A/N: I corrected all the spelling errors and typos I could find in the last three chapters. This story is not plotted out in advance so while I'm trying to make certain that everything is internally consistent, please let me know if I screw up. This one is short because the next chapter will be long. It just worked out better that way.

Yukina watched as her brother reclined on his futon after the miko had left. Despite Hiei's continuous refusal to come clean about it, she had long ago figured out the truth. Hiei's refusal to father children saddened her, she would have loved to dote on some nieces and nephews. His quiet resignation made her think that it wasn't really that he didn't want children, but rather that he didn't believe he would be allowed to be a father to them. Perhaps he did not believe he would find a true mate either.

It wasn't the first time she had wondered at the wounds on her brother's heart that he could honestly believe such a thing. Her mother had committed a cruelty worthy of a demoness when she allowed her only son to be sent to make his way on his own complete with an attempt on his life. Yukina knew his survival in the Mekai could not have been easy. She heard the names: Forbidden One, Unholy Child, Evil Bastard; they were the names of the shunned. It was no surprise to her that he had been a criminal. What ever it took, he survived to spite his nay sayers. In that respect, she was very proud of him.

"So, what now" Kuwabara asked.

"Now, we go raid Koenma's files" Yuuske answered. "When Boton gets back we can see if we can't find out exactly who she really is. This Kagome person really doesn't seem like she is out for something, but her answers just seem a little too weird. I don't like the classified information excuse."

"Good idea. Do you want to be left to the tender mercies of the miko, Hiei" Kumura asked sardonically.

"I have a choice" Hiei shot back sarcastically with a snort of disdain.

"Not really, shrimp" Kuwabara responded. "We much prefer you alive and on our side."

"True" Yuuske sighed. "Kumura would be lost without you at the very least" he teased.

"Hn" Hiei rolled his eyes. "Do fill me in on your findings."

"Of course" Kumura reassured him quickly.

"Where do you wish to stay" Genkai inquired judiciously. " You are welcome to remain here, though I do like my quiet."

"Stay" Yukina quietly commanded. "I will look after you both for the duration."

Hiei nodded his silent assent to the command, grateful for their concern and consideration.

"The rest of you: OUT" Genkai commanded. "Go to sleep boy, you need it" she directed at the young male youkai. Hiei growled at the command, but laid back down and shut his eyes.

"Higarashi-sensei, may I speak with you" Kuwabara, the tallest of the Spirit Detectives, asked the miko on her return.

"Hai, but should Hiei destabilize at all, I will have to leave without warning" she replied.

"I understand. He is resting, but not sleeping. There is far too much activity going on around here for that. I wanted to talk to you about that." Kuwabara stated gently.

"Oh" Kagome said to let him know she was listening to him.

"Hiei is very sensitive. He has difficulty filtering out the noises, scents, and so forth of the human world. It will take some extra work to really make him comfortable. He has adapted, but it is like an itch he can't scratch." Kuwabara said with a sigh. "I know you are attempting to do something that is nearly impossible. Hiei and his twin are a fascinating mixture of passion and dispassion, violent emotions and cold, hard, reason. They are beautiful, delicate and youthful. At the same time they are also impossibly strong, cruel, and wise. Just be careful with him."

"Of course" she replied in all seriousness. "You love him, don't you"

"Hai, as a brother" Kuwabara replied"Despite everything, he is my brother at arms and my brother-in-law. There are few people I'd rather have at my back when everything goes down the toilet."

"High praise indeed" Kagome smile. "I must go, his auras are starting to fluxuate again."

"Of course, miko-sensei" Kuwabara nodded and left to join the others on their way to Koenma's office.

A/N: DragonofDarkness gave some interesting constructive criticism that I want to address. There were some things in the last chapter that were not readily apparent to the reader and that means that as the author I have failed to convey something. First, everything is from either Hiei or Kagome's perspectives. If one of them is not present for it, we don't see it in the story even if we are in the other character's heads at times. Second, I work from the manga, not the animes. The original writer does the manga, corporate interests get involved and really produce the animations based off of those manga. From my research, Yoshihiro Togashi actually stopped work on Yu Yu Hakusho because what he wanted to write was not what Jump Comics wanted to sell.
As a reader, I find much more depth in the manga then I do anime. Consider it analogous to the concept of negative space in art, (that which is not the object being drawn). I see much more depth to the characters because I am not watching the anime. It is much easier then for me to see what is not said because I'm not being bombarded with what is being said. My interpretations will be different from many other peoples points of view for these reasons. I do have a good concept of my characters and I do have good reasons for what I put in, take it on faith that I will reveal those reasons in time.
Now, the setting of the story is actually a number of years into the future. The boys of the Yu Yu gang have reached the lovely age of 19-21. I am assuming everyone grew up a lot. They had to in order to survive. Yes, Kuwabara is a big buffoon most of the time, but he does have his moments of insight. If he didn't he would not be the one gifted with the strongest sixth sense, nor would he ever stand a chance at keeping up with three people who have demon blood as the only full human.
I also assume as the author that Hiei and Kuwabara have reached some sort of fragile truce for the sake of Yukina. They may not like each other very much, but they will look after each other because each knows the other is important to Yukina. When Kuwabara said "as a brother" he meant it as a sibling. Siblings rarely like each other all that much when they are still living in the same household. Kagome is completely unaware of this dynamic as she is a stranger to them. The only reason why Kuwabara would say anything at all to her about Hiei is because they are alone and away from the others. The only people who are likely to be able to hear him are Hiei and Yukina as they are the only full youkai and it doesn't much matter to him if they hear what he has to say. There is also a chance that Yukina had a hand in this too, that we just don't get to see because it is offstage so to speak.
Also, Kuwabara did actually finish school, unlike certain other characters. (I am under the impression that that is cannon.) We can't assume that he is completely uneducated any more. He may have been a complete and utter twit at 14, but he wouldn't be the same twit at 19. The gap in abilities has widened into a chasm, but the weakest member of a strong team often only seems weak by comparison to his teammates. For a full human, he is pretty impressive in his own right.
(And just for the record, I find DragonofDarkness' characters OOC too, so I think it is just a case of the two of us approaching our stories from wildly different perspectives. Her story is decent and worth a read to see if you like where she is going with it. You can find it here: http: