Shadowess: Hello everyone! I guess you've noticed that I did not die! Good ne? I have two very good excuses as to why I have not updated... One: I went to an anime convention and did not bring my laptop with me to do any progress, not that I had time... And two: I have been so sick lately. It's not even the good kind of sick. This is the sick where medication doesn't do anything. This is the kind of sick that you only get when you hang around around a bunch of sweaty anime nerds until 2am.

Hiei: So that's where you were, you damned woman!

Shadowess: Shuddup... I wasn't alone. I met up with some really awesome people and because of the inspiration I got while staying at my awesome Oma's...

Hiei: What the hell is an 'oma'?

Shadowess: It means 'grandma' in dutch you pyro. Anyways! This one is extra long to make up for the lack of updating... So yes. I have something to ask all you reviewers at the end of this chapter! Enjoy this one and for dedication... it'll be towards Unolai's story called "Hair Fetish"! Check it out!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Stop pestering me!


Chapter 28: Hair

Koenma was pleased to receive Wrath sealed in the designated spell. However… he was still upset that Yusuke and Kuwabara STILL have not captured the runaway members of the team. He hoped that he didn't have to use this since he had a limited supply but…

"Botan, call Yusuke and Kuwabara back. Tell them to go home." Koenma pulled open a drawer on his desk, retrieving two marble-size crystals.

"Sir, do you plan to use…?" Botan started, pulling her communicator out from her kimono.

"Yes. I'll have you go. You'll be able to track them easier from the air." Koenma set the two marbles on his desk gently. They were quite fragile. These were his last resort, but his patience was running thin.


The sky flashed with dangerous lightening, branching in and out of the heavy clouds and down to the ground. Rain also fell from the clouds in a heavy downpour. It was a small system but heavily concentrated as it moved. The fire demons were caught in the middle of the storm.

Moving from tree to tree, almost dodging the lightening, they were on their way back to their designated resting area. They stopped by the bar to check for any more business but it was fruitless. Their luck was just ducky with the rain.

Both of them were soaked to the skin, though Hiei's hair stood strong. Nyssa still wondered how that was possible but concluded that his hair represented his aura: the spikier, the more angered he was. Apart from the slight hair fetish, it was the scent in the air that intrigued her now.

The smell of rain was a most relaxing scent, calming nerves and easing tension. The scent of rain easily relieved an onset headache. But here, it was more potent and laced with pine. Not just any pine, but a mountain side of pine with every type of evergreen there was. It consumed her senses to the point that it nearly made her loose her footing on a tree a few yards back.

'How often does it rain around here?' Nyssa asked Hiei.

'Depends if there is a water nymph around. They prefer the moist environments and carry spells of rain to accommodate their travels.'

'Interesting.' Nyssa nodded.

Hiei nodded up ahead, catching sight of their tree. They would rest there tonight, or until the rain lets up.

They reached the tree and moved in to their hallowed seats. Nyssa kept the cover of her cloak up, but Hiei did nothing to cover his head.

"Say… Hiei?" He looked to her. "What else happens here for weather? Like, what would happen here that wouldn't happen in the human realm?"

"Static storms for one. Usually the nymphs and elemental demons that travel in packs alter the weather to their liking." Hiei looked up to the clouds. Lightening flashed down nearby them, hitting a tree.

"Wow, that hurt the eyes." Nyssa blinked away the dots hindering her sight. The back of her neck tingled with a new sensation. She looked around.

'I felt it too.' Hiei had his sword ready in his hand.

"Hi you two!" They spun around and saw the grim reaper, dressed in a pink kimono, riding on her oar. "Man, this place was hard to find. Good thing that last lightening strike showed your silhouettes."

"Botan… what do you want?" Nyssa still held her weapon ready. She knew Botan wasn't a threat but…

"Oh I was sent by Koenma. He wanted me to tell you that his patience is wearing thin so…" She pulled something from her kimono. "Sorry." She flung the object at the base of their tree. The small marble cracked open and released a blinding light. The wind picked up, as though blowing towards the light. Nyssa and Hiei shielded their eyes and held on to the tree.

Botan flew at them, lightly startling them, but just enough to loose their grip and get sucked down to the light. They cursed and tried to stick their weapons in to the tree but failed. They were sucked in.

The light vanished. They were gone. Botan flew on.


Hiei and Nyssa fell down and hit the ground with less grace than they intended. Shaking their heads from the disorientation, they looked around.

