Kishi stared at the meek young woman, his silvery eyes fixed on the bend of her nose and the swollen bridge that marked the break. He raised the pipe to his scaly lips once more, and took in another lungful of smoke. "No, not too much," he said with a choked voice, as tendrils of smoke curled and swirled about his just-open maw. He turned his head and blew the smoke away from the girl. "Just five gold," he said as he took another puff.

"Cut your rate?" Hiei asked as he let his hand fall from the little purring grey cat.

Kishi laughed, and the smoke billowed about his face in whirls of dark smoke. "Special price, for this poor thing you've got set in your sights,"

Hiei's eyes narrowed at the man. his gaze like darts flung across the room.

Kishi smiled, a toothy grin, and he took another drag from his pipe. It crackled and popped, and there was nothing left of the sweet smelling herb. "Well?" the dragon-kin asked Hanae, and he pealed his stare off of her as he removed the pipe from his lip, turned its bowl mouth down, and tamped the chamber against the scaled palm of his hand with a hollow cup sound, again and again.

"Does that work for you..." He asked as he gathered a small pile of ash upon his table. There was a clay bowl on his desk, full of the dark colored stuff. Kishi's eyes glanced up at her. "I didn't catch your name,"
 
Hanae felt her heart swell at the first few words. “No, not too much.” Perfect. She smiled thankfully at Kishi, her dark eyes glittering like obsidian in the moonlight. Wonderful, now no payment plan was needed! She could handle five—

The warmth building up inside her, the thought of good people existing in this world, froze over. Hanae swallowed hard. Gold? Gold coins? And five of them? But the way the dragonkin had said. Just five gold.

Just? Just? Did he not realize how much that was?

She looked at Hiei, slack-jawed at his suggestion that this vet was giving her a deal.

She pulled at her little purse, looking inside. She did have more money at home hidden away in an old sock inside a small wooden box buried underneath the daisies, but…. Hanae could feel her lips trembling in frustration. Even if she did run all the way home to collect her savings, she still wouldn’t have enough.

Hanae sighed just as a cat came up to rub against her small calves, purring and looking up at her. It sat down and then reached a paw up to pet her, its claws getting stuck in the fabric. Hanae could only imagine that the cat must have been attracted to her misery.

“My name is Hanae,” she tightened her purse, putting it back underneath the belt that tightened her dress. “I appreciate your goodwill, but, well… I can’t afford it. I’m certain you wouldn’t take flowers for payment,” she teased, trying to make light of the situation, but her smile was more of an embarrassed grimace. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.” She didn’t look at Hiei and knelt down, gently removing the claws from her dress. “Thank you.” She said as she stood up to turn.
 
"Hanae," the name rumbled out of the dragon-kin's maw, and all of his sharp teeth caught the low and hungry light of the orange candle flames. "It really depends on the flower," he said beneath his breath.

With his large reptilian eyes, he watched her bow and fiddle with the black and white cat at her leg. Kishi clicked his teeth three times quick, and the black and white cat turned its wide eyes onto the apparent vet. It meowed loudly, wide spread whiskers trembling some with the effort, and it scampered across the stone floor, hopped up onto the table, and rubbed its head against Kishi's claw.

Hiei moved to stop Hanae, "Wait," he said to both people. "Hanae," he said softly to the flower merchant, following her if he needed to "I work with Kishi," he confessed, and looked down at her with something like tenderness in his eyes. "It really won't trouble me to cover the expense," he looked away from her, and swallowed the lump in his throat. "And I'll make sure your business' earnings can pay me back comfortably, so don't worry about that,"

Kishi laughed. "So, Hiei, you will foot the bill?" he called out to them.

"Yes!" Hiei affirmed, even if Hanae said otherwise.
 
Hanae would have informed the dragon-kin that no, she didn’t grow tobacco specifically, but she was more focused on leaving. She wouldn’t mind having an ugly face for the rest of her life; maybe she could hide the bruising with some makeup. When she got home, she could try to numb it with that salve she had learned to make.

She stopped when Hiei called out to her. She had taken no more than two steps but would take no more. While Hiei had never raised his voice at her, this was the first time he had spoken to her gently. Not icily or exasperated or annoyed or hard-pressed like the other time. The softness and the way he gently formed the syllables of her name made Hanae still.

