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~~STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY!!~~
Chapter Three
Kurama awoke to find himself on a futon. He sat up, confused. Then he remembered that he'd collapsed before they'd reached the temple. They must have carried me... he realized.
Hiei was asleep on a nearby futon. He hasn't woken up yet... If the fire demon had, he would have left.
Kurama rose and sat beside Hiei's futon. He smiled as he saw the totally innocent expression on the fire demon's face, knowing that it would disappear when the youkai woke. Hiei shifted in his sleep, sighing softly.
Kurama watched him sleep, wondering if Hiei would truly be okay. He his that boulder pretty hard. The fox fervently hoped that Hiei didn't have brain damage. He didn't know if Yukina's healing power would extend to something as complicated as that. On hindsight, he wasn't sure why he had tried to kill himself to save Hiei. He's your best friend, he chided himself. Of course you'd do anything to save him.
Hiei shifted again and let out a tired moan, slowly opening his eyes. He frowned, his brow furrowing. "Where..?"
Kurama smiled cautiously at him. "We're at Genkai's temple. You were hit pretty hard. You okay?"
Hiei sat up slowly and absently rubbed his forehead. "Hn..." Kurama grinned, relieved. The grin disappeared as the fire demon looked at him blankly. "Who are you?"
"Hiei's lost what?!"
Kurama sighed. The exclamation had come from both Yuusuke and Kuwabara, which would have been funny in any other situation. "He lost his memory."
Kuwabara sputtered some more, looking and sounding extremely stupid. Shizaru whacked him. "Shut up, baka!"
Boton's brow furrowed. "How bad..?"
Kurama looked away. "I had to tell him what his own name was." The redhead's voice cracked. "He remembers nothing."
Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then Boton spoke. "It's all my fault! I was too slow!"
Kurama looked up. "It's no one's fault. It was an accident. At least he's alive."
Yukina spoke up. "Kurama-kun is right. The best thing we can do now is be patient and help Hiei-san however we can." She sighed, frowning unhappily. "I'm just sorry that I can't heal this..."
Kurama turned as a floorboard creaked behind him. Hiei stood in the doorway. The boy looked at the redhead. "Kurama-san, who are all these people?" The fire demon's voice was small and uncertain, and everyone fell silent.
The fox smiled at Hiei. "Come in and I'll introduce you." The fire demon stepped in timidly.
Keiko stepped forward and smiled at Hiei. The fire demon too a small step back, moving closer to Kurama. "I'm Keiko-chan," she said perkily.
Yuusuke nodded. "Yuusuke."
Kuwabara looked at his feet, scowling. "Kuwabara."
Shizaru smiled slightly. "Oi. I'm Shizaru."
Yukina smiled at Hiei timidly and bowed. "I'm Yukina, Hiei-san."
Boton smiled, though she looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm Boton."
Hiei only nodded, looking very overwhelmed and a bit frightened.
Yukina smiled reassuringly at him. "Are you hungry Hiei-san?" Hiei glanced at Kurama briefly, then nodded. The Koorime beamed at him. "Follow me and I'll fix you something."
Hiei looked up at Kurama, his eyes uncertain. Kurama smiled. "Go on. It's okay." The boy hesitated for a moment, then followed Yukina from the room.
When they were gone, Yuusuke looked at Kurama. "He seems to trust you."
Kurama shrugged. "I'm the first person he saw. He's a bit shy."
Kuwabara stared. "Hiei?! Shy?!"
Kurama flinched. "Yes, shy. He doesn't know anyone and he's not the same person without his memory." Kurama sighed. "He may never regain his memory. Only time will tell..."
Hiei watched silently as Yukina fixed him something to eat. After a while, he spoke, his voice uncertain and shy. "Your name is Yukina-chan?"
"Hai." The girl set a plate in front of Hiei, smiling reassuringly. Hiei smiled back hesitantly. "Go ahead and eat."
Hiei nodded and began to eat slowly. After a moment, he looked up shyly. "It's very good, Yukina-chan. Arigato." He continued eating.
Yukina took his plate when he was finished. "Would you like some sweet snow?" she asked, using his term for it.
The fire demon stared at her blankly. "What's sweet snow?"
Yukina's heart sank. "That's what you used to call ice cream."
Hiei flinched and looked away, his cheeks flushing. "Gomen," he whispered.
The Koorime put a bowl of ice cream in front of him, sitting beside him with her own. "It's okay, Hiei-san."
Hiei glanced at her. "I...recognize you, like I recognized Kurama, but I don't recognize anyone else and I don't know who either of you are..." The boy looked away. "I don't even know who I am..."
Yukina touched the fire demon's shoulder. "Would you like me to tell you who you are to me?" Hiei hesitated, then nodded. "To me, you're like an older brother. You've always been there for me, and you're the strongest person I know."
Hiei refused to look up. "I...I don't remember. G-gomen..."
Yukina gently touched his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Your memory will come back in time."
Hiei was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked at Yukina warily. "Yukina-chan? Would you...be my sister?" He looked away. "I mean, if you want to...You know, until I remember everything..?"
To the boy's surprise, Yukina hugged him tightly. "Of course I'll be your sister. As long as you'll be my brother."
"Hai." He returned the hug gratefully, not understanding why he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart.
The door to the kitchen slid open and Hiei let go of his new sister. "Hello, Kazuma-san," Yukina said to the orange-haired man that walked in. "Are you hungry?"
The man nodded, smiling kindly at the Koorime. Hiei shifted uncomfortably as, as soon as Yukina turned around, the man glared at him. Hiei realized that the man hated him. The boy left the table quickly and retreated from the room.
Yukina turned in time to see Hiei disappear. "Hiei-san? He didn't even finish his ice cream..." She looked at Kuwabara, who had since wiped the nasty look from his face, confused. "Why did he leave?"
Kuwabara shrugged. "Dunno."
Yukina sighed softly, wondering to herself why Hiei had left so suddenly.
Hiei wandered around the temple, avoiding people. After a while he came upon a large room containing a huge statue sitting in a niche in the wall. The fire demon crawled behind the statue, wondering what he had done to make the man who had introduced himself as Kuwabara hate him. Eventually, Hiei fell into an exhausted sleep.
Gee, I make Kuwabara come off as a real jerk. Oh, darn...Anyhoo, I'd best get typing again. Ja!
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