By Die Before I Wake
(Part 2 of 5 of the batch fanfics.)
Hiei stepped into his room quietly and shut the door as silently as he possibly could. He put his drinks and the plate of bacon down on his bed and waited for a moment. His blood colored eyes locked on to the closet door. He waited and stared at the door. It took a few minutes and he began to wonder if the wolf had even lived for those few minutes of his absence. He was about to go check when he heard what he was waiting for.
A high pitched series of whimpers sounded out quietly from the other side of the door. This was followed by a light scratching on the door. She must have smelled the meat, Hiei thought. The poor thing must really be hungry. Did I just call her a...poor thing? Why do I even care about this wolf? I only saved her because leaving it there to die was wrong. But then again, so is leaving someone you just fought on the ground, bleeding and suffering, and watching them die. Why is this wolf so different? No matter. The thing is probably starving.
Hiei walked to the opposite side of his room and opened the closet door. The pup was sitting at the doorway, her nose quivering in the air, looking for the precious food that she smelled. Hiei crouched down and picked her up. She whimpered, scared, and looked up at him. She struggled to get down. He held her a little tighter and brought her over to the bed. He laid her down and put the plate of bacon on his lap.
The fire apparition watched the pup get up and waddle over to him with her eyes locked on the plate. He pulled a small piece of bacon off of a strip and held it out to her. She wasn’t expecting his hand to come towards her, so she fell over with surprise. Hiei stopped his hand about an inch from her mouth. Her nose quivered as she pulled her head closer to the bacon. In a quick instant, she opened her tiny jaws and grabbed the meat away from him and lay down to eat her prize.
When she finished her food, Hiei pulled off another tiny piece and held it out to her. This time she took it without hesitation. She did walk away a few steps to lie down and eat it, though. She came back before Hiei even had a piece of bacon pulled out for her. She sat down and looked at up him, waiting for the food. She didn’t know what this strange creature was, but she was getting food from it. That was good enough for her.
Hiei put the plate of bacon next to him and scooped up the pup with one hand. He placed her in his lap and she attempted to get down until he held out another piece of bacon. She took it and stayed where she was, propped up on Hiei’s lap by a hand underneath her front legs. Hiei fed her this way for a few more minutes until the entire plate of bacon was gone. She whimpered and looked at him, waiting for more. He reached his hand out to pull off a chunk that had fallen on her paw, and she immediately began licking his fingers once he gave her the small chunk.
When she had licked all of the bacon grease off of Hiei’s fingers, he put her down on the bed and she waddled around as puppies do. She sat down and whimpered after scanning the whole bed. What’s wrong with her now? Hiei thought, confused. She had been fed, her wounds were bandaged, she had slept. What else did she need? She licked her lips and lied down whimpering again. Hiei looked at the plate and saw that it was still wet with bacon grease. The grease reminded him of water. He looked at the pup, who was still licking her lips and whimpering.
She’s thirsty, I bet, Hiei thought. He looked at the plate again and picked it up. He went into his bathroom and rinsed if off in the sink. He put a thin layer of water on the dish, making a puddle in the dipped in area. He brought it out and placed it on the bed next to the pup. She looked at it and sniffed it. She shakily rose to her feet and started drinking the water quickly. Hiei noticed that the bandages around her stomach were becoming loose and falling off. Do I replace them or do I let them fall off? he thought. I’ll let them fall off and see how she does. If she starts biting her wounds open, I’ll put more on. Damn...What if someone notices the missing first aid kit and bandages? I’ll say I had a training accident. But I have no wounds. Should I make one? He looked at his katana. Would I really inflict a wound upon myself for an animal? He looked at the small silver-grey pup. She was licking the last of the water drops off of the plate. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.
She’s like a wolf form of Yukina, Hiei thought. Small, defenseless, and with those eyes that you can’t help but try and save. I guess I have to do this, then. I’ve already saved her and brought her here. It wouldn’t be right to dump her out in the woods after she’s healed. She’ll be too dependent on me and not know how to fend for herself. It looks like I’ll be stuck with her. I might as well get this over with.
Hiei grabbed his katana and hesitated before taking the blade into his hand and making a large gash in his inner arm. He gritted his teeth in pain and looked at the pup. “You’re lucky I have this honor code, runt,” he said to her, putting his katana down on the floor. “Or you’d be in the woods in a hole right now.”
He walked into his bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit that he had used the previous night. He took the bandages and quickly and tightly wrapped his wound over the marble sink. He didn’t worry about the horribly smelling, stinging liquid to clean it. He had to hurry with his wound, seeing as he didn’t want blood to be all over in case someone came into his room. When he finished wrapping his wound, he turned the sink on to let the drops of blood wash away.
When he came out of the bathroom, he saw the pup. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and the bandages that had been wrapped around the top of her head were now falling over her right eye. Hiei looked at her and sat on the opposite side of the bed. He looked at his wound and saw that the blood was already seeping through the bandages. The pup sniffed the air and locked her blue eyes on the crimson bandages on Hiei’s arm. She ran at him as fast as her little puppy legs would take her.