There was hesitation when she looked up at Hiei, her dark eyes like lychee seeds against pale, translucent flesh. But also something stronger, which overpowered her distrust of this stranger. She held out a slim hand, a fierce look appearing as she tilted her chin upwards at Hiei.

“Then promise me you’re not a loan shark,” she said quite seriously, “and you won’t do that interest thing all the loan sharks like to do. I’ll pay you back in a reasonable payment plan until everything is paid off. I will pay you back, sir— I mean, Hiei.” There was a pause, and then she grinned at him. “I appreciate this act of kindness, although I suppose you’re only doing this because your body broke my nose. Nonetheless, thank you.” Her eyes crinkled up into joyful half-moons.

It looks like she wouldn’t have an ugly face after all.
 
It was the fierceness of her stare that caught him off guard. The way the dark stone gaze gleamed against the plum-petal white of her eyes. The delicate hand that reached out demanded his attention.

He could not explain it. As if he bore witness to blossoms come bloom in the dead of winter, his eyes wide, and his mouth agape.

"I,"

Kishi barked in loud laughter, and the little black and white cat on his desk startled away with a yowl, jumping from the desk and hiding behind a cabinet, laden with clay pots and glass jars labeled with the names of medicines and remedies. "A loan shark," he wheezed, and looked on through glee-squinted eyes. "She's got you figured out, Hiei,"

Hiei's gaze shot up and landed on Kishi, brows furrowed, his lip down turned. "I am not a loan shark," he said to them both, his eyes returning to Hanae and her outstretched hand.

The little black and white cat poked out from behind the cabinet which it had retreated behind, and the chubby cheeked grey cat just yawned as it settled back into its curled up shape.

"Fine," he took her hand into his, and shook it with a firm squeeze. "I promise you, I will collect no interest on the loan I am lending you now, with Kishi as our witness," he didn't let go right away. Some part of him noticing how her hand fit against his.

"Yes," Kishi said as his fingers pinched apart dried herb and neatly packed it into the pipe. "So long as I get paid, I don't really care what happens between you two, but..." he packed the last bit into the bowl and then brought the pipe stem up to his mouth, puffing at it through the side of his lips as he held it to tall candle's fire. "I am your witness," the bowl burned with a happy pop and snap, and the big dragon-kin drew in a large lungful of fresh smoke. "So," he let out a large cloud of blueish-grey. "You ready to get your nose fixed?"
 
Hanae continued to look up at Hiei, ebullient and genuine all at once. Despite her prior suspicions, they had been filtered away with Hiei's promise. Besides, Kishi’s laughter led her to believe that perhaps it was comical for her to assume such a thing. She looked back at the dragonkin as he agreed to be their witness— hardly thinking that if Kishi and Hiei were business partners and if they were both the seedy sort, his being a witness would probably end up doing her no favors.

“I accept your deal since you’re not a loan shark.”

The smell of smoke soon filled the room.

“Yes, please,” Hanae said with a small smile, stepping away from Hiei and thus pulling her hand from his. She hardly noticed how long he had held it, nothing struck her as strange. The only thing she did notice was that her hand felt a slight chill in the room, so she clasped her hands back together once more as she went to follow Kishi.

“I didn’t know vets had business partners,” Hanae said naively, “do you heal larger animals as well?” Chitchat only felt natural in this instance, especially since Hanae wasn’t sure what to expect. And with the smoking dragonkin, there really was one question she was curious to ask but knew better than to ask it. “Or those peacocks I sometimes see roaming the streets in the inner circles of Sonshan? I’ve always thought that they would be pets, they seem so friendly towards everyone.” She paused and tilted her head. “Does Hiei bring the animals to you?”
 
Her hand slipped away, and his fingers felt colder. A tingle there against his skin. A want for what small warmth his palm and digits had found. His hand fell to his side and his thumb rubbed at the pads of curled forefinger and middle. As if the friction he could make would ease the delicate pang he felt in his chest. A chilled thing. Born of absence. Hiei watched Hanae walk away. Watched her delicate hands fold over each other at the small of her back.

A huff of breath. Hiei pulled his eyes away.

A laugh, low and thick, shook the base of Kishi's throat. "Oh, we have all kinds of partners, Hanae," his silvery eyes gleamed in the warm light of the fire-lit lamps and candles. He pondered her questions. "All kinds, peacocks included," said easily and took another puff from his long stemmed pipe. "Though those peacocks are likely just street birds," he smiled. "You could say he does, yes," he stood up from his seat, and put his pipe on the table, a trail of blue-ish-white wisped and curled as it drifted up in lazy curls and turns.

