Vena sighed as she dragged herself out of bed and found her way over to Hiei, wrapping her arms around him, "Why did you get out of bed?"

"I need to get moving. You, stay here. If anything starts happening that puts Yukina in danger, take her into the shadows and protect her."

"Where are you going?"

Hiei sighed, "I'm going to tell Mukuro about my leave of absence."

"Mm." Vena grunted, "You can't just let her figure it out?"

"No. I don't want her getting the wrong impression about anything that's going on. I'm going to tell her in person. Can you protect Yukina for me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm trusting you with her life Vena." Hiei added sternly. It was a huge deal. She didn't know how huge, but to him, it was like entrusting the world to the woman. It was providing her a knife, and offering up his throat.

"I heard you the first time Hiei."

"I need to know you'll do it. You'll protect her. Give me your word you'll protect Yukina, no matter what."

"I'll protect Yukina no matter what."

He had to debate whether he actually trusted her word or not. In many ways, they hadn't tested one another. He didn't know if she was going to be honest with him, or if she would just dismiss it. Maybe she realized how much Yukina meant to him, maybe she didn't. It worried him either way. If she didn't, she might not take this job seriously, if she did, well. He didn't want to think about what assumptions she might be making about why he cared so deeply for her. "Yukina's... " he frowned, he couldn't say it. He couldn't say that Yukina was his sister, his only blood relative he knew, his one connection to the life he never had.

"I know what she is." Vena shook her head against his shoulder.

"She needs to be safe." he touched her arm softly.

"I know," Vena rubbed at her face with one hand, "I heard you."

"If that oaf of hers is going to be stupid, you might want to just take them both."

"I'll protect them both. Don't worry Hiei." She kissed him on the lips and stepped back.

"You don't have to protect the oaf, just, don't let him die. Yukina can heal so if you bring them together, she can heal him. He needs to be allowed to fight to protect Yukina though, some stupid thing about honor."

She frowned, but nodded.

"Oh, and don't leave the fox out in the rain. He gets grumpy when he's wet."

"Tch, don't leave yourself out in the rain." She scolded.

Hiei smirked, "Can I trust you?" He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You can, once I wake up," she chuckled, nuzzling into his shoulder.

"I won't be long." he kissed her cheek and ran his hand up her back holding her close. It felt strange to want contact with her, but he did.

"Good because I'm ready to crawl back into bed. So get your ass moving," she spanked his rear end.

Hiei jumped and glared at her, "Fine. I'll be back in three years." He kissed her and vanished.

She chuckled and headed off to bed to lay down and let herself wake up.