Yu Yu Hakusho fic

Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction. My standard disclaimers apply. For Grace and J.P.

Snowfall

by Lady Aria (bukiminatenshi@mailcity.com)

The lone figure sat on an overhanging branch outside the house, looking in through the brightly lit window. He could see the figures of his comrades as they made merry to celebrate the season they call ‘Christmas.’

<Comrades,> he said to himself sarcastically. He never considered them as more than that. They were not his friends, just people fate had thrown his way to fight by his side. He’s never known them to have let him down before, but he still did not consider them any more than casual acquaintances.

A blue-green-haired figure opened the door leading into the house and peeked outside, shivering from the cold. She grabbed a jacket off a nearby hook and threw it over her shoulders as she stepped outside. Her long hair was done in a neat ponytail with several stray stands flowing on either side of her face. She scanned her surroundings until her eyes locked onto the tree. Heaving a resigned sigh, she made her way through the ankle-deep snow to the figure nestled amongst the branches.

"Hiei!" Botan shouted up at the figure. "Please, please come down! Everybody’s inside having a great time and you should to. There’s absolutely no reason for you to stay up there any longer."

Hiei looked at the pleading woman below and huffed as he looked away. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. He heard Botan heave a sigh of defeat as she verily ran back into the warm confines of the house.

The snow continued to fall and Hiei settled into a more comfortable position in the tree. He saw his sister pass by the window with an enthusiastic Kuwabara on her heels. She seemed so happy to be there. Giving a derisive snort, he was just about to leave when a voice nearly made him lose his balance on his precarious perch. He looked down in time to see Kurama standing beneath the tree, smiling up at him.

"What do you want?" Hiei hissed at him. Being taken by surprise was not one of the things he enjoyed most. Normally, it would have gotten a person killed.

"Botan told me that you didn’t want to come in," Kurama said good-naturedly as he leapt up into the tree to join Hiei. "I was thinking that maybe I would be able to convince you otherwise."

The black-haired demon offered him a sardonic smile. "Good luck. You’re going to need it."

Kurama sighed at the remark. This was going to take a while. "Why didn’t you want to join us in the first place?"

"Not my style," he replied simply. "They let their guards down too easily. They could be attacked at any time and they would be practically defenseless."

"Did you ever think for one second that maybe they let their guards down because there was no threat?"

Hiei looked incredulously at Kurama. "What do you meant ‘no threat’?" he said, annoyed. "There’s always a threat anywhere you go. If you ask me, all this celebrating and such is just a big waste of time."

Kurama considered his answer and remained silent, watching the snow drift down. He glanced sideways at the grim countenance of Hiei and couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He always considered him his friend, them both being from the demon world and all, but he was just too grim too much of the time. A snowflake landed on his lap then and he studied it as it melted into a small spot of water.

"Hiei, what do you think of this world?"

Hiei looked at him questioningly. That question had been totally unexpected. "What do you mean ‘what do I think’?"

"You know," Kurama said as he lifted his feet onto the branch and hugged his knees. "How do you view this world? What are your impressions?"

Hiei thought for a moment and looked at him. "I think it is a corrupt and decaying world full of people who fight and kill each other to survive." He paused as he watched Kuwabara and his sister laughing at one of Keiko’s jokes. "I shudder to remember all of the things that my sister went through during her sojourn here." The three moved out of his line of sight. "I could care less if this world burns to ashes."

Kurama nodded his head. "Look around you, Hiei," he said gesturing to the open lawn. "What do you see?"

"Kurama, are you okay?" Hiei asked as he scrutinized him. "Have you been hanging around that baka Kuwabara too long?"

"Humor me, okay?"

Hiei let out a long-suffering sigh and answered, "snow. That’s what I see, Kurama, snow. Crisp, white, freezingly cold snow."

"Do you see how it covers everything?" Kurama said, a dreamy look in his eyes.

Hiei was wondering if he should shake some sense into his fellow demon. "Yes, I can see that it’s covering everything, so what? When snow starts to fall, you expect it to cover everything that isn’t indoors. What’s your point?" This conversation was really trying his patience.

"My point is," Kurama said as he shook some of the white stuff off a branch. "This snow -- white, pristine, pure -- blankets the world at least once each year. It makes it look clean." He let the snow sift through his hands. "I believe that it’s nature’s way of showing us that this world can change for the better. Have you ever seen the look on a child’s eyes when he sees the first snow fall?" He saw Hiei blink a couple of times and look at him in confusion.

"I don't understand you, Kurama," he said as he shook his head. "What does all of this have to do with what a child feels?"

"Hope, Hiei," Kurama said as the wind started to die down. "When you see a child smile at such a simple pleasure as a snowfall, you know that there is still hope that the world could become a better place." He looked at the black-haired demon seriously and continued. "To you, snow would probably just be snow. To me, snow turns this world into a blank canvas. It makes me realize that no matter how corrupt this world has become, it could still be undone. Something as simple as the hope in a child’s eyes lifts my spirit because I see that the future of the world could be brighter."

Hiei listened to Kurama in wonder. He’s never heard him talk this way before. "You mean, all that it would take for this world to become a better place is hope?"

Kurama smiled at him as he leaned on the tree trunk. "Well, that, and a bit of work from its residents. What do you feel when you see your sister smile or hear her laughter?"

Hiei fell silent at those words. His sister was the only person who could melt the ice in his heart and he did everything he could to make sure that she was protected and cared for. "I...," he whispered, "I... feel happy."

Kurama nodded. "The reason why she could still laugh and smile is because she has hope. That’s also the reason why they’re celebrating down there. This season is all about hope, Hiei. Hope for salvation, hope for the world. That’s why they open themselves to each other and let their constant defenses down."

Hiei looked down at the gathering, his expression unreadable. He let a small smile grace his face as he looked at Kurama. "You know what? I think I just might accept Botan’s invitation."

"Great!" Kurama said as he leapt off the branch and waited for Hiei to climb down. He kept his hands behind his back as Hiei cleared the last few branches.

Hiei was about to make his way to the door when Kurama spoke up.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There’s also another thing that I like about this season," he said as he remained a good ten paces away from him.

"What’s that?" Hiei asked as he patted the snow off his shoulders.

Kurama smiled and heaved a snowball at the smaller demon. It hit Hiei squarely on the face and Kurama laughed out loud at the expression on his face.

"This stuff makes great snowballs!" he said as he ran.

"I’m going to get you for that Kurama!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kuwabara did a double take as he happened to glance out the window. He squinted his eyes to see into the night and was scratching his head just as Yusuke happened to pass by.

"Something wrong?" Yusuke asked his friend.

"I don’t know," Kuwabara said uncertainly. "I could have sworn I saw Hiei and Kurama having a snowball fight outside."

"Hiei?!" Yusuke said in disbelief. "That guy has absolutely no sense of humor! How could he get into a snowball fight?"

Kuwabara smiled sheepishly at Yusuke and just dismissed the entire thing as a figment of his imagination.

------------------- The End --------------------