Hiei's brow knit together. But he made himself busy, looking through the medicine drawers, and viles filled with herbs and powders.

Kishi roundd his desk, and stood tall over Hanae as he came to a stop. He was a good five fingers taller than Hiei, and near half-more wide. "Now, this shouldn't hurt too much," he said as he reached clawed fingers out to pinch her nose, his massive hand stopping just before. "I will grab your nose, and you will feel a pop,"

"The pain comes after," Hiei warned.

Kishi smiled, toothy and grim with humor. "We have medicine for that," he assured. "Ready?"
 
Hanae nodded her head as if she understood what Kishi was implying. Of course, vets would have all sorts of partners. They needed medicine, did they not? Maybe they had to confer with a botanist and an alchemist? Of course, they would also want an accountant, wouldn’t they? Perhaps a nurse or two? “Of course, you would have all sorts of partners,” She said, “how silly of me to think otherwise.”

Her dark eyes glided to Hiei as he rifled through Kishi’s things. Perhaps Hiei was one of the people who supplied the medicine? He sure did seem quite interested in what Kishi had in his drawers. “Do you have catnip here? I grow my own— and then turn it into a little tea. I like to call it catnip wine. It’s perfect if you have a lot of cats.” Hanae said, but it was finally time for her nose to be fixed.

Hanae nodded; a little pain should be expected, and she steeled herself— until Hiei informed her that it would hurt afterward. Without thinking, she leaned back frightfully, swiveling her head over to the man who had brought her here.

“Why would you tell me that?” She whined, turning her small hands into fists. Hanae couldn’t help but wonder why on Khurun it would cost five gold coins if it meant she would be in more pain. Too late to back out now. She turned her head back towards Kishi, tightly closing her eyes and holding her breath. Soon enough, her cheeks turned red as she whispered, “Okay, I’m ready.” Digging her nails into her palm, creating little, crimson crescent moons into her skin.
 
Hiei was caught off guard by Hanae's reaction. Her sudden worry struck a chord and his eyes widened, just a hair. "Isn't it better to know?" he asked, and a genuine concern coated his voice.

Kishi smirked as the young woman announced her readiness. His broad fingers grabbed the displaced bit of bone that was the bridge of her nose, and with a strong pinch and a slight jerk, he set it back in place. Tissue popped, and the bone ground, ever so, and his hands heated up with burn of healing light.

Tendrils of gold magic sprout from his fingers and sunk into her skin. She would feel the little lines span across her fractured bridge, and pull it together in the tiniest of pulses until it all set into place.

The rush of air being pulled into massive lungs filled the quiet of the room. "There," Kishi said, and let the magic dissipate. "Should heal up real nice," he let go of her nose, and languidly walked back to his seat behind the desk. "Maybe you can bring me some of that catnip wine, and I'll knock off one of the gold coins for you," He said as he picked up his pipe and took a puff.

Hiei lifted one of the vials off the counter. "This is part of the cost," he said with a little shake of the purple pellets inside the glass. He walked over to Hanae, and looked her over. "You still got blood all over your face," he said, as he bent lower to get a better look at her nose. "It'll probably start swelling soon," he said dryly.

"Nothing a little moon-herb-powder won't fix," Kishi added, and a fresh cloud of purplish smoke streamed from his mouth.
 
Hiei was right; moving her nose back in place wasn’t exactly painful. Or rather, the whole action of Kishi’s fingers moving her nose back was so quick that she hardly had time to register it. Hanae would have been fine if it had ended there, perhaps a bit sore and bruised, but she wouldn’t have complained. The moment he began to actually heal her, though, is when Hanae could understand the sort of pain Hiei was implying.

Searing hot, her nerves were on fire. She could feel that healing heat radiating throughout her nose in rapid waves, and without meaning to, the young woman whimpered.

But just like that, it was over.

Hanae stepped back, bringing a hand up to feel her nose. She blinked, confused. It felt normal as if it had never been broken. She looked up at Kishi with a beaming smile. No wonder why he could charge five gold! This was amazing! Magic was amazing! (Ah, if only she were lucky enough to have the aptitude for magic, she would probably have a much higher social status in Sonshan!)

