White Noise : Tuning (Hiei)

Aria was sitting in Yusuke's living room, leaning up against Atsuko (whom Aria had taken a definite liking to since she liked the sound of her voice and loved listening to her talk). Aria and Atsuko both sat in the living room watching television (Jerry Springer to be precise since Atsuko had deemed Aria too innocent).

Once their program had ended, Atsuko began to flip through the channels. After about twenty flips, one caught Aria's eye. It was a birthday party for a small girl. It was at that moment that Aria realized her birthday was in three days!

'Hmmm....My birthday's in three days, wonder what I should do. I should get some sweet food. Yeah....like cupcakes....and honey.....Cupcakes covered in honey....with sprinkles....Yeah....' Aria thought off, smiling at the thought until her mind turned down a different road, 'You know what, thinking about birthdays, I wonder when Ishkabibbles's is.'

A pout grew on Aria's face. She wanted to ask Hiei when his birthday was....but he wasn't there. Hiei hadn't been there in days. Ever since he'd told her to go home.

Atsuko looked over at Aria but at the same time being sure to keep the television in her peripheral vision. “What's the matter with you?” Atsuko asked, though not really too concerned.

“I don't know when my bestest friend's birthday is.” Aria said biting her lip nervously.

“Then go get 'em and ask 'em.” Atsuko said bluntly, taking a swig from the bottle on the ground next to her.

“Good idea Miss Atsuko!” Aria exclaimed, grinning widely with all new resolve.

“I know.” Atsuko said grinning. “Now get to it before my maternal nostalgia sets in and you forget what you were going to do.”

Aria smiled at Atsuko and then got to her feet to trot up to her room. She wasn't doing exactly what Atsuko had said but it was easier for her to hear from a higher place and if she wanted to aske Hiei about his birthday she would have to locate him first. And the room being loaned to her was higher up so it make it easier for her to hear Hiei if he was close by.

As Aria ascended the stairs, her thoughts went back to Hiei and what he had said to her earlier and how he had told her to go home and the smile evaporated.

Aria sat on the floor of the room Yusuke had given her to stay in. She stared at the ceiling, deep in thought about the conversation that had gone on between on between her and Hiei. She was subconsciously playing with one of her bells as she thought to block out some of the noise, making it easier for her to think.

Just as she finally separated herself from the noise enough to actually hear herself think (quite literally), Kawari and Henken flew back in through the window, both as vibrant, colorful birds, one green and one blue.

“Hey Eika guess what?!” Kawari cried, changing back to his real form to launch forward and grab Aria in a hug.

“Huh?” Aria asked, grinning despite the fact that she had her introspection interrupted.

“That Koorime girl Yukina said she wasn't mad and that I could even keep the tear gems!” Kawari said excitedly.

“I told you it wouldn't be so bad.” Henken said, with a rueful smile, coming over to sit on Aria's other side.

“So why the long face pretty lady?” Henken asked with a smile, placing Aria in his lap like a small child. He had immediately picked up on the slight sadness emanating from the small girl, and since he saw Aria as somewhat of a younger sister, he didn't like her being sad.

“You're sad!?” Kawari exclaimed, once again grabbing Aria in a tight hug. “Why are you sad Eika?!” He asked while Henken shook his head with a grin of amusement. It was so like his younger brother to not notice anyone's emotions other than his own.

“Well....” Aria started with a slight smile, “It's just that Ishkabibbles told me I should go home.” Aria said.

“Who's Ishkabibbles?” Henken asked.

“Is that that guy that always looks mad that was with you when we got here the first time?” Kawari asked.

“Yep!” Aria said grinning.

“But why does it bother you so much that he said that?” Henken asked.

“Yeah! I've told you that same thing many times before.” Kawari added.

Aria thought for a moment trying to come up with an answer but got no where. “You know, I'm not really sure. All I know is that it made me sad that he said it.” Aria said with a pout.

“Well don't be sad Eika! “ Kawari cried.