"Oh fuck…" Nyssa muttered at seeing Koenma, standing on his desk. He didn't look happy.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do…" he glared.

Hiei grunted. 'Looks like we'll have to delay the business for another day.'

'Yeah… I hope we get a chance to run out there again. Koenma doesn't have ankle bracelets, does he?'

'Unless he's found a way to contain them on demons, I don't think so.'

"Well? I'm waiting for that explanation." Koenma crossed his arms.

Hiei and Nyssa got to their feet and sheathed their weapons. Hiei was about to explain but Nyssa spoke first.

"Sir, you did request that Hiei bring out my abilities, correct?"

"Yes, but I did not au--" Koenma was interrupted.

"Hiei took the best action to train me and enable me to access my powers in the quickest and most efficient way possible and I believe he has achieved that. You would agree, Koenma, that despite the lack of contact, that Hiei has only followed your orders. If we have requested to leave to the demon world, you would not have permitted it. I have learnt many things and I feel that Hiei has been an excellent teacher." Nyssa crossed her arms.

Koenma opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I will have to see the extent of your abilities at the next mission so I can't permit you to return to the demon world. You will have to stay here until Kyla and Kurama are located."

Hiei and Nyssa looked to each other and shrugged. They were defeated for now, yet they would find a way to get back. It was more exciting over there.

'So would it be best to go back to my human form?' Nyssa asked Hiei.

'Your call.' Hiei made his way to the wall and leaned back.


Kyla laughed as Youko told of one of his prior heists. Nothing really changed between them after their… encounter. In fact, they just flirted more with one another when they weren't on a job. They were sitting in the bar, but not for business since they just finished a quick steal.

"And the guy just kept on tripping over his own collection of human marbles! It was like watching one of those old human comedy films where the guy just can't stay standing up." Youko laughed as he took a swig of his drink.

She could just envision the guy slipping and sliding all around like a nut. Just pair it up with that classic British humor tune of everyone running around at a strange spot motion speed, and you got a gut-buster humor.

"Oh wow!" Kyla laughed, hitting the table.

Youko downed the last of his drink. He looked around and chuckled again. "Come on, vixen, let's head out of here and hunt us down some buzzards."

"Yay! Chicken!"

The buzzards in this realm were huge-ass birds that oddly tasted like chicken. Not very much tasted like chicken in this realm. Most things tasted like blood or venison. No ice cream at all though. Nothing really sweet was around either, just bold restricted flavors.

But at least there was chicken.

Kyla and Youko got up and set some coinage down on the table. They left the bar and began weaving their way down the narrow alleys of the crumbling buildings. Before they could reach the entrance to the woods, Youko paused.

"Feel that…?" Youko strained his ears to listen in on the source of the energy.

Kyla stood beside him and held her breath for a moment. "Yeah… I feel it." She whispered.

"Boo!"

Kyla jumped up in surprise when she set her eyes on pink ones. Pink eyes that belonged to Botan. "Botan!! Jesus CHRIST woman!! Do you want me to die of a heard attack?!" she yelled.

Botan rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry! I just wanted to see you jump."

"Gee, that's nice." Kyla pouted.

"What are you doing here, Botan?" Youko asked her.

"Oh, you see, Koenma is just really tired of waiting and his patience is wearing thin. So he had me come to get you." Botan explained.

"Sorry, but I don't' wanna head back. I'm having too much fun here. Though, if you do decide to come back again, you want to bring us some ice cream? That'd be great." Kyla grinned.

"Don't you want to come and get ice cream with me?" Botan pouted.

"Not really, no. It means that I'll have to see baby breath."

"Please, Kyla?" Botan put on her best pouty-face. It clearly wasn't working. "Okay… I guess I have no choice then. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Youko asked.

"For this." Botan threw down a small marble-like crystal at their feet, creating an instant portal.

Kyla grabbed hold of Youko at the sudden force of gravity pulling them down. They went in, along with Botan. The portal closed and left a single leaf to fly were they once stood, paired with a wild birds' call.

The buzzard remained alive, free from the fate of food.


Koenma looked up from his desk to see another portal open in midair in the office. Three figures fell through, with only one remaining on their feet.

"Oh good, you found them." Koenma folded his fingers on his desk. "I need a detailed summary of what you did in the demon world, to make sure that you didn't do anything illegal. AND I need to know everything that you have learnt from those undead demons." He ordered.

