"Get down here, Hichi."
Shinpi swirled around the top of the tree she stood in, one hand tracing over the trunk as she moved her feet deftly to the next branch so she could peer down at her father, a tall man with messy black hair and cobalt blue eyes. "You called?"
"You're up too high, Hichi. Come down, please." He yelled back up to her and she grinned brightly with a smile lacking a few teeth that had yet to grow back in before simply stepping off the branch and landing in a crouch in front of him, the thirteen foot fall seemingly nothing for her.
Kotaru frowned at his daughter then ruffled a hand through her red hair and sighed. "You're going to give me a heart attack. Must you tempt the fates?"
"If not me then who else?" She asked stretching. "Even fates should stay on their toes, father."
"Don't get smart, darling."
"Sorry."
"Leave the girl alone. She harbors the Takani spirit in full." Hichirou walked toward his son and granddaughter, his wife Aina at his side. "She's adventurous and this little speck of land will never be enough to feed her soul."
Shinpi flashed the old man a grin that brightened the forest around them. "I'm going to go see the world someday, just like you grandpa!"
"Maybe, someday." He agreed and smiled at her with the same blinding, lopsided grin. "For now my girl you have work to do."
"I don't like the other children. They're boring." Shinpi complained, sulking. "They have no drive to learn. And they dream so small."
"Amon-Shinpi, those are your people. Speak more respectfully about them." Her father admonished sharply. "Just because they don't share your vision doesn't make theirs any less important."
"Unless it is." Her grandfather interjected and earned an elbow to the ribs from his wife.
"Stop it. Let Kotaru parent his child." Aina warned her husband. "Darling girl, you need to heed your father."
"But grandfather says that there's so much more than this place and I want to see it. One day I'll go out into the world and what good will mingling with the village boys do then? What are they teaching me that I can take with me to Tourin or Alaric?"
"We don't go to Alaric, Amon-Shinpi. And neither will you." Kotaru hushed her sharply. "Mukuro isn't nearly as kind as Raizen. We don't mix with him. You know that."
"I don't want to mix with him, I want to beat him." Shinpi flexed her tiny arm, still thin from her youth. "I'll show him whose alpha."
"But, first, you'll tend to your lessons." Aina took her granddaughter's hand and smiled down at her with overflowing kindness. "Today is history. Perhaps I'll be able to tell you why it's so important to know your people inside and out as well."
"It's because without them we have nothing." Shinpi heaved a sigh. "But I don't want to rule I want to fight."
"There's no need to fight. We're a peaceful nation and we'll keep it that way as long as we can." Kotaru frowned at his willful child. "Now, go. You're late. Kuya is still waiting because you promised you'd walk her to school and-."
"-a Takani always keeps their promises. We're honorable people and we need to act like it." Shinpi finished for him, her tone bored and mildly whiny. "If it's for Kuya, I'll do it."
He watched as she walked away with her grandmother.
"She's just like you." He turned to his father with a scowl. "She thirsts for a power that will ruin her."
"She wants to be strong enough to protect what she loves. There's no harm in that." Hichirou shook his head.
"She's stubborn. She wants to fight, and she wants to leave. I don't know where she gets these notions from."
"I'm also perplexed." Hichirou lied very poorly and then smiled at his son. "Indulge her hungers, Kotaru. Fulfill her longing heart. She's a good girl and she'll grow up strong. You don't want her resenting this place for holding her back."
"This is her home; it can't hold her back." Kotaru argued.
"Just as it never held you." Hichirou reminded easily, a light sparking in his eyes. "If you'd never run away from home I'd have never been blessed with such beautiful, intelligent, and willful granddaughters."
"She's too young." Kotaru switched gears, walking beside his father. "She's not ready to face the world or the other kings. She speaks off the cuff and acts brashly. All she'll accomplish is getting herself killed."
"She's a child."
"That will not spare her from them."
Hichirou gave up for the moment and began to walk in silence.
That night, long after the sun had set, a redheaded young girl walked into Hichirou's private study with wide blue eyes and a studious glance toward his shelves. She deposited an armful of books onto his desk before marching to a shelf she hadn't perused yet and scanned the spines of the leather bound tomes.
"What happened to your face?" Hichirou asked of his granddaughter, noting her concerted effort to keep her bruised cheek from his view.
"A boy called Kuya ugly and pulled her hair so I hit him. He hit me back. But I won in the end." She assured him. "I'll always win for Kuya."
Her certainty was undeniable. But her hand faltered over the spines of the books and fell uselessly to her side.
"I'm still too weak though. By my age you'd already begun to master wind." She turned to face her grandfather with a gaze too probing for a child, too astute. "Why can't I feel the elements yet?"
"It'll come." He promised her.
"When?"
"When it's your time."
"I'm tired of everyone telling me to wait all the time." Shinpi stomped one foot onto the cold stone floor. "How can I keep Kuya safe if I can't use the wind? What good am I as a firstborn if I don't have any elements to call on? My role is to keep everyone safe and if I can't do that-"
"You're putting too much pressure on yourself." Hichirou smiled at her, walking around his desk to crouch in front of the young girl. "Who do you think you need to protect her from, anyway?"
"Anyone, everyone." Shinpi responded with vehemence. "Father may believe we are safe from conflict, but I'm not so convinced. The new children talk of war and overlords and blood thirsty brutes. It's what they flee. It's why they're here."
"Our gates are open to anyone who is willing to abide our rules."
"Which is kind, but that doesn't keep our people safe if we are attacked." She argued. "If the demons who struck this fear into those children come, we need to be able to fight. I need to be able to fight."
"Your father, mother and I are enough."
"You're old and father would prefer to talk someone into submission." Shinpi told him. "Mother is the only one who would choose to fight and even then, she listens too much to father."
"One day you'll understand why." Hichirou grinned at her and chuckled behind his hand.
