Everyone had left to their own homes for the night. Yusuke walked Keiko home, Botan returned to spirit world, and Kuwabara and Shizuru returned to their home. Kuwabara was reluctant to leave his beloved Yukina, but Shizuru was able to drag him off.

Hiei continued to sit in the living area, the lights had been turned off, and he sat in the peaceful and calm darkness. He was relieved to have some time for himself. Dealing with the human idiots, Kurama's maternal instincts, and an overly talkative child was getting on his nerves.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and embraced the silence. He could sense Kurama, Genkai, Yukina, and Hitori down the hall. They were unmoving, and safe. This night, hopefully, would continue to be this way.

Though, that was wishful thinking.

As he began to relax, an energy spike caught his attention, but it wasn't the same as before. Teleporting from his spot, he reappeared on top of the roof of the compound. The energy never faltered, as if leading him.

Hiei kept his guard up and he entered the Dark Forest, the forest where low level demons were a loud to live. Only for Genkai's amusement of course, it was her own little freak show zoo.

He quickly made his way through the forest, avoiding trees and killer plants easily. This forest was nothing for him, being an S-rank demon and all. There were no worries here. Even the energy he was stalking did not seem to be a threat to him or anyone else's wellbeing. It almost seemed to be mocking him.

Unsheathing his katana, he moved quickly, and finally he found his metal clashing with metal. The sound echoed through the trees. Hiei jumped away from the man that stood before him, finding himself in a small clearing. The man he had come in contact with stood in front of him, a sword at his side. The man had on a white wife beater, black baggy pants, black and white shoes, and his long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Hiei smirked as he looked into pale green orbs. His crimsons eyes glared deep the other man's eyes, recognizing him as the young boy from the mall.

The man spoke finally, a smirk spread across his face, "I took you long enough to finally catch up to me."

"Don't flatter yourself, you obviously summoned me here. What's your business?" This demons energy was low, but he kept his guard up. When he was in his young form he had not sensed any spirit energy. He could be stronger then he appeared.

"You are a sharp one, aren't you?" The man laughed. "Well, how about I introduce myself? My name is Toichi Shiskikura." He bowed.

"Hn – I never asked."

"It does not matter, because I know you will remember my name."

"You come to bring me a message I assume? Why don't you just say it now so we can be done with this and then I can see your blood on the ground?" Hiei was tired of talking.

"Why are we being hostile here? I'm only trying to be friendly," Toichi shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I can never have a polite conversation with anyone. It's as if everyone has no manners. Well," he smiled up at Hiei, "I don't actually keep good company, so it should be expected."

Hiei glared, his lips sealed. He was done with this small talk and blabbering. He wanted this demon dead.

"Okay, okay! I'm done, so now what I have brought you here for. It's a gift really," he pulled out a bag, a brown sack with white ribbon. The bag was small, and contained something solid. Setting it on the ground, he backed away from it. He sheathed his sword and raised his hands. "Take this, do with it what you will, but I promise you it will become handy in the future."

Hiei eyed him carefully and looked down at the bag. "You expect me to just take a gift from you, as if we were old friends?" This demon unarmed himself…why? What was in the bag?

"Like I said before, you can do what you want with it. This is all I was sent to do, don't worry, it won't kill you…or anyone else. Trust me, you will want this item."

Hiei only glared up at him.

"You might not believe me, but we have a common enemy. You might not know it yet, but we do. I hope you take this with an open min. We shall meet again, hopefully over a cup of tea." With those words, the man was gone. He disappeared with the wind, the bag was only thing left.

Hiei stared down at the bag, unmoving and quiet.


Kurama brushed the hair off of Hitori's pale cheek lightly, watching her snooze away next to him on his futon. After feeling the foreign energy fade into the night, the little girl had knocked on his door. She had tears in her eyes, Puka in hand, saying she had a nightmare, and wanting to stay with him for the night.

He agreed and led her in the room, letting her settle into his bed before lying next to her. The night had become peaceful, though his mind wondered to the forest.

The girl moved in her sleep, Puka at her side. She slept peacefully now.

A light breeze came through the open window, he sensed only Hiei's energy now, moving swiftly back to the compound. He wondered what had been out there to keep Hiei occupied for a while. The energy he had felt had been faint, and easy enough to find, but it seemed different then the energy spikes they had felt before.

Sighing, he figured he would close his eyes. He would be able to find everything out in the morning. With everything going on, he was starting to become overly stressed. Thank Kami it was only the summer.

After returning from the Dark Tournament, he had received an acceptance letter from the most pristine high school. He would obviously go and make a name for himself and make his human mother proud.

Speaking of his mother, he would have to go visit her soon. He had been so occupied by the events happening lately that he had not visited her.

