Interlude: Argue With a Tree

A/N: Hiei loves trees. In this chapter, a tree loves Hiei too (I'm not kidding).

Sleep eluded Hiei that night, nestled high up in the branches of a tree - his tree, though sixteen years ago when they moved in it had been little more than a sapling, sickened with decay. Hiei hadn't seen any difference in it from others they'd cut down as they trimmed the forest little by little, so he had reached for his sword.

"Not this one, Hiei," Kurama told him with a shake of his head. "Rotted though it may be, it's held onto life for much longer than it should have, stubborn little thing." He tended to it with soft hands, his powerful, earthy youki chasing away the rot.

"Will it grow, then?"

Kurama smiled at him, rivaling the sun with his warmth. "Yes. Your tree should grow well, given time and care."

Red eyes widened, fractionally. "Mine?"

"Yes, yours. Go ahead, say hello."

They'd argued a bit, then, over whether or not it was ridiculous to say hello to a tree. Kurama had reasoned that while no, it did not understand language, the plant was a living thing and soaked up energy from positive and negative auras alike. It was the intention that mattered. In the end, Hiei had caved, uttering a greeting to his little tree; it waved gently in return with the breeze.

As Hiei sat cradled in those branches under the moonlight that night, he finally recognized why Kurama had saved it all those years ago. He'd been alluding to himself. Stubbornly clinging to life had always been Kurama's specialty, after all.

The thought inflated a balloon of hope inside of him that stole his breath away painfully.

It hurt to hope. It hurt to believe. Hiei was not a man of blind faith - he discerned the lines of defeat decorating his lover's face, he recognized death's grip on his shoulders - yet despite not seeing any evidence to the contrary, a small part of him dared to hope, dared to believe, that Kurama would pull through, no matter what he'd told Yusuke just a few hours before.

"It would be easier to let him go," Hiei said aloud, though it wasn't necessary.

The aura underneath him hummed and vibrated like a plucked string. It did not speak in the traditional sense, but with his Jagan eye Hiei could assemble words that reflected the energy's inflections.

Perhaps it would be, the aura read. But you are stronger than that, yes?

The fire demon sighed, palming his face in one hand. "It hardly matters how strong I am," he spat out through clenched fangs. The words tasted like ash in his mouth. "Kurama won't lean on me for support. He won't lean on anyone. How can we help him if he won't allow us to?"

Be patient, young demon, and have faith. Next time you see him, do not speak to him with words. Speak to him with your feelings, as you do with me.

Hiei's reflex was to scoff at the sentimentality. "Feelings are useless," he argued. "They only get in the way. Besides, he won't listen. He's determined to shut me out, probably in hopes that I'll move on rather than watch him die."

Show him that you will not, then. Do not give up. Your feelings are much more powerful than you give them credit for.

"Fine, maybe I'll try it." He didn't have anything to lose, anyway, and he was not going to sit here and argue with a tree all night.

Good, the aura of his tree said, glowing with approval. Now get to sleep, friend. I will alert you of his waking.

With no small amount of gratitude, Hiei did as told and settled in, eyes closed. He fed the aura beneath him with a small amount of energy in return for the comfort.

His tree hummed a lullaby in its energy, and Hiei fell fast asleep.

The sun hovered well above the horizon when a mind reached out in search of him.

Hiei had been awake for about two hours, if he had to hazard a guess. Long enough to feel Kurama's energy spiral wildy from one spectrum of emotion to the next, which admittedly worried him quite a bit. He'd been teetering on the edge for awhile now, but never before had he seemed so unhinged. Obviously he was losing control of himself, whether he realized it or not.

Kenji seemed to notice it too. Once Hiei established a connection between the planes of their minds, the boy relayed, 'he isn't looking too good, Uncle Hiei. And my dad isn't talking to him.'

That made sense, Hiei supposed. He hadn't listened in on their earlier conversation, but Yusuke's energy had reflected a deeply bitter anger afterwards.

Smart as he was, Hiei didn't intend to mention these revelations to the child. 'I see. Is he eating, at least?'

'Yes, he's eating.' A wave of worry washed over him along Kenji's next shared thoughts. 'Uncle Kazuma said yesterday that his face is a little more filled out than the last time he saw him, so he must be keeping it down, right? Even though he's drinking a lot?'

Too smart, this boy.

'Did your father tell you of that?' Hiei couldn't say he approved; dragging them out here was bad enough, though at least Hiei understood that. There was no reason to burden them with the fox's addiction as well.

'No, of course not,' Kenji answered, vehement in his father's defense. 'He hasn't said anything about it. He only told us that Uncle Kurama is sick.'

Kurama was sick - in mind, body and heart - with grief.

'Then how do you know about the drinking?'

'I've seen him pour it into his tea when he thinks no one's looking. He's more worried about my dad seeing, I think, and Kai too.' Hiei grit his teeth, angry that the fox could be so careless, especially with Yusuke's children around. 'It smells bad, like the stuff Grandma drinks. I'm not dumb. I know what it is. I know that it's bad.'

'So you understand the gravity of the situation,' Hiei replied, nearly impressed. 'Have you told Yusuke about it?'

Kenji stopped replying, seemingly distracted. Then, when he finally answered, he threw Hiei for a loop. 'How much can you hear with your Jagan eye, Uncle Hiei?' When he didn't answer, Kenji pressed. 'If you're in my head, can you hear who I'm talking to and what about?'

'Yes," he replied, confused. 'Why?'

'Just give me about ten minutes, and you'll see.'

No matter how much he asked after that, Kenji wouldn't budge - he refused to explain further than 'you'll see.' Hiei did not appreciate that, but also could not bring himself to turn over the child's every thought like stones in a river just to get an explanation from him. Kenji's mind was calm, he noticed, at least as far as human children went. He didn't want to upset his level headedness over such petty reasoning.

