S P A R K

3. reckless

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The sky was an orange and pink haze; a painted canvas behind the silhouettes of the power lines and birds flying to their homes. With the windows down, Rei could feel the autumn air whip against her face as they drove. It was something she loved most about driving to her father's house. That and he would always let her play whatever music she wanted. But her father turned her Belle & Sebastian down and before Rei could protest, he cleared his throat as though he was going to speak.

"So Rei," Her dad started. "I was talking to your mother earlier-"

"Wow, that's kind of a surprise."

Her dad ignored her interruption. "Yes well, she said you're seeing someone?" Rei brought her head back in from outside the window and began to roll it up. Wait a minute. Her mom had never seen Hiei. And even if she had they weren't dating. Did demons even date? Or did they just mate? Before she could collect an answer her father began talking again.

"Some nice boy from your school… Shuichi I think she said his name was." Rei slapped her hand to her forehead. Her mother was crazy. She started to laugh softly at first, but it grew into a full out giggle fest. "No dad, that's not it. We're working on a school project dad, relax. Mom just likes to think I'm dating all of my guy friends."

Her father laughed with her. "Oh, heh. Yeah she was always like that. So there's no one then?"

Rei took a moment to answer. "… No. No one."

They pulled up to the house then, and Rei was happy to end the conversation. "Do you want to watch a movie or anything?" Her dad asked as they entered the home. Rei pretended to yawn. "Actually dad I'm really beat. If you don't mind I'm just going to hit the sack."

"Sure, sure. We can do something tomorrow. I have some work to finish up anyway."

Rei smiled and retreated upstairs to the guest bedroom. She set her bag down and scanned the room, trying to see if Hiei really had followed. She didn't really know why, but she wanted him to follow. She felt safe with him there. Which may have been a bad thing since he almost killed her the other day. It was exciting. But she saw no sign of him. Rei slid open the sliding glass door that had a small porch area and stepped out. It wasn't chilly, but there was this coolness in the air that made her shiver.

She pulled out a cigarette from her back pocket. She only smoked when she was really stressed, and for the past two days she hadn't had the time. She peeked around a bit to make sure her dad wasn't coming up, and then she lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. Eventually she exhaled and took a seat on the folding chair. Rei leaned her head back and for the first time in those two days, she felt very relaxed.

"That's a disgusting habit." Rei jumped and whipped her head from side to side. There was no one. She pouted.

"Hiei, stop that, it's creepy. Just come out already." After a moment, Hiei gracefully stepped onto the guard rail, balancing perfectly. His face was emotionless, as always.

Rei took another drag of her cigarette, if only to annoy Hiei more. "You came." She finally said.

"Hn, I said I was going to didn't I?" Hiei stepped down from rail and leaned against the wall now, closer to Rei. She stared at him and smiled softly, studying his features. All Hiei really just wanted to do was force her down and –

"Hey what is that?" Hiei broke his thought. "What?"

Rei pointed to his forehead. "That bandage on your forehead, what's under it?"

"If I showed you, you would faint." And she would too; humans couldn't stand that kind of power. Not only that but she would most likely freak out and squeal like most human girls did.

Rei snorted. "I don't faint Hiei. Just tell me, what is it?"

"Later. You ask far too many questions. It's annoying. And put that out." Now he was referring to her cigarette. Rei gave Hiei a sarcastic salute and stubbed out her cigarette; it was almost gone anyway. "Yes sir."

Hiei turned his head away and stared out into the open land. It was almost all country, with the lights of the city softly glowing against the horizon. The air smelt cleaner; fresher. A swift breeze came over the house and through the balcony. Rei breathed the air in deep and turned to Hiei. He seemed deep in thought, like he was concentrating on something. Rei noticed that whatever it was that was behind the bandage on his forehead, it glowed softly. Something was going on. "Hiei what is it?"

The fire demon didn't look at her, but his eyes hardened. "Get inside." He ordered.

"What? Why?"

"There are four demons coming for you. I'll take care of it. So get inside." Rei jumped off the chair and met Hiei at his side, trying to get a look at the demons. She didn't see anything.

"They're about ten miles away. But they'll be here in minutes. Stop staring like an idiot and get inside."

