Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ I Don't Need a Hero! ❯ City Dreamin' ( Chapter 12 )

 

Kaya let out a heavy sigh, looking out upon the trees. From her spot sitting atop the stair case leading up to Genkai's temple, she could make out the faint outline of the city off in the distance. She could almost hear the sounds of car horns and chit-chat from people walking down the street, almost smell the air pollution and the sent of stale popcorn from the street vendors. Closing her eyes, she pictured herself walking around the city during the night, lost in the bright lights of Tokyo, as she often times did. As much as she loved the nature beauty of the forest surrounding the temple, she missed the city dearly.

 

Taking a drag of her poison stick, she blew out the smoke in rings and watched as they disappeared into the air. She hadn't been out of this place since they had brought her here, four months ago by her count. She had been quarantined in the temple, never once going further than the training grounds deep into the forest. She missed the hustle and bustle of the big city, the sounds, sights, smells, even the people.

 

She scoffed.

 

'Maybe not so much the people.... Just all the people watching I did.'

 

Flicking her cigarette down the miles of stairs, she leaned back on her hands looking up at the fading sky. She had just gotten back from another day of training with Hiei and, after a quick shower, she ended up here. She never would have thought she missed being around chaos so much. And that's just what the city was, utter fucking chaos. Not that being around here wasn't a cluster fuck in it's own right, but there was just something magical about the disorder of cities.

 

“Social quarantine...” She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of the wind hitting her pale face. The leaves in the trees were all different shades of deep reds, golden yellows, fading greens and pumpkin orange. This being her favorite time of year, Kaya felt strangely at peace with her mind and her problems didn't seem to bother her as much in this very moment. Sure, she wished to go visit the city, but right now she was totally content with just sitting here and feeling the wind on her face.

 

Sighing contently, she took in a deep breath of autumn air, feeling her body calm itself. She let out a small laugh, thinking to herself. She had noticed that ever since her and Hiei started spending so much time together, her anger seemed to be easier to manage. Her emotions seemed to be in check and her mind didn't feel like it was constantly bleeding, always in a state of jagged shock. She had realized that he made her feel better, though she didn't know why. Most of the time he was insulting her. But she didn't seem to mind it much. She could tell that a lot of what he said, the few times he spoke, was about 67 percent acting.

 

Unlike all their other friends, she knew him. She still couldn't manage to wrap her head around the fact that she knew him, felt everything he's ever felt, been everywhere he's been, fought everyone he's fought, killed everyone he has.

 

It was just so strange to her, to actually know everything about someone. Let alone someone like Hiei. She was glad that she did know, but she couldn't help the pain she felt from knowing. She almost felt like a whiny little bitch for thinking her life was bad... After seeing all of the things that shouldn't have, but did happen to him, she felt the need to make at least a few moments in his life happy ones. She honestly hoped she could, and she'd do her best to try.

 

“Hey, Hiei. I know you're some where around here. Please, come out.” She spoke softly, looking straight ahead into the distance.

 

Seconds later a darkly cloaked figure appeared out of the shadows of the tree tops, walking up to her and standing only a few steps behind her. He didn't say anything, and she knew he was just standing there, hands behind his back, eyes fixed straight ahead, waiting for the reason she called him.

 

Turning around, she smiled brightly up at him from her sitting position. “Would you like to accompany me to the city this fine evening?” She asked, the smile still planted on her face. She didn't figure Hiei as the city type really, but she was sure she could show him something he'd find interesting in such a big place.

 

“Hn. You are not allowed. You're lucky the baby even sent you to the human world for training.” He stated plainly.

 

“Oh, c'mon Hiei! It's not like I'm a threat, I am not dangerous for people to be around.” She rolled her eyes.

 

“Why would I want to spend my time following you around a human city?” He asked, one eyebrow raised slightly.

 

“Well, what else would you be doing? Sitting up in a tree?” She asked, pursing her lips in thought. “C'mon! Just this once!”

 

Hiei smirked and shook his head, turning to leave. Kaya sat there, deflated and defeated. Sighing, she rolled her eyes again and called after him, “Fine, be a lame stain! I hope you have fun with your tree!” She made sure that she stuck her tongue out at him.

 

Stopping, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. “If you want to visit the city so badly, go. No one is stopping you, but do not expect me to follow you around playing babysitter.” He said, turning around and walking back into the forest, leaving her sitting there, a little bit disappointed.

 

“Whatever...” She muttered, shaking her head. Getting up from her spot in front of the stairs, she walked back into the temple and went straight up to her room. Yusuke and Kuwabara were out of town for the night, citing “reasons we can't tell you”, and Kurama was with Koenma in spirit world, sifting through mountains of papers trying to find any new or over looked information. She wasn't sure about Genkai, but then again, it didn't really matter much. No one could stop her.