When the conversation he was supposed to be listening to started, the words came in crystal clear, as though he stood right there between the two. Along with the calm, the boy's mind was very open; he could see what Kenji saw as his brain processed it. The sink full of dishes in front of him wasn't very interesting, but when he slanted his eyes to stare sidelong at the person next to him, Hiei's stomach roiled.

True to what Kenji had said, the fox looked miserable and frail - slumped shoulders and hooded eyes galore. He wore a smile on those full lips, but the two people regarding him (albeit one secretly) could tell that it rang no genuine note.

"Thanks again, for helping me," said the boy, filling up the empty basin with hot water and scented soap to begin the washing process. Even without to mental connection confirming it, Hiei knew the smell of that soap to be light and citrus scented, like freshly sliced oranges. It made his stomach clench to think about.

Thankfully, Kurama chose to snatch him away from such musings a second later with his smooth tenor voice. "It's really no trouble. This is my home, and you are my guest. If anything, I should be the one thanking you."

"Me?" The boy chirped, stopping in the middle of washing a dish to regard the adult owlishly. "For what?" Hiei almost chuckled out loud at the child's bluntness.

Kurama found it amusing as well, if Hiei read him right. The tension of his profile lessened to a degree that probably only he could notice. His smile tilted wider, warming his whole face - a real one, if only slight. The sight made Hiei's blood sing hotly.

"For your kindness, firstly," Kurama said, taking each dish the boy handed to him carefully, as though it might break in his hands. He rinsed off the suds under hot water before grabbing for the clean white rag next to the sink. using it to dry off the dish and set it aside. "Your parents are very kind people, so it's to no surprise that you'd take after them. Even still, I appreciate it."

Kenji shrugged, humbled by the praise. "I haven't really done anything. Dishes aren't hard."

"No, but it is still a kindness to do them with me, just as it is a kindness for you to stay here. It must be strange, living away from the home you know. You're very brave."

Hiei flushed darkly, not at all liking where Kurama's tone was steering this.

Kenji seemed unsure as well, hunching slightly under the fox's attention. "It's only on the weekends, Uncle Kurama. Besides, my dad's here." He spoke with reservation then, not certain he should say it but realizing Kurama had to know as much. "I don't really have a choice."

Kurama hummed in disagreement, rinsing. and drying more dishes. "Surely you do. Your father would not ask this of you, if you were to express any discomfort in the matter."

"There's no discomfort to express," the boy replied, soft voice gliding over even the bigger words with confidence. "I like it here."

"What of your friends? Aren't they going to miss you while you're away every weekend? Won't you miss them?"

Hiei's mouth ran dry as Kenji frowned, both of them annoyed at Kurama's needling questions. It was obvious he was attempting to persuade Kenji into no longer staying here, and while Hiei agreed that this wasn't the right environment for children, it was hardly appropriate to manipulate one into staying away.

He needn't have concerned himself, though. Kenji seemed every bit as stubborn and defiant as his father when he said, "Don't you miss Uncle Hiei?"

The answering silence may have smothered said demon, if he'd been present in the room. Kurama's face, when Kenji glanced, had turned to stone.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Kurama. That was a stupid question." Before the fox could so much as open his mouth to accept the apology, Kenji went on to say, with such casuality it was enviable, "I know you miss him because I heard you crying for him in your sleep last night."

Glass scraped across Hiei's insides, cutting him jagged and raw.

"That is not your concern," Kurama snapped, fingers clenched dangerously around a freshly washed glass. "Nor is it your business to speak about. I expect a real apology, when you are ready to give it."

Kenji nodded sagely. "I am sorry, but I think you need to hear this."

"You're a child," Kurama said, struggling to regain control over the rage in his voice. "What could I possibly need to hear from you?"

"You need to hear that it makes me sad to see you push everyone away." He'd been staring at the few remaining dishes left in the sink, but then Kenji inclined his head to observe the fox head-on, allowing Hiei to read Kurama's expressions. Right now it was alight with a mix of fury and horror. "You pushed away Uncle Hiei, and Uncle Kazuma. You're even trying to push away my dad, too, only my dad is too stubborn to let you. You're hurting him a lot. All of them."

Hiei's head spun. He felt sick. He never should have allowed this to go on.

Kurama's face, normally so calm and controlled, had pinched in agony. His whole body trembled. Those brilliant eyes, while carefully blank earlier, were now filled with a hundred different shades of emotion, which he could no longer hide. They were also brimming with unshed tears.

Hiei's demonic heart fluttered in his chest. In all the time knowing him, he'd never once seen Kurama cry.

NOTES:

The title of this interlude comes from the song "Weight of the World" by Blue October, which I highly recommend listening to, not only because it's good, but because the lyrics (to me) really reflect how I think Kurama feels in this story.

About the tree bit - it was probably super weird, but I've seen people write Kurama as being able to talk to plants or at least understand them, so i just went with it. The tree is not a demon, but I imagined after being fed their demon energy after so many years, especially Kurama's, it would develop a slight demonic aura of its own which it uses to communicate with them.

Anyway, sorry for the POV switch up this chapter. I really didn't intend to write pov interludes but by the end of last chapter, I already knew I was going to write this one, mostly because I want to stick to short chapters and it was the best way to fit in Kenji's conversation with Kenji while at the same time giving you guys a peek into what Hiei's going through. I hope I did it the justice I wanted to. Was anyone surprised at Kenji and his boldness?

Lastly, thank you to everyone who followed and reviewed the last few chapters. It means a lot to know that people are still liking this after it being abandoned for so long.

Until next time!