I'm mostly posting this because I've really wanted to for a while and to gauge interest in this piece. I won't make promises for a super consistent schedule at the moment, but I will do my best.

"This is the place?" Victoria Delaney stared up at the twilit house, her eyes scanning the dilapidated appearance with little enthusiasm. The security guard beside her nodded, swallowing as he avoided looking in her piercing blue eyes.

A surprisingly common reaction to her gaze. She'd learned to own it.

"Yeah, this is the place." He nodded toward the dark windows and weathered gate. "Some kids broke in the other day and said they were attacked. I tried to get it in but I couldn't get past the front door. I mean, I'd heard the place was haunted, but Lord Jesus. I was not ready."

He wiped a wrist over his forehead to absorb some of the sweat pouring from his brow. Victoria spared him a dull look before opening the door of the beat up sedan.

"I guess it's good someone called a pro, then." She huffed, climbing out of the car. As she turned to tell the guard to wait for her to come out he shoved the shifter into reverse and flew out of the overgrown lot, throwing dirt and weeds from under his spinning tires. Sighing, she stared after him then turned her attention back to the real star of the show.

This house. It'd been home to more than its share of ghost stories for a while now. Urban legends of murders and ghosts. Demons. She didn't believe any of it. She'd dealt with some shady shit in her day and no amount of visiting the county clerk for records or the library for newspapers could confirm the stories she'd heard in school. The truth of it was that the place wasn't haunted. Maybe occupied by a vagrant, but not haunted. But someone was paying her decent money to come check it out and she didn't say no to a paycheck.

This was the life of a professional occultist in South Carolina.

The sun blazed behind the house, casting long shadows. The roof was in a state all to itself, burdened with weathering storms and hurricanes without repair over long years of emptiness. Spanish moss clung to the tattered shingles, some of which littered the overgrown lawn. The grass reached her ribs as she walked through the broken wrought iron arch in the fence, stepping over cracked cement to get to the door. The handle and lock were broken. She took a moment to pour a thick line of salt over the threshold.

A group of teenagers had broken in recently, as reported by the security guard that had found them running like lost chickens through the streets. The kids were screaming and causing a fuss in next neighborhood over, a place that had been recently renovated and sold for a pretty penny as historic. They'd been in the house and were messing around with things they didn't fully understand or appreciate and had been physically attacked by something.

The vague description bothered Victoria more than the attack itself. Something? When she'd interrogated the group they'd all offered different accounts of the apparition. Tall. Short. White. Dark. Green eyes. Red eyes. Dark hair. Light hair. Human. Demon. Soft. Harsh. Gnashing teeth. Gentle smiles. No one knew what the hell had actually happened and that meant that she was unprepared.

The door gave easily when she pushed her palm against the faded brown paint, the wood beneath worn and light. The house numbers had been stripped off from the siding ages before. She let it swing open fully, standing on the concrete stoop and staring into the darkness for a few seconds before turning on her flashlight and highlighting the entryway. The door led to a mudroom, the next door opened beyond it and revealing what seemed to be a decrepit living room. Victoria moved into the mudroom and closed the door behind her.

"Anyone home?" She called, tone aloof despite her other palm resting on the butt of her sidearm. "My name is Victoria. I'm here because of some kids that got hurt."

Noise. Subtle, but present. Weight shifting on the boards on the floor above her and causing a tell-tale creaking that only these old houses offered. She drew her gun and attached the flashlight to the top of it, eyes narrowing slightly. Dust rose around her leather boots as she carefully picked her path over the floor into the living room, sweeping her light across the space. Swirls of particles highlighted the darkness. An abandoned Ouija board lay on the floor, left to rot in the wake of the attack only a few nights before.

"Fucking idiots." Victoria muttered, eying the so called game. She never had quite gotten the point of trying to contact the dead. What good could possibly come from it?

Then her light picked up white. She crept closer to the unusual marking and she swore quietly to herself, pulling her phone out to take a picture of the symbols painted onto the floor. A summoning circle if she'd ever seen one. The hair on her nape rose, cold creeping down her spine in the form of a drop of sweat. Victoria crouched, noting the scuff marks on the edge of the circle. It had been broken. By who? By what? Furrows were drawn in the plaster to her left, at the base of the stairs. Deep etchings that had littered the floor with the white dust of broken drywall and paint flecks.

