A/N: I'm having a rough time so I'm coming off my hiatus early! I have a few chapters pre-written, which was a big part of the goal. It's been harder than I anticipated to keep from posting. Normally, updates will come on Saturdays, I just wanted a pick me up today.

Also, I updated the end of ch. 34 and switched it around a little bit so the transition was smoother.

Yukina and Shinpi drank their tea together in the living room while Hiei lounged on the windowsill, eyes closed and pretending he was alone. They'd been at the temple for a few days now and Shinpi had actually followed through with getting healed by the ice maiden. It was a nice change of pace that he hadn't had to nag her.

In fact, Shinpi hadn't actually given him time to insist on anything. The minute she'd recovered, she'd drug him into a fight until she could hardly stand. The same had happened the next day. She pushed herself until she could barely keep on her feet, exhaustion forcing her eyes to close, and then she'd try to go further. It was as admirable as it was concerning. Yukina, the third day, had been the one to insist she slow down.

Hiei had a feeling the only reason Shinpi had listened was because it was a request from the ice maiden.

So here they were, lounging. Or, he was lounging. Shinpi was engrossed in conversation with Yukina about men and how to communicate with them.

Hiei desperately tried to shut them out. He hated the idea of Kuwabara touching his sister on the best days. The last thing he wanted was to have to listen to her plan how to approach him. The assertion that she actually harbored romantic intentions towards that bumbling oaf chaffed him. But he couldn't say as much, so he was forced to hide his twitching eyebrow by turning his face toward the glass panes and away from the two women.

"I just don't know what to do." Yukina looked down at her cup with a frown, hair hanging around her face until Shinpi reached over and brushed the strands behind her ear and shoulder. There was a deep blush on her cheeks.

Discussing things of this intimate nature was embarrassing for her. Shinpi tried not to make it worse while offering her advice.

"You just tell him. I mean, Kuwabara is tiptoeing because he doesn't want to push you. It's not as though the boy has much experience himself." Shinpi shrugged before sipping her tea. "So you need to tell him you're ready."

"Really?" Yukina frowned, looking thoroughly unsure of herself.

"It always works for me." Shinpi nodded. "I mean, telling men what I want from them. Not seducing Kuwabara."

Hiei glanced over at them, stricken with horror at the mere sentiment of that statement. Shinpi giving advice on seduction to Yukina? What sort of sadistic game was this?

Maybe she was actually angry with him for not going into that trap with her and this was her idea of punishment.

"But, he's just so reserved about this. How do I even approach it without embarrassing both of us?" Yukina sat down on the sofa beside the demoness and stared at her fingers as they clenched the fabric of her dress.

"Hiei, care to help?" Shinpi called and he glared at her to hide his visible discomfort. "You just have to sit there."

"No."

"Well, too bad. We're doing this." She got up from her seat and walked over. Smiling at Yukina over her shoulder she beamed, "It's not that complicated, Yukina. Just watch."

And then she stopped beside Hiei, all while he was still fixing her with his harsh gaze. One of her hands raised slowly and cupped his cheek, her fingers slipping down his jaw, neck then arm until they found his hand. Hiei's glare lessened somewhat, his eyes glued to the cobalt of this insane woman.

"My love, darling man, I've needed you more these last weeks than ever before. I simply may break if I cannot feel the warmth of your touch. If it is the notion of perfection that keeps us apart, let's dismiss it and celebrate our imperfections together, so that it may fill us both with light. If it is some misguided sense of decency that prevents our love, let's choose to be indecent, wild and untamed, together. My love, I want nothing more than you and to wrap myself into you until I can no longer remember that we were born two creatures of separate skin. Please, do not deny me this." Shinpi spoke softly, her fingers weaving between Hiei's as she leaned into him, her proximity disorienting.

For a breath they just stared at each other and it wasn't until she pulled her hand out of his that Hiei even remembered their fingers had been intertwined. When she pulled back it was sudden for him, and he blinked.

