Author's Note: Writing this chapter was extremely difficult. I can't tell you how many times I just erased everything and started from scratch before finally settling on this version, so I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

For anyone that's curious, I have posted a new YYH story! It's called Rinse and Repeat, and I'm nearly done with Chapter 5 so now is the perfect time to go check it out! Also, if you want to talk about my stories or fangirl over YYH, you can find me on tumblr at tv-writes-ff . tumblr . com

Post Date: 30 July 2017

Word Count: 9700

Chapter Twenty-Five
Tell Me What Happened

Present: March 2025

"Tell me what I've missed." Reigan startled a little at the quiet voice and quickly sat up in the chair that she had apparently fallen asleep in.

"You're a seer. What can I tell you that you haven't already seen?" Reigan asked with a small smile. Fingers laced through hers and held on tight, and a single pale blue eye met her curious gaze.

"That's not the point, and you know it. Come on, Rei. Tell me about your life." Shikaku's voice was quiet, and Reigan had to close her eyes to focus on her friend's soft voice. "Tell me what happened after the last time I spoke to you. Did you tell your family to be prepared?"

The last time…the last time Shikaku spoke to her was right after her and Hiei attempted to see her blocked memories. She'd been in pain then too, but that was nothing compared to this. Compared to seeing one of her closest friends lying still in a bed with her energy so low that she could barely speak. She couldn't focus on that right now. Shikaku asked her a question, so she thought back to their last conversation. The pain of trying to see her blocked memories had made everything go black, but she'd been able to hear Shikaku. What happened after that? It'd been early morning when she came out of the paralysis, and her and Hiei had decided to tell everyone what they knew that day. It'd been a Monday, so they had a picnic close to Kazuma's new school. Everyone had gathered together, and Reigan had told them. She told them so they would be prepared.

Past: May 25, 1998

"So, you got all of us together to tell us that you can't tell us?" Yusuke asked and looked around their secluded picnic area. He was sitting between Botan and Kazuma, and Shizuru was sitting on her brother's other side. Kurama was sitting at the edge of the group, and Yukina was sitting next to the now empty picnic basket. Genkai was sitting with her back leaned up against a tree, and Hiei was sitting in the tree above her head. Reigan was the only one standing, and she crossed her arms over her stomach as she looked at everyone.

"She is giving us a warning, Yusuke," Kurama explained quietly.

"But she can't say about who or when," Yusuke pointed out.

"No, I can't, but I thought everyone deserved to know that there will come a time when we'll have to fight," Reigan said and made sure to make eye contact with everyone as she looked around. "You're my family, and I love each and every one of you. You need to know, because we'll need to be ready."

"How do we prepare for something we know nothing about?" Kazuma asked. It's a good question, but it wasn't something that she had a good answer for. She smiled anyway, and she released the tension in her arms so that they stopped being so tightly crossed and propped her fists on her hips.

"It's simple, really. We prepare by living and making sure that we have something worth fighting for," she said with a wide grin. Genkai huffed at that, and Botan started to giggle quietly. Yusuke raised a brow when her eyes met his, and she waited to see what her nephew had to say.

"That's the cheesiest bullshit I've ever heard!" Yusuke suddenly yelled. Kazuma and Shizuru both started laughing at that, and she could hear Kurama chuckling quietly as well. Before long, every single one of them was laughing. Even Hiei, but his laughter went mostly unheard because he was still up in the tree.

"Cheesy or not, it's the truth. We're going to live, and we're going to be happy. Got it?"

"Got it, Ma."

"Yes, Mother."

"Sure, Auntie Rei."

"Of course, Reigan."

"I can't believe I left my temple for this."

Words started to blur together as everyone talked at once, and Reigan sighed quietly as she loosely crossed her arms over her stomach. Someone was going to attack them, eventually, but…someone was always going to attack them eventually, right? That was what happened when you were strong and had loved ones to protect. Fighting was always inevitable. For now, everything was peaceful. So they might as well enjoy it.

Present: March 2025

"You were right, Reigan. Fighting is inevitable, but you deserved happiness too." Shikaku looked small under the thin sheet, fragile in a way that Reigan had never imagined her friend could look. "Tell me about Kazuma and Shizuru. They removed their seals, didn't they?"

Past: March 2002

"Kazuma!" Her son opened his arms as she jumped into the air, and they both laughed as he started to spin her around. Reigan's arms were wrapped tight around his neck, and she couldn't get over how proud she was of her son. After eight years, he was a doctor! Her son was a doctor!

"Veterinarian, Ma. Not a doctor," Kazuma corrected as he placed her back on her feet. Reigan could hear the others laughing behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at her gathered family. Botan had assembled a picnic table in their backyard…Well, Botan had supervised while Yusuke assembled a picnic table in their backyard…and Botan and Yukina were setting out dishes of food down the length of the table. Shizuru was directing the whole thing, and Reigan wasn't sure where the others were. She had a feeling that they'd be around soon.

"The point," Reigan stressed and leaned up on her toes to press a hand against Kazuma's cheek, "is that all of your hard work has paid off. Congratulations, Kazuma."

"Thanks, Ma." Her son had to nearly bend completely at the waist to lean down and kiss her cheek, and he quickly wiped away the happy tears clinging stubbornly to her lashes. She told herself that she wasn't going to cry, but she can't help it! Kazuma worked so hard for this, he kept going to school even after she was released even though he told her that he wanted to spend more time with her, but he wasn't the type of man to quit once he started something. That's why she was so proud of him.

"Yo, Auntie Rei! Little help!" Kazuma turned around as Reigan stepped to the side to see around him, and they both started laughing as Yusuke came into view. Reigan could actually only see her nephew's legs, because the large wooden crate he was carrying completely blocked his body from the knees up. "What the hell is this thing?!"