"No man will ever dictate my actions." Shinpi stared at her grandfather as she planted her feet and crossed her arms. "Kuya can get married and become queen when her time comes, and I'll serve as her right hand the whole time to keep her safe."
"Like I said, you'll understand one day." Hichiro patted her on the head and smiled at her. "Someday you'll meet someone whose motives you don't question. When they ask you to be still, you'll do it because you trust them to have your best interests in heart."
"I already have that person: Kuya."
"Then you are luckier than most, because many of us spend our lives searching for someone to listen to."
Shinpi sat by the fire in the center of the small village, a notebook poised on her lap as she recalled her memories and those filled in by her grandfather's now lost journals. The man transcribed every day of his life onto paper and at some point in the distant past she'd read all those words. After he was gone. After her father and mother had been killed. It eased her pain on days when the world seemed harshest.
Her pen set idle against the lined paper, her habit of keeping a daily journal seeming to matter little as she realized no one would ever see them. For her, her grandfather's journals had lit hope and offered guidance when she needed them most. And most of her life up to now had driven her to detail her days in and out in bound notebooks.
So why was it so hard to describe her day today? Why couldn't she call on the words to speak of her saving Hiei the day before? What was blocking her?
"That's not an expression I thought I'd ever see on your face." That brusque tone could only belong to one man.
Shinpi turned to watch as Hiei looked her over. "And what, exactly, was my expression?"
"Doubt." He told her, stalking closer but only enough so that he could keep his voice low. He didn't dare get within an arm's length of her.
"Sometimes you're too perceptive for your own good." She offered him a wan smile.
"Who knew all it would take to intimidate you was an empty piece of paper." He commented, glancing at her notebook. "What are you writing?"
"Nothing, apparently." She closed the notebook and set it aside "I'm surprised you're awake."
"I don't normally sleep much." Hiei explained, sitting a little away from her as he faced the fire. It allowed shadows to dance over his face. "I hadn't expected you to be out here."
"Where did you think I would be?"
"With your new friend."
His distaste for Katsuo rang clear in his tone. It made her wonder. He'd been a grump about the other man since their first encounter. If she didn't know better she'd think Hiei disliked the man for no other reason than Katsuo's interest in her. But that didn't seem very Hiei of him, even if she wished it was.
"Friend might be a stretch." Shinpi turned to examine the fire as well. "Katsuo is handsome, sure, but he'd not very interesting. And he definitely lacks the draw I'd seek if I were going to bother with a relationship."
"I didn't ask." Hiei told her coldly.
"And yet, I offered." She shrugged, not bothering to look over at him. "Thank gods for men like you, Hiei. Otherwise I might've already grown bored of this existence."
"How many men like me do you know?" His voice was impossibly close to her ear and she turned her face to see that he'd gotten within inches of her. She'd let her guard down as it was becoming increasingly easy to do in the fire demon's presence.
"I suppose, at the moment, it's just you. That's more than enough." Shinpi studied his fierce expression, the dangerous light in his eyes and the hard set of his mouth.
"You're still ill. You should be asleep." He changed the subject. "You're pale, and you're sweating again."
"I'm in front of a fire and beside an attractive man, a little sweat is normal."
"Don't try to lie to me." Hiei warned her. "You've got a fever. I thought that healer was supposed to be helping you. Why are you still sick?"
"These things take time." She assured him with the lightest pat on the knee.
Hiei glanced down at her hand and then up to her face. "You've been awfully physical with everyone lately."
"Perhaps I'm growing more comfortable with you all." She suggested and she meant it. After her realization earlier that night she had few doubts on the matter. "Besides, you're one to talk. You chose to sleep next to me the other night and I know for a fact I had nothing to do with that."
Hiei snarled at her, jerking his face away. "You were going into one of your fits. I didn't want you attacking anyone or giving away our position with one those blood curdling screams you release."
"Ah, so an act of benevolence. Thank you." She teased and Hiei hated her for it a little bit. "Feel free to sleep next to me anytime, Hiei. You're warm and your scent is comforting so I doubt I'll complain too much."
He stared at her, scrutinizing her expression.
"I have a hard time believing you find any part of me comforting." He stated seriously. "No one has ever commented on my scent before."
"I imagine to most others your general presence is a sign of bad luck on their part." She agreed.
"And you don't feel the same?"
"I don't believe in luck. I believe in chance, in odds and variables." Shinpi shrugged, eyes still intent on the flames dancing before them, warming her face and legs and arms. "When you're in these moods, you're a pillar Hiei, and I'm thankful."
"I'm the same as always." Hiei argued, turning his gaze toward the fire as well, scooting a little closer to her. "You make strange distinctions from nothing."
She still didn't even glance at him and he found it mildly annoying. Normally Shinpi held uncomfortable amounts of eye contact during conversation. He leaned closer to her.
"And in your opinion, where do the odds land when it comes to my general presence?" He lowered his voice and Shinpi finally turned to look at him. It meant their faces were only separated by a few inches, he was so close to her.
"The odds are in my favor whenever you're close by." Shinpi licked her lips and scanned his expression. "Hiei?"
"Hmm?" He tipped his head to the side, a small smirk of satisfaction clear on his face as he angled himself toward her, adjusting the way he was seated to do so. Her hand came up and very lightly she ran her fingers over his cheek.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice you trying to steal my journal?" She let her expression fall flat, her hand moving to pluck the notebook from his fingers as he slowly drug it across the ground behind her. "Decent effort, but you have a tell."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow and cast the book a sidelong glance. He'd get his hands on it sooner or later. She couldn't guard it all the time and now he knew whatever was in it was worth knowing. "And what is that?"
Shinpi leaned so close to him her hand overlapped his. It made him rear back as her other hand came to rest on side of his neck, her lips brushing the shell of his ear and sending a shock through his entire being he was barely able to hide.
