Hokushin had showed up rather immediately, to Mukuro's displeasure, tugging a drowsy Yusuke with him.

He immediately sent Chikasha on her way, much to Mukuro's disappointment, as her audacious flirting with Hiei was beyond entertaining.

Hiei was mortified to no extent, and unable to inflict the good-natured girl with any sort of damaging word or action, as she was a servant of his comrade Yusuke, he was resolved to take her forward words without any sort of reprieve or retaliation.

Mukuro thought it wonderful and was sad to see it go.

She made a mental note to request Chikasha as their personal guide for the remainder of the trip as soon as the right time arose.

It was nice to see Hiei so openly terrified.


^%^%^%^


Hiei couldn't believe his eyes. Was that really who he thought it was?

He never thought to have found her here, or to have found her anywhere. She was but a forgotten fixture from that fleeting childhood of his- someone that he had once looked upon with an unyielding sense of admiration and hot, ugly jealously.

But yet, here she was. And as a servant, of Tourin no less.

He could still remember her clearly, her body shorter and more rounded with childhood fat, as she countered and met every attack thrown her way.

Shigure would always grin as he fought her, cursing at her lightly in Chiyo's native tongue as she met his calculated blows with the iron-clad will that only an idealistic adolescent could possess. She would hiss and growl, her tail wrapped around her waist in protection as she dipped, dove, and retaliated in attempt to outwit her beloved master.

She was strong- incredibly so- in a way that always made Hiei sneer and his body feel warm in uncomfortable lust. He watched her with an obsession, trying to discover her strategy before even Shigure could and so that he could some way feel equal to the animal spirit that sparred before him.

But he never could- and he hated her for it.

After he had left Shigure, his new Jagan in place, he had thought to himself (with a sort of embarrassing relief) that he would never see her again.

He would never be humbled by her presence, cursed with the desire to be accepted by her, nor tortured by the friendship that she constantly offered him and he could never bear to accept. She would become a figment of his past.

His opponents would never wander into a fight with him and know that he was the weaker of the two- that he had fought and bled to be her equal and had left Shigure's a bitter failure- they would only know him as the strong fire-beast that had killed them.

But even after he had parted ways in bad taste, she continued to interrupt his new life with sporadic encounters and offers of a lasting comradeship, flitting in and out of his life (despite his insistence that he didn't ever wish to see her face again) on her own whims.

She would appear, a cheeky grin in place, her arms usually filled with some sort of food that she would sit down and cook while she talked to Hiei.

Even with his sparse participation, she would diligently sit there and continue on speaking, divulging tidbits of her current life as she saw fit.

But to learn now that she had an actual, menial task in life and was no longer the roaming, seductive juvenile of his earlier years was startling to say the least. He wondered briefly what Shigure thought about her lwly position but he supposed that she had long since lost contact with him. She was a flighty creature at best.

He briefly entertained some interest in the thought that they had both turned from Shigure and ended up settling down into positions among kingdoms but found that he didn't care enough to continue on with the train of thought.

Hiei had no sooner arrived at the room allotted to him during their stay before he noticed that she was already there, sat atop his bed with a box of sweets.

She offered the box to him, her eyes crinkling as she gave him a cheeky little grin.

How foolish to assume that she had changed in any way.

As the silence stretched on as she munched on candies, Hiei managed to find his voice. "I never assume you one to willingly act on and obey the pretty orders of others."

She swallowed and grin. "Don't worry, I make my own fun." She winked at him. "My darling sensei didn't train me for naught."

She patted the spot next to her "Since you have nowhere to run to in this foreign territory, my dear friend, why don't you just admit defeat and sit and listen to my poor attempt at conversation?"

Seeing her eyes sparkle with childlike mirth, exactly identical to the eyes that had once fought for his friendship many years again, Hiei felt himself give in.

"Hn. I guess I have no choice."

She just giggled.