"That's Kazuma's graduation present! Be careful!" Reigan yelled as Yusuke tripped. She could hear him yelling as he started falling forwards, and she started running towards him even though she'd never make it on time. She'd only taken three steps when the crate seemed to freeze in midair, and she could hear Yusuke grumbling from somewhere behind the floating crate. She kept running until she was behind the crate, and a pair of red eyes met hers.

"What kind of fighter trips over air?" Hiei asked and looked down at his feet. Hiei was holding the bottom of the crate with one hand, stopping it from crashing into the ground, and Yusuke was laying on the ground flat on his face. Reigan heard her nephew growl quietly before he was suddenly on his feet, and she immediately started laughing. Yusuke's glare turned towards her, and she covered her mouth with her hand as a few more giggles slipped out.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke, it's just…you really ate dirt, huh?" His whole face was covered in dirt, like he'd gone to a spa for some kind of mud facial, and the dirt was only a few shades darker than his eyes. "Go get cleaned up."

"Stupid party, stupid present, stupid..." Yusuke continued to grumble under his breath as he walked around Hiei and Reigan, and she leaned back so that she could watch him walk closer to the house. He was passing the picnic table when someone else noticed him for the first time since his fall, and Reigan clapped her hand over her mouth again as Botan's eyes went wide.

"Oh, Yusuke, you're filthy! Go get cleaned up right now! We're trying to have a party, you know!" Botan yelled as she pushed at his shoulders. Reigan could hear Yusuke protesting, but he was no match against Botan when she was in party mode. Reigan was still trying not to laugh when she turned back around, and Hiei just looked over at her with a bored expression on his face.

"Thank you for catching Kazuma's present," she said and smiled sweetly at him. She went to reach for the crate, but Hiei huffed and just shifted so that he was holding it with both hands and started to walk. They were only a couple of months away from their five year anniversary, but Hiei was still the same fire demon that she'd fallen in love with. Stubborn, quick to insult, and showed his affections through actions rather than words. Which was why he was carrying her son's graduation present, even though Hiei and Kazuma still argued more than they didn't. Which reminded her. "Don't forget to congratulate Kazuma."

"I already did." They had been walking closer to the picnic table, but Reigan froze mid-step. Hiei looked over his shoulder at her, and his expression was asking her why she had stopped. And possibly calling her a fool.

"You did? When?" Hiei respected Kazuma, Kazuma respected Hiei and was happy for both of them, but Hiei still rarely said a nice thing to Kazuma without some kind of prompting.

"This morning," Hiei said and started walking again. Reigan finally placed her hovering foot back on the ground, and her head tilted to the side a little as she watched Hiei walk off.

This morning? Kazuma had returned home yesterday, after his graduation, but they'd decided to save his big graduation party for today. They sat around the living room the night before, laughing and enjoying being together again, but she couldn't remember seeing Hiei talk directly to Kazuma. Not about graduating anyway. She was sure there were a few half-hearted insults in there somewhere. When Reigan woke up this morning, Hiei was sitting on the side of their bed and holding out a cup of tea. She'd been grateful for the nice gesture, and she'd figured that he'd been the first one to the kitchen. Was Kazuma already up? Did Hiei congratulate him when there were no witnesses around? Because that sounded more like him.

"Reigan? Are you alright?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to the side at the sound of the quiet voice, and the first thing she saw was long red hair.

"Kurama!" The fox laughed softly as she jumped up to hug him, and she felt his arms settle around her back after a moment. Kurama had been shocked the first time she jumped on him to hug him, but he'd slowly gotten used to it over the past few years.

"I trust everything here is going according to plan?" Kurama asked once her feet were back on the ground. She'd moved her arms off his shoulders, but she was now gripping his hands as she smiled up at him.

"It is! Botan is running a tight ship, so all of the food should be out soon. Everyone's almost here too! Now that you're here, we're just waiting on Genkai," Reigan announced.

"Losing your eyesight in your old age?" Reigan blinked and Genkai was standing next to Kurama, and she gentled her wide smile a little as she looked down at her old friend. She knew that Genkai didn't hate her for what had happened and that the psychic didn't mind having them all live so close, but Reigan also knew that her old friend was starting to crave solitude. She spent years on her own, surrounded by peace and quiet, and she missed it. That was okay though, because it wouldn't be much longer before they moved to the Demon World. Reigan couldn't see exactly when the move would happen, but she had a feeling that it would be soon. "Why are you staring at me with that look on your face?"

"Because I'm just so happy to see you, Kai!" Reigan released Kurama so that she could wrap her arms around Genkai and attempt to spin them around, but the psychic put a quick stop to that. Reigan blinked and she was lying flat on the ground, and Genkai's youthful face moved to block her view of the beautiful blue sky. Reigan looked up into bright honey eyes and grinned so wide that it made her face hurt a little. "My son's a doctor."

"Shows he's smarter than his fool mother and dimwitted cousin," Genkai said. There was a soft look on her face though, almost a smile, and Reigan was still smiling when Kurama extended a hand down towards her. She gratefully took the help and let him pull her to her feet, and she took a moment to brush off her backside.

"Now! To the party!" Genkai huffed and immediately walked off, it looked like she was headed towards where Shizuru and Yukina were sitting, but Reigan stayed back so that she could walk next to Kurama. Now that she was paying attention, she could tell that there was something on Kurama's mind. He was being too quiet. Reigan didn't want to push him though. She knew he'd talk in his own time.

"Today is Kuwabara's day, and I don't want to take away from that." Reigan looked over at Kurama and raised a brow, because she wasn't even a little bit surprised at his thoughtful consideration for his friends. Kurama could be cold and calculating in battle, but none of them could ask for a more caring friend. "But I would like to speak with you in private tomorrow. If you haven't already made plans?"

"My schedule's wide open. Is everything okay?" There were quiet whispers at the back of her mind, but she wouldn't be able to hear them unless she focused. She'd rather hear it from Kurama.

"Yes, everything is fine. I would just like your opinion on something."