Before Hanae could confirm to Kishi that she would indeed be bringing him catnip wine— as much as he wanted he could have at this rate— Hiei was back in her face. She held her breath, her eyes staring straight into his so she could see her reflection, like a deer in the headlights.

“Oh. Yes. The blood.” She turned her head towards Kishi. “Do you have something for me to clean my face? I don’t want others to think I’ve taken a big bite out of Hiei when I walk back with him….” Hanae trailed off, cheeks reddening. What a silly thing for her to say. She cleared her throat, shyly looking up at Kishi. “Please? I know I’ve already been a trouble, but… I’ll bring you all the catnip wine you want. Maybe a few other things? I grow almost everything in my garden.”
 
Like polished jet, Hanae's eyes reflected Hiei's own cold stare. He saw how harshly he looked at her. How pointed his gaze had been. He blinked first, and felt the corners of his eyes slacken by hair's margin as he leaned back, as if a wolf who had thought the game too dangerous.

Hanae spoke. Painted a picture of her ripping into Hiei with her teeth, as if some creature of the night. "Preposterous," Hiei muttered to himself as he turned away in a huff, his eyes narrowed once more, and his cheeks curiously reddened. He quietly stormed off into a back room.

Kishi's teeth poked out from under his upturned lips. "Well..." he trailed off in a low smoke-laden rumble.

The sound of running water could be heard, a slosh and the glug and the underlying push of air as the container filled. The water stopped, and Hiei came back. His cheeks still dusted pink, a bucket of water and a clean rag there in one hand. He stopped in front of Hanae, and put the bucket at her feet. The wooden ring at its base knocked like a drum, the ripples in the bucket pulsed out and bounced against the wooden walls.

Hiei bent down into a squat, grabbing a little stool that had been at arms lenght near one of the taller medicine cabinets. "Here," he said softly as he put the stool behind her. "I can clean it off for you," he kept his eyes low.
 
Hanae giggled to herself, as it seemed her joke about him being eaten offended Hiei. Perhaps he disliked vampires? Or maybe it was silly for how small Hanae was. She brought her gaze over to Kishi as a word rumbled out with that periwinkle smoke. It was quite a pretty color; she couldn’t help but wonder what it was. And her previous question — the sort one should never ask dragonkin — was still in her head. Of course, it faded from the forefront when Hiei was back in the room, carrying a bucket.

Obsidian eyes lit up in delight, and she sat on the stool without hesitation. Hanae folded her hands in her lap and looked at Hiei with an appreciative smile. She then noticed the rag in his hand — dark blue, not white. Her eyes widened a bit. Had he done that intentionally so she wouldn’t see any blood? Eyes flickering back to Hiei, to his brusque tone when they first met, she wasn’t sure if he was so thoughtful.

From her experience, all men, except for her father, seemed never to take careful consideration of others from a passing comment.

With a playful twinkle in her eye, Hanae leaned forward, joyful gratitude fading into a teasing look. “So tell me,” she whispered to Hiei, “are you always much nicer when Kishi is around? Or are you nervous that I may bite you?” She smiled, showcasing her white teeth. Her bottom two front teeth were slightly crooked, one slightly over the other. And then, because while she enjoyed teasing Hiei and he deserved a little of her revenge, he was doing her a favor.

“Luckily for you, I’m not a vampire. Or a ghoul. Or a cannibal. Although if I were, I’d probably go after someone with softer meat.” Hanae said as her eyes smiled for her. She closed her mouth, leaning her neck out so Hiei could move her head however he liked.
 
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As soon as she had begun to move toward the seat, Hiei began to soak the blue rag in the cool water of the bucket. One of the little cats even came out of its hiding place, and tip toed up to the fresh pool of water to stare at its reflection while Hieie's hand pulled the cloth out, and used both to wring it dry. To hear her voice so hushed. So near to his ear that he could feel the breath on her words tickle his skin. It gave him pause. Made his face feel warm. She pulled his eyes to her as her lips parted and showed her funny teeth. Imperfect. Honest.

Afraid of a bite.

He stared into her eyes. A second too long, but a second where their black pools came to meld into a moment.

"He's usually meaner," Kishi croaked between a pull and a stream, absentmindedly counting coins he kept in a wooden box beneath his front counter. The little disks of precious metals clinking brightly with each push and pull of his long claws.