"Or, my other failsafe." She slid her gaze to Hiei with a smirk. "Just lay naked on his bed and lick your lips when he walks in. That one is a particularly effective attack."

"Are we practicing that one too?" Hiei questioned, working his tone to be as dry as possible.

Yukina's face had gone beet red long before Shinpi had made her last quip. Watching the woman lean over Hiei, locking their gazes together with such warmth and desire, it had been something she was sure she wasn't meant to see. Hiei's expectant expression had been too much. He glared at the wolf demoness but Yukina didn't miss the confusion pulling down his brows a second later as he looked at his hand and closed it into a fist, the barest hint of a blush dusting over his cheeks and nose.

"I… I'm not sure I can pull that off." Yukina admitted, stammering. "I just don't have that kind of allure! I mean, look at you, Hichi. It must be easy for you because you radiate confidence and you're so beautiful and-"

Shinpi blushed a deep scarlet, eyes widening before she could hide her reaction to the compliments. She jerked her face away, and her mistake was turning toward Hiei. He could read her expression clearly, despite her pinching her eyes closed.

"Psh. Confidence is earned. You left a floating island on your own to traverse the Makai and came to a new world all by yourself. You're a powerful woman, Yukina and Kuwabara sees that in you too. Use it." She shoved her hands into her pockets.

When Shinpi peeled her eyes opened she blushed again, realizing Hiei was scrutinizing her with a smirk on his face. He raised his eyebrows as if to tell her he'd seen her secret, and she glared at him.

"Something to add, Hiei?" She questioned dangerously.

He only continued to smirk as he slid off the windowsill and walked passed Yukina towards the kitchen. Shinpi turned to keep him in sight, unusually wary of his motives and movements. Pausing by his twin, he glanced into those familiarly colored crimson eyes. Then he continued walking without saying a word and Shinpi pulled her brows down.

"Don't push them together." Hiei snapped at Shinpi, blocking her wooden sword and pushing it to the side as she used him to practice her katas. "Yukina can do far better than that oaf."

"Kuwabara is a good man. He adores her. Besides, I push nothing. Yukina asked for advice." She reminded him, spinning around and thrusting the blade at him. He brushed it to the side again with his own. They were moving slowly, just to get used to the movements.

This was supposed to be a rest day, after all. If Yukina caught them going full speed, she'd no doubt start hounding both of them.

"So pretend you didn't hear her." Hiei growled, parrying her attack and offering his own.

"I will not." She rolled her eyes and Hiei took that second to thrust forward, pushing her sword up and then looped his arm around hers, bending her forward awkwardly while her little toy clattered to the ground. "Dammit."

"Keep your eyes on your opponent." He chastised darkly, refusing to let her go, being sure to put enough pressure on her elbow and shoulder to prove he could snap the bones in his grip if he desired.

After a moment he finally released her, sheathing his blade and marching over to a fold out table they'd drug into the training room to accommodate water bottles, towels and various weapons. A chair remained at its side, often used by Yukina so she could watch them while working on some sewing. He threw himself into the chair and used a rag that had been set out to wipe the sweat from his face.

Shinpi followed him, drinking from her water bottle then offering it to him. He accepted it with a glare.

"Your problem is that you care too much." Hiei told her firmly. "It's a waste of your energy. Instead of focusing on Kuwabara and his training or Yukina and her desires, you should be focusing on yourself."

She sighed like he was a fool who caused her little more than suffering. Then she took the water bottle from his hands and put a knee on the chair between his thighs, her arms coming to rest around his neck loosely as if she'd done this a million times. Never mind that she had never ensnared him this way before.

"Hiei, don't you realize by now that not caring is the thing that drains me? It takes so much effort to ignore all the potential in those around me. I'm not accustomed to it, not even after all this time. I just want to see all of you thrive and succeed and I know I can make it happen." Shinpi breathed against the top of his head and it unsettled his hair in a way that tingled his scalp.