When he had moved out of the house to live at Genkai's, she had been so proud. She was proud her baby boy was becoming so independent. Having cried many tears, she had finally let go, calling every once in a while to check up on him.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at Hitori. Would Hiei, Yukina, or Genkai watch her for a full day? Yukina probably would, and be glad to do so. Genkai would probably not like the fact her day would be composed of babysitting. Hiei would not want a whole day with the small girl; she was a bit of a handful.

Kurama's chuckled lightly. He would ask Yukina for this favor; he wanted to make sure Hitori stayed alive for a whole day under someone else's watch. Yukina was the best choice for that job.

Closing his eyes once again, he leaned his head comfortably against his pillow, and finally found some rest.


Morning had come soon, and Kurama woke Hitori up. He carried her to the kitchen and sat her down on a chair, giving her a glass of milk to help her wake up. She continued to rub her eyes, setting Puka on the table, and laying her head to rest on the stuffed fox.

Hitori eventually kept her eyes opened as she lay on the table, watching Kurama make breakfast. She wanted to help, but today she felt drained, not wanting to do anything just yet.

Kurama was surprised by the girl's drowsiness, and he hoped that she wasn't coming down with any illness. He walked over to her and set empty plates down in front of her, "Would you like to help me make breakfast?" He asked her.

Rubbing her eyes one more time, she nodded and jumped off the chair and took his hand. She followed him towards the stove in the kitchen and he picked her up, setting her down on the counter. "Now, this is serious business, you have to be a mature young girl, you understand?" Kurama asked her in a firm tone.

Hitori grinned and nodded, "Yes 'ir!" she raised her hands in the air and then clapped, ready to do whatever was meant to be done.

Let's just say, flour went everywhere and Hitori was covered head to toe in it. She had obviously not listened very well when Kurama told her, "Don't touch that!"

There must have been some miscommunication.

"Oh, Hitori," Kurama groaned as he set her down on the floor. She shook her head as powder flew from her hair and laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world.

"It otay! I not hurt!" She told him. That was true.

"You are getting a bath after this, understood?" Kurama looked around at the mess and hung his head down; a black cloud seemed to hang over his head. 'I'll clean this up after she's clean,' he thought.

He grabbed some plates and led her to the dining room. She climbed into a chair and sat up right, her feet swinging back and forth, watching as Kurama placed the food on the table, and put some on an empty plate in front of her.

Genkai entered the room, and stopped, looking at Hitori emotionless. If someone had come in without knowing this little girl had been there, they probably would have thought they saw a ghost. She was paler then before, ghost white with the flour all over her.

Genkai only shook her head and took a place at the table, pouring herself a cup of tea to drink.

Yukina was next to come in, "Good morning everyone!" she said with a cheerful smile. Since Kurama had come to stay, Yukina had been relieved of her duties of cooking breakfast (most days). Kurama usually woke up before her, so he usually took it upon himself to make breakfast.

"Oh my! What happened to you?" Yukina asked as she sat next to Hitori, taking a napkin of the table and trying to wipe the flour off the girls' cheeks.

"Boom," She told her simply, saying it as if she had just solved all worlds' problems.

"She decided the flour was a play thing," Kurama corrected.

"Food!" Hitori didn't seem bothered by any of those things and started digging into the food she was provided. She noticed Hiei wasn't there, and wasn't in his window. She wondered where he was…she wanted to go searching for him.


Yukina volunteered to give Hitori a bath so Kurama could clean up the mess Hitori had made. Taking some play cloths out of Hitori's drawers, she led the girl to the bathroom and started the bathwater, making sure it was not scolding hot.

She got own on her knees and helped the child out of her cloths.

Yukina stared.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her. The scars on the girl's body were not something she had expected, or the faint yellow bruises. Covering her mouth in horror, she looked up at the cheerful girls pale face, her light blue eyes gleaming brightly. "Hitori…do these hurt?" She asked, placing a light hand on one of the scars.

"Nope!" Hitori posed like a proud warrior that had just come back from battle.

The scars were bright pink. They were not white like an ancient scar would be. "Stay still okay?" Yukina placed both of her hands on her chest, a blue light coming from her hands.

Hitori watched in excitement and surprise as her body became warm. Her eyes widened as she saw the pink marks on her body become a dull white, an off color against her skin. They were less noticeable now.

"Wow! Yukina, that was soooo coooool!" Hitori raised her hands in the air. "Do again!"

Yukina giggled and shook her head, "Not now, we need to get you cleaned up so you can go play!"

"OTAY!" She liked playing.

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this, and I would love to know how much you liked it (or hated it) by leaving me a review! Anything welcome!
Thank you again everyone!

Happy reading! :3