the back of his mind as they traveled once more toward this trouble she wanted to fix. He had nicked her earlier in the day, and felt brief regret that he had not indulged his curiosity to taste the blood along the edge of his blade. He'd expected that it might cause some violent murderous reaction based on some of the descriptions Youko had given earlier that day, but what he'd witnessed in the clearing between the two of them after Kurama had gotten his own taste was pretty much the opposite from an uncontrollable killing spree.

He glanced ahead and frowned at her noticeable limp. The wilted, motionless vine had barely shown any signs of life since they'd left the clearing, and she'd looped and draped its length over her backpack, tail, and shoulder to avoid dragging it behind her. She stroked it on occasion, looking worried. If it was draining her youki, she should want to be rid of it, not worried for its welfare. He scowled.

Whatever Kurama had done to help drag her back from death's doorstep hadn't fixed everything, but his delivery had definitely made her suspicious of him. She stiffly held her arm against her wounded side, and from the increasing scent of blood he was pretty sure her bandages needed to be changed.

Hiei wasn't the only one who noticed. The fox leaned close without touching her and whispered, "Your injuries still seem pretty bad. I can carry you, if you'll let me." Kurama had been persistent in trying to help the girl since they'd started traveling together as a group, either for her benefit or for his amusement (he suspected it was more for himself).

She shook her head and said she didn't want to be a burden.

She continued to limp but made a greater effort to hide her difficulties. Kurama tried again a short while later, "Here, just put your arm over my shoulder, and I can help support your weight."

She tried to hide her frown and put a small distance between them, again trying to politely dissuade the fox. "If I can't even stand on my own two feet, then it'll prove I'm more of a trouble in this realm than the assistance I'm trying to provide."

Hiei rolled his eyes. She was far more troublesome than she thought she was.

Kurama again tried to deny that she was any kind of burden, but she wouldn't hear any of it. Yusuke sighed in exasperation before muttering quietly, "Give it a break, man."

Not one to be deterred, Kurama tried one last time. "Let me carry your bag for you. It's the least I can do."

She tugged the straps tighter and carefully declined his offer, reminding him that she'd lost it once already that day and having it with her made her feel better. She sighed, staring ahead through the darkness of the forest lining the trail. "You shouldn't need to do anything for me, anyways. I'm the one causing all this trouble."

Kurama's disbelief and Hiei's amusement increased exponentially. *I never thought I'd see the day a female would turn you down over something so trivial.*

He could practically feel Youko's scowl of irritation, but Kurama's mild expression of dismay didn't reveal the inner turmoil of being denied so thoroughly. "Don't you trust me?"

She didn't even bother to glance at him before responding, "No."

Hiei almost laughed aloud. Yusuke didn't bother trying to hide his chuckle.

A few more minutes passed as they walked in relative silence before Yusuke yawned loudly. She glanced around at each of them and frowned. "You know, I don't know any of your names. These two know mine already from when we met earlier. I'm Kagome."

Kuwabara blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry about that! You can call me Kuwabara, and this jerk is Urameshi."

"Yusuke Urameshi," he corrected hastily, pushing in front of his friend. "You can call me Yusuke." He briefly looked her over with an eyebrow raised. "So you're really the chick I saw at my girlfriend's restaurant just before all the trouble started?"

"Uh, yeah…" she replied, her cheeks turning pink.

"So, were you kidnapped or no?"

She stopped and stared at him for a moment in confusion before she could get her feet moving again. Her thoughts bounced backwards to all the times she had been kidnapped. The ratio of adventures-to-kidnappings she'd endured had been pretty sad. She chuckled nervously and replied, "Not this time." And then she winced, her unease growing as she thought about how many additional questions that kind of response might generate. 'Ok, this is more attention than I meant to get…'

Kuwabara elbowed him harshly.

"Ok, that's great! Man, I love those noodles. What did you order there?" Yusuke changed subject abruptly, grinning sheepishly.

