Kurama's Spring Flower

Chapter Seven

Emi was sitting in front of her dressing table as she was brushing her hair, staring into the mirror to make sure not a single hair would be knotted or out of place but came to a stop when a knock was heard on her door. "Yes?" She groans out to whomever was behind her door, and instead of the person opening the door, they just spoke, "My lady I asked him to keep an eye on the girl as you asked and we have seem to have discovered that she disliked Lady Akina and has witnessed to demons fighting." Learning this makes Emi turn to a photo of Akina and herself, taken shortly after they first met with a thoughtful look, before turning towards the door and asks, "Is our honored guest still hungry?" Instead of receiving word the person behind her door, her phone goes off with an email attachment of a video of a young school girl sitting on the pavement, unaware of the figure behind her, who knocks her out and takes her away, and with that the video ends and she reads the text in the email: Boss the demon has taken someone from a public area without your permission, should I terminate him? Emi shrugs before responding to the text: Leave him be. Inform him that he can enjoy this meal without worrying about our interference. She then looks over to the door and orders, "Leave me be." She hears the footsteps of the person walk away, before she lets out a laugh and speaks to herself, "Finally the girl responsible for your accident shall pay, Akina."

Unbeknownst to her, there was a figure with a very long raven plait and wearing kimono robes standing by Emi's window. They shake their head at the girl and whisper, "This is not my fault nor yours. It is hers." Emi seems to now sense a presence nearby, as she quickly turns her head towards the window but sees nothing there.

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Meanwhile Shiori Minamino was out doing late night shopping after having met a nice man that was also a single parent like herself, and whilst she was in the supermarket she walks past a flower stand beside an isle filled with get well cards, making her pause in her step and a sad frown to appear on her now paling face as she recalls her recent trips to the hospital. Sadly none of them were for her to visit the young girl she had grown to care for, but for herself as she has been feeling greatly ill that she has had to over go medical treatment. Shiori couldn't handle the thought of revealing all this to her dear Shuichi, she could see how Akina's deterioration of health has lead to him reverting back to his closed off self but with the addition of growing depression, making her fear what will become of him if her health deteriorates before Akina can wake up. But Shiori pushes these thoughts away as she decides to visit Akina, as she picks up some Calendulas before heading over to the till to purchase them along with her groceries. Unaware of the activities her son is involved in and of what her visit will cause.

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Meanwhile in the Minamino residence, the male demon who attacked Shuichi awakens and when he realises he has been moved from the place he fought the red head half demon, he quickly sits up in shock. "You heal quickly. I'm surprised." Shuichi speaks calmly from where he sits, making the demon's head snap towards him whilst Shuichi continues, "Up after only four hours...Impressive, after how deep that wound was." This comment makes the demon quickly check his chest in disbelief at how it was healed perfectly. "I went ahead and treated you. I used herbs from the Demon World. They're very effective." 'If only there was a herb that can help Akina.' Shuichi thinks to himself, he then snaps out of his thoughts as he notices the demon preparing to leave the premises, making him bring something else that lingered in his mind that wasn't related to her, "By the way, there was something you mumbled in your sleep...Who is this Yukina? Someone you know?" This question upset the demon, as he closed his eyes tightly before sending a glare towards his healer, who asks yet another question, "You weren't born with that Jagan eye, were you? Judging by your demonic energy, you've only got it recently. The process for getting one of those is quite severe...There must be a compelling reason for it? Did Yatsude do something to that girl?" 

Finally after the demon was all set he spits, "You run your mouth too much." He then makes his way to the window to make his leave whilst Shuichi remains seated and unphased. "I'd have killed you if you hadn't patched me up." With that said, the demon opens the window letting the wild breeze enter Shuichi's room, whilst the demon continues speaking, "In exchange for thanks, here's a warning. That softness is going to kill you someday. Or maybe...it already has." Shuichi was already aware that the demon had used the Jagan eye to look into his mind and discovered Akina, but he doesn't change his expression and instead asks, "Off to fight him again? You'd be better to bide your time." The demon replies, "The more he eats, the stronger he gets. Why don't you go to bed, you coward?" Shuichi finally moves his head to look at the demon and asks, "You don't mind telling me your name, do you?" Before the demon leaps off the window he bows his head down as he answers, "Hiei."

'Hiei, the bandit from the Demon World...I've heard of him before. But even with his swordplay...If he's fighting Yatsude...' Shuichi thinks to himself and was about to continue his assessment on the possible outcome, but was interrupted by the sound of the house phone ringing, making him remove himself from his room before going down stairs towards the phone to then answer it, "Hello, Minamino residence." The caller then responds, "Hey. This is Tasaka from school. Kitajima's parents called me, saying she hadn't come home yet." This shocks Shuichi and makes him feel great worry for the human girl whilst Tasaka continues, "She better not be with you!" After informing him that the girl wasn't with him at all, he hung up and locked up the house after receiving another call from his mother to inform him of her decision to visit Akina, he knew that his mother would end up sleeping over to watch the girl, so she wouldn't come home to an empty house with her son mysteriously missing.