 

Grabbing a pack of cigarettes, her camera bag, what little money she had left and her MP3 player, Kaya started to head for the door but stopped, remembering her jacket. Looking around the room for it, she smiled when she found it laying on the back of her desk chair. The jacket itself was fairly old, made out of denim and was very form-fitting to show off the curves of a womans body. It was a pretty beat up old jacket, you could plainly see all the little holes from where she had once had studs in it, and all the places where she had sewed on and later removed patches, the denim was even starting to fray in some places.

 

All it had on it now was leopard printed fabric sewn around the sleeves and collar, a black back patch with the words “I HATE PEOPLE” in bold green letters, and a few pins here and there. She had bought the damn thing when she was about 13 years old and had it ever since, always surprised at how warm and comfortable it was.

 

Throwing it on, she headed towards the door, grabbing a hair tie off of her desk on the way out. Her mother had always made sure she had a hair tie around her wrist before she left the house and, as much as she hated saying it, she must have picked up the odd trait from her mother.

 

Tip-toeing down the stairs, Kaya had to wonder why she was being so careful all of a sudden. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper before slowly making her way to the front door. 'What happened to the “No one can stop me” thing?!' She thought, sliding the front door open, being extra careful not to be too loud. Finally, the door was open and she stepped outside into the quickly darkening sky and the cool air as she tried to silently shut the sliding door behind herself. Once it was fully closed, she let out the breath she hadn't noticed she was holding in and leaned back against the door. “Whew. That was more stressful than it should have been...” She muttered, pushing away from the wall and jogging back to the stairs to start her long trek down to the city.

 

As she made it to the top of the steps, she wrapped her arms around her tiny frame, feeling the chill in the air. She was glad she remembered to bring her jacket along for the trip. Looking down at the endless amount of stone, she sighed. It would take her a few hours just getting down them and out of the woods. Rolling her eyes at the sheer amount of stairs in front of her, she set her foot down onto the first one and froze. Hands in her jacket pocket, she turned her head and took one last look back at the temple she had been quarantined in for months, and promptly stuck out her tongue. Giggling, she merrily skipped down the stairs, a feeling of new found freedom and excitement overjoying her.

 

Spirit world.:

 

“Koenma, sir... I've been looking through the files for 3 days now without rest...” The blue ogre-like demon said timidly, bowing before Koenma's desk.

 

“What are you saying Ogre?” Asked Koenma as he narrowed his already closed eyes.

 

“Um.. Well, that is to say.... May I possibly ...rest for a little while?” Pure fear tainted the ogre's voice, causing his voice to squeak.

 

Koenma seemed to think about his minions request for a minute or two, tapping his chin in thought as he muttered a quiet “hmm” to himself.

 

“Very well then, Ogre. But only for an hour, then it's straight back to work!” The demi-god declared, ignoring the demon as he kissed at his feet, singing “Oh thank you Lord Koenma, thank you” before he dashed out the door to go find a nice sofa to nap on.

 

Shaking his head, Koenma sighed. He was about to get back to his paper work when Kurama walked in, a file in his hands and a sonic expression on his face.

 

“Koenma Sir, I've found something regarding Hikira split personality. “ He stated, handing the file off to the totaler behind the big oak desk.

 

The red head watched intently as the ruler of spirit world read over his findings. Kurama had been in the spirit world for a total of 4 days looking over paperwork trying to find something, anything he could that would shed more light on situation at hand. He was quite sure he was on to something when he came across an old file in the “decease” section.

 

Koenma looked up from the papers, eyes wide and month agape. “When can you leave?” He asked, smiling at the discovery.

 

“As soon as Yusuke and Kuwabara are ready to leave. I think it would be best for Hiei to stay with Kaya for the time being, to continue her training without the disruption.” Kurama stared.

 

Koenma nodded, calling for Botan. “They are on their way back from finishing border patrol in demon world. I'll have Botan send for them.”

 

Back in human world:

 

“That'll be $4.75 please.” The clerk said, holding out his hand as Kaya reached into her pocket. She had finally made it down to the city, some 6 hours later, and was so thirsty she didn't mind shelling out five dollars for a bottle of tap water.

 

The clerk on the other hand, gave her the creeps. He was a middle aged man, balding with rotten teeth and a shit-eatin' grin. She didn't like they way he was looking at her and decided she should get away from him as soon as she could. He kept on looking at her neck like she had some kind of a growth, his eyes starting to glaze over with some kind of feeling she did not wish to have revealed to her. She couldn't help but think that this creep and her uncle would get along.