“Yeah! You've got us!” Henken said, smirking and ruffling Aria's hair, “What's to be sad about?”

Aria laughed and grinned.

“Plus, he probably only said that because he doesn't want you to die.” Henken said with a grin. “You two are friends right?”

“Yeah! He's my bestest friend!” Aria said enthusiastically, her smile growing ten fold, “I like him the best!”

Henken gave a knowing smile and chuckled a bit at that because he knew if Aria said 'best' she meant best. “You see. That means he probably wants you to live no matter what.” Henken said as Kawari nodded vigorously in agreement, “But we should leave now. Unlike you, we were not extended the luxury of a place to live while we stay here in the Ningenkai so we need to go find some place to stay.”

“We'll see you later Eika!” Kawari said while waving energetically.

“Don't worry about it too much.” Henken muttered, giving Aria a quick peck on the forehead.

“I won't!” Aria said with a wide grin.

“If you say so Eika.” Henken said, taking her out of his lap and placing her back on the floor then changing into the form of an exotic bird that seemed more in place in a rainforest than down-town Japan.

Aria smiled at the twins as the two brothers left out the same window they had entered through but the smile dropped from her face and she sagged against the bed with a huff. Now she had even more to think about. She pouted and crossed her arms.

'But maybe he was right and I should go home.' Aria thought with a frown. 'Even though I promised I wouldn't, technically I said I only would as a last resort and I don't see many other options so I suppose I could get around what I said....'

Aria's frown deepened as she huffed. 'He did seem awfully mad when he said I should go home. I don't want him to be mad at me or upset.....but I don't want to go home either. That wouldn't be any fun at all.'

'Meh. Oh well. I just go with my gut on this one. I'm sure it will all turn out alright in the end.' Aria thought to herself with a slight grin, getting to her feet and gathering her clothes, making sure they were all there, before leaving the room.

****

Hiei's Jagan flared as he searched the area for the succubus Aiyoku. It was a lucky thing that no passerby looked up or they would have been met with the very confusing sight of a three-eyed man standing on top of building.

After a few minutes of searching he finally found the woman in one of Japan's richer districts. 'She seems to have gotten over the death of her lover pretty well.' Hiei thought to himself with a sneer of disgust as his third eye revealed the succubus sitting in the lap of a rather elderly man. 'Coming to the Ningekai to hook up with a human. How disgraceful even for a succubus.' Hiei thought with no small level of contempt.

Hiei drew his focus back and returned the seal back over his Jagan Eye. Just as he returned the seal to his eye he felt a demonic presence near by. With a growl of annoyance, Hiei leaped down into one of the back alleyways of the city, intent on finding the demon in the city. If nothing else, he figured gutting the thing would at least offer some form of entertainment and escape from all those.....emotions. Guh, how annoying.

Hiei sped through the crowds of people on the side walk, going so fast that the only indication they had that a pissed fire apparition had just gone by was a sudden gust of wind and maybe a shove out of the way.

It wasn't long before Hiei arrived at a dense woods and he sniffed at the predictability. ' Hiding in the woods....how original.' He thought with a roll of the eyes before beginning to sprint through the trees.

He only went about a mile into the forest before he came upon some sort of dog demon. Probably some kind of mutt, if Hiei's guess was correct. He hid in a tree so he could watch the demon without being seen.

The demon was hunched forward over the bloody carcass of a raccoon, his face dripping red with the blood of his most recent meal that lay on the ground in front of him and his long tongue hung out of his mouth loosely. Hiei immediately saw why the demon would be hiding in the forest. There was no way he would have been able to fit in on a human street since he looked more animal than human. If a human saw him they would probably assume it was a werewolf.

“I know you're there! I can smell you.” The demon rasped, not looking up from the body. “I can also smell the scent of the girl that caused the death of my master Tokukawa!” The dog demon said with a snarl, finally turning his head to bare his fangs at Hiei.