"You only get close to me when you want something." She whispered the statement and then retracted completely, forcing space between them that he wished didn't exist.
"That's not true." Hiei defended himself and he wasn't sure why he felt the need to do so.
"It's normally information you're after." She told him easily, as though she were speaking facts and not utter nonsense. "Sometimes it's my compliance with your whims. But it's always something."
The fire in front of them flickered a little brighter. "As if you haven't been doing the same."
Shinpi glanced at Hiei's face, noting the hard set of mouth as his jaw clenched to the point a muscle stood out. His brilliant garnet eyes, full of their own very real fire, that narrowed on her in blatant accusation. And something else. Now that was interesting, she'd struck a nerve without meaning to.
"I touch you because I like to. Sometimes it has added benefits, but I'm not the one who demands space between us. You are. Physical contact is a way of comfort and communication for me. I try to avoid it with you because I know how uncomfortable it makes you." Shinpi shrugged again, watching as her words only seemed to dig her deeper into Hiei's ire. "How have I possibly managed to piss you off so much by telling the truth?"
Hiei tensed and she knew she'd hit another chord in him. One he didn't want her touching.
"I hate that you think you understand the way my mind works." Hiei told her and the words came out hot. "Your assumptions-"
"They aren't assumptions. I've already told you, I hear what you don't say." Shinpi cut him off and her own tone turned hushed and dangerous.
"Oh, so you're a psychic now?"
"I use the information you give me to decipher the enigma of your behavior." She curled her fingers into her palm on the ground, knuckles pressing into the dirt much the same way Hiei's were. "We've discussed this."
"Have you ever considered just asking me fucking questions?" Hiei growled at her. "Instead of all this underhanded nonsense you're so partial to?"
"And if I did, would you even answer them?" Shinpi accused. "What is wrong with you? You've been acting strange this morning. What did I do to you last night that could have possibly caused you to become so angry with me?"
"Don't flatter yourself. You have little to no effect at all on how I act." If that wasn't one of the most daring lies that Hiei had ever uttered. It was one he wanted to believe himself, but it was becoming more difficult by the day.
"If you don't tell me I can't stop doing it." Her voice broke a little, the mask of anger cracking just enough for him to see her confusion underneath, a little pain.
"You didn't do anything." Hiei meant for it to comforting, to stop that awful expression from forming on her face. But it had the opposite effect. Shinpi pulled back further from him, her eyes moving away as if he'd slapped her. Her lips parted.
"I see." Shinpi pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and he felt her withdraw.
Discomfort chewed at his stomach burrowing its way down from his chest and her behavior reminded him too much of their argument in the alley. It bothered him to discover just how desperately he hated the idea of Shinpi hiding from him. He went to reach for her shoulder and she shirked away so he dropped his hand. Knowing he was going to regret it, knowing the woman would probably hold it against him until one of them died, he invaded her thoughts without the preamble of their code word.
He had to know what she was thinking. He wanted to put a name to that cursed expression on her face.
Hiei grimaced, unfortunately correct. He did regret doing this. Shinpi was running through a catalogue of her behaviors, examining each one to try and figure out exactly where she'd gone wrong in the past few days. Despite him telling her she'd done nothing. Because the idea that he hated her over nothing cut through her like a knife and it made her feel cold. There had to be something. Some explanation. She just had to find it and address it, maybe not out loud, but somehow and things would reset.
She didn't want to part ways with Hiei like this. He'd surely never come back. The thought made her sink in on herself. She'd never get to fight with him again, or tease him, or engage in a witty back and forth. Those thoughts hurt her. She didn't want it to be this way. What had she done? What could she do? Did Hiei just truly dislike her so much? He'd argued against it before, hadn't he?
And no glaringly correct answer came to mind. Nothing that could have caused him to become so angry with her. Maybe she'd taken too many liberties last night, falling asleep against him. And the thought that touching her disgusted him so much it could affect him for days afterward only turned her more cold.
She'd rather have died of hypothermia. At least then she wouldn't have to face the reality that when this mission was over there was every likelihood she'd never see Hiei again. Once Koenma told them all that she was free…
"What the hell do you mean free?" Hiei couldn't suppress the outburst and it made the woman whirl to face him, her eyes wide and her mouth fallen open in true disbelief.
"Were you reading my mind just now?" She whispered the question, as if she couldn't actually believe it to be true. Hiei sat struck, berating himself for being a moron internally, avoiding her gaze. "Get a good look, Hiei? Satisfied?"
"Answer my question. What do you mean free?" Hiei didn't turn to look at her, he was too busy trying to battle back the barrage of dangerous emotions clamoring for his attention. "What deal have you made with Koenma?"
"Fuck you." Her words came out ragged and when Hiei dared to look over at her he noticed the firelight bouncing off of the wet trails on her cheeks. "Why don't you just invade my privacy again? Take what you want? It didn't bother you a few seconds ago."
"I didn't do it to take anything. I wanted to know what you were thinking." Hiei defended himself, bristling.
Shinpi's breath came quick and uneven, her anger quickly coming to a point. "I hope you're happy."
"I'm not." He assured her. "Answer my goddamn question."
"I don't owe you any explanations." She seethed.
"Why do you think I'm going to cut ties with you? Where are you going? Where do you think I'm going?" Hiei shifted, crawling toward her and Shinpi remained fixed in place, baring her teeth.
In her furs, with that fierce expression and the firelight dancing over her eyes, Hiei couldn't help the pang of heat that coursed through him. Goddamn, this woman was a ruinous one. She had no idea either. He could tell. She was pissed off and ready to kill him and she had no idea just how tempting she looked.
"Tell me." Hiei demanded, stopping as his hands came to rest by her knees. Shinpi leaned back and on her hands to keep space between their bodies but had otherwise remained in place.