Or maybe that was the effect of her fingers playing through the coarse strands of black, her arms twined around his neck, her mouth pressed to his forehead. Not knowing what else to do, Hiei allowed his hands to grip her hips and he took a deep breath of the wash of her scent.

"I can't help but interfere and try to help." Shinpi went on, her fingers twirling in the hairs on the back of his head and driving his eyes to close at the sensation. "Giving that up is unnatural to me, it's like asking myself to never step foot in a storm again."

A horribly specific example that only applied to her, Hiei mused. No one else would understand that reference.

"It's like asking me not to fight." Hiei ventured, and she hummed against the top of his head, her cheek now pressed to his crown. His left hand grasped his right forearm around her back, the action keeping the woman in place.

"How can you bare it? Watching him waste his potential."

"I've never seen much potential in Kuwabara."

"Liar." The accusation was well-meaning and Hiei pulled back to look up into her eyes with his narrowed. "You see more than you say."

As he looked up into her eyes, filled with warmth and comfort, he agreed with her. He saw far more sometimes than he meant to, and he rarely commented on it. It wasn't until the moment their eyes met that he fully realized she'd straddled his lap with one of her knees, her other foot still on the ground, arms wrapped round him and drawing him close.

And he hadn't stopped her from crawling this close. He should have shoved her back, broken her hold, but he didn't. He wouldn't.

"Do you want me to move?" She asked him quietly, gaze softening under the probing heat of his attention.

Hiei didn't answer at first and when she went to withdraw he moved his hands back to her hips, keeping her in place.

"Sometimes, I wonder if you can read my mind." He admitted.

"I don't need to. You say everything you need to." She lowered her voice and it was warm. "I've worn masks for too long not to read through them on someone else."

"Am I wearing a mask?"

"Are you not?"

"Don't answer my questions with questions." Hiei frowned at her and she laughed, tipping her head back with the sound. It spilled her hair down her shoulders, ink black in the darkness. Once, it looked like a shroud around her, not now. "Shinpi."

"Hiei?" She questioned happily and then dropped her smile when he tugged her closer, his face tipped up so that his next words grazed her chin.

"Laugh more." He demanded and the words stole the breath from her lungs as she stared down at him, his eyes half-closed.

He watched her throat move as she swallowed. Then he released her, pushing her back carefully so he could stand. "Let's practice that sequence again. And this time try not to take your eyes off your opponent."

"Keep my eyes on your handsome face? I will do my best." She teased him and trotted passed him to collect her wooden sword from the floor.

"When are you going to give up on that twig and ask for your sword back?" He demanded, unamused.

"En garde, Hiei." She attacked and he was forced to drop the conversation so he could focus on putting her in her place.

Shinpi hammered nails into the wood, determined to get the frame of the greenhouse at least partially completely during this visit to the temple. Winter wasn't that far off. The trees had already begun to shed their leaves, shades of red and gold creating an ocean of fire around the temple. She had told Yukina she'd get it done. Despite the ice maiden assuring her it was fine if it didn't happen, and not to push herself, Shinpi found herself devoted to the task when she wasn't training with Hiei.

It kept her hands busy and her mind focused on something other than almost dying. Even still, she was cataloguing her weaknesses and trying to figure out how to reduce them. Exposure therapy seemed the most apt route. Maybe she'd start with heights? Climb some trees. Stand on the edge of a cliff or two. Maybe she'd learn to jump again, and trust herself to land safely.

Her heart hammered at the very idea of it which was exactly the response she wanted to beat out of herself. Wiping her sweat slicked palms on her pants, she frowned and stood to stretch. That's when she heard it, the softest sound of someone approaching her. Brow furrowed, she turned, appearing relaxed as she made to gauge her newest assailant.

"You need to come with me." The dark haired man reached for Shinpi's wrist as she turned around, confusion pulling her brows downward. He dwarfed her by more than a foot. His fingers grazed her skin, and he saw her eyes widen as her hair shifted in a breeze. His own dark eyes grew large as he recoiled.