 

“So... you like parties?” He asked, a little bit of spit flying off of his tongue and landing on her jacket. She had to stop herself from shivering in disgust.

 

“Um, no, not really.” She said quickly, handing him the money. When her hand accidentally touched his as she gave the money to him, she felt that much closer to puking. He had cold, clammy, sweaty, rough skin that just made her want to run away from him. It wasn't that he was creepy, because he was very creepy, but she just had this feeling... An awareness that she couldn't describe, but it told her to get away. Fast.

 

She watched with sick eyes as he rung up her purchase and handed her a receipt, which she took slowly as to not touch him again.

 

“You know, I have my very own boat. I can take you anywhere you want...” He said, licking his dry, crusty lips.

 

“I'm good with the bottle of water, thanks.” She mumbled, walking away at a faster pace then one would consider normal.

 

“Goodbye... my love.” He called after her, his voice seeming to change as he spoke the words “my love.” Kaya stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening to the size of plates. She couldn't help the shaking in her legs. She couldn't help the overwhelming fear running through her veins. 'I know that voice...'

 

Slowly, she turned at head to look over her shoulder at the man. What she saw had her running out of the store and down the street. The man was looking straight at her when she turned back, his eyes having changed from brown to purple. That purple, those eyes have haunted her dreams for months.

 

Pushing open the doors to the store, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, pushing past people on the streets in her attempt to get as far away from that store as possible. She knew it wouldn't matter how far, fast, or long she ran. If he wanted her dead right now, chances are she'd be dead.

 

“...H-Hideyoshi...!?” She whispered as she came to a stop in front of an alley way, as if speaking the name out loud would cement it into her head that he was actually hunting her. She hadn't even thought before she ran away from him, she had just ran. Like her legs had a mind of their own.

 

She sat there for a minute, just listening to her heart go “thump, thump” inside her chest, trying to calm her rapid breathing. She was having trouble sorting out her thoughts, figuring out her previous actions. She had no idea why she reacted like she had, why her body went numb with fear. It wasn't like her to be so scared. Sure, she has felt fear in the past, but never anything like that.

 

That kind of fear, that bone-chilling, soul crushing, stomach sinking fear was 400 times worse then any roller coaster she's ever been on. It was like everything froze, time, space, everything. All that existed was Hideyoshi, herself, and her overwhelming fear. The whole thing happened so fast, in all actuality it was probably only a few seconds, but she knew that that intense feeling of fear would be burned into her memories for the rest of her life, haunting her dreams and tormenting her paranoid mind.

 

Looking over her shoulder again, she decided she didn't want to stay in the same spot for very long and took off walking down the street, not caring where she was or where she'd wind up as long as she just kept moving. It gave a small sense of safety, moving around. It gave her mind a small glimmer of hope thinking that it would be harder trying to hit a moving target then one sitting still. Though she knew it wouldn't matter much since she was dealing with a demon... A dream demon no less, meaning he could be inside anyone of the people around her on the streets. Watching her every move, waiting to strike, waiting to kill.

 

'God dammit, I will not be reduced to some cowering fool! He's only toying with me, he's playing with my head. He wants me to fear my own shadow, and I'll be dammed if I let him get what he wants.' She thought, trying to reassure herself that Hideyoshi wasn't going to attack her tonight. She didn't know what he wanted, but if he just wanted her dead like he claimed, he wouldn't have been in hiding for months. He has had multiple opportunities to kill her thus far, and every single time all he's done was mess with her head, letting her know that he COULD kill her if he so wished, while not actually doing it.

 

Stopping herself from thinking like that, Kaya turned down a street she knew very well. Most of the 2 years she has been in Japan have been spent walking up and down this street as there was a local venue where she sometimes played, a coffee shop that sold the best tea, and a bong shop (that sold a lot of other things she was interested in, such as her hair dye) all on the same street.

 

“Good ol' Shi street...” She muttered to herself, taking a deep breath. She had to clam herself down. She wouldn't let Hideyoshi's appearance back into her life bother her, not tonight. Tonight was hers. Tonight was her taste of freedom, her escape from the ghouls and ghosts, the demons and the monsters of her new life. This was her night to put that all on pause and dip her toes into the puddle of her old life in the city. Her old life as a human.

 

As she walked farther down the street, she started to hear music. Normally she didn't like a lot of the music places like malls played, or a lot of stuff on the radio due to the lack of musical creativity the bands displayed. But this music was different, it was familiar. It was music she knew very well, in fact. It was her music...

