Black Magic (Yu Yu Hakusho; Hiei Jaganshi).

15. Trial & Error

The Fox demon sensed Hiei near and he put his tea cup down on the coffee table in the living room. Without wanting to attract attention, Kurama stood up just as Genkai glanced his way making eye contact with a knowing look. Yusuke kept talking about Keiko, not picking up Hiei's energy.

After politely excusing himself from the situation, Kurama left the living room to head outside, following Hiei's energy. He was in the same room as Katara. With demon speed, Kurama chased the fire demon down just as he walked outside to vanish.

Hiei sensed his friends energy chasing him and with annoyance, he stopped, preparing for an attack from the red head. Kurama stopped in front of Hiei with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Hiei?" Kurama asked as nicely as he could. The Fox demon wished he could be more tolerant with Hiei's actions from yesterday, but it was Katara, a human, who became the Forbidden Child's victim in his twisted game.

"I thought foxes knew when to mind their own business. Tch, I guess I was wrong." Hiei threw a glance to the red head along with his response, annoyance hanging off of every word.

"You violated that girl yesterday, not to mention breaking spirit world law. Those actions cannot be forgiven." Kurama's patience with his life long friend hung in the air by a thin rope as his eyes narrowed. Hiei turned his back to him and began walking off.

"Then stop caring."

Just as those words left Hiei's mouth, Kurama quickly unleashed his rose whip and wrapped it around Hiei. As fast as lightning, Kurama had Hiei hung upside down from the tree branch above his head, a few short inches to his face.

"What the hell?!" Hiei growled loudly as he glared into Kurama's green orbs, trying to fight his way through the vines. The look in Kurama's eyes told Hiei not to bite, so he held his tongue.

In the past, Hiei made the best choice of his life - making Kurama his partner instead of a rival. Hiei admitted years ago, before Yusuke arrived into their lives that Kurama is more cunning and ruthless than Hiei could ever be. And right now, Hiei was intimidated looking down that barrel like a deer caught in headlights.

Back at the temple, Katara stopped her hand mid-bite as she felt Hiei's connection flow into her veins with his emotions. Putting the half piece of dumpling back onto her plate, she thought to herself why Hiei must feel that way. The connection didn't make sense to Katara, yet as she tried to dig deeper into the bond, she couldn't place it.

She didn't really care what happened to Hiei, as everyone said he's a strong demon and all. But she couldn't help but to repeat the words into her head a few times of what they told her a few weeks ago about their bond.

If he dies, then so does she.

If she dies, then so does he.

Katara excused herself from the table with a smile and walked out of the room into the night air. Closing her eyes, she tried to see if she could locate Hiei.

"I'd leave it alone if I were you."

At the sudden voice of Genkai, Katara's heart skipped a beat in surprise as her eyes flew open to land on the old woman. Genkai stared off into the woods.

"Kurama knows not to hurt Hiei, as much as he wants to. But his bond to you won't let Kurama do that."

"Kurama's with Hiei right now? What are they doing?" The human girl asked, her heart calm once again.

"I couldn't even tell you even if I wanted to." And with that, Genkai motioned with a hand for Katara to go back to eating.

"You've got training in the morning, go eat and get some sleep."