"What do you care?" Shinpi snarled at him, looking quite menacing. "Won't you be happy to be rid of me?"
"I don't intend on being rid of you, so whatever stupid plan you're trying to put into motion, stop it." Hiei sneered.
"It's already done." She smirked at him and it was a twisted expression full of anger and resentment and pain. Hiei wanted to wipe it off her face. "Once we find the culprit and make our report to Koenma, he's going to announce that I don't need any more babysitters. I'll be free from you."
"Oh, is that all?" Hiei smirked too, daring and sadistic as he tilted his head. "If you think something as small as bureaucracy will keep me away from you, you're sorely mistaken. I'm not that easily dissuaded."
"You need to back off me before I hurt you." Shinpi warned him as he crept a hair closer, hovering over her. "While I might normally enjoy playing these games with you, I'm not in the mood and it's your own doing."
Every instinct and muscle and nerve in Hiei's body knew he needed to back off of her. He knew he was pushing her too far and that she meant her words. This woman was ready to tear his throat out and she would follow through with her threat. He'd triggered a rage in her and she wasn't afraid to unleash it on him. The warning bells sounded again, that imminent feeling of danger creeping up his spine.
And yet, he found himself saying, "I'd like to see you try."
The heel of her hand bit into his ribs with enough force to snap two of the bones. Hiei went flying back and landed on the ground gasping for air. Shinpi was on him in a second, so quick he barely had time to raise his arms in a cross block to keep her fist from slamming into his face. Any of her usual grace was lost in her harsh movements, and in the back of his mind he was smug for that fact.
Who else could produce such a visceral reaction from this woman but him?
Let the other fighters have her carefully thought out strategies and graceful annihilation. He was more than happy to turn her into a howling, mad-eyed animal.
Hiei captured one of her wrists and listed her to the side but in trying to get the upper position, he only managed to give Shinpi an opening. She shoved her feet under his hips and kicked him off her. They separated and ran at each other. Fists, elbows, knees, legs all slamming into one another without mercy or hesitation. Blood running down both their noses and from their split lips they came to a pause again, a few feet between them.
Shinpi hadn't activated her energy and Hiei knew she was struggling to keep it that way. The urge to crush him must have been a nightmare to fight against. But she had to protect her identity and those instincts were stronger than the ones fueling her rage. She took a step toward him, teeth bared in a snarl, as Hiei took a step as well.
And then Shinpi stopped eyes and mouth opening in surprise as Katsuo came to a sliding stop between them, his own snarl directed at Hiei and Hiei alone.
"Move." Hiei demanded, stalking toward the wolf demon. "You have no place in this fight."
"What pleasure could you possibly get from beating on this woman?" Katsuo demanded, refusing to budge.
"More than you could possible know." Hiei spit the words, chest heaving. "Move. I won't tell you again."
"I won't let you lay another hand on her." The alpha slid his feet apart, his hand cocking back and covered in youki.
Hiei smirked, eying the display. This was his chance to be rid of this fool. And the idiot was giving it to him freely. Katsuo went to release his punch and found it trapped in a hand smaller than his. Shinpi stood between the two males, eyes cold and hair catching on the wind their warring auras created. The energy surrounding Katsuo's fist died immediately in the crush of her grip.
"I don't need you defending me." She snarled at the man.
"That man has every capability of killing you. I won't stand for it." The alpha snarled back at her.
"Hiei's capabilities mean nothing when he lacks the conviction to use them." Shinpi released Katsuo's fist. "You've fought me, you know I can handle myself. What would cause you to intervene so foolishly?"
"That creature is far stronger than I am." Katsuo sneered the words, glaring at Hiei over Shinpi's shoulder. "Beating me doesn't prove you can handle him."
"So you admit you stand no chance against me." Hiei gloated from behind the woman, who shot him a warning look. "You are a fool then. You would have only become fodder."
"If it kept you from harming Mikamoto, then it would have been a worthy sacrifice." Katsuo growled at the fire demon.
"She doesn't need your help." Hiei growled back.
Shinpi had turned to watch Hiei talk, her eyes roving him freely. Whatever she saw made that gaze turn dark, even the firelight unable to touch the shadows forming in her expression. Hiei narrowed his eyes in return. Then with a raised eyebrow, she turned away from him and picked up the hand she'd captured mere moments before. Her green energy came out, pouring into the appendage and Katsuo watched with raptured fascination.
"Sometimes I forget myself, I'm sorry for hurting you." Shinpi allowed her temper to cool, her voice softening. "You didn't even flinch when I broke your hand."
"You were angry, operating on instinct. Mistakes happen." Katsuo told her, lids falling partially closed.
The unholy rage that burned in Hiei when Shinpi lifted the alpha's hand to her lips could have turned even a diamond to ash. She made sure he could see the smile she offered the other man, the way she gently toyed with his hand before sliding her fingers between his.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer. I think I'd feel more comfortable sleeping next to you tonight." Shinpi spoke so softly.
Hiei tasted blood, he bit down on his tongue so hard to keep his thoughts from flying loose. When Katsuo tugged the woman to his side, Hiei about launched himself at him.
Sharp, bitter and barely contained Hiei growled through Shinpi's mind, "He wants something from you too."
And his rage only doubled when she responded, coldly.
"And he very well may receive it."
"So, uh, want to talk about it?" Yusuke eyed Hiei.
"No."
The fire demon continued to sit at the table, hands clasped together as if he were unsure what they'd do if he untwined his fingers. He remained perfectly still as he bore a hole in the bench across from him, his glare so scathing even Kurama hadn't crossed into its path. The fox demon frowned.
"Would you at least tell us where Hichi is?" Kurama sighed, entirely put out.
Hiei shifted his attention to the redhead and merely stared. Then he went back to glaring at the bench.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Kuwabara glanced at Hiei warily.