 

As she walked close to the venue she was sure it was coming from, she smiled. Listening more closely she made out the voice of her friends, and old band mates playing the songs she herself had written some 4 months ago. Smiling at the fun she had playing with them, she decided she'd stop in and see them play. For the first time ever, she'd get to watch her old band play from the side-lines. It was a weird feeling. On one hand, she was happy that they had moved on and replaced her, they even sounded better then she remembered. But on the other hand, she missed playing the music very dearly and wanted nothing more then to be there with them.

 

As she stood outside the building, she stopped and took a moment to think. All the memories she's had here, all the good people, all the fun, the freedom. Her happiest times were spent in this very building. Tilting her head back, she looked up at the sign that read in font she herself had painted one year ago, “Welcome to the 434 house of muses.”

 

Sighing, she shook her head and opened the door, a blast of ear-shatteringly loud music hitting her in the face as she stepped through the door and into her forgotten home. She smiled.

 

With Hiei:

 

Hiei had gotten a “distress call,” if you will, from Kaya's mind a little over 10 minutes ago. He was sure that she didn't know she had sent him the call, for it was a natural reaction from someone with heightened spirit awareness and she wasn't used to having it, but he had picked up on her over-whelming fear and knew he was needed in the city. Jumping from tree top to tree top with the speed of the wind, Hiei noticed the way his blood seemed to quicken it's pace inside his veins, moving with the speed of his feet. Of course, that meant that his heart was beating abnormally fast as well.

 

Snarling, he quickened his pace and tried not to think about why his heart was “malfunctioning.”

 

'Hideyoshi must have finally made his appearance,' he smirked. 'Hn. Good..'

 

Truth be told, he was getting a little anxious himself. He had no idea why it was that the dream demon had chosen to go on such a long hiatus from attempting to kill the girl. He knew that in all likely-hood, it was simply to torment Kaya, to prolong her feelings of terror and fear, to torture her. Hiei wanted so badly to destroy that man since the first time he laid eyes on him. Hideyoshi had challenged him, mocked him, and for that he would pay dearly. The fact that he had been torturing Kaya for the past few months only served to deepen his rage towards the mysterious demon.

 

He wasn't sure if he consider Kaya to be a friend, but she certainty wasn't foe. More importantly, she was his assignment, his mission, his sentence. If something were to happen to her because he wasn't around her constantly, then Koenma would add on a few hundred years to his sentence, and he did not want that to happen. That is why he chose to watch her every move, not because of the mating season, or because he was actually starting to like the girl. No way!

 

“That's called denial.”

 

His own words from months prior rang into his ears, causing a loud growl to irrupt from deep in his chest. 'I'm definitely attracted to the woman. I won't deny that. This fact is being made much worst by the mating season, which is causing my unusual actions and thoughts.' He summarized nonchalantly.

 

'My conversations with this woman are strictly due to the change in season. The fact that I sneak into her room every night, the fact that I enjoy her sent so much, it is all caused by my demon nature. The season's change.' He rumbled in his head, sounding much like he was trying to convince someone, even to himself.

 

“That's called denial.” Again, his own words assaulted his mind, reminding him just how pathetic and hypocritical he was being.

 

'When I push her way too hard during trailing, just to see how enchanting her face looks when she's really, really angry. When I work her so hard the sweat from her body makes those little tops she wears stick to her smooth, soft skin. When I pretend to be angry with her, just so I can touch her; so I can feel that soft skin under my finger tips... All of these actions are cause by the season.' He thought, noticing his pants were getting to be a little too tight.

 

Cursing loudly, Hiei had to slow down his pace and force his mind away from the estranged woman and towards other, less arousing thoughts.

 

“Hideyoshi...” he growled, his boner sent straight into the dirt with the single thought of the other demon.

 

Growling at the memory of having ever met the pathetic excuse for a demon, he jumped down from the tree tops to run along the forest floor. He didn't sense Kaya to be in any immediate danger, in fact she seemed to be a great deal more relaxed now, even happy as it were. Still, the fact remains that he needed to check it out. He knew Hideyoshi had shown his face to her, though he couldn't figure out just why the hell she didn't return to the temple right after, instead she went deeper into the city.

 

“Stupid girl...” He grumbled, jumping out of the forest outline and heading straight for the city. Finding a nice tall building to stop on, Hiei perched himself atop said building and reached behind his head, up into his hair. Untying the white bandanna around his third eye, he closed his other two as the Jagan opened. It took a bit of focusing to be able to locate her in such a big city filled with thousands of other human nit-wits, but after only one minute he found her and sped off to her location.