(Disclaimer: Inari Minamino, Zachary (Zack) Deveraux, and Hiiro belong to me. Oozora belongs to Vongola-Nicole. KHR! and Yu Yu Hakusho do not belong to me.)

One-Shot: Blood Ties Make No Difference

"You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family." ~Trenton Lee Stewart

There were many things Inari disliked. On the top of her list were corrupt politicians, lawbreakers, prostitution, and of course, public speaking. She was not an orator. In fact, she disliked even being in the presence of a crowd.

She did not do well in social gatherings. Perhaps, that is why she awaited her 'missions' from Saizo, and dreaded attending school. Why did she even have to go to school? After all, one mission in itself paid her bills for half a year. With all the money she had in her bank, she was already set for life. School was pointless to her.

If it hadn't been for Zack, she wouldn't even be attending it at the moment. He was the only one beside her big brother that understood her. At school, she was known as a genius for her grades, but honestly, she didn't even try to get those grades.

At one point, she considered becoming an actor. She was good at it, she wistfully thought. You needed to be a good liar in the mafia world. She shot down that idea down though, when she realized she didn't want to be stalked by paparazzi.

The only occupation she could do was freelancing. She was a freelancer. It was her life. She couldn't do anything else.

It was a sickeningly, sunny Friday morning, she mused as she adorned her usual jacket over her uniform. To everyone else she was the 'male' idol of the school. Somehow, the entire student population thought she was a boy. Though, she couldn't blame them since she always wore the male uniform.

She thought today would be one of those 'same old, same old' days. She was even listening to a song from her favorite singer Oozora from the Vongola Band. Of course, fate had to screw with her.

"Excuse me, are you Inari Minamino?"

Do you usually ask random people off the streets if their name is Inari? She wanted to snap at the stranger, but she had more composure than that. Instead, she opted for a charming smile. "Yes. May I ask who is inquiring?"

The stranger gave a fake smile.

"I have been asked by my boss to interview all relatives of the Minamino line. Have you ever met Shuichi Minamino?"

Bitch. You did not answer my question.

"Who is inquiring?"

The stranger began another line of questioning. "Did you meet him during the 1998 family reunion in Tokyo?"

"Who is inquiring?" She insisted. She wasn't going to answer any of the questions he was asking without knowing his name.

"My boss."

She glared. This fool was stepping on her toes, and as much she wanted to off the guy, a mutilated body on school grounds would attract too much attention.

"And who is your boss?"

It was the stranger's turn to look indignant. "That information is of no importance to you."

"It is if he's keeping tabs on Shuichi's relatives." She intentionally verified his assumptions of her relations to her cousin. Although, she wasn't related to the Minamino's by blood, she owed it to them for taking her in as one of them. Whatever intentions this stranger's boss had for her cousin, she could tell they weren't good.

She roughly grabbed the man's collar. "If you so as much as touch anyone from my family. I guarantee you'll be wishing you had never had crossed paths with me."

Unintentionally, her green cat-like eyes gleamed as she spoke her final words. "Am I clear?"

The man nodded, visibly shaken by her dark persona 'Bloodthirst'. She only used this side of her when dealing with the mafia. A few seconds later, the stranger was gone. Luckily, she had arrived an hour early to school, so no one was around to see the confrontation. She didn't need rumors spreading about her having mood swings.

The stranger brought up some of her buried worries. What if that man was a part of the mafia? He didn't feel like a mafiaso, but his presence did scream 'dangerous' to her, and this was coming from a Flames of the Night user. But regardless, of who or what he is, he was a threat to her family. Bottom line she needed to eliminate him.

"Remind me again why you brought me out here?" The teasing tone in Zack's voice did not escape her.

"I need you to act as bait for a demon."

"A demon?" He reiterated.

"Yes." She deadpanned.

The male shrugged carelessly. "Sure. Why not? Not like I have anything important to do."

Hiiro was a B-class bird youkai under the command of Lord Yomi. He had a rather humanoid appearance, so it made sense he was one of the few chosen to be sent to the Ningenkai to sniff out any of the legendary Youko Kurama's weaknesses.

He was rather proud of his position as one of Lord Yomi's personal spies. He thought he could take on anyone in the Human Realm. Humans were weak compared to the might of youkai. At least that is what he thought before he encountered the human Inari Minamino. The Minamino's he had spoken to beforehand were mild mannered. At first, she appeared to be the same, but he discovered quickly that was a guise. Her eyes promised death. He had been on the end of death threats many times before, but never had he felt so shaken just by looking at someone's eyes.

What he needed to do now is calm down. Panicking would lead to mistakes. He couldn't afford to let the S.D.F. know he was in Ningenkai.

"Hey!"

Hiiro jumped. How could he let his guard down do easily? He took a look at the ningen before him. It was a tall brunette with spiky hair. The human wore a stupid grin on his face.

"What?" Hiiro grinded out. He didn't feel like dealing with an idiot today.

"Uh..." The brunette stalled as if trying to remember something important.

"I know a good joke. One day, a guy dies and finds himself in hell. As he is wallowing in despair, he has his first meeting with a demon."

The demon says, "Why so glum, chum?"

The dude says, " What do you think? I'm in hell."

"Hell's not so bad. We actually have a lot of fun down here. You a drinkin' man?"

The human's like, "Sure, I love to drink."

"Well, you're gonna love Mondays then," says the demon. "On Mondays, that's all we do is drink. Whiskey, tequila, Guinness, wine coolers, diet Tab... we drink till we throw up and then we drink some more."

The guy says, "Gee, that sounds great."

The demon then asks, "You a smoker?"

The man says,"You better believe it."

"Alright! You're gonna love Tuesdays. We get the finest cigars from around the world and smoke our lungs out. If you get cancer, it's okay... you're already dead."

So the human is like totally excited, "No kidding!"

"I bet you like to gamble."

The guy responds again with a "Yes, as a matter of fact I do."

"Good, because Wednesday is gambling day. Craps, blackjack, horse races, you name it. We even opened up a pai gow poker table."

"Hmmm, I never played pai gow before..." says the human.

"Well now you can. You like to do drugs?"

"Yes, I love to do drugs. You don't mean..."

"That's right! Thursday is drug day. Help yourself to a great big bowl of crack. Smoke a doobie the size of a submarine. You can do all the drugs you want, and if you overdose, it's okay... you're already dead."

So the dude is happy. "Yeah! I never realized that hell was such a swingin' place!"

But the demon asks one last question,"You gay?"

"Uh, no."

"Oooh." The demon grimaced. "You're gonna hate Fridays."

The bird youkai shot a disdainful glare at the human. Where was he going with this?

The human had the audacity to look sheepish. "You are not going to like Fridays either."

Before Hiiro could give a response, a blade pierced through his abdomen going upwards toward his cranium. The top half of his body dangled down to the ground, but before it could touch the floor, the entire body was enveloped in black flames. Not a trace of the demon was left.

"I told him he wasn't going to like Fridays." Zack stated matter-of-factly.

He stared at the black flames closely. "So... that's the Flames of Night?"

Inari nodded as she wiped the blood off her blade. Zack tilted his head in a manner only Inari would describe as cute.

"Cool."