#disobeying hus father is going to get him executed.... but he is being executed for being just someones son. okay i am normal

[jeichanhaka]

Right Here Waiting

Chapter 4: Faint Repentance

Two hours later, after Hiei had awoken and fallen back asleep for the fifth time, Genkai looked at the cub curiously, as Karai stared at it as well eyebrows raised.

"I'm telling you, there's something about that cub that sparks Hiei's nightmares. He sleeps fine until Ku-chan bothers him; maybe its presence unconsciously reminds him of…of that time." Karai muttered, seeing Genkai pick up Ku-chan who struggled against the old woman.

"I don't have the patience for this." Genkai muttered, walking toward the counter and taking out a bottle of pills, forcing one into Ku-chan's mouth. As soon as it was swallowed the fox cub's eyes closed, sleep consuming it. "That'll keep him out for at least six hours. Hopefully Hiei does sleep peacefully during that time."

"I say there's something strange about that cub, he seems to not want Hiei out of his sight, like he's possessive." Karai mumbled, staring at the fox cub darkly, suspicious of it.

"You're just angry, because he bit you, though how a young cub like Ku-chan could penetrate a demon's skin is beyond belief." Genkai replied, staring at Karai's bandaged side, a little annoyed that the demon refused to put his shirt back on—though she guessed he was annoyed at her refusal to heal him. (She may not be openly hostile, but she still had trouble forgetting and forgiving Karai for his stupidity and what it caused).

"I'm not just angry—there's something suspicious about that cub, of all the places he could've bit me he bit me on that scar—perfectly, he didn't hurt any of the surrounding skin, just the scarred skin."

"What's so amazing about that? You have plenty of scars all over your sides—what's so special about that scar?"

"It's the scar my br…my…oh, never mind."

"That's enough about talk about scars and foxes—we have another situation to deal with." Koenma butted in, relieved when neither Genkai nor Karai interrupted. "It's fortunate we found you, Karai, I need you to revive someone for me."

"What? Who?"

"Keiko Yukimura. I would do it myself, but ever since I allowed Yusuke to revive as a demon, disobeying an order from my father, I haven't been able to execute my power freely in Spirit World."

"Huh? But your father gave you permission to return to Spirit World and resume your duties…." Genkai spoke up surprised.

"That's all he's given me permission to do—I don't have back all the privileges of being Spirit World prince; which was another of the countless reasons we couldn't revive Kurama."

"So your father still hasn't forgiven you for disobeying his order? Sheesh…."

"So…who's this Keiko? I'm assuming she's human since you know I can't revive a demon right now." Karai spoke up, still keeping an eye on Ku-chan.

"Yusuke's girlfriend—and fiancée, though technically he hasn't given her the ring yet."

"…okay, I'll heal this girl. Just tell me where she is."

Meanwhile, in the room where Hiei lay sleeping, no longer shuddering from nightmares, a slightly bright white light appeared similar to the one surrounding the figure in the forest. Hovering above the sleeping fire-demon, this ball of white light morphed into a more humanoid form, floating in the air in a sitting position, staring at Hiei's face as the fire-demon slept.

Long strands of silver blond hair fell passed the glowing figure's broad, smooth skinned shoulders, the white light dimming the pale color of its form making it almost impossible to distinguish anything else from the light. After a few moments of hesitation, the being moved its right arm to the fire-demon's cheek, running its fingers delicately along Hiei's cheek, and then pulled away, wonder written in his eyes—yellow eyes filled with questions and passion, contrasting with the indeterminate color of the rest of its form.

"Want…Kurama…want my fox…." Hiei mumbled, still asleep turning away from the glowing being as it inched its slender pale hand back to the fire-demon's cheek.

"Heh, you prefer him." The glowing figure mumbled, chuckling quietly, changing to a kneeling position beside the fire-demon, watching him sleep.

While the figure knelt next to Hiei, watching him sleep, Koenma brought Karai to where Keiko was, at Yusuke's apartment, lying on a fluffy bed with Yusuke sitting on a chair next to it. Kuwabara also stood in the room, grief and anger etched on his face. Looking up when Koenma entered, Yusuke blinked away the moisture in his eyes until they were clear enough to see the person with Koenma thoroughly.

"What is he doing here?" Yusuke demanded of Koenma, eyeing Karai with anger and suspicion.

"He's here to revive Keiko." Koenma replied, pausing for a moment before continuing. "I haven't gotten the privilege back to revive anyone I wish to, so Karai's the only chance we got to revive Keiko."

"Urr…are you sure he can revive a human or is he just going to back out and say he can't?"

"I can and will revive Keiko whether or not you trust me to do so." Karai replied, ignoring Yusuke afterwards, stepping beside the bed and placing his left hand on her neck. A golden aura of energy radiated from his hand enveloping Keiko's body completely. Closing his eyes in concentration, Karai mumbled an unintelligible chant, after which the golden aura glowed brighter and clearer. Continuing to concentrate, Karai ignored the growing throb from his side, determined to succeed in reviving the girl no matter what it did to him. After about five minutes Karai stopped mumbling the chant, moving his hand away from Keiko and sitting back, finished.

"Now all we have to do is wait for her soul to enter her body." Karai spoke, trying not to grimace in pain as the pain from his side pulsated from the wound, spreading throughout his body; he failed, but nobody noticed as they were all waiting for the brown haired girl to revive completely, sighing with relief when she stirred, sitting up on the bed.

