Inherently Evil (A Hiei Story)

Chapter 12: Barrier

Nunnally sat up in bed, finding that she could no longer sleep. She was displeased to be up at such an ungodly hour. Through the veil of her blurry, early morning vision, she saw the dark outline of a body against the floodlights in the kitchen.

“Hiei?” She rubbed her eyes.

He was sitting at the kitchen counter; it looked like he was reading. He was shirtless, not like he had much of one left from the day before, and barefoot. Casually he glanced over his shoulder then turned his attention forward.

It took a great deal of effort to climb out of bed. Nunnally shuffled toward the kitchen, a yawn escaped her lips. She found Hiei was looking at the files again, an array of photos were spread across the counter. There was a slight annoyance that came with seeing those photos so early. A cup of coffee would help.

“I take it you’re feeling better.” She commented as she scooped coffee grounds into the maker.

“Naturally. Your spell made me feel like I had been given enough tranquilizers to calm a herd of stampeding elephants.”

“My apologies; it’s hard to gauge when to stop. However, it could have gone the other way and you could have been reeling in pain for awhile.”

“I preferred the alternative.”

“Then you’re welcome.” The coffee was done. “Would you like a cup?”

“No.” He searched through pages of the reports.

Nunnally brought the cup of hot coffee to her lips, taking in the rich scent before having a sip. “You’ve been looking through those files nonstop.”

“Just making sure I haven’t missed anything.”

“When do you think Koenma will have news of what happened?”

“Shortly,” Hiei picked up one of the pictures and stared intensely at it.

Suddenly there was a rapid knock at the door. Hiei was taking his clairvoyance to a new level. Nunnally sat her cup down and answered the door.

“Thank god.” Jamie barged through the door, wrapping his arms around her, lifting her off the ground.

“It’s nice to see you too Papa.” She hugged him back, incredibly thankful to see him.

“Koenma mentioned the incident and I came rushing over.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “I was worried sick.”

“I’m fine, Hiei kept me safe.” Jamie didn’t seem to like that.

“I’m regretting allowing you to put yourself in such peril.”

“Jamie,” she groaned. “Everything is fine, trust me.”

He took a deep breath but his expression softened. “Okay. Where is that little devil?”

Nunnally peeked around the corner of the divider. He was still sitting at the counter; at some point he had gotten some water. He looked at her over the brim of his cup. All of a sudden Jamie walked past her and sat across from Hiei. He whispered something and Hiei nodded. She wasn’t sure what was going on but he called her over.

“Against my better judgment, I’ve arranged to see Bartholomew in three days. That’s as soon as soon as I can do.” He looked at Hiei as he spoke but he remained stone-faced.

“You show up at six in the morning for that?” Nunnally grumbled.

Jamie shot her a look. “I came over to make sure you were okay, young one. I took the opportunity to relay the news.”