"Sir, they just got back, at least give them some time to adjust to being back here." Botan said, still standing by Kyla and Youko's collapsed forms.

Koenma looked reluctant. "…Fine. But you go with them to their home and make sure they stay in the human realm! I will want a report in a couple days…" Koenma looked at something behind his desk with a small smirk. So small but noticeable to everyone. He called up a portal in the center of the room. "Go home and I'll contact you in a few days."

Nyssa and Hiei, who were still present in the room at the time, went through the portal first. Botan made sure that Kyla and Youko were undamaged first before letting them go through the portal once they were able to stand on their feet. She followed after, allowing it to close behind her.

They were in the living room of the Minamino residence. A light layer of dust sat on everything, since no one was living there for the past week and a bit. Kyla and Nyssa looked around before Kyla looked towards the stairs and hall.

"I call shower!!" she called out, dashing away to get a change of clothes. Kyla saw the bathroom door and immediately desired the use of shampoo. She kept really clean in the demon world but still… a hot shower was to die for.

"Damn." Nyssa muttered. She shrugged and walked upstairs to her room. Perhaps she would check her phone to see if there any messages.

Come to think of it… how is it that she could use her phone in this world and still be able to talk to her mom and dad? Was there some kind of link? What was that link? She shook her head from those thoughts. Whatever it was, it worked. It's like air; it's just there, you don't need to explain why.

Youko shared a mental conversation with Hiei before turning back in to Kurama. He looked around and sighed.

"I better clean this up then head to the store." He informed Hiei as he went to go change in to fresh clothes. It was nearly six in the evening and Kyla would want chicken. Unfortunately, his freezer was not stocked with buzzard.

Hiei took to his room. No comment.


Kyla emerged from the shower in her human form. Her white bangs clung to her face and her brown and blond hair stuck to her neck and shoulders from the dampness. She not only washed her hair, but stayed in her fox form at first to clean her demon locks, ears, and tail. It was absolute heaven.

She noticed the lack of people around. More importantly: the lack of Kurama. Where had he gone?

"Kura-kit?" she called out.

Nyssa came downstairs, still in her demon form but changed out of her demon clothes. She bore a regular T-shirt and jeans. "Kurama went grocery shopping. Wanted to pick up some chicken."

"Oh yay! I love chicken." Kyla grinned.

"Did you have a nice shower?"

"Yes I did. It was heaven. I forgot how awesome shampoo was."

"Good. Well I'm going to have a quick shower then." Nyssa patted her shoulder before claiming the bathroom.

Kyla pursed her lips together. Yet again, she has been left alone. Hiei was no company of course, so all that was left was to just sit and wait. Just sit… wait… and plot!

Nyssa exited the bathroom, refreshed and clean. She was back in her human form and found things to be blurry. Her black hair, with red and white streaks, was slowly beginning to curl from the lack of brushing. She looked around and did not see Kyla.

"Must be plotting somewhere…" she muttered before going upstairs. It was after searching through her room twice that she realized that her glasses her still in her bag. That bag was still in the demon world, safely hidden within the tree that she and Hiei rested in.

"Crap. Well, I could use this to my advantage…" she smirked. It was a good excuse to get back to the demon world. She changed back to her demon form and found that her hair was once again down past her waist. Cutting it before did not stay in effect. Cursed hair! She sat down on her bed and began to braid it as best as she could.

Kurama came in through the front door, balancing three large paper bags in one arm. The chicken was on sale, as well he bought the basics; milk, bread, fruit, etcetera…

He went in to the kitchen and began to put away everything. By the time he got to the chicken, he found that it was gone. He looked around and smirked.

"Vixen, the chicken needs to be frozen. I only need one box out." He called out, knowing that she was somewhere in the room.

"Well pout." She said, emerging behind him. She held all the boxes of chicken breasts and strips. A cute pout was formed on her face.

Kurama took all the boxes except the bottom one, and kissed her lips. "I never noticed you take them until after they were gone." He complimented her.

Her face lit up and broke in to a grin. "Yes!!" She jumped up and down and did a small dance around the kitchen before putting the box of chicken strips down. "I'm gonna go talk with Ny-chan." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before bolting up the stairs.

She burst in to the room, seeing as the door was open anyway. "Ny-chan! I managed to sneak past Kurama!"

Nyssa looked up at her and smiled. "Awesome! That means you can disappear and reappear on people like I do." She laughed.

"Holy crap your hair is long. It wasn't that long before, was it?" Kyla noticed the long braid she was in the middle of working on.

