-1"I still don't know why I have to go alone." Hiei growled, standing beside the portal that would take him to the location of his mission.

"I explained this already!" The pint-sized ruler of the spirit world, Koenma, yelled. "Yusuke's involved with another mission and Kurama won't leave his girlfriend for this."

(A/N see An Imaginary Houseguest, by Sugaplumprincess.)

Hiei growled again and looked around. Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara, along with Yukina, Keiko and Gwen, had come to see him off. Yusuke threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Awww, Hiei. I'm sure gonna miss your glares and insults." The leader grinned at him. Hiei sneered and pushed him off. Yusuke just grinned. Keiko called a good bye from a few feet away, scared of him. He smirked.

"Good luck, Hiei." Kurama held out a hand and Hiei shook it. "Try not to get killed, my friend." Hiei nodded. Then he turned to Kuwabara and glared, pleased to see that the baka shrank from it.

"If anything happens to Yukina while I am gone, I will personally carve your heart out while you are alive to watch."

Kuwabara swallowed nervously and nodded. Yukina put her arms around her brother.

"Don't worry about me, Brother. Be careful, I couldn't handle losing you."

"I will do nothing to make you cry. Nothing is worth that." He turned and leapt through the portal.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

Anna was startled from her book by a thump, a clatter and profuse swearing in a language she recognized as Japanese. She put down her book and opened her window. It was five feet high with large glass doors that she could push open and it opened straight out onto a large oak tree. She immediately saw the source of the noise. A young man dangled upside down in the tree outside, his foot caught in a forked branch.

She pulled on a pair of gloves and stepped up on the windowsill. She jumped into the tree with practiced ease and climbed up the next few branches until she stood on the one the man was caught in. He was still struggling and swearing loudly. A light had come on in the neighbors house. She had to do say something to get him to shut up and stop moving.

"Yamete, you big bat!" She finally yelled, remembering her Japanese in a hurry. He froze. She wrapped her gloved hands around his foot and turned it. He slipped out. And fell. Anna closed her eyes as she heard him crash into the ground.

She looked down to see him sitting on the ground. She dropped down next to him as he pulled himself to his feet and then fell again. She put a gloved hand on his chest when he tried to rise again.

"Let me look at your ankle." She ordered, removing his she shoe before he could protest. His ankle was red and swollen.

"Sprain. Come on, let's get you inside." She yanked him up and pulled his arm over her shoulder. He snarled and tried to pull back, but was weakened by the trip through the barrier and she overpowered him.

She half carried him up to her room, glad he had stopped his swearing. She sat him down on her bed and reached under it, pulling out a large blue bin filled with bandages and such. It smelled like hospital. Anna pulled out a bandage and wrapped it carefully around his ankle, then tied it off.

" There, that should help. Lay down and get some rest, okay? I'll be right back." She disappeared through the door already. He laid back on the pillow with no intention of sleeping, but his body had other ideas. When Anna returned he was dozing peacefully. She put down the bundle in her arms and covered him up with the blanket.

She walked over to her desk and laid out the things she'd picked up from the grass. His shoe, of course. A sword she recognized as the Japanese kitana. A small blue compact. A small crystal orb on a chain. What strange possessions. She yawned and lay down on the floor, glad the next day was Saturday.

The next morning she awoke to a buzzing and the word Hiei repeated over and over. She opened her eyes. Her midnight visitor still lay on the bed, dead asleep. She located the source of the buzzing, the compact, and flipped it open.

"Gaaah! Who're you!?!" Yelled a blue haired girl, her face appearing in the mirror. Anna yawned.

"Hiei is the guy in all the black, right? Sorry, he's asleep. I can have him phone you back when he wakes, if you like."

"But who are you?" The girl demanded again. Anna smiled. "Oh, gomen ne! Watashi wa Anna. Hiei wound up at my house last night with a sprained ankle."

"Oh. Okay, Anna, listen, you must not tell anyone about him, understand? And tell him Botan called." The screen went blank. Anna snapped it shut.