'He must be after Aria!' Hiei thought as he jumped down out of the tree to face the dog demon and let him get a good look at him, 'This must be one of those assassins or bounty hunters that that Odori girl warned about.'

The dog demon's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. “You're covered in her scent! It's all over you!” The dog demon said with a malicious smile, his long fangs showing.

Hiei unsheathed his blade. “So you're here to kill Aria. Is that because she killed your master or because of that nice little bounty on her head?” Hiei asked with a smirk, knowing exactly what the real answer was. It had been weeks since Tokukawa had been killed. If that was the real righteous reason the dog demon was there, he would have come earlier.

The dog demon growled low in his throat, licking his lips clean of blood. “Bastard! I'm here to defend my master's honor! That paltry sum means nothing to me.”

“Oh. Is that so?” Hiei said haughtily. “So that means you don't plan to collect the reward?”

“And what if I do? What is it to you?” The other demon growled.

“Nothing. I don't really care. But just to let you know,” He said with a smirk on his face, “I was the one that killed your master.” He said, laughing cruelly at the other demon who's eyes were wide. “And just to let you know, it doesn't really matter to me whether or not you plan on collecting the bounty because I have no intention of even letting you get close to Aria.” He said, the smirk never leaving his face as he brought the blade up to level with the dog demon's face.

“Why?” The dog demon snarled. “What does that wretch of a girl mean to you? She special to you or something?”

Hiei's eyes flashed dangerously just before ramming his blade directly through the demon's stomach. He had come to kill the demon to get away from thoughts of that certain sound demon and those certain emotions of his that he was busily trying to avoid.

The dog demon laughed as blood flowed up into his throat. “So she does mean something to you! Well that doesn't matter because she'll be dead before the end of this week.” He said with a bloody laugh as he fell to the ground.

Hiei growled and flashed forward to pick the dog demon up by the back of the head. “What does that mean?” He hissed.

The dog demon smirked. “Even if I die, there are others. They are coming.” He forced out before breathing his last breath and his eyes glazed over, his tongue still hanging out of his mouth.

“Good riddance.” Hiei muttered, dropping the dog demon's head to let him fall to the ground and kicking him in the side just because he felt like it before turning away to sprint back towards Yusuke's place. He had to get Aria so he could bring her along so she could confirm this was actually the right succubus.

Hiei arrived back at the house, entering into Aria's room through the window that she left open for the mirror demon twins. “Aria, I have an alternative to keep you alive.....Aria?” He called, looking around the room, seeing no trace of the girl.

“Aria?” He called, a sinking feeling in his stomach. 'She couldn't have left! She said she would only go if it was really necessary! She can't leave! Not now, not yet! She should have at least told me before going! No!' Hiei thought frantically as he checked the place where Aria kept the spare outfits that that human girl....oh what was her name. It didn't mater, she was human, but anyway. The whole dresser drawer was empty and Hiei tore downstairs. He was angry, sad, relieved, confused, hysteric, and worse of all, he had no one to blame but himself since he was the one that had told her to leave.

“Urameshi, where's Aria?” Hiei growled, glaring at Yusuke.

“Hiei, you're here? And um, why?” Yusuke said, blinking in surprise.

“She's not in her room.” Hiei growled.

“What!?” Yusuke yelled, racing upstairs, followed by Hiei, who felt at a lose for what to do for one of the few times in his life.

OMG! Cliff hanger! I'm sorry for the wait guys, but I was just unsure of what I wanted to do next so I got together with the same friend of mine that gave me the original idea for this story (though the original was a bit different) and she gave me this idea which I can't wait to get out! I'm not going to give anything away because I want it to be a surprise. And poor Hiei, he is just so emotionally dumb. Killing does not cure every problem....though it can help. Ha. Just kidding. But anyway, since I just hate leaving you guys hanging and also because I want to get this idea written up before I forget it, the next track should be out before the end of the day. And it will be really cute I promise. But anyway, thank you all for rating so much! I got up to 30 rates on one of my tracks which was just in time for my 30th track! Awesome! Thank you so much guys!