Kurama told her, about four years ago now, that he respected her. He respected her as a warrior, respected her wisdom, and respected her as a mother. (It'd been at Shizuru's birthday party, her little girl had turned forty but barely looked a day over twenty-five, and Kurama had been the one to find her crying outside because Shizuru had looked at her over the candles on her birthday cake and all Reigan had been able to see were Eiji's eyes looking at her. Hiei held her that night and whispered into her hair that mourning was not weakness, but Kurama was the first one to comfort her that night and tell her that he respected her as a mother. She'd been randomly tackling him into hugs ever since.) So, as far as Reigan was concerned, Kurama could ask her for anything.

"Tomorrow it is! You are staying here tonight, right?" They were almost at the picnic table with the others, Reigan could hear Kazuma and Yusuke yelling about the best place to put the cake Yukina had baked for the occasion, and the smile on Kurama's face was fond. (Reigan loves her family, but Kurama was the only one that lived in the Human World who could understand what it was like to live for a lot longer than an average human lifespan. They were both old souls, so to speak.)

"Of course," Kurama said and smiled down at her. Then he was walking over to join the small group of spectators watching as Yusuke and Kazuma continued to argue.

In the end, Botan won.

.xXx.

"Okay, present time!" Reigan yelled and started bouncing in her seat. Most of the food was gone, Botan had moved all of the leftovers back inside the house, and several different wrapped packages were laid out across the table. Kazuma met her eyes over a brightly wrapped box and raised a brow before looking over at the giant crate next to the table, and Reigan forced herself to shake her head. The big present would be last.

"Alright!" Kazuma yelled and reached for the first wrapped present. Reigan clapped and cheered along with everyone else as her son laughed and thanked the people who'd given him a present, which was everyone at the table because Reigan had nagged at them all until a present was bought, until only one was left. This time when Kazuma met her eyes, Reigan grinned and jumped up from the table.

"This one took me forever to pick out, and I really hope you like it," Reigan explained as they stopped in front of the crate. Kazuma looked down at her, but she just gestured to the crate in front of them. "Go ahead."

"Open the thing!" Yusuke yelled from the picnic table.

"I'm going!" Kazuma yelled back.

Reigan started to lightly bounce on her toes as Kazuma squared his shoulders and then reached out, and he grabbed the top of the crate and easily ripped the side off of it. Her son had a gentle soul, but he was also pretty damned strong. The large square of wood got tossed onto the ground, and Reigan stretched her arms behind her back and laced her fingers together as she waited. Kazuma was quiet as he looked inside of the crate, and Reigan started to get worried when he didn't say anything. Maybe she messed up?

"You were so excited about getting that job offer in Aoyama, but you've been worried about the commute. I know motorcycles aren't the safest form of transportation, but I know you'll follow all of the safety precautions. This way you can still live here at the house with us and not have to rush too much. I got the blue one because I know it's your favorite color, light blue not dark blue, and there's a manual that explains all of the technical stuff that went right over my head. And! I found this neat helmet that shouldn't mess up your hair, because you're going to be a doctor and respectable doctors don't have helmet hair. But if you don't like it, we can take it back and find you something else. Whatever you want to do is fi—"

Her nervous rambling was cut off as Kazuma suddenly turned and grabbed her in a hug, and she heard herself sigh in relief as he started to thank her. Loudly and repeatedly. Her back cracked against the tight hold, but she was too happy to worry about something so small. Reigan heard the others gathering around them, and Yusuke was the first one to start yelling about how Kuwabara couldn't drive something that cool. Kurama and Botan were talking about safety measures, and Shizuru just told her little brother not to show off like an idiot. By the time Kazuma sat her back on her feet, everyone had already said their piece and was starting to talk quietly amongst each other.

"I love it, Ma," Kazuma said and grinned down at her.

"I just wanted to make things a little easier for you. We can keep it in the shed at the bottom of the temple steps. Oh! Before I forget, here's your keys," Reigan said and dug around in the pocket of her shorts. She finally managed to find the keys she'd stashed earlier, and Kazuma held up the keys to study them. "That small silver one goes to the motorcycle, and the brass key goes to the house. We don't really lock the house, but I like the symbolism anyway. Oh! And this clip thing is so you can clip the keys to your pants and not have to worry about losing them. Then I saw that cute little cat keycahin, but you can take it off if you don't like it."

"Ma?" Reigan stopped rambling so that she could take in a deep breath, and Kazuma placed one hand on her shoulder since his other hand was still holding the keys.

"Yes?" she asked when he just kept smiling down at her.

"Stop worrying so much, okay? I love it, all of it," Kazuma said slowly and lightly squeezed her shoulder. Right after he let her go, a different arm was slung over her shoulders. She looked up at Shizuru, and her daughter winked at her before looking straight ahead at Kazuma.

"She just wants all of this to be perfect for you, bro. So suck it up and let her pamper you a little," Shizuru said and shook Reigan a little. Kazuma blushed a little as he reached up to grab the back of his neck, and Reigan smiled as she watched her very tall son shuffle on his feet and curl his shoulders forward like he was trying to appear smaller.

"I really do appreciate everything, Ma," he said quietly.

"I know. I just want you to be happy, but I'll try to calm down a little," Reigan said and told herself to follow her own advice. She was just so happy that Kazuma was going to be living with them full-time now and not just visiting when he had time off from classes.

"That's the spirit!" Shizuru yelled and hooked her other arm around Kazuma's neck. Once Shizuru had Kazuma and Reigan pulled in close to her sides, the quiet click of a camera went off. Reigan blinked and looked up, and Botan laughed as she waved a camera in the air.

"That's one for the scrapbooks!" The bubbly Reaper skipped over to where they were standing, and she tucked her camera into her back pocket for the moment as she stopped in front of the three of them. "Rei, can we use the crate for firewood? It feels like a perfect night for a bonfire."

"I didn't plan on reusing it, so go for it." Botan cheered and clapped as she lightly bounced on her toes, and she cupped a hand around her mouth as she twisted to look over her shoulder.