Her breath caught in her chest as she swept the light around the room. Bloody handprints on the far wall. Broken windows allowing wind to play in moth eaten drapes. Furniture tipped to the side, rivulets of flaky black running over the washed out material. Blood.

"What the fuck happened here?" She shivered against the oppression of the atmosphere. The call hadn't mentioned any summoning. If whoever had drawn the circle had been successful then that meant-

Creaking drew her attention behind her but not fast enough. A blur of motion stumbled her backwards as she spun to defend herself, blood drawing down her side from a hefty cut to her ribs through her shirt. She yelled, baring her teeth as she threw her elbow into her attacker, forcing them off of her. Her gun pressed into the line of their jaw, bringing the body to stillness. A hand still poised to claw at her face with hideously sharp nails.

"Don't do it." She spat the words, eyes moving to track the second of them that had made to come up from her other side. They stopped walking. The first lowered their hand slowly, eyes narrowed on her face.

Carefully, she pulled her phone from her pocket, her eyes constantly swiveling from the man she held at gunpoint to the one who stared at her through a shield of darkness. With a few motions she brought her phone's flashlight to life and used it to identify the man too far away to touch her. The one under her gun's barrel shifted and she pressed it further into the juncture of his jaw, her finger threatening to tighten on the trigger.

"I said don't do it." She hissed at him, unamused by his ambush tactics. "You assholes are in deep shit."

Then she stopped talking, her tongue going dry as she blinked between the two faces caught in her lights. Shorter, red eyes, dark hair, a menacing snarl formed on his lips, a fringe of white highlighting his sparse bangs. Tall, lithe, red hair shining like his emerald eyes in the harsh light of her phone.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me." Victoria inhaled and gawked at them once more before swearing to herself repeatedly.

The man being held as her captive moved again and the other one spoke earnestly to him, raising his hands and using a quiet but firm tone. One thing for certain, though. The redhead definitely uttered the name Hiei.

"Do you speak English?" Victoria called to the redhead, her mind starting to try to pull impossible pieces of this puzzle together. He stared back at her. "Understand it?"

He offered only the barest nod.

"Tell him not to move toward me or I'll shoot." She advised, her eyes narrowing. "I doubt your friend can survive a bullet to the brain. I'm going to back away to give him space."

Green eyes assessed her, then flicked to the man her gun pointed toward.

"I'm serious." Victoria warned him. "If he makes another move to attack me, I'll shoot him. Warn him to keep still."

A hushed order fell from the redhead's lips and the red eyed man stiffened before growing something back.

"I don't speak a lot of Japanese but I think your friend just called me a stupid whore." Victoria glanced back to the redhead.

After another terse exchange and silence, she slowly pulled back from the man who only had maybe an inch on her in height. That would make him around five-five. Taller than what she remembered but that added credence to her quickly building theory that these two were constructed to distract her. That theory being part of a whole other issue she could tackle after she put these sorry bastards to sleep.

"Okay." She made sure to keep both of them in her sights, stepping back to a middle ground between them. "My name is Victoria."

The two of them exchanged glances and said nothing.

"I'm here because one of you," her eyes met red pointedly, "scared the shit out of a group of kids a few nights back. Hurt some people."

The redhead pointedly glared at his counterpart. The shorter man glared back.

"Now, I have a simple question. Who summoned ya'll?" She asked carefully, gun still in her hand, though it was lowered.

The redhead stared at her, confusion easily read on his face as if he hadn't quite caught what she'd asked. The other just stared off, lips twisted in a sneer as he refused to engage with her. She tried again, gesturing to a circle spray painted onto the floor between the shoved aside and moth eaten couches.

"You were brought here." She stated firmly. "By who?"

Red eyes glanced at her, probably bothered by her tone. But the other glanced down, green eyes scanning the symbols and circle carefully. When he raised his gaze to hers with a shake of his head, she knew he'd understood.

"Why did you attack them?" She pressed the question, focusing more heavily on the one most willing to cooperate. To her surprise this time he answered, his English succinct and heavily accented.

"They attacked us." He stated coolly, eyes narrowing on her. The other man glanced at him, curious. "My friend defended us."

"Explain."

"We were here, confused. They came. They found us, and they sprayed something at us. Hiei defended himself." He opened his hands in a that's what it is gesture and Victoria frowned at him.

"Pepper spray?" She wondered. The kids hadn't mentioned that. But then again, a bunch of delinquents breaking into a house wouldn't have been honest about attacking the occupants. "I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"

This time the man turned to the other and spoke again, quietly, and the red eyed man huffed and rolled his gaze to Victoria.

