Whew! I was extremely pleased to find that I was still alive when I woke up the next morning. I had been certain Hiei would have tracked me down in the course of the night and slew me on the spot. But no, I was still breathing, and my heart thumped reassuringly against my chest. Now, I just had to make sure it stayed that way…

I nervously peeked around the corner close to the school. There were no angry demons in sight…

"What'cha doing, Jenie?" Asked a loud voice behind. I squeaked in terror, my heart nearly jumping out of my mouth. I spun around, more than glad to see the voice belonged to Urameshi. Okay, so I might live a few more minutes…

"Looking for someone," I replied. He frowned.

"Looks more like you're avoiding someone," he said. Great. The one day he chooses to be perceptive… "Are you being stalked?"

"I don't think so." I said. "Well, not really."

Urameshi crossed his arms. "What do you mean?" Now, I had no choice but to tell him.

"Well, see…I kind of told Yukina that Hiei was her brother, and she probably found him and told him. I think Hiei's going to kill me now." I said in a rush. Urameshi stared at me for a minute before bursting into laughter. I didn't think that appropriate, considering I feared for my life.

"You figured it out? Well, that makes you smarter than Kuwabara, at least." He calmed down, the smile vanishing from his face. "But if Hiei wants to kill you, nothing's going to stop him. I doubt even I could help you."

I gasped in horror, and Urameshi's mouth twitched up in a smile. "I said, if he wants to. Something tells me he wouldn't want to kill you, no matter how angry he is."

I paused, thinking this over. "Are you sure about that?" I asked timidly.

"Fairly sure." He responded, turning his back on me and walking up to the school gates. I glared at his back.

"Hey!" I snapped, knowing he had been teasing me. Urameshi's laugh floated over. I huffed angrily, following him at a much slower pace. Life and death situations may be a normal day of work to him and his friends, but to me, it was something new…

**************

3:00 PM. I was still alive. The bell rang, and Keiko trotted over to invite me shopping after school with her and her friends. I agreed, hoping I wasn't putting them in danger by hanging out with them. I told them I needed to drop by my house to get my wallet first.

I was excited to go shopping with them. So excited, that I wasn't exactly paying attention. A black clad figure dropped to the ground in front of me.

"What kind of an idiot are you?" Hiei snarled in my face. I gasped, finding my ability to speak completely gone, and backed away. Hiei stepped closer to me, clearly not willing to let me get away. He growled at me again. "Why in the seven hells you would tell Yukina I'm her brother?!"

"I didn't know!" I squealed, holding up a book in front of me for as much protection as it could offer. "I didn't know she wasn't supposed to know!"

I was afraid he was going to start yelling at me again, but he just stood there, huffing angrily. Finally, he sighed, leaning away from me.

"Fine." He said, his voice eerily cold. "I'll forgive you this one time. How's your hand?"

The change of topic was so rapid that I didn't comprehend immediately. "Huh?" I asked. Hiei sighed in exasperation.

"How's your hand?" He repeated, more slowly this time.

"F-fine," I stammered. I showed it to him. "I'm a fast healer." Indeed, although it had only been about a week, my wound had already healed up.

Hiei took my hand to examine it, a touch that caused my heart to pound. He frowned, and I wondered if there was something wrong. "That's a bad scar," Hiei commented. "From what I know of human females, you don't like to have scars." He released my hand.

"It's not that bad," I said, dropping my hand back to my side. "I don't mind scars." I was sure Hiei had more than his share of them. "Besides, not all human girls are the same, you know."

Hiei chuckled lightly, the first time I'd ever heard him make such a sound. "Oh, I know." He replied in amusement. He began to walk off, and I trotted behind him.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm taking you home. That is where you were going, right?"

"Um…Yes…But…"

"But what?" He asked indignantly.

"But why are you going through so much trouble for me?" I asked quietly. There. I'd finally said it.

Hiei paused for a moment. "I…don't know." He replied. "Besides, I don't have anything else to do."

"Oh." I said. I was really happy for his company, especially since I knew he wasn't going to kill me now.