"Yusuke! She said yes! Come help me move this!" Reigan could hear grumbling coming from inside the house, but she knew that Yusuke would do what Botan had asked. He always did.

Reigan stepped back so that Kazuma could move the motorcycle out of the crate, and he looked over his shoulder to grin at her before moving it to somewhere safe for the night. Shizuru helped Yusuke break the crate apart a little more, and the two of them carried the large chunks of wood towards the fire pit. (The fire pit had been Botan's idea. Yusuke had been the one to build it, under Botan's careful supervision, next to the side of the house.) Reigan watched as the people she considered her family started walking in the same direction, and she didn't even jump when she felt a sudden presence at her side.

"Today's been a good day," she said quietly. Hiei was standing so close to her that their arms were pressed together, and she spread her fingers apart so that her knuckles could knock against his.

"It's been a loud day," Hiei huffed. Reigan's smile was gentle as Hiei twisted his wrist and grabbed her hand properly, so that their palms were pressed together and their fingers were laced, and she turned her head just enough to look at him. To her surprise, he was already looking over at her.

"Admit it, you love seeing everyone together too," she said and lightly shook his hand. Hiei grunted but didn't look away from her, and that was progress. In the beginning, he wouldn't even keep eye contact with her for this long.

"They better not make a habit of it," he said after a moment. Usually, they all had their separate things to do each day. Shizuru, Yusuke, Botan, Hiei, and Reigan were the only permanent residents of the house. (Kurama lived in the city close to his mother, Kazuma lived in the school dorms, and Yukina still lived with Genkai.) Most of them usually had breakfast together and they saw each other at dinner, but the in-between times were spent separately. So, it was rare to see everyone together in one place.

"I wouldn't mind making this a semi-regular occurrence." Before Hiei could make some kind of protest, Reigan started walking towards their family and tugged on Hiei's hand to pull him along with her. "Let's go find a comfy seat."

The fire pit that Botan and Yusuke built was fancy, in Reigan's opinion. Normally when Reigan wanted to sit around a fire, she marked off a small area for anything flammable and then sat on the ground close to the fire. Botan, however, went all out. The square fire pit itself was built into the ground and made of thick sturdy wood, and there were even built in benches with cushions and little pillows. The square area that surrounded the fire was made out of thick stone, and there were other little lights situated around the perimeter of the fire pit. By the time Hiei and Reigan reached the area, everyone else was already sitting while a fire blazed.

Genkai was stretched out on her back on one of the shorter sections of a bench, with her legs raised so that she could cross an ankle over a knee, and her long pink braid lightly brushed the ground. Next to her, on a longer section of bench, Kazuma was sitting between Shizuru and Yukina. On Yukina's other side, on another short section, Yusuke and Botan were reclining back against a few of the little pillows. The section next to the two of them was empty, which made Reigan happy because it was her favorite place to sit. The cushioned wooden bench was surrounded by concrete, so it was like sitting on a little couch. That was where she pulled Hiei to, and he moved ahead of her at the last second to sit down first.

He propped his back against the far side and stretched his legs out along the seat, so that his feet were close to where Yusuke was sitting. When Reigan raised a brow in question at him, Hiei wordlessly shifted so that his outside leg dropped off the bench and his foot braced against the ground. Oh. Well, he was certainly in an affectionate mood tonight. Reigan shook her head a little as she sat down between Hiei's parted legs, and she sighed a little as she eased back against him. Most of her body was cradled between his thighs, and her head was leaned back against his chest. Hiei's arms came up to wrap around her stomach, and she felt something warm spread outwards from her stomach as she laced their fingers together.

She was about to ask where Kurama was, since he was the only one missing, when the fox moved into her line of sight. He placed one of the little pillows on the ground in front of the bench that Hiei and Reigan was laying on, and Reigan watched as he gracefully sat down right in front of her. His head tipped back so that it was braced against her thigh, and Reigan couldn't help her smile as she realized what Kurama was giving her permission to do. She untangled one hand from Hiei's and reached down, and she could barely believe her luck as her fingers sunk into Kurama's bright red hair. She was surrounded by her family, cuddled up to Hiei, and was being allowed to play with Kurama's hair? For a moment she worried that she was dreaming, but then she heard Yusuke and Kazuma arguing over something. So, not a dream. That was good, because reality was so much better.

From where Reigan was laying, she could easily see everyone around her. Botan had her feet pulled up onto the bench with her legs tucked against her chest, and she was leaning to the side into Yusuke as she laughed about something with Shizuru. Yusuke had an arm tossed over the back of the bench, running along behind Botan, and his arm moved forward to wrap around Botan's shoulders every time he and Kazuma laughed. Shizuru had her legs crossed under her, and Reigan realized that Shizuru had one foot tucked under Kazuma's thigh. Kazuma was holding onto her ankle, almost absentmindedly as he took turns talking to Yusuke and Yukina. Yukina was the only sitting like a normal person, with both feet on the ground and her hands laced in her lap, but her pale cheeks were flushed a light pink as she talked with Kazuma and Botan. Genkai's eyes were closed, and she looked so relaxed that Reigan almost thought she was asleep. She would have believed it if she hadn't been able to see the small smile on her face, a smile so small it was only noticeable when the fire flickered just right to light up her face.

"Can you hear me, Raizen? It's not exactly the same, but it's close. It's still family. Our family," Reigan thought as her fingers moved through Kurama's hair. His face was tipped up towards the sky as his head pressed against her thigh, but his eyes were closed.

"Praying?" Hiei's voice was quiet inside of her mind, and Reigan hummed as she nuzzled her head under his chin.

"Just talking to him. I don't know if he can hear me, but I like to think that he can." She missed Raizen. Missed her twin something fierce, but she knew it was better this way. Raizen wasn't in pain anymore, he was at peace, and she was still here to take care of their family.

"Not exactly the same as what?" Hiei sounded curious, and Reigan loved sharing her more pleasant memories with him. Especially when he asked, because Hiei rarely asked for anything.