"That implies I slept." Hiei warned the carrot top.
"Alright, I'm going to go ask anyone if they've seen her." Yusuke got up from his seat and headed for the door. He pulled it open and on the other side stood Shinpi, who had blood doused across the front of her garments and staining her hands. A few drops clung to her cheeks.
"Fuck dude." The detective jumped near out of his skin. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Oh, none of its mine." Shinpi waved a hand through the air. "I was hunting."
"With Katsuo?" Hiei's drawl rose the temperature in the room a few degrees as his eyes cut to her.
The three other occupants of the room stared at him then shifted their attention back to Shinpi, who eyed the fire demon with obvious distaste.
"Indeed, with Katsuo. He's actually fairly charming, in his own way. We thoroughly enjoyed each other's company last night." Her words struck an obvious chord because Hiei bared his teeth in disgust. She turned to the others. "Breakfast is ready. Certified fresh by yours truly."
"Do you mind explaining?" Kurama glanced from to Hiei then back.
"This is between Hiei and myself and that's where it will stay." Shinpi refused him. "Speaking of which, may I have a moment alone with you, Hiei?"
He thought about telling her to fuck off. It was obvious in the set of his mouth. But he glanced at the too-interested faces of his allies and nodded once. Shinpi nodded in return, looking far calmer than she had the night before. She had no issue crossing into the path of his glare or sitting directly across from him at the table, her chin raised and shoulder's pulled down, her perfect stature the exact opposite of Hiei's hunched shoulders.
The others watched her settle into her seat and the silence that followed before finally trickling out of the hut. Another few minutes passed when Shinpi scowled at the door, but it was Hiei's voice that broke through the silence.
"We know you're all still there." He announced, and a faint swear seeped through the walls before the three others finally went away. He settled his attention on Shinpi and said nothing.
"You had no right to enter my thoughts." Shinpi realized he wasn't going to speak and so she charged into this fight head on.
Hiei stared at her, unreactive.
"What did you see?" She asked him, and he realized she was being very careful.
Too careful.
"Apparently not what you're hiding." Hiei drawled. "I should know to expect secrets from you by now, I suppose."
"I'm entitled to my privacy." She warned him.
He merely raised an eyebrow. She still hadn't shifted her stance. But he noted she was chewing her lip between carefully constructed sentences.
"Stop that." He told her. "Nervous habits don't become you."
That caught her interest, but she let it pass without dwelling on it. "You didn't answer me."
"Didn't I?" Hiei threw the words at her with more bitterness than when she'd uttered something similar to him during their fight at Genkai's.
"Hiei, I don't want to do this. I don't want to sit here and fight with you all day." Shinpi's shoulders sagged and she looked away from him, leaning back against the bench. "But if this is the way you want it, then fine. Hate me. Invade me. I don't care anymore."
Except she did and it was obvious. She cared far too much and Hiei hated her a little bit for that reaction, because it broke one loose from him. He'd been doing so well schooling himself into cultivated anger. All night he'd spent dwelling on his fury. He wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible.
Goddammit.
"I like fighting with you." Hiei told her, less harshly than any of his previous statements. "I don't intend to stop anytime soon, even if you are free of me."
Shinpi blinked at him, brow furrowed.
"I didn't realize I was still someone you needed to escape from." Hiei glared at her coldly. "I find it strange that you were so afflicted by the thought of my absence when in the end it's the thing you are vying for."
"Hiei." She breathed his name like a sigh and leaned forward over the table slightly. "This isn't about escape."
"What is it then? What is so terrible about me watching over you that you've consulted Koenma behind my back to put an end to it?" Hiei snapped at her.
Shinpi visibly started at his frustration and his words. Her eyes did a quick scan over his face and she melted. Just softened immediately and Hiei felt himself building walls against whatever idiotic assumption she'd come to.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Hiei." She reached for his hand and he jerked it away, his expression disgusted and horrified as if she'd just done something foul before him.
"You did not hurt my feelings." Hiei snarled at her.
"Well, you certainly hurt mine." She retracted her hand and Hiei looked at her as if she were about to attack him. "But that's not the point and you don't particularly care, so I'll spare you the details. What is important is that what I want isn't your absence, Hiei, it's just space."
"You assume I'm going to leave and you're still going to go through with this." Hiei accused. "Some part of you wants more than space, it wants me gone."
"Not true." She shook her head. "I don't want to be babysat any longer. I want to be able to choose when I go to Genkai's and when I train and when I have company. I don't want to lose you or the others. I just… is it too much to ask that I be allowed to be my own person again?"
It wasn't. If their positions were reversed Hiei would have had much less patience for the situation that Shinpi had shown. He'd have grown resentful early on that his life was dictated by others.
"Are you going to go back to daydreaming about suicide?" Hiei asked her in a guarded voice. "Just because I won't be tethered to you doesn't mean you get to go and die."
"It's not currently on my list of things to accomplish." Shinpi swallowed.
"We're still to train together. This doesn't put an end to our rivalry. If anything, it should intensify it. If I find out you're slacking off when I'm not around-"
"Of course." She cut him off gently. Hiei deflated some, that particular vein of anger cooled. Shinpi inhaled to steady herself. "I'm relieved, honestly. I thought you'd bite at the chance to be rid of me."
"That's because you're an idiot." Hiei told her firmly.
And she laughed, nodding. "Did you tell the others?"
"No. But you should." Hiei wrinkled his nose. "You should know that at this point, it's not Spirit World that makes you a part of the group. Your companionship has value to them."
"Thank you." She smiled and it made his guts twist up. Annoyed, he huffed and glared to the side.
"Are you intending to stay here with your new lover?" He asked and this new stream of anger was fresh and unfettered. The memory of Shinpi kissing Katsuo's hand the night before and then walking off with him set his blood on fire.