"Keiko…." Yusuke whispered, wrapping his arms around her, tears of relief and happiness streaming down his face.

"Yusuke…." Keiko responded by putting her arms around Yusuke holding him close to her.

While Yusuke's, Koenma's, and Kuwabara's attentions were on Keiko, Karai left, clutching the wound on his side, determined not to ruin the happy occasion with his problems. Of course, he already expected to feel weak after reviving the girl—he hadn't recovered enough energy to be unscathed after using his powers, something he failed to mention to Koenma, but Karai figured it didn't matter what happened to him, after all he was the reason Kurama was dead. All he wanted was to repent for his stupidity of reviving Karasu—and if he got wounded beyond measure, so be it.

"I'd deserve it anyway." Karai mumbled walking away from the apartment, limping down the sidewalk still clutching him side.

Meanwhile back at Genkai's, in the room where Hiei slept, the glowing figure gazed at the fire-demon once more, then left, fading into the darkness just as Genkai entered the room to check on Hiei. Satisfied that the fire-demon still slept undisturbed by any nightmare, Genkai covered Hiei with a pale hued blanket, chuckling as the sleeping fire-demon pulled it up to his chin and then turned onto his other side, facing away from Genkai.

Remaining quiet in the room, observing Hiei thoughtfully, Genkai wondered if the fox cub did have something to do with the fire-demon's nightmares, ending her curious observations when a knock at the door caught her attention. Deciding not to yell for the visitor to come in, in case it woke up Hiei, Genkai walked to the sliding door to greet the guest and tell him or her to remain quiet if they decided to stay.

"Wha…Hinansho? What are you doing here so late?" Genkai asked, staring at the black haired green eyed boy who appeared frazzled and shocked about something.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"That Akiko caused an accident and Miss Yukimura's…."

"Yes, it's true." Genkai replied, not saying anything more until she saw how the boy paled at her words. "Everything will be okay though, Karai has agreed to revive Keiko and Akiko's in good condition according to the doctors."

"But…I can't believe…." Kurounue mumbled, worry and guilt etched on his face, almost forgetting to remove his shoes before entering, babbling out everything about meeting Akiko, what he said to her, and about how the strange girl tried to get him to go after Akiko. Sitting down on a chair in the kitchen, trembling as he finished telling the story to a silent Genkai, Kurounue wrung his hands nervously. "I could've prevented this…I could…I'm such as idiot…a stubborn asshole…."

"…so you're really Kurounue?" Was all Genkai answered, still shocked herself at what Kurounue confessed.

"Yes."

"And you never told Kurama? Even after finding out who he was?"

"No, I didn't. I can't believe how stupid I've been…." Kurounue mumbled tears forming in his eyes, threatening to fall. "To think I nearly caused the death of a child who could be Kurama's, I…."

"It most likely is Kurama's. It's half-demon, and is the only reason Akiko is still alive—she's being sustained by its energy."

"What? No way, I can't…is the child okay? Will Akiko and the child survive? Will the child's energy be enough to sustain them both?" Kurounue bombarded Genkai with questions, not giving the woman time to answer, his face showing pained guilt and worry. Hushing Kurounue with a single glare, Genkai sighed, thinking about her answer before responding.

"The child is okay as of now, and as I said Akiko is all right as well, however until Akiko regains consciousness, the chance either the child or mother will survive is slim. The child is only half demon and there are limits to how long it can sustain itself without its mother's energy." Genkai replied gravely, closing her eyes in silence while waiting for the news to sink into Kurounue.

"So…they both will die? But…but couldn't you've gotten Karai to heal Akiko instead? She's carrying Kurama's child! Surely saving the life of a child is more important than…."

"Try telling that to Yusuke. Besides, only Koenma, myself, and now you know of what danger the child is in." Genkai replied turning away from Kurounue, unable to look him in the eye.

"So you're just going to pick and choose who lives and who dies? That's fucked up, that's…."

"It wouldn't have made a difference, you see, Kurounue, Akiko purposely drove that car into the bus, she's…she wanted to kill herself and her child." Genkai sighed then turned back to Kurounue. "Her body right now is physically okay, but she refuses to awake—she's willing herself to die."

"But…but why?" Kurounue stammered, eyes moist and wide in shock, guilt eating progressively at his heart.

"She must fear that the child isn't Kurama's and she refuses to live with that guilt."

"But it's half demon so it must be Kurama's! Go tell her that!"

"I did, she was awake at the time, but as soon as she heard what I said, she blanched, closed her eyes and refused to respond. That's why I doubt that the child is Kurama's—I told her the truth about Kurama being a demon, she accepted that, but refused to be convinced that the child is Kurama's."

"But she told me the only other one who could be the father was a married man, and I doubt any demon would really get married."

"She could've lied. She's not exactly the most moral person, the only thing that shocks me is how she could know that one of the people she cheated on Kurama with was a demon—she couldn't sense that Kurama was one, so I'm guessing whoever the guy was, he told her what he was."

"But…but why? No demon I know who wants to have sex with a human would admit to that human what they are—it usually results in that human struggling against the demon, so the demon would either have to give up or force the human into it."

"Exactly."