"Before Raizen stopped eating, when we were all still together, we'd have peaceful nights like this. It wasn't always drinking, dancing, and fighting. Sometimes we'd just sit together and laugh. We'd just enjoy being around each other. Can't you see?"

Reigan could see them all. She could hear Enki's loud booming laughter over the sound of Souketsu and Shu arguing. Could see Natsume and Kujou sitting back to back with their eyes closed, breathing perfectly in sync. Could hear Saizou and Tetsuzan singing the newest song they'd learned in the Human World. Could feel Den-Hou's deep breaths as she laid stretched out over his torso. Could see Kokou laying on the ground with her head in Raizen's lap and Raizen's claws running through her hair. She could hear Raizen humming quietly in tune with the singing. The memories were old, practically ancient by now, but she could picture it all like it had just happened. She knew that Hiei was experiencing the memory with her, because his fingers tightened around hers for just a moment.

"Sentimental fool."

Reigan looked at her family, like she was looking at the scene around her through the lens of old memories, and smiled as her nails lightly scratched against Kurama's scalp. Yeah, she was sentimental, but she was okay with it. She had a feeling that Hiei was too, because he turned so that his cheek was pressed against the top of her head. This was one of the moments that she knew she'd cherish, that she'd hold onto and cement in her memory. It was one of those moments that she'd be able to look back on and feel the warmth of happiness spreading through her.

Unfortunately, the moment couldn't last forever. As the night dragged on, more and more people started to yawn. Genkai was the first one to call it a night, and Yukina quickly said goodbye to everyone so that she could walk back to the temple with Genkai. Then Botan yawned so loudly that her jaw made a quiet cracking noise, and Yusuke laughed before pushing her towards the house. Botan tried to protest because she wanted to help clean up, but Yusuke cut her off and promised to make sure that everything was taken care of. Kurama and Hiei took care of putting out the fire, Shizuru and Yusuke cleaned up the wrapping paper from the presents left on the picnic table, and Kazuma and Reigan carried Kazuma's presents up to his room.

When they made it back outside, everything was cleaned up. Shizuru was sitting on top of the picnic table, and Hiei was standing between Kurama and Yusuke as the latter two talked. Kazuma came to a stop in front of the picnic table where Shizuru was sitting, and Reigan watched as her children seemed to speak with just facial expressions. After a moment, Kazuma nodded and Shizuru hummed low in her throat. Reigan's head tilted to the side as they turned to look at her at the same time, and they looked…a little nervous. Kazuma had grown into a confident man and Shizuru rarely felt nervous about anything, so Reigan couldn't understand the looks.

"Mother, Kazuma and I want to talk to you and Yusuke." Reigan heard Yusuke stop mid-sentence behind her, but she kept her focus on Shizuru and Kazuma. What had them looking so serious all of a sudden?

"Goodnight, everyone," Kurama said quietly. While everyone else said their goodnight wishes, Reigan looked over her shoulder and met Hiei's eyes. When he raised a brow at her in question, she dipped her head in a nod to let him know that she'd meet him in their room later. Kurama and Hiei both walked inside the house, and Yusuke walked with Reigan until they were standing in front of the picnic table. Kazuma was sitting on top of the picnic table next to Shizuru, and Yusuke was standing in front of Kazuma while Reigan stood in front of Shizuru.

"Is everything alright?" Reigan asked cautiously. Her sight would have warned if there was something seriously wrong with her children, wouldn't it? Surely she could still count on it for that much.

"Yes, Mother, everything's fine," Shizuru said with a small eye roll. One side of her lips was quirked up into a smile though, so that was reassuring.

"Well, can one of you tell me why we're standing around like a bunch of jackasses instead of sleeping?" Yusuke asked and crossed his arms. Reigan elbowed him, lightly, in the side with no effect. Yusuke just kept looking straight ahead at Kazuma. After a glaring contest that lasted for all of thirty seconds, Kazuma huffed and turned to look at Reigan.

"We're removing our seals," Kazuma blurted out. Shizuru groaned a little and ran a hand through her hair, and Reigan's jaw felt loose as she looked at them. They were…going to remove…the seals?

"We said we'd work her up to that," Shizuru mumbled.

"Wait, you two are gonna become half-demons?" Yusuke asked. Kazuma and Shizuru both shot him a look that seemed to scream, duh!

"When did you decide this?" Reigan asked before either of them could verbally answer Yusuke.

"I decided when I was fourteen, remember?" Shizuru asked and met Reigan's eyes. Reigan remembered a younger Shizuru telling her that one day she'd remove her seal to become a half-demon so that they could stay together forever, and Reigan had just swept a hand over Shizuru's hair and told her that they could talk about Shizuru's decision when she was older. Well, Shizuru was nearly forty-four and Kazuma would be twenty-seven this year. They were adults, and they were old enough to make this decision for themselves.

"I decided a few years ago, to remove the seal after graduation." Reigan felt her eyes go wide, and Kazuma quickly raised his arms outwards like he was going to grab her shoulders before quickly explaining. "We're not removin' them tonight! Just, soon. I don't want to grow old and die. I want to live with the rest of you."

"Sounds good to me," Yusuke said and grinned. Kazuma looked a little more relaxed, but he was still looking at her with slightly worried eyes. Like she'd disagree with her children staying alive for centuries instead of decades?

"Thank you!" Reigan yelled and leaped forward. One of her arms wrapped around Shizuru's neck while the other arm hooked around Kazuma's neck, and she pulled them both to her as she laughed out her immense relief.

"Get in here, cuz!" Shizuru yelled. Reigan felt Yusuke's body bump against hers as they all shifted around into a group hug, and it was several minutes before Reigan was able to talk herself into pulling away. Yusuke grumbled as he tried to pat down his hair, which Shizuru had ruffled, and Reigan kept a loose hold on Kazuma's shoulder as she pulled back.

"Thank you for telling me," Reigan said quietly.