"No." He stated callously.

They had attacked him? Of all the stupid things to do, seriously. Had these kids never watched TV? Even if this was some sort of sorcery, attacking someone based on a demon who cared less about humanity than he did about trees wasn't smart.

"Do you know where you are?" Victoria settled her gaze back on the other man, determined not to use the name she'd already ascribed him in her mind. He just fit the mold too perfectly. This had to be a trick and one she wouldn't fall for. Normally her eyes picked illusions out immediately, but there were those out there stronger than her. Those with skills that gave her nightmares to consider.

"No." He shook his head. "We are lost."

"Right." She holstered the gun, surprising both of them. "Follow me, I'll show you."

And she headed for the door with a plan. If they were puppets, they wouldn't be able to leave the building. If they were demons, truly, they'd be contained by the line of salt on the threshold of the exit. And if they made it out the door she wasn't sure what she'd be dealing with, but she'd know they weren't pure evil.

Probably.

"Ya'll coming?" She called from the mudroom, one foot over the line of salt already. The two men followed her and stood on the other side of room, watching her with obvious wariness. She crossed the line fully. They continued to stare.

Then, almost as if they'd held a silent conversation, they followed her out the door. Each breaking their way over the line without hesitation or any sign of discomfort. Standing on the concrete stoop together, the three of them assessed one another in the yellow tinge of aging street lights. Victoria swallowed, and then nodded to them, cautiously moving toward the wrought iron gate. As she passed through, she slapped up a white USPS sticker with an old sigil drawn on it in Sharpie. The two of them followed through again, not fazed.

So much for that plan then. She was dealing with corporeal, non-demonic entities that just happened to speak Japanese and meet the identification requirements of her old favorite childhood show. Great. Just fucking great.

"Kurama." The name brought both the redhead and her to a sudden stop as she turned to watch the men talk. The next words were too foreign to her, but she didn't miss the glance thrown her direction as Hiei spoke.

His dark, spiked hair cast odd shadows in the lamplight. It wasn't as outlandish as she'd imagined it would be in real life. Instead it just seemed like the style of someone who'd stuck their head out a car window while going eighty-miles-per-hour then just decided to hairspray it into place. The white starburst remained as a frame to his erratic bangs and his deep crimson eyes glowed with unnerving light. Kurama seemed too human. His tall grace and thick ruby hair fit his emerald eyes well enough, but the alertness of his gaze and the subtle but strong hints of power in his voice called on lost images of power. She felt it thrill down her spine every time he spoke and it bothered her endlessly. It was a sound that rose the hairs on the back your neck but you couldn't place why.

After a few minutes of them burying themselves in conversation she closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her side, blood still dripping from the gash Hiei had delivered on her. It took more effort than she wanted to admit to open her eyelids again and stare at the two foreign men as they debated something, likely trusting her.

"Ya'll about ready? Because I got things to do." She lifted the side of her shirt and revealed the wound to them, in all its blood and glory.

Green eyes widened slightly as red eyes narrowed. A fine declaration of their characters, in her opinion.

"Well, come on. No use wasting away in the dark." She muttered and turned to trudge away from the fence and the grass beyond it, giving the dark house her back without hesitation. Whatever had written that summoning spell was long gone and the portal was closed for good.

But whoever did this was still out there, capable of doing it again, and that was a problem to Victoria. Because this time they summoned theoretically trustworthy demons from another dimension. Next time they might not play so nicely.

"Wait." Kurama called, wrapping a hand around her narrow wrist, bringing Victoria to a halt, the muscles in her forearm flexing in his grip. "Your wound. You're hurt."

"Yep." She nodded and glanced at the other of them. "Not the first time."

"We'll help you." He promised her and she found it odd that he'd offer such a stupid oath given that they'd just met and he had no idea who she was. And yet, she knew so much more about him.

"Maybe." She shrugged and pulled her arm from his fingers. "Maybe not."

And off they set again, headed through the next neighborhood to wait while she called an Uber. The two men sat tensely in the back of the quiet Prius as the driver made small talk about the heat and the damn humidity lately. Victoria offered little conversation back, praising central air and working the night shift. She stumbled out of the car after paying and tripped a little on her way to the door of her lake house. Under the hush of darkness her neighbors were all inside, even if they weren't the closest of them lived around the bend of the lake, too far to be a bother.

