A/N: Hello! ^^ Brrrr! It's cold in Georgia! What's up with that? Anyway, thanks for the comments and for being patient with me! :) Here's the next chapter of our adventure! What's up with Asher? And what about Kurama's freaky comment? Read on to find out!

If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy

-Dale Carnegie

My Validity

I followed him into the kitchen, the fuzziness of affection smothering me. "Hiei?"

He was at the sink, the sleeves of his cloak pulled up to his elbows, running dishwater. Breakfast dishes that I hadn't seen before now lay nestled together in the hot foam with his and Asher's coffee cups, waiting to be caressed by small hands.

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

I jumped, startled out of my daydream. Hiei wasn't looking at me, but I could feel the scorn in his eyes. "Just ask your question and go. You have school today, right?"

"Uh, yeah." I bit my lip, shuffling my foot. Why should I feel nervous in my own house? Aggravation began to fester inside of me, but I couldn't tell if it was mine or his. "Why did you come by here this morning?"

"Isn't that obvious?" He replied, rough hands rubbing soap into the white mug. "Your brother and I had business to discuss."

"What sort of 'business'?" I demanded, mind shifting to the meeting in the graveyard. Asher and Hiei hadn't seemed 'buddy-buddy' then. Hiei had growled at Asher, and my brother almost crushed me in a protective bear hug . . . Male bonding at its finest.

"That is between the two of us." Hiei said, not looking at me as he dried the mug and placed it on the counter, white suds conjugating on his elbows. "Shouldn't you be going?"

He moved back to the dishes, still refusing to look at me. Glancing at the clock, I realized he was right. I grimaced, realizing Asher had left in his car – our only car. If I called Michael, there was still time for him to pick me up before morning classes, but I couldn't just yet. I still had to try . . .

Slowly, I reached my conciousness towards Hiei's – not enough to hear his thoughts, that would make him raise his guard – and waited. His presence swirled before my mind's eye like red haze, a beautiful fire which I knew wouldn't burn me. I breathed it in, allowing it to flow through every part of me, and found something there I hadn't expected. Other flavors had grown amidst the normal burning hatred towards me: savory amusement, bold determination, a pinch of uncertainty, a hint of something I couldn't identify, but overall . . . sadness, a sadness which surprised and nearly overwhelmed me.

Hiei continued his work, either unaware of the near invasion of his privacy or not caring one way or another. Still, the sadness made my heart sink. Something was wrong, something Hiei did not want to tell me and Asher had gone into headfirst. Was Hiei here out of pity – could he even feel such a thing? – or was it something else?

"Hiei, why are you so nice to me?"

He stopped in mid-motion, his arm still encased in suds. His jaw tightened and I could feel the anger, the confusion, the fire that swept through his brain. "I have my own reasons for training you, Aaron, reasons that you needn't concern yourself with. There's nothing 'nice'" The word rolled off his tongue distastefully, "about it."

I was learning that maybe it was better not to question Hiei about things. I hated how happy it made me that he said my name, yet I loved how it sounded coming from his lips.

My thoughts wandered to thedream from last night. The dream and Asher's phone call couldn't be a coincidence.

I didn't believe in coincidences.

The look on Kain's face as he strangled Hiei to death was horrifying – that wasn't my Kain – and the way Hiei had tried to save me, the way he had reached for my hand so desperately as we suffocated:

That hadn't been my Hiei either.

Whoa, wait a minute! My Hiei? When had I become possessive to him? Yet, he was part of my life now, both he and the bandwagon of people that went along with him. He definitely kept good company.

"Come on, since you apparantly aren't going to school today." Hiei interrupted my thoughts, being very kind in staying out of my head. The dishes were done and he was drying his hands. "Kurama's waiting for us."

I felt the color drain from my face and swooned, fear flooding me like a tidal wave.

"Aaron!" I felt his familiar warmth surround me, and all of my fears were swept away. I opened my eyes to see his face, which was so close to mine. His thin yet lush lips were pressed tightly together, just like when we first met. The mark on my hand responded to his warmth, and I suddenly had the impulse to reach out and touch those lips, to press against them with my own-

And then Kurama's words from last night cut into me like a knife.

I screamed, trying to claw at my face with my hands. Vines, thorned vines, were tearing at my flesh, crawling into my mouth, reaching for my eyes! I couldn't see, I couldn't breathe!

All I could do was scream.

"Aaron, stop it!" Hiei snarled, taking hold of both of my wrists as I writhed in his strong grip, screaming louder and louder. "What's wrong with you-"

Then we both sat stock-still. I let out a shuddering wail as I wept into his chest, scared out of my mind. The thorns were gone, but they had served their purpose.

Kurama would kill me, he really would – he would kill me without hesitation if it meant saving Hiei's life, and now we both knew it.

Hiei's body was tensed like a spring scrunched into a coil and I could feel his anger burning at the base of my skull. I opened my eyes enough to see his face devoid of any emotion. "Hiei-"

"Stay here." He ordered.

And then he was gone, the front door blown open with the intensity of his speed.

No . . . No! No, no, no! No! Lazee barked in alarm as I flew from the house, slamming the door shut before grabbing my bike. I was still barefoot and in my pajamas, but I had to find them!

They were going to kill each other – they were going crazy over some macho-demon crap, and it was all my fault.

Lord, please let me get there in time!

A/N: I apologize that some of you have literally been waiting YEARS for me to take this back up! Honestly, life happened: I got married, have been pursuing an English degree, working on my first novel, as well as dealing with medical issues since I last posted. I graduate next month, so hopefully I can finish this story for all of you who have been waiting. The excitement continues!