"I cut it, went human, turned back, and now it's long again. Want to help me finish braiding this? My arms are getting a bit stiff. I'm not used to braiding behind my head." She grinned sheepishly.

"Sure." Kyla jumped on to the bed and went up behind her. She finished off the braid quickly and tied it off with a pony tail holder she happened to find in her pocket. "All done!"

"That was fast." Nyssa smiled.

"How come you're still in your demon form anyway?" Kyla asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well… my glasses are still in the demon world. I put them in my bag and the bag is still in its hiding place." She smirked. "I have a pretty good excuse to head back."

"But… can't Koenma make you new glasses?"

"Nope. He can't make these ones. These are transition lenses. I highly doubt he even knows what they are."

"Those are the funky shade changing ones, right?" Kyla raised an eyebrow. She received a nod for her answer. "So… can I come with you when you get your glasses?"

"If you're not busy with Kurama, then sure." Nyssa got up and stretched. She sighed. "I'm so bored now… Back over there it was like having a job again, but it was different each day."

"And you got better profit." Kyla nodded.

"I think if I cashed in my share here at a pawn shop, I'd have enough to buy my favorite Mustangs." This caused Nyssa to grin. "I'd probably get four; two for looking, two for driving."

"You and your Mustangs, girl." Kyla shook her head in amusement. "Anyways… I'm bored and I dunno what to do right now."

"You could… bake something?" Nyssa suggested. She didn't know what to tell her.

Her eyes lit up. "Cookies! Let's bake some cookies!" Kyla jumped up and bolted out the door.

Nyssa blinked. That was a lot easier than she thought it would be. She grinned and followed after her. Cookies did sound good, especially making them since you get to eat cookie dough! Once downstairs, Kyla and Nyssa were stopped at the sight of Kurama greeting someone at the door.

Innocent brown sparkling eyes peeked around the tall man, seeing the girls.

"Kyla! Nyssa!" Keiko maneuvered her way around Kurama to head to them. "It's been too long since I last saw you! I was just about to ask Kurama if you all want to go swimming." She had a hopeful look on her.

"Swimming? Like at the beach?" Kyla asked, suddenly recalling a memory-dream.

"Oh no, not the beach. At the apartment that Yusuke and I live at. There is a pool in the basement." Keiko smiled.

"You two share an apartment?" Nyssa asked.

"Yeah. For a year now actually…" Keiko rubbed the back of her head, the slight blush appearing across her cheeks. "So, would you like to go swimming? I know you all just got back but we'd be the only ones there. It's Monday so no one really goes down."

"A swim actually sounds good right now." Nyssa crossed her arms. "I'm up for it. Kyla?"

"Definitely! I'll go get my swim suit!" Kyla bolted back up the stairs, leaving nothing but a small blast of dust in her wake.

"She's got a lot of energy to deplete." Nyssa chuckled as she gradually made her way back upstairs.

After some convincing to get Hiei to come and bring his swim trunks as well, the lot of them followed Keiko to the apartment block that was short walk downtown. They were led down to the pool area so that Keiko could run up to her room to get her swimsuit.

They changed and Kyla was the first in to the water. From the deep end, she jumped off and went feet first. It took a few seconds for her to reach the surface.

"Whoo hoo! The water is not freakin' cold!" she cheered before coughing up some water she splashed in to her mouth on accident. She latched on to the edge of the pool and hoisted herself up and out. Her red bikini was slightly darkened by the water, making the pattern of gold stars on the top of her two piece stand out.

Nyssa came out with wearing black swim bottoms and a string bikini top that was black and detailed with silver skulls. Her hair was still braided, and she looked more-so pale since she was still in her demon form. She looked down at the water and debated on the right way to take the plunge.

"Try jumping." Kyla appeared by her side. "Or I can give you a nudge if you want." A sheepish grin plastered her face.

"Thanks, but I'll take the head-on approach." Nyssa went to the edge and jumped with her hands extended forward, hitting the water head first. She came close to touching the bottom but resurfaced after a few extended seconds. "Wow, faux mineral water. At least it's not chlorine." She gave a smile and swam back over to the edge.

Kurama came in, wearing olive green swim trunks that had this funky silver design on it. He was followed by Hiei who wore, of course, black trunks. Kyla gave Kurama a goofy grin before diving back in to the water.

"The water is great guys! Come in!" She smiled and lightly splashed some water to them.