"No." Hiei finally turned to look at her and narrowed his eyes. Was she stupid? "Are you stupid? They'll rape and kill you. Get inside."

Rei straightened. "Take me with you and meet them somewhere Hiei." That wasn't a request. She seemed hardly concerned for her own life. Hiei was stunned.

"What?" This girl had a death wish. Were all human girls this crazy?

"My dad is here Hiei, what if one gets passed you? I'm not going to put him in that kind of danger."

Hiei understood and suddenly found some what of a new respect for her. She just wanted to protect her family. He didn't say that though. "You shouldn't be worrying about your family right now. That's one more thing you don't need to worry about."

"Well I am!" Rei shouted. "They're going to go after him, right?" Hiei didn't answer but Rei already knew that was a yes.

"I'm coming with you; lead them away from the house."

Hiei didn't like this idea at all. The thought of bringing her closer to danger made him angry. Didn't she understand? "You'll only slow me down." He snapped, which was kind of a lie.

"So? They want me, what makes you think they'll meet you out there when you're alone? You're taking me with you and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me."

She was damn stubborn. "Fine. If you get killed it's not my fault. Get on my back." Rei groaned. Well at least he was honest. She climbed cautiously onto his back and clung tight. His hair smelt nice. "I can lead them to a park. Hide and don't say anything or move until I tell you to do so unless you want to die." She nodded.

"I can do that."

Hiei leaped off the balcony, and Rei buried her face in his hair as they ran. They seemed to be going so fast. She could feel the wind fly around her; the adrenaline in her system rising. She wondered if Hiei was as nervous as she was. Probably not… he was always so calm. Rei was usually calm about a lot of things; when her parents got divorced, when she broke her arm on the jungle gym, when she burned her fingers on the stove. Having your life and virginity ultimately threatened can do a number on a girl though.

It seemed as though they had only run for such a short time before they came to a stop. "Are you sure this is far enough?" She whispered.

Hiei had to stop himself from shivering as her warm breath hit his ear. "It's four miles from your dad's house."

"What?! That fast?" Hiei smirked. "Of course. Had you not been with me you wouldn't have even seen it." Rei raised an eyebrow at Hiei. Cocky much? Rei could hear her heart pounding in her chest now; she just wished the fight would end now before it even started.

"How far away are they?"

"One mile and closing. Go hide in there." Hiei pointed to the left. Rei hesitated.

"Hiei that's a dumpster-"

"Just go!" He barked. Rei didn't argue any further; she sprinted to the dumpster and hid behind the gate in front of it. Then she pinched her nose. It smelt like shit. She peeked out through the slits in the fence and watched Hiei. He reached up to his forehead and ripped off the bandage. Damn it! She wished she could see what that was! At that moment she saw the demons appear. It looked like three… she couldn't see the fourth.

Her heart stopped. They were all twice Hiei's size. There was no way he could fight them. Two of them had teeth as long as Rei's arm and their skin was littered with old battle scars. Rei gulped. She strained to see now as they started moving strategically around the park. Hiei pulled out a sword and suddenly, Hiei was gone.

Her eyes flew around wildly as she tried to follow the movements. Where-?

And then Hiei appeared again – his sword was covered in blood. Rei shot out from the gate and ran over to him; ignoring his earlier instructions. "Hiei!" She stopped short when she saw the bodies on the ground. "Whoa… how did you… when did you… damn." Hiei cleaned his sword on the grass before sheathing it.

"I wasn't expecting it to end so soon."

"Would you have rather it last longer?"

"No! No, I just, didn't realize how good you were."

"Hn." Hiei turned to face her, and she finally saw… a lidded eye? "Hiei, you have a third eye!?" Rei leaned forward in morbid fascination. This was the kind of stuff that you saw in science fiction movies. The fire demon picked up his discarded bandage from the ground. "Yes."

"That's cool. At that same time it's also creepy. Why do you have it?"

"It's an artificial eye. It-" Hiei paused mid sentence. "There's one more."