Hiei huffed, and pulled his eyes away without a word, dunking the just wrung rag back into the water resting with his task. He pulled it back out of the bucket as Hanae made another joke, and wrung it once more. The little black cat started lapping up water from the bucket.

Gently, he raised his left hand up to her chin, and used only the top of a firm finger to help steady her as he readied to clean away the blood. "Its a bit cold," he warned her, and started to work away the grime of dried blood with firm, quick dabs. "How would you know I'm not soft of flesh?" he asked, matter of fact, and bent back down to rinse the dark rag. The little cat short-stepped back, eyes wide and posture low with worry.

Murk billowed from the fibers of the rag, the red-brown clouds swirled larger as his hands worked the cloth clean. The little cat crept forward, and looked down curiously at Hiei's hands, moving beneath the bloodied water.
 
Meaner? Like when they first met? To Hanae, Hiei was gentler than before. He had paid for her nose to be healed, meaning he must have felt guilty. Perhaps he lacked sensitivity then and wasn’t necessarily a mean person. Or did he not realize how harsh his words sounded? One would think he was a general because of how he ordered others around to deliver only a scathing blow.

She was quiet as Hiei cleaned her face, the damp cloth tugging gently at her skin. She wouldn’t have thought that he could firmly keep her head lifted while also cleaning off all the bloody grime; the two movements seemed to contradict one another. Her gaze was mostly on his face as he worked, briefly looking over to the cat, but soon enough, her gaze was back on Hiei.

“If you were soft like me, then I don’t think my nose would have broken,” Hanae answered, having put a little thought into her words, only speaking as he rinsed out the rag. She made sure not to look inside the bucket. “You’re built more like…” her sentence trailed off, her eyes lifting high as she thought for the right word, “a fighter.” She settled on. “You’re lean at the waist, but your shoulders and chest are broad. Like an upside-down triangle. And your chest felt like I had just run straight into a stone wall.” Hanae finished, and she watched him wring out the rag. She saw the pink droplets.

Pink was fine. It reminded her of pink rose petals. Hanae sighed softly, feeling rather comfortable with Hiei cleaning the blood off her skin. It brought a sense of contentment within, like when her mother and grandmother had cleaned her face of crumbs when she was younger. It was soothing, like when her sister would brush her hair when they were teenagers; they both had had long hair grazing their hips.

A melancholy smile appeared. She would never have long hair ever again.

“Your hair is so long, Hiei. How long have you been growing it out?” She asked, genuine curiosity in her voice and eyes.
 
Hearing someone talk about him. It made him uncomfortable. The attention. He wasn't used to it being so, warm. Friendly. Sincere. It was enough to keep him from correcting her. Letting her know that breaking a person's nose had little to do with how hard the body was, but everything to do with the angle of the impact, and the force behind it. Maybe it was more that he just realized how stupid that would've sounded. How unnecessary. Harsh.

A fighter.

That was certainly a word for what he was. Grown accustomed to cleaning the blood off of his hands, stitching the cuts above his eye in reflection of rough-scuffed mirrors, or tending to one of his crewmates who had gotten it worse. His stomach was a swirl, as she described him, his eyes, set low as Hanae went on talking.

He liked hearing her talk. The sound of her voice, a warm balm against the cold numbness he so often wrapped himself in. Tenderly, he wiped away the last bit of blood from her face as she posed her new question.

"My, hair?" he asked, taken aback.

Kishi stood from his desk, "You two see yourselves out whenever you're uh, finished up," Kishi went on puffing his pipe, a wry curl to his lips and a teasing twinkle in his eye. He made away from the room, getting lost somewhere in the back.

Hiei's eyes came back to Hanae, suddenly alone, with not but cats and Hanae for company, he felt a greater sense of pressure. Vulnerability. His cold demeanor, now with no other target other than Hanae. And she was so close to him now. Her eyes so large and full of a darkness that called to him. Seemed to welcome him in. He passed some spit down his throat. Heard the sound of his muscles squeezing. Felt the heat of his face as the image of her biting into him with crooked teeth flashed back through his mind. His face turned all the redder.

"Five years," he answered plainly, and stood up. "Let me, dispose of this," he bowed his head, and left the room.

A pair of the little cats came out and mewed at Hanae. One, the black coat with large golden eyes, approached her feet, and sniffed at her ankles before rubbing the sides of the

The sound of water spilling out, and running again sounded in the distance.
 
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