Her key slipped in her bloody fingers as she tried to force it into the deadbolt, her eyes losing focus. She hadn't thought she'd lost that much blood. Weird.

After four attempts she slid the key into the lock and twisted, letting herself and the two men into the two story house she'd called home for five years. Her dog, Hank, greeted her with a bark and tail wag, licking at her hands eager for attention. She gestured down to him with eyes narrowed on her intruding guests.

"If you hurt him, I'll kill you." She warned, lifting her shirt to reveal the gun on her hip. Kurama relayed the message to Hiei, who raised an eyebrow as he assessed the dog.

He muttered something she vaguely interpreted as humans and their pets. Her eyes rolled as she stumbled toward the downstairs half-bathroom and yanked the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet. Without another word, the lab mix jumped onto the toilet to watch her thus assuring her of his safety. She pulled her shirt over her head and set about cleaning and wrapping her cut.

Any deeper and she'd need stitches. She wondered if it had been a warning or a missed opportunity for Hiei. Deciding she didn't want to really know, she chose not to ask. The two of them spoke outside the bathroom door, their tones between quizzical and irritated. She'd left the door open and when Hiei marched up to her midway through her taping up her cut, he stopped. His eyes glanced at the wound, then her state of dress and yelled for Kurama who hovered in the doorway as well, though he quickly averted his gaze. Hiei offered no such decency.

"He asks if you'll die." Kurama gestured to her, refusing to glance her direction. "He'll be punished."

"Relax. I'll live." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Are you hungry?"

Kurama glanced at Hiei, relaying the question, and then back to her as she pulled her shirt back on, ripped as it was on the side.

"Yes. Quite."

"Good." She moved toward the kitchen and pulled a few containers from the fridge. "You're going to help me go through leftovers. I hate them, after a while."

She warmed up the food without asking their preferences and set it all out for them on the half-counter separating her kitchen from her dining room. Hiei and Kurama mounted barstools and stared at the array of unfamiliar food for a few seconds before glancing at their host.

"Macaroni and cheese." She pointed to the largest dish. Then the next in line, and the last. "Ham Delights. Green bean casserole. Eat up, boys."

Swallowing his resistance, Kurama tentatively took a little of everything offered and tasted it gingerly. After a few moments of consideration, he offered his opinions to Hiei, who loaded a plate and began to devour the food. Good. With them around she might never have to endure leftovers again. She might even get to miss them.

The dishes were empty in half an hour, Kurama and Hiei both looking satisfied. Victoria offered a pot of jasmine green tea, choosing to drink her own sweet tea as they held a private conversation in Japanese that she couldn't follow. While they ate she went into the storage room and dug out a tote filled with her high school and college memorabilia. In the grey tote were her favorite papers, her awards, accolades, even her diplomas, but also the things she'd treasured during those times in her life. Her favorite books. Her movies. Her CDs. And her manga and DVDs. A few works of fanart she'd purchased online. After the men finished eating she pulled out a few issues of a particular manga and stared at Kurama in the eyes.

"Trans-dimensional gateway." She told him the words, watching them fall flat before pulling out her phone and repeating them through Google Translate. His eyes widened. "You're not real here, you know. You're a fictional character."

She tossed him the first issues of the manga to depict his and Hiei's images, carefully gauging his reaction as she told him the current year. All the while, relying on the translator to pick up her slack. Hiei stared at her and then the redhead for a few moments before snatching one of the books from her hands and flipping through it with a snarl.

"Look that over. I've got a call to make." She let the translator do its work before taking her phone with her out to her back patio.

From here she could see the lake, the pier with her pontoon tied to it. Across the width of the lake was a speedboat and another house, larger than her own, palm trees littering the yard. She glanced at her own ancient magnolia tree. With a deep breath she dialed the number that had contacted her for this job to give them a piece of her mind.

"We're sorry, but the number you're trying to contact is no longer in service."

She tried again.

"We're sorry, but the number you're trying to contact is no longer in service."

The next five times all produced the same result and Victoria nearly threw her phone into the green water in her anger. Instead she hurriedly checked her bank account and found it fuller than it had been before she'd left home several hours before.

Sender unknown.

"Fuck!" She howled the word and kicked over a watering can that splintered as it bounced over the grass. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!"

She picked the can up and slammed it down repeatedly until all the remained where shards of pea green plastic and the handle in her fist. Panting she licked her lips and straightened herself out, closing her eyes to get a grip on herself.