"Alrighty then. Secret bats and talking makeup. A day in the life of Anna." She dressed, tucked the mirror into the back pocket of her jeans and went downstairs to cook breakfast.

She came back up half an hour later with a plate of bacon and eggs to find the bed empty. She stepped inside the room and the door slammed shut. A blade was pressed to her throat and her arm was grabbed. She barely managed to keep from dropping the plate.

"Who are you?" Hissed a voice in her ear.

"My name is Anna and you need to get off your ankle if you ever expect it to heal, Hiei." she replied, using his momentary distraction at her knowing his name to slip out of his grasp and move towards the window. He then smelled the food and his stomach rumbled.

"What is that?" He asked warily.

"Your breakfast. Want it?" She held it out teasingly. He swiped at it and she pulled it back. "Nope. Sit down and get off your foot. Then you get the food."

He glared at her. " I could simply cut off your head and take the food."

She considered that possibility for a moment, then looked back at him. "Then do it."

"All ningens are stupid, I see." He observed. She chuckled. "Oh yes, all of us, all over the world."

"Hn." Hiei walked over and sat on the bed, then grabbed the plate out of her gloved hands and ate. She sat down across from him in her desk chair, leaning her arms on the back.

"Someone named Botan called for you while you were asleep. I told her you'd call back." She informed him.

He choked. "Botan? On the phone?"

"No, baka. On this thing." She pulled the compact out of her back pocket. "I held onto it in case she called back."

He held a hand out and she dropped the thing into it. He made the call.

"Botan, answer me."

"Hiei, you're up! You weren't hurt too badly were you?"

"How do I find this girl?" He demanded, ignoring her. A sigh came from the device.

"Look around I suppose. Are you still at Anna's?"

"Yes. I'll be leaving as soon as my ankle heals. Touch that again and I will kill you." This last part was directed at Anna, who had picked up his crystal tear. She closed her gloved hand over it and looked at him. "Then do it."

There was a gasp from the device. "Did she just say . . .?"

"Yes, she did. It appears Japanese ningens don't have an absolute monopoly on stupidity. Give me the crystal, girl."

Anna dropped it into his hand. He instantly refastened it around his neck. Anna got up and went downstairs to let Hiei have his conversation.

Downstairs, she turned on the radio. It was playing one of her favorite songs. She turned it up and sang along, removing her gloves to wash dishes. She was nearly finished when she was interrupted.

"That awful noise is aggravating me. Be silent."

She turned to see Hiei limping into the kitchen. He had a scowl on his face. "Or you'll kill me, right? You're a little redundant, aren't you? And you should not be walking on that ankle."

He snorted. "I believe I know my body's limits better than you, human. I want more food."

"My name is Anna and the food is in the fridge. Eat what you like." She turned back to her dishes. Hiei began to make his way across the kitchen when his foot hit some soapy water that had splashed on the floor. He slipped. Without thinking Anna spun and grabbed him by the hand.

Her head exploded with pain. She yelled loudly. Hiei screamed alongside her as he felt the same pain. Images flew through her head and voices filled her mind. With each voice came an intense emotion.

"Your true character is an incarnation of evil" Anger

"Don't worry about me. There is no time. Hurry." Fear

"I will not make you cry. Nothing is worth that." Love

"Let me tell you why I teamed up with him. It was because I didn't want to fight him." Pride

"I trust you." Shock

Hiei managed to rip their hands apart and Anna's head cleared. They both knelt gasping on the floor.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I forgot about my gloves. I can't control it." she gasped out. Hiei stared at her.

"You . . Saw? How . . ?" Hiei tried to get his breath back. Anna sat back on her heels.

"I was born with it. That's why I wear the gloves. I'm sorry. I'll never tell anyone what I saw." she promised.

"If you do, I will kill you, and see to it that your soul never reaches heaven."

She nodded. He flipped open his phone.

"Botan, I found the girl."