"Make sure your boxers are on tight so you don't flash us! Not that Kyla would mind." Nyssa was hit with a wave of water courtesy of Kyla.

"I don't wanna see Hiei like that! Maybe you do!"

"When I said that I meant Kurama, you little monster! And come on! You see one guy and they're all alike!" Nyssa splashed her back.

"So you do want to see him?" Kyla grinned.

"So you do want me to freeze the water and ditch you while I go get ice cream?" Nyssa retaliated.

"Um… no. That wouldn't be very nice." Kyla pouted.

"I'm glad we had this little chat." Nyssa smiled and pushed herself from the wall before floating away on her back.

Kurama dove in to the water and resurfaced behind Kyla, wrapping his arms around her, causing her to giggle profusely.

"Aren't you coming in, Hiei?" Nyssa called from the other end of the pool, noticing that Hiei simply sat down against the wall.

"Hn."

Wow. Who saw that response coming?

Everyone turned their head at hearing the door to the pool area open. Keiko came in, already wearing her swimsuit and with a towel around her waist. Her swim suit was a simple navy blue two-piece tankini. Keiko wasn't alone, behind her was not Yusuke, but another girl.

This girl was a petite one, with teal blue hair tied back with a red crystal spike-like hair band. Her eyes shone a luminous red. She also wore a swim suit and towel, staying close to Keiko.

"I invited Yukina and Kuwabara as well. Yusuke is staying back with Kuwabara to get extra towels for everyone." Keiko smiled.

Yukina looked around and let out a beautiful soft smile. She wore a one piece white swimsuit. She saw Hiei sitting down and greeted him. "Hello, Hiei."

"Hello, Yukina." He nodded his head to her but avoided eye contact.

She turned to the water and saw Kurama and Kyla. She knelt down by the edge. "Hello, Kurama." She greeted.

"A pleasure to see you again, Yukina. I don't think you have met the girls." Kurama spoke with her as Keiko got in to the water, starting on a few warm-up laps to loosen her muscles.

She shook her head. "I don't believe I have. I remember you talking about them." She turned her head to Kyla. "My name is Yukina. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head.

"Wow… you are so cute! I'm Kyla! It's nice to meet you too!" Kyla swam over to the edge, latched on, then held her hand up to shake hers.

Yukina took her hand gently and shook it. "I'm sorry that you lost your memories before."

"Don't worry about it." Kyla smiled. She turned around and called to the other end of the pool. "Ny-chan! Come and meet Yukina!"

"Alright! No need to yell!" Nyssa was already at the stairs that descended down in to the shallow end so she climbed up them and started walking back. She went up to Yukina with a smile. "Hi, I'm Nyssa. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, Nyssa. I'm Yukina. I've heard a lot about you and Kyla from Kurama and Hiei." She smiled and shook her hand.

Nyssa looked at Yukina's eyes and blinked. Her eyes looked so familiar. 'Her eyes…'

"Is something wrong, Nyssa?" Yukina asked, noticing the expression change on her face.

"Oh, no nothing is wrong. A thought just occurred to me." She gave an assuring grin. "The water is really nice. You should enjoy it."

Yukina nodded and took her towel off, placing it to the side. She sat down on the ledge and pushed herself in. She smiled. "The water is nice." She noted Hiei still sitting against the wall. "Are you not going to swim, Hiei?" she asked.

"No. I'm fine here, Yukina."

'Hiei, why won't you go in the water?' Nyssa asked him telepathically.

'I don't need to go in.'

'Well then, what can you tell me about Yukina?'

'She is an ice maiden.'

'Any… special connection to you? I just find it a bit off that you can say her name without hinder.' Nyssa turned back to the waters and saw Yukina go a few feet from the wall of the pool.

'Now is not the time to discuss such things.'

'Why not? Who is she, Hiei? Why does she have a similar glow in her eyes compared to yours?'

'Just drop it, woman.'

Nyssa glared at Hiei before jumping back in to the water.

"Let's play something!" Kyla said.

"What can we play?" Yukina asked, curious of what kind of games there were to play in a pool.

"We could play chicken, or water polo, or have a series of contests." Kyla suggested.

"We don't have enough people to play chicken properly. We don't have a volley ball or anything of the like to play water polo. So we'll have to do the contests. Since Hiei is out of the water, perhaps he can be the judge." Keiko spoke, having finished her laps.

"Shouldn't we wait for Yusuke and Kazuma to come down first? Perhaps they would like to play too." Yukina looked between them all.