"Lover?" Shinpi made a face and that earned Hiei's attention. "I was protecting Katsuo last night, Hiei. I thought you had picked up on that when I glared behind you."
Behind him? "You mean that bitchy look you tossed me before telling me you were going to go sleep with the fool?"
"I said no such thing." Shinpi rolled her eyes. "I believe my words were that he might receive what he wanted from me."
"He wants your body." Hiei snapped. "Don't play dumb about this. You told him that you would sleep next to him."
"I'm not dumb." She snapped back at him. "I was angry with you."
"You were going to allow that moron to touch you because you were angry with me?" Hiei seethed. "Seems foolish on your part. I don't care who you take to your bed. I was only angry that he interrupted our fight."
"Ah, my mistake. For a moment you looked murderously jealous." Shinpi's accusation bristled the fire demon before her. "I'm glad to learn that isn't the case. You'll always be my number one rival, Hiei, but it would be inconvenient if you started to get in the way of my other relationships. A woman needs more than training to keep her warm at night sometimes."
"What relationship, you barely know him." Hiei scoffed.
And the stare she delivered on him told him he needed to keep his mouth shut or she was going to test this new theory of hers about his jealousy. In fact, he was fairly certain he could expect to see the woman doing a lot of tolerating of the alpha. He hated the idea of it.
"What did you see behind me?" Hiei changed topics and watched as Shinpi raised an eyebrow perfectly aware of what he was trying to do.
"Someone." She pursed her lips. "I wasn't able to see their face, merely their eyes, but they were definitely watching us. And when I announced I was going with Katsuo, they narrowed. I think someone may be after him."
"Not our problem." Hiei shrugged. Honestly, is someone managed to murder the man it would be one less issue for him to deal with. Refusing to stop a murder was a slight bit better than committing one, wasn't it?
"If someone is after Katsuo, it's almost certainly because of his position. If he were killed a new alpha would be able to rise. Even if he was killed by spirit detectives for allowing humans to be murdered in his territory." Shinpi explained to him.
"You're suggesting Katsuo is being set up?" Hiei piqued at this development. "So, not only do we need to look for a killer, but also a saboteur."
"A smart one at that." She nodded. "But not smarter than me."
He smirked and it was the first semi-friendly expression he'd offered her.
"I didn't sleep with him, by the way. I know you don't care, but I want the air cleared. I didn't sleep at all, actually. Katsuo's presence wasn't conducive to such things."
"I thought you found him comfortable."
"More comfortable than you in a rage." She shrugged. "Can you blame me? At that point you looked ready to commit a murder and I wasn't about to let it be mine."
"Bullshit, woman." Hiei narrowed his eyes.
"Fair enough." Shinpi rose from the table and the look she set on him was nothing short of predatory, especially coupled with the blood still marring her clothes and face. "Maybe I didn't trust myself to be around you when the firelight caught your eyes so beautifully. So, I suppose, my discomfort was with my lack of control, not yours. I may not affect your behavior but I can't deny you effect mine."
Hiei licked his lips and followed her to the doors. He reached for her wrist, fingers just barely skimming over the skin when the door flew open. He wasn't sure what he'd been about to do once he grabbed her, but he was actually thankful he hadn't been given the chance. When the door opened he drew his hand back so he could shove it into his pocket while he stared at Yusuke.
"It's Kuwabara." The detective said and Shinpi was gone like a bat out of hell before he could say anything more.
Kurama stood with his rose whip out, Katsuo wounded behind him. The alpha had the tusk from the boar they'd been preparing for breakfast stuck in his side when Shinpi came to a sudden halt next to the fox. Her upper lip pulled back in a snarl as she saw Fuyuko kneeling over Kuwabara's prone form. The carrot top was ashen, eyes dull and his breathing labored. His energy felt weak.
"He collapsed. Then the healer ordered them to attack Katsuo." Kurama shifted and looked around at the wolves that surrounded them. "He's controlling them somehow."
"He's a psychic." Hiei announced, joining them with Yusuke, Jagan open. "Mind control."
"A true alpha has unquestionable sway over his pack." Fuyuko rose to his feet as he explained. Several wolf demons aimed arrows at the team, others waiting with claws out. "Kastuo has no right to claim himself as leader. That role should be mine."
Shinpi took that moment to glance back Hiei with a smirk. "Told you."
"Congratulations." Hiei responded dully. "You still didn't suspect him."
"Actually, she did. She had me watch him from a distance." Kurama explained. "He tried to poison her with that tea he made. I'm assuming for someone else it would have been quite effective."
"As demonstrated on your friend here." Fuyuko gestured to Kuwabara. "Which leads me to you, Mikamoto."
Shinpi tensed as he addressed her, crouching just slightly as if preparing to be attacked.
"You're not really a human at all, are you?" Fuyuko surmised coldly, taking in her behavior.
Shinpi adjusted her stance, it was a small movement but one that clued Hiei into her intentions. He went to say her name and found a hand clamped over his mouth and chin, blue eyes narrowed on him from the side, dark and glittering dangerous promises. She barely breathed their code word.
"Names have power, Hiei, you should wield them carefully." Was all she thought before releasing his face. Her expression remained fierce. To the others it must have seemed absurd, him allowing the woman to grab him. So he growled at her, jerking away from her hand.
"Don't do that again." He warned her, and part of him meant it.
"I knew you'd pick up on it." Shinpi turned her attention toward the wolf demon. "That tea you made was still quite potent. It put me off my feet, but luckily I have a friend far more gifted in herbalism who was able to taper the side effects."
Dark brown eyes flickered to Kurama then back to the woman.
Yusuke glanced at her too, realizing her complacent behavior the day before had been induced. Her whispered conversations with Kurama made more sense suddenly, as well as her aversion to the meals provided by the wolves. She'd needed time to recuperate her strength after Kurama's help.