"We want you there when we take them off. Both of you," Shizuru said and glanced between Reigan and Yusuke.

"Auntie Rei, I get, but why me?" Yusuke asked and pointed at his face. Shizuru laughed quietly, and it was Kazuma that answered him.

"Because you're family."

"Dumbass," Shizuru added.

"Don't call your cousin names," Reigan said on instinct. Shizuru smirked at her as Kazuma and Yusuke started laughing, and Reigan realized that she felt…lighter. Like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Okay, so give us a heads-up when you're ready. I'm going to bed," Yusuke announced and walked off.

"Sleep sounds like a good idea," Shizuru mumbled and slipped off the picnic table. Reigan held still so that her daughter could duck down and press a quick kiss against her cheek, and she turned her head to watch as Shizuru caught up to Yusuke. They were talking quietly as they walked towards the house, and Reigan turned back around just as Kazuma moved to stand next to her.

"Come on, Ma. Let's get some rest," Kazuma said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Reigan leaned against her son as they walked into the house, and he leaned down so that she could smack a goodnight kiss against his cheek before he stumbled off into his own room. Reigan looked down the hallway, at all of the closed doors, and smiled a little as she walked into her own room.

Hiei was already lying in bed, with the sheets and blanket pushed down to the foot of the bed, and Reigan paused after closing the door so that she could just look at him. Five years. They'd been together for five years, and she still felt a ball of heat curl low in her stomach whenever she saw him sitting casually against the headboard. He was only wearing a pair of black sweatpants, it took her over a year to talk him into wearing them to bed in place of his usual pants, but his upper body was bare. Her eyes traced over the lines of his stomach and chest, and she lightly bit down on her bottom lip as his arms crossed.

"Would you quit staring at me and get into bed?" Hiei snapped after a moment. Reigan jumped a little and smiled at him, and she reached down to grab the bottom of her shirt.

"There are nicer ways to get me into bed, you know." She pulled her shirt over her head as soon as the words left her mouth, so she missed out on whatever miniscule expression Hiei had made. By the time her vision was unimpeded, Hiei's face was in its usual blank mask.

"What happened?" Here she was trying to flirt and he wanted to talk, which worked out perfectly because she wanted to share the good news.

She told Hiei about Shizuru and Kazuma deciding to remove their seals as she pulled off her clothes, and she was still talking as she walked into the bathroom. She didn't take a full shower, she could save washing her hair and everything for in the morning, so she left the door open as she washed off the little bit of sweat and dirt that had accumulated over the day. She told him that they wanted her and Yusuke with them when the seals came off, and she was humming happily as she walked back into the bedroom. She quickly pulled on a pair of panties and a large blue tee shirt, and she had a little skip in her step as she moved over to the bed. She crawled over Hiei, so that she was in her usual place between him and the wall, and she snuggled up to his side before smiling up at him.

"They're going to stay with me," she whispered as Hiei's eyes met hers. Her brows furrowed as Hiei's fingertips brushed over her cheekbones, until she felt moisture sliding between their skin. When did she start crying?

"I don't understand why you're surprised. You should have known neither one of them would leave you," Hiei said as he wiped away the few tears that had slipped out.

"I know. It was just a relief to hear them say it," she whispered and leaned forward. Hiei's lips were hot against hers, and she sighed into their kiss as her body relaxed against his. Arms wrapped around her waist, and Reigan made a quiet sound as Hiei shifted them to lay down on the bed.

"Rest now," Hiei said against her lips. Reigan hummed and leaned up long enough for one last kiss, and her eyes closed as she nuzzled down against Hiei's chest. Rest sounded like a good idea.

The Next Morning

"Should I be concerned?" Hiei asked as Reigan tugged up a pair of dark blue shorts. She got them up to her hips and reached down for the zipper, and she raised a brow as Hiei stood next to her.

"About what?" she asked as she started to look for a clean shirt.

"About your infatuation with the fox." Hiei reached past her and plucked some fabric out of the dresser, and Reigan took the offered shirt. It was one of Hiei's, black and sleeveless, and she could tell that his scent was ingrained in the fabric before she ever slipped it on.

"I love Kurama, because he's a part of our family, but you already know that." After pulling the shirt on, she rocked forward on her toes and pressed a quick kiss against the corner of Hiei's lips. "The jealousy thing is cute though. Keep it up, and it might lead somewhere good."

"Hn." She reached up to ruffle his hair and then danced back before Hiei could knock her hand away, and she lightly kissed her fingertips and waved to him before slipping out of her bedroom.

Kurama was already in the kitchen when she walked inside, and the two of them made small talk as they ate an easy breakfast. Reigan talked about Yusuke's progress in their history lessons, because she was trying to teach her nephew more about Tourin and the rest of Demon World. It was going pretty well. Yusuke picked up on things pretty fast when he wanted to, and he had a habit of asking her questions that she'd never considered before. It kept things interesting. Kurama told her about his work in Gandara with Yomi, and it sounded like things were going well. Demon World was in a state of peace, but there was always something going on and something to do.

"I think I need some sunlight," Reigan announced once breakfast was over. Kurama nodded and smiled gratefully at her, and Reigan laced her arm through his as they started through the house. Something told her that Kurama wanted to talk away from everyone else, to avoid being overheard, and that was okay with Reigan.

They walked out towards the mountain, but they stopped right before the grass could turn to rock. Reigan could still see her statue, but they were several feet away from it. The statue didn't bother her the way that her family assumed it did, but sitting on the grass would be more comfortable than sitting at the rocky base of the mountain. Reigan sat down under the shade of a tree and leaned her back against the wide trunk, and she smiled up at Kurama as she lightly patted her knee. Kurama wasn't the type to shift or fidget; he gracefully sat down next to her, and his eyes were closed when he leaned back to lay against the grass and rest the back of his head against her thigh. His hair was fanned out across her other leg, and her hands instantly moved to start petting through his long soft hair.