"Yes. With Yusuke and Kuwabara down here, they will prove to be good competition." Kurama said.

"Sure. How much longer do you think they'll take, Keiko?" Kyla asked.

"Not too much longer, unless they took the elevator…" Keiko chuckled a little bit. "There is one little kid in this apartment who pushes every button inside the elevator before jumping out before it goes down."

"Why don't they just take the stairs then?" Nyssa asked.

"If they don't need to take the stairs, then they won't." Keiko said.

"We have the towels!" Yusuke's voice announced from the pool entrance. The lot in the pool turned to see Yusuke and Kuwabara come in carrying huge fluffy towels. "That damned little kid pressed all of the buttons again in the elevator!"

"Well at least you're here now, right?" Keiko called out.

"Ya ya!" Yusuke set the towels off in the corner nearby where Yukina had set hers down. Yusuke took off the white T-shirt he wore to show the navy plain trunks he wore more clearly.

"You match Keiko! That is adorable!" Kyla clapped, proud to observe the similarity first out of everyone.

"So?" Yusuke couldn't hide the pink of his cheeks.

"I just think it's cute. You know, couples dressing alike." Kyla grinned.

"Yeah well it's just coincidence!" Yusuke responded with a cannon-ball jump in to the pool, purposefully splashing everyone.

"Hey! Watch it, Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled at him, having his own shirt get splashed unwillingly.

When Yusuke resurfaced, without the gel to support his hair, he just floated around. "Let's do some competitions!"

After Kuwabara joined them, and due to the author's lack of inspiration to say all the competitions of what they all do, they spent a good hour of their time in the pool. The total scores at the present time stood as followed: Yusuke won 6 contests, Kurama won 5, Kyla won 4, Yukina and Nyssa won 3 each and tied each other once, and Kuwabara won twice. All the while, Hiei just sat against the wall, watching to make sure that no one drowned.

"Who wants to play chicken?" Kyla asked.

"Boo ya! Come on Keiko! Up on my shoulders!" Yusuke made his way over to the shallow end.

"But Yusuke! I've never played chicken!" She swam after him along with Kurama and Kyla.

"Don't worry! You just hold on and I make sure you don't fall off!"

"Yukina, would you like to play?" Kuwabara asked the shy ice maiden.

She smiled. "I would really like to Kazuma. I just want to ask Nyssa something first."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you at the shallow end." He gave her a charming smile before swimming off after the others.

Nyssa looked at Yukina. "What did you want to talk about?"

Yukina started slowly swimming over to the shallow end, urging Nyssa to swim with. "Hiei spoke fondly of you when he didn't realize I was around. He cares deeply for you. I don't know if he knows this but…" her voice became more hushed. "Well I have been looking for my long lost twin brother for a long time. Hiei knows this. He is… um…"

Nyssa's eyes brightened in understanding. "You're twins." She whispered, earning a nod from Yukina.

"Yes. Well, I haven't confronted him because I want him to come to me about it. Please don't say anything to him."

"I won't. You have my word." Nyssa gave her a bright smile.

"Now, as I was saying before… Hiei spoke fondly of you as Kurama has spoken of Kyla. You changed him three years ago, I saw for the better despite the unexpected disappearance. I want him to be happy and for that… We have to get him in to the water." Yukina explained.

Nyssa nodded. "Agreed. I've already tried persuading him half hour ago but he doesn't want to. Force is not a way to go with him, what else do you recommend?"

Yukina looked down at the water thoughtfully. "I have one idea at the moment… Do you think you can fake drowning without actually doing so?"

"Never tried it but I can hold my breath for a long while in this form."

"Okay, dive off the deep on a dare that I'll tell Kyla to dare you to do, then pretend to hit your head. Hiei should notice your distress and jump in after you since we'll all be in the shallow end." Yukina devised.

Nyssa nodded slightly. "Sounds like a plan. Let's tell Kyla." They arrived in the shallow end just in time to see Keiko and Yusuke falling back in to the water against Kurama and Kyla. They told Kyla of the plan after she finished bathing in her victory. She willingly agreed to do it. So willingly that she put it to action right away.

"Ny-chan! I dare you to jump of the deep end backwards with a flip head first and touch the bottom of the pool!" She announced.

"A flip?" Nyssa blinked. "I don't do flips."

"You're in your demon form! Of course you can do a flip! Come on… I'll get you another pretty sword if you do it."