It clicked for Hiei then as well, that perhaps this was why she'd been so tolerant of the alpha's advances. Not just to keep up appearances but because she hadn't had the energy to manhandle him and continue her investigation. Had she suspected this vein of reasoning all along? Is that way she'd been posting herself at Katsuo's side?
"I'd like to extend the choice of forfeiting to you." Shinpi offered, tension roiling through her muscles even as she spoke. "Give yourself up quietly. You're only going to bring disaster on your pack otherwise."
"If I manage to end all of you, the only thing I'll bring my pack is great fortune." Fuyuko snarled at her.
Shinpi didn't seem amused or impressed by his declaration and her eyes strayed from him to Kazuma, who lay on the ground behind him. Her concern wasn't hidden. Neither was her anger.
"Out of all of them, you said he was the one you wanted to protect the most. Instinct, you called it." Fuyuko pointed out. "You defend him like a mother would its pup."
Hiei glanced at Shinpi, confusion clear in his eyes at the utterance of that statement. There was no way Shinpi had forged some sort of maternal affection for that bumbling idiot, was there? Her face betrayed nothing. The statement could be true or not and she wouldn't confirm either way.
"Kazuma is dear to me." Shinpi allowed. "But if he's weak enough to die here there's nothing I can do about it."
Yusuke shot her a withering look that she pointedly ignored. Kurama and Hiei remained impassive at her words.
But Shinpi had glanced at the carrot top again and saw his eyes open, watching her. It was a slight squeeze of her lids that carried her message to him. Her words held no weight. They were a ruse to get him to his feet. And Kuwabara, from behind the wolf demon, offered the scantest nod in response.
"Shall we dance, then?" She asked the healer and he offered her a heartless smile in return. The wolf demon's around them closed in.
From the beginning Yusuke's optimistic belief in his teammates had glued them all together. They defended each other, they fought together, they fought for each other. Even through the jabs and biting remarks and the years of silence and distance and life changes, they all would clearly die for each other on any given day of the week. It was a kinship born of mutual understand. A brotherly protectiveness that coiled around the four of them, binding them together.
There was something different about the way Shinpi acted to protect them. It hung in the air around her, around them. It felt familiar, the sort of action that comes from earned affection, but also, and still, different.
"You're mistaken." Shinpi spoke clearly, coldly and without hesitation. "In both your position in this fight and over your meager self-appointed title. I was clear when we arrived that I would tolerate these men coming to harm. You've brought this on yourself."
Her words shivered through the gathering of animal youkai, many of whom shifted and darted glances at one another then at their newfound leader. Their alpha, as he called himself, who looked about ready to piss himself at the sheer authority in her voice. It was the same that she'd used on Matsuma all those weeks ago. Hiei recognized it for what it was immediately.
The voice of an unwavering leader.
"And if we harm you?" Fuyuko uttered the words. "Will they defend you as vehemently?"
"They know better than to assume that I'm the one who ever needs protecting."
Shinpi bowed her head, and from under her bangs her eyes shone like blue embers. The wind circled her feet as they slid out into a wider stance, her hand poised above the wrapped hilt of her wooden sword. A quirk of her lips was all the warning she offered before her pooling her energy into the instrument and her insistence on bringing along suddenly made more sense to Hiei. When the wave of wolf demons attacked, she greeted them with an unrelenting wall of destruction. The sword bit through skin and clothes as sharply as any metal blade, fortified as it was.
And just like their fight what felt like ages before, Hiei noted she was intentionally avoiding permanent damage. Superficial wounds, minor cuts, but she deftly changed the angle of her blade to keep from claiming limbs. Her body spun when the choice to stab through the stomach was obvious. A melee attack came instead, her knee digging into the soft flesh. The wind took a few off their feet, pushed some others back. None the less, her benevolence didn't save them from a staggering loss. Within minutes Shinpi was the only one on her feet in the circle of demons, the rest bleeding and groaning, battered but alive on the ground as the haze wore off for them.
It was a sight to behold. Hiei memorized it as such, again noting that Shinpi's actions carried a certain dancer's grace. It was a terrifying notion, that her brand of violence could be delivered with such beauty inherent in the movements. Terrifying and endlessly appealing. His chest warmed and that damned shuddering came back in the wake of his admiration. He could watch her all day, given the opportunity.
Just not today, as the fates would have it, because Kuwabara had gotten to his feet unusually quiet. Even as shaky as his legs seemed to be, as dangerous as his pallor had grown, he radiated confidence in his next actions. He grabbed one of Fuyuko's wrists and jerked it behind the demon's back before hooking his foot around the other man's ankle to throw him off balance. When they hit the ground, Kuwabara dug a knee into the wolf demon's spine, gripping both wrists with one hand as he wound something around them.
"Thanks for lending this to me." Kuwabara tied off the Infinity Chain and looked up at Shinpi, panting. "And for showing me how to use it."
"Maybe I'll be able to get you your own someday." She smiled at him as Kurama ran over, already on the move to concoct an antidote for the poison in the carrot top's system. "You saved the day, Kazuma."
"You helped. A little." He grinned at her. "I feel like I'm gonna hurl."
Her arms cradled Kuwabara's head to her chest delicately, brushing away the dirt from his cheek before being assured that he was fine. Green light poured into him to ease what she could of his symptoms. When Kurama took over she rose to her feet with purpose.
"Being protected is never my priority." Shinpi offered in response to some question the fox was bound to ask. "I don't doubt you have my back, I merely don't see the need to test the sentiment. Pack protects pack, it's simply understood. It goes without saying and I'm aware of that."
"So, we are a pack to you?" Yusuke kept his hands in his pockets, eying the woman with cautious optimism.
"Are we not to you?" Shinpi responded easily, knowing he wouldn't fight her. "I am a protective person by nature. I don't like when people touch things that are mine."