We walked in silence for the rest of the way. He took me all the way up to the front door of my house, where he hesitated for a moment. I waited for him to speak. While I was waiting, I felt myself being lost in his eyes. Falling, falling…Into darkness.

**************

Words and bits of phrases floated across my consciousness, or lack thereof.

"…mental stress…"

"…fainted…"

"…poor girl…"

"…fine…"

"…good thing…was there…catch her."

These whispered fragments weren't making any sense. I wanted to wake up, to see what was going on, but for some reason, I couldn't. Was there something holding me back?

"…ever…going to wake up?" The voices were becoming clearer, and I thought I recognized them. But who? My mind wasn't working well enough. I knew I knew who, but I couldn't put the pieces of the puzzle together. I felt so lost…

"Is…wrong with her?" Asked a voice. A voice I managed to place instantly. Hiei! I struggled harder to waken, out of sheer desire to see him. It was like being trapped deep underwater, trying to desperately swim to the surface.

"Jenie…"

There it was! Hearing Hiei say me name gave me the strength to fight against the strange pressure that was keeping me unconscious. I swam to the surface of the darkness, bursting out into glorious light.

I gasped, as if I hadn't tasted sweet air for days. The people around my bed murmured in surprise, as I squirmed around to regain my bearings. I felt a warm, strong hand grip my arm, and I calmed down.

"Welcome back," Hiei remarked quietly. I tried to smile, but found myself far too tired to do so. I didn't know how long I'd been unconscious, but I felt like I hadn't slept for a very, very long time.

"What happened?" I asked, hardly able to raise my voice.

"You fainted," Urameshi pointed out. "Again."

"Sorry," I muttered softly.

"Why?" Kurama asked. "No reason to be sorry."

"Something tells me you've been hanging around Hiei too much," Urameshi teased. "He's starting to rub off on you. You're turning out to be as big of a pain as he is."

"Shut up, Detective," Hiei growled. "For your information, there was no rubbing."

Urameshi's left eyebrow raised, in a mocking sort of manner. "Figure of speech, m'man. Cleary, you still have far to go before you master the human lingo."

"You hungry?" Kurama asked brightly, taking everyone's attention away from the possible fight between Hiei and Urameshi. Noticing that he was talking to me, I nodded, lowering my glance to the floor. It was so hard to keep eye contact with Kurama, for some reason. Those emerald eyes just compelled one to look away.

"Yukina's coming," Kuwabara commented as he bounded into the room. I jumped slightly. I hadn't know he was here.

"I'm fine," I insisted. None of the three boys (as Kurama had left to fetch me some food) looked very convinced. I sighed, falling back on the bed. Taking this as a sign that I wanted to sleep more, the boys left the room.

Kurama came back a moment later, holding a steaming bowl in his hands. I assumed it was some sort of soup. I watched him, careful to not make eye contact as he set the bowl on a table out of arm's reach. I was surprised when he came and sat on the bed beside me.

I was even more surprised when he rested the palm of his hand on my forehead, as if checking for my temperature.

"I'm fine, really." I replied, although my protest was weaker this time.

Kurama gave me a small smile. "I am not so sure about that." He said. "Twice. You've fainted from mental stress twice. I'm worried that there might be some brain damage of some sort…We should probably take you to a doctor."

"Can't Yukina cure anything that might be wrong with me?" I asked desperately. I hated hospitals. Not to mention, I did absolutely not want to fathom the idea that there was something wrong with me.

Kurama smiled again, a more sympathizing smile. "No, I don't think she can do that. Her powers are more of an enhancement for the body's own healing process. And if you have something like cancer, that's not going to be much help." Seeing my shocked expression he hurriedly continued, "Not that that's what I think you have! But it's a possibility."

I hesitated, thinking about what he'd said. I didn't want to go, but maybe it was better to make sure I was okay? I was torn.

"Alright," I said at last. "I'll go."

"Good." Kurama replied. He stood up, offering a hand to me. I blinked in confusion.

"Now?" I asked.

"Yes, now. The sooner the better. Besides, the others should have gone to Yusuke's on request of Ko…Our boss. Perfect timing."