Nyssa rubbed her chin in curiosity. "And if I fail?"

"You do the dishes for a week!" Kyla pointed at her.

Nyssa shrugged. "Okay. I can handle doing dishes. You're on." Nyssa got up out of the pool and went to the deep end. She walked by Hiei. "You sure you don't want to come in, Hiei? It'll be your last chance."

"Hn." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 'What did you and Yukina talk about?'

'She told me she was looking for her long lost brother and asked if I heard of any rumors. Have you guys heard anything on the subject?' Nyssa took position at the ledge.

'…Like I said, now is not the time for such discussion.' Hiei closed the mental link.

"Don't laugh at me if I manage to get a belly-flop out of this!" Nyssa called across the pool.

"No promises!" Yusuke called out.

With a slow breath, Nyssa closed her eyes, turned around and pushed her body in to the air. She flipped around and turned her body and dove in to the water head first. There was a quick searing pain to the side of her head before all her senses were shut off. Her head hit the side of the pool wall as she descended to the bottom.

"Damn. Now I have to get her a sword." Kyla muttered. A few seconds passed by. "Ha ha, Ny-chan, very funny. Come up now."

"You didn't say how long she had to stay down there, did you?" Yukina asked with concern.

"No… I just said to touch the bottom. Oh shit…" Concern and worry filled her as she started to move to the deep end.

Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara noticed Nyssa still at the bottom of the pool but unmoving. They all started swimming as fast as they could.

"Hiei! She's unconc—" Before Kurama could finish his sentence, Hiei had already jumped in to the pool with a moderate splash.

Hiei had read Kyla's mind and noted the plot against him. He wasn't going to go in at first but the true panic that went through Kyla's mind got him up on his feet. He dove in and saw Nyssa at the bottom of the pool. He even noticed her thoughts were not protected by a barrier, and she was unresponsive.

He reached her and pulled her up to the surface. He hoisted her up on to the poolside and got up. He listened for her vitals and panic shot through him. She wasn't breathing.

Hiei brought his hands up to her chest and did three compressions before breathing in to her. Her eyes shot open and coughed up water, gasping.

"What…the hell?" Nyssa rolled on to her side, coughing up the rest of the water.

"You idiot! You thought you could pretend to drown to get me in and then you go and actually drown!?" Hiei yelled at her.

"I'll have you know, jackass, that I was only going to pretend to drown! Not the actual thing! I wasn't planning on hitting my head against the fucking wall!" Nyssa felt her head where she hit and was relieved to not see blood. "You could have sensed me being unconscious before I started to drown you know! It's kind of hard to fake something like that!!"

By this time, everyone reached the deep end of the pool to catch every bit of the argument. Kurama and Keiko caught on that it was a plot but Yusuke and Kuwabara had not.

"Hiei! Stop yelling at the girl! She nearly drowned!" Yusuke yelled

"Shouldn't we be taking her to a hospital or one of the doctors in Spirit World?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'm not going to any time of hospital! I'm fine!" Nyssa got up. "I'm so fine, that I'm going to do the same bloody dive again and NOT hit my head this time!"

"You're not going back in there, you stupid woman!" Hiei grabbed her arm.

"You just can't bloody-well say my fucking name, can you?!" Nyssa screamed at him. "You don't want to go in to the water!? Fine! Then let go of my arm before I drag you in with me and drown you myself!"

Hiei pulled her away from the pool. "You nearly drowned; you are not going back in!"

"So be it!" Nyssa turned her body in towards Hiei, wrapped her arm up around his neck and propelled herself to the pool. She got airborne and hit the water with Hiei still in the awkward headlock. She released him once they were near the bottom and pushed herself up to the surface. When Hiei resurfaced to do more yelling, she cut him off. "There. You're in the water. Now stop being a whiny cat and do a few laps or something for your muscles." With that, Nyssa swam away from him and got out of the water.

"You okay, Ny-chan?" Kyla asked with concern.

"Yeah. I'm just going to give my folks a quick call. I've been meaning to ask them something." Her head turned to Hiei with a cold glare. "And I don't need supervision."

Hiei was about to get out of the water anyway but Yukina gently touched his shoulder. He looked at her.

"Let her go. Everyone needs time to themselves…" Yukina spoke, looking in to her brother's eyes.

Hiei's shoulder's drooped lightly. He could not ignore his sister's suggestions. He still needed to tell her of her brother… a brother who has killed thousands without so much a second thought.

