FCL64: I would like to apologize for my portrayal of Koenma. That's just kind of how it came about. If you have a problem with it, sorry, it wasn't intentional.

Kiyoshi: Why are you writing this chapter?

FCL64: What do you mean?

Kiyoshi: You have no idea what's going to happen next.

FCL64: Oh don't I? Just watch…

I Am the Dawn, I'm the New Day Begun…

Fate remained bewildered by Yusuke's response to Koenma admitting he had intended to eradicate demons, wipe them from existence, extinguish them.

He hadn't cared. His response had been, "Whatever. Good luck with that."

Fate had to admit he had a point. Even as the Fate of Death, Dheunos couldn't very well compete with the Fates of Birth and Life working together in opposition of his aims. And, no matter what she had said to Dheunos, Yusuke had always been harder to read than most people. Maybe not as unpredictable as Kurama, but pretty close. "How in the world does he manage to find all the people most likely to do something unpredictable? Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara… Okay, Hiei, not so much, but all the same. Replace Hiei with Ella and he'd have the most illogical set of people alive." She muttered to herself.

Gentlom answered, "Maybe their unpredictability lends itself well to his plans… or maybe it is simply that unpredictability leads the individuals to him… so sad…" he muttered the last in reference to the two souls he now held in his palm. "I'm sorry…" he whispered to them as he wrenched them apart. They still pulled toward one another. They truly didn't want to be separated, as if they would go out if they couldn't get back to the other. They both had the same greenish tint. "Go," he whispered, "You'll find each other one day… you won't rest until you do… and if you deny it, Cītā will probably intervene…"

"What?" Fate said, startled to hear her name. "Why are you so certain I will help them?"

"It's not often that souls entwined such as those two can be placed in proximity to each other on earth… Keiko and Yusuke were a rare pair… These were even more complicated in that one was demon, the other human…"

"Gentlom, could you please just make your point?"

"What? Oh yes. Their souls have somehow formed a bond while they were being created. Sometimes that means twins… but twins often vary in color… those two, Keiko and Yusuke… they have something else. I don't know how to explain it…"

"Are you trying to say they have something more than most people? A stronger bond? And that not all people have this?"

"Yes… well, I think most people have it… it's just the likelihood of those souls possessing a body at the same time is very slim, given the vast amount of time… That's why intertwined souls such as those are both sad, and very happy…"

"And what do I have to do with that?"

"Did you hear what Ella said the other night?" Gentlom asked mildly. "She suggested that the Life Source, as she calls us, is simply working through you. Is it not possible that that is the case with me and Dheunos as well? That the Life Source works the way you do, but only among the three of us? Do you ever feel as if you are being led to one particular person? Or drawn to lead two people together? Perhaps that's simply the Life Source working through you. After all, do you know where the power to manipulate the world as you see fit comes from? I don't know where exactly the energy to create these souls comes from. I have to concentrate my energy, but these energies don't take my energy."

"So there is something bigger out there…"

"Without a doubt."

"And the strange desire I feel to pull Hiei and Ella together, into more than just a platonic relationship… that could be because of a power greater than my own? Or that their souls… Do you remember their souls, Gentlom?"

"Hmmm… yes. Very strange. I've never seen anything like it, before or since… It wasn't just two souls tangled together. That is the first time I have seen three souls all together. Two were a dark blue shade, with erratic streaks of purple and green… the last was a much lighter blue, with pink mixed in… two were female and the last was male. The male was fighting desperately, more viciously than anything I've ever felt, to cling to both of the others… It hurt me to rip him away from the dark blue girl… I felt his pain, Cītā, I could feel it, and he hadn't received a body yet," Gentlom's eyes pleaded with his sister to understand, "Souls are rarely that strong before they're born. Then I had to separate him and the other girl; that was just as difficult and it broke something in the soul that became Hiei. Then rage. Not that he remembers consciously; but his soul remembers. Attached so fervently to both Ella and Yukina… he had to be separated, or two souls would be placed in one person, which is catastrophic. So even though his soul was close to Yukina's at birth, the separation killed something in him. He was broken and enraged before he was born… I had no choice…" Fate's eyes were wide as she comforted her brother. It hurt her to see her brother in such pain.

But her path was now evident. Hiei and Ella were the pair she'd envisioned… but Hiei's soul had been hardened almost to a point where he couldn't recognize the one he had fought so hard to keep a hold of, even before he possessed a body.

Kurama couldn't understand what was happening. Hiei did follow him to all his classes. Sleeping through English and history, and watching Ella out of the corner of his eye in math.

Kurama knew one thing: Fate had set something off and, now that it was started, there was no stopping it.

Whether it was dawn, a new day, light, or the end of the world remained to be seen.

Kiyoshi: Why so much cheese?

FCL64: Have we not clearly established that the only thing I'm in control of is word choice? I have no control over the direction of the story.

Kiyoshi: yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry Gentlom talked so much… very uncharacteristic, we know.

FCL64: Yep. Now on to reviews!

Kiyoshi: You're actually going to answer the reviews yourself?

FCL64: Yes… it's been a while; let's see if I remember how…

Kiyoshi: Wow.

FCL64: Well... First, several people seem to have misunderstood me. Hiei did not actually enroll as an exchange student. Kurama just made that up, so that his life would be simpler, since he realized Hiei was going to follow him around.
The Fire Fox of the Red Moon: I'm glad you enjoy this story so much. But I also feel like you're giving me too much credit. Like I've told my muse, Kiyoshi, or whatever he is: I honestly have no control over where the story goes. The story description? Yeah, that's basically what I have when I start writing. Thanks so much for the positive feedback!
Kit-Kat-Kitsune: I agree. Koenma can get a bit arrogant (particularly in this story; I've been playing up the arrogance in this story, to make it fit). Thanks for the review.
heve-chan: yes it is centered more around Fate than Ella. I noticed that, too. Ah, well. The story was never really about Ella; it was supposed to be about Hiei (it's still concentrating on Fate more than Hiei but...) And, I like Gentlom better than Fate to. ;) Glad someone agrees with me.
animegrlsteph: well, since he's really just being a stalker... he might do that.
babygirl1998: Thanks for being so enthusiastic! Here's your update.