Think, Victoria. Think. She ordered herself, long drags of breath calming her down. Did you recognize the voice? Did you recognize the names?

No. She didn't. She didn't recognize anything except the name of the house and the price of the job. She should've been more careful. If anything, or anyone, else had been in that house, she could've been killed. Whoever hired her had known something was wrong. With purpose, she marched back into the house and glared at the two men arguing in her living room.

They turned to her with equal looks of hostility, and both starting hammering against her verbally. She felt their anger as a living thing pressing against her skin, and it made her clench her teeth together.

They had a right to be pissed, sure. They were ripped from their home. They were in a foreign place. But still, she didn't appreciate that anger being directed at her. She could have left them there.

"Stop yelling at me!" She shouted back at them. "I didn't do this!"

They continued.

"I don't understand you." Victoria pointed out finally and shook her head, waving her hands. "I don't speak Japanese, morons."

Hiei thrust a manga in front of her face. He yelled something she didn't understand, but she knew the panels well enough.

Yukina.

Hiei stepped toward her when she didn't speak again. He wrapped a hand around her throat and squeezed, gesturing with the book. She allowed him to touch her, her eyes narrowing as she listened to him rant. Then her hand wrapped around his wrist and squeezed back, her thumb digging into the nerve under his thumb that would force his grip to loosen. Crimson eyes grew large as she pulled herself away, then forced his hand down away from her. Her finger shoved toward his face, a clear warning in her voice.

"Touch me again. I dare you." She seethed.

He stepped toward her and she reached to her sidearm.

"Hiei, that's enough, I think." Kurama spoke clearly, in English, obviously for her benefit. Victoria glanced at him, but her eyes settled back on the fire demon. "Do you mean to harm us?"

"No." She stated clearly.

Hiei huffed and shook his head, turning his ire onto the redhead. Victoria watched them for a moment as Hank trotted over to the two men. When his wet nose touched Hiei's hand, tail wagging, the demon snarled and moved to strike him. Victoria launched herself across the room, taking him off his feet.

Her hand squeezed his throat without hesitation, so hard she felt the rush of air in and out as Hiei breathed. Hank yipped and slunk away, tail down as he watched the fight.

"What did I tell you?" She demanded of the fire demon.

To her surprise, Hiei didn't fight back. He relaxed under her, allowing her to kneel over him with her hand around his neck as he lifted his chin slightly.

"Kurama." Hiei called the name, his eyes never leaving blue. He uttered something else.

"He said you're stronger than he thought." Kurama tentatively spoke up from beside Victoria, who still glared into the fire demon's face. "You said you didn't mean harm."

"I didn't. But I warned you both. Don't touch my dog." She spit the words and jerked herself away from Hiei, falling into pacing the room. "This is such bullshit. It was supposed to be an easy job. Haunting. There wasn't supposed to be a summoning circle. You weren't supposed to be there."

Hiei got back to his feet slowly, flexing his hand with heavy consideration. He eyed the dark haired human pacing before them. Her muttering meant nothing to him, he didn't understand a single word of it. But he could see her agitation clear as day. One look at Kurama and he knew the fox was listening to her intently.

"We're not the same here. I can't feel my energy." Hiei kept his voice as he spoke to his friend. "Can you?"

"No." Kurama shook his head. "I feel plainly human. She said something about a different dimension. I think we were pulled into a different world. In this world we're characters in a comic book."

"Are you alone?" Victoria spun toward Kurama suddenly, the movement causing him to stiffen and step backwards. She noted the movement but didn't say anything about it

"Yes. Just us." He motioned to Hiei.

"Damn. Kuwabara has that dimensional sword, right? He can cut through. If he were here, we could just send you home." She made a face, scrunching up her features. "He can't use the dragon, right?"

Kurama's eyes grew carefully guarded at the blunt question. "Why?"

"If he could, he'd have fought me off. He's not that afraid of punishment." Victoria rolled her eyes. "It's fine. I just don't want to wake up dead."

"I don't understand." Kurama frowned at her.

"It's just a saying." She looked away from him, lips pressed into a line as she squinted, thinking. "I guess you'll stay here until I can figure out what's happening. First chance I get, I'll send you home."

Kurama glanced at Hiei, then back to her. "What's your name?"

She frowned, her attention drawn back to him. The expression on her face clearly stated she didn't want to offer name. But she sighed, relenting. She knew theirs, it was only fair. They couldn't use hers anyway, not the way other demons could.