Appearing from nowhere, Hiei wasted no time, slashing his sword crossways and cutting through the front of the man's tunic while throwing one arm behind him to shove Shinpi back. Crimson eyes narrowed, glowing with rage, teeth bared in the sunlight.

Shinpi had only a second to recover, stepping forward with her hand out. "No! Wait!"

But they couldn't hear her. The blacksmith was skittering backwards on his toes as Hiei advanced without pause or mercy. The taller man spun, pulling two knives from the leather sheaths on either of his sides to meet Hiei's blade blow for blow. He couldn't seem to get the upper hand but he was careful not to let the fire demon land a critical hit. They parried with one another, spinning and lashing out violently. Hiei lunged forward and the blacksmith narrowed his eyes, jumping back.

Pressing her lips together and then gritting her teeth Shinpi called out once more. "Stand down!"

Again, she was ignored in favor of the sound of metal clanging against metal. Hiei managed to cut one of the other's wrists, the knife held in that hand flying through the air with a spray of blood as the blacksmith tried to recover. Massive black wings tore through the back of his tunic, shredding the material as they spread. He formed his hands into a triangle, hot white energy forming in the center of the shape and aimed at Hiei.

There was no other option. Hiei was on a warpath and he wouldn't stop until he'd done his job, she realized. He was protecting her ferociously, and she was flattered. Really. Unfortunately, this wasn't someone she needed protection from. With a sigh, she unraveled her Infinity Chain from her wrist and launched herself into the fray. Dashing around Hiei, she lassoed the taller man and pulled the chain taut forcing him to the ground and cutting off his intended attack before she turned, her hands spread wide to face Hiei as he made to continue his assault.

A rather colorful and vulgar string of words fell from his mouth as he adjusted last second, his sword sliding over her shoulder and missing her neck by less than an inch. Severed strands of black filtered to the ground slowly, cut by his blade. Shinpi didn't flinch. She merely pinned him with a stare, her breathing steady.

"Move!" Hiei snapped at her, throwing one hand to the side. "I'll deal with this-"

Movement behind her made Shinpi narrow her eyes. Her voice came out in a cold hiss. "What part of stand down have you forgotten the meaning of?"

"I do not take orders from you!" Hiei reminded her hotly.

"Not you!" She allowed her hands to fall back to her sides, one blue eye catching the man behind her in a glare. "Him."

Then she let the Infinity Chain fall loose, the man behind her freed from his bonds. Hands on her hips, Shinpi turned to narrow her attention on him, having to tilt her head back to glare upwards into his face.

"Give him a chance to explain himself, Hiei. You won't be wasting your patience." Shinpi didn't let her attention stray. Then she nodded to the intruder. "Go on. Say your piece, you massive idiot."

But the man didn't speak, he merely stared at her with his mouth open in muted awe. His wet his lips and looked almost reverent as he assessed her.

"You speak just like her." He breathed the words then moved down to kneel with one knee on the ground, his head bowed. As they watched the wings closed around his arms, melding against his skin until they sank into him, disappearing and transforming into tattoos of black features that engulfed his back and arms down to the wrists. "Please understand, I didn't come here to harm you. I came to protect you. You're the last of your bloodline and it's my sworn duty as the last Right Hand to keep you safe. It was a title bestowed on me by the last King Takani before her death."

Hiei stiffened, his hand tightening on the wrapped hilt of his blade. Crimson eyes darted to Shinpi, finding her expression carved from marble. They moved back to the man kneeling.

Dark eyes shot to him, a withering look full of distrust and distaste.

Shinpi looked between them, clearly unamused. Then raking her fingers through her bangs and pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead she sighed. The tension between the two men could have played a tune if she'd have plucked at it, she was certain.