"I have to make a decision soon," Kurama said quietly several minutes later. Reigan hummed a little and started to curl a lock of hair around one of her fingers. She knew that Kurama didn't need any prompting or pushing. Once he'd gathered his thoughts and was ready to continue, he'd talk. "This body will be thirty in a couple of years, but my demon energy has stopped my aging. I am worried that my family will become suspicious soon and wonder why I am not getting any older."

"So what are you going to do?" She knew that Kurama already had a plan. Kurama always had a plan. She watched Kurama's chest expand as he took in a slow breath, and she started to uncurl the hair wrapped around her finger. Just to start the process over with a new lock of hair.

"The logical thing to do is fake my own death. It will give my family closure, and I can remain in the Human World until enough time has passed." Enough time…until everyone here in the Human World that knew him had died. Then he'd be able to come back to this area without fear of being recognized.

"Or?" That couldn't be his only option. Kurama loved his family. He definitely loved his human mother. His only plan couldn't be to just leave her.

"Or I can tell my mother the truth." Kurama said it quickly and then sighed a little, and Reigan watched as a single green eye opened to look up at her.

"Do you want me to try and see?" It was a request that Reigan was used to. For centuries upon centuries, friends and family have asked her to try and see their future. This was the first time Kurama had ever asked her to try and see something for him though.

"Only if you want to. I would also like to know your opinion."

"I respect your strength as a warrior and the wisdom that comes from a life as long as yours, but I also respect you as a mother. I may not know everything about Shizuru and Kuwabara's father, but I know that you have been a wonderful mother to them," Kurama said quietly as she cried. Somehow, he'd taken one look at her and figured out why she was crying on her daughter's birthday instead of celebrating inside with the rest of her family. She'd seen Eiji in Shizuru's eyes, and a small part of her mourned for her lover. The rest of her worried…worried that she wasn't enough for her children. (She loved Hiei, loved him so much that it took her breath away sometimes, but he wasn't the father of her two oldest children. No one could replace Eiji in that.) Kurama had looked at her and just known, and he'd said exactly what she needed to hear.

"I think that if I were your mother, I'd want to know the truth. I wouldn't want to mourn you," she answered as she forced her hands away from his hair. One hand moved to rest over his chest, over his sternum, and her other hand moved to press lightly against the top of his head. "We're not talking about me though, so I want you to focus on your mother. I want you to decide to tell her the truth. You have to mean it, Kurama. Decide to tell her the truth because she deserves to know."

It took a minute, but Reigan was prepared for the loss of her sight. Her eyes closed as shapes slowly took form behind her eyes, and her throat felt tight with tears that weren't hers.

"My miracle child, my sweet Shuichi, I could never hate any part of you."

Reigan relaxed back against the tree as colors slowly returned, and she blinked to get everything back in focus. Once she was sure that she was seeing clearly, she looked down. Both of Kurama's eyes were open as he looked up at her, and the carefully blank expression on his face let her know that she'd spoken aloud. She smiled as she moved her hands away from his chest and forehead, and she started to slowly run her fingers through his hair again as he continued to look up at her.

"It's not my place to tell you what to do. The decision is yours. That being said, in my opinion, you should tell your mother the truth. Because she's going to love you no matter what. She's your mother, you're her son. She'll always love you." The whispers at the back of Reigan's mind confirmed everything she was saying, but she didn't need her sight to know that she was telling the truth. As a mother, she knew she was right.

"Thank you, Reigan," Kurama said quietly as his eyes closed again. Reigan continued to run her fingers through his hair, because she had a feeling that he needed a little time to compose himself. This must had been weighing heavily on his mind for quite some time.

"Anytime," Reigan whispered and leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree. She was content to just sit outside with Kurama for now.

One Year And One Month Later

The house was oddly quiet as Reigan walked through it, which was a little odd considering it was everyone's off day. Someone should have been around making noise. The upstairs was completely empty, and there was no one in the kitchen when Reigan stopped in for a quick snack. Curious, she walked through the rest of the house. She could hear the TV playing in the den, so that was where she went next. All she could see was black hair, but it was slicked back instead of sticking straight up so she knew who it was. She collapsed onto the couch next to Yusuke and got distracted by an explosion on the screen for a moment. Three explosions and a car chase later, she shook her head and then looked over at Yusuke.

"Where is everyone?" Yusuke glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and then quickly returned his attention to the screen as he shrugged.

"Botan's with Koenma. Don't know about the others," he said and then yelled as one actor punched the other in the face.

"Hiei's spending the day with Yukina." Reigan leaned up and twisted around to look over the back of the couch, and Shizuru smiled a little when their eyes met. Well, that explained where he'd disappeared to.

"Where's Kazuma?" Reigan asked as Shizuru moved to sit down on the floor in front of the couch. She sat down so that she was facing Yusuke and Reigan, instead of the TV, and Reigan tilted her head a little as she looked down at her daughter.

"I'm here!" Kazuma slid around the end of the couch a moment later, and his tall body blocked the TV. Yusuke immediately started protesting, but a quick kick from Shizuru shut him up. She also had a very stern look on her face as she glared up at her cousin, and Yusuke grumbled angrily under his breath as he grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. Kazuma smiled and dropped to the floor to sit next to Shizuru, and they both looked up at Yusuke and Reigan.

"Why are we having a family meeting?" Yusuke finally asked. Kazuma and Shizuru shared a look, and something in Reigan's mind just clicked.

"So, it's today," Reigan said quietly.

"What's today?" Reigan looked over at her nephew and pointedly raised a brow, and his eyes widened a little as realization struck. "Oh! Finally leveling up?"

"Don't make me kick your ass, kid," Shizuru said as the knuckles on her left hand made a quiet cracking sound. Yusuke crossed his arms and leaned back against the couch, and Reigan pulled her legs up onto the couch as she leaned forward.

"I wanted to make sure I was ready before I took the seal off, because there's no going back after this. Once this thing comes off, I'm a half-demon. That's it," Kazuma said and shrugged a little.