"Victoria Delaney." She told them both, trying to enunciate as best she could. Her frown remained when she glanced at the stairs. "I'll show you to the spare room. Sorry for the mess, I wasn't expecting company."

She pursed her lips, hearing her grandmother scold her as if the woman were actually there in the room. Grams always got onto her for not being prepared for guests. Always keep the guest room clean, always have food ready, never run out of sweet tea. Sighing, Victoria ran her hand through her hair.

"Thank you." Kurama offered quietly, watching her every movement carefully. "Your hospitality is appreciated."

She eyed him, quirking a brow. "Don't thank me yet. You haven't even seen the room."

Kurama imagined, later, she'd been right to warn him of that. The bed was a full-size, large enough for him and Hiei but small enough it was slightly uncomfortable. The mattress wasn't the best either, as it sagged in the middle. Either Victoria was the constant host of guests or never the host, given the haphazard state of the room. A cool breeze filtered in through the window, stirring the sun-bleached curtains.

Honesty, the room seemed like it hadn't been used in years. A coat of dust aged the wood of the bedframe and the matching dresser shoved against the far wall. The blankets and sheets smelled of mothballs and cedarwood, having been taken directly from the over-cramped closet.

"I'll get around to cleaning that out." Victoria had assured him, but she didn't look entirely invested in the idea. "Dresser is empty though. TV works, but it's only basic cable."

Kurama hadn't felt the need to explain that Hiei and himself didn't have any possessions to store. Just the clothes on their backs which they'd been living in for nearly a week. The cuff of his pants were soiled from the old house they'd found themselves in.

Hiei perched on the dresser, one leg hanging down as they discussed their situation in hushed voices. He didn't fully believe the woman couldn't understand them. Something about her eyes made him think she understood far more than she let on. With her in the house, he wasn't about to fall asleep. They'd take shifts, just as they had at their last unfortunate residence. Kurama seemed to agree, but the fox had a hard time settling to sleep even with Hiei watching.

A knock on the door drew both their mouths closed, eyes swiveling to the bedroom door. They didn't respond. Another knock, a few seconds after. Kurama eyed Hiei then got to his feet, leaving the bed to open the door to Victoria.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously.

She held a bag out to him, a beaten tan military duffle that was far heavier than it looked when he accepted it.

"The shower is the next door down from here. Use whatever you need. Help yourselves to the kitchen. Just don't the property and don't touch the dog." She instructed without hesitation, but her tone was slightly softer than it had been earlier. "It's not much, but it's what I've got to offer for now. We'll get you two better situated as soon as we can."

He stared back at her, then looked at the bag again. The dog sat behind her in the hall, ears perked as it looked into the room, tail wagging slightly.

"Come on Hank, let's get some sleep." She turned and left Kurama to his thoughts, and the dog followed her down the hall. She opened a door on the opposite side of theirs disappearing through it without another word.

Kurama tossed the bag onto the bed and unzipped it, wondering what exactly she had to offer, as she'd put it. To his surprise an array of clothing lay inside, along with a few books written in English. Also the mangas she'd showed them before and a collection of DVDs also featuring their faces. A note attached, telling him she'd read the stories and that was the extent of her knowledge. A map of the grounds she lived on as well, outlining the borders of the property and the layout of the house itself.

Hiei slid off the dresser and walked over, raising his eyebrows at the contents. "What is she giving us this for?"

"I think she's trying to help." Kurama offered, also mildly surprised. "It seems she wants us to know what she knows about us."

"Why?" Hiei frowned.

"I'm not certain, but I think because she doesn't view us as threats. She seems to be concerned about us more than anything."

Hiei scoffed. Kurama relayed the rest of the information to him, particularly about the shower and the kitchen. They invested both together before decided to bathe before anything else. By the time they'd washed themselves, changed and gotten water, both of them where fighting back the haze of sleep.

"You sleep, I'll take over the watch." Kurama offered, stifling a yawn. "I'm the one who stayed awake during my turn."

"Idiot." Hiei huffed, but didn't argue, crawling over the bed and collapsing on it. "This bed is terrible."

Kurama agreed with a hum, pulling the mangas from the bag and beginning to delve into them. What a turn of events, he mused to himself, to find themselves in a new world being cared for by yet another snarky human. Inter-dimensional gateway. He considered the ramifications then buried the thoughts for the moment so he could assess them with a clear head and some sleep. Instead he began reading about Yusuke, an odd sense of calm overcoming him as he revisited his friends' trials.