"Honestly, one would have thought you'd have learned something in the last few decades." She complained. "I'm no king, little bird. On your feet."

She followed with a dialect Hiei didn't understand, but their captive obviously did. The minute the blacksmith stood, gaping at the familiar name falling from unfamiliar lips, her palm collided with his cheek careening him back to the ground. Shinpi shook her hand out, the skin stinging. That dialect turned harsh for a moment and he responded meekly before she switched back to Japanese.

"You have no business challenging a master swordsman to a fight!" She yelled, waving her hands wildly. "What the hell were you thinking you giant oaf! He would have killed you! Hiei is highly trained and outpaces you by miles! You're not even good with bladed weapons! Honestly, Hayato, are you trying to give me a heart attack?! What were you even thinking?!"

Hiei snapped his attention to her when she dropped the man's name so weightlessly. The blacksmith too looked gobsmacked, his mouth hanging open uselessly as the woman laid into him, bent at her waist, on hand cutting aggressively through the air. All at once his eyes misted and he heaved an unsteady, jagged breath.

"Amon-Shinpi?" He scanned over her, and she stopped.

"Yeah, Hai, it's me." She nodded and he rushed her. His arms encircled her waist as he remained on his knees, his face buried in her chest while her arms wound around his head.

Hiei felt bile rise up, burning the back of his throat when Shinpi brushed her fingers through the man's long black hair. She had tears in her eyes too, streaming down her face unbidden as the man repeated her name in an endless loop. She spoke his softly, murmuring sweet comforts in a mixture of whatever language they shared and Japanese. Little bird. Hiei remembered, that's what she'd called the man responsible for her life before him. The one who'd failed. The one she'd claimed to miss every day. And he couldn't deny that declaration, because he could see it when she looked down into those dark eyes. There was a light in her face he'd never seen before, a relief born of sadness. Of finding something thought long lost.

She brushed her thumb over the wet tracks on the man's cheeks, cupping his face and bowed her face to plant a kiss on his forehead and Hayato, closed his eyes, crying like a fool. Those large hands pressed against the expanse of her back, keeping her as close as possible. There was no hesitation or shame in the display. He strung his fingers through the ends of her black hair and studied her face.

With heavy emotion he asked, "What happened to you?"

Shinpi smiled at him, soft and unlike anything Hiei had ever seen. He hated it. He hated that this man who had failed her pried that gentle expression from her. He hated that she could be so comfortable in his arms, touching him, kissing him, crying with him. He hated that even after what was surely decades of separation these two were still so disgustingly close when it had taken him all this time to get remotely comfortable in Shinpi's embrace.

"I died." Shinpi spoke with soft warmth. "It's a long story from there my friend, but I'll be happy to tell you. On a condition, that is."

Hayato narrowed his eyes slightly, confused. "Whatever you want, m'lord."

"I will answer all your questions," she brushed more tears from his cheeks, once again cupping his face and tipping his head so she could properly see his expression. And also so she could control where he looked, "but only if you answer all of his."

Dark eyes moved from her cobalt gaze to meet Hiei's stone-faced stare. He swallowed, obviously at odds with his command, but he agreed to it none the less.

"I think this is a conversation that will require tea." Shinpi stepped back and sniffled, catching her breath and erasing any trace of tears from her skin. She turned to Hiei and he offered nothing in response to the careful, warm smile she paid him. Her feet carried her to him and the blacksmith followed, watching the interaction with great reservation as she took Hiei's hand in her own and placed a kiss to his palm. "With the two of you in one spot I almost feel as though I've already won."

Hiei pulled his hand from hers slowly, an act to cover how desperately he wanted to rage. This man had failed her. He had let her die. He had no right to turn up claiming to be a protector. Shinpi had wasted her tears on him. She had wasted that kind expression. She didn't need this damn Hayato. He had already proven himself useless. She needed him. She could win with him.

"Let's get started then." He kept his voice as even and empty as possible and the woman nodded before starting toward the temple.