The only character I own who is so far named is Moriko. Italics will always be what Moriko wrote. Bold will always be Yusuke's thoughts. Regular type will be anything said aloud or observed third person. Read on.

November 13, 1894; Human Realm

Dear Hiei,

I cannot believe you actually wrote back to me! And the letter was so sweet and
comforting. Just like you! And yes, I think that you are probably right. I think my
brother does check in on me because he cares about me and his reputation.
Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to tell you.

He arrives tomorrow. And, to be honest, I am afraid. He always scared me a little
before he became famous. No, before he became notorious. After that, he became
arrogant as well. Now I am more than a little afraid of him. Him and his plants. He
controls them a lot better than I control mine, unfortunately. That probably has
something to do with the fact that he has been doing it for five hundred years
longer than I have, though. I do not think that you can imagine how much I wish
you were here right now. I bet you could help me. You always know what to say
to everyone in any circumstance. That is one of the reasons I like you so much.

Where are you right now? How long would it take you to get here, to get to me,
if I needed you? I know you are fast, but how fast? Could you be back here with
me before anyone realized you were gone? Could you come get me and take me
away before my brother gets here? I can answer that one on my own. No, you
cannot. This letter will not have even reached you by then, which saddens me.

In response your last question, I would love to. But I do not think we should try.
My brother would track us down if we ran away together. He is good at that. I tried
running from him once. At the most opportune moment even: two months after
he left, two before he was due home. But even then he somehow knew. I had just
crossed over into Makai when he caught up with me. He has nearly unlimited
means of finding whoever he wants to find. If we ran away together he would surely
kill you, thinking you had kidnapped me or gotten me to reveal his name or some
such nonsense. And I could not bear to lose you, Hiei. Especially at the hands of
my only family. So we cannot run away. Not yet. Not until we know we are strong
enough together to beat him. So just come to me as soon as you can.

Your secretly terrified forest child,
Moriko

It had been several hours since Yusuke had read the first letter. It was nearly two thirty in the morning and he still hadn't been able to fall asleep because his mind was so full of that letter. So he got out of bed and retrieved the box and sat down to read the second letter. It's dated about a month after the first, he noted. Then read the first couple lines and thought Who could ever think Hiei was sweet? Then a thought occurred to him: What if the Hiei this girl know was a completely different Hiei from the one we know now? What if Hiei did have the ability to care about others, but something happened that drastically changed him? Nervous because of this revelation, Yusuke read on.

You always know what to say he read. Hiei? Know what to say? Yusuke wondered. He rarely speaks more than three syllables at a time, and then it is generally just to insult someone's intelligence. But time and experiences do change people—God, I'm a prime example of that. What if Hiei is too? Is the fire demon she knew the person behind the wall Hiei's built around himself to keep everyone out? Now Yusuke was just confusing himself; he wasn't usually this open-minded.

Could you come get me—Yusuke realized now that this demon cared about Hiei a hell of a lot. Not as much as he cared for Keiko, but close.

Run away together? Yusuke thought when he finished the letter. And as Hiei's idea, too. This was big. These letters were big, bigger than Yusuke could have imagined. Not only had someone cared for Hiei, but the cold, apparently heartless fire demon they all knew had cared for that person in return. Had cared enough to write back to her. And he still cares about her, Yusuke realized. Why else would he have kept these letters for so many years?

Again Yusuke felt he needed to talk to Kurama but this time he refrained. He knew Kurama didn't wish to learn Hiei's personal history. Something in Yusuke tugged him toward the phone, told him to call Kurama, almost as if the contents of the letters would have an effect on him as well as Hiei. But, against what he felt was his better judgment, Yusuke ignored it and, as it was now nearly three in the morning, decided to go to sleep.

That night, even as Yusuke lay unaware, his subconscious was spinning an idea—or a revelation—about the girl Moriko. A revelation that could destroy not only the team but Kurama and Hiei's friendship as well if it was ever fully realized.