"Yeah, I get it," Yusuke said in that same quiet tone. Reigan remembered watching Yusuke struggle as he tried to understand how he could be both a human and a demon, especially after risking his life so many times to fight against demons. She imagined it had been the same for Kazuma. Her son fought against demons, but his closest friends were also demons. Still, changing species was always a big change.

"How do we, uh, how do we remove them?" Kazuma asked and looked up at her. Shizuru was looking at her as well, and she wouldn't be surprised if Yusuke was looking at the back of her head and waiting for her to speak.

"Just put your hand over the seal and push some of your energy into it. If you want to remove it, that'll do it," Reigan explained. In a way, her children were lucky. Her seal was removed because some demon killed her in a cave, and Yusuke's demon genetics were activated after he died for a second time. Kazuma and Shizuru had made the decision all on their own.

"No point in waiting around," Shizuru said and shifted so that her left leg was a little ahead of her. She reached down to pull up her pants leg, just enough to expose the circular scar on her ankle, and Reigan was nearly sitting on the end of her couch cushion as Shizuru placed a hand over the scar.

A spark of energy shone from under Shizuru's palm, and it felt like a gust of wind swept through the house. When the brief wind died down, Shizuru moved her hand. The skin over her ankle was smooth, not a single scar in sight, and she tapped one long finger against her ankle bone. The energy inside of Shizuru felt different, but nothing else had changed. Shizuru still looked barely twenty-five, her light brown hair still fell over her shoulders, and a pair of whisky brown eyes looked up at Reigan.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Yusuke drawled.

"Yeah, it's kind of a letdown after all of the hype," Shizuru said with a quiet laugh. The three of them then all turned to look at Kazuma, who stopped looking at Shizuru and looked down at his left leg instead.

"Guess it's my turn," he muttered and pull up his pants leg a little. He had the same circular scar on his left ankle, and he held a hand over it. Bright yellow energy surrounded his hand, and Reigan waited to see if there would be another gust of wind.

"Shit!" Yusuke yelled as the couch was suddenly flipped over. Yusuke and Reigan were both tossed off the couch as it tipped over backwards, and Reigan heard glass breaking under the strong gust of wind. Then there was the sound of scrambling footsteps, and Reigan blinked as she met Shizuru's eyes.

"You okay, Mother?" Shizuru asked as she pulled her into a sitting position. Kazuma was hovering over Yusuke, who was still sprawled on his back.

"I'm okay. Kazuma?" Reigan looked up at her son, but he looked the same. Curly dark orange hair, eyes such a dark blue that they appeared black, and so tall that she nearly got a crick in her neck as she looked up at him.

"Feel the same," Kazuma shrugged.

"The no heartbeat thing is kind of weird though," Shizuru said.

Kazuma and Shizuru both went quiet, like they were focusing intently on their lack of a steady heartbeat, and Yusuke started laughing. Quietly, at first, just a few chuckles. The quiet laughter quickly turned into loud guffaws that caused his whole body to shake, and Reigan watched as Kazuma joined in. Followed by Shizuru's own husky laughter. It must have been contagious, because she was laughing along with them a second later. The laughter might have gone on for hours if Yusuke hadn't suddenly grabbed Kazuma's ankles and yanked, and Reigan scooted to the side as Kazuma fell into the space between Yusuke and Reigan. Shizuru slowly lowered herself down so that she was sitting next to where Kazuma was now sitting up, as he yelled at a still laughing Yusuke, and Reigan felt a knot in her chest loosen as Shizuru smiled softly at her.

"My babies are going to live forever!" Reigan yelled and leapt forward. Shizuru caught her, and the two women knocked into Kazuma. The three of them landed on top of Yusuke, who finally stopped laughing, and Reigan felt two pairs of arms wrapping tight around her.

"We're not going anywhere, Ma," Kazuma whispered.

"You're stuck with us, Mother."

"Yeah, Auntie Rei. Stuck with us forever." Reigan squeezed her eyes shut as she was surrounded by her blood, and she tightened her hold around…she couldn't even tell at this point. All four of them were just a tangle of limbs.

"I can live with that."

Ending Note: So, as you can tell, there was a big time jump in this chapter. The next two chapters or so will open with the new "Present Time" in 2025, and the chapters will tell what's happened up to that point. It's like how the beginning of this story was, but it won't be as drawn out. I also feel like there hasn't been enough Hiei in this story lately, so there'll be a lot of him in the next chapter!

Here's a link to the picture that I based the fire pit off of, if you want a visual. Just remove the spaces:

i50 . photobucket (dot com) / albums / f336 / TotidemVerbis / 25FirePit _ zps2ccpqeuk . jpg

Remember, if you want to read something while waiting for the next update, you can read my new YYH story Rinse and Repeat. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and I'd love to know reader's thoughts on it! And you can come talk to me on tumblr at tv-writes-ff . tumblr . com

SakiHanajima1: I'm sorry you didn't like all the confusing bits in the last chapter! I promise that everything will be explained, pretty soon actually, but this chapter was pretty straight forward to make up for it! Haha, Yusuke and Botan are adorable together, aren't they? There was like a small pinch of…Yutan? Is that their ship name? Do they have a ship name?...Yusuke and Botan in this chapter, and they'll have some more moments in the next chapter! Yeah, Mukuro and Rei have history. Unfortunately, a lot of is blocked. I'll try to get to the explanations as quickly as possible. Thank you for the review!

backoff22: Yes, confusion was the point. So it's okay to be confused. I know the whole story, and I'm even a little confused. You're right though, a little mystery in a story is a good thing. I gotta make readers want to keep reading, right? Thank you for the review!

FireStorm1991: Rei and Hiei are both pretty stubborn, huh? They just can't seem to help themselves. This chapter had plenty of fluff to make up for it though. Hmm, you might be on to something there, but I can neither confirm nor deny. Thank you for the review!