Hiei had stooped to begrudgingly help the alpha, yanking the boar's tusk from his side and slapping a few layers of gauze over the wound. The man's brown eyes were alight as he stared at the woman.
"I think I'm in love." Katsuo grinned at Hiei looking very much so like a lovesick fool and the fire demon just rolled his eyes, wishing the wound had been more severe than it was.
"So, you two are okay?" Yusuke asked Hiei, who shrugged.
"As good as we can be as rivals." The fire demon responded coolly.
"Psh. Rivals. Yeah. More like rivals with benefits." The detective snorted, crossing his arms. "Can't fool me buddy."
"The rivalry is the benefit, detective." Hiei smirked, but his attention had wavered when Shinpi came out of the mountain hideaway.
Katsuo followed at Shinpi's heels like a trained dog, stars practically in his eyes.
"Are you sure you won't stay? We could use a matriarch. These boys need someone to keep them in line and now we could also those talented, healing hands of yours." Katsuo told her again, the bandages on his side freshly changed. Shinpi pulled a face and then smoothed out her expression.
She'd offered to heal him and he'd asked her not to. He wanted the scar to remember her by, even though she hadn't been the one to give it to him.
"I have my hands full enough." She nodded toward the group of men she'd arrived with.
"I'd like it if you stayed. With me." He touched the back of her arm lightly, but it stopped her still.
"I don't know you nearly well enough to care about what you'd like or wouldn't." Shinpi told him coolly and it seemed to make him swoon all the more. "Besides, you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm a committed woman."
He glanced in the gang's direction, then back to her. "Not the fire demon."
She just offered him a shrug and looked over too.
"Hiei doesn't seem like much when you first meet him. Callous, rude, thick-skulled. But he's grown on me. We're currently quite serious as rivals." She assured him. "Just yesterday he assured me I couldn't get rid of him."
Hiei glanced their way, eyes roving over the pair before his lips quirked upwards. Shinpi offered him a similar expression in return.
"I've found a new lust for life in the process of finding ways to best him." Shinpi admitted and there was no mistaking the smug smirk Hiei offered. "Which reminds me," she threaded her arm through Katsuo's, "how would you rate my performance on this mission?"
"All of your performances are amazing." He started to gush. "Sensual. Radiant."
"And, of all the members of the team, who picked out the culprit?" She pressed on.
"You're asking leading questions." Hiei muttered under his breath, glancing at her. She flashed a smile toward him as her and Katsuo came to a stop fairly close to the group.
"You did." The alpha responded.
"And, who beat your boys into submission and convinced them not to misbehave or bother their human neighbors?"
"I get it." Hiei growled.
"You did." Katsuo still answered her.
"Just making sure." She patted the man's arm and withdrew from him. "I like to know I'm doing a good job."
"Are you done playing with your food?" Hiei demanded, arms crossed over his chest. "If the detective has to spend one more day without electricity he'll go mad. Or maybe we should leave you here and you can become a matriarch."
"Don't be jealous, Hiei, I've already told Katsuo that I'm all yours." She left the side of the other man to toe up to the fire demon. "After all, I'm not done proving how much better I am at everything yet."
Kuwabara nudged Kurama and nodded toward the scene. Yusuke peeked between them to watch too.
"You won gloating rights, not a championship, simmer down." Hiei told her, unimpressed. "And it's hardly a feat that you wrangled in a pack of mongrels. It's only natural that they listened to you."
"Doesn't matter. The deal was that whoever sequestered the most bad guys won. And I did that." She lifted her chin and crossed her arms. "Just admit I won."
"Before getting lucky with your finger pointing-"
"It was an informed deduction."
"-you also managed to get yourself critically wounded, incredibly sick, and Kuwabara nearly killed."
"None of which changes the fact that I won. And that I want to hear you say it." She crept toward him, a single finger poking into his chest. "You may like to pocket your proceeds, Hiei, but I'm feeling the urge for instant gratification."
Hiei looked down at her finger digging into his ribs and then up to her face with a fiery expression.
"Fine." Hiei relented with a throaty rumble. "You won."
"I hope our next case is as exciting." She stayed close to him, and Hiei nodded, casting a look behind her to Katsuo.
The alpha glanced over the pair of them and didn't seem to enjoy what he saw. That earned some satisfaction from Hiei.
"Your intelligence is definitely one of your better assets." Hiei allowed, smirking as he returned his attention to Shinpi. Then he lowered his voice. "But I'm faster than you where it counts."
"Want to test that theory?" She nearly pressed her chest to his as she grinned at him.
"First one to the base of the mountain wins." Hiei nodded and then he was gone in a blur. Shinpi took off after him, leaving the others gaping behind them.
"Tell her she's welcome back anytime. The fire demon isn't." Katsuo turned to Yusuke. "You can tell him I'm sorry for the hitting him with my energy. Looked like he took quite the fall."
"Yeah, I'll pass it along. Stay out of trouble. I don't want to have to come back here." Yusuke grinned at the other man who nodded once then turned to return to his pack. "Alright Kurama, are you ready for a new bet?"
"Surely you don't think we're going to catch them in the act." Kurama cut off the deal before it could get started.
"Nah, I say we gather up our friends and start a pool. I give those two a few weeks before they're making the beast with two backs." Yusuke started walking down the side of the mountain with his arms tucked behind his head. The other two men trailing behind him.
"Oh, I say we wait until we get a calendar. I want to pick the right day." Kuwabara announced and Kurama chuckled beside him.
"Perhaps we should consult a moon chart while we're at it." The fox offered with humor.
"So you agree then?" Yusuke tossed a cocky grin back at them. "Those two are one good moment away from ripping each other's clothes off."
"Perhaps." Kurama allowed with a smile. "But it'd be best if we didn't actively interfere."
"Yeah, yeah." Yusuke waved his hand through the air. "I don't think they need our help anyway."