After Nyssa returned, with her temper cooled down a few degrees, they continued their splash wars and managed to play water polo anyway. They had counted the towels up and found one extra, so they tied that one up tight and started chucking it around the pool. They had it guys against girls. They were tied up, the guys and the ball then…

"Wait!" Keiko cried out before Kuwabara was going to chuck the ball to their goal. She looked up to the clock and gasped. "The pool closed five minutes ago. We should get out before we're locked in."

"Aw man! Just when we were going to beat you…" Yusuke grumbled and groaned. He hit the water with his fist.

"Yeah, sure. You keep thinking that." Keiko laughed. "Come on, let's get out."

They all got out of the pool and gathered their clothes, towels, and whatever they all brought. Hiei and Nyssa evaporated the water off themselves, earning envious glares from all but Yukina and Kurama. Kyla turned to laughter real quick when Nyssa took her hair out of the braid. Her hair was covered in waves and ringlet curls.

"You look so cute!" Kyla giggled. "I wanna style your hair! It re-grows if you cut it off and change forms quickly! Please? Can I? Please?"

"You have a hair fetish. I swear you do." Nyssa rolled her eyes at her friend.

"So can I?" Kyla's eyes lit up.

"No. Why don't you play with Kurama's hair?"

"Oh yes! Kurama! Can I wash your hair?"

Everyone stumbled in their step at that.

"Why would you want to do that?" Kurama asked once he regained his composure.

"Because I feel like it. You need it now since you just went swimming." Kyla felt at the ends of his hair. "Yup. You need me to wash your hair."

"This is too funny." Yusuke laughed.

"Kyla, I am capable of cleaning my own hair." Kurama tried to reason.

"Please? I'll do the eye thing on you… Or worse! I'll strap you down!"

"Ooo… you got some bondage suggestion going on there. Watch yourself, man." Yusuke nudged Kurama.

"Oh yes. Kyla is so in to bondage that she'll strap you down and force Hello Kitty on you." Nyssa rolled her eyes, earning a towel whack at the back of her head.

"We'll come to an agreement when we get back to the house, okay?" Kurama said.

"And the agreement will be in my favor." Kyla grinned.

After a long chatter amongst the lot of them, they decided to part ways at last. Kuwabara was going to escort Yukina back to Genkai's place so they were off first. But before then…

"Um, Hiei?" Yukina went up to the hybrid demon. "Have… have you any progress on the whereabouts of my brother?"

"…No. I have not." Hiei looked away from her.

"Okay…" Yukina looked down with a bit of sadness in her eyes.

"D-Don't worry, Yukina! We'll find your brother! Maybe he's just waiting for the right time to show himself to make you happy!" Kuwabara said with assurance.

Yukina looked up at Kuwabara and smiled again. "Maybe you're right, Kazuma. Thank you."

"Anytime to have you smiling, beautiful maiden." Kuwabara blushed pink.

They took different paths. Upon arriving back at the Minamino residence, Kyla jumped back in to the topic of washing Kurama's hair.

"So… Let's wash your hair!" Kyla beamed.

"Kyla, why do you want to wash my hair?" Kurama looked at her curiously.

"Because I want to. You have hair that's all nice and pretty and I need a good excuse to run my fingers through it?" She tilted her head to the side.

He sighed. "Alright. Let me go get changed first."

"Yes! Ny-chan! I get to wash his hair! You're next!" Kyla cheered and jumped around.

"I'll pass!" Nyssa made her way up the stairs and to her room.

Kyla, all bubbly with joy, retrieved her arsenal from the bathroom and brought it in to the kitchen, where she waited for Kurama since he had to go changed and whatnot first.

Kurama came down the stairs and oddly felt some similarity to walking on death row… He saw Kyla's smile and wondered why he was worrying anyway?

Before he could reach the kitchen, there was another knock on the door. Kyla pouted but Kurama went to go answer it nonetheless.

He opened the door to reveal…


Shadowess: I know. Cliffhangers are evil. I have reason for it though. Now... since I am momentarily not coughing up a storm and breaking ribs...

UPDATE: I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMITIONS! A few of the readers submitted their characters I requested through the review... To be nice, I'm accepting them. But I'm not taking any more submissions since I have more than enough now!

Kyla: When is Nyssa and Hiei's sexy scene?

Shadowess: Either Chapter 30, or 31. You'll know with the prior chapter. Now remember people! Reviews are love but not forced.