She relaxed marginally, thankful for the swift change in subject. "Oden. It was pretty good," she agreed. She really wanted to finish the job and get home, safe and sound, before being hammered with another round of twenty questions. She turned her attention to the flirtatious kitsune avatar. "And your name is…?"

His lips curled into a very suspicious smile, one that (had she not been very concerned as to his ulterior motives) she might have melted outright, but she still found herself smiling in reaction. "You may call me Kurama."

She tore her gaze away from his pretty green eyes and focused on the path before them. 'Gods, how much father away was this trouble supposed to be?'

A few more minutes passed in silence before Kuwabara added on one last tidbit. "The shrimp's name is Hiei. He doesn't talk much."

She bit her lip and tried not to smile.

-o-

They had been walking for the last hour at a brisk pace, the boys mostly keeping their distance from her to avoid potential plant interactions because none of them wanted to take more of Kurama's preventative unless absolutely necessary.

Kurama was less concerned about the plant attacking him after he'd ascertained it liked him and insisted on walking at her elbow ('in case she stumbles,' Kurama had made very clear) but Hiei was certain he just wanted to play with the vine as much as possible while attempting to get back on this girl's good side. As long as he didn't touch her, she ignored him entirely.

Hiei wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Maybe walk beside her for a little while —or at least brush past her— to see if she gave off any indication of that weird energy signature like he'd detected in the woods where the annoying male had vanished in a dusting of sparkling ash.

He hadn't even been able to sense the magic that had caused his hair to stand on end until he was practically standing in the unfortunate youkai's remains. If he hadn't known the irritating male had chased after the girl intending to kill her, he'd have never suspected the ashes belonged to him. Those ashes were like… he slowed down, the pieces falling into place. They were like he'd been burnt beyond all possible recognition. Its youki snuffed out, not just sucked away into the void of her plant, but cleansed by fire.

The others had been sent by the Reikai to fetch a human with traces of holy magic that had passed through the barriers. Was this burn what holy magic could do? Was it not some trinket hidden on her, and instead some innate trait?

He stared hard at her back. She seemed so …fragile. Human. Aside from the vine and her 'youkai' appearance, whatever she claimed to be was at complete odds with what she seemed to be.

She refused to tell them anything about what had happened, only that the loud-mouth wasn't coming back. He hadn't been able to detect a trace of any concern that the enemy had merely run off and could be returning at some unknown time. He could hear the certainty in her voice that there would be no further threat from that particular source.

Anyone new to close combat and the risk of death didn't just imply an enemy's demise with such emotionless finality. He suspected she had seen a fair share of death. To think she could be so young and human, even if she was an avatar, and have the kind of life that would expose her to such violence without ever coming up on any of their radars in the past was very hard to believe.

Something didn't fit.

~If you keep staring at her so hard, she might catch fire.~

Hiei scoffed internally and ignored the kitsune's prodding. All four of them were intensely curious but at a loss to understand anything about the strange female that led them through the darkening forest.

"Kagome, I've been meaning to ask… is this yours?" Kurama pulled out the thin silver band that Hiei had completely forgotten about. Her face briefly drained of color as she realized what he held. ~Strange reaction.~

"Y-yes." She exhaled a shaky breath. "I hadn't realized I'd lost it…"

He dropped it into her outstretched palm. "It looks like it is a kitsune-crafted piece, and I'm guessing it's at least a century old."

Kagome didn't look surprised at his observation. "It was given to me by a dear friend, and he told me it had belonged to his mother."

*That tone of voice says you have some competition to overcome for her affections.*

Youko smirked in anticipation of any additional challenges to his game. When she pulled her backpack around to her front to tuck the bracelet away, Youko preened with glee. ~If she doesn't want to wear it, then it could easily mean fair game.~

*She had it put away before we caught up with her the first time. Would you wear jewelry you cared about in a situation like this?*

Youko sniffed in derision. ~I'd wear a gift like that from my lover so that they'd always be on my mind as well as everyone else.~

*Not everyone is as vain as you are.*

Kurama shrugged and brushed a bit of dirt from his shirt.