The next day, Aiko slept the majority of the afternoon. Even on her lazy days, that was odd for her. Dried tears laced her face like cobwebs. Her eyes were puffy from her extended crying and her skin had a sickly paleness to it. Though I hadn't shed any tears yet, I was mourning as well. I liked Kuronue. He was funny and interesting to be around. Plus he had helped Yoko trained me a time or two. He was strong and it wasn't fair that he'd been killed so easily.

When Aiko finally stirred, she found me sitting on the window sill.

"Hiei, I'm sorry. You must be starving." she said, sitting up quickly and wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"I'm fine." I mumbled.

"Come on. I'll get you some food."

She got up and walked slowly over to where her clothes where. I noticed she was wearing Kuronue's necklace. She got dressed but forgot to hand me any clothes until she just about to leave. Then she shook her head at her forgetfulness and went back to get them. It was clear that her mind was anywhere but here. Once we got downstairs, we found that Yoko was sitting at the table with his arms crossed.

"I have to look for a new general. As much as I don't want to."

"I understand. You can't let your army go without someone to report to." Aiko said, choking on a sob. She hated the idea of replacing Kuronue.

"Don't cry." Yoko commanded and Aiko told a deep breath to calm herself.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Aiko asked, voice still shaky.

"There's a group of bandits nearby whose leader is very strong. I'm considering him."

"I see. Would you like me to send a servant for him?"

"That would a good idea." Yoko confirmed.

Kai returned with my food and Aiko gave him the order to retrieve the bandit leader. About two hours later, Kai returned with a large, burly man covered in scars with two horns on his head. I recoginzed him immediately.

"Hideaki?" I gasped.

"Hiei? You're still alive?" he said in surprise.

"You two know each other?" Yoko asked curiously.

"He's the leader of the bandits that I was a part of." I replied.

Aiko's eyes darkened a little and I suspected that I knew why. She had mentioned before that I had been abused and now she knew by whom.

"You've grown a few inches, I believe." Hideaki said.

"He's also gotten a great deal stronger under my supervision." Yoko bragged.

"I'm not surprised. Hiei's always been strong." Hideaki laughed.

"We've turned raw strength into something valuable."

"Yoko, aren't you forgetting something?" Aiko mumbled.

"I'm getting to it. Hideaki, I find myself in need of a general. Are you able to fill this position?"

"Of course, sir! I can start immediately." Hideaki said, overjoyed by this new information.

I wasn't really excited about Hideaki joining us. I was content to forget that part of my life now. But no one asked my opinion so my safest bet was to stay quiet. Aiko didn't seem very happy about it either but I couldn't tell if it was because Hideaki was Kuronue's replacement or because he was some run of the mill bandit. Maybe both?

Later, when Aiko and I went back upstairs and she crawled back into bed, she sighed loudly and rolled over onto her stomach. She had the blanket pulled up to her nose and from just her eyes, I could tell that she was about to start crying again. Not again. I wasn't good at comforting people but even I felt like I needed to try at this point.

"Come to the garden with me." I said, more a command than an offer.

"Not right now, Hiei." she whispered softly, running those skinny fingers through my hair.

"Why? So you can lay here and sob?"

She looked up at me and blinked a time or two.

"You don't want to go look at the flowers Yoko planted? After all the work he's put into that garden?" I said.

"I suppose you're right. Maybe a walk through the garden would lift my spirits." she replied, sitting up like an fragile, old woman.

"That's better." I confirmed.

We went down to the garden and Aiko seemed to perk up immediately. In the maze of rose, lilies, and pansies, her color seemed to return and her eyes looked more alive. The sunshine caught her blood red hair and it shined like a diamond. She toyed with a lily petal as she smiled for the first time all day.

"Thank you. This is exactly what I needed." she said, her voice as soft as silk. "In exchange for this, if you think of anything you want, let me know."

I nodded, though I couldn't think of anything at the time. Still, one can never turn down an opprunity like this.