3

Hiei arrived on the site he was told to go not a half hour later. He had stopped to get Salem, but Hyouga said he had already left. All four of the kids were playing in one of the side rooms, and she had said it wasn't a problem to keep them the full day she had promised.

"Trust me; they're not as bad as Misou and Yuki. At least yours hasn't tried putting a fork in an electrical socket. Not yet, anyway," she said before bidding him farewell and good luck.

Where he was told to meet his crew was on the side of a road, by an unmarked storage truck. He saw a familiar red-head leaning against it, while another red-head was conversing with a slightly shorter guy with slicked back black hair.

Puzzled, Hiei approached the group. "Kurama, Yusuke, what are you doing here? This isn't your jurisdiction."

"We're just as confused as you are, I can assure you," Kurama said. His appearance hadn't changed too much. He kept his even longer hair tied back and wore normal human street clothes instead of the Asian garb he had seemed keen on wearing a lot. He had an unzipped thin black jacket over a white button up shirt pulled out of his jeans, giving him an appearance of someone who didn't care much about how he looked anymore.

"If you two are to be attending, then why am I here in the first place? Salem has the same level of authority as I, and I had other plans today."

Yusuke bit his lip. "Yeah that blows. Happy anniversary to you though. Pass that on to Sha for me." He had changed a bit. He seemed subtly more tired, most likely due to Reia now being three. It wasn't too noticeable, unless one had known him for over a decade. He sported a black hoodie that he had jammed his hands into the front pocket and a pair of jeans that fit him more loosely compared to the pair Kurama wore. A whole seven years now and you haven't killed each other. I'm impressed."

"Shut it." He looked around. "Tell me that oaf isn't joining us as well."

"Well a certain brother-in-law of yours hasn't really been doing much more than gloating about his daughter." Yusuke laughed a bit as he saw Hiei's teeth grit at being reminded he was now related to Kuwabara.

"Whatever. Someone such as him wouldn't last five minutes on a mission such as this."

"Well now I wouldn't really say that," a voice said from behind them.

"Don't tell me…"

"Yeah, nice to see you too Shorty," Kuwabara responded, fixing the shoulder strap of his pack to a more comfortable position. He must have just come from work, considering his suit. An office job never did seem to suit him, but he did what he had to do to keep his family alive and well. "It's been what, a year now?"

"And I would have preferred to keep it as it was going. Seems I have no choice."

"Bite me Shirmp! What did I do to you?"

"Besides exist, multiple things that I do not have to explain to you."

All through the bickering, Kurama laughed behind his hand. "Just like old times, eh Yusuke?"

"Guess you could say that. Except this time we're taking orders from Hiei instead of Koenma. Though this way we know the info has to be legit and all there as we start."

"Guys, knock it off," Salem said, creating a wall of shadows between the arguing human and demon. "We have a job to do, so if you'd all like to get home to your families, I suggest we get moving."

"Question," Kurama stated. "Who, out of us, is driving?"

"That won't be necessary," a new voice said as it appeared in the same direction as Kuwabara. The man that approached them wasn't too tall, possibly 5'8", with tied back black hair and piercing blue eyes. His clothes marked him as one of Enki's inside employees, what with the black dress pants and a black double-breasted jacket over a white shirt. He bowed. "I will be driving this vehicle to your destination. There is no need to learn my name."

"I think it would ease all our minds if you did inform us," Salem said as he abated the wall keeping Kuwabara and Hiei from killing each other.

"If you believe it will, I am Shinsuke, and that is all I go by. Now then, if we may continue on, it will be a day's travel in this."

"Where are the rest of the members of our squadron?" Hiei asked. "Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara are not part of it."

"I'm sorry to say that you were the ones chosen for this gig. The rest of your team are… on leave for this mission."

Hiei narrowed his eyes. "I did not authorize for their leave. Enki needs to clear it with me before he does such things as this."

Shinsuke waved his hands in front of him as a sign of innocence. "I'm only a messenger here to tell you what I'm told, and a chauffeur. But time is running short for us; we need to move quickly."

Reluctantly, Hiei nodded, motioning to his friends to load into the back of the van. There were no proper seats, leaving them to fend for themselves for seating. Shinsuke closed up the back of the truck and hopped into the front of the truck, grinning wildly to himself.

My part is also in motion. It is almost time…

After twenty or so minutes of traveling, Yusuke and Kuwabara felt the need to break the silence, starting up conversations at random. Hiei chose to ignore them, sitting against the back door, twisting his wedding band absentmindedly. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Kurama sit down beside him, gazing at their long-time friends.

"It's nice to be reunited in action, is it not?"

Hiei didn't answer right away, still twisting the ring on his finger as he did when he began to traverse the path of his mind. "I suppose… Though it's just a continuation of what I would have to do at home. Watch children so they don't get themselves killed."

Kurama laughed a bit, "You've never really needed to save their skins to a point where it would irritate you this much."

He arched a brow. "I can remember quite a few times where my assistance was required."

"Yes but they also wouldn't have died had you not stepped in." He smiled slightly at the glare he received from his friend. "How is home-life, by the way? We don't keep in contact too much other than when I'm needed to watch your children."

"It's fine, I guess."

It was Kurama's turn to arch a brow. "You guess? Don't tell me the love life is getting dull."

"No, that stays fine. Everything with her is great. I've… just been gone a lot lately. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. On top of that, the intimacy has gone down. I leave early in the mornings, and come home well into the night on days I have to work."

"It sounds as if you could use a vacation."

"You have no idea." He glanced down at Kurama's hand, seeing the similar ring on his finger as well. "So how's married life for you going? Sure took you awhile to get to the date."

"It makes me want to shoot myself for giving her up in the first place, you know?" Kurama stared ahead, focused on his ring-finger. "I thought dating a human girl would help me in the long run, and because of that, I turned Kitsu away for reasons I'd never tell her. Then a year after the last tournament, when Jen and I split, Kitsu was the only one I could think of turning to. Not as a clutch, but as someone who was there for me always." He smiled sadly. "I hate myself for ever trying to avoid her, while the love had never died."

Hiei nodded. "That's why I got married myself. I knew no one better would ever be there for me. She didn't try to use me, or extort me in any way. Sha, even though she hadn't known me long, did all she could just to see me happy, before her own happiness. Someone like that I refused to pass up." He balled his hand into a fist. "Take it from me, what you did was the right thing. We can't always fight losing battles with time."

"You've become quite the scholar, that you have," Salem said as he sat across from the duo.

"And you've become much softer around everyone," Hiei said.

"I just saw no point in being so hard-headed around everyone. Not after having so much brought into my life." He gazed ahead at his friend. "You should stop as well."

"Bah, I have no need to go soft. It only gets you killed."

"That's Hiei for you, he'll never hold a soft heart around us," Yusuke said as he and Kuwabara joined the conversation. "We've tried for about a decade now with no luck."

"There is no point in changing now, is there?" the fire demon retorted.

Yusuke was about to respond when a fine mist began filling the bed of the van. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's a trap!" Salem exclaimed, leaping up to try the door, only to find it jammed. "Hell, we're locked in."

Kuwabara slammed his fist into the Plexiglas divider that led to the front of the vehicle. "What the heck are you trying to pull in there! Answer me!"

Just as Hiei moved to draw his sword, his vision grew hazy. "Damn it all…" He held himself up with his weapon as his companions fell around him. "What the hell is this…" His eyes rolled back as his hold gave way, forcing him into the same deep sleep as his comrades.