Rei searched the park with her eyes and prepared to dive behind the dumpster gate again. "What? Where-"

"He's at your house… he must have gotten confused by the scent." Panic swelled again. Dad…

"You said only four… how … Hiei go! You have to save him!" Hiei turned and gripped her shoulders, spinning her around so she had to look him straight in the face. "Calm down woman. You are going to give yourself some kind of human heart problem. I will save him." With that said, Hiei opened the Jagan eye for her and Rei couldn't help but look. It was so ominous and dark… then she felt herself slipping into the grass, and everything went black again.

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It was so warm all of a sudden, and comfy. There was white all around her. Rei slowly opened her eyes and realized she was under her sheets. In her bed at her dad's house. Wait… what?

Rei sat up like the living dead and glanced around to see what was going on. It was still dark outside. So she couldn't have been out for that long. Across the room, she could see Hiei sitting in her window sill. He answered all her questions before she could speak. "I told you that you would faint." Hiei smirked for a moment before continuing. "Everything is fine. Your father is safe, he never even woke up." Rei let out a breath she wasn't aware she was even holding. I had to black out. How damsel in distress of me.

"I need a cigarette." Rei swung the covers off and shuffled onto the balcony. She didn't close the door – she knew Hiei would follow. He didn't say anything as she smoked, but he glared up a storm. Rei didn't even feel like smiling. It was just too close. Sure Hiei was fast but what if one time he wasn't? All it took was one mistake. Just one. And her family could be killed. How could she live with herself if something like that happened and it was her fault?

"Relax already, the danger is over." Hiei said. Now it was Rei's turn to glare at Hiei.

"It's never going to be over Hiei. My family is always going to be in danger because of me." Hiei stepped forward – for what reason he wasn't sure – and felt the odd need to comfort her. But she only stepped back.

"Just get away from me! I can't do this Hiei, I can't! I can't put my family in this kind of danger!"

Hiei showed no compassion. "You don't have a choice in this you know. Those demons don't care if you can or can't do this."

Rei ran a hand through her long hair and took a shaky drag. Yeah, she did know that. Stupid Hiei. He always had to be right didn't he?

"I really hate you, you know that?" She said.

"The feeling is mutual." That made Rei smile, at least. She flicked her cigarette over the edge of the balcony and walked over to Hiei. "Thank you though, for saving me and OH MY GOD!" Hiei jumped.

"What!?" He snapped.

"Hiei, you're bleeding! Are you hurt? Are you okay?" Rei grabbed his arm, which was dripping with blood. Hiei hardly winced. "You freak out over every little thing. It's just a scratch."

Rei pulled his sleeve up and gasped. "A scratch? Hiei that's a huge gash!" She applied pressure to the wound to stop the blood. "Okay stay here, I'm going to get some gauze and antiseptic."

"Would you calm down-"

"No, I won't. I can't have you save me all the time if your arm falls off can I?" Rei grinned from ear to ear at Hiei before disappearing inside. Hiei smirked after her. She was smart, he'd give her that. In fact he didn't even mind her that much at all anymore. That much…

Rei returned shortly with a mini-hospital in her arms. She arranged the things on the table and instructed Hiei to take off his cloak. And damn he did have a nice body. Rei smiled to herself. She dabbed and cleaned the wound with incredibly care, despite the fact she had no clue as to what she was actually doing. She poured Hydrogen Peroxide and the gash and Hiei hissed.

"Dammit, what is that?"

"Chill out, it kills the bacteria in the cut." Rei started to bandage it tightly and was satisfied she had done a great job. "Done! Would you like a lollipop now Hiei?"

"Silence. Now. You've had a long day. Go to sleep, I'll keep watch."

"Okay, okay." Rei started to walk back inside, but turned swiftly and hugged Hiei. It caught him completely off guard. Warm arms wrapped tightly around him as her hair curtained his face. Fuck, she smelt good. "Thank you. Really."

"Stop. Go inside." He said stiffly. Rei pulled back and shook her head. "Bastard."

"Tch." Rei shut the door behind her, and Hiei realized he had been holding his breath.

Damn it.

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Hiei sat on the balcony railing as he had all night since Rei went inside. He stayed alert all night just in case there were any more surprises. But the night was dissipating into morning, and there was nothing. Periodically he would step inside to check on Rei. She was one of the most reckless humans he had ever met. Most didn't, or at least Hiei assumed they didn't, have that kind of honor. But he was right in a sense.

Rei woke with a start, remembering the previous night. Despite Hiei's telling her that everything was alright, she still raced downstairs to check on her dad and see if he was still alive. The smell of eggs perfuming her nose proved her wrong. She turned the corner and saw her dad definitely alive. There wasn't a scratch on him. He turned when he heard her running and gave her a half smile. He was probably wondering why she was running like the devil was chasing her.

"Hey kiddo, want some eggs?"

Rei smiled. "Sure, thanks dad." The rest of the weekend had gone off without a hitch, and Rei barely saw Hiei for the next day or so. But she could sense he was there, watching over. Rei and her dad went to Tokyo to shop (Which was nearly impossible to do with her dad since he thought the pair of underwear she bought was a headband.) and then grabbed dinner and saw a movie. They didn't get home until around midnight. Rei raced to her room with her bags and quickly shut the door to change. She bought a cute pair of yellow boxer shorts and a black t-shirt to wear for pajamas.

She pulled off her shirt and pants, then her bra, and pulled on the pajamas. "I look damn cute." She stood in front of the full length mirror for a few minutes grinning at herself. A girl thing, really.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rei about shit her pants at Hiei's voice. She should have been expecting it by now, but she wasn't. Even when she was listening for it, she could never hear him coming. He was like a fucking cat. "Would you stop doing that? You always creep up on me, it's annoying. You're going to take years off my life… not that you haven't already."

"Hn,"

Rei took a seat on her bed started to pull her hair up. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"No." Rei pursed her lips. Well Hiei wasn't much a conversationalist was he? "Good, I was a little- wait a minute. Were you watching me change?"

Hiei crossed his arms. "Hn, no."

"You're lying, Hiei! You perverted little… ugh!" Rei covered her already clothed body dramatically. "Nobody likes a peeping Tom."

"My name is not Tom-"

"It's a figure of speech!" Rei stormed passed the fire demon and into the bathroom. Meanwhile Hiei brooded. Was it really such a big deal? In a short time Hiei planned on mating with the girl anyway. Not that Rei knew that. Well he would let her know about that… eventually anyway. Hiei knew from experience that if you told humans too much they got all nervous for no reason.

Rei entered the bedroom again and killed the lights before climbing into her bed. She was glad to be leaving tomorrow and going back to her own house. It seemed so odd here, with Hiei. He followed her – to watch her – was it just because of her scent? Was he compelled to do it like… an animal?

Rei tossed and turned under the covers, unable to stop thinking about it. Hiei was attractive. She would admit that much. That said nothing for his personality though, which was practically non existent. The other thing was that she had started to notice his scent, so much more than before. It was something strange that she couldn't put her finger on. But it was familiar and nice. "What are you thinking about?" a voice demanded in the darkness.

"What?"

"You're breathing heavily like you're in deep thought. It's disturbing." Oh. She hadn't realized it.

"Nothing… I was just thinking about how I can kinda smell it too now." She waited for Hiei to make a witty retort. There was silence from Hiei however, so Rei continued. "I mean your scent, not mine. I can smell it… maybe I hadn't noticed before or something. You have a nice smell you know."

Hiei still said nothing and Rei couldn't figure out whether or not he had left or just chose not to answer her so she dropped the subject and went to sleep.

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It was there, again. Something holding her wrist with searing pain in a death grip while silk ghosted over her lips. She moved instinctively into it – warmth unlike any other. A strange fire. Rei woke just in time to see a flash of red in the dark. She remained still and silent, waiting for some sort of sign. There was nothing but the darkness.

"Hiei?" She whispered. "Hiei, was that you?"

He said nothing, but Rei already knew the answer.

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Yes. Finally. That was short. And blah, I know. But it was sort of an awkward chapter for them I guess. You know. Or maybe you don't… As always please review because reviews are sexy.

Next Chapter: motions.

"One concern would be that we might only be able to mate once."

Rei snorted and crossed her arms over her breasts. "Oh please, I'm sure I wont be that bad, Hiei."

The demon gave a sinister chuckle. "I meant that your little human body might not be able to take it. You may just up and die." He said it was such nonchalance that Rei almost forgot that he meant her life would be in actual danger.

She prayed he was joking.